Related Cases (1)
Related Novels (2)
Related Chapters (3)
Inherited Guilt
Words: 2178 · Source Novel:: The Hollow Suit
Leo is contacted by a lawyer representing S.G., now an adult, who is reopening a civil suit for damages. Leo, as "Julian," must respond. He considers fleeing, but the money and power are addictive—he decides to fight the suit.
A Grooming Legacy
Words: 1965 · Source Novel:: The Hollow Suit
Leo reads Julian's journals, which detail years of manipulation. One victim, a boy named "S.G.," is mentioned repeatedly. Julian had been sued civilly but settled; the case was sealed. Leo feels revulsion—but also a perverse relief: Julian deserved death.
The Open Deposition
Words: 2478 · Source Novel:: The Asphalt Confessional
Solomon Graves, a retired longshoreman, dies in a suspicious fire at his row house the night before he is scheduled to give a deposition in Lyndon Southern Insurance Company v. Premier Kings Inc. The insurance dispute concerns liability for a warehouse collapse, but Graves’ sealed pre-deposition affidavit hinted at witnessing an unrelated crime decades earlier. Investigator Marcus Caine, a weary claims adjuster with a limp and an ex-wife he still loves, is assigned to assess the fire claim. At the morgue, Graves’ widow Evelyn insists her husband was murdered. Caine notices an expensive watch on Graves’ charred wrist—a Patek Philippe engraved “To S.G., From V.F.”—and begins tracing a connection to Vincent Falco, the 82-year-old philanthropic titan of Port Morrison, known for building hospitals and funding parks.