The Widow Quotes

“As executor of the will, and sole director of the trust, as well as the attorney for the estate, he would be in complete control. His fees would be substantial.”
― John Grisham, The Widow

“Then what, please, did Harry like? “I see. Do you have other investments?” She took a deep breath and suddenly looked worried. “I can trust you, right, Mr. Latch?” “Of course. I’m your lawyer, duty bound to keep everything confidential.” Simon noticed a slight flutter in his intestines, as if some truly wonderful and unexpected facts might be in the works. He’d had a few surprises in the past eighteen years as a pseudo estate lawyer, but nothing significant. “Well, you see Mr. Latch—” “Please call me Simon.” “Simon, what a nice name. You see, Simon, Harry worked for almost forty years as a district sales rep for Coca-Cola. I think that’s what killed him. He got his blood sugar up, had a stroke at sixty-nine, never recovered. We always had plenty of Coke, the real thing, not diet, in the fridge and he drank too many, at least in my opinion. Anyway, he qualified for stock options, a few at a time, and he bought every share of Coke he could get his hands on. Never sold a share, just enjoyed watching it pile up. And boy did it. Then about thirty years ago, he began selling Coke products to Wal-Mart and became fascinated with the company. It”
― John Grisham, The Widow

“I suppose.” “So who would you contact to ask around”
― John Grisham, The Widow

“prescient”
― John Grisham, The Widow

“Virginia”
― John Grisham, The Widow

“I did. I told you I would.”
― John Grisham, The Widow

“Unlike Wally, the greedy little bastard, Simon would not be getting a direct payment of cash upon Eleanor’s death. In the depths of the densest and most convoluted paragraph of that will, Wally included an outright gift of $485,000 to himself. A magnifying glass was needed to find the language. The payment was for “accrued services,” a vague and unique category of testamentary gifts that, not surprisingly, went undefined. It was absurd to think that”
― John Grisham, The Widow

“Moving beyond the hefty fees to come, the worst part was the power granted unto the trustee. In half a page of thick legalese, Wally gave himself the right to do virtually everything and anything with the trust. He could donate to “appropriate” charities and nonprofits, make loans to virtually anyone, hire consultants, appraisers, accountants, and tax experts to help “protect” the trust. After ten years of such shenanigans, he could, in the event any of the money was left, disburse it at his discretion and close the trust.”
― John Grisham, The Widow

“First things first. He had to see the will to verify that his dear Netty was telling the truth. It was still hard to believe that a lawyer, any lawyer, would be brazen enough to insert himself in a will and have unfettered access to an entire fortune. But the fact that he, the Honorable Simon Latch, was thinking of doing something very similar to that made him realize it was indeed possible. Upon Netty’s death, there would certainly be a massive legal brawl with lawsuits flying, but the only named trustee, at the moment one Wally Thackerman, would be in the driver’s seat.”
― John Grisham, The Widow

“divorces,”
― John Grisham, The Widow

“That’s what money does, Simon, it really causes problems.”
― John Grisham, The Widow

“guess. Please stay, Simon.” The thought of spending the night had not crossed his mind and he was suddenly on his heels. A nurse nodded to the only chair in the tiny room and said, “That one reclines. Folks use it all the time.” Simon glared at it. A weird creation designed to ruin lower lumbars. Pully was listening to his earphone again and said, “Gotta run. I’ll be back tomorrow to take a statement from Ms. Barnett.” Simon almost blurted, She’s not making any more statements to the police, but he let it pass. He would deal with the legal issues tomorrow. He watched a nurse inject the knockout juice into an IV. She smiled at Simon and mouthed the words, She’ll fade away. The other nurse said, “Make yourself at home.” Both nurses left the room and Simon was suddenly alone with his client. He stood near the door for a long time and tried to absorb the surreal image before him. She looked so tiny and frail in the bed, with a thin white sheet pulled up to her neck, head turned to her left, with a small tube running into one nostril. How did this person, this nice old lady he met for the first time only nine months earlier, enter his life in such a dramatic fashion? How had she lived for eighty-five fairly comfortable years and reached this point where she had no one to care for her but him? No family, no close friends except for Doris, who she had just practically killed. He would admit, and only to himself, that greed was the driving force. Months earlier he could have done what she asked him to do, prepare a simple will for $250 and close the matter. And that’s exactly what would have happened if she had no money. Matilda would have filed her will away with hundreds of others and forgotten about it. However, the client was certainly not poor and appeared to be quite vulnerable. His otherwise good judgment was corrupted by greed. He saw an easy way to take control of her money, a fortune that was wonderfully hidden from everyone. Under his clever control, it would remain a delightful secret. He glanced at a digital clock in one corner of a”
― John Grisham, The Widow

“Since all FBI agents are special”
― John Grisham, The Widow

“effectively.”
― John Grisham, The Widow

“inform”
― John Grisham, The Widow

“Es ese tipo de persona que ves”
― John Grisham, La viuda

“Lo malo de meterte bajo el techo de tus padres después de veinte años es que te topas de repente con todas esas manías de las que ya no te acordabas y que ahora te fastidian todavía más.”
― John Grisham, La viuda

“«LO QUE NO TE MATA”
― John Grisham, La viuda

“—Los hijos están sobrevalorados. Yo quiero mucho a los míos”
― John Grisham, La viuda

“Sus vidas habían sufrido un parón momentáneo”
― John Grisham, La viuda

“Es muy triste”
― John Grisham, La viuda

“series. Their goal was to collect all twenty-one books”
― John Grisham, The Widow

“I’m not sure you realize how bad things are these days”
― John Grisham, The Widow

“It was almost too painful to think about. On the second floor”
― John Grisham, The Widow

“When Simon had quizzed Eleanor about them”
― John Grisham, The Widow

“Simon was under a lot of pressure. His marriage was breaking up and he was practically living at the office. He tried to keep this away from Matilda”
― John Grisham, The Widow

“raconteur,”
― John Grisham, The Widow

“The awful day was not going away.”
― John Grisham, The Widow

“Who gets the stocks and the money”
― John Grisham, The Widow

“intact.”
― John Grisham, The Widow