Defending Jacob

The chapter opens with the transcript of the grand jury investigation. Logiudice asks if Andy reported Jacob’s knife immediately; Andy replies that he did not report it because he “did not believe it was the murder weapon” (61) and did not suspect his son. Logiudice asserts that violence runs in the family, and that Jacob could have inherited violent tendencies. As Andy resumes his narration, he admits that violence did run in his family: his great-grandfather, nee James Burkett, fled North Dakota on charges of armed robbery and moved to New York, changing his last name to Barber and spending half of his remaining life in jail or awaiting trial. Andy’s grandfather, Rusty Barber, fought valiantly in WWII, but in civilian life, brutally gutted a man after a traffic accident. His father, William “Billy” Barber, was arrested for the rape and murder of a young girl when Andy was five. Since then, Andy had “lived as if [he] had no father” (70). He had never told Laurie any of this, stating that he believed he truly “was fatherless” (71).

Andy confesses that Logiudice was right; although Andy did not suspect Jacob of murder, he suspected him of knowing something about the murder. Laurie and Andy confront him, asking about the knife. Jacob says it’s “just something [he] got” (75) at the army-navy store, and denies that it is the murder weapon. After his denial, he looks at his father with “the sort of eye-fuck a defiant witness will flip you on the stand” (75). Andy heads to the police station to question Patz. Patz denies knowing anything about Ben, but Andy tells Duffy to get a confession. However, Patz’s lawyer Jonathan arrives, putting an end to the questioning. Back at home, Laurie expresses doubts about Jacob’s innocence. Andy reveals that he got rid of the knife. In an excerpt of the grand jury transcript, Andy asserts that, a year later, he still believes Patz is guilty.

A group of volunteers sweeps Cold Spring Park to search for the murder weapon. Dan approaches Andy and tells him, “‘Call your office […] It’s over’” (91). Back at the office, Lynn breaks the news that the print on Ben’s sweatshirt belongs to Jacob; Andy will be put on paid leave. He asks Lynn not to arrest Jacob: he can turn himself in. She tells him there’s “much more” (94) evidence than he knows of. He returns to his house, sneaking in through the back door and going through Jacob’s things. He tells the reader he was not obstructing justice—“the error rate in criminal verdicts in much higher than anyone imagines” (96)—and he is simply protecting his son from such an error. Duffy arrives to search the house and tells Andy they found a kitchen knife in the lake at the park. When he is arrested, Jacob tells the police, “I didn’t do it [...] I found him” (101). In the visiting room at the jail, he tells his parents that Derek must have committed the murder. They hire Jonathan as his lawyer. Back at home, Andy tells Laurie about his family history.