The Runaway Jury

Fitch has another plot. He sends two of his men to break into Nicholas’s apartment. The men steal the hard drive from Nicholas’s computer and the software discs stored nearby. Afterward, the men douse the area in lighter fluid and set it on fire. They run through the building warning the other residents that there’s a fire, as Fitch instructed them to make sure that no one dies. When the firemen arrive, the men slip away. Four apartments are completely destroyed, 11 are damaged, and 30 families lose their homes.

Nicholas’s hard drive is impenetrable, but Fitch’s computer experts are able to crack some of the discs. One disc has a few documents on it, one of which is a letter that Nicholas wrote to his mother, Pamela Blanchard from Gardner, Texas, and signed with “Jeff.” The letter mostly states that “Jeff” is happy in his life in Biloxi. Fitch sends men to Gardner to investigate Pamela and Jeff. The computer experts crack one more disc to find the voter registration rolls of Harrison County from “A” to “K.” Though the rolls can be purchased from the county, it’s clear that Nicholas has stolen them since he has them digitally. Fitch infers that if Nicholas could enter the county’s computer system to steal the information, he could make himself a prospective juror in the case.