Study Guide

Alex Cross's Trial Chapter 34

By James Patterson and Richard DiLallo

Chapter 34

Abraham and Ben ride two mules out to a nearby lynching tree.
It doesn't take them very long to get there, and Ben realizes which one is the lynching tree all on his own. There's a big, sturdy branch that doesn't have much bark on it anymore, and dark spots fill the ground all around him—he knows this is from people's blood.
Ben shudders to think what happened here.
Next to the tree, there's a sign that warns "Coons" and "Coon Lovers" to beware, hung up with a white nail.
When Ben comments that he's never seen a nail that color, Abraham informs him it was made from a human bone. Yikes.
Ben goes to take the sign down, but Abraham tells him not to bother—another will just be put up in its place before he knows it.
Before Ben can saying anything else, Abraham warns him that they have company.