Summary

Chapter 12 – “Mr. and Mrs. Atticus Finch.” The first part of this chapter introduces lawyer John Smith and his wife Kendra, also a lawyer – and how the couple was nicknamed “Mr. and Mrs. Atticus Finch” (after characters in the famous novel To Kill a Mockingbird) for their knowledgeable and firm engagement on behalf of landowners fighting corporations like Range Resources. Narration describes Smith as being fundamentally supportive of the fossil fuel industry, but concerned about the well-being of the county and its citizens. He was also concerned about how corporations like Range Resources seemed to be deploying strong-arm tactics to get what they wanted in ways that brushed up against being illegal, but which certainly seemed anti-democratic.

Smith is visited by a colleague of Stacey’s, anxious to consult about a lease and, at the same time, anxious to avoid the...