Anselm Holland came to Jefferson as a young man and an outsider in the close knit, small town. Shortly after his arrival, he settled down with the only daughter of the man who owned two thousand acres of the best land in the county. His new wife had twin sons, Virginius and Anselm Junior. The mother dies when the twins are still children, leaving the boys to be raised by their harsh father. When he comes of age, Anselm Junior demands that his father split up the land and give him his portion of it. Old Anselm refuses, and Anselm Junior retreats into the countryside of the county, living alone and rarely coming into town, never speaking to his father or his brother. At the same time, Old Anselm runs Virginius off of the land after a conversation about Anselm Junior and dividing the land between them. Viriginius stays in town, living with a distant cousin, Granby Dodge, on his farm. When the twins are in their forties, Old Anselm is found dead in the family graveyard, fallen off his horse with his foot still in the stirrup. In his will, he leaves his entire property to Virginius, who he believes has been paying his taxes anonymously for years now. He gives only a mule and tack to Anselm, to be used to visit his grave. The local judge, Judge Durkenfield, is to sign the will into order and the property deeded to Virginius, but it takes longer than expected. Two weeks later the will is yet to be signed, and Judge Durkenfield is shot in his chambers at his desk. Gavin Stevens takes the case in front of a jury and tries to prove a connection between the murder of the judge and the death of Old Anselm that was previously ruled as an accident with no foul play. Gavin has determined that Granby murdered both Old Anselm and the Judge, and planned to kill Virginius as well, in an attempt to gain ownership of the land. Gavin builds up the case before the jury, leaving everyone on the edge of their seats and taking his time to reveal who the murderer is, only alluding to the fact that he is in the room. He explains that the man who shot Judge Durkenfield left a particular kind of smoke in the courtroom from his cigarette, a brand that was not common in Jefferson. He says that the smoke is still in the metal box the judge kept on his desk, and goes to open it in front of the jury. At this moment, Granby gets up from his seat and knocks the box out of his hand, revealing himself as the murderer who is trying to avoid being caught. Virginius thanks Gavin for his work in revealing the truth of his father's murder, and Gavin reveals that the argument about the smoke in the box was a bluff. All of the land goes to Virginius, Anselm Junior returns to the countryside, and Granby is taken away for the double murder.