The Curse of the House of Hennessy

Joey Hennessy, US Senator and younger brother of recently assassinated President Patrick Hennessy, must decide whether to throw his hat in the ring against the man who succeeded Pat, Lyman Compson. Through a long dark night of the soul, he thinks back on his brother, their joint efforts to pave the way for a Hennessy to become the first Roman Catholic president - and of the "curse" both brothers felt they had inherited: "Hubris in the form of excessive zeal." As he reminisces, Joey's eyes continue to fall on a safe in his office, a safe which contains a file he knows may hold the truth about his brother's murder - a truth which he knows he must confront if he is to make an honest decision about the campaign to come.