Higgins is uniquely blessed with a gift for voices, each of them as distinctive as a
fingerprint.New Yorker

A dead body, discovered by a hapless plant thief blithely trespassing in a rural Massachusetts
wetland, turns out to belong to a woman with a past, name of Sandra Nichols. Wrongful death?
Murder one? Well leave that to Jerry Kennedy.

Judge Henry Lawler has his own reasons for appointing classmate Jerry Kennedy to try what
becomes in time the case of the Estate of Sandra Nichols v. Peter Wade, on behalf of the
descendants three children. An old hand at trying criminal cases, Jerry has always studiously
avoided civil cases (hes more comfortable with armed robbery, tax evasion, embezzling, bribery,
and corruption). But this time Jerry makes an exception for Judge Henry. After all, its the right
thing to do for the orphans. And besides, what are friends for if not to impose on a guy?

Inasmuch as Sandra Nichols was murdered several months before her body was found, alibis are
fairly easy to come by, even for Peter Wade, Sandras ex, who is the most likely suspect. On the
criminal side of the law, if the defendant isnt caught in the act, there are three things a prosecutor
must prove, all of which Wade has in spades: motive, means, and opportunity. The evidence is too
elusive to establish Wades guilt beyond a reasonable doubt; wrongful death is easier: all Jerry
Kennedy needs to do is make Wades part in Sandras death 51 percent certain.