Adam Larsen Finds a Body in the Library...

There's a body in the library...

Final Argument cover

Adam Larsen helps to defend a lawsuit against his girlfriend, high-powered real estate broker Josie Balentine. Scadman, plaintiff's counsel, is the meanest, most aggressive lawyer in town. So naturally tempers flare among the lawyers in the course of Josie's deposition. Time out is called.

Before the meeting can resume, Scadman is found, bludgeoned to death, on the conference room floor.

Scadman's partner takes over the lawsuit. Josie fires Larsen, placing her faith—and apparently much more—into the eager hands of her insurance lawyer. After Larsen confronts the court reporter who was recording Scadman's deposition, she is found dead. Soon Larsen realizes he is being framed for her murder. The only way to exonerate himself is to expose Scadman's killer.

As Larsen inches toward the answer, he receives a desperate plea. A dark secret from Josie's past has suddenly emerged, turning the Quinlan trial into a disaster. Having a few secrets of his own, Larsen rushes headlong into the hostile courtroom. Ready or not, he must act.

What's Going On Here?

Crossing the reception area, I twisted the brass handle and opened one of the double doors at the front of the library. What I saw when I entered the room stopped me cold in my tracks. Scadman was sprawled at a bizarre angle on the carpet near the conference table. The back of his head was completely caved in, like some sort of smashed melon. A dark pool of blood had formed over the wound and had oozed onto the carpet. Judging from the look of his battered skull, I could see it was useless to test for a pulse.

Scadman the Madman was dead.

And lying next to him on the floor was the murder weapon that I had accidentally supplied: the metal turnbuckle from my construction case, still wrapped in green canvas. Even from my vantage point in the doorway, I could see a crimson stain on the cloth. Backtracking out of the library, I pulled the door closed behind me and turned to face the group.

"There will be no further proceedings today," I announced grimly. "Mr. Scadman is dead."

Byron Richardson peered at me over his eyeglasses. "Is this some kind of sick joke?"

"I don't joke about things like this," I assured him as I reached for the telephone on one of the end tables. "Scadman may have won his share of cases during his lifetime, but it looks like he's lost his final argument."

The court reporter dropped her diet Pepsi on the carpet. "Wh-what happened to him?"

I watched helplessly as the caramel colored liquid soaked into the carpet. "He's been murdered."