Either she was dead, her body lost, or she was alive and had left us behind. Whichever was the case, I had failed her.
Three months later I was having coffee at Beanology, one of my favorite haunts not far from my house, laptop on my lap, surfing the web. It was one of those rare winter days when the temperature soared for no apparent reason into the upper sixties. I was sitting on the outdoor patio, the sun at a blinding, sharp angle, Ruby curled on the chair next to me.
A message popped up in my inbox telling me that someone had sent me an electronic greeting card. I clicked on the link and an image materialized on the screen. It was a monkey with an ear-to-ear grin. The caption read Happy Birthday! Love, Monkey Girl.
It was my birthday. I’d forgotten, but Wendy hadn’t.
THANKS
Thanks for adding The Dead Man to your digital library. The ebook revolution has opened new doors. Thanks for walking through one of mine.
Find out more about Joel Goldman at http://www.joelgoldman.com
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AFTERWORD
I have learned about tics through personal experience. My thanks to Dr. John Caviness at the Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale, Arizona, for his kind, compassionate treatment. My thanks to Rabbi Moshe Berger of the Siegal College of Judaic Studies for posing the compelling question whether there is a commanding voice in suffering. The answer is yes. The command is to live well, fully, and righteously. Writing this book is one small step in fulfillment of that command.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Humans have always struggled to divine the truth using everything from tea leaves to torture to separate fact from fiction. Recent research in this field was very helpful to me in writing this book. I first learned about Professor Paul Ekman and the Facial Action Coding System in Malcolm Gladwell’s book Blink. Dr. Ekman’s book Telling Lies explains more fully how a lie catcher can recognize deceit. I learned about additional brain research on lying in an article by Yaling Yang and others titled Prefrontal White Matter in Pathological Liars, published in 2005 in the British Journal of Psychiatry. USA Today reported on June 27, 2006, about the use of MRIs to detect lies. Time magazine reported in its July 17, 2006 issue about prosopagnosia or facial blindness.
I also benefited from Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner’s book, Freakonomics, which describes a drug-selling gang’s finances, including the importance of paying funeral benefits for those killed while doing the gang’s business. Dr. Levitt expanded on this research in a 1998 paper, entitled An Economic Analysis of a Drug-Selling Gang’s Finances, published by the National Bureau of Economic Research.
Murray Rhodes and Gilbert Castro shared with me the history of the Argentine Mine in Kansas City, Kansas. Steve Gershon answered questions about income taxes. I thank them all for their assistance.
I was privileged to participate in the FBI Citizens’ Academy in Kansas City. I learned a great deal about the difficult work the FBI does and was greatly impressed by the integrity, commitment, and passion of the men and women who serve that agency. I thank them and remind them that this book is a work of fiction. I really was paying attention in class.
Thanks, as always, to my agent, Meredith Bernstein, for her friendship and guidance. Thanks also to my editor, Audrey LaFehr, for her work in making this a better book.
Nothing in my life would be as rich without my wife, Hildy, and our children, Aaron, Daniel, and Michele. Thanks to them for going along for this ride.
Table Of Contents
Front Cover Image
Welcome
Dedication
Shakedown
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Six
Chapter Forty-Seven
Chapter Forty-Eight
Chapter Forty-Nine
Chapter Fifty
Chapter Fifty-One
Chapter Fifty-Two
Chapter Fifty-Three
Chapter Fifty-Four
Chapter Fifty-Five
Chapter Fifty-Seven
Chapter Fifty-Eight
Chapter Fifty-Nine
Chapter Sixty
Chapter Sixty-One
Chapter Sixty-Two
Chapter Sixty-Three
Chapter Sixty-Four
Chapter Sixty-Five
Chapter Sixty-Six
Chapter Sixty-Seven
Chapter Sixty-Eight
Chapter Sixty-Nine
Chapter Seventy
Chapter Seventy-One
Thanks
Afterword
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Novels By Joel Goldman
Copyright
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Joel Goldman is an Edgar and Shamus nominated author who was a trial lawyer for twenty-eight years. He wrote his first thriller after one of his partners complained about another partner and he decided to write a mystery, kill the son-of-a-bitch off in the first chapter and spend the rest of the book figuring out who did it. No longer practicing law, he offices at Starbucks and lives in Kansas City with his wife and two dogs.
NOVELS BY JOEL GOLDMAN
Motion to Kill
The Last Witness
Cold Truth
Deadlocked
Shakedown
The Dead Man
No Way Out
The Dead Man
If you like John Grisham’s twists and turns and James Patterson’s page-turning thrills, you’ll love Joel Goldman’s The Dead Man, the second book in the Jack Davis Thriller series!
“A masterful blend of rock-solid detective work and escalating dread. The Dead Man is both a top-notch thriller and a heart-rending story of loss, courage and second chances. I loved it.”
Robert Crais, NYT Best Selling Author
“The Dead Man is one of those rare novels you will be tempted to read twice: the first time to enjoy, and the second to appreciate how Goldman puts the pieces together. The hours spent on both will be more than worth it.”
—Joe Hartlaub, Bookreporter.com
When FBI Agent Jack Davis investigates a mass murder, a leak of crucial information and his imploding personal life throw him into the ultimate danger zone – where truth lies at the heart of betrayal.
Think John Grisham meets James Patterson and you’ve got Joe
l Goldman in The Dead Man!
“Goldman’s realistic setting, fast-paced dialogue and chilling plotting will have you wanting to read more in this gritty suspense series.”
—Cindy Bauer, bookpleasures.com
“The Dead Man has all the plots and twists one may expect from a Grisham novel and the pace of a James Patterson crime story.”
—Carolyn LeComte, Curledup.com
It doesn’t get any better than that, so grab The Dead Man and don’t let go!
Motion To Kill
Lee Child and Michael Connelly recommend Motion To Kill! If you like the action, suspense and excitement in their books, you’ll love Motion To Kill!
“The story line never skips a beat. Fans will set in motion a plea for Mr. Goldman to return with more Mason (Lou not Perry) legal thrillers.”
—Harriett Klausner
“Lou Mason is still the sexy, brilliant but flawed counselor who is thrown into chaos and finds order. The plot leads you to the edge like the thrilling Yungas cliff road in Bolivia.”
—Elizabeth Wenig
When two of his partners are killed, corruption, sex and murder fill trial lawyer Lou Mason’s docket as he tracks the killer. Will Lou be the next victim? Found out in Motion To Kill, the action-packed, can’t-put-it-down first book in the Lou Mason thriller series!
“Joel Goldman is the real deal!”
—John Lescroart, Bestselling author of the Dismas Hardy thriller series.
“A real page-turner with plenty of action and many surprising twists and turns along the way driven by the wise-cracking protagonist and a great supporting cast.”
—David A. Berman
“The plot races forward.”
—Amarillo Globe-News
The Last Witness
If you love the twists, turns and suspense of John Grisham, you’ll love The Last Witness!
“Fast, furious and thoroughly enjoyable, The Last Witness is classic and classy noir for our time, filled with great characters and sharp, stylish writing. “
—Jeffery Deaver, author of The Vanished Man and The Stone Monkey
“The Last Witness is an old fashioned, ‘40s, tough guy detective story set in modern times. There’s a lot of action, loads of suspects, and plenty of snappy dialogue. It’s a fun read from beginning to end.”
—Phillip Margolin, author of The Associate and Wild Justice
Lou Mason is back and this time it’s personal when his surrogate father, Homicide Detective Harry Ryman, arrests his best friend, Wilson “Blues” Bluestone, Jr., for murder. Mason unearths secrets someone will do anything to keep as he closes in on a desperate killer, setting himself up as the next target. Goldman goes Grisham one better!
“Joel Goldman has written another fast-paced legal thriller. Find a comfortable chair and plan to stay up late.”
—Sheldon Siegel, Author of The Special Circumstances and Criminal Inten
“The Last Witness is a legal thriller written the way criminal law should be practiced: from the gut…one of the premier crime novels of the year.”
—Jeremiah Healy, author of Turnabout and Spiral
Move over John Grisham! Joel Goldman is in the courthouse!
SHAKEDOWN
JOEL GOLDMAN
Copyright © 2008 Joel Goldman
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Author, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.
This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination, or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or events is entirely coincidental.