Burning March: 2a Dave Garrett Mystery

Disbarred lawyer now private detective Dave Garrett, last seen in The February Trouble , works in Philadelphia, where his his ex-wife was involved in his losing his license. The office manager of his former firm, Emily Voss, makes an appointment to meet with Dave and suggests that the firm might need an investigator. But when Dave arrives for the meeting, he finds that Emily has burned to death in her apartment after having uncharacteristically drunk a lot of liquor; he agrees when the senior partner asks him to look into the death. As Dave sifts through the facts of the case, he is struck by the changes in the firm, noting that someone has bugged the offices, the excessive drinking of another partner and the distant behavior of the junior partners and associates. Dave, by running the bases, finally proves that Emily was murdered and why. This mediocre legal mystery breaks no new ground and casts Dave's credibility into doubt, as he agrees, illegally, to close an old colleague's case in court. (Mar.)