by Reason of Sanity (34 page)

In his third Adventure, Attorney Peter Sharp is retained to represent a man accused of murder, by the planting of bombs in vehicles. The client is also suspected of being part of a conspiracy to assassinate the President of the United States in an upcoming Fourth of July parade.

With the assistance of his legal ward
Suzi, Peter cracks the case, identifies the real murderer, and at the same time solves the mystery of a dead body found in his friend Stuart’s automobile trunk… all while falling for a lesbian lawyer, winning a Will contest, breaking up a stolen car ring 4,000 miles away, and battling with his ex-wife, who has been elected to the office of District Attorney.

In the adventure’s finale, Suzi miraculously manag es to get ‘Bernie,’ her huge Saint Bernard into a courtroom, where she makes her first official court appearance, holds her first press
conference, and becomes a local television hero.

Suzi on ce again saves Peter’s case by finding the connection between two crimes that allegedly took place in different parts of the State, one of which Peter was arrested for. And once again, Peter falls for a woman who he thinks could really ‘be the one’ this time.

Peter’s ex-wife Myra must make the decision as t o whether or not she should resign from prosecution of a case in which she may have a conflict of interest – Peter’s murder charge.

Everyone including Peter is sitting on the edge of their chairs as this double murder mystery comes to a shocking conclusion that involves a mafia hit man, revengeful drug dealers, a local police chief, and the ever-popular FBI.

Tony Edwards, A dock neighbor of Peter’s, is charged with murder. Unfortunately, he is a suspended police officer with a known dislike for people who are the color of his alleged victim. He’s also the subject of many citizen complaints for using excessive force in the minority community.

At Suzi’s request, Tony has taught her h ow to help him re-load his target practice ammunition, also giving the little girl a basic course in ballistics.

When a local black movie producer who Tony was working for gets killed, Suzi and talks Peter into handling Tony’s defense… which doesn’t look too good because he was arrested at the scene of the murder with his gun still smoking.

Along the way, Peter once again gets involved with who he thinks might be ‘Miss Right,’ represents a 500-pound woman who is being discriminated against, uncovers a white supremist militant organization, and also stumbles onto a group of people who are pirating DVD copies of recently released major motion pictures.

P eter’s ex-wife, District Attorney Myra Scot, makes a mistake when she subpoenas little Suzi to come and testify as a prosecution witness against the defendant, Suzi’s friend Tony.

After what Suzi does to solve the mystery and destroy Myra’s case in court, everyone knows that the District Attorney’s office will never subpoena Suzi again.

Peter Sharp encounters a client with amnes ia, who not only can’t tell Peter what his own name is, but who also has absolutely no recollection of the crime he is charged with committing. In lieu of his memory, Peter’s obtains video surveillance footage that establishes his client’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

The usual crew also gets involved, including Peter’s close friend Stuart, Jack Bibberman the investigator, Laverne the ‘amorous houseboat lady’, and Stuart’s employees Vinnie and Olive – who are having some disagreement as to whether or not they’re legally married; and last but not least, little Suzi B. and her big Saint Bernard.

and her big Saint Bernard.

One way or another each of Peter’s cases winds up being a conflict with his ex-wife Myra, who is the county’s chief prosecutor. He also may be more closely involved with FBI Special Agent in Charge Bob Snell than before, as they share a dangerous high-speed situation on a winding road.

Suzi’s new friend Lotus and her mother also play an interesting part in this adventure as Peter finds that he is fighting a ring of credit-card fraud experts.

Little Suzi has decided that she wants to study magic in this eighth legal adventure she participates in. Unfortunately, her teacher is the main suspect in what appears to be an ‘impossible’ crime… the shooting of a man in his com letely locked ‘safe room.’

In order for Suzi to clear her magic teacher of liability for this crime, she must convince Peter to handle the case, which he does under one condition: Suzi must help him by solving the mystery of this locked-room murder.

Her task is made difficult because all events took place in a secure ‘panic room,’ with steel doors in place, and no windows. Somehow, the alleged murderer is believed to have committed the crime and successfully escaped from a room that could only later be opened by a crew using blowtorches.

Suzi is especially m otivated to solve this enigma when she learns that an attorney who she dislikes may be involved.

There’s a mini flu epidemic going around in Los Angeles and it has especially taken its toll among Superior Court Judges in Santa Monica, who all seem to have been infected at the same conference they attended.

Peter has been ‘drafted’ to fill in as a temporary judge for some civil matters, but winds up getting stuck hearing a big criminal trial involving a devious attorney as the defendant… the same attorney who Peter crossed swords with in a previous situation.

Suspense enters the picture when Peter’s legal ward Suzi fails to appear as guest of honor at her own birthday party, and every local state and Federal peace officer in California wants to locate her.

This is the second adventure that Peter and Suzi B. have been involved where Suzi’s Saint Bernard may be partly responsible for a successful conclusion.