Heir Loss

Nick Gardner is grudgingly drawn into the case of a missing college student. The parents of the missing son seek out Nick at his home after detectives from the first case (see To Write a Wrong) recommend that the parents hire Nick. The police are too short-handed to pursue missing persons cases, and the wealthy parents make a generous offer. Even with the offer, Nick is reluctant to get involved, but he agrees to at least nose around a bit.

Once involved, he is drawn into the case, mostly because it involves corporate greed, a sore subject for Nick. He fruitlessly pursues friends, spends weeks considering family members, and finally goes after what he should have from the beginning – the international pharmaceutical corporation that hired the missing student for their field drug tests. Beatings, threats, and delays are overcome, and a trial is the only measure of relief for the family.
Nick is changed when confronted with the grisly reality of crime scenes, but with the help of his experienced police-detective friend, he learns to harden himself to those harsh realities.