Thirteen

The fifth installment in the Eddie Flynn legal thriller series, the novel follows a con-artist-turned-defense-attorney as he takes on a high-profile murder trial while a serial killer secretly infiltrates the jury to ensure a guilty verdict.

The story opens with Joshua Kane, a meticulous killer, posing as a homeless man outside the Manhattan Criminal Courts Building. Over six weeks, he studies the mail system, then feigns injury to access a mail van and photograph jury duty summonses. His arm is reinforced with steel plates and screws; he feels nothing due to congenital analgesia, a rare genetic condition that leaves him incapable of experiencing physical pain. That evening, he shoots the mailman dead. Kane selects a man from the jury pool, murders him, and assumes his identity, copying his appearance and voice, even breaking his own nose to match the dead man's crooked profile. He dissolves the body in lye and moves into the apartment, where the victim's jury summons waits on the hall table.

Defense attorney Eddie Flynn wins a minor drug case through a clever courtroom maneuver, catching the attention of Rudy Carp, a celebrity lawyer who offers Eddie a role as second chair, or supporting counsel, in the murder trial of movie star Robert Solomon. Bobby Solomon is charged with murdering his wife, Ariella Bloom, and his chief of security, Carl Tozer, who were found dead in the couple's bed. The studio funding Bobby's defense needs a swift acquittal to protect its franchise investment. Eddie initially refuses, believing Bobby is guilty, but Rudy insists the NYPD framed his client.

Eddie reviews the case files and meets Bobby, a nervous young man from a Virginia farming background who found fame on Broadway and in Hollywood. Bobby says he fought with Ariella on the night of the murders and insists he left the house angry but did not kill her. Eddie recognizes what he considers the expression of a genuinely innocent person and agrees to join the defense. Rudy then reveals his ulterior motive: Eddie's close friendship with Judge Harry Ford, who has been assigned to the case. If Eddie's aggressive strategy backfires, Rudy can fire him and absorb no damage. Eddie negotiates a partnership at Carp Law in exchange, hoping the stability will help him reconcile with his estranged wife, Christine, and their daughter, Amy.

The crime scene evidence is troubling. The house shows no signs of forced entry. A dollar bill folded into an origami butterfly is found in Carl's mouth, bearing Bobby's fingerprint and DNA alongside the DNA of Richard Pena, a serial killer executed in 2001, 12 years before the bill was printed. This proves the evidence was contaminated or planted. Eddie hires Harper, a former FBI agent turned private investigator. Meanwhile, Kane surveils the defense from a parking garage, listening through a hidden microphone and coordinating with an accomplice who monitors police channels.

Before jury selection, Kane murders Wally Cook, a private investigator the defense favored as a prospective juror, to clear a path onto the panel. Using the dead man's credentials, Kane passes the ID check. Prosecutor Art Pryor, a legendary trial lawyer, eliminates several defense-friendly jurors, and a reshuffling of seats relegates Kane to alternate juror 13. He fixes this by running over juror Brenda Kowolski in a staged hit-and-run. The next day he is elevated to the main jury, and Judge Ford sequesters the panel for their safety.

Eddie and Harper visit the crime scene and discover the mattress is waterproof. When Harper spills water on it, the droplets sit on the surface without absorbing. This means Ariella's blood would have flowed toward the heavier Carl if both were in bed during the stabbing, yet no blood was found on Carl. Eddie theorizes Carl was killed elsewhere, then placed beside Ariella after her blood dried to stage the scene.

Harper's FBI contact leads them to Paige Delaney, an analyst who reveals that faint ink markings on the dollar bill match marks at three other crime scenes across different states. In each case, a dollar bill linked the murder to an innocent person who was convicted. Delaney attributes these killings to a serial killer the Bureau calls "Dollar Bill." Eddie realizes the locations correspond to states that signed the Declaration of Independence; the killer is working through all 13 original colonies. Further investigation uncovers victims across several more states. In every case, the person framed had recently experienced a life-changing stroke of fortune reported in local media. The killer's mission is to destroy aspirational American lives.

The trial begins Wednesday. Bobby experiences an epileptic seizure in the courtroom, revealing a condition he had hidden. The studio withdraws funding and Rudy abandons the case; Eddie stays on alone. During cross-examination, Eddie demonstrates with an identical waterproof mattress that the prosecution's version of events is physically impossible, forcing lead detective Anderson to concede the victims may not have been killed simultaneously.

Kane manipulates the jury from within, forging a note in another juror's handwriting to get that juror expelled, then strangling the last strong pro-defense juror, Manuel Ortega, in his hotel room and staging the death as suicide. During forensic testimony about Bobby's DNA, Eddie pickpockets a dollar into the officer's jacket and asks him to check his pocket, proving how easily a fingerprint can be planted.

Christine tells Eddie over dinner that she is leaving him for another man. Hours later, Detective Granger and corrupt cops, including Detective Anderson, ambush and beat Eddie outside his office. Harry finds him and tends to his injuries.

Delaney testifies about Dollar Bill and the FBI's theory that the killer infiltrates juries. After court, Granger and Anderson arrest Eddie for the murder of Arnold Novoselic, the jury consultant, found strangled with 13 dollar bills in his throat. Kane killed Arnold, planted Eddie's fingerprint on one bill, and impersonated Arnold during a phone call to misdirect Eddie toward juror Alec Wynn rather than Kane's true disguise as elderly juror Bradley Summers.

Granger and Anderson then try to murder Eddie in their car. Harper, who recorded a voice-activated emergency call from Eddie's pocket, rams their vehicle and kills both detectives. FBI fingerprint analysis reveals that Kane has been posing as Summers. A SWAT team finds Kane's room empty; he has escaped.

Kane kills Pryor while fleeing and infiltrates Bobby's safehouse. Bobby locks himself in a panic room. Eddie arrives, having secretly stolen a Glock from Holten, Carp Law's security guard. Kane holds Eddie at knifepoint, but Eddie tells Bobby through the security camera never to open the door, triggering a SWAT assault. Kane kills three agents despite being shot, his condition rendering him impervious to pain. Eddie fires repeatedly until a final shot kills Kane.

Eddie then confronts Holten, whose real name is Russell McPartland. Years earlier, McPartland switched Pena's DNA sample for Kane's at a university, creating the false profile that appeared at every Dollar Bill crime scene. Holten aims a gun at Eddie but is shot by Delaney and Harper.

Eight weeks later, exonerations begin for the innocent men convicted of Dollar Bill's crimes. Bobby is cleared and publicly reveals both his epilepsy and his homosexuality, admitting he was with another man on the night of the murders, the secret he had been hiding throughout the trial. Eddie signs his divorce papers and removes his wedding ring, accepting that his family is safer without him. He tells Harry he will continue as a defense attorney, affirming that someone must stand on the other side of the line. The novel ends with Eddie making a phone call, though it is not revealed whether he dials Christine or Harper.