The Burden of Proof (kindle County Legal Thriller, #2)

Set in the fictional tri-cities of Kindle County, the novel centers on Alejandro "Sandy" Stern, a fifty-six-year-old criminal defense lawyer and Argentine-born immigrant. Returning home from a business trip to Chicago, Stern finds his wife Clara dead in the front seat of their car in the closed garage, the engine having run until the tank emptied. A brief note on her stationery reads: "Can you forgive me?"

The discovery sets two intertwined mysteries in motion. The first is personal: Why did Clara kill herself? The second is professional: Stern's brother-in-law Dixon Hartnell, the wealthy head of a commodity-futures firm called Maison Dixon (MD), is under federal grand jury investigation. Dixon is married to Stern's younger sister, Silvia, the only surviving member of Stern's immediate family.

In the days surrounding Clara's funeral, Stern's three adult children gather: Peter, a thirty-year-old physician; Marta, a Legal Aid lawyer in New York; and Kate, the youngest, who reveals she is pregnant. FBI agents arrive on the morning of the funeral to serve Dixon with a grand jury subpoena, and Stern confronts them and forces them to leave.

Returning to work, Stern begins defending Dixon. Assistant United States Attorney Sonia Klonsky, the prosecutor handling the case, proves tight-lipped about her targets. Among Clara's papers, Stern finds a bill from a laboratory called Westlab for a test performed six weeks before her death, initially suspecting a terminal illness. He meets with Cal Hopkinson, the family's estate lawyer, and learns that Clara withdrew $850,000 from her investment account five days before dying. No one in the family knows what the money was for. Later, bank staff reveal the funds took the form of a certified check payable to a man whose name they cannot recall. The check has never been cashed.

Grieving and isolated, Stern experiences a sexual reawakening. During a trip to Chicago, he sleeps with Margy Allison, Dixon's executive vice president, who helps him understand the government's case. They determine that someone at MD was "front-running": placing small orders on the local Kindle County Futures Exchange before executing large customer orders in Chicago that would drive prices up, then pocketing roughly $600,000 in profits through deliberate account-number errors. Dixon also asks Stern to store a personal safe from his office.

Back home, Stern begins dating Helen Dudak, a divorced neighbor, and presses Nate Cawley, another neighbor and Clara's gynecologist, about the Westlab bill. Nate claims to know nothing. The investigation tightens when Klonsky subpoenas John Granum, Kate's husband, who works on MD's order desk. The government wants to grant John immunity in exchange for testimony against Dixon, and Stern finds John's handwriting on every order ticket tied to the front-running trades.

Stern asks Lieutenant Ray Radczyk, the officer who investigated Clara's death, to check the Westlab records. Radczyk reveals devastating news: Clara tested positive for HSV-2, genital herpes. Stern now understands what Clara could not bear to reveal.

As the case proceeds, Margy reveals to Stern that the stolen profits were funneled into a mysterious brokerage account called "Wunderkind Associates" and that all its account-opening documents have vanished from MD's files. When Margy testifies before the grand jury, she lies under oath, denying knowledge of the missing records. Klonsky threatens an obstruction of justice investigation.

Stern discovers, through Nate's wife Fiona Cawley, a bottle of herpes medication prescribed in Nate's name and concludes Nate infected Clara through an affair. He drives to a rural cabin where Klonsky, known as Sonny, is spending a holiday weekend, and through indirect questioning learns that the government can prove Dixon controlled the Wunderkind account through a personal check Dixon wrote to cover its deficit. Stern falls for Sonny but recognizes the relationship is impossible: She is married, pregnant, and his adversary in the case.

After ending his relationship with Helen, Stern confronts Nate, who finally tells the truth: He was Clara's physician, not her lover. He treated Clara's herpes for seven years; the infection stemmed from a brief affair she had during Stern's prolonged absence for a trial. Clara's medication stopped working weeks before her death, and Nate left for a conference despite knowing she was in crisis.

The government subpoenas Stern to produce Dixon's safe. Marta returns home to represent him. Chief Judge Winchell grants a continuance but warns she will jail Stern if he continues to resist. With the help of Remo Cavarelli, a professional thief and longtime client, Stern breaks into Dixon's home and opens the safe. Inside he finds Dixon's check covering the Wunderkind deficit, Clara's certified check for $851,198 payable to Dixon, and the missing account documents. On the Wunderkind account agreement, the customer signature belongs to Kate, using her maiden name.

The final revelations cascade. Peter is exposed as the government's informant. Kate came to Peter in despair: John opened the Wunderkind account with Kate's signature, traded ahead of customers, lost all the money, and was being coerced by Dixon, who discovered the scheme and used it as leverage. Peter devised a plan for John to blame Dixon, reasoning that Dixon's denial would create an unresolvable standoff. But Dixon never denied the charges. Peter's fury was fueled by his knowledge, from briefly serving as Dixon's doctor, that Dixon gave Clara herpes during a brief affair years earlier.

Peter confessed his scheme to Clara, expecting gratitude. She was horrified. When the government moves to hold Stern in contempt over the safe, Klonsky, disturbed by lead prosecutor Sennett's aggressive use of Peter as an informant, unilaterally grants an adjournment, saving Stern from jail. In a private farewell, Sonny tells Stern she might have "run away" with him; he replies he was "so close to asking."

Dixon then reveals the full truth. Days before her death, Clara visited him with her check to cover John's debts and told him about Peter's scheme. Realizing that contesting the charges would eventually expose John, Kate, and Peter, Dixon promised Clara he would accept blame. Clara told him she was unable to carry on and killed herself despite his pleas. Dixon insists on honoring his promise, and Stern reluctantly agrees to negotiate a plea.

Before negotiations conclude, Dixon dies of a heart attack during sex with Helen, who began seeing him after Stern ended their relationship. With Radczyk's help, Stern stages the body at his office to spare Silvia. Dixon's death terminates all criminal proceedings, freeing John, Kate, and Peter from legal jeopardy.

In the aftermath, Marta joins Stern's law practice. Stern reflects on Clara's death, understanding it as a response to unbearable circumstances: her children's jeopardy, her medical crisis, and the exposure of lifelong secrets. He reconciles with Helen. The novel closes as Stern calls Silvia, promising: "We must manage these burdens together. I am able to help." The following spring, he marries Helen.