When a well-bred client hands Barbara Holloway a large retainer and asks for complete anonymity, the Oregon attorney is both intrigued and suspicious. The woman, a respected music professor and member of a group that sponsors worthy causes involving women, wants Barbara to defend Carol Fredricks, a gifted young pianist who stands accused of murdering the manager of a piano bar.

Not long ago, Barbara heard Carol play, and that is enough to

Trial lawyer Barbara Holloway has a reputation for taking on the toughest cases and winning them. But this time it looks as though she's up against an unbeatable opponent—the lawyer who taught her everything she knows.

The trial involves the murder of Gus Marchand, a hard-working, God-fearing man who is found dead on his kitchen floor. The locals cast their suspicions toward Alex Feldman, Marchand's hideously deformed neighbor, without