It’s a good thing Shakespeare didn’t actually kill all the lawyers, because I needed a few for help with this book. Thanks to my team of counselors, each of whom enriched my understanding of a different facet of our legal system: Kathryn Bedke, Jill Weintraub, Melissa Battino, David B. Wolf, Jennifer Ritter, Andrew Neuman, and especially Felicia Berenson, my resident on-call ADA. Kate Konigisor and Kathy Lessner Yellen cheerfully recounted their experiences doing murder mysteries, while Michael Lewis not quite as cheerfully related his on grand jury. Ralph Maher gave me a primer on firearms, and Kathleen Humiston made sound acoustical observations during a gala dinner in large space. I’m also grateful to Julian Rosenblum for insights musical and computational, Phoebe Rosenblum for creative character naming, Owen Blicksilver for demystifying the finer points of real estate investment, and Amy Griffin for sharing what is quite possibly the funniest audition story I have ever heard. For shepherding my work across the finish line, I am indebted to my enthusiastic agent Kari Stuart at ICM, meticulous editor Kira Rubenthaler of Bookfly Design, and visionary designer Linda Pierro of Flint Mine Press. A heartfelt embrace to my trusted beta readers: Helen Lessner, Helen Faye Rosenblum, Elaine Greenblatt, and, as ever, my taller half, Joshua Rosenblum.