Witness to Murder: A Darrow mystery

Joanna Darrow is tapping into her never used maternal instincts in having a new sense of joy in reconnecting with daughter and granddaughter, Claire and Lou Darrow, and in working smaller cases at Claire's law firm, Darrow and Darrow. That instinct includes advising Lou on her run for class president. The next potential client that walks into Darrow and Darrow is Cassie Piper, a lawyer herself who was about to blow the whistle for malfeasance on the firm specializing in corporate and investment law for which she works, they in turn accusing her of insider trading. This story being eerily familiar to that of Joanna's professional problem is no coincidence as the firm in question is Herrimann, Corrigan and Herrimann - Joanna's old firm - Cassie, to who Joanna then acted as a mentor, being the one who made such accusations against Joanna. Cassie claims that she was just viewing the evidence against Joanna as it presented itself, she now seeing how easily the highers-up in the firm could manipulate what is seen. In evaluating whether she should take Cassie's case, Joanna, with Claire by her side, plans to speak to some Herrimann, Corrigan and Herrimann representatives in town on other business. Out of that meeting, Joanna and Claire witness a drive-by shooting by a largely unseen perpetrator in what is assumed to be a targeted hit, the shooting outside the meeting locale, the home of Gail Reed, so rented due to a relationship of some sort between Ms. Reed and the firm's senior partner, Brian Herrimann. With one fatality of a seemingly innocent person from the shooting, Cassie is charged with murder, the motive to get back at her employers. Because of the shooting, Joanna decides to take Cassie's corporate case, while criminal lawyer Claire takes Cassie's murder case, Claire's findings which may shed some light on Joanna's professional problems. Complicating the case is that Assistant DA Miles Strasberg, the man with who Claire has been seeing personally in what she has not yet defined as a relationship, is assigned the prosecuting attorney. As such, Miles suggests to Claire that they put a pause on the personal side of their relationship. Normally, Claire would not resist such a notion in Miles always being there for her whenever she's ready, however throwing a wrench into this thought is the police lead in the murder investigation, Lt. Sarah Lang, Miles' former girlfriend, Claire believing the re-ignition of sparks between Miles the lieutenant being the reason for Miles wanting the pause.—Huggo