Undue Influence

Chicago attorney Philip Ogden is sitting on the biggest case in the history of his small practice -- and the most unusual. Eighty-three-year-old Benjamin Stillman, a modestly paid accountant at the same firm for over forty years, has died, leaving a will that bequeaths an eight-million-dollar estate to a local synagogue. Why a devout Roman Catholic would make such a startling bequest is a puzzle. Where the money came from is a full-blown mystery.

To all appearances, Stillman lived an unremarkable life. But the contents of his safe deposit box tell a different story. As more and more claims to the controversial fortune surface, so do shocking accusations and secrets about the dead man's past. Caught in the eye of the legal storm, Philip Ogden sets out to find the truth -- and prepares to face his toughest day in court.