"A few months out of law school, Merritt takes a job with a slightly shady but charismatic lawyer named Thaddeus Silk. Only months later, Thaddeus drops dead, and Bill is left to pick up the pieces of his chaotic practice. Soon the police are knocking at his door, and Bill is being accused of fencing stolen treasure. Enter two clients whose files are among the boxes and papers and bourbon bottles that litter Thaddeus's office: drug charges had been brought against Abby for carrying two pounds of pot in her bag; and Grady seeks a permit from the state of Oregon to dig for treasure on a local beach. Bill takes on their cases, which appear unrelated. When the cases collide in bizarre ways, Bill finds himself caught in the middle. The result is an intricate legal yarn with a cast so peculiar it reads like fiction.--From publisher description."--From source other than the Library of Congress