Split-Dollar Murder — Mark Travis

Martha Stewart, Ralph Lauren, and Ted Turner enjoy life insurance policies in excess of $25 million paid for by their corporations as an executive perk. When three other famous and wealthy men with similar policies are murdered by a killer who gets up close and personal and uses unusual weapons, private investigator Dan Ballantine gets a call from the insurance company. He visits the kill sites, reviews the police reports, and advises his employer the murders are so 'clean' he doubts the killer will be identified, captured, or prosecuted. Ballantine travels to Jupiter-Saturn's Los Angeles headquarters, and, with the help of an attractive computer geek, Pearl the Girl, searches for an employee who leaked the rich victims' identities. He also reviews bad faith lawsuits filed against the insurance company. While Ballantine works, the killer murders two more rich men-one in San Jose and one in the Napa Valley. When Pearl the Girl and Ballantine conclude the next victim will be Nevada Supreme Court Justice John Blair, Dan goes to Carson City to search for the perfect killer who he knows will never be convicted.