An Absence of Discretion - Allan Barbeler

When it comes to compromising our principles, how far down the slippery slope can we blunder before losing our footing? For suburban accountant Leo Morris, it is when he becomes 'a person of interest' in the police investigation into the death of Jasmine Benson, a young dance student befriended by Megan, his daughter. Jasmine confided to Leo that she was being sexually abused by her father. Seized by a protective urge, Leo invited her into his home. Protectiveness soon turned to infatuation. Leo's wife, Meredith, oblivious of the abuse allegation, but increasingly suspicious, demanded that the girl depart the house. While Leo dithered, Jasmine was found dead, apparently murdered, on a local creek bank. When the police target Leo as a prime suspect, he engages Brendan Oldfield, a well-recommended criminal lawyer to represent him. Leo's claim that Jasmine's father was abusing the girl and is most likely to have murdered her is dismissed by the police as a self-serving fantasy. Although Brendan believes his client is innocent, he is concerned that Leo's refusal to be candid about his relationship with the girl may result in a murder conviction. The lawyer, meanwhile, is having his own wrestle with principles. A nefarious client, Phillip Squires, has been killed in a hit-and-run accident. Brendan is attracted to Squires' widow, Monica. Eddie Sawyer, a wheelchair-bound lottery ticket seller who was present at the site of the accident, has communicated information to Brendan about the car involved in the fatality. Brendan fails to pass on the information to the police, for fear that Monica might be implicated. In spite of the ethical constraints on personal relationships between lawyer and client, Brendan is determined to pursue an affair with Monica. All too soon he is confronted by the realization that he has unwittingly connived in an unfolding calamity, with the potential to devastate his personal and professional future.