1939 Cool & Lam (A. A. Fair)

The Bigger They Come

Client Morgan Birks

Case Narrative & Plot Summary

Donald Lam, a disbarred young attorney weighing under a hundred pounds, applies for a job at the B. Cool Detective Agency. Bertha Cool, an overweight, profane woman whose fee is 5 a day and expenses, sends him to serve a subpoena on a witness in an Arizona murder case.

Donald Lam's Legal Gambit

Donald Lam discovers a famous legal loophole in the state extradition statutes: if a man shoots someone across state lines without setting foot in the jurisdiction, he cannot be legally extradited under current treaty language.

Bertha Cool Dictum
"Fry me for an oyster! Twenty-five dollars a day and expenses, and not a red cent less!"