Alan Bernhardt

A moonlighting director finds his sideline more dangerous than he expected Alan Bernhardt is just starting rehearsal when his pager goes off. No one in the small San Francisco theater minds-they know that to make it on the stage, you have to be prepared to do all sorts of odd jobs off of it. But this director's job is odder than most. He works for Herbert Dancer, head of a boutique private investigation service. A corporate secretary has vanished with a sheaf of valuable documents, and it will take an off-Broadway sensibility to bring her home. Bernhardt is just closing in on the woman and her boyfriend when he learns that she isn't running for a profit, but for her life. To save her from the men who hired him, Bernhardt must find her and protect her-because his artistic vision does not include blood on his hands.

To unlock the secrets of a homicide, Bernhardt must connect with a terrified child Dennis tells the police he was sleeping when his wife was killed. Connie stumbled upon a prowler, he says, and paid for the mistake with her life. The police believe his story, but this cold man's crocodile tears cannot convince Connie's sister, Janice. She suspects her brother-in-law of a heinous crime, and it will take an unusual investigator to prove her right. Alan Bernhardt is a theater director in San Francisco who pays his rent with the odd bit of private detective work. Searching for the man who strangled Connie, his biggest obstacle isn't Dennis, but John-the dead woman's seven-year-old son. He may have witnessed something crucial on the night of the murder, but this sensitive child is too frightened to speak. Coaxing words out of John will be the toughest assignment of Alan's directing career, but not half as hard as keeping the boy alive.

A murder witness flees to California for protection, taking refuge in the theater Diane Cutler is half drunk and half stoned when she sees her stepfather carrying the body out of the house. She and her boyfriend look on, horrified, as real estate tycoon Preston Daniels loads his dead mistress into the car. Unable to resist their curiosity, they follow him, and watch as he dumps the poor woman's body in the rocks and sand of the Cape Cod landfill. Diane doesn't know what to do with this dark knowledge, but her boyfriend sees it as an opportunity for blackmail-and is nearly beaten to death for it. Terrified of her stepfather, Diane flees to the West Coast to ask theater director and sometimes private detective Alan Bernhardt for help. Alan is unavailable, but recommends his girlfriend and protégé, Paula, for the job. Paula may be an excellent actress, but playing PI will prove to be one of the most dangerous performances of her career.

To honor a dying don's last wish, a mob lieutenant searches for hidden diamonds After seven years ruling his empire from prison, Don Carlo remains as powerful as ever, but his heart is beginning to fail. On the verge of death, he begs his right-hand man, Bacardo, to look after his family. Not his wife and children, the don explains, but Louise and Angela-his daughter and granddaughter from a beloved mistress who died long ago. To Louise, the don bequeaths one million dollars in diamonds, hidden in a cemetery in a tiny California town. Securing her inheritance will mean mortal danger for Louise, Bacardo, and the private investigator they hire to help them-a moonlighting director named Alan Bernhardt. Bernhardt understands the risks, but also knows that the theater and the mafia have two things in common: the understanding that a professional is only as good as his word, and that the only way to survive is to act without fear.

A dying art collector asks Bernhardt to revisit him in his darkest hour The first time Betty Giles went missing, her employers wanted her dead. They hired Alan Bernhardt, theater director and sometimes PI, to find her, but when he discovered their scheme, he drew a sawed-off shotgun to save her life. Now Betty's missing again, hiding somewhere in Europe, and her old bosses want her found. Will Bernhardt deliver her to the man who once tried to have her killed? It certainly isn't easy to refuse Raymond DuBois, a billionaire art collector who insists his feud with Betty was nothing but an innocent misunderstanding. He's dying, and promises he can clear her name if Alan can only locate her. The case seems like a trap, but the director has one thing working for him. Unlike last time, he knows that trusting anyone could be suicide.