High-profile, outspoken, techy businessman is jailed for the murder of an ex-coworker at Amazon. An ex-con-turned-PI, just out of prison for serving 10-year sentence for DWI while on duty as a homicide detective, tries to find out Who Framed Bobby Babbitt.
Roger Wentworth capitalizes on his considerable experience as a homicide detective for the Minneapolis PD by starting his own PI Agency called P.I.S.S. – Private Investigations & Security Services. His first case is a doozy: Computer genius entrepreneur Bobby Babbitt has been arrested for the murder of an ex-colleague, Tommy Dell. He and Dell’s very public war of words about Babbitt’s invention of a new quantum computer provides the motive while Babbitt’s fingerprints on three cigarettes found near the crime scene constitutes physical evidence for Babbitt’s guilt.
But Roger Wentworth isn’t the only PI on the case. Figuring three is better than one, the accused has employed, including Roger, three private investigators to handle his case. The first one to solve the mystery and get Babbitt released from jail will receive $1M plus Babbitt’s favorite cryptocurrencies to invest in. With Roger being the last one hired, there’s no time to spare.
Besides being an ex-con, Roger is a recovering alcoholic. But before he sobers up, and before forming his agency, Wentworth embarks on a three-day binge at Liquor Lyle’s, an iconic dive bar in south Minneapolis. With the urge to drink out of his system, he’s ready to dive into the P.I. Business.
After adopting an epic cat, a Maine Coon named Shaggy, from the Humane Society, and buying a new desktop computer, Roger is ready to dig into the case. With four ex-wives to go along with his client, Roger has plenty of suspects to investigate.
Along with the ex’s, Roger finds another suspect: Brad Newsome, ex-coworker at Dude, I’m Not Making That Up Improv Club, extremely close friend, and sole beneficiary in Tommy Dell’s will…and named payee on the deceased’s million-dollar life-insurance policy. Despite Brad’s denials, Roger is convinced they were lovers and that after discovering the life-insurance policy, Newsome murdered his lover.
In the vein of “The Lincoln Lawyer”, Roger does much of his PI work in a Pullman golf cart while playing golf. The Pullman PI uses his cellphone and tablet to question suspects, speak with his rich client and research the case in between shots.
The ex-con’s business, P.I.S.S. – Private Investigations & Security Services – may end abruptly as first Roger’s brakes are tampered with and then their golf cart explodes. Luckily his newly adopted cat, an epic Maine Coon named Shaggy, runs after a jackrabbitt he spots in the fairway. Roger and Stephen rush after Shaggy, which saves their lives as the golf cart explodes when they’re about two-hundred and twenty-five yards away.
With the prime suspect out of the country to check out a hiding spot after getting the insurance money, Roger deduces that Newsome must have an accomplice, most likely a new lover.
But Roger is astounded when he discovers the identity of the accomplice. Then he’s shocked when he finds the true identity of the accomplice isn’t the one he thought he just found out. In a final showdown with the criminals, Roger receives help from an unexpected source.
Who Framed Bobby Babbitt? 