Mert Hatfield

Ben regrets teaching a public seminar on criminal law, when one of his students disappears without a trace after a class discussion on the perfect crime.

Nightmares give Ben clues to the murderer of a celebrity doctor who was selling secrets about a client to the press.

A murder case involves two stars of a local theater production and an argument Ben thought he saw from his hotel window.

Against Matlock's approval, his associate, Cliff Lewis, advertises for and gets a private client.

A dissatisfied patient is suspected of murdering her plastic surgeon, but Ben thinks otherwise.

Fleeing deep into the woods from Sheriff Lucas Buck, young Caleb takes refuge in an eerie, abandoned hunting lodge and is terrified when he discovers a dying man who has been tortured and is being held prisoner there. The spirit of Caleb's dead sister, Merlyn, encourages him to help the pathetic man, one of Sheriff Buck's enemies, who has been kept prisoner by Selena Coombs. At Merlyn's funeral, Caleb learns that his father is dead and his cousin, Gail, has come to Trinity to protect him. Enlisting her help, and that of Dr. Matt Crower, he heads back to the lodge to try to save the stranger before Lucas and Selena realize what's going on.