Dead Peasants — Mark Travis

At noon, the rainy Saturday after Thanksgiving Day, twenty-eight employees of Littmann's Janitorial Service climb onto a luxury tour bus reserved by their boss. As they mix cocktails and open beers, they think about the annual weekend party they will enjoy in South Lake Tahoe. The bus soon leaves Sacramento on Highway 50 and is followed by family members in private vehicles. Two hours later, in light snow on Echo Summit, the bus slows for the steep downgrade. Suddenly, the bus loses power including the brakes and steering wheel. It crashes through a barrier and drops a thousand vertical feet through trees and boulders. The unrestrained passengers are tossed about and battered like frogs in a blender. By the time the bus comes to rest in a snow covered field, all the employees and the bus driver are dead. John Littmann had covered each employee with a company owned life insurance policy, and the following Monday morning he files claims totaling $14 million. Independent Private Investigator Dan Ballantine pulls his travel trailer to a river side resort near Sacramento and begins asking question. He learns of a mysterious visitor to the crash site and soon finds his own life in jeopardy.