Threads to Untangle: the Challenge of Failure

Casino Balconies Collapse 88 confirmed dead 100's injuredThis headline in a 1980 issue of the Denver Transcript highlights a construction catastrophe. How did it happen? Who was at fault? That's what architect Woodford Stickley and attorney Angela Adams were hired to find out. As forensic investigators they sort through tangled evidence to determine why a building failed and provide expert testimony during legal proceedings. The partnership developed when Stickley answered Adam's call for help on a personal injury case. Her request came as a construction slump threatened to wipe out his new practice and an emotional crisis portends an early end to an equally new marriage. Stickley overcomes the two challenges as he learns to untangle the threads of building disasters, sort out his relationships with the opposite sex and keep up with the pace set by a lady lawyer who is as proficient in the sport of hang gliding as she is in weaving a convincing legal argument. Their work leads them to all parts of Colorado, picking up bits of local lore as they go, to solve the mysteries of a construction crash, condominium failures and the tragic casino balcony collapse.