A couple of small favors land Flash Casey in a dangerous messFlash Casey should know better than to take a roll of film from a desperate man. Stopping for a drink on his way home from work, a fellow news photographer gives him a canister to safeguard. The next morning, Casey wakes up with gunmen in his bedroom, looking for the film that could implicate one of their associates in a killing. To save his friend's life, Casey hands over the negatives, expecting that to ...

A reporter is drawn into a German refugee's story of conspiracyThe photo contest is an ancient circulation gimmick. Each day, the Morning Bulletin publishes a candid photo of one of Boston's citizenry, offering a cash reward if they see themselves in the paper within twenty-four hours of publication. It's not a bad way to sell papers, but it could mean a death sentence for Ethel Kovalik.When she comes to collect her prize money she begs Larry Palmer...

To steal a Caribbean inheritance, an American impersonates a prodigal sonThough his name is Duncan Ward, he lands in Barbados with a passport reading "Jim MacQuade." The MacQuade family meets him at the airport with open arms, welcoming home the son who left the Caribbean over a decade earlier. Duncan knows Jim from college, and over the years has accumulated enough details of the MacQuade plantation to carry off the fraud. Old John MacQuade is near death, and Dunca...

FOLEY, THE RED-FACED, uniformed deputy on duty in the hall, peeked through one of the glass ovals inset in the leather-covered courtroom doors and said:"Hey, the jury's comin, out!"A concentrated and irritable sigh from the group of news-photographers lounging in the hall greeted the announcement. There was an intangible flurry of movement, a casual shifting of stances.Brant, of the News, sighed wearily. "Boy, it's about time."Tobacco smoke, the residue...

An amateur appraiser gets trapped in a chaotic diamond dealAfter years trying to make their fortunes in the Guyanese diamond trade, Barry Dawson and Colin Lambert have crossed paths once too often. The last time Lambert hired Barry as an appraiser, Lambert cheated his old friend out of his share. Soured on the diamond business, Barry wants to return to the States and marry his hometown girl. Desperate for travel money, he takes one last job from Lambert. He will fin...

A marina owner gets caught up in a murder investigationThe girl in the water is unfamiliar to Don MacLaren. This is odd since, as the owner of the island's only boat dock, he knows everyone who steps foot on the small spit of land. He hoists the young swimmer out, and is helping her get warm when Oliver Kingsley, the island's wealthiest citizen, comes to collect her, claiming he's her husband. The girl refuses to leave with Kingsley, resulting in a brawl between the...

One of Kent's pictures holds the secret to a wealthy man's deathNo one has seen titan of industry John Caldwell for nine years when he hires Kent Murdock to take his picture. Caldwell is preparing a landmark announcement, and wants Boston's finest newspaper photographer there to document it. Murdock chafes at the stuffy environment of the Caldwell home—particularly when Caldwell's heir instructs him to take only one picture. Using an infrared flash, Murdock sneaks a...

When Kent Murdock, news cameraman who doubles as a private eye, steps into a case there’s always plenty of fast talk and fast action. But even Kent didn't bargain for the singing slugs and flying fists that dogged his trail in the bedroom murder of New York’s most beautiful radio writer -- who handed out keys to her apartment like a salesman hands out samples. It was only reasonable that Kent should be trailed by trouble -- for this time he was both detective and chief suspect! And that wa...

A wealthy psychopath threatens the life of an innocent young manThe note comes during Barry Sanford's dinner. It's to the point, explaining succinctly that very soon, Barry is going to die. Though the note is unsigned, Barry knows that it comes from the desk of King Hubbard. Two years ago, Hubbard's younger brother staggered drunk out of a bar and into the path of Barry's car. Though the courts exonerated the young architect for the killing, King Hubbard has spent t...

While taking pictures at a society wedding, Kent Murdock stumbles upon a murderEvery society family has skeletons in its closets, but only the Cannings have a fresh corpse. Kent Murdock finds the dead man while taking pictures at the wedding of Patricia Canning and Roger Armington, scions of Boston's most prominent—and camera-shy—families. Patricia and Murdock have been friends for years, and she invited him to photograph the wedding against her parents' wishes. For...

A jilted lover finds himself implicated in a murder.When John Holland proposed to his girlfriend, Tracy, she imposed a 31-day waiting period before they could see each other again. It's day 30, and Holland travels to her Long Island home for their reunion, only to receive the shock of his life when he meets Tracy's fiancé, Roger Drake. Tracy's mother invites Holland to stay there and win back Tracy's love, and within a few hours, Drake is dead. As it turns out, Dra...

Smuggling leads to murder, with Kent Murdock caught in the middleWhen the Kemnora, a stately liner on her maiden voyage, docks in Boston, Kent Murdock is there to cover the story. He's joined by Harry Felton, a reporter and one-time foreign correspondent in France. As they leave the port, Murdock notices customs officials working over some passengers, but leaves without a second thought. After all, reporters are never bothered at customs.Only later ...