Clarence Budington Kelland is master of the slick, swift, entertaining yarn."e; —New York Times "e;Bright and breezy mystery and romance."e; —Kirkus Reviews FBI agent Hawser Butts had a funny name and a sense of humor. But he was dead serious on a case—and all the more so now that his best friend and fellow agent had been murdered. Hawser only had one clue, but it led him straight to the largest theft of bonds in U.S. history and something called the Black Stock exchange, where forged bonds were sold and traded. Along the way he encountered bullets, bodies, mayhem, offbeat romance, and as strange a set of suspects as any G-Man had ever met: Absalom Stubblecheek: now disabled and retired, he had once been the infamous "e;pirate of Wall Street"e;—but had he really laid down his cutlass for good? Pea-Eye Hoskins: a sophisticated conman and quick on the trigger...too quick for his own good. Lana Gibson: she looked like an innocent 16-year-old, but she was neither—and her strings of cusses could scorch the hide off a Marine. Tubby Alton, Hawser's college roommate: was he a dupe, a dastard, or just a hanger-on? Jackson Robards: this high-society millionaire had it all—but it was draining away with each dose of heroin he injected. Tessie Minchkin: a ditzy dowager who tittered at young men's attentions—but finally received more attention than she wanted. Mike Zoltowski: a Polish immigrant—Hawser called him a "e;true citizen"e; and told his boss, "e;sometimes these foreign-born boys like what they find here and get the idea better"e; than your average citizen by birth. Olga Zoltowski: a hotel maid who was better informed than the FBI—and, like her husband, more patriotic than most people Howser met. And finally... Nadine Stubblecheek: her angular features, metallic voice, lighting wits and seeming indifference attracted the FBI agent as no woman ever had...but was she on the side of the angels—or leading him like a lamb to the slaughter? Following a tangled trail of trouble and danger, Hawser Butts slowly sorted the innocent from the guilty, worked his way close to the killers...and, soon enough, found himself a marked man. "e;A writer of distinction."e; —The Detroit News

Clarence Budington Kelland is master of the slick, swift, entertaining yarn."e; —New York Times "e;Bright and breezy mystery and romance."e; —Kirkus Reviews FBI agent Hawser Butts had a funny name and a sense of humor. But he was dead serious on a case—and all the more so now that his best friend and fellow agent had been murdered. Hawser only had one clue, but it led him straight to the largest theft of bonds in U.S. history and something called the Black Stock exchange, where forged bonds were sold and traded. Along the way he encountered bullets, bodies, mayhem, offbeat romance, and as strange a set of suspects as any G-Man had ever met: Absalom Stubblecheek: now disabled and retired, he had once been the infamous "e;pirate of Wall Street"e;—but had he really laid down his cutlass for good? Pea-Eye Hoskins: a sophisticated conman and quick on the trigger...too quick for his own good. Lana Gibson: she looked like an innocent 16-year-old, but she was neither—and her strings of cusses could scorch the hide off a Marine. Tubby Alton, Hawser's college roommate: was he a dupe, a dastard, or just a hanger-on? Jackson Robards: this high-society millionaire had it all—but it was draining away with each dose of heroin he injected. Tessie Minchkin: a ditzy dowager who tittered at young men's attentions—but finally received more attention than she wanted. Mike Zoltowski: a Polish immigrant—Hawser called him a "e;true citizen"e; and told his boss, "e;sometimes these foreign-born boys like what they find here and get the idea better"e; than your average citizen by birth. Olga Zoltowski: a hotel maid who was better informed than the FBI—and, like her husband, more patriotic than most people Howser met. And finally... Nadine Stubblecheek: her angular features, metallic voice, lighting wits and seeming indifference attracted the FBI agent as no woman ever had...but was she on the side of the angels—or leading him like a lamb to the slaughter? Following a tangled trail of trouble and danger, Hawser Butts slowly sorted the innocent from the guilty, worked his way close to the killers...and, soon enough, found himself a marked man. "e;A writer of distinction."e; —The Detroit News

Clarence Budington Kelland is master of the slick, swift, entertaining yarn."e; —New York Times "e;Bright and breezy mystery and romance."e; —Kirkus Reviews FBI agent Hawser Butts had a funny name and a sense of humor. But he was dead serious on a case—and all the more so now that his best friend and fellow agent had been murdered. Hawser only had one clue, but it led him straight to the largest theft of bonds in U.S. history and something called the Black Stock exchange, where forged bonds were sold and traded. Along the way he encountered bullets, bodies, mayhem, offbeat romance, and as strange a set of suspects as any G-Man had ever met: Absalom Stubblecheek: now disabled and retired, he had once been the infamous "e;pirate of Wall Street"e;—but had he really laid down his cutlass for good? Pea-Eye Hoskins: a sophisticated conman and quick on the trigger...too quick for his own good. Lana Gibson: she looked like an innocent 16-year-old, but she was neither—and her strings of cusses could scorch the hide off a Marine. Tubby Alton, Hawser's college roommate: was he a dupe, a dastard, or just a hanger-on? Jackson Robards: this high-society millionaire had it all—but it was draining away with each dose of heroin he injected. Tessie Minchkin: a ditzy dowager who tittered at young men's attentions—but finally received more attention than she wanted. Mike Zoltowski: a Polish immigrant—Hawser called him a "e;true citizen"e; and told his boss, "e;sometimes these foreign-born boys like what they find here and get the idea better"e; than your average citizen by birth. Olga Zoltowski: a hotel maid who was better informed than the FBI—and, like her husband, more patriotic than most people Howser met. And finally... Nadine Stubblecheek: her angular features, metallic voice, lighting wits and seeming indifference attracted the FBI agent as no woman ever had...but was she on the side of the angels—or leading him like a lamb to the slaughter? Following a tangled trail of trouble and danger, Hawser Butts slowly sorted the innocent from the guilty, worked his way close to the killers...and, soon enough, found himself a marked man. "e;A writer of distinction."e; —The Detroit News