When a high-ranking diplomat is being blackmailed, government agent Mike Hammond is given his orders: "Find this blackmailer, and he's all yours. You're judge and jury and...executioner." This gripping mystery short novel is just one of five thrilling tales in this collection in the tradition of the pulp magazines: "Mask of Blackmail," "Two Floors Up, in Chinatown," "Chinatown Cowboy," "Cat Thief," and the original weird mystery thriller, "The Beetle," featuring Edgar Allan Poe's great detective, Auguste Dupin.