First in the Charlie Komensky detective series. Charlie is an ex-Chicago cop who moved to the suburbs and still saw a lot of action before retiring and becoming a private detective. He's a railroad fan, and never misses an opportunity to watch or chase trains. His longsuffering girlfriend, Linda Chelwood, runs a card and gift shop in Oak Brook and spends her free hours trying to keep the detective business solvent and Charlie on track - almost a second full-time job. She'd love to marry him as much as he'd love to take her with him to watch trains. When a sexy and disarming client comes to Charlie with a story that her cousin has murdered her lover, Charlie heads off to Iowa City to do some sleuthing and train watching. In a short time, he finds that a new formulation for synthetic rubber is both a valuable and deadly key to solving the crime.