Killer’s Payoff By Ed McBain

Sy Kramer was handsome well-dressed well-heeled – and dead. A blackmailer who’d pushed one of his victims too far Kramer had earned his last payoff: a bullet in the head. Which of Kramer’s pigeons had so much at stake that murder seemed like the best bet? Was it the politician’s wife anxious to conceal her shadowy past? Or the soft drinks king? Or was it that unknown victim who had fattened Kramer’s bankroll by the thousands? Or perhaps another blackmailer muscling in on Kramer’s territory? The boys of the 87th have a tough case to crack. They must catch the desperate killer before he or she strikes again and Kramer’s blackmail victims are decidedly unwilling to cooperate.