The Big Heat

MURDER WAS IN THE AIR.A COP HAD KILLED HIMSELF, AND EVERY CROOKIN TOWN KNEW THAT WOULD BE SURE TO BRING ON THE BIG HEAT. Why didthey fear a dead man? Dave Bannion, homicide sergeant, fought for the answer to thatquestion. The dead man was a police clerk who shot himself for no obvious reason.That was Bannion's first judgment, until a girl named Lucy presented a quite differentpicture of the dead man from the one he had shown to the world and to his fastidious,glacial wife. Bannion's chief, Lieutenant Wilks, wanted the case closed andspeculation ended quickly and tightly. So did Max Stone and Lagana,who held the city in a sinister, underworld grip. But why? Why did theyall fear a dead man . . . ?