Blackmail — Parnell Hall

She had shoulder-length blond hair and a perfectly symmetrical face, wide-eyed and innocent as a newborn babe. Her name was Marlena, and, against his better judgment, private detective Stanley Hastings agreed to act as a go-between between the "babe" and whoever was blackmailing her over some dirty pictures. Hastings got the photos, but oddly enough, Marlena wasn't in them. Then she wasn't around--anywhere. What had started off as simple extortion was turning into a case of multiple murders and mysterious motives. And with a heavy-handed cop breathing down Hastings's neck the mild-mannered, erstwhile New York actor was finding out just how duplicitous some people can be--and how bloody the final payoff can get ...