A former D.A. has only five days to catch a killer in this classic hard-boiled mystery from the author of the Perry Mason series.

"The bestselling author of the century . . . a master storyteller." --The New York Times

Major Doug Selby is on leave from the US Army and headed to San Francisco for his next assignment. Until then, the ex-district attorney will be in Madison City, catching up with his friends, reporter Sylvia Martin and Sheriff Rex Brandon. But it's not long before the sheriff is called away on urgent business at the Madison Hotel. His old pal Doug might as well tag along . . .

The hotel owner suspects Fred Roff had a heart attack. But Selby, after examining the scene, believes he was poisoned. When a white gardenia is delivered shortly after their arrival, Doug remembers three people he saw wearing the flower only moments earlier. A harmless-looking woman in her sixties, his old nemesis A. B. Carr, and a beautiful blonde who seems out of place. She just happens to be checked into the adjoining room. Suddenly, they have a lead in their case . . .

But the clock is ticking. Doug has five days to solve the murder before duty calls him out of town and the killer is out of reach for good.

Originally published in 1946.