When John Putnam Thatcher, senior vice-president of the Sloan Guaranty Trust, investigated the affairs of a Sloan-backed clothing plant in Puerto Rico, he discovered some very suspicious "accidents." And corpses, he knew, are very bad for business. There were two prime suspects, three million dollars of Sloan money at stake, and a lot of loose threads. With a body in the front office, violence at a fiery festival, and a ransom note to the governor of Puerto Rico, Thatcher raced to find the elusive pattern - before more innocent people got buttonholed by death!