KILLER IN THE RAIN: We were sitting in a room at the Bergland.

THE MAN WHO LIKED DOGS: There was a brand-new aluminum-gray DeSoto sedan in front of the door.

THE CURTAIN: The first time I ever saw Larry Batzel he was drunk outside Sardi's in a seconhand Rolls-Royce.

TRY THE GIRL: The big guy wasn't any of my business.

MANDARIN'S JADE: I was smoking my pipe and making faces at the back of my name on the glass part of the office door when Violets M'Gee called me up.

BAY CITY BLUES: It must have been Friday because the fish smell from the Mansion House coffee-shop next door was strong enough to build a garage on.

THE LADY IN THE LAKE: I was breaking a new pair of shoes in on my desk that morning when Violets M'Gee called me up.

NO CRIME IN THE MOUNTAINS: The letter came just before noon, special delivery, a dime-store envelope with the return address F. S. Lacey, Puma Point, California.