A Penny Earned

Private investigator Heebs Kelly, a breezy young WWII veteran, came to Cheyenne to work with his Army buddy, not find him murdered at his desk. The police are eager to write off attorney Paul Richardson’s homicide as the work of a passing vagrant – or as proof the victim was mixed up in something shady. His grief stricken family beg Heebs to find the killer and clear Paul’s name. Soon Heebs and the tiny white dog he rescued from coyotes start stepping on the toes of influential people and threatening secrets someone wants to keep buried. When a pair of thugs jump him outside a bar to persuade him to keep his nose out, they find their would-be prey is tougher than his lack of cowboy boots and missing hand suggest. Instead of backing off, Heebs doubles down. He begins to uncover hints of corruption that reaches across the state, and maybe beyond. When another murder occurs, he faces the additional challenge of keeping a restless and supremely annoying witness alive long enough to cough up information that may or may not prove useful. Aided by his Mexican secretary, a woman doctor, and his prickly landlady, who fascinates him as much as she baffles him, Heebs picks out a trail that leads to a jarring connection. In an unfamiliar city, unsure who to trust, he risks his life to expose the truth and exact justice.