Wade Paris, State Police, finds himself better versed in ferretting out the criminal than in making grand stand plays for publicity, and succeeds in bypassing the Commissioner and his actions. In running down the perpetrator of a series of violent deaths, all linked to the appearance- and disappearance- or a rare Chinese figurine. The Atlantic resort community provides a choice of blind alleys before he clears the chief suspect, and finds the real killer. Good deduction though the motivization and characterization are not wholly convincing. By the author of at Dusk