It was a dark and stormy night when Mary Crane glimpsed the unlit neon sign announcing the vacancy at the Bates Motel. Exhausted, lost, and at the end of her rope, she was eager for a hot shower and a bed for the night. Her room was musty but clean and the plumbing worked. Norman Bates, the manager, seemed nice, if a little odd ...

Just getting back into action the "Nameless Detective" lands a case involving two double-dealing sisters, who require him to track down their father, a hobo riding the rails.

When "the Spinner" turns up dead in the East River, Matt Scudder goes into action because the Spinner had paid Scudder in advance to find his killer.