"Hot Tub Powwow" and Other Stories

"Hot Tub Powwow": The police discover three dead men in a hot tub who appear to have simultaneously shot one another to death. They must find the connections between the three men in the tub, a mobster, and a missing entrepreneur - and then prevent other murders. "A Star Too Bright": Cross-dressing performer Lady Irma is found murdered in a dressing room at the same moment she is seen by TV cameras entering a car and driving off outside the theater. The investigators must figure out who that was, where that person is now, and what was Irma's connection to Senator Smithe in order to determine who killed Jason/Irma and why. "Paternal Reaction": While their father hunts for his two pre-teen sons, suspected of abducting a toddler, police search for the little boy and deal with some of his peculiar relatives. As so often in life, things are not as straightforward as they may first appear. "Mayan Marvel Plan": Jim Evans, newly hired tutor for two boys just taken in by a dying wealthy old man learns they are to be used in some way in an occult ceremony very soon. A mystery lady leaves Evans hints about the Ritual of Transposition in which an old person takes over the body of a young one and lives on in it. Evans must decide whether the boys need his protection and if so how to do that among stonewalling and deceptions from several major characters.