Sam O'Brian, a pudgy, aging world-renowned newsman, now Editor-in-chief for The Albany Daily Tribune, sat in his office reflecting. About 1943 he had been introduced to the tall, enchanting Deirdre MacDarroch, a young red-headed reporter from near Asheville, North Carolina, by her good friend, Marie Dotson, a famous private-eye. Deirdre was now was in his employ, and was a great asset to the paper. One rainy day, she came barging into his office door in a skin-tight leather jump-suit, soaked to the skin. Deirdre's large, gold-speckled, green eyes looked panic-stricken. When she nervously...