Stilettoed

A woman is found strangled, floating in the swimming pool of a fashionable Ft. Lauderdale estate owned by Jeffery Rhineman. Police Lieutenant Kenneth Kelly feels the murderer has a certain familiarity about it. Sort of Deja vu. The lieutenant believes the case is a continuation of one previously worked by his department and Private Detective Jake Wayde.

Jeffery Rhineman, a man known to the lieutenant from a previous case, is on the run in Europe. Both Iranian and Palestinian operatives are pursuing him. A month earlier, he had reneged on a deal with the Iranians to sell a deadly chemical formula invented by his late father, the famous chemist Dr. Frederick Rhineman.  Angered, the Shiite clerics dispatched two skilled members of Tehran's elite Quds force to find Rhineman, get the formula, and kill him.

              An armed wing of Hamas, the Izz al-Din al Qassam, learned of the Iranians' interest in Jeffery Rhineman and the deadly chemical formula, which would help Palestine eliminate the Jews in Israel. The Palestine Islamic jihad cell selected three of their most experienced members, skilled in execution-style hits, and sent them to America. They believed Jeffery Rhineman had returned to his homeland.

Barton T. Rosemount, the dead woman's billionaire husband, wants the police to find his wife's murderer, but he also wants to hire a private detective. Lieutenant Kelly is not happy with this but puts him in touch with Jake Wayde. After a short meeting, Rosemount hires Wayde to help find the woman's killer. Wayde soon learns that Lieutenant Kelly is correct; the case is indeed entwined with Puzzle of Death's earlier point, involving the late famous chemist Dr. Rhineman and his gay son Jeffery.

The two Iranian operatives and the three Palestinian operatives, led by the beautiful and ruthless Siddra Abood, are now in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, in their search for Jeffery Rhineman, whom they believe has the deadly chemical formula and the ten million in cash he'd received from his wealthy father.

The police, Jake Wayde, and the FBI, who've become involved, locate Jeffery Rhineman and endeavor to protect him while trying to find his evil pursuers. People are turning up dead, including the two Iranian operatives.

Jeffery doesn't like confinement and, with Barton T. Rosemount's help, escapes and goes into hiding. Barton is using Jeffery as bait to bring out his wife's killer.

However, Siddra Abood captures Jeffery. He is tortured and killed without revealing where the chemical formula is hidden. But Siddra doesn't give up as she believes others know where the formula is hidden. Possibly even Jake Wayde. There is an all-out search for her, but after her two companions are killed, she leaves a trail, using the unsuspecting Barton Rosemount to make it seem she'd returned to Palestine.

              A short time later, Siddra corners Jake Wayde and his partner in their private detective office. She's convinced that Wayde has the money and the deadly formula. She threatens to kill them. However, Wayde pulls out his converted stiletto. She laughs at him for bringing a knife to a gunfight. Wayde presses a red button. The single-chamber fires and a bullet strikes Siddra in the chest. Her Beretta Nano drops from her hand as she is flung back against the wall. Bloodstains the front of her white silk blouse. She tries to speak as her dark eyes glare at Wayde. Slowly, the glare disappears, and dead eyes stare across the room.