Doomed to Die

Shipping magnate Cyrus Wentworth has just been found dead in his office. Rival shipping magnate Paul Fleming, who always wanted to merge their two companies, believes Wentworth committed suicide in being despondent over the declining fortunes of his company, a fire on one of his ships, the Wentworth Castle, which killed most of the people aboard, only exacerbating his problems. SFPD Captain Bill Street believes it an open and shut case of murder by Dick Fleming, Fleming's son, the last known person in Wentworth's office, the motive being Wentworth's refusal to let him marry his daughter, Cynthia Wentworth. Herald reporter Bobbie Logan, often a professional thorn in Street's side in always hounding him for a scoop, has a natural vested interest in this case in being the person who would have stood up for her friend Cynthia at the wedding. Famed private detective James Lee Wong, Street's friend who he often calls in for assistance, believes the death may have something to do with the fire aboard the Castle, either retribution by one of the many families of the dead Chinese passengers or someone trying to hide something about the suspicious nature of the fire itself. Only a successful conclusion to the investigation, in which Wong, Street and Logan participate, will prove if any of those theories are correct.