New OCR formatted proofed v15 When Aunt Clarissa gave little Stuart a copy of a book by Horatio Alger in 1897 she could scarcely have known that it would be involved in four murders If the average detective was handed an inscribed copy of a boys book fifty years later and asked to trace the original owner he wouldnt know where to start However problems of this sort are meat and drink to Simon Lash and soon many people are wishing that the meantempered detective had never heard of Horatio Alger little Stuart or Aunt Clarissa