A successful burglar, Junior Bender is scared straight by a crooked cop, becoming a private investigator in L.A. instead. He's still not a model citizen, however, and in this series, Bender continues to land in dangerous, often comic quandaries that put his abilities and his moral compass to the test.

It's everyday business when Wattles, the San Fernando Valley's top "executive crook," sets up a hit. Then someone steals the piece of paper on which he has written the names of the crooks in the chain, and those thugs get "crossed off" the list—permanently. The only person Wattles can ask to solve his problem is Junior Bender, professional burglar and begrudging private eye for crooks. Bender's fourth outing (after The Fame Thief) is personal, because he deduces that his burglar mentor, Herbie Mott, is the one who stole the list. The problem? Now Herbie has been murdered, and to solve the case, Bender will have to find out some of his late hero's disturbing secrets.