Rice, Craig - The Corpse Steps Out (1940)

The second novel in the series featuring Malone and the Justuses.  Less nutty and fairly logical compared to most of her later works.

Radio actress is being blackmailed.  She makes appointment with blackmailer to recover some embarrassing love letters, but when she arrives at his apartment she discovers he has been shot.  She leaves unable to find the letters on him or in the apartment.  Jake Justus, the actress’ press agent and friend, intervenes on her behalf.  Tries to cover up the crime but when he visits the apartment the following day he finds no body.  Where did it go?  The corpse later turns up in a refrigerated warehouse that is targeted for arson, but Jake and Helene remove the body one more time and leave it on a bench in Lincoln Park.  Along the way two more bodies turn up and the body of the blackmailer gets moved two more times before the police finally find it!  Helene is mistaken for a pyromaniac (due to one of Jake’s juvenile pranks and a waitress with a unfortunately good memory) and adopts a silly disguise to escape arrest.  John J. Malone, the heavy drinking lawyer, of course saves the day by pointing out who the killer is.  Jake and Helene head for Crown Point, Indiana to get married in the final sentence of the book. 

J.F. Norris