Dirty Proof — Barbara Gregorich

Ralph Blasingame was a rising executive at the Chicago Truth-Examiner until he fell into the presses late one night and came out as bad news. Now his former lover, Suzanne Quering, is suspected of giving him a helping hand into the spinning wheel of death. She hires private eye Frank Dragovic to prove she didn't do it. Trouble is, on the night of Blasingame's death, Suzanne Quering was working late at the Truth-Examiner. Worse still, a silk scarf was found in the presses with Blasingame's body. She had such a scarf. Trouble is, she can't find it anywhere. In taking on the case, Dragovic encounters numerous suspects. He also encounters police lieutenant Dragan Brdar, who grew up with him in Chicago's southside Croatian neighborhood. Brdar informs Frank that Quering isn't as innocent as she sounds: not so long ago, she had threatened to kill Blasingame. With the police eager to prove murder, can Frank clear his stubborn red-headed client -- or will the memory of her flaming hair haunt him long after she's locked away? First published in 1988, now back in print.