The Case for Gretchen — Barbara Fry

Six days in Los Angeles and Gretchen Owen is still out of work and almost out of funds. Confusion over a lunch check brings J.L.E. Helwig to her rescue-a dashing gentleman who, to young Gretchen, looks like an Austrian nobleman. Helwig, however, is a private investigator. When he offers her a job, Gretchen is thrilled: what could be more exciting then working for a detective? She's soon disillusioned. "When I'm not doodling in my shorthand notebook, I'm dusting my desk," she tells Brien werner, a handsome Mr. Universe-type who workds down the hall. But the office routine livens up . . . with cryptic phone messages - "The goose is nesting!"- from Helwig's assistants, Ursula and Charles, mysterious after-hours visitors, and the discovery of a puzzling file record on the wanderings of a Manx cat! When curiousity gets to be too much for Gretchen, she does some sleuthing on her own-which really lets the cat out of the bag!