"The Venus Deal" - In the months before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, private detective Tom Hickey is part owner of a San Diego nightclub. His partner has mysterious sources for rare wartime luxuries such as creamery butter and prime beef and Cynthia, their orchestra's singer, has become the city's darling. Tom's making big money. But Cynthia disappears, and Tom follows her into the web of a cult founded by her mother, Venus, and Venus's lover, an East Indian guru.