Red Goose

A painting has vanished from a museum, and it will take a tough guy to find it.

Even before the fight, the three hoodlums look out of place in the museum. Their eyes are beady, their ears are cauliflowered, and one of them is missing a finger. When they start brawling, it draws the attention of every security guard in the place. Only when the fight is over do the guards realize the Red Goose has been stolen.

The museum hires Ben Shaley, a rough-and-tumble PI, to get it back, starting him down a deadly road with switchbacks at every turn. The museum may be high class, but Shaley's trip starts at the bottom -- and only gets bumpier from there.

Featuring an introduction by Keith Alan Deutsch, this rocket sled of a story was one of Raymond Chandler's favorites ever to be published in Black Mask.