The head of a drug company mysteriously disappears, after taking credit for a new anesthetic that actually resulted from the work of several doctors, and his surgeon is found strangely murdered by a surgical instrument.

Crotchety hospital administrator Peter Melady, self-proclaimed developer of a new wonder anaesthetic, is about to undergo a delicate operation to be performed by the glib Dr. Leo Harrigan, Melady's longtime mutual adversary. Police are called when the murdered body of Harrigan is found in an elevator, and Melady, last seen being wheeled on a gurney to surgery by Harrigan, has disappeared.—Doug Sederberg <[email protected]>