I’m Tracy Belden, a crossword puzzle creator and, in my spare time, a burned-out Las Vegas hotel maid.

Against my better judgement, I agreed to get two college students out of jail, mostly because I blew up my friend Kevin’s stove and can’t afford to replace it. However, leaning on my contact with the police proves pointless, since there’s no record the two young guys were arrested, as they claimed in their one phone call.

When Kevin and I follow their trail to a murder victim, my puzzle-obsessed brain insists on solving the problem. I only hope the missing students haven’t met a similar fate to the dead man.