Requiem for a Rat

Mortimer Carstairs faces a crisis when the stagehands refuse to work, jeopardizing the theater's performance that night. He enlists the help of Cannon, who recruits Gopy, a rough individual from the fringes of society, to fill in as a stagehand. Gopy is asked to perform as a butler in the first act but ultimately falls asleep during the performance. During the show, he is shot and killed, and the police suspect gang involvement due to Gopy’s criminal background. Cannon deduces the murder was accidental, linked to Sammy North, who had tipped off the assassin to avoid being discovered. As Cannon investigates further, he learns that Gopy's death was a part of a larger smuggling scheme, revealing that Sammy North had orchestrated the situation to cover his tracks, leading to chaos and a race to uncover the truth before the underworld's wrath unfolds.