The Face Behind the Mask

Class was stamped on every contour of her body, but the faint wisp of fear clung to her person. Gladys Pervins was a woman who had slipped on the path and was paying the price. Her husband, a reclusive yet extremely jealous scientist who spends his nights alone in the laboratory, gave her nothing in the way of marital bliss. So, when an attractive, young man named Bertie enters her life, she cannot help but to give in to one forbidden kiss, destined to be forgotten after the sun rises. But, the flash of the camera is forever! Now, as Mrs. Pervins is being blackmailed by an unknown culprit with a picture of her fateful kiss, she is destined to relive her star-crossed kiss night after night. So, she hires Race Williams, Confidential Agent, to solve the case and save her from the wrath of her jealous husband. And although Race has the skills to solve any case set on his desk, one picture may soon spin into a collage of conspiracy! Story #6 in the Race Williams series. Carroll John Daly (1889–1958) was the creator of the first hard-boiled private eye story, predating Dashiell Hammett's first Continental Op story by several months. Daly's classic character, Race Williams, was one of the most popular fiction characters of the pulps, and the direct inspiration for Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer.