Toby Peters looked at the glossy photograph. Yes that was Errol Flynn in the picture. And, yes, there was a girl with him... a very young girl. They were both birthday naked, and seemed to be enjoying themselves. No wonder Flynn and Warner Brothers were nervous-if the photograph wasn't a fake, the studio's investment in the star was in serious jeopardy.

Toby found the picture where he was supposed to find it. He wasn't planning to get hit on the head, though, or to find a corpse when he awoke. The first of a series of corpses, scattered all over Hollywood.

The trail Toby follows in order to clear Flynn-and himself-takes him throughout the film colony and finally onto the set of THE MALTESE FALCON, where Bogie, Lorre, and Greenstreet find themselves playing roles that aren't rehearsed-but whose execution has to be picture perfect.