 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations .(June 2019) |
The Fast Buck, also known as The Soft Touch, is a 1952 thriller mystery novel by British author James Hadley Chase.
 First edition | |
| Author | James Hadley Chase |
|---|---|
| Original title | The Soft Touch |
| Country | UK |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Robert Hale |
Publication date | 1952 |
The fast buck runs around a complexed set of events and interactions between different people out to find a hidden Indian treasure with different intentions, soon involving a ruthless criminal who is on the run after a homicide in an attempted robbery.
The story opens with hotelier Ralph Rico rendezvousing with acquaintance Verne Baird, a ruthless killer who has just knocked off actress Jean Bruce to steal her necklace, and wants Rico to sell it safely for him. Baird then runs for safety. Officer Olin shortly comes in and reveals that Jean Bruce has died and he strongly suspects Baird, but Rico denies any knowledge of the killer or the necklace.
It is then shown that the Maharajah of Chittabad in India has come to claim a treasure of Indian jewels that his father had shipped to New York to donate to a museum long back, but was stolen and its whereabouts unknown, although the thief who attempted the robbery, Paul Hater, is serving a prison sentence due to end in two years. The Rajah now wants the insurance company to make good the loss of the treasure, but the latter suspect that he is trying to exploit them by finding the treasure for himself and disposing it whilst making a false claim for insurance money, and have employed private investigator Harmon Purvis' agency to spy on him. Ed Dallas, sidekick to Purvis, spies on a couple visiting the Rajah and reports his findings to his boss. The couple are one Preston Kile from San Francisco and his companion Eve Gillis.
Olin finds Baird and pursues him, but as fate would have it, Baird lands up in the apartment of Anita Jackson, a waitress, who hides him from the police and nurses him to good health for days, much to Baird's surprise, in return for nothing. For some reason, Anita hates the police. Baird then gets time to prepare an alibi with friends in New York, and Olin is not able to pin the homicide-robbery on him. Baird develops a fascination for Anita and decides to meet her again.
Next the plot moves to Preston Kile, a broke Stock exchange manipulator and roadside romeo, and Eve Gillis, an ex model, staying with him. She convinces him to agree to find the Rajah's treasure for the Rajah against all odds. But Eve is actually working in hand with her wayward brother Adam Gillis, both of whom wish to usurp the Rajah's prize money and then ditch Kile.
Kile and Eve decide to 'kidnap' Hater from the Bellmore State Prison Farm and obtain the treasure whereabouts from him, as advised by Adam, and they meet Rico to find someone for this, who suggests Baird for a commission; the killer agrees to do the work for 10,000 dollars if he succeeds and 5000 even if he fails. Rico in the meantime gives the stolen necklace to Kile for safe disposal. Adam later scrutinises Kile's apartment secretly and notes this.
Baird's movements are noted by Purvis' agents spying on everyone. Baird however notes this, and thinks there's more than meets the eye. He understands Kile's intention behind kidnapping Hater. Baird ends up killing Dallas' girlfriend Zoe Norton spying on him for Dallas' sake, and brutally wounds two of Purvis' detectives too.
Baird is now on the run as he and Rico are seen fleeing by Dallas after killing Zoe, with a look out notice for him everywhere, and a helpless Rico, witness to his activities, is forced to run with him, leaving behind his club and businesses. Baird sets off with Rico to kidnap Hater from the Red river swamps. They break away with Hater being brought to them by Baird's inside man Noddy, whom Baird kills when Noddy tries to double cross and kill them.
Unfortunately lady luck does not smile on Baird and Rico anymore. An attack dog fatally bites Baird's left arm, and he takes ill soon after the bite with rapid sepsis, and the prison police soon catch up with them on the riverbank. Rico is shot in the ensuing scuffle and soon attacked and devoured by an alligator in the river. Baird decides to go to the Maharajah directly and deliver Hater.
The plot now switches to Adam Gillis and his sister. Adam secretly watches Kile waiting for Baird at the pre decided location to receive Hater. He then anonymously calls the police and informs them that Kile has the missing necklace they're looking for, and Kile is arrested. He then proceeds to Eve's apartment, where it is revealed that Adam was all along in hand with the Chittabad Maharajah, and had planned the whole game with him. Adam had previously helped the Rajah in India, and the latter tasked him with finding his treasure by extracting information from Hater, in return for a job in India. Adam was only using Eve and Kile as stooges to get Hater out, should in case anything go wrong. But now that the plan has failed and Baird is delivering Hater by himself, Adam didn't need Kile anymore and got rid of him by tipping police about the necklace. Adam tells Eve to come with him to India to become the Rajah's concubine, to which Eve flatly refuses. In anger Adam tries to kill Eve but is stopped by the spying Dallas. He sends them both to hospital.
The last phase and twist of the story moves to Baird. Slowly dying of gangrene and sepsis, he forgets about the gagged and bound Hater with him and drives to Anita's apartment to meet her. Olin and Dallas arrive with cops, and both question Anita. Hater is found dead of suffocation and injury in Baird's car already. At this point it is revealed by Anita that Hater was actually her father, and she was waiting for him all these years to return. Dallas sends Anita to meet the sick but armed Baird alone in her apartment. Anita tells Baird who actually Hater was, and Baird says he didn't mean to kill him. She also tells him at this point that there really is no treasure existent now because it was taken by her mother (Hater's wife) when Hater was arrested long back, abroad on a ship which sank with the treasure but her mother was saved and she moved on with life. Anita helped Baird because she dislikes police for what they did to Hater. Anita then leaves, and Olin and Dallas confront Baird. A now remorseful Baird requests them not to charge Anita with sheltering him before, and dies.
Olin decides to leave Anita out of the case. Prodded by Purvis, Dallas speaks to Anita and offers her money for any information on the treasure, but she flatly denies knowledge about it and walks away. The impressed Dallas offers to help Anita in future.
Noddy is a fictional character created by English children's author Enid Blyton. Noddy first appeared in a book series published between 1949 and 1963, illustrated by the Dutch artist Harmsen van der Beek from 1949 until his death in 1953, after which the work was continued by Peter Wienk. Television shows based on the character have run on British television since 1955.
The Listerdale Mystery is a short story collection written by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by William Collins and Sons in June 1934. The book retailed at seven shillings and sixpence (7/6). The collection did not appear in the US; however, all of the stories contained within it did appear in other collections only published there.
"Underneath" is episode 17 of season 5 in the television show Angel. Written by Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain and directed by Skip Schoolnik, it was originally broadcast on April 14, 2004 on the WB television network.
William Daniel Jones was a member of the Barrow Gang, whose spree throughout the southern Midwest in the early years of the Great Depression became part of American criminal folklore. Jones ran with Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker for eight and a half months, from Christmas Eve 1932 to early September 1933. He and another gang member named Henry Methvin were consolidated into the "C.W. Moss" character in the film Bonnie and Clyde (1967). "Moss was a dumb kid who run errands and done what Clyde told him," Jones later said. "That was me, all right."
Cult of Crime is this third installment in the Hardy Boys Casefiles series, published in 1987. The story revolves around Frank and Joe who try to save a girl named Holly from the clutches of a person who calls himself 'the Rajah'.
Blanche Barrow was the wife of the elder brother of Clyde Barrow, known as Buck. He became her second husband after his release from prison after a pardon. To her dismay, Buck joined his brother's gang. Blanche was present at the shootout which resulted in the Barrow Gang becoming nationally recognized fugitives. She only spent four months with the gang. Although she never used a gun, Blanche was blinded in one eye during a getaway. In the same incident, she rescued her husband under heavy police gunfire. She was caught along with her fatally wounded husband by a posse of local men in Iowa. She served six years in prison for assault with intent to kill the sheriff of Platte County, Missouri, but, he treated her sympathetically. Upon her release, she remarried and lived quietly thereafter. Barrow was extensively consulted for the fictionalized 1967 film about the Barrow gang, but disliked her portrayal in it, despite Estelle Parsons winning an Oscar for the role.
Havana is a 1990 American drama film starring Robert Redford, Lena Olin, Alan Arkin and Raul Julia, directed by Sydney Pollack with music by Dave Grusin. The film's plot concerns Jack Weil (Redford), an American professional gambler who decides to visit Havana, Cuba to gamble in 1958 on the eve of the Cuban Revolution.
Naked in Death (1995) is the first book of the In Death series by J. D. Robb, preceding Glory in Death. This book originally had a cover flat produced for it with the name "D. J. MacGregor", but was changed later.
Scarlett Mary Nicholls is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera, Emmerdale. She is played by Kelsey-Beth Crossley and made her first appearance on 2 March 2007. It was announced on 8 May 2011 that Crossley was leaving the show. She made her final appearance on 28 July 2011. On 21 October 2012, it was announced Crossley would make a brief return to Emmerdale.
Barry "Newt" Newton is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Nico Mirallegro. He debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 22 October 2007. He was introduced as the serial's first emo character and as the foster son of Jack and Frankie Osborne. During the character's duration he was involved in notable storylines including schizophrenia, a suicide pact and living in foster care. In 2010, Mirallegro quit the serial to pursue other projects. Newt left the village on 25 June 2010.
Eternity in Death (2007) is a novella written by J. D. Robb. It is one of the few In Death stories to incorporate elements of the supernatural. It takes place before Creation in Death.
The Mad Miss Manton is a 1938 American screwball comedy-mystery film directed by Leigh Jason and starring Barbara Stanwyck as fun-loving socialite Melsa Manton and Henry Fonda as newspaper editor Peter Ames. Melsa and her debutante friends hunt for a murderer while eating bonbons, flirting with Ames, and otherwise behaving like irresponsible socialites. Ames is also after the murderer, as well as Melsa's hand in marriage.
Loyalty in Death (1999) is a novel by J. D. Robb. It is the tenth novel in the In Death series, preceded by Conspiracy in Death and preceding Witness in Death. It is the first book in the series to deal with issues of terrorism and large scale homicide.
Maharani Sita Devi Sahib of Baroda was known as the "Indian Wallis Simpson". She was a colourful lady who led an extravagant life for over 40 years and was a member of the international jet set.
Almost Human is a 1974 Italian poliziotteschi film directed by Umberto Lenzi. This film stars Tomas Milian, Henry Silva, Ray Lovelock and Anita Strindberg.
John Barton is a fictional character from the British soap opera Emmerdale, played by James Thornton. The actor was asked to audition for the part and he called it the "most frightening audition" he had ever done. Thornton won the role of John, who was introduced to Emmerdale along with his family as part of an overhaul of the show by the series producer Gavin Blyth. The Barton family took over the running of Butler's Farm and they were described as being "sexy, modern and contemporary". Thornton made his debut screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 17 July 2009. The following year, he signed a one-year extension to his contract. In November 2011, Thornton revealed that he was to leave Emmerdale after three years and he departed on 16 February 2012.
Yaser Abdel Said is an Egyptian-American former taxi driver and convicted murderer. For 12 years, Said evaded arrest for the January 1, 2008, fatal shootings of his two daughters, Amina (18) and Sarah (17). Their bodies were found in his abandoned taxi cab in Irving, Texas, on the property of the Omni Mandalay Hotel.
On the night of September 6, 2018, 26-year-old accountant Botham Jean was murdered when off-duty Dallas Police Department patrol officer Amber Guyger entered Jean's apartment in Dallas, Texas and fatally shot him. Guyger, who said that she had entered Jean's apartment believing it was her own and believed Jean to be a burglar, was initially charged with manslaughter. The absence of a murder charge led to protests and accusations of racial bias, since Jean was black and unarmed and was killed in his own home by a white off-duty officer who had apparently disregarded police protocols. On November 30, 2018, Guyger was indicted on a charge of murder. On October 1, 2019, she was found guilty of murder, and was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment the following day. The ruling was upheld on appeal in 2021.
Nightbooks is a 2021 American dark fantasy film directed by David Yarovesky and written by Mikki Daughtry and Tobias Iaconis. It is based on the 2018 horror-fantasy children's book of the same name by J. A. White. The film stars Winslow Fegley, Lidya Jewett, and Krysten Ritter.
Princess Aubergine is an Indian folktale collected by Flora Annie Steel and sourced from the Punjab region. It concerns a princess whose lifeforce is tied to a necklace, and, as soon as it falls in the hand of a rival, the princess falls into a death-like sleep - comparable to heroines of European fairy tales Snow White and Sleeping Beauty.