Story from THE CONTINENTAL OP: THE COMPLETE CASE FILES, (Kindle ebook edition)
“Crooked Souls” first appeared in Black Mask, October 1, 1923
Harvey Gatewood’s daughter has been kidnapped, and the Op has been assigned to the case. After wading through Gatewood’s belligerence, it turns out to look more like she disappeared and it may have been kidnapping or maybe she just wanted to escape her tyrannical father’s crushing control. Then the ransom note comes…
This is a good one, as are all the Op stories, and all of Hammet’s stories and novels.
Tip the Wink 
It is a good one. I’m a big fan of The Op.
Me, too, Jeff. I’ve read them all and have them in hardcover, but when I saw this ebook edition for .99 cents I bought it.
I’m fond of all the Op stories. I read them back in the 1970s and then reread them a few years ago. The Op stories are some of Hammett’s best work.
This is probably the third time I’ve read this one.
I have read two of Hammett’s novels (The Maltese Falcon and The Thin Man), but none of his short stories. I do have a copy of The Continental Op, and I should get to it.
Good idea, I think you’ll like them.
By the way, is anyone else seeing the shortage of paper products? Stores here, from Costco to Safeway, are out of TP, paper towels, etc. even Amazon shows back orders. Also, for no reaso I can fathom, Excedrin Migraine is scarce. WHY?
I had heard last week of some hoarding of paper products either before or after the election, but had seen no evidence of that here. We went to the grocery store this morning and the paper products like TP and paper towels were normal (for now).