Thirty-seven years old, single, former high school dropout, Damian McQuaid is a tough New York police lieutenant whose wit is as quick as his professional hunches. A member of the force for eleven years, he figures that he's "probably the only guy on it who didn't live in Queens."McQuaid is also his own man. So when Shimmy, a good friend, is robbed of $250, 000 worth of diamonds and found slumped, very dead, in a Kennedy Airport phone booth, he knows he could never enjoy the vacation he was headed for until he finds the murderer.
"Diamonds, " he admits early on, "didn't mean anything to me except trouble."Shimmy never made it to Los Angeles, but McQuaid does. There he is given police courtesy and a partner named Freedman, a Jewish cop with a seen-it-all sarcasm. When the two of them begin to investigate the seamy world of big-money jewelry dealing and check out a fancy firm called Breckenridge, McQuaid not only gets his first important lead in the case, but meets a beautiful Breckenridge employee named Joan Roberts.
The lady, however, turns out to be involved in stealing more than McQuaid's heart-and McQuaid, in a chilling denouement, is forced to examine both his personal and professional values.
Thirty-seven years old, single, former high school dropout, Damian McQuaid is a tough New York police lieutenant whose wit is as quick as his professional hunches. A member of the force for eleven years, he figures that he's "probably the only guy on it who didn't live in Queens."McQuaid is also his own man. So when Shimmy, a good friend, is robbed of $250, 000 worth of diamonds and found slumped, very dead, in a Kennedy Airport phone booth, he knows he could never enjoy the vacation he was headed for until he finds the murderer.
"Diamonds, " he admits early on, "didn't mean anything to me except trouble."Shimmy never made it to Los Angeles, but McQuaid does. There he is given police courtesy and a partner named Freedman, a Jewish cop with a seen-it-all sarcasm. When the two of them begin to investigate the seamy world of big-money jewelry dealing and check out a fancy firm called Breckenridge, McQuaid not only gets his first important lead in the case, but meets a beautiful Breckenridge employee named Joan Roberts.
The lady, however, turns out to be involved in stealing more than McQuaid's heart-and McQuaid, in a chilling denouement, is forced to examine both his personal and professional values.