The multi-million dollar Phoenix, prototype for a revolutionary new car, disappears from a non-stop train en route to Boston - flat-car included. Banacek is called in to find the missing vehicle before a huge insurance claim must be paid.

When a priceless book vanishes from a sealed display case in a room that no thief could possibly escape, it's up to Banacek to show how someone beat the supposedly foolproof alarms to make off with the artifact.