Give 'em the Ax by Erle Stanley Gardner (as A. A. Fair), a Cool and Lam mystery, complete and unabridged.
From the jacket:
The Rimley Rendezvous was the kind of back-street bistro where a tired businessman could drop in for a pick-up, no questions asked. Deep carpets and subdued lights gave the place an air of clandestine class. And solicitous waiters catered to the customer's every whim.
All these comforts added up to a steep cover charge, especially since blackmail figured as the major part of the tab.
It was a very lucrative business…until a murderer cut into the profits…and left his ax in Donald Lam's car.
The team of Cool and Lam are at their fast-talking, fast-moving best in this tough tale of suicide, blackmail and murder.