Marilee Anderson disappeared twenty-five years ago at the age of fifteen, but police are digging up the rose garden behind her parents' home in search of new evidence on a hot summer day in St. Paul. Marilee was last seen on a Sunday morning, when her father sent her off to a convenience store three blocks from home to buy a loaf of bread. Reporter Warren "Mitch" Mitchell and photographer Alan Jeffrey of the Daily Dispatch are the first newsmen on the scene at the Anderson home, but they learn almost nothing from closed-mouthed police until the diggers turn up a human skeleton. To everyone's amazement, the bones prove to be those of a young adult male. Police suspect that the mysterious remains are those of Jimmy Bjornquist, a teenager who worked at the convenience store and disappeared the same day as Marilee. But Jimmy turns up living on the West Coast, and he tells Mitch what happened at the store on the day Marilee vanished. Jimmy's story raises the possibility that Marilee...

As dawn breaks over Madrigal's Lodge on Gull Lake in northern Minnesota, a motorboat is seen running slowly in circles in the bay. Told that the boat has no occupants, St. Paul Daily Dispatch reporter Warren ''Mitch'' Mitchel and photographer Alan Jeffrey rush to the dock, along with dozens of others on hand for the annual Governor's Fishing Opener. The boat had been rented out by Alex Gordon, the governor's press secretary and an avid early-morning fisherman. Gordon's body is soon found by a dive team, and it appears that he accidentally fell overboard and drowned in the icy water. After a day of turmoil, Governor Anders A. Anderson does his best to put the celebratory weekend back on schedule. While the media await the results of an autopsy, Mitch and Al spend an afternoon fishing and go ashore on a wooded island to answer a call of nature. There they discover a mound of freshly dug earth and uncover a life jacket bearing Alex Gordon's initials. The autopsy shows that Gordon...

The Minnesota State Fair is famous for its endless variety of foods on a stick, so reporter Warren "Mitch" Mitchell and his photographer buddy Alan Jeffrey are surprised when they're sent to the fairgrounds to cover the introduction of still another stick-bound treat. The new novelty, called Square Meal on a Stick, is introduced by its celebrity inventor, Vinnie Luciano, owner of one of St. Paul's most successful restaurants. The program is held at Heritage Square, backed by square dancers and their handsome caller. The square is broken when Vinnie falls dead after taking three bites from his concoction. Will Mitch and Al square-off against the killer who poisoned the Square Meal?

IT'S SO COLD THAT THE FLASHERS IN DOWNTOWN ST. PAUL ARE ONLY SHOWING PICTURES OF THEMSELVES when newspaper reporter Warren "Mitch" Mitchell and photographer Alan Jeffrey are called out to cover the discovery of the frozen body of a young woman The victim is a former St. Paul Winter Carnival performer who played the role of saloon singer Klondike Kate. She was last seen leaving a bar with what appeared to be a member of the Winter Carnival's Vulcan Krewe, throwing suspicion on the entire eight-man group.  Mitch and Al ride with Vulcanus Rex and his Krewe on the coldest day of the year and the Winter Carnival threatens to explode over the possibility that a Vulcan could be the killer. The only thing keeping Mitch warm is the sultry brunette coordinator of the Klondike Kates, who wears red boots and a come-hither look. When at last he confronts the killer, the tables are turned and bullets fly in one of St. Paul's finest hotels.