Book excerpt: Meet Pete Ingalls, a private investigator who sets up shop in New York City and commences looking for trouble. He's got all the tough-talking cynicism of a battle-weary gumshoe who's seen it all. Except he hasn't seen it all. In fact, he hasn't seen anything-and remembers even less. In Pete Ingalls's deeply confused mind, he walks the streets like some kind of Philip Marlowe clone. And everyone he meets thinks he's putting them on. Lucky for Ingalls, he's got a secretary-Stephanie Constantino, an aspiring actress in need of a day job. She's got a mouth that doesn't quit-with Ingalls, his clients, cops, or killers. But she has nice gams, and (unlike her boss) a real talent for solving crimes. It's Pete Ingalls' first case-and whodunit is only half the story.