Banacek (1972 - 1974)

When a football player vanishes from the field in full view of network cameras and a live audience, it's up to Banacek to figure out how his kidnappers spirited him away without a trace.

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.

A golden cross, on its way from a Mexican church to an American gangster anxious to reform his image, turns into worthless junk without ever leaving the possession of the couriers sent to deliver it. Banacek must figure out where and how the switch was pulled off.

Banacek must figure out who stole a million dollars from a supposedly tamper-proof display case.

A king's ransom in precious coins vanishes from a hotel-suite vault while the owners sleep only a few feet away. Banacek arrives to figure out how the impossible to open vault was so easily breached without a sign left behind.

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.

Banacek figures out how $23 million worth of paintings vanished from a moving truck transporting them from New York to Boston.