A three-million dollar wedding coach, being sent overseas, disappears shortly after being placed into a shipping container and loaded aboard ship, under the watchful eyes of two Boston Insurance Company employees. Enter Banacek, who must figure out the puzzling theft and find the coach before the ship sails to collect his ten percent.

A one-of-a-kind Greek chalice worth 1.5 million dollars is stolen in front of many witnesses.

A small but powerful prototype engine sits sealed in a rotating display case in the middle of a crowded trade-show floor. A power failure turns out the lights for a few seconds, and when the lights return, the rocket engine has vanished. Banacek must beat his competition to the solution before Federal agents step in.

A charter company jetliner makes an emergency landing at a small desert airstrip, blowing all of its tires and leaving a shaken flight crew. The next morning finds the pilot left guarding the plane dead and the airstrip empty of the immovable aircraft. Enter Banacek - in a chauffeur-driven jeep - to sort out the convolutions of pilots, stewardesses, old business partners and more to learn where the crippled plane has gone.

A stage magician vanishes in the middle of his act, as he is about to be arrested on suspicion of a $1,750,000 securities fraud. Banacek is called in to try to recover the missing money and solve the mystery of the disappearing man.