Murder Against The Grain

Before John Putnam Thatcher can recover the missing million dollars the Russians have made as a down payment on wheat, he has to answer some rather peculiar questions: - What was the Cuban Navy doing in New York harbor? - Why was the Leningrad Symphony practicing on a basketball court? - How on earth did a performing troupe of Russian otters that drink only vodka, dance the mazurka, and merrily assembled a three-stage rocket get into the picture? - And, above all, who is the grim reaper dead set on committing murder against the grain?