"Alice in Jeopardy" by Ed McBain

There were many extraneous characters in this book - did they serve a purpose (such as a red herring) or were they less pivotal to the story as a whole?

Also, why didn't the police put a GPS tracking device in with the superbills?

For more information about the author, check out:

http://www.edmcbain.com/

http://www.slate.com/id/2122426/

For a book list of Ed McBain:

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/m/ed-mcbain/

For a book list of Evan Hunter:
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/h/evan-hunter/