Authentic Police Cases #18

When a government engraver is forcibly kidnapped on the eve of his retirement, he's coerced into using his rare skills to produce counterfeit currency for an underworld mastermind—a scheme that draws the combined resources of the Secret Service, F.B.I., and police departments across the nation. As the conspiracy unfolds across state lines, internal betrayals and unexpected chaos begin to unravel the carefully orchestrated operation. This 1952 crime story follows the manhunt to shut down what may be the biggest counterfeiting ring in years.

Detective Leo Cahill arrives at a shop to find a man named Spindle dead in the basement, shot through the head—and his hidden wall safe cleaned out. Three suspects are quickly rounded up: "Spots" Elwood, Benny Gray, and Clip Ewing, each with motive and opportunity, but only one pulled the trigger. Can you spot the killer before Cahill does?

Rutzie Rinehart spent twelve years running floating crap games after trading in his tommy gun for loaded dice, but when mob boss Arnold orders him to eliminate a stubborn businessman named Lily White, the aging hustler finds himself pulled back into a world of violence he thought he'd left behind. As Rutzie scrambles to build an alibi and dodge both the syndicate and those trying to stop him, his schemes spiral into a deadly game where the odds—and loyalties—turn against him. A sharp crime story about the inescapable past and the price of trying to go straight in a world that won't let you.

Detective Pat Carlyle investigates the murder of Bill Nevins, a man recently released from prison and now suspected of stealing a valuable emerald brooch from an antique dealer—but Carlyle suspects the frame-up runs deeper than the homicide squad realizes. As he digs into the case, he uncovers a scheme involving the antique dealer Sam Brodick and another conspirator, with Nevins caught in the middle. Carlyle races to prove Nevins' innocence and expose the real culprits before the truth stays buried.

When ex-model Margo Shelton helps unemployed make-up man Marty Augustin escape the police with a stolen mink coat, she sees opportunity instead of crime—and proposes a brazen partnership that will turn their first heist into a series of increasingly dangerous jobs. Using his skill with disguise and her nerve, the pair target wealthy victims across Manhattan, but their partnership fractures under the weight of greed and suspicion. Death will ultimately settle their accounts in "Murder in Mink," a hard-boiled crime tale from 1952.