Crime and Punishment #35

Charles Biro's cover for this February 1951 issue drops readers right onto the electrified rails of a subway platform, where a desperate, gun-toting crook in a green checked suit scrambles across the tracks as a uniformed officer levels his weapon and warns, "He's going to land on the third rail!" — a "DANGER: THIRD RAIL" sign right at the fugitive's feet making the threat grimly concrete. A crowd of onlookers watches from the platform above, an open bag of scattered cash hinting at the robbery that set this chase in motion. Inside, 52 full pages of true criminal case histories await, including "Trapped!," "The Black Bag," and "The Case of the Orange-Pickers' Payroll.