Crime Detective Comics #1

When a woman and her husband devise a scheme using hidden walkie-talkies to intercept racetrack results and place bets after the winners are already known, they think they've found the perfect way to clean out the bookies—but their greed and short tempers may prove to be their undoing. "Walkie-Talkie Mamie" shows how a clever con can unravel when the criminals' own arrogance draws unwanted attention.

A forger returns to France from the African colonies and insinuates himself into the life of his elderly uncle, planning to forge a will and claim the family fortune. When the inspector arrives to investigate the old man's mysterious death, Jean Dalon's carefully studied penmanship becomes the very evidence that exposes his scheme. Sometimes the best-laid plans crumble under the weight of one crucial detail.

When a priceless pearl necklace vanishes during its delivery to a London jewelry importer in 1913, Inspector Thomson must trace the theft through the city's postal system. As the investigation narrows to a building on Pall Mall, the inspector uncovers a clever scheme involving a forged seal and an abandoned mail pouch—and corners the criminals responsible before they can destroy the evidence.

Two brothers from Oregon, David and Skidd Kilren, arrive at a remote Vancouver coast village in 1880 hoping for a quiet fishing trip, but they're drawn into the troubles of Jean Lopann and his fiercely protective daughter Joanne when a ruthless lumber company president begins pressuring the family to sell their land. When the Kilrens discover what Hagen is really after, they find themselves caught between a father's vulnerability and his daughter's determination to protect him—and a conspiracy far darker than either the brothers or the Lopanns anticipated.

In 1862 England, a disgraced Duke of Yarborough finds himself imprisoned for debt alongside common criminals—until he proves himself their match in cunning and strength. He earns their trust, then hatches a bold scheme to rob London's counting-houses in broad daylight with his newfound gang. As the heists unfold and suspicion closes in, the Duke faces a choice that will seal his fate.

A young man sets out to fulfill his daily promise of performing a kind deed, spotting an elderly woman struggling to cross a busy street—the perfect opportunity to lend a helping hand. What begins as a straightforward act of generosity takes an unexpected turn when the woman offers some pointed advice about the importance of self-reliance. This lighthearted tale delivers a gentle lesson wrapped in good intentions.

Petey the Kid Regan is a New York con artist who preys on out-of-town tourists, and he spots an easy mark in San Francisco visitor Robert Hamilton Jr. Working with his confederate Joe, the Kid sets up an elaborate coin-matching con at Grant's Tomb to separate Hamilton from his travelers' checks. When the scheme goes sideways and both con men accidentally lay the same side of the coin, Hamilton finds himself in unexpected trouble with NYPD—but the Kid and his crew may have finally encountered a situation that demands more than just a smooth talking tongue.