Crime Smashers #8

Dan Turner finds himself tangled up in a murder when his old pal Duke Millar turns up dead in a nightclub parking lot—alongside a teddy bear that may not be what it seems. What started as a scuffle over a stuffed toy between Millar and starlet Linda Lawn becomes a case of switched bears and hidden contraband when Turner realizes the original gift from Mexico has gone missing. With suspicion falling on nightclub owner Mike Maury and questions swirling around everyone involved, Turner has to piece together who killed Millar and why someone was willing to murder for what was hidden inside that bear.

When a distraught mother reports her daughter missing to Police Inspector Madson, Gail Ford—the inspector's clever secretary—volunteers to pose as a naive country girl to infiltrate a criminal ring that preys on newcomers to the city. Posing as "Joyce Russell," Gail allows herself to be drawn into shoplifting and theft by a woman named Mrs. Slade and her associates, all while Detective Tim McQuade shadows her every move, waiting to identify the operation's fence. As the trap tightens around the criminal network, Gail must keep her cover intact long enough to expose the entire operation and stop them from recruiting more vulnerable girls into a life of crime.

Ray Hale, star reporter for the Clarion, goes undercover in Riverside Park with fellow journalist Colleen Kent to expose the teen-age gangs preying on park visitors—posing as a young couple to draw out the criminals while hidden guards keep watch. When the gang strikes, things get personal as Colleen pursues the lookout girl across the rocks in a fierce hand-to-hand struggle, while Hale and the security men round up the rest of the outfit. Back at the paper, the reporters plan to publish their exposé to force the police into action and highlight the troubled youths who need real help instead of just punishment.