Detective Picture Stories #5

Snowy Winters, a small-time drifter known only to himself as the Clock, discovers he's been framed for murder by Chief Bowser and Clarence "Muscles" McGee—gangland's ruthless rulers who planted forged Clock calling cards to pin their crime on the vigilante. Now the Clock must infiltrate their operation, expose the frame, and bring the real murderers to justice before they can silence him for good.

In "The Case of the Missing Heir," John Williams finds himself at the center of a cunning deception after inheriting a fortune from his uncle—unaware that a masterful imposter, aided by a skilled make-up artist, has already taken his place. With the real John missing and the fake heir moving through high society, the race is on to uncover the truth before the fraud is cemented.

When Colonel Liverwurst's home is robbed, bumbling detectives Fumble and Stumble take the case—and stumble straight into a scheme involving the notorious criminal the Hooded One, his spider-like associate Old Arachno, and a gang of trained gorillas all vying for the stolen papers. Posing as one of the beasts in a clever disguise, Fumble infiltrates the villains' hideout at Blimey Castle to recover the Colonel's documents, but the real chaos begins when the Hooded One himself arrives to take charge. It's a burlesque on crime detection where brainwork and dumb luck collide in the best possible way.

Detective Thurston Hunt races against time when a serial killer known as "Pretty Face" kidnaps Doris Jones and demands a hefty ransom from her banker father, Gordon Jones. As a dangerous exchange unfolds, Hunt must uncover the truth behind the masked criminal's identity before tragedy strikes. With lives hanging in the balance and the killer's next move impossible to predict, this tense 1937 thriller keeps you guessing until the final confrontation.

When a mysterious traveler arrives in the quiet town of Miltonsport during a terrible storm, he sets his sights on robbing the reclusive Miser Flint—only to find himself in a violent struggle that ends in murder. A country doctor named Doc Smith, treating the stranger's suspicious hand wound shortly after, uses his wits and a clever ruse to help Sheriff MacKenna identify the killer before the county police can arrive. It's a clever bit of small-town detective work where common sense proves mightier than force.

Red Dolan stumbles onto a suspicious suicide at the Goldcrest Apartments when an anonymous caller tips off Detective Reilly, leading him and the quick-thinking Dolan to uncover something far darker than it first appears. A mysterious vagrant with a troubling past holds the key to a murder carefully disguised as self-inflicted tragedy, but his desperation may cost him more than he bargained for.

Old Jacques has pursued the elusive criminal called the Wanderer across continents—from the French Sureté to Scotland Yard, and now to America—but his quarry always stays one step ahead with unpredictable crimes and daring escapes. When the Wanderer brazenly challenges Jacques to stop him from stealing the famous Desartes ruby at the opera, the veteran detective must outwit a mastermind who turns the chaos of high society into perfect cover for theft.