Lash LaRue Western #39

When roving marshal Lash LaRue arrives to protect Joe Tungsten from a mysterious death threat signed "The Invisible Enemy," he sets a trap—disguising himself as Tungsten to catch whoever comes for the frightened man. But when they visit Mademoiselle Fifi's dress shop to follow a cryptic second note, Tungsten is shot dead right before their eyes, and LaRue must unravel how the killer struck from an impossible angle in a seemingly sealed room. With peepholes that don't quite add up and a killer who vanished without a trace, the marshal needs to find the hidden method behind this baffling murder.

When a wildly inaccurate throw from Dusty shatters Busby's general store window, the burly shopkeeper corners him and demands ten dollars in damages—money Dusty doesn't have. Rather than let his debtor skip town, Busby devises a scheme to make back the cost: he sets up a carnival-style game where townsfolk can pay to throw baseballs at Dusty's head. What starts as a quick way to settle a debt becomes a painful ordeal that teaches Dusty a lesson about testing his pitching arm.

Lash LaRue investigates when a mysterious poisoned apple appears among Apples Clark's fruit, killing the ranch hand instead—leaving the apple farmer himself under suspicion. With a vengeful ex-employee named Kinkade on the loose and a deadly fruit as the only clue, Lash must untangle the twisted scheme before an innocent man hangs for a crime someone else orchestrated.

When homeless children start sneaking aboard railroad freight cars, Lash LaRue steps in to turn a dangerous situation into something constructive—but first he has to untangle a theft among the boys themselves. After the culprit faces justice, Lash makes an ambitious pitch to buy a ranch and transform it into a home and school for the very kids society has left behind. As the Bar 60 Boys' Ranch takes shape with work, education, and honest purpose, Lash's vision begins to catch the attention of people who might spread the idea across the West.