The Perfect Crime #12

Detective Steve Duncan takes on a case that seems straightforward enough—recover a reproduction Venus de Milo statuette that eccentric gardener Henry Catley refuses to return to sculptor's son Eric Erdleau—but a late-night break-in at Catley's gatehouse leaves the old man dead and Duncan's head spinning. As bodies pile up and Erdleau's story shifts, Duncan finds himself caught between a vengeful crime ring and a client who may be playing him for a patsy in a murder he didn't commit.

A career criminal fresh out of Sing Sing puts his meticulously planned heist into motion, orchestrating a scheme where two accomplices eliminate two others so he can finish the job himself—except his beautiful arithmetic falls apart the moment things go sideways. When police close in faster than expected, a desperate chase through the city streets spirals into a nightmarish sequence of bad breaks and worse choices, each one narrowing his options until there's nowhere left to run. Floyd Torbert's sharp pencils and inks capture every frantic panel of this 1951 crime tale, where the criminal learns too late that the real variable in any perfect plan is always yourself.

A bitter rivalry between two disc jockeys takes a sinister turn when one hatches an elaborate scheme to eliminate his competition using a poisoned record—only to have his meticulous plan unravel in spectacular fashion on live radio. What begins as a calculated murder plot spirals into chaos when unexpected circumstances force the perpetrator's hand, broadcasting his desperation and violence to thousands of unsuspecting listeners. Ben discovers the hard way that even the most perfect crime has no escape from justice.

Cab driver Mike Malloy thinks he's tougher than the holdup men plaguing his garage—until he finds himself face-to-face with a gun-wielding passenger who demands his cash and keys. When pride and fear collide, Malloy makes a split-second choice that sets off a chain of events neither he nor the robber could have anticipated in "Your Money or Your Life..." from *The Perfect Crime* #12.

Edwin Esterly, a timid bank teller tired of being ridiculed by his wife and friends, makes a desperate decision that sets him on a collision course with Pete Rourke, a charming salesman hiding a dangerous secret. When Edwin's moment of recklessness intersects with Pete's own crimes, the two men find themselves locked in a deadly game where honesty becomes Edwin's only weapon. A sharp tale about how desperation can push a meek man to the breaking point—and what he's willing to do to reclaim his dignity.

Robbery Can Spell Murder When two career criminals snatch a man off a deserted street and tie him up to make their getaway, they figure he'll work himself free or find help—but a sudden blizzard turns the night deadly cold. Detective Barry arrives at the scene the next morning to uncover what the hoods left behind, and the case spirals toward a reckoning neither thug saw coming.