The Perfect Crime #23

Detective Steve Duncan thought Henry Blade, a hospital attendant, was safely out of danger—until a young nurse reveals that the dead man had overheard dangerous secrets from mobster Maxey Garone, and that someone from the syndicate silenced him before he could talk. Now Duncan must piece together what Blade knew and stop the killers from erasing the evidence—and anyone else who might expose the operation.

When Midge Walker gets dumped by his girlfriend and fired by his boss, big-time gambler Frankie Drake, he hatches a scheme to make Drake pay—by placing a massive bet in his name on a fight he knows Drake will lose. But in the cruel calculus of the underworld, a debt is a debt, and when the mob comes calling for their money, the revenge plot spirals into something far deadlier than Midge bargained for. Jim Reilley's sharp pencils and inks capture the noir brutality of a con that backfires with fatal consequences.

Detective Ralph Johnson has seven robberies on his hands—all in the same Northeast Philadelphia block, all while his special guard was on duty, and all with no signs of forced entry. When Officer Docherty suggests the thief must have a key to every house, Johnson laughs him off, but Docherty can't shake the hunch and decides to investigate on his own. His search for the truth leads him to a discovery that could finally crack the case wide open.

A cool-headed crook named Freddy and his jittery ex-con partner Wally bungle a quick-service agency robbery that leaves them dodging cops and racing toward the state line with the law closing in. When Freddy spots a police roadblock ahead, he devises a risky plan to ditch their getaway car and slip away on foot—but even the smoothest criminal can't outrun justice forever. With the manager's description of them already in circulation, Freddy and Wally discover that escaping the law is a lot harder than pulling the job.