Exposed #6

Rodney Keef, a master daredevil turned criminal, escapes from prison with one goal in mind—settling a score with Paul Monroe, the man who betrayed him years ago. When Keef tracks Monroe down at a masquerade ball, he's forced to assume a clever disguise to stay ahead of the police who are now watching Monroe closely. As the evening spirals toward a deadly confrontation, Keef's old instincts for high-stakes gambles lead him toward a final, desperate act.

Battling Joe Rooney clawed his way from the streets to boxing's heavyweight throne, but his "friends" have their own designs on his crown—particularly his crooked manager Pike Edwards, who's been secretly coaching a hungry young challenger named Tony Marino, a singer from Joe's old neighborhood with a grudge to settle. As Tony rises through fixed fights toward a title shot, Joe discovers the con and prepares to face his former sparring partner in the ring, where only one man's future will survive intact.

In 1913, embezzling secretary Jeffery Banner and his brother Mark hatch a scheme to steal from Banner's employer, the wealthy businessman Carlyle Mac Adams—but when Mac Adams discovers thousands missing from his accounts, the brothers decide they must silence him permanently. Detective Ephraim Gilpin investigates the murder at the Beldmore Hotel and must unravel how Banner constructed an alibi that placed him miles away when the crime occurred.

Eileen Bray leaves her small-town life for the glamour of the city, only to find herself penniless and struggling until she meets the charming Frank Ellis, who offers her a job as his personal secretary. What begins as a stroke of luck quickly entangles her in a dangerous scheme when Ellis uses her innocence to set up wealthy men for blackmail. As Eileen discovers the true nature of her employer's operation, she must find a way to expose his criminal enterprise and reclaim her freedom.

When John Evans gets out of prison, he reunites with his old crime partner Mike—only to discover Mike has cheated him out of his share of their racket profits. Evans devises an elaborate scheme to eliminate Mike and claim the casino for himself, constructing an airtight alibi by boarding a train to Boston while secretly doubling back to commit the murder. But a chance encounter with a fellow passenger threatens to unravel his carefully planned deception in "Airtight Alibi," the eight-page crime story from *Exposed* #6.