Pay-Off #3

Insurance claims agent Johnny Dickens sets a trap for a car theft ring by purchasing a new vehicle equipped with a hidden radio transmitter—but when the thieves take the bait, he discovers their operation runs far deeper than simple auto theft, with stolen cars being dismantled and shipped overseas. Dickens must navigate a dangerous abandoned trolley line and infiltrate the criminals' warehouse to expose the full scope of their smuggling operation and bring the ringleader, known as Laughing Larry, to justice.

Homicide detective Mel Parker races to the Henderson mansion after a young woman reports finding inventor Clarence Henderson dead at his desk—with no obvious wounds and a severed phone line suggesting foul play from within the household. As Parker questions the butler, the handyman, and the mysterious patent attorney Philip Grant, he uncovers a sinister hidden mechanism built into one of Henderson's own inventions, pointing toward a suspect with a very personal motive for murder. The case spirals into a tense investigation where everyone has something to hide, and Parker must piece together the truth before the killer slips away with their deadly secret.

Young patrolman Harvey Manners arrives on Easy Street determined to police with courtesy and modern methods—only to find the neighborhood's residents and even his hardened sergeant dismiss his gentle approach as weakness. When a protection racket run by the ruthless Black Max leaves an innocent man injured and unafraid to testify, Manners must prove that brains and procedure can triumph where old-fashioned brutality has failed. A rookie cop learns that respect on the streets comes in unexpected forms.

When a man tries to secure a loan using what appears to be a genuine U.S. Treasury bond, Nick Harder of the Crime Lab subjects the certificate to rigorous scientific examination and uncovers a forger's critical mistake. Using microscopy and infrared photography, Harder traces the altered serial numbers back to a stolen bond, leading police to the forger's boarding house where the criminal's panicked attempt to destroy the evidence ultimately proves his undoing.

When newspaper coverage of Pop Willis's valuable penny collection attracts unwanted attention, a murderer strikes—and the coins vanish without a trace, leaving Inspector Wheeling to unravel an impossible theft. With two suspicious strangers on the scene and the stolen pennies seemingly vanished into thin air, the inspector must piece together a puzzle where the hiding place is almost as ingenious as the crime itself.

Dr. William Pritchard, a respected physician in 1869 Glasgow, begins a calculated campaign to poison his own wife using antimony—a deadly toxin that slowly destroys her from within. When a suspicious colleague refuses to sign the death certificate and an autopsy reveals the truth, Pritchard's crimes catch up with him, leading to his conviction and execution in 1874.