CON GANG KILLER

When private detectives Buck Merrick and Sid Damon attempted to push their way into apartment 302 of the Rensonia, they were met with a hail of bullets by the four men who dashed from the apartment. Merrick dropped with four slugs in his body and died shortly afterwards without identifying his slayer.

Damon told Professor Fordney that he and Merrick, working for wealthy oil man John Wright, finally located the hideout of the con gang who had fleeced their client of $35,000, and attempted to bring them in. While he was new on the case, Merrick had told him the mob comprised Oswald Munson, Dan Carmody, Rick Somer and Handsome Harry Keeler.

His wound dressed, Damon and the Professor went deep into the underworld to secure the following additional information:

1. One of the four, a former professor of Romance languages, was the mob’s front.

2. Somer had been trying to gain the confidence of the former professor (for some secret reason of his own) but the front did not trust him.

3. The molls of Carmody and the front were Handsome Harry Keeler’s beautiful sisters.

4. The front and the man who killed Merrick were close pals, and both have records in Australia.

5. After the mob’s last successful job, Keeler and Merrick’s slayer split $2000 more than the other two members because of expenses they had incurred.

Sifting their information, Damon and Fordney quickly identified the killer and broadcast an alarm. He was picked up three days later boarding a plane.

Who killed Buck Merrick? Turn page for solution.