Moving swiftly one morning last week after a month of patient investigation, FBI agents in six states solved the puzzle of fraud in newspaper puzzle contests (TIME, March 9). In 86 minutes and twelve arrests they cracked the international racket that, by securing advance answers to the contests, swindled U.S. newspapers for more than a year. The transcontinental swoop bagged two key figures in Detroit: Walter Rex Johnston, 30, part-time car salesman whom the FBI identified as chief architect and brains of the swindle ring, and a key Johnston lieutenant, Harry H. Balk, 33, theatrical booking agent. Two Canadians who managed...
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