Don't Go Near — Craig Rice

John J. Malone had had some peculiar clients in his past, but never a 550-pound carnivore. He was hired to protect Leopold, a large circus lion. Someone has been murdering the circus's lions, and the suspects are all carny folks. Malone was going to put himself between a ferocious lion and a killer. Only he didn't no which one was more dangerous! A vintage detection tale from 1953.