Manhattan Murder Mystery

Late Friday night, masked men broke into a poker club in midtown Manhattan and robbed the players, shooting and killing one man in the process.  Frank DeSena, 55, a former professor, was pronounced dead less than one hour after being shot in the torso. 

The card room was new to the building, as the tenants had just taken occupation of the seventh floor office a week and a half before the incident.  Pisha Mithab, the building’s superintendent, said that the “four or five people that say they do work up there” did not fill him in on the details of their business except that it was a “club.”  The tenants hired a private security guard for when the building’s regular guard is off duty.  Obviously, this did not help. 

Police have not said whether or not the poker game, which attracts well-to-do people such as accountants, doctors, and lawyers, is illegal.  If the operators of the game profit from the venture, then it is against the law.  Simply playing for money is allowed.  One player said that there was a five dollar charge per half hour, which, if true, would make the games illegal.