Best Man for Murder!

AT the office of Mark Mason, private detective, Joan Holman comes to hire Mason for a case. Eavesdropping over the office intercom, Louise Grant overhears how Joan's fiancée Joe Brand has been accused of murdering Cecily Harding. Louise remarks how Joan is giving up her million dollar cosmetics business to marry Joe, who is an old high school sweetheart. She overhears the details of the case: although Joe is a police detective and a war hero he is the likely suspect. On the night in question Joan, was having dinner with Cecily and her business manager Van Glint when the fuse went out. When the power turned back on Cecily was stabbed to death and the killer had stolen her ruby pendant, and the last person in the room before the homicide squad investigated was Joe.

After work, Louise decides to get involved in the case as the Blonde Phantom. To this end, she decides to interview the other man who was present at the murder, Joan's publicity photographer Pietro. At Pietro's home, Van Glint is meeting with Pietro and chastising him for taking a photo as he was murdering Cecily. Pietro tells Van Glint that nobody saw him but then attempts to blackmail him as he has a photograph of Van Glint murdering Cecily. Not willing to bend to blackmail, Van Glint guns down Pietro just as the Blonde Phantom arrives at the door. When she rushes in she is knocked out from behind by Van Glint who flees the scene. Reviving shortly after, Blonde Phantom takes Pietro's camera and begins searching through his papers when Joe Brand arrives. When Blonde Phantom presses him about an IOU she just found, Joe admits that he had a gambling debt with Pietro and Van Glint that he was coming to see them about to ask him not to mention it during the police investigation. Blonde Phantom has Joe sit down and explain his perspective of the night of Cecily's murder. He explains that on that night Cecily and Joan were discussing how Cecily would be taking over management of the cosmetics company when Joan gets married when the lights suddenly went out and that after Cecily was murdered it was his mistake to leave the room even if he was a police detective.

When the police arrive at the scene of Peitro's death, Blonde Phantom slips away and places a call to Mark Mason and asks him to have Joan meet her at Joan's office. There, the Blonde Phantom has Joan let her look through the company records where she finds proof that Van Glint had been embezzling money from the company. Van Glint suddenly arrives and holds them at gunpoint, explaining that he killed Cecily and framed Joe so that Joan wouldn't get married and he could keep up his lucrative embezzlement scheme without anyone's notice. Before they can shoot them, the Blonde Phantom pulls out her compact and uses a nearby fan to blow the powder into Van Glint's face, temporarily blinding him. Blonde Phantom then knocks him out just as Mark arrives with the police. Explaining the whole plot to them, Van Glint is arrested. Mark explains that they came when they found a photo negative of Van Glint murdering Cecily while searching Pietro's apartment.

Recurring Characters

• Blonde Phantom

• Mark Mason

Blonde Phantom

As a dull work day finishes at the Mark Mason Detective Agency, a bored Mark Mason invites his secretary Louise Grant out dancing with him. Louise is excited because she believes this is the first time that Mark has asked her out on a date and not mooned over her alter-ego the Blonde Phantom. She accepts the date and rushes home to get ready. However, when Louise arrives she finds that Mark has started dancing with another woman named Diana. Angry, Louise storms out and decides to give Mark a taste of his own medicine.

Changing into the Blonde Phantom, Louise enters the dance hall and proceeds to dance with other men and snub Mark all night. When she has Mark begging to dance with her, she leaves for the night. When Diana tries to dance with Mark again, the spurned lover decides he never wants to dance again. The following day at work, Mark lies to Louise telling her that he didn't go to the dance because he had to look after an ill friend. Knowing better Louise tells him that it's okay and that she had "fallen asleep" after supper because she was so tired.

Recurring Characters

• Blonde Phantom

• Mark Mason

Case of the Deep Sea Swindle!

Betty Dean and Namora are boarding a ship heading to Central America on a secret government mission to ship gold bullion to another country. When Namora asks if the Sub-Mariner would be joining them, and Betty confirms that Namor has been hired to act as escort for the ship and defend it while Betty is charged with carrying the diplomatic papers in secret. While Namor meets with the captain of the ship, Namora and Betty have dinner until Betty worries about the papers. Her concerns become justified as when they return to their cabin they find that it has been ransacked and the papers taken. They go out to try and search for trace of the papers and notice that they are being followed by someone. In order to lure their tail into exposing themselves Namora tells Betty they should go back to their cabin and get the "duplicates" of the stolen papers.

Sure enough their shadow falls for the ruse and confronts them with a gun in their cabin ordering they turn over the papers. Giving him an empty envelope the two women follow him to see where he goes but are jumped by a bunch of goons. They are knocked out and brought over to their leader, a portly man who intends to steal the gold aboard the ship. He tells his men to lock the women up and then take over the ship. Upon doing so, the hijackers then easily subdue the crew of the ship. Elsewhere on the ship, Namor is on patrol and from a skylight overhears the hijackers working to take over the ship trying to act quickly before the Sub-Mariner finds out. Namor rushes to the bridge to warn the captain, however more of the hijackers enter the room and hold them at gun point. While the ship is incapacitated and another one arrives to take the gold, and the Sub-Mariner is tossed in a improvised cell with Namora and Betty on board. In order to free themselves they have Betty start screaming until one of the guards comes to investigate. Namor and Namora jump him and take his gun and rush to the bridge.

Namora then uses the ships radio to call the Coast Guard who quickly arrive and take the ship. As they are arresting the crew of hijackers their leader attempts to flee but a coast guard member shoots him dead. With the other hijackers in custody and the gold shipment recovered, Namor, Namora and Betty receive commendations from the government from preventing the threat.

Recurring Characters

• Sub-Mariner

• Namora

• Betty Dean

The Cop and the Kid!

Mark Mason and Louise Grant take a stroll "Down By the Bridge" where they check in on an effort by Officer Jack Bertelli to keep the local downtrodden children away from a life of crime by getting them involved in community sports. Later, Louise returns to the area as the Blonde Phantom to keep an eye on things.

She suddenly spots a boy named Jimmy being chased by a shop keeper that has accused him of stealing a catchers mitt. Office Bertelli arrives on the scene, and Jimmy professes his innocence showing that he stole nothing and that his satchel contains only his boot-blacking kit. Jimmy is surprised when Officer Bertelli sticks up for him, considering that his Uncle Pete has taught him not to trust the police. When Blonde Phantom and Bertelli try to convince the boy his Uncle's way of thinking is wrong and get him to join the local boys baseball team, Uncle Pete arrives and pulls the boy away telling him that Cops are not to be trusted.

Blonde Phantom or Bertelli decide to follow after Jimmy, a school drop-out, and see how he makes his money. They watch as Jimmy sets up his boot blacking outside a shop that his Uncle Pete goes into. Pete then pickpockets from someone inside and while fleeing from capture tosses the wallet into Jimmy's boot blacking kit. When they confront Jimmy he panics and in tears he tells them that his Uncle Pete said they would throw him in jail for 199 years if he squealed. Bortelli tells Jimmy that they won't and Jimmy tells them that he can stay at his older brothers place while they deal with Uncle Pete.

However, Jimmy instead goes back to his Uncle Pete's place and explains what happened and tells him that the two of them are through. Angered, Pete decides to beat Jimmy to keep him quiet, but Jimmy flees the scene. Meanwhile, Blonde Phantom and Bortelli are being led to Pete's apartment by Jimmy's friend Butch who tells them that Jimmy doesn't have an older brother. Blonde Phantom trips up Pete before he could beat Jimmy and Bertelli arrests him. Later, Louise Grant visits the ball diamond and is happy to see that Jimmy has joined the ball team and avoided being caught up in a life of crime.

Recurring Characters

• Blonde Phantom

• Mark Mason