Human Torch Comics #19
Blackmailer of Death
At the Relasco Theater, actress Rita Worth is being blackmailed by a mobster named Moke Slade for ten thousand dollars. She agrees to pay his ransom in the morning, but after the crook leaves she attempts to call the Human Torch. Hearing this from outside her door, Moke busts in and shoots Rita dead before she can explain the entire plot to the flaming hero over the phone. Hearing the gun shot on the other end of the line, the Torch and Toro race to the theater to find Rita dead.
After clearing out the room of witnesses, the Torch and Toro begin trying to determine who shot Rita. Just then, Rita's boyfriend Danny enters the room and is horrified to find his lover dead. He explains to the two heroes that someone was trying to blackmail her in order to keep the scandalous secret of her father being put in prison for murder. He goes on to explain that when Rita became an actress she legally changed her name so that nobody would know about her troubled family past. When they ask Danny what her real name was, he tells them that he didn't know and never pried. The Torch sends Danny home and the two heroes follow after him since he is the only one who knows the motivation for Rita's murder.
Sure enough, by tailing Danny back to his home, they spot a man following him and give him chase. However, Moke manages to get the drop on the Torch, dousing him with a barrel of water and striking him on the head. With that lead a failure, the Torch and Toro decide to try and figure out who Rita's father is. They go to the local police station where they learn that the station fingerprints an entire family when a member is convicted of a crime. Comparing Rita's fingerprints with what is on file, the two heroes learn that her real name was Colleen O'Shea and that her father is doing life at Rocky Mountain Penitentiary.
There they get the wardens permission to interview Mr. O'Shea and tell him that his daughter has been murdered. When asking him whom he thinks is likely to have known their connection, Mr. O'Shea tells the two heroes that Moke Slade was his former cell mate, and tells them that he hangs out at the Black Ace Cafe.
Racing back to the city, the Torch and Toro storm the Black Ace Cafe and force the patrons to reveal Moke's address. Storming Moke's apartment, the Torch and Toro are surprised when Moke smashes through his window in an attempt to jump across to the building next door. Moke misses his grab hold and falls to his death.
Recurring Characters
Human Torch, Toro
The Chamber of Horrors
After assisting the FBI on a case, the Human Torch and Toro are on their way home when they spot a man attacking their mail man and stealing a single letter. Stopping the man, the Torch recovers the letter, but it is partially burned by his flame. However, he finds that it is a post card inviting him to visit the Sea Nymph, a undersea excision where the patron are lowered into the depths of the sea. When questioning the thief, he says he was only paid to steal the post card and is unaware of why he was hired to do it. Toro notes that the postmark is from Rio and the Torch recalls that the FBI recently sent one of their agents down.
Taking the post card to the FBI, they analyze the handwriting and realize that it was written by the agent they sent down there. The chief of the FBI tells the Torch that they had sent him down there to investigate reports of diamond smuggling in the area and that his body was recently found there. Suspecting the Sea Nymph advertisement is a clue to where the diamond smugglers might be operating, the Torch and Toro rush off to investigate.
Arriving at the Sea Nymph, the pair take a tour and overhear the captain ordering a quartet of men to dive down into the water, two in diving suits, and two in the diving bell. The Torch and Toro knock out the two men that are going to ride in the bell and steal their clothes then go into the bell themselves. Lowered to the bottom, the Torch and Toro witness as the two divers find a box chained to a buoy at the bottom of the water which contains the stolen diamonds. However, before they can do anything, the two men they knocked out are discovered by the captain and orders the lines and chain on the bell to be cut, trapping the Torch and Toro at the bottom of the ocean with a limited supply of air.
With no time to lose, the Torch flames on and melts the weights keeping them at the bottom causing the bell to float back up to the surface. The Torch then burns a hole through the bell, allowing air to rush in and revive Toro. The Torch and Toro then round up the diamond smugglers and turn them over to the authorities.
Recurring Characters
Human Torch, Toro
Holiday with Murder
With nothing exciting going on, the Sub-Mariner decides to take a visit to Mexico and shows some children his cliff diving skills. When reaching the bottom of the water, Namor spots what he thinks is a dead child, but upon closer inspection it turns out to be a man with dwarfism. When local children show interest in what Namor is doing they are all called away for school, in which they are taken on a boat to the Untied States for a lunch picnic each day. One boy named Pedro stays behind and identifies the dead man as Don Miguel. Pedro then tries to convince Namor to let him help during his investigation but Namor refuses and tells the boy to go to school.
Rushing to Don Miguel's home to search for clues, the Sub-Mariner is attacked by a bandito in a mask whom he knocks out, however a second man appears with Pedro as his hostage. With Namor's guard down the hero is knocked out from a blow to the head. When Namor revives he asks the locals if they saw where his attackers went and follows their trail. The trail leads them to the boat where the children go to school and Namor spots that a number of the "children" are really men with dwarfism posing as children.
Swimming after the boat, Namor climbs aboard and is given a note by one of the sailors to go down below deck to learn what is going on. This turns out to be a trap and Namor is chloroformed and tied up. When he revives he finds that both he and Pedro are prisoners. When the boat pulls ashore in the Untied States, the crew goes down to remove Pedro and begins stuffing him in an oil drum. In the struggle, Pedro drops a water pistol which Namor uses to revitalize his strength and break free from his bonds.
Rushing to shore, he rounds up the sailors and their gang of dwarfs and rescues Pedro. As he turns them over to the authorities, he finds that the dwarfs were carrying supplies of perfume that they were attempting to smuggle into the United States and sell without having to pay customs fees.
Recurring Characters
Sub-Mariner
