Marvel Mystery Comics #64
The Bogus Bride Groom
As the Roxbury Theater is closing for the day, Laura Dane is leaving at the end of her work day when she is confronted by her boss Percival; Lawrence. Mr Lawrence professes his love to Laura. Laura declines his proposal to marriage, telling him that she is going to be marrying her long time boyfriend, mechanic Chuck Brandon. Lawrence is not impressed by his and when Chuck arrives to pick up his girlfriend the two exchange heated words, ending with Chuck threatening to kill Percival if he should come near Laura again. When Laura and Chuck leave, Laurence gets on the phone and beginning to plot against Chuck Brandon.
Laura and Chuck spend their evening at a night club however Chuck cannot let go of his anger. Later that evening a man types a death threat to Mr. Lawrence and signs it the "Voice of Doom". The following morning the Human Torch and Toro are awoken by the sound of a doorbell. Answering the door, the Torch is greeted by Percival Lawrence who claims that Chuck Brandon is the one responsible for sending him the death threat. Hearing Lawrence's story, the Torch and Toro agree to follow after him that night to insure that nothing happens to him.
That night, the Torch and Toro arrive at the Roxbury and meet with Lawrence who is leaving the club with the payroll. He tells them that he saw Chuck Brandon with a gun in the alleyway. The two heroes follow above Lawrence to keep an eye on him. When Lawrence arrives at the bank, a man resembling Chuck appears with a gun and seemingly shoots Lawrence down and then runs off with the payroll. When the Torch and Toro follow the shooter into a building, the fire sprinklers are activated, dousing their flames allowing the attacker to escape. Going to check on Lawrence, they find that he is still alive and find two blank shells at the scene. It raises the Torch's suspicions.
The Torch and Toro bring Lawrence back to his house and put a detective on guard. They then go to the phone company and speak with a girl working switch board and asks them to monitor Lawrence's phone line. They return to their apartment for the night and check with the police who tell them that Chuck has been arrested. The following day, the Torch and Toro are visited by Laura who insists that Chuck is innocent and shows them a letter she received from Mr. Lawrence proclaiming that if he cannot have her, nobody can. Examining the two letters the Torch deduces that they were written by the same typewriter.
Calling back the switchboard operator, the Torch has the luck of calling just as Lawrence is placing a call. Patched into the line, the Torch overhears making plans to meet a man at "the usual place". They follow Lawrence from his apartment at the Gotham Hotel to a basement saloon in the city slums. There they spy through a window, and see Lawrence dealing with the man who shot him. The two heroes burst in and chase Lawrence and his accomplice back to his apartment, where they round him up for the authorities, clearing Chuck's name. Later, the Torch and Toro attend the wedding of Chuck and Laura.
Recurring Characters
Human Torch, Toro
The Island of Ghosts
On one of the thousand island off the St. Laurence Estuary, a woman is out fetching water from her well when she was attacked by two Indian men who carry her off. Her screams are heard by the locals who try to find the girl, yet another who has gone missing, but find no trace. Thinking that those who have disappeared were kidnapped by ghosts, the all decide to flee the island.
Just off the shore, the Sub-Mariner is swimming by when he hears a woman scream from a cliff side castle. Going to the castle to investigate, Namor is greeted by an Indian man who refuses him entry, and Namor starts a fight. However the fight is soon stopped by the castles owner, a French man named Marquies le Blanc stops the fight. The Marquies denies anything is amiss and allows the Sub-Mariner to search the castle. When Namor finds nothing he returns to the water, and as soon as he's gone the Marqiues orders his man-servant to move the girl from a room upstairs to the dungeon below.
Elsewhere on the island, the Sub-Mariner witnesses are loading up a boat to flee the island. He learns about the disappearances and that the only person staying on the island is the owner of the general store. Meeting with the man, he tells Namor more about the disappearances and that the Marquies' ancestors used to own the island years ago. Suspecting that Le Blanc had something to do with things, Namor rushes back to his castle. However, Le Blanc has his men waiting for Namor and they knock him out and send him crashing into the water below, leaving him for dead. Le Blanc then orders his men to kill his prisoners so that there is nothing for the authorities to be found.
As Namor is revived by the water, Le Blanc's men begin attacking the prisoners. Namor rushes to the peoples rescue and inspires the prisoners to revolt against their attackers. Le Blanc claims that the island is his after the land was gifted to his ancestors by Louis XIV, to which Namor rebuffs that the claim to the land was lost when the French lost Canada to England. Namor follows Le Blanc up to the upper level of the castle where the hero knocks Le Blanc off the building to his death. With Le Blanc dead, the people of the island return home.
Recurring Characters
Sub-Mariner
The Story of Miss Bluebeard
Madeline Joyce is driving back to her Long Island home when she spots a man laying in the middle of the road next to a car. As she approaches, a man and woman in the car speeds away. Pulling over, Madeline searches the body for identification and finds none. Finding this suspicious, Madeline changes into Miss America and flies after the car. Catching up to their car, Miss America rides on the back and listens in on their conversation. She over hears that the dead man on the road was for an insurance company that had been investigating them and with the man out of the way, they can complete the "Giltedge Job". Miss America becomes curious to read the papers they are talking about and knocks the couple out and pulls them out of the car. Miss America then places them back in their car and searches them, finding the papers they were talking about.
She takes them to the insurance agency and compares notes with them. As is turns out they are investigating Loreli Ricciardi, whom the company has dubbed "Lady Bluebeard" as she constantly marries wealthy men who suddenly die either of "natural causes" or due to an "accident". Realizing that Ricciardi is going to marry old man Giltedge. She tells the insurance officer to go to the masquerade party that is planned for after the wedding while she attempts to stop Loreli and her accomplice. At Loreli's apartment, she meets with her accomplice Guy Rogers and they plan on slipping Digitalis into the old man's drink during the masquerade party. When Miss America crashes in to stop the pair, the man who had been listening into her conversation at the insurance agency gets the drop on her and knocks her out.
Loreli then decides to use Miss America's own costume in order to trick the insurance agent who is waiting on her to make her move. When Miss America revives later, she manages to knock out the thug left to guard her and makes a make-shift costume out of Loreli's curtains. Miss America arrives just in time to stop Loreli from murdering the insurance agent and prevents Guy from force feeding old man Giltedge the Digitalis laced drink. With the caper ruined, Loreli and her accomplices are turned over to the police.
Recurring Characters
Miss America
Twenty-One Inches from Death
At the Washington office of the Daily Star, the editor sends Jeff Mace to investigate how secret information is being stolen from the War Department.
Jeff starts his investigation by meeting with his old friend Captain Phil Bell. However, when Jeff is made to wait 20 minutes, the secretary goes to see what is taking so long and they find that the room has been gassed and secrets stolen. Jeff runs to a phone and calls the FBI to report the incident. Later when the gas is cleared out of the room and Phil is revived, he tells Jeff to forget the story, citing tat a diplomat was in the room during the attack and that it could spark an international incident.
Jeff promises to not report the story as Jeff Mace, but decides to continue pursuing it as the Patriot. After doing a background check on the diplomat to prove that he is innocent, the Patriot then sneaks into the War Department building. Searching through Phil's office and finds a Dictaphone mike hidden in one of the heating vents. Searching where the microphone leads to. He finds a hidden room with a Japanese spy in the air filtration unit and knock the spies out.
Finding a hidden room below the War Department, the Patriot is attacked by more spies and gassed. They tie him to a fan that threatens to either pull the Patriot into its razor sharp blades or dump him into a pit of poisonous snakes. However, the Patriot breaks free and gathers up the spies and turns them over to the authorities.
Recurring Characters
Patriot
The Rejected Suitor
The Angel arrives for a party celebrating the release of the newest book written by his friend John Parker. After being welcomed in by the butler, the Angel happens past a room where John Parker is having an argument with Jeff Van over Jeff's relationship with his daughter Alice. John refuses to allow Jeff to see Alice, but Jeff insists that they will be married someday if he likes it or not.
Later on that evening as the party goers are proposing a toast to John, he suddenly keels over and dies, much to everyone's surprise. After the party is cleared out, the Angel asks John's friend Harvey who might be likely to kill John. Harvey tells him that Jeff Van is likely, as John and Jeff did not see eye to eye, as Jeff was a medical student and John figured Jeff was only interested in his daughter for the money to finish his education. Going to the coroner, the Angel learns that John was poisoned with strychnine.
The Angel then goes to question Jeff but finds his home deserted and that someone had trashed his lab. Leaving the lab, the Angel spots Jeff trying to flee, and stops him. Although Jeff insists that he is innocent, the Angel takes him to the police anyway.
Not convinced that Jeff is responsible, the Angel returns to the scene of the crime an examines the mess. Finding a pipe, he realizes that is what was used to transmit the poison. The Angel's investigation is interrupted by the butler who tells the Angel that Miss Parker wishes to speak with him. She also believes that Jeff is innocent. While the Angel goes to the jail to question Jeff again, and learns that Harvey offered him a job out of town, Harvey tries to make a pass at Alice. When the Angel realizes that Harvey is the killer he rushes back to the Parker home.
There, Harvey refuses to accept Alice's rejection, deciding that if he can't have her, nobody can and starts a fire. While Alice suffers from smoke inhalation, Harvey attempts to get to safety out on the balcony. The Angel saves Alice, and then while to apprehend Harvey, his assailant stumble off the ledge of the building and falls to his death. With the plot exposed, the charges against Jeff are dropped and he and Alice are reunited.
Recurring Characters
Angel
