Marvel Mystery Comics #68
The Wolf of Gotham
Kay and Rita pick up their paychecks at a local department store only discover that they are being laid off. Deciding to go and find a war job they bump into their friend Maizy Reid, who is wearing expensive clothes. She tells them that she can get them a good-paying job that will make them more than any legitimate job. They are then taken to a dance hall on Broadway owned by Big Dan. Big Dan likes the look of the new girls and hires them on the spot. He explains that their job is to encourage soldiers returning home to go out and party and quietly rob them of their belongings, assuring the women that his plan is foolproof and they won’t get caught.
This operation is so successful a number of soldiers have become victims that it warrants the attention of the chief of police who calls the Human Torch and Toro to help. The pair agree and go undercover as soldiers to try and solve this mystery. Sure enough, while they are out on Broadway they are approached by Kay and Rita who manage to rob the pair while they are distracted with walking them home. When the Torch finally realizes that they have been robbed, they run inside and realize that the women don’t actually live in the apartment building they were dropped off at and had already fled. Flaming on, the pair quickly find the two women but after searching them find no trace of the stolen money and are forced to let them go.
Back at police headquarters, the authorities come up with a plan to mark money with a powder that can only show up on a special fluorescent light. They then send some soldiers to the dance club and allow them to get robbed. While the police wait to raid the headquarters, the Torch and Toro decide to sit in and watch what happens. Unfortunately, Big Dan and his men recognize the two heroes and has the bartender drug them. With the Torch and Toro knocked out, they are then dumped in a nearby river. The water revives the Torch and he quickly unties himself and Toro. Once free from the water the pair flame on and fly back to the dance hall where the police have just started their raid. The pair stop anyone from escaping and their fluorescent light catches everyone red handed.
Recurring Characters
Human Torch, Toro
The Pawns of Satan
The Sub-Mariner goes to a circus to watch the final performance of his friend, a professional diver named Ace Lorry, who can pull off a 90-foot dive. Back stage, Ace tells Namor how he is going to retire, reminding the Sub-Mariner how he worked so hard to keep his mind off the apparent death of his daughter some eight years earlier. Although no body was recovered it was believed she died when her school house caught fire, the only thing left was half the bracelet she was wearing at the time. He looks forward to retirement especially since June, the daughter of his housekeeper, reminds him so much of his daughter and that she is roughly the same age Helen would have been had she lived. Unfortunately, the jump turns tragic and Ace Lorry is injured during the dive. Namor comes to his rescue. Ace’s dying words to Namor is the location of his will, which is stored in a desk at his home. When a doctor examines Lorry, it is determined that the dive didn’t kill him. Ace was poisoned with tetracyn, a toxin that takes between 10 to 12 hours to kill. Lorry’s death is particularly upsetting to Harry Ames, the owner of the carnival since Ace helped him refinance the circus and his death could mean he has to shut down operations.
Namor vows to find out who murdered Ace and starts his investigation at the home of Ace Lorry. There he finds the will in the desk he discovers that Ace was leaving money to Mrs. Dawson, her daughter June, and Harry, at the amount of $50,000 per person. His search is interrupted by the Dawsons and it is Mrs. Dawson who tells him that the only person to come to the home the night before was Harry Ames. Continuing his search, Namor comes across a box of chocolates that is sold at the carnival that has been tampered. That’s when someone comes up behind the Sub-Mariner and tries to shoot him. Catching the shooter’s reflection in the mirror, Namor easily dodges the shot and tackles who he thinks is the shooter. This turns out to be Harry, who insists that he didn’t shoot at Namor.
While trying to figure out what’s going on, Namor heads June calling for him. When he finds her, she explains she has figured out what’s going on but before she can explain the pair are ambushed by a pair of armed men. Weakened from the attack, Namor is unable to stop them from kidnapping June. However, turning on a sprinkler exposes Namor to some much needed water that restores his strength. Chasing after the car he runs it off the road into a nearby stream, but searching inside, Namor discovers that the men ditched the car and took June with them. He happens upon Mrs. Dawson who is driving by and she begs Naomr to find her daughter. Suspicious of the housekeeper, Namor follows her to an island where the armed men have June tied up. Namor then gets the drop on them and rounds up the crooks. In the aftermath, it turns out that June is actually Ace’s daughter - long thought dead. Is it turned out, she survived the fire and was stricken with amnesia when she was found by Mrs. Dawson. Knowing the girl’s true identity, Dawnson inserted herself into Ace Lorry’s life in the hopes of swindling his fortune. With the mystery over, June/Helen is reunited with Harry Ames.
Recurring Characters
Sub-Mariner
Clue of the Chinese Ticket
Madeline Joyce is passing by the Sam Lee Chinese Laundry and spots a commotion going on inside. Rushing in to see what's going on, she finds a gang of men trying to steal a bundle of clothing. However, the attention drawn by the rushing public causes the men to flee without the bundle. When the police arrive on the scene. Lee explains to them that while the men arrived with a wash ticket they were not the owners of the clothing and that he refused to give it to them. He tells them who the real owner of the clothing was, and where he lives.
Overhearing this, Madeline changes into Miss America and flies to Jimmy's house. There she finds that Jimmy has been beaten up and tied to a chair. Untying Jimmy, she learns that one of his attackers was a man who had been living with him in the boarding house for a number of weeks. He tells her that he doesn't know what they were after, but as soon as they got his laundry ticket they left. Not liking Lee's answers, Miss America flies off to investigate further.
As she flies, she spots the thugs getaway car chasing after a wet wash truck. They force the truck to pull over and find the back of uncleaned wash they were looking for. However, searching it's contents they don't find what they are looking for and suspect that Mr. Lee had taken it. Before they can get away, Miss America forces their car to crash and takes their leader. She forces him to explain what the attacks were all about: The man explains that they robbed a Wall Street bond messenger and stole a quarter million in negotiable bonds. When the police came to search his room, he stashed them in Jimmy's laundry bag, which went to the cleaners before he could recover the stolen bonds.
Rushing to Sam Lee's laundry, Miss America and the gang leader find Jimmy and Lee both at a table with the stolen bonds. Smashing in, Miss America realizes they aren't trying to steal the bonds themselves, but have actually called the police who are on their way. Jimmy explains that when Mr. Lee found the bonds he called right away and then switched the laundry bundles. He also refused to hand over the bundle to the police because of his strict business practice of not giving somebody else's laundry to someone who doesn't have a ticket, not even the police.
Recurring Characters
Miss America
Golden Wraith of Walgrave
Jeff Mace is sent on assignment to investigate the murders of a prominent surgeon and his wife inf St. Paul. When Mace arrives in town he goes to the police station to look for clues. While he is doing so, a strange man uses a trained eagle to kill a young man on the campus of a nearby campus. The news of the killing reaches the police just as Mace finishes questioning the chief of police. When the call comes in, Jeff accompanies the police to the scene and examining the body, Jeff finds a talon that belongs to some kind of large bird.
Jeff takes this to Professor Higgins at the university who identifies it as a rare breed of a golden eagle that is known for its killer instinct. When this latest development makes front-page news, the killer decides that Professor Higgins needs to be silenced. The next morning when Jef Mace calls on Professor Higgins again he finds him dead in his office. When police are called to the scene, yet another person is murdered, this time in the hallway just outside where they are investigating. This time, Jeff is able to find feathers left behind by the killer bird and he finally realizes where he can find the killer.
Changing into the Patriot, Jeff goes to the local zoo where he finds a rare golden eagle that he confirms as the one involved in the murder. He then hides in the bush to wait for the killer to come for the animal. When he tries to apprehend the man, he strikes the Patriot over the head with the hilt of his whip. While the hero is stunned, the madman explains why he has committed this series of murders. The man explains that twenty years ago his son was carried off by an eagle. Although he recovered the boy from the nest the child was seriously wounded and took him to get help. When the surgeon failed to save his son’s life, Walgrave vowed to get revenge and decided to train a killer eagle to do his dirty work. By the time Walgrave has finished his explanation, the Patriot has recovered from the blow and easily overpowers Walgrave ending his murder spree.
Recurring Characters
Patriot
Blind Man's Boots
While in the lobby of a midtown hotel, the Angel overhears a man named Paul Sapphire checking into his room. Spotting the man’s naive attitude and that he is wearing a massive diamond ring he figures this new comer is bound to get into trouble. That’s when a shady looking character acts the bellhop about the new coming and learns that Paul Sapphire who discovered a rich diamond mine in South Africa and that the ring on his finger is the massive Lantak Diamond. Paul Saphhire’s story is a real life rags-to-riches story as he was nearly broke when he first left America. Overhearing this as well, the Angel decides that Paul Sapphire needs protection.
Things turn tragic when a gang of thieves corner and murder Paul Sapphire on the street and steal the diamond. When the Angel investigates the murder he finds no trace of the killers. However, as luck would have it, a blind homeless man was the only witness to the killing. Although he cannot see, the blind man’s other sense provide enough clues for the Angel to deduce the location of the thieves and recover the stolen diamond. As there was a reward for the recovery of the diamond, the Angel decides to give the money to the homeless man who helped crack the case.
Recurring Characters
Angel
