Sub-Mariner Comics #17
The Mask of Treachery
The Sub-Mariner swims up to shore in the town of Waterville and spots a robed gang chasing after a man out of town, telling him that they don't want his kind around. Striking the man with a rock, they knock him into the river, prompting Namor to rescue the man's life. Reviving the man, Namor notices when he drops a silver star and purple heart medals, identifying the man as a war hero. Namor learns the man's name is Joe Svoba, whose family immigrated to America from the Czech Republic. He explains that he served in the American military during the war. He goes on to explain that his father was the skipper for a fishing boat until he was imprisoned for apparently murdering his former employer Mr. George. His father claims he is innocent despite pressure from the townspeople to confess his crime.
The pair are suddenly met by Joe's friend Mr. Rogers; Rogers is relieved that the Order of the Blue Flower did not cause him serious harm. Rogers explains to Namor that the Order was recently formed after the murder of George and they have been demanding that the elder Svoba be hung for his crimes without due process. Namor decides to get involved, getting Joe to hide out with Mr. Rogers while he works to clear Joe's fathers name.
Meeting with the warden of the state prison, he gets permission to speak with Svoba. Svoba explains that he was employed aboard the Santa Anne for years until one day he and his crew came home to find a note from Mr. George and his partner Larkin informing them that they were all being fired. Demanding answers, Svoba went up to George's office and heard him arguing with Larkin before a number of shots. Barging in, found Larkin dead with the murder weapon on the scene and the killer gone. In the excitement, Svoba made the mistake of picking up the gun just as police entered the room and arrested him for the killing. When he explained that Larkin was responsible for the killing, nobody believed him. Learning that Larkin is responsible for forming the Order of the Blue Flower, and believing Svoba's story, Namor agrees to help clear his name.
Swimming back to Waterville, Namor finds a gathering of the Order of the Blue Flower and goes to them before they can go off and lynch Svoba. He tries to talk sense to them, telling them that Svoba has a right to a fair trial, leading to a fight. During the scuffle, Namor knocks out Larkin and tries to convince the other members of the Order that Larkin is responsible for the murder and will tell the truth when he comes around. However, one of the members checks Larkin's body and reveals that he is dead. Before Namor can react he is knocked out and when he comes around he finds himself under arrest by the constable for the murder of Larkin, despite Namor's insistence that his blow could not have killed him. As Namor pleads for the constable to have an autopsy done on the body he is struck by a crowbar thrown by a member of the Order as they drive past.
Namor comes around handcuffed in a cell, but is soon freed by the constable, who followed his suggestion and learned that Larkin was killed by poison. Freeing Namor, the Sub-Mariner dives into the ocean and decides to investigate the Sainta Anne. He spots the ship transferring cargo with another boat and goes aboard to find out what's going on. Briefly knocked out by a harpoon, Namor is instantly revived when he falls over a bucket of water and easily subdues the crew. He then learns that the boat is being loaded with fish that have smuggled diamonds hidden in them. Namor realizes that George likely had objections to this and was murdered for it, but wonders who killed Larkin, but none of the crew knows, and that their mysterious partner only communicated with them over shortwave radio.
When this mysterious boss radios in and tells the crew to look out for the Sub-Mariner, Namor recognizes it as that belonging to Mr. Rogers and rushes to his home and saves Joe before Mr. Rogers can kill him. When word reaches the Order of the Blue Flower, they realize how wrong they were and Namor reminds them to never give into a mob mentality as it often allows deceivers to take advantage of them. With the elder Svoba freed, Namor returns to the waters.
Recurring Characters
Sub-Mariner
Pirate Treasure
Namor is joining Betty to the island of Sea Cove where she intends to cover a story about Captain Rutgers has discovered a long lost pirate treasure. Namor finds this a silly story, but agrees to go along anyway. When they arrive on Sea Cove, they are directed by the station master to Rutgers' home. As they head there, the pair hear a cry coming from a nearby cave across a river. Namor dives in and goes to investigate, and arrives just as a pair of men have just finished stabbing Rutgers in the back and taken a piece of paper from him. Before Namor can stop them he is hit from behind with a bolder and is knocked out, but the crooks flee without the paper because the sheriff is about to arrive on the scene. When he recovers he learns from the dying Captain Rutgers that the paper tells where the treasure is hidden.
When Betty and the sheriff arrive, Namor shows them the instructions to find the hidden treasure, which states that it's hidden beneath a tower. Namor learns from the sheriff that the only structure in town that had a tower was the church, which burned down the previous week. Suspecting that the thugs that killed Rutgers will likely target his family members, the sheriff tells them that the captains surviving relatives are his daughter Jean, her husband Jeff Adams and the Captain's step-son Ed. Learning that they are all at the local masquerade ball, they rush there to stop the killers as they were also wearing masks. They arrive at the local dance hall, unaware that they are being watched by the Captain's killers.
While Betty and the sheriff was busy with the party goers, Namor decides to go outside. Sure enough, he is attacked by the two masked killers, and as he has them on the ropes he is knocked out from behind by their leader, who is dressed up like a pirate. The leader then steals the directions to the treasure from Namor. Reviving himself with water, Namor meets up with Betty and the sheriff and they return to the party just as the party goers are about to unmask. When a man in a pirate costume unmasks himself and is identified as Jeff Adams, he is arrested for the murder of his father-in-law, horrifying Jean. As Jeff is being led away, a drunk party goer tells Namor about the abandoned lighthouse outside of town, and Namor realizes that this is the tower spoken of in the directions. Suddenly, Jeff grabs the sheriffs gun and makes a break for it, insisting that he is innocent.
Namor tells the crowd not to worry that the gang of murderers will be caught and dives into the water. Swimming to the lighthouse. There he catches the three men just as they unearth the pirates treasure. When they try to escape by boat, Namor tips the ship over and unmasks their leader as Ed, who was wearing an identical costume in order to frame Jeff. With the real gang leader captured, Jeff's name is cleared. Later, Jeff and Jean tell Namor that they are donating the treasure to charity.
Recurring Characters
Sub-Mariner, Betty Dean
Adventure of the Generous Fence
Diamond dealer Van Der Waalt meets with the district attorney, asking that he do something about the recent string of diamond thefts from local diamond dealers and capture the man behind the ring, a criminal known only as the Generous Fence. The D.A. tells Van Der Waalt that they caught one of the diamond thieves, Johnny Spencer, and are about to interrogate him. However, before they can get answers out of him, Spencer keels over dead after eating his prison meal. An examination of the body reveals that he was poisoned.
Hearing of the crooks death from a radio report, the Angel decides to get involved in the case and catch the Generous Fence. Searching Spencer's home for clues, the Angel finds a business card for the Quaint Tea Shop and decides to stake the place out as a possible lead. There, he witnesses a man slip a package into a coat at the coat check and decides to follow the man. He is led back to the another diamond dealer named Strickland, whom the Angel can't believe has the nerve to be the Generous Fence, but suspects that he is in on the racket. After Strickland leaves for the night, the Angel breaks into his office and finds a bag of stolen diamonds and decides to take them to see how the racket reacts. He then takes them to a local post office and has them sent to an alias named John Wynn.
The Angel then goes to visit Van Der Waalt to tip him off so he can keep track of when the stolen diamonds appear on the market again. As the hero takes a cab back to his apartment, he is gassed by the driver who takes him to the Generous Fence's hideout. There thugs inject him with Scopolamine to get him to reveal what he did with the diamonds. Forced to tell the truth, the Angel is then taken out into the river and thrown in with an anchor tied to his legs. Breaking free, the Angel arrives at the post office just in time to a police officer (posing as a postal agent) busts the Generous Fence as he comes to claim the package for "John Wynn". To everyone's surprise, the Generous Fence turns out to be none other than Van Der Waalt, who is then arrested.
Recurring Characters
Angel
