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"Speed Saunders: "The Mystery of the Darby Pearls"": Sailing to America aboard the Calvon, a luxury liner, Speed and the Dane family are able to relax a little after their wild jungle adventure. Doris and Speed spend some time together in the dining room, where he gives her a present from her u

Quote1 I take it you fellows are after the Omar Diamond. Sorry to spoil your plans. What was the shot for? Quote2
Bruce Nelson

Detective Comics #15 is an issue of the series Detective Comics (Volume 1) with a cover date of May, 1938.

Synopsis for Speed Saunders: "The Mystery of the Darby Pearls"

Sailing to America aboard the Calvon, a luxury liner, Speed and the Dane family are able to relax a little after their wild jungle adventure. Doris and Speed spend some time together in the dining room, where he gives her a present from her uncle; a pearl necklace. He also delivers her uncle's warning that they were going to be followed. It's too dangerous to be worn out in the open, so Speed escorts Doris back to her stateroom, to hide the pearls inside the vase lamp. Her brother Malcolm sits out on the deck, still recovering from his jungle madness. Doris leaves her nephew Dick in charge of watching over him, while she and Speed head for the dance hall.

Dancing into the night, Speed and Doris enjoy their time together. A well-dressed British gentleman introduces himself to them as Lord Eton, and asks Doris for a turn on the dance floor. A downhearted Speed takes up a spot over by the bar, where a drunk barfly recognizes Lord Eton as a jeweler, a mysterious fellow who operates in England. Just then, there's a cry for help! It sounded like Dick was in trouble! Both Speed and Doris rush to see what was the matter. They discover Malcolm was drugged, and Dick is nowhere to be found! One of the stewards says he saw the boy running towards the cabin, but he isn't there when Speed checks, though the pearls were still in their hiding place. They try to get the captain of the ship to let Speed investigate, but he doesn't want any non-personnel interfering, even though Speed is famous for his detective work. It starts to look probable to Speed that this was an inside job. A note is posted on Doris's door when she returns, instructing her to leave the pearls in her room after she disembarks, promising her nephew will be returned to her if she does so. Speed comes up with a plan; he'll stay on board in secret, keeping an eye on Doris's cabin to see who goes in.

On another part of the ship, Dick manages to escape from the room his kidnappers were holding him in. He runs out on the deck as they give chase! The captain spots the boy, and the men trying to grab him. Lucky the Captain has his gun handy, rescuing Dick, who tells him about the pearls. They head back to Doris's cabin. Meanwhile, Speed watches the door of the stateroom, until finally a man opens it up and sneaks in. Gun drawn, Speed goes inside to see Lord Eton, caught red-handed with the pearls. The crooked Lord tries to get away. The captain and Dick come across him, blocking his path. Eton chooses the only option available, diving overboard with the pearls, never coming back up again. Though the police later search the water, there is no trace of Lord Eton or the pearls, leaving them to conclude he met his final end.

Appearing in Speed Saunders: "The Mystery of the Darby Pearls"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

  • Doris Dane (Final appearance)

Antagonists:

  • Lord Eton (Single appearance; dies)
  • Butch (Single appearance)
  • Jake (Single appearance)

Other Characters:

  • Dick Dane (Final appearance)
  • Malcolm Dane (Final appearance)
  • the Captain (Single appearance)

Locations:


Synopsis for Buck Marshall: "Heels and Toes"

A runaway stage coach with an injured driver crosses the path of Buck Marshall and his bronco. He rides up alongside the lead horses, managing to calm them down and stop their gallop. Buck then checks on the driver, who was just about ready to keel over. It was a hold-up by a masked fellow, who killed the guard and stole the money being delivered to the bank in town. The driver gives out the name "Apache Joe" before dying in Buck's arms. The sheriff appears, having seen the commotion from further up the trail, and Buck briefs him on what happened. A bullet lodged in the driver's seat gives them a clue... a .44 slug, from the same kind of gun used by Apache Joe, who previously served a term for horse robbery. They place the driver's body in the carriage and drive it into town. A quick visit to the bank for information about the stolen money, and the sheriff was ready to join Buck for a trip to Apache Joe's cabin. The man at the bank had been expecting $10,000 to be delivered, to be loaned out to a Bill Owens.

Apache Joe isn't home when Buck and the sheriff reach his cabin. They take a look around inside, Buck searching around the bed. A small sack full of coins is hidden under the mattress, w evidence that Joe was involved in the hold-up. A rider suddenly comes up the path, which turns out to be Joe. He's arrested on charges of stage-coach robbery all the while pleading his innocence, saying he was framed. After the prisoner is locked away, Buck returns to the trail where the hold-up took place. He found the two sets of tracks, a stage coach's wheels and supposedly Apache Joe's boot prints, although Buck thought something looked off.

When he returns to the sheriff's office, Buck learns that Joe escaped custody. He somehow got his hands on a gun and forced the frightened deputy to open his cell. The sheriff believes someone outside slipped Joe a gun through the bars. More boot prints were found around the back of the jail in the dirt outside Joe's cell, the same kind as were at the hold-up site. Buck had a theory that was beginning to show some merit. He tracks the one who left the prints, leading him back to Joe's cabin. Inside, a figure with long black hair, at a glance looking like Apache Joe, rummages around the bed searching for something. Buck doesn't bother knocking, barging through the door with gun drawn yelling for the man to raise his hands. Instead, the intruder spins and shoots the gun out of Buck's hand! Buck rushes into the man, knocking the hair right off his head. Once Buck has him on the ground, he recognizes the person under the wig. It was Bill Owens, owner of the Flying H ranch! He framed Joe for the hold-up, by dressing like the Apache with a long-haired wig. When Joe was arrested, Bill was the one that slipped him the gun. He needed Joe free to be the scapegoat for future jobs he was going to pull. But now Bill was going to be in the jail cell Joe had warmed up for him.

Appearing in Buck Marshall: "Heels and Toes"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

  • Sheriff

Antagonists:

  • Bill Owens (Single appearance)

Other Characters:

  • Jim (Single appearance; dies)
  • Apache Joe (Single appearance)

Locations:

Synopsis for Larry Steele: "The Plot To Kill Larry Steele (Part 1 of 2)"


Appearing in Larry Steele: "The Plot To Kill Larry Steele (Part 1 of 2)"

Featured Characters:

Antagonists:

  • "Snow"

Synopsis for Bruce Nelson: "Too Many Crooks (Part 2 of 3)"


Appearing in Bruce Nelson: "Too Many Crooks (Part 2 of 3)"

Featured Characters:

Antagonists:

  • Patricia Barden
  • Laura Jessup
  • Caulkins (Final appearance)
  • Strafacchi (Final appearance)

Other Characters:

  • Lloyd Parsons
  • Mr. Morton
  • Captain Nichols (Final appearance)
  • Hyatt (Single appearance)
  • Browne (Single appearance)

Synopsis for Bart Regan, Spy: "Mr. Death"


Appearing in Bart Regan, Spy: "Mr. Death"

Featured Characters:

Antagonists:

  • "Mr. Death" (Single appearance)

Synopsis for "Bring 'em In Brannigan"


Appearing in "Bring 'em In Brannigan"

Featured Characters:

  • "Bring 'em In" Brannigan

Synopsis for Cosmo, the Phantom of Disguise: "The Plane Crash Mystery"


Appearing in Cosmo, the Phantom of Disguise: "The Plane Crash Mystery"

Featured Characters:

  • Cosmo, the Phantom of Disguise

Antagonists:

  • Pierce (Single appearance; dies)

Other Characters:

  • Doris Bay (Single appearance)
  • Neal (Single appearance; dies)

Synopsis for Slam Bradley: "The Lady-Killer"


Appearing in Slam Bradley: "The Lady-Killer"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

  • Chester Glass (Single appearance)

Other Characters:

  • Sergeant Gage (First appearance)
  • Geraldine Ryan (Single appearance)

Locations:

Notes



See Also


Links and References

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