 Time later at the Breaker City Hospital, Dan Garrett and Joan Mason are waiting outside one of the private rooms for Professor Meredith. How is he, Professor? Mr. Downes is dead. Dead? Yes. Didn't the poor motor help him? Mr. Downes didn't die from the effect of submersion. He died from the effect of a poisonous bite. Then you think there were two punches on Mr. Downes' leg, like those left by the fangs of a fairly large serpent. No one saw anything in the water. Strange how the effect of that serpent's bite is exactly like the bite of a cobra. The reactions are identical. Could it be a water moccasin? You don't find water moccasins in the ocean. And their venom doesn't work in the same way. It works on the blood. Cobra venom works on the nerve centers. Paralyzes the muscles. Controlling the act of breathing. Could it be a fish? I hardly think so. No. Punches were more like those of a fairly large snake. There aren't any cobras that live in the water, are there? The nearest thing I can think of is a serpent which is found in the tropical waters of the Pacific Ocean. But it's never been found in these waters. Hmm. Well, I have found out what I want to know. What are you going to do now? I'm going back to the city to check with my friend-backed friends. He may be able to help on this case. When are you coming back? I'm not sure. Well, I think I'll say a while and see what else I can pick up in this case with my news paper. Okay, but keep away from those two lifeguards. They're bad medicines. So you suspect the two lifeguards are being implicated in these deaths? Yes, I do. I'm convinced of it. But make sure, so sure. All the time I was rowing the boat with the two lifeguards and Mr. Down's back to shore, the stone in the poison detector ring was bright yellow. But perhaps the poison in Mr. Down's body... No. You see, after they took him away, the stone was still yellow. What about the man who tried to abduct Miss Mason and shot Mannegan? Didn't you say he resembled one of the guards? He was one of the lifeguards, but I didn't let on. I recognized him. I didn't want to spoil my chance of getting enough evidence to convict him in this larger case by showing my hand in the case of simple assault. And very wise, very wise. But what are you going to do now? I'm going to put on my blue beetle armor and mask and... Uh, eyelash, right? Hello? Patrolman Dan Garrett? Yes. Yes, he's here. It's for you, Danny. Long distance. Long distance. Probably Joan Mason. Hello? Oh, hello, Professor Meredith. What? Joan Mason has disappeared, but... She hasn't checked out of the hotel? Well, I can't get down there myself, but... I'll see that several of our best men are sent down right away. Thanks for calling. Goodbye. Watch the trouble, Danny. Unless it's someone that kidnapped Joan Mason. Help me with my blue beetle costume, will you, Doc? Why, certainly, Danny. Certainly. Where are you going? I'm driving down to Breaker City. But you just told Professor Meredith you weren't coming down. That's right. Dan Garrett isn't. But the blue beetle is... Certainly pleasanter driving down the moonlight than it was in the rain. There's somebody walking ahead of me in the road. He's got a long stick and a flashlight. Probably been fishing by moonlight. Want a lift? Oh, thanks, mister. Gee, you're going to a masquerade in that costume? Uh, yes. As the blue beetle. Say, I've heard of the blue beetle. You have? What do people say about him? Well, they say he's a crusader against crime. And that he's invulnerable. Probably the truth. Gee, that's swell. Oh, where are you going? Oh, I'm taking a ride in the moonlight. Are you going fishing in the moonlight? No, I'm going home. Oh. I thought that was a fishing rod you had there. No, that's for catching snakes. Here, you see the fork down down there? Oh, yes. Yes, I see it now. What do you do with the snakes? Sell them. Sell them? Mm-hmm. To whom? Oh, a couple of fellas back there in the woods. What do they do with them? Eat them. Eat them? No, folks don't eat rattlesnakes. You mean to say you catch rattlesnakes alive and sell them? Sure. Dead rattlers ain't no good to them, fellas. Hey, if I gave you a dollar, do you think you could lead me to the place where these fellas you mentioned live? Well, sure I can't, but you don't have to pay me a dollar, mister. I'll take you there for nothing. Okay, son, but you'll get the dollar just the same. I'll turn around to the next crossroad and we'll pay a moonlight visit to your rattlesnake buyers. So, Miss Mason, it's very unfortunate for you that you've got as far as you did with your investigation. I'm sure your newspaper will miss your valuable services. What are you going to do with this? Make sure you won't disclose the information you have to anyone. You can't get away with this. Oh, you are in error, Miss Mason. We have gotten away with it, but you're not going to get away with it. We have gotten away with it in the past. We will again. The vacation business has been detoured to Pine Manor Lake. It will still follow that detour after your body is found floating in the ocean, a victim of a poisonous sea serpent. You wouldn't dare. Wouldn't dare? Fred, Joe. Suppose we leave Miss Mason with the Raj all day for a while while we step outside. Her education has been neglected. She has never met a six-foot cobra. No. You can't do that. You can't. Raise the lid of his cage and let him... The Blue Beetle. Yes, the Blue Beetle. He's going to nip harder than your cobra can strike. Open the cage, Joe. Then dive out the window. I've got the Blue Beetle covered with his gun. If you're bullets, you can't injure the Blue Beetle. That's so wise, Guy. Well, how do you like this? Let that be a lesson to you. Never telegraph your punches. Back up, you Blue Beetle. No, no, you don't. How do you like this, Blue Beetle? A rattlesnake around your neck. You're a fool. No snake can fight through this chain armor. Here, I give it back to you. Take it off. Take it off. He'll kill me. He'll kill me. You're yellow on your corner. You murderers. Look out, Blue Beetle. Take it off. Get me out of here. I'll paralyze him with my magic ray. There. That'll hold him for a while. Now for the one around your neck, Slavitt. I should have let you die the agonizing death some of your victims have died. I'm bitten. I'm poisoned. I'm going to die. I'm poisoned, Slavitt. The law will take care of you in the proper manner. Here, Miss Mason, give me a hand. We'll handcuff these lifeguards to the snakes' cages. They're still unconscious. Now, put these snakes back in their cages. There. You certainly have a powerful punch, Blue Beetle. I need that power. Now, Mr. Slavitt, we'll take care of you. Keep them away from me. Keep the snakes away from me. Here, get in this room here. What are you going to do with this? Don't let them at me. Don't let them at me. Here, get up on this chair and climb up onto those rafters. I can't. Now, I'll just pull the King Cobra's box over here, under you, and open the lid. Then we'll shut the door and let the Cobra guard you till the police arrive. I don't think you'll try to escape. Come on, Miss Mason. I'll drop you off at your hotel. You can phone a front-page scoop for your paper. And the hitting will be sea serpent hoax exposed. Murderous racket smashed by the Blue Beetle. But, Danny, how did the lifeguards operate? They couldn't take the Cobra into the water with them. No, they extracted the poison from his poison sacs. Use it in two hypodermic needles taped together. The hypodermic syringes were small and easily concealed in the palm of their hand. But when did they inject the poison into their victim? As they rescued them. If some poor devil was taken with a cramp and called for help, the lifeguards would swim off or roll out to him. Then when they got to him, they'd put their twin needles in him and give him a shot of poison. Those points made a double incision. Then they'd bring him into shore to die a painful death from Cobra venom. What were the rattlesnakes used for? To feed the Cobra's. Professor Meredith told me that. I see. Well, how do you account for the stories of people actually seeing the sea serpent? Oh, they let their imaginations run wild after the lifeguards started the serpent story. I see. And you got your first clue from the poison detector ring I gave you? Yes, Doc. It was your gift to me that really saved the businessmen of Breaker City from ruination. Well, you did a good job, Danny. Yes, but I'm glad it's over. I never liked snakes. I'll fight them whether they crawl on their bellies or walk on two feet. And so another fiendish racket was smashed by the Blue Beetle. What will Dan Garrett's next assignment be? Where will the Blue Beetle strike next in his crusade against the underworld? These questions will be answered in the next episode of The Blue Beetle. The Blue Beetle is a copyrighted Fox feature appearing in Mystery Men Comics Magazine on sale at your newsstand. The Blue Beetle is on the air twice a week on this same station. Consult the broadcast schedule in your local newspapers. And don't forget to listen in.