 The Blue Beetle Weeping down upon the underworld to smash ganglin' Comes the mysterious, all-powerful character Who is a problem to the police, but a crusader for law In reality, Dan Garrett, a rookie patrolman Loved by everyone, but suspected by none of being The Blue Beetle As the Blue Beetle, he hides behind a sprained mask And a suit of impenetrable blue chain armor Flexible as silk, but stronger than steel Today's episode of the Fox Feature, The Blue Beetle Is entitled, Saved by a Hare In all large cities, and even in smaller communities There are unfortunates who are trying to live down a single misstep Having served time in jail for some crime Generally a first offense, they have been paroled Released from jail with part of their sentence unserved Given a chance to try again to make useful citizens of themselves Paroles, they are called One misstep while unparole And they may be returned to jail to serve out the full term of the sentence Clever but heartless underworld characters Have found the parolee a source of illicit income And as a result, a widespread system of blackmail has sprung up As our story opens, patrolman Dan Garrett Who in reality is the Blue Beetle Is discussing the matter with his friend and confidant, Dr. Fryan You see, Doc, the fellas up against it When these underworld vultures begin to hover over him Why, how do you mean Danny? Well, let's take a case of Jim Horton He got mixed up with a bunch of young hoodlums in the neighborhood where he lived And got caught one night running away from the scene of a store robbery Was he one of the robbers? Claim not, but the court found him guilty And got five years Oh, yes, yes, I remember the case now Well, some friends and the parish priest got up a petition And presented it to the parole board As a result, he was paroled with four years yet to serve And what happened? His friends got him a pretty good job But as soon as he got to work The underworld got busy and tried to persuade him to come in with them And make some real money Told him he'd never succeed honestly because of his prison record Did he go in with them? No, no, he refused Said he preferred to go straight Ah, wise decision Ordinarily, yes But the gang wouldn't let him go straight They wanted him to give them inside information about the place where he worked They threatened to frame him and have his parole canceled So he'd be sent back to jail But what can those gangsters hope to gain by such tactics? A recruit for their campaign of crime Inside information about the place where the parolee works Power over first offenders and so forth And where is Horton now? Back in jail on a charge of robbery with a gun Framed evidence, I'm certain Do you consider the case big enough to enlist the services of the Blue Beetle? Any case that affects the welfare of the unfortunate Is big enough to interest the Blue Beetle And what are you going to do? I promised Mike Manig and I'd help him investigate this case Jim Horton's father was a pal of Mike's before he died And Mike is interested in helping Jim I see Well, if there's anything I can do to help Danny You know I'll be glad to do it Thanks, Doc Well, I'll see you later I'm going to meet Manig and down at police headquarters Will you be back later to change into your Blue Beetle chain armor and mask If anything develops? I've got it all here in this briefcase So I can make a quick change on the job Well, be careful Danny Boy I will, Doc So long Where are you heading for, Mike? The old empire warehouses on Doc Street What's down there? And I got a mysterious phone call from Joe Riley To meet him down there He's been working on the Helen Downey kidnap and kid Oh, yes She's the daughter of the parole commissioner, isn't she? That's right What's he found? And he didn't say He just told me to meet him in front of the air Hey Hey, look at that car coming See, here's where we make a pinch for speeding Look out, Mike Machine guns Wait, what the... Manigun Somebody fell or was pushed out of that speeding car Pull over to the curb, Mike Yeah And them guys were shooting at us Did they get you, Mike? No, how about you, Danny? Not a scratch, but it was close You hop out and take a look at the body, Danny Well, I see if I can trail that other car Never mind that car now, Mike I've got the license number Go phone to an ambulance Well, I look at this poor fellow Okay, help me back in a minute There's a drugstore on the corner Joe Joe Riley, bound and... Joe Joe Riley Can you hear me? It's Dan Garrett Hello, Dan Hello, Joe Dan Tell Manigun They made me phone him Who made you phone? The Mulberry Hill gang They've got the girl In the... Hey, Joe Joe Where have they got the girl? She's dead The ambulance will be right Hey, that's Joe Riley It was Joe Riley Dead? Yes Who done it? Did he say? Yes, the Mulberry Hill gang That's the gang that hangs out in Gus Heinrich's bar and grill What's the matter, officer? Oh, drunk In a cop at that He ain't drunk He's been shot Shot? See, I thought I heard some shots a while back You see, here comes the ambulance, Mike Stand back there, mister Give him all the air he can get Well, then he ain't dead He's hurt badly What's the matter? Somebody hurt, I guess Yeah, looks like a cop Stand back, stand back to the wall if you make way there Over here with that stretcher Easy with him, boys He's pretty weak from loss of blood But dad, I thought you said Don't let on, Mike We may be able to learn more If the gang thinks Riley's still alive What's yours, buddy? Ginger ale And what? And nothing, just plain ginger ale Dan Garrett's a policeman, Ed Policemen don't drink Oh, yeah, since when? Hello, Drummond I see you're in civilian clothes, Garrett Is this your night off? No, it's my uniform's night off Clever gag, Garrett You should be on the radio You think so? Yes Oh, say I hear Joe Riley in your precinct Got bumped off tonight Your information must have come from the wrong source Riley's still alive and he's talking Really? Well, it's nice to have seen you I'll be getting along By the way, Drummond How do you keep your hair so black and glossy? You're no spring chicken It's a special diet I have Uh-huh, spelled D-Y-E-I-T Oh, boy, you sure are quick on the pickup You're in the wrong business Not for the kind of pickups I like to make Well, if you pick up the culprits who shot Riley Recommend me as their lawyer Any time a crook needs a lawyer You usually get the business, Drummond If the price is right Hello Yeah, this is Hannex Oh, hello, Drummond What's that? Riley ain't dead What? Dan Garrett The cop? Oh, sure, sure, I bet I'll get some of the boys down there right away And we'll take the girls to a new hideout Sure, sure, right away The Blue Beetle Yes, the Blue Beetle What do you want? I ain't hiring no entertainers for my cafe Whom do you hire to do your kidnapping? What? Oh, so Joe Riley Fuck plenty And so did you over that phone just now I don't know nothing You'd better learn something mighty quick The Blue Beetle doesn't waste time You got nothing on me I am a respectable cafe owner Come out from behind that desk, Heinrichs Before I blast you with my magic wave No, no, no, no, that's a good easy Blue Beetle I don't know nothing about Joe Riley Fair of you, hidden commissioner Downey's daughter I don't know nothing about Come on, speak up before I tear you apart Who shot Riley and kidnapped Helen Downey? I don't know nothing Get up or I'll give you some more of the same I can't tell you the big boss would kill me Come on, get up on your feet You're going to tell me what I want to know What's the matter, Gus? Say it's the Blue Beetle Hey, Eddie, give me that bottle And where you are, or I'll... Got him Got the Blue Beetle with this paperweight That's good boy, Gus He's out cold What do we do with him? Tie him up We'll take him out to the old... Wait a minute Hello? Who? Yeah What? Joe Riley was already dead When the ambulance picked him up Then he didn't talk Good What? Mike Mannigan is on his way over here? What about? Oh, my license plate on the mother car Say I fixed that Okay Goodbye What's the matter, Gus? Hey, mouthpiece, just phone Now look, nosey Mike Mannigan is on his way over here You get my sedan Drive it out to Lover's Leap And run it off the cliff into the sea You got it? Yeah, but what? Be sure to take off the license plates first And destroy them Also take one license plate from my roadster I'll say the murderers of Joe Riley Must have stolen one of my license plates And used it on their car Hey, the cover What about the blue beetle here? I'll take care of him Beat it, nosey Out the back way Just a minute Just a minute, I'm coming Must... I'll open the safe And make this look like a robbery Oh, oh, it's you, Officer Mannigan Come in I want to talk to you, Heinrich I want to talk to you about Joe Riley's murder Your license plates are on the car Hey, who's that on the floor? That's a little present for you, Mannigan With my compliments The blue beetle, will I be... What's he doing here? I caught him robbing my safe And I overpowered him He's all yours, Mannigan A suitable reward for a brave and capable guardian of the law What will happen to the blue beetle now? Will it be taken to police headquarters and unmasked? Or will he escape and pick up the trail of the murderous kidnappers? Is there some connection between the kidnapping of the parole commission's daughter And the parole racket? These questions will be answered in the next episode of The Blue Beetle The Blue Beetle is a copyrighted box feature Appearing in Mystery Men Comics Magazine And The Blue Beetle Magazine 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, too The Blue Beetle