Kent Blake of the Secret Service #6
Tunnel of Death!
July 14: Mr. Kruger has called in his best man, Kent Blake, to assign him to investigate counterfeit money that is being smuggled into the United States by communist operatives. Kruger tells Blake that the plates that made the bills were created a German counterfeiter named Herman Schendel who was last seen in the New York City area before he disappeared. Kruger sends Blake on a mission to New York to try and locate Schendel.
Arriving in New York City shortly afterward, Kent meets with a member of the US Treasury Department named Bindel. After Bindel agent calls in Blake's safe arrival they go to Herman Schendel's last known address to look around. They search the missing man's bedroom, finding it ransacked. As Kent finds a box of popcorn from a stand on Coney Island. Just then Communist spies burst in and attack. Kent tries to fight back but is knocked out. When he comes around he finds himself tied up in the inner workings of a Coney Island amusement park ride. Using the motors to cut through his bonds, Blake breaks free from his prison.
Exiting onto the fair grounds, Blake spots the popcorn stand and notices Bindel going into the Tunnel of Horror through a side door. Following after Bindel he spots him as he runs into the spies carrying the counterfeit money. Thinking that Bindel is in trouble Blake tries to fight off the spies, but he is knocked out by Bindel who reveals that he is a Communist spy working within the US Treasury Department. The spies then tie up Blake and use a boat to dump Kent into the harbor. Left for dead, Blake manages to swim to the surface and is rescued by Schendel himself. Schindel explains that the spies kidnapped him and held him prisoner, forcing him to make the phony money.
With the spies due back soon, Blake hides out in the Tunnel of Horror and gets the drop on them, capturing the spies as they return.
Recurring Characters
Kent Blake
Mister Kruger
Blood on the Sand!
Returning to Washington after his mission in New York City, Kent Blake is greeted at the airport by Mr. Kruger. Blake is surprised to see Kruger in his old military uniform. Kruger tells him that they have both been reenlisted into the military to serve with G-2 Intelligence in Korea and that their plane is due to take off in three hours.
Soon Kent is back in military uniform and sent on a mission Lieutenant Farnam to fly into behind enemy lines in the 38th parallel where it is believed that American atomic scientist John Preston is being held prisoner following his invention of a new weapon to be used by the American military. They land in Korea on July 22nd and are soon part of a squad to locate and rescue John Preston. Marching into enemy lines they are attacked by Chinese mortars. They are ambushed by Chinese soldiers and they are pinned down. With most of the troops wounded, Blake is reluctant to leave them behind but he is reminded how important their mission is and he goes alone.
Blake jumps a commanding officer and steals his uniform to sneak into the Chinese camp. There he finds Preston being tortured by the commanding officers in a bid to force him to reveal his secrets. When Blake breaks his cover and attempts to rescue John but is knocked out and taken prisoner as well. Blake however has been playing possum and attacks the Communist spies while they are distracted and frees Preston. Blake then uses their radio to call in a bombing strike on the enemy base. The two men load up with guns and shoot their way out of the base, escaping just as the bombers arrive to blow up the Chinese base. Blake then takes John to safety.
Recurring Characters
Kent Blake
Mister Kruger
Deadlier Than the Male!
Captain Kent Blake and Colonel Kruger are stationed at the American base on a Korean island located off the Sea of Japan where they and the troops are being entertained by a stage magician and his sister Fran, named the Mystic Marlos as he puts on his show. They watched in awe as Marlo puts his assistant in a metal casket and charges it with 20,000 volts of electricity. However, when he opens the casket it is empty and the girl comes out from back stage alive and well.
After the show, Fran takes the opportunity to try and romance Kent Blake, but Kent is interrupted by a soldier who tells him that Colonel Kruger needs to see him. The Colonel tells Blake that the Reds have figured out their supply routs and have been attacking their convoys. They have been unable to find out who has been spying on them, but they have detected the transmission coming from their base and that it happened during the U.S.O. show. Kent is charged with trying to figure out who is telling secrets to the communists.
Recalling the electricity used during the Marlos acts, Kent goes to examine the coffin but finds nothing out of the ordinary. Someone pistol whips Kent in the back of his head. He is revived momentarily later by Fran who tries to romance him again. When Kent tries to warn her that he suspects her brother of being a Communist spy, she reveals that she is the mastermind of the plot and her brother is merely her assistant and shoots Kent and flees. Instead of killing Blake she only grazed him, when he revives again Kent learns from the sentry guards where the Marlos went.
Taking a motorcycle, Kent follows after the Marlos who left in a jeep. He catches up to them in a shelling zone and Fran's brother catches the jeep in the process of dodging shells from both side sand trying to evade Blake. The crash proves fatal for Fran's brother, and Kent captures Fran, telling her that she will spend time in prison for betraying her country.
Recurring Characters
Kent Blake
Mister Kruger
