As Chapter 8 ended, the Masked Marvel had been shot by the bad guy, and
had plummeted off the top of the warehouse. Luckily for him, he landed
on the fire escape one floor down. One of the other investigators,
Jim Arnold, shows up, and finding the Marvel unconscious, climbs on up
to the roof, where he is shot by the villain, and falls off the roof.
So the body falling off the roof in the previous cliffhanger was Jim, and
not the Masked Marvel. Our hero is safe once again, but at a terrible
price.
In Chapter 9, the investigators gather to remember their fallen comrade,
Jim Arnold. But Sakima and Mace are still loose, so they must continue
with their relentless pursuit.
In
order to photograph a secret truck loaded with a mobile television range
finder, which the insurance investigators are guarding, one of the bad
guys hides in a trunk which is then delivered to the harbor warehouse containing
the truck. When no one is around, he sneaks out and takes his photographs.
But the Masked Marvel shows up and catches him in the act. After
knocking out the villain, the Marvel decides to use the trunk to infiltrate
Sakima's secret hideout. He stows away in the trunk as two other
henchmen come back to pick it up. However, as they are taking it
back to their hideout, the photographer gets loose and calls Sakima, warning
him of the unpleasant surprise in the trunk.
The villains decide to get rid of the Masked Marvel by opening up the throttle
on the delivery truck and running it off the road with the Masked Marvel
trapped in the back.
The Masked Marvel tries to get the doors unlocked, but no such luck!!
The truck roars down the road uncontrollably, and finally plunges off
a cliff at a high rate of speed. Another sticky cliffhanger for our
dauntless hero. How will he survive this time?
