Detective Comics #100

April 25, 1945

"The Crow's Nest Mystery"

A ship tosses a package into the water and is picked up by two men in a rowboat who take it to a cavern in a cove. The package contains gems that will be fenced to Rader for $50,000.

The next night, Batman and Robin watch as the two bring the gems to Rader. When they crash the trading party, one of the two is shot when he offers to reveal who is leading the smuggling ring. The shooter gets away.

The shot man doesn't say his boss' name, but he does say "Crow's Nest", a lone area outside Gotham. The two head there are after having a rope bridge cut, they stumble upon the home of a mystery writer. They are surprised by one of the gang who has the butler tie the two up. He then orders the writer's safe open. He looks inside and the butler pushes him in and locks it.

The butler runs off to call the police, leaving the two still tied. But a stray bullet from a Tommy gun rips Batman's bindings. He has Robin open the safe and then close it behind him as he enters.

Batman finds the secret switch to a passage that leads to the smugglers' hideout. He returns after catching the man who shot his partner and catches the butler as he has the writer and Robin covered.

The plot is very simple. The writer's home was used as a base for smugglers in the past. The butler found out about it and decided to use it as a point to pass off items without anyone being aware. It's a good story. Not a Batman story so much, but a good Detective story and that's what we needed for the 100th issue of the comic. As much as we associate Detective Comics with Batman, it wasn't always the case. Indeed, Batman didn't come along until the 27th issue. This is a celebration of detective stories and it does so admirable.

What's next? We're on to World's Finest, Citizens!