All-Star Comics #25 (1945)

The JSA note the body of a man slumped on the floor of their HQ, looking as if he'd been in an auto accident, and mumbling that Rob Victor is innocent of murdering Ted Kimball 20 years earlier. Hawkman questions the man who says he has clues in his possession that may tell who he is as well as possibly uncovering what had happened to the D.A.. The JSA decides to follow the clues to 1) discover who their visitor really is, and 2) see if they can prove Rob Victor innocent. Unknown to the JSA, a hooded figure outside a window has sworn to get every member before they can learn the truth.

Possessing a silver belt buckle as his only clue, the Hawk visits Martini, a famous jeweler who is taken aback when he sees the buckle, who tells Hawk that he may learn more about it from the person he sold it to who lives at the old Kimball country home. When Hawk arrives, he is knocked out, but later captures them. Then he visits the Kimball house and talks to the housekeeper, who was a witness to the murder of Tim Kimball. Before Hawkman heads back to JSA HQ, she tells him that she doesn't know what happened to the District Attorney in the case, who mysteriously disappeared after the trial.

G.L.'s clue is a wallet with "From Boots to Doe" embossed on it, and shows it to a newspaper reporter who had covered the murder. He tells G.L. that the wallet was a birthday gift from Doris Black to Tim Kimball, but that he doesn't have a clue as to who "Boots" is unless it was Kimball. He tells of the quarrel over Doris, but says he should see Doris herself. As G.L. leaves, he is suddenly attacked by several men, but he quickly mops them up. He visits Doris, who recounts that night, then visits the prison warden who tells G.L. that Rob Victor escaped prison two years after being jailed.

The Atom's clue is a scarf, so he heads for Bleak Point, where the Kimball's former butler, Jabez Smith, lives. But Atom is jumped by several men, but he takes care of them all, while unknowingly being watched by a mysterious red-hooded figure. The scarf is shown to Smith, which he says was a gift by him to Tim Kimball, and says that he is in possession of the murder weapon, owned by Hengast Kimball and having just one bullet. Just then, the hooded figure grabs and makes off with the gun, Atom chases him, but is knocked out. He is left wondering why the "one bullet" is an important clue.

Mid-Nite's clue is a gold watch, and he figures that the one person who benefited most from Kimball's death was his cousin, Hengast Kimball, a millionaire oil man, so he decides to call on him. He spots a hooded figure trying to shoot Kimball, but he gets away and Mid-Nite tangles with some bodyguards. Mid-Nite questions Kimball about the night of the murder and he states that he tried to deter Victor, but couldn't. He also tells about being forced to watch Kimball's body being drug down to the docks, put aboard a boat, doused in gasoline, set afire and adrift.

Roy Minters was discouraged that he hadn't been able to develop a proper "finishing kick" to be able to compete in the mile relay for his college team. Coach Leeds was concerned as well, since the dean of the college had told him that if Porter did not win the Tri-State Meet, he'd be through as coach! Roy makes a deal to help Bill Brent with his grades if Bill will help him develop a finishing kick for the mile relay. As it turns out, Bill passed his classes and became eligible, and Roy successfully ran the finishing leg of the mile relay, leading Porter College to the championship!

Johnny's clue is a tie clasp, but is accosted by toughs, taken to an abandoned house, tied up, and left with a candle burning down to gunpowder. The hooded figure saves Johnny, and tells Johnny that Victor IS innocent, but he can't say more until he kills all of the Kimballs. Johnny suddenly realizes that he can't allow this to happen and begins chasing the strange fellow right to the Kimball house, where he pulls out the murder weapon and points it at the family. Johnny promptly calls for the Thunderbolt to go and get the rest of the JSA members.

The T-Bolt gathers up the members and takes them all to the Kimball home. Johnny begins to explain the situation, stating that the red-hooded figure says that the Kimball family was responsible for killing the District Attorney! The Flash asks Hawkman for an assignment, so he tells Flash to go out and round up Big Hunk Adams, the gang czar whose men have been attempting to thwart the JSA's investigation into this case. Hawk then tells the others that all the witnesses in the case will be brought together to settle the case once and for all, as well as identifying the mysterious red-hooded man.

After a brief battle, the Flash persuades Big Hunk to tell him why he and his gang were interfering with the JSA's investigation, and he tells Flash that Hengast Kimball came to see him and paid Adams to stop the JSA----one way or another! Flash asks Adams if his boys could identify Hengast as the man who bribed them, and he said that they could. Flash tells the boys that they are going with him, but has to do a bit more "convincing" before they all agree to come along peacefully.

Flash returns to the Kimball house and informs Hawkman that Big Hunk confessed that Hengast Kimball hired him to keep the JSA out of the case. Hawkman reviews the information about the case as he knows it, which stuns Hengast, when he finds out that the JSA knows about the single bullet, and tries to escape. Hawkman knows why this fact was important, because Hengast knew the gun was empty when Rob Victor held it on all concerned. The red hooded man is unmarked as Rob Victor and the man with amnesia is determined to be Tim Kimball, who recounts how a tramp was killed by Hengast on that boat.

Captain Tootsie's gift of a carrier pigeon to Fatso proves to save the day when Fatso, watching the house for his Mom, spots Red the Terror lurking nearby and uses the pigeon to notify Captain Tootsie.