I picked up A Clue to the Copper: The Complete Cases of Silver Skull by Richard Howells Watkins, published by Steeger Books as part of its Argosy Library series.
This volume collects a short, three-story series featuring the adventures of the Silver Skull that ran in Detective Fiction Weekly in 1933.
While all three stories were cover featured, this volume uses the cover from the magazine that kicked off a different three-story series by Erle Stanley Gardner: “The Man in the Silver Mask.” I really wish we could get a reprint of that series.
Richard Howells Watkins (1895-1980) was a fairly prolific pulp writer, with several stories and series appearing in Detective Fiction Weekly and other magazines. The Silver Skull series is interesting, but also disappointing, because we do not get a true conclusion. I have no idea why.
Our protagonist, Silver Skull, though he is not often called that, is introduced in the first story, “Silver Skull” (July 29, 1933), which gives his origin. He is really Roderick Hayle, a former captain in the Army Air Service. After a crash while trying to rescue other pilots, which horribly scars his face, his personality changes, and he becomes a killer.
We meet him as he is being taken to Sing Sing for execution, but he escapes, at the cost of the two deputies escorting him. He then steals a plane, kidnapping the pilot, and crashes on a remote island inhabited by a small group of people, including a surgeon. After an altercation that results in more deaths, the surgeon operates on him. He relieves the pressure on Hayle’s brain, inserting a silver plate, the source of the “Silver Skull” reference. He also alters his appearance, removing the scar and obscuring his fingerprints. Now restored to his right mind, Hayle decides to make amends for what he has done.
The next story, “The Secret of Silver-Skull” (Sept. 16, 1933), has Hayle going after criminal Art Vicar. Vicar is guilty of a murder for which an innocent man is on death row. Can Hayle expose Vicar as the real killer? We also learn that a criminal mastermind known only as The Copper is behind much of the wrongdoing. Will Hayle be able to confront him?
“A Clue to the Copper” (Feb. 3, 1934) continues Hayle’s mission against The Copper, focusing on criminal Fingy Catlin.
This was an interesting series, and I do not know why it was not properly concluded. It seems bizarre enough compared to other series in Detective Fiction Weekly. I almost wish some New Pulp author might tackle it and provide a conclusion.
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