Detective Comics #90
June 23, 1944
"Crime Between the Acts"
A story set on the Mississippi River? At first, I might be like, "No thanks," but the splash page is so weird, it makes me want to give it a chance. On it, a riverboat with a sneering face bears down a group of people on the pier that are being shot at by gangsters on the boat. What's most disturbing is the woman dragging her kid away. The kid is literally dangling from the woman's hand. Meanwhile and oversized Batman and Robin bear down on the boat. It's just really weird and now has me intrigued about the story.
The story opens with the Mississippi Mermaid arriving in town. The showboat features a number of performers. While most of the town attends the show, a gang of thugs rob various businesses and homes in the town. One of them is recognized as a performer with the showboat, but all the performers are accounted for by Captain Ben and the attendees.
Bruce and Dick read the accounts of the robberies and see the pattern that it happens when the riverboat is in town and decide to investigate. Ah, the good old days when Batman could leave town from time to time and help other towns out before things got out of hand with the costumed villains.
In the town of Dalestown, Batman and Robin interrupt a theft by jumping in and attacking the gang. They have the upper hand until Batman is knocked out by a falling stuffed bear's head. The gang gets away as Robin tries to bring Batman around.
The two go to the showboat and Batman recognizes one of the gang, but once again, he is vouched for by the crowd. Batman backs down, much to Robin's surprise. But Batman knows there's something wrong and it's up to them to figure it out. The next night the two attend the show and save for a five minute intermission, it looks unlikely that any of the performing troupe could slip away to commit the crimes. During the intermission the show attendees were allowed to use the pool. But then Bruce hits upon the answer - time.
The two leave and return as the Dynamic Duo. Batman offers a display of his speed swimming. When he climbs out of the pool, he notes that the intermission is actually longer than five minutes. The two race off to confirm their findings and are blinded by a light followed by an attack from the gang. They quickly take out the few attackers.
Batman points out how the clock actually ran slow and since the attendees wouldn't wear their watch in the water as they swam, they thought only five minutes had passed. Mind you, who goes for a swim for only five minutes?
The two intercept a returning boat of thieves with their loot. Batman takes out the crew and then attacks the riverboat. Captain Ben manages to convince the the local sheriff that Batman was the culprit. In the confusion, Ben gets away on the small launch. Batman quickly follows in the Batplane, but then he suddenly realizes that Robin is not with him. World's Greatest Detective.
And where is Robin? He managed to get on board the launch that Captain Ben escaped in and is now headed deep into the Bayou. There, Batman arrives and is immediately trapped in a pit with a crocodile. Meanwhile, Robin takes on the gang and has a better fight with them. He rescues Batman who fares well in wrestling the crocodile.
