Writer: France Herron

Penciller: Mike Sekowsky

Inker: Bernard Sachs

Synopsis: Star Hawkins excitely tells Ilda that he'd been invited to give a lecture in front of a gathering of law-enforcement officials in Metro-Town. At the lecture, Star disparages the abilities of crime-detection devices, saying that no machine has the deductive ability of a human being, which is necessary for crime-solving. Ilda, overhearing the statement, resents it. Someone from the audience asks how deduction might help solve a string of jewel thefts with no clues on the scenes in Metro-Town. Star responds that the lack of clues must mean that the criminal wasn't present when the crime was committed, and, when the others laugh at the idea, he takes on the case to prove himself. Later that day, Star works at a jewelry store in order to set a trap for the crook. Soon, a customer comes in, and Star shows the customer three things, the third of which is a crystal horse. The man leaves without buying anything, as do all other customers who Star serves. Star and Ilda remain at the store after closing time, and at midnight, Ilda suddenly grabs Star and starts dancing. While Star tries to stop Ilda, the crystal horse disappears, something Star notices only after Ilda stops dancing, the urge for which leaves as suddenly and inexplicably as it came. Star thinks about the horse and remembers that the customer who had looked at it touched it with his right hand, whereas he had touched the other two items only with his left. Star alerts jewelers to be on the lookout for a man touching things with his left hand and afterward switching to his right totouch an item. Sure enough, a salesperson spots someone doing this and alerts Star, who, with Ilda, follow that man to his home. That night, Star and Ilda watch the man's home, and at midnight, Ilda gets the dancing feeling again. Star forced the two of them into the man's house, and Ilda lets go of Star and begins swinging around the house's surprised resident. Star then rushes in and knocks the man unconscious, and after the police examine the man, they discover that he had coated his right hand with a substance and that he had a device which created a radiation attuned to that substance, allowing him to teleport the object directly into his home. As the police chief congratulates Star for his deductions, Star admits that he could not have done it without Ilda's odd reactions, indicating the radiation, proving that man and machine together are the best crime-solving combination.

Detective rating: Detective work at its finest! 10 on a scale of 1 to 10.

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