At the U.S Arsenal, an elderly man calling himself Mr. D comes in and forces the sentries at gunpoint to load a wagon with dynamite. He has them lay a gunpowder fuse to the remainder in the arsenal Mr. D then hands them a note that says he will destroy the city. When one of the sentries objects, Mr. D shoots both men, shoots the fuse, and departs with the wagon filled with dynamite. One of the sentries, dying, manages to block the fuse with his arm.
Later, John calls Yancy to his office to identify a boat on the river, the Delta King. It's a small cargo vessel carrying 200 bales of cotton, and belongs to a friend of Yancy's, William Deevers. John tells Fry to keep an eye on the boat and then John talks to Yancy privately and confirms that Fry is now working for him, but doesn't know that Yancy is John's undercover agent. The administrator then explains that he received a note by mail vowing to destroy New Orleans. John says that an hour ago someone threw a similar note through his window from Mr. D saying that he would blow up the Delta King at 3 am. It's almost 3, and they go back to the window to see if Mr. D is bluffing. The Delta King blows up, and Yancy offers his assistance to Fry. Fry says that it's no job for amateurs, but John tells him that they'll need all the help that they can get. A lieutenant brings a message for John informing him that the arsenal has been looted and two men are dead.
John, Yancy, Pahoo, and Fry go to the arsenal and find the note in the dead sentry's hand. Fry confirms that ten cases are missing, and Yancy suggests that they start their search at the levee. The Mississippi is almost up to flood, and Mr. D dynamites the levee then the waters will wipe out New Orleans. John assigns soldiers and Fry goes there. Yancy wonders why Mr. d dynamited the Delta King if he wants to destroy New Orleans, and goes to notify the underworld.
The next day, Yancy confirms that Mr. D hasn't contacted the press. Yancy unwittingly bumps into Mr. D, and Mr. D gives him a card explaining that he's mute. The gambler escorts the elderly man to his hotel room, and Mr. D draws a gun on him, steps outside, and closes the door behind him. Once Yancy confirms that it's locked, he hears a ticking noise coming from Mr. D's bag and leaps out the window just as the bomb explodes.
Yancy wakes up at the charity hospital with Francine, John, Fry, and Pahoo there. The doctors removed fragments of glass out of Yancy's back, and Yancy says that he met Mr. D. John has received another note saying that he would detonate the bomb just when Yancy was attacked. A note comes in from Mr. D saying that he'll blowup a warehouse owned by Deevers at 2 pm, and it's just 2 o'clock. They hear the explosion, and Yancy tells Francine to have Deevers meet him at her club.
As Yancy and Pahoo leave, Barbara Kent calls from the balcony of 210 and asks Yancy to come up so she can tell him something important. When he goes up, Barbara lets him in and introduces herself. Yancy finds her familiar, but Barbara says that she's only been to New Orleans once a year ago and Yancy was out of town at the time. She tells Yancy that she saw the man in Room 209 and he waved a pistol at her. He ran down the stairs and Barbara jumped back into her room, and then the bomb went off. She describes what Mr. D looked like, and Yancy offers to show her a brighter side of the city. Barbara says that she's a widow and she came from San Francisco to visit her husband's grave at Green Acres. She says that it would have been their first wedding anniversary, and Yancy quickly excuses himself.
As Yancy leaves, he confirms with Pahoo that the clerk didn't see Mr. D leave via the stairs. He wonders why Barbara is lying to them, and Pahoo stays to keep an eye on her. Meanwhile, Yancy goes to the club and she says that Deevers is off buying horses and won't be back for a week. The gambler figures that Deevers has the answer without knowing it, and goes to John's office. He explains about Barbara and figures that the vendetta against New Orleans is one of emotion. John realizes that Barbara Kent is the famous actress, and Yancy remembers that he saw her on Baltimore on the stage. Fry arrives and Yancy asks him to come with him.
At Green Acres Cemetery, Barbara opens her husband's mausoleum and goes inside with flowers and a case. Yancy and Fry arrive a few minutes later, and Pahoo steps out of the brush to sign that Barbara has been in the mausoleum a long time. The three men hear Barbara coming out and hide, and once she leaves Fry uses his pass key to unlock the mausoleum doors. The crypt statement announces that Barbara's husband John was killed on the streets of New Orleans, and Yancy finds a wooden panel in the otherwise marble wall. Inside is a compartment holding the stolen dynamite, and they carefully remove it.
Back at John's office, John tells Yancy and Fry that Barbara escaped from an asylum in San Francisco, just as Yancy expected. When John says that he'll have her arrested, Yancy and Fry explain that they need her free to lead them to Mr. D. Barbara has one charge left, and it's the only thing that will bring Mr. D to her. John has learned that John and Barbara were honeymooning at the King Louis and he went to the French Quarters alone at night. Some holdup man tried to rob Deevers, and Deevers killed the robber and accidentally killed John as well. Yancy writes out a note for Fry to deliver to Barbara, asking her to meet Yancy at the club.
Later, Yancy and Pahoo arrive at the closed-down club and they have the staff wait in the back room. Mr. D arrives and gives Pearl Girl a note and his case, and then quickly runs off. When she brings it to Yancy and Francine, Yancy realizes that it's a bomb and throws it out the window. It explodes safely outside, and Yancy and Pahoo head to the King Louis.
Mr. D climbs up to the balcony of Barbara's room, and Barbara removes "his" disguise. Yancy turns on the lights and congratulates her on her performance. She tries to leap out the balcony window but Pahoo is waiting for her and blocks her escape. Yancy tells her that it's over, and Barbara says that it can never be over and puts on her wedding ring. She talks to Yancy as John, saying that she told him not to go, but he went and they killed him. John and Fry arrive, and Yancy leads Barbara away.
Written by Gadfly on Jul 31, 2017