(Feature Comics 043, 1941)
Another example of the classic combination of someone posing as a spooky local legend-figure in order to scare folk away from a valuable area. In this case one Jean Dupre and his mother are trying to use the legend of the giant Black Bat (that they might have just made up) to scare their step sister/ daughter Marie away from the family ranch, which is just lousy with radium ore.
It's a good attempt, foiled by only a few factors: 1) Marie won't leave and instead calls in the RCMP; 2) Reynolds of the Mounties and his guide/ skáld the Old Timer show up and basically immediately unravel the plot; 3) they both end up dead, from a rock to the head (Madame Dupre) and glider malfunction (Jean Dupre). As usual, the less profitable option of splitting the proceeds of your find with the rightful owner would have been the way to go.
Unless I've been grossly negligent, this mother/ son duo is our first French Canadian representation on the list, so there's that at least.
MINOR EDIT: This is touted as Reynolds' first case in the previous episode, but also he's already a sergeant at the beginning of the story so I don't know when it happened. Some time in the past!
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