Spy-Hunters #19

When journalist Mitch Jackson arrives at the remote botanical museum to cover the century plant’s rare bloom, he stumbles upon a murdered scientist’s final, cryptic warning—“Witches’-broom!”—and soon finds himself entangled in a deadly conspiracy involving spies, a hidden plot to block a U.S. military base, and a mysterious woman named Lora Mara-val, whose loyalty is far from clear.

In ancient Greece, King Leonidas uses a clever deception to conquer a Persian-walled city: he sends his spies to set small fires in the wooded hills surrounding the city, making the Persians believe their villages are being systematically burned. As the Persians focus on the spreading flames below, the Spartans move undetected through the woods, ultimately leading to the city’s surrender without a single battle.

In a high school classroom in Sault Saint Marie, Michigan, student Bobby Smith becomes suspicious of a strange sailor near the Soo Canal after learning how vital the waterway is to America’s industry. When he spots the man tossing something into the canal, Bobby follows him, leading to a tense confrontation and a dangerous escape from a hidden cabin where he uncovers evidence of a sabotage plot involving uranium.

Counter Espionage Agent R493 goes undercover as a geologist to investigate suspicious uranium surveys, teaming up with a man named Guy Blake whose behavior raises red flags. When Blake tries to kill him, a tense standoff ensues—only for a rattlesnake bite to shift the balance, forcing Blake to reveal a hidden spy network in exchange for life-saving antidote.

In the Himalayan foothills, construction engineer Charles Hollis is lured to Nepal under false pretenses, only to discover his fiancée Nancy has been kidnapped and forced into a remote mountain camp. As he uncovers a hidden communist plot to use secret airfields in the region to invade India, Hollis must outwit his captors and use a clever trail of phosphorescent powder to rally local Gurkha fighters.

In World War I, French spy Charles Binet infiltrates German territory, posing as a civilian, to uncover the enemy’s next weapon. Disguised and resourceful, he gathers crucial intelligence by befriending a Krupp factory guard, learning that the Germans are developing poison gas shells—information that allows French scientists to create effective gas masks in time to foil a deadly attack.