Emile C. Tepperman (1899–1951)

Classic pulp. Not great, but entertaining enough. Bummer that the rendering into ebook format was so poorly done.

I gather there is a host of pulp books featuring Secret Agent X. This is one of them. "X" is a master of disguise and takes on a number of personna. He can also mimic the looks and mannerisms of known people when necessary. He's also independently wealthy and absolutely abhors criminality and crime. He's dedicated his entire being to erasing crime. He has a network of private show more detective agencies and agents who do his bidding. None of them knows exactly who he is. He deals, always, in some disguise or another. Something like that.

So, in this book, at the end of a football game between a bunch of collegians and the inmates of a prison, "someone" manages to collect up the 25 most ruthless killers in the prison and carts them off in a truck. They all vanish.

Next thing one knows, there's a host of robberies featuring "robot killers". Sometimes they show up with an ungainly monster. The monster speaks in a metallic voice and has a finger that shoots a stream of gas at people, which upon contact causes the people to be engulfed in flames. The police are, of course flummoxed. People who might have pertinent information get incinerated in spectacular fashion. But, doggedly, Agent X and his minions eventually track the Murder Monster to his lair, eliminate him and disarm all the robot killers so that they can be returned to prison. show less

Entertaining, fast-paced, and implausible short story. Makes me want to read more Tepperman. Fortunately, there's a lot of him available on the net.