Issue Tagline: The Caped Crusader Tackles the Phantom Peril of "The Spook That Stalked Batman!" / Hawkman: The Winged Detective Solves "The Riddle of the Red-Handed Robber!"
Synopsis: In Gotham's new maximum security prison, gang boss "Big Turk" Ramis languishes. But he is sprung by the mysterious Spook, who informs him that the price of his "escape insurance" has just gone up. Once Ramis agrees to pay, the Spook chemically blindfolds him and spirits him out of the jail, providing him with a getaway car, a new set of clothes, and a pair of glasses that contain a signal to the Spook should Ramis ever need him again.
Brought in on the case is Batman, who is momentarily distracted from the manhunt apprehending two thieves. The goons are unconcerned, however, and brandish a "lucky rabbit's foot," which, they explain, will keep them out of jail.
As Batman carts them to jail, the Spook appears in the road, twenty feet high and shrouded in mist. As Batman approaches, however, the villain shrinks away to nothing under a manhole. When Batman returns from investigating, he discovers that his Batmobile -- and his prisoners -- have disappeared into thin air. The car later turns up in the police impound lot with an inflatable Spook doll handcuffed to the steering wheel.
Determined to entrap the Spook and discover his method, Batman recaptures Big Turk and learns that the criminals who use the Spook's "escape insurance" signal him with hidden beepers in objects they carry (in Turk's case, the glasses the Spook gave him).
Knowing that the Spook will soon arrive, Batman disguises himself as Big Turk and waits for his "rescuer" in the criminal's cell.
