Recalling one of Lydia's cryptic remarks ("He strikes at midnight," she said) Batman divines the meaning, and, with Chief O'Hara (whom he met on the way), races to Big Benjamin to attempt to stop the clock and save Robin before it's too late. O'Hara fails to shoot out the clockworks, and, with but a minute to spare until 12 midnight, The Caped Crusader uses The Batzooka to shoot a line to the lightning rod on top of the clock tower and the second to the clock's hands; he then connects the ends of both lines to The Batmobile's nuclear power source into the positive terminal, in hopes of positively charging the clapper and the bell and thus repel each other! Just as Benjamin's clapper is about to strike, Batman's plan is successful, and Robin is saved. After the rescue, The Peerless Pair repair to The Batcave, where they research their foe's methods. Simultaneously, Bookworm is upstairs in Wayne Manor pilfering a rare alchemical text from Bruce's library; he then arranges for a giant-sized cookbook (the name of it is called The Delight Of Cooking by Suzan Barrie) to appear in the middle of 5th and Cedar streets in downtown Gotham. The Dynamic Duo race to the scene, open the book with a super-powered magnet from The Batmobile (actually, Bookworm and Lydia opened it, with a remote control), enter the book, find a small kitchen inside, and soon find themselves trapped inside the armor-plated book as scalding hot steam is pumped in!!
Bookworm and Lydia see this as a chance to swipe The Batmobile, and they drive it to the rear of The Morganbilt Library, where he plans to use its Batbeam, to break into The Library and snatch all of the rare and priceless books stored within. As Chief O'Hara, Commissioner Gordon, and a group of Gotham's Finest attempt to open the giant cookbook, The Caped Crusader contacts Alfred at The Batcave and, with his help, locates the manhole under the book which Bookworm introduced his murderous steampipe! It is here that The Dynamic Duo make their escape, just as the police finally blast open the book to find it empty, and deduce The Duo had been consumed by the steam. Meanwhile, a very much un-steamed Batman and Robin pick up The Bookworm's conversation in The Batmobile by way of a concealed microphone; it's then relayed to them via an automatic feedback circuit in their Batcave, and they head for The Morganbilt Library, where they eventually subdue The Pernicious Plagiarist and his bookish crew at the library, saving Gotham City yet again. Bookworm and Lydia are taken to Police HQ for Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson to see in person before being hauled off to the pokey.
NEXT WEEK: the return of The Riddler!