The Birthday Letter — Epilogue

by Tom Nichol

based on an episode of the same name from the
Adventures of Superman (1951)

[Author’s note: At the time this episode was filmed, the laws and criminal penalties for both murder and kidnapping, as well as counterfeiting, were much sterner, and more strictly enforced, than they are today, in both France and the United States. This episode, and this epilogue, both reflect that fact.]

A week had passed since the events that culminated in young Kathy Williams, a paraplegic, had been taken to the State Fair by Superman in response to a letter she had written him via the Metropolis Daily Planet. Although those events had ended happily, they had been preceded by Kathy’s going through an ordeal which neither she, her mother, nor the reporters at the Daily Planet, had ever expected. A pair of French counterfeiters, Marcel and Marie Duval, had stolen a set of official government printing plates from the Bank of France.

Their confederate, known only as LaRue, had subsequently been ruthlessly murdered by the Duvals after the plates had been transported to the United States. In the rush of events, another confederate, known only as Cusak, had mistakenly telephoned the Williamses in an attempt to inform the Duvals as to where and when they could pick up the plates, just before he had been shot and killed by yet another gangster, Big Jim Hanlon.

The Duvals had subsequently hired a local thug, known only as “Slugger,” to impersonate Superman, in an attempt to entice Kathy to divulge the information which she had mistakenly been given. Kathy, however, had soon seen through the gang’s ruse. In the process, Slugger had repented of his part in the scheme, whereupon the Duvals had tied him up.

As if that had not been bad enough, Marie Duval had removed the braces from little Kathy’s legs to prevent her from escaping, let alone from calling the police to alert them to what was going on. Only the intervention of Superman had prevented the Duvals from getting away from their vicious plot.

Perry White, owner/publisher of the Daily Planet, was now discussing these events with Clark Kent, Lois Lane, Mrs. Williams and Kathy, and Inspector Henderson of the Metropolis Police Department (Jimmy Olsen was on vacation at the time) in Perry’s private office, in preparation for a follow-up story which would conclude the Planet’s coverage of the events in question.

As they discussed the matter, Mrs. Williams asked, “Well, now that things are settling down, what’s going to happen to the Duvals? They’re not going to get out on bail, are they?”

“Absolutely not, Mrs. Williams,” the Inspector replied, his face as hard as flint. “Their crimes are much too serious for anything of the sort, especially since we now know that they were planning to come back and kill you, Kathy and Slugger, once they retrieved the plates they had stolen. The plates, by the way, have already been returned to the Bank of France.”

“That brings up a legal point, Inspector,” Lois put in. “Since the Duvals are both French citizens, will they be tried in France, or here in America? After all, they committed their crimes in both countries!”

Perry, who, in addition to being a newspaperman, was also a trained lawyer, responded, “Your point is a valid one, Lois, one that is being discussed by the French police, Interpol, the U. S. Attorney for this district, and the State Departments of both France and the United States. Given the fact that the Duvals viciously murdered LaRue, however, to say nothing of what they did to Kathy, and were planning to do to you, Kathy and Slugger, if I had to make a guess, I’d say they’ll most likely be tried here in America first. If they’re convicted, they’ll almost certainly both get the death penalty!”

“Would they face trial on the other charges?” Lois inquired.

“They might be tried for kidnapping poor Kathy here,” the Inspector answered, “especially since the charge of kidnapping also carries a death sentence—and even more so in view of what they did, and were planning to do to Kathy!”

“Yes, and if they are sentenced to death,” Perry added, “the other charges would almost certainly be dropped or retired by the authorities!”

At this point, Kathy piped up, “What about Slugger? What’s going to happen to him?”

Henderson’s face relaxed into a smile as he replied, “I’m happy to be able to report that our District Attorney has agreed not to press charges against Slugger, in return for his testimony against the Duvals. As you might expect, he was more than happy to agree. As a matter of fact, he’s already been released from jail!”

“Yes, and I’m giving him a job here at the Daily Planet,” Perry added, “one which will pay him enough that he won’t need to return to his former criminal behavior!”

“Chief, that’s great!” Clark responded, and the others heartily agreed.

“Well, I felt it was appropriate under the circumstances,” the editor responded, “especially in view of Slugger’s willingness to tell everything he knew about the Duvals’ scheme.” The others in the room expressed their agreement, and the meeting broke up.

As Perry had predicted, by mutual agreement between the U.S. and French governments, Marcel and Marie were both tried in the United States, where they were convicted on charges of first degree murder and kidnapping. The presiding judge, noting the defendants’ vicious, cold-blooded actions, firmly sentenced both of them to death. A year later, after their appeals had all been exhausted, Marcel and Marie Duval were both executed in the electric chair at the Federal Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana, formally bringing the official case to a close.

On reading of the Duvals’ execution, Slugger commented to Clark over lunch in the Daily Planet’s employee lunchroom, “I came awfully close to going to the electric chair myself, Mr. Kent!”

“Yes,” Clark replied, “but you did everything you could to make up for your mistakes. The Duvals didn’t—and they paid for it with their lives!”

As Slugger nodded his concurrence, Clark went on, “Their case and yours are both apt illustrations of the truth of a statement by President Theodore Roosevelt almost a century ago: ‘No man is above the law, and no man is below it!’” Slugger nodded, a look of peace finally coming on his face; and so the case was closed.

Posted March 4, 2025
Jim