The Falcon attends a party at the
Boldavian Embassy, in place of Captain America, who was otherwise
occupied. Falcon is introduced to several VIPs, including Sigjid
Rosskoff, an inflammatory political opinion-maker. Rosskoff starts in
on the Falcon by calling Captain America a coward and a hypocrite.
Falcon tries to defend Cap but a masked villain calling himself the
Silencer bursts in, shoots Rosskoff with a weapon that paralyzes his
vocal cords and knocks out the Falcon before carrying his victim off.
When Falc recovers enough to pursue them he discovers Rosskoff's body
on a rooftop, an apology written by the Silencer who forced Rosskoff
to sign it, renouncing all of his controversial views. But Sam also
notices that some letters have been set off by dots to spell
OTTFFSSEN, a secret message by Rosskoff, giving a clue as to his
killer's identity? At the police station, Boldavian nobleman Count
Barzon berates Falcon for his failure to protect the dead man and
the press picks up on it, criticizing the winged hero....
At the offices of the Daily Bugle,
J. Jonah Jameson has the brilliant idea to hold a contest to let the
readers decide what the mysterious message means; Robbie Robertson
thinks it's a bad idea....
Meanwhile, Falcon clobbers a fellow who
thinks Falc killed Rosskoff while pretending to protect him. Sam goes
home and broods, angering his girl Leila Taylor, until he gets the
idea to talk to Cap. Cap tells him to ignore the bad press though he
has no clue either on the baffling OTTFFSSEN....
Hours later, Silencer attacks an
outdoor rally by leftists and when Falcon arrives, the baddie shoots
him with his gun, rendering Falcon speechless. Silencer then hurls a
grenade into the crowd and escapes while the hero is busy dealing
with that....
At the Bugle, JJJ is going crazy
over all the ridiculous suggestions submitted by readers and regrets
having started the contest....
At a speech that night by Count Barzon,
the Silencer arrives and Barzon shoots him down on stage, again
mocking the American police and superheroes. The villain is
identified as a two-bit crook named Hal Doerner—but Falcon isn't
satisfied. Then it hits Sam, and he goes out in costume to confront
Count Barzon who killed Rosskoff as the Silencer, then hired a thug
to impersonate the villain, unaware that the Count would kill him.
The clue? OTTFFSSEN stands for One Two Three Four Five Six Seven
Eight Nine—the “count.” Falcon subdues the baddie and turns him
over to the police.