It is 6:03 a.m. A cold winter breeze blows at Spider-Man through the window he broke to get into the Hendricks Museum of Musical History in lower Manhattan. All night long he has maintained a vigil, waiting for the Black Cat to strike. A museum guard patrols in the gallery below. Spider-Man now knows that the Black Cat did not drown after she fell from the cliff when they battled near her home. She has returned to a life of crime and for some reason, she has been stealing artifacts associated with romance. When the Hendricks Museum announced the display of a one-of-a-kind wax recording of Enrico Caruso singing a love aria, Spider-Man knew it would be her next target. But now it is almost dawn, and she has not appeared. Spider-Man drops from his vantage point and lands on the floor in front of the two guards. They draw their guns, but he web-swings up to the ceiling, and after firing a few rounds, the guards realize they cannot shoot him for fear of destroying valuable exhibits. Spider-Man leaves the museum and heads for his apartment for a shower and coffee before going to classes. When Peter Parker arrives at Empire State University's Science Building, half an hour later, he meets Steve Hopkins and Dawn Starr. Dawn again tries to pressure Peter into a love affair, but Peter insists that it is not ethical for an instructor to date a student. When Dawn throws her arms around him and kisses him, however, he begins to reconsider. Dawn then invites him to picnic with her on Sunday, the day after tomorrow and Steve congratulates Peter on his new girlfriend. That night, Spider-Man again web-swings to the Hendricks Museum. He discovers that the window he broke is boarded up, but his spider-sense begins to tingle. Smashing through the boarded-up window, Spider-Man finds the Black Cat stealing the Caruso recording. The guards, Bud and Lou, are tied up on the floor in front of an antique steam organ. When Spider-Man tries to capture the Cat, his web-shooters jam. He and she begin to battle, but suddenly the organ breaks loose from the wall and starts to tip over onto the helpless guards. Apparently, the Black Cat's "bad luck" power is at work. Spider-Man is forced to let go of the Cat to keep the heavy instrument from crushing the guards. He holds it up and orders them to roll out from under it. Then he somersaults away and the organ crashes to the floor. As Spider-Man unties the guards, they apologize for shooting at him the night before. Unfortunately, the Black Cat has made a clean escape with the recording, so Spider-Man, weary, web-swings across town to his apartment. The next day, Peter arrives at Barney Bushkin's Daily Globe office. Bushkin motions Peter inside and introduces him to the paper's society editor, Pamela Dean, who is telling Bushkin that Lazlo Bellflower, an erotic-art collector, has recently returned from an extensive European buying tour. Bellflower has the largest collection of romantic artifacts in the world, she continues, and it would make a good story. Peter requests the photography assignment for that story, and Bushkin agrees. Then Peter takes a bus to Empire State University. When Peter opens the door to his office, he sees a woman rummaging through his files. After quickly changing into his Spider-Man costume, he confronts her, thinking she might be the Black Cat. But she turns out instead to be Dawn Starr. When Spider-Man asks what she is doing, she replies that she has a date with Peter Parker, and Steve Hopkins let her in so she could wait for him. But Spider-Man knows that her date is not for that evening, and he accuses her of lying. It becomes clear that Dawn broke into the filing cabinet looking for science exam forms. Spider-Man realizes that that is all Dawn ever wanted from Peter all along, and he orders her to leave. She departs in tears, and Spider-Man rues another love affair gone sour. Later that evening, Felicia Hardy appears at the East Side estate of Lazlo Bellflower. She tells him that

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