00:00The Adventures of Michael Shane, Private Detectives.
00:10The people who make the new 76 gasoline and Triton motor oil, Union Oil Company present...
00:20The Adventures of Michael Shane, Private Detectives, starring Wally Mayer and Kathy Lewis.
00:30The Adventures of Michael Shane, Private Detectives, starring Wally Mayer and Kathy Lewis.
00:39There may be many drawbacks to the life of a private detective, but boredom is not among them.
00:44At least not for Mike Shane.
00:46This evening is no exception. At this moment, Mike and his fetching associate, Phyllis Knight,
00:50are hurrying through the entrance hall of one of the luxurious homes of San Francisco's Marina District.
00:56The reason for their haste? A hurry-up call from the Inspector of Homicide himself.
01:02Mike? Well, you sure got here on the double.
01:05You asked us to, Inspector.
01:06And just why you asked us is still a mystery.
01:08Because, Mike, I wanted to learn what you know about John M. Crowder.
01:11John M. Crowder? I never heard of him.
01:13You didn't? How about you, Phyll?
01:15The only Crowder I know is the kid who sat behind me in seventh grade, and his name was Wilbur.
01:19Okay, I want to show you kids something.
01:23The body is in that room there, but we'll get to that later.
01:27Whose body? What body?
01:29John M. Crowder's body. This is his home. He's been murdered.
01:32Well, people all dressed up as if it were a party, huh?
01:36It was a party, Phyll.
01:38Mike, you see this telephone stand here and that scratch pad beside the phone?
01:42Oh, I see what's bothering you.
01:44Yeah, and that scratch pad is your phone number.
01:47I can't explain it, Inspector.
01:49Crowder didn't phone me.
01:50All my calls the past couple of days have been from people I know.
01:53That doesn't look like a man's handwriting to me.
01:55Did Mr. Crowder have a wife?
01:57He was a bachelor, Phyll. Just a minute.
01:59Miss Whitcomb?
02:00Yes?
02:01Miss Whitcomb, this is Mr. Shane and Miss Knight.
02:03Janet Whitcomb is Mr. Crowder's ward.
02:05How do you do?
02:06Oh, I'm glad to know you, Miss Whitcomb.
02:07Do you happen to know how this phone number, my phone number, got on this scratch pad?
02:11Why, yes.
02:13Uncle John, that's what I called Mr. Crowder,
02:16was looking through the classified directory this afternoon.
02:19He asked me to jot down that number.
02:21Did he tell you why he wanted it?
02:23Why he wanted to call a private detective?
02:25A private detective?
02:27Uh-huh.
02:28No, no, he didn't.
02:29Well, what about the murder itself? Anybody know what happened?
02:31As I've gotten the story, Mike, they were having a party tonight.
02:34At 8 o'clock, before most of the guests arrived,
02:37Mr. Crowder excused himself and went into the library to listen to the radio.
02:40Uncle John always insisted on listening to this one broadcast.
02:44The date's at 49.
02:46So when we heard several gunshots,
02:48we just thought they were part of the radio show.
02:50Several gunshots?
02:51Yeah, Mike, but one of them was the real thing.
02:53Who found the body?
02:54Miss Whitcomb here.
02:56I...
02:57Well, when the program was over, he didn't come out of the library.
03:00I went to call him.
03:02I...
03:03I opened the door.
03:05Oh...
03:06Why?
03:07Why? How could anybody?
03:09Please, you mustn't.
03:10You've been so brave through all of this.
03:12This is Strayhorn, our fiancé.
03:14And the other gentlemen?
03:15Richard Russell, madam.
03:16Where are the other guests?
03:17There aren't any.
03:18I told the sergeant to turn the others away at the front door.
03:20Was this radio program Mr. Crowder listened to a 15-minute or half-hour show?
03:24Fifteen minutes.
03:25And after Mr. Crowder went into the library to listen to it,
03:27where were you three people?
03:28Well, I hadn't gotten here yet, Mr. Shane.
03:30When I walked in, I found Janet in hysterics,
03:32and Charlie Lung, the houseboy, was trying to quiet her.
03:35Janet is a high-strung girl,
03:37and at first I thought she was upset about something she'd spilled on her dress.
03:41Then I saw Mr. Crowder, and I took one look and telephoned the police.
03:44As for me, gentlemen, I was here in the living room talking to Oliver.
03:47Oliver left, and then in a few minutes I heard Janet shriek.
03:50Who is Oliver?
03:51Another servant?
03:52No. Mr. Oliver is one of Mr. Crowder's clients.
03:55Mr. Crowder was an investment counselor,
03:57and he handled Mr. Oliver's stocks and bonds for him.
03:59Nobody told me about Oliver before.
04:01I didn't know anybody had left the house.
04:02I guess you'd better round him up, Inspector.
04:04And now, how about you, Miss Whitcomb?
04:06Where were you while Mr. Crowder was listening to the radio?
04:08I was upstairs.
04:10I spilled something on my dress and was cleaning it.
04:12When I came downstairs, the program was over.
04:15What about the servants?
04:17I checked, Phil.
04:18They were all in the kitchen or the butler's pantry or the dining room.
04:20Oh.
04:21Did Mr. Crowder have any known enemies?
04:23Oh, no.
04:24Inspector, I'm sure I never talked to a John N. Crowder.
04:27So, how about letting me have a look at the bottom?
04:29I was just going to suggest it, Mike.
04:31Okay.
04:36Hmm.
04:37A couple of chairs overturned, the drapery pulled down.
04:39There must have been quite a fight.
04:41Which makes me doubt these people when they say that they heard nothing unusual.
04:45Oh, the body's on the other side of the desk, Mike.
04:49Oh.
04:50A man about 50.
04:53No, Inspector, no, I've never seen this man before.
04:55Shot through the heart.
04:57Well, a gun was fired at close range, Mike.
04:59If those powder burns unassured me, anything.
05:01I've found one interesting clue.
05:03Huh?
05:04I've kept my mouth shut about it so far.
05:06Take a look at this blood on the rug.
05:08Mm-hmm.
05:09Right in the middle of the blood, a spot of clean rug.
05:12Mm-hmm.
05:13In the shape of a dollar mark.
05:15Hmm.
05:16I know what that is.
05:17Yeah?
05:18It was made by one of those, uh, money clips.
05:20You know, Mike, you carry one in your pocket for dollar bills.
05:22Yeah, the killer dropped it and then picked it up in order not to leave a clue.
05:25Or so he thought.
05:26Well, I'm still wondering, why did Crowder have my phone number?
05:29Why did he want to call me?
05:30And when he had the number, why didn't he call you?
05:33They said Crowder had no enemies, yet somebody must have had a motive to kill him.
05:36Just a minute, Inspector.
05:37Maybe, maybe I can give you a hint.
05:39Yeah, Mike?
05:40What?
05:41Look around the room very carefully.
05:42Well, what about it?
05:43Oh, you mean those two overturned chairs?
05:45The walls, Inspector.
05:47The paintings on the walls.
05:48A painting of Carmel by the Sea, in particular.
05:51You're right, Mike.
05:52The painting is crooked.
05:53Not only crooked, but it stands out from the walls.
05:56Yes, and I'll bet behind the painting there's a wall safe.
06:01Well, I'll push the painting to one side.
06:04So, and there we are.
06:07It's unlocked.
06:08Now, let's see what's inside the safe, if anything.
06:11Kids, this desk lamp is the only light in the room, isn't it?
06:15Yeah, why?
06:17Because I'm going to turn it out.
06:19Somebody is about to come in through that French window.
06:31We'll return to the adventures of Michael Shane in just a moment.
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07:51On the library floor lies the murdered body of John Trotter,
07:55and on the sun porch outside, Phyllis has seen a prowler.
07:58Mike and the inspector step to the French window, and then suddenly...
08:02All right, Mr. Hands in the Air.
08:04What a place.
08:05Come here. Come inside.
08:06That's what I've been trying to do.
08:07The police at the front door wouldn't let me in.
08:09Okay, turn on the light, Phil.
08:13All right, now, who are you, and why the peeping Tom act?
08:16I was not peeping.
08:17I came around the side of the house to see if someone would let me in.
08:20That flatfoot at the front door said Trotter had been murdered.
08:23There's the evidence on the floor.
08:25Yeah.
08:26Shot through the heart. Blood on the carpet.
08:29Who did it?
08:30That's what we're trying to find out.
08:32And also your name.
08:34Oliver, see? But Oliver.
08:35Oh, you're the man who was here earlier.
08:37Why'd you leave the house?
08:38Why not? No murder had been committed then.
08:40I walked across the street to my house.
08:42Well, Mr. Oliver, why did you go home?
08:44Because I forgot my present for Janet.
08:47And when did you last see Mr. Crowder alive?
08:49He came into the library to listen to a radio program.
08:52I was talking to that social butterfly, Richard Russell.
08:56I stepped into the library here for a moment, finished some business with Crowder, and then left.
09:01What kind of business?
09:02Investment business. Stocks, bonds. Do I have to draw a diagram for you?
09:04When you were talking with Mr. Crowder, was the radio on?
09:07Full blast.
09:08And when you came back, the sergeant wouldn't let you in the house, so you came around onto the porch.
09:12Yes, yes, yes. I already said that.
09:13Why were you so anxious to get inside, Mr. Oliver?
09:16People generally give a murder a wide berth.
09:19Oh, for Pete's sake, I'm a good friend of Crowder and Janet.
09:21I wanted to help her.
09:22Why should Janet need your help?
09:24Because she won't get any from that fiancé of hers. That's reason enough.
09:27Crowder should have stuck by his guns.
09:29He should have forbidden the marriage.
09:30Inspector, I think we should ask Mr. Oliver to relax in the other room for a while and let us talk to Janet.
09:35Right. If you please, Mr. Oliver.
09:39Miss Whitcomb, would you step in here a moment, please?
09:42Oh, Mr. Oliver.
09:44Don't let them frighten you, Janet.
09:47You wanted something?
09:48Just a small point, Miss Whitcomb.
09:50Now, Mr. Crowder was to be your guardian, I believe, until you are 21?
09:55Yes.
09:56I suppose that means you have some money?
09:58From my parents.
09:59Was it very much?
10:00Several hundred thousand dollars.
10:02And you were having some trouble with Mr. Crowder?
10:04About your money?
10:05Oh, no, not that. He was a fine man.
10:08He was perfectly honest. He had money of his own.
10:11Then you didn't get Mr. Shane's telephone number from the directory yourself.
10:15Oh, no, no.
10:16But you were having trouble with Mr. Crowder.
10:18There's no need to be frightened, Miss Whitcomb.
10:21I... Uncle John didn't understand.
10:25He... he wouldn't understand.
10:28Now, please, Miss Whitcomb.
10:30Now, wait a minute, wait a minute, fellas.
10:32You told Oliver to go in the other room and relax.
10:34Now, suppose you sit down and relax a while.
10:36I'll talk to Janet.
10:38He's dead.
10:39What does it matter now?
10:41We're just trying to help you, Janet.
10:42The more we know about Mr. Crowder, the easier it may be for us to find his murderer.
10:46Now, you can see that, can't you?
10:47Yes.
10:48Of course you can.
10:49Now, you were having some difficulty with your guardian.
10:53You can tell me what it was.
10:54He... Uncle Johnny didn't want me to marry Lee.
10:58He said Lee was no good.
11:00I told him he was wrong, wrong.
11:03I told him I wouldn't let him run my life any longer.
11:06I'd leave home.
11:08I love Lee, and he loves me.
11:10I'm going to marry him.
11:12Nobody can stop me now.
11:14Nobody.
11:15How long have you been engaged to Lee?
11:18Two weeks.
11:19Uncle Johnny was mad about it, but he never said another word about Lee.
11:24And that's all the trouble you ever had with Mr. Crowder?
11:27Yes.
11:28Can I go now?
11:30I guess so, Miss Whitcomb.
11:36Well, what do you think, kids?
11:38I don't know, Phil.
11:39The girl is so dramatic about everything.
11:41If Crowder didn't make an objection to the marriage for the past two weeks,
11:44I can see why she's so excited.
11:45Uh-huh.
11:46Well, before we have another interruption,
11:47I want to examine that wall safe.
11:52The safe is hardly as big as the inside of a hat box.
11:57One small tin box.
11:59Empty.
12:00One packet of currency marked...
12:04$2,500.
12:05That's odd.
12:07It was burglary.
12:08Why did the killer leave the money?
12:09Well, he might have been scared off before he saw it,
12:11or even overlooked it in this hurry.
12:12But we don't know what was in the safe originally, Mike.
12:14We can't tell what was stolen.
12:15If Crowder was a good businessman,
12:17he must have kept an inventory of its contents.
12:19And if he was a cautious businessman,
12:21he would not keep the inventory right inside the safe.
12:23No.
12:24How about this desk here?
12:29Inspector.
12:30Oh, what is it, Mr. Russell?
12:31I noticed that Janet is very upset.
12:33I thought maybe I ought to tell you
12:34that she used to quarrel with Crowder all the time.
12:36He didn't want her to get married.
12:38Yes, Janet told us all about it, Mr. Russell.
12:41Oh.
12:42Well, I just thought you'd like to know.
12:44Uh, find anything in the desk?
12:46Mr. Russell, we're very busy,
12:48so if you don't mind...
12:49Oh, all right.
12:50I just thought you'd like to know.
12:54Oh, the nosy character.
12:56Well, here we are, Inspector.
12:57The inventory to the safe.
12:59Well, Mike...
13:00Let's see now.
13:01Cash, $2,500.
13:03Well, that checks.
13:04Then one package, Charlie Long.
13:07The house boy.
13:08Yeah, but no findy package.
13:10Next, $21,000 bonds.
13:13P.M. and O.R.R.
13:16Abbreviation for railroad bonds, probably.
13:18Yeah.
13:19And said bonds are also missing.
13:21Now, the last person known
13:22to have been in this library with Crowder
13:24was Mr. Oliver.
13:25Yes, Oliver said he had some business
13:27with Crowder about stocks and bonds.
13:28After which, Oliver walked across the street
13:30to his house.
13:31If, uh, if he paid Crowder for those bonds,
13:33I didn't find a check in the safe.
13:34And I searched Crowder's body.
13:36He had just a small amount of money in his wallet.
13:38Mike, you know what we're going to do?
13:40Yes, Inspector.
13:41We're going to cross the street
13:42and search Mr. Oliver's house for those bonds.
13:57Mike.
13:58Oh, Mike.
13:59Yes, Inspector.
14:00I've looked all through Oliver's desk.
14:01You find anything?
14:02No.
14:03No, no luck.
14:04I searched the whole living room.
14:05I thought there might be another wall safe.
14:07And I checked upstairs.
14:08If Mr. Oliver's servants were home tonight,
14:10we might get them to tell us
14:11where he keeps his valuables.
14:13Mike, you think Oliver would still be
14:14carrying those bonds on him?
14:16Oh, that'd be pretty risky.
14:22Hey, do we dare answer it?
14:24I'll take a gamble.
14:26Hello?
14:27Hello.
14:28Oliver speaking.
14:29Is this the Inspector, Mr. Shane?
14:30Well, it's Shane, Mr. Oliver.
14:32How did you know we were here?
14:33Russell saw you.
14:34You're looking for those bonds.
14:36Well, we were just checking...
14:37You haven't found the bonds yet.
14:39I tucked them in Webster's underbridge dictionary.
14:41It's on the table right behind the phone.
14:43Dictionary on the table.
14:45Yeah.
14:46Mr. Oliver, those bonds belong to Mr. Crowder.
14:48How did you have...
14:49I bought them tonight.
14:50I told you I had business with Crowder.
14:52You didn't give him a check in payment.
14:53Of course I didn't give him a check.
14:55Crowder always sends me a monthly statement.
14:58My credit is A1.
15:00When you leave the house,
15:02please turn off the lights.
15:06Well, how do you like that?
15:08Russell saw us come in here.
15:10Oliver hid the bonds inside the dictionary?
15:12Yeah, Phil, here they are.
15:14Oliver was so straightforward about it all.
15:16Yet he might be trying to beat us to the punch.
15:18Yeah.
15:19Now what?
15:20I'll talk to him this time, right?
15:22Inspector speaking.
15:23Inspector, this is the Sergeant.
15:25They told me I could reach you at this number.
15:27Yeah? What is it, Sergeant?
15:29That Chinese houseboy, sir.
15:31Uh-huh.
15:32I saw him sneak out of the house.
15:34He cleared down to a shop in Chinatown.
15:37He's up to something.
15:38Oh? Where are you now?
15:40In a chop suey place on Grant Avenue.
15:42I can watch the shop from here.
15:44Okay, Sergeant. Keep your eye on it.
15:46We'll meet you there in ten minutes.
15:49I, uh...
15:50I followed him into this building, Inspector.
15:53And up those stairs to the second floor.
15:55And then where?
15:56He went in the first door at the top of the stairs.
15:59Please, Angel, watch those heels.
16:02You sound like a trey horse going up a ladder.
16:04Don't be personal, Mr. Shane.
16:06I'm not.
16:07I'm not.
16:08I'm not.
16:09I'm not.
16:10I'm not.
16:11I'm not.
16:12I'm not.
16:13I'm not.
16:14I'm not.
16:15I'm not.
16:16I'm not.
16:17Don't be personal, Mr. Shane.
16:18There, there.
16:19That's the door right ahead, sirs.
16:21The transom's open.
16:23Listen.
16:25You're talking Chinese.
16:28I think we'd better knock, Michael.
16:32Will you come in, gentlemen and miss?
16:35Listening through closed door is like cotton in one's ear.
16:39Well, you see, we were just...
16:41Yeah.
16:43I am Yin Hao, dealer in Oriental Imports.
16:48I believe you already know my friend, Mr. Charlie Lung.
16:51Yes, yes, we wanted to talk to him.
16:53Obviously.
16:54That is why you followed him from Mr. Crowder's house.
16:56As inspector of homicide, I gave orders that no one was to leave that house.
17:00Yet Charlie Lung sneaks off.
17:02Why did you run away, Charlie?
17:04Please, Charlie.
17:05My friend, Charlie Lung, came to me with a problem of ethics,
17:09a delicate matter of conflicting loyalties.
17:12So?
17:13Mr. Lung is in possession of an object.
17:16You of the police would call it a clue.
17:19I see.
17:20His problem is whether to produce the clue or to hide it.
17:24He'd better produce it or I'll have to arrest him.
17:26Even the honest man casts a crooked shadow.
17:29Unhappily, Mr. Lung tells me the object belongs to Miss Whitcomb.
17:35You can, of course, appreciate his distress.
17:38If Miss Whitcomb is innocent, I promise no harm will come to her.
17:41Why, yes, this clue may solve the whole murder.
17:53My friend, Mr. Lung, say that upon the basis of your promise
17:57that no harm will come to Miss Whitcomb,
18:00I may give you the object.
18:02It is this.
18:03A silver money clip.
18:05The dollar mark.
18:07Charlie, where did you find it?
18:09After Missy Clyde.
18:11I find it on the floor, in the blood.
18:14I take it.
18:15Now, what do you do?
18:16We're going back to the house and talk to Miss Whitcomb.
18:18And you, Mr. Lung, are coming with us.
18:30I'm sorry, Inspector, but I just had to lie down for a while.
18:34I don't feel at all well.
18:36She really is sick.
18:37I've been sitting in the bedroom talking to her.
18:39Lee, would you mind stepping outside?
18:41We have something we'd like to show Janet in private.
18:44Well, yes, of course.
18:50Janet, do you own a silver money clip?
18:53The sort you carry in your purse to hold dollar bills, Janet.
18:56Yes.
18:57Is this it?
18:58Why, I must have dropped it.
19:00Janet, Charlie Lung, the houseboy, found it beside Mr. Crowder's body
19:05in the blood.
19:06Oh, no.
19:07No, it can't be.
19:08Now, now, now, Janet.
19:10I didn't have my purse with me.
19:12What are you trying to do to me?
19:14Inspector?
19:15Yeah?
19:16Mr. Shane?
19:17Yes?
19:18Could you come here a moment?
19:19Why, certainly.
19:20Bill, you stay here with Janet.
19:21All right.
19:22No, no, no, no.
19:23You're making a mistake.
19:24It's mine.
19:25It's mine.
19:26It's Charlie Lung.
19:27What's wrong, Sergeant?
19:28I caught this houseboy hiding a bundle under his mattress, sir.
19:32This bundle of money.
19:34$17,000.
19:35Holy Harry.
19:36It belong to me.
19:37It's mine.
19:38Where would you get $17,000?
19:40Oh, Charlie Lung, very rich man.
19:42I make his salary 15 year.
19:44I say we go back buy and buy China to die.
19:47Mr. Crowder, he keep money in his safe for me.
19:50Then it was you who went into his safe tonight.
19:52No, sir.
19:53Huh?
19:54Me, I ask you, Mr. Crowder, for my money tonight.
19:56Mr. Crowder, go to his safe and take out the money and give it to me.
20:01It's mine.
20:02It's mine.
20:03It's mine.
20:13In just a moment, we'll rejoin Mike and Phyllis in their adventures.
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21:33In answer to Janet's piercing scream and Phyllis' call for help,
21:37Mike, Shane and the inspector dash into Janet's bedroom.
21:42Phil, Janet, what's the matter? What happened?
21:44The window. I saw two arms reach through the window. He wanted to kill me.
21:49Who? Who wanted to kill you?
21:51I don't know. I couldn't see.
21:53Phil, did you see it?
21:54No. I was in Janet's dressing room.
21:56Let's check what's outside the window.
22:01Uh-huh. Balcony. Runs the full length of the house.
22:04Janet, Janet, was that you screaming?
22:06Oh, Lee, Lee.
22:07Who made you? You alive?
22:09What the blazes is going on in this house?
22:10Somebody was being murdered.
22:11Quiet, quiet, please.
22:12Quickly now. We want to know where all of you people were during the past three minutes.
22:16Lee?
22:17I was in the dining room.
22:18Mr. Oliver?
22:19In the hall below. I was starting up the stairs when I heard the commotion.
22:21Mr. Russell?
22:22In the living room. Seems I am always in the living room when something happens.
22:25And Charlie Lung was outside the door with the inspector and me.
22:28Janet, you are certain that you saw somebody?
22:30Oh, yes, yes. I almost died of fear.
22:33Phil, were you out of the room?
22:35Naturally. Janet told me she was certain that the clip found in the library was not hers.
22:39That her clip was in her purse, so I was looking for her purse.
22:42And did you find it?
22:43Yes, it's in the dressing room.
22:44Let's go take a look at it.
22:48Here. This is the clip.
22:50Uh-huh. And comparing it with the one Charles Lung found?
22:53Well, it looks just the same, only a trifle smaller.
22:55Phil?
22:56Yeah?
22:57Do you think Janet really saw somebody, or was she faking it?
23:00I've been wondering myself. I don't know, Mike.
23:02If I'd been in the room with her, it wouldn't have been...
23:04Inspector, Mr. Shane?
23:05Yes, Mr. Russell?
23:06Oliver says he was below in the hall when the screams came.
23:08Well, I was in the living room, looking out into the hall, and I didn't see him.
23:12Perhaps not, but I did. I saw him starting up the staircase.
23:15Oh. You may be more helpful, Mr. Russell, if you'll return to the bedroom with us.
23:23Gentlemen, do any of you own a silver money clip in the design of a dollar mark?
23:27No, I've never owned one.
23:28I'm sorry to contradict you, but one of you did own such a clip. A brand new one.
23:32How can you make a statement like that, sir?
23:35Because the clip which I'm holding in my hand is of highly polished silver.
23:39It has not been in contact with the loose chains in a man's pocket, because it bears no scratches.
23:44It is brand new.
23:45Janet, uh, Miss Whitcomb?
23:47What?
23:48Would you mind turning around, please?
23:50Oh, a little more into the light.
23:52You mean, like this?
23:54That's it.
23:55Have you worn that same dress all evening?
23:58Why, yes. I cleaned the spot just before...
24:01before I discovered Uncle John.
24:03Mm-hmm.
24:04Inspector?
24:05Yeah?
24:06Angel, will you step out into the hall with me, please?
24:12All right, all right. Smarty, what's all the mystery?
24:15You heard Janet earlier this evening.
24:17She said she had cleaned that dress just before finding Crowder's body.
24:20Sure, Mike, but what about it?
24:21What about it? Come with me.
24:22Where?
24:23Downstairs and outdoors.
24:25I think we'd better search one of those cars in the driveway.
24:28Not just any car, but a car.
24:34You were right, Mike. Here it is.
24:36It was hidden under the seat.
24:38Colt, 38 revolver.
24:41One chamber fired.
24:43Huh?
24:44That does it.
24:46All right, Inspector, I think we're ready for our murderer.
24:50That's what I said.
24:52This gun I hold in my hand killed Mr. Crowder.
24:54Inspector, I've never owned a gun in my life.
24:56The same goes for me.
24:57The last time I used a gun was skeet shooting.
25:00Very well.
25:01No one has come forward to claim his gun,
25:03so we'll give him another chance.
25:05Janet?
25:06Will you come with me?
25:07Yes, sir.
25:08Come on.
25:09Come on.
25:10Come on.
25:11Come on.
25:12Come on.
25:13Come on.
25:14Come on.
25:15Come on.
25:16Come on.
25:17Come on.
25:18Janet, when we were first talking to you tonight,
25:21do you remember somebody else mentioned that you had a spot on your dress?
25:25I don't remember.
25:26Perhaps not, but I do very distinctly.
25:29Maybe I can refresh your memory by telling you what happened.
25:32The murderer parked his car down the street a couple of blocks.
25:35He walked here to the house, then sneaked around in back and watched the living room window.
25:39He saw Janet spill something on her dress,
25:41and then Mr. Crowder excused himself and go into the library to listen to his favorite radio program.
25:45The killer knew the program would last 15 minutes.
25:48While Crowder was at the radio, the man opened the French window and sneaked up on Crowder.
25:53At the last second, Crowder discovered him.
25:55They struggled.
25:56And in the struggle, the man's silver money clip dropped to the floor.
25:58The man fired, and Crowder fell.
26:00The killer stepped outside the French window and closed it.
26:04He ran back to his car, got in, and drove up to the house,
26:08then very casually walked in the front door just after Janet had discovered the body.
26:14But that's when Lee came in.
26:16Yes, Janet. Your fiancé.
26:18And he tried to kill you a few moments ago when he thought you were beginning to suspect him.
26:21Don't believe him, Janet. It's crazy.
26:23You told us that when you walked into the house, you didn't know Mr. Crowder was dead.
26:27You said you thought Janet was upset because of the spot on her dress.
26:31But Janet had already been upstairs and cleaned her dress.
26:34The spot was gone.
26:36You saw the spot on her dress when you looked through the library window.
26:39I... that isn't what I said.
26:42Oh, yes, it is, Strayhorn.
26:44We found this gun in your car with one chamber fired.
26:47All right, arrest me. You won't get anywhere.
26:50No jury will convict me on evidence like that.
26:53The murderer planted the gun in my car.
26:55Lee, have you ever heard of a paraffin test?
26:58No.
26:59Well, the police coat a man's fingers with paraffin.
27:03If he has recently fired a gun, the paraffin will show the powder marks.
27:07Are you willing to take that test?
27:10All right, Inspector, I think the look on Lee's face is proof enough.
27:26Kids, I'm sorry my wife is down country again.
27:29She'd love to fix these eggs herself.
27:31Well, we're sorry, too, Inspector.
27:33You know, your house seems empty without it.
27:35Yes, it certainly does.
27:37Not to change the subject, Inspector, but I've been wondering.
27:39Lee Strayhorn seemed awfully cocksure that a jury wouldn't convict him.
27:42Do you think he has a chance?
27:44Not a chance, Phil.
27:45Tomorrow we'll check every jewelry store in town
27:47and find which one sold Lee that silver money clip.
27:49That'll cinch it.
27:50And we can prove his motive.
27:51Mr. Crowder knew Lee was a thorough no-good.
27:54Oh, Crowder allowed Janet to become engaged to Lee,
27:57but he was going to sidetrack a marriage.
27:59Oh, I suppose that's why Crowder had your phone number.
28:01He was going to ask you to look up Lee's background.
28:03And, Lee, guess what was in the wind?
28:05He wasn't going to let anything stop him from marrying Janet's money.
28:08Not even murder.
28:09Say, Angel.
28:10Hmm?
28:11Why the dreamy expression?
28:13I was just looking out at the lights on the Golden Gate Bridge and wondering.
28:18Oh, about what?
28:19Wondering why Janet didn't see through Lee.
28:22Her eyes must have been blind.
28:24Mm-hmm.
28:25When your heart's on fire, smoke gets in your eyes.
28:30That has a special point for you, Phil.
28:32For me?
28:33Mm-hmm.
28:34The way you're looking at Mike right now, I'd say,
28:36clang, clang, three alarm, fire.
28:39Why, Inspector!
28:56Tune in again next week at 8 o'clock for another adventure
28:59with Michael Shane, Private Detective,
29:01starring Wally Mayer and Kathy Lewis,
29:03with Joe Forte as the inspector.
29:06The Chinese characters were portrayed by Charlie Lung.
29:09Tonight's story was written by Richard de Graff
29:12and based on the character created by Brett Halliday.
29:15Music was composed and directed by Bernard Ketz.
29:18This is John Lang saying goodnight for Union Oil Company
29:22and reminding you once again to get your application
29:25for your Union Oil credit card this week.
29:31This is the Mutual Don Lee Broadcasting System.
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