MUSIC:

(HOW MILD CAMEL THEME FULL FOUR BARS .. HOLD UNDER FOR:

1ST ANNCR:

THE MAKERS OF CAMEL CIGARETTES PRESENT DICK POWELL AS "RICHARD DIAMOND, PRIVATE DETECTIVE".

MUSIC:

(WHISTLING THEME WITH POWELL .. MODULATING TO THREE BARS .. HOW MILD CAMEL THEME .. MUSIC OUT FOR:)

1ST ANNCR:

After all the cigarette mildness tests --

2ND ANNCR:

Camel leads all other brands by billions of cigarettes!

1ST ANNCR:

Smokers have made the sniff tests .. the puff tests .. and the sensible, thorough, thirty-day Camel test. Now, after all these tests, latest published figures show that Camel is in first place by its widest margin in twenty-five years!

2ND ANNCR:

Make your own thirty-day Camel test and you'll know why Camel is by far America's most popular cigarette!

MUSIC:

(HOW MILD CAMEL THEME FULL)

1ST ANNCR:

Here transcribed is "Richard Diamond, Private Detective", starring Dick Powell!

MUSIC:

(INTO CUE ENDING WITH SOUND)

SOUND:

PHONE RINGS .. PHONE UP ON

RICK:

Diamond Detective Agency? Your pain is our pleasure.

HELEN:

(FILTER) Why don't you sell that to Doctor Kildare?

RICK:

That's where I bought it. And he assured me it had never been used on radio.

HELEN:

That in itself should have given you a clue. Everything in the world has been used .. including me.

RICK:

Hi, Helen.

HELEN:

Hi.

RICK:

Mad?

HELEN:

You'll either come out to my place tonight ..

RICK:

OR ..?

HELEN:

Or it's going to be off limits to enlisted private eyes .. as of nineteen hundred this night.

RICK:

Helen .. I'll be out there tonight, come anything you can think of .. or high water.

HELEN:

I'm going to hold another boyfriend in reserve .. just in case.

RICK:

What a waste of manpower. You'll see --

HELEN:

Allright .. I'll give you one more chance. But if you don't make it this time .. you might as well call up a Lonely Hearts agency the next time you want a date.

RICK:

Well, as it just happens, I was about to contact a lonely hearts agency.

HELEN:

Right now?

RICK:

In a matter of minutes, my dear.

HELEN:

Oh, Rick .. I take it all back. You can come anytime you want .. and I'll welcome you with open arms. I'm sorry I said anything.

RICK:

Oh, it's not what you think, baby .. this is business. I'll explain it all when I get there.

SOUND:

KNOCKING ON DOOR OFF

RICK:

Oh - oh .. there he is now.

HELEN:

Who?

RICK:

My client.

RICK:

(UP) Come in! (DOOR OPENS) (TO HELEN) Bye Helen .. see you at nine.

HELEN:

I'll bet my bottom Cadillac you won't.

RICK:

Have the title transferred, honey. You're sure to lose. Bye.

HELEN:

Bye.

SOUND:

PHONE DOWN

RALPH:

Mr. Diamond?

RICK:

Yes. Mr. Dickenson?

RALPH:

Call me Ralph.

RICK:

You were pretty excited when you talked with me on the phone this morning.

RALPH:

Well, it's just that I hate to be taken for a rube .. and brother, have I been taken!

RICK:

You said you came from Maine .. that right?

RALPH:

Winter Harbor, Maine. Couple of hundred people. Everybody fishes, including me. But I make a few extra bucks running a lobster pound.

RICK:

What in the world is that?

RALPH:

It's .. sort of a .. sea pen .. when you keep lobsters alive until the market price is right.

RICK:

Oh, yeah. Well, tell me about the girl.

RALPH:

It was her letters .. they were so wonderful .. well, I couldn't believe I was being fleeced until it hit me right in the face like a dead codfish.

RICK:

I think I'd better take notes. Why don't you start from the beginning.

RALPH:

Well, in Winter Harbor, a good-looking girl is as hard to find as an orange on a fir tree.

RICK:

Colorful ..

RALPH:

As soon as they realize they got something, they leave town. Well, I was so busy lobster fishing to pay for my first boat, I missed all my chances.

RICK:

Hmm, I see.

RALPH:

So I ran across a magazine that had some ads in it. Said there were a lot of people in the country .. lonely beautiful young girls ..

RICK:

And you bit .. hook, line and lobster trap, shall I say.

RALPH:

What would you have done? I sent them ten bucks .. and got back a list of names. I wrote to all of them .. and one of them that answered from New York here .. sent her picture. Look at it .. here.

RICK:

Hmm .. beautiful.

RALPH:

She wrote the most wonderful letters anybody ever wrote to anybody. I couldn't sleep nights, thinking about her.

RICK:

Well, I hate to shatter your dreams, but this picture happens to be of a movie star. June Allyson. It's a cinch she didn't write the letters.

RALPH:

How do you know?

RICK:

I know her husband and he censors her mail.

RALPH:

Well, I asked her to marry me .. she said yes.

RICK:

And she asked you to send her some money.

RALPH:

One thousand dollars - for clothes and transportation. You know how long it takes to make a thousand dollars fishing in Maine?

RICK:

A thousand years?

RALPH:

You're a coupla hundred short .. Anyway, when she didn't show up I wrote. No answer. So I came. No girl .. at no address like that. I took the hook .. and they reeled me in.

RICK:

Why do you want me to find her? To marry her .. or get the money back?

RALPH:

If I can get the money, I'll take it.

RICK:

Less my fee.

RALPH:

Oh, yeah, yeah, understood. Anyway, I just couldn't live with myself thinking of how I'd been skinned. I need the satisfaction of getting even. You find her, and throw her in jail if you have to.

RICK:

What was her name?

RALPH:

Elsie McGill.

RICK:

What was the name of the agency that sent you the list?

RALPH:

The Metropolitan Romance Bureau. Here .. here's the clipping. How long do you think it will take you, Mr. Diamond?

RICK:

With luck .. a year. But I'll try to hurry things up for you.

MUSIC:

(IN AND UNDER:)

RICK:

I knew I'd have to start with the agency .. but I realized that I would have to go at them obliquely. I knew a stranded Western singing group .. The Riders of the Purple Subway .. and I borrowed a Western outfit from one of them .. complete with ten gallon hat and high heeled boots. I fell three times in the first block trying to use them, and finally switched to crepe soled sneakers. I stopped at a jewelry store for a twenty-five cent Diamond stick pin (you should excuse the word) .. and then at a gas station to spill some twenty-weight oil on my lapel .. and, brother, I was ready. I found the Metropolitan Romance Bureau on the third floor of the Fairchild Building. It was a small but impressive office .. with a receptionist who was large .. and impressive.

GIRL:

May I help you to something, sir?

RICK:

(USING SLIGHT WESTERN ACCENT) Ah .. ah .. don't trust myself to answer that, ma'am.

GIRL:

You're blushing.

RICK:

Reckon I am. First I thought it was because my socks wasn't sanforized .. but now I know it's because you're the prettiest thing I seen since my first glass of beer.

GIRL:

Where you from? And what's your name?

RICK:

Harold Appleknocker's my handle .. howdy .. and ah'm from Oklahoma.

GIRL:

The play .. or the state?

RICK:

Oh, the original company .. out west, I'll have you know, ma'am.

GIRL:

Well sir .. what can I do for you?

RICK:

Well, the truth is, ma'am, I heard this is a Lonely Hearts Agency. I'm lonely .. and I thought maybe I could meet someone through you.

GIRL:

Oh, I'm sorry .. but this is strictly an agency that works through the mail. That's all we're licensed to do.

RICK:

Oh, that's too bad .. I've got a lot of oil money that's just burning a hole in my suitcase.

GIRL:

You mean your pocket.

RICK:

No. I could only get a few thousand of it in my pocket.

GIRL:

Really?

RICK:

Yeah .. and it's really a shame. I sure would like to spend it on some girl. Well, thanks for the friendliness.

GIRL:

Uh .. just a minute. Maybe I can fix things up for you with Mr. Santino. He's head of the bureau.

RICK:

Oh, thank you, ma'am. I sure got myself a lonely heart.

MUSIC:

(IN AND UNDER:)

RICK:

While she was calling into the inner office, I took a roll of stage money (what else?) out of my pocket and began thumbing through it. And I was ushered into Mr. Santino's office before I counted to ten. He was small and wiry, and greeted me like a brother Elk.

SANTINO:

All the way from Oklahoma, huh?

RICK:

That's right, yessir. In my sixteen cylinder covered wagon.

SANTINO:

Ha ha .. you're quite a jokester. I can see that right away. Drink?

RICK:

No thanks, no, no. I carry my own jugs a' Oklahoma water.

SANTINO:

What business are you in?

RICK:

Oil.

SANTINO:

Quarts .. or gallons?

RICK:

Barrels.

SANTINO:

You don't say. Well, now .. let's sit down and talk over your little problem. I take it you are lonely, and in search of feminine companionship.

RICK:

Oh, you can see right through me. Lonesomeness is pretty hard to hide, I guess.

SANTINO:

Yes, it's the scourge of our society. [Millions of people passing each other on the streets, and never speaking. Keeping their unhappy little lives all tied up within themselves. It's a tragedy which we attempt to alleviate in our own little way.

RICK:

Can you alleviate mine?]

SANTINO:

(LOWERING HIS VOICE) I'm required to ask you this .. but just what are your intentions? You know what I mean.

RICK:

Oh, strictly honorable, Mr. Santino. I'm looking for a soulmate. Marriage is my intention, sir.

SANTINO:

That's the answer I wanted. Now let's get down to business.

MUSIC:

(IN AND UNDER:)

RICK:

And we did. I forked over fifty dollars ... which I could ill afford .. and then we settled down to look over some prospects. He finally came up with one Candy Cooper .. [whom he described as a ravishing beauty who was so lonesome, she sat home in her penthouse apartment nights with nothing better to do than her laundry. I found this hysterically incredible .. but when we actually met, later that day .. at a swank restaurant for dinner, I realized that my understanding of "incredible" was painfully limited.] She was something right off the cover of Cosmopolitan .. in six colors, and five dimensions. Even if I couldn't prove the fifth, I could see it.

SOUND:

LIGHT RESTAURANT SOUNDS IN B.G. .. DISCREET

CANDY:

It was wonderful of you to go to all this trouble taking me out to dinner.

RICK:

Oh, if this is trouble, I should have been in it long ago.

CANDY:

The big city can be so lonesome at times.

RICK:

I know, yes. Times like .. five thirty in the morning .. or when you have smallpox.

CANDY:

You don't seem to believe me.

RICK:

Candy, I'll bet they could make a human carpet out of the men who beat their way to your door every night.

CANDY:

Not so many as you think. And the ones who do come are opportunists.

RICK:

Can you blame them?

CANDY:

Beauty can have its drawbacks too. Men are afraid of you. Sometimes I wish I'd been born plain.

RICK:

Candy, honey .. beauty is about the one thing left they don't tax. Don't knock it.

CANDY:

Tell me something --

RICK:

Sure .. before you even ask. I got more money in the bank than the two of us could count.

CANDY:

That isn't what I was going to ask. I'd like you if you didn't have a cent.

RICK:

Oh, the curse of wealth.

CANDY:

Are you really interested in finding a girl to marry?

RICK:

That's my whole aim in life. I just want somebody who's willing to come back to Oklahoma with me, sit on the back porch, and watch those poor little old pumps bring up the oil.

CANDY:

After we finish dinner, would you like to go up to my apartment for a drink?

MUSIC:

(IN AND UNDER:)

RICK:

It would be painfully obvious, and a waste of time to include my answer here. Suffice it to say I found a reckless taxi driver who crossed town so fast, the meter showed he owed me money. She lived in the Welton Arms .. The decor of her apartment was out of next month's Town and Country .. her shelves were lined with intelligent books, and there were a couple of college diplomas on the wall .. and her bar, oh, that was I'm sure, borrowed from the Astor for the night.

CANDY:

You can have anything in the place.

RICK:

Oh, honey, I'd trade everything for a warm look from you.

CANDY:

(PAUSE) How's that?

RICK:

.. Uh .. do you have any liquid starch? I'd like to fix my collar.

CANDY:

(LAUGHS LIGHTLY) You're great. Know what I think?

RICK:

I couldn't guess.

CANDY:

You know, there's something about you that I really like .. and I'm sorry we had to meet this way.

RICK:

What's wrong with this?

CANDY:

I wish it could have been some small town .. on a summer night .. and you walking me home from a band concert, or a dance .. and .. oh, why go on.

RICK:

That was pretty good copy, Candy.

SOUND:

FEW STEPS .. SHE OPENS RECORD PLAYER .. CLICK OF

CANDY:

(SL. OFF) Mind if I play a record? It's my favorite.

RICK:

Go right ahead.

MUSIC:

(STARTS PLAYING .. "YOU'RE LAUGHING AT ME.")

CANDY:

(COMES ON) Wish I knew the words.

RICK:

I do. (HE SINGS "YOU'RE LAUGHING AT ME.")

MUSIC:

(COMES DOWN TO A SOFT FINISH WHEN HE ENDS)

CANDY:

(SOFTLY) Oh, Harold ..

RICK:

Come here, Candy. (THEY KISS) Kind of got you, huh?

CANDY:

(SUDDENLY STARTS TO CRY) Oh, what an awful, awful business to be in.

RICK:

Why, what do you mean .. ?

CANDY:

(FADES TEARFULLY) Excuse me, please.

MUSIC:

(IN AND UNDER:)

RICK:

Her tears looked pretty genuine to me. And I figured either she didn't know what she was doing or she was using a new angle in an old racket. But while she was out of the room, I recovered somewhat and gave her apartment a fast once-over. My recovery was complete when I found stacks of letters to and from lonely hearts clients, in her desk. I pocketed as many as possible. Then I settled back with a Camel, just before she returned. She cried a little more but did no talking. I finally left, dropped by the office, put the letters in my safe, and spent a half-hour on the phone with Helen explaining where I had been. She was very understanding.

HELEN:

I don't believe one word of it.

RICK:

So I went home and went to bed. The next morning I was coming down the corridor to my office and met Bridgey, the scrub woman.

BRIDGEY:

Hey .. Rickey-boy. (SOUND: FEW STEPS) Don't slip on the water.

RICK:

Good morning, Bridgey. How's the pin-up of the fourth floor?

BRIDGEY:

Now there's nothing wrong with my looks that a few years wouldn't fix. But unfortunately they've already passed.

RICK:

Ah, go on, go on. If I were a few years older .. you'd be just the thing for me.

BRIDGEY:

Want me to scare you, and tell you I'll wait?

RICK:

Honey, let's talk about something else. Tell me how are the bass drum lessons coming?

BRIDGEY:

Oh, I'm off the bass drum now. The vibrations upset my stomach. Besides, I've taken up softball now.

RICK:

Oh, you're kidding.

BRIDGEY:

Does that thumb look like I'm kidding. [I'm on the Roundhouse Girls Softball Team. Five wins, two losses. Better than the Red Sox .. and they got men.]

RICK:

What do you play?

BRIDGEY:

Catcher. I'm a regular Yogi Barrell.

RICK:

The only catcher in town with built-in padding.

BRIDGEY:

Just for that I have a mind not to tell you about the two men who went into your office.

RICK:

When, dear?

BRIDGEY:

Ten minutes ago. And outside of an umpire, they're the meanest looking men I've ever seen.

RICK:

Thanks, Bridgey.

BRIDGEY:

(FADING) If you need any help .. just call me. I'll bring my Louisville Slugger.

SOUND:

DOOR OPENS .. STEPS .. CLOSES

CARNEY:

(SL. OFF) Good morning, Diamond.

RICK:

Who are you, and what are you doing in here?

CARNEY:

Carney's my name. They call my friend there Jumbo. He don't talk .. 'cept with his hands.

RICK:

Am I supposed to turn white, or something?

CARNEY:

I hear you're a great actor, Diamond. Make a specialty of Western parts. Oil men, and such.

RICK:

Sorry, I'm all booked up.

CARNEY:

Santino don't like to have his letters stolen off his dames.

RICK:

Don't know what you're talking about.

CARNEY:

(QUIETLY) Jumbo.

SOUND:

SUDDEN LOUD FIGHT BREAKS OUT .. GREAT CRASH AS DIAMOND HITS THE FLOOR

RICK:

(YOU JUST HEAR HIS HEAVY BREATHING)

CARNEY:

(QUIETLY) Now, Diamond, I guess we open up your safe and get the letters, huh?

MUSIC:

(IN AND UNDER:)

RICK:

I'm not much of a morning fighter. And besides, I was overmatched. Anybody would have been with Jumbo. That's all the excuse I'm going to offer. Needless to say, I gave them the letters. I'd already read them anyway. They mussed up my office a little just for fun, placed a long distance call to Yokohama and charged it to me, and ordered a twelve foot "Good Luck" horseshoe of flowers from a nearby florist (also charged to me) .. and then left me sitting there.

SOUND:

PHONE RINGS .. STEPS .. PHONE UP

RICK:

(FURIOUS) Diamond Detective Agency! Blue eyes, now black.

CANDY:

(FILTER) This is Candy, Mr. Diamond

RICK:

Sweet of you to call.

CANDY:

Listen, somebody recognized you last night .. and they're going to be after you. They want the letters back.

RICK:

Why should you tell me this?

CANDY:

Because I like you, stupid. Now burn those letters, and get out of your office. And if you want to give me some help, I could sure use it.

RICK:

What kind of help?

CANDY:

I want to get out of this town. Oh, help me. I'll do anything to repay you.

RICK:

I'll be right over.

CANDY:

Get rid of those letters first. And then -- (GASPS) Oh, no -- Santino, no .. Get away from me! (SCREAMS)

SOUND:

(FILTER) A SINGLE SHOT

RICK:

Candy. Candy!

MUSIC:

(HITS IN AND UNDER:)

RICK:

I got over to her apartment as fast as I could. Her apartment door was locked, so I sprung it. (MUSIC: STINGS) And there wasn't a soul in the place anywhere .. or any signs of a struggle! (MUSIC: SETTLES BACK IN) I got out of there, and beat it over to the Metropolitan Romance Bureau, with blood in my eye, and a chip on my shoulder big as a redwood tree. And I don't expect you to believe it .. but (MUSIC: STINGS) there was no Metropolitan Romance Bureau! The name was scraped off the door .. and the office suite was empty!

MUSIC:

(UP TO FIRST ACT CURTAIN)

2ND ANNC:

Before we continue with "RICHARD DIAMOND", here are a few words about smoking enjoyment.

1ST ANNC:

Mildness tests have smoked out the truth!

2ND ANNC:

After all the tests - sniff tests, puff tests .. and the sensible thorough Camel thirty-day test - Camel leads all other brands by billions of cigarettes!

1ST ANNC:

Latest published figures show that Camel has its greatest lead in popularity in twenty-five years!

2ND ANNC:

Camels have the two things smokers want most in a cigarette - flavor and mildness. No other cigarette has Camel's rich, full flavor - a flavor you'll enjoy pack after pack and week after week!

1ST ANNC:

And no other cigarette offers this proof of mildness -- proof based not on a sniff or a puff, but on steady smoking! In a coast-to-coast test of hundreds of people who smoked only Camels for thirty days, noted throat specialists reported not one single case of throat irritation due to smoking Camels!

2ND ANNC:

Make your own thirty-day Camel test - the sensible, thorough Cigarette test. Smoke only Camels for thirty days, and you'll know why, after all the mildness tests Camel is in first place by still more billions!

SINGERS:

How mild,
How mild,
How mild can a cigarette be?
Make the Camel thirty-day test
And you'll see
Smoke Camels and see!

MUSIC:

(AND UNDER)

1ST ANNC:

And now back to "RICHARD DIAMOND, PRIVATE DETECTIVE", starring DICK POWELL!

MUSIC:

(IN AND UNDER)

RICK:

A half hour later I was telling the whole story to Lieutenant Walt Levinson...and a half hour after that we were all gathered in Candy Cooper's apartment at the Welton Arms...Walt had been quizzing the manager, George McSorley...and a girl named Edna Chambers...who said she lived in the apartment and she'd never heard of Candy Cooper! Confused? Well, why should I be the only one?

EDNA:

What do you mean telling the police about a murder in my place? What are you crazy or something?

RICK:

I'm not crazy, Miss Chambers. I was here last night with a girl named Candy Cooper. In this very apartment. She called me from here today...and somebody shot her.

EDNA:

Listen, mister. I don't know what your angle is...but this happens to be my apartment, and you were definitely not in it last night. If you had been, my boyfriend woulda tossed you out on your ear. 'Cause he was here too.

WALT:

How long have you lived here, young lady?

EDNA:

Almost a year. You heard what the manager said!

RICK:

Oh, don't bother, Walt...it's rigged against us.

EDNA:

Whyn't you shut him up. Look, I got records to prove it. And I tell you again - I never heard of no Candy whatever-her-name-was!

SOUND:

STEPS .. DOOR CLOSE

WALT:

Rick...there isn't much I can do here. We need more than your word.

RICK:

Okay, Fatty. Homicide is your chestnut, not mine.

WALT:

Who said there was a homicide. All you told us about was a shot and a scream...and over a phone at that. Are you sure you didn't see this thing at a seance or something?

RICK:

Allright...if you want to be a blockhead!

WALT:

Nobody's being a blockhead! I'm talking about facts! You give me something and I'll use it!

RICK:

(DISGUSTED) Here. Try my gun.

MUSIC:

(IN AND UNDER)

RICK:

The gang was organized like an army, and I realized I would need careful tactics to get anywhere. I reasoned if they had a lucrative mail order business going, they wouldn't drop it cold. So I paid a visit to the Post Office Department.

SOUND:

NOISE OF NOISEY POST OFFICE

CLERK:

Yeah...here's the card. They gave a change of address. The Metropolitan Romance Bureau now receives its mail at Post Office Box 32976.

RICK:

32976.

CLERK:

Yeah. Say, you must be real hard up for romance, buddy.

RICK:

Go cancel a stamp. And thank you.

MUSIC:

(IN AND UNDER)

RICK:

It was late in the afternoon when an old enemy of mine slid up to Box 32976 and opened it with a key. His name was Jumbo. It was all I could do to keep from punching him right there. Instead I followed him. And it was a long drive...north out of town...toward Connecticut. My quarry finally pulled up at a brown-shingled house on Anthony Street, number 1216, and went in. I took up a station at the end of the block, but when nothing further happened, I went back into town to do some checking from the office.

SOUND:

DOOR CLOSES .. STEPS .. PHONE RINGS .. PHONE UP

RICK:

Hello?

RALPH:

(FILTER) This is Ralph Dickenson, Mr. Diamond. Did you find out anything yet?

RICK:

Well, Ralph, I haven't gotten your money back, as yet...but I know a lot more than I did yesterday.

RALPH:

For example?

RICK:

For example, I don't think that the girl you sent your money and your love to...was a girl.

RALPH:

Huh?

RICK:

I think your letter came from a man named Santino, or one of his secretaries.

RALPH:

Is that right. Well, Mr. Diamond...just tell me where he is...I'll handle it from here.

RICK:

I think it's going to take both of us. Why don't you come down to my office. Right now I have to check on an address, and a license number.

RALPH:

Be right down. And I want some action.

MUSIC:

(IN AND UNDER)

RICK:

The phone company told me that the phone at 1216 Anthony Street was under the name of George Santino. The police told me that the license number I'd copied down off the car I'd followed, was under the same name...same address. Ralph Dickenson arrived, and the two of us drove out there. I told him to station himself at the back door, while I went in the front.

(SOUND: KNOCKING ON DOOR....MORE KNOCKING...DOOR FINALLY OPENS.)

HESTER:

(ABOUT NINETY YEARS OLD) Yes? What is it you want, young man?

RICK:

George Santino...is he in?

HESTER:

George What-tino?

RICK:

Santino!

HESTER:

That with an "S"?

RICK:

With an "S"!

HESTER:

Never heard of him.

RICK:

Now don't give me that. He lives here.

HESTER:

Since when?

RICK:

How should I know?

HESTER:

I been here since they built the place. 1912. I never seen no George Lamino. Had a Carl Maffino, once, rooming.

RICK:

Oh, swell. Maybe I want a room. May I come in and look around?

HESTER:

You may not. This is my home...my private home. I don't like the look in your eye. Sneaky.

RICK:

Are you Santino's mother?

HESTER:

I'll have you know I was never married. My name's Hester Thompson. Miss!

RICK:

Well, Hester, I'll hate myself for doing this...but one side.

SOUND:

SLIGHT SCUFFLE....THEN DOOR SHUT

HESTER:

You can't come in here! I'll call the police.

RICK:

I just did...and I dare you to. I want to look around.

HESTER:

Allright...you have forced me to defend my honor and my castle.

MUSIC:

(IN AND UNDER)

RICK:

She'd reached into an umbrella stand and pulled out a sawed off shotgun. (SOUND: SHOT FROM SHOTGUN) I dived behind a sofa, and the stuffing caught the full blast of the rock salt it was loaded with.. Before she could re-load, I grabbed her and tied her up. Then I looked through the house. There was no sign of anybody...George Santino, or his friends. Just the effects and furnishings of a little old lady. I was just about to turn myself in to the police for forcing an entry, assault, etc...when I noticed the garage outside. It was a double...with rooms over it...and all the shades were drawn. I had a talk with my teammate, Dickenson.

RALPH:

Think they're in there, huh?

RICK:

Where else? Now look, I'm going in the garage, and if I find the same car I followed yesterday, I'll go upstairs.

RALPH:

Then I'm going with you.

RICK:

I wouldn't have it any other way.

MUSIC:

(IN AND UNDER)

RICK:

It was the same car alright..and we started tiptoeing up a long flight of stairs inside the garage to a doorway at the top. When we were one step away from it, we kicked it open and dived through.

SOUND:

KICK OPEN DOOR...IT FLAPS LOOSELY ON HINGES

RICK:

Nothing. No George Santino or friends.

CANDY:

(OFFSTAGE..WHIMPERS SLIGHTLY WITH GAG IN HER MOUTH)

RICK:

But in the next room, trussed up, gagged up, and tied to a chair, a frightened and hysterical Candy Cooper stared at us with big eyes. We took the gag out of her mouth.

CANDY:

(SPITTING OUT GAG..SOBS) Rick, oh, Rick.

RICK:

Easy, honey, easy..you're alright. I thought you'd been killed.

CANDY:

I almost was but...look..

RICK:

Wh.....oh.

RALPH:

(SL. OFF) Who's this guy, Mr. Diamond?

RICK:

A letter-writing expert name of George Santino. How'd it happen, Candy?

CANDY:

I was talking to you on the phone when George walked in..he was mad because I was going to tell you about the whole racket. He had a gun and threatened me. I...I threw the telephone book at him and the gun went off. (SOBS) Jumbo...and that other man brought me here.

RICK:

Where are Jumbo and friend now?

CANDY:

Out getting a doctor..

RALPH:

S'too late for a doctor for this guy, Mr. Diamond. He's dead.

CANDY:

(SOBS) I knew he was going to die...I knew it.

RICK:

Let it all out, honey, we'll have some cops here to meet them when they come back..

CANDY:

And me, too? (SOBS)

RICK:

You know what you need, honey, is a good husband and a nice home.

CANDY:

Where would I find that...(SHE'S STILL CRYING)... nobody would have me. Nobody!

RICK:

Come here. Come here. I have a surprise for you. A guy named Ralph Dickenson. Oh...by the way...do you like lobster?

CANDY:

(CONTROLLING HER TEARS) What a silly question. It's my favorite food.

MUSIC:

(BRIDGE)

HELEN:

Another drink, Rick?

RICK:

No, Helen honey...one's enough. Your beauty is intoxication itself.

HELEN:

Oh, I'll bet I didn't look anything like her.

RICK:

Well, she was different...but you're both U.S. Grade A.

HELEN:

But you kissed her.

RICK:

All in the line of duty.

HELEN:

What's going to happen to her?

RICK:

Well, before the week is out, I guess she'll become Mrs. Ralph Dickenson.

HELEN:

What a fortunate girl. I wish somebody would ask me.

RICK:

Allright, I will.

HELEN:

Rick! Really?

RICK:

Sure. How would you like to become Mrs. Ralph Dickenson?

HELEN:

Oh, you double-crossing---

RICK:

Come here. Closer now. (THEY KISS) There. That help?

HELEN:

Oh, Rick...was that in the line of duty?

RICK:

That, Helen...was strictly on my own time.

MUSIC:

(UP TO CURTAIN)

2ND ANNC:

DICK POWELL will return in just a minute.

1ST ANNC:

What cigarette do you smoke, Doctor?

2ND ANNC:

Again that question has been asked of doctors all over the country, doctors in every branch of medicine.

1ST ANNC:

Again the brand named most was Camel! Yes, according to this repeated nationwide survey, more doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette!

SINGERS:

How mild,
How mild,
How mild can a cigarette be?
Smoke Camels and see!

1ST ANNC:

Here's DICK POWELL with a special message.

POWELL:

Thank you. Ladies and Gentlemen, for more than five years, the Camel people have been sending out tens of thousands of gift cigarettes to hospitalized servicemen and veterans. More than one hundred and ninety-six million free Camels have been sent to service personnel to date. This week's packs of Camels go to: Veterans' Hospitals, Waukesha, Wisconsin and Providence, Rhode Island..U.S. Naval Hospital, Annapolis, Maryland..and to all hospitals operated by the Pacific Command of the U.S. Army. Now - until next week..enjoy Camels...I always do.

MUSIC:

(INTO WHISTLING THEME, WITH POWELL MODULATING TO HOW MILD CAMEL THEME WHICH IS CONTINUED BY ORCHESTRA)

1ST ANNC:

DICK POWELL can now be seen starring in the R.K.O. film, "CRY DANGER". Tonight's transcribed adventure of "RICHARD DIAMOND" was written by John Michael Hays and E. Jack Neuman, with music by Frank Worth. Our director is Helen Mack. Featured in the cast were Virginia Gregg, Arthur Q. Bryan, Marjorie Reynolds, Lamont Johnson, Ted de Corsia, Peggy Webber, Larry Dobkin, June Foray and Jody Gilbert.

MUSIC:

(HOW MILD CAMEL THEME OUT ON CUE FOR HITCHHIKE)

HITCHHIKE

SINGERS:

The bite is out
And the pleasure's in
When you smoke Prince Albert...
It's especially treated not to bite your tongue -
The bite is out and the pleasure's in!

H-H ANNCR:

Prince Albert's "No-Bite" process, patented way back in Nineteen-Seven, means extra pipe comfort! Yes, Prince Albert is specially treated to insure against tongue bite! It's crimp cut, too, for smooth, even burning. Get Prince Albert, America's largest-selling smoking tobacco!

MUSIC:

(ORCH: "HOW MILD" CAMEL THEME CONTINUING UNDER)

1ST ANNC:

Listen next week for another exciting adventure of "RICHARD DIAMOND", starring DICK POWELL!

(WORD CUE FOR STATION CUT-OUT)

MUSIC:

(BOARD FADE)

ANNCR:

THIS IS YOUR FBI - the official broadcast from the files of the FBI - follows immediately, stay tuned. This program came to you from Hollywood.

THIS IS THE AMERICAN BROADCASTING COMPANY.