ANNCR:
From Hollywood it's time now for...
SOUND:
PHONE RING, UP
JOHNNY:
Johnny Dollar.
HARRY:
(FILTER) This is Harry Branson at Philadelphia Mutual Life and Casualty Company.
JOHNNY:
Hello, Harry. What's with you?
HARRY:
John, I have a case I'd like you to handle for us that is... well, somewhat unusual.
JOHNNY:
Have you ever handed me one that wasn't completely screwy?
HARRY:
I said unusual.
JOHNNY:
And I said screwy. So now that we understand each other, what's it all about?
HARRY:
Well, absolutely nothing...yet. But I'm very apprehensive about one of our clients.
JOHNNY:
Harry, you're the biggest worrywart I ever knew.
HARRY:
What was that?
JOHNNY:
I said, who is this client?
HARRY:
Dr. Walter Merrill.
JOHNNY:
Merrill? The scientist??...
HARRY:
That's right.
JOHNNY:
Nobel prizewinner, the man who worked out the molecular orbital contraction something or other?
HARRY:
Yes, yes, that's the one. And as I say, John, I'm worried.
JOHNNY:
Who wouldn't be...about him. I'll be right down to see you.
MUSIC:
MT AND UNDER
ANNCR:
Bob Bailey, in the exciting adventures of the man with the action packed expense account - America's fabulous freelance insurance investigator....
JOHNNY:
Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar.
MUSIC:
JD B-1
JOHNNY:
Expense account, submitted by special investigator Johnny Dollar. To the Philadelphia Mutual Life and Casualty Insurance Company...in Philadelphia, where else? Following is an account of expenses incurred during my investigation of the Clever Chemist Matter.
MUSIC:
FIGURE
JOHNNY:
Expense account, item one, twenty two fifty, air transportation and incidentals, Hartford to New York to Philadelphia. I didn't even stop to check my bag but headed directly for the Philly Mutual Building on Walnut Street. (SNK TAXI ON) Harry Branson is a good insurance man but a great worrier. Nonetheless, he's given me some pretty important cases in times past, highly lucrative, too. And after all, what do we live for? (OVERLAP CAB OPEDO...OFF TRAF...J GETS OUT) Here you are, keep the change. (BILL)
CABBIE:
Thanks, doc. (CAB DOCLO...IT GOES...STPS COME ON SIDEWALK)
HARRY:
(FIN) John! What took you so long?
JOHNNY:
What's the matter, Harry? Forget to pay the rent on your office? Or just forget the key?
HARRY:
(INNOCENTLY) No, John, as a matter of fact I have the key right here in my....Ahem. This is hardly the time or place for levity.
JOHNNY:
Well surely you haven't been waiting here on the sidewalk ever since you called me.
HARRY:
No, I haven't. But by checking plane schedules I was able to determine when you'd arrive almost to the minute...and not wanting to waste time taking you upstairs to the office...
JOHNNY:
Pretty urgent matter, huh?
HARRY:
What's more, the drive-it-yourself car I've arranged for you should be here shortly.
JOHNNY:
Huh? Well, now, usually I arrange those things myself.
HARRY:
Yes, and how we pay for them on that...that expense account of yours.
JOHNNY:
Harry, you touch me to the quick...my pride, my honor...
HARRY:
Oh, please, don't misunderstand me. I don't mean there's ever anything really dishonest about your expense account. It's only...
JOHNNY:
(OVERLAP) You don't? Well you ought to. Believe me, I'll pad it to the hilt if I think I can get away with it.
HARRY:
(SHOCKED) John...! Anyhow, the most important reason for engaging the car was so that you can leave for Malaga without delay. (Pronounced Mal-aga...American style)
JOHNNY:
Malaga?
HARRY:
New Jersey. It's about thirty miles south and east of here.
JOHNNY:
Is that where Dr. Merrill is?
HARRY:
Yes. As is his custom, he chooses to work in some isolated spot where he can't possibly be disturbed. He and his colleague, that is.
JOHNNY:
Colleague? I always heard that he worked alone, free lance.
HARRY:
And you heard aright. However, he now has a Professor Theodore Nash with him.
JOHNNY:
Nash?
HARRY:
One of our foremost chemists...at least, according to Dr. Merrill.
JOHNNY:
Never heard of him. But now what seems to be the trouble?
HARRY:
John, they're working together on what I'm sure is some top secret project.
JOHNNY:
Oh? Say, wait...didn't Merrill have something to do with the early rocket experiments?
HARRY:
Precisely. Which is why I suspect their present work may have something to do with the space satellite or intercontinental missles or something of the sort.
JOHNNY:
Possible. But what has all this got to do with you?
HARRY:
Their insurance. Dr. Merrill has had a policy with us for some years. Twenty five thousand dollars.
JOHNNY:
And Professor Nash?
HARRY:
Recently he took out a policy with us, too, for ten thousand.
JOHNNY:
Beneficiary?
HARRY:
Nash made Dr. Merrill his beneficiary.
JOHNNY:
That sort of thing is often done between men working together, Harry. You know that.
HARRY:
Yes...so that if anything happens to one, the other will be financially able to carry on what they've started.
JOHNNY:
Right.
HARRY:
Which is no doubt why Dr. Merrill changed the beneficiary of his policy to Theodore Nash.
JOHNNY:
So what's the worry?
HARRY:
No sooner was the change made than I received a letter of protest from Dr. Merrill's daughter.
JOHNNY:
Who's she?
HARRY:
A Mrs. Howard Harding. She and her husband live in West Philadelphia. He's a welder for an aviation company, I think.
JOHNNY:
On what did she base her protest?
HARRY:
She claims her father must have been coerced into changing the policy.
JOHNNY:
Oh now wait a minute. That sounds like the hungry relative who complains about being cut out of a will.
HARRY:
It might...if Mrs. Harding weren't a perfectly well balanced, intelligent and, I'm sure, quite unselfish person...a completely honorable....
JOHNNY:
Is she good looking?
HARRY:
Wellllll, yes....
JOHNNY:
And real sweet to you?
HARRY:
Yes she is. Well, that is...John, I don't know what you're trying to imply.
JOHNNY:
(SIGHS) Ah, they do it every time.
HARRY:
John...
JOHNNY:
Particularly when there's a bit of money involved. Good looking insurance broker like you. And you're a bachelor too, aren't you?
HARRY:
John, you're pulling my leg.
JOHNNY:
(CHIDE) Harry...! But, then, I guess we're all suckers for a sales talk from someone like that.
HARRY:
That has nothing to do with it. I've had these hunches before, John, and they've always been right. Even you will have to admit that.
JOHNNY:
Yeah, I'll confess that in the cases I've handled for you so far....But why don't you call up Dr. Merrill?
HARRY:
Ha, I think the quaint old fellow would die rather than have a phone near enough to disturb him in his work. (OVERLAP BEEPS OF HORN OFF) Oh, there's your rental car, waiting at the curb. So off you go, John, and see what you can find out.
JOHNNY:
Okay, Harry. It all sounds like a lot of nothing you're worried about. But as long as you're willing to pay for it....And I always did like South Jersey this time of year.
MUSIC:
IN AND UNDER
JOHNNY:
I drove across the Delaware River Bridge into Jersey and headed for Route 45 to Westville, Woodbury and finally Pitman, where I picked up Route 47. What Harry had said was true...these hunches of his had a remarkable way of panning out. He'd saved his company a lot of money by anticipating trouble before it actually happened. And yet...? But who was I to complain? After a pleasant hour's drive through cranberry bog and farm country, I pulled into the quiet little town of Malaga...population, I'd say, under five hundred. First stop, the postoffice. (MURMUR AND SHUFS OF PO CUSTOMERS)
AD LIBS:
A FEW BUYING STAMPS AND SENDING A PACKAGE TO AUNT MIN
POST:
(FIN) Dr. Merrill? Sure. Go back the way you came about a mile 'til you see the name Wampus Bung.
JOHNNY:
What?
POST:
Name of one of the bungalows on the edge of the lake. Wampus means cat. Bung? Bungalow. Wampus Bung.
JOHNNY:
I, uh...yeah.
POST:
The Doctor and the Professor got the fourth cottage beyond it. White one with a fence around it.
JOHNNY:
Good. Thanks.
POST:
And if you don't mind, you can take their mail out to 'em. They haven't been in to pick it up for four-five days now.
JOHNNY:
Oh? Nothing wrong, is there?
POST:
Who'd know, the way those two keep to themselves. You'd think whatever they're working on was the ah-tomic bomb.
JOHNNY:
Yeah, well....
POST:
Just be sure you let 'em know you're at the gate before you try to go through the fence.
JOHNNY:
What do you mean?
POST:
That Professor's liable to take a shot at you, seeing you prowling around.
JOHNNY:
Thanks, I'll remember that.
MUSIC:
IN AND UNDER
JOHNNY:
As I drove back and toward the edge of little Malaga Lake, the idea of getting shot at by anyone living in this peaceful, quiet place seemed ridiculous. The lake itself by the way, looked pretty inviting and I made a mental note to come back here on my own, sometime, after the fishing season opened. (CAR SLOWLY) As the postmaster had indicated, the fourth cottage beyond Wampus Bung was heavily fenced in. (CAR STOP) So I gave notice of my arrival. (BEEPS...CAR DO...STEPS...BIRDS) I'd barely left the car when the door of the little cottage opened. (OFF OPEN)
DOC:
(OFF) (A VERY VAGUE GUY) Yes? Who is it?
JOHNNY:
(STILL WALKING) Dr. Merrill?
DOC:
(SL OFF) Uh...yes.
JOHNNY:
My name is Dollar, sir...Johnny Dollar, insurance investigator.
DOC:
(FIN) Harry...Branson?
JOHNNY:
That's right. Harry Branson sent me down here to see you. (OPEN GATE)
DOC:
Oh, come in, come in. I'm most...most glad to see you, I...(STPS) Please come into the house, yes.
JOHNNY:
Thank you. Is, uh, Professor Nash here?
DOC:
In the...in the laboratory. (FADE) But come please - into the house.
MUSIC:
SLITE TING AND UNDER...IT SHOULD OVERLAP DOC
JOHNNY:
As he spoke, the sliding door on the garage at the side of the house opened. A rather swarthy man, some years younger than Dr. Merrill, stepped out, quickly closed the door and threw a heavy bolt on it...then looked over toward us suspiciously.
DOC:
(FIN...CONTINUING)...yes, because it's better that you and I talk in...in private, alone...
PROF:
(WELL OFF) Doctor, who is that? (STPS STOP)
DOC:
(STARTLED) Oh? Oh...yes, Professor.
PROF:
If we have a visitor, why do you not bring him here where we can both speak to him. (STPS AGAIN)
DOC:
Oh. Yes, of course. This is Mr. Johnny Dollar...Professor Theodore Nash.
PROF:
(SL OFF) Mr. Dollar...?
JOHNNY:
How do, Professor. I'm from your insurance company. Just making a little routine checkup.
PROF:
(FIN) Fine, fine. I am glad to see you. As a matter of fact, I wish to talk with you. (HANDSHAKE) How do you do. (FEW STEPS AS) Come into the laboratory. (THROW THAT BOLT...SLIDE OPEDO...MAN IN WHITE SUIT TYPE SOUNDS OFF)
DOC:
Professor, do you...do you think it wise...
PROF:
(CHIDE) Of course, Doctor. Since he is not a man of science, I am sure there is no harm in his seeing it. And you have an experiment going, remember?
DOC:
But I wish to speak...
PROF:
(TURNING TO SL OFF) Mr. Dollar, within these four walls, the genius of Dr. Merrill and my own poor efforts are creating things that will startle the world!
MUSIC:
IN AND IMMED UNDER
JOHNNY:
Outside, the small building looked like an ordinary two car garage, somewhat in need of paint and repair. But inside, with windowless, concrete reinforced walls, it was immaculate...and loaded with scientific equipment of all shapes and sorts and sizes. There were racks of test tubes, bottles of chemicals, beakers, retorts, bunsen burners, a centrifuge, machines and apparatus I'd never seen before...that I imagine much of the world never dreamed of. And all of it as neat as a pin. Not so much as a stirring rod out of place.
PROF:
(FIN) Ah, but look, Doctor...the polymerization step is almost complete...
DOC:
Eh?
PROF:
You must continue with the molecular balance check immediately. (SHUF)
DOC:
Oh...oh, yes. (SL FADE) And you must both leave me. (LITE SWITCH AN A LIGHT HUMMING MOTOR COMS INTO ACTION OFF) This must not be seen by...by anyone who...
PROF:
We understand, Doctor.
DOC:
I hope you will pardon me, Mr....Mr. Dollar?
JOHNNY:
Of course, Doctor.
PROF:
Come, Mr. Dollar. (STPS TO OUTSIDE...BOIDS AGAIN)
DOC:
(FADE) I will lock the door...yes. (CLODO AND THROW DEADLATCH)
JOHNNY:
He...does require privacy, doesn't he.
PROF:
Yes. (THROW THAT BIG DOOR BOLT)
JOHNNY:
But you're not going to bolt that door on him...?
PROF:
Of course not. (BOLT OUT) Force of habit, I guess. (SLO STPS) It is he who keeps things locked so tightly when he is working. Unnecessarily so. But then, a genius is permitted his idiocyncracies.
JOHNNY:
Harry Branson seems to think you two may be working on something to do with guided missles.
PROF:
A very perceptive man. But that is something we must not speak about.
JOHNNY:
If so, however, I should think this place would be heavily guarded.
PROF:
It is hardly necessary in this isolated little comunity...especially since it is not generally known we are here. But now why have you come here, Mr. Dollar? (STOP)
JOHNNY:
Just a routine checkup. We...usually do this when a sizeable policy is changed.
PROF:
There is something unusual about two men, working together on important things, insuring in each other's favor?
JOHNNY:
Well...no.
PROF:
Ah, but when the daughter, perhaps, objects...
JOHNNY:
You know Dr. Merrill's daughter?
PROF:
I know about her. And about her unfortunate marriage to that...that day laborer.
JOHNNY:
Nothing wrong with day labor, Professor.
PROF:
But one who waits for a great man like the Doctor to die so that he can get his hands on the insurance money...pah!
JOHNNY:
You think so? You think that's why his daughter objected to the change?
PROF:
Of course. But his money will be used to further his work...by me. (AFTERTHOUGHT) And, of course, for the good of humanity.
JOHNNY:
I, uh...well, how soon do you think the Doctor will be through with his experiment?
PROF:
An hour, perhaps two. Then he will call me in to assist him with the next, the crucial step. But now about this insurance...
JOHNNY:
Look, why don't I run back to the town, arrange for a place to stay, grab a bite to eat, then come back here?
PROF:
If you like. I am sorry we have no room in the cottage to...
JOHNNY:
Don't give it a second thought. I'll see you later.
MUSIC:
IN AND UNDER
JOHNNY:
Something of Harry Branson's hunch had passed on to me...a strange feeling about the whole setup.There was something wrong about both Merrill and Nash, particularly the latter...something I couldn't put my finger on. Was Dr. Merrill...afraid of Nash? I dunno. (BEAT) Item two, a dollar even for a quick bite in a little cafe along the highway, after I'd made arrangements for a room for the night in a private home that took in boarders. (CAR IN) It was not much over an hour later when I drove back to the little cottage by the lake, and the laboratory with its important secrets. (STOP CAR) (CAR DOOR...STEPS OF J THAT INCREASE IN SPEED) (FIN OFF POUNDING ON DOOR) (NITE NOISES BG) And then I heard it...someone pounding on the door of the laboratory, from the inside...someone calling for help...
PROF:
(OVERLAP ABOVE...MUCH MUFFLED) Help...help...in the name of heaven, someone hear me...help...help...etc. (POUNDING CONT...J'S FAST STEPS STOP)
JOHNNY:
Professor...? (SHAKE DOOR)
PROF:
Help me...open the door!
JOHNNY:
But the lock's on the inside. (SHAKE DO) Turn the lock.
PROF:
No...no...
JOHNNY:
What?
PROF:
The bolt, there on the outside. Please...
JOHNNY:
Bolt here on the out...? (THROW THAT BOLT...OPEDO)
PROF:
(FIN...ABOUT TO COLLAPSE) Thank heaven, thank heaven...
JOHNNY:
Good lord, Professor, what happened to you? You look like you've been run over by a...Dr. Merrill! (COUPLA QUICK STPS)
PROF:
Too late...too late...
JOHNNY:
Professor, what happened here?
PROF:
He beat me...threw acid at me...
JOHNNY:
The Doctor???
PROF:
No, no...the man who...then he killed the Doctor, with a gun...(WEEPS)...killed him, killed him.
JOHNNY:
Who, Professor, who?
PROF:
I...I don't know, I...(HE FAINTS)
ANNCR: Act Two of YOURS TRULY, JOHNNY DOLLAR in just a moment.
Sundays on most of these same stations...it's The F.B.I. in Peace and War. Here's drama that pulls no punches, revealing how unsung heroes of the Federal Bureau of Investigation operate to track down criminals and saboteurs. Listen just a few minutes from now as the dragnet closes on another public enemy. It's thirty minutes of thrilling, spine-tingling drama on...The F.B.I. in Peace and War.
Now Act Two of YOURS TRULY, JOHNNY DOLLAR and "The Clever Chemist Matter."
MUSIC:
SECOND ACT OVERTURE
MUSIC:
FO' ACT TWO
JOHNNY:
Expense account, item three, ten dollars for the services of one Dr. Fredrick Foote, the only resident medico in the little town of Malaga, New Jersey. After pronouncing Dr. Walter Merrill dead, he took the badly beaten Professor Nash to his office-clinic. While waiting for Nash to get in good enough shape to talk, I ran up item four, ten cents, phone call to the Sheriff, who promised to come over as soon as he could enlist the aid of the nearby State Police. (BEAT) Finally, Dr. Foote gave the word...(STEPS OF TWO ON FLOOR)
FOOTE:
(FIN) But I suggest you talk with him as little as possible, Mr. Dollar. (STOPS)
JOHNNY:
In pretty bad shape, Dr. Foote?
FOOTE:
The intruder not only beat him severely but threw a bottle of acid in his face.
JOHNNY:
Oh?
FOOTE:
Professor Nash will never have the use of his left eye again...because of that nitric acid. The burn on the skin, however, is not too serious.
JOHNNY:
Has Nash said anything that might help us identify the assailant and killer?
FOOTE:
No. (STEPS) Now please don't talk with him too long. (OPEN DOOR) Professor...? (COUPLA STEPS)
PROF:
(FIN...WEAKLY) Yes? Yes?
JOHNNY:
Hello, Professor...
PROF:
Mr. Dollar. I will never see again with my left eye. He has told me.
JOHNNY:
I know. I'm sorry.
PROF:
But the great Dr. Merrill...he is dead. What a loss to...to....(WEEPS)
JOHNNY:
Professor, did you see the man who attacked you?
PROF:
Yes.
JOHNNY:
Can you describe him at all? I don't want to tire you, but it's very important if you can.
PROF:
Yes. (WITH EFFORT) Young...not more than thirty...five feet six or eight, very heavy...
JOHNNY:
Yes?
PROF:
Stocky...and black, curly hair.
JOHNNY:
Yeah...
PROF:
Hands like a working man, a laborer, a common...
JOHNNY:
Have you ever seen this man before?
PROF:
No...no, I...(HE COUGHS)
JOHNNY:
Here...(HE POURS)...some water.
PROF:
Thank you. (DRINKS) Thank you.
JOHNNY:
Do you know why he came in and attacked you and Dr. Merrill?
PROF:
No...
JOHNNY:
Was he after something, there in the laboratory?
PROF:
Only...only to kill Dr. Merrill. I tried....I tried to defend him but I....(WEEPS AGAIN)
FOOTE:
(FIN) I'm sorry, Mr. Dollar, but I think that's enough.
JOHNNY:
Okay, Dr. Foote. (WISELY) I think I've heard enough.
MUSIC:
IN AND UNDER .. JD TEN. B-3
JOHNNY:
I managed to get back to the cottage by the lake before the Police arrived. I made a quick search and came up with one very damning piece of evidence. In one of the bedrooms, I found a picture of a wedding couple. It was inscribed "Love to the dearest father in the world," and next to the bride, stood a man who answered perfectly to the description Professor Nash had given me. The husband of Dr. Merrill's daughter. Howard Harding. (COMPLETE CHANGE OF ATTACK TO ALMOST PHILOSOPHICAL) And then I thought of what Nash had said about Harding...his antagonism toward him, his conviction that Harding was the one who resented the change in the insurance policy. There was something else, too...that had happened when I talked with Nash in the doctor's office that....hmmm.
MUSIC:
CHG .. VIDEO MOODS 1013 A-1
JOHNNY:
By the time I got back to the laboratory the Sheriff and State Police arrived. The Sheriff, I'm afraid, badly mussed up any prints that might have been left on the bottle of acid. However, in the weeds outside, a state trooper found the pistol, a .38 calibre Luger, that had killed Dr. Merrill. Fingerprints had apparently been wiped off, but the gun was carefully wrapped to be checked more thoroughly by the....Fingerprints! Before taking off on a mad dash back to Philadelphia I stopped at Dr. Foote's and picked up one water tumbler. Item five, three seventy for a tankful of gas. Item six, fifty cents, parking in Philadelphia, as close as possible to Harry Branson's office...(CLOSE DOOR..STEPS)
HARRY:
(FIN) John....back so soon?
JOHNNY:
Yeah.
HARRY:
And what have you found out about Dr. Merrill?
JOHNNY:
Harry, he's dead.
HARRY:
What? Oh, dear....
JOHNNY:
I haven't time to give you the details, but listen...
HARRY:
But John, I...
JOHNNY:
Listen. First, write down the address of Mr. and Mrs. Howard Harding for me.
HARRY:
His daughter. Does she...
JOHNNY:
No, she doesn't know yet. And I hope I can avoid telling her before I....Write it down, man. (PPR)
HARRY:
Well, yes, of course, but...(SCRIBBLE)
JOHNNY:
Number two, take this....(PKG) Don't unwrap it! But see that it gets to Ray Kemper at the federal bureau...fast. He'll know what to do and I'll check with him about it later. Thanks. (HE GRABS PPR...STEPS ON)
HARRY:
(FADING) But now, John...
JOHNNY:
(OVER HIS SHOULDER) Harry, this is one time this expense account of mine is gonna save you a lot of money. (SLAM DOOR..THEN HIS STEPS STOP) I think.
MUSIC:
IN AND UNDER .. VIDEO MOODS 1001 B-1
JOHNNY:
The home of Mr. and Mrs. Howard Harding turned out to be in a nice, quiet residential area. (OPEN DOOR) I was met at the door by the girl in the wedding picture.....a tall, very nice looking blonde in her late twenties....
TERI:
(EXPECTING SOMEONE ELSE) Oh. Yes?
JOHNNY:
Mrs. Harding?
TERI:
I'm Teri Harding.
JOHNNY:
I'm Johnny Dollar, from your father's insurance company.
TERI:
(RELIEF) Oh, good. Come in. (HE DOES) Perhaps you can help me make him do something about that policy of his.
JOHNNY:
Well, that isn't exactly...
TERI:
Someone has poisoned Daddy's mind, Mr. Dollar.
JOHNNY:
What do you mean?
TERI:
It isn't that I want the money if Daddy dies, which heaven forbid...
JOHNNY:
It doesn't exactly look as though you need it.
TERI:
Of course we don't. Howard has been doing so wonderfully at Colonial Aviation...
JOHNNY:
Apparently. And I'd had a notion he was just a welder or something.
TERI:
(LAFFS) Oh dear, no. That's what Daddy called him because....well, because he wasn't too fond of Howard. And that is the way Howard started, before we were married. But now he's one of the officers of the company.
JOHNNY:
Uh...where is he, Mrs. Harding?
TERI:
As a matter of fact, I thought you were Howard when you drove up just now. He's been fishing.
JOHNNY:
Fishing?
TERI:
Some little lake over in Jersey. He goes every Saturday, all by himself.
JOHNNY:
Malaga Lake?
TERI:
No, Malaga is where Daddy works. Hmph, he and that.... (LETS IT HANG)
JOHNNY:
That what, Mrs. Harding?
TERI:
I...I don't know. It's....Howard, I guess.
JOHNNY:
What do you mean?
TERI:
Howard has never liked or trusted him, even though they've never actually met. And when Daddy changed his insurance to name that "Professor".....There is something wrong about that man, Mr. Dollar.
JOHNNY:
What?
TERI:
I don't know. Daddy always worked alone, until he came along. Daddy is such an alert, bright eyed little busybody, in spite of his age...
JOHNNY:
Your father...?
TERI:
Like a cute little wound up spring, hopping about like a....
JOHNNY:
Mrs. Harding....
TERI:
Yes?
JOHNNY:
Mrs. Harding, when I saw your father...
TERI:
You've seen Daddy? Then you know what I mean.
JOHNNY:
...he was tired, almost in a daze, he spoke with difficulty....
TERI:
Oh no, you're mistaken. He chatters away like a jay bird, he...What is it, Mr. Dollar?
JOHNNY:
He must have been doped, he...(OPEN & CLOSE DOOR OFF...STEPS COME)
HOWARD:
(FIN) Hi, honey. Well, I'm just as lousy a fisherman as usual. Not a single...Oh, excuse me.
JOHNNY:
Mr. Harding, tell me just one thing...
HOWARD:
(PLEASANTLY) Well, that depends. Who are you?
TERI:
Mr. Dollar's from the insurance company, darling...
HOWARD:
Not Johnny Dollar!
JOHNNY:
That's right.
HOWARD:
Well, I've certainly heard of you. Tell me...
JOHNNY:
You tell me, Harding. Where've you been?
HOWARD:
Why, fishing.
JOHNNY:
Where?
HOWARD:
Over in Jersey.
JOHNNY:
Where?
HOWARD:
A little private lake...
JOHNNY:
Where?!
HOWARD:
Over near Mount Holly. The one place I know of where nobody else ever goes, where I can get rid of the cobwebs that my job.....Hey, wait a minute, Dollar. What is this?
JOHNNY:
(BEAT) Harding, you've been identified as the man who murdered Dr. Walter Merrill.
TERI:
Murdered? Mr. Dollar.....
HOWARD:
(SIMUL WITH HER) What???
JOHNNY:
I'm sorry, Mrs. Harding, but it's true.
TERI:
Oh, no....(SHE SOBS IT UP)
HOWARD:
What are you talking about, Dollar? Is this.....true?
JOHNNY:
You didn't know about it?
HOWARD:
Of course not. How could I? Where did it happen? How?
JOHNNY:
At his place in Malaga.
HOWARD:
Professor Nash! (CHAIR) I'll kill that man...
JOHNNY:
You'll take it easy. You seem to forget that so far you're the only suspect in the case.
HOWARD:
I? You're out of your mind! If it was anybody it was that Nash.
JOHNNY:
Got anyone to verify that you've been up at that lake near Mount Holly?
HOWARD:
Of course not. I told you, I go alone, there's nobody there.
JOHNNY:
Listen to me. Nash was with Dr. Merrill when he was killed, there in his laboratory...
HOWARD:
Of course he was...
JOHNNY:
But Nash was attacked also...beaten, acid thrown at him, he's lost the sight of one eye because of it.
HOWARD:
And I tell y.......You're sure?
JOHNNY:
Of course I'm sure. It was I who found them...Nash beating against the inside of the door of that laboratory, crying for help....a door that was bolted on the outside...(PHONE RINGS OFF)
TERI:
(SOBS ARE EVIDENT)
HOWARD:
But, Dollar, I....You're sure of that?
JOHNNY:
I'm sure.
HOWARD:
I....still...think....(SHUF) Teri....I'm sorry, honey. Here, let me....
TERI:
(SOBBING IT) Oh, Howard, it's so terrible...
JOHNNY:
Better answer that phone, Howard.
HOWARD:
(SIGHS IT) Yeah. (HE GOES A FEW STEPS..OFF PICKUP) Hello...yes. Yes. (UP) It's for you, Mr. Dollar.
JOHNNY:
Thanks. (STEPS ON)
HOWARD:
(OFF) Teri, dear, come, you've got to pull yourself together, etc., etc....
JOHNNY:
Johnny Dollar.
HARRY:
(FILTER) John, this is Harry Branson. I just received a call from Mr. Kemper at the federal bureau....
JOHNNY:
Yes?
HARRY:
He says he must see you immediately. It's very important.
JOHNNY:
Call him back, Harry. Tell him I'll be there in fifteen minutes. (HANG UP...STEPS ON) Harding, just to keep things straight, I wouldn't leave this house if I were you.
HOWARD:
Well now, wait a minute, Dollar....
JOHNNY:
Just sit tight. I think you're in the clear.
MUSIC:
IN AND UNDER
JOHNNY:
More red lights got passed up on my way into the Philadelphia offices of the Bureau. So Ray Kemper felt that whatever he'd found was important. If so, it would back up one of my suspicions. But in view of the circumstances, that bolted door on the laboratory, for instance, how could it?
RAY:
(FIN) Important is putting it mildly, Johnny.
JOHNNY:
The prints you found on the water glass, Ray?
RAY:
Three sets. One: Yours.
JOHNNY:
Well, naturally...
RAY:
Two: a Dr. Fredrick Foote, who is currently practicing medicine in....
JOHNNY:
I know...in the town of Malaga, New Jersey. That's where the glass came from.
RAY:
Oh?...because the third set of prints...
JOHNNY:
Yes?
RAY:
I had to go into the international file for them. And, Johnny...
JOHNNY:
Nash? Theodore Nash?
RAY:
Nash? (PPR) Nashevsky.
JOHNNY:
What?
RAY:
_Fe_odor Nashevsky. Chemist from one of our not-so-friendly countries....
JOHNNY:
Huh???
RAY:
Expert on explosives. (PPRS) At one time he was thought to have attempted to enter this country. This was in nineteen forty...
JOHNNY:
Ray, have you got any pictures of him?
RAY:
Plenty. From the time he was a kid. (PIX) Here. And tell me how you picked up these prints. (PIX)
JOHNNY:
The beard in this picture...but it looks like him alright. This too. But the shaved head. (PIX) Almost as though he tried to keep changing his appearance.
RAY:
(PATIENTLY) Johnny...(PIX)
JOHNNY:
Wait a sec. This picture of him as a youngster. This eye patch, on his left eye.
RAY:
Our dossier's pretty complete. He was quite an athlete, until he injured that eye...
JOHNNY:
But it doesn't show in these other pictures. And he hasn't a glass eye.
RAY:
No, his eye always looked perfectly natural. But now, Johnny, if you have information...
JOHNNY:
(RISING FROM A CHAIR) Ray, this has done it for me. Thanks.
RAY:
(FADING) Now, just a minute...(STEPS ON)
JOHNNY:
I'll see you.
RAY:
(FADING) Johnny..! (OFF PHONE PICKUP) This is Kemper. Get me a man to tail Johnny Dollar. He's leaving this office right now. Get on it!!
MUSIC:
IN AND UNDER - PASTORAL - 12
JOHNNY:
All the way back to Malaga, New Jersey, I hoped my rental car would hold together. It did, in spite of the fact I pushed it all the way. International intrigue is a bit out of my line, but this time?...So help me, I was beginning to feel like an FBI man. I stopped at State Police headquarters, along the way, and according to them, Nash was off the hook, not only because of the acid thrown in his face, but, even more important, because of my own testimony that I'd found them locked in that laboratory. I stopped again at the lab. Nothing. Then back to Dr. Foote's office. (STPS ON FLOOR)
FOOTE:
Very well, Mr. Dollar, when they arrive I will insist that they wait for you. (ONLY ONE PR FEET NOW)
JOHNNY:
Thanks, Doctor. (STPS CONT A BIT...OPEDO) Well, Professor? (CLODO)
PROF:
(FIN) Have they found anything, Mr. Dollar? Have they found the man who attacked us and killed poor Dr. Merrill?
JOHNNY:
Professor, I think I have...
PROF:
Oh?
JOHNNY:
But tell me something...
PROF:
Yes, of course.
JOHNNY:
Your government doesn't pay you very well, does it?
PROF:
Merrill and I were not working for the government, Mr. Dollar, although, of course, the results of our work...
JOHNNY:
I'm talking about your government, your own real boss.
PROF:
I don't understand.
JOHNNY:
No doubt it's very much interested in anything this country develops in the line of guided missiles, that sort of thing.
PROF:
Mr. Dollar...
JOHNNY:
Let me go on. Merrill was doing important work, stuff that would be of inestimable value to any country in the world.
PROF:
Of course.
JOHNNY:
Your country would've paid you well for the results of his work. But, brother, they'll never get 'em.
PROF:
I don't know what you're talking about.
JOHNNY:
Money? The loot from Merrill's insurance? Sure, it was enough to get you out of here, after you'd gained the knowledge you needed of Merrill's work...
PROF:
See here, Dollar...
JOHNNY:
...after you'd killed him, before he could give to his government, the United States, what he'd...
PROF:
You are a fool. I was beaten, too...
JOHNNY:
The poor old man put up a pretty stiff fight, didn't he?
PROF:
Do you think I would have done this to myself?...my eye??
JOHNNY:
You gave yourself away, earlier, when you reached out for a glass of water I handed you, right here in this room. A man who'd lost his sight in one eye would have lost his aim, until he got used to it. Funny, though, it didn't come to me until later.
PROF:
You are mad.
JOHNNY:
You haven't seen out of that left eye since you were a kid.
PROF:
I tell you you are mad.
JOHNNY:
And a little acid burn, to make it look like an assailant had thrown it at you would be well worth the alibi it gave you...Feodor.
PROF:
Feodor?
JOHNNY:
That's right, Feodor Nashevsky.
PROF:
I...I...Listen to me. You...you were the one who found us...locked in, the door bolted from the outside. You found us....
JOHNNY:
Yeah. Also, the cord, the string you used to pull the bolt to, that you looped over the bolt and pulled, after you got inside.
PROF:
You couldn't have. I dropped it in a vat of acid that... (HE STOPS)
JOHNNY:
Thanks. I was bluffing...made a lucky guess.
PROF:
What??? (SHUF)
JOHNNY:
(PAUSE) What a brain. Nashevsky, I'm sure glad a stupe like you isn't working on our side. (SHUF AND SOCK)
MUSIC:
IN AND UNDER - JD - B - 5
JOHNNY:
The capsule he fished out of his pocket never got to his mouth...and I'm afraid he won't see very well out of his other eye for a while. My knuckles still hurt. And it was lucky for him that the police arrived. I'm afraid I don't like guys like him. (BEAT) Expense account total, including all the incidentals I could think of and transportation back to Hartford, eighty four thirty five. ((Remarks: Don't beef on this one, Harry. The criminal, in spite of being the named beneficiary, doesn't get paid. And think of what you and I and your insurance company have contributed to the state of the Union. (BEAT) Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar.
MUSIC:
CURTAIN - JD B-10
ANNCR:
Our star will return in just a moment...
As far as we know, nobody's ever been expelled from school for laughing too much at our lovelorn schoolmarm, Our Miss Brooks, as played by Eve Arden. As a matter of fact, the whole point of this lighthearted comedy series is to make folks laugh, and the more you let yourself go and enjoy the highly comic antics of Miss Arden the higher your grades in deportment will go. For an "E" for effortless, endless amusement, hear Eve Arden as Our Miss Brooks a little later in the day today, on most of these same stations.
Now here is our star to tell you about next week's story.
JOHNNY:
Next week - a real close look at a little known, but very dramatic side of Hollywood. Join us, won't you? Yours truly, Johnny Dollar.
MUSIC:
JD A-5
ANNCR:
Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, starring Bob Bailey originates in Hollywood. It is produced and directed by Jack Johnstone who also wrote tonight's story. Heard in our cast were: Virginia Gregg, Harry Bartell, Howard McNear, Forrest Lewis, Jack Kruschen, Russell Thorson, Frank Gerstle and Bob Bruce. Musical supervision is by Amerigo Marino. Be sure to join us next week, same time and station for another exciting story of Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar. This is Dan Cubberly speaking. (28:40)
MUSIC:
UP TO FILL (29:45)