 From Hollywood it's time now for Johnny dollar Oh, hi a wall. How's your health? Again, I thought we agreed What's the case Walt Eddie Kailin C-A-Y-L-I-N out in Los Angeles died yesterday $5,000 policy double indemnity. What did he die of mysterious circumstances? Well, that's usually a fatal disease. All right, but that's it Johnny. That's all I know mysterious circumstances The body was identified by the widow. I see our salesman out there can probably help you He issued the policy only six weeks ago at the request of the widow Six weeks one premium paid check signed by the widow. They tell me something with the beneficiary happened to be All right, Walt just call me doctor Tonight and every weekday night Bob Bailey in the transcribed adventures of the man with the action-packed expense account America's fabulous freelance insurance investigator goes truly Johnny dollar Expense accounts submitted by special investigator Johnny dollar to the home office Trinity Mutual Insurance Company limited Hartford, Connecticut The following is an accounting of expenditure is during my investigation of the Kailin matter Item one a hundred ninety eight dollars and twenty cents airline fare and incidentals Hartford, Los Angeles I hadn't arranged for anybody to meet me when I arrived at LA so I picked up my bags and headed for the taxi stand Please Wait a second. He was a small man nervous and fluttery with a shiny pink nose and a face like a little white rabbit I was watching for you out on the ramp. But somehow you must have slipped mine You are mr. Dollar, aren't you? Yes, I'm Johnny dollar, but I don't think I welch Presley Welch I'm the oh, yes, you're the district salesman here for Trinity Mutual. That's right I'm out of breath at the moment from running you understand you see I'm troubled occasionally by asthma you too Do you have asthma mr. Dollar? No, it's a friend of mine in Hartford. Oh in how well you don't say yes In fact, I came out here just to cure it for him out here. Oh, this is the worst place. You could have come Oh, you see the smog here is so old now. Oh, I do believe you're Josh Yes, I am at that. Come on. Let's add to my expense a cow with a cup of coffee. Oh, you really think we should oh, why not? Let's be daring. All right. Let's I always say if the company If Presley well sold insurance the way he answered questions It was amazing that he hadn't starved to death years ago He skidded around the field flip-flopped overhead and buzzed the tower all verbally of course and for 15 minutes He didn't touch a wheel to the ground, but when he did finally land he came in with a swoop I do hope you'll accept my apologies mr. Dollar for causing all this trouble because the whole thing is my fault, of course I don't see how unless you murdered Eddie Kaylin. I'm why I scarcely knew a perfect alibi. Oh, no No, no, you misunderstand. I'm just joshing what I meant was I wrote the policy and I knew better right when I did it What do you mean? Well, mr. Kaylin was quite facetious about the whole procedure when I tried to point out the retirement security factors in our multiple endowment plan He actually laughed you don't say yes He said all the security he'd asked for was two aces up and one for the kicker What about Mrs. Kaylin? What was her at it? Well, she was quite serious about it Wasn't she the one who actually applied for the policy? Well, not technically the beneficiary can't you know it's against the rule Yeah, I know but didn't she was the one yes that called me and asked me to come out and talk to her husband And he finally signed the application, but he seemed to regard it as a joke. He only did it as a favor to her Something of that sort and now it's turned out to be a $10,000 favor What kind of woman is she mr. Welch? Well, she's quiet well-mannered quite charming I thought I must confess I felt a good sympathy for her in view of her husband's incessant Flippin serious a real happy fellow her Positively frivolous mr. Daly and I should have been warned by his attitude, you know Insurance as a serious business. Oh sure, but Eddie Kaylin didn't laugh himself to death Oh my oh he died in the fire when he's on the bill cover. Oh Oh, I see what you mean. Say tell me how well did you get to know that Kaylin's mr. Well, oh hardly at all I saw mr. Kaylin twice once at his apartment the evening I sold him the policy and and then two weeks later at my office when he Came in to sign the paper at mrs. Canaan only once that evening at their apartment She phoned me earlier in the week and you haven't seen her since her husband's death No, no, I phoned to express my sympathy, but she wasn't available. She hasn't filed a claim yet No, but I knew she would so I took it on myself to notify Hartford. I Just can't help feeling guilty about this, you know Yes, so you mentioned yeah, it's not that I really am of course, but yeah, well you understand it, so oh sure Well, I'll keep in touch Watch out for comedians mr. Wells. Watch out for who? Oh comedian Expensive count item three six dollars and thirty five cents taxi fare to the Beverly Wilshire Hotel and a second taxi to the West Los Angeles Precinct Police Station The case wasn't being handled by any of the usual department's Bureau of Homicide Missing Persons and so on The man in charge was Detective Sergeant Jose Rinoza unattached working out of the Central District on special assignment Pull up chair, mr. Dollar when I talked with him in his office Rinoza told me the reason for it Yeah, it's a funny deal, mr. Dollar the facts in the case could point a lot of different ways But the way it stands right now, they just don't add up in any direction at least not quite Do you mind filling me in on some of those facts sergeant? I'll be glad to Last Thursday morning at 4 20 a.m. We got a call relayed through the fire department to investigate a burned automobile out on the Palace Vertus headland up in the hills above the Harbor the car was lying in the bottom of a ravine below the road And it was a total loss apparently the gas tank had burst and flooded the whole interior Oh, what do you mean apparently? Well the upholstery may have been deliberately soaked with gas the arson squad isn't sure I see That's where this case doesn't quite fit in any niche mr. Dollar might be homicide might be arson missing person or only an accident We're not sure yet Anyway, there was a body in the driver's seat burned to a cinder Unrecognizable, but we did recover a few personal effects Signet ring key chain wristwatch with a strap burned off a wallet badly scorched I noticed the key chain has a metal tag with the address stamped on it Yeah, that and a part of the driver's license were the only leads Eddie Kailin Argus terrace apartments up on sunnyway Drive above the strip So we went up there and we ran into a second surprise. What do you mean? Nobody home? We attained access found the place in a mess Apparently been a fight a chair and a couple of lamps were broken and they were blood stains in the living room What about Mrs. Kailin? Located her the next afternoon. She'd been spending a few days at a friend's cabin up at our house the friend confirm it She was there alone at her own car Yeah, she might have come back to town that night, but we got nothing to prove it or disproven, right? Just another one of those maybes. It's all those cases a collection of maybes. Yeah, see what you mean Tell me sergeant just who was Eddie Kailin Eddie Kailin male Caucasian height 511 weight 175 Complexion olive hair medium brown eyes gray age 34 birthplace. What was he wanted to do? He called himself a promoter Done a lot of things Small-time agent for a while handled few singers and dancers vaudeville and nightclubs Been a bookie off and on but mainly it was a gambler. Oh, and there's another maybe for you. How's that? According to rumor that he was in an all-day poker game. It broke up only a few hours before we found the car The game was supposedly run by a big-time gambler named Toppo leanly and The word has it that Eddie cleaned up something over $60,000 and there was no money found on the body. Nope Have you talked to this? Toppo sternly We had him in here for four hours this morning He never heard of Eddie Kailin wouldn't know a poker deck if he saw one spends all his spare time raising Petunias and driving his dear old mother to church like that like that. So there's another one for you Maybe Toppo didn't like the idea of losing 60 grand decided to get it back Maybe the widow wanted the insurance or it could be that somebody else took a crack at him And it's possible of course that Eddie mailed the 60,000 to a blonde and he'll walk in just ran off the road by accident That's possible, but I don't think so. I don't think it was an accident I'm always getting cases like this. It's a kind they always put me on Officially, it's because I'm a college man a majored in criminology But actually it's because I'm a Latin Mexican ancestry and they know I get certain feelings about a case hunches And how do you feel about this one? It's hokey real hokey And it's murder not an accident But beyond that can't sobbing Why don't you poke into it? Let's see what you can find then maybe we can talk it out some more over a bottle of muscatel Yeah, good night Where can I find Mrs. Kailin? Oh the widow. Well, that's a good starting point. She's out at their apartment There's the address. Okay. Thanks. Oh, uh, just one other thing Sergeant Reynolds, sir When you gained access to the apartment, I assume the door was locked Yeah, it took a little effort. Oh, what kind of a lock automatic night latch spring cylinder. No, it was an old-fashioned warden bolt Had to be locked with a key. Mm-hmm What are you getting at mr. Dollar or hunch in my own sergeant? Let's save it for the muscatel. See you later Expense account item four two dollars taxi to the Kailin apartment in West Hollywood It was shortening after dusk by now and the lights were coming on all over the city It was a cool clear night Los Angeles at its best As we swung off the sunset strip and started climbing up into the hills I look back across the basin toward the dark mass of the Palace Verde's headland that bounded the far side of the great carpet of lights Three nights ago a man had died over there in the darkness and in a few minutes now I'd be talking to his widow or at least to the woman who claimed to be his widow Keep the change The Angus terrace apartments like most of them in that section sprawled up the hillside above the street Six or eight apartments on as many different levels all opening on to a central patio filled with walks steps and banks of tropical plantings The Kailin's apartment was at the top and I was still 50 feet from it when the door open and a man came out and hurried toward me I stepped back against the shrubbery and waited for him. Good evening. Mr. Welch Oh, it's you your second visit to Mrs. Kailin second. Oh, yes. Yes, it is Imagine you've been notified too notified. Well, yes, I got a wire from the home office in Hartford this evening. That's why I'm here Well, Mrs. Kailin has filed under the double indemnity clause of the policy a claim for ten thousand dollars She has she she hopes it can be paid immediately and without any trouble Well, I don't like to dash a lady's hopes Mr. Welch, but I've got news for the widow news The claim won't be paid immediately and before this is over. There's gonna be a lot of trouble. Oh In fact, Mr. Welch if my hunch is right This claim is not going to be paid at all Here's our star to tell you about tomorrow's intriguing episode of this week's story tomorrow a lovely girl lies cries Crosses her heart and hopes to die and a killer fires from the dark Join us. Won't you yours truly Johnny dollar Johnny dollar starring Bob Bailey is transcribed in Hollywood Written by Les Crutchfield. It is produced and directed by Jack John stone Be sure to join us tomorrow night same time and station for the next exciting episode of yours truly Johnny dollar Roy Rowan speaking