 Stand by for crime You know being a newscaster in a station like KLP here in Los Angeles You're bound to run a foul of a good many motion picture celebrities They're always good copy even though the stories you sometimes have to write about them wouldn't be important at all They happen to ordinary people Well, my blonde secretary Carol Curtis had been away for a few days She got back on her Tuesday night and was waiting for me at the office when I got in Wednesday morning Papi Mansfield owner of KOP was also there Hello glamour plus glad to see you back. Have a good time. Oh, all right morning Chuck. Hello, Papi You two are a couple of cheerful-looking customers. What's this all about? Where have you been for the past four days and what are you going to use for a feature in your first newscast tonight? I see Papi, I'll answer you first I've been right here in town and I've made two broadcasts a day over this station as per our contract Well, you might just as well have stayed in bed Do you know how many phone calls we receive complaining about the lack of anything worth listening to in those broadcasts? Well, I'll tell you I don't care how many phone calls you received Now caro, I'll answer your question Tonight my feature story is going to be on roger van rin van rin or he's the biggest movie producer in hollywood. What's he done? Last night he was arrested for arson arson. Are you kidding? No, I'm not kidding I've got the most unusual story that ever came out of hollywood Do you want to hear it or do you want to continue writing me because a couple of dull broadcasts I made while digging it up What is I enjoyed continuing my curiosity would never stand the strain Come on. Let's hear the gory details. I'll buy that What did van rin burn down that million dollar mansion he has out in beverly? No something much more spectacular than that papi I'll give you the facts just as van gave them to me It seems he got to his office at constitution studios yesterday morning around 11 o'clock He went in through his private entrance and found a visitor waiting for him Hello, van Kim, what are you doing here? Aren't you glad to see me van? No Now look here kim. This has got to stop. I told you you want to come here again Is that why you gave me a key to your private entrance darling? That was months ago things have changed I'm having the lock switched on that door tomorrow things might have changed for you van They haven't for me I I'm still in love with you Oh nonsense That'll pass Now will you please run along? I've got some important appointments. The most important appointment you'll ever have in your whole life is right now Oh, you're not going to cast me off like an old shoe van We've been too important to each other. You've made too many promises You've taken too much out of my life things I can never replace. I'm sorry about that I apologize but things change kim We made a mistake Our romance was fun and stimulating but now it's over and we've hurt no ones Why don't you go back to that nice husband of yours and forget? Oh you fool Do you think it's as easy as that? Do you think that falling completely and madly in love with you was some kind of a lark with me? It wasn't I I couldn't stop loving you if I wanted to And I'm not going through the rest of my life being miserable and tortured living out every day just in the hopes that you'll call Stop it kim. Stop it. You're becoming hysteric. Oh, you care if I am. I'm in love with you and I'm gonna have you I'm gonna stop it. I say stop it All right Now get hold of yourself I tell you again that I'm sorry Situation isn't pleasant for me either I feel like a heel The fact remains I've stopped loving you I'm not going to see you anymore There's nothing you can do about it Nothing Yes, there is ben so I have the letters Letters the ones you wrote me The ones in which you told me that you were madly passionately in love with me that you couldn't live without me That you want to divorce your wife and leave your family and be with me always I see Then it's blackmail if you choose to call it that How much? I don't want money ben I want you I've already told you that Unless you're willing to continue with our romance Unless you allow me to come here whenever I want. I'm going to turn those letters over to chuck morgan You've really sunk pretty low haven't you kim? Yes And you'd be willing to To have me like that It would be better than not having you at all I suppose you know what it'll mean if chuck uses those letters Oh yes, I know very well It will mean that the here-to-for impeccable character the great roger then ring will be dragged through the mud It will mean that your films will suffer. You'll probably be fired It'll mean much more than that kim It'll mean that my wife and two children will be hurt That's the important thing And they don't deserve it They're good and fine and entirely innocent of all this If you destroy the One of the illusions that they have about me You'll be destroying one of the finest things in the world And I'll also be striking at you where it hurts most won't I van? Yes, you will You will indeed So what's your answer? My answer dear kim is this If you turn those letters over to chuck morgan or anyone else who might make them public property I'll kill you. Well so far you've got me all in a sweat chuckie boy Now where does the arson gimmick come in? Don't tell us that van rin found the letters and burned them Could a man be arrested on the charge of arson for burning a few private letters? All right. All right. Let's hear the rest of the story. Did kim turn the letters over to you? No, as a matter of fact, she didn't it wasn't her fault. What do you mean? It wasn't her fault. Did she try to? I don't know Van rin called me the next morning and asked me to drop by at his office at constitution He told me enough to make the trip sound interesting. So we set up a meeting for 10 30 I was there in the dot and I was told that van rin would be 10 minutes late Van rin's private office was one of those luxury deals you're always reading about in the fan mags Besides being about three times as big as the living room in my own apartment had a bar and a private bath The walls were hung with photographs of hollywood's great and near great All affectionately autographed I was examining these Especially those involving a bit of cheesecake when I heard a key in the door of the private entrance So You're the great raja van rin. Now wait a minute. I'm not sure sure Of course, you're not You just happened to be waiting at van rin's office while he went out for a cup of coffee. Now look, I'm telling you I'll be scared van rin. I'm not going to shoot you with this gun I just brought it along in case you got any ideas. I see And who are you anyway? Who am I? How many people have keys to your private entrance van rin? You're not yeah, that's right I'm steve dancer kim dancer's husband. So what am I supposed to do? You're a cool one van rin I found the letters you wrote kim also the key you gave her to this office I came here to tell you what i'm going to do about it. And what's that? First let me explain something to you This thing came to me as quite a shock. I had no idea that kim was two-timing You see I I love kim very much van rin She's my whole life That's why i'm going to kill her. That's crazy talk. What are you trying to prove? You will understand So I won't try to explain I want you to know one thing I don't blame you for For what happened And whom do you blame myself? Kim's and my marriage failed. It was my fault. I I guess I was wrong in restricting her, but I can't let her live for someone else That's why I'm going to kill her and myself Then you assume that that That I am still in love with kim forget that approach van rin Let us roll the evidence. I need to know how you feel That's why I'm going to let you live Shooting you would be letting you off easy You're going to live and suffer. I don't get it You're a pretty big man around hollywood van rin If a wife and a couple of kids You value your reputation If I killed you no one would suffer but your family If your romance with my wife is as much of a shock to them as it was to me It's not fair to let them suffer alone So you're going to mail those letters you have to my family and then you're going to shoot your wife and yourself, huh? If you love kim as much as you say you do in those letters You're going to be a miserable man the rest of your life Also, you're going to be a ruined man Dancy you let this thing upset your mental balance. You're not rational now if I were you keep away All right, now let's see if we can't talk about this thing sensibly sit down there in that chair No Chill me if you want to turn me over to the police, but it isn't going to make any difference I I can't let kim go on living knowing she loves someone else. All right. Take it easy boy You're going to work yourself right into the sanitary and I go on over sit down in that chair like I said Get me back my gun I'm sorry old man, but you asked All right, I kept you waiting chuck Who's this someone I think you ought to know van his name's dancer steve dancer Uh-huh He found the letters you brought his wife also the key has he got the letters with him keep away from them van What do you mean keep away from guys had enough with fights? He wouldn't be full enough to carry the letters with him. Yeah I'm sorry the poor devil Well, uh, now you know practically the whole story If he sends the letters to you, uh Are you going to use them? I'd be a heel if I did Good, I thought you'd feel that way about it See now look chuck tell him you will use them Get them into your hands. I'll pay you anything any price you want a name if you will sell them to me Sorry, van. I'm in the different line of business and selling love letters that don't belong to me Look here besides that my sympathies are with the man on the floor not you Well, I don't suppose I can blame you for that It wasn't because I hoped you'd feel sorry for me that I asked you to come here I Think of my wife and kids chuck. Yeah, why should three people suffer for something? They're entirely innocent. You should have thought of that a year ago van Ryn You didn't care then how much they suffered You said so in the letters you wrote to my wife. I had to hit you dancer, but you were going off the deep end. Yeah I'm sorry. I mistook you for this rat van Ryn. All right I've been lying there listening to your conversation So It'll really hurt you to have your wife and kids see those letters will it van Ryn Well, that I was glad to hear Because they're going to know how you've been two-timing them during the past year They're going to read it in black and white And the mess it will make of your life will be a pleasure. I'll enjoy the rest of my dance You're talking crazy again dancer. Don't be a minute. Chuck. This isn't your fight Dancer, I have a couple of things that I want to say to you First I I can't blame you for your attitude I'm sorry for what's happened. I wish it could be undone, but it can't But however, it's over. I I don't love your wife. I I know now that I never really did Just one of those things. Yeah One of those things Now that you're tired of her you're willing to handle back to me with regrets Okay, dancer, I won't say any more I can see that the more I talk the less you'll think of me But this much I'm going to tell you My wife and kids aren't going to pay for my mistake You'll never send them those letters that I promise you You'll never send them those letters So far chuck you've told us a real juicy story, but I hope you're not going to use it on your broadcast tonight You know, it's against the policy of k.o. Peter. I know I've already told you the only part of the story I'm going to use is that roger van rin had been arrested for arson He's now sweating it out in a pokey downtown Well for golly sakes, when are you going to get to this awesome pot? What did he do burned down dancers house in hopes that the letter would be hidden there No, he didn't burn down dancers house If you had a lick of scent, you'd realize that if dancers house had been burned down You'd have heard about it long before now. We might as well humor the boy carol He isn't going to tell us to pay off until he builds it up to a point where we're ready to choke him Yes, all right, so let's let him have his fun Well if he calls us having fun and his sense of humor is walled if you don't care to hear the rest of the story Miss Curtis, you may be excused. Oh, if I don't care to hear the okay, romeo go ahead and enjoy yourself I'm listening. Thank you miss Curtis Thank you miss Curtis We've now reached the evening of tuesday the sixth in our narrative and so far nobody's committed arson That's right. So far no one has committed arson and if you two don't stop interrupting You have to wait until my seven o'clock broadcast to find out who did and why and when and where You sound serious. My umblest apologies old great one pray continue. That's better Well when steve dancer left van ryn's office He spent the afternoon batting around town When he told me about it later. He wasn't quite sure of where he'd been and what he'd been doing He visited a couple of bars and spent some time in the movie house The poor guy was beside himself He felt that the world the only world he cared about it collapsed about his head There wasn't anything left in life worth having as far as he was concerned He fully intended shooting his wife and himself But there was one urge it was even stronger than that revenge Before he died he was going to wreck the life of the man who had wrecked his Roger van ryn He was going to send roger van ryn's wife those letters He had no thought for innocent parties being hurt All he knew was that by hurting someone else he was going to hurt the man who had made him miserable Well about five in the afternoon dancer went home his wife wasn't there He stayed in the house about 15 minutes and then went out again It was 7 15 when he returned for the second time Kim was waiting for him in the living room Oh steve i've been waiting for you. There's something I want to talk to you about I don't know how to begin or or how to put it into words, but but whatever your reaction is Will you let me say all I want to say? Yeah, sure Go ahead steve. I I've been unfaithful to you Unfaithful, I'm sorry steve. I have no excuses or apologies to make I won't blame you for anything you want to do I I just want you to know that now I realize what a silly fool. I've been That I love you very much So You've found out about oh no steve. Let me finish It happened today my awakening The realization that I couldn't leave you That nothing in the world would be worth having without you and just why did this great awakening come about today? Because yesterday I saw the other man He told me he no longer loved me. He was through with me After I left him I I walked around for hours I tried to picture how life would be without you steve and And the picture was bleak and empty I bet it was then that I knew that I'd been a foolish girl for the past months that the only feeling I'd head toward The other man would childish So Where do we go from here? It's your decision steve I'm completely at your mercy. I see If it were merely a matter of forgiving you and taking you back the decision would be easy I can't change the feelings. I have for you kim I love you and always shouts. Oh steve. No, wait I happen to know you're telling me this for another reason entirely That I can't tolerate Even loving you as I do I'd be better off alone. What do you mean? I'm telling you this for some other reason What are you talking about? Do you mean that you don't believe what I've told you? Not her word of it for steve. It's the truth I have some letters that will prove it letters Do you mean that you didn't know that I he wrote them to me? I foolishly kept them all I I had intended destroying them tonight I kept them hidden behind this volume of encyclopedias That's odd one of her volumes is Steve I found them kim That's more oh steve. No You thought I knew you'd found them and and I was telling you so you'd give the letters back Oh steve. I've been out of my mind ever since finding those letters kim I haven't had a rational moment. I I'm afraid I did something pretty terrible. Oh, it can't be as terrible as what I've done No matter what it is Now you do believe me, don't you? Yes Yes, I believe you oh darling. Thank you Now everything will be all right We'll destroy the letters and things will be we can't destroy the letters kim Can't but why not? All right I was obsessed with the idea of making van ryn's wife suffer as I've been suffering I I mill the letters to her an hour ago Dancer must have been out of his mind to pull a scurvy trick like that Poor miss van ryn What a horrible chocolate must have been to her when she opened the letters and read them How did she take a chuck? Do you know? She didn't have to take it. She never got the letters lost in the mail, huh? Well, there's still a chance that they'll turn up. No, they'll never turn up patty that I can assure you Say, wait a minute. Didn't van ryn say that he'd never let Dancer mail the letters And how did he plan to stop him? Clarence? That's what bothered me at first I figured that van ryn intended visiting the dancer at home and demanding the letters at gunpoint or worse I'd reach this point in my thinking when my telephone rang Hello, yeah, this is morgan. This is steve dancer. Mr. Morgan. I called you because Well, my wife and I have become reconciled. Good. I'm glad to hear it. Now the smart thing for you to do is destroy all I know you're going to tell me the smart thing to do is to destroy the letters But the fact is I I can't why can't you I mailed them to mrs. van ryn tonight You dope. Yes. Yes. I don't blame you But if you know the state of mind I was in you might understand I stood in front of the mailbox on the corner of our street for a half hour before I could get up the courage to drop it into the slot I was half crazy. I tell you what do you expect me to do about it You're a pretty new call the post office not a chance even if they felt sorry for you They couldn't do anything once a letter is dropped into a mailbox It becomes a property of uncle sam until it's delivered to the proper address I'll tell you one thing you better do Take your wife and get out of town for a couple of days Van Ryn intends to prevent you from mailing those letters and I don't think you'll stop at anything to do it I hung up and then try to get Roger van Ryn on the phone I was now positively convinced that van intended taking those letters by force So with a growing sense that haste was a essence. I drove out of everly hills and parked near the dancer place The house was dark Two doors away was an intersection and on the corner was a mailbox I made a quick survey Don't know other mailboxes within the block. So decided this must be the one The next pickup was at 915 It was now nine straight up I was vaguely thinking of a way of bribing the pickup driver when I saw a man approaching Hello, van Chuck, what are you doing here? Several things Waiting for you for one waiting for me You're too late van The dancers have become reconciled and have left town Who told you that dancer did Letters, what's he going to do about the letters? He's already done it my friend. They're right here In this mailbox Presently the property of uncle sam. He couldn't have mailed them. He he didn't have the guts Why was I fool enough to wait this long tear this thing up? Fool you want to get thrown into the poke for tampering with government property It'll be better than what I'll have to go through with if those letters reach my wife. Listen to me you idiot You couldn't get those letters out of there even if you got the box loose, which you can't Have you meant what you just said? I've got an out for you, but I've Want here have a cigarette Never mind the cigarette. What's the take this cigarette and light it? There you are Get it going good on about five minutes of pickup truckers due to arrive You got anything to mail van fans did there a full minute just staring at me with his forehead wrinkled And suddenly had a brilliant idea He reached up put open the lettuce lot and dropped his lighted cigarette inside It worked fine Say for one thing a police car happened along just his van mailed the cigarette It swung into the curb, but the damage was done There wasn't any way they could extinguish the blaze inside the mailbox So I called in the fire department, which they did Then they arrested roger van rin and booked him on an arson church So that's how roger van rin got arrested on an arson charge That's it puppy But won't he be charged with tampering with the united states mail also? Well, that depends on whether the local police can make the arson charge stick now before we go into that There's one or two things I'd like to get cleared up Sure You said that the pickup truck was due in five minutes. Did it get there before the fire department? It did the driver opened the box and stamped out the smothering letters Was there anything left of them dancer placed a half dozen letters van rin had written to his wife In one large envelope and addressed it to mrs van rin All but the rin and mrs van rin's name had been burned Parts of the love letters had also been burned Now all a van has to do is prove his own identity and what's left of the letters will be given to him when he gets out of jail If he goes to jail, isn't he going to jail in court tomorrow morning van is going to plead that it was an accident You know lots of people hold cigarettes in their hands when mailing letters But you were a witness to the whole thing You'll be asked to testify Are you going to commit perjury? And what are you going to say? No, I'm not going to commit perjury glamorous And I'm going to tell them exactly what happened I'm going to tell them I was looking in another direction when I heard the mailbox open and close Which is true