 What's the matter? What is it? Another case for Nick Carter, master detective. Yes, it's another case for that most famous of all man-hunters. The detective whose ability at solving crime is unequaled in the history of detective fiction. Nick Carter, master detective. Tonight's curious adventure? The Flying Duck Murders. If you like, I advise you to throw up the case at once. Apparently, we don't look at this in the same light, Mr. Del Ripple. I expect danger, and I'm prepared to meet it. I suppose you know that two other detectives have come out of this wild Montana country where the Flying Duck Mine is located trying to find the trouble. But do you know that neither of them lived to tell what they found? How are they killed, Mr. Del Ripple? They went crazy, Miss Bowen. Castle of San Francisco, man fell over a cliff. While Riley, the man from Chicago, dropped 600 feet down the main shaft of the mine. Very interesting. I feel quite sure that Nick won't share their fate. May I inquire for whom you're acting, Mr. Carter? You may. For Mr. Cecil Trenwick, an old friend of my father's and a large shareholder in the Flying Duck Mine. He said that you'd cooperate with me in every possible way. I shall do what I can certainly. Good. I should like you to give me a letter to the superintendent of the mine, telling him that I'm a good workman and that you promised me a job. I shall disguise myself as a miner using the name Dave Jarvis. Very well. You said your name will be Dave Jarvis. Right. Man, settle to what you want. Give it to Mr. Nick Crosby, the mine super. He happens to be here in town this morning. Unless you change your mind and decide to return to New York. Thank you, Mr. Dalrymple, but I'm staying here till my work is finished. Good morning. Good bye. Good morning. Wait a minute, Patsy. I wonder if Mr. Dalrymple... Give me a 421 operator. Yeah. Yes. No. I want to speak to Nick Crosby. He'll be our way. Patsy, he's the mine still for you. Yes, things are beginning to move already. I hope in this door a crack will hear better. Nate, this is Dalrymple. I think he's done what he's been threatening to do for so long. He sent Nick Carter out here to investigate. Yes, Nick Carter, the one man in the world I'm afraid of. They've got the market for stock right away. We can't wait any longer now. I'll give him the job he wants and then take care of him. Yes, if you don't it may mean curtain for all of us. Right. Go on. That will settle your future, Mr. Nick Carter. Very much so, Mr. Dalrymple. Thanks for the attention, Mr. Dalrymple. But I intend to take care of my own, will you? So, Mr. Dalrymple is in on the deal. Excuse me, Escobby, up to his neck. Well, at least we start off with one good hot prospect. What do we do now? Get into your miners' office. Then take this note down to Mr. Ress. And give it to Nick Crosby, the mine super. And remember, your name's Dave Jarvis and Crosby's to give you a job in the mill. Okay, Nick. Then what? Well, first and foremost, keep your eyes open. Crosby will believe your Nick Carter. So watch out for him. He'll try to put you out of the way. Don't forget, Scobby, the detective from Chicago and Frisco both need degrees. Well, it's going to be different with the guy from New York. Now, Patsy, you wait here at the hotel where we can get in touch with you if we need you. Sure, Nick. All right, get going, Scobby. I'm going out to the mine right away. I'm going out with Crosby and watch out for him. Right, Nick. I'll keep one eye on him and one on the mine. Thanks for the lift, bud. That's okay, pal. That's the super's office right there. Thanks. I'll be seeing you. Looking for someone? You're the super of the flying duck mine? No, I'm the assistant super. Clem Hendricks is your name? My name's King. What about the mines of Montana for the minor's times of Kansas City? Any objection to me sticking around a while and looking things over? None at all, Mr. King. Just so long as you say something good about us in your article, you want me to show you around? No, thanks. I'll just drift around and see what I can pick up. If anyone stops you, tell them I said it was okay. Thanks, I will. You see, and you'll find the boss of the day shift and get some information on this place. These are the most camping machines, Mr. King. They crush the ore very fine and it's then spooned through the battery boxes and carried over to plates. I see. The plates are coated with quicksilver or mercury. And the quicksilver picks up most of the gold and from the crushed ore. And this combination of quicksilver and gold, we call amalgam. And you scrape this amalgam off the plates and take it to the refinery? Yes, Mr. King. The refinery separates the gold from the quicksilver and cast it into bars. Very interesting. Well, thanks very much. I'll run along and look the rest of the place over. See you later. I'm going to finish the job right now. I did you hold it in, Wicks, and I'm going to finish the job right now. What's on that night? Never mind, drop that knife I said. Hey, Langer, what about that gun? I would make this bullet. What about the gun I said? What are you trying to do? I was trying to make Solander behave. This bullet in the beard made me mad. Solander, what is your issue? Is she right? I don't know how it would be done. She went to run away while me and him was arguing. So you interfere, did you, mister? Certainly I did. You're King, the newspaper man, aren't you? That's right. I've been looking for you. I am Crosby, my superintendent. I'll give you just 15 minutes to get out of this can. So you're Nate Crosby. I am, and I'm the boss here. And I say, get out. All right, Crosby. I'll get out. But I'll be back. I never leave a job unfinished. Pick them up, you can carry them. I know they're heavy, but they have to have a solid lead lining. So we can ship bodies in them. Put them in the old powder house and shut the door when you're through. Okay, boss. Come on, fellas. All right, get it up there. That does it. Now we're going to have to move some of these empty powder cakes to make room for all three caskets. Jarvis, you stay here and pile them up out of the way. The rest of you get the other caskets. Okay, boss. All right, hop to it. Is that you, Nick? Where are you? Behind these cakes. You start parling them up. You can talk while you're working. Oh, sure, Nick. What happened, Nick? Why are you hiding in here? Crosby ordered me to get out and have it immediately. But the assistant super suggested to hide here until he get me right back to town. He doesn't like Crosby any better than I do. What with you? Well, I got a job as crusherman on the night shift at the mill. What are these boxes you're bringing in here? Caskets. Crosby told the teamster the body of the two detectives who got killed were to be taken up and shipped to their friend White. Become the men of another box. There were only two detectives who were killed. Who do you suppose the third box is for? For you, I imagine. Stubby, what? Remember the thing you and Nick Carter. I'm only Mr. King. These people report a harm. Well, I'll certainly see that that casket stays at the... Stubby, you know whether Nick is a very... Crosby told me to Crosby knows because he and a couple of the new hams took the bodies away. I see. Stubby, I've got an idea. When the men bring in the other casket, you go out with them. That makes an excuse to come back in you again. Okay, Nick, I'll make sure to... All right, follow us right here. All right, follow us right here. Well, I think now... Oh, hey, boss. What? I'm supposed to drop my license. I can talk about it. You mind if I get it? You'll watch out once, as long as you're not late for your shift at the mill. Okay, boss, I'll be there. How could Nick be gone? No, what's your idea? First, shut the door, Stubby. I want to see what's in these caskets. I've got a screwdriver in my knife. Oh, so have I. Look, I'll help you. Good. Well, I'm glad they only use four screws to fasten those covers down. Why do you want to see what's inside, Nick? You've got to hunch that self. Ready? Yeah. All right, let's zip her up. Give me a hand. All right? There. My hunch is right, Stubby. The caskets are not lead lined. The extra weight is due to this scrap line in the bottom. Like Cosby said, they had to have lead lining so they could be fit to the body of them. These caskets figure in this game more than just as caskets, Stubby. Well, Cosby told the tinkster to have a fresh team hitched to the large wagon for him at midnight tonight. I thought so. Stubby, he's going to take these caskets somewhere tonight. And I want to know where. Yeah, but how are you going to find Alan? I'm going with him. Hidden in this casket. I'll get in it and you put the lead back on. Well, but, Nick, you'll smother it now with the lid down. Now, Stubby, you can put four small pieces of wood under the coffin lid before you screw it down. Oh, but, Nick, I wish you would. I'll hurry up. All right. Now hurry up. Okay, Nick. Keep your head down while I put the lid on. Okay. Have you learned anything yet, Stubby? Well, the only place in the mill where the gold could be stolen is the room where the battery box is in the place. Well, you found out how they did it. No, not yet. I hope to learn tonight when I'm a duty in the mill. Good. You take care of that end. Now, what's this then? Yeah. Well, here's good luck with what we both may need. How's the great Nick Carter join the night legend? You mean Mr. Dave Jarvis? Yeah. He's doing swell. Look at him. He's taking another break. He's been hitting the water buckets steady for the last half hour. Is the local working? I'll say. The bees are in his bonnet already. A famous Nick Carter will go the way the other two did. If I was doing dancing around like that, you can't fool me. There are a lot of billy goats. He's got to get me a tree. Keep your eye on him. If he starts fighting, lay him out with a crowbar. Don't take any chances. OK. Did you see that? He's heading for the cliff, just like the others. The lander's mixture hasn't failed yet. What's next, Grosby? Did you get my team from the stable at midnight tonight and meet me at the old powder house? Now we can put Nick Carter's name on the third cast. What do you take such well, brothers, for a two bird? They're the only fresh team in the stable. They've got a hard run in the night over rough country where no crux is possible to go. All right, Sam, let them go and then climb up here with me. Here they go. Watch them. OK. Now that the loco is done for Carter, we can bring this business to a successful finish. I hope we're not going far at this race. You mean we're going to quit? We shall not. We'll market the stuff and make a clean getaway. This is the roughest ride I've ever had. Hey! Hey! Let me look for the market to start. Leave it to me. I'll clean it each and again. Stop them, boys! Don't have them! We're going to smash them. Jump for you! Good time, boys. Yeah. The casket caused me. The one with the lid torn off. Huh? That's the infernal reporter I ordered to get out of campus this afternoon. What was he doing in that casket? Never mind that now. Get him. Well, he's only half conscious. Come on, Sam. Now you've done so. Oh. Oh. Good work, boys. That clicks his mystery porter. Ties hands and feet with that rope. OK, boy. You won't bite no more for a while now. Hey, look, super. Here's a pair of handcuffs in his pocket and a couple of guns. Hey, what kind of reporter are you? Born around with handcuffs and guns in your pocket. You'll have to draw your own conclusions, Crosby. I've drawn them all ready. You're here to help Nick Carter. But by this time, Carter is where neither you nor anyone else is going to help him. He's local. Love local. Well, you never can be sure about Carter, Crosby. I can this time, and I can be sure of you too. All right, put him back in the casket, boys. Put the cover on. Kneel it down if you can't find the screws. Hey, here's some nails. And come on, you. In you go. No. Put it in here, Crosby. But you won't get out this time. Get the lid on, boys. Well, that's enough. He can't do anything with these hands tied. Lidget, you and Sam get the shovels that were in the wagon and dig a nice, deep hole. We'll bury our reporter friend with our blessings. You see, you hear, you know what me say. Yeah, yeah, I know. I know. You eat better now. Hey, who are you? Me, Zalanda. You save Zalanda life. Zalanda, your friend. You eat better. Quick. Thanks. Hey, tell me, how'd I get here? Just before sun come up, they chase crazy men to wood. Then me here can shoot. See you run. You come fall down by Zalanda, hurt in head. So, Zalanda, hut. Well, certainly glad you were around when I passed out. Crosby, you enemy? Certainly is now. You say you were chasing a crazy man? Him drink local, but two other men come before. I wonder if that could have been scubby. Harvey said he was local. Zalanda, what did you want to find him for? Me, even save him life. Give medicine, make him well. But what did you want to save him? Crosby, give him local, this man. Zalanda, eat Crosby. One save, man. Crosby, one kill. Zalanda, listen. I think this crazy man... I hate to know this to you, but it's his wicked way, so... Oh, there. Quick, Zalanda. Give me some rope. I'll tie his hands and feet while he's unconscious. Ah, poor scubby. Looks as if he been through the war. Your rope, your tie. Thanks, sir. Make it medicine. Make him all better from local. That's scubby. I should hold you now. Yes, yes, yes. Make him wet. All right, scubby, oh boy. Come on, drink it. Come on, drink it. Come on, Zalbo, drink it. Come on, Zalbo, drink it. Come on, Zalbo. You're going to be fine. You're all right when him wakes up. That poor guy. I'm not gonna tie your arms anyway. Take this coat off you. And you'll be more comfortable. But this coil of wire with a lot of metal... Mystery of the Flying Duck Mine is a mystery no longer. Feeling better now that you've had some sleep? Yeah, I feel pretty good. Why? You don't remember what happened to you yesterday morning? Well, the last thing I recall is going to the water bucket and taking a long drink. I think the more I drank, the more I wanted. Well, that water bucket was loaded with local weed juice. What? I'm surprised it's myself now. But both the amalgamators even crowded himself kept drinking. Or pretending to from that same bucket. Well, they certainly had me fooled. Look, scubby, you remember seeing these discs strong on this coil of wire? Oh, yeah. Yeah, I recall seeing one of the amalgamators have it last night. Why did I bring it here? You did. And it breaks the case wide open. Well, good for me even if I don't didn't know it. Hey, tell me, Nick, what are those discs used for? Here, I'll show you. Yeah. Now you see? This stuff I'm scraping off is amalgam. A mixture of quicksilver and gold. The men who worked in the battery boxes in the mill, the amalgamators, hung these discs in a lot more like them. In the battery boxes, right where they catch the best of the gold before it rolled over the other plate. They took out over half the gold that flowed into the boxes this way. So that's where all those thousands of dollars where the gold disappeared to. Yes, scubby. A very clever method of stealing the gold. Now, if we could only find out what Crosby and his gang do with the amalgam after they scrape it off their discs. You won't catch Crosby. Well, I'll say we do if we can. Hey, Nick, who is she? Oh, that's Zolanda. She saved my life. Oh, and yours too, Mr. Henry. Saved my life? How? Well, that local weed juice you drank is fatal. Well, Zolanda gave you a nice antidote for it. Oh, gosh, thanks, Zolanda. See, I'm sure much obliged. Crosby tried to kill me. Me with him. Zolanda, you know all about Crosby. You come with me. Well, where are you taking us? Crosby got cave inside mountain. Really hide stuff. Come. We'll show you. Well, this is where Crosby hides. Yeah. Too bad there's no one here now. Well, they've been here today. Look there, Scubbie. Well, that looks like the scrap iron we took out of the casket in the old powder house before you hid in it. Right, Scubbie. And this scrap iron was in the other two caskets. So they brought them up here? I wonder why. There's the answer over there in that corner. And the fair is front. And it's still warm, Scubbie. So we must have scared them off while we came up. Wait. Let me take the cover off this big drawer. Nick, is that gold in there? That's just what it is. Out of the gold stolen from the mines. This is where the gang refined the amalgam. They scraped off their discs. It's much easier to handle gold this way because it weighs so much less. Now, since we know from what Delbrimple said that they never disposed of any of the stolen gold, they must have eight or 900 pounds of it by now. Hey. Maybe they've got it hidden around here somewhere. They did, Scubbie. But not now. What makes you think so, Nick? Here. Take a look outside there. They've been digging there very recently. Oh, but of course, Nick. They had to dig up the bodies of the two detectives to ship them back home. No, no, no, Scubbie. The way it looks to me is this. After I got away from them last night, all the beanies men took up the casket. They tried to bury me in. They tried to bury you in. Hey, you didn't tell me you'd blast that. Well, that's a lot of latest, Scubbie. Right now I'm interested in what happened here. They brought the three caskets up here early this morning. Loaded them up. How could they load three of them? They only had two bodies. No, Scubbie. Three caskets were loaded up. Don't you understand yet? No, Nick. I'm afraid I don't. How could they be... Scubbie. How good are you at riding a horse? Riding a horse? Yeah. Well, I used to ride years ago. Why? Good. Zelanda, can you get us a couple of good, fast horses right away? For you, me. Get two good horses quick. Good. Come on, Scubbie. Let's get the horses and ride to the railroad station before the eastbound crane gets in. It's all a hurry. Well, unless I'm wrong, Scubbie, these three caskets are going east in the next train. We've got to get there in time to stop them. Oh, even Crosby himself would recognize us. These indium costumes are lined with leather. Well, we may need to be disguised before we get through. Hey, you didn't finish telling me how you got away from Crosby and his gang when they started to bury you alive. What did happen, Nick? Well, they dug the hole, and they put the casket down in it. I tried to pry the lid loose, but my hands were tied behind me. I worked on them, and just as they started throwing the dirt back on top of the casket, I finally got my hands free and untied my feet. Just then, I heard shooting and some female screaming. A female? How's that in the wild? Yeah. For Zoland, I found out later. Well, I managed to loosen the cover and push it up enough to see that Crosby and the men were watching something across the clearing. So I seized my chance and climbed carefully out of the hole on the opposite side. I started to run, and they saw me and started shooting. Fortunately, though, they were bad shots, and I was almost free when a bullet grazed my head. Must have stunned me because I remember nothing more till I woke up in Zolanda's hut this morning. Well, do you know what it was that distracted the men's attention? Well, Zolanda told me that you were chasing her, trying to shoot her. She was screaming. You chased her around the other side of the clearing, and then went off after something else. For just about then that you saw me running toward her. When Crosby saw me drop, he gave up the chase. Zolanda waited until they went back and then dragged me to her hut. Gosh, Nick, were you all out to Zolanda? Right, Scubby. And the best way we can pay that debt is to see that Crosby and his murdering pals end up where they belong, behind bars or in the electric chair. You want the police chief to meet you at the station in ten minutes, and you want Mr. Dalerimple and the president and the treasurer of their mind to meet you in the chief's office in an hour. That's right. Don't worry. I'll take care of it. These are the ones, Nick. Please see here on the baggage truck. Have you noticed the names on them, Scubby? Yeah. Job Riley, Phil Kessler, or, look, Nick Carter. Hmm. I'd rather be out here dressed as an Indian than in there dressed as a corpse. One side there rain in the face. We got to get these caskets into the baggage car. Just a minute. You see this badge? Special agent. So what? What do you want me to do? Just leave these caskets in the baggage truck for now. But they're supposed to go on this thing. They're staying here quiet. Hey, look here, baggage master. Get these boxes on the train and we click about it. No, be in hurry, mister. Why, you Indian meddler? What to do? Huh? You look behind you. What do you mean? Take your hat off, Scubby. Sure, Nick. There you are, Mr. Crosby. Dave Chavez. Why, you... Don't try to start anything, Crosby. I've got my gun on me. Hey, where do you get these boxes off? There you are, man, officer. These three right here. Put your hands up, all of you, and pass. Hey, you go with your hands. Why, what is it? Quiet, all of you. All of you. You three men are under arrest. The doctor's probably the flying duck mind with a murder of detective Riley and Kessler. I'm Mr. Dale Rimpel. I asked you and the officials of the flying duck mind to meet me here in the office of the chief of police because I want to show you what's in the casket that Crosby was taking back east with him. Ah, what? Now, the first casket is supposed to contain the body of Phil Kessler. All right, Scubby, open it. Sure, Nick. Cool. Cool body. Yes, chief. In these three caskets, you'll find the entire amount of gold stolen from the mind. Stolen by Dale Rimpel, the mind manager, Crosby, the mind super and four of the workmen who worked in the amalgam room of the mill. They stole the amalgam, refined it in their own furnace and buried it in two holes on the ground, which was supposed to be the graves of the two dead detectives. Mr. Carter, that much gold would make the casket pretty heavy. Wouldn't that extra weight be noticed? No, chief. Because when you ship a body by train, the casket has to be lead-lined and hermetically sealed. That means it weighs much more than the usual casket. Crosby, Ledger, and Perkins were each going to take one of the caskets each with them as a personal baggage, which would prevent anybody from examining them too closely. One of the cleverest schemes I've seen in a long time. But it wasn't clever enough. Not with Nick on the job. You have to get up early in the morning to beat Nick. This was another strange experience of Nick Carter master detective called the Flying Duck Murders or Nick Carter and the Gold Thieves.