 Yes, it's another case for that most famous of all man hunters, the detective whose ability of solving crime is unequaled in the history of detective fiction. Nick Carter, master detective. Tonight's curious adventure is... Mr. Nicholas Carter, I learned one thing about you during this long, long train ride. That's interesting, Patsy. Provided it doesn't reflect upon my ability as a detective. But it doesn't, Mr. Carter. One of your rules is never to overlook an obvious truth. That's right, Patsy. Well, this time you've missed one. But we're not in the case yet, Patsy. Until we arrive at Midland Junction, I don't start to investigate the murder of James Fitzpatrick, the railroad detective. But when we get off at Midland Junction, then I'll be... That's just good, Nick. We aren't going to get off at Midland Junction. You overlook the very obvious truth that's printed right here in this handbagel. Yes? Yes. This train doesn't stop at Midland Junction. Stopping way out here, Nick. Midland Junction happens to be way out in the country. Good. There's nothing to limit it, just for us? Just for us, Patsy. You see, the clue you found is counter-righted by another you didn't know about. And that is that I happen to be handling this case for the Midland and Eastern Railway. It was their best detective who was murdered. They called on me to pick up where he left off. Well, come along, Patsy. This is where we get off. Okay, I'm coming. What's that high step? Hey. Mr. Carter. That's right. And this is Miss Patsy Broen. How do you do? How do you do? I'm Roger Baybrook. I'll talk to you about the case after the limit it pulls out. Um, stay right here until I come back. Roger Baybrook? What a pair of him, Nick. Isn't he that big real estate man who bought up a whole county just so he could run it the way he wanted to? That's right, Patsy. And this happens to be the county. He owns nearly everything in it except the right of way of the Midland and Eastern Railway. He does game enough. Is it all those men with shotguns, Baybrook, springing back from that water tank? They're deputies, Patsy. They're probably out looking for the man who murdered James Fitzpatrick, though. I thought it was one of them, Mrs. Sheriff. They all look dumb enough. Why is it, Nick, that whenever we land half a mile from nowhere, we always find a hick sheriff who thinks he can give lessons to the great Nick Carter? That's really the exception rather than the rule, Patsy. I, uh, hope that rule won't apply in this case, Miss Boen. Oh, you startle me, Mr. Baybrook. Don't mind Patsy, Mr. Baybrook. You'll find me quite ready to cooperate with the local sheriff from the moment I meet him. You've already met him, Mr. Carter. You mean that you're the sheriff? Well, you see, Mr. Baybrook's badge, don't you, Patsy? Oh, yes, sure. Mr. Carter, I shall now give you the details of the murder of James Fitzpatrick. Let's go into the railroad station. That's where it happened. All right, Sheriff. Hello, Mrs. Fitzpatrick. How do you do, Sheriff Baybrook? Mr. Fitzpatrick, this is Mr. Nicholas Carter. How do you do? He's taken charge of the case. How do you do? After I've shown him the scene of the death, I shan't annoy you further. This isn't a matter for sympathy. I'm the station agent here, taking my husband's place while he's in the Army. James Fitzpatrick happened to be my brother-in-law. But as far as his death is concerned, I regard him strictly as a railroad detective who was killed on these premises. So, of course, it's my duty to help to find the murderer. And mine, too, Mrs. Fitzpatrick. Oh, here's the office where it happened, Mr. Carter. James Fitzpatrick was seated in that chair with his back toward the window. I see. The night freight had just taken on water at the water tank about a hundred yards up the track and was passing by the station. The shot was fired from about the middle of the train. The bullets smashed the window and found its mark in Fitzpatrick's back. A revolver bullet, Chef? No, a rifle bullet from a high-powered man-licker rifle. A firearms expert identified it this morning. I see. And what was the speed of the train as it passed the station? About 20 miles an hour? Well, that or a triple less. There were about 30 boxcars each fully loaded and sealed. The assassin must have been perched between two of those cars. Yes, undoubtedly. The top of a boxcar would be well above the level of the window. Precisely. Well, Chef, have you any suspects? Yes, my deputies are looking for Weasel Taggart and his gang of freight car thieves. We feel sure they've been responsible for the epidemic of freight car robberies we've had around here. Have Jim Fitzpatrick connected Weasel with those robberies? Yes, he had. We feel sure that's why Weasel killed him. I'm going to make it my job to scour the country for Weasel and his gang. Well, you can handle the rest of it. Goodbye. Oh, goodbye. Well, he's a funny bird. You want me? Oh, hi, Charlie. Well, if Mr. Raybrook hadn't gone away, there'd be five people here. But now there's only four of us. Well, but there'll be five again when Uncle Jim comes in. No, Charlie. Do you like to count, Charlie? Now come along, Charlie, and I'll get you supper ready. Oh, call me if you need me, Mr. Carter, I've really got to see you. All right, all right, I will. He's a bright little chap, isn't he, Nick? Yes. And he's established one point for us, Patsy. Before he was killed, Jim Fitzpatrick was on the trail of Weasel Taggart and expected to get him. Oh, you better answer that, Patsy. All right. Hello? Hello, Miss Special Privilege. How does it feel to have a limited stop for you? Gaby Wilson. But how? Where? Well, Patsy came ahead of us on the early local Patsy. At present, I take it he's over in Halsey's general store, that being the only building visible on the other side of the tracks. Is that Nick talking, Patsy? Yes, he deduces that you're at Halsey's store. Right. Come on over if you're still hungry. Hungry? Well, how'd you know I was hungry? Because you always are. Uh-oh. Well, bring Nick along with you, and while you're eating, he can talk to Jeremiah Halsey, the encyclopedia of middle injunctions. If Nick can sort out the clues at Halsey Handsome, you'll have this case right in his pocket. You'll be right over, Scabby. Oh, Scabby. Oh, hi, Nick. Uh, Mr. Halsey, my friends. The intelligent one is Nick Carter, and the beautiful one is Miss Patsy Aboen. Oh, Scabby. That's true, folks. Glad to see you. How do you do? Come in, Seth. Mr. Halsey owns this general store, Nick. It's the only store around here. Well, I may own it now, but if Wiesel Taggart has his way about it, I may not own it long. Wiesel's tried three times now to steal my stock away from me. Maybe next time he'll succeed. Come on, Patsy. The food department is over here. You don't have to ask me twice. Uh, tell me, Mr. Halsey, when did Wiesel Taggart try to rob your store? Oh, three different times. Only I'm not expecting them again until they rob some more freight cars. Oh, what's the connection? Oh, by the way, Miss, there's some good pies on that top shelf in the bakery department. Apple, 10 cents, and cherry, 15. Okay. Yes, Miss Carter, every time Wiesel's gang robs some freight cars, fumes, Fitzpatrick, got together a bunch of deputies and went out hunting them. I see. And that left nobody here about, so they tried to rob my store. And what did you do about it? Well, scared them off every time. Just outsmarted them. That's what you got to do with people who try to take what belongs to you. Now, take Roger Baybrook, for instance. From the first day I saw him, I knew he wanted to buy up this whole county, so I went ahead and bought up a lot of property himself. I knew just what he wanted, and I sort of tried to beat him to it. Well, we did a lot of buying and selling him and me, and after it was all over, Baybrook owned 10 times the amount of property as I did, but he cost him 100 times more. Now, who would you say was the swatter? Well, that depends on the property, Mr. Hosey. But if your story is correct, Baybrook did pay too much for that old right-of-way belonging to the middle of the Eastern. Well, he wanted it because it ran across the middle of his farm. He could have got it free if the franchise hadn't been renewed. That's what he was waiting for, after young Tom Prentiss tipped him off to it. Only Jim Fitzpatrick found out his game and blocked it. And how did Baybrook feel toward Jim Fitzpatrick after that? Well, he was mad enough to murder him, only he didn't say so. Baybrook just swore he'd get eaten with a railroad, and he has, by getting himself elected sheriff. He's there from every time a cow gets killed on their tracks. It'll cost them more in damage suits than he pays them for that strip of land. Mr. Hosey, get it back to Jim Fitzpatrick. No, no, no. Don't jump at false conclusions, Miss Carter. I didn't say Baybrook actually threatened Jim. You heard me mention Tom Prentiss. Yes. Well, he's Mary Fitzpatrick's brother. He worked for the railroad and embezzled some of their funds. So he told Baybrook about the right-of-way hoping Baybrook would pay him for the information. I suppose Jim found out about that, too. Oh, of course. And Tom wouldn't pay the money, so he went to jail. Here, here, here, you can't eat all those cherry pies. I'm saving that last one for Mary Fitzpatrick. Here, come on now. Hand it over. These tough apples are big. Be right back, folks. I'm going into the gift department for a paper bag. Well, Nick, did the local encyclopedia turn out to be a goldmine? I was just striking Peter, Gaby, when he got sidetracked on those cherry pies. I'd say this tour was a goldmine. It's as big as a barn that's filled with just about everything. Everything except customers, Patsy. If I hadn't been around, Hosey would have been alone all afternoon. And why in the world does he keep all this big stock? A big stock brings a big trade. That's the motto Hosey keeps quoting. He's forgotten that half his customers have moved away since Baybrook brought up this land. Well, again, folks, with a pie all wrapped up for Mary. Oh, that reminds me, Miss Carter, I was telling you about her brother, Tom Prentiss. Yes, how long ago did Tom go to prison? Well, I can't exactly say, Miss Carter, but I can tell you how long he's been out. And that's since yesterday. Oh, you've seen him? Yes, sir, right here in this door. Stop saying hello like he'd just been back for a trip. But let's get over to the station before the night break comes along and blocks us off. It's kind of dark, and if you want flashlights, I've got some nice 69 centers in the hardware department. I have my own light. Thanks. Come on, kid. Hello, Mrs. Patrick, we're back. Hello. Mr. Hosey will be along in a few minutes with a friend of ours, Gubby Wilson. Hello, Mr. Carter. Well, hello there, Charlie. Hello, there, Charlie. I told you to stay in bed. How high can you count, Charlie? No, dear. Now run back to bed. Hurry now. You can count the cars while you're in bed. But things play to just about starting. Oh, Carter. I thought you told me you liked cherry pie, so I bought one along for you. Thank you. Oh, say, you just got a good idea. Maybe Mr. Carter ought to look over those bills the late and the other papers Jim used to keep. Yeah, you might find a clue there. Are they still in Jim's desk? Well, either there or in the safe. Come on, Miss Carter, let's go in the office. You can try what's in the desk first. All right. There they are. Right there. Don't imagine there's much here that can help. You can't tell. You might find something. No, Mr. Hosey. I'm afraid there's nothing here in the desk that I can use. You're sure now, Carter. Did you look real careful through that pile of papers in the wirebasket? Yes, I did. What about that old safe in the corner, Mrs. Patrick? Maybe they're in there. Well, I don't know the combination, Mr. Carter. You'll never get it. Don't let that worry you, Mr. Patrick. Nick opened the safe door. It's almost as easy as you open an icebox. Well, I'll go and give it a try anyway. Killer's out there again riding the brakes like he did last night. Oh, you heard, Nick. No, Patrick. I hadn't gotten up in that desk just when I did. That bullet would have gone right through my head. We ain't got to stop that freight. The killer's on it. I'll tell him to go out to the next station to fly the tower. Have him get the chair. Search the streets. That won't do any good. As soon as the train gets out of town. There must be someone in there. Let's get out there and find out what's happening. Searching behind that pile of railroad ties. You down there. Search out your gun and come up with your hand, please. Fire no gun. I'll come out like you want, but don't shoot. Promise you won't shoot. If you ain't lying about that gun, just kick your hands in the air and you won't get hurt. OK? I'm coming out. Get his license. Come out of here. Don't take all night. You shot me in the leg. We ought to put another bullet for your heart, not that deadly killer. I'm not the killer. Hey. Hey, you know who got it? Yeah. Tom Prentice. Is it your brother, Mrs. Fitzpatrick? Yes. After what happened last night, I made him hide in my attic. Well, why didn't you tell him? I was afraid he'd be blamed for killing you. Whatever my next oneation is now. He's been shot. He needs a doctor. I'll go call on you. Oh, Tom. Tom, why did you leave the station? Why didn't you stay where you were? I heard the gunshot, Mary. The freight was passing, and I know the killer would done it. I wanted to hop the freight and try to catch him. You thought the killer was on it. Now that's a hot one. You were on it, Prentice. If our bullets hadn't made it hot for you, you'd still be on it. I had just hopped on when you started shooting him. I tell you, I was going to try to find him. Hey, hey, what's happened? What's going on here?