 Johnny dollar Lucian Peterson here Luke. How are you just fine Johnny? How are you still out there in dear old Seattle wash? Yep, and still holding down a job with the Western Maritime and life Or let's say I'm trying to but the rate we've been paying off on claims lately on some of my own clients Well, the home office doesn't like me too well something phony about some of those claims Maybe no, but they've all been big ones half a million here quarter million there 600,000 just last week no wonder the company doesn't like it So right now I don't want to have to pay off on Mrs. Myra Brittingham That is if I can help it well I don't know Myra Brittingham or anything about her But if you've insured her and she is now dead, that's just the point Johnny. She isn't mm-hmm not yet. Oh But maybe somebody would like to see her that way I don't know but I think so Maybe this hunch of mine is all wrong Johnny I'll be the first to admit it that this feeling this worry of mine is nothing more than a hunch I would tell the police about it. They probably laugh in my face. I don't know Luke I've had some pretty wild hunches work out for me more than once. I know that's why I've called you I hope you can fly out here and Well, see what you think see if you think he's liable to try it. He yes, who? Sure the CBS radio network brings you Mandel Kramer in the exciting adventures of the man with the action-packed Expense account America's fabulous reliance insurance investigator yours truly Johnny dollar Expense account submitted by a special investigator Johnny dollar to the Western maritime and life insurance company Seattle, Washington office Following is an account of expenses incurred during my investigation of the Chuck and that matter Expense account item one six dollars for a cab out to Bradley Field item two a hundred eighty six seventy plane fare It was after 11 p.m. By the time we set down at Seattle Tacoma International So item three is five and a quarter for a cab into the Benjamin Franklin where I proceeded to get me a good night's sleep Then after a hearty breakfast the next morning. I dropped in on Lucian Peterson Now Johnny you're saying at the Ben Franklin. That's right And that's where I'll have them deliver a rental car for you You can repack your bags toss them in beyond your way. Oh To where Luke a little town of Chuck and it Is that well, you know where Bellingham is yeah, it's about 85 miles north of here and Chuck and that's five six seven miles This site of Bellingham. Oh And that's where mr. And mrs. Brittingham live well just this side of it off Chuck and that drive is Polly Oop Lane a narrow badly paved road It'll take you up into the mountains be real careful of that road Johnny And if it's wet when you get there be doubly triply careful Why you say that look that dinky little road is more twists and kinks and switchbacks than you ever saw in your life This one of the turns and you will end up either flying off into space or smashing into the face of the cliff Well, I remember that but tell me what's going on between the Brittingham's well to begin with They're both heavily insured as a matter of fact five hundred thousand bucks worth a piece Wow Yes, and they're insured in each other's favor I see Mark Brittingham is about 35 Johnny and all his life He's been nothing but a playboy and a sportsman living first on the money his father gave him And now on the insurance left him by his last wife. Oh then Myra's number two Myra's number four And Johnny, I'm as sure as I am that I'm sitting here that the only reason Mark married her is because she had one of those incurable diseases only a few months to live type of thing I see yes Then modern medical science not long ago suddenly unexpectedly found a complete cure for it Tell me Luke did his former wife die of some incurable disease. Well, that's what the police and company investigator and the court decided Johnny I've always suspected that he somehow helped the old bitty on her way Now you think he wants to do the same for Myra so he can collect on her insurance and I do you have any concrete evidence Well, it's no secret that Mark and Myra haven't been getting along lately things have been pretty tense between them why Myra is five or six years older than he is still a very attractive woman Johnny. Believe me, but she's older than he is Also, that woman has more expensive tastes than anyone I've ever known In other words instead of dying off like he thought she wouldn't leaving him a lot of money All she does is spend it for him. I see So instead of yet having plenty of dough for the racetracks and nightclubs and parties and so on He's having to reef in his sails The only way you can ever get together a sizeable hunk again is by having her dead Well, you think he goes so far as a killer if he can get away with it Yes, because evidence to the contrary not withstanding Johnny. I still think that's what happened to the last one Well, if he should I mean he'd never collect the insurance if we could prove it. Well, yes What am I supposed to do Luke go up there and scare him out of it? Why not? That's a new one. I know as I told you on the phone. This is really all just a hunch on my part But I think it has a pretty solid basis. Look, suppose you go up there Just see him on the pretense. You're interested in buying that property. Oh, is it for sale? Well, he wants to sell it to raise some of that green stuff He loves so much and that he's rapidly running out of To spend a couple of hours talking about their house and property and listen Johnny And then just let it slip out who and what you really are Sure that doesn't convince him. He's under suspicion make him change his mind about trying anything. I'll eat my hat. Will you do it? Okay, Luke as you're paying the bill good, but I still don't think that you have any real Well We'll see Whether was clear and the drive up to Chuck and that was a pleasant one But that little side road Leading up to and around the edge of a mountain toward the Bredingham Place was anything But a couple of times on an outside turn on that tortuous narrow asphalt I could catch a glimpse of the house far above and nestled in among the trees But most of the time I was too busy watching the road until suddenly as I rounded a particularly sharp tight outside turn Directly in front of me was a police car in front of that Smashed head-on into the face of a cliff was one of the new compacts the whole front end of it bashed in Mr. Who might you be? Are you a lieutenant? Only it's sergeant police sergeant bill foreman. Oh Sergeant well, my name is Johnny dollar. Why the insurance investigator. That's right Well, I'll say this it sure beats me how you found out so quickly Found out about what that stiff in there in that car that smashed up stiff Who sergeant one of those crazy? Britting ams that have been tearing at each other's throats for so long now that one of them just plain had to go Which one sergeant a much question about that dollar. I'll take a look Yeah, dollar that's mr. Mark Britting am what's left of him mr. Britting am Are you sound surprised? Yeah, yeah, I am you know him no all his wife then No, no sergeant. I never met either of them. How did you find out about the accident? I got a call from his wife myra said mark's been away for a while It wouldn't be back until sometime early in the week so she was all alone. Yeah Then she was sitting up there on the porch You notice the porch that sticks out the side of their house up there darling No, it's so far away and I was a busy driving Go on well when you walk back to your car There on that outside curve, maybe you can see it anyhow She caught glimpses of a car coming up the road who's it was she didn't know And well her being alone. She didn't want any prowlers around so would I come take a look so? Well, I told her I was busy it maybe it was just a special delivery or something but Then she hollered oh my goodness it sounds like there's been an explosion down there on the road So I came on up here. She didn't recognize the car for this morning sun right in her face And the car only showing itself now and then on those outside curves. I'll just take a look at that son. I See what you mean So it wasn't the sun in briningham's eyes that caused this wreck. No The sun was directly at his back as he came around that last hairpin But dollar I always warned him about the way he'd come tearing up this twisty little stretch That is until he made me ride with him one day to prove his point. What do you mean by that way? He used to be a racing driver He had me hanging on for dear life a couple of times I'll tell you this dollar he could really handle that wheel Anything made him crack up this way Wasn't himself must have been something gone wrong with his car Well if that's so It's gonna be pretty hard to prove son-in-law Considering the way it smashed up. Don't be too sure about that You'll be here mr. Hartford Homer ransom the sudden death detective they call him Oh, yes, yes, yes, sir Greatest Reconstructor of traffic accidents that ever live so I understand. Yeah Well, he lives just the other side of town You give him maybe an hour or so with this wreck and he'll tell you just exactly how it happened And why just as though he'd been standing right here watching it Well, then maybe you talk about Sherlock Holmes Why mr. Ransom can look at a set of tire tracks or Even a couple of pieces off an accident and he'll reconstruct the whole thing just like that. I tell you sir. It's uncanny Well sergeant, you better get him up here to look at this. I'll do that. Also I think you better have your car or look at mr. Bredigan's body Yeah Well, what is it darling way that he apparently Through his right arm up in front of his eyes just before the crash You notice Yeah Well, sure in the hopes of patting himself when he hit the windshield former racing driver Instead of slumping down relaxing Anybody would I wonder when I'll tell me this wouldn't you put up an arm? I mean seeing that wall of rock coming straight at you. I Don't know. I do. I know I would wouldn't you have had both hands tied on the wheel going around that turn at the speed He must have been going Well, maybe so But he put his arm up and that's what puzzles me Because he must have done it while he was taking the curve that outside curve Well, I don't know But now we better get up there to the house and give my bring him the bad news. I'll tell you what sergeant Let me go up there and tell her Meantime you get this man ransom on the job and have a medical do an examination of the body and I mean a thorough Not not now wait a minute You think maybe this wasn't just an accident darling. I didn't say that but that's what you meant, isn't it? Let's wait and see The Brittingham place built there on the side of a mountain among the trees was quite an establishment new modern and very expensive as For mrs. Brittingham Myra well Lucien had said she was about 40 She didn't look it She was five foot three or four Brunette with an almost olive complexion very dark eyes The kind of natural beauty that you seldom see in a figure to go with it. I Introduce myself made no bones about my connection with the insurance company Before I could tell her why I was there. She led me out onto the little porch. We're looking out against the sun I could see occasional spots on the road. I'd just driven up And then calmly and with a self-control that I hadn't expected Was it mark mr. Dollar? I'm afraid so he's dead, isn't he? Yes Well, I knew it would happen sometime I Warned him over and over about the way he drove so madly up and down that crooked little road in spite of the fact He'd driven expensive racing cars when he was younger. I Knew he'd kill himself sooner or later and now he has I'm sorry, mr. Brittingham. Are you I'm not What did you say? It rather settles things doesn't it? Does it? We hadn't been getting along mark and I've quite some time and I know it was partly my fault Why do you say that? Because of money mr. Dollar You see I married him for his money because I thought that for the rest of my life He'd be able to give me all the things I'd always wanted. Yes. Oh, it was all great fun with him Well, they still had it the big parties night after night the racetracks all over the country theaters nightclubs. I Even put up with his silly hunting and fishing up here But when the money began to run out and we had to sell the big home in Belliam and the cars and get rid of the Servants and settled down in this little place I've hated this place mr. Dollar, and I hated him and we fought like spoiled hysterical children Which see when he knew the money was getting low If he had any gumption he'd have got himself a job of some kind for once he'd have had to work for a living But instead he only got moody and drank a lot acted very strangely began looking at me in a peculiar Frightening kind of a way. Oh and Then because of something he said one night I began to fear him what he might do Go on mr. Brittigan. Oh I I know mr. Dollar. He was upset that night because we'd had another argument a terrible argument And he'd had too much to drink He started laughing to himself quietly chuckling to himself and Then he Well, he tried to say it lightly as though he might be joking, but he said yes He said wouldn't it be nice for him if I should die like his wife before me Then he could get a little fun out of life again on my insurance money It frightened me mr. Dollar terribly. I can't say I blame you Then these long trips and leaving me alone like this Trips to where do you know? No? Oh, I've Wondered if he hasn't been out looking for someone to take my place Or just planning some way to well Well It's all over now Well, I'd lie to you if I said I was sorry You know, of course that you stand to collect some half million dollars of insurance. Yes, I know and I'll use it to get as far away from here as I can Can you blame me? I want to talk further with you, Mrs. Benningham of course though I'd better check out the police report on this accident purely as a formality of course so if you don't mind I'll be here mr. Dollar Why paint herself so black to me? To impress me with her honesty so I'd dismiss any thought that she might have somehow had something to do with the accident And another thing a little thing Her sudden alarm when she'd seen that car coming up the road even if she couldn't recognize it against the morning sun Was that enough to call the police? Something wrong here something very wrong In the United States today There are more than six million children under the age of 18 who live in homes where there is no father Among them are hundreds of thousands of boys who need the guidance and interest that large-hearted men can give them They can be set on the path toward fine citizenship through the Big Brother movement Now at the beginning of Big Brother week find out what you can do to help expand this valuable program in your community Contact your local Big Brother organization or write Big Brothers of America Philadelphia 3, Pennsylvania It was early the next morning at police headquarters that I met with sergeant foreman Dr. Hugo Baskin the coroner and with mr. Hartford Homer Ransom who knows more about the basic laws of inertia matter and motion Than anyone I've ever seen he can read a set of tire marks like an expert tracker reads a trail and more important He's an expert on human reaction times, but the one thing I don't understand Mr. Dollar is his right arm up over his eyes that way That's funny. That's what dollar said to mr. Ransom Seemed to me though. He was trying to protect himself against the windshield frame I have time to take one hand off the wheel after pulling around that turn at that speed No, sir. So he must have raised his arm to that position He was on the outside of that curve which simply doesn't make sense not at the speed He was traveling and like I said he wasn't shading against the Sun because the Sun was at his back You suppose a good-sized bird or some kind of animal had dashed across in front of him and Might he have done that involuntarily man with racing experience on a turn like that No, mr. Dollar. It would have to have been something something like like what mr. Ransom. I Don't know I don't know and there was certainly nothing wrong with his car. You're sure of that Let's take my reputation. Well, there was certainly nothing wrong with him mr. Dollar You did a complete autopsy dr. Baskin. I did as thorough an autopsy and mark Brittingham's body as I've ever done There was absolutely no no physical reason for that accident You checked for alcohol in his bloodstream. I checked everything and what's more incidentally I know that Mark's general condition was perfect. I myself gave him a complete physical less than two weeks ago so if you're thinking about a Temporary blackout or something like that. Well, there's no reason for it. Well, I wasn't doctor But can you be absolutely certain that that isn't a possibility in my job dollar and I mean as coroner I would have to find actual evidence of such a thing before I could put it on record No, there's only one conclusion that we can reach here Suicide dr. Baskin suicide mr. Ransom. Well, I'm sorry, but I can't agree with you No, you can't hey why not for one thing the tire tracks Had he crashed into that rock wall deliberately the tracks would have gone straight to it As it was they were quite a ratty for the last 81 feet. I'm putting it down as suicide also that That position of his arm as though he brought it up to shield his vision against the soft and the sun being at his back That doesn't make sense as you know it I say it was suicide and that's the way that I am wait a minute Maybe it was the Sun. That's impossible dollar. Of course. It is ridiculous. Is it ridiculous? Dr. Baskin before you file your report. I'd like time to play a little hunch a hunch Yes, maybe it's a pretty wild one But there's one thing that could possibly have made him take his hand off the wheel on that curve and made him raise Up his arm that way. Are you still harping on that young man? I'm still harping on that because of this hunch of mine is right Mark Brittingham was murdered it murdered sergeant Yeah, yes, sir. I want you to drive up to the house and bring Myra Brittingham down here Yeah, well, but why any excuse you can think of to look over these gentlemen's reports or something But make it good because she's smart then when I call you on the phone Where you be when I call you drive her on back to the house and listen when you get to that curve Take it slowly just crawl around it and with one foot on the break Well now look unless you want to end up the way Mark Brittingham did When the sergeant got her away from there, I went over that house top to bottom Sure, there were mirrors on the bedroom walls big clumsy ones a couple of hand mirrors too on her dressing table But the kind I was looking for would be in among her husband's fishing and hunting equipment I found the survival kid all right and in it with the usual the water purifying pills some iodine Sabs bandages a couple of cans of C ration, but the little mirror was missing I mean the kind that's used for signaling a small clear oblong mirror with a hole in the center By facing the Sun and peering through that hole you can aim it You can focus the full rays of the Sun on anything up to a mile away And then I found it Tucked between the pages of a book on a table out on the porch where she practiced with it and then used it as a murder weapon I Called sergeant Foreman and told him to drive on up the hill, but slowly Then as he poked his car around that crucial curve as I aimed the mirror to reflect the blinding rays of the Sun pulling to his windshield Well, fortunately, he was able to stop before losing control He waited there until I drove down to meet them then No, she hasn't said a word dollar since I jammed on the brakes and raised up my arm to cut off that glare You shot down here. I see Well, Mara How did you know? How did you know that's the way I killed him? I didn't it was purely a hunch I guess but It looks like it paid off doesn't it Five hundred thousand dollars That's a nice round figure a lot of money Don't they ever learn that even millions aren't enough to murder for Expense account total call it a nice round figure like say 391 dollars and 18 cents Yours truly Johnny dollar Well here is our star to tell you about next week's story next week I'll be back with another exciting adventure that'll really surprise you join us. Won't you? You was truly Johnny dollar This truly Johnny dollar is written by Jack Johnstone produced and directed by Bruno Serato Jr. Music supervision by Ethel Huber Johnny dollar is played by Mandel Kramer also featured in our cast were Joan Allison as Myra Brithingham Robert Dryden as Sergeant Bill Foreman Richard Kendrick as Luke Peterson Bernard Lenro as Hartford Homer ransom and Iber Francis as Dr. Hugo Baskin Be sure to join us next week same time same station for another exciting story of yours truly Johnny dollar Art Hanna speaking Get the news firsthand and in full from expanded CBS news on the CBS radio network Hello there This is Kelly Maddox executive secretary of the Citizens Traffic Commission and here is our safe driving tip for today You know there's a lot of confusion on the part of motorist and pedestrians as to what a flashing red light means a flashing red light when used as a traffic signal Means that the motorist must come to a complete stop before entering an intersection and after stopping proceed only When it is determined that the coast is clear This same rule applies to pedestrians the Citizens Traffic Commission would like to impress on all motorists That they must stop their car when the traffic signal shows a flashing red light a Flashing yellow light means that you are to slow your car to a safe and reasonable speed and proceed with caution all traffic signal lights have a meaning and the motorist must remember that Traffic signals are placed at intersections to control conflicting movements of traffic