 Standard of California, on behalf of independent chevron gas stations and standard stations throughout the West, invites you to let George do it. Everything is nice, another adventure at George Valentine. Personal notice, dangerous my stock and trade. If you've locked all the doors but your knees still rattle, you got a job for me, George Valentine. Write full details. Dear Mr. Valentine, my daughter has red hair. If you can imagine red hair with the rest of what you see in the photograph, you will understand her father's concern. Vivi is only 18, but she has spent every afternoon and evening of the past week in a disreputable place called Bamboo Bills, whom she sees there I don't know and she won't tell me. However, this is not just an affair of the heart. The 22nd of this month is her mother's birthday. But Vivi insists that she will not be home for that or any other family occasion. Mr. Valentine, my daughter isn't bad. She's upset and frightened. We are wealthy people and I am positive someone has entangled Vivi in a situation too dangerous for her to handle alone. I will expect to hear from you at your earliest convenience. Sincerely, E.F. Sunderman. What'll it be this afternoon, tourist? Oh, nothing, thanks. I'm just... Yeah, I'll give you my order in a minute. Oh, excuse me. All right. It's so bright out on the street and they keep it so dark in here. I didn't see your gloves there. It's all right. Nice place here, though, isn't it? I said what'll it be this afternoon, tourist? Oh, yeah, yeah. Well, let's see. Oh, limit one per customer. Bamboo Bills, barracuda bite. Is that what you're having? Do I look like a bee girl? Listen, excuse me. I didn't mean to... Mine's lemonade. Here, Mac. Thanks, Miss Sunderman. I'll take it upstairs with me. Wait. Look, really, I didn't mean to... I said still, tourist. I'll give you something on the house. Huh? Just a little rain, that's all. Invinciate it. Clear up in a minute. You know how it is in the tropics. In the meantime, it kind of washes the air. Cools people off. Okay, okay, chaperone. But tell me about this place here. What's upstairs? She went? Nothing. Boss's office. Huh? Where the stairs? I didn't say the boss was there, tourist. All right, all right. So I want to apologize to the girl. What's it to you? Oh, come on, come on, relax. I ain't got you pegged as a masher. But I've got you pegged as a guy who makes trouble his business. Now, suppose I nix you in one of the house and then you don't have... Hey, what's that supposed to be? Tropical thunder? Hey, hey, hey, wait a minute. You just come down those stairs? No, no, no. I just thought I heard something through here. That's all. Yeah, like shots maybe, huh? Come on, back up the stairs. One side, old truck. Sounds like somebody's coming. No, don't. Wait a minute. Miss Sonerman. Miss Sonerman, where are you? Miss... Well, I can't help it, Riley. If I hadn't got wise and thought I could strike up a conversation with her, she wouldn't have taken a lemonade upstairs. I don't think she's got much chance to pull through. I'm all ready to get it sooner, Riley, in regardless of circumstances. Now, cool off and tell me about that guy once again. Brother, I'll be glad to. Six-foot-two, slender, English accent. Maybe Australian. And he definitely had been upstairs. A minute. Okay, thanks, Riley. Six-feet-two, slender, and English accent. Yeah, that's right. Who are you? My name's Bill McGee. Bamboo Bill? Yeah, yeah, I own the place. Well, lots of excitement here. Where have you been? That's my business. Okay, wait for the police. I don't mix well with policemen. Now, look, South Seas merchant. I've been there. I'm no phony. Just didn't go back soon enough, did I? So the Englishman shot her. He was upstairs. But it's a big place. There might have been others. He did it. You're pretty sure, aren't you? Okay, what's his name? Who is he? I haven't the slightest idea. Beach Boy, you better start getting some ideas. It happened in your office. The Sunderman girl's been here every day of the past week. So what? People don't want to know why. They're not going to believe she just came here for travel lectures. You talk too much, tourist. Yeah, and she's been scared of something upset. Her family was worried about it. Say, uh, how do you get along with her family? I didn't know she had a family. Why don't you cut the hoolo? You're trying to make up a story so fast, you're headspinning, you're trying to... There she is. Yeah. Let me tell you one thing, mister. If that kid dies, it's going to mean the ambulance for lots of people. Mr. Sunderman, you and your friends will have to go back to the waiting room now. Of course, of course, nurse. Vivi will tell us, Mr. Valentine. She'll tell us as soon as the doctors are through, as soon as she's out of the anesthetic. She may not know who it was, Mr. Sunderman. Those bullets struck her in the back. I mean, even if she... She'll be all right. I know she will. Of course she will, Mr. Sunderman. Today was her mother's birthday too, wasn't it? Yes, yes, I wanted everything to be so nice today. What do you mean? Isn't everything usually nice? Well, of course, but Dora... Oh, Ed, Ed, how is she? No, no, there's nothing we can do, Dora, please. I'm sorry, dear. I want you to meet Miss Brooks and Mr. Valentine. This is Mrs. Sunderman. How do you do? Oh. You're Vivi's mother? Oh, no, of course not. I wasn't a child bride. I'm just her stepmother. Oh, I see. Ed never tells people. He thinks it's... Well, he just doesn't. No, no, it's better not to. We're a family now. Yeah, but I wish I'd known. It makes a few things a little clearer. We've been married nearly two years now. Mr. Valentine was thinking of how Vivi feels about me, darling. Isn't that right? Well, she hates me, of course. Dora, no, no, please. After all the effort you've made. Oh, maybe I'm overstating a little, but it's natural, isn't it? For a beautiful girl like Vivi and her young stepmother not to get along, she's bound to resent me. Well, I'm even attractive to some of her men. Don't you think so, Mr. Valentine? Ah, possibly. But after all, I can't help the way I am. Mrs. Sunderman, the important thing is Vivi kept to herself. She kept her own secrets. I know. I know that's true. But I have no idea what this thing was she was mixed up in. Bill McGee. I've never even heard her mention his name. Well, the police will be finding out more about him. And as for this Englishman you saw coming downstairs, her reasons for going to the restaurant in the first place, none of it makes any sense to me. I don't know what to tell you, Mr. Valentine, how to catch my own daughter's murder. Ed, Ed, don't. It's not your fault. But I'm afraid I don't really know anything about Vivi either, Mr. Valentine. I'm sorry I can't help you. Yeah. Mrs. Sunderman, could I see you for a second alone? Of course. He's so upset. He... Yes, I know, I know. Well, I just wanted to tell you, Mrs. Sunderman. Yeah. I don't believe you. Goodbye. I don't find out. Nothing you find out even less. Well, Lieutenant, I threw a harpoon at Mrs. Sunderman, but I don't know whether it hit anything or not. Well, we had the impression she was trying to protect her husband's feelings or trying to... Golly, I don't know. So do I, Miss Brooks. Hey, do you know what happened to that South Seas character, Bill McGee, the big operator with the little answers? Well, he's gone, that's what. Yeah, yeah. I was getting nowhere with him, so I asked him politely to come to headquarters with his boys. And he just as politely gave them the shake. Yeah, and he's probably into heaty by now, laughing up his sarong. Yeah, I wish he were. You see, we found out where Osbert Layden lives in... Wait a minute, who? Yes, yes, we did make progress from A to B. The Englishman's name is Osbert Layden. Been in town a couple of years, lives pretty well without working, but behind that his past is a little too dark for my comfort. What do you mean by that? All I can find out is he came from the Orient originally, and my hunch is by way of the confidence game. And Bill McGee's done a little traveling too, hasn't he? That's what I'm driving at, and he's traveling today. When we went to Layden's place, we found his landlady shaking like a straight man in a George Adams cartoon. Why? Because she had already been visited by McGee and his suntan boys wearing blood in their eyes. Oh, so that's it. Well, our chances of meeting the Englishman alive are a little slim, aren't they? With the sharks after him. Uh, how wretched you are. Excuse me. Yeah, Riley speaking. Oh, yeah. Yeah, he's here just a minute. It's, uh, Dora Sunderman. She wants to talk to you. Oh. Wow, wow. Rolls to the plate, huh? Hello, Mrs. Sunderman. Mr. Valentine, I want to talk to you. We're back at the house now. We haven't heard any more from the hospital. Talk about what, Mrs. Sunderman? I'm so upset, but he's down in the kitchen now, lighting the candles on the cake, still trying to make everything nice for my birthday. Mr. Valentine, he can't keep his eyes closed forever, can he? It isn't kind to protect him from knowing things, is it? No, it's not. Suppose you just... Mrs. Sunderman. Mrs. Sunderman, what was that? Hey, what's going on there? How about it, Riley? Yeah, yeah, he was shot through the window all right. The top of one of the birthday candles was clipped by the bullet. He was standing there behind the table. It lines up all right. You find anything outside the window? Yeah, a man's footprint, but it's not clear enough to do us any good. The doctor got the bullet out. It's the same caliber, and it looks like it's probably from the same gun. Oh, yeah, sure, sure. The same person shot him both, but whole, whole. Uh, get a load of this, my friend. The sergeant tells me one of our prowl cars spotted the Englishman down at the corner of 4th and Main, a mile from here. At exactly 625. 625? Yeah. And we got here at 630, but you heard that shot on the telephone at 625 on the button, so it couldn't have been the Englishman who did it. But you got every cop on the floor still chasing him. And me. I was dumb enough to let Bill McGee find out about it, so he could take off to get the poor guy first. Oh, relax, will you? Oh, brother, I'm a great guy today. First, I chase a girl upstairs so she can get shot. Then her old man is killed. Well, I didn't stumble around from owning that one. But Riley, if the Englishman turns up a corpse, then I'll have a pretty good score today, won't I? Yeah. Join Valentine and see them more. We'll return to tonight's adventure of George Valentine in just a moment. If your car kind of sputters on hills and acts logian traffic, just try a tank full of Chevron Supreme gasoline. It's specially blended to give smoother performance on hills and under every driving condition. Depend on its ping-free power to give your car faster starts, faster pickup and stop-and-go traffic, too. And remember, premium quality Chevron Supreme is climate tailored. Wherever you drive in the West, Chevron Supreme gasoline is blended for that altitude and temperature zone. Try a tank full tomorrow. You'll find you can't buy a better gasoline for today's high compression engines. Best of all, you're never far from Chevron Supreme. You can get it at standard stations and independent Chevron gas stations, or they say, and mean, we take better care of your car. Well, everything is sure nice. You're hired by a man named Sunderman because he was worried about his red-headed daughter. She was in some sort of trouble, but no one seems to know what kind of trouble. The girl herself is shocked, and her father, who started this idea of wanting everything to be nice, is murdered by the same gun. Well, if your name is George Valentine, you know that this is no time to be sitting around counting birthday candles. Mrs. Sunderman, we're going to start at the beginning. Wherever you like. Oh, no, no, wherever you like. You're the one who knows things. Well, I don't know who killed anyone. Yes, yes, we've been through that much. I mean the beginning of what was wrong with VB. Oh, well, uh, VB isn't wild, if that's what you mean. In fact, I think she's always looked down her nose a little at me. You know how girls are. Oh, yes, of course. Um, Mrs. Sunderman, your husband liked to well-to-pretend he had one big happy family. Perhaps. Uh-huh. And, uh, you like to help him do it. What? I don't believe that a woman wouldn't investigate what her stepdaughter was up to. Well, I've never actually- Oh, come on, come on. You started to tell me once on the phone. Yes, but so much has happened. I heard that shot. I'm asking about VB. What was it about her you didn't want Mr. Sunderman to know? Well, it's something to do with that Bill McGee. She's scared to death of him. She has money, you know. A big allowance. Go on. Well, I don't want to cause any more trouble for her. Look, I'm the one who does that. Go on, go on. There are some papers he has. She wants the papers. It's evidence of some sort. I should imagine of gambling, wouldn't you? Oh, I don't know, Mr. Sunderman. I'm not using my imagination anymore. I just now quit. Check your hat, sir. Yeah, here, thanks. Oh, wait a minute, sir. The main dining room's through the other way. And the tropical bar's just to your right. Oh, yeah, sure. I'll be there in a minute. You're going the wrong way, sir. Charlie. Papers. Look what the monsoon blew in. Well, Valentine's. Yeah, not just stand there. And keep standing there. You're through traveling for a while, McGee. Oh, cut it out, cut it out, will ya? Not hacking your gun. Not going any place now. That's an understatement. But you know, I didn't quite expect to find you coming back to your own office. Not with the bloodhounds after you. Why not? The hot spot's the safe spot, isn't it? Pretty clear, aren't you? I've always been able to take care of myself. You and your boys, the bartender, the suntan kids. They're all right. They stick by me. Sailors, most of them. Guys I've known in the islands and are out. They show up, I give them jobs. Oh, sure, sure. Like taking care of the Englishman? We couldn't find him. Oh, brother, you take a load off my mind. All right, let's talk about gambling. What? Gambling. Like girls with too much do-do sometimes. I still don't get you. Okay. Then we'll make it papers. A piece of evidence you have that might be interesting. You've got to understand something. I came to the States and I opened this place to raise money. There's a trading company down in the Celebes. We need a couple of new boats. That's what I like, see. The green places, they get in your blood. The reefs and the blue water. You're a one-man trader. Oh, listen to me. There was another reason I came, too. It'll sound silly to you, but I came to get me a wife. Yeah, I did. I thought I'd found someone until things began to go wrong. You mean someone like Vivi? Yeah. Yeah, but things went wrong, you see. And then today, when the Englishman shot her... Who says he shot her? Huh? Well, you saw him coming downstairs. You put the finger on him. Now, get this straight, Buster. Vivi was shot with the same gun but the same guy who killed her father. What? Vivi was shot at exactly 625 tonight. And at that time, the Englishman was a mile away. Who says so? I heard the shot on the telephone. It was a police who saw an almost caught laden. He's caught a perfect alibi. Now, tell me his story. Okay, okay, Valentine. I'll show you the piece of paper. That evidence you're looking for. Well, that's more like it. It's through here in the next room. I'll tell you the truth, Valentine. I'll show you what it is, and I'll show it to you. I still take care of myself, tourist. I don't find those papers as something in the other room. Come on, wake up, Valentine. I'm trying to tell you, my boys have got them. They've cornered the Englishman. We're going out there. He's alive, George. He's all right. McGee didn't get him. He didn't even get away from here. Here's a piece of paper. Oh, for the love of Mike, there's no papers here. McGee would have taken them after he slugged you, don't you see? George, are you all right? Well, don't try to move. No, I've got to see it. A piece of paper someplace, someplace in here. He said it was. The wastebasket. Sure, sure, the wastebasket. I thought there was paper, all right? Hey, it's been burned in the wastebasket. All right, so he burned it. Hey, look, how long have I been out? Just a few minutes. Ah. Yeah, ash is cold, scattered, settled. You want to bet this was burned hours ago? No, I don't. I just want to get out there where my boys are picking up the Englishman. Okay, okay, go ahead, rally. But when I think of how many birthday parties I've been to and how unobservant people can be... George, what in the name... Angel, you and I are going to do a little burning ourselves. In fact, here's our chance to prove you can't burn a candle at both ends. Look, Valentine, you have to listen to me. Oh, shut up, beach boy. I've had enough out of you. Besides, you're blowing on the candle. Lieutenant, what on earth is this nonsense? Well, yes, I'm perfectly willing to tell you my story. Why it was, I seemed to be mixed up in this thing. Thanks, Mr. Layden. You had me worried for a while, but now I'm not interested. What's the time, Angel? Four minutes. It's about a third gone, isn't it? Birthday candles, really, old boy. It's Mrs. Sunderman's birthday, Mr. Layden. Didn't you know? Well, I know. Why should I? Englishman in about two seconds. Okay, McGee, sit still. Now calm down, all of you, will you? Just watch the little candle burn. That's what Mr. Sunderman was doing, you know. When someone stood outside the kitchen window and shot him. Huh? He just lit the candles, as a matter of fact. At least the bullet had clipped the top of one of them. Yes, and the rest of them were just burning out when we got here. That was about 6.30, wasn't it, Raleigh? It was exactly 6.30. Oh, yes, and when you telephoned, Mrs. Sunderman, when we heard the shot... That was exactly 6.25. Well, look here, Sunderman was killed at 6.25. You told me, Lieutenant, it was the same time when those chats of yours saw each other. Yes, yes, yes, that's right. Between 6.25 and 6.30 is five minutes. How long is it now, Angel? Five minutes. You know, that's very funny. Sunderman's candles burned down in five minutes. But now this one is just the same, and it isn't even half gone yet. Well, maybe he lit them earlier. Or maybe he was shot earlier. I didn't look at my watch, but I was talking to you on the telephone when it happened. Yes, Mrs. Sunderman, I heard something that sounded like a shot as far away as the kitchen. Throw me that pillow, Angel. Here, George. And here's the gun. Thanks. You know, it's pretty easy. You stick a gun into a pillow or something else soft, and, well, listen, maybe that's how you made that sound, Mrs. Sunderman. No, no, I didn't kill him, I didn't. I swear, I didn't. He didn't say you killed him. Of course you didn't. Otherwise, why would you have gone to all that trouble? Oh, no, you were setting up an alibi. Weren't you a perfect alibi for somebody else? But I was more than a mile away. Sure, how long is it now, Angel? Seven minutes. A birthday candle takes a good ten minutes to burn, Mr. Layton. Ten from 6.30 is 6.20. The real time you kill Mr. Sunderman. No. Okay, she gave you a five-minute head start. You knew that's all you needed to drive your mile for the alibi. But, Mr. Valentine, you rarely come... Be quiet, stop it! I won't be quiet. I won't let them railroad me into... Stop it, stop it! Every time you open up your mouth... Ten minutes as much as I am, daughter, you egg me on. No, no, stop it! You persuaded me to kill. Okay, rally, there you are. The game dog and the calico cat. Now look here, Valentine. Yeah, yeah. Now we'll let you talk, McGee. Wait. Let me tell you something, young man. This idea you've got that you can take care of things yourself. I was only trying to protect Vivian or father. Holding back information that only the law should have. Yeah, but I was on a spot. If you hadn't broken that alibi, Valentine, I would have been a patsy. That's what they picked me for. I know, I know. I mean, you couldn't prove anything. It was your word against theirs. After that paper had been burned. Yeah, that's right. That's why I wanted to find the Englishman myself. Well, that paper didn't have anything to do with Vivian, did it? No, no, of course. No, it was something I just happened to have because I've knocked around in the Orient because I know a lot of people. Did you know Layden in the Orient? Well, I'd met both of them there, him and Dora. But I had no idea they were in the States until I met Vivian. She showed me a picture of her stepmother. Uh-huh. And then when Vivian began throwing hints around at home, Dora got worried, huh? Yeah, that's about it. She knew that Vivian already knew and that Mr. Sunderman was already beginning to guess. Knew what? Guess what? What was in the paper? Just a letter, really, but it showed that Osbert Layden was Dora's husband. Is Dora's husband. Oh. Yeah, a sweet, simple little racket that could have gone on for life. Layden lived on the fat of the land while his wife was also the wife of a rich guy named Sunderman. A guy whose only wish in life was that everything be nice. Hmph. No worry, Valentine. The doctor's say Vivian will be all right and I'll be very nice to her. You know, George, I'm very impressed. Hmm. Logic and alibis and everything. But really, I could have told you a long time ago that Mrs. Sunderman was just telling us one story after another. That she was a liar. That she's a... Just, uh, what do you mean? Well, after all, didn't you count those candles on her birthday cake? Twenty-six, really. Yeah, but then think how many women in the world tell little lies like that. Hmm. Yeah, well, I mean, well, uh, for future reference, exactly how old are you, Bruxy? Ah, good night, George. If you were out on a motoring trip last month, I'll bet you thought more than once that your car's engine was getting a lot of wear. But actually, before you start on a trip and after you come back, the engine probably gets its worst beating. That's because 80 percent of all engine wear occurs in an idle engine. The result of acid-laden moisture forming on cylinder walls the moment you cut the ignition. It's known as internal engine rust, and the one sure way to stop it is to use compounded RPM motor oil. RPM contains an adhering agent which keeps a moisture-proof oil film on cylinder walls. Rust just can't get started, even though your car stands idle for days or weeks. No wonder premium quality RPM is first choice in the West. It's the oil that stops 80 percent of engine wear. So to protect your car's engine from rust, depend on RPM motor oil. Ask for it at independent Chevron gas stations and standard stations, where they say, and mean, we take better care of your car. Next week, George Valentine will call on the local sheriff and gets quite a shock when he hears... Yes, yes, yes. Blood on the fenders, blood on the fenders. Wife ran over Jack Rabbit once. Now look, Mr. Simpson, you represent the law on this county. I know, I know. The boy in the city gave me a call about you. I asked him to. Now look, I know blood on a fender can be lots of things, but a guy wouldn't be so touchy about it unless it was human blood, would he? It was human blood, but you aren't going to do anything about it, Mr. Valentine. Tonight's adventure of George Valentine has been brought to you by Standard of California on behalf of independent Chevron gas stations and standard stations throughout the West. Robert Bailey is starred as George with Francis Robertson as Brooksy. Wally Mayer appears as Lieutenant Riley. Let George do it is written by David Victor and Jackson Gillis, and directed by Don Clark. We've also heard in the cast were Herbert Rawlinson as Sunderman, Virginia Eiler as D.V., Dick Ryan as Mack, Dan O'Hurley as Layden, Larry Dobkin as McGee, and Shirley Mitchell as Dora. The music is composed and presented by Eddie Dunstetter, your announcer John Heiston. Listen again next week, same time, same station to let George do it. This is the Mutual Down Lee Broadcasting System.