 Peter Chambers, transcribed and starring as Peter Chambers, Dane Plot. That's your business. Anything else? That's for laughs. It's been raining cats and dogs and assorted animals for three long, wet, miserable days. It happens. And today it clears. So you're heading for the polar grounds in a view of your beloved giants, but first you call the office and there's a message. And Mr. Winston Carr wants to see you at his Park Avenue apartment, so business is business. Winston Carr, he's got enough loot to run his own little private Marshall plant. Winston Carr, stockbroker deluxe. You kiss off the giants, you wish him luck and you're a special young man, will he maze? And then you've got your finger on the door buzzer of Mr. Carr's cloud high penthouse apartment. Peter Chambers? Peter Chambers? That's right, sir. I'm going to the door myself, serve and stay off. He'll never pardon my attire. He's a massive man and a handsome one. Maybe 60 with white hair and a white mustache, but he's got a youthful twinkle in his eye. He's dressed in an ancient bathrobe and he leads you through to a room that's half bedroom, half den. And then he plumps out in a soft bed. Bad heart, Mr. Chambers, bad ticker. Been acting up, I've been catering to it. Haven't been out of the apartment all day, been lying about pampering myself. Haven't even changed my suit, see? Hanging there. That's the suit I was wearing yesterday. That's nice, that's nice. Uh, what's that got to do with me? There's an envelope there and that suit, uh, I want you to deliver it. And for that you need a Private Richard? Private Richard? That's a cute term. Never heard it before. Private Richard, Private I, confidential agent, it all adds up to the same thing usually a patsy. You're rather a cynical one, aren't you, sir? No, but maybe I'm in a bad humor. I was looking forward to seeing the Giants this afternoon. Giants? My favorite ball club. I'm quite a fan. Couldn't resist business, could you, Mr. Chambers? Matter of fact, I couldn't. Can you, Mr. Carr? Business young man is business and let's get to it right now. Though since you've made a sacrifice and coming here, your fee is hereby doubled. And how much was it, single? $100, now $200. For what, Mr. Carr? For delivering an envelope. Delivering an envelope? Sort of a glorified messenger boy, wouldn't you say? Well, it's important and valuable. And your reputation is such that I know I can trust you with it. And whom do I deliver it to? Henry Martell at his apartment, 1020 Central Park West. He should be waiting for it. I promised it for this afternoon. Am I to get a receipt? Oh, no, no, no receipt necessary. You see, Mr. Martell is about to be engaged to my daughter. Daughter? My daughter Loretta. Only child, very dear to me. Only real thing dear to me since my good wife died. Anyway, Mr. Martell is going into business and I'm sort of helping him with the contents of that envelope. I'm not quite up to delivering it myself today, so... Okay, Mr. Carr, I'm to deliver an envelope. Where is it? In the inside jacket pocket, Mr. Chambers. Yep, yep, right there. That's it, that's it. And from my wallet, please help yourself to $200. So out of a clean, white, unwrinkled Palm Beach suit, you take the envelope, your fee, and you wave bye-bye to Winston Carr. And then you're out in the sunshine and up to Central Park West and once more you're poking your finger at a doorbell. This one over an engraved card, Mr. Henry Martell. Well, well, well, it just wouldn't be legitimate if you didn't show up, would it, huh? You've never seen Henry Martell, but you know it isn't he who's answered the door. Because the guy in the doorway is an old friend and a good one. Detective Lieutenant Louis Parker, homicide, New York City police. Like I said, without you, my case wouldn't be complete. What kind of a case, Louis? Murder, my friend. Who's murder, my friend? Henry Martell. Martell? You're not kidding me, are you, Louis? With murder you don't kid. Come on in, sir. Cops working over a cadaver. There's hardly any blood on them, and he must have been a good-looking lad, tall with dark wavy hair and high cheekbones. Cops are cops and a cadaver is a cadaver, but there's one incongruous note in the room. A sobbing blonde standing near the window, teetering like a drunk on a tightrope. Pete. Yeah, Louis? You happen to know the name? No. Who is she? Say she's Loretta Carr. Say she's the daughter of that mogul Winston Carr. Oh, Loretta Carr. Did, uh, she kill him? She says she didn't. Haven't questioned her closely yet. As you can see, she's, uh, standing there like she's gonna faint. I'm giving her a little time to settle down. How did, uh, he get it? Bullets and this gun right here. No prints on it. We got the call from the girl, this Loretta. Claims she dropped in on him for cocktails or something. Door was open, found him like that. Dead gun on the floor. Is it, uh, possible that it was suicide? No. No, Pete. Gun was 20 feet away from him. Guy doesn't shoot himself and then die, then throw the gun away. And it looks like my boys are finished. Let me get them out of here. Okay, fellas, I'll see you downtown. And the body goes to... I'll talk to you after the autopsy, Doc. Now, Miss Carr, just a few short questions, huh? Yes, yes, Lieutenant. Oh, uh, Loretta Carr. This is, uh, Miss Peter Chambers. How do you do, Miss Carr? How do you do? Miss Carr, we know all the details of your finding him and calling the thing into us. Now, what were you doing here? I mean, how, uh, how well did you know her? I knew Henry... Mr. Martell, for the... for the past six months, we were going to be engaged to be married. I can verify that, Louis. Uh, just wait your turn, huh? I'm saving you for later. Okay, Miss Carr, how old are you? Twenty. How old was Mr. Martell? Thirty-five. Well, did you, uh, do you have your parents' consent to this, uh, prospective engagement? Just one parent, sir. My, my father. Did you, uh, have his consent? At, at first. At, at, at first he objected, but then he came around to my way of thinking. And what were his objections, at first? That Mr. Martell was too old for me. That, that he wasn't exactly the type of person that he'd imagined I'd fall in love with. Oh, you, you know how fathers are. Yeah, yeah. But slowly, slowly, I won him over. And, and then we had his consent. I see. How'd you meet, uh, Mr. Martell? Uh, I was introduced to him in a cocktail party. Okay, Miss Carr, that about does it for now. You, you can go home, but please be available, huh? Thank you, Lieutenant. And now, Peter Pan, what the heck are you doing here anyway? Bring him up to date fast. He gives you full concentration, nodding his head up and down like a small boy watching a bouncing act on a trampoline. Okay, let's have it. Uh, have what, Lieutenant? You know what? The envelope. Envelope, Lieutenant? Come on, come on. It's a murder case I'm working on. This ain't a game of badminton. Oh, badminton yet. These modern cops all right, Lieutenant? The envelope. Naughty, naughty. You're opening other people's mail. Hey, Pete, you know what's in this? Love Sonnet by William Shakespeare. 100,000 bananas. $100,000 bills, cash money. Oh, he certainly did approve of his perspective, son-in-law. Didn't he, Louis? All right, you've done your bit. You've delivered your envelope. Police will take possession for the time being. I'll go up to the old man personally, explain the situation. And what do I do in the meantime? Well, you go to ballgame or something. Too late for the ballgame. Oh, that woolly maze. Well, then go to your office and sit and pray. Maybe business will fall in. Business didn't fall in. I don't know what to do. Business didn't fall in. It wafted across the wires of Alexander Bell's invention. What was that done to meet you? Hello? I want you to come down here right away. Who wants me to come where and why? Me. Well, who that? Me, Hypey Morris. Don't you know my voice? You're supposed to be a private eye. Herbie, I am a private eye. I'm not a private ear. What's on your legend mind? I want you to come down here. Where's here? My office. Right away. What's the matter, Herbie? Trouble, what else? When I call on you, it ain't so you should teach me to mumble. Now, come on, pal. Get on your horse. A horse and you're traveling again. Herbie Moss, big shot. Bookmakers, bookmaker, commission brokers, they call him. Herbie Moss, angle guy from way back. Slippery is a lemon pit in olive oil. His office is a fancy spread on lower Broadway. Well, the old charmers, handsome as ever. Come in, come in. You're going to earn yourself anchor change. Herbie Moss, about 40 and not bad looking and dressed, of course, in the latest of hand tailoring. Okay, I come right to the point. And what's the point? First, your fee, 500 clams, which I hand over like so. Well, thank you, Herbie. You've made your first point. Now what? Ever hear of Martel, Henry Martel? What about him? He got called this afternoon. That's what about him. What's that got to do with you? Nothing, not a thing, except it's my gun. He happens to get cooled with. Your gun? Nobody else's, pal. My gun, Herbie Moss. Cops know about this? They trace it to me quick and they yank me in. So what are you doing out? My lawyer gets me out. One of them rates. Maybe it's, maybe it's, what do I know? I'm out, but I ain't in the clear. That's your job, to put me in the clear. You kill him, Herbie? No, I did not kill him. You know him, this Henry Martel? No, I never hated a bum in my life. Herbie, my boy, just for the record, if I find that you are mixed up in this, I turn you in anyway. And you're stuck with the $500 fee. I am mixed up in nothing, I tell you. I lent that heater to a dame. When? About six months ago. Who's the doll? Doll is right. Don't trip over that, pal. That's dynamite, joy, story, a model, tall, dark, and wither shape, oh, brother. All right, all right, what's the address? It's in the form book. And let me tell you, I've seen them all big and small, but there's Joyce Doreen. Next up, Joyce Doreen. It's a terrace apartment on Madison Avenue, and the good Miss Doreen must have been taking the son on the terrace because she opens the door for you, wearing high-heeled white shoes, white swimming briefs, a white bandana, and that's all. That is all. I'm glad you called me first, Mr. Chambers. I was going to go out, but instead I reserved this time for you. Well, you said it was urgent. Oh, that Joyce Doreen. You take black eyes, black hair, red lips, and then you dream up a lush figure and you put it on the longest, shapeliest legs you've ever seen, and there you have it. Joyce Doreen. Will you tell me what this is all about, Mr. Chambers? You tell her. You're doing a lot of staring and a lot of gasping, but in between gasps. You tell her. I want to thank you, Mr. Chambers, for coming to me so quickly. Well, what else could I do, Mr. Doreen? Heard Morse claims that gun was here. Police don't know about that yet, but sooner or later they will, and then the lady, you'll be all jammed up. Oh, but I'm sure there's some mistake. Why? Because that gun's been in that bureau drawer since her blended to me. I haven't even touched it. Let me show you. What's the matter? It's gone. Mr. Chambers, Mr. Chambers, you must help me. Now, I would like to retain you. I'll pay you a fee if you'll just help me. Fees have just been pouring down, I mean, like hailstones. But... For you, honey, for you it's for free, but you've got to answer a couple of questions and you've got to answer them truthfully. Oh, yes, yes, whatever you say. First, how well do you know this Herbie Moss? Oh, as well as I know any other man. He was attentive to me. Period. And were you attentive to him, period? Not more so than to anyone else. I have many male friends. But there's never been anyone special. Not yet, huh? No. Not yet. Uh, do you know Henry Martell? Uh, yes. Was he attentive to? Very. Did Herbie Moss know Henry Martell? Yes, he did. He did, huh? Why? Is there something wrong with that? No, no, uh, nothing. Was Herbie Moss fond of Henry Martell? He hated him. Hated him, huh? You know why? Well, I, uh... Well, in all modesty, I... Oh, come on, Mr. Reen, you can tell me. Well, Herbie was jealous of Henry. In fact, Herbie and I terminated our friendship because of his crazy jealousy of Henry Martell. Did you happen to know that Martell, uh... Well, that he had a girlfriend whom he was going to be engaged? I heard that he'd been running around with some little girl. And were you jealous, Mr. Reen? Me. Ha, ha, ha, ha. Me jealous? Oh, look, Mr. Chambers, as I've told you, I have many male friends. Young and old, flip and distinguished. And as far as I'm concerned, you can lump them all together. Faithfully, you promise to keep her abreast of events. And then you make tracks for Parker's office to sort of catch up on events yourself. Pete, my boy, that's the sum and total of it. Herbie Moss is our number one suspect, but we just don't have enough to hold on. What about this Henry Martell? What about it? What kind of a guy? He's a fringe guy, a man about town. Strictly a phony, a lived-by-the-wits guy. Never arrested, never convicted. He had a few brushes with the Lord. Oh. Last time, when he belted a private eye. Belted a private eye who? Barry Miller. A couple of months ago, when you were on the West Coast, claimed the eye was tailing him and orient him. Anything else? No, nothing. Laurie, you ever hear of Joyce Doreen? Am I supposed to? I don't know yet. Well, find out for me sometime, huh? Lieutenant, I intend to do just that. Ah. It starts. Already it begins to make with a dame, huh? You beat around town, digging up dirt on Henry Martell, and then you start hiking for Joyce Doreen's place. You'd like to give her apartment a quick look-see, and you wonder how you can make it. So, it gets made for you. You're outside her door, and you can hear the finish of an argument inside. And I say you use my gun to knock him off. And like that, you put me in a spot. I'd like to punch you right square on the jaw. Herbie comes tearing out and goes past you without even a friendly howdy-doo. A new mosey in, and there's Mr. Doreen laid out neat and comfortable. She'll come to you in time, but this isn't the time. You give the apartment a quick frisk, and you come up with... guess what? A little old address book. Gall wouldn't be a gall without a little old address book. You look through it, and bang, your case opens up and unfolds for you. You get out of there, and you call Parker, and you're told that Parker's at Carr's place. So, that's your next stop. Winston Carr's in bed, and Parker's near talking to him. Loretta lets you in, and then went away. And Parker's a little peed. You again? What are you doing here? I'm wrapping up your case for you, Louis. Like how? Like giving you the murderer. And who would that be, Mr. Chambers? You, Mr. Winston Carr. Easy, pity boy. You know what you're doing? I know what I'm doing all right. Now, how do you want Louis right-side up or wrong-side under? Any way it is, as long as it makes sense. I'll do it straight first, and then I'll tack the evidence onto it. Any way you like, detective. Winston Carr with an only daughter. Apple of his eye. She latches on to a phony. Carr tries to talk her out. She won't be talked. Carr puts a private eye on him, and gets convinced that Martell is a phony. Private eye? Uh-huh. Barry Miller? How could you people know that? Quiet, Mr. Carr. Let him talk. Now, Carr pretends he okays the engagement of his daughter, but he sounds out, Martell. Martell wants a hundred Gs as an out-price. But Carr is a businessman, so he goes there and he shoots him. How am I doing, Mr. Carr? Very well, young man. Too well. I... I can't fight this. I'm old and... too sick. But I won't knuckle under either its evidence that convicts. Oh, you want evidence. All right, listen. Now, here's a businessman, Louis. It says he's going to help his prospective son-in-law in business. Now, how would he do it? Not by a hundred thousand dollars in cash? Of course not. It would be a check or nothing. Well, and why? As a cover-up. After he knocked them off, he used me to deliver a hundred Gs to Martell, to show that he had affection for the guy, you know. Now, he used me as a delivery boy, strictly as a cover-up. He bit all day. He says he didn't even change out of yesterday's suit. Well, take a look, Lieutenant. There's a suit hanging there. Okay. I'm looking. Palm Beach suit, clean, white, unwrinkled. It's been worn, but it wasn't worn yesterday. It was worn today. Pete, how do you know? Because it was pouring cats and dogs yesterday. And if he wore it in that rain, it wouldn't be clean, white, and unwrinkled. All right. Enough. What about the gun? Look, if Herbie Marce used that gun, you think it'd be crazy enough to leave it there? Well, where did this guy get stolen out of a bureau drawer? What bureau drawer? A doll by name, Joyce Doreen. Oh. Herbie gave her the gun, and Carr here lifted it from her. Convincer? Well, here's a little old address book, Louis. Alongs to Joyce Doreen. And under the initial C, guess whose name is there? Big as life. All right. Enough. Enough. So after Carr gets put on ice, surrounded by high-priced lawyers, and after you have made your report to Herbie Marce, you wend your way to Mr. Doreen's apartment. And you tell her she's out of the mess, and you're about to give her details when... Oh, no. No, Mr. Chambers. Not so fast. Let's do it nice and easily. Well... Now, you just sit down while I build a highball. Two highballs. Two nice, long, leisurely highballs. Now, just sit and wait. Joyce Doreen. Did you say something? Uh, didn't say a thing, honey. I'm just sitting and waiting. There you've had crime and Peter Chambers. Dane Clark was starred as Peter Chambers. Crime and Peter Chambers transcribed was created and written by Henry King. Others in the cast were Bill Zuckert, heard as Lieutenant Parker, Leslie Wood as Joyce, and Roger DeCoven as Winston Carr. It was directed by Fred Way. This is Fred Collins, inviting you to tune in next week, same time, same station, for Dane Clark in Crime and Peter Chambers. This is the United States Armed Forces Radio and Television Service.