 It's a case for Nick Carter, master detective. As sits, nine hours to live. 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. Mrs. Cornelius Fielding will go to the chair. And just 30 minutes ago, the condemned man made a last request. But John A. Walden did not ask for a sumptuous last meal in the tradition of the condemned, nor did he ask to see his nearest and dearest relative, his wife, Laura. No John A. Walden's request was far more dramatic. He asked to see the great detective, Nick Carter. What this last minute conference means is anybody's guess. Perhaps a reprieve for Walden. Perhaps a clue as to what happened to the Fielding jewels, which up to now have not been found. At any rate, the master detective, Nick Carter, has consented to talk with Walden, and probably is at this moment entering death house row. Keep tuned to this station for further dramatic developments. These are number one. Move them there this morning. Short of ways to walk the chair from number one. Is he all ready to go? Yeah, and Barbara was in. Shaved his head and legs about an hour ago. How's he taking it? He ain't been a peep out of him. Don't want nothing to eat. Don't want a chaplain. Nothing. Only request he's made is to see you. Funny time to ask to see a detective. If you don't mind my asking, Mr. Carter, what made a big shot like you decide to see him? Well, maybe I'm curious to know what's on his mind. Or maybe I'm just as softy about a fellow who's going to die in a few hours. I don't believe you got any sympathy for a killer. You're not you. Here we are. Here's your company, Walden. Oh, hi, Mr. Carter. Hello, Walden. You had five minutes. All right, guard. So you came. I was afraid you wouldn't. I must admit, I was surprised when the warden called and said you wanted to see me. Yeah, I imagine you were. Well, it sure nice of you to come. Skip the formalities, Johnny. Time's too short for chitchat. Come to the point. What's on your mind? Mr. Carter, you think I'm guilty, don't you? Well, I didn't follow your case too closely, but you had a fair trial, and you were found guilty. What would you have me believe? I'd like to have you believe I'm innocent. It's pretty late in the game to convince anybody of that, John. I'm not looking for a last minute reprieve. That isn't what I called you out here for, but when I got word a little while ago that the governor had refused my last request for a reprieve, I made up my mind that I'd only be kidding myself to hope any longer. And why did you want to see me, Johnny? Mr. Carter, I know I haven't got a chance. I'm going to be gone in just a few hours now, but I could go a lot easier if I thought maybe someday the world would know the truth, would know that Johnny Waldman is innocent. Johnny, if I thought you were innocent, I'd start the wheels turning right now to get you a reprieve. Oh, wait, let me finish, Mr. Carter. I know you don't believe me. Nobody does, and I couldn't expect you to believe me after the way things went at the trial, but as I've been sitting here in death row waiting, the idea came to me maybe Nick Carter would show him someday. Of course, I'd be gone, but well, you see, there's Laura, my wife. She's going to keep on living, and what it'll be hard for her. I suppose she believes you're innocent. Oh, she's stuck by me swell. Oh, she's a wonderful woman. I don't want the world to look on her as the widow of a murderer. Mr. Carter, all I'm asking you is that after I'm gone and well, in your spare time, if you'll try to prove they executed the wrong man, just for my wife's sake. Johnny, if you're innocent, who do you think did rob the fielding safe and kill Mrs. Fielding? I don't know, Mr. Carter. There's nobody who even suspects? Well, the only one that I, oh, no. Oh, I'm not going to accuse somebody I'm not sure of. I only got a few hours more to live in. Now listen, Johnny, if you want me to do anything for you, you better tell me everything you can about this. Oh, no, you'll find them for yourself once you start looking. Well, I've got to have some kind of evidence to go on. I don't have any. Cards were stacked too well against me, but go see Laura. She never stopped working for me. Maybe she knows more by now. Look here, if that's the case, why haven't you had a lawyer working for you right up to the last minute? Lawyers? I never had that kind of dough. Oh, a couple of shysters came around, thinking maybe I had the fielding jewels tucked away someplace, but, well, when they found out they weren't going to get a cut, they faded it pretty fast. Even if you do anything for me, Mr. Carter, I won't be able to pay you for your trouble. You'd have to do it just as a favor to a dying man. You don't know where the jewels are? No, Mr. Carter, how could I know? I didn't do that job. Look, go see Laura. She'll tell you whatever she can. Hi, Mr. Carter. All right, guard. Well, Johnny, I'll look into your case. I don't suppose you'll believe me when I say that I'm here. I bet he's been telling you an innocent man's being sent to the chair. Tells everybody that. Has it ever occurred to you that he might be telling the truth? Well, why are you? So long, Johnny. Good luck. Thanks for coming, Mr. Carter, and thanks for whatever you do for me. I'd very much like to know what happened with the fielding jewels. Oh, yeah, yeah, well, maybe they'll turn up while you're investigating. You think so? I wonder. See, guard, how long has it now until? Eight hours, Johnny. Just eight more hours. Patsy, this is Nick. Oh, Nick, thank heaven, you're called. Bestie companies have been telephoning. What's the matter? Nick around his office all evening, and he's contacted the governor, and he'll be on tap ready. We've pre-pred heaven. I just talked to the fellow. I don't have any evidence. None whatsoever. What's the matter with the DA? Well, he says that when you go to work on a case, even at the zero hours, something usually pops. And tell them to hang under their hats a while. And you, Patsy, go up to the courthouse and get a transcript in the Waldron Trial, and dig what you can out of our files about him. I'm heading back from State's prison right away. I'll meet you in front of the office. All right, Nick, we're going to have to work fast. They throw this switch in exactly seven hours and 40 minutes. Well, Waldron was really hired as a chauffeur, Nick. But it was brought out at the trial that he tried to get in right with the old lady, the chance he got. You know, Mrs. Fielding was an invalid. And Waldron used to carry her up and downstairs and waited on her, all that sort of thing. He was inside the house a great deal. And then let's see. Oh, the gun. The gun she was killed with was traced to Mrs. Fielding's steps on Tom Fielding. But the prints on the gun were Waldron's. The steps on Fielding? He lived there with her? Just the two of them. Waldron and all the other servants slept out and reported for work in the mornings at eight. When was the body found? On a Thursday night at 10 o'clock in the library of the house. Fielding came home from his club and found her. The safe was open. The jewels and the money gone. Of course, any of the servants as well as Fielding himself might have known the combination to the safe. Mrs. Fielding often opened it in front of them all. The defense harked on that at the trial. But Waldron's prints on the gun and his alibi being so flimsy, well, just cooked his goose. I see. Nick, how did Waldron strike you? Guilty? It's the evidence that tells a tale in any case, Betsy. We could find the party who has the missing Fielding jewel. Ha, ha, it would look pretty grim for that party. It wouldn't look good, that's certain. Oh, Nick, look at the time. Five-fifty. In six hours and 10 minutes, an innocent man may be electrocuted. No innocent man will be electrocuted for a crime he didn't do if I can possibly help it. And here's our first stop, Betsy, his old tenement house. Laura Waldron lives here. You're very nice to come to see me, especially today. Mrs. Waldron, this is my assistant, Patsy Bowen. How do you do, Mrs. Bowen? Hello, Mrs. Waldron. Won't you two sit down? Oh, here, here, let me dust the chair. Oh, no, down, it's perfectly all right. Well, since Johnny's been away, I, I haven't been as good a housekeeper as I used to be. No heart for it anymore. Even this one room of mine. Mrs. Waldron, I came to see you because... You went to see my husband, I know. I heard it on the radio. That's right. But it's too late to get Johnny off, isn't it? And besides, we don't have any money to pay for a famous detective like you. Mrs. Waldron, the only thing Nick Carter ever asks is that justice be done. Now tell me about Johnny. His habits, what he likes, what he doesn't like. Johnny's good, Mr. Carter. You see, I know he's innocent. Have you proof, Mrs. Waldron? Proof? No. No, just my heart tells me he wouldn't kill anybody. But more than that, I know because he was with me at the time the police say she was killed. Prosecution tore that alibi to shreds. Yes, a wife's testimony doesn't count for much in court. And yet, how thankful I am that he was with me that night that I know he's innocent. You understand what I mean, don't you, Ms. Boyd? Yes. You understand when I say the world can stand against your man, but if you know he's right and good and true, it's... Oh, Mrs. Waldron, isn't there any way at all it can be proved that your husband was home with you that night? Oh, no. No, you don't think of providing alibis with staying in your own home. If you can call one room in a place like this home, I don't know what will become of me now that Johnny's good. A town feeling is offered to help me, but... A town feeling? You mean the stepson of the woman your husband is convicted of murdering? Yes. In what ways he offered to help you? Money. He knows Johnny isn't a murderer. His testimony in court didn't follow that line, Mrs. Waldron? Of course not. Mr. Fielding had himself to protect him. That's right, Nick. Fielding was under suspicion. Just this afternoon he called again. And where are the jewels, I said to him? If my Johnny did it, where are the jewels and the money? Would I be begging for work if Johnny had done it? You're working now, Mrs. Waldron? Day work. Scrubbing up places where they don't ask too many questions, but... But I'd mop the streets of this town from one end to the other every day if Johnny didn't have to die. Don't, Mrs. Waldron. Don't cry. Oh, you'll have to excuse me. It's just that I can't stand to think I... I'm counting the minutes and seconds now. Only a few more hours and... Oh, Johnny will be gone. Mrs. Waldron, I'd like to ask you another question, if I may. All right, Mr. Goddard. Maybe Nick can save your husband yet. I'll be only good. There isn't time left for me to chase down every witness and question him. Now, tell me, Mrs. Waldron, whom do you suspect of robbing and murdering your husband's late employer? Mr. Goddard, I have no proof against anyone. I didn't ask if you knew who murdered Mrs. Bealing. I only said whom do you suspect. But I have no right to suspect him. Right. What do you mean? Oh, he's been so kind and offered to help. John Bealing, that's who you think did it. I've never dared to think it out loud before. He was her stepson, you know, but she loved him like her own. Oh, they had their quarrels, but they were just monies, perhaps. I'm not saying he did it all. Only what? Well, you talk to him, Mr. Carter. All right, I will. We'll go right over to the fielding house now. But you won't find him at home at this hour, Mr. Carter. He's always at the club at this time. I know from when Johnny used to drive for him. That's the old hunt club, isn't it? At 10th and 8th. Come on, that's hurry. Time's precious. Okay. Goodbye, Mrs. Waldron. Goodbye. Thank you. I'll be right here waiting and praying you find the guilty men in time to save Johnny. Nick, there's something puzzling you. What is it? Didn't you think Mrs. Waldron's story made sense? Well, it did, and it didn't. But Nick, doesn't it seem a bit odd for Tom Fielding to offer him money? Yes, that's true. Then her story does make sense. I see it's not what Mrs. Waldron said that bothered me. Something else. Something else? What, Nick? Wish I knew. Something about her that puzzled me. Something that doesn't fit into the picture. It's in the back of my mind somewhere, and I can't quite seem to get hold of it. If you ask me, Tom Fielding is the one who could straighten out a lot of things. Oh, he's the man we're going to tackle right now. Hmm. This hunt club is pretty swanky, isn't it? Good evening, sir. Can I park your car for you? No, thanks. We won't be here very long. Oh, beg your pardon, Miss. Ladies aren't permitted in the old hunt club. I'm sorry. Well, unless you are, Betsy. Yes, I guess it does. You better wait for me here. Guess I'll have to. Oh, Nick. Yes? It's 8.15. Only three hours and 45 minutes to go until midnight. Fielding wasn't at his club, so he's got to be home here. Your woman of intuition isn't working right tonight, Betsy. No. There's not a light in the whole house. I don't think anybody's home. Oh, Mr. Tom Fielding, if you only knew how much time we've wasted looking for you. Well, Betsy, even if Mr. Fielding isn't at home, I think we'll see what evidence we can uncover. Huh? I don't like waiting. Well, what are you going to do? In the interest of Johnny Waldron and his wife, Laura, I'm going to do a little high-class lock picking. Stay behind me. Whoa. It's dark in here. Shut the door. I'll use my flash. Where are we headed for? The library. Oh. There's the room Mrs. Fielding was killed in, wasn't it? Uh-huh. Let's see. In these old houses, the library is usually back this way, off the center hall. Come on. Nick, suppose there's somebody beside us in the house? Let's hope there isn't. Ah, here we are. This is the library. What are we looking for, Nick? Right now, I'm looking for Mrs. Fielding's safe. Safe? Safe? Oh, yes. Uh, it's behind that portrait of her. I remember that from the testimony. Thanks. Turn on that small lamp and take a glance through the papers on the desk while I open this safe. Uh-huh. Oh, hey. Mrs. Fielding held her son an air down while she was living. He's certainly making up for it now. Look at that wine cabinet cram full of black market stuff. Oh, hey, look at this for swank. Have a gold-tipped cigarette, Miss Bowen? Well, yes. Thank you, I will. That's a shame on you. How'd you feel if Tom Fielding walked in here and caught you swiping his expensive cigarettes? Only one, Nick, for a souvenir. And for that matter, how would you feel if Mr. Fielding walked in and saw you about to open his safe? Oh, Nick! Are you OK? Uh, yes. A shot through the window. Bullet went into the side of the desk here. We'd better get out of here, Nick. One minute, Patsy. I've got to see what's in this safe. It's almost open now, I think. Nick, who do you think shot at us? Mr. Fielding? Oh, dig that bullet out of the desk. It'll be a handy piece of evidence. All right. Hey, you're taking this attempt to murder us awfully lightly, Nick. I don't think it was murder, Patsy. Huh? You were standing by the wine cabinet, not four feet from the window, and I was a perfect target standing here. Patsy, I think you'll find somebody was just trying to scare us away. Oh. I got the bullet out, Nick. Looks like a 32. There we are. Yes? Look here. Jules. Oh, Nick. Yes, right here in Fielding's safe. Oh, Nick, that's wonderful. Hey, what are you doing? I'm getting the DA on the phone for you. You've got the evidence for Johnny Waldron's reprieve. Oh, wait a minute. Oh, I knew he wasn't getting it. Mrs. Waldron was telling the truth. Patsy, put that phone down. But, Nick. Put it down. Oh, but, Nick. Get me police headquarters first. I want a general alarm sent out for Tom Fielding. But, Johnny Waldron. I still have two hours. If Waldron is innocent, I'll prove it in time to save him from the chair. Nick, why should you want to talk to Mrs. Waldron again when you haven't asked for the reprieve? Let me make up for your words. There's something about her that doesn't quite add up, Patsy. I've got to know what it is before I can go further. This is her door, isn't it? Uh, uh, yeah. Oh, Nick Carter, your thinking on this case is beyond me. It's hard to explain, Patsy. When I don't know myself what the missing link is, how can I explain it to you? But you found the Jules. Tom Fielding had them in his own safe. Why, it's perfectly obvious. He didn't get along with his stepmother, and therefore... Nick, what are you doing? Going to open Mrs. Waldron's door? Oh, don't do that. I'm sure she's here. She's probably been crying and doesn't want to see anyone. Let me call to her first. Mrs. Waldron? Mrs. Waldron? Sorry, Patsy, but we haven't any time to waste. Where's the light switch? Uh, here by the door. Oh, she isn't here. So it seems. Nick, look here. There's a gold-tipped cigarette in this ashtray. The same kind we saw at Fielding's house. Let's have it. No lipstick on it. Kind of pinched in at the end. Just as if... He's been here. Why, I never would have believed it of him. Believe what? Well, that a man like Fielding would come to a place like this. Why, a man like that wouldn't get his hands dirty putting them on the door knob of a hovel like this. Hmm? Say that again, Patsy. I said a man like Fielding wouldn't dirty his hands on the door knob of a place... I can't. Patsy, you just gave me the key. I've been looking for it. Huh? Come on, we've got to hurry back to Tom Fielding's library, or there may be another murder. Tom having a siren on his car comes in handy. And tonight's one of them. I hope we're in time. Do you think the police have picked Fielding up yet, or do you think he'll be at his home? He's at home. I'll bet my bottom dollar on that. Nick, do you know what time it is? Just worrying about the time. Come on, come on. Ah, I'm right with you. The place is still dark. There's a little light shining on the hallway. He's here, all right. Watch your step, Patsy. Don't worry about me. I slipped the latch on the front door when we left. Let's see if it's been bolted. Uh-huh. Ah, it's still open. Come on. Uh-huh. Where do you think he is? Library, probably. I hear someone, Nick. They're both here. That's Mrs. Waldman's voice. I'll open the door, Nick. It's locked. I'm not up to trying to pick it up. Nick, Nick, hurry. I am hurry. You can't wait for me. Oh, Nick, please. I was just going to shoot me. I cut the gun away from him, and I... And you shot him? Oh, yes, Mr. Carter, but it was self-defense. I swear it was. Oh, Mrs. Waldman, it's too bad you had to go... It was worth it. It was worth it. Now Johnny will be saved. He won't have to die in the gym. Nick, you've only seven minutes to call. It's seven minutes to 12. Oh, yes, Mr. Carter, please, hurry. Now, just a minute, just a minute. But calm yourself, Mrs. Waldman. Here, have a cigarette. A cigarette? All right. May I light it for you? Oh, thanks. If you wait just a moment, I'll get my cigarette holder out of my bag. So you do use a cigarette holder. I thought so. Nick, the time is getting off. It's short for your call to the DA. I'm not going to make that call. Why, Nick? I'm not going to make it. No, Mrs. Waldman, it was a nice frame-up. You and your husband tried against Tom Fielding, but it didn't work. Frame-up? Yes, frame-up. You and Johnny staged this whole thing to get him a last-minute reprieve. It was very clever, but you made a couple of bad mistakes. For example, this gold-tipped cigarette butt I found in your room tonight. What about him? When I found this butt in your ass tray, you all pinched in at the end from having been smashed in the holder. I knew you would lie about not having seen Tom Fielding. These particular cigarettes are made to order for him. I didn't leave it there. I couldn't be sure of that until I found that you used a cigarette holder. Then I knew I was right. You did leave it there. Go on, prove it. Another thing. Patsy, take a look at Mrs. Waldman's hands. My hands? Why, they're beautiful. Beautifully manicured. Exactly. Mrs. Waldman, with hands like yours, you don't scrub floors for a living. That dingy one-room of yours is merely a front. Look out, Nick. A gun, huh? Yes. I know how to use this gun, too. And I'm going to... Sorry for your... Sorry I had to hit you, Mrs. Waldman. Patsy, take a look at Tom Fielding. See if he's still alive. Right, Nick. You haven't anything on me? You can't get me for this, Nick. Good. Phone for an ambulance, quick. Okay. But, Nick, can you prove this charge against Mrs. Waldman? Can you be positive that she and her husband framed Fielding? Not yet, Patsy. But I'm so sure I'm right that I'll risk my reputation on it. Oh, but Nick, as long as there's a slightest doubt about it, shouldn't you call the DA and give Johnny Waldman the benefit of the doubt? No, Patsy. As far as I'm concerned, there's no doubt whatsoever. I'm so sure I'll even risk Johnny's life on it. Hello, Nick Carter's office. Oh, yes, Sergeant. Yes? Uh-huh. It was. He is? Oh, I see. Well, thank you, Sergeant. Yes, I'll tell Nick. Goodbye. Was that the report from Police Headquarters, Patsy? Yes, it was Sergeant Matherson. You were right, Nick. That gun you took from Mrs. Waldman was registered in Johnny's name. And she lied about taking the gun away from Fielding and shooting him a self-defense. Fielding's fingerprints weren't recorded. Fielding's fingerprints weren't on the gun anywhere. But hers were all over it. Did they check the bullet you picked out of the desk? The one that was fired at us earlier this evening? Uh-huh. It came from the same gun. Uh-huh. What about Fielding? Matty say? He's going to live. In fact, he's already regained consciousness long enough to make a statement. Good. Oh, that Mrs. Waldman was clever, wasn't she? Yes, Patsy, very clever. She and Johnny had that all fixed up in advance. As soon as she knew we were going to investigate the case, she suggested we see Fielding. And then while we were looking at him, she rushed to his apartment and planted the jewels, which she was keeping for Johnny, in Fielding's safe. But he came in and caught her at it. Well, Nick, that's exactly what Mr. Fielding's statement said she did. She had a gun and held Fielding up and knocked him out. And she bound him, gagged him, and hid him away in one of the back rooms. And waited for us to arrive as she knew we would. And shouted us to make us think Fielding was trying to scare us off. Exactly. Oh, but Nick, you haven't even heard Fielding's statement. How can you know all this? Well, Patsy, it's very simple. When I examined him after she shot him, I noticed there was a bad bump on the back of his head. The marks were still in his wrists and ankles where she tied him up. Oh, Nick, you're always holding out on me. And what other thing? What made you think Fielding's life would be in danger way back when we were in Mrs. Waldman's apartment the second time? Curious, huh? Uh-huh. Well, Patsy, after your inspired remark about hands, I suddenly realized what it was about Mrs. Waldman that puzzled me. It was her hands. I knew that with hands like hers, she couldn't be earning her living scrubbing floors. I see. And if she were lying about that, it was very probable she was lying about everything. And the whole thing was a plot to make Fielding look guilty. Yeah. But why should that make you suddenly afraid that something might be going to happen to Fielding? Patsy, if she and Johnny were so anxious to get Johnny a reprieve that they were willing to give up the jewels to make it look as if Fielding were really the guilty man, it was entirely possible that she might go further and kill Fielding and try to make it look as if he'd killed himself. Yeah, but how would that help Johnny Waldron? If it was done right, it would look as if he would be merciful at having let Johnny take the blame. And she almost got away with it. But she didn't. Because Nick arrived in the nick of time. You're a wonderful detective, Mr. Carter. Ladies and gentlemen, at midnight last night Johnny Waldron went to the electric chair to pay for the crime of having murdered Mrs. Cornelius Fielding. His dramatic last-minute attempt to get a reprieve failed. Thanks to the quick action of that master detective, Nick, as that Carter was actually on the case, he found the missing jewels, uncovered a well-laid plot between Johnny and his wife to pin the murder on Tom Fielding and saved Fielding's life. Tom Fielding and the entire community owe a debt of gratitude to Nick Carter. Like them before, you'll like them now. What do I mean? Well, during the war, you called them war bonds. And then you knew them as victory bonds. Now they are called United States savings bonds. But whatever the name, they're still the best way to save money. They're still the finest and safest investment you can make. Their return of $4 for each three you put into them and their ready availability offer you the ideal way of saving money for your future. Whether you buy them from your bank or post office or whether you buy them on the payroll savings plan, they help to ensure your financial security. United States savings bonds, the same bonds you've been buying for years, are available in the same denominations as before and bear the same high rate of interest. And one last word. Don't sell the bonds you now have. While they are redeemable any time after 60 days from date of purchase, hold on to them. Make your money work for you and holding United States savings bonds. Well, Nick, what do you have lined up for us next week? Another exciting adventure? It was exciting, Ken, but Nick was on the receiving end of the excitement for once. Oh, how do you mean, Patsy? Well, Nick met two dear little old ladies, Ken, and what they did to him. Oh, my. Yes, I blush every time I think of that episode in my career. Is this a detective story or what? Oh, it's a story of crime and its solution all right, and the beginning and the end were the two charming elderly females. I hope I don't miss that. What do you call it? I call it the case of the little old ladies. Nick Carter, master detective, which is produced and directed by Jack McGregor, is copyrighted by Street and Smith Publications Incorporated. Pictured stories of Nick Carter appear in every issue of the Shadow Comics. In the adventures of Nick Carter, master detective, Lon Clark is starred as Nick, Charlotte Manson is featured as Patsy, original music is played by George Wright, script is by Barth Conray. Any resemblance in these programs to actual persons living or dead or to actual places is purely coincidental. Nick Carter, master detective, is presented over most of these stations each week at this same time. This is Ken Powell saying so long until next week.