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Colonos not only makes your teeth look their best, but it tastes as bright as it cleans. You're bound to like it. Ask your druggist for Colonos. K-O-L-Y-N-O-S. Colonos Toothpaste. And now Mr. Keane Tracer of Lost Persons, who tonight brings us the case of the strange display. Our story opens in the shopping district of New York on Fifth Avenue during lunch hour. Two girls pick their way across the street through traffic. They're heading toward the show windows of the smart Morley department store, now celebrating its 100th anniversary. You know, Sally, we really should be getting back to the offer. Please, we didn't let me take a minute and I'm dying to see the new windows. Oh, you and your boyfriend. Hey, look, off of that taxi. I'm all right. You know, Jeff thought up this idea all by himself, though Mr. Barton stole the credit as usual. You and your boyfriend. Jeff was working on the display all night. This is sort of like an opening performance. Here we are. Yeah, if we can get through that crowd. I beg your pardon, sir. Would you mind letting us? Thank you. Here, Rita, this window first. Okay. Oh, what an old-fashioned-looking family. They're dressed in the style of 100 years ago when the store began. Look at that. A whole family sitting in their 1844 parlor. That's Jeff's idea. You and your... Yes? Look at the old gentleman sitting by the fireplace. What about him? His white whiskers have fallen off and... It's not a dummy. It's alive. It's not alive. It's dead. Wanted for murder, Jefferson Jones, age 26, window dresser at Morley's department store, he is believed responsible for the fatal stabbing of his superior Wendell Barton last night while both were engaged in dressing the windows. Jones is 5 feet and 11 inches in height, physically slight. The body was found propped up in a display window this morning. Here, my dear. Please sit down. Thank you, Mr. King. Now, your name, please. Sally Wilson. Come, come, Sally. Maybe it isn't that bad. It couldn't be worse. Well, what's the trouble? Has someone in your family, someone you love, disappeared? Mr. King, did you notice the article in the newspapers today about... about Morley's department store? Oh, yes, the store window designer was found dead in the window. I believe the police are looking for his assistant. Yes, but Jeff Jones, the boy I'm engaged to. Mr. King, I'm told you can find anybody who's disappeared. Fine, Jeff, bring him back. I'll save you. The police are hunting for him already. He'll never give up to the police, but to you. You want me to bring him back to face a charge of murder? I know it looks bad for Jeff, but running away is no good either. It never settles anything. Help us, Mr. King. Well, I'll have to know all the circumstances. I gather from the newspapers... The newspapers don't know half of it. Jeff is so shy, never sure of himself, yet he's so talented and fine. Maybe he has this inferiority complex. Maybe it's because he's nearsighted. Anyhow, he's the sort of person somebody's always trying to walk over. In this case, Mr. Barton. A man who's been murdered? Yes. Mr. Barton was a very high-priced window designer, conceited, and always picking on Jeff. For instance, Mr. Barton sarcastically called Jeff the great artist and Mr. Shy, and Jeff didn't like it. Well, when the war broke out, Jeff decided to enlist in the Marines, but was rejected because of his eyes. Yes, my dear, go on. So he had to go back to his job, and how Mr. Barton rubbed it in. Hey, Mr. Shy, shot any japs lately? Stop it, Mr. Barton. The great artist has landed. The situation is well in hand, Mr. Barton, from the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli. Mr. Barton, there's nothing funny about wanting to fight for my country, do you hear? All right, great artist. Get back into the window. Not a very pleasant character, Mr. Barton. Then Jeff took me to a dance of all the store employees last week. And what? Mr. Barton kept telling me how pretty I was. He asked why I wanted to be engaged to a fellow like Jeff. Hmm, the ladies' man. Well, that night Jeff was ready to hit him, but I took Jeff aside and told him not to mind. He kept talking of quitting. Oh, it's no use, Sally. I can't work with that guy. But Jeff, darling, they're giving you a raise next month. Everybody knows how good you are. Me? I'm just a nobody. Stop running yourself down, Jeff. Believe in yourself the way I do. Sally, you're swell. You always make me feel so good. So important. To me, you're the most important man in the whole world. Sally, how soon can we get married? Anytime, Jeff. Next week, if you want. Okay, baby. Next week. And I'll try to forget about that guy. So you were getting married this week, Sally? Yes, Mr. King. But now this has happened. Mr. Barton has been murdered. The police are looking for Jeff. And I've got nobody to turn to, but you... Oh, find him, Mr. King. From all you tell me, Barton was a miserable man to work for. Jeff had very little reason to like him. Yet, if Jeff comes back, he faces a murder charge. I know it. But bring him back to me, Mr. King. Then we'll face what comes after that together. I know he's innocent. One moment, my dear. Hello, Mike? Get ready to leave the office with me in five minutes, please. Where to? The morgue. The morgue? Yes, to look at the body. In working in a case like this, Sally, I'm taking nothing for granted. Do you know what you want, Mr. King? Clancy? Stain's Preservice. I have. Thank you, Captain Thomas. Pull the sheet over him again. Stabbed through the heart he was, as you can see, Mr. King. And the weapon was... We believe it was a long, sharp pair of shears, the kind that winter dresses use for cutting out cardboard displays. Have the shears been found? Yeah, buried away in back of the show window. Any fingerprints, Captain Thomas? Not a one. Wiped off, were they? Or maybe they never got on in the first place, Mike. Winter dresses sometimes wear cotton gloves so they won't make smudges. Well, Captain Thomas, I noticed one other thing. There was a bruise on Barton's left temple. Oh, yeah, Miss King. We must have got that when he fell. After the stabbing. No fracture, though. Then only the stabbing killed him. That's right. Well, thank you, Captain. Mike and I will be getting along now. Glad to have seen you. Well, boss, where to now? To the Morley Department Store to ask more questions. To the perfume counter, Mr. King? Yes, Mike, over this way. Right by the window where Barton met his death. Well, what will you be wanting with perfume, Mr. King? I want to talk to that young lady who sells it. Oh, oh, a blonde and very razzle-dazzle. Now, Mike, keep your mind on business. Oh, Miss. Yes? Can I help you, gentlemen? Perhaps. Here is my card. What? Well, you're the same as Mr. King. I've been engaged to work on the unfortunate accident that happened here two nights ago. I have the permission of your personnel manager to talk to all the employees. Wasn't it dreadful? Who would ever think that shy, quiet Jeff Jones would... May I ask your name? Irene Harvey. But I don't know anything about it, really. Well, Miss Harvey, how late are you usually on duty here? Till 5.30, when the store closes, Mr. King. I'm told that Mr. Barton and Jeff Jones started dressing the windows here at about 5.15 that night. I suppose. First, they went into that window near his counter. You must have noticed them starting. Well, I don't want to say anything against Jeff. Poor thing, he's in enough trouble. I've been engaged to get him out of it if I can't. Tell me now, did you notice anything as the men arrived there last night? Well, they were on the alps again. What did they say? Well, I heard Mr. Barton say it. Yes, my great artist. That was a very pretty girl you took to the dance last week. I know she is. What was her name? Sally? I don't want to discuss her, Mr. Barton. How did a dead fish like you ever get... Stop it, stop it. All right, all right. Open that window now, get inside. That was the last you heard, Miss Harvey? Yes, I went off duty a little later. Oh, thank you. Mike? Yes, Mr. King. Let's get back to the personnel office. I want them to call in the night watchman for me. There's still a lot I want to know. A lot, Mike. You're the night watchman? Yes, sir. Bill Hankey's my name. I gather that on the night of the murder, you were making your usual rounds of the building? Oh, yes. In the course of the night, you passed Mr. Barton and Jeff Jones several times. Did you see them fighting at any time? No, sir. Nor did you see the actual killing? I was probably on one of the upper floors. Well, after the killing, it must have taken five or ten minutes to address the dead body of Barton in the dummy's clothes and prop him up in that chair in the window display. I suppose. But you saw none of that? This is a big building, Mr. King. Well, you must have seen Jeff Jones leave the store. Oh, yes, he couldn't get out unless I passed him out. What time was that, please? Oh, about 5.30 in the morning. 5.30 in the morning? Isn't that our unusual? No, sir. Window dressers sometimes work all night. Well, tell me, did Jeff Jones seem disturbed? Sort of white and nervous. Hmm. Did he explain why Barton wasn't also leaving? He said Barton had a few things more to clean up before the store opened. I see. Well, there's nothing more you can tell me, I suppose. Well, uh... You know that model cottage on the main floor, Mr. King? Yes. What about it? A couple of times during the night, I noticed Mr. Barton ducking in and out, each time a little redder in the face. You think he was drinking? That's what it looked like. Like, uh... I suppose you take a good look inside the cottage later. Yes, sir. I will. And Hankey, one more thing. Yes, Mr. King? Naturally, everybody in the store has been very upset by the murder. But one person seems exceptionally disturbed. Who? A young lady who's very good-looking. And I have a hunch her good looks did not escape Mr. Barton's eye. Oh. Am I making sense? Barton liked any good-looking gal. And Irene Harvey, too? That was no secret. The whole store knew about those two. And so Mr. King makes an interesting discovery in the case of the corpse found in a department store window. In a moment, his search goes on. Meanwhile, what would you say is the first and foremost function of a toothpaste? To help your brush clean your teeth. Isn't that so? When selecting a toothpaste, please bear this one fact in mind. Collin Oates is a high-polishing toothpaste. It was especially created to clean and polish teeth with the greatest possible effectiveness, along with utmost safety. Isn't that the kind of toothpaste you want? You might compare the action of Collin Oates to a jeweler's polish, removing tarnish from silver. Quickly, but also gently, it helps your brush remove unsightly surface stains. When these clouding stains are gone, your teeth look their loveliest. Your smile is brightest. Run your tongue over your teeth and you'll feel the difference. Look in your mirror and you'll see the difference. So start today the Collin Oates way. Your reward will be a naturally brighter, more attractive smile. The kind of smile that helps you go places in social and business life. You can get Collin Oates at any drugstore tonight. That's spelled a K-O-L-Y-N-O-S. Collin Oates, toothpaste. Now back to Mr. Keen as he looks in at another part of Morley's department store. Mrs. Ross, you're in charge of the employee's time cards. That's right, Mr. Keen. I'm very much interested in the comings and goings of one particular employee. Jeff Jones? Irene Harvey. Can you record show what time she left the store the night of the murder? Oh yes, at 12 minutes after six. But right after punching the clock she turned and went back into the store. She said she'd forgotten a package. Oh? When did she come out again? Well, that I don't quite remember. There was quite a crowd leaving at that time. Oh, boss, Mr. Keen. Hello, Mike, for one moment, please. Boss, this is very important. What is? Well, come downstairs to that model cottage. There's something I want to show you. All right, here we are in the cottage, Mike. Well, I searched around like you told me. First in this potted plant over here, I found this. A whiskey bottle. Well, I expected that. And something more. Look in this bigger poster chair between the cushions. Oh, woman's handkerchief. Look at the initials. IH. Now we're getting somewhere. Irene Harvey. Ah, boss, I got to hand it to you. We've got our hands on the murderer. Will you ask Irene Harvey to step in here for a moment, Mike? You stabbed him, Miss Harvey, for your work. No, I have nothing to do with it. But all the evidence shows... One moment, Mike, not so far. Miss Harvey. Yes, Mr. Keen? All the facts show that after checking out the night of the murder, you came back and hid yourself in this cottage. All right, I did. Why? To talk over something with Wendell Barton? We were engaged, you know. Engaged? Yes, in secret. With his idea to keep it secret. And then, lately, his eye began to roll. He stopped taking me out. Wouldn't even talk to me. So you stayed here that night to talk to him? Yes. At times, he could be charming. But that night, he was drinking. And all he would say was... Sorry, Irene. Our time is just up. Wendell, you used to say I met the whole world, too. I met it then. Wendell, you're interested in somebody else now, aren't you? Not especially. Jeff's girl, that girl Sally. Never heard of her. You met her at the dance. You've had nobody on your mind since then, but her. Oh, no, darling. You mean she doesn't mean anything to you? I mean, she isn't the only one. Wendell, you're horrible. I won't let you do this to me. I won't let you throw me away like an old coat I won't. And with that, you stabbed him. I felt like it, but I didn't. Well, what did happen? Jeff called him back to the window display. Huh. It's true. A moment later, I heard the sound of scuffling. Wendell knocked Jeff down. When he got up again, he had a thick slat of wood in his hand. Wendell laughed and said... Cut it out, you poor fool. Stop playing marines. I'm not going to let you make remarks about Sally. No, I've had enough from you. All right, I'm coming for it. He's out cold. Barton. Barton. I guess I've killed him. I didn't stop to watch anymore. I sneaked out of the cottage and went upstairs to the employee's lounge, Mr. King. I stayed there the rest of the night. And that was all you saw, Miss Harvey? That was all. A likely story, boss. Did she kill Barton? No, Mike. She did not. Mr. King, I don't want to seem to be bothering you, but have you found any trace of Jeff yet? Well, frankly, Sally, I haven't begun to look for him yet. No? Finding him will take care of itself. If I can solve another problem first. If I can prove who really killed Wendell Barton. You're sure Jeff didn't? Well, I may have the answer in a couple of days. I'm going on a trip. Where to? I'll tell you when I come back. Meanwhile, if Jeff gets in touch with you, tell him to come back at once and give himself up on my advice. If he'll listen. He's got to. Running away was the greatest mistake of his life. Oh, yes, Mr. King. I've been personnel manager here for 20 years. Then you remember Wendell Barton? Of course. He did some very outstanding window designs for us. And why did he leave, Mr. Riley? Too much of a ladies' man. I could tell you a story, Mr. King. Barton left our store in a terrible hurry. On account of that trouble, Mr. Riley? That's right. Walked off a couple of weeks before Christmas. What a scandal. And the other person involved in that incident? Oh, uh, didn't stay very long either. Went just about a month later. Well, thank you. Now I've got it. Hello, Sally. Mr. King. I just got back. I dropped in here in my way from the station. Oh, come right in. Tell me, any news? The case is pretty well solved, my dear. Except for the testimony of one certain witness. Who? Jeff himself. I haven't heard from him. Well, if I'm forced to do it, I can present my evidence without him. But it means a long, slow, methodical search all over the country. Oh, one moment while I answer it, Mr. King. Hello? Oh, dear God. Jeff, darling. Jeff. Oh, darling, why did you ever run away? You were afraid my name would be dragged into it. Oh, Jeff, that was wonderful of you. But now you've got to come back and you've got to. Oh, Jeff, please listen to me. Sally, give me that phone. Jeff, hold on for a second. Hello, Jeff? No, you don't know me. My name is Keen. No, this isn't a trap. In the name of heaven, don't hang up. Now, listen to me. I want you back in New York tomorrow morning at police headquarters. Yes, in the office of the homicide squad. Don't argue. Do as I say. Come in. Oh, it's you, Mr. Keen. Good morning, Captain Thomas. Is he here? Yeah, in the next room. He gave himself up just as you predicted. And the girl? With him. I'm sorry for the poor guy. Maybe the jury will let him off with 20 years. Or maybe he'll never have to face the jury. Is the other person here, too, that witness I asked you to have here? On the way over in the patrol car. Well, we can start in the meantime. Now, this way. Hello, Sally. That's Jeff, I presume. Hello, Mr. Keen. I came back in your say so. I hope I won't regret it. Jeff, I'll only ask one question. Did you stab Barton with those scissors? No, no, I... I hit him and let him lying on the floor. But I didn't. All right. Now then, Captain Thomas. Yes? You know my theory. It was after Jeff left Barton lying on the floor unconscious that the real murderer came along and struck. But this so-called real murderer... A person who is not quite sane any longer. Not after 10 years of brooding. 10 years of looking for revenge and fearing always to take it. I don't understand, Mr. Keen. As we all know, Barton was a ladies' man. 10 years ago, in a department store in Buffalo, there was another incident. Barton ran away with a wife of one of the other employees. He did? Soon after, she killed herself. Oh. Well, for 10 years, the husband of that woman has haunted Barton like a ghost. For 10 years, he has followed Barton from city to city and store to store, waiting for revenge, physically afraid of Barton and hating himself for being a coward. And he was in the store that night? Very much so. Come right in. They said you needed me for some evidence, Mr. Keen. Yes, indeed. This is Bill Hankey, the night watchman at the department store. Oh, sure. Hello, Bill. Hello, Jeff. Hankey, I'll come to the point. When I questioned you the other day, I was struck by one thing in your answers. What do you mean? The point was, at no time that anything was happening in the store that night were you around to see it happen? Which a big story. But there were a lot of things happening. Well, I didn't want to get Jeff in trouble. Or could it be, Hankey, that you were covering yourself up? Covering myself up? What do you mean? The fact that you yourself stabbed Barton to death. Barton? You mean Barton, the big... Very big and strong and sure of himself. You wanted to get back at him for years because he'd wronged you. But not until you found him lying there unconscious. Yeah, unconscious. And this time, this time... This time you were stronger. This time there wasn't any chance of his beating you down. And so you picked up the scissors. He had it come into him. I waited, I waited 10 years. And then I got him. But you won't get me. There he goes. He won't break out of police headquarters. I'll get him downstairs. Captain. Yes, Mr. King? I have the feeling that a psychiatric hospital would be a better place for him than a cell for a man. Yep. You're right. Mr. King. Yes, Jeff? I see now that I should never have run away. Sally could have told you that. She's a wise girl. You proved it, Mr. King. I owe you my life. And what you make of it in the future, you owe to yourself and Sally. You've got a great deal of talent from all I understand. Well, don't hide your light under a bushel. Well, sir. I know you're not going to fail. And there's nothing like having a wife who believes in you fully to make you believe in yourself. Listen next week as Mr. King brings us the case of the room that vanished. Have wartime conditions made a difference in the taste of your dentiferous? If so, maybe suggest you try colonose, a toothpaste that really tastes well. You'll go for its delicious minty flavor. You'll love that fresh, clean-tasted leaves in your mouth. And say, those problem children who balk at brushing their teeth, how you never have to coax them at all if they have their own special tube of keen-tasting colonose. And wait until you see how clean colonose makes your teeth. Leave them spick and span, looking their best. Because colonose was specifically designed to give your teeth the highest possible polish without overstepping the bounds of safety, it can help reveal the true beauty of your smile. You can get colonose toothpaste at any drug store, and nowadays you don't have to turn in a tin tube. Be sure to ask for colonose. K-O-L-Y-N-O-S. Colonose toothpaste. You've been listening to Mr. King, Tracer of Lost Persons. Now on the air every Thursday night, 7.30 to 8 Eastern wartime over this network. Don't miss Mr. King next Thursday night when the kindly old Tracer turns to the case of the room that vanished. This is Larry Elliott saying goodnight for the makers of colonose toothpaste and inviting you to listen to Friday on Broadway at 7.30 p.m. Eastern wartime over this network tomorrow night. Ladies, there's a wonderful new way to make floors sparkle like new in six to nine minutes flat. Use aero wax, the self-polishing wax that goes on in a jiffy dries without rubbing. Its marvelous high luster adds beauty to your rooms, saves countless scrubbing. Yet it costs only 25 cents a full pint. Get aero wax A-E-R-O-W-A-X tomorrow. This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.