 For your listening enjoyment, John Lund as Johnny Donner. Bob Creole, Johnny, Tristate Limited. Oh, hiya, Bob. Listen, I want to read your letter. Then, sir, if you want to know who killed Martha Williams, you pay no mind to that person or person's unknown. Look close to home. Sign with that famous old name, I suppose. Yep, synonymous. Postmarked, uh, Piney Corner is penciled with $1,000 policy on it. Who's the beneficiary? Her husband's Ben Williams. He's a farmer there. Piney Corner, huh? All right, Bob. Provide it. I can find it on the map. If I cut in for a few moments, fellas, I hope it won't start an argument. But if you'd like to get into an argument that will pay off nine times out of ten, you just bet someone that the Treasury Department has its own navy. Well, that happens to be true. It's a fact that the United States Coast Guard is an agency of the Treasury Department and has the job of seeing to it that any activity involving the coastal waters of our country is strictly within the law. The Coast Guard has many responsibilities to keep it busy. It assists ships and aircraft in distress, protect game, seal, and otter fisheries in Alaska, and maintains the international ice patrol in the North Atlantic. It operates lighthouses, light ships, beacons, and other aids to navigation, and removes wrecks and other floating dangers. In addition, the Coast Guard enforces laws and regulations relating to customs, navigation, neutrality, immigration, and quarantine, all peacetime jobs under the supervision of the Treasury Department. During wartime, however, the Coast Guard is attached to the United States Navy and acts directly under that branch of our military service. But whether it operates under the Treasury Department or the United States Navy, the Coast Guard is a mighty bulwark in the protection and defense of our country. Expense accounts submitted by Special Investigator Johnny Dollar to Home Office Tri-State Assurance Company Limited Hartford, Connecticut. The following is an accounting of expenditures during my investigation of the Piney Corners matters. Expense account item 1, $48.40, transportation to Piney Corners. A town of 1,200 people, one in, one restaurant, one general store, and one constable. A lantern-jawed man of middle age named Jake Finley. Well, it lived here all my life, Mr. Dollar. First murder we ever had. Oh, right, I know just how to go about dealing with it. Well, maybe between us we can come up with something. I hope so. Needless to say, I can give you in the way of facts, though. Clues, I guess you call them. The woman's dead, and that's about it. Could have been maxed into even. What do you mean, maxed? Hunters from the city come through here regularly, shoot at anything that moves. One of them might have done it unintentionally, then got scared and run. A city hunter with an old-fashioned squirrel rifle? That's what this bullet was fired from. Well, I said it could have been accidental. I didn't think it was. I reckon somebody meant to kill her all right. Only trouble, though. I can't figure anybody that might have had a reason to. What about this slug? The ballistics boys make anything out of it? Nope. Too flattened out. Send it here to Philadelphia. They said there wasn't any way of telling what particular rifle it came from. And putting everybody in the township, got one of them done? No, it's like I said. No clues, not speak of. There are people, though, Jake, with different motives and different capabilities. And one of them did it. Not the one you're figuring most on, though, Mr. Dahler. Her husband, you mean? Ben Williams? Why not? Ain't the type. Like you said, about capabilities, he wouldn't kill anybody. You'll see you when you meet him. Well, then, suppose we meet him. All right. The farm is just outside of town. I'll drive you out there. But, uh, the township's kind of frugal with money, and I will have to ask you to pay for the car expense. Fair enough. Maybe we can make a couple of other calls, too. I'd like to talk to the coroner. You already have. I'm the coroner. Well, let's go. Expense account item two, four dollars and fifty cents. The car expense from Piney Corner to the Williams Farm. Or at least partway to the Williams Farm. After stopping several times to point out local landmarks, Constable Simley pulled up beside two people who were building a rock wall along the road and introduced me to Williams' neighbors. But Keeler. How do you do, Mr. Dahler? Mr. Dahler's an insurance investigator, Ira. He's checking into Martha's death. Oh, I see. Oh, yes. That's right, Mrs. Keeler. Oh, that's a terrible tragedy. Sad thing for all of us. The Williams have been neighbors for years. Good neighbors. And then this, after all the other trouble it had. What sort of trouble, Mr. Keeler? Oh, Martha's illness. After that operation last year, she was almost an invalid, you might say. Ben had to care for her, along with doing for the house and running the farm, too. By the time he spent caring for her. Now, Agnes... I'd have as much time as he spent hanging around that girl. What girl is that, Mrs. Keeler? Agnes. I'm afraid my wife is just repeating cops if she's heard, Mr. Dahler. Ben Williams is a fine young man. Any stories to the contrary are either rumors. I know the girl, Mr. Dahler. It's Flora Lane. Waitress at the piney corner is in. You can talk to her when we get back to town. Good. I don't reckon we'd better get on over to Ben. Oh, by the way, Mrs. Keeler, the company appreciated your letter. My... How'd you know it was me? Oh, I just guessed. Nice to have met both of you. Goodbye. There ain't much farther now. Williams' house is right ahead of us. You figure this is how the killer got away. Found this drawer, huh? Yep. As far as the road back where we left the car. Couldn't have been seen from either the keeler place or the Williams' house. The rush is too thick. Yeah, that all right. Let's see now. Over about there is where I calculated the shot was fired, Brampton. Right next to that survey marker. Yeah. Come on, I'll show you. What was the survey for? Well, they was figuring to build a turnpike too here last year. Finally picked someplace else a month ago. Too bad. They had made this land worth something. Now, let's see. Martha Williams was setting in that big front window there. Then put the glass back in since it was long about dust. Miss Keeler was in the room with her. She brought over a cake or something. And somebody standing above where we are now fired at her through the window with a rifle and killed her. And got away back down this drawer there, I figure. Tell me something, Jake. This waitress at the end, Flora Lane. She pretty? Well, tastes different. She's pretty enough. Was it just a rumor? Or was Ben seeing her before his wife was killed? He stopped by in the restaurant once in a while. Cup of coffee, a piece of pie. He was doing all the cooking. It only got mighty tired, I would have reckoned. And what about now? Is he still seeing her? He eats most of his evening meals there. That's what you mean? How about his wife? Did she have any chance of getting well, eventually? Not according to the doctors. They said she'd be an invalid as long as she is. You're barking up the wrong tree, Mr. Dollar. It adds up, Jake. A pretty girl in the offing, young and alive. An invalid wife on a rundown farm. Now he wouldn't be the first man who's gone wrong trying to get out from under a burden like that. Yeah, not Ben, though. It ain't his nature. Come on, let's go up and talk to him. You'll see when you meet him. Why would Mrs. Keeler go out of her way to get him into trouble? Send him that letter? Well, she's always been a good friend to Martha's that she never has, like Ben. I don't know why. That's just the way she is. I wouldn't put no stalk in what she said. I don't see much sign of life. Well, Ben's in and out, you never know. Sounds like somebody's coming around the house. I guess he was working out in the barn right there. He was looking for... Oh, a constable. All right, Tom. Fine, Mr. Finley. Been around? Nope. Nope, he ain't here. I've been working out back, fixing a spreader. Mr. Williams ain't here, though. Any idea when he'll be back? Nope. No, but he didn't say. You can go in and set, though, if you want. Yeah, maybe we will. Oh, well, there's Mr. Dollar. Tom Smith. Howdy. Tom does odd jobs for Ben, some of the other farmers. Works around here and there. I see. Well, you're working here that Mrs. Williams was killed, huh? No. I wasn't even near here. Anybody said so was lying. I was killed on the other side of town. Shall we go inside, Mr. Dollar? Okay. I'll see you, Tom. He'd get kind of excited when he thinks he's a cure to anything. He's not much on brains, you know. Has he ever been in trouble with the law? Well, petty stuff. Shooting game out of season, mostly. Oh? See a good shot? Dead shot. Never miss it. I've been in the parlor for a while. The room where Martha Williams had died. Gradually the sun dropped behind the hills and Ben still hadn't come back. We finally left and drove into town. I arranged to meet Jake, the constable, later at his office. Then I walked over to the piney corners in to eat dinner. There were half a dozen tables in a place all empty. I was the only customer. The waitress was pretty and friendly and fit at the description. Feels like it's turning out to be cold night. Yeah, sure does. You have some awful good pot roast this evening. I think you'll like it. All right, fine. You're a stranger in town, aren't you? Yeah. I'm here looking into the death of Martha Williams. I see. Are you by any chance Clore Lane? Yes. Yes, I am. And I guess you're the first man looking for her. He worked very fast. I thought it would take longer. Oh? I knew you'd find out, of course. Sooner or later. I was hoping Ben and I would at least have a little time to ourselves first. Well, it looks like it didn't work out that way. Never does. Once you've been knocked down, life never gives you another chance. Did Martha have a chance? I wouldn't have done anything to harm her marriage. She didn't let on to Ben how I felt. Not once, not until after she'd been killed. That's considerate of you. I know he didn't give me one thought as long as she was alive. Not in his nature. So I've heard. Doesn't it mean anything at all when a person's acquitted? Acquitted? Acquitted of what? Well, of that other. I thought you knew. I thought that's what you... Maybe you better tell me about her, Clore. I'll find out anyway. Now that I know what to look for. Well, if you could, easy. Four years ago in Chicago, I was working as housekeeper for a family. The wife died suddenly. They said I did it because I wanted to marry the husband. I was tried for murder. You know, many great men have attained the highest office in our land, the presidency of the United States. Can you guess the name of this man? He was third vice president to become president through the death of a man holding that office. A man of limited education, he was brought to read and to write by his wife. In 1862, when Tennessee threatened to secede from the Union, he was appointed military governor of occupied Tennessee by President Lincoln. As president, by a threat of war, he stopped Napoleon's attempt to seize control of Mexico, and his administration saw the beginning of the reconstruction era. A senator before he became president, he was re-elected to the Senate after his presidential term of office was over. If you don't have his name by now, here are two more clues. During his administration, Alaska was purchased from Russia, and Nebraska became a state. Who was he? Andrew Johnson, 17th president of the United States. His life is part of your American heritage. And now, with our star, John Lund, here's the second act of yours truly, Johnny Dollar. Expensive on item three, a dollar and sixty cents. Papro's special, as the piney corner's in. I finished it, left, and walked down the empty street to the constable's office. Well, pull up the chair, Mr. Dollar. The old oil burner don't throw much heat. Oh, thanks, Jake. You find Ben? Oh, I met his girlfriend, though. Flora, I reckon you found out about her, too, from that look on your face. Yeah, she let the whole thing slip. Thought I was already onto it. You don't have no bearing, Mr. Dollar? Well, maybe not. The way it stands, though, I could make out a pretty good case against Ben. Except you haven't met him. It adds up, Jake. An invalid wife, a pretty girl, a brown farm that doesn't look as though it's made a profit in years, and a ten thousand dollar insurance policy, just dangling. Yeah. In fact, it's even worse a picture if you look at it that way. What do you mean? That farm's not only run down, it's mortgaged to the hill. Ben needed money for that first operation last year, and the other is later. The bank wouldn't touch it. But what happened? Our killer came through and helped him out. Mr. Dollar, that farm wouldn't bring 4,500 if it was sold tomorrow. Naturally, Ben feels pretty obligated. And ten thousand dollars would take the pressure off all the way around. Huh. I've been wondering about something. You said that nearly everybody in the township had one of those old-fashioned squirrel rifles. What about Ben? No. Just a shotgun. Yeah. I saw it when we were out there, and I noticed something else at the same time. The hooks the gun was hanging on. They hadn't been put there for a shotgun. They were too far apart. But I think they'd fit a squirrel rifle just fine. Ben's not one to lie, and he told me he didn't have a rifle. But that's something else I've been setting about, Mr. Dollar. I kind of half remember seeing a squirrel gun hanging over that mantle in years gone by. Spencer count item four. Four dollars and a half. Car expense for another trip with a constable out to the Williams farm. All right, sir. Evening, Jake. Hey, Ben. Yeah, I'd like you to meet Mr. Dollar. Hi. How are you? Well, sort of cold out there. Yes, sir. Mind if we come inside, Ben? Oh, sure. Sorry, Jake. Come on back to the kitchen. That's the only room I keep a fire in. Pull a couple of chairs out from the table there. Thanks. I'll see if I can shake this grape down a little. Get the draft started. Got some business out this way, Jake? Well, yeah. Matter of fact, we're here to talk to you, Ben. Oh? Mr. Dollar here is an investigator for the insurance company that's got the policy on Martha. He aims to find out who killed her. What about me? You got any idea about it yet, Mr. Dollar? Yes. An idea with nothing more than that. You mind telling me? No, I don't see any reason not to put the cards on the table. The way things stack up right now, looks like maybe you killed her, Ben. That's a lie. Well, I wouldn't harm her hair on her head. I said looks like looks can be deceiving. What do you mean? Mr. Dollar's been checking here in there, Ben. Talking to people. The keylers and Flora Lane. What's Flora got to do with it? Nothing. Or she could be part of your reason. Well, I didn't even make her acquaintance hardly before the last week or two. What about Mrs. Keeler? She's a friend of yours, isn't she? Well, she's a good friend of Martha's. Why'd he ask? She thinks she killed your wife. She wrote a letter to the insurance company. Well, she's crazy. I always knew she never liked me, but I didn't figure she'd go that far. Ben, whatever happened to that squirrel rifle you had around the house? Well, a week before Martha died, somebody... how'd you know I had it? What happened to it, Ben? Jake, I didn't lie to you actually. You asked me if I had a rifle. I said no, and I didn't then. You didn't ask me if I had had one. Where's the rifle now, Ben? Well, I don't know, Mr. Dollar. It was stole the week before Martha was killed, and I ain't seen a sense. You didn't say anything to me about it being stole. How come you didn't report it? Because Martha asked me not to. She thought she knew who took it, and she wanted to give them a chance to make good. She was like that, always giving people a chance. But after she was gone, after she'd been shot by that same kind of rifle, you still didn't report it. Because of how it would make things look. Reportant afterward that the gun had been took before. Don't you see? Who had a chance to steal the rifle, Ben? Well, I don't know. The only ones I can think of that was in the house that week are Mrs. Keeler and Tom Smith. Tom Smith. Jake, is that the kid we met here this afternoon? Yep. He's taken things before, Mr. Dollar, and he's crazy about guns. Ah, maybe we ought to check into it. It's around here, back to the feed store, Mr. Dollar. There's kind of a shack on the corner of the lock. They let him use it in return for keeping an eye on the store at night. I think the door is here at the corner, if I recollect. It's been a long time. All right, now, you stop right where you are. It's Constable Finley, Tom. Mr. Dollar's with me. All right. I figured it was somebody trying to break in. Well, now that you know it isn't, I wonder if I could have a look at that gun you're holding. Well, I reckon so, Mr. Dollar. Sure, here. Thanks. You got the flashlight, Jake? Yeah, just a second, though. Here we are. Well, no luck. It's a 22. What you fellas up to anyhow? Tom, what did you do with Ben Williams' squirrel rifle? How'd you find out? Never mind. What did you do with it? I got it now. Where is it? I sold it. I did. I sold it to Mr. Keeler. He gave me $3 for it about three weeks ago. Three weeks? Better make it a week after Martha Williams was shot. And you took the gun the week before she was shot. Well, Tom? Well, what? I don't know what... Are you saying I shocked Mrs. Williams? I'm asking. She was the best friend I ever had. The only one in this town ever treated me like somebody. I wouldn't do nothing to hurt her. Besides, that gun ain't even been fired for three or four years, maybe. Mr. Williams never did use it. I think he got a rust inside the barrel. Tom, for your sake. I hope it has. Expensive on item five, another $4.50 for the loan of Jake Finley's car to drive out to the Keeler farm and pick up the stolen rifle. As I walked up to the porch, the door opened. Good evening, Mrs. Keeler. Oh, it's you, Mr. Dollar. Is your husband at home? Oh, yes. He's in there working on me to count. Mr. Dollar, about that letter, it was a terrible thing to do. Well, it... I don't really think Ben... Mr. Williams had anything to do with Martha's death. And I don't hate him either. In fact, not that Ira isn't steady and reliable, but her life on a farm isn't easy for a woman at the best. She wants more than just cold hard profits and grasping for more and more money. She gets silly notions. Mrs. Keeler, I don't... Well, that's all. Nothing more. Ben wouldn't even pay any attention to me, Mr. Dollar. You understand. Yes. I think I do. You go right on in. I have to take these preserves over to Ms. Daly. I don't know why I told you all that. Good night, Mrs. Keeler. Mr. Keeler, in here. Morning. Sorry to bother you this time of night. Oh, Mr. Dollar. I've been looking up my last year's account books. What can I do for you? Well, unless I've been misinformed, you bought a squirrel rifle from Tom Smith a while back. That's right. Hanging there over the fireplace. $3. Quite a bargain. Of course, I wouldn't be surprised if he stole it somewhere. He did. From your next-door neighbor, Ben Whitman. I'm out $3. And I'll take it over to Ben in the morning. I wonder if I could look at the gun, Mr. Keeler. We're trying to check on Tom's story. Of course. Go right ahead. I'll just finish this total while you're doing it, and we'll have time for a chat. Fine. He went back to the ledges on the table in front of him, and I reached up and took the rifle down from the hooks over the mantle. Tom Smith had told the truth. There was rust in the barrel and on the breech. The gun hadn't been cleaned nor fired. But I saw something else, too. The hooks over the fireplace. They were old and rusted and set firmly into the mortar. They'd been there for years. Find out what you were after, Mr. Dollar? More than I was after. I know who killed Martha Whitman. Tom Smith? Murders are ordinarily committed because of hate or for gain. Now, hate didn't seem to fit in this case, but gain did. Who benefits? At first glance, Ben Whitman, the beneficiary of the insurance policy. No, I don't believe it. No, neither did I, not completely. Didn't quite add up. Maybe it was too obvious. No, it wasn't Ben, Mr. Keeler. It was somebody who stood to benefit even more than he did from that $10,000 policy. Who? Somebody who made a $7,500 loan out of kindness. That in itself should have tipped me off, Mr. Keeler. As Jake says, it wasn't in your nature. My nature? Yes, it wasn't kindness. It was good business at the time because a turnpike was being planned that would make the farm worth twice that loan. But the road fell through, and you were stuck with a worthless farm unless Ben could get money to pay you. I imagine that's when you started thinking about murder. You're accusing me of murder, Mr. Dollar? Those hooks over the mantle have been there a long time. People got hung there before you bought this one from Tom Smith. There might not have been one. The neighbors will remember. Yeah, let me just put down this final total. I had a good year last year. Very good year. I doubt it's going to be that good this year. No regrets, Mr. Dollar. It's like farming. You take risks on grouse, frost, insects. Sometimes you lose. Make a mistake. I knew I'd made a mistake the second I pulled that trigger. We're just a matter of time. The gun's buried out behind a barn. Expense account out of six. 57 dollars and 20 cents. Incidentals and transportation back to Hartford. Expense account total, 120 dollars and 70 cents. Yours truly, Johnny Dollar.