 It's a case for Nick Carter, master detective. Yes, it's a 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. Continuing the curious adventure called... The Accidental Bullet. Or Nick Carter and the Mystery of the Murdered Dog. Nick Carter is asked by Simon Agnew, an eccentric inventor, to solve the murder of his watchdog, Lord Nelson. Nick finds that the dog has been shot accidentally, and that the shot apparently has come from the 52 Club, a mysterious stone house, several hundred yards from Agnew's isolated residence. Nick takes the body of the dog back to his laboratory, and is about to probe for the bullet that killed, when two masked men break in and threaten him and Patsy with guns. Stick them up, Carter. Play nice, or I'll plug you. Yeah, that's right. Well, what do you two thugs want? We want the body of that dog you just brought here, Carter. The body of the dog? Yeah, we're gonna get it if we have to kill you both just as dead as the dog is. What do you know about that dog? Never mind what we know. Where is it? Suppose I refuse to tell you. Suppose I plug this pretty secretary of yours. Nick, don't listen to them. Well, let me teach Carter a little lesson, Jake, huh? You'll make him more respectful of visitors after this. Shut up, Joe. Well, Carter, do we get the dog's body, or do we get to practice our marksmanship on the dame here? All right, you win. The dog's in my laboratory. That room there? Yes. Inside on the lab table. Take a look, Joe. Right. Just be a second. You better be careful, Jake. You're heading for trouble. Who's running this little party? You or me? I'm just warning you. Well, don't bother. You got it, Joe? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's in this box. He hadn't taken it out yet. And here's some rope I figured you'd need. Let's see. Yeah, it's the one, all right. Big black bulldog, very dead. OK, we'll tie him up, and then beat it out of here with a dog. Gosh, they're certainly tied as tight, Nick. Have you been able to reach any of the knots yet? No, Patsy. I can't seem to get any slack at all. But the arm of this chair is coming loose. If I can only pull it out. Yeah. Now it's coming. There. Now that is it. Oh, good. Now to slide the rope off the arm of it. That's it. Now that gives me enough slack to work my arms out of this. And there. Press to watch it turn to him, a free man again. Now just a second, and I'll cut you loose. Oh, nice work, Nick. Oh, yeah, Patsy. That didn't take too long. But I'm afraid Jake and Joe are already too far away for us to catch them. Who were they? All of those masks they were wearing. I couldn't make out their features. But they're not important. And just a couple of hired flugs working for someone else. Who in the world would hire two gunmen to steal the dead body of a dog? That, Patsy, is something we've got to find out. I'm sure of one thing. What's that, Nick? It wasn't the dog they wanted. It was a bullet that killed him. But that doesn't make any sense. It was just a stray bullet that killed Lord Nelson. Patsy, I think what's happened proves conclusively it wasn't just a stray bullet. There was something very special about that bullet. In some way, it was probably a clue to some crime we don't know about. Our only clue. Now it's gone. Perhaps not. Those two gunmen got away with Lord Nelson and the bullet. But maybe they weren't quite as clever as they thought. How do you mean? Just before they came in, I took an x-ray picture of the dog's head. The x-ray will show us the bullet clearly. Maybe it'll tell us as much as the bullet itself could. That's wonderful, Nick. It'll only take me a few minutes to develop the plate. Then we'll see what we can learn from it. Here's the negative, Patsy. I'll hold it up to the light. There, there's the bullet. It shows up plainly. Yes. That's strange. What's strange, Nick? The bullet. It's no ordinary bullet. Judging from this x-ray, I'd say it was originally a perfectly round bullet. But no modern gun fires a round bullet. I know. The kind of bullet our grandfathers used to use in their old-fashioned muzzle-loading pistols. What on earth do you suppose it means? I don't know. But there's one way I may be able to find out. How's that, Nick? By going down to headquarters and checking over Riley's records. If I find a bullet like this, it's figured in any recent crime. I'll know there's some connection between that crime, the 52 Club, and the death of Simon Agnew's watchdog. Well, Nick, have you found what you're looking for yet? No, Riley, no, I haven't. And I've studied every crime in your record for the last six months. Just what is this case you're working on, Nick? It must be an important one. Oh, I'm investigating the death of a watchdog. A watchdog? That's a hot one. Nick Carter investigating the death of a dog. Oh, sure, you're joking, Nick. I am not. I believe a crime has been committed that we don't know about, and that the dog's death is our only clue. Is it now? To a crime nobody knows about. Oh, Nick, are you sure you're feeling all right now? This is no joking matter, Riley. I'm convinced of it. Well, tell us, Riley. Oh, here's the question. What is it? Well, I first remember a report on young Danny Caswell's death. It was an accident, though, right? An accident, man. I was sure of that myself, Nick. Danny Caswell dead. The millionaire playboy. No, that's the one, Nick. And a queer accident, it was, too. He was killed by an old-fashioned duel in pistol that he was cleaning. That's right, Mr. Carter, an old-fashioned muzzle loader. He was certain it was an accident. Why, he certainly looked like one. But the body's downstairs in the morgue, if you'd like to examine it yourself. I'd like to very much. Riley, I think I've found what I'm looking for. Hi, Nick. It's Danny Caswell's body. And here's where the bullet entered his head, just below the right eye. Yes, I see. His butler found him dead in his apartment this morning, Nick. He was sitting in an easy chair, and he had an old-fashioned duel in pistol in his lap that he'd been cleaning. He must have gone off while he was bending over it. And there were other old pistols around. The butler said he collected them. And it certainly looked like accidental death. About what time did Caswell die? I made it somewhere between 3M and 5AM. Rather late to be cleaning a collection of old weapons. Jesus, that, Nick. She, do you think maybe it wasn't an accident? I'm positive it wasn't. Look at the powder burn around his wound. What about it, Nick? If you look close, you'll see it was made by modern smokeless powder. Say, that's right, Mr. Carter. And here's a few grains of unburned powder embedded in the flesh. What are you giving that, Nick? Did you bring the pistol that killed Caswell with you, doctor? Yes, here it is, Mr. Carter. Thanks. An old-fashioned muzzle loading pistol made about 100 years ago. Here, look at the burn powder traces just inside the muzzle of the gun. By George, I see it now. The gun was loaded with old-fashioned black powder when it was fired. But the powder burn on Caswell's body was made by modern smokeless powder. Exactly. That means the bullet that killed Caswell, this old-fashioned round lead ball you took from the wound, was fired from several feet away. Several feet? But these powder burns there? Then a modern pistol loaded with a blank cartridge was fired very close to the body, so the blank would leave a powder burn around the wound. Then the whole thing was a plant, Nick. That's what I'm getting at. Caswell was killed with this pistol right enough. Then whoever killed him managed to get his body into his apartment and set the scene so the whole thing would look like an accident. Mr. Carter, I certainly handed it to you. I was completely fooled. Now I know why someone was so anxious to make sure I didn't get a look at the bullet that killed Simon Agnew's watchdog. That bullet would have matched up with this one that killed Danny Caswell. Nick, what does all this mean? It means Danny Caswell was killed at or near the 52 Club last night. The 52? Oh, but Nick, that case to crime outside my territory. I know it does, Riley. But it's not outside my territory. I'm going to follow this case to a finish. Good luck to you, Nick. Soon as it's dark, I'm going to pick up Scubby and pay another visit to the 52 Club. Nick, is that the 52 Club that are ahead of us? That's it, Scubby. Gosh, it certainly looks mysterious in the moonlight, like a miniature castle. Yes, it does. That's it. It's almost the same thing this morning. Patsy, certainly we're sorry you wouldn't let her come with us tonight. I couldn't. It may be a danger. Although the club seems deserted from here. Yeah, there isn't a light showing. Hey, do you think that manager, fellow Howard Kent, has run for it? Well, he's probably decided to. Play low for a while anyway. Here's the garage. Empty. There were anyone here that's certainly be a car around there. Well, then we could have driven straight up here instead of hiding the car down in the woods back there. Never hurts to play safe, Scubby. No, you're right, Nick. Now, here's the terrace. Make it be safe for you as I have flashlights now. OK. Hey, what is it, Nick? What are you shining your light on the terrace for? This morning, Kent's assistant was mopping this particular part of the terrace. And you... Ah, here we are. Yeah, what is it? The tiles have been mopped clean. But here's a stain on this bit of moss between these two tiles. Yeah, you're right. What made it, Nick? I don't miss my guess. Blood. Blood? Yes, Scubby. I have a hunch this is the spot where Danny Caswell died last night. And you think it was murder, Nick? Unless I'm very much mistaken, Scubby. It was deliberate and cold-blooded murder. Come on, I want to get inside. Sure, right, Nick. Here's the door. Oh, it's locked. Let's see if one of my keys is over. Oh, not that one. Let's try this. Ah, here we go. Shall I turn on the light? No, no, no, we'll use that flashlight. Gosh, this is a big room. Look at the size of that fireplace there. Yes. Huge, isn't it? Yeah. It's Scubby. Look at those old guns in the wall above the fireplace. Just a second. I want to have a closer look at those. See, Nick, they all look as if they were 100 years old. Most of them are. Look here, Scubby. Who? There's nothing there, Nick. Just two empty brackets. Exactly. Two brackets, just the right size to have held the two dueling pistols that were found in Danny Caswell's apartment. And the dusty outline over each bracket is the same size and shape as those pistols. Gosh, Nick, that's right. I can't prove it yet, Scubby, but I have a hunch that Caswell was here last night and was deliberately lured into a duel and was the two old dueling pistols that used to be part of this collection were used. Well, it certainly looks like it. Caswell's opponent, whoever he was, killed Danny. But Danny's bullet missed and went down the hill to kill Simon Agnew's watchdog. Oh, it's a good thing Agnew asked you to investigate the dog's death, isn't it? Not for the man who killed Caswell, it isn't. Hey, hey, Scubby. Who? Did you hear anything, Dan? No, Nick. I didn't. Thought I heard a footsteps in the next room. Well, maybe it was wrong. I must have. Oh, Scubby! Watch out, Nick! We're falling! Nick and Scubby have apparently stumbled on a mystery far stranger than Nick ever dreamed of when old Simon Agnew asked him to investigate the death of his watchdog and what has happened to them now in the Strange and Sinister 52 Club, which they thought deserted. Listen tomorrow. The Strange Adventures of Nick Carter, Master Detective, features Lon Clark as Nick Carter, Patsy is played by Helen Chote, the stories are written by Bob Arthur and David Cogan and original music is played by Lou White. Be sure to listen tomorrow to the next episode of this exciting story and follow the further adventures of Nick Carter in the case entitled The Accidental Bullet or Nick Carter and the Mystery of the Murdered Dog. The return of Nick Carter, a copyright feature of Street and Smith Publications Incorporated, is presented by the mutual broadcasting system from the studios of WOR New York. The adventures of Nick's adopted son, Chick Carter, Boy Detective, are broadcast over most of these stations Monday through Friday at 5.15 p.m. Eastern wartime. Nick's own show is presented over most of these stations every evening Monday through Friday at quarter past eight Eastern wartime. This is mutual.