 It's a case for Nick Carter, master detective. It's of the poker murders. 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. The waterfront section of the city. There lies a condemned slum area. The streets dark and deserted, lined with empty crumbling tenements. Deep in a grimy tenement deep within, a masked man sits in a hidden room and plays solitaire. This is the sinister master of crime known as the ace of spades. The six and seven are close to see you, ace. Send them in. Now, here we are, chief. Yeah, you're five minutes late. I'm sorry, yes. The cops are watching this area. We had trouble slipping in. Since when have I accepted excuses? Yeah, boss, we know. What about the other three? Are they waiting at the rendezvous? Yes, sir. You've both memorized my instructions. We've got them down call, chief. But suppose there's a hitch. There won't be a hitch. The ace of spades doesn't make mistakes. Of course, if you make one. Oh, no, we won't, ace. You can depend on us. All right. You two, it better get going. One thing. What is it, chief? Don't forget to leave your calling cards. I don't want to disappoint my dear friend, Sergeant Matheson. Come in, patchy. Whether retainer there paying me, I have to see him. This way, Mr. Williams. Mr. Carter, my company's in trouble. Yes, sit down, Mr. Williams. Tell me about it. As you know, we're the biggest underwriters in the business. But this first storage robbery yesterday, we can't take any more of those. Oh, the ace of spades, huh? Yes. Whoever he is, he's hit us five times in the last two weeks. We're paying out a fortune in claims. You're working with the police on this? The police? They're helpless. The ace of spades has been too smart for them. Take that fur warehouse job last night, for instance. Yes? Every burglar alarm was cut or disconnected. The vault combinations were known beforehand and the locations of the most valuable furs. What about the guard? Was he one of your own operatives? Yes, one of our best men, too. They locked him into one of the refrigerated vaults. The ace of spades men leave the usual calling cards? Yes. It was a five-man job, apparently. They left the six, seven, eight, nine, and 10 of clubs. That's great flush. It's a pretty high poker hand. Among his other accomplishments, our friend seems to have a perverted sense of humor. Well, it's a brand of humor, I can't say I relish. Mr. Carter, will you help us with the case? I will. Tell you the truth, Mr. Williams. I was just about to drop down and discuss it with my old friend, Sergeant Matheson, in the homicide division. You see, the gentleman who calls himself the ace of spades interests me no end. I'm looking forward to meeting him personally. Black 10 on red jack. Red 4, black 5. Yes? The queen of hearts is here, ace. Queen of hearts? Put her on. I thought I told you never to come down here. I had to come. I know he's been called in by ACME underwriters. How did you know? I make it my business to know everything, my dear. But ace, true. Yes, I know. It will be intriguing to match wits with him. Now then, my dear, you'd better run along. You've worked to do tonight. I'm sorry, but I'm busy. I know. Sometimes I think you love that game more than you love me. Come, come, my dear. There's no basis for comparison. Solitaire, like every other card game, is relaxing. Women, when they're as lovely as you, are exciting. Ace, please. Good night, my dear. You won't be late for Rhoda Stanley's birthday party, will you? No, Patsy. You drop me at headquarters and go right on. I'll join you later. Uh-huh. Oh, it's funny the way I bumped into Rhoda after all these years. Hadn't seen her since college, and then all of a sudden I was standing in a nile online at Trimble's, and there she was. Yes, and now we're going to her birthday party. Uh-huh. The minute she found out I worked with you, she insisted on our coming. She's dying to meet you, and, well, I promise to produce. You sure you don't mind, Nick? No, no, of course not, Patsy. Oh, it ought to be something. She's married to John Stanley. The banker? Ah, that's right. Which is the same thing you're saying. She's married to $10 million. And I, was the girl in my graduating class, voted most likely to succeed. Well, Patsy, it's a funny thing. What's funny? Stanley's bank. The Marine Trust is putting up the capital to tear down that slum area, where the ace of spades is supposed to be hiding. Oh, do you really think that's where the ace of spades is hideout is? Could be. There are more than 200 abandoned tenements down there, and the two patrolmen murdered in that section seem to point to it. I won't forget those two homicides in a hurry. Each of them had a playing card pinned right over the bullet holes. Yes, pair of jacks. Fair sample of the ace's grisly humor. What kind of a man can he be anyway? Infernerly clever, Patsy. We know that much. A brilliant planner with a mind that doesn't overlook the minutest details that might trap him. But why are those poker hands whenever he's pulled a job? He's an egotist. Happy criminal glorifies his crimes and joys leaving his signatures at each one of them. Oh, this close enough, Nick? Yes, I can work the other half-block to headquarters. Nick, I... please be careful. Don't take any chances. Now, don't worry. The ace of spades may play his cards according to Hoyle. But I'll play him any way I can to win. Oh, Nick! He'll tell you the truth for once I'm glad to see you. This ace of spades has really got me on the murriga round. First, he knocks over two of our best cops. Then he kills this watchman on that warehouse job last night. And he leaves nothing, no evidence, except those blasted playing cards. Yes, I know. Nick, I tell you, this ace of spades is like a ghost. This whole case like a nightmare. How do you even got the cards as men lift? Yeah, here they are. Common pattern. There's still hundreds of decks like this all over town. Uh, what about the... Fingerprints? Yes. No, none. We powdered every card. Even used the iodine tests, nothing doing. Suppose you search that abandoned slum area. Look, are you kidding? Nick, of course we did. The night Burke and Finnegan were killed, we went through it with a fine tooth comb. A devil of a job it was, too. As I can imagine, in as much that place has been blacked out ever since the city decided to dismantle their street lamps in the area to save electricity. With all these hundreds of empty tenements, the ace could change his headquarters at will. Or he could drive a car through there where the headlights turned off and never be seen. Yeah, I know. That's what makes it tough. The place is as black as well the ace of spades. I got a couple of men down there now, nosing around. Not that I expect to find anything. Ah. Homicide, Sergeant Matheson. No, Sergeant. Yeah? Shall I switch you on? Yeah, yeah, I'll talk to him. Isn't you, Sergeant? Yeah. What is it, Nolan? Well, Connors and myself saw a light in one of these here tenements. What? Are you sure? Yeah, positive. The light's gone now, but we've got the place spotted. Shall we go in and investigate? No, no, no. Now, now listen, Nolan. You and Connors stay there and keep your eyes peeled on that tenement. Yeah? I'll be right down with the squad. OK, Sergeant. We'll be on the corner of the beside six. Nolan, Nolan, Nolan. You say that call box was located at the corner of 16th Street and Avenue F, Maddie? Yeah, that's right, Nick. Couple of more blocks and we'll be there. The looks of things, you must have every cruise car on the force in this area now. OK. The judging by what's going before, I don't think it's going to do us any good. Maddie, just look at this area. Nothing but rows and rows of dark tenements and boarded up stores. Yeah, I know. Look, there isn't a whole pane of glass in the place. The streets and the sidewalks are certainly littered with this blood. Hey, Nick, I heard a shot. Take it easy, Maddie. Take it easy. One of your boys up ahead just blew a tire, picked up a piece of broken glass by the way. Oh, oh, yeah, yeah. Oh, this place gives me the creeps, I guess. Oh, there's the call box that Nolan called from. I don't see anything. You many? No, Nolan and Connors must be somewhere around, one way or the other. Couple of sitting pigeons. The ace are in this doorway, riddled by bullets. And look, Maddie, the ace left his usual calling cards, the jack of hearts on Nolan, and the jack of diamonds on Connors. And Burke and Finnegan drew a pair of jacks, too, and they were murdered down here. Four jacks, four of a kind. Well, whatever the ace of spades is, Maddie, he's consistent. He's still killing, and according to Hoyle. Betsy, what's happened to the master detective you promised to produce tonight? Well, I can't understand what's keeping Nick, Rhoda. He was supposed to be here long ago. Well, we won't worry about it. Let's just have another cocktail, huh? After all, it is my wife's birthday. As you know, Betsy, I'm lucky woman to be Mrs. John Stanley. Look at the birthday present John gave me, this necklace. Oh, I've been noticing that, Rhoda. Match diamonds, isn't it? It's a magnificent thing. Oh, that must be Nick now. I'll get it. What's the devil? All right, Stanley, get those hands up. Yeah, and fast. Hey, no, wait a minute. What does this mean? We're playing cops and robbers. That's why we're wearing these masks. But you shut up, Stanley. I'll do all the talking around here. All right, Joe, get to work on that wall, save us behind that picture. You know the combination. Right. John, all my jewelry's in there. I know, my dear. I'm afraid there's nothing we can do now. Or any other time. Pretty sure of yourself, aren't you? Yeah, lady, I sure am. How you doing, Joe? OK, just got the safe open. Swirl. Now, Mrs. Stanley, I'll take that necklace. Oh, John, my birthday present. Will you give it to me, or do I have to tear it off your neck? Rhoda, I'm afraid you'll have to do as he says. No, no, I won't. Oh, Rhoda, your husband's right. We're helpless now. These men are not going to take my necklace. All right, lady, looks like I'll have to rip it off that pretty white neck of yours. Take your hands off my wife. Shut up, Stanley. Sit where you are. I said, let her along, you hear? Take your hands off. John! John! Nice work, pal. Yeah, I haven't had a chance to use that black jacket in a long time. You'll kill him. He isn't breathing. Naturally, lady. That was no love tap I gave him. No. You got all that stuff on the safe, Joe? Yeah, everything's worked like clockwork, as the chief would say, according to plan. You'll pay for this, both of you. That's what you think, lady. Oh, um, here's a couple of calling cards, just to remember us by. They left the ace of hearts from the ace of clubs, aren't they, Patsy? Yes, Nick, and both of the men were masked. We couldn't tell who they were. They hit John, killed him. He tried to protect me. All right, now, Rhoda, don't try to talk. You've had a terrible shock. Just lie back on the couch and try to rest. The doctor will be here soon. John, John! I'm sorry, Mrs. Stanley. Someday, you'll have the satisfaction of seeing those killers go to the chair. Nick, one of those crooks said everything went according to plan. Do you think the ace of spades planned John's murder? Yes, Patsy, I do. But it was so wanton. Whenever the ace of spades kills, it kills for a reason. He isn't the type to kill just for the pleasure of it. Now, Patsy, did you notice anything about these thugs? Anything unusual that might give us a clue? No, they were both masked about medium height, or black gloves. Wait a minute, Nick. Yes? I do remember something now. When the man who hit John with the blackjack raised his arm, I saw his cuff links. And what about them? They were little black aces of clubs. Unusual? Do they look expensive? Oh, yes, very. And not the usual kind of thing you pick up in a jewelry store, probably made to order. Patsy, you're magnificent. I am, Nick. You are. You've stumbled on something we've badly needed in this case, a good lead. From now on, we're going to play a little game. A little game? Of what? A little game of poker. Mind if I use your phone, Sergeant Matheson? Oh, no, no, no, no, Mr. Williams. Sergeant, my company is demanding action from you and Mr. Carter here. Yes. Now, wait a minute, Mr. Williams. Frankly, we can't wait for anything much longer. You realize the losses that me underwriters are taking? Hello? Hello, Boulevard Garage? This is Mr. Williams. Is my car ready? What? Two new tires? I see the old ones are pretty badly cut up, eh? Well, that makes three new tires and all. Uh-huh. All right, go ahead. I suppose it can't be helped. Car trouble, huh? Yes. But that's the least of my worries, Mr. Carter. My firms insured the Stanley Jewels along with that diamond necklace for almost $100,000. Unless you nail down the ace of spades pretty quickly. Well, might as well try to nail down a ghost. We'll do what we can, Mr. Williams. I've got a lead on him now, I think. What lead? Well, I'd rather not say until I'm sure it'll be a value. Very well. I don't care how you get the ace of spades as long as you get him. And soon. Good day, gentlemen. Bye. Hey, Nick, what's this lead you're talking about? I'll let you know, Mary. When and if it pays dividends. Oh, by the way, did you? Yeah, I'll wait a minute. I'm aside, Sergeant Matheson. Sergeant, is Nick there? Oh, yeah, sure, Patsy. Yeah, Nick, it's for you. Hello, Patsy, did you find anything? Plenty. I canvassed the big jewelry store just as you told me to do. And? After walking my feet off and talking to about 100 supercilious jewelry clerks, I finally made a strike at Rutledge's. They make up those couplings? Yes. They have a carbon of the sales slip? Yes, Nick, they did. The man who ordered those couplings was Frankie Morello. Morello, huh? Good work, Patsy. Go home now, soak your feet in hot water. I'll let you know when I need you again. Yes? Hey, Acer Clubs is here to see you. Send him in. Hello, Chief. You sent for me? Yes, Frankie. Sit down. Thanks. Well, Chief, how'd you like the way Joe and me pulled off that Stanley job, eh? That's an interesting pair of couplings you're wearing, Frankie. Little aces of clubs, eh? Yeah, pretty neat if I do say so. Had them made to order. That was very careless of you, Frankie. Aish, what do you mean by that? You wore them on the Stanley job. You gave Nick Carter a clue. You'll find out who you are sooner or later. Yeah, but, Chief, I... You thought as a dangerous man with a clue, Frankie. Now he hopes to get at me through you. It's going to be embarrassing to have you around. And, Chief, I didn't wear these couplings at the Stanley's. I swear I didn't. Oh, didn't you, Frankie? No, no, you're going to believe me. Yeah, Aish. Send in the Queen of Hearts. Right. What? Meet the Queen of Hearts, Frankie. You? Yes, Frankie. It's I. Sorry, Frankie? Chief, no! No! There's Nick. Frankie Morello... But only you and I knew about that couplings clue, Nick. What is this ace of spades, a mind reader? That's who you forget. Huh? When you and I were discussing at a John Stanley's house, someone else was there who could have overheard us. Oh, Nick, you're not suggesting the robber. She was in the room with us when we talked it over. Well, I know, but she was in a severe state of shock. Why, is she? Nick, you don't mean... I mean the things are beginning to add up. Look, Betsy, those crooks knew where the wall safe was, even at the combination. Oh, yes, that's right. The ace of spades could have received that valuable information direct from Rhoda. Yes, but we can't be sure of that, Nick. No, but there's one thing we can be sure of. Neither you nor I tipped off the ace of spades about that couplings clue, and somebody did. And the ace felt it was important enough to force him to destroy the evidence, his own henchmen. And it must have been Rhoda who tipped him off. She was the only other person who knew about the couplings. Exactly. I... I can't believe it. What? Well, I knew Rhoda Stanley well. Of course, I haven't seen her for... Oh, Nick, how could Rhoda be an accomplice to the murder of her husband right before her own eyes? Betsy, those jewels and the safe were insured for $100,000. That's a lot of money. Not to mention the millions that John Stanley probably left her in his will. If Rhoda's mixed up in this, then... who is the ace of spades? I've got a hunch, but I'm not positive yet. Whoever he is, he has an intimate knowledge of the jobs he tackles. And all these jobs have been pulled off against ACME underwriters. Betsy, suppose someone had easy access to the files of the company. Files? Yes, on banks, ferries, first-storage vaults and other properties, giving their floor layouts, burglar alarm setups and so forth. A clever crook could pull off a nice clean job with this information, couldn't he? Yes. Oh, but there might be any number of men who'd have access to this information. Adjusters, executives, insurance actuaries, any number of people on the inside. True, but we can narrow it down further. This man, this ace of spades, would not only have to be an inside man, he'd have to be someone who got a run on the outside, too. You wore all these places by actual experience because you'd visited them. That's the only way you could operate the ways doing. Wait a minute, Nick. You mean... I'm not sure, Betsy, but I hope to know within an hour. Come on, get your hat. Let's go. Go? Go where? To the boulevard garage. That's where Ralph Williams keeps his car. Nick, that garage attendant looked a little suspicious when you told him you were a dealer and that Mr. Williams sent you down to make an estimate on his car. I'm going to make an estimate, all right. Here we are. Nick, you still haven't told me why you're interested in Mr. Williams' car. Guess the tires. The tires? Yes. I understand three of the tires were cut up so badly I had to have new ones. I think I know what cut his tires that way. I want to be sure. Hurry up. That attendant is keeping his eye on us. Betsy, I've found what I've been looking for. Nick, I just don't get it. Here, take a good look at all four of these tires. See the glass particles and the treads? There's all tires, full of them. Yes, but what do they mean? I mean that Mr. Williams has been driving this car over roads littered with broken glass and the only place in town where there are roads like that is in the abandoned slum section. Nick, what you're saying is that Ralph Williams is the ace of spades. Yes, and I bet every poker chip in the pot on it. Investigation, Williams speaking. Who? Claims department. Oh, yes, Mr. Redden. Funny, I was just talking to Mrs. Stanley. She's right here in my office now. No, we haven't been able to break that Stanley case. The ace of spades got cleaned away with those jewels. Huh? I know it's a lot of money, but we're licked and we'll have to pay the claim. Yes, I know, and you're perfectly right. But even Nick Carter's fallen down on this one. All right, Mr. Redden. Goodbye. Well, my dear, it looks as though you're in. They're going to okay the claim. When will it come through? The cash, I mean. Sometime next week. After that, my dear, I suggest you go away for a long vacation trip. In fact, I think I'll join you myself. It's, uh, getting pretty warm in town. Yes, come in. A messenger brought this letter for you, Mr. Williams. Oh, thank you, Miss Hamilton. Hmm, from Nick Carter. Nick Carter? I wonder what he wants. No, my dear, nothing to be nervous about. Let's see. There's nothing in it but a playing card. Yes, but look at that card. It's the Joker. Nick, the messenger left Williams' office five minutes ago. I know. It's almost dark. He'll be out soon. What he does, Betsy, will tail him. Nick, why did you send him that Joker? Just having a little fun in the ace's own way. But isn't that dangerous? Shouldn't we have just gone up and got him? What if he gets away? He won't. You forget one thing, Betsy. What? The loot. The ace is almost half a million dollars sold out of the way somewhere. And he's certainly not going to leave town without picking it up. That's the big reason why I sent him the Joker. You know, he's around with him now. It'll flush him out. Of course. And he'll lead us right to the hideaway. If everything goes according to foil. Nick, do you think it's in one of those slum tenements somewhere? I'd better not. I can't think of a better place to hide anything. Here, wait a minute. Yes, here comes Williams out of his building now. He hasn't... wrote a stainless with him. They're getting into a taxi. All right, Betsy. Here we go. Nick, look. They've stopped at the Riverview Boathouse. Yes. They're getting into a launch. But I don't understand. This means they're not going to the tenement area. On the contrary, Betsy, you forgot one thing. The river fronts that area, and the boat running quietly with its lights out might get in a lot easier than a car, especially when all the streets are being watched. We can't let them get away, Nick. What now? I'm going on to the tenement area. You get Maddie on the phone. Have him throw a cordon around this entire area and tell him to notify the Harbor Police too. All right, Nick. I fancy make it plain to Maddie that the Harbor Police are not to stop the boat. I just keep them under surveillance. We want the ace to pick up that money before he tries a final getaway. Well, Nick, it worked out just as you figured. The ace of spades came off that boat and went into that five-story tenement right across the street there. Yes, lucky your men were posted onto those docks, Maddie. Otherwise, we might have missed him. Well, the Stanley woman's waiting in the boat. We can pick her up later just as soon as we have. The ace of spades is coming out. Get back into the doorway. He went in empty-handed and came out with a suitcase. Yeah, that's the swag, all right. Well, here goes. Just a minute, ace. What? No! Drop that gun! Drop it, I say! Nice shot, Maddie. Winged him in the arm. Yes, sir, you trumped the ace of spades neatly. Nick, they're starting to tear down these tenements today. Oh, what a place. Even in daylight, it gives me the creeps. Yes, but someday they tell me this is going to be a beautiful housing development with parks and playgrounds for the kids. Maybe, but right now it looks like a kind of death house. And speaking of the death house, I wonder what the ace of spades is thinking about now. About black on red or red on black? Nick, what on earth do you mean? I just spoke to Maddie on the phone a few moments ago. He tells me the ace of spades sits in the death cell all day and all night. Playing solitaire. Say, Nick, how about giving us a few of the ingredients that make up your story for next week? Why, sure, Hugh. Take a beautiful young girl who's positive she's going crazy just as her mother did before her. Then add her boyfriend who refused to believe she was losing her mind in spite of the evidence to the contrary. Make some together and add a country doctor who alone knew the secret behind it all. We have the tense and unbelievable situation with which Nick was faced. And, uh, what do you call this witches' brew, Nick? I call it the case of the demented daughter. Nick Carter, master detective, which is produced and directed by Jock McGregor, is copyrighted by Street and Smith Publications Incorporated. Pictured stories of Nick Carter appear in every issue of the Shadow Comics. In the broadcasts of Nick Carter, master detective, John Clark is starred as Nick. Charlotte Manson is featured as Patsy. Matthew is played by Ed Latimer. Original music is played by George Wright. Script is by Max Ehrlich. 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 mutual stations each week at the same time. This is Hugh Sanders saying so long until next week. The program was heard in Canada through the facilities of the Canadian Broadcasting...