 Johnny dollar. Well, here I am. I'm home. Huh? Who uh, I said I'm home from my vacation Wow, great good for you. So what are you going to come over and ask me to marry you? Oh? It's you Well, I don't know. How about if I thought the question right now. Well, we'll go ahead Well, you uh, would you marry me Paula you bet your life? Paula Paula? What? Are you two timing yet? This is Betty, Betty Lewis. Yeah, yeah, no. Come clean with me Johnny, who's Paula? Oh, now does it make any difference? Paula who Johnny? Johnny? Oh, Smith Jones Brown, you pick one. You rascal, I could, you weren't kidding me, weren't you? Weren't you kidding me? Oh, yes, sure, I guess so. Oh, sure honey, with this crazy business of mine getting slugged and shot at all the time Well, you know as well as I do it wouldn't be conducive to a happy married life. Not for either of us. Yes, I know honey, but some day. Yeah, some day. Anyhow, I'm home again from my extended vacation, so... So, how about dinner and a show and a big night all around? I'd love it. Say seven o'clock. Make it six thirty and I'll have cocktails ready and waiting. Right here at eleven, three, twenty... Let him love it's a deal. Very good. I'll see you in exactly seven hours and thirty-one minutes. On the nose. Bye honey. Yeah. Let's see now. Yeah honey. Huh? Don't give me that honey stuff, this is Randy Singer. Randy, how's the old New York police department these days? Johnny, I gotta see ya. Okay, I'll run on down there first thing in the morning. No, no, I mean now, right now. Oh, well now, look Randy, I got a date tonight, important one. Yeah, and I gotta go out of town with the chief on a murder case. Leave me in a couple of hours. Maybe gone a week, maybe longer, so grab a train, will ya? Well, if I could be sure of getting back here by early this evening. Back there in Hartford is where you should be as quickly as possible. Huh? After I've talked to you. So at this time table I have means anything. You can grab a train in about twenty minutes. Well now listen Randy, I don't... I'll have the boys in the proud car pick you up at Grand Central Station. Listen, will ya? Now grab your hat and come on, see ya Johnny. Randy! CBS Radio brings you Bob Bailey. In the exciting adventures of the man with the action-packed expense account. America's fabulous freelance insurance investigator... Yeah, it's truly... Chani Deller. Enjoying it less, try camels. More people smoke camels than any other cigarette. Any filter, any king, any regular. The camel blend of costy tobaccos has never been equal for rich flavor and easy going mildness. This tobacco makes the best smoke. Have a real cigarette. A real? And now act one of yours truly, Johnny Deller. Submitted by Special Investigator Johnny Deller. To the Universal Adjustment Bureau Hartford, Connecticut, attention Mr. Pat McCracken. Following is an account of expenses incurred during my investigation of the double identity matter. Pat, you haven't assigned me to this case but it does concern some of the insurance companies that Universal Adjustment Bureau services. And if there's any question about reimbursing me for whatever charges I may run up or read on. Expense account item one, 495, taxi to the station and a train down to New York. As promised, Lieutenant Randy Singer had a prowl car waiting for me at Grant's Central and a few minutes later I barged into his office in the homicide division of the 18th precinct. Okay, Conroy, okay, just go tell the chief I'll be ready to leave by the time he is. Now go ahead. Yes, sir, Lieutenant. Soon, Johnny. Glad you could make it. All right, tell me one thing, Randy. Is this an insurance matter? It sure is, or rather they are. They? Maybe you weren't called in on them but brother you should have been. Here, look here. Fall 1956, John R. V. Brownfield lived in a small apartment over on the east side but the old boy had a lot of money. So what happened? Somebody knocked him off? His death was pronounced a suicide overdose of sleeping pills. Well, happens all the time. Does it? An insurance company that paid off with Eastern Casualty and Trust. Oh, how much? $41,000. Beneficiary? His wife. They'd only been married to her a couple of months. And after she collected, well, she just sort of dropped out of sight. Ask me, a lot of those companies of yours pay off too fast. Now what do you mean by that? Listen, September 1957, Franklin P. Ogborn died the same way. Insurance paid to his widow was $30,000, a tri-mutual insurance company. Well, now, Randy, the mere fact that he also died from an overdose. Listen, William, August 1958, Peter William Gerhardt, same thing. His widow collected $50,000. Are you trying to say you don't think they were suicides, Randy? I'd bet my bottom dollar on it. Why? Now, here's the last one, middle of last month. William Earl Chadwick, $25,000 to the widow. I said why? Johnny, in every case, the marriage was only a few weeks old, a good-looking young girl and a wealthy old man. Also, circumstances of death were exactly the same. Exactly. Ah, you investigate them all yourself? No, they all occurred in different precincts. So until I started digging through these files, until I realized that all these men had been married and for only a short time, mind you, had all been married to the same girl. What? Yes, sir. You're sure of that? She used a different name every time, and we have no pictures of her, but Johnny, according to the description by all the people who'd seen her, well, Johnny, it's one and the same guy. Okay, Randy, as long as there was insurance paid by some of the companies I worked for. Right. Now, so far, I've been running this down alone on my own hook until I could really spot her. So what happens when I finally do locate this dame? I'll bite. What happens? She turns up outside my bailiwick. Also, I suddenly got to go out of town for a week, and maybe longer. But you, being right there. Yeah, right where? Hartford. That's where I've traced her to. Oh. You know her name? Sure do. So I'm handing it over to you, Johnny. You've done me a lot of favors over the years, so, well, maybe you can collect yourself a nice commission. Oh, what is her name, Randy? She lives at 11325 East Maple Drive. 325. That's right, and she goes with the name of Lewis. What? Yep. Betty Lewis. What's the matter, Johnny? So if yours truly Johnny Dollar in a moment, are you looking for a career with a lot of bright job opportunities and a chance to be someone? Then by all means, look into professional nursing. Young women between 18 and 35, who are high school graduates in good physical condition, can qualify for nurses training. There are many fascinating outlets for nurses' talents. They can work in hospitals, private homes, doctors' offices, in research, industry, or the armed forces. There's a great need for women to teach nursing too. Women under 50 are also needed as practical nurses. Practical nurses require less training than professional nurses. They assist in hospitals and perform countless valuable services in private practice. This message is also addressed to men because there's an increasing number of men going into both professional and practical nursing. So find out if you can qualify for a nurse's career, inquire at your nearest hospital, or inquire at your nearest school of nursing. And now, act two of yours truly Johnny Dollar and the double identity matter. I went over the files on the so-called suicides word for word. I read and re-read the descriptions of the widows. They all were the same. No question about it, the same girl had been married to each of the four victims. Had been married to each of them only a very short time. Then after death from an apparent overdose of sleeping pills, she had collected the insurance and quietly dropped out of sight. But Lieutenant Randy Singer NYPD had tracked it down and traced it to Hartford. And according to him, according to the description, she was Betty Lewis of 11325 East Maple Drive. Betty Lewis, the girl I knew and paled around with, the girl I had a date with at very night, the one girl in the world I almost took seriously. What is it, Johnny? You know her? You know this girl? I, uh, yeah. That is, I think I've seen her there in Hartford already. Good. Then go back there, get next to her, Johnny. Trip her up. Make her spill of beans about these murders. The murders? Well, don't you agree she must have fed those old codgers all those sleeping pills just to collect their insurance? Kinda looks that way, doesn't it? What's the matter with you, Johnny? It's as plain as the nose on your face. And boy, how those descriptions of her all tie together. Yeah. Height, weight, build, complexion, eyes, everything. Of course, she dyed her hair differently a couple of times. Blonde. When she married her last victim, she was a redhead. Would you say she's a blonde? She's a blonde now? Randy, yeah? How'd you get on to her? It's a long story, Johnny, but somewhere along the line, I got suspicious about those sleeping pills. They were all the same, a special prescription. Are you listening to me, Johnny? Yeah, I'm listening. Well, then I found out that not one of those old men had been given a prescription for them. So to make a long story short, I finally ran down a kid working in a drugstore who'd been getting them to her. I see. But instead of nabbing them, that would have spread the alarm. You see, Johnny, I got real lucky. In the trash barrel where the kid lives, I found some letters for her, all written within the last month, and I told her to start making some more of the stuff for her. In other words, Johnny, as soon as she can trick some other guy into a wedding bell, somebody up there in Hartford. But if you can grab her first, pin those four murders on her, huh? Hey, Lieutenant. Yeah, Conroy, what do you want? That newspaper reporter that was here to see you. Ah, what newspaper reporter? I told him you was tied up with Johnny Dollar on that suicide row. You what? Well, I seen them files there on your desk. Conroy, you dope when the chief and I get back from this trip. That's another thing, Lieutenant. The chief said if you don't want to start pounding a beat again, well, you see, he's been waiting out front for you for about five minutes. Conroy, you crazy? Why don't you say so? Tell him I'm coming. I'm coming right away. Yes, sir. I'll take it. Johnny, will you take it from here? I'll take it down. Sure. Add a boy. It's truly Johnny Dollar in a moment. Meet star Stuart Irwin. Nothing's worse for an actor than a nasty cold. To feel better quickly, I take wonderful four-way cold tablets, the fast way to relieve cold distress. Right. Tests of all the leading cold tablets proved four-way fastest acting. Four-way starts in minutes to relieve muscular pains, headache, reduced fever, calm upset stomach, also overcomes irregularity. Take my advice. For your next cold, take four-way cold tablets, the fast way to relieve those cold miseries. Four-way, only 29 cents. And now here's a word about another fine product of Grove Laboratories. To get rid of embarrassing dandruff in three minutes, change to Fitch Dandruff Remover Shampoo. Three minutes with Fitch regularly is guaranteed to keep unsightly dandruff away forever. Apply Fitch before wetting hair, rub in one minute, add water, lather one minute, then rinse one minute. Every trace of dandruff goes down the drain. Three minutes with Fitch and embarrassing dandruff's gone. At the same time, Fitch can brighten hair up to 35 percent. Get Fitch Dandruff Remover Shampoo today. And now act three of yours truly, Johnny Dollar. Hi, Johnny. Betty. Betty, what are you... I mean... Well, what are you doing here? Hey, don't I even get a kiss after being away for a solid month? Betty, tell me. And don't you think I'm the one who's entitled to ask questions? After all, honey, you stood me up. Or did you completely forget about our date for this evening? Listen, would you? Oh, much as I hate to admit it, I guess maybe you were right, darling. Yeah? About what? No decent kind of a married life, that sort of thing. You were out on some case, I suppose. Yeah. But you know something, I'm just not going to give up on you, Johnny Dollar. One of these days... Yeah, Betty, now listen. Well, what is it, Johnny? What's the matter? How did you get in here, Betty? Well, when you didn't come for me, as you promised, and when you didn't answer the telephone, well, I was afraid something terrible might have happened to you, so I drove on over here to see you. The door was wide open, so I just came on in. I started looking around for you in the den and the bedroom, and then that's when you came in. Betty, your vacation. Well, it's about time you asked me about that. I missed you while I was away, honey. A whole long month. I mean, where did you go? You didn't get all those pretty postcards I sent you, from the Poconos and Atlantic City and New York. New York? How long in New York? A couple of days going, a couple of days coming back. That's all? Of course it is. Johnny, what's the matter with you? Your hair, Betty. What? What color was it before? Well, I like that. What color? Tell me. You mean to say you think I'd die or bleach it or something? You know very well that I... Johnny, what's come over you? My destiny. Well, yes, I wondered about that, darling. I hope you're not always that sloppy, leaving things scattered around that way. All right, Betty, listen. And do you always leave that window to the fire escape open when you go out? I wouldn't. To say nothing and leaving the front door open, too. Hey, Betty, look. Look, it's been jimmied open. See? See the marks here. Well... Yes, see, look. Here, where it was pried open. See there? Well, it's just like my mailbox. Sure, sure. You seem almost happy about it. Well, maybe I am. Or did you think maybe I had... Only you know, darling, well, I can't even use a can opener properly. Well, not listen, Johnny. Will you please tell me what this is all about? Why are you acting so strangely? Betty Lewis. Listen, darling, has all this big mystery anything to do with that newspaper headline I saw? Or some kind of a suicide case? You don't know anything about that. So that's why you were so late. Johnny, does it have anything to do with your window being forced open? Your desk being rifled this way? Yeah, yeah, I think so. And maybe you're coming here. Maybe you scared away whoever it was. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Did you say that your mailbox out at your little house, did you say that thing had been forced open, too? Well, I was away. I don't know whether anything was taken because I don't usually get much mail, but the tiny lock on it was broken. You came back yesterday. Late last night. And then today, well, you see, the mail's always delivered during the day while I'm at the office. What time, Betty? Oh, I don't know. 10, 11 o'clock in the morning, I think. So what happened today? Well, you know that rain that drizzled we had this morning. Yeah, go on. Well, I got back from the office and went out to see if there was any mail. Now, you love mysteries, Johnny, so maybe you can solve this. Go on, Betty, go on. All right. Well, they're in the mud around the mailbox with the marks from those big quad hoppers the mailman always wears. Well... And right on top of them with some other footprints. High heels, Johnny. Of course. The shoes must have been almost exactly the same size as mine. So do you suppose maybe somebody else, some woman, has been using my mailbox and my address while I was away? You bet I do. Betty Lewis. What? 10 or 11 o'clock, you said. Oh, you mean the mailman? That's exactly what I mean. Now, listen, I want a key to your house. Oh. Will you marry me? I'm serious, Betty, and tomorrow morning you go to the office as usual. Don't you mean if I feel up to it after we finish celebrating my homecoming tonight? That party's going to be tomorrow night. Tomorrow? Because I have a sneaking suspicion that by then we're going to have something to really celebrate. Oh, like what, dear? The solution of four murders. Oh, Johnny. Shortly after Betty left for the office the next morning, I established myself in a little house on East Maple County. I parked myself behind the filmy curtains at one of the front windows, and I waited. At 1031 the mailman walked up. In addition to a couple of letters, he left a small package in the mailbox. It didn't take much to guess what was in it. I waited some more. An hour. An hour and a half. Did whoever that package was intended for, and I was sure it wasn't Betty, did they know the mailbox was being watched? After all, they knew from the newspapers that I was on the case. But unless they appeared to collect this package, I had no case. Then it suddenly occurred to me the important thing was to be sure of having that package myself as evidence. So after making sure the street was clear both ways, I slipped out the front door and walked casually out to the mailbox. Miss Betty Lewis, 11-3-20. Just a minute there, you. Ah, yes. Just what do you think you're doing poking around my mailbox that way? By golly, you do look like her. What are you thinking about? The real Betty Lewis. Well, I'm Betty Lewis. Now, if you don't mind that package you just took out of the mailbox. Sorry, Miss, whatever your name is, but I need it as part of the evidence. Evidence? Yeah. That'll pin the murders of four husbands on you. That's right. All right. Give me that package. Oh, put that thing down, lady. I'll pull the trigger, Johnny, if you don't give me that package. Give it to me. Whatever you say. You dirty... Maybe you're a lousy shock. No, no, you're hurting me. Okay, now back in your car. Now listen, Johnny, listen. Get in. Listen, Johnny, I'll make a deal with you. And you're driving, lady. Right straight to police headquarters. There's a lot more to be done only by the police, both in Hartford and down in New York. But there's not much doubt about the outcome, especially since the kid who supplied the drugs broke down and said plenty. The insurance companies, well, the money she had left can be prorated among them, and that'll be that. My problem, of course, will be explaining things to Betty. But you know something, that may have its pleasant aspects, too. So, expense account total, well, call it 20 bucks. Provided. There's also a fee on this one. Yours truly, Johnny Dollar. Star will return in just a moment. Constipation is something people don't talk much about. But it can be a problem for anyone, even doctors. And when constipation occurs, it's interesting to see just what doctors consider important about a laxative they might use or recommend. Now, a majority of the doctors we heard from had this to say, a laxative should be effective, gentle, as close to natural acting as possible, and a medicine that can be used with complete confidence. Well, pleasant tasting chocolateed x-lax is effective. Overnight, it helps you toward your normal regularity. X-lax is gentle. Next morning, it gives you the closest thing to natural action. And that's why many doctors and millions of people use x-lax with complete confidence. X-lax, the laxative that helps you toward your normal regularity, gently. Overnight, is x-lax in your medicine cabinet? Now, here is our star to tell you about next week's story. Next week, a wildest bunch of crooks I ever tangled with. Join us, won't you? Yours truly, Johnny Duller. It's an 8th in Hollywood and is written, produced, and directed by Jack Johnstone. Heard in our cast were Joan Banks, Lillian Bayef, Herb Bygren, and G. Stanley Jones. Be sure to join us next week, same time and station, for another exciting story of yours truly, Johnny Duller. This is Dan Coverley speaking. Tax the cards against a jittery gamble in suspense. Next from the CDS Radio Network.