 My name's Regan. I work for Anthony J. Lyon, International Detective Bureau. They call me The Lion's Eye. Wednesday at nine and CBS brings you Jeff Regan, investigator starring Frank Graham as Regan with Frank Nelson as Anthony J. Lyon. So stand by for mystery and suspense and adventure in tonight's story of... The 500 Santa Clauses from Mexico. Like my boss, the lion said, it got you into the Christmas spirit early, all those Santa Clauses. But what it got Judd Brown into was the morgue. Judd Brown was the six-foot-tall part-time Santa Claus from Jensen's department store. But got him into the morgue was one of those six-inch-tall Santa Clauses from Mexico. Well, the thing teed off on me when I walked into the lion's office. He was looking at somebody's picture. And the way he was luring, I could tell it wasn't gorgeous George. Oh, hello, Jeffrey. You're just in time to meet our new client, Lorna Lee Lovely. Yeah? Yes, here in this picture. Lorna Lee Lovely. See what you mean? Yes. She gave me to understand that wasn't a real name. Professional name, of course. She's a dancer. I figured. So naturally, she needs a professional name. Something suitable. And I must say her name is suitable, Jeffrey. Lovely. Lovely. Liquid eyes, rosy cheeks. Beautiful. And that reminds me, Jeffrey. She works at the Rose Ballroom. She's a taxi dancer. She wants you to get right over there. It's something about finding her husband. Well, those looks, she can't find her husband? Yes. That's what I thought, too. But you see it, well, it happens that he's dead. He lets that stop him? Well, she thinks he's dead anyhow. It's something about collecting the insurance, proof of death, that sort of thing. I got it. An opportunity to help out a poor girl in distress, Jeffrey. Get her the insurance money before the holiday. Christmas is less than four weeks away, you know. OK, Fatso. You check the insurance companies. And give me that photo. Maybe Christmas is going to come early this year. Lornerly Lovely was what you wanted to wake up and find under your Christmas tree all right. Only not too close to the branches. It'd be a fire hazard. I drove across town and parked a couple of blocks away from the Rose Ballroom. Walked back and went in. I shoved through a cover of seagulls waiting around to get themselves danced with. That was when a wave of taboo came busting through. Rumble, Mr. You Lornerly Lovely? That's right. Tickets go on my expense account. Then you're Regan. You picked it. Rumble, Regan. You hired me. You don't look like the kind, Regan. Kind? To rumble by some good dream boy. Well, I'll do that a little bit. The kind? You know. Yeah. So with you, I get it both ways, dream boy. You dance all right. Thanks. Maybe I'll get a night off sometime. Maybe. You talk brief. I like that. You gave the lion a retainment. That wind tunnel with a cigar in the middle? That's the lion. Who said he'd send you over? He did. Yeah, he did. What do I do, lady, for the 50 bucks? I'm looking for a husband. The 50 bucks? There's a hundred more in it if you find him dead. Dead? Dance, Regan. I used my ticket. Oh, no. No thanks. I'll see you around. Oh, wait a minute, Regan. I'm not hiring a gun. He's dead already. Then we can talk. Over here. Manager's office. Won't he object? He's not here. He hates the joy. Better. Now he can have privacy. That's what I thought. How do you know your husband's dead? He's married to me, Regan. And he hasn't been home for seven weeks. He's dead. See what you mean? And he was insured for 10,000 bucks. So I prove he's dead. You collect the insurance. They don't all dance like you, Regan. 10,000 plans like you saw at the Rose Ballroom for the rest of my life. Your husband's name? Dodd Brown. Brown? My real name's Lorna Brown. Description? He's six feet tall, dark hair. Scar on the right hand, he got fishing. Got a hook in his hand. He's nuts about sports, baseball, football. If I find a corpse in the stand at the Rose Ballroom, I'll let you know. What else? Nothing, little hell. Oh, yes, one thing. At Christmas, he sometimes works as a department store stand-up car. That's nice work. When you can get it. Where does he get it? Around where they want him. I'll check. One question, Mrs. Brown. Yeah? What if I turn your husband up alive? Tell him, Regan. Find out where he lives and what he does. Call me. Anytime, day or night. Live at the Sunrise Motel Grindale Boulevard. Don't lose him, Regan. From the way the green ice lit up in her eyes when you said that, it figured her husband wasn't so dead. It also figured he wouldn't be easy to find. I turned her back over to the diamond struggle crowd and headed for my car. There was an alley led down behind some Chinese chop suey joints. It was a shortcut. My mistake was I turned into it. Because the guy turned right after me. I ducked around a corner and waited. Pretty soon his steps came up. Then a shadow. And that was when I grabbed you. What? What do you think you're tailing? Let go of me. Let go of me. I'll get some answers. No, no, no. Don't kill me. Let go. Who's going to kill you? Hold still. Are you just a kid? I wasn't doing anything. You were tailing me? Yes, yes, I wasn't. Why? Well, I... Why? I saw you with that girl. Girl? The taxi dancer in the Rose Ballroom. I watched you through the glass doors. I didn't dare go in. Wait a minute. Let me see your right hand. Why? Let me see it. What do you want with me? Fish Hook's car. What? Six feet tall, dark hair. You're Judd Brown. Yes. What have I done? Well, your wife says you're dead. Why? Lorna Lee Brown, alias Lorna Lee Lovely. I'm not married to her. I never saw her till this week. Yeah, and you hate sports. I haven't time for them. I'm studying to be a corruptist. Sure. At Joshua Addison College of Pedal, Caron Cure, and Eagle Rock. I haven't time for anything but people's feet. And right now, being Santa Claus. Give me that again. Being Santa Claus. The department store Santa Claus at Jensen's downtown store. Well, that checks anyway. Checks? Look, I don't understand this. You aren't one of them, are you? I'm Regan, international detective girl. A detective? Oh, then maybe you can help me. I think they meant to kill me. They? Yes. You better give it to me from the top. Well, last Friday I went to work at Jensen's weekend. At Santa Claus? I needed the extra money. Go on. I worked Friday and Saturday, and then Sunday I studied at the college library on the tibial tarsal articulation in the jitter-grade animals. Get to Monday. Well, Monday, that was the first time I saw her following me. Lorna Lee Lovely? Yes. And that same night when I was leaving the Metatarsal Foundation, somebody grabbed me in the dark. Who? No, but I fought and I got loose. At first I thought it might just be a holo. Something changed your mind? Yes. Tuesday somebody tried to break into my room at the boarding house, so I moved out Wednesday. And hid out? Yes, Mr. Regan. I moved into the New Canton Hotel and I didn't come out till tonight. Now, but you knew exactly where to find Lorna Lee Lovely. Well, yes. I saw her picture in the Rose Ballroom advertisement in the examiner. I thought that if I hung around and she didn't see me, I might find out why she was following. Mr. Regan, behind you, look out. I turned too late and got one alongside of the head. I thought I was seeing light from the naked bulb at the end of the alley, but the light began to spread like an orange bruise. Then a fist the size of a pillow drifted up. I couldn't see anything else. I rested my chin on the pillow. I shouldn't have done that. When I opened my eyes, I was looking up at some writing on a plaster wall. It was upside down. When I got to my feet, the writing still looked upside down. That was because it was Chinese. I was in the same alley behind the chop suey joint, only Judd Brown wasn't around anymore. He was the guy who sapped me. I knew what answer I'd get when I went back to Rose Ballroom. Lorna Lee Lovely wasn't around either. She'd had a sick headache half an hour ago. Sure she had. I decided to waste a nickel on a phone call to the Sunrise Motel where she said she'd lived. That was when I got surprised. She wasn't in, but she did live there. That made it worth the drive out. Help you, mister? You work here? Yeah. And her speaking to do. My place. I own it. I'm looking for Lorna Lee Lovely. Left. Over that way? Gone, I mean. How long? You ain't lucky. Maybe three minutes? Checked out. Left no address? Left no address. She alone? You ask questions, mister. I like answers. Maybe you're a cop. Private style? Yeah. Here's my identity. Huh? Never seen a private detective except in the movies. Well, what can I do you for? Let's have a look where Lorna Lee Lovely lived. Oh, that cottage over there. This way. Mind the grass there. Don't grow good out here in California. No rain. Never no rain. Just small. Gets in your eyes. All that small commissioners. Yeah, yeah. Anybody ever come over to see a thorn? Oh, one guy. Walrus. Walrus, me and the old lady called him. Big guy. Black guys. Oh, Walrus Mustache. Dark skin. Maybe a Mexican. You know his right name? Felipe. She called him. Felipe, huh? Yeah. Here's where she lived. Hmm. Kind of left in a hurry, didn't she? Oh, the old lady ain't gonna like it. This is a mess. All these paper cartons around? Oh, them. Them's what them Santa Clauses come packed in. Santa Clauses? Christmas sidelines. She sold them to department stores. Walrus would bring them. The guy she called, Felipe. Yeah. Hey, here's one of them right here. Down in these flavors. A busted Santa Claus. Somehow when I say it, I don't like the way it sounds. All of a sudden I was awful anxious to visit Toyland at Jensen's department store. I did. It was Friday night, so they were open. But Judd Brown, part-time Santa Claus, hadn't showed up. But there were some other Santa Clauses there that sent me looking for a white carnation. Hey. Yes, sir. You the floor walker? Yes, sir. May I assist you, sir? What about these things? Oh, yes, the little pottery Santa Clauses. You'd like one, sir, to brighten heart and home for the coming yield season? Maybe I saw one a little while ago. You know where they came from? Why? Well, yes, Mexico. La Paz in Lower California. You got any broken ones? Well, now it's a very queer thing that you should ask that. Why? Because somebody else came here and asked exactly the same question. Don't tell me. Tall, good-looking, green eyes. About 30. Why, yes. How could you know that? What figures? Name? Lorna Lee Lovely. Well, I don't know about that. The Santa Clauses are imported by the La Paz importing company, Small Importers. We took 500 on consignment. She merely said she was a representative of the La Paz Company. Sure. Just a moment, sir. I don't know that I should discuss this with you. Oh, here's my identification. What was the connection between Judd Brown and these Santa Clauses from Mexico? The broken Santa Claus. Go on. Well, last Friday, a week ago today, Brown noticed that one of these little Santa Claus sets changed. Naturally, Jensen's does not sell damaged goods. So you gave it to Judd Brown. As a matter of fact, I did. Going through the proper channels, of course. He said he wanted to give it to his nephew for Christmas. You gave the broken Santa Claus to Brown. Yes. Then Lorna Lee Lovely shows up. On Monday. And asks about the broken Santa Claus. You tell her you give it to Judd Brown. Yes, that's what I did. Yeah, it's an inside bet that the next question she asked was, how do I find Judd Brown? Exactly. I didn't tell her. So she went to the personnel department after she left me and asked questions about Mr. Brown. Now Brown has disappeared. Jensen's toyland is without a Santa Claus. If there's anything you can do to help us. I'll see what I can dig up. But dig up was too true. I got down to the street in front of Jensen's store in the late editions of the papers that hit the stands. They had a big story. Front page. Colorful. A broken Santa Claus had been found on the railroad tracks near Union Station. Only this Santa Claus was real. Or it used to be. You guessed it. Judd Brown. Well, I checked in at the international detective bureau office to fill my boss, the lion, in on some angles. Like, for instance, a female of the blowtorch species named Lorne Lee-Lovely wants to find Judd Brown. So she makes up a phony story about him being her husband and hires me to do the trace job. But Brown finds me. Then some muscle finds us. He tags me out and when I wake up, Brown's gone. The muscle's gone and when I check the Rose Ballroom, Lorne Lee-Lovely's gone. I took care of my 50-buck retrainer. But the lion doesn't like to lose a client in the middle of a case. And you say Miss Lorne Lee-Lovely checked out of the sunrise motel just before you got there? I'm so thorn-said. He's the owner of the joint. Oh, pity, Jeffrey. Our client. Our client gave us a sour pitch. So it would seem. I checked the insurance companies as you suggested, Jeffrey. No Judd Brown insured with any of them. He could use some insurance now. So I've just been reading in the paper. Dead on the railroad tracks. The poor boy got the damaged pottery Santa Claus at the department store. Then, quite obviously, Lorne Lee-Lovely and that man Felipe set out to hunt him down. But why, Jeffrey? Maybe there's something in the Santa Claus. You know that? It figures. Yes, I see. Smuggling, you mean, over the Mexican border. Could be. Of course, of course, the man Felipe or a smuggler perhaps. Marijuana, Jeffrey, in the Santa Claus. Who knows? That's one of the things I'm going to find out. It figured that tracing the broken Santa Claus that got Judd Brown killed would give me my answers. So I decided to start at the beginning. I went to the New Canton Hotel where Brown had been hiding out. A Chinese kid with glasses the size of portholes was sitting behind the hotel desk. You want something? Judd Brown lived here. Why you want him? I want to see him. He's not here. Who are you? Your name, please. Never mind reaching in the drawer. What? You won't be needing that gun. Oh, why you want Judd Brown? He murdered. Check. What do you know about it? The gongse. The kooloi. Go away. Go see. Sure, I got figured myself. Anything else? I know nothing. He come. He go. He dead. Maybe I could take a look at his room. No, no, no. Police say no. They've been here already? Oh, here room. All seal up by police. They take everything. Police station. Everything? Oh, yes. Clean up whole room. Thanks. But that didn't turn out to be any good either. The Santa Claus wasn't in the stuff the cops picked up in Judd Brown's room. I phoned the Chinese desk clerk at the New Canton Hotel descriptions of Lorna Lee Lovely and Felipe. Figured they might have beat the cops of the hotel and grabbed the Santa. But he'd been on duty since 6 p.m. and you had to pass him to get upstairs. And he'd never seen or heard of either one of them. That made the score at the end of the quarter nothing than nothing. But when I dropped by the office half an hour later the lion's blood pressure had hit the gong and won the Cupid doll. And it looked like one side or the other was lining up to score a touchdown. Jeffrey, Jeffrey, here you are. I've been trying to locate you everywhere. You're lonesome. Jeffrey, don't joke me serious. Something has happened. Like what? She's telephoned, Jeffrey. She's telephoned here. You mean Lovely Phones? It's ten minutes ago. What did she say? What was she? She wants to see you, Jeffrey. Jeffrey, I didn't know what to do. Or I'd have notified the police or since she's our client. Okay, so what did you do? Well, I did do... Well, Jeffrey, I... did nothing. It figures. It was only ten minutes ago. Sure. Oh, what was she? Lonely Lovely. Where was she? Yes, Echo Park, Jeffrey, on Glendale Boulevard, the little lake where the boats are. She said she'd be on the boat platform. She said if I could find you... Jeffrey, where are you going? Echo Park, Lake. Do you need both hands to paddle, dream boy? Maybe I do. Maybe you don't. Dream boy, you do everything so good. Thanks. Why are we here, baby? On the lake. To hop. Nobody can see it. Like the law? Sure, that's right. You want to talk business? Got another dead husband you want until job on? So I lied to you. You killed Judd Brown? Felipe. Paired a minute of it. Alley passed the Rose Ballroom. Got scared maybe Brown could identify him. So... Yeah. Dream boy? Yeah. Who's got the Santa Claus? That turns out to be the six feet under question. Maybe you got it. So that's why you want to talk business. I'm the next Judd Brown. Oh, not you, Dream. Don't be a waste. You're too good to go. I was thinking, partner, I got a lot. Yeah. What have I got? Regan, you've got the Santa Claus. Sorry, baby, not my line of work. Change your line, you like big girls. You see the guy who doesn't? Okay, bring me the Santa Claus. Sorry, baby. Sorry, Regan. It could have been nice. Put that gun back in your purse. Where's the Santa Claus, Regan? I want it, I want it real bad. Sure. Those pearls would look good around your neck. But there were pearls in the Santa Claus? You just told me. You're a wise guy, Regan. Thanks. So there are pearls in the Santa Claus. The lion figured it was marijuana, but it was just one Santa Claus you were after, sister. But there wouldn't be enough marijuana and one to be worth the trouble. What comes from La Paz that's worth a lot of dough? Pearls, baby. I figured pearls. Now, do you want to go, partners? There were 12 Santa Clauses that had pearls in that ship and a 500. A match string with 60,000 bucks, Regan. The broken Santa Clauses had the pearls. They weren't ever supposed to get into the store, but one got away. And Judd Brown got it. And now you've got it. Maybe not. Who else? Think fast, Regan. I'm not scared to shoot. Nobody'd hear the shot backfire from the traffic. That's what they'd think. Sure. Sure they would. I shove you over the side of the coast. It was dark. Nobody sees that. We're going back to the dock. Shoot, Regan. You won't get me. I'm in too deep. I'll shoot. That wouldn't get you your Santa Claus, even if I had it. I'll shoot, Regan. Okay, shoot. Regan, you stinkin' rat. Okay, give me that gun. No, you... Give me that gun. Oh, the kind of canoe. Give me... I'm drowning. What's the matter, baby? I'm drowning. In four feet of water, put your feet on the bottom. You're not in as deep as you think you are. But you're in deep enough. Felipe's accomplice at the murder of Judd Brown. Come on, baby. You're going to jail to dry off. So I dropped Lonely Lovely off at the nearest precinct station and went to my place and changed my clothes. I still had two things to turn up. Felipe and the toy Santa Claus with the pearls in its belly. They figured this way. If one thing can't have happened, but nothing else could have happened, then the thing that can happen must have happened. See what I mean? So I went to where the missing Santa Claus had to be. Hey. Hey, wake up. Yeah, ma. No, ma. Don't sleep on the job, pilgrim. Oh, oh, you're the captain. You'll come back. They work you long hours, don't they? Oh, oh, yes, long hours. You've been on duty here at the desk in 6 p.m. Oh, yes, yes, true. Nobody can go up to the rooms without walking past you. No, no, cannot do it. I got figured. Okay, where's the Santa Claus? Oh, no, no, no, no, Santa Claus. Don't have it. You got it. You took it out of Judd Brown's room before the cops got here. Yeah, but, but, but broken. Santa Claus, all broken, nothing. Yes. You saw Brown's picture in the paper and read he'd been murdered. So you went up to his room for a look around, but you saw the Santa Claus figured Brown wouldn't be wanting it. The Santa Claus, all broken. Nothing. I went for only a small sister. You arrest me? Nobody's going to arrest you, because you're right. It is broken. When you say it's nothing, nope, that doesn't figure. The Chinese desk clerk brought me the Santa Claus he'd borrowed out of Judd Brown's room. The pearls were in it. They were nice. Sleek, fat, pure pearl white. Well, lonely, lovely was in the lock up, so that left just Felipe. I didn't know where Felipe was, but that didn't worry me. I told the Chinese desk clerk that if anybody came around asking questions, it was okay to say I had the Santa Claus. Then I bought a book and some sandwiches and beer and spent a nice, quiet weekend at home. I hadn't been out of my apartment when the lion showed up Monday night. Regen! Now I know you're in there. Regen, open this door. Okay, okay. Jeffrey, this is insufferable. Why haven't you come to the office? What have you been doing? Why haven't you answered your telephone? Run along, Fatso. I want to be alone. Jeffrey, our agency is working on a murder case. Felipe, Cal is cold-hearted killer of that boy Judd Brown. And you, Jeffrey, what are you doing? Staying home and catching up on my reading. Then it's true. You quit. Abandon ship. Betrayed the flag. And eaten 11 liverwurst sandwiches in three days. I'll beat it, will you? I'm expecting company. Company? Jeffrey, what happened to the lights? They've gone out. There's a fuse box down the hall. Looks like the company had been expecting to come. Jeffrey, Jeffrey, it's not that, that Felipe. Could be, lion. Then you found him. Didn't have to. Figured if I had the Santa Claus, he'd find me. So that's why you stayed home. Clever, very clever. Hold it, lion. Stay still, lion. Who's there? Look out, Jeffrey! I got him. He was a blacker, safe on the black blackness of the room. He shot twice at where he thought I was that he was wild in the dark. And I closed on him. The gun went off again and I got his arm. Again. And then I had him around the shoulders and he went down. This is for that staff you gave me in the alley, Buster. And this was one's on the house. Jeffrey, Jeffrey, Jeffrey, that's enough. Yeah. Hey, lion, there's a flashlight on the table in front of the window. Get it, will you? And you. Don't hit me again. Don't hit me again, will you? Now, let's take a look at this Felipe, Jeffrey. Aha! Not Felipe, lion. Thorn of the Sunrise Motel. Have a glass, Jeffrey. Oh, thanks. You know, ever since I've had this mountain spring water dispenser put into the office, I've been feeling better and better. Ah! Oh, splendid for the help. Oh, perhaps I feel good because of the way we solved the Santa Claus case. The way we sound it? Thanks, Fatso. So that Sunrise Motel man, Thorn, was Lorna Lee, lovely's partner and the murderer of Judd Brown after all. That's right. Felipe was just a name he made up and then she followed his lead. The non-existent suspect. The police, the gentlemen of the press searching three days for an inhabitant of the Kingdom of McComicom. Give me that again. In the Kingdom of McComicom. What does it mean? I don't know, Jeffrey. I don't know. I believe I heard the expression somewhere. Wind tunnel with a cigar in the middle. You won't hurt me. I don't know, Fatso. Just an expression I heard somewhere. Jeff Regan investigator stars Frank Graham as Regan with Frank Nelson as Anthony J. Lion. Original music is by Dick Arant. Jeff Regan investigator has heard each week at the same time over CBS. Bob Stephenson speaking and inviting you to be with us again next week at this same time for Jeff Regan investigator. This is CBS, The Columbia Broadcasting System.