 Good evening. This is Ken Roberts inviting you to listen to another adventure of Casey crime photographer Ace cameraman who covers the crime news of a great city our adventure for tonight the cotton early afternoon the quiet restful reception room of the a casket company The street door opens and two hard-eyed men enter From a glass and closed interoffice another man emerges and Good afternoon gentlemen. Hi You the boss here. Well, I'm the sales manager. Cook is my name Yeah, that's a hot name for a coffin salesman ain't it foot Yes, so I'm often told you want to see some samples of your product. I want to buy a car You are a mortician of course He means undertaker boy, no cookie. I'm no one Oh, well, I'm sorry, but we sell only to the trade I mean a guy's got to be an undertaker in order to buy one of your flushed line boxes That's our rules rules are made to be busted. Mr. I want to cough and I got the dough to pay for it. So show me one of your fanciest models I want the guy I'm buying it for to have the best After he's dead there when a guy kicks off was you long the best you said it You were you want to cast it for somebody who? Who isn't yet? Isn't even sick yet. I don't understand. You don't have to just show us your boss Yes, but first I'll give you the name and address of the guy you'd ascended He's Nick Maddock. Yeah, oh Nick Maddock, and he lives in the manor hall apartment Nick Maddock is is the notorious gang leader. That's all right It's just believes what he reads the nose Yes, seems that way Mike look don't fall for that cheap publicity stuff cookie. Yeah, he has no professional standards They're like the force here for instance our force is the real good. He's at the grotto Your and Andrew Guess you didn't recognize me for my pictures in the papers Now allow you now cookie. Let's see your coffins wearing kind of a hurry See this punk Nick Maddock. This might be a moored tonight I'm as brilliant as this coffin salesman cook new Andy Grallow's reputation So he took the little Andy in his hood back into the display room and let him pick out a silver plated slumber box Which Andy paid for cash on the line And as soon as the mobsters were gone cooked for the nearest precinct station and was sent here to headquarters where I heard And it's a front page story captain Logan Yeah, which this luggage probably given to all the papers in I haven't given it to any paper casey Including yours including ours, but I've just told you to is off the record for the time being Oh, yeah, and I look off the record. I said I'm gonna have any press break on this and I'm sure what it's all about We'll see enough to figure what it's all about There's been a long standing field between Andy Grallow and Nick Maddock Now come to a head and Rollo's planning to remove Landy is one of the smartest cooks I know of When he pulls such a grandstand play as the one at that coffin shop he's planning anything, but the obvious Well, Logan, what did you do when you heard the story? I had to do the obvious for my own protection. He ordered your cops to make a roundup of Andy's mob Oh, and so far we've pulled in every known member of the gang except Andy in the gorilla who went with him to that You got Maddock protected as much as I can protect his type I got cops spotted around his apartment house. He won't let him inside the apartment itself He knows about Andy Grallow ordering a coffin for me. I told him myself I had to again for my own protection and did Nick Maddock do a burn-up Which gave me another worry. He's undoubtedly sent guys out to gun for Andy And if we don't find that little rat A war is now definitely on between the Maddock gang and the Grallow gang Which means you won't be able to keep this coffin story off the record that long Until shooting actually starts I'm not gonna further Andy Grallow's plan whatever they are by allowing publicity for a yard He must have wanted to hit the papers I could only dope out from the little rat's scheme Is Nick Maddock staying inside his apartment? Yes, he's too yellow to want to leave it while Andy's still in the loo He's safely locked in with half a dozen of his muscle men and that gal friend of his, Ina's Kelly Well, she'll be his best protector. That Ina's is really tough But attractive, though, Annie, a polkratudinous bundle of feminine charm Well, if yes, meet... excuse me On as I draw, Captain Logan speaking Yes, Maddock Now we haven't found Grallow yet Now we've picked up everybody but him and put Larkin That's right, Larkin was with him at that casket place But don't worry, we'll get him soon Yeah, I can tell you're not worried Well, sit tight, goodbye Maddock's worried, huh? Gladly And he's glad to have us cops around him When he hides in danger, he says he'll be... Come in We've got Andy Grallow in the last of his gorillas, Captain You have? Yeah They just walked into the front desk here, sir Said they heard they were wanted So they just walked in And bring him here to me Yes, sir That's that, Logan Well, your worries are over for a while I'm not so sure of that, I don't like any part of his business Well, at least Maddock won't become a mortgage tonight As Grallow hinted to that coffin salesman Grallow and his hoods are going to be guests here for some time Inside, you fellas Thank you, Sergeant Good evening, Captain Hello, Grallow Well, well, well Miss Williams, my old pal Casey, my buddy Are you folks no foots like him? He's a business associate That's the comedy, Grallow That was the big idea that coffin gag you pulled this afternoon What? You heard about that little joke of mine, Captain? It was a joke Well, what else did you think it was? I had no idea that news got around so fast that you foots No, no, Andy Gee, I hope our pal, Nick Maddock, ain't heard about it Thought a joke would be wrong to fear Your act isn't funny and I'm not laughing Sergeant will take these jokers into the boiler room Where they can do their stuff under spotlights Maybe we can improve their brand of humor All right, come on Now look here, Captain, you can come on Yeah, Troy I'll see you later, Miss Williams, Casey Yeah Well, Andy, let's be on our way May as well go back to the office We're calling on Nick Maddock Maddock? Yep, right now I have a hunch that little Andy's joke has been too well planned to miss Well, what's the point of the joke? Come on, at Nick Maddock's apartment, we may find the points I said that carpentine was just a gag That Casey... No, that's your story, Nick Yeah Very funny And it's just a big laugh, don't it, Ines? I've been busting my sides ever since I heard about it, honey Well, the laughs on Andy Grallow right now, Mr. Maddock He and his men are having a session with the cops For the last all night at least He was smart in giving the self up to the cops, Miss Williams If I or my guys had come across him, it'd have been just too bad Nick means a little Andy would have got his teeth knocked out Nothing more Sure, sure, I know We know that law-abiding guys like Nick don't go into extreme forms of violence Miss Williams, how about you and Casey having a drink or two on us? It's them bodyguards, Nick, having drunk it all up No thanks, Miss Halley, but I'd like to stick around here for a while And ask you and Mr. Maddock some questions Questions? Oh, well, nothing too personal Just something I can use if the paper runs a story about this thing Why should it run any story? Grallow's coffin gag is washed up before it got going Well, in the newspaper racket we try to prepare for possible emergencies, Nick Same as you do when you're a business Now, how about letting me shoot some pictures of you while Miss Williams asks her questions I don't want any publicity A guy in your spot gets it whether he wants it or not, honey So it'd be nice to be folks, and maybe that'd be nice to you Sure, we like to give the kind of treatment we get Well, okay Let's take some decent pictures of me, Casey And once I see enough papers, all boys make me look like a big fat mug Well, I'll try to show you who you really are, Nick They'll reveal the genuine you What do you mean by that? You'll snap yet your best, Nick, if you'll help them And you're a long way from your best with a crummy neck tie on Crummy neck tie? This ribbon cost me 40 bucks It ain't the common to you, honey Oh, a neck tie is a well It ain't either, Casey What do you think, Miss Williams? Them big yellow flowers are loud, ain't they? Well, they are a little noisy They're in no class Go back to your bedroom, Nick, and change to the one with the hand painted blue birds on it That's a refined tie Come on, I'll go with you and see what you do it right Okay You and Casey come along with Williams You can ask some of them questions while Nick is changing them All right This is all jerky, putting on another tie The one with the blue birds, honey, and fix it in front of the mirror Not just by the sense of feel I'm standing right here at the door to watch you do it correct Ah, you things, give me a pay You've got to be managed one way or another, Miss Williams All right, you are Don't give this gal ideas, I know You'd have the same ideas if she'd been brought up the way I was How, oh, where were you brought up, Miss Tally? That's one of the questions I wanted to ask you My dirty, lousy mill town My old man was a mill worker, Weaver He was so poor as kids He would put the work as soon as our fingers were big enough to pluck out a loom You see, I'm not one of those girls who tries to kid the folks that I come from a fine old town Oh, this is that shot He's got Nick, he's fallen He was shot from that window Keep away from that window, Ines Whoever shot Nick may drill you I don't care Ines And then don't you go to that window, Casey Let me go I see the gun, Casey He's getting away over the roof Get out of the way, let me look That's too late Go on, but there's the rope ladder reused I see that Hey, what's happened here? Hey, the boss Well, bloody guard you must turn down to be The guy that shot Nick is on the roof Get up there, Ollie, and hit him off All right, come on, you guys, let's go Casey, is Nick dead? I'm afraid, Ines, that Nick is ready for the little Andy's coffin You know the roof of this apartment house connects with those of three other buildings at about the same level? The killer could have made his escape through any of those buildings Find out where he went to ask He can't stop for anything, but I want to wrap the shop my Nick I want him to burn My men are after him, and eventually they'll find him If you'll calm down and help us, you say you saw the killer But I still can't see any help It was only his feet and legs on that rope ladder up above me And then he disappeared Casey, you didn't see even the guy's feet and legs No, Logan, he was completely out of sight For the time I had to look out that window You gotta find him, Captain, you gotta Oh, Miss Talley, suppose you go into another room and lie down here A present frame of mind, you're only hindering my investigation I guess you're right Can I go to my own apartment? Your own apartment? With three floors down Nick didn't like turning me around this place all the time Now go ahead Now you go with him, Miss Williams Okay, Captain, come on, Ines Sergeant Yes, sir Send the man downstairs with those girls And have him stand watch outside Miss Talley's apartment I don't want her to leave it Okay, Captain You don't suspect Ines of this murder, Logan What you told me she couldn't be a suspect I'm afraid she might get a crazy notion to go after the killer on her own I'll keep her under wraps tonight in case Oh Casey, I want you to show me exactly where you, Ines, and Miss Williams stood When that shop was fired Well, we were just outside this bedroom door, Logan And was here I was back a little farther about here And Ines was directly in the doorway, leaning against that side of it But you couldn't see the window where the shop was fired No, I got a phone and that's it I stepped on something A thumb tag And I'm gonna dig it out of my shoe Well, one of those things is on the floor It's always pointless, right? Well, chances are You couldn't see anything worthwhile if that window had been here In line of vision It's covered with those drapes And the killer shot through the drapes Yeah You know, not many guys, but at the guts Or the ability to shag themselves up and down That flimsy rope ladder Eight stories above the street No, not killer was a crack shot too, Logan Hanging onto that ladder He planted a single shot in Maddox's back At just the right spot Captain Logan Yes, Sergeant Bernstein here Just found a gun on the ground below that window Let's see it, Bernstein Here, Captain Miller adjusted it to fingerprints right away But they weren't in it That's always nice That's a .45, Logan I mean, it's one exploded shell in this, huh? That's the murder gun, all right? The killer must have dropped it accidentally, Captain Tell him a straight line from that window And planned it in soft dirt Oh, uh, I found something else This length of fishing line Fishing line? Yes, it was snagged on the bush, not far from the gun There may be no connection, but I think there is Go on Now, this line's in two pieces Joined together in a sheet bend knot What kind of knot? A sheet bend, sir Ours and the Navy know that kind of stuff Also, it occurs to me this killer's been a sailor too I'm kind of how he could use a rope ladder so good And the sheet bend is a sailor's knot There is a connection, Logan The killer may have used this fishing line To hang the gun from around his neck While he used both hands to come down the ladder That way, he wouldn't have to dig into a pocket for it Yeah And growing up the ladder in a big hurry He could have snagged the line and torn it loose Take it to the lab, Bernstein It's under props to get busy on it Yes, sir Neither line or gun can be traced We've still got a small lead case Maddox killer must have been a sailor Whatever he's been There's only a hired hand tonight The guy who hired him is little Andy Grallow Sure And what a sweet alibi he and all his mob have got When Nick Maddox got the works Every one of them was being held at headquarters Captain Logan still ain't got no where's on Nick Maddox's murder Huh, Casey? Nope, nowhere at all, Elizabeth Gee, and it happened almost two weeks ago I thought with all the swell clues the cops had It'd be solved in a couple of days What swell clues did the cops have? The cops to begin with they knew Andy Grallow Must have planned it and hired the actual killer You've got to do more than know a thing When you charge a man with murder, Appleburg The law demands proof That's why his attorneys were able to spring him out of jail Only a few days after Maddox's funeral How about that fish line and the gun and the rope ladder? They haven't been traced to the person who used them Maybe they never will be And millions of men have been sailors Finding the sailor who used that rope ladder And who tied the knot in that fishing line Well, looking for a needle in that old haystack Is easy by comparison I never thought too much of that sailor idea, Miss Williams You know, when I tie a couple of pieces of string together I loop what you call a sheet bend as a matter of habit But you Mm-hmm You've never been a sailor, Appleburg Me a sailor? Oh goodness, no Well then But my old lady used to do fancy work on a loom When I was a kid she taught me how to weave, too And what sailors call a sheet bend is exactly the same as a weaver's knot Wait a minute, a weaver's knot? Mm-hmm Well, why didn't you tell me that before? Did you ask me? I... Annie, come on, let's get over to the office Huh? I want a good look at the pictures I took in Maddox's bedroom Right after he was shot In this picture, I pulled the drapes back from that casement In order to show the dangling rope ladder outside Oh yeah, I remember Only one side of the casement was opened You see the angle of the opening? Angle? No, no Now look, a gun Clamped to the open side of that window Would point directly at anyone standing in front of the mirror As Maddox stood when he was shot And a strong cord could have been looped around the trigger Then passed around the butt of the gun And then further passed along the wall of the room behind the bed And fastened to a thumbtack in the wall near where Ainez stood Well, you think Ainez? Ainez was taught to tie a weaver's knot When she was a kid, don't forget She became part of her job to tie them It's the kind of a knot she instinctively uses And, if you remember Ainez I stepped on a thumbtack just inside that doorway But she couldn't have set off a gun trap While we stood within a few feet off her Why not? All she had to do was pull on a fishing line That we didn't even know existed And the purpose of the whole setup Was that somebody should be with her to alibi her No, she did persuade Maddox to go into the bedroom And to fix his tie before that new Yeah, and after the shooting She made a B-line for that window Where she had time to loosen the spring clamp And stuff it inside her dress Well, naturally, the gun fell Carrying the fishing line with it And the line only looped around the trigger Naturally would fall free of it Well, but in case of that rope land It was never used It was hung from the roof simply as a red herring You see, there had to be believable evidence That Maddox was shot from outside Well, I don't believe that Ainez Tally has the brains to have planned such a setup Oh, you underestimate that, gal But I think the plan was mostly Andy Gralos Gralos? That coffin gag, Annie It wasn't pure coincidence that he got himself In his entire mob a perfect alibi On the night Maddox was killed Oh, no, we've never kidded ourselves about that But instead of hiring a killer as we thought Someone who wasn't a regular member of his gang He had an inside track on Maddox's gal friend And she double-crossed Maddox Because Gralos has more money, more brains Better look Or maybe simply because she didn't like Maddox's taste of necktie I don't know Female motives or anybody's guess Well, how are you going to prove your pretty theory? Annie, Ainez may have something in her apartment That'll tire up with Andy Gralos And of course you prefer to search her apartment Without police assistance Well, remember, Annie Exclusives earn bonuses for poor Newspaper stiffs like us And Christmas isn't too far away Well, I've been in Ainez's apartment And the locks on her door should be easy For an accomplished housebreaker like yourself Shall we, Miss Williams? Tonight? Mr. Casey? Lock was a cinch, Annie, no trouble at all Close the door quick and relock it Oh, it's set Now, where we begin? In her bedroom Look for a clamp That might have held that gun Into anything that may connect Ainez with Andy Gralos Okay, her bedroom's in here All right, we'll work it over together Remember where the light switch is? I think so Yeah, I've got it Good evening, Miss Williams Andy Gralos And my old pal Casey Well, it surprises on me as well as you Well, that's nice to know I let myself in that front door right after Ainez left You see, I'd been casing her movements From the hall instead of down on the street Due to, uh... Well, I wanted to search her place, too I see you'd made a start before we interrupted You find what you were looking for, Andy? No, I didn't have time Now, you two can help me Are you always willing to help a man who has a gun pointed at her? Oh, yes I thought you'd be What's here that you want, Andy? Same thing you wanted Special kind of clamp You know, this Ainez Townley's a smart girl Before she'd do a certain little favor for me She made me write a letter I wouldn't like the cops to see Yeah, I figured her as that kind of a business woman Yeah, but brainy girls are dangerous Like snoopy newspaper people A guy like me's better off without them So after you two help me find the things I want from Ainez The three of us will stick around until she comes home I'll get rid of her at the same time I lose you for keeps Right here in her apartment You'll be blamed for killing her, she for killing you Stop that, Rod! Ainez! You lousy double-crosser! No, no, don't shoot her! Smart girl, Janney Now, fast thinker Don't try to think your way out of this, you poor sap I saw you watching my apartment from across the hall You wouldn't have found what you wanted I got them things put away in a safer place than this But I've caught you and these newspaper stiffs robbing my apartment I got a right to shoot all of you and that's just what I'm going to do Now, don't leave me with that gun! Casey! They shot each other, Casey Shot each other! They certainly have, and good These double-crossing playmates Both need coffins now St. Miss Williams Did the cops find what Andy Grallow was looking for in Ainez's apartment? In a safety deposit vault, she had a letter he'd written That would have incriminated him plenty in the manic murder Why did a smart guy like him let her have so much on him? Well, he thought he was smarter than he was apparently, Edelman Andy met her very stiff terms because he was sure he could double-cross her, you see, and get everything back Well, what was her big motive in playing along with Andy Grallow? Love, money, revenge, or just... No, we'll never know, really And female motives are anybody's guess See, Miss Williams, you called me a skinker the other day What's a skinker? Yeah, Annie, you know, I looked it up, and the only definition I could find was a kind of lizard I'm no lizard Well, you didn't look far enough In the big dictionary, you'll find it all so mean One who pours drinks Oh, so I am a skinker But that sounds like... Tonight's adventure was written by Alonzo Dean Cole Stott Cotsworth played the part of Casey, Jan Miner was Anne, and John Gibson was Ethelbert Next week, another adventure of Casey, crime photographer This is the United States Armed Forces Radio Service, The Voice of Information and Education