 Log entry, the catch-scallot queen, Philip Carney, master. Position three degrees, 14 minutes north, 102 degrees, seven minutes east. Wind brisk, sky hazy. Remarks, cleared Singapore, Harvard, 9 a.m. after involvement in international crime. Reason for involvement, the ambitious hostess on South Bridge Road. We laid over almost a week in Singapore. A couple of days, discharging cargo. The next, waiting to load some machinery bound for a rubber estate outside of Penang, up the melee peninsula. But Singapore, the big jumbled port city, serves up good shore leaves. So there were no complaints about the delay from either my chief mate Gallagher or the crew. Tuesday night was as heavy and as hot and as humid as all the others had been. Gallagher was spending his third night ashore. I was sprawled in a canvas chair on the afterdeck of the scarlet queen, listening to the chatter from the oriental craft that slipped by our side in the darkness. Mr. Captain! Mr. Captain! The hail came from behind me on the dock. A young Chinese boy stood at the head of the gangling. You, Mr. Captain, all right? Yeah, what do you want? I bring paper for Mr. Gallagher. You mean a note? All the same paper I have here. All right, come on aboard. All the same paper? Yeah, yeah, paper. Thanks. The note from Gallagher was in a hasty scrawl. Skipper had said, I'm in room 204 at the Continental. I'm in big trouble. Bring 45s. Red. So mutual continues the voyage of the Scarlet Queen, written by Gildowd and Bob Tolman and starring Elliot Lewis. The Scarlet Queen, proudest ship to plow the seas, bound for uncharted adventure. Every week a complete entry in the log, and every week a league further, in the voyage of the Scarlet Queen. He'd leave any message down there about crumpled notes. It said, meet you for dinner. It was signed, sigh. Four words and two letters of a name when I needed a book. But it was all I could dig out, so I shoved it in my pocket, went down to the bar on the main floor. Crackle too, I guess, straight. Very good, sir. Very good drink, all right? Yeah. Thank you very much. No, wait a minute. I'm looking for a friend of mine, a big red-headed guy, been staying in the hotel for three days. Big, oh, this tour, maybe? Yeah, you know him? Oh, yes. He come in here all the time, but he not here now. Yeah, I know that. Wait a minute. Did he ever have anybody with him when he came in here, a friend, somebody named Sy? A friend, he come with his seller too. He from American ship. I hear them talk about this tour, this tour in America. What ship was he from? Oh, Greta. You know a steel traveler? Steel traveler? I think all right. Thanks, Charlie, here. Oh, thank you very much. I'll see you later. Working cargo when I got there, big bales of rubber were swinging from the dock and disappearing into the big holes of the ship. A pipe-sized, toe-headed gangway watch looked up from a poke magazine when I came aboard. How are you? Uh, mate, you know a crewman aboard here named Sy? Sy Adler? I'm looking for him. Sy's dead. They found him in an alley ashore this morning. He's been knifed. You know how Singapore is sometimes. Yeah, yeah. How about his gear? Still aboard? Yeah, I guess so. I'd like to look it over, see if I can dig up something to start from. I want to find my chief mate. He was with Sy ashore. Now I can't find him. Ah, no, I guess you better not. Now look, you can prisk me when I leave. I don't want any. Right here. Here's 10 America. Well, all right, go ahead. His quarters are down the ladder just inside. There's a second one to starboard. Check with me on the way out, huh? Yeah, okay, mate. Thanks. Sy Adler's quarters didn't offer much more than red hotel room had. I went through his locker and wondered if he'd always been so careless. It was unlocked. And on the top shelf in a cigar box, there was a stack of crisp new U.S. $50 bills that would have tempted his best friend. Stuck to the inside of the locker door, there was a picture of a girl signed with all my love, Gina. In the photograph, she looked beautiful enough to give the words meaning. From her high cheekbones, the shape of her eyes, the mouth, the style of her dark hair, I tagged her for Eurasian. In a shirt pocket, I found two bar checks with Sy Adler's signature on them. They told me that he was well enough known at a place called Conover's Bar on South Bridge Road to rate a charge account. That was the best lead I could find. South Bridge Road is a no-man's land between the native and Occidental section. The establishments that line it draw the dregs from both. The Conover Bar was the bottom of the barrel. The hostess wearing something sea green met me inside. Her face was the only sign of progress I'd seen that night. It was the same one that had looked at me from the photograph in Sy Adler's locker. She looked better in person. Hello? Hello? The bar is crowded. You do perhaps like a table? I don't seem to care. Be truthful, I didn't even know why I came here in all right now. Oh, you can tell this quick, huh? Uh-huh. Always you'll be so honest with girls? Only with the ones that react the right way. And you think I do? I hope so. I'll start with how I admired your picture in Sy Adler's locker. Sy Adler? Oh, yes. I think I remember him. Did you... do you know him? Do we find a table? All right. Pardon us. Here. You like this one? Yeah, fine. Have you seen Sy lately? Oh, no. No, it is a very long time ago. Why do we talk about him? Because I'm looking for a tall red-headed guy who's supposed to be with him. He's my chief mate. I'm kind of worried he disappeared out of his hotel room. I can't locate him. Oh, that is too bad. You lonely? What's that got to do with it? Maybe your friend is lonely. Maybe he don't want you to find him tonight. Maybe that's it. So what if I am lonely? Who are you? Carney, Phil Carney. I am Gina. I like you. Thanks. Maybe if you still are lonely when I am through, you come with me? When do you get through? Where do we go? A little while. To my hut. I can fix you nice drinks and it is cool there on the river. I don't think you'd be lonely anymore. Yeah, I can believe that. Then you wait for me? I'll try to make it. I won't be long. Okay. Our house overlooked the Singapore River. The lights of the boats below flickered like fireflies. And the silence after the dinner at the Canova Bar was peaceful. You sit down, Phil. I come right back. All right, Gina. She moved through some soft reed drapes that whispered after her. When she came out, she was wearing something that wasn't sea green. And a heady sand squirrel around her as she stood there smiling at me. She was a good actress even with the dangerous lines. You sit down now. Over here with me. Oh, your guns, Phil. They will be uncomfortable. You're really observing, Gina. You see a lot. Ah, working on South Bridge Road. That is the first thing we notice about a man. But here you can relax, Phil. All right, Gina. I do feel better here. I help you with your coat. Yeah. I hang it here. And you can put your guns on the table if you want. Oh, that'll be fine. You are more comfortable. I tell you, it was cool here on the river. You're not lonely anymore, are you? No, you've taken care of that very nicely. But I tell you, I will fix you nice drinks. Do you want drinks, Phil? No, not especially. I know you would say that. You won't? You know too what I will say. No, I don't want a drink, Phil. See all the lights on the river? The boat? I'm not looking at them. I saw them. People live out there. But who cares? Oh, Phil. If her purpose was to keep me there, she was successful. But I would have stayed even if she'd thrown bases at me. She and her knowledge of Red's friend, Si, were all I had. And she'd slept back at the bar. I was sure of it. When she started to say, did you know Si? And said, do you know him? Well, her act was good. I tried to keep mine the same even 15 minutes later when we heard footsteps. The door opened. She moved away from me as though she'd been burned, scooped up my 45s and met the two men who came in. Well done, Gina. You're a good girl. What is this, Gina? You didn't warn me you had friends who don't knock. It's quite informal here abouts, Connie. We come and go. Connie? Well, in that case, maybe I just better go. No, you don't, Connie. Don't move over into the corner and keep an eye on him. I'll watch him. Remember me, Connie, in case you start a move. Why should I move? As a matter of fact, why should I be muscled around by you guys? Perhaps you'd better sit down, Connie. In the chair over here. Mm-hmm. I had hoped that you would show a bit more intelligence than Gallagher. I don't know what you're talking about. He doesn't know what we're talking about, Gina. Well... He does. He went to Si's ship, and he came to Conner for Gallagher just before I talked with you on the telephone. What do you say to that, Connie? Don't breathe in my face. Look, Connie, if you use the intelligence you must have been blessed with. You may save both Gallagher's life and your own. What'll we get out of it? Oh, suitable arrangement might be decided upon. Don't be nuts, Middleton. He's a no-spot-to-bargain. Nobody says he doesn't know what we're talking about. Well, Mr. Connie? Okay, why do you think I let your siren here rope me in because I'm schoolboy enough to swallow lines like sheet tosses or because I knew you'd show up so we could talk? You think I can't bargain? Let's call this conference off. I'm sorry I came. Do you know where it is, Connie? What if I do? If you do, we'll get it out of you. Okay, don't, and I'll change my mind. I don't know where it is. You like that better? You like that better? We can't bargain with him. Your methods didn't work with Gallagher, huh? Not yet, but we've got plenty of time. I'll tell you what you'll get out of this. If you use your head, Connie, you'll stay alive. If you don't, you'll land in an alley like Si Adler did. You know something? I got one picked out for you. You're a great bluff, Rhett, Don. Stop hitting, Connie. What's the matter with you? Don't do any more here. You don't get my house dirty. Thanks, Gina. I tell anybody where the stuff is, it'll be you. Okay, Connie, let's go. Let's go peacefully. Far enough a couple of times to realize I've been tossed into the back seat of a car. A car that was going someplace. The third time I was out of the car and on a wooden floor, someplace where I could hear the harbor. When my eyes had been open long enough, I made out the crack of light around the door. Then I got to my feet. Stumbled over a body. Rhett, Rhett, come on. Come on, Gallagher, come on. It's me, Rhett. I'm a little late, but I finally got here. Who? It's me, Rhett. Come on, snap out of it. Skipper. Yeah, Skipper. Who on that? A dude. Yeah, Rhett, I know. Come on, let's try to make sense, shall we? Skipper, on the W get here. You sent me a note, remember? Yeah. Ten years ago. Oh, that don't work me over again when they brought you in. What's behind it, Rhett? What about your old shipmate Adler? Yeah, he was mixed up in something. Well, whatever it is, they're looking for it. You and I are supposed to know where it is. You? Sure, I know where it is. You do? Sure. I heard it. It's in a house by the river. It belongs to a dame named Gina. Well, why don't you tell him where it is then? Why on blazes do you get us messed up like this? What is it anyway? I don't know, it's wrapped in brown paper and I didn't open it, but I heard him talking about it. It's the motive for Si's murder. Yeah, they're trying to frame me with it, and then with all the witnesses that saw me and Adler together, it's gonna take a better story than mine to talk me out of it. What is your story? Try it out on me. Well, I ran into Si Adler yesterday after his ship docked. We had a few drinks and then I met him last night at the hotel. Yeah, I found the note, he sent you. That's what put me on your trail. Well, he had this bundle with him. He was a little late and he had to go back to the ship. So to speed things up for dinner, he asked me if I'd run this important bundle to a place called Conover's Bar. Yeah, on South Bridge Road, a lovely place. The only one I was supposed to give it to was Gina. Well, she wasn't there, so I found out where she lived. She wasn't there either. So I got halfway back with it and a young Chinese stopped me with a note from Si, telling me to get that bundle out of sight, or he was a dead duck. So I took it back to Gina's and hid it. You're a great boy, Ren. Well, how was I to know it was so hot? You know, where I made my mistake was in keeping Si's note. Middleton and Doan found it in it. Well, it made my life sound weak. But it's better than one of those Singapore murder trials. Well, for me it isn't. Come on, let's take a look at this door. You're wasting your time. Who in the devil's man? I didn't recognize the voice, but I did recognize the toe head after the door had opened. It was a pint-sized gangway watch I talked to on the steel traveler. He walked in with a revolver in his right hand and snapped on the lights with his left. Ah, small world, huh, Connie? You got a couple of sweet-looking faces, both of you. I didn't think there was room enough in this steel for anybody else. Yeah, where do you face? I guess it doesn't make much difference. I'm looking out for myself. Maybe I can help you boys. What do you want? I'll be coy, Connie. You know what I want. You'll forget too easy, like Middleton and Doan. We don't know where it is. Well, that's too bad. Why is it too bad? What do we get out of it if we deal with you? I could hold the other two off of you. Where are they now? Down on your ship. You think they'll find it down there? Would I be here talking to you if I did? Why don't you boys get smart? Now, there's a way out of this for the three of us. Hey, redhead. I couldn't believe it when he turned his back on me, but I didn't take time to thank you. Today, a few steps toward red and I rushed. All right, he'll stay there for a while. Get up his gun, Skipper. Let's get out of here. I can just get my hands on that Doan just for a little while. About half the time he had me, he'll be enough. You know, Red, I wish I knew that Toehead better. I wish I knew how smart or stupid he was. He was stupid enough to get us out of there. That's what I mean, Red. How do you know it was stupid? Maybe they figured we'd head for that package. Maybe they fed the Toehead to us so they could follow us. Yeah, well, before I fold up, I want to see that mode of put someplace where it'll cool off. We did our best to lose anybody tailing us. When we got back to Gina's house, we could see the dim lights shining through the window. Looks quiet enough, Skipper. I've had bad luck in that house so far tonight. Let's do this right. I wish I had my .45. Let's move up closer. She's alone. We'll keep going right on in. I'll take the door first. And a few feet behind. Let's try it. Now, Gina, isn't that I don't trust you after what we were to one another, but I like you standing right there the way you are. Yeah. I see what you mean. Quite a thing, isn't she, Red? Where are Middleton and Dome? I don't know. Gina, you've seen yourself what happens to people who lie in this house. Would you like to have that beautiful face messed up like ours? I don't know where they are. They didn't come back here. Here, Red, take the .38 and look the place over. I think she's leveling the check anyway. Yeah, and I'll bring that blasted package and I stowed it in her bedroom. What do you say, Phil? What do you say? The stuff we've been arguing about, gorgeous. You lied to me. You don't tell truth to me. It's been a little hard for me to believe, too. No, Phil, it can't be here not all this time. You know, maybe the attraction we found for one another would have lasted longer if we'd known. How gorgeous. Well, here's the motive. Give her a wrap like a birthday present. That is mine. Please, Phil, that is mine. All right, hold it, Gina. We're all excited about this. We'll open it together. Go ahead, Red. Look at this, Skipper. For Red and me, the realization soaked in sort of slowly because we've never seen so much money in all our lives. They were the same kind of bills I'd seen in Cy Adler's locker, US 50s. There were 50 bundles of them. 200 bills in each bundle. There was motive enough for a dozen murders. How do you like that? You can't say we don't pick them with money, Skipper. Yeah, counterfeit or not. Let's talk, shall we, Gina? Where'd this stuff come from? The money they are made in China. Cy brought them here. Middleton, he was going to take them to America, but Cy stole them to take to America himself. He was bringing them to you, beautiful. Weren't your shapely little fingers in the pie someplace? I don't lie to you. Cy, he was my husband. We were going to be very rich. We could be very rich now, three of us. Shall we go, Red? Yeah, I'll get this stuff wrapped. Phil, won't you listen to me? I did listen, gorgeous. Shall I tip her 50 Skipper for a trouble? Hey, Red, we got callers. Get that stuff out of sight. We should have gotten out of here. Come here, Gina. You're not going any place. And no noise. Come on, in the bedroom, we won't get shot. We weren't too gentle, but we were fast. We lashed her hands and feet so she couldn't thrash around and got a gag into her mouth. Then we went back to wait. We took each side of the door and let them come in. I had Middleton on my side. I grabbed him and held on. He was easy. But Dong wasn't. He slipped through Red's grip. When I saw him level his 45 at Red, I spun towards him. He landed on his back, but Middleton used the opening to lay his automatic across my head. Get up, Connie. Now, do you collectively or separately feel strong enough to bargain? Where's the package, Gallagher? In the customs office. Yeah, we got tired of waiting to hear you quote your offer. Let her lie in bullsum, but I'm not waiting to hear any more. You first, huh, Gallagher? Quicker in your buddy Adler. Just a minute, Dong. You better drop that gun. It was the pint-sized towhead standing in the doorway, another 38 in his hand. Take him, Dong. But he was better prepared than the rest. Dong barely moved his hand an inch before the 38 spoke. I tried to reach Middleton, but I just missed. I stopped him before he fired again, but the first one had caught the towhead. A bright stain blossomed below his shoulder. Take Middleton, Red! Let's see what I can do for our boy Shorty here. Come on, you shouldn't be standing up anyway. How is he skipping? He's got a bad shoulder. He'll make it. No, I can't figure him. I can't either, Red. I don't know whether to turn him in or not. I'm gonna take a look in his pockets. No, I can't figure him making a play like that. Maybe he didn't let us leave them here, but... I guess he did let them. Look at here. A tea man would like that. You're all right. You're all right, sir. Are they... Where are Middleton? Well, they're here. You got them. You got them nailed. Counterfeit? It's here, too. Better lie back and rest. Sorry, I couldn't work closer to you boys, but I just didn't know. Yeah, we didn't know about you, either. I had to get them with the counterfeit and their possession. Your mate here was the only one who knew where it was. Fine thing. That's my mate. All I needed was a chance. You can see that. A Chinese-made counterfeit is the best that's been getting into the state. Even the experts have been missing it. I've been on this eight months for the department. With Middleton, I think we got it stopped. Here, I... No, no, don't try to get up. He's got too much guts for his build. Don't call a British customs office in some place. Well, you're right, I'll stick around. I want to see that our Treasury Department doesn't come out on the short end of the credit for this. Well, in Washington, here's what I tell them about this bantam wait. By noon the next day, the living culprits were testing the bars of two jail cells. Don was trying out the Singapore morgue and the pint-sized towhead who turned out to be a giant named Kemper was resting easily in a hospital. The next morning, we cast off and threaded our way out through the busy harbor and picked up the wind streaming across the Strait of Malacca. Blue some life into a crude sluggish from the heat of the harbor. Stations were manned and halyards were gripped by ready-fingers. News and facts made the Reeves sing in the Mainville Dance jirkely up into place. The gyps went out. Scarlet Queen dipped into the swells. Her bow spread in the figurehead beneath flirted with the windswept ripples flying beneath them. Well, Skipper, I guess we'll get there at this rate. And Penang is a good poor too. What do you mean, too? Like Singapore? Well, there aren't as many people to get into trouble in Penang. Of course that might mean that there's more trouble per capita. There you go again. And practically all you had to do was make love to a beautiful woman. Ah, she was. Wasn't she red? I wonder what makes a charmer like that gold crooked skipper. Oh, probably Ambition Red keeping up with the Joneses. That's a shame, isn't it? What she's wasting behind bars. Well, we don't have to worry with our... No, sir, Skipper. Here. To the Queen. To the Scarlet Queen. Log entry. The catch Scarlet Queen. 5.30 p.m. Wind brisk. Sky hazy. Carrying full sail. Ship secure for night. Thined. Phillip Carney. Master. The voyage of the Scarlet Queen has come to you through the worldwide facilities of the United States Armed Forces Radio and Television Service.