 If the job's too tough for you to handle, you got a job for me, George Valentine. Write full details. Standard Oil Company of California, on behalf of independent Chevron gas stations and standard stations throughout the West, invites you to let George do it. Cover for an hour. Another adventure of George Valentine. Valentine, that's you, isn't it? You're him. I didn't want to call a cop, it just happened. How could I? I don't want to get mixed up, but dangerous. Hey, hey, wait, I'm going to slow down. Who are you? Oh, Joe, Joe. My name's Joe. Holy G, Mr. Valentine. The Blue Dart delivery service. Huh? Oh, oh, the hat. Yeah, that's me. My name's Joe. You said that. Sit down. Oh, but it's my job too. That's the trouble. I'll get fired if the boss knows I'm not doing what I'm supposed to do. Man, it's going to be slaughtered. I tell you, beaten up. Stop it. Will you sit down? No, no, I can't. I'm in this ticket agency to pick up a delivery for a cross town, see? And I overheard this guy behind me. Hey, is this clock right? Is it 12 o'clock really? Yes, of course. And stop waving that ombos. Oh, oh, this hasn't got anything to do with it. That's just a delivery. You come with me, Valentine. I'll tell you all about it. Well, last time, Buster, would you? I'll get fired, I tell you, to take me an hour to get back. And this guy's going to get beaten up any minute, my girls. And now she's understanding. Look, would you just tell me what happened? Well, this guy's behind me. There isn't anybody. It's lunchtime, see? Oh, look, lady, could you possibly... I know it's asking a lot, but... Oh, here, here. Give me that. My girl says I just got to keep this job. Gee, thanks, lady. Boy, that guy in my position gets himself into all kinds... Oh, look, take it easy. Well, you're a shield-deliverer before. You only start making sense. Huh? Take a deep breath. Relax. Oh, oh, yeah, yeah, sure. Get myself collected. Yeah, that's right. You were saying you heard somebody's going to get beaten up. Huh? Oh, yeah. Mr. Valentine, you are... George. Oh, George, can't you hear me? I'd better get the rest of this tape off of him, Miss Brooks. Oh, George, what happened? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Get up in the chair. I wouldn't ask a flat tire what happened, would you? What? But you were tied up. You were in the closet. Here, drink this water, Mr. Valentine. George, this is Mr. Varney. How do you do? He just moved into the office down the hall. He helped me get the door open. Varney, Varney. Hey, you see anybody? You mean in here? Yeah. Well, that delivery boy, I bumped into him in the hall. Uh-huh. Miss Brooks told me about him, but I didn't think anything. What kind of a building is this, anyway? George, he must have just done this to you and then run. The boy, huh? Let's call him a man. In fact, call him several other things. Why? Why would you tell me that? What was he after? I don't know, George. Nothing's been touched. Oh, man, that's what you think. But it hasn't. Your desk, the file's nothing. Oh, no, wait a minute. The guy just doesn't walk in. George, the furniture's all in place. He didn't pry into anything. What about the mail? Case is pending. Nothing except bills this morning, and there aren't any cases. You mean this man just came in and beat you up and tucked you in the closet and left? What kind of a building is this? Oh, look, thanks a lot for helping out, friend. Well, sure, but if I were you, I'd take out insurance. Thank you, Mr. Varney. Oh. Didn't he notice anybody else coming here besides that Joe? No, George. Neither did the janitor. So it must have just happened because somebody bears you a grudge or something. Oh, and why did he tie me up and take me in the closet? Now you better guess again. Oh, hey, wait a minute. 1.15? Mm-hmm. I noticed it was just 1 o'clock when I came back. An hour. Joe was up here at 12. Oh, brother, we've got a case now, all right. Only what is it? One hour missing, Bruxy. And who used it for what? No, no, no, no, no, no, Mr. Valentine. I assure you the Blue Dot delivery service does not employ anybody by the name of Joe. It has not employed anyone by that name, and it probably never will. Furthermore, I don't need to look it up and you needn't look upset because why? Because the Blue Dot messenger boys are all girls. Hey, Bruxy, what about that envelope you delivered for Joe? George, it was just an ordinary... What'd you take it? The other side of town, 306 Surety Trust Building. Whose office? It looked very nice, George. Mr. J.W. Wagner, some kind of investment counselor. Investment, sir. Only he was out to lunch, so I left it with his secretary. Yeah, it was a pretty thick envelope. Could have been papers or letters, maybe. No money. But what do you think... Angel, when a phony like that, Joe wants somebody else to make a delivery for him. What's the first thing you think of? Blackmail. J.W. Wagner, huh? Let's see if he echoes when you ring him. My dear Mr. Valentine, what kind of a case is this that you're investigating? Look, let's not embarrass each other, Mr. Wagner. You see, I've never heard of this Joe person you describe. He's not my sort of client at all. The envelope did have your name and address on it. Of course, my dear, and we'll go into that. Look, look, Mr. Wagner, tell me about your business. It doesn't seem to surprise you to have an envelope like this when it comes to your business. I often have deliveries, bond, that sort of thing. But it doesn't show a return address, does it? Okay, you have wealthy clients. You handle all kinds of things for them. Well, for myself, too. I can afford a few hobbies. I'm not poor. Not slow, either. I couldn't be tricked into telling you anything that's confidential. Investments are. Would you call blackmail an investment or a hobby? Mr. Valentine, I wouldn't show any connection with this thing no matter how long you stall. For heaven's sake, open it, will you? George, wait. I assure you I haven't even had a chance to open it myself. I know it's the same envelope, George. I dropped it getting out of the car. There's the spot I got on it. Well, the seal's not broken either. It hasn't been tampered with. All right, so it's the same envelope. Now, will you two open it? Okay, friend, okay. The same one, all right, so here goes. Paper. Just blank paper. Now, what in the name of... That does it. First, it's a blank hour you complain of. Now, it's blank paper. Good day, Mr. Valentine. El Goose Chase. A wild goose chase. All right, all right, Lieutenant Riley. That's all it was, sure. This Joe just wanted Miss Brooks out of the way for a while. But why did that envelope have Mr. Wagner's name on it? Because his office is on the other side of town. That's why. Pick any office out of the directory. It's an old stunt. Okay, Riley, okay. So Joe sent Brooksy off in a wild goose chase. That took her at least an hour. Then he went to work on my eye. You know what beef steak cost this week? You better find out, son. That's very funny. The point is, he taped me. He gagged me. I couldn't hear. I was in the closet. Look, Riley, don't you get it? Whatever happened during that hour, whatever Joe did it for, happened in my office. Thought you said nothing was touched. It wasn't. And we went over it with a fine-toothed coat. Then what do you come to me for, asking me out? Riley, listen, please. Somebody must have wanted to use my office. Something must have happened in my office during that hour, and that's... And so you want to know who got killed this morning? Well, nobody. Nowhere. No place in town. Valentine, you just lost an hour. That's all. I haven't heard any complaints. And I had to work from 12 to 1. You slept. Oh, Riley, sometimes. Sure, sure, we'll look for this boy, Joe. But you just relax, son. Forget it. Maybe somebody just used yours. A telephone in South Africa. You'll get the bill soon enough. George, when we get in the office, I'll call and get something for that eye. I want to get something for both of them. I'm going to go through this place with a magnifying glass, and I'm going to... Oh! Can you hear that? Our office! Brooks! Hey, what in the world are you? Well, it is you, isn't it? I saw you from the door, the glass. What are you doing in there? Who are you? Oh, and gosh, kid, here. I'm going to get something for that eye. I'm going to get something for both of them. I'm going to go through this place with a magnifying glass, and I'm going to get something for both of them. Oh, and gosh, kid, he told me you were sick. What? I'm Sue, public stenographer, you know, down at the corner. Oh, I've seen you lots of times, honey. You eat lunch at the drug store. Yeah, I guess so. Now pull yourself together. Well, he said I was to take letters. I went in and there was a letter from somebody's Aunt Nelly. Letters? Aunt Nelly. Well, I mean, he wasn't there. Only there it was on the desk. Well, I thought it was kind of funny, because his wallet was right beside it, too. Hey, come on. So, I mean, I didn't see him then. Hey, look, look, the joint's been torn apart. It's awful. Oh, honey, listen to me. I just got this call. You see, only a few minutes ago. What call? From whom? Clear it up. Will you, Sue? Can't you be a little... He said you were sick. I told you he needed a stenographer. Hold it. The one whose wallet... Oh, honey, hang on to yourself. He's good-looking, too, like the picture in the wallet. Look out there, mister. It's behind the... That's a man on the floor. George, don't go any closer. Honey, don't. It's him. I've never saw him before. It's not Joe Brooks. Oh, don't you understand? It's his picture in the wallet. His name. It's him called me only 15 minutes ago. It's your boss, honey. It's Mr. Valentine lying there. We'll return to tonight's adventure of George Valentine in just a moment. 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Whatever they say and mean, we take better care of your car. Now back to tonight's adventure of George Valentine. It's a well-covered hour, alright. Only the body lying there on the floor of your office didn't get there during the missing hour, did it? So you still don't know what happened between noon and one. But there's plenty happening now. In fact, it's been a busy day. And if your name is George Valentine, you're probably less surprised than Lieutenant Riley that the body lying there, that man who has been shot to death, is you. Say it slowly. I said slowly in one sentence. Well, I don't know who's who. I mean, I couldn't tell. Oh, I'll pop your eyes at me. But I got this phone call, you see. I'm Public Steno in the neighborhood. And then this man on the phone says he's George Valentine. Well, he says you were sick, Miss Brooks. And I knew who you were. You see, Lieutenant, sometimes me and her eat lunch at the set. Alright, alright. Well, get to the point. Oh, so I just pick up my pad and pencil and come up here. Well, I open the door and, oh, it's a typhoon's been here. Now look. And then I look behind the desk and I practically drop my... Well, anyway, it's the same there. Only then, Miss Brooks and this Mr. Valentine come along. So if you think it is natural to be confused... Thank you, thank you, thank you. Go have a cup of coffee, honey. We'll get in touch with you. I know it's just once a book. She's confused. Well, it was the proper identification card, alright, with a picture of him, fake signature. Whoever he was, he was trying to pass himself off as you, George. Whoever he was is easy, Miss Brooks. What do you mean? Jimmy Hanks, a small timer, the boys tell me. Well, it begins to fit then, doesn't it? How do the boys have it? Your confidence gained, Blackmail, that's especially. You hit the nail on the head earlier. Joe slugged me to get the office for an hour. Then I suppose this Jimmy Hanks came up and used it, posing as me. Well, he didn't get shot during that hour. The doc agrees on that. So maybe this time he was up to see me or to look for something. You know, in a Blackmail or shakedown, people don't get killed unless something goes wrong, do they? Yeah, hey, you, you over there. Mr. Varni, Lieutenant. Okay, Mr. Varni. Didn't you see anybody else down this hall? I told you, Sergeant. I've been busy moving my furniture, isn't it? A swindler of any kind usually means more than one person. There's got to be somebody around to be took. Now, you must have seen somebody or heard somebody or... I could break my release, I would, I tell you. What kind of a building is this? Just answer it straight. No, I tell you, no. How many times do I have to tell you? Skippet, skippet, rightly skippet. Thanks, friend. Let him go. Yeah, all right, all right, all right. Okay. Aunt Nellie. Huh? Aunt who? Aunt Nellie, let's stick to her. The letters soon noticed, remember? George, there were several. A couple of others had slipped off the desk. It was a bundle of letters. All for Aunt Nellie? I read most of them, they're just short ones. But that's the only thing in the office that wasn't here before, right? That's what our little friend Hank's alias Valentine must have been going through before he was shot. Or whoever shot him took them off his body and went through all. A bundle of letters for Aunt Nellie. Yeah, a blackmail? George, I think there may be what went wrong. What do you mean, Angel? Well, suppose it was a blackmail case or a shakedown or something and the important thing was some letters. I mean, somebody killed Jimmy Hanks and then ransacked this office, obviously, and didn't take the letters. Supposing that they were the wrong ones. That's right. That's what went wrong. Somebody had switched letters or palmed off the wrong ones on somebody. Wait a minute, wait a minute. Because they're nothing. Just notes about a garden and recipes from an Aunt Nellie, some lady who lives in Honolulu. Let me see those letters. And they're not important to anybody, they can't be. Miss Brooks, sometimes it takes an extra... Agent, look at the envelopes. Who's going to blackmail anybody with letters dated 1851? Huh? All right, come on. Hey, what's going on out there? Sergeant, sergeant, what's the matter out there? I'm not resisting. You can't make me resist. I know my rights. Yo. They picked him up spending money like confetti, Lieutenant. I was not. Oh, boy, let me handle this guy. Oh, now take it easy, Mr. Valentine. I didn't hit you very hard. I tried not to. Oh, no, Buster, not half as hard as I... Wait a minute. I taped you up comfortable, didn't I? Delivery boy, huh? Oh, that was just an act. The only job I had in weeks. I'm an actor, see? You're a whore. Sure, that's what I am. I used to wrestle on television. Now listen to me. I did it just for a hundred bucks, that's all. If I had known what kind of job it was going to be... You'd have asked for more, I know. What kind of a job was it? Just what I did. Shakedown, some kind of shakedown, I guess. How do you know? You're a hired hand. Who hired you? He did. What? Him. The one lying there. I don't know anything. He could tell you all right. If he wasn't so dead... That does it. That does it. Check, check, mate. Ring around the rosy. Now look, Riley, I know it's that kind of a case. Like what I still want to know what happened in the missing hour. But if we stick to what we've got, maybe we'll find out. Now look at these other ones. This other envelope. It's just a wrapper, that's all. One of Antonelli's letters was in it. All of them must have been in it. To carry the letter, sure. But look at the coat of arms, Riley. Yeah? There wasn't a new cosmopolitan hotel in 1851, was there? What's that? But there is now. Right here in town. Right around the corner. The new cosmopolitan. Here. Room 714. Yeah, give me that phone. Yes, hello. This is Mr. Crookshank speaking. Hire him, Jay Crookshank. From Bangor, Maine. Yes, yes, yes, that's right. Who is this? Are you from Maine? Look, I just talked to the desk. They said you were 714. Now, how long have you been in town, Mr. Crookshank? Well, I'm just leaving, you know. Picked up my ticket to the station. Oh, a week. Yes, yes, a week, I guess. You see here, I'm busy with the colleges now. Who is this? Well, look, this is George Valentine speaking. Who? I said you... I didn't quite get the tone of your voice, young man. George Valentine. And before you take any trains this afternoon, you... The Valentine. You like that. Mr. Crookshank. Hang up. Come on. Oh, no, sir, Mr. Crookshank hasn't checked out yet. I'd know because he raises a fuss every time he turns around. Only has one arm, but you ought to see him count change with it. Nearsighted, but you ought to see him add a bill over your shoulder. Does Crookshank's a type what? Oh, no. I only expect six or seven cents out of a nickel. Bell Boys Delight. Here in town to make some kind of a deal, they say. Yeah, what else do they say? Down to the right now. Here to sell something. I did it this morning. Came in looking like he swallowed the mint. Crookshank's here to sell something and dead. George, the letters. He must be the one who... Excuse me. This is it. Now, watch this. Callers, he'll say. Someone from Maine? Then who are they? What do they want? Man has to watch himself in this part of the country, he'll say. Man has to be careful how he... Yeah. Man has to be careful, all right. Dead. Slugged from behind with a lamp, I guess. George, I've seen him before, I have. In the office, oh, a week or so ago. I didn't think anything of it, but it was Mr. Crookshank. I'm sure. Yeah, well, what's all this? Well, he wanted somebody investigated. You weren't there, George. He didn't tell me anything. He just said he'd get in touch later if he needed you. Didn't tell you anything, huh? Nobody tells anybody anything in this case. Skip it, Riley. Skip it. Look at the room. It's been combed over just like my office. I know it. I know it. So has he. Look. Pockets, everything. Yeah. Yeah, but nothing taken. At least not the usual. The keys, the travel folders. Wallet isn't even touched. It's all packed and ready to leave. That all there is? You mean on him? Yeah. Sure. Wallet Rotary Club. What more do you want? Hey, listen to this. What? It's a copy of a letter he typed several days ago, apparently. He says, I have the covering question. You have the money I need. Cover? How many more words do you need for blackmail? It says my agent will get in touch with you at the earliest convenience, considering the value of subject. I'm sure you will have no objection to meeting my price. Hi, I'm Jay Cruickshank. Agent? Sure, sure, of course. And this letter my friend was addressed to Mr. J. W. Wagner. Wagner? Yeah, and it's the same one, all right. Now we're getting somewhere. The sale was made. This sharp little boy from Maine came out here and sold his stuff. Hey, let me see the rest of that. Because there, my friends, is a check. $50,000. Oh, Wagner handles investments all right. It's made out to him, Cruickshank. Signed by Wagner, dated to date for $50,000. Wait a minute, wait a minute. What else is in his pocket? Don't heckle me, son. Hand me that phone. Hello? Hello, hello? Hello? Oh, Lieutenant, I was just going to ring the room there. All right, Sergeant, get off the line. I want to make a call. We checked the hotel personnel, sir. Yeah. No one seems to have noticed anyone unusual coming in or going out. All right, all right, Sergeant. I want to make a call. The boys found the gun that killed Jimmy Hanks in the alley behind Mr. Valentine's office building. Thought you'd want to know there weren't any fingerprints on it. And I thought you'd want to know you'll be pounding a beat and I should get off this phone. Now get me Wagner, J.W. Wagner. Investments. Oh, sure. The kind of clients he has. Riley, will you stop going crazy? Just give me that stuff in your hand. The keys, travel folder, the check, the letter. Now, wait a minute, wait a minute. Where are you going? To put your jigsaw together, there's one thing missing. What? But he don't answer. Of course he doesn't answer. Come on, Angel. We're going to catch a train. Yeah, here we are. The apartment's too great. George, I know Mr. Crookshank said he'd picked up his tickets, but why on earth would anybody take them? Hold it. There, it's empty. Of course it's empty. Now the light's on. The fan's on. Blind pulled up. Well, sit down, Angel. Relax. Now the train's already moving. All this time I've been trying to figure what happened in our office during that hour that was missing. But it wasn't that at all, was it? Joe's slugging was just to keep me out of the way for a while. It was what you did that was important, Brooksy. What he got you to do. Come in. Come in, Sue. Shut the door. I didn't expect that. I know. I know. Surprise. Mr. Valentine? I guess the gun could have gotten in the alley by you're tossing it out the window of my office, couldn't it? Well? Jimmy. Jimmy Hanks. You killed him. We got there just after it happened. And you pulled a fast story to cover. What? Practically friends explain to him what happened. One-armed men don't type professional-looking letters, Sue. Well, of all the nerve. Okay, now let's stick to Jimmy. What was he? A partner? Boyfriend? Confidence game expert you called in when you thought you'd stumbled into a good pitch? No. Because that's what happened, isn't it? No. Croakshank called you to write a letter. That wanted a Wagner. And you got all excited and went to work called in Jimmy. Then when Riley let you go today, you had to go out and kill Croakshank, didn't you? He's the only one who could have tied you up in all this. Sure. Hotel personnel didn't notice her. Public stenographer's nothing unusual around there. That's right, Broxy. Oh, no, you don't, sister. He's a double crook. I had to. But it was his gun. Stop it. No, that's better, lady. Croakshank was a blackmailer. You've seen that letter, you know what I mean. Of course I got big ideas. He was in town to sell a bundle of letters to a big shot. You know, one of them boys with hobbies on the side, J.W. Wagner. And when I got ninkling, how much money he might pay? What did you and Jimmy intend to do? Well, Croakshank wanted Wagner investigated. Make sure he had money. Went up to hire Mr. Valentine, but he wasn't in. Last week in the office, of course. He'd seen you, Miss Brooks, and I knew who you were, but he'd never seen Mr. Valentine. He just pretended Jimmy was you. So he investigated Wagner and wrote a phony check. Yeah, $50,000. How to swindle a swindler. Sure we wanted to get a hold of them letters. So you could hold up Wagner later on yourself. We were so smart. Croakshank fell for it, we thought. He took the check but worried if Wagner would get the letters all right. That's all Jimmy hired Joe for. To get Brooks to run a dummy envelope over to Wagner's office? Yeah, Jimmy got Croakshank to phone Wagner's office. The secretary said, sure, sure. Miss Brooks delivered the package all right. We wanted our amateur blackmail. It'll leave town happy. We wanted time to shake down Wagner ourselves. What went wrong? You completed the deal. You got the letters. That's when Jimmy turned on me. Tried to make me believe the amateur wasn't so amateurish. We gave Croakshank a phony check. He gave us phony letters. They weren't blackmail letters at all, he said. Nothing but stuff from Antonelli, he said. Jimmy thought you were mixed up in the double crop. So you had a big fight in my office and he ended up dead. And then you tore the place apart. And I just telephoned Croakshank and he was probably pumping you full of questions and you killed him. Yes, yes, stop it. We just stopped it. You thought you were out swindling a swindler. You thought you were broke and had to swipe a train ticket. When all along you had a $50,000 investment in your hands. What'd you say? Yeah, that's right. A cover-sue is something that collectors buy. It's an envelope with a valuable stamp on it. Oh, there they are George. They're all still in the wastebasket. Well, your office has been locked, Mr. Valentine. Yeah, look at this. Listen. 1851, Hawaiian 2 cent un-watermarked. $15,000. That's the blue one. And the same year, 5 cent. There are three envelopes. Well, together they must be worth even more than 50,000. That crazy little girl thought she'd stumbled into a sale of blackmail letters. Well, it seems to me that crazy little girl must have been a pretty vicious sort of... What are you looking at me for? I don't know, Mr. Varney. But for a while I thought maybe you had something to do with this. Me? See here, I just moved in. I know, I know. You're right. She was awful. Awful, amateurish, awful stupid. She scares you sometimes, doesn't she? You know, she had the wrong kind of boyfriend. Oh, George, sometimes... Hey, wait a minute. What are you... Oh, uh, go on, Miss Brooks. Kiss him again. You know, I think I'm going to like this building. You're driving along the highway and everything's fine. You don't need gasoline and you don't need oil, but you would like to stop at a service station where you could be pretty certain of finding a clean restroom and where you'd be welcome without feeling you had to buy something. Well, you shouldn't have to go far. What you're looking for is an independent chevron gas station or a standard station. And wherever you drive in the West, you're never far from one of these. Here the restrooms are clean thoroughly, inspected often, kept well supplied with soap and towels, and you're welcome to use them any time. So keep this in mind next time you go for a drive, for a clean restroom and a friendly welcome, it's a standard station or an independent chevron gas station. Here, too, you can be sure of getting quality products like chevron supreme gasoline and top service. For here's where they say and mean, we take better care of your car. Tonight's adventure of George Valentine has been brought to you by Standard Oil Company of California on behalf of independent chevron gas stations and standard stations throughout the West. Robert Bailey is starred as George with Virginia Greg as Bruxy. Let George do it is written by David Victor and Jackson Gillis and directed by Don Clark. Wally Mayer appears as Lieutenant Riley, Shirley Mitchell was heard as Sue, Joe Forte as Wagner, Tom Telly as Varney, Stanley Farrar as Crookshank and Jack Lloyd as Joe. The music was composed and presented by Eddie Dunstetter, your announcer, John Heiston. Listen again next week, same time, same station, too. Let George do it. This is the Mutual Don Lee Broadcasting System.