 Well, your listening enjoyment, John Lund as Johnny Donner. Bill Randall, Johnny, and are you ever a lucky stiff? Well, coming from you, I have my doubts. Oh, can you say that, man? Getting away from all this rain and cold, backing amidst the sweet-sanded booms of magnolia and honeysuckle. Uh-huh. Where is this springtime paradise? Charleston, South Carolina. And what caught fire down there? The Ambrose Cooper Paper Company. Johnny burned halfway down to the ground last night. Second fire there in two years. Caused one of their secretaries their life and could cost us around 100 grand. Well, you can afford it, even if she couldn't. Not of his arson, we can't. Well, maybe the Minjulibs are in bloom down there, too. Now for just a few words on the subject of getting things done. Within the past few years, a new plan of activity has sprung up in America. The Do It Yourself Plan. Whether you want to build a better mousetrap, a house, a rocket ship, plant a garden, or have some new clothes, you can buy the plan or patterns and do it yourself, which is a good idea. But there are still many things which can be done better with advice and help from the experts. For example, if you want to know the best way to plow the land, irrigate fields, or terrace your sloping acreage, there are experts who are always at your service. The engineers who are employed by the Department of Agriculture. They are also the ones to ask for advice in constructing the buildings and potato cellars and seed beds on your farm. If you need electrical power on your farm, the department's electrical engineers will give you the help you need. Perhaps you may want to know the best way to can vegetables, what special shoe to buy, or how to plan the right kind of meals. If you do, the Bureau of Home Economics issues booklets on almost everything that goes into a home. If you want to set up a practical bookkeeping or accounting system to help budget and control your farm expenditure, the Department of Agriculture will help you work out the system which is best for you. It will also give farmers advice on financial matters, even help with cash loans and help the farmer establish prices for his product, which are fair to both him and the buyer. All in all, the Department of Agriculture is a right neighborly organization to deal with, and an important part of your United States government. Hi, I'm Mr. Count, submitted by Special Investigator Johnny Dollar to Home Office Eastern Fire and Casually Company, Hartford, Connecticut. The following is an accounting of expenditures during my investigation of the magnolia and honeysuckle matter. Expense account item one, $53.40. Airfare and incidentals between Hartford and Charleston, where I checked into the colonial hotel. Expense account item two, $50, rental of a cream-colored convertible, which I drove down to police headquarters. Lieutenant Hervey of their arts and division was working at the scene of the fire, so I went over to see how he was making out. It's only been a couple of hours since he cooled down enough to dig into the dollar, but you sure didn't make the trip down here for nothing. You figure I was taught. No question about it. Come out over here. Yeah, sure. This is where the offices were. The plant itself was back over there. Damage isn't too bad back there, but you sure got hot it up in a hurry out front here. Mm-hmm. Looks like this was a private office of some kind. It was. Norman Cooper. The insurance policy shows that Mrs. Alice Cooper is sole owner of the office. That's right. Norman's her son. There's another Cooper who works for the office, too. Robert, younger brother of old Ambrose Cooper who died about a year ago in that other fire. Yeah, but here's what I want to show you. Take a look at that floor. Uh-huh. Deep charring, flaring out from the center. Yeah, probably some highly inflatable liquid, pteroscene, gasoline, something like that. Amateur job, too. No professional bug would leave a trail that plainly marked. Who turned in the alarm? Night watchman? He was at the far end of the plan making his round when it broke out. By the time he got here, there wasn't anything for him to do but pull the bar. It was clocked in at 4.17 AM. Where's he now? Over General Hospital, getting some burns stocked up. He got him kind of pulled the girl off. What about that girl? Named Felicia Fowler. Norman Cooper's secretary. She was lying on the floor right over there. The fire killer? They're posting her now. Countess will let us know in a couple of hours. Well, it doesn't make much sense, does it, Lieutenant? Not so far. The Amateur Court, yeah. Farragirl being down here four in the morning, Norman Cooper might be able to clear it up for us all. Yeah, how's that? He took the Farragirl out last night. What's he got to say about it? We don't know. Haven't been able to find him since. There was nothing more I could do at the scene of the fire, so I went to pay my respects to our policy holder, Mrs. Alice Cooper, whom I found silver-haired and gracious, serving tea in her mansion on Laguerre Street. She fitted perfectly into a picture of the old south. Her brother-in-law, Robert Cooper, was also present. He struck a more discordant note. It was so nice of you, Mr. Dollar, to find time from your pressing duty to come calling on us. Actually, I should think that the interest of Mr. Dollar's insurance company would be more properly served in some other way. Just what did you have in mind, Mr. Cooper? From what Lieutenant Herbie tells us, there's definite suspicion that the fire was deliberately set. Your time might better be spent among the criminal elements of Charleston rather than here. No, really, Robert. I'm sure that Mr. Dollar is a more qualified judge than either of us as to what procedure he must follow. Some tea, Mr. Dollar? No thanks, Mrs. Cooper. Robert? If you please, Alice. I presume one of the first things you'd like to know, Mr. Dollar, is the present whereabouts of my son Norman. Do you know where he is, Mrs. Cooper? He's away on a hunting trip, Mr. Dollar. He left last night, around midnight. Norman loves to go hunting. His favorite sport, you know. He'll be back in a few days to ask any questions you might have. Isn't midnight a rather unusual hour to leave on a hunting trip? No, look here, Donald. I strongly resent the implications in this line of questioning you're pursuing. I imagine Felicia Farrow strongly resents the fact that she's dead, too. Norman had nothing to do with that, all with the fire. Of course he didn't, Robert. But Mr. Dollar is certainly entitled to the information he desires. And Mr. Dollar, midnight's the time Norman prefers to leave on his trips. That way he arrives at the Hutton Preserve at dawn. He always says it's the best time for shooting. I understand he had a date with Felicia Farrow last night, Mrs. Cooper. Yes, that's right. It took her to a company down at the country club. It was over at 11. He brought her back home and then left on the trip. Just how friendly were your son and Felicia Farrow? Why? I'll answer that, Alice. And I'll put it bluntly, Mr. Dollar. Felicia Farrow was extremely effective. But hardly the kind of girl Norman would consider marrying. As far as I know, there's still no law against the soaring of a few wild oats. There is, if a harvest turns out to be murder. Alice. I'm sorry. That was terribly clumsy of me. Are there any more questions, Mr. Dollar? Not now, Mrs. Cooper. And thanks. Back at the paper factory, I learned that Lieutenant Hervey had returned to police headquarters. So I went to a lunch home across the street to call into him. The expense account had him $0.35. Phone call, hamburger, rare, and a cup of coffee. Hey, Mr. Hervey, one hand better with the words. I think it's done the way you wanted it. Oh, it looks fine. And that word, coffee, you said you wanted really. That's right. Hey, add a sugar and cream. No, black. I think sugar and cream is really, really good. See that shoe with the mighty big fire that had across the street last night? Yeah, I guess it was. Yeah, kind of running the bad luck with fires. The Ambrose Cooper folks. The second one in two years they had. And my, it was real pretty though it was. Much pretty in the first one. Old man Cooper himself got burned to death in that one, you know. You saw the fire last night? Oh, yes, I. Oh, it was real pretty. He in place sure looks like a mess now, though. How did you happen to be around at four in the morning? Well, the night man was sick, and the boss made me take his chair. Oh, he's always doing that, the boss. He's kind of makes the fellow mad, too. I haven't taken on the fellow's turn, like. Yeah, yeah. Did you see anybody around the place last night? Well, no, there was nobody around. But I've seen, of course, it would be. Oh, it didn't have nobody but old Horace, that he is. Horace? The old Horace Singleton. And the night watchman over there. Oh, it's no wonder he's always getting fires with old Horace, sir. Yeah, why is that? You would never need to ask that question. If you'd seen him the way he wasn't here last night. He came into the restaurant last night? Oh, yes, he always does. He gets to nipping at that bottle he is. And then somewhere around three, four in the morning, he begins to feel like having a little bit of company. So he'd been nipping last night, too. Nipping. Man, he was drunker than $42. Oh, he was real happy. Real happy, old Horace, what? Said he was kind of celebrating his retirement. What time was that? Well, let me see. That was maybe 10, 15 minutes before the fire broke out. But I never figured old Horace would be rich enough to retire, though. I always thought every extra cent he made went for booze. How come you didn't tell the police all this? Well, I don't know. Why never thought about that, again? You think maybe I ought to tell them something about that? They ought to know something about that, huh? Well, they might be interested. I relayed the information to Lieutenant Hervey at headquarters, and he checked with General Hospital. The Watchman Horace Singleton had been treated for superficial burns and discharged an hour before. We started out in Hervey's car to see if we could pick him up for questioning at his home. If my make some sense, darling, we figured things that might be suspecting that other fire when Ambrose Cooper died never could dig up any proof against him, though. Can't figure out this crack about his retirement. The old Coot's death broke so far as we know. This is his street here. Carlson's not very proud of this neighborhood with all these shanties and shackles. That's shack in the middle of the next block. Is that where he lives? That's flea. The one with dollar. Yeah, looks like we're just in time to pull the box on a third fire. By the time we got there and broke down the locks front door, the fire was really getting underway. Right in the middle of it was a rickety iron cot. And in the middle of the cot was the body of Horace Singleton. An empty whiskey bottle was still clasped firmly in his hand. To get him outside, this is the first bumper rolled up and answered with some neighbor's call. Here's our house. Oh, hey. I'm here, dear Donna. I didn't think we were going to meet. Well, we could have saved ourselves the trouble. Yeah. Not going to answer any questions for us now. Well, he answered once. How's that? Whatever else he might have done, he didn't set that third fire. Not even the worst corn liquor smells like raw gasoline. It was around just long enough for the coroner's man to come out and pick up Horace Singleton's body and then went back to headquarters. Looks like we're in kind of a rut, Donna. Three fires, three bodies. And we're getting nowhere fast. Well, at least we've got a pretty classic arson pattern. Yeah. The use of fire to destroy the evidence of another crop. This guy is in two. The coroner's report on a police affair. Long tissue, not seared or burned. Definite evidence of oxygen starvation. Probably because of death. The fixation fired to expose you to fire. And I'll give you eight to five right now. We've got the same type of report on Horace Singleton. So we've got a pattern. I know. Still doesn't tell us who or why. And you sure like it. Excuse me. Senator Harvey, did you search the car? Bring them down here to headquarters. I'll be waiting. Thanks. That might help clear up a few points, Donna. Young Norman Cooper was just picked up by the Highway Patrol for speeding. Did they happen to find some hunting equipment in this car? Yeah. Some other things, too. Like what? Felicia Farrell's handbag and a couple of empty gasoline cans. Yes, the name of this man. He has been called a lawyer by profession, a fighter by choice, and a politician by force of circumstance. And he was outstanding in all three fields. In 1788, at the age of 21, he was appointed public prosecutor for the region which is now Tennessee. As president, he was the first to introduce the National Convention for the nomination of presidential candidate. During his campaign for the presidency, his opponents attempted to smear him by an unwarranted attack on his wife, Rachel, who never recovered from the ordeal and died just before her husband's inauguration. If you don't have his name by now, here's one more clue. During the battle of New Orleans, as Major General of the Army, he accepted the help of the pirate Jean Lafitte. Who was he? Andrew Jackson, seventh president of the United States. His life is part of your American heritage. Our star, John Lund, we bring you the second act of Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar. About 45 minutes for the highway patrol to bring Norman Cooper down to headquarters. When we sat down with him in Lieutenant Hervey's office to talk things over, he didn't seem too upset at the prospect. I caught the news on the radio up in Marlboro County, turned right around, head back home. That's why I was speeding. You sure that's all you know about it, Mr. Cooper? Of course it is, Lieutenant. Now, how could I know anything else? You had a date with the police of Farrah last night. What time did you bring her home? I was somewhere around 1130, quarter of 12. Must have been around there. I was ready to shove off on my trip, hadn't I? Anybody see you bring her home? Oh, I know, nothing I know of. I just dropped her off at her apartment and drove on home. No, I don't think any. Say, what is this? Are you trying to accuse me of having something to do with that fire of Felicia Farrah dying? We're just trying to get some information, Mr. Cooper. Well, I don't like the way you're going about it, Lieutenant. Holding me down here, questioning me this way. I think I've got an explanation coming. Maybe you'd better explain how come Felicia's handbag was found in your car. She left it there. Forgot it when she got out. Did she forget those empty gasoline cans, too? Gasoline cans. What have they got to do with this? Mind telling us what they were doing in your car, Mr. Cooper? No, I always carry extra gas along with me in case I run out on the road. That's what happened this time. Look, you're just trying to build up a great big thing out of nothing. Why should I want to kill Felicia? I hardly knew the girl. She worked as your secretary. You took her out dancing last night? Sure, I did to accompany dance. It was the only date we ever had. The only reason I took her was the girl I usually go with stood me up. Who's that, Mr. Cooper? Her name's Marianne James. Lives at 611 Crescent Drive. She's the girl I've been going with. She can back up what I'm telling you. We'll check with her. Come, you thought I was Felicia's boyfriend anyhow. Didn't the fellow was really taking her out? Where are you way over there? Who are you talking about, Cooper? Well, ma'am, my mother's going to marry my uncle, Robert Cooper. While Norman Cooper was giving his statement to the police stenographer, Herbie made a few calls around town trying to locate Robert Cooper. He came up with nothing, so I drove to Marianne James' address. Nobody was home at 611 Crescent Drive, but a gossipy neighbor informed me that Marianne James worked as a hostess and guide at the Botanical Garden, 15 miles north of town on US Highway 52. Expensive on item four, $1.50, entrance fee to the garden. According to the modest sign out front, I was entering 250 acres of the most lush and beautiful floor to be found in South Carolina. Marianne was one of 10 southern bells whose job it was to paddle and rapture tourists around artificial canals in flat-bottom boats, while intoning the glories of nature to be found there. I waited until her boat was free, then stepped aboard and we pushed off. You'll notice over there on the left bank there the border of the Zalias for which botanical gardens are justifiably famous. There are over 47 different varieties of these lovely delicate blooms, ranging all the way from the purest of virginal white to the deepest shade of passionate rail. OK. OK, Marianne. You can relax now. I'll beg your pardon, sir. We're out of sight of the dock. Suppose we talk about something more interesting for a change. The rules of the garden, sir, forbid us girls to enter into any personal conversation with the visitors here. Must get pretty boring. You don't know the hair, Father. I get so sick of a Zalias and magnolias and honeysuckle at times I could just say now, wait a minute. You're not one of those company spies, are you? No, not this time. My name is Johnny Dollar. I'm an insurance investigator. I can't say I rightly know what that means, Mr. Dollar. Well, boil down. It means I'd like to ask you a few questions about Felicia Farrow. Felicia Farrow? I don't think I rightly know anyone named. Oh. Now, you're not talking about that poor girl who got herself burned to death in that fire last night. Yeah, that's the one. I read about that in the papers this morning. That poor dear thing. What a personally nasty way to die. I'm afraid all I know about her is what I read in the papers, Mr. Dollar. That's not what Norman Cooper says. Norman? Do you say I know anything about Felicia Farrow? That was my general impression, yes. He's just a dumb and old saying Norman is, but he sometimes gets the craziest ideas. A poor girl like me working out here hardly gets a chance to meet anyone. Oh, is that so? You should say it is. After all, a girl needs clothes to go out and meet people, you know. And you can't possibly imagine what perfectly miserable salaries they pay us here. Yeah, I think I can. Well, well, you know. Looks like somebody dropped some money in the boat. Now, did one of those careless visitors here do that? I swear some people would lose their heads if they weren't fastened on. Yeah. If you'll give me that bill, Mr. Dollar. Oh, sure. Here. Now, what were we talking about? Felicia Farrow. Oh, yes. Of poor dear girl. Of course I knew her. What was I thinking of to say I didn't? You know where she was last night? I do. Oh, why is that? I had a date to go to the company dance with Norman. But the last minute, I got a silly old headache. I didn't want to spoil Norman's fun, so I asked Felicia to go away with me, sir. Had she ever gone out with him before? With Norman? Well, hardly. He's been assorting me around for the past year or so. Who did she go out with? Felicia. I don't know, an impotent. Well, what about Robert Cooper, Norman Dunkel? I heard Felicia talk about him once or twice, but that's all. I know for certain she never went out with him. Well, Norman said she'd been going out regularly with his uncle. He did? That's right. No, that's very embarrassing, Mr. Dahl. Oh, why? Well, Norman's such a darling old thing. I shall hate to get him to any trouble. But stand to reason that one of us is lying. And I shall know what isn't mean. Oh! On the garden for 30 minutes more without Mary Ann changing her story, I headed back to town in the colonial hotel. There was a message from Lieutenant Hervey asking me to call him at headquarters the minute I got in. Been checking the bank accounts of the people involved, darling, and it looks like it's paying off. Well, that's about time something did. Felicia Farrow made a cash deposit of $500 over and above her salary checks each and every month for the past two years. What about Norman's account and Mrs. Cooper's? Nothing there. The Robert Cooper's account shows a correspondent cash withdrawal of $500 two to four days before each of Felicia's deposits. Have you picked them up yet? No, but we will. And it's not too tough to figure now. Well, a blackmail motive might be a little hard to prove without knowing what Felicia had on him. Felicia Farrow has a safety deposit box in the same bank. Can you get a court order to open it? We're getting one now. Here, join us. I don't mind if I do. We found that the safety deposit box was held jointly by Felicia and Mary Ann James. The vault records show that Mary Ann had been in to open the box earlier that same day. And the box contained a marriage license issued a year before to Felicia Farrow and Robert Cooper. You can't ask for a better blackmail motive, darling. Robert wanted to marry Mrs. Alice Cooper while he's already secretly married to Felicia. She really had him over a barrel. No wonder he killed her. Yeah. The death of the watchman makes sense now, too. He must have stumbled into it while Robert was killing her and figured he could do a little blackmailing, too. Well, it looks like two down and one to go. Why? Somebody else could have the same idea. Mary Ann James, the license isn't proof of marriage, but a certificate would be. And she was into this box for something today. If she figures on trying the same thing, darling, and Robert Cooper follows the same pattern, that's just what I was thinking. A phone call to the Botanical Gardens brought no answer. It was after 5.30, and the place was obviously closed. There was only one place left to go. 611 Crescent Drive. Oh, hello, Lieutenant. Mr. Dollar? Uh, what are you doing here, Norman? Well, I'm waiting for Mary Ann to get home. You see, we might have to come in. Well, no, not at all. Thanks. Miss James hasn't come home yet? No. I've been expecting her. She's usually home about this time. We had a date, but she phone said she'd be a little late. Did she say why? Yeah, she said she had to meet someone at the gardens after closing time, some kind of a business deal or something. Why, did you want to see her about something important? You could call it that. We covered the 15 miles out to the Botanical Gardens in something like 11 minutes flat. The place was dark and deserted, looking except for two cars and a parking lot. The hood of one of the cars was still warm, and it was registered to Robert Cooper. He's in there with a dollar. No question about it. Where? I don't know. But with 250 acres to cover, we'd better get started. We split up and headed into a night black and massive tropical foliage. It didn't seem to be a prayer of finding anyone in there, but I figured that 47 different varieties of azaleas was as good a place to start as any. But it didn't look as if I was right. In that clump of magnolias! I was shocked. She shouldn't have tried to confuse me and let me go. Wasn't my fault. Nothing else I could do. There's no crime worse than blackmail. Felicia Farrow could think of one. $18.30. Hotel, Bill, and miscellaneous. Expense account item six, $52.70. Airfare and incidentals back to Hartford. Expense account total $176.45. Yours truly, Johnny Dollar.