 All right, Patsy. How'd you go? This is it. This is what, Nick? A studio of magnificent pictures, at which Joseph Stone is the owner and director. Well, there goes another illusion. I thought movie studios were all bright lights and glamour. This place looks like a stage set for the deserted village. Well, it's been locked up for the past ten years or so. That's funny. The gate's locked. And that's our cue to turn around and go home again. You've got a nice, tasty jewel robbery waiting for you to solve back in town, and you should be working on that. Instead of being way out here at the end of nowhere, playing around a forgotten movie studio. Well, I guess I'll have to pick the lock. Okay, if you must. Patient Patsy will bear with your little game. This is no game, Patsy. Why, what do you mean? The house of Lulu Doray, the star of Stone's new picture, was broken into last night while she was at a dance. She was wearing her jewels, including the famous emeralds. Fortunately, though, nothing was stolen. There. There we are. All right, Patsy, go ahead. It's funny, there isn't a gatekeeper around. It does, doesn't it? Well, I guess I haven't got a full staff for the studio, considering they moved back from Hollywood just to do this one show. Why did they do that, Nick? Oh, Doray hit a run-of-the-pay contract for the show she's doing on Broadway and couldn't go west. Hey, there, where do you think you're going? Oh, so there is a door. Okay, but, Gateman, I'm looking for Mr. Stone's office. Well, you can't see him. I'm afraid you don't understand. I'm Nicholas Carter. Mr. Stone's expecting me. I'm taking my orders from Lieutenant Riley of the Metropolitan Police. He says to admit no one. Riley? What's he doing here? Investigating a murder. Murder? I thought you said robbery, Nick. What murder? Come on, get out of here. I got my orders. Come on, Patsy, let's find Riley or Joe Stone. Hey, you can't do that. Come back here. It's all right. I'll explain to the police. Hurry, that's it. Hurry. What is this, Nick? So I plan to find out right now. Then I take it this fellow boy who's been killed is a fairly unimportant chap, eh, Mr. Stone? Well, yes, he was just a darn good electrician. It doesn't seem to be any connection between his murder and the attempted robbery of Miss Doray. No, there doesn't. Is Lieutenant Riley here now? Yes, yes, he's over on stage five. It's that building over there. Do you want me to come with you? Yes, I wish you would, Mr. Stone. There may be points I'd like to ask you about. I'd be glad to help, of course, if I can help. There's one thing I don't understand, Mr. Stone. You say Boyd was shot in the back with a poisoned arrow from a blowgun. It's an odd weapon. It should be fairly easy to trace. You don't have to trace it very far, Mr. Carter. The blowgun and the arrow were mined. Yes, you see, eleven years ago, I tried to do a picture about a voodoo witch doctor. We used the blowgun and it. I don't suppose you remember the picture, Mr. Carter. It was called the voodoo curse. Oh, yes, yes, I do. You had a bit of trouble over there, I believe. A bit of trouble? It practically drove me into bankruptcy. I'd imported a real voodoo witch doctor from Haiti and he put a curse on the whole studio. Oh, come now, Stone. You don't really believe that. I don't know what I believe anymore. Eleven years ago we had fires. We had explosions. We had mysterious thefts. We had just about everything. I've got so that everybody was scared to work here. I had to close the studio and now we have a murder. Why should the witch doctor put a hex on you? Oh, I had an argue with him. Oh, with her salary of some sort. He swore he'd break me and he almost did. Oh, here, this is stage five. Well, well, Nicholas Carter. Hi, Arlan. And Patsy. Well, what might you be doing here? He's come to help you, Lieutenant. Oh, that's very obliging of him, I'm sure. Say, was that a crack? Why, of course not. Well, let's get to work. Raleigh, where was the body found? Right over there by that door, Nick, where the chalk marks are. Hmm. I wonder what he was doing way over here. He was setting up the stage, as I told you. But all his equipment's over there, clear across the set. Raleigh, how was he facing when he died? He was lying on his face with his head towards that door, Nick. Shot in the back, wasn't he? Yep. We figured from the angle of the arrow that the blowgun fella must have been sitting up there on that catwalk when he killed him. Mr. Stone, what's behind that door that Boyd was heading for? Well, special electrical equipment, I believe, for special effects. Would Boyd have known that? Well, yes, of course. He worked on this stage years ago. He probably would have remembered. That's it, then. He was going into that room to see if he could find some special equipment he needed. That accounts for his being way over here. And you think there was something in there the killer didn't want him to see, Nick? Right, Raleigh. Let's go in. There's Locknick. Oh, Stone, give me your keys, will you? Keys? I have no keys for these rooms. Did Boyd have any? Well, I believe he had borrowed the caretaker set. Raleigh, did you search the corpse? Of course I did, Nick. No keys? No keys. I can get a locksmith out from the village. What? You have no duplicates? The place has been locked up so long I never expected to come back here. I was trying to sell it as a matter of fact. Pick the lock, Nick. This seems to be your day for doing that. Just what I'm going to do, Betsy. I'll get you more light. Oh, he doesn't need light. He can see in the dark, practically. Now you don't have to see to pick a lock. There. There. And there. That's it. Now we'll get a look at what your killer didn't want Boyd to see. Here, here's the light switch. Oh, wait, wait, wait. Don't crowd in like that. Uh-huh. Look. Footprints! Footprints in the dust. Golly, Nick, there goes your theory. Boyd was here before he was killed and took out whatever it was he wanted. Well, it was a cute theory while it lasted. Maybe it's still a cute theory, as you call it. All we have to do now, Nick, is to measure the prints and see if they're Boyds or not. They're not. How do you know? Yeah, you haven't even seen the body. These prints were made by leather sole shoes. Right, Riley? Well, yeah, you're right, but... And Boyd was wearing rubber soles. How do you know he was, Nick? Correct me if I'm wrong, Stone. Don't all technicians in the soundstage wear rubber sole shoes to kill any noise that the soundtracks might pick up? Well, you're right, Carter, they do. Now, those leather sole prints mean that it wasn't Boyd, but our friend the murderer who used the keys he took from Boyd to get in here. You're leading to that crate. Let's see what's in it. No, don't walk on the footprints. We need them as evidence. I'll wager you'll find the crate empty. The murderer didn't just walk over to it, look in and walk out again. Oh, no. He took away everything he didn't want, Boyd, or anyone else to find. You're right, Nick. The crate is empty. Shall we search the room, Nick? What's the point in that? There was anything here. It's gone by now. The murderer's seen to that. I wonder what was in this crate. I wonder... Help! Help! Nick, the poor kid. What is it, Carter? Another murder. Another... good lord. Can you identify him, Stone? Why, it's Bill Daly, our camera punk. Camera punk? What's that? Oh, it's Studio Slang for assessment of the camera. Hey, you people are run too fast for me. Hey, what's up here? See for yourself, Arling. Well, good gosh, another murder. And it looks from his position as if he was just coming out of that door over there. That's funny. Both he and boy... Any idea what he was doing around here, Stone? Yes, I sent him over here myself about an hour ago to look in that warehouse. See if there was any of that old photographic equipment we could remodel and use. Priorities, you know. Daly was very clever, that sort of thing. That's a mean-looking knife he's got sticking in his throat, Nick. Knife? Good lord. What is it, Mr. Stone? That knife. It's from that same voodoo picture. There seem to be a few too many of those old props hanging around. Are there any more? Yes, there's a complete stock of weapons, everything we used in that confounded picture. The voodoo curse? Yes. I'd rather think I'd like to see that film, Stone. Is there a copy of it around here, in a place? Well, as much as we ever shot of it, it was never finished, you know. But you run it off for me. Well, certainly I will. I'll go arrange it now. Thanks. Nick, what do you think? I'm not sure. Any opinions yourself? Yes. My money's on Stone's doing it. Stone? Why in the world would he do it? Well, I don't know. I haven't figured out the reason for it yet. But he acts kind of funny, nervous sort of. And he keeps talking about the place maybe being haunted. Oh, good heavens, Raleigh. Who wouldn't be nervous with all this murder going around? I know I am. Well, take the weapons, Nick. They all belong to him. What other people could have access to them, Raleigh? After all, Stone hasn't been here for over ten years. And there's something more important. You will overlook, Raleigh. What's that, Nick? How did Stone manage to throw that knife at daily while he was with us? How do I know? We were all so busy looking at that star room on the set he could have sneaked of. By golly, I'll bet that's how he did do it. Well, that's Stone beckoning to us. You want to go to see the movies, Raleigh? I got better things to do, Nick. I'm going to search this joint. How about you, Patsy? Sure thing. But why do you want to see it? I'm not sure, Patsy. But I've got sort of a hunch that the answer to all our questions lie hidden in that old picture. Did all movie projectors make this racket ten years ago? Most of them, Patsy. Now listen. You don't believe in all those magic, eh? Well, if you've been here long enough to see some of the things I've seen. Really, Ross? There's something uncanny about these natives. Call a coincidence if you like. Who's the woman? Gosh, she's good at him. That's Lula Dorey. The star of the picture. Stone shooting here now. You know, their voices sound funny and teeny. Yeah, they certainly do. Just come down from the States. But it is magic. There's no other way to explain some of the things that happen. Magic mumbo jumbo, you mean. You'll never convince me it's anything else. I suppose this is another of those wild dances. Now, there's a really good voice. Who is he, Nick? Now, don't tell me you don't remember him, Patsy. The name was Bart Tyson. A great leading man, ten years back. Oh, I remember his name, of course. This is rather better than most of the dances I've seen. Patsy, I've heard that voice very recently. The picture must be almost over now, Nick. Have you discovered anything? I'm not sure yet. Gosh, they had some pretty fancy photography in those days. I thought all that underwater swimming stuff was comparatively new. Oh, no. Stone was the first person to use it. Well, how did they do it? Look at that man swimming. It couldn't be faked. It isn't. It was taken through some sort of a glass tank. That native has been underwater for twenty minutes. No human can hold his breath that long. That's what I've been telling you, Ross. The magic of these natives, magic. Maybe you're right. Maybe you're right. That voice. I've heard it somewhere before myself. I never heard Dyson act before. Hey, don't we see the ending? No. It's all they made, Patsy. The picture wasn't finished. Did you find out what you wanted to? I'm not quite sure. Well, Mr. Carter, did you like the picture? Oh, a very interesting stone. Oh, that little dory certainly is beautiful, isn't she, Mr. Stone? I've never seen her in pictures before. Has she done anything else? No, nothing. Until now that she's starring in my new show on Broadway. That's funny. I think with her looks and her voice, she'd be a sensation. That's what I've always claimed, but, well, she got scared off after all these things happened during the filming of this one, and she's stuck to Broadway ever since. And when Dyson, her leading man, was hurt, she'd rather felt... I was wondering what happened to Dyson. From what I could gather from this show, he should have been a natural for talking. Oh, he was. But we had a bad explosion and his whole face was terribly scarred. That's why we could never finish this picture. He never could act in pictures again. Oh, what a shame. Well, Stone, thanks for showing us the film. Mind if we scout around after Riley? Oh, no, not at all. If you need me, I'll be on stage three. We're going to start shooting soon. Good. It's funny about Dory. She seems to be cropping up in our lives all over the place. Yes, she does, doesn't she? Betsy, when you find a telephone, get hold of Scubby. Mm-hmm. Find out what you can about Mark Tyson and what's happened to him since the accident. Okay, Nick, where do you be? If I don't see you before, I'll meet you at Stone's office at noon. Right. Oh, Nick! Nick Carter! Oh, Riley, just looking for you. You found anything yet? We found all the weapons from that voodoo movie. I'll accept the ones we'd already found, that is. How'd you know you found them all? Stone had an inventory. We checked on it. Well, if your theory about Stone's correct, Riley, you could have falsified that inventory. Why should he? Well, perhaps he had a couple of weapons hidden somewhere and doesn't want us to know anything about them. Nick, the more I think about it, the less I like that guy. Find anything else? Oh, no, not a blessed thing. Search the whole lot, have you? Oh, but stage nine over there, that's locked up tighter than a drum. I can't pick locks the way the great Carter does. Okay, I'll take care of those. Riley, why don't you go on down to stage three? They're going to start shooting the picture pretty soon, and I'd feel a lot more comfortable if someone were on guard there. We've had enough murders for one day. I suppose you think this is a gag having it get all dressed up like Mary Villagers or something. It's not a gag, Patsy. It's insurance. What do you mean? Just what I said. When we're dressed up in our regular clothes, everybody in the lot knows who we are. But anyone seeing us dressed up like this will think we're actors and never look at us twice. I never thought I'd live to see the day when people wouldn't stare at Nick Carter, master detective, all dressed up in knee pants. Quiet. Did you check with Scovey? Yup. But Justice Stone said Tyson was hurt in that explosion and then just sort of vanished. Hasn't been heard of since. Hmm, that takes care of that. Well, here's stage nine. The only place that hasn't been searched by Riley or me. What do you expect to find? I don't know. It's funny. This door isn't locked. Everything else in the lot has been. Yes. Riley distinctly said it was locked when he tried it. Well, keep your eyes open. There may be a reason for it being open now. Dolly, it's dark inside here. Here, take this flashlight. Okay. I've got another. Hey, Nick, look. There's an old makeup table. I wonder what kind of makeup they used in those days. Patsy, we haven't time to stop for you to look at makeup. Look here. Well, this makeup isn't old at all. What's that? No, this is the very latest type of movie makeup and it's all new stuff. Well, good for you, Patsy. Yes, there's something funny about this. Definitely, Nick. Well, this panchromatic makeup wasn't developed until Technicolor came in. They didn't use this type of makeup back in the days when this studio was in use. Somebody must have been here since. And none of the actors are making up way over here. Right, Patsy. I'll make a detective out of you yet. Now let's see if we can find anything else. Oh, I'm getting creeps, Nick. I don't like it here. That's it. I think we're getting warm. This is one of the first real clues with... Hey. Recognize that? What? Well, that must be the glass tank they used to take that swimming sequence in the voodoo movie. Right you are. I wonder why they left it half full of water this way. When they finished taking that scene, they probably just walked off and left it here. Maybe. Don't forget they closed this place in a hurry. What are you doing? Patsy, this water is fresh. What? Maybe stale if I've been here ten years. Stale and smelly. Hey, I'm beginning to think maybe stone's right and there is a hex on this place. Too bad that voodoo picture wasn't in Technicolor. Those colored stones at the bottom of the tank would have showed up beautifully. They are beautiful, aren't they? Hey, Patsy. What? Look here. Those aren't just colored stones. Doubt your lights, Patsy. Quick, we've got callers. Duck back here behind this quick. The corner saw on the clink this morning with this snoopin. Why does a boss always swipe such important rocks? Why'd he settle for just a small frog? The bosses make time, that's why. You've got enough dough to pay all the bills until that stuff cools off. And when it's safe to handle it, he'll smuggle it out of the company and sell it for plenty. What's he leave it lying around here for? Hidden in the old equipment. Ah, now we know why, boy. It wouldn't have thought that anybody'd ever come back here. Oh, sure. When that punk went into that storehouse, I bet he saw the works. He did. The boss spotted him going in and just had time enough to get that knife and come back and nail him. And the kid was dashing back the stone to spill the beans. See, the boss is sure lucky. He ain't lucky. He's smart. He had to be planted up on that catwalk just in case somebody got an idea to go into that electrician's storeroom. And somebody did. That takes brains. I know that. Well, we better get going, huh, Jake? Yeah, you start drenning the tank so we can get the rocks. I'll get the makeup stuff. Why is he moving everything out now? He figures it'll cool off by now. And the stuff is going to look from that door into him this afternoon. I think I'm pretty speed. I don't think he's going to make it. Who's that? Hey, look. Over there, Jake. Two guys. Only, come here. Run for it. Run away. Let go of me! Let go of me, rat! Get off of me! Get away! Let her go, you! Let her go! Get off of me! Get off of me! You want to be the fucking hell with that guy? Get off of me! Guess that'll hold him. Oh, what's going on? Gosh. It took three of us to knock him cold. He a fighter or something? Hey, I know him. It's Nicotta, the dick. Nicotta? Hey. And a good-looking doll. That's a good thing you called me in time. Now, what are we going to do with them now that we got them, huh? Can't you sleep in line around? Somebody's bound to notice them. Hey, the fish tank. Yeah, that's right. We'll throw them in there. Then when they're good and drown it, we'll drain the tank and get them and the other stuff out at the same time. Good idea, Lippie. Okay. Yeah, Pete. You lift the lid. You shove the girl in, Lippie. All right. Jake and I will dump that carter guy in. It'll be a real pleasure to do something like this to our copper. Yeah. Come on. Yeah. Great. Go ahead. Put caught in first. Okay. Here he goes. Happy swimming, carter. Yeah. Now dump the dame in, Jake. In you go, lady. Ah, that's okay. Hey, listen, guys. I suppose they get out. Well, see that they don't get out. Stokey. Huh? Put the lid down on the tank. Okay, Jake. And I'll put this padlock on and they're safe as if they was in jail. That's good work. Hey, look, boys. They're coming too. So what? Who cares now? Yeah, who cares? Lippie. Huh? Turn on the water. Okay. Here she comes, Jake. Get those two baby spots in up there, will you? That's what you want? That's better. Now, open number two a little more. Okay. All right. This is the take. Ready? Ready. Lights. Camera. Action, Miss Dory. It was when I first opened your letter that I knew it would last. As I opened the envelope... No, no, no, no, no, Lula darling. Mean what you say. Remember, your lover has returned. Now this is your big moment. Now relax. Take it easy now. Now come on. Once more. Right, action? Come on. It was when I first opened your letter that I knew it would last. As I opened the envelope, even before I read the words that you've written there, I realized that what I'd hoped for so long had it last. Hey, what's the matter with those lights? Why aren't they turning on those lights? I'm in charge here. There'll be no concern. Quiet everybody. Quiet. The masked man. Who are you to tell me I'm the redstone? This is a hold up. A hold up. Look here, you. You can't pull a hold up. Quiet, I said. Quiet if you don't want a bullet in your teeth. Quiet. Quiet. The man's mad. That's better. Now nobody'll get hurt if you just keep quiet and do as you're told. Turn on that spotlight. Okay, boss. That's it. Now all of you, line up against the wall there. Come on, get moving. I don't want to shoot, but I will if you make me. And shut up. And you can't tell me to shut up. That all includes you too, Riley. Now don't forget that although you can't see me with this spotlight shining in your eyes, you very clearly. Now each one of you in turn will step forward and put your valuables on that table and center stage. And don't try to hold out on me or it'll be bad for you. All right. We'll start with a star performer. Miss Lulo Dorey. Please, Miss Dorey, if you think I can't see her trying to hide behind the drapes over there, you're wrong. You're in this too. Your jewels, please. No. No, not my emeralds. Surely you won't... Still. It's those emeralds I'm particularly interested in. You don't think I care for the little wristwatches and pocketbooks I'm going to get from the rest of these people, do you? But you can't mean to take my emeralds. One more word out of you and I'll come after them myself. And if I do it... And where you are, Tyson, I've got your cover. Nick Carter. Nick, please, please. Is that you? Come and get me Carter. Watch him early to care. Turn the lights on, Patsy. Right, Nick. Here they are. And there he goes, Nick. God, I missed him, Donut. Did you see where he went, Nick? There he goes, Mr. Carter. They're climbing up the catwalk. Tyson, come down from there or I'll shoot. You haven't got a gun, Nick Carter. Yours is too wet to shoot after your little swim. But I've got my gun here. You missed me, Tyson, but I won't miss you. You may not know it, but my guns are absolutely water proof. Nice work, Carter. You shot the gun right out of his hand. And now your gun's gone, Tyson. Come on down. Yeah. Come up here and get me. You haven't caught me yet. Swallow. Look at him run. He should make a misstep or lose his balance up there. He'd fall off and get ahead of me. Tyson! Tyson, stop! Stop! Look out! You don't slip there! Nick! He's lost his balance! That's out, Tyson! You say you want us to drop you at headquarters rally? If you will, Nick. Okay. Your men got the rest of Tyson's gang all right. They did. They're coming right behind us. Was Tyson badly hurt from his fall? No, not much. Just a broken ankle. He'll be all right. All right, that is, until he gets to the electric chair. Oh, Nick, when I think of how close we came to drowning, I'm scared all over again. Hey, how did you say you got out of that tank, Nick? Believe it or not, Lieutenant, he cut a piece of that heavy glass with a diamond in his ring. What do you know? But, but look, if it was as easy as all that, well, what took you so long doing it, Nick? I had to wait until the plugs got out of the room. Then I just cut a nice little circle out of the glass right beside where the padlock was, reached out and picked the lock. All very simple. Simple for you, maybe. Not for me. When you say you found the jewels Tyson had stolen in the bottom of the tank, eh? Yes, Riley. What Patsy and I thought were pretty collared stones turned out to be all the jewels Tyson had stolen during the last ten years, all unmounted and dumped in with the pebbles in the tank. But what made you first suspect Tyson, Nick? Well, Patsy, it was his voice first. Remember I told you after we saw him in the movie that I knew I had heard his voice somewhere very recently? Oh, so that's why that voice sounded so familiar. Can you imagine that? A movie's tire turned crook. Then there was the fact that Tyson had faded so completely out of sight after his accident. That looked fishy to me. No great star would have let his career be ruined without bringing a suit of some kind, unless he had some plans of his own. And from what I learned from Scubby, we realized he never had brought soup. Yes, and a suit like that would have made all the tabloids. But how did you know Tyson and the watchman were the same? I didn't, Patsy. Until you found that makeup kid. That panchromatic makeup is often used to cover scars. And then I remembered the scarred gape man. It fitted. So did his voice. And the fact that he had the only remaining set of keys to the lot. And of course, he had all the opportunity in the world. And I bet you didn't realize that the murders were tied up with the robberies. Not until we heard those crooks talking, I mean. Well, the makeup kid told me that, too. Remember, Patsy, how you always claimed that all those robberies were done by individuals? Not a gang? Yes, but I still don't see that. Well, Tyson was a consummate actor. And he had complete knowledge of makeup. He disguised himself as a different character, I imagine, for each robbery. Evidently, he played his role expertly, since he succeeded in giving the impression that different people were committing the various thefts. But, say, if that makeup was so good, why couldn't he have gone back to the movies instead of turning thief? Well, Riley, it was good enough for dim lights, but not for the sharp eyes of the camera. Oh, I see. Poor fellow. What an end for a great star. Yes. The explosion probably injured his mind, too. One more thing, Nick. How did he get to be caretaker? Oh, I asked on that. He said he felt sorry for the man, and had given him a job out of kindness. Oh. Well, that's all over now. Except that from now on, I'm allergic to water anywhere, except in drinking glasses. This was another strange experience of Nick Carter, master detective, called the Glass Coffin, or Nick Carter, and the mystery of the voodoo curse. Another of the curious adventures of Nick Carter, which are brought to you regularly at the same time, by W-O-R Mutual. And now, Nick, will you tell us something about your story for next week? Well, next week we leave this part of the country and are going out west to the mining districts of Montana. Did you go too, Patsy? Yes, I went along. Nick and Scubby did most of the work and had most of the excitement. I just stayed in the hotel and waited. That was the first case that Scubby and I really worked out together. And before they were through with it, Scubby very nearly went crazy, literally. And Nick just missed being buried alive. You see, it started out to be a case of robbery, but it ended up with at least two murders and more excitement than I've had in a long time. Well, I hope it's as good as it sounds. It's better. But more of that next week. So long. So long, folks. We'll be seeing you. And so long to you, Nick and Patsy. In the strange adventure you've just heard, Nick Carter was impersonated by Lon Clark, Patsy by Helen Chote. The story was written for Nick Carter by Nancy and Gene Webb. Original music was played by Lou White. The entire production was under the direction of Jock McGregor. Next week at the same time, another curious experience of Nick Carter entitled The Flying Duck Murders for Nick Carter and the Mysterious Gold Thieves. This story is a copyrighted feature by John Smith Publications Incorporated. My name is Humphrey Davis. I've been playing the part of Lieutenant Riley in tonight's show. Just now, though, I'm speaking as myself. Actors, you know, appear at many war bond rallies. We like to know that what we can do may help in selling more bonds. But after all, selling more war bonds is everyone's business. You can talk to your friends about the third war loan campaign just as any speaker might. There are reasons why we must buy extra bonds. You know how purchases of extra war bonds back the attack. You know that they're a great investment. And you know that giving up something you were planning to buy for yourself and buying war bonds instead isn't really any sacrifice. And as you think of these things, how about doing more in this third war loan yourself? Because you can't do too much for the men who are fighting for us every minute somewhere in the world. The return of Nick Carter is produced in the studios of WOR and is broadcast over most of these stations every Monday evening at 9.30 Eastern wartime. This is Mutual.