 From Hollywood, it's time now for John Lund as Johnny Dollar. It's Red Egan, Johnny. Oh, how are you, Red? Was it a boy or a girl? Both. Very head-twins. Oh, and double congratulations. Do I get two cigars? Sure. What does it look like? All three. I'll be there in an hour. John Lund in a transcribed adventure of a man with the action-pact expense account. America's fabulous freelance insurance investigator. Here's truly Johnny Dollar. Expense accounts submitted by Special Investigator Johnny Dollar to Allied Adjustment Bureau Suite 418 Markham Building, Hartford, Connecticut. The following is an accounting of expenditures during my investigation of the Underwood matter. The situation wasn't a new one, and our position wasn't any different. Red Egan reminded me of all this in his office. We're in the same old spot, Johnny, with the same old problem. The policy of older is dead, and if we're looking into it, the insurance company is no longer a friend of the widow or the orphan, but a big bad monster trying to weasel out of a just claim. And every claim is a just claim. Well, the claim came into our office yesterday afternoon, and it turned it over to me for adjustment this morning. I phoned the beneficiary and wrecked her, and she hung up on me. Oh? Underwood's widow. She didn't like it a bit having an insurance man in Hartford calling her up. Even after I explained it, any insurance man left an investigation on a claim, and that's my business. Well, what exactly happened to Underwood? The only thing I really know is that he fell four stories from a hotel window and died instantly. Here. The AP account of his death came from a local paper there. How big was the policy? $25,000. Double indemnity if it was an accident, of course. What about the payment if he committed suicide? This doesn't say anything about suicide. My guess is that a local reporter wrote that up. Underwood was a major stockholder in the newspaper it appeared in. I doubt if they'd suggest suicide, don't you? I don't know, Red. I never met the editor. Well, meet him, if you like. Talk to him. Talk to anybody. When you get to Rexford, go to the inquest and sit with the spectators. Listen to what everybody has to say. After all, it's up to the coroner's jury there to see if Underwood was pushed, fell, or jumped to his death. Not us. I just want you there to be sure that whatever Columbia does about this claim that it's all tidied up. Okay? Okay. Oh, how about my cigars? Sure, help yourself. It cost me $3.69 a box. And on second thought, you can buy me a drink. Expensive card, item one. $214.65. A train fare, bus fare, and incidentals between Hartford and Rexford. I arrived at 11.30 in the morning and checked in at the same hotel where Raymond Underwood had met his death. I had some lunch in the coffee shop, and after that, I struggled my way against the belligerent north wind of the city hall in the inquest. There, I sat with the reporters and listened to a bellhop, a desk clerk, and a chambermaid give their versions of what had happened today underwood met his death. I was most interested in what Mrs. Underwood had to say. Now, please, did you last see your husband, Mrs. Underwood? Last Thursday morning. About what time? 12 o'clock, little before, I guess. And where? At the Pioneer Hotel, in his room there. The same room he occupied prior to his death? Yes. Were you alone? Yes, just with him. And, uh, what time did you leave? I was only there 15 or 20 minutes. I must have left before 12.30 to have an appointment. That was the last time you saw Mr. Underwood alive? Yes. They called me about three in the afternoon and told me that he... that it had happened. Uh, what did you talk to your husband about, Mrs. Underwood? We were talking about being divorced. Was the deceased in good health? Yes. Had he been drinking? Some. Not much. I guess he'd had a couple before I got there. She was a tall, dark-haired woman in her early 30s. Clothes were New York. Perfume Paris. Rings Tiffany's. He answered the questions of the interrogator without hesitation, without emotion. It had been previously established by the desk clerk that she'd left the hotel room a full 15 minutes before Underwood had left. By 4.30 in the afternoon, it was all finished. The jury brought in their verdict for the coroner's man to read. He is dead by a broken back received in a fall from the fourth story of the Pioneer Hotel at or about 12.30 p.m. on Thursday, February 19th. I left the city hall and went down to the Western Union office and wired the news to Red Egan. After that, I looked up Sergeant Hannon at the police station. He gave me a copy of the coroner's verdict and the best certificate. Here you are. Thanks. How much you stuck for? $50,000. The joy it goes, huh? Yeah, I suppose so. Uh, Sergeant. Yeah? Where's Mrs. Underwood from? Here. All her life? All her life. Born and raised right here in Rexford. Of course, she went to school in the East and grew up a couple of times, but most of her life right here. Mighty pretty widow. Mighty rich one, too. Underwood had it. I know. This, uh, divorce. Everybody in town knew they weren't getting along. Never did get along. How could they? Alice was 28 and Ray was over 50. He could have been her father. As a matter of fact, he almost was. How's that? Well, he raised her from the time she was 14. She was growing up. She didn't have any folks after her old man died. Ray was pretty good to her. I see. We went over what you were thinking, daughter. Sure, anybody would. But they were talking about divorce. The papers had been drawn up for a settlement. She'd got a lot of money in Alamone and so on. Alice had no call to push him out of that window or have anybody else do it. What about the possibility of suicide? The jury said accident. Is everybody here new Ray? He wasn't the suicide type. Nobody's the suicide type until they come to the end of the line, Sergeant. Then it's too late to interview him and ask him about it. But it's already been said as an accident, so I guess I'm just throwing words around. Never write to do that if you're not satisfied with the verdict, dollar. Anything we can do, be glad to help. Thanks. Thanks a lot. Expense account item two, $10.80, public stenographer. I assembled copies of all the testimony, re-interviewed the people of the hotel, had all of it typed up and notarized and forwarded to Hartford. Then made arrangements to meet my eastbound plane in Cheyenne. I was about to check out when my phone rang. Johnny, dollar. What's up, Red? Insurance agent in Cheyenne just got back from his and said he wanted to change. Maybe I'd better find out. What matters do you want to clear up? Just some details about your husband's death, Mrs. Underwood. I sure hate to trouble you with a time like this. That's perfectly all right, Mr. Underwood. Sit down. Can I get you a drink? Scott should be fine. All right. Did you know that Mr. Underwood wanted to change the beneficiary on his insurance policy last week? Yes. What are all right? Oh, fine. We also learned that he changed his mind about that the day he died. Can you explain any of that? I think so, Mrs. Underwood. Ray and I were going to be divorced. He moved out of the house bed a month ago. We went to his attorney's and drew up a tent of property settlement. Here you are. Thanks. I didn't see him for three weeks or so, and then we happened to meet and... Well, we had a rather fissure argument about everything. Where was this? In the dining room at a hotel. I was lunching there with some friends. I see. One of those ridiculous things we quarreled and parted very angrily. The whole thing was childish. My first impulse was to see a lawyer and demand every unreasonable thing I could on a settlement. I guess his impulse was to cancel me out of his beneficiary. Did you go to a lawyer? No. I cooled off. Do you know what day this was? The luncheon was at Tuesday affair, I think. Yes. That... that fits in all right? Our parting had been amicable. I mean, Ray and I just didn't get along as husband and wife. But we made it up. Just before he died, he called me that morning and apologized for his conduct. I apologized to him. I went to see him later at the hotel. He fell out of the window after I left. Yeah. Well, then, we can assume that this business with the policies had to do with the argument. I can't think of any other reason. You had no other heirs? No. Why? Well, you see, Mrs. Underwood, it's kind of hard for us to believe that a man involved in divorcing his wife would still name her as his beneficiary. Why do you say a thing like that? Well, because of past experience, I suppose. It's unusual. I see. Of course, I was the last one. I was the last one. Of course, I was the last one to see Ray alive. Mm-hmm. And I could have told you that we were reconciled that we were going to drop the whole matter that he was going to move back into the house. Yes, you could have told me that, Mrs. Underwood. But I didn't. I told you the truth. I hadn't lied to you, Mr. Donner. When Mr. Egan called from Hartfield a few days ago, I was very upset. I've never been a widow before. You're still looking at me with a question, Mr. Donner. I hate to be stubborn. But I'd still like to know about the other matter. Why I am still his beneficiary? Yes. The next morning I interviewed all the people who had been on duty at the hotel the morning of Underwood's death. Then I dropped in to see Sergeant Hannon once more. Well, here it is, right here. I wonder what the room myself with two of my men. The personal effects of the deceased included four suits of men's clothing, and two of my men's clothing, and two of my men's clothing, and two of my men's clothing. I interviewed four suits of men's clothing, 14 shirts, five pair of men's hosiery... Was there a bottle in there? Flicker? Yeah. Nope. How about a flask? Nope, nothing like it, just a glass. Hannon, I talked to all the people at the hotel before I came over here. Underwood left a call for 11.30 the morning he died. They called him. And that's the only business he conducted all day outside of calling his home. We know he didn't leave the room. We know Mrs. Underwood visited him there about 12. Yeah. But more important, Underwood didn't call and have a bellboy bring him a bottle. Room service didn't send him any drinks. The chambermaid swears there was no bottle of liquor of any kind in his room all the time he lived at the hotel. He really didn't drink much. Well, that adds to it. What light drinker takes a drink before breakfast? He only had time to get up and shave before his wife showed up. Who said he had a drink? Mrs. Underwood. On the witness stand under oath, she said that her husband had had a couple of drinks. Mind you, she didn't say he was drunk, but she did say he had been drinking before she got there. You know what I think, Hannon? What? I think she just threw that in because it's a little hard to believe that a cold sober man had walked out of a hotel window and killed himself accidentally. But you and I and everybody else at that corner's inquest got the impression that Underwood was slightly tipsy. I want to know where he got the drink. I want to know who gave it to him. That's what I want to know. Where'd he get the drink? If he had one. That's a pretty good question, Dower. We'll return to yours truly, Johnny Dollar, in just a moment. Every Saturday in the daytime, CBS Radio presents City Hospital. Just one of a thrilling lineup of weekend dramatic programs at the star's address. City Hospital tells gripping stories of life and sometimes death in a great hospital. Tomorrow and every Saturday on most of these same stations, CBS Radio invites you to enjoy City Hospital. With our star, John Lund, we bring you the second act of yours truly, Johnny Dollar. After our talk, Sergeant Hannon agreed that there was enough of a doubt about the circumstances just before Underwood's death to warrant a re-examination of the facts. That was all I needed. I knew that Mrs. Underwood would be questioned and that the pressure would start to build up. I had some pressure of my own. Expensive Count Item 4. $13.25. Another long distance phone call. This one to Hartford and Red Egan. I explained our position to him. What? The best thing right now is to move fast. Deny liability on the grounds that the accident is not proved. Suppose she sues us. Letter. The burden of proving that it was an accident would be on her. Red, he didn't have a drink that morning. He might have, sure. But there's no doctor in town able to tell us he had any trouble along those lines and there's Mrs. Underwood herself. What about her? She was ready for that coroner's jury yesterday and she was ready for me when I called on her last night. The only one she wasn't ready for was you She halfway apologized for that. But she really couldn't think of anything to say to you. I tell you it isn't. Why? Do you have anything else? Free things. Instinct, experience, and statistics. She's a young woman. She was married to a wealthy older man. With him out of the way she has all his money. Everything, not just alimony and a property settlement. And when he left her in the way of property and other things, not to mention the insurance she can go places and do things on. All right. Tell him I'm working for evidence and the best way to get it is to bring her out in the open. File a complaint against her to the district attorney's office. What charge? Suspected murder. Remember the drink. He didn't have the drink. She had help. Somebody got into the hotel without being seen and pushed Underwood out of that window. You bet your boots I am. At six o'clock that night I compared notes with Sergeant Hannon. She admitted that after questioning Mrs. Underwood she admitted that she might have been mistaken about her husband drinking the morning of his death. She wasn't sure. But Hannon said what we both were thinking. He was sure enough in front of that coroner's jury to give him this leading impression, dollar. We better find out who helped her pull this off. Hannon had 16 men working on the case by then. It was a long, tedious job of combing over everything in Alice Underwood's background in order to find a possible accomplice. About four o'clock the next afternoon we interviewed one of the three servants in the Underwood home. That's right, sir. Once or twice a week. Do you know where she drove to? I have no idea, sir. She'd generally get up early in the morning and be gone all day. How do you know she went out of town? Couldn't she just have gone and visited a friend somewhere nearby? I suppose so, Mr. Dollar, but then she'd generally take a small suitcase to change her clothes. You don't take those when you're visiting a friend in town, do you? You might. Wait a minute. What car did she take? The Cadillac. And I knew it had come back covered with mud and ice. Always have to be washed up. I see. Mr. Underwood used to complain about it a whole, uh, about the car? Oh, no, no, about the trips. They had some pretty good arguments about them. Could you repeat anything that was said? Well, I don't guess I could word for word. Do you know what they were about? Yes, well, yes, about the same all the time. Mr. Underwood said she shouldn't visit that man. What man? Just that man. I never knew who it was that they were arguing about. Uh-huh. How long have you worked for Mr. Underwood? Me, I've been in this house 13 years, sir. And you've known Mrs. Underwood quite a long time? Uh, yes, sir. Yes, sir. When she was a little girl, when she first came here and saw her grow up and go away to school and come back and go away to Europe and come back a little more growing up and a little different each time. I seen her turn into a woman over the years, sir. Were you surprised when Mr. Underwood married her? Well, no. Yes, I guess I was. I mean, she always seemed so young compared to him, but then when she was grown up it was sort of different, so I wasn't surprised at that. Let me ask you this. Did she seem to fit in here? You mean when she married him? Well, before they were sort of, you know, like friends. I mean, they'd ride horses and go hunting and laugh and talk about different things, but she traveled so much and saw so many different things around the world that it didn't seem they were friendly anymore once that they were married. I mean, Mr. Underwood was Wyoming, you know, and Mrs. Underwood, she was well different even though this is her home. Okay, thanks a lot. Wait, I feel awful about Mr. Underwood being dead. I've been telling you the things the way I see them, and I know you'll probably hear different stories from everybody. But I'm glad you came and asked me if there was anything wrong about the way he died. I'd like it to be fixed. Sure you would. Mrs. Underwood probably had fired me for talking like this, but I don't care, this house isn't the same anymore. Before the day was out, a complaint had been issued against Alice Underwood for the murder. However, it was not served immediately because by that time, Sergeant Hannon's men had discovered the names of three men Mrs. Underwood would have been seen with at various places around Rexford in the past three years. One of them had been killed in the Korean War. One of them had moved to Chicago 14 months before. The third one was a man named Tyler. He operated a sizable ranch about 80 miles from the city limits. Then loading cattle under a couple of trucks. You're trying to find out if I've been seeing her on the sly while she's been married to Ray? Why don't you come right out and ask? All right, Tyler, I'll ask. Have you? No, I haven't. There's nothing between us. Any time we were together while she was married to Ray, he knew about it. He's a good friend of mine. I'm sorry he's dead. Alice is a good friend of mine too. Sorry, you people are thinking what you are. Well, come on, let's go off the house. Where were you last Thursday, Mr. Tyler? Did Ray die? Yeah. Right here. Can you probe it? Say, what is this? We haven't accused you of anything, Tyler. We're just trying to gather some facts. Alice is a grand girl. Put that down as one of your facts. You boys want a drink? No, thanks. Oh, for me, thanks. When was the last time you were in Rexford? Oh, I hadn't been into the last six months. Wait, I was too. I came in one day around Christmas to do some shopping. Most of the time, my cook or somebody goes in and handles supplies there. OK, Tyler. Mind if we talk to some of your help around here? No. What do you want to talk to them about? First about where you were last Thursday. You were here, they'd be the logical ones to verify. Second about Mrs. Underwood. What about her? What we ask you, just checking it, Tyler. She's been taking trips and visiting somebody around here. We thought we'd get with you. It wouldn't look good if she was visiting me, is that it? It depends on the circumstances. Yeah. Tell me something, will you? Have you taken any action against her yet? Not yet. My company's filed a complaint. Suspicion of murder. I see. I'd like to tell you something. OK. Both of you know her, huh? Yeah. Her daddy was a drunk. When he died, Ray took over and gave her everything. If it hadn't been for him, he'd have been tossing ash and some restaurant around here, kiddin' the customers and married to a truck driver. What's this got to do with her? Let me go on. Sure, she loved Ray for giving her all that, but any woman needs more than that kind of love. I lied to you a few minutes ago. There was something between us. It was bound to happen to me or somebody else closer to her age. I was glad when she and Ray finally decided to be divorced. It was my chance to marry her. They were gonna talk to my people around here. They'd lie for me and say I was here last Thursday all day, and they'd tell you that Dallas never came here to see me. They'd lie right on down the line for me, but I can't let you take her into custody for something I did. Something she didn't have anything to do with it. I killed Ray anew. How did it happen, Tyler? It didn't mean to. One of my trucks has delivered some beef to the restaurant at the hotel. I rode in with the driver and went in the back way. I went right up to Ray's room because I wanted to talk to him. What about? Wasn't the divorce settled? Yeah, it was all set. All set. He called me the night before. Then kind of soar about Allison. I just wanted to go in and tell him what I told you. We didn't plan to fall in love. We didn't want to hurt him. We both loved him. When I got to his room, he wouldn't let me talk at all. He tried to swing on me. So I shoved him and he went out the window. That's all. Expense account item 5, $38.15. Hotel and food while in Rexford. Item 6, same as 1, transportation back to Hartford. Expense account total $491.50. Yours truly, Johnny Dollar.