 Well, you're listening enjoyment John Lund as Johnny dollar well sure Ed, but what I don't want to go into it on the Ben Bryson Yeah, he was too bad. He had a tie that way Spencer counts submitted by special investigator Johnny dollar to the home office keystone mutual assurance company Hartford, Connecticut The following is an accounting of expenditures during my investigation of the Ben Bryson matter Expensive account item one two dollars and forty cents taxi fare for my apartment of the keystone building and the office of Ed Murphy Vice president, I thought as much of winners I would my own son And watched him work his way up to the top job in this company chief adjuster for the west coast head of our San Francisco claims office Not bad for a young man. I was proud of Ben. Yeah, I know Ed and then that accident last month foggy nighty mr. Curve Grew his car off a cliff into the Pacific Ocean That was that the end only it wasn't the end or you wouldn't call me over here No, it wasn't Johnny But in two weeks after Ben's death we started getting complaints from some of our clients out there Demands for adjustment on claims Bennett reported pain weeks before request for settlement so on We couldn't figure it but we went to work quietly And we found out oh You found out what Ben's accounts had been ducted for a long time Johnny. They were short way short In the months before he was killed. He'd embezzled nearly 80 thousand dollars from the company not Ben Bryson Ed Anybody else? Yes, but money never meant anything to Ben Johnny Here here's a ticket to san francisco plane leaves in two hours. I'll wait a second Ed I think I'd like to pass this one. Yeah, so would I but we can't you know that Left a lot of questions Johnny. I've got to be answered An 80 thousand dollars of the company's money is missing. I have to be counted for it Yeah, I know but maybe you ought to get somebody out there and be awful grateful if you do it, Johnny You'll have the best chance. You knew him. He was your friend. Yeah, he was my friend I know how I feel Johnny All right Ed somebody's got to do it And like you said Ben was my friend Let's have the ticket Expense account item two eight dollars and 90 cents tip incidentals and taxi from the san francisco airport to the fairmont hotel Where I registered taxi to ben's last address The franciscan arms department Ben had always been the two-room bachelor walk-up type but the franciscan arms was equal parts of glitter glass quank and price With a uniform doorman Bar off the lobby and a manager with a gardenia in his lapel a real gardenia I'm most desirable for assisting you in everywhere possible, mr. Dollar But i'm terribly afraid this simply is very little I can tell you about the latest the price Discretion you mean policy of the house? No, of course, we do try to protect privacy of our residents even to the extent of turning down 20 dollars We're under the circumstance Thank you. Good. Good. Good. Good nature always well, pardon me Yeah Oh, yes, madam renders Yes, I'll send one of the boys up a little cocoa Yes, right away madam renders That's a little poodle. You're walking herself take some weight off her Now about mr. Bryson, he'd been our guest for about six months time at his tragic accident A true gentleman boldly vaunted and uh Well in a crassly materialistic side a free sender. I'm sorry 20 is all I'll go for Mr. Dollar what about visitors friends here in the building? None that I can recall or except mrs. Kuhn, of course, mrs. Kern one of the lovely most charming guests we've ever had the pleasure Pardon Yes Yes, madam renders the boys on his way Oh, yes, well, please tell cocoa and suicide Cocoa what a ridiculous name for dog. Yeah now about mrs. Kern. Well, she and mr. Bryson were inseparable and uh, mr. Kern deceased early this year, I believe Wonder if I could talk to mrs. Kern. I'm afraid not mr. Dollar. She's been gone for 10 days gone. Where I understand a study She'll be back eventually go for it. You still have your apartment here. Oh, that's poor dear That's a tragic coincidence. What do you mean tragic coincidence? Well, as I understand it This is Kern's husband also died in some sort of accident I've been spending bar here for two years mr. Dollar I was here before mr. Bryson moved in and I'm still here now that he's gone I guess I knew as much about him as a bartender usually knows You were his friend though. How come you're asking me the question? Well, I hadn't seen him for quite a while He got out of touch. You know how it goes. Yeah friends drift apart the mixed up world any more mixed up all the time Oh, yes, very usual What's the double mark? Always wanted double martin Yeah, mr. Bryson spent a lot of time in here always with alvi, of course alvi. This is Kern Young widow that lives here in the building. Everybody calls her alvi You know makes friends easy and one of her friends was found the main one with her every night I guess he was nuts about her. He was nuts about something. You can't seem to blame him You ought to see her Personally, I'd hate to be married to a doll like that. He'd go right through a man. He'd be behind dry A doll like that's born to be a widow. Was ben in here the night he was killed? Yeah, that's about nine two hours later He was dead. He left alone. I suppose. No, alvi was with him Expensive on item three 20 dollar tips to the apartment house manager and a dollar and a quarter taxi to my hotel I couldn't figure the next step Alvi kern was the key and without her I would stop cold None of ben's old friends had seen him since he started going around with her His office girl knew how to type and not much else was a cold trail 80 000 dollars had disappeared and ben had driven off a cliff and died There weren't many answers left behind Then two days later. I got a phone call Johnny dollar Oh, yeah, yeah All right, 20 dollars. What's the information? Well Panama city. Okay, marie. Thanks Thanks a lot expensive on item four 92 dollars and 47 cents hotel telegrams and incidentals in san francisco Expense account item five two hundred sixty seven dollars and 20 cents airfare and incidentals to panama city panama We have received your radiograms and your and I have been in shock to cooperate with you intentionally. Oh good What about Mrs. Kern? Had any luck finding her? But of course She's registered the hotel pretty much Most unusual uh, it is small located on the waterfront The one who thinks to find her in surrounding small sheets of shillons So I have his phone So, uh, what are your plans in your dollar? Well, I want to talk to her first After that, we'll see I'll check with you later captain I've heard your name before mr. Dollar, then Mr. Bryson Was it then or mr. Bryson? It has been Please I'd rather not talk about it, mr. Dollar Everything's that terrible accident. All I wanted to do is forget That's why I came down here To get away and try to forget you thought quite a lot of them, huh? We were going to be married. Well too bad it didn't work out. You'd have had a good life Ben's wealth and your well I had the idea that he just worked for an insurance company and lived the way he did Oh come now, mrs. Kern. Well Actually that side of it didn't seem to matter much My husband left me quite well off and how long were you married before he died? Only 10 months. Oh, you do have bad luck, don't you? Mr. Dollar, I'm not sure I understand this attitude. Relax Here Have a cigarette. No, thanks My vices don't include smoking Oh Mind if I do? Of course not. Thanks You have a suite here mrs. Kern or just this room Just this room? Why? Well, then I imagine this door leads to the bath What are you doing? It does But it's empty Of course it's empty Then the only other possibility is that closet Stay away from there There was cigarette smoke in the air when I came in stubs in the ashtray If you don't smoke, where do they come from? There's no one here. Stay back or I'll Look mrs. Kern turning out the lights may be romantic, but it's not that I shook my head trying to clear it finally staggered to my feet and found the light switch Albie Kern was cowering against the wall staring at me scared but not saying anything. I stumbled towards the door The corridor was empty You're wrong Johnny There wasn't anybody here I'm the one who hit you to hit like that. You have to go a fifth three times your size No, I know what the game is now. I should have caught on sooner, but I didn't There's no game I don't know what you mean. Look only one person. I know tears cigarettes apart and shreds the paper that way No, Johnny, you're wrong the two of you in it together all along They didn't find a body because there wasn't anybody. He's still alive hiding out I know who hit me It was ben brison And now with our star john lond. We bring you the second act of yours truly johnny dollar I spent the count item five forty cents. You have currency or a handful of aspirin tablets Ben or whoever it was who slugged me had got away from the hotel without being caught I gave ben's description to captain divano and I went to bed At breakfast in the morning, I still hadn't heard from divano But I did get a repeat performance for my other little playmate Good morning, johnny. Hmm Oh Morning, mrs. Kern. Mind if I sit down? Not if you don't double up your fist again I can explain that johnny with all night to think it over. I'll bet you can I mean really I I wasn't the one who hit you of course It was silly to claim such a thing, but it wasn't ben See there johnny You don't mind if I call you johnny. I mean you were close friends. All right, mrs. Kern If it wasn't you and it wasn't ben, who was it? Well The name doesn't really matter Let's just say it was a friend who'd rather not be brought into the picture and let's also say that wasn't a bad attempt But I still don't buy it. It's true Ben was drowned in san francisco in his car and off into the ocean. He's dead He can't be dead in san francisco and still be tearing up cigarettes and pantomiles. I did that I didn't smoke him, but I told him that way. I'd pick up the habit from ben You took a death and you were wrong Don't forget Let's be friends. Sorry. I can't afford it Do you think I sell my friends? It cost ben 80 thousand dollars of the company's money Did you get half of it mrs. Kern? No How much did he have left? Stop Can't you understand anything ben is dead? No, he's not and I wish he were But you mean just that But he was your friend. That's right I thought a lot of him It hit pretty hard when I learned he'd been stealing from his company Johnny So I took the job of digging into the mess and trying to straighten it out And now I find out he's still alive. No So now I've got to catch him and take him back. That's going to be even tougher Oh, you wouldn't have to Johnny That is if he were alive now, I wouldn't have to but I'm going to Johnny Oh It is possible to speak a word with your senor I did not wish to mention the master before the senora turned up something Senor My men have located senor Bryson This is the place I see you This man is leaving one of the little fishing boats which are tied to the embarcadero The number three one, which is blue painted. You see Yeah, yeah, I see Well, it sort of figured He wanted to hide out. This would be safe for the living in a hotel You're pretty sure it's him, huh? Yes, that is senor boss. I think so Miguel Pascarro who is on the boat said this man from one month ago and They plenty money just to live on the boat tied over the shore And he's like you described senora. I think so. All right. I'll go on board and talk to him I think it'll work better if I go alone She can you're a wait for you here good to be you and how to be somebody then Sooner or later. You should have known that I guess How'd you get on to it alvie? Yeah, I traced her followed her down here She fouled up johnny. She wasn't supposed to come for six months and the first thing. I know she's here But you couldn't wait. Why didn't you do it then you've seen alvie? Do you need any more answers she works the price for me? sure It's their face of mine always stopped the day and an alvie it was different. She fell as hard as I did I didn't know women like her even existed She's for me all the way but you still have to buy her Price tag $80,000 You're wrong It's only that alvie'd always lived high and I had to live that way too to be around it. Oh, we are planned then What were you gonna do? Go real. I didn't see them maybe start a new life together That's why I needed all that money. I Didn't spend that much and alvie agreed to that idea. Sure. She was all for it And why did she keep her apartment in san francisco? She didn't Oh You're wrong johnny somebody gave you a bump there She cut loose from everything. She told me she did Well, we can check on it when we get back there easy johnny easy I've had this gun on you ever since you came aboard and I don't make me use it. Would you use it then? I'm up a dead end johnny and I know it But I'm still going on as far as I can Uh, don't try to stop me johnny. I don't want to kill You But if I have to I will I let him go He backed out the cabin door closed it behind him and barred it on the outside I heard his steps cross the deck and run along the wharf and I waited for captain devano to call out challenge him But the only sound was a car motor starting up and speeding away. Then I heard somebody come running down the wharf See your daughters. Are you there? Yeah, get the door open Where is it? What happened? John senior he takes the car. It is me to blame senior. I'm not alert before I know never mind Where's the nearest telephone? And over an hour I should have found them by now. Oh, they will see your reign By the mile we do not have too many roads and they roll uh, I see Um, they might have slept through before we got to a phone. Oh, there was no time at the hotel. They say he Ah captain devano Yes, yes Now They have been found senior's dollar. Yeah, where they'll try to go by the old road on the cliff It is too dangerous. They have missed the curve and going to the ocean What the car is under 10 meters of water. It is no signs of life They spent the gun item six $92 to charter a power launch and hire the services of a diver The sea was calm, but the water wasn't clear enough to see more than just the outline of the car lying on the bottom We waited for the diver to come up And I looked up at the cliff towering over There's been another cliff like that in San Francisco. Ah, yes, senior. He's coming up. Oh good Oh What's the matter captain? He has found only the body of mixed gun and your bracing body is nothing Same pattern a car plunging off a cliff into the ocean and a body missing from it Only this time I knew it wasn't safe Ben couldn't have done a thing like that to our Not to Alby I looked up at the cliff steep but not vertical A car with a roll bounce coming down I had captain divano run the launch in close and I jumped onto the rocks and started to climb I made it halfway to the top before I found him Flying jammed in a crevasse Broken and dying Yeah, didn't make it He didn't have a chance then It's kind of funny This I mean Just like we did it in San Francisco I mean This time it's real. This time it's real Better not try to talk then We'll get some ropes down from the top get you out of here. No use Johnny is How they He's bad then You were right about her Johnny Forget it. I made it come with me in the car Tell the gun mother She got mad Still the whole story She didn't love me Not any of the time She Admitted I thought she did That was fine Nobody else ever let me even think it's bad. It's not good talking with me. It won't matter Johnny Like you said, I don't have a chance. Do you know who he is? I think I do the same thing Maybe there's no answer Guy like me I don't know then Another judge Kind of figures, you know, I'll be dying too I bought her and paid for her Johnny. I ought to be able to take her with me After all I Johnny Money What's left of it Inside my coat give it to Ed Tell him I'm sorry Maybe He will feel too Johnny Huh? You don't know what else? Forget it Right. Don't take that story again Crazy Other times we all get crazy, Ben Yeah Thanks, Johnny Thanks Expense account item seven twenty six dollars and thirty cents hotel taxi and miscellaneous women Panama Expense account item eight Three hundred and twelve dollars and ninety cents airfare and incidentals back to Hartford expense account total eight hundred twenty three dollars and eighty two cents I'm enclosing a cashier's check for seventy two thousand six hundred and fifty two dollars Recovered from Ben Bryson Ambassador Here's to Lee Johnny dollars