 As our story opens, we find Dr. Danfield, authority on crime psychology, and his pretty young secretary, Rusty Fairfax, on a train which is heading toward the fashionable resort town of Cranston in upper New York State. Dan, it's 8.30. We're almost in Cranston. Oh, hello Rusty. Do you have a nice sleep? How could anyone sleep in these club chairs? I didn't even try. I've been worrying. Worrying? Worrying? Worrying about what? Me? Come, come, my dear. You know there's no need to worry about me. This time there is. Dan, I can't understand your interest in a woman who's afraid she's going to shoot her own husband. There are lots of women who shoot their husbands every day. It isn't quite as common as that, Rusty, but I agree with your views, generally speaking. Here, I'll get our suitcases down. Then why this sudden departure from New York following a telephone call with Nola Gerald? There's an unusual aspect of the case I neglected to mention to you. Nola Gerald suffers frequently from spells of amnesia. What's that unusual? A lot of women do. It will be unusual if Victor Gerald, Nola's husband, is one day found dead and his wife is accused of murdering. That seems pretty far-fetched. Here we are. Let's go. It isn't far-fetched at all, Rusty. Nola Gerald admits a desire to kill her husband and she also admits being a victim of amnesia. So what? Well, suddenly Victor Gerald is murdered. Nola can't remember where she was at the time. Now the real murderer takes advantage of the opportunity to pin the crime on Nola. Nola! Oh, Cranston seems to be nothing more than a whistle stop. That sounds like a situation right out of a detective story. Before you go any further, let me ask you some questions. Of course. Here, let's see if we can find a kid. What if Victor Gerald isn't found murdered? What if Nola Gerald does remember where she was? What if there isn't any real murderer who tries to pin the crime on her? Oh, I see what you mean, Rusty. In other words, if Victor isn't found murdered, then there can't be a murderer. I agree. However, I have some news for you, Rusty. Oh? Yes, Victor Gerald was found dead three days ago. Here we are. Thanks, you folks. Drive you anywhere in town for a dollar. Well, that's fair enough. Hop in, Rusty. Yeah, here's your dollar driver. Take us to the Victor Gerald home, will you? Okay, Mr. Dan, was Victor Gerald shot? Yes. Yes, it was a bullet hole in the back of his head. The gun with which he was shot has not yet been found. Well, why didn't you tell me? Nola Gerald, his wife, was suffering from an attack of amnesia at the time. She can't remember where she was. She has no witnesses to prove it wasn't she who committed the crime. Oh, for goodness' sake, and all the time I thought we... At least Chief Walt Ulrich called this morning and asked if I'd come up and do what I could. Yeah, Chief Ulrich is a friend of Captain Otis. Naturally, I said I would. But why? For several reasons, Rusty. First, before Victor Gerald was found murdered, Nola called me and told her side of the story. And second, since Chief Ulrich is a friend of Captain Otis, I could hardly turn down his request. And what's the third reason? Curiosity, my dear. I have a theory. I also have a list and description of four people who Chief Ulrich believes had good motives to murder Victor Gerald. Now, if my theory is correct, I'll be able to identify the murderer within an hour after we arrive. In a moment we'll return for the second act of danger, Dr. Danfield. But first, and for the second act of... I'm a deuce of you, Ben. Oh, don't get excited. There's a car coming down the road. Nothing to worry about, probably just the station tax. More than likely it's that Danfield person who detected the Chief Ulrich that he was standing up. Oh, I hope so, Peggy. I... I don't know how much more of this I can stand. There, darling, it can't last much longer. I'm gonna have another talk with Ulrich tomorrow. It's cruel to expose you to this ordeal. I don't see that it's any more cruel for Nola than it is for Avery and me. Don't get the idea we're enjoying being held prisoners here while a lot of detectives try to pin a murder charge on us. If you didn't kill Victor, Peggy, there's no need for you to be concerned. Well, that goes for you too, Pete. As a matter of fact, it goes for all of us. The one who acts the most worried will probably turn out to be the murderer. Oh, that's not fair, Avery. All of you have an alibi. You've had plenty of chance to establish that alibi. Three days in fact. What about me? I... I don't even know where I was. It might have been I who shot Victor. Oh, of course it wasn't you, darling. It's absurd even to think such a thing. Oh, it's absurd about it. To me, it makes sense. If my opinion means anything, it makes sense to me too. Nola was always saying she hated Vic enough to kill him. His subconscious mind must have reacted... That's enough, Peg. What are you trying to do? Cover up your own guilt? My guilt? Come, Peter, you must be pretty desperate for something to say to make a remark like that. Really? And why do you think Chief Ulrich ordered you to stay here unless he thinks you might be guilty? I've been wondering about that. There's only one answer. You must have told him about the trouble Vic and I had been having. Well, certainly I did. I'd be a fool to deny knowledge of it. Ulrich knew that you and Victor were considering dissolving your partnership, and he knew that you, Avery, would be ruined financially if this came about. Fine friend you turned out to be. I suppose you told him also that Peg and I were the types of people who would commit murder to prevent financial ruin? No. Ulrich figured that out for himself. Which reminds me, who told him about the shooting incident down in the summer house? Oh, I did, Peter. Nola? Why? I had to, darling. He kept questioning me. I knew he'd find out from either Peg or Avery. They both saw what happened that night. I had to tell him. This is rich. It really is. For heaven's sake, Avery, what's so funny? I was just wondering what this guy, Dan Field, will say when he finds out what he stepped into. Here are the four of us all trying to pin this murder onto the others. All of us have motives. All of us have the opportunity. I'm telling you, the guy will have to be a wizard if he puts his finger on the gully party. Well, Maxwell, as soon as Ms. Fairfax completes our notes, oh, here she is now. Come in, Ms. Fairfax. This is Mr. and Mrs. Avery Maxwell. How do you do? Have you completed your notes, Ms. Fairfax? Yes, I've written everything down. Fine. Now then, oh, there are other two suspects. Look here, Dan Field, must you refer to us as suspects? After all, it's rather cold-blooded. Murder is even more cold-blooded, Wade. Are you feeling better, Mrs. Gerald? Oh, yes. Yes, I'm quite all right now. Thank you. Good. Oh, by the way, I want you to meet my secretary, Mr. Wade and Mrs. Gerald, Ms. Fairfax. How do you do? Now then, let's proceed. Mrs. Gerald, frankly, you're the one in whom I'm most interested. Now, as I understand it, you would threaten to kill your husband on several occasions. Oh, no. No, you mustn't believe that. I had said that I hated him enough to kill him, but I didn't threaten. And why do you admit making such a statement? An ordinary person would realize that such an admission would immediately arouse suspicion. If the police learned from someone else that she'd made such statements, it would be a lot worse, wouldn't it? I think Nolan did exactly right. Oh, do you, Wade? You're in love with Mrs. Gerald, aren't you? Yes. Nolan, I love each other. There's no point in pretending we don't. Well, that's sensible. Mrs. Gerald, how long did your spell of amnesia last? Three days. And during that time, you had no idea where you were? None at all. I see. But since then, you've been told that you spent all of your time in bed. Well, yes. Bessie, our housekeeper, realized what was happening and called Dr. Talmage from the village. He assigned a nurse to take care of me. Was the nurse with you all of the time? No. No, she slept in a room across the hall. And you think you could have crept out of bed, go into the summer house, and shot your husband? I could have. It's terrible to think of. Yes, yes. I can understand how you feel. Well, this may lead to some very interesting conclusions. Now, about the shooting incident that took place in the summer house three weeks ago. You aware I understand old presence? Yes, we were all there. We all saw what happened and the police know all about it. Nothing about that that'll help you. I think there is, Maxwell. A good deal, in fact. Will one of you be kind enough to tell me exactly what took place? Well, this is getting tiresome. Does anybody mind if I find a good detective story to read? Well, I'm sorry you're not as entertained as you hoped to be, Mrs. Maxwell. Well, which one of you is going to tell us about the shooting? I suppose it's up to me since I was more involved than anyone. It was I who fired the shot, you know. Yes, we do know. Proceed, will you please? Well, Nola and I had agreed to meet in the summer house shortly after dark. Nola arrived first. She didn't know that Victor knew of our plans and had gone there ahead of her. Peter! Peter, are you here? Peter! Victor! Well, well, well, so you couldn't wait until we got back to town. Oh, Victor, stop acting like the injured husband. You know very well it doesn't make a speck of difference to you where I meet Peter when or how often. That's where you're wrong, my sweet. It makes a whole lot of difference. Oh, don't tell me you're jealous, darling. I couldn't stand this. Jealous of you? Are you serious? Well, if you took a nose-dive off the Empire State Building tomorrow, I'd be the happiest man in the world. I'm perfectly aware of what you feel toward me, Victor. Please don't go over it again. I'll do more than keep reminding you of what a cheat you are if you insist on a rendezvous with your boyfriend while he's a guest in my house. Oh, stop pretending it makes any difference. You've told me a hundred times you didn't care what I did. I told you a hundred times I didn't care what you did so long as it didn't affect my business and my reputation. Oh. I'm going to Congress next fall and I'm not going to let you stop me. I don't like your attitude, Victor. That's tough. Well, you haven't even the decency to respect the agreement we made. You haven't even... Victor? You're just no good, Nola. You're rotten all the way through. Oh, I hate you, Victor. I hate you so much I could kill you. Good. It's a pity we didn't reach this understanding a long time ago. It would have saved us both a lot of trouble. But since now, my career in politics... Oh, your career in politics. That's all I've heard ever since I married you. Your career in politics. Oh, what a fool I was not to have realized that that's all you cared about, dreamed about, lived for. Everything you ever did was to gain a selfish end. You married me because you thought my social position would give you prestige. Well, quit trying to sell yourself the idea or anything but a... What? Well, nice going, baby. That caught me right across the mouth, you lousy little cheat. Stop it. Stop calling me that. Oh, I hate you. I hate you. Hey, you little wild cat. I'll kill you, Victor Jarob. I'll kill you. All right, girl. Leave her alone. Victor, I'll kill you. I'll kill you. Why, you dirty rat, hitting a woman. I'll kill you. Come on, Wade, if you want some of the same. Do you think you can lick this? Well, you always carry a gun, Wade, in case someone should call you a rat. That doesn't, Gerald. I've wanted to do this for a long time. Get ready to kill you. You guys, what's going on here? Pete, put on that gun. Place down that gun, you fool. Leave me alone, Avery. I'm gonna kill him. Ow! Well, that's what happened. Avery knocked the gun up just as I called the trigger. But I don't see that it's gonna help you any. Oh, quite the contrary, Mr. Wade. What I can understand is why someone wasn't arrested if the police knew about that little incident. I bet you didn't want the publicity. He's got a lot of influence. It wasn't hard to keep the thing quiet. And now for all his pains, he's dead. He deserved to die. He was horrible. That's a matter of opinion, Mrs. Gerald. It strikes me as rather strange that only three weeks after this attempt was made on Victor Gerald's life, we find him entertaining the very sane group of people. Victor was like that. He deliberately planned this weekend to allay any possible suspicious that outsiders might have. Well, that sounds reasonable. Oh, Mrs. Gerald, do you mind if Ms. Fairfax and I search your room? Well, I know it. I think it necessary. If it's the lethal weapon you're hoping to find, Danfield, you needn't waste your time. The police have already gone over the house and grounds with a fine-tooth comb. Oh, no, no, no. It isn't the lethal weapon I hope to find, Mr. Wade. No? What then? I hope to find something that will prove that Mrs. Gerald didn't have amnesia during the time her husband was being murdered. You see, I think she's lying and for a very definite reason. In a moment of return to danger, Dr. Danfield, but first... Now back to Michael Dunn for the third act of... Danger, Dr. Danfield. Yeah, let's go in, Rusty. This is Mrs. Gerald's room. Dan, you were guessing when you said you thought Mrs. Gerald was only pretending to have amnesia, weren't you? I never guess. You know that, Rusty. Well, it's rather an attractive room, isn't it? But how could you possibly know she was pretending? Mrs. Gerald was too anxious to have us believe that she was a victim of amnesia. It seemed to me rather convenient that the attack should come on at the exact time her husband was being murdered. What if Dr. Talmer said... Dr. Talmer didn't say, Rusty. It was Peter Wade who said, a housekeeper summoned the doctor and stated that Mrs. Gerald was having a recurrence of amnesia. But Dr. Talmage would know, wouldn't he? Probably, if he made a third examination. You don't think he did? I think this. Mrs. Gerald has possibly had an attack of amnesia at some time or another. She probably recovered with no ill effects. Now, when someone reports that she's again the victim of the same disease, why should the doctor become suspicious? No, perhaps you're right. I think I am. How does a doctor or anyone else determine whether or not a person is suffering from amnesia anyway? Yes, look out here on the balcony. Well, there must be some way of telling. Only by clever questioning, I should think. Wow. What do you see? A lighted building over there would be the summer house, wouldn't you say? Yes, that's a summer house. Dan, you don't think... Preciably rusty. Preciably. Place is in direct line with this room, isn't it? Yes. And this room's on the ground floor. Mm-hmm. Was it a rifle or a revolver bullet that killed Victor Gerald? A revolver. It would take a high-powered rifle and an excellent marksman to hit a target at this distance. No, no, no. We're wasting time on that theory, Rusty. Mm-hmm. Come on, let's go back inside and look around some more. If we could find the revolver, it would help a lot. I doubt that the lethal weapon will ever be found. Release me to thorough search. Anyway, we won't need it. Won't need it? What do you mean by that? I mean, I think we can solve this crime without the revolver. Well, it seems to be Mrs. Gerald's diary. I hope you're not going to read it. Women consider their diaries private property. That's what makes it strange that Mrs. Gerald should leave her diary here in plain view. She wants us to read it. But Dan, why should she? Let's look at the entry she made for October 24th, 15th, and 6th, and possibly we'll find the answer. Let's see here. October 22nd, and 3rd. Here we are. October 24th. Well, just as I thought, the page is blank. How about the following page? Let's see, the next entry is October 27th. Let's see, it says, Dear diary, for the past three days my mind has been a blank and a terrible experience not to be able to remember one thing of what happened in your life. Well, then she did have amnesia. No, Rusty, I don't think she did. But she went to great lengths to have everyone believe she did. Why? Don't ask me. Besides, if she had any ulterior motive, why would she keep saying that it might have been she who shot her husband while her mind was a blank? Because, well, why George? Now what? Rusty, that's the answer. Of course it is. Why didn't I think of it before? Think of what before? What's the answer to what? Rusty, you're practically a genius for thinking of it. Come on now. There's something in the summer house that'll probably answer our problem. And I'll bet a dollar no one's thought to look for it. I'd still like to know what I thought of that was so wonderful. I've already told you, my dear. It was you who remembered that no other Gerald kept reminding everyone that it might have been she who shot her husband. Which means absolutely nothing as far as I'm concerned. Oh, doesn't it? Well, perhaps it will in a few minutes. There we are. Say, isn't it cute? This isn't a summer house. It's a complete cottage of its own. Victor Gerald, I understand. Spent most of his time here after he and his wife became estranged. Oh, no, no, no. Leave the door open. Will you please, Rusty? But if anyone sees it. That's exactly what I want to know. I've already started to see us. As a matter of fact, if he or she doesn't, I'll have to explain what we're doing down here. But why? You'll see. You'll see. Now then, according to the story Peter Wade told us, Gerald must have been standing about right here when Avery and Peggy Maxwell came charging across the ports and into the room. Quinn, what are you talking about? The shooting episode that happened three weeks ago. Well, let me see. Victor struck his wife and she fell. Peter must have been standing by the door. The gun in his hand was knocked up. Yes. Yes, there it is. There's what? The bullet hole that was made when Wade's gun exploded. See it up there in another ceiling? Oh, yes, of course. Well, now we know that Peter Wade was telling the truth. But how in the world are you going to connect the shooting incident of three weeks ago with Victor Gerald's murder three days ago? I'm not, Rusty. The murderer is going to do it for us. Come on, let's go back to the house. I want to make a phone call to Chief Ulrich. Then I think we can clean this whole thing up. Yes, that's the way I see it, Chief Ulrich. What do you think? Yes, yes, I quite agree. Out of the circumstances, it'll be our only chance. The carpenter? No, no, no. I doubt that'll be necessary. Now I can handle it all right myself. What? Well, yes. If you'd have an officer nearby, I'd appreciate it very much. Well, thank you, Chief. Goodbye. Hello, Mr. Wade. Come in. Is that you talking on the telephone? Well, yes, why? I hope what you had to say wasn't of a private nature. Oh. I just saw Avery listening in on your conversation on the extension phone in the kitchen. Oh, really? Well, it won't matter a great deal. What I had to say to Chief Ulrich wasn't particularly important. Ulrich, hasn't he given up on this case yet? Well, naturally not. As a matter of fact, he and another officer will be out here in about an hour. An hour? Yes. Is there something wrong, Mr. Wade? No. Danfield, there's something I want to ask you. I'll go right ahead. Suppose, well, suppose it were proven that it was Nola who shot Victor. I mean, when she was suffering from amnesia. Well? Could they do anything to her? I'm afraid you're asking the wrong person, Mr. Wade. I'm not a detective, nor a lawyer. I haven't the remotest idea whether they do anything to Mrs. Gerald or not. No, it's driving me crazy. I'm in love with the girl, Danfield. Certainly, she couldn't be blamed for doing something that she knew nothing about. Do you believe there's a chance that Mrs. Gerald will be proven guilty? I don't know. I wish I did. You see, she'd made threats and the idea might have been in her subconscious mind. Oh, I don't know what to do. Well, I propose that you do absolutely nothing until Chief Aldrich arrives. Oh, by the way, have you a jackknife that I could borrow? A jackknife? Yes, a small one. It's nothing much more than a penknife. Oh, I'll do that, Marbly. Thank you. I'll return it within an hour. OK, no hurry. But what the heck are you going to do with a jackknife? Do? Oh, nothing. Nothing important. Now, I must find Miss Fairfax and ask her to join me in the summer house. I think they have the stage pretty well set, don't you, Rusty? I only hope it works. Oh, it'll work, I'm sure of it. Damn, look. The lights just went out in the summer house. So they did. Well, that means our little scheme is working, doesn't it? Working too well. I hope you're not going in there without a light. Why not? Darkness will prove unable to laugh at what I have in mind. What you have in mind? Do you mean that you're going to do something you haven't told me about? You just wait, you'll see. It's certainly dark enough in here. Just to make sure I'll try the light switch just as I thought the light switch. Oh, close the door, Rusty, won't you? Why not on a match? Okay. Then nothing seems to be disturbed. Why should it be? Let's see now. Yeah, it's probably the best spot we'll be over here near the back door. A spot for what? What's going to happen? Oh, didn't I tell you, Rusty? Here, wait until I land on another match, won't I? There. Well, the murderer is going to appear here in a very few minutes and we're going to capture him. Where, what? On the match. Open the rear door and suggest in a normal tone that we're leaving. And I'm going to close the door and from that point on, no talking, please. But, Dan, I... Don't worry, my dear. I'll take care of everything. Well, Miss Fairfax, I guess we've done all we can here. Let's go back to the house, shall we? All right. Nice work, Rusty. I'll find your way to the divan to make yourself comfortable. Where are you going to be? Right here in the door, naturally. But, Dan, suppose... Stop worrying, Rusty. Go on over to the divan. All right. Oh, well, we have to wait. Not long, I'm sure. Dan, there's someone in the front door. Well, that's rather complicated. I bet it. Dan, there's someone in the room. Be quiet so he can't locate you. All right, friend. You might as well give up. The place is completely surrounded by the police. There's no use, I say. You haven't a chance. Daddy, open the door! So that's our game, isn't it? What's going on in here? Mom, check it out. Your flashlight. Grab it. I got it. In a moment, we'll return for the conclusion of our story. But first, offer the conclusion of... Rusty, you all right? I guess so. What happened? Don't worry, Doc. I got him. Pick up the flashlight and let's see who it is. Right. Keep your hands off me. Steady now, me lad. Here we are. Well... Dan, it's Peter Wade. Which isn't too surprising. All right, officer, put the handcuffs on him. Chief Alredschild will be here any minute. I'll just do that. Keep your hands off me. I'm going to put the handcuffs on me. Come on, Rusty. Let's get out of here. Our work seems to be done. Come on in, Rusty. It's good to get back to the peace and quiet of the study, eh? I'll say it is. Here, I'll touch a mass of the kindling. Oh, there's some shadow marketing on the cupboard. How about it? That's a good idea. I'll get it. There we are. Now, then, a glass of wine and we'll go over our notes. Right. There's still a lot of things I'm in the dark about. Such as wondering how I knew the murderer would reveal his identity by coming out to somewhere else? That's the big question. So here's the answer. Nola Gerald and Peter Wade had planned the murder of Nola's husband very carefully. For example, Peter deliberately planned the shooting episode three weeks ago because he reasoned that, uh, no one would think he'd been fool enough to murder the man he previously attacked. He figured that we'd all reason that his motive was too obvious. Right. Now, then, both Nola and Peter made continued subtle attempts to cast suspicion on Nola. Why? Well, they hoped that everything else failing. The police would reason that it must have been she who murdered her husband while she was suffering from amnesia. And if she did, without realizing it, she couldn't be blamed. Well, that's what they hoped and they were probably right. But how did you know the murderer would come to the summer house? Because I let everyone know what I planned to do. I told Chief Ulrich that I intended to remove the bullet from the hole it made in the wall during the shooting episode of three weeks ago. But how would that prove anything? Well, by comparing that bullet, which Wade admitted he fired with a bullet which was removed from Victor Gerald, it, uh, well, could easily be established that the two bullets came from the same gun. Oh, Dan, that's right, isn't it? Of course. Now, if Wade had wanted to risk it, he still could have sat back and made his prove that he fired the second shot. But, uh, he didn't know how much else we knew. And if he could gain possession of the bullet buried in the wall, he'd be completely safe. You see? Oh, uh, some more wine, I see. Oh, yes. Thanks. And, uh, then we'd better get on with the lecture, hmm? The, uh, lecture, my dear, and wait.