 Mystery House. Mystery House. That strange publishing firm owned by Dan and Barbara Glenn, where each new novel is acted out by the Mystery House staff before it is accepted for publication. Mystery House. Barb, you said tonight's story had something to do with a Scotch background. Right, Dan? Well, now, no cracks about the Scotch being stingy. Please, you know my ancestry, Scotch. How could I forget? Say, I don't see why everybody thinks it's so smart to crack wise about being economical. It's just good common sense. Oh, you're an expert on common sense, are you, Tom? I certainly am, Mr. Glenn, and I can prove it. Listen. Okay, places, everybody. Set the scene, will you, Tom? Daggers in the dark. Tonight's story opens in the makeshift dressing room which adjoins the small auditorium of the women's club in a small Midwestern town. The room's only occupant, Alive, is Gene Gordon. Gene, is that you? Gene! Gene, what the great Scotch? Mother, my dear, but he's on dirt. Gene's snap out of it. His own dagger right through the heart. Oh, Pete, who could have killed him? I don't know, sweetheart, but I wish I did because that's the question the police will be asking us. I'm Joe Briggs, Sheriff here. I take it you're Gordon's daughter. That's right, Sheriff. Gene discovered the body. Who are you? Vail, Pete Vail, booking agent. Eh, where's the body? Let's have a look at it. Hasn't been touched, Sheriff. They're under the window where Gene found it. Eh, what's this get-up? Did he always wear this? Kiltz? Sure, he was a Scotch entertainer. That's why he's here in town. Didn't you see the show? You mean he wore skirts on the stage? Oh, please, Sheriff, my father's dead. It was a Scotch act, Sheriff, father and daughter. Scotch songs and dances, both of them dressed in tartans. Both of them, eh? What about the young lady? She ain't wearing them. Well, I... I changed into street clothes before... Before your father was murdered, eh? What about this knife sticking in him? Ever see that before? Well, that's what the Scotch call a dirt, a dagger. It's part of the costume, part of the act. You mean these people are knife thorns? No, the Scotch Highlanders were a knife in their stockings, just below the knee at the top of the stocking. That dirt was Gordon's, the one he wore in the act. Eh, and all either one of you knows is that he was found laying here on the floor with that knife in his heart. Is that it? No, no, Sheriff, that isn't him. Now, Jeannie... Be quiet, Pete. This is something the Sheriff should know. All right, come on out with it. What is it? Well, Father and I... Well, we've been quarreling. Jeannie, for the love of mine. No, Pete, they'll find out sooner or later. I'd rather tell it my own way. Jeannie, you're just making a tough on yourself. Hang yourself, mister. What's your story, young woman? Well, Father was old-fashioned. He used to be a big-time entertainer with his Scotch stories and songs. But he didn't realize that times had changed. Get to the point. What she means is I was fighting with her old man. All right? No, Sheriff. I wanted to break away from Dad. I did it once and was doing all right on my own. Doing modern stuff, Jai. But he got so angry about his own daughter singing jazz songs that he came out of retirement and had Pete set up this tour of tank tops. Huh? Look, Sheriff, it doesn't mean anything. Old man Gordon was big-time. Sure, 20 years ago. Command performance for kings and all that stuff made a lot of dough. But when Jean here got set to be a star in her own right, he got mad. Especially when she started jazzing Scotch songs. But what's that got to do with this? Nothing. You see, the only reason Pete is here is... I'm their manager. That's why I'm here. Oh, don't try to kid me, Vail. I know managers don't come along on one night stands. Especially managers of people performing before small-town women's clubs. That's right, Sheriff. Pete and I want to get married. That's why. Jeannie, now you have done it. Pete wanted to have it out with Father. Once and for all. But I asked him to let me do the talking. I knew Father didn't want me to marry Pete. I knew Pete would just make him angry, so... So? So I talked to Dad and it was just as I'd expected. He wouldn't give his consent. I told him we were going to get married anyway, tonight. So your old man tried to stop you and you stuck the knife in him, in self-defense, huh? No! Look, I was just outside when she screamed. I ran in and caught her. Oh, so that's your story, huh? The only thing she didn't tell you is that I saw her father right after the show. You saw him? I thought you was waiting outside. Well, I wasn't. Well, you'd better tell me where you was or I'll have to dig it out of you. I don't have to talk unless I want to. Oh, Pete, please. Sheriff, he's only trying to protect me. He thinks the evidence looks bad for me. Well, right now it don't look so good for either one of you. Are you sure nobody in the audience knew your father was killed? Well, I... I don't know. I didn't hear anything before it happened. Wasn't anybody working backstage? Sheriff, these women's clubs, all they've got is a committee to run the show and everybody on the committee is so busy congratulating themselves after it's over and nobody worries about the performers. Well, it strikes me, young lady, that neither one of you have been paying much attention. That makes it tough when you're trying to get away with murder. Come along. Alma Peabody, what are you doing in the courthouse? Joe breaks this serious. I have something to tell you. Well, I'm always glad to talk to important people, Alma. And I got about as much work to do as I ever had here. I know. That's why I'm here. All right. All right. Get it over with. It's a cinch. I won't be able to do anything until you do spill it. Joe, I know something about that murder. What do you know? You're a president of the women's club that sponsored this Scotsman's appearance. Is that what you know? No, Joe. I knew Angus Gordon a long time ago. I mean, I knew him well. You mean you were a Bobby Soxer when he was a big star like Harry... Harry... What do I... Well, anyway, Alma, this is serious business. Joe, it's hard to say this, but you... Well, you may find it out yourself and then it'll look... Well, I was married to Angus Gordon. What? It's true, Joe. Are you losing your mind, Alma? You was married to Jim Peabody before you came to this town. Everybody knows that. Everybody thinks I was never married before, because I was so young when I came here with Jim Peabody. But I was born in Scotland, and my parents married me off to Angus Gordon when I was 16. Angus was just a coal miner there. All right, Alma. All right. You kind of knocked the wind out of my sails there for a minute, but what does all this have to do with murder? I'm trying to tell you, Joe, when Angus and I came to this country, he was just a struggling Scots singer. Poor the church mouse. So when Jim came along and offered me real security as the wife of a bank president, I left Angus. I never loved him anyway. Alma, you've been thinking that I might suspect you of Gordon's murder if I found out about this. Well, my conscience bothered me. I just had to tell you, for fear you were, someone would make it seem different than it really was. Well, you've got nothing to worry about. I got your ex-husband's daughter locked up along with her boyfriend. Between the two of them, I figure I got the one who done it. But do you think the girl is actually implicated, Joe? I doubt it. I figured the boyfriend done it. The girl's trying to protect him, but that won't last long when I turn the heat on. Joe, do you trust me? Well, that's a strange question. Oh, don't heads, Joe. Answer me. Well, I don't know. When it comes to murder, I don't trust anybody. But to be sheriff in this county, you've got to be careful of your politics, and you swing a lot of votes. That means you do. What do you got up your sleeve? I think I might help you and at the same time do something charitable for Angus' daughter. If you'll let me, Joe. Are you sure you're not holding out on me about this girl? She's not your daughter, is she? Oh, heavens, no. Angus adopted her right after I left him. And what is your interest? Oh, I suppose it's conscience. I feel badly about what happened to Angus, and I'd like to do something for Jean, something that might help you. Help me? How? Well, if you put Jean in my custody temporarily, I could be nice to her. That's no help to me. Oh, but don't you see? Let the young man out, too. If he did murder Angus and if Jean knows he did... Oh, you mean they might try to get together, huh? Exactly. I'll watch Jean like a hawk. She'll think I'm just being nice to her for the sake of her father. Then if this person she wants to marry comes around, I'll be able to find out what he's cooking up. Something you could never do as long as you hold them both in jail. Well, it's crazy. It ain't right. But you'll do it? All right, Alma. I'll send the girl to your house. Where did you get the ladder? How did you get here? There. I made it. Oh, Pete, you're crazy. What are you doing here? That sheriff has an idea. We'll try something together. That's why he sent you here and let me out on bail. But this time of night, what's the idea? I wanted to be sure all Mrs. Peabody would be asleep. So I could talk to you privately. Oh, she's asleep all right. But, Joe, what are you doing here? But, Joe, what are we going to do about you? The sheriff is sure to get you convicted for what happened to Father. He practically told me that. Yeah. I understand he offered you a nice little deal. What do you mean? That's why I'm here, baby, to tell you you can't get away with it. What? Pete, what are you talking about? I never thought this would happen to me. Falling for a girl and having her turn out to be a double-crosser. Pete, I've never seen you like this. Well, you never will again. Do you really think I'd tell you off? Oh, spare me that. Well, you're Jean. It's bad enough to know it. Pete, available. Well, you really think... I don't think anything anymore. I just came to tell you I'm going to beat it. But before I go, come over here, close to me. Pete, what's got into you? Nothing's changed between us. Listen, Jean, before I go, there's just one thing. Oh, Pete, please. Not this way. I won't listen to you. I can't. Okay, baby. If that's the way you want it. Oh, no. No, Pete. The Scotch entertainer was murdered. And now Angus thought her Jean was... was she murdered, too? Well, it looks very much as if Sheriff Joe Briggs has plenty of problems to solve in the second act of Dagger in the Dark. But now, while the scenes are being shifted, listen to this. And now, act two of Dagger in the Dark. Sheriff Joe Briggs has arrived at the home of Mrs. Alma Peabody to find Jean Gordon bleeding profusely and still unconscious. As the curtain rises, the sheriff is talking to Alma. I sure was a fool to listen to you, Alma. If I'd have left the girl in jail, this wouldn't have happened. Oh, I know, Joe. I regret this even more than you do. But there's one good thing about it. Don't you see? What's good about a knife wound in a pretty gal like her? Oh, I don't mean that. I mean, now you know who did the other murder. Who killed Angus Gordon. You mean because you saw Pete Vail hauling the ladder up to the side of your house? Of course, Joe. I saw him as clearly as I see you. He climbed up to poor Jean's window and stabbed her. That's the way he stabbed her father. Do you see him do it? You got the knife? Knife. Well, whatever he stabbed her with. You got the weapon? Of course not. Well, then we don't know as much as you think we know. All we know is you think you saw this guy hauling the ladder up. I did see him. Well, how'd he get away then? You claim you called me as soon as you saw him? I did. He just must have got away. Well, how? My men were all around the house the whole time. When I got here myself, you were just coming out of Jean's room. And you say you got to the girl right away. Oh, Joe, don't argue about such inconsequentials. Do something about Jean. Yeah, she's all right. The doc's in the other room fixing her up. She's going to be all right. But what about the man? Her boyfriend? Yeah, we'll get him. Don't worry so much. That's my job. What? Jean! Wait a minute. What are you doing out of bed, miss? Where's the doc? I'm all right. The doc left me quite a while ago. Jean, you should be back in bed. Come, I'll help you. Leave me alone, Mrs. Peabody. I want to know what happened to Pete. You mean you're worried about that veil-feller yet? Sheriff, tell me what happened to him. Is he all right? Ah, I'll be switched if I know Jean. I ain't seen him. Only Alma here claims she's seen him with the ladder outside your window. Well, sure he was here. But is he all right, Sheriff? See, I told you so. Please, Sheriff, I've got to know. He thinks I lied to you about him. Did he get away? Now, look, young lady, you shouldn't be worrying about a guy who stuck a knife in your back. He didn't. I know he didn't. What? Jean, you're not rational. Well, of course it was he. It was so dark you couldn't see. But not so dark I couldn't feel. Look. Well, your finger's stressed. What about it? Whoever it was who tried to kill me was behind me. I could still see Pete against the window when this hand was clapped over my mouth. Joe, don't mind her. She's so weak from the wound she just can't remember by. No. I felt this hand over my mouth and I reached up and tried to pull it away. That's how I scratched my finger. On the knife? No. On a diamond ring. What? I could feel the ring when I tried to pull the hand away. Don't you see, it couldn't have been Pete. He never wore any rings at all. But Jean, who else could it have been? The house was locked. There wasn't any other way of getting in except through your window. It must have been your friend, Pete. I don't know who it was, but it wasn't Pete. Well, it speaks to me. It teaches me a lesson not to listen to women, even women like you, Elma. Joe, you've got to do something about this. I can't have my reputation at stake this way. Your reputation? Attempted murder happening right here in the Peabody House. Buffle the town thing. Joe, you've got to clear this up right away. That's a fine attitude. Now, wait a minute, you two. Just what you might expect of a tank town big shot. Why, Jean, after all I've done for you. All you've done was you who got my father to come to your old woman's club show. Me? I heard the other women talking about it. I know you didn't write the letter, but it was your idea. And now all you're worried about is what people will think about you, even though father is dead and somebody tried to kill me. Jean, you're ungrateful. Yeah, I'm not. That's no way to fix anything. Well, neither one of you has to worry about me anymore. I'm going to get out of here and find Pete Vail before he gets caught for something he didn't do. Oh, no, you don't. I'll get it. I'll get it, Elma. Yeah, Sheriff speaking. Who? You're Lambert. Yeah? Yeah. Well, bring him out here. Yeah, right away. Oh, it's Pete. I know it's Pete. What's happened, Joe? Oh, it's that Vail fella all right. Gil Lambert, the lawyer, was on the other end. He said Vail walked into his office an hour ago. They're coming out here right away. Okay, Gil, come on in. You too, Vail. Hello, Sheriff. Oh, Pete. Jean, Ginny, are you all right? Now break it up, you two. Everything isn't settled yet. The idea. The audacity of this young man. Oh, Mrs. Peabody, don't be too unkind. Joe, break it up. If you're any kind of a sheriff at all, you're going to... Oh, what are you fretting about, Elma? There's plenty of men guarding the house. Nothing can happen. Why don't you arrest this young man and be done with it? Well, first, I want to hear what Gil has to say. You said it was important, didn't you, Gil? I didn't. Well, I'm not going to listen to such striddle talk. Now look here, Elma. Oh, it's all right, Joe. Let her go. We don't need her for this. Let me go. I like that. I'll see we have a new sheriff in this community. Yeah, go ahead, Pete. Tell the sheriff what you told me. Oh, Pete, please get yourself out of this. I will, sweetheart. Just a minute. Now, come on, Vail. Let's hear it. Not so fast, Sheriff. You almost got me on this when you told me that tall tale about Jean Ratten on me. But in a way, I'm glad you did. What do you mean? Let him tell it, Joe. You wanted to find out which of us was guilty, so you told me Jean accused me of murdering her father. Yeah. That's what brought me here to Jean's room. And that's what started me seeing things. But what, Pete? Jean, I knew I hadn't put that knife in your bag, but I also knew that if I was found with you, everybody would be sure that I had. So? So you ran out on her. So I could see that whoever used that knife had missed the mark. I knew Jean was going to be all right, so I left to find the clue that would tell me who did it, this. That's the knife that killed Angus Gordon. That's right, Joe. I took the liberty of getting it out of your office. Take a good look at it, Sheriff. See anything? Pete, what are you getting at? That's Father's Dirk. But there's writing on it, engraving so small. I can't quite read it. That's right. And look at it through this enlarging glass. And, and fair the wheel, my only love, and fair the wheel of while, and I will come again, my love, though it were 10,000 miles. Wait, that's Bobby Burns. A nice sentiment, isn't it? What are you getting at, Bill? When I left Jean here, I went back to the dressing room where Angus died. All his personal stuff was still there, so I went through it. And I found a small box full of sentimental things about his marriage. You mean his marriage to Alma, Peabody? How did you know? She came to my office and told me. Oh, she did, did she? Well, that's just fine. What about the box, Pete? Well, it was full of letters and a lot of other stuff, all about Alma. Apparently, your father was a sentimental man even before he adopted you. Tell him about the knife, Pete. Right. Now, in this box, there was a sail slip for a handmade Dirk with four lines of engraving and specifications that would be made smaller than the normal size. I don't get it. There was also a letter to Angus from Alma, which she thanked him for the Dirk he had given her when he went away on his first tour of this country. And she quoted the lines engraved on the Dirk, those lines from Burns. You mean it, this knife belongs to Alma? That's right, Joe. But how? You see, Pete came to me because he said he needed a lawyer, and he was sure he could clear himself if I'd agree to help him. After he went through that box of your father's, he was sure the weapon found in your father's body was smaller than the dagger your father used in his act. It proved he was right. The two daggers were identical in design, but this one is smaller and has the engraving. You mean that I'm supposed to arrest Alma, Peabody, because of this? What? Arrest me? Shut up, Alma. Shut up. What would she be killing the next husband for? Revenge, probably, or jealousy, because he'd done so well. She probably hated him. Ah. Well, Alma, it looks like I got to take you into the courthouse. What? Arrest me for murder? Why, Joe Briggs? I'll sue you for defamation of character. I'll... I got my duty, Alma, and it kind of points toward you. Come on. Oh, you will live to regret this, Joe Briggs. I've never been so humiliated in my life. There's nothing much I can do about it, Alma. Nothing that would interest you anyway. Interest me? What do you mean? Why, there ain't really any evidence against you except what I got. What do you mean, Joe Briggs? Oh, that's stuff about the daggers. Heh. That could be blown higher in a kite. You see, I'm the only one who knows your real motive. What? What are you talking about? He body's been dead quite a spell, Alma. Money don't last forever. What? Hmm. The way I figure you asked this Angus Gordon for some money for the sake of old times. Well, how did you know? And I make it my business to know such things. Sheriff, ain't I? And he turns you down. Wouldn't give you a penny. But, Joe, you couldn't know that, right? No. I heard it myself, Alma. Gordon was a mite worried about you. Yeah. Figured you might be up to something. Joe, that's not true. He was well as nice to me as he could ever be to anyone. Yeah. Sure would look good for you if I was to testify about that meeting, wouldn't it? Well, you couldn't. You couldn't do such a thing to me. Well, I've got my duty, Alma. And then there's the law. What about the law? I've got my own wife. What? Joe Briggs, you must be out of your mind. Be quite a thing for Joe Briggs to be married to Alma Peabody, wouldn't it? Have folks buzzing plenty. And it had clinched you're not getting caught, too. But, Joe, I didn't murder Angus Gordon. Sure, sure. But you think it over, Alma. We found something very interesting among Alma Peabody souvenirs, Joe. Eh? Well, now you look here, Lambert. You've got no right to be snooping through her house. It ain't legal. Legal? If I can convict Dad's murder, I don't care how legal it is. Here's the weapon, Sheriff. She'd put it back on her writing desk. Her letter opener. And it's a little long for its holder, Joe. Apparently, when she killed Angus Gordon, she left her dirt in his body, and then she took this. But his knife was long and didn't quite fit the letter opener case. You see? Yeah. About an inch difference in the length. But she didn't have any motive. I'll bet these two planted it there. I don't think so, Joe. We wired New York and talked to his lawyers. We found out about Angus Gordon's will. Well, what about it? He left his money share and share alike to his adopted daughter and his former wife. You don't say. But he never let Almano know about it, did he? And I still don't give her any motive. You don't really think you can get away with it, do you, Briggs? What are you talking about? Me? Dad's will said he'd investigated and found his former wife was in need of money. Well... Dad wouldn't have paid for an investigation. He never paid for anything he could get for nothing. He'd have written to the sheriff. What? You mean... Don't worry, Mr. Bridges. We could check that. Dad never threw away a piece of correspondence. But I know how he'd operate. And when you found he was coming here, you saw a chance to capitalize on what you knew. Now, now, now, wait a minute, wait a minute. I never had a letter from him in my life. And I didn't know a blame thing about any will. You'd figured some way to get part of that money, Briggs. What was it? Nothing. Look, if anybody was to benefit, it'd be for them to live on for close to three years. Why, she must owe him nearly $10,000. And he's a lawyer. He's a lawyer. Oh, no, you don't. I'll put down that gun, Gilbert. Sorry, I can't oblige you, sheriff. You were wrong, Miss Gordon. Your father paid for his investigation. I made a deal with Alma Peabody after I'd corresponded with the old man. I'd finance her till she got the money and return for half of what she got. You... You killed Dad and you didn't even know him? Yes, and I'd have killed him, too, with a little luck. I had a hurry to get home before your boyfriend found I wasn't there. I saw him pounding at the front door and I had to sneak around the back way. I pretended I'd been asleep. How he ever happened to come to see me... Put down that gun, Gilbert. No, thanks, sheriff. She still gets her share of the money and someday I'll get my part of it from her because you won't get me. No, I think I'd rather keep it all for myself, Mr. Lambert. What? Well, you... Nice work, Alma. You got him. He was a jerk, but as a girl I'd rather prided myself on my marksmanship. I knew he was guilty but I was scared to death. When you went for Mr. Vale, I was, well, blind with fear. I don't blame you, Mrs. V, buddy. But V, how did you happen to pick Lambert? I don't know, Ginny. Just, uh, well, a stab in the dark.