 Personal notice, dangerous my stock and trade. If the job's too tough for you to handle, you've got a job for me, George Valentine. Write full details. Standard Oil Company of California invites you to let George do it. In just a moment, we'll begin tonight's adventure of George Valentine. If you're a regular listener, you know that new RPM motor oil doubles engine life, the time between major overhauls due to lubrication. Now actual case histories prove this fact. Even a cab company operating in the tough grind, all cabs go through, found new RPM reduced engine wear 71%. So for top protection, get new RPM motor oil for your car at any standard station or independent chevron gas station where they say, and mean, we take better care of your car. And now tonight's story, surprise, surprise, another adventure of George Valentine. Dear Mr. Valentine, surprise, surprise, come to me and you're in for a lovely surprise. If you receive this note from a member of your family, your uncle, you'd probably look forward to the surprise. To me, these words are frightening. They make me shudder. And yet I have to find out what's behind them. So you must help me. You must come along with me. Please. Please do not fail me. Sincerely, Lenore Madsen. So your uncle's a bad boy and a practical joker from way back. There are many like him. That's right, Lenore. You may want to strangle some of them, but they're usually pretty harmless. Uncle Glenn's always been vicious, cruel. The family hasn't seen him in years. Family? Yes, my mother, before she died. She was his only sister. But I think Uncle Glenn's always hated her. And I understand he hasn't seen his brother, Uncle Jason, for years, either. That was a nice friendly chat. Uncle Glenn's made a lot of money, but he's never offered any of us a cent. We needed it when dad was killed in an accident. Now he has a lovely surprise for me. I can imagine. Well, he might feel sorry for what he's done, and being older and maybe a little wiser, he might want to make up. The age of miracles is over, Mr. Valentine. How long ago did you get this message? Oh, a week. I don't even know where he got my address. I couldn't make up my mind what to do. Oh, did you get in touch with your other uncle, Uncle Jason? I don't even know where he's been for the last few years. Oh, we're a fine, close family we are. Well, just what did you have in mind for me to do, Lenore? Well, I thought you and Miss Brooks might come with me as my friends. It's not too far from here. Point someone a few hours away. Well, it seems a little silly. I assure you of one thing, Mr. Valentine. Nothing Uncle Glenn has ever done has been trivial or silly. Meant and vicious, yes, but nothing small. Miss Brooks, you can understand how one can feel things without any real reason. No, I've overworked my feminine intuition many a time, usually not too successfully. Still, George, we might try. Okay, okay. I'll let you in on a little secret. I haven't been able to resist a surprise ever since I was five. What? And you know the first jacket in the box I ever saw? It hit me squirreling the nose. Mr. Jester sure has an impressive looking house. Brooks, see anything this size has earned the name Mansion. Whatever your Uncle Glenn has made his money in, Lenore, he's made lots of it. I don't see any lights. George. Yeah, he's in the garden there somewhere. What such a sad sound. Wonder if anybody's at home. Down the street, see? There's a man out on the porch. He might know. Oh, yeah. Dog probably just can't get out because of the high fence. Uncle Glenn wrote these always home. I should come any time for my lovely surprise. Well, we'll find out. Oh, excuse me, sir. Huh? What's that? Oh, Mr. Jester over there. Do you happen to know if he's away for any length of time? Dog is howling and we thought... That's Biff with Jester all the time. Real love. Well, there are no lights, so... Lights in the back. Got to be in the bedrooms. What do you mean, got to be? Mr. Jester's just got to be home, young man. He had an awful accident two days ago. What? Got his car smacked up. He's expected to pass away any hour. Oh, no. Oh, that's horrible. Yeah. Surprise, surprise. A dog and a casket in the library. Mr. Jester had us order it yesterday. Said it was a dying man's whim. I realize how you feel, Miss Madsen, but you and your friend simply can't see Mr. Jester right now. But I must see him. Dr. Hammer is with him. Mr. Jester regains consciousness once in a while, and when he does, Dr. Hammer will let you go in. Tell me, Miss Schlegger, this unfortunate accident. Just what was it? It's a miracle of sorts that Mr. Jester's still holding on. There was a lot of fog on Thursday night, a bad turn. The car turned over and over several times. Oh, how awful. He was driving all alone, so there was nobody to help him until the motorist passed by and saw him. Wait, I'll shut the door to the garden. The poor animal seems to feel something is wrong with its master. Well, isn't anybody else here at the house? Doesn't Mr. Jester have any other friends? I hate to say this, but I'm not a hypocrite, and I... Yes? Mr. Jester is, well, a rather difficult man. I've been his secretary and sort of housekeeper for several years. Frankly, I wouldn't have stayed a week if he didn't pay me very well, and if I didn't need the money. Doesn't the doctor hold out any hope for Uncle Glenn? I'm afraid not. And Dr. Hammer is as close to a friend as Mr. Jester has made here in Point Summit. Well, all right, guess all we can do is wait. As you can see, this is a big house. I'll show you all to your rooms. This may take hours. Before we go in there, Miss Matson, I just want to warn you that your uncle is very weak. Yes, Dr. Hammer. Oh, Miss Brooks and I will wait for you out here. No, no, Mr. Valentine, you and your friend, please come in, too. What? It would be a favor to a dying man. What do you mean? Miss Lager's in there already. It seems Mr. Jester has... Well, he's never made out of will, and he would like to dictate one. Oh, but we are... What a sizable fortune is involved. I think it would be best to have as many disinterested witnesses as we can. I see. Frankly, Miss Matson, I wasn't aware of the fact that Mr. Jester had any family at all. He never mentioned a brother or a niece, and I was with Mr. Jester a great deal of the time. I'm not a practicing physician now. But, but you say he was glad now when you mentioned to him that I was here? Yes, he was. And it's a great blessing that you've come now. Well, you can still bring him a little comfort. Do we go right through here? He... He's closed his eyes again, Doctor. Uncle... Uncle Clayton. Come here, my dear, where he can see you when he opens his eyes. Oh, he looks so tired. I remember him when I was a young girl. He asked me to get my notebook, Doctor. Yes, I know. Glen. Glen, she's here. Your niece. Oh, hello, Laura. Oh, Uncle. Uncle. Let's have no fake emotions. I mean nothing to you. But... I don't know how you happened to be here. But you wrote to me and... What? What does that mean? Doctor. That's the way it is. Well... The will. Yes, Glen, we're ready. Been mean. And not sorry. But ought to make up a little... Julia. Yes, Mr. Justa. These people... George Valentine. Nan Clare Brooks. Friends of your niece is Glen. Oh. I... I can't... No, no, don't try to sit down. Just tell us what you want. To you, Lenore. I want to leave $5,000. I... I... I never knew you, really. But I've hurt you less than others. So you'll get the smallest share. I didn't expect anything, Uncle. Have you got that, Julia? Yes, Mr. Justa. The rest of my estate I want to divide between the people I have hurt. You, Fred. I want to leave you $25,000. That's very generous of you, Glen. The same amount to you, Julia. Yes, yes, Mr. Justa. And my brother, Jason, whom I hurt most of all, have him located and let him have the rest of my money and this house with all its units and everything in my safe deposit box. What? Any objections, Doctor? But... Am I going too fast for you, Julia? No, sir. I'll buy my way into heaven. Shine. I want to shine. Mr. Valentine, please help me with it. Sure. Heaven. Here. Can't. Can't. Just lay down, Glen. It's all right. These people will sign as witnesses and it'll be all right. Just as good. That's right, Mr. Justa. Just let him alone. Please. Please. Heaven, let them sign. And then when I go, no, prolong the far spread. Mr. Valentine? Mr. Brooks? Yes, sir. Certainly. Thank you. So very tired. I think all of you would better wait outside. Yes, of course. That would be the best. My beautiful casket. Joke. Life is a big joke. Big joke with me. Poor lonely man. There's just a laugh in it. That's about all we can do. Well, I'll fix some coffee. Thanks. Good idea. I suppose you'll want to stay till the end, Miss Matson. Oh, yes, yes, of course. You will stay too. Please, Mr. Valentine. Please. Yeah. Yeah, Lenora. We'll stay. Bruxy. Bruxy. You aren't asleep yet, are you? No, George. Wait a minute. What's the matter, darling? Ah, everybody seems to have retired. Well... Even Dr. Hammer, I saw him walk down the hall into his room. Well, he can leave Mr. Jester for a while, I guess. Maybe. But something bothers me about this whole setup. What are you talking about? I'll be down if I really know. You know, it's a shame, but Lenora should get to know her uncle when it's too late. Come on. Where? I want you to be sort of lookout. Lookout? Outside Mr. Jester's room. I'd like to talk to him for a moment if I have the chance. Oh, stop being so mysterious. Well, it's just a hunch. But I can't help feeling that Jester didn't know about any note to Lenora. Any note that asked her to come out for a surprise. George, he's a dying man. He just didn't remember. Maybe. Besides, what can be wrong? I told you. I don't know. Ooh, that dog gives me willies. Man's best friend. There's something very touching about such a lot. That door over there, isn't it? I'll wait for you out here. I don't know what you're going to say to Mr. Jester, even if he's able to hear you. I think it's something. If I hear anybody, even starting on the stairs, I'll cough. Nice and loud. Yeah, good. What the? What's the matter, George? You don't have to whisper, Angel. There's nobody in Mr. Jester's room. The dying man has disappeared. In just a moment, we'll return to tonight's adventure of George Valentine. At a party the other evening, someone asked a friend of mine why he bought a particular brand of gasoline. My friend didn't have any real reasons to offer, and it started me thinking that maybe there are other motorists like him. The facts are, there are plenty of good reasons for buying Chevron Supreme gasoline. To begin with, it's a balanced gasoline that combines all eight high-performance qualities. After all, a gasoline can be made to stress one performance feature at the expense of others. However, Chevron Supreme gives you not one, not two, but all eight qualities in the correct balance for all around top performance. Power, mileage, starting, warm-up, acceleration, anti-knock, vapor-lock prevention, and area blending. And for the kind of driving you do, your engine needs each and every one of these qualities. You'll feel a difference from the very first tank full of Chevron Supreme. So shift to the gas with all eight for top performance all around. Drive in soon and fill your tank with all eight qualities, qualities you get in every gallon of Chevron Supreme gasoline at standard stations and independent Chevron gas stations where they say and mean, we take better care of your car. Surprise, a lovely surprise. Well, a badly upset young girl keeps babbling to you because that's what her uncle has promised her, an uncle who has never done anything good for her in his entire life. Well, you go with her to the uncle, Glenn Jester, only to find him. Surprise on his deathbed. And surprise, a changed man of good will who is made out of very generous will. And surprise again, missing from his deathbed right after that. If your name is George Valentine, you find that a few surprises too many. I want to talk to the good doctor. No time for ceremonies. Not here. Julie Schlager's room is down here. Wait, no need to bother opening that door, it's open. And she's gone. The noise among the absent too. Somehow I expected that, I guess even surprises coming through. Wait. Yeah, what is it? Down there, the other wing, I see lights. The living room, the library, they're this way. Yeah. George, listen. Yeah, come on. Well, surprise. No, I won't say. All horror mystery shall be found. Come in, please. Oh, the coffin. Mr. Jester has passed away. Oh, I'm sorry. Dr. Hammer just called me. As you may have forgotten, Mr. Jester always wanted things carried out in a certain way, even things like this. So, so, why not? I've called the funeral parlor in the city. They'll be here in the morning. The mystery's been solved. Did you say something, Miss Brooks? Oh, nothing important. Well, I don't suppose there's anything else any of us can do until the morning. I don't mind staying up with you all night, George, but I don't even know what you're trying to think through. Any more cigarettes, Angel? Here, take mine. That's the last. I'll tell you one thing. I'll be glad to get out of here in the morning. Yeah, well, I know I can come down here for the funeral later. Yes. I don't know what smells funny about this whole case, but something sure does. Maybe you're just being stubborn, darling. Oh, maybe not. Oh, good. Here it is. Hello? Yeah. Sheriff's office, yeah. Yeah, I'm waiting. Uh-huh, I see. No question about the accident. Nothing wrong with the car mechanically. Bad turn. No, nothing particular, mind. Yeah, thanks a lot. I told you you were grabbing at straws, darling, checking up on the accident? I guess you're right. But something else bothered me about that call. What do you mean? Somebody was very sure not to miss a word of the conversation. I heard a click. Keeps dropper. It's no longer a secret that I'm more than just a casual friend of Miss Metsons. All right, so what? There's still nothing you can look for, George. There's nothing to hang the slightest suspicion on. Yeah. Yeah, I guess I'll turn in and let you get a few hours' rest. Maybe this comes under the head of Snoopy, but I'm sure the late Mr. Jester wouldn't want it. Ah, what a witty hair. Active investigations incorporated. Dear Mr. Jester, we are happy to report that our operators have been successful in completing your assignment by locating your niece, Miss Lenore Metson. Her residence is 2463 Richway Avenue. Get away from me! Something is breaking at last. The dog is dead. He jumped at me. Like a mad dog. He jumped at me. I had to do it. All right, Dr. Hammer, please calm down. Uncle Glenn and the only living thing he really loved. Yes, it's been quite a night. I'm sorry. So sorry. I only meant to drive him off. I grabbed the nearest thing to me, the shovel. Tell me, Doctor, what were you doing out in the garden at this hour of the night? What? Oh, I reminded myself that I left something in my car, the blanks for death certificates. I wanted to have it ready where I could fill it out. I couldn't sleep very well anyway. I make a motion. We all go inside. We'll catch our jets of cold. Oh, yeah. That's a good idea. Take Lenore in. I'll make a pot of coffee for everybody, too. Sure will. Come on, Lenore. Tomorrow I'll bury you. They'll create you somewhere here in the garden. Glenn would want it that way. Glenn, Glenn. The man left us some money. All right, I'm grateful. And I know we should speak kindly of the dead, but I can't be that too faint. Why, Julia. Oh, look, Dr. Hammer, there's some scratches on your hand. You better go inside. Put something on it. Yes, yes, Julie. Maybe I should. Coming in, Valentine? In a few minutes. I'd like to have a few words with Julia, if I may. Why, certainly. Well, I'll see you later. Yeah. Julia, you seem to be a sensible, practical gal, and I need help. Help? What kind of help? Well, I'm afraid I've been masquerading in this house under, well, let's say, slightly false pretenses. What? I'm not just a friend of Lenore Mansons. She hired me as a sort of private investigator because she feared what her uncle might consider a surprise. I knew as much. You did? Yes, I listened in on your conversation with the sheriff's office. You did? I'm a snoop at heart, Mr. Valentine. Still, for the life of me, I can't imagine why you think there's anything wrong about what happened here tonight. Well, a few questions in my mind don't seem to have answers. You think I have them? Maybe. All right. All right. I realize that Mr. Justo is pretty far gone tonight. But still, I can't quite make myself believe he couldn't summon enough strength to sign his signature to that will. Well, he tried. I saw him try, really try. But what difference does anything like that make anyway? The will is just as valid without his signature as long as we had two reliable witnesses like you and Miss Brooks. I told you, I just had some questions. The answers aren't anywhere as clear. I think you're trying a little too hard, Mr. Valentine. I honestly do. The dog, the poor murdered dog. Surely the doctor had the right to defend himself. The snoopy neighbor down the road said the dog was always with Mr. Justo. Always. Well... The door to the house was open. The dog wasn't chained. Why wasn't Biff with Mr. Justo? Why didn't Mr. Justo ask for it? Well, the thought never occurred to me. And more interesting, why did the devoted dog stay in the garden all the time? Never moved out of the garden. Mr. Valentine, your flashlight in my eyes. It bothers me. Oh, sorry. You like the darkness better. Much better. Ah. Could it be that the dog was already near its master because he was buried somewhere here in the garden? Dead for a day or two as a result of a perfectly legitimate automobile accident? You're crazy. Could it be that the man upstairs wasn't Glenn Justo at all but an imposter? No, I know you're crazy. The only man who could look enough like him to his niece who hasn't seen him in years? His brother, Jason? Mr. Valentine, people tell me I'm an attractive woman. I'm going to be a very rich woman. I could be very grateful. Very. You could? I could make a deal. Any kind of a deal. Like the deal you made with Jason? He's in that nice, expensive coffin. Remember? No, I'm afraid I'm not interested, Julia. You fool! Fool! You don't need any more partners, do you? Huh, what? I wouldn't move in each favor, you young man. I wouldn't like to use this gun, but I will if I have to. Freddy knows he knows. So I heard. I really did have only a bunch of questions with no answers until you killed that dog. Doctor, killed it deliberately in cold blood. Keep your voice down and stand still. After Julia Eaves dropped on the phone, you knew I'd be snooping around, and you had to have a legitimate excuse for some newly dug earth in the garden. Make him stop talking, Fred. There's where Glen Jester is buried now, isn't it? Please make him stop, Fred. That's where you'll put his brother Jason's body instead when you're ready to send the coffin to the mortuary with Glen Jester in it. Shut up, shut up! And Glen died, we found out he didn't leave us a cent. Not me and not Julie. After all, we had to take from him, too. He loved his ironic joke. So we got in touch with his brother. A detective agency had already located him for Glen. Stop it! Why are you telling him all this? Stop it! Why? He has to die anyway. Let him have some of those precious answers. But Jason saw the wonderful opportunity, and he really made the most of it, didn't he? Took the lion's share for himself and the will. So you killed him. With him never found, we'll strip the house in the deposit box of everything. The perfect crime. Because the body in the coffin will be that of Glen Jester, who died of perfectly innocent death. And we have a perfectly legal will. While Jason's body will lie under that of the dog in the garden. There'll be two bodies in that grave Valentine's. Start walking. Now you listen, Hammer. I said start walking. But first I need some light, don't I? Pull in your eyes, Buster. Julie, Julie, where is it? I can't see. Here I am, Buster. This gun is safer with me. Oh, can you? Oh, can you? You're going to help me find another surprise for my client. Comes the weekend and many motorists will pack their cars and head for fun in the snow country. But believe me, it's no fun when roads are slippery and cold weather freezes up your radiator. For safety's sake, be sure you get cold weather protection. Anti-freeze in your radiator and tire change too before you take a trip into the snow. Get cold weather protective service at independent chevron gas stations or standard stations where they say, and mean, we take better care of your car. So Uncle Glenn did have a surprise for me. The lovely surprise. Yeah, the real will of Glenn Justier, leaving practically all of his money to the only innocent victim of his foul nature. What did that business of the signature mean, George? The act Jason put on about not being able to sign his name. Well, that was the last piece of protection they gave themselves, Angel. Nobody would question the will because we could all testify that we saw Glenn Justier dictated. But a signature, well, that's something they couldn't duplicate. With us as witnesses, they didn't need it. It's funny. I always thought of Uncle Jason as the poor imposed upon man. Uncle Glenn is the greatest villain that was ever born. Now, strangely enough, they've almost reversed themselves. Yes. Glenn Justier promised you a surprise. He didn't realize how much of a surprise it was going to be. George. Easy, Bruxy. It's just some neighbor's dog. Let's get out of here. Tonight's adventure of George Valentine has been brought to you by Standard Oil Company of California on behalf of independent Chevron gas stations and standard stations throughout the West. Robert Bailey is starred as George with Virginia Bragg as Bruxy. Let George Do It was written by David Victor and Jackson Gillis and directed by Kenneth Webb. Virginia Eiler was heard as Lenore, Griff Barnett as Hammer, Lee Patrick as Julia, Fred Howard as Justier and Earl Keane as Biff. The music was composed and presented by Eddie Dunstetter, your announcer, John Heaston. Listen again next week, same time, same station to Let George Do It. Let George Do It is heard overseas through the worldwide facilities of the Armed Forces Radio Service. This is the mutual Don Lee Broadcasting System.