The Adventures of Frank Race starring Paul Dubov. The war changed many things, the face of the earth and the people on it. Before the war, Frank Race worked as an attorney, but he traded his law books for the cloak and dagger of the OSS. And when it was over, his former life was over too. Adventure had become his business, The Adventures of Frank Race. And now we join Frank Race for The Adventure of the Brooklyn Accent. It was what you might call a damp night. The dampness being such that it persisted in sluicing down your neck and surging over your shoe tops. And as we sloshed along a deserted street, I caught a little morn for Mark Donovan. Oh brother, just slap me with a bottle of champagne and call me to Normandy. Cold Mark? That noise you hear ain't thunder, friend. It's my choppers hammering together. This is the sunny south, huh? Look, are you sure we're still in a state of Georgia? I figured we walked enough to be just outside Montreal. I'm beginning to think I'm in a state of confusion. I keep getting the feeling that we've turned away from those docks. Have you heard the surf in the last few minutes? I don't hear nothing but a ringing in my ears. Probably the first sign in the morning. All right, you win. We'll go back to that cafe we passed in the last block. Well, now you're talking. And if the place has good coffee, I'll forget all about it in the morning. It was a short order spot, presided over by an ancient counterman who greeted us with a lactose grin. At a table, a couple of men and a girl sat munching hamburgers in an almost grim silence. But the place looked clean and the old man looked clean, so Mark and I slid onto stools at the counter. What'll it be, gents? We could have hamburgers and coffee. When he asks us, what'll it be? All right, Pop, so them up. Make it heavy on the coffee. The name's Pete, not Pop. I ain't so old. I just look this way from having to listen to guys like you. Look, Pop, I'm just a quiet guy who don't wish harm to nobody. But make sure the coffee is hot, will you? Yeah, how you want it? Black or ruined? Both of them straight. You know this town pretty well, Pete? Yeah, like the black in my hand. There ain't no southerner. I'm from Jersey City. No! Don't happen to know a man by the name of Beading, do you? Eddie Beading? Beading? Eh, let me see. Little guy, Pat, where's... No, that fella's name's something else. Does he live around here? Has a boat, a schooner. And that's another thing. To get to the docks, do we turn right at the door or left? The docks? Let's see now, the docks. Close the place like the back of his hand, he says. He means the back of his neck. Yeah, you turn right. About six blocks. You sure? Why, did you? Took a walk down that way a couple of Sundays ago. What was that name again? Beading. Edward Beading. Eh, sounds familiar, eh? It wouldn't be tall, husky for a little. It owns one of them, uh, coats dogs, would it? Look, Pop, we're just looking for the guy. We don't know a thing about his dogs. So you're just looking for the guy, huh? Why? This was no native voice either. This was New York. New York the hard way. Manhattan via the alleys, the pool halls, the second-rate night spots. He had a heavy beard line and he stacked up as being husky. He stood eyeing us with the curiosity of a weasel inspecting a nest full of eggs. You heard me. I asked you why you were looking for Eddie Beading. You make it sound illegal. What do I have to do to get an answer? Extract it? Look, what do you think you got here, pal? A couple of pigeons? If you want to talk to us, keep it gentle or waddle back to your table. Both you boys feel that way? The words, though rather inelegant, express my reaction precisely. Jigger. Yeah, Roxy? Come here. Jigger's approach was methodical and practiced. A casual hand inserted itself inside the lapels of the jacket that draped a squat frame. His eyes, as he glided up to us, looked disinterested, almost glazed. The stare of the professional gunman. Trouble, Roxy? I don't know. These personalities come looking for Eddie Beading and they don't want to say why. I wouldn't call that friendly, would you, Jigger? No. I wouldn't call it friendly at all. We don't mind telling you why we're looking for Beading. No? Who are you guys? My name is Race. This is Mark Donovan. Who are you? I'm Roxy Clark. And not a southern accent in the crowd. Never mind the asides. What's the pitch in Eddie Beading? I'm down here for the Fidelity Life Insurance Company. Edward Beading is beneficiary to a $20,000 policy that's now payable. And the company is anxious to make a settlement. Who'd leave Eddie Beading 20,000 fish? The deceased, I understand, was an uncle of his. Oh, yeah? Jigger, what do you think about this? To me, it sounds like a bowl of spaghetti. Yeah, that's the way I figured. A big company working hard to ladle out 20 Gs. It don't mesh. Might seem strange, but with insurance outfits, it's done all the time. They consider it to be part of their contract. That makes quite a line, Race, but I ain't buying it. Hey, now I remember that fella. Owns a boat, don't he? Yeah, that's right, Pop. Owns a sailboat. One of them go-to-sea sailboats. Yeah, yeah, I know him now. I know his wife, too. They live three or four blocks from here, a greenhouse with yellow shutters. And let's see now... Shut up. Listen, I'll talk about one, I'll talk about... I said shut up. You said it, but I ain't paying no attention. It's a free country, ain't it? Pickle this warbler, Jigger. Sure. Hey, no, no, no, no. Now, wait a minute, wait a minute. You ain't gonna cut me. Get what's left of his teeth, Jigger, then maybe he won't be so lippy. Come here, Pop. No, no, no, you don't know. Don't make me come after you, it'll be worse. Cut it, Jigger. Just let's drop the whole thing. Get out of my way. There's no need to bother the old boy. What are you asking for? Sampler? Okay, try this on your bridge, wait. Leading with your right, Jigger, I'm surprised at you. You... It'll always be the same, Jigger, even if you come in with an axe. Jigger, can you hear me? My brother is east of... Pretty handy with that stuff, ain't you, Rice? I haven't met your lady friend, Clark, but I'd like her to know I'm sorry for the disturbance. Don't be sorry, Rice. I always admire artistry, and that was sheer artistry, wasn't it, Roxie? Sozin, stay out of this. Roxie, darling, I've been completely quiet for at least 20 minutes, and that isn't like me at all. You're going to be around for a while, Rice? Sozin, get out of the car. Careful, Pat. Your bad temper's showing. Rice, I'm Susan Drake. I'm staying at the Jackson Hotel. It's been a bit boring the last day or so. Why don't you call me? Oh, Rice. Yes, Clark? This insurance deal, is it on the level? Definitely. So you have to keep looking for Beading. Is that it? That's it. Why? Think I can't find it? No, no, I wasn't thinking that. I was thinking of the mess of trouble you're going to find with him. Hey, you there. Uh-oh, it's Delore. Come over here. What are you doing out here this time of night? What do you have, a seven o'clock curfew? Never mind the wisecracks, I'll just take you straight on in. On what charge? Oh, we can work that out. Vagrancy, for one thing. No visible means of support. We've means of support, plenty of it. If I say you ain't, you ain't. So quit arguing. I'm sorry I said a word. I should know better. That's sensible. Now, what are you doing around here? I told him and showed credentials, which made it all right. He told us he was Gene Dinzi, chief of police, and we spent an hour leaning against his car, listening to a confidential report on how he ran the town. It ended up with his driving us to the Beading House. There was an old-fashioned pull bell, and the door was answered by a girl of about 15. She looked startled. Yes, sir? Hello. Is Mr. Beading in? Not right now, but my mother's here, though. Who is it, Mary? It's two men, Mother. They want to see Daddy. All right, I'll talk to them. She seemed to be about 30. A handsome woman, even with faded makeup and a worried look about her eyes. What is it you all want? We're looking for Edward Beading. Oh. He's my husband, but he ain't here now. I understand he has a boat, a schooner that he operates for hire. That's right. But it's already under charter. Would you tell me where I could find it? It's called the Jenny D. And it's at Callahan's Landing. Go down Powell Street as far as the docks and then turn left. Oh, and if you're going there now, you could do me a favor. Surely. Well, if you see my husband, tell him to come home. He's usually here at five, and it's almost nine. I don't even like him. It's got me bothered. Eh, still pretty cloudy with no sign of a moon. Eight to five says we get more rain. That's a happy thought. Look, Rice, what's with this guy Beading when you do catch up with him? Now that we know he's here, can't we just let it go at that? There could be dozens of Edward Beading's. I have to identify this fellow as the right one. Eh, can't we do it tomorrow? I'd much rather be at the hotel playing canavera and... Wait a second, Mark. What's the matter? Another car coming up. I've got a feeling we're the ones it's interested in. Oh, great. And also, alongside a hundred yards of board fence, your right dude really got his peg down. What's that play? We move apart. If anything breaks, blast the left headlight. I'll take the right. Okay. Hiya, Rice. Remember me? It's Jigga, Rice. The guy you slugged. Yeah. And now I'm gonna play you a little tune. The alien over the fence. He's got the pail. Who's got the tent? Apparently you're still in the mood for music. Oh, there you are. Listen, I'm in the mood to offer up guys. That's the closest squawk I've had since I stole a cab in front of Chicago Express. That goes for you. I agree, but I think we win one of them. Oh, brother, I heard a yelp back there and it was no cry of delight. Imagine that guy coming after us with a chatter box just cause you cool them a little. I wonder. Maybe it wasn't Jigga's idea at all. Right now I wouldn't put a slot machine slugger nothing. Oh, what do we do next? Still keep looking for that schooner? Might be crowding our luck a little. Let's go back to the hotel and get a nice rest. Race, race. Come on, wake up. Will you wake up? There's something funny going on. What time is it? Come on, get with it. It's about five. Five o'clock in the morning and you want to chat? Go back to sleep. Look, look, chum, I'm not kidding. There's a mob or something outside. Can't you hear it? Yes. Yes, I do hear it. Sure you hear it. That's just... That's it. Just barge in. We always receive visitors at this hour. Get up and get dressed, Race. We have to get you out of here. What for? We got a lynch mob outside. Lynch? So that's what it is, huh? What does a lynch mob have to do with us? Seems like a lot of people know you boys have been looking for B-Beeden. Now he's been found murdered. They aim to string you up for it. Murdered? That's moving a little fast, isn't it? Yeah, we better move faster, so I'm going to have to place you under arrest. We'll return to the adventures of Frank Race in just about one minute. And now, back to the adventures of Frank Race. Here was adventure with all the qualities of a nightmare. One of those things where nothing makes sense. We'd been in town only 48 hours and now we were threatened with lynching. I tried to figure the angles as I got dressed, but nothing gel. Now you fellas have got to cooperate on this. I can't guarantee to get you the safety. Will this be your first lynching, Chief? It will, and they ain't good for a man in my position. Yeah, well they ain't good for guys in our position either. Come election time and one side won't vote for you because you tried to stop it and the other side won't vote for you. Because you failed to stop it. We understand. Is there something peculiar about this business, Chief? Yeah, I'll say there is. Just take a listen out here, Race. Most of the guys that you're doing are yelling have got Brooklyn accents. Are you sure? Are you kidding? Listen to that Bronx cheers we're getting. You'd think we were the Giants at Ebbets Field. There's your answer, Chief. It's not a real lynching party at all. It's a frame-up. What do you mean? Know a man by the name of Roxy Clark? I certainly do. He charters Eddie Beaton's boat. Know what he charters it for? Gambling. Brings on parties to them wealthy New Yorkers and they go out for three or four days at a time. Ain't none of my affairs as long as they do it on the high seas. Well, for some reason Roxy Clark thinks I'm in his way. That's the reason for this phony guy to be here. Where did you get the tip that brought you here? From a woman. And her name? When a woman gives out information like that over a phone, you ain't gonna get her name. She wasn't no southerner. How do you plan to get us out of here? I ain't figured it yet, but I... Why don't you let us go by ourselves? Why do not... Why you'd never make it. We'll have a better chance than with you trying to buck that mob. Well, you might be right. Okay, it's a deal. But if you don't make it, don't blame me. If we don't make it, chum, we probably won't be around to blame you. This guy Clark must have quite a mob with him. It's a big crowd. Start yelling about something and you can always draw people who have nothing else to do with you. Look, tell me, what are we looking for in this cellar window? A door. And here it is. Take your hat and coat off. Hat? I don't get it. If we go out of here carrying something... Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, I get it, I get it. We can use these empty cottons. Good enough. Let's go. You better take a look first. Doesn't seem to be anyone around. Come on. Hey, you guys, hold it. Didn't see this lad at all. He must have been leaning against the side of the building. Oh, great, and he's got that shotgun right on us. Eh, who are you guys? Uh, we all work for the hotels. Yeah, well, I'm thinking different. Put on those boxes and start moving around the front. All right, you're the boss! Come on, Mark! Let's go! Jackson Hotel. Has Miss Drake come in yet? Yes, sir. I'll connect you. Hello? I think this is Frank Race. I'm making that call you suggested. Oh, well, hello. You called earlier this afternoon, didn't you? Yes, I want to express my appreciation of what you did for me. What I did for you? Someone told the chief of police that I was in danger of being lynched. I got the impression it might have been you. Look, Race, I'm a rotten phone conversationalist. I tell you what, why don't you run over here and we could have a drink while we chat? I'd better see you somewhere else. I got out of the Jackson Hotel this morning with some difficulty. Where are you now? Bar, called the Flamingo Club. I know where it is. You stay there, Race. I'll join you in a few minutes. She took more than a few minutes, but when she came into the Flamingo Club, I was willing to admit that the wait had been worthwhile. What are you drinking? Scotch and soda. That is a fetching outfit. You really like it? You know, a very fancy dish, baby. Oh, the crepes are that starling. What do I have here, a cynic? How about the drink? Martini, Manhattan? Make it a Scotch and soda. Two of them, bartender. Mind if I tell you something about yourself, Miss Drake? Maybe not. You're the wealthy Susan Drake of New York. You've been amusing yourself with the excitement that surrounds Roxy Clark. So? You know what he does down here, don't you? Is that why you brought me to this place? Just to answer questions? If it was, I've already changed my mind. Of course I know why Roxy's down here. What's the story on beating? Why was he killed? Oh, come, Race. What do you think I am, a police blotter? If you think you could grow fond of me, give. Because I'm in need of it, baby. I'm in need of it. Well, the only thing I can tell you about beating is that he didn't like it when he found out what Roxy was doing with his boat. Beating didn't know about the gambling set up when Roxy first chartered the schooner? No. And when he did find out, he wanted no part of it. You see, I happened to hear the blow up on that. Beating was going to cancel the charter. Maybe that's the answer. Maybe that's the answer to everything. About an hour later, I dropped in at the beating house. Mrs. Beating, swollen-eyed from crying, was baking pies. Just like a woman, ain't it? But I have to do something. They smell wonderful. I bet you're a fine cook. I guess I'm pretty good. Maybe because I love it so much. I told her about the insurance, and a noticeable lift came to the depression that had gripped her. She got out family documents for me, birth certificates, and a marriage license issued to her and Edward Beating in 1938. But what about the money now that he's dead? Will it still come to us? Certainly. It belonged to your husband. Oh, excuse me, won't you? Hello? Why, why yes, he's right here. It's for you. For me? Thanks. Yes? I had a hunch you'd be there. Guess who I'm with. Why don't you tell me? Roxy Clark. And he claims you didn't have nothing to do with that machine gunner deal. How about the lynching frame of... He claims he did that just to scare us out of town. Wait a second, I'll let you talk with him. Hello, Race. That's on the level about the gunning. That was Gigamentone's party. Give my regards to Jigger. I want to talk to you, Race. This thing is getting sticky. No sense of me being hooked by it. Are you protesting your innocence, Roxy? I want to talk to you. I'm going back to the Jackson right now. Can you meet me there? All right. I'll see you there. But he didn't see me, even though I saw him. Because by the time I got to his suite at the Jackson Hotel, someone else had already been there. Someone who had put two bullets into Roxy Clark's body. I couldn't figure it. But after all, it was actually none of my affair. I had come to find the right beneficiary to a $20,000 life insurance policy. And this I had accomplished. Even though Beading was dead, the money would go to his family. So five days later, Mark and I were at the local station, waiting to board a northbound train with Susan Drake, along as a fellow traveler. We also ran into other people we knew, Chief of Police Dinsie and Mrs. Beading and her daughter Mary. All set, Race? All set. I guess this is goodbye. Not yet. I'm going to ride a ways with him, in case anything pops up like that lynching beam. We can take care of ourselves, Chief. Just the same. I'm coming along. How about you, Mary? Looks as though you're traveling, too. Yes, sir. Mother and I are going to Daddy's sister in North Carolina until we... Yeah, we understand, honey. What do you got in the basket? Some of your mother's swell cooking? That's right. I'll bet it includes apple pie. Not this time. Mother burned the pie she was baking the other day. Well, here she comes. Race, what are you doing prowling around in the middle of the night? I've been keeping a death watch, Mark. A death watch? I think I've got the key to those killings. I'm going to have to wait for a play to be made. Uh, Chum, there's something else, too. What? We have another acquaintance on this train. Chigga Mentone. Old Homeweek. Yeah. What kind of pitch are you making, mate? I don't know yet, but... Wait. I wouldn't close that door, Mrs. Beatty. Mr. Race. Do you mind if we go in? Mind? Of course I mind. Sorry, we're going in anyway. You better stay with us. Yeah, you bet. Hey, look at the coils. She's been slugged. Yes, and the next move would have been to carry her to the rear platform and toss her off the train, wouldn't it, Mrs. Beating? My own daughter? You're insane. Not your daughter, Mrs. Beating. Your stepdaughter. Mary is 15 years old, and you weren't married to her father until 1938. Figure it for yourself. You get out of here! What was the motive? Your husband's will, leaving everything to the girl? You fought with your husband, didn't you? Because he objected to Roxy Clark using his schooners as a gambling ship, because he was going to revoke the charter. You didn't like that, did you, Mrs. Beating? Was letting too much easy money get away. So you murdered your husband. You're just talking. You don't know that. I know you killed Roxy Clark. You killed him because he didn't like being implicated and was going to talk. I know you killed him because you burned your pies that day. A good cook won't burn pies, Mrs. Beating, not unless she leaves them suddenly. To kill a man, perhaps. Get some water for the girl, Mark. She should have plenty to say when she comes to. You ain't getting water for nobody. Move back before this thing in my hand starts talking. It's about time you got here. Sorry, Mark, I missed on this one. So you thought you'd cut in, did you, Jigger? What are we going to do, Jigger? We can't shoot him right here. No, but I can do the same to them as you did to the kid. I owe this guy something anyway. Too slow again, Jigger. Yeah, well, she'll... Great, Captain! Well, this time Jigger's jig is up. Don't try to get away, lady. Where did you find that pistol, Mark? Must belong to the lady. It was in this open bag right here. All I had to do was reach for it. Be ironic if it turns out to be the gun that killed Beating and Roxy Clark, won't it? Yeah. I'll get the water for the girl from this sink. All right. Hey, you know something, Rice? This has been a funny deal. We started out to find a guy in a boat. We never got near either one of them. Rice, what's going on? Give me a hand with this girl, will you, baby? Mmm. You smell good. Rice, never mind the perfume. What's been happening? Something rather unpleasant, baby. But you know, before we reach New York, this trip may turn out to be most enjoyable. The Adventures of Frank Ray starring Paul Dubov with Tony Barrett as Mark Donovan comes to you from Hollywood. Others heard in tonight's cast were Frank Lovejoy, Wilms Herbert, Lillian Biaf, Bill Johnstone, and Michael Ann Barrett. This series is written and directed by Buckley Angel and Joel Murcock. The music is composed and played by Ivan Ditmars. Be sure to be with us again this time next week for another dramatic chapter in The Adventures of Frank Ray. Michael Roy speaking. This is a Bruce Ells production. MUSIC
