Standard of California, on behalf of independent Sheppard gas stations and standard stations throughout the West, invites you to let George do it. Death in fancy dress, another adventure of George Valentine. Personal notice, danger is my stock and trade. If life's tossed you a wet blanket and you're trying to stagger out from under, call on me George Valentine. Write full details. My dear Mr. Valentine, because of a hobby that's dear to my heart and certainly innocent enough, I've received several threats on my life of late. I'm aware that this can't be of world shaking importance, but it is a confounded nuisance to me. If you decide to take pity on me and come to my rescue, please drop in at my apartment, the Hampshire Towers. Apartment at the Hampshire Towers tomorrow afternoon at two o'clock. Would you verify this appointment by phone? Signed, Lloyd Bascom. Oh, dear old Bascom, whoever he is. Several threats on his life and he loses composure completely. Well, at least he did admit it was a confounded nuisance. I suppose if some scoundrel sprayed him with a shotgun, our friend would say it was a blast of annoyance. Yeah, well what intrigues me is this gentleman's hobby. What does he collect, atomic citrus? Hey, you know, Brooksie, I've always wanted to find an exciting pastime for my spare moments. Go on, Angel, verify the man's appointment. Well, here we are. My trophy room, you might call it. Mr. Bascom, all I see is a lot of junk. Yes. Now, take this particular piece of junk, a broken wine glass, the one with which Lucy Graham plunged her coming out party into a furor. She practically gouged Tony Warren's eye out with it while she was deep in her cups. I bought it from the caterers. As you see, I have it all neatly tagged, the occasion, the date, et cetera. And this 1945 license plate, Mr. Bascom? Oh, yes, the very proper and respected Mrs. Olinton Mackenzie was dragged into court on a hit and run charge. That's the plate of her Duesenberg. I bribed her chauffeur to get it. Oh, it was a beautiful scandal. Ah, well, I can see why this sort of thing wouldn't make you the most popular boy in your set, Bascom. I could not help being born with a silver spoon. But there's nothing to prevent me from reminding my friends of their more scandalous escapades. Now, look here, this lovely lock of red hair. A very lurid story goes with this. If you like, you gentlemen can retire to the smoking car. No, this little affair was quite well publicized. Celeste Dupre, the nightclub singer who was accused of the murder of Malcolm Gardner, the broker. She was acquitted. Dear me, I wonder whatever happened to the dear girl. Now, over here. Yeah, well, we get the general idea, Bascom. This is your private wax museum of dead scandals you like to keep alive. Oh, well, put Melendine. I must remember that phrase when I show off my collection at my next party. You mean you deliberately keep bringing up all this? Oh, pardon me, I'll see who's at the door. Huh. Man after my own heart. If you're not careful, Angel, he'll cut it out and put it in his collection. What surprises me is that Mr. Bascom's been allowed to go on breathing this long. What's the matter with you, Redu? I didn't come here to talk. What is the matter? Have you lost your mind? Yes, maybe I have. Stop it, Redu, you fool. Melendine, I didn't kill you. Come on, boys, break it up. You heard me, frown. Get off of him. Get out of my way. Now, listen, buster, don't make me hang you up to dry. I'm a peace-loving man. What else have you got here that belongs to my wife, Bascom? I don't know what you're talking about. Oh, yes, you do. You see, I found those letters you left under the Christmas tree. Very well you found them. I'm as good as my word. I promised Donna I'd let her have them back as a present. But too bad you had to find them. The package wasn't addressed to you, Reynolds. Never mind that. I burned them without telling her I saw them. That's too bad. Donna must be very distressed at my breach of faith. Now, Reynolds, if you don't mind, I do have company. Oh, don't mind us. I don't know how much Donna paid you for them. Lord knows she's the one with the money. I don't care. But if you have anything else of hers that you can hold over her, I swear I'll break your filthy neck. Just remember that. Oh, dear. See what I mean, Valentine? No. Suppose you draw me a diagram. You've already earned part of your fee when you hauled Reynolds off me. That was on the house, Bascom. What do you mean? I think he means it's no go. If you want protection, you better call out the National Guard. To put it another way, I don't like your idea of fun. I don't like your museum, and I particularly don't like you. Now wait a minute, Valentine. Let's get going, Brooksie. I don't want to be late for my paper route. Hey, hold on a minute, Angel. What is it, George? Anything wrong, Reynolds? What? Oh, I... I was just sitting here trying to calm down. I had a few drinks before and... Yeah, you look in pretty bad shape. Hey, let me have the wheel. I'll take you home. Hop in the back, Brooksie. Really, Mr. Reynolds? You didn't have to bother inviting us in. The least I can do is offer you and Mr. Valentine a drink. Say, look, Reynolds, don't worry about that little scene about Bascom's going any farther than us. Thank you. I am not in the habit of washing my dirty linen in public. Just make yourself comfortable there in the drawing room. I'll call Donna. Yeah, thanks. George, I don't know about you, but I... No, I know, I'm not too comfortable either. We'll just waltz through the formalities and blow... Darling, over there. Look. Yeah. Come to think of it, Valentine, Donna said she might... Hey, wait a minute, Reynolds, could we go across to that room for a minute? Why? What's the matter with you two anyway? Why are you standing there like this? I just think it's better that you don't come in here right now. What are you talking about? What happened? Please, Mr. Reynolds. Get out of my way. Let me in here. Donna. Donna. Take it easy, Reynolds, don't. But she... She's dead. Dead. Here, you better sit down. Oh. Oh. Bascom drove her to this. Might just as well have pulled the trigger himself. I felt like killing you before, now I will. You can't do that. Let go of me, you... How can you look at her lying there and say that? Let go of me. Somehow Bascom will get what's coming to him. Not Bascom. He never does anything he has to pay for. The law can't punish him. That's why I've got to do this myself. Sorry, Reynolds. I've got to hold you right here till you pull yourself together. Bruxy, call Lieutenant Riley. All right, Valentine, here it is. Yeah, Lieutenant. Between the medical examiner's report and my amateur sleuthing, it's just what you thought it was when you walked into that room across the hall. Suicide, pure and simple. I wasn't questioning that. What? Then what were you questioning? Why did you drag me into the case? Just for old anxiety? Oh, well, it just seemed a good idea at the time. It isn't easy, Lieutenant, to know that a man has driven a woman to suicide and not try to do something about him. Okay, Valentine, I know your heart's in the right place, but... But look, chum boy, why don't you grow up? There's a lot of slimy characters in this world. But Lieutenant Riley, we know Bascom was blackmailing Mrs. Reynolds. Oh, do we? All I know is she wrote him some silly letters and he was gallant enough to return them to her as a Christmas present. If anything, that makes him out just ginger peach. You know, I'd give a lot to get something on that guy. Go to it, chum boy. Go to it. But remember, keep it legal. Now I gotta mosey along. Oh, Reynolds. Leaving, Lieutenant? Yes, yes, there's nothing more for me to do. I'm sorry about everything. Well, so long, Valentine. Good luck. So long. I suppose I should thank you for holding back before Valentine. I don't know what I would have done. Skip it. But there's something else, Reynolds. Yes? Nobody can go racketeering with other people's lives without making at least one bad slip somewhere along the line. It seems there are others who feel like you do and would like to see Bascom dead. I want to find out why. What's that? I want you to hire me to look into our friends' past and present. See if I can find that one little slip. Is it a deal? I suppose so, sure. Okay, you got yourself a dollar a year, man. It may take you years. That's okay, Reynolds. This is gonna be a labor of love. We'll return to tonight's adventure of George Valentine in just a moment. Meanwhile, a word from a wise motorist. Can you imagine driving around the world not once, but four times without an engine repair? Well, in actual mileage, one man has driven even farther than that on compounded RPM motor oil and without an engine repair. His name is George M. Hollingsworth, an insurance agent in Bakersfield, California. Here's what Mr. Hollingsworth said, quote, one of my cars has gone 123,000 miles on RPM without engine repairs, unquote. And lots of Western motorists have told us they've driven seven and eight years on RPM without engine repairs. Thousands of others have learned that RPM pays its own way many times over. For RPM is compounded to stop carbon trouble, to guard engine hot spots left bare and exposed to air by ordinary motor oils, and to keep the whole engine system cleaner. Try RPM motor oil tomorrow. Pitted at any standard station or any independent Chevron gas station where they say, and mean, we'll take better care of your car. And now back to tonight's adventure of George Valentine. Your would-be client turns out to be, among other things, a blackmailer responsible for the suicide of one Donna Reynolds. So in a complete reversal, you find yourself pitted against the gentleman, determined to find just one slip-up somewhere in his checkered career. If you're like George Valentine, you're as patient as a terrier watching a gopher hole. But you get nowhere, except to Lieutenant Riley's office down at headquarters, where you've been rudely summoned. I think you know this gentleman, Valentine. I wouldn't admit it to anybody but you, Lieutenant. Hiya, Baskin. How are you enjoying your incursion into my life? I've had pleasent assignments. What do you want with me, Riley? Well, as you know, we're a close little family down here at headquarters. You better give me the next line. I forgot my cue. Sergeant Olson downstairs told me that this gentleman would like to swear out a warrant against you. So I thought we'd better talk it over first. Now Mr. Baskin. You're doing very well, Lieutenant. Go ahead. Yes. Complaint number one, illegal entry. Valentine, have you been prowling around in Mr. Baskin's apartment? Well I never. Yeah, yeah. An apartment? Why, I thought it was a museum. Such fascinating exhibits, broken wine glasses, old license plates. I thought it was open to the public. So as I remember, I did drop in. Uh, yes. Complaint number two, questioning Mr. Baskin's friends and causing him unwarranted embarrassment. Oh, now that's not fair, Lieutenant. Sure I talked to a lot of people who knew this gentleman, but not one of them would admit to being his friend. Come now, Valentine. Let's not have a battle of wits. You're so unequipped. Touche, Mr. Baskin, touche. Cliche, Mr. Valentine, cliché. What the devil's going on here? In two words, two syllables, Lieutenant. If he doesn't stop bothering me, I shall expect that warrant to be served. I think that would be all. Okay. Lieutenant, did you get that? Can you tie that monkey? Uh, now look here, Valentine. We've broken bread together. Mrs. Riley likes you well like her son. And I think of her every time I hear an Irish teller. I told you to keep it legal when it comes to Baskin. He and the commissioner have mutual friends. I've got to find a lead. There's got to be one. Well, why do you keep saying that? Just because of some letters between him and the late Mrs. Reynolds. This drawing room character suddenly becomes Jack the Ripper. What have you found anyway? Oh, nothing much, Lieutenant, nothing much. We checked most of the people on those tags in his collection. They all hate his guts but won't say anything. Okay. Okay, but remember, pal, I warned you. Hello, Lieutenant, may I come in? Oh, Brooks here. You told me to meet you downstairs. Yeah, yeah, I know. Sometimes I'm just an old chatterbox. What did you find out, Angel? Well, the last anybody heard of Celeste Dupre was two years ago. She was working in Jake Swansea's cocktail bar out on Fulton Boulevard. Celeste Dupre, how she mixed up in this? One of her beautiful Titian locks is in Baskin's collection of amendos. Remember she was accused of murder once? I was going to stop by at Swansea's new club. I thought I'd better talk to you first, Don. Good girl, Brooksie, good girl. We'll go over and have a talk with Jake right now. Swansea says for you to wait at the bar. He'll be right down. Okay, thanks. Come on, Brooksie, let's go. Hey, wait a minute. What's the matter, George? Wouldn't that be Reynolds talking to himself at that corner table? Oh, yeah. Looks like he's drowning his sorrows, coming up for the last time. Better see if I can get him out of here. Hello, Reynolds. Don't you think you ought to go home? Oh, Valentine. Would you like us to call your cab, Mr. Reynolds? What I'm doing, I can do better right here. Thank you, Miss Brooks. You know, getting crocked isn't going to help anything, Reynolds. Tell me something, Valentine. Did you get anything on Baskin? Skeleton up in the attic, trunk full of Conif at $1,000 bills? When do I come to his trial? Okay, Reynolds, you win. But take it easy with him. Is Swansea waving over here at me or you? Oh, I think that's our cue, Mr. Reynolds. Look, Valentine, if Reynolds is a friend of yours, maybe you can get him home. He's been here like that every day. Oh, he'll snap out of it. Look, Swansea, maybe you can help me. Sure, sit down. Can I get you anything, Miss Brooks? No, thanks. What can you tell me about Celeste Dupre? Well, Swansea. Cigarette? Uh, you didn't answer my question. Why don't you leave that kid alone? Didn't she have enough trouble back there being accused of murder and everything? Didn't she work for you once? Yeah. After it happened, I was the only one that'd give her a job. What, do you want anything that's on the house? Sit down, Swansea. I asked you, what happened to Celeste Dupre, where do I find her? Can't you see I don't feel like talking? You know I'm gonna find her sooner or later anyway, and when I do, I may come back and want to know why you didn't tell me. Okay, but don't build any fires under. Make that a personal favor to me. I don't like to see anybody hurt, Swansea. She lives at the Shelby Arms, only now her name is Seale Dawson. Police? Not exactly, Celeste, or do you prefer Seale? Does it matter? My name's Valentine. I'd like you to answer a few questions. Just whom do you represent? In this case, Valentine, as much as anybody else. I can't keep you from asking questions. Why did you give Lloyd Baskin Malachy a hair? What did you? And when did he give you for it? He usually pays for mementos like that. Why? Why don't you leave me alone? I hate to come at you from left field like that, but sometimes it gets results. Oh, during my trial, Baskin asked me for lock of my hair. I didn't see any harm in giving it to him. The one I saw looked like a recent acquisition, but we'll let that rest. That's not too bad. What do you mean? You've done pretty well for yourself, Celeste. This teepee you live in must run you quite a nut. What do you do for a living? I model clothes. The warmth a model gets wouldn't rent a doghouse in this neighborhood. Now, suppose we get out of... Excuse me. Hello? Yes. Yes, that's right. I didn't expect you to call. Oh, you should. Take your hand off the phone. Say what I tell you, Celeste, and I'm not fooling you. Valentine just left. Go on. Uh, Valentine just left. What's that? Tell him you want to see him. Get right over here because it's important. No, nothing's wrong. But I wish you'd come over. Yes, very important. Goodbye. I believe you would have hit me if I didn't play parrot for you. Could be, Red, could be. I'm not on my best behavior these days. You don't know who that was. It could have been my cousin from 29 Palms. Whatever it was, Celeste, I'll be waiting downstairs in front of the house to greet him. You didn't waste a minute getting here, did you, bastard? Valentine, I thought... Don't look so grief-stricken. Celeste didn't cross you. She had to say what I told her. Oh, dear, you're turning into quite a problem. Yeah, well, let's go up and join Celeste. We have a lot to talk about, you and I, including why you called her to see if I was here. Uh, you first, Bascom. Yes, I could stand a drink of that. As I recall, when we first met, you were wondering what became of Celeste, Prey. Oh, that. Well, there you are, Bascom. Hey, Reynolds. I was waiting for you. I'm going to kill you. Don't! Oh, hey. Don't drop that, Reynolds. Stop that. Let go of me. He's getting away. I... I... I... I... I... One of those bullets nearly had my name on it. You're hurt? I didn't expect you... Never mind. It's just a scratch. Now, let's get out of here. Cops will be flocking around here any minute. Yes. I'll talk to you later. Oh, hey, will you take it easy, Brooksie? All the pieces of the puzzle are there, but it's still a puzzle. All right, but hold your arms still. Bascom is in the middle of something big. It may be genteel, but it's against the law. Now, what could it be? Do you think that... Ouch! Hey, look, Angel, stop pussying. Well, it's only a scratch. Well, it could have been more than that. Darling, why don't you let this thing ride? Somebody's going to make a little hole in you yet. Anyway, Reynolds isn't going to rest till he gets Bascom, and there's nothing you can do about it. Think of him hiding there in the lobby, waiting. If only... Sure. Sure, that's it. Just like that. Wham! Silly. Are you off on another tizzy? What is it now? Go on, Brooksie Beater, take a walk for yourself. Buy yourself some saltwater taffy. Will you get off the banter wagon and tell me what this is all about? If you want to find out, meet me at Lieutenant Riley's in about an hour. Now, go on. All right. I don't like taffy. You mind if I make it cough drops for this cold? Cough drops? Oh, Brooksie Baby, you put your finger right on it. Hey, operator, let me have the phone number of Jake Swansea's Club 18. Look, Valentine, you could have come over to the club if you wanted to see me. Oh, no, Swansea, you wouldn't want anything like this to happen in your club. Oh, my God. Hey, what? What is that for? What's the play? I got to get you in the mood to talk about the tie-up between you and Celeste and Baskerman. You see, around town, you're a little buzzheaded. And I never believed it before. Come on, out of your talk, or do we have ourselves a game of ping pong first? I don't mind. You don't want to fight me, Jake. You keep him up there. I know what about it, Swansea, what about it? Smart guy, huh? I'll put my knee right through you if you don't open up. All right, all right. Okay, this lady, catch your breath. What do you want to ask me? First, I'm going to tell you. Yeah? What? You're not just mixed up in blackmail, Mustard. There's murder involved. Go on. You know about it, and you're prompted by it. That's being an accessory after the fact. They lock you away for that. Yeah. I see what you mean, Valanch. Okay, now you're being bright. If you play it smart, maybe they'll go easy on you. You win. I guess this calls for a drink. Yes, Swansea, and a little trip down to headquarters. Okay, Swansea, okay. You've been very eloquent. Just wanted to be helpful, Lieutenant. Oh, yes, yes, I know. Well, now you can join Mr. Prey in the other office. Oh, Sergeant, send Baskerman here. I'm right here, Lieutenant. Well, well, sit down. Thank you. Very time. You look a mess. Fighting again? Yeah, but it was worth it just for this one little occasion. Ask him you met Celeste during a trial. What of you? You were looking for mementos for your collection. You didn't get one until some time after, when you and she got to know each other rather well. Don't expect any comment from me. You're spinning this fairy tale. All right, then, Baskum, shut up. So sorry. In fact, you and Celeste became so chummy that somehow she found herself in a perfect spot. You had arranged all the unpleasant details, Baskum, and she could sit back and blackmail you groggy. And Swansea was just the boy to see that you paid off. Come on, son, come on. Get to the point for the man. The murder. The murder? Oh, you know all about that, Baskum, don't you? After all, you worked it out. Deliberately fancy, but very neat. Classy picture of suicide, motive and all. Yet it was murder. Lieutenant, I'm beginning to resent the unrestrained use of that word in connection with me. Yeah? Well, I'll just take my chances on your being angry with me too, Mr. Baskum. I'm holding you on suspicion of murder. On what evidence? With what Mr. Prey and Swansea will have to say, I'll risk being wrong. Mr. Reynolds just arrived, Lieutenant. Oh, yeah? Well, I suppose he ought to know what's been going on, so he hasn't come in. I should like to call my attorney, Lieutenant. There'll be plenty of time for that. Come on in, Reynolds, you missed the fireworks. Why, what's happened? Well, this should give you some satisfaction. We're holding Baskum for the murder of your wife. What's that? Did you say murder? Yes. Oh, Sergeant, take this guy away now. All right, come on now. Wait a minute, hold it, Sergeant. I don't want you to make two trips. What's the smell of that? Don't rush me, Lieutenant. Tonight when you were pouring shots at Baskum, you were really trying to kill me, Reynolds. What are you saying? Why would I do that? You didn't follow him to Celeste Place, as you said. You couldn't have. You were already inside the lobby. Miss Brooks reminded me of that. Then everything fell into place. I still want to know what reason I'd have for doing anything like that. What about it, Valentine? A man'll do anything to get away with murder, Lieutenant. It was Reynolds who killed his wife. Ouch. Oh, will you stop it, Brooks? Oh, be still. You're just a big baby. This is nothing but a little iodine. Oh, a little iodine, a little iodine. Lieutenant, do something. She's tortured. You'll live, chum boy. Fine thing. I fix your arm and you have to go and get into a fight. I guess people never will learn. I mean about murder. If they want to kill, why don't they just bash somebody over their head without being fancy? What a fine way for a lieutenant to talk. Oh, they'll get caught, sure, sure. But think of all the trouble they'd say. Oh, but don't forget the creative touch, Lieutenant. It means a lot to a man like Bascom. Think of the setup. Months back, he introduces his charming pal Reynolds to the wealthy Donner. She marries Reynolds all according to the plan. Ouch. Oh, quiet, Junior. Then it's all a buildup to our entrance, Angel. We were there to witness the clash between the aggrieved husband and the supposed blackmailer. And all the time the poor woman was lying home dead. No threats on Bascom's life, no letters for Reynolds to burn, no blackmail, no nothing. Just a plain, unsimple murder. Reynolds gets the money from the estate, divides it with Bascom, then Swansea and the girl get their cut from him. That's simple, Tim. Hmm. Well, tell me you're through, Brooksie. Yes, Sissy. Hmm. I can see that when little George falls off his scooter, I'll have to render first aid. Uh, what's that? Little George? And when his baby sister tumbles out of her high chair, I'll have to... Oh, George Valentine, sometimes you get me so mad, I could... Oh, Brooksie. Oh, what? That's no way to talk to the father of two children. With 1949 just four days away, probably you've got your list of New Year's resolutions well started. But how about putting this resolution near the top of your list? Why not promise yourself to get the most out of your car? To do this, make sure you ask for Chevron Supreme gasoline, the premium quality gasoline that you can get at all standard stations and independent Chevron gas stations. The reason Chevron Supreme allows your car to do its very best is that it's fortified with high-octane blending agents. These blending agents give your car smoother acceleration on the straightaway, smoother power and extra power on the steepest hills. Also, Chevron Supreme's climate tailored to each different altitude and temperature zone in the West, tailored to give you fast starts and speedy pickup in stop-and-go traffic. So for best motoring in 1949, why not make a resolution right now to give your car peak performance by getting Chevron Supreme gasoline at independent Chevron gas stations and standard stations where they say and mean, we'll take better care of your car. Next Monday night, a new case for George, murder and one to go. Tonight's adventure of George Valentine has been brought to you by Standard of California on behalf of independent Chevron gas stations and standard stations throughout the West. Let George Do It stars Robert Bailey as George with Francis Robinson as Claire. Wally Mayer appears as Lieutenant Riley. Tonight's story was written by David Victor and Herbert Little, Jr. and directed by Don Clark. Also heard in the cast were Jane Avello as Lloyd Bascom, Louis Van Rooten as Reynolds, Gloria Blondell as Celeste, and Ken Christie as Swansea. The music is composed and conducted by Eddie Dunstetter. Your announcer, John Heston. Listen again next week for Murder and One to Go on Let George Do It. Remember next week, those listeners who are now in standard time states will hear this broadcast one hour later. The Mitchell-Downlee Broadcasting System.
