President, I notice danger is my stock and trade. If the job is too tough for you to handle, you got a job for me, George Valentine. Write full details. The Standard of California, on behalf of Independent Chevron Gas Stations and Standard Stations throughout the West, invites you to let George do it. Run until dead, another adventure of George Valentine. Dear Mr. Valentine, recently I've had reason to investigate and reassure myself of your integrity. I'm quite confident that you can handle a rather small task for me with the utmost secrecy. I say small, but it's a matter of great urgency to me. I only hope that it doesn't surprise you too much that I should be appealing for help. Sincerely, Dashiell Fenwick. Dashiell Fenwick? Well, Brooksie, we're coming up in the world. Oh, the world's coming down. Why, that's old Iron Jaw Fenwick. Yeah, a name that makes the lords of the underworld really tremble in their custom-made shoes. I know. The little David that slew a dozen goliaths because he's a private citizen with a crusade against crime. Angel, you can't possibly know what a surprise this really is. Why? What do you know that I don't know? Well, I was Lieutenant Barclay's guest at the grand jury hearing on the Sudamon case. Yeah? I've already had my surprise, Mr. Fenwick, yesterday. And so, members of the grand jury, as your special investigator, I must report that there is no case against Mr. Sudamon. No case whatsoever. No case, no case. Did you hear what that guy said? Yeah. I'm asleep, maybe I'm asleep when I'm dreaming it or my ears are plugged. Oh, no. That's what he said, all right, but keep your head on, Lieutenant Barclay. It's only a state tax evasion case. Well, what else are you going to get a guy like Sudamon on? You can't prove anything else? He's mixed up with everything in town, but you can't prove it, can you? I tell you, Valentine, if I didn't know better, I'd say old iron jaw had finally been reached. Fenwick? Hey, hey, young Mr. D.A., you worked with Fenwick on this. How do you like it? I don't. Hello, Barclay. Hi. Well, maybe you can't reach an investigator, but you can reach a witness, eh? Hmm? What are you talking about? Melina Atkins? Oh, sure, that accountant wife of the past four months. Oh, yes. Well, we hoped it would pan out better. Her stuff did kind of blow up in her faces, but that's the way it goes sometimes. Yeah, well, you did a great job. Hadn't been for Fenwick, we could have... Barclay, Fenwick did exactly what I would have done. Eh? He had to make that report. On the evidence we found, Eric Sudamon was just not guilty, if that's all. On the evidence? Yeah. After Fenwick's report, you can bet the grand jury will drop this like a hot potato. Ha, ha, ha, ha. Now what's the matter, gentlemen? Did you bet on the wrong team? Congratulations, Sudamon. Well, I knew I wasn't guilty. I could have told you. Now listen, Sudamon. Sorry I can't buy you a drink, but, eh, I have my own celebrating to do. Now, for heaven's sake, don't look so surprised. Toughest prime investigator in the state says I'm innocent. Well, I am. That's all. It's, eh... Oh, you know, what's that word? Oh, it's justice, that's all. That was yesterday, Angel. Only yesterday. Well, come on, what are we waiting for? This is today. Mr. Ballantyne, that Sudamon report was... was the most disappointing one I've ever had to make. Yeah, I can imagine. But Mr. Fenwick, if the evidence didn't warrant anything, then I'm sure you're right. Yes, of course. Nothing, of course. Say, look, Mr. Fenwick, you seem to be beating yourself over the head with this Sudamon business. Is that why you came to me? Oh, no, no, of course not. No, not at all. Uh-huh. No, it's something else. Something altogether different. Yeah. Yes, this morning, I tried to get in touch with an old friend of mine out of town, a man who's been ill for some time. Uh, you know, Mr. Atkins. Atkins? Yes, the father of the recent prosecution witness, Melina Atkins. Go on. Well, I called Mr. Atkins this morning, an old dear friend, mind you, and he sent word by his housekeeper he wouldn't speak to me. Oh. Well, I suggested driving up, but perhaps his illness was worse, quite frail, you know, but he just doesn't care to see me. Yeah. Well, that's all there is. I want you to find out what's wrong. Driving, you should make it up there by midnight. Uh-huh. You can't reach an investigator, but sometimes you can reach a witness. What's that? Well, in the Sudamon case, you staked everything on Melina Atkins' testimony, but at the last minute, her evidence blew up, didn't it? Well, it's not healthy to give evidence against Sudamon, George. That's what I mean, Angel. It's dangerous. And when a girl has a father to think about, she... Oh, she tried as hard as she could. Oh, she'd been forced to withhold something, threaten maybe, or her father... Isn't there some way you could see the girl here in town? Ask her what's wrong with her father. I've, uh... yes, I've seen Melina. She's upset and tired, actually. Yeah, naturally. Yes. Anyway, she cares too much for me not to reveal any other reason for upset. What do you mean? Oh, I've said so much, I may as well complete the confession. It's my hope that Melina Atkins will shortly accept me as her husband. What? Yes. You mean... you mean you and... What's the matter, Miss Brooks? Do you think it impossible for a man of my years to be viewed with affection by... Oh, no. No. No, excuse me. It's... well, I guess it's just my turn to be surprised at all. Congratulations. Well, excuse me, but you called it a confession. Because I've kept it a secret. Because, uh, I was afraid of what might happen to Miss Atkins. Oh, I see. Yes. Oh, what difference does it make? Go find out what's the matter with Atkins. If it's just his bad teeth that makes Atkins so sour, well, then you get a cigar, Valentine. A whole carload of cigars. I said Mr. Atkins is dead. He's what? Oh, I'm sorry you drove all the way up here and didn't know, but he is since this evening. Well, there's so many of his friends to tell about it. I don't know what to do, but I was there. I was there and I saw it. A stroke, I tell you. He had a stroke. Mr. Atkins died this evening of a stroke. Now, look, look. You're his housekeeper. I know how difficult it is. But I've got to know what happened, all of it. I'm sorry. It's just all those people tramping in and out, but never making any noise. It's so quiet when people are... My mother had a stroke. Well, his daughter was here this afternoon, Mr. Valentine. Yes, she was nervous and upset. Just made me mad because I knew he'd be upset too. No better than a nblody wife. Molina was upset about what? Do you know? No, something she didn't want to talk about to him. But then a man came here to see her. Eh? She tried to keep her father from even knowing that man was here, but the man pushed right into his room and their voices were raised, but I couldn't hear anything. And the man laughed and then he went out. Who was this man? What did he look like? Oh, I was in the kitchen. I don't know. Oh, fine. What else? Well, a little while later, Molina left too. She'd been crying. Uh-huh. And Molina looked frightened, didn't she? Yes, but I was just mad. All that upset. And when I went into Mr. Atkins' room, he wouldn't tell me anything. He just lay there in his bed like a ghost. It was half an hour later, Mr. Valentine, I heard his slipper on the floor. He's never supposed to be out of bed. And when I got to him, he was trying to climb the hall stairway. He was mumbling. He had to reach the telephone. Had to call somebody named Weeraker, Fearaker. Really? Yeah, that's him. The same man. He was worried about not seeing the day before. And I argued with him. He tried to push me away. But, well, anyway, it was then that he... right there on the stairway. Yes, yes. All right. Now, I understand. Well, Angel, I guess we can report to Mr. Fenwick now. But I don't think it's going to win me any cigars. His lights are on, George. He must still be awake. It's almost dawn. Well, good evening. Yes, but I'd say it's good morning, wouldn't you? Oh, Valentine, isn't it? Yeah, that's right, Mr. Suderman. This is Miss Brooks. Mr. Oh, how do you do? Nice morning for a stroll. Yeah, sure. And you always do your strolling in front of Mr. Fenwick's house? That thing behind me is not a Doberman Pinscher I'm walking. All right, we can go into the house now, Mr. Suderman. Police? George, what are you... All right, get him in here, Peters. Suderman, we've been looking for you for the past hour. Well, Valentine... Just skip the formalities, Barclay. Where's Mr. Fenwick? Or is he... No, he's not dead, if that's what you mean. Fenwick's a little too tough to kill, isn't he, Suderman? I was awakened from a sound sleep. I have no idea what you're talking about. And furthermore, Lieutenant, I... Oh, sure, sure. Alibi, alibi, alibi. Barclay, we've been out of town all night, so come on, let's have it. Oh, tell them, Peters. Go on, you tell them. Oh, sure, Lieutenant. And listen carefully, Mr. Suderman. After the lecture, we always have a question period. I'm willing to be instructed. Well, I'm on the 7th Street beach, see, downtown. Checking doors and nightlights. You know how it is. When I see this guy wrapped around a telephone pole. On foot, I mean. Well, I can see at a glance he's drunk, so I poke him to send him home. When, gosh, I see it's Mr. Fenwick. What? Oh, now wait a second. I know, I know, Miss. The old lion jaw never took a drink in his life. But when I recover myself to get him in a taxi and down to the hospital, I find somebody's poured at least one drink down him to recover the stuff. Stuff? Dope, Mr. Valentine. Some kind of a drug. The doc says enough to kill off five men. But he's saved by the stomach pump, see? Thank you, Peters. Mr. Fenwick is resting quietly in his own bedroom. And pretty soon, maybe he can even talk. But now, in the meantime, Mr. Suderman... You have no right to question me. I can explain why I've been all evening. Is that so? All right, suppose you... But I don't need to say anything. I don't need to talk to you or do such... Come here, come here. What are you... Now, listen to me. Never mind that bird for a minute. What? I said, listen, will you? Fenwick hated Suderman. Well, that's why I've got him here. Suderman was cleared, remember? Oh, well, so he's got a grudge on the old man. The old man maybe has the works on him now. At least Melina Atkins does. I figure she was being pressured through her father. But now that he's dead, she's free to talk. Atkins' father? Say something in English, will you? Sure, sure, I'll say something in English. Let's get to Melina Atkins as fast as we can. Well, it wasn't fast enough, was it? No, not by a good many hours, I'd say. Lying there since last night. So that's Melina. Witness for the grand jury rests. Rests for good. From a blow on the back of her head. We'll return to tonight's adventure, George Valentine, in just a moment. The outside of your car has to go through all kinds of weather. Hot sun, fog, rain, and sometimes snow. But look what the inside of your car's engine is up against. Every time you turn off the ignition, internal engine parts are exposed to drops of acid-laden moisture, which results in rust because of 80 percent of engine wear. But here's the sure way to stop this high-cost rust. Use RPM motor oil. It's a premium quality motor oil that's compounded to keep a rust-preventive film on internal parts at all times. Turn off the ignition, leave your car standing idle for days or weeks, and this moisture-proof film stays on internal parts, keeps costly rust from starting. No wonder RPM motor oil is first choice in the West. It's the oil that stops 80 percent of engine wear. Ask for RPM at independent Chevron gas stations and at standard stations, where they say and mean, we take better care of your car. Music And now back to tonight's adventure, George Valentine. A couple of days ago, Eric Suderman was cleared before the Grand Jury. A simple state tax evasion case, but as Lieutenant Barkley says, on what else can you ever nail a cagey man like Suderman? Molina Atkins was chief witness for the prosecution, though her testimony faded rather badly at the last minute. Well, Special Crime Investigator Dashiell Fenwick, old Ironjaw, had an idea of pressure might have been brought to bear on Molina, and you have an idea he was right. You see, old Ironjaw himself was picked up downtown, drugged, and Molina Atkins is dead. Yeah, that was it, all right. Her head smacked the corner of the table there. But the broken lamp on the floor? No, the technical boys say it was the table. Somebody must have sunk it with a lamp, Angel, and just stood there and sucked it. She fell, hit the table, and that was it. What did the janitor say? He listened to the radio all last night, but he did fix a fuse in the basement at nine o'clock. Fuse? Well, breaking the lamp might blow a fuse. Okay, okay, so we say she was killed at nine o'clock. But did anybody see anybody? No. Was there a party elsewhere in the apartment house so people might be wandering around, seeing anybody? No. Oh, no, no. Are there any? Yeah, I get the general idea, Lieutenant. Nobody saw anything. Where was your little friend, Cinnamon, around nine o'clock? Out giving birth to an alibi, eight thirty to nine thirty. Oh, how convenient. The rackets he runs, the payoffs he gets, he's always covered. A whole family of alibis he has by now, and not one of them that we can... No. No, no, wait a minute. You know, we have got one thing on him. What's that? DA's office is working on this case, too. They proved he was up with Melina's brothers yesterday. Wait a minute. That makes him the man the housekeeper told us about. The man who paid a visit to upset everybody and make them scared. Yes. So at least we know Suderman was in touch with Melina. He was threatening or intimidating or... All right, all right. We know there's more evidence in the tax evasion case. Everybody knows that. It's murder I want solved. Only who can tell us a living? Old man Atkins decides to tell Fenwick something and dies of a stroke. Maybe Fenwick is found out by then and he gets drugged. And the little girl in the middle of the whole thing, she has to... No, I'll get it. Yeah, Barkley speaking. What? Lieutenant, what is it? Sergeant, you know what's going to happen to you, don't you? All right then, all right then. Why didn't... Yes, yes, we'll see you later. Okay, okay, spill it. An ex-Sergeant who should be nameless is on duty at Fenwick's house. Where? He posts a guard in the hallway, but not outside while Fenwick sleeps quietly in the room, a room downstairs, a room alone. Come on, get to it. Yeah, I'll get to it. Like somebody got to old Ironjaw. The window's open. They got him out of there. He's gone, you hear me? The last guy who knows anything, he's disappeared. Oh, brother. Right out from under our noses. Even took Fenwick's own car to get him away without being noticed. Well, be of good cheer, Lieutenant. Maybe we'll find something in this room. Oh, sure, an arrow may be pointing at the villain. Yeah, a tough man with a conscience. We could use a few more like him. Instead of one less. To think of it, only known in time, he could have... Hey, wait a minute. Look out, look out. What's going on down there? Come on, come on, only an accident. Keep going, move that car. Your blood can crack. Oh, George, look at that car. It's Fenwick. Easy does it, boys. Lift him easy. He's still alive, George. Yeah, but I don't know how, ain't you? This car must have rolled over a couple of times coming down that bank. All right, I'll give a stretcher. There we go. All right, I'll meet you, Doc. I'll meet you out there. Old iron jaw is indestructible, isn't he? Yeah. Only stretcher rolled. Car sails over a bank. No reason. One occupant in car, Fenwick. Run, Fenwick. Run until dead. Oh, no. Old iron jaw just felt good tonight. He just sneaked out for a little pleasure run. Ha-ha, by himself. Well, that's what Soutermen will want us to think. Just an accident. Skid, maybe. Why, you couldn't go over that bank unless a lot of extra effort was made. Mm-hmm. Now, this time I've got a head start on the maternity department. What do you mean? Well, both other times the crimes were committed hours before we got there. Now, this time it has only been about 15 minutes for my little friend to prepare the delivery of his next alibi. Now, come on. Let's find Soutermen. Let go of me, will you? I'm not touching you. The rule book says I can't. I just keep walking up there on the door, Soutermen. Oh. He's back at his house again, huh? Mm-hmm. I told you, Fenwick's too tough to kill. The doctor didn't want to move him any further than this. He's, uh... that is, I suppose he's able to talk? Oh, no, you don't get an answer to that. Come on, get inside. Huh? What do you gentlemen want to ask me? We want to tell you that everybody else is being eliminated. I mean, everybody who could conceivably have a grudge against Fenwick or against Melina Atkins. Not to mention that there's nobody who could have a grudge against both of them and the same night. Well? Well, point one, Fenwick cleared you of tax evasion because of insufficient evidence. But there was certain evidence not given, check. Oh, I hardly expect me to... Okay, point two. Melina Atkins had that evidence but was afraid to give it. Only it looks like last night old iron jaw found out what it was all about too. No comment. Mr. Soutermen, if you can suggest any other conceivable reason for the girl being killed last night, and for not one attempt but two attempts to be made on Fenwick's life... What did he say? What did he say? Oh, now you're getting it. No, no, no, I don't mean that, but although I do have a right to know... That's for me. I have an alibi, you know. Never mind, I'll get the door. George, what is it? Mr. Fenwick is asleep and the doctor's leaving, but the noise is... Well, look who's here. Come in, young Mr. D.A. Hello, Barkley. Everybody. Hello. Mr. Soutermen, I guess your alibi can wait a little longer. Now that we've got a representative of the D.A.'s office presence, I suppose you just... Barkley... I am his latest alibi. You? The whole office is. I know. I'm sorry, but we all are. I hurried out to let you know. We dropped Soutermen off at his hotel just a second or two before you got him, I guess. The D.A.'s office? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. He was down there at our place at the same time Fenwick's car must have spilled over the hill. Soutermen, why didn't you say so? Why, I was... You knew, didn't you? You've got a perfect alibi for once. Why have you been so nervous? And what does a man get for tax evasion? Is it ten years? Because that part of it's true, isn't it? We were... Hey, Angel, what did you say about Fenwick? Well, just that he's asleep. The doctor's out packing up his things now. Old iron jaws alone? Well, yes, but... Hey, listen. Upstairs. Keep him there, Barkley. Let me do this. George! Fenwick! Fenwick! George, what is it? Shut that door, Angel. Lock it. Yes, but, Doc... He's all right. So am I. Just dumb, that's all. It had never occurred to us to believe alibis from a guy like Soutermen. What? And an automobile crash or a drug in the stomach can't be coincidence, accident, so there's got to be murder. Well, all they really were was what happened right now. Fenwick's been trying to commit suicide. Please, Mr. Ballantine, please... Sure you want us to go so you can try it again. Oh, no, you hired me. You're stuck with me. Look a minute, Barkley. We're all right. I'm a coward, that's all. A coward. The whole slate wipes clean pretty fast, doesn't it? You swallow some drug and a glass of liquor. Liquor to give you a little courage. Only a noisy policeman comes along to interfere. A coward. Then you sneak out by yourself from downstairs, take your own car and try to... Old man and a coward. Yeah. What was it? Melina? Yes. Uh-huh. She wasn't what she seemed to be. No. Well, I guess that coin has two sides, Fenwick, doesn't it? One way we looked at, she'd been pressured by Suderman. She was afraid of him. At the worst, maybe she withheld a little evidence. But looking at the other way, everything has happened. She was no good. She never was. You mean all of her evidence? It was all a hoax. What? I knew her father. I knew her. I staked everything in her testimony, Valentine. Her testimony, all of it, was very, very cleverly designed to swell bigger and bigger and then explode. She didn't say any more. She didn't know any more. It was a garden path. Designed by a very good friend, Mr. Suderman. And the thing that led you down that garden path? Well, I wondered when you told us in your office that you loved her. Never mind, Angel. I've written all this down, Mr. Valentine. It's in the mail. Eric Suderman's complicity, my own blindness. All that's necessary for someone else to bring him to trial again. Wait a minute, wait a minute. Suderman must have guessed you'd written it down. That's why he's been so nervous. He must have guessed you were really trying to commit suicide. But if that's the case, then he must have known... Get out of here, Valentine. Please get out of here. Mr. Finley, a man doesn't commit suicide just because he's been made a sucker? No. Suderman knows everything. I learned all this from Melina. Then Suderman found me, told me what he knew, and expected that I would keep my mouth closed. It didn't occur to him that I might close my own mouth forever. Suderman knows about you seeing Melina? All of it. I went because I'd been suspecting them and still afraid to admit it. It was around nine o'clock. I told her I loved her. She laughed at me. I grabbed her. I made her tell. I heard the whole truth for the first time. I seized the lamp. I struck her. She fell to the floor. I ran. Uh-huh. But you left something out, didn't you, Finley? It's in my confession. It's what Suderman knows when he found me in the bar at ten o'clock. Yes. Yes, I killed Melina Atkins. Yeah. Okay, Barkley, come on in now. You too, Suderman. Hey, what's been going on in here? Hello, Lieutenant. Valentine. I'm rather glad it worked out this way. I can... Just cut it up. Suderman? Hmm? We've got you for framing false evidence, perjury, maybe tax evasion too. But you may slip out again. What is this? What's he been saying? Slip out? He will not. I wrote down every single word. Suderman, where were you at ten o'clock last night? Never mind. I know already. In a bar someplace, accusing Fenwick here of murder. Well, how did you know he committed murder? Why, I merely added two and two and... And decided a man like Fenwick had done that? How fantastic can you get? Oh, but I've been following him, watching him earlier in the day. No, no. You were out of town at old man Atkins' place. You had an alibi. In fact, you've got too many alibis, all of them good. Hey, wait a minute. How did he know she was dead? We didn't find her till this morning. Well, I was up there, of course. After it happened, I could tell Fenwick had been there. How could you tell? There wasn't anything in the apartment to indicate anyone beside Melina had been there. But it was just after it. Well, I'd seen him leave. Fenwick struck her with a lamp at nine o'clock and then he ran. Now, how could you see him when you've got an alibi that says you were somewhere else, eight thirty to nine thirty? Too many alibis. No, no, no. Well, people told me they'd seen him. Just a minute. Nobody saw anybody out there, not even the janitor. Wait a minute, Barclay. There is a way you could have been told, isn't there, Soutaman? What? A way you could have got there after nine thirty, then gone out to find Fenwick by ten and still in the meantime be told who it was struck Melina with a lamp. One way you could have been told, just one. No, you don't have to. Go ahead, grab him. The corpse told you, didn't she? Melina herself. Nursing a bruise, maybe, and telling you what happened. Sure. Sure it was the corpse gave you the idea how to kill two birds with one stone to keep them both quiet. All you had to do was add another bruise, the back of the head against the table. So she'd lie there more quietly, Soutaman, like a real corpse should. George, what do you suppose will happen to Mr. Fenwick? Oh, he'll stand trial for assault, Brooksie, for hitting Melina with that lamp, something like that. He certainly beats himself with his conscience, doesn't he? Old iron jaw. It was a close call. Well, but darling, it certainly looked like Soutaman was making him run. Run until dead. Yeah, yeah. Sometimes you can escape from a Soutaman. Fenwick tried to escape from himself. He probably... Oh, come on, Angel. Let's go out for dinner before I turn philosopher. People who know the whims of November weather will be taking a raincoat to the football game next Saturday. And don't think Chevron Supreme Gasoline isn't prepared for the weather, too. It's prepared months ahead of time by standard of California, where automotive engineers know how sensitive gasoline is to seasonal weather and altitude, too. That's why Chevron Supreme is climate tailored, scientifically tailored to meet the weather demands in your driving area. Try a tank full of this premium quality gasoline tomorrow, and you'll notice right away how much better your car responds. Faster starts, faster getaway in traffic, and ping-free power to lift your car over steep hills. In fact, you can't buy a better gasoline for today's high compression engines. And because it's climate tailored, count on Chevron Supreme to get the best out of your car every day in the year. Ask for it at standard stations and at independent Chevron gas stations, where they say and mean, we take better care of your car. 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. Robert Bailey is starred as George with Francis Robinson as Brooksy. Let George Do It is written by David Victor and Jackson Gillis and directed by Don Clark. Also heard in the cast were Bill Boucher as the tenth Barclay, Will Wright as Fenwick, Baron Kane as the attorney, Larry Dodkin as Suderman, and Frank Hale as the housekeeper. The music is composed and presented by Eddie Dunstetter, your announcer, John Heaston. Listen again next week, same time, same station, to Let George Do It. This is the Mutual Don Lee Broadcasting System.
