A national broadcasting company presents Dick Powell as Richard Diamond, private detective. All right, Chalmers, hand it over. Let's have it. Have what? I ain't got time to play games. This time you've got to believe me. This time I'm unhappy, so hand it over. You're not making it very easy. I'm going to make it a lot tougher. How much tougher can things get? You'd be surprised. I've waited a long time for this. Well, I guess everything comes to he who waits. You won't have to wait anymore. You know something? I don't mind killing you at all. Here's another exciting half hour with Richard Diamond, private detective, starring Dick Powell. Private detective agency, homicide made easy. With us, it's the corpse that counts. I just don't think I'll ever get used to it. Hi, Helen. Hi. What are you doing? Right now, nothing, but I've been considering a few pushups or something just to keep my heart going. I've been sitting behind this desk so long my blood doesn't circulate anymore. It just lies around and puddles. Oh, Rick. Morning, Mr. Diamond. Oh, hold it a second, honey. Morning, Phil. Who's Phil? The postman. Specialist before I ever turn the seat on. Sign right here. Okay, there you are, Phil. Okay. See you later, Mr. Diamond. Yeah. Rick? Yeah, yes, dear? Well, what is it? What does the postman want? Well, he wanted to give me a letter. Oh. Special delivery from the city hall. Oh, must be important. What does it say? Let's see. It says, Mr. Richard Diamond, address, so on and so forth. Oh, here. Dear sir, you are hereby notified that under the laws of this state, you can be called to the postman. Oh, I see. Oh, I see. Oh, I see. Oh, I see. Oh, I see. Oh, I see. Oh, I see. Oh, I see. Oh, I see. Oh, I see. Dear sir, you are hereby notified that under the laws of this state, you can be called... Oh, for Pete's sake. Oh, what's the matter? Of all the rotten... Oh, stop making noises and tell me what's wrong. You know what this stupid letter is about? I've been trying to find out. I, honey, have got to report to the police commission and get examined. Oh, Rick, have you caught something? Dear, in this state, the commission can call in any private detective and give him a test to find out whether or not he can still qualify to keep on operating. You mean they give you a test on your test like in school? You're darn right. Oh, and it says here I've got a period of day. What if you don't? Well, I lose the bond I had to post when I took out my license. Oh, Rick, you better get right down there. Oh, and here's something else that's real cute. Guess where I have to take the test? Walt's precinct. Has to be. Yeah, aren't they the little devils? Report to Lieutenant Walter Levinson, Fifth Precinct Homicide. What time, Rick? Time? 10 minutes ago. Oh, bye, Rick. It was 10 after 11 when I hung up on Helen. It was 12 after when I hit the street. The fifth precinct was a good 10 blocks away and I was bounding into the squad room by 1118. Needless to say, it put a horrible strain on several unused ligaments. Four or five boys in my charming profession were there ahead of me. Oh, boys, it looks like the commission's serious this time. They're gonna start dragging in their pets, namely one Richard Diamond. You can bet their heads are gonna start rolling. What if their heads do start rolling, Romero? You got a spare. Ah, that's a very good idea. Hey, Shama, you're late. Well, Sergeant Otis, you need a shave or you've been sleeping with your head on a porcupine. I ain't got no time for your crummy jokes, Diamond. Take a seat and wait your turn. Thank you, Otis. Ah, bye-da-bye. You're the last on the list. That figured. Yeah, take a seat, Diamond. Last on the list, huh? Looks like you don't swing as much weight as you thought you did. At least now I can understand the reason for this examination. Oh, you can, huh? Sure. Guys like you, Romero, would make it necessary to clean up any organization. Oh, I take it you don't think I'm a credit to the profession, huh, Diamond? Take it in the way you like, but stick with the first guess. Oh, what's the matter, Rick? You done taken some of your business away, huh? Look, Romero, the kind of business you handle would keep me buying too much disinfectant. And as long as you're asking what's wrong, I'll tell you two things. Yeah? You're a lousy detective and you'd burn your grandmother if there was enough money in it. Oh, okay. What's the second beef, Ricky? You just said it. You want to talk to me? It's Mr. Diamond. You slip again, I'll put your jaw in a position so you won't forget. Is that right? Oh, get out of my way, Romero. Oh, sure, sure, Mr. Diamond. Hey, Rick, can I see you a minute? Yeah, by all means see your friends and have a good talk about me. Oh, what is it, Alan? I just thought you might be more comfortable over here. I would have called you sooner if I was kind of hoping you might lay one on Romero. Oh, I'd love to bust his face up. There's just no excuse for him. Okay, so we all got our bonds to worry about. Relax, you got a long wait. Okay Diamond, it's your turn now. Not really. Go on in. Sorry you had to wait so long. Thank you, Sergeant Otis. You're very kind. If I'd waited any longer, I'd have been numb. Don't ask me where. Come in, Rick. Bring your slate pencil. Yeah. Sit down, Mr. Diamond. In a nice soft chair? Oh, I'm afraid I couldn't do that, Lieutenant. I've gotten so used to that bench outside, sort of grown to fit it, you might say. Oh, now Rick, I'm sorry, but there was nothing I could do about it. Mr. Diamond, Lieutenant. Huh? Oh, yeah, I hear you've been giving that to a lot of people lately. Otis tells me you and Pat Romero had some kind of discussion along those lines. Why doesn't the government stick Otis out on the beach somewhere and use him for radar? Let him look for flying saucers. Rick, there's no sense in acting like a child. The name is Diamond. Since when? Since two hours of solid sitting, Lieutenant. Okay, Mr. Diamond. Unfortunately, the commission set this thing up. Mr. Diamond, I had nothing to do with it. Mr. Diamond. As for your waiting, there's enough hard feelings about your relations with this department. If I put you at the head of the list, Mr. Diamond. Oh, shut up. Lieutenant. Lieutenant. Mr. Diamond. You're not going to get away with this. That's better. That certainly is. Here's the first half of the examination paper. You'll get the second half later. Write the answers to these questions. How long have I got? Take your time. Still mad? Yeah. How? So, for the next 30 minutes, I wrote. I wrote Walt's dude. It was something I could always count on with Walt, and being my best friend, he never had been able to get used to it. I looked up and caught him a couple of times, looking out of the corner of his eye to make sure I was getting them right. Don't misunderstand. Walt would never give me the answers. He'd just cough or blow his nose or something to show me I wasn't on the right track. Oh. Oh. There you are, Lieutenant. Thank you, Mr. Diamond. Am I finished? You most certainly are not. Like the others before you, Mr. Diamond, you will have to solve, to my complete satisfaction, a hypothetical case of homicide, and then come back here and fill in the second half of the examination. Oh, for Pete's sake, Walt. I did that in police school. It's oh, for Pete's sake, Lieutenant. Oh, all right. One moment, Mr. Diamond. I'll get the man who's going to give you the test. Otis. Yeah, Lieutenant? Oh, no. Would you mind coming in here and taking Mr. Diamond down to the basement? He's ready for the test, huh? Yes, Sergeant, he's ready. Now, there's a dummy in that room there, Diamond. You sure leave yourself wide open, Otis. Thanks. Now, the dummy, or in this case, the victim, has been murdered. You will go in and try to solve the murder to the best of your ability. If you are intelligent and observing, you will locate the necessary clues which have been placed about the room. Go on in. How long have I got, Sergeant? Thirty minutes, start now. Go ahead in. Otis. Otis. Oh, now come on, Shama. You ain't going to have to do that. I'm going to go in. I'm going to go in. I'm going to go in. I'm going to go in. I'm going to go in. I'm going to go in. You ain't going to tell me you solved it already. No, Otis, I ain't. But there's something I think you should know. Yeah, what? There are two victims in this room. And I hate to be the one to tell you, but I'm afraid one of them isn't really a dummy. What do you mean? One of them is a body, and it's very dead. Get the lieutenant. Well, there you are, Walt. Pat Romero. Shot through the head. Oh, no. Oh, shut the door, Otis. Yeah, yeah. And lock it. Stand in front of it. Don't let anybody in. How did this happen? How did Romero get shot in my department? Oh, what will the commissioner say? Oh, look, Tom. You shut up. Walt, relax. Will you take it easy now? Oh, sure, sure. Relax. Take it easy. When the commissioner hears about this, I'll have a lot of time to relax on a beat in Flatbush. Look, Walt. And on newspapers. What's going to happen when they get wind of this? Listen, Walter. Private detective shot in lab room of Fifth Precinct homicide. Relax. Take it easy. Sure, sure. I've been up long enough to hear what I've got to say. Rick, what am I going to do? Well, now listen to me. If we can solve this thing before anyone gets wind of it, maybe it won't be so bad. You're right. Maybe it won't. We'll keep this room closed up as long as possible. Otis, if you let anyone in here, I'll personally see that you never... Where are you going, Diamond? I'm going to Romero's office. I'll call you from there. Make a check on his body and have all the dope ready for me. Oh, don't you worry about the dope, Rick. I've got more dope in this department than any other in the whole world. I've got the biggest. Otis. Uh, yeah, Lieutenant. Walt chased Otis up the wall and I headed for Pat Romero's office. Everything was happening so fast, I didn't take time to think much past the fact that the private detective profession had taken a step in the right direction when someone retired Romero. But Walt was in a spot and someone had broken the law, so it looked like it was up to me to try and tie things together. I got to Romero's building, went up to the eighth floor, tripped over a couple of rats having a nervous breakdown because he couldn't find a way out, found his office, opened the door and started feeling sorry for myself right away. Oh! I never saw him. All I remember is something black and shiny in front of my face just as I hit the floor. When I tried to take a better look, the bright shiny something kissed me right in the mouth and I went to sleep the hard way. When I finally came around, it was like trying to tiptoe through an acre of beach balls. I stumbled a couple of times, spit out a little blood, very little because the way I felt there couldn't have been too much left. When I finally got around to a normal way of thinking, I perceived two things. It was still daytime and the office of one Mr. Pat Romero, deceased, was a wreck. Well, who is this first? Oh, not come on, this is Diamond. Well, I thought so, but I'm not going to admit anything for a while, even my name. Anyone find out about… Shh, no, what did you find out? I walked into his office, got my brain scattered. By whom? By whom, I don't know, I wish I did. I have a very sore head. Well, Romero was shot all right, but we can't find the bullet. That's not a very big room. We'll find it, but in the meantime, here's something else. Romero had $10,000 in cash on him, new bills. Go ahead. That's all we've come up with so far. We'll have more to go on when we find that bullet. Maybe it's still in him. Went clean through, messed up his pretty patent leather haircut. What? What do you mean, what? I said the bullet... Oh, never mind, never mind, Walt. Bless your little pointed head, you just gave me an idea. About what? About the guy who worked me over a little while ago. Okay, anything else? Yeah, hurry up and find that missing bullet. Walt had said something about patent leather when he referred to Romero's greasy hairdo. That was all I needed. It opened a door someplace and there, sitting with its legs crossed, was the biggest hunch I've ever seen. And it was wearing patent leather shoes. The only guy I could think of who would know a man like Romero and still wear patent leather shoes in the afternoon was a local gambler with a reputation as a fashion plate, monocled, striped trousers, and always the patent leather shoes. In fact, that's where he got his nickname, the patent leather kid. This was a small clue and I knew it, but one thing was in my favor. Anyone who would tear up Romero's office and kick me in the face had to be a bad little boy. And the patent leather kid was typecasting. The kid's real name was Amos Fletcher and he ran a small club over on 14th Street. Oh, I'm sorry, my friend, but the... Well... Hello, Fletcher. I was going to say I'm sorry, my friend, but the place isn't open until six. I got a few questions. Come back at six. Fletcher. I'm a little unhappy right about now. You answer the questions like a good boy or I'll kick you all over the place. You mind if I call a few of my boys to watch? If you like. Tell them I got a 38 under my arm that goes off when I get excited. I got a few questions. Come back at six. Fletcher. I'm a little unhappy right about now. You answer the questions like a good boy or I'll kick you all over the place. You mind if I call a few of my boys to watch? If you like. Tell them I got a 38 under my arm that goes off when I get excited. Tell them I sort of lose my head when I get kicked in the mouth and don't get the answers I want. I think you better believe me. So you got kicked in the mouth? Yeah, by a pair of patent leather shoes, just like yours. I had nothing to do with it. You know a guy named Romero? Romero? No, I don't know a guy by that name. Where were you an hour ago? Right here. I have a couple of friends to prove it. We were playing cards, canasta. Okay, okay. I'm glad you're satisfied, Mr. Diamond. Who said I was satisfied? No. Not a bit. Well, what about this Romero? He got himself shot. Badly? As bad as you can get shot. Well, Chalmers, that's a chance you boys take. Maybe Romero would have lived longer in another racket. Think about it, Chalmers. I'll think about it, Fletcher. I'll think about it a long time. Good. Let me know what you decide. You'll hear about it. Homicide, Fifth Precinct. Well, check and find out where Amos Fletcher does his banking. See if he's made any big withdrawals lately. Patent leather kit? What's he got to do with it? Just check. Okay, okay. What about the bullet? Have you found that yet? No. Oh, swell. Did you find anything else? A bunch of stuff in Romero's wallet. What? Old driver's license, social security numbers, business cards. A card from a real estate office that might be important. Why should it be? A notation on the back. Says, call Miss Crockett about new lease. Date after that. Yesterday. New lease? Romero has an office. Wonder what this new lease is. Why don't you check? Crockett Real Estate, Lexington Avenue. Bye. I'll revour. What? Something I could... Well, well, well. Good afternoon. Ain't as though. Those can be before you rolled them gorgeous shoulders through that door. Sit down, Sonny. Relax. Have yourself a drink. No, thanks. A little early in the day for me. A little early. Well, you'll excuse me, won't you, Sonny? If it gets any later, my stomach's liable to rust. Get it? Yeah, all over me. What's your name, Sonny? Uh... I don't know, you know, if I'm going to sell you some... Real Estate. Play football in school? Uh... Figures, figures. Oh, look at them shoulders. Look, sweetheart. Huh? What did you say? I said, look, sweetheart. Oh. Why? I'm no sense in raising all these goose bumps for nothing. Sweetheart, huh? Well, what can I do for you, Sonny? You want Madison Avenue at 50 cents up front for it? Ha ha ha! Hey, that's pretty good. Hmm. Sure you won't have a drink, Sonny? No, thanks. I'd just like to ask you one question. Go right ahead, Sonny. You know, I... I may not look it, but I'm considered one of the best real estate agents in this state. Do you know a man named Romero? Sure, I know him. Did you just rent him some offices? Yep. Signed the lease yesterday. A whole new suit of offices over on 46th Street. 46th Street? Where on 46th? Oh, right, the other... Say, are... Are you a cop? What makes you think that? Oh, I don't know. Romero's offices are right across from the police station. The fifth precinct. Sonny, you bother me. You're too nervous. Now, why don't you just sit down and get comfortable and we'll... What building are the offices in? Carson Building on the fourth floor. But why don't you just take it easy, Sonny? Thanks, sweetheart. Oh, you devil, you. Now, look, Greg, we know Romero was shot in this room while he was either sitting or kneeling. Because the bullet entered his head at a high angle. Yeah. I think he was shot with a rifle, Walter. A rifle? Yeah, from across the street. Romero rented some new offices in the Carson Building, directly opposite this building. I just saw them. Somebody tore in those part two. Ah, well, I checked on Amos Fletcher. Does his banking at the National. Made a withdrawal this morning, 10,000 bucks, in new bills. Who is it? Come on in. There's a Chameleon soldier yet, Lieutenant. Well, come here. Yeah? Now, look, fourth floor. Carson Building, right over there. See the open window? Yeah? Now, if someone in one of those offices fired a rifle... and there's no bullet hole in the lower portion of the window in this room... that means it went through the open part. So Romero would have to be standing, oh, let's say, about, uh... Oh, about right here. That would make the slug somewhere out in the hall. Right. But it would have to pass through the door. There's no hole in the door. Hey, the door was open when me and the Chameleon came down here. That's right, Walt. Let's see if we can find that bullet. What was Romero doing down here? Oh, he was just finishing this part of the test when I went up to get diamond. Hey, Walt, Walt. I think I got the bullet. Yeah. Under the rug? Yeah, you'll have to pry it out. It's in the floor pretty deep. Okay. Who did he go after? Amos Fletcher? That's right. What's your proof? Not much. It's... It's all a guess. You know what kind of a guy Romero was. Yeah, the worst. Well, let's see. Romero had 10,000 in his pocket. Fletcher took out 10,000 this morning. Sounds like blackmail. Could be. Somebody was tearing Romero's old office apart... looking for something when I broke in on him. And I got a patent leather shoe in the face for my trouble. That isn't very much to go on. Well, how about this? I asked Fletcher if he knew Romero. He said no. But as I left, he mentioned that Romero probably got killed because... like myself, he was in the wrong racket. How did he know that? Well, still not enough to convict him. Would a confession do it, Grouchy? You know darn good and well a confession is the only thing that would do it. That or find the murder weapon and prove it belongs to Fletcher. Oh, you're so technical. Okay, I'm going back to the office. Give me about 10 minutes and have Otis call Fletcher. Oh? Have Otis call Fletcher? Oh, not as Sergeant Otis. Just have him call and give Fletcher, oh, a friendly tip. From the way those two officers were torn up, it's my guess that Fletcher hasn't found what he's looking for yet. Just tell him I found it. Found what? Found anything. You don't have to be specific. Who said I was gonna be? Gonna be what, you mallet head? Specific. You don't even know what it means. It means precisely formulated or restricted. Huh? Oh, here I got the bullet out of the floor, Lieutenant. Bye, Walt. I left the precinct and headed back for Broadway in my office on the corner 53rd. I knew that Amos Fletcher, the patent leather kid, was the boy we wanted. But whether or not he'd fall for the gag was a matter of luck. Luck is a big part of my business. So I went to my office and sat on behind my desk to wait. In case Amos Fletcher showed up, I wanted to be sure to be able to hold up my end of the conversation. So I took out my 38 and put it across my knees. Diamond Detective Agency, if you've slaughtered a dozen, no difference to me, one or 50, it's the same old fee. What kind of a remark is that, Shummers? What kind of remark did it sound like, Sergeant? I ain't got time to answer that. I called Fletcher. Good. What did you tell him? Well, I was pretty good, as a matter of fact. I disguised my voice like this, and I says, Amos Fletcher, and he says, yeah. So I says, just a little tip I thought you might want to know about. Richard Diamond has got that which you has been looking for. He found it in Romero's new offices. How was that, Shummers? Brilliant change of voice. You think it'll work? Put down the phone. You hear me, Shummers? You think it'll work? Hang it up. Hey, Diamond! Oh, that's better. All right, Shummers, let's have it. Have what? I haven't got time to play games. This time you've got to believe me. This time I'm unhappy, so hand it over. You're making it pretty tough, Fletcher. I'm going to make it a lot tougher. Oh, now isn't that a pretty big gun to be carrying around? It's a little big, sure, but it does everything I want it to. Mm-hmm. A German schmeischer, isn't it? That's right. Put a stock on it, and you could shoot it like a rifle. I'm going to count three, and then I'm just going to shoot it. Now why don't you be smart and give me the stuff? Let it ring. It might be a paying client. It might. Let it ring. You shot Patrick Romero from his new offices across the street from the 5th precinct, didn't you, Fletcher? Is that what you say? Yeah. What was he doing, blackmailing you? You gave him $10,000 sometime today. You know, you're talking yourself right into a long box. Why did you shoot him at a police station? I paid him the $10,000, and he handed me the stuff, and I thought it was a McCoy. I went back to my office and started checking through the stuff. That phone's going to bother me! There. You checked the stuff back in your office, and you found out it was phony. You got worried, went back to Romero's offices. He wasn't there. He was across the street in the 5th precinct. You spotted him through the window and shot him. That's right, Chalmers. I saw him talking to a cop and figured he might be spilling his guts. I waited until the cop left, and I nailed him. Now give me the stuff. You'll have to believe me, Fletcher. I haven't got it. Don't give me that. I got a tip. Sure you did. That was Sergeant Otis from Homicide. You're crazy. Am I? He said, Just a little tip. I thought maybe you might want to know about. Richard Diamond has got that which you has been looking for. What did Romero have on you? Some records. You know something, Diamond? I don't mind killing you at all. Stop it, Fletcher! What? Wait! I got Walt. Fletcher! Fletcher! How is he, Walt? Pretty bad. I didn't know you had a gun, Rick. Neither did Fletcher. Diamond! Yeah? Phone for a doctor. Hurry! I'll do it, Rick. Hey, who tore this phone out of the wall? Fletcher got tired of hearing it ring. What's that you're playing, Rick? Oh, it's an old thing. Oh. Yes. Hello, Helen. This is Walt. Yes, Walt. He's right here. Thanks, dear. Hello, Walt. Rick, we found the stuff Romero was blackmailing Fletcher with in a safety deposit box. A bunch of books that exposed one of Fletcher's old rackets, enough to send him away for life. Well, bully for you. Oh, and something else. You better get down here right away. What for? You didn't finish your test. You don't want to flunk it, do you? What? You got the first part all right, the hypothetical part I can cover for you. But you didn't do anything on the last part of the written examination. Now you listen to me, fatty. Fatty? The fattest. I've chased my head off solving a case and getting your big feet... Big feet? Big feet out of trouble. I've gotten shot at, insulted, kicked in the face... Well, those things... I don't want to hear any more of your lame brain excuses. You just fix it up for me and I'm going to go in and drop a few subtle hints to the Commissioner about his nasty old lieutenant. You wouldn't. Oh, but I would. Oh, I try, I try... What did you say? Oh, what am I going to do? What am I going to do? Take the test for me. Fill out the answers yourself. Cheat. Cheat? Cheat! But... but... but... Oh, that's what you always say. Now, what were we talking about? Oh, honey, you were asking me about this little old song. Hmm. Pretty. What is it? Oh, I'll give a listen. Oh, how I miss you tonight. Miss you when lights are low. Oh, how I need you tonight. More than you'll ever know. Each moment though we're apart. You're never out of my heart. But I'd rather be lonely and wait for you only. Oh, pal, how I miss you tonight. Okay? Hmm. Oh, it's very pretty. Shall I? Eh, might as well. Yes? May I please speak to Mr. Diamond? Oh, my goodness. Rick. What? Yes, but look out. Oh, all right. Hello? You passed, Mr. Diamond. Ninety-nine out of a hundred. Ninety-nine out of a hundred, hmm? Which one did I miss? The last one. I knew you wouldn't care, so I let Otis fill it in for you. No. Yes. The commissioner wants to see you tomorrow morning. Why? What was the question? To what department does the cleanup squad belong? Well, what did Otis write for an answer? The Department of Sanitation. Tomorrow at eleven, Rick. Aue Revoir. You have just heard Richard Diamond, Private Detective, starring Dick Powell. Ed Begley played Lieutenant Walt Levinson. Also in the cast were Wilms Herbert, Francis Robinson, Don Diamond, Anne Morrison, and Paul Dubov. Music was under the direction of Frank Worth. Today's show was written by Blake Edwards and directed by Russell Hughes. Dick Powell currently may be seen in the motion picture version of the best-selling novel, Mrs. Mike. This is Eddie King inviting you to be with us next Sunday at this same time, when we will again bring you Dick Powell as Richard Diamond, Private Detective. Music What's on NBC Today? One of the finest programs in NBC's Sunday lineup of stellar entertainment is Theater Guild on the Air. Later today, be sure to hear Richard Widmark and Teresa Wright in the romantic comedy, There's Always Juliet. That's Richard Widmark and Teresa Wright on Theater Guild on the Air, today on this NBC station. Next, hear James Melton and Harvest of Stars on NBC. Music
