This story is about a con job, but when it's over, some of the sting is taken out of the con when the ultimate victim is finally identified. Up until then, it looked like poor old Hubert Wilkens (Ernest Truex) had his hands full with a wife (Sharon Farrell) who just couldn't be pleased no matter how hard he tried. Even a rare black Pinctada pearl couldn't bring a smile to her face because it wasn't part of a matching set. So when Wilkens makes a 'money is no object' offer to jeweler Laurent Dubois (Émile Genest), the shop owner goes all out to procure a second black pearl from the boating captain who sold him the first one.
It's only with a modicum of irony that the story ends, because if you've watched enough Hitchcock episodes, your guard will be up for what happens next. The first hint is the age disparity between Hubert and his 'wife'. The second is the rapid bidding up of what Dubois becomes willing to pay Captain McCabe for the second pearl. In a delicious sting, Wilkens and his 'team' put one over on the greedy Dubois to the tune of twelve thousand plus dollars. Not bad for a day's work.
It's only with a modicum of irony that the story ends, because if you've watched enough Hitchcock episodes, your guard will be up for what happens next. The first hint is the age disparity between Hubert and his 'wife'. The second is the rapid bidding up of what Dubois becomes willing to pay Captain McCabe for the second pearl. In a delicious sting, Wilkens and his 'team' put one over on the greedy Dubois to the tune of twelve thousand plus dollars. Not bad for a day's work.