A Singapore rubber company hires China Smith to track down an escaped prisoner who once lead a gang of thieves dealing in stolen rubber. Smith determines that a manager of one of the company's rubber plantations may be involved in the thefts, but when the man is found shot in the back, he must cast his net wider to capture his quarry.
1952
A tin company hires China Smith to negotiate "tribute" with a local bandit leader who has raised his rates for not attacking company trucks eight-fold in recent months. When Smith penetrates the bandits' stronghold and learns that the outlaws have made no such demands. It's up to the beachcomber to discover where the money is disappearing.
1952
The British army hires China Smith to investigate rumors that one of their officers has excepted a hefty bribe from the Singapore underworld. Smith is accused of murder by the colonial forces when the colonel he suspects of accepting the bribe is found murdered and the crooks suspect China of stealing their $40,000 from the dead officer.
Thu, Jan 1, 1953
Smith takes a job for Leora, a new singer at Julio Frontera's night club. She wants her suitcases, left on a yacht she fled. Smith cons Frontera out of a dinner jacket and boards the yacht as a party guest. He's caught by the owner, Endicott,and a mercenary steward named Choy. He escapes without the suitcases, but Choy has agreed to help him if he comes back later that night. There are two betrayals and some waving of guns because the suitcases might contain gold. The show ends with Smith and a tippling piano player called "Cutty" singing a duet about wished-for fortunes--"A Ship with a Golden Keel."
Thu, Jan 15, 1953
Peaceable Smith mugs a sailor. He rifles the man's wallet, then gives it to Inspector Hobson as found property. The inspector tells him a cautionary tale of another Singapore rapscallion, a river pirate who drove Straits Settlement Rubber almost to ruin; the firm survived only because a businessman, Wu Chow, bought into it. But the elusive pirate found it wise to retire from Hobson's jurisdiction--Smith take note! Straits Settlement, though, wants Smith to deal with a new problem. The company needs Wu Chow's vote for "the S and M merger" but he's paralyzed by fear. Smith knows how "The Collector" frightens wealthy Chinese in Singapore, who pay to protect their relatives in Red China. But Wu Chow has no relatives there. Hobson's story of the pirate and his phantom sampan explain the situation. The Collector inadvertently dispenses justice. Hobson proves to be a very good shot.