- A wife awaiting the arrival of her lover is visited by a bizarre meter reader who jams on the gas in her basement and then cons her into letting him shower by faking a malaria attack. What's behind his strange behavior: blackmail, insanity, lust or something else?—David Stevens
- Eva, a suburban housewife, serves breakfast to her fussy, tight-fisted husband George. He announces that he will come home for lunch, even though Eva tries to dissuade him by saying she will be in town shopping. George leaves for work and Eva begins preparing for her day. She is interrupted by a knock at the door and, answering it, is greeted by a man in uniform who claims to be the gas-meter reader. She lets him in, and once downstairs, he loosens a valve on the gas pipe and breaks it open, allowing gas fumes to begin escaping into the basement. He returns upstairs, but Eva smells the gas and tells him to fix the pipe or she will report him to the gas company and have him fired. She says he must hurry because she has friends coming over soon. The man begs her not to report him and has a sudden attack of a chronic fever which he says a hot shower will assuage. Eva reluctantly lets him use the shower, but then finds him lying on her bed, apparently fine, and although she threatens to call the police, he refuses to leave. When her boyfriend shows up for their pre-arranged rendezvous, she quickly sends him away. The gas man then confesses that he has been watching Eva for weeks and has fallen in love with her, and that his jealousy has even led him to fantasize a plan for murdering George and making it look like "death by misadventure". He describes his plan, which involves trapping George in the gas-filled basement with the only air vent blocked and the kitchen door sabotaged, leaving no way of escape, but Eva is disinclined to take him seriously. Then he reveals that he is actually a private detective hired by George, and produces pictures he has taken of Eva and her boyfriend meeting surreptitiously. He tells her that George suspected the affair and needed evidence because he plans to divorce her and leave her penniless. Eva becomes furious and begins smashing George's prized china. The detective tells Eva that his name is Henry and although he is not wealthy like George, he could make her happy. She begins to return his affections, and convinces him that they should implement his murder scheme for real, so they can be together and have George's money too. Eva goes out to wait in the garden shed when George is due home for lunch, while Henry stays inside the house to make sure the "accident" goes according to plan. However when George arrives, the real truth of Henry's identity and motives is shown to be quite different from what he has told Eva, and it turns out that he has not been entirely honest about his murder scheme either.
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