- Ed Davenport, on his deathbed, accuses his wife of poisoning him, then he expires. When Tragg arrives to investigate, the corpse has vanished, only to be found later, buried in a slit trench several miles away.
- P.I. Jason Beckmeyer awaits the arrival of Ed Davenport at a testing lab. When he arrives the technician reports that the sandwiches Davenport provided were loaded with arsenic which Davenport claims his wife made. He returns home where he confronts his wife Myrna and her cousin Louise Ansel with the news saying he suspects Myrna poisoned her uncle. He has left a letter outlining the details at his real estate office in case of his death. Myrna has packed his bags for a trip including a package of chocolates for an preplanned trip by Davenport. Later Louise takes a call from a doctor saying Davenport is very sick at a motel from apparent poisoning. Louise doesn't tell Myrna the truth as she convinces Myrna to see an attorney about the charges made by Davenport. At Perry's office he tells them he can't do anything about the letter unless Davenport is dead but he is concerned about it. Louise then tells about the call so her and Myrna go to the motel. Davenport dies while they are there but when the police arrive the body is gone. Even Louise turns on Myrna when Davenport's body is finally found.—Anonymous
- Private detective Jason Beckmeyer (Adam Williams) awaits the arrival of Ed Davenport (John Stephenson) at Pacific Labs, where Dr. Mitchell (Robin Morse) works. When Ed arrives, Mitchell reports on the sandwiches Ed provided, saying that his wife made them. They were loaded with arsenic. He returns home, where he confronts his wife Myrna (June Dayton) and her cousin Louise Ansel (Sarah Selby) with the news, and adds that he suspects Myrna poisoned her Uncle Charlie.. He's leaving on a business trip to Bakerstown, and Myrna has packed his bags, including a package of chocolates. However, he has left a letter with the poisoning accusations at his real estate office to be read in case of his death. If he dies, Myrna will soon follow him, via the gas chamber!
After driving about an hour, Ed pulls into the Vista Motel. He seems very tired or weak. At 11:30, he calls the motel office from his bed, saying he's sick. Dr. Renault (James Maloney) lives around the corner, so he arrives quickly. After putting Ed under an oxygen tent, he tries to call Myrna. Louise takes the call but doesn't mention it to Myrna. Her priority is to convince her cousin to see an attorney about Ed's charges. At Perry's office, Myrna and Louise provide a key to Ed's office, plus a letter of authorization for him to retrieve the letter. Perry says the letter could be very damaging, particularly since Myrna got a large inheritance from Uncle Charlie, whom she's accused of having poisoned. However, he can't touch the letter while Ed is alive. Louise finally reveals Ed's current lstate of health. When she and Myrna go to the motel, Ed accuses Myrna of poisoning the chocolates, then begins gasping. Dr. Renault checks the oxygen tent, gives Ed a shot, then examines him. He pulls the bed sheet over Ed's head and tells Myrna "I'm sorry." Then he goes to call the police. Louise says they should call Perry and have him retrieve the letter before it's too late.
At Ed's office, Perry and Della find an envelope addressed to the police in the event of his death, plus a withdrawal slip for $17,300 from Ed's checking account, written in a feminine hand. Meanwhile, Rita Norge (Rebecca Welles), Ed's secretary, arrives outside the office, notices Perry's car, peeks inside, sees him, and leaves. Della answers the phone, thinking Myrna might be calling, but hears only "Unit 13. Desert Motel. Bakerstown." Perry tells Della to have Paul go there immediately. They steam open the envelope, but it contains nothing but blank pages - no invisible ink either. They reseal it.
When Lt. Tragg arrives at the Vista Motel, all are shocked to discover that Ed's body is gone. At the real estate office, Rita has returned with a police officer (Keith Alan). Perry shows his letter of authorization, and the policeman takes possession of the envelope. Perry gets a call from Myrna, who says it appears that Ed was only unconscious, as he's gone off and hasn't been found. When Paul goes to the Desert Motel, he finds reason to believe that Ed reserved Unit 13 under the name John Stokes.
Perry is reporting this to Myrna at home when Tragg arrives to question her about Uncle Charlie's death. He's already been exhumed, and the coroner reports he dies of arsenic poisoning. There's arsenic plant spray at the house, and Ed's candy was full of the stuff. Louise exclaims that Myrna bought the candy and also had vetoed Louise's idea that they hire a nurse for Uncle Charlie. She tells Tragg about the lab report Ed had obtained, and ends by accusing Myrna of two murders. Tragg says "Burger's going to love this case. With a witness like this, how can he lose?"
In Burger's office, the two attorney's argue about the opened envelope and whether Ed is dead. Tragg calls to report that the body has been found again. Two boys came upon an open grave a couple days earlier, and when they later saw it filled in, they dug for a bit until they found a corpse. The coroner reports it contains arsenic. Burger offers no death penalty in exchange for a guilty plea, but Perry rejects the idea since it wouldn't apply to the charge of murdering Uncle Charlie. Burger says they'll see how Perry's destruction of vital evidence will sit with a jury.
Paul tells Della that Beckmeyer, Ed's private eye, has been watching Unit 13 at the Desert Motel. Della gets a call from Gertie the receptionist that Beckmeyer himself is in the outer office. He tells Della he'd like to get paid for his latest work for Ed. He thinks he's spotted the mysterious John Stokes, but his description matches Paul. A call comes in from a Drake Detective Agency operative who was tailing Rita. She's back at the real estate office, in violation of Tragg's orders for everyone to stay away. Perry and Paul find her there, throwing out papers. She's hostile, but does mention that Ed sold all his investments a few months ago. She won't answer questions about the $17,300, and when Perry says he wants to protect Myrna's property, Rita replies that she's sure Myrna will get everything she deserves.
Perry goes to Tragg to report his suspicions about Rita. The lieutenant, who tends to smirk when things aren't gong well for Perry, is practically beaming as he pulls out a copy of the receipt he gave Rita when she turned over the $17,300. In court, Deputy Coroner Hoxie (Michael Fox) testifies that Ed died of heart failure caused by arsenic he had ingested. He had eaten about an hour before death, and candy in the room tested positive for arsenic. On cross, Dr. Hoxie testifies that Ed had a .15% blood alcohol level - "the beginning of intoxication". (This was 1957.) He says that he found Ed had eaten bacon and eggs - not chocolate. Dr. Renault testifies that Ed told him he'd eaten poisoned chocolates from Myrna, so he pumped Ed's stomach. That explains why Dr. Hoxie found no chocolate in the body, but not how the bacon and eggs got there. Renault declared Ed to have died at 5:15 PM.
Perry and Della visit the site where the boys had found first an empty grave then a couple days later a filled-in one with a corpse. He wants to figure out why the grave was dug in advance. Also, where did Ed get eggs, bacon, and an alcoholic beverage an hour before he died? He wouldn't have walked into a diner in his pajamas. They search for clues, and a jackrabbit draws Della's attention to an area where a car and trailer had been parked for a long time.
Back on the stand, Dr. Renault admits he may have met Ed prior to encountering him at the Vista Motel. When pressed for details, he claims doctor-patient privilege. Perry makes him admit that he just has a diploma mill degree in "Health Medicine". When Perry asks him if he conspired with Ed to fake the latter's death, Renault pleads the Fifth. Beckmeyer testifies that one of his jobs for Ed was to find a quack who lived near a motor court. He set up a meeting of Ed and Renault one week before the death. He admits that he opened up several bank accounts into which Ed siphoned money. Perry gets him to admit he owns a trailer, and that Ed might have been in it at some point. Perry accuses him of having given Ed the bacon and eggs and poisoned wine there, having already dug Ed's grave. Beckmeyer starts to deny it, but Perry produces a receipt that shows he bought a shovel the same day the grave had been dug. The private eye confesses that Ed kept bragging about his perfect plan to disappear with Myrna's money, framing her. Beckmeyer figured he could make the plan more perfect with a couple additions, but now realizes he was wrong.
In the office, Della is trying unsuccessfully to hang a painting. Perry says that Beckmeyer had taken $210,000 from the accounts he'd set up. He reveals that the clue that pointed to the culprit was the "Unit 13. Desert Motel. Bakerstown." phone call. It was intended to lure Rita there, and could only have come from Beckmeyer, who wanted that last $17,300. Ed had poisoned Uncle Charlie, so Myrna would inherit a fortune he could steal. He's also the one who left blank pages in the envelope - something that would convince the police there was tampering of evidence.
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