transcript

Speaker 1:
[00:00] Welcome to Choice Classic Radio, where we bring to you the greatest old time radio shows. Like us on Facebook, subscribe to us on YouTube, and thank you for donating at choiceclassicradio.com.

Speaker 2:
[00:14] Wheaties presents Dangerous Assignment. On stage tonight from Hollywood, Dangerous Assignment, another in the Wheaties Big Parade of exciting half-hour presentations. Dangerous Assignment, starring Brian Dunleavy as Steve Mitchell.

Speaker 3:
[00:59] Yeah, Danger is my assignment. I get sent to a lot of places I can't even pronounce. They all spell the same thing, though, trouble. But when I walk into the Commissioner's office, I don't realize that this assignment is gonna involve my trying to hide three divisions of troops behind an empty water glass.

Speaker 4:
[01:24] Well, here he is, Commissioner.

Speaker 5:
[01:26] I found him right in the middle of a big deal, as usual.

Speaker 2:
[01:28] Hello, Steve.

Speaker 3:
[01:29] Commissioner.

Speaker 2:
[01:29] I hope it was a square deal.

Speaker 4:
[01:31] She didn't look square to me.

Speaker 2:
[01:32] What have you told him so far, Ruth? Only that you wanted him to go looking for a woman. I figured that was the best bait I could do.

Speaker 3:
[01:38] Well, don't tell me it isn't true.

Speaker 2:
[01:39] No, it's true, all right, but I'm afraid your association with this particular woman won't be a very pleasant one.

Speaker 3:
[01:44] I might have known.

Speaker 4:
[01:45] I have your passport and credentials ready when the Commissioner's true with you, Steve.

Speaker 3:
[01:48] Okay, Ruth. Well, what's the deal, Commissioner?

Speaker 2:
[01:52] Vienna.

Speaker 3:
[01:52] Vienna? Long time since I've danced the Strauss Waltz.

Speaker 2:
[01:56] You can leave your ballet slippers home, Steve. Here's the setup. With the situation what it is, we have to increase our arm strength on all fronts. Naturally, our consulates are kept informed as to proposed increases of strength in their respective areas.

Speaker 3:
[02:08] So?

Speaker 2:
[02:08] So, two days ago, a document containing information regarding troop movements in Europe was stolen from our consulate in Vienna. The troops have already embarked, and with these unidentified subs around, we can't take chances.

Speaker 3:
[02:21] Any idea who swiped the document?

Speaker 2:
[02:23] Yes, a janitor named Joseph Bildner.

Speaker 3:
[02:25] Well, that doesn't sound so tough. Find Bildner.

Speaker 2:
[02:27] We've already found Bildner in an alley in Vienna last night, murdered.

Speaker 3:
[02:31] I see. Well, that sort of puts a new light on things.

Speaker 2:
[02:33] The document wasn't on his person. Just before he died, he mumbled the name Eva Loesch.

Speaker 3:
[02:39] Eva Loesch? Hey, that name rings a bell.

Speaker 2:
[02:40] A siren, you should say. But I haven't time to go into her background now to fill a book.

Speaker 6:
[02:45] Manville Olsen can tell you all about her.

Speaker 3:
[02:47] Who's Olsen?

Speaker 2:
[02:48] He's with the consulate in Vienna. You'll arrive there early tomorrow evening. Go to the Imperial Bar at 8 o'clock. Olsen will be waiting for you.

Speaker 3:
[02:54] Why meet in the bar? Not that I have any objection.

Speaker 2:
[02:56] Now, this investigation has to be kept undercover, particularly the part about Eva Loesch. Olsen will tell you why. Now, Steve, get over there. Talk to Olsen, find Eva Loesch, and most important, get those documents back.

Speaker 7:
[03:10] Well, that's it.

Speaker 2:
[03:11] You've got your assignment. Good luck. Dangerous Assignment will continue in a moment. Now here is the Wheaties Man, Frank Martin. Ever think of this? You wait longer for breakfast than for any other meal of the day. From the time you go to bed until you eat breakfast, is the longest period there is between two meals. So breakfast has to be good, to do the most good for you, at a time when you really need food. Which is why I say start breakfast with Wheaties and milk and fruit. It's a pleasant way to get protein, vitamins and minerals, and just plain whole wheat energy, in a hurry without a lot of fuss. Wheaties supply energy when you need energy, because there's a whole kernel of wheat in every Wheaties' flake. Yes, a whole kernel of wheat in every Wheaties' flake. Sure, breakfast of champions. See for yourself. Have some. See how Wheaties at 7 can help at 11.

Speaker 3:
[04:32] Yeah, I've got my assignment. Find the girl named Eva Loesch and get a stolen document from her. Ordinarily, there's nothing I like better than to Cherche La Femme. But from what the commissioner has told me, I've got an uneasy feeling that this is gonna be all Cherche and no Femme. Well, it's Friday evening when I get to Vienna. I check in at the hotel and then head for the Imperial Bar. Over at the corner table, a guy gives me the nod. I head over there.

Speaker 2:
[04:58] You're Mitchell, aren't you?

Speaker 3:
[05:00] Yeah. Olsen? That's right.

Speaker 7:
[05:02] Have a seat.

Speaker 3:
[05:03] Thanks. Look, the commissioner back in the States told me that you could give me the background on this Eva Loesch.

Speaker 2:
[05:10] Well, I can tell you all we know over here at the consulate, which isn't enough. Eva Loesch was a red hot Nazi.

Speaker 7:
[05:17] She was killed in the Berlin Blitz.

Speaker 3:
[05:19] What?

Speaker 2:
[05:19] We thought.

Speaker 7:
[05:21] Now it looks as she's been very much alive and in hiding all this time, and worse yet, it looks like she's up to her old tricks.

Speaker 3:
[05:27] You mean a new Nazi party?

Speaker 2:
[05:29] No.

Speaker 7:
[05:30] You know, some of these ex-Nazis have a habit of selling out to the highest bidder.

Speaker 3:
[05:34] I get it. Now, according to what the commissioner told me, this document concerning our troop movements was stolen from your consulate by a janitor named Bildner. He was found murdered in an alley and mumbled Eva Loesch's name just before he died.

Speaker 2:
[05:47] That's right. We believe Eva killed him and has the documents. But, of course, we kept all that on the cover. We don't want Eva to know we know she's alive. Here.

Speaker 7:
[05:57] This ad I spotted in the afternoon paper.

Speaker 3:
[06:00] Take a look at it. Will the cab driver who picked up a woman passenger at the plaza last Tuesday night at 8.30 please come to 37 Burgess Thrust? Hey, Tuesday night. That was the night that Bildner was murdered, wasn't it?

Speaker 7:
[06:15] Yes. In an alley about half a block from the plaza.

Speaker 3:
[06:18] This could tie in all right. 37 Burgess Thrust, huh? Okay. I think I'll answer that, Ed Olsen. I'll check with you later.

Speaker 4:
[06:38] Yes?

Speaker 3:
[06:39] Are you the one who put that advertisement in the paper this afternoon?

Speaker 4:
[06:43] Come in. Yes, I'm the one. Why?

Speaker 3:
[06:48] Freuline.

Speaker 4:
[06:49] Frau Denise Menescu. Who are you?

Speaker 3:
[06:52] I'm the cab driver you're looking for.

Speaker 4:
[06:55] Oh? Describe this woman you picked up.

Speaker 3:
[07:00] Well, she's about medium build, dark hair.

Speaker 4:
[07:05] You're lying. I do not know who you are, but you are not a cab driver.

Speaker 3:
[07:09] Now, look.

Speaker 7:
[07:13] Yes?

Speaker 5:
[07:13] You are the one who puts the notice in the paper.

Speaker 3:
[07:15] Oh, great.

Speaker 7:
[07:16] Why, yes.

Speaker 5:
[07:17] I would like to talk to you, please.

Speaker 4:
[07:18] Just a minute.

Speaker 5:
[07:19] I am the cab driver in question. Who is this man?

Speaker 3:
[07:23] This man is about to leave.

Speaker 5:
[07:25] No, I do not think so.

Speaker 3:
[07:27] Oh, well, come to think of it, you may be right. How come the gun buster?

Speaker 5:
[07:31] You will stay right here, boss, of you.

Speaker 4:
[07:32] You are not cab drivers, either of you.

Speaker 5:
[07:34] In my case, you are quite right. As for this other man, I do not know who he is. I will find that out presently.

Speaker 3:
[07:41] Well, as long as you're going to play guessing games, maybe you wouldn't mind if I start guessing who you are.

Speaker 5:
[07:45] You do not have to guess, my friend, I will tell you. I am Lieutenant Oscar Seagal of the police.

Speaker 4:
[07:50] The police?

Speaker 3:
[07:50] Well, that takes a load off my mind.

Speaker 5:
[07:52] Does it?

Speaker 3:
[07:53] Yeah, but I can't say as much for Frau Manescu here. She seems to be real upset at the news.

Speaker 5:
[07:58] Frau Manescu?

Speaker 3:
[07:59] The name seems to mean something to you, Lieutenant.

Speaker 5:
[08:02] You are not by any chance related to George Manescu.

Speaker 4:
[08:06] Yes, I am his wife.

Speaker 5:
[08:09] But this is completely mystifying. Why would the wife of George Manescu be implicated in such an unsavoury affair as this?

Speaker 3:
[08:16] Somebody mind telling me who George Manescu is?

Speaker 5:
[08:19] What is your interest in this matter?

Speaker 3:
[08:21] Maybe these credentials will answer that question, Lieutenant.

Speaker 5:
[08:28] Yeah, I see. They have indeed answered that question, Herr Mitchell.

Speaker 3:
[08:32] Now, how about filling me in on this George Manescu?

Speaker 5:
[08:36] Oh, a local politician of high character who has worked in close cooperation with your government here.

Speaker 3:
[08:41] I see. Well, in that case, Frau Manescu...

Speaker 4:
[08:44] There is no use holding back anything more. I did not want the police brought into this. But, well, here you are.

Speaker 5:
[08:53] Here I am, indeed. I must strongly impress upon you the wisdom of making a full explanation at this time.

Speaker 4:
[09:00] Yes. But you see, Ibaloš is my sister. What? I believed, as did the rest of the world, that she was dead. I believed that until Tuesday night, when she came here to see me.

Speaker 3:
[09:14] What did she want?

Speaker 4:
[09:15] She said she was in trouble and wanted to hide here. I refused. And then she said I must help her.

Speaker 5:
[09:23] In what way?

Speaker 4:
[09:23] She said that a man was killed, but that she did not do it. That there was a cab driver who could clear her. She could only find him.

Speaker 3:
[09:32] So you ran that ad in the paper?

Speaker 4:
[09:36] I didn't know what else to do. I couldn't go to the police. I know what damage would be done to my husband's reputation if it were learned that the notorious evil Loesch was his wife's sister. So I ran the advertisement, hoping it would help clear her. And then if their relationship would be revealed later, at least it would be not quite so bad for my husband.

Speaker 3:
[10:00] I see. Well, that all leads us up to the big question. Where is Eva?

Speaker 4:
[10:04] I do not know.

Speaker 5:
[10:05] From Manaskew, it is my duty to warn you that withholding information...

Speaker 4:
[10:08] I'm telling you the truth. I swear it. I've no idea where Eva is hiding. She said that she would contact me in a few days, but I've not heard from her.

Speaker 3:
[10:18] Look, sisterly love is a wonderful thing, but I hope that you realize unless we locate Eva in a hurry, there's going to be a lot more damage done than just to your husband's reputation.

Speaker 4:
[10:27] Sisterly love? You think that is what I feel for Eva? As far back as I can remember, we've hated each other. My only regret is that she was not killed in Berlin.

Speaker 5:
[10:36] Then we have your promise that you will communicate with us at once if she contacts you again.

Speaker 4:
[10:40] Yes, yes, at once. And rest assured, gentlemen, it will be a happy day for me when I can turn my dear sister over to you.

Speaker 7:
[11:00] Well, that sounds like quite a surprise party you ran into last night, Mitchell.

Speaker 3:
[11:03] Yeah, it was, Olsen. And of course, the biggest surprise was finding out that Mrs. Mineski was Eva Losha's sister. Incidentally, what information have you got on the Mineskis?

Speaker 7:
[11:11] Well, he seems to be our white hope in local politics around here right now. He's very pro-United States. To the background, George and his wife Denise apparently were anti-Nazi right from the start, which must have made it a little tough on them in Germany.

Speaker 3:
[11:23] Yeah, I can imagine.

Speaker 7:
[11:24] I believe they were married just before the fall of Berlin and managed to get out of the country. Would you like to meet George Molescu Mitchell?

Speaker 3:
[11:30] Yeah, I would. Can you arrange it?

Speaker 7:
[11:31] I'm playing golf with him in an hour. Why don't you come along?

Speaker 3:
[11:34] It's a deal. Let's go. That last shot of yours was a honey, Mr. Menescu. Looks like you're only about two feet from the pin.

Speaker 8:
[11:49] Thank you, Mr. Mishu. But I wish you to know that from now on, I believe nothing you say. Oh? When the three of us started this game, you were full of apologies about your bad goal. We are now approaching the seventh green, and you are three strokes over par.

Speaker 2:
[12:04] Yes, I'm afraid Mitchell makes most of his apologies before he makes his bets.

Speaker 3:
[12:09] You can't blame a guy for trying to get good odds.

Speaker 8:
[12:11] Indeed you cannot. Well, here we are, gentlemen. I must say this is the part of golf I enjoy the most.

Speaker 3:
[12:20] Putting?

Speaker 7:
[12:20] Yes.

Speaker 3:
[12:21] Well, it's the part of the game that pays off.

Speaker 8:
[12:24] Perhaps it is because putting is so helpful to me.

Speaker 7:
[12:27] How so, Maliski?

Speaker 8:
[12:28] Well, I practice it constantly, even when I'm at home. Particularly when I'm thinking about something, putting relaxes me, helps me to see clearly. Mr. Olsen, I believe you are very... your part.

Speaker 7:
[12:40] Oh, sorry. Downhill putt, too.

Speaker 2:
[12:44] That's the kind I don't like.

Speaker 3:
[12:46] Well, in your case, practice sure pays off, Mr. Maliski. Your putting is very sharp.

Speaker 8:
[12:50] Oh, thank you.

Speaker 3:
[12:54] Too bad, Olsen. Rimmed the cup on you, huh?

Speaker 7:
[12:56] Yeah. That gives me a six.

Speaker 3:
[12:59] Well, looks like I'm next. Little break to the right, it looks like.

Speaker 8:
[13:04] Not quite as much as it looks.

Speaker 3:
[13:06] Thanks for the tip. Nice putt. I had good advice.

Speaker 8:
[13:11] Maybe you can return it sometime.

Speaker 3:
[13:12] Be glad to, except I don't think you'll need any on this putt of yours. Can't be more than two feet.

Speaker 8:
[13:17] No, I need this for my part.

Speaker 7:
[13:20] This is a lot more pleasant way to spend time than roosting behind a desk.

Speaker 3:
[13:24] Yeah, but it isn't helping us find evil loge. Mist, I'm sorry, Mr. Menescu. I didn't realize you were set to putt, or I would have kept still.

Speaker 8:
[13:34] Oh, that's quite all right, Mr. Mitchell. Your voice did not bother me. I don't know what went wrong.

Speaker 3:
[13:40] Well, it looked like you tightened up all of a sudden.

Speaker 8:
[13:42] Yes, yes. Well, it is no matter. Come, the next T is right over there.

Speaker 3:
[13:48] I'm really sorry about that, Menescu.

Speaker 8:
[13:50] Oh, but I assure you, I was not even aware you were talking, Mitchell. For the life of me, I can't understand why I should miss a two-foot purge. But that is what makes the game of golf so unpredictable, I suppose.

Speaker 7:
[14:03] I think they call it the human element.

Speaker 3:
[14:05] Yeah, I think they do.

Speaker 7:
[14:07] Yeah, let's see. I believe you're still up, Menescu.

Speaker 3:
[14:10] Oh, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 7:
[14:13] You know, Steve, it seems to me that you raised your voice a little when you mentioned the name Ivaloche.

Speaker 3:
[14:17] Did I? Wait, we mustn't rattle Menescu anymore. He's ready to drive.

Speaker 8:
[14:23] Oh, miserable.

Speaker 3:
[14:25] Quite a slice.

Speaker 8:
[14:26] I must have cut across the wall. Gentlemen, I hate to say this, but I seem to have a headache. I wonder if perhaps you would excuse me from continuing with our match.

Speaker 3:
[14:36] Sure, matter of fact, I've had enough. How about you, Olsen?

Speaker 7:
[14:38] Sure, anytime. We can cut back towards the clubhouse through this grove of trees.

Speaker 8:
[14:43] Please, please, I don't want to spoil your game. Why don't the two of you continue?

Speaker 3:
[14:47] No, no, it seems to be getting a little too warm for comfort anyway. Olsen!

Speaker 8:
[14:52] Mitchell, he's been shot right through the head.

Speaker 3:
[14:55] Quick, Mneskiv, let's get into that grove of trees. I think it will be a little safer there.

Speaker 8:
[15:00] But where did the shot come from?

Speaker 3:
[15:02] Who knows? Here, in here. It was from a rifle, which means the sniper could be behind a hundred different trees and bushes on the golf course.

Speaker 8:
[15:10] But I do not understand why anyone would want to kill Olsen. He had no enemies.

Speaker 3:
[15:14] That's what I was thinking, Mneskiv, and it gives rise to a few assorted interesting thoughts.

Speaker 8:
[15:18] What do you mean?

Speaker 3:
[15:19] Maybe that bullet was meant for somebody else.

Speaker 8:
[15:21] Somebody else? You mean yourself?

Speaker 3:
[15:24] Yeah, maybe me, or maybe you, Mneskiv.

Speaker 2:
[15:37] Steve Mitchell will continue his Dangerous Assignment in just a moment. Folks, I'd like to have you meet a good friend of mine and a prominent member of a fine little organization known as the Chicago White Sox, Mr. Lucius Benjamin Atwood. Ooh, Ed, don't say it like that. Whoever heard of a ball player named Lucius? What if I went around calling you Paul Edward Printed?

Speaker 6:
[15:57] Let's just make it Ed and Luke, huh?

Speaker 3:
[15:59] All right, Luke, say just how long have you been with the White Sox?

Speaker 2:
[16:02] Over 20 years, Ed. Golly, I played in darn near 2,500 games. Been at bat almost 9,000 times, man. I'm from way back. Well, Luke, you don't look it. How do you keep up the pace anyway?

Speaker 5:
[16:13] Well, Ed, I sleep good.

Speaker 2:
[16:15] I eat good. I eat mighty good. Wheat is about four mornings a week. Those little old flakes put a lot of snap, even in an old time like me.

Speaker 6:
[16:23] Must be because they're 100 percent whole wheat.

Speaker 2:
[16:26] I sure like Wheaties and milk and fruit. You know, Luke, that's exactly what I hear from a lot of ball players and plenty of other people, too. No wonder they call Wheaties the Breakfast of Champions. Thank you, Ed Prentice and Luke Apling. And as for a Breakfast of Champions, friends, sure, they're for men who go to bat for a living, but confidentially, they're for us, too, you and me. We need whole wheat energy same as the champions who play ball for their paychecks. Don't forget your own Breakfast of Champions. Wheaties, get yours. Now back to Dangerous Assignment and Steve Mitchell.

Speaker 5:
[17:15] Ah, Mitchell, I have been expecting you.

Speaker 3:
[17:17] You uncovered anything new, Lieutenant Siegel?

Speaker 5:
[17:19] Indeed I have. You told me that when you mentioned the name Eva Loesch on the golf course earlier today, Maneskew reacted visibly.

Speaker 3:
[17:25] That's right, I dangle a little bait under his nose, and he snapped at it like an undernourished barracuda. Of course, to be fair to the guy, he probably knows that his wife is Eva's sister. It could have been that.

Speaker 5:
[17:35] I am positive it was much more than that. I have done a considerable amount of investigation into Maneskew's background, and I am sure it will be of interest to you to learn that in the old Nazi days in Germany, Maneskew and Eva Losch were, shall we say, extremely friendly.

Speaker 3:
[17:50] Oh, yeah, well, that kind of puts a different light on things.

Speaker 5:
[17:53] Yeah, indeed it does. After Eva's death, Maneskew married her sister, Denise, and made his escape from Germany with her.

Speaker 3:
[18:00] And now Eva's popped up again. You know, that gives rise to an interesting possibility.

Speaker 5:
[18:04] Yeah, it's the possibility that Maneskew has been seeing Eva again and knows where she is.

Speaker 3:
[18:10] Which means he either has those documents or knows where they are. Well, I've got to hand it to him for the big act he's been putting on about being such a friend of the United States.

Speaker 5:
[18:18] If our suspicions of Maneskew are correct, one cannot help feeling sorry for his wife, though.

Speaker 3:
[18:23] Yeah, it must be a pretty rough spot for Denise if she has any idea what's going on.

Speaker 5:
[18:28] Oh, excuse me, please. Lieutenant Segal speaking.

Speaker 4:
[18:31] May I speak to Mr. Mitchell?

Speaker 5:
[18:34] Yeah, one moment, please. It's for you, Mitchell. The lady in question.

Speaker 2:
[18:39] Oh, hello?

Speaker 4:
[18:41] This is Denise Minesquieu, Mr. Mitchell. Something has come up. I must see you at once.

Speaker 3:
[18:46] Okay, I'll be there in about 15 minutes. Well, it could be that Denise is starting to smell a rat, Lieutenant. I'd better get over there and see if it's the same rat. I think it is. So, I head to the Minesquieu's house. Minesquieu with a preoccupied look and a putter in his hand lets me in the front door. Then, he disappears into a study. Denise is waiting for me in the living room.

Speaker 4:
[19:10] Thank you very much for coming, Mr. Minesquieu.

Speaker 3:
[19:12] Oh, sure. You said something had come up, Denise.

Speaker 4:
[19:15] Yes. First, let me ask you, did you say anything to my husband when he let you in the front door?

Speaker 3:
[19:20] No. He looked like he was in another world.

Speaker 4:
[19:23] Yes. He seems to be worried about something. I'm afraid I know what it is.

Speaker 3:
[19:27] You think maybe he's been seeing evil Osh lately?

Speaker 4:
[19:30] Yes. I think he has.

Speaker 3:
[19:31] I'm sorry.

Speaker 4:
[19:32] I'm sorry, too. When my sister died, I thought that part of his life was over. It is not a very pleasant thing to realize that you have been married on the rebound, Mr. Mitchell. I told you that...

Speaker 3:
[19:48] What's the matter?

Speaker 4:
[19:49] Steve. There is someone on the roof of the house next door.

Speaker 3:
[19:52] What?

Speaker 4:
[19:52] Wait. Whoever it was saw me watching and disappeared.

Speaker 3:
[19:55] Come on.

Speaker 4:
[19:56] Here. We can go out through these French doors.

Speaker 3:
[20:01] Now we're in sight. Did you recognize him?

Speaker 4:
[20:03] All I could see was a trench coat, a slouched hat and a gun.

Speaker 3:
[20:07] Look, you stay here. I'll circle around this house and try to climb up and nab him. I circle around the house next door and I spot some vines running up the wall. I start climbing but ten feet from the ground, I hear a sound that stops me.

Speaker 5:
[20:22] Cold.

Speaker 3:
[20:23] I drop to the ground, run back to Manescu's house. The study window is shattered and in front of it stands Denise staring inside, half the staring hole. Denise, what happened? Denise.

Speaker 5:
[20:33] Too late.

Speaker 8:
[20:34] I tried to warn him.

Speaker 3:
[20:35] Warn who?

Speaker 4:
[20:37] Look, near the window.

Speaker 3:
[20:39] Manescu, on the floor. Tell me what happened, Denise.

Speaker 4:
[20:43] After you went around to the other side of that house, the person came back to the edge of the roof.

Speaker 3:
[20:48] That the door to the study?

Speaker 4:
[20:49] Yes.

Speaker 3:
[20:50] Come on.

Speaker 4:
[20:51] Suddenly, I knew what was going to happen. I started running to the study window to warn my husband, but then the shot...

Speaker 3:
[20:58] Here we are.

Speaker 4:
[21:02] George.

Speaker 7:
[21:03] George.

Speaker 3:
[21:05] Bullet entered the top of his head. Must have come from the roof all right. Wait a minute. What's that water glass doing on the floor?

Speaker 4:
[21:12] I don't know.

Speaker 3:
[21:14] He must have knocked it over as he fell. Well, the man who shot him is probably a few blocks away by now.

Speaker 4:
[21:19] Steve. Steve, I do not think it was a man.

Speaker 3:
[21:22] What do you mean? You told me before the shot that he was wearing a trench coat and a slouch hat.

Speaker 4:
[21:26] Yes, but just before the shot, I got a quick look at the face.

Speaker 3:
[21:30] A woman?

Speaker 4:
[21:31] I think it was my sister Eva.

Speaker 5:
[21:48] A most perplexing case, Mitchell. First, the janitor Joseph Bieldner murdered. Second, the American Olsen murdered. Third, George Manescue murdered.

Speaker 3:
[21:58] But at least we know who's behind it all, Eva Loesch. So the big problem is finding her in those documents, Lieutenant. You know, there's one thing I don't get. Why is Eva hanging around town if she already has those documents?

Speaker 5:
[22:10] Mitchell, have you considered the possibility that Manescue might have been shot by his wife, Denise?

Speaker 3:
[22:16] Sure, I've considered it. She had a motive, too. She knew her husband had been seeing Eva, but there's just one little item that sort of knocks that theory into a cocked hat.

Speaker 5:
[22:24] Yeah, unfortunately, you are right. You are referring, of course, to the angle at which the bullet entered Manescue's head.

Speaker 3:
[22:30] Yeah, from the top of his head down.

Speaker 5:
[22:32] Which would indicate that the bullet was fired from some distance above him. That his wife was out on the terrace at the time, slowly below him. As a matter of fact, below.

Speaker 3:
[22:41] All of which brings us back to our friend Eva.

Speaker 6:
[22:43] Excuse me, please, are you Lieutenant Segal of the police?

Speaker 5:
[22:47] Yeah.

Speaker 6:
[22:48] Then perhaps you would be good enough to tell me what this is all about.

Speaker 5:
[22:51] Perhaps you would be good enough to tell me your name and what what is all about.

Speaker 6:
[22:54] Excuse me. I'm Anton. I drive taxi cab.

Speaker 5:
[22:57] So?

Speaker 6:
[22:57] So today in newspaper stands an advertisement.

Speaker 3:
[23:00] Wait a minute. You mean the one about the cab driver who picked up a woman at the plaza last Tuesday night?

Speaker 6:
[23:05] Yeah, you put it in?

Speaker 3:
[23:06] No, no. Go on.

Speaker 6:
[23:07] I answer the ad. I go to the address. There is a policeman there, and over in one corner a woman sitting with her head in her hands, crying.

Speaker 3:
[23:15] That would be Denise.

Speaker 6:
[23:16] So I tell the policeman that I picked up a woman last Tuesday night.

Speaker 5:
[23:20] Probably Eva Lohse.

Speaker 6:
[23:21] I did not know her name. I picked her up at the plaza, and she stayed in my cab only two blocks. She kept looking back over her shoulder, and then she made me pull over to the curb and got out. All this I tell the policeman. He takes down my address and tells me to come over here to the Imperial Bar and report to you.

Speaker 5:
[23:38] Very well, thank you for your information. You may go now.

Speaker 6:
[23:42] Go, he says. Still nobody tells me what this is all about.

Speaker 3:
[23:46] Well, that was a big bunch of nothing.

Speaker 5:
[23:49] Mitchell, this case is giving me a headache. Murders, stolen documents, political intrigue. And every time we think we have a fresh lead, it disappears into thin air. Poof!

Speaker 3:
[24:01] Hey, hey, watch it.

Speaker 5:
[24:03] Yeah, it would appear my gestures are a little too much. Wait a...

Speaker 3:
[24:06] Hey, wait a minute.

Speaker 5:
[24:07] What's the matter?

Speaker 3:
[24:08] Look, Siegel, you knocked the glass off the table just now and it broke.

Speaker 5:
[24:12] This is not a very profound observation, Mitchell.

Speaker 3:
[24:15] I found a glass lying on its side in Minescu's study after he got shot, and that glass wasn't broken. Yet the table there is about the same height as the table here.

Speaker 5:
[24:23] What are you getting at?

Speaker 3:
[24:24] Minescu's glass wasn't knocked off the table, it was placed on the floor.

Speaker 5:
[24:27] So?

Speaker 3:
[24:28] So we've been a couple of prize jug heads.

Speaker 5:
[24:30] I still do not understand what...

Speaker 3:
[24:32] The whole thing has just fallen into place, Lieutenant. There's just one big thing wrong right now.

Speaker 5:
[24:36] What do you mean?

Speaker 3:
[24:37] I mean, we could be just about five minutes too late.

Speaker 5:
[24:50] Mitchell, there's the cab driver's house just ahead.

Speaker 3:
[24:53] Okay, let's stop here, Lieutenant. We'll circle around to the back of the house. He probably keeps his cab there.

Speaker 5:
[24:59] Mitchell, I still do not understand why this taxi cab is suddenly so important to us.

Speaker 3:
[25:04] Look, remember what that cab driver said? When he picked up Eva after she'd killed that janitor, she only stayed in his cab a few minutes, then got out.

Speaker 5:
[25:10] Yeah, yeah, she hid the documents there. That is why she had Denise put that ad in the paper. She wanted to find that taxi cab driver.

Speaker 3:
[25:17] That's right, wait. Yeah, there's the cab in that little lean-to back of the house. Okay, let's take it as quiet as we can now.

Speaker 5:
[25:27] Mitchell, a flashlight. Somebody sees that cab.

Speaker 3:
[25:30] Yeah, that doesn't really surprise me. Come on. Found those documents yet?

Speaker 5:
[25:36] Denise Manes, you.

Speaker 3:
[25:37] No, Eva Loesch, Lieutenant. It's one and the same person.

Speaker 5:
[25:40] What?

Speaker 4:
[25:40] No, that's a lie.

Speaker 3:
[25:42] Save it, Eva. The real Denise got killed in the Berlin Blitz, didn't she? No. Well, you figured it would be a neat scheme if people thought it was you who were killed. You posed as Denise, married Maneskew, and got out of town. Lies! All of them lies! I guess Maneskew was the right guy after all. He probably figured you'd reformed when he found out that you hadn't. You were afraid he'd expose you. You tried for him once on the golf course and got Olsen instead. Then you rigged this little scheme for my benefit at your house this afternoon and killed him.

Speaker 5:
[26:09] Mitchell, watch out.

Speaker 3:
[26:10] I see the gun. Your aim isn't as hot as it was, Eva. Drop it. That's better. And thanks for giving us the one piece of evidence we needed. This gun of yours. Five will get you ten. We can prove that the slug that killed your husband came from this gun.

Speaker 7:
[26:26] You... I will kill him.

Speaker 3:
[26:28] Temper, temper.

Speaker 5:
[26:30] Mitchell.

Speaker 3:
[26:30] Yeah?

Speaker 5:
[26:31] This is all very nice, but there's one thing that we may have difficulty improving.

Speaker 3:
[26:35] What's that?

Speaker 5:
[26:35] The angle of elevation of the bullet that killed Maneskew. That's right. How could it have been fired by Ava here, who was standing on the ground outside the window? You see...

Speaker 3:
[26:44] That brings us back to the empty water glass which was lying on its side on the floor in Maneskew's study. I should have figured it sooner.

Speaker 5:
[26:50] Figured what?

Speaker 3:
[26:51] Look, when Maneskew let me in the front door, he had a putter in his hand. He'd already told me that he practiced putting at home whenever he had a problem. And along about then, he had a big problem. What to do about either?

Speaker 5:
[27:01] Putting? Yeah.

Speaker 3:
[27:03] How do you go about putting a golf ball, Lieutenant?

Speaker 5:
[27:07] Why, one takes the club in his hand, bends over the ball, and...

Speaker 3:
[27:10] You can stop right there. That's what Maneskew was doing. That's why the bullet ended the top of his head. Right, Eva?

Speaker 4:
[27:16] I have nothing to say.

Speaker 3:
[27:18] You don't have to. You know, you never want to underestimate anybody's golf game, Eva. You probably thought your husband's putting practice was a big joke. Well, maybe you were right. Yeah, I guess you could call it a joke. A real funny one. It'll kill you.

Speaker 2:
[27:44] Well, we certainly enjoyed that assignment, Brian. Your usual Sterling performer.

Speaker 3:
[27:47] Thank you, Frank. I had an extra bowl full of Wheaties this morning. Maybe that held.

Speaker 2:
[27:51] Well, I'm sure it did, Brian. Seriously, you know, Wheaties can make a difference.

Speaker 3:
[27:56] Oh, I agree. Less of a letdown.

Speaker 2:
[27:59] Oh, more of the old up and at them.

Speaker 3:
[28:00] That's right, but I have something to confess, Frank.

Speaker 2:
[28:03] You have what?

Speaker 3:
[28:04] The real reason I eat Wheaties is I like them.

Speaker 2:
[28:08] Well, good for you. Best reason in the world. It's fine, the whole wheat, vitamins and minerals and proteins in Wheaties, but it's just the plain goodness you go for, huh?

Speaker 3:
[28:18] That's right, Frank.

Speaker 2:
[28:18] Ladies and gentlemen, you have heard the words of an honest man. Get your Wheaties tomorrow. Work better all morning for it. But most of all, eat them because you like them. Right, Brian Donnelly?

Speaker 3:
[28:29] Right, Frank. Good night.

Speaker 2:
[28:45] Dangerous Assignment, starring Brian Donlevy as Steve Mitchell, is written by Bob Reif with music by Basil Adlam, conducted by Ralph Hollenbeck, and is produced and directed by Bill Kahn. Join us again next Wednesday when Brian Donlevy as Steve Mitchell embarks on another Dangerous Assignment. And this is The Wheaties Man, Frank Martin, inviting you to listen Thursday, that's tomorrow night, to Sarah Berner in Sarah's Private Caper on The Wheaties Big Parade. See you then. Next, listen for The Falcon on NBC. Steve Mitchell is written by Bob Reif with music by Basil Adlam, conducted by Ralph Hollenbeck, and is produced and directed by