Crime and Peter Chambers.
By Henry Kane transcribed and starring Dane Clark.
Private investigator, duly licensed and duly sworn, Peter Chambers.
You're a private eye. That's your business.
Anything else? That's for laughs.
It's a lazy summer's afternoon and you've got your feet up on the office desk.
And on the other side of the desk, there's another pair of feet.
The latter belonging to the illustrious Detective Lieutenant Louis Parker,
Homicide New York City Police.
Cop, gentleman and good friend.
Louis got a day off and he's taking a busman's holiday.
He's spending it in the company of a private eye.
Well, let's get out somewhere, hey kiddo.
A little sunshine or something. Even Coney Island.
Yeah, I can just visualize you and me in the tunnel of love.
Oh, clever.
All right, kid in the side, Pete.
Now, we ain't going to spend the afternoon locked in your office,
talking shop, are we? No, no, we ain't.
If I can wangle it, we're going to be seated in a deluxe box
at the racetrack screaming at the oat burners.
Great, fine.
What do you mean, if you can wangle it?
Did you ever hear of Rhonda Duffy? Rhonda Duffy.
You mean the lady that owns Gray Dancers?
Yeah. Supposed to be the best three year old in America?
That's the one I mean. Certainly I've heard of her, sure.
Well, she's due here any minute with Jackie Johnson, her jockey.
Her horse is running today, isn't he? At Belmont?
That he is.
Hey, what are you doing with these society sweaters?
Well, I'll tell you, look. Come in.
Ah, Miss Duffy. How are you, Jackie?
Happy. And a pleasant good afternoon to you, Mr. Chambers.
This is Rhonda Duffy, Mr. Jackie Johnson.
This is Lieutenant Louis Parker, best policeman in the whole city.
How do you do? How do you do?
Mr. Chambers, I don't know what Jackie here wants to see you about,
but I do know it's personal.
Well, I was just leaving. Oh, no. Please, Lieutenant.
As a matter of fact, I was intending to invite Mr. Chambers to the track today.
My horse is running. Oh, thank you.
And I should love to include you, Lieutenant.
Well... Unless you have something else.
No, no, I don't have a thing. I'd very much like to go.
Good. Then suppose you and I leave now, Lieutenant.
My car's downstairs. Jackie and Mr. Chambers can join us later.
After they transact, whatever business they have to transact.
That's OK by me, Mrs. Duffy.
Come along, then.
And don't keep him too long, Mr. Chambers. He's riding today.
I'll get him there on time. Then I'll see you later on.
You know my box number. Yes, Mrs. Duffy, I do.
Bye, then. Bye, Mrs. Duffy.
OK, Jackie.
Where's the tight squeeze? Meaning?
Meaning that when a guy wants to see a private eye, there's a tight squeeze somewhere.
Pete, you know, Ralphie Butcher.
Ralphie Butcher.
Hey, there can't be a tighter squeeze.
What's between you and Ralphie? 40,000 bucks.
Wow.
And you're overdue? Yeah.
Ralphie Butcher, the toughest loan shark in the city.
And you're overbought to him for 40,000 bucks.
How come, Jackie?
When you play horses, Mr. Chambers, and I play horses, you hit a bad streak sometimes, see?
And, brother, I really hit a bad one.
I began to borrow and double up, borrow and double up, and all of a sudden...
you're way down deep in the hole, huh? Yeah, 40 Gs worth.
Last night he told me, get it up. Get it up today or else.
And what can I do for you, Jackie? Well, I want you to call him.
Can you do that for me? Sure, I can call him.
Only what do you want me to tell him? To lay off me today.
That's all. Just lay off me today. Tonight I'll pay him.
I'll pay him in full.
Well, I think that can be arranged.
Now, let me see now. Ralphie Butcher, Oregon...
4... 2... 6...
A couple of hours later, you're out in the brilliant sunshine in Rhonda Duffy's box at Belmont.
Parker's there, Mrs. Duffy's there, and a tall guy with a little black beard,
who turns out to be, of all things, an Undertaker's embalmer.
Mrs. Duffy introduces him to you.
John Butler? Peter Chambers.
How do you do? You know, fellow, you're the first Undertaker's embalmer I've ever met.
Really? How's business? Oh, I'm out of that now.
Now I write verse for greeting cards. Verse for greeting cards.
Wasn't the embalming business better? Yes, somewhat.
Why'd you quit? My wife. Somehow my wife objected to that profession.
Prior to that, I was a pickpocket. What did you say?
Oh, no, no, no, you misunderstand. I was a pickpocket as an entertainer.
You know, nightclub work, vaudeville... Oh, I see.
Relax, Louis. Relax, relax. Unfortunately, I was never really very lucky.
Pickpocket embalmer, greeting card, verseifier, but I'm afraid I've never averaged more than $50 a week in my life.
So now you're playing the horses. Oh, no, no, indeed not.
This is the first time I've been to a racetrack in my life.
You're kidding. Honestly.
And what brings you today? Well, I'm a very good friend of Jackie Johnson.
Mrs Duffy's jockey, huh? Yes, that's right.
He insisted that I come and watch him ride today, and well, I acquiesced.
I've known Jackie for years and years, but this is my very first time at a racetrack.
May I cut in on this very interesting conversation?
Louis, this is the first time this guy's been to a racetrack.
Yeah, he told me, Pete, take a gander. Over there.
The gander discloses in the very next box Ralphie Butcher, and seated beside him a good-looking blonde and slacks in red blouse.
Mr Butcher, big as life. Oh, do you know Mr Butcher, Lieutenant?
I know him slightly. Do you? Oh, yes, he owns several excellent thoroughbreds.
Mr Butcher's a banker, lends money, that sort of thing.
Yeah, he lends money, all right. Oh, do you know him too, Mr Chambers?
I know him quite well.
The young lady with him is Katie Adams, works for me.
Gray Dancers trainer. She's your trainer?
One of the few lady trainers in the business.
I, um, I think I'll stroll over and pay my respects to our banker friend.
Tell them to join us, Lieutenant. All right, Mrs Duffy, I will.
The next race is ours, Mr Chambers. I'm awfully excited.
See, I can't even open my bag for a cigarette. Look out for the...
Oh! Easy, easy does it, Mrs Duffy. All you did was drop your bag.
Oh, but everything is scattered all over the place.
Well, just relax. Old Petey's the best picker up in the business.
Oh, this is such a... Hey, what's this? A switchblade knife.
Oh! How incongruous can we get?
A society lady with a switch knife in her purse.
Oh, it isn't as bad as it looks, Mr Chambers.
The knife belongs to my trainer, Katie Adams.
She come from the West where these things are legal.
She found it in her trunk today and turned it over to me.
And I shall bring it to a police precinct when we get out of here.
Excuse me. Where are you going, Mr Butler?
That knife frighten you? No, no, no.
Indeed, I'm just going to stretch my legs and perhaps wage it a bobble-toot.
Well, good luck. Thank you. Thank you, my dear.
Well, how about you, Mrs Duffy? Aren't you going to bet on your horse?
I've never made a wager in my life, Mr Chambers.
And in this case, it would be practically taking their money.
It's only a three-horse race and Gray Dancer has practically no competition.
Parker appears with Butcher and Katie Adams, and then John Butler comes back,
and it's a real happy party.
And pretty soon the horses dance out on the track.
And Katie Adams, lady trainer, is most enthusiastic.
Look at the gorgeous horse, that old Gray Dancer.
Look at Jackie sitting on them just like they were born for each other.
And look at the prices on the tote board, which is just as it should be.
Gray Dancer, one to five.
Candy Kay, 40 to one, and Pamela Ace, 99 to one.
This one's a walkover, that's what it is.
Tropically a walkover.
But if it was a walkover, it was a walkover in reverse.
Because dear old Gray Dancer came in last, absolutely last.
The winner, Tammy Kay, second Pamela Ace,
and a very poor last, the one to five shot, Gray Dancer.
The figures on the tote board show that Tammy Kay pays $80, $80 for two.
Wowee.
Brother, if ever I saw a jockey throw a race, that was it.
First he holds him like he's going to tear his head off,
and then he makes a grandstand play.
Puts the whip to him when he hasn't got a ghost of a chance.
Well, it's a good thing you don't wager, Mrs. Duffy, because...
Wager or not, I know when a crooked race is run, there was absolutely no excuse.
Katie, I want Jackie here as soon as he's out of his silks.
And if I have my way, he'll be out of his silks for good.
Twenty minutes later, Jackie's out of his working clothes and in Mrs. Duffy's box,
and he's giving off with more double talk than a stuttering ventriloquist dummy with amnesia.
Look, he just wouldn't run, Mrs. Duffy, that's all.
I'm only a jockey, not a magician.
Mrs. Duffy, I broke him last like I always do.
You know he's no front runner, but when I come to make my move, he wouldn't move.
You held him. You wouldn't give him his head.
It was obvious to everyone, and there must be 40,000 people here.
Look, Mrs. Duffy, right now there's another race,
and there's a horse in it I'd like to bet on, so I'm going to make my bet.
Then I'll be back here, and we'll discuss it further,
and if you want to bring charges against me, it's okay with me.
I'll be glad to leave it up to the stewards, but right now I'm going to make my bet.
There's an exodus from that box as though a plague had struck.
Rhonda Duffy says she's heading for the stewards,
and Katie Adams says she's heading for a bite of late lunch.
The rest of them, including Parker, are heading for the seller's windows
to do what you're supposed to do at a racetrack, bet on horses.
There are 15 horses in the next race, so you do the old tick-tack-toe,
and you make a selection yourself.
The crowd is tremendous. You push, and you get pushed.
And then you see another type of crowd, an excited ring of people.
And when you get there, Parker's already there, stooped over a body.
And the body's that of Jackie Johnson.
He was in that crowd at the $50 window, and suddenly he dropped.
Somebody stuck a knife into him.
You helped carry him to the clubhouse, and there it's definitely established.
He's dead, and he was murdered.
And now you and Parker are working at your trade.
The knife in his back is a switch knife that was in Mrs. Duffy's bag, no question,
which limits our suspects to the people who had been in that box.
Parker herds them all into the clubhouse and grills them.
And the last one is Katie Adams.
Now, look, Katie, you knew Jackie pretty well.
What kind of a guy was he?
A no-good guy.
Enemies?
Plenty.
Friends?
I'd say he had only one real friend, that Mr. Butler.
You met him, John Butler.
I'd say Butler was the only guy Jackie ever really trusted.
All right, Katie, thank you. You can go outside with the rest of them.
Pete, what do you think?
Well, the only ones who could have managed it were the ones who could have gotten to that knife.
Mrs. Duffy, Butcher, Butler, and Katie.
And we haven't got a thing on any one of them that could hold them.
Well, let's give it a run through.
Mrs. Duffy?
Well, doesn't figure for a motive.
She doesn't seem to be the kind of a person who would kill a guy just because he lost a horse race.
What about Butcher?
Well, it's like I told you, Louie. Jackie owed him 40 Gs.
There wasn't going to be any pressure until tonight.
Jackie promised to pay by then.
The guy would be crazy to kill him when he's been promised the money by tonight.
John Butler?
According to them, he was his only friend.
What reason would he have to stick a knife into him?
And Katie Adams?
No motive that I can see. Strictly a business acquaintance.
Trainer of horses.
Huh.
Can't hold one of them. Haven't got a thing on any of them.
Anything else I can do here, Louie?
Ah, thanks Pete. Not a thing.
Look, you've got work to do here. I'll meet you in the paddock when you're through.
Yeah, okay.
And outside, the first guy that buttonholes you is John Butler.
Any developments, Mr. Chambers?
No, not a one.
I think I'd better call home.
My wife hasn't been feeling well lately and I promised her...
Oh, my word.
What's the matter?
I seem to be out of change.
Well, here's some coins.
Thank you. Thank you very much.
My pleasure.
Then you find Mrs. Rhonda Duffy seated at a clubhouse table,
laughing up scotch like there's no tomorrow.
Parker comes out and joins you and you order a round of drinks for everybody.
Parker matches the hand across his face and he sighs.
This is a real humdinger.
That it is.
I'm sure you'll find a good match for him.
I'm sure you'll find a good match for him.
I'm sure you'll find a good match for him.
I'm sure you'll find a good match for him.
A real humdinger, that it is.
What happened to Katie?
She's out at the stables, Lieutenant.
She's been very much affected by all of this.
Why is she special?
Well, it was her knife in some complex manner she blames herself for what happened.
Maybe it ain't so complex at that.
I don't understand, Lieutenant.
Look, Mrs. Duffy, we've got a limited number of suspects.
The weakest one in the chain is your Katie Adams.
Why?
Well, let's put it this way.
The two weakest links were you and Katie.
But I checked with the stewards and you were with them at the time of the killing.
That eliminates you.
Thank you, Lieutenant.
Now, wait a minute. No offences meant, Mrs. Duffy.
Lieutenant Parker is just working at his job.
Of course he is.
I'm sorry, Lieutenant.
It's all right.
The point is that we have excellent reason to believe that Mr. Butcher wanted Jackie alive.
Very, very much alive.
And from what everyone told us, including you and Katie, Butler was a dear friend of Jackie's.
Who does that leave us, Mrs. Duffy?
But Katie, I mean...
Katie Adams.
I can't believe it.
Mrs. Duffy, would there be any re...
Was there any relationship between Katie and Jackie Johnson?
Well, it was a long time ago.
Please tell us, Mrs. Duffy.
Any little point might help.
Well, they were interested in one another, but that was, oh, at least a year ago.
You mean a serious friendship?
Well, Katie thought so.
But then, well, she wasn't actually jilted.
It was just that Jackie found a new interest.
She take it back?
For a time, but only for a short time.
After a while, she realized that it was all for the best.
That Jackie was, well, a rather frivolous type.
What do you think, Pete?
Well, from a psychological viewpoint, I think, no.
A lady doesn't wait a year to suddenly vent her spleen.
Well, let me ask you this, Mrs. Duffy.
How long has she been with you?
Two years.
And how come she picked today to give you that knife?
She had it in a trunk, which she keeps here.
She was doing a bit of cleaning when she came across it.
She realized that in this state, it's illegal to own such a knife,
and she gave it to me.
I wouldn't exactly say she picked today to give it to me.
Louie, I still think you're barking up the wrong tree.
How about that other tree, which is approaching John Butler?
Oh, I'm glad I found you.
I want to thank you for your hospitality, Mrs. Duffy.
Oh, not at all.
And in the circumstances, I must sound like an awful oaf,
but I must go home now.
Something wrong?
Yes, yes, indeed there is.
Urgent, Mr. Butler?
Extremely so.
My wife has been here.
I've called home.
Thank you for your kindness, Mr. Chambers.
That's quite all right.
It seems that she's taken a turn for the worse.
Lieutenant Parker, we're under no restraint, are we?
Any of us?
No.
No, of course not.
Well, then, if you'll excuse me.
Just a minute, Mr. Butler, just a minute.
Yes?
I've got something to show you.
Something to show me?
What is it?
What you show him is a bunched-up pisser.
But he's a strong one, and he stands up under the punch.
But then you work his arm around behind him in a hammerlock,
and you've got him, but good.
What the heck is going on here?
Grab a look in his pockets, Louis.
Hey, do you know what you're doing?
Grab a look, I told you.
OK, all right.
Stand still, you monkey.
What do you know?
What do you got?
Pari-Mutual tickets.
A lot of them.
For a lot of dough.
For that big race, the gray dancer race.
Except these are for number two and number three,
Sammy K and Pamela Aides.
Let's hustle this guy inside where
we can have some privacy.
You talked me into it, sweetheart.
Come on, you.
Inside, further privacy is assured by Parker,
appointing his 38 at the Crestfallen Butler,
who's as limp as a rag doll in the rain.
The good Mrs. Duffy's eyes bulge
as you count up the mutual tickets.
How much, Pete?
$2,000 worth on Tammy K
and $2,000 worth on Pamela Aides.
$4,000 worth?
Yeah.
You know, this monkey never saw 4,000 bucks
and won lump in his whole life.
Well, one set is useless, the set on Pamela Aides.
But the batch on Tammy K,
that horse paid 40 to one,
and he holds $2,000 worth of tickets.
Representing, in sum, $80,000.
Can you explain any of this, Mr. Chambers?
You betcha, Mrs. Duffy.
And you, Butler.
Correct me if I go astray.
Oh, he was awfully fantastic.
We start with Jackie Johnson, who needed a pile of money
and who needed it tonight.
Oh, why?
He got tangled up with a certain banker
by the name of Butcher, otherwise known as a loan shark.
I knew he was in trouble when he wanted to see you,
but I didn't know what his trouble was.
Little Jackie dreamed himself up a lulu,
a three-horse race with two tremendous long shots,
and he's riding the cinch favorite.
Oh, it's beginning to come to me.
Jackie trusted his John Butler.
He got together 4,000 bucks and he talked Butler
into coming to the racetrack for the first time in his life.
And he pumped him full of instructions.
Meaning that Butler was to bet 2,000 bucks
on each of the other horses in the race.
And Jackie holds back on the gray dancer.
And any way you look at it, he's got to win a fortune.
Only little Jackie didn't figure on human nature.
John Butler suddenly stopped running to form.
Yeah, happens with horses and with people.
It's my guess, Mrs. Duffy, that the idea came to him
when he saw that knife fall out of your handbag.
Oh.
Is that correct, Mr. Butler?
Yes. Yes, that's correct.
You mean, it came to him that with Jackie out of the way,
he had 80,000 bucks in his kick
and nobody could say it wasn't his.
And those peri-mutual tickets are as good as cash?
He used to be a pickpocket for entertainment.
And this time he did it for real.
He clipped a knife out of Mrs. Duffy's bag
the first opportunity he had,
and in that crowd at the seller's window,
he shoved it into Jackie's ribs.
But how? I mean, how did you know?
He gave himself away.
What? How do you...
He wanted to get away from there, Louie.
He was afraid the investigation might go a step further.
He might be searched and he had those tickets on his purse.
So he figured out a reasonable method.
As it happens, his reasoning turned out to be a trap.
I don't quite understand, Mr. Chambers.
He went off to telephone his wife
and he came back with the story that she was ill
and that he had to go home, all very rational, all very normal,
except for one great big hitch.
Hitch?
He couldn't have spoken to his wife or anybody else at his home.
But why not?
He was unfamiliar with race tracks.
That's where he trapped himself.
Oh, come on, I get to the point, Beattie.
There are no public telephones at the race track.
That's the point.
Oh, but of course not.
Nice work, pal.
He couldn't have called his wife and he couldn't have spoken to her.
When he broached the subject, I gave him some coins and I waited.
He was either going to clear himself or hang himself.
And he hanged himself.
You can bet on that, Mrs. Duffy,
and that won't be a wager.
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And there you've had crime and Peter Chambers.
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Dane Clark was starred as Peter Chambers.
Crime and Peter Chambers Transcribed was created and written by Henry Kane.
Others in the cast were Bill Zuckert, heard as Lieutenant Parker,
Abby Lewis as Mrs. Duffy, and Donald Buca as Butler.
It was directed by Fred Wade.
This is Fred Collins inviting you to tune in next week,
same time, same station, for Dane Clark in Crime and Peter Chambers.
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Crime and Peter Chambers has come to you through the worldwide facilities
of the United States Armed Forces Radio and Television Service.
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