Locked in his room guarded by three detectives,
this notorious gangster was mysteriously murdered.
Who killed him?
Was it the gang-busting prosecutor...
You found something, didn't you?
...his devoted young assistant...
Murphy's acting out of the finest motivation.
...the nightclub dancer...
He was sensitive about being married.
...the distraught wife...
Ralph!
...the obsessed young detective...
If I wanted to poison Caesar, would I slip it to him in front of you?
...the ruthless gang leader...
Are you calling me a liar?
...or was it someone else?
Match wits with Ellery Queen, and see if you can guess whodunit.
[On radio]: I'm Erwin Murphy,
Special Prosecutor of the County of New York.
I have no doubt
that the announcement that I'm about to make
will send shock waves through the state,
and possibly across our great nation.
I'm declaring war on the mobsters
who plague the lives of decent people
and the crooked cops and the corrupt officials
who make their existence possible.
This is not the idle threat of a vote-seeking politician.
I'm not going after a few bookies and numbers runners.
I'm gunning for their leaders.
I made a pledge when I took this office to fight against crime.
Now I'm carrying that fight to the top.
I want the rats, not the mice...
Oh, I'm sorry. More coffee, Ruth?
No. I'd better get home.
I ducked out as soon as Ralph mentioned
a baseball game on the radio.
Oh, I know what you mean. I can't stand it, either.
So monotonous.
Ball one, strike two... who cares?
Tomorrow morning, I will introduce a star witness to the grand jury
who will name names, recite dates and facts,
and give such damaging testimony
that the grand jury will have to issue
a string of indictments
that will rock New York to its foundations.
The crime chiefs will be exposed
and the veil of secrecy ripped from their corrupt organiz ations.
With the mobsters' control broken,
the police department' link with big-time crime
will finally be dissolved.
In order to protect the witness, his identity will not be divulged.
[Explosion]
What in the world?
... by Special Prosecutor Erwin Murphy.
Now we return you to our regularly scheduled program
of early-evening music.
Ralph!
Whoops.
Ellery? I'm home.
Hi, Dad.
Any mail?
There's a second notice from the telephone company.
Where is it?
I put it in the drawer with the first notice from the telephone company.
Ever think of paying it?
Oh, I'm gonna get around to that, Dad, as soon as I finish this chapter.
Oh, uh, you missed a talk by Erwin Murphy.
No, I didn't miss a thing.
It was mimeographed in advance, and a copy was left on my desk.
Now, there's a man who wants to be governor in the worst way.
[Tuning radio]
What are you looking for?
Dodger night game.
Oh, forget about it. It was rained out in Boston.
- You sure about that? - Yep.
ANNOUNCER: The rain that has drenched New England
and caused the postponement of the Braves-Dodgers game
will continue throughout the night.
I have just been handed a special news bulletin.
Ralph Caesar,
allegedly the number-two man in organized crime in New York,
was pronounced dead on arrival at Long Island Memorial Hospital
after the living room of his suburban home
was devastated by a bomb of undetermined origin.
Holy Hannah! How about that?
No further information is known at this time.
[Telephone rings]
Hello?
Oh, good evening, Commissioner. Yes, he's here.
Yes, sir. Just a moment, please.
Deputy Commissioner Hayes.
Trouble?
Yes, Commissioner?
Yeah, yeah, just turned on the radio.
Well, I'm not gonna send flowers.
You want to see me in Murphy's office?
Well, I just got home.
All right. I'll be right there.
Trouble.
Inspector Queen,
the Commissioner assures me that you're beyond reproach.
I'll accept his recommendation.
I'll say thanks when I find out what I've been recommended for.
It's a new assignment, Richard... Special Duty.
Are you taking me out of Homicide?
For the time being.
You'll report to Mr. Murphy and his associate, Mr. Marx.
Would this have anything to do with that bomb
that was tossed at Ralph Caesar?
Now, how'd you know that?
My phone started ringing as soon as I found out he was killed.
- Someone tried to kill him. - Tried?
Caesar left his living room seconds before the bomb was thrown.
He wanted to hear the ballgame, but he heard it was rained out.
So, he decided to go to the refrigerator
to get some ice to mix himself a drink.
That decision saved his life.
Would the star witness you spoke about in your speech
be Ralph Caesar?
Sharp. I like that.
Inspector Queen's a good police officer,
and you can rely on him 100 percent.
All right, Inspector,
Caesar's waiting for you in a private room over at Bellevue.
Bellevue? I thought he was at Long Island Memorial.
That's where he died.
Bellevue's where we're trying to keep him alive.
Until he testifies before the grand jury tomorrow.
That will be your responsibility.
I'm not a bodyguard. I'm an investigator.
You don't need me.
I haven't got the time to screen the entire force.
There's already been a leak.
Somebody knew where to toss that bomb.
We suspect Benny Franks had a hand in it.
- Franks? - Caesar's number two in the rackets.
Franks is number one.
But he conveniently left town yesterday morning.
- I'll need help. - Pick out the men you want.
I'll have them re-assigned to temporary duty.
I want Sergeant Velie and Detective Jim Millay.
- Do you trust these men? - With my life.
If you have a plan, Mr. Murphy, I wish you'd let me in on it.
That's simple enough.
You take Caesar over to the Hotel Shubert.
Have him register in the name of Henry Cooper.
Take him up to his room fast.
Don't let him leave, not for any reason.
And don't let anyone get into that room.
And in the morning, I deliver him like a quart of milk.
You have full authority, Richard.
It's your show.
And my neck.
You're not coming home at all?
Dad, if I'm not being too personal,
would you mind telling me where you're gonna spend the night?
It's not personal. It's confidential.
I'm on special assignment. That's all I can tell you.
I'll see you first thing in the morning.
Good night, son.
I'm ready to leave when you are.
Ralph, I'm so scared.
How do you think I feel? I'm the one they tried to blow up.
Mrs. Caesar, are you staying with friends tonight?
Neighbors... the Allens next door.
The jerks.
- Velie. - Yes, sir?
I want round-the-clock protection for Mrs. Caesar.
We've got a police car to take her home.
I'm the one they're after.
Is this everything you're taking?
MRS. CAESAR: I brought what you told me to.
- Ralph, I'll need some money. - What for?
Okay, okay.
Have fun.
Suppose there's an emergency. How can I get in touch with you?
I don't even know where I'm going.
You can call my office and leave a message with my secretary.
Tell Jim we're ready to move out.
We'll be waiting by the back door.
Put these on.
Mrs. Caesar, you'd better say goodbye.
Be careful.
Yeah.
He'll be fine. Come on.
Get in fast.
So, this is the guy
that's gonna help Murphy clean up the police department, huh?
Keep your thoughts to yourself. Get this thing moving.
- Side entrance, Shubert Hotel. - Yes, Inspector.
- This Murphy's idea? - Yeah. How do I look?
Like a man in a false mustache.
[Engine revs]
Hold it.
Velie, the blinds.
Jim, check the bedroom.
See that the windows are locked, the blinds are drawn.
Yes, Inspector.
If the missus knew I was spending the night in a fancy hotel suite,
she'd be nagging me to take her to Atlantic City for the weekend.
With the craft you guys are pulling down,
you could take her to Miami Beach for a month.
- What was that crack? - Velie, forget it.
Better be careful, boys.
You know Murphy knows you're on a take.
He's gonna slap your hands.
Listen, Caesar, I gotta guard you,
but I don't have to listen to any of your guff.
You want to tell this palooka
that I'm here to do my duty as a citizen
and cooperate with the law?
Maybe he's thinking of all the times you didn't cooperate.
And all the cops that aren't around anymore
because of your stinking mob.
Are you calling me a cop killer?
Velie, Velie, check the bathroom.
Bedroom's secure, blinds drawn, windows closed.
Yeah? Well, what if I want some fresh air?
If you open a window, remember, that first breath may be your last.
The bathroom's safe and sound.
I'm starving. I'm gonna call room service.
No, no, you don't. Nobody's coming to this room for any reason.
- All I want's a lousy sandwich. - Who's gonna taste it first?
You can wait till tomorrow morning.
The special prosecutor will buy you a nice big breakfast.
Yeah, but I'm starving now.
Here, have a stick of gum.
Cops. I hope Murphy burns your tails.
Pleasant dreams.
[Bedroom door slams]
All right, I want you two to stay here.
Don't let anybody in unless you check with me.
And no phone calls.
Inspector, I would like to make one call.
No, I'm sorry. No exceptions. You know why?
Yes, sir.
Tight security maintenance, no unnecessary communication.
I bet he can quote the regulations word for word.
Hey, this couch is stuffed with rocks.
Good, good, that'll keep you awake.
Well, don't just stand there. Open the door.
I'm waiting for him to identify himself.
It's Inspector Queen. Who else would it be?
Open up! It's Inspector Queen!
- Took you long enough. - Yeah. Morning, Inspector.
Everything all right?
Hunky-dory. There hasn't been a sound all night.
Rise and shine!
Mr. Caesar?
Must be a heavy sleeper.
[Knocking]
Caesar, grab your socks!
He's dead.
You were in charge of security, Queen.
Security wasn't breached.
I had two men in this room all night long.
I was next door.
What about the windows?
Locked.
Then someone must have unlocked one of them,
because Ralph Caesar is dead.
Dad, the killer didn't come in through the window.
The soot on the outside ledges hasn't been disturbed.
- "Dad"? - My son, Ellery.
Erwin Murphy.
How do you do?
- What's he doing here? - I called him!
No one was supposed to know anything about this.
That was when Caesar was still alive.
Mr. Murphy, whose idea was it to put Ralph Caesar up in this hotel?
Mine.
It seemed more reasonable
to hide him out in the crowded Times Square area
than in some remote hotel
where his presence might be conspicuous.
The reasoning was sound.
The execution was faulty.
Someone got to him.
Mm-hmm. We're back to "How?"
Well, first the medical examiner has to determine the cause of death.
All we really know is that he wasn't shot or stabbed
or thrown out that window.
I have a feeling that we can rule out natural causes.
Yeah.
This had better be the most thorough murder investigation
ever conducted by the Homicide Bureau.
They're all thorough!
I want full details
on those two men you assigned to guard Caesar...
their department records, their personal background...
Well, you won't get them from me.
Now, I had this assignment stuffed down my throat,
but I'm taking full responsibility for everything that happened.
And you're not going to make my two men scapegoats.
I'm sure that wasn't Mr. Murphy's intention.
I will not accept a cover-up.
Your degree of responsibility will be considered, Inspector.
Have no fear about that.
Well, if you only knew what he hopes to accomplish
in the field of crime prevention...
Well, Murphy has one loyal supporter.
Crime prevention. Ha.
What's he gonna do? Stick false mustaches on everybody?
Inspector, Murphy just steamed by us like his radiator was boiling over.
Yeah, yeah, I know. Now, let's go over this thing again.
Did Caesar ever come out of that bedroom?
No, Inspector, and we didn't go in, either.
We didn't leave this room all night.
Yeah, well, you were in the bathroom quite awhile, Sergeant.
I was sitting in the bathtub soaking my feet.
But you wouldn't know about sore feet.
You came straight out of the academy into a patrol car.
You never had to walk a beat, Millay.
Velie, Velie, what's gotten into you?
Well, he's sounding like he was accusing me of something!
How do I know what he was doing while I was in the bathroom?
All right, come on, Sergeant.
You know as well as I do,
security must be maintained with constant vigilance.
There he goes again with his rules and regulations.
All right, all right!
I know you had a rough night,
but you're gonna have a rougher day.
I want this room sealed off, nobody in or out until further notice.
That includes Murphy and his shadow.
Ellery!
Yeah?
Come on. We got work to do.
Okay, Dad.
This is highly irregular.
So is having one of your guests murdered in his bed,
but it has to be investigated.
Did you have any single rooms available last night?
- Several. - Why do you ask that, Ellery?
Because a man by himself checked into 711
15 minutes after you checked into room 611.
Joe Baxter.
That's about as real as "Henry Cooper."
Do you have a record of outgoing telephone calls
made after 11:00 last night?
From 711?
From anywhere in the hotel.
I'd have to check all the telephone slips from last night.
Well, why don't you do that?
Surely.
As soon as you've given me the key to 711.
Thank you.
I don't care what you say, Ellery.
Somehow that killer got into suite 711.
The maid said the bed wasn't slept in.
Well, he didn't check in to snooze.
He knew Caesar was right below him in 611.
Somehow he got in there.
How?
The soot on 711's windowsill wasn't disturbed, either.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. Good morning, Grace.
Good morning, Inspector, Ellery.
The phone hasn't stopped ringing since I came in.
- Murphy? - Three times.
Commissioner Hayes twice.
Don't tell me that Mayor O'Dwyer didn't call.
Once, and he'll get back to you.
Inspector Queen's office. Just a moment, please.
He was on his way to a Communion breakfast.
Now, the desk clerk at the Shubert
said there was one outside call last night at 11:30 from suite 611.
611? That wasn't on the hotel bill.
No, it was a collect call, no charge.
That call could have been made from either extension...
the one in Caesar's bedroom
or the one in the room with Jim Millay and Sergeant Velie.
The desk clerk gave me the number that was called last night,
if that'll help.
That will help.
How did you know about Ralph and me?
Well, we know someone called your home last night.
Phone company gave us your name, and your maid said you'd be here.
Huh! Huh!
Yeah, Ralph called.
He wanted to tell me he was alive.
I heard on the radio that he was dead, and then he called.
Now I heard he's dead again. I don't know what to think.
I'm sorry, Miss Todd. This time, he really is dead.
Oh. You're sure?
Positive.
Did you tell anyone you had talked to him last night?
No. Ralph never let me talk about him.
You know, the wife thing.
He was sensitive about being married.
What did he tell you about his house being bombed yesterday afternoon?
He said it ruined his rug.
I see. Did he mention the name
of anybody that might be responsible?
He said something about Benny Franks.
Then he said that it was all a mistake
and that I shouldn't worry about it.
MAN: Okay, girls, let's go. Break's over.
You, too, Melody.
Okay, now, line up.
Ralph and me were gonna go away together.
We had big plans.
I'm gonna miss Ralph.
He wasn't always nice,
but he had a certain flair that made life exciting.
MAN: Miss Todd, we're waiting.
But if the phone rings tonight, I don't think I'm gonna answer it.
He won't be calling again.
That's what I thought last time.
This is Jay Bonner.
I want the rest of my dough.
You know where to find me.
He was poisoned with an odorless, colorless, crystalline toxicant,
dichloro-something-or-other, eight more syllables.
He'd been dead about four hours
when they found him at 7:00 this morning.
And he died about 3:00 this morning.
Yeah, in bed, alone,
no food, no drink, no way for a killer to get into the room.
- What about cigarettes? - Didn't smoke.
- Toothpaste? - We checked that... negative.
Oh, boy. It's got me stumped, Dad.
Let me ask you something. How'd he look when you found him?
- Dead. - Well, I know he was dead.
But did he look as though he tried to get out of bed,
or did he die in his sleep?
Well, he was holding this book.
He'd probably been reading it.
No, it's not one of yours.
"The American Athlete."
Yeah, he was a sports fan.
You know, that bomb would have splattered him
if that game in Boston hadn't been rained out.
[Book falls open]
What are you doing?
Well, this is a new book, Dad,
and it was open for a long time to one page.
Now, that would weaken the binding,
so it should automatically open to that page.
132.
Well, now we know what he was reading.
No, now we know what he was holding.
You know, he might have been trying to tell us something.
A dying clue from Ralph Caesar.
What was on the page?
It's a story about Pudge Heffelfinger.
Pudge who?
Heffelfinger, a great football player from Yale back in the 1890s.
What's he got to do with this case?
He was a guard.
A Detective James Millay,
Sergeant Thomas Velie.
That's all the available data on both.
Oh, I haven't got time to go through all this.
You carry the ball, Lee.
Now, just remember that I got a press conference at 4:00
and I need ammunition.
Well, I don't know what you're gonna find in there.
I'm counting on you.
We can still turn Caesar's death to our advantage.
I suppose.
[Telephone rings]
I'll get it. I've been waiting for it.
Hello?
Yes, Governor.
Yes, it is a shame.
Now we've got a real mess down here,
but we're gonna start cleaning it up,
and we've got a pretty good idea where to start.
- Inspector, I think we got a break. - We could use one.
The night clerk spotted the guy who checked in to 711.
He picked this out of the mug file.
Joe Baxter?
INSPECTOR: Jay Bonner.
Oh, "Suspicion of first-degree murder,
assault with intent to kill,
illegal possession of firearms and explosives."
That sounds like bingo.
You know him, Velie?
Yeah, Bonner's kind of a freelance torpedo.
We heard he did some jobs for Benny Franks.
That nails it to the wall.
Franks didn't want to take a chance
on Caesar spilling any family secrets to the grand jury,
so he had Bonner rub him out.
Wait a minute, Dad.
Granted, Bonner's a professional killer,
knows all the tricks,
but how did he sneak past two detectives in a locked hotel room
and poison somebody who didn't eat or drink anything?
I'll ask him when we find him.
Velie, put an all-points out for Jay Bonner.
VELIE: Yes, sir.
Now, you found something, didn't you?
I knew you wouldn't let me down.
I just don't know what purpose it's gonna serve.
Well, if it's the right kind of stuff, it's gonna help promote me
into an elected office with a broad power base.
And from that, we can implement some of our own ideas.
Well, there's no proof.
Lee, don't be so naïve.
We want newspaper headlines, don't we?
They can deny it later on page 40. Now, give me what you got.
Ah.
Now we're cooking.
RUTH: No, I'm sure. I've never seen him before.
Is this the man who killed Ralph?
He's a prime suspect, Jay Bonner, a professional killer.
- May I see that? - Sure, sure.
Does he look familiar?
Hmm. I'm not sure.
I saw a man sort of hanging around the street
yesterday afternoon.
He was wearing a raincoat.
Hmm. The eyes are the same.
Oh, it's the same man.
Thank you, Mrs. Allen.
Well, that's it.
That places him at the scene of the murder and the bombing.
I just can't see how a man like this Bonner
could have any connection with Ralph.
Mrs. Caesar, what sort of a man was your husband?
He was kind of quiet, ordinary...
...maybe a little set in his ways.
Oh, come on, Ruth.
There's no sense making him out to be better
just because he's dead.
He had all these habits that just about drove her crazy...
had to have dinner on the table at 7:00 sharp,
had to have steak and green beans on Monday,
lamb chops and stewed tomatoes on Tuesday,
and so forth, all through the week.
Had to listen to every ballgame on the radio.
Oh, he did everything the same way,
every day... mnh... and every night.
Mrs. Caesar, did he ever talk about his work?
No, never.
Did he ever mention a Benny Franks?
[Telephone rings]
No, he never talked about anybody who wasn't some sort of athlete.
Mostly he didn't talk at all, at least not to me.
I wonder why he decided to talk to the grand jury.
Inspector Queen, it's Mr. Murphy's office.
Sorry I'm late.
There was a four-car pileup in the Midtown Tunnel.
Velie, what are you doing here?
I was hoping you'd be able to tell me.
I've unearthed some information that relates to the sergeant here.
Naturally, I would like to give him the right to refute the allegation
before making it a matter of public record.
If that paper says that Velie is anything
but a first-class officer who does his job,
it's a lot of hooey.
Thanks, Inspector,
but I think we ought to hear what he's got to say.
- Very sensible, Sergeant. - INSPECTOR: I'm waiting.
There's a restaurant on Third Avenue.
It's called Archie's Clam Palace.
Yeah, yeah, I know the joint. What about it?
It's the only restaurant on the east side of town
that doesn't have to pay protection
or buy its supplies off of any of Ben Franks' companies,
and Ben Franks himself is a steady patron.
He's used the banquet room for private meetings
on six different occasions this year.
Now, here is a certified copy of the owner's license.
Who's Archie Remo?
Well, maybe the sergeant here can answer that question.
He's my brother-in-law.
Can you tell me how your brother-in-law
got enough money to open up that restaurant?
I guess he borrowed it, like everybody else.
- From gangsters? - Is that a fact, or are you fishing?
I know that one of the men you assigned to guard my witness
has a very close relationship with Benny Franks.
His brother-in-law has the relationship.
He sells him clam chowder.
Commissioner, I insist that this man be put on suspension
pending a full hearing.
Unless you want my badge, too, Commissioner,
you'll recommend that Murphy
keep these charges out of the newspapers
until there's a departmental hearing.
I certainly protest any such recommendation.
Sure, I've seen all those reporters around your office
waiting for a handout.
Mr. Murphy,
I'm inclined to go along with Inspector Queen's request.
Commissioner, you're making a serious mistake.
Will you stop tapping on that thing?
Huh? Oh, I'm sorry, Dad. I didn't know I was doing it.
Boy, there's got to be some clue
connected with this book that Caesar was reading.
I don't like that one about the guard Humperdinck.
Heffelfinger. I don't like it, either.
If Murphy knew about it, Velie wouldn't stand a chance.
Murphy would chew him up and spit him out.
If only we had...
What did I just say?
Huh? I don't know, Dad. You didn't finish saying it.
Ellery, that's it. I know how Caesar was poisoned.
It wasn't anything he ate or drank.
It was chewing gum.
- Chewing gum? - I hope I'm wrong.
The medical examiner's report didn't say anything about chewing gum,
either in his mouth or his stomach.
Then it's still in the hotel room. Come on!
- Dad, I found the wrapper. - Any gum in it?
Nope.
Now, where is that confounded gum?
I hope somebody didn't find it and carry it off.
- Who? - Well, whoever gave it to him.
You know, maybe that book clue isn't wrong, after all.
Oh, you don't mean Sergeant Velie.
Jim Millay?
Dad, he got the highest marks
of anybody who ever graduated from the police academy.
I know what he got.
I also know how much he loves the force.
Caesar was about to throw mud all over the department.
If Jim thought he was protecting it...
- Do you believe that? - I don't want to believe it.
But he's the one who gave him the gum.
That's the only way Caesar could have been poisoned.
Now, if we could find it and have it analyzed...
Now, wait a minute. Wait a minute.
Let's see how it happened.
He unwrapped the gum here, threw the wrapper away.
He put the gum in his mouth, and he went to bed.
But he didn't want to fall asleep with the gum in his mouth.
But there's no ashtray on either table.
It's too long to walk back to that waste basket, so...
...so...
Is it there?
Oh, boy. Oh, yeah, along with six other wads of gum.
How are we gonna tell which one is Ralph Caesar's?
Well, that's easy, Dad.
It's the one with his fingerprint in the middle.
[Telephone rings]
Yeah?
Yeah, Velie, what's up?
We just got a tip that Bonner's holed up
in the Belgian Hotel on Tenth Avenue.
Take a squad and get over there fast. I'm on my way.
It's Bonner, okay.
I showed his mug shot to the room clerk.
Is he alone?
There's a stairs inside, but no elevator.
There's a fire escape in the back and a rear exit.
All right, send two teams in the front.
Put a man on the roof in case he goes up.
The rest go around the back.
And, Velie, he's a pro. Watch out.
Yes, sir.
You two men take the front.
INSPECTOR: We want him alive!
I wonder where that tip came from.
We'll worry about that later. Watch yourself, Ellery.
Dad, there's something about this I don't like.
Well, I know what you mean, but we got to get him out of there.
There's no other way.
That's what I don't like.
It's as though Bonner posed a problem for someone,
and that someone solved it by calling the police.
- Dad, call it off now! - I know, Ellery -
Now, now, before it's too late!
[Gunfire]
Hold your fire!
[Gun falls to ground]
[Loud thud]
Let him alone. Let him alone. Call an ambulance!
I'm sorry, Inspector. I just couldn't help it.
- INSPECTOR: Can you hear me? - [Sighs]
Bonner, did Benny Franks hire you to kill Ralph Caesar?
I... I didn't kill...
What's that? What's that? I didn't quite get it.
I didn't kill Caesar.
Couldn't even get near him.
Bonner, if you didn't kill Caesar, who did?
That's it, son. It's all over.
Here, Inspector, you might as well take it now.
What's this?
What does it look like? It's my shield.
Morning, Dad.
What did the Deputy Commissioner have to say?
Among other things,
that Murphy's preparing a statement for the press
outlining my general incompetency.
That's not fair. You're the best man on the force.
And you're slightly prejudiced.
According to Murphy, I'm pretty much over the hill.
Nonsense, Dad.
The Commissioner's your age. Nobody's saying he's over the hill.
He's not on the firing line.
I'm sorry, Ellery, but you can't buck me up today.
Another thing that Murphy said
is that I tend to lean on you too much.
Now, he could be right about that.
Pardon me, Inspector. You wanted the results from the lab.
Yeah, come on in, Gabe. You know Ellery.
- Yeah. How are you? - Hi, Gabe.
You ran a test on the chewing gum?
Yeah, we ran it through the mill, and the results are pretty conclusive.
No poisons, right?
- Wrong. - What?
There's a definite trace of poison in the gum.
You're kidding!
The same poison that killed Ralph Caesar.
No, it... it can't be.
There's... there's been some kind of mistake.
Hey, I checked, and I double-checked.
I'm sorry, Jim. There's poison in that gum.
Yeah, well, I didn't do it.
I swear I didn't do it.
Inspector Queen, if I wanted to poison Caesar,
would I... would I slip it to him in front of you?
No, of course not.
- But the fact remains... - Excuse me, Dad.
Jim, where'd you get that gum?
I got it out of the machine right here in this building.
I chewed the rest of the pack. I mean, I chewed it all up.
I'm not poisoned.
I mean, what's the logic?
How would anybody know
that I'm gonna get that particular pack of gum
out of that machine
and I'm gonna slip the one poison stick to Caesar?
Now, take it easy, Jim. You're only making it look worse.
Gabe, you said there was a trace of poison in the gum.
How much, exactly? Was it a fatal amount?
I'm sorry. I can't give you a more definite answer
until I analyze the test results and write my report.
Do us a favor, Gabe.
- Write slowly. - Oh, yes, sir.
It should take at least until... tomorrow morning?
Thanks.
What happens in the meantime?
In the meantime, I'm gonna try and clear this thing up.
I'll talk to you later, Jim.
Yes, sir.
First Velie, then Jim...
...accused of murder.
What's happening around here, Ellery?
Am I losing my grip?
Oh, no, Dad, no.
There's got to be an explanation.
We just have to find it.
I think I'll go out for a walk.
I used to like this old office. Today it depresses me.
- Do you want some company? - Not now, Ellery.
Not just now.
[Door opens]
Mr. Queen?
I saw your father leave. I wanted to talk to you alone.
If you came here to deliver a message from Murphy,
I've got one you can take back!
- May I? - Yeah.
- I'm sick about Sergeant Velie... - So's my Dad!
I feel responsible for it! But my hands are tied.
You've got to understand
that Murphy's acting out of the finest motivations.
Oh, come on! I'm sorry. I can't accept that.
Well, I'm sorry, too.
I guess that's what I came to tell you.
- Mmm. - Thanks for your time.
Marks, if you really want to help Sergeant Velie and my Dad,
if you didn't come here for reasons of your own...
Give me credit for some honesty.
Please?
If you didn't come here for reasons of your own,
there's something you can do for me.
I was looking over a list of the materials
that Murphy compiled on Caesar.
There are some films, and I'd like to see them.
Well, I don't know if I can arrange that.
Try.
The only other thing I got to do is see Benny Franks.
You wanted to see me?
If you're Benny Franks, yeah.
Well, I ain't the Lone Ranger.
Sit down.
You want me to have Archie bring you a plate of clams?
No. No, thanks. I already had lunch.
So, you're Ellery Queen, huh?
Yeah.
Who wrote all them books?
Yeah. Have you read any of them?
All of them.
Reading about murder... it helps me relax.
I like the way you handle your characters and situations.
There's only one thing I don't like about your books, Queen.
- What's that? - The way they turn out.
The killer's always just caught. It just ain't true to life.
So, what do you want?
Um...
How well do you know Archie Remo?
The guy that owns this joint?
He serves a good horseradish.
Well, Archie's brother-in-law, police sergeant Velie,
is on suspension as a suspect in the killing of Ralph Caesar.
Why would he want to knock off Caesar?
To pay off an obligation to keep Caesar from testifying against you.
An obligation for what?
Eating the horseradish?
That's got to be one of Murphy's ideas.
That guy's got a screw loose.
Jay Bonner did the job.
Well, he might have thrown the bomb,
but he made a dying declaration that he didn't kill Caesar.
Yeah?
Caesar was with me for a long time.
He was like a brother.
He wanted to get loose and then run away with some broad.
We made a deal.
Every four years at election time, I get a lot of heat.
So, this time I figured I'd be ahead of it for a change.
You know how to bust a balloon?
- Balloon? - Yeah, you know, a balloon.
You fill it with air until it won't hold no more.
Then you keep on pumping and pumping till it goes "blam."
And this one was supposed to go "blam" in Murphy's face.
You see, Caesar let himself get picked up
for making some penny-ante collections
that any second-string bagman could have handled.
He stalled around, acted nervous,
like he was on the spot.
And he got Murphy to promise him immunity.
Then, he wasn't gonna talk.
He was gonna go before the grand jury
and tell them about some small-time horse books
that I can live without, that's all.
And there Murphy would be,
like a prize chump with a busted balloon.
The heat would have been off me for four years.
He would have used his immunity to fly away with his broad.
That's the way it was supposed to work.
Mm-hmm. And then someone killed Caesar.
And that's why you called the police
to tell them where they could find Bonner.
Didn't I just tell you that Caesar was like my brother?
I'll tell you something else.
I was gonna take care of Jay Bonner myself, personally.
Then, then, who fingered him?
Who hired him?
See, if Caesar had gone before the grand jury,
Murphy would have looked real bad.
Now, with Caesar dead,
Murphy, he can't look anything but good.
[Film projector whirrs]
After what you said, I don't know why we're watching this.
Well, I never saw Caesar alive.
I'm curious to see what he looked like.
INSPECTOR: Looks better here than he did in person.
I think he's wearing makeup for his screen test.
Look at that. He just took a peek at the camera.
That's the payoff.
Murphy really thought he had something.
[Adjusts projector]
INSPECTOR: It's no better that way.
[Turns projector off]
Seen enough?
Dad, you know, the photography wasn't very good,
but the camera didn't miss a thing.
Didn't show much, either.
How would you like a salami-and-pickle sandwich?
Oh, you know I never eat late.
I'd be up all night taking tummy fizz.
Caesar ate late. He wanted to call room service.
Well, it was probably his habit to have a late snack.
You know what his neighbor said.
He was a creature of habit,
always did the same thing the same way.
Ellery, I've got it!
I know who killed Ralph Caesar.
He does, too.
That movie had a clue.
Oh, you probably caught it about the same time Dad did.
Now, the other important thing to remember
is the real reason Ralph Caesar
was gonna testify before the grand jury.
Have you got it?
Who killed Caesar?
Velie didn't do it.
Was it Jim Millay?
Erwin Murphy? Lee Marks? Ben Franks?
Or was Bonner's dying statement a lie?
Or was it somebody else?
I'll give you a hint.
Shakespeare was wrong.
Nobody is above suspicion.
Dad, wait up!
Come on, Mr. Murphy.
We've been waiting for you.
Is this a deliberate attempt to compromise my position,
inviting me in the same room with this gangster?
This ain't gonna help my reputation much, either.
Why is this man here?
He was a friend of Ralph Caesar's.
He was like a brother.
Come in. Come in.
You, too, Mr. Marks.
Well, you better have a good reason for me to stay.
Oh, I have. I have.
You see, if you were to leave, you'd be missing something.
Now, isn't that a dandy reason?
Inspector, you said you knew something about Ralph's death.
That's right, dear lady.
It happened in that bedroom,
with two of my men stationed out here,
the doors locked, and no access through the windows.
One more thing, Dad. Nobody knew he was here.
That isn't quite true.
Jay Bonner knew.
He checked in to the suite just above this.
He probably thought he could find his way down here,
but he didn't, as he told Ellery and me with his dying breath.
ELLERY: Murphy and his associates
knew where you were bringing Caesar.
That's right.
If Mr. Murphy had known
that Ralph Caesar's testimony before the grand jury
was being orchestrated by Benny Franks,
you might have not wanted him to testify.
That's way over my head.
Mr. Franks, would you tell them?
Caesar wasn't gonna give them a thing
that I didn't want him to give.
- That's a lie. - Are you calling me a liar?
Caesar was a star witness!
He was my star, and he twinkled when I told him to twinkle!
And if you had anything to do with rubbing him out,
you're looking at death in the face.
Don't you threaten me, you hoodlum!
Hold on just a minute! Wait a minute.
Everything will be explained. Won't it, Dad?
That's right, Ellery. Where was I?
Nobody knew that you brought Caesar to this hotel room.
With the exception of the above-named,
myself, Sergeant Velie,
and Detective Millay.
As a matter of fact, most everybody thought
that Caesar was dead.
Which brings up an interesting question.
Why didn't Jay Bonner think Caesar was dead?
Now, Bonner threw the bomb.
He knew it went off.
Newspapers, the radio all said that Caesar was dead.
Why didn't Bonner think so?
Bonner knew Caesar was alive
because the person who hired him
told him the job wasn't finished yet.
Oh, that lets you off the hook, Mr. Franks,
unless that story you told me
about making a deal with Caesar wasn't true.
Are you calling me a liar, too?
No, sir, I'm not. That's just a supposition.
I don't believe that you hired Bonner to kill Ralph Caesar.
I'm confused.
It seemed so simple before.
Ralph was going to testify, and somebody had him killed.
Yes, Mrs. Caesar, that's exactly the way it was.
This obfuscation is just a clumsy attempt
to divert attention away from the truth...
your husband was murdered
to keep me from continuing my crusade against crime.
How was Ralph Caesar murdered?
He was poisoned.
Odorless, colorless, even tasteless.
It was ingested through his mouth into his digestive system.
But how, Inspector?
He didn't have anything to eat or drink.
He wanted something, but he finally settled for...
- A stick of gum. - That's right!
It couldn't have been the gum.
I didn't poison it, and nobody else could have.
That's right, Jim. It wasn't gum, and it wasn't toothpaste.
But what else did Caesar put into his mouth?
What?
His finger.
After he called a friend to say that he was all right,
he did what he did every night when he went to bed...
he got his book.
His wife had thoughtfully packed it in his overnight case.
And most nights, he had a snack before he started to read.
This time, he had to settle for a stick of gum,
which he stuck under the nightstand when he was finished with it.
This accounts for the trace of poison in the gum.
It didn't start out in the gum.
It got there when he licked his finger to turn the pages,
the way he always did.
It was probably one of his habits that his wife found so annoying.
And so useful.
And that is why, Mrs. Caesar,
when the bomb didn't kill your husband,
you decided to brush water-soluble poison
into the page corners of this book.
- No. - Oh, yes. We had it analyzed.
Now, you hired Bonner.
You probably heard your husband mention his name.
You looked him up in your husband's private phone book.
Now, you arranged to be next door when the bomb was tossed.
It was a good alibi, and you couldn't be hurt.
Trouble is,
your husband wasn't hurt, either,
and so you poisoned him.
He was going to leave me for that floozy.
He never gave me anything,
and he treated her like a royal princess.
You tipped us off where we'd find Bonner.
You knew he'd shoot it out.
And you guessed what would happen.
Well, I didn't cry about it, if that's what you mean.
- He was a killer. - And so, dear lady, are you.
Velie...
I'm on suspension, Inspector. Remember?
Not anymore.
- Take her down and book her. - Yes, sir.
Dad, that was great.
That was great.
Don't you agree, Mr. Murphy?
I never approved
of the showboat style of criminal investigation.
Lee, prepare a statement for the press.
Hey, Murphy, what's happening? What's going on up there?
- Give us a break, will you? - All right, all right!
I'll make the announcement.
The Ralph Caesar murder case is solved.
That's right, gentlemen,
and I think that you should know that the credit belongs
to Inspector Richard Queen of the Homicide Bureau
and not to Mr. Erwin Murphy, that well-known political hack.
Oh, boy. How's that for a resignation?
And if you have any other questions,
I'm sure Benny Franks can fill you in.
REPORTER: Benny Franks? Hey, were you up there with Murphy?
Sure! Why not?
Murphy's an old pal.
I love this man like a brother.