An older man is told by a fortune teller, who also happens to be the landlady of the boarding house he is staying in, that his money is not safe where it is. Worried, he moves the money from one bank to another. But when he gets to the second bank his money is gone.
No mystery there, the landlady is in league with a pick pocket and they stole all ten thousand dollars of Mr. Smith's money without him even realizing it when it happened. Then the young burlesque dancer that old Mr. Smith has been wanting to marry shows up with a gun and steals the money from the thieves. She also lives in the boarding house.
Mr. Smith employs Martin Kane to find his money, but this has turned into a police matter because the young dancer is found dead in her room, with the door locked from the inside. The gin bottle on her dressing table is filled with water instead of liquor. And the window, which leads to the fire escape, is open.
The solution to the mystery was not that mysterious, at least I didn't think so. And it just goes to show that living in close quarters with strangers who expect you to be best buddies definitely has its downside. Today, with people being far more selfish, such living arrangements would be very difficult for adults who want some privacy and to keep to themselves.
I will say that the actress playing the landlady, Bertha Belmore, would have been great in a vampire movie. Her acting style wasn't at all subtle. Anytime things would be moving her way she' get a bug eyed expression and a large creepy grin on her face, like she was about to bite somebody on the neck.
Not the best of the Martin Kane episodes I've seen, some of which are quite interesting considering this is very early TV.
No mystery there, the landlady is in league with a pick pocket and they stole all ten thousand dollars of Mr. Smith's money without him even realizing it when it happened. Then the young burlesque dancer that old Mr. Smith has been wanting to marry shows up with a gun and steals the money from the thieves. She also lives in the boarding house.
Mr. Smith employs Martin Kane to find his money, but this has turned into a police matter because the young dancer is found dead in her room, with the door locked from the inside. The gin bottle on her dressing table is filled with water instead of liquor. And the window, which leads to the fire escape, is open.
The solution to the mystery was not that mysterious, at least I didn't think so. And it just goes to show that living in close quarters with strangers who expect you to be best buddies definitely has its downside. Today, with people being far more selfish, such living arrangements would be very difficult for adults who want some privacy and to keep to themselves.
I will say that the actress playing the landlady, Bertha Belmore, would have been great in a vampire movie. Her acting style wasn't at all subtle. Anytime things would be moving her way she' get a bug eyed expression and a large creepy grin on her face, like she was about to bite somebody on the neck.
Not the best of the Martin Kane episodes I've seen, some of which are quite interesting considering this is very early TV.