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sign up. Well, now it's time for this week's episode of Follow Vans.
The original air date made the sixteenth of nineteen fifty and the title is
the Manicure murder Case. Come on, keep moving you guys. What are
you doing? Shutting up road block? Get those cars gone? Hey lady,
what are you doing? You get yourself killed running through that traffic?
Coming now? Some terrible's happening. Alry, Now, what is it that's
so terrible? Chicken in I'm a man. He cures in the bobby shop
right over there. Man came in for manicure about twenty minutes ago. Is
that so awful? Little one? Well, he seemed to be in pain
when I was a finished, He seemed to be trying to stay conscious,
but he kept telling me to hurry. Well, a minute ago he killed
open the chair. I think he's dying. And what makes you think so?
May I ask you? I noticed blood in his coat. He bleeding
the death. He said he's been shots. Ran over to get you.
He was dying, and he insisted on getting a manicure. We'll see what
this is all about? Is this the shop? Yeah? All right,
all right, Now where's this fellow wh's supposed to be dying? He isn't
supposed to be dying anymore, Officer, he's dead. Tell me honestly,
Vans, did you ever hear of anything so completely unreasonable and dying man insisting
on a manicure? Yes, no, Markham, I never did. But
I'm glad you called me in on the case. I had to call you
in despite the fact that I'm district attorney and I have a very capable police
force functioning. I'm sure this case will be a test for even your talents.
You know who the dead man was, Yes, a scientist named Edgar
Wilson. We have no idea who shot him, or why, or for
that matter where. I understand that you don't know. But what theories have
you, Markham? Theories? What theories could anybody have? Sergeant Heath has
a fantastically fictional idea that there was a code message on the man's fingernails and
they wanted that message covered by liquid polish when he felt himself dying. That
would be something new, wouldn't it. I suppose what ideas you have?
Well, I, Sergeant he you don't look very happy. Wonder why that's
the trouble here? Trouble? Oh, I got no trouble. I just
got a murdered guy who wanted a manicure on my hands. That's all seems
to me. He wanted to manicure on his hands. What I'm sorry?
Please speak? What about your theory that there was a code message written on
the fingernails? What have you done about that? I had the laboratory put
some polish remover on the guy's nails. Polished came off all right, But
there was nothing written on him. Isn't it possible that whatever was written came
off when the polish remover was applied. Hey, I never thought of that.
Holy coh. If that's what happened, I'm the prize bone head in
the department to kick myself all over. Don't do it on account of the
polish removing here. I'm pretty sure there was nothing on the victims nails.
It makes me feel better. Hey, hard you know there was nothing on
him? I don't know. I just don't believe there was, and I
have good reason. As usual, the DA here is president of your fan
club Vance, but I'm not even a member. I want to know the
reason why that guy got a manicure as he was dying. If it wasn't
a cover up, something, I might be able to tell you that,
Heath, I have an idea. I'll be able to tell you the secret
of Edgar Wilson's fingernails just as soon as I have his killer under my thumb.
All I gotta say, that's all you ever gotta say? What makes
you so sleepy? Sleepy? Who knows? So wonder to me? You
didn't fall asleep when you shot that scientist guy. I'd go Wilson this morning,
who said I was awake? I was awake. I'd have plugged him
so good he when they moved this way, he lived long enough to make
it to some bobby shop paper say well, he didn't talk, so we
got nothing to worry about. All I, oh, hey, you got
me doing it? Stop cutting in on my record? Yo? How much
where do we got to go? This is it the first shack off the
road? Then you see it? I guess that means yes, our orders
are to go in and look around for a bottle marked experiment X. Experiments
X your dope like an ecstasy. Hey, I've seen that pit you with
that girl. What's the name, some name for a girl? Come I
sleeping out and cut that out. You're making me sleepy? So what is
that bad? Any chanced up being anybody in the shake? You know better
than that. The guys we work for, I know what the score is.
They said Wilson would be alone when we got there to plug him.
He was. They said there would be nobody in this shack. There won't
be nobody. It's okay with me. I ain't in the mood for company.
See if the door us back it is. Come on, let's bust
it in. You do it. I'll stay here and watch. Come on,
sleepy, I'll need help. Okay, now once more, I must
wait. Okay, okay, let's do it. Hold of the second sleep
pleasure, just to get this flashlight out of my pocket. There we are,
Now for a look around the row bottles over on that shelf. Yeah,
so I see. What all we gotta do is find one marked experiment
X. Like an ecstasy show was a great picture that I agree. There
was one scene in it would be the bottle we want right here on the
second shelf. You see it, Experiment X. Let's grab it and get
out of here so we can collect our dough. Hey, you grab it.
I'd have to reach up a little. Okay, here we go,
come to pop a little bottle. Well, tell me, your faul,
tell me exactly what happened. It was like this. I did what you
told me when the Miller brothers killed Professor Wilson for you, I followed them
to make sure there was no slipper. What happened when they went after they
explosions. I'm trying to tell you. I followed the car. I saw
him stop. I sawed him break down the door and go in through shehek
I found Wilson's laboratory, Gord, and what happened? Then they were inside
for a while, a minute maybe, Then all of a sudden there was
a big explosion, and then no more Scheck, no more Miller brothers.
So they found experiment X. Did they? I guess they did. But
Professor Wilson was smart. He probably knew an attempered we meant to steal it.
He had to contain a wire so that they'd set off explosive. I
guess that's what it was. Very clever the professor, Even after he was
dead, he managed to take care of the man who shot him. However,
I have another flan. What's that I must find out about Experiment X,
And I think I know who can tell me. Professor Wilson had an
assistant. I wonder how she's going to like assisting me. No, no,
I'm sorry, sergeant. There's nothing I can tell you that I haven't
already told you about my employer. Oh no, look, miss Rainy,
Professor Wilson must have been working on some extra special something that somebody didn't want
him to finish, so they killed him. If he was, I didn't
know about it. Now, please, sergeant, he's late and I've got
to leave here. I have my coat on and my head on. Unexpected
home if I think if anything that can help you, off on you?
Okay, okay, goodbye. Well that's dead. I help your pardon.
I'm sorry I started you. My name is Vance By all Van, I'm
a private investigator. Oh yes, I know about you. Are you working
on Professor Wilson's murder? I will work on it when I can find something
tangible to start with. Do you mind if I walk a little way with
you? All Right, it's a dark street and I'm glad of the company
is there's something I can tell you that will help you. You'd know that
better than I. I just told Sergeant heat on the telephone that I didn't
know what Professor Wilson was working on. If that's what you mean, you
must know you were his assistant, as I understand. Yes, but that
doesn't mean stop right where you are? Was the idea turnaround? Either of
you. That's good. I don't want to use my gun. That's bad.
That's no. Lie. What do you want? Not you, whoever
you are? I mare you want this young lady? You want miss Doris
Rainey. I believe your name is to accompany me. No, apparently she
has neither the desire nor the intentions, So I think, I, oh,
brother, what fell on me that car? Yo? Stop? Stop?
License number one eight five seven. Well, my friend, whoever you
are, you got the girl, but I've got your number. Guess I'm
having the license number you gave me. Check right now. You're sure you're
not hurt badly. I have a slight headache, but I'll be all right,
and I guarantee I'll be a bigger headache. Whoever hit me on the
head. Sergeant Heath is checking the number. Who buzz me in a minute.
You say they kidnapped the girl who is walking with you. Yes,
but I'm sure they won't harm her for a while anyway, and by that
time, with the help of the license check up, I ought to have
found them. You're lucky. You got to look at the place, Marcom.
I always get at least one lucky break on a case. Otherwise I
failed dismally in most of them, I think. Otherwise, am I just
am in advance? That's probably heat? Now hold on, yes, yes,
he'd have Vants on the phone now waiting for the name and address of
the owner of that license number. He's gonna have a long wait. What
do you mean there's no such number listed? That's what I mean. Vans
either got the number wrong or the car had phony plates. It's one of
those two possibilities. I'm sure the plates were out of it. Thanks he
Love Vans. Yes, I heard Heath Markham. All I can say is
that maybe I do always get one lucky break on a case. But apparently
that license number isn't it Already I am losing paces with you, miss Rainy.
Apparently twisting your arm doesn't no good. I ever get off this chair.
You nothing you're tied securely, and I will untie you only when I
am good and ready. It's very annoying, very musical, and cannot help
you in the least little bit. This house of mine is far out in
the country. Nobody can hear you. Now. Will you tell me what
I want to know? How can I tell you? If I don't know?
I am the same speech, always, the same speech. You know,
I don't know about experiment X. You worked with Wilson, You were
with him and everything he did? You know about experiment I can't tell me.
You'll tell me. Do you hear me a little? I don't know
anything about each time except the professor Wilson was working on it. There's much
I know too. He wouldn't talk. When I sent two men to persuade
him, they shot him. I knew about his shack in the mountains.
My man went there, but they were killed in an explosion. But Wilson
had another laboratory. Where is it? I don't know. I keep telling
you I don't know. That is a lie, and you will tell it
your must, all right? Oh God, do you know the man who
was with me? Do you know who it was? I'm not interested you
will be He was Finlo Vans. Did you ever hear a Fino Vents?
Firm of Vans? What about it? He never saw my face. If
he did see the license plates in my car, it will do no good
for I change two of the numbers myself change No matter who he is,
he can never find me. We'll see, miss Rainie. I lose patience
again talking to you. Wilson was working on an explosively called Experiment X.
It was a liquid that much we know what was the formula. I never
knew the formula. That is possible. But you know where there is some
of that liquid? Some of my chemists. Where is that place? Desate
you, brave worlds, But you've been here only a few hours. All
I've done so far is to twist your arm a little. That is nothing
compared to what will happen to you, as Rainie. Don't forget. Nobody
has any idea where you are. Nobody can possibly rescue you. What about
it? I have an idea how to make you tell me what I want
to know. It's really it's my suggestion that you talk while you still have
a tongue to talk. Quick. District Attorney markham A manicure murder case opened
when Professor Edgar Wilson, scientist, died in a barber shop after insisting the
girl manicure his nails even though he was dying. We have no explanation this
no clue that professor's killer as yet, although Philo Vance did have an encounter
with an individual whom we believe was the brains behind the murder, in an
effort to work out some tangible lead to that individual. Vance is in my
office. Where do I begin? Markham? A simple question like that has
me stopped completely on this case. A simple answer might be an order of
Vance. But I don't have it, either a simple or a complex answer.
All I can tell you is I don't know. Well, let's start
from the beginning. Professor Wilson wanted a manicure when he was dying. Why
you said you thought you knew the reason. Let's say I still think I
know the reason. How do I prove what I think? There's one way,
and Vance. It might be the answer that question you asked about,
where do I begin? Yes, well, I'm listening. What's the one
way? Why not check back at the barbershop where Wilson died. Perhaps that
shop has some connection with his death and the reason he insisted on having his
nails done. Good idea, Markholm, that's where I'm going for a little
interview with that barbershop manicurist. Maybe I'll even let her do my nails.
Maybe having her hold my hand will help me make heads the tails out of
this case. How do you like him? Long shot of half and half?
Shoot yourself, mister. If I suited myself, i'd pack you in
right now. I'm tired. You don't need no manicure. Really, you
come in for keep out of the rain. It's not raining, and you
don't need no manicure. So you yeah, back we started. Maybe i'd
better introduce myself. I'm vile o Vance. Oh it's okay, I'm swoman.
It takes me little time to fade, so your van So what?
So? I understand you are the young lady who manicured Professor Wilson's nails as
he was dying. That's right. You ain't figuring, not kicking off aire
you not just yet. I want to know what he told you when he
came in. He came in, he sat down, stuck out his hand.
He says, give me a manicure fast. There was colorless liquid polish
on his nails. You put it on, like I said, He said,
give me a manicure fast, I said, long shot of in between?
He said shot? So why fire them and finish them up? Not
all step? When I see he's about to pass down, I beat it
out of the shop and pick up the traffic cup in the corner. Thank
you very much. Hey, where are you going? Manicure? You didn't
need? Ain't finished? I know, and neither is the case I'm working
on. But after what you've told me, it will be finished and very
soon. Hello, dear, come in. Am I a little late with
invitation? Well it's a difference, better late than never, I always say.
I always say something about an early bird. I can't remember right now
what the rest of it is. What's on your mind? Worried if I
sit down? Apparently that's that paper on your hand? It is. Well,
there's a teletype report on an explosion out in the suburbs. Two men
were killed when a shank blew up and checked on the car they were driving.
We think we know who they were, Yes, Yeah, and Miller
brothers, Sleepy and Joe. I'd kill it. We can't figure. Is
it a turning? Markham speaking Vance Markham, Hello, Markham. I just
left the barbershop where Professor Wilson had his nails manicure. Yes, you remember,
I thought I knew why he had them done as he was dying.
You had an idea about it. Yes, it's now a conviction. I
want you to find out for me if the Professor was working on some new
invention that was in a liquid form, a new process and explosive, something
along those lines. I don't know how I can vance. As you know,
Wilson's girl assistant was kidnapped and he left no records. Wait a minute,
Yes, there were two men i'd kill who met their death in an
explosion in a shack in the suburb. Sergeant Heath just told me. You
think that might tie up with our case? It might, and it's worth
a gamble. Right, We've got to work fast now That girl assistant might
be killed by whoever is responsible for Wilson's death. You won't believe she doesn't
know what the professor was working on. What do we do about it?
We'll take one long shot, Margaret. I'll need your help, all right.
Did you know professor Wilson had an assistant named doctor Blake. No,
I didn't well, he didn't have But I don't believe anybody knows that,
or the fact that I'm going to be in touch with doctor Blake, who
was going to make a killer take his medicine. You're so obstinate, Miss
Rainy, so very obstinate. Please can I have some water? You can
have anything you want after you tell me what I must know. Wilson was
working on an explosive. He called it Experiment X. What were the components
of experiment Please, a little boy, I get a sample of Experiment X.
A drop will do the smallest possible sample. My chemist can analyze it
and break it down. Tell me I don't know. I don't know.
You're somewhere to make you talk. Somewhere you'll tell me what I want to
know. Ah, you're a nice girl, is really very nice girl.
And you have a mother. You wouldn't dare go near her. The police
will be protecting it. Follow vans to figure that you'll try to make me
talk to her. You leave my mother alone. So that is the way.
Now I can who is it? Come? How this newspaper look at
it? Let me have it. How is the time to look for it?
On the first page, he eyed him in the corner, Dad signed
it. Assistant arrives tonight this one, Doctor William Blake nodded. Scientist in
his own right and former assistant to the late Professor Edgar Wilson arrives at Main
Street station at midnight tonight Doctor Blake and asked him, and leaving his hometown,
that he was coming here to continue the experiment started by Professor Wilson.
Doctor Blake declared that he has a complete knowledge of them, having been in
constant contact with a long distance phone with Professor Wilson from knew. Doctor Blake
was ready. I don't know what you're talking about. What a girl who
was smart enough to be Professor Wilson's assistant. You have a terrible perhaps now
we don't need you Andy. Yeah, I think we should be ready to
leave here very shortly. You and I have to meet the midnight train and
doctor William Blake here he comes, Flice, I get your cameras ready,
Doc Blake place, yes, your price, hollow hover, We get some
pictures. Hurry. Then it's very late and I'm very anxious to get to
mine. Oh, take a minute. Doctor way, okay, boys shots
now, and I just want more praise Doctor Blake. Hold thank you?
Oh is it all right? Gentlemen? Please Doc go ahead. Thanks for
your time. Thank you very much. I'll be at the Carlton Hotel of
your newspapers you'd want me. Thanks, Doc, I thank a Boston sent
an. What you're gonna work, I shall see him good night, Doctor
Blake. Yes, you you're a friend. It doesn't matter who I am
or who he is either. It will kindly not make any disturbance. But
come along quietly with us. I don't understand who will live? Eh.
You were Professor Wilson's assistance when you want project. He was working on the
secret of his experiment X. Yes, of course, take it on and
he hold it tight. Take your hands off his beard, his beard,
it's fall along. It's a trick. Come on, it's gonna not so
fast. I think I can hold you too, markham Mry, this was
a trick, yes, and you felt alright, I'll take this lan here,
hold on. Nobody holds on to me. I make your stay like
this nice work mane holding gave me no trouble at all. Oh, that
was no trouble. Markham hitting my friend was fun. Let's get him up,
get him out of here. I'll be ready to tell you why Professor
Wilson insisted that his nails be done, even though he knew he was done
for Markham. My friend, I'm beginning to believe you're a very persuasive young
man. What do you mean, mats, you persuaded those men we picked
up at the railroad station to tell you where they were holding Professor Wilson's assistant
Doris Rainey. That was relatively easy. Besides, I wouldn't have had a
chance to work on them if you hadn't found them for me. They found
me Markham, just as I hoped they would when we had the newspapers print
the arrival of the entirely fictitious doctor place. Certainly, did you know,
of course, if my bard hadn't come loose, I'd have gone along with
them. Yes, and I would have followed you as for our plan,
Yes, that's you said that I was persuasive. That's right. Could I
persuade you to get around to telling me why Professor Wilson wanted his nails manicured?
Certainly? Let's go back a little though, all right. Wilson was
working on his Experiment X, an explosive. Yes, we know that now.
It was a liquid. We know that too. The man who kidnapped
Miss Rainey hired two men to shoot him, which they did, but they
didn't kill him. He ran from them and got to the barber shop.
I know that Markham Wilson had some of his Experiment X under his fingernails.
The manicurist told me his nails were long. We know he was working with
a liquid. The smallest quantity of Experiment X, if it fell into the
wrong hands, would be sufficient for his killers to find its formula. I
see he had his nails filed, so any evidence of the formula that might
have been under them would be lost. Exactly. Sergeant Heat's theory that something
might have been written on the fingernails wasn't impractical. One. If Wilson had
had time to write anything on his nails, he would have had time to
tell what he had written to the manicurist or the barber. I knew it
wasn't that, so, you said at the beginning of this little adventure.
Yes I did, And now I say it's the end of our little adventure.
The end of the Manicure murder case the Welcome Back Sergeant. He's thought,
and I'm being generous by calling it a thought about the potential for a
hidden message. Maybe just one of the most all around dumb lines that the
show has ever had anyone take. Fans explained the problem with the logic of
putting some hidden codes on the nails. But it's worse than that because recall,
the manicurists put a standard clearcoat that was colorless. While there are some
modern nail polishes that can look like your nails, but they're not really.
We're talking nineteen fifty clearcoat that you would put on a guy's nails that's not
going to conceal anything. In fact, it would accentuate. And even if
that weren't dumb, using nail polish remover to get to the secret message,
and recall that this is also nineteen fifty, so nail polish remover is acetone
based. It's like the onion of wrongness with what Heath proposed. Even if
he wasn't totally wrong and off base with one part of his idea, there
was another part of his idea that was equally off base, even if the
other thing hadn't been wrong. On the other hand, we did have a
smarter villain. I think that most other detectives, if they got a license
number would know that it's something they should know, but that the car was
stolen or the plates were stolen. Vance was hoping that this was his lucky
break. In the Filo Vans universe, it would not be at all unexpected
for a criminal mastermind to commit a crime and to have his own plates on
the car that went back to his address. So again we had a higher
level of villain who was also menacing to the poorer assistant. I did also
appreciate he's correctly calling Markham the president of the Filo Vans fan glove, because
that's how he acts. On the downside, I wasn't a huge fan of
the episode, concluding with some as you know dialogue, particularly when it was
laying out something that the audience probably just fill in by reading between the lines.
Listener comments and feedback. Now and we go to Facebook where Richard writes,
Okay, so I have a question about this series that has been bugging
me for the longest time. How come no one refers to him as mister
Vance or follow is follow his first name. Even his secretary calls him Vance.
I know people in the military will refer to each other by last name,
but I would think at a minimum his assistant would refer to him as
something other than just Vance. It's a good question. Yeah, his first
name is follow, but no one seems to use it. I can't recall
in either of the two Fino Vance books I've read anyone using it, so
it might be a carryover from the book. It's certainly not unheard of for
someone to be called either mostly or all the time by just their last name.
Thinking of later examples, you had George Peppard's character or Banachek, who
pretty much everyone called Banicheck. And then the one that I grew up with
and therefore totally made this issue a non issue for me, was mcgeiver.
Even mcgiver's best friend Pete calls him mcgeiver. In a formal setting, he
calls a mcgeiver. When it's just the two of them hanging out, he
calls a mcgeiver. And sometimes fictional characters and even real life people can have
weird things that they call each other. I remember the radio adaptation of the
novel Noon Wine, where the wife always called her husband mister Thompson, which
never stopped striking me as weird during the entire program. I will say that
mixing up how your character is referred to can be nice because it can express
some differences in relationship. It can show some character points, like they did
introduce one character in Banichek who took to calling him Thomas. I think in
the second season. Now with Filow Vans, I can see why he would
just go buy vance to everyone, because I could see if I had the
name Filow not liking it a whole lot now the obvious alternative to Filo would
be filled. But I think, honestly, he is not a film I
cannot imagine him saying to someone, oh, please just call me Phil.
No, No, that's not him at all. So I think that him
just being called Vans makes a lot of sense in this case, even though
it does limit some of the characterization and nuance that you get with variation.
But then again, you wouldn't be likely to get it from this show that
much anyway. Now it's time to think our Patreon supporter of the day,
and I want to go ahead and thank Murph MCB Patreon supporter since February of
twenty twenty one, currently supporting the program at the Shamas level of four dollars
or more per month. Thank you so much for your support, and that
will do it for today. If you are enjoying the podcast, I encourage
you to follow us using your favorite podcast software, and please be sure to
rate and review the show wherever you download it from. We'll be back next
Thursday with another episode of Follow Vans, but join us back here tomorrow for
yours truly, Johnny Dollar where I didn't want to hang around. I had
a good thing going here and I wasn't about to get it a last step.
But it was no use. I couldn't give her up. I did
it. Father think about it. He didn't like the idea, but he
couldn't do much about it. She got her own way with him, the
same as with everybody else, except when she wanted to go to York.
Well, nobody can win them all. I understand you put that idea in
her head, Sammy, then you better take a different understand Yeah. Yeah,
she was bugged up on that idea before I ever met her. That's
why she started coming in here. She wanted me to put her hep on
how it was in the big wild city. She wanted to know how to
get in. What was the names of all the spots, including the rough
ones, how the rackets worked? How would I know how the rackets work?
How didn't say a word? Sammy? You know in some ways that
kids as smart as a mink. But underneath she's a regular hick, just
like the rest of them around here. She thinks that stuff is glamored,
the big time hot stuff, and she was busting a bracest to get at
it. Even this place, this crummy clip joint, the herd was wicked
and exciting. Oh man, how square can you get? I suppose you're
trying to talk her out of going to New York? Do I look crazy?
Is something? I was all for it anywhere as long as it got
her off my neck, beautiful girl like lou Anne Parker on your neck,
and you were trying to shake her off house, Sammy, I'm losing you,
Oh luck dollar. When it comes to dames, I've got as fast
an I as the next guy. But with that chick, man, I
unpacked my toothbrush and I stay home. Why why she's got this whole town
food? Everybody but me a sweet little thing in ruffled robbers, bucking for
a hayhaul. Well, I got news for your brother. She ain't and
you're the only one who really knows her. Is that what you're claiming,
Sammy? Sure, it's a big laugh, But that kid's smart and inside
she's colder than a fish. I'm a fairly tough baby, Dollar, but
I'll tell you something straight. I'm scared of that girl. I hope you'll
be with us then. In the meantime, do send your comments to Box
thirteen at Great Detectives, dott and Yet, follow us on Twitter at Radio
Detectives, and check us out on Instagram, Instagram, dot com, slash
Great Detectives from Boise Ottahle. This is your host, Adam graham Son and Off