The Case of the Deadly Toy

Airdate: Saturday, May 16, 1959
Episode 66

TV Episode

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This page contains plot information, including the resolution to the murder.
Enter at your own risk.

Plot

Claire Allison is receiving anonymous letters containing newspaper clippings about a jilted lover killing his wife because she left him for another man. She is suspicious that the letters are coming from her fiancee, Martin Selkirk, because she is seeing another man, Dick Benedict. Soon after an altercation between Selkirk and Benedict in a restaurant, Claire receives a phone call from Lorraine Selkirk Jennings, Martin's first wife. Lorraine offers to help Claire if she will come to Los Angeles. Lorraine and her husband Ralph, want Claire to testify against Martin in court to help them gain sole custody of the Selkirks' son, David. Claire spends the night in the Jennings' house, and after taking a sedative to get to sleep, is awakened by a shot in the night. She gets up to look for a blanket, and discovers the printing press that has been printing the letters she has been receiving. She leaves the house and ends up consulting with Perry Mason. When Claire and Perry go back to the Jennings house, they question the Jennings' and find that the printing press is not there anymore. They also find that the David has been taken to Camp Kilgore. They also learn that both Martin Selkirk, and Hanna Barton, the Jennings' regular baby-sitter, has keys to the Jennings house, and that Martin maintains a residence in Los Angeles. When Perry and Claire go to Selkirk's Los Angeles address, they find that he has been murdered. They also find the printing press in his apartment. After Claire is arrested for the murder, Perry is visited by Horace Selkirk, Martin's father. He wants to have custody of David. Perry turns down his request, but Horace threatens to get custody no matter what. Paul travels to Camp Kilgore to see David, and finds out that David is not at camp. The Jennings' refuse to tell Perry where the boy is. So Perry and Della pose as a husband and wife looking for a baby-sitter, and have Hanna Barton come to baby-sit. Perry discretely questions Hanna and discovers that David has been taken to Sonora, Mexico. They also find out that Hanna had been letting David play with a gun as a toy. Perry and Della have the idea that David may have accidentally killed his father. Perry takes off to find David before the police do, but finds that he is too late. Perry finally finds out that Horace knows where David is, and goes to visit him. After talking to Kathrine Collins, the person who has been keeping David, Perry finds out that David did shoot his father. In court, Perry gets Ralph Jennings to admit what had really happened. Martin Selkirk was not in the house that night. David had shot the dog, and not his father. Ralph Jennings really killed Martin Selkirk, and as it turns out, was responsible for the letters to Claire Allison as well.

Resolution

AccusedClaire Allison
DeceasedMartin Selkirk
Guilty PartyRalph Jennings