The Case of the Frantic Flyer
Airdate: Saturday, January 09, 1960
Episode 81
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This page contains plot information, including
the resolution to the murder.
Enter at your own risk.
Plot
Howard Walters and Janice Atkins are plotting a robbery. They plan to rob the safe of the Taylor Maid Markets and run away together to a mountain cabin with the money. Howard is flying the company plane on a business trip and plans to stage a crash to make it seem like he perishes in the crash. Little does he know that Janice and Roger Porter are planning something different. Roger will meet Howard at the cabin and really kill him, so that he and Janice can run away with the money. Howard ditches the plane as planned, but breaks his leg during the parachute drop. Meanwhile Roger is waiting for him at the cabin. Howard is taken in by Zachary Davis, a reclusive prospector living in the mountains. Meanwhile, Wade Taylor finds the money missing, and suspects Andrew Taylor of the theft, since Andrew has come up missing. Wade asks Perry to search for Andrew. When the plane is found, there is a charred body inside. Everyone assumes that the body is that of Howard Walters. When Howard shows up at Janice's apartment, she is very surprised, to say the least. Tragg has an autopsy performed on the body found in the plane and finds it to be Andrew Taylor. It turns out that Andrew was shot and killed, and then the body set on fire to conceal the murder. Tragg is suspicious of Perry because he was expressing interest in the crash. Janice makes a call to Carol Taylor, Andrew's wife, and prods her into checking the hotel room where Howard is hiding. She also places a call to Howard's wife Ruth, giving the same information. Not so surprisingly, Howard turns up murdered in the hotel room. Carol is then arrested for Howard's murder. Zachary Davis is hanging around, and goes to Janice and Roger and attempts a blackmail because he knows about the money that was stolen. When he asks for only a little amount of money, they decide to give it to him to get him to leave. Burger begins the trial, building a case against Carol. His theory is that she killed Howard because she knew that he killed her husband Andrew. Perry, when cross examining, begins to see the original plan for the robbery. Perry finds out that Davis is checked into the same motel, under a different name. Perry visits him and confronts him. During this, Tragg shows up and takes him away. Davis then takes the stand and tells the story of the consiracy to rob the company, only substituting Carol for Janice. He identifies Carol as the last one who entered Howard's hotel room. Perry confronts him as to the validity of his story, and provides proof that he had contact with Janice and Roger. This leads him to conclude that Davis doctored his story to hide their guilt in the matter. Janice is called to the stand. She denies ever meeting with Davis. Perry drills her and makes her confess to the original robbery plan, and the coverup to try to pin it on Carol. She then tries to finger Roger as the person that killed Howard. Perry isn't buying it, and continues to cross examine Davis. He knows that Davis is guilty, and gets him to admit that he was the one that killed Howard.Resolution
 | Carol Taylor |
 | Howard Walters |
 | Zack Davis |
