Nancy Drew... Reporter

Listen, let me be wrong for once.

Write a new head.

Hey, boy.

- Yes, sir?

- Did you find Tracy yet?

No, sir. He's still out.

When you find Mr. Tracy, would you

ask him if he'd condescend...

...to undertake a reportorial chore

for me this afternoon?

If you don't mind.

Oh, no, sir. I don't mind.

Don't stand there like an imbecile.

Round him up.

Yes, sir.

- Well, they're here, Mr. Bostwick.

- Who's here?

- The students.

- What are they doing here?

Mr. Bostwick, don't you remember?

It was a promotion tie... up

to increase circulation.

And what did I promise them?

Well, they were to work for you

for three days as real reporters.

And the one who submits

the best story during that time...

...was to receive $50.

- And a gold medal.

- Oh, I might have guessed it.

I don't know why I let you

talk me into these things.

You had the place filled

with a lot of champion potato pickers.

Now, the place will be over... crowded

with a lot of crazy cubs.

- I won't see them.

- Mr. Bostwick, they're right beside you.

Mr. Bostwick,

these are the young people...

...you've been so anxious to meet.

Nancy Drew from the Brinwood

School for Young Ladies.

- I'm very pleased to meet you.

- How are you?

Miss Phyllis Kimble of...

- How are you?

- How do you do?

Are we really going to have

real assignments just like real reporters?

- I know all about fashions.

- I'm dying to find out.

Can I cover a scandal?

Girls, boys.

Mr. Bostwick, won't you say

a few words to the contestants?

Yeah. Very few.

Why anyone is simple... minded enough

to want to work on a newspaper...

...Ive never been able to find out.

Why, Mr. Bostwick. Journalism

is a very noble and glorious career.

With the adventure, romance and

everything, I should think you'd love it.

I do love it, I love every minute of it.

I love my employees too.

Here, take one.

All right. I won't look.

What did you get?

I've gotta write a story about a squirrel

in the park.

- Where's the mayor live?

- Why?

I gotta find out how many babies

he kissed.

"A human... interest story

about a goldfish"?

"Ladies' Amateur Poetry Club,

Cozy Nook Tea Room, 1 p.m."

- All right, now. Come on. Get going.

- All right, children. Come on.

And if it isn't news,

you needn't bother coming back.

- Clever idea?

- We'll go into that later.

Mr. Bostwick, I don't believe

you take us seriously.

My dear Miss Whoosis,

in regard to your supposition...

...I see you're not without perspicacity.

I still haven't been able to find

Mr. Tracy.

Every time I depend upon a reporter,

I'm double... crossed.

Oh, all right,

leave a memo on his desk.

Tell him to hurry over

to the courthouse.

They're holding an inquest

on that woman.

- Yes, sir.

- Yes, sir. Imbecile school children.

Are you satisfied with your assignment,

Miss Drew?

Oh, I think it will do, for a start.

Dr. Carey, please.

Raise your right hand.

Do you swear the testimony you give...

...will be nothing but the truth?

- I do.

Dr. Carey, as autopsy surgeon, you

examined the body of Kate Lambert?

- I did.

- And what did you find?

That Miss Lambert's death was not

caused by heart failure...

...as Dr. Hibbard certified.

Her death was caused by a poison.

Sodium ferranide.

What is sodium ferranide?

It's a chemical used in photography.

Is such a chemical easily obtained?

Oh, no. Only on special order

from the manufacturer.

It's a new agent

not yet on the open market.

In fact, only those who are well

advanced in photography know about it.

Miles Lambert.

Mr. Lambert, you're the first to suspect

your aunt had not met a natural death?

I was.

What aroused your suspicions?

For years, Dr. Hibbard had assured me...

...that my aunt's heart condition

was nothing to worry about.

And when she died so suddenly, I was

naturally very shocked and surprised.

But even so, I didn't suspect anything...

...until I happened to run across a

scientific magazine in my aunt's library.

There was an article, which had

a great deal of significance to me...

...in view of the circumstances.

The article was about sodium ferranide...

...and the portions of it dealing with

the chemical's poisonous properties...

...had been carefully marked in pencil.

To whom does this magazine belong?

It's addressed to Eula Denning.

- Did you mark this article, Miss Denning?

- Well, I...

- I must have

- Why?

I keep a file of all chemicals I work with.

Especially poisonous ones

and their antidotes.

Then you are interested in photography?

Yes.

How familiar are you

with sodium ferranide?

Well, I know something about it.

Miss Denning, what was your

relationship to Kate Lambert?

My mother was her companion

for many years.

After mother died,

Miss Lambert took care of me.

Isn't it true that in Miss Lambert's will,

you were the sole beneficiary?

Yes.

But I didn't kill her.

Why, Kate Lambert

was the best friend I ever had.

She put me through school,

treated me as her own child.

Yet you coerced her into making a will

leaving all her property to you.

- No.

- A will that was made...

...less than a week before her death.

- No. I didn't do it.

Someone must have taken the poison

from the dark room.

Mr. Garrett, if you had the chemical tin,

that would prove I was innocent.

How?

The murderer's fingerprints

would be on it.

- Not if they'd been removed.

- But they couldn't be removed.

If anyone touched that chemical...

...the ferranide would etch the prints

into the metal.

A search has been made

for the poison container.

- It's missing.

- But it must be in the house.

You were the only person connected

with the Lambert household...

...with a knowledge of sodium ferranide.

You were the only one who had access

to her room the night she died.

And the only one who had motive

to commit murder.

I didn't kill her, I tell you.

I didn't. I didn't kill her, I tell you.

That's all.

- What's the verdict?

- The girl's being held for trial. Murder.

What's up, baby?

Something we didn't figure on.

I gotta get out to the Lambert joint

and find a tin can.

- Look out.

- Oh, heavens.

Come back here.

He's gone away. He drove away.

Knocked the bumper off.

What's all this about a tin can?

There's fingerprints on it.

If the cops find it first,

we're gonna be in a jam.

- A jam? How?

- Never mind how.

If Eula Denning isn't set up,

she'll get all that old lady's dough.

Oh, I see.

And if she is set up,

the money goes to Miles Lambert.

Not bad.

- How much do you get?

- Oh, Lambert will take care of me.

I'll have to start being nice

to Mr. Lambert.

Don't you be nice to nobody but me,

lamby pie.

Be careful, baby.

Officer, did a man come in here?

The DA's closed up this joint.

No one can get in here

without a court order.

I'm here to see to that.

Well, the man bumped into my fender

and ran away and...

Oh, a hit and runner?

Yes. And he must be around here

some place.

- It's the only place he could've gone.

- You and I will just take a look around.

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