Suspense Season 5, Episode 20: Vacancy for Death

1

The Old Lady of Bayeux

Cécile Ledru, the companion of a rich widow, Joséphine Crozier, calls the police when she finds her dead body at the estate of her nephew, where they were staying. Mrs. Crozier has apparently died of a heart attack but Maigret, the investigating police inspector is not convinced...

2

Call From a Killer

The tale is about a killer who tries to hide out with his wartime buddy, unaware that the buddy is now a policeman.

3

The Return of Dr. Bourdette

A detective searches for a killer and traces him to a wax museum.

4

Set-Up For Death

Mobster Kip Caley is released from prison after serving ten years and proclaims he's "going straight." His old criminal cronies, however, intend to involve him in a hold-up after breaking his resolve to stay honest. Boss McLean gets him a greeters job at a hotel restaurant where he falls for a woman who works there. Her intention to help Kip by warning the police about the impending robbery put Kip's life on the line.

5

The Beach of Falesa

Wiltshire is the third man sent by a trading company to work on a small Polynesian island; the previous two had strangely died. Upon arriving he encounters his competitor, Case, a man determined to keep the island to himself. Months later after Wiltshire marries a native woman, the natives refuse to trade with him because Case has convinced the superstitious people that the woman is "taboo" and cursed. Wiltshire refuses to leave the island as Case wants and takes him on in the jungle.

6

The Man in the Mirror

Two men look exactly alike. One is the actual criminal and the other the innocent sap who gets nailed.

7

Blue Panther

Detective Ben Shaley has been hired to guard The Blue Panther, a valuable painting on loan to a gallery. During the invitation-only preview, both the painting and the necklace of a society art patron are stolen. The gallery's owner, Drexel Courtney, is willing to pay $15,000 for the painting's safe return. Shaley's attempts to negotiate with the thieves becomes an ordeal beach each is trying to double-cross the other.

8

The Man Who Had Seven Hours

A Hollywood assistant director in a stop-over in Paris is attacked by criminals on the Montmarte.

9

All Hallow's Eve

In 1880s London, Mr. Markheim stabs to death a pawnbroker whose wealth he has long envied. Markheim says he intends take some of the businessman's riches, marry, and become a saintly man. An otherworldly visitor who knows Markheim intimately informs him that he will never change his evil ways and therefore should kill again.

10

The Moving Target

Based on the true story of a Hungarian sharpshooter at the 1952 Olympic Games, this episode focused on an athlete whose father is held as collateral so that the athlete will not try to defect to the west. At the end of the program, a public service announcement for Radio Free Europe is heard.

11

Monsieur Vidocq

A series of thefts at France's national museum threatens to become an international issue. Scotland Yard sends Williams to Paris to request help from the city's renowned, retired police commissioner, Monsieur Vidocq. Vidocq sets up a meeting with a highly-placed criminal who can lead them to the guilty, while also arranging for Williams to be killed when they all meet at a dangerous, seedy bar.

12

The Whispering Killer

A mobster is tripped up by a simple law he overlooks.

13

A Time of Innocence

Middle-aged Henry wants to divorce his London wife, Carol, and return home to America, but she intends to keep all of their savings. After striking up a romance with his young secretary, Henry sends out announcements saying Carol has unexpectedly died on an American trip. A friend of Carol's finds this suspicious and goes to Scotland Yard, forcing Henry and his secretary to hop a boat incognito and head across the Atlantic.

14

The Girl Who Saw Tomorrow

A neurotic woman becomes distressed when she sees her best friend becoming successful.

15

The Tortured Hand

A 19th century nobleman is tortured with pain in his hand, the one he used to commit murder defending his family's honor.

16

The Deadly Lamb

A woman becomes the object of affection between two brothers in this romantic triangle story.

17

The Invisible Killer

Pilot Dan Crowley is grounded by his doctor for his intense behavior. A delusional man who's constantly trying to prove himself, he believes the doctor's daughter should be his, even though she is happily engaged to his boss. When the couple and the doctor go for a hunting trip in the woods, Dan follows and, at night, begins firing on their cabin using a rifle with an infrared scope.

18

Little Camorra

Convinced that she is cursed by an old family vendetta, a woman tries to convince her American fiance of the threat.

19

Mr. Matches

An arsonist-for-hire dubbed "Mr. Matches" has been been torching buildings all around the city. Bernard Frank, head of the fire bureau, knows who he's looking for because he's spotted in the crowd at each of his jobs admiring his work. To catch "Mr. Matches" in the act, the department has an ex-con hire him to take down a building they're monitoring. His capture becomes personal after Frank's son is killed in one of the arsonist's fires.

20

Vacancy for Death

Clara and Sam Warren own a run-down boarding house which acts as a front for their real business: arranging for their boarders to have "accidents." One particular evening, Sam and a partner bring home a renter, knock him out cold and turn on the gas. It finally becomes clear to Clara what type of man her husband really is.

21

Career

A British agent wants to give up her spying in Nazi Germany in this story of espionage.

22

Mutiny Below

After saving the chief engineer's life, Danny and Snow are hired as watch officers on a rusty steamer traveling the Indian Ocean. Reading a newspaper story about a stolen diamond being smuggled into Australia, the boiler room crew becomes convinced that Danny and Snow have the jewel. They stage a mutiny, even though the old ship is about to sink.

23

A Study in Stone

After carefully faking insanity, a sculptor is acquitted of his wife's murder, but he finds nature's justice cannot be circumvented.

24

The Quarry

After preventing a stranger from being shot outside of his hotel, widower Don Ashley realizes why a pair of thugs have been trailing him for days--the goons had the two similar-looking men confused. The man he saved, Gorden, had the misfortune of witnessing a mob hit and they want to silence the only man who saw what they did. With the deadly duo staking out the lobby, Don hides his face and races past the pair. Again mistaking Don for their actual prey, the two give chase. This should give Gorden the chance to contact the police and tell his story.

25

They Haven't Killed Me Yet

An Asian-American agent's life is in jeopardy while attempting to break a powerful protection racket in Chinatown. Based on the work of Gon Sam Mue.

26

The Kiss Off

Tom Walker, an ex-convict who was wrongly convicted and just released, holds up a tax office and leaves behind an obvious clue as to his identity. He gives the bag of money to his patient girlfriend and sends her ahead to Florida saying he'll join her soon. Soon enough, he gets the expected visit from the DA and cop who wrongly convicted him. Tom intends to make fools of his former persecutors.

27

The Legend of Lizzie

The story of accused axe-murderer Lizzie Borden is dramatized.

28

The Black Prophet

Convinced that the sinister "Mad Monk" Rasputin will bring about the fall of Russia with his growing power over the royal family, a group of noblemen take action. Serge Soudekine invites Rasputin to his home and fills the prophet with a enough poisoned wine and cakes to kill twenty men. This succeeds only in making him tipsy. In desperation, Serge pulls out his gun and fires repeatedly. That should put an end to the madman.

29

Portrait of Constance

A newlywed accompanies her detective husband on the search for a long-missing woman, whom he once was madly in love with. A reported sighting takes Burt and Sally Hastings to a resort town where a bust of Constance awaits them in their cabin. As Burt races to see the sculptor, Sally realizes her husband's still mesmerized by the young lady. The artist confesses that the model was indeed Constance, his wife, and that he jealously murdered her.

30

Death in the Cave

The tale of two adventurers trapped by an earthquake in a vast underground cavern.

31

Kiss Me Again, Stranger

A serial killer is on the loose in 1946 London with five victims so far. Elderly Mrs. Thompson rents a room to a secretive young Tim Matthews and is convinced he's the murderer. She calls police after discovering a knife in his room. Meanwhile, Tim has taken a young woman he's obsessed with on a picnic in the country. Having been discharged from the Royal Air Force for physical reasons, he's insanely jealous of her former boyfriend, a strapping man who had served during the war.

32

The Duel

Madeleine does not care for Raoul, the officer her father intends for her to marry. Instead, she loves Lt. Andre Duport. Her father intends to send her back to Paris and put a stop to their affair. The jilted Raoul challenges Andre to an unusual duel--only one of the pistols will be loaded and each aimed just three inches from the heart. When the time comes to prove he's more than just words, Raoul proves to be a crafty coward.

33

F.O.B. Vienna

Lawrence Stevens, an American engineer, accompanies a shipment of lathes to an electrical factory in Vienna. A female reporter tells him about the huge black market for industrial machinery from the West. Corrupt businessmen are only too happy to sell products to the Communists and that his lathes are heading behind the iron Curtain to Poland.

34

The Suitor

A lonely widow lives on a farm where weird and baffling mysteries are occurring.

35

Death of an Editor

A militant editor's death is plotted and carried out by foreign agents.

36

Come into My Parlor

A man becomes involved with a teenage gang.

37

The Adventure of the Black Baronet

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are called upon to solve the case of Colonel Jocelyn Dalcy, who was found stabbed to death while visiting at the home of Sir Reginald Lavington.

38

The Queen's Ring

The story is based on an experience in the life of Elizabeth I.

39

The Man Who Cried Wolf

An attaché working at the Russian embassy in Mexico is about to be called home for becoming too friendly with the freedom-loving locals. In exchange for asylum, he frantically tries to interest a newspaper and the Justice Department in papers showing a communist conspiracy involving some in the Mexican government. No one believes him because of the propaganda he tried to peddle them the year before.

40

See No Evil

A night club singer helps a gang plan a robbery, believing their promise not to harm the night watchman, her father.

41

The Signal Man

A demented railroad signalman is tortured by fears that he is responsible for a series of train wrecks.

42

The Fury of Senorita Gomez

A highborn lady in the 19th century of Peru plots with her stableman to murder her uncle.

43

The Mascot

An American correspondent risks his life to secretly record a candid interview with an army deserter, exposing his evil plan to become dictator of a Mediterranean Island.

44

The Dutch Schultz Story

True story of the notorious gangster Dutch Schultz who became kingpin of the underworld, only to be knocked from his throne by blazing guns in a New Jersey tavern.

45

Pigeon in the Cage

A drama of frustrated lovers caught in a web of crime and deceit.

46

The Dance

Joan Hale first sees the Charleston performed at a society party on a visit to the South. During her stay, she and Charlie fall in love despite his engagement to the scheming Marie. Gunshots interrupt the dance and Marie is found upstairs--murdered. Though Charlie is the prime suspect, several others has ample motivation to pull the trigger.

47

Vial of Death

A deadly vial of cholera is stolen from a doctor's medical bag.

48

Point Blank

When a gang leader tries to burn his bridges behind him the backfires get awfully, warm.

49

Nightmare at Ground Zero

The Nevada Proving Ground is set for another nuclear bomb blast at 4 AM. A harried artist is rushing to finish the mannequins he's been hired to construct that will populate a house at ground zero. His nagging wife, who does nothing but complain about his work, finally pushes him over the edge. As contracted, he delivers five "people" to the house that's about to be destroyed.

50

Death in Passing

A tale of murder on Manila's waterfront and an island detective with one of the most puzzling cases of his career.