The Case of the Envious Editor
Airdate: Saturday, January 07, 1961
Episode 108
Spoiler Alert
This page contains plot information, including
the resolution to the murder.
Enter at your own risk.
Plot
Donald Fletcher is trying to make changes at Aitken publishing. Instead of the plain and boring magazines, he plans to turn all the magazines into sexy rags. Sex sells. Needless to say, other members of the board are not pleased. Fletcher throws a party that evening, where we he meets Milly Nash. Later on, after Fletcher insults his wife, Edmond Aitken hauls off and whacks him one. This kind of breaks up the party. The next day, Aitken has an appointment with Perry. Before this appointment, Perry is talking to Ben Nicholson, publisher of the Pleadese magazine. He is having some problems with his creditors. Aitken then consults with Perry on a way to get back at Fletcher legally for what he is doing to Aitken publishing. Later, Nicholson and Aitken talk, and it's a little obvious that Nicholson has a plan of some kind. That evening, Edmond informs his wife that he plans on fighting Fletcher for control of the company. He asks Alyce for her proxies in the shareholder battle. She tells him that she had just signed them over to Fletcher, which upsets him. He then goes back to the club and talks with Nicholson again. He tells him that he is so enraged, he has murder in his heart. When Perry hears of the murder of Fletcher, he tries to get in touch with Aitken. He talks with Milly, who tells him that she doesn't know where she was. Milly, who is giving Alyce some tranquilizers, reminds her to say that they never left the house the night before - that they were there together. As if on cue, Tragg appears with a warrant from Alyce's arrest. Perry and Paul begin to look into things. There is plenty of circumstantial evidence that points to Alyce. Ben Nicholson gets in touch with Perry, telling him that Edmond is over at his house, and that he felt like killing Fletcher the night before. When questioning Alyce, she refuses to tell Perry the truth. She will not say anything without Milly being present. Paul begins digging, and talks to Lori Stoner. He finds out a lot of things, including the fact that Rudi Tripp knew Alyce in the past, when she was modelling. He recalls that when Alyce was modelling for some "compromising" photos, some man came in and made her leave. Perry assumes that it was Edmond, but Paul finds out that it was Ben Nicholson. When the trial starts, the D. A. begins to lay his case of circumstantial evidence against Alyce. Perry discovers that Lori Stoner remembers seeing some envelopes that were not listed on the evidence that was found in Fletchers office. Perry asks her if she thinks they might have contained blackmail photos. To continue on the subject, Perry asks Wendell Harding if Fletcher had ever blackmailed him. He then begins to bring out the fact that Harding has almost a hundred thousand dollars stashed away in several banks across the country. He continues to discredit Harding's testimony. Ben Nicholson gets on the stand and tells that he had taken Aitken home the night before. He said that Alyce was not in the house at the time. During cross examination, Perry tries to get Nicholson to admit that he had known Alyce in the past. He admits that he was in love with her, and asked her to marry him many times. He expressed a lot of bitterness against Alyce because of the rejection. He also states that he had edited a cheap girlie magazine published by Fletcher at that time. Perry questions Alyce again. She tells him what transpired when she went back to Fletcher's apartment the night of the murder. He finds out a few facts that led Perry on the trail to finding the real killer. Perry begins to ask Milly questions that make Perry believe that Nicholson was mistaken (or lying) about the time he was at the Aitken house that night. He then focuses on the discrepencies that arose when he was talking to Alyce, and claims that it was someone else impersonating Alyce that evening who killed Fletcher. At this point, the inevitable occurs, Lori Stoner breaks down and admits that she killed Fletcher because he had tried to get rid of her.Resolution
 | Alyce Aitken |
 | Donald Fletcher |
 | Lori Stoner |
