Sometimes the tales on "Afred Hitchcock Presents" seem to have been drawn from the back of some neglected drawer, the dust blown off the manuscript, and the story given to some writer with the instructions to "add a trick ending." This one is different, an improvement. The Big Reveal is built into the narrative from nearly the beginning.
Steve Forrest is in love with Joanna Moore. Fortunately for the two of them, hubby drops dead of a heart attack and is safely put under the ground. Forrest marries Moore but they're beset by money problems.
Than, out of the blue, it develops that the dead husband bought the winning ticket to the Irish Sweepstakes. All the couple needs to do to collect the loot is turn over the ticket. But -- where the hell is it? It doesn't seem to have been among his things. They tear the house apart looking for it but don't find it. Hubby wouldn't have thrown it away and he couldn't sell it, so it must be somewhere. The deductive process leads them to conclude that the ticket is in the pocket of the suit hubby was buried in.
The only solution is to talk the Cemetery Owner into digging up the body so the missing ticket can be retrieved. But Forrest balks at the idea. He finds it disgusting and immoral but they need the money and he can't talk Moore out of it.
The body is duly exhumed, the ticket obtained, and a second, more thorough autopsy reveals that hubby had been poisoned by someone who could only have been Forrest. No wonder he was suddenly stricken with morality. Moore get the moolah and Forrest gets what he -- so richly -- deserves.
The story is nicely organized and tautly written.
Steve Forrest is in love with Joanna Moore. Fortunately for the two of them, hubby drops dead of a heart attack and is safely put under the ground. Forrest marries Moore but they're beset by money problems.
Than, out of the blue, it develops that the dead husband bought the winning ticket to the Irish Sweepstakes. All the couple needs to do to collect the loot is turn over the ticket. But -- where the hell is it? It doesn't seem to have been among his things. They tear the house apart looking for it but don't find it. Hubby wouldn't have thrown it away and he couldn't sell it, so it must be somewhere. The deductive process leads them to conclude that the ticket is in the pocket of the suit hubby was buried in.
The only solution is to talk the Cemetery Owner into digging up the body so the missing ticket can be retrieved. But Forrest balks at the idea. He finds it disgusting and immoral but they need the money and he can't talk Moore out of it.
The body is duly exhumed, the ticket obtained, and a second, more thorough autopsy reveals that hubby had been poisoned by someone who could only have been Forrest. No wonder he was suddenly stricken with morality. Moore get the moolah and Forrest gets what he -- so richly -- deserves.
The story is nicely organized and tautly written.