Mystery Street

Brassy Vivian Heldon Jan Sterling phones the married man she has been dating and tells him she’s “in trouble.” When he fails to show up at the Boston bar where she works, she drags along drunk Henry Shanway Marshall Thompson to drive his car toward Cape Cod and confront the man. Realizing they’ve wandered about sixty miles from Boston, Shanway asks to turn back, but Vivian dumps him and keeps the car. She then meets her reluctant beau, James Harkley Edmon Ryan, who shoots Vivian, buries her in the dunes, and sinks the car in a pond.

Shanway reports the car stolen, but claims it had been parked by the hospital where his wife Grace Shanway Sally Forrest is recovering from a miscarriage. Months later a skeleton is found on the beach, and Massachusetts State Police Detective Peter Moralas Ricardo Montalban is assigned to the case. Dr. McAdoo Bruce Bennett, a forensics specialist at Harvard Medical School, analyzes the skeleton and helps identify Vivian. The trail leads to Vivian’s friend and housemate Jackie Elcott Betsy Blair, who had reported her missing.

Instead of aiding the investigation, Mrs. Smerrling Elsa Lanchester, Vivian’s conniving landlady, tracks down Harkley herself. He denies knowing Vivian and rebuffs Smerrling’s blackmail attempts, but she manages to steal his gun. Shanway’s car is recovered and he is identified by witnesses who saw him with Vivian the night she was killed. Smerrling remains tight-lipped about Harkley or the gun, and the innocent Shanway is charged with murder.

Smerrling is ready to stash the gun in a bag for safekeeping at a train station, but Jackie Elcott sees the weapon and reports it to Moralas. Smerrling tries to blackmail Harkley again, but he threatens to kill her, prompting her to reveal where the gun can be found. They are interrupted by Mrs. Shanway; Harkley panics, knocks out Smerrling, and flees as Moralas arrives on the scene. Smerrling dies, but Moralas locates her baggage claim check, and Harkley is arrested at the train station after a tense foot chase, while Shanway is exonerated.

Last Updated: October 09, 2025 at 10:44