The Saint Strikes Back (1939) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

The Saint intervened to prevent an assassination. During a New Year's party, he spotted one of Valerie Travers' agents preparing to shoot someone and fired first at the stroke of midnight, killing the would-be assassin before he could carry out the murder. This heroic act drew police attention to the Saint, setting the entire investigation in motion.

• saint
• new year's party
• agent
• shooting
• valerie travers

Inspector Travers, Valerie's father, was a police inspector who had efficiently done his job and drawn the attention of the criminal mastermind Waldeman. When a large sum of money was discovered in his safe deposit box, he was fired on suspicion of working for Waldeman. Faced with false accusations and the destruction of his career, he chose to take his own life rather than live under the cloud of corruption.

• valerie travers
• father
• suicide
• police inspector
• false accusation
• waldeman

Waldeman is the shadowy criminal mastermind behind the conspiracy that destroyed Inspector Travers. He operated through a network of corrupted individuals, using the seemingly irreproachable philanthropist Martin Eastman as a front for his operations. Waldeman orchestrated the frame-up of Valerie's father and controlled various criminal activities throughout the city, including the original robbery whose stolen money was later traced.

• waldeman
• criminal mastermind
• martin eastman
• crime network
• conspiracy

Fernack grew suspicious because the Saint operated outside the law while possessing extensive knowledge of Waldeman's criminal network. The Saint's mysterious methods, his ability to move freely among criminals, and his reluctance to fully explain his motives led Fernack to wonder if the Saint might actually be Waldeman himself, using his reputation as a cover. This suspicion created tension between them throughout the investigation.

• fernack
• saint
• waldeman
• suspicion
• disguise

The Saint and the burglar Pinky Budd stole a large sum from Eastman's safe, and the serial numbers on the bills matched those from Waldeman's earlier robbery. This proved that Eastman's apparent charitable generosity was funded by criminal proceeds, exposing him as Waldeman's front man. The money served as the crucial evidence linking Eastman to Waldeman's crime network.

• money
• eastman
• serial numbers
• waldeman
• robbery
• evidence

The Saint orchestrated the heist of Eastman's safe to obtain the stolen money with matching serial numbers. When Eastman contacted Cullis instead of going to the police, it revealed Cullis was working for Waldeman. The Saint then replaced the stolen money in Eastman's safe, ensuring Eastman would be exposed when the money was discovered, and Eastman was killed while trying to flee.

• eastman
• waldeman
• front
• expose
• heist
• cullis

The Saint replaced the stolen money to complete the trap against Waldeman and his associates. By putting the money back, he ensured that when Eastman was caught with the marked bills, it would definitively prove Eastman's connection to the criminal network. This bold gambit allowed the police to expose the entire operation while keeping the Saint's allies safe.

• saint
• money
• replace
• eastman
• trap
• expose

Cullis was the criminologist working with the police who was secretly on Waldeman's payroll. During the trap at his apartment, Valerie forced him to admit that he had framed her father for the crimes, accepting money from Waldeman in exchange for ensuring the false corruption charges would stick. This confession finally cleared her father's name.

Foreshadowing: Cullis's resistance to the Saint's involvement and his secret communication with Eastman hinted at his corruption from early in the investigation.

• cullis
• frame
• valerie's father
• confession
• corruption
• waldeman

The Saint was convinced of Inspector Travers' innocence and felt compelled to help restore his reputation. Despite initial hostility from Valerie regarding his motives, he vowed to assist her in her dangerous quest for justice. His motivation stemmed from a sense of fairness and his willingness to take on dangerous challenges that the police couldn't handle.

• saint
• valerie
• father
• clear name
• justice
• help

The Saint and Valerie lured Cullis to his own apartment, which the police had secretly wired as part of the trap. When Cullis arrived, Valerie tricked him into confessing that he had framed her father. At that moment, Waldeman confronted the Saint in the kitchen, but Fernack arrived just in time to shoot Waldeman dead, ending the conspiracy. Cullis was then arrested.

• police
• trap
• waldeman
• cullis
• confess
• arrest
• fernack