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Private Notes
An up-and-coming actress dies while surfing, apparently from an obscure medieval poison. But how was it administered? When Burke is faced with an unfamiliar milieu, he sends Tim undercover as a surfer. The victim's grasping mother, a famous novelist, the one-armed owner of a beachfront bar, not one but two bikini-clad young women, and the owner of a surf shop, who had been having an affair with the victim, all come under suspicion. A speargun shoots a little too close to home before the killer is finally uncovered.
The burlesque comedy team of Witt, Watt and Who (now an accountant, a desk clerk and a bartender with a dark secret), a professor of the striptease, a tap dancer, the manager of a hotel for showfolk, a unicyclist - any one of them may have ""killed vaudeville"", but one of them certainly poisoned baggy pants clown Rags McGuire, who was about to be featured in an event at the Hollywood Bowl. But why was Rags killed? He only left a few small bequests and an old battered trunk that no one seems to want. But was that really all? Burke corners the killer at the Hollywood Bowl and almost brings the house down.
After Cassandra Cass is shot in her bed (by a mysterious hooded figure) while her butler draws her bath, it is revealed that she has been blackmailing subscribers to her society Blue Book. One after another of the suspects (a deposed Balkan King, a banker, a drugged out socialite and the head of a ""psychodrama"" society) more or less confesses to the crime, but each of their descriptions of the event varies slightly from the known facts. Meanwhile, Les keeps insisting that ""the butler did it"". With the help of Cassandra's sexy secretary and a health fanatic, Burke concocts a plan to trap the real killer.
A sniper kills the head of a model agency during a fashionable lawn party. The suspects include the victim's business partner, his disc jockey brother, one of his top models and her estranged husband. During the course of the investigation, the model accuses Tim of being a dirty cop and having provided inside information as part of an extortion plot. Burke has no choice but to suspend Tim and, when there is another killing and Tim has no alibi, Burke has to work fast before Tim is arrested for murder.
A showgirl jumps out of a cake at a stag party, only to discover all the guests dead. Each of the four wealthy men had a wife who had good reason to murder her own husband (one husband was abusive, one a ""weakling"", one was vulgar and unappreciative, and one an animal hater), but who would want to kill all four? Or could the killer be the stuffy country club secretary, who wanted the four men banned from the club and was in love with one of the not-so-grieving widows? And how to get rid of the showgirl, who insists that Burke and Tim take care of her?
Burke goes cowboy at a tourist-style Old West town, after the hanging of Emerson Cartwheel at a coin auction. The clue is a valuable rare coin used to kill the victim, but before Burke can investigate, he's tossed in the hoosegow by the local honorary (and very lovely) female sheriff of Epitaph Flats. After a dramatic jail break, with an assist from Henry, Burke and his crew question the town drunk, one of the ""gunslingers"" in the Wild West tourist show, the victim's business rival, the lady blacksmith and a very Brooklynese ""Native American"". Soon real bullets start flying and the whole case ends in a barroom free-for-all.
A hotel tycoon is electrocuted while climbing out of his swimming pool. A scrap of plaid cloth from a coat lining and a St. Christopher's medal are Burke's clues as he investigates the passengers on a round-the-world flight the tycoon was planning, including the lovely tour guide, a presidential candidate, the victim's drunken ex-mistress, a high-powered wheelerdealer and a fleeing embezzler. Just to make matters worse, Tim is attacked and kidnapped by a huge man and Burke is told that unless he lets the flight continue as planned, Tim will die.
Wealthy Lenore is blown away by a shotgun blast while sailing on a barge in her pool, dressed as Cleopatra, and is discovered by one of the men she has befriended from the local mission. Wealthy after several marriages, but coming from hillbilly stock, the victim was planning to change her will. Was the killer her only surviving ex-husband, her sexually repressed sister, her favorite cousin or his ""down-home"" girlfriend, or the shady rival businessman who's planning on marrying off his daughter to the victim's heir? A whole flock of chickens provide a vital clue.
A sniper fires through the window of the suite of the richest man in the world, who is planning on selling an oil lease to one of several bidders, each of whom was an expert marksman. Burke is informed that the bullet missed its intended target and killed, instead, the multimillionaire's personal bookkeeper. The tycoon constantly berates Burke for not having solved the crime to his satisfaction and insists on sending his staff along on the interviews with the suspects. After a bomb attempt again fails to kill the tycoon, Burke is almost shot by the sniper, who runs and falls to his death. Who hired him? - the Texan, the big game hunter, or the crazy brothers?
The lead singer in a sister trio act is poisoned. Both the surviving sisters hated the victim, but others had motive as well: the nightclub owner, the trio's former arranger, the girls' agent, their stepfather, and a real estate agent who had been involved with two of the sisters. After one of the suspects is attacked and brutally beaten, Tim is nearly run down by a speeding car and another suspect is murdered. Burke finally discovers the solution to the crime at a sanitorium.
Merlin the Great's famous escape-from-a-coffin trick backfires when it is discovered that he has been shot while ""buried"" in a hotel pool - but how was it done? and which of the rival magicians has a deadly trick up their sleeve? The only clues are a feather found on the body and the grave of someone named ""Miriam"". Whodunit? Was it the lovely magician's assistant, the escape artist, the fortune teller, the hotel doctor, the ventriloquist or the knife thrower? A phony seance exposes the real culprit.
This victim was scheduled to go before a grand jury but was slain in a hotel elevator before he could testify. The solution to the crime must be in his hotel room, 711, but in order to solve the case, Burke goes undercover as a maitre d'. Tim and Les, meanwhile, are recruited as waiters, much to the dismay of the hotel manager. All the clues seem to point directly to the victim's befuddled bookkeeper, but this may be a frame-up. The others who have been subpoenaed, and who have good reason to want the victim dead, include a businesswoman with a fiery temper, the victim's attorney, his sexy assistant, and a shady rival businessman. Burke just narrowly misses being shot in a dark alley as he finds the clue that solves it all.
The five greatest detectives in the world become murder suspects when Police Chief Gaynor is murdered in a locked room right under the noses of his bodyguards - Tim and Les. As if that isn't bad enough, a huge diamond, belonging to one of the detectives, is stolen at the same time. Rather than solving the case, each of the detectives (the sexy Russian commissar, the head of the Surete, the chief of Scotland Yard, the Tokyo police official, and the arrogant amateur) seems to do everything possible to make Burke's job even more difficult. Even after recovering the missing gem, he is no closer to the solution. Inviting all the suspects to his home, Burke plans to unmask the killer, but first finds Henry's body slumped over the desk, a crimson stain spreading across his shirtfront!
Someone seems to be systematically killing a group of individuals on a list. One name on the list - Amos Burke. What is the connection between these people? One possible suspect (who's name also appears on the list) is badly beaten, and Burke finally discovers that the solution comes from a case many years ago when he was just starting out on the police force. Can he trap the killer before he becomes the next victim? After one attempt on his life fails, Burke is kidnapped, but leaves his phone line open to the station so that Les and Tim can track where he's being taken. The case ends with a fight in an abandoned mine shaft.
A shipping tycoon's corpse is discovered draped over his yacht's anchor when it is hoisted out of the water. The tycoon's intended merger would ruin several of the guests on his current cruise. A large earring is a major clue - did it belong to the victim's brother (a gypsy king), or the maharanee, or perhaps to the ship's sexy radio operator? Or was the killer the rival shipping magnate, the boozy hanger-on, or his ever-so-pleasant PR man? When Burke finally realizes the importance of whose stateroom was where and how much alcohol was drunk on the night of the fatal party, he knows who the killer is.
A famous wrestler is slain during a charity match and the killer is one of five people seated in the ""Gold Row"": the victim's sister (who has a split personality), his wrestling rival, a fashionable socialite, a ""method"" sportswriter, and a very wealthy old lady with a strong affinity for wrestling violence. The weapon? - a poisoned dart. How was the murder committed without the killer being seen? After watching a tape of the event, over and over, he's not sure if he hasn't seen footage of the actual killing. Burke ultimately traps the killer into confessing by claiming to have found the murderer's ""lip prints"" on the murder ""weapon"".
The beloved author of a series of children's books is strangled with her typewriter ribbon. Burke determines that the victim meant to leave a clue by pointing to a page in a book of nursery rhymes. But who does the clue lead to: the childrens' TV show hostess, the victim's secretary, the beat poet, the child psychiatrist, or the victim's publisher? When Henry is kidnapped by one of the suspects, the stakes go higher. When Burke finally deciphers the clue, he traps the killer using doctored videotapes recorded by the victim.
Granny Grabber, the not-so-nice head of a toy firm, is blown sky high by a bomb placed in his giant toy soldier cigar lighter. The killer had to be one of five people who were photographed coming into his office that day (Granny was paranoid about industrial espionage). The victim's sultry secretary, the company's military adviser on all war toys, an aeronautical scientist, a ""James Bond"" wannabe, and the head of a school for juvenile delinquents all come under suspicion. When one of the suspects discovers a vital clue and is murdered, Burke discovers that Granny had plans to make millions by NOT producing a toy!
Why would anyone kill sweet old Rosie Sunset, who sold maps to the movie stars homes? An heiress who was seen giving Rosie a ride, Rosie's neighbor (a Russian sculptor with a sexy sister, whose work mysteriously has appeared in Rosie's apartment), a neurotic, workaholic printer on the ground floor of Rosie's building, an accordion player (who suddenly disappears after being questioned), and Rosie's estranged step-son (who needed Rosie's money for his florist business) - all fall under suspicion. The solution lies in Rosie's past hospitalization and her late husband's ""hobby"".
An ace shot by a tennis star blows up in his face at a charity event, after one of his tennis balls has been loaded with explosives. Burke scours the local country club for clues while trying to avoid the ""help"" of an eager ball boy, who claims he can solve the case for Burke. The victim's pessimistic manager, his fiancee and her jealous sister (a dentist), his ex-wife, and a tennis rival all had access to the club room and could have tampered with the equipment. Finally, a nightclub singer who knew the victim well gives Tim some valuable information. When Burke figures out the relevance of a casual bit of trivia, he corners the killer, who still has a few ""bomb balls"" to spare. The case comes to an explosive finish.
A big business wheeler-dealer, formerly part of a carny consortium, meets his end after injesting cyanide - but he didn't eat or drink anything that had been tampered with. The suspects all formerly worked with the victim in the carnival racket and are now heads of powerful companies: a health club president, a fitness tonic manufacturer, the producer of fancy lingerie and the head of a think tank. Only one of the old gang hasn't made it big and now runs a local merry-go-round. When Les almost dies of cyanide as well, Burke discovers the murder weapon in an unlikely spot. He then turns the tables on one of the carny con artists and nails the killer.
Cowboy movie star Clayton Steele is grand marshall at the rodeo, but in the final parade, he rides into the arena, already dead, his neck broken. Burke questions his megalomaniac rival, his former stunt man, his ""Indian"" sidekick, a sexy veterinarian, and a vindictive lady bronc buster, in order to find out who sent Steele to that Great Corral in the Sky. A well-trained horse provides a vital clue. Before he can arrest the killer, Burke almost has his own neck snapped!
At Raff's International Circus, 13 clowns pile into a tiny car, but only 12 come out alive. The thirteenth has been skewered. It turns out that he had been blackmailing several members of the circus troupe. Was the killer a fellow clown or, maybe, his wife? The circus owner or the performer with the fabulous nose? Or perhaps it was the seductive aerialist? While investigating the three-ring case, Burke performs backflips on a trampoline, comes face to face with a surly lion, and then disguises himself in the victim's clown makeup and outfit to trap the guilty party. After a wild, outrageous chase, the killer is finally cornered.
With Burke out of town, Tim, Les and Sgt. Ames have to discover who is responsible for the murder of a blackmailer found propped among the mannequins in a department store window. Les is intrigued by the store owner's executive secretary, Tim follows the head of ladies' fashion, a race car enthusiast, and Sgt. Ames tracks down a nightclub comic who works days as a bus driver. The owner's son and a shifty sidewalk pitchman also come under suspicion. After the man who found the victim is himself killed, a winning racetrack ticket proves the final clue to the murder.
Burke's vacation south of the border is anything but restful when he is jailed for the murder of a gossip columnist and a popular local fisherman. With the help of his vacation date and the ever-faithful Henry, Burke escapes from prison, but can he outwit the local police chief after all his ID has been stolen? He needs to find out whether the killer is the Nazi, the anthropologist turned voodoo priestess, the novelist, or the sexy sailor gal, before the angry mob catches up with him. When one of the locals is poisoned, Burke knows who the killer is.
Burke's mentor is slain in a dark alley. His killer may be a suspect from one of his former cases who got off, but who was actually guilty. But why would Officer Robin confront the killer without backup? Can Burke decide which (if any) suspect previously accused of a crime (possession of narcotics, assault with a deadly weapon, murder, blackmail and smuggling) is Cop Robin's killer? Burke discovers that the victim was already dying and was trying to prevent another crime from being committed by forcing the criminal to get caught for his murder.
Author Graham Tree is poisoned at a party celebrating the publication of his new book. Tree miraculously survives and now it is Burke's job to find the killer before there is a second - successful - attempt on Tree's life. But Tree refuses to talk. His books, however, have created several notable enemies. Burke, in disguise, tricks the victim into revealing information that leads him to the killer. Was it the playboy, the polo player, the ruined oil man, Tree's publisher, or his socialite former flame? The would-be killer strikes again - will Burke get there in time?
Burke attends the opening night of ""Hamlet"" and later discovers that someone has arranged for the star, Roland Trivers, NOT ""to be"". The suspects include the arrogant director, the actress playing Gertrude, ""Polonius"" (who is in the process of rewriting all of Shakespeare's plays), the stage manager, and a surly Method actor who is chasing the current Ophelia (now missing). The plot darkens when the story of the death of the previous Ophelia is discovered. After yet another murder, Burke takes over a role in the production and puts himself at risk of being run through in order to trap the killer.
When a wealthy physician is shot, his wife disappears. It seems she has a habit of running away when things get tough. Is she the murderer or another victim? Burke finds out more about her unhappy history from her sister at an amusement park, tracks the missing woman's past through a gambling casino, a lonely hearts club, and a waterfront dive. The other men in her life (also possible suspects in the case) include a ship's cook, a con artist ""hypnotist"" and an ex-jockey. An anonymous note proves to be the clue that reveals who the real murderer is. Burke arrives just in time to prevent another murder.
When a wealthy banker is found murdered in a seedy hotel, it becomes a race to see who will catch the killer first - Burke or glamorous private eye Honey West, who had been hired by the victim. The banker had been planning on skipping the country with a huge amount of cash, now missing, along with his gun. Was his wife, the sleazy yacht owner she was involved with, the dead man's attorney, his very ""faithful"" secretary, or a local scuba diver in on the deal? Which was the killer? Will Burke or Honey figure out the crime first - and will they survive (one suspect already has been murdered!)?
Pianist Artur Bachner's concert ends with a bang when his piano explodes, killing him. Anyone could have tampered with it during the backstage party before the concert - his abused ex-wife, a rival concert pianist, his personal manager, his horror movie star brother, or the woman he had been pursuing (now a ""Bunny Mother"" at a local Playboy-like club). Les, Tim and Sgt. Ames each have their own favorite suspect, but Burke's feisty Uncle Patrick, over from Ireland for a visit, helps solve the case (while getting cozy with Burke's date). The secret to solving the case is in the fact that the piece the victim was playing had been written so he was literally the only one in the world who could play it.
The head of a greeting card firm was killed, but not by the arrow protruding from his body. It was slow, methodical arsenic poisoning. His flirtatious teenage assistant takes a shine to Burke, but he's afraid she may be the prime suspect. If not, there are several others to choose from: the victim's ambitious successor, the mousy psychologist and his domineering wife, or the jingle writer. Burke's intentions are misunderstood and he comes close to being a second victim. The series ends with the whole cast of regulars involved in a big musical production number (of dubious artistic merit).
