Originally Aired: January 24, 1956
Johnny Dollar #312, "The Duke Red Matter Ep 2,"
Johnny Dollar continues his investigation into the death of the racehorse Duke Red, and things are starting to look suspicious. After sending injury reports to Cleveland for verification, Johnny visits the Abbott breeding farm to question owner Seamster Abbott directly. Upon arrival, he witnesses a heated argument between Abbott and his daughter Terry, who seems deeply upset about the horse's destruction. When Johnny finally speaks with Terry, she makes a shocking claim: Duke Red shouldn't have been shot, and his death was like murder. She insists the horse was the only valuable animal on the ranch and hints that the injury reports may not tell the whole story.
When Abbott appears, tension escalates quickly. He's defensive about Johnny's investigation methods and angry that Johnny spoke to veterinarian Dr. Gorey before coming to him. Abbott accuses Johnny of sneaking around and questions why the insurance company sent him at all. As Abbott grows increasingly hostile about Johnny's inquiries into the accident details, his behavior raises more red flags. With Terry's explosive accusations, the fired office manager Monroe's hasty claim filing, and Abbott's evasive attitude all pointing toward something deeper, Johnny realizes this case is far from straightforward.

Originally Aired: January 23, 1956
Johnny Dollar #311, "The Duke Red Matter Ep 1,"
Johnny Dollar travels to San Pietro, California, to investigate a $65,000 insurance claim on Duke Red, a valuable racehorse allegedly injured and destroyed. Upon arrival, he encounters immediate complications: Mr. Abbott, the horse's owner, is unavailable, and his business manager Monroe, who filed the claim just days earlier, has mysteriously left town without a forwarding address. A nervous secretary named Judy stonewalls Johnny's questions about Monroe's sudden departure.
When Johnny visits Dr. James Gorey, the veterinarian who treated Duke Red, the case grows more suspicious. Gorey claims the horse suffered catastrophic injuries from backing into a tractor and had to be destroyed immediately, but Johnny discovers troubling gaps in the story. No photographs or x-rays were taken of the injuries, no other witnesses were present except Abbott himself, and the carcass was cremated the same night. With no physical evidence to verify the claim and a defensive veterinarian refusing to answer questions about his thirty-year reputation, Johnny realizes this straightforward insurance claim may be hiding something far more sinister.

Originally Aired: January 20, 1956
Johnny Dollar #310, "The Ricardo Amerigo Matter Ep 5,"
Johnny Dollar has discovered two identical violins in violin maker Eric Snowden's shop, one supposedly the genuine $30,000 Amati insured violin belonging to the late concert violinist Ricardo Amerigo, whose car was found in a South Jersey swamp with a sawed-through steering arm. After switching the violins in Snowden's cabinet with the one from the swamp, Johnny uses violinist Jerry Goldsmith to test which instrument is authentic. When Johnny narrowly dodges a flower pot that falls from Snowden's third-floor window, he realizes the danger he's in and alerts insurance man Harry Branson and the police.
Returning to Snowden's shop, Johnny confronts the violin maker with his discovery. The genuine Amati is not the one from the swamp, but rather the copy Snowden had hidden in his cabinet. As the police arrive, Snowden admits he created an identical copy of the priceless Amati, claiming the loss of such a magnificent instrument would have been unthinkable. But Johnny suspects Snowden's involvement goes deeper, potentially connecting him to Ricardo Amerigo's murder.

Originally Aired: January 19, 1956
Johnny Dollar #309, "The Ricardo Amerigo Matter Ep 4,"
Johnny continues his investigation into the death of violinist Ricardo Amerigo by visiting the bars where the alcoholic musician spent his final months. The story is always the same: Amerigo drank alone until one of his few remaining friends—agent Pete Corbyn, saxophonist Willie Elliott, fiddler Jerry Goldsmith, or violin maker Eric Snowden—would arrive to drag him away. Dollar confirms that these four men were Amerigo's only associates, all deeply concerned about his deteriorating condition.
When Johnny brings the recovered Amati violin to Jerry Goldsmith for identification, something troubling emerges. Goldsmith confirms it's definitely Amerigo's instrument, but insists something is terribly wrong. Despite no visible damage, the violin's legendary tone and brilliance have vanished. Puzzled and suspicious, Johnny heads to violin maker Eric Snowden's shop on Eisminger Street, the only man allowed to work on Amerigo's prized Amati, hoping Snowden can solve the mystery of what happened to the instrument.

Originally Aired: January 18, 1956
Johnny Dollar #308, "The Ricardo Amerigo Matter Ep 3,"
Johnny Dollar faces mounting pressure from all sides as his investigation deepens. After retrieving what he believes to be Ricardo Amerigo's priceless Amati violin from a South Jersey swamp, Dollar brings it to Harry Branson at Philadelphia Mutual for authentication. When the supposed expert Foresto Sherniero confirms its authenticity based on little more than a label visible through the F-hole, Dollar grows suspicious. A conversation with a hotel orchestra musician reveals that thousands of violin forgeries exist, leading Dollar to question whether the instrument is genuine and why it was left in the swamp with a piece of Amerigo's monogrammed shirt.
Dollar confronts booking agent Peter Corbin, who claims he was also searching the swamp for clues about his client's disappearance. Corbin insists he's innocent, pointing out that as both insurance beneficiary and executor of Amerigo's estate, he would have no reason to abandon a thirty thousand dollar violin. But when Dollar reveals that someone deliberately sawed through the steering mechanism of Amerigo's car, the case transforms from a suspicious accident into something far more sinister.

Originally Aired: January 17, 1956
Johnny Dollar #307, "The Ricardo Amerigo Matter Ep 2,"
Johnny Dollar arrives in Port Morris, New Jersey with retired investigator Ed Bowles, only to learn that Pete Corbin, the prime suspect in Ricardo Amerigo's murder, has mysteriously shown up in town. Sergeant Barney Peters warns that Corbin may be gunning for Johnny. Despite Ed Bowles' certainty that Corbin is their man, having both motive and opportunity as Amarigo's booking agent and insurance beneficiary, Johnny remains skeptical of the seemingly too-easy solution.
While examining the bridge where Amarigo's car plunged into Lucky Ho Creek, Johnny spots what appears to be a violin case caught in the reeds. In a harrowing rescue attempt, he fights through quicksand-like muck to retrieve the thirty-thousand-dollar Ahmadi violin, nearly drowning in the process. The discovery means no insurance payout on the instrument, but Johnny makes an even more disturbing find: a piece of Amarigo's monogrammed shirt with what appear to be bloodstains, suggesting something more sinister than a simple accident.

Originally Aired: January 16, 1956
Johnny Dollar #306, "The Ricardo Amerigo Matter Ep 1,"
Johnny Dollar travels to Philadelphia after insurance executive Harry Branson alerts him to a puzzling case involving a missing concert violinist and his priceless violin. Ricardo Amerigo, once a brilliant performer who graced the world's finest concert halls, has disappeared after his car crashed through a bridge railing and plunged into a river near Port Morris, New Jersey. While authorities recovered the car from the inlet, Amarigo's body and his $30,000 Amati violin remain missing. The case grows more suspicious when Dollar learns that Amerigo's sole beneficiary is Peter Corbin, his own booking agent, who stands to collect on both the life insurance and the violin policy.
Dollar's investigation leads him to Corbin's shabby office, where the agent reveals he bankrolled Amerigo's career and bailed him out of debt after alcoholism destroyed the violinist's reputation. When Dollar suggests the arrangement looks suspiciously convenient, Corbin's violent reaction only deepens the investigator's doubts about whether this is a tragic accident or something far more sinister.

Originally Aired: January 13, 1956
Johnny Dollar #305, "The Todd Matter Ep 5,"
Johnny Dollar recovers in a hospital bed after being shot during a disastrous confrontation at an apartment building. Sergeant Mapes reveals the devastating aftermath: Melva Charles was stabbed to death by her husband William, who then opened fire, killing an innocent bystander named Henderson and wounding several others before Mapes shot him down. William Charles now lies dying in the room directly above Johnny. When Mapes wheels Johnny upstairs, the dying burglar confesses to killing Gloria Tierney after she rejected his marriage proposal and the stolen mink coat he gave her, choosing instead to reunite with her former husband. Charles refuses to reveal where he hid the rest of the stolen Todd jewelry, dying with one final laugh at Johnny's expense.
Three days later, Johnny drags himself out of bed to meet with Mapes at headquarters, where they puzzle over the missing loot. When Mrs. Stromberg, Gloria's landlady, appears with sympathy, Johnny confronts her with a shocking accusation: she introduced Gloria to William Charles and knew all along about the stolen mink coat, deliberately misdirecting Johnny on the night of the murder.

Originally Aired: January 12, 1956
Johnny Dollar #304, "The Todd Matter Ep 4,"
Johnny Dollar continues his investigation into a stolen mink coat that has turned deadly. After Gloria Tierney, the woman found wearing the hot fur, is murdered on the street, Johnny works alongside Sergeant Mapes and the New York police to track down her mysterious boyfriend, Bill Chambers. Gloria's grief-stricken ex-husband, Bill Powers, identifies Chambers from a photograph and reveals that Gloria had promised to remarry him despite Chambers' wealthy advances. As the investigation deepens, police discover that William Chambers is actually William Charles, a career thief with multiple aliases and convictions for car theft.
The manhunt intensifies as Charles desperately tries to raise money, pawning stolen items from the Todd burglary and selling his distinctive black Cadillac. His fingerprints confirm his identity, but he remains elusive despite an all-points bulletin. Just when the trail seems to be cooling, Johnny receives a mysterious phone call from someone claiming to have information about Charles' whereabouts, setting up a clandestine meeting at a Manhattan restaurant that could break the case wide open.

Originally Aired: January 11, 1956
Johnny Dollar #303, "The Todd Matter Ep 3,"
Johnny and Sergeant Dan Mapes rush to Police Emergency Hospital after receiving word about Gloria Tierney, the woman connected to a stolen mink coat worth $11,000 from the Todd burglary. Despite their urgent need to question her, Gloria slips away after only managing to whisper one word: Bill. The name of the man who shot her is all they get before she dies at 3:35 in the afternoon, leaving Johnny with an unexpected sense of loss over a woman he barely knew but who seemed like someone special.
As Johnny and Mapes drown their frustration in terrible whiskey, they begin piecing together Gloria's life. Her apartment yields letters from her father in Riverside, California, and a photograph inscribed "Love Bill." The landlady, Mrs. Stromberg, identifies the man in the photo as Gloria's boyfriend who drove a black Cadillac, but the real breakthrough comes from vital statistics: Gloria was married and divorced from a man named Bill Powers. With a lead finally in hand, Johnny and Mapes head to Powers' address in Westchester County.