Murder Needs a Name / Murder Needs a Face

MURDER NEEDS A NAME

The radio show has ended for the day, and the actors and writers are out for dinner, including their sponsor, Abner Ridenour. After the dinner breaks up, Jane and Abner announce their intention of eloping, so Catherine offers them her cottage for their honeymoon. Which doesn't sit well with Daudette, who still holds a torch for Abner. Or young John Severence, their announcer, who feels the same way about Jane. That night, Jane disappears. And the next day, Daudette is found murdered. Lt. Gridley Nelson has a large cast of suspects for the latter, and a nagging suspicion that the two crimes are somehow connected. But who is this Daudette, she of the phony French accent... and what has happened to Jane?

MURDER NEEDS A FACE

An unidentified man is found dead in the Greenhedge courtyard, killed by a blow to the head from a bottle. Franca is wracked with guilt because that night she had thrown a milk bottle out of the window to chase away a yowling cat. But Lt. Gridley Nelson figures that this is a case of murder. The group of apartment dwellers are a close-knit group, however, and try to block his attempt to get a straight answer, much less the name of the victim. The reticent renters include the Murtees-a browbeat husband and his raucous wife. The Coopers-a blind father and his over-protective nightclub singing daughter. Mr. Curtis, the love-sick manager. And a rather seedy couple, Vinnie & Myrtle Booth. Someone here knows something about the mysterious body, but this group would rather die than talk.