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The cases of master criminal defense attorney Perry Mason and his staff who handled the most difficult of cases in the aid of the innocent.
“Almost anyone is capable of a crime under certain circumstances.”
1958
Perry receives a telephone call from George Beaumont, a man who supposedly died in a plane crash nearly three years before, and later ends up actually dead.
Perry has all kinds of troubles in this one when a murder brings him into the tangled financial and personal affairs of the wealthy Balfour family.
Robbers lift a bundle from the Hargrove Finance Company and Frank Anderson is murdered in the aftermath. Anthony "Pop" Renzi is identified as one of the robbers and charged with both the robbery and the murder. Perry sets out to clear him of both charges.
Major Frank Lessing, a payroll officer on an Army base, is found murdered and Sgt. Joseph Dexter is charged with the crime. The case hinges on a payroll robbery committed in the Phillippines years before. It seems as though some of the bills from that robbery were turning up on the base.
Rhoda Reynolds is charged with murdering her blackmailing ex-husband, Arthur Kane. At the trial, Perry moves the proceedings to the room in which Kane was murdered in order to re-enact the fatal night.
Slimy Jack Hardisty embezzles $100,000.00 from his father-in-law, Dr. Blane. The greedy Hardisty then tries to blackmail the good doctor for more. Perry is hired by Dr. Blane to put an end to Hardisty's machinations but before he can swing into action the rogue turns up dead.
A moonlighting school teacher is charged with the murder of a male acquaintence he had taken home after the acquaintence had earlier raised a disturbance at his night job at a cafe.
Jockey Tic Barton is in a mess of trouble. First he's fired when his horse loses a fixed race and then he's charged with murder after confronting Johnny Starr, the man actually responsible for the fix. And, oh yes, Tic's wife was having an affair with the murder victim. It's up to Perry to set things right.
An art collector, Rufus Varner, is told by a reputable art critic that one of his most prized art paintings "The Purple Woman" is a forgery. Varner visits the art dealer from whom he purchased the painting, Milo Girard. Later, Milo Girard is found dead in his office.
Martin Ellis is sent to jail for stealing the sum of $300,000.00. Ellis is later exonerated thanks to evidence discovered by his wife and the real thief, Charles Brewster, is arrested for the theft. Brewster manages to get out of jail on bail but later turns up dead. Ellis is charged with the killing.
The courtroom action in this episode takes place at a coroner's inquest as a parrot holds the key to freeing suspect Ellen Sabin from blame in the murder of her husband.
Sarah Werner asks Perry to find her husband, Hugo Werner, who ran off with her inheritance. Hugo, now using the name Hans Breel, is now working on a gem scam but his scheme backfires when he is murdered and Sarah is charged with the crime.
Eva Martell is hired out of numerous candidates by Melvin Slater to impersonate a woman named Helen Reynolds. Eva is paid extremely well and given a nice apartment to live in with her Aunt Agnes as long as she continues with her impersonation. Both Eva and her aunt suspect a rat and seek Perry's advice. Then Melvin Slater turns up dead in the apartment.
Rollins and Wyatt have discovered a cure for gill fever. As they plan to market the product, they find that Jack Huxley has bought the aquarium business and owns all patents and intellectual property. Huxley is murdered; Wyatt is charged.
Two troubled women, Millie Crest and Fern Driscoll, switch identities. Millie, posing as Fern, stabs shady private eye Carl Davis in the arm in self-defense. Davis then turns up dead from poisoning of the stab wound to his arm. Millie then gets Perry to help her in return for a 38 cent retainer.
A District Attorney is charged with the murder of a chairman of the bids committee to a defectively built hospital whom he is investigating for a series of bribes being passed around.
An heiress to her uncle's fortune is charged with the murder of a female private investigator during a search for her missing uncle.
Charles Goff is an advertising executive who promised comedian Danny Ross he would pitch him for a new show in return for an introduction with the president of a large big-budget advertiser. Danny does his part but learns from Goff's secretary that Goff landed the deal without him. When Charles Goff is found dead in his office the next morning, Danny's friend, Freddie Green, is accused of the murder.
Wealthy Peter Baxter decides to test the loyalty of his heirs. He pretends to change his will cutting them all out and leaving his entire estate to groundskeeper, James Hing. Hing is then supposed to burn down Baxter's house and Baxter would substitute a medical cadaver for his own body. If any of the heirs contested the will, they would be disinherited. Hing does as he is instructed. He burns down the house, but the body discovered inside is really that of Peter Baxter. Perry tries to sort through this muddled mess and arrive at the truth.
Bishop Arthur Mallory is met in his hotel room by Wallace Lang, an associate of a wealthy man named Charles Burroughs. He is warned through physical violence to stop looking for the real granddaughter of Charles Burroughs. Carol Delaney helps the bishop with his wounds and hears an incredible story that she may be the real granddaughter, Janice Burroughs. Carol is invited to meet Charles Burroughs and later the same night he is found dead.
Playwright Ernest Royce is found shot to death in the same manner as a character in one of his unproduced plays. The play dealt with characters very close to real people and the real life murder of a New York underworld figure years before. Perry's client, Frank Brooks, is charged with Royce's murder and Perry must find the missing final act of the play in order to clear Brooks.
Dr. David Craig discovers that tapes of conversations with his psychiatric patients are missing and being used for blackmail purposes. When the suspected thief and blackmailer, Mark Douglas, turns up murdered, the good doctor is charged with the crime.
Evelyn Forbes escapes from a mental institution only to be charged with murder. The key to the case is a dog that continues to howl no matter what.
A building contractor is charged with the murder of a wealthy political Mr.fix-it.
Harry Bright and Chuck Clark were once best friends and business partners until Margaret entered the picture. Margaret was a much younger woman on the make who entranced Chuck into marrying her. When Margaret is found shot to death, Harry is arrested for the crime but the more Perry digs into the victim's past the more convoluted things get.
Matilda Benson is a tough old broad who rules her children with an iron hand and the promises in her will. Her family then gets involved in a gambling scandal involving sinister nightclub owner Danny Barker. When Barker is found dead the scandal expands to include murder.
Martin Selkirk is a major league rotter who wants Claire Allison in the worst way even though she's dating Dirk Benedict. Selkirk has Dirk's jaw broken and begins sending Claire threatening mail. Then Selkirk is murdered in his beach house and Claire is arrested for the crime. Perry takes the case and finds that the evidence points in the direction of Selkirk's five year old son. Or does it?
Young Jimmy Morrow can't seem to catch a break. Already on probation for car theft he's charged with stealing a valuable Spanish cross and killing its owner. Perry feels sorry for the kid and decides to take the case.
Perry returns to his office late one night and finds an attractive woman climbing into his balcony window. She claims to be Virginia Colfax, the secretary of Ed Garvin who has an office next door to Perry's. Ms. Colfax says that she climbed into Perry's office in order to escape from Garvin's hot tempered wife but Perry later learns that Garvin is married to two women. Garvin and second wife Lorrie are sent to Mexico by Perry until he can clear up the matter but when Garvin's first wife, Ethel, is murdered there's an even bigger mess on the scene. And just who in the world is Virginia Colfax, the woman climbing in the window?
Ruth Prescott wants to divorce Walter Prescott so that she can be with her true love, Jimmy MacLaine. After a brush with death, Ruth becomes convinced that Walter is trying to kill her rather than give her the divorce. Walter then turns up dead and the police are convinced that Ruth shot him.
1959
Bruce Chapman returns home early from a business trip to find that his wife, Marie, wants a divorce. Chapman is shocked at this turn of events because just before he left on his trip he thought he had found the strangled body of Marie in his office. But if Marie is still alive, who was the dead woman in the office?
Lorna Thomas is a has-been actress who once gave up her baby for adoption and lived to regret it. George Clark discovers that his wife might be Lorna's long-lost daughter and begins to see dollar signs.
Larry Benton is a hard luck guy. When he gets in an argument in a poker game and knocks Mike Granger out cold, his "friends" inform him that Granger is dead. Unbeknownst to Larry, the entire scenario is a scam to shake him down for money. Ring leader, Johnny Clay, ends up dead.
Mitsuo Kamuri has been seeing a great deal of Grover Nichols, son of wealthy businessman Hudson Nichols. Nichols doesn't approve of his son's relationship, and when Mitsuo is "caught" with a string of valuable pearls belonging to Mrs. Nichols, he agrees to drop all charges provided she stops seeing his son. Things then get even more complicated when Mitsuo's uncle is found murdered.
Wealthy rancher John Brant forecloses on Jo Ann Blanchard's mortgage and takes possession of her prized stallion. Jo Ann goes to Perry for help in getting the horse back but soon needs Perry's aid in getting her off a murder charge she is arrested for killing Brant.
Frank Thatcher is involved in a hit-and-run accident but does not report it. He uses Paul Drake to take care of the aftermath of the incident. Later, Thatcher is found dead in the same apartment with Paul, after he wakes up—and Paul’s accused of the murder.
Richard Vanaman is up for a promotion at his investment firm but is sabotaged and framed for murder.
Wally Dunbar seeks Perry's help in securing ownership of his new summer line of swimwear but the sketches are stolen and worse yet, chief designer Rick Stassi is murdered. Wally's girlfriend, Kitty Wynne, who was being blackmailed by Stassi goes to trial for his murder.
Allen Sheridan has more enemies than you can shake a stick at—and he's due to inherit the healthy sum of $162,000.00. When Allen turns up dead, his cousin Sarette becomes the prime suspect.
Marjorie Cluny wins a contest for best looking legs sponsored by Frank Patton of Stellar Productions. Her prize is a trip to Hollywood and a role in Patton's next picture. Unfortunately, there was fine print in Marjorie's contract and her Hollywood career lasts only two days. Patton is then found stabbed to death with a woodcarving instrument . Marjorie disappears and becomes the leading suspect.
Perry goes on a fishing trip in a small Sierra Nevada town with his old friend, Sheriff Gene Norris but, as usual, manages to get sidetracked into another murder case when Phil Beecher returns from jail.
A double cross, a double murder, a plane crash, missing money, and yet another innocent widow charged with crimes she didn't commit are the elements of this case.
Ben Sutton is listed as the author of a best-selling book describing his experiences in a Korean POW camp. When the real author is released from an Army hospital, Sutton is slain before he can tell the truth and his widow is arrested for the murder.
DA Hamilton Burger asks Perry to defend an old friend who once saved his life in a boating accident ten years before. The old friend of Burger's is now facing a murder charge.
Corporate intrigue is the backdrop of this episode, when embezzling accountant Robert Doniger is murdered and Edward Nelson is charged with his murder.
Charles Houston cleverly gets away with killing his wife by making it look like she died in a car accident. Then a wildlife photographer shows up with the murder on film, and Charles discovers that his sister-in-law has squandered all the profits from his oil well.
Author Mauvis Meade sends her secretary, Gladys Doyle, out to a mountain cabin to pick up a package. Gladys gets lost and her car gets stuck in the mud. She then walks to a cabin looking for help and encounters a mysterious man who appears to know her. While Gladys freshens up, the man leaves and Gladys discovers a dead body.
The Big Barn is a gambling casino run by George Anclitis. Things are going well at the Big Barn, until George's second banana, Slim Marcus, botches a crooked card game and is exposed for cheating. Slim's girlfriend, Vivan Ennis, is then murdered.
Perry arrives in the gold mining town of Placer City looking for an old prospector to subpoena for testimony. He then get involved in a murder case when one of the participants in a barroom fight is found killed and the other is accused of the crime.
A valuable Matisse painting is stolen from a museum. When the thief is found murdered museum employee June Sinclair and her boyfriend David Lambert are charged with the crime.
Mason is sought out by land tycoon Adam Thompson, who suspects one of his nephews of rifling the house safe. The twist? The land tycoon's next in command is found dead, after it's found out that he was the one stealing the secrets.
After one of the biggest names in fashion is poisoned after embarassing her husband on TV, the husband is not rightly the prime suspect.
Commander Jerome Burke is assisting the police in the investigation of the murder of a café singer. Later, Commander James Page is found dead in the captain's quarters of the Navy submarine, MORAY. Robert Chapman, a sailor who was married to the deceased singer, is accused of both murders.
When a notorious bank robber's son returns to his hometown it seems as though everyone is interested in missing loot supposedly hidden by the man's father. This leads to murder. Perry comes to the rescue once again.
James Frazer wants a divorce and his cheating wife refuses to give him one. She's also stealing the plans to his invention in order to bait her engineer lover into staying around. Frazer leaves town for three months in order to cool down, but on the night of his return he finds his wife murdered in his office—and he has the only key to a unique, burglar-proof lock that he invented.
18 year-old Trudy's mother has died leaving her $10 million and suddenly men claiming to be her long-lost father are coming into town. The only one who could identify the real father, a blind uncle, is killed, but by who?
Raymond Burr
Perry Mason
Barbara Hale
Della Street
William Hopper
Paul Drake
William Talman
Hamilton Burger
Ray Collins
Lieutenant Tragg
1957
Perry drives to the scene of a shooting and finds the police recovering the body of Harry Merrill from a car that went over the side of a mountain. MerriIl has a bullet in his body and a pillowcase over his head. Meanwhile, Perry's client, Evelyn Bagby, claims she was chased by a hooded man in a car near the same cliff that day. She fired two shots at the man's car to scare him off, and now the police want her for murder.
Peter Cole is caught one night sleepwalking with a letter opener and standing over his wife's bed. His wife Doris is afraid and decides the next day to file for divorce. Exactly one year later, when the divorce is to be finalized, Frank Maddox, Peter's business partner, meets with Doris Cole. That night Frank Maddox spends the night at Peter Cole's house and exchanges bedrooms with Phillip Kendall, Peter's stepbrother. The next morning Phillip Kendall is found dead in bed and Peter Cole is accused of murder.
Sybil Granger hires Perry to help her buy stock in her estranged husband's oil company on the sly. By this, Sybil hopes to force her husband's latest girlfriend, Roxy Howard, out of the company and his life altogether. Things get complicated when George Lutts enters the picture and gets shot to death.
Donald Briggs is an unscrupulous private investigator hired by Clyde Waters to uncover information about Marv Adams, his daughter's fiancé. Later, Donald Briggs is found dead in his motel room, and Marv Adams is accused of the murder because he had a fight with Donald Briggs the previous morning.
Fran Celane feels her uncle, Edward Norton, is too restrictive as the executor of her father's spendthrift trust. He also wants her to wait 18 months until her 25th birthday before she gets married. Later, Norton is found dead and Rodney Gleason, Fran's fiancé, is identified as the perpetrator.
Harry Marlow owns a florist business and wants to own a part of Mildred Kimber's orchid business, but Mildred Kimber is not interested. So, Harry Marlow makes an arrangement with a local club owner, Sam Lynk, to cheat Mildred's husband, Bob Kimber, out of his share of the business in a card game. When Sam Lynk is found dead in his home, Mildred Kimber is accused of the crime.
Carla Adrian is having trouble fending off amorous neighbor Mark Cushing. When another neighbor hears a shot and a woman's scream, then witnesses Carla's Mother, Belle Adrian, in Mark Cushing's cabin—it's not long before the police discover Cushing’s body and arrest Mrs. Belle Adrian.
In a few day’s time, Fay Allison is getting married to Dane Grover. Her roommate, Anita Bonsal, is having a clandestine affair with a married man, Carver Clement. Fay Allison is later accused of Clement’s murder when the police find her fingerprints on a glass in his apartment.
Hollywood producer John Addison picks up an attractive young woman hitchhiker. Far from being innocent, she turns out to be a blackmailer—and a witness to a murder that Addison is charged with.
Ed Davenport learns that a sandwich he requested to be tested by a lab contains arsenic and blames his wife Myrna. When he confronts her about his suspicions, she denies it. He leaves for a business trip and falls ill. Dr. Renault is called to treat him at a motel where Ed Davenport later dies. Before he dies he claims his wife poisoned some candy.
While Martha Bradford is waiting for her appointment at a beauty parlor, she meets Rita Bradford who apparently is also married to her husband, Joe Bradford. Joe is found dead on his boat the next morning and Martha Bradford is accused of his murder when her fingerprints are found on a candle located on the boat.
Perry Mason and Paul Drake are on a fishing trip when they spot a young woman named Sally Fenner being pursued by vicious guard dogs on an island estate. The only way Sally can avoid being chewed up by the dogs is to jump into the water and swim for it. Perry and Paul pull Sally out of the drink, and Perry ends up defending her on a murder charge.
Restrauteur Morey Allen, a friend of Perry and Della's, has a problem: his waitress, Dixie Dayton, was struck by a car while fleeing the restaurant after spotting a man stalking her. The only item she left behind was a moth-eaten mink. When the stalker is found murdered, Morey and Dixie both eventually get arrested for the murder. The case also ties in with the murder of a young policeman several months before.
Robert Dawson confronts Albert Tydings, his partner, about $80K missing from Carol Stanley's trust account. Albert Tydings admits he embezzled the money and blackmails Robert Dawson to keep quiet or he will reveal some scandalous facts about Carol. Later, Carol calls and makes an appointment to meet Albert Tydings at his office to discuss the trust account. She arrives to find Albert Tydings dead.
Perry and Della witness an automobile accident which leads Perry to defend an exotic dancer charged with murder.
Nadine Marshall lives with her Uncle Martin and Captain Hugo. She comes home excited with the news of her engagement to John Locke. When she tells her Uncle Martin, he shows her some papers about her family which upset her. Later, Nadine is accused of poisoning her uncle.
Arlene Dowling reports the theft of all her belongings, including a diary she is anxious to get back.
Perry has to navigate his way through a hornet's nest of murder, hit-and-run, secret marriage, and a missing witness in this episode.
Claire Olger, a hitchhiker, is picked up by Michael Greeley. He loses control of the car and has an accident due to his being intoxicated. Eventually, her friend, Doris Stephanak, asks Perry Mason to help. When Perry is unable to contact Claire at her hotel, he goes there and finds Michael Greeley dead in her room.
Heiress Marilyn Cartright places an ad in a magazine in order to find love and companionship. In reality, Marilyn is looking for the con artist who swindled and drove her sister to suicide. Marilyn eventually finds the man, Charles "Country Boy" Barnaby, and turns on her ample charm in his direction hoping to get the goods on him. But when Barnaby is found poisoned to death the police theorize that Marilyn killed him as an act of revenge.
Arthur West, a disreputable private investigator, has found J. J. Stanley in a cheap motel. He knows Mr. Stanley and his partner, Ned Bain, were involved in the embezzlement of the Texas National Bank. He wants to blackmail Ned Bain into giving him money to keep quiet. When J. J. Stanley is found dead in Arthur West's hotel room, Harriet Bain, Ned Bain's daughter, is accused of the murder.
Janet Norris is charged with poisoning her doctor husband just before he flew to his death in his private plane. Further investigation reveals that Dr. Norris did not die in the plane crash and that he is in Mexico with his nurse mistress. The man killed in the plane was actually one Dave Kirby. This means that Janet still has to stand trial for murder.
Della and Perry's dinner at a fancy French restaurant is interrupted by a phone call and an envelope containing $500.00 from a mysterious woman named Marian Fargo. Later, Marion's husband and the man blackmailing her, Sam Carlin, both turn up dead.
When Robert Crane is charged with the murder of his sister's estranged husband, Perry needs the testimony of sister Helen Reed to clear him of the charge. Unfortunately for all concerned, Helen suffers from multiple personality disorder.
Doris Hocksley is shown a personal newspaper ad in a Los Angeles newspaper for locating the daughter of Adam Hocksley and providing proof of same. A friend, John Lowell, suggests she pursue the idea to prove she is the rightful heir to the Adam Hocksley estate.
Perry receives a telegram from Frank Lawton, an old friend of his, asking for his help as Frank thinks he’s about to be arrested.
Stefan Riker has come from Germany seeking the woman posing as Lisa Bannister—who is visibly shaken by his presence. Attempting to help her stepmother, Doris Bannister pretends to be romantically interested in Stefan Riker.
Daniel Conway is involved in a vicious proxy war with Warner Griffith for control of an oil company. Conway's secretary, Rose Calvert, is spying for Griffith. When Rose is found dead, Conway fears he's being framed for murder and approaches Perry at a bar association dinner and asks for his aid.
When Albert Sanders is charged with the murder of dance hall girl, Kim Lane, Perry offers to defend him pro bono because he knows Sanders is down on his luck and still devastated over the accidental death of his wife and children eight years before.
Gossip columnist Mary K. Davis is found murdered and it seems there is no shortage of suspects.
When wealthy Louise Gordon is poisoned to death her nurse is charged with the crime. Perry does some digging and discovers that the first wife of the victim's husband also died of poisoning. Is the husband really the culprit or could it be someone else?
Perry and Della are traveling on a cruise ship returning to Los Angeles from Vancouver. A fellow passenger, Carl Houser, who recently came into a bunch of money, and his wife and daughter end up meeting the two. Houser’s wife, Anna, enlists Perry’s help because she believes something is wrong with her husband and his story. Then her husband ends up overboard and she is suspected of murdering him.
Racketeer George Castle kills Las Vegas hotel owner Glenn Faulkner over a gambling debt and sets his sights on land inherited by Faulkner's daughter, Stephanie. When Castle turns up murdered as well, Stephanie finds herself the number one suspect.
Enid Griffin, the secretary of Stewart Brent, attempts to commit suicide after learning her boss has married. Arthur Binney attempts to blackmail Stewart Brent with facts about his new wife having been in jail for fraud. When Stewart Brent goes to meet Arthur Binney at a motel for the payoff, he is knocked unconscious. He awakens to find Arthur Binney dead in the next room and is put on trial for murder.
Attempting to miss hitting her stepfather's car, Patricia Faxon swerves as she enters her driveway and hits the hedges. After asking her stepfather, Bertrand Allred, to move his car, he finds Bob Fleetwood badly hurt next to the hedges. The next morning Bertrand Allred is found dead in his car.
Lorraine Stevens is fighting off the advances of the owner of the import-export company where she works, Philip Larkin. Later that evening she is asked to pick up something at the Alcorn Jewelers store. The owner is unaware of what she is to pick up and suggests she make a phonecall to find out. She calls Philip Larkin and while the phone rings we see Philip Larkin dead in his home.
A visit from an attractive blonde sporting a black eye leads to a case concerning a wealthy man's long lost grandson and murder.
While a woman is searching the office of the South African Diamond Company, George Baxter enters to meet Walter Lumis and Duane Jefferson. He notices things in disarray and questions the woman. She makes an escape, enters Perry Mason's office, and pretends to be a typist sent by a temp agency.
When Daniel Reed (Edgar Stehli) finds himself being blackmailed by an old business partner from his time in Alaska, Perry must first save him from the insane asylum and then the gas chamber.
1962
Perry and the team investigate the murder of an antiquarian bookseller with an interest in forgery.
Carleton Gage, a major financial supporter of an orphanage, wants to keep it open but lapses into a coma and later assumes room temperature. Gage's nephew, George, wants to close the orphanage and he is being secretly aided by Ernest Demming. Joane Proctor, Carleton's sister-in-law, wants to keep the orphanage open but her good intentions are complicated by the murder of Demming.
Boxing trainer Jimmy West thinks he's finally found a championship contender in Davey Carroll. Unfortunately, Davey has a hard time keeping it in his pants and his tangled love life leads to Jimmy being charged with murder.
A company bookkeeper's wife is charged with the murder of a female employee who had been blackmailing her.
Young cop Jimmy Anderson, cousin of Lt. Anderson, and veteran Otto Norden come across a robbery at the Wilson Plastics Company while on patrol one night. A shooting occurs and Otto is killed. Evidence then points to Jimmy as having been an accomplice in the burglary and he is suspended from the police force. Then the night watchman at Wilson Plastics, a disgraced ex-cop, is found strangled to death. Lt. Anderson then asks Perry to look into things and defend Jimmy against all charges.
Phil Schuyler is a two bit songwriter who comes to a bad end on Halloween night. Someone enters his bungalow while Phil is taking a bath and tosses an electric heater into his tub thus turning him into a crispy critter. Damian White, husband of a famous musical comedy star, was seen entering the bungalow around the approximate time of the murder by an eyewitness. But what about all the trick or treaters?
An unscrupulous uncle, who is in reality the father of his niece, returns home from the sea seeking money from the sale of oil leases on his land. When the uncle is found murdered, his shipmate is charged with the crime.
Two brothers at separate times have claimed the same young girl as their daughter. One brother owns a fleet of tuna boats; the other is a mobster. Then banker Franz Moray reveals that $100,000 due to the girl via a trust fund has been mishandled. When Moray is found murdered Perry steps in and discovers an old family secret.
Della asks Perry for $25,000 for her friend Janet Brent, who is being blackmailed. Edward Franklin, an employee of Janet's husband, has staged compromising photos of her in a motel. At a party, Janet confronts Franklin and hits him with a small statue of a "weary watchdog." The police arrest Della when they find her driving Janet's car from the scene of the argument. Franklin is dead, struck three times on the head with the statue. Perry defends Janet knowing that if he loses, Della will go to prison as an accessory.
A young widowed high school English teacher in a small town is accused via letter of making passes and more towards some of her male students. But a small town is small town and it seems that all the key figures are involved somehow, the principal, the lawyer, the doctor, the local barkeep, and of course the oldest boy, who's really more of a man, in the high school.
When Jennifer is alone after her father's heart attack, her only friend is her filly Tiger Lily. She's penniless until a present from her late father is dropped in her lap, but it turns out that the present is worthless, although Brad Shelby did pay $50,000 in order to capitalize on it.
A wealthy woman is confronted by two girls who claim to be the daughters she was forced to abandon 20 years before.
A chronic shoplifter later finds herself charged with murder. Her niece hires Perry for the defense.
A young girl searching for the father she has never seen seeks Mason's help when she's charged with murder.
On trial: the estranged wife of a professor who's written a lurid novel.
Recently widowed attorney Constant Doyle comes to the aid of a young man charged with breaking into a factory and assaulting the night watchman. Later, she has to clear the young man of a murder charge as well as clear the reputation of her late husband.
Professor Lindley is in a pit of trouble when he tries to help a kid dodge a murder rap.
Columnist Elihu Laban is hit with a murder rap when his efforts to obtain secret papers backfire.
Attorney Sherman Hatfield is sought out by a blackmail-plagued industrialist.
Mason goes to the dogs when his defense of a murder suspect hinges on a surprise witness.
Mason's client: a man declared legally dead.
In a case woven with one woman's lies a politician and a murder are entagled.
The victim of a swindle finds his trouble multiplying when he's accused of murder.
A promoter's plan to frame his wife and business partner for embezzlement fails, but they're arrested anyway for his murder.
Mason is hired by a sculptor charged with murdering the overbearing mother of his model.
The ex-wife of an author who has written a lurid expose and is murdered.
A jealous husband is teased into a tizzy after being led on by his sister's lies.
A judge is accused of murdering a government witness who planned to expose him as a crook.
1960
Tyrannical company president Hartley Bassett returns home after being presumed dead for two years. His first act is to fire Peter Dawson which makes Dawson the prime suspect when Bassett is found dead with two bullet holes in him.
Perry defends Richard Hammond who is charged with killing his former girlfriend by running over her with his car.
Jim Ferris is having an affair with his uncle's bored young wife. They concoct a scheme to finagle $80,000.00 from the uncle by faking a kidnapping. Things go horribly wrong when secretary Betty Wilkins, acting as a go-between, is charged with the murder of Jim Ferris.
Perry is accused of obstructing justice in this case when he defends a woman who had previously faked her own suicide by running her empty car off a cliff. It seems as though the police found the body of another woman in the wreckage.
An heiress to a cosmetics company is charged with the murder of the company's owner.
When a man accused of a murder is freed from prison upon newly discovered eyewitness testimony, it starts a chain reaction of blackmail and murder.
A circus clown is charged with the murder of its part owner when a gun is slipped to him during a gun act.
Washed up pianist David Carpenter is knocked out and pushed over a cliff for insurance money. Carpenter's beautiful protege, Donna Ross, immediately comes under suspicion by the police.
Perry's fishing trip to Scotland is interrupted by seven year old Peggy Smith. Peggy is living at a boarding school and searching for her identity since she has no idea who her real parents are. After searching into the matter, Perry comes to believe that Peggy is the daughter of Clark Lawson and Margaret Jeffers Lawson. Margaret was the daughter of wealthy Courtney Jeffers who disowned her after she eloped with Clark. Both parents died shortly after Peggy was born. Jeffers, a mean and miserable old man, has his heart warmed after meeting Peggy and changes his will to leave everything to her. The next day, he is found dead, killed by a blow from a poker.
Lester Martin's life takes a horrible turn for the worse when a man breaks into his apartment, forces him at gun-point to drink half a bottle of Scotch, and then drives him into the country. Lester's circumstances then go from awful to good grief when he's charged with the murder of his step-father who was trying to takeover the family boat company.
Ann Farwell is miserable over the separation of her parents. Things aren't made any better when her father starts seeing Rita Conover, a scheming woman half his age. When Rita turns up dead both Ann and her mother think the other committed the crime which causes Perry great difficulty in defending the ranch hand who's been charged.
A suburban town mayor's secretary is accused of murdering the mayor's wife, who was engaging in blackmail to further her husband's career.
Slimy publishing tycoon Donald Fletcher buys controlling interest in a respectable but financially troubled publishing house. Fletcher turns things upside down by turning the publications into scandal sheet featuring photographs of scantily clad women. Edmond Aitken, whose family once owned the publishing house, wants to oust Fletcher but Perry tells him he has no legal basis on which to do so. Not to worry. Fletcher is found murdered in his apartment but the prime suspect is Aitken's wife, Alyce, whom Fletcher had been blackmailing over lurid photos Alyce made during her younger days.
Perry represents a citizen's group in hearings on a proposed aqueduct to be named after county engineer William Harper Caine. Perry gets a stop work order until a section of the proposed location can be checked for an underground spring. Eventually, Caine needs Perry's help when he's accused of murdering Roger Quigley, the project's chief contractor.
Ralph Duncan is a civil servant whose job is to inventory the estates of wealthy decedants. One day, he returns home with $153,000.00 worth of old greenbacks he discovered while going through a recently deceased old woman's home. Duncan took the money on a lark and was planning to return it the next day but his shifty cousin decides to purloin the bundle. Duncan is then accused of theft and later murder.
Womanizing playboy Loring Lamont has his sights set on Arlene Ferris, his father's shapely secretary. He lures her to his beachfront bachelor pad with seduction on his mind. Arlene slaps the rotter and flees taking Loring's car back into town. Things then go from awful to good grief for poor Arlene. After her departure someone stabs Loring to death and she's suspect number one.
Inventor Walter Randall wants a divorce from his cold-blooded wife Laura in order to be with Phyllis Hudson. Laura decides to get back at Walter by blackmailing one of his assistants into building a bomb that will destroy Walter's underwater sounding invention. While checking on the bomb in the warehouse, Laura is discovered by Phyllis and takes advantage of the situation by knocking her rival out. Phyllis manages to survive the explosion but she is later charged with Laura's murder.
Willard Nesbitt faked his drowning death in a boating accident so his wife could collect the double indemnity life insurance money. Nesbitt thought he had only a short time to live anyway. When Nesbitt's crooked business partner, James Castle, illegally cuts "widow" Eve Nesbitt out of a protitable deal he must rise from the dead to warn her. Then someone kills the "dead man" for good. The police smell insurance fraud and Eve Nesbitt is their number one suspect.
Crooked jewelry store owner Karl Addison learns that he needs an operation which will temporarily blind him. Addison makes plans to rob his own store knowing that his sightlessness will provide him with a perfect alibi. Things go wrong when someone kills the scheming Addison and steals the already pinched jewels. James Kincannon enlists Perry's aid when he's charged with the crime.
The setting in this episode is a small California town where because of a festival all men must wear beards. Paul Drake travels there to try to locate missing money which a former bank president embezzled. Paul eventually finds the money but he also finds a dead body as well. Perry arrives on the scene in order to straighten things out.
Contactor Pete Mallory is charged with the murder of a vacation resort developer.
Hilde Fursten and Tony Osgood work at the San Diego Zoo. When a new baby monkey is found missing, Hilde Fursten is blamed by Dr. Walther Braun, a visiting dentist. Boris Zelbowski also works at the zoo and is dating Frieda Crawson, Dr. Braun's nurse. That evening, Dr. Braun arrives at the zoo to perform oral surgery on a lion and is found dead in the lion's cage. Tony Osgood is accused of the murder when a witness sees someone wearing Tony's blue sportcoat near the lion's cage at the time.
Hard luck Claude Demay was sent up for six years in prison for starting a fire in a warehouse containing the valuable Nathan Claver art collection. After his release, Demay devises a plan to expose the real criminal, Leonard Voss, and prove his innocence. He tediously weaves a perfect imitation of a valuable tapestry supposedly lost in the fire and barters this tapestry to Voss in exchange for an original Buddah statue. Demay knows that the statue will prove that the collection was not destroyed in the fire and will expose Voss as the real criminal. Unfortunately, Voss is murdered before the trade takes place and Demay is arrested for another crime he didn't commit.
Advertising executive Herman Albright is in the wrong place at the wrong time wearing the wrong clothes. These mistakes cost poor Herman his life in a case of mistaken identity. Perry is called on to defend the fashion model charged with the crime. It seems as though Herman had been hitting on her for quite a while with no success.
Jerry Reynolds, an old war buddy of Perry's, is accused of killing an officer at Vandenburg Air Force Base during the investigation into some mysterious missile crashes.
A mixed up mess awaits Perry as he struggles to put all the pieces together. Blackmail, murder, a boyfriend who spent the night, all add up to one great case.
A young man has his head turned by, whatelse, a woman. In his haste to protect her, and her good name, the source of her pain turns up dead.
Lola and Jeff Bronson are going through a divorce and can't wait to be rid of each other until Bill Ryder sabotages Jeff's business and makes a play for Lola. Ryder is then found dead with three bullet holes in his body and Jeff and Lola are the two prime suspects. Now they battle to cover for each other .
1961
The drowning death of a newspaper executive during a fishing trip sets off all kinds of repercussions at the newspaper itself.
Paint manufacturer Amory Fallon suspects that his partner Ned Thompson is behind a mysterious fire and explosion.
Perry and Della attend the wedding of Polly Courtland to Eddy King. The ceremony is halted at the altar when Polly begins screaming, "No! No!" and hurriedly exits the church. It seems as though Polly had spotted slimy George Sherwin holding an envelope containing photos of her younger sister checking into a Las Vegas hotel with a musician named Bongo White. Sherwin plans to ruin Polly and her family's reputation unless she gives up Eddy for him. Sherwin's plan comes a cropper when he's found shot to death. Eddy King is arrested for the crime.
During a terrible storm at sea, First Officer Jerry Griffin dumps a million dollars worth of goods into the sea in order to lessen the chances of his cargo freighter sinking. Once on shore, Jerry is hauled before a maritime court which holds him responsible for the loss of the cargo. Captain Bancroft's testimony can clear Jerry but he is murdered before he can give it. Now Jerry stands accused of that crime too. Perry and Paul try to set things right once again.
Comic Charlie Hatch learns that the woman he loved and lost, Anne Gilrain, has escaped from a sanitarium to which she was forced to commit herself by her husband, Tom. When Tom Gilrain is murdered, Charlie is afraid that Anne did the deed and sets himself up as a likely suspect to protect her. Perry arrives on the scene to try and free Charlie from his abysmal stupidity.
Phony psychic Phillip Paisley meets a grisly death when an elevator that has been tampered with crashes. In the climactic scene Perry sets up another fantastic demonstration to prove his client innocent and expose the real culprit.
Perry finds himself defending Dr. Wayne Edley who has been accused of committing two murders.
Perry and Paul are all set to go deep see fishing on a boat owned by their friend, Scott Cahill, but when Cahill's regular customer wants the boat for the weekend they have to charter another. Later, Perry gets word that the Coast Guard has boarded Cahill's vessel looking for stolen gold. They found some of the bullion and the corpse of Karl McGovern. An autopsy reveals that McGovern was killed with a fatal dose of digitalis. Scott Cahill is charged with murder when the police theorize that he and the dead man were partners in stealing the gold. Writer: Robb White
Artist Jack Culross fakes his own suicide and sees the sales of his paintings go through the roof. His only problem was that he forgot to inform his wife Edna of the scheme. After Edna sees a completed painting of Jack's that she knows he didn't finish while he was "alive" she gets wise. Edna manages to track down her "deceased" husband but they fight and she knocks him down. Then he's found dead. Edna must stand trial for murder.
A really weird courtroom confession scene highlights this episode about the murder of a race car driver.
Health club instructor Ward Nichols wants to marry the daughter of his employer, Bernard Daniels, but Ward's estranged wife, Veronica, is pressuring him for money and claiming to be pregnant. Things blow up in everyone's face when Bernard is found crunched with a dumbbell at the club. Perry, as usual, arrives on the scene to get at the truth.
Charles Cromwell, the president-elect of Euclid College, worries that some less than stellar moments from his past will be exposed when Maisie Freitag arrives on the scene to make an unusual beguest to the college. Needless to say, murder eventually finds its way to the campus.
A journalist is murdered while tracking an ex-Nazi war criminal who may be posing as an executive at a company called Space Associates, Ltd.
Wealthy Walter Frazer has always blamed his daughter-in-law Sue Ellen for his son Gregson's failures. You can only imagine how he feels when Sue Ellen is accused of Gregson's murder.
Perry is hired to help settle a land dispute in the Manzana Valley but the key witness is blown up by a homemade bomb. As usual, Perry's client is accused of the crime.
Naive secretary Janice Wainwright carries out boss Morley Thielman's orders and places a briefcase containing more than $100,000.00 in a train station locker. Then she waits for the arrival of Thielman's ex-wife but Lt. Tragg arrives instead with an arrest warrant for Janice on the charge of murdering her boss. It seems as though witness Fred Carlyle saw a woman's shapely shadow through the shades of Thielman's office window shortly before the murder occurred.Carlyle believes the silhuette belonged to Janice. Perry manages to get to the bottom of things once the courtroom proceedings begin.
Historian Phillip Andrews tries to make a case that his fiancee, Evelyn Faraday, is entitled to a share of a shipping company fortune. Phillip then finds himself accused of murdering the company's top man.
Axel Norstaad sells his much respected furniture trademark to Martin Somers, described by some as the slide trombone of the furniture business. Somers immediately begins stripping the company of its assets and churning out inferior products. Axel protests these developments vehemently and when Somers is found murdered he gets arrested for the crime. To complicate things, Axel is in love with Edie Morrow whom he suspects might be the actual killer.
Eleanor Corbin pleads amnesia after police find her running and screaming through the woods near her apartment building. Her loss of memory is of little help to her when she is later charged with murder.
A casual pen pal relationship leads to insider information and murder.
Mason tries to clear his young, naive woman client, a corporate executive secretary, as a twisting and wheeling plot of murder, kidnapping, and embezzlement unfolds.
Mike Preston is a bitter man who despises Hugh Jamison because he mistakenly believes Jamison stole $100,000 from him and is responsible for him being crippled. Trying to entrap Jamison, Preston makes a mistake and is set up for murder by the real thief.
Cartoonist Pete Manders is elated when the owner of the comic strip "Zingy" offers to sell him the strip for a song. Pete is less than elated when he learns that his girlfriend Leslie is running away to Europe with Gabe Phillips, the strip owner. When Phiilips is murdered, Pete is charged with the crime and retains Perry's services. Investigating the case, Perry soon discovers that the deceased Phillips was leading a double life.
Ted Chase discovers that his bitchy second wife, Irene, might have killed his first wife and contemplates revenge but someone else gets to Irene first. In his defense of Ted, Perry discovers that Irene's past was even more sordid and corrupt than previously believed.
Astronaut Matthew Heller is suspected of killing his old service rival, General Addison Brand, after Brand is put in charge of the astronaut program.
A baby who mysteriously appears in Perry's office has a rare St. Christopher medal, which could help identify the baby's parents. If only the suspected father wasn't dead.
A crazy man (or is he?), his dead nephew and a military base are tangled up in a confusing Perry Mason episode.
Perry and Della go out for a night at the theatre to see Perry's actor friend, Steve Brock, perform as Paris in Romeo and Juliet. The lights mysteriously go out during the dueling scene between Romeo and Paris and when the lights are restored the audience is shocked to see that leading man Franz Lachman, playing Romeo, has been stabbed to death. When Steve is accused of the murder Perry decides to have the cast re-enact the final scene that was played before Lachman's death.
Aspiring screenwriter Herbert Simms submits his first teleplay to producer Charlie Corby who tries to use the manuscript as his own. Corby's scheme comes a cropper when he gets fatally whacked over the head with a whiskey bottle after a party. Herbert happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and is seen running from the scene of the crime. Guess who gets arrested for murder?
Merle Telford is a naive and maladjusted young woman who is about to turn 21 and receive a substantial inheritance. She plans to run away from her guardians and elope with Danny Pierce as soon as she receives her money. Yep, you guessed it already, Danny is a greedy schemer and Merle's supposed friend, Gina Gilbert, is his accomplice. Merle's guardians know of her plans and hire Paul Drake to keep Merle from fleeing on the night of her 21st birthday party. When a murder is committed during the party Merle becomes the prime suspect.
1963
Con artist John Brooks comes up with a new twist to convince Sophia and Ninevah Stone that he's the rightful heir to their fortune. Perry ends up reluctantly defending Brooks when he's charged with murder.
John Flickenger pulls off a carefully planned robbery without a hitch—until his young nephew finds the gun used in the heist.
This case has nothing to do with mosquitos but rather a hidden mine that could lead to a fortune. Plus murder.
Janice Barton is found guilty of the murder of her wealthy relative and sentenced to death. Can Perry find the evidence to clear her of the crime before the pellets in the gas chamber fall?
Perry has to defend the dean of a prep school on charges of murdering a teacher who had been stealing, embezzling, and blackmailing.
Crude but wealthy art connisseur Otto Olney throws a party to celebrate his purchasing a painting by famed artist Gauguin. Then a party guest, art expert Colin Durant, says that the painting is actually a fake. Olney then goes to Perry who decides to sue Durant for libel. Durant then claims he never said anything regarding the painting and the only witness, an art student named Maxine Lindsay, confirms his story. Perry then discovers the dead body of Austin Durant, fully clothed, in the shower of Maxine's apartment. Paul Drake then tracks down Maxine but the police are right behind him and they arrest her for murder. Guess who she hires to defend her?
Gwynn Elston's best friend, Nell Grimes, asks her to move in with her due to the fact that Nell's husband, Felton, is often out of town on business. Gwynn, who has a door-to-door sales job, is then astonished to see Felton's picture in someone else's house where he's known as Frank Gillette. Felton, who's really a nasty mother, tries to poison Gwynn, when she confronts him but she survives and runs to Perry for help. Then Felton is found shot to death and things go from awful to good grief for poor Gwynn--she gets arrested for the crime.
Julie Eng needs Perry's help when some precious stones her grandfather left her turn up missing.
Wealthy but dying Bebe Brent gives the bulk of her estate to her loyal nurse. Needless to say, this act angers the remainder of the Brent clan and leads to a murder.
Three teens cruise Hollywood Boulevard in a cool convertible lookin' for kicks! A liquor store goes down and the blackmail and plot twists begin. Lies and more lies and it's going from bad to worse for young Timmy Balfour who soon discovers that there's every bit as much delinquency from the adults when he's charged with murder.
Grover Johnson manages somehow to talk his much younger bride Eula into living with him on a barren spread of ranch land. Needless to say, Eula hates it and can't wait to sell the property. Along comes wealthy Texas Nelson Barcliff who's ready, willing, and able to purchase the property. But is this big Texan really who he appears to be? Or is it just an elaborate real estate swindle cooked up by Eula? Either way, both Eula and Barcliff end up dead and Grover finds himself charged with Eula's murder.
Brothers Martin and Todd Baylor are feuding over ownership of a successful chain of clothing stores. Martin ends up with a knife sticking out of his back one night and Todd is charged with the murder.
A wife's ears perk up when an insurance investigator informs her that he has proof that her husband was wrongfully convicted of the crime for which he is imprisoned. Then the insurance investigator turns up dead. Goings on in an elevator highlight this episode.
Edward Lewis's increasingly bitter arguments with his father-in-law make him the suspect when the old goat is murdered.
Mystery clouds Mason's search for the murderer of a photographer who was shot while a model pointed a loaded gun at him but didn't pull the trigger.
Sweet but ditzy Nancy Banks wants Perry to cash a bundle of winning racing tickets for her. There's only one problem: her former employer claims the racing tickets as his own. Nancy then gets in even deeper feces when she's charged with her ex-employer's murder.
20-year-old Deborah Dearborn has just written a best selling novel about a cold and calculating woman who bears a strong resemblance to her boyfriend's stepmother. Now Deborah is living at a beach house in Malibu and in the process of selling the rights to her book to a movie producer. Then the stepmother, Stephanie Carew, appears on the scene threatening to sue for libel. When Stephanie's dead body is found floating in a swimming pool, Deborah is charged with the crime.
Mason's client: an amnesia victim on trial for the murder of her husband.
A Frenchman is giving money to an old lady love from his hometown, unaware that she's sharing the cash with her husband. When hubby turns up murdered guess who gets charged with the crime?
Chemist Randolph James has started a successful company to develop a new antibiotic but his former boss, Hudson Bradshaw, files suit claiming that James developed the formula while in his employ. James' wife, Natalie, then begins selling her stock to Bradshaw which would give him control of the new company. James vows to stop his wife at any cost and she turns up dead. James claims that he was fishing at the time the murder occurred but things go from awful to good grief when he can't find the fellow fisherman who can substantiate his story.
A fire chief wants to bring a libel suit against a reporter who accuses him of burning down his own warehouse. Things get even worse for the chief when he's charged with murder.
A woman goes on trial for murder when a fortuneteller's deadly prediction becomes a reality.
Certain that her employer is plotting to murder his wife, housekeeper Nellie Conway launches a counterattack.
Actress Ramona Carver is confronted by a young man who claims to be the son she gave up for adoption. Murder soon results.
Mason is hired by a woman who is convinced, after a series of bizarre events, that she's crazy.
A recovering alcoholic takes to the bottle after he sees his wife, who's supposedly been dead for five years. Then she turns up dead for real and he's arrested for her murder.
A kidnapping hoax leads to murder when the ransom note gets into the wrong hands.
Small town junk dealer/mayoral candidate Mort Lynch gives college dropout Barry Davis a job because he was once close friend's with Barry's uncle. Barry and Mort's relationship is uneasy and he's soon the number one suspect when someone bashes Mort's skull with a monkey wrench and it's found in Barry's car.
Irma Hodge's wealthy step-father, Sumner Hodge, is withholding her inheritance because he dislikes her folksinger boyfriend, Con Bolton. When someone supposedly takes a shot at Sumner, he suggest to the police that Con is to blame. Then another attempt is made on Sumner's life which proves successful. His car goes over a cliff with him behind the wheel and an investigation reveals that the brake line had been severed. Witnesses then claim Con was fooling around with the brakes minutes before the crash and he's charged with murder.
The deceased father of Alice Trilling left behind a strange will. His successful toy company would be left to her ONLY if Alice is married or engaged within a year's time. Until then, her wheelchair bound Uncle Harry and a board of directors will run the company. In searching for a husband, Alice has one major problem: she's coyote ugly and she's the first one to admit it. An artist begins a flirtation and after seeing a portrait he's painted of her, Alice begins to think she could find happiness with him. There's one problem though: nasty old Uncle Harry has been playing matchmaker behind the scenes for reasons of his own. Alice discovers her uncle's perfidity and pushes over his wheelchair. Quickly fleeing the scene, Alice is later arrested when Uncle Harry is found dead. Perry is retained as defense counsel but even he has a tough time in this one because Alice herself thinks she's guilty.
1964
A man's campaign to prove his estranged wife an unfit mother is interrupted when he's arrested for murder.
Mason is caught in the middle when a romance develops between two members of rival political families.
Mona Harvey is the principal stockholder in a publishing company run by her uncle, Everett, and the wife of an eccentric sculptor named Hannibal Harvey who is being blackmailed. Unable to get at any money due to Mona's absence, Hannibal has ditzy model Bonnie Dunbar write a blackmail note to Mona's uncle. Everett gets the money out of petty cash and sends it to Bonnie. In the meantime, Mona returns, finds Bonnie's blackmail note, and decides to pay the model a visit. So does Hannibal. Without seeing each other, husband and wife both discover Bonnie's dead body. Mona gets arrested for the murder but she fears that Hannibal might be the real killer.
Abner Gordon threatens to press charges if his niece doesn't replace the money she lifted from his safe.
A recently widowed women becomes tangled in a web of suspicion when she hastily remarries.
Mason is summoned when Harvey Scott's efforts to retain temporary control of the family mining company lead to murder.
Attorney Joe Kelly agrees to represent Bill Jarvis, whose mother-in-law is trying to have his bowling alley shut down.
In an offbeat case, Mason becomes involved in international intrigue wheh he travels to Switzerland to meet a friend's future daughter-in-law.
Investigating the "other woman" in a betrothed man's life, Mason finds himself neck-deep in a murder mystery.
Reba Burgess's control of her late husband's mining company is threatened when a man turns up with a partnership agreement—signed by Burgess before he died.
An investment broker tops off a series of peculiar actions by commandeering a taxi to rob a bank.
Drake gets more than he bargained for when he agrees to act as courier in the sale of a rare Confederate coin.
A model fails to read the fine print when she signs a curious contract paying her $200 a week to gain weight for an assignment.
The foundations of a large company are shaken when the chief engineer uncovers evidence of budget tampering.
Uninterested in her recently inherited fortune, an aspring singer is easy prey for a sinister agent.
Attorney Ken Kramer comes to the aid of an alleged thief accused of stealing a $50,000 necklace.
A woman hires Mason to nullify a clause in her late husband's will that disinherits her if she reopens the investigation of her son's death.
Balancing private investigation with legal gymnastics, Mason tries to iron out a case of embezzlement and murder.
In Hawaii to handle an investigation for a hotel chain, Mason and Drake uncover a murder.
A woman turns to Mason when she becomes convinced that her boss is planning to murder his invalid wife.
Burger tries to head off trouble when his young assistant falls for an unscrupulous woman.
Paulo Porro is a charming young man from Sicily with a clever scam for ingratiating himself with Italian-American families. But when he tries his charms on Enrico Bacio, Paulo runs into a problem. It seems as though there was bad blood between the Porro and Bacio clans back in Sicily. Bacio even believes that Paolo has come to kill him. When Bacio is later found with a file lodged in his neck, Paolo is blamed for the murder.
Former swimming champion Victoria Dawn is now overweight, out of shape, and the owner of a chain of failing health spas. Desperate to regain some of her former glory she hires young actress Regina "Reggie" Lambert to impersonate her in a swim across the Catalina Channel to Los Angeles.
Franklin Shore, supposedly dead for 10 years, telephones his niece, Helen, and gives her instructions on how to meet him. Then someone takes a shot at Helen's boyfriend and attempts to poison the "deceased's" wife, Matilda.
Police detective Danny Talbert's father dies from a heart attack caused by stress from the fact that he was into mobster Steve Radom for a $10,000 debt. Or so Danny believes. When Radom is killed with Danny's gun, Perry steps in to clear his name.
Pete Warren's estranged wife, Myrna, is killing time in Reno waiting for their divorce to go through. When Myrna gets involved in a counterfeit gambling chip scam, Pete makes the mistake of lying to protect her.
An unsuccessful salesman has a lot of explaining to do when he throws down his sample case in disgust—and large sums of money fall out.
Della buys the diary of a drowned woman at an auction and after reading the entries becomes convinced that the woman's death was not a suicide as was ruled at the time. This leads Perry into a case involving an eccentric millionaire, his two scheming assistants, and a kleptomaniac gorilla.
Lawyer Ward Toyama, a friend of Perry's, gets caught up in an illegal gunrunning operation and murder on the high seas after being contacted by a man claiming to be an intelligence agent. It's up to Perry to clear his friend's name when he's accused of murder.
Perry is paid a visit by a Dorrie Ambler who wants him to verify her identity. Shady private eye Phil Arthur has been paying her to frequent certain places around town and Dorrie thinks it's because she bears a strong resemblance to madcap heiress Minerva Minden. After some digging, Perry finds out that Minerva might have been involved in a hit-and-run accident and it appears as though Dorrie is being used to prove that.
1965
Carla Chaney is caught seemingly red-handed at the scene of the murder of her ex-boyfriend. Perry agrees to take the case pro bono after three other attorneys drop out. Carla's only hope is an unseen woman she claims was also present at the scene. According to Carla, this woman had a sinister laugh.
A fortune teller gives a series of accurate predictions regarding a woman's future. But something goes wrong when she's charged with murdering her new husband.
Things aren't going too good for the self-styled candy queen, Claire Armstrong, these days. Boyfriend Mark Chester steals her candy formula in order to pay back his gambling debts and Harry Arnold is blackmailing her. Then there's cousin Wanda. She'd like nothing better than to see Claire convicted when Arnold is murdered so that she can takeover the business.
Perry returns to his college alma mater to receive an award but there's no rest for the weary when he's called upon to defend Van Fowler for the murder of a professor.
Perry rescues Diana Carter from the ocean in his boat and then must rescue her twice more in the courtroom. Once for jewel theft and once for murder.
The Safeline Insurance Company notices an increase in heart attacks among their policy holders. The company suspects fraud and hires Perry and Paul to investigate. When Paul goes undercover as a construction worker, he almost doesn't survive the assignment.
An old Army buddy of restauranteur Terrence Clay, Lucas Tolliver, arrives in California from Oklahoma to meet the woman he was matched up with by a computer dating service. The woman, Miliicent Barton, is supposedly a rich widow. Lucas has money too having inherited it from his previous wife who died under mysterious circumstances. This doesn't prevent Millie from marrying Lucas but she dies at a party after drinking poisoned lemonade supposedly provided to her by Lucas. This one is a tough row to hoe for Perry.
Burt Payne owns 10% of a professional football team. His rich wife, Ellen, owns the remainder. Knowing that he's washed up and needing some quick cash, Burt tries to sell his share of the team to a group of investors and even gets a down payment from them. Ellen, however, is opposed to the deal. Then, after she meets with one of the potential buyers aboard a train, Burt is apparently killed in an explosion.
Louise Self must have broken a mirror. She has to stand trial for murdering her husband, Jamison, twice. Perry gets her off the hook the first time because the body was never found. Guess what? Jamison Self only faked his death and is still alive. When he ends up dead a second time it's deja vu all over again for poor Louise and Perry gears up for the second round.
Test driver Pete Griston cracks up one of ace car builder Pappy Ryan's vehicles. Pappy accuses Havey Rettig of tampering with the car and files charges against Rettig and Griston. Then Rettig is killed and Griston is found standing groggily over the body.
Police Sergeant Dave Wolfe warns Joe Oliver to stay away from his kid sister, Susan. Now Susan's been beaten up in her apartment, Oliver has been shot to death, and Dave is being charged with murder.
In this change of pace episode Perry and Della travel behind the Iron Curtain and get involved in a murder case which ends up being tried in an East German court.
Tryon Laboratories hires the Drake Detective Agency to protect their latest formulas. In spite of Paul's best efforts, there is a leak in security and some top-secret information is stolen. One night, Leigh, an undercover agent working for Dr. Scranton, the head of the company, calls to say he knows the identity of the spy. Scranton and Paul rush to the laboratory only to find Leigh dead, floating in a vat of water.
Victor Montalvo, co-owner of the Golden Bear Club, gives a ride to a sweet young thing named Debbie Conrad who later attempts to blackmail him by threatening to claim he took advantage of her. Debbie is working the scam with her boyfriend, Rick Durbin, and Montalvo decides to pay them off. But before he can make the payment his partner in the club is murdered.
Aspiring actor Tony Polk lands a job on a popular TV program. Part of his job consists of dressing up in a buccaneer costume and delivering free gifts to viewers at their homes. Another actor and Tony trade lists and before too long he's up the creek. One of the women on the list is murdered with a buccaneer's hook, the one belonging to Tony, and a neighbor swears that Tony fought with the woman.
Barney Austin is the king of late night talk radio in Los Angeles. One night during his on-air rants, Barney gets a note to call his boss, Kevin Steele. While talking to Steele on the air, the audience hears Steele begin arguing with someone and then two shots ring out.
Dr. Stacey Fielding takes off for Salt Lake City on business. When his plane crashes, Veronal poisioning is found in the body. Miriam Fielding is arrested since the last thing the good doctor drank was whiskey from a flash she had given him. Upon further investigation, Miriam is cleared when it's discovered that the man who really perished in the crash was Al Dolby, the plane mechanic. But where is Dr. Fielding and who did the poisoning?
Chick Farley is a low rent, semi-talented golf pro at an exclusive country club. He now mooches off his wife's money and occasionally blackmails members of the country club in order to keep his position. One night, ole Chick discovers that someone has been stealing from the pro shop. He calls club member Hamilton Burger at his home to inform him of the theft. While on the phone, somebody takes a sand wedge and bashes in Chick's skull. Chick is no great loss to humanity but, as usual, the wrong man is charged with the crime.
An art dealer and his girlfriend are arrested for a two murders related to a series of hijacks. Paul goes undercover to ferret out the hijacking ring and Perry finds himself staring face down the barrel of a gun pointed by a killer even he never considered.
Another fishing trip goes awry for Perry when he's drawn into the murder of a woman who was killed while delivering a blackmail payment.
Perry plays Mr. Brownlow to young Lenny Beale who's involved with a gang of teenage car strippers. Lenny wants to quit the gang but when his boss, Bill Sikes, turns up murdered the police theorize that Lenny killed him in revenge for Sikes shooting his girlfriend.
Perry must defend a goofy, untalented British kid whom someone thinks has the talent to be a pop singer but in reality couldn't get in the door of American Idol. Then someone bumps off a shady promoter and the would be pop idol gets blamed.
Imagine Gerard Van Ness's surprise when a long-lost tiara worth a fortune turns up in his hands. Imagine Perry and Della's surpise when the body of a jewel thief turns up in a trunk delivered to their building. Needless to say, Van Ness gets blamed for the death and it's up to Perry and company to save the day.
Things keep going from awful to good grief for poor Ethel Andrews. First she's left at the altar by her fiancé, Bruce Strickland, who also let's her take the blame for a $50,000 securities theft since her signature was on the transfer authorization. Ethel decides to leave town but nearly has an accident with a car driven by Peggy Sutton. Peggy, it seems, is on the run from a hired killer. Ethel foolishly agrees to swap identities with Peggy but then Peggy perishes in a car accident. Ethel then finds $50,000.00 in the trunk of Peggy's car and makes the mistake of informing Bruce Strickland who turns up murdered. Perry sends Paul Drake up to Lake Tahoe to find out about Peggy Sutton but it might be too late because the noose is getting pretty tight around poor Ethel's neck.
Nasty oilman Jerome Klee is shot to death and there's no shortage of suspects. Perry's client is Klee's foreman who tried to change his boss's mind about backing out on a drilling contract on a low income family's land.
Perry Mason finds himself the target of an attempt to discredit him while he is in the middle of a major lawsuit.
Perry has all sorts of troubles in this one including a client who takes a shot at him. It starts when dim bulb prizefighter Duke Maronek gets into a fight with Art Grover over pretty model, Sharon Carmody. Duke believes he killed Grover with his bare hands. Perry discovers that a vagrant, who stole a wallet from the corpse, has been charged with the crime. He quickly gets the vagrant off the hook only to discover that Duke has disappeared. It is Sharon Carmody, the model who is up for a big assignment, who holds the keys to Duke's whereabouts and what really happened on the night Art Grover died.
Retired general Roger Brandon is set to head an anti-crime commission to investigate racketeering in a notoriously corrupt town. Rackets boss George Emory claims to have compromising photos of Brandon's young wife, Laura. Emory threatens to launch a smear campaign against Laura unless Brandon refuses the assignment. Brandon calls Emory's bluff and accepts the assignment but then Emory turns up murdered. Guess who gets charged with the crime?
Gossip columnist Danny Shine is a real scumbag. Even his own mother would disown him. So it's no surprise when he turns up shot to death in his car one night after a party at Alex Tanner's house. Danny's assistant, Greg Stanley, is arrested for the murder. Tanner can provide Stanley with an alibi except for one thing--his baby has been kidnapped and if he testifies the child will die.
A nasty actor with a lot of enemies is murdered. Perry gets his accused killer off the hook but then HE turns up dead and an aging, eccentric actress is blamed for that one. Are there two murderers on the loose or are both the work of one person?
