The Night of the Brain - Recap

A woman, Voulee, caresses a chess piece resembling Jim West on a board. A man slaps her hand with his cane, saying that he told her to move the piece, not stroke it. As he moves it, he notes that Artie will soon be making an appearance and reserves a square for him.



Aboard the Wanderer, Artie informs Jim that the newspaper that they received has a headline that a magician and comedian they know, Almeric, died in Watertown during a performance. Further it says that Jim and Artie were present and unable to save him. The date of the newspaper is tomorrow. Jim notes that they are just passing through Watertown and have no plans to stop. The train suddenly grinds to a halt and the engineer informs them that the engine malfunctioned. Jim suggests that they go to Almeric’s performance.

That night, Almeric is going through his act as the agents watch from backstage. The magician discovers a small bomb in his top hat and tries to get rid of it, as Jim realizes it’s not part of the act. The fuse burns down and the “bomb” releases a small “bang” flag. Almeric chuckles in relief and puts it back into the top hat... and the bomb explodes.



Back on the train the next day, the agents wonder who might have benefited from Almeric’s death. Artie inspects the newspaper without success. It spontaneously combusts and the agents hastily put out the flames. There’s a knock on the door and Artie discovers another newspaper, and confirms that the deliveryman has departed. The newspaper is for the next day and the headline declares that Colonel Royce Arnette dies of a pistol wound received while cleaning a French dueling pistol. The article says that Jim was present during the shooting. Jim informs his partner that he has to go to find out who is pushing them and why. Artie agrees and discovers a shop mark on the new newspaper. They figure that the person responsible wants to find the shop and Artie calls to check with the Washington bureau.

As Artie sends a wire, he’s unaware that their mysterious attacker, lurking in a cave, has intercepted the transmission. He instructs Voulee to move the Jim piece next to a black knight and begins loading a dueling pistol.

Jim arrives at Arnette’s home that night and hears someone in the bushes. He attacks the thugs in hiding and quickly disposes of them. Arnette comes out and demands to know what’s going on, and Jim comes over to talk to his ex-company commander. He invites Jim inside and says that he wanted to show Jim something he received by post: a bottle of rare Napoleon brandy, delivered anonymously from the French embassy. Arnette is unable to drink it because of his gout, but he offers Jim a drink. As Jim drinks the brandy, a butler comes in with a special delivery package. As Arnette opens it, Jim realizes that the brandy is drugged. He collapses in a chair and can only watch helplessly as Arnette takes out a French dueling pistol, examines it, and is killed as it backfires.



Later that night at the Wanderer, Jim tells Artie what happened. Artie has identified the shop where the newspapers came from and they head out to check it out.

In the underground cave, the mastermind tells Voulee to move the Jim piece to his next position. He wonders if Jim is growing impatient and assures him that they will soon meet.

Jim and Artie break in to the print shop, who belongs to a Mr. Blackhurst. They find Blackhurst dead at his desk with a knife in his back. The shop mark type matches the one on the newspaper and they figure that they’ll find a carefully planted clue. They examine the printer press and discover that it has a poster for a tarot reader, Voulee, and her address in Washington. Jim goes to see here while Artie deals with the police.



Jim enters Voulee’s shop and finds that she’s expecting him. As he sits down, she drops the Hanged Man card and Jim picks up for her. An alarm goes off and Voulee looks around nervously. Jim steps away just as a trapdoor opens below his chair. Jim takes another seat but it shoots him upward through a trapdoor in the ceiling. Voulee’s employer tells her that he figured that she’d give him away to Jim and prepared an alternate route.

Jim finds himself in a cavern lying on a giant chessboard, surrounded by guards. His host, sitting in a steam-powered wheelchair, introduces himself as Braine. He explains that he has undertaken his complicated scheme so that they could learn each other’s capabilities. Artie steps in but Jim quickly realizes that it’s a man wearing a mask. Braine introduces the man as Leeto, his lieutenant, and sends him away. He then explains that he will soon disclose why he needs another Artemus Gordon. Jim tries to make a break for it but discovers that all of the doors are locked. Braine fires rockets from his wheelchair, bring him to heel. When Jim points out that he missed, Braine notes that one of his henchmen is missing a button. The man backs away, yelling, and Braine kills him with one well-placed rocket.



Braine gives Jim a tour of his underground facility and points out that even if Jim overpowered him, he wouldn’t know what the mastermind’s plan was. He then takes Jim to a duplicate of the White House conference room, filled with men posing as Grant and four international representatives. Braine gives them instructions on how to be more convincing and then takes Jim to see the room where Voulee prepares lifelike masks. As he leaves, Jim flirts briefly with Voulee before going with his host.

Artie slips into Voulee’s shop and finds a hidden door and a ladder leading down. The agent goes down and makes his way to the mask workshop. As he looks around, he surprised to come face to face with... himself. Artie tosses Leeto a gas bomb and knocks him out, and then removes the mask and hides him in the closet.

Back in the main cavern, Braine serves Jim dinner and explains that he propels himself in a wheelchair so that he can conserve energy to use for his mental abilities. Braine then invites Jim to ask him what he really wants. The mastermind explains that he prepares to put the world to rights and will have to first come close to destroying it. Once he substitutes the five world leaders, his men will make decisions affecting every human being on the planet. Braine displays a globe of the world and tells Jim that his impersonators will begin a series of invasions cleansing the world. He sets the globe on fire and tells Jim that then the survivors will appoint him as leader.



Jim asks how he figures in and Braine tells him that he wants the agent as his lieutenant as head of his Secret Service. The mastermind calls Voulee and Leeto in and tells Jim that he must prove his courage by ether killing Voulee or dying himself. When Jim balks, Braine orders “Leeto” to kill her in 30 seconds. Jim refuses, calling Braine’s bluff. Braine concedes the point and admires Jim’s resistance to his machinations. A guard comes in and informs them that someone has infiltrated the tunnels. Braine deduces that Artie has disguised himself as Leeto. Jim tries to help his partner, only for Leeto remove his Artie mask. Braine apologizes for overestimating Artie and tells his men to search the tunnels, including the new one, and then has Leeto knock Jim out.

Jim is taken to the workshop where Voulee makes a mask of him. The agent asks what she gets out of it and points out that Braine was willing to kill her. Voulee insists that she wants a world without war, the world that Braine promises. Once her back is turned, Jim uses a hidden vial of acid to free himself. When she realizes what he’s up to, Voulee draws a gun but Jim tells her that Braine’s lust for power will never be satisfied and he wouldn’t have ordered a knife to her throat. Voulee admits that he’s right and drops the gun.



Artie, still wearing his Leeto mask, gasses Jim’s guard’s unconscious. When he bursts into the workshop, Jim punches him until Artie explains that he anticipated Braine would deduce he was posing as Leeto, and wore the Leeto mask. They’re unaware that Braine is listening in on the conversation via a hidden wire. Artie checks the cupboard and discovers that Leeto is gone, and figures that Braine knows what’s going on. They head for the new tunnel that Braine mentioned earlier. Meanwhile, Braine tells Leeto that his plan is going just as he intended.

The trio enters the new tunnel and finds q guard at the far end. Artie knocks him out with a gas grenade and Jim goes on ahead to take out three more guards lying in wait. They continue on and find a one-way mirror looking into the real executive conference chamber. Artie spots a hidden transmitter above and the agents loudly announce that there’s one security measure Braine doesn’t know. A door opens and Braine invites them into his chamber, where the five imposters are gathered. He asks them what security measure he doesn’t know about and explains that he has always been worried there was something he didn’t know about. The agents refuse to tell him and Braine fires rockets at them, just missing. He promises to break them, release a series of spikes on his wheelchair, and charges toward Jim. Jim manages to get on behind him and steers it into the stand holding the imposters. The wheelchair explodes, killing Braine and his men.



Later at the Wanderer, Jim and Artie bring in their dates and explain the train belongs to their rich uncle, and they occasionally do “favors” for him in return for the train’s use. One of the women inadvertently reveals the hidden panel of guns while the concealed telegraph wire activates. Artie finally explains that they’re international jewel thieves, impressing the women.



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