Perry receive a call from a frantic Evelyn Bagby who claims she was chased by a hooded man in a car and fired two shots in his direction to scare him away. Upon arriving on the scene, Perry finds the police recovering the body of Harry Merrill who went over the side of a cliff in a car. Merrill's body contains two bullet wounds.
Perry defends chronic sleepwalker Peter Cole who's charged with the murder of his step-brother.
Sybil Granger attempts to buy stock in her estranged husband's oil company in order to force his new lover out of the picture, but she ends up getting charged with the murder of a business rival.
A sleazy private eye discovers that his client's prospective son-in-law is the son of a man executed for murder 18 years ago. When the detective turns up murdered, the fiancee is charged with the crime after being seen arguing with the sleuth the previous evening.
Francis Celane feels that her uncle, Edward Norton, is being too restrictive towards her. Under terms of her father's will she cannot marry until her 25th birthday so she asks Perry to try to break this clause. Perry soon has to come to the aid of Fran's fiancee, Rod Gleason, when three witnesses claim they saw him leave the house where a murdered Edward Norton's body was found.
A crooked card game in which a business owner is cheated out of his share of the company soon leads to a murder.
Playboy Mark Cushing has a major infatuation with a woman, Carla Adrian, which she does not reciprocate. Then one night a neighbor hears a shot and a woman's scream in Cushing's cabin. The amorous playboy is found murdered and Carla's mother is charged with the crime.
About to be married Fay Allison is charged with the murder of a man with whom her roommate was having an affair. It seems as though the police found Fay's fingerprints on a glass in the man's apartment.
Hollywood producer John Addison pulls a bone when he picks up a hot chick who's hitchhiking. She's actually a blackmailer and a witness to a murder that Addison is later charged with.
Ed Davenport falls ill on a business trip. When he calls a doctor he claims his wife poisoned him with candy. The doctor then calls the police but when they arrive Davenport's corpse is missing. Later, when Davenport's corpse is found in a shallow grave, his wife Myrna is charge with the murder.
At a beauty parlor, Martha Bradford meets another woman who claims to be married to a man with the same name as Martha's husband. Then Martha's husband is found murdered on his boat and she is accused of murder when her fingerprints are found on a candle located on board 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. Sally has to swim for it in order to avoid being chewed up by the canines. Perry and Paul fish her out of the drink and the attorney ends up defending Sally on a murder charge.
A restauranteur and his waitress/galpal are charged with murdering a man who was stalking the damsel. Perry takes the case and finds that it ties in with the murder of a young policeman a few months before.
Carol Stanley is accused of murdering the embezzler who took $80,000 from her trust account.
Perry and Della witness an automobile accident which later leads Perry into defending an exotic dancer charged with murder.
This one's a toughie because Perry's client made a taped confession that she poisoned her uncle.
Arlene Dowling approaches Perry for help in retrieving her diary which was stolen when she was sunbathing. Things take a turn for the worse when Arlene gets charged with murder.
Perry's obstacles in this one: murder, hit-and-run, a secret marriage, and a missing witness.
Hitchhiking Claire Olger is picked up by a drunk driver and ends up being charged with his murder after the man is discovered dead in her motel room.
Heiress Marilyn Cartright is looking for the con man who swindled and drove her sister to suicide. She finds him in Charles "Country Boy" Barnaby but when Barnaby is found poisoned to death the police theory is that Marilyn killed him as an act of revenge.
Harriet Bain is desperate to protect her father's reputation so she involves Perry and Company in a case involving blackmail, embezzlement, and murder.
Janet Norris is charged with poisoning her doctor husband just before his death in the crash of a private plane but further investigation reveals that the doctor is still alive and well in Mexico and that the victim was one Dave Kirby.
Marian Fargo has an alibi after she's charged with the murders of her husband and a man who was blackmailing her. But the alibi witness has only one good eye and might not be telling the truth about who she is.
A man is charged with the murder of his sister's estranged husband. Unfortunately, the sister suffers from multiple personality disorder and her alter ego is needed as a witness to clear her brother of the charge.
Perry has a tough row to hoe this time. It seems that his client was found inside a locked room with the murder victim.
Frank Lawton goes to visit old pal Scott Shelby and ends up getting charged with his murder. Fortunately for Lawton, Perry Mason is another old pal of his.
Doris Bannister is accused of murdering the man who was blackmailing her stepmother.
Perry gets involved in a case of corporate intrigue involving a proxy fight for an oil company that turns deadly. The case might hinge on a witness who can identify people by the type of shoes they wear.
The solution to this case hinges on a heroin ring operating out of a dance hall as Perry once again defends an old friend charged with murder.
Nasty gossip columnist Mary K. Davis is found murdered and there's no shortage of suspects but when the wrong one is charged it's Perry to the rescue once again.
A nurse is charged when her wealthy employer is poisoned to death but Perry does some digging and discovers that the first wife of the deceased's husband also died of poisoning. Is the husband the real culprit or could it be someone else?
Perry and Della are traveling on a cruise ship returning to Los Angeles from Vancouver when Carl Houser jumps overboard and is presumed drowned at sea. Houser later turns up on shore but with a bullet wound in his body. Wife Anna is charged with Houser's murder and Perry discovers that the case hinges on an income tax evasion trial in which the victim sat on the jury as well as a mysterious man wrapped in bandages on board the cruise ship.
Racketeer George Castle murders Las Vegas hotelier Glenn Faulkner over a gambling debt and sets his site on land inherited by Faulkner's daughter. When Castle is found murdered too, the daughter is charged with the crime.
Stewart Brent, the owner of Perry's office building, is charged with murdering the blackmailer who threatened to reveal juicy tidbits about his new wife's past.
After shifty businessman Bertrand Allred is found dead in his car, his wife Lucille is charged with murder after she is seen walking back to the hotel from the scene of the crime.
Perry is hired by a woman to defend her ex-husband on a murder charge.
Perry's office receives a visit from a hot blonde chick who sports a most unattractive black eye. This leads into a case involving the long lost grandson of a wealthy man and murder.
In this case, Perry's client refuses to provide the identity of a woman who could prove him innocent murder. The only ray of hope for Perry and Company in this one is a typist who disappeared suddenly from the lawyer's office.
Perry gets his client freed from a mental institution but then has to defend him on a murder rap.
Perry receives an unexpected call from George Beaumont whom he thought had died in a plane crash three years prior. Still alive, Beaumont wants to return home but when he does he gets a letter opener stuck in his back.
A murder gets Perry involved in the tangled financial and personal affairs of the wealthy Balfour family.
When Anthony "Pop" Renzi is identified as a participant in an armed robbery from a finance company in which a man was later murdered in the aftermath. Perry steps in to clear Renzi.
When a payroll officer on an Army base is found murdered, Sgt. Joseph Dexter is charged with the crime. The case hinges on a payroll robbery in the Phillippines years before. Some of the bills from that robbery had recently shown up on the base.
Rhoda Reynolds is charged with murdering her blackmailing ex-husband. Perry then moves the trial proceedings to the room in which the victim was murdered in order to re-enact the fatal night.
Slimy Jack Hardesty embezzles one hundred grand from his father-in-law, Dr. Blane, and then tries blackmail to shake the good doctor down for more. Perry is hired by Dr. Blane to put an end to Hardesty's shenanigans but the rotter turns up dead and the good doctor is charged with murder. Perry then uses a wildlife camera triggered by a buried clock to unmask the real killer.
A moonlighting teacher is charged with murdering an acquaintance he had earlier taken home after the victim had earlier caused trouble at a diner where the teacher worked a night job.
Jockey Tic Barton finds himself in a full-blown mess. He's fired from his job when his horse loses a fixed race then he's charged with the murder of the man actually responsible for the fix. Plus, Tic's wife was having an affair with the murder victim. Perry might have his plow in the hard ground.
An art dealer's wife is charged with murdering her husband after he sold an art collector a forged painting of a masterpiece called the "Purple Woman."
Martin Ellis is sent to jail for embezzlement but his wife manages to discover evidence that the real thief was Charles Brewster. Ellis is freed and Brewster jailed but Brewster turns up murdered after he gets out of jail on bail. Ellis is then charged with his murder.
The courtroom in this episode is actually a coroner's inquest in which a parrot holds the key to freeing Perry's client from blame in the murder of her husband.
Sarah Werner asks Perry to find her rotter of a husband who ran off with her inheritance. Now using the name Hans Breel, hubby is working a gem scam but when the scam backfires, Sarah is charged with his murder.
Melvin Slater is interviewing candidates to impersonate a woman named Helen Reynolds for some unknown reason. Eva Martell is chosen and moves into a nice apartment with her aunt. They are paid well by Slater as long as Eva continues her impersonation. Smelling a rat, Eva goes to Perry Mason for advice but she soon needs more than advice when Slater is found murdered in the apartment.
The inventor of a cure for sick fish is charged with murdering the nasty purchaser of a fish pet store.
When Millie Crest and Fern Driscoll switch identities, it leads to Millie being charged with murder. She gets Perry to help her in return for a 38 cent retainer.
A District Attorney in a suburban Los Angeles town get charged with the murder of the bid committee chairman of a defectively built hospital whom the D. A. has been investigating for corruption.
An heiress, searching for her missing uncle, gets charged with murdering a female private eye who supposedly had info about the man.
The best friend of a has-been comic is charged with murdering a slimy advertising executive who reneged on a promise to get the comic a new television show.
Peter Baxter decides to test the loyalty of his heirs by pretending to cut them out of his will and leaving his entire estate to his groundskeeper. Baxter will then fake his death and if any of the heirs contest the will, they will be automatically disinherited. Wouldn't you know it, Baxter is found really dead and the groundskeeper gets charged with the crime.
Carol Delaney is approached by Bishop Arthur Mallory and informed that she might be the real granddaughter of wealthy Charles Burroughs. But it seems as though a lot of people don't want Carol's identity to be established for certain and when Burroughs is found stabbed to death Carol gets charged with his murder.
A playwright is found shot to death in the same manner as a character in one of his unproduced plays. In order to clear his wrongfully charged client, Perry must find the missing last act of the play.
A psychiatrist discovers that tapes of his sessions with his patients have been stolen and are being used for blackmail purposes. The shrink gets charged with murder when the thief and blackmailer turns up dead.
Evelyn Forbes escapes from a mental institution only to be charged with murder. The key to the case hinges on a dog that continues to howl no matter what.
Perry defends a building contractor charged with murdering a political manipulator.
Harry Bright and Chuck Clark were once close friends and business partners until a younger woman on the make manipulated Chuck into marrying her. When Chuck's young bride is found shot to death, Harry is charged with her murder and hires Perry for his defense.
Matilda Benson rules her brood with an iron hand but she's unable to prevent them from getting involved in a gambling scandal involving slimy nightclub owner Danny Barker. Then, when Barker is found murdered, the scandal expands to include murder.
Martin Selkirk is a major league rotter who has the hots for Claire Allison in the worst way. When Selkirk is found murdered in his beach house, Claire gets arrested and charged with the crime but Perry's investigation finds that the evidence points more towards Selkirk's 5 year old son. Or could it be someone else?
Bad luck seems to follow young Jimmy Morrow. Already on probation for his part in a car theft, Jimmy finds himself charged with the theft of a valuable Spanish cross and the murder of its owner.
Perry returns to his office late one night and finds a hot chick climbing through his balcony window. This event leads to a case involving bigamy and murder.
Ruth Prescott wants to divorce her nasty husband but he refuses. When hubby turns up murdered, Ruth is naturally charged with the crime. Two keys to the case for Perry and company: a lame canary and unusual bruises on the victim.
When Bruce Chapman returns home early from a business trip he finds that his wife, Marie, wants a divorce. This is odd because just before Chapman left to go on his trip he thought he had seen the strangled body of his wife lying on the floor of his office. But if Marie Chapman is still alive, who was the dead woman?
Greedy George Clark discovers that his wife might be the long-last daughter of former movie star Lorna Thomas and begins seeing dollar signs. George soon sees the inside of a jail cell when Lorna is found murdered and he is charged with the crime.
Hard luck Larry Benton gets into an argument in poker game and knocks Mike Granger out cold. Then he's informed that Granger is dead. In reality, the whole set-up is a scam to shake him down for money. Larry forges a check on his brother Steve's account for $5,000 but then Johnny Clay, the mastermind of the scam, tries to shake him down for more. Clay ends up dead and Steve Benton gets charged with his murder. Perry must get to the bottom of the crooked poker game in order to clear his client.
After Mitsuo Kamuri gets "caught" with a string of valuable pearls belonging to the mother of her boyfriend, Grover Nichols, his father agrees to drop all charges provided that Mitsuo stop seeing his son. Then things get more complicated when Mitsuo's uncle, who strung the pearls, is found murdered.
John Brant holds the mortgage on Jo Ann Blanchard's ranch and forecloses. He also takes possession of her prized stallion, Jo Ann goes to Perry for help in recovering the horse but soon needs his help in something else when she's arrested for killing Brant.
Perry's friend, private eye Paul Drake, is charged with murder when his gun is found to be the murder weapon in the killing of a hit-and-run driver who was also the son-in-law of a wealthy tycoon.
Richard Vanaman is up for a promotion at his company but someone sabotages his advancement and Vanaman ends up being framed for a murder.
The girlfriend of a designer goes on trial for the murder of a rival designer who had stolen her boyfriend's designs for a new line of swimwear.
Ne'er-do-well Allen Sheridan has made quite a few enemies, and he's' due to inherit over a hundred and fifty thousand dollars. So when Sheridan is murdered the culprit could be almost anyone. The police arrest his cousin Sarette Winslow, but Perry has other ideas.
Small town gal Marjorie Cluny wins a contest for best looking legs sponsored by a shady Hollywood producer. Her prize is a trip to Hollywood and a part in the producer's next film. Unfortunately, things fall through rather quickly for Marjorie and her Hollywood career doesn't last long. The producer is found stabbed to death with a woodcarving instrument and Marjorie is arrested for his murder.
Perry goes to the Sierra Nevadas on a fishing trip with an old friend but becomes sidetracked into a murder case involving an ex-convict and a revenge seeking sister.
A plane crash, a double murder, missing money, and an innocent widow charged with crimes she didn't commit are the elements of this case.
Author Ben Sutton is a fraud, taking credit for another man's story of his time in a POW camp. When Sutton turns up dead, his wife is arrested for the murder.
Burger is forced to make use of Perry's defense talents when the DA's old friend faces a murder charge.
CEO Edward Nelson is charged with the murder of an embezzler within his company.
Madelyn Terry finds herself in a locked room with the corpse of her sister's husband, and a motive for killing him.
Secretary Gladys Doyle goes to a remote mountain cabin to pick up a package for her employer. A man who seems to know her greets her there, but when he leaves Gladys finds a corpse.
George Anclitas runs a casino but when a showgirl comes up dead, he plants a gun on working girl Betty Roberts to frame her and draw attention off herself. But who killed the showgirl?
Gerald Norton is working the mine he inherited from his father, and rancher Ken Bascombe tries to buy him out. When Gerald refuses, things turn violent and Gerald ends up accused of murdering Bascombe.
Museum employee June Sinclair and her boyfriend Dave Lambert are accused of the murder of a thief at the museum.
Millionaire Adam Thompson hires Perry Mason when he suspects someone of stealing secrets from his safe, but it becomes a case of murder when Thompson's assistant turns up dead. with the secrets.
When fashion designer Flavia Pierce is poisoned, suspicion initially falls on her husband until the police go after a new suspect.
Commander James Page is testing electronic equipment on the U.S. Navy sub Moray. It's commander, Burke, is assisting the police in the investigation of a murdered cafe sing, as the police suspect a submariner may be responsible. On the day of the tests, Page is found dead and a sailor, Chapman, is implicated in the murder of the commander and the cafe singer.
The son of a bank robber needs help when a murderer tries to find his father's loot.
Inventor James Frazer returns from a three-month trip to get away from his cheating wife. However, he finds her murdered in his office, and the only way in or out is a foolproof lock that he designed.
Trudy Holbrook's mother dies, leaving her $10 million, and two men arrive claiming to be her long-lost father Jay. Only one man can identify them, her blind uncle Lawrence, but he turns up dead.
Hartley Bassett, a gruff company president returns from his death of two years and promptly fires Peter Dawson, who is assumed the killer when Bassett is found shot dead. But Perry thinks he has a solid alibi since both Dick Hart and his new wife,Teddi, each swear that a different man was at the scene. But soon, Teddi and Dick disappear.
Richard Hammond is in need of Perry Mason's services when he is accused of running his car over his girlfriend.
Jim Ferris and his uncle's bored young wife are having an affair, and plan to fake her kidnapping in order $80,000 from his uncle. But when Ferris ends up dead, his secretary Betty Wilkins, who was used as a go-between, is charged with his death.
When a woman fakes her own death by running a car off a cliff, Perry winds up in trouble for obstructing justice as her defense lawyer. The body in the car had belonged to another woman.
When the owner of a cosmetics company is found murdered, the heiress of the company is charged with the crime.
A chain reaction of blackmail and murder coincide with the release of a murderer from prison.
A clown is accused of murder after the circus owner is found dead, and the murder weapon was placed in with a phoney gun act he performs.
When a washed up pianist, David Carpenter, is killed for the insurance money, his protégé, Donna Ross, becomes the prime suspect.
Perry's search for an orphaned girl's real parents finds that both had died shortly after her death. The hunt also discovers a grandfather is still alive, but the next day he too is found murdered.
Lester Martin, the owner of a boat company, is kidnapped at gun-point and left behind in a forest, drunk after being forced to drink a half bottle of Scotch. And things turn out worse when his stepfather is found dead.
When the young girlfriend of Ann Farwell's father is found dead, Ann and her mother both think each other is guilty of the crime. Meanwhile, Perry is defending a ranch hand who was charged with the murder.
The meddlesome wife of a Mayor jeopardizes his political career with her actions.
The family of a publishing house want to get their business back after a disreputable publishing tycoon, Donald Fletcher, buys up controlling interest in the company and then turns it into a scandalous newspaper. But when Fletcher is found dead it is the family matriarch who is charged with the crime after it is disclosed that she was being blackmailed over some scandalous pictures from her younger days.
A county engineer, William Harper Caine, is charged with murder when Roger Quigley, a chief contractor on an aqueduct which was to be named after Caine, is found dead.
Ralph Duncan, a civil servant, returns home carrying $153,000 that he found in the home of a recently deceased woman. He expected to turn in the cash the next day until his cousin takes off with the loot, leaving Duncan behind and accused of theft and even murder.
Loring Lamont lures his father's secretary, Arlene Ferris, to his beachfront home with seduction on his mind. She rejects his advances and takes off in his car. When Loring is found dead, Arlene is made the chief suspect.
Phyllis, the other woman in inventor Walter Randall's life, is charged with murder after Walter's wife, Laura is found dead. As the story unfolds, it is discovered that Laura was blackmailing an assistant to Walter to build a bomb which would destroy one of his inventions, and Phyllis had found her scam out.
Willard Nesbitt, believing he is near death, fakes his own drowning to give his wife, Eve, the insurance money. James Castle, his business partner, plans on scheming Willard's wife out of the money. When Willard winds up dead again, the police believe Eve is running an insurance fraud.
Karl Addison, owner of a jewelry store, plans to rob his own store after having an operation that would render him temporarily blind...using that excuse as a solid alibi. But things go wrong when Addison ends up dead and the jewels missing and James Kincannon has been accused of the crime.
Paul Drake investigates a case in which money was embezzled by a bank president. His lead sends him to a country town which is running a festival where all men must wear a beard. Paul discovers the missing money along with a dead body.
A vacation resort developer is found murdered and Pete Malloy, a contractor, is accused of the killing.
When a monkey is found to be missing from the San Diego Zoo, Dr. Walther Braun, a visiting dentist, blames Hilde Fursten a zoo worker. Later, Dr. Braun is found dead at the zoo and Tony Osgood, a partner of Hilde, is accused of the murder.
Claude Demay, recently released from prison after serving six years for arson of a building housing a famous art collection, is planning on proving his innocence. His plan includes uncovering a piece of the art collection presumed burned to ashes.
Herman Albright is killed when he mistakenly wears the vest of the intended victim but a fashion model whom Herman had been hitting on is charged with the crime.
A death of an officer at Vandenburg Air Force Base while a mysterious missile crash was being investigated leaves an old Army buddy of Perry accused of murder.
Blackmail, murder and a boyfriend who stayed the night leaves a mess of a case for Perry to piece together.
The estranged husband of a conniving woman is found dead and a young man, David Gideon, who is in love with the woman will do anything to protect her and her reputation...including going on trial for her.
Bill Ryder, a man who is sabotaging Jeff Bronson's business and is in love with his wife, is found shot dead. Now Lola and Jeff Bronson, once awaiting a divorce, are helping each other look innocent.
The drowning death of a newspaper executive during a fishing trip sets off all kinds of repercussions at the newspaper itself. Including murder.
A paint manufacturer suspects that his partner is behind a mysterious fire and explosion at their factory. Then the manufacturer gets charged with the murder of the partner.
When Perry and Della attend a wedding, the bride runs out of the ceremony yelling "No, no!" It seems as though a blackmailer held up compromising photos of her sister in hopes of getting the bride to leave the groom for him. But the blackmailer's scheme comes a cropper when he's found shot to death and the prospective groom is charged with the crime.
During a storm at sea, First Officer Jerry Griffin jettisons a million dollars worth of goods into the sea in order to lessen the chance of his ship sinking. Hauled before a maritime court of inquiry on shore, Griffin needs the testimony of Captain Bancroft to clear him but he's murdered before he can give it. It's Perry to the rescue when Jerry Griffin is charged with that crime too.
Comedian Charlie Hatch learns that his old galpal, Anne Gilrain, has escaped from an asylum from where she was forcibly by her nasty husband. When hubby turns up murdered, Charlie fears that Anne did the deed and sets himself up as a suspect. It's up to Perry and company to try and save the comic from his abysmal stupidity.
Phony pyschic Phillip Paisley meets a grisly end when an elevator that has been tampered with crashed with him inside. It's up to Perry to set up another fantastic demonstration to prove his client innocent and expose the real killer.
Perry defends a physician who's accused of committing two murders.
Once again, Perry and Paul have bad luck on a fishing trip when their fishing guide friend Scott Cahill gets charged with murder as part of a gold smuggling scheme.
Artist Jack Culross fakes his own death and sees the sales of his paintings go through the roof. Unfortunately, Jack forgot to tell wife Edna about the scheme so when she finds out he's still alive the you know what hits the fan. Including Edna getting charged with her husband's murder.
A really weird courtroom confession scene highlights this episode about the murder of a race car driver.
A health club owner is found crunched to death with a dumbbell at his establishment. Perry's client is an employee who wanted to marry the victim's daughter.
A college president finds himself charged with murder not long after an old acquaintance makes an unusual bequest to the school.
A journalist is murdered while tracking a Nazi war criminal who might be posing as an executive at an aerospace company.
Wealthy Walter Frazer has always blamed his daughter-in-law for the failures of his no talent assclown son. You can only imagine how Frazer feels when his daughter-in-law is charged with his son's murder.
Perry goes to the Manzana Valley to help settle a land dispute but the key witness in the case gets blown up by a homemade bomb.
A beautiful but naive secretary gets charged with the murder of her boss after a witness states that he saw a shapely shadow through the shades of the boss's office window shortly before the murder occurred.
Historian Phillip Andrews believes that his fiancee, Evelyn Faraday, is entitled to a share of a shipping company fortune but then finds himself accused of murdering the company's top man.
Axel Norstaad sells his 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 is charged with murder when Somers if found dead.
Eleanor Corbin pleads amnesia when police find her running and screaming through the woods near her apartment building but this loss of memory does Eleanor little good when she is later charged with murder.
A casual pen pal relationship between two young girls leads to insider information and murder.
Perry tries to clear a smoking hot secretary in a case that begins with $200,000 mysteriously turning up in a shoebox and later disappearing. Other elements include a mine that's not running but still receiving a payroll and two women claiming to be the company owner.
Mike Preston despises Hugh Jamison because he mistakenly believes Jamison stole $100,000 from him and was responsible for him being crippled. Trying to entrap Jamison, Preston gets himself set up for murder by the real thief.
Cartoonist Pete Manders is elated when Gabe Phillips offers to sell him ownership of the comic strip "Zingy" for a song. Manders is less than elated when he learns that Phillips plans to leave for Europe with Manders' galpal Leslie and gets charged with the crime when Phillips turns up murdered.
Ted Chase comtemplates revenge when he discovers that his second wife might have been responsible for the death of his first wife. Someone else beats Ted to the punch but he gets charged with the murder.
Astronaut Matthew Heller is charged with murdering his old service rival, General Addison Brand, after Brand is put in charge of the astronaut program.
A baby that's mysteriously left on the doorstep of Perry's office leads to a case of murder.
Is August Dahlgren really crazy or is he being cagily eccentric? Either way, he's charged with murder when his sleazy nephew turns up dead.
Perry's friend Steve Brock is appearing in Romeo and Juliet. Perry and Della are in the audience when the lights go out during the Paris/Romeo dueling scene... and they come back up to reveal that leading man Franz Lachman, Romeo, is dead. When Brock is put on trial for the murder, Perry must stage a play of his own to solve the case.
Producer Charlie Corby steals a teleplay from up-and-comer Herbert Simms and prepares to produce it. When Corby turns up dead, a witness places Simms at the scene of the crime.
Naive and maladjusted Merle Telford is about to turn 21 and receive a substantial inheritance. As soon as she receives her money, Merle plans to run away from her guardians and elope with Danny Pierce but Danny is really a greedy schemer and Merle's supposed best friend, Gina Gilbert, is his accomplice. Paul Drake is hired by the guardians to keep Merle in line but when a murder is committed during her birthday party she gets arrested for the crime.
Joseph Kraft seems to be a harmless bookseller, but appearances decieve: Kraft earns thousands a year peddling forgeries of rare first edition books to unsuspecting marks! When Kraft dies, apparently the victim of a broken gas valve, the police soon suspect murder, and they charge Ellen Carter, one of Kraft's employees. But Perry Mason isn't convinced and comes to her defense.
An orphanage's future hangs in the balance when its principal benefactor, Carleton Gage, lapses into a coma and then dies. A power struggle begins between beneficiaries who want to close the home and those who want to keep it open. And it is complicated when the police charge orphanage defender Joanne Proctor with Gage's murder.
Jimmy West may have found his ticket to the top: up and coming prize fighter Davey Carroll. But Davey likes the ladies and that causes problems for Jimmy that only Perry Mason can solve.
All of Clem Sandover's fancy bookwork - he has painstakingly embezzled over $200,000 - may be for nothing when a fellow employee discovers his misdeeds. It's when she winds up dead and Sandy's wife stands accused that Perry Mason enters the case to defend his old friend Beth Sandover.
Lieutenant Anderson's cousin Jimmy and his partner Otto Norden discover a robbery in progress at Wilson's Plastics. Otto dies during the ensuing shoot-out and evidence implicates Jimmy as an inside man who helped the robbers. But it gets worse for the young policeman when someone murders a night watchman at Wilson's. Perry takes on the case as a favor to the Lieutenant.
Halloween proves lethal for Phil Schuyler when someone arranges for his electric heater to share his bath. A witness claims only Damian White entered Schuyler's bungalow at the right time to be the killer, but Perry Mason has another theory.
Richard 'Dickie' Durham returns to Los Angeles after spending nearly two decades asea. He plans on making up for the missed rowdiness, but someone has other plans - Dickie ends up dead. Perry defends his long-time crewman Harry Fothergill, who had a hundred thousand reasons to murder Dickie...
The owner of a tuna fleet and a mobster both claim to be the father of a girl due a $100,000 trust fund bequest. Then a banker named Franz Moray discovers skulduggery in the handling of the trust fund, and someone shuts his mouth permanently. Perry steps in to defend John Gregory, the accused, who has a secret...
Della asks Perry for $25,000. She needs it for her friend Janet, the victim of a blackmailer. Janet confronts the blackmailer Edward Franklin and hits him with a small statue. When Franklin turns up dead, the police charge Janet with his murder, and Della as an accessory! Someone hit Franklin three times with that statue; Janet swears she only hit him once. Perry has a personal stake in the outcome of this one.
Someone starts a whispering campaign to smear widowed high school teacher Jane Wardman. It accuses her of romantic affairs with her students! Perry, on vacation, cannot rest. He takes up her cause and gets her a public hearing, in the midst of which a local turns up dead and new facts stand revealed about the death of a student months ago - a boy in whom Jane took an interest.
Life mistreats Jennifer Wakely. First her fiancé leaves her for an older and wealthier woman. Then her father dies and her uncle tells her she's destitute - after she has lived a life of comfort. All she has left is a racehorse named Tiger Lily, but she loses that, too, to Brad Shelby. So when someone puts Shelby out of the picture, permanently, the police naturally suspect Jennifer. Fortunately, she has Perry Mason on her side.
Angela Fernaldi and Maureen Thomas both claim to be the heirs to a trust fund - whichever of them is telling the truth stands to collect $200,000. Burt Renshaw claims he knows - and can prove - which girl is telling the truth. So when someone murders him, the police naturally suspect Maureen, the girl he was about to disinherit.
A woman accused of shoplifting may have committed the crime to help her brother, a drunk with a gambling problem. But her problems are just beginning - someone shoots her brother's partner Austin Cullins, and a lot of evidence points to her. It only gets worse when her brother catches a fatal bullet...
Linda Blake comes to Ladera seeking an inheritance from her father, who never married. Someone tries to kill her by gassing her in her hotel room. Later, she agrees to meet a man who claims he has information. Actually, he plans to blow her up! But someone gets to the would-be killer first, bludgeoning him with a cane police can connect to Linda Blake!
Professor Ronald Hewes has published a novel, but the sad truth is that he stole it from a dead woman. Her sister wants a payoff. And the professor suspects his wife wants to murder him. When a man with enemies dies, the police have their work cut out for them. And when Perry Mason defends the suspect they choose, their job gets that much worse!
Cal Leonard, caught breaking into Otis Industries, tries to get Joe Doyle to help him. But Joe Doyle died a few months back, so Cal gets Joe's widow Constant, instead. Constant has such an easy time getting the charges dropped that she's suspicious, but she'll have another chance: someone murders Cal's cousin Steve, and Cal's back on the hot seat!
Professor of Law Edward Lindley regards trial lawyers as being less about the law and more about the performance. Then a student of his confesses to him that she killed a man by hitting him with a poker. Fortunately, that blow wasn't fatal. But the man was a blackmailer, and they make enemies, so when he does turn up dead later, the police have a suspect all but gift-wrapped, and Professor Lindley finds himself forced into a role he disdains...
Columnist Elihu Laban gets himself arrested for murder whilst attempting to obtain material for new columns - secret papers. With Perry unavailable, it falls to Bruce Jason to defend the newspaperman. But the plot thickens when it seems Bruce Jason may be the murderer!
John Wilburn, bothered by blackmail, seeks the aid of corporate lawyer Sherman Hatfield. Then someone punches John's ticket for good, and the police nab his niece Hollis. Sherman finds himself in an unfamiliar arena defending the young lady.
Amos Keller's dog Hard Tack bites developer Gerald Thornton, so he hires Perry. Then someone murders Gerald Thornton, and the police charge Amos' niece Sandra. Can Perry, with a little help from Hard Tack, exonerate her?
When his wife becomes ill and will soon die, Trevor Harris reappears. Declared legally dead years earlier, he claims he wants to safeguard their children's interest. Her entire family rallies againt Harris, and before the dust settles Edgar Thorne lies dead and Harris has been charged with murder.
A photographer catches politician Harrison Burke and Eva Belter outside a night spot. He's concerned for his career, but she's more worried about her husband George. She asks Perry for help using a fake name and saying that a particular gossip magazine is blackmailing her. Perry takes a personal interest because a friend of his suicided over an article in that magazine and has nasty words with the owner - who turns out to be Eva's husband George! So when George winds up shot, Perry might find himself on the wrong side of the bars...
Roy Comstock has a plan, and it's a beauty: swindle his partner Peter Brent and fake his own death so he can disappear! Sadly for Roy, someone makes his death all too real, and the police are sure it's Peter - until Perry steps in to explain it to them...
Austin Lloyd and Dwight Garrett are partners - right up to the day Garrett discovers Lloyd is defrauding a client. Lloyd also knows his wife Bonnie loves Garrett. Faced with losing his livelihood and his love, Lloyd phonies up an attempt on his own life - and actually dies! The police charge Garrett, but Perry's convinced the man didn't murder his ex-partner.
Sculptor John Larkin has it bad for his young and attractive Greek model Theba. But he knows her mother will never permit them to marry, and that Theba has a boyfriend her own age. Then someone murders Cleo, and a witness comes forward who saw John throw a woman's body from a cliff!
Richard Harris has written a thinly-veiled exposé of Cliffside Heights' dirty laundry. Outraged residents hire Perry to sue the author and Perry almost succeeds. Then someone murders Harris, and the police discover that a woman named Margaret Layton has a powerful motive. But Perry isn't convinced, and agrees to defend her.
Martin Walden's sister pays his nephew to fake an affair with his wife Andrea. But Martin already suspected Andrea was stepping out with her old flame Nelson Tarr! Is this Palmetto, or Peyton Place? Either way there's bad blood between Tarr and Walden, so when someone murders Walden, Tarr winds up in a sticky situation from which only Perry can free him!
Appellate judge Daniel Redmond may be appointed lieutenant governor. But an alcoholic named Martin Weston will testify that Judge Redmond was part of a plot to defraud the government years earlier. So when Weston departs the mortal coil, the police have a natural suspect, unless Perry Mason steps up to help the man who just handed him a rare court defeat!
John Brooks comes up with a new twist to convince Sophia and Ninevah Stone that he's the rightful heir to their fortune. When murder results, Perry reluctantly defends Brooks.
No-talent crook John Flickenger pulls off a robbery without a hitch but then his young nephew finds the gun used in the heist. The entire business soon leads to murder.
A rumored lost gold mine leads to murder in a desert town.
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 defends the dean of a prep school on charges of killing a faculty member who had been a liar, thief, and blackmailer.
Crude art collector Otto Olney purchases a Gauguin but art expert Colin Durant says it's a fake. Olney gets Perry to sue Durant for libel but he ends up defending a model when the expert is found murdered.
Gwynn Elston moves in with galpal Nell Grimes because Nell's husband is frequently absent but then Gwynn discovers that her friend's hubby is leading a double life. Murder is the end result.
It's Perry to the rescue when Julie Eng's precious gems left to her by her grandfather turn up missing and the thief who swiped them turns up dead.
Dying Bebe Brent gives the bulk of her estate to her loyal nurse. Needless to say, this act angers the rest of the Brent clan and leads to a murder.
Young Timmy Balfour has begun hanging out with a bunch of juvenile delinquents and things go from awful to good grief when he's charged with murder.
Grover Johnson's wife, Eula, hates living on their barren ranch spread so they're both overjoyed when wealthy Texas Nelson Barcliff comes along and offers to purchase the property. But things aren't exactly as they seem and when both Barcliff and Eula end up dead, Grover gets charged with Eula's murder.
Brothers Martin and Todd Baylor are feuding over ownership of a chain of department stores so when Martin ends up with a knife stuck in his back one evening Todd gets charged with his 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 and the case hinges upon goings on in an elevator.
Edward Lewis gets into increasingly bitter arguments with his father-in-law which make him suspect number one when the old man turns up murdered.
Perry tries to figure out who shot a photographer while a model pointed a loaded gun at him but didn't fire.
Sweet but ditzy Nancy Banks wants Perry to cash a bundle of winning racing tickets for her but her former employer claims the tickets as his own. Nancy then gets even deeper into trouble when she's charged with the ex-employer's murder.
Deborah Dearborn is a 20 year-old novelist who has
unknowingly written a novel on her ex-boyfriend's
stepmother. Although John Carew warns her,
his stepmother finds Deborah and threatens to sue her.
Real trouble strikes when the stepmother is found murdered and Deborah must turn to Perry Mason for help.
Mason's first client in this one is an amnesia victim accused of the murder of her husband. His second is her son who's accused of the murder of a blackmailing neighbor.
Phillipe Bertain begins giving money to an old lady love from his hometown. She says it's because she wants enough money to leave her abusive husband but in reality it's all a scam for cash. When the husband is poisoned to death, Phillipe gets charged with the crime.
Charged with the murder of his estranged wife, Randolph James claims he was fishing at the time of her death but nobody can find the fisherman to substantiate his story.
A former fire chief wants Perry to bring a libel suit against a reporter who accused him of burning down his own warehouse. Instead of libel, Perry ends up defending the chief on a murder charge.
A fortune teller's prediction's begin coming true with deadly accuracy for a woman when she goes on trial for murder.
Perry gets a call from a frantic housekeeper named Nellie Conway who thinks her employer is plotting to murder his wife.
Murder is the end result when actress Ramona Carver is confronted by a man claiming to be her son.
Mason is hired by a woman after a series of bizarre events convince the woman that she's going crazy.
Recovering alcoholic William Sherwood starts hitting the bottle again after seeing his wife, who's supposedly been dead for five years. When she turns up dead for real, Sherwood is arrested for her murder.
A phony kidnapping note gets into the wrong hands and murder is the end result.
Dropout Barry Davis is accused of bashing small town junk dealer/mayoral candidate Mort Lynch's head in with a monkey wrench. Perry defends Barry and discovers that the case hinges on a 20 year old counterfeiting scheme involving Barry's late uncle and a few of the town's prominent citizens.
Con Bolton is accused of murdering his fiancee's stepfather when witnesses say they saw him fooling around with the brakes minutes before the stepfather perished in an accident.
Under the term's of her father's will, the unattractive Alice Trilling must marry within one year in order to inherit ownership of the old man's company. Uncle Harry, who's currently in control of the company, then begins playing matchmaker behind the scenes for reasons of his own. It all leads to Alice being charged with a murder for which she herself believes she's guilty.
A murder interrupts a man's charges to prove his ex-wife is an unfit mother.
A romance between members of rival political families finds Perry Mason caught in the middle.
The principal stockholder in a publishing firm is blackmailed by her husband through a letter written by a model, Everett, the blackmailer, hands the money over to the model. But when both Everett and his wife pay a visit to Bonnie, the model, they find her murdered.
When Rachel steals money from her Uncle Abner's safe to feed her boyfriends drug habit, the uncle demands restitution. But instead, Uncle Abner is found murdered with his secretary charged with the crime.
A fortune-hunting Frenchman marries a recently widowed woman. But a visit from his ex-wife leaves him floating dead in a swimming pool.
A murder is committed as Harvey Scott tries to regain control of his families mining company.
Attorney Joe Kelly takes on a case while Perry is away on vacation, representing Bill Jarvis who is trying to keep his bowling alley running despite efforts from his mother-in-law to shut it down. But the case becomes serious when Jarvis is charged with murder.
While meeting his friends future daughter-in-law while in Switzerland, Perry Mason is caught up in international intrigue.
Kathy James plans her revenge on movie producer Tony Fry, who years earlier had ruined the career of her father, a cameraman. As she confronts him with photos of Fry and another woman meant to use as blackmail, but soon finds the need to defend herself with a trophy as he attacks her.
Reba Burgess finds herself confused as a man shows up with a contract for partnership of her late husband's mining company, signed just before he died.
Investment broker Eric Pollard is released from attempted bank robbery by getting probation. But his peculiar actions continue when he insists his probation officer is having an affair with Pollard's wife, Sybil. And it's the probation officer who is accused of murder when Sybil Pollard is found dead.
When a rare Confederate coin is made available for sale, Paul Drake agrees to act as the courier, getting him much more involved than he expected.
Della's cousin, an aspiring young model, is disheartened when she signs a contract, unaware of a clause stating that she will agree to gain weight.
A young engineer, Adam Conrad, is charged with murder after a land development deal goes south.
A disreputable agent seeks to free aspiring singer and heiress Amy Jo Jennings from her recently inherited fortune by agreeing to let her have the lead role in a musical comedy if she backs the show. But his real plan is to run off with the money, only his death can stop him.
With Perry out of the country, attorney Ken Kramer defends a man accused of stealing a necklace worth $50,000.
A woman wants to reopen the case of her deceased son, but needs Perry's help to eliminate a clause in her late husband's will that disinherits her if she ever tries another investigation.
When the secretary of an investment firm taps her boss' phone to send stock tips to an accomplice. But when the secretary discovers an affair between a cub executive and the bosses daughter, she is murdered. Meanwhile, her accomplice is razing a new building with embezzled funds, which is discovered by Paul Drake.
Perry Mason and Paul Drake discover a murder while in Hawaii to investigate a hotel chain.
Convinced that her boss is planning on murdering his invalid wife, she turns to Perry Mason for help.
Hamilton Burger prosecutes his young assistant who is charged with murdering the unscrupulous women he fell in love with.
Paulo Porro gets involved with an Italian family in which one of the members, Enrico Bacio, believes that Porro and his relatives have had a feud with his family back in Sicily and has come to kill Enrico. His beliefs seem true when Enrico is found murdered.
Victoria Dawn, the owner of a chain of failing health clubs, is a former swimming champion. She hires a young woman, Reggie, to impersonate her and swim across the Catalina Channel to L.A. as a means of gaining publicity. But when Victoria is found murdered, it's Reggie who is accused of her death.
Franklin Shore, believed dead the past decade has returned from the grave with plans on killing his wife and the man who blackmailed him during his lifetime.
Danny Talbert is accused of killing a man, Steve Radom, who Danny believes caused his fathers death by stressing over the $10,000 debt he owed.
Pete Warren, the owner of a novelty manufacturing plant, is accused of murder when his soon to be ex-wife is found dead after she ran a counterfeit gambling chip scam in Reno.
Some kind of explanation is expected when an unsuccessful salesman slams down his suitcase and a huge sum of cash is revealed inside of it.
Perry is lead into a case involving an eccentric millionaire, his two scheming assistants and a klepto gorilla, when Della reads a diary of a dead woman who she believes may have been murdered and not a suicide as reported.
A man claiming to be an intelligence agent contacts a friend of Perry, lawyer Ward Toyama, and gets him involved in murder and gunrunning on the high seas.
Perry is asked by Dorrie Ambler to be her witness after a shady P.I., Phil Arthur, uses her as a body double for heiress Minerva Minde. Perry discovers that Minerva was accused of a hit and run accident that Arthur is examining and is using Dorrie to prove his case. But both Dorrie and Minerva are hiding a secret in which Perry has uncovered.
Life has been unkind to Carla Chaney, in part because of her own poor choices. So when she's charged with murder, it surprises no one. And when she drives three lawyers away, a judge asks Perry to help her. He agrees, but the case will tax his skill, for Carla trusts no one and her claim that someone else, someone with a shrill and sinister laugh, was also present is thin - and gets thinner when she identifies the person.
On a lark, businesswoman Pat Kean goes to see a psychic, and amazingly, the psychic's predictions come to pass. Ignoring the seer's cryptic assertion that she would "wear white and then black" Pat marries her boss Max Armstead. But then Max dies, poisoned by digitalis, and with his dying words assures Lieutenant Drumm and Perry that Pat was his murderer! Charged with first degree murder, Pat now depends on Perry to restore her freedom.
Claire Armstrong has a booming candy business but life is not sweet. Her boyfriend Mark has stolen her candy recipe and the sinister Harry Arnold is blackmailing her! When Harry turns up dead, Claire's cousin Wanda, who wants to get her sticky fingers into Claire's candy empire, frames Claire for the crime!
In the midst of a celebration, Van Fowler murders Stuart Logan, a professor at Perry's alma mater. Perry doesn't think the case is as cut-and-dried as the police do, and defends Fowler.
Perry rescues the beautiful Diana Carter from a watery grave, so who does she turn to when first charged with grand larceny, and then with murdering Addison Powell? Perry and Paul both have their work cut out for them, for Davy Jones holds the key to this one.
Safeline Insurance, noting an increase in heart attacks among its insured, hired Perry to look into the matter. Perry sends Paul Drake in undercover. But after Perry badgers a man into a fatal heart attack, the attorney himself comes under suspicion. Perry must prove the man was poisoned.
After a computer dating service matches Lucas Tolliver with Millie Barton, Lucas comes to California as a penniless hick. But rich Millie agrees to marry him anyway. Perry smells a rat and discovers, with Paul's help, that Lucas is very rich - and that he inherited money when his previous wife died after eating a poisonous plant. So when Millie dies after drinking poisonous lemonade that Lucas server her, what are the police likely to think. Fortunately for Lucas, Perry once again rejects the easy answer.
Burt Payne owns ten percent of the Wildcats, a professional football team. To raise cash, he tries to sell his share, but the majority owner, his wife Ellen, opposes the deal. She meets with one of the possible buyers, and shortly after that Burt dies in an explosion. Perry and Paul must literally chase down the facts to free their client Ellen.
Perry manages to earn an acquittal for Louise Selff for the murder of her husband, because the body disappeared! Then Louise begins to see her dead husband - at a seance, on the telephone... Soon enough the truth comes out - Jamison Selff faked his death! And then someone decides they liked him better dead, and Louise finds herself at the defendant's table a second time for the same crime!
Pappy Ryan builds race cars. When test driver Pete Griston wrecks one of Ryan's cars, Ryan works himself into a towering rage and accuses Griston and Harvey Rettig of causing the crash on purpose. Then Rettig dies and authorities discover a groggy Griston at the scene. Digging, they discover Griston signed for a large loan Rettig took out with a shark - according to Burger, motive enough to slam the cell door on Griston for good!
Sergeant Dave Wolfe warned Joe Oliver to steer clear of his sister. Someone beats up Susan and shoots Joe - and it looks like Dave Wolfe is that man. All he can manage is the "mysterious dude defense" - someone hit him over the head and used his gun on Joe. Perry discovers six people heard Susan's cries and none of them tried to help. He'll have to figure out why to clear his client.
Soviet agents contact physicist Hans Ritter and offer him his six-year-old granddaughter, currently living in an East German orphanage. If Ritter comes to work for him, the Soviets will release little Elke to Ritter's wife Emma. Perry agrees to negotiate the deal, but Ritter jumps the gun, forcing Perry, Della, and Paul to follow him behind the Iron Curtain and right into a murder trial: East German police accuse Emma of murdering a man named Franz Hoffer. Perry must defend her in a court where the usual rules of fairness don't apply!
Tryon Laboratories' hires Paul Drake to protect its discoveries, but an industrial spy still manages to pierce their security. So Drake is very relieved when Tryon employee Horace Leigh calls claiming to know the identity of the spy. And then Drake is very unhappy, for when he arrives at Tryon he discovers Leigh dead and floating. Did Dr. Meade kill him, as the police think? Or someone else? One thing Drake is sure of: Perry Mason will get to the bottom of it.
Victor Montalvo owns the Golden Bear Club. One night, he gives a young woman named Debbie Conrad a ride, only to be surprised to later see her working as one his sexy waitresses! The surprises build when Debbie tries to blackmail her boss, who reluctantly decides to pay her off. But then Vic's partner Stacey Garnett dies and the police like Victor for it. To secure an acquittal, Perry will have to extract testimony from Debbie Conrad...
Tony Polk lands a television job on the "Bad Buccaneer" show despite his criminal past. Part of that job involves taking gifts to the homes of viewers. Tony trades lists with another actor and the trouble begins. A woman dies, killed by the hook that's part of Tony's costume, and a witness claims he fought with the woman. Add in his criminal past and the case seems open and shut. But nothing around Perry Mason is ever open and shut.
Barney Austin burns up the airwaves. One night, he gets a message to call his boss Kevin Steele. While they speak on the air, the audience hears Kevin argue with someone, and then hears two gunshots. Someone has murdered Steele on live radio, and the prosecution believes it is Holly Andrews, and plans to prove it with Perry's help.
Dr. Stacey Fielding must travel to Salt Lake City on business. He flies himself, but the plane crashes and tests of the body confirm barbiturate poisoning. The police arrest Miriam Fielding, since the last thing her husband drank was whiskey from a flask she provided. But Perry earns an acquittal. And then authorities learn the body recovered from the wreckage is actually that of Al Dolby, the plane's mechanic, raising the question of what, exactly, happened to the doctor...
Chick Farley, local golf pro, mixes his days between giving lessons and living off his rich wife's past glories. For variety, he mixes in a little blackmail. Then he discovers someone has been stealing from the club's pro shop. Fortunately, he knows a club member - Hamilton Burger - who is an officer of the court. Unfortunately, someone else knows how to use a golf club for more than hitting golf balls. The police think Chick Farley's assistant Jim Farrell arranged the meeting between golf club and pro's head, but Perry disagrees.
Francis Clune can't catch a break. Forgers replace the art pieces en route to his gallery. His girlfriend Bobbi is kidnapped and then struck by a car. And THEN the police arrest them both on a pair of murder charges. It will take the skills of Perry and Paul Drake both to unknot this one, and even these seasoned pros will come up against the unexpected.
Musician Donald Hobert enjoys the largess of Elaine Baylor, wife of Richard Bayler. A blackmailer wants $10,000 or he'll tell the work Elaine's doing more than just supporting the arts financially. When she and Donald drive to a remote place to deliver the money, someone shoots her in cold blood! First the sheriff arrests Donald, and then his girlfriend Cynthia.
Thieves strip Perry's car to the frame. It seems that a modern day Fagin runs a gang of teenagers who strip cars. But Perry might have a lever, if he can convince Lennie Beale, who wants out of the gang, to testify against them. Then Lennie's boss shoots Lennie's girlfriend and Lennie, apparently in retaliation, stabs the man. Before he can do anything else, Perry will have to win the young hoodlum an acquittal.
Clete Hawley brings Sandy Chester over from England with an eye towards making another British megastar. Trouble is, Sandy's just not that talented. Worse, when someone kills Clete, the police think Sandy's their man, and unless Perry can prove otherwise, Sandy won't be going home for a long time to come...
Gerald van Ness is shocked when a tiara worth three quarters of a million dollars, and thought lost, surfaces in his possession. But his surprises are just beginning: someone delivers a truck to Perry and Della, and it contains the body of Nils Dorow, top tier jewel thief. Perhaps its natural that the police assume van Ness killed Dorow, but Perry intends to prove otherwise...
Bruce Strickland leaves Ethel Andrews at the altar and arranges for her to take the fall for a $50,000 securities theft. She flees town and runs into - almost literally - Peggy Sutton who is in trouble herself. They switch identities and then Peggy dies and Ethel finds $50,000 in the truck of the car. She goes to Perry for help, and then someone kills Bruce Strickland. Poor Ethel - even Perry will have to work hard to unknot this one.
When someone murders Jerome Klee, there's no shortage of suspects, because Klee had a knack for making enemies. But the police settle on Allen Winford, his foreman, with whom he'd recently argued. To clear Winford, Perry will have to identify the murderer from among a rich array of candidates.
Perry loses a civil case when the opposing counsel successfully suggests that Perry paid off a witness! But who? Before Otis Swanson can benefit from his victory, someone murders him, and the police suspect Perry's client Barbara Kramer.
Model Sharon Carmody very much wants to be the "White Snow Queen" who will pitch the product. Alas, she is not as pure as white snow, and someone knows it. It seems fortunate for her when someone kills the blackmailer - until her boyfriend confesses to Perry that he struck the fatal blow. The police arrest a vagrant, and torn by conscience, Perry wins him an acquittal. But the question remains: just what did happen that night, and how did the blackmailer die?
In a corrupt town, Roger Brandon intends change: he will accept a position at the head of an anti-crime commission to shut down the rackets. Racketeer George Emory has other ideas. He claims possession of evidence against Brandon's wife that he will use to smear her name unless Brandon refuses the appointment. Brandon calls the crime boss's bluff. Then someone murders Emory and builds a nice frame around Brandon into the bargain. Or is it a frame? The police certainly don't think so...
Danny Shine ruins lives for a living. As a gossip columnist, that's his job, or so he thinks. The person who puts a bullet in him evidently holds a different opinion. The police like Greg Stanley, Shine's assistant, for this murder. Stanley might have an alibi, but it's a man with a secret that will close his lips, even on the witness stand.
Barry Conrad, a nasty individual whose personality has richly endowed him with enemies, finally meets his end. Mason manages to see Jackson Sidemark acquitted - and then Sidemark dies. Did Winnifred Glover kill him? Both of them? Or was it someone else entirely?