On a warm day in early spring, Gordon Bailey is enjoying his workday lunch time sitting on a park bench. A stranger walking by asks Gordon if he could sit with him. Gordon tells him to have a seat. They start a conversation in a friendly manner. Gordon says he works in the insurance business, and the stranger says that he is a photographer. Soon, Gordon starts back to his job, and the stranger says to wait just a minute, Mr. Bailey. Gordon says that he had not mentioned his name. How do you know me? The stranger introduced himself as Kellerman, and said that he knew him from the nametag he wore at the convention in Atlantic City last month. I have some very interesting pictures of you with a woman that is not your wife.

Harry and an Englishman are sitting in a bar in the capital city of a small Central American country. The Englishman invites him over for a drink and some conversation. The Englishman says that he has been here for ten years, and it is difficult to make a living. The government owns everything, the gambling, the lottery, the casinos, everything. However, if the revolution is achieved, it will be worse. A man named General Valdez has been stirring up some trouble down here, and he is financed by a gangster from New York. I do not know the gangster's name, they just call him El Zorro. It means "the fox". Later, Harry decides to contact General Valdez, in hopes of making a profit from the revolution. He later regrets that decision.

Mr. Newman, the acting manager of a small branch of Benington's Bank, is expecting Mr. Eastwood, the new manager to appear this morning. Mr. Eastwood has recently been demoted to the manager's position of a smaller branch due to some personal problems, mainly due to his marriage and drinking on the job. It is his last chance to make a success of this position. Mr. Neuman has been the Assistant Manager of this branch for numerous years, and has seen many others promoted to positions beyond his, despite his loyalty and excellent work history with Benington's. He seems disappointed that he was not offered the position, but will continue in his role as Assistant Manager to the best of his ability. Within a few minutes of Mr. Eastwood's arrival, he receives a phone call demanding 40 thousand pounds for the safe return of his kidnapped wife.

Johnny is called to investigate the possibility of arson in a warehouse fire that occurred in Vineland, New Jersey, a small town near Philadelphia. The claimant is Ben Murray, the owner of the warehouse and Ben Mur's Furniture, a chain of discount furniture stores located in Philadelphia. He lost about 83 thousand dollars worth of bedding material such as mattresses, box springs, and bed frames in the fire. Johnny calls his friend Adam Bowles, who lived near Vineland and is retired now, but once was one of the best arson investigators in the country. It seems that Adam has already been helping the local police to establish the cause of the fire. He said the town drunk, Jerry Cumber, wandered in through the backdoor of the warehouse and laid down for a nap, with a lit cigarette in his fingers. Johnny, however, thinks there is more to this story.

Rocky is wanting to close the Cafe Tambourine early one night, but a couple of customers were still there. Sitting at a table drinking cognac was a dark-eyed man with a beard that spoke with an American accent. The other was an Australian drinking whisky and sitting at the bar talking about his World War 2 experiences. The Australian believes the dark-eyed man has been staring at him, so he tries to start a fight. Rocky proceeds to help him out the front door. The dark-eyed man then introduces himself as Jeffery James, an artist that likes to draw portraits of the people he meets. Before he leaves, Jeffery wants Rocky to tell him who the Australian is, but Rocky says he does not know. As Rocky is closing he meets the Australian again, only this time the Aussie has brought a pair of brass knuckles.

In the Revere House, an inexpensive hotel catering to young career women, Miss Alice Stratton is talking to Miss Honey Bartlett. She is excited to tell her that while Miss Miller is away on vacation, she will be the District Attorney's substitute secretary, starting tomorrow. She says that Miss Miller chose her personally, but she has never even seen the District Attorney. Miss Bartlett asks her, since you have never seen the D.A., does that mean he has never seen you? Miss Stratton says yes, but he will tomorrow. Miss Bartlett then introduces Miss Stratton to Jimmy, who has been waiting in the lobby for her. He is very interested to know that someone, unknown to the D.A., will be working closely with him in his office.

Dr. Roland Barton, Professor of English Literature, is sitting with his wife Julia, in front of their fireplace. Julia looks sleepy, and the Dr. Barton asks her if she is feeling well. She said she is fine, just been having her usual trouble with indigestion. A minute or two later, Julia passes out in her chair. Dr. Barton calls for his stepdaughter, Joan Gardener. They soon discover that Julia has died. A week later, Mr. Keen appears at the door of the Barton residence. Joan has called him to look into the matter. It seems that the night Julia died, someone has mixed a strong dose of sleeping powder in with her medicine for indigestion.

One afternoon, in the spring of 1939, William Dietrich is pole vaulting on an American college athletic field, when he is approached by two men. They asked him if he would be interested in joining their club, the German-American Society. They said he should join, because they know he is a good German and his family is from Stuttgart. They also know he will graduate in June, and asked him if he would like to take a trip to Germany. The trip would cost nothing. In fact, he would be paid. William asks them what he would have to do there. They told him that he would go to school in Germany for three months to learn how he can help the Fatherland. When finished there, he would come back here, to work for Germany.