- Sam's friend, Gordon Forbes, is threatening to jump from the ledge of his upper-storey hotel room, and the only person he wants to talk to is his estranged wife. Unfortunately, when Honey visits the Forbes home, she discovers Mrs. Forbes has been murdered.—Miles-10
- A man named Forbes stands on the ledge outside his hotel room window with his friend, Sam Bolt, leaning out the window trying to talk Forbes into coming back inside. A crowd gathers on the street far below, some people cry, others pray, one eats an apple and one grins ear-to-ear, but they all crane their necks to look up at the spectacle. TV cameras arrive, and so does Honey West. She has arrived even before the police, although they soon arrive as well.
Up in the hotel room, Sam tells Honey that his friend Forbes called him over to this hotel, complained that his wife threw him out because of his gambling debts, and then crawled out the window before Sam could stop him. The hotel manager comes in and is very upset. Honey very diplomatically tells him the best thing he can do is man the lobby and make sure that no one but the police come up to the room.
Forbes' only request is that his wife come talk to him, and Sam has been trying frantically to call her, but no one answers. Honey agrees to go to the Forbes home and see what is going on. As she goes down the elevator, the police arrive on the floor and go into the hotel room.
Honey arrives at the Forbes home in time to hear two gun shots. Revolver drawn, she enters the house through the front door. She calls, but no one answers. Then she hears a car pulling away, looks out the livingroom window, and sees a sedan leaving the scene. Next she looks around the room and finds Mrs. Forbes lying dead behind the sofa.
Police arrive and Honey tells them what she knows. Unfortunately, she did not see the driver of the getaway car. The police note that this is a very odd case with a man trying to commit suicide while his wife is being murdered.
Honey and Sam consult by phone. Sam is still at the hotel, taking turns with the police in trying to talk down the would-be suicide. Honey elects to continue investigating to see if there isn't someone else who might be able to talk Forbes out of it. She also decides to go to the club where Forbes has gambled away so much money. She finds the proprietor glued to the TV coverage of the suicide. When Honey accuses him of murdering Mrs. Forbes so that Mr. Forbes can use her life insurance policy to repay his debt, the proprietor of the gambling parlor denies this. He further says that he liked Mrs. Forbes very much and mentions that she was a very attractive brunette. Honey points out that Mrs. Forbes was a blonde.
Honey rifles Forbes desk in his office and finds a photograph of Forbes with a brunette. She takes the picture to Sam who finds the brunette very familiar-looking. The hotel manager, who has come back to try to get the police to use heroic measures to end the situation, looks at the photo and also recognizes her from somewhere. Soon they find out that she is Connie Phillips, the weathergirl on a local TV station.
Honey goes to the station and insists that Phillips come with her to help Forbes. Phillips protests that they recently broke up, he probably wouldn't listen to her, and, besides, if she were involved in a scandal with a married man, she could lose her job. Honey persists. Phillips seems to relent but she needs to get something from her dressing room. Instead, she picks up the phone in her dressing room and asks someone to page Honey West. Honey walks away from the door of the dressing room in order to pick up the nearest phone. Of course, no is there. She rushes back to the dressing room to find that Phillips has fled.
Honey calls Sam to tell him what has happened and to ask him to go to Phillips' apartment since it is nearer the hotel than the TV station. Sam finds Phillips packing for a trip and tries to talk her into coming to help Forbes. When Sam has his back to her, Phillips pulls a revolver on him and backs out of her room. She almost immediately comes tumbling back into the room, followed by Honey who has already disarmed her off camera. Honey examines the revolver and notes that not only has it been fired, but it has been fired four times.
Back at the hotel, Forbes is still on the ledge. Honey asks if she can try something. Sam asks if she knows what she is doing. "I hope so," she says. She proceeds to tell Forbes that his wife cannot come because she is dead. The police and Sam rush to her side, convinced that she has gone too far. But Honey suggests that Forbes knew that his wife was dead all along. "Because you killed her."
Forbes insists that he could not have killed her because he has been on the ledge for the past several hours. Honey explains that Forbes first killed his wife and then persuaded his accomplice, Miss Phillips, to wait at his home until someone came. When they did, she had orders to fire two shots and then flee. With the insurance money, Forbes could pay his debt and then go to be with his girlfriend who was supposed to have already left town. The clue that tipped her off was that there were two bullets in Mrs. Forbes' body, but four bullets fired from the gun. The second pair of shots had been fired to convince everyone that Mrs. Forbes hadn't been shot until the moment Honey arrived at the Forbes home.
Forbes is given the choice between the pavement and a jury. Honey points out that at least he will have a chance with a jury. He slowly slides toward the window until he is close enough for Sam to grab him and guide him safely into the room.
Sam and Honey agree that after a hard day like this, a magnum of champaign is in order. In the hallway, Sam pushes the "up" button for the bank of elevators. Honey asks where he is proposing that they go. He says that there is a restaurant on top of the hotel with a wonderful view. An up elevator arrives. Honey pushes the down button and says that she knows of a restaurant located in a cellar. Her elevator arrives, headed down. For a moment, Sam and Honey each hold their elevators open, then Sam relents and joins Honey in the down elevator.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content