First Aired - March 2, 1967
Sergeant Joe Friday and Officer Bill Gannon are working in the Homicide Division. During their lunch, the two get a call about a manager of an apartment building named Alex Troy. He has beaten to death with a hammer. The clues at the scene point to another person named 'Fred'. He was playing cards with the victim.
Just the Tropes, ma'am:
- The Gambling Addict: Alex was a huge card nut, he would heavily play cards with just about anyone.
- Red Herring: Chesney and Terry, two friends of Alex, are suspects of the murder due to the bloody shirt in Terry's apartment. It isn't until the owner of the apartment building helps Friday and Gannon with finding who the owner of Apartment 302 is, Fred Tosca, that Chesney and Terry are dropped as suspects. The shirt was just due to an unrelated brawl Chesney and Terry had over 4 dollarsnote .
- Memento MacGuffin: The wedding ring, a very unusual looking ring with braded gold with little blue stones, that Alex Troy's late wife wore has gone missing. Camille, Fred's wife, is wearing it. This object proves that Fred is the murder.
- Road Trip Plot: Friday, Gannon and Policewoman Dorothy Miller take a trip to Arizona where Fred Tosca is being held on an unrelated charge.
- Smug Snake: Fred Tosca, all he says is the capital of each state when being questioned by the police. Camille, Fred's wife is no better, as she complains about losing her sleep.
