Title: The Three Ghosts
Air Date: October 31, 1937
Plot summary: Margo Lane is worried about her friend Caroline. Caroline, wealthy and in her forties, has recently married one Professor Arthur Snead. Snead is supposedly a scientist working on "inventions", but Margot is suspicious, and she asks Lamont Cranston/The Shadow to check things out.
She's right to be worried. It turns out that Prof. Snead, who has already committed one Inheritance Murder after marrying a rich lady, is trying to frighten high-strung Caroline to death by making her think her house is haunted. Professor Snead's plan is complicated when two old criminal partners of his, Spike Collins and a guy named Wilson, show up at his door. Collins and Wilson know what Snead's up to, they want a cut, and they propose a new scheme: the two of them will fake a burglary and kill Caroline in the process. Snead agrees reluctantly—but then The Shadow takes action.
Tropes:
- Dead Person Impersonation: After Snead hits Wilson with his car and kills him, Collins takes advantage of the situation, switching identities with the mangled corpse to make the cops think that Spike Collins is dead.
- Fright Death Trap: What Prof. Snead is trying to do to his wife by making her think the house is haunted. He manages to get her to faint, but his scheme is interrupted when Collins and Wilson show up.
- Gaslighting: Snead uses a lighting rig and an audio system with hidden speakers to make Caroline think the house is haunted by wailing ghosts.
- Halloween Episode: All episodes of The Shadow were spooky and at least touched on magic and the supernatural, but this one ups the ante by having a haunted house (which actually isn't).
- Murder by Inaction: Snead is driving home. The Shadow, using his power to cloud men's minds, makes Snead think that he sees an oncoming semi-truck. Snead swerves to avoid the truck that isn't there, and then The Shadow laughs about the trick. So when Snead sees a man he thinks it's another illusion—and plows right into Wilson, killing him.
