Salvage

Originally Aired: April 6, 1950 Suspense #379, "Salvage," stars Van Johnson as Danny Connor, a down-on-his-luck pilot who gets an unexpected visit from his ex-flame, Gloria Davis. She offers him a lucrative flying job working for her husband, Wendell H. Davis, and his newly formed Intercontinent Salvage Corporation. The company claims to be in the business of recovering Spanish gold from sunken galleons in the Caribbean, and Davis needs Connor to scout ahead of their salvage vessel by air. The job pays ten thousand dollars, but Connor must follow orders, keep quiet, and ask no questions. Despite the generous pay, Connor grows increasingly uneasy about the operation. The salvage ship is a decrepit old tub that barely looks seaworthy, and Davis's vague answers and insistence on secrecy raise red flags. When Connor learns they'll be flying across the Gulf of Mexico in a cheap war surplus plane, his suspicions deepen. As the ship prepares to sail, Connor confronts Gloria in the darkness, admitting he's considering backing out of the dubious venture before it's too late.