The Lester James Matter (no ending)

Originally Aired: March 31, 1953Johnny Dollar #156, "The Lester James Matter (no ending),"Johnny Dollar is called to New York to investigate a seemingly straightforward embezzlement case. Bookkeeper Lester James has confessed to stealing $4,185 from his employer, Wallace Cottons and Company, and is sitting in jail awaiting trial. The Corinthian Liability insurance company needs Johnny to recover the money, but when he interviews James, the prisoner stubbornly refuses to reveal what he did with the stolen funds. Despite Johnny's warnings that cooperation could help his case, James remains tight-lipped, insisting he spent every dime and has nothing more to say.Johnny begins digging into James's background, interviewing his landlady Mrs. Denovich and neighbors in his modest 59th Street apartment building. What emerges is a puzzling portrait: a quiet, hardworking war veteran living in a dismal room with threadbare furniture and no signs of wealth or extravagance. The man everyone describes doesn't match the profile of an embezzler with over four thousand dollars to spend, leaving Johnny to wonder what really happened to the missing money.