The Madison Matter

What this episode covers

Originally Aired: April 14, 1953Johnny Dollar #158, "The Madison Matter," Johnny is called to the Hartford office of Paul Dupree at International Insurance to meet a woman with an extraordinary claim. Thelma Walker, a tall, dark-haired woman in her thirties, explains that she is legally dead and her husband, Dr. Frank Madison, has collected ten thousand dollars on her life insurance policy. She reveals how a young woman named Wanda Thompson died suddenly in her husband's Los Angeles medical office, and Dr. Madison seized the opportunity to use the stranger's body to fake his wife's death. With help from his colleague Dr. Willis Reed, who signed a death certificate in Thelma's name, the scheme succeeded. Thelma fled to New York under her maiden name, expecting her husband to eventually join her with the insurance money, but he never came and eventually stopped writing altogether.Now Johnny must verify her incredible story before International can take action. With no fingerprints on file and limited proof of her identity, he faces the challenge of unraveling a two-year-old conspiracy while determining why Thelma has suddenly decided to come forward. The investigation promises complications as Johnny questions her true motives and the convenient coincidences in her account.

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