The Man with Two Faces

Originally Aired: December 15, 1952 Suspense #491, "The Man with Two Faces," Detective Lieutenant Gus Palichek of Cleveland's homicide division faces one of his most baffling cases when workers uncover a skeleton in a packing case buried in a building's cellar. The victim had been dead for three years, crammed into a steamer trunk with quicklime, shot twice in the head. As Palichek investigates, he discovers something peculiar: nearly every clue left with the body appears to be a fake. The custom tailor's label sewn into the victim's suit is a plant, attached to cheap store-bought clothing. A piece of dental bridgework in the mouth contains more teeth than any normal person could have. Even the hair on the skull shows two different textures, suggesting it came from two different heads. Following the one genuine lead he can find, Palichek traces the custom-made packing case to a factory fifty miles south of Cleveland. The order was placed by someone named George Gallagher and delivered to an address on Harrisburg Avenue. As the self-described "average" detective pursues this trail, he finds himself up against a killer who has gone to extraordinary lengths to conceal his victim's identity—planting false clues while trying to erase the real ones.