The Terrified Taun Matter

Originally Aired: March 9, 1954Johnny Dollar #205, "The Terrified Taun Matter," finds America's favorite freelance insurance investigator traveling halfway around the world to investigate a peculiar claim. Tom Benson at the home office sends Johnny to Kuala Lumpur in British Malaya after receiving an alarming letter from policyholders Harrison and Maida Langley, who claim someone is trying to murder them both. Their double indemnity policies are worth $125,000 each, making this potential claim one that demands immediate attention. When Johnny arrives and meets company representative George Alistair, the broker dismisses the whole thing as jungle fever and the ravings of a man whose mind is crumbling under the strain of running a rubber plantation in terrorist territory.Undeterred, Johnny drives north through dangerous jungle roads to the Sundown Plantation, where things quickly prove more complicated than expected. Harrison Langley greets him by pulling a gun, convinced Johnny is there to murder him like someone apparently did to his wife Maida, who has mysteriously disappeared. After establishing his identity, Johnny meets Crawford, the hostile plantation overseer who clearly has his own feelings about Mrs. Langley. As tensions flare between the two men, Crawford offers to show Johnny exactly what happened.