The Will

Originally Aired: June 4, 1957 A Case For Doctor Morelle #7, "The Will," Dr. Morelle receives an urgent call from David Beaumont, who is suffering from a severe asthma attack triggered by roses on his breakfast table. When Beaumont arrives for treatment, the doctor employs an unusual technique involving paper roses and a fake adrenaline injection to demonstrate that his patient's condition is psychological rather than physical. Through careful questioning, Dr. Morelle uncovers the truth: Beaumont's asthma attacks began after he discovered his wealthy Uncle Herbert unconscious in the bathtub and briefly considered leaving him there to die in order to inherit under his will. Beaumont confesses that his uncle constantly changes his will, sometimes leaving everything to him, sometimes to his eccentric Aunt Henrietta, and sometimes to Darrell the manservant. Broke and unemployed, Beaumont has been making calculated visits to his uncle's strange household near Wimbledon Common, hoping to stay in the old man's good graces. Dr. Morelle diagnoses the young man's asthma as stemming from profound guilt over his mercenary motives, and prescribes that Beaumont focus on finding employment to make himself independent of any inheritance.