The Case of the Mystified Miner

One fine day Bartlett Robinson's little grade school son comes into his father's office and shows secretary Kathie Browne his 'treasure'. Quite a treasure it was too, $200,000.00 in cash in a shoe box. She's the last one in the office so she locks up the box in the company.

Next day Browne is visited by an old battle axe of a woman who owns the company. She barks out orders and has Browne turn over all kinds of company records for their mining operations.

Turns out she's a phony and when the foreman of one of their mines is killed, Browne is holding the bag and she needs Perry Mason.

This was quite a complicated scheme of fraud and embezzlement with a little kidnapping on the side. The little boy finding the 'treasure' upset a lot of plans.

This was one episode where Perry Mason did not do his revealing in court.

This was quite a complex effort. It starts out with a loving, but dense, secretary, having a little boy hand her a shoebox with a couple hundred thousand dollars in it. But from that point on there is a constant hammering of facts and deception, to the point where the conclusion is anticlimactic. I would have appreciated things being settled in the courtroom.

I'll say up front that I like this one. Kathie Browne takes her naive secretary role right to edge without falling off, and the rest of the troupe stays on target as well. There are red herrings galore, and it's hard to tell who-is-who. The climactic scene which reveals the true (in this case 2) murderers is quite well done. All-in-all I was very satisfied with what I saw.

By Season 5, it had become a rare treat to see an episode based on one of Gardner's books. And this episode might be one of the best of the season.

Over the course of the series' 9 seasons there were many excellent original episodes created by the writing team however, plot elements exist in Gardner's stories often missing in the former. Having watched each episode multiple times, it is hard to put one's finger on the subtle differences, but they are there. One may be a few more twists and turns.

This episode is based Gardner's novel, "The Case of the Spurious Spinster." The name change may have to avoid confusion with a Season 3 episode, "The Case of the Spurious Sister" that wasn't based on one of his works. The episode includes the great scene stealer, Josephine Hutchinson, prominent 60s actress, Kathy Browne, and the often oily Bartlett Robinson. It is a great ride, and highly recommended.

My word, the Good Lord was awfully good to this "secretary"! Burr always had well endowed, beautiful women in the Perry Mason series, but this girl is exceptional. The addition of the librarian style glasses was almost too much to bear. My my, then add to all of this, the idea that the young lady is a literal killer, and you have a Perry Mason that stands out. Speaking of standing out, well, it would seem we've come full circle, ha, ha.