The Case of the Stand-In Sister

The lineage of a young woman is at the center here. She was in an accident as a child and her parentage has come into question. Throw in a big time gangster and his close-mouthed brother and the murder of an extortionist and you have this story. The problem is that there are too many cooks in kitchen and sorting it out is very difficult. Also, the solution is really quite unsatisfying.

This episode was way overplotted with complex motives and the ordinary viewer might get a bit lost here. Peter Whitney who is a notorious gangster from Boston after appearing at a Senate Crime Committee hearing, bolted and headed west to see his brother R.G. Armstrong. Years before Armstrong left the Boston area and changed his name, but before that Armstrong set up a trust fund for Whitney's daughter. Now Whitney wants to break the trust and use that as both getaway and living money in some no extradition country.

Seems as though the money is in question as the child may have been killed in an accident long ago with Armstrong's wife and daughter. But was it Whitney's daughter? Whoever it is she grew up to be Susan Seaforth.

It's a blackmailing Swiss banker Steven Geray who is the victim, but who did it? Armstrong didn't because he has Perry Mason representing him.

The story has the real murderer coming in from the bleachers. Not the best Mason story.

Decent mystery and plot. Seen as a rerun so many years later it's fun to watch Mayor Stoner and Courtney from the original Heat of The Night movie and a couple of others who seemed to be in every TV show ever made but nobody can remember their names.

Not the best plot ever since not knowing whose kid is who has been overdone but still worth watching.

This episode has all the qualities you expect from a 'Perry Mason' show. Good script, interesting characters and a mystery that is entertaining. Made for an enjoyable 52 minutes of viewing pleasure.

It starts off rather strange when Stefan 'Big Steve' Jahnchek has been let out of prison to testify before congress on mob activities. But during a break in the action, Big Steve is able to escape and makes his way to the LA area.

He wants to get in touch with a local fisherman named John Gregory. Big Steve had a baby daughter and John had agreed to care for the baby while Big Steve was imprisoned. Big John had even set us a trust fund for his daughter Helen that included thousands of dollars when she reached the age of 21.

However John tells Big Steve that his child died in an automobile accident which did not seem to bother the convict. All Big Steve is wanting is the thousands of dollars that was in the fund.

John also had trouble from a retired Swiss bank employee that was blackmailing for some secret that John wanted kept quiet. But when the bank employee ends up dead on John's boat all evidence points to John being the killer.

Perry will defend John in court which will produce some interesting results. Inside the courtroom we learn that all may not be what they seem. People identity will be discovered and people's true friendship will be tested. By the time the proceeding end we have learned more secrets than people in the script.

An excellent mystery.

After reading some of the reviews, I have to say that I agree that this particular story was far more complicated than it needed to be. There were simply too many subplots and diversions (many unnecessary), that just muddied up the waters. While I had little complaint with the acting or directing, it was so hard to keep everything straight that it took at least a couple of viewings to figure out exactly what was going on. The old cliche of K. I. S. S applies here...