The Falcon and the Co-eds

Plot synopsis:
The Falcon tries to solve a murder at a girl's prep school.Tom Lawrence AKA The Falcon (Tom Conway) becomes involved in a mystery when Jane Harris (Amelita Ward), the daughter of one of Tom's friends and a student at the Blue Cliff Seminary for girls, asks him to investigate the recent death of a member of staff. Jane claims that Professor Jamison did not die of natural causes, as stated on his death certificate, but was in fact murdered. When The Falcon asks Jane what evidence of murder she has she tells Tom that her roommate Marguerita Serena (Rita Corday) had foretold Jamison's death. Tom seems reluctant to get involved in the affair so Jane steals his car forcing him to follow her to Blue Cliff to retrieve it. When Tom arrives at the seminary he first meets the school's rather furtive psychology teacher Anatole Graelich (George Givot) and the Dean, Miss Keyes (Barbara Brown). Tom tells them that he is an insurance investigator looking into the sudden death of Professor Jamison and asks them about Marguerita's premonition. As Tom is speaking to Dean Keyes a phone call comes from the dead professor's cottage in the grounds of the school. The Falcon and Miss Keyes go to Professor Jamison's cottage and find the school music teacher,Mary Phoebus (Isabel Jewell), there. Mary claims that she is in the dead man's room only to look for the late Professor's poems. Tom confiscates the poems before going off to find Jane Harris and his missing motor.Tom finds Jane at the school's rehearsal hall, where he meets drama teacher Vicky Gaines (Jean Brooks). Tom watches the students rehearse for a forthcoming revue performance, but things come to an abrupt end when Marguerita refuses to use the prop fencing foil - claiming that she has had another premonition and that the foil will lead to another death. Backstage, Tom then overhears Vicky and Graelich whispering and when Vicky immediately leaves he follows her into town where she visits the funeral parlour of Eustace Herley (Ian Wolfe). Snooping around in the laboratory of the funeral parlour Tom discovers some sleeping tablets, and Herley admits that Jamison commited suicide by taking an overdose of the pills. He goes on to explain that the local coroner Dr Greely falsified the death certificate to cover up the suicide in order to protect the reputation of the seminary. When he leaves the parlour Tom offers Vicky a lift back up to Blue Cliff Seminary, and during their drive he shows her a poem Jamison had written which is dedicated to "V.G." causing Vicky to confess that she feels guilty about Jamison's suicide.Soon after, police Inspector Timothy Donovan (Cliff Clark) and Detective Bates (Ed Grogan) arrive at Blue Cliff to investigate Jamison's death and Tom declared that he knows who the killer is. That evening, the school revue performance is suddenly interrupted by the screams of Marguerita, who has just discovered the body of Miss Keyes with the fencing foil next to it. Tom follows Marguerita to the cottage of Graelich where the poor girl confesses that she is afraid that she may have inherited her father's madness. When Marguerita leaves, Tom finds a photograph of Vicky Gaines on a European cruise. Graelich enters his cottage and is confronted by The Falcon who suggests that the psychologist's jealousy of Jamison may have been the motive for his murder. Graelich denies this and explains to Tom that he has married an American woman so that he can legally enter and remain in the country, but that he has had to keep his marital status secret because Miss Keyes refuses to employ members of staff who are married.Moments later a shot rings out, which Tom traces to the girl's dormitory, he meets Vicky in the hallway and when she goes back into her room Tom spots the same cruise photo that he saw in Graelich's cottage. When asked about it Vicky confesses that she met Graelich in Europe and fell in love with him. Investigating the gunshot the two of them meet up with the other staff plus Inspectors Donovan and Blake who find Marguerita in Dean Keyes' office. The two policemen begin to question the girl but she becomes hysterical and runs away. Fearing that the girl may hurl herself off the cliffs the group go after her. The Falcon teams up with Vicky, who admits that she had broken off her engagement to Graelich and this prompts Tom to deduce that the psychology professor must have then gone on to marry Mary Phoebus. Furthermore, he works out that it must have been Mary who, acting out of insane jealousy murdered Jamison and Keyes in order to frame the lovers. Mary is the first to reach the cliff top and Marguerita, but when the girl tells Mary that she saw her standing over the dead body of Miss Keyes then Mary tries to force Marguerita to jump. At that exact moment, Tom calls to Mary and as she turns towards him she loses her footing on the cliff edge and topples to her death.With the murders solved Jane's mother Maya (Dorothy Christy), a famous performer arrives at the school with another actress who enlists the help of The Falcon to solve a murder at the theatre.

Tags: paranormal, mystery

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