What time did the second letter inform the master they would die?
A live-action host opens with a disclaimer about the nature of the cartoon, namely, that the short is meant to "prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that crime does not pay."
The story begins on a dark and stormy night as the victim (voiced by Kent Rogers doing an impression of Richard Haydn), presumably the master of the very large "Gruesome Gables" mansion, is reading a book based on the cartoon he's in. Frightened, he muses that, according to the book, he is about to be "bumped off." Someone throws a dagger with a letter attached, telling the master that he will die at 11:30. When he objects, another letter informs him that the time has been moved to midnight.
True to form, on the final stroke of midnight a mysterious killer in a heavy black cloak and hood shoots him dead with a rather large pistol (how dead he is, though, is a matter of question), and a police officer (voiced by Billy Bletcher, modeled on characters portrayed in film by Fred Kelsey) immediately begins to investigate. After investigating the premises and the staff, the officer gives a lengthy chase to the real killer, finding the mansion to be filled with many surreal pitfalls, strange characters—including a red skeleton, a parody of Red Skelton—and booby traps that slow and obstruct him. He eventually traps the killer and unmasks him, revealing him to be the opening-sequence host, who confesses "I dood it"—one of Skelton's catchphrases—before bursting into tears.
midnight