How hard would it have been for Ralph Cowell (Phillip Reed) to inform the detective (Robert Foulke) that Fenton Shanks (Johnny Silver) was the one to pawn the cigarette lighter? After all, Shanks was the one who did it, and Cowell could have produced his real signature to disprove the one on the pawn ticket. That might not have put him totally in the clear for the murder of his business partner Sloane (Cyril Delevanti), but with the help of a sharp attorney, could have at least shifted the blame to Shanks long enough to concoct a good alibi. The eye witness testimony of Shanks' buddy Goodfellow (Robert Newton) would then have been seen as no more than a guy sticking up for his friend by trying to pin the blame on Cowell. I haven't read the short story by Ray Bradbury upon which this episode was based, so perhaps his narrative provided less wiggle room for the parties concerned, but if I were writing this, I would have used the pair's extortion attempt to my advantage by coming up with a scenario that made them guilty for the murder of the gold digging wife (Peggy Knudsen) as well. Now that's a twist ending that Hitchcock viewers would have loved even better than this one. I think Bradbury would agree.
Review of The Derelicts
