Dance of Death

This case for Checkmate takes them into the world of ballet where prima ballerina is being threatened about a costume she danced in. It's no ordinary costume, it belonged to a prima ballerina of the Ballet Russe and it's studded with real emeralds. Cyd Charisse is the ballerina and she's being pursued the way Mary Astor was pursued in The Maltese Falcon by all kinds of characters. The Sydney Greenstreet of the story is played by John Emery.

When she comes to Checkmate, Charisse is told that for that evening all the Checkmate partners are otherwise engaged. So Anthony George calls in a retired cop buddy Addison Richards for a one day assignment. That gets Richards killed and Corey looking for the killer.

So if you've seen the famous Dashiell Hammett classic, any or all three of the big screen versions you know how this one comes out.

In fact this Checkmate story can be almost labeled a fourth version of the Falcon.