Episode 10, "The Adventure of the Pharaoh's Curse," begins with Norris Wentworth's unveiling of his latest discovery, the mummy of ancient Egyptian pharaoh Amon-Ra, in the museum of Dr. Otis Tremaine (Ross Martin), much to the dismay of native Egyptian Dr. Mustafa Haddid (Nehemiah Persoff), who objects to the desecration involved and mentions the curse that had claimed the lives of the mummy's previous six owners. Wentworth (Simon Oakland) naturally dismisses the notion of a curse but is later found dead of a heart attack in the museum after closing hours. Ellery suspects murder, especially after Wentworth's car is found to have been broken into through the driver's side window. Mrs. Wentworth (June Lockhart) confirms that her husband had a heart condition, also that she has been seeing a good deal of Dr. Tremaine in the meantime. There was also no love lost between the dead man and his son (Joel Steadman), who reveals that he never saw a dime of the Wentworth fortune, built on airplane manufacturing. John Hillerman returns as Simon Brimmer, whose investigation of Dr. Haddid includes bribing the bellhop (John Larroquette, whose appearance lasts barely ten seconds) into allowing him access to the Egyptian's room searching for evidence. For once, the solution does not involve an absent Brimmer (and was never guessed by this author). There is a slight love interest for Ellery in the person of Margie Coopersmith (Nancy Belle Fuller), taking dictation for the author's latest novel due to his injured finger, who later objects to being 'pumped' for information by an inquiring Brimmer. Charles Macaulay, making a brief early appearance as an art critic, is perhaps best known as the actual Dracula who puts the curse of the undead on an African prince in the popular "Blacula" (1972).
