Spots 
Private detective Jimmie Lavender maintains his quarters four flights above a Chicago elevated train station. The arduous climb deters casual bores while preserving cheap rent and proximity to city transit. Detective Sergeant Morley negotiates the long staircase only when complex cases stump official police methods.
Part 1
Detective Morley arrives frustrated by the sudden vanishing of picture broker Peter Vanderdonck. Landlord complaints about unpaid rent prompt the police visit, yet the deserted office exhibits zero signs of struggle or displacement. Meanwhile, simultaneous newspaper reports record two additional unrelated missing persons across town.
Part 2
A popular stage comedian vanishes mid-performance just as a suburban widow disappears during a morning shopping errand. Police routine attributes theatrical absences to drunkenness and missing shoppers to hospital admissions. Lavender maintains a detached vigilance, recognizing that routine explanations frequently conceal underlying patterns.
Part 3
A distressed young woman named Shirley Minor enters the apartment seeking professional assistance. She reports that her retired father has vanished without leaving any word or forwarding address. Her sudden visit transforms theoretical speculation about local disappearances into a concrete investigation.
Part 4
Shirley Minor discovers her uncollected mail hanging in her father's mailbox after returning unexpectedly from New York. Cyril Minor lives a remarkably consistent life centered around morning walks, quiet club luncheons, and evening theater attendance. His complete departure from established domestic routines indicates an abrupt disruption rather than casual travel.
Part 5
Cyril Minor's comfortable retirement allows him complete control over his daily leisure hours in Chicago. Lavender agrees to investigate the missing father quietly before alarming municipal authorities or attracting newspaper interest. Methodical tracking of familiar daily haunts provides the soundest foundation for solving unexplained absences.
Part 6
Inquiries at the Waldron Club confirm that Cyril Minor has not frequented his usual reading rooms for a week. A subsequent visit to Peter Vanderdonck's office reveals a dusty, double-doored room with minimal furniture and no trade inventory. The physical setup suggests an elaborate front rather than an active brokerage business.
Part 7
A clogged washbasin, greasy towel residue, and floor bolt marks expose the true history of the rented office. The space formerly served as a dental parlor and received almost no genuine commercial updates. A large iron safe stands locked against the wall, holding the secret to the tenant's actual purpose.
Part 8
A discarded newspaper tucked inside the anteroom contains a pencil mark around a theatrical cast list. The highlight marks the performance of actress Sidney Kane in the very revue featuring missing actor Charles Merritt. Disparate missing person reports begin anchoring themselves to a single theatrical production.
Part 9
Lavender connects the theater clipping and greasy washstand evidence just as an unwelcome key turns in the door lock. The building landlord enters expecting police officers, only to be deftly outmaneuvered by Lavender's polite authority. Strategic posturing quickly transforms an awkward interruption into a useful source of local information.
Part 10
Landlord Giles admits he only saw his tenant once during two full years of prompt monthly mail payments. The description of Vanderdonck matches a tall, dark, middle-aged man who never actually occupied the premises for business. The leased room served purely as a temporary transit point rather than an office.
Part 11
Dental floor marks and untouched furniture confirm that Vanderdonck never conducted legitimate business inside the rental unit. Lavender realizes the locked safe holds no body, but rather the discarded disguise of actor Charles Merritt. A left note urges Detective Morley to force the safe open and discover the truth.
Part 12
Lavender and Gilruth travel through dense Chicago traffic after leaving instructions for Detective Morley. A barber shop window displays a publicity poster featuring stage actress Sidney Kane. The visual reminder confirms that direct confrontation with the theatrical world will unlock the mystery.
Part 13
Lavender sends Gilruth alone to inspect Cyril Minor's private residence while he personally attends the theater matinee. Gilruth receives strict orders to note documents without drawing hasty conclusions before their evening rendezvous. Strategic delegation allows the investigation to probe both domestic and theatrical leads simultaneously.
Part 14
Gilruth finds only old family correspondence at the Minor residence, confirming the deep affection between father and daughter. Meanwhile, Lavender interviews Sidney Kane in her dressing room and casually asserts that Merritt resides inside Vanderdonck's safe. Her visible shock confirms a direct personal connection to the missing actor.
Part 15
Opening the locked safe reveals Charles Merritt's costume and stage greasepaint, confirming that Merritt and Vanderdonck are one man. The actor created the broker persona to alter his identity and clean off stage makeup away from public scrutiny. One elaborate double life accounts for two separate entries on the police missing lists.
Part 16
Shirley Minor calls off the investigation after receiving an early morning telegram indicating her father is safe. Lavender recognizes that the message was triggered by his theatrical inquiries the previous afternoon. Pressure applied to key associates forces secret figures to communicate with concerned family members.
Part 17
Lavender tracks Sidney Kane to her suburban residence in Elmhurst, where she allegedly lives with an invalid brother. Neighborhood inquiries reveal the brother remains completely invisible, never leaving the house or receiving visitors. The suburban household functions as a secure hiding place for the missing man.
Part 18
Cyril Minor, Charles Merritt, and Peter Vanderdonck collapse into a single individual managing an elaborate personal secret. The retired businessman assumed a stage career under an alias while using a rented office to transition back to private life. Fear of public discovery drove him to orchestrate his sudden retreat.
Part 19
Shirley Minor rehires Lavender after noticing her father's telegram carried the formal signature "Father" instead of his habitual "Dad." The minor verbal slip reveals the wire was sent by an associate trying to halt the search. Family habits provide infallible tests for authentic communication.
Part 20
Telephone inquiries with Elmhurst tradesmen confirm that no neighbor has ever seen the invalid brother outdoors. Sidney Kane invented the bedridden relative months in advance to account for any male presence inside her house. Preplanned fictional identities provide instant shelter when real lives collapse.
Part 21
Lavender, Gilruth, and Shirley enter the Elmhurst residence and discover a framed photograph on the mantelpiece. The portrait of Sidney Kane bears an unmistakable physical resemblance to Shirley Minor herself. The actress steps into the room and confesses her true identity as Shirley's estranged mother.
Part 22
Sidney Kane explains her secret remarriage to Cyril Minor and his desire to join her on stage without public scandal. Minor constructed dual identities to act alongside his wife while protecting his daughter from past family turmoils. A sudden illness forced his temporary retreat to Elmhurst, triggering the accidental panic.
Part 23
Shirley embraces her mother and climbs the stairs to reunite with her recovering father. The intricate web of missing brokers, vanished actors, and secret suburban invalids dissolves into a restored family unit. Clear honesty dismantles the elaborate fictions created to protect loved ones.
Part 24
A swift lesson in how private detective Jimmie Lavender unmasks overlapping disguises to solve a complex disappearance.