Police Are Closing In

Originally Aired: January 10, 1940 In Lum #242, "Police Are Closing In," Lum Edwards remains a terrified fugitive, hiding in the feed room of the Jot 'Em Down Store after fleeing charges of operating an illegal post office. With a scraggly beard disguising his features, he depends on his partner Abner to bring him food while lamenting his desperate circumstances. What Lum doesn't know is that through Dick Huddleston's influence, the government has already dismissed all charges against him. However, Abner and Grandpappy Spears are conspiring to keep this information from Lum a bit longer to teach him a lesson about his schemes. When Lum ventures nervously into the store wearing his accidental disguise, Abner plans to introduce him to Grandpappy as "Mr. Williams" to test whether anyone would recognize him. The frightened entrepreneur, once so confident in his business ventures, now talks of fleeing to Mexico to start over while his friends debate how long to let him suffer. Lum's paranoia about detectives grows as he remains unaware that his ordeal could end the moment his partners decide he's learned his lesson about getting involved in risky enterprises.