A Case of Identity

Originally Aired: September 25, 1956 Suspense #666, "A Case of Identity," Harry Burton and his wife Edna have hatched an elaborate scheme to collect $100,000 in life insurance. After Harry secures a large policy from the skeptical Mr. Croyd, he picks up a down-on-his-luck drifter named Wallace from the park—a man who bears an uncanny resemblance to Harry. The plan seems foolproof: stage an accident in the mountains, leave Wallace's body to be mistaken for Harry's, and disappear with the insurance money. Harry drugs Wallace, switches clothes and identification with him, and sets up a fiery car crash on a remote mountain highway while Edna waits nearby to pick him up. But things quickly go wrong when Edna's getaway car runs out of gas on the isolated mountain road. Desperate, they coast to a rundown gas station, only to find the surly attendant unwilling to help. With Edna hiding in the back seat and the unconscious Wallace still unaccounted for, Harry must convince the hostile station owner to give them fuel before their carefully constructed plan unravels completely.