Tales of the Unexpected

Miller and Tanner are archaeologists in Jordan who unearth a striking statue of a beautiful woman looking over her shoulder. They load it onto their truck and drive through a rainstorm in order to get to Israel to sell the statue. However, when the rain has cleared the statue has completely disappeared. They are mystified.

Whom would you consider to be the more dangerous? Rex Tobin, the young thief who breaks into Mrs. Grady's flat to rob her? Or dear little old Mrs. Grady herself, who, when Tobin falls and hurts himself, bandages his ankle, makes him tea, and promises to let him go if he will behave himself in future? He might be making all the right noises but she has all the right moves

Young David can communicate with animals. On holiday in the Caribbean he soothes a huge beached turtle which has been captured by local fishermen for display at the tourist hotel. Next morning boy and turtle have both disappeared.

Meek clerk Arthur Price is desperately in love with the sweet Ann, the boss's daughter but is too shy to ask her out. By chance he meets charming if pushy Charlie Prince who is homeless and, in return for Arthur letting him move his large trunk into his lodgings and become his room-mate, gives him sound advice on wooing Ann with the result that the couple get engaged.

Arnold Bourdon is controlled by his wealthy wife Elizabeth, who is an invalid. He hires a young nurse, Miss Greco, to look after Elizabeth but finds himself attracted to her and they consider bumping Elizabeth off so that they can marry. Elizabeth catches them kissing and fires Miss Greco.

Gerry Williams returns to his New York apartment to discover that an assassin called Smith has been sent by his young and faithless wife Ellen to kill him. Staring down the barrel of a gun allows Gerry to think fast, very fast, and he tells the young killer that he has a fortune stashed away in the safe hidden behind a picture on the wall.

During a sunny suburban summer before the Second World War Mr. Klausner develops a box which amplifies the tiniest sound and, for example, records the screams of flowers as they are being cut. His next-door neighbour is less impressed by his invention. Likewise the doctor who regards Mr. Klausner as a case for treatment

Buddies Sim and Bob arrive at the house of their friend Dr. David Rankin one Sunday morning to go fishing, and find him in the cellar cementing over a newly laid floor. His wife Irene is not at home and Rankin tells them that she is staying with friends. However her infidelity is well-known around the village and Bob and Sim make the mistake of surmising that David has killed and buried his wife.

Harry Flock's super-efficiency is rewarded when he is appointed as the acting bank manager at his local branch. The appointment is followed by allegations of embezzlement and money disappearing but there is no evidence of any discrepancy in Harry's excellent records. Has he been set up? Or is his book-keeping just too good to be true?

Sophie Kassoulas and her wine importer uncle Charles recall a past incident when her lover, Max, editor of a wine magazine, asked Charles what he thought was the finest of all vintages. Charles nominated an 1864 Bordeaux claret for its rarity - it was quite simply the last remaining bottle in the world.

Madame Lagrue is a Parisian art gallery proprietress notorious for exploiting struggling young painters by dishonest means so that she creams off large profits from their work. her latest victim is young American Graham but Graham is fortunate enough to have waitress Fatima as his model, and lover, getting her pregnant.

Tycoon Joe Brisson is two-timing his wife Lisa, who finds out and wants a divorce - and half of his very considerable fortune, to which end she has forced his hand in admitting to shady deals. He is about to leave for Europe when a disgruntled employee tries to kill him. Joe persuades the man to take part in a plot to wipe out Lisa which he is sure will be 'completely foolproof'.

Arthur and Margaret Pearson are a quiet little suburban couple who inherit fifty thousand pounds when a relative dies. They tentatively invest it in property with the questionable Edward Cox. Arthur is in fact two-timing his wife with a mistress called Joy and is planning to take off but then disaster strikes as Edward is revealed as a con artist who has gone off with all the money.

When hard-working Nell invites her old school friend Emma to come and stay in her ramshackle country cottage to help her make ends meet, she is unaware that she has landed herself with a free-loader who has a lifetime's experience of not paying her way. Nell is so anxious to get rid of her unwelcome tenant that she resorts to a murderous plan.

Betsy is devastated when her long-time partner Jack tells her that he is moving to Australia to marry another woman and begins to pack chests of his belongings - some of them shared items - to send ahead. An enraged Betsy lashes out at him. As a result, thanks to Betsy's efforts, Jack's new girlfriend will have an extra surprise when she opens his luggage.

Living a dreary life and dominated by his wealthy Aunt May, Roger Carson takes to gambling and, due to the wiles of the lovely but devious casino hostess Suzie, he has quickly run up a gambling debt of twenty thousand pounds. Aunt May refuses to pay it but Roger is aware that, as her sole heir, he will inherit everything when she dies.

An aeroplane flying from London to Edinburgh with a party of surgeons on board is apparently taken over by a hi-jacker. He has taken the stewardess prisoner in a toilet and will shoot her if his demands are not met. This involves a landing at Manchester airport and the delivery onboard of two parachutes and a million pounds.