The Crime Doctor’s Strangest Case (1943)

When a wealthy industrialist is found dead at his home, suspicions point to his assistant "Jimmy" (Lloyd Bridges) who is only at liberty after being involved in a similar incident with a previous employer, thanks to the intervention of sleuthing psychiatrist "Dr. Ordway" (Warner Baxter). Luckily, the doctor is on hand here to try and get to the bottom of a mystery that might go back over thirty years, to the disappearance of the dead man's partner "Fenton". As "Ordway" starts to look into the circumstances of the death, he discovers that there are a few suspects and that you can do quite a bit of damage with a soda-straw! It's got quite a few twists, some disguises, darkroom fisticuffs and a small conflagration on the way to a deduction that isn't the hardest for us to make, but that we can enjoy watching him arrive at with a conclusion that uses a clever sting operation and a locked safe. It's got a decent supporting cast and holds the attention fine for an hour.