THE STORY: Armed with “complete” knowledge in sleuthing from “How To Be a G-Man, In Ten Easy Lessons,” all Willie lacks is a crime, which turns up in his own home when his mother discovers that Grandmother’s diamond brooch, hidden in a cinnamon can, is missing. After proving, in most amusing fashion, that each member of the family, his sister’s beau, the little girl next door, and Minnie, the romantic housemaid, has a motive for stealing the pin, Willie takes charge, and brings out his elaborate homemade “Lie-Detector,” by which he hopes to catch the criminal. In the ensuing hilarious scene, the lie-detector, secretly manipulated by Willie’s father, turns on Willie with surprising results. The solution of the crime comes in a brilliant surprise ending, the pin is recovered, and Willie gives up his career for a tennis game with the little girl next door.
A delightfully amusing episode of family life centering about the secret ambitions of young Willie Forbes, 14, to become a detective. Excellent for high schools.