Anne Neyland

            When I got home from Shab-e She’r I already had a boiled potato and a carrot in a pot waiting to heat up. I had them with a hot Italian sausage and some gravy while watching Peter Gunn. This story takes place on the campus of a women’s college. Gunn is called in to investigate an unseen but heard stalker that has the girls terrified. He talks to the dean and she tells him that the lights have been inexplicably going out a couple of times a day and the bell in the bell tower, even though there is no rope, rings once a night. From Gunn’s room on campus that night he sees someone sneaking outside his window but the person runs away. Then he receives a call from a young woman who tells him that if he wants to know who is terrorizing the campus he should meet her at the hothouse in ten minutes. Inside the hothouse an unfriendly gardener named Tomkins emerges from behind the tropical plants holding a tool in a threatening manner and telling him that the hothouse is off limits at night. Outside of the hothouse is an attractive young blonde in a convertible sports car. Her name is Jean Clayton and she’s the one who called Gunn but she seems more interested in coming on to Gunn than in giving him information. She says that she dated Professor Caldwell, he was always late and always on those nights something had happened on campus. Gunn peels Jean off him to her disappointment and goes to see Professor Caldwell. He admits to having dated Jill a few times but he broke it off. She didn’t take it well and began spreading rumours that he is the one who’s been terrorizing the campus. As Gunn leaves Caldwell’s office he hears the bell ring and he goes to investigate. He finds small dents on the outside of the bell. On his way out he gets knocked on the head. After he recovers he is heading home when he meets Professor Cleeter, who offers to treat his wound with the first aid kit in his office. Gunn meets Cleeter’s assistant, Dora. After getting disinfected and bandaged Gunn receives a call that a girl has had a stage light fall on her in the campus theatre. The light fell and scraped Jean Clayton’s leg badly. Gunn finds that someone had tampered with it. Gunn leaves the theatre and looks up at the bell tower. He goes to Caldwell’s office and looks at the view of the bell tower from his window. He does the same thing from Cleeter’s office and then the hothouse. In front of the greenhouse there is clear view. He enters the hothouse and pokes around until he finds a hidden air rifle. He takes it outside and fires it at the bell and it rings just like it’s been doing every night. Tomkins returns and Gunn tells him, “You’re a pretty good shot for a gardener”. Tomkins knocks Gunn’s revolver away and they struggle. They smash through the doors of the greenhouse. Tomkins kicks Gunn and escapes over a wall. He runs to a canoe and tries to get away but Gunn jumps him and they fight in the water. Next we see Dora working in Cleeter’s office. Tomkins walks in and tells her it’s all over. Gunn and the dean walk in too. It turns out that Dora had put Tomkins up to it because her sister’s life had been ruined when she’d been expelled because they thought she was having a relationship with Tomkins. Dora’s sister committed suicide.

            The dean was played by Anne Seymour, who, along with her brothers was the seventh generation of actors of a theatrical family that went back to 18^th Century Ireland.

            Jean was played by Anne Neyland, who was in Jailhouse Rock and Motorcycle Gang.