Episode 5, "The Adventure of the 12th Floor Express," is a real puzzler featuring the second straight appearance of Ken Swofford as Frank Flannigan, gossip columnist for the New York Gazette. Henry Manners (Tyler McVey), owner and publisher of the Daily Examiner, arrives to work at 8:00 AM sharp, greets the elevator starter (John Finnegan), then steps into his private elevator going straight to the 12th floor. The 12th floor secretary (Sandy de Bruin) sees no one when the elevator doors open, but after it stops on a lower floor, Manners is found lying dead on the floor, victim of a fatal gunshot. Frank Flannigan shows up, delighted to be covering a juicy murder story at a rival paper. Among the suspects are Miss Harriet Manners (Dina Merrill), the dead man's sister, who was plotting to take over the newspaper but has now inherited it, retaining the services of the longtime editor (Paul Stewart), who was reluctantly going to be 'retired' by her late brother. Other suspects about to be canned include attorney Arthur Klinger (George Furth), and Mitchell McCully (Pat Harrington), political muckraker exposing 'commie pinkos,' incurring the wrath of a man planning to sue the paper for $2 million. McCully was hoping that Manners would back him in the lawsuit but this cannot be confirmed due to the publisher's death. John Finnegan, as Fred the elevator starter, previously appeared as a bartender in the pilot feature, while actress Kristin Larkin, cast as a secretary named Dorothy, would play a different character in the very last episode, "The Adventure of the Disappearing Dagger." Playing a security guard is TV veteran Bill McLean, who (usually) appears unbilled. This author admits that he was stumped as to how the murder took place but sharp-eyed viewers may guess the truth just as Ellery does.
