Secret of the Second Door

"Secret of the Second Door" is an episode of the American television detective series Hawaiian Eye.

Synopsis

Archibald Chu Sin, owner of the third-rate Hawaiian Regency hotel, and his night clerk, Paul Cummins, try to break up a fight between poker players in a guest's room. Four hoods led by Victor Soretino scare off Archie, while Cummins steals a bag containing $200,000 from an adjoining room. Meanwhile, a battered-looking businessman named Nestro leaves the game after dropping $10,000. Soretino quickly notices the money bag is missing. Assuming Nestro took it with him, he and his gang take over Nestro's home. The psychotic giant Arthur beats Nestro to death when he can't tell Soretino what happened to the money.

Archie Chu Sin tries to hire Tom Lopaka and Hawaiian Eye to guard his hotel, but is laughed off. However, Tom does drive Connie Cummins to the scene of an auto accident which claimed the life of her husband, Paul. Connie is more concerned with a missing item from the car than her husband's death, arousing Tom's suspicions. Connie hires Tom to find the missing money, which she claims Paul won in a poker game. Lopaka learns that Nestro, who owns an Import-Export company, was seen leaving the hotel the day of the game. Tom Lopaka then confronts Soretino at Nestor's home, and confirms that the money was really stolen.

Hiding Connie at the Hawaiian Regency, Lopaka visits Sarge's Place, a rural inn owned by Archie's sister Angelina. Paul Cummins used to stay there on fishing trips, and Lopaka quickly finds where Paul hid the money before his fatal trip. Meegham and Arthur have trailed Lopaka, but he gets the jump on them. He then confronts Soretino and Connie back at the hotel, where Connie shoots Soretino before Tom disarms her.

Episode cast

Series regulars

• Robert Conrad — Tom Lopaka
• Anthony Eisley — Tracy Steele
• Connie Stevens — Cricket Blake
• Poncie Ponce — Kim

Recurring characters

• Doug Mossman — Moke
• Andre Philippe — Paul

Guest stars

• Harry Bartell — Victor Soretino
• Victor Sen Young — Archibald Chu Sin
• Christine White — Connie Cummins
• Karl Lukas — Arthur
• James McCallion — Meegham
• Jacquelyn Ravel — Lucy Kahili
• Than Wyenn — Nestro
• Jane Chang — Angelina Chu Sin
• Jerry Hausner — Rettler
• Sondi Sodsai — Makaleka (receptionist)
• Unknown — Highway Cop
• Unknown — Paul Cummins

Musical interlude

For this episode, Connie Stevens sang "Why Did I Tell You about Shanghai" with the Shell Bar band accompanying her.

Episode notes

This episode continued the trend of using a different receptionist every week for the Hawaiian Eye Agency, a widely used television plot device to showcase eye-candy that would later be parodied on Murphy Brown.

External links

• Secret of the Second Door at the Internet Movie Database
• Original pulp novel Secret of the Second Door by Robert Colby