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A restaurant owner has written a letter to help get him out of a jam. The broken English of the immigrant writer has Dan chuckling, but he is to soon find out the seriousness of the situation. When Dan goes to see for himself, he finds a clean, well run eatery, and the owner, Nick, is happy to see him. Business is booming, but all of Nicks clientelle orders just a cup of coffee, and spend the day occupying seats. It sounds to me like a campaign to run him out of business, but Dan has a bit of advice for a minimum charge that he thinks will do the trick.
Back in the office, a desperate Nick phones with another problem. Dan’s suggestion worked fine, but Nick claims his credit is ruined. Again Dan has a simple solution. The phone hardly reaches it’s cradle when Nick has yet another emergency, so Dan goes back to stabalize things. Now there are emergency and delivery vehicles trying to make deliveries to the restaurant. All sorts of unusual and crazy shipments, but Dan manages to run interference and send the deliveries back.
Dan talks to Nick about the reason for the pranks, and annoyances. Some one has offered to take over the lease on the building, and are clearly trying to pressure Nick into subletting to them.
Later, when Nick’s wife phones in, it seems that something terrible has happened. Dan goes right to Nick’s home to find Nick layed up in bed after being attacked on his way home. Dan learns of threats to Nick and his wife, and gives Nick the advice to go ahead and sublet his restaurant to see who bites, and what they may do. Dan takes the story to his policeman friend, and a stakeout is set to keep an eye on the place.
Two weeks have gone by without any noticeable activity, and the cops will have to pull the plug on the manpower. Dan drops in at the restaurant to see what is going on. The surly new wait staff makes it clear that the business is just a front. What is that strange scraping noise?
While finally running an errand for Suzy, an important clue lands in Dan’s lap. He has the answers he has been looking for. When Dan tries to prove a hunch to the cops, and to a neighboring department store manager, his plan almost fails.
What is the scam? What were the bogus subletters doing? Dan explains all to Suzie, but will he ever get her errand run?
