'A Sentimental Journey' by Donald James

Jeff receives a visit from two heavies, who beat him up when he is unable to tell them what is going on. After they have left, two more arrive, Seymour and Hamilton, who offer Jeff a job: to take an item worth £10,000 from Glasgow to London on the overnight express, hand the item over to Seymour, and then take the receipt back to Hamilton in Glasgow. At first, Jeff refuses, but after being roughed up again, he reluctantly agrees to do the job for £200. Arriving in Glasgow, Jeff is surprised to find that the courier he is to chaperone is actually an attractive blonde called Dandy Garrison, who has a small briefcase chained to her wrist. While having dinner on the train to London, Jeff notices that they are being followed by two men, and so asks Marty to keep an eye on Dandy during the night. Marty agrees, but is worried about breaking his wedding vows to Jean by watching Dandy get undressed; ever the gentleman, he keeps his back turned and eyes closed until gets into bed. When a man breaks into her room, Marty warns Jeff, who rushes in to defend her, only to discover that the man is Detective Sergeant Watts from the Glasgow police, who makes Dandy open the case - to reveal a selection of lingerie! Once the police officer has left, Dandy tells Jeff that it is she who is the valuable item. Jeff delivers Dandy to Seymour, who presents him with a handwritten receipt to take back to Hamilton in Glasgow; but as Jeff is taking the receipt the lights go out and Dandy escapes. Seymour and his right-hand man Tony think that Jeff has double-crossed everyone, and a search for the detective begins. Realising he is now a wanted man, Jeff searches for Dandy; Marty tracks her down to a London hotel, where he and Jeff discover that she is in league with Tony, one of Seymour's men. Captured at gunpoint, Jeff is forced to hand over the receipt and is then knocked out. When Jeff comes to Marty tells him that Tony called Hamilton in Glasgow and said that Jeff had stolen the receipt. As Marty searches for the two double-crossing lovers, Jeff encounters Watts once more; Watts recalls that the Laxton Philately Company was robbed and two valuable postage stamps stolen. Using Jeff’s information, they visit Seymour, and Jeff finds one of the stamps hidden in the back of his pocket watch; remembering what the receipt looked like, Jeff and Watts conclude that the second stamp is on the receipt. Meanwhile, Marty has found the two crooks, and watches from the back seat of their car as Dandy double-crosses Tony: after making him investigate a noise she has heard in their car, she drives off with the stamp, leaving him behind. Marty tells Jeff to call the car-phone, and when Dandy finally picks it up, she leaves it off the hook, enabling Marty to relay directions back to Jeff and Watts. Watts realises Dandy is heading for an airfield, and Seymour's private plane. Dandy meets up with her pilot and they fly off in the plane. But Marty blows the aircraft down the runway and away from Dandy, enabling Watt and his men to arrest her.

Jeff Randall (Mike Pratt), Marty Hopkirk (Kenneth Cope), Jean Hopkirk (Annette Andre), William Squire (Sam Seymour), Tracey Crisp (Dandy Garrison), Victor Maddern (Sgt. Watts), Drewe Henley (Tony), Antony Baird (Hamilton)

Directed by Leslie Norman

TX:
UK: 23rd January, 1970 @ 7.25pm

Notes:
*Featuring Jeff Randall and the late Marty Hopkirk