The Copper Tea Strainer

Originally Aired: April 21, 1949

Suspense #337, "The Copper Tea Strainer," stars Betty Grable as Jeannie Dunn, a thirty-year-old model working at photographer James Irwin's studio when a detective arrives asking pointed questions. The detective produces a gleaming copper tea strainer, and at the sight of it, Jeannie's carefully suppressed memories come flooding back. She lives with her invalid mother, preparing her breakfast each morning before leaving for work, always leaving a teacup with tea measured out and a strainer ready. As the detective spins the strainer between his fingers, asking repeatedly about her relationship with boyfriend Ted Wark and whether he gets along with her mother, Jeannie struggles to maintain her composure.

The detective's relentless questioning and the hypnotic sparkle of the tea strainer break through Jeannie's mental blocks. Everything she has managed to forget throughout the day suddenly becomes clear again. The photographer Irwin eagerly offers to cooperate with police, making him another threat to Jeannie as she realizes there is no escaping either her past or this persistent detective who seems to know far more than he reveals.