 A Crime Club Mystery. In 1937, Universal had acquired the rights to  select 4 books from the publisher of the pulp whodunits annual  output of 52 novels. This was the second one produced in the deal. A  total of 7 Crime Club mysteries would be filmed. The Crime Club deal  ended with the release of _Witness Vanishes, The (1939)_ (qv) in  September, 1939.