The Unexpected #141 is an issue of the series The Unexpected (Volume 1) with a cover date of November, 1972.
Synopsis for "Just What Did Eric See?"
A man rescues a beautiful maiden from the sea during a storm. Eric and his partner Vance bring the injured woman aboard their boat. Eric becomes immediately possessive and protective of her. He refuses to take the injured woman to a hospital and insists on nursing her back to health himself. He brings the mysterious woman back to his house and keeps her hidden there until she gets better. Eric soon announces that he and the woman are engaged to marry. Vance senses that the woman is different but he is happy for his friend. One day Eric comes home to find that his new wife has disappeared. He admits to his friend that he suspects that she has returned to where she came from. Eric also announces that he and the mysterious woman had a child together. He shows Vance the child that turns out to be a baby mermaid.
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Synopsis for "A Change For The Hearse"
A vagrant named Gus Petrie arrives at the Rollins estate in search of food. He is turned away by the butler but Petrie breaks into the house to rummage for something to eat or to steal. As he is going through the house he runs into a picture of a man that looks exactly like himself except that Petrie has a busted nose. He then overhears old man Rollins instructing a detective to find his son Bart. He instructs the detective to inform his son that he is dying and that he is the sole heir to his estate. Petrie decides to claim the inheritance himself. He already looks like Bart but he will have to repair his broken nose to look like a closer match. He finds an unscrupulous plastic surgeon who agrees to straighten his nose in return for payment once he receives the inheritance. Once the operation is finished, Petrie is a dead ringer for Bart. He presents himself to his wheel chair bound father. The father turns out to be very bitter at the sight of his on. Bart was supposed to take over the family business which would allow his father to retire but he went his own way instead and left the father to manage the business on his own. The father is enraged and pushes Petrie down the stairs. As Petrie lay dying on the floor, the detective walks in with the real Bart who has broken his nose. Petrie had gone to all that trouble only to be killed.
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Synopsis for "The Coffin That Came on Time"
A train travels across the countryside. It carries a group of travelers as well as a lone coffin in the baggage car. The coffin is accompanied by a lone figure in an overcoat. It is assumed that the man is an escort that is supervising the handling of the coffin as it arrives at its final destination. The coffin is eventually unloaded and opened by workmen. When the coffin is opened, the workers are shocked to see that it is empty. At this point the strange man in the overcoat steps into the coffin declaring that his life is over. He instructs the workmen to close the lid so they can get underway to the cemetery.
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Synopsis for "A Madman's Loose Among Us"
A couple named Carlotta and her husband Quentin are selecting wine from their cellar when they discover a vagrant hiding out there. They bring him upstairs and clean him up. Carlotta has the idea that they could hire the vagrant as a servant since they live in a remote part of the country. The vagrant named Alan agrees to work for the couple under the condition that he never sets foot in the sub-basement. Alan turns out to be an excellent employee but one day the aging Carlotta makes unwanted advances towards Alan but he rejects her. Alan decides that it would be best if he leaves the estate and quits. As he is packing, Quentin and Carlotta listen to the radio as they hear the news about an escaped madman from the asylum. They assume the escaped madman is Alan and they devise a plan to trap him. Quentin invites Alan to the forbidden sub-cellar to reveal a secret torture chamber. Quentin ties Alan up to a torture wheel when suddenly the real escaped madman appears. He struggles with Quentin and Alan is accidentally killed by one of the torture devices. The police arrive to apprehend the convict. Quentin then remarks that the dead boy in the chamber was like a son to them that gave up his own life to save the couple.
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