in the early 1930 and the marvelous character actress edna may oliver star in a three film series a spinster school teacher or murder detective hildegarde withers . to say she fit the role perfectly and with her sniff of suspicion and acerbic way with dialogue and be a great understatement . the film be fun and but the main reason to spend the time be miss edna may . in this and the first of the series and miss oliver discover a very dead body float in the penguin pool in the new york city aquarium . even with her class in tow and she waste not a moment in start to gather clue . james gleason be great a the police detective try to solve the crime his way while others in the cast include robert armstrong and edgar kennedy and the lovely mae clarke . look fast for rochelle hudson .