A nice "ordinary guy" type of showcase in place of the usually sinister or snide roles for Don Scardino (i.e. "The Horror Within", "The Plastic Man").

He's a reporter for a Sarasota, FL newspaper, and is visiting a local carnival in the offseason. The already struggling venue suffers a big hit when an Indian nobleman, who says he's been in Washington, D.C. on government business, loses the incredibly valuable diamond off his turban. He got too close to the ostrich cage, and Scardino's character sees an ostrich swallowing something down its long neck afterwards.

The ostriches help make the carnival famous, and bring in loads of marks and $$$$. The carnival's owner says the way ostriches are made it could keep that diamond in its stomach for a long time. A Society for the prevention of cruelty to animals type organization steps in with an injunction of some sort preventing the carnival from doing anything to the animals. Then some sort of bidding process starts for the birds, all the while during which the Indian nobleman is raising all sorts of cain against the circus.

The carnival owner's daughter suspects he's trying to bilk the circus...though Scardino's character is sure he saw the ostrich swallowing something. The ending to this: 1. reminded me of some Aretha Franklin song that goes "Who's zoomin' whom?", and 2. would have had me screaming at my computer (and Scardino) if I hadn't been at work. The Indian guy, when talking about the animals, does get in some nice joke about "donkeys and elephants" based on his Washington experience... 