Although the onscreen credits state this is an original story, it is actually a remake of Murder Will Out (1930), which has a virtually identical plot and uses many of the same character names.
The print actually credits the "original story" to Murray Leinster and Will Jenkins. Perhaps the filmmakers didn't realize that "Will Jenkins" is a pseudonym for Leinster, but it was probably just an inside joke.
The seventh of nine "Torchy Blane" films from Warner Brothers made from 1937-39.
The $50,000 paid for the jade in this 1939 movie would be the same as $994,924.46 in 2021 dollars.