Detective and Mystery – Retro Radio Podcast

Usually people write to Santa with their wish list, but today George Valentine gets a letter from Santa Claus. Who is George to disappoint someone, especially at Christmas time, and especially St Nick? As George begins to look into the conditions of the letter, Brooksie disappears. What’s the deal with that letter? It’s just a list of toys. To add to the puzzle. George gets a murder note from a midget In tracking down his midget, George finds a whole shop full of little people. Toy makers, of course. George thinks he’s on to something big going down at midnight. What is it? A big robbery? George finally makes the connection between the toys, and a mixup between Santa and the mob. Now he has to put a stop to the organized crime, and keep himself from being killed in the process. All it will take is a little help from Santa Claus. George tells Brooksie all about how he figured it out, and explains the mystery.

Joe Friday works the burglary detail, and has to investigate a house fire. When Joe looks through the burned out place with the homeowner, it may be a case of using the fire to cover up for a robbery. Valuable jewels, and even food from the pantry and freezer is missing. Other robberies are reportedc that are similar, but without fires. When a man reports a break in at his home, and coins are stolen, it takes a few days, but Jo Friday and Frank Smith have the lead that helps wrap up this case. There’s enough evidence to haul their man in, but Joe is going for an airtight case, and stakes the man out. He finds his house, and all the missing goods.

Getting away to the sparkles and spangles of his 8 year old self , Watson tells about the adventure he and Holmes had at a French circus. The excitement fell flat for Holmes, though he shares a little about the illicit background of some of the entertainers. Mycroft joins the fun, and hears some of Holmes racy secrets about the performers. More friends of Holmes show up. Going back stage, Watson may find himself in trouble. Will Watson live out a boyhood fantasy? Will a threatening letter mean a mystery is in the works for Holmes? The famous detective will need to act, to clear Dr Watson from a murder charge. Note: This is a reworked script from Murder Under The Big Top. ep149 441106

Featuring the orriginal cast from the film. Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Sidney Greenstreet and Peter Lorrie. Sam Spade and his partner, Archer take a case when a dame darkens their door. When Archer is killed, the cops come to Sam to learn what happened. He tells all, except for confidential information. Can the dame fill in any details about the falcon? Sam sees through the lies and sob story. Who knows how to find a buyer for the falcon? Will Peter Lorrie be able to come up with the money for it? Sidney Greenstreet is on hand to double the price. PaulWhiteman plays a musical intermission. After dead men pave the trail to the falcon, Sam confronts the dame. Will possessing the bird make Sam a fall guy? Danger looms, and the price on the falcon soars. It can’t be worth millions, can it? Events unfold, and a suspicious Sam puts on the pressure to get answers. Has he been a patsy for the dame? Cops tie up their loose ends and are on hand for Sam to hand over the dame who killed his partner.

A sheriff in a small town jail has problems on his hands. Bas comb is his prisoner who makes a break, leaving the body of the lawman behind. Jase Pearson is on the scene to comb the area, and start the manhunt. Even though the prisonner now has a stolen truck, he leaves a trail that’s easy to follow. The folks in the remote, rural community know everybody else, and the escapee in a neighbors red truck, and white prison overalls is easy to spot. Bas comb is soon boxed in, down a dead end road. The chase shifts from the road to horseback, and the Rangers close in. The cops relay updates using the latest in high tech radio communications, while Jase continues his chase. Gunshots ring out, and a classic Western standoff between bandits and lawmen could go down. Complications set in when Bascomb gives Jase the slip, and it could open up the window the crook needs to get away for good. . Will the crook get away, or will he go down in a blaze of glory/? Or something else?

On robbery detail, Joe Friday investigates the possibility that a valuable ring that has been taken to a pawn shop is stolen. It certainly seems to be, and the man who took it there is quickly apprehended. His interrogation turns up nothing, and he is let go. When an anonymous note comes in, Joe and partner, Frank Smith follow up to find a box full of jewelry. Comparing it to recent reports of robbery, the owner is quickly matched to it. Friday and Smith go after their man. Though he has moved, with no forwarding address, he still is easy to find. With the right pressure put on, he sends Friday on the trail to the real robber.

A man is looking for a missing woman. It’s been nearly seven years and is about to cost him thousands of dollars. The man, Mr Samuels is an insurance agent who has had to pay off on a dead wife of an aledged killer. He’s sure the man killed his wife, but with the seven year mark coming up, the law can declare her dead, even without a body, and the company will have to pay out. The suspected killer is an artist, a sculpturer to be exact, and George goes to be a model for his latest creation. It doesn’t fool the artist, but it serves to do for character introduction to the artist and his girlfriend. George suspects that the original Mrs McClain was never killed. He and Brooksie set a trap to force her hand to make an appearance. Is she alive? Will she stay alive for much longer? Brooksie turns up a tip at a travel agent, and the clues fall into place. Just when George manages to fall into a well. Do you think you know who did it? As the key players gather around, George tells the whole story, and the odd way that the body was disposed of.

Philip thought his client had a heart of gold, but he was soon to learn how hard that heart can be. Philip’s new job leads him along a trail involving a man with a sensitive situation, a dead woman, and a frantic butler. The woman was his client, and now Philip has to discover who killed her. It’s set up to appear as a suicide, but even the cops aren’t quite ready to buy off on it. Marlowe tracks down a clue that leads to a torch singer in a nightclub. Going into stealth mode,Marlowe overhears an incriminating conversation. A secret is held in a missing heart shaped gold locket. Who has the locket? What’s inside it? That’s just the thing that Philip needs to learn to get to the bottom of this case. Listen in and ride along as he takes the blows and faces danger so you won’t have to. Secrets are revealed, trust is broken, the body count rises, and a chase is on. Stay tuned to the end to learn of the plot twists and matters of mistaken identity that has led to a wierd double life for the players involved.

A businessman with a secret personal life has a concerned secretary. The abrasive man tells George his story from his swanky new mansion. A tale of his missing wife who he divorced, but still has feelings for, and a shady past are all put on the table. As the investigation begins, even more plot twists are uncovered by the household help, and that concerned secretary. George checks into all the gossip to get to the solid facts. There’s something fishy going on here, and plenty of contradictions. George and Brooksie swap ideas with their policeman friend. The body count begins to rise, but can George figure this one out? It isn’t like there’s a shortage of scandal, or suspects, just the matter of picking the right bad guy and the right motive. PS: I think it was professor Plum in the Conservatory, with a wrench. But I could be wrong. There actually is a good twist ending to the story.

An all expenses paid weekend in Malibu, a red head, and a white Panama hat are just a few of the ingredients that combine for the next adventure for Philip Marlowe. Bored senseless, and no work to do, Philip gets a phone call that calls him into a nightclub to meet the tall seductive dame. Her unemployed photographer husband has been getting threatening letters. The young couple live with uncle Avvery who is far from idolizing his nieces husband. Posing as a friend from her past, Philip starts investigating. One recurring figure through the episode, delivering death threats, and trying to kill Philip, is a man in a Panama hat. The artistic photographer shows off some of his interpretive work to Philip. With all the meetings out of the way, Philip drifts off to sleep, wondering about the man in the Panama hat. He hears a noise, goes to have a look, gets a thump on the head, and when he awakens he finds suspicious behavior from his hosts afoot. Clues abound, and Philip is off to investigate. Mistaken identity, kidnapping, blackmail, and a tangled chain of events fall into Philip’s lap. Will a ransom be paid? There’s still plenty of loose ends, and unanswered questions. Philip plays all his advantages to find the white Panama hat. Uncle Avery has had enough, and Philip is paid for a job done when the photographer is returned from his captor, but his curiosity won’t let him rest. When murder arrives on the scene, Philip tells what he knows to the cops, but the plot twists just keep on coming, and won’t stop until Philip blows the lid off all the secrets. Sound confusing? It is, but listen in, and follow Philip Marlowe through all the twists and turns.

The documented drama of an actual crime. The story of your police force in action. Joe Friday is on robbery detail with partner, Frank Smith. They interview witnesses of the crime and shooting. The bar tender gives the low down on the events surrounding the robbery and shootout in the bar, and the guys doing the deed. As good as the testimony of the bar tender is, it still requires some added police work, stake outs, and leg work to close in. One of the gang turns up wounded. His interview leads to a name, and when records are checked, it leads to the ringleader. He’s going to be a hard nut to crack, but Friday lays on the pressure. Friday is relentless until he has brought in all the gang members.

Box Thirteen. October 3, 1948. Program #7. Mutual net origination, Mayfair syndication. “Short Assignment”. Commercials added locally. A meek little detective named George Flit hires Dan Holiday to help prevent a suicide. Alan Ladd, Sylvia Picker, Rudy Schrager (composer, conductor), Vern Carstensen (production supervisor). 27:09. Audio condition: Excellent. Otherwise complete. J. David Golden

The small town of Killman Texas became the focus of racketeers, when an oil boom changed everything. Protection rackets have the honest operators under their control, but a murder has the Texas Rangers on the case in the tight lipped town. An outright investigation will get no where, so Jase Pearson needs to go undercover. Petty criminals come and go, when cops lock them up, but Jase is willing to look the other way to get to the top dog in the crime scene. As a couple of wandering cow pokes, Jase Pearsonm, and his partner get in under the radar of the gangsters. Can Jase link the murder of Powell to what the gangsters are really trying to do in town? Can all the gambling dives be shut down in one fell swoop? From their vantage point in the underworld, Jase talks his partner through the gang control, and where the layers of crime point. Clues begin to paint a picture of who the kingpin of crime is. Now it’s time to put the pressure on, and make the bad guys squeal. The rangers have the chance of a lifetime to bring down the house of cards, but can they move before the gangsters recognize they’ve been infiltrated?

Homicide Detail. Joe Friday and Frank Smith work the nightwatch and respond to a suicide call. After entering the locked room where the body is located, Friday interviews the man’s wife to get information, and details about the dead man. Then the mother in law is interviewed. A portrait of a broken marriage, and of the man’s life is brought out, but nothing to doubt a suicide was committed. The lab later finds a discrepancy with the bullet that killed the man, and it becomes clear that the suicide is really a murder. The bullet is of a different calibre than the gun he held in his hand. Now the gun needs to be found, so the crime scene is reevaluated. The stories of the witnesses are reevaluated, and the mother in law breaks down and admits she did it.

Decent sound quality. Featuring Gerald Moore as Philip Marlowe. Along with different actors from previous airings and from the pilot episode. Hot, dry Santa Ana wind is blowing. The heat of the day finds Philip closing up shop early to enjoy a cold one at the bar. It’s not so hot to keep a murder from going down in the bar in front of Philip. A dame with a gun is soon involved, and a bald man is close behind, and pointing his pistol in Philip’s direction. With all the guns waving around, all Philip can do is let her walk out. For now. The dame returns and a story about Waldo, and perals. More bodies turn up, and Philip beats the bushes to connect the dots to try and figure what’s going on. Philip reports the murders to the cops and tells what he knows about the crime, the love triangle, pearls, and blackmail. Can Philip get Lola’s pearls back? He does his best as he swaps explanations with the dame. Note: This episode has at least three variations of it out there. The original pilot which I didn’t post. It had no commercials, and the audio wasn’t the best. It was aired as the first show in the previous run of the show on the radio. The audio was also less than ideal, and had commercials spots in it. Though this one is from the series that ran later, and had different actors, sponsors, and the like, it had the best audio quality. The story is exactly the same script, which is why I picked it for the podcast. If you want the other two versions of the show,let me know. I may post them later if folks want them, or at least offer a special download link. This episode is also sometimes titled, ‘Who Shot Waldo?’