Detective and Mystery – Retro Radio Podcast

Traveling by train, and enjoying all the pleasantries that kind of travel affords, the Norths are on another adventure. The matter of missing diamond jewelry soon gets Jerry and Pam involved in a mystery. There are some gangster types on the train who could get things hot for our heros. A musical intermission from Skinny Ennis, I Got You Under My Skin. Who actually owns the broach? Pam is determined to get it, and gets a little help from a little dog. Note: Frontline Theater was a production made just for troops serving overseas in WW2.

A canvass shopping bag, used for merchants to transport goods from one store to another is the centerpiece of today’s murder. Mary Wilson packs her suitcase to run off and get married. Telling her parents she’s meeting Tom Reynolds, she runs away with another man. The couple seem sweet, and loving to the innkeeper, and as far as she knows they left to start their honeymoon in Canada. . A body is discovered, and investigators begin gathering clues. A canvass bag sends them to a grocer, but the plausible excuse for the missing bag looks like a dead end. There isn’t much to go on with the dismembered corpse, so police turn to missing person reports. The description of Mary Wilson fits the description of the corpse, and the investigation takes shape. Tom Reynolds is in Canada, but is still single, and no sign that Mary ever met up with him. Her address strikes a chord of memory with the cops. She lived next door to the grocer. Following through with the strange coincidence, and linking circumstantial evidence, the trail to the innkeeper provides a solid connection.

Homicide Detail. A 9 year old boy is missing, and foul play is suspected. After a stop at the crime lab, the cops hit the trail in looking for clues. When a neighborhood search is organized, only a patch of blood stains can be found. Mom seems to think her boy could be going through a phase of independence, and is just playing harmlessly somewhere. That still doesn’t mean she isn’t worried. When Joe suspects that guns are involved, a Christmas present is found missing, a .22 calibre rifle. Details keep unfolding, and the matter goes from bad to worse. The boy is found, and his story of his rifle puts a damper on any Christmas cheer. A story of safety, and appropriate gifts for kids. Note: This first appeared on the previous season of Dragnet, and would continue to recur every year at Christmas. the script was also converted for use on the television series. since Barton Yarborough, Ben Romero, was in poor health, this would be his last appearance performing this annual story. in fact, he would unexpectedly die in reality, so his character had to also suddenly be written out, and a new partner for Joe Friday was found. All this transitioning in only the upcoming week.

Homicide Detail. A 22 year old girl has been abducted, and the worried family is counting on Joe Friday. Joe Friday wakes up his partner at 3 AM to investigate the case of the abducted 22 year old Sullivan girl. The family is far from wealthy, so a kidnapping doesn’t make sense. The cops interview the girl’s dad. He shows the ransom note that specifies the deadline and the $30k amount. The stakes increase when the kidnapper learns the cops are involved. A fingerprint on the ransom note, and a handwriting match leads to an out of state connection. what will the massive dragnet operation turn up? Should the cops be suspicious of Mr Sullivan’s behavior, or his trips to the bank? The body of Judy Sullivan is found. Has the kidnapper gotten tired of the cat and mouse game? The tearful reaction of Mr Sullivan seems legitimate, and the search for the killer heats up. A suspect is identified. his apartment searched. And evidence is clear/ Cops blanket the area. When their man is cornered in a movie theater, a chase begins that ends in gunplay.

Homicide Detail. A 40 year old mother is murdered, and Joe Friday has to put the pieces to the mystery together Checking into the Woodfield High School office, Joe Friday and partner, Ben Romero break the news to 16 year old Roberta Dixon that her mother has been found murdered. Later at the morgue,. The detectives learn more about the cause of death. Young Roberta has recovered enough from her shock, to tell Joe about her family life in her single parent home. She does her best to help cops connect with friends of her mom. After Roberta is placed in the custody of child services, Joe follows up on leads regarding friends of Mrs Dixon, and reexamine the crime scene. Nice house, nice size yard, well kept. All that can be found is a dead canary. Dead by a sharp weapon… the same thing used on Mrs Dixon. What might Roberta reveal about the canary, or the connection to her mom’s death? The clues begin to flood Joe, and the evidence all piles up to point to Roberta. Should the cops keep trying to track down the husband? Holes are poked into all of Robertas statements. It doesn’t take much confrontation with the troubled teen to get to the bottom of the crime. The thin web of lies is swept aside, to reveal the fight between her controlling mom over her pet canary. But the twist is in who killed the canary, and why?

Or Microfilm in the Fish Tank. George is a tailor, and the victim of extortion. He goes to his customer, Barry Craig for help. The private eye recommends taking it to the cops, but when his place burns down, he turns out to not be very well protected. Barry feels guilty, and takes it personal. Hot on the trail of the racketeers, Barry is hired by newspaper man. How can he help get to the top of the extortion ring? Why doesn’t he just rely on his reporters? Back on the streets, Barry shakes up his informants. The pressure pays off, and one clue leads to another to climb up the ladder to the top, or close enough to it. A phony holding company is found, and a retired convict with a heart problem. more phony companies spring out of the woodwork, and in a dentist office, micro film is found. Barry is iin a tough spot when he takes a risk to steal the film. It does the trick to make the big boss show his hand. Get ready for gun play, and danger before the mystery is solved. Note: Hiding microfilm ing a fish tank? My first thought was, ‘O come now boss!’ Fish tanks are meant to be in full view, so you can see the fish. The bad guys wouldn’t need to beat up on anybody,. They could see the film right there. However, I suppose in desperation, its plausible that a panicked person might thoughtlessly shove something there to hide. Its still in plain sight, and clearly out of place. It also leads to Barry’s twist to polishing off the case.

Homicide Detail.. a wealthy businessman has disappeared. And it’s up to Joe Friday to determine if its murder, or suicide. Joe Friday and Ben Romero interview Miss Banner, a woman who leases her home from the missing man. What might she know about Mr Dillon and his friends? All the cops have to go on for now is a letter from his sister. In voiceover, Joe tells about the complicated task in researching missing persons. More interviews, and a business associate reveals cash withdrawn from accounts, and hard feelings after the death of Dillon’s wife. Does it indicate suicide? Other sources help in tracking the latest whereabouts of Dillon. Friends had forwarded mail, but who was he staying with, if anyone? Could he just be on vacation? A hot tip lands in Joe’s lap when a store clerk reports sales tickets made by Mrs Dillon, several weeks after his disappearance. The description fits Miss Banner. Signatures match as well. There’s still the problem of the missing Mr Dillon., but an interview with the Gardner may have just provided the cops with an answer.

A man claims his life is touched by evil. He needs George’s help to straighten things out. Brooksie is a little uncomfortable and flippant at being involved in voodoo, seances, and the like. George has a more practical eye, and uncovers a fake fortune teller, but the investigating isn’t over yet. Though the police are upset over the way George breaks the case, at least all the crazies get the mental help they need, and the killers go where they belong.

Alan Ladd stars as Dan Holiday, a retired newspaper man. Holiday now has turned to writing fiction and to obtain ideas for his stories, he runs an ad in The Star-Times newspaper, -Adventure wanted, will go anywhere, do anything, Box 13. This series was produced by Mayfair Productions and syndicated transcribed. Today, an immigrant, and restaurant owner needs Dan’s help. though he has a roaring crowd, the only thing being ordered is a single cup of coffee per person. nick always manages to make money, pay his bills, but there’s something fishy going on, and now he has Dan on the scent. Nick finds himself at the center of confusing deliveries to his place. who is the stranger who is interested in subletting the restaurant? might something bad cross Nick’s path if he doesn’t cooperate? time to spring a trap, and Dan calls on the cops to lend a hand. what will happen if they just let the racketeers take over, and use Nick’s place for their own purposes? things may become more deadly than expected.

Bunko Detail. Joe Friday is on the heals of a husband and wife centered con game. At the Holy Gospel Tabernacle. Pastor’s house. Ben observes, “It’s not a very wealthy looking neighborhood.” Reverend Olsen tells how the married couple suckered him into their research work. The Herberts swindled him out of $800. Joe has enough to get started tracking down various friends and relatives. The trail leads to an exercise class. A phone call sends the cops to another church,. This time with the Herberts claiming to be writing a book. Time passes and Joe is no closer to the Herberts. But their trail of swindles is growing. The Herberts have a knack for weaseling the last pennies, or war bonds, out of folks who are down on their luck. Just when things are looking flat, a hot tip reignites the hunt. Will there be a need to get the homicide detail involved? Joe catches up with Mrs Herbert, who claims it was her husband that dragged her into this mess. Somehow. He doesn’t believe her. From here its only a short trip to stop- Mr Herbert. And the new dame he’s about to run off with.

Homicide Detail. Twelve men are missing. On a sultry day, Joe and Ben get off to a fist fight, when they go to interview Henry Ross. He claims he didn’t know they were cops, but he has some info on a guy named Davis. Paul Davis drove to take a job on an oil derrick. But according to his wife. He never got there. Handwriting experts link Ross to the missing persons. He is also known under the alias of Henry Carter. Joe Friday continues to parade out the evidence, but will his man cooperate? The interrogation lingers on, with Joe detailing it in voiceover. Henry admits to being involved in the murders, and is willing to draw maps and diagrams of the operation. Taking his captors to a local diner, Ross feasts, while Joe describes the menu options. Ross shares the details on meeting and killing Davis. Why did he do it? Where is the body? What about the other missing men?

Burglary detail. A rash of shoplifting jobs has the attention of Joe Friday, and his partner, Ben Romero. Interviewing the detail chief, the detectives go over the mode of operation of the bandits. What might connect the string of shoplift jobs together? A teenage clerk in a department store seems to be at the center of the thefts of make up and cos metics. Joe and Ben go to interview the young lady. Will she be able to offer a suitable explanation of the missing products from the departments where she has worked? Ben complains about his foot problems as the cops continue their mundane search. Another store clerk report strange packages, and an unknown tall, blonde woman in the department. What does Joe make of it? More questions reveal the unknown woman is also at the center of the robberies. The woman is identified to be the wife of a doctor. Will she hold up under the routine questioning of the detectives?

Robbery Detail. A rash of jewelry stores are being robbed, And there appears to be a mastermind behind them. Joe Friday and Ben Romero are on the job to put a stop to them. Relying on an interpreter, Joe and Ben interview a French store clerk. In voiceover,. Joe Friday reports on other similar burglaries, and runs down the details known about the robber and his operation. Back in police headquarters, mug shots, and other evidence indicate a recently released convict. More robberies, more interviews, and overzealous victims may have endangered themselves. But unexpected clues could help the cops. A woman who works as a gift wrapper in a department store is quick to admit that Marty has been at her apartment off and on. She claims to know nothing about him, other than being a link to communicate between Marty and her roommate, Virginia. Checking out Virginia’s tap dancing act, Joe confronts her. Is her real worries about being found out in an affair? Or does Virginia know more about the robberies than she’s letting on? Will she help find Marty? Time passes, and the cops get their chance. Gunplay ends the reign of robbery, but it won’t quench the love Virginia has for her criminal boyfriend.

Johnny is on the job to investigate the insurance claim of missing taxi cabs. What’s the story? Some new kind of car theft racket, robbing cab drivers, or maybe a sabotage scheme from a rival company? Johnny is on the scene for the next robbery that ends up in murder. In voiceover, Johnny goes over the clues that he has gathered thus far, but there’s still plenty of footwork to do. Johnny suspects the cab company owner of doing some self sabotage to get the insurance money, and sets out a plan to make sure he’s on the level. When a sweet talking dame enters the picture, it gives the hard boiled Johnny a new idea about his case. The body count rises, and our favorite insurance investigator finds himself at the point of a pistol. By now Johnny has figured out why the cabs are being stolen, and seems to be face to face with at least one of the thugs behind the racket. Now all he has to do is stay alive long enough to spill the beans, and file his report. Still need more details? Don’t worry, the racketeers tell all there is to know about the whole gory mess while they have Johnny under their control. Once Johnny escapes, and you know he will, there’s still time for a nest of loose ends to be tied up before the whole mystery can come to rest.

Homicide Detail. An unidentified woman is found strangled in a hotel room, and its up to Joe Friday to find the killer. A visit to the crime lab presents the clues that are known in the case thus far; The report of a married couple who were attacked at their hotel is given. In voiceover,. Joe Friday tells of other accounts of women being brutally murdered. Ben Romero begins to get disgusted over the lack of progress, when an important clue falls in their laps. But will the cops miss the connection in identifying the woman? Joe’s voiceover continues to describe the investigation of the woman and to marital troubles. Past landlords confirm the description of the abusive husband. Doris Frasier has also had trouble holding jobs, due to her abuse. The investigation continues to paint a consistent picture of a battered woman. But have they turned up enough evidence to hang their case on? Despite indications he may be his wife’s killer, her husband has overwhelming support in his whereabouts the night of the murder. A man known only as George gets the attention of the detectives. The investigation heats up, drugs are involved in George’s past. Time for confrontations. Visiting George on his job helps locate the connections needed,. And lies crumble.