Detective and Mystery – Retro Radio Podcast

Mr Channing is a high powered business executive, not tolerating insolence in employees. He had once had a thing with his secretary, Brenda, but the rude exec now thinks of her as too fleshy, as opposed to the flashy dame she once was. When Channing is found dead, there are no shortages of people to accuse. Employees who are fired, those who are disgruntled, not to mention an unhappy wife, all need to be questioned.

After sorting through the people who had an issue with the victim, Nero has a special reason to be irritated with Brenda’s fiancee. She doesn’t like orchids, and her boyfriend thinks daisies are a better flower. Left alone with Archie, Nero reviews the list of employees who were there, and hated Channing.

Though he’s grumpy on the outside, when a report that Archie is in danger comes to the large detective, we find a worried Nero rushing out to see what the problem is. The stunt doesn’t endear Brenda to Nero. Will he learn anything from being at the crime scene? The key employees, and Mrs Channing are on hand as Nero works out the last moments of Mr Channings life. The obvious answers may be too obvious, but Nero isn’t fooled. He shares all the details over a beer with Archie. .

Belvidere is an island, visible in the bay, and from Sam’s office. Met by an intriguing oriental girl, Sam meets her benefactor, and his new client, Mr Battle. The artist shows off his paintings, and sends Sam on his way to meet up with an old nemesis. Captain Theophilos Sherry. The rival of Sam’s, from cases in the past, lives in the neighboring house. Get ready for a locked room mystery.

What excuses does Captain Sherry have for Sam? We learn some backstory to the mystery and motive. How did paths cross to bring Sherry into the story? How does the cute oriental girl play into the story?

Sam investigates to see where everybody was at the time of the murder. To prove his theory, our hard boiled detective sets up a recreation of the murder scene. The skeptical Sam uncovers the killer, but wait… there’s more explaining to do to get to putting Sherry on the spot. Sam explains all in his report to Effie.

arshall scrambles to shut down his night club, before a committee to investigate illegal gambling can do it for him. Meanwhile, Jimmy Collier is running his rabbit farm, and his girlfriend is worried at potentially shady money coming his way. The reclusive Nero Wolfe isn’t inclined to budge from his home, unless the governor of the state sends for him.

In Greendale, and near the rabbit farm, Nero already knows the role the bunnies play in the mystery. Still, Archie Goodwin is sent to dig up more information at the farm. On the moonlit night, Archie meets Clair, but he’s not oblivious that she just signaled somebody that he’s approaching the house.

Nero gets the report from Archie. Gunshots, a body, but it’s a stranger. The burning question of the day is, where is James Collier? On the ride to cross examine the rabbits, Nero and Archie review the clues thus far. Confrontations are in store, and all the secrets are about to be tied up. Who wanted Marshal dead? What happened to Collier? Listen and be amazed by Nero Wolfe’s genius detective skills.

Running into an old psychiatrist friend, Sam takes a cold case crime to prove whether the doctor’s patient is as guilty as she feels she is. Sam is to extract a confession from her in what ever means he can. The mentally unstable Mrs Hamilton tells about the murder from her perspective. The murder was on an old Virginia plantation, but the family now lives in Sam’s stomping grounds near San Francisco. Sam finds Edith, and serves her with papers under the guise of being a lawyer. The melancholy girl plays the piano without any fear, but the bright weather stands as a stark contrast to the dark, and gloomy circumstance of Sam’s investigation. Sam smells a rat,, and is frustrated to the point of wanting to quit the job, and even leave his profession.

Has Doctor Sawyer misled Sam? Will the doctor’s lies get him into serious, and dangerous trouble? Its up to Sam to dig through the timeline of the past, patched together by the confession of the mentally stressed young woman.

Meanwhile, the fog of amnesia begins to clear, as Edith gets to know Sam on a daily routine. Is Sam falling for Edith? If he gets the confession he was hired to extract, it means he’ll have to turn her in. A cover up over the death is revealed, and Sam turns in his report to his secretary, Effie.

A case comes in, and the great Nero Wolfe springs into… er… make that, snores in his easy chair as Archie Goodwin takes action.

Dianna Lawrence is a competitive archer. Her boyfriend, Willard, is heir to a fortune, but is that the only reason she is seeing him? The confrontation in the family office with a gun might be a mistake, but later Willard meets her to make amends. Or is that really his purpose? Gunshots ring out, and a case of murder lands in the office of Nero Wolfe.

Dr Townley presents his concerns to Nero Wolfe, and the murder of Willard. Where is Dianna? Did she actually do it? The race to find her is cut short when inspector Kraemer phones in to report Dianna is likely innocent. The killing shot was from a distance, and she was sitting next to Willard. Other clues send Archie on a trail that could shine a light of truth on the Townley family. How could Dianna’s gun have disappeared from Townley’s possession, and be the murder weapon, and be used by someone other than Dianna? Something smells fishy here.

Murders pile up when Dr Townley is killed. The murder weapon is an arrow. Could it have been Dianna this time? Nero and Archie confront the killer to bring the case to a head. Cover ups and family secrets emerge to paint the picture of the motive behind the crimes.

Sam has a substitute secretary, Effie’s little sister, Buffy. Clued into a weird family, in a house in the swamps, Sam is intrigued enough to see it for himself. In the humid, green foliage, Sam meets the first odd relative, and gets a lesson on the deadly plants surrounding the place. Boris the butler shows him in to the eccentric aunt. A broken watch is the clue, but did it stop because it was tampered with, or some other reason? Suddenly Mrs Raven falls ill. Was she poisoned?

The doctor is on hand and confirms the aunt died of poisoning, and now Ralph is showing symptoms of it. Strange events continue, with disappearing and reappearing watches. Sam uncovers the possibility of radioactive elements on the land.

Crazy people go even more wacko when secrets are revealed.

The secret of the medicine, poison, and stopped watches are explained when Sam files his final report with Buffy.

PS: Not sure why they switched the character from Effie to Buffy. She is still voiced by Lurene Tuttle, so it wasn’t like she had a day off… just another character to play. Besides, in the ageless world of Sam Spade, Effie is supposed to be 19 years old. How young is this sister supposed to be, I wonder.

Archie Goodwin, the long suffering assistant to Nero Wolfe narrates their latest mystery.

Clay Michaelson is an art dealer, and jealous of his wife. His friend, Lou Saunders is a owner of a fancy night club. As Archie tries to get his pay check from his corpulent boss, the door buzzer brings a worried Lou in search of help for his friend. When cops also phone in, the connection to murder lands in Nero’s lap.

A cleaning woman at the club makes Lou look guilty, or is he trying to cover up for someone? Inspector Kraemer isn’t letting anyone off the hook. The murder does wonders to sober up a binging Clay, and he flee’s to Nero to claim his innocence. Nero gathers the facts of where people were, and who the cleaning woman was. Does Archie have an angle for a murder motivated by jealousy?

What will Mrs Michaelson have to say about her sometimes volatile husband? Is there marital trouble, or a concern over jealousy? While Archie visits Mrs Michaelson’s apartment, holes in the case appear, the lights go out, There’s a thump on the head, and the plot thickens. A frame up for murder seems to be afoot.

Nero reviews details of the case that steers the case down yet more twisting paths. With all the players in his office, get ready for a dramatic reveal, and hand off to police inspector Kraemer.

Or, How To Be Happily Married, Though Single.

A letter from a stranger named, Ella comes to Sam. Is it legitimate, a prank, or from a damsel in distress? Sam rescues his damsel, amid the hale of gunshots. Ella’s story emerges. An uncle, a fiancee, and the control held over her inheritance. Why is there a packet of love letters written to Sam?

Soon the newspaper headlines go crazy with reports of the engagement of Ella and Sam. Ella seems to have bad luck with losing fiancees. Will Sam be able to break her run of bad luck? A search through grandma’s trunk could reveal some explanations, or cash, or dirt on relatives.

There’s enough to solve a string of murders, and blackmail. And is Sam still bound to be married? He resolves that matter as well.

A box of home made recordings, bought at a consignment shop, may point to a murder. Are there any clues that Nick can go on to begin to unravel the mystery? Nick and Patsie listen to the voice of a 22 year old woman who was held captive. Who is Ralph, and why does he want Nancy to sign over her inheritance to him?

The story of the captivity comes out in the series of fragmented, short recordings. What will Nick be able to make of it all? Is the only hope in avenging the murder of Nancy and her father? Nick reviews the clues with Patsie, along with other artifacts found in the box of records.

A flight to Toronto is in store, as Nick talks to the police about the Dearing family, and the strange disappearances. A girl has made an appearance on the scene, claiming to be Nancy, and Nick needs to move fast to put a stop to the imposter. An extra break comes when Nick encounters the man who sent the box of records to himself, that later went to the consignment shop. Details explode, and Nick gets ready to spring his final trap.

Reading a western novel, Bumpus Hell, to himself as a relaxing sleep aid, Sam doesn’t think its working. Especially when a neighbor comes pounding on his door. On the third floor, a domestic dispute rages that needs Sam’s attention.

Rosemary is a hot tempered theatrical actress who needs a break, but wants to hire Sam to get revenge on a theater manager. Will Sam be able to get back to his novel? Not once he spots a man sneaking up the fire escape to Rosemary’s place.

Though there isn’t enough to hold the man on, and he is let go, Sam gets back to his reading. The word comes from the cops that their man has an alibi. Should Sam look for someone else? Complications enter the scene when a love affair with a politician, and blackmail are revealed.

If Rosemary is behind the mess, how did she end up dead with the politician’s gun? Sam smells a rat, and digs out the truth by using the killers own tricks.