Detective and Mystery – Retro Radio Podcast

Or, Nick Carter and the Death House Mystery.

A last minute conference finds a death row inmate with only hours to live, calling on help from Nick Carter. Johnny isn’t hoping for a reprieve , he just wants to have the truth come out. Can it be proved he’s innocent, for his wife’s sake? Does Johnny know who did it, or where the missing jewels are? With Nick Carter on the case, the DA, and other authorities are standing by in case he can reverse the decision, but without solid evidence the switch is still set to be thrown.The clock is ticking.

Patsie helps as points in the murder case are reviewed. What will Johnny’s wife have to say, other than a belief in his innocence? She claims to be his alibi, but her testimony had been rejected by the courts. She tells about financial help from the family, and her struggles to work a job to support herself. The question remains, where are the jewels that were supposed to have been stolen in the killing? There’s something not quite right with the picture that is unfolding for Nick, but he can’t put his finger on it.

Tom Fielding is the heir, and financial supporter of the wife. He is nowhere to be found, so Nick takes it upon himself to enter the mansion on his own to look for the family safe. A gunshot rattles Patsie, but Nick is calm as he uncovers the jewels… right where they ought to be, in the safe. Is Johnny off the hook? There’s some loose ends Nick has to clear up before he phones his findings to the DA.

The clues suddenly make sense, and Nick needs to race across town to prevent another murder. Details of the frame up come spilling out, and the truth is learned. Nick Carter tells how he figured it all out, and closed the case.

A BBC production, presented with all 3 parts.

Featuring Ed Bishop as Philip Marlowe.

Part 1

California, 1939.

Wealthy general Sternwood, is in his last days, well into his 70’s, and wants Philip to protect his daughters from blackmail. Carmen is a minor, and always seems to be hanging around in the nude. But that’s the least of her problems. Vivian, or Mrs Rusty Regan, is in her 20’s, more mentally balanced, but holds her secrets close to the vest. What happened to her husband, that the general was so fond of? Though most people figure that Philip is hired to find Rusty, his blackmail inbestigation sends him on a path to a book store owner, and a former bootlegger turned night club owner. Before the episode is over, bodies appear, disappear, and are found again. What does the murder have to do with the blackmail? Should Marlowe be worried about why Rusty is missing?

Part 2

Is it any surprise that the typically nude Carmen is involved with a smut book racket. That means porn, in our modern day lingo. All she wants is to get her pictures back. Connections are made between the body, and Carmen being a wreckless shooter. Philip needs more answers, and puts the squeeze on Joe Brody about the smut books. Before Geiger is found, the body count rises. Cops are brought inm and though the case seems closed, Marlowe could be in risk of losing his license. For now the DA sends him home to get a good nigght’s rest. Is it as simple as that? A jealous lover? Marlowe still has some burning questions, and thinks there are embarrassing loose ends that the cops, and the DA are overlooking. Answers could lie in Vivian’s gambling habits, but we also haven’t seen the last of the nude Carmen yet either. No pun intended.

Part 3

In search for answers beyond closing the blackmail scam, Philip digs into the motives behind it. What really did happen to Rusty Regan? Justice and fate conspire to kill off guilty parties, a matter that doesn’t worry Marlowe much, since they deserved it anyway. As Philip closes the gap on the connections of Carmen’s pictures, Bivian’s gambling, and night club owner Eddie Mars, he finds himself with a thump on the head. Body counts rise, and Philip might be one of them if he can’t get free of his bonds. Now that he knows how to kick the lid off the big steaming mess, will Marlowe live long enough to do anything about it? It’s a neat trick to ambush a killer, when you’re tied to a chair.

In epilog to the story, Marlowe comes full circule to confront the general with the latest findings. Has the case been solved, or not? Did he really want Marlowe to find Rusty, or not? The deadly, and mentally unstable Carmen gets the promise of help. I hope that includes clothes too. Vivian also comes clean about her gambbling, and relationships.

Bonus Tracks:

None today, it’s a long show. Just some opening comments about where this series comes from.

Effie is in a singing good mood as she shows off a new hair do to her busy boss. Sam dictates his latest report about a workaholic butler who thinks someone is trying to kill off his rich employers. Why can’t the police handle it?

Posing as a chauffeur, Sam keeps an eye on the beautiful heiress. At her dream house, a cottage at the beach with a stairway to the sand, Sam learns the melodrama of her life. Can anything harm her here in her fortress of solitude?

Back at the mansion, Sam is ready to wrap this package up. Does his theory about the killer hold water? An explosive change reveals a deadly booby trap.

With the cops on the job, Sam doubts their open and shut case is aimed at the right culprit. Lies are exposed, but will the true story change anything? Or has justice been fairly dealt, despite the law?

Nick remains calm, as a nervous mugger tries to rob him, Nick Carter gives the man a fair shake. Though the economy is booming, the out of work salesman is desperate. Is Brown actually a safe robber, and killer? Is there a set up going down, with Brown and his wife as the patsies?

Nick looks into the matter, which is looking more interesting by the minute. Bonds have been stolen from the vault, and it all looks like the work of the same person. Clint Bartow has been reported as dead, but is he?

Who is that tailing Nick? When he finds out, it changes everything. A serious game of murder is afoot, and its up to Nick to stop it from happening. Nick’s mastery at disguise and detective skills might be his downfall.

twists keep coming as the real plan to steal millions of dollars comes out. Can Nick’s friends save the day for him? Can they rescue Brown’s wife from certin death?

Taking down his report on his latest case, Effie gets in a joke on Sam. A vending machine baron comes to Sam with a problem. Vandals are breaking his gum-ball machines, not to take the money, but to take the gum-balls. He hires Sam to be body guard over 300 gum-ball machines. Before heading out, Effie tells Sam about her new hobby of collecting pennies. When he spots a woman with a hatchet, tearing into a machine, he picks up a penny for luck as he makes his get away.

She turns out to be Thelma Darling, and she mistook Sam for her partner in crime. She tells about a valuable pearl that was stolen, then hidden in haste in a gum-ball machine. Does the story check out with the vending baron of the Eagle Vending Company? A murder, and a scrawled note offer a clue to Sam.

Does the maintenance man know something about any valuables, or a guy named Merle, or that cute red head, Thelma? What does the term, ‘Quarter Eagle’ mean? Sam walks into a trap, but he learns more about that valuable quarter eagle gold piece. The valuable coin creates dissention in the ranks of the bad guys, and a killer is turned out. There’s still a matter of that missing coin. Whatever happened to it?

Effie Perine is terribly upset over her misbehaving typewriter. Her S, Q, and P keys aren’t right. It’s a set up to lead into Sam’s most recent report. Pat is a girl in trouble, and gets sympathy from Sam He passes the undesirable divorce job onto another private detective, who is willing to take on the job. Then it comes back to haunt him when murder incriminates Pat.

Is she a nut, just dumb, or is her story about being an actress the true version? She has a camera, and the pictures on film stand to corroborate or story. Will the photos also capture the real killer? Sam hits the street to confront the rest of the players. Soon, the case is complicated by a missing body, missing girl, and nothing but pictures of sail boats in the bay. What do the letters S, Q, and P have to do with the case?

Sam hits the streets again. He has most of the details he needs to connect the dots, then gets a surprise to find Pat back in his office with another far fetched story. Stand by for a dramatic shootout and wrap up as Sam shares all the details. Is Pat legitimate, a killer, or just a tool in a tangled web of crime?

An old friend visits Nick Carter. Marvin is looking for his bride, who had been out of the country, and expected to return a few days ago. Alice Evans is reported to be registered in a hotel, but is it the right girl? Has 3 years changed her?

Nick mobilizes Riley, Patsy, and Penny to search for a missing Mr Winslow, then he puts Alice to the test to see if she’s telling the truth. Further tracing where Alice was, and when, Nick develops a better picture of the truth. Holes are blown in the timeline, and cover ups are detected. What does it mean?

More contacts are made, more lies exposed, and now it’s time to make the bad guys squirm. The fake Alice Evans is on the move, but danger could be looming for Patsy if Nick doesn’t back off. The trouble lies in under estimating a master detective. Attempted murder, kidnapping, and some justified roughing up to teach the crooks a lesson.

Thelma is a woman who shows up on Johnny Dollar’s doorstep, claiming to be faking her own death. Despite taking criminal charges on herself if her story is true, she tells how her doctor husband switched her identity with a corpse, Wanda Thompson.

Johnny checks on the apartment building and work place where Thelma claims she has been for most of the last 2 years. So far, nothing conclusive has turned up. Heading to Los Angeles, things get complicated.

Do Thelma’s friends check out? What will be Dr Madison’s story? Who exactly is Wanda Thompson? The important thing is for Johnny to sift through the lies, and reveal the truth.

Bonus Track

Keith talks about the upcoming line up, and thanks listeners who hit the like button.

Abbott and Costello go to the night club, ducking the check.

Ripleys Believe It Or Not ep414 Woman Invited Herself

After class on the Yale campus, Frank and Bart visit the post office, and talk about their expected outing to a cavern in the country. The trip to Echo Cavern will help with their geology studies. Suddenly, they find their friend George is hurt. Does he need to be taken to the infirmary? Why does George want to keep his ordeal kept quiet?

At the cavern, Frank enjoys observing the stone formations, and is curious about a locked iron door. Their farmer guide tells about Henderson and his practice of selling tickets to visit his cave, and had been letting his patrons into this side of the cave;

Accusations come out that George had stolen a secret formula. What does it do? How important of a breakthrough is it? Not jumping to any conclusions, Frank gathers more clues about the formula, the whereabouts of George, and that iron door. How does it all fit together? Is there a greater mystery afoot? When Frank and Bart get trapped behind that iron door, it takes some creativity to break out. Now its time to catch a crook.

At the scene of a murder, Nick thinks the killer is left handed. With evidence of habit forming drugs involved, this may turn out to be more than an average murder. Nick comforts Stanley’s widow, Rose, but her friend Richard Cole holds our detective hero under gunpoint.

Out at the remote laboratory of Stanley Philips, Patsy goes along to investigate. Climbing the rope ladder on the yacht, and lab, to enter, pays off with both answers, and danger.

Despite set backs, Nick has enough clues to close in on a killer. Tension and dangers explode as the heat is kicked up a notch. Nick lays out the crime and motives, and its connection to a major dope ring. Patsy adds a woman’s touch to reveal a twist, but Nick isn’t satisfied the whole truth is out. Are there still bigger fish to fry?

Stand by for non stop action, adventure, and danger as the good guys clash with the bad guys.