Originally Aired: April 8, 1956

In Gunsmoke #209, “Widow’s Mite,” Marshal Matt Dillon is drawn into the tragic aftermath of a robbery gone wrong, where suspicion and greed linger long after the gunfire. When outlaw Zach Morton is killed, Dodge City’s gossip mill insists his grieving widow Ada knows the whereabouts of the stolen money. As Matt investigates, he crosses paths with the genteel but unsettling Leach Fields—an old acquaintance of Ada’s who seems too eager to comfort her, and perhaps even marry her, just weeks after her husband’s death. But when Ada disappears and is found starved and tied up, Matt realizes the depths of Fields’ deception. A tense hunt for missing money leads to a desperate confrontation in the dark, and a final revelation that not every crime leaves behind the evidence—or the closure—people expect. “Widow’s Mite” explores the high price of suspicion and the quiet strength of a woman wronged by everyone around her.

Cast:
William Conrad, Parley Baer, Georgia Ellis, Howard McNear

Tags:
western, mystery, suspense, robbery, DodgeCity, WilliamConrad, ParleyBaer, GeorgiaEllis, HowardMcNear, widowsmite, oldtimeradio, betrayal, vintagecrime, 1950sradio, classicdrama, falseaccusation, frontierjustice, suspensepodcast