Detective and Mystery – Retro Radio Podcast

In a mid town apartment, a girl listens to her companion play her a tune on the piano, when she is set upon and strangled. Three days later, her distraught brother takes the case to Mr Keen. A motive begins to develop when an inheritance is mentioned, and might there be a hint of Jealousy in the brother’s act? Mr Keen goes to the piano school to get more details, and finds a man who seems to be bordering on the brink of sanity as he displays his emotions at the girls loss. Mike and Mr Keen head off to her apartment to see what turns up there. It would have taken a good deal of strength to have strangled a person, and Mr Keen finds a suspect there who would just fit the bill. In his office, Mr Keen and Mike discuss the points of the case. More plot twists emerge, but does it clear matters up, or make things more muddy? The girl was killed only days after emptying her bank accounts, the wife of the emotional man testifies to Mr Keen on his behalf, and suddenly a phone message that another life may be in danger. Mr Keen rushes out to the rescue. With all the smoke and mirrors, and evasive behavior going on, Mr Keen isn’t thrown off the track. He confronts the killer, and tells the story.

Casey and Ann respond with the cops to investigate a murder scene. It’s a matter of a closed door murder mystery. The body was found with a knife in the back, and all the windows and doors are locked from the inside. Casey points out the old fashioned windows, and one possibility for the murder to have escaped, and leaving the windows locked. Now, who could have done the deed? Why did they do it? Join in as Casey and the cops keep the questions coming as they investigate. Was it a matter of love, jealousy, skeletons in the closet, or some other scandal? Who are the players besides Mrs Meyers, the timid border in the house? Who is the mystery man with the moustache? This is going to take a visit to the Blue Note, and a chat with Ethylbert to clear the mind and get to the bottom of the story. Though the boarder is revelling in the attention of being the star witness, Casey smells something fishy with her situation. How could the small, frail woman have committed the murder with the brute force needed to pull it off? Casey has it all figured out, but not without some surprises on his account, and in the end he explains it all.

Enemy to those who make him an enemy, friend to those who have no friend. Boston Blackie spends some casual time with Mary when their friend Shorty arrives with news. The newspaper reports on automobile accidents that smell of a racket involving phony accident reports. People are claiming to be injured in car wrecks when they really weren’t. The listener is privvy to the racketeers making more plans for phony accidents. At the newspaper office, Blackie interviews the editor to see what he can learn about the odd happenings. At the scene of another accident, we see how the set up works. The pedestrian purposely walks into a vehicle, and claims to be greatly injured. His female accomplice acts as witness, and convinces the worried driver to settle with the alleged victim rather than file an insurance claim. When Blackie finally zeros in on the bad guys, he finds Farraday already there to investigate a murder. The gang of swindlers begins to fall apart, and arguments lead to more bodies for Farraday and Blackie. To get into the ring of racketeers, Blackie goes under cover as a hobo looking for work. Though he makes progress, there’s also danger. When the crooks learn who he is, it puts Blackie into certain danger because the crooks now suspect the cops are onto them. Watch out Blackie, you’re about to be taken out by the racketeers. Don’t worry, Blackie has a way of staying one jump ahead of both the crooks and the cops, and he explains all in the end.

Working the night shift, Captain Canelli faces a quiet night. A patrol car is sent out to check on a crime in progress. The young woman claims to be single, but the drunken man the cops pick up claims he lives there. Of course, the man is taken in to the precinct. Is he a prowler, or just too drunk to have found his place? There’s a minor scuffle, but in voiceover Captain Canelli describes police procedure in handling unruly prisoners, and reporting policy in those cases. The next morning, the man is questioned and he tells the truth about his name, and what he was doing. He tells a story of his former wife and his son, and that he actually did live there a long time ago. In more voiceover Canelli tells the aftermath of the case. Is rehabilitation possible for George? The cops at least get the ball rolling in the right direction.

Audio could be better if it weren’t for a constant tape squeal through the entire file. A tall, good looking man enters the room, and crooses the room to his death. In the office of Mr Keen, a woman claims her fiancee was murdered by the ghost of his first wife. Her story is a compelling one, but who will believe such a fantastic story? Mr Keen goes to the crime scene with the woman to look for clues. A man is found, tied up on a chair. Mr Barnes also tells a story of a ghostly woman. Charles Harper is the brother of the dead first wife, and seems to have a chip on his shoulder over the circumstances of his sisters death. Mike Clancey is just in time to disarm the frustrated brother. There’s still more characters for Mr Keen to interview, and more clues to uncover. Listen in to dig through the dirt, and scandal. Mr Keen is sure to find a natural explanation, and a human killer behind the ghostly fantasy. He and Mike Clancey set a trap to catch their killer. Note: This is the last of the Mr Keen episodes in my collection. If you know where to find more, feel free to drop me a line.

Alan Ladd is Dan Holiday. A young man writes to Dan, seeking help to find out what happened to him, and the missing days in his life. Jerry is a small town kid in the big city, he had a few drinks, spent the night in a few clubs, but with no money or identification, he’s too embarrassed to go home with out knowing what happened. Dan finds a solution, but is it the right solution? The kid is sent a message when he is roughed up, and now he only wants to go home and forget his ordeal, but now Dan has his curiosity peaked. There’s a story underlaying the kid, but will Dan be able to figure it out? What will it take to pry the story out of the kid? Dan has him hauled in on a trumped up charge to both keep him safe, and in town until he can figure this mystery out. After some investigation, it becomes more clear to Dan that the kid saw something, and somebody now wants him out of the way. It involves a known killer, but the puzzle pieces aren’t matching up. Suddenly, Dan figures it out when a souvenir photo turns up of the kid, with the killer in the background. Did the kid see the murder go down? It doesn’t matter when the killer wants to keep him quiet, and keep his face from being published in the photo. With the help of the cops, Dan makes his move and sends the kid home with a story to tell about sowing his wild oats.

Gerald Moore stars as, Philip Marlowe. A job comes Marlowe’s way that takes him to the Arizona desert. All he has to do is fly to Phoenix, pick up a briefcase full of papers, and fly them back. The important business papers draw some tough characters who play rough. Who is Sam Dietrick? Or is it Joe Gordon? Philip gets thumped on the head, and his bag of papers are missing. Philip doesn’t like playing decoy, or being lied to. Clues fall into his lap, and Marlowe sets out to get to the bottom of this mystery. An old bank robbery, a string of gangster types, a dame, and a bag of cash. What does Philip hope to do? Find the cash? Keep the thugs from killing each other? He at least gets a little personal revenge on the bad guys when he confronts them, and digs for the truth. Danger and murder await around the corner before Philip can fight his way clear. The twists, and secrets aren’t quite all finished yet before Marlowe sees that the job is finished for good.

Warning ahead of time, the audio runs a little short. As Captain Canelli has just turned out the shift change, he is made aware of a problem. He takes a pair of detectives to question a woman about a crime. Though she thinks her information doesn’t count for much, she actually has information on a pair of crooks that the cops have been after for a while. To refresh the memory of the beautician, the cops take her for a drive. Can she remember where she was exactly? Here story becomes a little unclear, but as the cops move through the neighborhood, the audio cuts out. Darn! I’ll bet they find the crooks though, inspite of the confusing help.

Normally Dan Holiday is invited on an adventure. Today he is invited to go on a vacation. It turns into a matter of helping a man deal with his rich uncles’ missing money. Instead of an inheritance, all he left was a mountain of bills and creditors. Ted, the man who stood to inherit the uncles estate is OK with not getting the money, but Dan sees a mystery behind everything. He won’t be satisfied until he leaves no stone unturned. Dan’s focus is alerted on the old childhood nursery and play room when he heard suspicious noises in the middle of the night. He looks over the collection of old toys with Ted. When the lawyer arrives with the will, and the anticipated disposal of the estate to pay off the creditors, Dan looks over it for any suspiciousness. It all looks fine, but suspicions burn in Dan’s mind. Then there’s an attempt of murder. There’s a secret in among the kids toys and books, but what is it? The estate is to be sold, and Ted is to move out sooner than expected. With time running short, Dan pours on some pressure of his own to see if he can make the bad guy squirm. He manages to force the hand of his suspect, but there hasn’t been any serious crime committed. Still, there’s the matter of saving the estate, and the mmystery of the missing money. dan secures the clue, but what does it mean? Of course, in the end there’s a happy ending, the cash is found and the estate is saved.

After the Easter Blitz of 1941, a finding in the rubble has the inspectors of Scotland Yard on the scene. What evidence has raised the question of murder? It’ll still take some work from the pathologist to sift through the human remains to piece the forensic clues together. The woman has been identified enough to learn that she wasn’t a resident of the neighborhood. What might the crime logs turn up for the period just before and after the Easter Blitz? W ith all the destruction left in a bombing raid, will there be any hope of pinning this on anybody as a murder? Since fire played a part in the crime scene, it raises flags when the fire department records don’t match up with the evidence and time frame. It might seem that way, but it helps to work out a better time line for the murder, and maybe even help in the identity of the woman. Suddenly an incident of a married couple who had a fight comes to memories. Just when the case is coming to a head, and a suspect is pinpointed, the trail comes to an end. Has the killer gotten away? Has Stanley Russel managed to fake his own death in order to hide? Diligence pays off over time as the case slowly plods along. Have they finally caught up to the real Stanley Russel

Hanging around the docks at the Westside pier, Barry Craig responds to a woman in trouble. The rescue of the drowning victim gets the attention of the mayor, and a bundle of lies to unravel. Was she pushed, or not? A critical voice on the other end of a phone call offers some clues. After the drip drying dame has a change of clothes, she and Barry retrace her steps. All it does is win Barry a thump on the head. Reporting all he knows to the cops about the missing Susan Lake. Can he prevent the blond from being killed? Warning ssshots ring out, and Barry springs into action. This time its to rescue a janitor. What does the old gent have to do with the fujittive woman? What does a song writer named Marlowwe have to do with the kidnappingg? Barry recognizes the janitor as a petty thief. Tracking down Marlowe, Barry finds himself on the business end of a gun. Details of a fraud racket emerge. Is Barry any closer to finding Susan? The cops report that they may have tracked her to a warehouse. There’s still some details Barry wants to clear up regarding the music scandal, and exactly what happened just before rescuing Susan. Lies are exposed. Case solved.

Investigating an insurance policy claim, Johnny finds the victim of a booby trap instead. A bomb, rigged to his secretaries intercom buzzer is the thing that put an end to Robert Perry. As he waitss for the cops, Johnny gets initial info from Susan, the secretary, and directs the firefighters. Might there be a disgruntled business ppartner, or a jealous love interest? A suicide would mean the insurance company is off the hook. Don’t count on that one, that owould be too easy for such a hard boiled detective. Johnny keeps tracking down leads at the home of the dead man, and finds the widow with Donovan, a business associate. Cover ups, a phoney confession, twists and turns bring Johnny full circle to the widow, and questions about changes in body guards. A secret about the secretary means that she isn’t out of the running for potential killers. Dangers explode, helping to eliminate a suspect, and expose blackmail. Johnny still has some work ahead of him before he can submit his final expense repport.

Leaving his office for a quiet evening, Philip Marlowe’s phone rings. A dame has phoned, and she needs a private eye right now to find her sister. Shelley Martin is concerned over her sister’s involvement with a man named Horner. What does the cryptic message about the orange dog mean? It doesn’t take long for bodies to appear, which Marlowe hands off to the police as he keeps on the trail of the missing Marian, and the orange dog. Philip’s chase takes him to Chinatown. The snooping around gets Philip a pistol barrel in his back, but he learns that somebody has been feeding a string of lies. Is Horner dead, or not? Is there really a sister named Marian? Can Philip trust anything that Shelley tells him? A plot of counterfeit is exposed. The pieces are all there, and suddenly Philip has the answers to the mystery. Danger is in store as he tries to bring the loose ends together. Still confused over who’s guilty, and who’s not? Philip and the cops explain it all.

A doctors instrument case, and a pair of child’s rompers help solve todays most baffling case. In voiceover the details of a grusome murder is described. Parcels have been discovered with bodies inside. Has there been any recent reports of missing persons? So far there haven’t been any for the date of the time of murder. A tip to visit a doctor’s office may help. A phone call reveals the search is for missing women. Though the dentist is out, will his office assistant be of help? Connections are made to the gruesome package from Scotland, and names of missing women are unearthed. The highly upset dental surgeon complains to the cops for daring to suspect him hin the crime. Why does he feel so persecuted? Clues keep coming in as others are eliminated, and the case remains a tangled mess. Just when the doctor is about to be cleared, more clues tying him to the murders give the cops plenty to go after.

Does the world have you spinning on your head? Hey, I didn’t make that up, it’s what the show announcer said. If you’re not a break dancer from the 1980’s, Maybe it’s time to put in a request to George Valentine. Today George gets a letter to help out a lady down in Mexico City. George will be accompanying a corpse as the 19 year old, deceased body is returned home to her wealthy family. The paperwork and logistics are in order. So why are the two hardcases coming aroun to claim the body has been stolen, and insist on her being buried locally instead of in Mexico? When the body is missing, George shares all he knows with the cops. George suspects the young girl was murrdered, and when he solves that mystery, the whereabouts of the missing body will also be solved. Suddenly there’s more twists to the story, a dead mortician, a phoney death certificate, and a girl who may really be still alive. George turns up details that point to a gal who was far less than virtuous. George discovers why the bodies of the girls were switched, and why the mobsters were so eager to keep the body from returning to the family back home. The danger isn’t quite over, but the full mystery is unravelled in the thrilling final moments.