Latest / Great Detectives of Old Time Radio Volume 2|Mystery Audio Dramas / Cases of Mr. Ace: Key to a Boobie Trap (EP0898)

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Cases of Mr. Ace: Key to a Boobie Trap (EP0898) · Great Detectives of Old Time Radio Volume 2|Mystery Audio Dramas

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Welcome to the Great Detectives of Old Time Radio from Boise, Idaho. This
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is your host, Adam Graham. If you have a comment, email it
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to me Box thirteen at Great Detectives not Net, follow us on Twitter at
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Radio Detectives, and become on one of our friends on Facebook, Facebook dot
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com slash Radio Detectives. Today's episode is brought to you by the support of
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our listeners. Thanks so much for your support, and i'd like to thank
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Tracy and James, Debrah and Thomas. Thank you so much for your support.
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We're going to bring you a new series, and it's another one of
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those very obscure programs. John Dunning's Encyclopedia of Old Time Radio is chock full
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of information on hundreds of old time radio programs. It's eight hundred and fifty
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pages long and does not have a single word on this particular show, the
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Cases of Mister Race. In fact, the only thing I was able to
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find on Cases of Mister Race was doing a search on Google books, and
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they have old issues of Billboard magazine and there were several advertising. Cases of
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Mister Ace was a syndicated show and they were offering it to radio stations just
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like The Adventures of Frank Race, which I just noticed after recording yesterday.
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We have Race and then Ace's produced by Paragon Radio Productions of somewhat obscure company,
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and that is the only reference. The other claim to fame was how
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Cases of Mister Ace was actually turned into one of television's first private detective series,
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and it was changed under the name Cases of Eddie Drake. However,
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these is the same basic com concept. The star of the program is George
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Raft, who was a great leading man, particularly from the nineteen thirties,
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and he became really well known for gangster films, and he kind of ran
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into decline in the early forties. So at this point is a star is
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fading a bit. The series was produced in nineteen forty seven. Things kind
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of went downhill when he turned down the role in a film called The Maltese
3:28
Falcon, partially because he didn't know that hadn't been directed by the director,
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and partially because there had already been a version made of The Maltese Falcon.
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But still the producers of Cases of Mister Ace thought that he still might be
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a big draw, as were other actors of the era. Alan Ladd,
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of course, in Box thirteen, which was one of the first programs we
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saw, had a similar arrangement. This one is less well remembered, still
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worth a listen. We have two episodes of this series, so let's go
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ahead and take a listen to this one. I should say that dates on
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these series are very hard, so I'm not going to put a date on
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this one. This appears to be either a pilot or the first episode of
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the series. Cannot tell which, but this episode, produced in nineteen forty
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seven, is key to a booby trap. The Cases of Mister Race starring
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George rep Yeah, my name is Adis Oh. Yes, you're the private
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detective. Yes, there was a message in my office from a doctor.
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Gail asked me to come right over here. Is he in? I am
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doctor Gail, Come in please? So you're a doctor, Gale. Shouldn't
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I be? I didn't expect you to be a woman. What can I
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do for you? I want to retain you to talk to me. To
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talk to you, You'll be amply repaid for your time. You don't have
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to bribe me. All you have to do is tell me what I'm to
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talk to you about your experiences? Why you see I'm a psychoanalyst, mister
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Raith. I'm planning a book dealing with criminal psychology, and I intend to
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do something different, and there I need your help. I want the material
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fresh and unbiased, so to speak, from the point of view of a
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private detective of more specifically and Eddie eight. You make me feel very important.
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Is that a trick of a psychoanalyst? No, that's a trick of
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a woman. What do you say, mister Ray All do you want me
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to do is to come here whenever I'm finished the case and tell you about
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it. The strange people you eat, what they said, how they reacted,
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what they were after. I guess you know what you're after, doctor
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Gale. All right, when do we begin. I'm listening, mister Race.
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I'm listening The Cases of Mister Race, starring George ram Then, produced
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and directed by Jason James. You are sure my typewriter won't disturb you,
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mister Race. I don't think the type it would bother me, But I'm
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not so sure about the typist. When you arrived, you said you didn't
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expect me to be a woman. You were right. I'm a psychoanalyst.
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Shall and begin, mister rays, I see what you mean. Yeah,
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well, it all started with a killing that was no business of mine,
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the murder of Frederick Miller, you know, the corporation lawyer. His body
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had been found in his apartment, three bullets in it. As I say
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it, it's no business of mine. Until I arrived at my office over
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on sixth Stabbing in the morning after the killing, a man was waiting to
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see me. He was very small, very dark, very smooth. He
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smiled and showed me all his tea. He had a lot of them.
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I opened my door and he followed me in. Missy, monsieur, sit
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down. You're French. You have a very observant monsieur. What can I
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do for you from ny? My name is Sieur, is for a,
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Pierre for a. I have selected you to perform from me a very important
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service. We as service such a way. Now we come to it.
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Last night, Monsieur, I performed a most impulsive act. I killed the
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man. I see you're a big boy. Now you must learn to control
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your sir. You are right, but that is how I am. I
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killed him, and I do not feel regret. I feel only pleasure when
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I look into my eyes and see him die again and a kid. That's
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better than a double feature. I get warmed this man, monsieur twice.
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I it warmed him to stay away from Saddie, my wife. He would
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not, so I killed him. It is simple. You make a sound
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reasonable. Who is the lucky lover a big named miller? It isn't all
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the papers are such a fuss or for one big named miller, Frederick Miller
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a week course. Sure, what are your plans? That is why I
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have come to you, monsieur. I am now on my way to the
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city or of Justice giving yourself up. We but it is not serious.
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When I explained to the man in childs of the Justice, why I kill
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this this miller, he will let me go. Yes, sure, sure,
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he's cute that way. Well, why did you come to see me
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to horder for me two things, monsieur, one five hundred dollars and the
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two this little key. That's key. We you will hold it from me
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until after the man in childs of the Justice has urbed my kids. When
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I return, you will give it to me. I suppose you don't return
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fitt is self. How do I know? Because I am a Frenchman.
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But but I'd say if by some silly mistake I am detained, then you
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will give it to my lawyer. But only if I am detained. That
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what you call it convict should not guilty. Why not give it to your
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lawyer? Now yourself? He still remains to be selected, and I do
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not wish to surrender myself to the justice dispenser with the key and my person.
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I see and this five hundred, What do I do with it?
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Is that you keep it, monsieur for your cluble for Ay left and I
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sat fingering the five hundred and the key. It's a small brass key,
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the guineas on your trunk, no marks on it except the number for twenty
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seven. I had for Ay dope as a nuts. Anyway, for a
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confessor, the killing of Miller and the final edition stole how Timothy Hogan,
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the wild Irish criminal lawyer, came forward with an officer defending the prisoner.
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The next morning, Hogan came to my office. I had a hunch he
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would. And as sure as I'm sitting here in your office, mister Ace,
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I'm certain that Pierre for A did not kill Miller. Confessed. Ha,
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they you have a doubt and confession a Frenchman a crime of passion,
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and he gives himself a oh no, not for a not after talking to
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the bad And what's your best guess? Think man, think conscious hee it
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maybe I'm looking in the wrong direction. And that's yeah. Forray is covering
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up for someone, someone he loved, his wife. Aha, that's the
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thought, mister as That's precisely the thought, and that's why the case attracted.
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There's no money, but it's sentimental environment. And I'm could be.
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But if he's coming up for his wife, are you going to get him
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the sing? I must if I can get him to the can't a confession
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from his wife? I could get her an acquittal with a twist of the
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risk. Good heaven man, look at the elements self sacrificing husband, out
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raised and betrayed wife. She comes forth at the last minute. Why it's
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better than mother Macree. I'll have the juries swimming in their own tears.
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I like your script. How are you going to get it on the stage?
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Ah, that sir, that is the problem. And there I need
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your help. I know this much. Yesterday, before he gave himself up
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for Ray came to you. What did he take? Nothing? He gave
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us something nothing. Oh, I don't think you're telling me the gospel of
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food mystery. I'm not. I see very well. I had tried to
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persuade for it to give you his permission to talk to me. That's better.
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But in the meantime, misters, in the meantime you might try to
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sound out the wife very very is greatly understand But sound her out. Are
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you hiring me? Yes? When you see what you can do, I'm
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practically there now, Yes, go away all day you report about detective.
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What do you want? Sit down, say what you want and get out.
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Do as I say, or I'll take you downtown. You don't frighten
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me a bit, I'm ready. I see what you mean. Okay,
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I'll level with you, missus for a I'm not from the police. I'm
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a private detective. I'm working for your husband's lawyer. On the Miller killing,
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you knew Miller? Yes, yes, I knew him. What is
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that a work on? That rat? Pierre killed him? I hope he
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dies in the chair for it. Yes, as you were seeing Miller,
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that might save him from the chair. Let improve that, just let improve.
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I ever Sawtbread Miller outside of his office on business. When did you
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see Miller last? None of your business? Get out? Sure, keep
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this in mind, missus Ray, your husband confessed to the murder. Maybe
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be able to give the jury the impression that he's covering up for someone else.
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Someone may be like his ever loving wife. I said, go on,
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get out. Oh, by the way, did you ever see this
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key before? No, I'll get out of here and tell that rut here.
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I'll do my best to get a ringside seat for his execution. I
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went back to my office, opened my door, and then I saw him.
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A man was sitting behind my desk. He got to his feet.
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He didn't introduce himself, but I could tell her the bulge in his right
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pocket that he had a very good reference. You are, mister Ace.
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What do you want the key, mister Race? What key? Please?
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Mister Race, do not back trylish. Give me the key. Big than
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you are, but if you forced me to use this gun, I shall
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be liver than you are. The key, please, He pointed a stubborn
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number revolver in my head. I gave him the key. He thanked me
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politely enough and left. I counted ten, then raced down the ball to
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the fire exit. Slammed down the iron stairs and picked up behind him.
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As he was leaving the building, he went straight to the Times Square station.
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I went right behind him. He went directly to the lockins. I
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was right behind him. He inserted a key in the locker number four twenty
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seven, through the latch, pulled the little door open. And then it
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must have been hours later. When I opened my eyes, I was still
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in the station. Near me and around me or maybe a dozen more cops
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and interns melt around but bending over me. He was detective Lieutenant Watch giving
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better rights. Yeah, I oh my head. What happened? Bomb exploded
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in a locker? Anybody killed? Yeah? The man who woke from the
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booby trap loaned the bits and the three bystanders. You were lucky. You
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can say that again, all right, I will. You were lucky,
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and I mean lucky that you didn't open it yourself. How could I open
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it with a little key? You showed Sally for a slightly get around?
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Where'd you get that key from? Pierre for A? Oh, yere for
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A, that's the name. He came to my office, gave it me
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to hold. You can ask him, well, suppose you ask him,
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But you'd better get yourself a good spiritualist. Yere for A hanged himself in
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his cell two hours ago. Watsh took me down to police headquarters. He
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talked to me for two hours. He didn't learn a thing, but I
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did. Pierre was visiting sell By Hogan and missus f Ay just before he
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strung himself up. It was Hogan who found his body when he went back
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to talk to him again. I asked Watsh what he knew about Hogan,
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and he didn't know much. I left police headquarters and went around the corner
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to Jenny the bail bond. Jenny had been around the arc longer than the
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city charter and runs the biggest bail bond Millertown. I asked her what she
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knew about Timothy Hogan. She didn't know much offhand, but promised me a
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run down by morning. I said I'd call her and left it at that.
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Outside, the rain was just beginning to wash the town. I hack
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pulled up. I opened the door to get in when the butt of the
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gun came down across my skull, and that was that. It was the
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cold water that brought me out of it. I opened my eyes ceiling and
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a chandelier. Smile around. I closed them again. Leo doush him again,
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Pace pace you hear me? Get up? The man said, get
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up, and the man and the man was big, big enough to lift
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me to my feet with one hand. I tried to open my eyes.
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There were battleships tied to the lashes, but I made it. Two other
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mugs fld me Mike in front of me. The rug was wet with blood
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and water, and the water and the rug with airs. The blood was
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mine. Somebody must have taken a bad working over. I began to figure
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the must have been me, but I couldn't remember. In fact, I
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didn't even know who Waste was. When Mike balked the name, hear me
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Ace, give me, Give me a drink of water, Leo, give
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him a drink better. You're making a lot of trouble for us, saints.
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It ain't necessary. I'll look what you look like, busted nose,
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busted lips, busted eyes. You think we like to do things like this?
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And just look at me, old lady's rug. Don't don't let it
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break you up. Just look at yourself and for what? Tell me for
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what? Because you get stubborn. You mustn't be impatient. Oh I'm not
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very bright? What am I? What am I stubborn about? All we
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want to know is where is the envelope? Parade gave you? How much?
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Not knowing? You better? Just a few more minutes more? Oh?
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Just getting ruck I don't have it? Queens take is getting are burned?
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All right? They signed to talking nice? Where's the envelope? Free?
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Didn't get me? An take it? Oh? I And the last
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I remember there was the old hack screaming about a furniture. I know.
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I smashed a chair when I went down, and that made me feel pretty
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good. I felt the water hitting my face again. I got my right
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eye and stuck. I was on my back and the feel up in the
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bronx and rain washed over my bruised face, and that felt fine, but
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I couldn't stay to enjoy it. I remember that there was a phone call
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I had to make. And by the time I let myself into my apartment
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over on third At, you know, the sun was up. I looked
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into a mirror. I never saw the guy before in my life, but
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even if he wasn't stranger, I had to do something for him. I
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wrapped some ice and a towel held it over my face, and then I
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picked up the phone. Jenny's bail bombs. Are you sleeping that ruddy office?
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He yes, Jenny, Well, the citizens being arrested, you know,
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day and night, as I got pexmere on holding for you. How
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does he shape well? He was a mouthpiece for the old Ringo mob back
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in Prohibition, you know. Ringo got pushed over rest soul holding, fronted
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for the policy boys in Harlem, and finally he broke away from the high
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skies, went in the straight criminal law. It's all the very highest types
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criminals. Why does he hail from? Why? I am He's from?
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Uh? Says here it says uh Jim They Hogan Washington University. That's a
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twenty eight x X. What's that mean? X? It says here it
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says, I see he didn't didn't finish at Washington, no record many in
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school. I see? All right, thanks, Jenny y. Anything else
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I new for you? Yeah, he's a nice fat bail bond warm.
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I may need it. Who isn't what? Oh, don't let the face
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frighten you, missus. Fire. I'm just breaking it in for Borrow's call
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off. What happened to you? What happened to me shouldn't happen to a
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private detective, but it did. Sit down, we're gonna make it a
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little talk. Look, I'm in an awful hurryings to Race. I was
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just going out. What did you and Hogan tell Pierre and I sell yesterday?
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Oh I didn't want to go that law you're Hogan, he insisted.
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Well, I guess I brew my top. I told Pierre I was going
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to tell the jury the truth that Freddie Freddie Miller begged Pierre to give me
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a divorce. He wouldn't. Instead, he took money from Freddie keep his
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mouth shut, not make a scandal. And you figure that's why I pr
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strung himself up, so there was no chance for him. That's the one
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thing I regret. He didn't go to the chair. You must have had
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quite a burn for the sky Miller. When when I love a man,
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I love it. I love him kind of loss now he I loved him,
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Reddy, It's gonna be awful tough. Freddy was ready. Oh what's
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the US side? I wind up with memories and four walls. That kind
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of members you can't forget, kind of cut your heart out every time you
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breathe come here? What am I gonna do, Eddie? How could I
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forget him? Easy? You called me Eddie? Just try calling me Reddy.
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All right, I'll try it. I'll try a little later. I
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remember that Sally was just down our way out when I arrived. I asked
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where she was headed for. She heads a little bit. Then I saw
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the court orders on the desk. She was going down to the First National
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Bank to open Pierre for race safety deposit box. I went with her.
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A small ball contained some jewels and insurance policy and a bulky package wrapped in
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brown paper. Jewels are mine, I'll take them with me. Maybe we
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better see what's in this package. I can't imagine what it could be.
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Money thousand dollars. Bills must be fifty of them, fifty thousand dollars.
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Oh where did you get all that? Not in my private eye business?
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In this envelope? I think we better open it in the presence of a
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lawyer. Look, I'm going upstairs and see if anybody's around that looks familiar.
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Yeah, take this nickel. Yeah, police headquarters, Lieutenant watch,
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tell him to meet me right now at Timothy Hogan's apartment. This is important
25:06
for both of us, Angel, so don't trip. I'll wait for you
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outside. I waited. Four minutes later she joined me, told me Walts
25:21
was starting out. We got to Hogan's apartment first, where mister rays missus
25:27
for ay, sit do sit down. It happened to your face, mister,
25:33
as I ran into an open gun cell in the dark. Oh really
25:37
now where I didn't get the address, but it was the home of that
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mug named Mike you keep on your pay roll. See what hence do you
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know that that heater away Hogan watches on his way up. I'll give it
25:51
to you a fast. Frederick Miller, the lawyer Eastern Needland Court, dug
25:56
into your background, found out you weren't a member of the bar, never
25:59
finish law school. Why you aren't even a shyster. That's why I killed
26:03
him, right, but for a confessed That was the deal you made with
26:07
him. Fifty geez. If he confessed to the murder of Miller, and
26:10
you would think a man would confess to a murder for any amount of money,
26:12
you convinced him you get him an acquittal on the unwritten law. But
26:17
before he agreed, he wanted full protection. This little envelope we got out
26:22
of his safety deposit box. Now that's true, mister Days, that's true.
26:26
I had to give him my sane confession just in case anything went wrong,
26:30
and plenty went wrong. He didn't trust you. You try to get
26:33
that confession back, but you'd watch every move he made before he confessed to
26:37
the police. That's why he came to me. Gave me a key to
26:41
a booby trap. He figured you try to get that key from me,
26:45
open the booby trap and get your head blown off, which you sent one
26:49
of your mugs instead. You know, you nothing for me to say?
26:52
Yes? Is there anything else you'd like to know before I kill you?
26:56
Yeah? How did you manit? You'd kill Foy in his cell? That,
27:00
my friend, That is the trade secrets which I cannot divulge. Too
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bad, Hogan, Right guy like you, I know that Wart would feel
27:10
the same way about it. But he's a city cup mister, as you
27:14
are. Priceless. But you made just one little mistake. You see,
27:18
Sallie here wasn't in love with Miller. You didn't even know him. Sallie
27:25
was and always has been in love with me. That's true. Sallie,
27:30
here's your nicolady. I didn't make that call. The police had quarters,
27:34
so little Sallie wasn't three timing. She was four timing. You know.
27:40
Yes, it's remarkable you've stayed alive as long as you have. Can you
27:44
give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you? I skip that question
27:48
and take the thirty two dollars, go home, say yeah, yeah,
27:53
I'm sorry. Did he believed me? I am going home and shopping your
27:57
stiletto going somewhere, missus Farrey. I at Walsh. He'll shoot him.
28:07
That's a dialing chary, did you No, No, I didn't him,
28:15
honest, I didn't. And the Diana stop wearing out, Sally. He
28:25
can't hear you. He's dead, and I wish he'd killed you a being
28:32
man like him, shot down like a dog, and you stand there,
28:34
okay, Walter here on out at your party. The confessions in the envelope
28:40
will give you the score. Sally is right. He was a brilliant man.
28:55
And that's how Timothy Hogan died. Yeah, I called Walsh when I
28:57
left Sally for a minute the bank. She could have been hell As an
29:02
assession to the murder of her husband in the cell, but Walsh never got
29:06
her down to headquarters. She took her header out of the window. I
29:10
guess it was better for her like that. Well, that was a gory
29:14
business, wasn't it gory? Oh? Why I thought i'd give you the
29:18
mild ones first, mild good? Heavens? Do you mean that this sort
29:22
of thing goes on with you all the time only when business is good?
29:26
Well for my sake, then I hope business improves. Good Night, Mystery.
29:33
There's there's something I like to say, doctor Gale. Yeah, well
29:40
it's never mind. Maybe next time, or maybe the time after that.
29:51
You're reading my thoughts, Mark private, Good night, doctor Gale. George
30:08
Raft as mister Race will be back in a moment with news of next week's
30:12
case. But now a word from our responses. Thank you. Next week,
30:18
I have another appointment with doctor Gale. I'm going to tell her about
30:22
a murder that shouldn't have happened, not even to a corpse. And George
30:26
will all be waiting to hear that. In the assisting cast to Night,
30:30
you heard Jeanette Nolan, Kathy Lewis, Theodore bonn Else, Leo Cleary and
30:34
Stanley Ferrar music was composed and conducted by Sandy Courage. This is Carldon Caddell
30:41
speaking and inviting you to listen again to George Raft in the Cases of Mister
30:45
Race. Welcome back. Well it kind of a typical private Eye drama but
31:04
with a unique framing device. Talking to the psychiatrist about the case. Kind
31:14
of towards the edit, you know, I hope your business really gets better.
31:21
I'm kind of like, okay, it's you keep count of all of
31:25
the deaths in this particular story. Definitely in the hard boiled full of detection
31:33
and rapt does a decent job here. The one thing I guess that's also
31:37
worth noting is the supporting cast listed with names like Jeanette Nolan and Kathy Lewis
31:45
some of the better radio cast in terms of character actors. This suggests that
31:52
even though the production company is listed in New York, the series was and
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the setting is in New York. It seems quite plausible that the series itself
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may have been produced in Hollywood, given the Hollywood names in the series.
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All right, well, we will be back next week with another episode of
32:13
the Cases of Mister Ace. Join us tomorrow for let George do It.
32:17
In the meanwhile, send your comments to Box thirteen at Great Detectors dot net,
32:22
follow us on Twitter at Radio Detectives, and become one of our friends
32:27
on Facebook, Facebook dot com. Slash Radio Detectives from Boise, Idaho.
32:31
This is your host, Adam Grahamson and Off