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Boston Blackie - "The Murdered Sword Swallower" (1946) · Old Time Mystery Radio | Old Time Radio

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: On January 3rd, 1946, Boston Blackie returned for episode 51.
• 0:05
  Speaker 2: The Murdered Sword Swallower.
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: At a carnival sideshow, Blackie and Mary Wesley are present
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: when Lillian, the featured sword swallower, is found murdered on stage.
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: Richard Colmar plays Blackie, with Jan Miner as Mary and
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: Maurice Tarplin as Inspector Faraday, as the performers and management
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: of the Midway come under suspicion.
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: From Frederick W.
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: Ziv's syndicated series, here is Boston Blackie. And now, the
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: original broadcast.
• 0:38
  Speaker 3: ¶ ¶.
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: Thank you.
• 1:25
  Speaker 4: And when he moves his muscles, every picture is a
• 1:27
  Speaker 4: moving picture. Let's move over.
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: Why not, Mary?
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: It's nearer the door.
• 1:31
  Speaker 4: The greatest gift to mankind. Ladies and gentlemen, the curtain
• 1:35
  Speaker 4: rises on Bosco, the tattooed man.
• 1:39
  Speaker 5: Watch the pictures on his arm.
• 1:41
  Speaker 6: That doesn't speak so well for the show. Now who's
• 1:43
  Speaker 6: being called?
• 1:46
  Speaker 4: Every picture is a moving picture. Look closely at the
• 1:49
  Speaker 4: magnificent landscape on his chest. With masterful control, he moves
• 1:52
  Speaker 4: his muscles. And soon the curtain falls on Bosco, the
• 1:57
  Speaker 4: gentle man, the man of a thousand pictures and a
• 2:00
  Speaker 4: million colors. And if you'll move to the next curtain
• 2:02
  Speaker 4: in just a moment, you will see the beautiful Lillian.
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: The most gorgeous sword swallower in the world.
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: When she's on the drive, she swallows daggers.
• 2:11
  Speaker 4: The curtain rises, introducing Lillian in a death-defying act. Ladies
• 2:19
  Speaker 4: and gentlemen, don't get excited. Everything's all right.
• 2:21
  Speaker 5: Blackie, did he say everything is all right?
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: It may be all right with him, Mary, but not
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: with me or that girl. She has a sword right
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: through her heart.
• 2:33
  Speaker 7: And now, back to Dick Calmer as Boston Blackie. Enemy
• 2:37
  Speaker 7: to those who make him an enemy. Friend to those
• 2:40
  Speaker 7: who have no friend.
• 2:48
  Speaker 5: Well, Blackie, I'm certainly glad we got out of that
• 2:50
  Speaker 5: sideshow tent. Inspector Faraday will be here any minute.
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: Getting out won't help much, Mary, if Inspector Faraday finds
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: out that we were in there.
• 2:58
  Speaker 5: Well, suppose we find out who killed the sword swallower
• 3:00
  Speaker 5: before the inspector gets here.
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: We're not going to try to solve this case, but
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: I am.
• 3:04
  Speaker 4: Uh-oh.
• 3:05
  Speaker 5: Here's where I get left.
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: Left? Right. You stay here, Mary. I'll be back in
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: a few minutes.
• 3:10
  Speaker 5: Where are you going?
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: I don't know exactly. I think I'll start with the
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: owner of the carnival. He can probably tell me everything
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: I want to know. I wonder where I can find him.
• 3:18
  Speaker 5: A sign on that wagon over there says office.
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: Say, that is a clue at that. I don't know
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: how I get along without you.
• 3:26
  Speaker 5: Sure try awful hard.
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: I just have a hunch I better talk to the
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: owner alone. See you in just a minute.
• 3:31
  Speaker 4: All right.
• 3:32
  Speaker 5: I'll be over by the Tunnel of Love when you
• 3:33
  Speaker 5: get through.
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: Is that a hint?
• 3:35
  Speaker 5: I'm subtle, don't you think?
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: Then you buy the ticket, subtle.
• 3:38
  Speaker 3: Now, look here, you.
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: Don't stand there staring at me. Now, you listen to me.
• 3:42
  Speaker 4: One more... Now, we'll.
• 3:44
  Speaker 5: Talk about it later.
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: Come in.
• 3:47
  Speaker 6: What do you want?
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: I'm Boston Blackie. I'd like to see the owner of
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: this car. I'm not hiring anybody today. Oh, you are
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: the boss, then? Yeah, name's Jackson.
• 3:56
  Speaker 3: I said I wasn't hiring anybody today.
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: From what I heard while I was outside the door,
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: I'd say you were firing somebody today. What do you mean?
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: There was a lovely little argument going on in here.
• 4:05
  Speaker 6: Argument?
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: Oh, you must have heard wrong.
• 4:07
  Speaker 6: I was just talking to Mabel here.
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: Uh, you called this, uh... Mabel.
• 4:14
  Speaker 6: You're at a carnival, mister.
• 4:16
  Speaker 3: Don't be surprised at anything.
• 4:18
  Speaker 5: Mabel's our bearded lady.
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: Well, I never expected to meet one whisker to whisker.
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: Glad to know you, Mabel. Uh, Mabel can't answer you.
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: She's a mute.
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: A bearded lady and a mute, huh? Uh-huh. Well, that's something.
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: You say your name's Blackie? What do you want? To
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: talk to you about the murder of your sword swallower.
• 4:37
  Speaker 3: Hey, I don't know a thing about that murder, Blackie.
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: I'm waiting for the police now. Maybe I can help
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: you before they get here.
• 4:42
  Speaker 6: Oh, how?
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: I think I'd better talk to you alone.
• 4:47
  Speaker 6: Oh, okay, Mabel.
• 4:49
  Speaker 3: You better get back to the sideshow. I'll talk to
• 4:51
  Speaker 3: you later. Now, look, Blackie, all I know about that
• 4:54
  Speaker 3: murderer is.
• 4:55
  Speaker 4: What I heard.
• 4:56
  Speaker 6: Hey, watch where you're going with your butt.
• 4:59
  Speaker 5: Oh, excuse me, lady.
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: Well, Inspector Faraday, at last you've found your element of carnival.
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: Be careful, or they'll never let you out.
• 5:08
  Speaker 6: So help me, Blackie. I might have known you'd be here.
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: Then why don't you bother to come down? You know
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: I'll solve this murder for you.
• 5:13
  Speaker 6: Quiet, Blackie. I want to know the owner of this carnival.
• 5:16
  Speaker 6: Where do I find him?
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: You're looking at him, Faraday. Allow me to introduce Mr. Jackson,
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: Inspector Faraday.
• 5:21
  Speaker 4: How do you do?
• 5:21
  Speaker 6: You on this show, Jackson?
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: Yes, I do. Faraday, is that what you call routine
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: question number one?
• 5:26
  Speaker 6: Quiet, Blackie. Jackson, what do you know about Lillian, the
• 5:29
  Speaker 6: sword swannower? Who killed her?
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: What a question, Faraday. If murders could be solved as
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: easily as all that, you wouldn't have a job, which
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: wouldn't be bad for the community.
• 5:37
  Speaker 6: That's enough, Flanky. Look, Jackson, what do you know about
• 5:40
  Speaker 6: your sword swannower?
• 5:41
  Speaker 5: Lillian?
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 5:42
  Speaker 3: Well, she's been with my carnival for about three years.
• 5:45
  Speaker 3: Good performer, well-liked, no enemies at all.
• 5:47
  Speaker 6: Any love interest or anything?
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: Well, yes, in a way. Bob Hendricks, my chief electrician,
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: was in love with her. But she didn't love back,
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: is that it?
• 5:56
  Speaker 3: Yes, that's just about it.
• 5:58
  Speaker 6: Well, I think I ought to talk to him. What's
• 6:00
  Speaker 6: his name again?
• 6:01
  Speaker 5: Bob Hendricks.
• 6:02
  Speaker 6: I don't know my business, Evlenki. I'll bet you anything
• 6:05
  Speaker 6: that when I get this guy Hendricks, I get my killer.
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: You're that sure?
• 6:08
  Speaker 6: Why, this thing figures easy. A gal has no enemies,
• 6:11
  Speaker 6: but she doesn't love a guy who loves her. He
• 6:13
  Speaker 6: pleads with her to marry him. She says no. He
• 6:15
  Speaker 6: keeps on begging. She keeps on saying no. He won't
• 6:18
  Speaker 6: leave her alone. She wants to get rid of him.
• 6:20
  Speaker 6: So she starts going out with another guy.
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: Faraday, you're wonderful.
• 6:23
  Speaker 4: Ah, it's simple.
• 6:25
  Speaker 6: He gets jealous, thinks he's going to lose her to
• 6:27
  Speaker 6: the other guy, and so that nobody can have her
• 6:29
  Speaker 6: if he can't, the stoop kills her.
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: Applause, applause.
• 6:32
  Speaker 6: So I'm grabbing Bob Hendricks for the murder of that girl.
• 6:34
  Speaker 4: Blackie.
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: Mary, isn't what you call waiting by the tunnel of love?
• 6:38
  Speaker 6: Hey, what's the matter with you, Miss Wesley? You look
• 6:40
  Speaker 6: as if you'd seen a ghost.
• 6:41
  Speaker 5: I've just seen good ghost material, Inspector Faraday. A dead body.
• 6:45
  Speaker 6: Ah, that's old stuff, Miss Wesley. That's why I'm here
• 6:47
  Speaker 6: to solve the murder of Lillian the sword swallower. And
• 6:50
  Speaker 6: I have her killer, Bob Hendricks.
• 6:51
  Speaker 5: Oh, no, you haven't, Inspector.
• 6:53
  Speaker 8: Because the body I just saw, everybody says, belonged to
• 6:57
  Speaker 8: Bob Hendricks. Oh, maybe I should have bought tickets for
• 7:08
  Speaker 8: the roller coaster.
• 7:10
  Speaker 5: You are certainly not treating this like a tunnel of love.
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: We're not here for romance, Mary. We're here to do
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: some quiet thinking about murder.
• 7:18
  Speaker 4: I see.
• 7:18
  Speaker 5: And I guess there isn't anything romantic about murder, is there?
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: Romantic? Hey, you may have something there.
• 7:25
  Speaker 5: I have something here, too. You in the tunnel of love.
• 7:29
  Speaker 5: And so what?
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: So, there may be a romantic angle to the deaths
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: of Lillian and Bob Hendricks.
• 7:34
  Speaker 5: Of course. Hendricks was in love with Lillian, the sword swallower.
• 7:37
  Speaker 5: That simple. She didn't love him, so he killed her.
• 7:40
  Speaker 7: And that's that.
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: That's that, sure. But we have to name a killer
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: for Bob Hendricks. What's that? A problem.
• 7:46
  Speaker 5: Got any suggested solution lying around, Bruce?
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: I'm not even close to one. I wonder, could Mabel
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: fit into this?
• 7:52
  Speaker 7: Mabel?
• 7:54
  Speaker 5: The bearded lady? Blackie, you think she killed Hendricks?
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: Maybe. Suppose the bearded lady loved Hendricks and he loved Lillian.
• 8:00
  Speaker 5: Well, then why would Hendricks kill Lillian?
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: I didn't say he did. You said that.
• 8:04
  Speaker 5: I say amazing things every now and then, don't I?
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: Well, at least amusing. Now, listen. Suppose Mabel killed Lillian
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: to get her out of the way.
• 8:12
  Speaker 5: Of course. Then she killed Hendricks because even with Lillian dead,
• 8:15
  Speaker 5: he would have nothing to do with her.
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: You follow me like a little puppy, don't you?
• 8:18
  Speaker 7: Whoop, whoop.
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: Nice puppy. Sit up and listen to this. I think
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: we're getting somewhere. Hendricks probably had a pretty good idea.
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: Mabel kill Lillian. That marked him corpse number two. With
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: two counts.
• 8:29
  Speaker 6: Sure.
• 8:30
  Speaker 5: One, because he didn't love Mabel. And two, because he
• 8:33
  Speaker 5: suspected her of murder.
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: Those motives for murder are so old, they have whiskers.
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: And come to think of it, so does the bearded lady.
• 8:48
  Speaker 6: Come in, come in.
• 8:49
  Speaker 3: Inspector Faraday, here's the coroner's report on Hendricks and the
• 8:52
  Speaker 3: sword swallower.
• 8:53
  Speaker 6: Oh, thanks, Rollins.
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: What are you grinning at, Inspector?
• 8:57
  Speaker 6: I tossed Blackie and Miss Wesley off the carnival grounds.
• 9:00
  Speaker 6: I gave them orders to stay off them for good.
• 9:02
  Speaker 6: This is one case I'm going to solve without interference
• 9:04
  Speaker 6: from those two.
• 9:06
  Speaker 4: Yeah?
• 9:07
  Speaker 6: I don't like the way you said that.
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: I just said yeah, Inspector.
• 9:11
  Speaker 6: Yeah?
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: Why, uh, yeah.
• 9:14
  Speaker 6: That's the way you better say it from now on.
• 9:17
  Speaker 6: What's the coroner's report have to say?
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: Both Hendricks and the sword swallower died the same way.
• 9:22
  Speaker 4: Hmm.
• 9:22
  Speaker 6: So I see. From single sword wounds, huh?
• 9:25
  Speaker 7: Mm-hmm.
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: That sort of proved something, doesn't it?
• 9:27
  Speaker 6: It proves plenty. It proves the same person killed them,
• 9:30
  Speaker 6: and for the same reason. Now we're getting somewhere.
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: Got your hat and coat on. You getting somewhere, too?
• 9:34
  Speaker 6: Yeah, and you're getting with me. Out to the carnival again,
• 9:36
  Speaker 6: where you and I are going to put on a
• 9:38
  Speaker 6: little circus of our own.
• 9:47
  Speaker 3: Your move, Blackie.
• 9:47
  Speaker 5: Or is Checkers boring you?
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: Oh, oh, oh, excuse me, Larry. I think I'll try this.
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: Let's see. I'll put my king right here.
• 9:57
  Speaker 5: Darling, don't be upset because Inspector Faraday... made us leave
• 10:00
  Speaker 5: the carnival it's comfy here in your apartment.
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: I'm not upset about it as soon as i get
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: an idea i'm gonna sneak back in you'll move you
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: mean we're going to sneak back in since you have
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: such a singular interest in this case i'll make the
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: pronoun plural we'll sneak in good go ahead move When.
• 10:16
  Speaker 5: Faraday called to say he was coming up here, did
• 10:18
  Speaker 5: he say what he wanted? Uh-uh.
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: Oh, that's a good move. But it's your last one.
• 10:24
  Speaker 6: Watch.
• 10:28
  Speaker 5: Sometimes I hate you.
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: We athletes always do better on the home grounds. Want
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: to play another game?
• 10:34
  Speaker 8: No, thanks.
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: Well, I've murdered you at checkers. Suppose we get back
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: to the problem of who's been murdering people at the carnival.
• 10:41
  Speaker 5: Well, your theory is right, darling. It's the bearded ladies.
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: If I could only get Faraday to disagree with it,
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: I'd know it was right. That's probably my perennial suspect
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: to the inspector. Come in.
• 10:51
  Speaker 8: Hello, Blackie.
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: Well, Faraday, I was just about to phone the police
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: to have them look for you. I was worried.
• 10:57
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I bet.
• 10:59
  Speaker 6: What were you worried about?
• 11:00
  Speaker 8: Oh, if you didn't show up, then he couldn't tell
• 11:02
  Speaker 8: you how we've worked out the solution to the carnival killing.
• 11:04
  Speaker 5: I helped.
• 11:05
  Speaker 6: You helped, Miss Wesley. This should be great.
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: It's very simple, Faraday. This is what happened. Yeah. The
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: bearded lady was in love with Bob Hendricks. Hendricks loved
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: the sword swallower. So the bearded lady got rid of
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: the sword swallower.
• 11:16
  Speaker 8: But Bob Hendricks still didn't fall for her.
• 11:18
  Speaker 5: So the bearded lady killed him, too.
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: Simple, Faraday?
• 11:21
  Speaker 6: You certainly are. It just so happens that I came
• 11:24
  Speaker 6: to tell you that the bearded lady isn't a lady,
• 11:26
  Speaker 6: but a man.
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: A man?
• 11:29
  Speaker 5: There's the phone.
• 11:31
  Speaker 4: I'll get it.
• 11:32
  Speaker 6: So what do you think of your theory now, huh?
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: How do you know the bearded lady is a man?
• 11:36
  Speaker 6: Jackson, the guy who owns the carnival, told me so.
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: Well, I suppose he's right then, but why didn't he
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: tell me?
• 11:42
  Speaker 5: Inspector Faraday, it's for you.
• 11:43
  Speaker 6: Oh, thanks. Look, look, from now on, don't you two
• 11:46
  Speaker 6: give me any more phony theories.
• 11:47
  Speaker 5: Blackie, is the bearded lady really a man?
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: I guess so. That's what Jackson told Faraday.
• 11:52
  Speaker 5: Well, then I guess that's the end of our theory.
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: Good guess.
• 11:55
  Speaker 5: But nothing says we can't guess again.
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: Who will we guess this time?
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: Well, um, Mr.
• 12:00
  Speaker 5: Jackson, maybe.
• 12:01
  Speaker 7: Why?
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: Why?
• 12:02
  Speaker 6: Well, I don't know.
• 12:04
  Speaker 5: Let's guess reasons.
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: Oh, fine.
• 12:06
  Speaker 5: Well, let's take Mr. Jackson as a suspect.
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: Now, if... Say, we can at that. If he waited
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: until now to mention that Mabel is really a man,
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: maybe it's just to throw suspicion on Mabel.
• 12:16
  Speaker 5: Of course it is.
• 12:16
  Speaker 6: And you know what I just thought of? Now, you
• 12:17
  Speaker 6: can sit here and dream up phony theories just for
• 12:19
  Speaker 6: your own amusement, will you? I've got to get back
• 12:21
  Speaker 6: to the carnival.
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: Okay. Only we have a suspect for you. Jackson, the
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: carnival owner.
• 12:26
  Speaker 6: Oh, yeah? Well, Jackson has just been slugged. And maybe
• 12:29
  Speaker 6: we're going to have corpse number three because they say
• 12:31
  Speaker 6: he's going to die.
• 12:38
  Speaker 7: And now, back to Boston Blackie. Blackie and Mary go
• 12:47
  Speaker 7: to a carnival for fun and become involved in a
• 12:49
  Speaker 7: murder case that so far has meant the death of
• 12:52
  Speaker 7: two people and assault on a third. The dead are Lillian,
• 12:55
  Speaker 7: the sword swallower, Bob Hendricks, her lover, and Jackson, the
• 12:59
  Speaker 7: carnival owner, is supposedly near death from a blow in
• 13:02
  Speaker 7: the head. As we return to our story, Faraday is
• 13:06
  Speaker 7: at the carnival talking to Jackson to adjust to regain consciousness.
• 13:11
  Speaker 6: Now look, Jackson, try to tell me who slugged you.
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: I don't know, Inspector.
• 13:16
  Speaker 6: But who'd want to slug you?
• 13:18
  Speaker 3: I don't know.
• 13:20
  Speaker 6: Did you get a glimpse of whoever hit you? Or
• 13:23
  Speaker 6: anything we can use for a clue?
• 13:26
  Speaker 3: I didn't see anything.
• 13:28
  Speaker 6: Look, Jackson, when you told me the bearded lady was
• 13:31
  Speaker 6: a man, do you think he was anywhere around?
• 13:36
  Speaker 3: I don't know.
• 13:37
  Speaker 6: Yeah. Well, apparently you're coming around all right. That's something.
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: Right, Inspector. And here's someone.
• 13:44
  Speaker 7: Me.
• 13:44
  Speaker 6: Blackie, I told you to stay off the carnival grounds.
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: I bought the mission ticket by design, Inspector, and found
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: myself here by instinct.
• 13:50
  Speaker 6: Well, go find yourself somewhere else in a hurry.
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: Look, Faraday, I've been doing some things.
• 13:55
  Speaker 6: Stop right there. You thought Mabel was in love with
• 13:57
  Speaker 6: Bob Hendricks. And Mabel turns out to be a man.
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: Sure, so I just pushed my theory to fit the
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: new setup. Hendricks killed Lillian, the sword swallower, because Lillian
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: knew the bearded lady was a man and loved him.
• 14:06
  Speaker 6: Yeah, and then?
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: And then the bearded lady killed Hendricks for killing the
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: sword swallower.
• 14:10
  Speaker 6: Then who slugged Jackson here?
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: The bearded lady. For telling you he was a man.
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: Do I have something?
• 14:15
  Speaker 6: You sure do, Blackie. Orders to get off the carnival
• 14:18
  Speaker 6: grounds and stay off. Or the next orders I give
• 14:20
  Speaker 6: will be for your arrest. Hey, is this the bearded
• 14:31
  Speaker 6: lady's tent?
• 14:32
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 14:32
  Speaker 6: Who are you? I'm the barco in the sideshow.
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: Who are you?
• 14:36
  Speaker 6: Inspector Faraday of the police. Now, where's the bearded lady?
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: She'll be here in a couple of minutes. Here she comes, Inspector.
• 14:42
  Speaker 6: Yeah, good.
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: Hello, Mabel. How are you? This is a police officer
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: to see.
• 14:48
  Speaker 6: I guess you'll want to be alone, huh? See you around, officer.
• 14:51
  Speaker 6: You may at that. Hey, you, bearded lady.
• 14:55
  Speaker 4: Come here.
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: Sit down.
• 14:59
  Speaker 6: Oh, you can't talk, huh? But you can hear, can't you?
• 15:03
  Speaker 7: Good.
• 15:05
  Speaker 6: So they call you Mabel, huh? But you're a man,
• 15:08
  Speaker 6: aren't you? Oh, just nod your head for... Well, I'm
• 15:13
  Speaker 6: glad to see somebody admits something around here. Now, who
• 15:16
  Speaker 6: killed the sword swallower? You don't know, huh? Who killed Hendricks?
• 15:22
  Speaker 6: You don't know that either. Who slugged Jackson?
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: Oh, you don't know.
• 15:26
  Speaker 6: That's fine. That's great. Doesn't anybody around here know anything?
• 15:31
  Speaker 6: I guess not. But I can't complain. I don't know
• 15:35
  Speaker 6: anything around here either.
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: At last you admit it, Faraday.
• 15:38
  Speaker 6: Frankie, what do I have to do to keep you
• 15:39
  Speaker 6: out of here?
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: Arrest the man at the gate for selling me tickets.
• 15:41
  Speaker 6: I said I'd have you arrested.
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: You know, you wouldn't do that to a pal, would you, pal?
• 15:46
  Speaker 6: No, not to a pal.
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: As I came in, I heard you say you didn't
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: know anything. And how right you are for change.
• 15:53
  Speaker 6: I'll say I don't know anything. I don't know who
• 15:55
  Speaker 6: killed the sword swallower. I don't know who slugged Bob Hendricks.
• 15:58
  Speaker 6: I don't know who slugged Jackson. I don't know who's
• 16:01
  Speaker 6: doing what to whom and why. And I don't know
• 16:03
  Speaker 6: why I bother talking to you. In fact, the only
• 16:06
  Speaker 6: thing I do know is that Jackson, the owner of
• 16:08
  Speaker 6: the carnival, is the owner of this carnival.
• 16:11
  Speaker 2: Give yourself a big fat zero, Faraday. I just checked.
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: Jackson doesn't own this carnival.
• 16:25
  Speaker 4: Now, we're just turning again, and here we go to
• 16:27
  Speaker 4: continue with our exciting, thrilling, great, teasing game of bingo.
• 16:31
  Speaker 4: Think fast, and you can make money fast. And the
• 16:37
  Speaker 4: bar is fine.
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: Bingo!
• 16:39
  Speaker 5: Well, Blackie, we're lost again. Say, if Jackson doesn't own
• 16:43
  Speaker 5: the carnival, who does? And how many more times should
• 16:47
  Speaker 5: we try this game before.
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: We give up? Another ten, Mary, and then I guess
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: we'll call it quits. And about the carnival ownership, well...
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: Hold your cards, please, as we check the numbers.
• 16:58
  Speaker 5: Couldn't we hide from Inspector Faraday somewhere where it doesn't
• 17:00
  Speaker 5: cost us so much money?
• 17:01
  Speaker 4: Diagonally, 78, 82, 3, 5. The card is correct. If
• 17:08
  Speaker 4: the winner will.
• 17:09
  Speaker 3: The lucky gentleman come up and collect his fortune.
• 17:13
  Speaker 5: Frankie, that's the same man who won a couple of
• 17:15
  Speaker 5: games ago.
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: Yes, I know, Mary. He sat in another part of
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: the room this time, too.
• 17:18
  Speaker 5: You know, I've noticed that only two or three people
• 17:20
  Speaker 5: have won anything at all.
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: This game's crooked, Mary. Every winner in this place is
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: a stooge.
• 17:24
  Speaker 5: Well, in that case, shall we keep on playing?
• 17:27
  Speaker 2: Quoth the Blackie, nevermore. You know, all those other wheels
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: of chance we tried were gimmick, too. Did you notice
• 17:33
  Speaker 2: the wheel always stopped on a number never covered?
• 17:35
  Speaker 5: Oh, darling, once in a while, sometimes.
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: If you want to win on the wheels in this carnival,
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: you had to show your card in the stooges' union.
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: Come on, let's go out of here.
• 17:43
  Speaker 5: But if Inspector Faraday sees you, you know.
• 17:45
  Speaker 2: It's getting late, Mary. Lights are going off. Most of
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: the concessions are closing. I think Faraday's probably gone.
• 17:49
  Speaker 5: Well, all right, but let's go this way. It's near
• 17:52
  Speaker 5: the parking lot.
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 17:53
  Speaker 4: That was the last game tonight, folks. Come again when you.
• 17:56
  Speaker 5: Have more time to spend and more money to spend.
• 17:59
  Speaker 5: It's awfully dark out here.
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: Hmm. Well, before it gets any darker, you go get
• 18:06
  Speaker 2: in the car and I'll meet you at the gate.
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: I want to see Jackson a minute.
• 18:09
  Speaker 5: Well, don't make it more than a minute, will you?
• 18:11
  Speaker 5: Because I'll worry about it.
• 18:12
  Speaker 2: That's a reason to talk to Jackson for an hour.
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: I was only fooling, Mary. See you in just a minute. Wow,
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: it's getting dark out here. Let's see, Jackson's office must
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: be over this way. Hey, what are you... Mary, I
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: suppose if I say, where am I? You'll hit me
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: in the head again, won't you?
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: Oh, darling.
• 18:44
  Speaker 5: You're in your apartment. How does your head feel?
• 18:49
  Speaker 2: Oh, all right now.
• 18:51
  Speaker 6: A little dizzy, though.
• 18:53
  Speaker 5: I gave you sleeping pills after we got back here.
• 18:55
  Speaker 5: Who hit you?
• 18:57
  Speaker 2: I know something better than that. I know who killed Lillian,
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: the sword swallower, and Bob Hendricks.
• 19:02
  Speaker 5: You do?
• 19:03
  Speaker 4: Who?
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: The same person who slugged Jackson.
• 19:05
  Speaker 5: Well, tell me. Oh, of all the times in the
• 19:08
  Speaker 5: world for the telephone to ring.
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: If that's Rawlins calling for Faraday, I'm Faraday. Oh, Blackie, no. Oh, Mary, yes.
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: I put in the call to Rawlins.
• 19:14
  Speaker 5: When'd you do that?
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: While you were getting the bandage at the drugstore.
• 19:18
  Speaker 4: All right.
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: Hello.
• 19:21
  Speaker 4: Hello, Miss Wesley?
• 19:22
  Speaker 6: Yes.
• 19:22
  Speaker 4: Inspector Faraday there?
• 19:24
  Speaker 5: Uh, yes, just a minute. Here, Blackie.
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: Thanks. Hello, Rawlins.
• 19:30
  Speaker 4: Yes, Inspector.
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: Did you get that information for me? Yes, sir, I did.
• 19:34
  Speaker 4: He's in a sin moving. Skipped with ten more years
• 19:36
  Speaker 4: to go.
• 19:36
  Speaker 6: Cops have been looking for him for two years.
• 19:38
  Speaker 4: Is that all you wanted to know? Thanks, Rollins.
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: That's not only all I want to know, that's all
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: I need to know.
• 19:49
  Speaker 6: Oh, look, Blackie, look, Blackie. Put the rifle down, will you?
• 19:54
  Speaker 6: Haven't we played around this shooting gallery long enough without
• 19:56
  Speaker 6: getting anywhere?
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: We certainly have, Faraday. That's why I asked you to
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: come down here this afternoon.
• 20:06
  Speaker 6: Well, stop firing that gun, will you? You haven't hit
• 20:08
  Speaker 6: anybody yet.
• 20:09
  Speaker 2: Well, I'm just about to hit something. A nail on
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: the head. Here comes the bearded lady pushing Jackson in
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: a wheelchair.
• 20:16
  Speaker 6: Jackson sure recovered awfully quick from what was supposed to
• 20:18
  Speaker 6: be a fatal blow. Hello.
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: Hello there.
• 20:21
  Speaker 6: Did you send for us, Inspector?
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: No, I did, Jackson. How are you feeling?
• 20:24
  Speaker 5: Fine.
• 20:26
  Speaker 6: Wish you wouldn't fire that gun.
• 20:28
  Speaker 3: Noise jars my head.
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: Okay. Hello, Mabel. How are you?
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: Fine, huh?
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: Too bad you can't talk. Or can you? I told
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: you he was a mute. Yes, I know. But if
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: he could talk, what a lot he could say.
• 20:40
  Speaker 6: Hey, what are you trying to do? Break his fucking gun?
• 20:43
  Speaker 2: All I tried to do was break his silence, Faraday,
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: and I did. You talk, don't you, Mabel?
• 20:47
  Speaker 4: All right, all right.
• 20:47
  Speaker 5: I talk my name, Mabel.
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: So what? Say, your name is Joe Evers, and you're
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: wanted in Kansas to finish serving a 25-year sentence.
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: I am, am I?
• 20:54
  Speaker 4: Yes, you are, are you?
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: Last night, after you slugged me, I came to, went
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: into your tent, found a glass with your fingerprints on it,
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: and had Rawlins check them for me. You're Joe Evers,
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: all right.
• 21:02
  Speaker 6: Oh, then you're the guy I'm looking for. Amos, you're
• 21:04
  Speaker 6: under arrest for murder.
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: No, I'm not.
• 21:06
  Speaker 6: Damn it, Blackie, he's making a right for it.
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: Oh, no, he's not. Because I owe him a poke
• 21:09
  Speaker 2: in the face the last night.
• 21:11
  Speaker 6: Nice going, Blackie.
• 21:12
  Speaker 2: It was a pleasure. That smack he gave me last
• 21:15
  Speaker 2: night was a beaut. Hey, he's going to come to
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: for half an hour, Faraday.
• 21:20
  Speaker 3: Well, gentlemen, I guess this just about solves the mystery
• 21:23
  Speaker 3: of who killed Lillian and Hendricks and who slugged me.
• 21:26
  Speaker 6: It certainly does, Jackson. Well, I always get my man.
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: And always the wrong one, Faraday. Jackson here is your murderer.
• 21:32
  Speaker 4: Me? Yes, Jackson, you.
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: You're hired by a syndicate to run this carnival. Your
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: chief source of revenge, or rather revenue, is bingo and
• 21:40
  Speaker 2: the crooked gambling wheels and the midway booze. I know.
• 21:44
  Speaker 2: I tried them all. What's more, Lillian, the sword swallower,
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: found out the wheels were crooked and threatened to go
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: to the police.
• 21:48
  Speaker 6: Well, what if she did? I wouldn't kill her for that.
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: You would if the syndicate ordered you to. And the
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: syndicate said it was either her life or yours.
• 21:55
  Speaker 6: Well, then why did he kill Hendricks?
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: Hendricks was in love with Lillian. She had told him
• 21:59
  Speaker 2: about the crooked games, and when he found Lillian dead,
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: he knew who killed her. Jackson had to get him
• 22:04
  Speaker 2: out of the way, too.
• 22:05
  Speaker 6: Oh, what's the matter with you, Blackie? Jackson here was
• 22:08
  Speaker 6: an intended victim himself.
• 22:09
  Speaker 2: Intended is right. He intended us to think so, Faraday,
• 22:12
  Speaker 2: by hitting himself on the head. Everything Jackson's done and
• 22:15
  Speaker 2: said points to the fact that he was trying to
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: divert suspicion from himself and place it on Joe Evers,
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: posing as a bearded lady.
• 22:21
  Speaker 6: You're right, Blackie. Jackson, I'm holding you on suspicion of murder.
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: Oh, no, you're not, Blackie. I'll take that gun you're holding. Now,
• 22:29
  Speaker 2: both of you stand right.
• 22:30
  Speaker 5: Where you are.
• 22:30
  Speaker 3: Blackie, maybe you couldn't hit a target with this gun,
• 22:33
  Speaker 3: but I can.
• 22:34
  Speaker 6: You and the inspector make excellent ones if you try
• 22:36
  Speaker 6: to stop me. Let him go, Blackie. We can get
• 22:38
  Speaker 6: him later.
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: I can handle him, Faraday. Now. Take one more step
• 22:41
  Speaker 2: and I'll shoot.
• 22:41
  Speaker 6: Go ahead.
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: Shoot. Blackie.
• 22:44
  Speaker 5: Blackie, you all right?
• 22:44
  Speaker 6: So far, maybe he needs more than one bullet to
• 22:47
  Speaker 6: stop him. Blackie. Blackie.
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: I'm all right, Faraday. As soon as I get this gun.
• 22:53
  Speaker 4: You get it.
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: I've got something to help me.
• 22:56
  Speaker 6: This.
• 22:56
  Speaker 2: Blackie.
• 22:59
  Speaker 6: Blackie, you better get to a doctor quick.
• 23:00
  Speaker 5: So help me?
• 23:01
  Speaker 2: I honestly think you're worried about me, Faraday.
• 23:02
  Speaker 6: But, Blackie, you've been shot three times.
• 23:05
  Speaker 2: Remember how you kidded me for missing the targets in
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: the shooting gallery there?
• 23:07
  Speaker 6: Never mind about that now. Come on, let's get you
• 23:09
  Speaker 6: to a doctor.
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: Look, Faraday, I missed those targets because I'd loaded this
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: rifle with blanks. That's what it was loaded with when
• 23:14
  Speaker 2: Jackson was firing at me. I know that I'd never
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: get him to confess, but I thought if I faced
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: him with the evidence, he'd make a break for it
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: and grab a gun to do it.
• 23:23
  Speaker 6: So you made sure he'd grab a gun loaded with blanks?
• 23:27
  Speaker 6: You double-crosser, you had me thinking you were a brave guy.
• 23:30
  Speaker 6: I'd be brave, too, against a gun full of blanks.
• 23:32
  Speaker 2: Quit complaining, Faraday. You've solved another murder. When I forced
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: Jackson to make a break, believe me, he gave you
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: one at the same time.
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: That was Boston Blackie and the murdered sword swallower. Good night,
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: as the carnival lights fade beyond the midway. Follow old-time
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: mystery radio for more classic mystery and detective broadcasts.