Latest / Great Detectives of Old Time Radio Volume 2|Mystery Audio Dramas / Police Headquarters: Red Dugan Murder and Laundry Trucknapping (EP1226)
Transcript
- 0:28Welcome to the Great Detectives of Old Time Radio from Boise, Idaho. This
- 0:33is your host, Adam Graham. If you have a comment, send it
- 0:37to me Box thirteen at Great Detectives dot net and follow us on Twitter at
- 0:43Radio Detectives. Well, before we do get started, I want to encourage
- 0:48you, if you have not already, to pick up your copy of my
- 0:54first detective novel, Slime Incorporated. Listener Pam McCall picked up a copy and
- 1:00it pretty well, and I really think if you like detective fiction, you'll
- 1:04enjoy this particular story. So it's available both as a paperback and for the
- 1:08kindle. Also a Great Detectives dot net. I have my review of the
- 1:15Poiro telefilm Missus McGinty's Dead, and you can check that out at Great Detectives
- 1:22dot net. You can subscribe to all of our articles or your kindle and
- 1:27try that out for two weeks free. Just search for Great Detectives of Old
- 1:32Time Radio in the Kindle store. Well, we're going to bring you the
- 1:37oldest program we have ever done. There are a few things that are known
- 1:42about Police Headquarters. It was a thirty nine episode series that was done by
- 1:49Bruce ELL's production. Longtime listeners will recognize Bruce Els as a name that was
- 1:56behind the Adventures of Frank Race, which we played about a year ago.
- 2:00Police Headquarters was syndicated to NBC stations out on the West Coast, and it
- 2:07was done in nineteen thirty two, which is far earlier than anything else we
- 2:13ever did. When I listened to the first episode, I thought this probably
- 2:17would not be a fit for the show, since the mystery seemed to be
- 2:21resolved fairly quickly and almost seemed to go the route of a typical crime drama
- 2:27which was more focused on the criminal than the police. But I decided to
- 2:31give the series a complete listen through and actually found that for its era,
- 2:38it actually works pretty well. Each episode was fifteen minutes long, which I
- 2:43think kind of balanced some of the pacing issues that nineteen thirty's radio drama had
- 2:50in a half hour format or even in the serial format where it could tend
- 2:54to drag along. Each episode of Police Headquarters was a self contained show which
- 3:00alled to pretty good pacing. And we're going to play this series before we
- 3:06get to drag Nap because I wanted to give a flavor of what a attempt
- 3:09at a police procedural, and I think a pretty good one, looked like
- 3:14before drag Nat came along, and you'll definitely hear a few of those classic
- 3:19thirties touches. So we're going to go ahead and play episode one. In
- 3:23episode two, the Red Dugan murder and the laundry truck napping. Please headquarters?
- 4:13What that? That's the second arc conected with homicide homicide Captain York Rob
- 4:25Bugan was jospin kill? Yeah? What did it happened? Tom? Who's
- 4:29this talking wrong? On the offs on the boat? Okay? Ryan,
- 4:32let anyone out of the joint till I get there. Oh, get a
- 4:40car round to the front and a couple of men from the Detective Bureau sending
- 4:43a general call to surround Tom Cotsonaires was joint and hold any suspicious looking who's
- 4:46that try to slip through? Rob Dugan has just been dumped af. I'm
- 5:00like, come on, I'll get back there on the sidewalk. Come on,
- 5:01get those people out of that door. Come on, open up here,
- 5:04open up? Where's he Ryan in the backroom? Captain, he's dead?
- 5:09Where's cutting arrows? He's back there too? Well, don't let him
- 5:12slip out this will be just about the last gang killing in his place,
- 5:15the old man said, the pad lock him. If anything else happened down
- 5:17here here, let me shut to this door. Come on, help me
- 5:19here, Come on, get back there, Come on back up, back
- 5:23cut there, Come on there, stay on the door. Ryan. Hey,
- 5:28what's this bunch of rats doing here? You told me to hold them,
- 5:30Captain? Oh, so they're the guys that were here when Dugan was
- 5:33killed. Eh, A fine looking bunch. All right, Just keeping where
- 5:38the ard of the wagon gets here, we'll sift him out. Donald Headquarters,
- 5:41Yes, sir, who calls you in from the beach? Cutting arrows?
- 5:44Okay, I'll stroll in the backroom and just see what's going on.
- 5:47Whoa, Captain York. I'm glad you're here. Yeah. I'll bet where's
- 5:55Dugan right there behind your tip knife in the back? Eh? Who did
- 6:02it? I don't know, Captain York. All right, one of the
- 6:06waiters came back here in pound? Was he back here alone? Oh?
- 6:11Nick Denesko? Was we did that dirty little snake? Eh? When did
- 6:15he get out of prison? I don't know, Captain, No, I
- 6:17suppose not. How along was Nick with him? Oh? One? And
- 6:21then Nick left. Yeah, anybody see dooking alive after Nick left him?
- 6:26No, Captain, this knife has Nick Denesco's initials on it? Is it?
- 6:30His? Well looks very much like it. Captain, know any reasons
- 6:34for Nick killing him? I don't know. I'll listen cutting errors. I've
- 6:40got orders to pat like you're dump the next time there's trouble down here,
- 6:43you'd better give us your help on this case. Come on now, maybe
- 6:46the old man is so easy on you. I want to do what's right,
- 6:48Captain. I don't want the boys chilling one another in my place.
- 6:54I am trying to run a nice place. They can't run a nice place.
- 6:57Several liquor to a bunch of rats. Reason what Nick Denesco have for
- 7:00killing Dougan? Well, maybe it was over Nick's old girl, Yes see,
- 7:05Captain. After Nick went to prison, Dugan stole his girl. So
- 7:10when Nick got out, he looked Dugan up and knifed him in the back.
- 7:12Eh. Yeah, nobody saw him do it. Don't make any difference
- 7:16where this gal live named Sadie. She's living with Big Jim Diamond right now.
- 7:23So she bounced Duggan too, Eh, going in for heavy money playing
- 7:26around with big Jim Diamond. Eh, well, we look her up.
- 7:30Unless I miss my guest, we'll find Nick hiding around somewhere near Yes,
- 7:33sir, I've got a hunch that Nick feeded right to sadies place. He
- 7:38wants her to bring up. Let me in. Who is it? It's
- 8:01me? Nick? Same after me? Hey, can't you understand they're after
- 8:05me? What? Cot me? Inside? Heady? Tom York is right
- 8:09behind me. I killed the man, baby, I too. You kill
- 8:13the man, Nick? Why you'll know why I killed him? I slipped
- 8:20up on him. He was half drunk. I slipped up on him,
- 8:22and so you were still anomer day man. No. I never loved anyone
- 8:30but you Nick. You know that. I can't put that line over on
- 8:33the y stand with Jim Diamond right now. I know that, but I
- 8:37don't care, Sabe. They've gotta hide me. You've gotta hide me,
- 8:41do you hear? I can't hide your hicks? Tom, you orcle come
- 8:43up here the first thing. I know that, But you gotta give me
- 8:46an alibi. You gotta tell Captain York that I've been right here playing tirds
- 8:50since eleven o'clock. You go through, why Sady? You got your bags
- 8:56packed. Yeah, I'm leaving Jim. Nick. He beats me. He
- 9:00beats me something terrible. Look look at there. Okay. Can you give
- 9:05me an alibi, sady? And when things blow over, we go away
- 9:09together. See, yeah, we'll go away together. Me and I don't
- 9:13be a rough little store pigeons. Aw. I'm not so bad, Sadie.
- 9:15And I've always loved you, honest. Yeah, Shady, you got
- 9:20a gun on the table. Why why there's what it's been line on the
- 9:26radiator. Well, it's just been fired. Smell the powder, Sady.
- 9:30I'll tell you the truth. Nick. Jim came home tonight and tried to
- 9:33beat me up. I got this gun to scare him. You you'll killed
- 9:37him? Now? Why you're scared in that's all? Chase me into the
- 9:41next room there, and I sat two shots over his head through the window.
- 9:45He got scared and left. I gotta get out of here before he
- 9:48comes back. That's tell me, all lady. Oh you get me sure?
- 9:52You? God? They give me that alibi? All right? Listen
- 9:56to me a little laughs. What time did you kill Duban? About about
- 9:58that half an hour ago at twelve thirty hmm, it's one now, anybody
- 10:03see you do it. No, but my knife. They'll find that.
- 10:07Sure, that's all right. You can tell him you lost that. Yeah,
- 10:09yeah, that's it. I lost it. And listen to me.
- 10:13You've you've been here since eleven o'clock tonight. Yeah, yeah, I've been
- 10:16here since eleven o'clock tonight. I'll tell Tommy your scept that I called you
- 10:20over here, that I was afraid of Jim, but I wanted you to
- 10:24protect me. Yeah, that's it. That'll be a good story. That'll
- 10:26give you an alibi. Yeah. Yeah, But tom will find this gun
- 10:30and you'll want to know about it. Yeah, I got it. We'll
- 10:33tell him that I was afraid of Jim and I called you over here to
- 10:37protect me. Why you were here? Jim came in, he was drunk,
- 10:41and you fired two shots through the window and the next room to scare
- 10:43him. Yeah that's it. If that'll stop me, get Anyboddy calls now
- 10:48if you up care in a minute, Captain Yorkat no fool sady. You'll
- 10:52have to go easy with him. I know how to handle him. Stout
- 10:56right now, all right, you've got to act like nothing it happened.
- 11:00Help in the kitchen and start making some Sandwichies, don't come in this room
- 11:03till I call you. I'll handle the captain, okay, all right,
- 11:07beat it to the kitchen, all right, all right, keep your shirt
- 11:13on. Hello, Hello, flat food? If I come in, Sadie,
- 11:22help yourself, copper the doors open. Getting kind of richie since you've
- 11:26been associating with Jim Diamond. Eh oh, I've been doing all right.
- 11:30Sure, leave it to you, Sadie. Leave it to you, all
- 11:33right. Stop beating on the bush. What do you want? Sit down,
- 11:35Sadie, don't get so happy. We're gonna have a nice long chalk
- 11:41all right, Captain, you better sit down too. I know what you
- 11:46want to talk to me about, and I'll give you the lowdown and the
- 11:48whole thing. Nick came up. Oh so that's the way it was.
- 11:58Eh, All right, Sadie, you can go, thanks, Captain.
- 12:05They can come out now, Nick. Ladies told me all about it.
- 12:11Hello, Captain. I was wondering if was out here with Sadie. Where
- 12:16is she? She took her bags and left. Told me all about it
- 12:20though, Eh, all about what all about? Where you was all evening
- 12:24and what you was doing? Yeah, what's wrong? I was just about
- 12:30to make a mistake, Nick, A terrible mistake. Eh. Yeah,
- 12:35you know, Nick, I was just about to make the mistake of trying
- 12:37to pin the killing of Rod Dugan under you on me. Yeah, funny
- 12:45is this? And Sadie tells me you've been here since eleven o'clock. Yeah,
- 12:50that's right. And Dugan wasn't bumped off until about twelve thirty. Yeah.
- 13:01Yeah, I almost pull a boat of that time, Nick. Yeah.
- 13:05Sadie tells me she called you over here tonight to protect her from Jim
- 13:09Diamond. Yeah that's right, Captain. She tells me that Jim beat her
- 13:13up. Did she show you the bruises? Yeah? He must have beat
- 13:18her up something terrible. Dot. I shouldn't imagine that you like it,
- 13:22Nick, seeing as how you're stuck on Sadie. I don't. Sady tells
- 13:26me Jim came up here tonight. Yeah, that's right. How was he
- 13:31feeling, Oh he was drunk. Stadie says, you and him had some
- 13:35trouble. Yeah. He starts getting tough and I told him to get out.
- 13:39He didn't want to go, so so I got Sadie's gun just to
- 13:43scare him, and tells him I'm going to kill him if he don't beat
- 13:46it. And what did he do? He got tough and I I bust
- 13:48a couple of caps right over his head, just to scare him. I
- 13:52see. And what did Jim do? He beat it out the door,
- 13:56running like blazes. Oh I see. Oh by the way, Nick,
- 14:01where are the bullets from your gun? Go? Eh? Uh? Through
- 14:05an open window? It was in the next room, this room over here.
- 14:11Yeah, come over here, Nick, I want to show you something.
- 14:16Mhmm. But that look. Look who's lying on the bed ship j
- 14:24dang sure ruts Jim Diamond. And he's dead head You heard me, He's
- 14:31dead, killed by bullets from that gun. Are you killed him because he
- 14:33was beating up on your girl? Oh no, I didn't. Actually,
- 14:37I didn't own the light of it, your dirty rats. I didn't kill
- 14:39him. I wasn't even here. I wasn't even here. Don't know where
- 14:45were you I would Oh? Oh my god? Please ad quarters? Okay,
- 15:05Captain hello, Tim, cancel or pick up on Dick Denesco for that
- 15:11Dugan killen. He just confessed. Captain York, Please headquarters, Police headquarters.
- 16:11Just a minute. A connect to the detective euro The text of your
- 16:18Captain Clark Stephen Day seven Palm Avenue. I want someone out here right away,
- 16:23one two seven Palm Avenue. What's wrong with todayday? My son Stephen
- 16:29has not been kidnapped? Kid napped? How long ago? I don't know.
- 16:30We just discovered it. Oh, don't stand there talking, Get out
- 16:33and do something. Radio patrol will be there in two minutes. Haven't search
- 16:37the grounds and I'll be right out. Radio. Get a couple of cars
- 16:41to one two seven Palm Avenue on a kidnapping I get captain, do it
- 16:47from my identification. Tell him to meet me out in front of a short
- 16:48call car. That's a good thing you got here, Captain. Your men
- 17:11have been trampling all over the yard and hedges, but they haven't found anything.
- 17:15Oh I do all right, keep your shirt on. This is Captain
- 17:17de Widow, the Identification Jury. How do you know who discovered that your
- 17:19son was missing? I did? How long ago? About five minutes before
- 17:22I called you? That was fifteen minutes ago, about two thirty this morning?
- 17:26Right, Well, I suppose so I was asleep at the time.
- 17:29What woke you up? The telephone had kept ringing and ringing until I had
- 17:32to get up and answer it. Don't you keep a butler? Yes,
- 17:34but this was Jovis night off? Okay, who was on the phone?
- 17:37Some man? He said he wanted to speak to Steve, your son.
- 17:41Yes. I told him to call back in the morning, but he was
- 17:42insistent. I went up to Steve's room, but he wasn't in. I
- 17:45noticed that the bed had been slept in, but I was too sleepy to
- 17:48look around. I went to the extentson in the hall and told the man
- 17:51that Steve wasn't in. What did he say? He said he knew down
- 17:53well that Steve wasn't in because he been kidnapped. He said to me to
- 17:56sit tight and not say anything and wait for a phone call, and then
- 18:00he hung up. Well can I see the room surely right this way?
- 18:06Oh, don't make too much noise, please, Steve's mother is asleep and
- 18:08I don't want to frighten that. That's all right, mister Day. We
- 18:11won't make any more noise than we have to. Thank you right up these
- 18:15stairs. By the way, did you recognize the voice on the other end
- 18:26of the wire. No, but come to think of it, it did
- 18:30sound a bit familiar. But then I can't be sure. Here, this
- 18:33is a room. Where's the light switch? Right here? That's better.
- 18:38Look at the window, French. Well, he slept in his bed,
- 18:44all right. Much of a struggle, two of them, No violence,
- 18:52there's no blood. What's this mm? Floral form? Probably held him in
- 19:00bed till it got him down. Do you think he'll find him? Captain.
- 19:03I'll pay anything to get him back. His mother. She's not well.
- 19:07This shock is liably well. We'll do all we can. The thing
- 19:11for you to do is to play ball with us instead of the kidnappers.
- 19:15Stall him along and make him think you've got to have time to get the
- 19:17ransom doll. Oh, by the way, how much did they want?
- 19:21Well, they didn't say. A man who called up set to wait for
- 19:23a phone call. Oh that's good. I probably called back. I do
- 19:26it finally, Prince, Yeah, not many. Hey, jimmy this window
- 19:30and let the boy down this colors? Oh, mister Day, how old
- 19:33was your son? He was twenty? All right, let's work fast.
- 19:37Now. I want some pictures of him, a racient ones, the good
- 19:38ones, the ones that looked like him. Yes, I want a list
- 19:41of his friends, the list of your friends, and a list of your
- 19:42servants. I'll get them right away. Oh, by the way, what's
- 19:45the name of your butler? How long you had him? Why? He's
- 19:48been with us about two months. The name is Jobs. This is regular
- 19:52day off. Yes, he usually visits his sister. She lives somewhere down
- 19:56on the East fourth. I believe, all right, and get me those
- 19:59pictures this one okay, yeah, okay, give me the test board.
- 20:08Hell all this is Captain Clark Police Department. Yeah. I want a phantom
- 20:12circuit set up on this number and run into headquarters right away. Speed's important.
- 20:17It's a kidnapping. Well, here are a couple of pictures, and
- 20:19here's a list of friends whom Steve invited to a party last month. Good.
- 20:23When will this butler Viers be back tomorrow morning or rather this morning?
- 20:27I want to talk to him when he comes in. So, uh,
- 20:32where did he work before he started working for you? He'd been out of
- 20:34work for several months. He was driving for a laundry company. So you
- 20:40gave him a job as a butler. Well maybe someday you guys have learned
- 20:44to look into a man's past before you take him on. Oh finish frenchy,
- 20:48Yeah, you don't think that John Tader thinking my business when I don't
- 20:52know I find out. Come on, Frenchie, that's all we gonna do.
- 20:56Let's go downstairs. But captain me, is that all you're going to
- 21:02do? That's all right now. I've ordered your phone tapped. Whenever it
- 21:04rings, they drop a fallen headquarters and we will listen in. You stay
- 21:07by the phone and stall the guy. Tell him you want assurance that they've
- 21:11got the boy or something. That'll give us time to trace the call and
- 21:14get a radio card down on it. Hey, it's all right, and
- 21:18remember you're going to play ball with us. If you get a note or
- 21:22a telegram, notify me right away. Oh of course, by all means
- 21:25that's all. Just take it easy and don't worry. We'll keep in touch
- 21:27with him. So long. Find anything French, Oh, a couple of
- 21:33prints and a couple of buttons. Buttons look like they've been torn off in
- 21:36the struggle. Good. Anything else, well, I'll send a couple of
- 21:38boys out in the morning for footprints. They should find some dandies at the
- 21:41foot of that treillers want me to drive Yeah, ready on, Yeah,
- 21:52we better keep this thing on the cover of a few hours. I think
- 21:56we can work better at the snatches. Don't get all excited. Yeah,
- 22:00thirty six one three six got a three twenty seven three month for disturbance calling
- 22:06fifty five five five on the vacant lot of Mountain turner streets that run.
- 22:14The boy's pretty busy today. Yeah, attention in all cars broadcast number twenty
- 22:18one regarding a stolen car. This is a hot one. Boys, two
- 22:22yeggs stole a laundry truck abop ten thirty to night license two three nine one
- 22:27seven six's fauldrey truck. That's a good one. Hey, that boy won't
- 22:33get for I do it? Turn in here? What four? This all
- 22:37night filling station is just a block from the day residents. Travel is't very
- 22:40heavy night, especially about this hour. We'll see if the attendant so,
- 22:42how many cars coming down this way from the day house, Yes, sir,
- 22:48fill it up? No? No, how long have you been on
- 22:52duty, buddy? Since eleven? Many cars come past year after Tuesday between
- 22:56two and three only three? No service for you? What they look like?
- 23:00Two small sedans in a laundry truck. A laundry truck? Huh?
- 23:03Notice what's company? No super And I thought it was kind of funny for
- 23:07a laundry truck to be running around at two thirty in the morning. You're
- 23:08a right buddy. It is funny calling Captain Clark for forty three oh their
- 23:12yachtlne. Capn Clark just had a call to the day house. Came from
- 23:15a pay station at four to three, Oh Williams. Four to three,
- 23:19Oh Williams, it's a drug store. Pick it up. Ninety one and
- 23:22ninety two kidnapping suspect. There you are. Our friends have called and four
- 23:26or three Old Williams is near Fourth Street and Daves Butler has a sister who
- 23:30lives on Fourth and Daves Butler used to drive a truck for a laundry and
- 23:33a laundry truck is stolen and one was seen. Come on, come on,
- 23:36come on, let's get going. Come on, there's the drugster.
- 23:48The radio boys are over on the curb. I'll talk all good, I'll
- 23:51see the druggist. Well, what's going on around here? Captain? After
- 23:56kidnapping suspect? You see the guy used the phone little while And what do
- 24:00he look like? He was about medium bill go complected rather swarthy head him
- 24:06the stage. I believe good. Maybe I'll bring him in and let you
- 24:07identify him. Franchie, Franchie, yeah, yeah, coming right in.
- 24:15What did the boys have to say? Both cars came down on this place
- 24:18from different directions, but they didn't see anyone. How long were they making
- 24:22a call? One minute flat? And the guy couldn't have gotten far away?
- 24:23Maybe he lives around here close? Hey, doc, did you ever
- 24:27see a fellow before? He was in about two thirty five? And use
- 24:30the phone? Why so we used it twice? Huh, that proves he
- 24:34does live around here somewhere outside benchy. Give the two patrol cars position at
- 24:38each end of the street. We'll park our car on the fourth street side
- 24:41and wait for something to happen. Mmm. Have I been asleep, Blonde?
- 25:04Oh? Couple hours. I'll let you sleep you needed it. And
- 25:08what time is it about, Bloom? Do you have any breakfast? Not
- 25:15since I bite around six this morning. I've been keeping an eye on the
- 25:18street. I don't think the clock there it is? That's it is?
- 25:22Sure of shooting the laundry truck two three nine one seven six, that's it.
- 25:27M stopping right in front of that hotel. All right? You beat
- 25:32around at the back of the place. I'll take her. One of them
- 25:33staying in the car, I'll take care of him. You got the other
- 25:36one, Well, that's the laundry business. No, you don't put him
- 25:51up, he say, worry Rachel, yap out of you? Now that's
- 25:55part of yours too, All right back in the truck you yeah, put
- 25:57him on? What is announcer? So you thought you could pull a snatch
- 26:02and get away with it? Huh? Why you name all? You can't
- 26:03around of you guys like a bill collector. It comes your buddy, not
- 26:08one, yeap out of you. Now you're dragging the laundry bag, is
- 26:12he? So you got young Day in that bag? All right? Up
- 26:18with him? A dirty kidnaping? I got your down the rights, not
- 26:19me, officer. How what do you mean? I'm Stephen Dave Junior,
- 26:22the guy that was kidnapped. Where's Jarvis upstairs? Your fellow officer collared him
- 26:26trying to beat it down the fire escape. He's bringing him down. Oh
- 26:30that was another one too, Java sister, she engineered the whole deal.
- 26:33Captain de Witches knocked her cold and the harry. Yeah, I'll go up
- 26:37and get that dame. You don't have to Captain No, No, she's
- 26:41in the bag. Police Headquarters. Okay, Captain hello, Kim, cancel
- 26:59that cup on the laundry truck. And the kidnappers of Young Day, Captain
- 27:03Clark's bringing them in, Yeah, in a laundry truck. Leice Headquarters at
- 28:14the welcome back. Well, both plots were fairly clever. I think the
- 29:04second one a little more than the first. You really get a little bit
- 29:10of a hint of the overall nineteen thirties era officers referring to places as joints,
- 29:18and just a few other things that make it feel more like you're watching
- 29:22a gangster movie, though it really culminates in the when you get to capture
- 29:30at the end of the second episode. But overall, I thought these were
- 29:33pretty good, particularly when we're listening to eighty two year old programming. So
- 29:38I hope you enjoyed it, and we'll be listening next week as we continue
- 29:44on with Police Headquarters. And for listener comments, today, we just have
- 29:48a tweet from David who says glad to discover radio at Radio Detectives. Good
- 29:55show plus genial host, Thanks well, thank you so much, David,
- 29:59and I appreciate you listening out there, and you can follow us on Twitter
- 30:03at Radio Detectives and become one of our friends on Facebook. Also, I
- 30:08do want to I do want to encourage you to come back on Monday as
- 30:15we resume with yours truly Johnny Doller. And as I said before, we'll
- 30:18be back on Saturday with two more episodes of Police Headquarters. In the meantime,
- 30:23send your comments to Box thirteen at Great Detectives dot net, follow us
- 30:27on Twitter, Radio Detectives, and become one of our friends on Facebook,
- 30:33Facebook dot com, Slash Radio Detectives. But from Boise, Idaho, this
- 30:36is your host, Adam Grahamson and off