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The New Adventures of Nero Wolfe - "Dear Dead Lady" (1950) · Old Time Mystery Radio | Old Time Radio

0:00
Speaker 1: An anxious client asks Nero Wolfe to protect wealthy Ilsa
0:04
Speaker 1: Dana from a jealous prizefighter only to have Archie Goodwin
0:08
Speaker 1: arrive at her Park Avenue apartment for a murder investigation.
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Speaker 1: On November 3, 1950, NBC presented episode three of The
0:17
Speaker 1: New Adventures of Nero Wolfe, Dear Dead Lady, with Sidney
0:21
Speaker 1: Greenstreet as Wolfe and Herb Ellis as Archie. Theodore Oliphant,
0:27
Speaker 1: Jack Hunter, and actor Barstow Young offer competing accounts as
0:31
Speaker 1: Wolfway's rival motives in a Manhattan case written by Peter Barry.
0:36
Speaker 1: And now, the original broadcast. Follow Old Time Mystery Radio
0:41
Speaker 1: for more classic mystery and detective broadcasts.
0:45
Speaker 2: Stay tuned for Nero Wolf. This Sunday marks the premiere
0:49
Speaker 2: of The Big Show on NBC. Not just any big show,
0:53
Speaker 2: it's the big show. NBC's hour and a half of comedy, music,
0:57
Speaker 2: and drama. The best of each. The Big Show will
1:00
Speaker 2: be heard every Sunday afternoon over most of these stations
1:03
Speaker 2: with Tallulah Bankhead as mistress of ceremonies. Your stars for
1:07
Speaker 2: this Sunday's broadcast include Jimmy Durante, Fred Allen, Ethel Merman,
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Speaker 2: Frankie Lane, Mindy Carson, Meredith Wilson, Danny Thomas, and hosts
1:16
Speaker 2: of others. All this and Tallulah 2. No wonder it's
1:21
Speaker 2: the big show.
1:24
Speaker 3: My boss is the smartest and the stubbornest, the fattest
1:28
Speaker 3: and the laziest, the cleverest and the craziest, the most
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Speaker 3: extravagant detective in the world.
1:34
Speaker 4: Nero Wolf.
1:44
Speaker 2: It's the adventure of The Case of the Dear Dead
1:47
Speaker 2: Lady with that brilliant, eccentric private detective, orchid fancier, and
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Speaker 2: gargantuan gourmet, Nero Wolfe, starring Sidney Greenstreet.
2:16
Speaker 2: Nero Wolf had just come downstairs, having tended to his
2:19
Speaker 2: precious orchids. He was, as usual, seated in the library,
2:23
Speaker 2: which served as the office. He had just dialed a
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Speaker 2: phone number and, with his eyes closed, was leaning back
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Speaker 2: in his specially built chair, which was big enough for two,
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Speaker 2: but not two of him.
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Speaker 4: Uh, Hausbrecher's Market, domestic and imported delicacies.
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Speaker 5: Mr.
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Speaker 6: Hausbrecher, this is Nero Wolfe.
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Speaker 4: Oh, oh, yeah, Mr.
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Speaker 7: Wolfe.
2:51
Speaker 4: I was just about to ring you.
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Speaker 8: Well, I have need of two pounds of duck liver.
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Speaker 8: I do not, of course, refer to the commercialized Strasburg pate.
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Speaker 4: Well, I appreciate the order, Mr. Wolfe, but.
3:02
Speaker 8: Next, my cook, Fritz, informs me that we require three
3:05
Speaker 8: fine fat geese.
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Speaker 4: Look, Mr.
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Speaker 5: Wolfe.
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Speaker 4: There's a little matter of an unpaid.
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Speaker 8: You might add 12 cases of beer, a butcher of
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Speaker 8: Vermont apples, green for stuffing, and a gallon of Marquesa
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Speaker 8: Patrisa Roman oil.
3:17
Speaker 4: Mr. Wolfe.
3:18
Speaker 6: In addition, Fritz.
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Speaker 8: Has listed six dozen eggs, four braces of Sussex woodcock,
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Speaker 8: and a few pounds of Westphalian ham.
3:26
Speaker 6: You have all that?
3:27
Speaker 4: I can get it, Mr. Wolfe, but my bookkeeper.
3:30
Speaker 6: Thanks very much, Mr. Halsbracker. That will be all.
3:35
Speaker 8: Now.
3:37
Speaker 6: Now then, Archie.
3:38
Speaker 3: Yes, boss?
3:39
Speaker 6: You seem to be worried.
3:40
Speaker 4: Oh, I am.
3:42
Speaker 3: This means naturally that I'm supposed to handle Haltzbrecher's delivery
3:45
Speaker 3: boy when and if he shows.
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Speaker 6: I had thought of leaving that simple matter to you.
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Speaker 3: And what about the simple matter of the money?
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Speaker 5: Money?
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Speaker 3: I hate to bring up a vulgar subject, but where
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Speaker 3: is it coming from?
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Speaker 6: Oh, of course, you're right, Archie. I should have said...
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Speaker 6: Said what? Charge it.
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Speaker 3: Boss, look, you don't realize, I know, but we're into
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Speaker 3: that truffle broker for 500-odd bucks and change.
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Speaker 7: All right, all right, then give him a check.
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Speaker 4: Okay.
4:11
Speaker 3: Okay, I will give him a check. And I hope
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Speaker 3: they'll let you keep the orchids in your cell.
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Speaker 6: You're a wit, aren't you?
4:16
Speaker 4: Uh-huh.
4:17
Speaker 3: You know, I'm on the bank's mailing list. We got
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Speaker 3: a notice this morning.
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Speaker 6: You don't mean... Oh, but I do.
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Speaker 7: Again?
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Speaker 3: Yeah, you just can't take money out of an account, boss.
4:26
Speaker 3: Sometimes you gotta put some in. This is the only
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Speaker 3: way to deal with the man I work for, and
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Speaker 3: if I hadn't thrown him that scare, he wouldn't have
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Speaker 3: been willing to listen when the door buzzer rang and
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Speaker 3: a prosperous-looking young guy in the kind of clothes that
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Speaker 3: don't grow on trees came in and stood in front
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Speaker 3: of the boss's chair, fiddling with the brim of his
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Speaker 3: pork pie. My name is Oliphant, Mr.
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Speaker 5: Wolfe.
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Speaker 6: Oliphant?
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Speaker 7: Yes, sir, Oliphant.
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Speaker 9: I am the spiritual leader and guiding head of a
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Speaker 9: small religious group known as the Seekers of the Inner Power.
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Speaker 6: Ah, I see.
5:00
Speaker 8: Also a man addicted to marrying neither wisely nor well,
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Speaker 8: but often.
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Speaker 3: You read the papers?
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Speaker 6: I do. Mr.
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Speaker 9: Wolfe, I am as aware of my sin-ridden past as
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Speaker 9: anyone else is. The point is that I'm no longer
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Speaker 9: that kind of man. Even a person such as I
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Speaker 9: can see the light in time.
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Speaker 4: Good.
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Speaker 6: Might I ask why you've come to see me, Mr. Oliphant?
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Speaker 6: I need your help, Mr.
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Speaker 5: Wolfe.
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Speaker 6: Concerning?
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Speaker 7: A certain young lady with whom I'm deeply in love.
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Speaker 9: Oh, I beg you not to confuse the present emotion
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Speaker 9: with any of my earlier escapades. What I feel for
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Speaker 9: Miss Dana is the pure and righteous glow of an
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Speaker 9: upright seeker of the inner power.
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Speaker 6: I promise to look on you as utterly redeemed, Mr. Oliver. Proceed.
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Speaker 8: Oh, by the way, do I recognize the name of
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Speaker 8: your young lady as a Park Avenue socialite, an amateur
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Speaker 8: swimming champion?
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Speaker 9: Yes, but she's sweet, wonderful, beautiful. I've asked her to
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Speaker 9: marry me, and she's given me some hope. In time,
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Speaker 9: I fully expect to make her my wife.
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Speaker 3: Well, then where's the problem?
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Speaker 7: The problem is the presence of another man in her life.
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Speaker 6: I'm sorry, sir.
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Speaker 7: I'm a detective, not a matchmaker. This isn't a question
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Speaker 7: of making a match, Mr.
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Speaker 5: Wolfe.
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Speaker 9: I have much too much respect for your talents to
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Speaker 9: think of offering you such an assignment.
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Speaker 6: Exactly. What do you want me to do?
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Speaker 7: I want you to save Ilsa Dana's life.
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Speaker 6: Her life? Mr.
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Speaker 9: Wolfe, this other man I spoke of is insanely jealous.
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Speaker 9: Not only of Ilsa's present, but of her past as well.
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Speaker 9: He has threatened to kill her.
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Speaker 6: I don't doubt your earnestness in this matter, Mr. Oliphant,
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Speaker 6: but how would you know?
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Speaker 9: I was listening on an extension in Miss Dana's apartment
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Speaker 9: a few days ago when Hunter called.
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Speaker 7: Hunter?
6:37
Speaker 6: Yes, sir. Jack Hunter.
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Speaker 7: Known as Jack the Babe Hunter.
6:40
Speaker 3: Wait a minute. I know that canvas back.
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Speaker 7: Sure.
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Speaker 3: He's a coffee and cake prelim waltzer.
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Speaker 4: No, he's not.
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Speaker 7: He's a boxer.
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Speaker 6: Archie is being fancy overlooking, Mr. Oliphant. Is Hunter in
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Speaker 6: love with this lady of yours? I doubt it.
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Speaker 7: He's a man of complete moral and spiritual corruption, I believe.
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Speaker 6: Naturally, he would. But what are the facts?
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Speaker 7: In my opinion, he's after her for her money.
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Speaker 6: She has money?
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Speaker 7: To burn.
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Speaker 6: And you, Mr. Oliphant?
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Speaker 7: Me.
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Speaker 6: Can you also afford to burn? How much do you want?
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Speaker 8: The answer to that would be astronomical. However, if you
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Speaker 8: leave a check for, say, $ 7, 000, I shall look into
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Speaker 8: your matter the very moment I have completed a little
7:21
Speaker 8: research into the nutrition of the Polynesian orchid.
7:32
Speaker 3: Oliphant's check gave our bank account a slight blood transfusion.
7:35
Speaker 3: I think it was the boss's plan to spend a
7:37
Speaker 3: week or two in the plant room before he got
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Speaker 3: busy on the case. And he'd have done it, too,
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Speaker 3: if that phone call hadn't come in about a little
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Speaker 3: after nine, just after Wolf had polished off one of
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Speaker 3: Fritz's dinners and was settling back with a stein of
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Speaker 3: beer in his hand.
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Speaker 6: Don't disturb yourself, Archie. I'll get it.
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Speaker 7: Now, look out.
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Speaker 4: You don't strain yourself, boss. You got to straighten out
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Speaker 4: an elbow to reach that receiver.
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Speaker 8: You have an unfortunate flair for mixing humor with impertinence,
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Speaker 8: my friend.
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Speaker 6: Hello, Nero Wolfe speaking.
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Speaker 5: This is Ilsa Dana, Mr. Wolfe.
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Speaker 6: How do you do, Miss Dana? We were discussing you
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Speaker 6: only this morning.
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Speaker 7: So I've heard.
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Speaker 6: Through whom?
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Speaker 5: Ted Oliphant.
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Speaker 6: I see. The young man seemed to be quite worried
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Speaker 6: about you.
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Speaker 5: The young man should tend to his own affairs.
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Speaker 6: Said you were in some danger.
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Speaker 5: I know what he said. And not one word of
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Speaker 5: it was true. Oh? I'd like to talk to you, Mr. Wolfe.
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Speaker 6: I'm sure it'll be an immense pleasure. Where do you live?
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Speaker 5: I have an apartment at 22 Blanton Street. Could you
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Speaker 5: be here soon?
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Speaker 6: I could be there in a quarter of an hour,
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Speaker 6: Miss Dana. By proxy, of course.
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Speaker 3: The proxy, naturally, was yours truly. Ten minutes later, at
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Speaker 3: twenty past nine, I walked up to Ilsa Dana's door
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Speaker 3: with a nosy elevator boy giving me the double O's.
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Speaker 3: The reason for his interest was that her door was open...
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Speaker 3: and the room inside was empty except for a little
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Speaker 3: twisted pile of pale pink satin... which at close range
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Speaker 3: turned out to be a woman. Which woman turned out
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Speaker 3: to be Ilsa Dana. And Ilsa Dana was dead.
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Speaker 7: She used to be pretty.
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Speaker 10: She isn't now.
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Speaker 3: Strangulation doesn't help any girl's looks, son.
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Speaker 10: Make anything of it?
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Speaker 3: Well, the position of her body and the bloodstains on
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Speaker 3: her pointed fingernails... Tells me that she put up a
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Speaker 3: tough struggle before somebody succeeded in smothering with a pillow
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Speaker 3: from the sofa over there.
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Speaker 10: Yeah, that figures. When did it happen, I wonder?
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Speaker 3: In the last 15 minutes, I'd guess. Say, who's been
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Speaker 3: up in the elevator this evening?
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Speaker 10: Nobody for her.
9:39
Speaker 3: Well, somebody came up.
9:40
Speaker 7: Well, who says not?
9:42
Speaker 10: They could have used the stairs, you know.
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Speaker 4: Yeah.
9:45
Speaker 3: How well do you know Miss Dana?
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Speaker 10: I know exactly zero about Miss Dana.
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Speaker 3: How could you write her up and down every day
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Speaker 3: you know nothing about her?
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Speaker 10: It's a rule of the house to keep your mouth shut.
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Speaker 10: The rule also goes when being questioned by a cop.
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Speaker 6: A cop?
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Speaker 3: Who's a cop?
9:59
Speaker 10: Oh, I guess you're a cello player from the Philharmonic.
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Speaker 3: Look, I happen to work for a guy named Nero Wolfe.
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Speaker 5: Oh.
10:07
Speaker 3: Heard of him?
10:08
Speaker 7: Maybe.
10:09
Speaker 3: Well, if your memory comes alive, son, I might see
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Speaker 3: my way clear to spend a few dollars with you. Understand?
10:17
Speaker 10: I'll keep you in mind. Going down, mister?
10:30
Speaker 3: I spent time trying to get sense out of the
10:32
Speaker 3: superintendent and a set of chambermaids, but they were as
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Speaker 3: quiet as a ballpark on Christmas Eve. Then I called
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Speaker 3: the cops and told them about Oliphant and Hunter. By
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Speaker 3: the time I got home, the house was dark and
10:42
Speaker 3: Nero Wolfe was sleeping. Next morning, I gave him the
10:45
Speaker 3: details while he drank three bottles of beer. When I finished,
10:48
Speaker 3: he sat for a long time and then started another bottle.
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Speaker 6: The prize fighter. What about the prize fighter, Archie?
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Speaker 3: Hunter, I phoned the hotel he lives in before you
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Speaker 3: got up.
11:00
Speaker 5: And?
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Speaker 3: They told me he wasn't in.
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Speaker 6: Hmm. You know, I began to think that Mr.
11:04
Speaker 8: Oliphant brought us a more absorbing case than he suspected.
11:08
Speaker 3: You know, I'm glad you like it.
11:10
Speaker 8: I don't like it. I don't like work of any variety.
11:13
Speaker 8: But this thing has its points.
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Speaker 3: Well, what do we do next?
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Speaker 7: Next we investigate my client.
11:19
Speaker 10: What?
11:20
Speaker 8: Merely because the reformed playboy employs a detective doesn't exempt
11:24
Speaker 8: him from suspicion action.
11:26
Speaker 3: Oh, now who's that?
11:28
Speaker 6: I'm afraid we have no choice but to open the
11:31
Speaker 6: door and see.
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Speaker 3: My name is Young. Basto Young. It's nice meeting you, Mr. Young.
11:38
Speaker 3: What do you want?
11:40
Speaker 7: I want to see Nero Wolfe.
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Speaker 4: About?
11:42
Speaker 5: Uh.
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Speaker 7: About a certain young lady with whom I am deeply
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Speaker 7: in love.
11:47
Speaker 5: What?
11:48
Speaker 7: Will you repeat that? I want to see Mr. Wolfe
11:51
Speaker 7: about a certain young lady with whom I am deeply
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Speaker 7: in love.
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Speaker 6: Her name, please.
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Speaker 7: Ilsa Dana.
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Speaker 3: Is it possible that you entertain plans of making her
12:00
Speaker 3: your wife?
12:01
Speaker 5: Well, I....
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Speaker 7: Yes, but there's a problem involved. Another man?
12:07
Speaker 4: Yes.
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Speaker 3: Well, do come in. Do come in. I think we've
12:10
Speaker 3: been waiting for you.
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Speaker 4: Oh, Mr.
12:12
Speaker 5: Wolfe.
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Speaker 3: Here's another one.
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Speaker 7: Ah, Mr. Wolfe.
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Speaker 6: You've come to me about Miss Isardina, sir?
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Speaker 7: I have come to you, more specifically, about a man
12:22
Speaker 7: who has threatened her life.
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Speaker 4: Hmm.
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Speaker 6: How unusual.
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Speaker 7: He's the treacherous kind.
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Speaker 6: Mild-mannered, you know.
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Speaker 7: As we say in my profession, he underplays it.
12:31
Speaker 6: Your profession, then, is the stage.
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Speaker 7: It is, sir.
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Speaker 6: Go on, you interest me deeply.
12:37
Speaker 7: I was present recently when he told her that he
12:39
Speaker 7: would certainly kill her unless she mended her sinful ways.
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Speaker 3: Sinful?
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Speaker 7: No one denies that Ilsa has had, shall we say,
12:49
Speaker 7: a checkered career. But the man's attitude is totally fanatical.
12:53
Speaker 8: What's his particular brand of fanaticism, Mr.
12:56
Speaker 4: Young?
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Speaker 7: Theodore Oliphant is a religious maniac.
13:00
Speaker 3: Well, what do you know? He's come to give Theodore
13:03
Speaker 3: a bad report card.
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Speaker 7: I don't understand. I've come to ask Mr. Wolfe to
13:06
Speaker 7: prevent his murdering Miss Dana. Am I allowed a direct question, sir?
13:10
Speaker 6: Why, of course.
13:11
Speaker 8: Where were you between 9 and 9.20 p.m.
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Speaker 6: Last night? 9 and 9.20?
13:17
Speaker 7: Why do you ask?
13:18
Speaker 6: You said I was permitted a direct question.
13:21
Speaker 3: Oh, I was walking.
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Speaker 7: In the park, as I remember. Do you make a
13:25
Speaker 7: habit of walking in the park?
13:27
Speaker 3: I have lately.
13:29
Speaker 7: I'm preparing for an important role in the forthcoming production.
13:32
Speaker 7: What's so important about last night?
13:35
Speaker 6: From your point of view, a great deal, sir.
13:37
Speaker 7: What do you mean?
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Speaker 6: Last night, Miss Ilse Dana was murdered.
13:42
Speaker 5: What?
13:42
Speaker 6: Mr. Goodwin here discovered the body.
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Speaker 3: No.
13:46
Speaker 6: I'm afraid I must insist, Mr.
13:48
Speaker 4: Young.
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Speaker 7: Why are you looking at me like that.
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Speaker 8: Are you accusing me of... I have accused you of nothing,
13:57
Speaker 8: my dear sir.
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Speaker 7: Now, look, you're making a mistake. Oliphant killed her. You
14:02
Speaker 7: may be sure of that. I have your word.
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Speaker 6: I know him.
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Speaker 7: He was trying to reform her. I wanted to make
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Speaker 7: her a devout follower of his cult, the Seekers of Power.
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Speaker 7: I heard him tell her to her face that if
14:15
Speaker 7: she refused redemption, he would see to it that she
14:18
Speaker 7: didn't live on in her wickedness.
14:20
Speaker 6: You could produce other witnesses?
14:22
Speaker 7: Do you know... In your own smug way. You're as
14:27
Speaker 7: detestable a character as I have ever had.
14:29
Speaker 3: All right, all right. Let's everybody take five.
14:32
Speaker 7: Yeah?
14:33
Speaker 4: Nero Wolf?
14:34
Speaker 3: He's busy. This is Archie Goodwin.
14:35
Speaker 4: You'll do, Goodwin. This is Jack the Babe Hunter.
14:39
Speaker 5: Oh?
14:40
Speaker 3: Uh, how are you?
14:41
Speaker 4: Great. Except the cops seem.
14:43
Speaker 11: To want to talk to me about some murder fandango
14:45
Speaker 11: because as I get.
14:46
Speaker 4: It, you name my name.
14:48
Speaker 3: You got it wrong.
14:49
Speaker 4: I doubt it.
14:49
Speaker 7: And I'm coming over there to set you straight.
15:00
Speaker 3: Why'd you ring me in on this mess, Wolf?
15:02
Speaker 6: You knew the girl pretty well.
15:04
Speaker 1: Me and how many more?
15:06
Speaker 3: Besides, what time was she murdered?
15:09
Speaker 7: Last night between 9 and 9.20.
15:10
Speaker 5: Okay.
15:12
Speaker 6: Si.
15:12
Speaker 8: So if you would inform the police where you were
15:15
Speaker 8: at the time, that should be that.
15:17
Speaker 7: Yeah.
15:18
Speaker 8: By the way, Mr. Hunter, where were you at the time?
15:21
Speaker 11: I don't see your badge, Wolf.
15:24
Speaker 6: I was only wondering.
15:25
Speaker 11: I haven't been near the Dana woman for over a month.
15:29
Speaker 11: But if you're really interested, I'll give you the name
15:31
Speaker 11: of the killer.
15:32
Speaker 6: Please do not keep us in suspense, Mr. Hunter.
15:35
Speaker 11: A couple of years back, Ilsa financed a guy in
15:38
Speaker 11: a big and lousy Shakespearean play that closed like a
15:41
Speaker 11: clam and nothing flat.
15:42
Speaker 6: Go on.
15:42
Speaker 11: It was money down the drain. The guy's got nerve.
15:46
Speaker 11: He was in love with her and he figured she'd
15:47
Speaker 11: do anything for him. So he comes back to her
15:49
Speaker 11: to finance him again. This time in Hamlet, no less.
15:52
Speaker 6: I see.
15:53
Speaker 11: I don't have to tell you what a flop that
15:55
Speaker 11: would be.
15:56
Speaker 6: You needn't tell me the actor's name either.
15:59
Speaker 4: You know?
16:00
Speaker 7: Mr.
16:00
Speaker 8: Barstow Young just left here.
16:02
Speaker 6: Yeah? Well, he's your man, Wolf.
16:05
Speaker 11: He got so sore when she told him she wouldn't
16:07
Speaker 11: toss any more moolah into his broken-down career, he went
16:10
Speaker 11: off his rocker and tore it down.
16:12
Speaker 6: You're reason for thinking so.
16:14
Speaker 11: I met him on the street one day, and he
16:15
Speaker 11: started beefing to me with blood in his eyes. It
16:17
Speaker 11: was all I could do not to punch him.
16:19
Speaker 8: The results might have been less fatal if you'd followed
16:22
Speaker 8: your instincts, sir.
16:24
Speaker 3: I couldn't. The guy's built like a broomstick. He's weak
16:27
Speaker 3: as a cat.
16:27
Speaker 11: Hit him once, he'd crack like dry plaster.
16:30
Speaker 6: I see. Hmm, hmm.
16:34
Speaker 3: What's on your mind?
16:36
Speaker 8: This man you're accusing of Miss Dana's murder, Mr. Hunter,
16:40
Speaker 8: he was very much in love with her. She was
16:42
Speaker 8: thinking about marrying him, he said.
16:44
Speaker 11: He said?
16:45
Speaker 6: Yes, he did. I heard him, too.
16:47
Speaker 11: He was talking through his skull, Cap. He also wasn't
16:50
Speaker 11: going to marry anybody.
16:51
Speaker 5: No?
16:52
Speaker 6: No, she couldn't. Why couldn't she?
16:55
Speaker 3: Well, she just couldn't, that's all.
16:59
Speaker 6: So long.
17:11
Speaker 3: Well, now we got a perfect circle with everybody pointing
17:14
Speaker 3: at everybody else and nobody able to prove a thing.
17:17
Speaker 6: What Hunter says isn't impossible, Archie.
17:20
Speaker 3: You think Young did it?
17:22
Speaker 7: I don't think at all yet.
17:24
Speaker 8: But if there's anything more dangerous than a woman scorned,
17:27
Speaker 8: it's an actor scorned.
17:29
Speaker 6: We have another visitor.
17:30
Speaker 3: Yeah, who are you expecting?
17:32
Speaker 6: At this point, anybody.
17:36
Speaker 5: Hi.
17:37
Speaker 6: Oh, you.
17:37
Speaker 10: Yeah, I told you you might hear from me.
17:39
Speaker 3: Come on in.
17:40
Speaker 6: Who's this?
17:41
Speaker 3: A fellow runs the elevator at 22 Blanton Street. What
17:44
Speaker 3: do you got for me, kid?
17:45
Speaker 7: Postcard.
17:46
Speaker 6: Postcard?
17:47
Speaker 10: Yeah, the cops missed it, but I spotted the edge
17:50
Speaker 10: stuck under a rug.
17:51
Speaker 3: Nice of you to have delivered it. Maybe he was
17:54
Speaker 3: just being curious.
17:55
Speaker 4: Curious?
17:56
Speaker 3: It's not every elevator boy who has a chance to
17:58
Speaker 3: see Nero Wolf in the flesh.
18:00
Speaker 4: Oh, him?
18:01
Speaker 7: Ha, ha, ha. Come off it, High Pockets.
18:03
Speaker 10: I'm here because you mentioned something about spending a few bucks.
18:07
Speaker 7: Oh.
18:07
Speaker 3: I wouldn't cross the street to see the best gumshoe
18:09
Speaker 3: that ever breathed. Look, gumshoes don't breathe, and how would
18:12
Speaker 3: you like a sock.
18:13
Speaker 6: Archie, pay him and let him go.
18:15
Speaker 10: Yeah, pay me and let me go.
18:17
Speaker 6: Sure, Mr.
18:18
Speaker 3: Wolfe. Here you are. Thanks.
18:21
Speaker 10: Don't mention it.
18:22
Speaker 6: Anytime, pal. Anytime.
18:26
Speaker 3: How do you like that fresh little punk?
18:28
Speaker 6: Archie, the lad has done us nobly.
18:30
Speaker 5: Yeah? Yeah.
18:32
Speaker 6: Typewritten card addressed to Miss Ilsa Dina.
18:35
Speaker 8: What's it say? Rather peculiar message. Have you prayed tonight?
18:40
Speaker 8: It's signed with the single letter O. Have you prayed tonight?
18:43
Speaker 6: Yes.
18:44
Speaker 7: Signed O? Exactly.
18:46
Speaker 3: Weird, isn't it? Well, what's weird about it? What could
18:49
Speaker 3: be plainer? Have you prayed tonight? Now, I ask you,
18:52
Speaker 3: who is the man in this deal who's interested in praying?
18:54
Speaker 6: All of us, I hope, are God-fearing.
18:56
Speaker 7: All right, all right.
18:57
Speaker 8: But I ask you again, what does O stand for?
19:00
Speaker 8: It could stand for O'Brien, obituary, Omaha.
19:03
Speaker 3: What about Oliphant?
19:04
Speaker 6: Oliphant, too.
19:05
Speaker 3: What's with this indifference? The case is cracking and you
19:08
Speaker 3: slough it off. You remember what Young said? Oliphant threatened
19:11
Speaker 3: to kill her because she wouldn't join that cockeyed.
19:14
Speaker 8: Movement of his. Don't exhaust yourself, Archie. We have a
19:17
Speaker 8: hard night ahead.
19:18
Speaker 3: Yes, but I don't understand.
19:19
Speaker 8: But I don't mean to stifle your imagination, my friend.
19:23
Speaker 8: But if you'd reserve your deluxions for a little while,
19:26
Speaker 8: you could lend me some much-needed assistance.
19:29
Speaker 3: What do you want?
19:30
Speaker 6: I want you to become a burglar. A burglar?
19:33
Speaker 8: I want you to hurry over to the dead woman's
19:35
Speaker 8: apartment on Branton Street and ransack it.
19:38
Speaker 6: For what? How do I know? We need help. Anything
19:42
Speaker 6: may help us.
19:44
Speaker 8: Go through the place with a fine tooth comb.
19:51
Speaker 3: I tore the late Miss Dana's apartment to shreds, but
19:53
Speaker 3: I saw nothing. Then, just as I was about to
19:56
Speaker 3: give it up as a bum job, I noticed a
19:58
Speaker 3: little writing desk in the living room. Pried loose the
20:00
Speaker 3: lock and spotted something among a pile of papers that
20:02
Speaker 3: belonged in no well-to-do flat. It was a pawn ticket.
20:06
Speaker 3: Lot 8N046. And the address was a pawn shop around
20:10
Speaker 3: the corner on 6th Avenue. It wasn't more than 90
20:13
Speaker 3: seconds later that I walked into the joint and tossed
20:15
Speaker 3: the ticket across the counter.
20:18
Speaker 6: Oh.
20:18
Speaker 7: Oh, yeah. This, uh, want to redeem it.
20:21
Speaker 3: And fast, huh, Pops?
20:22
Speaker 7: That's nothing that's worth much, mister.
20:24
Speaker 5: No?
20:25
Speaker 3: Oh, what is it?
20:26
Speaker 7: This? Small steel filing box.
20:30
Speaker 3: Anything in it?
20:31
Speaker 6: I don't know.
20:32
Speaker 7: Come to me locked, never been able to get it open.
20:40
Speaker 3: We got it open, Wolf and I. Smashed the front
20:42
Speaker 3: end with a poker. There were some odds and ends inside,
20:45
Speaker 3: old earrings, some thumbtacks, a cigarette lighter, just trash. Then
20:50
Speaker 3: the boss stuck his fingers in and pulled out a plum.
20:53
Speaker 6: This is it.
20:54
Speaker 3: What do you mean, this is it?
20:56
Speaker 6: You fail to recognize this classic document?
20:59
Speaker 5: Huh?
20:59
Speaker 8: Marriage license, Archie. A marriage license. Yeah, well, whose marriage license?
21:04
Speaker 8: The wording is self-explanatory.
21:06
Speaker 7: Listen.
21:07
Speaker 6: This is to certify, etc., etc.
21:09
Speaker 8: thus licensing on this third day of May, 1946... The
21:14
Speaker 8: marriage of Miss Ilsa Dana to Mr.
21:16
Speaker 7: Johann Jaeger.
21:18
Speaker 3: Johann Jaeger?
21:19
Speaker 6: Exactly.
21:19
Speaker 3: Well, who in the world is Johann Jaeger?
21:21
Speaker 6: We'll soon see.
21:23
Speaker 3: I don't get it.
21:24
Speaker 6: I can understand. It's a befuddling little puzzle.
21:28
Speaker 8: It'll be very easy for one to make a fatal
21:30
Speaker 8: mistake here.
21:31
Speaker 3: But, of course, you won't.
21:33
Speaker 6: I won't.
21:38
Speaker 3: Three hours later, I'd herded all the suspects into the office,
21:41
Speaker 3: and he sat in his chair and glared at them. Oliphant, Young,
21:44
Speaker 3: and Hunter. It was tense and tight, and the boss
21:47
Speaker 3: let it stay that way, saying not a word to
21:50
Speaker 3: anybody while he calmly sipped his beer. It was Oliphant
21:53
Speaker 3: who cracked first.
21:55
Speaker 7: I didn't kill Ilsa.
21:55
Speaker 10: I couldn't have.
21:57
Speaker 6: Jealousy is a very compelling motive, Mr. Oliphant.
22:01
Speaker 8: And you came to me, remember, complaining that there was
22:03
Speaker 8: another man in Ilsa Dana's life?
22:05
Speaker 9: Whatever I complained about him, and jealous as I was,
22:09
Speaker 9: I didn't kill her as the sacred power is my
22:11
Speaker 9: holy judge.
22:12
Speaker 8: Being unacquainted with your sacred power, I'd have to ask
22:15
Speaker 8: you for a better authority.
22:17
Speaker 7: Sacred power. It simply wouldn't have been possible for me
22:20
Speaker 7: to have done it.
22:21
Speaker 6: Why not? Yeah, why not? Because I.
22:25
Speaker 9: I was at Mickey's Night Owl Club last night from
22:27
Speaker 9: 7 until 4 a.m.
22:29
Speaker 7: Contemplating the sacred power, no doubt.
22:32
Speaker 6: That can be proved, Mr.
22:33
Speaker 4: Oliphant?
22:33
Speaker 7: Let me call now.
22:34
Speaker 3: Let the head waiter tell you.
22:35
Speaker 4: Hmm.
22:37
Speaker 8: Well, you take your embarrassment as an indication that you're
22:40
Speaker 8: telling the truth.
22:41
Speaker 3: Hey, wait a minute. You can't let him off like that.
22:43
Speaker 6: Don't be bothersome, Archie.
22:44
Speaker 3: Yeah, but we got that card he wrote, the one
22:46
Speaker 3: about have you prayed tonight, signed with his initial.
22:49
Speaker 6: He didn't write that card, Archie.
22:51
Speaker 4: Now, look.
22:52
Speaker 6: And the O is not his initial, is it, Mr.
22:55
Speaker 6: Barstow Young?
22:56
Speaker 7: I'm afraid I don't understand.
22:59
Speaker 8: On the contrary, I'm afraid you do. But for the record,
23:02
Speaker 8: I'll explain.
23:03
Speaker 6: Oh, Archie.
23:04
Speaker 3: Yes, boss?
23:05
Speaker 6: Hand Mr.
23:06
Speaker 8: Young that large red volume off the shelf behind Mr.
23:09
Speaker 8: Hunter's head.
23:10
Speaker 3: This one?
23:11
Speaker 6: That one, thank you. Now then, Mr. Young, you will
23:14
Speaker 6: favor me by opening the volume to page 1133.
23:17
Speaker 4: But why?
23:17
Speaker 6: Open it, sir. Good.
23:23
Speaker 8: You will now count six lines down from the top
23:26
Speaker 8: and read what you see.
23:30
Speaker 7: Have you prayed tonight?
23:32
Speaker 6: Thank you, Mr. Yang.
23:34
Speaker 3: What the devil is going on?
23:35
Speaker 6: Mr.
23:36
Speaker 8: Yang has just given us a reading from a tragedy.
23:39
Speaker 8: The line, have you prayed tonight, is spoken by the
23:41
Speaker 8: hero to the heroine just before he murders her. The
23:44
Speaker 8: name of the heroine is Desdemona. And the hero, as
23:47
Speaker 8: I'm sure you all know, is Othello.
23:50
Speaker 6: Othello. Yeah, the O was not Oliphant, Archie.
23:54
Speaker 8: Othello, I think, was a Shakespearean play which Miss Dana
23:57
Speaker 8: financed for our Miss Young. And knowing she would recognize
24:00
Speaker 8: the quotation as well as the threat behind it, he
24:03
Speaker 8: sent it to her to warn her that he meant
24:05
Speaker 8: to murder her. You won't have the unmitigated gall to
24:10
Speaker 8: deny that, will you, Miss Young?
24:12
Speaker 10: No.
24:13
Speaker 7: No, I don't deny it.
24:14
Speaker 3: Do I call the police?
24:15
Speaker 7: But I didn't kill her. The fact that I sent
24:16
Speaker 7: the car doesn't mean I killed her.
24:17
Speaker 3: Well, it'll do for my money.
24:19
Speaker 6: But not for mine, Archie.
24:20
Speaker 5: What?
24:21
Speaker 6: Mr.
24:22
Speaker 8: Young couldn't have killed Miss Dana.
24:24
Speaker 6: Why not?
24:24
Speaker 8: Because he lacks the strength to strangle such a healthy
24:27
Speaker 8: young woman, a champion athlete, wide awake.
24:30
Speaker 6: And full of fight.
24:31
Speaker 8: He's rather a frail person, as we know, and smothering
24:34
Speaker 8: Miss Dana with that pillow is no easy task.
24:36
Speaker 6: She struggled. Therefore, she clawed the wrists of the murderer.
24:41
Speaker 8: I'm sure that if you examine Mr. Young's wrists, you
24:43
Speaker 8: will find no scratches or scars.
24:45
Speaker 3: Here, let me see that.
24:46
Speaker 7: Go ahead.
24:48
Speaker 6: Well, Archie?
24:50
Speaker 3: Ah, you're right.
24:51
Speaker 5: Nothing.
24:51
Speaker 6: I was sure there wouldn't be.
24:53
Speaker 8: The person who actually killed Miss Dana was a powerful
24:56
Speaker 8: physical specimen.
24:57
Speaker 7: Yeah?
24:58
Speaker 6: Yes, Mr. Hunter.
25:00
Speaker 8: In all probability, a professional athlete. A muscular man in
25:04
Speaker 8: good condition.
25:05
Speaker 6: You pointing at me? Seems quite likely, doesn't it?
25:07
Speaker 3: You're out of your head.
25:09
Speaker 6: Am I?
25:09
Speaker 4: Yeah.
25:10
Speaker 6: Yes, Mr. Dana. War ihr Frau? Nicht wahr?
25:14
Speaker 7: Jawohl. I.
25:16
Speaker 9: I mean.
25:16
Speaker 6: You said ja, Mr.
25:17
Speaker 4: Hunter.
25:18
Speaker 8: And you meant you are, yes. I asked you in
25:22
Speaker 8: German if Ilse Dana was your wife, and you in
25:25
Speaker 8: the heat of emotion answered me yes in your mother tongue.
25:28
Speaker 3: Look, what's going on here?
25:30
Speaker 6: Allow me to present Mr. Johann Jäger, Archie.
25:33
Speaker 7: Him?
25:34
Speaker 8: I've known him since we first saw that marriage license.
25:37
Speaker 8: You see, Jack Hunter is the English translation of our
25:39
Speaker 8: friend's real name back in Germany, where he comes from, Mr.
25:43
Speaker 6: Johann Jäger.
25:44
Speaker 3: Oh, what do you know?
25:45
Speaker 11: So you proved nothing. Yeah, I was married to Ilse.
25:48
Speaker 11: That's why I said she couldn't marry anybody else. But
25:50
Speaker 11: I didn't kill her.
25:51
Speaker 7: She was my wife. I loved her.
25:53
Speaker 6: Oliver told us you were insanely jealous of him.
25:56
Speaker 7: What if he did?
25:56
Speaker 6: You know better.
25:57
Speaker 5: Do we?
25:58
Speaker 6: Sure you do.
25:59
Speaker 11: You also told yourself over the phone that every word
26:01
Speaker 11: Oliver said was a lie.
26:02
Speaker 6: Interesting. What is?
26:05
Speaker 8: How you could possibly know what Ilse Dana told me
26:08
Speaker 8: over the phone? I hadn't mentioned it to you or
26:10
Speaker 8: anybody else.
26:11
Speaker 7: Oh, well.
26:14
Speaker 7: Well, you see.
26:15
Speaker 6: I see most clearly, Mr. Yeager... that.
26:18
Speaker 8: You must have been in the apartment with her listening
26:21
Speaker 8: on the extension phone, or you couldn't possibly have that information.
26:26
Speaker 8: And it was only a few minutes after that telephone
26:29
Speaker 8: call that Ailsa Dana was smothered to death.
26:32
Speaker 7: I see it's about time I said goodnight.
26:34
Speaker 3: Wait a minute, Yeager.
26:41
Speaker 6: Good work, Archie. I was right.
26:48
Speaker 7: I told you we threatened to kill her. But why?
26:50
Speaker 8: I've only guessed at the story. Reconstructed it, so to say.
26:54
Speaker 8: But I think you and Mr. Young are to be congratulated.
26:58
Speaker 3: On what, sir?
26:59
Speaker 8: On not having won your fair lady. You've always thought
27:03
Speaker 8: of her as a sweet, demure society girl. But actually,
27:06
Speaker 8: she was a vicious person, as bad as the man
27:09
Speaker 8: who killed her, if not worse. She tortured him cruelly
27:12
Speaker 8: for four long years. How can you say that about her?
27:14
Speaker 8: How can you doubt it, Mr.
27:16
Speaker 6: Oliphant?
27:16
Speaker 8: There must have been a great many men in her life.
27:18
Speaker 8: We know at least two definitely, you and Mr.
27:20
Speaker 6: Young.
27:21
Speaker 7: But she was in love with me. She was in
27:23
Speaker 7: love with me.
27:24
Speaker 6: I'm sorry to shatter your illusions, but she was not
27:26
Speaker 6: in love with either of you. She was using you
27:29
Speaker 6: for her purpose.
27:30
Speaker 7: What was her purpose?
27:32
Speaker 8: Tementing the man she married. That was her preoccupation day
27:36
Speaker 8: and night. She delighted in terrorizing over him. One might
27:40
Speaker 8: in breaking a bull or taming a wild mustang. Do
27:43
Speaker 8: I come near the truth, Hunter?
27:45
Speaker 7: Yes.
27:46
Speaker 3: Until I couldn't stand it any longer.
27:48
Speaker 6: May I ask then why you married her?
27:51
Speaker 5: Why?
27:51
Speaker 3: Because I couldn't help myself.
27:53
Speaker 6: I crawled for her.
27:54
Speaker 3: I married her on the terms that nobody should ever
27:56
Speaker 3: know I was her husband.
27:57
Speaker 11: She was too good for me, she told me that
27:59
Speaker 11: to my face.
28:00
Speaker 6: Over and over.
28:01
Speaker 3: We belonged to different worlds. But I was crazy about her,
28:04
Speaker 3: so I took it. What I've taken you wouldn't believe.
28:08
Speaker 6: Oh, I am sure I would, Mr. Hunt. I am
28:10
Speaker 6: a very understanding man.
28:12
Speaker 8: The question is, will a jury believe you?
28:15
Speaker 6: And that we must begin to learn immediately.
28:19
Speaker 4: Archie.
28:19
Speaker 3: Yes, sir?
28:20
Speaker 6: Phone for Inspector Kramer.
28:38
Speaker 2: You have been listening to The New Adventures of Nero Wolfe,
28:42
Speaker 2: starring Sidney Greenstreet. Tonight's transcribed story by Peter Perry was
29:03
Speaker 2: based on the famous characters created by Rex Stout. This
29:07
Speaker 2: is an Edwin Fadiman program produced and directed by J.
29:10
Speaker 3: Donald Wilson.
29:11
Speaker 2: In the cast were Herb Ellis as Archie Goodwin and
29:15
Speaker 2: Lee Millar, Marna Keneally, Larry Dobkin, Barney Phillips, and Jerry Hausner.
29:19
Speaker 2: Next week at this same time, Nero Wolfe and Archie
29:22
Speaker 2: will bring you The Case of the Headless Hunter.
29:25
Speaker 3: Don Stanley speaking.
29:30
Speaker 4: The End.
29:45
Speaker 2: And don't forget, this Sunday marks the premiere of The
29:47
Speaker 2: Big Show on NBC. Not just any big show, it's
29:50
Speaker 2: the big show. NBC's hour and a half of comedy, music, drama,
29:54
Speaker 2: and the best of each. The Big Show will be
29:56
Speaker 2: heard every Sunday afternoon over most of these stations with
29:59
Speaker 2: Tallulah Bankhead as mistress of ceremonies. Your stars for this
30:02
Speaker 2: Sunday's broadcast include Jimmy Durante, Fred Allen, Ethel Merman, Frankie Lane,
30:06
Speaker 2: Mindy Carson, Meredith Wilson, Danny Thomas, and hosts of others.
30:09
Speaker 2: No wonder it's the big show. And Theater Guild on
30:12
Speaker 2: the air this Sunday presents Judy Garland in.
30:14
Speaker 3: Miss Alice Adams.
30:16
Speaker 2: So don't forget, Tallulah Bankhead brings you the big show
30:19
Speaker 2: Sunday on NBC.
30:25
Speaker 1: The new adventures of Nero Wolfe has ended with Dear
30:28
Speaker 1: Dead Lady. Until another evening at the radio dial, good night.
30:33
Speaker 1: Follow Old Time Mystery Radio for more classic mystery and
30:37
Speaker 1: detective broadcasts.