Latest / Great Detectives of Old Time Radio Volume 2|Mystery Audio Dramas / Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Crystal Lake Matter, Parts One and Two (EP1185)

Transcript

Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Crystal Lake Matter, Parts One and Two (EP1185) · Great Detectives of Old Time Radio Volume 2|Mystery Audio Dramas

0:28
Welcome to the Great Detectives of Old Time Radio from Boise, Idaho. This
0:34
is your host, Adam Graham. If you have a comment, send it
0:38
to me Box thirteen at Great Detectives dot net, follow us on Twitter at
0:43
Radio Detectives, and become one of our friends on Facebook, Facebook, dot
0:48
com, slash Radio Detectives. Well, welcome to our listener support Campine.
0:54
It's an event that we do twice per year to help defray the cost of
0:59
the program as well as allow me to continue this passion for old time radio
1:04
and writing. We're in our fifth year here on the Great Detectives of Old
1:08
Time Radio, and we've been through so many great series in that time.
1:14
Box thirteen. Let George do it, Derlock Holmes, Barry Craig, Confidential
1:19
Investigator, Nero Wolf, Candy Matson. Of course, this is about close
1:26
to my seventh year of doing Old Time Radio podcasting, and between the Great
1:33
Detectives of Old Time Radio, my first program, the Old Time Dragnet Show,
1:38
and the Old Time Radio Superman Program, and of course The War,
1:44
I've put out well more than two thousand episodes and I've enjoyed so much bringing
1:51
up you all of these great radio programs, and I appreciate all of your
1:57
support, particularly on Facebook where we have close to twenty eight hundred friends,
2:06
and Twitter, where we have our over three hundred and fifty followers, as
2:09
well as six to seven thousand people who listen all over the world. Thank
2:15
you so much for that support, as well as the financial support that allows
2:21
me to continue to be able to do these podcasts. It's truly appreciated.
2:24
As part of our listener support campaign, I'll also send thank you gifts to
2:30
those who support the program. As usual, anyone who gives seven dollars or
2:36
more will gladly send access to our premium side those who give twenty dollars or
2:40
more. For many years or not many years, I went back to doing
2:44
this about two years, But for when we've been doing this, I've just
2:47
been offering ebook copies of All I needed to Know I learned from Colombo.
2:53
Some people have given an each campaign, so I haven't had any additional ebooks
2:57
to offer, but you can have your choice now of either All I needed
3:00
to Know I learned from Colombo, or one of my fictional works from the
3:06
superhero comedy series Ventures of Powerhouse, Tales of the Dim Knot Fly Another Day
3:10
or Powerhouse Hard Breasted plaus. You receive one additional gift of your choice,
3:16
and this time I'll only talk about different types of options. One at the
3:21
start, one at the end, and one option we do have is audio
3:24
dramas. We will gladly send you any one of the Colonial Radio Theater's Great
3:31
Father Brown Mystery assets or Perry Mason radio sets for any donation of twenty dollars
3:38
or more. At the fifty dollars level, will gladly send you any puaw
3:45
Row BBC radio play, and at the one hundred dollars level, we will
3:50
send you a complete history of Harry Nile radio drama starring the late Phil Harper.
3:57
That's complete, That generally somewhere between twenty and twenty four episodes, and
4:04
those will be four downloads. All right, Well, we've gone long enough
4:08
on this opening, so let's go ahead and take a listen to today's episode
4:12
of Yours Truly Johnny Doller The Crystal Like Matter, Parts one and two from
4:19
Hollywood at Time Now for Johnny Dillar, Tom Wilkins of Amalcolmated Life, Johnny,
4:27
Oh, Hi, Tom, what's up at the moment? Fifty thousand
4:30
bucks Worth of Life Insurance. Oh yeah, we got a policy for that.
4:32
I'm out in the life of one Edward Russell. Russell never heard of
4:35
him. That's just the trouble, Johnny. Right now, nobody else has
4:39
either. Three days ago, his wife Leona over in Denver found a missing
4:42
person's report see the beneficiary, right, So what do you want from me?
4:46
Find out what happened to him? Well, how do you know anything
4:47
did? Maybe he just walked down on his wife. Now, from what
4:50
I can gather, Russell was a hot head. Could be he had one
4:53
argument too many. That still could be just a guy getting away for a
4:56
while. And why would he abandon his car and his story garage in Colorado
5:00
Springs. Oh yeah, it turned up this morning with part of his luggage
5:04
in it. Interested I'm on my way tonight and every weekday night. Bob
5:16
Bailey, in the Transcribed Adventures of the Man with the Action Pact Expenser cout
5:20
America's Fabulous Freelance Insurance Investigator House Truly Johnny Dollar expense account submitted by special Investigator
5:40
Johnny Dollar to Amalgamated Life Associates Home Office, Hartford, Connecticut. Following is
5:46
an accounting of expenses incurred during my investigation of the Crystal Lake matter expense account
5:53
ADEM one one hundred and twenty dollars and fifty cents plain fair and incidentals to
5:57
Denver. Tom Wilkins hadn't given me much to go on, so I figured
6:00
the logical place to start was with the missing man's wife, Leona Russell.
6:04
Their house was in a moderately prosperous suburb of Denver, a white ranch house
6:10
with a shake roof. Everything looked neat and well kept, but somehow a
6:14
forlorn feeling came through to me about the place. Then the door opened right
6:18
away. I was sure something pretty bad had happened to Edward Russell. You
6:23
don't just walk out on a wife who looked like that, Yes, missus,
6:27
Leona Russell. Yes, I'm Johnny Dollar insurance investigator. Oh yes,
6:30
mister Dollar. Mister Wilkins sent a telegram about you. Won't you come in?
6:35
Thanks? Hmm, cooler in here. I try to keep the house
6:40
shut up during the day. It helps. Please sit down, Oh,
6:44
thank you. I've already told the police what little there was to tell when
6:47
I file the missing person's report. Oh sure, this is just a routine
6:53
investigation. Missus Russell, you probably don't feel too much like talking about it,
6:58
but if you wouldn't mind going up. Well, what information there is?
7:00
Again? Well, it was just a week ago that Ed, mister
7:06
Russell left. You were here when he left. Yes, he told me
7:11
he was driving up the Boulder on business, that he'd only be gone overnight.
7:14
What sort of business is he in? He's in real estate Boulder.
7:16
Huh. But his car was found in Colorado Springs. I know. I
7:23
can't explain that. When he didn't come home on time, I got worried.
7:26
I'd call the hotel and bowler. He never checked in there, Yes,
7:30
I see. Did he know anyone in Colorado Springs? Just business contacts?
7:34
As far as I know, he might have decided to go there instead
7:39
of Boulder, but he would have called me, but he didn't. No,
7:44
I haven't heard a thing from him since he drove away from here a
7:46
week ago. Missus Russell. Do you happen to know if your husband had
7:50
any well enemies? No? Ed was pretty impulsive, you might even say
7:58
hot headed, and I just can't believe that anyone would hate him enough to
8:03
do anything to him. Well, we don't know that anyone has, I
8:05
know, funny things that runs through your mind at a time like this,
8:11
what sort of things? It sounds funny, but I've almost been wishing it
8:18
was in an accident or something like that, in a hospital where he might
8:22
not have a chance to call me, but at least was safe in the
8:24
line. You've checked the hospitals, all of them. I did that before
8:28
I filed the missing person's report. Tell me, had your husband been unusually
8:35
depressed before he left? If you're suggesting that Ed did away with himself,
8:41
that's just not possible, mister Dollar. That's one thing he'd never do.
8:45
He just wasn't built that way. Everything was fine between you two. Yes,
8:52
of course we had disagreements arguments in the six years we've been married.
8:56
Who hasn't, But nothing serious. I guess I'm not being very helpful to
9:03
mister Dollar. Well, I'm sure that's not your fault. You've no idea
9:05
at all where he could be then, or what could have happened, No,
9:09
none at all except except what Well. I don't know if it means
9:16
anything or not, but I found this under some of Bill's papers on his
9:20
desk just this morning. Travel Forlderry Crystal Lake. Where's that? It's a
9:28
resort up in the mountains. As I say, I don't know whether it
9:31
means anything or not. Has he ever been there before? Not that I
9:33
know. I'll mention it to you. No, I don't. I'm sure
9:37
he hasn't. Well, I'll check it out. Thanks, missus wrestll Oh.
9:41
Just one more thing. Yes, you're the beneficiary of his life insurance
9:46
policy. Yes, I know what you're thinking, mister dollar. I'm not
9:52
thinking anything. I'm just asking questions. It's my job, I know.
9:58
But let me ask you question, mister dollar. Do you think fifty thousand
10:03
dollars or any amount of money could possibly make up for for red one thing
10:15
about my job? You have to ask such nice questions sometimes. After Leona
10:20
Russell's answer, that didn't seem to be much left to say, so I
10:22
told her i'd let her know if I found out anything, and I left.
10:26
I looked at the travel folder again. Crystal Lake pretty slim lead.
10:31
But when you have nothing to go on, anything at all looks promising.
10:35
Expense account had him two forty five dollars twenty cents. I rented a car
10:39
and drove to Crystal Lake. It was a beautiful spot seven thousand feet high,
10:46
clean thin air, fragrant pines, and the clearest water this side of
10:52
the Jackson Hole country. I parked a moment and looked out over the lake.
10:56
Great place to drop a hook, but I had a strong hunch that
11:00
the fishing I'd be doing was of a little different variety. One thing was
11:03
obvious. There was a lot of money up here. Most of the cabins
11:07
would be insulid to be called cabins, and had their own boat landings.
11:11
The village was nestled at one end of the lake, a colorful collection of
11:13
Swiss chalets. I had it for the office of the local law deputy sheriff
11:18
named Ansel Garrett, tall, thin, raw bone lad in his early thirties
11:22
who looked like he'd spent all but the first few hours of his life in
11:24
the open, clear keen eyes that showed he had his wits about him.
11:28
Have a seat dollar, Thanks, Eh, Edward Rustle, He said,
11:33
yeah, yeah, that's right. Disappeared about a week ago, left home
11:37
in Denver. Hasn't been heard from since, so he could have come here.
11:41
His wife found a travel folder about Crystal Lake in his papers. It's
11:46
supposed to prove something. No, it doesn't prove anything ants, but it's
11:48
my only lead. Yeah, take a look at this picture. You recognize
11:56
him? Yeah, looks sort of familiar. You've seen him up here?
12:00
Like Yeah, I think so, four or five days ago. Oh,
12:03
what you know, looks like my luck's changing. I hit the jack,
12:07
one of my first nickel. Well, it depends on what jack. But
12:09
you're talking about, Johnny, what do you mean. Well, for one
12:11
thing, I could be wrong about the identification. I guess you haven't been
12:15
wrong about many of them in your time. I suppose he was the guy.
12:18
So what why are you looking for him? Anyway? May you need
12:20
to find out if he's still alive? What makes you think he's not?
12:24
Nothing definite, but a hunch that's getting stronger by the minute. Oh,
12:30
insurance investigators are operating on hunches these days. Huh once in a while,
12:35
just like deputy sheriff stance. All right, So hunches sometimes do pan out.
12:39
But you could be way out in the pasture, Johnny. Maybe the
12:43
guy just had an argument with his wife and he walked down. Oh sure,
12:46
yeah, I thought of that, but then I saw his wife.
12:48
Nobody in his right mind would walk out on her like that, like that,
12:54
look ans, can you give me any dope on this guy? No,
12:56
not much. He came to see me about five days ago. Why
13:00
you mainly to ask me a silly question. Silly. Yeah. He asked
13:03
me if there was a guy named Bill around Crystal Lake somewhere. Oh,
13:07
I take it there's more than one fistful Johnny Bill Cullen Huten's bar at the
13:11
hotel, Bill Jensen, who runs the boat house, Bill Pickens, who
13:13
clerks at the hardware. Yeah, okay, okay, I got the idea.
13:16
I take it. Russell didn't know which Billy wanted. Huh. Well,
13:20
at least I know he was here at Crystal Lake. Now you you
13:24
haven't seen him since then? Yeah? Just once. That same night he
13:28
was in the bar at the hotel talking to Betty Norton, who she heirs
13:31
to the Norton Estate mining. She's got a big place on the other side
13:35
of the lake in your lookout point. Know anything about her all? I
13:39
want to? Oh, he travels at a pretty good clip. I see.
13:43
Well, thanks for the information. It's you know, what are you
13:46
gonna do now? Try to find Edward Russell alive or otherwise? Is that
13:50
the hunch of yours still operating. It hasn't gotten any weaker. Oh,
13:54
just one thing, Johnny, this is a pretty high grade resort here.
13:58
Things are nice and peaceful. I like to keep it that way, sure,
14:03
So don't go off half cocked for instance. For instance, don't start
14:09
accusing anybody of murder unless or until you find a body. And if I
14:13
do find a body, oh, then looks like we'll have to start doing
14:16
a little accusing. I left Ansel Garrett's office and walked around the village.
14:24
All I knew so far was that Edward Russell, or somebody who looked like
14:26
him, had been in Crystal Lake several days ago inquiring about a man named
14:31
Bill, and then he'd been at the bar with a dough heavy girl named
14:33
Betty Norton. There were a flock of Bills in town, but there was
14:37
only one Betty Norton, so I decided to start with her. I drove
14:41
around the lake to her home and elaborate lodge type place that sprawled along the
14:43
shore. Betty was down on her boat dock in a bathing suit, and
14:46
she was a pretty elaborate looking job herself. I was just going for a
14:50
swim come on join me. I'm sorry, miss Norton, I'm not eclipped
14:54
at the moment. Oh, there's some trucks in the dressing room. Yea.
14:56
Well, look, I'd like to talk to you about something, but
14:58
I don't feel like talking right now. I feel like swimming. But this
15:01
is important. It's about it. So is swimming. If you want to
15:05
talk to me, you've got to go swimming first. Okay, we'll play
15:09
it your way. That's the only way I ever play it, mister dollar.
15:15
So we went swimming, and I swam high, but mainly they came
15:18
from freezing to death. The water should have been accused by the feel of
15:22
it, but Betty seemed to think it was normal. After a while,
15:26
we climbed back onto the landfill. Wonderful. Here's a towel. Ooh,
15:31
it's great. Sure, only about twenty degrees too cold. This makes the
15:37
sun feel better. Hot and cold, Johnny contrast, that's what puts the
15:41
charge in line, doesn't I wouldn't know. Hey, Look, do you
15:46
mind now if I ask you a couple of questions? Go ahead. You
15:50
know a man named Edward Russell. I don't think so. I think you
15:52
do. You had a drink with him at the hotel several nights ago.
15:56
So this I do once in a while. Am I supposed to remember this?
16:00
One might have mentioned he was looking for a guy named Bill Well,
16:04
I remember now he thought the bartender might be the one he was looking for,
16:08
Bill Collins. So what happened? How should I know? I left?
16:11
You haven't seen Russell since? Nope, haven't missed him either. Oh
16:15
great, And for this kind of information, I practically freeze to death on
16:18
an the ice trough you laughingly call a lake. Maybe your trip wasn't a
16:23
waste of time after all, Johnny, Oh we met, Well, what
16:30
do you do with your spare time? Well? A, I don't expect
16:33
to have much, And B isn't that sort of a leading question? I'm
16:37
pretty good at leading. You must have trouble finding guys to dance with.
16:41
Huh? Why didn't you say it sometime? Huh? I laughed on that,
16:48
feeling like a fly who spotted the weather at the last moments. And
16:52
right now I was feeling just about as useless as a fly too. I
16:56
wasn't getting even close to locating Edward Russell. I went back to my room
17:00
aforms right, Johnny, dollar An Scarrett Johnny Sheriff's office. Oh high,
17:07
well, you can quit looking for Russell. We found him. Well,
17:10
that's good news, is it? He's dead? Johnny dollar An's Garrett Johnny
17:33
Sheriff's office. You can quit looking for Edward Russell. We found him.
17:36
Well, that's good news, is it? He's dead? What? Yeah,
17:41
been dead for three or four days? Where'd you find him? In
17:45
a cabin on the other side of the lake. Your hunch was good and
17:48
expensive. What do you mean it'll cost the company? I represent a cool
17:52
fifty thousand dollars expense account submitted by special investigator Johnny dollar to Amalgamated Life Associates
18:07
home office, Hartford, Connecticut. Assignment the Crystal Lake matter expense account continued
18:18
it them three two dollars and fifty five cents telegram to Tom Wilkins of Amalgamated
18:22
Life Associates notifying him of Edward Russell's murder. I was reasonably sure the telegram
18:26
wouldn't make Tom sleep any easier. I had it for the office of Ansel
18:30
Garrett, Deputy sheriff in charge of the Crystal Lake substation. Sit down,
18:37
Not good, Johnny, No, not good? Not good. At all
18:41
who found the body? Answers full On named Bixby's for waiting next door.
18:45
You'd want to talk to him, thanks, I do. First, though,
18:47
I'd I'd like you to run over what you know about this deal again
18:51
for me. I want to know just where we stand in it. People
18:53
at this resort pay a lot of money for peace and quiet. I don't
18:57
want to disturb it anymore than I can help. Meaning, if you know
19:02
where you stand in this deal, you're a lot better off than I am.
19:04
And I've got a strong hunch a lot of peace and quiet's going to
19:07
get disturbed before it's wound up. I don't like your hunches, Johnny.
19:11
You get a way of proving out like the one about Russell being dead.
19:17
I suppose you give me the rundown, okay, okay, and I can
19:18
make it short because there's not much to tell. The company I represent holds
19:22
of fifty thousand dollars policy on Russell. About a week ago he disappeared.
19:26
His wife filed a missing person's report, Yeah Leona Russell over in Denver.
19:30
She said her husband had told her he was going on an overnight business trip
19:33
to Boulder. He never came back. His car was found in a garage
19:37
in Colorado Springs. His wife couldn't account for it. No, she said,
19:41
she was completely in the dark. I take it she's his beneficiary.
19:45
Oh yeah, sure, I thought of that too. I asked her about
19:48
it. What kind of an answer did you get? Tears mostly had a
19:51
pretty withering look. Either she's completely clean or she's one of the best actresses
19:56
I've ever seen. The rest of the story, you told me how Russell
20:00
came into your offices several days ago looking for a guy named Bill, last
20:03
name of description unknown. Like I said, there's a flock of Bills in
20:06
this neck of the woods. Yeah, no, the bartender, the man
20:08
who runs the boatounser, clerk in the hardware store, a few assorted others.
20:12
I told you I saw Russell having a drink with Betty Norton the same
20:15
night he came to see me. You check her out? Yeah yeah.
20:19
I had to go swimming with her and that sub zero lake before she'd answer
20:22
any questions. Though. Then when I got from her was nothing. She
20:26
said she'd met Russell at the hotel. I had a drink with him,
20:29
then left. That's all you've got, Huh, that's it. That's precious.
20:33
A little to go on, I'll let you talk to mister Bixby.
20:38
Oh, mister Bixby, would you step in here please? This is Johnny
20:44
Dollar Insurance Investigators, Clarence Bixby. Hi, how are you not too good?
20:48
At the moment? You got troubles? Whereas my cabin the body was
20:53
in Oh the pad luck had been changed, Jenny. Here it is no
21:00
fingerprints other than Bixby's. I monkeyed with it for a while until I realized
21:04
my key wouldn't fit, and I pried it open with a big screwdriver.
21:07
Mister Bixby, would you mind showing me your cabinet? Just what happened?
21:10
And he guess that doesn't matter much now anywhere? What do you mean?
21:14
I was going to show the cabin to a guy when we found the body.
21:18
He wanted to buy the place. But who'd want to buy it?
21:21
Now? Makes me? And I drove halfway around the lake. His cabin
21:27
was a couple of hundred feet from the edge and had a good view of
21:30
the water. A nice spot here makes me it was you used the cabin
21:37
much. I haven't been able to regularly for the last couple of years.
21:40
I got to figure and when I keep on paying for taxes and upkeep on
21:42
it. So I decided to sell it. Did you advertise it in the
21:47
papers? I didn't first crack out of the box. I got a hot
21:48
prospect. He's the one you brought up here to show the cabin too.
21:52
That's right, his name's Putnam Puttnham. I'd like to talk to him and
21:56
me staying at the hotel, probably looking for another cab to buy. Let's
22:03
see, this is where the padlock was. Huh. That was the first
22:08
thing I noticed that the padlock had been changed, and what I had on
22:12
there was better weber did they probably pride the first one? Yeah? All
22:17
right, Here is where I pried off the lock this morning. Then what
22:22
and I opened the door? The body was on the floor right over here,
22:29
bullet hole for it. I see Huttnam turned green and I that's not
22:34
a very pretty sight of finding your own cabin. No, well, let's
22:38
go sit outside the dead man Edward Russell. Did you happen to know him?
22:45
Beck Speen? No, never set eyes on him before. Why did
22:49
they have to pick my cabin? That's a good question. Hey, that
22:52
cavin about one hundred yards away? Who lives there, or that one owned
22:56
by the Butler family. They spend their summers up here. Well, maybe
22:59
they heard something. The deputy sheriff questioned them. They arrived here three days
23:03
ago. He figured that was the morning after the killing. Had a cigar.
23:08
No, I don't think. What does it add up to dollar at
23:15
the moment, mister Bixby not much. I sat there and watched Bixby tie
23:25
his cellophane cigar wrapper into a neat, little knot, and I realized that
23:30
was exactly my situation at the moments. The whole deal was a knot,
23:34
and I didn't know how to run times. I went back to the hotel,
23:38
had him for an expense a count of dollars seventy five telephone call to
23:41
the dead man's wife, Leonner Rustle over in Denver. It was very considerate
23:45
of you to telephone, mister Dollar. The authorities notified me of what happened.
23:52
They want me to come up there and confirm the identification. I see
23:56
you don't think it could be somebody else. I'm sorry, missus Russell.
24:00
I'm afraid not. I guess I'd really given up hoping. All the time
24:07
I was trying to tell my Sylvie was alive. Yes, yes, look,
24:11
missus Russell, have you ever heard of a man named Clarence Bixby?
24:15
Bixby? No, your husband was found in Bixby's cabin. Did you ever
24:21
hear him mention the name? No? Okay, thanks anyway, I'll keep
24:26
in touch. I hung up and sat there a moment thinking her over.
24:32
She stood to benefit to the tune of fifty thousand dollars by her husband's death.
24:36
She seemed on the up and up, and yet expense of count item
24:40
five. Another call to Denver, to the police department. I wanted them
24:42
to check on her, but I found out that they and Ansel Garrett working
24:47
together, were a couple of jumps ahead of me. They'd already checked on
24:49
my owner and established the fact that at the time of her husband's murder here
24:52
at Crystal Lakes, she'd been in Denver. I decided to look up Putnam,
24:56
the man who'd wanted to buy Russell's captain in the bar at the hotel.
25:00
Yes, I tell you, it was quite a shock, mister Dollar,
25:03
when Bixby opened his cabin door, a body sprawled down in front of
25:07
us. Yes, quite a shock. Yeah, how come you decided to
25:15
buy Bixby's cabin. Mister Putter, Well, my wife and i'd been on
25:18
the lookout for a cabin for some time. When I saw Bixby's add in
25:21
the paper, it sounded like just the sort of place I was looking for.
25:23
I see, so I answered the ad, made the arrangements with Bixby
25:26
to come up here and have him show me the place. Mm hmm.
25:30
Are you still interested in buying a cabin up here? Possibly? I've always
25:33
wanted a place where I can come for rest now and then. But after
25:36
what's happened, I don't think i'd be too happy in Bixby's place, mister
25:40
Putnam. The dead man's name was Edward Russell. Did did you have it
25:44
on? Of course? Not? Why ever heard him before? Do you
25:48
hear me at the Dollar? What is your reason for asking questions like that?
25:49
Surely you don't think I'm involved in this routine, mister Putter, Well,
25:53
I don't care for the routine, mister Dollar, look skip it.
26:00
What pulled me into action was a glimpse. I caught it the bartender.
26:03
I started remembering a few things. Number one, Edward Russell had been looking
26:07
for a guy named Bill. Number two, The bartender was one of several
26:11
guys by that name here at Crystal Lake Number three. Something I saw on
26:15
the bartender's face made me think he could be the Bill that Russell been looking
26:18
for. I left Puttnam's table and slid down to a stew at the bar.
26:22
Hi, Hi, we'll it be? Is? Is that w Harvey
26:26
there? Yeah? And sow it up sort of quiet the seating. Uh
26:32
yeah, yeah, I've been a little slack this season so far. I
26:34
made a little pickup later on the summer. Yeah, there are thanks,
26:42
must have been quite a fight. Come again, you're wearing what looks like
26:47
the tail end of a black guy. Oh yeah, No, I've been
26:51
down to pick up a bottle of mix. Yeah, the day and I
26:52
bumped my face on the corner of the bar. You're sure that's the way
26:56
it happened. Were you getting that path? Better take a look at my
27:02
car now, insurance investigator. Yeah, a guy named Edward Russell was in
27:07
here a few nights ago with Betty Norton. He was looking for someone named
27:11
Bill. By some strange coincidence, your name is Bill, and by an
27:15
even stranger coincidence, you've got a black eye. Okay, so Russell did
27:21
give me the black eye. I traded him a split lip for it.
27:23
What happened I still haven't figured it out. He was in here drinking,
27:27
he started talking to miss Noyton. She called me by my first name,
27:32
and suddenly, if Russell heats up, he comes up to me, Stitch,
27:34
ask give me a bunch of questions. What kind of questions? Well,
27:37
mainly had I ever lived in Denver? I told him no, but
27:41
he didn't seem to believe me, got pretty insultant, and we ended up
27:45
outside. He pasted me first, and I let him have one, and
27:48
I spotted the hotel manager and broke it off, and they laughed right after
27:52
that. Why they cover up about hitting your face on the bar? You
27:56
kidding? Look, how long do you think a bartender will last in a
27:59
hotel? Because if the manager but knew he got in a fight with a
28:02
customer, particularly if the customer winds up dead. Huh. I heard about
28:06
the killing this afternoon. Tough, But I must say that guy was asking
28:10
for trouble. I don't know what was eating him, but something sure it
28:12
was. You didn't see him after that night? No check on me if
28:17
you want. I don't worry. I well, Hey, wait a minute,
28:21
the matter. You said something a minute ago that just rang a bell.
28:25
You said they left together after the fight. Who's they? Russ and
28:29
miss nrighton? You sure about that? You sure she was with him when
28:32
he left? Sure, I'm sure you don't miss any tricks about a guy
28:36
like that. Hey, look, if he told you different. I don't
28:40
want to get nobody in trouble. That's where you and I differ. Bill.
28:44
There's one person I want to get in trouble, real bad. Oh,
28:47
the person who killed Russ, And right now, Betty Norton looked like
28:51
an interesting possibility. I went outside and started walking along the lake shore on
28:55
the moonlight, thinking about it. She told me she left alone after one
28:59
bring with Russell, but according to the bartender, she'd lied she and Russell
29:03
had left together. The motives stumped me, though, as far as I
29:07
could figure, Leona Russell was the only one who could profit by her husband's
29:10
death, yet she didn't kill him. But Betty Norton, the girl who
29:15
always had to play everything her way. I decided to have another talk with
29:18
her and turned to go back to the hotel. Then I stopped out of
29:22
the corner of my eye had seen a movement near a tree on the slope
29:25
above me, a shadow where they shouldn't have been, a shadow. I
29:27
scrambled up the slope. There was nobody inside him, so somebody was keeping
29:33
an eye on, somebody who knew this area pretty well. A nasty thought
29:37
started pecking away at me to whits and getting closer to Russell's killer. I
29:41
might be getting closer to something else too, a bullet. Now here's our
30:00
star to tell you about tomorrow's intriguing episode of this week's story. Tomorrow,
30:06
A girl who lied and a padlock that didn't join us? Won't you yours
30:11
truly, Johnny Dollar? Yours Truly Johnny Dollar starrying Bob Bailey is transcribed in
30:26
Hollywood, written by Robert Rith. It is produced and directed by Jack Johnstone.
30:30
Be sure to join us tomorrow night at same time in station for the
30:33
next exciting episode of Yours Truly Johnny Dollar. Roy rowan speaking welcome back that
31:37
was probably one of what they did in part two was probably one of the
31:41
least inventive, finding an excuse to recap the plots that we've seen in this
31:49
run. But other than that, it was great. You've got already an
31:55
interesting cast of characters. Though you have to wonder about someone who goes up
32:00
to any town and ask h asked you know is looking for Bill, because
32:09
actually I've read somewhere I think Bill is actually the most common name. Well,
32:15
let's go ahead. We have some listener comments and feedback and a correction,
32:20
and sometimes it takes a little while to hear me provide corrections just because
32:28
I record shows about ken days before they air. So I posted the Sea
32:34
Legs matter and receives some comments. William says, did you notice that the
32:39
part of Pat McCracken was unexpectedly recast in part four? And I did notice
32:49
that, and I should have mentioned it where we had somebody other than Harry
32:52
Bartell playing Perry Pat McCracken. Anyway, speaking of radio, he found this
33:04
that radiogoldindex dot com lists Harry in all Bartell and all five parts. But
33:13
I'm skeptical. And the reason that Radio Gold Index does that with the Johnny
33:17
Dollar serials is the cast is only named at the end. So when they
33:23
make their entries for the five part serial, for all five parts, they
33:29
put the cast as announced at the end of the series, so that's why
33:35
anyway. Speaking of Radio gold Index, the site also confirmed what my eagle
33:38
ears suspected, and that is that Parley Bear providing the wonderful performance of the
33:45
not always reliable Oscar, but a testament to the man's acting range that he
33:49
could play bombastic characters like this and also turn a convincing performance as the wet
33:53
behind the ear Chester proudfoot, proudfoot, excuse me on gun smoke for many
34:00
years? Thanks so much. And you were not actually the only person to
34:07
notice this. Shad Wrotes Adam, Parley Bear was Oscar. I knew it
34:15
early in the series. I would catch a little Chester at Toms in his
34:20
accent. Hm. Wow, I'm not a big gun Smoke fan, so
34:22
maybe that's why I missed it. Kevin also comments, I was surprised to
34:30
your comment on the actor for Oscar. Perhaps give it another listen and see
34:34
if you think differently. I listened again just before emailing, and I still
34:38
think Parley Bear part in the spelling, played that part. I thought about
34:44
that all week and I was amazed I hadn't heard him play a part like
34:46
that before. Was he on your top one hundred? I can't remember,
34:49
but he certainly made a lot of old time radio appearances. I'm always surprised
34:53
at all the places I hear him. Also, do you remember one of
34:58
the later half hour episodes where Johnny was called by a guy named party Barn.
35:04
I always chuckled about that, since I think the caller was played by
35:07
party Bear too. As I learned more about Johnny Doller, I understand they
35:12
did things like that fairly often, but that was one of the first I
35:15
knew of. I love him for about these shows you share. Thanks again
35:20
very much, well, thanks Kevin for the correction and also say Chris also
35:24
called it. I won't mention anyone else who mentioned after this, but to
35:31
be honest, I thought it was Lawrence Dopkin, just because I didn't recognize
35:37
the voice for say, and Lawrence Dopkin is an actor who was able to
35:43
do so many different types of voices and turn in some pretty a couple of
35:49
stunning performances on Let George do It involving dialect. So that was my guess.
35:55
But I will bow to the popular wisdom and understanding, and thanks so
36:00
much for the correction and the extra information regarding Parley Baron. I have read
36:06
about it, but I've not heard it yet. One reason is that I
36:10
don't typically listen in listen ahead a whole lot, except on some of those
36:15
shows that I'm not going to do for a while. And since I started
36:21
basically pretty soon after I started listening to Johnny Dollar, I started actually doing
36:27
the show. So I think I've heard maybe one or two of the Bob
36:31
Bailey half hour episodes of the one and eighty out there, so we'll have
36:37
a lot of fun discovering them for the first time together. And we have
36:42
a listener, Peter who comments on Facebook. I just finished up listening to
36:45
the entire Sea Legs Matter at work, Always enjoyable. And then Joshua McClain
36:52
says, I love the Old Time dragging that show, and now I enjoy
36:57
yours truly, Johnny Dollar, Well, thanks so much, which I appreciate
37:00
all your comments. Before we go, I want to encourage you to support
37:05
our listener support campaign at support dot Great Detectives dot net. And another item
37:10
that we have for US listeners as well as Canadians. We will send a
37:19
copy of some great old time radio reference books. You have your choice of
37:25
any of the who is Johnny Dollar by John c Abbott, with volume one
37:32
covering all of the pre Bob Bailey years, Volume two covering the boll Bailey
37:38
years, Volume three covering the post Bob Bailey years, and also the auditions
37:45
by Dick Powell and Gerald Moore. They also have a lot of great information
37:52
on the expense accounts and just a lot of great Johnny Dollar facts and trivia,
37:58
and I use it as a resource oft and again that's available with a
38:01
donation of one hundred dollars or more. At two hundred and fifty dollars or
38:05
more, we will send you all three books. In addition, Michael Hayde
38:10
has a book out called Flights of Fantasy about the adventures of Superman, and
38:16
we will also send that to you with a donation of one hundred dollars or
38:20
more. And you can support the show at support dot Great Detactives dot net.
38:24
Well, we will see you tomorrow with the Casebook of Gregory Hood and
38:29
then join us back here on Wednesday as we continue on with the Crystal like
38:34
matter. If you have a comment, send it to Box thirteen at Great
38:37
Detectors dot net, follow us on Twitter at Radio Detectives, and become one
38:43
of our friends on Facebook, Facebook dot com. Slash radio dettectives