Latest / Great Detectives of Old Time Radio Volume 2|Mystery Audio Dramas / Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Molly K Matter Omnibus Edition (EP1352s)

Transcript

Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Molly K Matter Omnibus Edition (EP1352s) · Great Detectives of Old Time Radio Volume 2|Mystery Audio Dramas

0:28
Welcome to the Great Detectors of Old Time Radio and our second listener support special.
0:35
You can support the show at support dot Greatdetectives dot net all year round.
0:41
For a donation of seven dollars or more, we'll send you access to
0:44
the premium site. However, during our listener support campaign, we have a
0:49
few things that are special that we will send as thank you gifts. For
0:54
a donation of twenty dollars or more, we'll send your choice of several of
0:57
free ebooks, including each of my novels. You can choose from whichever all
1:03
I needed to know, I'll learn from Colombo what made the Golden Aid Shine?
1:07
And that's for any donation of twenty dollars or more. Also, at
1:11
the fifty dollars level, will send you your choice of several audio books,
1:18
including each of the Powerhouse novels, so we could send you Tails of the
1:23
Damn Knot, Fly Another Day or Powerhouse Hard Press. And at the one
1:27
hundred dollars level, we'll send you all three in the Powerhouse Heroic Adventures bundle.
1:34
And of course there's the who Is a Johnny Dollar Matter? John c
1:38
Abbott's Great God to the series, and for a donation of one hundred dollars
1:44
or more, we'll send you your choice of volumes one, two, or
1:47
three. Volume one focusing on the pre Bailey era, Volume two the Bob
1:51
Bailey era, and volume three post Bob Bailey, or all three volumes for
1:56
a donation of two hundred and fifty dollars or more. More details are available,
2:00
just go to support dot Great Detectives dot Nen. Well, now we're
2:04
going to bring you the second yours truly, Johnny Dollar Cereal, the Molly
2:08
came Man. It's appropriate because we actually should have run in to the Marley
2:15
k Matter, which was a thirty minute version of the Molly k Matter.
2:20
But soon as we don't have that, let's go ahead and take a listen
2:23
to the serial version original air dates October tenth to October fourteenth, nineteen fifty
2:30
five. From Hollywood. It's time now for Bob Bailey as Johnny Dollar.
2:37
Hey borger, Johnny Marine and Maritime Casualty him awful. I'm in mourning Johnny
2:42
for Molly k Oh. Sorry, Dave, you have my sympathy. David,
2:45
this is money, not sentiment. We had her insured for a cool
2:47
af million. You mean Jame's come that high these days. Oh, but
2:51
a rusty old tub of a freighter does what happened? She's steamed out of
2:53
San Francisco Bay bound for Yokohama, twenty miles off the Golden Gates. You
2:58
up ended and departed this world for real. Sudden, too sudden. I
3:01
don't like sudden things. Why don't you fly out there, Johnny? Take
3:04
a look at the remains. Sure, as long as you're willing to pay
3:07
for it, you're hired. But be careful. Don't get yourself killed while
3:09
I'm on an expense account. Dave, You've got a lot to learn tonight
3:22
and every weekday night. Bob Bailey in the transcribed Adventures of the Band with
3:24
the Action Packed Expense Account, America's Fabulous Freelance Insurance Investigators is truly Johnny Dollar.
3:39
Expense accounts submitted by Special Investigator Johnny Dollar to the Home Office Marine and
3:44
Maritime Casually Limited, Hertford, Connecticut. The following is an accounting of my
3:47
expenditures during the investigation of the money k matter, Item one one hundred and
3:53
sixty four to fifty plain Fare and Incidental's Hartford to San Francisco. It was
4:03
mid morning when I landed, and the city on the Seven Hills glittered under
4:06
the bright sun like a fabulous horde of jewels. A cool chris breeze was
4:11
driving the usual night's bank of fog out toward the open sea, and the
4:15
clear waters of the bay danced and sparkled from the touch of the wind.
4:18
It was a day and a place that felt lusty with life and the joy
4:21
of living. And yet thirty six hours before, the freighter Molly Kay,
4:26
with a crew of forty three men, had steamed out across this same bay,
4:29
passed under the high arch of the Golden Gate Bridge, and disappeared into
4:32
the gray oblivion of the Pacific, gone down to her death. Item two
4:40
a dollar fifty five local transportation limousine to my hotel, where I barely had
4:44
time to check in, Then a taxi down to the foot of Market Street,
4:47
where Harbormaster Tim O'Rourke, a grizzled old veteran of the port, was
4:50
about to preside at a preliminary board of inquiry in the Ferry Building. All
4:57
right, boys, all right, let's have it quiet. Now. All
5:00
of us know what we're here for. But just to make it official,
5:03
I have to announce that this is the preliminary hearing of a Board of inquiry
5:09
investigating the loss by sinking of the vessel Molly Ky. Needless to say,
5:14
for you that know me, the proceedings are going to be pretty informal.
5:17
Yeah, you never heard that? All right? Now, the bare facts
5:21
seem to be gold something like this. Themaly Kay cleared her birth at Pier
5:27
twenty nine at ten twelve pm, night before last destination Yokohama Primary Cargo Green
5:34
amaly Ky was a steel hull class sea freighter, oil fueled with a steam
5:41
turbine drive. She was under the command of her owner, Captain Edgar Brawley
5:46
of San Francisco. How is is Captain Brawley present? I am, but
5:54
if you expect me to tell lady Captain later, all right. At ten
6:00
thirty eight amalie K dropped her pilot and proceeded on out to see five conditions
6:06
were reported at the time as medium to dance. Then at twelve forty nine
6:12
am, the radio operator on duty at the point beneath a coast Guard station
6:16
picked up the first distress signal. Now call the first witness. The officer
6:21
in charge of the rescue operation, Lieutenant commander bought in fields of the United
6:27
States Coast Guard. Will you take the witness chack, Commander. I'll raise
6:33
your right hand, Commander, do you swear that testimony moved alongs the whole
6:39
truth. Not much came out that wasn't already known. The Coastguard command to
6:44
testify that five minutes after the first distress call, the Molly k had sent
6:46
a second SOS stating she was sinking rapidly by the bow. According to the
6:53
message, the vessel had struck a submerged derelict. The captain and crew had
6:57
taken to the lifeboats, and two of these were picked up immediately. A
7:00
third boat, missed in the heavy fog, made sure and beached under its
7:02
own efforts. According to this report, two men, William mac machinist and
7:10
Benny wang Stewart, are still missing. Now further search has now been abandoned
7:16
and these men are presumed to be dead. I think that's all, Commander,
7:23
Thank you now. Radio operator Ga Beck take the witness chair. While
7:33
the testimony went on, I studied the teletypes from the home office that I'd
7:36
picked up at the hotel. Again, nothing much that wasn't already known.
7:41
With a few exceptions, a stray factor two, a couple of odd details,
7:45
nothing else. But the seats of suspicion are pretty small, and if
7:48
they're kept well watered sometimes they grow up into nice, tall, blooming hunch
7:53
plants. Then Chairman o'rook called the witness I was most interested in. Well,
7:59
Captain Edgar brought molly. Please take the chair the man who stood to
8:03
collect a half million dollars if the sinking was legitimate. But I was pretty
8:05
sure it wasn't. Raise your right hand, Captain, do you swear that
8:11
the testimony you were about to give is the whole truth and nothing but the
8:15
truth? I do you can sit down. He was a man about fifty,
8:18
maybe older, but he had the body of a young bull, hard,
8:22
stubborn, belligerent. He figured to be a tough, laded tangle within
8:26
court or on the deck of a ship. Now, Captain, will you
8:28
tell us what happened in your own words, starting from the time you dropped
8:33
the pilot, Unless something happened earlier that might have some bearing on this case.
8:39
There was nothing happened earlier. Early it got me bearing on it.
8:43
We hit a submerged dere like that's all now, what more do you want
8:46
to know? Your story, captain, just for the record, be no
8:52
different from what you've already heard from all the rest of them in here.
8:54
This is an official board of inquiry, Captain, whether you like it or
8:58
not, I hope a judge of what's important and what isn't. Yes,
9:03
sir, Well, after we dropped the pilot, I said, of course
9:09
North seventy seven West aimed to bring us into the main shipping lane by daybreak,
9:15
And I signed the watches, had the deck gear stowed away, opened
9:18
the trip blog, got ready to settle down for the night's run. Normal
9:22
procedure. In other words, that's what I told her. There was nothing
9:24
else, why with your story, Captain. My first officer took over the
9:30
bridge, like he already told you you did, and I went to my
9:31
quarters. What was the weather like at the time, same as it had
9:35
been all even so foggy, you couldn't see a hundred feet from the bridge,
9:41
and you took all the usual precautions prescribed for such a condition, of
9:45
course, go on. Well, it was a while before midnight. I
9:50
was still in my quarters, awake, and I bumped. Once she hit,
9:52
it was a big crash like a torpedo had took us and the lights
9:56
went out. We started losing the headway, and a minutes later the engineer
10:01
cut the engines and pulled its fires. Water had busted right through number one
10:05
and number two bulkheads was rising fast in the boiler room. Must to rip
10:09
half the bottom out of it. What did you do next? I called
10:13
the engine room gang on deck, and well, then I give the order
10:18
to abandon ship. She sank less than ten minutes after we got the boats
10:24
on it. Well, I guess that's about the size of it, submerged
10:31
derelict in the shipping lane. There's an accident, pure and simple, all
10:35
right, Captain, I guess there's nothing more. Mister Dollar, I wonder
10:41
if I could have your permission to ask the captain a few questions. Well,
10:46
it's kind of unusual, but like I said, this is an informal
10:50
hearing. So, Captain Brawley, mister Dollar is a special investigator for the
10:56
insurance company that holds the policy on your ship. His position here is unofficial,
11:03
of course, and you're under no obligation. It's up to you.
11:07
I've told you all I know about it. I got nothing to hide.
11:09
If that's what you're talking about, not one single thing, let a mask
11:16
till he's blew in the face. Go ahead, mister Dollon. Thank you,
11:22
Captain Browley. We've heard quite a lot about your last sailing for Yokohama
11:26
night before last, but there hasn't been any mention of the first time you
11:30
started to leave a little over a week ago. I had no burn on
11:33
this. Maybe not, let's talk about it anyway. According to my report,
11:37
you were six hours out of San Francisco when you radioed the Coastguard to
11:39
stand by. You had a cargo fire and number two hole. That's right.
11:43
A little while later you told them you had the fire under control,
11:46
but you were returning to port. I wanted to check the damage, make
11:50
sure the ship was sound. Yeah, so you laid up in harbor for
11:54
a week. You filed acclaim with our home office in Hartford for estimated damages
11:58
of six three hundred dollar come the more. But when the company appraiser called
12:03
at your office on Peer twenty nine, you refused him admittance to the ship,
12:05
and an hour later you wired Hartford and canceled your claim. That's right,
12:09
A sixty three hundred dollars loss fully covered by insurance, and you suddenly
12:13
decided not to make any claim for it, I'd have lost more of I
12:16
had claimed it. How do you figure that? Because I had found out
12:20
that I'd have to lay up here for another two weeks while that sneaking company
12:22
yours checked the facts, as they called it. I had a cargo on
12:26
board, I had a delivery date ahead of me. Couldn't afford to waste
12:30
two weeks. What caused the fire? I don't know. Who found it
12:37
and reported it? Man named Bill Mack had a hard He was one of
12:45
the two men that drowned when the ship went down. What of it?
12:46
What are you trying to make out of it? All right, let's quiet
12:50
down now, let's have order in here. Now. At the time of
12:54
the accident, Captain the sinking, we're led to believe that it was a
12:58
little foggy out that night, got it, No, not in the least.
13:01
That's why I can't quite understand how you managed to see that that submerged
13:07
derelict. I didn't see it, then, who did nobody? As far
13:09
as I know, that fog you couldn't see your hand in front of your
13:13
face. There was no fog. The next day. The Coastguard searched the
13:16
area for hours and they didn't see it either. Probably sunk when we hit
13:20
it. It. Just what are you getting that, Dollar? I do
13:22
you know there was any submerged dearrely, Captain, what do you mean you
13:26
said there was a big crash. All the crew members described the accident as
13:30
a sudden, hard shock. In fact, one of them, mister Hawkins
13:33
there who was up for it on bow lookout, said it felt like a
13:35
blast, like something you do. Oh no, you do, mister Hawkins.
13:41
I didn't say it was no blast. What I said was it just
13:45
kind of felt like one. You ain't gonna go putting no words like that
13:48
in my mouth, mister Dollar. You ain't gonna get me mixed up in
13:52
this mixed up in what mister Hawkins, this year, whatever's going on,
13:56
or whatever you're trying to claim is going on. I just don't know nothing
14:01
about it, about anything. I just don't want anybody putting words in my
14:07
mouth that's old, claiming I said something might didn't that. Well, Just
14:13
what exactly is that you're hitting at, mister Dollar, not hitting Captain,
14:18
I'm saying it. I don't think there was a derelict. I think the
14:20
molly K was sunk by an explosive charge placed in a hole. Are you
14:24
accusing me of that's not accusing anybody nuts yet. All right, I'll let's
14:28
settle down. I stink my own ship just to collect a few lousy bucks
14:31
with him insurance. I don't know who did it, Captain Brawley, but
14:35
I'm gonna find out, and whoever it was, they're in it up to
14:37
their neck. Two men died when the molly K went down, So this
14:41
thing's a whole lot worse than just a crooked insurance racket. It's a case
14:46
of cold blooded murder. Outside after the hearing adjourned, I turned west and
14:56
walked along the embarkt Daryl. I looked at the crowds and the sunshine and
15:01
the seagulls out of the bay. It was all brisk and bright and cheerful.
15:05
But I felt cold in the pit of my stomach. They were scared
15:09
in there, all of them, scared to death. The smell of fear
15:11
in that hearing room was so thick you could cut it with a knife.
15:16
And I meant to find out why. Johnny Dellar, you don't know me,
15:37
mister Dollar, But you're going to well, I can hardly wait.
15:41
You won't have to wait. I want you to meet me tonight. Where
15:45
on the waterfront? Nine o'clock? Yes, it's dark down there at nine.
15:50
It might be dangerous. Are you scared? Strange women always scare me.
15:54
Where on the waterfront. That's where the Molly Kay was birthed before she
16:00
sank. Mollie Kay was my mother? Meet me at nine? I don't
16:06
know. Blind dates never work out for me. I'm always sorry afterwards.
16:11
You won't be sorry this time. Is that a promise? That's a promise
16:21
from Special Investigator Johnny Dollar. Present location, San Francisco to the home office
16:26
Marina Maritime Casualty Limited, Hartford, Connecticut. Assignment The money ky matter expense
16:30
account continued, had them three four dollars sixty five cents food? I needed
16:37
it. It had been a rough day. Rough from the standpoint of legwork.
16:41
I'd covered most of the usual sources and usual angles, and for all
16:45
I learned, I might as well have stayed in bed. The freighter Molly
16:48
Kay had sailed out of San Francisco Harbor and gone down in the Pacific,
16:52
and nobody wanted to talk about it. They were all too busy shaking in
16:56
their boots and looking over their shoulders, scared to death. I was even
17:00
beginning to look over my shoulder. I had him four seventy cents taxi to
17:06
the Embarcadero. Sure I kept that blind date. I wouldn't have missed it
17:10
for the world. Here keep the change. It was dark and lonely along
17:22
the waterfront. The fog was down, drifting in off the bay, dimming
17:26
the scattered street lights with a damp haze and muffling the sounds of the city.
17:32
Alcatraz lost and hidden somewhere behind the murky, wet blanket kept sounding its
17:36
mournful warning across the water, and the nightgal seemed to cry out an answer
17:41
to it. I crossed the siding tracks and headed toward Peer twenty nine and
17:47
toward whatever was waiting for me there or whoever. The office and warehouse of
17:52
the Brawley Shipping Company, owner of the Molly k was about halfway out the
17:56
pier. I'd been there earlier in the day and found it loosed and locked,
18:00
but there was a dim light burning there now. I headed toward it.
18:06
Just about then, as I passed under the last wharflight and turned toward
18:08
the office door. I started to get that old feeling. I'd had it
18:12
before in other places, once in the heart of an Ornoco jungle, in
18:17
an alleyway and the kasbar of Algiers, one time in London Soho, and
18:22
again in Suettes somewhere close by, hidden by the fog and shadows, there
18:27
was somebody watching me. I stood listening, straining to hear some tailtale sound
18:33
in the darkness. Nothing. But there were a dozen hiding places within a
18:38
radius of fifty feet, and I wasn't fool enough to start searching them.
18:42
Not knowing what I'd find, I turned to open the door to the Browney
18:45
office. Get your hands up. He'd been standing behind a post right beside
18:49
the door. Okay, now, what are you prowling around here? For?
18:55
I was restless, couldn't sleep, and I love that foghorn. Wanted
18:59
to get close to it. Guy, This is a gun in your back,
19:03
man, a pedminstake. I don't say things like that. I faint
19:06
easy, one more smart cracking. Wait a minute, turn around toward the
19:11
light. Sure, always glad to apply. Just suck it up far right,
19:15
Come on, don stop it you that gun you're can a freak right?
19:22
Come on, get up, get up, Come on on your feet,
19:27
okay, okay, Dolla. So they're right about you? You are?
19:34
Is that what they say? I've heard it around and how come you
19:37
jump me? I didn't know it was you not till you turned toward the
19:41
light, just so. Somebody was prowling around the office here. What's going
19:45
on? It's all right, one? What are you doing here? I
19:49
could ask you the same thing. I just came down to do some work
19:53
on the books. And oh, this is that insurance investigator Johnny Dalla?
19:57
Yes, I know. What do you mean? You know? I asked
20:00
mister Dalla to meet me here tonight. Why what are you up to?
20:06
Nothing? I wanted to talk to him. That's all down here alone this
20:11
time of night, Dean. Suppose we talk about it tomorrow? Okay,
20:18
that's the way you feel, not a matter of how we'll discuss it tomorrow.
20:22
All right? Oh a gun, Dalla? Do I get it back?
20:29
Oh? Sure, here you are. Don't let anybody take it away
20:33
from me now, don't worry, they won't. I'll see you tomorrow,
20:38
Dean. Yeah, yes, come in, mister Dalla. I followed her
20:47
into a suite of offices that were a lot plussuer on the inside than they
20:51
were on the outs. Mahogany paneling, leather chairs, rugs, sofa and
20:55
open fire burning. Small but cozy, like a girl itself. So we
21:02
talked the weather, the fog, the weather yesterday, how we like San
21:07
Francisco sparring type talk. Then finally came the tip off that we were going
21:12
to get down to business. Would you like a drink, mister Dollar?
21:15
I poured Scotch for both of us, and the clink of ice served as
21:18
opening bell for the first round. Mister Dollar, sounds so oddly formal.
21:22
Do you mind if I call you Johnny? Johnny it is? And you
21:26
Ellen Brawley. I guess I am a little slow in introducing myself. Put
21:30
it upset me Dean being out there, I mean acting the way he did.
21:34
You're Captain Brawley's daughter. Yes, as I told you on the phone,
21:40
Molly Kay was my mother's name. Father thought the world of her,
21:44
broke his heart when she died. Later he named his ship after her,
21:48
and now the ship has gone too. Yes, Ellen, what about this
21:53
man you called Dean? How does he figure in this Dean Sutton. He's
21:57
an exporter. I've well, I've known him for some time. He's not
22:03
usually the way he was tonight. Jealousy always makes a difference. Yes,
22:07
sure, it stuck out all over him. He just does business with my
22:11
father. It was his cargo that sank with Molly k Grain bound for Japan.
22:17
Oh, I see, I've gone out with him quite a lot,
22:21
but he takes far too much for granted. I'm a free agent, Johnny.
22:29
I call my own shots. Yeah, I guess you do, so
22:34
to night you call me. I've heard about the hearing. How you questioned
22:41
my father accused him of sinking his own ship to collect the insurance. I
22:45
didn't accuse him, I said I was sure somebody had done it. He
22:49
put the shoe on his own foot before I even had it out of the
22:52
box. What makes you so sure? Oh? A lot of little things
22:56
that don't add up. What things don't add up? Johnny? Oh this
23:03
is that? Did you know your father put a heavy mortgage on the Molly
23:07
case seven months ago? How did you find a Bureau of Records maritime division?
23:12
Now, when the mortgage comes due next month, he had to install
23:18
new boilers. That's why I did it, and he'd have been able to
23:22
pay it off after this last voyage. He'd also be able to pay it
23:25
off after he collected the insurance and have a lot left over. You're wrong.
23:30
You don't know my father, No, I don't. Do you know
23:34
who holds that mortgage? A woman named Lou Tang, that's right, been
23:38
in Hona Shanghailu. She owns a nightclub of in Chinatan. Quite a girl,
23:44
you know very well? All right, Ellen, let's quit circling around
23:48
and get to the point. What's on your mind. I don't know nothing,
23:53
really, I guess. I just wanted to tell you that you're wrong
23:59
about my father. If Molly Kay was sunk deliberately, he had no part
24:04
in it. I'll make a note of that, even though your opinion may
24:07
be a little bit prejudiced. Well are you leaving? I'd be a good
24:11
idea, don't you think? Wait? Johnny? Yeah, I was sort
24:22
of hoping we'd be friends. Maybe. Oh. I feel very friendly towards
24:27
you, do you, Johnny? As much as as much as this That
24:38
much, Johnny, that's pretty friendly. I told you you call my own
24:48
shot. I know, but you didn't tell me you're engaged to Dean Sutton.
24:51
I found that out from a newspaper file. It's his idea. I
24:56
thought you always called your own shots, don't, Johnny. I promised you
25:02
on the phone, and if you came here it wouldn't be Sorry, I'm
25:06
not, did I know one? Outside on the pier, the fog was
25:12
thicker than ever. The warflights were dim, glaws and the swirl of mists
25:17
and sounds, even close ones were muffled and hollow. I couldn't figure Alan
25:21
Brawley at Lee's not completely where she stood in this, and the reason for
25:25
the pitch she'd made. I left the pier and turned west along the Embarcadaryl,
25:29
mister Dollar over here, get out of the light evening, sir,
25:34
you're out of late. Mister Hoggins, Well, I was waiting around.
25:37
I kind of wanted to talk to you. I saw you come in the
25:41
taxicab earlier. All right, let's talk. I hope you don't hold it
25:45
against me jumping up in the hearing room that way. But I was scared,
25:48
scared of what mister Hawkins. I don't rightly know that's the trouble.
25:53
But there's shouting streams going on mister dollar, and it ain't safe for a
25:57
man to let any notices. The whole crew feels the same way. That's
26:02
why they ain't talking about it, about what things that's happened, things that
26:06
ain't been brought out yet. I wouldn't be talking neither if Bill Mack hadn't
26:11
been a mighty good friend of mine. Bill Mack, he was one of
26:14
the two men who went down with the ship, and that he did me
26:15
rest in peace. But you're wrong, mister Doller. There wasn't two men.
26:21
Bill was only one. What that Chinese steward, Benny Wong, He
26:25
didn't drown. He was in that lifeboat that got the shore. And the
26:30
men on the boat know it. Why didn't they say so? They were
26:32
scared to he disappeared later, and they was all scared to see anything.
26:37
I don't know what's happened to us. Care back of this wall, keep
26:41
your head down. I crouched behind the concrete tidewall, my gun drawn and
26:49
peered into the darkness, trying to catch some sign of movement behind the blanket
26:52
of fog, listening for some faint sound that might be the giveaway. Nothing,
26:57
And they go hunting in those shadows again and somebody who knew the waterfront
27:00
would be about as healthy as stepping out in front of a truck. I
27:03
got to get out of here, mister dollar. I got to get away
27:06
from here, Hawkins wife, I ain't doing any more talking, and it
27:10
won't do you no good to ask, for they know every move a man
27:12
makes. I got nothing more to say. All I want is to stay
27:15
alive. So that was that fear again. He was scared to death,
27:22
and I couldn't very well blame him. That shot had come close. But
27:26
there was one thing Hawkins hadn't thought I had, and I didn't like the
27:30
thought that bullet might not have been meant for him. It could have been
27:36
aimed at me, Johnny Dollar. Guess who? Johnny WHOA loa time when
28:00
they told me you had called my heart jump and beat fast. I's been
28:03
a long time, too long, And look, I want to see you,
28:07
lou Where are you? They only gave me a phone number. It's
28:10
a waterfront bar for the drum street sailors hang out, and I'll call a
28:12
taxi. No, wait there, I've got a drunk on my hands.
28:15
Well, get rid of him. Can't do it, honey, This is
28:18
a valuable drunk. You wait, I'll get there as soon as I can.
28:21
And look, will you do me a favor, Lou, anything you
28:25
want Johnny. Oh, there's a man named Benny Wong. I think he's
28:29
been hiding out in Chinatown for the last two days. Can you find him
28:32
for me? So that is why you are here, the sinking of the
28:37
Molly K. That's right, Lou, too bad, Johnny. I started
28:41
to hear that, ohfully sorry from Special Investigator Johnny Dollar location in San Francisco
28:51
to the home office Marine and Maritime Casually Limited Hertford, Connecticut assignment. The
28:56
Molly K matter expenser count continued, item five eleven dollars even drinks consumed by
29:07
one Josiah Hawkins, able bodied seamen last birth ship's carpenter on the freighter Molly
29:11
K. And Hawkins was scared scared half today, So the fear worked against
29:17
the liquor, and the drinks weren't doing much good. Who is you talking
29:21
to on the phone? A friend? You say anything about me? About
29:26
me being with you? Nope? How about another drink? Mister Hawk?
29:30
I had what's the name of your friend, mister Dollary? Oh you wouldn't
29:37
know her. Just a girl I know here in town. Oh girl,
29:41
mister Hawkins, did Bill Mack have a girl? Yes, he got hisself
29:48
engaged to a girl. I know what you're aiming at, mister Dollar.
29:52
You're trying to play on my sympathy. He was your friend, that he
29:56
was one of the best. He's dead, drowned on the Pacific when the
30:02
Molly K went down. However, Sanka is responsible for his death. You
30:07
can help me if you will. It wouldn't bring him back, and I
30:11
gotta think of myself. You're in more danger before you talk than you'd be
30:15
afterwards. The whole idea is to keep you from talking. Huh sure the
30:21
sense in that all right? Somebody shot at you out there on the docks,
30:23
tried to kill you. You'll never be safe as long as they're running
30:26
loose. Well, mister Hawkins, that molly K was sunk deliberate. We're
30:33
sure that all of us that was a border. Things just wasn't right even
30:37
before it happened. What things will? That fire for one? Ten days
30:44
ago, the first time we started out for Yokohama. Bill Mack was the
30:48
one that discovered it. Did Mac think the fire had been set that he
30:52
did. He told the captain that you know what happened, mister dollars.
30:57
Captain Brawley knocked down the bridge ladder, told him to keep his mouth shut
31:03
and not go around spreading wild rumors. All right? The second time he
31:07
sale what happened well. As soon as we cleared the gate and headed out
31:12
to see Bill and me was on watch. He had me cover for him
31:18
while he sneaked down in the hole to see what he could find out.
31:22
He still hadn't come back when it happened. I think you was right,
31:27
mister Dollar what you said at the hearing. What do you mean we didn't
31:32
hit no derelict, an explosion, That's what it was in the bottom of
31:37
the forward hole somewhere's I was on the bow deck right above it when it
31:41
happened. What about that Chinese stewart, the one who got ashore and then
31:45
disappeared? Did you notice anything special about him? Bening Wong. We was
31:52
only a couple hours out of port. I don't even remember seeing him one
31:56
thing though. That seemed kind of funny at the How was that the first
32:01
mate done all the hiring for this trip, same as always, just one
32:06
exception, Benny Wong was hired on by Captain Brawling himself and something else.
32:13
Mister Dollary about Bill Mack being drowned, he was wrong about that. Bill
32:21
Mack is alive. No, he was dead before the molly k Ever sunk
32:25
Watt. I went looking for him as soon as it happened, and I
32:31
found him down on the lower boat deck, lying in a pool of blood.
32:36
Somebody cut his throat. I'll have another drink now. I sat there
32:43
looking at him across the table, not saying anything. There was nothing I
32:46
could say. Bill Mack had been his friend. I thought over what he
32:52
just told me, tried to fit it in with what I already knew.
32:55
It didn't add up to an answer yet, not quite. I was close,
33:00
and I was getting closer all the time. Mister Dollar. It's him,
33:05
eh, Captain Brawley over there, he just come in. Yeah,
33:07
he's seen us too. He's coming over this way. I got to get
33:10
out of here. He wants start it. You don't know him, you
33:15
don't know how he is when he gets made, But it looks like I'm
33:16
gonna find out. Well, seems like you're not very particular, But the
33:22
company you keep either are my captain, pull up a chair. What are
33:25
you up to, Dollar offering him a bribe to testify against me? Don't
33:30
they to? That's enough against you already. Yeah, there will be more
33:34
unlikely when you and them smart company lawyers get through you. Insurance people are
33:38
all alike. You're right there to collect when it's due you, which you
33:43
squirm when it comes to paying off, Well, that depends on the circumstances,
33:45
captain, And in this case, well, I wouldn't go spending that
33:50
money yet if I were you. That's what you've been telling him. Huh.
33:52
When I've got anything to tell, I'll tell it to the courts.
33:55
Yeah, along with anybody else you can turn against me, like my own
34:00
daughter, for instance. She even sneaked around. Try to turn her against
34:02
me, not that that took much doing. And Dean Sutton, owner of
34:07
the cargo. But there's a limit to what a man will take Dollar,
34:10
and I took enough already. You better quit pushing me. I'm warning you.
34:16
I'll take your warning and stick it where it'll do the most good.
34:22
You've been trying to block every attempt I've made to get to the bottom of
34:24
this thing. You've dragged your feet every step of the way, deliberately.
34:28
Dollar. Nobody talks to me like that, and it's time somebody did.
34:30
I think you're in this thing right up to your big fat neck, And
34:34
if you are, I'm gonna pennant on you, not just for swindling,
34:37
if you were behind the sinking of the Molly k I'm gonna see to it
34:39
that you stand trial for murder too. I want you, mister Dollar,
34:45
all right, Captain learn it's a hard way, white cowd he's grabbing the
34:50
bottom. Sorry, the party's over right now. I don't know. You
35:00
better get out of here, Hawkins. He's not going to feel very friendly
35:02
when he comes to You're the only man I ever seen stand up to him,
35:07
mister Dollar. There was one other one, Bill Mack. I left
35:15
Captain Brawley lying there on the floor. They were throwing water on it when
35:19
I walked out. I hadn't wanted to fight, but there'd been no choice,
35:22
and it had given me one new fact to fit in. The Captain's
35:27
coat fell open when he hit the floor, and I saw he was packing
35:30
a gun. Expense account item six eighty cents, a taxi fared a Chinatown
35:37
and a rendezvous with Lou Tang Shanghai. Lou a strange woman, this one
35:44
wise shrewd and alert, hard and tough when she feels that way, soft
35:52
as a kitten when she feels that way, for nationality, history, age,
35:57
nothing certain about any of that. But there's one thing that she's the
36:00
most beautiful woman I ever known it. It's good to see you, Johnny.
36:07
How long has it been last year? Lou in Paris? How could
36:13
you forget? I didn't forget. I only wanted to see if you had
36:17
me, Johnny. Oh, I came here to talk business. Oh business,
36:25
I don't feel like talking business. Let's get married, all right,
36:30
first week tomorrow? Why not to night? It's too late. We'd have
36:32
to wake somebody up. Always problems reasons. I don't think you even want
36:37
to marry me. Sure I do. I've been mad too for years?
36:40
And why didn't you in Paris? No, it's no time to go into
36:44
that again. Look I'm on a case, a rough one, and it's
36:47
just possible that you may be mixed up in it. Johnny. I did
36:51
not sing Tomali ky. So there you are. That takes care of the
36:53
business. Let's get married. When you sit back down there. That does
36:58
not take care of the business more. Do you want to know several things
37:02
any long? For instance, that man you asked me about, Yeah,
37:06
they said he went down with a molly K. But I found out different
37:08
from one of the crew. I've not found Benny yet. I have people
37:13
looking. So why don't you announce? I've known you too long. You're
37:16
not fooling me. The pattern is good, but it's not covering the fact
37:22
that you're bothered. You've always bothered me, Johnny, That's not it.
37:27
How do you figure in this thing though? I don't really know what you
37:31
mean by this thing? Johnny, you had a pretty heavy stake in the
37:36
molly K one hundred thousand dollars mortgage loan to Captain Brawley. Sound business to
37:40
you, that's all. I have investments in many ships. I sailed out
37:44
of San Francisco, AH, and of course the investment was covered by insurance.
37:47
Actually I made sure of that before I advanced alone. Don't let this
37:52
offt brown Eyes fool you, Johnny, any hard headed business woman, Yeah,
37:58
I was a business steal. Nothing else showed every chance of being a
38:02
profitable voyage. He was carrying a cargo of wheat. The Tokyo grain market
38:07
has been advancing steadily for three months. As to what happened, I don't
38:13
know anything about it. I don't understand it. That's straight, Johnny,
38:20
that's all I know. What about this Phelatine Sutton? Do you know him?
38:23
Lou him? I understand he's engaged to Captain Brawley daughter. But beyond
38:30
the pardon the moment, I see who it is. The visitor was a
38:35
young Chinese lad. She stepped outside to talk to him, and I lit
38:38
a cigarette and waited for her. I thought over what she'd said, tried
38:43
to see behind it, and to decide whether to believe it or not.
38:45
Lou Tang was not a person you could push. I stood up when she
38:50
came back into the room. You're not leaving, Johnny, Yeah, I
38:54
think i'd better, But you see me tomorrow, you know I will.
39:00
What if I were mixed up in this? Would you send me to jail?
39:05
You know? The answered yes, And you're the only man I know
39:09
who would. I'd be gentle about it, though, I think you really
39:14
would. You're sweet, Johnny, Oh sweet, I'm a doll. I've
39:22
made up my mind to take no part in this to stay completely out of
39:27
it. But I'm going to tell you something. That man who just came
39:32
to the door, I've had him out looking for Benny Wong has found yet,
39:38
but he's found out something about him. Johnny. If the Marley Cave
39:44
was sunk on purpose, how do you think it was done for an explosion
39:49
in the bottom of the fort hole. Benny Wong was a demolition sergeant during
39:54
World War Two. He's rather well known as an expert on explosives. Johnny
40:17
Dollar, Hi, Johnny, Dan McKay Harper police, and I was planning
40:22
to drop by and see you about the sinking of the Molly Ky, but
40:24
I've been pretty busy since I got here. Yeah, so I've heard,
40:29
Johnny, you're under arrest. What did I do? Barking a red zone?
40:31
Walking the grass? I'm not kidding. I mean it. Oh,
40:35
it's a charge. Let's see, salt battery, aggravated assault, assault with
40:40
intent to bodily in order. Dan, that's enough. Do you want to
40:44
know who's signed it? I already know that's practically an admission of guilt.
40:47
You know that, But I've got witnesses, so is he? Huh?
40:52
I think you'd better come down and talk about it, or you'll send out
40:54
the wagon. Is that it? I'm serious, Johnny? All right,
40:58
Dan, I'll be down from Special Investigator Johnny Dollar location in San Francisco to
41:07
the home office Marine and Maritime Casually Limited, Hartford, Connecticut assignment. The
41:12
Molly k at Her expense account continued, Item seven, A mere sixty cents
41:22
taxi from my hotel to the foot of Market Street and headquarters have Inspector Dan
41:24
McKay, in charge of Harvard Police. I'd known Dan for years well enough
41:30
to realize that knowing it wouldn't make any difference, not when he had a
41:32
warrant to serve. I knew the charge wouldn't stick, of course, but
41:36
it could slow me down, and I figured that was exactly why it had
41:39
been filed. You may be right, Johnny. Maybe Captain Brawley did file
41:45
charges just fornusance value keep you out of his way for a day or two.
41:47
That's exactly what he did. Nevertheless, the charge was filed and the
41:52
warrant has been issued. So what are you going to do about it?
41:55
I know what I'd like to do about it. H Uh, that's against
41:59
the law too. You know, you could be wrong. Johnny Brawley may
42:05
not be guilty of the Molly case, thinking I told you the whole story,
42:07
Dan, the facts say it up. What do you think. I
42:12
think you've got an opul strong case, but it's still based on circumstantial evidence.
42:15
Well, what else is there? A basin on the rest of the
42:17
evidence is out past the harbor there, out beyond the Golden Gate, a
42:20
mile below the surface of the Pacific. Yeah, yeah, I know.
42:23
Most of the cases we handle here in the Harbor Division are like that.
42:28
Well, then you can see the problem I'm up against. Yeah, I
42:30
can see it all right. That's a big harbor out there, Johnny,
42:37
biggest natural harbor in the world, a lot of square miles of water,
42:43
a lot of miles of shoreline, and a lot of ways of covering up
42:45
a crime as far as disposing of physical evidence. It's true, body can
42:51
be thrown into the bay, a weapon so on. Sometimes we recover it,
42:54
sometimes we don't. It's tough, Johnny, Yeah, I mentioned it,
42:58
real tough. Heys Maritonia arriving from Ceylon, Java, the Philippines.
43:07
So doc at Peer fourteen. The cargo is probably Spice's Mahogany raw or nice
43:15
looking ship beautiful. They drive me crazy, Johnny, watching him here from
43:20
the window. I should have gone to see oh. Anyway, since we
43:29
don't have physical evidence in a lot of cases, we've learned to rely on
43:31
other things, such as the human elements. Johnny, you've turned up a
43:37
lot of facts. True, you've made a good deal more progress on this
43:39
case than I have than you have. What do you mean, Tim Morourke
43:44
sent me the report of the inquiry board. I've been working on the case
43:46
ever since. Now You've got a pretty convincing bunch of facts. But I
43:52
know Captain Brawley my reputation at least. Look, Dan, I know what
43:55
you're getting at. People who know Brawley think he's honest. Oill Rorke's said
44:00
the same thing, right, tough, hard, violent temper, a slave
44:02
driver, but not a crook. An honest man can get under pressure,
44:07
sometimes get pushed beyond his depth. That happens every day. Yeah, But
44:09
Johnny, even then he reacts according to his pattern. Here's what I'm getting
44:15
at that murder on board the Molly Cage. Just before she sank, you
44:17
said, Hawkins told you the man had been knifed. Now I can see
44:22
Brawley slugging somebody with fist, club or bottle, or even shooting a man,
44:27
but not a knife, not in his nature. That's what I mean
44:31
by human elements. And you're right, Dan, I agree with you.
44:37
I don't think it was Brawley who killed him. Here's the way I see
44:39
it. Rolly was pressed for cash. The mortgage on his ship was due
44:45
in thirty days. He was carrying that grain for Dean Sutton on a contingency
44:49
basis. He might not make any money, or at least not enough.
44:52
He was probably doing as a favorite of his daughter. She and Dean Sutton
44:55
are in Kee. I know. So the first time out he tried setting
44:59
that fire up on board. It didn't work. One of the crew,
45:01
Bill Mack, discovered it before it got started. The money Kai returned to
45:05
port and Brawley filed an insurance claim. Then he got scared off an investigation
45:09
and withdrew it. That's all guests work, Johnny. So far. His
45:13
second attempt to contacted an expert on explosives Benny Wong, and Benny pulled off
45:19
the job for him, blew the bottom out of the ship and sank it.
45:22
And what about the knife thing, Well, Bill Mack was suspicious.
45:24
He was prowling around the hold and caught Benny in the act of setting the
45:29
explosive. Benny killed him, figuring the sinking would cover for him, but
45:32
by accident, Hawking stumbled onto the body before the ship went down. Well
45:37
that adds up, Johnny. It's hard to argue with it. I just
45:44
can't see it. Captain sinking his own ship. It's been done before.
45:47
Yeah, I know not everybody feels about them the way you do, Dan,
45:52
and a half million is a lot of money, that's true. Twenty
45:57
five years of command means a lot too, sense of responsibility, integrity.
46:02
He pardon me, Specer McKay, Well, yeah, just a moment.
46:13
It's vieo, Johnny. It was Liu Tang Shanghai Lou. She'd call the
46:20
hotel and found out where to reach me. For once. She didn't try
46:23
to play games. She spoke briefly and straight to the point, and she
46:28
told me what I wanted to know the most. When I hung up,
46:30
I knew I was on the last lap. I had the case right in
46:34
my hand. Well, what's up, Johnny? What is it? Dan?
46:38
How would you like to come along and talk to the man who blew
46:42
up the Molly klam eight eighty cents. Another TEXTI a short run from the
46:51
foot of Market to Fisherman's Wharf. Blue Tang Spies had told her Benny Wong
46:54
was holed up in a back run of the far Song Fish Company out on
46:58
the docks, and they said he was scared, armed and dangerous. There
47:07
was the fasting layout, Johnny, right there, the warehouse in the end.
47:10
Yeah. Well, let's go around the gangway. Blue Tank said.
47:15
The room was on the back corner. I said, Johnny, why don't
47:19
you wait here. Let me take him. This kind of thing is part
47:22
of my job. But he's my pigeon Dan and I found him first.
47:25
There's a door at the back. That must be it, Yeah, only
47:29
one it could be. Besides, I'm under arrest. If you let me
47:31
alone, I want to escape. Yeah, yeah, sure, you got
47:35
a gun jam Yeah, all right, let's go. We moved quietly up
47:43
to the blank wooden door opening onto the gangway over the water. There went
47:46
out windows in the back wall, so we were certainly weren't being watched him
47:50
inside. We stopped at the door and McKay reached for the knob and tried
47:53
to cheatly it's unlocked. Really, you know, hey, all the police
48:01
officers that gun drop it fast. This doesn't look much like Benny Wong,
48:09
Johnny, Oh, it doesn't look here. What do you do, Dean,
48:14
go around with a gun in your hand all the time? Yeah,
48:15
make a mistake. I don't know any more about this than you do anymore
48:20
about what? What are you doing here? Do you mind? Johnny?
48:22
Here's what he means. Huh. Oh wow, so we don't talk to
48:31
many? Shot three times? Yeah, any one of the bullets would have
48:37
done the job. You weren't taking any chances, were you, Dean?
48:40
I didn't shoot him. I just got here. How did you know where
48:44
he was hiding? I didn't. I didn't know anything about him. I
48:49
got a phone call. Somebody said to meet them here. He said to
48:52
give me the lowdown on the sinking of the Molly Kid. What somebody?
48:54
Who was it? I don't know. Man, a woman? I think
49:00
voice was muffled. So I came here to meet them, and we find
49:04
you standing over a dead man with a gun in your hand. I found
49:06
them like that. I figured it was a trap. I don't know anything
49:08
about it. Oh, no, of course you don't you just a babe
49:12
in the ward, Johnny, barking up a wrong three. What do you
49:15
mean? This man's been dead for several hours since early morning, I'd say.
49:20
And he was shot with a forty five this gun of suttons of thirty
49:22
two. So that's that, Johnny. What was the caliber of the gun?
49:31
You saw? Captain Brawley wearing a forty five? Dam, I'll put
49:37
out a bullet and to move pick him up, wind up. The bets
49:45
were all in. There was nothing more ahead with the showdown. Dan tore
49:50
up the warrant on me, of course, and I went back to my
49:52
hotel room to wait it out. That seemed the safest place to be.
49:55
Probably would be desperate now, half out of his mind, and of all
50:00
all the people he hated most, I was number one. So I lay
50:02
back on my bed and waited. I reached my gun from the lamp table,
50:08
moved quietly over to the door, and took hold of the key.
50:14
Oh is it Ellen, just a second? Come on in? Has he
50:20
been here, Johnny? Yes? Who's been here? My father? The
50:22
last time I saw the Captain he was lying unconscious on a bar on floor.
50:27
I just put him there. That was last night. I know what
50:30
made you think you'd be here? I don't know. I guess I thought.
50:35
I don't know what I thought. Oh easy, Now I'm scared,
50:37
Johnny, Holy please, I'm so lonely and scared. It's all right,
50:42
Ellen, Easy Now. He came home last night after he fought with you.
50:45
He was furious. Then he left again, and I haven't seen him
50:49
since. Does he have his gun with him? I guess so, I
50:52
don't know what. I don't know anything helped me, Johnny, won't you?
50:55
Of course? I will hold me, Helen. Last night when you
51:00
kissed me, I wasn't scared then. I was lonely. Look what is
51:07
it, Johnny Dollar, Damn McKay, Johnny, Yeah, Dan, We
51:13
picked up Brawley on the water front a half an hour ago. Thought you'd
51:15
want to know what's he saying? Denies everything, Says he was home asleep
51:20
all night. Says his daughter will back him up. Uh huh, I
51:22
happen to note different on that. Yeah, I figured he was lying.
51:25
We'd already been out to his house, found his gun. It's been fired
51:29
three times, Johnny and the bullets match. When Ellen Brawley left my room
51:37
A while later, I still hadn't told her about her father's arrest. I
51:40
didn't have the heart. She'd tried her best to protect him, cover for
51:45
him. She'd have done anything to say that, And yet the irony was
51:50
that every move she'd made helped tighten the case against him. The scent of
51:54
her perfume still hung in the air after she'd gone. It was a strange
51:59
sense, subtle, disturbing. I began to feel uncomfortable on edge. There
52:06
was something familiar about that scent, and finally I tagged it. I'd noticed
52:13
that same perfume on the room on the wharf where Benny wonglay murdered Johnny Dollar,
52:35
Johnny, I've got it for you, Lou tang good? What did
52:37
you find out? That price is on the Tokyo grain market? Did break
52:40
suddenly about three weeks ago? Three weeks uh huh reason oversupply. The price
52:45
has been holding since at about sixty percent of the peak of forty drop big
52:51
enough to cause the damage. What damage? The sinking of the Molly k
52:53
A double cross, a frame up murder. It's as clear as crystal,
52:58
Lou. Come see me later to tell me all about it, all right?
53:00
At any rate, come on tell me about something about a certain nine
53:05
in Paris. Maybe I think I'd like that very much, Johnny. Wait
53:09
for me, Low, I'll be there later. You can count on it.
53:17
From Special Investigator Johnny Dollar location in San Francisco to the home office Marine
53:22
and Maritime Casually Limited, Hartford, Connecticut assignment the Molly k Matter expense account,
53:28
final page item nine seven to seventy long distance calls to Hartford and New
53:35
York. I was pretty sure before I called, but I had to check
53:37
on it. It checked Item ten eighty cents taxi from my hotel to the
53:42
waterfront office of Inspector Dan McKay Harbor Police. That's a funny deal, Johnny.
53:46
I can't figure. Captain Brawley is clammed up tight, won't answer any
53:51
more questions, doesn't want a lawyer. I won't even talk. It's a
53:52
funny deal, not when you consider the fact that he's innocent. What what
53:58
you say now? I argue the was that I was wrong. What is
54:00
it, Johnny, just playing stubbornness? No, but that's what it is
54:04
with Captain Brawley. Maybe that's the tip off his stubborn, bullheadedness. The
54:07
human elements you mentioned, how are you figuring it? If Brolly were in
54:10
a money jam, he'd never scheme, And can I have it planning a
54:14
thing like that of sinking his own ship. He's too stubborn. And besides,
54:16
he wasn't in a jam. I'm sure of it. Well, no,
54:20
no, wait a minute, he had one hundred thousand dollars mortgage to
54:22
meet. I've enagled some information out of the bank. The Brawley Shipping Company
54:25
has a free balance of nearly one hundred and fifty thousand dollars in cash has
54:29
Look here, John you look, I started out with a motive, and
54:32
I built a pretty strong case on it. Even you agreed everything pointed toward
54:37
Captain Brawley. Sure, because somebody was helping things point toward him. What
54:40
do you mean it wasn't just the ship itself that was insured. I'm still
54:45
lost, Johnny, Keep talking all right. Look that cargo of grain was
54:49
also insured by the owner with another company, not mine, and for top
54:52
market value full price. Yeah, well, keep talking, all right.
54:58
The Tokyo grain market broke just for four days before the Molly Kay was due
55:00
to sail. The first time the shipper stood to lose nearly half his investment
55:05
at the grain reached Yokohama at that time. Well, it didn't reach there.
55:08
It's lying out there on the bottom of the Pacific. That result,
55:12
instead of taking a loss because of price, the shipperd gets full price from
55:15
the insurance company. It ends up Dan. Yeah, it sure does the
55:22
shipper. I think Captain Brawley suspected him too. That's what kept the old
55:25
captain on the prod. The ship gone under suspicion for the sinking, yet
55:30
not wanting to hurt his daughter. He was caught right in the middle,
55:32
But keep on holding him to make it look like we still think he's the
55:36
guilty party. Well it's that girl of his. I feel sorry for Ellen.
55:38
She's the one caught in the middle. Yeah, I know, and
55:42
it's going to be rough on her when she finds out engaged to a killer
55:45
who's been using her to smash her own father. Great setup. Yeah,
55:52
well, now I get a pullet knot. We'll pick up this dean Sutton
55:54
and bring him in. But you know, something's the awful hart to pin
55:59
it on him and something definite. Look, why don't you let me have
56:01
a go at him first? That's out of the question, of course,
56:07
if you should happen to find him before we do, well, yeah,
56:09
I might just do that Dan. In fact, I've kind of got a
56:14
hunch I will. It was a hunch, but it might be a good
56:19
one. I left Dan's office and walked east along the waterfront, following the
56:24
long curve of the Embarcadero, with its miles of docks and wharves. The
56:30
knight had settled down over the bay in the city, and with it a
56:32
dark, damp blanket of fog, even heavier than the night before. And
56:37
because of that and other reasons, I felt cold and lonesome, and along
56:47
I turned off the Embarcadero and walked out Peer twenty nine. I was about
56:52
thirty yards from the Brawley Warehouse when I was suddenly brought up short. On
56:57
the water below me, tied to a wharf panting, was a light cat
57:00
cruiser, rocking gently with a swell. It had no business being there.
57:04
Here twenty nine was a commercial berth. My hunch was right. I moved
57:09
quietly to the edge of the wharf and stood watching the little cruiser for several
57:13
minutes. There was no sign of life, no sound. Finally, I
57:16
climbed over the dock rail, down the wharf ladder and stepped onto the deck.
57:22
Still no sound, no movement. I moved over to the companionway door
57:27
leading down below decks and reached out my hand for the latch. Then I
57:30
stopped short, caught suddenly by a sharp feeling of danger. It wasn't the
57:34
sense of being watched. It was deeper, more subtle, more vague.
57:37
I tried to shake it off, reach again for the latch. Then the
57:40
boat shifted slightly, and the dim blow from the wharf light overhead moved across
57:45
the hatchway door inches in front of my face. I saw the glint of
57:50
bare copper wires, all set to make contact. If the door was open.
57:54
One more move and I'd have been blown sky high. That boat was
57:59
booby trapped. There was a light burning in the office of the Brawley Shipping
58:04
Company. I knocked on the door, drew my gun. Then I stepped
58:07
back and waited. I leveled the gun on the door. Johnny alone,
58:16
Ellen, Yes, of course, come on, let's get it sick.
58:20
What is it, Johnny? Have you seen Dean Sutton tonight? I tried
58:22
to find him, but I couldn't. My father's been arrested, charged with
58:25
murder. Yeah, I know, honey. I came here to go with
58:28
the company records to see if I could find something that might help him anything,
58:30
Ellen, Johnny, Look look at this mess. Somebody's been here.
58:35
Files dumped in the middle of the floor, papers all over the place.
58:37
Yeah, it looks like they're planning to start a bonfire. Say tell me
58:42
something, Ellen, does Dean Sutton on a boat, yes, like cabin
58:46
cruise named the Piper. Why it's tied up at the wharf. He's around
58:50
here somewhere. Well, what of it? What do you mean your father
58:53
didn't sink the molly k Dean Sutton did it. He wasn't even on board.
58:59
He didn't have to be. He hired an explosive expert named Benny Wong
59:02
to do the job. He got your father to take Benny on a steward.
59:06
That's the man they're accusing father of murder. Dean is the one who
59:08
did it, using her father's gun to collect the insurance on the cargo of
59:12
brain. Oh. Look, I know it's a rough deal, honey,
59:15
and I know how you feel, but I guess your best bet is to
59:17
chalk it up to experience. At least your father's in the clear. Now.
59:22
I think I sensed it, Johnny, that something was wrong with Dean,
59:28
badly wrong. I guess that's why I felt like turning to you instead
59:31
of him. I still feel that way. I think I'm going to cry.
59:39
Then cry, cry it out, and get it over with, kimire
59:44
Ellen. I held it close and tried to comfort her. She pressed her
59:50
face against my chest and equip it like a hurt kid. I kept stroking
59:54
her hair, breathing in the center of her perfume, perfume, the same
1:00:00
perfume that had hung in the air of the room where Benny Wong was killed.
1:00:06
The pieces shifted fell into place again. The puzzle was finally solved,
1:00:08
but too late, because I could feel the muzzle of the guns she was
1:00:14
pressing against my side. Easy now, Johnny, turn around, slow and
1:00:16
get your hands up. That's the idea. I stay that way. I'm
1:00:24
a dead shot, Johnny. Your daughter had asked Benny Wong right under my
1:00:30
nose, right from the start. How wrong can a guy be as wrong
1:00:35
as you were? Johnny? It had to be you. There was no
1:00:37
chance for Dean to steal your father's gun and then return it, not unless
1:00:42
you were in on it with him. It was my idea. Dean's too
1:00:45
weak to plan a thing like that. He has to be propped up and
1:00:49
pushed, and you are just the girl to do it. You ought to
1:00:52
know, Yeah, I do. Now it's too bad. I like the
1:00:55
way you kiss. Any chance of looking something out, Johnny? Were you
1:01:02
too honest? So that's it. The next step is to get rid of
1:01:06
Dean, and you've already got the trap set. Not yet, but I'll
1:01:09
think of something. I am clever, Johnny, don't you think so?
1:01:15
I heard footsteps coming along the wharf, Dean sudden. I had only seconds
1:01:20
to think of something, so I took a chance. Edge back against the
1:01:22
wall, inched over closer to the door. That's far enough. Don't push
1:01:24
your luck. There's Dean coming now. He went after some gasoline. We're
1:01:30
going to build a nice warm fire, and you're going to have a ringside
1:01:34
seat. Marty and Dean. We've got a visitor dollar. Let you know,
1:01:40
do you walk right into it? Just like a chance paid off?
1:01:45
He walked between his block Ellen's line of fire, and I jumped in.
1:01:47
I grabbed him around the neck and held him. It was a shield dragged
1:01:50
him back out through the door, out of the wharf. Dean break.
1:01:53
I was trying to make clear of the light before Ellen got blasphem with that
1:01:57
gun, and I made it, but Dean broke are giving me sweet?
1:02:00
He slipped and staggered up against the dock right The railing broke split and show
1:02:05
and we went over the side. He struggled back up to the surface.
1:02:08
Jean's hands were clenched on my throat and I couldn't break his grip. Ellen
1:02:14
started climbing for the wharf above us, not knowing who she'd hit and not
1:02:16
caring. I took a deep breath from bragged Dean under the surface, but
1:02:21
his hands were still in my throat and I couldn't break loose, and lungs
1:02:23
were bristing. My strength was going fast. I brought up my knee.
1:02:29
He fell away from me. I was free, free to fight my way
1:02:31
back up to the surface. I swam around in circles, getting my breath,
1:02:35
watching for Dean, but he didn't come up. He didn't come up
1:02:39
for two days. When I climbed up the ladder under the wharf, Ellen
1:02:47
was nowhere in sight. I heard somebody running toward me. He saw the
1:02:51
flashing red light back at the land end of the pier, and I knew
1:02:53
why she'd left. Dan mccayn his boys, Hey, Johnny over here,
1:02:57
Dan, are you all right? Johnny? All right? You see Ellen
1:03:00
Brawley. Well, some girl lent up the wharf there, I tore that
1:03:01
cruiser. That boat's got a booby trap on it. Come on, Dan,
1:03:06
what she doing here? She was in on a too. Dean's in
1:03:07
the water drowned. I look, she is climbing on off the water.
1:03:10
Ellen stopped. She's on the cruiser. No, Ellen's gonna look out out,
1:03:15
fly on your face if she oversaid? It blown the bit booby trap.
1:03:30
They had it rigged for me, and she no, she didn't know
1:03:37
about it. That wasn't meant for me. They were both pulling a double
1:03:42
cross. Dean set that trap for her end of expense accounts except hotel and
1:03:52
plane fairback home total five hundred and forty seven dollars and sixty cents. Well,
1:03:59
it looks like they coming pays off on this one day. The shipowner
1:04:01
was innocent. But you'll make it back. How made me feel sorry for
1:04:06
Captain Broadly? He commanded his own quarterdeck for twenty five years, strong and
1:04:12
proud and unafraid. He had a wife once named Mollie Kay, and a
1:04:16
ship named Mollie Kay. And he had a daughter too, And now the
1:04:21
sea has taken all of them away from him, left him cast up on
1:04:25
the beach, a broken old man better beaten alone. Here's truly Johnny Dollar.
1:04:46
Now here's our star Bob Bailey to tell you about next week's story.
1:04:50
Thanks next week. The case of a man who didn't exist except for one
1:04:56
thing. He suddenly showed up Jonas. Won't you yours truly, Johnny Dollar?
1:05:15
Yours Truly Johnny Dollar is transcribed in Hollywood, written by Les Crutchfield.
1:05:19
The entire production is under the direction of Jack Johnstone. Heard in this week's
1:05:25
cast were Virginia, Greg Peter Leeds, Barney Phillips, Victor Perrin, James
1:05:29
McAllion and High Averback. Be sure to join us on Monday night, same
1:05:32
time in Station or another exciting story of Yours Truly Johnny Dollar. Roy Rowan
1:05:39
speaking Welcome Back. The Cereal was defined I think by a few things.
1:06:43
You know, great scenes. Johnny's butting heads with Captain Brawley was I think
1:06:49
just very much a classic, particularly the hearing scene and Johnny just really asking
1:06:59
some my incisive questions. Of course, there is a negative side, particularly
1:07:04
as you listen to it in the whole part where at the end of part
1:07:09
four Johnny remembered the scent of Brawley's the daughter's perfume, and then remembered again
1:07:20
towards the end of part five. Also, all of the double crossing at
1:07:26
the end was just kind of odd, particularly the woman planning to get rid
1:07:33
of her fiance. If she does that, how is she going to actually
1:07:41
enjoy the fruits of her labors, because she's not going to inherit the insurance
1:07:48
money at that point, which appears to have been what this was all about.
1:07:54
But this is an episode really that holds up with Gray to acting.
1:08:00
I've had so many great moments you had Captain Brawley, Shanghai Lil, the
1:08:08
Harbor Police. It's just so richly done. We can forgive a lot of
1:08:13
the logical issues that come into the solution of the case. At any rate,
1:08:18
they'll actually do it for today. We'll be back tomorrow with Pursuit,
1:08:26
and then we have Johnny Dollar. You lost episodes on Tuesday and on Friday,
1:08:32
we continue on with Bob Bailey in the half hour series, and we'll
1:08:38
be back here next Sunday for one more omnibus program. I do want to
1:08:44
remind you to support the listener support campaign support Dot Great Detectives dot net if
1:08:49
you are in the US or Canada for a donation of seventy five dollars or
1:08:54
more. As a thank you gift, I can send you the Father Dowling
1:08:58
Mystery season one, and we have many more options available. You can view
1:09:01
them all support Dot Great Detectives dot net. From Boise, Idaho, this
1:09:06
is your host, Adam Grahamson and AF