Latest / Great Detectives of Old Time Radio Volume 2|Mystery Audio Dramas / Michael Shayne: The Ghost of Mocassin Hill (EP1695)
Transcript
- 0:28Speaker 1: Welcome to the Great Detectives of Old Time Radio from Boise, Idaho.
- 0:33Speaker 1: This is your host, Adam Graham. If you have a comment,
- 0:36Speaker 1: send it to me Box thirteen at Great Detectives dot net,
- 0:40Speaker 1: follow us on Twitter at Radio Detectives, and become one
- 0:44Speaker 1: of our friends on Facebook, Facebook dot com slash Radio Detectives. Well,
- 0:49Speaker 1: before we do get started, I do want to encourage
- 0:52Speaker 1: you to pick up your copy of Slime Incorporated. It's
- 0:54Speaker 1: my first full length detective novel and it is a
- 0:58Speaker 1: mix of a classic style with a very modern feel.
- 1:03Speaker 1: It's available as a paperback, as an ebook, or as
- 1:06Speaker 1: an audiobook through audible dot com. And that Slime Incorporated.
- 1:11Speaker 1: All right, Now we're going to discuss our star Wallymayer,
- 1:14Speaker 1: who's actually in this week's episode. Wally Mayer came to
- 1:20Speaker 1: radio acting in the nineteen thirties, really just established himself
- 1:24Speaker 1: as somebody who is very good in comedic roles, got
- 1:29Speaker 1: cast as a policeman in particular, and a lot of
- 1:33Speaker 1: comedy radio adaptations for Lux Radio theater. During the war.
- 1:39Speaker 1: He was actually for f He had lifetime, lifelong respiratory
- 1:44Speaker 1: problems that made it so he couldn't actually serve in
- 1:47Speaker 1: the military. However, his main foref gave him the ability
- 1:54Speaker 1: to play a lot of roles over the radio. Ironically,
- 2:00Speaker 1: really established a relationship with Cavalcat of America, became one
- 2:04Speaker 1: of their regulars, played a lot of military roles. If
- 2:08Speaker 1: you listen to my podcast the War you would have
- 2:12Speaker 1: heard him in all kinds of programs during the war era,
- 2:18Speaker 1: particularly Cavalcade, and just played a ton of servicemen. And
- 2:22Speaker 1: he also got his one and only starring role in
- 2:26Speaker 1: Michael Shane Private Detective. And of course he had those
- 2:30Speaker 1: other recurring roles we've mentioned before in which you've already
- 2:33Speaker 1: heard on this program, playing Lieutenant Riley on Let George
- 2:37Speaker 1: Do It, and Matt Grebb on the lineup. He also
- 2:41Speaker 1: played the role of Screwy Squirrel, who, as much as
- 2:45Speaker 1: I love Wally Maher, was probably one of the most
- 2:48Speaker 1: annoying cartoon characters ever. But at any rate, we will
- 2:55Speaker 1: go ahead and we'll take a listen to today's episode
- 2:58Speaker 1: of Michael Shane. Origional air date was April the ninth
- 3:02Speaker 1: of nineteen forty five, and the title is the Ghost
- 3:06Speaker 1: of Moccasin Hill.
- 3:08Speaker 2: The Adventures of Michael Shane, Private Detective.
- 3:17Speaker 3: The people who.
- 3:18Speaker 2: Make seventy six Gasoline and Trenton Motor Oil. Union Oil
- 3:22Speaker 2: Company present The Adventures of Michael Shane, Private Detective, starring
- 3:31Speaker 2: Wallamayre and Kathy Lewis. As a loyal native of San Francisco,
- 3:48Speaker 2: Mike Shane would like to solve all his cases right
- 3:50Speaker 2: inside the city limits.
- 3:52Speaker 4: However, this is not one of those times.
- 3:54Speaker 2: Right now, Mike and his assistant Phyllis Knight, are a
- 3:57Speaker 2: two hours drive east of the city by the Golden Gate. Also,
- 4:00Speaker 2: right now, Mike is on the long distance phone talking
- 4:03Speaker 2: to you, guess at Inspector Paraday.
- 4:06Speaker 3: No, No, Paraday, Moccason Hill. It's a little town on
- 4:10Speaker 3: the highway east of Stockton.
- 4:12Speaker 4: Oh, I remember it now. That's where rich old man
- 4:15Speaker 4: Killgallan died last.
- 4:16Speaker 3: Month, right right. They said his house was haunted and
- 4:18Speaker 3: somebody frightened him to death.
- 4:19Speaker 4: Yeah, that's what his daughter said. You try to get
- 4:21Speaker 4: us to investigate. Listen, Mike, you're not getting roped into that,
- 4:25Speaker 4: are you.
- 4:26Speaker 3: Huh, Inspector. Right now, I'm sitting in the chair where
- 4:28Speaker 3: they found the corpse.
- 4:29Speaker 4: Oh, Mike, you're not disney enough to think a ghost
- 4:32Speaker 4: killed him.
- 4:32Speaker 3: It was hot failure maybe I've just been talking to
- 4:36Speaker 3: the daughter. It looks like somebody's been trying to give
- 4:38Speaker 3: her the business too, like dropping a foller pot on
- 4:40Speaker 3: their head.
- 4:41Speaker 4: So you crow along business to tell me that.
- 4:43Speaker 3: No, No, inspector. Look, I want you to find out
- 4:45Speaker 3: if a mister John Himes, a Boston mass was in
- 4:48Speaker 3: San Francisco four weeks ago. One of your boys can
- 4:50Speaker 3: check the hotels, trains and airlines.
- 4:52Speaker 4: John Hymes, Boston. Well it's a waste of time, but
- 4:56Speaker 4: for you, Mike.
- 4:56Speaker 3: Okay, and look, phone me back at Maccison Hill nine three.
- 5:00Speaker 3: Got it, Mike, Yeah, don't look that.
- 5:03Speaker 4: But I think there's a ghost behind you.
- 5:08Speaker 5: Oh oh, that guy the inspector giving you the Bronx chair.
- 5:12Speaker 3: Mike, yeah, Darling, Oh, miss kill Gallan. One thing more
- 5:15Speaker 3: about your cousin, John Hines. Did you two ever quarrel
- 5:19Speaker 3: about your father's estate.
- 5:20Speaker 6: Well, I know, mister Shane, there's no reason for you
- 5:22Speaker 6: to suspect John. He's the only other heir. But he'd
- 5:25Speaker 6: never kill father try to remove me. I'm sure of it.
- 5:27Speaker 5: Besides, Mike, he lives in Boston, three thousand miles away.
- 5:30Speaker 3: But he makes frequent visits to the coast miss Kill
- 5:32Speaker 3: Gallan just whinished telling us that I'm sorry, Well, what
- 5:35Speaker 3: do you say we have a look around the house now,
- 5:37Speaker 3: I want to know where the ghost hangs out.
- 5:39Speaker 6: Well, as I said, mister Shane, they found my father
- 5:41Speaker 6: here in the living room in a chair you were
- 5:43Speaker 6: just using.
- 5:44Speaker 3: What's this next room?
- 5:45Speaker 6: Father's hobby room. Oh he kept his photographs and guns
- 5:48Speaker 6: and hunting trophies in here.
- 5:49Speaker 5: Oh jeepers, he had plenty of them. Deerheads, mountain lions.
- 5:55Speaker 6: Fuck, they're terribly old. Father wasn't strong enough to hunting
- 5:58Speaker 6: his last years. He had content himself with his guns.
- 6:01Speaker 3: Mm hmmm. The collection covers a whole wall. You know,
- 6:05Speaker 3: it's funny, but this room seems much more worn and
- 6:08Speaker 3: older than the living room.
- 6:09Speaker 4: It is.
- 6:10Speaker 6: Granddad built a house back in the eighteen sixties. The
- 6:12Speaker 6: other rooms were added on round it. Father tried to
- 6:15Speaker 6: keep the old.
- 6:15Speaker 5: Part as it wrong, Like look, look, here's a souvenir
- 6:18Speaker 5: of early California poster giving the schedules of the Wells
- 6:21Speaker 5: Fargo stages.
- 6:23Speaker 6: Yes, Martinson Hill was right on the old stage route
- 6:26Speaker 6: with that long pistol you see about the fireplace that
- 6:28Speaker 6: was used by Black mcale to hold up the stages.
- 6:30Speaker 5: Oh hey, what in Heaven's name is that?
- 6:36Speaker 6: Sounds like a lost soul, doesn't It scared me the
- 6:38Speaker 6: first time I heard it. It's just an alany chimney
- 6:41Speaker 6: up in the edir atmosphere.
- 6:43Speaker 3: Angel atmosphere. Every well run hearted house has an howl
- 6:46Speaker 3: in the epic. Now, Miss Cocata, and I was just
- 6:48Speaker 3: noticing the odd shape of this room. Half of the
- 6:51Speaker 3: ceiling is so much.
- 6:52Speaker 6: Lower than that's because father tore down the partition on
- 6:55Speaker 6: the other side. It was a secret room. We had
- 6:58Speaker 6: several secret rooms, just like a movie set. Last year
- 7:01Speaker 6: Father tore out all the sliding panels and made them
- 7:03Speaker 6: into perfectly honest room.
- 7:04Speaker 3: Your granddad must have been a queer old duck. Somehow,
- 7:07Speaker 3: I can't picture a girl like you living in this curiosity.
- 7:10Speaker 6: I don't intend to, especially not after father's well. Anyway,
- 7:14Speaker 6: it's too far from college.
- 7:15Speaker 5: Uh misk gown. You said you were away at school
- 7:17Speaker 5: when your father died.
- 7:18Speaker 6: Huh yes, I'll sell the place as soon as I
- 7:20Speaker 6: get a fair bed. I don't know. Maybe cousin John
- 7:23Speaker 6: will take it. He wrote me that he'd like to
- 7:25Speaker 6: if i'd sell for twenty thousand dollars funny.
- 7:28Speaker 5: Oh well, that's ridiculous. It's worth much more.
- 7:30Speaker 3: Than that, which is why I suspect cousin John. Well,
- 7:33Speaker 3: now come on, let's go outside again. I want to
- 7:35Speaker 3: take another look at that busted flower pot.
- 7:37Speaker 6: All right, you can go through the terry store.
- 7:38Speaker 3: Here.
- 7:41Speaker 5: Look, look, Mike, who's the old character in the straw hat?
- 7:44Speaker 3: Hey win, he's sweeping up the flowerpot. Hold on, hold on,
- 7:47Speaker 3: here's the darn old day wouch. You're talking to me, Yes, sir, yes, sir.
- 7:52Speaker 3: Just leave the pieces of the flowerpot right there. Huh.
- 7:55Speaker 3: We want them for a setimental reason.
- 7:57Speaker 7: Well, miss kilgullon Or has told me to keep things.
- 8:00Speaker 6: Write this time, Dick. You weren't here yesterday, and you
- 8:02Speaker 6: don't understand.
- 8:03Speaker 3: By the way, sir, how long have you been gotten
- 8:05Speaker 3: e three four months?
- 8:06Speaker 7: I reckon?
- 8:08Speaker 3: You want a handy man? No, no, I was just
- 8:10Speaker 3: wondering you know anything strange about this house? I mean
- 8:14Speaker 3: like being haunted.
- 8:15Speaker 7: Of course you do know who by the time fombit
- 8:19Speaker 7: eat no place? I'd hate her to live. I told
- 8:21Speaker 7: mister Keeleg.
- 8:22Speaker 5: You think it was hearted?
- 8:23Speaker 7: Of course he did. The hitch got him too, you'll
- 8:26Speaker 7: get everybody in the spell. You'll hear footsteps without no feet,
- 8:32Speaker 7: and moons and things.
- 8:34Speaker 6: That's true enough, but they're not from the spiritual world.
- 8:37Speaker 3: Let me see the flypot fell from this balcony directly overhead.
- 8:41Speaker 6: Yes, it couldn't have just happened. The pot was too
- 8:44Speaker 6: big and heavy to jiggle off the railing.
- 8:46Speaker 5: Yeah, but you saw no one push it.
- 8:48Speaker 6: I wasn't looking up. It was warm yesterday afternoon, and
- 8:51Speaker 6: I was watering the deraniums here. Just as I stooped over,
- 8:54Speaker 6: it came down, Kray.
- 8:55Speaker 3: Two seconds earlier. It would have crushed your skull. I
- 8:58Speaker 3: think I'll climb these stairs and give the bacon once over.
- 9:00Speaker 5: Hey, hey, you be careful, Mike, don't push another pot
- 9:03Speaker 5: down on us.
- 9:04Speaker 3: You're giving me ideas My dad tell you, I tell you.
- 9:10Speaker 5: Oh, Mike, are your hers?
- 9:14Speaker 3: If I hadn't grabbed the railing.
- 9:15Speaker 5: And Mike, the steps just gave way under their rot.
- 9:18Speaker 3: No, no angel, no sir, they were meant to give away.
- 9:21Speaker 3: Look at the under side of this next step.
- 9:23Speaker 5: Huh, Mike, Why that saw it halfway through?
- 9:27Speaker 3: Yes, evidently the ghost of Moccasin Hill once company.
- 9:43Speaker 2: In just a moment we'll rejoin Mike Shane and Philips
- 9:46Speaker 2: Knipe in their adventures. As your car gets older, it's
- 9:53Speaker 2: bearings we're down. The bushings and large and the joints
- 9:56Speaker 2: and fittings loosen up and rattle. This means that lubrication
- 10:00Speaker 2: becomes increasingly important in relieving friction and protecting worn parts
- 10:05Speaker 2: against extra shock and strain. And since even the latest
- 10:08Speaker 2: cars are now almost four years old, no one can
- 10:11Speaker 2: afford to take a chance on a careless grease job.
- 10:14Speaker 2: That is why the Union Oil Minuteman takes such pride
- 10:17Speaker 2: in stopware lubrication. Each job of stopware lubrication is performed
- 10:23Speaker 2: so carefully and accurately it is guaranteed in writing. When
- 10:27Speaker 2: your car receives stopware lubrication, you can be sure that
- 10:31Speaker 2: only the finest, high quality greases are used throughout, and
- 10:35Speaker 2: you can also be sure that each fitting and bearing
- 10:38Speaker 2: will be thoroughly lubricated according to the manufacturer's specifications. While
- 10:43Speaker 2: your car is on the hoist, the minute men will
- 10:45Speaker 2: inspect out of sight points and check them for danger signs.
- 10:48Speaker 2: So ladies and gentlemen, for smoother, safer driving, ask your
- 10:52Speaker 2: Union Oil minute man for stopware guaranteed lubrication. Stopware is
- 10:58Speaker 2: an exclusive process available only at Union Oil minute Man stations.
- 11:03Speaker 2: Remember stop where lubrication is guaranteed. Mike and Phyllis are
- 11:14Speaker 2: still searching through the ancient house on Marcuson Hill, stalking
- 11:18Speaker 2: the ghost who throws flower pots and designs collapsing staircases.
- 11:22Speaker 3: Right now they are interrupted by a new arrival.
- 11:25Speaker 6: Why, mister Patten, won't you come in?
- 11:27Speaker 4: Thank you, Miss kill Gallan.
- 11:28Speaker 8: I happy to see your can the driveway, and I
- 11:29Speaker 8: thought i'd stop in a moment.
- 11:31Speaker 6: I'm glad you did. Oh, I want you to meet
- 11:33Speaker 6: some friends. This is mister Shane and miss Knight from
- 11:35Speaker 6: San Francisco.
- 11:36Speaker 3: Oh, how do you do?
- 11:37Speaker 6: How do mister Patton was my father's attorney. He's heading
- 11:40Speaker 6: the estate.
- 11:41Speaker 8: Yes, it's in that regard, Miss kill Gallen, that I'd
- 11:43Speaker 8: like to talk to you.
- 11:44Speaker 4: Could we go into the living room?
- 11:46Speaker 6: You too, mister Shane and Miss Knight?
- 11:47Speaker 3: All right, I thought it might be better if we
- 11:49Speaker 3: talked along.
- 11:50Speaker 6: I have no secrets, mister Patten, and I think mister
- 11:52Speaker 6: Shane may want to ask you some questions about father.
- 11:54Speaker 3: Strictly in the line of duty. Mister Patton, I've been
- 11:56Speaker 3: retained to investigate mister Killgallan's death.
- 11:59Speaker 8: Oh my, your girl, you're wasting your money.
- 12:01Speaker 3: Your father died of heart.
- 12:02Speaker 6: Disease perhaps, But what was it you wish to see
- 12:05Speaker 6: me about?
- 12:05Speaker 4: Oh yes, oh yes, miss Kilgallen.
- 12:07Speaker 8: And I've thought it over and I'm now prepared to
- 12:08Speaker 8: offer you twenty two thousand, five hundred dollars. I think
- 12:11Speaker 8: that's a generous sum indeed, for this property.
- 12:13Speaker 6: I'm sorry, mister Patton. You know that father put over
- 12:16Speaker 6: twice that much money into the place, and it has
- 12:18Speaker 6: to historic value.
- 12:19Speaker 3: May I ask why you want to buy it? Quite?
- 12:21Speaker 8: That's obvious, sir, to live in it won't be easy
- 12:24Speaker 8: to dispose of. With her father's death and certain rumors
- 12:27Speaker 8: about the property, I think I'm doing her a kindness.
- 12:30Speaker 6: I'll answer it.
- 12:31Speaker 3: These are rumors, mister Patten. Did this girl's father tell
- 12:34Speaker 3: you anything that would bear them out?
- 12:36Speaker 8: Or mister Kilgallen was an ill man, sir, he had
- 12:38Speaker 8: a rather more of a turn of mind.
- 12:40Speaker 6: Of course, it's for you, mister Shane San Francisco.
- 12:42Speaker 3: Oh that's faraday. Excuse me, please, I don't inspect that
- 12:50Speaker 3: you did well well? Apparently old back my boy, Uh
- 12:55Speaker 3: huh right now, okay, holding there or better still bring
- 13:00Speaker 3: him out here. Oh, I see, and I guess he's
- 13:05Speaker 3: out of reach by now. No, no, no, nothing much inspector,
- 13:09Speaker 3: except that you almost lost your best peanutle partner. Well,
- 13:14Speaker 3: the ghost pulled the staircase out from under me. I'm worry.
- 13:18Speaker 3: I'm watching hot Thanks for trying, Faraday.
- 13:22Speaker 5: No hitsno runs, no ballgame.
- 13:24Speaker 9: Huh.
- 13:24Speaker 3: Mister John Hymes was registered at the Palace Hotel at
- 13:27Speaker 3: or about the time the old man died. He also
- 13:30Speaker 3: registered there just two days ago. Mike, you were right
- 13:33Speaker 3: and checked out this morning destination unknown.
- 13:36Speaker 6: Even so, I'm sure you're wrong, mister.
- 13:38Speaker 3: Shamel Galla, and I take it you're rejecting my offer.
- 13:41Speaker 6: I'm afraid I must.
- 13:42Speaker 8: Very well, it's been a pleasure to meet you, sir,
- 13:44Speaker 8: Thank you, miss.
- 13:45Speaker 9: Name, thank you.
- 13:46Speaker 4: Oh I almost forgot.
- 13:48Speaker 8: I found you a new gardener.
- 13:49Speaker 4: His name is Fred Norman.
- 13:51Speaker 3: I brought him along with me. He's right outside, but
- 13:53Speaker 3: I can for our parole. You won't have to for
- 13:55Speaker 3: a day or two. I don't need both men to
- 13:57Speaker 3: help me on a little job.
- 13:59Speaker 8: Very well, you'll find Fred waiting at the back door.
- 14:02Speaker 5: Good day, Mike, Mike, what are you up to? What
- 14:05Speaker 5: job are we staying here?
- 14:07Speaker 3: Not so loud, honey, I haven't any job born, but
- 14:10Speaker 3: I think mister Patton has.
- 14:11Speaker 5: Oh you mean this new gardener is a spy.
- 14:14Speaker 3: I mean, well, we will give him something to prick
- 14:17Speaker 3: up his ears about Miss Killgallan. I want to tape
- 14:20Speaker 3: measure the longest you can find. Please, something tells me
- 14:24Speaker 3: your ghost counts a very secret room. We're going to
- 14:27Speaker 3: find that room by yard feet and inches.
- 14:45Speaker 5: Oh darn it, I dropped it again.
- 14:47Speaker 3: Hold on to it, honey, it's a tape measure, not
- 14:49Speaker 3: a snake.
- 14:50Speaker 5: Oh quiet, I'm tired, Mike. We've spent over two hours
- 14:53Speaker 5: measuring this house, every room, every hall, every closet. We
- 14:56Speaker 5: haven't found a thing.
- 14:57Speaker 3: Uh huh. Well the hall is fifty fifty three feet long.
- 15:02Speaker 3: Mss kill Allen. What did we find the living room?
- 15:04Speaker 6: Let's see it's on this other paper it says thirty feet.
- 15:07Speaker 3: Any feet, and the gun room next to.
- 15:09Speaker 6: Us fourteen feet each way.
- 15:11Speaker 3: That totals forty four feet plus one foot for the wall.
- 15:14Speaker 3: That's it. Yeah, say there's eight feet missing.
- 15:17Speaker 5: Fine, fine, how do we get into this secret room?
- 15:19Speaker 5: By the pickaxe.
- 15:20Speaker 3: Come on, come on into the gunroom.
- 15:22Speaker 6: But mister Shane father knew all our secret rooms, he
- 15:25Speaker 6: had them all open.
- 15:26Speaker 5: Well he didn't know about this one. Or maybe he
- 15:27Speaker 5: just lost count.
- 15:29Speaker 3: Okay, now, honey, you take the fire under the wall
- 15:31Speaker 3: and the house side of this sind there's got to
- 15:32Speaker 3: be a hidden spring or something. Now pound every inch
- 15:35Speaker 3: of the woodwork.
- 15:35Speaker 6: All right, it doesn't sound hollow.
- 15:38Speaker 3: That's why nobody suspected it. Come on, use some muscle, Honey,
- 15:42Speaker 3: you're just playing paddy cake.
- 15:43Speaker 5: Listen, Mike Shane. I haven't got calluses on my knuckles. Oh, Mike, Mike,
- 15:48Speaker 5: this panel had moved.
- 15:49Speaker 3: What this is it? Kids?
- 15:52Speaker 6: Its only moved an inter or so I'll pull it
- 15:53Speaker 6: open it.
- 15:56Speaker 3: Here you are.
- 15:57Speaker 5: It's dark as a coal bin. Inside.
- 16:00Speaker 3: I'll track a match. Good, Now we shall see what
- 16:03Speaker 3: we shall see?
- 16:05Speaker 6: Look, isn't it an old paple and a chair?
- 16:08Speaker 3: What's more important? A candle? We can get some real lite.
- 16:12Speaker 5: Yeah, that's better.
- 16:15Speaker 9: Oh honey, Dusty in here on.
- 16:17Speaker 3: Sneeze the other way. You almost blew these off the table.
- 16:20Speaker 3: Blewe what off? These papers? Here? Newspaper cuppings and so
- 16:24Speaker 3: old they're brown?
- 16:26Speaker 5: What on earth? Are they doing in here?
- 16:27Speaker 3: I don't know. They've put it in an old fashioned type,
- 16:30Speaker 3: must be sixty to seventy years old. Hold on here,
- 16:32Speaker 3: hold on, mits go gallon. What did you say the
- 16:35Speaker 3: name was it? That stage?
- 16:37Speaker 6: Rober You mean Black Miguel?
- 16:38Speaker 3: Yeah? Yeah, read this. Maybe this still means something to you.
- 16:42Speaker 6: Driver Billy Pringle reported to the sheriff that on Wednesday night,
- 16:46Speaker 6: his stage broke down at Moccason Hill. Springle took the
- 16:50Speaker 6: express box to the kill Gallan.
- 16:52Speaker 5: Hih, that's your grandfather.
- 16:53Speaker 6: I remember hearing from sort of story go on reading.
- 16:56Speaker 6: During the night, Black McGale assaulted the driver as he
- 17:00Speaker 6: attempted to flee with a small fortune, mister Pringle shot
- 17:04Speaker 6: and killed him. The express box, however, was not recovered
- 17:08Speaker 6: the authorite or not such.
- 17:10Speaker 5: You know this sounds like something out of treasure.
- 17:12Speaker 3: You can say that again, honey. Here here's a diagram
- 17:15Speaker 3: with everything on it except dig at the foot of
- 17:18Speaker 3: the crooked pine.
- 17:20Speaker 5: Hey, Mike, that papers almost knew.
- 17:22Speaker 6: What it would have to be. The handwriting is my father's.
- 17:25Speaker 9: Well, then he did know about this room, yes, and
- 17:27Speaker 9: he must have spent plenty of time in here.
- 17:29Speaker 3: Candle drippings all over the table.
- 17:31Speaker 5: You know there's something funny about them. You notice how
- 17:34Speaker 5: heavy the dust and grit is on the table. Yet
- 17:36Speaker 5: when I rubbed my finger over the wax spot, there's no.
- 17:38Speaker 3: Dust on him there fresh, it's change. It's living in
- 17:42Speaker 3: the wall.
- 17:43Speaker 9: Somebody else wants in the candle, will leave it. I
- 17:50Speaker 9: don't see anybody we like. Push this panel back, Mike, Mike,
- 17:55Speaker 9: you're not going to use your gun.
- 17:56Speaker 3: Come on, follow me into the living room quietly, hands
- 18:01Speaker 3: in the air.
- 18:01Speaker 6: Mister what Craig Norman the garden?
- 18:04Speaker 4: Get that gun away?
- 18:05Speaker 3: You won't got no call or we heard you pounding
- 18:06Speaker 3: that wall. Whatever it was.
- 18:08Speaker 4: I feel like I knocked the ashes out of us
- 18:10Speaker 4: pipe Kenny, Yeah.
- 18:10Speaker 5: But you're a gardener. What are you doing in here?
- 18:12Speaker 4: I was looking for his kill gown. I want to
- 18:14Speaker 4: know about the rose bushes, but I guess I don't
- 18:16Speaker 4: want to work here at all.
- 18:17Speaker 5: Oh was that the door?
- 18:18Speaker 9: Hey?
- 18:18Speaker 4: Don't you answer the.
- 18:20Speaker 3: FDA inspector Faraday? Well, since when is Moccason Hillier Baylor Wick?
- 18:24Speaker 4: I guess I'm just an old maid. Got to worrying
- 18:26Speaker 4: about your neck. Not that I wouldn't like to bust
- 18:29Speaker 4: it myself.
- 18:29Speaker 3: Sometimes well, I'll say that for you, just for you, daddy.
- 18:32Speaker 3: You're here now, all kidding aside, Paraday. There's something going
- 18:35Speaker 3: on here which ain't done with.
- 18:36Speaker 5: Mirrors, I'll say not. We found a secret room, papers
- 18:39Speaker 5: telling of a stagecoach robbery seventy years ago, a map
- 18:42Speaker 5: of where the treasure's buried.
- 18:43Speaker 3: It was rapping noise, it's hot and cold, running spooks.
- 18:46Speaker 3: Anything you want, we got her.
- 18:48Speaker 4: Yes, has your cigarette tasted different lately?
- 18:51Speaker 3: No, we mean it, Inspector. Somebody's putting on a spook
- 18:54Speaker 3: act of fighting people away from here, even if it
- 18:56Speaker 3: means killing piece.
- 18:56Speaker 5: Somebody wants the old express box and he's willing to
- 18:59Speaker 5: kill people to get.
- 19:00Speaker 4: Right out of this morning's comic strip. Ghost turns out
- 19:03Speaker 4: to be a next part with a pegg All.
- 19:05Speaker 3: Right, don't take our word for it. Come on, we'll
- 19:07Speaker 3: show you the secret room. I'll watch. I'll press this
- 19:09Speaker 3: wall panel here and.
- 19:13Speaker 5: Well i'll be see Inspectors.
- 19:16Speaker 3: Stupid, you go in, or you'll bump your noggin.
- 19:21Speaker 4: Any lights switch in here.
- 19:22Speaker 3: Now, there's a candle on the table, I'll light it. Well,
- 19:27Speaker 3: you weren't kidding, Oh not this trip? Now here are
- 19:31Speaker 3: the papers I was talking about.
- 19:34Speaker 5: The papers, Mike.
- 19:35Speaker 3: They're gone, all right, Come on now, we mean business friend,
- 19:50Speaker 3: Come on, handle with those papers. We know you got them.
- 19:52Speaker 4: I don't know nothing about any papers, and I don't
- 19:53Speaker 4: know nothing about any secret room.
- 19:55Speaker 3: You're lying, pat and brought you here. He hired you
- 19:57Speaker 3: to steal them for him.
- 19:58Speaker 7: What's more, you ain't no gardener, Well continue that, do
- 20:01Speaker 7: no shovel from a whole I'm living right now.
- 20:04Speaker 4: I wouldn't work here for no kind of money. Staying
- 20:06Speaker 4: right here. You're not to leave this property, you understand.
- 20:08Speaker 4: Maybe I will, and maybe I will.
- 20:10Speaker 7: Do trust that feller, but you're right with you.
- 20:12Speaker 3: Folk. Shall kind of follow him.
- 20:14Speaker 4: Around, keep my eye on good eye there, but let
- 20:17Speaker 4: him do anything he wants. He'll tip his hands yet.
- 20:19Speaker 5: But I don't see why you didn't search him for
- 20:21Speaker 5: the missing paper.
- 20:22Speaker 3: Huesless, honey, he's smart. He's already hidden him somewhere.
- 20:24Speaker 6: It seems to be, mister Shane. This is all beside
- 20:26Speaker 6: the point I wanted you to find out if my
- 20:29Speaker 6: father was right.
- 20:29Speaker 4: That's impossible for any detective. Miss. No one saw him die.
- 20:33Speaker 4: He's been dead for days. When he was found. Karen
- 20:35Speaker 4: only made a rough guess when it happened.
- 20:37Speaker 3: I think we can establish the time, Paraday. We were
- 20:39Speaker 3: looking at the old gentleman's diary had seen on the desk.
- 20:42Speaker 6: Father was very religious in keeping up his diary. He
- 20:45Speaker 6: wrote down everything he did.
- 20:46Speaker 3: The final entry was made on the seventeenth of last month.
- 20:49Speaker 3: Here it is quote rained all day afternoon spent cleaning
- 20:53Speaker 3: and oiling all my guns. Had to fix the pin
- 20:56Speaker 3: on the drringer.
- 20:56Speaker 5: Ah, that's a pistol, isn't it.
- 20:58Speaker 3: Mike, It's a short bire hev become just a minute,
- 21:01Speaker 3: the darringer. What about it?
- 21:03Speaker 6: Well, father always gets it on top of the bookcase.
- 21:05Speaker 6: It's gone.
- 21:05Speaker 4: Probably forgot to put it back after he fixed it.
- 21:08Speaker 3: Yes, But getting back to the diary, these are his
- 21:10Speaker 3: last sentences. Heard the noises again, it laughed and moaned.
- 21:15Speaker 3: Next time it happens, I will there. He stopped right
- 21:18Speaker 3: in the middle of a sentence.
- 21:19Speaker 6: Oh that front door. You think this was a hosswarmy.
- 21:22Speaker 3: As I see at fat day, the old fella heard
- 21:24Speaker 3: something again. He stopped writing. Gudda went into the living
- 21:26Speaker 3: room to check up whatever he saw or heard. Stopped
- 21:29Speaker 3: his hot and he was found in the chair by
- 21:31Speaker 3: the telephone, and I thought you were acting for me. Huh, hey,
- 21:36Speaker 3: what goes on?
- 21:37Speaker 6: Well, I'm just as surprised as you are.
- 21:39Speaker 4: This is John Hire's, my cousin, the feller from Boston.
- 21:42Speaker 3: Well, sir, I'm very happy to meet you. My name
- 21:44Speaker 3: is Sir Mike Shane. Oh.
- 21:45Speaker 10: Yes, mister Patton says you were investigating looking me up.
- 21:48Speaker 3: I understand you were in California last month about the
- 21:51Speaker 3: time mister Killgallan died. Yes, I was, and you're here now?
- 21:53Speaker 3: Why on business?
- 21:55Speaker 10: I came up to see Patton about buying this property.
- 21:57Speaker 10: I wrote to my cousin and to him as our attorney,
- 21:59Speaker 10: made an author. Now I find pattern is trying to
- 22:02Speaker 10: buy the place himself.
- 22:04Speaker 5: And in case you didn't succeed, mister Patten, you hired
- 22:07Speaker 5: Fred Norman, the fake gardener, to steal those papers from
- 22:09Speaker 5: the secret room.
- 22:10Speaker 4: I don't know what you're talking about, mister Hymes. What
- 22:13Speaker 4: is your interest in this property? We understand you live
- 22:15Speaker 4: in Boston.
- 22:16Speaker 10: Well, my firm is transferring me to San Francisco.
- 22:18Speaker 3: I'd like to have a country home. Just what is
- 22:21Speaker 3: your business?
- 22:22Speaker 10: I can see you suspicious. Perhaps you'd wrote the look
- 22:24Speaker 10: of one of my cards.
- 22:26Speaker 3: Well it woodn'head there you are, Thank you, m Investment
- 22:30Speaker 3: thanking Michael inspector.
- 22:32Speaker 5: Could I see you alone a moment, can't wait, It'll
- 22:35Speaker 5: just take a minute.
- 22:36Speaker 3: Oh all right, excuses, please come on, let's go into
- 22:39Speaker 3: the living room.
- 22:39Speaker 4: Huh you look as wise as the sphinx. Phil to
- 22:42Speaker 4: solve the case?
- 22:43Speaker 5: Maybe now this is it. I was standing right next
- 22:46Speaker 5: to Hymes, Mike when he took out his wallet to
- 22:47Speaker 5: give you that card. Well, there was an envelope tucked
- 22:50Speaker 5: into a pocket of the wallet airline tickets. But the
- 22:53Speaker 5: name written on the envelope said Gene Powers.
- 22:56Speaker 3: Geen p M. But that doesn't end up on neither.
- 22:58Speaker 3: Girl introduced him as her and she said john him.
- 23:01Speaker 5: She said, do we have to believe her?
- 23:03Speaker 4: I'm going to phone headquarters. Jean Powers may have a record.
- 23:06Speaker 3: No, it's outside concrete.
- 23:13Speaker 5: Yeah, Mike, like, look bike in the driveway.
- 23:20Speaker 3: Well, cross off one suspect at Tenney at last Stephen.
- 23:25Speaker 4: And add another. I just saw somebody on the balcony.
- 23:28Speaker 5: Who did you see?
- 23:29Speaker 4: Allen Killgallon.
- 23:42Speaker 2: We'll rejoin Mike and Phyllis in just a moment. If
- 23:50Speaker 2: you ever had a jack slip when you were changing
- 23:52Speaker 2: a tire. You've got a pretty forceful demonstration of how
- 23:56Speaker 2: much a car weighs now. All that weight rests directly
- 23:59Speaker 2: on the wheel bearings, and as you travel, those wheel
- 24:03Speaker 2: bearings must revolve rapidly and still support the heavy weight
- 24:06Speaker 2: of the car. Because of this concentrated pressure, and because
- 24:10Speaker 2: they are also liable to damage from brake, dust, grit,
- 24:13Speaker 2: and water, front wheel bearings need the best possible lubrication.
- 24:17Speaker 2: Failure to keep these bearings properly lubricated they result in
- 24:21Speaker 2: expensive repairs, requiring parts now hard to get. Your neighborhood
- 24:25Speaker 2: Union Oil minute man knows this. That's why he takes
- 24:29Speaker 2: such pains to do a thorough job of lubricating front
- 24:32Speaker 2: wheel bearings. First he washes out all the old grease
- 24:35Speaker 2: and dirt with solvent. Then the bearings and races are
- 24:38Speaker 2: individually cleaned until they are dry and shiny. Finally, the clean,
- 24:43Speaker 2: polished bearings are replaced in the races. Then, with special equipment,
- 24:48Speaker 2: every surface is snugly packed in a thick coating of
- 24:51Speaker 2: Union Oil wheel bearing grease. Then your front wheels are
- 24:55Speaker 2: all set for months of well lubricated, easy rolling. The
- 24:59Speaker 2: cost for the entire if your front wheel bearing assembly
- 25:01Speaker 2: is nominal. So for safer, easier driving, just stop in
- 25:05Speaker 2: wherever you see the sign of the big orange and blue.
- 25:08Speaker 2: Seventy six had asked for Union Oils front wheel bearing service.
- 25:13Speaker 3: Thank you.
- 25:19Speaker 2: A second man has died at the strange old house
- 25:22Speaker 2: in Moccason Hill. While Phillis telephones for the local police,
- 25:25Speaker 2: Mike and Inspector Parody are in the gun room questioning
- 25:28Speaker 2: four on easy people.
- 25:30Speaker 3: Now we know what we're talking about. One of you
- 25:32Speaker 3: here in this room killed Steve Patton because he knew
- 25:35Speaker 3: too much, or because he was double crossing.
- 25:36Speaker 4: You, miss kill Gallen will start with you. What were
- 25:39Speaker 4: you doing upstairs on that balcony?
- 25:40Speaker 6: Why I heard the shot? I ran out to see
- 25:42Speaker 6: what happened.
- 25:43Speaker 3: Ah, that's no answer. When we left this room, you
- 25:46Speaker 3: and your cousin were with Patten. Now, why did you go.
- 25:48Speaker 6: Upstairs to get father's old watch for John father lected
- 25:51Speaker 6: to him in his will. Does that satisfy you?
- 25:53Speaker 4: Maybe you, mister Hims, Where were you when the shot
- 25:56Speaker 4: was fine?
- 25:57Speaker 10: While I was following Ellen upstairs to get the watch?
- 25:59Speaker 10: Is there ready to wrong with that?
- 26:00Speaker 3: No? No, I guess her cousin is entitled to the
- 26:02Speaker 3: air loom, but not a guy named Gen Powers.
- 26:06Speaker 10: So that's it, sharp eyes.
- 26:09Speaker 3: Mister Shaw. The credit goes to miss Knight. Well it's
- 26:11Speaker 3: quite innocent, really.
- 26:12Speaker 10: Jean Powers as a friend of mine, and he had
- 26:14Speaker 10: a plane ticket for New York tonight. He couldn't get away,
- 26:16Speaker 10: so I'm using his priority.
- 26:18Speaker 4: We'll check on that, you, Fred Norman, I was in
- 26:20Speaker 4: the kitchen.
- 26:21Speaker 3: Eat.
- 26:21Speaker 4: You can't send a man a jeff a swipe and
- 26:23Speaker 4: a chicken wing.
- 26:24Speaker 3: You were watching him, Dick, Ye, sure, he wasn't even
- 26:26Speaker 3: in the room. Oh, I was.
- 26:27Speaker 7: Watching you through the hole door, just waiting for you
- 26:30Speaker 7: to do so.
- 26:30Speaker 3: Okay, okay, okay. Now we're going to ask all of
- 26:33Speaker 3: you to empty your pockets. Each one put his stuff
- 26:35Speaker 3: in the file on this table. But for we're asking
- 26:38Speaker 3: the questions. Stop digging, know what you're up.
- 26:41Speaker 4: Look for the killed him. No, the murderers say, it's
- 26:43Speaker 4: that trouble. He put it right back where he got it,
- 26:46Speaker 4: the darrenger there in the bookcase.
- 26:47Speaker 3: Well, yes, it's back all right, mister heis. Now let's
- 26:50Speaker 3: see what you've dished out.
- 26:51Speaker 10: Handkerchief, pen knife, bill fold, notebook, small change and you, Dick.
- 26:55Speaker 7: Wait, got much all right, good knife busted perkershe four bitch.
- 27:01Speaker 4: Fred, hang your knife, pencil and some money.
- 27:03Speaker 3: Yeah, it's too much money for a gardener. Fifty dollars.
- 27:06Speaker 6: Well, that's Patent's money.
- 27:07Speaker 3: He bribed him, obviously. Any pockets in your addressing, mient
- 27:11Speaker 3: scool gun.
- 27:11Speaker 6: No if you tell us what you want?
- 27:13Speaker 3: All right. Now, after the three of us ran out
- 27:16Speaker 3: and found Patten, we did a quick circle around the
- 27:18Speaker 3: outside of the house. We tried to come back in
- 27:21Speaker 3: through this terrace door. It was locked and the key gone.
- 27:24Speaker 6: That's odd. We used the door a little early.
- 27:26Speaker 4: Yes, so did the murder. A little later, fired a
- 27:28Speaker 4: shot from the terrace, dock back in, locked the door,
- 27:30Speaker 4: and went to another part of the house.
- 27:32Speaker 5: I'm sorry to spoil the game, kiddies, but is this
- 27:35Speaker 5: what you want? I founded by the door. It slipped
- 27:39Speaker 5: under the carpet.
- 27:40Speaker 4: Mike. All right, folks, you can put your stuff back
- 27:42Speaker 4: in your pockets. Oh too bad, Mike. It almost worked.
- 27:45Speaker 3: Ah, but it did work in the way we hadn't
- 27:48Speaker 3: counted it.
- 27:49Speaker 5: Now, wait a minute, Wait a minute, Mike. You know the.
- 27:50Speaker 3: Killer positively dolling. The confession is right on top of
- 27:54Speaker 3: that table in the secret room.
- 28:10Speaker 4: I don't get it, Mike. There's nothing on this table, just.
- 28:13Speaker 5: A candle, dust and grit and splotches of wax.
- 28:16Speaker 3: That's all Angel. But it's enough to convict the murderer.
- 28:18Speaker 6: Oh folly, daughter.
- 28:19Speaker 7: Nobody ain't ever hating a ghost, eat more in a
- 28:22Speaker 7: smart hitty to take a tab.
- 28:23Speaker 10: Well, I can't believe the moulded I don't think there's
- 28:25Speaker 10: that a very treasure.
- 28:26Speaker 3: It's quite possible, but Patten and his killer thought otherwise.
- 28:29Speaker 3: They wanted no one on this property while they were hunting,
- 28:32Speaker 3: so the haunted house routine.
- 28:33Speaker 6: But how could mister Patten be so cold blooded father's
- 28:36Speaker 6: friend and attorney deliberately scaring him to death?
- 28:38Speaker 5: Well, he probably didn't intend to go that farmers koe going. Hey,
- 28:41Speaker 5: come on, Mike, who gave Patton the tit for tat?
- 28:44Speaker 3: All? Right? All right? Now, as you notice from these
- 28:46Speaker 3: candles that somebody spent plenty of time at this table
- 28:49Speaker 3: going over the papers about Black Miguel in the express box.
- 28:52Speaker 6: Father, we found a diagram in his hand right here.
- 28:55Speaker 3: And somebody else in just the last day or so,
- 28:57Speaker 3: somebody who emptied his pockets onto this table, perhaps searching
- 28:59Speaker 3: for a and some on a notepaper.
- 29:01Speaker 4: My, there's a lemit of crystal gazing.
- 29:03Speaker 3: You can die brush your hand over the table top.
- 29:07Speaker 3: That's it. Now, I want to be got from a palm,
- 29:10Speaker 3: dust and brick. All right, now, pick out some of
- 29:12Speaker 3: that grit and eat it. Go on, go on, it's
- 29:15Speaker 3: not there, it seems to me. Yeah, I'm sure I've
- 29:20Speaker 3: tasted this before. Yes, in restaurants, en rolls. It's poppy seed.
- 29:24Speaker 3: This is the end. In whose pockets did we find
- 29:27Speaker 3: a broken package of poppy seed?
- 29:29Speaker 5: Hey, Dix the garden?
- 29:31Speaker 3: All right?
- 29:32Speaker 7: Maybe I was in there. I used to play in
- 29:34Speaker 7: their house when I was a kid. Who's all busted down.
- 29:36Speaker 7: Find a way, Brian chub itch. That don't spell nothing.
- 29:39Speaker 3: Oh it does. You were very careful not to tell
- 29:41Speaker 3: us about this room, not even mister Patton.
- 29:43Speaker 7: All right, mister Patton hired me to watch Thick, and
- 29:45Speaker 7: you folks figured Thick was chicken an echaine.
- 29:47Speaker 3: I killed him.
- 29:48Speaker 6: Nobody can stinue that a.
- 29:49Speaker 3: Dead man's diary can dick. The day mister Kilgallan died,
- 29:53Speaker 3: he wrote that he cleaned all his guns, including the
- 29:56Speaker 3: old derringer.
- 29:57Speaker 7: You mean there are only two sets of fingerprints on
- 29:59Speaker 7: the gun. Yes, you gilenge the man who fired yesterday.
- 30:05Speaker 7: That's exactly what I mean.
- 30:22Speaker 5: You know something that was very sweet of you, Faraday,
- 30:25Speaker 5: coming clear out to Moxham Hill just to be Mike's bodyguard.
- 30:28Speaker 3: Yes, sir, and driving his back home and a police car.
- 30:30Speaker 3: Sure beats cut bus trip was dog gone nicely, you Faraday.
- 30:34Speaker 4: I got the sentiment. Maybe I just wanted to sell
- 30:36Speaker 4: a couple of extra tickets to the Policeman's ball.
- 30:38Speaker 5: Oh we need those as a policeman, mister Inspector, and
- 30:42Speaker 5: as a detective, mister Shane. Is one thing you did
- 30:45Speaker 5: in this case which I don't.
- 30:46Speaker 4: Understand, only one miss Night. You are improvements.
- 30:50Speaker 5: You and Mike knew you could catch old Dick by
- 30:52Speaker 5: his fingerprints on the derringer, So why'd you bother to
- 30:55Speaker 5: look for a missing door key? And Mike act so
- 30:57Speaker 5: big and brainy about the poppy seas.
- 31:00Speaker 3: Honey, never put all your money on one horse. We
- 31:03Speaker 3: were both afraid Dick had already wiped his fingerprints off
- 31:06Speaker 3: the gun, but we didn't tell him that time.
- 31:08Speaker 4: Was a wasting and it was a good shortcut.
- 31:11Speaker 5: Uh, just as I thought the big city boys had
- 31:14Speaker 5: to crack it fast before the local hasis took over
- 31:17Speaker 5: the case and your glory.
- 31:20Speaker 3: Why Phyllis, how can you say such a thing?
- 31:46Speaker 2: John? That again next week at eight thirty for another
- 31:49Speaker 2: adventure with Michael Shane Private Detectives starring Wallymeyer and Kathy
- 31:53Speaker 2: Lewis with Joe Forte. Tonight's story was written by Richard
- 31:57Speaker 2: de Graff and based on the character created by Brett Halladay.
- 32:01Speaker 2: Music was composed and directed by Bernard Katz. This is
- 32:05Speaker 2: John Lang saying goodnight for the people who make seventy
- 32:08Speaker 2: six gasoline and Triton Motor Oil, Union Oil copyright. This
- 32:23Speaker 2: is the mutual Don Lee Broadcasting System.
- 32:45Speaker 1: This is Andrew J.
- 32:46Speaker 2: Graham, author of the web surface series Oh and a
- 32:49Speaker 2: Man and his Wife. You're listening to the great Detectives
- 32:51Speaker 2: of Old time Radio.
- 32:59Speaker 1: Welcome back. Well, A decent mystery, a lot of misdirection throughout.
- 33:06Speaker 1: The first time I listened to this, I would not
- 33:08Speaker 1: have guessed the gardener, and also really appreciated the chemistry
- 33:15Speaker 1: between Wally Mayor, Kathy Lewis and Joe Forte. It really
- 33:20Speaker 1: works beautifully in this story. And I've not listened to
- 33:24Speaker 1: all of the Wally Mayor Michael Shane episodes, and this
- 33:27Speaker 1: definitely makes me look forward to hearing even more well.
- 33:31Speaker 1: I hope you enjoyed today's program. Next week we'll talk
- 33:35Speaker 1: a little bit about Kathy Lewis. If you do have
- 33:38Speaker 1: a comment, send it to me Box thirteen at Great
- 33:41Speaker 1: Detectives dot net, follow us on Twitter at Radio Detectives,
- 33:45Speaker 1: and become one of our friends on Facebook, Facebook dot com.
- 33:49Speaker 1: Slash Radio Detectives from Boise, Idaho. This is your host,
- 33:53Speaker 1: Adam Grahamson and off