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Broadway Is My Beat - "The Hilda Bruce Murder Case" (1953) · Old Time Mystery Radio | Old Time Radio

0:00
Speaker 1: On an August night in New York, Detective Danny Clover
0:03
Speaker 1: is called to the murder of Hilda Bruce, where her
0:05
Speaker 1: young son, Jimmy, is found stunned beside her. It is
0:09
Speaker 1: Broadway is My Beat, CBS's hard-boiled detective drama, with Larry
0:15
Speaker 1: Thor as Clover in episode 177, The Hilda Bruce Murder Case,
0:20
Speaker 1: first heard August 8th, 1953. As Clover begins to reconstruct
0:26
Speaker 1: the events around the Bruce household, a neighbor, Charlotte Lane,
0:30
Speaker 1: may hold a piece of the story. Elliot Lewis produced
0:34
Speaker 1: and directed with Charles Calvert as Sergeant Gino Tartaglia and
0:38
Speaker 1: Jack Krushen as Sergeant Mugovan. Here is the original broadcast.
0:48
Speaker 1: Broadway's my beat, from Times Square to Columbus Circle, the gaudiest,
0:52
Speaker 1: the most violent, The lonesomest mile in the world. Broadway's
1:00
Speaker 1: My Beat with Larry Thor as Detective Danny Clover. Flow
1:15
Speaker 1: of an August nighttime. Drift and ebb of an August
1:18
Speaker 1: nighttime through the narrow channels of Broadway. And where surge was,
1:22
Speaker 1: the great pools of silence filling now. And stand at
1:25
Speaker 1: their edge and try for a tear to mourn the
1:27
Speaker 1: passing of summer night. And flip the coin for the
1:30
Speaker 1: memory that's worth the weeping. There was the beach at
1:33
Speaker 1: Far Rockaway and a dune from which to observe a
1:35
Speaker 1: girl dancing alone, arms stretched to the sea and to
1:38
Speaker 1: the moon. Ritual dance to the tune of the faraway
1:41
Speaker 1: portable radio and the plastic ukulele. And there was the
1:44
Speaker 1: moment you approached her, touched her shoulder, and on the
1:47
Speaker 1: face turned to you were tears from closed eyes. So
1:50
Speaker 1: hit the subway and back to the street and flip
1:53
Speaker 1: the coin again. There must be another thing to remember.
2:02
Speaker 1: And this, too, on the trailing edge of night, a
2:05
Speaker 1: room deep somewhere in a brownstone tenement and a youth
2:08
Speaker 1: in his silence and a woman, dead of a bullet wound,
2:11
Speaker 1: sprawled across kitchen linoleum, And Detective Muggerman trying to find
2:15
Speaker 1: a gentle way with a boy's silence. You want to
2:17
Speaker 1: tell us about it, son? Look, son, no one wants
2:22
Speaker 1: to hurt you. No one. You try, huh, Danny? Why
2:29
Speaker 1: don't you move away from that corner, son? Come over here.
2:33
Speaker 1: Sit down. You live here? Yes, sir. And this woman?
2:39
Speaker 2: My mother.
2:41
Speaker 1: Can you tell us what happened? My mother. Look. What's
2:44
Speaker 1: your name, son? Jimmy.
2:47
Speaker 2: Jimmy Bruce. That's my mother.
2:50
Speaker 1: But... What?
2:51
Speaker 2: Why don't you go away, you and this other man?
2:55
Speaker 1: We don't need you.
2:56
Speaker 3: Mom and me don't... Look, kid. There's no other way
3:00
Speaker 3: to say it. Someone killed your mother. All we're asking
3:04
Speaker 3: of you is to help us. Were you here when
3:06
Speaker 3: it happened? Was there anyone else here?
3:10
Speaker 1: Was... You don't have to stare at me like that, kid.
3:18
Speaker 1: What do you do now, Danny? Get it out of
3:20
Speaker 1: my room.
3:23
Speaker 4: Yeah.
3:24
Speaker 1: What do you want, lady? Policeman downstairs.
3:25
Speaker 5: He said to come up here. He said to tell you.
3:27
Speaker 1: This lady, Danny, a policeman downstairs said for her to
3:29
Speaker 1: come up here. He said for her to tell us. Well,
3:31
Speaker 1: let her come in. What do you have to tell us?
3:36
Speaker 6: A bull.
3:37
Speaker 2: Just a bull.
3:39
Speaker 5: Why is he staring that way?
3:41
Speaker 1: His mother was just shot dead. That's why he's staring, lady.
3:44
Speaker 1: And that's his mother there. He's staring at his mother.
3:47
Speaker 1: There's something you want to tell us.
3:48
Speaker 5: Poor boy.
3:50
Speaker 2: Poor, poor boy.
3:51
Speaker 1: Just tell us why the policeman downstairs let you come
3:53
Speaker 1: up here, lady.
3:54
Speaker 2: Well, he said you'd want to know.
3:55
Speaker 1: Want to know what?
3:56
Speaker 5: I live a few doors down, just next to the corner. Well,
3:59
Speaker 5: I couldn't sleep, and I was just looking out the window,
4:01
Speaker 5: I guess, just lying in bed, not being able to sleep.
4:04
Speaker 5: And I got up and walked around and through the window.
4:08
Speaker 5: In the alley, I saw.
4:10
Speaker 1: Saw what?
4:11
Speaker 5: Well, it was a man running. Running very fast.
4:13
Speaker 1: Running from this direction, from this end of the block?
4:15
Speaker 2: Yes, I think he was.
4:17
Speaker 5: He was running, and then he hid behind a trash can,
4:19
Speaker 5: and I watched him crouch there.
4:20
Speaker 1: Then you must have got a good look at him.
4:22
Speaker 5: Well, it was dark, and I couldn't tell much about him.
4:24
Speaker 1: A big man? A little man? Light?
4:28
Speaker 7: Dark?
4:29
Speaker 1: Fair? You said you stood there and watched him, lady.
4:32
Speaker 1: You must have seen.
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Speaker 5: He was just a man running, hiding from something, and
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Speaker 5: I watched him. I don't know why you think I
4:37
Speaker 5: should have done anything else.
4:39
Speaker 1: Well, there's been a lot of commotion in the neighborhood, lady.
4:41
Speaker 1: A murder. How come it took you this long to
4:42
Speaker 1: tell us?
4:43
Speaker 6: I told you.
4:44
Speaker 5: He was the man who was running away from something
4:45
Speaker 5: and hiding. I couldn't sleep, and I didn't feel I
4:48
Speaker 5: had the right to... Well, anyhow, he went away. I
4:51
Speaker 5: just heard a few minutes ago there was a murder
4:52
Speaker 5: down the block. So I threw this coat on over my.
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Speaker 1: Well, anyway... What's your name? Charlotte.
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Speaker 5: Miss Charlotte Lane. I live at 3456 West 18th, just
5:02
Speaker 5: down the block. And, well, anything I can do to
5:04
Speaker 5: help you, just.
5:06
Speaker 5: Oh, you poor boy.
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Speaker 2: Just a boy. And your mother dead like that.
5:12
Speaker 5: That awful way.
5:14
Speaker 1: Oh, don't do that, child.
5:17
Speaker 2: Don't.
5:22
Speaker 1: Then Miss Lane does a thing. She moves quietly over
5:25
Speaker 1: to the boy, lifts her hand to him gently, touches
5:28
Speaker 1: cheek and hair, and waits for the length of time
5:31
Speaker 1: women know it takes for compassion to be transferred. Then
5:35
Speaker 1: the onrushing sound to post proof that violence has been done.
5:38
Speaker 1: Nighttime tableau on the edge of the city that suddenly
5:40
Speaker 1: belongs to the police. Leave it outside in the deep
5:44
Speaker 1: night street and home. Pull down the bed from the wall.
5:48
Speaker 1: Close your eyes and search for a dream behind a
5:50
Speaker 1: wall of hot August hours. Finally sleep and not dream
5:54
Speaker 1: until the seconds before it's time to get up again.
5:57
Speaker 1: It's morning and it's a new day. Call headquarters and
5:59
Speaker 1: check in. Then ride downtown again. And the house on
6:02
Speaker 1: West 18th. The walk upstairs and last night's doorway this
6:06
Speaker 1: morning with a policeman in front of it. Who tells
6:08
Speaker 1: you the boy's just sitting there looking out of the window.
6:11
Speaker 1: Who opens the door for you? Hello, Jimmy. Jimmy? I just.
6:21
Speaker 2: You're from last night, aren't you?
6:22
Speaker 1: That's right. My name's Danny Clover.
6:25
Speaker 2: How do I look?
6:26
Speaker 1: Jimmy, uh.
6:27
Speaker 2: My tie's straight? Hair comb? One button off the coat here.
6:33
Speaker 2: But on a blue serge, it's tough to see.
6:35
Speaker 1: Listen, Jimmy.
6:35
Speaker 2: I think you're looking nice for the funerals. At least
6:39
Speaker 2: I can do it at such a time.
6:40
Speaker 1: Don't you think so?
6:42
Speaker 2: I saw the people who come to look and say,
6:44
Speaker 2: that's Jimmy Bruce. The regular little man.
6:47
Speaker 1: Cut it out. Okay.
6:52
Speaker 2: I'm okay.
6:52
Speaker 1: Who killed your mother?
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Speaker 2: How am I supposed to know that?
6:55
Speaker 1: You weren't in any kind of condition to talk last night, Jimmy,
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Speaker 1: so now you can tell me what happened.
6:59
Speaker 2: I came home and there she was, lying on the floor, shot.
7:03
Speaker 1: You came home? Where were you?
7:05
Speaker 8: Outside, streets, park. For boys my age, it's supposed to
7:08
Speaker 8: be at night in the summer. And the kind of
7:10
Speaker 8: they're growing and restless.
7:13
Speaker 2: Now what?
7:14
Speaker 1: How about your mother? Was she.
7:15
Speaker 2: Don't make me get sloppy. I told you I was
7:17
Speaker 2: a boy growing up. I can't say wonderful and I
7:20
Speaker 2: loved her and I'll miss her and.
7:23
Speaker 1: Just don't make me do it. Where's your father, Jimmy?
7:25
Speaker 2: He didn't do it.
7:26
Speaker 1: I didn't say he did. I just asked you where
7:28
Speaker 1: he was.
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Speaker 2: He doesn't live here. They were divorced five years ago.
7:33
Speaker 1: I want to talk to him.
7:34
Speaker 2: His name's Harry March. My mother took her old name
7:37
Speaker 2: when they divorced.
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Speaker 1: I did too. Oh.
7:41
Speaker 2: Harry March, Mr. Clover. In the phone book. Someplace on
7:44
Speaker 2: 22nd Street.
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Speaker 1: Okay.
7:46
Speaker 2: You want to know about Nick, too?
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Speaker 1: Yeah.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, I bet you will. You want to know about
7:51
Speaker 2: old Nick, won't you?
7:52
Speaker 1: Who's he, Jimmy?
7:52
Speaker 7: You can never tell about people, can you? You people
7:56
Speaker 7: in the police must see light of that, don't you?
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Speaker 7: A guy you would never suspect. All of a sudden,
8:02
Speaker 7: he's a.
8:02
Speaker 1: Come on, Jimmy. Tell me what you're talking about. Nick.
8:06
Speaker 2: Nick Silverman.
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Speaker 8: 1212 East 8th Street. Mention my mother's name to him.
8:11
Speaker 1: See what he says. Mr. Clover? Uh-huh?
8:15
Speaker 7: You police people must really see light of that, don't you?
8:17
Speaker 7: A guy you would never suspect. All of a sudden,
8:21
Speaker 7: he's a killer.
8:25
Speaker 1: The adolescent smile, then, and the wink. Wisdom at 17
8:29
Speaker 1: with regards to murder. Leave and ride the streets again.
8:33
Speaker 1: East 8th, and Nick Silverman is not home, and no
8:35
Speaker 1: one seems to know when he will be nor where
8:37
Speaker 1: he could be. Get a description from neighbors and call
8:40
Speaker 1: it in as an all-points bulletin. Then the special businessman's lunch,
8:43
Speaker 1: which consisted of warm, small portions with iced tea and
8:46
Speaker 1: no dessert. Phone booth, and look up a number for
8:49
Speaker 1: Harry March. And Mr. March is not home either, you're
8:52
Speaker 1: told by the super. Did you try his place of business? Well,
8:55
Speaker 1: try there. Utility repair shop over on 3rd, the super thinks.
8:58
Speaker 1: About the 500 block someplace, he thinks. So go there
9:02
Speaker 1: and walk the 500 block and try a store whose
9:05
Speaker 1: window has only two electric home mixers in it, both broken.
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Speaker 4: Be with you in a second.
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Speaker 1: Bet you never saw one like this before, huh?
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Speaker 9: What?
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Speaker 1: Come here.
9:29
Speaker 4: Ever see a golf ball in an electric toaster?
9:32
Speaker 1: Look underneath here in the mechanism. Mrs. Stutman wonders why
9:35
Speaker 1: she can't make toast in the morning for Mr. Stutman.
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Speaker 1: Very interesting. Are you Harry March? Yes, sir. Yes, sir,
9:40
Speaker 1: I am. I'm Danny Clover. What's wrong that you need
9:42
Speaker 1: fixed in a hurry by Harry? I'm from the police, Mr. March. Well,
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Speaker 1: I'm still Harry. I'll still fix it in a hurry. Faster.
9:47
Speaker 1: Did you hear about your wife? That's the wrong Harry, Danny.
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Speaker 1: I don't have one. I did. I split up. Divorced.
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Speaker 1: About five years ago, her name was Hilda Bruce, right?
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Speaker 1: You mean Hilda? What's wrong with Hilda that I should
9:57
Speaker 1: have heard about She was murdered. I'm sorry to hear that.
10:01
Speaker 1: You kill her? No, I did not. When's the last
10:03
Speaker 1: time you saw her, Harry? Last week.
10:05
Speaker 4: Hey, look, I got better sense than not to level
10:07
Speaker 4: with you. I saw Hilda last week, but a lot
10:10
Speaker 4: of times before that.
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Speaker 1: Tell me about it. Well, I don't own this place.
10:13
Speaker 4: I get sent out on calls to clients who need
10:15
Speaker 4: things fixed, you know, like defrosted, busted on a refrigerator,
10:18
Speaker 4: golf ball.
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Speaker 1: Go on.
10:20
Speaker 4: About six months ago, coincidence. I get sent out for busted,
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Speaker 4: defrosted to my old wife Hilda's. She looked a lot
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Speaker 4: better than five years ago when we left each other
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Speaker 4: and she moved away.
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Speaker 1: I didn't know where. So you kept coming back. Yeah, yeah.
10:37
Speaker 1: I romanced her, Danny. Still in love with her, huh?
10:40
Speaker 1: Felt good being with her. About like that. You know,
10:43
Speaker 1: love is for 18 to 25 age bracket.
10:46
Speaker 4: Now, about your son, Jimmy. Nice seeing him, too. When
10:49
Speaker 4: I saw him the first time six months ago, I
10:51
Speaker 4: missed him real bad for the years I hadn't seen him.
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Speaker 1: Hilda.
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Speaker 4: Last week, Hilda told me not to come back anymore.
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Speaker 4: She shoved a gun at me and she said that.
11:01
Speaker 4: She had another guy, Nick. She had him and he
11:04
Speaker 4: didn't drink and she didn't want me. I've got to
11:06
Speaker 4: take you along, Harry.
11:07
Speaker 1: Yeah, sure. Let's go. Anything you say. All right, Harry,
11:27
Speaker 1: get out. My day belongs to you, Danny, so anything
11:30
Speaker 1: you say. Come on. Up here.
11:36
Speaker 4: Show me any spot on this building where it says
11:39
Speaker 4: police department. Not even in chalk does it say police department.
11:43
Speaker 4: You notice that too, Danny? There's a woman who told
11:45
Speaker 4: us she lived here. I want her to have a
11:47
Speaker 4: look at you. My day belongs to you, Danny. Anything
11:50
Speaker 4: you want to do with it. That list of tenants
11:54
Speaker 4: on the wall, do I get a fielder's choice, or
11:57
Speaker 4: is there a particular lady we have in mind?
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Speaker 1: This one. Charlotte Lane, apartment 1C. Charlotte? Sounds fair. Let's go.
12:03
Speaker 4: Yeah.
12:06
Speaker 1: Miss Lane told us she saw a man running down
12:08
Speaker 1: the alley, hiding behind a trash can, just after your
12:11
Speaker 1: wife was murdered. Former wife. Former wife, who lives up
12:13
Speaker 1: the street, who you were romancing.
12:15
Speaker 4: Yeah, I sure was, Danny, and then suddenly she wouldn't
12:18
Speaker 4: have any part, like I said. So this Charlotte Lane
12:21
Speaker 4: saw a fellow running and hiding, huh? She know what
12:24
Speaker 4: he looked like? She could identify him?
12:25
Speaker 1: Let's ask her. Anything you say. Hey, Charlotte, open it
12:35
Speaker 1: so long with a friend. Shut up. Miss Lane? Well,
12:53
Speaker 1: we've gotten this far, Danny, so why not... Hey, Miss Lane,
12:56
Speaker 1: the man here wants you to take a look at me.
12:58
Speaker 1: He says that he... Danny.
13:07
Speaker 4: You see what I see, Danny? That lady, the way
13:10
Speaker 4: she's stretched across the bed with her eyes open like that?
13:15
Speaker 4: That's not from sleep, huh, Danny? That lady, she's dead,
13:19
Speaker 4: ain't she, Danny?
13:20
Speaker 1: Strangled. This Miss Charlotte Lane? That's right. I said that
13:27
Speaker 1: they belong to you, Danny. And Charlotte here, she just
13:31
Speaker 1: went and loused it up for you. Didn't she, Danny?
13:36
Speaker 1: Didn't she, Danny? You are listening to Broadway's My Beat,
13:52
Speaker 1: written by Morton Fine and David Friedkin and starring Larry
13:55
Speaker 1: Thor as Detective Danny Clover. Wherever polio menaces a single child,
14:01
Speaker 1: blood is needed. The gamma globulin in blood can blunt
14:04
Speaker 1: the effects of the disease. Wherever disaster of any kind strikes,
14:08
Speaker 1: blood must be rushed to save lives. The Red Cross
14:11
Speaker 1: warns us that blood donations have fallen off alarmingly, as
14:14
Speaker 1: they tend to whenever the weather calls us away in
14:16
Speaker 1: large numbers. The National Blood Program is vital to us all.
14:21
Speaker 1: Call your local chapter and make an appointment to give
14:23
Speaker 1: a pint of blood. Don't let disaster catch American napping.
14:36
Speaker 1: The August evening leans close to Broadway, whispers promises into
14:40
Speaker 1: its ear. There, in the dark, beyond the whirling lights,
14:44
Speaker 1: a lacy dream. And there, on the edge of laughter,
14:46
Speaker 1: the face that darts behind the smoky warmth and disappears.
14:50
Speaker 1: Across the street now, in the fast, hard clack of
14:52
Speaker 1: a woman's heels, to turn a corner and she's gone too,
14:56
Speaker 1: back again into the darkness. And somehow, that's the way
14:59
Speaker 1: it is. All the promises, just a smile away. Always
15:03
Speaker 1: across the street and around the corner. Run after them,
15:07
Speaker 1: because when August is done, another year starts dying. At
15:13
Speaker 1: evening at headquarters.
15:15
Speaker 7: Danny?
15:16
Speaker 1: Come on in, Mugovan. You got something? A few things. Danny? Yeah, what?
15:23
Speaker 1: You miss Tartaglia? I really do, Mugovan. I got a
15:26
Speaker 1: card from him. Dear Officer Mugovan, having a fine time.
15:30
Speaker 1: Wish you were. He may wish you were here. Couldn't
15:34
Speaker 1: get it all in the car. He wrote smaller on mine.
15:35
Speaker 1: He got it all in.
15:36
Speaker 3: Hey, what's Gino doing in Baltimore with his cousin Kendall, Danny?
15:40
Speaker 3: I thought he didn't like his cousin Kendall. Well, his
15:41
Speaker 3: wife likes his cousin Kendall.
15:43
Speaker 1: Well, she doesn't like Baltimore, though. What have you got
15:46
Speaker 1: for me, Muggerman? Well, a little check and back, Danny.
15:48
Speaker 1: May or may not be of any use. Give me
15:50
Speaker 1: the opportunity of deciding, if you don't mind. You really
15:53
Speaker 1: miss him, huh? Me too. Let's get with it, huh, Muggerman? Okay, okay.
15:57
Speaker 3: Uh, Jimmy Bruce, son of the deceased, told the Bruce
16:00
Speaker 3: one month ago on July 12th, uh, lodged a complaint
16:02
Speaker 3: against his father, Harry March.
16:04
Speaker 1: Oh? I say lodged a complaint.
16:06
Speaker 3: He walked into the precinct and told the death sergeant
16:08
Speaker 3: to keep his father away from his mother.
16:10
Speaker 1: The sergeant told him to call if his father showed up,
16:11
Speaker 1: you know. Mm-hmm. What else? Well, on, uh, Charlotte Lane neighbor,
16:16
Speaker 1: no police record, nothing. Except... Worked as a waitress. Weber Healtheteria. Healtheteria? Where?
16:24
Speaker 1: In the village. Uh, here I dug up the address.
16:27
Speaker 1: And you know something? What? There are four Weber's Health
16:30
Speaker 1: Interiors in New York. I'm very happy. You don't understand.
16:34
Speaker 1: I had to find out which one Charlotte Lane... She
16:36
Speaker 1: works at the one in the village, Danny. Good night, Danny.
16:42
Speaker 1: Ride now to the village. Park the car and walk.
16:45
Speaker 1: And the exotic things of the village, the August things...
16:48
Speaker 1: Man on camp stool at street corner, manicure scissors poised gracefully,
16:52
Speaker 1: snipping delicately, swiftly out of black paper, the silhouette image
16:56
Speaker 1: of a woman's profile. And in black silhouette, the woman's
16:59
Speaker 1: profile has youth in it, which pleases her, which makes
17:02
Speaker 1: her to remark to her companion who wears a fez
17:04
Speaker 1: that she is very happy, Stanley, which makes the fez
17:07
Speaker 1: man dig for a buck, which is the stated price
17:10
Speaker 1: on the cardboard at the artist's feet. August Things in
17:13
Speaker 1: Exotic Village. Girl with carefully designed shock of gray and
17:17
Speaker 1: black hair, sauntering, sandaled, and in sari splotched with guilt.
17:21
Speaker 1: Briefcase underarm. A youth, forehead against plate glass, sipping in
17:25
Speaker 1: the mysteries of the shop's display. Driftwood planted in fragment
17:29
Speaker 1: of concrete building block. Necklace of rusty nails. And farther on, Mrs.
17:33
Speaker 1: Webster's Healtheteria, which has also a display in its window.
17:38
Speaker 1: Naked pile of wheat germ on one arm of scale,
17:40
Speaker 1: balanced on other arm of scale by a scoop of
17:43
Speaker 1: simulated mashed potatoes. And beneath, the legend, Your Health, Quither.
17:49
Speaker 1: And crystal jar filled to brimming with soybean. And box
17:53
Speaker 1: of candy with the sugar substitutes carefully analyzed for the
17:56
Speaker 1: chemists inhabiting the village. And inside... A counter laden with
18:01
Speaker 1: healthy stuffs. Almond, meatloaf, 35 cents. Soybean parfait, 12 cents.
18:07
Speaker 1: And at the cash register... Indulge yourself, young man. A
18:10
Speaker 1: woman in sleeveless cotton print and of muscular bulge in
18:13
Speaker 1: the forearm, gray hair coiled high and speared with prong
18:17
Speaker 1: of tortoise shell comb.
18:18
Speaker 6: Eat, young man, and if your eyes are bigger than
18:20
Speaker 6: your stomach, don't worry about it.
18:22
Speaker 2: Not here, not at Mrs.
18:23
Speaker 6: Webber's.
18:23
Speaker 1: I'm from the police, Mrs. Webber.
18:25
Speaker 6: You eat my cuisine, you'll have a whole new outlook.
18:28
Speaker 2: Feel better, too.
18:29
Speaker 6: Try the parfait. Take my word for it.
18:31
Speaker 1: I'm from the police, Mrs. Webber, to check on a
18:34
Speaker 1: woman you had working for you. Charlotte. That's right, Charlotte Lane.
18:37
Speaker 1: She was.
18:37
Speaker 6: Choked until dead. That's what she was. I read in
18:40
Speaker 6: the papers that's what she was. Any other season, I'd
18:43
Speaker 6: close the healtheteria and go someplace and cry. But, oh,
18:47
Speaker 6: some of you'd be surprised.
18:48
Speaker 1: Just tell me about her, Mrs. Webber. Whom she knew?
18:50
Speaker 1: Who she... A.
18:51
Speaker 6: Girl of very sweet heart. That was Charlotte. Kind, sweet
18:55
Speaker 6: to the crackpots who wander in here and make remarks.
18:57
Speaker 6: Never faze Charlotte. She has a good word for anyone.
19:00
Speaker 6: Even meat eaters. They finally ate out of her hand.
19:03
Speaker 1: Just nice to customers, huh? No special friends? No.
19:07
Speaker 6: I was a special friend.
19:08
Speaker 2: I paid her good.
19:08
Speaker 1: Besides you. Besides me?
19:10
Speaker 2: A drunk.
19:11
Speaker 1: What? A drunk.
19:13
Speaker 6: Who blew in here one day to fix my vegetable juicer.
19:16
Speaker 6: Went patooey on the molasses and germ casserole. Startled breaking things.
19:20
Speaker 1: Who was he? A drunk.
19:21
Speaker 6: And Charlotte was sweet to him. I yelled for the
19:23
Speaker 6: cop on the beat. By the time the cop arrived,
19:26
Speaker 6: the drunk was eating out of Charlotte's hand.
19:27
Speaker 1: He said he was a special friend of Charlotte's.
19:30
Speaker 6: He got that way after that. Used to come in
19:32
Speaker 6: all the time. Said my stuff was good for hangovers.
19:35
Speaker 6: It was Charlotte he'd come for, though, not the mint tea.
19:37
Speaker 1: Well, then you must have got acquainted. Charlotte must have
19:40
Speaker 1: introduced you. Sure she did.
19:41
Speaker 6: I asked her who her drunken sot was. She said,
19:44
Speaker 6: that's Harry, Harry March. And I'm going to have him
19:47
Speaker 6: soon as he gets rid of some notions about a
19:49
Speaker 6: wife he once had. I'll have him, Mrs. Webber, Charlotte said.
19:52
Speaker 6: No one else, Mrs. Webber, Charlotte said. That was her heart.
19:56
Speaker 6: Real sweet.
20:02
Speaker 1: So home to dull novel and sleep. And new morning.
20:06
Speaker 1: Enter headquarters and sit with the fact that Harry March
20:09
Speaker 1: was an old friend of Charlotte's. And be interrupted. Nick
20:14
Speaker 1: Silver and wanted in connection with murder of Hilda Bruce
20:17
Speaker 1: was picked up and held at 12th Precinct. So go there. Hello, Nick.
20:25
Speaker 1: Bring a whip or something? Got it out. Well, this
20:27
Speaker 1: is my first time in. Whatever I say, it's on
20:29
Speaker 1: account of that.
20:30
Speaker 9: So if I ask, did you bring the thumbscrew, you
20:32
Speaker 9: just realize I'm a new boy at this sort of thing.
20:34
Speaker 1: It's tough to find you, Nick. Why should I be
20:36
Speaker 1: looked for? Come on, come on. No, why should I?
20:39
Speaker 1: When did you find out Hilda Bruce had been murdered?
20:41
Speaker 1: Yesterday morning, late. From the papers? That's right. And all
20:44
Speaker 1: the late editions carried your name that we were looking
20:46
Speaker 1: for you?
20:46
Speaker 9: And I asked myself why I should be looked for,
20:48
Speaker 9: like I'm asking myself now and getting no answer.
20:50
Speaker 1: But you ran. Oh, now, listen, mister. I'm no competition
20:53
Speaker 1: for anything like murders or police departments. You.
20:57
Speaker 9: You know what a schnook is? Someone says that word
21:00
Speaker 9: around you. He means a guy like me.
21:02
Speaker 1: Harmless. Most what I want is, please, don't bother me.
21:04
Speaker 1: Leave me alone. Because what have I possibly got that
21:07
Speaker 1: you could possibly want? Who killed her?
21:10
Speaker 9: I don't know.
21:11
Speaker 1: You see what I mean? How about her neighbor, Miss Lane?
21:12
Speaker 1: Who killed her? I don't know. Guy like me? How
21:15
Speaker 1: could I know? Nick, I understand Hilda was in love
21:17
Speaker 1: with you. I'm on it. But no killer. Where were
21:21
Speaker 1: you the night before last? Oh, Nick. It so happens...
21:28
Speaker 1: There's a young lady in my neighborhood. She's fond of me.
21:32
Speaker 1: She's your alibi, huh?
21:33
Speaker 9: Well, she's gone to summer school. I happen to be
21:35
Speaker 9: very good in algebra. She's making up in algebra. Look,
21:38
Speaker 9: you've got to drag her in. Listen, a guy like me.
21:44
Speaker 1: Her name is Toba Ramson. She lives up on Tremont.
21:46
Speaker 1: Another reason why you ran, huh, Nick?
21:49
Speaker 9: I have told you everything I know. Hang me, shoot me,
21:52
Speaker 9: feed me to the gorillas. I have told you everything
21:55
Speaker 9: I know.
22:03
Speaker 1: Danny? Mm-hmm? It's me, Danny, Detective Muggerman. So turn around
22:08
Speaker 1: and take a look at me, huh? Sure. You look hot, Muggerman.
22:12
Speaker 3: I walk the neighborhoods, I get hot. Sweat through my coat,
22:14
Speaker 3: wilt my collar. It's a quirk with me.
22:16
Speaker 1: Take off your coat. It's allowed, huh? What's eating you?
22:19
Speaker 1: Lay off, huh? Just lay off. All right. Just the heat,
22:24
Speaker 1: that's all. Yeah. The heat. Let's have a fan, huh?
22:32
Speaker 1: That's better.
22:34
Speaker 7: Better.
22:34
Speaker 1: You check Silverman's alibi? One of the things I check, yeah.
22:38
Speaker 1: Silverman's got an alibi.
22:39
Speaker 3: 17 years old, haircut that new way the kids wear.
22:42
Speaker 1: I'm very backward at algebra. Night Hilda Bruce was murdered,
22:45
Speaker 1: Nick brought a pony up to Toba Remsen's. Algebra pony.
22:48
Speaker 1: It had all the answers. How about the time of
22:50
Speaker 1: Charlotte Lane's murder? Nick brought his pony again. Silverman's out then. Danny? Mm-hmm?
22:57
Speaker 1: Earlier today, I got the report from Ballistics. Hilda Bruce
23:00
Speaker 1: was killed with a. 32. I checked that too while
23:02
Speaker 1: I was out. Hardware stores, sporting goods stores, places where
23:05
Speaker 1: if you want. 32 caliber bullets, you go buy them.
23:07
Speaker 1: Go on. A week ago, a hardware store on West 19th,
23:10
Speaker 1: a package of bullets was bought.. 32s. By a young man,
23:15
Speaker 1: the owner said. You know who it was? Sure he knew.
23:17
Speaker 1: He said the kid was practically a neighbor. Came in
23:19
Speaker 1: all the time for things. Kid named Jimmy Bruce. It's
23:25
Speaker 1: a heat, huh, Danny? Heat that makes me feel sick
23:27
Speaker 1: to my stomach. That's what it is, huh, Danny? In here, Jimmy.
23:44
Speaker 1: You can sit down if you want to.
23:45
Speaker 2: What do you call this place?
23:46
Speaker 1: That's just a room at headquarters, Jimmy. We'll have your
23:49
Speaker 1: father in here in a minute. Okay, Danny. Bring him in, Muggerman.
23:54
Speaker 2: You think my father's a murderer? You're crazy. He was
23:57
Speaker 2: a good guy. He wouldn't hurt anybody.
23:59
Speaker 1: All he was trying to do... Hi, Pop. What did
24:09
Speaker 1: you bring him here for? What's the matter? Aren't you
24:11
Speaker 1: glad to see your son? Jimmy. What? I've been talking
24:14
Speaker 1: to you, Jimmy.
24:14
Speaker 2: He asked me who killed him.
24:16
Speaker 1: I told him.
24:17
Speaker 2: I told him I didn't know.
24:17
Speaker 1: That's all he told us, Harry. Because it's the truth. Jimmy,
24:20
Speaker 1: after your mother and father separated, how often did you
24:23
Speaker 1: see your father? Lots of times. Now, don't lie, Jimmy.
24:25
Speaker 1: I didn't know where you were.
24:27
Speaker 2: After you found out where we were, lots of times.
24:29
Speaker 1: That's what you meant, wasn't it? Yeah, Pa. Did you
24:31
Speaker 1: ever see your dad when he was drunk? Why don't
24:33
Speaker 1: you leave him alone?
24:34
Speaker 2: Yeah, I've seen my dad when he was drunk.
24:36
Speaker 1: How does he stack up with the drunks you've seen
24:38
Speaker 1: in the park, son?
24:39
Speaker 2: He doesn't get that sloppy.
24:41
Speaker 1: Harry. I heard him. He said I didn't get that sloppy.
24:46
Speaker 1: But drunk. Is that why your ex-wife told you not
24:48
Speaker 1: to come around? I told you that. The other reason
24:49
Speaker 1: was a man named Nick Silver. He told you that too, Danny. Yeah,
24:52
Speaker 1: sure I did. Sure. One thing slipped your mind, though, Harry.
24:55
Speaker 1: Charlotte Lane. What about her? You've known her a long time.
24:58
Speaker 1: I stopped knowing her for a long time, too. How
25:00
Speaker 1: long ago? About six months? When you met your ex-wife again?
25:06
Speaker 1: How about that, Danny?
25:06
Speaker 3: Running around with a woman right down the street from
25:08
Speaker 3: the woman he used to be married to and not
25:09
Speaker 3: even know it.
25:10
Speaker 1: What do they call that? Fate, kismet, what? You kill Charlotte, Harry?
25:16
Speaker 1: You kill Hilda? One or both, Harry. Or neither. What
25:21
Speaker 1: do you know about it, Jimmy? Nothing. Leave him alone.
25:25
Speaker 1: We think you killed Charlotte, Harry. Think anything you want.
25:28
Speaker 1: She saw you running away. She heard a murder had
25:29
Speaker 1: been committed. She came to us and told us she
25:32
Speaker 1: saw a man running away. Didn't mention your name. That
25:34
Speaker 1: was nice of her. Didn't mention your name, not the
25:35
Speaker 1: first time. She was going to hold it over you, Harry.
25:37
Speaker 1: She came to us to let you know what she
25:39
Speaker 1: could do to you unless you'd take her back. So
25:41
Speaker 1: you killed her. You got to have my son sit
25:46
Speaker 1: through this. The poor little tyke went out and bought
25:49
Speaker 1: some bullets a few weeks ago, Harry.
25:50
Speaker 3: The poor innocent boy bought a pack of 32 soft-nosed slugs.
25:55
Speaker 1: What'd you do that for, Jimmy? To keep your father away. Pa.
26:00
Speaker 2: What? These guys are smart cookers.
26:02
Speaker 1: Just don't. Don't what, Pa?
26:03
Speaker 2: Like I said, these guys are smart.
26:05
Speaker 3: So figure you killed Charlotte. That means, Harry, you were
26:08
Speaker 3: running away from the death of your wife. And we
26:10
Speaker 3: all know your wife didn't want you around and Jimmy
26:12
Speaker 3: didn't want you around.
26:14
Speaker 1: We know about the trough precinct, Jimmy, how you asked
26:17
Speaker 1: the sergeant to keep your father away. We know you
26:20
Speaker 1: bought bullets, and we know your mother had a gun.
26:22
Speaker 1: You told us that, Harry. Remember, remember you said your
26:24
Speaker 1: wife poked a gun at you? So what happened the
26:26
Speaker 1: night your wife was killed? I shot her. Cut it out, Pa.
26:29
Speaker 1: I shot her.
26:30
Speaker 2: You're crazy, Pa?
26:31
Speaker 1: You're going crazy? Get out of here, Jimmy. Listen, Pa
26:33
Speaker 1: was drunk. That's no excuse. Pa was drunk. Mom pulled
26:37
Speaker 1: the gun out. Pa took it away from her. He
26:39
Speaker 1: was drunk. He had a loaded gun and he was drunk.
26:41
Speaker 1: So I went after him.
26:42
Speaker 10: Why not?
26:43
Speaker 1: He was drunk. The gun went off.
26:47
Speaker 2: That's all. The gun went off.
26:49
Speaker 1: Accidentally.
26:51
Speaker 2: And my mother was dead.
27:13
Speaker 1: The night time blares down Broadway and the street gathers
27:16
Speaker 1: it up like a passion and threaded against the dark,
27:19
Speaker 1: the million fragments, neon and roar and melting shapes and
27:23
Speaker 1: shock and clots of crowd. It's a fury that sweeps
27:28
Speaker 1: you up and holds you close and throws you into
27:31
Speaker 1: the gutter of your choice. It's Broadway. The gaudiest... The
27:37
Speaker 1: most violent. The lonesomest mile in the world. Broadway. My Beat.
28:02
Speaker 1: Broadway's My Beat stars Larry Thor as Detective Danny Clover,
28:06
Speaker 1: with Charles Calvert as Tartaglia and Jack Crucian as Mugathan.
28:09
Speaker 1: The program is produced and directed by Elliot Lewis, with
28:12
Speaker 1: musical score composed and conducted by Alexander Courage. In tonight's story,
28:16
Speaker 1: Sheldon Leonard was heard as Harry March and George Peroni
28:19
Speaker 1: as Jimmy Bruce. Featured in the cast were Truda Marson,
28:22
Speaker 1: Martha Wentworth, and Lawrence Dobkin. Bill Anders speaking. Every Sunday night,
28:31
Speaker 1: a two-fisted he-man takes you down a dangerous, stuttered road
28:34
Speaker 1: to mystery adventure on CBS Radio. Meet Dick Powell as
28:37
Speaker 1: Richard Diamond, a private detective, Sunday evening on most of
28:40
Speaker 1: these same stations. You'll thrill every minute as action-loving Diamond
28:44
Speaker 1: comes to grips with criminals and killers, cutting through subterfuge,
28:47
Speaker 1: putting his neck in a gangland noose in interest of justice.
28:51
Speaker 1: Richard Diamond, Sunday evening on CBS Radio. Don't miss it.
29:02
Speaker 1: And remember, for thrilling dramas of escape, listen Sunday nights
29:05
Speaker 1: to the CBS Radio Network.
30:01
Speaker 1: Broadway Is My Beat has left the Manhattan night behind
30:05
Speaker 1: with The Hilda Bruce Murder Case. Until another case reaches
30:09
Speaker 1: the radio dial, good night. Follow Old Time Mystery Radio
30:14
Speaker 1: for more classic mystery and detective broadcasts.