DEATH OF A PRIVATE EYE and MURDER ISLAND BARRIE CRAIG, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR

Summary

1001 Radio Crime Solvers – Episode Summary
Episode: DEATH OF A PRIVATE EYE and MURDER ISLAND – BARRIE CRAIG, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR
Date: May 3, 2026
Host: Jon Hagadorn
Featured Star: William Gargan as Barry Craig

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Episode Overview

In this double-feature episode, host Jon Hagadorn transports listeners back to the golden age of radio, where hard-boiled detectives ruled the airwaves. The episode features two classic mysteries from the "Barry Craig, Confidential Investigator" series: "Death of a Private Eye" and "Murder Island." Gargan’s Barry Craig delves into two complex cases—one involving a murdered ex-private eye and the other a tangled web of deceit on a notorious island.

The atmosphere is vintage noir: wisecracking, burdened detectives, troubled dames, and double-crossers abound. Listeners are thrust into tight plotting, snappy dialogue, and the raw emotional stakes that defined the golden age of radio crime drama.

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Case 1: DEATH OF A PRIVATE EYE

Setting the Scene

(02:20)
Barry Craig laments the slow, cold pace of winter and a dying PI business when Joe Hearn, an aging night watchman and former investigator, offers him $25 to accompany him on a mysterious visit.

“For company on a visit, $25 is a little on the rich side for you, isn’t it?”
— Barry Craig to Joe Hearn (04:41)

The Murder

(05:04)
Craig arrives to meet Hearn, only to witness him gunned down in the street. The murderer escapes under darkness, and Craig reports the crime.

The Investigation

(06:52 – 12:33)

• Lt. Trev Rogers fills in Hearn’s backstory: Hearn lost his PI license for testifying (truthfully but ineffectively) against the mobster Pete Solder.
• Hearn’s shoes—worn and with a hole—bother Craig, symbolizing a lifetime of struggle for little reward.
• Craig follows Hearn’s last steps to the Old Tyrol bar and questions its proprietor, Gruner, who is evasive and nervous. (13:34–14:57)

The Warren Estate

(14:25 – 18:06)

• Craig explores the estate Hearn was likely headed for, encountering suspicious staff (Dolan) and meeting the enigmatic Mrs. Warren, whose late husband was involved in Solder’s trial.
• The interaction is tense and laced with subtext, as Mrs. Warren attempts to charm and stall Craig:

“You’re very real, Mr. Craig. Very real and disturbing.”
— Mrs. Warren (19:41)

Breakthrough and Showdown

(21:26 – 27:57)

• Back at the Old Tyrol, Craig confronts Gruner, pressing about the phone call Gruner made after Hearn left (23:33–24:55).
• The pieces fall into place: Hearn witnessed Pete Solder (the deported mobster) returning and entering the Warren estate.
• Craig survives an ambush by Dolan and captures Pete Solder, who surrenders.

Final Reflections

(27:57–29:21)

• Rogers and Craig tie up the case: Hearn was killed because he stumbled onto Solder, now back and hiding at the Warrens.
• Justice is served, but the human cost weighs on Craig:

“I keep remembering Hearn’s shoes. They had holes in them.”
— Barry Craig (12:55)

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Case 2: MURDER ISLAND

Setup & Abduction

(32:23 – 38:24)
Craig is forced into a car by a thug (“Shammas”), blindfolded, and brought before Maxie “Mad Dog” Stacy, a gangster accused of murdering Crowley.

• Stacy swears innocence and hires Craig to clear his name, giving him $1000 and spinning a tale: he trailed Crowley to Obermeyer’s Boathouse but lost him.

Following the Trail

(40:44 – 42:34)

• At the boathouse, Craig learns from Obermeyer that Crowley’s boat was never returned and that Crowley’s destination was “Murder Island”—owned by notorious gambler Vince Keely.
• Obermeyer resents losing his deposit (displaying classic noir greed), but points Craig in the right direction.

Shipwreck and Queen of Clubs

(43:00 – 45:23)

• A sudden storm sinks Craig’s boat. He’s rescued by Rose Renee (“Queen of Burlesque” and Mrs. Vince Keely).
• Rose candidly describes her miserable marriage and Keely’s criminal past:

“Vince bought me. Only he welshed on the payment—he welshed after I said 'I do.'”
— Rose Renee (45:53)

Island Intrigues

(45:46 – 49:47)

• Confronting Keely yields denials and boasts of “reform,” but Rose reveals Crowley was blackmailing Keely for providing a false alibi in a past murder trial.
• Keely’s lawyer, George Brooks, is fiercely defensive but under pressure.

Police Partnership & Clues

(51:20 – 54:02)

• With Lt. Rogers, Craig searches Murder Island for clues, focusing on Crowley’s missing clothes—whose whereabouts could tie Keely to murder.

The Revelation

(54:02 – 55:16)

• Rose leads them to a stone incinerator with ash—and a burnt cufflink initialed “C” (for Crowley).
• It appears Vince Keely killed Crowley and tried to burn the evidence.

Twist Ending

(55:31 – 57:49)

• Keely appears to commit suicide, but Brooks acts suspiciously.
• Craig deduces Brooks killed both Crowley and Keely, aiming to protect his position in Keely's criminal world and frame Keely posthumously.

“Vince would be the world’s prized chump to pay Crowley blackmail or even worry about Crowley. That’s double jeopardy, Brooks. … You also killed Crowley.”
— Barry Craig (57:50)

Aftermath

(58:47–59:32)

• Maxie “Mad Dog” Stacy finds Craig, grateful for being cleared—but the “wife and kids” he mentioned were a lie, and his promised “fat fee” is now out of reach.

“I hate to do this to you, Craig, but … I’m broke. Government’s new bookie tax. … No kids, no wife, even. I’m not married.”
— Maxie (59:04)

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• “I knew a murderer once who was planning to get married. So he killed a man for money, enough to furnish a house. It didn’t work out, though. All he got was the chair.” (01:23)
• “I want to make sure I don’t get killed.” – Joe Hearn (04:49)
• “People don’t always realize. Big house you’ve got here.” – Barry Craig (17:14)
• “I’ll take some killing before I’m killed.” – Barry Craig, drawing his gun on Vince (49:36)
• “There was talk of a fat fee. … I’m broke. … No kids, no wife, even.” – Maxie (59:04)

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Key Timestamps

• 02:20 – Hearn’s visit, setup for "Death of a Private Eye"
• 06:52 – Police/Craig discuss Hearn’s murder
• 12:33 – Hearn’s backstory and Solder case exposé
• 14:25 – Encounter at the Warren Estate
• 21:26 – Gruner confesses connection to Hearn, confrontation with Dolan and Solder
• 27:57 – Rogers and Craig close the case, Hearn’s legacy
• 32:23 – "Murder Island" story begins, Craig abducted
• 40:44 – Boathouse clue: “Murder Island”
• 43:00 – Storm; Rose Renee rescues Craig
• 51:20 – Craig and Lt. Rogers search the island
• 54:02 – Discovery of burned evidence, cufflink
• 55:31 – Keely’s “suicide” and Brooks’ real crime exposed
• 58:47 – Maxie’s “thanks” and comic let-down

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Tone & Style Notes

The episode’s dialogue is classic hardboiled noir: witty, sardonic, sometimes poetic, with emotion channeled through stoic toughness. The stories are briskly plotted with memorable supporting characters—each with their own blend of pathos and guile. The tone shifts from jaded humor to deep melancholy, especially as Craig reflects on the cost of fighting crime.

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Listener Takeaway

"Death of a Private Eye" and "Murder Island" deliver all the atmosphere, tension, and plot twists that made radio detective drama a mainstay of its era. Through Craig’s dry humor and dogged persistence, justice is won—but only after navigating a maze of lies, old grudges, crooked love, and faded dreams. The past always haunts the present, but as always, the confidential investigator stands—alone if he must—between innocence and the chair.

Transcript

[Liberty Mutual Agent]

Then, Doug, there's nowhere I wouldn't go to help someone customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual. Even if it means sitting front row at a comedy show.

[Barry Craig]

Hey, everyone. Check out this guy and his bird. What is this, your first date?

[Liberty Mutual Agent]

Oh, no. We help people customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual together. We're married. Me to a human, him to a bird.

[Barry Craig]

Yeah, the bird looks out of your league.

[Liberty Mutual Agent]

Anyways, get a [e-mail] or with your local agent.

[Joe Hearn]

Liberty. Liberty.

[Barry Craig]

Liberty.

[Joe Hearn]

Liberty.

[Barry Craig]

It's so weird. This app shows that my credit score

[Liberty Mutual Agent]

is pretty good, but I couldn't get the car loan.

[Shopify Advertiser]

Are you using myfico.com?

[Barry Craig]

no, it's some other company.

[Shopify Advertiser]

Oh. You should get a Myfico account instead. FICO scores are the ones used by 90% of lenders. And other credit scores can vary up to 100 points.

[Barry Craig]

That would have been helpful yesterday.

[Liberty Mutual Agent]

Get the scores lenders use. Get the right FICO credit score for your credit goal, including your FICO scores used for mortgages, auto loans and credit cards. Visit myfico.com or download the MyFico app to get started today.

[Narrator / Radio Host]

Welcome back, everyone, to 1001 Radio Crime Solvers. This is your host, John Hagedorn. Get ready for Barry Craig, Confidential Investigator.

[Announcer / William Gargan]

William Gargan stars as Barry Craig, Confidential Investigator.

[Barry Craig]

I knew a murderer once who was planning to get married. So he killed a man for money, enough to furnish a house. It didn't work out, though. All he got was the chair.

[Announcer / William Gargan]

The National Broadcasting Company presents William Gargan in another transcribed drama of mystery and adventure with America's number one detective, Barry Craig, Confidential Investigator.

[Barry Craig]

Barry Craig speaking. It gets dark early these days. It's always cold. And a confidential investigator's business dies a slow death. Maybe it's because the weather discourages romance. Wives stay home knitting. Husbands decide the blonde wasn't born. Who's worth a trip through the icy city? So I'm in the office pretending to go through the files, trying to keep the corpse warm. The buzzer buzzes and I look up. Maybe I think it'll be a fireman. It's open. If it is, he forgot to bring the fire with him.

[Joe Hearn]

You Craig?

[Barry Craig]

I'm Craig. Sit down.

[Joe Hearn]

Yeah. And colder.

[Barry Craig]

That's why I'm still here.

[Joe Hearn]

Mr. Hearn's the name. Joe Hearn.

[Barry Craig]

How do you do?

[Joe Hearn]

Are you in a position to take a job?

[Barry Craig]

For when?

[Joe Hearn]

Tonight.

[Barry Craig]

Oh, you're lucky. It so happens I'm free tonight. Now, if you'd wanted me to go to work tomorrow. You'd still be lucky. I'd be free then too. What's the matter, Pump? Hmm?

[Joe Hearn]

Oh, nothing. Just too cold. I ain't too young anymore.

[Barry Craig]

Who is this job for tonight? What's it about?

[Joe Hearn]

It's just I want you to go along with me to pay a visit.

[Barry Craig]

Sounds easy enough.

[Joe Hearn]

Yeah, I used to have one of those.

[Barry Craig]

What? Oh, investigator's license.

[Joe Hearn]

Yeah. Nothing but night watching now though. Job won't take more than a couple hours. Would. Would 25 bucks, you know.

[Barry Craig]

Sure.

[Joe Hearn]

Here, I got the door with me. It's out on Staten Island.

[Maxie]

Ouch.

[Joe Hearn]

It ain't too bad. You can stay inside on the ferry. You better meet me around 8:30.

[Barry Craig]

Okay.

[Joe Hearn]

Down in the Bay Drive corner, Western. 8:30. Place we're going is maybe a five minute walk from there.

[Barry Craig]

Bay Drive and Western. 8:30.

[Joe Hearn]

Yeah. Well, I guess I'll see you later.

[Barry Craig]

Oh, Mr. Hearn.

[Joe Hearn]

Yeah?

[Barry Craig]

25 bucks for company on a visit is a little on the rich side for you, isn't it?

[Joe Hearn]

Yeah. Next visit.

[Barry Craig]

Yeah.

[Joe Hearn]

I want to make sure I don't get killed.

[Barry Craig]

Mr. Hearn didn't pause to explain. I started after him, shrugged my shoulders, went back to the desk and put my files away. A client's got a right to his privacy. I wondered how I'd like being a night watchman if I ever washed up as a private eye. I decided I wouldn't and headed for a hamburger joint instead of a steakhouse for dinner. The ferry had been fine, but Bay Drive turned out to be right on the bay. I didn't care for the result. I was maybe three quarters of a block away from intersection of Bay Drive and Western when the car passed me. The street didn't run to many lampposts and the pedestrians were all home. I didn't think the car's driving without lights was accidental. I began to run. I could see Joe Hearn shuffling his feet, trying to keep warm on the corner. The car moved in fast and then it went away. No license plates. I got to where Hearn was hugging the pavement and bent over him. He'd given up trying to keep warm. He'd never be warm again. Bay Drive ran parallel to the water. Nothing was below it except a crooked shoreline and the cold darkness of the bay itself. I'd flagged a passing car and had the news phoned in. After a while, Joe Hearn had a spotlight on him. The undivided attention of a half a dozen cops and a nervous intern. Joe Hearn wasn't particularly interested. Barry welcome to Staten Island, Lieutenant Rogers.

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

Thanks. I could use the red carpet for a windbreak. Hearn hired you to help him pay a visit?

[Barry Craig]

To whom? Me? I would have said to who?

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

That's an interesting sideline on your grammar. Doesn't tell me anything, though.

[Barry Craig]

That's because I don't know anything. Hearn wasn't giving out information.

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

Hearn was a night watchman for the Coastlines.

[Barry Craig]

He worked in one of their warehouses near here.

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

Half an hour's warm.

[Barry Craig]

No help there. His date was closer.

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

His date has been canceled. Nobody spotted the car.

[Barry Craig]

Barry probably put the lights on again once it got a few blocks away. Trav, were your men able to dig up anything on Hearn's actions just before he wound up here?

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

Landlady at his boarding house said he had dinner there. He stopped off at a place called Old Tyrol for a beer. I spoke to the manager, a man named Grunner. Wound up with nothing. Hearn always had a beer there on his way to work. That's it.

[Barry Craig]

Yeah. I hope he enjoyed his beer. They finished with the chalk marks and the flashbulbs. Hearn wasn't a heavy man. They had no trouble rolling him onto a stretcher and taking him away. The last I saw of him was a pair of tired shoes. The right one had a hole in it. I thought maybe I'd try the beer at the Old Tyrol. I wasn't fooling anybody. The 25 bucks in my pocket was bothering me. I hadn't earned it. The place was full of people. The waiters were girls dressed in costume. I suppose their bare knees improved the customers appetites. I hoped nobody would start yodeling.

[Narrator / Radio Host]

Good evening, sir. You want a table maybe, huh?

[Barry Craig]

Well? I'm looking for Mr. Gruner.

[Narrator / Radio Host]

Hi, I'm Gruner.

[Barry Craig]

My name's Craig. Barry Craig.

[Narrator / Radio Host]

Yeah.

[Barry Craig]

I'm working for Joe Hearn.

[Narrator / Radio Host]

But the man is dead.

[Barry Craig]

No, I'm still working for him. I'm a confidential investigator.

[Narrator / Radio Host]

It is very sad what happens to Mr. Hearn. But I have already told the police everything I know.

[Barry Craig]

Suppose you tell me all over again.

[Narrator / Radio Host]

I do not know exactly what confidential investigator means, but I am a friend of the police captain here in the district.

[Barry Craig]

That's nice.

[Narrator / Radio Host]

He would not like it that I am disturbed.

[Barry Craig]

Hearn didn't like trying to breathe through the blood in his lungs.

[Narrator / Radio Host]

You do not make yourself very pleasant. I will not talk with you more.

[Barry Craig]

No, please.

[Narrator / Radio Host]

You will let go of me.

[Barry Craig]

How many murdered men have you ever looked at, Mr. Kroner?

[Narrator / Radio Host]

I say you let Go.

[Barry Craig]

They're not pretty. Mostly they die with their eyes open. Killer's got so little time, he doesn't bother shutting their eyes. And what you see in a murdered man's eyes isn't pleasant, Mr. Crono. There's nothing much anybody can do about it. Except turn up the killer. That's what I'm trying to do.

[Narrator / Radio Host]

I understand. I wish to help only.

[Barry Craig]

Yeah. You own this building?

[Narrator / Radio Host]

Yeah.

[Barry Craig]

Coming. I noticed it had two stories. What's upstairs? More restaurant?

[Joe Hearn]

No.

[Narrator / Radio Host]

It is storerooms and. And things like that.

[Barry Craig]

Things like that. Mind if I take a look?

[Narrator / Radio Host]

Why do you wish that?

[Barry Craig]

Maybe I'm thinking of retiring and opening a restaurant with storerooms. Upstairs.

[Narrator / Radio Host]

It is closed. Upstairs. I cannot permit you.

[Barry Craig]

Never mind. Yeah. No.

[Narrator / Radio Host]

If you excuse, I go to work. But perhaps you will be a guest of the management, huh? Wiener schnitzel here is very good.

[Barry Craig]

So is the beer. I understand. No, thanks. For some reason, I can't think of what it is exactly. I haven't got an appetite. Good night, Mr. Gronau.

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

Welcome to the Bay Drive Precinct, Barry.

[Barry Craig]

Hello, Trav.

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

How's the beer at the Old Tyrol?

[Barry Craig]

What makes you think I've been there?

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

We've met before. You're bothered about Hearn.

[Barry Craig]

Sure. I owe him 25 bucks worth of investigation, huh? Worrying about money? What else?

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

I won't tell anybody. You're sentimental, Barry.

[Barry Craig]

Thanks. I'll keep quiet about your reading books.

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

That makes us even. What'd you find out, if anything, at the Old Tyrol?

[Barry Craig]

Nothing. You.

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

You gave us the fact that Hearn was a private eye once upon a time. So reason he quit was because the Commission revoked his license.

[Barry Craig]

They must have had a reason. They had a good one.

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

Not too good, but they couldn't help themselves. Happened around 10 years ago.

[Barry Craig]

You're going to talk without prompting.

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

The way it went was Joe Hearn had an office downtown on the waterfront. Had a lot of jobs for shipping outfits. Was doing pretty well until he testified against a man named Pete Solder.

[Barry Craig]

They had a law then about testifying against men named Pete Solder.

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

The charge against Solder was smuggling. His lawyer brought in a lot of witnesses in the higher income brackets, Barry,

[Barry Craig]

that made them good witnesses.

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

Well, it helped. The case against Salter was shot full of little holes. Hearn almost got himself charged with perjury.

[Barry Craig]

Was Salter guilty? Sure.

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

Ran gambling houses, too. He was deported a few years later. But at the time of the trial, his guilt couldn't be proved.

[Barry Craig]

So Hearn had his license taken away.

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

Was that or a perjury charge.

[Barry Craig]

Trev, let me have a list of the witnesses that testified for Solder. Huh?

[Maxie]

Yeah, I've got it.

[Barry Craig]

Here. Thanks.

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

Grunner isn't on the list.

[Barry Craig]

No, thanks. Tram. You're leaving? Uh huh. And going where? Back to the waterfront. Got a lead? No.

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

But you're going Anyway.

[Barry Craig]

All for 25 bucks? No. I keep remembering Hearn's shoes. What about them? They had holes in them. I went back to the corner of Bay Drive and Western. The cops were gone. Hearn was gone. The only thing left was a blood stain on the pavement. Not much to show for a lifetime. I remembered what Hearne had told me. His visit was to a place five minutes from Bay and Western. It wouldn't have been back along the way I'd come. It couldn't be down Western to the water. It might have been up Western going inland. It might have been a long Bay Drive where it hugged the shore. I'd invest five minutes along the shore. Hearn's life had been played near water and ended there. Five minutes was a small investment, but Bay Drive died on me in five minutes. A high brick wall stared at me. I backed up away from it and there was a house rising above the wall, set deep behind it. Maybe it was the wind that lifted the small hairs out of the back of my neck. I found a gate in the wall. There were lights in the house. Who's that? Open the gate. Sure, I'll open it.

[Maxie]

Now what?

[Barry Craig]

I'm paying a visit to the house. What time do you think it is? 2:30 in the morning. There's no time for visiting. Everybody's asleep. The lights are on. They're nervous up at the house. They sleep with the lights on. Now. Now listen.

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

I don't want to get rough.

[Barry Craig]

I'm visiting.

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

Oh, you're on your way out now. You nearly broke my arm.

[Barry Craig]

Keep your hands out of your pockets. I'm not interested in your gun. I wasn't. You mean you're not the house, huh? Okay, okay. I don't know what you think you're doing? Paying a visit. You announce me as Craig. Craig? Yeah, Barry Craig. You're a private eye? Confidential investigator. Sounds more expensive. What are you so kind of edgy tonight? Maybe. I'm always edgy. Dodging in on Mrs. Warren like this. Won't do you any good, though. I'm not looking for any good. What's your name? Dolan. Got a license for that gun you're carrying? What's the matter? You got a license?

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

Complex or something?

[Barry Craig]

Forget it. That gun Been used recently. Keep popping on my gun. Lay off. They've been off the grounds all night. I didn't ask you, Mrs. Warren. Run to a butler. He goes to bed early. All right, get back to the gatehouse. Oh, wait. I said get back. You like to throw your weight around, don't you? I've got plenty of it. Yeah. Only one thing. There's just so much I'll take.

[Announcer / William Gargan]

And then?

[Barry Craig]

And then nothing.

[Mrs. Warren]

Dolan.

[Rose Renee]

What?

[Barry Craig]

I'm not Dolan.

[Mrs. Warren]

So I see.

[Barry Craig]

The name's Barry Craig. Mind if I come in?

[Mrs. Warren]

That might depend on just who Barry Craig is.

[Barry Craig]

Well, he's a confidential investigator. He's got an office in the city, a license under glass and. And a necessity for visiting.

[Mrs. Warren]

Does it happen often?

[Barry Craig]

No.

[Mrs. Warren]

Well, I suppose there's no harm in indulging you, Mr. Craig.

[Barry Craig]

That's up to you.

[Mrs. Warren]

Would you go away if I asked you to?

[Barry Craig]

No.

[Mrs. Warren]

Come in, Mr. Craig. It's a strange hour for a visit, Mr. Craven.

[Barry Craig]

You're up, Mrs. Warren.

[Mrs. Warren]

I keep strange hours. Why did you come here?

[Barry Craig]

A man named Joe Hearn was shot to death a little while ago.

[Mrs. Warren]

Oh, but why?

[Barry Craig]

He was a private eye once upon a time. More recently he's been a night watchman. Right now he's dead.

[Mrs. Warren]

Well, I. I'm sorry about that. I suppose investigators are all fine men.

[Barry Craig]

They bleed when they're shot. And when they've bled long enough, they die.

[Mrs. Warren]

That was hardly necessary.

[Barry Craig]

People don't always realize. Big house you've got here.

[Mrs. Warren]

Yes.

[Barry Craig]

Around 8:30 tonight. You aware?

[Mrs. Warren]

I don't really see why I should answer your questions.

[Barry Craig]

Do you mind answering?

[Mrs. Warren]

Of course not. Then 8:30 I was here. I may have been reading.

[Barry Craig]

Alone.

[Mrs. Warren]

My husband's dead. The butler goes to bed very early. But of course there's Dolan.

[Barry Craig]

There's always Dolan. The grounds run right down to the water's edge, don't they?

[Mrs. Warren]

They do.

[Barry Craig]

You're a beautiful woman, Mrs. Swine.

[Joe Hearn]

Right.

[Mrs. Warren]

Thank you.

[Barry Craig]

Beautiful and rich. Why did you let me walk through your front door?

[Mrs. Warren]

Meaning that I didn't have to?

[Barry Craig]

I'd put it that way.

[Mrs. Warren]

But perhaps I wanted to.

[Barry Craig]

Was it my hand tailored suit or my polished manners?

[Mrs. Warren]

Your polished manners? Or perhaps the hat you're wearing. It's still on your head.

[Barry Craig]

In the trial of a man named Pete Solder a number of years ago, another man named Thomas Warren testified on soldier's behalf.

[Mrs. Warren]

Thomas Warren was my husband.

[Barry Craig]

I know. Thomas Warren's testimony helped a private investigator named Joe Hearn lose his license.

[Mrs. Warren]

Oh, we're back to that we never left.

[Barry Craig]

Was that Joe Hearn who died tonight? What possible interest could I. Solder knew lots of people. Like the Thomas Warrens. He must have had something.

[Mrs. Warren]

I hardly knew him.

[Barry Craig]

You must have been what, 18 at the time? A few years older. When Solder was deported. Did you still hardly know him then?

[Mrs. Warren]

I'm trying to understand why you're asking me these questions.

[Barry Craig]

Hearn was killed a few minutes after he left. A restaurant and bar called the Old Tyrol. It's run by a man named Gruner. He keeps his supplies upstairs behind drawn blinds and with the lights on.

[Mrs. Warren]

I know nothing about the Old Tyrell or men named Gruner. Mr. Craig, why don't you take your hat off?

[Barry Craig]

Why should I?

[Mrs. Warren]

Perhaps because I want to see what your hair is like.

[Barry Craig]

I'm not a cop. Those rooms upstairs at the restaurant could be used for gambling. I wouldn't be interested, except that Pete Solder ran a string of gambling houses.

[Mrs. Warren]

You're very stubborn. I'll take it off for you.

[Barry Craig]

This is pretty quick, isn't it?

[Mrs. Warren]

You're very real, Mr. Craig. Very real and disturbing.

[Barry Craig]

I still think it's pretty quick.

[Mrs. Warren]

You underestimate yourself. The world's full of little men. Half men. You. You're exciting.

[Barry Craig]

I. I'm not buying.

[Mrs. Warren]

What?

[Barry Craig]

It's a nice performance. But your price tag's showing.

[Rose Renee]

Will you? You.

[Barry Craig]

No.

[Mrs. Warren]

Oh, my wrist.

[Barry Craig]

I'd just as soon not be slapped. Not even by a beautiful woman. Let's get back to the gambling houses.

[Mrs. Warren]

If you don't mind, I'll show you to the door.

[Barry Craig]

You mean he's had time enough by now to get away? Yeah. Too late. The car's gone. Very nice. Mrs. Warren.

[Mrs. Warren]

Would you please leave?

[Barry Craig]

You stalled me just long enough, didn't you? To let him get out of here?

[Mrs. Warren]

I don't know who you're talking about.

[Barry Craig]

No, but Hearn did. Mrs. Warren. Hearn did. I left. Dolan didn't try to stop me. I hadn't expected him to. Out in the bay, the boats lay at anchor, rocking with the tide. The Old Tyrol was still open for business. I gave it mine. Out in the restaurant, a handful of people made tired passes at food. The bar was doing better. The bartender had a very high class assistant. Hey.

[Narrator / Radio Host]

Yes, sir. What will it. Mr. Craig?

[Barry Craig]

Hello, Mr. Gonorrh. You are back again. Yeah. Surprised?

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

What?

[Narrator / Radio Host]

What is it you want now?

[Barry Craig]

Let's not disturb the bartender. Let's go where we can talk.

[Narrator / Radio Host]

I do not wish to go.

[Barry Craig]

Sure you do. Only you don't realize it Yet I still say, Gronor. You know where I've been?

[Narrator / Radio Host]

It is not my business.

[Barry Craig]

I've been visiting Mrs. Warren.

[Narrator / Radio Host]

It means nothing to me.

[Joe Hearn]

I.

[Narrator / Radio Host]

Who is Mrs. Warren?

[Barry Craig]

A lady with a lawn sloping right down to the shore of the bay.

[Narrator / Radio Host]

So, yeah, we go to my office.

[Barry Craig]

Fine.

[Narrator / Radio Host]

He's upstairs.

[Barry Craig]

No objection. Right up among the storerooms, huh?

[Narrator / Radio Host]

Store? Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Barry Craig]

You didn't hit those. Yes, hard enough. What you really mean is that you're closed up for the night upstairs.

[Narrator / Radio Host]

You say things which I do not understand.

[Barry Craig]

Never mind.

[Narrator / Radio Host]

My office is here.

[Barry Craig]

Very pretty.

[Narrator / Radio Host]

You do not come to Admire My office, Mr. Craig. What is it you wish to say to me?

[Barry Craig]

How well did you know Joe Hearn?

[Narrator / Radio Host]

I hardly knew him at all.

[Barry Craig]

Uh, he stopped in every night for his beer. It must have been more than a casual thing. No, the cops know better.

[Narrator / Radio Host]

Well, what I meant is that of course I knew Mr. Hearn, but not very personal, you understand.

[Barry Craig]

I understand you served him his beer tonight.

[Narrator / Radio Host]

Well, yeah. An old customer.

[Barry Craig]

And while he was drinking that beer, what did he tell you?

[Narrator / Radio Host]

Nothing, except how the weather is. And. Yeah, and that is all.

[Barry Craig]

A couple of boys chatting about the weather. No, Grona.

[Narrator / Radio Host]

What do you mean, no?

[Barry Craig]

I don't like your answer. Please, I'm not being brutal. Just making sure you stay with me. Grona, what did Hearn tell you tonight?

[Narrator / Radio Host]

I. I'm not well.

[Barry Craig]

Please, you're just beginning to feel sick. It'll get worse.

[Narrator / Radio Host]

Grona, I am not concerned.

[Barry Craig]

I'll tell you what you and Hearne talked about. Hearn mentioned the fact that on his way to work, he always passed a Warren estate. He told her that when he passed it last night, he saw someone go in that estate. Someone whose face he had a very good reason to remember. Isn't that what he told you? No. No, I swear to you, no. Why deny it with such excitement, Grona? Why swear to me? Because you know what it means, don't you? That's why you're so anxious to get out of it, isn't it, Gruner?

[Narrator / Radio Host]

I say nothing.

[Barry Craig]

Let's go back to storytelling. Hearn told you that? He also told you he was going to pay a visit with a private eye. Me. Although he wasn't mentioning names, was he?

[Narrator / Radio Host]

No.

[Barry Craig]

Don't be so anxious to agree with me on unimportant things. Hearn finished his beer and left. And what did you do?

[Narrator / Radio Host]

Nothing.

[Barry Craig]

Nothing except make a little phone call to a lady. Grona.

[Narrator / Radio Host]

Yeah?

[Barry Craig]

They've got a funny law. Roughly, it says that if you Know about a murder and don't talk. You go to the chair right alongside of the man who actually pulled the trigger.

[Narrator / Radio Host]

I know about this.

[Barry Craig]

Maybe you think it's unfair. You'll go right on thinking that until they shoot the high voltage through that fat body of yours.

[Narrator / Radio Host]

I know Nothing.

[Barry Craig]

You phoned Mrs. Warren. You passed on what Hern had told you.

[Narrator / Radio Host]

Maybe I did. It is not against the law.

[Barry Craig]

What did you think would happen with that information, Grona? What do you think did happen?

[Narrator / Radio Host]

It is not of my doing.

[Barry Craig]

They got to Hearne before I met him. He didn't die very pleasantly. I'm angry about that.

[Narrator / Radio Host]

Breathe, Mr. Craig. You are hurting it.

[Barry Craig]

Try breathing with lungs full of blood. Sometimes that hurts more.

[Mrs. Warren]

Who?

[Barry Craig]

Did Hearn tell you he saw her entering Mrs. Warren's estate last night?

[Narrator / Radio Host]

You let go of me. I tell you.

[Barry Craig]

Thanks.

[Narrator / Radio Host]

I wish that it is on the record that I did not know what will happen.

[Barry Craig]

It'll be on the record. Now stop washing the blood off your hands and talk.

[Narrator / Radio Host]

All right, then I speak the men. Hearn sees who goes into the Warren.

[Barry Craig]

Get out, Rona. Nice shooting, Dolan. Come out from behind that door. I've had a bead on it since we came into the room. The angle's wrong for you. Come out from behind that door, Dolan. Okay, hold it. Drop the gun. Now keep coming. Hey. What? I said keep coming. To me. Or do you want to find out if I shoot straight? Oh, I'll keep walking. That's fine. Now stop. Turn around. Back to me. Face that door you just came out of. Yeah. Now you start back to the door, Dolan. What? What's your idea? One dead private eye is enough for tonight. So we play it this way. Start walking. I'll be right behind. So if anybody gets nervous and starts shooting, I'll see to her that you don't fall down when you get shot. You can't do this. I'm doing it. Keep walking. But he'll shoot the boy in the room you came out of. That was the idea, wasn't it? You were coming in. I was supposed to think you'd been alone. I wouldn't be watching the next room. I'd make a nice target. But I like you better as a target. No. Kick the door open all the way. Okay. Okay? Yeah. Better? Much better. Hold it, Dolan. As for you, you can try shooting it out with me. Not much of a chance for you, though. Or you can drop your gun and hope. You may stay alive a little while longer that way till a jury gets around to you. What shall it be, Mr. Sol? Mister solder. Mr. Pete solder dropped his gun and surrendered to the authorities. I dropped him in Lieutenant Rogers lap. The lieutenant dumped him in a cell. And then he'll keep for a while.

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

Not too long. He's turning spoiled right now. But Pete Salter, after all these years. Funny, he sneaked back into the country and might have got away with it. The place he picks out turns out to be the one place he should have stayed away from.

[Barry Craig]

He had no way of knowing Joe Hearn's route to his job took him past Mrs. Warren's estate.

[Joe Hearn]

No.

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

So Hearn saw him and.

[Barry Craig]

And what? I'm not sure he wanted me to come with him when he visited the Warren estate. He wouldn't tell me why.

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

Ah, if he'd come to us, he'd be alive now.

[Barry Craig]

Yeah, but he was too bitter, I guess. He wanted to make a citizen's arrest himself, get back to Solder. For all the years, the worn out shoes, the tiredness. It might have worked out if he hadn't talked to Gruner.

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

Gruner, who ran a gambling dump upstairs in his restaurant, who had a tie in with Solder. And that was it. But what led you to it?

[Barry Craig]

Little things mostly. Something Hearn came across on his way to work led to his death. The Warrens had figured in the reports on Soldier's trial a small boat could land on the estate without being seen. And Dolan said something about this being a night where a private eye would be edgy. But he had no way of knowing about Hearn unless he'd had a hand on his debt.

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

Well, it's all washed up. What are you doing the rest of the night?

[Barry Craig]

Barry, go home and. No, I earned my 25 bucks. I'm going out and spend it.

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

On what?

[Barry Craig]

A steak. Good night, folks. See you next week.

[Announcer / William Gargan]

You have been listening to William Gargan in another exciting transcribed mystery drama from the Adventures of Barry Craig, Confidential Investigator.

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[Announcer / William Gargan]

William Gargan stars as Barry Craig, Confidential investigator.

[Barry Craig]

Did you ever wonder, folks, how a certain species of blonde can breathe in spite of a heart of stone?

[Announcer / William Gargan]

The National Broadcasting Company presents William Gargan in another transcribed drama of mystery and adventure with America's number one detective, Barry Craig. Confidential investigator.

[Barry Craig]

Barry Craig speaking. A confidential investigator occupies a kind of strategic position in law enforcement. He can mix with an element a regular department cop is obliged to scorn, if not arrest, on site. Like a cop, the confidential operator is on the side of the angel. But he can work for the devil. Like I did. Not too voluntarily. Once upon a crime. The case came at me in broad daylight at the foot of Father Duffy's statue on Broadway. The first I knew of it was a gun in my ribs.

[Shammas]

Freeze, Shammis. And don't let out a peep.

[Barry Craig]

A tough right out of a B movie with a reek to him. Like he ate garlic for candy. Is it a gun or a monkey wrench, sonny?

[Shammas]

Bleed and find out.

[Barry Craig]

A line of dialogue like that you ought to copyright.

[Shammas]

Hey, you're talking yourself to death.

[Barry Craig]

Shut my mouth.

[Shammas]

See that car in the corner?

[Barry Craig]

The green and white job that reads

[Shammas]

pd not the police car, smart guy. The one behind it.

[Barry Craig]

Oh, the hot limousine.

[Shammas]

It ain't hot. It was bought legitimate.

[Barry Craig]

Pardon me?

[Shammas]

Go get into it.

[Barry Craig]

Times must be hard for you to get down to me.

[Shammas]

This isn't a snatch.

[Barry Craig]

And what is it?

[Shammas]

You'll find out? In with you.

[Barry Craig]

Give her the gun.

[Shammas]

Needles. And off the big street. First turn you can make.

[Barry Craig]

Heading downtown. I tried for a peek into my future. Who Was it? Who was? Who hired you to work over me?

[Shammas]

You're sure in a sweat. Shammas.

[Barry Craig]

It's my memory's coming back. A lot of guys resent the Free Roman board I arranged for them up the river.

[Shammas]

You're guessing wrong.

[Barry Craig]

Oh, I'm relieved. Or am I?

[Shammas]

I'm gonna blindfold you now.

[Barry Craig]

A cigarette taste.

[Shammas]

Why ain't you a comedian?

[Barry Craig]

Right now I wish I'd picked the occupation.

[Shammas]

Hold steady. Can't see, can you?

[Barry Craig]

Can't even breathe. Why include my nose in a blindfold?

[Shammas]

Breathe through your mouth like me.

[Barry Craig]

I haven't the adenoids for it.

[Shammas]

Another crack, I'll rock you to sleep. Now shut up and enjoy the ride.

[Barry Craig]

I could guess our general destination by the odor. A New Yorker develops a nose for local geography. Front street, somewhere off the East River. The Foot and Fish Market couldn't be too far away.

[Shammas]

You're going down cellar steps, so hold onto a rail.

[Barry Craig]

I've got the RA.

[Shammas]

In with your shamus.

[Barry Craig]

Hey, was that push necessary?

[Shammas]

Here's your pigeon, boss.

[Maxie]

Good work. Take the blindfold off.

[Barry Craig]

I second the motion.

[Maxie]

Hello, Craig.

[Barry Craig]

Where do the Fog lives? Not Sam Stacey.

[Maxie]

Surprised?

[Barry Craig]

I'm shocked at the lousy reporting this town gets. The headlines I view in Acapulco and China.

[Maxie]

The papers have been crucifying me. Mad Dog Killer, Stacy. Where do they come off with that stuff?

[Barry Craig]

A guy named Crowley wasn't only dead, a bullet in his brain, plus his head caved in, plus his features smeared and his clothes gone to make identification impossible. Plus being drowned in Long Island Sound. You put your heart in your work, Stacy.

[Maxie]

I didn't kill Crowley.

[Barry Craig]

Nobody will believe you.

[Boat Rental Owner]

Sure.

[Maxie]

I'm a dog with a bad name. Grab Stacy. Hang the frame on him.

[Barry Craig]

Okay. Start lying at me.

[Maxie]

Lying?

[Barry Craig]

Isn't that why I'm down here with the smell of fish and rats? Why you lay off Maxi insults easy.

[Maxie]

Stop baiting him, Craig. He's a hothead.

[Barry Craig]

I must remember to cool him off someday. I'm waiting to hear the lie.

[Maxie]

There was bad blood between me and Crowley. Sure. I never made a secret of it. Crowley began taking horse bets on my side of the street. Like a chump, I shot off my mouth publicly where stoolies could pipe my remarks to the cops.

[Barry Craig]

Shut off your mouth about what you were going to do to Crowley.

[Maxie]

That's right.

[Barry Craig]

But you didn't.

[Maxie]

I didn't get a chance to.

[Barry Craig]

You tried to, however.

[Maxie]

Yeah. I'll give you the truth with nothing held back.

[Barry Craig]

At your own risk. Under these circumstances, I don't Regard it as confidential.

[Maxie]

The day before Crowley was fished out of the river, I trailed him to Obermeyer's boathouse over on the north shore of Long Island. But.

[Barry Craig]

What's the big but?

[Maxie]

Crowley shook me. I bust for him in my car off the pier, figuring he'd come walking right into my gun. He never came off the pier. He took off by motorboat.

[Barry Craig]

That's your story.

[Maxie]

It's the honest truth.

[Barry Craig]

Why are you crying at me?

[Maxie]

Get whoever beat me to Crowley. Get me in the clear. I'll pay a fat fee if you live.

[Barry Craig]

I'll live. I've got a hot flash for you. There's a shoot to kill order out for you.

[Maxie]

I'm an Acapulco China.

[Barry Craig]

Only I know different now.

[Maxie]

You mean you'll finger me?

[Barry Craig]

I mean

[Maxie]

it's a chance I'll have to take. Way it stacks, you're my only chance.

[Barry Craig]

Why not let me surrender you alive?

[Maxie]

No. Good. I'd hate myself in the hot seat.

[Boat Rental Owner]

Maxie.

[Shammas]

Yeah, boss?

[Maxie]

Dump Craig somewhere.

[Shammas]

Crease him a little.

[Barry Craig]

A little?

[Maxie]

I can't risk you being able to pinpoint my hideout.

[George Brooks]

Craig.

[Maxie]

If you decide against me.

[Barry Craig]

I've been hit on the head before.

[Maxie]

I don't want Craig injured. Maxie.

[Shammas]

Just like you say. A big break for you, shamus.

[Barry Craig]

I came to with the 3rd Avenue l roaring through my head. I was on a stoop, front tilted at an angle, my hat down over my eyes and an empty pint bottle at my feet, like a bum sleeping off a bottle of paint remover. Sensitive. Maxie had a sense of humor after all. I found a note pinned inside my coat. Craig, I've got a wife and kids. Please, Stacy. Pinned to the note was a thousand dollar bill, a retainer, a wife and kids. If it was a lie, it was a good one. It was about the only way Stacy could hook me. As a helper. Looking to hail a cruiser, I got a firsthand view of metropolitan police efficiency. A familiar flavor that breezed so close it flicked lint off my trousers. Barry Craig, Lieutenant Trav Rogers.

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

Climb in.

[Barry Craig]

Must I?

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

It's an order.

[Barry Craig]

Where are we going?

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

To make a police entry. That you've been recovered safe and sound.

[Barry Craig]

What's the gag?

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

You tell me. You reported as kidnapped two hours ago.

[Barry Craig]

Joke.

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

I'm not in the habit of wasting official time on practical jokes. A Broadway news vendor with a stand across from Father Dovey's statue phoned in a report that a gunman picked you off the sidewalk and took you for a ride.

[Barry Craig]

Hmm. Nice to know Our great big city is on its toes.

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

I anticipated the worst. I have my men checking hospitals, ditches, cellars and the morgue.

[Barry Craig]

Tell them they can go back to playing pinochle.

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

Craig, what was it about? About the snatch.

[Barry Craig]

Oh, Trev, I wish I could tell you, only.

[Maxie]

Only?

[Barry Craig]

I got hit on the head. Here. Feel a lump.

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

So?

[Barry Craig]

So I don't know anything. I got a touch of amnesia from the blow. Craig let me out of the corner, huh? Like a sweetheart. I. I got an important engagement with a boathouse. Obermayer's boathouse. Looked like a wreck washed ashore by a hurricane. Scrap iron, old anchors, piles of rusted junk. Like Obermayer never threw anything away. Boats for rent. Hour, day or week. The sign read hello.

[Boat Rental Owner]

Hey.

[Barry Craig]

Oh, you rent motorboats? You can read sassy at your age and you won't make out with St. Peter.

[Boat Rental Owner]

What do you want?

[Barry Craig]

Civility.

[Boat Rental Owner]

Ain't got any rent boats.

[Barry Craig]

Who's kidding who? Brace yourself for a shock over my eye.

[Boat Rental Owner]

I don't have to. You're a detective.

[Barry Craig]

It shows.

[Boat Rental Owner]

Big feet, bad jokes and a swelled head. Now what's YA after?

[Barry Craig]

A murderer.

[Boat Rental Owner]

You won't find him here.

[Barry Craig]

The victim was a man named Crowley. A man you rented a boat to.

[Boat Rental Owner]

I ain't never murdered a customer.

[Barry Craig]

Do you have some reason for being a little slippery, grandpa?

[Boat Rental Owner]

See through it. Do you?

[Barry Craig]

Like through glass?

[Boat Rental Owner]

I've got a reason. $200.

[Barry Craig]

Meaning?

[Boat Rental Owner]

The deposit this Crowley left for the motorboat.

[Barry Craig]

He never came back for it.

[Boat Rental Owner]

He never brought the boat back. Found it scuttled on a sandbar. Repairs on it came to more than $200.

[Barry Craig]

Relax. I'm not parting you for your money. So $200 is why you never made a police report.

[Boat Rental Owner]

Police report you say?

[Barry Craig]

That slippery note's back. You knowingly held back information bearing on a murder case. I'm a poor man and a grade 8 chiseler. Where was Crowley taking himself to?

[Boat Rental Owner]

How could I know?

[Barry Craig]

Because you're the inquisitive type.

[Boat Rental Owner]

Murder Island.

[Barry Craig]

Murder Island.

[Boat Rental Owner]

Name it got from the tenants on it.

[Barry Craig]

Where is Murder Island?

[Boat Rental Owner]

About 4 miles north by east out there in the sound.

[Barry Craig]

Who tenants it?

[Boat Rental Owner]

Vince Keeley. If you're a detective, you'll know him.

[Barry Craig]

Yeah, I do. Gambling's are only nobody's ever proved it. On trial for murder last year. Only the jury didn't convict.

[Boat Rental Owner]

Keely had an alibi.

[Barry Craig]

Yeah, a surprise alibi. The last minute kind that knocks down a case. I want a motorboat at a chartered cost to murder Allen.

[Boat Rental Owner]

A storm coming up.

[Barry Craig]

Well, not for hours. The way the sky looks, Storms are deceiving. I'll take the chance.

[Boat Rental Owner]

I want a deposit.

[Barry Craig]

I'll bring the boat back.

[Boat Rental Owner]

If Keely lets you come back. I want to deposit.

[Barry Craig]

Storms were deceiving. Storm had come at me like over my ass. Had push button control over storms and was having this laugh at me. Rain in buckets from overhead and the river splashing over me below faster than I could bail. Water. It was only minutes before I could swim for it. What flashes through your head when you see death working you over? One measly thought playing over and over like a record stuck in a groove. Why did this have to happen to me? When there was no doubt about Obermeyer losing a boat to Davy Jones, I started the long swim. Coming up for the third time. Water running out of your nose and ears. You get hallucinations. Pleasant ones. My hallucination was a sea nymph with the build of a channel swimmer. Looking at her face was like leafing through an old outing. She was every lady I'd ever known. Starting with my mother.

[Rose Renee]

Lie on your back. Give me your hand so I can

[Mrs. Warren]

pull you to shore.

[Barry Craig]

Give her my hand. Talking like my life was her special problem.

[Rose Renee]

Hold tight now.

[Barry Craig]

Hold tight. You obey. You let her take charge while you go to sleep. I knew I was still alive by these sand flies making a playground of my chest. I was on a picture beach littered with fish skeletons.

[Rose Renee]

Hello.

[Barry Craig]

And a girl flopping beside me like a Come to Bermuda poster of Honeymooners. A girl with none of the faces in the old album.

[Rose Renee]

Flash Storm capsized your boat.

[Barry Craig]

Yeah. Obermeyer worked that trick with push buttons.

[Rose Renee]

What'd you say?

[Barry Craig]

Never mind. You rescued me. Huh?

[Rose Renee]

I saw you thrashing around like a dying fish a hundred yards offshore.

[Barry Craig]

How come you were on hand to see me?

[Rose Renee]

Have you noticed my swimsuit?

[Barry Craig]

I've got eye strain. Are you always swimming in a flash storm?

[Rose Renee]

Are you?

[Barry Craig]

I'm Barry Craig, the detective. Oh, I can't believe I'm that famous. You are. Along 52nd Street, 21 and nightclub row. I'm Rose Renee, the queen of burlesque.

[Rose Renee]

Oh, I can't believe I'm that famous.

[Barry Craig]

You are among connoisseurs. Exactly where are we on Murder Island? Oh, you belong to it?

[Rose Renee]

I'm married to it.

[Maxie]

Married?

[Barry Craig]

Let me try to guess. Mrs. Vince Keeley.

[Rose Renee]

Play hearts and flowers, Maestro.

[Barry Craig]

It's as bad as that.

[Rose Renee]

A jail sentence. I'm a prisoner of love. Vince bought me. Only he welshed on the payment. He welshed after I said I do.

[Barry Craig]

Why the Frank talk?

[Rose Renee]

Well, I feel I broadcast. That's my nature. I'm cooped up on this cross crummy island so Vince won't have to fight off the boys giving me the eye. The only glad rags I get to wear is a swimsuit.

[Barry Craig]

So pick up and go.

[Rose Renee]

I'm allergic to morgs.

[Barry Craig]

Yeah. Murder is Vince's business, they say.

[Rose Renee]

That's no joke. Vince connived his way out of one murder rap last year with a phony alibi.

[Barry Craig]

Yeah, I remember the trial. Who was it again? Vince was charged with knocking off six.

[Rose Renee]

Dugan, his business partner. Slot machines, dice houses, stolen liquor. Dugan was fed up, about to confess all to the DA when he suddenly turned up dead. Vince served champagne that night to celebrate.

[Barry Craig]

Why are you telling me all this?

[Rose Renee]

On the hunch that its case reopened. But you're here after Vince.

[Barry Craig]

You really want a divorce?

[Rose Renee]

Oh, any old way.

[Barry Craig]

Then tell me about a fellow named Crowley.

[Rose Renee]

Crowley was Vince's. Crowley's alibi for Vince got Vince acquitted.

[Barry Craig]

Sister, your divorce is practically on the horizon if you come through with this next one. Did Crowley come here to murder Allen lately?

[Rose Renee]

Crowley was always coming to the island. He and Vince were squabbling all the time.

[Boat Rental Owner]

What about hush money?

[Rose Renee]

I passed the time getting an earful of things. Crowley was putting the bite on Vince.

[Barry Craig]

Blackmail for his purge of testimony. I asked you, how about Sam Stasis?

[Rose Renee]

Never heard of him.

[Barry Craig]

Stacy's being accused of murdering Crowley.

[Rose Renee]

News to me. I'm shut off from the outside world. Look, I gotta go now before Vince sends out a searching party. Don't let on to Vince we met.

[Barry Craig]

Am I the dope to kill the golden goose? A snake in Vince's bosom? Boredom wasn't Rose's only motive for putting hubby on the spot. She had her eye on Big Doe and a high old life as a merry widow. Vince Keely acted as outraged as a guy could get.

[Shammas]

Hey, Craig, You've got rocks in your head coming here to burn me.

[Barry Craig]

Let's confine the argument to Crowley.

[Shammas]

I haven't seen or heard of Crowley

[Barry Craig]

for over six months. Oh, no? No. Then how was the payoff worked? What payoff? The blackmail money to Crowley for the purged alibi last year.

[Shammas]

Hey, you're asking for something.

[Barry Craig]

You hinting the river?

[Shammas]

Now, look, you got me all wrong. I made a shady buck once, sure it's all behind me. I'm out of the rackets now, clean as a whistle.

[Barry Craig]

Living respectably.

[Shammas]

Why, I'm even holed up on the island.

[Barry Craig]

To keep out of trouble?

[Shammas]

To improve my mind and amount to

[Barry Craig]

something more than a mug. I can't cry. I don't have a handkerchief on me. Hey, look around you, Craig.

[Shammas]

All the books on them shelves. I promised myself I wouldn't get off this island until I read every one of them. Why even take piano lessons?

[Barry Craig]

How about typewriter practice?

[Shammas]

I asked you to quit writing.

[Barry Craig]

Me? So you didn't murder Crowley to stop his blackmail? No. You also denied that he perjured for you once.

[Shammas]

I deny it. Yeah.

[Barry Craig]

And Sam Stacey. Know him?

[Shammas]

Not familiarly. That punk bookie somewhere, isn't he?

[Barry Craig]

He is. They're pinning the Crowley rap on him.

[Boat Rental Owner]

Nothing to me.

[Maxie]

We threw.

[Barry Craig]

No. Who was your lawyer? George Brooks. Did Brooks defend you in that murder trial last year? Yeah. Now what are you up to? Just familiarizing myself with all the ramifications of your living. The coming genius like you with books and a piano. I. I might want to do a profile for the society pages.

[Shammas]

Craig, get out of here.

[Barry Craig]

Sure. But first I'm showing you this.

[Shammas]

A rod.

[Barry Craig]

A rod. I'll take some killing before I'm killed.

[Shammas]

You're crazy.

[Barry Craig]

Prove it by ferrying me off the island. I lost my boat to a storm.

[Shammas]

I'll have you ferried off, but stay off.

[Barry Craig]

Back in town. George Brooks, the mouthpiece, was twice as outraged as Vince Keeley managed to be.

[George Brooks]

Craig, you've no right to persecute Vince Keely.

[Barry Craig]

I haven't, huh?

[George Brooks]

The man's turned over a new leaf. He's reformed. He's cut off every association he had with his former life.

[Barry Craig]

Let's boil it down to murder.

[George Brooks]

Accusing Vince of murdering this Crowley is fantastic.

[Barry Craig]

How about accusing Vince of winning acquittal in a murder trial through the late Crowley's perjured testimony?

[George Brooks]

That's a cheap, contemptible lie. I defended that case.

[Barry Craig]

I know. Why do you represent a man as notorious as Vince Keely?

[George Brooks]

Because I believe every man has some good in him. Because I'm not a blue nose or a moralist. Because I have every evidence Vince Keeley wants to live a decent, useful life if given a chance.

[Barry Craig]

You're positive Keeley hasn't done murder, past or present?

[George Brooks]

If I believed otherwise, I wouldn't raise a finger to help him. Whoever murdered Crowley, it wasn't Keely. And now, if you don't mind, I have a busy schedule.

[Barry Craig]

Okay if I use your phone for a minute?

[George Brooks]

If you must.

[Barry Craig]

Barry Craig speaking. Give me Lieutenant Trev Rogers.

[George Brooks]

Craig, if you mean this as some psychological trick, it's utterly Childish?

[Barry Craig]

Is that why you're beginning to perspire. Over coffee and sinkers? I got the benefit of Trav Rogers power of analysis.

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

Putting one and one together. From what you've told me, one notion keeps standing up in my head.

[Barry Craig]

Craig Said notion being that you might

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

end up where you began, with your client.

[Barry Craig]

Stacy murdered Crowley like the police bulletins insist, huh?

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

Yes. Stacy hired you as a smokescreen. You heard Crowley had business with the czar of Murder Island.

[Rose Renee]

And?

[Barry Craig]

And hoped I'd create a competing suspect in Vince Keeley and take the heat off Stacy. The notion makes sense.

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

But you don't buy it.

[Barry Craig]

Not until I have another look at Murder Island.

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

Looking for what?

[Barry Craig]

The queen of clubs Rose.

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

Renee.

[Barry Craig]

And at the terrain, the rocks, shrubbery. I'm curious about Crowley's missing clothes, his personal effects.

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

Crowley's clothes?

[Barry Craig]

He wasn't wearing any when he came out of the river. You've got a point.

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

Find any article of Crowley's on Murder island and you've made a liar out of Vince Keely.

[Barry Craig]

Crowley hadn't been around in over six months. Vince swears.

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

Let's go.

[Barry Craig]

Oh, just a minute. You including yourself in it's suicide To

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

Buck Keely and his crowd alone.

[Barry Craig]

I'm the suicidal type. Morbid depths to my personality.

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

My horoscope says, Craig, don't be stubborn or vain. The case is too big, too important for a confidential operative to lone wolf it.

[Barry Craig]

I've done okay so far without company.

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

Then I'll have to throw the book at you. You're representing a fugitive from justice. A man we've issued orders to shoot on sight. The regulations governing your license.

[Barry Craig]

Cut. Nice speech. But I'm only half convinced. Now give me the other half.

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

I don't want to see you dead. Your repulsive kisser is an eyesore I've gotten used to. Like poison ivy in July.

[Barry Craig]

Lieutenant, you are cordially invited on an excursion to Murder Allen. We combed every nook and crag of Murder island, but no luck.

[Maxie]

My aching feet.

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

Craig, I can make a surveyor's map of this rock pile from memory.

[Barry Craig]

So we drew a blank. Will that be your Queen of Clubs? It is.

[Mrs. Warren]

Very crazy.

[Rose Renee]

And friend.

[Barry Craig]

Lieutenant Trav Rogers. What have you got? A divining rod for locating me?

[Rose Renee]

I've been watching you for half an hour. You're wasting your time.

[Barry Craig]

Am I?

[Rose Renee]

You won't find Crowley's clothes.

[Barry Craig]

How do you know what we're searching for?

[Rose Renee]

Is that hard? It even occurred to me to look for him.

[Barry Craig]

How'd you make out? Ashes Ashes.

[Rose Renee]

The clothes were burned. See that stone incinerator over there?

[Barry Craig]

Yes.

[Rose Renee]

That's where Vince burned them.

[Barry Craig]

Still punching for that divorce, huh? Lead me to the ashes.

[Joe Hearn]

Mmm.

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

These are the ashes of fabric.

[Barry Craig]

You're sure? I did.

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

Simon. Police lab. Fabric burns in its own special way. The ash has a consistency.

[Barry Craig]

Hey, I've got something that practically converts the ash back to a suit of clothes.

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

What is it, Craig?

[Barry Craig]

What does this look like to you?

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

Cufflink. What's left of it. Any initials?

[Rose Renee]

C. C for Crowley. That settles Vince's hash. Oh, freedom. It's wonderful.

[Barry Craig]

Postpone that freedom, JAG sister. Hubby's still a long way from the disaster you wish on him a last mile away.

[Rose Renee]

Vince knows your investigation's gonna blow hot any minute. That's why he's got his mouthpiece here now.

[Barry Craig]

George Brooks is here?

[Rose Renee]

Yes. Vince couldn't get his lawyer here fast enough after you came calling. It's murder. And this time, no phony alibi. I can go back to sleeping nights. I can breathe. I can live.

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

You're putting on quite a show, Ms. Renee.

[Rose Renee]

I don't make a mystery of my feelings, Lieutenant. I'm glad and I acted. Go rub that ash in Vince's face. Tell him what a homicidal maniac he is and put the handcuffs on him. Well, why don't you go?

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

Quite a repertory, Rose Renee.

[Barry Craig]

Hysterics. They were long overdue. Vince Keeley roped her into marriage and never let go of the noose.

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

The way you work up sympathy.

[Barry Craig]

I'm not all cop, Trev. Who makes the arrest?

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

It's your case. Door's locked.

[Barry Craig]

A pistol shot Craig from inside the house. Vince. Vince, let me in. Vince.

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

Can you identify whose voice?

[Barry Craig]

Brooks.

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

The mouthpiece asking Vince to open the door.

[Barry Craig]

Sounds like Vince shot himself. Locked himself in a room and shot himself. Make with that bell again, Trav, and don't take your thumb off it. Who? Craig and Lieutenant Rogers. What was that shot Vince in the library.

[George Brooks]

He locked himself in and rough. I beg them not to. Not suicide.

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

What alternative did you suggest, Brooks?

[Barry Craig]

Alternative, Lieutenant, means suicide or the chair for murder. It was six of one and a half a dozen of another for Vince.

[George Brooks]

Yes, I suppose you're right.

[Barry Craig]

You sound like you've changed your mind about Vince's reformed character.

[George Brooks]

Vince changed it for me. He confessed many things to me. I've been a blind fool.

[Barry Craig]

What did Vince confess about Crowley?

[George Brooks]

Vince confessed to murdering Crowley.

[Barry Craig]

In the library. Vince Keeley lay in peace with a look on his face that said he wasn't Sorry to go. Queen of Clubs. Bawled like a baby. The senseless kind of tears women are famous for, while a mouthpiece. Brooks beat his breast and put Vince's confession on the record.

[George Brooks]

I've been duped, tricked, made the fool.

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

Vince's confession, please.

[George Brooks]

Vince had hired Crowley to purge her in the trial last year. Mind you now, I believed Vince innocent. Since then, blackmail with Crowley, demanding heavier

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

sums on Crowley's threat to expose his perjury for Vince.

[George Brooks]

Yes, of course, Lieutenant. Vince had to pay to prevent reopening of an old case. Crowley bled him white until.

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

Until Vince murdered him and threw him into the river.

[George Brooks]

Yes, that's it. Substantially.

[Barry Craig]

Craig. What?

[Lieutenant Trev Rogers]

Which of us tells him?

[Barry Craig]

It's still my case. You're under arrest, Brooks.

[George Brooks]

But you're insane.

[Barry Craig]

Shut up and listen. Smoke rises to the ceiling and hangs there. You fired a phony shot in the outer hall when we rang the bell. You staged a fake suicide. You'd already killed Vince Keeley in here.

[George Brooks]

What possible motive would I.

[Barry Craig]

You could be the big shot behind Vince, his rockets. Vince had the low mentality of a rocket boy. Not a biggie. Crowley's threat against Vince threatened you. Even more I won't stand for. Then you lie down for it. Get off the floor, Brooks, and listen to more. You also killed Crowley. Vince would be the world's prized chump to pay Crowley blackmail or even worry about Crowley. That's double jeopardy, Brooks. Crowley could confess perjury from now to doomsday, but no power on earth, no new evidence could force Vince to stand retrial for a murder he'd already stood trial for once and found acquittal. He's your prisoner, Trav. I'm turning him over to you. A week later, Stacy looked me up to thank me in a midtown halfway where the Wienerschnitzel made you hungry for ham and eggs.

[Maxie]

You took the curse off me, Craig. I'll never forget it. Mad Dog Killer. Those headlines gave me the willies.

[Barry Craig]

You're grateful, huh?

[Maxie]

I'm on bended knees.

[Barry Craig]

You can't reach for your wallet like that.

[Maxie]

Reach for my wallet?

[Barry Craig]

There was talk of a fat fee.

[Maxie]

Oh, I. I hate to do this to you, Craig, but the fact is. The fact is I'm broke. Government's new bookie tax. I folded my tent. No bets, no horses. I'm down to driving a beer truck

[Barry Craig]

for the wife and kids.

[Maxie]

That's another thing, Craig, I want to tell you about. No kids, no wife, even. I'm not married.

[Narrator / Radio Host]

Hmm.

[Barry Craig]

Good night, folks. See you next week.

[Announcer / William Gargan]

You've been listening to William Gargan in another exciting transcribed mystery drama from the Adventures of Barry Craig, Confidential Investigator tonight.

[Narrator / Radio Host]

Thanks for joining us at 1001 Radio Crime Solvers. Reviews are always appreciated, so if you have a moment, please do stop and send us one. Until next time, everyone stay safe and we'll be back soon.

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