ROBIN CALLOWAY'S PICTURES and ROY MALONE PAT NOVAK FOR HIRE

Summary

1001 Radio Crime Solvers – Episode Summary: "ROBIN CALLOWAY'S PICTURES and ROY MALONE"

Introduction

In this gripping episode of 1001 Radio Crime Solvers, host Jon Hagadorn delves into the classic radio detective tale "Pat Novak for Hire." Set against the backdrop of San Francisco's intertwining criminal underbelly, the story weaves a complex narrative of murder, mystery, and deception. Featuring iconic characters such as Pat Novak, Inspector Hellman, and the enigmatic Con Regan, this episode captures the essence of the golden age of radio detective dramas.

Main Plot

A Desperate Rescue and a Mysterious Key

The episode opens with Reuben Calloway, portrayed by Host Jon Hagadorn, recounting his fateful Tuesday night encounter. Approaching seven o’clock, he spots a struggling man near the water in San Francisco Bay and rescues him aboard his boat. As the rescue unfolds, the victim, revealed to be Reuben Calloway himself, entrusts him with a key and a plea to contact Alma Biggs at the Empire Club (00:31). Reuben’s immediate involvement with a dead man sets the stage for a tangled web of intrigue.

Interaction with Alma Biggs and the Shadow of Turk Spaniel

Upon arriving at the Empire Club, Reuben meets Alma Biggs, a captivating woman in a white satin evening gown. Their conversation is interrupted by Con Regan, a menacing figure who demands information about the locked locker containing critical photographs (05:23). The tension escalates as Con Regan pressures Reuben to hand over the photos, revealing the stakes involved in this mystery (20:11). Reuben’s encounter with Turk Spaniel—a known Detroit gunman—introduces a formidable antagonist whose past actions continue to haunt the present (21:03).

Double Murder and the Fight Fix

Inspector Hellman, voiced by Raymond Burr, confronts Reuben about the double murder linked to the same gun used in separate incidents. As the investigation deepens, connections between bookmakers, fight managers, and corrupt gamblers emerge (12:36). The subplot involving Rory Malone, a prizefighter managed by Hans Neumeyer, intertwines with the main narrative, hinting at a fight fix that serves as a pivotal element in the unfolding drama (32:26).

Climactic Confrontations and Revelations

The climax builds as Reuben, alongside ex-doctor Jocko Madigan, uncovers the truth behind the manipulated photographs and the violent schemes orchestrated by Con Regan and Joe Slagle. A critical showdown occurs at Rory Malone’s apartment, where hidden motives and betrayals come to light. Con Regan's desperate actions to secure the photographs and maintain control culminate in a tense confrontation, revealing the intricate ties between the characters (54:15).

Resolution

Inspector Hellman pieces together the convoluted plot, revealing that Turk Spaniel and Joe Slagle orchestrated a double murder to cover their illicit activities tied to the fight fix. The resolution sees justice served as Hellman dismantles the criminal network, ensuring that the truth about the photographs and the murders comes to light. The episode concludes with Reuben reflecting on the chaotic events, highlighting the relentless pursuit of truth characteristic of classic detective stories (56:18).

Notable Quotes

• Reuben Calloway: "They didn't give Hellman a sense of humor. They gave him a loud laugh instead." (13:17)

• Con Regan: "You don't have to hang on. Not a barbell." (20:11)

• Inspector Hellman: "The picture's for last. It's your word against mine. I'll be so far away I can't hear the argument." (23:35)

• Jocko Madigan: "Memory is a blessed toy, Patsy. But you have to be careful because it can be dangerous." (15:38)

• Reuben Calloway: "It's past two when I got back to my apartment and the phone was screaming for help." (21:03)

Character Dynamics

• Pat Novak (Reuben Calloway): A determined freelance investigator who finds himself entangled in a murder mystery involving dangerous criminals and mysterious photographs.

• Inspector Hellman: A relentless detective whose pursuit of justice drives the narrative forward, often clashing with the morally ambiguous characters around him.

• Con Regan: The antagonist whose desperation to obtain the photographs leads to violent confrontations and manipulation.

• Alma Biggs: A key figure connected to the victims, whose interactions with Reuben reveal deeper layers of the plot.

• Joe Slagle and Turk Spaniel: Central to the criminal schemes, their backstory and motives are crucial to unraveling the mystery.

Conclusion

"Pat Novak for Hire" exemplifies the thrilling and intricate storytelling of the golden age of radio crime dramas. Through engaging dialogue, suspenseful encounters, and a tapestry of interconnected characters, this episode offers listeners a captivating journey into the seedy underbelly of San Francisco's waterfront. Jon Hagadorn masterfully narrates the twists and turns, ensuring that both longtime fans and newcomers are thoroughly engrossed until the final revelation.

Key Takeaways

• The episode highlights the importance of trust and deception in detective narratives.

• The interplay between personal vendettas and professional investigations adds depth to the story.

• Classic radio drama techniques, such as cliffhangers and character-driven plots, are effectively utilized to maintain suspense and engagement.

Final Thoughts

1001 Radio Crime Solvers brings to life classic radio detective stories with authenticity and passion. "Pat Novak for Hire" is a testament to the enduring appeal of well-crafted mysteries and the timeless allure of the detective archetype. Tune in every Sunday at 5 pm ET for more enthralling tales from the golden age of radio.

Transcript

[Pat Novak]

Pat Novak for higher.

[Reuben Calloway]

Sure, I'm Pat Novak for hire. That's what the sign out in front of my office says. Pat Novak for hire. Oh, you don't get in the Blue Book that way. But you don't embarrass your friends either. Because down on the waterfront in San Francisco, they don't separate the good and the bad. They let them run together. Before long, you got a cast system. You're either alive or dead. If you're on top, keep fading the crowd and trying for sevens until you lose the dice. That's about the only way to play it, unless you like worms. I rent boats and do anything else that'll put a fast handle on a buck. But it doesn't always work out, because down here all your luck is junior grade and trouble is trumps. I found that out. Tuesday night was the first time I ever saw Reuben Calloway. And the last time, too, if you like to keep a tidy record. It was about 7 o' clock and I just started back. Across the bay from Sausalito, you could still see Mount Tamalpais squatting on the Marin shore. Light brown near the top, but dark and black farther down, like a cupcake that's been in the oven a little too long. A low fog was beginning to squeeze in on the far side, so I kicked in the searchlight and that's when I picked him up. He was struggling feebly with his face near the water and was almost bald, so that when the light hit him, he looked like a cantaloupe that somebody got tired of. I pulled alongside and started to haul him aboard. He brought most of the bay with him. Please. Yeah, we'll get a hold of you. Will you come on. There. Sit down now. Here, lean against the gunnel. Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Alma Biggs]

Thanks.

[Reuben Calloway]

Is the water red or you been shot? A little. Do you have to know everything? No, it's your load. Carry it, mister. Yeah, Come on, move your feet. I got to get us ashore. If you like it, go ahead, but don't hurry for me.

[Inspector Hellman]

Well, if you feel that way about.

[Reuben Calloway]

It, pick another spot to die and go back in the bay where you'll have company. You gotta help me. I want you to get in touch with a girl named Alma Biggs. Yeah. You'll find her at the Empire Club out on Geary Street. My name's Reuben Calloway.

[Pat Novak]

Tell her about me.

[Reuben Calloway]

She'll pay you for it. What she do, collect bodies? Just give her this key. It's for a locker down in the bus station. Now, Look, Pop, you don't know me. Suppose I use the key? You can't spend it. You better take the money. All right. Just see, I'm told it didn't work out. It didn't work out for me at all. I guess that's right, huh? On the big things, you're a hundred percent. I don't need a chair to go here. Shut up. I told you, I don't want you dying in here. Stop beefing for you don't have all the bad luck. They must have sent a fast chariot because when I leaned over, the guy was dead. And he was working hard at it too. He was a skinny little guy, all bent up and twisted in the bottom of the boat like an old paper clip. Wouldn't do any good to straighten him out because he wasn't gonna sleep easy. His eyes were open and rolling around at the sky as if he was on the make for a star. And the skin hung loose around his face so that when you touched it it felt like an empty baked potato. I pushed him into a corner and I started for Pier 19. When I got there, I hauled him onto the dock and I went down to call Homicide. Must have been about 8:30 when I took a cab out to the Empire Club. It was a gambling joint out on.

[Inspector Hellman]

Geary street where they cut their whiskey.

[Reuben Calloway]

And cards in different rooms. I asked the guy at the window if he knew Alma Biggs and he pointed her out by the roulette table. She was wearing a white satin evening gown. As I walked up behind her, I noticed she moved in rhythm with the roulette wheel. It was interesting. If it'd been a merry go round, they'd have pinched her. I squeezed in next to her at the table and I was thinking of trying it again when she started to talk.

[Con Regan]

It's a tight fit. Are you sure you like it?

[Reuben Calloway]

I'm not gonna stay long.

[Con Regan]

That's what Rudolph Hess said.

[Reuben Calloway]

Make your bets, ladies and gentlemen.

[Jocko Madigan]

Gentlemen gamblers.

[Reuben Calloway]

Make their friends Stake me, Elmer.

[Con Regan]

I can't afford you, darling.

[Reuben Calloway]

Go broke for Reuben Callaway then. Four on the red. Four on the red, four on the.

[Con Regan]

I ought to keep you for luck, darling.

[Reuben Calloway]

You comb me a hand, I'll take the chips. They look bad on Callaway.

[Con Regan]

Oh, it's too crowded here. Let's find a closet. Did he look pretty for a fish?

[Reuben Calloway]

He was all right.

[Con Regan]

Who are you?

[Reuben Calloway]

Pat Novak. I picked him up in the bay. He said to look you up and tell you it didn't work out.

[Con Regan]

That would please Turk.

[Reuben Calloway]

Who's Turk.

[Con Regan]

The reason it didn't work out. Is that all, Mr. Novak?

[Reuben Calloway]

Except for a key that fits a bus station locker.

[Con Regan]

Here, you keep it, Mr. Novak.

[Reuben Calloway]

It won't buy anything. Now, look, sweetheart. I picked up your boy and dried him out, but that's all. We were small friends at best, so the services stopped.

[Con Regan]

You can come to a slow stop for $200. Take the key and pick up what's in that locker. I'll get it from you later. Yeah, I'll meet you in an hour. Where's a good place? Your apartment?

[Reuben Calloway]

Well, it's a place.

[Con Regan]

I'll find it in the book. I hope you don't mind.

[Reuben Calloway]

No, the thin walls will save me. What's in that locker?

[Con Regan]

What would it prove?

[Reuben Calloway]

Proves you got a small mouth, angel.

[Con Regan]

Unless you're gonna kiss it. Don't worry. 9:30, then. All right, I'll bring the 200 with me.

[Reuben Calloway]

Don't worry about the dough, because I scooped your chips off the table. I'll see you later. She stood there watching me as I walked over to the cashier's window. She gave you a nice warm feeling like a Bunsen burner in the middle of your back. As she stood there in the center of the floor, smiling you knew she could turn a glacier into a steam bath at 400 yards. A nice little mouse that made you want to go home and test all the old traps. Well, I cashed in her chips and the boy at the window shoved out 200 rocks in a pained look as if he'd just handed over his right lung. I got a cab and I rode down to the bus station at 7th and Market. There were a few people sitting at the counter and a couple of old men on the benches waiting for somebody to get up and leave the funny papers. I went over near the wall and.

[Inspector Hellman]

Opened up the locker.

[Reuben Calloway]

It was a long trip for a small package. A square manila envelope. And there was an address up in the corner. Ruben Calloway, photographer. I squeezed the envelope and it felt like photographs, but I wasn't sure. I started to close the locker when I turned, and then I tumbled for the first time. It's like getting a drop of rain on your hand before you ever look up at the sky. The two of them were standing over by the cigar counter watching me. A guy with a heavy overcoat and a little small guy about the size of a hangnail. It wouldn't do any good to sit down because I knew they'd stay until somebody condemned the building. So I walked past them out onto the street. And there was a cab standing right in front. Cab, mister? Yeah. Swing up towards the St Francis, will you? Yeah. Now, look, you're tailed, so brush up on your alleys if you like it that way. Hey, you were supposed to take a left there on Mission. I got a license. Where's yours? I told you to double back over market. Get out and walk if you don't like it. I've been fought, mister. Oh, my two friends. That's right. You should have come first. I ought to part your hair. You got more chance with them. Here we are. Where you going? You like alleys? That's what you're gonna get. Yeah. Take it easy, fella. You're not going anywhere. You were nice while you lasted. Take it easy. You better walk up a wall. They'll block the alley.

[Alma Biggs]

See?

[Reuben Calloway]

Crowded alley, huh? Yeah. Give me the envelope so we can all get out. Can Junior help you? Give me the envelope. There. Now let's see it. Yeah, still sealed. You all through? I don't know. I'll see. Like him, Joe? No. That's the way it is, mister. He don't like you. I slid down like an old sock on a bony leg. I rolled over a couple of times. I tried to stand up, but it wasn't easy. You might as well try to find a hare and a bowl of chop suey. It began to rain, and I figured it'd be easier to float out to the street. So I went to sleep. When I woke up, the rain hadn't helped the alley much. It's like washing your kid's face and finding out he was ugly to start with. The mud had washed up against the walls and was a thick, sour smell. And down the alley across the street, there was part of a sign sticking out that said, Eats. That isn't what you felt like at all. I started groping around to get up and my hand hit. The pictures were scattered all over like clothes in a boarding school. I picked them up and I started for the street. On the way up in the cab, I got a chance to look at them and they didn't make sense. There were six of them and they were all just about the same. A bunch of mob scenes of that fire over in Oakland. I didn't have time to figure it out because the cab pulled up in front of the St. Francis and I went in to call Alma Biggs and tell her the party was off. Part of that alley must have come with me because when I walked into the lobby, the doorman looked at me as if I'D just blown up a nunnery. I tried the number once, but nobody answered. I decided to wait 20 minutes and call again. That was a mistake because I just got in the booth and started the dial. When somebody started rapping on the door with a nickel. It was Hellman from Homicide.

[Pat Novak]

Hello, Novak. Come on out. You can't get a date in that suit.

[Reuben Calloway]

What do you want, Hellman?

[Pat Novak]

Come on out. You're a hard man to find, but.

[Reuben Calloway]

You don't look in the right places.

[Pat Novak]

I'm a family man. Tell me about the dead guy.

[Reuben Calloway]

I don't know Hellman. He died in my boat. That's all I know.

[Pat Novak]

He didn't say anything.

[Reuben Calloway]

Just sentimental stuff. His name's Reuben Calloway and somebody threw him in the bay without instructions. I don't know a thing about him except he takes pictures.

[Pat Novak]

Yeah.

[Reuben Calloway]

I'll wipe off the drool. They're not your kind.

[Pat Novak]

Who are? His friends.

[Reuben Calloway]

He's got new ones by now. I don't know, Hellman.

[Pat Novak]

How about that guy on your couch, huh? I just left your place. How about the guy on the couch?

[Reuben Calloway]

There's a gal up there, but that's all.

[Pat Novak]

Does she wear suspenders?

[Alma Biggs]

Huh?

[Pat Novak]

Then take my word. It's a man.

[Reuben Calloway]

And you're going to tell me he's dead? Hellman?

[Pat Novak]

No, I'm not going to tell you he's dead, Novak. Maybe a soft breather.

[Reuben Calloway]

When Hellman mentioned the stiff up at my place. I knew we were gonna be in low gear the rest of the night. Because Hellman isn't an easy guy. He wouldn't give his wife an aspirin if she had concussion of the brain. He took me out the side door and we rode up to my apartment. The dead guy was lying on the couch with his arms across his chest. As if he wanted somebody to give him a lily or a way out of this. The lamp was shining down on his face and the light was distorted. But when you stood over him, you could see his face was the color of pressed seaweed. If he had anything to be happy about, you couldn't tell because his mouth was open and hung over to one side. Like a loose change purse filled with old teeth. His clothes were rumpled and his shirt was open at his neck. You could see a chain around his neck and a silver medal in the dull light against his chest. It looked out of place and made you feel funny. Like seeing a picture of a Madonna in a bowling alley. I watched him while Hellman made noise.

[Pat Novak]

He still looks like a man.

[Reuben Calloway]

Yeah?

[Pat Novak]

Who Is he George Leggett?

[Reuben Calloway]

What does that prove?

[Pat Novak]

Who his mother was. We're checking for a record. The gun too.

[Inspector Hellman]

What gun?

[Pat Novak]

One was lying here on the floor, mixed up. Novak. There's a connection. I'll shop around till I strike it.

[Reuben Calloway]

You couldn't strike oil on a filling station. You got a double murder. Shop for a pair of people.

[Pat Novak]

I'll shop far enough to get you, big shot. Far enough to see you fry.

[Reuben Calloway]

Well, you got the lard for it, Hellman.

[Pat Novak]

If you keep your mouth shut now, you can hold in the blood. Hello? Hellman talking. Yeah. When'd you find out? That makes it easier. You sure the same gun killed them both? Yeah. Yeah, I'll be in.

[Reuben Calloway]

Well?

[Pat Novak]

Oh, wrong number, Novak.

[Reuben Calloway]

They didn't give Hellman a sense of humor. They gave him a loud laugh instead. When he walked out of my place, he was smiling like a funny man who's just exposed Santa Claus. I didn't feel very funny myself. I took another look at those pictures, and I was as mixed up as a guy with a Mexican divorce. They were just ordinary pictures of a fire in Oakland. What made them so important? I was sure that Gunsel had taken some of the pictures. But were they any different than these? And why was Alma Biggs afraid to pick them up? And who was a guy named Turk? I was full of questions, but no answers, like some guy at a peace conference. Well, if I went over it anymore, I'd be counting my toes. So I got out of there, and I looked up Jocko Madigan. Oh, he's a good guy. And he was a smart one, too, until he decided the only way you can get a good trade in on hard luck is with a bottle of whiskey. I found him at Emilio's bar, patting Bill the bartender on the back with one hand and pouring jiggers of gin with the other.

[Jocko Madigan]

At the tables down at Murray's in the place where Louis dwells. Baa, baa, baa, Gentlemen songsters off on a spree Doomed from. From here to eternity.

[Reuben Calloway]

Jocko, I want to talk to you.

[Jocko Madigan]

Shh, Patsy, I'm driving a Harvard man crazy. He's at the end of the bar.

[Reuben Calloway]

Stop drinking and listen to me.

[Jocko Madigan]

I've got to keep on drinking, Patsy, if I want to preserve any continuity in my life. Because I don't drink to forget, but rather to remember. To remember all the pleasant events of my life. There were two of them. I thank you.

[Reuben Calloway]

All right, Jocko.

[Jocko Madigan]

The first was a girl I met many twilights ago. And the second was a summer night in St. Louis when a bartender felt crazed with the heat and set him up on the house.

[Reuben Calloway]

Will you stop it? I'm in trouble.

[Jocko Madigan]

Memory is a blessed toy, Patsy. But you have to be careful because it can be dangerous. Like giving a rifle to a small child for Christmas. Oh, it's true. He can get some temporary pleasure out of it by shooting various neighbors. But sooner or later he's going to kill the only rich relative in the family.

[Reuben Calloway]

Jackal. I'm tired.

[Jocko Madigan]

Memories the same way. So you're entitled to collect them. The few good ones you have. You're allowed to straighten them out and put them in order. After all, an old pool ball gets racked now and then.

[Reuben Calloway]

You all through? Yes.

[Jocko Madigan]

I've run out of memories.

[Reuben Calloway]

Hellman thinks I killed two guys 10 miles apart.

[Jocko Madigan]

Wasn't it difficult?

[Reuben Calloway]

The same murder gun. The whole thing is tied up with.

[Jocko Madigan]

Some pictures in color.

[Reuben Calloway]

A guy by the name of Reuben Calloway died in my boat. He gave me a key to a locker downtown. The pictures were there.

[Jocko Madigan]

Is that one of them?

[Reuben Calloway]

It is. Take a look. Uh huh.

[Jocko Madigan]

If it's a group picture, they were a very unruly family.

[Reuben Calloway]

It's the Oakland fire. Two gunsels followed me and took some of the pictures. In the meantime, some guy got shot in my place. Everybody's after the pictures. Why?

[Jocko Madigan]

Well, have you seen the other pictures?

[Reuben Calloway]

No, I took an intermission. That's why you gotta help. You'll find Reuben Calloway's address in the phone book. Get up there and go through his stuff, will you?

[Jocko Madigan]

It doesn't sound legal.

[Reuben Calloway]

Neither's a bum murder rap. Get up there and go through his pictures. Try to find anything that'll fit in with this set.

[Jocko Madigan]

What are you going to do? Besides jail?

[Reuben Calloway]

I gotta find a gal named Alma Biggs.

[Jocko Madigan]

Oh, you'll have trouble with a name like that. She's probably changed it.

[Reuben Calloway]

The locker key was tabbed for her, but she hired me to run her errands.

[Jocko Madigan]

Is she pretty?

[Reuben Calloway]

Yes, if you like a fast track. Now get up there, Jocko.

[Jocko Madigan]

Why can't I see him?

[Reuben Calloway]

Will you stop it, Jocko. Just get up there. Forget about her. She'd scare you to death.

[Jocko Madigan]

Yes, well, at least I die hopeful. Good night, lover.

[Reuben Calloway]

Finding Alma Biggs was quite a job. I knew she was around, but I couldn't get to her. It was like trying to get a peanut shell out of a back tooth. I called the Empire Club, but they didn't know anything about her. I went through all the phone books and the city Directories. And I didn't get anything but a sore thumb. I didn't do any better with the hotels. I sat in lupos and called them all. And by one o' clock I knew more desk clerks than a vice squat cop. But no Alma Biggs. Finally, I went out to the Empire Club and I started talking to the cabbage. About 15 minutes later, one pulled up and remembered taking a girl in a satin evening gown up to an apartment on the hill. I called Hellman and I rode up there to check the names. Alma Biggs had an apartment on the second floor. I knocked on the door and she didn't answer, so I tried it. The lights were out, so I closed.

[Inspector Hellman]

The door and groped over to the desk.

[Reuben Calloway]

I should have noticed the draperies as I passed because they were full of people.

[Con Regan]

Wait a minute. All right, now, wait a minute, Mr. Novak. Stop breaking things. Someday you may want to mend me.

[Reuben Calloway]

Do you always sleep in the curtains?

[Con Regan]

Do you always talk this long in the dark? Turn on the light.

[Reuben Calloway]

Yeah.

[Con Regan]

I wanted to see who you were.

[Reuben Calloway]

George Leggett, maybe.

[Con Regan]

Oh, do you know him?

[Reuben Calloway]

We're roommates. He died on my couch tonight.

[Con Regan]

Anything serious or just humdrum?

[Reuben Calloway]

Dead. He's satisfied. What do you know about him?

[Con Regan]

I never heard anybody say a bad thing about him. Of course, I never heard anybody mention him.

[Inspector Hellman]

Now, look, angel, it's late.

[Reuben Calloway]

Who's George Leggett?

[Con Regan]

Why do you care?

[Reuben Calloway]

Because Homicide cares. They got Callaway and Leggett back to back and they want my skin.

[Con Regan]

It's a nice skin, darling. Where are the pictures?

[Reuben Calloway]

Unless you're a social worker, you're not gonna like them.

[Con Regan]

Here, let me see. They're not all here.

[Reuben Calloway]

Yeah, I figured that.

[Con Regan]

Where are the other pictures, Patsy?

[Reuben Calloway]

In some goniff's album. Two of them jumped me down near Mission Street.

[Con Regan]

Who are they?

[Reuben Calloway]

We never got that friendly.

[Con Regan]

Well, there couldn't have been two of.

[Reuben Calloway]

Maybe the little guy was just window dressing, but he gave the right answers.

[Con Regan]

Patsy, I think you're a liar.

[Reuben Calloway]

You're nicer than Homicide.

[Con Regan]

I want those pictures. You do, and I'm gonna take them away from you.

[Reuben Calloway]

If I had them. That's a big enough gun to do it.

[Con Regan]

Get the pictures, Patsy.

[Reuben Calloway]

It's a bad time for murder, Angel. Homicide's working this week.

[Con Regan]

I haven't time, Patsy. I'll push you down like a blade of grass. Get the pictures.

[Reuben Calloway]

Now, look, sweetheart, I took a job for 200 bucks. It covers a tandem murder wrap and a sapping down on Mission Street. But it Won't cover big talk from you. Now put the gun away or I'll binge you hard.

[Con Regan]

I'll move up when you talk around behind.

[Reuben Calloway]

Give it to me. It feels good. Let it go or take the pain. Drop it.

[Con Regan]

You don't have to hang on. Not a barbell.

[Reuben Calloway]

You're handy now. Who's Turk?

[Con Regan]

Stop it. You're hurting my arm.

[Reuben Calloway]

There's a guy named Turk. I want to know who he is.

[Inspector Hellman]

You're late for that.

[Joe Slagle]

Who is he?

[Con Regan]

Go ahead and tear it all, but you'll die ignorant.

[Inspector Hellman]

Yeah?

[Pat Novak]

You sound blue, Novak.

[Reuben Calloway]

What do you want, Hellman?

[Pat Novak]

I want to give you a reason. We got the coroner's report on George Leggett.

[Reuben Calloway]

Yeah?

[Pat Novak]

He died in your apartment. The blood off your carpet looks good on these slides.

[Reuben Calloway]

All right, so the murderer sold me the rug. So what, Hellman?

[Pat Novak]

So we ran down George Leggett's record. A Detroit gunman who got out here six weeks ago. Yeah, he traveled for years with a guy named Turk Spaniel.

[Reuben Calloway]

That's your boy. You better find him.

[Pat Novak]

We already have.

[Reuben Calloway]

Don't tell me he's up on the couch.

[Pat Novak]

He was born too soon for you. We checked with Detroit Police.

[Reuben Calloway]

What'd they say?

[Pat Novak]

They know all about Turk Spaniel. He was killed nine years ago in West Detroit. But they found the guy that did it and sent him up to Lansing for life.

[Reuben Calloway]

Yeah.

[Pat Novak]

Yeah, he was a guy named Joe Biggs. Say hello to your girlfriend.

[Reuben Calloway]

Well, I didn't talk to the girl because I knew she'd close up faster than a Dublin meat market. On Friday, I left her and went down to the Chronicle morgue to find out what I could about Turk Spaniel. Hellman had covered it. Spaniel talked too much and Joe Biggs killed him and left him growing out of a ditch like an old weed. I didn't know where to turn. Now, with the Turk gone, who was after those pictures besides Elma Biggs? And what did they prove? I knew the answer was there. Probably in plain sight, like a blimp on a football field. But I couldn't get near it. It was past two when I got back to my apartment and the phone was screaming for help.

[Inspector Hellman]

Yeah.

[Jocko Madigan]

Hello, Patsy, this is Jocko.

[Reuben Calloway]

What'd you find out?

[Jocko Madigan]

Nat Calloway was quite a photographer.

[Reuben Calloway]

Yeah.

[Jocko Madigan]

You should see some of the pictures. Oh, I'm in love again.

[Reuben Calloway]

All right, Jocko. Did you find anything?

[Jocko Madigan]

There's a check for a thousand dollars from Alma Baker.

[Con Regan]

Yeah?

[Reuben Calloway]

What else?

[Jocko Madigan]

Some more pictures of the Oakland fire. One of them looks good. Yeah, it's just like the rest, except in the background something is circled with a red pencil.

[Reuben Calloway]

That'll do it. Jocko.

[Jocko Madigan]

There's a clipping here with another picture. I can't tell, but I think they match.

[Reuben Calloway]

What's it say?

[Jocko Madigan]

Well, it's all about Jocko.

[Reuben Calloway]

What's the matter? Are you all right? Jocko? Jocko, you all right? He says to tell you no. After Jocko's call, I grabbed a cab and rode up to Calloway's apartment. When I got there, Jocko was sitting in the middle of the floor, as sad as a steer on a sheep ranch. He hadn't seen who hit him, and the picture was gone. So was the clipping. I asked him if there were any negatives around. He said no. That meant somebody was still on the prowl for the negatives. So I called Hellman and briefed him, and he said he'd meet us at Ruben Calloway's studio in 10 minutes. When we got there, it was dark, but I sensed Hellman in the back room. Turned out to be a couple of pans of acid, but he was there going over the negatives.

[Pat Novak]

All this guy did was take pictures.

[Reuben Calloway]

Let me take a look, will you, Hellman? Can you spot the right one?

[Jocko Madigan]

Jocko, hold him up to the light.

[Reuben Calloway]

Here are the fire pictures.

[Pat Novak]

How about this one?

[Reuben Calloway]

No, no, I had that one.

[Jocko Madigan]

Yes, that's it. And this fellow back here is the one that was circled.

[Reuben Calloway]

Hold it up so I can see. Hello, Turk. You waited too long. Give me the picture, mister. All that gun will do is make noise, Spaniel, and it won't make enough to keep a secret. Just hand me the picture. Somebody knows you're alive now. The picture's for last. It's your word against mine. I'll be so far away I can't hear the argument. Let me have it.

[Pat Novak]

Don't give it to him, Novak.

[Reuben Calloway]

Yeah, I'll give it to him. You take it away, Hellman. Thanks, Novak. That alley taught you manners. Stand over there. I want to remember the way you looked.

[Con Regan]

Don't worry. I'll tell you about the Turks. You keep backing into this gun, it's gonna show around your breastbone.

[Reuben Calloway]

Guns are getting cheap. You better drop yours, Spaniel.

[Con Regan]

Over there.

[Reuben Calloway]

Hmm.

[Con Regan]

You look the same, Turk. Or almost the same.

[Reuben Calloway]

You got this all wrong, Alma.

[Con Regan]

Joe doesn't look the same. Nine years in the cooler and you lose your personality.

[Reuben Calloway]

Please, Alma, don't do anything crazy.

[Con Regan]

After nine years, you lose almost everything. Joe's lost everything but me down on the floor, Spaniel. I want you on your knees.

[Reuben Calloway]

Please. Please, Alma, you got it wrong.

[Con Regan]

I got it all right, Turk. Because Joe wouldn't lie to me when he said he didn't kill you, I knew you were alive.

[Inspector Hellman]

Please.

[Con Regan]

Now down on the floor beside the table.

[Reuben Calloway]

Go easy, baby. You got a copper here.

[Con Regan]

I can't hurt him. Novak Tech Spaniel's legally dead. All you can do to a dead man is. Careful.

[Reuben Calloway]

The ducks.

[Joe Slagle]

Please.

[Reuben Calloway]

Please, Alma, you're not seeing this right.

[Con Regan]

I'm gonna have a better chance than you. You couldn't see Spaniel. You couldn't see your way back to help Joe out. He looked good. On your knees now. Go by the table.

[Reuben Calloway]

Leave that acid alone, sweetheart.

[Con Regan]

I'm gonna help him see. With a whole panful of it. I'm gonna help you see, Spaniel.

[Joe Slagle]

Please.

[Reuben Calloway]

Please, Alan, you wouldn't do that.

[Con Regan]

You got the short end of the bet.

[Reuben Calloway]

Yeah, you better look at him, Jocko.

[Con Regan]

Don't bother, unless you're a baby doctor.

[Pat Novak]

We may need you. Lady.

[Con Regan]

Not for this, copper. Remember, Turk, Spaniel's dead. Detroit says so.

[Pat Novak]

He looks alive now.

[Con Regan]

He can't be dead there. Alive. Here. I like your climate, but it's not that good. You can't see me, Turk, but I'll bet you can hear me walk out of here. Goodbye, Turk. I'll send you a cane.

[Reuben Calloway]

Well, Hellman managed to get most of the story out of Turk Spaniel. Reuben Calloway stumbled into the whole thing and he didn't know what hit him. He went over to Oakland to take some pictures of the fire and he got a picture of Spaniel in the crowd. Spaniel saw him and trailed him over to this side. He had to get the pictures because back in Detroit he'd framed Joe Biggs with a riddled up body and skipped out of the country. He'd been away until a few weeks ago and now he was waiting for a boat out of San Francisco. So he had to stay dead. He sent George Leggett after the pictures, but Leggett figured it was a good way to double cross him and stay in the clear. So he tipped off Alma Biggs, who'd come out here on a lead a few weeks before. Turk finally tumbled with a local gunsley, killed Calloway and left Leggett in my apartment, where he trailed him. It almost worked out, but he didn't get to that shop in time. Well, Hellman asked only one question when I first met her. Did I know Alma Biggs? Was that hard? No. In that Satin evening gown? I didn't think so. The Armed Forces Radio Service has just brought you Pat Novak for Hire, starring Jack Webb. Pat Novak is produced by William P. Russo. Jocko Madigan is played by Tutor Owen. Inspector Hellman is played by Raymond Burr. Music was composed and conducted by Basil Adlam. Be with us again next week when over most of these same stations, we'll bring you that.

[Pat Novak]

Novak for Higher.

[Reuben Calloway]

Pac. Novak for Hire was previously released by abc, the American Broadcasting Company, for listeners in the United States and rebroadcast for our men and women overseas. This is the United States Armed Forces Radio Service, the voice of information and education.

[Pat Novak]

Ladies and gentlemen, the American Broadcasting Company brings to its entire network one of radio's most unusual programs. Pat Novak for Hire.

[Inspector Hellman]

Sure, I'm Pat Novak for Hire. That's what the sign out in front of my office says at Foghorn for Hire. Oh, there are other ways to say it, but down on the waterfront in San Francisco, you got to put your best foot forward. Especially if you want to trip up a friend. Down here, a friend is anybody who's been dead more than 10 years, but. And then it pays to watch out. Because if you relax, somebody will come along and knock you on the back of your stomach. Works out all right, though. I rent boats and do anything else, you can hide in the dark. It's about all you can ask. Because along the Embarcadero, nothing's perfect. Except the heels. I found that out Wednesday afternoon. She was a lovely girl. The sort of person you'd expect to see in a choir loft about three hours after choir practice. Her hair was red, her eyes were as cold as rigor mortis. And you knew the first time you met her that you'd been seeing her too often. Must have been about 5 o' clock in the afternoon. I was walking down toward Pier 19 when she pulled up alongside of me in a cream convertible.

[Con Regan]

Can I give you a lift?

[Inspector Hellman]

You already have.

[Con Regan]

Well, is that love or reflex action?

[Inspector Hellman]

What's on your mind?

[Con Regan]

You are, Mr. Novak. But don't put on your tracksuit. It's a business matter.

[Inspector Hellman]

Well, in that case, you've got a name.

[Con Regan]

I'm Con Regan. I went by your office a few minutes ago, but you were out.

[Inspector Hellman]

I'm in now. Go ahead.

[Con Regan]

It won't take me long. Mr. Novak, stay away from Rory Malone.

[Inspector Hellman]

Well, I'm doing all right so far. Who is he?

[Con Regan]

He's important to me. I don't want to lose him, Mr. Novak. So please, stay away.

[Inspector Hellman]

Go tell a girl. I don't even know the guy.

[Con Regan]

You will. You're not lying now. He's a prize fighter, and someone's gonna try and hurt him.

[Inspector Hellman]

And you'd rather hurt him first.

[Con Regan]

I'm willing to pay you to stay away from him.

[Inspector Hellman]

Suppose I'm gonna see him a lot? Will you pay a lot?

[Con Regan]

I'll give you $300. All right, Mr. Novak.

[Reuben Calloway]

You know you're not smart, Angel. If you're pressing that hard, the other.

[Inspector Hellman]

Team'S gonna bid too. The answer's no.

[Con Regan]

I'm afraid that's up to you. But I'm warning you, don't do it. Please don't do it.

[Inspector Hellman]

That's what Mother used to say. I'm still all right.

[Con Regan]

Maybe Mother liked you better, Mr. Novak. See you later.

[Inspector Hellman]

Well, I watched her for a minute as she brushed her hair back and started the car was nice hair, and the dress helped too. It was dark blue and had a V neck, but the designer believed in big letters. She pulled away and gave me a look you could take on a safari. Was enough to tell me that she was as safe as a tap dancer on a floor full of dynamite caps. I walked up and turned in at pair 19. When I reached the door of the office, I could see the old man sitting by the desk. He looked tired and a year older than the Bible. His hands were shaking and his skin was coarse and the color of an old razor strap. When I walked in, he glanced up at me and looked about as happy as a cocker spaniel with a stomach ache.

[Alma Biggs]

I could talk to you. Please, Mr. Novak.

[Inspector Hellman]

We'll try at once. Go ahead.

[Alma Biggs]

I'm an old man.

[Inspector Hellman]

You want to argue or go on?

[Alma Biggs]

I'm too old, so I must come to someone for help. My name is Hans Neumeyer. I would like you to watch someone for me.

[Inspector Hellman]

Someone like Rory Malone? Yeah.

[Reuben Calloway]

But you do not.

[Inspector Hellman]

What is this, Save Rory Malone week? What's he to you?

[Alma Biggs]

I am his manager.

[Joe Slagle]

Oh.

[Alma Biggs]

You don't ever hear of me because I'm old and not a very good manager. I guess after this fight, Rory find new manager. Maybe.

[Inspector Hellman]

Yeah. What's. When's this fight?

[Alma Biggs]

Tonight? Oh, you don't know Rory. He's a good boy. He's a very good boy, Rory.

[Inspector Hellman]

Yeah, well, good boys don't need watching. Has he got some bad coming out?

[Alma Biggs]

Something funny about this fight. He meets with bad people. And Rory is good boy.

[Inspector Hellman]

Yeah, I just met one. How deep do they run?

[Alma Biggs]

At the worst is a fellow named Joe Slagel. He's a bad man. A gambler? Please, Mr. Novak, you just watch Rory tonight and see he's all right.

[Reuben Calloway]

Are you that rich?

[Alma Biggs]

Please, I don't have much money. Just $300. Maybe what I got from the fight. Maybe 300. I don't know. I just got a little money.

[Inspector Hellman]

It's a tie, Pop. You win the toss.

[Alma Biggs]

Please, you. You don't help me.

[Reuben Calloway]

You win.

[Inspector Hellman]

You win, Pop. When do I look at him?

[Alma Biggs]

Tonight. You come before the fight in the dressing room. I show you to Rory and you see he's all right.

[Inspector Hellman]

Yeah, about nine.

[Alma Biggs]

Yeah. Please, Mr. Novak, I thank you all my life. You watch who here. I. I thank you all my life.

[Inspector Hellman]

Yeah, well, I'm getting short shift on that, but I suppose it's not your fault, Pop. See you at 9. Well, I felt sorry for him when he turned and walked out of there. I could afford it. 300 bucks. You can buy a lot of crying towels. At the door, he turned and smiled once before he shuffled out. He moved down the pier with a nervous, uncertain motion, like a flower petal in a warm wind. When he disappeared, I took a cab and rode up to the press club. I found out a lot about Rory Malone, and most of it was good. He was a lightweight and hands New Meyer had picked him up and brought him through the prelims up to main events. He was fighting tonight against a Cleveland boy named George Zarick, and the betting was even. I ran into a Chronicle man whose wife divorced him and named a fight club as correspondent and he said not to worry about Joe Slagle, that Rory Malone fought for purses and that's all he knew about the girl Con Regan. But he didn't want to say much, just that she was a fast five gated horse trying for seven. Well, I had some dinner and I went over to the arena about 8:30. When I walked into Roy Malone's dressing room, hands New Meier wasn't anywhere around. I stood over in a corner and watched him get ready for the fight. There was enough liniment being thrown around to keep an old lady's home spry for years. The other handlers were in, watching him tape up Malone and put on the gloves. Most of the people cleared out then Malone shadowboxed a minute before a second, threw a robe around his shoulders and shoved him toward the door. As he passed, I fell in beside him and we started walking under the arena. A few feet down, I bumped up against him.

[Joe Slagle]

Sorry about what?

[Inspector Hellman]

Hans Neumeyer.

[Joe Slagle]

Who are you?

[Inspector Hellman]

Where's Neumeier?

[Joe Slagle]

What do you care?

[Inspector Hellman]

My name's Novak. I'm supposed to meet him here. Do you know where he is?

[Joe Slagle]

No, he didn't show up. He's probably out drunk.

[Inspector Hellman]

Does he drink?

[Joe Slagle]

No.

[Inspector Hellman]

Well, that's a funny answer.

[Joe Slagle]

I don't know where he is. All I know is I need him tonight. I gotta get up to the ring.

[Reuben Calloway]

I'll go with you.

[Joe Slagle]

Suit yourself.

[Inspector Hellman]

You gonna win tonight?

[Joe Slagle]

You never know.

[Inspector Hellman]

Sometimes you do, mister.

[Joe Slagle]

You're either too smart or too dumb.

[Inspector Hellman]

What's the difference? You can't fight twice in one night.

[H]

I want to talk to you, Rory.

[Joe Slagle]

Not now, Kitty. You have to fight.

[H]

Please, Rory, talk to me now.

[Joe Slagle]

Kitty, you're crazy. This guy's standing around a lot of other people. What do you want to do, put him on the radio?

[H]

Where's Hans? He hasn't been around. Where is he, Rory?

[Joe Slagle]

I don't know, Kitty. If I know, I get him.

[H]

There's something wrong, Rory. I've been watching and I know there's something wrong about this fight.

[Joe Slagle]

Yeah? Yeah. There's only going to be one guy fighting if you don't let me out.

[H]

He's. Rory. Don't brush me off like a dumb fly. I know there's something wrong.

[Joe Slagle]

I don't want you to get into trouble, all right?

[H]

Don't say all right when you know how I feel. Let's talk about you and Joe Slagle. Oh, please, Rory. You don't know what it's like to see somebody you love go crazy.

[Joe Slagle]

Your dough is safe, Kitty.

[H]

That doesn't count, you know that doesn't count, Rory. The little money I saved doesn't count next to you. Oh, please, Rory, don't do anything wrong.

[Reuben Calloway]

I die.

[H]

I die of terrible heartbreak. It hurt me all my life.

[Joe Slagle]

Stop it, will you? Kidding us? Stop crying. Don't worry, I'll win.

[H]

Just don't let anything happen, Rory.

[Inspector Hellman]

I won't.

[Joe Slagle]

I'll see you after the fight. Coming, though Back?

[Inspector Hellman]

Yeah. You're real good with your women, Malone.

[Joe Slagle]

After this fight, I want a match with you, Novak.

[Inspector Hellman]

I've met two of them, and they both have you in their dream books. Right on the fly.

[Joe Slagle]

I'll remember. Talk some more.

[Inspector Hellman]

I'll talk enough to tell you that you're being followed. About 12 inches behind.

[Reuben Calloway]

That's right, Malone. Keep walking. Turn in the next door.

[Joe Slagle]

Hey, wait a minute.

[Inspector Hellman]

Wait a minute. You better walk, Malone, unless you can outrun a bullet.

[Reuben Calloway]

You, too, mister.

[Inspector Hellman]

I agreed an hour ago.

[Reuben Calloway]

All right, open the door for him, Eddie. Okay, you stand over here.

[Pat Novak]

Now, Malone.

[Inspector Hellman]

Take off Your glove.

[Joe Slagle]

I'm gonna need it.

[Reuben Calloway]

You're gonna be eating teeth. Take off your glove. Help him, Eddie. Yeah, that's it. Hold him on the other side, Steve. Put his hand on the table, Eddie. Now give me the block. Yeah, you can cry, Malone. It's gonna hurt. Hold him up. Keep his hand out there, Eddie. Put the glove back on, Malone.

[Inspector Hellman]

It's too smashed up. It'll hold the pieces.

[Reuben Calloway]

Put it on.

[Inspector Hellman]

You better put it on, Malone. You're overmatched.

[Reuben Calloway]

That's it. Now go on up there and look good.

[Inspector Hellman]

Yeah, why don't you loan him the gun and he'll win in two rounds.

[Reuben Calloway]

Look, mister, I don't know who you are, but I'm sick of your mouth.

[Jocko Madigan]

It's a big floor, so stretch out.

[Inspector Hellman]

During the next two hours, they either moved me or the arena. Because I woke up in an alley down near the Golden Gate Theater. Was in back of a restaurant, and I was lying there trying to look good in a mixed green salad. My head was about the size of a diving bell and my clothes were so rumpled and dirty I looked like a leg man for the hobo News. I tried to get to my feet once, but it wasn't easy. It was like trying to push a basketball through a stovepipe. I think it was close to 11 when I got out to the street. I didn't even buy a paper to find out about the fight. I grabbed a cab and went up to my apartment. Iron out my spine was a good idea, but the girl at the desk had a message from Hans Neumeyer. He was out at the California General Hospital and he wanted to see me right away. When I got there, he was at the end of a ward on the third floor. But the duty nurse wouldn't let me by. She was a real pretty nurse, if you like. Pure mammal. Somebody buzzed, and when she oozed down the hall, I ducked into the ward and started looking for Hans Neumann. It was dark and he was away, down at the end behind a white screen. He looked tired and his eyes were moist and soft. Like a ripe fruit that's just been squeezed too hard.

[Alma Biggs]

Please, Mr. Novak, you come to see me?

[Inspector Hellman]

Yeah, just soon as I got your message.

[Alma Biggs]

You make mistake with Hunt. I don't send message.

[Inspector Hellman]

Somebody wants to be your secretary.

[Alma Biggs]

What happened to you in my room? I just got to my room. Somebody is there. I don't know. Rory is all right.

[Inspector Hellman]

I limped a little. Mister, your boy got his hand smashed.

[Alma Biggs]

Rory's a good boy.

[Inspector Hellman]

He's got a good Girl who's kidding.

[Alma Biggs]

She's go with Rory a long time, save money to marry with.

[Inspector Hellman]

Wait a minute. Keep still.

[Alma Biggs]

Something the matter?

[Inspector Hellman]

Yeah. Somebody coming down this way, coming up.

[Alma Biggs]

Behind that curtain, maybe comes to visit me.

[Inspector Hellman]

Whoever came to visit him didn't stay long. The old man leaned back in the bed and quit without any fanfare, like a long summer coming to an end. Well, I went out to get the nurse, and I found her down at the end of the hall giving an intern some greedy talk. She hadn't heard the shots, and they hadn't seen anybody come out of the ward. I told her as much as I could. Then she wheeled the old man into another room and called Homicide. Well, that call to Homicide didn't help, because from now on, things weren't going to improve. I was fighting a forest fire with a can of kerosene. About 20 minutes later, Inspector Hellman showed up. He was full of finesse and fury, and he came charging over about as graceful as a lame lobster.

[Pat Novak]

Hello, Novak. You're up late.

[Inspector Hellman]

I had company most of the time.

[Pat Novak]

Yeah? Did he bore you?

[Inspector Hellman]

Somebody got tired of him. It happened behind a screen down there in the ward.

[Pat Novak]

Who is he?

[Inspector Hellman]

Guy by the name of Hans Neumeyer. He manages a fighter named Rory Malone. Yeah, the killing's mixed up with a fight fix.

[Pat Novak]

Not the Zarek fight.

[Inspector Hellman]

Yeah, that's right. They got to Rory Malone 10 minutes before ring time.

[Pat Novak]

You got a thin story, Novak.

[Inspector Hellman]

Look, I got a fat one, and I got all the gambling going town on my side. The old man got it because Roy Malone was dumped in that fight.

[Pat Novak]

I don't believe it.

[Inspector Hellman]

You don't have to believe it, Hellman. They smashed him up. His right hand was as limp as an old piece of lettuce when he climbed into that ring.

[Pat Novak]

They should have smashed both hands, huh? Because Rory Malone won by a knockout in the fifth round. Try another page, Novak.

[Inspector Hellman]

When Hellman told me Rory Malone won that fight, I might as well have handed him a feather. I stood there feeling like a guy peddling dope at his sister's wedding. How could Rory Malone won that fight with a. Without a hand grenade? When I saw the hand, it wasn't strong enough to flatten a piece of silk on an ivory table. And yet he won by a knockout in the fifth round. I pointed to one thing Zari could take in a dive. But why the double fix? Why had they smashed Rory's hand? Oh, it was a goofy pitch, like sending for a plumber to fix a hole in Boulder Dam. I Didn't have time to wrestle around with it because Hellman had talk on his mind.

[Pat Novak]

You can't get a bookie in town to take bets on this one, Novak.

[Inspector Hellman]

No, not with you setting the odds.

[Pat Novak]

They were that way when I got here. So don't write up a clean bill of health. The guy's dead and nobody else is volunteering.

[Inspector Hellman]

You'd muff a confession anyway before you tumble. They'd have to cut it in stone across the front of City Hall.

[Pat Novak]

What were you doing with the old man?

[Inspector Hellman]

Helping him over the rough spots or.

[Pat Novak]

Taking him over the hurdles?

[Inspector Hellman]

He hired me to watch Rory Malone. They were stepping up the pace on his boy.

[Pat Novak]

For instance?

[Inspector Hellman]

For instance, Joe Slagle. Everybody says he had a stake in the fight.

[Pat Novak]

You don't throw a fight by winning in the fifth round.

[Inspector Hellman]

That's what the book says. But sometimes the book's wrong. You better look up Joe Slagle. And on the same trip, he can stop by and see a gal named Con Regan.

[Pat Novak]

Yeah. Why?

[Inspector Hellman]

She's Malone's new sparring partner. A tall redhead with lots of dry cells.

[Pat Novak]

She sounds nice. I'll talk to her and Slagle, too. But I'm gonna find out about you and Rory Malone first. I'm gonna run down the stuff on this fight. And I'll find out where you fit in. Don't worry, Novak.

[Inspector Hellman]

I'll dig you out. You couldn't take the jelly out of an omelet, Hellman. Look up the girl in Joe Slagle. They'll talk.

[Pat Novak]

Not about each other.

[Inspector Hellman]

There's some connection there. I'll give even money they're friends.

[Pat Novak]

They ought to be.

[Inspector Hellman]

What?

[Pat Novak]

They were married a month ago in Las Vegas. Or don't you know about love?

[Inspector Hellman]

Hellman stood there a moment and smiled like a guy who's just killed a landlord. Then he turned around and walked out. Well, I stayed until they wrapped up the old man. After that, I went with a Chronicle office and pulled the clips on Joe Slagle. He'd been to three jails and gotten his masters at Alcatraz. And there were some pictures of him at the racetrack. He had a face any museum would buy and afford. That was so low, he must have had to look down to see his hairline. There was one other thing about him I noticed. He was the same guy who'd smashed Rory Malone's hand. I began to wonder about that friendship. But it was getting late and I had to work fast. So I looked up the only honest guy I know, an ex doctor, and A boozer by the name of Jocko Madigan. He's a smart guy. Until he decided a head on your beer is worth more than a head on your shoulders. I finally found him in a little joint down on Geary street talking some woman into giving up all men under 50.

[Jocko Madigan]

Ah, Patsy, I've missed you in a rather trivial way. All right, Jocko, I'm giving this woman a lecture on diminishing returns.

[Inspector Hellman]

Jocko, will you stop drinking long enough to listen?

[Jocko Madigan]

Patsy, you fail to understand my drinking. Actually, I hate whiskey, but I go on drinking as a sort of shop to Providence. Yeah, because everyone knows the guardian angels take care of small children and tiptoe. And since I passed the age where I look well in rompers, this is a very clever dodge to get a little outside help.

[Inspector Hellman]

Jocko, are you ever gonna change?

[Jocko Madigan]

Patsy, don't you know what a burden change is to a man as old as I am? Oh, yeah, but see, it's not the change we mind, it's the way it happens, by degrees, never giving you a chance to remember anything else. So it's heartbreaking, Patsy.

[Joe Slagle]

All right, all right.

[Jocko Madigan]

It's like visiting a half forgotten neighborhood. It hasn't changed completely, just parts of it. A few old houses and some human remnants is still around. Enough to remind you of the change, but never enough to make you happy. It's that way with growing old.

[Inspector Hellman]

Will you listen?

[Jocko Madigan]

They don't allow you to grow old suddenly and leave. They insist on this policy of having you dribble off into eternity. It's undignified, Patsy. Feeling like a bowl of old dishwater with the stopper pulled out.

[Inspector Hellman]

Chuckle I want to talk to you.

[Jocko Madigan]

Why didn't you say so? What's the matter?

[Inspector Hellman]

An old guy by the name of Hans Neumeyer is dead.

[Jocko Madigan]

Oh, bless him.

[Inspector Hellman]

Homicide's full of fever. They think I killed the old man.

[Jocko Madigan]

What did he do before he stopped doing it?

[Inspector Hellman]

A fight manager. He hired me to watch his fighter, Rory Malone. He should have hired a team because somebody got to him in the hospital tonight.

[Jocko Madigan]

How do you fit in?

[Inspector Hellman]

Well, I was just passing through when the noise started.

[Jocko Madigan]

That was General Custer's problem.

[Inspector Hellman]

It's tied up with tonight's fight. New Meyer was afraid of a gambler named Joe Slagle. He was around tonight and smashed Malone's hand before ring time.

[Jocko Madigan]

That's a hard way to lose.

[Inspector Hellman]

It's a harder way to win. Malone won by a knockout in the fifth.

[Jocko Madigan]

Was he fighting his father?

[Inspector Hellman]

I'm not getting any place. Jocko and I'm doing it in a hurry. It's a bad fit all the way around. They took two tries to get the old man. And if Slago bought the fight, why'd he smash Malone's hand?

[Jocko Madigan]

Let's have a drink.

[Inspector Hellman]

Jocko, you gotta help me.

[Jocko Madigan]

It's the thirst that's confusing.

[Inspector Hellman]

I want you to get up to Roy Malone's place. You can find it in the book. Go through his stuff and try to pick up a lead. Will you?

[Jocko Madigan]

Why don't you do it?

[Inspector Hellman]

I'm gonna look up a girlfriend named Con Reagan. She's married to Slago, but she's trying to work Malone into the act.

[Jocko Madigan]

Well, in that case, I'd be in the way.

[Inspector Hellman]

Look, I'm in a spot, Jocko. Now, get up to that apartment, will you?

[Jocko Madigan]

What if Malone walks in and finds me going through his stuff?

[Inspector Hellman]

Stop worrying.

[Jocko Madigan]

He almost killed a man with one broken hand. Suppose someone smashed the other one?

[Inspector Hellman]

Well, I had to do something quick because. Because the kettle was on the boil. By the time Hellman got to him, Slago would have an alibi. And my story about the smashed hand wouldn't prove a thing. I had to grope around and pretend like a guy on the second verse of the national anthem. I decided to tag by Slago's place, and on the way I bought a paper to read about the fight. Malone looked real bad for four rounds and then came out of the woods fast with a left hand on the 5th. It was about midnight when I got to Slago's apartment and began to look more and more like it. When Con Regan opened the door, though, I could see Rory's point. She was the sort of a woman you'd never give a second look because the first would paralyze you. Her red hair looked brighter now, and, well, legs like that are the reason silkworms are born. She smiled and you knew if you never made Naples, you could die happy with her. But I guess she picked her friends.

[Con Regan]

It's too late for the 300 now, Mr. Novak.

[Inspector Hellman]

I'm working free. Invite me in, huh?

[Con Regan]

Sorry, darling.

[Inspector Hellman]

You look lonely. Where's Slater?

[Con Regan]

I agreed to marry him. Not following.

[Inspector Hellman]

How about Malone? Somebody killed his manager.

[Con Regan]

I'd like to help you, Mr. Novak, but I don't like you well enough.

[Inspector Hellman]

Well, you can make love later. Give me answers now. Where you going?

[Con Regan]

You're not welcome.

[Inspector Hellman]

I want to know what those bags are packed for.

[Con Regan]

I don't trust the drawers. Now get out of here.

[Inspector Hellman]

Mr. Novak, calm down and put the gun away.

[Con Regan]

Get out of here. You came uninvited. I'll kill you the same way.

[Reuben Calloway]

Hello, Novak.

[Joe Slagle]

You gonna lose an argument?

[Inspector Hellman]

Well, it looks that way. If she's yours, call her off.

[Joe Slagle]

Malone, you're too tough, Khan. Let him walk out.

[Con Regan]

He steamed in here full of questions.

[Joe Slagle]

That's a bad way to answer. Relax.

[Inspector Hellman]

That's what your man Newmeyer's doing. Somebody killed him tonight.

[Joe Slagle]

I know that, Novak.

[Inspector Hellman]

Your eyes aren't very red.

[Joe Slagle]

I can't help it, Novak. All I can do is square his beef.

[Inspector Hellman]

Well, you can start with your girlfriend. She's leaving town. Or did you buy the tickets?

[Joe Slagle]

Bet you hurry, Khan.

[Con Regan]

If I want to leave, I can leave.

[Reuben Calloway]

Rory.

[Joe Slagle]

I'll argue with you.

[Con Regan]

You'll get the short end, Rory, because I'm leaving. Stay away from me.

[Joe Slagle]

You're too close.

[Con Regan]

Someday they'll match you. Even Murray.

[Inspector Hellman]

Maybe it's a referee. I'll get it.

[Pat Novak]

Yup, you got a deep voice, Ms. Regan.

[Inspector Hellman]

What's on your mind, Hellman?

[Pat Novak]

Joe Slago.

[Reuben Calloway]

Right.

[Pat Novak]

Now, he cleaned up in tonight's fight.

[Inspector Hellman]

Not with a betting even, it wasn't.

[Pat Novak]

After the first round, word got out the Malone broke his hand, the betting.

[Inspector Hellman]

Changed and Slago covered every bit in the house.

[Pat Novak]

That's right.

[Inspector Hellman]

Well, the old man tumbled before it happened. That's what he was afraid of.

[Pat Novak]

And the shot killed him.

[Inspector Hellman]

Slagle did. You got a motive now, Hellman, you better look him up.

[Pat Novak]

We did. He's dead.

[Inspector Hellman]

He couldn't be dead if he's not.

[Pat Novak]

The bullet holes are good fake. See you soon, Novak.

[Inspector Hellman]

Well, I didn't talk to the girl and Rory because I knew they'd dummy up on me and I had nothing to go on. It was like trying to build a wall out of jelly. Consummate. Nothing added up. Now, whose side was Rory on? And where did that other girl, Kitty, fit in? My luck was on the black market tonight and I knew it. So I went by my place to check with Jocko. He was in the kitchen and he looked worried.

[Jocko Madigan]

Ah, Patsy. You know, I was going to break open the thermometer until I found this bottle in.

[Inspector Hellman]

All right, Chuck, what'd you find out?

[Jocko Madigan]

That it pays to know. Joe Slagle. There's a $20,000 check in Malone's desk. Slagle signed it.

[Inspector Hellman]

He could afford it. Somebody killed him an hour ago.

[Jocko Madigan]

Where was Malone?

[Inspector Hellman]

I don't know, but that's not gratitude.

[Jocko Madigan]

Maybe he'll wire regrets. You'd better get up there. All his stuff's packed for a long trip. Well, well, A couple of trunks and all his bags. Does that sound like a weekend party?

[Inspector Hellman]

I don't know, Jocko. He's kind of fancy. Maybe he likes a lot of laundry. Up to now, it was like trying to melt a pound of diamonds. But when the turn comes, everything happens in a hurry. And things began to fall faster than snow off a warm roof. If Jocko was right, it meant Rory and the girl fought. But they did a lot of clinching between rounds. Well, I got ahold of Hellman and brought him up to date. And then I started for Rory Malone's apartment. When I got there, Hellman was outside the door listening, as quiet as a washing machine full of pebbles.

[Pat Novak]

They must be in the back room. I can't hear a thing.

[Inspector Hellman]

You couldn't hear a rifle shot in a boxcar, Hellman. Let's get a better view, huh?

[Reuben Calloway]

Hello, Novak.

[Inspector Hellman]

Gonna miss your train, Malone.

[Joe Slagle]

I don't believe you.

[Con Regan]

It's a chance to bet.

[Inspector Hellman]

Mr. Novak, this is Inspector Hellman from Homicide.

[Joe Slagle]

Well, you guessed wrong, Inspector. I'm covered for Joe Slagle. Novak hears alibi from Ms. Regan.

[Pat Novak]

We can check.

[Joe Slagle]

You're scraping bottom, mister.

[Inspector Hellman]

We can start with that $20,000 check from Joe Slagle.

[Joe Slagle]

That's where you'll stop, too. That 20,000 covered a sale of my contract. The fight commission can beef, but that's all. You ready? Come.

[Pat Novak]

I hope you are too, because you're going downtown.

[Joe Slagle]

Look, fella, you'll make us miss a train, but we'll catch the next one.

[H]

You're wishing now, Rory.

[Pat Novak]

Who's this?

[Inspector Hellman]

A fast friend with a slow burn. Hello, Kitty. Your boyfriend's gonna leave.

[Reuben Calloway]

Say goodbye. Please, Rory.

[H]

You're crazy to go with her.

[Joe Slagle]

She makes me that way. Kitty. I'm sorry, Rory.

[H]

I've done too much for you. I've kept loving you all this time. Can't leave you. Can't leave now. I don't want to be alone.

[Joe Slagle]

Buy a dog.

[H]

No, Rory. No. I won't let you go.

[Joe Slagle]

You're too good with guns. Drop it. You better take her, Helmut. She's anxious.

[H]

Oh, please, Rory. I loved you too much for this. I loved you enough to kill somebody. You can't leave, Rory. You can't leave me to myself.

[Joe Slagle]

When the guy comes, tell him where the baggage is.

[H]

What'll become of you, Rory Malone? What'll become of you, Rory Malone, when you have to think about me? When you hear the sound of me in your head? Oh, you're brave, Rory. You're brave to leave me alone.

[Joe Slagle]

Come on, Con, in a place like this, we're wasting you.

[H]

Come back. Come back, Rory Malone. Come back long enough to watch them laugh at me. Watch them laugh at me for the fool I am. Oh, it's the great fool of the world I am.

[Inspector Hellman]

Well, it doesn't prove much. Except the right kind of a heel can grind you into the dirt fast. Well, Hellman piece most of the story together. Slago and Malone planned the fight and it went off without a hitch. Slagle bought off the other fighter so that Malone could win. As soon as the bets had been covered, Hans Neumeyer had an idea, but he liked Rory too much to believe it. They found out he was coming to me and Con Regan tried to scare me off. She looked too good to Rory, and the scheme started to grow. He lied to Slagle after the fight about Neumeyer. So Slagle went into the hospital and killed the old man. That left Slagle around to cloud things up. So Rory Malone told a phony story to his girlfriend Kitty. She loved him enough to kill Slago was no way to stick Rory Malone. He could never fight again with that hand. But he had a check for 20,000 bucks to start on him. That's enough to keep love in the living room. Well, Hellman asked only one question. Why would a smart gambler like Slagle take a chance on giving Malone a check for 20,000 bucks? I guess Malone found out when he tried to cash that check because Joe Slagle was big hearted but broke.

[Pat Novak]

The American Broadcasting Company has just brought you the sixth of a new series, Pat Novak for Hire, starring Jack Webb. Pat Novak is produced and directed by William P. Russo. Jocko Madigan is played by Judo. Inspector Hellman is played by Raymond Burr. Music was composed and conducted by Basil Adlam. In our cast were Yvonne Pety, Stefan Snobbel, Frank Lovejoy, William Byeff and Ted De Courcia. This program is being released to our servicemen and women overseas through the worldwide facilities of the Armed Forces Radio Service. Be with us again next week when over most of these same ABC stations, we will bring you Pat Novak for Hire. This program came to you from Hollywood. Now, a listening reminder. Don't miss Gene Arthur and Robert Morley when they star in the compelling drama Yesterday's Magic on Theater Guild. On the air tonight. This is abc, the American Broadcasting Company.