
During this time, Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar attracted some of the best writers in Hollywood, including Jack Johnstone, E. Jack Neuman (using the pen name John Dawson), Robert Ryf, and Les Crutchfield. Bob Bailey also wrote a script while he was...
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When the Moore family ditched cable Internet and switched to Zigly Fiber, they got so much more. Mr. Moore got more upload speed for next level gaming and livestreaming to the masses with reliable service. Mrs. Moore is no longer her family's IT guru, leaving her more time to stream games into overtime. Let's go. And young Mason Moore got more done quickly uploading HD product demos and video conferencing without freezing the numbers look good, Brad. You're on mute. Switch from cable Internet to Ziply Fiber and get more of what you love for $65 less per month than cable at Ziply. Fiverr.comJohnny$Earl Foreman. There's the welcome voice. Hi, Earl. How are things down there in nice, warm, sunny Florida? Nice and warm and sunny. Oh, it's a lot more than you can say for up here in New England. We've just been hit over the head with a cold, wet spell and anybody as wants it can have it. What's even more important, Johnny, the fishing is red hot. Okay? All you have to do is cook up some excuse for me to high myself down there on expense account. How about it? Well, I can try. Let's see now. Well, one broken ankle. What? I said one badly busted ankle. You think that'll do for it? For what? The excuse. You want to come down here and take over a little chore I'd handled myself except for this bum ankle of mine. Earl, if you really have a broken ankle, I'm sorry to hear it. I really have. What is this little chore that you're talking about? A visit to one of our clients, lives down the road a piece. You want me all the way down there just to call on a client? Why not? You think the home office would okay all my expenses just for that? When I remind them of all the thousands, maybe millions you saved them over the years just to call on a client, huh? Honor bright. Well, I don't believe it, Earl. There's something fishy about this. Now, you know me better than to say a thing like that, John. You mean I know you just well enough. Not once have I gone down there supposedly to fish without running into a burglary or embezzlement, arson, murder, mayhem or what have you and been lucky to get back here in one piece. So come on. It'll come clean. What is it this time? I told you, Johnny. Okay, okay. I guess there's only one way for me to find out. Good. I'll be waiting for you. The CBS Radio Network brings you Mandel Kramer and the Exciting adventures of the man with the action packed expense account. America's fabulous freelance insurance investigator. Yours truly, Johnny Dollar. Expense account submitted by Special Investigator Johnny Dollar to try State Life and Casualty Insurance Company branch office in Sarasota, Florida. Following is an account of expenses incurred during my investigation of the wrong one matter. Expense count, item 1, 8770 for a cab to Bradley Field, then plainfair to New York to Tampa to Sarasota. Item 2, $3 for a taxi to the office on Main street that Earl Pullman shares with Don Boomhauer, a prominent realtor in those parts. Earl. The lower part of his right leg in a plaster cast and a crutch under his arm hobbled around pretty uncomfortably. Sit down, huh? Are you kidding? That's all I've doing now for nearly two weeks, ever since the doc put this blasted cast on my ankle. Earl. Would you like me to autograph it like the kids do? No, thanks. Seriously, Johnny, this darn thing has been driving me nearly crazy. I don't doubt it, Earl. I'm awfully sorry. Sitting around the house doing nothing day after day and Mike having to play nursemaid to me all the time. Why, do you know this is the first day I've even been down here at the office? How is Mike? Be sure to give her my love, huh? Well, give it to yourself. You'll be staying with us, you know. Fine. Anyhow, I suddenly got the idea that if you'd come down, run the boat, we could go out in the Gulf, tie into some whoppers and maybe take my mind off this thing for a change. You know something, Earl? That is the best idea you have had in years. Well, I didn't think you'd object too strenuously. That talk about a job for me to do while I'm here was just a bluff, not a bit of it. Yeah. Help me to just sit down, will you? Sure, sure. Just take it easy now, old man. Now, now, don't you. All right, all right, I got it. I got the crutch. Here, I'll set it right here. There we are now, in the corner of the desk. That letter, you see it? This one? Yeah. Mailed only yesterday. You call this a letter on a piece of wrapping paper? Read it, Johnny, if you can. Well, I can try. Dear. Dear. Er. Dear Mr. P. U, R, E, pure man. Never mind the spelling. He means poor man. I hope so. Anybody who thought of you as being pure would be out of his mind. Okay, okay, so you made it funny. That was absolutely silly. Okay, just forget the bad spelling and translate the best you can. All right. Dear Mr. Poor man, if your company don't want to pay off my insurance real quick, come see me real quick. Account of my. My pal, B L E A K Bleak Blake. Johnny Waldo Blake is beneficiary. Oh. On account of my pal Blake is away. What? Gatoring. Gatoring. Gatoring. And can't help me, so you better hurry. Sin sign. Mr. Emmett Emmett Dention over the phone. I'll say this for your Mr. Emmett Den. He is no mental giant. Well, he is still a client. How much of a policy, Earl? 2,000. Straight life. 2,000? That's a lot of money to some people. Well, I know it is, but is it enough to justify my expenses all the way from Hartford? Well, now you know the real reason why you're here. A good man. Who is the earl? What's this letter mean, Johnny? Mr. Emmet Den is a client I've never even seen. All I know about him is what Pete Fisher told me. Fisher? He held down this office before I took over. He died two or three years ago. Oh. Well, anyway, Emmett Den Blake are a couple of old crackers. Live down in the swamps down the Everglades. Apparently, they scrape out a living trapping and killing animals and then selling the hives. Anyway, it looks like Emmett's pal is away somewhere. Gatoring. That means after alligators. I thought it was illegal to kill alligators in this state. Well, sure is. Anyhow, Emmett wants somebody to go to see him. Well, here you are. We can justify your expense account to the company. And after you've paid your little visit to him, you and I can do some serious fishing. Okay. Well, it sounds to me as though he's pretty scared of something. You know, this part here, if your company don't want to pay off my insurance real quick. Only thing he needs to be scared of, Johnny, is a game warden. I'd bet on it. I wonder, do you know where he lives? Well, here, I can show you on this map that Fisher had the foresight to pin on the policy. You young. You call this a map? Here. Sarasota. I'd never know it. There's Fort Myers. So this has to be the main highway. The Tamiami Trail. And this. Well, maybe it's only a wagon track right into the Everglades. And right here is where Emmett's supposed to live. Think he can find it? Well, I can try. Okay, now, you take my car, drive me home, and then get on your way. And as soon as you get Back here if it's still daylight. Yeah. If I remember right, this Everglades country can be pretty dangerous in spots for somebody who doesn't know his way around. Oh, you make out all right. You did the time before, didn't you? Oh, sure, sure. So what do you got to worry about? You tell me. Yes, on my previous expedition into the Everglades, I had made out all right. That time I'd had a guide, a young Indian boy by the name of Ben Osceola. Which, by the way, brings up an interesting point. Nearly all the Indians who inhabit that section of swamp call themselves Osceola. It's a long famous name among the members of the Seminole tribe. At any rate, if I could find him again, and according to the map world had given me, the chances were pretty good. So after dropping Earl off at his home on Oyster Bay and staging an impromptu, passionate love scene with his wife Mike, who is a living doll, and Earl on crutch, couldn't do a thing about it anyway except howl with pretended rage, I got behind the wheel and headed south on 41, the Tamiami Trail. At Fort Myers, I turned left on 82 into the Everglades and headed right into the middle of the big cypress swamp country. A few miles below Sunnyland, I found a pair of wagon tracks that the map had shown. Barely passable in the car I was driving. But this was all to my liking because I was in the same part of the swamp that I'd been in once before during the previous assignment. There, in a clearing on the edge of a sort of a bayou, was a little unpainted house. And from it a tall, husky young Indian emerged in his hands aimed straight at the car and at me with a.30 30 rifle. Wait a minute. Aren't you Ben? Ben Osceola? You call me Ben Surer. Don't you remember me, Mr. Johnny? That's Johnny Dower, remember? Yes, old friend. I welcome you, Mr. Johnny. Well, thank you. It's nice to see you again, Ben. And I wonder if you can help me again. If I can, Mr. Johnny, I will be glad to. Ben, I'm looking for a man by the name of Emmett Denary. You want to see that old man? Yes. Does he still live around here somewhere? So far as I know. Well, good. But he is not our. Oh, you Indian people been having some trouble with him? No, but we have nothing to do with him. Why is that, then? Because he and the other. The one they call Lefty. Will that be Waldo Blake? Yes, Lefty Blake. What about him they do not obey the law. They take much game they should not take. They live and hunt on our land. Our Seminole land. I see. Ben, have your people been getting rough with them? No, Mr. Johnny. We stay far away from them. We do not wish to soil our hands or minds by any contact with them. They are taboo. What you're saying then is that if somebody is bothering Denery, it is not your people. That is right. And you say that in spite of the way you seem to feel about him? Yes, Mr. Johnny. When did you last see him, Ben? Many years ago, as a child. At least I think it was. How do you mean? They looked so much alike that few could tell them apart. Oh, I see. Ben, if you still have an airboat that can ride out over this swamp. Have you? Back in my house. Well, can I hire you to take me to where Emma deny lives? No, Mr. Johnny, no. I must not go there. It's taboo among my people. I see. Well, look, just. Just look here now, Ben. If this, this map means anything, it can't be too far from here. And you can take my airboat yourself. All right now I'll pay you for it. That is not necessary. Oh, it is as far as I'm concerned. Here you are. Would 20 be enough? Thank you. You will buy many shoes for my children. Well, I'm glad. Then you can give me some directions. This map, I'm afraid, isn't too good. Oh, yes. I am sorry I cannot go with you, Mr. Johnny. Well, might be better if I could. What do you mean by that, Ben? From what I have heard about these men, you must be very careful. Ever ride one of those airboats? It's a flat bottomed aluminum hull, about 12ft long. And the bow is squared off. Instead of coming to a point. Two precarious little seats are propped up high in the middle of it. And at the back is a motor with an airplane propeller. They're safe alright, but tricky, if you know what I mean. Anyhow, I climbed aboard and took off, brother. I mean took off. It's quite a ride, believe me that. That. Half planing, half skipping over the shallow water. Perched up there on the thinly seat. I kept waiting for it to flip as I tore on out across the bayou. Then wove my way through a network of narrow little rivers over spots that in some places were nothing more than wet swamp grass. No wonder an ordinary underwater propeller couldn't be used. The darn thing would be hung up in the weeds and grass in no time. Every now and then I had to swerve quickly to avoid a half submerged log. Or was it a huge alligator? There were more rattlesnakes and cot mouth moccasins out there than I'd ever seen before. All sorts of animal life and thousands of birds that rose in alarm as I fairly plowed through them. Finally I came to a couple of acres of high ground of brush and trees that stuck out like an island there in the middle of a swamp. At one end of it was a decrepit old clapboard shack surrounded by row after row of drying frames with skins on the mostly the hides of raccoons and alligators curing in the sun. There was no one around. At least there was no one inside. As I beached the airboat as close to it as possible, jumped off and headed to the old cabin, I wondered if Emmett Denery, like his pal Leslie Blake, was somewhere out in that swamp gatoring collecting game. The reason Denery had given in his letter for being alone, for needing help. I didn't have to wonder for. Mr. Denary? Mr. Denary? Anybody here? Hello? Well, let's see now. Good. Seems to be open. A dank feathered odor met me as I pushed open the rickety door into the dark, windowless one room shack. It was almost nauseating and after the bright sunshine outdoors it took my eyes nearly, nearly a minute to see anything in that dark gloomy interior. There was no covering on the floor except the dirt of which there was plenty for a table and chairs. There was nothing but old crates and boxes clumsily nailed together on one side. Near the door was a beat up old wood stove with half a dozen filthy pots and pans at one end of it and a stack of dishes long unwashed. As I half stumbled over an old rusty bread box lying on the floor, a huge rat scurried out of it and ran out the door. I wonder what sort of slovenly so called humans could possibly live in such miserable reeking squatter. Then I noticed the ragged draperies hanging across the far end as a sort of divider for the room. I felt that even to touch them would be to contaminate myself, but nonetheless I pulled them aside. There on a rude cot, dressed in tattered jeans, a dirty shirt and a pair of high top lace boots, lay the body of a man. I'm no expert at such things, but even a cursory examination told me that he'd been dead for several days. There was a torn, grimy coverlet on the floor and I started to pick it up to Lay it gently over him. Don't you move now, mister. What? You want me to blow your head off? Whether you move or not, I think I'm doing it anyhow. Hi, sports fans. This is Pat Summerall. Glad to be back with the frost on the pumpkin and other signs of the football season. Monday through Saturday nights on this CBS Radio Network station. Let's join forces for a Sports Time rundown on the grid scene and the other major sports. Don't forget now, every night but Sunday, this is your address for Sports Time, presenting all the latest in the world of sports. The name of the game again, Sports Time right here. When I heard the voice in back of me coming from the doorway of the old cabin, I half turned, reaching for my gun. But I found myself staring into the barrel of an ancient high powered rifle. The hammer of it pulled in a firing position. And in back of that gun, one of the most disreputable looking characters I've ever seen was about 60, I'd say maybe 5ft 3 or 4. Wrinkled weather beaten face, scraggly dirty gray beard. He was dressed in khaki pants and shirts so badly worn it was the one that held together on his wiry little frame. And his eyes, peering out from under the remains of an old army hatch under long, bushy eyebrows reminded me of the eyes of a snake. And there was a hint of madness in them. You got a gun? I seen you reach for it. You just turn around. Now, keep your hands up real high. Sure, why not? I take it. Now, that gun of yours like this. Well, this a pretty one. I'm glad you like it. Now you. You sat down right there on the floor beside this. Yes, sir, beside him. County, you the one that killed him, ain't you? No. That's where you're wrong, old timer. Sit down. You see this gun? Sit down. I guess I have no choice, have I? You got no choice. Okay. All right. With both your hands, you keep them flat on the floor. Now go on. You're holding the gun. I know. Stay out in the swamp too long. All week I stay out in that swamp. I come back here to find my pal friend. You killed him. You killed him at dinner. Now wait a minute. Yeah, so? So? So now. No, I said wait a minute. You take a good look at that body and you'll see that he's been dead for days. Four or five days at the least. You say that. Now shut up. So this is Emma Dennery? Yes, sir. My Pat. You're Waldo Blake. I'm Waldo Blake. Well, then you're his beneficiary. That is. What? You mean to tell me you didn't know Emmett carried a lot of insurance? He never tell me that. All right, then you listen to me. Well, sure I listen. But don't you move from here. Now look, I'm from the insurance company. Emmett Den's life was insured for $2,000. And if you're a lefty Blake, that money goes to you. $2,000. $2,000. But how do I know you're really from the insurance? Would you like to see the money? All right then. Here, you be careful now. All right, all right. I still got this gun right on you. All right, here, here. Now you. You just look through this wallet and see for yourself. You just drop it gentle on the floor. All right. Now go ahead, count the money. Only look, look, you ain't got no 2000 here. You ain't got. You ain't got no gun no more. Say that right there in the corner, you crazy old coot. And don't move. Now you listen. Now you listen to me. And for your sake I hope a coroner's examination doesn't show this man was murdered. Murdered? Yes, because you'd be the only suspect. No, no, I. I never killed him. I didn't. I didn't. Well, frankly, I don't think you did either. It was probably a natural death. Yes, it really was. It really was. You're sure of that? Well, what I mean is. Yes, you're sure all right. That's what gave you the big idea, isn't it? You just couldn't miss a chance at that two thousand dollar insurance that you've been paying on all these years. Me? Yes, you. I knew there was something wrong the minute I saw this body because of that letter to the insurance office. Because it was only mailed yesterday, wasn't it? Well, how should I know? Stop bluffing now. It's a little late for that. That letter signed Emmett Denery asking somebody to come out here was mailed only yesterday. You know as well as I do this man has been dead for two, three times that long. In other words, you wrote that letter in the hope we'd come out here and pay you off on the so called death of Emmett. Now, now, with the two of you living out here alone, cut off from the rest of the world, nobody really ever sees you. You figured nobody know it was really Lefty, Lefty Blake who had died. You. You can't prove it's one of them, can I? Well, let's see now. For a Starter. Well, let's take the laces on his high top blue boots. The way they're tied, the direction of the knot. You ever see a right handed man who tied a left handed bow knot like this one? Let's see what else we can find. No, no, that's enough. Don't you see? After all the years of me paying out on that insurance, having Waldo die first, nobody else to leave it. You could have cashed in that policy legitimately and probably have got back most to what you put into it. But now, after the switch you've tried. Oh me. What do they do to me? Now for attempted fraud. Bloody. But that's up to the company. Oh Lordy. What? What? What will they do to me? You better come along with me and find out. Emmett. Den. So there you are, Earl. Like I said to the old rat rascal, it's up to the company. Now as for the total on my expense account, well, let's wait until I can sort up the cost of all the fishing we're going to do. Okay? Yours truly, Johnny Dollar. Now here is our star to tell you about next week's story. Before I do that, I'd like to extend a word of welcome to a new radio station. Joining the CBS Radio network today, it's WNEB Worcester, Mass. An important new link in our coast to coast family of CBS Radio Network stations. For WNEB listeners. Starting with this broadcast, a Sunday workout with us. And throughout the week, the listening only the circle CBS Radio Network has to offer. Welcome WNEB Worcester next week, a fishing guide who turns out to be a guide to murder. Join us, won't you? Yours truly, Johnny Dollar. Yours truly Johnny Dollar is written by Jack Johnstone. Produced by Bruno Zarato Jr. Directed by Edward Oates. Music supervision by Ethel Huber. Johnny Dollar is played by Mandel Kramer. Also featured in our cast were Martin Blaine as Earl Foreman, Bill Lipton as Ben, Jim Bowles as the man. Be sure to join us next week, same time, same station for another exciting story of yours truly, Johnny Dollar. This is Art Hannah. Speak history from where it breaks nightly in the world Tonight on the CBS Radio Network. This is WROW Music, Albany, New York. Do you know a new family just moving to your neighborhood? Welcome Wagon would love to welcome them. Welcome Wagon helps all new neighbors to feel welcome and wanted here in the capital district. Each gracious welcome Wagon hostess brings baskets of gifts from Tri City merchants. She brings greetings from the community to these newcomers. Adds to questions everyone wants to know about the Tri Cities. You can make sure your new neighbors benefit from welcome wagon service. Just call state 59640 and give the welcome wagon hostess the name and address of your new neighbors. She'll call on them and present them with a basket of gifts from civic minded businessmen. You'll be helping your neighbor and your welcome wagon hostess who carries on this valuable community service in the Albany, Troy, Schenectady metropolitan area. Call state 59640. That's state 59640 for welcome Wagon Johnny Dollar. Oh, I beg your pardon. This is Earl Poorman's residence. Well, it better be. Who's that? Earl? Who else? Now listen, Johnny, the idea is sneaking out of the house on me this way and at the crack of dawn. Where are you, Earl? Down here at my office. What? Why not? I thought you and I were going fishing this morning. We are. We are. Now look, when you got down here to Sarasota, when was it? A week ago today. That's right. And you promised me this was one trip to Florida for nothing but fishing. Well, not. Johnny, what happened? I wasn't here more than 15 minutes before you had me involved. Well, I know as soon as I cleared it up. What happened? You turned on a few days of windy rainy weather and all I can do is sit here. Oh, will you listen? The one sunny day you picked to spend there in your office, my pal. Did I say I've come down here to work? What else? Well, are you. You remember that item in the Herald Tribune the other day about your being here? Yes. And the one in the evening paper and the blurb on wspb. And I thank you for the publicity. All right, what has that got to do with the weather and the fishing? Well, I said, will you listen to me? Okay. And it better be good. Well, it is. And you're gonna love it. Now all that publicity you just mentioned has every fishing guide within miles making offers to take you out on the Gulf. You know, to prove to you once and for all that the fishing down here is just as good as Todd swam and his chamber of commerce advertised. So? So I came down here to look over these offices and decide which one we'd take advantage of today. Now that the weather' have you. I have old Captain Barney Be good. He runs a half baked fishing camp down at Lemon Bay and is not only a good skipper, but he happens to be a client, a policyholder. Uh huh. And he guarantees to find a snook, sea trout, blues, Bonito, pompano, kings, anything you want. So if you'll hop into My car and pick me up. We'll be on our merry way. Now, you sure there isn't some teeny little unimportant insurance matter that maybe I'd better just kind of look into before we head for the briny duty? No sir, Johnny, I swear it. I promise. Cross my heart and hope to die. Well, you coming? Okay, I'm coming. But if he tries to get me involved in another mess. The CBS Radio Network brings you Mandel Kramer and the exciting adventures of the man with the action packed expenser car. America's fabulous freelance insurance investigator. Yours truly, Johnny Dollar. Expense account submitted by special investigator Johnny Dollar to Tri State Life and Casualty Insurance Company branch office in Sarasota, Florida. Where I thought I had gone for a few days of fishing. But following is an account of expenses incurred during my investigation of the guide to murder matter. Expense account Item one. Well, after all, as long as I was on expense account, why not be nice about it? So item one is 438 to fill up the gas tank and Earl Poorman's fancy air conditioned car. Five minutes later I walked in on him at the office. All right, come on Johnny, help me up in my crutch and we'll go fishing. I'm with you, Captain. Barney Beal down there at Lemon Bay was quite a character. About 65 I'd say. Tall, lean and wiry and his skin tanned to the color of cordovan. His deep set eyes were that peculiar bluish gray that made you wonder if they were looking right on through you and sharp enough to spot a seagull diving after Beta half a mile away. His boat, the Barney B. Lungs looked as well weathered as he did. And the faded lettering across the stern showed the old craft had come from Gloucester Mast which helped to account for his speech. Instead of a southern drawl it was pure New England. Yeah, born in New Hampshire, Mr. Dollar, but I learned my sea fishing down off the Cape. Cape Cod, Captain? Yes, sir. Off the George's bank and the Ngtucket Shoals. Develops a kind of instinct in a man. It does. Well, I hope that instinct's working today. Failed me yet? Not in all the seven years I've been a guiding down here to this country. Now you see that long stretch up ahead with the mangrove islands onto either side? Yep. Snook Alley they call it. Now then, let's see if we can hook up one or two. One or two? We took no less than seven fighting Snook out of that spot and all of them over £10. Then out in the Gulf There were pompano and jacks and kings and just about everything else you can think of. By mid afternoon, I was completely and happily exhausted from hauling him in. Earl, meantime, had laid himself across a fort and slept. So we went on back to the dock. Selected a couple of nice pompano to take home. Then trudged wearily over to where I'd parked Earl's car. That's your mighty pretty car you got there, Mr. Foreman. A lot of good it's doing me these days. With his busted ankle. Having to depend on Jock. The speed demon that kept me around. Not more fancy than my old Maxwell days. Did you say Maxwell? Yep. Drove it all the way down here from New Hampshire, I did. 1922 Maxwell. And it's still running? Yep. Headed up to Venice after groceries just a week ago last Saturday. You'd like to see it? I sure would. Earl, would you mind waiting? No, go ahead, Johnny. Right over here in the garage, Ms. Donner. 1922? Yep. And the finest car I ever owned. Come to think of it, the only one real cheap to run, too. That's why I keep it. Now then, here we are. Here, now. Well, sir, there's it. My, oh, my. Mr. Dollar, who is he? What's happened to him? The he that Captain Barney spoke of. Was slumped there in the front seat of the ancient Maxwell. His face against the wheel and turned in our direction. The face was gray, a mask of death. Proud we are, we being the CBS Radio Network. To be able to bring you on this station each weekday. The songs of Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney. In addition to the sparkling Bing Crosby Rosemary Clooney Show. We're equally delighted to present at this same time each weekday. The assorted talents of Art Linkletter. The house party man, Gary Moore and Derwin Kirby. And the rousing Arthur Godfrey time. There's no business like show business. And nowhere else such a fine sampling of same. Than on this blockbuster CBS Radio Network entertainment fest. The nicest thing about it is. Should you miss any or all of these great stars on a Monday. You can catch right up with them the next day. Or any weekday. You're so minded. Remember, nowhere else can you enjoy each and every weekday. The Bing Crosby Rosemary Clooney Show. The conversational gifts of Gary Moore and his foil, Derwood Kirby. The kids comedy and cut ups of Art Link Letters, House party and the air of glee with gusto that's a specialty of Arthur Godfrey time. A quick examination of the body made it pretty evident that the man, whoever he was, had died of Carbon monoxide poisoning. What's more, the ignition switch of the old Maxwell was in the on position. The gasoline gauge said empty. More important, I could find no marks on the body that might have indicated a struggle of any kind. My, my, Mr. Dollar, this is a terrible thing. Terrible. Do you know who he is, Captain Bunny? No, can't say I ever saw him before in my life. But he certainly did, isn't he? He's certainly dead. Handsome man, too. Can't be more than maybe 50, 55 years of age. Look at that beautiful head of hair. Nice clothes, too. Yeah, you better not touch him. Oh, don't you worry about that. When did you say you last used this car of yours, Captain? Week ago last Saturday. Did you fill the gas tank then, by any chance? Yes. Build it up the top, see? Empty now. Yes, and the garage has been locked ever since. Ever since, Mr. Dollar. Nobody else but me has a key for it. Ah, but now look, if I don't touch anything, Captain. Oh, I won't, I won't, sir. I won't. You see here that on this window is open. Let's see. Yeah. Mm. To these spider webs all over it, though. So this must be the way he got into to do this to himself. I know I should have always kept the keys. The scar. Captain, do you have any idea who the coroner is for this neck of the woods? Yep. Old Dr. Hill is over to the side of Cape Marsh. Then you better call him. Have him get over here right away. Yes, sir. Do that right away. And ask Mr. Poorman to come in and have a look. I'm right here, Johnny. That's all. Excitement. Look for yourself there behind the wheel of the old Maxwell. Oh, yeah. How long has it been dead? Well, sir, Mr. Dollar, I'd say about day. I see. Or maybe two. Oh, or maybe even three. So, for the sake of the record, I say it's been two days. Yes. And the cause? Well, exactly what you said, Mr. Dollar. Carbon monoxide poisoning. No question of it, sir. That's what it is. That's what I'll put on the certificate. Any idea about who he might be, Doctor? No. And I'll tell you this, sir. There's no patient of mine would ever commit suicide this way. You're sure it's suicide? Well. Well, of course it is. You don't see any marks on the body to indicate otherwise, do you? No, of course you don't. But I assume you'll do an autopsy anyway, won't you? Autopsy? No, sir, no need for it. No need for at all? No, I'll be on the way. Just one minute, Doctor. Now you just stop Worrying about it, Mr. Dollar. I'll have the boys come along over here and pick him up and take him to the morgue at Cape Martin where I keep my office. And anybody wants to claim him. All well and good. Just the same, sir, if nobody claims him, why, they'll see that he gets a decent burial in the potter's field and that'll be that. So you just stop worrying about him, huh? Okay. You're the doctor. That's right. Good day. Good day, Mr. Pullman, gentlemen. Captain Barney. Bye, Doctor. Good day to you, Doctor. Well, Mr. Dollar, you're absolutely sure you don't recognize him, Captain Barney, now that you've had another look at him? Absolutely certain, Mr. Dollar? Well, I know he isn't any client of ours. So the doctor says, Johnny, why worry yourself about it? No point in it. Yes, yes, maybe you're right. Er, sure, leave it up to local police if there is anything to investigate. And you don't really think there is, I hope. Come on, come on, Johnny. Let's get on back to Sarasota before you start trying to blame me for getting you involved in something. Earl, why don't you and Captain Barney load those fish into the car while I take just one more look at this. Instead of wasting time on further examination of the body, I went back for another look at the window that Captain Barney had pointed out where the dead man had apparently made his entry, carefully closing it after him. One of the panes was a brand new one, put in only recently. By whom? And why? There were several shards of glass from the old pane there on the floor. So I picked up one of them, cleaned it very carefully, and then by the simple expedient of moistening the corpse's hands, took a set of fingerprints. Then I joined the others at the car. Well, at least let me pay you something for the trip today. Not a bit of it, though. I thank you, Mr. Foreman. It was a pleasure and a privilege to be a guide for a famous man like Mr. Dollar. Writ up in all them papers and all, and on the radio. Well, we're certainly much obliged then, aren't we, Johnny? Of course, next time I'll have to make my regular charge. Don't you worry, Captain Barney. We'll be down here again. Right? Maybe very soon. That was a fine way to end a pleasant day. But I told you I'd get you some good fishing, Johnny. And if you meant that about coming down here again, I'M all for it. Of course, that means you'll have to stick around a bit longer than you may have planned. Because tomorrow I thought we might take my boat out and maybe just. Johnny, you listening? Oh, of course, Earl. See Captain Barney again, you said. Well, that's almost what I said. Look, what's bothering you anyway? You mean maybe the kind of casual way that he took the finding of that body in his own garage? Among other things. Hey, wait a minute. We better go back there again. We forgot to look and see if there was a wallet or any papers or anything to identify. No, the doctor and I both looked very carefully. There was nothing. Well, I suppose a suicide wouldn't want anybody to know who he was. That's wrong, Earl. Most suicides practically advertise their identity. And almost all of them leave a note of some kind. But if you're thinking in terms of murder, Johnny. Are you? I'm not sure yet. But you said. You said there were no marks on the body or anything like that. I know. I'm the Chod if only that old Dr. Hill would make an autopsy after I find out who that body belongs to. Oh, now, look, Johnny. What's the point of it? And you're supposed to be down here on vacation and you're supposed to. Well, what. What's the matter? What the devil is that you have in your pocket? Oh, careful, Earl. It's a little piece of window glass I picked up on the floor of the garage. A little piece of what? Who knows? Maybe it'll give us the key to a murder. Back in Sarasota, after leaving Earl at his home on Oyster Bay, I drove into police headquarters. The man I went to see was another Barney. Lieutenant Barney Fellow Phillips. He'd been of tremendous help to me many times before, and I knew that he would be again if he could. Why, sure, Johnny. Be glad to cooperate all we can, all of us. But aren't you kind of shooting in the dark on this one? Well, maybe and maybe not. The point is that unless the police down, they show a little more interest than old Dr. Hill. Look, if you can have your lab crew photograph the prints that I have on this sheet of glass, William. Well, then send him on to Washington. Yeah, it might take a little time, Johnny, to get a report back on him. Good. I'll spend it profitably fishing. It was two days later that Lt. Phillips called and asked me to drop in on him again. Yes, sir. Your suicide had a record all right, Johnny. His name was Maury Spencer. Maury Spencer? Yes, sir. He Used to operate up in New England along the coast. Dealing mostly in fishing boats. I see. Haven't heard from him or. That means he hasn't been caught in trouble, though, for a couple of years. You said dealing in fishing boats? Racket as old as the sea itself. He'd steal a boat, sneak it into a yard, repaint it and disguise it pretty well and pass it off on some sucker who thought he's getting a bargain. Must have been pretty active, too, because, well, he sure had enough aliases. You look at this. Maury Spencer, alias Spencer Morrison, alias. Rusty Spangler, alias Baldy Spangler, alias. Did you say Baldy? Oh, here, I completely forgot to show you this picture. This man. You're a suicide. What? Well, there are. There is some resemblance here, but I'm not sure. See, a little bald spot on top of his head. Now, look, Johnny, if those prints were his, this has to be him. Of course, it's plastic surgery. What if he had the record you say he had? Why not? Plastic surgery? Well, sure, an awful lot of crooks have done it, you know. Wait a minute, though. Here in the picture, this. This bald spot. That body had bushy hair all over his head. Well, I never heard of plastic surgery for that. Captain Barney even went so far as to mention it himself. That nice head of hair. Okay, Lieutenant, thanks a lot. Where to now, Johnny? Maybe to prove that suicide was a murder. Oh, yes, yes, sure, you can look at him again. But there's not much point in it. Any more than there is in the autopsy you suggested. Yeah, right in here. Hope you don't mind the cold in this place. Where's the light switch? Right here, sir. No, sir. An autopsy be just a waste of time, would it? Which drawer, Doctor? Right here. Well, let's see now. Hey, hey, there's no point in you trying to pull the hair off his head. Isn't there? Well, look, doctor, great day. This man had himself a top piece. That's right, A small toupee. Just big enough to cover that little bald spot. But he's such a good one. Do you see what's under it, doctor? Well, that's a hole. That's a wound there in the skull. Like from an ice pick or something. Or maybe from the point of a gaff. A gaff hook of the sort of big game fisherman would use? It could be. Or a fishing guide. And it wouldn't necessarily have killed him instantly, would it? In that particular spot? Well, no, sir. Unless it was deeper than this seems to be. But it certainly would have rendered him Unconscious? Yes, so that he could be propped up in that old car, the engine turned on, the garage closed up, and the actual death would be, as you said, it was due to carbon monoxide poisoning. Why, yes, sir. Okay. How would you like to round up a couple of the boys on your police force and have them follow us? Yes, us, Mr. Don. Earl Perman's with me, waiting outside in the cockpit car. But follow you to where, sir? Well, I thought we might take a little run down to Lemon Bay again to see Captain Barney. And it really was a murder? I'm afraid so, Earl. Sir. Help me, though, Johnny. I never can figure what makes you suspicious in some of these cases. Well, there are half a dozen things, Earl. Captain Barney himself, for instance. How do you mean? The old shack he lives in falling apart at the seams, broken windows filled up with cardboard, and it probably hasn't been painted since he moved in. Yeah, Even his old wreck of a boat, in spite of the fact he depends on it for a living. Held together with bailing wire and his car. That old Maxwell. Do you see what I'm getting at, Earl? No, but go on. He doesn't spend a cent that he doesn't absolutely have to. Oh, no, I get the message. So he's not the type to be giving anything away. Not even a fishing truck, Right. Unless he has a purpose in this case. He wanted me around so there wouldn't be any suspicion of him. Even when he led me to that corpse on the excuse of showing me the old car. And he's the one who brought up the subject of cars, remember? You're right. But even soldiers. Other things, too. In spite of the way that he neglects the house and the boat and the car, he was very careful to replace the broken glass in the window of the garage. To seal it up. Why? To hold in the exhaust fumes after he turned on that engine. Well, that's enough for me. I suppose I should have known I couldn't fool a smart young fellow like you, Mr. Dollop. I don't think you really could have fooled anybody for long, Captain Barney. No, Maybe not. Kind of. I guess I didn't reckon on my conscience. And. Oh. Oh, dear, how it's been a torture in me. Yes, I kind of thought it would be. Seemed like such a smart idea having you around. When I made out that I discovered his body. Such a good way to keep anybody from thinking that I could have done it. I guess I just forgot that I would always know. Why did you kill him, Captain Felt I had to Mr. Dollar. When I thought of all the people he hurt when I knowed him down east, that is, up to New England, all the fine old fishing men erupt and cheated and then sweet talked his way out of it time after time. Then when he come down here, there's Bo and brazen as he ever was when he showed the nerve to suggest that I help him in his filthy work. Well, don't you see, Mr. Dollar? Somebody had to stop him. Somebody had to keep him from hurting all the nice fine people that I've gotten to know hereabouts. Well, I guess I done the wrong thing, didn't I? Yes, Captain Barney, I'm afraid you did. Like everybody who tries to take the law into his own hands. The police will be here in a few minutes. Shall we go out and meet him? Yeah, guess we'd better. I don't know who am I to judge, but I hope they handle the old fellow as gently as possible in spite of what he did and must pay for. Expense account total. Well, this time it's only plain, fair and incidental. So the trip back to Hartford, call it 85 bucks. Yours truly, Johnny Doll. Now here is our star to tell you about next week's story. Next week, a city held at bay by a single man with a time bomb. Join us, won't you? Yours truly, Johnny Dollar. Yours truly, Johnny Dollar is written by Jack Johnstone, produced and directed by Bruno Zarato Jr. Music supervision by Ethel Huber. Johnny Dollar is played by Man Kramer. Also featured in our cast were Iver Francis as Captain Barney Beale, Ian Martin as Earl Poorman, Lawson Zerby as Dr. Hill and Jim Bowles as the police lieutenant. Be sure to join us next week, same time, same station for another exciting story of yours truly, Johnny Dollar. Art Hannah Speaking Complete the most complete news in broadcasting is CBS News on the CBS Radio Network at row 59 on your Tri Cities dial. This is WROW Music in Albany, New York. Many merchants and businessmen of the Capital District offer you expert services and a complete line of fine products. 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1001 Radio Crime Solvers: Episode Summary
Podcast Information:
The episode begins with Johnny Dollar, America's fabulous freelance insurance investigator, receiving a suspicious request from Earl Poorman, a business associate. Earl, portrayed by Martin Blaine, claims to have a broken ankle and urgently needs Johnny's assistance in Florida. However, Johnny senses something amiss.
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Johnny engages in a conversation with Earl, who hints at needing Johnny's help under the guise of fixing an insurance matter. Johnny's intuition tells him that Earl's reasons are not as straightforward as they seem.
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Arriving in Sarasota, Florida, Johnny begins his investigation. He navigates through the perilous Everglades, highlighting the treacherous environment filled with alligators, rattlesnakes, and other dangers. His determination leads him to Ben Osceola, a local guide.
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Johnny locates Emmett Denary's rundown shack. Upon entering, he discovers the lifeless body of Denary, leading to suspicions of foul play. The immediate scene suggests a suicide, but Johnny's keen eye notices inconsistencies.
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Returning to Sarasota, Johnny inspects the old Maxwell car used to encase Denary's body. He notices alterations in the window and gathers fingerprints, deepening the mystery. Lieutenant Barney Fellow Phillips assists Johnny in unraveling the case.
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Johnny's investigation reveals that the apparent suicide was, in fact, a meticulously planned murder orchestrated by Waldo Blake. Blake confesses his motives rooted in stopping Denary's unethical dealings, inadvertently leading to his own downfall.
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With the truth unveiled, Johnny wraps up the case, submitting his expense account while reflecting on the moral complexities of taking the law into one's own hands. The episode concludes with a promise of more thrilling adventures in the next installment.
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Jon Hagadorn, the host, sign-offs by highlighting the production team and teasing the next episode's mystery, ensuring listeners are eagerly awaiting the continuation of Johnny Dollar's daring investigations.
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Conclusion:
YOURS TRULY, JOHNNY DOLLAR masterfully blends suspense, intricate detective work, and classic radio storytelling. Listeners are taken on a riveting journey through deception, danger, and the pursuit of truth, encapsulating the essence of the golden age of radio crime dramas.
For more captivating stories and to catch the latest episodes, visit www.1001storiespodcast.com and tune in every Sunday at 5pm ET.