Let George Do It and Philip Marlowe

Summary

Case Closed! – Let George Do It & Philip Marlowe
Episode Date: June 10, 2026
Podcast Host: RelicRadio.com
Episode Theme: Two classic radio detective tales from the golden age—“Let George Do It: The Marauder” and “Philip Marlowe: The Soft Spot.” These dramas dive into psychological intrigue and suspense, delving into obsession, betrayal, and the dark corners of human nature.

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Overview

This episode features two back-to-back old-time crime radio dramas. In “Let George Do It: The Marauder,” private eye George Valentine faces a case where fear and suspicion run rampant at an isolated mountain resort. The story is as much about the dangers lurking in the human psyche as the natural threats outside. “Philip Marlowe: The Soft Spot” follows the hardboiled detective through a fog-shrouded Los Angeles where the past refuses to stay buried, and even the noblest motives can result in tragedy.

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Segment 1: Let George Do It – “The Marauder”

Key Plot Points & Discussion

• Setting the Scene

  • Rafe Saxon, a writer, summons George Valentine to a remote lodge in the Lobo Range, hoping Valentine can help Hans Bjorkman—the lodge owner—whose growing obsession with a marauding mountain lion has become dangerous.
    • [00:13] – Rafe’s letter: “...I’m surrounded by more tension and fear than I ever knew before. And a friend of mine, Hans Bjorkman, has become neurotic to the point of insanity...all he thinks of is the marauder...Mr. Valentine, this man is obsessed by the idea of murdering a mountain lion.”

• Arrival & Introduction of Characters

  • George, Claire Brooks (Brooksie), and Peanut (a local character) arrive at the lodge and meet Hans’ young wife Olga and various other denizens.
    • [03:13] – Peanut introduces himself, adding levity: “Sure. I’m an indoor-style cowboy...I like to mosey around, keep people happy, make them laugh. And old Hans...he’s been good to me a couple of times. So.”
  • The atmosphere is tense: the land is frozen, the people isolated, and everyone is uneasy, especially about Hans’ erratic behavior.

• The Mountain Lion as Symbol & Obsession

  • Bjorkman's fixation grows. He sees the lion not just as a threat to livestock, but as an invader—an existential threat to everything he owns and loves, hinting at deeper jealousy and insecurity.
    • [10:13] – Hans: “I will kill him myself. I will kill him and see him die.”
    • [11:16] – Valentine: “Standing there in the doorway, worried about you, I guess. Your young wife.”

• Layers of Jealousy & Suspicion

  • George begins to suspect Hans' anger toward the lion masks deeper fears—perhaps jealousy over Olga and suspicion toward the other men at the lodge.
    • [12:07] – George: “You’d like to call a thief. A marauder. A sneak who comes into a man’s home to steal his...no, stop it.”

• Climax: The Hunt & The Murder

  • After Hans vanishes into the night with his rifle, the others pursue him and stumble upon the dead mountain lion—and Hans’s own corpse.
    • [18:00] – Peanut: “Look at the size of that mountain lion.”
    • [18:36] – “Yeah, he’s dead, Mr. Valentine. The cat must have jumped him.”

• Unraveling the Truth

  • George spots inconsistencies: how the shots were fired, the snow, broken ice, and a steel trap—signaling foul play, not accident.
    • [19:59] – George: “Why isn’t [the lake] frozen like everything else?...I’m not that much of a city boy.”
    • [21:35] – “A trap, Angel. A steel trap on the end of it. The trap the lion was in...since he’d been screaming from the same place.”

• Revelation & Resolution

  • Peanut (Pinochle), who seemed harmless, is revealed as the murderer. His plan: lure Hans to his death, stage the scene with the lion, and escape with Olga (and perhaps more).
    • [23:10] – George: “I guess he did want to break up the family, didn’t he?...he had to go through with it.”
    • [24:07] – “Keys to my car are gone.”
  • Peanut is found dead—killed by the mate of the trapped mountain lion, illustrating nature’s own rough justice.
    • [26:06] – George: “Dangerous thing to be a marauder, isn’t it?...Pinochle was killed by the lion’s mate.”

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Obsession:
  • Hans Bjorkman: “He has no place in the world. He’s a thief. This place is mine...A thief, I tell you, with no business to come stealing.” [10:25]
• Detective’s Insight:
  • George Valentine to Hans: “Did you ever hear of a man getting unreasonably mad at something when that something isn’t the real cause of his anger?” [11:31]

Timestamps

• 00:13 – Rafe’s letter explains the setup
• 03:13 – Peanut explains his background
• 10:13 – Hans’ obsession with killing the lion
• 18:00 – Discovery of the dead mountain lion and Hans’s body
• 21:35 – George reveals the steel trap, deducing murder
• 24:07 – Peanut flees, keys to Valentine’s car are missing
• 26:06 – Peanut’s body found, killed by the lion’s mate

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Segment 2: Philip Marlowe – “The Soft Spot”

Key Plot Points & Discussion

• Fog, Death, and Old Wounds

  • Marlowe is hired by Earl Hanley, a wealthy, rough-edged newspaper man, to track down an aging gardener (John Cooper) who has disappeared along with some silver goblets.
    • [27:54] – Hanley: “Marlowe? How are you, Mr. Hanley?...I’d like you to work for me again...It’s an old man who’s disappeared.”
  • Hanley’s motives: The goblets are a sentimental “present from a lady”; he feels a kinship with the old man, having himself once been in trouble.

• Skid Row Sleuthing

  • Marlowe’s investigation leads him through the foggy underbelly of Los Angeles: cigar shops, whittling bars, and flop houses.
    • [35:54] – The cigar trail goes bust: “I am blind.”
    • [36:50] – Marlowe follows Cooper’s friend Skeeter, learns about Cooper’s habits, and closes in on his last known whereabouts.

• Grim Discovery

  • Cooper is found murdered in a cheap room, a knife in his chest, a scratch on his neck, and a missing locket.
    • [40:03] – Marlowe: “No, not with that knife in his chest. I call that murder.”
  • Clues: an article about Nelson Root’s death and a connection to Root’s widow, Evelyn Lansing.

• The Hunter Becomes the Hunted

  • Marlowe confronts characters from Skid Row, tracks a man named Chalky (who stole the locket but denies the murder), and discovers a “zoot-suited man with big ears” who likely did the killing.

• Twist: Family Tragedy

  • The locket, found at a pawn shop, contains photos—Hanley’s mother and himself as a child. The old man killed is revealed as Hanley’s estranged father, who came not to blackmail but to reconcile.
    • [51:54] – Hanley: “Where did you get this locket, Mother? Where? Where?”
    • [52:06] – Marlowe: “It came from around the neck of a harmless, sentimental old man who was stabbed to death...that old man was your father.”
    • Hanley: “I had my own father killed. I ordered my own father’s death. I didn’t know it.” [52:17]

• Aftermath & Reflection

  • The scheme to cover up a prior murder with Hanley’s lover Evelyn goes up in smoke. Hanley breaks down, the woman confesses, and justice is served—but at enormous personal cost.
    • [53:51] – Marlowe’s closing: “Some people can get out of Skid Row, but Skid Row will never get out of some people.”

Notable Quotes & Moments

• Hanley’s Regret:
  • “I had my own father killed. I ordered my own father’s death. I didn’t know it.” – Earl Hanley [52:17]
• Marlowe’s Classic Cynicism:
  • “Get this and get it straight. Crime is a sucker’s road. And those who travel it wind up in the gutter, the prison or the grave.” [26:45]
• On Humanity:
  • Hanley: “He was nobody, Phil...So let’s just forget it.” [48:21]
  • Marlowe: “He’d never have turned you in or blackmailed you, Hanley, because that old man was your father.” [52:06]

Timestamps

• 27:54 – Marlowe takes Hanley’s case
• 35:54 – The search in cigar shops leads to nowhere
• 36:50 – Marlowe tracks Cooper’s contacts on Skid Row
• 40:03 – Cooper is found murdered
• 52:06 – Marlowe confronts Hanley with the truth
• 53:51 – Marlowe’s closing, “Some people can get out of Skid Row...”

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Memorable Moments & Final Thoughts

• The Human “Marauder”
  Both stories pit the titular “marauder” against the very idea of home, family, and security—sometimes it’s a starving beast, sometimes a trusted friend, sometimes our own past.
• Psychological Depth
  Under the grime and tension, both mysteries peel back layers to reveal how fear, jealousy, and loneliness can lead to murder—and sometimes, just retribution arrives from the most surprising quarter.
• Classic Noir Tone
  Sharp as ever, the writing and performances deliver suspense, pathos, and that bittersweet noir philosophy—no one is truly safe, everyone has secrets, and justice is rarely clean.

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Episode Timeline

• 00:13–26:06 – Let George Do It: “The Marauder”
• 26:45–53:51 – Philip Marlowe: “The Soft Spot”

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For listeners who crave atmospheric, psychologically rich detective yarns, this episode of Case Closed! frames two golden age classics that continue to resonate: a study in jealousy and violence in the wilderness, and a noir tale of family secrets and tragic misrecognitions in the city.

Transcript

[Narrator]

This is Case Closed Crime Stories from

[George Valentine]

the golden age of Radio. Personal notice dangers. My stock in trade. If the job's too tough for you to handle, you got a job for me? George Valentine. Write full details. Dear Mr. Valentine, my name is Rafe Saxon. I'm a writer. A very foolish writer. Because like all of my breed, I've had a lifelong desire to spend a winter in the woods. To get away from the tensions and fears and neuroses of the city. To live simply with simple, normal people. Well, here I am. A tiny, deserted resort in the Lobo range. And of course, it's all an illusion. I'm surrounded by more tension and fear that I ever knew before. And a friend of mine, the owner of the place, Hans Bjorkman, has become neurotic to the point of insanity. To the point where I can't control him. To the point where all he thinks of is the marauder, the invader, the pirate and cutthroat of the animal kingdom. Mr. Valentine, this man is obsessed by the idea of murdering a mountain lion.

[Peanut]

You are listening to Let George Do It. Our adventure will continue in just a moment. Now back to Let George Do It.

[Claire Brooks]

If we can only get out of this wind.

[Peanut]

Yeah, I got a big fire in the fireplace. Where'd you leave the car?

[George Valentine]

About five miles back. That hill beyond the aspen grove.

[Claire Brooks]

Yeah, the road was like glass. It's frozen practically solid.

[Peanut]

Eh, couldn't climb it. I know. Up one step and down two. It's a funny winter this year. Hardly any snow. Just ice cubes and hailstones and here we go. Doors are all the ports.

[Claire Brooks]

Oh, thank you.

[Peanut]

I don't think your friend Saxon's back yet. Been out communicating with nature. He's crazy like an Eskimo. Guess he's gonna write a book about the South Pole.

[George Valentine]

Hey, is your name Hans Bjorkman?

[Peanut]

Me? Oh, heck no. No, he's crazy too. Everybody is, except me. I'm just peculiar. Here, better wipe your feet.

[Claire Brooks]

Listen, George, it's a woman. Something's the matter with.

[Peanut]

Hey, what's it sound like to you, city boy?

[George Valentine]

That doesn't sound like a baby crying. What was it? Cat.

[Claire Brooks]

Cat?

[Peanut]

Yeah, that's it. Cat, puma, cougar, panther nuisance. Take your pick.

[George Valentine]

Mountain walk.

[Peanut]

That's a bad winner for everybody, I guess. Sounds hungry, don't he? Yeah, well, so am I. Come on, let's get inside. Only shut that door quick so Bjorkman don't hear it.

[George Valentine]

You mean hear that wail? Why not?

[Peanut]

I don't know, Mr. Something's going on I don't get the hang of. But when old Hans hears that long tail out there, he just sort of slides back in his rocker. Search me. I just poke cows for a living.

[Claire Brooks]

Does Hans Owned some cattle?

[Peanut]

No, no, no. A few head and some chickens. That's all. Pairs of them, all in pairs, like Noah sitting up in his ark. But I don't work here, if that's what you mean. Waiting for a job for the summer, that's all. Bears hibernate. Why shouldn't we? My name's Peanut.

[George Valentine]

Peanut?

[Peanut]

Sure. I'm an indoor style cowboy. I work two months making a playing bunkhouse. P knuckle to loaf. The other 10. Yeah, why not? I like to mosey around, keep people happy, make them laugh. And old Hans, he's. He's been good to me a couple of times. So.

[George Valentine]

So here you are, huh?

[Peanut]

Yeah. I wish I knew. What. Wish I was smart enough know how to help the old billy goat. He's old country and always hard to get close to. Sort of proud. He built this place here with his own hands. He'll give you the shirt off his back. But.

[Claire Brooks]

Is that them? What did Mr. Valentine.

[Peanut]

Oh, yeah, yeah, they're here. Come on down, fatty.

[Claire Brooks]

I'm so sorry. I've been getting your room pretty. Ms. Brooks, there's some hot chocolate for you. What? Oh, thanks.

[George Valentine]

Who's that?

[Claire Brooks]

Tell Hans I'll be right there. Oh, we're fine, thanks.

[George Valentine]

That his wife?

[Peanut]

Yeah, yeah. Good kid, if you don't go for much brain. You see, Hans just disappeared a couple of years ago and brought her back. And here she is. And she works her head off too, when she's not worrying about him.

[Claire Brooks]

Everybody seems to worry about Hans.

[Peanut]

Yeah, it's over her head too, I guess. Try to kid her out of it. She don't know what upsets her. Well, nobody knows except the cat.

[Claire Brooks]

Here I am. Oh, I'm so sorry. I wasn't downstairs when you came in. Hello, I'm Olga. Hello.

[George Valentine]

How do you do?

[Claire Brooks]

Well, what's the matter? Isn't my hair straight?

[Peanut]

You see what I mean? Everybody's crazy. She says a thing like that and don't even look in the mirror to find out.

[Claire Brooks]

Don't be quiet. Your hair is beautiful.

[George Valentine]

I'm afraid Pinocchio gave us the wrong impression, that's all. He called you Fatty.

[Claire Brooks]

Oh, him.

[Peanut]

Well, she is. Oh, come on, let's get that chalk.

[Claire Brooks]

I guess we didn't expect you to be so young, that's all. What? Gosh, I'm 26 already. Now I never have time to fix myself up or. Oh, Pinocchle, stop.

[Peanut]

Yeah, sure, sure. Just ugly old frau and stop. What?

[Claire Brooks]

No, don't pay any attention to him. He's the most awful. Hans.

[Peanut]

Well, come in, come in. I'm only kissing your wife, that's all. You don't have to point a gun at me.

[Hans Bjorkman]

Excuse me.

[Philip Marlowe]

Excuse me.

[Claire Brooks]

Oh, there's nothing to listen to out there except the wind, darling.

[Peanut]

Of course.

[Hans Bjorkman]

Hello, my dear. Well, these. These are Ms. Brooks and Mr. Valentine, the friends of Mr. Saxon.

[Peanut]

How do you do?

[Claire Brooks]

It such a pleasure.

[Various minor characters]

How do you do?

[George Valentine]

Hello, Mr. Bjorkman.

[Hans Bjorkman]

I am the host. And I am late and I let in the cold. There is no excuse. Have you poured me brandy, my dear? How are you, Mr. Valentine? My little place is so hard to get to, I'm afraid.

[George Valentine]

Oh, fine, fine, thanks. Well, that's quite a gun you've got there.

[Peanut]

Yeah, he uses it to put holes in the broad side of his barn. Don't you, Hans?

[Hans Bjorkman]

You are interested in guns?

[George Valentine]

Good, good.

[Hans Bjorkman]

Pinnacle and Saxon they are boys.

[Philip Marlowe]

They don't understand My rifle from the mail order house.

[Hans Bjorkman]

Here, I show you. When a man has a house, his land, he has a gun.

[George Valentine]

Yeah, well, just don't wave it around.

[Hans Bjorkman]

Wait a minute.

[Claire Brooks]

There wasn't anything, dear.

[George Valentine]

Well, if you're listening for that laugh,

[Peanut]

I didn't hear anything. Valentine.

[Claire Brooks]

No, Hans. Oh, for heaven.

[Hans Bjorkman]

Be quiet.

[George Valentine]

Pinochle. All I was going to say was that I did hear. It sounded like it came from about the same place as the last time.

[Claire Brooks]

Mr. Valens.

[Hans Bjorkman]

Be quiet, I said.

[Peanut]

Excuse me, please.

[Hans Bjorkman]

Maybe see you later. Yeah. He is Arth. He could hear Mr. Valentine. Who die. Excuse me.

[George Valentine]

Well, hello everybody.

[Claire Brooks]

Mr. Saxon.

[George Valentine]

Are you Valentine? Yeah, hello. How do you like my nervous host here? Put it down, Hans. Put it down. No hunting today. There's nothing out there.

[Hans Bjorkman]

You have been outside, Rafe. You must have heard it.

[George Valentine]

No, no, no. Just a little wind in a tree.

[Claire Brooks]

Hans, look out.

[George Valentine]

You crazy? Give me that gun.

[Hans Bjorkman]

I saw him, I tell you.

[Peanut]

I saw him.

[George Valentine]

Give me that.

[Hans Bjorkman]

He left the Baha.

[George Valentine]

You couldn't hit anything at that range.

[Hans Bjorkman]

Let go of me, I tell you. Let go. It is my house. It is my gun. It is up to me to kill Lenorota. So stay here, all of you. This time I will get him.

[George Valentine]

He shot past you in the doorway, Mr. Saxon. Maybe it scared you a little, but that's nothing to trust. You've seen how he acts every day and night for the past week. He's been out trying to find that brute. He doesn't even take time to eat. Well, what's wrong with that? This is his place. He's got a few head of stock to worry about. A hungry lion is dangerous. Why shouldn't he try to kill it? Why should you all pretend you don't even hear it? No, no, listen to me. It's a long story. It isn't what he does, it's how he does it. It's not normal. It's. Yeah, yeah. It's too long a story for me to listen to one, Mr. Valentine. I'd rather see what happens myself, thanks. Me, I'm gonna go out and help

[Peanut]

Hans run down his Marauder.

[George Valentine]

Oh, look, Hans. It's been an hour since I said it.

[Hans Bjorkman]

Another circle we go. In here.

[George Valentine]

Haven't even seen a track yet, have you?

[Hans Bjorkman]

Ground is so hard. Look at the sky. The snow may be lit up.

[George Valentine]

Sure, sure. And by then my feet will be frozen. Hey, Hans, how many chickens or whatever you got is this thing?

[Hans Bjorkman]

Actually, I have good, strong feelings. Nothing has been touched so far. But he is hungry.

[George Valentine]

You can tell, can you? You're not much of a hunter.

[Hans Bjorkman]

I have worked all my life to build what I have. There's been no time for hunting.

[George Valentine]

But I will find him.

[Hans Bjorkman]

I will kill him.

[George Valentine]

Ever think of traps or setting out poison?

[Hans Bjorkman]

I will kill him myself. I will kill him and see him die.

[George Valentine]

Well, how about calling in one of the state hunters to get him?

[Hans Bjorkman]

I will kill him myself or see him die.

[George Valentine]

You will, huh?

[Hans Bjorkman]

He has no place in the world. He's a thief. This place is mine. All my life I've worked on it. At night he comes with his flat, yellow eyes. Oh, yeah. I have seen him several times besides this afternoon. Snarling, hungry, long as a man, crouching in the frozen grass. A thief, I tell you, with no business to come stealing.

[Peanut]

A thief.

[George Valentine]

All right, all right, all right. Calm down.

[Hans Bjorkman]

Why should I laugh and stand by when everything I own is trying?

[George Valentine]

Stop it, will you? Man's castle is never secure, is it

[Hans Bjorkman]

that the kitchen door is open. We will not find him tonight.

[George Valentine]

I mean, you can work all your life for certain things. Never be sure of hanging onto them. Like her.

[Hans Bjorkman]

What did you see?

[George Valentine]

Yeah. Standing there in the doorway, worried about you, I guess. Your young wife.

[Hans Bjorkman]

Oh, all right, Olga, we are coming.

[George Valentine]

She's very beautiful, isn't she, Hans? Yeah, yeah.

[Hans Bjorkman]

Thank you.

[Philip Marlowe]

Sure, sure.

[George Valentine]

That's a compliment to you, Hans. Did you ever hear of a man getting unreasonably mad at something when that something isn't the real cause of his anger.

[Claire Brooks]

I am tired.

[Hans Bjorkman]

Please.

[Peanut]

You.

[George Valentine]

You make so many Taking it out on something. I mean, like the wrong marauder and, well, taking it out in hatred of a mountain lion.

[Hans Bjorkman]

I don't understand.

[George Valentine]

Now, come on. Come on, Hans. Tell me whether you admit it to yourself or not. Which one of those guys in there are you worried about?

[Hans Bjorkman]

Buddy?

[George Valentine]

With Olga? You know which one it is. You'd like to call a thief. A marauder. A sneak who comes into a man's home to steal his money.

[Hans Bjorkman]

No, Stop it.

[George Valentine]

Now take it easy.

[Philip Marlowe]

You can't say things like that.

[Hans Bjorkman]

She, Okie, is my wife. You do not understand. She is mine. Forgive me.

[Philip Marlowe]

Oh,

[George Valentine]

yeah, sure, buster. I'll forgive you. Only which man is it? Which one do you really want to murder? And now back to George Valentine. The marauder.

[Philip Marlowe]

A hungry, dangerous mountain lion. Or is it a man? If your name is George Valentine, you're ready to agree with Rafe Saxon, the man who sent for you when he said this place, this deserted resort in the frozen Lobo Range, is filled with tension and fear. You'll also agree that the owner, Hans

[Peanut]

Bjorkman, is obsessed with the idea of murder. Only murder of what or of whom? No, this isn't the kind of place where one sleeps well at night. Even Claire Brooks. Particularly when.

[Philip Marlowe]

What?

[Claire Brooks]

George? George.

[Peanut]

Yeah, sure.

[George Valentine]

I'm awake. Come on in.

[Claire Brooks]

Did you hear that? Yeah. It was a rifle shot. Way off.

[George Valentine]

The winds died down.

[Peanut]

Could have been several miles.

[George Valentine]

Not in that direction, I think.

[Claire Brooks]

It's so dark, there's no move. Mr. Valentine.

[George Valentine]

Hello, Mrs. Bjorkman. Wake you up too?

[Claire Brooks]

I heard a shot. Where's your husband? Where do you think? The shot woke me up and he was gone from bed. But here. His gun was gone too. But I found this on the pillow.

[George Valentine]

I know.

[Claire Brooks]

Oh, here, let me see. Olga, my dear, don't worry. I will be back soon. This time I know where to go. This time I will kill him and watch him die. George. Yes, Mr. Valentine? How could he know? What could he know now? That. Oh, well. I don't understand what. Listen, he could know what he wouldn't tell me.

[George Valentine]

He could know which one it is that he wants.

[Claire Brooks]

The lion. Same direction.

[George Valentine]

You got a flashlight? Olga.

[Claire Brooks]

What? George Wade. I'm going with you. There's Aladdin. Wait for me, too.

[George Valentine]

Hey, come on, step on it. Call pinochle. And Saxon too.

[Claire Brooks]

Listen, George. It was a door slammed the other side of the house. Mr. Saxon isn't in his room either

[George Valentine]

one of them just took off the front way. Come on. They're both gone. We'll catch up.

[Claire Brooks]

George hopping into a. What direction? Well, they go to find him too. It has to be Hans. He has the only gun for miles and miles. And, well, if he has found the lion at last, I got a pretty

[George Valentine]

good bearing, I think. Besides, it's snowing a little. Come on, move fast. We gotta beat an awful lot of brush in an awful hurry. Hey, where are you going with that ladder?

[Claire Brooks]

George, wait. Have you seen Hans?

[Peanut]

Have you?

[George Valentine]

I know, I know. I heard it. I'm looking too. I saw your lantern half an hour ago moving through the trees. Then I lost it. I think you're headed in the wrong. I'm not friend. You are one. Well, I don't know. I was working late in my writing, and in the room, the crazy hoot owl. I. I thought he was in bed. I came tearing out for sure. Just give me your flashlight. Follow us with a landing.

[Claire Brooks]

All right, Mr. Valentine.

[George Valentine]

He must have really gone off his head this time. Hans. Hans, can you hear me? Oh, save your breath, Saxon. It's still across the field and down toward the little lake. I think you can see way back on the line with the lights from the house. Snow in the face. Miserable, insane thing to be doing. Olga's a wonderful woman. I didn't say anything about Olga. She loves Hans. I know he's older than she is, but she does works her head off to make him happy. I told you, I didn't say anything about her. But she's beautiful, all right. But then, nature's rough. It's always paid off. But you can't protect a home forever when the ages are that far apart. You know the stuff Hans talks about. What should be done to marauders who try to break up the pairs, to the strays, the lone ones who try to break up. Hey, Peanut. I'll let you. Where are you?

[Peanut]

By the shore of the lake. Chased out of the house before you did. I guess the lights burned out. Here, get over here, quick. Here, here, here. Give me that.

[Philip Marlowe]

Price.

[George Valentine]

What is it, George?

[Claire Brooks]

What's happening?

[Peanut]

I stumbled. I dropped my light and look. Look at my hand.

[George Valentine]

Blood.

[Peanut]

Yeah, I stumbled on something. Don't you get it? Hans got him. Don't you get it?

[Hans Bjorkman]

The Marauder.

[Peanut]

Look. Holy smoke.

[George Valentine]

Look at the size of that mountain lion.

[Claire Brooks]

So there really was one.

[Peanut]

Right through the eyes. Look here. He drilled him right through these.

[George Valentine]

Sure close range. No wonder. But look at the paw. The leg practically blown off. Hans must have had the Muzzle. Pranking me next time you want this, George? Yeah. Give me that lantern. I can see something over here.

[Peanut]

Hans.

[Claire Brooks]

Hans?

[Peanut]

Yeah, He's. He's dead, Mr. Valentine. Look. Only a few feet away, too. Now, the cat must have jumped him. They will sometimes, you know. Hungry skinny ones like.

[Claire Brooks]

That's why he fired so close, George. Not in time.

[George Valentine]

Not in time to keep himself from bleeding to death, you mean. Look at those claw marks. All right, I got eyes on it.

[Peanut]

Easy, city boy. But we better get him back to the house anyway, don't you think? Snow's getting worse?

[George Valentine]

Sure, sure. It's a bad winter for everybody, lion and all. Yeah. Take this handkerchief. Get some water on it, will you?

[Peanut]

Oh, sure, sure.

[George Valentine]

There's nothing we could have done, Valentine. It's like pinochle says. Hans just slid back too far on his rocker. Nature caught up with.

[Peanut]

Oh, shut up.

[George Valentine]

Just give me his gun there, will you, Saxon? Oh, here. He's still hanging on to it.

[Peanut]

Here, here, Valentine, you said you wanted this handkerchief with. But there's almost enough snow on the

[George Valentine]

ground to cover things up. I know, huh? Marauder. Poor old crazy Hans. Valentine, what in the name. I don't know, buster. I don't know, but stand very still, both of you. Only three shells have been fired. But it's hard to keep you both covered in a place like this. Stay where you are. Your husband was murdered.

[Claire Brooks]

What? George, what are you talking about?

[George Valentine]

Pinocchle. Where'd you find the water, huh? Valentine, if you don't know claw marks when you see them. Be quiet, will you? Pinocchle, the water. Answer me. Where?

[Peanut]

Why, in the lake, naturally.

[George Valentine]

Why isn't it frozen like everything else in this godforsaken country?

[Peanut]

Well, the branches freeze and fall, that's all. They break the ice.

[George Valentine]

I'm not that much of a city boy.

[Peanut]

Well, how should I know?

[George Valentine]

Olga, come here. Hold this gun on him.

[Claire Brooks]

Whatever you say.

[Peanut]

Yeah.

[George Valentine]

Hang on to my hand, Brooks.

[Claire Brooks]

Yeah.

[Various minor characters]

Be careful.

[Peanut]

Hey, look out. That lakes over your head.

[George Valentine]

Oh, you know about that, huh? Sure. Here's where the ice is broken.

[Peanut]

Well, that's just what I got.

[George Valentine]

Three shells missing and. That's right, we heard a total of three shots. Remember, Brooksie? Over an hour ago back at the house?

[Claire Brooks]

That's right, George. But I.

[George Valentine]

The lion screamed after the third shot. You heard it. That's how it happened.

[Claire Brooks]

Yes, yes.

[George Valentine]

Keep that gun straight. It's hard enough to even see people in this crazy place. But wait a minute. Hans killed the lion with a clean shot through the eyes. Close Range right through his brain. How could he have screamed after he couldn't? So it doesn't make sense that Hans and the lion killed each other, now, does it? Wait a minute. Look here. Marks around the tree. Let me see. Chain or something.

[Peanut]

Sure, sure.

[George Valentine]

That's it. Get a loose France. Hang on again. Brooks, what are you doing? Another real close shot. Smashed the lion's leg, didn't it? Or was it already smashed and the shot was just to cover up the marks There might be. I don't know yet. I'm just guessing. But I know one of you guys are nearly an hour alone out here after the shots to set the scene any way you wanted. Yeah, yeah, there is something.

[Claire Brooks]

What is it, George?

[George Valentine]

Something that might have been anchored to the tree originally. Something Hans would never use. But if somebody else did, then it would prove Hans wasn't jumped by that lion. He was.

[Peanut]

Oh, listen to him. Listen to him. Riddles. He doesn't make a change.

[George Valentine]

And a trap, Angel. A steel trap on the end of it. The trap the lion was in ever since yesterday. Since he'd been screaming from the same place. Yeah, look. Even bits of fur still on it.

[Philip Marlowe]

So it was murder.

[George Valentine]

Why would anyone throw a trap in the. I'll take it from here, Saxon. Just help me out.

[Peanut]

Are you crazy? If it wasn't murder, it couldn't have been.

[George Valentine]

There's a gun on you, friend. And I guess you're it, aren't you? Saxon wouldn't have got me here in the first place if he was gonna pull one like this.

[Hans Bjorkman]

Get away from me.

[Philip Marlowe]

Olga.

[Hans Bjorkman]

Look out, George.

[Philip Marlowe]

He'll get away.

[Hans Bjorkman]

He's running.

[Philip Marlowe]

Stop it, Olga.

[George Valentine]

It doesn't do any good for you to kill him. He's gone. He's gone. Valentine. The marauder's go.

[Claire Brooks]

He beat us here to the house. All right, you can cut the telephone wires.

[George Valentine]

Big daylight in a few minutes.

[Peanut]

Well, I'll start out.

[Philip Marlowe]

But where?

[George Valentine]

He could be hiding almost anywhere outside. Oh, they'll get him.

[Peanut]

Don't worry, Saxon.

[George Valentine]

He's even got a gun. And if you ask me, he's running.

[Peanut]

All right.

[George Valentine]

Strike and run. I guess he did want to break up the family, didn't he? Kill Hans and then try to get old T Knuckle. Must have had that trap out before you even came here yesterday, Valentine. Yeah, that's right. Then he had to go through with it.

[Claire Brooks]

But, George, how could you have guessed? What not even Hans guessed that Pinochle was really getting ready to murder him.

[George Valentine]

Wording of that note to Olga, remember? Hands Were not after the lion said he knew just where to go. Just where to get him. Well, how could he have been so sure? Unless somebody come to him in the night and told him where it was Peanut. He led him out there until they came to where the lion was screaming in the trap. And then Pinochle had all the time in the world.

[Peanut]

Sure.

[George Valentine]

Kill them both. The rest was easy. And it would have worked. Nobody would have investigated. The snow would have covered everything. And the human thief, the worst marauder, might have eventually persuaded Olga.

[Claire Brooks]

What's the matter, George? Smoke?

[George Valentine]

I just figured out why Pinocchle stopped by here at the house, that's all. He's running, all right. The keys to my car are gone.

[Peanut]

Back to the conclusion of our Let George do it adventure in just a moment.

[George Valentine]

Chin up, Angel. We parked around this bend, remember?

[Claire Brooks]

Look, the snow didn't cover all his tracks. You can see where he came. He was running. George, I'm still trying to figure. That business of the shot in the screen. I mean, no matter how you add

[George Valentine]

it doesn't make sense. I know, Brooks, Peanut laughed. City boy said. Well, that was what started me going, because I thought it was impossible. But I just realized, even when we knew about the murder, it was still impossible.

[Claire Brooks]

Look. Look. The car. It's still down there. He didn't take it.

[George Valentine]

Oh, Lord, no. Those tracks.

[Claire Brooks]

It's nothing.

[George Valentine]

Where are you going? The Marauder. Angel, look at those tracks.

[Claire Brooks]

Look.

[George Valentine]

Why Pinocchio was running. Something else I should have caught. Lion was in the trap all day yesterday. But Hans saw a lion and fired at it down by the barn around dusk. We just thought he was seeing things. But it was another lion screaming.

[Claire Brooks]

Hey, that's him. There he is. There he is.

[Philip Marlowe]

Dead.

[Claire Brooks]

He couldn't even make it to the car.

[George Valentine]

Come on, now. Easy.

[Peanut]

Don't look at him, Brooksy.

[Hans Bjorkman]

Oh, George.

[George Valentine]

It's all right, Angel. It's all right. Dangerous thing to be a marauder, isn't it? To murder a husband or a wife? Nature's the same all over, I guess. Everything in pairs. Pinochle was killed by the lion's mate.

[Philip Marlowe]

Get this and get it straight. Crime is a sucker's road. And those who travel it wind up in the gut of the prison of the grave. There's no other end. But they never learn.

[Narrator]

From the pen of Raymond Chandler, outstanding author of crime fiction, comes his most famous character in the Adventures of Philip Marlowe. Now with Gerald Moore starred as Philip Marlowe, we bring you tonight's exciting story, the Soft Spot. And so Much for the news from abroad here, Los Angeles.

[Peanut]

Two persons were killed and eight injured

[Narrator]

today in three separate automobile accidents attributed

[Peanut]

directly to the thick fog that has

[Narrator]

blanketed the city ever since yesterday morning.

[Peanut]

And according to the weather Bureau, the

[Narrator]

fog which is rolling in from the

[Philip Marlowe]

sea will be with us for smug.

[George Valentine]

Everything's.

[Philip Marlowe]

Hello?

[Peanut]

Philip Marlow, please. Earl Hanley speaking.

[Philip Marlowe]

This is Marlow. How are you, Mr. Hanley? How's the newspaper circulation business?

[Peanut]

Horrible zooming fella. Oh, look, Marno, could you come out to my joint on las Feliz Boulevard? 3000, 810. I'd like you to work for me again. And you write your own ticket as usual.

[Philip Marlowe]

No, no thanks. They play too rough in your league, Hanley. Besides, it's a bum night to ride around in a cold newspaper truck watching out for hijackers.

[Peanut]

No, no, no, no, Marlow. It's nothing like that. This is personal business. It's an old man who's disappeared. I'd like you to find him for me.

[Philip Marlowe]

Still a dark night.

[Peanut]

Double your fee.

[Philip Marlowe]

I see a light, Mr. Hanley. Outside, the city was wrapped up tight in the kind of wet ceiling, zero fog that leaves you feeling damp and all alone. Hanley's joint on Las Feliz was an old English stone mansion, sprawling, smothered ivy and about as cozy and come hither as a scream and the night. Inside, I followed an aging, round shouldered butler whose footsteps didn't make any noise along the type of high, wide, nice cold furnished corridor you find only in museums. When we finally arrived at Hanley's study, however, things changed. It was a small room with bright lights, heat and a desk cluttered with friendly bric, a brac. Hanley himself was standing against the far wall. And for a moment the contrast was jarring because the self made man in shirt sleeves, built like a boxcar and chewing on a cold cigar at all match the collection of stiff family photos, 1890s style, that hung on the wall behind him.

[Peanut]

What is it, Marlowe? Hard to find the family resemblance from here.

[Philip Marlowe]

Your folks, Mr. Hanley?

[Peanut]

Yeah. Left to right. My mother. She passed on a year ago. He's a kid. My father a lush and my grandfather. He claimed to have killed more Indians than ever existed. All born and raised in a lot of nothings named Walker Foe.

[Philip Marlowe]

Yeah. Couldn't hold you, huh?

[Peanut]

Couldn't bring me back either. Even when Ma died, I was only a little tyke. When I ran away. Mono. Couldn't stand my grandfather. Even then, nothing but a rod and a bottle.

[Philip Marlowe]

Bad combo. How about your father.

[Peanut]

Oh, I wrote a few nice words to him when Sister wrote me that Ma died. And I sent a fat check for flowers and a tombstone. But he never answered. Probably drank the dough up. He never could save a buck in his own, they tell me. Anyhow, enough of letting her hair down on Marlowe. Let's get on to business.

[Philip Marlowe]

Sit down. Oh, thanks.

[Peanut]

Sure.

[Philip Marlowe]

You. You said someone disappeared, Mr. Hanley? An old man?

[Peanut]

Yeah, there was a gardener here. Marlow. Name's Cooper. John Cooper. He's 60, 65 maybe. Tall and skinny and got a fringe of curly hair around his ears. The rest is strictly cue ball. Yeah, he shoved off yesterday.

[Philip Marlowe]

With what, Hanley?

[Peanut]

With. You catch on fast.

[Philip Marlowe]

You know, it's my trade.

[George Valentine]

Yeah?

[Peanut]

Yeah, well, stuff don't amount to too much. Half a dozen fancy silver drinking glasses. Those goblets worth about a hundred apiece. Nothing that'll dent me. Also, I'm insured, of course.

[Philip Marlowe]

Well, then the goblets mean something else.

[Peanut]

They do. Let's call them a present from a lady.

[Philip Marlowe]

All right, let's.

[Peanut]

I want the back, Mother.

[Philip Marlowe]

Why me? Why not the insurance company, the law?

[Peanut]

No, that I don't want. And if you laugh when I tell you the reason, I'm going to punch you right square on the nose and have some scotch.

[Philip Marlowe]

No, thanks. Go ahead.

[Peanut]

Well, drink alone then, if you don't mind.

[Philip Marlowe]

I don't mind.

[Peanut]

It's this old duck, Cooper. You know, I feel sorry for him. Yeah, he came in here one day last week, cap in hand, looking beat as an alley cat. So I gave him a job helping one of the gardeners. But I was onto him right from the start.

[Philip Marlowe]

What does that mean?

[Peanut]

He was a gardener like I'm a ballet dancer. And I could tell. And from there on, it got worse. First couple of days, he watched me and everybody else around here popeyed as a shoplifter. Loose and Tiffany's.

[Philip Marlowe]

But you didn't fire him? No.

[Peanut]

No, I figured a few square meals, some sleep, a little dough in his pocket. Calvin Down. So I just put a new master padlock in my trophy room and let it go with it.

[Philip Marlowe]

That was your mistake, huh? Yeah.

[Peanut]

But just so you don't think I'm losing my marvels, Phil, I better tell you about another mistake, but gonna have to make this short dinner guest, you know.

[Philip Marlowe]

Another mistake? Yeah.

[Peanut]

Fifteen years ago, Phil, I was in a spot just like this, Cooper. Yeah. I was broke, hungry, mad at the world, and in a position to do the wrong thing. I did and I got caught. The boss understood Read me the riot act and let me go. Today it's my turn. Want a laugh?

[Philip Marlowe]

Not very much. Tell me, what have you got for me to go on?

[Peanut]

Well, thin air.

[Philip Marlowe]

Abature.

[Peanut]

Good, Marley. You'll make out. Name and description. I already gave you that. All right, here's the rest of it. According to the servants, one lives somewheres around skid row. Two, he never touched anything that kicked harder than ginger ale and that he went for in a big way. Three, he had a buddy in his neighborhood who was teaching him how to wiggle. You know, make stuff. Carbon wood. Yeah, I know.

[Philip Marlowe]

That's it, huh?

[Peanut]

Well, that plus the fact that he smoked these pint sized cigars. We found a pack of them. The overalls are one. Here they are. They're called Aces Up. Made in a downtown LA shop, also on skid row. Oh, the address is on the box there. Could help? Could.

[Philip Marlowe]

Well, see what I can do, Mr. Hanley.

[Peanut]

Okay, Marlow, call me as soon as you get close, will you?

[Philip Marlowe]

Marlow?

[Peanut]

Yeah, I. I want those goblets pretty bad, but take care of the old man, will you?

[Philip Marlowe]

I know what you mean.

[Peanut]

Yeah.

[Philip Marlowe]

Also Hanley, I think it's a pretty decent thing.

[George Valentine]

Yeah.

[Peanut]

You'll have to excuse me, man. I got a change for my guests. Talk to you, huh?

[Philip Marlowe]

I followed Hanley back along the museum corridor past the guests who included a spy. Beautiful lady dressed in too much black, chatting with a crisp item in banker's gray flannel who looked like he'd been born holding an hors d'.

[Peanut]

Oeuvre.

[Philip Marlowe]

I didn't see how they could have much in common with their host. But when the big front door he's closed behind me, I forgot about them and concentrated on finding a needle in a haystack. A needle in a haystack and a fog yet. Well, the tobacco manufacturer responsible for the handmade black rope called Aces up was my first try. His shop was a two by four dirty glass storefront labeled H andrave in dry peeling gold foil that flaked off when I opened and closed the front door. And what had to be the proprietor was alone, rolling cigars on a rickety table that was stacked on high with damp, dark tobacco leaves. He didn't look up when I described the man I was after. Bastard. He'd seen him. Moment later, when he did turn his head my way to answer, I realized why.

[Peanut]

I am sorry, senor.

[Philip Marlowe]

I don't see nobody.

[George Valentine]

I am blind.

[Philip Marlowe]

Fine start, huh? For some cockeyed reason, like the fog of the kind of man I was after. Or the neighborhood of derelicts I moved through which could have have used a few sprays of sweet air. Didn't get any better, not at least for the next hour, during which I stuck to the wood carving angle and covered every possible tie in I could think of, including a visit to a nearby home for retired men of the sea.

[Narrator]

Looking for someone who's teaching a man to whittle.

[Philip Marlowe]

That's right. He's teaching an old man named John Cooper.

[Peanut]

Ever hear of him? No, can't say I have.

[Philip Marlowe]

But lots of lads here whittle. Why don't you have a chat with him? Okay, in the morning.

[George Valentine]

They're all bedded down now, mate.

[Philip Marlowe]

Wouldn't want to pipe them out over a silly question like yours, Butcher. No, no, skipper.

[Peanut]

Let him sleep.

[Philip Marlowe]

Right there. The whittling went the way of aces up cigars and I turned to my last hope, John Cooper's miniature for ginger ale. However, asking about that in the cheap noisy bars at dotted Main street was even a sillier question that gave all the local comics their big break. Finally. Straight ginger rad, you say, huh?

[George Valentine]

Now let me see.

[Philip Marlowe]

I get so many orders for it. You know, it could have been the

[Hans Bjorkman]

time Carrie Nation stopped in.

[Philip Marlowe]

Or was it the night some joker who was eating pig's knuckles called for a finger bowl? Now look, bright eyes, let's work a little less on the gags and a little more. Hey, see that guy over there in the corner booth? A little fellow whittling on that stick. You know him? Come on, come on. Here's five for your trouble. Who is he? The name is Skeeter. Been doing his drinking and wood chopping here for five years. Is he always alone? Not always. Sometimes. He has a buddy with him lately. An old ball he's trying to teach how to cut them poles. A guy who never orders nothing at all, so don't get sick. What does Skeeter drink? Skeeter? Yeah.

[Various minor characters]

Why?

[Philip Marlowe]

He always has bourbon.

[Hans Bjorkman]

It

[George Valentine]

bourbon and ginger ale.

[Hans Bjorkman]

This the guy you want?

[George Valentine]

Must drink skeeters chases, huh?

[Philip Marlowe]

That figures.

[Narrator]

Thanks.

[Philip Marlowe]

Well, don't mention it.

[Peanut]

Screwball. A profitable pleasure with light. Making me nervous.

[Philip Marlowe]

What is it, Mr. Lou? Something sort of. John Cooper. Oh, have you seen him?

[George Valentine]

Skeeter?

[Philip Marlowe]

He told me I could get in touch with him through you here at this bar. Said you were a friend. And I am. Say, is he in trouble, mister? Maybe. What makes you ask? Because he didn't show tonight and last night he was all out of sorts. Had something on his mind. Couldn't Pay attention to the lesson I was giving him. Is it bad? No, not if I can get next to him in a hurry. Tell me, Skeeter, do you know where he. Where he stays? Sure do. A rat hole over on South Spring, number two. Hey, wait. You ain't a cop, are you? Oh, no, a friend. Skeeter?

[George Valentine]

Yeah?

[Philip Marlowe]

What kind of cigars does he smoke? Friend ace is up. Do I pass?

[Peanut]

Uh huh.

[Philip Marlowe]

It's 2:10 South Spring. 2:10 South Spring. Thanks. So long, Skeeter. I'll get in touch if I need any more help. Oh, sorry buddy. I was in a hurry. I didn't see you.

[Peanut]

You. You lost up my shoe shine, sweetheart. Where you running?

[Philip Marlowe]

Get your mitts off. I said I was sorry. What do you want? The dime you invested in the shiny your ears slapped down into the pockets of that zoot suit witch.

[Peanut]

Okay, okay, we'll let it go.

[Philip Marlowe]

I thought we would. So long again, Skeeter. And thanks. After I made my call to my client and told him how we stood, I drove the half a dozen blocks to 210 S. Spring St. The place was the kind of stale smelling beer can littered dingy two story affair that made you wonder if the garbage collector got around anymore. When I knocked on the cracked glass front door that sported a laundry shirt, cardboard that said Rooms for rent and eyebrow pencil, I was ready for anything. And that's what I got. Puffy red eyes, bad teeth, smell of cheap gin, all in a cold cream, shiny face that was half hidden by enough bleached blonde hair to stuff an ottoman.

[Various minor characters]

Hey, handsome. I can catch my death of cold here. What's up?

[Philip Marlowe]

You're the landlady?

[Various minor characters]

No, she passed out. But I was drinking with her, so I'll do. What do you want?

[Philip Marlowe]

An old man named John Cooper.

[Various minor characters]

Is he in a skinny duffer? Yeah, I guess so. I seen him earlier. It's that door back there. The one on the right.

[Claire Brooks]

Hey. Hey, Chalky. What do you want back there? Where are you going?

[Various minor characters]

Let's see you this way, mister.

[Philip Marlowe]

Hey, was that Cooper's room the fella just came out of? Last on the right?

[Various minor characters]

Yeah, that's it. That lause probably swiped your friend's bottle. He's the kind. Ah, empty.

[Philip Marlowe]

Too bad.

[Various minor characters]

You know, he drinks you under the table and then takes what's left.

[Philip Marlowe]

Which in this case would be ginger ale. Cooper doesn't drink.

[Various minor characters]

Yeah. Oh, I didn't know about that. Hey. Hey, you got company.

[Claire Brooks]

Hey, Cooper.

[Various minor characters]

Lights on.

[Philip Marlowe]

Try the knob, huh?

[Various minor characters]

You're kind of anxious. Yeah, it's Your game, mister? He doesn't drink.

[Claire Brooks]

Huh?

[Various minor characters]

What do you call that spread eagle position on the floor? Nothing.

[Philip Marlowe]

No, not with that knife in his chest. I call that murder.

[Narrator]

In just a moment we will return to the second act of Philip Marlowe. But first, one of your favorite laugh shows and stars. My Favorite Husband, starring Lucille Ball will return to CBS this Saturday night. Formerly heard on Sunday nights. Lucille Ball and her favorite husband will now be heard on most of these same CBS stations every Saturday night. Be listening this Saturday when Lucille plunges that favorite husband into a mad and merry mix up over who is the town's best or worst dressed man. Now with our star Gerald Moore, the second act of Philip Marlow and tonight's story, the the soft spot.

[Philip Marlowe]

The old man's body was rumpled in death like a discarded bundle of rags loosely pinned at the center with a knife that had killed him. And as the frowsy blonde gradually realized he was dead, the look on her face was dumb slack mouthed for emotion.

[Various minor characters]

Gee, death's an awful looking thing, ain't it?

[Philip Marlowe]

Ain't it?

[Various minor characters]

Hey, don't touch him, mister. It don't seem decent.

[Philip Marlowe]

Decency is strictly relative, sister. There's a scratch here on his neck like a woman's fingernail breaked it.

[Claire Brooks]

Where?

[Various minor characters]

Hey, his locket's gone.

[Philip Marlowe]

Locket? Yeah, this old guy wore a locket?

[Various minor characters]

Yeah, I seen it on him yesterday when the cops hauled off that redhead from upstairs. This old guy was shaving and he came out in the hall without his shirt on to watch. And I seen the locker around his neck.

[Philip Marlowe]

What'd it look like?

[Various minor characters]

It was a little square one on a gold chain. Now it ain't there.

[Philip Marlowe]

Ripped off and in a hurry. That much old gold's not worth murder even in this backwash. Baby, what do you use for closets?

[Various minor characters]

Closets? Are you kidding? In this dump you hang your stuff on the plumbing and like it. Why?

[Philip Marlowe]

Well then there's no place here that six big silver goblets could be hiding.

[Various minor characters]

I guess he couldn't hide a shot glass in this joint. Not for long anyway.

[Philip Marlowe]

All the old boy travel light. There's nothing here.

[Claire Brooks]

But what?

[Various minor characters]

Hey, what'd you find? What'd you find?

[Philip Marlowe]

Oh, this newspaper story on the table torn out of the day before yesterday's paper. It says, Nelson Root, wealthy Beverly Hills broker, dies in a freak car smasher. Rude is survived by his wife, former showgirl Evelyn Lansing.

[Various minor characters]

Now what do you suppose that old guy was saving that for? To have solo shoes with maybe?

[Philip Marlowe]

Oh, sure. Now look, as long as you got your brain in gear, tell me where I can find that guy who ran out of here.

[Various minor characters]

Chalky?

[Philip Marlowe]

Yeah.

[Various minor characters]

Hey, listen, mister, I don't want to get mixed up in this. I just live here.

[Philip Marlowe]

I'm back here. You're already mixed up in it.

[Various minor characters]

That Chalky's awful hard, mister. I wouldn't want to cross.

[Philip Marlowe]

Now, listen, that old man there was murdered, remember? It's for keeps. You tell me here and now. Are the cops down at headquarters?

[Peanut]

Come on.

[Philip Marlowe]

Where does he live?

[Various minor characters]

I don't know for sure. I think I heard once he's got a shack in the alley behind some warehouse over on San Pedro's.

[Philip Marlowe]

Which warehouse?

[Various minor characters]

I don't know. Honest, I don't know. Hey, you might find out at Dooley's Diner. I think he shoots craps over there.

[Philip Marlowe]

Okay. Thanks, baby. And do yourself another favor before you cool off. Call the police. It took a solid hour of devious back alley trails before I finally broke down the intimidated loyalty of the skid row brotherhood with a well placed $10 bill and got a bona fide lead. The thick fog that crawled along the alley Chalky's shack had all the welcome home look of a wet gutter. Was wedged in under the hulking concrete base of an overpass like. Like dirt under a giant fingernail. Sick yellowish light oozed out through a single tiny window too murky to see into. So I did the next best thing and hoped that he was alone inside.

[Hans Bjorkman]

Who's there?

[Philip Marlowe]

Who is it? Aye, I got a tip for you. Chucky Dooley sent me. It's about the johns. They're after you. Hey, wait a minute.

[Hans Bjorkman]

What's the tip, fellow? Hey. Hey, where are you?

[Philip Marlowe]

Right here, Chalky. Stay where you are, buster. I'll kick your head off.

[Hans Bjorkman]

Hey. Hey, what's the idea?

[Philip Marlowe]

I want fast answers, Chalky. Nice straight ones. Wipe your knife to the old guy tonight.

[Hans Bjorkman]

Knife? The old. Hey, who are you? What's the idea?

[Philip Marlowe]

I want answers, not questions. Chalky. Why'd you throw it?

[Hans Bjorkman]

I didn't. I didn't kill him. I never used the ship. He was already dead when I went in there. I lifted that locket off to the old coot, that's all.

[Philip Marlowe]

So help me. Give me that locket.

[Hans Bjorkman]

He ain't got it no more, Ma. Murphy's got it now. I. I hocked it already. She gave me three and a quarter on it. Look, I. I got a buck left. If you want that, you can have.

[Philip Marlowe]

Lying grifter. You kill an old man to get the trinket for 2 cents.

[Hans Bjorkman]

Well no I didn't. I seen that guy with the big ears run out of the old coots room so I went up the.

[Philip Marlowe]

Wait a minute, wait a minute. Guy with big ears?

[Hans Bjorkman]

Yeah, he was a zoot suited. I never seen him around before. I had to remember them flaps of his. He ran out of the old guy's joint in the big steam squad. Hey now listen buddy. He was the guy who done it, honest. Ain't no doubt about it, he was.

[Peanut]

Hey now wait a minute you.

[Hans Bjorkman]

You ain't a friend of his are

[Philip Marlowe]

you, is it man, unless he was 10.

[Hans Bjorkman]

Oh now listen buddy. I never put the finger on the guy before in my life but when it's protecting my own height I gotta.

[Philip Marlowe]

Yeah, I could have been the finger salon Chucky and drop dead. It was still foggy outside but my own personal fog began to lift. Big ears must have been tailing me, overheard me on the phone and got to the old man first. But why? Why the clipping that old man Cooper had about Nelson Roots accident. Nelson wrote, survived by a widow. A widow? Holy smoke. Callahan of the Daily Star gave me half a dozen pictures of Evelyn Lansing Root from her early cheesecake days right on up to the role of widow in mourning. There was no doubt left. She was the lady in black, one of my client's dinner guests. By the time I'd driven through the fog out to Las Feliz again and up the Hanley sprawled out house, I'd lined the whole business up to where it made a twisted kind of sense. There was nothing left to do but nub it in his lap. I found him in his study.

[Peanut]

What's wrong Marlow?

[Philip Marlowe]

Maybe you better tell me.

[Peanut]

Tell you what? Did you find Cooper or didn't you?

[Philip Marlowe]

Sure I found him. I found him dead.

[Peanut]

What? The old man is dead.

[Philip Marlowe]

You know perfectly well he's dead.

[Peanut]

Come on Marlow, sit down, have a drink. You'll be.

[Philip Marlowe]

No thanks. I covered a lot of ground tonight. Most of it pretty slimy. Led me in a big circle. It started here and ends here. And now it's late. Both fairly intelligent. Let's give each other a break, shall we? Let's suppose that a man was in love with a woman, a married woman who was tired of her husband.

[Peanut]

So? So she and the man arranged for the husband to die in a freak accident.

[Philip Marlowe]

Yeah, yeah, that's right. And let's suppose a strange old geezer overheard them planet and then disappeared.

[Peanut]

Oh, that's rough, rough. I imagine they'd have to find him and shut him up, wouldn't they? Or he'd blackmail him to death.

[Philip Marlowe]

Possibly. And how do you suppose they'd go about that, Hanley? Hire a private detective? Maybe give him a song and a dance about a theft? A trumped up story about some missing silver goblets? Maybe.

[Peanut]

Maybe. Only he'd be much too reputable to do their killing.

[Philip Marlowe]

Yeah, so they'd hire a professional killer, one with big ears to follow the detective. And when the old man was located, the killer would step in and go

[Peanut]

to work with a knife and then vanish completely. Because he'd be a good professional man.

[Philip Marlowe]

Well, Hanley?

[Peanut]

Well, Milo? Oh, yeah, that's a great yarn, but a little fantastic, isn't it?

[Philip Marlowe]

Yeah.

[Peanut]

Oh, good. Boy, that's the way I figured. Too weird to take seriously.

[Philip Marlowe]

Only I'm gonna make it stick,

[Peanut]

Marlow. You try to embarrass me with a crackpot theory like that and I'll make you the laughingstock of this state, do you hear? I'll have you hooted right out of the business. Because you don't have one shred of proof, Marlow. And you'll never be able to get one.

[Philip Marlowe]

And what's more, you know it.

[Hans Bjorkman]

Don't. Don't.

[Philip Marlowe]

Get your hands off me, Hanley.

[Peanut]

Oh, come on, Phil.

[Philip Marlowe]

Come on, come on.

[Peanut]

Let's have that drink now. And then you go on home and forget all about this, huh, Joey? Oh. After all, the old jerk was just a skid road drifter. He didn't belong any place. Who'll ever miss him? He was nobody, Phil.

[Claire Brooks]

Get it?

[Peanut]

Mr. Nobody.

[Philip Marlowe]

He's no law.

[Peanut]

So let's just forget it, Marlow.

[Philip Marlowe]

Wait a minute.

[Peanut]

Wanna come back here?

[Philip Marlowe]

I had to get out. What made it even worse to us that I knew he had me, I couldn't even begin to prove the first word of what I knew was the truth. I couldn't sleep with it either. That was why an hour later I leaned against the lamppost back on skid row again and looked across a lifeless intersection through the eddying fog at the gaunt flop house where the old man had died. Well, well, well. Awayfaring stranger in the night. Hi, pal. Bated. Wait a minute. Wayfaring stranger. Couldn't you accommodate me to the extent of a match? Or would that break your back? Here, keep him.

[George Valentine]

Thanks.

[Philip Marlowe]

Why don't you go home, pal? Nothing happens here on Cooper street after

[Peanut]

2 in the a.m.

[Philip Marlowe]

as a matter of fact, nothing happens anywhere anymore. Cooper. That's one right out of the book. I'll bet 50 bucks on it. Nine out of ten they'll take the name of a street, huh? Never mind. You live around here? Where's my Murphy's Pawn Shop?

[George Valentine]

Easy. Watch the lapels, pal.

[Philip Marlowe]

Well, come on. Where is it, Mars? Join us three blocks down on Filbert. Downstairs. Miller to the block, but there's no romance there.

[Claire Brooks]

I still got a good notion to call the cops. The idea getting me out of a warm bed in the middle of the night to give you a look at a cheap little locket and all. On a dizzy hunch, you said?

[Philip Marlowe]

Yeah, wild one. You know the locket I mean, Mark? Come on, try it out.

[Claire Brooks]

That'll do you no good anyway, sonny. And so a tree for 30 days yet. The law, you know.

[Philip Marlowe]

Yeah, sure, but you've been waking at the law so long, you're blind in one eye, Ma.

[Claire Brooks]

Is that so? Well, here you are, see? Is it hot, Sunny?

[Philip Marlowe]

I'll know in a minute. It's the inside. I want to see if it's. Oh, what is it, sonny?

[Claire Brooks]

Is something the matter?

[Philip Marlowe]

Yeah, my hunch paid off, Ma. It's hot, all right. Hot enough to burn a guy to death. Here's my card. I'm taking this along.

[Claire Brooks]

What? Now, hold on a minute, Hugh. Hey, stop. I'll call the cops.

[Philip Marlowe]

Don't bother, honey. I'll call him myself. The lights were still on in Earl Hanley's study, so I pulled over and parked on the street and went up the walk on foot. And as I moved to the door, the fog slid around me in thick swirls. When Hanley answered, his face was hard and ugly. He had a gun in his hand.

[Peanut]

Our business is over with, Marlow.

[Philip Marlowe]

Not quite, Hanley.

[Peanut]

What do you want?

[Philip Marlowe]

I got a tag for our fantastic little just suppose story.

[Peanut]

You're either drunk or stupid, Marlow. I warned you once, now beat it.

[Philip Marlowe]

Not till you've heard my punchline, Hanley. It goes like this. Suppose a wife died after 40 years of marriage and left her husband alone. A lonely, lost old man who's mellowed with the years. Suppose he doesn't have much time left himself, and he knows it. But he's got an obsession, an old unhappiness he wants to set straight. He wants to see a fella, not cause any trouble. Just be around where he can look at him now and then.

[Peanut]

Come on, get to the point.

[George Valentine]

Sure.

[Philip Marlowe]

This is the point, Hanley. Here. Here, take it.

[Peanut]

Where did you get this locket, Mother? Where? Where?

[Philip Marlowe]

Just suppose it has your picture on one side and your mother's on the Other what then?

[Peanut]

I gave this locket to my mother when I was a kid. Where did you get it? Come on, tell me.

[Philip Marlowe]

It came from around the neck of a harmless, sentimental old man who was stabbed to death tonight by a hired killer. He'd never have turned you in or blackmailed you, Hanley, because that old man was your father.

[Peanut]

I. I had my own father killed. I ordered my own father's death. I didn't know it.

[Philip Marlowe]

Yeah. Mr. Nobody remember mind. Hanley.

[George Valentine]

Give me the gun.

[Philip Marlowe]

We can go now. Hanley went quietly all the way. He kept the little locket clenched in his fist. But as I led him up the stairs at police headquarters, he broke loose long enough to shatter both his hands against the marble pillar. He wound up in a straitjacket. But it didn't matter much because I. When they picked up Evelyn Root, the lady in too much black, she filled in the rest of the story, including a lead to Big Ears. When it was over and I was sitting outside in my car alone in the fog that pressed close against the windows, I could see nothing of the city. Nothing but the soft, swimming white mist which hid the black outlines of Skid Row. Funny thing, you know. Some people can get out of Skid Row, but Skid Row will never get out of some people.

[Narrator]

The adventures of Philip Marlo bringing you Raymond Chandler's most famous character Star Gerald Moore are produced and directed by Richard Sanville and written for radio by Robert Mitchell and Gene Levitt. Featured in the cast were Bill Boucher, Vivie, Janis, Verna Felton, Edgar Barrier, Peter Leeds, Nestor Piva and Paul Dubov. The special music is composed and conducted by Richard Durant. Be sure and be with us again next week when Philip Marlow sing.

[Philip Marlowe]

This time there were five masks. One for greed, one for cowardice, one for cruelty and one for deceit. And they all covered a murder. But it was the fifth mask that really counted because it uncovered the killer.

[Narrator]

For some Easy to listen to music on Sunday afternoons. Be sure to hear those favorites that the Symphonat and the Coraliers which return to CBS this Sunday afternoon. The Symphonat brings you musical favorites from the lighter classics played by a group of outstanding instrumentalists. The choral ears sing rousing marches, popular songs of the day and familiar music of the past. Hear the Symphonet and the Coral Ears this Sunday and every Sunday afternoon on most of these same CBS stations.

[Hans Bjorkman]

To hear each and every star leave

[Various minor characters]

your dials where they are because this

[Hans Bjorkman]

is cbs, the Stars address. Yes, cbs, the Stars address.

[Narrator]

Roy Rowan speaking. This is cbs, where next week you will hear Philip Marlowe. And hour and a half later, Eastern Daylight Saving Time on the Columbia Broadcasting System.