Podcast Summary

Podcast: Choice Classic Radio Detectives | Old Time Radio

Episode: Broadway Is My Beat: The Anna Compton Murder Case (09/15/1951)
Host: Choice Classic Radio
Air Date: December 10, 2025 (streamed/replayed)

Main Theme

This episode of “Broadway Is My Beat” centers around the investigation into the murder of Anna Compton, whose body is found in the front seat of a car on Broadway. Detective Danny Clover and his colleagues unravel a web of jealousy, deceit, and wounded pride among Anna’s husband Leo Compton, her lover Edward Bishop, and others in her life. The episode explores classic noir motifs of alienation and the violence lurking beneath the gaudy surface of postwar New York.

Key Discussion Points and Investigation Steps

1. Discovery of the Body ([00:39]–[02:29])

• Setting and Mood: Detective Danny Clover paints a poetic, melancholic picture of Broadway in autumn, hinting at the transient, lonely nature of life on the city’s famed thoroughfare.
  • Memorable moment: “It’s the time of the quicken step and the crumpled travel folder and coney-dyed beaver. And the September song is a deep throated sound.” – Danny Clover ([00:53])
• Finding the Victim: A woman is discovered shot in the back and left dead under a blanket in a parked car. Officer Mugavan clues Danny in:
  • “She’s in here, Danny. ... Who is she? ... No identification, no handbag. Just this. Car registered to Edward Bishop.” – Officer Mugavan ([01:43]–[01:57])

2. Tracking Edward Bishop ([03:19]–[05:48])

• Visit to Bishop’s Residence: Danny questions Bishop’s eccentric roommate, who provides comic relief and key info:
  • “My roomie’s been squiring a lady by the name of Anna Compton. ... Just to talk to on the phone. That lovely voice haunts you.” – Roommate ([04:56])
• Name and address of Anna Compton are established.

3. Talking to Leo Compton (Anna’s Husband) ([06:37]–[09:07])

• Leo’s Emotional Reaction: Leo initially believes Anna just hasn’t returned home, then is informed of her death. He confesses to marital conflict:
  • “Anna's dead.” – Leo Compton’s realization ([07:21])
• Jealousy and a Bracelete: Leo admits Anna was seeing Bishop, who gifted her an expensive bracelet. Leo claims to have paid for the bracelet to end the affair, writing Bishop a $200 check, yet Anna leaves with Bishop anyway.
  • “Things can happen. Just because it’s your wife doesn’t mean it can't happen. I called her boyfriend up and I told him to come over, I'd pay him for the bracelet.” – Leo Compton ([08:19])

4. Zoe’s Perspective: Insights from the Auction Gallery ([09:26]–[12:08])

• Edward Bishop’s Character: Zoe, a colleague, confirms Bishop’s romantic involvement with Anna and reveals her jealousy and resentment:
  • “It’s in Eddie to do a thing like that. It’s what’s about him that fascinates a girl. ... That and the clever way he handles an auctioneer’s hammer.” – Zoe ([10:30])
  • “You find Eddie Bishop, give him my message. Tell him I want an invite to his execution. It's been a dull season.” – Zoe ([12:08])
• Zoe testifies to seeing Eddie giving Anna the bracelet, meant for Zoe.

5. Discovery of Bishop’s Body ([12:20]–[13:42])

• Danny and Mugavan find Bishop dead in an excavation site, shot and left with Leo Compton’s $200 check in his wallet.
  • “Check for 200. Signed by Leo Compton. … He’s the man we figured murdered Anna Compton.” – Officer Mugavan ([13:33]–[13:42])

6. The Forensic Connection ([15:51]–[16:44])

• Ballistics Report: The same gun killed both Anna and Bishop, intensifying suspicion on one perpetrator.

7. Leo’s Odd Sales Behavior and Motive ([17:02]–[18:58])

• Leo returns to claim Anna’s bracelet, arguing “It’s a kind of remembrance of the dead.” ([17:39])
• Despite his professed grief, Leo’s concerns are tinged by financial pettiness and pride in cost-saving:
  • “Scrimp and save all my life. ... The cost of things, Mr. Clover, it’s outrageous. Food, furniture, clothes and transportation. You know what cab fare cost me from New Rochelle? Five sixty. It's outrageous." – Leo ([17:42]–[18:01])

8. Background on Leo: Testimony from Mervyn Mago, Mission Helper ([19:35]–[20:59])

• Leo’s old friend describes him as calculating and shaped by poverty:
  • “Leo is a product, Mr. Clover. The making of a living, the background of poverty. ... Even now, now that he's well to do, it still eats him.” – Mervyn Mago ([20:59])
• Leo has a compulsion to balance his books, take a cut, and avoid waste.

9. Suspicious Transaction: Selling the Bracelet ([22:12]–[23:09])

• Mr. Scott, a bystander, returns the bracelet to police after Leo tries to pawn it off for only $5.60—far less than its real value.

10. Forensic Analysis and the Turning Point ([23:25]–[24:24])

• Analysis reveals Anna likely was not shot in the car, but elsewhere—the car only used for disposal.

11. Danny Confronts Leo with the Truth ([24:52]–[27:32])

• Danny pieces together Leo’s elaborate attempt to fabricate an alibi. Leo killed Anna (after marital strife), then called Bishop under the pretense of buying back the bracelet, killed him as well, and staged the scene to look like they eloped.
  • “You'd already killed her when you called Bishop. ... Then when Bishop arrived, you killed him too. Wrote out a check and stuck it in his pocket.” – Danny Clover ([26:36]–[26:44])
• Leo’s motives are a tangle of wounded pride, possessiveness, and obsession with economic balance:
  • “I put my own price on things. My wife belonged to me. She was mine.” – Leo Compton ([27:00])

12. Poetic Coda ([28:04]–[28:22])

• The episode ends as Danny Clover reflects on the loneliness and violence hidden on Broadway, echoing the show’s signature melancholy.
  • “It’s Broadway. The gaudiest, most violent, the lonesomest mile in the world. Broadway. My Beat.” – Danny Clover ([28:22])

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “When it’s September and the summer sighs away, Broadway is festooned with the colors of fall.” – Detective Danny Clover ([00:53])
• “A woman was found murdered in his car.” – Detective Danny Clover, breaking the case open ([05:45])
• “Anna’s dead.” – Leo Compton ([07:21])
• “I could call Technical. They’d find blood in your house no matter how hard you scrubbed.” – Danny Clover, leveraging for a confession ([26:54])
• “My wife belonged to me. She was mine. And nobody gets it. Not for a $200 bracelet, they don’t.” – Leo Compton, revealing true motive ([27:00])
• “It’s Broadway. The gaudiest, most violent, the lonesomest mile in the world. Broadway. My Beat.” – Danny Clover ([28:22])

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Opening & Discovery of Body: [00:39]–[02:29]
• Questioning Bishop’s Roommate: [03:19]–[05:48]
• Interview with Leo Compton: [06:37]–[09:07]
• Zoe’s Testimony at Auction Gallery: [09:26]–[12:08]
• Discovery of Bishop’s Body: [12:20]–[13:42]
• Ballistics Confirmation / Motive: [15:51]–[18:58]
• Mission Helper Testimony: [19:35]–[20:59]
• Bracelet Sale Confession: [22:12]–[23:09]
• Confrontation & Confession: [24:52]–[27:32]
• Final Reflection: [28:04]–[28:22]

Summary Flow

The episode masterfully weaves from poetic noir narration into procedural investigation, alternating between cityscape musings and pointed interrogations. Suspects and witnesses each display richly drawn personalities: from the bitter, comic roommate to the embittered but pitiable Leo. Snappy dialogue, period slang, and hardboiled wit create a vivid sense of New York’s underbelly. The solution, built on psychology and solid detective work, underscores themes of possession, pride, and the cost of betrayal.

For those who love classic detective fiction, “The Anna Compton Murder Case” encapsulates the moody, morally complex, and rivetingly human storytelling that defines the Golden Age of Radio.