Broadway Is My Beat: The Dion Hartley Murder Case 02/17/1950

Summary

Broadway Is My Beat: The Dion Hartley Murder Case - Detailed Summary

Podcast Information:

• Title: Choice Classic Radio Detectives | Old Time Radio
• Episode: Broadway Is My Beat: The Dion Hartley Murder Case
• Host/Author: Choice Classic Radio
• Release Date: February 12, 2025

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Overview

"Broadway Is My Beat: The Dion Hartley Murder Case" is a gripping episode from the Choice Classic Radio Detectives series, set in the vibrant yet perilous streets of Broadway, New York. The narrative unfolds through the eyes of Detective Danny Clover as he delves into a self-issued murder case involving Dion Hartley, a satirical writer whose manipulative behaviors have sown seeds of envy and hatred among his acquaintances. This episode masterfully intertwines suspense, psychological drama, and noir elements, capturing the essence of old-time radio detective stories.

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Main Characters

• Detective Danny Clover: The protagonist, a seasoned detective navigating the complexities of law enforcement amidst personal and professional turmoil.

• Dion Hartley: A charismatic yet enigmatic satirist whose declaration of impending murder sets the plot in motion.

• Sybil Reynard: The editor of Satire magazine, portrayed as a passionate admirer of Dion with underlying tensions.

• Camden Drake: A promising writer whose relationship with Dion is fraught with creative rivalry and personal conflict.

• Joan Yorke: An illustrator for Satire magazine, harboring deep-seated resentment towards Dion for his impact on her and others.

• Sergeant Gino Tartaglia: Danny's supportive but sometimes perplexed superior, providing pragmatic insights into the investigation.

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Plot Summary

The Mysterious Invitation

The episode opens with Detective Danny Clover receiving an unusual phone call from Dion Hartley (00:14). Hartley explicitly states, "I am going to be murdered. Don't look at me that way, Mr. Clover. I'm quite, quite serious" (02:37). This chilling proclamation compels Clover to visit Hartley's opulent apartment, filled with exquisite collections that Hartley reveals are mere "toys" reflecting his disdain for shallow materialism (02:45).

Dion's Game

Hartley introduces an enigmatic challenge: if he is not murdered by the week's end, he will donate $50,000 to Clover's favorite charity (04:38). He elucidates that his manipulative nature has "tuned a certain group of people up to such an emotional pitch that they have no recourse but to murder me" (04:20). This paradoxical request thrusts Clover into a perplexing investigation where he must identify potential assailants before the threat materializes.

Unraveling Connections

Clover's first lead takes him to Satire magazine, where he interacts with Sybil Reynard (06:07). Their conversation reveals Sybil's intense love-hate relationship with Hartley, hinting at underlying motivations for murder: "You hate him, huh?" Clover observes, "That's the kind of man Dion Hartley is, huh?" (07:18).

Further probing introduces Camden Drake, another associate of Hartley, who indirectly points Clover towards Joan Yorke, an illustrator with a vendetta against Hartley for "destroying people" (08:24). Clover's strategic shift from a policeman to a "good friend" allows him deeper insights into the personal conflicts revolving around Hartley.

Confronting Joan Yorke

Joan Yorke emerges as a pivotal character with significant motives for the murder. In their interaction, Joan admits, "I killed Jan Hartley. Don't stare at me, Danny. Yes, I killed him" (26:00). Her vendetta stems from Hartley's negative influence on her and her close associate, Camden Drake. Joan's emotional turmoil and sense of betrayal make her a key suspect, culminating in a dramatic revelation of the intertwined relationships and ultimate responsibility for Hartley's demise.

The Climax

The tension reaches its peak as the investigation unravels the tangled web of relationships and motives. Joan's confession and Clover's acknowledgment of his role in uncovering the truth lead to a climactic confrontation where the true nature of loyalty, friendship, and revenge come to the fore.

Resolution

In the aftermath, Detective Danny Clover reflects on the complexities of Broadway, symbolizing both dreams and despair. The episode concludes with Clover's introspection on the "mirage called Broadway," capturing the ephemeral and often harsh realities faced by its denizens (28:01).

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Key Themes and Insights

• Manipulation and Control: Dion Hartley's ability to influence and engineer situations to his advantage underscores themes of manipulation and control within personal relationships.

• Loneliness and Isolation: Both Clover and Joan Yorke grapple with profound loneliness, highlighting the human need for connection and the destructive consequences when it's corrupted.

• Moral Ambiguity: The characters navigate a morally grey landscape where the lines between right and wrong are blurred, reflecting the complexities of human nature.

• Artistic Rivalry and Destruction: The creative tensions between writers and illustrators at Satire magazine serve as a backdrop for exploring how professional rivalry can lead to personal vendettas.

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Notable Quotes

• Dion Hartley (02:37):

  "I am going to be murdered. Don't look at me that way, Mr. Clover. I'm quite, quite serious."

• Dion Hartley (04:20):

  "I have made these certain people want desperately to kill me, either individually or collectively."

• Joan Yorke (12:13):

  "I hated Dion for destroying people, people I've loved. Is that a motive for killing a man?"

• Detective Danny Clover (28:01):

  "It stretches out in front of you, this mirage called Broadway. This street that offers you dreams, then laughs in your face."

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Conclusion

"Broadway Is My Beat: The Dion Hartley Murder Case" encapsulates the quintessential elements of old-time radio detective stories, weaving a tale of intrigue, psychological depth, and moral complexity. Through Detective Danny Clover's journey, listeners are immersed in a world where ambition, envy, and the quest for personal fulfillment intersect with the dark undercurrents of human emotion. The episode not only entertains but also provokes thoughtful reflection on the intricate dynamics of relationships and the lengths individuals will go to protect or destroy those ties.

Transcript

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[Larry Thor]

Welcome to Choice Classic Radio, where we bring to you the greatest old time radio shows like us on Facebook. Subscribe to us on YouTube and thank you for [e-mail] Broadway's My Beat From.

[Danny Clover]

Times Square to Columbus Circle, the gaudiest, the most violent, the lonesomest mile in the world.

[Larry Thor]

Broadway's My beat. With Larry Thor as detective Danny Clover.

[Danny Clover]

Broadway. Where the measured screaming of the spectaculars echoes into the wilderness of the night. And their cadence is the beat of a metallic and mechanical heart. This is the rhythm of the life you're assigned to on Broadway. There's nothing you can do about it. You challenge it with a whisper or a plea or a cry. And there's no one to hear it because Broadway's ears are tuned only to the throb of the mechanical heart. It's Broadway. My beat. It came at noon. A transcript of a phone conversation requesting the extraordinary pleasure of my presence at the apartment of one Dion Hartley. But urgently, but immediately. So I put my presents in a squad car, brought it to the apartment of Dion Hartley and placed it therein. It was an experience. The apartment seemed to contain everything exquisite that had been fashioned or dreamed by men, all in crystal glass cases, all tagged with little golden medallions, and all ruled over by Dion Hartley.

[Dion Hartley]

But exquisitely, this excruciatingly Lovely Grecian statuette. Mr. Clover. You want to know what it cost?

[Danny Clover]

No, not particularly.

[Dion Hartley]

Of course you do. It cost me my most precious emotions, even a few pennies of my soul, if I had one. A devastating price to pay, Mr. Clover, for a lousy statue.

[Danny Clover]

If you say so.

[Dion Hartley]

You're delightful, Mr. Clover. You want to know why I sent for you. Fatally, inevitably, you.

[Danny Clover]

Now I'm here, I might as well know.

[Dion Hartley]

For a very simple reason, I am going to be murdered. Don't look at me that way, Mr. Clover. I'm quite, quite serious.

[Danny Clover]

Tell me about it.

[Dion Hartley]

Look about you, Mr. Clover. My apartment, my possessions, all these reveal a man. Me, Dion Hutley, satirist for the magazine. Satire. Revealing. No.

[Danny Clover]

Up to a point.

[Dion Hartley]

Exactly. Only to a point. You would not know, for example, that I am abysmally weary of all this. That all these are only toys, that I have played with them, caressed them, and quite had my fill of them up to here.

[Danny Clover]

So?

[Dion Hartley]

So I have gone on to playing with other things more variable, more thrilling, more impassioned.

[Danny Clover]

You're out of my depth, Mr. Hartley. Like what things?

[Dion Hartley]

Like human emotions, to be exact. An exquisite hobby, Mr. Clover. Humans and their emotions. I get my kicks that way.

[Danny Clover]

That's the kind of man Dion Hartley is, huh?

[Dion Hartley]

That he has become, Mr. Clover. I have tuned a certain group of people up to such an emotional pitch that they have no recourse but to murder me, either individually or collectively.

[Danny Clover]

These lucky people, who are they?

[Dion Hartley]

That's for you to discover, Mr. Clover.

[Danny Clover]

Wait a minute. You tell me you're going to be murdered. You know the people who might murder you. Still you won't tell me who they are. I'm suddenly part of the hobby, huh, Mr. Hartley?

[Dion Hartley]

Exactly how discerning of you.

[Danny Clover]

But you'd better explain it to me anyway.

[Dion Hartley]

It gives me profound pleasure. This is an exquisite game I have created, Mr. Clover. You are now a part of it. I have made these certain people want desperately to kill me. I shall now make you want to stop them from killing me.

[Danny Clover]

And what do you do during all this?

[Dion Hartley]

Nothing. Precisely nothing. I have set marvelous passions in motion. It's like a play. And I'm dying to know what happens at the final curtain. Does it interest you, policeman? No. I shall make it more interesting. A proposal, my policeman. If I am not murdered and lying in the blood of my death at the end of this week, say I shall pay off with $50,000 to your favorite charity. Will you save my life, Mr. Clover?

[Danny Clover]

His fingers reached out and lingered on my lapel long enough to capture a piece of lint. Then they fell away from him. It was a gesture, a smirk. But it was something else. It was his way of making terror and pride a single emotion. Dion Hartley wasn't kidding. So it began the inquiry as to why a man had to die violently. A man who dared me to stop his dying. Dion Hartley. Broadway knew him as a brittle sophisticate who wrote brittle bits for a six bit magazine called Satire. I went there, to the magazine's offices. They opened doors for me and supplied long cigarettes and short coffees until the editor could see me. Then the editor could see me.

[Sybil Reynard]

Sit down, please.

[Danny Clover]

Thanks. I'm Danny Clover.

[Sybil Reynard]

Shake. Danny Clover. I'm Sybil Reynard. I was just wondering. That suit you're wearing. I like the way that. Across the shoulders. Who's your tailor?

[Danny Clover]

I bought it off the rack.

[Sybil Reynard]

Well, that's a twist I never thought of. Now tell me why we're chatting.

[Danny Clover]

Because of Dion Hartley.

[Sybil Reynard]

You're his friend, I suppose. Then we shouldn't be chatting at all. We should be screaming at each other.

[Danny Clover]

You hate him, huh?

[Sybil Reynard]

How pulpy. I love him. Is this extraordinary what Dion can do to a person? Now tell me why I'm answering you.

[Danny Clover]

I got an interest in Hartley. He's afraid he might die.

[Sybil Reynard]

That would make you a doctor who I wouldn't talk to. An insurance agent who I'd have thrown out of here, a policeman who I wouldn't talk to.

[Danny Clover]

Or a friend of Dion's. A good friend.

[Sybil Reynard]

Oh, you too? Well, you never know. Welcome, Danny Clover.

[Danny Clover]

People want to kill him. What people?

[Sybil Reynard]

Me, I'd want to kill him. I said I loved him. On odd days of the week, starting with Tuesday. I hate him. You can follow me around and see if I'd kill him.

[Danny Clover]

I could do that.

[Sybil Reynard]

However, there's Camden.

[Danny Clover]

Yes, there is. The one in New Jersey. You mean.

[Sybil Reynard]

How pulpy can you get? I mean Camden Drake. Camden the writer. The Greenwich Village. Camden. Camden Drake will kill Dion someday. You want to make a wager? I could make you a fine, interesting wager. Danny Clover.

[Danny Clover]

It was weird. It made no sense. A policeman tracking down a crime that hadn't been committed. A crime wanted and willed by a man who knew its shape was his own death by murder, and who had called in a policeman to prevent it if the policeman could. Any setup as insane as that takes special handling. So I handled it in a special way. Cybil Reynard had given me the cue. She wouldn't talk to a policeman, she said. So I stopped being a policeman. I became just the good friend of the good Deon Hartley. And then Dion's other good friends talked to me. Camden Drake was no exception.

[Narrator]

Dion sent you to me?

[Danny Clover]

Yes, Camden. Dion said you and I'd have a lot to talk about.

[Narrator]

Dion is never wrong.

[Danny Clover]

You're a writer, he said.

[Narrator]

I write.

[Danny Clover]

That must be very interesting to write.

[Narrator]

Most of the time it stinks.

[Danny Clover]

Dion said you have great talent. He said you were promising. Promising?

[Narrator]

That's funny. He never told me that. Oh, is that the lot we have to talk about, Mr. Clover?

[Danny Clover]

No. I've heard other things about you.

[Narrator]

You have? Like what?

[Danny Clover]

Like if Dion should be killed. Murdered would be more exact. It would be you who murdered him.

[Narrator]

That makes for interesting talk.

[Danny Clover]

You don't want to know who told me that?

[Narrator]

Not especially.

[Danny Clover]

But that kind of Talk could get back to Dion. It could even break up your friendship. Doesn't that bother you? No.

[Narrator]

And I'll tell you why, Mr. Clover. Because the friendship between Dion and me can't be destroyed by the ugly mouth of Sybil Reynard.

[Danny Clover]

You knew? All the time, Camden. What's this, Camden? A manuscript you were working on? Yes, and put it down. You won't mind if I glanced through it. Dion said put it down. I said put it down. Take it easy, Captain. It's not polite to slap friends. Friends of Dion.

[Narrator]

If you read a word of that manuscript, I'll kill you.

[Danny Clover]

It's that good.

[Narrator]

It's only for Dion to see.

[Danny Clover]

Only for Dion.

[Narrator]

Do you hear me?

[Danny Clover]

Yeah, I hear you, Camden. But, man, maybe Dion will never get to read it. Because he'll be dead. Because maybe you'll kill him before you finish it.

[Narrator]

Is that why he sent you here? Because he thought I'd kill him?

[Danny Clover]

Maybe.

[Narrator]

Oh, he's so wrong. So wrong. He's got it mixed up. That's all he should know. It's Joan. It can only be Joan.

[Danny Clover]

Joan.

[Narrator]

He didn't tell you about her? About Joan York?

[Danny Clover]

No.

[Narrator]

Then I'm telling you. Go talk to her, Dion's friend. Ask her why she wants to kill him.

[Danny Clover]

I'll do that. Campbell. Where do I find Joan?

[Narrator]

In Gramercy Park. 1712 Gramercy Park. Well, it's been a nice talk, Mr. Clover. Promise me you'll never come.

[Danny Clover]

Yes?

[Joan Yorke]

Who is it?

[Danny Clover]

There was something about her. Something like the promise a man makes to himself in some dark part of his life. The promise had the name Joan York. Her dark hair clouded to her shoulders, and her eyes were soft. The planes of her face, her mouth. The promise had the name Joan Yorke.

[Joan Yorke]

Who is it, please?

[Danny Clover]

I'm Danny Clover, a friend of yours. Camden Drake said I might speak with you.

[Joan Yorke]

Camden. Of course, Mr. Clover. Come in. Sit down, please. How is Camden? Why are you staring, Mr. Clover?

[Danny Clover]

Huh? Oh, he's all right.

[Joan Yorke]

Why are you staring?

[Danny Clover]

Was I? I'm sorry.

[Joan Yorke]

I don't want to be rude. I was busy.

[Danny Clover]

You were busy? At what?

[Joan Yorke]

Illustrating, Mr. Clover. I do that for the magazine, for satire. You wanted to speak with me?

[Danny Clover]

Yes. We were talking, Camden and I, About a man. About Dion Harkley. About Dion's manner of living, his manner of dying. That's when your name was mentioned.

[Joan Yorke]

Who are you, Mr. Clover? Another of the Charmed Circle. A worshipper at the shrine of Hartley. Another of Dion's errand boys.

[Danny Clover]

It's a way of stating it go.

[Joan Yorke]

Back to the Great Dean Dion, Mr. Clover. Go back and tell him you had your fingertips on my brain and you beguiled me with your charm. Tell him you did all that and you finally learned that I wish that Dion Hartley were dead. I wished him dead, Mr. Clover. Tell him that.

[Danny Clover]

Why do you hate him so much?

[Joan Yorke]

That's a searching question. I hate him because of what he does to people. To Camden Drake, to him, to others. But to him. I don't want Camden to disintegrate. To be a friend to Dion Hartley is to sow the seed of your own destruction. But you know that already.

[Danny Clover]

I know.

[Joan Yorke]

Then you know the disenchantment that Hartley causes. Hartley sneers at the world and passes it on to all who touch him. That's death to a talent like Camden's.

[Danny Clover]

And you'd wish Hartley dead for that?

[Joan Yorke]

I've already told you that, Mr. Clover. Take it back to your Mr. Hartley, sit by his feet and look up at him, adoring, and tell him I said so. You'd better go now, Mr. Clover.

[Gino Tartaglia]

Can I talk to you now, Danny? Oh, Danny, you've been sitting here for two hours now. Your face looks like it's all thumbs.

[Danny Clover]

Danny, you want something to tackle you?

[Gino Tartaglia]

Oh, you got a problem? Well, I am ready to receive it, Danny, and give you my utmost opinion on it.

[Danny Clover]

Try this. A man says he's going to be murdered and makes a game out of it. And three people, in their own way, have a motive for killing him. An editor, a writer and.

[Gino Tartaglia]

What?

[Danny Clover]

Danny, you never saw such a girl to take you.

[Gino Tartaglia]

Hey, it ain't spring yet. Danny.

[Danny Clover]

Danny Clover speaking.

[Dion Hartley]

This is Dionne Hartley. Mr. Clover, your charity has lost.

[Danny Clover]

What's the matter with you?

[Dion Hartley]

You've lost the game. Mr. Clover.

[Danny Clover]

Mr. Hartley, don't you see?

[Dion Hartley]

I've been murder.

[Larry Thor]

You are listening to Broadway's My Beat, written by Morton Fine and David Friedkin and starring Larry Thor as Detective Danny Clover. Money, music, fun and action. Whatever you want, CBS has it for you this Saturday night. Money. 53,000 in cash and prizes in Sing It Again's phantom voice. Jackpot. Fun. A full measure with the Goldbergs, with Arthur Godfrey's Digest, with the campus kids of Young Love Music. How can you beat that Hour with Vaughn Monroe and Gene Autry. And action. You'll get it with gangbusters. They're all heard every Saturday on most of these same CBS stations. So be listening.

[Danny Clover]

Broadway's a street that'll give you anything you want Any way you want it all you have to do is set your mind to it and be looking in the right direction at the right time. If you look one way, Broadway's liable to wink you at you and nod its head. But look another way, you're liable to get a newspaper shoved in your face. That's so you'll see the headline up close. Dion Hartley shot to death. Then you keep on investing in later editions to find out what juicy set of circumstances made Dion Hartley a murder victim. It was my job to gouge out the facts at headquarters. Sergeant Gino Tartaglia summed it up tersely.

[Gino Tartaglia]

We got a murder mystery on our hands, Danny.

[Danny Clover]

You think so, huh?

[Gino Tartaglia]

Yeah. And you would have nothing to worry about if he was just Frisbee Novotny.

[Danny Clover]

Look, Tartaglia, I've got troubles enough.

[Gino Tartaglia]

Huh? What troubles?

[Danny Clover]

I haven't done this for a long time, Tartaglia. Passed myself off as something I'm not.

[Gino Tartaglia]

That is the duty of a plainclothes detective, Denny.

[Danny Clover]

Yeah, but I don't like the circumstances. This one time, I feel like I'm lying by not telling people I'm an officer. It's a feeling I don't care for.

[Gino Tartaglia]

But, Nanny, like I said, this is your duty. I don't understand, Danny. What people in particular do you feel like you're lying to?

[Danny Clover]

To a murderess, maybe? Girl. A girl named John Yorke.

[Gino Tartaglia]

Huh.

[Danny Clover]

Sounds funny, huh?

[Gino Tartaglia]

Danny, you shouldn't let certain things blind you to other certain things.

[Danny Clover]

Sure, sure. I'll wait till I'm a little older, huh? I guess it's like this. I've just got a strange idea. Joan Yorke's got the best reason for killing Hartley. I hate the idea. I'll see you, Tortaglia. I'm going someplace where I can get the whole thing out of my. John.

[Joan Yorke]

What is it? What do you want, Mr. Clover?

[Danny Clover]

I wanted to talk to someone whose wish came true.

[Joan Yorke]

Mine came true. Dionys did. Is that what you mean?

[Danny Clover]

That's part of it.

[Joan Yorke]

The rest. Tell me the rest.

[Danny Clover]

Mr. Clover, may I come in?

[Joan Yorke]

John, I want you to.

[Danny Clover]

That music, it's lovely.

[Joan Yorke]

Haunting. For you. Is it like that for you, Mr. Clover?

[Danny Clover]

Like that, but more like. Where's it coming from?

[Joan Yorke]

Man in the apartment across the air shaft. He's a student. He plays like that four hours a day. Four hours to the minute.

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[Joan Yorke]

We can't let it stop us, can we? We have to talk about Dion's murder. You and I.

[Danny Clover]

Why do you say that?

[Joan Yorke]

Because that's why you came here to me. Because you were Dion's friend. Because you were Dion's friend. You want to know if I killed him.

[Danny Clover]

There could be another reason. Joan. Joan, listen to me.

[Joan Yorke]

Why do you do that, Mr. Clover?

[Danny Clover]

Was I doing something?

[Joan Yorke]

You're different today. The way you say my name, it's. It's gentle. Makes me want to run to you like a child.

[Danny Clover]

I. I didn't mean.

[Joan Yorke]

No, please, don't be embarrassed. It's me. It's the way I talk. Words have no meaning unless they say what you mean.

[Danny Clover]

That makes it easier. You were right, Joan. I want to know if you killed Dion Hartley. I have to know. I have to. Listen to me, Joan. You wanted him dead. You had a motive. At least the police would call it. Motive?

[Joan Yorke]

I hated Dion for destroying people, people I've loved. Is that motive for killing a man?

[Danny Clover]

Yes.

[Joan Yorke]

A good one. Don't you think, Mr. Clover?

[Danny Clover]

You tell me, John.

[Joan Yorke]

I'll tell you, but not now.

[Danny Clover]

Not now when?

[Joan Yorke]

Later. Take me to dinner, Mr. Clover. The Casca. It's a little restaurant with music, just down the street. 8:00. Is that all right for you? 9:00.

[Danny Clover]

I'll be there, John.

[Joan Yorke]

Thank you, Mr. Clover. You're late, Mr. Clover. I was beginning to be afraid you wouldn't come.

[Danny Clover]

I'm sorry. I had some things to take care of.

[Joan Yorke]

It doesn't matter.

[Danny Clover]

You're here, hungry.

[Joan Yorke]

Only to talk to someone you. Are you hungry?

[Danny Clover]

No.

[Joan Yorke]

Then we can just sit and talk. I've been thinking, Danny.

[Danny Clover]

What? What were you thinking?

[Joan Yorke]

That we're very much alike, you and I.

[Danny Clover]

How, John?

[Joan Yorke]

There's a kind of terrible loneliness in you. I know it.

[Danny Clover]

I.

[Joan Yorke]

No, don't stop me. I know it's a loneliness because you couldn't understand so well, all that's empty and lost and frightened in other people. I know nothing about you, Danny. How did you get so far along so fast?

[Danny Clover]

You're frightened, aren't you, Joan?

[Joan Yorke]

No, not that. It's not the right word. Released. Free. Lonely. Are those the words? It depends on what I may have done with my life. Or someone Else's life on that. Will you dance with me, Danny?

[Danny Clover]

I want to.

[Joan Yorke]

Could you kill Danny?

[Danny Clover]

What?

[Joan Yorke]

A man like Dion Hartley? Could you have killed him?

[Danny Clover]

I don't know.

[Joan Yorke]

I think you could have. A man like that. Did you? Somewhere, somehow, he must have given you motive, too.

[Danny Clover]

No, I didn't kill him, John.

[Joan Yorke]

I know you didn't. I just wanted you to consider it for a moment. The thought of killing Dion, it didn't revolt you, did it? Did it? Danny, dance with me. Danny, dance with me.

[Narrator]

Well, well, well, if it isn't Joan girl. Complete with nothing.

[Danny Clover]

Hello, Camden. Goodbye, Camden.

[Joan Yorke]

Camden, please.

[Danny Clover]

Please.

[Narrator]

I like that when you say please to me, Joan. It's like the old golden days before Dionne Hartley.

[Danny Clover]

Whatever it is, take it somewhere else. Camden.

[Narrator]

That cut it, didn't it, John? That shining thing we had, you and I. Dion loused it, didn't he? Didn't he, Joan?

[Danny Clover]

Yes.

[Joan Yorke]

He made it rotten. He made it filthy. He made me want no part of you or of him.

[Narrator]

So you killed him, huh?

[Danny Clover]

You killed him. You killed the best thing that ever happened to me. You killed him. Take it easy, Camden. Take it easy. The people are. Take your hands off me. Take them off. Easy, kid. Easy. I told you. Maybe now you'll believe me. Yeah. That's twice now, Camden. I owe you something. Break it up. Break it up. What do you two bums want? All right. Hey, what's the matter, Officer? You want something, officer? Keep away from me. But. I said keep away. Okay, but it shall be as you wish. Are you coming? Quiet. Or do I use this stick on you? All right, that's better. Come on. Thanks. Patrol. My Meshikov. You did great. Look, look, I'm only a stupid ox, Danny, but I don't get it. You I should arrest. Yeah, exactly. Danny. I didn't want those people to know I was a cop. I want this to look legitimate. Call me a patty wagon, officer. I want to go to jail.

[Gino Tartaglia]

Hey, Danny. Hey, Danny, wait for me.

[Danny Clover]

What is it? Titanglia?

[Gino Tartaglia]

Well, word has it you got tangled up last night, Danny. Barroom brawl with a guy named Camden Drake.

[Danny Clover]

So?

[Gino Tartaglia]

Well, I was just talking to Dchuk, the ambulance driver. He just brought in Camden Drake.

[Danny Clover]

Oh, no.

[Gino Tartaglia]

Yeah, Danny. Shut. They found him in an alley off bank street in the Village.

[Danny Clover]

I only kidded myself for a couple of hours longer. I told myself maybe Cybil Reynard, the editor of Satire. I told myself that and had her checked and found out. She'd flown to Florida immediately after my interview with her and had been confined to her room with the flu since she got off the plane. Airtight. Then I stopped kidding myself. I set everything up with headquarters and walked to where I had to go. And all the way there, the streets were gutters, and where I walked, people looked away.

[Joan Yorke]

Danny. Come in, Danny. So early, Danny. It's hardly noon.

[Danny Clover]

You mind, Joan?

[Joan Yorke]

Oh, you know I don't. Sit down.

[Danny Clover]

All right, Joan.

[Joan Yorke]

Wait a minute, Danny. I'll fix some coffee.

[Danny Clover]

No, don't.

[Joan Yorke]

No, Joan.

[Danny Clover]

Joan. After I was arrested last night, I went right home.

[Joan Yorke]

Is that what you were going to ask?

[Danny Clover]

Yes. Camden Drake's dead, Joan. He was shot dead.

[Joan Yorke]

I don't believe you.

[Danny Clover]

He's dead.

[Joan Yorke]

But who?

[Danny Clover]

Doesn't matter much, does it, John? Does it?

[Joan Yorke]

Look, Danny, I'll get. Wait. The door.

[Sybil Reynard]

Yes.

[Danny Clover]

Hiya, baby. Hiya, Johnny. Johnny, baby.

[Larry Thor]

Johnny, baby.

[Joan Yorke]

Come here, Danny.

[Danny Clover]

Take your handoff. Hey, who. You shut. Who is this guy? Outside. I said outside.

[Joan Yorke]

Danny. Danny, he's got a gun. Yeah.

[Danny Clover]

Yeah.

[Joan Yorke]

Danny. Danny, what did you do?

[Danny Clover]

Don't worry about it, Joan. I'll get him out of here.

[Joan Yorke]

But you, you've just. He's dead, isn't he?

[Danny Clover]

Get away from him. Joan. You don't have to look at him. Look, listen to me. I'll get him out of here. This doesn't have to concern you at all. You understand that, don't you?

[Joan Yorke]

Where will you go, Danny?

[Danny Clover]

I've got some money. Europe, maybe. I don't know.

[Joan Yorke]

Take me with you.

[Danny Clover]

What?

[Joan Yorke]

Take me, Danny.

[Danny Clover]

I just killed a man, Joan. You don't deserve to share that.

[Joan Yorke]

Danny.

[Danny Clover]

You just stay here. I'll get rid of him.

[Joan Yorke]

Danny. I killed Jan Hartley. Don't stare at me, Danny. Yes, I killed him. I think you knew that, didn't you, Danny? Now you know. Now it makes everything all right. You can take me with you, Danny. Both of us, Joan? Yes. And Camden Drake, too. I killed him, Danny. Now you can take me, Danny. Now we've got two awful secrets we can share. It's better.

[Danny Clover]

Why? Why did you do it, Joan?

[Joan Yorke]

I had to. I thought I was in love. In love with Camden? Dion was squeezing Camden's soul. I killed him and the boy. It was easy. You heard Camden. He didn't want me. Camden knew what I'd done and said he was going to the police. It didn't matter after that. After you.

[Danny Clover]

Didn't you know, Joan?

[Joan Yorke]

No. No what?

[Danny Clover]

I'm a policeman, Joan.

[Joan Yorke]

Danny.

[Danny Clover]

Get up. McEvin. You can get up now. Yeah, okay. Danny.

[Joan Yorke]

Danny. Danny.

[Danny Clover]

No.

[Joan Yorke]

No, Danny, you.

[Danny Clover]

No.

[Joan Yorke]

No.

[Gino Tartaglia]

Hi, Danny. Nice morning. Hi, Danny, I'd like to run out and get you some coffee, if you. If you'd like some coffee. Oh, Danny. Danny. These things. I'm sorry, Danny.

[Danny Clover]

It stretches out in front of you, this mirash called Broadway. This street that offers you dreams, then laughs in your face. Its crowd and cruelty, its sound and sorrow, its fury and a teardrop. It's Broadway, the gaudiest, the most violent, the lonesomest mile in the world. Broadway. My Beat.

[Larry Thor]

Broadway's My Beat stars Larry Thor as Detective Danny Clover. With Charles Calvert as Tartaglia. The program was produced and directed by Elliot Lewis. The musical score was composed and conducted by Alexander Courage. The cast tonight included Anne Stone, Virginia Gregg, Elliot Reid, Ted Osborne, Burt Holland and Jack Cruc. America has always been known as the melting pot of the world. All peoples of all races and color and religions living together within the boundaries of a free democracy. The melting process has been long and difficult. But as each year passes, it becomes much easier. Because part of the mixture now is tolerance. And tolerance can bind a nation together. Help America to always retain her democratic reputation through your tolerance. Accept or reject people on their individual worth and for no other reason than that. Joe Walters speaking. This is cbs, where you'll find Broadway is My Beat. Every Friday night, the Columbia Broadcasting System.