Broadway Is My Beat: The Harry Foster Murder Case 05/05/1951

Summary

Podcast Summary

Podcast: Choice Classic Radio Detectives | Old Time Radio
Episode: Broadway Is My Beat: The Harry Foster Murder Case
Original Broadcast: May 5, 1951
Summary Based On: Full Episode Transcript

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Overview of the Episode

This episode of Broadway Is My Beat, titled "The Harry Foster Murder Case," immerses listeners in a moody postwar New York, where Detective Danny Clover investigates a mysterious stabbing in Central Park. As Clover threads through dense city shadows, shaken witnesses, and the secrets of the lonely, working-class victims, he uncovers the tragic tale of Harry Foster, a man who found mysterious sums of money—and ultimately death—on a park bench. The story is charged with existential loneliness, human frailty, and the relentless curiosity of the streets, rendered in lyrical hardboiled narration and poignant dialogue.

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Key Discussion Points & Plot Progression

1. Discovery of the Crime – The Park Bench Stabbing

• [02:15–03:40] The episode opens with Detective Clover and his team responding to commotion in Central Park, where a boy named Paul, his companion Ben Taylor, and witnesses Mrs. Mason and Sergeant Tartaglia describe finding a stabbed man.
  • The only clues: a knife left behind, a trail of blood, and vague descriptions of a "tall" man and another man in a hat who fled the scene.
  • Notable quote:
    • Mrs. Mason: “I saw the man take it out of his own back and throw it down.” (02:24)

2. Gathering Witness Accounts – The Ripple of Confusion

• [04:26–07:30] Clover queries a series of witnesses—some reluctant and cagey, some unreliable.
  • A bystander’s memory centers on “blue eyes, washed out blue… no remorse for the evil doing…” (05:39–05:48)
  • Local governess Virginia Cram points to the “looker”—an enigmatic woman who allegedly watches the park from a window daily (07:11).

3. The “Looker” in the Window – A Silent Witness

• [07:29–09:41] Detective Clover visits George and Diane Mason. Diane, wheelchair-bound and traumatized, stares silently; Clover tries, gently, to draw out what she saw but learns nothing conclusive.
  • Notable quote:
    • “The eyes that absorb all movement… have seen nothing.” (09:42)
  • The moment reveals both witness unreliability and social isolation in the city.

4. An Unusual Pattern – The Lucky Park Bench

• [11:51–12:26] At police HQ, friendly Sergeant Tartaglia shares a striking discovery:
  • The same park bench has been the site of “found” money—$300, on two separate weeks, always turned into the lost and found by Harry Foster.
  • Notable quote:
    • Tartaglia: “We have not seen this pleasant, honest citizen since.” (12:14)

5. The Truth Comes Home – Mrs. Foster’s Confession

• [12:54–13:12] The narrative shifts when Mrs. Foster, frantic and seeking help for her dying husband Harry (found wounded at home), reveals quietly tragic motivations. Clover realizes Harry has been dead for some time.
  • Notable quote:
    • Mrs. Foster: “He was asleep. Only asleep.” (14:20)

6. The Heart of the Tragedy – The Money Sequence

• [16:08–17:45] In a dreamlike monologue, Mrs. Foster confesses how poverty led her to persuade Harry to keep the money he found— “for five weeks in a row”—eschewing morality for the hope of escape.
  • They never called for help, hoping the money would save them.
  • Notable quote:
    • Mrs. Foster: “I thought he’d live. And we with that money…” (17:49)

7. The Web Tightens – Suspicion and Misdirection

• [21:10–22:10] A “cooperative citizen” brings a mysterious letter to Clover. Addressed to George Mason (“the husband of that woman, the cripple, the one they call a looker in the papers”), it contains the message: “You’ve made a terrible mistake.”
  • Notable quote:
    • Clover: “It says you’ve made a terrible mistake. That’s all. Not another word.” (22:02)

8. Bittersweet Resolution – Frailty and Fallout

• [24:33–26:00] Clover confronts the Masons with the letter. The emotional tension surfaces; Diane briefly emerges from her trauma, offering the most lucid words yet.
  • The episode closes with a sense of finality and tragedy—a good man destroyed by circumstance, a family lost to grief and guilt, and the police left with only fragments of motive.
  • Notable closing line:
    • Mrs. Mason: “You won’t be able to wait on me anymore. Mr. Clover is going to take you away from me.” (25:45)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Witness description:
  • Ben Taylor: “I was real close to him. He had a knife in his back. He breathed in my face. … Blue eyes. Washed out blue. And no tears in them. No remorse for the evil doing…” (05:32–05:48)
• On the “looker”:
  • Virginia/Mrs. Cram: “She sits in a window across the street on the fifth floor. Watches every move we make every day… It makes you feel as if you’re being split.” (07:11)
• Poverty and guilt:
  • Mrs. Foster: “For five weeks in a row, I told Harry he didn’t have to turn [the money] in anymore… And we’d be rich. No more of this. No more factory.” (17:24)
• The tragic epilogue:
  • Mrs. Mason: “You won’t be able to wait on me anymore. Mr. Clover is going to take you away from me.” (25:45)
  • Detective Clover: “What’s happening to us? It’s already happened. It’s all over.” (26:00)

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Important Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment | Details | |------------|----------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------| | 02:15 | Discovery of stabbed man | Witness descriptions, initial clues | | 03:40 | Interviewing witnesses | Contradictory recollections, introduction of “the looker” | | 07:29 | Visiting the Masons’ apartment | Diane’s trauma as a silent witness | | 11:51 | The story of the lucky bench | Pattern of found money, new suspect: Harry Foster | | 12:54 | Mrs. Foster pleads for help | Harry revealed as victim, emotional confession | | 16:00 | Mrs. Foster describes their poverty | Motive behind keeping the money | | 21:10 | The mysterious letter revealed | Message addressed to George Mason | | 24:33 | Final confrontation at the Masons’ home | Diane's clarity; emotional crescendo | | 26:00 | Closing scene and final line | “It’s already happened. It’s all over.” |

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Episode Tone & Style

Consistent with the hardboiled golden age of radio, the episode glows with noir lyricism, world-weary humor, and moments of deep empathy. Detective Clover’s narration is melancholic and poetic, exploring themes of urban loneliness, the thin line between right and wrong in desperate times, and the hidden tragedies scattered along Broadway’s "lonesomest mile."

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For Listeners Who Missed the Episode

This episode stands out for its moody atmosphere and exploration of human frailty. The Harry Foster case is a sad puzzle—the story of a man corrupted not by malice but by hope, a witness frozen in trauma, and the detectives who walk a beat where justice doesn’t always bring catharsis. At its core, it’s a meditation on what drives ordinary people to desperate acts, and how easily their stories are lost in the city’s clamor.

Transcript

[Detective Danny Clover]

Ever wonder what life is like with a phantom screen? It's magic. It is.

[Sergeant Gino Tartaglia]

Oh, wow.

[Ben Taylor]

Wow.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Wow. Wow.

[Ben Taylor]

Wow, wow, wow.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Why is that? This is amazing. Retractable screens for your home make life better. Visit phantom screens.com podbean your message amplified Ready to share your message with the world? Start your podcast journey with Podbean. Podbean. Pod Bean. Pod Bean. Pod Bean. The AI powered all in one podcast platform. Thousands of businesses and enterprises trust Podbean to launch their podcasts. Launch your podcast on Podbean today. My school uses Podbean. My church too. I love it. I really do. 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 Times Square to Columbus Circle the gaudiest, the most violent, the lonesomest mile in the world. Broadway's my beat With Larry Thor as detective Danny Clover. In the early twilight, Broadway is dappled with beginning shadows. It's the time of the small shock the springtime's day starts its long scream down into night it's time, clock time the hour for going home again Close the ledger, lock the store Figure the overtime Smile at the boss and out into the street Blink then run. The subway waits for no man Home again end another day again but my day was just beginning. North on Broadway and to the east Central park. Around the 80s push through the crowd whose focus was a park bench that faced the street.

[Ben Taylor]

All right, come on, come on.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Break it up there.

[Mrs. Mason / Diane Mason]

Let him through.

[Detective Danny Clover]

And Sergeant Mugaman tells you why you're there.

[Ben Taylor]

Right over here, Danny. Land. Right there near the bench.

[Mrs. Mason / Diane Mason]

I found the knife. I didn't pick it up.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Who's the boy? Paul.

[Sergeant Gino Tartaglia]

Paul Gilbert.

[Mrs. Mason / Diane Mason]

I haven't been home from school yet.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You'll go home in a squad car, Paul.

[Ben Taylor]

I promised him.

[Detective Danny Clover]

With the siren, Danny, with the siren. What happened, Paul? How did the knife get there?

[Mrs. Mason / Diane Mason]

I saw the man take it out of his own back and throw it down.

[Sergeant Gino Tartaglia]

And then the man staggered away.

[Ben Taylor]

Did I show you this, Danny? All this blood? Wherever he is, he's hurt real bad.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I want you to think for a minute, Paul. What did this man look like?

[Mrs. Mason / Diane Mason]

Tall, I guess.

[Sergeant Gino Tartaglia]

Yeah, I guess that's all he was.

[Mrs. Mason / Diane Mason]

Tall.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Most grown ups are tall, aren't they, Paul?

[Mrs. Mason / Diane Mason]

All of them, except for midgets.

[Detective Danny Clover]

One more thing, Paul. Was there anyone with this man? Think hard.

[Sergeant Gino Tartaglia]

No, I don't think so.

[Ben Taylor]

Well, you told me that the other.

[Sergeant Gino Tartaglia]

Man I saw wasn't with him.

[Mrs. Mason / Diane Mason]

The other man in the hat just watched him. Then the man in the hat ran away. He wasn't with him.

[Detective Danny Clover]

What did the man in the hat look like?

[Mrs. Mason / Diane Mason]

He had a hat. That's all I know. I got scared. I ran.

[Ben Taylor]

That's right, Danny. Paul ran right into Officer Curcio on the beat, Almost knocked him down. Curcio came back, saw the blood on the bench, the knife, phoned it in.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Paul, did you know the man? The man with the knife?

[Sergeant Gino Tartaglia]

No. I usually don't come home from school this way.

[Mrs. Mason / Diane Mason]

We had an after school game with.

[Sergeant Gino Tartaglia]

The 8v2 over there on the playground.

[Mrs. Mason / Diane Mason]

This is the first game of the.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Inner Mural Squad car Mugaban for Paul with a siren. Then the careful tracing, the sifting through the shadows of a city, the dust of a city, the hiding places of a city into which a wounded man must crawl and lie for a time and then wander in search of a kindlier place, a darker place, and leave behind him the trail of the wounded, the blood of his life. But the man who'd been stabbed had done none of these things. The hospitals told me that. The doctors. The fella in the neat white jacket in the drugstore across from the park, who, not having a wounded man, offered me a special on shaving cream. Then the legwork of the man on the beat, harvesting the crop of those who had been at the scene of the crime, sorting them, packaging them, parceling them out to me one by one.

[Sergeant Gino Tartaglia]

Look, mister, how many rights do we have to give you guys? I was calling on my girl. I brought her a box of chocolate covered peppermints. She was beginning to understand me.

[Detective Danny Clover]

We won't keep you long.

[Sergeant Gino Tartaglia]

You don't understand, mister. I don't. Stick close to my little bird, she busts out of a cage. I've known her to do that when I pop out two minutes for a corner newspaper.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You were in the park this afternoon, saw a man who was stabbed. Can you describe the man?

[Sergeant Gino Tartaglia]

I was never in the park where an unfortunate got stabbed.

[Detective Danny Clover]

An officer took your name. You made him erase it, start all over again because he wasn't spelling it right.

[Sergeant Gino Tartaglia]

So you caught me in a lie.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Can you describe the man who was.

[Sergeant Gino Tartaglia]

Hurt, describe who got a chance to get close to him? Everybody pushing, shoving, like it was a parade for a general. I'm lucky I got a peek at the top of his fleeing skull.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Oh, that's all.

[Sergeant Gino Tartaglia]

Look, I want to explain why I lied about not being in the park. My girl, the Bird thinks I work for a living. It's a little white lie I used to keep.

[Detective Danny Clover]

A cage, that's all. You can go, then. The man who is eager, whose eyes dart and pierce, who follows you as you move away from him, stays close to you, needs the lapel of your coat.

[Ben Taylor]

I was real close to him. He had a knife in his back. He breathed in my face. I could tell you the color of his eyes, how close I was.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Tell me.

[Ben Taylor]

Blue eyes. Washed out blue. And no tears in them. No tears at all. No remorse for the evil doing that had brought wrath upon him.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Blue eyes. What color hair?

[Ben Taylor]

Dirty. A dirty color. All matted. No. No, it was blonde and shining. And it was a kind of light that shone about it. That's because he was dying. Dying in protest against all the wickedness that'll drown. Drown us all.

[Detective Danny Clover]

A big man, a short man up.

[Ben Taylor]

What does it matter how he looked? I was close to him, I tell you. He reached out his hand to me, touched my hand. The tears on my face.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Help him out of your office. Motion a policeman over, watch him, be gentle with a man. Take him away and then motion for the next one to come in.

[Mrs. Mason / Diane Mason]

You realize, of course, that you're imposing on my time. Not that I mind. It could be a welcome relief from those spoiled monsters I simper and smile at, and diaper.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You're a nursemaid, Ms. Cram, is that right?

[Mrs. Mason / Diane Mason]

Call me governess and call me Virginia. Miss Cram. Doesn't sound like me at all. Don't you think?

[Detective Danny Clover]

You take the children to the park.

[Mrs. Mason / Diane Mason]

Every day, 4 to 5:30. Except on rainy days. On rainy days, the children and I stay at home. And I'm permitted callers from 4 to 5:30. That's on rainy days.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You told an officer you saw the man who was hurt.

[Mrs. Mason / Diane Mason]

I was making conversation. I needed that to get those brats out of my hair.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You didn't see him?

[Mrs. Mason / Diane Mason]

I wouldn't have gone near him. But I can tell you who did see him. The looker.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Who?

[Mrs. Mason / Diane Mason]

The looker. All of us in the park know her. She sits in a window across the street on the fifth floor. Watches every move we make every day. Sits there and watches. It makes you feel as if you're being split. Know What I mean?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Fifth floor, in an apartment on 80th and 5th.

[Mrs. Mason / Diane Mason]

Oh, you can't miss her. Just stand out in the street for a while. Her eyes will bore right through you.

[Detective Danny Clover]

But on a rainy day, I know you're permitted callers. That's all. Miss. Yes, I'm Danny Clover, Police. We haven't done anything. I know. I don't even know who you are. There's no name card on your door. You want to come in and talk to us? All right. I'm George Mason. She's my. In the wheelchair. Diane's my wife. Good evening, Ms. Mason. Diane. Diane, dear. Diane, we've got a visitor. He said good evening to you. Say hello, diane. This is Mr. Clover from the Police, Mr. Mason. There was some trouble earlier across the street from. Talk to her. I'm trying something. Maybe it'll do her some good, talking to her. No one ever does, you know. You just talk to her and I'll answer you. All right. There was a man stabbed across the street from you, Mrs. Mason, in the park. Yes, I heard about it when I came home. Have you found the man? No. Mrs. Mason. I understand that you sit by a window every day. That's right. That one. She sits there, watches. It's her pleasure today. Every day. Then she must have seen what happened. She must have. Pretty.

[Mrs. Mason / Diane Mason]

Pretty.

[Detective Danny Clover]

What? What are you trying to say, Diane? Can't you see how it is? I'm sorry.

[Mrs. Mason / Diane Mason]

George.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Yes, what is it?

[Mrs. Mason / Diane Mason]

I saw a man today. I saw a knife today.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Is there anything you can do? Can you talk to her, Diane?

[Mrs. Mason / Diane Mason]

A man today? A knife today?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Yes. Well, can you tell me what the man looked like, sweetheart?

[Mrs. Mason / Diane Mason]

Knife.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Was he a big man? Was he a small man? Was he a nice man? Man? Did you like him? And try to erase from memory the eyes of the woman filled with the name terrors. The known terrors that dart and scurry, gnaw and nibble at the fleeting instance of serenity within her and try to wash away in the city's night, screaming the crooning of a tuneless song. Suddenly the known words, a man, a knife. And know that the eyes that absorb all movement, all shadow, all light on faces and things that pass before them have seen nothing. Not the man who was stabbed, not the one who did the stabbing. And then the long walk to the darkened room. Turn on the shaded light bulb and search the cupboards for sleep. And finally it comes in the morning. The scorching cup of coffee, the walk to headquarters, and the cheery greeting on the threshold from the cheery Sergeant Tartaglia.

[Sergeant Gino Tartaglia]

Welcome, Danny. Welcome to your abode, away from your abode.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Good morning, Gino.

[Sergeant Gino Tartaglia]

Ah, the best, the sunniest, the bravest.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Not so early, Gino. All I've had is a cup of coffee.

[Sergeant Gino Tartaglia]

For which I am delighted.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Huh?

[Sergeant Gino Tartaglia]

For which I am delighted. Come, I will escort you to your office, Danny. You will see there how I have taken the liberty to spread upon your desk a repast.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I shouldn't have done it, Gino.

[Sergeant Gino Tartaglia]

A repast consisting of a hot paper, container of coffee and a half a dozen cinnamon bums. Voila, the repast partake.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Looks good.

[Sergeant Gino Tartaglia]

How else should they look? The cinnamon buns were baked in the oven of Mrs. Tartaglia with her own two lily whites. Go ahead, partake, Munch if you like.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Mmm, delicious. Thank Mrs. Tartaglia for me.

[Sergeant Gino Tartaglia]

Goes without saying. And now to the events of the morning. Okay if I disturb while you munch?

[Ben Taylor]

Yeah.

[Sergeant Gino Tartaglia]

We of the department have discovered that this park bench upon which an alleged man was allegedly stabbed has been a lucky bench. Or unlucky, depending, of course, on the point of view of whom sat there.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You'll explain it to me, Gino.

[Sergeant Gino Tartaglia]

It goes without saying. The lucky part of the bench is that five weeks ago a man found a punnet wrapped in a newspaper. $300 turned it over to lost and found.

[Detective Danny Clover]

So.

[Sergeant Gino Tartaglia]

So is that four weeks ago, same man turned into lost and found from the same bench. A like newspaper containing another 300. And we have not seen this pleasant, honest citizen since.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Do you have his name?

[Sergeant Gino Tartaglia]

Oh, it goes without. Harry Forster, 1345 West 161. I should keep the cinnamon bums hot for you, Danny.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I'll do that, Gino. You go ahead and do that.

[Mrs. Mason / Diane Mason]

Please help me. Please come in and help me.

[Detective Danny Clover]

What's the matter?

[Mrs. Mason / Diane Mason]

My husband. No one will help me. I asked the neighbors, they said, call the police. Call an ambulance. Please help.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Where is he?

[Sergeant Gino Tartaglia]

You'll help.

[Mrs. Mason / Diane Mason]

He's in our bedroom.

[Sergeant Gino Tartaglia]

I think he's.

[Mrs. Mason / Diane Mason]

I think he's dying. And no one would. No one.

[Detective Danny Clover]

No. Mrs. Foster?

[Mrs. Mason / Diane Mason]

Yes, Harry's wife. He came home last night and there was blood. He just looked at me like an animal. And there he is, mister. Help him. Please help him.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Ever wonder what life is like with a phantom screen? It's magic. It is. Oh, wow.

[Ben Taylor]

Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Why is that? This is amazing. Retractable screens for your home make life better. Visit phantom screens.com your message amplified. Ready to share your message with the world? Start your podcast journey with Podbean. Podbean, the AI powered all in one podcast platform. Thousands of businesses and enterprises trust Podbean to launch their podcasts. Use Podbean to record your podcast. Use PodBean AI to optimize your podcast. Use PodBean AI to turn your blog into a podcast. Use Podbean to distribute your podcast everywhere. Launch your podcast on podbean today. Dead.

[Ben Taylor]

No.

[Mrs. Mason / Diane Mason]

No, you're wrong.

[Detective Danny Clover]

He's been dead for a long time.

[Mrs. Mason / Diane Mason]

He was asleep. Only asleep.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You are listening to Broadway's My Beat, written by Morton Fine and David Friedkin and starring Larry Thor as Detective Danny Clover. On CBS this Sunday evening, Charlie McCarthy will play a tattoo artist for a group of sailors while beautiful Ann Southern acts as his reluctant model. There'll be more fun with Eve Arden, Amos and Andy, Red Skelton and Corliss Archer. Stay with CBS this Sunday for these great comedy programs will be heard on most of these same stations. In the Maytime, the sun grins down and pats Broadway's cheek. Broadway loves it. The sunlit minutes are added to the 10 minute break for a cigarette. The walk is slower, the sway gentler. The windows are opened wide and the doors too. Glints of sunlight are carried through long hallways in the sigh of a summer's wind, touching the lips of the girl at the typewriter, touching the hand of the man at the water cooler, watching her touching the steel of the file cabinets, warming them and having made the tour back onto Broadway and start all over again. But where I was, there was no warmth. Only a woman drawing a shawl tight around her shoulders and talking quietly to her dad.

[Mrs. Mason / Diane Mason]

Harry. Harry, listen to me. You were right. We should have told them. We should have told them all about it. And you wouldn't be like this. And I wouldn't.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Mrs. Foster, what should you have told us?

[Mrs. Mason / Diane Mason]

What? What did you say?

[Detective Danny Clover]

What should you and your husband have.

[Mrs. Mason / Diane Mason]

Told us about the money? Nothing else.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Money found on the park bench.

[Mrs. Mason / Diane Mason]

Yes. You see, we should have told them, Harry.

[Detective Danny Clover]

But he did, Mrs. Foster. He reported it, turned it in.

[Mrs. Mason / Diane Mason]

You don't understand. I knew no one would understand.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Then maybe you can help me.

[Mrs. Mason / Diane Mason]

Friday was always Harry's day off from the factory out there. You can see it from here. See, on his day off, I'd pack him a little lunch and he'd kiss me goodbye. Walk uptown to Central Park. He gone. He always went alone. He always sat on the same bench. Harry used to describe it to me. What he saw, people he talked to. Felt as if I'd been there with him.

[Detective Danny Clover]

And one day he found money in.

[Mrs. Mason / Diane Mason]

A newspaper and turned it in like you said. The next week, turned it in. But after that, told him he didn't have to do that anymore.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You mean he found more money? Is that what you're trying to tell me? You mean he found more money?

[Mrs. Mason / Diane Mason]

For five weeks in a Row. I told Harry he didn't have to turn it in anymore. I told him to go back, to be sure and keep going back every week. Yesterday too. And we'd be rich. No more of this. No more factory.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Why didn't you call us when he came home hurt? Call a doctor.

[Mrs. Mason / Diane Mason]

It would have spoiled it, ended it. The money. Don't you see? I thought he'd live. And we with that money. No, you couldn't. You couldn't see.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Then she turned from me and walked over to the window. Stared out of it across her shoulder into the noon sunshine. I could see the factory emptying its lunchtime employees. The crowd breaking off its fragments to the curb with the lunch pails, to the push carts for the ham and white and coffee. Then the other sound. The feet in the doorway. The entrance of the professionals. Coroner, photographer, reporter. The man had been murdered. I left. Then back again to Central park. On the park bench of the stabbing. Sit on it. A man named Harry Foster used to find money here. And he was killed. And a woman who had seen it happen. A woman who sat at a window every day. I looked up to the window. She wasn't there. I wondered why. I knew why. She was in the wheelchair. There was a man pushing it carefully down the steps.

[Ben Taylor]

Can you scooch a little to the side, friend?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Need a hand?

[Ben Taylor]

Yeah, if you want. Thanks.

[Detective Danny Clover]

How you feeling, Mrs. Mason?

[Ben Taylor]

She ain't gonna answer you.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I didn't know she left the house.

[Ben Taylor]

Why should you even bother?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Oh, I'm Danny Clover, police.

[Ben Taylor]

Oh, hi. I'm Ben Taylor. Got a U drive down the street. Only Mrs. Mason here. Different kind of a take drive.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I see. Just today?

[Sergeant Gino Tartaglia]

Oh, no.

[Ben Taylor]

All the time. From one to three. The elements willing. I take her for a ride. Sometimes here, sometimes there. Oh, sure, sure. Right away, Ms. Mason. See you, Danny.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Wait a minute. How long have you been doing this, Ben?

[Ben Taylor]

Since her accident. Since at Coney last year. Hide her back here and up here. Head. I guess I better take her. I heard her cry like that before. I can't stand it.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Sure. It's a nice day, Mrs. Mason. I hope you enjoy your ride.

[Ben Taylor]

Oh, she will. She likes riding in the car. See you around, Danny.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I watched Ben lift her gently out of the wheelchair, lift her into the back of the car, close the door, fold the chair, place it in the car trunk, then back. And saying something to her, she looked up. For an instant, her eyes found me. Then she smiled and shaped a lost word with her lips. They were gone. And back at headquarters, the wall clock Ticking off the hours of Harry Foster's death. Ticking off the hours that his murderer came to a park, looked at it, smiled, walked away in the warm sun, ticked off the question of why money had been left there for Harry Foster to find week after week on Friday's twilight, and at 4 o', clock, the door opening slightly, and all you saw of the man was his cocked head.

[Sergeant Gino Tartaglia]

You Mr. Danny Clover?

[Detective Danny Clover]

That's right. You want something?

[Sergeant Gino Tartaglia]

Only to know if you're Mr. Danny Clover and to give you what I have in my pocket. They said I should give it to you, you being the interested party and all.

[Detective Danny Clover]

What have you got in your pocket?

[Sergeant Gino Tartaglia]

This. An envelope, stamped and everything. I found it.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Give it to me. It's addressed to George Mason.

[Sergeant Gino Tartaglia]

Anybody can see that. That's the husband of that woman. The cripple. The one they call a looker in the papers. The one they think they saw that stabbing. I did right bringing it to you.

[Detective Danny Clover]

It's been opened. You open it. Don't lie to me. You opened it and then resealed it.

[Sergeant Gino Tartaglia]

All right, I opened it. I'm a normal kind of fella with all the normal curiosities. First, I was going to mail it when I found it, but then I saw who was addressed to. I couldn't restrain myself. Unlike the proverbial cat. Mr. Clover, it could make trouble for.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You, being like that.

[Sergeant Gino Tartaglia]

Not when you see what's in it. Not when you see what it says. It says you've made a terrible mistake. That's all. Not another word.

[Detective Danny Clover]

See?

[Sergeant Gino Tartaglia]

You can't do anything to me for just reading that. You just read it yourself. That's why I brought it to you, because I'm a cooperative citizen.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Where'd you find it?

[Sergeant Gino Tartaglia]

At Grant's tomb. You know, I've been curious about that tomb for years now. Finally, I took time off to go to study it. Then I found a letter on the steps, and I never did get to really study Grant's tomb.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Tough. You'll stick around, huh? Some of our boys want to have a long chat with you. They enjoy curious fellows.

[Sergeant Gino Tartaglia]

Sure, anything you say. I'm nothing if I'm not cooperative. Just nothing.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I wouldn't say that. But you stick around, huh? Hi, Ben.

[Ben Taylor]

Well, hello, Danny. Hey, how do you like this, huh? I rigged up so when it's a sunny day, the telephone is on the outside of my shack. Inspiration, huh?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Fine.

[Ben Taylor]

Who wants to be on the inside when outside it's sunny? Car rent. And, Danny, I can give you rates.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Just talk.

[Ben Taylor]

If you don't do business together, we never become enemies, huh? What's on your mind, Mrs. Mason? Oh, yeah. Sad, huh? You know, if you set your mind to it and consider all she's been through. And then look at her. She's a pretty woman.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I noticed you said she was hurt in an accident at Coney Island, Ben. What kind of an accident?

[Ben Taylor]

On the Rolly Coaster. You know, one of them rides fell off. Right near the end of the ride, she stood up, fell.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Was she with anyone?

[Mrs. Mason / Diane Mason]

Yeah.

[Ben Taylor]

Her husband. You want to know something? In spite of the heartbreak of having a wife like that, you know, Mr. Mason is one of the nicest guys I ever met.

[Detective Danny Clover]

What about Mrs. Mason, Ben?

[Sergeant Gino Tartaglia]

What about her?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Can anyone ever talk to her? Have a conversation with her?

[Ben Taylor]

I talk to her.

[Detective Danny Clover]

About what?

[Ben Taylor]

Things, you know. Ain't it a pretty day, Mrs. Mason? Is there a draft on you, Mrs. Mason? I talk to her, but she just hums and sings. But, you know, I think she's getting better. Maybe I'm contributing.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Where'd you go?

[Ben Taylor]

Driving today, down Riverside Drive. You know, the river, Grant's Tomb, the churches.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Thanks a lot, Ben.

[Ben Taylor]

Anytime, Danny. Anytime at all.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Oh, hello, Mr. Clover. Good evening, Mr. Mason. We're delighted to see you. Please come in, Diane. It's Mr. Clover. Diane looks better, doesn't she, Mr. Clover? Yes. Yes, she does. I brought you something, Mr. Mason. Here. Huh? A letter. It's addressed to you. Read it. I don't understand, Rita. Yes, it is. It's addressed to me. But it's been opened. That's right, Rita.

[Sergeant Gino Tartaglia]

All right.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Note says you made a mistake, Mr. Mason. Mrs. Mason, your husband might be electrocuted for a murder he committed.

[Ben Taylor]

Leave her alone.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I wasn't going to touch her. Cut it out, Mrs. Mason. What's the matter with you? Have you gone out of your mind? Clover? I said cut it up. Mrs. Mason, I told you, leave her alone.

[Ben Taylor]

All right, Chip.

[Sergeant Gino Tartaglia]

Come here to accuse me of murder.

[Detective Danny Clover]

But leave her alone.

[Mrs. Mason / Diane Mason]

George.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Don't worry about anything, dear.

[Mrs. Mason / Diane Mason]

Get me a drink of water.

[Detective Danny Clover]

What? What did you say? A drink of water, George.

[Mrs. Mason / Diane Mason]

Cold water from the refrigerator. Diane, darling, a drink of water. Do it. You won't be able to wait on me anymore. Mr. Clover is going to take you away from me.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You're talking like you know what you're saying. You do know what you're saying. What's happening? What's happening to us? It's already happened. It's all over.