Broadway Is My Beat: The Howard Crawford Murder Case 08/05/1951

Summary

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Podcast Summary: "Broadway Is My Beat – The Howard Crawford Murder Case"

Podcast: Choice Classic Radio Detectives | Old Time Radio
Episode Date: December 3, 2025 (original airdate: August 5, 1951)
Main Detective: Danny Clover (portrayed by Larry Thor)
Summary By: Podcast Summarizer AI

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Episode Overview

This gripping, atmospheric episode of "Broadway Is My Beat" follows Detective Danny Clover as he investigates the mysterious drowning of a man at a public swimming pool. What at first appears a routine drowning soon weaves into a web of theft, additional murder, and personal betrayals. The episode thrusts listeners into mid-century New York, exploring themes of urban alienation, desperation, and the dark side of fleeting summer dreams.

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Key Discussion Points and Story Beats

1. A Drowning at the Public Pool (04:34 – 07:19)

• Setting the Scene: The city is suffocating in August heat as Clover is called to a city pool where a man has drowned. Locker is found emptied.
• Suspicion Raised: Initial suspicion arises as robbery seems linked to the drowning – the victim’s possessions are stolen from his locker.
• Key Dialogue:
  • Detective Mugavins: "Kenny was flagged off his beat when this man was dragged out of the pool… The locker was empty, forced." (05:41)
  • Detective Danny Clover: "So you figure that man's drowning and his lockers being robbed? Had something in mind." (06:00)

2. The Lifeguard and The First Suspect (07:19 – 10:22)

• Interview with Russ Gavey: Lifeguard who tried to save the victim, shows scratches from struggle. Claims he did his best.
  • Russ Gavey: "He fought me. Had to take him under to break his hold. And when he stopped struggling, I got him out." (06:27)
• Medical Twist: Dr. Sinski reveals the man didn’t die from drowning, but from overly aggressive artificial respiration—implying murder.
  • Dr. Sinski: "Whoever administered artificial respiration to that man killed him as surely as if he had driven a knife into his heart." (07:39)

3. Broadening the Investigation (10:41 – 12:00)

• Background on Russ: Gino Tartaglia reports that Russ has a good reputation, "healthy, normal muscle boy, maybe a murderer." (11:21)
• Lead from a Pawnshop: Mr. Hanson reports suspicious pawned goods that tie back to the drowned man and a young attendant, Bobby Kent.

4. Bobby Kent's Fate (13:16 – 15:14)

• Discovery: Clover finds Bobby Kent hanged in his apartment, clearly murdered—escalating the stakes and mystery.
• Narration: "Bobby had been dead when I got there. Bobby had been murdered." (15:03)

5. Connecting the Sins – Theories and Evidence (17:01 – 20:48)

• Establishing Identities: Victim identified as Howard Crawford through cleaner’s marks. His wife provides a picture of their fraught marriage.
• Mrs. Crawford’s Indifference: Surreal detachment as she identifies Howard’s body.
  • Mrs. Edith Crawford: "Strange to me he's dead, but I'm gonna get used to it." (19:53)
• Suspicions Cast on Russ and Edith: Motive considered—was Russ involved with Edith?

6. Interview with Bobby's Girlfriend, Lucille Lang (21:42 – 22:49)

• Insight into Bobby: Lucille exposes Bobby’s thefts as a means to impress girlfriends; mentions Bobby intended to run off with $500 found in the stolen suit.
  • Lucille: "You think that's the end of the rainbow for a kid?" (22:24)
  • Lucille: "Bobby's dead from hanging. And I'm cooped up in a cage. So I ain't gonna make it, am I?" (22:49)

7. Unraveling the Motive and Climax (23:09 – 27:10)

• Piecing Together the Motive: Mugavins and Clover determine possible blackmail: Bobby realized the value of the suit and its owner, possibly threatening Russ.
• Surveillance on Edith and Russ: Edith is found at a motel on Queens Highway with Russ Gavey—the duo was planning to elope.
• Confrontation: Clover accuses Russ of both murders (Crawford and Kent) in the presence of Edith. Edith coldly disowns Russ upon facing charges.
  • Edith Crawford: "Only one thing, Russ. I'm a happy girl, Russ… you're going to be a burden. As long as lover here's got you, I don't want you." (27:02)
  • Detective Danny Clover: "Both of you. You're an accessory, Mrs. Crawford." (27:10)

8. Themes and Tone

• Urban Melancholia: The opening and closing narrations evoke the loneliness and harsh ambitions of Broadway.
• Disillusion and Detachment: Characters often display callousness or indifference, underlining the transient nature of their hopes and affairs.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "Broadway's My Beat. From Times Square to Columbus Circle, the gaudiest, the most violent, the lonesomest mile in the world."
  — Detective Danny Clover (03:25)
• "Whoever administered artificial respiration to that man killed him as surely as if he had driven a knife into his heart."
  — Dr. Sinski (07:39)
• "Am I a murderer because I didn't make out with one poor slob?"
  — Russ Gavey (10:10)
• "Bobby was in. His shirt was ripped, his face bloody, hands tied behind his back, belt around his neck... Bobby had been murdered."
  — Detective Danny Clover (14:00)
• "Now, I'm a girl who's gonna tell you the truth, boyfriend. Every time I've thought of it. I've wished Howard dead every hour on the hour."
  — Mrs. Edith Crawford (20:30)
• "Both of you. You're an accessory, Mrs. Crawford."
  — Detective Danny Clover (27:10)

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Important Timestamps

• 00:44–03:08: Intro, Bob Hope's message (skip for story content).
• 04:34: Opening narration and murder discovery.
• 07:19: Lifeguard interview and autopsy revelation.
• 13:16: Pawn shop lead and discovery of Bobby Kent’s body.
• 17:01: Theory building, victim’s identification.
• 19:03: Mrs. Crawford identifies her husband.
• 21:42: Interview with Lucille Lang, new leads.
• 23:09: Link between suspects becoming clear, Edith tracked to motel.
• 24:31–27:17: Final confrontation with Russ and Edith Crawford.
• 29:03: Episode closes with signature noir narration.

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Conclusion

This episode of Broadway Is My Beat masterfully blends mystery, character study, and hardboiled dialogue. The twisting investigation leads Detective Danny Clover from an apparent drowning to murder, theft, blackmail, and betrayal, set against the sweaty, restless backdrop of New York's summer nights. Its sharp-tongued exchanges, resigned characters, and vivid cityscapes remain compelling, illustrating why classic radio drama endures.

Transcript

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[Bob Hope]

This is Bob broadcasting from Topeka, Kansas. Hope and thanking the sponsor of your regularly scheduled program for this two minute interruption. Ladies and gentlemen, in the last ten years I've visited many dramatic spots in this world. But just a few minutes ago, I returned from a tour of what was once North Topeka, Kansas. I've just seen block after block of total destruction. Streets caved in, buildings undermined and flattened. Entire new housing developments a shambles with the houses jammed together like battered boxes. As we toured this sickening area, I thought of the heroics that must have accompanied this disaster as it happened. The emergency operations of the Red Cross, Salvation Army, Air Force, Coast Guard, veterans organizations and the thousands of civilian volunteers all striving to hold this hungry Kaw river within its banks. Then the complete frustration when it crashed into the streets. But the excitement of that time has passed. Today, it's a dismal task of dirty drudgery. Imagine the heartbreak of returning to what was once your home and finding three feet of dried mud on the front porch. After scraping and digging for hours, you finally get the door open, only to find dried, drifted mud bank throughout the house with everything in it destroyed beyond repair. Countless of the heartbreaking stories of human despair, this great flood of 1951 is written. But you and I, neighbors of these call valley folks of Kansas, can help, and I mean help, with dimes and dollars. The Red Cross and other agencies have done a magnificent job taking emergency care of 10 to 15,000 refugees. And they're still doing great work in helping the needy with rehabilitation. But that's a far cry from the tremendous job that lies ahead. In Topeka alone, The loss is 100 million. That amounts to $1,000 for each and every person in this city. I'm appealing to that great heart that has made America it's never failed before. Won't you send your contribution, large or small, to flood Topeka, Kansas? That's all the address you need. Flood Topeka, Kansas, and join me, Bob Hope, in bringing new hope to thousands of unfortunate American folks.

[Mr. Hanson]

Thank you.

[Detective Danny Clover]

The William Wrigley Company has donated the time for this message from Bob Hope.

[Bob Hope]

Now, after a short pause, we switch.

[Detective Danny Clover]

To Hollywood for your regular program, Broadway Is My Beat.

[Choice Classic Radio Announcer]

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[Detective Danny Clover]

Broadway's My Beat. From Times Square to Columbus Circle, the gaudiest, the most violent, the lonesomest mile in the world.

[Choice Classic Radio Announcer]

Broadway's My Beat. The exciting drama of mystery and murder and the people who walk the Great White Way. With Larry Thor as Detective Danny Clover. For refreshment while you work. For enjoyment anytime, chew a stick of Wrigley Spearmint gum. The delicious, long lasting, real mint flavor of Wrigley Spearmint cools your mouth and freshens your taste. The good smooth chewing helps keep you feeling fresh and alert. Adds enjoyment to whatever you're doing. So indoors, outdoors, at work or play, enjoy chewing. Wrigley Spearmint gum. Wrigley Spearmint. Refreshing, delicious.

[Detective Danny Clover]

When the summer becomes August, Broadway pauses for a while, considers what happened to the springtime dreams to be fulfilled in the middle of July at the very latest. And what of the blonde on last month's snapshots? The one with sunny legs, the one you tried with poetry and she touched your cheek. The faun of Camp Never Care, jewel of the Catskills. She's back in the Bronx shoe store, kid. And the last time you walked by, she didn't look so good. And walk the streets furious with people and heat, and feel your throat tighten when it suddenly comes to you another summer's rushing. Maybe next year, kid. Maybe. And uptown, east of Broadway, where I was in the outdoor swimming pool, catering also to the seekers after something or other. The crowd was divided into swimmers, non swimmers, sand sitters, ukulele players and miscellaneous. And the man in the swimming trunks lying on the concrete walk, the man who had drowned and the police emergency crew working over him with the respirator. And the man from headquarters who had gotten there before me.

[Detective Mugavins]

They've been working on it for quite a while. Danny.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Why'd you call me to come down, Muggleman?

[Detective Mugavins]

I asked the same question of Patrolman Kenny. It's like this, Danny. Kenny was flagged off his beat when this man was dragged out of the pool. Took off the man's locker check, went to the locker, you know, for identification. The locker was empty, forced. Uh, well, those locks answered with dime store skeleton key. Robbery gets A dozen calls a day from these pools.

[Detective Danny Clover]

So you figure that man's drowning and his lockers being robbed? Had something in mind.

[Detective Mugavins]

Maybe a coincidence, Danny? Maybe something else. I don't know. I wanted you to be here in case. Let's take a look.

[Detective Danny Clover]

One of you men called a morgue.

[Detective Mugavins]

A lifeguard who pulled him out. Is that one Danny? You want to talk to him?

[Russ Gavey]

Uh huh.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I'm from the police. Danny Clover.

[Russ Gavey]

Russ Gavey.

[Detective Danny Clover]

What happened here?

[Russ Gavey]

Well, I was on my stand. Him. He started to yell. I went in after him.

[Detective Mugavins]

How'd you get those scratches on your shoulder?

[Russ Gavey]

He fought me. Had to take him under to break his hold. And when he stopped struggling, I got him out. By that time, he needed artificial respiration. I gave it to him until your man came.

[Detective Danny Clover]

All right. Did Detective Mugman here tell you this man's clothes are gone? That it's going to be pretty difficult to identify him now?

[Russ Gavey]

Yeah, he told me.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Any ideas about it?

[Russ Gavey]

Nope.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Okay, Russ, Back to the office at headquarters and sit with it. A man had been drowned in a public pool. From a policeman's point of view, worth only a quarter page form in triplicate. However, the fact of his lockers being robbed may be something else again. Probably not more forms. Then a couple of hours later, when the office gathers up its private shadows, a door opens, a man walks in.

[Detective Mugavins]

Danny, you busy?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Come in, Dr. Sinski. Sit down.

[Detective Mugavins]

Thank you. I just came from the autopsy room, Danny. And has that man brought in from the swimming pool, the drowned one, has he been identified, Danny?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Not yet. What's in your mind?

[Detective Mugavins]

He was murdered.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Murdered? How?

[Detective Mugavins]

Whoever administered artificial respiration to that man killed him as surely as if he had driven a knife into his heart.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Dr. Sinski.

[Detective Mugavins]

Gently, Danny, gently.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I'll explain.

[Detective Mugavins]

Inside of the chest, Danny, is a delicate system of balances. Balances which cannot be upset, else a man's heart will be affected in his lungs.

[Detective Danny Clover]

What's that got to do with murder?

[Detective Mugavins]

Simply that the autopsy I just performed on the drowned man revealed small internal hemorrhages, bruises of the muscles and bones of the chest from too active a manipulation.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You mean that lifeguard didn't bruise?

[Detective Mugavins]

I mean he did a very bad job of artificial respiration.

[Detective Danny Clover]

That's why you call it murder, not premeditated.

[Detective Mugavins]

Of course, Doctor, this is not the question in your mind. You wanted to ask if it was premeditated, didn't you, Danny?

[Detective Danny Clover]

And let the question take over the room, add the weight of its violence to the oppressive night heat, the stifling remembrance of other such questions posed in the same room, quietly, fearfully. Because a policeman, too, reacts to the touch of death. It fills the room, and against its pressure, you lift the phone. Make the call to the department of public works. Have them check personnel files. Come up with an address for Russ gavey, lifeguard. Go there to the hall bedroom, furnished in the style of Brownstone, east 20s. Find it empty of Russ gavey. Be told on the way out by the woman spread wide on the stoop. You should have asked before. Russ was across the street in the park on that bench, fighting for his share of the night air. Walk up to Russ, let him chew the last fiber of a matchstick.

[Russ Gavey]

And taking my well earned rest. You Want to help, Mr. Clover?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Sure. Mind if I sit down, Russ?

[Russ Gavey]

Yeah, sit down.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You were almost a hero today, Russ.

[Russ Gavey]

You're kidding. That's how I make my daily summer bread. 50 bucks a week. Ogle a girl, save a life.

[Detective Danny Clover]

How long you been a lifeguard, Russ?

[Russ Gavey]

Six, maybe seven summers. Time out for a frolic on anzio beach then.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You've had a lot of experience saving people from drowning?

[Russ Gavey]

Am I allotted share?

[Detective Danny Clover]

The medical examiner down at headquarters says that man you tried to save.

[Russ Gavey]

Yeah, I remember.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Our medical examiner says he was murdered. Oh, how come our man says it was murder? Because artificial respiration wasn't applied properly.

[Russ Gavey]

Well, your man is a smart man, But a four bit a week lifeguard does the best he can. He studies in classes, he follows a first aid manual. You call him a murderer because he didn't make out with one poor slob.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You tell me, Russ. You murder the man.

[Russ Gavey]

Considering the percentage of lives that are saved and not saved by such as.

[Detective Danny Clover]

We, that's a question you may never.

[Russ Gavey]

Be able to answer, huh, cop?

[Detective Danny Clover]

I'll keep trying, Russ. You won't mind.

[Gino Tartaglia]

Danny, why don't you never turn on a light? You sit like this in the dark by yourself. It's. I got one of the tartaglia kids to home. Does the same thing. You both make me feel the same way.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You've got your problems, haven't you, Gina?

[Gino Tartaglia]

I could do without them. You in the mood, Danny?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Sure. For whatever. What have you got?

[Gino Tartaglia]

Nothing. No progress on identification of the drowned man. No progress on a connection between him and that lifeguard, Russ Gaby. Reports on gaby state he is looked up to at the pool by girls and ladies sized swimmers. Occasionally he buys for one or the other a beer at the concession stand. Occasionally escorts one of the other type to her home, Deposits it, goes to the newsstand. Buys super type magazines, goes to his room, healthy, normal muscle boy, maybe a murderer.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Gino.

[Gino Tartaglia]

Pardon me, Danny, but I must take. Guards. Sergeant Artaglia speaking. Yes? Yeah, I got it. Hanson's pawn shop, East 34th. I told you I got it. They bother us with such.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Such what, Gino?

[Gino Tartaglia]

A man with a pawnshop got the nudges in the midst of a nice conversation because somebody who works in a pool hocked a suit of clothes. Valuables look to this, Mr. Hansen, like stolen goods.

[Detective Danny Clover]

On East 34th.

[Gino Tartaglia]

Yeah. Then why bother yourself with it, Danny?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Because maybe it'll give me the name of a murdered man.

[Mr. Hanson]

You might ask me why I called the police, Mr. Clover, after so many months of abstemiously staying away from your family.

[Detective Danny Clover]

All right, Mr. Hanson. Why?

[Mr. Hanson]

Because there was something fishy about it this time. This suit, this watch ring money clip was brought me by a boy who's an attendant at a public pool, A.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Pool on upper Broadway. Inevitably.

[Mr. Hanson]

That pool where that unidentified man was drowned, his thing stolen. You read about it, of course.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Who brought these to you? A boy. Know him well?

[Mr. Hanson]

They had dealings with him intermittently.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Who's the boy?

[Mr. Hanson]

Bobby Kent. He's got a room in one of those crates on East 37th. 1654 East 37th. Just ask for Bobby.

[Russ Gavey]

We all know him.

[Detective Danny Clover]

And you think these things belong to the drowned man?

[Mr. Hanson]

The man was robbed where Bobby works. Died where Bobby works. Bobby pawns things that obviously don't belong to him. What is there left for a decent man to think, Mr. Clover?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Then the three walk through the languid summer night the city bound and the dream bound People on the sandstone steps who find their delights in a pop bottle or by taking possession of a star in the sky or by cooling themselves with a fan courtesy of Swanson's Chicken Frecassi. Pass them and mind the kiddies at their nighttime play the patter of little feet up an alley and arrive at the address on 37th Street. And over one of the bells see a name. Bobby Kent, Apartment three. The sound you hear is the far off thunder made of heat and air currents and stratosphere. And the lightning through the window at the end of the corridor lights up the number three on a door briefly, then again. Bobby. Bobby Kent, this is the police. Bobby, Open up. I'm coming in. Bobby. Bobby was in. His shirt was ripped, his face bloody, hands tied behind his back, belt around his neck. And the belt was strung over a pipe near the ceiling. When I brought over a chair to stand on, there was lightning again. And the Whole room was stark white for an instant. It took a while to get Bobby down, but it didn't matter. Bobby had been dead when I got there. Bobby had been murdered.

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[Detective Danny Clover]

Broadway leans against a doorway, flips a coin and makes odds on the 31 days of August. This month, kid, it'll come in. The Philly in the third. The dreamboat, the oil on that little piece of property, at least in the Texas badlands, gotta come in. Otherwise, what have you been building, kid? Gotta come in so you can indulge the whim of the hour. Enjoy it, own it. All that neon, yours to turn on or off. That music of the dance calling to you from basement dance lands. Yours to play soft or loud or cut off like that dance. In dark and in stillness. If you want the traffic signals pushing back the people yours to make say, stop, go, you're a king man with headlines at your feet. Feet boy murdered. Hung by belt in tenement room. Unknown man drowned in public pool. All yours, kid. Clean shuffle, a minute of luck and it's all yours. And the next morning at headquarters, consider your share of it yours. And Detective Mugavans, you still stick with that, Danny?

[Detective Mugavins]

That the man in the pool was murdered?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Yeah. You don't like it?

[Detective Mugavins]

Oh, it's not that, Danny. It's only so many people drown. So many can't be saved. You're gonna go back and call everyone that wasn't the murder victim Russ gave.

[Detective Danny Clover]

He is a trained lifeguard. He told me the man fought him, had to be pushed under.

[Detective Mugavins]

Happens that way sometimes. Danny.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Could have been the other way around. Could have been Russ wanted the man dead. It could have been he fought the man, drowned him, finished him with his own brand of artificial respiration.

[Detective Mugavins]

Could have been. But where's a string that knots it, Danny? What connection?

[Detective Danny Clover]

That kid that was hung, Bobby Kent, the attendant of the. That could be a connection because he.

[Detective Mugavins]

Stole a man's clothes out Of a crummy locker. We're not even sure they belong to the drowned man.

[Detective Danny Clover]

What do we know about them, Magdalen?

[Detective Mugavins]

Well, from the cleaner's marks, they belong to a man named Howard Crawford. Married? I checked his wife. She'll be at the morgue to identify in a half hour. Would have come sooner. Wanted to go out and buy a dress first. I let her.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I'll go down and meet her. You get whatever you can on Bobby Kent. Friends, people he stole from, whoever wanted him. I'm working on it. I put a tail on Gavy. Every breath he breathes, I want to report.

[Detective Mugavins]

Got it. Anything else, Danny?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Yeah. Why does a woman need a new dress to look at a dead man?

[Detective Mugavins]

I don't know. Ask her when you see her.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Are you ready, Mrs. Coffin?

[Mrs. Edith Crawford]

Waiting for you.

[Detective Danny Clover]

All right. Just look at this man and tell me if he's okay.

[Mrs. Edith Crawford]

Okay.

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[Mrs. Edith Crawford]

Put him back. He's mine. Can we get out of this place now?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Of course. Through this door. You want to sit down on this bench for a minute?

[Mrs. Edith Crawford]

Or else, huh? Sure, I'll sit. What do you think of my husband, Mr. Clover? Can you imagine it? Howard getting himself a piece of marble in a police morgue.

[Detective Danny Clover]

When did you see him last?

[Mrs. Edith Crawford]

I got out of a warm bed yesterday morning on account of the phone ringing. It was for Howard. He pinched my cheek, said goodbye. Honey, I'm going out of town.

[Detective Danny Clover]

This happen often? His going out of town in his line?

[Mrs. Edith Crawford]

Salesman.

[Detective Danny Clover]

And you didn't see him after that?

[Mrs. Edith Crawford]

Look, boyfriend, I was in the middle of a beauty exercise. Bend overs for the figure. I was grabbing my ankles. I looked back, there he was going out of the house.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Doesn't it seem strange to you that he didn't go out of town? That he was found?

[Mrs. Edith Crawford]

Strange to me he's dead, but I'm gonna get used to it.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Who do you know had a reason for murdering him?

[Mrs. Edith Crawford]

Murdered? Thought you said he'd drown.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You like to swim, Mrs. Croft?

[Mrs. Edith Crawford]

You see this sunburn? You think I got it standing under a hot iron? Look at it. See how you like it.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Did you get it at that swimming pool uptown?

[Mrs. Edith Crawford]

Coney? I know A part of Coney where they carry a pretty good crowd. That's where this burn came from.

[Detective Danny Clover]

There's a lifeguard at that pool.

[Mrs. Edith Crawford]

I go to Coney where they carry a million on a weekend. I don't confine me to public pools uptown.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Did you have anything to do with your husband's death, Mrs. Crawford?

[Mrs. Edith Crawford]

Now, I'm a girl who's gonna tell you the truth. Boyfriend. Every time I've thought of it. I've wished Howard dead every hour on the hour. I'd have wished him dead on the half hour, too. But that's when the race results came over the radio. Howard, things have come true. I've wished for him.

[Detective Danny Clover]

That's all. Mrs. Crawford. You can get out of here now. Watch her reapply the lipstick and readjust her clothes and walk away from her. Dead to a summer rhythm that no longer held any part of him. A woman starting the new day fresh. The memory she had submitted to now happily dead on a marble slab. And at the end of the corridor, the street sunlight touching her face for an instant, darting away, leaving only pallor and the smear of scarlet on her lips. Back in the office, order a shadow for Mrs. Crawford. Then a telephone report from Muggervin. He'd found a girl who was the girlfriend of Bobby Kent. A box office girl in an all day, all night Movie on East 125th. Lucille Lang, on duty for the rest of the day and night.

[Mrs. Edith Crawford]

How many police.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Ms. Lang.

[Mrs. Edith Crawford]

Take back your badge. It don't buy you nothing.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You were a friend of Bobby Kent's.

[Mrs. Edith Crawford]

Look, you. You want to lose me my job?

[Detective Danny Clover]

All we want, Ms. Lang, all you.

[Mrs. Edith Crawford]

Want is to mark me lousy with the management. A sweaty cop snooping around where I live. I know. My girlfriend called me. Told me he had his nose in my affairs, asked questions. She had to tell him I was cozy with Bobby.

[Detective Danny Clover]

All we want is something that'll give us Bobby's killer.

[Mrs. Edith Crawford]

Search me up and down. You won't find Bobby's killer.

[Detective Danny Clover]

And maybe someone who wanted him dead.

[Mrs. Edith Crawford]

All the kid ever did was steal a buck here and there so he could make an impression on me, on my girlfriend. Boy has to die for that.

[Detective Danny Clover]

He was a thief.

[Mrs. Edith Crawford]

Ain't everybody, kiddo, one way or another to sweep out the locker room in a public pool to empty the foot bath, scrub him out. You think that's the end of the rainbow for a kid?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Did you know about the clothes he stole from the pool? The watch, the ring, the money clip?

[Mrs. Edith Crawford]

Sure, I know. He told me. I even know about the 500 bucks that was in the suit.

[Detective Danny Clover]

500?

[Mrs. Edith Crawford]

We were gonna take it and go off to far away places. Do you know something, kiddo?

[Russ Gavey]

What?

[Mrs. Edith Crawford]

Bobby's dead from hanging. And I'm cooped up in a cage. So I ain't gonna make it, am I?

[Detective Mugavins]

Danny?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Come on in, Mugman. What do you want?

[Detective Mugavins]

An opinion.

[Detective Danny Clover]

About what?

[Detective Mugavins]

About how soon we should pick up Russ Gavy for the murder of Crawford and that pool attendant.

[Detective Danny Clover]

If we pick him up, how long do you think we can hold him? A killer, Danny, how are you going to prove premeditated murder by artificial respiration?

[Detective Mugavins]

Maybe we shouldn't start from there, Danny. Maybe we should start from the attendant. Now, he killed Bobby Kent because Bobby stole the clothes. Because Bobby would learn that the clothes belonged to Howard Crawford. Bobby was a sneak thief from there to blackmail him. One easy lesson.

[Detective Danny Clover]

So we get back to Howard Crawford. You know what we need, McEvin?

[Russ Gavey]

Yeah.

[Detective Mugavins]

Motive. We're gonna find our wife.

[Gino Tartaglia]

Danny.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You got something, Gino?

[Gino Tartaglia]

Officer Rachi just called from a gas station on Queens Highway. Mrs. Crawford just registered at the Ritz Lodge Motel about 10 miles out of the city.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Thanks, Gino. Margaret.

[Detective Mugavins]

Yeah, Danny?

[Detective Danny Clover]

That shadow you got on Russ Gavy, get him off. I don't want him followed.

[Detective Mugavins]

All right. Where are you going?

[Detective Danny Clover]

To find out why a widow wanders far from home.

[Mrs. Edith Crawford]

It's open. Pour yourself a drink. I'll be right in. I had my hair done. What do you see? Bought some new clothes. You'll like them. Oh, you'll like him too, lover. You like him.

[Detective Danny Clover]

That's your going away dress, Mrs. Crawford.

[Mrs. Edith Crawford]

It could be for that, too.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You've got a home in Manhattan. Mrs. Crawford. What are you doing here?

[Mrs. Edith Crawford]

Where's your home boyfriend? And what are you doing here?

[Detective Danny Clover]

I wanted to talk to you.

[Mrs. Edith Crawford]

Me and my son. Burn. Made an impression, huh? See, I got a flunky to follow me. You could have done it yourself. No uproar would have happened. Well, here we are.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You still haven't answered my question. What are you doing here?

[Mrs. Edith Crawford]

Girl likes to get away sometimes. You'd be surprised how many phone calls I've gotten since Howard drank all that water. Here's a dime. Throw it in the radio. No. Then I'll throw it a dime. Yep. Phone calls all day long.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Now it's your turn just to talk. Kill some time.

[Mrs. Edith Crawford]

Ah, that Kenton. Oh, what'd you say, lovely?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Nothing. I didn't say anything.

[Mrs. Edith Crawford]

Look, be a doll, will you? Go away. Come back another day. I'll be here let's pick a Tuesday. Make a detonate, huh? Why don't you go right now out.

[Detective Danny Clover]

The back way through a window?

[Mrs. Edith Crawford]

Just get up. Hire us. Got a little trouble.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Come in, Russ. Close the door.

[Russ Gavey]

I'll bet the lady told you to get out of here, Mr. Clover.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Uh huh. You two know each other pretty well, don't you?

[Mrs. Edith Crawford]

Yeah. Swimming pool romance. I saw him in those California feet flippers and it twisted my heart.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You two are planning on going away together? I only ask because the back of Russ's car is loaded with suitcases.

[Russ Gavey]

We're going to get married in Maryland.

[Detective Mugavins]

Is there a law?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Yes, there is. There's a whole section in the penal code about murder.

[Russ Gavey]

Back to that, huh?

[Detective Danny Clover]

I could have picked you up before, Russ, but I needed a motive. I had to find out why you murdered Howard Crawford. There she is.

[Russ Gavey]

How did I kill him?

[Detective Danny Clover]

By drowning him. You made sure the resuscitator squad wouldn't revive him. You crushed out whatever life there was in him.

[Russ Gavey]

Listen to him, Edith.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Yeah, listen. You killed Bobby Kent. He was a petty thief. He took the clothes you'd stolen from Crawford. Sooner or later, he'd put two and two together. Probably would have blackmailed you. You couldn't afford to let that happen.

[Russ Gavey]

You ready, Edith?

[Mrs. Edith Crawford]

I'm ready. Only one thing, Russ.

[Russ Gavey]

What?

[Mrs. Edith Crawford]

I'm a happy girl, Russ. I like to live happy. From just now on, you're going to be a burden. As long as lover here's got you, I don't want you.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Both of you. You're an accessory, Mrs. Crawford.

[Mrs. Edith Crawford]

That changes things right away. Russ.

[Mr. Hanson]

Yeah?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Don't be a fool. Okay. Your way, Russia. You'll never be the same. You ready to go back to town, Mrs. Crawford? It's the time on Broadway when the crowd gives up, goes home. Then it's the street of the dim moonlight and the dark whispers. The wind of the night, the wind that scatters everything. Yesterday's headlines, yesterday's dreams, yesterday's people. It's Broadway. The gaudiest, the most violent, the lonesomest mile in the world. Broadway. My beat.

[Choice Classic Radio Announcer]

Remember, friends, for refreshment while you work, for enjoyment anytime, chew a stick of Wrigley Spearmint gum. There's lots of lively, real mint flavor in it to cool your mouth, freshen your taste and sweeten your breath. And chewing Wrigley Spearmint helps keep you fresh and alert. You feel better, work better. Get more fun out of doing things. So indoors, outdoors, at work or play, always keep delicious Wrigley Spearmint Chewing Gum. Handy for refreshment while you work. For enjoyment anytime, chew a stick of Wrigley's Spearmint Gum. The makers of Wrigley's Spearmint Chewing Gum hope you've enjoyed tonight's story and that you're enjoying Wrigley's Spearmint Gum every day. We invite you to join us next week at the same time when Detective Danny Clover returns again with Broadway's My Beat. Broadway's My Beat, Brought to you by Wrigley's Spearmint Gum is produced and directed by Elliot Lewis, with music composed and conducted by Alexander Courage. The program is written by Morton Fine and David Friedkin and stars Larry Thor as Detective Danny Clover, with Charles Calvert as Tartaglia and Jack Crucian as Mugabin. In tonight's cast, Mary Jane Croft was heard as Edith Crawford, hi. Aberback as Russ Gaby, stan Waxman as Mr. Hansen and Michael Ann Barrett as Lucille Lang. Bob Stevenson speaking. This is the CBS Radio Network.

[Mrs. Edith Crawford]

Sam.