Broadway Is My Beat: The John Dobson Murder Case 01/05/1952

Summary

Podcast Summary: Broadway Is My Beat – "The John Dobson Murder Case" (01/05/1952)

Podcast: Choice Classic Radio Detectives | Old Time Radio
Host: Choice Classic Radio
Episode: Broadway Is My Beat – "The John Dobson Murder Case"
Date Aired: February 18, 2026
Featured Detective: Larry Thor as Detective Danny Clover

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Main Theme

A brooding, atmospheric investigation set in the heart of 1950s New York, this episode thrusts Detective Danny Clover into the case of John Dobson’s mysterious poisoning and death. The narrative explores the allure and dangers of ambition, beauty, and the lengths to which someone might go to hold onto love—or a lavish lifestyle—beneath Broadway’s neon lights. The episode paints a portrait of Edna Dobson, a twice-widowed woman whose desire for beauty and attention surfaces as the chilling motive behind murder.

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Key Discussion Points and Plot Breakdown

1. The Call to Action: John Dobson Found Poisoned

[00:54–02:50]

• The opening sets the moody post-New Year’s tone of Broadway, soon interrupted as Clover is called to the emergency hospital to see John Dobson, found collapsed and poisoned in his car.
• Dr. Sinski reveals the victim is "not in any pain" and the initial examination points to poisoning, but not self-administered—"You ever hear of anybody drinking poison and going for a car ride?" (Detective Danny Clover, [02:36])

2. Meeting Edna Dobson: The Unfeeling Widow?

[03:48–05:27]

• Clover arrives at the Dobsons’ luxurious Park Avenue apartment. Edna, initially annoyed, shows indifference masked by self-absorption.
  • Notable quote: "The woman's anger tears at her heavily creamed face..." (Detective Danny Clover, [03:51])
• Edna claims they shared a romantic dinner before John left to meet "old friend" Floyd Gilmore. Her primary concern, however, is her appearance: "Few men have ever seen me in this... Even John." ([04:17])

3. The Friend and the “Outside Interest”: Floyd Gilmore

[05:55–07:49]

• Clover questions Floyd, who gets flustered but admits to orchestrating a meeting between John and a "friend," Isabel Martin, intended as a romantic escape from Edna.
  • Notable quote: "You were going to introduce him to an outside interest?" (Detective Danny Clover, [07:19])

4. Isabel Martin and a Trail of Drinks

[08:59–11:25]

• At Isabel Martin's hotel, the detective finds her alone and drunk, waiting for John. She offers little besides melancholy and coquetry. Crucially, Clover collects her unfinished drink for testing.

5. John Dobson’s Death and Edna’s Reaction

[11:43–12:58]

• John dies in the hospital, calling out for Edna one last time: "Danny... opened his eyes and said his wife's name. Said Edna. Said my beautiful wife Edna. Beautiful, even in all her grief." (Dr. Sinski, [12:00])
• Edna's grief is more performative than heartfelt, obsessed with her appearance in the moment of loss.

6. Detective Work: Piecing Together Edna’s Past

[17:03–20:32]

• Sergeant Tartaglia and Detective Clover uncover Edna’s background:
  • She married into money twice; her first husband, Timothy French, was a wheelchair-bound man who died in a suspicious accident (a fall).
  • She inherited a sizeable estate.
  • Of her marriages, "Mr. Dobson did attach himself and married Mrs. Dobson while she was still in widow's weeds." (Gino Tartaglia, [17:39])
• Insurance man Jonathan Harvey recounts how Edna met Timothy and later reveals that Edna underwent transformations—bank clerk to beauty—after accumulating wealth.

7. The Beauty Parlor: A Ritual of Reinvention

[21:07–22:23]

• Investigation at Lawson’s salon reveals Edna’s obsessive, expensive pursuit of beauty began the same day as her first husband’s funeral.

8. The Interrogation and Confession

[22:41–27:24]

• Brought in for questioning, Edna deflects, grows defensive, then coldly rationalizes her actions:
  • Confronted with the pattern—a plain woman turned beauty, sustained by money from dead husbands—she finally breaks.
  • Notable quotes:
    • "I killed them. I killed both of them. Will the reporters be here soon?" (Edna Dobson, [26:55])
  • Edna’s motive emerges: She killed to preserve her lifestyle and the illusion of beauty and adoration from others.

9. The Coda: Broadway Endures

[27:24–28:16]

• Narration closes on the loneliness and spectacle of Broadway—the world moves on, even as tragedy fades into the city’s endless night.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the City:
  • "Broadway's My Beat, from Times Square to Columbus Circle, the gaudiest, the most violent, the lonesomest mile in the world." – Detective Danny Clover ([00:24])
• On Motive:
  • "With money, you could make yourself beautiful... The way you always wanted to be." – Dr. Sinski ([25:40])
  • "The lovely one is the woman Johnny knew. The woman Johnny saw when he died. There was never any other." – Edna Dobson ([15:30])
• On Confession:
  • "I killed them. I killed both of them. Will the reporters be here soon?" – Edna Dobson ([26:55])

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Important Timestamps

• 00:54 – Opening depiction of New Year's Broadway, initial hospital scene
• 03:48 – Detective Clover questions Edna Dobson
• 05:55 – Interview with Floyd Gilmore
• 08:59 – Visit to Isabel Martin’s hotel room
• 11:43 – John Dobson dies at the hospital
• 17:03 – Tartaglia provides background on Edna and her late husbands
• 21:07 – Visit to Lawson's beauty parlor, Edna’s transformation revealed
• 23:10 – 26:55 – Showdown and confession from Edna Dobson
• 27:24–28:16 – Reflective closing narration

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Tone and Style

Atmospheric, noir-laden, and steeped in a blend of weary cynicism and empathy, the episode’s tone is set by Clover’s world-weary narration and edged by the brittle, almost tragic glamour of Edna Dobson. Dialogue is stylized, sharp, and rich with metaphor—the city itself is a character, looming and watching over the drama.

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Conclusion

A classic Golden Age radio mystery, "The John Dobson Murder Case" layers social commentary about class, gender, and appearance into a story about murder and motive. Its legacy lies in the hard-boiled poetry of its narration and characters whose tragic flaws are amplified by the backdrop of New York’s most dazzling, desperate mile—Broadway.

Transcript

[Gino Tartaglia]

Welcome to Choice Classic Radio where we bring to you the greatest old time radio shows like us on Facebook, subscribe.

[Dr. Sinski]

To us on YouTube and thank you for [e-mail].

[Detective Danny Clover]

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

[Narrator]

Broadway's my beat with larry thor as detective danny clover.

[Detective Danny Clover]

In the first week of the new year, Broadway is beside itself with promises. The new leaves have been turned over, the resolutions made. The wife has been kissed. In the morning, it's the time of only one martini before dinner. The high protein diet. And let the blonde stroll by without lifting your hat. Also, it's the week of the clearance sales. Good, slightly handled and non returnable, but at a bargain. So buy something, Live it up. It's 1952, the year the boat will come in. It's got to be the year. And in the corridor where I was, the new year was a thing that came and went. Paced off by the quiet steps of nurses, a corridor of routine and pain. Emergency Hospital.

[Dr. Sinski]

Danny. You got here fast. Danny.

[Detective Danny Clover]

What's the trouble, Doc?

[Dr. Sinski]

Come on. Report that came with the man said his name was John Dobson.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Can he talk? No. How bad is he?

[Dr. Sinski]

I'm doing everything I can in here. One thing, he's not in any pain. There's the report over on the table with his effects.

[Detective Danny Clover]

John Dobson, Park Avenue address. Found in comatose condition in a parked car in East River Drive. Motor still running, 8:20pm 40 minutes ago.

[Dr. Sinski]

Danny.

[Detective Danny Clover]

What's the matter with him, doctor?

[Dr. Sinski]

Poison? Uh huh.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Carrying a lot of money. Over $300 in his wallet.

[Dr. Sinski]

I've got saliva samples down in the lab, Danny. Until then, I have to treat symptoms. Can't tell what kind of poison it may be. Self administered?

[Detective Danny Clover]

I doubt it. You ever hear of anybody drinking poison and going for a car ride? I'd say the man was driving when the poison hit him. Pulled over to the side.

[Dr. Sinski]

That's your business. Pardon me, Danny. I've got mine to do.

[Detective Danny Clover]

And the shadows gather. Wait on the edge of the circle of light that is a yellowing barrier against them, holding from them the man, locking from them his life. The shadows wait for a night's decision to be made. The beggars of darkness eager for the handout of death and working quietly within the fortress of light. Dr. Sinski, aware of the hunger of shadows, moving quickly against them to deny them a man's dying. Watch it, then leave them alone with it. Go now to the Park Avenue Address of John Dobson. Be told that his wife is at home. Ascend to the 30th floor apartment.

[Edna Dobson]

How clear does it have to be before it penetrates? There's no one home.

[Detective Danny Clover]

The woman's anger tears at her heavily creamed face, intensifies the smallness of her eyes, the only color. The pale, thin lips like an old scar.

[Edna Dobson]

Get out before I have you thrown out.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I'm from the police, Mrs. Dobson.

[Edna Dobson]

I don't care who you are. You've no right to come here, to wake me, to make me show myself this way.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Your husband's in the police emergency hospital. He's been poisoned.

[Edna Dobson]

Come in. You could have phoned, you know.

[Detective Danny Clover]

That's true. We could have.

[Edna Dobson]

And you wouldn't have seen me like this, in the way you're privileged. Few men have ever seen me in this. Even John. He has his own bedroom.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Maybe it didn't register. Mrs. Dobson, I said your husband has been poisoned. He's in the police emergency hospital.

[Edna Dobson]

Of course I'll go to him, if that's what you're implying. If you'd only phoned, I could have worn a proper. Now I'll just have to throw on the first thing that. How bad is it?

[Detective Danny Clover]

He's dying.

[Edna Dobson]

The blow that crushes you, save for a finish right between the eyes. Is that how it's done?

[Detective Danny Clover]

It crushes you?

[Edna Dobson]

I love him. That answer your foolish question?

[Detective Danny Clover]

He was found in a parked car. Alone. You know where he was before that, Mrs. Dobson?

[Edna Dobson]

With me. We had a candlelight dinner here in the apartment. Over a dessert. He kissed me full on the lips. Said he had to go out for the evening. It was hours ago.

[Detective Danny Clover]

He tell you where he was going?

[Edna Dobson]

He whispered it against my ear to his old friend Floyd Gilmore. John and he exchanged old school ties for Christmas.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Where do I find him?

[Edna Dobson]

Floyd? He has a devastating little flat in Gramercy Park. Done in bachelor's souvenirs. The longer you keep me, you know, the longer it'll take me to get to John's side.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I'll drive you down, Miss Dawson.

[Edna Dobson]

I want to be lovely for him. That'll take a while. So you won't bother waiting, will you? Of course you won't.

[Floyd Gilmore]

Hey, what kept. Oh, yes. What is it?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Your name? Floyd Gilmore.

[Floyd Gilmore]

Well, yes.

[Detective Danny Clover]

What's. I'm Danny Clover, Police. You mind if I come in?

[Floyd Gilmore]

Well, what for?

[Detective Danny Clover]

It's about John Dobson. I understand. What about John? Something's happened to him. He might die.

[Floyd Gilmore]

Yeah, you better come in. In here. He might die.

[Detective Danny Clover]

He's been Poisoned? He was found a while ago in his car. John? I just talked to his wife. She said he'd been with you.

[Floyd Gilmore]

John never got here.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Well, what's the matter?

[Floyd Gilmore]

Don't you believe me?

[Detective Danny Clover]

What was he coming to see you about?

[Floyd Gilmore]

I ask you something, don't you believe me? I told you John never got here.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I asked you something too.

[Floyd Gilmore]

He was coming over to see me, that's all.

[Detective Danny Clover]

What for? To borrow a book? Play chess? What?

[Floyd Gilmore]

You can take fingerprints? Mister, I'm telling you, John wasn't here.

[Detective Danny Clover]

That's going to be pretty tough to prove, Mr. Gilmore. John Dobson had plenty of time to be here. Be poisoned and leave.

[Floyd Gilmore]

Be poisoned? You mean be murdered.

[Detective Danny Clover]

If John Dobson dies, it'll be murder.

[Floyd Gilmore]

I'll tell you why he came here.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Came here? You said he didn't.

[Floyd Gilmore]

All right, so I got mixed up. I. I got a quirk. I get my conjugations mixed when I'm under mental stress. Well, you want to listen to me or want to call me a liar and arrest me? Do what you want, mister.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Go ahead. Tell me your story.

[Floyd Gilmore]

I had a friend I wanted John to meet.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Mind if I asked why?

[Floyd Gilmore]

John doesn't get along with his wife. She didn't approve of his outside interest.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You were going to introduce him to an outside interest?

[Floyd Gilmore]

Well, this girl, this friend of mine is Nice kid. Same kind of personality as John.

[Jonathan Harvey]

How.

[Detective Danny Clover]

That's right.

[Floyd Gilmore]

Pretty sure his friend of mine was. Well, fetching's the word. Not as pretty as Edna, not nearly as pretty as John's wife.

[Detective Danny Clover]

What?

[Floyd Gilmore]

Could never understand that about John. The beautiful wife like Edna, all her dough. Why, he had so many outside interests. Why he should.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Where do I find this friend of yours?

[Dr. Sinski]

Who?

[Floyd Gilmore]

Isabel? At the New Howard Hotel. Ask for Isabel Martin, mister. Oh, and tell her I'm sorry. Tell her we couldn't make it tonight.

[Detective Danny Clover]

The new Howard Hotel. A discreet brownstone in the discreet East 60s designed to recall the foamy days of Victorian elegance. The reproductions of antique hitching posts standing in frozen wonder at the sleek and snarling eight cylinder beasts flaunting their chrome. And the lobby hung with maroon velvet, its frayed tassel swaying gently over simulated marble. And presiding over it, a frocked man savoring a well thumb pocket edition of Charles Dickens. Take courage by the hand. Break through the mists of old lavender. Dare to ask him for Isabel Martin. The consequence is no more than a compassionate smile, whispered room number and a ride in a self service elevator hung with the framed messages of beauty salons and credit dentistry the elevator finally ascends to the height of the fifth floor.

[Isabel Martin]

Hi there. And hello.

[Edna Dobson]

You're late. I heard your footsteps in the hall. I opened my door and let out a call. Hi, John.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Not John. I'm from the police, Ms. Martin.

[Isabel Martin]

Police?

[Edna Dobson]

Floyd said he'd send me John and he sends me you. Good old Floyd. Where's good old Floyd? I want to scratch his face.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Let's go inside, Ms. Martin.

[Edna Dobson]

It's a lovely idea. Loveliest idea of the century. Let's everybody go inside. Let's everybody have a drink. Yes. Take a sip of mine. I was saving it for John, baby. He won't be here. Right for him. You take a sip of mine, baby.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You think you can understand what I'm going to tell you, Ms. Martin?

[Edna Dobson]

The things this girl understands. I'm not as gone as all that mister. Lonesome little drinky while waiting. Clears the brain. So tell me.

[Detective Danny Clover]

John Dobson is dying.

[Dr. Sinski]

He.

[Detective Danny Clover]

He was poisoned.

[Edna Dobson]

That's why he stood me up, huh? Cause he's dying.

[Detective Danny Clover]

He waited for him. He never showed up.

[Dr. Sinski]

Is that it?

[Sarah]

7 year old Audrey and her mom, Sarah saw the eviction notice taped to their apartment door. As she half listened to Audrey talking about her day at school, a piece of mail caught Sarah's eye. She picked it up and then dialed a phone number.

[Edna Dobson]

Thanks for calling Pacific Source.

[Detective Danny Clover]

This is Laura.

[Sarah]

She figured her health plan wouldn't be able to help.

[Edna Dobson]

Actually, I think we can.

[Sarah]

Sarah learned that Pacific Source provides members with support beyond health care, including connecting them with housing help. Pacific Source Health Plans.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You mind if I look around?

[Edna Dobson]

Love it. Love it. Note the tasteful arrangement.

[Detective Danny Clover]

There's another glass here on the night table. Part of a drink in it.

[Edna Dobson]

That's where it's been hiding. Come me a lonesome little drinky. I put you down and forgot all about you, didn't I? Poured myself a new one. When all the time. Lonesome little baby. Pardon me. Dinky phone. Jingy. Hi there.

[Isabel Martin]

And hello.

[Edna Dobson]

This was Isabel for you.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Mr. Danny Clover speaking.

[Dr. Sinski]

Dr. Sinski. Danny, get down here. There's nothing more I can do for him.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Right away, Doctor. Get me an empty bottle, Ms. Martin. I'll want to take your forgotten drink with me.

[Edna Dobson]

Empties. I got a life full of mischief. Take your pick.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Doctor sinski. How is he, doctor?

[Dr. Sinski]

Not a chance, Mrs. Dobson.

[Jonathan Harvey]

Danny.

[Dr. Sinski]

She's in there with him. At such a time. Better leave them alone.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Did he talk? Say anything?

[Dr. Sinski]

Once for a second. Danny opened his eyes and said his wife's name. Said Edna. Said my beautiful wife Edna. Beautiful, even in all her grief. I caught myself staring at her, watching her look. Look at her, even in all her grief.

[Detective Danny Clover]

The circle of shadows was around them, around the man and his wife. The man with pale death at his cheek. The woman luminous, her face touched with infinite sadness, of infinite loveliness. A tear at her eyes, edge not falling, but held there, the small glistening of despair.

[Edna Dobson]

Johnny. Johnny. John. Doctor.

[Dr. Sinski]

My dear.

[Edna Dobson]

My husband.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Dad.

[Edna Dobson]

Johnny. He's dead. Dead.

[Narrator]

You are listening to Broadway's My Beat, written by Morton Fine and David Friedkin and starring Larry Thor as Detective Danny Clover. Two of our CBS radio gals are at opposite extremes. Intellectually, Marie Wilson is empty headed, my friend Irma. And Eve Arden is English teaching our Ms. Brooks. But in spite of this difference, Irma Peterson and Connie Brooks have two things in common. They're both funny and they're both yours to laugh at. On most of these same CBS radio stations Sunday evenings. Enjoy them both tomorrow night.

[Detective Danny Clover]

The New Year has doled out only so many of its nighttimes. And Broadway has already used them, drained them of their neon, their glitter, their anguish. Broadway takes its place in line to wait for the new fallings of darkness as it did on the fading edge of this nighttime that had come. Like other Broadway nights, it sparked the spectaculars into winking light. It opened corridors for solitude to walk. It carried on its wind, laughter and shock. And Broadway stands dazed and still, waiting for this night too to end. Where I was, the night wouldn't depart because it must linger on the face of a woman, on its beauty, on the tear that held the grief for her dead husband. It must listen close because her weeping is gentle, distant. Mrs. Dobson. Mrs. Dobson.

[Dr. Sinski]

You.

[Edna Dobson]

Don't look at me. Don't dare look at me.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I'll take you home.

[Edna Dobson]

There's no need. I'll manage.

[Detective Danny Clover]

If you want to lie down or need something, the matron.

[Edna Dobson]

Will you have a dressing room?

[Detective Danny Clover]

What?

[Edna Dobson]

A room. Something with a mirror in it. A brightly lit mirror.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I suppose there's one somewhere in.

[Edna Dobson]

I shock you, Mr. Clover. I shock you because I insist on being beautiful even while Johnny lies dead. Is that something awful for a woman to want to be beautiful for her dead husband?

[Detective Danny Clover]

I don't know.

[Edna Dobson]

You know it now, Mr. Clover. You've seen me ugly and you've seen me like this. The lovely one is the woman Johnny knew. The woman Johnny saw when he died. There was never any other. You understand that, Mr. Clover?

[Detective Danny Clover]

I think so.

[Edna Dobson]

Good. Now leave me alone with him, will you, please? I mean alone. No. Gratuitous Sympathizers. No one to see me with tears on my face.

[Gino Tartaglia]

Alone. To you, Danny. A good, good morning. You slumbered well in the land or not, I hope.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Oh, not so good, Gino. I didn't get home from the hospital until late, and when I finally got.

[Gino Tartaglia]

To bed, well, here's something that'll revive an otherwise drab day. Danny. Surprise.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Electric fan. What for?

[Gino Tartaglia]

Startles you, huh? The self same fan you commissioned me to have repaired last July. I saved the department money. All fixed and ready to go to wit. Like Miami.

[Detective Danny Clover]

This is the same.

[Gino Tartaglia]

The same fan by which we have called other names. Motor torn apart at the quick and revived by me, Gino Tartaglia. Plus The Proto Tools Mrs. T. Slipped into my galoshes for Christmas. Professional, huh? Feel a breeze?

[Detective Danny Clover]

It's January, Gino. Turn it off, Gino.

[Gino Tartaglia]

Yeah. Any other puttering you'd like to have done around here?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Just cut her the word about the medical examiner's report, Roger.

[Gino Tartaglia]

John Dobson did indeed die from a poison which Dr. Sinski did label as being of the alkaloid family. Specific poison and time taken will not be known until autopsy is performed under vital organs.

[Detective Danny Clover]

What else have you got?

[Gino Tartaglia]

Some background material on Mr. And Mrs. John Dobson dug out by obediently yours and the good detective Muggleman, if you please. Indeed, Mr. Dobson lived by no visible means of support. Nice house, nice clothes, no job. Prior to his exchanging marriage vows with Mrs. Dobson, he lived off handouts from friends.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Go on.

[Gino Tartaglia]

Mr. Dobson did attach himself and married Mrs. Dobson while she was still in widow's weeds.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Oh, Edd.

[Dr. Sinski]

And adoption.

[Gino Tartaglia]

Was married before to a Timothy French, deceased.

[Detective Danny Clover]

What did Mr. French die of, Gino? Could you find that out?

[Jonathan Harvey]

I did.

[Gino Tartaglia]

I did. From an accident. Mr. French was a wheelchair case from his youth. Three years after his marriage to his wife, he had a misfortune, fell out of his chair, down the steps and.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Mrs. Dobson inherited his estate, isn't it?

[Gino Tartaglia]

Now, wait a minute, Danny. I'll look in these reports. Just take a second.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Well, never mind, you know. Put them on my desk. You did real fine today.

[Gino Tartaglia]

Just wait till July when you can enjoy that fan. Danny, the nice things you'll say about me.

[Detective Danny Clover]

And study the reports the sergeant leaves on your desk. Find that the widow of Timothy French had inherited $250,000, more than half of it in insurance. Find the name of the insurance broker who had handled it. Jonathan Harvey, 12 Broad Street. Go to him. Talk to him.

[Jonathan Harvey]

Let me make my puny attempt at trying to understand you, Mr. Clover.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Go right Ahead.

[Jonathan Harvey]

I'll have to black it out on this scratch pad. Now, let's see. Under a general heading, we have your reinvestigation of the death of Timothy French, Edna's first husband.

[Detective Danny Clover]

That's right.

[Jonathan Harvey]

Then draw a line. And underneath your reasons for doing so, what shall we put down, Mr. Clover?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Well, Mrs. Dobson's second husband died last night of alkaloid poisoning.

[Jonathan Harvey]

Newspapers added at great length. I read the head.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Aha.

[Jonathan Harvey]

I see what you're after, Mr. Clover.

[Dr. Sinski]

Thank you.

[Jonathan Harvey]

Now, I can fill in this side. Here we have death of husband number one. Here, death of number two in the short space of two years. Interesting.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I'm glad you agree.

[Jonathan Harvey]

However, I'm afraid that's as far as it goes, Mr. Clover.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Tell me why.

[Jonathan Harvey]

Perhaps you don't know that my company conducted a most thorough rundown on Mr. French's death. Found it accidental. Though I am an Insurance Man, Mr. Clover, I am also a friend. Friend? A confident to all my clients. As I was to Tim French. As I would be to you.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You knew him well?

[Jonathan Harvey]

My dear young man, I nurtured his romance with Edna.

[Detective Danny Clover]

How did you do that?

[Jonathan Harvey]

Edna was a teller at the Ruxton bank on Wall. One day I wheeled him along with me while I made a deposit for him.

[Detective Danny Clover]

And that's where he met Edna Dobson. In the bank.

[Jonathan Harvey]

She was plain then. Thoughtless fellow could call her ugly. And Tim was a. Forgive the word, a cripple. Unwanted people they meet sometimes fall in love and get married.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Then one of them dies in a fall.

[Jonathan Harvey]

There you go again, beating your head against a blank wall. It's useless, Mr. Clover. We spent thousands of dollars proving it to ourselves. Tim died acc.

[Detective Danny Clover]

So leave there and decide a thing. Mrs. Edna Dobson, ex bank clerk, widowed twice, was a woman you wanted to talk to again. Go to her apartment house. She's not the home. You're told by a maid who opened the door for you and got right down on her knees again to dust.

[Dr. Sinski]

Where is she?

[Detective Danny Clover]

She's going to a funeral tomorrow. So she's down to the beauty parlor, naturally. Which one? Lawson's. Naturally. So thank the maid who waved her feather duster goodbye to you and go to Lawson's and meet another woman dressed fashionably clinical in a white jersey uniform who sits behind a desk and asks questions.

[Isabel Martin]

You a husband?

[Detective Danny Clover]

No, I'm afraid not. I. I want to see.

[Isabel Martin]

Boyfriend, eh? Who have we got under the dryer? Belongs to you.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I want to see Mrs. Dobson.

[Isabel Martin]

What have you been doing all morning, man? Mrs. Dobson's been here since nine facials, hair set, contouring, refinishing, reweaving, everything on the menu. And you walk in just as she walks out. I don't envy you.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Oh, why?

[Isabel Martin]

If you're a fellow who's going to help her through this bereavement, frankly, I don't envy you. Frankly, you don't look as if you can afford it. I'd get fired if mine here lost and knew I was talking like this. Mine here is Dutch, you know.

[Detective Danny Clover]

No, I didn't.

[Isabel Martin]

But I like your face, to be blunt, mostly because I like men's faces and I hate to see them be suckered.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I appreciate this.

[Isabel Martin]

The dough that Edna Dobson spends on lotions and contours and facials since the first day she came in here.

[Detective Danny Clover]

When was that?

[Isabel Martin]

I remember because when she stepped in here, mine here said, I accept the challenge. Her first husband's funeral was at noon. Her appointment was at 4.

[Detective Danny Clover]

And since then she spent a lot.

[Isabel Martin]

Of money not only with us. Take a walk down the street to Rexford's. Find out the dough she spends there on clothes to make her look of the form divine. But believe me, save yourself the walk. I know.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Well, I want to thank you for all you've done for me.

[Isabel Martin]

Not that I dislike Mrs. Dobson, you understand. Just that I like to be frank. Understand what I mean?

[Dr. Sinski]

Right in here, Mrs. Dobson.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Oh, hello, Mrs. Dobson. Come in. Sit down.

[Edna Dobson]

Sit down here.

[Dr. Sinski]

This is Police Headquarters, Mrs. Dobson. The taxpayers don't furnish us with upholstered furniture.

[Edna Dobson]

It's so dusty.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Oh, Detective Michael. Uh huh.

[Dr. Sinski]

Now you can sit down, Mrs. Dobson.

[Edna Dobson]

Thank you.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I want to thank you for coming down here to see me.

[Edna Dobson]

Did I have a choice?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Well, I didn't want to barge in on you again. I know you like to ready yourself before you meet people.

[Edna Dobson]

Thank you again. Very considerate.

[Dr. Sinski]

I was telling Mrs. Dobson out in the hall how nice I thought she looked after all she's been through.

[Detective Danny Clover]

He's right, Mrs. Dobson. You do look very lovely.

[Edna Dobson]

Thank you. Why did you ask me to come here?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Well, I have a few things I want to talk to you about.

[Edna Dobson]

I see.

[Dr. Sinski]

We were surprised to hear you'd been married once before, Mrs. Dobson.

[Jonathan Harvey]

What of it?

[Detective Danny Clover]

I think it's important that we should know about your first husband.

[Edna Dobson]

Know what? About him.

[Detective Danny Clover]

How he died.

[Edna Dobson]

He died four years ago. He fell down the steps in his wheelchair.

[Dr. Sinski]

Did you push him?

[Edna Dobson]

I'm sure there's nothing else you want to say to me.

[Dr. Sinski]

Did you push him, Mrs. Dobson?

[Edna Dobson]

For your information, the insurance adjusters asked me the same thing. If they hadn't reached the conclusion that it was an accident, would I be here?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Sit down, Mr. Dobson. Close the door and sit down. This will only take a few moments. Thank you.

[Edna Dobson]

Why did your Mr. Mugavin ask me that question?

[Dr. Sinski]

Well, you don't have to ask him, Mrs. Dobson. Ask me. I'll tell you why. Because his death left you a rich woman.

[Edna Dobson]

Then by your reasoning, every woman who inherits money is a murderer.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You met your first husband while you were a teller in a bank, didn't you? How did you meet your second husband, John Dobson?

[Edna Dobson]

Shall I tell you? Shall I really tell you?

[Dr. Sinski]

If you don't mind, Mrs. Dobson.

[Edna Dobson]

I was eating salted peanuts in a bar. He sent over a note and a bottle of wine.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Who paid for the wine?

[Edna Dobson]

What?

[Dr. Sinski]

Lieutenant asked you who paid for the wine?

[Edna Dobson]

Who do you think paid for it?

[Detective Danny Clover]

I doubt whether Mr. Dobson did. He was pretty broke, from what I could find out.

[Edna Dobson]

That's right. He was broke. I fell in love with him. Not right away, but eventually I fell in love with him.

[Dr. Sinski]

Mr. Dobson was a good looking man. I imagine a lot of women fell in love with him.

[Edna Dobson]

But I married him.

[Detective Danny Clover]

When did you find out he was running around with other women? Mrs. Dobson, he's dead.

[Edna Dobson]

Leave him alone.

[Dr. Sinski]

Lieutenant asked you, Mrs. Dobson, when did you find out about.

[Edna Dobson]

Leave him alone. Leave him alone.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Did he start taking interest in other women when he barged in on you one day like I did? And saw you like I did?

[Edna Dobson]

What difference does it make?

[Dr. Sinski]

Here's the way we figure, Mrs. Dobson.

[Edna Dobson]

I know what you think. You think I killed my first husband and you think I killed Johnny.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I don't think we'll ever know about your first husband. Unless you want to tell us it was an accident.

[Dr. Sinski]

Here's the way we figure, Mrs. Dobson. Your first husband died and you came into all that money. With money, you could make yourself beautiful. Beauty salons, custom dresses, the works. The way you always wanted to be. Isn't that right, Lieutenant?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Then you met a handsome man. A man who believed you were beautiful. John Dobson. He married you. He had no job. He lived off you. You were satisfied with that. As long as he believed you were lovely.

[Dr. Sinski]

She is lovely, Danny. I don't care what you say.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Then he changed. He started to go around with other women. You couldn't tolerate that. You poisoned him.

[Dr. Sinski]

You ever see a woman who could wear clothes like her?

[Detective Danny Clover]

No. No, I haven't.

[Dr. Sinski]

And the way she does her hair.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Yeah, beautiful.

[Edna Dobson]

You think so?

[Dr. Sinski]

The reporters will think so, too.

[Detective Danny Clover]

The photographers too.

[Dr. Sinski]

There'll be pictures of you in all the papers.

[Detective Danny Clover]

All your exclusive clothes. Every woman in the city will be jealous.

[Edna Dobson]

When women look at me, I can tell what they're thinking. They are jealous.

[Detective Danny Clover]

There'll be interviews on the stand. All the men, the women, the women crowding the courtroom to get one Pikachu.

[Edna Dobson]

I killed them. I killed both of them. Will the reporters be here soon?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Broadway's sleeping now. The furious avenue of the night is still stretches out in front of you without beginning, without end. The dumping ground of refuse and ashes and leftovers. The neon words are turned off but look there where the sidewalk meets the street. It's your name written on water. It's Broadway. The gaudiest, the most violent, the lonesomest mile in the world. Broadway. My beat.

[Narrator]

Broadway's my Beat Stars Larry Thor as Detective Danny Clover. With Charles Calvert as Tartaglia and Jack Crucian as Mugavan. The program was produced and directed by Elliot Lewis with musical score composed and conducted by Alexander Courage. In tonight's story, Irene Tedro was heard as Edna Dobson. Featured in the cast were Florence Lake, Gene Tatum, Bill Boucher and Earl Ross. Tomorrow night, the gal who made good Tuesday nights, Audrey Totter as Millie, joins the Sunday lineup on most of these same stations. Yes, from now on, you can meet Millie and all her hilarious friends, too, Sunday nights on CBS Radio. On the more serious side, tomorrow marks the debut of the People Act. CBS Radio's new series about community problems solved by American communities. You'll find the People Act a fascinating, rewarding experience every Sunday night on CBS Radio. Starting tomorrow night, Bill Anders speaking. And remember, those lovable rascals Amos and Andy are here every Sunday on the CBS Radio Network.