Broadway Is My Beat: The John Mooney Murder Case 03/22/1952

Summary

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Podcast Summary:

Choice Classic Radio Detectives | Broadway Is My Beat: The John Mooney Murder Case (03/22/1952)
Date: April 8, 2026
Host: Choice Classic Radio
Main Character: Detective Danny Clover (Portrayed by Larry Thor)

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Episode Overview

This episode of Broadway Is My Beat plunges listeners into the heart of Broadway's underbelly as Detective Danny Clover investigates the murder of John Mooney—a pickpocket whose death unravels a years-old robbery, a string of betrayals, and a desperate hunt for missing murder money. The episode is a tapestry of post-war New York, full of hard-luck characters, police procedure, and Broadway’s bittersweet streets.

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Key Discussion Points & Plot Developments

1. Broadway’s Spring & the Crime’s Opening Beat

• Atmosphere: The episode opens with poetic narration, painting Broadway as simultaneously gaudy, violent, and lonely. Spring is arriving, but so is trouble.
  • “Broadway's My Beat—from Times Square to Columbus Circle, the gaudiest, the most violent, the lonesomest mile in the world.” ([00:25], Detective Danny Clover)
• Myron Grace's Interrogation: Myron Grace, a family man, is arrested after passing a $1,000 bill linked to a five-year-old payroll robbery and murder.
  • [01:48-03:41] Grace swears innocence, says he got the bill from a stranger for $250. The police suspect famed ex-con Les Cheney.

2. Tracking the Hot Money

• Sketch Artist Involvement: Ballenis Holland sketches the man who sold Grace the bill, as described by Grace and Sergeant Tartaglia ([03:54-04:28]).
• Connecting to Les Cheney: Cheney, recently paroled from a narcotics bust, remains a prime suspect for the original robbery.
• Inquiries: Clover speaks to Les’s wife, Ruth Cheney, who fiercely defends her husband, blaming the police for his troubles ([06:16-07:27]).

3. Streetwise Leads & Murky Allies

• Benny Fane, the Stool Pigeon: Clover asks pillow salesman and erstwhile informant Benny Fane if he’s seen the bill passer.
  • “Gee, I wish I could, Benny, but I swore off being a stool pigeon, Danny.” ([08:24], Benny Fane)
• New Info: After some pressure, Benny admits he bought a $20 “hot” bill, thinking it was just counterfeit, from a dealer at 607, 114th Street ([09:35-09:52]).

4. Discovering Mooney’s Death

• Witness: Joan Carson, a glamorous, wisecracking redhead, claims she’s looking for a friend (Sylvia) in the room where the dead man, John Mooney, is found ([10:25-12:03]).
• Scene: Mooney, already dying, tries to speak but only utters an unintelligible last word. He’s identified as the source of the tainted money ([12:03]).

5. Evidence Mounts—Money & Motives

• Mooney’s Room: Police discover almost the entire $50,000 payroll haul in his room ([15:03-15:13]).
• Joan Carson’s Arrest: Carson is present at the murder scene and becomes their main suspect.

6. Murder Escalates: Joan Carson Found Dead

• The Next Murder: Detective Mugavan, who was tasked with tailing Carson, reports her dead in her hotel’s ladies lounge, stabbed ([16:48-17:59]).
  • “A dead redhead. A dead Joan Carson. Real dead.” ([16:53], Detective Mugavan)
• Key Evidence: A room key to Mooney’s room is found on her, tying her to the first crime.

7. Piecing Together the Backstory

• Joan Carson & Les Cheney’s Past: Sergeant Tartaglia uncovers that Joan and Les were busted together years ago for narcotics offenses ([20:25-20:35]).
  • “Picked up in her apartment together with one Les Cheney by the narcotics boys. Sentenced, served a year on the island with Les Cheney.” ([20:26], Sergeant Tartaglia)
• Ruth Cheney’s Resentment: Ruth’s bitterness about Les’s incarceration and her years alone is palpable throughout.

8. The Final Confrontation: The Truth Unveiled

• Linking the Crimes:
  1. Mooney (a pickpocket) obtains the hidden robbery money from Les Cheney (possibly by stealing it from him).
  2. Joan Carson, aware of the stash through past association, seeks Mooney and is implicated in his murder; she’s then killed.
• The Confession: Under questioning, Ruth Cheney confesses:
  • She killed Joan Carson out of jealousy and love for Les, after suspecting Carson meant to keep the money for herself.
    • “Killed her, Les. Followed her and killed her for you. For the past five years. For the years you were gonna make up to me.” ([26:04], Ruth Cheney)

9. Poetic Closure

• The episode ends as it began, with Broadway’s restless spirit.
  • “Because once Broadway touched you, you can’t rub it off. It’s Broadway, the gaudiest, the most violent, the lonesomest mile in the world.” ([26:47], Detective Danny Clover)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Danny Clover’s opening narration:
  “Broadway’s my beat. From Times Square to Columbus Circle, the gaudiest, the most violent, the lowest, lonesomest mile in the world.” ([00:25])
• Ruth Cheney’s bitterness:
  “Cops like you tore five years out of my husband's life. I got a thing about being married... I missed it for five years.” ([06:26]) “Killed her, Les. Followed her and killed her for you... For the years I lie there with my hands behind my head. Just to me, Les, to no one else. Mr. Clover. Take us away together.” ([26:04-26:26])
• Det. Mugavan on Joan Carson's murder:
  “A dead redhead. A dead Joan Carson. Real dead.” ([16:53])
• Sergeant Tartaglia on persistence and reward:
  “12 years is a long way to go to the delicatessen for sandwiches for the boys. 12 years of sticking the nose in the dusty files.” ([18:45])

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | |---------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:25 | Opening narration: The poetic tone of Broadway, setting the scene | | 01:48–04:28 | Myron Grace’s arrest, description of the money’s origins, sketch drawn | | 06:16–07:27 | Ruth Cheney confronts Danny Clover at her home | | 08:24–09:52 | Benny Fane questioned about the hot money, gives up address | | 12:03 | Discovery of John Mooney’s death | | 15:03–15:13 | Money from robbery discovered in Mooney’s room | | 16:53 | Discovery of Joan Carson’s murder | | 20:25–20:35 | Joan Carson and Les Cheney’s shared narcotics history revealed | | 26:04–26:26 | Ruth Cheney’s confession of murder, the episode's emotional climax | | 26:47 | Closing narration, reflecting on Broadway and the toll of its crimes |

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Tone & Style

The episode exudes hard-boiled noir, with world-weary but poetic narration, sharp dialogue, and poignant character moments. Detective Danny Clover’s perspective anchors both the procedural elements and the emotional undercurrents, especially in his vivid descriptions of Broadway and its denizens. Characters’ language is tough, sometimes sentimental, with street-wise wisecracks (notably from Joan Carson and Benny Fane) and raw outbursts (from Ruth Cheney and Les Cheney).

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For New Listeners

This episode exemplifies Broadway Is My Beat at its finest:

• A twisting case spanning years and bringing the past violently into the present.
• Deeply human suspects and victims, each with their own story and pain.
• An evocative sense of place, where Broadway itself feels almost like a character—its hopes and heartbreak both inescapable.
• A resolution that combines police cunning with emotional tragedy; the web of crime entangles not just strangers but lovers and old friends, all under the unforgiving lights of the city.

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Transcript

[Choice Classic Radio Announcer]

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].

[Detective Danny Clover]

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

[Narrator]

Broadway is my beat. With larry thor as detective danny clover.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Springtime begins to search through Broadway and its gentle winds feel out the places to set up shop. The push carts of the flower vendors were the promises of wrapped in tight buds of faint color, a child's ribbon silken hair side across the winter pinched face, a woman's shoulders too soon eager to shed the raiment of winter's night in the spring. Songs choked out of loudspeakers in the inviting sidelong glance in the barefoot padding through sun warmed corridors. Here is spring for Broadway, innocent, nostalgic as the music of the organ grinder to which monkeys dance, to which Broadway sighs, remembers, tries again. And at the edge of the march evening, against the shimmering of dusk, the anger of a man, the near hysteria, the economy sized fury at innocence maligned.

[Myron Grace]

It's an outrage, a shame, a filthy shame. The way you police have nothing better than do and drag off a man off the street and push him and beat him and people standing around and sniffing him.

[Detective Danny Clover]

No one beat you, Mr. Gray.

[Myron Grace]

Or it's the same thing. You might as well have. Am I doing here? What am I doing in a messy room with a detective and a girl with a sketch pad? Me, a man with two kids. An overworked wife nags at me when I'm late for supper or late for anything. Everything I ever got, I sweat for. You hear me?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Take it easy. Mr. Grace.

[Myron Grace]

Yeah, miss, I'm in a seed store, see? I'm buying things for my lawns, my rose bushes and seeds, you know, bigger on a rape. And I walk out and a man grabs me, makes me drop things in the street and he brings me here.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Why?

[Myron Grace]

Tell me what crime I've committed. Tell me.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You passed a bill in a bank early this afternoon, Mr. Grace. $1,000 bill. Where'd you get it?

[Joan Carson]

I got it.

[Myron Grace]

The bank said it was good, didn't they? Then why do you have to stick your nose in?

[Detective Danny Clover]

I got it for a man who sweats for everything he gets. How much sweat for that? Thousand, Mr. Grace? A bill the bank recognized from serial numbers as one from a five year old payroll robbery where a pay messenger was murdered. How much sweat for it, Mr. Grace?

[Myron Grace]

I don't know what you're talking about. I bought it. I bought it from a man on 45th and Broadway. He said I could have it for $250. I laughed in his face.

[Detective Danny Clover]

But you bought it. And so?

[Myron Grace]

Well, I laughed in his face at first.

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

But when he said he'd go to

[Myron Grace]

the bank with me and prove to

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

me it was good.

[Detective Danny Clover]

This man, was he Les Cheney?

[Myron Grace]

I don't know who he was. I never saw him before.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Maybe I can freshen it for you, Mr. Grace. Cheney was a man we believed responsible for the robbery and murder. We couldn't prove it, though. We never found the money. But he was sent up for possession of narcotics. He's out now. Les Cheney sell you that bill?

[Myron Grace]

I don't know. Maybe it was him. I told you, I never saw the man before.

[Detective Danny Clover]

$1,000 for almost nothing.

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

Wouldn't you have bought it?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Let's pretend we're friends.

[Les Cheney]

You would have bought it.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Ms. Holland. Here's an artist, Mr. Grace. She'll sketch a drawing while you describe the man who sold you the bill. Go ahead, Mr. Gray.

[Myron Grace]

Well, I thought she was doing a drawing of me. I thought.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Described him.

[Myron Grace]

Well, describe him. Well, he had kind of a thin, smirky face, A pinched nose, kind of washed out eyes.

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

They were blue.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I think they.

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

They bulged out a little bit.

[Myron Grace]

And you getting that man?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Don't Worry about her, Mr. Grace. She'll get it. You just go on.

[Myron Grace]

Yeah, well, his hat was kind of

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

slouched down over his floor.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Any distinguishing marks, like a scar or anything?

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

No, no, there was no scar. I noticed he needed the shave.

[Detective Danny Clover]

But then I guess they hold you that type.

[Myron Grace]

Kind of a loose mouth, something like a bird dog. Yeah, that's it.

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

The sad eyes and the kind of sniffing around.

[Myron Grace]

Yeah, but that's all I remember now. What else do you want?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Enough to go on, Ms. Holland. Good. Call your wife, Mr. Grace. Tell her you'll be real late. We're holding you on suspicion.

[Myron Grace]

You do that. You do that. After the way I cooperated. Oh, you shut me.

[Ruth Cheney]

And then.

[Myron Grace]

You can't. You can't. Why you.

[Detective Danny Clover]

And watch the protest die in his throat, the shoulders slump, his face fall apart and reassemble into shock. Myron Grace, citizen, family man, provider of wife and children and a lawn and rose bushes. There's suddenly a new identification. A name on a police blotter, beheld for further questioning in connection with the murder. So turn him over to the sergeant and the artist and leave. Routine. Now, another reading of the records which Concerned a five year old crime records still on the active file. And the name which dominates them is the name of Les Cheney. More records. Les Cheney had been released a month ago from prison. Having served five years of a seven year sentence. Les Cheney out on parole. So legwork.

[Les Cheney]

Now.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Get the completed sketch and find an address. And call on Les Cheney.

[Les Cheney]

Chaney.

[Joan Carson]

Yes, Mr. Chaney, and who are you?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Danny Cloburn from the police.

[Joan Carson]

Let him alone, will you?

[Ruth Cheney]

Bless his out now. He's behaving. He's trying to get him a job. So let him alone.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Mind if I come in?

[Ruth Cheney]

I'm not gonna say no to a cop. Come in if you want. Drop dead on the sill if you want. I see you made it. You wanna go back?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Where's Les Cheney?

[Ruth Cheney]

I told you, my husband's out job hunting. That's right. Zip around the place. Pull down the wall bed. Look in the closet. You're a cop. Work at it.

[Detective Danny Clover]

What makes you so better, Mrs. Cheney?

[Ruth Cheney]

Guys like you. Cops like you tore five years out of my husband's life. I got a thing about being married. I like to take care of my husband. I hum when I scramble an egg and no less is gonna eat it. And I'm a woman who likes when the day is over and I got a husband near me. I missed it for five years.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Your husband was in possession of narcotics when he was picked up.

[Ruth Cheney]

You're lying through your teeth. Guys like you. Cops like you planted that stuff on list. It ate you. How you couldn't pin a murder on him, so you fixed him good.

[Joan Carson]

Listen to me.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I want you to look at something, Mrs. Chaya.

[Ruth Cheney]

Listen to me. Whatever your name is. I want you to hear it. I've been practicing it for five years worth of night. Hands behind the head. The position of the lonely people. This is what I want to say to you. Die, run, don't walk. And tell your friends to do likewise.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You all through.

[Ruth Cheney]

Tell them all you hear.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Take a look at this picture, Mrs. Cheney. It's a sketch of a man who passed a thousand dollar bill. Have you ever seen this man?

[Ruth Cheney]

I never saw him. And to save you a trip back, Les never saw it.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Tell lest the police were around. Mrs. Cheney. They'll be back.

[Ruth Cheney]

The cops on the beat too. Whatever your name is, don't forget to tell them too. Get out.

[Benny Fane]

It's just what your mom hopes you'll send her from the big city. Soldier. Little pillow with nice party on it.

[Myron Grace]

Soldier.

[Benny Fane]

Emma's for the always for T's for the H. It Lost soldier. This man's ahead of you.

[Detective Danny Clover]

That's right, son. You better take off. I'm a policeman, Benny, and I have a little business to take care of. Hi, Benny.

[Benny Fane]

Sit down, Danny. Sit down. Proud of me, huh? Legitimate line of trade. Selling sentimental pillows for homesick soldiers.

[Myron Grace]

I'm.

[Benny Fane]

I'm doing my part, Danny.

[Detective Danny Clover]

How you been, Benny?

[Benny Fane]

Dandy as anything.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Gonna help me out?

[Benny Fane]

Gee, I wish I could, Benny, but I. I swore off being a stool pigeon, Danny. I ran up to my mom just last week and told her how nice I'm doing with pillars. And told her that I'm not gonna be.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Look at this sketch, Benny. Did you ever see this man before?

[Joan Carson]

I.

[Benny Fane]

I haven't got my glasses.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Danny, hold it up close. You ever see him?

[Benny Fane]

Never shout. Me don't look like that, Danny.

[Myron Grace]

I don't lie to you.

[Detective Danny Clover]

This man's been passing hot money.

[Benny Fane]

Counterfeit, huh?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Uh, from a messenger. Hold up. And shooting murder. This guy, did you ever see him?

[Benny Fane]

I just told you, Danny. I just said to you. You know, I don't tell you how come closing time. 9 o' clock's never closing time.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Tonight it is. I'm sick of no customers.

[Benny Fane]

I'm a customer.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Yeah, to pay your check and leave. I'm going home. Come on, come on, come on. Don't stall. The only reason I served you in the first place was your flash to 20. You owe $4.60. I brought you the chairs.

[Les Cheney]

Yeah?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Where'd you get a $20 bill, Benny?

[Benny Fane]

Oh, Danny, Danny, look, it's 9 o', clock, innit? Today at 9 o', clock, Benny Fane has turned over a new lead. Clear my conscience and leave the old Benny Fane behind.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Where'd you get it?

[Benny Fane]

I'm glad for the opportunity to tell you, Danny. I heard about a guy who was selling hot dough. The old Benny Fain got his address and bought a $20 bill for a fin. The old Benny Fain thought it was a counterfeit, not murder dough.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Where'd you buy the $20 bill, Benny?

[Benny Fane]

Notch on 114th Street. 607, first floor. All the way back. Well, good night to all.

[Joan Carson]

If you're looking for Sylvia, mister, she's not here. And I've searched everywhere. Under the bed, under the liquor bottle.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Who are you?

[Joan Carson]

Just a lonely redhead looking for an old girlfriend I lost somewhere in a bar one dim day long ago and far away. All of a sudden, lonely. Me remembered. Sylvia remembered. She told me she lives here.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Let's go inside, huh?

[Joan Carson]

I tell you, the girl's not here, I guess you can come on in. Sylvia won't mind. Well, you're in. Do something. Say the kind words.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I'm from the police. Who are you?

[Joan Carson]

Joan Carson will make a faithful and obedient servant. Have references. Say the kind words.

[Detective Danny Clover]

No. Sylvia lives here. Ms. Carson. This room belongs to a man who's selling hot money. You heard about it and came to buy from him. You greedy for easy money, Ms. Carson.

[Joan Carson]

It's a proverb for the redheads. Money comes, easy goes easy. Who needs to walk the length of a grimy hall for it, wait in an empty room for it?

[Detective Danny Clover]

No one was here. Who let you in?

[Joan Carson]

A graceful movement of my soft, dainty hand. I knocked. No answer. I tried the knob. It turned. Sylvia wasn't here.

[Ruth Cheney]

I thought to wait.

[Detective Danny Clover]

How long you been waiting?

[Joan Carson]

A half minute. A whole minute? Maybe before you knocked. As the teenage boys on the front stoop, they all noticed my entry, commented too, in a kindly fashion.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You don't know anything about the man who lives here.

[Joan Carson]

Turn around and look, mister.

[Ruth Cheney]

Look.

[Joan Carson]

Could that be him? That walking death in the doorway, could that be him?

[Detective Danny Clover]

He fell before I could get to him. Fell in the limp, loose way of men who were already dead. His hands were wet with the flow of his blood. Where he'd held the bullet wound, his mouth shaped a word. Then it too was gone. The death wound, the silence. This was what was left of a man whose picture I carried, who sold blood money to rose fanciers, to pillow salesmen, who had died for it, been murdered for it.

[Narrator]

You are listening to Broadway's My Beat, written by Morton Fine and David Friedkin and starring Larry Thor as Detective Danny Clover. Every day of the year, the Red Cross is helping humanity somewhere. Servicemen rely on it. Disaster victims owe their lives to its prompt health. Communities everywhere know its day by day services. All these countless ministries are financed by your contributions. Won't you answer the call to make this year's contribution larger than ever?

[Detective Danny Clover]

When the trade winds blow in from the Hudson and springtime comes to Broadway, it's a season of rare enchantment. March is on its way out and a few more X's on the calendar and it's April. It's the time, kid, for weather talk, for baseball scores from sunny Florida. And bite your lip against the knowledge that Joe Dimash won't be out there in center field anymore. But it's the good time. The man at the orange juice stand whistles while he puts the yearly coat of shellac and the coconut. The fella next to you the coffee counter gives you half his newspaper. The blond you met last night calls you at the office and tells you not to be angry. So have a smile, kid. It's that time of the year. But it wasn't smile time where I was. It was the sodden room. To be found at the end of all the sodden corridors in the world. The sand colored walls enclosing the death of a man. And standing beside him a girl. And beside him another man. Detective Mugavan.

[Detective Mugavan]

Name's John Mooney, Danny. Here's his wallet.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Let me have it. I'll take a look around. Mugavin.

[Narrator]

Right.

[Detective Danny Clover]

All right, young lady. You said your name is Joan Carson and you came here looking for a long lost friend.

[Joan Carson]

Look, mister, this don't make any difference at all. A man comes home to die and I happen to be here where he lives. I came here looking for a friend.

[Detective Danny Clover]

What friend?

[Joan Carson]

What difference does it make? What friend?

[Detective Danny Clover]

What friend?

[Joan Carson]

Sylvia. Don't even remember her last name. You know how you forget? Sometime you pass by and you say, I think Sylvia used to live here. Why don't I go in and find out how she is? You know?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Sure. A friend of yours used to live here.

[Joan Carson]

No, I'm not sure. Street looks something like this. And now how is it?

[Detective Mugavan]

Ask her if she's sure Sylvia lived in New York. Danny.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Don't worry about it, Muggleman. Just keep.

[Detective Mugavan]

Hey, Danny, come here. Take a look. How much was taken in that robbery, Danny?

[Detective Danny Clover]

50,000.

[Detective Mugavan]

Want me to count this and see how much is missing?

[Detective Danny Clover]

No. Ms. Carson, come here a minute. Take a look at the money Detective Mongol found in this drawer. Close to $50,000. You can go now, Ms. Carson. Mug of him? Uh huh. Follow her. Then walk away from it. Walk the tired night streets of early spring. Here and there a window open to it, the soiled curtain floating in the darkness, swaying to the dance the night disc jockey calls in the unlighted room, Brush shoulders with a straggler who is angered because for an instant you made him lose his hurried way to nowhere. Then smiles his forgiveness. Because there at the end of the corner where the street lamp dims, he sees it, will find it again. Then the quiet street where your room is, where if your lucky sleep waits to welcome you only. First you must rid yourself of the image of a murdered man who sold money engraved with death of a girl with red hair who walked now or slapped or laughed. And the shadow that mocked her was not her own. And sleep is diluted with these things. Finally sleep runs out. And at headquarters the next day, make a phone call to Les Cheney for routine questioning. Be told by his wife that he'd gone out to an interview for a job. Tell her that when he came back to stay home, you might be stopping by later on then. It's noon. Your lunch hour is short because. Danny Clover speaking.

[Detective Mugavan]

Mugavan.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Danny, get down here.

[Detective Mugavan]

The Charles Hotel, West 12.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You got some?

[Les Cheney]

Yeah, a dead redhead.

[Detective Mugavan]

A dead Joan Carson.

[Les Cheney]

Real dead.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Let me through here me through, please. Time for the police look.

[Detective Mugavan]

Hey, Danny. Medical examiner's taking.

[Detective Danny Clover]

What happened? Mugman? I thought I told you to follow her. I thought I.

[Detective Mugavan]

Why do you think I'm here, Danny?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Tell me what happened.

[Detective Mugavan]

I followed the girl home. That's where she went when she left that fleabag last night. She went to her apartment.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Straight to her apartment.

[Narrator]

If she hadn't gone straight to her

[Detective Mugavan]

apartment, this wouldn't be the story I'm

[Detective Danny Clover]

telling you, would it? Go on.

[Detective Mugavan]

Straight to her apartment. At 2 in the morning, I got Florio to relieve me. I went home. Straight home. At 9 this morning, just as the girl was leaving her apartment, I relieved Florio. She went out to breakfast shop, made no phone calls and came back here about an hour ago for lunch. She came down here to the ladies lounge. I waited outside the door. About 10 minutes later, there was a scream. The attendant found the girl at a dressing table with a knife in her back.

[Detective Danny Clover]

That's it.

[Detective Mugavan]

People coming in and going out, you know.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Okay, okay.

[Detective Mugavan]

It's just this, Danny. This key. I found it in her bag. 607. That's John Mooney's room, isn't it, Danny?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Yeah. Let me have it. See you around, Detective Mugger.

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

I hope I have chosen the correct moment, Danny.

[Detective Danny Clover]

What? What are you talking about, Gino?

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

The moment of please disturb or the moment of please do not disturb? I took a flyer and chose the former. I hope I have not overstepped the bounds of a 12 year old sergeantcy.

[Detective Danny Clover]

This is your better day, Gino.

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

The lot of a sergeant, Danny. All propaganda to the contrary notwithstanding. The lot of said Sergeant, after 12 years of faithful and obedient service is not a merry one. 12 years is a long way to go to the delicatessen for sandwiches for the boys. 12 years of sticking the nose in the dusty files. And ready.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You'll get your promotion, Gino.

[Ruth Cheney]

Ha.

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

Promotion.

[Ruth Cheney]

Ha ha.

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

This same stale crumb I oft tossed to the patient strained at a breaking point. Mrs. Tartaglia. It is her comment I just quoted.

[Ruth Cheney]

Ha.

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

Promotion.

[Ruth Cheney]

Ha ha.

[Detective Danny Clover]

It'll Go through one of these days, Gino.

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

I promise not to flip the lid while waiting to work. Und any, if you wish. My burden, my refuge. I anent Les Cheney, once suspected thief and murderer in that payroll robbery of some years former. He has still not come home. He is still at large. Violating his parole, no doubt.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You think he's mixed up in this, Gino?

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

It matters to anyone what a 12 year old sergeant thinks. Let's proceed, shall we?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Whatever you want, Gino.

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

And then John Mooney, deceased by murder. That he was a pickpocket whose name was inscribed as such in our archives practically from the moment of the laying of the cornerstone.

[Detective Danny Clover]

The key to his room was in Joan Carson's purse where Muggin found it.

[Les Cheney]

What?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Oh, just tell me what you got on Joan Carson.

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

I was coming to her, Danny.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Sorry.

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

It's one of the wounds that leave no apparent scars. How you higher ups never accept.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I said I was sorry, Gino.

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

Accepted. And then Joan Carson alleged murder of Mooney, a girl also with a record of possession of narcotics.

[Detective Danny Clover]

What?

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

In the month of October, the year 1943. Picked up in her apartment together with one Les Cheney by the narcotics boys. Sentenced, served a year on the island with Les Cheney.

[Detective Danny Clover]

The same chap?

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

The very same. I am dismissed, Lieutenant. Gino, I hope I have been of some service. Good day, Lieutenant. And good hunting. Danny, I didn't mean. Not you, it's the other.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You did good, Gino, real good. This is Tartaglia will be proud of you. Go home and tell her.

[Les Cheney]

Oh, you're Danny Clover, aren't you?

[Detective Danny Clover]

That's right. Les Cheney.

[Les Cheney]

I've been waiting for you almost all day.

[Detective Mugavan]

Come on.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Thanks.

[Les Cheney]

Here he is.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Ruthie.

[Ruth Cheney]

I told Les to wait for you, so get it over with quick.

[Les Cheney]

Ruth doesn't mean it, Les.

[Ruth Cheney]

Your parole papers say you have to be polite to cops. Show me where it says about the hat and the hands and the bowing. Ruth, I waited five years for a man to come back. Look what came back. What's the matter with you, Les?

[Joan Carson]

You know who he is?

[Ruth Cheney]

One of the brave boys who planted an envelope of narcotics on you.

[Les Cheney]

Ruthie, they didn't do that. I told you, they didn't do it. I violated a law and I was caught.

[Ruth Cheney]

You had to memorize that speech, Les. You always had a poor memory. What made it stick? Brass knuckles.

[Les Cheney]

Don't mind her. Mr. Clover.

[Detective Danny Clover]

What can I do for you? Did you read the papers? You see how we finally found that money that was stolen and that. Hold up. You were involved in five Years ago.

[Les Cheney]

I can't go along with you on that, Mr. Clove. I was never involved in a holdup.

[Detective Danny Clover]

My error. The one we picked you up for,

[Les Cheney]

the one you couldn't make stick. Sure, I admitted my car was used as a getaway car, but it had been stolen from me.

[Ruth Cheney]

And you couldn't prove otherwise, so you planted the narcotics on him. Why are you talking to him, Les?

[Les Cheney]

Because I have to, Ruthie. Don't I, mister?

[Detective Danny Clover]

That's right. Let's get back to that money lesbian.

[Les Cheney]

I don't understand why we have to get back to anything.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Humor me, huh?

[Les Cheney]

Guess I have to do that, too, don't I?

[Detective Danny Clover]

We found it in a man's room. The man's name was John Mooney, and he had a record as being a pickpocket.

[Les Cheney]

Ruthie and I were discussing that a while ago.

[Ruth Cheney]

Les read it to me out of the paper and I clucked.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I was wondering how he got that money, Les.

[Les Cheney]

I wouldn't know.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I'll tell you how I figure he got the money. He was a pickpocket, so he picked somebody's pocket.

[Les Cheney]

All that dull. Had a good day?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Not really. He got killed for it.

[Ruth Cheney]

So he didn't have a good day. Go argue with a cop.

[Detective Danny Clover]

We know who killed John Mooney. I said we.

[Les Cheney]

All right, all right.

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

Oh.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Girl named Joan Carson. She killed him someplace near his hotel. Took his key, went to his room to look for the money. I found her there.

[Les Cheney]

Clover, Ruthie's missed me for five years, and I only been out a month. It's like we were married all over again. Let me spend my evenings with Ruthie.

[Detective Danny Clover]

This will only take a little while. The thing that bothered us less was who Joan Carson was and how she knew where to find the money.

[Ruth Cheney]

You know who she was?

[Detective Danny Clover]

You tell me, Mrs. Chaney.

[Ruth Cheney]

You tell him, Les. Tell him.

[Les Cheney]

Sure. I once knew her, Mr. Glover. Long time ago. I know a lot of addicts.

[Detective Danny Clover]

A long time ago. It still bothers us, Les, how she knew where the money was. We couldn't find it for five years.

[Les Cheney]

How do I know what she knows?

[Detective Danny Clover]

You're in jail for five years. We never saw a dollar of that 50,000 that was stolen. You get out, it starts circulating.

[Ruth Cheney]

You still want to pin it on him, huh?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Let me tell both of you how it all ties together. You did commit that robbery and murder last. Somewhere the money was hidden. You get out, get the money, take it someplace to get rid of it at a discount. Wise boy like you gets his pocket pick. Then the Money starts showing.

[Les Cheney]

I don't think you're going to prove it this time either.

[Detective Mugavan]

Club.

[Detective Danny Clover]

That's what held me up so long, Les. A bright boy like you gets his pocket picked. I couldn't believe it, but I had to come back to it.

[Les Cheney]

Like I said, you still need proof.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Maybe you're right. We've still got another problem. Problem? How are we gonna get your wife to admit she killed Joan Carson? How are we gonna do that, Les? You're kidding.

[Ruth Cheney]

Get him out of here, Les.

[Les Cheney]

Wait a minute,

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

Clover.

[Les Cheney]

How do you figure Ruthie killed you?

[Detective Danny Clover]

How'd you figure it, Les? You figured Ruthie. You need help, Les.

[Les Cheney]

Yeah. Yeah, help me.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Your wife kept that 50,000 for you while you were in jail, didn't she? Hid it someplace.

[Les Cheney]

Take it from there. See what happens.

[Ruth Cheney]

You crazy, Les?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Shut up.

[Les Cheney]

Well, Clover, take it from there.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You got out. You gave your wife that money, then you lost it. What did you tell your wife when you lost it?

[Les Cheney]

I told her I lost it.

[Ruth Cheney]

Lost it? Lost it to that redhead.

[Les Cheney]

You killed her, didn't you? Didn't you?

[Ruth Cheney]

Listen to me, lady.

[Les Cheney]

Nah, you listen to me.

[Myron Grace]

That's what I told you.

[Les Cheney]

That money was stolen. The pickpocket recognized me and called me and tried to sell it back to me.

[Myron Grace]

I didn't have any money to buy it.

[Ruth Cheney]

And you sent that redhead forward. Why didn't you send me? Because I'm not beautiful anymore after waiting for you. Because I don't dip my head in Hannah? Because I don't own a slip that's not frayed. Look what she did to you. She crossed, you killed. And was gonna keep that money for herself.

[Myron Grace]

Nah, she wasn't. She was gonna come back to.

[Ruth Cheney]

Oh, no. Oh, no, Les. Not her. Not Ms. Joan Carson. I took care of that.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Killed her.

[Ruth Cheney]

Killed her, Les. Followed her and killed her for you. For the past five years. For the years you were gonna make up to me. For the years I lie there with my hands behind my head. Just to me, less, to no one else. Mr. Clover.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Yes.

[Ruth Cheney]

Take us away together.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Twilight lies against Broadway like gray speckled gauze ripples off into another world. The street of the hurry up steps the fast questions glances the seekers after the special smile and you walk it. Because once Broadway touched you, you can't rub it off. It's Broadway, the gaudiest, the most violent, the lonesomest mile in the world. Broadway,

[Narrator]

My beat. Broadway's my beat. Stars Larry Thor as Detective Danny Clover. With Charles Calvert as Tartaglia and Jack Crucian as Mogavin the program was produced and directed by Elliot Lewis. Musical score was composed by Alexander Courage and conducted by Marlon Skiles. In tonight's story, Charlotte Lawrence was heard as Ruth and Anthony Barrett as Les. Featured in the cast were Georgia Ellis, Howard McNear and Leo Cleary. So is your old man. Yes, so's your old man. And most everyone else in his generation an Amos and Andy fan. And the beauty of their comedy is that it's just as funny, just as fabulous, just as fresh as when Amos and andy first stole America's heart 23 years ago. Tomorrow night on most of these same CBS radio stations, listen and laugh with Amos and Andy. Bill Anders speaking. And remember, Robert Q's Waxworks brings you the top records and recording artists on the CBS Radio Network.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Sam. Sa.