Broadway Is My Beat: The Larry Moore Murder Case 01/12/1952

Summary

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Broadway Is My Beat: The Larry Moore Murder Case (01/12/1952)

Podcast: Choice Classic Radio Detectives | Old Time Radio
Episode Date: February 24, 2026
Main Characters: Detective Danny Clover, Johnny Welch, Ida Gray, Larry Moore, Sgt. Tartaglia, Sgt. Gino, Marty Mogavin

Episode Overview

This classic radio drama episode of "Broadway Is My Beat" plunges listeners into the heart of the city’s darkness, following Detective Danny Clover as he investigates a tangled case of murder, acquittal, and tragic consequence. The story opens with Johnny Welch, recently acquitted of murdering his wife, grappling with guilt, suspicion, and alienation as Clover pursues the truth behind two deaths: that of Welch's wife and the subsequent murder of Larry Moore.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Scene: Post-Verdit Dread

• Clover escorts Johnny Welch from the courthouse, noting Welch's lack of relief despite his acquittal.
• Welch is burdened—by public suspicion, personal grief, and a sense of unresolved justice.
  • [00:53] "The faces of the mob are already molded back into the old year's anguish..." – Detective Danny Clover

2. The Haunting Aftermath

• Welch’s Acquittal: Though found innocent in court with the aid of Ida Gray's testimony, Welch feels he cannot escape the verdict:
  • [01:58] "You know something, Danny?... They say I'm innocent. You say it. Me, I still don't know." – Johnny Welch
• Ida Gray's Role: Ida, who provides his alibi, is both friend and savior, but her testimony harbors secrets.

3. Larry Moore: Target of Suspicion

• Clover interviews Larry Moore, a piano player and acquaintance of the deceased Mrs. Welch, who’s just been assaulted by Johnny Welch:
  • [05:12] "He tried to make me confess... that I killed his wife." – Larry Moore
• Moore's Compassion: Moore refuses to press charges, showing unexpected empathy for Welch.

4. Welch's Downward Spiral

• Johnny's Alienation: Johnny drowns his pain in alcohol and is rejected by friends who remain suspicious.
  • [10:27] "The things inside I can see... Dances, friends. The people who smile want you to come along. I got no more friends." – Johnny Welch
• Clover’s Frustration: Clover is keenly aware Welch may spiral into violence, fearing what he might do next.
  • [07:14] "He's a sick man right now. You could go so far as to call him crazy, maybe... Next time maybe he'll be more thorough." – Sergeant Gino

5. Second Murder: Larry Moore's Death

• Moore is found stabbed to death, and suspicion again falls on Johnny Welch.
  • [13:11] "Larry Moore, Danny... in the morning, he's beat up. In the evening, he's dead." – Sergeant Gino
• Clover investigates and finds Johnny missing, issuing another all-points bulletin.

6. Peeling Back the Alibi: Ida Gray's Secret

• Ida Gray’s Real Story: Under questioning, Ida admits her relation to Johnny is deeper than friendship; she perjured herself for Johnny’s freedom.
  • [16:03] "I'm a technician... I assist in the preparation of antibiotic cultures. Do I scare you?" – Ida Gray
  • [16:44] "He killed a man last night. Stabbed him to death. A man named Larry Moore." – Detective Danny Clover
• Blackmail Motive Revealed: Bank records reveal Moore was blackmailing Ida to stay silent about her false alibi.
  • [22:45] "Yesterday, Larry Moore deposited in his bank the exact amount Ida Gray withdrew from hers. That is what it does to me, Danny." – Sergeant Gino
• Ida Attacked: Ida is found injured, muttering incoherently in the hospital.

7. The Truth Emerges: Tragic Revelations

• Confrontation with Johnny Welch: At a Bowery hotel, Johnny confesses his guilt after discovering the extent of Ida's sacrifices.
  • [25:43] "Did she tell you how she perjured herself for you? How you were never with her the night of your wife's murder?" – Detective Danny Clover
  • [25:53] "She told me... I told you if I killed my wife, I didn't want to live anymore. I meant it." – Johnny Welch
• Double Jeopardy: Legally, Johnny cannot be retried for his wife’s murder—a bitter twist of fate.
  • [26:06] "You can't touch me for it because I was acquitted. Double jeopardy. State can’t try a man twice for the same crime." – Johnny Welch

8. Final Reflections

• Clover's Contemplation: The episode closes with reflections on Broadway's capacity for both violence and loneliness, emphasizing the city's capacity to mask tragedy behind neon and noise.
  • [27:42] "It's a panic in neon, this Broadway where pleasure is a packaged commodity like pain... the lonesomest mile in the world..." – Detective Danny Clover

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• [01:56] "The court found you innocent, Mr. Welch." – Detective Danny Clover
• [03:04] "I make you a promise out of the goodness of my heart. I'll get to the killer before you do. Hope to die if I don't." – Johnny Welch
• [10:27] "The things inside I can see. Dances, friends. The people who smile want you to come along. I got no more friends." – Johnny Welch
• [13:25] “Larry Moore, Danny... in the morning, he's beat up. In the evening, he's dead. You see it, Danny?” – Sergeant Gino
• [22:45] "Yesterday, Larry Moore deposited in his bank the exact amount Ida Gray withdrew from hers... Blackmail." – Sergeant Gino
• [25:53] "Did she tell you how she perjured herself for you? How you were never with her the night of your wife's murder?" – Detective Danny Clover
• [26:14] "That's right, Johnny. We can't hold you for assault with intent to kill for a long time." – Detective Danny Clover
• [27:42] "It's a panic in neon, this Broadway..." – Detective Danny Clover

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Timestamps for Critical Segments

• [00:26–01:35]: Introduction & setting — Broadway’s emotional tone
• [01:35–03:12]: Johnny Welch’s uneasy freedom & promise of revenge
• [04:41–06:10]: Larry Moore’s beating and refusal to press charges
• [07:10–08:41]: Police concern over Welch’s mental state and escalating risk
• [13:11–13:49]: Discovery of Larry Moore’s murder
• [15:39–16:44]: Interrogation of Ida Gray; background on her relationship to Johnny
• [22:45–22:55]: Financial records reveal blackmail
• [24:36–27:20]: Final confrontation with Johnny Welch and truth-telling
• [27:42–28:28]: Broad, poetic closing narration about Broadway

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Conclusion

This tightly woven radio play masterfully intertwines themes of guilt, obsession, and the flaws of justice. The characters’ emotional struggles are deeply rendered, especially through Johnny Welch’s tormented sense of responsibility and Ida Gray’s tragic devotion. Detective Danny Clover’s journey through the city’s underbelly is a meditative noir experience, rife with memorable dialogue and evocative language that capture the era’s signature style.

Perfect for fans of noir, mystery, and radio drama—this episode demonstrates how not all truths deliver comfort, and not all verdicts deliver justice.

Transcript

[Johnny Welch]

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 lonesomest mile in the world.

[Narrator]

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

[Detective Danny Clover]

The still brilliant light of a new January drifts down over Broadway, and the pattern it reveals is unchanged. The scalpel edges of piled concrete are still defined against winter sky. Glints are struck off, chrome and steel. The faces of the mob are already molded back into the old year's anguish. Because still the vision of beauty stands in a doorway at the end of night. And you walk toward it. You're stopped by the hawker who has another plan for you. You push him aside, keep walking. He stops you again, lays odds you'll never make it. And you never.

[Narrator]

Leave it all the way.

[Detective Danny Clover]

And the light filters a corridor. You walk with a man who has just been acquitted of the murder of his wife. A man you arrested, testified against. Watched as he was given the verdict of freedom. In his face. No sign of release, of joy. Only a newer pallor, sudden, intense.

[Johnny Welch]

You tried, then you didn't make it.

[Detective Danny Clover]

The court found you innocent, Mr. Welch.

[Johnny Welch]

Yeah, didn't they, though? You know something, Danny? What? They say I'm innocent. You say it. Me, I still don't know. I was out of the world at the time. I was drunk.

[Detective Danny Clover]

That girl, Ida Gray.

[Johnny Welch]

Yeah, Spunky kid. To sit up there and tell it into the teeth of the world that

[Detective Danny Clover]

I was with her at the time Fay was.

[Johnny Welch]

My wife was being killed. I wonder if I had fun. Wonder if Ida and me had fun

[Detective Danny Clover]

while Faye was dying. She broke our case. Saved your life.

[Johnny Welch]

You want it?

[Detective Danny Clover]

I give it to you.

[Johnny Welch]

For whatever my life's worth. Now take it. Deal it out among your friends.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Look, Mr. Welch, you're a free man.

[Johnny Welch]

What's with this free? A man pronounces a word and that makes me free?

[Detective Danny Clover]

You?

[Johnny Welch]

Look, Faye's dead. The girl I loved is deaf. A girl. You know something, Danny?

[Detective Danny Clover]

What?

[Johnny Welch]

It's now the law of the land that I didn't kill my wife. That means someone else did.

[Detective Danny Clover]

That's right.

[Johnny Welch]

I make you a promise out of the goodness of my heart. I'll get to the killer before you do. Hope to die if I don't.

[Detective Danny Clover]

We'll handle it, Mr. Welch. You leave it all to us.

[Marty Udenfroud Mogavin]

Hold on a minute, will you, Danny?

[Sergeant Gino]

You too.

[Marty Udenfroud Mogavin]

Johnny, I want a picture. You and Ida here stand close to him. Ida, come on. Come on, get close. Touch his face or something.

[Johnny Welch]

Get out of here before.

[Marty Udenfroud Mogavin]

Oh, Johnny. Ida saved your life.

[Ida Gray]

You don't have to, Johnny, if you don't want to.

[Marty Udenfroud Mogavin]

Stay out of it, huh? Ida, baby, you just stay posed where I. Now, come on, Johnny. Ida here. This pretty girl here handed you back your life on a silver platter.

[Johnny Welch]

That's what Ida did. All right. Okay, take your picture

[Detective Danny Clover]

and step aside so a picture could be made. A picture of a man, Johnny Welch. His eyes dull, unfocused. The corner of his lips twitching, somewhere between pain and hate. The girl looking up at him, unsmiling. And the man with the camera.

[Marty Udenfroud Mogavin]

All right, now. Now try to look glad about it, will you?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Forced smiles, then posed happiness for all the world to see.

[Marty Udenfroud Mogavin]

Okay, got it.

[Detective Danny Clover]

And turn the whole thing over to your memory. Go away. Spend the next two days for routine. Fill in spaces on report sheets. Catch up on the paperwork. Shake a finger at a schoolteacher from the Midwest who was clapping her blackboard erasers on the Runway at Times Square. Speak at a boys club. Lose three boxes of matches at the poker game in the squadroom. Catch up on your reading at home. Then the call comes. Danny Clover speaking.

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

Danny? Guy named Larry Moore just got some lumps.

[Detective Danny Clover]

What are you talking about, Sergeant?

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

Fella named Larry Moore just got slugged.

[Sergeant Gino]

Good.

[Detective Danny Clover]

All right. Why did you call me, Gino?

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

Guy that did it for him was named Johnny Welch.

[Johnny Welch]

Oh.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Did you pick up Johnny? Nah, we're looking. Where do I find this Larry Moore?

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

Same hotel where Johnny lives. Room 305.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I don't see why you Waste your time, Mr. Clover. I'm not going to bring charges against Johnny. Looks like he went over you pretty good, Mr. Moore. Can you see out of that left eye? What difference does it make? I'm not going to press charges. Why did he beat you up? Between you and me, that's all. Okay. He tried to make me confess.

[Johnny Welch]

To what?

[Detective Danny Clover]

That I killed his wife. I see. I guess you want to know why Johnny would think a thing like that, huh?

[Johnny Welch]

Yeah, I would.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I knew Fay Welch. Know her? Well, a lot of fellas did. You know the boys who hung around the bar where the Welches lived then? Mrs. Welch used to hang around at the bar? Pretty much. It came out at the trial. Your name didn't. For what reason? I just play piano for cocktail hour. I did her requests for it. Played them. I just can't understand it, Mr. Moore. A man comes into your Room accuses you of murder, beats you. And I don't get mad about it. Why should I?

[Sergeant Gino]

A guy like Johnny.

[Narrator]

A guy like him?

[Detective Danny Clover]

He's upset. He needs to be understood, Mr. Clover. Not arrested. What kind of a guy do you think I am anyhow? And for a moment consider him. Consider the man whose reaction to the violence done him was compassion understanding to have come out of a beating from an embittered man. A man on the prowl dedicated to the killing of his wife's murderer. And still Larry Moore makes no charge against him. Wonder about it. And note your own shock that you've stained Larry Moore's compassion with suspicion. And leave with no answer to Larry Moore's question as to what kind of a man he was anyhow. At headquarters issue an all points bulletin for the pickup of Johnny Welch, Acquitted of the murder of his wife. Because where he walked, walked violence and death. And strip off the hours of waiting with routine. With talk to Detective Mugman.

[Sergeant Gino]

Isn't it safe for the citizens with that guy loose? Danny?

[Detective Danny Clover]

We'll find him.

[Sergeant Gino]

He's a sick man right now. You could go so far as to

[Detective Danny Clover]

call him crazy, maybe.

[Sergeant Gino]

Who knows who he's going to choose out of the crowd to call his wife's murderer. This time he just beats up on a man. Next time maybe he'll be more thorough. And a sick man turns into a killer.

[Detective Danny Clover]

We'll find him.

[Johnny Welch]

Sure we will.

[Sergeant Gino]

Mind if I open the window a little, Danny?

[Detective Danny Clover]

It's stuffy. Go ahead.

[Sergeant Gino]

Lucky fella.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Lucky, lucky fella. What do you say? Johnny Welch.

[Sergeant Gino]

Lucky boy. He just didn't know how lucky.

[Johnny Welch]

No.

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

Sure.

[Detective Danny Clover]

No.

[Sergeant Gino]

You find him passed out on the floor, dead drunk with a bottle in one hand, a gun in the other. And his wife Fay, with a look on her face that comes from being shot to death.

[Detective Danny Clover]

The real killer could.

[Sergeant Gino]

The real killer.

[Detective Danny Clover]

The real killer could have killed. Killed Fay Welch. Planted the gun on Johnny because Johnny was too gone to know anything. It has to be like that because

[Sergeant Gino]

a jury of his peers said so. Because a girl, a Miss Ida Gray, hops a boat from England, arrives just in time to telecort. Johnny was seeing her off to Europe from the hours of 11 to 2, the night his wife was killed.

[Detective Danny Clover]

It's established Mrs. Welch was killed around 1 o' clock that night.

[Sergeant Gino]

I'm not fighting it then. Sure was established. Goes back to what I was saying. Johnny Welch is a lucky boy. Comes home from a party drunk, staggers down a hotel hall, meets an old girlfriend, Ida Gray. She takes him with her to bid her a bon voyage. This takes till two in the morning, she says.

[Johnny Welch]

Alibi freedom.

[Sergeant Gino]

And Johnny Welch walks the streets.

[Ida Gray]

Just came in, Danny.

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

Good day to you, Detective Muggerman.

[Detective Danny Clover]

What came in, Gino?

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

They found Johnny Welch. They're keeping him there for you.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Where?

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

Blossom's Bar and Grill on Third Avenue. One of them Third Avenue joints to dispense mockery with.

[Narrator]

Danny.

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

Button up your overcoat. You shouldn't catch cold.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Johnny. Hi, Johnny. I never sit down. How do you feel?

[Johnny Welch]

How do I feel?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Let's get out of here, Johnny. Come on. I want to talk to you.

[Johnny Welch]

I live here. Come on.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You have a nice place back at the hotel.

[Johnny Welch]

I live here. My home.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Look, Johnny, you.

[Johnny Welch]

How do I feel? The man asked simple question and begs a simple answer. I could say, all right.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I feel good.

[Johnny Welch]

You could say, not so good. Stop me when I get the answer you want.

[Detective Danny Clover]

What have you been doing for the last.

[Johnny Welch]

What's the matter? Don't you drink?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Grab the bottle by the throat, friend.

[Johnny Welch]

Pour.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Admire my home.

[Johnny Welch]

Drink. Drink.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I'm working, Johnny.

[Marty Udenfroud Mogavin]

So am I.

[Johnny Welch]

So am I. This is the way it's done. You finish a bottle and hold it to the naked eye like this. Now, wait.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Empty bottle.

[Johnny Welch]

The things inside I can see. Dances, friends. The people who smile want you to come along. I got no more friends.

[Detective Danny Clover]

What's happened, Johnny?

[Johnny Welch]

No more friends.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Look. It'll take them a little while to get used to it. I've seen it happen before. A man acquitted of murder, his friends,

[Johnny Welch]

or they think maybe I did it after all. They look at me. They just look at me. With you killed your wife.

[Detective Danny Clover]

They don't think that you were acquitted.

[Johnny Welch]

And Faye's dead. Where she was once is nothing. You never heard her laugh. You talk. I saw her. When? Johnny, what do you want?

[Detective Danny Clover]

I saw Larry Moore a little while ago.

[Johnny Welch]

I got it on the list. I'm gonna see him.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Leave him alone.

[Johnny Welch]

Just to apologize. That's the only reason why I want to see Larry Moore. Apologize because I slugged him. Apologize because Faye is dead. It's a tremendous loss to all of us.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Want me to take you back to the hotel now?

[Johnny Welch]

You don't know what I've been saying

[Detective Danny Clover]

at all, do you?

[Johnny Welch]

Get your ear out of the mud, friend. I'll say something plain. I'm here because Faye is dead. The 12 good men, in truth, say I didn't kill her, and that's good. If I'd killed her, I wouldn't want to live anymore. If I didn't kill her, Someone else did.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I told police will take care of it. Johnny.

[Johnny Welch]

Surprise, surprise, surprise.

[Jack Harndale]

Jack Harndale was helping his daughter Emily lift an awkward dresser up a staircase when he slipped and fell backwards. A week later, Emily asked him how he was doing.

[Sergeant Gino]

I'm good.

[Jack Harndale]

Truth was, he wasn't good. Jack needed help. Then the darndest thing happened. Emily called Pacific Source.

[Detective Danny Clover]

My health plan.

[Jack Harndale]

Jack learned that Pacific Source provides members with support beyond healthcare. In Jack's case, we got him in touch with the local food bank.

[Sergeant Gino]

You guys do that?

[Jack Harndale]

Yes, we do, Jack. Pacific Source health plan.

[Johnny Welch]

Get out of here, friend. Leave me alone. Go on, get out.

[Detective Danny Clover]

And leave him alone. Leave him to the life he wanted. Because you had no reason to intrude out on the street again. And uptown. Stop up for a sandwich, then back to work again. Back to headquarters. Park the car on the lot across from emergency. Over here, Danny. And the voice that stops you belongs to Detective Mug, standing beside an ambulance. What's up, Mugavan?

[Johnny Welch]

Where have you been?

[Detective Danny Clover]

What's the difference? Where have I been? What's the matter?

[Sergeant Gino]

The call came as soon as you left. Didn't leave word where you'd be. I took it.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Took what?

[Sergeant Gino]

Now hold it a minute, fellas.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Take a look. Oh, no.

[Sergeant Gino]

Larry Moore, Danny in the morning, he's beat up. In the evening, he's dead. You see it, Danny?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Yeah, I see it. McAven stabbed to death.

[Sergeant Gino]

Danny murdered.

[Narrator]

You are listening to Broadway's My Beat, written by Morton Fine and David Friedkin and starring Larry Thor as Detective Danny Clover. Instead of going down, the annual rate of folio cases in this country is going up. Instead of growing panicky with fear in the face of such an unwelcome fact, there is a way in which we all can join the army which is fighting to check this trend and ultimately defeat infantile paralysis. We can contribute to the March of Dimes. Give today so that the 1952 March of Dimes will be the biggest ever and a really potent fighting force against polio.

[Detective Danny Clover]

When it's January on Broadway the darkness drains through the scarlet of neon before it's called night in the dreams that are dreamed Where a street corner touches the edge of evening Drift away on the black wind the whirlpool of color flung skyward by the spectaculars dips Becomes a riot of shadows when it touches the street it's the once upon a time land Wrapped in winter's mist gray and cold the laughter's always at the other end of the block it's nighttime crowd time the lonely Time. And consider this. This night, the slaying of a man. Consider facts. Dead man, Larry Moore. Suspect Johnny Welch. Nighttime work time. Go back to the bar that Johnny called home. He's not there. Check his hotel. Not there. So issue an all points bulletin again on Johnny. He's not to be found. So next morning, go to a friend of his, Ida Gray, the young woman who once helped him.

[Ida Gray]

I can't understand why they didn't announce you down at the death, mister.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I told them I was a policeman. I told them not to announce me.

[Ida Gray]

You were afraid I'd fly the coup. Am I that important?

[Detective Danny Clover]

What do you do for a living, Ms. Gray?

[Ida Gray]

I could have told you that over the house phone.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Tell me now.

[Ida Gray]

May I be technical?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Right ahead.

[Ida Gray]

I'm a technician, Mr. Clover. I assist in the preparation of antibiotic cultures. Do I scare you?

[Detective Danny Clover]

May I ask you why you went to Europe? Vacation?

[Ida Gray]

Not at all. Work. I went over to observe techniques in the manufacture of antibiotics in England. Observe?

[Sergeant Gino]

Report.

[Ida Gray]

Free exchange of scientific methods. That was my job.

[Detective Danny Clover]

And you left for England the night of Mrs. Welch's murder and came home during the trial. Fortunate for Johnny. Ms. Good.

[Ida Gray]

Had I known of the murder, I would have returned much sooner. Honor bride. Poor Johnny.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You feel sorry for him?

[Ida Gray]

Bring him to him. Just bring him to me. Just let me get my hands on him and What? I'd never take them away. Not very scientific talk for a technician like me, is it?

[Detective Danny Clover]

He killed a man last night. Stabbed him to death. A man named Larry Moore. First Johnny threatened him, then he killed him.

[Ida Gray]

Larry Moore.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You've probably seen him. Larry Moore played piano downstairs in the lounge.

[Ida Gray]

And Larry killed Johnny's wife. Is that it? Then who killed Larry?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Do you know where Johnny is?

[Ida Gray]

If you find out where. Take me to him, will you?

[Detective Danny Clover]

You'll be here, Ms. Graham?

[Ida Gray]

As a matter of fact, no. I have a date with a scientific fella. We're going to discuss variable hydrogen ion concentrations in oreomycin culture.

[Sergeant Gino]

Do I bore you?

[Ida Gray]

Then you might as well go.

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

Good morning, Danny. And something else.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Danny, do you want something?

[Sergeant Gino]

Gino, it is not a question.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Do I want something?

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

Let us say, rather, it is a question. Do the gentle lady waiting outside your office want something? They wish to see you. And enter late deceased Larry Moore.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Oh, bring them in, Gino, they tell me.

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

Who cares what people tell me? This way to see Danny Clover.

[Ida Gray]

If I am needed, Danny, you know

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

where to reach me.

[Detective Danny Clover]

The sergeant said you wanted to see me about Larry Moore.

[Johnny Welch]

Yeah?

[Sergeant Gino]

I'm Chet Duggar from Trenton her. Ms. Hempstead, of where are you from, honey? We never did get around to geography. Where you from? Tell us, honey. Oh, the kid's scared, Mr. Clover. That's why she's clammed up. If you knew what I went through to get her to come down here. Don't be scared, honey.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Why did you come here, Mr. Duggar?

[Sergeant Gino]

Larry and Ms. Hempstead and meet Chet Duggar. We were a happy threesome until comes a knock on Larry's hotel room. Larry gets up from the piano to answer it. So he says to someone, oh, what a pleasant surprise. Then he grunts, walks back into the room, can't play the piano anymore. The knife in his chest makes him off thumbs.

[Detective Danny Clover]

And you ought to tell me you saw who it was.

[Sergeant Gino]

All Ms. Hempstead and me want to tell you is we were there in Larry's hotel room because it got gay in the cocktail lounge, didn't it, honey? And Larry invited us up to himself for more of his piano, and we were getting around to the oldies.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Why didn't you come here before?

[Sergeant Gino]

Oh, didn't I tell you? We're from out of town. The etiquette of what to do when the piano player dies is, well, unknown to us, isn't it, honey? Then comes the dawn, and the etiquette is. Oh, pardon me. Your phone.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Danny Clover speaking.

[Sergeant Gino]

Dr. Sinski. Danny? Downstairs in the infirmary. They just brought in Ida Gray.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You were worried about etiquette, Mr. Duggar. Stick around. We'll try to clear it up for you.

[Sergeant Gino]

Miss Gray's going to recover, Danny, so you don't have to worry about that. Probably concussion, bruises.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Where was she found, Dr. Sinski?

[Sergeant Gino]

In an alley, Danny, off West 16. Here. Here's the officer's report.

[Detective Danny Clover]

No one try to look at her as Salem.

[Sergeant Gino]

What'd you say?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Nothing. Just reading the report.

[Sergeant Gino]

That's her room, Danny. You want to see her?

[Detective Danny Clover]

She conscious?

[Sergeant Gino]

No.

[Detective Danny Clover]

She keeps saying something, though, over and over.

[Johnny Welch]

Let's go in.

[Detective Danny Clover]

What's she saying?

[Johnny Welch]

Get close to her, Dan. Put your ear close, you'll hear.

[Detective Danny Clover]

No.

[Sergeant Gino]

Oh, you.

[Ida Gray]

After all,

[Sergeant Gino]

you understand it.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You said it wasn't any use. They bring this in here with her?

[Sergeant Gino]

That purse? Yeah. Danny, why do you be a doctor?

[Johnny Welch]

Huh? Doctor?

[Detective Danny Clover]

This is the way a policeman works. Lipstick, dishes, keys, comb, wallet, bank book.

[Sergeant Gino]

I don't envy you one bit, Danny, to have to pick the little things,

[Detective Danny Clover]

to have to pry like that sometimes. Little things? Doctor, would you say this was a little thing?

[Johnny Welch]

What?

[Detective Danny Clover]

This entry in Miss Gray's bank book.

[Sergeant Gino]

So she made a Withdrawal and closed her account. Maybe she needed the money. I found myself face to face with needing money.

[Detective Danny Clover]

But you never had the reason. Ms. Gray did. Doctor, take care of her. Don't let her out of your sight. Margon. Cartaglia. Come in.

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

Yeah, sure, sure, Danny, we're coming.

[Sergeant Gino]

You need something, dad?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Yeah, shut the door. Where you been, Magaman?

[Sergeant Gino]

Out and around.

[Detective Danny Clover]

That's an answer.

[Sergeant Gino]

Yeah, I consider it an answer.

[Detective Danny Clover]

What do you want? Boys, boys, please.

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

Before our lips get pulled any tighter, consider that we have all been chums together for a long time now.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Johnny Welch has been hammering his way through alleys. Give him a little more time, we'll have more debt on our hands. When are you going to get around to finding him, Muggleman?

[Sergeant Gino]

When I do, you'll be the first to know. I say it in the presence of a witness. When I do.

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

Look, fellas, we are all at nerve's edge here. Our patience exhausted to the raw quick.

[Detective Danny Clover]

What about you, Tartaglia? How does a police sergeant pass his time?

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

Before you say something for which we will all be ashamed in the morning, Danny, let me tell you what a police sergeant has been doing. He has been heltering and skeltering up the nooks and down the crannies of police.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Doing what?

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

What his good lieutenant has ordered him to do. Checking the bank account of the late deceased Larry Moore against the aforementioned shame of Ms. Ida Gray, who was lately assailed by person or person.

[Detective Danny Clover]

And you found.

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

What I found is what I hope will make us all friendly once more. In these two bank books is what I found.

[Johnny Welch]

Here.

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

Put your heads together over it, then clasp hands.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Argument?

[Johnny Welch]

Yeah.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Danny, take a look. Do anything to you?

[Sergeant Gino]

Yeah. Yesterday, Larry Moore deposited in his bank the exact amount Ida Gray withdrew from hers. That is what it does to me, Danny.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Blackmail.

[Johnny Welch]

Yeah.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Dr. Sinski's with a girl named Ida Gray at the emergency hospital. I want that girl booked.

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

Roger loco.

[Detective Danny Clover]

What do you want to book?

[Sergeant Gino]

Hey, look, you, what's your idea?

[Marty Udenfroud Mogavin]

Tell them who I am, Danny. They shouldn't start roughing me for entering without a pass.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Marty Udenfroud Mogavin. Gino. Friend of mine.

[Sergeant Gino]

And in case you ever afford a

[Marty Udenfroud Mogavin]

cab, I hack on 43rd and Broadway.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Pleased to meet you, fella. What's in your mind, Marty?

[Marty Udenfroud Mogavin]

Hey, remember the blintzes my wife Sadie made for your last holidays? Remember how you enjoyed them?

[Detective Danny Clover]

You told me I did enjoy them, Marty.

[Marty Udenfroud Mogavin]

Well, I got now something you will enjoy even more. And without sour cream. The whereabouts of a fugitive, name of Johnny Welch.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Where?

[Marty Udenfroud Mogavin]

I spotted him sneaking into a fleabag hotel down to the Bowery. Saw the light go on, second floor front. Broke a few traffic manifestos getting it to you, Danny.

[Johnny Welch]

However.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Take me there, Marty.

[Sergeant Gino]

Danny.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Yeah, what do you want?

[Sergeant Gino]

That girl with Dr. Sinski. What do we book her for?

[Detective Danny Clover]

For murder. Come on, Marty. Take me to Johnny Welch. So go now to a familiar place. Familiar because it's called the Bowery. Because it's the place where dreams are lost and violence is born.

[Marty Udenfroud Mogavin]

That one, Danny. That one right there.

[Detective Danny Clover]

The air is chill with many things. The figure huddled against the night wind. Cold chalk scratched on a brick wall. Dampness on lips as a woman watches you walk by. And into the derelict hotel and up the steps. And think briefly. This is the sound of a winter's grave.

[Johnny Welch]

Danny.

[Detective Danny Clover]

That's right, Johnny.

[Johnny Welch]

Come.

[Detective Danny Clover]

And the face of Johnny Welch is the face of a grave. Without meaning, without expression. Lifeless.

[Johnny Welch]

I've been waiting for you, Danny.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Oh, I thought you were hiding. Hiding? After what you did, Johnny.

[Johnny Welch]

No. No, you got it all wrong.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Tell me about it.

[Johnny Welch]

The reason why I'm here.

[Detective Danny Clover]

That's right.

[Johnny Welch]

I don't know any other place, Danny. There's no other place left for me.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You?

[Johnny Welch]

Even the people in the bottom of the bottle danced away.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Larry Moore, Ida Gray. They're not in your life anymore. Larry.

[Johnny Welch]

He's dead. I didn't know. How'd he make it?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Ida.

[Johnny Welch]

Ida. Always Ida. I saw her a while ago. She rubbed her cheek against me and said things you'd never believe to me. She said she loved me.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Did you find her?

[Johnny Welch]

Huh? She killed Larry, huh? She didn't tell me.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Maybe I didn't give her a chance.

[Johnny Welch]

I gave her all the time she needed. She talked and talked. The things she told me.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Did she tell you how she perjured herself for you? How you were never with her the night of your wife's murder?

[Johnny Welch]

She told me.

[Detective Danny Clover]

And you almost killed Ida for it.

[Johnny Welch]

I told you something once, Danny. I told you if I killed my wife, I didn't want to live anymore. I meant it.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Now you know you killed her, don't you, Matt?

[Johnny Welch]

You can't touch me for it because I was acquitted. Double jeopardy. State can't try a man twice for the same crime.

[Detective Danny Clover]

That's right, Johnny. We can't hold you for assault with intent to kill for a long time.

[Johnny Welch]

Intent? Didn't I make it?

[Detective Danny Clover]

No.

[Johnny Welch]

What's gonna happen to Ida?

[Detective Danny Clover]

You know should be tried for murder.

[Johnny Welch]

Why'd she kill him?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Larry Moore must have known she was lying. On the stand at your trial. He worked at the hotel. He saw I had to leave for the boat. By herself, not with you. So he was blackmailing her, Twist, huh? Yeah. And all she wanted was you. That's why she perjured herself, got you off. I asked you before, Johnny, why'd you beat her up?

[Johnny Welch]

Saving my life. I told you, I don't want to live. Now that I know what I did.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You'll live. Present, Johnny. Sure.

[Johnny Welch]

You can stall it for a while, Danny, and then I'll come back here, look at this place and go over to the window and look outside. Gutter from top to bottom, all of it. Hold me as long as you want. Then I'm coming back to it.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Why?

[Johnny Welch]

Why? What's being dead got that this hasn't got?

[Detective Danny Clover]

It's a panic in neon, this Broadway where pleasure is a packaged commodity like pain where bargain prices prevail for numbness and a half hour smile Sometimes on installments it's the place that dares you and one way or another it'll rock you to sleep. 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, Harry Bartel was heard as Johnny Welch. Featured in the cast were Mary Shipp, Shepard Menken, Steve Roberts and Jerry Hausner. Our Ms. Brooks is your Ms. Brooks every Sunday evening over most of these same CBS radio stations. CBS comedy fans know she is really the sparkling comedienne Eve Arden. Folks who haven't met Mr. Boington, education slinging, Eve's bashful boyfriend and the rest of our Ms. Brooks laughmates shouldn't let another Sunday pass without enjoying this refreshing CBS laugh spreader. Bill Anders speaking. And remember, those lovable rascals Amos and Andy are here every Sunday on the CBS radio Network.