Broadway Is My Beat: The Ruth Larson Murder Case 06/23/1951

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Broadway Is My Beat: The Ruth Larson Murder Case

Podcast: Choice Classic Radio Detectives | Old Time Radio
Episode: Broadway Is My Beat: The Ruth Larson Murder Case (06/23/1951)
Air Date: November 12, 2025
Host: Choice Classic Radio
Lead Character: Detective Danny Clover (played by Larry Thor)

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Episode Overview

This intense episode of “Broadway Is My Beat” follows Detective Danny Clover as he investigates a chilling string of murders in New York City: Ruth Larson, a 14-year-old girl; Beatrice Murray, an admired charitable woman; and Alma Russell, a quiet housemaid. What appears at first to be the work of a mad, random killer on Broadway’s lonesome mile unravels to expose a hidden, personal motive—challenging both Clover’s detective instincts and his faith in human nature.

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Main Discussion Points & Key Insights

1. Discovery of Ruth Larson’s Body

• Setting: The episode opens with Danny Clover accompanying Ruth's devastated father to the city morgue to identify her body.

• Emotional Impact: Mr. Larson’s raw grief establishes the human cost and sets a somber, personal tone.

  "My Ruth was...well, our friends said she was a remarkable child." — Mr. Larson (03:14)

• The details—her clothing, her ambitions (“she’s going to be a dancer”), and her family—underscore her innocence.

2. Emergence of a Pattern: Multiple Murders

• Clover receives a report of a second homicide: Mrs. Beatrice Murray, found beaten to death, with similar brutal injuries.

  “Dead, beaten. I'd say her skull had been fractured.”—Clover (07:19)

• Interviews reveal Mrs. Murray was well-liked, childless, active in social clubs, and lived with her husband and his deaf sister, Claudia.

• The question of motive surfaces repeatedly; none appears evident.

  “What motive would he have? What motive, Mr. Clover?” — Mr. Murray (09:23)

3. Third Victim: Alma Russell and Clues Emerge

• A third woman, Alma Russell (about 25), is found dead in an alley. Her purse clutched so tightly it must be pried from her hand.

• Evidence in her purse (a sales slip for expensive chinaware, a new social security card) intrigues Clover.

  “She was holding onto it so tight, Danny.” — Mugavan (15:22)

• Alma is tracked back to her boarding house, where the matron, Mrs. Perdona, provides insight into Alma’s modest, hardworking, solitary life.

4. A Break in the Case: The Teapot Link and the Murrays

• Alma’s purchase of a $200 teapot is questioned—especially for a maid making a dollar an hour.

  “$200 for a teapot bought by a girl who makes a buck an hour. Doesn't it upset you?” — Clover (22:44)

• A chinaware sales clerk reveals Alma was replacing a valuable teapot broken while working as a maid—before her employer could discover the accident.

  “Ms. Russell was dusting the china at the home of her employer. Broke a teapot, hid the debris, bought another one...”—Sales Clerk (24:28)

• The store lists the Murrays among their prominent clients.

5. Detective Clover’s Revelation: The Motive and Culprit

• Clover confronts Mr. Murray, suggesting the murders were staged to look random when only one—his wife’s—was targeted.

  “The way we figured, Mr. Murray, is that the killer was really only interested in killing one person. He killed the other two to make it look like...indiscriminate killings.” — Clover (26:36)

• Motive emerges: Mrs. Murray resented the burden of her husband’s deaf sister (“Sis”), leading to marital strife. By killing his wife and two unrelated victims, Murray faked a pattern to disguise the real motive.

• Clover manipulates Murray into revealing his instability (by breaking his model train), and this unravels his feigned madness.

  “You're going to convince me you're a madman. Cop an insanity plea. You're gonna have to try harder than that.” — Clover (27:57)

6. Underlying Themes and Atmosphere

• The story is laced with existential musings, the inherent loneliness and brutality of urban life, and the psychological toll murder investigations take on detectives.

  “What motive for that? ... Because you find no answer. Share it with Dr. Sinski. Ask the question of him. Burden the gentle doctor with it.” — Narrator (09:40)

• Concludes with Clover reflecting on the noise, superficial energy, and poignant isolation of Broadway.

  “Broadway leaps against the night. The sound it makes is the crash of life... and the hiss of neon. The laugh that screams... It’s Broadway... the lonesomest mile in the world.” — Narrator (28:53)

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Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• Mr. Larson’s Grief (03:14):

  "My Ruth was...well, our friends said she was a remarkable child."

• Mr. Murray on Motive (09:23):

  “She was a middle aged woman, Mr. Clover... Why would anybody want to kill her? What motive would he have?”

• Clover Summing Up the Pattern (26:36):

  “...the killer was really only interested in killing one person. He killed the other two to make it look like...indiscriminate killings.”

• Dr. Sinski on Violence (11:42):

  “This violence, this ugly bestial violence has been committed by what is called paranoid.”

• Clover’s Final Reflection (28:53):

  “Broadway leaps against the night... It’s Broadway... the gaudiest, the most violent, the lonesomest mile in the world.”

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:27] – Opening lines: Atmosphere and introduction to Broadway’s nightlife
• [02:54] – Mr. Larson identifies his daughter
• [07:19] – Mrs. Murray's murder; details from her husband
• [10:20] – Clover consults Dr. Sinski about motives
• [13:04] – Third murder victim, Alma Russell, discovered
• [15:20] – Discovery of evidence (purse contents)
• [18:45] – Boarding house interview about Alma
• [22:31] – The $200 teapot clue and its significance
• [25:23] – Confrontation with Mr. Murray
• [26:36] – Clover reveals the solution
• [28:53] – Episode closes with somber reflection

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Memorable Moments

• Mr. Larson’s poignant breakdown in the morgue ([04:19])
• Clover quietly smoking with Dr. Sinski, seeking sense in brutality ([11:02])
• Mrs. Perdona, the landlady, wearily applying makeup while matter-of-factly discussing murder ([18:53–20:34])
• Clover confronting Murray and deliberately breaking his model train to elicit a reaction ([27:43])

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Episode Tone and Style

Moody, poetic, and gritty. The narration and dialogue are filled with rich metaphors and a hard-boiled sensibility, conveying the brutal realities and psychological strains of urban homicide work in the "Golden Age" of radio drama.

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Conclusion

This episode exemplifies the moody, character-driven detective genre of classic radio, weaving together gritty police work, psychological insight, and deep empathy for both victims and investigators. The resolution pivots expertly from a presumed serial rampage to a chilling, personal crime, leaving the haunting sense that on Broadway—or anywhere—appearances can deceive, and the motive for murder can be heartbreakingly close to home.

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Transcript

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[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] we delay the start of.

[Narrator]

Our scheduled program to bring you a bulletin from CBS News, Washington. The State Department has issued a statement in response to the proposal by Jacob Malik, the Soviet delegate to the United nations for a ceasefire in Korea. The State Department said that if Malik's proposal is more than propaganda, adequate means for discussion and end to the conflict are available. The State Department said we are ready to play our part. This bulletin has come to you from CBS News. We now resume our regular program.

[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 nighttime starts at the river. Before it closes over Broadway, a wind drifts in with the moistened shadows, flings them into the street, flattens them against the gutter, picks a man waiting for a bus and wraps darkness around him. And a light comes on and another. And down the street there where the crowd is gathered against the traffic signal high above them, a neon sputters, flames. The spectaculars dance. Somebody runs into the street and yells, come on. And everybody does. Night has come to Broadway. And where I was, there was a wind. The built in wind. A thing composed of poor ventilation, tears shed and unshed, and bottled chemicals. It was the basic ingredient of the city morgue. Though not to be found on blueprints or bills of specifications. It was something new to the man walking beside me.

[Mr. Larson]

This place. This place.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Just take it easy, Mr. Larson.

[Mr. Larson]

I'll tell you something. I guess it'll sound funny. I've read about places like this and I've closed my mind to what I read. I guess I never wanted to visualize anything right here.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Mr. Larson, what was your daughter wearing?

[Mr. Larson]

Mrs. Larson wrote it down for me. You see, I wasn't home when our daughter. When Ruth Went to the movie. So, Mrs. Larson. Ruth was wearing a skirt and a blouse, pink bobby socks and saddle shoes. I guess you want to know this too. She was 5ft 1. She was 14 in May. She had brown hair and brown eyes. And I want you to know, Mr. Clover, I. I guess all fathers feel the same way. My Ruth was. Well, our friend said she was a remarkable child. She's going. We're gonna send it to. Under that sheet.

[Detective Danny Clover]

This girl was found in a vacant lot between your home and the theater. Your wife mentioned when she called, how.

[Mr. Larson]

I mean, look. You know it.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Fractured skull.

[Mr. Larson]

I have to look, don't I?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Yes, if it's your daughter.

[Mr. Larson]

Ruth's a nice girl. She started to go to parties with boys and she always gets home by 11 o'. Clock. She's going to be a dancer. When people come to the house, she dances for them.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Mr. Larson.

[Mr. Larson]

You see, as I. As I told you before. Ruth. Ruthie. Oh, Ruthie. Who did it? What monster? Who did it to you?

[Officer/Assistant]

Who?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Fury took over the man, trembling with it, shivering with it. Scurried from wall to wall, enraged at the wound the death of his child had clawed across his heart, torn inside his throat the helpless, futile rage of the animal whose small range of understanding has been kicked, beaten, thrown against the barbed wall of violence. Not once, not once more did he look at his child now, try only to wipe out the memory, try to strangle the long ago laughter and sobs that the child had let echo through him. And finally the collapse, the heap on the concrete floor. And you call quietly to the officer on duty to help you lift the man, carry him to a place where he can sleep away the fury of his dead. Then back to your office and close the door on it, stand at the window, watching the squalls of the nighttime wash against it, beat against it. And then stare at the walls. Then hear the door open for it to it all in again.

[Radio Announcer]

Danny. Danny.

[Detective Danny Clover]

What do you want?

[Radio Announcer]

Dr. Sinski's report. He was busy on another. He asked me to bring it to you.

[Detective Danny Clover]

So leave it on my desk.

[Officer/Assistant]

All right.

[Radio Announcer]

You're not gonna look at it, Danny.

[Dutch Vet Advertiser]

Why?

[Detective Danny Clover]

I know what's in it.

[Radio Announcer]

I thought I did too, till I glanced it over on the way to your office. You better take a look at it.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You're so eager. I don't want to spoil it for you. Tell me about it, Mugaman. You tell me. A Mugavan. We've had other kids and this one's no different. That all? Mugavan?

[Radio Announcer]

That's what I'VE been trying to tell you. This one is different. Just what you saw when you first found her. That's what's in the report. Beaten, skull fractured with the butt of a gun. Nothing else.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Then give me a motive. Give me another motive. Why a 14 year old child should. Clover speaking.

[Sergeant Gino Tartaglia]

Sergeant Tartaglia at this end. Homicide, Danny. Woman in backyard of House at 1845 West 11. People named Murray. Upstairs wants you on it. Shall I tell him you're agreeable?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Danny, Tell him I'm. Bring me a motive. Mugaban Upstairs wants me to run an errand.

[Mr. Murray]

She's over here, Mr. Clover. Right here.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Dead, beaten. I'd say her skull had been fractured. Mr. Murray.

[Mr. Murray]

I don't understand it. I just don't understand it.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Tell me what happened.

[Mr. Murray]

We were sitting in the library. A knock came on the back door. I wanted to answer it, but Beatrice said I looked so comfortable.

[Detective Danny Clover]

There was just you two in the library. You and your wife and Sis. Sis?

[Mr. Murray]

My sister Claudia. She can't hear anything. She's deaf. She never goes out of the house. I take care of her.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Who's in the house with her now? Who's playing that organ?

[Mr. Murray]

Oh, Sis plays.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I see. Go ahead.

[Mr. Murray]

Well, there was this knock on the door and Beatrice went to the door and I heard her talking to someone. At least I think I did. I want you to know I'm not sure about that. I kept reading, that's all. Sis was practicing.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Didn't your wife scream? Didn't you hear anything?

[Mr. Murray]

No, no, no, no, I didn't. I. I happened to look up my book a little later after she went to the back door.

[Detective Danny Clover]

How much later?

[Mr. Murray]

Well, I don't know. I looked up and she still wasn't there.

[Detective Danny Clover]

She hadn't come back yet from answering that knock on the door.

[Mr. Murray]

That's right. So I went out back. The back door was still open, but there wasn't anybody there. I called to her and then I started toward the alley and I stumbled. I stumbled over Beatrice lying.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Then what did you do?

[Mr. Murray]

Well, I called the police. And then I told Sis what had happened.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You speak sign language?

[Mr. Murray]

Yes. I learned it when I was very young so that I could speak with Sis. She's been with me all the time.

[Detective Danny Clover]

How long have you been married?

[Mr. Murray]

14 years.

[Officer/Assistant]

Why?

[Mr. Murray]

What's that got to do.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Happily, of course. Happily. You have any children?

[Mr. Murray]

No. No. That's something Beatrice and I agreed on. Sis needs taken care of. And Beatrice is always so busy, busy.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Busy doing what?

[Mr. Murray]

Clubs and auxiliaries. You know, she was well Liked, got things done. She was admired and well liked.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Then who would want to kill her?

[Mr. Murray]

Nobody would want to kill Beatrice.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Nobody. Mr. Murray.

[Mr. Murray]

She was a middle aged woman, Mr. Clover. Everybody she knew was her friend. She did charity work, came with troubles, anybody. She'd help them. Why would anybody want to kill her? What motive would he have? What motive, Mr. Clover?

[Detective Danny Clover]

It was there again. What motive? A 14 year old girl, the loved child of a quiet, nameless family. Until a killer had taken the butt end of a gun, beaten their name and their dead child's name into the newspapers that choked the trash bin supplied for the purpose by the Department of Sanitation. What motive for that? And for Mrs. Beatrice Murray, admired, liked, charitable, a woman to whom the trouble came. A childless woman who sat in the evening and sewed together the patchwork of her day while her husband read and his sister released the music she couldn't hear. What motive for that brutal death? Because you find no answer. Share it with Dr. Sinski. Ask the question of him. Burden the gentle doctor with it.

[Radio Announcer]

You put me a question, Danny, that is not strictly in my department or in my education.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Mind if I bum another cigarette?

[Radio Announcer]

Oh, here. Up south.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Thanks.

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[Detective Danny Clover]

You've been with us a long time, Doctor. Some of it must have rubbed off, Danny.

[Radio Announcer]

I deal only in known quantities. You boys bring me the wounds you find. I wash them, bandage them. You bring me the dead. I perform autopsies. Known quantities, Danny. Like I know. Like I know my name. Your name. That this Mrs. Murray was murdered by the butt of the same gun that hammered away the life of. Of the child, Ruth.

[Store Clerk]

Why?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Tell me why. I'll go out and buy my own pack of cigarettes.

[Radio Announcer]

If I had gold, you could have it, Danny. No strings to it? No. For the question you ask, go consult a specialist. A man who puts the microscope of his training to the emotions.

[Detective Danny Clover]

The department psychiatrist?

[Radio Announcer]

Yes, to him. Perhaps he will agree with me. And I'm only an amateur, a dabbler, mind you, Danny, that this violence, this ugly bestial violence has been committed by what is called paranoid.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I've read about them. Had them screaming in my office. They dream up hates against themselves.

[Radio Announcer]

For this they kill an animal. A child, a woman. Excuse me, Danny. Come in, please.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Are looking for me, Gino?

[Sergeant Gino Tartaglia]

Yeah, Danny. Fresh homicide. Ally on West 10th. Bucketman's got a squad call.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Let me finish my cigarette, huh? Tartaglia?

[Sergeant Gino Tartaglia]

Sure, Danny, sure.

[Detective Danny Clover]

If you want. It's finished.

[Radio Announcer]

A woman, Danny?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Yeah. Put your flash on her. Hold it. Hold it right there. Where's that music coming from?

[Radio Announcer]

Apartment upstairs, Danny. The back of her head.

[Detective Danny Clover]

It's uh huh. Keep your flash still.

[Radio Announcer]

We've seen it two times already in a short space. This makes three.

[Detective Danny Clover]

It made three. The woman staring into the beam of the flashlight Mugman held close to her face, staring in the final disbelief that this had happened to her, in this place, in this time. She lay in awkwardness, her dress disarranged, her hand where it had frozen, trying to straighten the wisp of blood clotted hair under her black straw hat. The alley wind found the white lace at her throat, riffled it and the murdered woman made three.

[Narrator]

You are listening to Broadway's My Beat, written by Morton Fine and David Friedkin with Larry Thor as Detective Danny Clover. The Peggy Lee show bowed in over most of these same CBS stations last Sunday night. Folks who heard it will be back tomorrow for more of Peggy's charm, Peggy's vocals, Peggy's previews of coming popular musical events. Enjoy the Peggy Lee show for light hearted summer listening at the stars address.

[Detective Danny Clover]

The night music of summer spills into Broadway from the scarred throats of the loudspeakers hanging over the record sh. Summer's kids in the off the shoulder cottons and the transparent California sports shirts squeeze each other into the doorways and lap it up. And then someone shrills a new diversion in a new shop window on a new corner and Broadway's youth rebops on down to it. It's an old ceremony on Broadway, this dancing in the streets and the sweating barker with a fistful of passes to happy upstairs lands. Just the price of the amusement tax, kid. That's old too. The girl in the swimsuit lying on the billboard beach, never aging but old. And the touch of summer's night on your eyelids. That's familiar too. It's all happened to you before. And where I was, where Mugavin was. It had happened before too. To a 14 year old girl named Ruth, to Mrs. Beatrice Murray. And now to the woman lying dead in an alley, not feeling the touch of the man who at first timidly and then with effort, twisted the purse out of her hand.

[Radio Announcer]

She was holding onto it so tight, Danny.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Open it.

[Radio Announcer]

So tight. Yeah. Killed the same way as the other two, wouldn't you say, Danny?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Uh huh.

[Radio Announcer]

Maybe our fair city's being honored with a mad killer, huh?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Maybe.

[Radio Announcer]

Sick man with a grudge against women, even if they're a kid.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Looks like it. How long does it take to go through the purse? Mug of it?

[Radio Announcer]

Just sorting the unnecessary stuff, Danny. Tissues, compact, change, purse, bobby pins. The sales slip for, let's see. Hold a flash a minute, Danny. Yeah, for chinaware. Tortoise shell, comb with silver edging.

[Detective Danny Clover]

That's all? No identification.

[Radio Announcer]

Well, I haven't tried this inside flap yet, Danny. Yeah, here it is. New Social Security card made out to hold it again. Alma Russell, 4212 6th Avenue. That's around 8th Street.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Then maybe she was on her way home. Took this alley, it cuts through to Sixth. Killer knew she took it sometimes. Waited for her here, slugged her, made sure she was dead.

[Radio Announcer]

Got a confession, Danny.

[Detective Danny Clover]

It puzzles me, you alone in the world.

[Radio Announcer]

Three of them dead. That girl, that woman with her husband and the sister who plays the organ. No, this one. I could understand it if.

[Detective Danny Clover]

If what?

[Radio Announcer]

There wasn't a mark on him, Danny, other than the beating from the gun, but not a mark.

[Detective Danny Clover]

And this girl's young, about 25.

[Radio Announcer]

I'd say pretty neat, clean. I bet she was attractive, sweet.

[Detective Danny Clover]

What are you building up?

[Radio Announcer]

We've had them before, Danny. The guys who wait in alleys go to moving picture houses, talk to little girls in the vacant lot. This kind we've had before. And in a way, I could understand it. But the killer, who.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You said he was sick. Dr. Sinski called him paranoid.

[Radio Announcer]

Whatever they call him, it scares me sick. I got a niece, lives three blocks from me with my brother. She's funny.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You're trying to talk about her like the girl's father did. Go call her morgue, Danny.

[Radio Announcer]

The thought that it could happen.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Go call him. I'll wait for you. And in a little while, the young woman who had hugged death in an alley was attended to by gentle people, which is the miracle of violent death in a great city. The intern, the stranger in the white jacket, knelt beside her, shook his head and thought. A thought that was included both of them. And an ambulance driver looked at her and bit his lip when he put her on the stretcher. Then the alley was no longer remarkable. It resolved back unto itself. Play of refuse mewings and the shortcut Home. It was the end of something or another for me. It was the end of the day. Home. Now, in bed. Adjust the mind not to dream. This can be done by a policeman assigned to Homicide. Sleep the night through and wake and have the coffee and read the paper. Get to work. Go now to the address on 10th street because a girl named Alma Russell once lived there. Ring the bell. Adjust your mind again to the fact that you're going to talk about the murder of a young woman at 8:30 in the morning.

[Officer/Assistant]

You from the police?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Yes, I am.

[Officer/Assistant]

Well, come in. In here? The kitchen. Sit down.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Thanks.

[Officer/Assistant]

What's your name?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Danny Clover.

[Officer/Assistant]

Mine's Perdone. Ethel Perdon. I'm mine host to the borders. Had your coffee yet, Danny?

[Sergeant Gino Tartaglia]

Uh huh.

[Officer/Assistant]

Me too. You won't mind if I try making up this face of mine, do you? I say making up because that's the phrase that's used.

[Detective Danny Clover]

How is it that you're Expecting the police, Mrs. Purdon?

[Officer/Assistant]

Well, I read the morning papers, don't I? Alma got killed, didn't she? She lived here, didn't she? So who should I expect? Humphrey Bogart? Yeah. How does the lipstick look, Danny? Kissable or otherwise? Otherwise, huh?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Look, Mrs. Perdona, I want you to tell me everything you can about Alma Russell.

[Officer/Assistant]

Sure, sure. Can you reach that mascara, Danny? Yeah, right there on the shelf. See? Thanks. But Alma, a maid, Cleans, sweeps, dusts. A buck an hour.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Who'd she work for?

[Officer/Assistant]

Well, she never said. Quit a job a couple of weeks ago. I think she got another one just the other day. Well, I guess that's the best I can do with my facial equipment. Mirror, mirror on the wall.

[Detective Danny Clover]

What else about her?

[Officer/Assistant]

I don't know what else? She paid board, kept to herself, was no trouble, didn't talk except a how do you do? And a very well, thank you. Nice table manners. Broke her bread and never left much crumbs. Nice girl.

[Detective Danny Clover]

What about boyfriends?

[Officer/Assistant]

None here in my establishment. All ladies. What happens in the street? I wouldn't know. Help me with my coat, will you, Danny?

[Detective Danny Clover]

You going someplace?

[Officer/Assistant]

Well, sure I am.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I want to look at Alma's room.

[Officer/Assistant]

First landing, door on your right. You want to talk to me soon again, Danny?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Maybe after I look at Alma's room.

[Officer/Assistant]

I'll be easy to find. Your place, your morgue. I'm going down and cry for Alma Russell. Somebody's gotta cry for her.

[Detective Danny Clover]

And watch her leave for a session of weeping through mascaraed eyelashes. The pastime, the protest against her being bitter and lonely and unwanted and Enter the dead woman's room. Search it. Note its primness. Handle the modest belongings of a girl who would wash, dust it. Arranged the belongings of other women in other, richer rooms. The pile of old magazines carefully saved on the closet shelf. And on the bed stand. The new ones. The fan magazines. The romances truer than her own because they were printed on slick paper. The dresser lined with the thin layer of inexpensive underclothes. The wardrobe of the bargain flowered prints. The starched maid's uniform. The cloth coat and the moth proof bag. That was it. The sum of Alma Russell's life. And then back to headquarters. And the concern of Sergeant Gino Tartaglia for your tiredness. For your paleness, Danny.

[Sergeant Gino Tartaglia]

Not that it is mine to meddle, but. Well, you should exhibit yourself to the sunshine more low on Far Rockaway on.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Your day off, Gino.

[Sergeant Gino Tartaglia]

Bring cheeks of pain to your cheeks. Bare your pale feet at the vitamin filled raisin.

[Detective Danny Clover]

My pale feet bother you?

[Sergeant Gino Tartaglia]

Nothing whatsoever about your personality bothers me, Danny. It's only that.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I know. I know, Gino. You'd feel better if I got sunburned.

[Sergeant Gino Tartaglia]

Well, it is the fashion of the season.

[Detective Danny Clover]

There's a rumor murder is the fashion.

[Sergeant Gino Tartaglia]

Yeah. This also three the members of the.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Opposite sex could be so simple. If only somewhere I could find where their lives had been touched by one man. By one killer.

[Sergeant Gino Tartaglia]

Danny, don't whip yourself. I put the boys working on it like. Yes. They can't find it either. All they come up with is a reading on a sales slip.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Huh?

[Sergeant Gino Tartaglia]

The sales slip you found in the purse of the deceased, Alma Russell. It seems the girl bought a teapot from a place called ivers. Paid $200 for it. And this makes a mishmash. Upsets your colleagues in the department.

[Detective Danny Clover]

200 for a teapot bought by a girl who makes a buck an hour. Doesn't it upset you?

[Store Clerk]

Something we can do for you, sir?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Yes, there is. I'm from the police.

[Store Clerk]

Good. Are we interested in some chinaware today?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Yes, we are. I want you to take a look at this. This sales slip.

[Store Clerk]

What is it?

[Detective Danny Clover]

It's for a teapot. One that costs $200.

[Store Clerk]

I don't understand why we're lifting our eyebrows, sir. Of course it did. A Stratfordshire teapot on the current market is worth at least that.

[Detective Danny Clover]

This sales slip was found on a young lady. A young lady that's been murdered.

[Store Clerk]

I see.

[Detective Danny Clover]

The young lady happened to have purchased this teapot here.

[Store Clerk]

I see.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Her name was Alma Russell.

[Store Clerk]

I see.

[Detective Danny Clover]

How does a dollar an hour maid buy a two hundred dollar piece of.

[Store Clerk]

China by paying two hundred dollars for it? Ms. Russell paid exactly that much.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Then you remember Ms. Russell?

[Store Clerk]

Oh, indeed, yes. We sold it to her ourselves about three weeks ago. I remember the transaction well. She'd called the day before to price the teapot. The next day. She came in with the money about midday on a Thursday.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Unless it was her day off. She was in uniform. Didn't it seem strange that a housemaid did?

[Store Clerk]

I might as well tell you.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Tell me what?

[Store Clerk]

The sale slip says $200. She didn't pay that for it. She paid 190 for it, tax included. We paid the difference out of our own pocket. In the trade, we are known as a sucker for hard luck. Stories about teapots. And Ms. Russell had one.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You want to tell me about it now or later?

[Store Clerk]

Ms. Russell was dusting the china at the home of her employer. Broke a stradivature teapot, hid the debris, bought another one before the accident was discovered as a replacement.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Just one more thing. Did she say who this employer was?

[Store Clerk]

She did not. However. However, there are some regular clients of ours who eat off the stuff.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Like who?

[Store Clerk]

The Llewellyns, for example. The Crandalls, the second and third. The Murrays, the West fourth.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Which Murrays?

[Store Clerk]

On West 11. The Pal Murray. Are we being helpful?

[Detective Danny Clover]

We'll never know. How much?

[Radio Announcer]

Oh.

[Mr. Murray]

Oh, Mr. Clover, please come in.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Thanks. Mr. Murray.

[Mr. Murray]

You want to talk to me, don't you? This way. Down the hall. Oh, Claudia, that is, Sis is practicing. We don't want to disturb her. Through this door. In here. The library. Now, do you know the man who killed my wife?

[Detective Danny Clover]

We know the kind of man who killed your wife. Yes, the paranoid. A person who's quick to find a reason to kill. And he doesn't need much of a reason. Just cross him.

[Mr. Murray]

Crazy man.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You could say that.

[Mr. Murray]

Well, they tell me a lot of crazies are clever. But why? Why come to tell me about it? You should be out looking for the man.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I just thought I'd stop by and let you know how we were progressing.

[Mr. Murray]

I. I'm busy.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Oh.

[Mr. Murray]

My hobby. Model trains. I was assembling this engine. It's a diesel.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Careful work. Must take a lot of patience.

[Mr. Murray]

Please put it down. It's fragile. I don't allow anyone to touch it.

[Detective Danny Clover]

All right. I said I stopped by to let you know how we were progressing.

[Mr. Murray]

Come back when you can tell me the killer's name. And from what I've been reading, you'd better hurry up. Three killings Indiscriminately. By the same man.

[Detective Danny Clover]

By the same man. The way we figured, Mr. Murray, is that the killer was really only interested in killing one person. He killed the other two to make it look like what you said. Indiscriminate killings.

[Mr. Murray]

I. I don't understand.

[Detective Danny Clover]

To make it look like murder. Without a motive, without plan. But there was motive.

[Mr. Murray]

What motive for killing a 14 year old girl?

[Detective Danny Clover]

None. Part of the plan.

[Mr. Murray]

And. And that housemaid?

[Detective Danny Clover]

None. But that was the killer's mistake. If he'd killed someone else, I wouldn't be here now.

[Mr. Murray]

You. You don't know what you're talking about.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Aren't you going to ask me why anyone should kill your wife?

[Mr. Murray]

There was no motive. Like the others.

[Detective Danny Clover]

The killer had one. He had a wife. A wife who didn't want the burden of an afflicted sister in law. That's only a guess. Did your wife ever complain about your sister?

[Mr. Murray]

Get out of here.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You said your wife was a warm and open hearted woman. She wanted children, didn't she?

[Mr. Murray]

You're presumptuous. You're crude. Get out of here.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You already had a child in your house, Sis. Your sister. You never let her be anything but a child.

[Mr. Murray]

I don't have to take these insults. And put that down. Put that train down. You're crazy.

[Sergeant Gino Tartaglia]

Crazy.

[Mr. Murray]

You broke it deliberately. All that work and you. I'll kill you. I'll kill you.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You're a broken toy train. You're going to convince me you're a madman. Cop an insanity plea. You're gonna try harder than that. That's right. Settle down. Took my train. Cut it out, Murray. You're no more crazy than I am. Paranoid. Would have had reason to kill that maid. That 14 year old girl you killed to cover up your wife's murder. She'll find out what happened. We'll let her know. Oh sins. Broadway leaps against the night. The sound it makes is the crash of life deep inside the earth. And the hiss of neon. The laugh that screams. They melt together. The sound you get is shock. There's another sound, the teardrop. But no one listens, no one hears. 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, Joseph Kearns was heard as Paul Murray. Featured in the cast were Charles Davis, Martha Wentworth and Harry Bartel. Two styles of music, both tops in popularity, are heard every Sunday over most of these same CBS stations. Guy Lombardo's sweetest music, this side of Heaven is one the others. The singing style of Mario Lanza, new vocal sensation of the airwaves. Enjoy Guy Lombardo and Israel Canadians. And the Mario Lanza a show tomorrow night. Stay tuned now for Sing It Again, which follows immediately over most of these same CBS stations. Bill Anders speaking. This is cbs, where you meet Adventure with Charlie Wild on Sundays on the Columbia Broadcasting System.