Pat Novak for Hire: Father Leahy 04/02/1949

Summary

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Podcast Summary

Choice Classic Radio Detectives | Pat Novak for Hire: "Father Leahy" (04/02/1949)

Episode Overview
In this moody noir detective episode from the golden age of radio, Pat Novak is hired by a priest, Father Leahy, to intercept a recent escapee from Alcatraz before tragedy strikes. As the night unfolds, Novak gets tangled in a web of betrayal, murder, and desperation involving crooked nightclub owners, desperate sisters, double-crosses, and a manhunt gone wrong on San Francisco’s fog-choked waterfront. The story highlights classic noir themes—cynicism, fatalism, and the ambiguous morality of tough men and desperate women.

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Key Discussion Points & Plot Highlights

1. Pat Novak’s Introduction & Atmosphere Setup

• Pat Novak sets the scene: He’s a small-time operator on the San Francisco waterfront, “where everybody wants a piece of the cake.”
  • Quote [02:41]: "Down on the waterfront in San Francisco, everybody wants a piece of the cake. And the only easy buck is the one you just spent."

2. Father Leahy’s Unusual Request ([04:17]–[05:55])

• A tall, imposing man introduces himself as Father Leahy, a priest with an Irish brogue, asking Novak to intercept a convict pehaps set to kill.
  • Quote [04:36]: "I want you to help a man escape from prison...I want you to stop him from getting into town."
• The priest insists the job is an “errand of mercy.”
• Novak’s skeptical: “If I got the right fee, it wouldn't be mercy anymore.”
• Leahy gives the name: Joe Feldman.

3. Pier 19 Rendezvous ([07:39])

• Novak waits in thick fog at the pier for the escapee.
• He intercepts a hostile man (originally assumed to be Joe Feldman) and forcibly drags him away at gunpoint.
• The man demands to make a stop at a hotel before seeing the priest.

4. Hotel Encounter & First Murder ([10:15])

• The man meets a mysterious blonde, Ann (identified as Feldman’s sister), in a hotel room; a cryptic message is exchanged: “The time's been changed. Stay around till 10 o’clock.”
• As Novak is knocked out, a murder occurs: the man Novak brought is killed, throat slit, not Joe Feldman after all.
• Quote [11:33]: “He was grinning like a Pullman porter at the end of the line, and his mouth was half open as if he expected you to drop in a suggestion on your way by.”

5. Twists & False Identities ([13:01])

• Upon waking, Novak contacts Father Leahy, who tells him: “If he's under six feet, you've got the wrong man. Whoever you've got up there isn't Joe Feldman.”
• When police inspector Hellman arrives, they realize the dead man is "Mike Greeley," not Feldman ([14:44]).

6. The Police Close In, Stakes Get Higher ([16:06])

• Hellman reveals new evidence—Joe Feldman has shot and killed a police officer at the Gold Rush Club.
  • Quote [16:41]: "We get a phone tip and find you in the murder room. I got a dead copper to prove he did. Your boy Joe Feldman killed a sergeant named Grub at the Gold Rush Club..."

7. Jocko Madigan, Novak's Wisecracking Ally ([18:16])

• Novak turns to Jocko, a drunk ex-doctor known for poetic moral observation and barbed wit.
  • Quote [18:21]: "Are you gonna be drunk all your life?" – Novak
    "Yes. It's only a matter of willpower, Patsy. I'm probably the only man in the world who intends to carry a hangover into eternity." – Jocko
• Jocko agrees to dig into Feldman’s past and contacts in the city.

8. Nightclub Tensions & Family Secrets ([21:47])

• Novak learns Joe Feldman’s connection with Gold Rush Club owner Charlie Giffen, and that Feldman’s sister Ann had worked there.
• Ann hints at money being stashed and a possible double-cross.

9. Showdown with Charlie Giffen and Ann ([24:13])

• Ann and Giffen confront Novak about missing money; Giffen threatens Novak and demands to know where the money is.
  • Quote [24:31]: “Where’s the money, Novak? Joe gave it to somebody.”
• Novak is ejected from the club at gunpoint.

10. Norma Feldman's Desperation ([25:35])

• Norma, Joe’s second sister, visits Novak ready to kill him, desperate for news of her brother.
  • Quote [25:39]: "I came up here to kill you." – Norma

11. Joe Feldman's Fate Revealed ([26:44])

• Jocko calls: Joe Feldman has been found murdered, his body in a gutter, and the missing money not found.

12. Climactic Standoff ([27:14])

• Everyone converges on Norma's apartment: Hellman, Novak, Ann, Giffen.
• Giffen tries to make a getaway with Ann, but is caught at gunpoint; Ann double-crosses him.
  • Quote [28:27]: “All right, so they fell out. You better take him for murder, Hellman.”
• Emotional confrontation between Ann and Norma; Ann is revealed to have betrayed Joe out of greed.

13. Final Emotional Toll ([29:10]–[30:25])

• Norma’s anguish: She blames Ann for Joe's death, revealing Ann's moral decay and that Ann is terminally ill ("Ask them what you've got. Ask them. They’ll tell you…cancer.").
• Novak closes with philosophical reflection on luck, the consequences of bitterness and betrayal, and the impossible economics of trying to get ahead in his line of work.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “If you got yourself in the market, you can't waste time talking. You gotta be as brief as a pauper's will.” —Pat Novak, [02:41]
• “When I say it's an errand of mercy, that's what it is. Sometime tonight, a man is going to break out of Alcatraz. If he's allowed to get into town, he may kill somebody.” —Father Leahy, [04:51]
• “You go stumbling through life, doing a tight wire act on a rubber band. You're always in the middle.” —Jocko, [18:39]
• “If you get a bad first break, you never run the table. That's what happened to Joe Feldman.” —Pat Novak, [30:46]
• “There's no good in you, Ann. They couldn't find good in you anywhere. You let that happen to Joe. You stood by and watched him walk into something like that. All right, I stood by. What can we do about it now except weep?” —Norma & Ann confrontation, [29:10]

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Key Segment Timestamps

• [02:41] — Pat Novak introduces himself and his world
• [04:17] — Father Leahy requests Novak’s help
• [07:39] — The pier encounter & mistaken identity
• [10:15] — Hotel meeting; set-up for murder
• [13:01] — Father Leahy confirms mistaken identity
• [14:44] — Police (Hellman) reveal dead man is Mike Greeley
• [16:41] — Hellman implicates Joe Feldman in killing a cop
• [18:16] — Jocko enters, philosophical banter
• [21:47] — Nightclub confrontation with Ann
• [24:13] — Ann and Giffen pressure Novak about the money
• [25:35] — Norma threatens Novak, desperate for her brother
• [26:44] — Jocko reveals Joe Feldman is dead
• [27:14] — Final standoff at Norma’s apartment
• [29:10] — Norma and Ann’s devastating confrontation
• [30:46] — Novak’s closing reflection and denouement

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Tone & Style

The episode is written and performed in the sardonic, hard-boiled style that characterizes classic noir:

• Wry, introspective narration by Pat Novak
• Quippy side characters (notably Jocko)
• Dialogue laced with fatalism, dark humor, and brutal honesty
• Complex character motivations driven by desperation, loyalty, and greed

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Conclusion

“Father Leahy” is a prototypical Pat Novak episode—cynical, atmospheric, packed with double-crosses and streetwise observations. Through twists and betrayals, the drama spirals from a foggy job offer to multiple deaths, and the moral costs are paid as surely as the debts. If you enjoy dense storytelling, rapid-fire dialogue, and the moody tension of postwar detective fiction, this episode is a stellar example of the style.

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Transcript

[Pat Novak]

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[Pat Novak]

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[Ann (Feldman's sister)]

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[Pat Novak]

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[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

Pat novak for higher.

[Pat Novak]

Sure, I'm pat novak for hire. That's what the sign out in front of my office says. Pat Novak for hire. It's about the only way to say it. Oh, you can dress it up and tell how many shopping days there are till Christmas, but If you got yourself in the market, you can't waste time talking. You gotta be as brief as a pauper's will. Because down on the waterfront in San Francisco, everybody wants a piece of the cake. And the only easy buck is the one you just spent. Oh, it's a good life if you work real hard and study a little on the side. You gotta trade. By the time you get to prison. I rent boats and do a few other odd jobs you can't afford to pick it on. It works out all right if you put your tongue in hockey. Because down here, you shouldn't talk. It's like installing a set of drums in a belfry. You make some noise, but it's never the right kind. I found that out a few days ago. Must have been Tuesday or Wednesday night. Anyway, I was sitting in the office reading Time magazine when the door opened. I looked up and had to keep right on going because the guy was so tall he'd have to bend over to see through a transom. And he had a voice deep enough to read out as a bassoon.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

Good evening, Mr. Novak.

[Pat Novak]

I'll take your word for it.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

You have a small office.

[Pat Novak]

I'm small time. What's on your mind?

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

My name is Leahy. I want to hire you.

[Pat Novak]

Yeah? Sit down. Are you cold? Yeah. That overcoat around your neck. You're either cold or a priest. Oh, I'm a priest, Mr. Novak. I'm sorry, Father. You got a slow brogue. What do you need?

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

A few hours of your time. I want you to help a man escape from prison.

[Pat Novak]

Father, you'll never get along with a bishop.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

Mr. Novak, in a curious way, this is an errand of mercy.

[Pat Novak]

Well, this isn't my year for mercy. I'm sorry, Father. Maybe you don't like to hear it that way. But if I got the right fee, it wouldn't be mercy anymore.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

When I say it's an errand of mercy, that's what it is. Sometime tonight, a man is going to break out of Alcatraz. If he's allowed to get into town, he may kill somebody.

[Pat Novak]

You want me to stop him?

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

That's right. And if he doesn't kill anybody, he can still be shot down by the police.

[Pat Novak]

That's the percentage. Father, if he comes off that rock. He knows that. Stop worrying about him.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

If you could bring him to me.

[Pat Novak]

I know I can talk him into going back. Tell headquarters. They'll do the same thing.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

If I did that, I'd break a promise.

[Pat Novak]

This is the only thing I can do Will you help me? Yeah, I suppose. How do I pick him up? Tread water in the bail. He comes by.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

He's due in at Pier 19 sometime tonight.

[Pat Novak]

When he comes ashore, bring him to me.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

I'll be waiting at the Ferry Building.

[Pat Novak]

Suppose he doesn't want to come? Suppose he wants to party? How am I going to get him there?

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

I don't ask you how to say the beads. If you're any good, you'll get him there.

[Pat Novak]

But you don't want him in sections.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

I want him all at once.

[Pat Novak]

Mr. Novak, I wouldn't ask you this if it weren't important, but I gotta help him. He's one of my boys. Yeah, sure. What's his name? Joe Feldman. Feldman? Yeah.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

If I don't worry about the spelling, you don't have to either. He's one of my boys.

[Pat Novak]

Slow down. Nobody's pushing your father.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

I don't know when he's due, but I'll be at the ferry building from 8 o' clock on.

[Pat Novak]

Yeah, I only got one worry. Is there really a guy named Father Leahy?

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

I suppose you'll have to take a chance on that.

[Pat Novak]

Yeah, well, it's a big chance. You come in here with a story anybody can see through like a screen door and. I'm sorry, supposed to buy it. You could dig up a collar. What happens if you're a fake?

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

Just try to guess right.

[Pat Novak]

Suppose I don't?

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

Then you're in the same spot Pontius Pilot was. Good night, Mr. Novak.

[Pat Novak]

Well, whoever Joe Feldman was, he had a good friend. Because when Father Le. He walked out of there, I knew he was all right. You could tell without even testing him the way when you pick up a pool cue, you know right away whether it's any good or not. He stood at the door for a minute and then he walked out. You got a funny feeling that he didn't walk into the night. That he was big enough to wrap it around his shoulders and take it with him. I got a last look at him as he turned the corner under a street lamp. He looked even taller now. And you knew if somebody stood him in an oil field, you couldn't tell him from the rest of the derricks. Well, I made a couple of phone calls and then I closed shop and went down to the end of Pier 19 to wait. The bay looked as dark as a bruised crow. The fog was beginning to drift in over near the piers. By 9 o', clock, you couldn't see a thing. You felt like a guy trying to shave in a bathroom full of Steam. I was about 30ft from the end of the pier when a small boat pulled in and let somebody out. I was sure it was my boy, so I moved behind a shed and waited. The boat pulled away and the guy started down the dock. I waited until he moved past me.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

Oh, I'm sorry.

[Pat Novak]

You ought to be glad. How's the rock, huh? You lonely, mister? What do you care? Pierre, buy a beer and talk to the bartender. I'm busy. All right. You're tough, Feldman. Let's go. Now.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

You got dates for us?

[Pat Novak]

You're gonna see Father Leahy. Come on.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

You doubling for Gabriel?

[Pat Novak]

Leave me alone, mister. I don't want to go. Now, look, Junior, if we draw straws, you're gonna get the short one. Oh, that's supposed to be a gun in your pocket. You get a chance to find out. That's what I'm gonna do because I have one too. It starts to hurt your stomach, back down. Now, where's yours? Mr. Timmit.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

A bad night for bluffing, so goodbye.

[Pat Novak]

Yeah. Come here. Go easy, fella.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

It's a big one.

[Pat Novak]

Well, you can let go easy then. Come on, drop it. Drop it in the water. Let go. You want to start again? No.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

All right.

[Pat Novak]

I'll see you, man.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

Leahy.

[Pat Novak]

I gotta make a stop first. Make it after. It'll take five minutes. Look, mister, if you want to do it the easy way, let me make this stop. You go with me, all right? Five minutes, and then you see Father Leahy. Suit yourself.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

I doubt if I'll make, Kevin.

[Pat Novak]

But if you want to run interference, it's all right with me. If you need the credits, you need the credits. Joe Feldman wasn't very friendly. He sat over in the corner of the cab, and he didn't say a thing. He just kept looking at me and waiting, like a guy feeding arsenic to a rich aunt. A few minutes later, the cab pulled up in front of a hotel on Geary street and we walked in. One look at that lobby and you got the idea. The place was about as cozy as an abandoned mine shaft. Over by the wall, there was an old mohair couch, and the legs on it were so warped, pretty soon it was gonna look like period furniture. There were a few chairs, and over by the stairs, a faded calendar of a girl in tights holding a jar of mayonnaise and winking, whatever that meant. And there was a broken clock over the desk, but you knew it was all right because nobody there cared about keeping track of time. It was something you got rid of in a hurry. Like a bent quarter. We went up to the second floor. We walked down a long hall that smelled like an anteroom to a sewer. When Feldman knocked on the door, she opened it right away. The room was full of taboo. She stood leaning there for a minute. A sort of a girl who moves when she stands still. She had blonde hair. She was kind of pretty, except you could see somebody had used her badly. Like a dictionary in a stupid family. Feldman seemed to know her.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

Hello, Anne.

[Ann (Feldman's sister)]

Well, the harvest hands arrive all at once. Yeah, it's good for the crops, but tough on a woman. Come in. Who's your friend?

[Pat Novak]

A missionary, I guess. He grabbed me down by the docks.

[Ann (Feldman's sister)]

Does he talk or just stand there looking healthy?

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

He growls a little.

[Ann (Feldman's sister)]

Do you really growl?

[Pat Novak]

Come on, hurry up, lady. Your friend's got a date.

[Ann (Feldman's sister)]

I'll bet you bite instead. Don't worry about him. He can go over in the corner and place his wheel.

[Pat Novak]

Now, look, he's got five minutes. Use him quick.

[Ann (Feldman's sister)]

Yes?

[Pat Novak]

I came up with a message and.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

The time's been changed. Stay around till 10 o', clock, all right?

[Pat Novak]

That all? Yeah, that's all. You want the other four minutes? Let's go. All right. Open the door. Yeah, You didn't open it fast enough. When Feldman hit me, I wobbled for a minute and went down like the price of winter wheat. If Father Leahy had any loose prayers lying around, now was the time to crate him up and ship them over. Because I wasn't gonna stay awake long enough to test the varnish, I rolled on the floor a couple of times. Then I took a rain check on the next couple of hours. When I woke up, it was like buying a new Nash and then finding out you can't drive. Joe Feldman was lying next to me with his throat cut like a pound of rib roast. His head was over to one side and his body was twisted over the other way as if he couldn't make up his mind which direction to die in. I got up and rolled him on his back. He was grinning like a Pullman porter at the end of the line and his mouth was half open as if he expected you to drop in a suggestion on your way by. I noticed right then how thin and small he was. About as fat as a shadow and tall enough to scrape his head on a lampshade. Well, there wasn't anything I could do but wish him luck. So I called the check stand at the Ferry Building and had them page Father Leahy. About two minutes later he answered.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

Hello, Father Leahy?

[Pat Novak]

This is Novak. Father?

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

Yes?

[Pat Novak]

Call in the outfield. Your boy's dead.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

I see. What happened?

[Pat Novak]

Somebody didn't like him. Lots. I wasn't around for the main event.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

Where are you, on the pier?

[Pat Novak]

No, I'm in some cave up on Geary Street. He wanted to come by here first, Father. Who's Anne?

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

I don't know.

[Pat Novak]

Has Feldman got a girlfriend?

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

He's got two sisters, I think. One of them's named Ann.

[Pat Novak]

A tall blonde with lots of speed.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

That's your definition, but it'll probably do.

[Pat Novak]

She was around for a while, in case you ever want to check.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

What are you going to do?

[Pat Novak]

Get on the back stairs and pretend I never heard of Joe feldman?

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

I'm sorry, Mr. Novak. I'm sorry it worked out that way.

[Pat Novak]

So am I, Father. If you liked him, I'm sorry. He may have been a nice little guy. Well, I could do without him. But if you like it, I'll say he was a good little guy.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

How little?

[Pat Novak]

I don't know. We could start a picket fence with him.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

Why? Because you've got the wrong man, Mr. Novak. Huh? If he's under six feet, you've got the wrong man. Whoever you've got up there isn't Joe Feldman.

[Pat Novak]

Well, he's happy about it now, Father, whoever he is.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

I'm sorry.

[Pat Novak]

It's the percentage.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

Why the percentage if it isn't Joe Feldman?

[Pat Novak]

Why, that's the waterfront, Father. If your name's Joe Nobody, you still can't do better than eight to five. At least Joe Feldman was smart. If you're going to get your throat cut, it's a good time to send in a substitute. As soon as Father Leahy hung up, I knew hanging around that hotel was going to be a waste of time. Like sending mash notes to a bearded lady. If I couldn't prove the guy was alive, they were going to charge extra down at the desk. And if Hellman down at Homicide ever found out I brought the guy up here, I'd have about as much chance as a bottle of scotch at a cocktail party. So I picked up my hat and started for the door. I looked at him once more, but he wasn't going to say goodbye. So I started out. Whoa. Hello, Hellman.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

Expecting me, Novak?

[Pat Novak]

No. I'd have rolled him first.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

Invite me in.

[Pat Novak]

Crash the party, Hellman. You'll be more at home.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

All right. He sure looks lazy. Who is he?

[Pat Novak]

He's supposed to be Joe Feldman, but.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

Feldman let him do the hard work. They must be good friends.

[Pat Novak]

You better check. I don't Know the guy.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

Help me roll him over.

[Ann (Feldman's sister)]

Okay.

[Pat Novak]

There. Here. Here's his wallet.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

Let me have it.

[Pat Novak]

You're gonna break your fingernails.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

Give it here.

[Pat Novak]

All right.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

No money in here.

[Pat Novak]

We gotta drop the case.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

Here's his card. Mike Greeley.

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[Pat Novak]

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[Pat Novak]

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[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

7.

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[Pat Novak]

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[Pat Novak]

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[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

Didn't he like you either?

[Pat Novak]

You're wearing out the rug. Helmet. I don't know the guy.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

You brought him up. I checked at the desk.

[Pat Novak]

Well, check on who left then. I brought him up here on a phony leave. Why? Because I was hired to tow him around. He liked the room, so we dropped.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

By and he cut himself shaven.

[Pat Novak]

I wasn't a rug. There was a girl here for the handshakes.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

What kind of girl?

[Pat Novak]

I don't know, Hellman. How many kinds are there? Her name was Anne. She had a fast pulse. That's all I know.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

You must know more than that. If you don't, you'll never get a lawyer.

[Pat Novak]

I won't need one.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

You'll save money at least, because you got a real hole this time, Novak. We get a phone tip and find you in the murder room.

[Pat Novak]

You got half a story, Hellman.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

I know, but I'll get the other half. Until then, you're under technical arrest. It's practically the real thing.

[Pat Novak]

You got a technical head, Hellman. I wouldn't tip myself off.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

Somebody else would. Walk around, Novak, and tire yourself out. Because you'll wind up sitting down. In the meantime, I'll have your tailed.

[Pat Novak]

Your men couldn't follow a moose through a revolving door. Now look, Hellman, I'm gonna double back. This guy's a phony lead. I was supposed to meet a guy named Joe Feldman. But he never showed up.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

He didn't?

[Pat Novak]

No.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

I got a dead copper to prove he did. Your boy Joe Feldman killed a sergeant named Grub at the Gold Rush Club a half hour ago. You better start that walk, Nov.

[Pat Novak]

Well, there are two kind of raps you can't ever be. Cheating a woman with kids and killing a copper. So I knew Joe Feldman could put in for reservations right away. And I knew Hellman had stay with him like a February cold. He'd stay with the whole thing and I'd have a real tough time explaining. I couldn't explain it to myself. What about the message up in that room? Why did the little guy tell and to stay until 10 o'? Clock? Why did he get off at Pier 19 instead of Joe Feldman once he got there? What was Feldman doing at the Gold Rush Club? And why did they spot him so fast? Well, it pointed to one thing. A police tip off. But that's as far as I could go. On the way down, I stopped at the desk and I asked the clerk to see the register. He pushed it over toward me. It was a dirty brown thing that looked like an old tortilla somebody had left behind. It didn't do any good. The registration was a phony. But I had to do something in a hurry. So I looked up the only honest guy I know. An ex doctor and a boozer by the name of Jocko Madigan. He's a good man. He used to be a smart one, too. Still, he started chasing a jigger of beer with a glass of whiskey. I finally found him in the Pied Piper room arguing with somebody about the words to Annie Laurie.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

Ah, Patsy, a drink for Mr. Novak. Something cheap but impressive.

[Pat Novak]

Stop it, will you, Jocko? Are you gonna be drunk all your life?

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

Yes. It's only a matter of willpower, Patsy. I'm probably the only man in the world who intends to carry a hangover into eternity.

[Pat Novak]

Well, stop long enough to give me a hand, will you? I'm in trouble.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

Of course you're in trouble. You'll always be in trouble because you can't recognize it, Patsy.

[Pat Novak]

You're Fuzzy Jocko.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

You have the social outlook of a bull with a hot foot. And there's no hope for you. Because if from time to time a moral feeling does sweep over you, you mistake it for influenza and go to bed. All right, all right. Oh, you try hard enough. You go through the motions, Patsy, but you never get anywhere. You go stumbling through life, doing a tight wire act on a rubber band. You're always in the middle.

[Pat Novak]

Will you listen to me?

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

It's because there's no variety in your life. You won't allow it. You're a broken down banjo. Not a very good instrument to begin with. And to make matters worse, you allow everybody to come along and pluck the same string.

[Pat Novak]

All right. Are you all through now, Jocko?

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

Yes. You sound angry. I think you have a bad disposition too. What kind of trouble?

[Pat Novak]

Well, I tried to help some guy out of prison tonight.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

You got drunk and thought you were the parole board.

[Pat Novak]

No, I did it for a good guy. A priest named Leahy. Yes. The guy was already out and Father Leahy was trying to hurt him back without getting shot. But this guy Feldman didn't want to play.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

Another drink will clear this up for me.

[Pat Novak]

I picked up the wrong guy. I took him to a Geary street hotel, I napped a while and I cut him up like a piece of parsley.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

Sounds like a gruesome hotel.

[Pat Novak]

The dead guy's name is Mike Greeley. I don't even know who he is.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

Well, this is no time to start building a friendship anyway. Who is in the room?

[Pat Novak]

Some girl. She may be Feldman's sister.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

Would she kill a man?

[Pat Novak]

If she did, he'd be crushed to death. Now, I'm sure somebody else came in that room.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

You better talk to Feldman.

[Pat Novak]

He's a hard man to reach. A sergeant almost made it tonight. Feldman shot his way out of the Gold Rush Club.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

That's one way to get out of a nightclub.

[Pat Novak]

Well, Hellman steamed up, so you gotta help me.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

Jocko, you'd better look up Father Leahy. You'll probably be electrocuted. And if you are, he may have some drag.

[Pat Novak]

I want you to go down to the Chronicle morgue and pull the clips on Joe Feldman, will you? Get everything you can and then hit the horse parlors. Find out what they know about him, huh?

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

Maybe he's a heavy drinker. I'll check the bars.

[Pat Novak]

Jocko, wake up and get down there. If I don't pace Hellman on this thing, I'll be a dead pigeon. What am I supposed to do?

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

I don't know. You might start cooing. Good night, lover.

[Pat Novak]

Well, as soon as I left Jocko, I went down to the Gold Rush Club on o' Farrell Street. It was a little nightclub where they charge $0.80 for a drink of whiskey that'd kill a redwood. The floor show is just as bad. And the headliner was an Oriental dancer whose only talent was a zipper. I sat at the bar and I tried to pry some talk loose. But they liked the boss. I finally got a hold of a fat waitress who should have been wearing a harness instead of slacks. She told me a little. The owner was a guy named Charlie Giffen. He used to make book with Joe Feldman. She told me that Joe's sister worked at the Gold Rush Club for a while, but she got sick a few months ago and quit. I asked the girl if tonight's shooting was a police plant. She didn't know, but she said that Feldman had been in to see Giffon tonight and on his way out, he ran into trouble. I gave her five bucks and she looked hurt, as if somebody had given her a plow for Christmas. She showed me where Giffen's office was, and I walked back there. Giffen wasn't there, but the taboo was.

[Ann (Feldman's sister)]

Do you have the right door, Mr. Novak?

[Pat Novak]

You seem to be in all of them.

[Ann (Feldman's sister)]

You mind if I lean in the doorway?

[Pat Novak]

No. But I'll bet you need shoulder pads by this time. Where's Charlie Giffen?

[Ann (Feldman's sister)]

Why?

[Pat Novak]

I want to ask him about Joe Feldman.

[Ann (Feldman's sister)]

Ask me. I'm his sister.

[Pat Novak]

I'll ask you about Mike Greeley. Who killed him?

[Ann (Feldman's sister)]

I don't know. Is he dead?

[Josh Whalen]

Yeah.

[Pat Novak]

He couldn't stand the bleeding.

[Ann (Feldman's sister)]

He was all right when I left.

[Pat Novak]

What were you doing up there?

[Ann (Feldman's sister)]

Waiting for Joe. My sister and I were going to meet him up there. Relax, Mr. Novak. Relax for me?

[Pat Novak]

No. When people relax for you, they do it on the floor. I was out long enough for Homicide to catch up. They want me for Mike Greeley, but I'm gonna send him. You or Joe.

[Ann (Feldman's sister)]

You're forgetting my sister, Norma.

[Pat Novak]

Should I?

[Ann (Feldman's sister)]

For most things, yes. But she was up in that room tonight after me.

[Pat Novak]

I'll ask her.

[Ann (Feldman's sister)]

Ask her about the money, too.

[Pat Novak]

Well, you're out in front of me on that.

[Ann (Feldman's sister)]

You can see me better that way. Joe had a lot of money on him tonight. With the police out, he wouldn't carry it with him. By now the money's gone. So's Norma. Do you know where it is?

[Pat Novak]

No.

[Ann (Feldman's sister)]

Well, you growl and you bite and you lie. You must have a full day. Sit down. Relax.

[Pat Novak]

I want to see Giffen.

[Ann (Feldman's sister)]

He won't be back tonight. Now lean back. That's it, Betsy.

[Pat Novak]

You really want that money?

[Ann (Feldman's sister)]

I can split a motive.

[Pat Novak]

Can you split it 90, 10? If you can't, you better get your breath back.

[Ann (Feldman's sister)]

I won't need it. I don't want to talk anymore. Come here. Make me stop. Over close.

[Pat Novak]

If I get any closer, I'll be on the other side of you.

[Ann (Feldman's sister)]

Yes.

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[Ann (Feldman's sister)]

You ought to get time and a half, darling. Hello.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

Thought you were coming in to curl up with a good book.

[Ann (Feldman's sister)]

Mr. Novak came by full of questions. This is Charlie Giffen, Patsy.

[Pat Novak]

I got some questions for you too, Giffen.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

Well, ask him down the bore of this gun. Over by the desk, Novak.

[Pat Novak]

Did you lose that knife, Giffen?

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

By the desk. That's it. Where's the money, Novak?

[Pat Novak]

I gave her the last request.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

Where's the money? Joe gave it to somebody.

[Pat Novak]

Try the Red Cross, mister.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

You got a tender face, Novak. Now get out of this club before I slap on a cover charge.

[Pat Novak]

I was getting sick of tonight. In three hours, I'd seen more service than a mix master in a cooking school. When I left the Gold Rush Club, I dropped by headquarters. Hellman had nothing to show but his badge. They had a dragnet around the city for Joe Feldman, and they'd lined up the record on the dead guy in the hotel. He'd been a friend of Joe's before his trip to Alcatraz. There wasn't much I could do. If Homicide couldn't find Joe, I couldn't find him. So I looked up Norma Feldman in the phone book. She had an apartment out on the Avenues. But when I called, there was no answer. So I tagged by my apartment to see if Jocko had left a message. When I opened the door. Norma was there and she had a gun to keep her company.

[Ann (Feldman's sister)]

Come in. Mr. Novak?

[Pat Novak]

Yeah.

[Ann (Feldman's sister)]

I came up here to kill you.

[Pat Novak]

If you're Norma, the rest of the family's ahead of you.

[Ann (Feldman's sister)]

What's happened to my brother?

[Pat Novak]

I don't know.

[Ann (Feldman's sister)]

Please. What's happened to him, Mr. Novak?

[Pat Novak]

Well, if he killed a cop, he's hiding out.

[Ann (Feldman's sister)]

I know he didn't mean to do that, Mr. Novak. Joe's not that way. Somebody told the police he was going to be there. That's why I came up here to see you.

[Pat Novak]

Oh, put down the gun, huh? You can't shoot through the tears, Mr. Novak.

[Ann (Feldman's sister)]

If you know where he is, tell me. Make him give himself up. Make him stop hiding like a small, frightened animal.

[Pat Novak]

He looked big to that copper.

[Ann (Feldman's sister)]

Please. Please find him. You got him?

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

Yeah, hello, this is Jocko.

[Pat Novak]

Yeah.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

You sound ruffled.

[Pat Novak]

Joe Feldman's sister just walked in to kill me.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

Don't argue. It's the best offer you've had.

[Pat Novak]

What'd you find out?

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

Feldman has two sisters.

[Pat Novak]

I know. They both go to pieces.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

The Gold Rush Club is owned by Charlie Giffen. He owed Joe Feldman $2,000. And the horse? People say Joe collected it tonight.

[Pat Novak]

That fits in. Jocko. Everybody in town's after that dough.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

They'll have to look some more. I'm out on Arcwello Boulevard. Homicide just fished Joe Feldman out of the gutter.

[Pat Novak]

If Homicide finished second, he was a lucky guy. He didn't have the dough on him.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

No.

[Pat Novak]

Well, he stashed it somewhere.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

Then he left it with a woman. Yeah, because he's got a woman's compact in his pocket. You better hit the sister's place.

[Pat Novak]

How do we know he got it.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

There, a woman's compact, if he didn't get it there? Alcatraz is getting too social.

[Pat Novak]

The minute Jocko hung up, things began to fall into place. But I knew the last piece was gonna pinch somebody hard if the Feldman blood was gonna turn bad. Father Leahy was a good man to send in, so I called him. He was out, but I left word for him to get out to Norma Feldman's apartment. Norma and I left, and on the way we picked up Hellman. When we got out to her place and started up the stairs, we could hear people moving above. There was no point in trying to keep quiet because Hellman was creeping up the stairs like a stallion with a broken leg. Yeah, if you got a bomb, touch it off too, huh? Well, open it. Hellman.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

Hello, Novak.

[Pat Novak]

Did you find the dough, Giffen?

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

You mean My stolen dough. Yeah, Come on.

[Pat Novak]

No. You and Anne better wait. This is Hellman from Homicide.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

We're leaving. You better move, Novak.

[Pat Novak]

Not until you settle a murder wrap. Can you pay it off that fast?

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

I can do it on the way to the door.

[Pat Novak]

Oh, wait a minute. Point the gun at Hellman. He's official.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

I can tag you both, so move away. You too, Norma. Ann and I are leaving. Look, Giffen, Homicide gobbles up nightclub big shots like you. You're nothing to me, copper. Move away. You got the hammer. Use it and come on through. All right, I will, copper.

[Pat Novak]

You need a refill, Giffen?

[Ann (Feldman's sister)]

That's right, darling. Hand him your gun and.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

And you couldn't have done that. You couldn't have taken them out.

[Ann (Feldman's sister)]

All right, so they fell out. You better take him for murder, Hellman.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

You little bum. That leaves you all the money I can see.

[Ann (Feldman's sister)]

Spend the, darling.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

Well, you better do it fast then.

[Pat Novak]

Grab him, Hellman.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

Yeah, I got him.

[Ann (Feldman's sister)]

You can for both herders, my GRY and my brother. I'll testify and I'll ride there in a cab on your dough. Giffen.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

Yeah? Are you gonna pose or take me, Hellman? If you're anxious. Sorry about you, Norma. You get nothing out of this. But that's better than I got. Goodbye and lots of luck.

[Ann (Feldman's sister)]

Thank you, darling.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

You know what kind? I hope you rot. Come on, Hellman.

[Ann (Feldman's sister)]

I'm ashamed of you, Ann. Leave me alone, Norma. I'm ashamed of you, Ann. What you did to Joe. I'm ashamed of you. Leave me alone, Norma. I'm sick, you know that. I didn't know how it was gonna work out. Poor Joe was trying to help you. When you got greedy. He was trying to help you. That's the only reason he came out. You let this happen. I told you I didn't know how it was going to end. I thought they'd get him and take him back again. There's no good in you, Ann. They couldn't find good in you anywhere. You let that happen to Joe. You stood by and watched him walk into something like that. All right, I stood by. What can we do about it now except weep? And that won't help him, but hating you will. That'll help Joe a little. I'm here at least to hate you for the short time left. Please, no. Giffon told you to spend it fast. Well, you better. You better bend it fast. Ask him at the hospital if that isn't so. What do you mean? Ask them out there what you've got. They don't you ask them what you've got. Ask them what's tearing you to pieces. Ask them. They'll tell you. They'll tell you you've got cancer. Normal. They'll tell you cancer. Ask them. They'll tell you you're full of it. Now spend your money. Spend your money and see that it'll last as long as you do.

[Pat Novak]

Goodbye, girls. Hello, Mr. Novak. Did you miss much, Father? No, Feldman. Luck is running kind of bad tonight.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

It does for some people.

[Pat Novak]

I guess all they get is unhappiness. They wear it the same way you'd wear a sports coat. Only they never seem to get a new one. I'm sorry about tonight, Mr. Novak. I'm sorry it's not a smoother world. Yeah, but if it were, you'd be out of a job, Father. See you later. If you get a bad first break, you never run the table. That's what happened to Joe Feldman. Charlie Giffen owed him dough and wouldn't pay up. But Joe didn't care until Norma showed up and told him how sick Ann was. So he decided to collect from Giffen and divide the dough between the girls. Father Leahy couldn't stop him. All he could do was try and make it work out. Joe was going to get the dough and meet the girls in that hotel room. But he changed his timetable and sent Mike Greeley up to tell the girls. Giffon showed up there and figured that Mike had tumbled to a double cross, so he killed him. Ann engineered the double cross, but she didn't mean to go that far. She wanted all the dough and tipped off Giffen. He was supposed to turn the dough over to her and then have the police pick up Joe. But Joe got there early. He took the dough away from Giffen and shot the copper on the way out. Giffen followed Joe and killed him out on Arguello, but the dough was gone. He finally tumbled to Norma's place and that's how her apartment filled up so fast. Well, Hellman asked only one question. What did I get out of all this? Nothing. Father Leahy offered me 50 bucks, but I didn't want it. Jocko was with me and he offered to give it to charity. I guess he did, because where Jocko spent it, the drinks aren't worth money.

[Father Leahy / Hellman / Jocko (various male characters)]

Pat Novak For Hire was previously released by abc, the American Broadcasting Company, for listeners in the United States and rebroadcast for our men and women overseas. This is the United States Armed Forces Radio Service, the voice of information and education.

[Josh Whalen]

Whether you write code or shape strategy.

[Pat Novak]

If you build, you belong.

[Josh Whalen]

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[Pat Novak]

So what will you build today?

[Josh Whalen]

Learn more at Twilio.

[Pat Novak]

Com.