Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar: The Cask of Death Matter 05/24/1959

Summary

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Podcast Summary

Podcast: Choice Classic Radio Detectives | Old Time Radio
Episode: Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar: The Cask of Death Matter (05/24/1959)
Date: October 27, 2025
Host: Choice Classic Radio

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Episode Overview

In this classic detective story from the golden age of radio, insurance investigator Johnny Dollar is called upon to solve the chilling mystery of a series of disappearances among elderly men in small northeastern towns—all of whom shared a singular passion: fine wine. As Johnny digs deeper, he uncovers a web of obsession, sinister intentions, and literary allusions culminating in a macabre conclusion straight out of Edgar Allan Poe.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Initial Assignment and Setup

• Johnny Dollar is contacted by Harry Branson of the Philadelphia Mutual Liability and Casualty Company regarding several important clients who vanished under mysterious circumstances.
• The disappearances have triggered the insurance company’s "mysterious disappearance" clause after seven years, with beneficiaries now demanding payouts.
• The police had abandoned these cases years ago.
• Quote:
  • "You say they disappeared years ago, but now all of a sudden you expect me to be able to..." — Johnny Dollar (01:04)

2. Pattern of Disappearances

• Johnny discovers that in the last seven years, eight men have disappeared across small towns in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware.
• All victims were older, unmarried men, with unrelated and geographically dispersed beneficiaries.
• Notable Moment:
  • Harry reveals payment is pending, but notices the odd frequency and growing tally of similar mysterious vanishings.
• Quote:
  • "But in checking through the files, I've suddenly discovered that his was only the first in a long series of mysterious disappearances. There have been a total of eight, all within a relatively small area and of recently increasing frequency." — Harry Branson (03:49)

3. Investigation in Kirkwood, New Jersey

• Johnny interviews Mr. Hurley, storekeeper and local lawyer in Kirkwood, about the latest missing person, Charles Moody.
• Mr. Moody left his insurance and money to a nephew, but interestingly, his renowned wine cellar was willed to a man in Philadelphia, part of a "gourmet club."
• Quote:
  • "Except for his wine cellar, all his property will go to the town. Wine cellar? ... Had themselves a sort of a gourmet club, I guess you'd call it." — Mr. Hurley (06:32-06:41)

4. The Epicures Club Connection

• As Johnny interviews other small-town lawyers, a pattern emerges: each missing man was a wine enthusiast and member of an "Order of Epicures," and each left their valuable wine collection to the same man—Edward Alden Poly—in Philadelphia.
• Quote:
  • "Do you really think there can be some connection between these disappearances and the fact that all these men have willed their wine collections to this Edward Alden Poly?" — Lawyer in Millmay, PA (10:03)

5. Visit with the Last Surviving Member

• Johnny locates Bradford W. Turner, the only living member known not to have disappeared.
• Turner gushes about fine wines and describes Poly’s wine cellar as legendary, revealing the obsessive, almost religious quality the group attributed to their collections.
• Quote:
  • "With Poly it's an almost overpowering passion. It is his life." — Bradford W. Turner (11:54)

6. Showdown with Edward Alden Poly

• Johnny visits Poly’s Philadelphia mansion. Poly is eccentric, proud, and obsessed with Edgar Allan Poe, possessing rare manuscripts and drawing explicit parallels to "The Cask of Amontillado."
• Poly lures Johnny into his subterranean wine vault under the pretense of trading rare bottles, alluding to Poe’s story with cryptic jokes and actual masonry tools.
• The crypt contains bricked-in niches: the tombs of the missing men, who were apparently walled up alive in Poly’s pursuit of their prized vintages.
• Notable Quotes:
  • "Nothing, no one must stand in the way of my having the rarest, the finest of everything. Sometimes it takes years, Mr. Dollar, but sooner or later I get what I want." — Edward Alden Poly (14:05)
  • "No one dare seek to best me with impunity." — Poly, translating the Latin motto in the cellar (16:05)
  • "He pulled a small trowel out of the inner pocket of his coat, then laughed strangely. Sure. The cask of Amontillado. Just like in the story by Edgar Allan Poe." — Johnny Dollar (16:28)
  • "That is, until the next vault, Mr. Dollar. A large crypt with niches in the wall. Some of them blocked in, others empty, waiting there. I'll introduce you to my friends..." — Poly (16:51)
  • "You killed them, didn't you?" — Johnny Dollar (17:21)

7. Climax and Resolution

• Johnny confirms Poly is the killer, having enticed his fellow wine enthusiasts to their deaths in his crypt, both out of obsession and emulation of Poe.
• Poly is ultimately apprehended and is expected to be institutionalized after trial.
• Quote:
  • "The eight men who disappeared. Yeah, they were all buried behind the bricks and mortar that walled up eight of the niches in that deep underground vault. Funny, I completely forgot to look to see if there was a cask of amontillado in that cellar." — Johnny Dollar (18:10)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Case Introduction & Setup: 00:19 – 04:17
• Victims and Beneficiaries Details: 03:49 – 04:39
• Kirkwood Investigation/Wine Cellar Revelation: 05:34 – 07:17
• Pattern Recognition: Epicures & Wine Bequests: 07:54 – 10:03
• Meeting Turner (Surviving Member): 10:43 – 12:23
• Encounter with Poly & Descent into the Vault: 13:42 – 16:51
• Revelation, Confession, and Wrap-Up: 16:51 – 18:31

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "This morbid so-called sense of humor." — Harry Branson, on Johnny's grave-digging jokes (01:22)
• "With Poly it's an almost overpowering passion. It is his life." — Bradford W. Turner (11:54)
• "No one dare seek to best me with impunity." — Poly, quoting the Latin motto in his cellar (16:05)
• "He pulled a small trowel out of the inner pocket of his coat, then laughed strangely. Sure. The cask of amontillado. Just like in the story by Edgar Allan Poe." — Johnny Dollar (16:28)
• "You killed them, didn't you?" — Johnny Dollar confronts Poly (17:21)

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Tone & Language

The episode’s tone is laced with suspense, macabre humor, and literary allusion, keeping with the tradition of hardboiled radio detective stories. Johnny Dollar is wry and skeptical, using playful banter even in dark circumstances, while Poly is dramatically unhinged—obsessed with both wine and Poe’s grim tales.

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Conclusion

Fans of classic detective tales and gothic literature will relish this tightly spun mystery, which builds methodically toward a Poe-inspired twist. The episode stands out for its clever plotting, rich character voices, and chilling climax in a literal and literary "cask of death."

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Transcript

[A]

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].

[B]

Johnny Duller this is Harry.

[C]

Branson at Philadelphia Mutual Liability and Casualty Company.

[B]

Harry, it's been a long time. What's on your mind, John?

[C]

I have a case for you involving several of our very important clients.

[B]

Good. Then it ought to pay me a nice big fee.

[C]

I'm not sure about that, John. Of course we'll pay your regular expenses.

[B]

And your regular commission, but no extra fee.

[D]

I don't know you, huh?

[C]

That is to say, it all depends on what you're able to, shall we.

[B]

Say, unearth something or someone, Harry. What? You said unearth, didn't you?

[C]

What facts you're able to.

[B]

To ascertain is what I meant. Oh. So what about these very important clients of yours, John?

[C]

They have disappeared.

[B]

Oh. Well, then maybe unearth is the proper term. What. What do the police got to say about them? You did call in the police, didn't you?

[C]

Oh, yes, but they gave up years ago.

[B]

At least years ago.

[C]

That' at least in the case.

[B]

Wait a minute, Harry. You say they disappeared years ago, but now all of a sudden you expect me to be able to. What did you say the extra fee will be on this case?

[C]

I told you, it all depends. Exactly.

[B]

Yeah. On whether I'm able to literally dig them up for you. You know where they're buried, John.

[C]

This morbid so called sense of humor.

[B]

Okay, Harry.

[D]

Okay.

[B]

I'll be down to see you. And you might have a good strong shovel ready and waiting for.

[E]

Bob Bailey in the exciting adventures of the man with the action packed expense account, America's fabulous freelance insurance investigator, yours truly, Johnny Dollar. Now act one of yours truly, Johnny Dol.

[B]

Expense account submitted by special investigator Johnny Dollar to the Philadelphia Mutual Liability and Casualty Company. Following is an account of expenses incurred during my investigation of the cask of death matter. Expense account item 1, 1340 train fair and incidentals Hartford of Philadelphia. I went by train since Harry Branson didn't seem to be in a hurry and I enjoyed a look at the countryside this time of year. It was a little after noon by the time I reached the office on Walnut street and sat down to talk with Harry.

[C]

But I thought I impressed old Sobersides.

[B]

Branson hadn't changed a bit since the last time I'd seen him and he still looked as though he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.

[C]

However, now that you have finally arrived. Suppose I get right to the point and tell you what this is all about.

[B]

Well, you said on the phone that some of your policyholders have disappeared.

[C]

Yes. And you must understand this, John.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

In accordance with Pennsylvania law, in a case of a mysterious disappearance. And I'm sure you're familiar with the mysterious disappearance clause. It's part of all our life insurance contracts.

[B]

Well, if you mean did I ever read the fine print on one of your policies, the answer is no.

[C]

You should sometime. The fact remains that when the insured disappears and fails to return or otherwise be accounted for by the end of seven years, when the company has received no proof the insured is still alive, the company then presumes the insured to be deceased. Do I make myself clear?

[B]

Keep talking, Harry.

[C]

It simply means that at the end of seven years, the full amount of the insurance is then paid to the beneficiary or beneficiaries, whichever the case may be.

[B]

So?

[C]

So, seven years ago, a Mr. Wilbur Davis of Goshenville here in Pennsylvania mysteriously disappeared. Now his beneficiary is demanding payment of the insurance.

[B]

Naturally. So why don't you pay it? We shall.

[C]

But in checking through the files, I've suddenly discovered that his was only the first in a long series of mysterious disappearances. There have been a total of eight, all within a relatively small area and of recently increasing frequency.

[B]

When was the Last one?

[C]

The fourth of last month.

[B]

Mr. Charles Moody. Charles Moody. Where?

[C]

In the little town of Kirkwood, New Jersey.

[B]

And the police have found no clue as to what might have happened to him?

[C]

None whatsoever.

[B]

One in Goshenville, Pennsylvania. One in Kirkwood, New Jersey. Where were the others?

[C]

Two in other small Jersey towns, Two here in Pennsylvania and two down in Delaware.

[B]

Hmm. Any. Any relationship among the beneficiaries?

[C]

None. That is, none that we know of.

[F]

Why do you ask that?

[B]

I just wondered if some one person was killing them off to collect the insurance.

[F]

No.

[C]

The beneficiaries are all widely separated individuals. So you can dismiss any possibility of.

[B]

Murder, Harry, in a case of this kind? That's the one possibility I never dismiss. Harry's secret put together a comprehensive list of the people we were concerned with. Their names, addresses, beneficiaries and so on. In my room at the Bellevue Stratford that evening, I went over it carefully. All of these people had disappeared from their homes in small communities. All of them had been in their 60s, had been widowers or bachelors. As for the beneficiaries, they were scattered about all over the country. Early the next Morning I paid my hotel bill. That's item two. $18 even for the room and a couple of meals. Then spent item three. 50 bucks deposited on a rental car. I drove first to the little town of Kirkwood, New Jersey, from which a Mr. Charles Moody had disappeared just about a month ago. I stopped to make inquiries at the general store.

[D]

Thank you, Ms. Peterson. I'll see you next week again.

[B]

Now, as you were saying, Mr. Hurley?

[D]

Yes, Mr. Dolmer. I certainly hope Mr. Moody shows up again. You're a fine man. Fine man. Used to come down here at the store for a quiet game of checkers now and then.

[B]

And the police have no idea where he might have gone or why?

[D]

Yeah, well, I guess I'm about the only police we have here in Kirkwood. Oh, of course, I notified the state police and I presume they're still looking for him.

[B]

Just what happened?

[D]

Mr. Hurley just took the bus into Philadelphia one day. Well, that's the last we heard of him.

[B]

Do you know anything about the beneficiary of his insurance? Let's see.

[D]

According to my list, it's your nephew, Mr. Dollar. Yeah.

[B]

Charles Moody lives out in California. Yeah.

[D]

Mr. Moody always felt that he was the most deserving of his relatives.

[B]

Left him everything, huh?

[D]

Well, the insurance and his money. Yes, Bill, I know because, well, I'm the only lawyer here in Kirkwood and I made out a will for him.

[B]

You say just the money to his.

[D]

Nephew, except for his wine cellar, all his property will go to the town. Wine cellar?

[F]

Yes.

[D]

If Mr. Moody doesn't come back or if he's proved to be dead, the wine cellar will go over to a man over in Philadelphia. Had themselves a sort of a gourmet club, I guess you'd call it.

[B]

I see. But now tell me.

[D]

You know, I kind of wish he'd have willed me that wine seller, you see. Oh, you should see the collection he has there. From all over the world. German wines and French and yes, I'm sure Swiss hunger.

[B]

Now, Mr. Hurley.

[D]

Champagne.

[C]

Is there anything else you can tell.

[B]

Me that might help me to find him? How about his friends?

[D]

Everybody was Mr. Moody Friend, Mr. Dollar. But as I start to say about those wines he has.

[B]

So I checked out all of Mr. Moody's friends there in Kirkwood and ended up with no more information than I got from the storekeeper. But you know something? If I had had sense enough to realize it, I'd have gotten plenty from him. He had given me a real key to the disappearance not only of Mr. Moody, but of the seven other people on the list. And what a key. Yeah. To what turned out to be one of the weirdest cases I ever handled.

[E]

Now, act two of yours truly, Johnny Dollar and the Cask of Death Matter.

[B]

Item 5. 4270. Traveling expenses, food and lodging. For the next two days, I drove my rental car to Pitts Grove and Malligan, New Jersey, Armstrong and Mount Pleasant down in Delaware. Then Hickoryville, Pennsylvania, Goshenville and the nearby town of Millmay. I contacted not only the local police, such as they were, but dug up the lawyers who'd written wills for the missing men. And by doing so, I learned a strange, intriguing fact. You see, my last contact was there in the village of Millmay with the one lawyer in town.

[G]

Yes, Mr. Dollar, if my client, Mr. Frederick Burton, fails to return by the end of seven years, your company will have to pay the insurance. As for the rest of his estate.

[B]

Including a wine cellar.

[G]

Yes, very excellent one. Its contents will go to a friend of his who lives in Philadelphia, a Mr. Edward Alden.

[B]

Polly?

[G]

Yes, that's right. How did you know?

[B]

Well, I've been doing a little poking around these past couple of days.

[G]

You understand, of course, that's only if we receive some definite evidence of Mr. Burton's death or if he fails to return before the seven years is up and therefore legally is presumed to be deceased.

[B]

Do you know anything about this man, Paulie?

[G]

No, I don't. It seems they had a sort of epicures club.

[B]

Do you know who the other members of it were?

[G]

Mr. Burton told me who they are sometime before he disappeared. If you'll just give me a moment, perhaps I can recall their name.

[B]

You want to check them against this list of mine?

[G]

Yeah, if you like.

[B]

All right. Let's see. Mr. Frederick Burton. That's your client? Yes. John L. Wakeman over in Hickoryville. Wilbur Davis in Goshenville.

[G]

That's correct.

[B]

Carmen Phillips and Ralph Hunter from down in Delaware. That's right. And finally, Charles Moody, Nathan Norwood and William Harnell over in Jersey.

[G]

Your list is quite correct, Mr. Dollar, except for one omission. There was another Mr. Bradford W. Turner.

[B]

Do you know where he lives?

[G]

Yes, in the little town of Alloway here in Pennsylvania.

[B]

That is, if he hasn't disappeared.

[G]

Yes, I.

[F]

Good heavens.

[G]

Do you mean to say that all the others. Well, I know of course that Mr. Burton did, but do you mean to say that all the others on that list have disappeared too?

[B]

Yes, sir. And I'm going to find out about this Mr. Turner right now in the town of Alloway did you say?

[G]

Yes, it's about 18 miles north of here.

[B]

Okay, sir. And I'm very much obliged.

[G]

Mr.

[B]

Darling. Yeah?

[G]

Do you really think there can be.

[F]

Some connection between these disappearances and the.

[G]

Fact that all these men have willed their wine collections to this Edward Alden Poly?

[B]

What do you think? Wait a minute. Had I told him the others all will their wine collections to Pulley, or had he just come to that conclusion or what? Anyway, I drove due north to Alloway. The one large, rather nice home belonged to Mr. Bradford W. Turner, the man whose name was not on my list. So I hope that he was still here in the land of the living. He was. And he turned out to be a very fine gentleman despite his preoccupation with vintage wines.

[F]

Oh, Mr. Dollar. Our little order of epicures has not been very active since several of the members have all disappeared.

[B]

But not you or Mr. E.A. poley.

[F]

I was just preparing to make the trip over to Philadelphia to pay a visit, Mr. Polly.

[D]

Oh.

[B]

Mind telling me why, Mr. Turner?

[F]

Not at all, sir, not at all. I happen to have an excellent wine cellar.

[B]

Yes, I rather guess that.

[F]

Oh, but it's nothing compared to that. Mr. Poley's Edward is younger than I, younger than any of us. But his vast labyrinthine cellar is a veritable treasure house of rare and priceless vintage.

[B]

I see.

[F]

Now even I have it. Seen the full extent of it. Oh, if only I could get hold of some of that ancient rare amontillado he has so often told us about. Promised you so so many times. Up until now I've not had anything worthy to offer him in exchange. Ah, but now I've acquired a bottle of very old and very fine Medoc at. So I shall take it to him in the hope.

[B]

In a way you talk as though this wine collecting were the most important thing in your life.

[F]

Oh, it is, sir. And with Poly it's an almost overpowering passion. It is his life.

[B]

The kind of man who'd kill his own mother for a bottle of wine.

[G]

Huh?

[F]

That's not the jest you may think it is, Mr. Dollar. Which is why I wonder if this bottle of fine Medoc will be enough.

[B]

Mr. Turner, you're not taking it over to him?

[F]

I beg your pardon.

[B]

I am.

[F]

Now look here, Mr. Tower, I've been awaiting this opportunity for years.

[B]

Yeah, and you'd probably give just about anything. You are right, sir, I would. Your life? Yeah. Every one of the old men who disappeared had been a nut on the subject of wine collecting and had provided in his will that his cellar was to go to a Mr. Edward Alden. Polling. You know something? When I talked to paulie at his home in the old germantown section of philadelphia, I decided he was the biggest nut of all and possibly a dangerous one. It was an old house and a big one. It must have been one of the original philadelphia mansions. As for poly himself, well, I'd say he was a man of about 50. He was short and heavy set and his face, well, his face reminded me of a bird of prey. Very thin, with a long aquiline nose. His eyes were far apart and almost beady. In spite of his shortness, he seemed to almost hover over things, including me. As he led me into the library, his eyes kept glancing at the package I carried and there was a kind of inner glow in them. I could think of only one thing. Madness.

[F]

$, did you say?

[B]

That's right, Johnny $.

[F]

I see. Oh, I mean, it's a very unusual name.

[B]

I can't help but Admire this library, Mr. Foley.

[F]

Only the best. I must have only the best, Mr. Dollar.

[B]

Yes, it. It looks so.

[F]

Nothing, no one must stand in the way of my having the rarest, the finest of everything. Sometimes it takes years, Mr. Dollar, but sooner or later I get what I want.

[B]

I notice you have a lot of the works of edgar allan poe, the.

[F]

Greatest writer who ever lived. I am fortunate to bear the same initials.

[D]

What? Oh, yeah, look there.

[F]

First copies of his works. And look there, the manuscript of one of them, of the. Well, it has to do with a certain wine.

[B]

Yeah, I see.

[F]

Which brings us to what you have there.

[B]

Well, it's a famous old Medoc, Mr. Polly de Gras.

[F]

Its age, the vintage. Let me see.

[B]

Well, sure.

[F]

Yes, yes, look at it.

[B]

Well, I only brought it here for.

[F]

Your opinion, but I must have this. I must have.

[B]

I'm afraid that's impossible.

[F]

Oh, we shall see. Perhaps we'll make an exchange. I have in my vaults an old, a rare, a priceless amontinado. Come, Mr. Dala.

[B]

The cask of amontillado.

[D]

Huh? Huh?

[F]

What was that?

[B]

Nothing, sir. Lead the way. He did. Yeah, he sure did. Through a hidden door behind a panel in the wall. Instead of using a flashlight, he took along a sort of torch, a flambeau, I think you call it, that gave off an evil oily smell that stained the passageway with smoke. He led me down a long winding staircase between the walls. Then finally we came to the vast wine vaults deep underground. This was really something out of edgar allan poe. It was cool and Damp, with great drops of water slipping down the old stone walls. On one of them was a motto.

[F]

Nemo me impune lacessit.

[B]

I'm afraid my Latin is a little rusty.

[F]

No one dare seek to best me with impunity.

[B]

I am. Yeah, but now the amontillado.

[F]

A little further. Are you a Mason?

[D]

A Mason?

[F]

A little joke, Mr. Darlon. You see, I am.

[B]

He pulled a small trowel out of the inner pocket of his coat, then laughed strangely. Sure. The cask of amontillado. Just like in the story by Edgar Allan Poe. The dark, damp wine vaults, that motto on the wall, the trowel. And this madman was living apart. No wonder his friends had disappeared, because each of them had had some priceless wine that he wouldn't part with.

[F]

That is, until the next vault, Mr. Dollar. A large crypt with niches in the wall. Some of them blocked in, others empty, Waiting there. I'll introduce you to my friends who are gathered there.

[B]

Your friends of the Order of Epicures.

[F]

They too have brought me wines for my collection. Davis, Norwood, Harnell Hunter, Phillips Wakeman, Frederick Burton. Even my old friend, Charles Moody.

[B]

You killed them, didn't you?

[F]

Killed them?

[B]

You brought them down here.

[F]

Let me see the bottle of Dugrad.

[B]

You promised to show them the cask of Amariado, then buried them here in one of these crypts.

[F]

Yes, but, Mr. Dollar, you must not keep our friends waiting.

[B]

Yeah. There's the mortar and the bricks and.

[F]

The amontillado in the niche behind you.

[B]

A mortar box. A hole for mixing in. That shovel.

[F]

Yes, the shovel. And with it you'll join. But this isn't the witty story.

[B]

The eight men who disappeared. Yeah, they were all buried behind the bricks and mortar that walled up eight of the niches in that deep underground vault. Funny, I completely forgot to look to see if there was a cask of amontillado in that cellar. Edward Alden, Poly. When the courts get through with his case, I'm sure he'll be committed to an institution for the rest of his life.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

I told you in the beginning this was the weirdest case I ever tackled. Expense account total, including incidentals. And the trip Back to Hartford, 100, 120. Yours to Lee, Johnny Dollar.

[E]

Now here's our star to tell you about next week's story.

[B]

Next week I run into a girl who is fabulously rich and because of it, fabulously poor. Join us, won't you? Yours truly, Johnny Dollar.

[E]

Yours truly, Johnny Dollar, starring Bob Bailey. Originates in Hollywood and is wr. Produced and directed by Jack Johnstone. Heard in our cast were Harry Bartel, Horace Lewis, Bartlett Robinson, Farley Bear and Marvin Miller. Be sure to join us next week, same time and station, for another exciting story of yours truly. Johnny Dollar.

[B]

This is Dan Cubberly, speaker.