Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar: The Hapless Hunter Matter 12/08/1957

Summary

Choice Classic Radio Detectives | Old Time Radio Episode: Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar: The Hapless Hunter Matter
Release Date: December 2, 2024

---

Introduction

In this riveting episode of Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, listeners are taken on a classic detective journey set in the mid-20th century. Johnny Dollar, a freelance insurance investigator with an action-packed expense account, delves into the mysterious case of the "Hapless Hunter Matter." This episode masterfully combines suspense, intricate investigation, and sharp dialogue, capturing the essence of old-time radio detective storytelling.

The Case: Overview of the Incident

The story centers around Curtis Randall, a banker from Hartford and a significant policyholder of TRI Mutual Insurance Limited, and his companion, Byron Peters. On a hunting trip near Kingman, New York, they hire a local guide named Curly Summers. Unbeknownst to Randall and Peters, Curly struggles with alcoholism.

Key Incident:

• Date: The day before the episode's setting
• Location: Near Kingman, New York
• Event: An escalating argument between Randall, Peters, and Curly over a failed deer hunt turns deadly. Amidst the conflict, Curly, in a drunken rage, is implicated in the shooting of Randall and the wounding of Peters.

Initial Investigation

Johnny Dollar is summoned by Jerry Holland from TRI Mutual Insurance to investigate the incident, given the substantial insurance policy at stake.

Notable Interaction:

• Jerry Holland: "Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar." [00:44]
• Johnny Dollar: "Oh, sure, Jerry. How are you?" [00:47]

As Johnny begins his inquiry, he learns from Captain McManus that Byron Peters was hospitalized after being shot. However, discrepancies in the testimonies and physical evidence raise red flags about the validity of the initial reports.

The Crime Scene Analysis

Johnny visits Angel of Mercy Hospital to interview Dr. Matthews, the chief resident physician overseeing Byron Peters.

Key Discoveries:

• Dr. Matthews reveals that the bullet wounds on Peters are inconsistent with a self-inflicted shot, indicating foul play:

  Dr. Matthews: "You will realize how impossible it would have been for him to shoot himself in that fashion." [05:34]

• Examination of the crime scene at Curly's cabin uncovers suspicious elements:

  • Heavy Cord: Frayed and hanging from the rafters, suggesting a contrived mechanism to fire a weapon remotely.
  • Rifle Slug: Positioned at an unusual angle, implying it was fired from an elevated position not easily reachable by Curly.

Johnny's Analysis: Johnny deduces that the setup at the cabin was designed to frame Curly, pointing towards Byron Peters as the true perpetrator.

Confrontation with Byron Peters

Armed with evidence, Johnny confronts Byron Peters at the hospital. The interrogation intensifies as Johnny exposes the flawed alibi and mechanical setup intended to mislead investigators.

Critical Exchange:

Johnny Dollar: "You rigged the whole thing pretty well, but not well enough." [14:14]
Byron Peters: "You are trying to stall me." [16:36]

As pressure mounts, Peters attempts to maintain his innocence but ultimately succumbs to Johnny's relentless questioning, revealing his motives tied to blackmail and financial gain.

Resolution and Conclusions

The episode culminates in Peters' admission of guilt, unravelling the complex web of deceit he wove to secure his insurance benefits. Johnny Dollar's keen observation and deductive reasoning not only uncover the truth but also restore justice for Curtis Randall.

Final Remarks:

Johnny Dollar: "I do not get away with it, you know. Any more than you got away with killing Randall." [17:02]
Byron Peters: "So if you have nothing more to say." [17:09]

Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Jerry Holland: "Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar." [00:44]
• Johnny Dollar: "I figured if this thing only happened a day or so ago, the faster I could get working on it, the better." [02:11]
• Dr. Matthews: "You will realize how impossible it would have been for him to shoot himself in that fashion." [05:34]
• Captain McManus: "You know, he was the town drunk in a harmless sort of a way." [09:12]
• Johnny Dollar: "You rigged the whole thing pretty well, but not well enough." [14:14]
• Byron Peters: "You're trying to stall me." [16:36]
• Johnny Dollar: "You still won't get away with it, you know. Any more than you got away with killing Randall." [17:02]

Conclusion

Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar: The Hapless Hunter Matter is a quintessential example of mid-century radio detective storytelling. Through meticulous investigation, shrewd dialogue, and engaging suspense, Johnny Dollar unravels a complex case of betrayal and murder. This episode not only entertains but also showcases the timeless appeal of detective narratives, making it a standout installment in the Choice Classic Radio Detectives series.

Transcript

[Advertiser]

Hey, guys, don't take my word that bluechew can get things going in the bedroom. Take hers and hers and hers.

[Host]

Oh, yeah.

[Advertiser]

Go to bluechew.com right now and meet online with a licensed medical provider. If you qualify, bluechew will give you a free month's supply of chewables with the same active ingredients as Viagra or cialis for just $5 shipping. Visit bluechew.com and use the promo code yes. For this amazing deal. Got it. Get it bluechew.com promo code yes.

[Host]

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] Johnny Dolan.

[Jerry Holland]

Jerry Holland. Johnny. TRI Mutual Insurance Limited.

[Johnny Dollar]

Oh, sure, Jerry. How are you?

[Jerry Holland]

The name Curtis Randall mean anything to you?

[Johnny Dollar]

The banker here in Hartford?

[Jerry Holland]

That's the one. He's also one of our big policyholders. At least he was.

[Johnny Dollar]

Oh, what's happened to him?

[Jerry Holland]

Day before yesterday, he and a friend of his fellow named Byron Peters, they went deer hunting over near Kingman, New York. And they hired some old character in the neighborhood to act as guides. Randall and Peters didn't know it, but the old goat was an alcoholic.

[Johnny Dollar]

So what happened?

[Jerry Holland]

At the end of the day's hunt, they raised Cain with Curly because he hadn't found him a deer.

[Johnny Dollar]

Curly? The name of the guide, huh?

[Jerry Holland]

Yeah, they had a big argument over 500,000.

[Johnny Dollar]

Wow. Who's Randall's beneficiary?

[Jerry Holland]

His hunting companion. Peters.

[Johnny Dollar]

Peters. No wonder you want me to investigate Johnny. Only this one looks too easy. Right, Johnny? I'll be right over.

[Narrator]

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. And now, act one of yours truly, Johnny Dollar.

[Johnny Dollar]

Expense accounts submitted by special investigator Johnny Dollar to the TRI Mutual Insurance Co. Ltd. Hartford, CT. Following is an account of expense during my investigation of the hapless hunter Matter expense account item 195 cents for a taxi across town to Tri Mutual in the office of Jerry Holland. As they opened the door, he met me halfway.

[Terry]

Hey, what was the idea of hanging up on me, Johnny? Then when I tried to call you back, you'd left.

[Captain McManus]

Well, sure.

[Johnny Dollar]

I figured if this thing only happened a day or so ago, the faster I could get working on it, the better.

[Captain McManus]

Well, I'll go along with you on that.

[Johnny Dollar]

But where is this man Peters?

[Terry]

In the hospital.

[Johnny Dollar]

Because if anybody should be suspect, he's short. After all, As a benefit. What did you say?

[Terry]

I tried to tell you on the phone, only you hung up. Byron Peters is in the hospital.

[Johnny Dollar]

Where?

[Terry]

Over in Kingman, New York.

[Johnny Dollar]

Why?

[Terry]

Because he was shot up too, by that drunken guide when he tried to prevent him from killing Randall.

[Johnny Dollar]

Oh, then Curly killed himself.

[Captain McManus]

Yeah.

[Terry]

You know, if you'd stop going off half cocked, you might get somewhere on this case. If it really is a case.

[Johnny Dollar]

Sorry. I guess I jumped to a conclusion because half a million is still a lot of money.

[Terry]

Sure it is. If you need it.

[Johnny Dollar]

And Byron Peters doesn't.

[Terry]

Well, according to the local police chief who called me, it was in Byron Peters brand new Eldorado that they drove over to Kingman. It was Peters who arranged for the guide service. It was he who supplied the guns and equipment.

[Johnny Dollar]

Yeah. Okay. Okay, Terry. I'll take your word for it. What hospital is he in? Over there.

[Terry]

Angel of Mercy. It's the only one.

[Johnny Dollar]

Any other information I ought to have?

[Terry]

None that I can give you. As I told you, this is just routine. Because of the money involved? Company policy.

[Johnny Dollar]

Of course.

[Terry]

For your report, you might try to find out if this old Curly Summers, the guide, had any reason to have it in for Randall.

[Johnny Dollar]

Randall knew him before, huh? I thought you said Peters arranged for the guy.

[Terry]

I guess I did, but.

[Johnny Dollar]

Now, John, let me have Peter's home address, would you? And Randall's?

[Terry]

Sure, why not? And I hope you don't think.

[Johnny Dollar]

Did you know Randall well?

[Terry]

Yes.

[Johnny Dollar]

Was he a drinking man?

[Terry]

One martini before Denny, that's all. Why?

[Johnny Dollar]

How about Peters?

[Captain McManus]

I don't know.

[Terry]

What difference would it make?

[Johnny Dollar]

Oh, just wonder.

[Terry]

Don't kid me, Johnny. You've got something up your sleeve. Now what is it? You know something about these people that I don't?

[Johnny Dollar]

Not a thing, so help me. But 500,000 is a lot of money.

[Terry]

And I tell you that if you suspect Byron Peters, you're crazy.

[Johnny Dollar]

Did I say I still suspect?

[Terry]

But the way you've been talking, did I?

[Johnny Dollar]

Well, no. Well, I do. Sure. With so little to go on, I had no reason at all to suspect Peters except for a hunch. But hunches have paid off for me more than once. Expense account item 2380. A tank full of gas for the drive across Route 6 to the new York state line. There I picked up 9W, then 212to Kingman. I found the angel of Mercy Hospital on the way into town. The chief resident physician of Dr. Matthews was completely cooperative and of no help whatsoever.

[Dr. Matthews]

Quite pointless to see him at the moment. Mr. Dollop.

[Johnny Dollar]

Ah, what do you mean, doctor?

[Dr. Matthews]

Mr. Peters is sleeping under sedation. Oh, I'm afraid the ordeal with the police left him quite exhausted.

[Johnny Dollar]

The police have already seen and questioned him.

[Dr. Matthews]

Yes, and they had no business questioning him so long in view of his condition. Shock, you know.

[Johnny Dollar]

Tell me something. Do they suspect that he killed Mr. Randall too, then wounded himself for an alibi?

[Terry]

You mean that you do?

[Byron Peters]

Yeah.

[Johnny Dollar]

Do they?

[Dr. Matthews]

Oh, my boy, you must be joking.

[Terry]

Of course not.

[Johnny Dollar]

Ah, why not?

[Dr. Matthews]

Whether you realize it or not, and you will, if I permit you to see Mr. Peters, see the manner in which he was wounded, see the extent of his wound.

[Johnny Dollar]

I'll realize what? Oh, my boy, I asked you a question, Doctor.

[Dr. Matthews]

You will realize how impossible it would have been for him to shoot himself in that fashion. How narrowly he himself escaped death at the hands of that rum crazed guide.

[Johnny Dollar]

You're sure, Doctor?

[Dr. Matthews]

Of course I'm sure. And so are the police.

[Johnny Dollar]

Well, where does that leave me, if.

[Dr. Matthews]

I may say so, with egg on your face.

[Narrator]

Act two of yours truly, Johnny Dollar in a moment. And now, act two of yours truly, Johnny Dollar and the hapless hunter matter.

[Johnny Dollar]

A hunting guide had run amok near the little town of Kingman, New York, and according to a report, was responsible for the death by shooting of wealthy banker Curtis Randall for the wounding of Randall's companion, Byron Peters. But Peters is beneficiary of Randall's half million dollar insurance policy. So naturally the old bug of suspicion began to gnaw away at the back of my brain. Until, that is, I saw Peters, his wounds, the X rays and finally talked with Captain McManus at the local police headquarters. Sure, we Talked to Peters, Mr. Dollar.

[Captain McManus]

But only to find out exactly what happened. Curley went off his rocker and started spraying lead with his hunting rifle, then shot himself.

[Johnny Dollar]

Then my suspicion that Peters might have done the shooting.

[Captain McManus]

Didn't you see how Mr. Peters was hit by that 30.

[Johnny Dollar]

30.

[Captain McManus]

Now look, he saw Curly pull the rifle on Mr. Randall and shoot him down.

[Johnny Dollar]

Yeah, yeah.

[Captain McManus]

So he lunged at Curly like this.

[Terry]

Curly whirled around, pulled the trigger.

[Johnny Dollar]

Yeah, well, the X rays I saw, sure.

[Captain McManus]

Well, then you know when Peters lunged at him, the bullet creased his head from the top, went right through the muscles in the back of his left shoulder and landed in the floor.

[Johnny Dollar]

So it's pretty obvious that Peters couldn't have shot himself.

[Captain McManus]

It's impossible. He would have had to have arms five or six feet long to shoot himself on the top of the head at that angle.

[Johnny Dollar]

Hey, when did you first learn about this whole thing, Captain?

[Captain McManus]

When Mr. Peters came to, he phoned me from up at Curley's cabin where it happened.

[Johnny Dollar]

I went up there right away and.

[Captain McManus]

Curley and Randall were dead. Peters was still lying next to the fireplace where he'd fallen.

[Johnny Dollar]

But if he was able to phone you, he pulled the phone over to.

[Captain McManus]

Him by the cord. Still had a good right hand, you know.

[Johnny Dollar]

Oh, I see. Where were Randall and Curley?

[Captain McManus]

Randall? By the front door with a bullet in the back of his head. Curly lay between them.

[Advertiser]

Health insurance doesn't have to break the [e-mail] we're here to get you covered. Visit oregonhealthcare.gov to get started.

[Johnny Dollar]

Just how much do you know about this Curly character?

[Captain McManus]

Well, that's the part I don't understand.

[Johnny Dollar]

Why he did it. I heard he was an alcoholic.

[Captain McManus]

Sure, he was the town drunk in a harmless sort of a way. Except when he'd go off on a rampage and get into a fight or two. But never during hunting season.

[Johnny Dollar]

Uh huh. Well, what did he do?

[Captain McManus]

Odd jobs of any kind? Most anything. People had always refused to pay him until the job was done.

[Johnny Dollar]

To make sure he'd stay sober, huh?

[Captain McManus]

Well, at least reasonably sober. And just as soon as he got paid, he'd buy a lot of cheap whiskey and hole up in his cabin.

[Johnny Dollar]

That's where the murder occurred. Except.

[Captain McManus]

Yeah, except during hunting season. Then he'd never touch it. He was a good guide, Mr. Dollar. He made a lot of money from the people who came up from New York City and Hartford and such.

[Dr. Matthews]

That's the part I don't understand.

[Captain McManus]

His hitting the bottle during the season.

[Johnny Dollar]

Well, did he ever have any trouble with his clients before?

[Captain McManus]

Oh, he'd bellyache about them being so rich when he was so poor, that sort of thing. But he'd have to get awfully drunk. I swear I don't understand it.

[Johnny Dollar]

Well, look, Captain, I'd like to see the bodies of Mr. Randall and Curly. Are they still hereabouts?

[Captain McManus]

Still over at the coroner's office.

[Johnny Dollar]

Then let's go, huh? I wasn't quite sure what I was looking for. Maybe that's the reason I found it. At least found something that started that old suspicion bug gnawing away again. Peter's back at the hospital and it had a bad powder burn on his forehead next to where the bullet had creased him. Okay. He had said that Curly the guide pulled the trigger when he lunged at him. Randall there at the coroner's office had no powder burns. Okay. It was apparent that he had been shot from across the room. But Curly, who was supposed to have shot himself upward through the jaw, also showed no sign of powder burn. Sure, the bullet hole indicated he could have shot himself by holding the gun at arm's length. A 30. 30 is fairly short. But no powder burn. I said nothing of this to Chief McManus.

[Captain McManus]

Well, it pretty much bears out what Peters told me and I told you, doesn't it? Curley shot Randall, then Peters and himself.

[Johnny Dollar]

Then suppose just for the sake of argument that Randall did the shooting first, that is.

[Captain McManus]

Well, now, Mr. Dollar. Say, wait. Speaking of argument, Peter said that Randall and Curly had a pretty big one, you know, because Curly didn't find them any deer. That's when he started to get drunk and abusive. But as for Mr. Randall, on the.

[Johnny Dollar]

Other hand, suppose that Peters started the whole thing.

[Captain McManus]

Oh, now look, you know that doesn't make any sense. Then try to kill himself.

[Johnny Dollar]

Well, isn't that what you're saying Curly did?

[Captain McManus]

Sure, but that's different. No good old bum realized he'd gone too far. There was no other way out for him. But a man like Peters with money, everything he wants.

[Johnny Dollar]

Where's this cabin of curlies, huh?

[Captain McManus]

Quite a way. 10, 12 miles.

[Johnny Dollar]

How do I get there?

[Captain McManus]

Straight down Pear street to the Mobile gas station. You know where that is?

[Johnny Dollar]

Yeah, I saw it on my way in.

[Captain McManus]

Okay, you turn left there. You go six miles, then take the first right hand road right up the side of Deer Mountain until you get there. Okay.

[Narrator]

Oh, here.

[Captain McManus]

Here's the key to it.

[Johnny Dollar]

Oh, good. Thanks, Chief. I'll see you later.

[Captain McManus]

You want me to go along with you?

[Johnny Dollar]

No. According to you, this hunch of mine is all wrong.

[Captain McManus]

I'm sure of it.

[Johnny Dollar]

Okay, then I'd better wing it alone. From the outside, Curly's cabin was a shack, nothing more. And there were enough cheap whiskey bottles scattered around the yard to sink a battleship. Inside, however, it was pretty comfortably fixed up and back into the kitchen sink, I found a case of Prince Francis scotch, nearly full. Had Curly suddenly changed his taste for the better? Or had somebody decided to bait him with it? By the dark stains on the floor, I could see where both Randall and Curly had fallen. Where Peters had gone down. There was also the rifle slug embedded in the floor. Then I noticed the angle at which that slug had ended, as though it had been fired from the ceiling, certainly from higher than any normal man could reach. And Curly was only 5 foot 2 or 3. Then I saw something else. A heavy cord hanging down from one of the rafters above where Peters had Lain. It was frayed at the end as though forcibly broken. Now, suppose someone had hung a loaded rifle there by the trigger so the slightest pull would set it off. Had stood under it, holding the muzzle carefully next to his head to one side, just close enough to.

[Narrator]

Yeah.

[Jerry Holland]

Hello, Mr. Dolly.

[Johnny Dollar]

Captain.

[Jerry Holland]

Yeah. Listen now, you.

[Narrator]

You may be right.

[Jerry Holland]

Oh, I still don't see how you can be.

[Johnny Dollar]

What do you mean?

[Jerry Holland]

Look, I. I've got Dr. Matthews at the hospital here on this party line. You still there, Doc? Right here, Chief. Well, then you better tell Mr. Duller. Well, it's about Mr. Peters.

[Johnny Dollar]

Yeah?

[Jerry Holland]

He's left.

[Captain McManus]

Left?

[Johnny Dollar]

I thought you had him under sedation.

[Jerry Holland]

I guess it didn't take hold the.

[Dr. Matthews]

Way I thought it would.

[Johnny Dollar]

Well, what happened?

[Dr. Matthews]

Well, he woke up and asked me who it was.

[Jerry Holland]

Had been here to see him while he was drowsy.

[Johnny Dollar]

Did you tell him who I was?

[Jerry Holland]

Yes.

[Dr. Matthews]

And he seemed to drop off again.

[Jerry Holland]

So I left him. A few minutes later, I heard his.

[Dr. Matthews]

Big fancy car pulling away.

[Johnny Dollar]

Doctor.

[Dr. Matthews]

I went back to his room and he was gone.

[Johnny Dollar]

Doctor.

[Jerry Holland]

Listen, Dollar.

[Johnny Dollar]

Yeah, Chief.

[Jerry Holland]

I don't know what it means any more than you do, but if I was you, I would get away from that isolated cabin. You see what I mean, Dollar?

[Johnny Dollar]

Sure, Chief. I'll leave right away.

[Byron Peters]

That was very smart, Dollar.

[Johnny Dollar]

Byron Peters. Patch Rice, Byron Peters.

[Narrator]

Act three of yours truly, Johnny Dollar, in a moment. And now, act three of yours truly, Johnny Dollar and the hapless. Huh?

[Johnny Dollar]

So you weren't as badly hurt by that bullet as you pretended.

[Byron Peters]

That's right, darling. Does that help bear out your absurd suspicions about me?

[Johnny Dollar]

Not nearly so much as your coming up here to this cabin, Peters.

[Byron Peters]

What's that supposed to mean?

[Johnny Dollar]

You rigged the whole thing pretty well, but not well enough. Why you wanted to get rid of Curtis Randall, I don't know.

[Byron Peters]

You're out of your mind. Randall was a friend of mine.

[Johnny Dollar]

He must have had some reason for killing him.

[Byron Peters]

Curly Summers murdered Kurt. We had a big argument because he hadn't found us any game. The only reason it got out of hand was because Curly was drunk.

[Johnny Dollar]

On what? On some of that expensive scotch I found in the kitchen.

[Byron Peters]

How should I know? Yes.

[Johnny Dollar]

Where did he get that?

[Byron Peters]

How should I know?

[Johnny Dollar]

Well, I do. You brought it here to help bolster your phony alibi. To indicate that Curly had it up here, had been hitting it. But you pulled a boo. Boo.

[Byron Peters]

Why don't you talk sense, Detective?

[Johnny Dollar]

Are you trying to tell me Curly would ever have stuff like that?

[Byron Peters]

Look.

[Johnny Dollar]

Look at the old bottle scattered around outside. Cheap rot got, that's all. What's more, he never touched a drop during hunting season.

[Byron Peters]

That's about as thin evidence as you could possibly dig up. Dollar and you know it.

[Johnny Dollar]

Peters. Why did you come up here just now? Okay, I'll tell you that too. Lying there in the hospital nursing your sore shoulder, you didn't plan on that injury, did you?

[Byron Peters]

I told the police.

[Johnny Dollar]

Oh, yeah, sure, you told the police. Lying there, you suddenly remember the one thing that could show how you cleverly wounded yourself after you killed Randall and Curly. That piece of cord up in the rafter where you hung Curly's gun up by the trigger. You aimed it carefully along the side of your head, then yanked on it to set it off. Dangerous, but a great alibi.

[Byron Peters]

I told the police, the doctor. Curly pulled that trigger when I lunged at him, struggled with him.

[Johnny Dollar]

Little Curly held that gun high enough so the bullet would crease your head from above.

[Byron Peters]

I was bent over, lunging at him.

[Johnny Dollar]

Then enter the floor from up here where this cord is hanging.

[Captain McManus]

You're.

[Byron Peters]

You're pretty smart, aren't you, Dara?

[Johnny Dollar]

Curly was supposed to have committed suicide, huh?

[Byron Peters]

Yes, he must have, because I heard him shoot himself as I passed out.

[Johnny Dollar]

Oh, sure. The bullet entered his lower jaw, went up into his brain.

[Byron Peters]

That's right.

[Johnny Dollar]

That meant he had to hold that 30. 30 at arm's length. So the muzzle right next to his jaw. That's right where it would have left powder burn. But Peters, there were none. Because you shot him from across the room. The same as you did Randall.

[Byron Peters]

Yes, yes, the same as.

[Johnny Dollar]

I'll shoot you if you can.

[Byron Peters]

My right hand is still good, $. And so is the.38. You and your fool insurance company should have left things as they were. Chin up, dollar.

[Johnny Dollar]

Tell me one thing.

[Byron Peters]

Sorry, I haven't got time. When I left the hospital, I made sure I was seen heading for New York. And a carefully set up alibi.

[Johnny Dollar]

You still won't get away with it, you know. Any more than you got away with killing Randall.

[Byron Peters]

I had until you came along. And I will when I've killed you. So if you have nothing more to say.

[Johnny Dollar]

One thing. Why did you kill Randall?

[Byron Peters]

You're trying to stall me.

[Johnny Dollar]

Why? All right, all right.

[Byron Peters]

Because I forced him to name me. And his insurance. I was the only one who knew about some shady operations in his early business career.

[Johnny Dollar]

The old story, huh? That's right.

[Byron Peters]

Blackmail. That's why he's been paying me off, supporting me until recently.

[Johnny Dollar]

So you threatened to expose him? No.

[Byron Peters]

What would that get me financially.

[Johnny Dollar]

Then tell me. No.

[Byron Peters]

I've got to get out of here. To New York.

[Johnny Dollar]

Just one thing more.

[Byron Peters]

I don't know why you're trying to stall me, but it's no use. So if you have any prayers, darling.

[Johnny Dollar]

Sure, sure. That Chief McManus standing there in the doorway will slug you before you pull that trigger.

[Byron Peters]

Oh, no, not that old chestnut.

[Johnny Dollar]

Why not?

[Terry]

Peter.

[Johnny Dollar]

What? You.

[Captain McManus]

Doggone. A dollar. I thought I told you on the phone to get out of here.

[Johnny Dollar]

Expense account total, including gas, to get me Back to Hartford. $13.13. Remarks. Why? Why don't they ever learn? Yours truly, Johnny Doll.

[Narrator]

This is the United States Armed Forces Radio and Television Service.