BONUS - Dollar Days: The Molly K Matter

Summary

Summary of "DOWN THESE MEAN STREETS (Old Time Radio Detectives)"

Episode: BONUS - Dollar Days: The Molly K Matter
Release Date: March 12, 2025
Host/Author: Mean Streets Podcasts
Featuring: Bob Bailey as Johnny Dollar

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1. Introduction

In this bonus episode of "Down These Mean Streets," Mean Streets Podcasts delves deep into the riveting five-part mystery arc of Johnny Dollar, America's premier freelance insurance investigator from the Golden Age of Radio. The episode, titled "Dollar Days: The Molly K Matter," originally aired between October 10th and 14th, 1955. This installment follows Johnny Dollar’s investigation into the mysterious sinking of the freighter Molly K off the California coast, highlighting his unique approach to solving crimes that set him apart from traditional radio detectives.

2. Assignment and Initial Investigation

The story begins with Johnny Dollar being briefed about the sinking of the Molly K, a vessel insured for half a million dollars by Marine and Maritime Casualty Limited, headquartered in Hartford, Connecticut.

[00:00] Johnny Dollar: "Crime is a sucker's road and those who travel it wind up in the gut of the prison of the grave. The story you are about to hear is true."

Upon arriving in San Francisco, Johnny meets Dave Borger, who informs him about the sudden sinking of the Molly K:

[03:44] Dave Borger: "This is money, not sentiment. We had her insured for a cool half million."

[04:38] Johnny Dollar: "Expense accounts submitted by special investigator Johnny Dollar to the home office Marine and Maritime Casualty Limited."

Johnny meticulously documents his expenses, portraying his methodical nature and the personal costs involved in his investigations.

3. The Preliminary Hearing

Johnny attends a preliminary board of inquiry held by Harbor Master Tim O'Rourke at the Ferry Building. The hearing provides the basic facts of the case:

[06:16] Harbor Master Tim O'Rourke: "The Molly K cleared her berth at Pier 29 at 10:12 pm. Destination Yokohama. Primary cargo grain."

Key testimonies include Lieutenant Commander Barton Fields of the Coast Guard, who details the distress signals received and the subsequent rescue operations. Despite thorough searches, two crew members, William Mack and Benny Wong Stewart, are presumed dead.

[08:32] Johnny Dollar: "While the testimony went on, I studied the teletypes from the home office that I picked up at the hotel. Seeds of suspicion are pretty small."

4. Interactions with Captain Edgar Brawley

Johnny's suspicion centers on Captain Edgar Brawley, who stands to gain significantly from the insurance payout. During the hearing, Johnny begins to probe deeper:

[09:06] Johnny Dollar: "You mean dames come that high these days?"

[15:15] Johnny Dollar: "I think the Molly K was sunk by an explosive charge placed in a hole."

Captain Brawley remains defensive, but Johnny's relentless questioning reveals inconsistencies in the captain's account of events, particularly regarding a prior cargo fire and the handling of insurance claims.

5. Encounter with Ellen Brawley

Following the hearing, Johnny ventures to Pier 29, where he encounters sudden danger from adversaries attempting to thwart his investigation. Shortly after, he meets Ellen Brawley, Captain Brawley’s daughter, who becomes a pivotal character in unraveling the mystery.

[17:29] Ellen Brawley: "You don't know me, Mr. Dollar, but you're going to."

Their initial meeting is fraught with tension, hinting at deeper connections and ulterior motives.

6. Gathering Evidence and Uncovering the Plot

Johnny pursues leads involving Dean Sutton, an exporter with ties to the Molly K's cargo, and Benny Wong, an explosive expert. Conversations with Dave Borger reveal that the sinking was no accident but a deliberate act of sabotage to claim the insurance money.

[35:07] Dave Borger: "We didn't hit no derelict. An explosion, that's what it was."

As Johnny pieces together the puzzle, he confronts Harbor Police Inspector Dan McKay, who attempts to arrest him under dubious charges, only to be convinced otherwise by Johnny's compelling evidence.

[47:24] Johnny Dollar: "Well, then you can see the problem I'm up against."

7. The Climactic Confrontation

The investigation reaches its zenith as Johnny discovers the involvement of Lu Tang, a nightclub owner linked to the insurance fraud. In a tense showdown at the Brawley Shipping Company office, Johnny faces deceit and betrayal.

[55:10] Ellen Brawley: "Let me in, Johnny."

As the pieces fall into place, Johnny realizes Ellen's true allegiance and her role in the elaborate scheme to undermine Captain Brawley. The final confrontation involves a deadly trap set by Dean Sutton and Ellen, culminating in the revelation of the true mastermind behind the Molly K's sinking.

[67:00] Johnny Dollar: "It had to be you. There was no chance for Dean to steal your father's gun and then return it."

8. Resolution and Conclusion

In the aftermath of the confrontation, Johnny successfully dismantles the fraudulent scheme, exonerating Captain Brawley and bringing the true culprits to justice. The episode concludes with Johnny reflecting on the complexities of human nature and the intricate web of deceit he unraveled.

[70:46] Johnny Dollar: "The ship owner was innocent, but you'll make it back. I really feel sorry for Captain Brawley... He had a wife once named Molly K. And now the sea has taken all of them away from him."

Notable Quotes

• Johnny Dollar on Crime:
  [00:00] "Crime is a sucker's road and those who travel it wind up in the gut of the prison of the grave."

• Dave Borger on Insurance:
  [03:44] "This is money, not sentiment. We had her insured for a cool half million."

• Ellen Brawley on Dean Sutton:
  [24:21] "He's an exporter. I've... Well, I've known him for some time. He's not usually the way he was tonight."

• Johnny Dollar on Investigation:
  [15:26] "Streaked my own ship just to collect a few lousy bucks worth of insurance. I don't know who did it, Captain Brawley, but I'm going to find out."

• Ellen Brawley’s Realization:
  [55:56] "Wait a second. Johnny Dollar."

Cast and Crew

• Main Cast:

  • Bob Bailey as Johnny Dollar
  • Virginia Gregg
  • James McCallion
  • Peter Leeds
  • High Averback
  • Barney Phillips
  • Vic Perrin

• Director and Writer:
  Jack Johnstone, writing under the pen name John Dawson.

Closing Remarks

The "Molly K Matter" serves as a testament to Johnny Dollar’s keen investigative skills and his unwavering commitment to uncovering the truth. By distinguishing himself through his role as an insurance investigator, Johnny navigates a labyrinth of lies, greed, and betrayal to restore justice. This episode not only entertains but also reaffirms the enduring appeal of Old Time Radio detectives.

[72:30] Narrator: "We just heard Johnny Dollar in the Molly K matter and that will do it for this bonus episode."

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For listeners who haven't experienced this thrilling journey, "Down These Mean Streets" offers a captivating dive into the golden era of radio detective stories, blending suspense, intricate plotting, and memorable characters.

Transcript

[Johnny Dollar]

Get this and get it straight. Crime is a sucker's road and those who travel it wind up in the gut of the prison of the grave. The story you are about to hear is true.

[Bob Bailey]

Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent.

[Captain Edgar Brawley]

The Adventures of Sam Spade Detective the.

[Johnny Dollar]

Adventures of the Saint Starring Vincent Price. 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.

[Narrator]

Hello and welcome to down these Mean Streets and a bonus episode as we continue our deep dive into the serialized run of yours truly, Johnny Dollar. The stretch of shows that presented a five part mystery over weeknights from 1955 until 1956 and starred Bob Bailey as radio's definitive Dollar. Last time we heard the first story of the Knightley series. Today it's Bob Bailey's second radio Johnny Dollar assignment as it originally aired between October 10th and 14th, 1955. The Molly Kay Matter. Now the titular Molly K isn't a woman. She's a ship. Or she was a ship. As the story opens, she's just sunk off the California coast. A large insurance payout is on the line so Johnny is dispatched to San Francisco to investigate how the Molly K met her maker. He isn't on the scene long before he meets up with the ship's short tempered captain as well as an old underworld connection who may be tied to the sinking. I don't think this story is as strong as the McCormick matter, the five part show that led off the series. Although the Molly K Matter is a solid entry, I think it's more important in how it continues to set the table and reintroduce listeners to Johnny Dollar. When this run of shows premiered, Johnny Dollar had been off the air for over a year. So re establishing the character and the setup of the show were critical. As an insurance investigator, Dollar was unlike nearly all of his fellow radio detectives, his beat and he could be called in to investigate any number of crimes. Last time it was a robbery. This week it's the loss of a ship. The variety of stories and settings are a few of the reasons why Johnny Dollar stands out from the pack. The cast in this one includes Virginia Gregg, James McCallion, Peter Leeds, High Averback, Barney Phillips and Vic Perrin. Jack Johnstone is the director and he's also the writer working under his John Dawson pen name. So now let's head back to early October 1955 and Bob Bailey as Johnny Dollar in the Molly K Matter.

[Bob Bailey]

From Hollywood. It's time now for Bob Bailey as Johnny Dollar.

[Dave Borger]

Dave Borger Johnny, Marine and Maritime Casualty.

[Johnny Dollar]

Hiya, Dave.

[Dave Borger]

Awful.

[Johnny Dollar]

I'm in mourning, Johnny. For Molly K. Oh, sorry, Dave, you have my symp. Save it.

[Dave Borger]

This is money, not sentiment. We had her insured for a cool half million.

[Johnny Dollar]

You mean dames come that high these days?

[Dave Borger]

No, but a rusty old tub of a freighter does.

[Johnny Dollar]

What happened? She steamed out of San Francisco Bay bound for Yokohama.

[Dave Borger]

20 miles off the Golden Gate, she upended and departed this world forever.

[Johnny Dollar]

Real sudden, huh?

[Dave Borger]

Too sudden. I don't like sudden things. Why don't you fly out there, Johnny, take a look at the remains?

[Johnny Dollar]

Sure, as long as you're willing to pay for it. You're hired. But be careful. Don't get yourself killed while I'm on an expense account. Dave, you've got a lot to learn.

[Bob Bailey]

Tonight and every weekday night. Bob Bailey and the transcribed adventures of the man with the action packed expense account, America's fabulous freelance insurance investigator, yours truly, Johnny Doll.

[Johnny Dollar]

Expense accounts submitted by special investigator Johnny Dollar to the home Office Marine and Maritime Casualty Limited, Hartford, Connecticut. The following is an accounting of my expenditures during the investigation of the Molly kay matter. Item 1.164.50, plain fare and incidentals. Hartford to San Francisco. It was mid morning when I landed and the city on the Seven Hills glittered under the bright sun like a fabulous hoard of jewels. A cool, crisp breeze was driving the usual night's bank of fog out toward the open sea and the clear waters of the bay danced and sparkled from the touch of the wind. It was a day in a place that felt lusty with life and the joy of living. And yet, 36 hours before, the freighter Molly Kay with a crew of 43 men had steamed out across this same bay, passed under the high arch of the Golden Gate Bridge and disappeared into the gray oblivion of the Pacific. Gone down to her death. Item 2, $1.55 Local Transportation Limousine to my hotel where I barely had time to check in. Then a taxi down to the foot of Market street where harbor master Tim O'Rourke, a grizzled old veteran of the port, was about to preside at a preliminary board of inquiry in the Ferry Building.

[Harbor Master Tim O'Rourke]

All right, boys.

[Johnny Dollar]

All right.

[Harbor Master Tim O'Rourke]

Let's have it quiet. Now, all of us know what we're here for. But just to make it official, I have to announce that this is the preliminary hearing of a board of inquiry investigating the loss by sinking of the vessel Molly K. Needless to say, for you that know me, the proceedings are going to be pretty informal.

[Johnny Dollar]

Yeah, you can be sure of that.

[Harbor Master Tim O'Rourke]

All right. Now, the bare facts seem to be go something like this. The Molly K cleared her berth at Pier 29 at 10:12pm Night before last. Destination Yokohama. Primary cargo grain. The Molly K was a steel hull, class C freighter, oil fueled with a steam turbine drive. She was under the command of her owner, Captain Edgar Brawley of San Francisco. Now, is. Is Captain Brawley present?

[Captain Edgar Brawley]

I am. But if you're expecting me to test.

[Harbor Master Tim O'Rourke]

Later, Captain.

[Johnny Dollar]

Later.

[Harbor Master Tim O'Rourke]

All right. At 10:38, the Mali K dropped her pilot and proceeded on out to sea. Fog conditions were reported at the time as medium to dense. Then at 12:49am the radio operator on duty at the Point Bonita Coast Guard station picked up the first distress signal. Now I'll call the first witness, the officer in charge of the rescue operation, Lieutenant Commander Barton Fields of the United States Coast Guard. Will you take the witness chair, Commander? I'll raise your right hand, Commander. Do you swear the testimony.

[Johnny Dollar]

The inquiry moved along, but not much came out that wasn't already known. The Coast Guard commander testified that five minutes after the first distress call, the Molly K had sent a second SOS stating she was sinking rapidly by the bow. According to the message, the vessel had struck a submerged derelict. The captain and crew had taken to the lifeboats and two of these were picked up immediately. A third boat missed in the heavy fog, made shore and beached under its own efforts.

[Harbor Master Tim O'Rourke]

Now, according to this report, two men, William Mack, machinist and Benny Wong Stewart, are still missing. Our further search has now been abandoned and these men are presumed to be dead. I think that's all, Commander. Thank you. Now, radio operator G.A. beck, take the witness chair.

[Johnny Dollar]

While the testimony went on, I studied the teletypes from the home office that I picked up at the hotel. Again, nothing much that wasn't already known, with a few exceptions. A stray factor, too. A couple of odd details, nothing else. But the seeds of suspicion are pretty small. And if they're kept well watered, sometimes they grow up into nice, tall, blooming hunch plants. Then Chairman O'Rourke called the witness I was most interested in.

[Harbor Master Tim O'Rourke]

Will Captain Edgar Brawley please take the chair?

[Johnny Dollar]

The man who stood to collect a half million dollars if the sinking was legitimate. But I was pretty sure it wasn't.

[Harbor Master Tim O'Rourke]

Raise your right hand, Captain. You swear that the testimony you are about to give is the whole truth and nothing but the truth?

[Captain Edgar Brawley]

I do.

[Harbor Master Tim O'Rourke]

You can sit down.

[Johnny Dollar]

He was A man about 50, maybe older, but he had the body of a young bull. Hard, stubborn, belligerent. He figured to be a tough lad. To tangle with in court or on the deck of a ship.

[Harbor Master Tim O'Rourke]

Now, Captain, will you tell us what happened in your own words?

[Captain Edgar Brawley]

Starting where?

[Harbor Master Tim O'Rourke]

From the time you dropped the pilot. Unless something happened earlier that might have some bearing on this case.

[Captain Edgar Brawley]

There was nothing happened earlier or later that got any bearing on it. We hit a submerged derelict, that's all. Now, what more do you want to know?

[Harbor Master Tim O'Rourke]

Your story, Captain, just for the record.

[Captain Edgar Brawley]

Be no different from what you've already heard from all the rest of them here.

[Harbor Master Tim O'Rourke]

This is an official board of inquiry, Captain, whether you like it or not. I'll be the judge of what's important and what isn't.

[Captain Edgar Brawley]

Yes, sir. Well, after we dropped the pilot, I set a course north, 77 west and aimed to bring us into the main shipping lane by daybreak. And I assigned the watches, had the deck gear stowed away, opened the trip log, got ready to settle down for the night's run.

[Harbor Master Tim O'Rourke]

Normal procedure, in other words.

[Captain Edgar Brawley]

That's what I told you. There wasn't nothing that was.

[Harbor Master Tim O'Rourke]

Go on with your story, Captain.

[Captain Edgar Brawley]

My first officer took over the bridge like he already told you he did. And I went to my quarters.

[Harbor Master Tim O'Rourke]

What was the weather like at the time?

[Captain Edgar Brawley]

Same as it'd been all evening. So foggy you couldn't see 100ft from the bridge.

[Harbor Master Tim O'Rourke]

And you took all the usual precautions prescribed for such a condition?

[Captain Edgar Brawley]

Of course.

[Johnny Dollar]

Go on.

[Captain Edgar Brawley]

Well, it was a while before midnight. I was still in my quarters awake, and I bumped when she hit. Was a big crash like a torpedo had took us and the lights went out. We started losing headway and a couple of minutes later, the engineer cut the engines and pulled his fires. Water had busted right through number one and number two bulkheads and was rising fast in the boiler room. Must have ripped half the bottom out of her.

[Harbor Master Tim O'Rourke]

What did you do next?

[Captain Edgar Brawley]

I called the engine room gang on deck. And? Well, then I give the order to abandon ship. She Sank less than 10 minutes after we got the boats off. Well, I guess that's about the size of it. Submerged derelict in a shipping lane. It was an accident, pure and simple.

[Harbor Master Tim O'Rourke]

All right, Captain. I guess there's nothing more.

[Johnny Dollar]

Mr. Dollar, I wonder if I could have your permission to ask the captain a few questions.

[Harbor Master Tim O'Rourke]

Well, it's kind of unusual, but like I said, this is an informal hearing, so. Captain Brawley, Mr. Dollar is a special investigator for the insurance company that holds the policy on your ship. His position here is unofficial, of course, and you're under no obligation. It's up to you.

[Captain Edgar Brawley]

Well, I've told you all I know about it. I got nothing to hide, if that's.

[Johnny Dollar]

What you're talking about.

[Captain Edgar Brawley]

Not one single thing. All right, let him ask till he's blue in the face.

[Harbor Master Tim O'Rourke]

Go ahead, Mr. Dolan.

[Johnny Dollar]

Thank you. Captain Brawley. We've heard quite a lot about your last sailing for Yokohama, night before last. But there hasn't been any mention of the first time. You started to leave. A little over a week ago.

[Captain Edgar Brawley]

Had no bearing on this.

[Johnny Dollar]

Maybe not, but let's talk about it anyway. According to my report, you were six hours out of San Francisco when you radioed the Coast Guard to stand by. You had a cargo fire. A number two hole.

[Captain Edgar Brawley]

That's right.

[Johnny Dollar]

A little while later you told them you had the fire under control. But you were returning to port.

[Captain Edgar Brawley]

I wanted to check the damage, make sure the ship was sound.

[Johnny Dollar]

Yeah. So you laid up in harbor for a week. You filed a claim with our home office in Hartford. For estimated damages of $6,300.

[Captain Edgar Brawley]

Come no more.

[Johnny Dollar]

But when the company appraiser called at your office on Pier 29. You refused him admittance to the ship. And an hour later you wired Hartford and canceled your claim.

[Captain Edgar Brawley]

That's right.

[Johnny Dollar]

A six thousand three hundred dollar loss fully covered by insurance. And you suddenly decided not to make any claim for it.

[Captain Edgar Brawley]

I'd have lost more if I had claimed it.

[Johnny Dollar]

How do you figure that?

[Captain Edgar Brawley]

Because I had found out that I'd have to lay up here for another two weeks. While that sneaking company of yours checked the facts, as they called it. I had a cargo on board. I had a delivery date ahead of me. Couldn't afford to waste two weeks.

[Johnny Dollar]

What caused the fire?

[Captain Edgar Brawley]

I don't know.

[Johnny Dollar]

Who. Who found it and reported it?

[Captain Edgar Brawley]

Man named Bill Mack.

[Johnny Dollar]

All right, all right. He was one of the two men that drowned when the ship went down.

[Captain Edgar Brawley]

What of it? What are you trying to make out of it?

[Harbor Master Tim O'Rourke]

All right, let's quiet down now. Let's have order in here.

[Johnny Dollar]

Now, at the time of the accident, Captain, the sinking. We're led to believe that it was a little foggy out that night.

[Captain Edgar Brawley]

You doubt it?

[Johnny Dollar]

No, not in the least. That's why I can't quite understand how you managed to see that. That submerged derelict.

[Captain Edgar Brawley]

I didn't see it.

[Johnny Dollar]

Then who did?

[Captain Edgar Brawley]

Nobody, as far as I know. That fog. You couldn't see your hand in front of your face.

[Johnny Dollar]

There was no fog the next day. The Coast Guard searched the area for hours and they didn't see it either.

[Captain Edgar Brawley]

That probably sunk when we hit it at just. What are you getting at?

[Johnny Dollar]

$, how do you know there was any submerged derelict, Captain?

[Captain Edgar Brawley]

What do you mean?

[Johnny Dollar]

You said there was a big crash. All the crew members described the accident as a sudden, hard shock. In fact, one of them, Mr. Hawkins there who was up for it on bow lookout, said it felt like a blast, like something. Oh, no, you don't. Oh, no, you don't, Mr. Hawkins.

[Dave Borger]

I didn't say it was no blast. What I said was it just kind of felt like one. You ain't gonna go putting no words like that in my mouth, Mr. Dollar. You ain't gonna get me m Mixed.

[Johnny Dollar]

Up in what, Mr. Hawkins?

[Dave Borger]

In this here. Whatever's going on, or whatever you're trying to claim is going on. I just don't know nothing about it. About anything. And I. I just don't want anybody putting words in my mouth, that's all. Claiming I said something I didn't. I.

[Captain Edgar Brawley]

Well, just what exactly is it you're hitting at, Mr. Dollar?

[Johnny Dollar]

Not hitting, Captain. I'm saying it. I don't think there was a derelict. I think the Molly K was sunk by an explosive charge placed in a hole.

[Captain Edgar Brawley]

Are you accusing me of that?

[Johnny Dollar]

Not accusing anybody. Not yet.

[Dave Borger]

All right, now, let's settle down.

[Johnny Dollar]

Streaked my own ship just to collect a few lousy bucks worth of insurance. I don't know who did it, Captain Brawley, but I'm going to find out. And whoever it was, they're in it up to their neck. Two men died when the Molly K went down. So this thing's a whole lot worse than just a crooked insurance racket. It's a case of cold blooded murder. Outside, after the hearing adjourned, I turned west and walked along the Embarcadero. I looked at the crowds and the sunshine and the seagulls out over the bay. It was all brisk and bright and cheerful, but I felt cold in the pit of my stomach. They were scared in there, all of them. Scared to death. The smell of fear in that hearing room was so thick you could cut it with a knife. And I meant to find out why.

[Bob Bailey]

Now, here is our star, Bob Bailey, to tell you about tomorrow's episode of this story.

[Johnny Dollar]

Thanks. Tomorrow night, a strange girl and a strange threat and a promise that's stranger than both. Join us, won't you? Yours truly, Johnny Dollar.

[Bob Bailey]

Yours truly, Johnny Dollars. Transcribed in Hollywood written by Les Crutchfield. The entire production is under the direction of Jack Johnstone. Be sure to join us tomorrow night, same time, in station for the next exciting episode of Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar. Roy Rowan speaking from Hollywood. It's time now for Bob Bailey as Johnny Dollar.

[Ellen Brawley]

You don't know me, Mr. Dollar, but you're going to.

[Johnny Dollar]

Wow. I can hardly wait.

[Ellen Brawley]

You won't have to wait. I want you to meet me tonight.

[Johnny Dollar]

Where?

[Ellen Brawley]

On the waterfront. Nine o'clock? Yes.

[Johnny Dollar]

It's dark down there at nine. It might be dangerous.

[Ellen Brawley]

Are you scared?

[Johnny Dollar]

Strange women always scare me. Where on the waterfront?

[Ellen Brawley]

Pier 29.

[Johnny Dollar]

That's where the Molly Kay was birthed before she sank.

[Ellen Brawley]

Molly Kay was my mother. Meet me at nine.

[Johnny Dollar]

I don't know. Blind dates never work out for me. I'm always sorry afterwards.

[Ellen Brawley]

You won't be sorry this time.

[Johnny Dollar]

Is that a promise?

[Ellen Brawley]

That's a promise.

[Bob Bailey]

Tonight at every weekday night, Bob Bailey in the transcribed adventures of the man with the action packed expense account. America's fabulous freelance insurance investigator.

[Johnny Dollar]

Yours truly, Johnny Doll. From Special Investigator Johnny Dollar. Present location San Francisco to the home Office Marine and Maritime Casualty Limited, Hartford, Connecticut. Assignment the Molly K. Matter expense account continued. Item three, $4.65. Food. I needed it. It had been a rough day, rough from the standpoint of legwork. I'd covered most of the usual sources and usual angles, and for all I learned, I might as well have stayed in bed. The freighter Molly Kay had sailed out of San Francisco harbor and gone down in the Pacific, and nobody wanted to talk about it. They were all too busy shaking in their boots and looking over their shoulders, scared to death. I was even beginning to look over my shoulder. Item 4, $0.70 Taxi to the Embarcadero. Sure, I kept that blind date. I wouldn't have missed it for the world. Here. Keep the change. It was dark and lonely along the waterfront. The fog was down, drifting in off the bay, dimming the scattered street lights with a damp haze and muffling the sounds of the city. Alcatraz, lost and hidden somewhere behind the murky wet blanket, kept sounding its mournful warning across the water, and the night gull seemed to cry out an answer to it. I crossed the siding tracks and headed toward Pier 29 and toward whatever was waiting for me there or whoever. The office and warehouse of the Brawley Shipping Company, owner of the Molly K. Was about halfway out the pier. I'd been there earlier in the day and found it closed and locked. But there was a dim light burning there now. I headed toward it. Just about then, as I passed under the last wharf light and turned toward the office door, I started to get that old feeling. I'd had it before in other places. Once in the heart of an Orinoco Jungle in an alleyway in the Kasbah of Algiers. One time in London, Soho. And again in Suez. Somewhere close by, hidden by the fog and shadows, there was somebody watching me. I stood listening, straining to hear some telltale sound in the darkness. Nothing. But there were a dozen hiding places within a radius of 50ft. And I wasn't fool enough to start searching them. Not knowing what I'd find, I turned to open the door to the Brawley office. Get your hands up, Mac. He'd been standing behind a post right beside the door. Okay. Now, what are you prowling around here for? I was restless, couldn't sleep. And I love that foghorn. Wanted to get close to it. Knock it off, wise guy. This is a gun in your back, not a peppermint stick. Oh, don't say things like that. I faint. Easy. One more. Smart.

[Dave Borger]

Crack it.

[Johnny Dollar]

Wait a minute. Turn around toward the light. Sure. I'm always glad to obly. Just suck her up. All right, come on. Let go. Stop it. You let go of that gun. You're going to. All right, come on, get up. Get up. Come on. On your feet. Okay.

[Dave Borger]

Okay, Dollar.

[Johnny Dollar]

So they're right about you. You are tough. Is that what they say?

[Dave Borger]

I've heard it around.

[Johnny Dollar]

Then how come you jumped me? I didn't know it was you. Not till you turned toward the light. Just saw somebody was prowling around the office here.

[Ellen Brawley]

Who's there? What's going on?

[Johnny Dollar]

It's all right, Ellen.

[Ellen Brawley]

Dean, what are you doing here?

[Johnny Dollar]

I could ask you the same thing.

[Ellen Brawley]

Why? I just came down to do some work on the books and.

[Johnny Dollar]

Oh, this is that insurance investigator, Johnny Dollar.

[Ellen Brawley]

Yes, I know.

[Johnny Dollar]

What do you mean, you know?

[Ellen Brawley]

I asked Mr. Dollar to meet me here tonight.

[Dave Borger]

Why?

[Johnny Dollar]

What are you up to?

[Ellen Brawley]

Nothing. I wanted to talk to him, that's all.

[Johnny Dollar]

Down here alone at this time of night?

[Ellen Brawley]

Dean, suppose we talk about it tomorrow?

[Johnny Dollar]

Okay.

[Ellen Brawley]

That's the way you feel, Not a matter of how. We'll discuss it tomorrow.

[Johnny Dollar]

All right. Oh, the gun, Dollar. Do I get it back? Oh, sure. Here you are. Don't let anybody take it away from you now. Don't worry, they won't.

[Ellen Brawley]

I'll see you tomorrow, Dean.

[Johnny Dollar]

Yeah.

[Dean Sutton]

Yeah, sure.

[Ellen Brawley]

Come in, Mr. Darla.

[Johnny Dollar]

I followed her into a suite of offices that were a lot plusher on the inside than they were on the out. Mahogany paneling, leather chairs, rug, sofa. An open fire burning, small but cozy, like the girl herself. So we talked. The weather, the fog, the weather yesterday. How we like San Francisco sparring type talk. Then finally came the tip off that we were going to get down to business.

[Ellen Brawley]

Would you like a drink, Mr. Dollar?

[Johnny Dollar]

I poured scotch for both of us and the clink of ice served as opening bell for the first round.

[Ellen Brawley]

Mr. Dollar sounds so oddly formal. Do you mind if I call you Johnny?

[Johnny Dollar]

Johnny it is. And you?

[Ellen Brawley]

Ellen Brawley. I guess I am a little slow in introducing myself. But it upset me. Dean being out there, I mean, and acting the way he did.

[Johnny Dollar]

You're Captain Brawley's daughter?

[Ellen Brawley]

Yes. As I told you on the phone, Molly Kay was my mother's name. Father thought the world of her. Broke his heart when she died. Later, he named his ship after her.

[Johnny Dollar]

And now the ship is gone, too.

[Ellen Brawley]

Yes.

[Johnny Dollar]

Ellen, what about this man you call Dean? How does he figure in, this Dean Sutton?

[Ellen Brawley]

He's an exporter. I've. Well, I've known him for some time. He's not usually the way he was tonight.

[Johnny Dollar]

Jealousy always makes a difference.

[Ellen Brawley]

Jealousy?

[Johnny Dollar]

Sure. It stuck out all over him.

[Ellen Brawley]

He just does business with my father. It was his cargo that sank with the Molly K Grain, bound for Japan.

[Johnny Dollar]

Oh, I see.

[Ellen Brawley]

I've gone out with him quite a lot, but he takes far too much for granted. I'm a free agent, Johnny. I call my own shots.

[Johnny Dollar]

Yeah, I guess you do. So tonight you call me.

[Ellen Brawley]

I heard about the hearing. How you questioned my father. Accused him of sinking his own ship to collect the insurance.

[Johnny Dollar]

I didn't accuse him.

[Ellen Brawley]

It amounted to that, didn't it?

[Johnny Dollar]

I said I was sure somebody had done it. He put the shoe on his own foot before I even had it out of the box.

[Ellen Brawley]

What makes you so sure?

[Johnny Dollar]

Oh, a lot of little things that don't add up.

[Ellen Brawley]

What little things don't add up, Johnny?

[Johnny Dollar]

Oh, this and that. Did you know your father put a heavy mortgage on The Molly K 7 months ago?

[Ellen Brawley]

How did you find out?

[Johnny Dollar]

Bureau of Records, Maritime Division. Know when the mortgage comes due?

[Ellen Brawley]

Next month. He had to install new boilers. That's why I did it. And he'd have been able to pay it off after this last voyage?

[Johnny Dollar]

He'd also be able to pay it off after he collected the insurance and have a lot left over.

[Ellen Brawley]

You're wrong. You don't know my father.

[Johnny Dollar]

No, I don't. Do you know who holds that mortgage?

[Ellen Brawley]

A woman named Lu Tang.

[Johnny Dollar]

That's right, Ben. And owner, Shanghai Lu. She owns a nightclub up in Chinatown. Quite a girl. You know it very well. All right, Ellen, let's quit circling around and get to the point. What's on your mind?

[Ellen Brawley]

I Don't know nothing, really. I guess I just wanted to tell you that you're wrong about my father. I mean, if the Molly K was sunk deliberately, he had no part in it.

[Johnny Dollar]

I'll make a note of that. Even though your opinion may be a little bit prejudiced.

[Ellen Brawley]

Well, are you leaving?

[Johnny Dollar]

Might be a good idea, don't you think?

[Ellen Brawley]

Wait. Johnny.

[Johnny Dollar]

Yeah?

[Ellen Brawley]

I was sort of hoping we'd be friends, maybe.

[Johnny Dollar]

Oh, I feel very friendly toward you.

[Ellen Brawley]

Do you, Johnny? As much as. As much as this? That much, Johnny?

[Johnny Dollar]

That's pretty friendly.

[Ellen Brawley]

I told you, I call my own shots.

[Johnny Dollar]

I know. But you didn't tell me you're engaged to Dean Sutton. I found that out from a newspaper file.

[Ellen Brawley]

It was all a mistake. It's his idea.

[Johnny Dollar]

I thought you always called your own shots.

[Ellen Brawley]

Don't go, Johnny. I promised you on the phone that if you came, you wouldn't be sorry.

[Johnny Dollar]

I'm not. Good night, Owen. Outside on the pier, the fog was thicker than ever. The wharf lights were dim glows in the swirl of mist. And sounds, even close ones, were muffled and hollow. I couldn't figure Alan Brawley, at least not completely, where she stood in this. And the reason for the pitch she'd made. I left the pier and turned west along the embarcadero.

[Dave Borger]

Mr. Dollar, over here. Get out of the light. Evening, sir.

[Johnny Dollar]

You're out late, Mr. Hawkins.

[Dave Borger]

Well, I. I was waiting around. I kind of wanted to talk to you. I saw you come in the taxicab earlier.

[Johnny Dollar]

All right, let's talk.

[Dave Borger]

I hope you don't hold it against me jumping up in the hearing room that way, But I was scared.

[Johnny Dollar]

Scared of what, Mr. Hawkins?

[Dave Borger]

I don't rightly know. That's the trouble. But there's something strange going on, Mr. Dollar, and it ain't safe for a man to let on he notices. The whole crew feels the same way. That's why they ain't talking about it.

[Johnny Dollar]

About what?

[Dave Borger]

Things that's happened. Things that ain't been brought out yet. And I wouldn't be talking neither, if Bill Mack hadn't been a mighty good friend of mine.

[Johnny Dollar]

Bill Mack? He was one of the two men who went down with the ship.

[Dave Borger]

That he did. May he rest in peace. But you're wrong, Mr. Dollar. There wasn't two men. Bill was only one.

[Johnny Dollar]

What?

[Dave Borger]

That Chinese steward, Benny Wong. He didn't drown. He was in that lifeboat that got.

[Johnny Dollar]

To shore then the men in the boat knew it. Why didn't they say so?

[Dave Borger]

They were scared to. He disappeared later, and they was all Scared to say anything. I don't know what's happened to them since.

[Johnny Dollar]

Here. Back of this wall. Keep your head down. I crouched behind the concrete tide wall, my gun drawn, and peered into the darkness, trying to catch some sign of movement behind the blanket, listening for some faint sound that might be the giveaway. Nothing. And to go hunting in those shadows against somebody who knew the waterfront would be about as healthy as stepping out in front of a truck.

[Dave Borger]

I gotta get out of here, Mr. Dollar. I gotta get away from here.

[Johnny Dollar]

Hawkins, wait.

[Dave Borger]

I ain't doing any more talking. And it won't do you no good to ask. They know every move a man makes. I got nothing more to say. All I want is to stay alive.

[Johnny Dollar]

So that was that fear again. He was scared to death, and I couldn't very well blame him. That shot had come close. But there was one thing Hawkins hadn't thought of. I had. And I didn't like the thought that bullet might not have been meant for him. It could have been aimed at me.

[Bob Bailey]

Now here's our star, Bob Bailey, to tell you about tomorrow's episode of this story.

[Johnny Dollar]

Thanks. Tomorrow night we find out that a dead man can tell a tale. It all depends on how he died. Join us, won't you? Yours truly, Johnny Dollar.

[Bob Bailey]

Yours truly, Johnny Dollars. Transcribed in Hollywood Written by Les Crutchfield the entire production is under the direction of Jack Johnstone. Be sure to join us tomorrow night, same time and station, for the next exciting episode of Yours truly, Johnny Dollar. Roy Rowan speaking from Hollywood. It's time now for Bob Bailey as Johnny Dollar.

[Ellen Brawley]

Guess who? Johnny?

[Johnny Dollar]

Lou. Lou Tang.

[Ellen Brawley]

When they told me you had called, my heart jump and beat faster. It has been a long time.

[Johnny Dollar]

Too long. Look, I want to see you. Lou.

[Ellen Brawley]

Where are you? They only gave me a phone number.

[Johnny Dollar]

It's a waterfront bar. Foot of Drum Street. Sailors hangout.

[Ellen Brawley]

Then I'll call a taxi.

[Johnny Dollar]

No, wait there. I've got a drunk on my hands.

[Ellen Brawley]

Well, get rid of him or of her.

[Johnny Dollar]

Can't do it, honey. This is a valuable drunk. You wait. I'll get there as soon as I can. And look, will you do me a favor, Lou?

[Ellen Brawley]

Anything you want, Johnny.

[Johnny Dollar]

Well, there's a man named Benny Wong. I think he's been hiding out in Chinatown for the last two days. Can you find him for me?

[Ellen Brawley]

So that is why you're here. The sinking of the Marley K. That's right, Lou. Too bad, Johnny. I sorry to hear that. Awfully sorry.

[Bob Bailey]

Tonight at every weekday night, Bob Bailey and the transcribed Adventures of the man with the action packed expense account, America's fabulous freelance insurance investigator, yours truly, Johnny Dollar.

[Johnny Dollar]

From special investigator Johnny Dollar, location, San Francisco to the home office Marine and Maritime Casualty Limited, Hartford, Connecticut. Assignment, the Molly K matter. Expense account continued item 5, $11. Even drinks consumed by one Josiah Hawkins, able bodied seaman, last berth, ship's carpenter on the freighter Molly Kay. And Hawkins was scared, scared half to death. So the fear worked against the liquor and the drinks weren't doing much good.

[Dave Borger]

Who was you talking to on the phone?

[Johnny Dollar]

A friend.

[Dave Borger]

You say anything about me? About me being with you?

[Johnny Dollar]

Nope. How about another drink, Mr. Hawkins?

[Dave Borger]

I had enough. What's the name of your friend? Mr. Dowler.

[Johnny Dollar]

Oh, you wouldn't know her. Just a girl I know here in town.

[Dave Borger]

Oh, a girl.

[Johnny Dollar]

Mr. Hawkins, did Bill Mack have a girl? Yes.

[Dave Borger]

He got himself engaged to a girl at. I know what you're aiming at, Mr. Dollar. You're trying to play on my sympathy.

[Johnny Dollar]

He was your friend, that he was.

[Dave Borger]

One of the best.

[Johnny Dollar]

And now he's dead. Drowned in the Pacific when the Molly K went down. However, Sanker is responsible for his death. You can help me if you would.

[Dave Borger]

It wouldn't bring him back. And I gotta think of myself.

[Johnny Dollar]

You're in more danger before you talk than you'd be afterwards. The whole idea is to keep you from talking, huh? Sure.

[Dave Borger]

There's sense in that, all right.

[Johnny Dollar]

Somebody shot at you out there on the docks, tried to kill you. You'll never be safe as long as they're running loose.

[Dave Borger]

Well, Mr. Hawkins, the Molly K was sunk deliberate. We're sure of that. All of us that was aboarder. Things just wasn't right even before it happened.

[Johnny Dollar]

What things?

[Dave Borger]

Well, that fire for one, 10 days ago. The fire first time we started out for Yokohama. Bill Mack was the one that discovered it.

[Johnny Dollar]

Did Mack think the fire had been set?

[Dave Borger]

That he did. He told the captain that. And you know what happened, Mr. Dollar?

[Johnny Dollar]

What happened?

[Dave Borger]

Captain Brawley knocked him down the bridge ladder. Told him to keep his mouth shut and not go around spreading wild rumors.

[Johnny Dollar]

All right, the second time he sailed. What happened?

[Dave Borger]

Well, soon as we cleared the gate and headed out to sea, Bill and me was on watch. He had me cover for him while he sneaked down in the hole to see what he could find out. He still hadn't come back when it happened. I. I think you was right, Mr. Dollar. What you said at the hearing.

[Johnny Dollar]

What do you mean?

[Dave Borger]

We didn't hit no derelict. An explosion, that's what it was. In the bottom of the forard hole somewheres I was on the bow deck right above it when it happened.

[Johnny Dollar]

What about that Chinese steward? The one who got ashore and then disappeared? Did you notice anything special about him?

[Dave Borger]

Benny Wong?

[Johnny Dollar]

Yeah.

[Dave Borger]

No. We was only a couple hours out of port. I don't even remember seeing him. One thing, though, that seemed kind of funny at the time.

[Johnny Dollar]

What was that?

[Dave Borger]

The first mate done all the hiring for this train. Same as always. Just one exception. Benny Wong was hired on by Captain Brawley himself. And something else, Mr. Dollar. About Bill Mack being drowned. He was wrong about that.

[Johnny Dollar]

Bill Mack is alive? No.

[Dave Borger]

No, he was dead before the Molly K ever sunk.

[Johnny Dollar]

What?

[Dave Borger]

I went looking for him as soon as it happened. And I found him down on the lower boat deck lying in a pool of blood. Somebody cut his throat. I'll have another drink now.

[Johnny Dollar]

I sat there looking at him across the table, not saying anything. There was nothing I could say. Bill Mack had been his friend. I thought over what he just told me, tried to fit it in with what I already knew. It didn't add up to an answer yet, not quite. But I was close, and it was getting closer all the time.

[Dave Borger]

Mr. Dollar, it's him. Captain Brawley over there. He just come in?

[Johnny Dollar]

Yeah, he's seen us, too.

[Dave Borger]

He's coming over this way. I gotta get out of here.

[Johnny Dollar]

Sit down, Mr. Hawkins. He won't start any.

[Dave Borger]

You don't know him. You don't know how he is when he gets mad.

[Johnny Dollar]

No, but it looks like I'm gonna find out.

[Captain Edgar Brawley]

Well, Hawkins, seems like you're not very particular about the company you keep.

[Johnny Dollar]

Neither am I, Captain. Pull up a chair.

[Captain Edgar Brawley]

What are you up to? Dollar offering him a bribe to testify against me.

[Johnny Dollar]

Don't need to. There's enough against you already.

[Captain Edgar Brawley]

Yeah, there will be, more than likely when you and them smart company lawyers get through. You Insurance people are all alike. You're right there to collect when it's due you, but you squirm when it comes to paying off.

[Johnny Dollar]

Well, now, that depends on the circumstances, Captain. And in this case. Well, I wouldn't go spending that money yet if I were you.

[Captain Edgar Brawley]

That's what you've been telling them, huh?

[Johnny Dollar]

When I've got anything to tell, I'll tell it to the courts.

[Captain Edgar Brawley]

Yeah, along with anybody else you can turn against me. Like my own daughter, for instance. She even sneaked around, tried to turn her against me. Not that that took much doing. And Dean Sutton, owner of the cargo. But there's a limit to what a man will take. Dollar and I took enough already. Now, you Better quit pushing me. I'm warning you.

[Johnny Dollar]

Oh, yeah? Well, take your warning and stick it where it'll do the most good. You've been trying to block every attempt I've made to get to the bottom of this thing. You've dragged your feet every step of the way. Deliberately.

[Captain Edgar Brawley]

$. Nobody talks to me like that.

[Johnny Dollar]

Then it's time somebody did. I think you're in this thing right up to your big fat neck. And if you are, I'm gonna pin it on you. Not just for swindling. If you are behind the sinking of the Molly K, I'll see to it that you stand trial for murder, too.

[Captain Edgar Brawley]

I warned you once, Mr. Daler.

[Johnny Dollar]

All right, Captain, learn it the hard way.

[Dave Borger]

Watch out, he's grabbing a bottle. Come and get it, Dollar.

[Johnny Dollar]

Sorry, the party's over right now. You better get out of here, Hawkins. He's not gonna feel very friendly when he comes to him.

[Dave Borger]

You're the only man I ever seen stand up to him, Mr. Dollar.

[Johnny Dollar]

There was one other one. I left Captain Brawley lying there on the floor. They were throwing water on him when I walked out. I hadn't wanted the fight, but there'd been no choice. And it had given me one new fact to fit in. The captain's coat fell open when he hit the floor. And I saw he was packing a gun. Expense account. Item 6. 80 cents. A taxi fare to Chinatown. And a rendezvous with Lu Tang, Shanghai. Luke. A strange woman, this one. Wise, shrewd and alert. Hard and tough when she feels that way. Soft as a kitten when she feels that way. Her nationality, history, age. Nothing certain about any of that. But there's one thing that is certain. She's the most beautiful woman I've ever known.

[Ellen Brawley]

It is good to see you, Johnny. How long has it been?

[Johnny Dollar]

Last year, Lou, in Paris. How could you forget?

[Ellen Brawley]

I didn't forget. I only wanted to see if you had. Kiss me. Johnny.

[Johnny Dollar]

I came here to talk business.

[Ellen Brawley]

Oh, business. I don't feel like talking business.

[Johnny Dollar]

Simmer down, baby.

[Ellen Brawley]

Let's get married.

[Johnny Dollar]

All right, but first, let's. Tomorrow. Now.

[Ellen Brawley]

Why not tonight?

[Johnny Dollar]

It's too late. We'd have to wake somebody up.

[Ellen Brawley]

Always problems, reasons. I don't think you even want to marry me.

[Johnny Dollar]

Sure I do. I've been mad, too, for years.

[Ellen Brawley]

Then why didn't you? In Paris?

[Johnny Dollar]

It's no time to go into that again. Look, I'm on a case, a rough one. And it's just possible that you may be mixed up in it.

[Ellen Brawley]

Johnny, I did not sink the Molly case. So there you are. That takes care of the business. Let's get married.

[Johnny Dollar]

Will you sit back down there. That does not take care of the business.

[Ellen Brawley]

What more do you want to know?

[Johnny Dollar]

Several things. Benny Wong, for instance.

[Ellen Brawley]

That man you asked me about.

[Johnny Dollar]

Yeah? They said he went down with a Molly K. But I found out different from one of the crew.

[Ellen Brawley]

I've not found Benny yet, but I have people looking. So why don't you and I. Lou.

[Johnny Dollar]

I've known you too long. You're not fooling me.

[Ellen Brawley]

Fooling you?

[Johnny Dollar]

The patter is good, but it's not covering the fact that you're bothered.

[Ellen Brawley]

You've always bothered me, Johnny.

[Johnny Dollar]

That's not it. How do you figure in this thing, Lou?

[Ellen Brawley]

I don't really know what you mean by this thing, Johnny.

[Johnny Dollar]

You had a pretty heavy stake in The Molly K. $100,000 mortgage loaned to Captain Brawley.

[Ellen Brawley]

A sound business deal, that's all. I have investments in many ships that sail out of San Francisco.

[Johnny Dollar]

Ah. And of course the investment was covered by insurance.

[Ellen Brawley]

Naturally I made sure of that before I advanced the loan. Don't let the soft brown eyes fool you, Johnny. I'm a hard headed businesswoman.

[Johnny Dollar]

Yeah, I know.

[Ellen Brawley]

Was a business deal. Nothing else. Showed every chance of being a profitable voyage. He was carrying a cargo of wheat. The Tokyo grain market has been advancing steadily for three months. As to what happened, I don't know anything about it. I don't understand it. That's straight, Johnny. That's all I know.

[Johnny Dollar]

What about this fellow Dean Sutton? Do you know him, Lou?

[Ellen Brawley]

I've met him. I understand he's engaged to Captain Brawley. Daughter. But beyond. Pardon me a moment. I see who it is.

[Johnny Dollar]

The visitor was a young Chinese lad. She stepped outside to talk to him and I lit a cigarette and waited for her. I thought over what she'd said, tried to see behind it and to decide whether to believe it or not. Liu Tang was not a person you could push. I stood up when she came back into the room.

[Ellen Brawley]

You're not leaving, Johnny?

[Johnny Dollar]

Yeah, I think I'd better.

[Ellen Brawley]

While you see me tomorrow.

[Johnny Dollar]

You know I will.

[Ellen Brawley]

What if I were mixed up in this? Would you send me to jail?

[Johnny Dollar]

You know the answer.

[Ellen Brawley]

Yes. And you're the only man I know who would.

[Johnny Dollar]

I'd be gentle about it, though.

[Ellen Brawley]

I think you really would. You're sweet, Johnny. Awfully sweet.

[Johnny Dollar]

I'm a doll.

[Ellen Brawley]

I made up my mind to take no part in this. To stay completely out of it. But I'm going to tell you something. What do you Mean that man who just came to the door. I've had him out looking for Benny Wong.

[Johnny Dollar]

Has he found him?

[Ellen Brawley]

Not yet. But he's found out something about him. Johnny, if the Malikay was sunk on purpose, how do you think it was done?

[Johnny Dollar]

By an explosion in the bottom of the fort hold.

[Ellen Brawley]

Benny Wong was a demolition sergeant during World War II. He's rather well known as an expert on expl.

[Bob Bailey]

Now, here's our star, Bob Bailey, to tell you about tomorrow's episode of this story.

[Johnny Dollar]

Thanks. Tomorrow night, a double cross, a double play and a lovely girl forces the jealous sea to give up its dead. Join us, won't you? Yours truly, Johnny Dollar.

[Bob Bailey]

Yours truly, Johnny Dollars. Transcribed in Hollywood Written by Les Crutchfield. The entire production is under the direction of Jack Johnstone. Be sure to join us tomorrow night, same time and same station, for the next exciting episode of Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar. Roy Rowan speaking from Hollywood. It's time now for Bob Bailey as Johnny Duller.

[Dean Sutton]

Hi, Johnny. Dan McKay, Harbor Police.

[Johnny Dollar]

Dan, I was planning to drop by and see you about the sinking of the Molly K, but I've been pretty busy since I got here.

[Dean Sutton]

Yeah, so I've heard. Johnny, you're under arrest.

[Johnny Dollar]

What did I do? Park in a red zone? Walk in the grass?

[Dean Sutton]

I'm not kidding. I mean it.

[Johnny Dollar]

Oh. What's the charge?

[Dean Sutton]

Let's see. Assault and battery, aggravated assault, assault with intent to do bodily injury.

[Johnny Dollar]

Hold it, Dan. That's enough.

[Dean Sutton]

But you want to know who signed it.

[Johnny Dollar]

I already know.

[Dean Sutton]

That's practically an admission of guilt. You know that.

[Johnny Dollar]

But I've got witnesses.

[Dean Sutton]

So is he, huh? I think you'd better come down and talk about it.

[Johnny Dollar]

Or you'll send out the wagon, is that it?

[Dean Sutton]

I'm serious, Johnny.

[Johnny Dollar]

All right, Dan. I'll be down.

[Bob Bailey]

Tonight. And every weekday night, Bob Bailey in the transcribed adventures of the man with the action packed expense account. America's fabulous freelance insurance investigator.

[Johnny Dollar]

Yours truly, Johnny Dollar. From special investigator Johnny Dollar, location San Francisco to the home office Marine and Maritime Casualty Limited, Hartford, Connecticut. Assignment, the Molly K. Matter expense account continued. Item seven, a mere 60 cents taxi from my hotel to the foot of Market street and headquarters of Inspector Dan McKay in charge of Harbor Police. I'd known Dan for years, well enough to realize that knowing him wouldn't make any difference, not when he had a warrant to serve. I knew the charge wouldn't stick, of course, but it could slow me down. And I figured that was exactly why it had been filed.

[Dean Sutton]

You may be right, Johnny. Maybe Captain Brawley did file Charges just for nuisance value. Keep you out of his way for a day or two.

[Johnny Dollar]

That's exactly what he did.

[Dean Sutton]

Nevertheless, the charge was filed and a warrant has been issued. So what are you gonna do about it?

[Johnny Dollar]

I know what I'd like to do about it.

[Dean Sutton]

Uh, that's against the law too. You know. You could be wrong. Johnny Brawley may not be guilty of the Molly case sinking.

[Johnny Dollar]

I told you the whole story, Dan. The facts add up. What do you think?

[Dean Sutton]

I think you've got an awful strong case. But it's still based on circumstantial evidence.

[Johnny Dollar]

Well, what else is there to base it on? The rest of the evidence is out past the harbor there. Out beyond the Golden Gate. A mile below the surface of the Pacific.

[Dean Sutton]

Yeah, yeah, I know. Most of the cases we handle here in the Harbor Division are like that.

[Johnny Dollar]

Well, then you can see the problem I'm up against.

[Dean Sutton]

Yeah, I can see it, all right. That's a big harbor out there, Johnny. Biggest natural harbor in the world. A lot of square miles of water, a lot of miles of shoreline.

[Johnny Dollar]

And a lot of ways of covering up a crime.

[Dean Sutton]

As far as to speak. Disposing of physical evidence. It's true. Body can be thrown into the bay, a weapon, so on. Sometimes we recover it, sometimes we don't. It's tough, Johnny.

[Johnny Dollar]

Yeah, I imagine.

[Dean Sutton]

Real tough. Hey, that's the SS Maritonia arriving from Ceylon, Java, the Philippines. She'll dock at Pier 14. The cargo is probably spices. Mahogany, raw, Oregon.

[Johnny Dollar]

Nice looking ship.

[Dean Sutton]

Beautiful. They drive me crazy, Johnny, watching them here from the window. I should have gone to sea. Oh, well. Anyway, since we don't have physical evidence in a lot of cases, we've learned to rely on other things.

[Johnny Dollar]

Such as?

[Dean Sutton]

The human elements. Johnny, you've turned up a lot of facts. True. You've made a good deal more progress on this case than I have.

[Johnny Dollar]

Than you have. What do you mean?

[Dean Sutton]

Tim O'Rourke sent me the report of the inquiry board. I've been working on the case ever since. Now, you got a pretty convincing bunch of facts. But I know Captain Brawley. By reputation at least.

[Johnny Dollar]

Look, Dan, I know what you're getting at. People who know Brawley think he's honest. O'Rourke said the same thing.

[Dean Sutton]

Right? Tough, hard, violent temper. A slave driver, but not a crook.

[Johnny Dollar]

An honest man can get under pressure sometimes get pushed beyond his depth. It happens every day.

[Dean Sutton]

Yeah, yeah, but Johnny, even then, he reacts according to his pattern. Here's what I'm getting at. That murder on board the Molly K. Just before she sank, you said Hawkins told you the man had been knifed. Now, I can see Brawley slugging somebody with fist, club or a bottle, or even shooting a man, but not a knife. It's not in his nature. That's what I mean by human elements.

[Johnny Dollar]

And you're right, Dan. I agree with you. I don't think it was Brawley who killed him. Here's the way I see it. Brawley was pressed for cash. The mortgage on his ship was due in 30 days. He was carrying that grain for Dean Sutton on a contingency basis. He might not make any money, or at least not enough. He was probably doing it as a favor to his daughter. She and Dean Sutton are engaged.

[Dean Sutton]

Yeah, I know, Jim.

[Johnny Dollar]

For the first time out, he tried setting that fire on board. It didn't work. One of the crew, Bill Mack, discovered it before it got started. The Molly K returned to port and Brawley filed an insurance claim. Then he got scared off an investigation and withdrew it.

[Dean Sutton]

That's all guesswork, Johnny.

[Johnny Dollar]

So far, his second attempt. He contacted an expert on explosives, Benny Wong. And Benny pulled off the job for him. Blew the bottom out of the ship and sank it.

[Dean Sutton]

And what about the knifing?

[Johnny Dollar]

Well, Bill Mack was suspicious. He was prowling around the hold and caught Benny in the act of setting the explosive. Benny killed him, figuring the sinking would cover for him. But by accident, Hawkins stumbled onto the body before the ship went down.

[Dean Sutton]

Well, that adds up, Johnny. It's hard to argue with you. I just can't see a captain sinking his own ship.

[Johnny Dollar]

It's been done before.

[Dean Sutton]

Yeah, I know.

[Johnny Dollar]

Not everybody feels about them the way you do, Dan. And a half million is a lot of money.

[Dean Sutton]

That's true. But 25 years of command means a lot too Deep sense of responsibility, integrity. Now. Pardon me, Inspector McKay. Oh, yeah. Just a moment. It's for you, Johnny.

[Johnny Dollar]

It was Lu Tang. Shanghai Lu. She'd called the hotel and found out where to reach me. For once, she didn't try to play games. She spoke briefly and straight to the point. And she told me what I wanted to know the most. When I hung up, I knew I was on the last lap. I had the case right in my hand.

[Dean Sutton]

Well, what's up, Johnny?

[Johnny Dollar]

What is it, Dan? How would you like to come along and talk to the man who blew up the Molly K? Item 8, 80 cents. Another taxi, a short run from the foot of Market to Fisherman's Wharf. Lu Tang spies had told her Benny Wong was holed up in a back room of The Fasong Fish Company out on the docks. And they said he was scared, armed and dangerous.

[Dean Sutton]

There's the Fasong layout, Johnny. Right there. The warehouse on the end.

[Johnny Dollar]

Yeah. Well, let's go around the gangway. Liu Tang said the room is on the back corner.

[Dean Sutton]

Say, Johnny, why don't you wait here? Let me take him. This kind of thing is part of my job.

[Johnny Dollar]

But he's my pigeon, Dan. I found him first. There's a door at the back. That must be it.

[Dean Sutton]

Yeah. Only one it could be.

[Johnny Dollar]

Besides, I'm under arrest. If you left me alone, I might escape. Yeah.

[Dean Sutton]

Yeah, sure. You got a gun, Jim?

[Johnny Dollar]

Yeah.

[Dean Sutton]

All right, let's go.

[Johnny Dollar]

We moved quietly up to the blank wooden door opening onto the gangway over the water. There were no windows in the back wall, so we were certain we weren't being watched from inside. We stopped at the door and McKay reached for the knob and tried it gently.

[Dean Sutton]

It's unlocked. Good. You ready?

[Johnny Dollar]

Go ahead. Hey. What? Bullet.

[Dean Sutton]

Police officer.

[Johnny Dollar]

That gun. Drop it. Fast.

[Dean Sutton]

This doesn't look much like Benny Wong, Johnny.

[Johnny Dollar]

No, it doesn't. Now look here. What do you do, Dean? Go around with a gun in your hand all the time? You're making a mistake. $I don't know any more about this than you do. Any more about what? What are you doing here, Dean?

[Dean Sutton]

Never mind, Johnny. Here's what he means, huh?

[Johnny Dollar]

Well, so we don't talk to Benny.

[Dean Sutton]

Shot three times.

[Johnny Dollar]

Yeah.

[Dean Sutton]

Any one of the bullets would have done the job.

[Johnny Dollar]

You weren't taking any chances, were you, Dean? I didn't shoot him. I just got here. How did you know where he was hiding? I didn't. I didn't know anything about him. I got a phone call. Somebody said to meet them here. Said they gave me the lowdown and the singing of the Molly K. What? Somebody. Who was it? I don't know. Man or woman? Man, I think. Voice was muffled. So I came here to meet them. And we find you standing over a dead man with a gun in your hand. I found him like that. I figured it was a trap. I don't know anything about it. Oh, no, of course you don't. You're just a babe in the woods.

[Dean Sutton]

Hold it, Johnny. Barking up a wrong tree.

[Johnny Dollar]

What do you mean?

[Dean Sutton]

This man's been dead for several hours. Since early morning, I'd say. And he was shot with a.45. This gun of Sutton is a.32.

[Johnny Dollar]

So that's that.

[Dean Sutton]

Johnny, what was the caliber of the gun you saw Captain Brawley wearing?

[Johnny Dollar]

A.45.

[Dean Sutton]

Dan, I'll put out a bullet and we'll pick him up.

[Johnny Dollar]

Wind up. The bets were all in. There was nothing more ahead with Dan. Tore up the warrant on me, of course, and I went back to my hotel room to wait it out. That seemed the safest place to be. Brawley would be desperate now, half out of his mind. And of all the people he hated most, I was number one. So I lay back on my bed and waited. I reached my gun from the lamp table, moved quietly over to the door and took hold of the key. Oh, is it?

[Ellen Brawley]

Let me in, Johnny.

[Johnny Dollar]

Ellen. Just a second. Come on in.

[Ellen Brawley]

Has he been here? Johnny?

[Johnny Dollar]

Has who been here?

[Ellen Brawley]

My father.

[Johnny Dollar]

The last time I saw the captain, he was lying unconscious on a bar room floor. I just put him there. That was last night.

[Ellen Brawley]

Yes, I know.

[Johnny Dollar]

What made you think he'd be here?

[Ellen Brawley]

I don't know. Guess. I thought. I don't know what I thought.

[Johnny Dollar]

Oh, easy now, honey.

[Ellen Brawley]

I'm scared, Johnny. Hold me, please. I'm so lonely and scared.

[Johnny Dollar]

It's all right, Ellen. Easy now.

[Ellen Brawley]

He came home last night after he fought with you. He was furious. Then he left again, and I haven't seen him since.

[Johnny Dollar]

Does he have his gun with him?

[Ellen Brawley]

I guess so. I don't know. I don't know anything. Help me, Johnny, won't you?

[Johnny Dollar]

Of course I will.

[Ellen Brawley]

Hold me tight. Kiss me. Last night, when you kissed me, I wasn't scared then. I was lonely.

[Johnny Dollar]

Look, honey, would you hold me?

[Ellen Brawley]

Johnny.

[Johnny Dollar]

Wait a second. Johnny Dollar.

[Dean Sutton]

Dan McKay. Johnny.

[Johnny Dollar]

Yeah, Dan.

[Dean Sutton]

We picked up Raleigh on the waterfront half an hour ago. Thought you'd want to know.

[Johnny Dollar]

What's he say?

[Dean Sutton]

Denies everything. Says he was home asleep all night. Says his daughter will back him up.

[Johnny Dollar]

Uh, I happen to know different on that.

[Dean Sutton]

Yeah, I figured he was lying. We'd already been out to his house, found his gun. He's been fired three times, Johnny. And the bullets match.

[Johnny Dollar]

When Ellen Brawley left my room a while later, I still hadn't told her about her father's arrest. I didn't have the heart. She tried her best to protect him, cover for him. She'd have done anything to save him. And yet the irony was that every move she'd made helped tighten the case against him. The scent of her perfume still hung in the air after she'd gone. It was a strange scent. Subtle. Disturbing. I began to feel uncomfortable, on edge. There was something familiar about that scent. And finally I tagged it. I'd noticed that same perfume in the room on the wharf where Benny Wong lay. Murder.

[Bob Bailey]

Now, here's our star, Bob Bailey, to tell you about tomorrow's episode of this story.

[Johnny Dollar]

Thanks. Tomorrow night, a deadly rendezvous on the fog shrouded waterfront and an explosion that rocked the city. The payoff. Join us, won't you? Yours truly, Johnny Doll.

[Bob Bailey]

Yours truly, Johnny Dollars. Transcribed in Hollywood written by Les Crutchfield. The entire production is under the direction of Jack Johnstone. Be sure to join us tomorrow night, same time and station, for the next exciting episode of Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar. Roy Rowan speaking from Hollywood. It's time now for Bob Bailey as Johnny Dollar.

[Ellen Brawley]

Johnny, I've got it for you.

[Johnny Dollar]

Liu Tang. Good. What did you find out?

[Ellen Brawley]

That prices on the Tokyo grain market did break suddenly about three weeks ago.

[Johnny Dollar]

Three weeks? Uh huh.

[Ellen Brawley]

Reason oversupply. The price has been holding since at about 60% of the peak.

[Johnny Dollar]

A 40% drop big enough to cause the damage.

[Ellen Brawley]

What damage?

[Johnny Dollar]

The sinking of the Molly K. A double cross, A frame up, murder. It's as clear as crystal.

[Ellen Brawley]

Lou, come see me later tonight. Tell me all about it.

[Johnny Dollar]

All right.

[Ellen Brawley]

At any rate, come on, tell me about something.

[Johnny Dollar]

About a certain night at Paris maybe.

[Ellen Brawley]

I think I'd like that very much. Johnny.

[Johnny Dollar]

Wait for me, Lou. I'll be there later. You can count on it.

[Bob Bailey]

Tonight and every weekday night, Bob Bailey in the transcribed adventures of the man with the action packed expense account. America's fabulous freelance insurance investigators.

[Johnny Dollar]

Yours truly, Johnny Dollar. From special investigator Johnny Dollar, location San Francisco to the home office. Marine and Maritime Casualty Limited, Hartford, Connecticut. Assignment, the Molly K. Matter expense account. Final page item 9, 770 long distance calls to Hartford in New York. I was pretty sure before I called, but I had to check on it. It checked. Item 10, 80 cents. Taxi from my hotel to the waterfront office of Inspector Dan McKay, Harbor Police.

[Dean Sutton]

It's a funny deal, Johnny. I can't figure. Captain Brawley is clammed up tight. Won't answer any more questions. Doesn't want a lawyer, won't even talk. It's a funny deal.

[Johnny Dollar]

Not when you consider the fact that he's innocent.

[Dave Borger]

What?

[Johnny Dollar]

What you say. I know. I argued the opposite. I was wrong, Dan.

[Dean Sutton]

What is it, Johnny? Just plain stubbornness?

[Johnny Dollar]

No, but that's what it is with Captain Brawley. Maybe that's the tip off his stubborn bullheadedness. The human elements you mentioned.

[Dean Sutton]

How you figuring it?

[Johnny Dollar]

If Brawley were in a money jam, he'd never scheme and connive at planning a thing like that of sinking his own ship. He's too stubborn. And besides, he wasn't in a jam. I'm sure of it.

[Dean Sutton]

Well, now, wait a minute. He had $100,000 mortgage to meet.

[Johnny Dollar]

I finagled some information out of the bank. The Brawley Shipping Company has a free balance of nearly $150,000 in cash.

[Dean Sutton]

Look here, Johnny.

[Johnny Dollar]

Now, you look. I started out with a motive, and I built a pretty strong case on it. Even you agreed everything pointed toward Captain Brawley. Sure, because somebody was helping things point toward him.

[Dean Sutton]

What do you mean?

[Johnny Dollar]

It wasn't just the ship itself that was insured.

[Dean Sutton]

I'm still lost, Johnny. Keep talking.

[Johnny Dollar]

All right, look. That cargo of grain was also insured by the owner with another company, not mine. And for top market value, full price.

[Dean Sutton]

Keep talking.

[Johnny Dollar]

All right. The Tokyo grain market broke just four days before the Molly K was due to sale the first time. The shipper stood to lose nearly half his investment if the grain reached Yokohama at that time. Well, it didn't reach there. It's lying out there in the bottom of the Pacific. Net result. Instead of taking a loss because of price, the shipper gets full price from the insurance company. It adds up, Dan.

[Dean Sutton]

Yeah, it sure does. The shipper.

[Johnny Dollar]

I think Captain Brawley suspected him, too. That's what kept the old captain on the prod. His ship gone under suspicion for the sinking, yet not wanting to hurt his daughter. He was caught right in the middle. But keep on holding him to make it look like we still think he's the guilty party.

[Dean Sutton]

Well, it's that girl of his I feel sorry for. Ellen. She's the one caught in the middle.

[Johnny Dollar]

Yeah, I know. And it's gonna be rough on her when she finds out. Engaged to a killer who's been using her to smash her own father. Great setup.

[Dean Sutton]

Yeah. Well, I get a bulletin out, we'll pick up this Dean Sutton and bring him in. But you know something? It's gonna be awful hard to pin it on him. Need evidence, something definite.

[Johnny Dollar]

Look, why don't you let me have a go at him first?

[Dean Sutton]

Outside of the question, Johnny. Of course, if you should happen to find him before we do.

[Johnny Dollar]

Well, yeah, I might just do that, Dan. In fact, I've kind of got a hunch I will. It was a hunch, but it might be a good one. I left Dan's office and walked east along the waterfront, following the long curve of the Embarcadero with its miles of docks and wharves. The night had settled down over the bay in the city. And with it a dark, damp blanket of fog even heavier than the night before. And because of that and other reasons, I felt cold and lonesome and alone. I turned off the Embarcadero and walked out Pier 29. I was about 30 yards from the Brawley warehouse when I was suddenly brought up short on the water. Below me, tied to a wharf piling, was a light cabin cruiser rocking gently with a swell. It had no business being there. Pier 29 was a commercial berth. My hunch was right. I moved quietly to the edge of the wharf and stood watching the little cruiser. For several minutes there was no sign of life, no sound. Finally, I climbed over the dock rail, down the wharf ladder and stepped onto the deck. Still no sound, no movement. I moved over to the companionway door leading down below decks and reached out my hand for the latch. Then I stopped short, caught suddenly by a sharp feeling of danger. It wasn't a sense of being watched. It was deeper, more subtle, more vague. I tried to shake it off, reach again for the latch. Then the boat shifted slightly and the dim glow from the wharf light overhead moved across the hatchway door. Inches in front of my face, I saw the glint of bare copper wires, all set to make contact if the door was open. One more move and I'd have been blown sky high. That boat was booby trapped. There was a light burning in the office of the Brawley Shipping Company. I knocked on the door, drew my gun, Then I stepped back and waited. I leveled the gun on the door.

[Ellen Brawley]

Johnny.

[Johnny Dollar]

Are you alone, Ellen?

[Ellen Brawley]

Yes, of course.

[Johnny Dollar]

Come on, let's get inside.

[Ellen Brawley]

What is it, Johnny?

[Johnny Dollar]

Have you seen Dean Sutton tonight?

[Ellen Brawley]

I tried to find him, but I couldn't. My father's been arrested, charged with murder.

[Johnny Dollar]

Yeah, I know, honey.

[Ellen Brawley]

I came here to go over the company records to see if I could find something that might help him. Anything, Ellen, I. Johnny, look. Look at this mess. Somebody's been here. Files dumped in the middle of the floor, papers all over the place.

[Johnny Dollar]

Yeah, looks like they're planning to start a bonfire. Say, tell me something, Ellen. Does Dean Sutton own a boat?

[Ellen Brawley]

Yes. Light cabin cruiser named the Piper. Why?

[Johnny Dollar]

It's tied up at the wharf. He's around here somewhere.

[Ellen Brawley]

Well, what of it? What do you mean?

[Johnny Dollar]

Your father didn't sink the Molly K. Dean Sutton did it.

[Ellen Brawley]

But he wasn't even on board.

[Johnny Dollar]

He didn't have to be. He hired an explosive expert named Benny Wong to do the job. He got your father to take Benny on a Stewart.

[Ellen Brawley]

That's the man they're accusing father of murdering.

[Johnny Dollar]

Dean is the one who did it using your father's gun.

[Ellen Brawley]

But why?

[Johnny Dollar]

To collect the insurance on that cargo of Grain. Oh. Look, I know it's a rough deal, honey, and I know how you feel. But I guess your best bet is to chalk it up to experience. At least your father's in the clear now.

[Ellen Brawley]

I think I sensed it, Johnny. That something was wrong with Dean. Badly wrong. I guess that's why I felt like turning to you instead of him. Why I still feel that way. I think I'm going to cry.

[Johnny Dollar]

Then cry. Cry it out and get it over with. Come here, Ellen. I held her close and tried to comfort her. She pressed her face against my chest and whimpered like a hurt kid. I kept stroking her hair, breathing in the scent of her perfume. Perfume. The same perfume that had hung in the air of the room where Benny Wong was killed. The pieces shifted, fell into place again. The puzzle was finally solved, but too late. Because I could feel the muzzle of the gun. She was pressing against my side.

[Ellen Brawley]

Easy now, Johnny. Turn around slow and get your hands up. That's the idea. I stay that way, I'm a dead shot, Johnny. You doubt it, ask Benny Wong.

[Johnny Dollar]

Right under my nose, right from the start. How wrong can a guy be?

[Ellen Brawley]

As wrong as you were, Johnny.

[Johnny Dollar]

It had to be you. There was no chance for Dean to steal your father's gun and then return it. Not unless you were in on it with him.

[Ellen Brawley]

It was my idea. Dean's too weak to plan a thing like that. He has to be propped up and pushed.

[Johnny Dollar]

And you are just the girl to do it.

[Ellen Brawley]

You ought to know.

[Johnny Dollar]

Yeah, I do now.

[Ellen Brawley]

It's too bad. I like the way you kiss. Any chance of working something out, Johnny? Or are you too honest?

[Johnny Dollar]

So that's it. The next step is to get rid of Dean. And you've already got the trap set.

[Ellen Brawley]

Not yet, but I'll think of something. I'm clever, Johnny. Don't you think so?

[Johnny Dollar]

I heard footsteps coming along the wharf. Dean Sutton. I had only seconds to think of something, so I took a chance. Edged back against the wall, inched over closer to the door.

[Ellen Brawley]

That's far enough. Don't push your luck. There's Dean coming now. He went after some gasoline. We're going to build a nice warm fire, and you're going to have a ringside seat. Come on in, Dean. We've got a visitor.

[Johnny Dollar]

$. What do you know? So you walked right into it. Just like a chance paid off. He walked between us, blocked Ellen's line of fire, and I jumped him. I grabbed him around the neck, held him as a shield, dragged him back out through the door, out to the wharf.

[Ellen Brawley]

Dean Break loose. Let me get a shot at him.

[Johnny Dollar]

I was trying to get clear of the light before Ellen could blast me with that gun. And I made it. But Dean broke loose, giving me swinging. He slipped and snagged up against the dock. The railing broke sp. We went over the side. We struggled back up to the surface. Dean's hands were clenched on my throat, and I couldn't break his grip. Ellen started firing for the warp above us. Not knowing who she'd hit and not caring. I took a deep breath and dragged Dean under the surface. But his hands were still in my throat and I couldn't break loose. My lungs were bursting. My strength was going fast. I brought up my knee. He fell away from me. I was free to fight my way back up to the surface. I swam around in circles, getting my breath, watching for Dean. But he didn't come up. He didn't come up for two days. When I climbed up the ladder under the wharf, Ellen was nowhere in sight. I heard somebody running toward me, saw the flashing red light back at the land end of the pier. And I knew why she'd left. Dan McKay and his boys.

[Dave Borger]

Johnny.

[Johnny Dollar]

Johnny. Over here. Dan.

[Dean Sutton]

Are you all right, Johnny?

[Johnny Dollar]

Yeah, I'm all right. Do you see Ellen Brawley?

[Dean Sutton]

Well, some girl ran up the wharf there, tore that cruiser.

[Johnny Dollar]

That boat's got a booby trap on it. Come on, Dan.

[Dean Sutton]

All right. What's she doing here?

[Johnny Dollar]

She was in on it, too. Dean's in the water. Drowned, I guess.

[Dean Sutton]

Look, there she is, climbing down off the wharf.

[Johnny Dollar]

Ellen, stop.

[Dean Sutton]

She's on the cruiser.

[Johnny Dollar]

No, Ellen.

[Dean Sutton]

She's gonna try.

[Johnny Dollar]

Look out. Get down flat on your face if she opens that hatchback.

[Dean Sutton]

Blown to bits.

[Johnny Dollar]

Booby trap. They had it rigged for me and she. No, she didn't know about it. That wasn't meant for me. They were both pulling a double cross. Dean set that trap for her. End of expense account. Except hotel and plane fare back home. Total $547.60. Well, it looks like the company pays off on this one, Dave. The ship owner was innocent, but you'll make it back. I really feel sorry for Captain Brawley. He commanded his own quarterdeck for 25 years, strong and proud and unafraid. He had a wife once named Molly K. And a ship named Molly K. And he had a daughter, too. And now the sea has taken all of them away from him and left him cast up on the beach. A broken old man better beaten alone. Yours truly, Johnny Doll.

[Bob Bailey]

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

[Johnny Dollar]

Thanks. Next week, the case of a man who didn't exist except for one thing. He suddenly showed up. Join us, won't you? Yours truly, Johnny Doll.

[Bob Bailey]

Yours truly, Johnny Dollar is transcribed in Hollywood. Written by Les Crutchfield. The entire production is under the direction of Jack Johnstone. Heard in this week's cast were Virginia Gregg, Peter Leeds, Barney Phillips, Victor Perrin, James McCallion and High Averback. Be sure to join us on Monday nights, same time and station for another exciting story of yours truly, Johnny Dollar. Roy Rowan, spe.

[Narrator]

We just heard Johnny Dollar in the Molly K matter and that will do it for this bonus episode. Thanks for joining me. I'll be back soon with another five part Johnny Dollar adventure and you can tune in this Sunday for the next regular episode of down these Mean Streets. In the meantime, you can check out Stars on Suspense, my other Old Time Radio podcast. New episodes of that show are out on Thursdays. If you like what you're hearing, don't be a stranger. You can rate and review the show in Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen. And if you'd like to lend support to the show, you can visit buymeacoffee.com meansts OTR. I'll be back next time with more Old Time Radio crime fighters. But until then, good night and happy listening.

[Johnny Dollar]

Now here is our star, Vincent Price. Ladies and gentlemen. In a prejudice filled America, no one would be secure in his job, his business, his church or his home. Yet racial and religious antagonisms are exploited daily by quacks and adventurers whose followers make up the irresponsible lunatic fringe of American life. Refuse to listen to or spread rumors against any race or religion. Help to stamp out prejudice in our country. Let's judge our neighbors by the character of their lives alone and not on the basis of their religion or origin.