Blackstone 48-10-03 (01) The Ghost That Trapped a Killer

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Harold's Old Time Radio

Episode: Blackstone 48-10-03 (01) - The Ghost That Trapped a Killer

Date: October 7, 2025
Host: Harold's Old Time Radio

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Episode Overview

This episode features a classic radio drama from the Golden Age: The Magic Detective, starring Blackstone, the world’s greatest magician. The story, "The Ghost That Trapped a Killer," weaves detective mystery with magical showmanship, as Blackstone is called upon to solve a murder that baffles the local sheriff. The episode also includes an interactive segment where Blackstone explains a magic trick listeners can try at home, blending entertainment with a spirited touch of nostalgia.

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Key Discussion Points & Story Breakdown

1. Introduction to Blackstone and the Ghost Cabinet (01:22 - 02:00)

• The hosts introduce Blackstone, his magical studio, and his assistant, Rhoda Brent.
• A "ghost cabinet" and unusual bottles become the center of curiosity.
• Quote:

  C (Blackstone): "Would you like me to manufacture a ghost right now?" (01:50)

2. A Murder Case for Blackstone (02:00 - 04:05)

• Sheriff Yates approaches Blackstone for help, explaining they know the identity and motive of the murderer but lack proof.
• The case revolves around Hiram Saunders, who died under suspicious circumstances attributed to an overdose of medicine.
• Parker Harley, the caretaker, is the suspect due to a possible inheritance motive.
• Quote:

  B (Sheriff Yates): "Well, it's going to take a magician to crack this case." (02:29)

3. Unraveling the Motive (04:05 - 05:04)

• Discovery that Saunders had $5,000 in a cash box, which he bequeathed to Parker Harley.
• Blackstone and company race to the old Saunders house, hoping to intercept Parker.

4. Setting the Trap at the Haunted House (05:04 - 08:29)

• Eerie descriptions set the scene of Saunders’s spooky, multi-gabled house.
• Blackstone prepares a mysterious concoction, hinting at a ghostly trick.
• Parker unknowingly becomes the target of a magical trap.
• Quote:

  A (Rhoda): "Give me the shivers." (05:52)

  B (Sheriff): "Don't do that. What is it, miss?" (05:25)

5. The Ghost Appears and the Confession (07:10 - 08:47)

• Parker is confronted by a "ghost" emerging from the cabinet, created by Blackstone’s chemical trick.
• Terrified, Parker confesses to the murder as the apparition closes in.
• Quote:

  B (Parker): "No, no, no, no, no, no. Go away. Go away." (07:56)

  B (Parker): "Yes, I kill him. I killed Saunders and his ghost came back." (08:47)

6. Explanation of the Ghost Trick (09:15 - 10:01)

• Blackstone reveals that the ghostly effect was achieved by combining two simple chemicals, creating creeping smoke that unnerved Parker.
• Quote:

  C (Blackstone): "Yes, it was a simple chemical experiment. Plus the imagination of those who witnessed it." (09:15)

  C (Blackstone): "They're only as real as people imagine them to be. I manufactured the ghost from two of those bottles on the shelf." (09:22)

7. Interactive Magic Trick for Listeners (10:01 - 11:53)

• Blackstone shares a simple trick involving a nickel, a glass, a match, and a comb.
• He walks step-by-step through the setup, inviting listeners to play along at home.
• The trick uses static electricity from a comb to move a match under a glass, creating a magical effect.
• Quote:

  B: "Oh, gosh, if I could, it would be magic. You're a ghost." (10:54)

  C (Blackstone): "There's the magic you and all your friends will enjoy. Just try it and find out." (11:53)

8. Closing & Teaser for Next Episode (12:13)

• Blackstone previews the next tale, “The Reluctant Buzzsaw,” and promises more magic tricks for listeners.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with Timestamps)

• Blackstone's Approach:

  "I'm a magician, not a detective."
  B (Blackstone): (02:26)

• On the Power of Imagination:

  "They're only as real as people imagine them to be."
  C (Blackstone): (09:22)

• On Magic's Simplicity:

  "It's most amazing to think that a ghost could be produced so simply and so easily."
  B: (09:57)

• Listener Engagement:

  "There's the magic you and all your friends will enjoy. Just try it and find out."
  C (Blackstone): (11:53)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Blackstone’s Introduction and the Ghost Cabinet: 01:22 – 02:00
• Murder Mystery Setup: 02:00 – 04:05
• Haunted House Arrival: 04:24 – 05:37
• Ghost Trick in Action: 07:10 – 08:20
• Murderer’s Confession: 08:20 – 08:47
• Trick Explanation: 09:15 – 09:57
• Magic Trick Instruction: 10:13 – 11:53

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Conclusion

This episode of The Magic Detective exemplifies the engaging storytelling and interactive spirit of classic radio. Listeners are transported into a world where mystery is unraveled by both deductive reasoning and theatrical magic, all while being encouraged to experience a little magic at home themselves. The blend of suspense, humor, and audience participation makes this a standout trek into the joyful days of family radio entertainment.

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Transcript

[A]

What do you think makes the perfect snack?

[B]

Hmm, it's gotta be when I'm really craving it and it's convenient.

[A]

Could you be more specific?

[B]

When it's cravenient. Okay. Like a freshly baked cookie made with real butter, available right down the street at a.m. p.m. Or a savory breakfast sandwich I can grab in just a.

[A]

Second at a.m. p. M. I'm seeing a pattern here.

[B]

Well, yeah, we're talking about what I.

[A]

Crave, which is anything from AM PM.

[B]

What more could you want? Stop by AM PM where the snacks and drinks are perfectly craveable and convenient. That's cravenience. AM PM Too much. Good stuff. The Magic Detective, starring the world's greatest magician, Blackstone. Tonight he tells you the inside story of the ghost that trapped the killer. And right after tonight's story, Blackstone will explain tricks that you yourself can perform. He will reveal the guarded secrets of the world's greatest magician. And now to Blackstone's magical Studio. What a singular place it is. But wait a moment. I'd like you to meet Blackstone himself.

[C]

Good evening. I see that you're admiring my new cabinet.

[B]

Yes, yes, that's right, Blackstone. I was just going to mention those unusual bottles on that shelf.

[C]

That's interesting, because the two go together. I'll tell you about them in a moment. But first let me introduce my leading lady, Miss Rhoda Brent.

[A]

How do you do?

[B]

Good evening, Miss Brant. Do you disappear from that cabinet?

[A]

Oh, no, that's a ghost cabinet.

[B]

You mean there's a ghost in it?

[C]

There will be.

[B]

Yeah. But where do you get the ghosts.

[A]

Out of those bottles over there on that shelf?

[C]

That's right. Would you like me to manufacture a ghost right now?

[B]

Well, now wait a minute. Will it be a real ghost?

[A]

Parker Harley thought it was real when he saw it.

[B]

Parker Harley?

[C]

Yes, the first man who ever saw the ghost trick. It was one of my strangest adventures as a magic detective. We were playing a town in New England and I was in my dressing room after the final show when somebody knocked at the door.

[B]

Who is it?

[A]

Sheriff is here to see you, Mrs. Blackstone.

[C]

Oh, show him in, Rhoda.

[B]

Mr. Blackstone? Yes. I'm Sheriff Yates. How do you do? I want you to solve a murder.

[C]

A murder? But I'm a magician, not a detective.

[B]

Well, it's going to take a magician to crack this case.

[C]

Oh, how's that, Sheriff?

[B]

Because we know who the murderer is and why he killed his victim.

[A]

And you know how he committed the crime.

[B]

Yes, ma', am, we know that too. Or we think we do, only we can't prove anything.

[C]

So that's why you need a magician more than a detective.

[B]

That's right, Mr. Blackstone.

[C]

It sounds interesting, Sheriff. Tell me the tale.

[B]

All right, sir. It begins with old Hiram Saunders, who died last week.

[A]

Why, I read about that in the local newspaper. Oh, I saw a picture of the queer old house with all the gables where Mr. Saunders lived.

[B]

Yes, and where he died, too, miss. And taking too much of the medicine that Dr. Talbot gave him. Only it wasn't Dr. Talbot's fault.

[C]

Then whose fault was it, Sherrod?

[B]

Well, I'm blaming Parker Harley, the caretaker. He could have given Mr. Saunders an overdose of that medicine as easy as you make people vanish, Mr. Blackstone.

[C]

Thanks for the compliment, Sheriff. But if Parker is the murderer, what was his motive?

[B]

Money. That's one.

[A]

But the newspaper said that Mr. Saunders died penniless.

[B]

Well, that's what we thought, miss, until we opened the old cabinet up in his bedroom. Inside we found a tin cash box with $5,000 in it.

[C]

But if Parker was after the money, why didn't he steal it?

[B]

Because it didn't need to. Turned out that the old gentleman left everything in his will to Parker Harley.

[A]

Well, then all Parker has to do is to go to the house and find the money.

[B]

That's right, mayors.

[C]

Perhaps he already has taken it.

[B]

No, not yet, Mr. Blackstone. Right now, Parker's at the lawyer's office claiming some of Saunders personal belongings.

[A]

And is the key to the cabinet among them?

[B]

That's right, miss. Parker won't waste no time using it either.

[C]

Then we'd better start for the old house right now.

[B]

Good. I got my car outside so we can get there ahead of Parker. Now, there's the house, folks.

[A]

Oh, my, what a spooky place.

[C]

Well, you may be right, Rhoda. That's what I'm going in to see about. Wait. I almost forgot something. Hand me that package, will you, Rhoda? The one I got at the drugstore.

[A]

Here it is.

[C]

Thanks. You wait here with the sheriff. Oh, if I'm not back in 10 minutes, come in after.

[B]

What did Mr. Blackstone say he was going to see about?

[A]

Why.

[B]

Why, ghosts, I guess he didn't say nothing about ghosts.

[A]

Yes, in a way he did. When I said the place was spooky, he said that maybe I was right.

[B]

Yeah? Well, what would you be haunting the house with, old Saunders?

[A]

Ghost, Sheriff. He was murdered, wasn't he?

[B]

Yeah. Yes, he was.

[A]

And if there are ghosts, they're usually.

[B]

Those of murdered People aren't they say, miss. That's right. And they often guard money. So I've heard.

[A]

Well, Sheriff, there you are.

[B]

Huh? Don't do that. What is it, miss?

[A]

That light. Yeah, in the window. The room upstairs.

[B]

That's. That's Saunders window. The room where he died.

[A]

It's only a flashlight.

[C]

Oh, drab it then.

[B]

It's Parker. He got here ahead of us.

[A]

No, no, it's Blackstone, Sheriff.

[B]

Look.

[A]

He's at the window.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, I see him now. He's beckoning to us. Come on, let's go up.

[A]

Oh, give me the shivers.

[B]

Yeah, I suppose it's chilly out here. Come on in. It's warmer in the house.

[C]

Come in.

[B]

Sheriff? Yes? Set the trap for Parker. Trap? I. I don't see any trap.

[C]

You're not supposed to see it. Wait. I just heard something.

[A]

So did I. Sounded like the front door.

[C]

Turn off that flashlight, Sheriff, and listen. Yeah, yeah. Somebody coming up the stairs.

[A]

Sounds weird in all this darkness.

[B]

Hey, it's Parker. Now look, We. We. We don't want him to find us.

[C]

He won't find us. Move back here in the alcove shaft.

[B]

Yeah, It's Parker. I saw his face when the match flared.

[A]

But he isn't going to the cabinet.

[C]

He will. After he lights those candies on the table.

[B]

See?

[C]

He's stopping at the cabinet.

[B]

Now watch. He's found the tin box socket. He putting it on the table. Look.

[A]

Look at the cabinet. The door is closing.

[B]

Oh, shucks. That's not amiss. Just the kind that don't stay open, that's all.

[A]

But there's something coming on.

[B]

Quiet. Quiet.

[C]

You don't want to disturb Parker or the ghost.

[B]

Ghost?

[C]

What ghost, Saunders?

[B]

Ghost.

[A]

Don't you see it, Sheriff? Coming from the cabinet?

[B]

Yeah, it is a ghost. Creeping out like a great big hand.

[C]

Bigger than a hand, Sheriff. As big as a pair of arms.

[A]

Creeping closer to Parker.

[B]

Now it's as big as he is. Even bigger.

[A]

And you can see right through it like a. Like a.

[C]

Like a ghost Trooper. Quiet. Now there's Parker turning around. Door to cabinet.

[B]

No. No, no, no, no, no, no. Go away. Go away.

[C]

I need the money.

[B]

I don't want it. I don't want it. The ghost has got him. It's spreading all around him like it was a frog. Let me go. The truth. What was the time to Grandpa.

[A]

Only you can't. Because the ghost already has one.

[B]

You hear that? He's going to confess.

[C]

He has confessed, Shelley.

[B]

Only now you let me go. Just. Instead.

[C]

You can take part in our sheriff.

[B]

All right. Come along, Pil. You kill old Saunders, Yes. Oh, yeah. Yes, I kill him. I killed Saunders and his ghost came back. You better stick to that confession marker.

[C]

Unless you want the ghost to follow you.

[B]

I will tell. I'll tell everything. Everything I know. Everything we should know. Get me away from here. Glad to oblige you, Parker. I got a nice jail cell for you. Without ghosts. Well. So that was the first performance of your famous ghost act?

[C]

Yes, it was a simple chemical experiment. Plus the imagination of those who witnessed it.

[B]

But there aren't such things as real ghosts.

[C]

They're only as real as people imagine them to be. I manufactured the ghost from two of those bottles on the shelf.

[A]

Say, well, what was in the package?

[C]

Two simple liquids that can be bought at any drugstore. Watch while I make the ghost. First, a few drops from this bottle. They went into an empty ink well in Saunders cabinet. And from this bottle, a few drops on a blotter that I tucked in the cabinet door.

[A]

And stormy smoke. More and more of it. It's creeping out just. Just like.

[C]

Just like a ghost. Growing bigger and bigger. Like the fear that gripped Parker Holly when he turned around and saw it.

[B]

It's most amazing to think that a ghost could be produced so simply and so easily.

[C]

Not at all. I'll show you something quite as wonderful that could be done anywhere. While we're trying it, our listening audience can try it too. First, I need a nickel.

[B]

Oh, they are brightstone.

[C]

And next, a drinking glass.

[A]

I'll get one.

[B]

Good.

[C]

Now a paper match. While I light it and blow it out, I want you to balance the nickel on the table.

[B]

Balance the nickel?

[C]

That's it.

[B]

Sounds pretty difficult, but. Oh, no, it's easy. There you are. It's standing.

[C]

Now, bend the match a little and place it on the balanced nickel. Set it carefully. That's right.

[B]

The bent match is resting on the balanced nickel. And what comes next?

[A]

This does the drinking glass.

[C]

Thanks, Rhoda. Set it upside down over the nickel and the match carefully.

[A]

Like this.

[B]

Good.

[C]

And now, do you think you could remove the match from the nickel without lifting the glass?

[B]

Oh, gosh, if I could, it would be magic. You're a ghost. Yes.

[C]

It does look as though only a spook could manage it. But the trick's very easy. We need just one thing more.

[B]

A magic wand?

[C]

No, something much more simple.

[A]

Something you have in your pocket right now.

[C]

And I'll be back in a moment to tell you what it is.

[B]

And now, Blackstone, that trick of yours.

[C]

All right, now, Remember I said there was something else that would help?

[B]

Yes, but what is it?

[A]

That comb of yours there in your coat pocket.

[B]

Oh, you mean in this little comb I always carry?

[A]

That's right. Give it to Blackstone and he'll show you how the trick is done.

[B]

All right. And here's the comb, Blackstone.

[C]

Thank you. Now, wait a moment. First, run it through your hair to accumulate some electricity. All right, that's good.

[B]

Now move the comb slowly around the glass, I guess, huh?

[C]

That's the way.

[B]

Well, look, the match is turning like the needle of a compass.

[C]

That's right.

[B]

And there goes the match right off.

[C]

The nickel, just as I said it would. There's the magic you and all your friends will enjoy. Just try it and find out. Until we meet again. This is Blackstone saying good magic and goodbye.

[B]

Be with us the next time when Blackstone, the world's greatest magician, tells us the story of the reluctant Buzzsaw and explains more tricks that you yourself can perform. Listen again to the magic detective with Blackstone, the world's greatest magician. Here we have the Limu Emu in its natural habitat, helping people customize their car insurance and save hundreds with Liberty Mutual. Fascinating.

[C]

It's accompanied by his natural ally, Doug Limu.

[B]

Is that guy with the binoculars watching us?

[C]

Cut the camera.

[B]

They see us. Only pay for what you [e-mail] savings. Very underwritten by Liberty Mutual Insurance Company affiliates. Excludes Massachusetts.