Broadway Is My Beat 49-08-04 (004) The Dr. Robbie McClure Murder Case

Summary

Broadway's My Beat: The Dr. Robbie McClure Murder Case

Episode: Broadway Is My Beat 49-08-04 (004) The Dr. Robbie McClure Murder Case
Release Date: July 7, 2025
Host: Harold's Old Time Radio
Narrator: Provided throughout the episode

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Introduction

In this gripping installment of Broadway's My Beat, host Harold transports listeners to the bustling and often shadowy streets of New York City's Broadway. The episode centers around Detective Danny Clover, portrayed by Larry Thor, as he delves into the mysterious murder of Dr. Robbie McClure. Set against the backdrop of the Golden Age of Radio, the story weaves a tale of deception, blackmail, and murder.

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The Murder of Dr. Robbie McClure

The episode opens at the New York City Police Headquarters, where Detective Danny Clover is preparing for a quiet night shift. His routine is abruptly interrupted when Dr. Robbie McClure arrives, visibly distressed.

• [00:27] Detective Danny Clover: "What's the matter, Doctor? You look pale."
• [00:37] Dr. Robbie McClure: "Last month there was a shooting. It's not that I want to confess to. It's the thing about. You should know about last month. A murder that the police never solved. Daddy, I don't want that to happen to me."

As McClure speaks, it's evident he's under immense pressure, hinting at secrets tied to an unsolved murder from the previous month.

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Discovery of McClure's Death

Shortly after McClure's arrival, Detective Clover discovers that the doctor is, in fact, dead. His sudden death sets off a chain of events that intertwines with other unsolved cases.

• [02:12] Detective Danny Clover: "He's dead."

Clover immediately begins to unravel the circumstances surrounding McClure's death, ordering his team to gather comprehensive information about the doctor.

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Initial Investigation and Sergeant Tartaglia's Insights

Detective Clover consults with Sergeant Tartaglia (referred to as Pippet), who provides critical insights into McClure's last known movements and associations.

• [03:40] Detective Danny Clover: "Maybe you're wrong, Pippit. Maybe it's sweet pasture and you don't know it. Pippet. You know Dr. Robbie McClure, don't you?"
• [04:08] Sergeant Tartaglia: "He was in the company of the sleekest, prettiest racist looking Philly. It's been my pleasure since I cavorted devoted police."

Tartaglia reveals that McClure was accompanied by a mysterious woman during his last known outing, raising questions about her identity and involvement.

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Connection to Unsolved Murders

As Detective Clover delves deeper, he discovers a link between McClure's death and an unsolved murder from June 29th involving a man named Martin James. The presence of Dorothy Rivers, a model affiliated with the Tony Seville Model Agency, becomes a focal point.

• [15:16] Sergeant Tartaglia: "Item. And this is the one I think will interest you, Danny. On June 30th, Dr. Robbie McClure made a deposit in the Corn Exchange bank in Bronxville. 10,000 crisp, cool, clean dollars."
• [16:01] Detective Danny Clover: "See a name like that on the James guest list?"

This revelation suggests that McClure's financial transactions and associations may have played a role in the murder, tying together threads from different cases.

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Interrogation of Mr. Fletcher

Detective Clover's investigation leads him to Mr. Fletcher, the president of the Fletcher Toy Company, who appears to be entangled in the blackmail scheme related to McClure's murder.

• [08:32] Detective Danny Clover: "Police."
• [17:32] Detective Danny Clover: "Mr. Seville, your agency supplied a half dozen models to a party at the home of Martin James. Said party a little over a month ago. June 29. Said Home of penthouse on Sutton Place, Right?"

Mr. Fletcher, portrayed with a façade of respectability, becomes a suspect as Clover uncovers inconsistencies in his accounts and connections to the victim.

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Confrontation and Revelation

The climax of the episode occurs when Detective Clover confronts Sergeant Tartaglia and Nurse Elliot, revealing their involvement in the blackmail and murder plot orchestrated by Mr. Fletcher.

• [25:20] Detective Danny Clover: "What was Dorothy Rivers to you?"
• [25:22] Sergeant Tartaglia: "Dorothy Rivers was a toy. Expensable and fragile. It made her all the more desirable."

A tense standoff ensues as Clover exposes the conspiracy:

• [26:05] Nurse Elliot: "I'd say you were telling the truth."
• [26:10] Detective Danny Clover: "Well, Dr. McClure took the initial 10,000, all right. But the nurse here kept right on blackmailing you and Ms. Rivers in the doctor's name. The court flown out so he had to die."

In a dramatic turn, the culprits attempt a last-minute attack, but Clover manages to subdue them, bringing justice to the case.

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Conclusion

Detective Danny Clover successfully unravels the complex web of deceit surrounding Dr. Robbie McClure's murder. The episode concludes with a reflection on Broadway's vibrant yet perilous allure.

• [27:02] Detective Danny Clover: "You got any smelling salts for Fletcher, Nurse?"
• [28:16] Narrator: "Broadway's my beat... Broadway, My Beat."

The resolution reaffirms the relentless pursuit of truth and justice by Detective Clover, encapsulating the essence of the Golden Age of Radio drama.

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Notable Quotes

• Detective Danny Clover: "Broadway. It's a promise you make to yourself in some dismal part of your life. Or it's a name you say like a curse."
  [00:44]

• Sergeant Tartaglia: "Dorothy Rivers was a toy. Expensable and fragile. It made her all the more desirable."
  [25:22]

• Detective Danny Clover: "It's Broadway the gaudiest, the most violent the lonesomest mile in the world Broadway, My Beat."
  [27:06]

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Production Credits

• Produced and Directed by: Gordon T. Hughes
• Script by: Morton Fine and David Friedkin
• Musical Direction: Lud Gluskin

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Note: This summary encapsulates the essence of the episode, focusing on key plot points, character development, and pivotal moments, while excluding non-content segments such as advertisements and intros.

Transcript

[Narrator]

The FBI and peace and war, ordinarily heard at this time throughout the year, is taking its usual summer vacation and will return to CBS four weeks from tonight on September 1st.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Broadway's My Beat. From Times Square to Columbus Circle, the gaudiest, the most violent, the lonesomest mile in the world.

[Narrator]

Broadway's My Beat. With Larry Thor as Detective Danny Clover.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Broadway. It's a promise you make to yourself in some dismal part of your life. Or it's a name you say like a curse. It's a place of golden women in mirrors of chrome. Or it's a beggar who will tear off a piece of his soul for a cup of coffee. It's anything you want, anytime you want it, and it's my beat. By 9 o', clock, police headquarters had settled down to its nighttime routine. So far, business was slow. I was sitting in my office straightening out the detail sheets that always accumulated on my desk.

[Lieutenant Clover]

Lieutenant Clover.

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

Good evening, sir.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Well, Dr. McClure. Dr. Robbie McClure. It's a pleasure to see you. Sit down. Sit down.

[Dr. Robbie McClure]

Thank you. Thank you, Lieutenant.

[Detective Danny Clover]

What's the matter? What's the matter, Doctor? You look pale.

[Dr. Robbie McClure]

Well, I could give you all the clinical reasons for the way I look.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Now, now, Lieutenant, let me get you something. Doctor, I'll be right.

[Dr. Robbie McClure]

No, no, wait.

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

Lieutenant.

[Dr. Robbie McClure]

Last month there was a shooting. It's not that I want to confess to. It's the thing about. You should know about last month. A murder that the police never solved. Daddy, I don't want that to happen to me.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I don't want. Dr. McClure. Dr. McClure. Sergeant Zattaglia. Yeah. Danny, come here. Yeah.

[Officer]

Well, what's the trouble?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Danny, close the door.

[Officer]

Now watch all. Danny, what's the matter with Doc McClure?

[Detective Danny Clover]

He's dead.

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

What?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Flip his coat aside. You'll see why.

[Mr. Fletcher]

Oh, Danny.

[Detective Danny Clover]

The size of the wound, I'd say it was from a.22 fired from up close. Tartaglia.

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

Yeah?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Call downstairs and tell them about Dr. McClure. Then get a detail to find out everything you can about the doctor. Friends, relatives, bank account, everything.

[Officer]

Right.

[Detective Danny Clover]

And in the morning, I want the files on every murder that happened about 30 days ago. Unsolved murders. On my desk in the morning.

[Officer]

Right.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Good. I'll see you.

[Officer]

Where are you going, Danny?

[Detective Danny Clover]

I'm going to wind back McClure's life. I'm going to find out why he had to die. The great buildings of a city lean against the night in crazy tilted angles like lighted toys, deserted by a sleepy Giant. There's the feeling that unless you walk carefully, you'll upset their insane balance. But Dr. Robbie McClure's office building was different. It sat square and solid on its haunches. When you pressed the night buzzer, it growled at you.

[Pippet]

Well, sure, my mayor, but ain't Annie Clover the torment? Cantering, me boy, cantering.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Same old Bifid.

[Pippet]

No, not the same, Danny. There are bald spots in me fetlock that I ain't so quick to break from the starting gate like I used to. From a dashing mounted policeman to. To a flabby night watchman. Ah, that's a bitter pasture, Danny, me boy. A bitter pasture.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Maybe you're wrong, Pippit. Maybe it's sweet pasture and you don't know it. Pippet. You know Dr. Robbie McClure, don't you?

[Pippet]

Sure. Sure, I do a great sergeant, but. Ah, what a waste. What a waste.

[Detective Danny Clover]

How do you mean, sure?

[Pippet]

He sure, he was a genius. Should have been a veterinarian. What else would I mean, Danny?

[Detective Danny Clover]

What else? Of course, you know what time he left his office tonight?

[Pippet]

I have. I do. I have it right here in my book. Now, let me take a look. Oh, yeah, Here it is. 8:40 in the PM8?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Was he alone? No, no.

[Pippet]

He was in the company of the sleekest, prettiest racist looking Philly. It's been my pleasure since I cavorted devoted police.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Did you have her signature?

[Pippet]

Oh, no. She was the doctor's patient or guest or. Or best bet for tomorrow. Night watchmen are discreet, Danny. Some ladies, they don't ask to sign out.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Well, ask them from now on, Pippet, huh? I mean it. Have you got any idea where they went?

[Pippet]

No, Danny, but they took a cabinet hack stand out there in front.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Did you see whose cab they took?

[Pippet]

Guess I did. I did. I opened the door for them. They took or of Newman's cab. If you want nerve, you'll probably find him at his home. I know those hackish goods, you know.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Well, thanks, Pivot. If you get a lump of sugar in the mail, it's from me.

[Dr. Robbie McClure]

What do you want? Hey, it's Danny.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Hi, Irvine.

[Dr. Robbie McClure]

Hey, Rose, it's Danny.

[Irv Newman]

Who?

[Dr. Robbie McClure]

Danny. Danny Clover of New York's finest.

[Irv Newman]

Rose, gonna help me wash the dishes already?

[Dr. Robbie McClure]

Pay no attention to Rose, Danny. She's moody tonight. Come on in. Come on in.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Thanks, Earl.

[Dr. Robbie McClure]

Sit down, Danny.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Sit down, Irvine.

[Lieutenant Clover]

May I offer you something?

[Dr. Robbie McClure]

A glass of tea, A cold beer? I got it. How about one of Rose's Blintzes, huh? Hey, Rose.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Never mind, Irv. Don't bother, Rose.

[Dr. Robbie McClure]

What's the bother? Even if she's moody, she can't rassy up a blink.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I'm here on business, Irv. Some other time.

[Dr. Robbie McClure]

Oh, business. Hey, Rose, come here, huh? Shut off, Caruso, huh? Make quiet, Caruso.

[Irv Newman]

Quiet. You Caruso.

[Mr. Fletcher]

Caruso.

[Dr. Robbie McClure]

Now we'll talk. Danny, what kind of business brings you down here to Orchard Street? The land of the knish and the bagel?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Pippet told me you drove Dr. McClure somewhere tonight. Herb. Where'd you drive him?

[Dr. Robbie McClure]

Park Avenue.

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

Yeah, here's the address.

[Dr. Robbie McClure]

Danny. I was just making out my records.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Thanks. Was he alone at first, no.

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

Later, yes.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Translation?

[Dr. Robbie McClure]

First he is with a doll. Lean over, Danny. Rose shouldn't hear. A zaftic type doll.

[Mr. Fletcher]

You know what I mean.

[Dr. Robbie McClure]

Then he is without the doll. Around 50th, she opens the door of the hack and slips out into the traffic. McClure tells me to keep going. I think they had an argument.

[Detective Danny Clover]

What about?

[Dr. Robbie McClure]

Him, Danny. I'm the type to eavesdrop. Especially when they shut that glass panel.

[Detective Danny Clover]

The address Irv Newman gave me was a study in millionaire respectability. Scrub Park Avenue brownstone. The butler took my hat and sighed and told me it was all right to go down the corridor into the living room if I tiptoed. I did. Then all of a sudden, it hit me. Light from a couple hundred bulbs set in a crystal chandelier. When I finally squinted through it, I couldn't quite believe it. It wasn't the size of the room that was only about 100 yards long. It was the walls. From ceiling to floor. And all the way, the walls were decked with murals. Mother Goose murals. Paintings of every fairy tale and nursery rhyme character in the book. And on the floor, smack dab between Marjorie dawn or Seesaw and Jack and His Beanstalk sat a man. He was wearing three things. A goatee, a full dress and a beanie three Propeller type.

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

Well, hello there.

[Detective Danny Clover]

And hello to you.

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

My butler said your name was Danny Clover, but my butler lies. What is your name, sir?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Danny Clover.

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

You see what I mean? Grab a toy out of the toy box, sir, and sit down.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Mr. Fletcher.

[Dr. Robbie McClure]

Here, here, here.

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

Take my latest product. Child psychologists claim it's remarkable for improving the coordination and tactile responses of a four year old.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Really? Has it helped you?

[Dr. Robbie McClure]

Immeasurably.

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

We place the ball in the cup. So. Then we squeeze this lever. So.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Yep.

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

Then we catch the ball. Oops. We missed.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I guess we overestimated ourselves. Now, Mr. Fletcher.

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

Oh, God. Don't Stand on ceremony just because I'm the president.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Oh, does Margaret know? Huh?

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no. I mean the president of the Fletcher Toy Company. I make toys for children, sir. I bring gay bits of sunshine into their otherwise drab little lives. And as you see, I test my products before I market them. Incidentally, sir, what is your business?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Police.

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

Police.

[Irv Newman]

Police.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Stop your screaming. You'll wake up Snow White over there.

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

Sir, what right have you to be in my house?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Technically, none, Mr. Fletcher, but there's a little matter of.

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

A matter of invasion of privacy. What do you want?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Was Dr. McClure here this evening? Dr. Robin McClure?

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

In a word, yes.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Why was he here?

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

I'm his patient. Is that a good medicinal reason?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Simply sterile. Are you a sick man, Mr. Fletcher? You don't look sick.

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

Dr. McClure says I'm a hypochondriac. But he gives me pills. I take them. They make me feel better. Ergo, I must have been sick before I took the pills.

[Detective Danny Clover]

One more thing, Mr. Fletcher. Who was with Dr. McClure?

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

I beg your pardon?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Or maybe she stayed in the cab that brought him here. Who was she, Mr. Fletcher?

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

Oh. Oh, that one.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Yes.

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

I peeked out the window and saw her waiting in the cab. Beautiful, isn't she? How striking. One of the most striking women I ever saw.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I blew at the top propeller in Fletcher's beanie. And then the butler came in and ushered me out in the downdraft. Lying must have been one of the little games they played in that million dollar house. Fletch said the butler lied. Then Fletcher lied about a girl he hadn't seen. A girl who was a question mark or an answer in the murder of Dr. Robbie McClure. If I was going to wind back McClure's life, I needed some sleep. All that got wound up were the sheets in my bed. And in the morning, I started it all over again in the good doctor's office.

[Nurse Elliot]

You're early. The doctor hasn't come in yet. You'll have to wait.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Everything about her was anonymous. The white shoes, the white st. The starched white uniform, the starched white face, the mouth, scarlet and thin that she wore like a ribbon of merit.

[Nurse Elliot]

You're a new patient. Fill out this card, please.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Not a patient. The police lieutenant Danny Clover brought away special details.

[Nurse Elliot]

Oh, did Dr. McClure asked you to come here?

[Detective Danny Clover]

You could say it that way. I'm here to investigate his death.

[Irv Newman]

What?

[Nurse Elliot]

You mean something's happened to him?

[Detective Danny Clover]

He died in my office. He was murdered.

[Irv Newman]

I don't believe. I don't believe it.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I'm sorry you had to be told like that, but we don't always have time to be gentle. You were his nurse, Ms. Helios.

[Nurse Elliot]

True, Nellius. I have an aglitination test to make on some Rh negative blood. Lieutenant. May I do that while you investigate?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Go right ahead. Where do I find the doctor's patient record?

[Nurse Elliot]

In that metal file, Buff.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You've been with the doctor long, Ms. Ellian?

[Nurse Elliot]

Three years. Pardon me, Lieutenant. I need that slide.

[Detective Danny Clover]

It's the usual question. Did he have any enemies?

[Nurse Elliot]

You knew him. What do you think, Lieutenant?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Doesn't matter what I think.

[Nurse Elliot]

He was a fine man, generous and kind. I'll need that microscope.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Oh, sorry. This is strange.

[Nurse Elliot]

In the patient's file. What's strange, Lieutenant?

[Detective Danny Clover]

This card has a name and a date. All the other cards are filled with case histories. All this has is a name and a date. Dorothy Rivers, June 29. Isn't that strange, Miss Elliot?

[Nurse Elliot]

The files were the doctor's responsibility. He had his own way of keeping.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Then you don't know anything about a patient named Dorothy Rivers or this date?

[Nurse Elliot]

Nothing, Lieutenant.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Now, take this with me.

[Nurse Elliot]

You're the police. You do anything you like. I'll have to turn the lights out now, Lieutenant, for the test.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Go ahead, Miss Elliot. Go ahead. This will do for now. Thank you, miss.

[Nurse Elliot]

Goodbye, Lieutenant. Ms. Rivers. Ms. Dorothy Rivers. Dr. McClure's office. We advise a rest, a long rest in a quiet place.

[Narrator]

You are listening to Broadway's My Beat with Larry Thor as Detective Danny Clover. If murder should suddenly explode in your face, you'd know how Casey Crime Photographer feels Tonight in the drama titled Sellout, that's exactly what happens to Casey. A routine newspaper case suddenly erupts into a savage murder mystery which requires the sharpest thinking and fastest action of the Crime Photographer to solve. Crime Photographer is yours for the listening every Thursday evening, as is the other thriller, Escape. Tonight, Escape brings you Leiningen versus The Ant, a top story of harrowing adventure on a top program. Remember Escape and Crime Photographer tonight over most of these same CBS stations. Now back to Broadway's My Beat.

[Detective Danny Clover]

There's this thing about Broadway. It can tickle you under the chin and make clucking noises, or it can slap you hard across the mouth and laugh. Either way, you get hurt. Right now, the receiving end of the slap was the police department for various and sundry unsolved murders. And the laugh, the big laugh, the cold laugh, was that a man named Dr. Robbie McClure had come to my office to die, and I didn't know who'd killed him. I sat at my desk at headquarters, tearing the tabloids into a noose of paper dolls, when Sergeant Tartaglia opened the door and with a fine Italian flourish lay a thick, paper bound file in front of me.

[Officer]

For you, my Lieutenant.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Your memoir, Sergeant. What is it?

[Officer]

Not only what you ask for. A file on one of our more recent unsolved murders.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Get it out of here. Get it out of my sight.

[Officer]

Hey, Danny, you sick or something?

[Detective Danny Clover]

All right, leave it.

[Officer]

I also have here in my pocket the dope you wanted on Dr. Robbie McClure.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Here, read it. Talk it to me. I'm sick of reading.

[Officer]

There are some interesting items, Danny, about the good doctor. Item. Friends, numerous and friendly, all with alibis. Item. Relatives, none. The doctor was a lonesome man.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Are your wife and kids Tortaglia?

[Officer]

Oh, great, Danny.

[Lieutenant Clover]

Just great.

[Officer]

Hey, you should see the latest. Little Christina.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I bet she's a doll. Go on with the items, huh? Oh, yeah.

[Officer]

Item. And this is the one I think will interest you, Danny. On June 30th, Dr. Robbie McClure made a deposit in the Corn Exchange bank in Bronxville. 10,000 crisp, cool, clean dollars.

[Detective Danny Clover]

June 30th, huh? Now you can talk to me about the recent unsolved murder as follows.

[Officer]

A man named Martin James was murdered in his Sutton Place penthouse apartment at a party, night of June 29th.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Yeah?

[Officer]

He was asked to step outside and he was murdered.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Martin had a gun.

[Officer]

He fired one shot. The bullet from Martin James Gunn was never found. We figured it took off across First Avenue.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Taglia, there's a doctor's patient card over on the table over there. Tell me what it says on it.

[Officer]

Sure, Danny, sure. Says, Dorothy Rivers, June 29.

[Detective Danny Clover]

See a name like that on the James guest list?

[Officer]

Wait a minute, Danny. Yeah, here it is, Vern. Dorothy Rivers. In the alphabetical list with a lot of other girls.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Is your address there?

[Officer]

All the girls have the same address.

[Detective Danny Clover]

What? Say that again.

[Officer]

They all have the same address. The Tony Seville Model Agency.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Tataglia. Here's a fin. Buy your doll Christina a doll or something.

[Officer]

Oh, thanks, Danny.

[Narrator]

Thanks.

[Officer]

But there's something I think you should know about Cristina.

[Detective Danny Clover]

About?

[Officer]

About Dorothy Rivers. The records say she never showed up at that party. She was never there at all.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Tony Seville paid rent for his model agency in the Empire State Building. For this, he received the privilege of maintaining a 10 room suite on the 40th floor and decorating it with orchids and genuine neutrals. The Other decorations were too numerous to mention delicate shadings of blonde and brunette. When they crossed their legs, the silk whispered. I started to whisper back, but a scented haze with magenta fingertips beckoned me into an inner office. She closed the door behind her and all I was left with was a pork barrel in a double breasted pinstripe named Tony Saville.

[Lieutenant Clover]

My secretary whispered, you are a policeman. How have I trespassed? I parked my car incorrectly. Perhaps I forgot to curb my dog.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Let's stop rubbing noses, huh? I beg your pardon? Let's put it this way, simple and blunt. There's some questions I want you to answer for me.

[Lieutenant Clover]

You must have a dull profession, asking questions. Very well, ask a question.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Mr. Seville, your agency supplied a half dozen models to a party at the home of Martin James. Said party a little over a month ago. June 29. Said Home of penthouse on Sutton Place, Right?

[Lieutenant Clover]

Possibly right. However, don't underline your details with a sneer. My agency furnishes models as decorative baubles to any social function.

[Detective Danny Clover]

One of your decorations on the evening I'm interested in was named Dorothy Rivers. How do I get in touch with her?

[Lieutenant Clover]

You're a detective. Detective.

[Detective Danny Clover]

What's her address, Seville?

[Lieutenant Clover]

May I suggest a Dragnet detective or any of the numerous machinations you police are oh so adept at.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Her address, Seville. Where do I find her?

[Lieutenant Clover]

You should be told we only give the model's address to an approved client. I don't approve of you.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Look, kid, sometimes I can forget I'm a cop. I can forget right now. I. I think you mean it. Yeah. Try being cozy for one more second.

[Lieutenant Clover]

I don't know where Dorothy Rivers is. I haven't seen her a month.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You can do better than that.

[Lieutenant Clover]

The day after the party, she phoned. She said she was going on a vacation.

[Detective Danny Clover]

She. You're doing fine, Seville. Keep it up.

[Lieutenant Clover]

There's nothing more. I tried to get in touch with her several times since she checked out of the hotel. She left no forward in address.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You're telling the truth, aren't you, Seville?

[Lieutenant Clover]

The truth is this. As far as I know and care, Dorothy Rivers could be dead.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Beginning at the 40th floor, I picked petals off a tired daisy. At the 38th, Dorothy Rivers was dead. 37th. She wasn't dead. 36th, 35. Not dead. I don't remember how it came out because when I got off at the ground floor and walked into the yellow heat of 34th Street, a character stopped me by tapping me lightly on the leg with the front bumper of his Cab. The character was the character named Irv Newman.

[Dr. Robbie McClure]

Don't look so scared. Danny breaks. I got I could stop this, Gavin. A thin latke.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Latke schmotka. So long as I got my health.

[Dr. Robbie McClure]

Ah, you're charming, Danny. Absolutely charming. Hey, tell me at headquarters I'd find you around here.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I got something for you. One of Rose's Blentz's?

[Dr. Robbie McClure]

Maybe better than that yet. You know that girl he was asking me about? The one I picked up with Dr. McClure?

[Narrator]

A professional man.

[Detective Danny Clover]

What about her?

[Dr. Robbie McClure]

I spotted him for you, Danny.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Where? Tell me where.

[Dr. Robbie McClure]

So let me tell you. Happens I got a friend, Danny, at Truck Driver. He's a peach of a fella. His name is Clem. Every morning gives me a push with the truck so I can start this lousy hat.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Where did you spot the girl? There.

[Dr. Robbie McClure]

So I'm telling you, while Clem is pushing me with his truck and I'm gliding along in my hack like in a gondola, I see this girl coming out of building.

[Detective Danny Clover]

What building?

[Dr. Robbie McClure]

6, West 23rd Street. So I turn around, I wave to Clem. He should stop already. Danny. Danny didn't let me finish.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Yes?

[Irv Newman]

Who is it?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Ms. Rivers.

[Nurse Elliot]

Who are you?

[Detective Danny Clover]

I want to talk to you, Ms. Rivers.

[Irv Newman]

By what right? I don't know you. Get away from here. Get away.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Let's go inside, Ms. Rivers.

[Nurse Elliot]

Who are you?

[Irv Newman]

What do you want?

[Detective Danny Clover]

I'm Danny Clover. I'm a police detective, Ms. Rivers. Been through a lot to get to you. We get along a lot better if you just settle down.

[Nurse Elliot]

Why do you want to see me?

[Detective Danny Clover]

I've read somewhere that grief can make a woman even more lovely. You look like you've been grieving.

[Nurse Elliot]

Don't be clever with me. I'm sick of clever men.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Maybe I can help you.

[Nurse Elliot]

You a policeman?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Me a policeman?

[Nurse Elliot]

It's all over now, isn't it, Mr. Clover?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Just about.

[Nurse Elliot]

You want to know what happened at Martin Jane's party, isn't that it?

[Detective Danny Clover]

The guest list said you were invited, but you weren't checked off. That mean you weren't there?

[Nurse Elliot]

I was there through the back entrance, Mr. Clover, because.

[Irv Newman]

Because he said that was the way.

[Nurse Elliot]

It should be done.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Who? What should have been done that way?

[Nurse Elliot]

Look, look, Mr. Clover. I'll tell you what happened. I owe it to myself to tell you what happened. I'm tired of pain.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Pain.

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

Pain.

[Detective Danny Clover]

That's it, huh? Blackmail?

[Nurse Elliot]

Let me tell you from the beginning what happened.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Perhaps you'll even believe me. You'd be surprised, Ms. Rivers. Policemen can believe the truth.

[Nurse Elliot]

Martin James was a man who made investments in all sorts of deals. Kind of silent partner. One of the partners was a man named Fletcher.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Man with a goatee.

[Nurse Elliot]

He manufactured toys. Mr. Clover. I went to the party with him.

[Irv Newman]

Mr. Clover. What's the matter, Mr. Clover? The window.

[Detective Danny Clover]

He's gone. Who was it who dared to see?

[Dr. Robbie McClure]

I.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Oh, maybe you should have told me his name, Ms. Rivers. Now you don't owe anybody anything.

[Mr. Fletcher]

Even as a current. I say it's a shame, Danny. Such a beautiful girl.

[Nurse Elliot]

Shame?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Yeah. Yeah, it's a shame. What I've been waiting for is your report.

[Mr. Fletcher]

Yeah. Dorothy rivers, age about 24. Bullet ended left sternum, pierced pericardium. That's a heart, Danny. Dead on arrival.

[Detective Danny Clover]

That all?

[Mr. Fletcher]

This girl was shot once before. She's got a healing wound that looks mighty like a bullet wound. It's right here, Danny.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Yeah, yeah, that makes it all add up. That makes it add up just fine. Corner neat. Real, real neighbor. Oh, Fletcher, there's a friend. Fletcher. The payoff goes on just the same tonight, kid. Nine o'. Clock. So long, Fletcher. It took me ten minutes to get to the Park Avenue palace that Fletcher had built out of psychological toys for kids. Across the street. I took a plant behind a fat uniformed doorman who kept looking at me out of the corner of his fat eyes as if he were terribly sorry a thing like me had ever happened under his guilt fringed canopy. At 8:30, the lights in Fletcher's crystal chandelier began to go out in sections. In five minutes he was on the street hailing a cab. I tossed a nickel to my fat doorman, hailed a cab of my own and tailed Fletcher to an office building I'd been in once before. I watched him slip pip with a bill and then walk down the corridor to a self service elevator. I thought it'd be nice if he had company on his lonesome ride. He didn't.

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

Police. Why am I constantly surrounded by police?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Maybe because you bring sunshine into my drab life. Fletcher, you know how to work this thing?

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

Well, of course. It's nothing but a toy.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Allow me. Anyway, it's the fourth floor you want, isn't it?

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

No, no, no, not at all.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Humor me, Fletcher. Let's make it four. Right down this hall. 4:38. Dr. McClure's office. That's where you want to go, isn't it?

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

Mr. Fletcher, there are obviously some titillating gyrations going on in that mechanical policeman's brain of yours. You will reveal them to me, please.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I was waiting for you to ask me that in just that way. Here we are. After you, Mr. Fletcher.

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

Thank you.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Now I reveal the payoff money. Fletcher give it to me.

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

Of course. I see. I see. See, I thought it was curious that I should have to keep paying blackmail to a dead man. Dr. McClory is dead, isn't he?

[Detective Danny Clover]

The money, Mr. Fletcher. It's hard for me to say please.

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

But here you are. Thousand dollars. You'll want it weekly, I presume, just as I paid it before.

[Detective Danny Clover]

That's cheap, isn't it, Fletcher? To buy off the electric chair. That's quite a toy, too, I hear.

[Pippet]

Yes, yes, quite, quite.

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

Then you know, of course, that Dorothy Rivers and I murdered Martin James. Oh, he deserved it, you know. He swindled me out of a good deal of money.

[Detective Danny Clover]

What was Dorothy Rivers to you?

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

Now, now you're talking like a policeman again. Dorothy Rivers was a toy. Expensable and fragile. It made her all the more desirable. That and the fact that I could make her do anything I liked.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Could you bring her back to life?

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

What?

[Nurse Elliot]

Hey, no. Don't get up, gentlemen. As long as I was eavesdropping, it makes me less of a lady.

[Detective Danny Clover]

That gun's not becoming either, Nurse Elliot.

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

Put it away. Put it away, my dear. It toys like that make me nervous.

[Nurse Elliot]

I prefer this pose. Now, what were you saying? Lieutenant?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Now that you're here, I've got even more to say as a nurse.

[Nurse Elliot]

I'm a humanitarian. Lieutenant, you've got a minute more saying time.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Man should never lie under the circumstances, huh? And if I told you this, if I told you that you were the Blackmailer Instead of Dr. McClure, what would you say?

[Nurse Elliot]

I'd say you were telling the truth.

[Detective Danny Clover]

What then?

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

I'd been paying all that money to.

[Irv Newman]

This temper tamper, Mr. Claire.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Well, Dr. McClure took the initial 10,000, all right. But the nurse here kept right on blackmailing you and Ms. Rivers in the doctor's name. The cour Flown out so he had to die.

[Nurse Elliot]

All through, Lieutenant.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Not quite, nurse. After the blackmail, you had to kill Ms. Rivers because she was about to talk to me.

[Nurse Elliot]

Now, Lieutenant, one more thing.

[Detective Danny Clover]

If you kill me, the payoff stops. Consider it, Ms. Elliot. I got a thousand dollars in my pocket. Half yours, half mine. It could go on and on. We could still make Fletcher pay. Think about it, Ms. Elliot.

[Nurse Elliot]

Put the money on the table, Lieutenant. Half yours, half mine.

[Detective Danny Clover]

All right, on the table.

[Nurse Elliot]

Thanks. I'll take mine now.

[Irv Newman]

I'll kill you. I'll kill you.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Drop it. Throw up the gun. Yeah, thanks.

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

I'll lift it up for you, Lieutenant. I'll get the gun.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Lift this flexer out.

[Sergeant Tartaglia]

Get.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You got any smelling salts for Fletcher, Nurse? It took three police officers to carry Nurse Elliot away. She tore up their faces and screamed in a language she hadn't picked up in medical books. Fletcher, he was different. He settled himself in the Black Mariah, pulled out a solid gold yo yo and played with it all the way down to headquarters. Broadway's happy now it's got on the carnival clothes it wears every night and the midway boils with roustabouts and yokels and hurdy gurdy sounds It's a jack in the box and it's a clown It's a shining girl on horseback or it's a geek with no arms, no legs and no heart It's Broadway the gaudiest, the most violent the lonesomest mile in the world Broadway, My Beat.

[Narrator]

Broadway's my beat With Larry Thor as Detective Danny Clover is produced and directed by Gordon T. Hughes with script by Morton Fine and David Friedkin. Musical direction is by Lud Gluskin. Be sure to join us next week, same time, same station, for Broadway's My Beat. America can be proud. America is proud of the young men of our armed forces. Painstakingly trained as specialists in many fields, these servicemen will be the leaders in tomorrow's civilian life. Educational advantages open to today's servicemen are unparalleled. If you can qualify, look into the volunteer enlistment program now. This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.

[Nurse Elliot]

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