
Highway Patrol 19xx.xx.xx Highway Patrol
Loading summary
Host
What do you think makes the perfect snack?
Snack Enthusiast
Hmm. It's gotta be when I'm really craving it and it's convenient.
Host
Could you be more specific?
Snack Enthusiast
When it's cravenient.
Moderator
Okay.
Snack Enthusiast
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 second at a.m. p.m.
Host
I'm seeing a pattern here.
Snack Enthusiast
Well, yeah, we're talking about what I.
Host
Crave, which is anything from AM PM.
Snack Enthusiast
What more could you want?
Dispatcher
Stop by AM PM where the snacks and drinks are perfectly craveable and convenient. That's cravenience. AM PM Too much good stuff.
Officer E
Sometimes it takes you years to get to know a guy. Sometimes on the highway patrol, you learn all about a man in 10 minutes. Like the night Craig Hollister checked me out on my new beat.
Officer F
Boss over here.
Officer E
I didn't answer. I was too busy sweating the grade. The wheel was easy in my hands. Too easy, like it always is on a slick highway. My headlights caught the rain and sleet slanting down from the path. It was steamy inside the patrol car. Hollister wiped the mist off the windshield. I thought of loosening my collar, but I didn't want to make a bad impression on Hollister. He didn't look like a police academy officer, but he didn't talk much, so I couldn't tell. I knew he was a good patrolman. They told me at headquarters.
Officer F
Good patrolman, go by the book.
Officer E
I decided I leave my collar button. I wiped my hands one at a time, changed my grip on the wheel.
Officer F
Curve coming up.
Officer E
I don't see why they need us on this road. Driver'd be nuts to go over 30 people's feet anywhere.
Officer F
This turn's called Millie's Hairpin. It's licking the rain. Found four kids here in a station wagon after the last storm over the last of them.
Officer E
Who is Millie?
Officer F
She went over the cliff in a model C five years ago. 60 years old.
Officer E
Killer.
Officer F
Not a scratch. Devil's Curve coming up. We've had three fatalities here this winter.
Officer E
I don't know if I'm gonna like this be.
Officer F
Oh, it isn't bad once you get used to the plums.
Officer E
You actually catch speeders on this hour?
Officer F
So I met my wife. She was feeding here. That's funny. Thatcher, this is 3122. Thank you. Joe, will you call Debbie and tell her to pick Pick me up at headquarters?
Officer G
Okay. You better get down here before she does.
Officer E
I like her. It's a safe around me.
Officer F
You old relics. You could Break your arms. Hey, Joel.
Officer G
Yeah?
Officer F
It's awful slick up here. Tell her to take it easy on the grave. Roger. Out. Well, this was pretty good.
Officer E
You wanted your wife to meet you. You gave the dispatcher a call on the radio. That was something they hadn't taught me at the Acade. I had a hunch it wasn't exactly standard either.
Officer G
Maybe working out here in the six.
Officer E
Would have its point. If you didn't end up at the bottom of a canyon some night chewing on a piston ring. Or if your wife didn't go nuts feeding the chipmunks.
Officer F
Well, I sure hope she doesn't try to break the record getting to headquarters. Not tonight.
Officer E
You say you caught her speeding here?
Officer F
That's how I met her. See that stretch at the bottom of the grave?
Officer E
Yeah, I remember it.
Officer F
If you park off the road on the ridge, you can stop the speeders. I tried to get him before they hit the real grade and clobber themselves.
Officer E
That's where you met your wife, huh?
Officer F
Yep. She was roaring down the hill with a car full of fumies slung back from a party Schweitzer was giving on his estate. All of them, right to the eyeballs.
Officer E
Including your wife?
Officer F
I thought so. I wrote it up that way.
Officer E
Well, then what happened?
Officer F
Well, the county judge thought otherwise. Debbie cried and her old man said he wanted to treat her just like anybody else. Even if he had just given the county a new library. So the judge decided she never had a drink in the. Her life wasn't a dry eye in the courthouse.
Officer E
You married her, huh?
Officer F
Best thing I ever did, I think. You're married, aren't you? Your wife don't like the mountains.
Officer E
Wherever I am, she likes his wife.
Officer F
It's kind of lonely for a woman, Debbie says. Well, here. Here's the place I was telling you about.
Officer G
Pull over.
Officer F
Pull over? Yeah. Go wait here and follow her down. Well, she still drives this grave too fast. But me back of her, she'll take it easy.
Officer E
So I pulled over. Of course, even if it was quitting time, he was the boss. And if he wanted to baby his wife down the grade, it was okay with me. I was tired and I could have used a cup of coffee back at headquarters. And I was trying to get my wife moved into her cabin. But the man said, pull over and wait. So I pulled over and waited. I even offered him a cigarette to show there were no hard feelings. He shook his head. In the flare of my match, I could see he was squinting up the road. His face was tired. Some of the roughness was gone. Joker was worried. He caught me looking and seemed kind of ashamed.
Officer F
He'll be along in a minute. Sure.
Officer E
You know I can't follow her everywhere, you know.
Officer F
You're in a hurry or something?
Officer E
No, no.
Officer F
It's just I'm getting a transfer. Debbie and I'll be out of these mountains next week. She's a good driver, but it's split tonight, so if it's okay with you, we'll just. Sure.
Officer E
I'm sorry. Man, look at those headlights up there. I twisted around in my seat. Half a mile up the grade, a pair of headlights stabbed over the cliff. Seemed to hang there. And they whipped back to the road. Jerky, like when somebody's really floorboarding the accelerator. Then there was a straight stretch where the light swayed like the guy was skidding. I was to grip my shoulder. And then the light straightened out.
Officer G
Got brighter and brighter and further apart. The guy was practically flying. Holy smokes. That's not your wife, is it?
Officer E
No, no.
Officer F
She's still a little wild, but she's not crazy.
Officer G
Hollister was big and they're a little older than me. He didn't look like he could move very fast, but he was nothing but a bl. Jumping out of that car. It was around the hood and swinging a flashlight in circles. Before I could even turn on my red light. The crazy headlights seemed to reach out at him.
Officer E
Hey.
Officer G
You okay, Hollister? Yes.
Officer F
Let's take him.
Officer E
Holy cow.
Officer F
That's what you have, folks, from that cigar. He must be flashed over the years. Get his bag.
Officer G
The light swing I just seen. It was a convertible, that's all.
Officer F
Convertible?
Officer G
Yeah. Aren't you going to call a dispatcher?
Officer F
Ought to be flat near halfway house. 2429. This is 31224. They're convertible, all right.
Officer E
And I caught a flash of the driver and my heart had slipped. With a woman driver. Young, blonde, with a crazy grin on her face.
Officer G
I felt sick.
Officer E
I picked up the pieces. After a few wrecks down in the valley. It's bad enough when it's a man, but a young girl.
Officer F
2429. This is 3122 traffic. We're pursuit of a possible 502 three miles north of Halfway House. It's about Remy down. He's weaving all over the road.
Officer G
Be careful. Roger.
Officer F
I got taking, sir.
Officer G
Not here. Take this curve tight, buddy.
Officer F
What did you say?
Officer G
A driver is a woman.
Officer F
A woman.
Officer G
I say so. Okay, off to this curve.
Officer F
You can cut loose for about 800 yards. Try to get me close enough to front Later. License.
Officer G
Hang on. You get the number now? Maybe on the next week.
Officer F
We don't need the number.
Moderator
What do you mean?
Officer G
I know the number. You know it? How come? It's Debbie's car. Why you must be Debbie. Why would she try to run you down? She doesn't know what she's doing.
Moderator
What do you mean?
Officer G
Brian? Plastered. She's gonna roll that thing and that'll be all. That'll be all.
Officer E
I was shook. Sliding through a turn. I caught a glimpse of his face in the light from the dash. He was staring ahead. And he had that thousand yard stare I'd seen in Korea before an attack. I shivered. Well, where do we go in?
Officer F
I. I could see it coming. I. I could see it alone in that house all day. It's why we were going to move to the city. But now it'll be too late. Step it up, Bar.
Officer G
Step it up. If we had time to take. I can't do any better than you. Stick with it and try. Try to get her before tiller curve. Heavy car. She's got Craig. Like it was blue. It has been flutes in the road. It'll be rose just like the rest of it. Rose.
Officer E
Now be a flag her down.
Officer G
How is he going to do it? She didn't stop for us. Maybe she didn't even see us. You want me to try to take her?
Officer F
I'm not here. If she speeds up anymore.
Officer G
She hasn't got a prayer until her curves hang back.
Officer F
Don't.
Officer G
Don't press her.
Officer E
Then he did something that wasn't in the book.
Officer G
He reached over and cut our growler. And he flicked off the red light.
Officer E
I started to turn it back on and felt his hand on my wrist.
Officer G
Leave it off.
Officer F
Maybe we're panicking her Art. If she doesn't slow down now, she'll never make it.
Officer E
Then she started to turn until it cursed.
Officer F
It was easy to say she wouldn't make it.
Officer E
The roughest turn on the grade.
Officer F
Washboard.
Officer E
No bank to it at all.
Officer F
Hundred foot drops of the riverbed below.
Officer E
Hard enough to make on a dry day. But on a wet night.
Officer G
Murder. The taillights hesitated for a second. Like they were making up their minds.
Officer E
Whether to run into the hill or over the side.
Officer G
The car slid sideways, reared toward the river. She was going over back. Oh, snow. No, baby.
Moderator
No.
Officer G
No. I took my foot off the cache.
Officer E
Out of the tail of my eye I saw Hollister cover his face. And that I was fighting to stay.
Officer G
On the road myself. Suddenly the miracle happened.
Officer F
She made it.
Officer G
Now we had to do it.
Officer F
2429This is 3122. We're a mile north still unable to catch the 502. She's doing 75. The guest you start up won't try to box her but be careful of it.
Officer G
This is two.
Officer F
Yes Roger.
Officer G
Okay, I better like.
Host
What do you think makes the perfect snack?
Snack Enthusiast
Hmm, it's gotta be when I'm really craving it and it's convenient.
Host
Could you be more specific?
Snack Enthusiast
When it's cray venient. 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 second at a.m. p.m.
Host
I'm seeing a pattern here.
Snack Enthusiast
Well yeah, we're talking about what I.
Host
Crave which is anything from am what.
Snack Enthusiast
More could you want?
Dispatcher
Stop by AMPM where the snacks and drinks are perfectly craveable and convenient. That's cravingience. Am PM Too much good stuff.
Host
Oh, what you eating?
Snack Enthusiast
The new banana split cookie from AM pm All freshly baked with real butter with banana, chocolate and strawberry flavors.
Host
Wow, that sounds amazing. Can I have a bite?
Snack Enthusiast
I'm sorry but no. But you can't split the banana split.
Officer G
Not even a little.
Snack Enthusiast
Not even a crumb.
Officer G
What if.
Dispatcher
No, please mine when it's too legit to split. That's cravenience. Get a 3 pack for 99 cents with our app AM PM too much good stuff plus tax where applicable. Prices and participation may vary in terms of conditions apply.
Officer F
Down that nail we can just say just easier between us. Just easier between us.
Officer E
Watch him like glass on this.
Officer G
I'll try to take her again once you've beaten out things.
Officer F
73. We're a half a mile behind you. She's waving.
Officer G
No, no, she's swinging left with a heavy car. Pappy, be careful. Roger, she's swinging right. Happy? Letter by letter by.
Officer E
Let her buy. How are you going to make an old time patrolman let a drunk pass him on the road?
Officer F
No.
Officer E
Cappy tried to fight it. He tried to ease her onto the shoulder. The block long convertible against the patrol car. It was like a good pro featherweight against an amateur. Heavy. All skill and no punch.
Officer G
For a second I thought he had a run off the road the convertible lurched back.
Officer E
The two sets of tail lights got closer and then Pappy was off the road, over the shoulder, bouncing and rolling down the embankment. I eased my foot off the accelerator train.
Officer F
But it wasn't as bad as it looked.
Officer E
I wanted to use the brake, but on that highway it Would have been cruise.
Officer F
What are you doing?
Officer G
Going back. Was Pappy call it a distraction? They'll stop her if you're just off the road first. We gotta get back. Stay on our sail. You off your rocker? They'll stop her.
Officer F
My wife and I don't want her killed. Stay on her tail.
Officer G
What about. I said stay with her. I'm still running this season. But, Pappy.
Officer F
No. This is 3122amile south of Halfway House. That 502 just ran Pappy off the road. Send an ambulance. We're staying on her tail. This isn't Joe and Sergeant J. Py.
Officer G
Setting up a roadblock outside headquarters. She won't get sued. Go back and help Pappy.
Officer F
What? What kind of roadblocks? Shooting at a woman.
Officer G
If she tries to run this block, we'll shoot at her. I get back to Pappy. Sarge. Sarge. That girl. Don't worry about the girl. I'll take care of her. You get back to Pappy. It's Debbie.
Officer F
Yeah.
Officer G
Sorry.
Officer E
Hollister. You just run my best man off the road.
Officer G
Said she almost hit you. Trucks, cars coming up the lower bridge. You're ever one of them if we don't stop her.
Officer E
So we'll stop her if we have to.
Officer G
Blast her off the road.
Officer E
I felt sorry for the man beside me. I knew what was happening outside headquarters. A couple of patrol cars rolling into position. Spotlights pointed up the grade. Guys drawing automatic rifles, Maybe shotguns. Flares set out further down the hill. A reception committee for Craig Hollister's wife. Not what he planned when he'd asked her to meet him at headquarters. But there was nothing I could do. I closed carefully.
Officer F
Keep going. Now look. Keep going.
Officer E
You heard the sergeant. Pappy might be bleeding.
Officer F
He's only a quarter mile from Halfway House. They can do as much for him as we can. You stay on her tail.
Officer G
I can't.
Officer F
The sergeant this. And I said stay with her. You understand?
Officer G
Craig? I can't. They'll suspect me.
Officer F
Don't make me pull my gun on you. Watch his next curtain.
Officer G
What can we do? We can't.
Officer F
If she tries to run the barricade, they'll blow her apart.
Officer G
If she.
Officer E
Hang on. If she doesn't slow down, she won't.
Officer G
Even get to the barricade.
Officer E
Turn off your lights.
Officer G
Turn off my lights. Right.
Officer F
Turn off your lights. When she doesn't see her, she slows down a little.
Officer G
How am I going to see? Use her lights. Lights.
Officer E
Her light. Fine. Great. But what if there was something coming up the grave. I wondered if Hollister had gone nuts. I shot a look at him. He was peering ahead, and he seemed.
Officer F
To have got a hold of himself.
Officer E
I didn't really think he'd pull a gun on me, but suddenly I knew I'd go along with whatever he was trying to do, even if it cost me my badge. I flicked off the lights. It seemed to help. The car ahead lost some of its cr.
Officer F
Slow. Slow and easy. Bucket. Okay, use this stretch here.
Officer E
Gaining all right, but what good is it? She makes this turn, she's still only got a mile to the barricade.
Officer F
Is that a car coming?
Officer G
I trust them. Just get over. Get over. Watch it. Get your lights on. Val. Catcher. Every time I put on another mile an hour, we start to try as it gets closer. I'll never do it from here.
Officer E
Close to the man, I was already pushing 80. My arms and eyes ached from the strain. The range was still too far. Unless he was aiming for a lucky.
Officer F
Hit or an unlucky catcher by that stretch in front of headquarters.
Officer E
Well, that made sense. The only level shoulder in the grade.
Officer G
If he was going to shoot out.
Officer E
A tire, it would have to be there. But that was where the barricade was. We just have to get at the side of it. Hollister rolled down the window, and I felt a spray of rain on my face. Suddenly, I spotted the barricade spotlight.
Officer F
She's rolling, honey.
Officer G
Putting on speed. I can't wait any longer. The rain was just too great.
Officer E
It had to be her rear tire. If she went off the other way, she'd be killed. And if the ricochet got her, she'd be killed anyway. But she was just too far away. Suddenly, not really wanting to, I jammed down the accelerator. At least I could give him a last chance.
Officer G
The rear end swayed and lurched. My hands were sweaty with fear. And that did it. The heavy car began, burned, hesitated, and headed for the shoulder. The sleep, when it hit the dirt, half turned and went.
Officer E
I skidded all the way through the roadblock. It took me so long to get stopped and turned around that the guys from the barricade beat us back to the crash. But it was just as well, because without help, I'd never been able to keep Hollister from the ruined convertible.
Officer G
Hollister. Where do we get her out? Doc will be here in a minute. I killed her. I killed her.
Officer E
We don't know yet.
Officer G
Down there.
Officer F
Doc.
Officer E
Hey, how's Pappy?
Officer F
A broken leg. That the car that ran him up the road?
Officer E
Yeah.
Officer F
That's.
Officer E
Seemed like an hour but it was only a couple of minutes before the docs scrambled out of the ditch. A patrolman and an ambulance driver stood a litter by the ambulance. Two other guys had Craig in their patrol car. Trying to calm him down. I walked over to the ambulance.
Officer F
The girl was hurt.
Officer E
Hurt bad. But she was alive.
Officer G
Sergeant walked up.
Officer E
She alive? Yeah. I tell Hollister okay to let him see her, Sergeant? Yeah. Yeah, I guess so. I started back to the patrol car and stepped back to let a convertible onto the shoulder. A girl got out, a pretty girl. And I thought of the kid by the ambulance who would never be pretty again. Then I felt the sergeant's hand in my arm. He was staring at her. This is how it's.
Moderator
Yes, Sergeant. What happened? Where's Craig? What's the matter with you?
Officer F
Well, we thought. He thought.
Moderator
Oh, look, he's just a kid.
Officer G
Hey, Pete.
Officer F
Bring Hollister over here.
Officer E
I guess she figured she was old enough to get fried to the Guild and try to make that grade. On a rainy night.
Officer F
Your husband saved her life.
Moderator
How?
Officer E
Oh, he and Art here almost broke their necks catching her. Kind of blasted her to pieces.
Officer G
Where is Craig? Is he all right?
Officer E
Debbie.
Moderator
Craig, darling, what is it?
Officer E
It wasn't you.
Officer F
I better skip it.
Officer E
Craig.
Officer F
No, no. Now, you ought to know.
Officer E
Debbie.
Officer F
I want you to know. I thought the girl was you.
Moderator
Me? Why me? I see. And it could have been, couldn't it?
Officer F
Long time ago, maybe. Long time ago.
Officer E
Well, his arm was around her when they walked away. But Debbie Hollister had a kind of thoughtful look in her eyes. You kind of wonder at a time like that what two people are thinking. I turn back to the sergeant.
Officer F
You okay? Oh, sure.
Officer E
Yeah. I say, Sergeant, about us not going back for Pappy. I was driving, you know. Yeah, I know. Well, forget it. Learn anything tonight? Yeah, I learned something.
Podcast Summary: Highway Patrol 19xx.xx.xx Highway Patrol
Podcast Information
Introduction In this gripping episode of Harold's Old Time Radio, listeners are transported back to the Golden Age of Radio, immersing themselves in a dramatic narrative set on treacherous mountain roads. The storyline revolves around the intense interactions between Highway Patrol officers as they navigate dangerous pursuits and personal dilemmas amidst adverse weather conditions.
Main Plot: High-Stakes Pursuit on Devil's Curve
Setting the Scene The episode opens with Officer E and Officer F patrolling a perilous stretch of road known as Devil's Curve. The weather is unforgiving, with rain and sleet making the highway slippery and visibility poor.
Character Dynamics Officer E reflects on an incident involving Craig Hollister, a fellow patrolman. Despite Hollister's unassuming appearance, Officer E trusts his competence, having been assured by headquarters.
The Pursuit Begins As Officers E and F patrol, they discuss the notorious stretch where multiple fatalities have occurred, including a tragic accident involving Millie five years prior.
The conversation shifts to personal anecdotes, revealing Officer F's backstory about meeting his wife, Debbie, during a high-speed chase.
Unexpected Encounter Officer E receives a call about Debbie attempting to reach headquarters, prompting a rushed pursuit. As they navigate the slick roads, tension mounts with each twist and turn.
Climactic Chase and Confrontation
Intensifying the Chase The pursuit becomes more perilous as the driver, later revealed to be Debbie, maneuvers recklessly down the mountain. The officers grapple with the decision to prioritize her safety or uphold protocol.
Turning Point Officer F defies standard procedures, leading to a pivotal moment where he disconnects their patrol car's red light in an attempt to influence Debbie's driving behavior.
Final Moments of the Chase Despite their efforts, Debbie's vehicle spirals out of control, culminating in a harrowing crash. The aftermath reveals the severity of the situation, with Debbie injured but alive.
Resolution and Reflections
Emotional Aftermath The officers process the events, grappling with the thin line between duty and personal connections. Officer E contemplates the complexities of their roles and the unforeseen consequences of their choices.
Closing Insights The episode concludes with a somber reflection on the night's events, highlighting the inherent risks of law enforcement and the profound impact of split-second decisions.
Notable Quotes
Themes and Insights
This episode delves into the themes of duty versus personal loyalty, the unpredictability of law enforcement situations, and the emotional toll of high-stakes decisions. The narrative underscores the complexities faced by officers who must balance protocol with empathy, especially when personal relationships intersect with their professional responsibilities.
Listeners are invited to reflect on the nuanced portrayal of the officers' characters, their camaraderie, and the moral dilemmas that arise in the line of duty. The episode effectively captures the tension and drama characteristic of the Golden Age of Radio, providing a compelling and immersive experience.
Conclusion
Highway Patrol 19xx.xx.xx Highway Patrol stands out as a masterful blend of suspense, character development, and emotional depth. Through its engaging storytelling and authentic dialogue, the episode offers a nostalgic yet timeless glimpse into the challenges faced by highway patrol officers. Whether you're a longtime fan of old-time radio dramas or a newcomer seeking an enthralling narrative, this episode promises to captivate and resonate.