The Green Lama 49-08-20 The Case of the Patient Prisoner

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Green Lama – "The Case of the Patient Prisoner" (aired 49-08-20)

Podcast: Harold's Old Time Radio
Host: Harolds Old Time Radio
Episode: The Green Lama – "The Case of the Patient Prisoner"
Original Airdate: August 20, 1949
Summary Date: October 10, 2025

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Overview

This episode of The Green Lama plunges listeners into a classic tale of justice, intrigue, and reform inside a “model prison.” Jethro Dumont—the Green Lama—visits Warden Sando’s penitentiary to witness the rehabilitation of an inmate artist, but the day unravels into murder, riots, and a dramatic search for the truth. The story explores themes of redemption, the struggle between harsh discipline and humane reform, and the corrosive effects of ambition and corruption.

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Key Discussion Points & Plot Breakdown

1. Setting the Stage: The Model Prison and Rehabilitation

• Main Characters Introduced: Jethro Dumont (The Green Lama), Warden Sando, Captain Ed Summers, Frank Cobb, Tulku.
• Plot Setup: Warden Sando is proud of his progressive model prison and seeks to pardon a reformed inmate, Frank Cobb, a talented sculptor whom The Green Lama has been supporting.
• Theme Highlight: The argument between harsh punishment vs. rehabilitation.
  • Warden Sando's philosophy: “Our job is to strengthen through education, not fear.” (05:19)
  • Captain Summers’ opposition: “There’s only one way to handle criminals. Give them treatment that’ll make them think twice the next time.” (05:06)

2. A Sudden Turn: The Murder of Frank Cobb

• Surprise Element: The anticipated celebration is quickly overshadowed when Frank Cobb is found murdered with a knife in his back. (05:49)
  • Jethro Dumont: “Yes, it's Frank Cobb and the knife that killed him is still in his back.” (05:49)
• First Theories: Captain Summers suspects that other inmates resented Cobb’s pending pardon.
• Sammy, an informant, identifies the murder weapon as belonging to another inmate, Al Bowers, but notes it had recently gone missing. (07:06)

3. Chaos Unfolds: Riot and Hostage Crisis

• Incident: A riot breaks out in the prison mill, used as a distraction for a mass attempt to access the arsenal.
  • “There’s a riot in the mill... it’s big.” (08:13, Warden Sando)
• Diverging Approaches: Captain Summers pushes for deadly force, while Warden Sando and Dumont seek a peaceful resolution.
  • Summers: “I’ve got three heavy machine guns... enough firepower to cut the whole mob down. Tell them to come out or we open up.” (10:48)
  • Warden Sando: “I refuse to permit wholesale slaughter of those men.” (11:02)
• Green Lama’s Courage: Dumont volunteers to enter unarmed and reason with the armed convicts. (11:12-12:40)

4. Negotiation and a Twist in the Arsenal

• Green Lama's Plea: Dumont addresses the prisoners, asking them to consider surrender and highlighting Sando’s compassion.
  • “What you don't know is that there's only one good reason why those guns aren't spitting lead in here right now, and that's a man. A man who wouldn't let Captain Summers open fire. A man who's your friend, Warden Sando.” (15:41)
• Breakthrough: The prisoners lay down arms at Dumont’s urging, except for a holdout. A key revelation emerges—Sammy admits that it was Cobb who smuggled guns to the convicts, tying him to the attempted prison break. (17:07)

5. The Investigation Deepens: Double Murder and Betrayal

• Clue Hunt: Dumont and Tulku inspect Cobb’s cell and discover hidden firearms in modeling clay—corroborating the gun-smuggling theory. (20:33)
• Trap: They’re locked inside the cell by an unknown perpetrator, but escape using an improvised electrical trick. (21:28)
• Second Murder: Sammy the Singer is found fatally stabbed in a supply closet—he’s mortally wounded and utters his last words implicating “that double crossing hack...” (23:17)

6. Piecing It Together: The Real Culprit

• Deduction: Using clues, Dumont realizes that “hack” is prison slang for “guard”—specifically Captain Ed Summers.
  • “You thought he was trying to say Hackett, but in prison slang, hack means a guard. In this case, Summers.” (28:14)

7. Showdown in Solitary

• Confrontation: Dumont, Sando, and Tulku find Summers in the basement with prisoner Big Ben Hackett, about to frame Hackett for the murders.
  • Summers confesses under duress, revealing that ambition and his desire for the warden’s position motivated the killings. (26:13)

8. Resolution & Reflection

• Summers Confesses: Dumont presents the four clues that implicated Summers:
  • Only a guard could take the murder weapon.
  • Summers was the only one with a key to the arsenal.
  • Only Summers and the Warden knew Dumont was being locked up.
  • Sammy’s dying statement.
• Moral Closure: The episode ends with reflections on how greed and ambition led to Summers’ downfall, affirming the principle that rehabilitation, not cruelty, offers a better path.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Opening Reflection (Jethro Dumont):
  “The Green Llama strikes for justice. It is truly written that the man with no future is dangerous.” (00:10)

• Debate on Prison Reform:

  • Warden Sando: “Our job is to strengthen through education, not fear.” (05:19)
  • Captain Ed Summers: “There’s only one way to handle criminals. Give them treatment that'll make them think twice the next time.” (05:06)

• Heroic Stand (Warden Sando):
  “I refuse to permit wholesale slaughter of those men.” (11:02)

• Green Lama’s Appeal to the Convicts:
  “You haven't got one chance in a hundred of getting out of here alive if you try to make a break.” (14:53)
  “A man who thinks you’re also men with names, not just numbers stenciled over breast pockets. A man who's your friend, Warden Sando.” (15:41)

• Classic Twist Exposed:

  • Dumont (to Summers): “You killed Sammy, Captain Summers, because he knew too much.... Because Sammy sings too easily, doesn't he, you mud?” (26:29)

• Summation by Dumont:
  “It is truly written that the ambitious man often falls into the pit dug by his own greed.” (28:25)

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Key Segment Timestamps

• 00:10: Episode prologue, narration sets up themes of justice and danger.
• 01:31 – 03:35: Introduction to model prison, Frank Cobb, and the pardon set-up.
• 05:49: Discovery of Frank Cobb's body.
• 07:06: Knife identified; suspicions arise.
• 08:13 – 10:46: Riot breaks out; prison on the edge of chaos.
• 11:12 – 14:53: The Green Lama volunteers and faces down the armed convicts.
• 20:11: Green Lama finds guns hidden in Cobb’s modeling clay.
• 22:54: Sammy is found dying, implicating the “hack.”
• 25:14 – 27:12: Final confrontation revealing Captain Summers as the murderer.
• 28:06 – 28:25: Dumont explains his deductions and the meaning of “hack.” Moral reflections close the case.

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Conclusion

This episode showcases classic radio drama at its finest: strong moral themes, a well-spun mystery, and an exciting, character-driven plot. It revisits debates about justice and reform that still resonate today, all delivered with period-appropriate style and language. Perfect for fans of detective stories and golden age radio.

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For more classic audio and Golden Age radio, subscribe to Harold’s Old Time Radio!

Transcript

[Big Ben Hackett]

Foreign.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

The Green Llama strikes for justice. It is truly written that the man with no future is dangerous. There were 100 such men in the adventure of the Perfect Prisoner. All of them with guns.

[Narrator]

From the mystery of the Far east. From the mountain peaks of a Shangri La come the exciting adventures of Jethro Dumont. Jethro Dumont, the wealthy young American who after 10 years in Tibet, returned as the Green Llama to carry on a single handed fight against injustice and crime.

[Tulku]

I am Pulku, who serves the Green Lama. It is said that ambition is merely the mask of greed. And we learned that this was true in the adventure of the Perfect Prisoner. It began one night when the Green Llama received a phone call.

[Warden Sando]

Jethro Dumont?

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

Yes?

[Warden Sando]

This is Sando, Warden Sando.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

Oh, hello, Warden. How's your model prison?

[Warden Sando]

Fine. It's about one of my model prisoners that I'm calling you. Frank Cobb.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

Frank? Oh, yes, the sculptor.

[Warden Sando]

It's wonderful the way you've helped his rehabilitation by getting his sculpture shown there in New York.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

Well, he's a fine artist.

[Warden Sando]

Jethro, you've been promising to come up and inspect our prison. And here's the perfect chance. I've got a little surprise for cop tomorrow and you deserve to be here when we tell it. Now, you've been promising and I won't take no for an answer. Okay, Jethro.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

All right, Warden Tulku. And I'll be there. Well, Tulku, you're now in the finest prison this poor old world has ever seen.

[Tulku]

Oh, even so, my llama, I am glad we do not call this place home.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

Well, I agree it's no cottage in the country, but as far as the moral reconstruction of the men goes, it's tops.

[Captain Ed Summers]

Hey there.

[Warden Sando]

Just a minute.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

Yes?

[Frank Cobb]

If you're looking for the warden's office, I'll show you. I. I have the guard's permission.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

The guard's permission? Which one? That man's a trustee, Mr. Dumont. He'll take you to Mr. Sando's office. Oh, I see. All right. Thank you.

[Warden Sando]

This way, please.

[Frank Cobb]

You. You're Mr. Dumont, aren't you?

[Narrator]

Yes.

[Frank Cobb]

I've sort of been waiting for you.

[Warden Sando]

I wanted to tell you how grateful.

[Frank Cobb]

I am for the one man show you fixed up for me in New York.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

Oh, well, then you're Frank Cobb. You don't owe me any thanks. Your clay figurines did all the work themselves.

[Frank Cobb]

Anyway, Mr. Dumont, maybe soon I can do really good stuff. You see, I know the warden's got a little surprise for me today.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

Oh, what kind?

[Frank Cobb]

I really can't say. Because if I did, it wouldn't be much of a surprise anymore, would it?

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

I'm afraid you lost me back there, Cobb. I don't think I follow you.

[Captain Ed Summers]

That's okay.

[Frank Cobb]

But just to keep things even up, I've got a surprise for the warden.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

Oh? And I suppose if you told me what it was, it wouldn't be a surprise anymore either.

[Tulku]

That's right.

[Frank Cobb]

It's not time yet. Well, here you are, Mr. Dumont. The warden's office. I got to get back to my work.

[Warden Sando]

I'll see you.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

Well, what do you make of that, Tilco?

[Tulku]

Mr. Cobb is burdened with a secret. He knows he must not keep my llama.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

Yes. Yet I think he's afraid to tell it. Well, lets see what Warden Sando has on his mind.

[Frank Cobb]

Come in.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

Warden Sando.

[Warden Sando]

Dumont. Cheerful Dumont. Come in, come in. Delighted you could make it up here today. Hello, Toku.

[Tulku]

My Honor, Warden.

[Warden Sando]

You're looking fine, Jethro.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

Sit down. Thank you, Warden. We just left a mutual friend. In fact, he escorted us to your door. Frank Cobb.

[Warden Sando]

Oh, you've met him then?

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

Yes.

[Warden Sando]

I finally convinced the governor that that man doesn't belong behind bars and. Oh, come in. Summers. Jethro, this is my second in command, Captain Ed Summers. Mr. Dumont, Mr. Falko.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

How do you do, Captain?

[Narrator]

Honestly.

[Captain Ed Summers]

Glad to know you. You come up to inspect our model prison?

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

Yes, and we're also here for Warden Sando's surprise.

[Warden Sando]

Right. Frank Cobb's pardon, it's just come through. Come on, let's go find him. He works right next door in the examination building.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

All right.

[Warden Sando]

You know, the fact that you showed interest in his sculptures meant a lot to him, Jethro.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

I'm very happy. The man's a fine artist.

[Captain Ed Summers]

He's also a convict. We'd do better to make him remember it.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

Then you think the label of convict would help him readjust to society, is that it?

[Captain Ed Summers]

Captain Summers, my opinion. There's only one way to handle criminals. Give them treatment that'll make them think twice the next time. That's our job.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

But history shows that method has failed consistently for centuries, Captain.

[Warden Sando]

That's right. Our job is to strengthen through education, not fear. Cobb.

[Captain Ed Summers]

Maybe he's in the next room. I'll get him, Ward.

[Warden Sando]

All right, cop, step out here.

[Captain Ed Summers]

He's not in here, sir.

[Warden Sando]

That's strange. Cob.

[Tulku]

Oh, my lama. Look there, behind that desk.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

What? Why, that wooden. Quick.

[Sammy the Singer]

What is it?

[Big Ben Hackett]

Cobb?

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

Yes, it's Frank Cobb and the knife that killed him. Is still in his back.

[Captain Ed Summers]

Orton, if we'd been smart, this wouldn't have happened. I don't want to say I told you so, but you can't treat a gang of hardened criminals like a troop of Boy Rangers.

[Warden Sando]

It just won't work.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

Captain Summers, why do you think Frank Cobb was killed?

[Captain Ed Summers]

Because somebody found out he was being pardoned and didn't think he deserved it. That's all it takes in here.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

You know Sammy, Warden. Oh, yes.

[Warden Sando]

Come in, Sammy.

[Sammy (Prisoner)]

Excuse me. The guard said you want to see me, Warden.

[Warden Sando]

Yes, I did, Sammy. Do you know that Frank Cobb is being pardoned today?

[Sammy (Prisoner)]

The guy with the statues? No kidding.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

Yes, but somebody doesn't want to see him. Get out, Sammy. Happen to know who that might be?

[Sammy (Prisoner)]

What? Oh, I'm shocked. I can't believe this, Warden.

[Captain Ed Summers]

Straighten it out, Sammy. The singer. Talk plain.

[Sammy (Prisoner)]

Oh, that's level, sir. Honest. Gee, who'd want to see a guy miss a break like that? Nobody.

[Warden Sando]

It's already happened, Sammy. Somebody stuck a knife in him. This knife, Gee. Ever see it before?

[Sammy (Prisoner)]

You know me, Warden. I wouldn't lie for two minutes. Sure, I seen it before. That's Al Bauer's knife. It used to be. It was swiped off on him, sir. He kept it in his mattress, and a couple of nights ago it ain't there anymore.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

I see.

[Sammy (Prisoner)]

Well, that's all I know, sir. Okay if I go now?

[Captain Ed Summers]

Hold it, Sammy. Has Bowers been at his machine in the mill all day?

[Sammy (Prisoner)]

Well, yeah, I think so, but I have my nose on a grindstone the whole shift, sir. I couldn't say for sure. Is that all?

[Warden Sando]

That's all.

[Captain Ed Summers]

Well, it's perfectly obvious to me, Warden, that Bowers faked that stolen knife story to cover up an advance for this job. If you let me handle this my way, I'll get to the bottom of it in a hurry.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

Out of curiosity, Captain Summers, just what is your way?

[Captain Ed Summers]

According to some standards, Mr. Dumont, it's old fashioned, but I can guarantee results.

[Warden Sando]

And I say there are better ways of getting answers.

[Narrator]

Ways?

[Warden Sando]

Excuse me. Wasn't Sando. What?

[Sammy the Singer]

A riot?

[Frank Cobb]

Where?

[Warden Sando]

How bad is it, Carl? I knew it.

[Captain Ed Summers]

Sooner or later it was bound to happen.

[Narrator]

I see.

[Warden Sando]

Yes, I'll hold on. There's a riot in the mill. Carter doesn't know how it started, but he says it's big.

[Captain Ed Summers]

Sando, you're directly responsible for this. You've mollycoddled a bunch of killers and theorized with them. Until they've got the idea they can run all over you.

[Sammy the Singer]

Hello?

[Warden Sando]

Hello?

[Frank Cobb]

Hello?

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

Carter?

[Frank Cobb]

Carter.

[Warden Sando]

I think the phone's dead.

[Captain Ed Summers]

Be more than that dead before this is over. If any of my boys get it. Warden Sando, you.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

Warden, he's been hit.

[Captain Ed Summers]

Quite hit, though.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

Take it easy now. My shoulder. Not serious. It's a break, Warden.

[Sammy the Singer]

Bad one.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

The riot was a blind, that's all. About a hundred of them.

[Narrator]

They had guns.

[Warden Sando]

Must have been smuggled in.

[Narrator]

They made it into the boiler house.

[Sammy (Prisoner)]

Then down the pack passageway.

[Warden Sando]

And the arsenal.

[Sammy (Prisoner)]

Yeah, that's right.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

They even had a key. They're in the arsenal now, behind a barricade.

[Warden Sando]

I believe we've still got a chance.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

Well, then, come on, Warden, let's go.

[Warden Sando]

We're safe enough here behind the wall.

[Captain Ed Summers]

Joe.

[Big Ben Hackett]

Max.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

Keep your head down. Philco.

[Narrator]

Yeah.

[Captain Ed Summers]

Arsenal's just across the court out there. Here's the microphone, Warden.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

It's ready.

[Big Ben Hackett]

Good.

[Warden Sando]

Hand it to me, Summer. Attention, men. Attention. This is the warden. You've made a mistake. It's a long way to the main gate. You'll never get that far. I'm asking you now to back out before it's too late.

[Sammy the Singer]

I'll listen to your answer.

[Warden Sando]

Who's going to speak for you?

[Sammy the Singer]

I am, warden. Big Ben.

[Warden Sando]

All right, Hackett. And you speak for the others.

[Sammy the Singer]

And sure, I can talk for them. We don't care what your game is, Warden. We ain't playing ball, period. So save yourself some PR for right.

[Warden Sando]

You'd better think it over, Ben. Here's what I want you to do. Come up one at a time, lay your guns down and line up facing me. You have my word there'll be no gunfire.

[Sammy the Singer]

Max, when we're ready, we're coming out. All right, shoot. So here's what we want you to do. If you don't want your poison gloom all chopped up, keep them out of our way.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

Why, that smut.

[Captain Ed Summers]

Warden, you've got to listen to me. Now we're in real trouble. I've got three heavy machine guns in the north tower and plenty of ammunition. That's enough firepower to cut the whole mob down. Now tell them to come out right now with our hands empty, or we open up.

[Narrator]

No, no, I still.

[Captain Ed Summers]

I'm telling you, Sandow, it's the only way.

[Warden Sando]

I refuse to permit wholesale slaughter of those men.

[Captain Ed Summers]

Listen, they're cornered now, but they're going to come boiling out of there any second, and it'll be too late for us. Shall I give the order?

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

Well, just a minute, both of you. Warden Sandow.

[Warden Sando]

Yes, Jethro?

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

I want to go in there and talk to those men.

[Captain Ed Summers]

You wouldn't get 10ft beyond this wall before they'd have you cut to ribbons.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

I want to go. Sando. Men can be reasoned with. But Captain Summers is right. We've got to hurry. Well, it's either me or the machine guns, Warden.

[Warden Sando]

All right, Jethro, but just now take.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

The mic again and tell him I'm coming.

[Sammy the Singer]

Okay, men.

[Warden Sando]

Big Man Hacker, listen to me. Mr. Jethro Dumont is coming to talk to you.

[Sammy the Singer]

If he ain't bulletproof, you better keep him under cover. We'll kill anybody who tries to get him here.

[Warden Sando]

He's coming out, Hackett, and I want you to listen to him.

[Tulku]

Oh, my Lama, I beg of you.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

I know what I'm doing, Tulku. I believe I can save those men.

[Tulku]

Yes, of course. May Buddha go with you.

[Big Ben Hackett]

Good luck, Dumont.

[Tulku]

I watch the Green Lama climb the wall and walk slowly, alone and unarmed, across the barren prison court, straight into the relentless gaze of a hundred pairs of hostile eyes and the muzzles of a hundred guns in desperate hands.

[Narrator]

In just a moment, we will return to the Green Llama. But first. Sure, CBS is famous for its Sunday comedy lineup, but there's action and fast paced drama there, too. Johnny Dollar hunts the crooks who would cheat his insurance company. Bill Grant shows you how a big town police commissioner goes to work on Call the Police. And Sam Spade is around, wisecracking his way through another typical adventure. Hear them all tomorrow. Johnny Dollar, Call the Police. Sam Spade on most of these same CBS stations. Now, with our star, Paul Freeze. We return to the Green Llama and tonight's story, the adventure of the perfect prison.

[Tulku]

Even as Jethro Dumont crossed the prison yard, the jeers and cat calls of the convicts were lost in their throats. And everywhere was only an empty silence. Silence and the chilling, sharp echo of Jethro Dumont's footsteps moving closer to the armed prisoners as he walked across the yard and into the arsenal.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

Man, I'm coming in.

[Frank Cobb]

What are we waiting for?

[Sammy (Prisoner)]

Yeah, he's just the same as a copper. Why don't you let him have it, big man?

[Captain Ed Summers]

Shut up.

[Big Ben Hackett]

I'll decide when to let him have it. I want to be able to hear everything Mr. Dumont has to say. Okay, hero, speak your piece.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

Are you Hackett?

[Big Ben Hackett]

Yeah. I'm Big Ben Hackett. What?

[Sammy the Singer]

Up.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

Stand up. What? I said stand up. Then I'll talk to you man to man.

[Big Ben Hackett]

Okay, we'll talk man to man. Go ahead.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

Tell your men to put down their guns, Hackett. You haven't got one chance in a hundred of getting out of here alive if you try to make a break.

[Warden Sando]

Hey, ain't you got that backwards, Junior? We're 100.

[Captain Ed Summers]

You're the one, remember?

[Tulku]

Shut up.

[Sammy the Singer]

Shut up.

[Big Ben Hackett]

Go on, Mr. Dumont. You ain't got very long.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

Then I'll get right to the point.

[Big Ben Hackett]

Which is what?

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

The lives of these other men, Hackett, they're not all in for life.

[Tulku]

So what?

[Frank Cobb]

I don't get it too much.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

Why? Then listen hard, Bowers, and the rest of you. Right this minute, you're living on borrowed time. Each and every one of you. The three heavy machine guns Captain Summers is just itching to use. You're surrounded, and you know it. What you don't know is that there's only one good reason why those guns aren't spitting lead in here right now, and that's a man. A man who wouldn't let Captain Summers open fire. A man who thinks you're also men with names, not just numbers stenciled over breast pockets. A man who's your friend, Warden Sando.

[Captain Ed Summers]

Hey, he's right there.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

We'd all be ducking death now if Sando wasn't a warden.

[Sammy the Singer]

Holy. Wait a minute, Ollie. You're nuts.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

Yeah, yeah, nuts, Hackett.

[Captain Ed Summers]

Nuts about living to be an old man.

[Sammy (Prisoner)]

Yeah?

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

Well, Hackett, you might as well surrender.

[Big Ben Hackett]

And get slapped into solitary for six months. No sale, Dumont.

[Frank Cobb]

Yeah, what about that? What's the current rate of exchange, Du Matt, if we do call it quits.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

Now, even you know your warden, Bowers. Nothing will happen to any of you. With one exception.

[Frank Cobb]

Yeah?

[Big Ben Hackett]

Which is what?

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

Frank Cobb's murderer. He pays in full if he's caught. Don't worry, Bowers. He will be. All right, men, put your gun. Well, who are the holdouts? Good. Now, how about you, Bowers? What'll it be?

[Big Ben Hackett]

It'll be.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

It'll be quits, Sammy.

[Sammy (Prisoner)]

Oh, I'm with the others. I. I quit, too. I know, lifer. I only joined Hackett and Bowers because.

[Big Ben Hackett]

Because you was the one who got hold of the key to the arsenal. We can all sing, Sammy. Don't forget that. Just as loud and clear as you can.

[Sammy (Prisoner)]

Yeah, maybe. But I'm the only one who knows it was Cobb. Yeah, Frank Cobb. The perfect prisoner who got the guns to us in the first place, huh?

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

Cobb was behind this.

[Sammy (Prisoner)]

Yeah, yeah, but that ain't all, Mr. Dom.

[Frank Cobb]

But in that stool, in fact, too much.

[Sammy the Singer]

Oh, you.

[Tulku]

Know.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

Correct. Yeah, that's right. If you are the only one who knows so much about Cobb, you might also find yourself the only one with a real motive for his murders.

[Sammy (Prisoner)]

No, no, no, that ain't so. I can prove it.

[Frank Cobb]

I wonder Little Sammy wouldn't have thought it possible. Well, Hackett, I don't think we got anything to worry about anymore.

[Big Ben Hackett]

Meaning What?

[Frank Cobb]

Meaning that Mr. Dumont here has saved our lives for us. What else? After all, Big Ben, he was the one who reminded us that the odds were so heavy, a hundred to one against. And that we got a good warden. And that we've also got some very lousy prisoners.

[Sammy (Prisoner)]

No, no, no, Bowers. Now, wait a minute.

[Sammy the Singer]

Shut up, both of you.

[Big Ben Hackett]

We got some lousy prisoners in here. But I ain't so sure that's enough reason to give up my gun. Mr. Dumont. Maybe it'd be simpler to just pull a trigger.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

Simpler, Hackett, but not wiser, and you know it. Now, drop your gun.

[Big Ben Hackett]

Okay. I just want to know one thing, too, man.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

What is it?

[Big Ben Hackett]

How come you wasn't afraid to walk in here? How come you didn't figure you'd get shot before you got the book?

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

You see, Hackett, you're the ringleader. Nobody here would have dared to shoot before you.

[Big Ben Hackett]

Oh, and the reason I wouldn't shoot my back?

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

I never turned it toward you. Now, let's go.

[Warden Sando]

Warden Sando speaking.

[Captain Ed Summers]

Captain Summers reporting from the central tower, Warden. The arsenal's secure, sir, and the men are all accounted.

[Warden Sando]

Good. That was a wonderful job Dumont did. Not a single shot fired, Captain.

[Captain Ed Summers]

Which may have been a mistake. He can't handle prisoners.

[Warden Sando]

Never mind that, Captain. Now, are the cells unlocked yet?

[Captain Ed Summers]

Yes, sir, the cells are all unlocked. And the happy prisoners are back at the jobs. Business as usual.

[Warden Sando]

All right. That's exactly the way I want it kept. Understand? Yes, sir. And one thing more, Summers. Jethro Dumont and his friend are to be allowed free run of the entire prison. They're going to examine Cobb's cell, then they want to talk to Sammy the singer. After that, I think they'll deliver the murderer. That's all, Sammy.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

16, 17, 18. Here we are, Tulku. The late Frank Cobb. Cell.

[Tulku]

But my lama. Except for these bars, it seems more like an artist's studio than a prison cell. All this clay. And these handsomely carved figures.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

Yes, just another example, Tulku, of Warden Sando's rehabilitation program. Cobb was an artist, and the warden never wanted him to forget it. It's just too bad he did.

[Tulku]

Oh, you mean the guns that were smuggled into the prison llama?

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

Yes, the guns. Which no doubt are embedded here in these fresh boxes of modeling clay. That's the only way cop could have Got guns in. Toko, give me a hat.

[Tulku]

Yes, madame.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

Now, we'll see in just a minute.

[Tulku]

Oh, yes, llama.

[Frank Cobb]

Look here.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

It's a.45 automatic. And below it, another one. Not the same caliber, but equally effective. Tulku, the cell door.

[Tulku]

It's closing, my lama.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

Correction, Tulku. It's already closed.

[Tulku]

But why, my llama? Who would want to keep us prisoner?

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

I don't know, but I don't intend to stay this way very long. Tulku, do you have a penny in your pocket?

[Tulku]

A penny? Yes, but why that?

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

It's light. Here. The bulb unscrewed and replaced with a penny. Give it to me, Tulku. Inserted in between it and the connection will blow the fuse fast.

[Warden Sando]

Oh.

[Tulku]

And so render the electrical machinery that locks these cell doors useless.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

No, it's not that simple, Tulku. But in a modern prison where doors and windows operate electrically, any tampering with wires, such as a blown fuse, might bring results. Now the bulb back in, and we'll see.

[Warden Sando]

Yes.

[Tulku]

Oh, you were right, my llama. It set off an alarm.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

Yes, and that red light there at the end of the corridor. Look, Tulku, it tags this row as the seat of the trouble. We should have help any m there coming toward us, Tulku? It's a warden with a guard behind it.

[Sammy the Singer]

Warden? Here in Cobb's cell? We're locked in two months.

[Narrator]

Wait a minute.

[Warden Sando]

I'll get the alarm first, then have you out.

[Sammy the Singer]

Newton.

[Narrator]

Yes, sir.

[Warden Sando]

Sergeant Newton.

[Sammy the Singer]

Yes, sir?

[Warden Sando]

Set the alarm, then open the second block.

[Big Ben Hackett]

Yes, sir.

[Tulku]

My lama, you have no thought as to why we happen to be caught in here this way?

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

No, other than that, it's not a coincidence. Tulku, let's go. Maybe the warden can help us.

[Warden Sando]

General, I can't understand this. Sergeant Newton, you patrol this building. Did you hear the gates close or see any prisoners in here?

[Tulku]

No, sir.

[Narrator]

I didn't head up for this block.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

Until that alarm went off. Little before that, I heard the door to that supply closet down there slam shut. So I start investigating. But I never got past the lower stair. Warden.

[Warden Sando]

Warden, under the door to the supply closet down there, look. Something's seeping out.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

Yes, something that looks like blood. Come on.

[Warden Sando]

It's his blood, all right, Jethro. And in a second, we'll know who.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

Oh, yes, Sammy, the singer.

[Warden Sando]

Also with a knife in his back. He's dead, Jethro.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

No, warden, but he's slipping fast. Sammy. Sammy, who Was.

[Sammy the Singer]

Was.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

It was who, Sammy? Try and tell me.

[Sammy the Singer]

It was that double Crossing. Ha.

[Warden Sando]

He's gone, Jethro.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

Yes.

[Warden Sando]

Maybe Captain Summers is right. Maybe this isn't the way to run a prison. Maybe I should have listened to him in the first place. Jethro, what did Sammy say to you? Something about Hackett, wasn't it? Jethro. Jethro.

[Tulku]

When the green llama failed to answer the warden's question and instead stared down at the lifeless form at his feet, I knew that he had entered the path of concentration taught him by the high lamas of Tibet. One problem at one time. One solution. The ultimate goal. Then, a few moments later, Jethro Dumont straightened up.

[Warden Sando]

Warden.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

Warden. Before this place became a model prison, where were the so called incorrigibles kept?

[Warden Sando]

Why in solitary? The basement of this building. But what's that got to do with these murders?

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

I don't know. Maybe nothing. Maybe everything. Let's go, Warden.

[Tulku]

The green llama and I followed close behind the warden. We crossed to a narrow, half concealed doorway that opened onto a spiral staircase leading 50ft into the earth below. The long corridor was hewn out of rock, damp and as silent as the passing of time. It was dark except for a thin finger of light ahead from a lantern on a crude table in a room that was more like a cave. Then we heard a familiar voice.

[Big Ben Hackett]

So that's your plan, is it? Oh, brother. It won't work, Dumont.

[Warden Sando]

I never should have doubted you.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

About what, Warden?

[Warden Sando]

I should have known that Hackett was guilty.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

Hackett isn't alone in that, Warden. And believe it or not, he isn't the guilty one.

[Big Ben Hackett]

What?

[Warden Sando]

Somebody else killed both Cobb and Sammy?

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

That's right.

[Big Ben Hackett]

Listen carefully as we move up and.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

See if you don't recognize the other voice.

[Big Ben Hackett]

No dice.

[Warden Sando]

Just shoot.

[Sammy the Singer]

Period.

[Captain Ed Summers]

All right, I'll do it your way. Hack it as long as I have to.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

What?

[Warden Sando]

Still get away with Captain Summers?

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

Yes. The hardy jailer himself.

[Captain Ed Summers]

I've got the upper hand. I'm a God and you're a con. I can knock you off and say it happened because after you admitted killing both Sammy the singer and Cobb, you made a break for it. And everybody will believe me.

[Sammy the Singer]

Yeah.

[Big Ben Hackett]

Even though the truth is that you knight Cobb because you was getting the.

[Sammy the Singer]

Guns to him yourself.

[Big Ben Hackett]

But it didn't play out dead at summers. Cobb changed his mind. When his pardon come through unexpected. That meant you had to kill him.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

Or worry that he'd talk.

[Captain Ed Summers]

Yeah, and as long as you'd like to understand everything real thorough like before you go out, Hackett, I'll cut you in on a little more. The reason I killed Sammy.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

Mind if I try it, Captain Summers?

[Sammy the Singer]

Jumot. Good. But stay where you are. Stop walking, Dumont, or I'll shoot.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

You killed Sammy, Captain Summers, because he knew too much. You couldn't afford to let him live when the break didn't come off. Because Sammy sings too easily, doesn't he, you mud?

[Tulku]

Stop.

[Sammy the Singer]

Stop or I'll shoot.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

And do what? When Hackett grabs for you? Big Ben, the man you were about to murder? Or were you counting on getting us both at once? All right, which one will it be first? Summers.

[Sammy the Singer]

Yeah, Captain.

[Big Ben Hackett]

Which?

[Warden Sando]

I don't know.

[Sammy (Prisoner)]

Stay back.

[Sammy the Singer]

Warden. Warden, tell him to stay back. Tell him what?

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

I'll answer for the warden, Summers.

[Sammy the Singer]

All right, drop the gun.

[Captain Ed Summers]

Drop it.

[Sammy the Singer]

Okay.

[Captain Ed Summers]

You'll win, Dumont.

[Warden Sando]

Well, Jethro, here it is. Captain Summers. Complete confession, thanks to you. But how did you suspect him in the first place?

[Tulku]

This has also been bothering me, my lama.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

Well, there were four things pointing to him, Warden. First, if Al Bauer's story of the the murder knife being stolen from his cell was true, it could only have been stolen by a guard.

[Warden Sando]

Yes. No one else would be able to get into the cell, too.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

Summers was the only person in the entire prison to have a key to the arsenal. Right, Warden?

[Warden Sando]

Yes.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

And Sammy, the singer, was not the type of person who could have gotten that key away from a man like Captain Summers. So the key must have been given to him. Then Summers knew we were going to talk to Sammy, and he needed time to get to Sammy first, so he locked us in the cell. Only Summers and you, Warden, knew we were there. Finally, Sammy told us it was Summers.

[Warden Sando]

Sammy told us?

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

Yes. When Sammy was dying, he said that it was that double crossing hack. Remember? You thought he was trying to say Hackett, but in prison slang.

[Warden Sando]

Prison slang? Yes. Hack means a God. In this case. Summers.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

Yes, Warden. Summers, the only man with a motive to stir up riots and murders in the model prison.

[Warden Sando]

Because he wanted my job.

[Jethro Dumont (The Green Llama)]

That's right, Warden. You know, it is truly written that the ambitious man often falls into the pit dug by his own greed.

[Narrator]

You've just heard another adventure with the Green Llama, starring Paul Freeze as Jethro Dumont. With Ben Wright as Tulku. The script was by Gene Levitt and Bob Mitchell from a story by Richard Foster. Featured in the cast were Edgar Barrier, Clayton Post, Dave Young, Bill Conrad, Ed Max, Jack Crucian and Bud Whittem. Special music is by Richard Arant. The Green Llama was produced and directed by James Burton. Music and a lot of fun vine music is coming your way. Almost immediately on most of these same CBS stations, Von Monroe will be around with his great band and the top hits of today, Gene Autry will come riding with more of the sagebrush songs for which he is famous. So stay tuned right now for Von Monroe following immediately on most of these CBS stations. Larry Thor speaking. This is cbs, the Columbia Broadcasting System.

[Sammy the Singer]

Sam.