
Relic Radio Thrillers features The Man Called X this week. From November 30, 1947, here's his story, Checkmate In Tahiti. Listen to more from The Man Called X https://traffic.libsyn.com/forcedn/e55e1c7a-e213-4a20-8701-21862bdf1f8a/Thriller887.mp3 Download Thriller887 | Subscribe | Spotify | Support Relic Radio Thrillers Relic Radio Thrillers is made possible by your support. If you’d like to help this show keep coming every week, [...]
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Narrator
Relicradio.com presents stories of mystery and intrigue, espionage and suspense. Hear tales of ticking time bombs, mysterious crime scenes and cloak and dagger action. This is Relic Radio Thrillers. This week on Relic Radio Thrillers, we'll hear from the Man Called X series that debuted over CBS stations in July of 1944, moved to NBC, back to CBS and finally ended in May of 1952 over NBC stations. Over 200 episodes were produced. The story we'll hear Today is from November 30, 1947. Here's Checkmate.
Announcer
In Tahiti, you're quite as sure. With two great names, Frigidaire and General.
Ken Thurston
Mulchard.
Announcer
Brigidaire presents Herbert Marshall as the man called X. Wherever there is mystery, intrigue, romance in all the strange and dangerous places of the world, there you will find the man called X. And our Frigidaire presents Herbert Marshall as Ken Thurston, the Man Called X.
Ken Thurston
New York.
Monsieur Savadel
I, Monsieur Savadel, welcome you to Papayte, Tahiti.
Johnny Cook
Thanks. By the way, what's this mine accident I heard about somewhere in this vicinity, wasn't it?
Monsieur Savadel
Terrible tragedy, monsieur. Terrible. An explosion. One of our most welcome guests, Monsieur Robert Sullivan, was lost in it. Oh, such a nice gentleman too. So quiet, so refined, so hard working.
Johnny Cook
So. Yeah, yeah, I'm sure. Yeah. Where'd Sullivan usually hang out, you know?
Monsieur Savadel
Well, frequently at the Cafe Chinois down on the waterfront. But I do not think that you would care to patronize a place like that.
Johnny Cook
I bet you are just the key to my room.
Monsieur Savadel
We miss you. Room 25. It is quite comfortable, I assure you. And if there is anything, I.
Johnny Cook
See you later. Sao.
Monsieur Savadel
We miss you.
Nadia Powers
S.
Ken Thurston
How they sabo? Looks like we got a new homesteader around these parts.
Monsieur Savadel
And of just what concern is this to you, monsieur?
Ken Thurston
What brand? He put down for his in the register in Thurston. Well, that just goes to show.
Monsieur Savadel
To show what?
Ken Thurston
Sabadel. I'd have swore that hombre would have signed that register just by making a X.
Johnny Cook
Yeah.
Monsieur Savadel
Master, your drink.
Johnny Cook
So not for some mistake. Waiter. I didn't order any martini with an onion in it. Wait a minute. Who ordered this for me?
Monsieur Savadel
Number one gentleman over there.
Ken Thurston
Yes.
Johnny Cook
Excuse, please excuse the number one gentleman. Oh, no, not again.
Pagan
Hello, mister.
Johnny Cook
Thanks, Elspin. I thought I'd give you the brush in Singapore.
Pagan
Oh, I followed you down here. Special chartered job, Aeroplane. We even got here ahead of you. So here I am, ready to offer you my.
Johnny Cook
No thanks.
Pagan
But Mr. Thirsty.
Nadia Powers
Well, monsieur, we are enjoying the pleasures of Chinois.
Pagan
We?
Johnny Cook
I wasn't but things are beginning to look brighter.
Pagan
Hello, baby. Sit down and converse with us. Even talk, maybe?
Johnny Cook
Yes.
Nadia Powers
Najda would like to talk about phosphate mines, Mr. Thornton.
Johnny Cook
Phosphate mines?
Nadia Powers
The door to your right, it leads to a small garden. I shall meet you there in two minutes time.
Pagan
Mr. Thurston, you surprise even me. Such a fast burger I never saw. Well, shall we go out to the garden?
Johnny Cook
See you later, Pagon.
Pagan
But Mr. Thirst. Oh, well. Waiter. Take back this marine.
Johnny Cook
Okay, Naza, what's this all about?
Nadia Powers
Monsieur Thorson? Barb Sullivan had said to me in any time, if anything should happen to him, I want to get in touch with you.
Johnny Cook
Did he tell you why he thought something might happen to him?
Nadia Powers
No, Monsieur. I only know he was worried about the Prostate Mine. And I am certain he did not die by accident.
Johnny Cook
Who else might know something about this?
Nadia Powers
There was one man. Bob would speak with him quite often at Chinois. Professor Powers.
Johnny Cook
Powers? Who's Professor Powers?
Nadia Powers
He owns a plantation back in the hill near the mine. They had many long talks together. Perhaps he ignored something.
Johnny Cook
That all.
Nadia Powers
No, there is another. A man who comes from.
Johnny Cook
No, hold it, hold it. Nadia. Something's moving over there. Quiet now. No, not really.
Pagan
Hurt sure.
Nadia Powers
That man. A man?
Johnny Cook
What man?
Nadia Powers
Tall man.
Johnny Cook
Texas nascar. Nascar?
Ken Thurston
Wow. Looks like the gal got killed, don't it? Reckon maybe those shots were meant for.
Announcer
You, Mr. X.
Pagan
Mr. Thurston. Why do we have to ride through this jungle anyway?
Johnny Cook
This is the road to Professor Power's plantation and the Prostate mine.
Pagan
But why do we have to go to these places tonight?
Johnny Cook
That Texum wasn't hanging around just for the fun of it. There's something big going on around here. We got to find out what it is fast.
Pagan
Mr. Se, you got this Johnny Cook all wrong.
Announcer
He wouldn't do.
Johnny Cook
All right, let's have it. What do you know about him?
Pagan
Well, it was like this. I, I, I wanted to come to Tahiti to help you, you understand, but. But I had a little problem.
Johnny Cook
Yeah, you were broke. Go on.
Pagan
Yes. Well, there was the seaplane at the dock, and I heard Johnny Cook say he was flying here.
Johnny Cook
So I see. How much is Cook paying you to keep an eye on me, Mr. Thurston? All right, now, there's the mine entrance up ahead. We'll go the rest of the way on foot.
Pagan
But Mr. Thurston, I don't get it. Why should we stop right there, gentlemen.
Johnny Cook
Well, a little late in the season for manhunting, isn't it? Who are you?
Nadia Powers
You can forget about my name. And if you're thinking of littering the mine tonight, forget about that too. Go on, get away from here. And if you think. I don't mean that.
Pagan
The mine, it's gone.
Johnny Cook
Yeah, Pagone buried. And the hundreds of pounds of rock.
Pagan
Look at that girl. She's coming toward that, Mr. Thurston, with this. With this cannon in her hand.
Nadia Powers
Well, gentlemen, the mine is completely destroyed. Bob Sullivan is dead, Nigda's dead. Somebody's guilty and somebody is going to pay.
Johnny Cook
Any idea who?
Pagan
There's a very good one.
Nadia Powers
I'm looking at him right now.
Johnny Cook
Mr. X.
Announcer
And now to continue with Frigidaire's Man Called X starring Herbert Marshall. With Europe in desperate need of phosphate to help ease the critical world food shortage. Jem Thurston's in Tahiti investigating a series of so called accidents occurring to a big phosphate mine.
Nadia Powers
Well, anyone else you'd like to blame for this mine explosion, Drake?
Johnny Cook
No. It looks as though I better come up with someone. Yes, just as soon as I take that rifle away from you.
Nadia Powers
Oh, that guy.
Johnny Cook
Yeah, much better.
Nadia Powers
I should have told these first and asked questions afterwards.
Johnny Cook
That's Johnny Cook's advice.
Nadia Powers
Johnny told me that. I suppose you think you're police Remarked.
Johnny Cook
Who are you?
Nadia Powers
Mater Boyd. I'm Professor Powers, Minister.
Johnny Cook
What's that supposed to tell me?
Nadia Powers
Everything or nothing. Any other questions?
Johnny Cook
A couple, but they can wait.
Nadia Powers
And if you're quite through with me.
Pagan
I think I'd like to leave.
Johnny Cook
Sure, anything you say.
Pagan
Thanks.
Johnny Cook
All right, boy.
Nadia Powers
I'll be seeing you around, Mr. Thurston. The next time I won't take any chances.
Monsieur Savadel
Why it is, monsieur first in. Come in, please, come in.
Johnny Cook
Thanks. Abel. What are you doing here, Professor Powers?
Monsieur Savadel
Well, my nightly chess game with the professor, Monsieur. It is delightful relaxation after my trying days at the hotel.
Pagan
Where is this Trapeau guest?
Johnny Cook
Me?
Monsieur Savadel
Oui, Monsieur. Dustin. Officer Powers, huh?
Johnny Cook
So I've been dropped your game. But I thought you'd like to know about the phosphate mine next door here. Someone blew it up a little while ago.
Ken Thurston
Blew up?
Pagan
There? Ah, Monsieur, what are you saying? This is unbelievable.
Johnny Cook
Don't tell me you didn't hear the explosion.
Monsieur Savadel
Well, we did hear it, monsieur, but we mistook it for thunder.
Pagan
Storm brewing in the end.
Johnny Cook
Yes, yes, there's a storm brewing all right, Salvador. Only it isn't in the hills among the hungry people in this world. By the way, you're a physics professor, aren't you, Powers?
Ken Thurston
Yes, I was before I retired.
Announcer
But how do you know?
Johnny Cook
The door to your laboratory is open. I see you have a cathode ray tube and a Geiger counter in there. Well, sorry to disturb your game, gentlemen. I. I let you figure out your next move in peace, Professor. Though even a child could tell that almost any move you make would put him in checkmate. Good night, Sabo. Go straight to the hotel, Pagon. If the Chief calls before I get back about a cablegram I sent him, you take the message for me, See?
Pagan
Can always depend on Mr. Zelchmid. Oh, yeah, but where are you going?
Johnny Cook
Down to the harbor.
Pagan
Harbor?
Johnny Cook
There's nothing down there but boats and Johnny Cook seaplane. Kind of safe to have aboard a steep train.
Ken Thurston
Wow. Howdy, Thurston.
Johnny Cook
No, Cook, I didn't expect you back so soon.
Ken Thurston
Yeah.
Johnny Cook
Reckon sometimes I've seen a safe made of lead instead of steel.
Ken Thurston
Yeah, that's right. Now, why would a man want a safe made of lead?
Johnny Cook
You reckon if you put down that 45 for a minute, we can talk it over?
Ken Thurston
I don't know if I rightly should, Peston. What do you think, Mater?
Johnny Cook
Mater?
Nadia Powers
That's right, mister.
Ken Thurston
That was right neat, honey.
Announcer
Right neat.
Pagan
Johnny. What was he doing here?
Ken Thurston
I tell you later, sugar. Got a little old job to do first.
Nadia Powers
Job?
Johnny Cook
Yeah.
Ken Thurston
Wait till I to him over to the cargo door. Yeah. Mighty peaceful out yonder in the harbor, thon I reckon maybe you could sleep right comfortable out there.
Pagan
Mr. Thurston. Residence. A hotel room, that is.
Nadia Powers
Go ahead, please.
Johnny Cook
Hello? Hello?
Ken Thurston
That's you, ken.
Pagan
Oh, hello, Mr. Chief. How's the weather in New York?
Johnny Cook
I'll take that call, pagon.
Pagan
Oh, sure, Mr. Thurston. Hey, you. You slow slopping wet. What happened?
Johnny Cook
I was lucky. Miss Boy didn't hit hard enough, huh? Oh, Chief. What? What have you got for me on Johnny Cook, Ken?
Ken Thurston
He's a former pilot.
Johnny Cook
The 8th Air Force Thunderbird squadron. Thunderbird? That's the one Bob Sullivan flew in. That may explain a lot of things. Ah, not to me, it doesn't. Anyway, since the war, he's been flying.
Ken Thurston
A freelance cargo plane out of Tahiti.
Johnny Cook
That's about all I have right now. What about you? Things are plenty hot here, aren't they, huh? Sounds like we've got listeners, Chief. I'll call you later. So long, Hagon. What do you know about that lead safe Johnny brought back from Singapore, say?
Pagan
Oh, oh, you mean the one Professor Powers wanted?
Johnny Cook
Powers? Sure, sure. I should have known it all ties in.
Pagan
What ties in with what?
Johnny Cook
Phony chess game. I got counted. Prostate mines. Come on, Pagan. We're going back to that Plant.
Pagan
Let's go back to the hotel, Mr. Thurston.
Johnny Cook
Nobody's home here with all those lights burning. Maybe the door. Yeah. Let's go in.
Pagan
Joint's empty.
Johnny Cook
Let's try the laboratory.
Pagan
Look at all this junk. Tube bottled gas burners. What a man. I never. X. There's the old shoe lying under the bench. There's a foot in it.
Johnny Cook
Well, Professor Powers? Foot? He's dead, Pedro.
Pagan
But who killed him? And why?
Johnny Cook
Maybe that very hard one. His shoes can tell us.
Pagan
So that's where all those dusty footprints came from. But why are you tasting it, Mr. President? It's only dust.
Johnny Cook
Must be sauce. Powers was in that mind tonight.
Pagan
But the entrance was blown to pieces. How could he get in?
Johnny Cook
I wouldn't be tough if there was another entrance from this plantation. If we can follow those footprints. Wait. I take this gadget with me. Okay, let's go.
Pagan
Mr. Thurston, what are we going to do with that little bar?
Johnny Cook
There you go. They're going to pay a detective.
Pagan
Why did we have to come down in this hotel on the ground anyways? Just because we found the tunnel in the hillside doesn't mean we have to. That sound. What was it? What was that? It's coming from that box. You're carrying a time bomb. You're carrying a time bomb. It's going to explode.
Johnny Cook
There you go. This is a Geiger counter. Click that way. In the presence of radioactivity. And its gun is detecting dark forest. Shut it off.
Pagan
Detecting job. What did that thing detect?
Johnny Cook
Take a look at the walls of that cross cut opening into this tunnel.
Pagan
Okay, Mr. X. I'm looking. So what?
Johnny Cook
That pitch blend the ore that contains radium.
Pagan
Radium?
Johnny Cook
That's why the Geiger counter clicked. That's why somebody sabotaged this mine to gain control of that ore. And that's the reason for Professor Powers lead safe. It's the only way you can handle that stuff. He will.
Pagan
Mr. X. Somebody's down here with us. He's coming this way.
Johnny Cook
Turn off that flashlight. Hello. Madar.
Nadia Powers
Ben Thurston?
Johnny Cook
That's right. What are you doing down here? Trying to find out why your uncle was so interested in this mine.
Pagan
Yes, I was.
Nadia Powers
What difference does that make?
Pagan
You don't make any. We caught you cold handed looking for this radio. She's the guilty one, Mr. Thurston. Let's take her.
Johnny Cook
Not so fast, Pagon. She's not guilty of anything.
Pagan
Huh? But that the mind when she shot us and knocking you out.
Johnny Cook
And now she was trying to protect the mine and her Uncle.
Pagan
Huh? Well. Well then it's like I said all the time, Johnny Cook.
Johnny Cook
Wrong again. Pagoda. Mr. Sabadel.
Nadia Powers
What?
Pagan
Sabadel, the hotel clerk.
Nadia Powers
That is quite correct, Mr. Sabadel.
Announcer
What are you?
Ken Thurston
Mr. X and Tim.
Announcer
Do not move, any of you.
Monsieur Savadel
You'll notice I have a gun in my hand. I can shoot quite straight with it, I assure you.
Johnny Cook
Not done. Professor Powers found that out.
Monsieur Savadel
Quite so. But then Powers had outlived his youthfulness to me.
Johnny Cook
After he'd analyzed the pitch pen for him and discovered it held more than radium.
Monsieur Savadel
Then you know what else it contained, Monsieur Thurston Salvador.
Johnny Cook
It bends. Just the common name for oxide of uranium. Uranium? That's right. Neither. That's why I was looking to kill for it. Bob Sullivan. Najda Powers.
Monsieur Savadel
Oui, monsieur. Now it is you.
Johnny Cook
Not this time, Sabadell. This thing's too big that you should get away with it.
Monsieur Savadel
Look at that not being heroic fuel, Thurston. You'll be dead long before you reach me.
Johnny Cook
Well, I'm going to try. Let me have it, Sabod.
Monsieur Savadel
Well, monsieur, but not the way you wish. Now the jack. Close enough so I cannot possibly miss.
Ken Thurston
Howdy. Looks like I parted me a genuine ring tailed Skunk.
Johnny Cook
Yeah. Thanks, Cook. That was good shooting. I figured Mater wouldn't be down here alone.
Pagan
Mr. Thurston, you're alive. It's that somebody else who's dead.
Ken Thurston
Ain't it the truth?
Nadia Powers
And you heard, Johnny. We were wrong about Mr. Thurston. Wrong all the time.
Ken Thurston
We sure were, honey. But Bob Sullivan told me to keep an eye open for Ken Thurston. The man called X. How was I to know he meant a pure blood instead of being the maverick I figured had murdered him?
Johnny Cook
So you took things in your own hands, made your own rules. Just like Sabadel did. That's no good, Johnny. This world of ours has got too small and shaky for any man to play the game his own way, according to his own rules. Whether the stakes are food or uranium, there's only one way of gaining that little end, Johnny in a checkmate for all of us.
Announcer
And now, before introducing our star, Herbert Marshall once again, I'd like to read a telegram which is addressed to him from the head of the Columbia Broadcasting System. Bart, I'm sure you won't mind my reading it on the air.
Johnny Cook
Of course not, Wendell.
Announcer
It says, Dear Bart, heartiest congratulations to you and your sponsor, Frigidaire division of General Motors Corporation, on the completion of 100 consecutive Frigidaire shows. May I say to you personally and to everybody connected with the Man Called X that I think you're doing a grand job. Best proof of that is the millions of people who listen to you every Sunday night at this time. Now, as you start on your way to the 200th Brigidaire show, all of us at CBS send our very best wishes to all of you on the Man Called X. Signed William S. Paley, Chairman of the board, Columbia Broadcasting System.
Johnny Cook
Wendell, what can I say in answer to something like that, except thanks, cbs, thanks on behalf of our sponsor, Frigidaire, with whom we are celebrating this 100th broadcast. And thanks to you of our listening audience for your loyalty week after week. Good night.
Announcer
Brigidaire's Man Called X is directed by Jack Johnstone with music composed and conducted by Johnny Green. Tonight's story was written by Sydney Marshall. And so until next week, same time, same station. This is Wendell N. Speaking for Frigidaire. Made only by General Motors. All characters and incidents used on this program are fictitious and any resemblance to actual persons or incidents is purely coincidental. This is cbs, the Columbia Broadcasting System.
Pagan
Foreign.
Narrator
There'S more from the Man Called X, Relic Radio Thrillers and all of the other podcasts@ RelicRadio.com. you'll also find our shoutcast stream there with even more old time radio lots to listen to there. All for free. Thanks to your support. If you'd like to help out, visit donate. Relicradio.com or click on one of those links on the website. Website. Your support makes all of this possible since 2007. Thanks to those who have helped out. Thanks for joining me this week. I'll be back tomorrow with the horror and next Friday with our next episode of Relic Radio Thrillers.
Podcast Information:
"Checkmate In Tahiti" is an enthralling installment from The Man Called X series, initially debuting on CBS in July 1944 and concluding in May 1952 after over 200 episodes. This particular episode, set in the picturesque yet enigmatic locale of Tahiti, weaves a complex tale of intrigue surrounding a phosphate mine explosion, espionage, and hidden motives.
The narrative centers around Ken Thurston, portrayed by Herbert Marshall as the elusive Man Called X, who arrives in Tahiti to investigate a series of mysterious accidents plaguing a significant phosphate mine. Europe is in dire need of phosphate to address a critical world food shortage, making the mine's operations paramount.
Shortly after his arrival, Ken Thurston encounters Johnny Cook, a former pilot from the 8th Air Force Thunderbird squadron, now operating a freelance cargo plane out of Tahiti. Their interactions hint at underlying tensions and undisclosed agendas.
As Thurston delves deeper, he discovers that the mine accidents are no mere coincidences but deliberate sabotage aimed at controlling valuable ore containing radium and uranium. This revelation connects to the mysterious disappearance of Monsieur Robert Sullivan, a respected guest who was lost in a mine explosion deemed an accident but suspected otherwise.
Ken Thurston (The Man Called X): The protagonist, a sharp and resourceful investigator determined to uncover the truth behind the mine accidents.
Johnny Cook: A former pilot whose loyalties and intentions are ambiguous, initially presenting as an ally but later revealing hidden motives.
Nadia Powers: An associate of the late Bob Sullivan, who provides critical information about the mine and Sullivan's concerns.
Pagan (Mr. Sabadel): A hotel clerk whose allegiance is questionable, ultimately revealed as an antagonist involved in the sabotage.
Doctor Professor Powers: A retired physics professor linked to the mine's operations and the source of valuable ore.
Arrival in Tahiti ([02:01]): Ken Thurston meets Monsieur Savadel, who informs him of the tragic mine explosion that claimed Bob Sullivan's life.
Suspicious Interactions ([05:29] - [06:05]): Nadia Powers approaches Thurston, hinting at the mine accident's suspicious nature and introducing Professor Powers as a key figure.
Discovery of the Mine Sabotage ([19:52] - [20:04]): Thurston utilizes a Geiger counter to detect radioactivity, revealing that the sabotage involved uranium oxide, indicating a higher stakes conflict over valuable resources.
Confrontation in the Tunnel ([20:25] - [22:23]): A tense showdown unfolds in the mine's tunnel, where Pagan and Monsieur Savadel attempt to thwart Thurston's investigation, leading to a dramatic exchange and realization of true identities.
Sabotage Motive: The mine was deliberately destroyed to seize control of radium and uranium ore, essential for post-war needs, highlighting the lengths to which individuals would go for power and resources.
Character Betrayals: Johnny Cook's transition from a seemingly reliable ally to revealing his true intent underscores themes of deception and hidden agendas prevalent in espionage narratives.
Importance of Expertise: The use of scientific instruments like the cathode ray tube and Geiger counter by Professor Powers emphasizes the critical role of technical knowledge in uncovering the truth.
In the climactic confrontation, Ken Thurston faces off against Pagan and Monsieur Savadel in the mine's tunnel. Utilizing his wit and the Geiger counter, Thurston exposes their plan to control the uranium supply. A gunfight ensues, leading to the downfall of the antagonists. The episode concludes with Thurston reflecting on the moral complexities of his mission, emphasizing the necessity of adhering to justice over personal vendettas.
Ken Thurston ([07:02]): "Wow. Looks like the gal got killed, don't it? Reckon maybe those shots were meant for... You, Mr. X."
Nadia Powers ([05:55]): "There was one man. Bob would speak with him quite often at Chinois. Professor Powers."
Johnny Cook ([16:05]): "He's a former pilot. The 8th Air Force Thunderbird squadron. Thunderbird? That's the one Bob Sullivan flew in."
Monsieur Savadel ([21:18]): "You'll notice I have a gun in my hand. I can shoot quite straight with it, I assure you."
Ken Thurston ([22:46]): "We sure were, honey. But Bob Sullivan told me to keep an eye open for Ken Thurston. The man called X."
"Checkmate In Tahiti" masterfully combines elements of mystery, suspense, and espionage, set against the exotic backdrop of Tahiti. Through its intricate plot and well-developed characters, the episode explores themes of loyalty, deception, and the moral dilemmas faced by those in positions of power. Ken Thurston's relentless pursuit of the truth serves as a compelling narrative drive, ensuring listeners are captivated until the very end.
For fans of Old Time Radio and classic thrillers, this episode exemplifies the genre's enduring appeal, blending suspenseful storytelling with rich character dynamics.
Relic Radio Thrillers continues to deliver timeless tales that resonate with today's audience, maintaining a legacy of engaging narratives and unforgettable adventures.