Relic Radio Thrillers: "The Singing Walls" by Suspense

Aired: September 2, 1943 (Originally)
Podcast Date: December 19, 2025
Featured cast: Preston Foster (Denny Sullivan), Dane Clark (Tommy Cochran)
Source & Host: Relic Radio, RelicRadio.com

Episode Overview

In this episode of Relic Radio Thrillers, host RelicRadio.com presents "The Singing Walls" from the legendary CBS series Suspense. Adapted from a story by Cornell Woolrich, this gripping radio play follows the bewildered Tommy Cochran, who wakes after a blackout to suspect he may have committed murder. With the help of his police detective brother-in-law, Denny Sullivan, Tommy desperately pieces together a night lost to drugs and confusion, racing against time to either prove his innocence or face the consequences. It's a classic tale of memory, clues, and deadly misdirection, saturated with 1940s noir atmosphere.

Key Discussion Points & Plot Breakdown

1. Setting the Stage: The Nightmare Begins

• Tommy’s Confusion and Guilt ([02:41] - [07:12])
  • Tommy wakes, rattled by a disturbing, semi-lucid memory/dream of a party, a bricked-up window with "singing walls," a strange man, and blood on his shirt.
  • Quote:
    "Last night I think I killed a man."
    — Tommy ([08:29])
  • His sister Mildred is skeptical but alarmed when she sees the bloodstained shirt and finds two keys in Tommy’s pocket, one unknown to them.

2. Calling For Help: Detective Denny Sullivan Steps In

• Piecing Together Memories ([08:47] - [10:40])

  • Denny, Tommy’s brother-in-law and a homicide detective, listens as Tommy recounts muddled memories: a man with a “frog voice,” a mysterious party, and a body in a closet.

  • The tension rises as Tommy has only four hours before a potential check-out at a hotel where a body may be discovered.

  • Quote:
    "Right now there's a dead man in a closet somewhere in this town. And you killed him. Oh, but then maybe you didn't..."
    — Denny ([10:12])

3. The Search: Clues and Red Herrings

• Tracking Down ‘Joe’ and ‘The Singing Walls’ ([12:03] – [16:08])

  • Denny’s detective skills deduce that "Joe" refers to a saloon, not a person’s home. They visit Joe’s bar and confront him.

  • Testing Joe, Denny orders a drink and exposes him for drugging drinks, coercing him to reveal the location of the suspicious party.

  • They go to the Sorrell apartment in search of the closet seen in Tommy’s memory—finding nothing suspicious and no body.

  • Memorable Exchange:
    "If my hunch is right, Joe is going to be plenty surprised when he sees you walk in there..."
    — Denny ([12:52])

4. Breakthrough: The Clue of the “Singing Walls”

• Music as a Trail ([18:37] - [20:36])

  • Tommy hears the same harmonica music (“the singing walls”) from the night in question, traced back to a portable radio and a local bandleader.

  • Denny, following this broadcast, is led to the nearby Silver Slipper nightclub and an adjacent seedy hotel.

  • Quote:
    "That’s it. The singing walls. The music I heard last night."
    — Tommy ([18:53])

5. The Climax: Truth in the Closet

• Locating the Crime Scene ([21:13] – [24:40])

  • At the hotel, Tommy’s handwriting is found in the guest register. In Room 209, they discover the murdered man (Benjamin Doyle) in a closet and Tommy’s fingerprints on the weapon.

  • Tommy is nearly convinced of his guilt due to these damning clues.

  • Quote:
    "Those prints are yours all right, kid."
    — Denny ([24:26])

6. Revelation and Resolution: Framing the Frame-Up

• The True Culprits & Tommy’s Vindication ([25:32] – [29:18])

  • As Tommy is left alone, the real villain—the frog-voiced henchman ("Froggy")—emerges, revealing the plot to frame Tommy.

  • Denny is also captured but, appreciating Tommy’s earlier request to leave a window open for the music, understands Tommy’s coded hope for rescue.

  • Police burst in at the last moment, arresting the real killers. The murder is tied to criminal underworld retribution, not to Tommy.

  • Key Confession:
    "Sure, sure, that's why I framed this guy. All the trouble I went to, doped him and brought Doyle in there when he was out. Planted a key on him, bloodied him up with a knife in his hand..."
    — Froggy ([26:51])

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Tommy’s Anxiety:
  "Last night I think I killed a man." ([08:29])
• Denny’s Loyalty and Duty:
  "If you did it, you know I'm going to turn you in, don't you?" ([11:02])
• Music as Salvation:
  "I heard the music. I hoped you would. I asked him to leave the window open."
  — Tommy to Denny, after their rescue ([28:46])
• Self-doubt and Relief:
  "I thought you did it, Denny, until just now."
  — Tommy ([29:18]) "So did I."
  — Denny ([29:18])

Important Timestamps

• [02:41] — Tommy's first confused memories; introduction of "the singing walls"
• [08:29] — Tommy confesses to his sister he may have killed someone
• [10:12] – [10:40] — Denny summarizes the urgency and stakes of their investigation
• [12:03] – [14:03] — Denny and Tommy meet Joe at his saloon; confrontation
• [16:13] – [18:03] — Search of the Sorrell apartment; no body found, moment of despair
• [18:53] — Tommy decisively identifies “the singing walls” music
• [22:19] – [24:40] — Discovery of the hotel scene, body, and incriminating evidence
• [26:51] — Froggy’s confession: the frame-up exposed
• [28:46] — Denny and Tommy rescued; vindication

Episode Tone & Language

The dialogue is steeped in classic hardboiled noir: clipped, urgent, and in moments, vulnerable. The cast delivers palpable tension, especially between Tommy—helplessly piecing together fragmented memories—and Denny, torn between compassion and his duty as a lawman. The episode’s sparing use of music and sound effects (the “singing walls”) heightens the mysterious, claustrophobic atmosphere of 1940s radio crime drama.

Final Thoughts

"The Singing Walls" is a prime example of Suspense at its best: high stakes, unreliable memory, shadowy backrooms, and brotherly loyalty tested by evidence. Through layered clues and a memorable twist, the episode keeps listeners guessing up to the very end, all delivered with authentic Golden Age radio style.

For more classic mysteries, visit RelicRadio.com.