← The Great Detectives of Old Time Radio| Daily Mystery Dramas
The Great Detectives of Old Time Radio| Daily Mystery Dramas
Broadway's My Beat: Ted Forstek and Ruth Ballard Murder Case (EP4697)
00:34:23
Today's Mystery: A young woman and her boyfriend are shot on the George Washington Bridge. Original Radio Broadcast Date: June 9, 1950 Originated in Hollywood Stars: Larry Thor as Lieutenant Danny Clover, Charles Calvert as Sergeant Gino Tartaglia,...
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- [00:01]
Adam Graham
You can make a difference in someone's life, including your own, with a job in home care. These jobs offer flexible schedules, health care, retirement options and free training. They also provide paid time off and opportunities for overtime. Visit oregonhomecarejobs.com to learn more and apply. That's oregonhomecarejobs.com.
- [00:30]
Larry Thor
Plan on flying it's time to upgrade to a real ID because in order to board domestic flights, your driver's license or state issued ID must be a real ID or you'll need another acceptable form of identification. So don't wait. Find out how to get your Real ID@tsa.gov RealID that's tsa.gov RealID or visit your local DMV and then you'll be cleared for takeoff.
- [01:29]
Adam Graham
Welcome to the Great Detectives of Radio from Seattle. This is your host, Adam Graham. In a moment, we're going to bring you this week's episode of Broadway's My Beat. But first, I do want to encourage you. If you're enjoying the podcast, please follow us using your favorite podcast software and today's program is brought to you in part by the financial support of our listeners. You can support the podcast using the Zell app to box 13@greatdetectives.net and you can become one of our ongoing Patreon supporters for as little as $2 per month at patreon.greatdetectives.net and I want to thank Judy for becoming our latest Patreon supporter at the psalmist level of $4 or more per month. Thanks so much for your support, Judy. And now, from June 9, 1950, here here is the Ted Forstack and Ruth Ballard murder case.
- [02:43]
Larry Thor
Broadway, My beat From Times Square to Columbus Circle, the gaudiest, the most violent, the lonesomest mile in the world. Broadway's My Beat, with Larry Thor as Detective Danny Clover. The sound that eddies upward from Broadway is the sound of shock. A thing composed of laughter, trumpet, the clack of heels, the cry from the lonely bed. You stand at the window at police headquarters, waiting for some part of it to touch you. And in one way or another, it does. The frightened voice through a phone, the impersonal alarm of a teletype where a tired officer walks into your office, tugs at your sleeve, gives you a message. Shooting on the Manhattan side of the George Washington Bridge, it says. Take the last side road on your right. Before you get there, Officer Murray will meet you. The siren on your squad car spills into the empty pockets of the night, fills them with its own Brand of sh There. And Officer Murray. Meet you this way, Danny. That car parked over there. What happened? Boy and a girl. You'll see him. How bad? I'm no doc, Danny. Ambulance is on its way. Lost a lot of blood when I found him. The car was open, the boy's position. Like he was trying to get out of the car. What about the girl? Four shots from up pretty close. Looks like dead. Uh huh. Motive? Like I said, I'm not a doc. But it wasn't robbery. Here. Wallets from both. With just the amount of money, you'd expect neatly dressed kids like that to have identification too. Let's see. Boy's name, Ted Fostek. Girls? Ruth Ballard. Both kids. Both of them just touching 20. There's something else, Danny. What? Other side of the road. Come on. Somebody picked a nice secluded place for killing it. Yeah. This road's blocked off, Danny. But kids slip around wooden roadblocks. That makes it a lover's lane. Makes it more thrilling. Here. Look. See? Huh. Looks like somebody made a U turn in an awful hurry. Yeah. Narrow tire threads, I guess. Model A smack. This tree. Some paint scraped off. Oh, here comes the ambulance. Danny. Then to the whispered, muffled sounds of the night in the river is added the furied lament of the siren and the attendance of the dead and the dying are there. They lift the boy gently, carry him to the waiting ambulance. Then the girls. There's less need to be gentle. They close the doors. And the boy and girl belong to them, to the attendants of death. And for a fragment of an instant, there's silence. Then the night returns to fury. At headquarters. You make your initial report. You leave orders to trace a car that left tire marks and paint scrapings across the road from the scene of death. You look for duties that will delay you and there are none. And you know you must go to an address and tell whoever is there that a girl has been murdered. A man, is there. A man who's been watching the fights on television, drinking a glass of beer? Just a moment, Mr. Clover. I'll turn the sound down. There. Now we can still see the picture. We won't be interrupted. You enjoying the fights, Mr. Clover? Ruth Ballard, Is she Ruth? Ruth is my daughter, Mr. Clover. Is that why you're here? Because of ruth? Ruth's mother, Mr. Ballard. Maybe she should be here too. Ruth's mother's dead. She died three years ago. What about Ruth, Mr. Clover? Something wrong? She been in an accident? Please, Mr. Clover, don't just stand there. What is it? Why are you here? Mr. Ballard, it's a. Something's happened to Ruth, hasn't it? Tell me. I have a right to know. Ruth is dead, Mr. Ballard. I know of no other way to say it, Mr. Ballard. There's no. It's all right, Mr. Clover. It's all right. You have to do things. I understand. I'll. How, Bruce? How? We found her in a car. Shot. Murdered. Mr. Miller? In Ted's car. Ted Foster? Yes, the boy. He'll be shot too, but he's alive. Unconscious, but alive. I'm glad for Ted. He's a good boy. You knew him, Mr. Bellard? Only when it came to take Ruth out. We'd talk a little about the fights. I'd offer him a beer. Then Ruth would be all dressed. They'd go out. They'd wait up for Ruth because I don't get much chance to talk to her. I work all day, so I wait up for her. I was doing that tonight. Her other friends, Mr. Ballard, who were they? I. I don't know. I know very little of how Ruth lived when I was away from her. It's hard, Mr. Clover, to be a father, take care of a girl properly. To buy her clothes, food. Make it so she could hold her head up among her friends. I didn't do so good, did I, Mr. Clover? No good, Mr. Ballard. You know something, Mr. Clover? Ruth wasn't really my daughter. She was my stepdaughter. I adopted her because I loved her mother. Then I loved Ruth like she was my own flesh and blood. Now it's my fault. I should have taken her away where a child can live decently. It's all my fault, Mr. Ballard. If I can help in some way. Thank you. Just go away, mister. Just go away. You leave quietly because the words are never there to touch a bowed down heart. It's almost midnight, but you've another call to make. The address is on Amsterdam Avenue. The address in the wounded boy's wallet. The front of it is a store stationary. Candy and cigarettes. The peeling guilt says walk in and face the lady and the man who are about ready to close for the night. Phone is right over there in back of candy counter. Perhaps the Mr. Wants to buy something, Anna. Perhaps he doesn't this time of night. You know, Mikhail, this time of night is always to use phone. No, I'm the who buy something, Anna. I'm from the police. Yesterday we had sent money for license to sell cigarettes. Jack. Jack is good. One, please, Anna. The mistress said nothing to check. Police. Danny Clover. You're Mr. And Mrs. Forstek. So maybe. What do you want of us? Your son. Your son. Ted. Ted and police. Fine. He has hit a man, robbed a man. He's been shot. Robbed a man and was shot. No, not like that. Ted bad. Hurt bad? Pretty bad, Mr. Foster. And it hurts Ted. He's unconscious. He's in the Hospital St. Agnes. He's being taken care of. What happened to Ted? We don't know exactly. He was parked in a car with a girl. With Ruth Ballard. She was shot to death. We don't know exactly what happened. Maybe you can help a boy of mine. His friend. Hoodlum. Some gutter. This is help I give him. What about his friend? He belongs to a club. As the young man should for social. For context. The Adonis Club it is called. Our baby. Living his life with bum. All right. And the girl? Ruth Valent. He mentioned her name, I think. But it was not frequent name. I'm sorry. Porter. Good evening. Oh, customer. Not customer. Evelyn. Oh, then I invite him too. Where's Ted? I brought a cake from the party. A whole cake with white frosting. Nobody touched a drop. Where's Ted, neighbor? This woman, Mr. Evelyn Sherman. She shows dolls, puppets to parties. Sometimes she brings something to us from party. I'm from the police, Ms. Sherman. What's the matter with Ted? He's been shot. Liar. Show me. You're from the police, Evelyn. Deny there. But he's a baby. Ted's a little baby. I watched him grow up. Shot. You better come with me. All of you. I'll take you to the hospital. At the hospital, a nun told us softly that we couldn't see the boy. He was still unconscious. Dr. Sinski was with him. Had left orders. No one was to be permitted to destroy. Not even a Mr. Clover. We'd have to wait until Dr. Sinski said it was all right. So we waited. Then a nun walked through the dark corridor and ushered the shadows of night away. And it was daylight. The city yawned and began its day long scream. And we waited. Then a voice whispered to me that there was a phone call for Lieutenant Clover in the office. This way. Thank you. Sister Danny Clover speaking. Danny, this is Sergeant Gino Tartaglia. How's the boy? He's not out of it yet. What do you want, Titaglia? We traced the car, Danny. That car that left its fingerprints at the scene of the crime. We tracked it down, Danny. Where is it? It is a delivery truck in the alley back of Kilbert's Cleaning and dyeing establishment. 1845 West 125th. Street registered to George Kilbert. On the ball, huh, Donnie? Yeah. You can paste a gold star in your notebook. A little, Gino. Be with you in a minute, pal. Ah, these pleated skirts, they take the life out of a man. These pleated skirts make you old before your time. Yours, Kilbert. George Gilbert. Yeah. I told you I'd be with you in a minute, pal. There. This doll will love me for the way I press her skirt. You're big with the ladies, huh, George? Well, let's put it this way. Not one of them has sent in her resignation as yet. Where were you last night, George? You must have a reason to ask me something personal like that. You a wounded husband or something? Just a policeman, George. Don't show me your badge. I can tell by your sloppy suit. Where were you last night, George? I don't think you got a right to ask me without you showing me I committed a sin or something. I'll do that, George. Where you were, where your car was. A murder was committed. You mean up there near the George Washington Bridge? A girl was murdered? I didn't say a girl. Now, wait a minute. Wait a minute. Don't pin me to the wall. I said a girl. Because up there in that lover's lane, it's known that girls are sometimes killed. There are guys who go around doing that. You were there, Aunt George. Alone, you got nothing says I was there. You're trying, policeman. That's all you're doing, trying. There was a tire mark off your delivery truck. Your offender scraped on a tree, left paint left. What was the matter, George? Were you in a hurry to get away? No, I wasn't in a hurry. She just wanted another kiss. She likes to cuddle up and kiss me while I'm driving. This is bound to make me lose a little control. See? Who, George? Once a weeker. We date once a week. June Leonard lives in Brooklyn someplace. You go ask her. She was with me all the time. I don't know anything about a murder. Ask her and fix her so she don't lie. June Leonard, huh? We'll ask her. While you were up there, George, with June Leonard, did you hear shots? A series of shots. We heard nothing. Nothing at all, except each other. That's how it is when you're in love. You should know, George. Let's go. Go? Go? Go where? What are you talking about? Falking you for suspicion of murder. Are you crazy? You're crazy, you stinking, rotten cop. You walk into my place of business and take me away from. He was scared and Protesting. When I took him with me at headquarters, I had a thing to do. I called the hospital and told Dr. Sinski I was on my way down. And Dr. Sinski said, Room 302. He'd wait for me by the elevator door. It took 10 minutes to get there. And Dr. Sinski was waiting. Danny. Dr. Sinski. How's the boy? Danny? Why is it that our conversation must always open on sar. Can I see him? This way. Danny. In here. You know these people? Danny? Mr. And Mrs. F. Ms. Sherman. Yeah. Yeah, I do. After it look seem like my son. His lips were moving just as you left the room. Yes. Danny, What? Quietly. Danny, please. The stethoscope. On the table. All right. Here. My son. My son. My son. My son. He's dead. Danny. You are listening to Broadway's My Beat, written by Morton Fine and David Friedkin and starring Larry Thor as Detective Danny Clover. In the late summer afternoon, Broadway stands on a corner, sips its penny plane and sums up the day. Some days are better than others. Some days you break even. The horse don't come in. But you don't get fired that day either. You gotta play and you don't get hurt. But take the day. Now, Here's a day. DiMaggio Miracles with bases loaded. The rainmakers worked up adieu. And a boy, a lover, died of bullet wounds inflicted by a person to persons unknown, thus holding in final embrace the girl he loved. The girl who was also shot to death in Lovers Lane. Here's maybe a tragic day, but here is a day. Or as Sergeant Gino Totaglia presented it to me, Danny, I give you the end of a perfect day. When you come to the end of the perfect taglia. You're singing again. Oh, Danny, Danny, you are like my wife. Like Mrs. Tartaglia. You deny me and yourself the pleasures of life. Oh, yeah. At home, every time I start singing, Mrs. Tartaglia turns on to Hoover. She says it's to vacuum clean the Tartaglia rug. But all the time I think it's because she's jealous of my vocal cords. Well, Danny, what progress have we made? No, you tell me. Remember? Oh, yeah, yeah. Item. The boy. Ted Forrestick. Like a million other kids in our city. Too tough, too smart, from a poor family. Consorted with others of his type in a club called the Adonis Club. I know the girl. Ruth? Nah. No connection with the Adonis Club. No close connection with anybody except the stepfather and the boy. From what we can find out, nobody wanted her dead. From what we can find out, anything Else? Yeah. Yeah. We have picked up June Leonard. That dry cleaning man's girlfriend. Why didn't you tell me? Where is she? Right outside, Danny. Should I bring her in? Miss Leonard? Yeah. Miss Leonard. Come in. Sit down, Miss Leonard. Why was I arrested? Why was I brought here? I never done nothing. Last night, Miss Leonard, where were you? I was home. I was sitting at home listening to the radio. You're lying, Ms. Leonard. George Calbert says you were with him. Promised Lynne. All right, so I was with George. Is that wrong? To be with a fella? You arrest girls for that? We do when there's been a murder. Two murders. What are you talking about, murder? I don't know nothing about a murder. All I know is I work and try to have a little fun. All of a sudden, murdered. Ms. Ballard. Did you know her? June? No, I didn't know any girl by that name. Please let me go, will ya? My father will throw me out if they find out I got mixed up in forrestack. Did you know him? No, I never heard of him. George Kelbert. Did he know them? How do I know who George knows? All I know is he thinks he shows me good times. Sometimes I ask him no personal questions. Ruth Ballard and Ted Forrestek were shot to death near the George Washington Bridge last night. You were there, June. No, I wasn't. You were, June. George said you were. How long were you there? I don't know. An hour, maybe two hours. Did you hear shots while you were up there with George? Shots? Pistol shots. Shot from a revolver? No, I didn't hear anything like that. I didn't hear anything except George whispering to me. George says he heard shots. Why, that's dirty. All right. All right. I heard him. I heard a lot of shots. I got scared. I made George drive us away from there real fast because I was. George is with you all the time. Leave me alone. Can't you please leave me alone? I want my father. Yeah, Danny. Yeah. Come with me, Ms. Levin. Come along, Sergeant. Attack me was gentle when he took her away. Then I made a phone call to the Adonis Club. No one was there. A voice told me try later when everybody would be there at the dance. Daddy O, the boy said starts at 10. Come one, come all Daddy O, Daddy O got there at 10:30 to the basement clubhouse on 3rd Avenue got pointed out the chief Adonis A youth who leaned against the barn was having fun looking at the dancer through a beer bottle held by like a telescope. I ruined it for him. Ah, you're in the way, buster. I want to talk to you, huh? All right. What's your big need, buster? From the police, huh? Well, make me think. So you're hiding your buzzer under the lapel. Let me look. See? Yeah, I'm Dolly Nasio. You? Danny Clover. All right. We got no back room here, if that's what. Well, Ted Forstack, he was a member here. A cub, an apprentice. We were breaking him in. You're celebrating his memory with this dance. No, no. Life goes on. The book says the dance was scheduled before Ted's dying. Was poor Ted. Who killed him, Dolly? Who killed him, Mr. Clove. Look, Dolly, what do you want me to say? Mr. Clove, I don't know who killed him. I know Forrest. That sure played cards with him. Hoisted a glass with him, exchanged phone numbers with him. That's the thick and thin I went through with him. So now I'll never talk to him. So, nothing else, huh? He was a fortunate boy, Mr. Clover. He's dead. But when he was in that way, he was fortunate, so let's not pop it here. Fortunate girls. He was a boy. Girls were happy with. And happy girls are generous girls. One of them was real happy. One of them was real generous. Give him nice things. Shirts to wear. Wallets stripped from alligators. Money stripped from who knows where. Expensive watches to make his wrist look pretty. What girl did that? He never said. That's a number we never exchanged for real expensive stuff, Mr. Clover. You'd never believe it. Not an idea who. If I did, I'd take over. None of our girls could afford that stuff. Hey, go look at that loot, Mr. Clover. It's still around. I guess you'll see what I mean. Mr. Foster. Mr. Foster, wake up. I was not asleep. Oh, it's you, Mr. Clover. The messenger of death who died today. Mr. Clover. Mr. Forstak. Look at my little store, Mr. Clover. Look at how it's covered with dust. I don't take care anymore. All my life I build something, keep it. Queen gets covered with dust. My boy, too. Mr. Foxtech. I came to grieve with us. With me. With my wife, Anna. Tis hard to understand Anna. Sometime, Mr. Clover. Her mouth says to you she hates our boy. But now he is dead. And Anna lies in our bed and does not speak, does not weep. But in the night, she cries out her boy's name. Thank you, Mr. Clover. Goodbye. Your boy's room, Mr. Foster. There may be something in it that'll help us find Ted's murderer. It will not bring our boy back. It will not make him Answer his mother's crime. I have to get into that room, Mr. Foster. If not me, someone else. But we'll get into it. It. You will be quiet. You will be very quiet. You will not say a word to one. Where is it? In the back. What is left of our life hides in the back. Come, Mr. Klopp. Mr. Foster. Why? I told you, Anders, not to know you're here. This is Ted's room. Where'd he keep his things? What things? All over the room are things that belong to my boy. Personal things. Jewelry, wallet, things like that. Oh, here in the dresser drawer. Here they are, Mr. Clover. Expensive things. This watch. This wallet of alligator money. Where'd he get them? I do not know. I'm a thought he robbed them. What do you think, Mr. Foster? They are rich. I never knew things like these. I could not get them for Ted. Ted could not for himself. What do you think you got him, Mr. Foster? I told you, I do not know. I asked Ted. I beat him to tell me. I beat him. He could have broken me, he said. It's none of your business, old man. I beat him. I want to take these with me. All right. But you will return Mr. Clover before Anna knows they are gone. You will return them. Please, Mr. Clover. Danny, can I see you for a minute? Sure, Dr. Sinski. Anytime. Sit down. Thank you. What's on your mind, Doctor? Nothing. Except I dropped in here to conform with standard operating procedure. Autopsy reports. You in the mood to listen? I think you should. All right, go ahead. Ruth Ballard, shocked four times. Supplementary report from Ballistics showed the bullets from the same gun that killed the boy four times. Danny. Any one of the shots would have killed her instantaneously. What else about the girl? Nothing else. She was killed only because someone wanted her dead. What? Someone wanted her dead, Doctor? I know. Four shots A person in animal fury would have done that. From what I can tell. I'd say she was sitting in the car. A person came up to her, shot her four times. Nothing more than that. Do you know who did that, Danny? A person who was jealous of her. A person who loved Ted Forrestec. A person who gave Ted expensive presents. Do you know who? Don't make me repeat myself, doctor. Then who? Stick around. I'll show the person to you. Yes? Oh, it's Mr. Clover, isn't it? May I come in, Ms. Sherman? Well, I was just practicing my puppets for a party tomorrow, kiddies. Party? May I come in? All right, come in. What do you want, Mr. Clover? About 10? About his murderer? Maybe. Then why Are you here? Go ahead, Miss Sherman. Practice your puppets. I'll just look around. But I don't see why you'd be. Go ahead, Miss Sherman. Miss Sherman. Wait a minute. What is it? It's a photograph of 10. He gave it to me. It's ribbon from a track meet. Tucked in the frame. He won it. He gave it to me. Why should he give them to you? I asked him for them. He liked me. Gave them to me, huh? These two. Put them down. Man's gloves. Ted's. Put them down. All right. Ted's gloves, huh? If you're through, you can get out. Not yet. I want to show you some things. You've got nothing to show me. Get out. A wallet, a wristwatch. You gave them to Ted. Look at them, Evelyn. Give them to me. You've got no right to touch them. Look. To Ted from you. Evelyn. Give them to me. Because you loved the boy, really loved him like a woman loves a man. All right. Yes, I loved him because. Because he was someone a woman could love and be jealous of. Yes. Yes. But he didn't love you. You're lying. He didn't. That's why he was with Ruth. Ruth was nothing to him. He always came back to me for the rich presence. He didn't love you. You lie. You're a liar. So you killed the girl. Shot her four times in your fury. And Ted? Why did you shoot him? Because he tried to stop you. Because you knew he didn't love you. He didn't love you. He didn't. Evelyn, I didn't mean. I didn't mean to kill Ted. He got in the way. I didn't mean it. I didn't mean it. She stood there, her body swaying, her fingertips pressed into her cheeks. Then a thing happened. She looked suddenly old. The youth she had tried to keep for the boy dissolved and fled from her all at once. She accepted it, knew there was nothing left. She made no protest when I took her arm and led her through the door. Broadway where the people of the swarm Race against the fugitive night each in his own way make time stand still. That's the dragon. The dawn comes and the gutters are choked with the waste of minutes the infinite man hours of loneliness. It's Broadway. The gaudiest, the most violent the lonesomest mile in the world. Broadway. My beat. Broadway's My Beat Stars Larry Thor as Detective Lieutenant Danny Clover. With Charles Calvert as Tartaglia. The program was produced and directed by Elliot Lewis. The musical score was composed and conducted by Alexander Curry. Included in tonight's cast were Lillian Byeff, B. Benedarit, Jerry Hausner, Lou Merrill, Jack Crucian and Anthony this is the United States Armed Forces Radio and Television Service.
- [32:20]
Adam Graham
You can make a difference in someone's life, including your own, with a job in home care. These jobs offer flexible schedules, health care, retirement options and free training. They also provide paid time off and opportunities for overtime. Visit oregonhomecarejobs.com to learn more and apply. That's oregonhomecarejobs.com welcome back. A Bit of a Different Broadway's My Beat in some ways, this may be one of the most emotionally realistic episodes we've had. While Broadway's My Beat often deals with emotion, it often feels like the display is a bit stylized here. It feels very raw and realistic. What the episode captures is the difficulty and pain of losing a child at this particular age and in two similar but somewhat different circumstances. In the case of Ruth's stepdad, there was some distance that he was trying to make up for, and his chance to do that was taken away and he was just bereft. It was over. In the case of Ted's parents, he'd reached a stage of life where there had been fights, they disapproved of his friends and his life choices. There had been a lot of contention in those final years, and then it was over, with no repair of the relationship, with no improvement or hope of things getting better. It's just done now. It's not the most pleasant listening, but it rings very realistic and captures the complexity of this type of grief. And I also give the show credit because for once you have a step parent that says that they loved the stepchild like their own and really did and it wasn't a setup for well, actually he was really evil, as too often happened with step and adopted families in Old Time Radio. Well, now it's time to thank our Patreon supporter of the day. And I want to thank Damian, who's been one of our Patreon supporters since March of 2024, currently supporting the podcast at the rookie level of $2 or more per month. Thank you so much for your support, Damien, and that will do it for today. If you're enjoying the podcast, please follow us using your favorite podcast software. And if you're enjoying the podcast on YouTube, be sure to like the video, subscribe to the channel, and mark the notification bell. All those great things that help YouTube channels to grow. We'll be back next Wednesday with another episode of Broadway's My Bait, but join us back here tomorrow for Mr. And Mrs. North. Where?
- [35:20]
Larry Thor
That must be Mrs. Gunther now, Jerry. I'll answer it then. Well, Mrs. Gunther, Mrs. North and I have been wondering. Mrs. Gunther. Pam. Pam, come here. Something's happened to Mrs. Gunther.
- [35:33]
Adam Graham
I hope you'll be with us then. In the meantime, send your comments to box Thirteenreatetectives.net Follow us on Twitter at radiodetectives and check us out on Instagram. Instagram.com greatdetactives from Boise, Idaho, this is your host, Adam Graham, signing off.