Broadway's My Beat: The Mary Smith Murder Case (EP4968)

Summary

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The Great Detectives of Old Time Radio

Episode Summary: Broadway's My Beat – "The Mary Smith Murder Case" (EP4968)

Original Air Date: May 6, 2026
Host: Adam Graham
Featured Drama: "Broadway's My Beat" (December 8, 1951)
Lead Character: Detective Danny Clover (voiced by Larry Thor)

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Episode Overview

This episode immerses listeners in a classic hard-boiled detective drama with a tragic literary twist, blending a murder investigation with commentary on talent, loneliness, ambition, and betrayal in the heart of Broadway. Detective Danny Clover is drawn into the case of a woman murdered under the alias "Mary Smith" in a seedy hotel. The investigation exposes the tangled lives and ambitions of publishers, writers, and those who revolve around the world of literature and lost dreams.

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Key Discussion Points & Story Progression

1. Discovery of the Murder

[03:13]

• Setting: A chilly December night, emphasizing Broadway’s desolation.
• Scene: Mary Smith found dead in a transient hotel room at the Savannah Hotel. The "do not disturb" sign raises suspicion; the hotel manager, Mr. Burgess, reports the body.
  • "That's how I found her. Right there on the bed. I could tell right away she wasn't a suicide. That bullet hole..." (Hotel Manager, 04:09)

2. Establishing the Victim's Identity

[06:09]

• Fingerprints identify the deceased as Peg Ramsey, not Mary Smith.
• Background:
  • Peg Ramsey, a partner in the publishing firm Taggett and Ramsey.
  • Former member of the Women's Army Corps.
  • "This Mary Smith was not a Mary Smith. Oh, no. Not at all." (Sergeant Gino Itaglia, 06:34)

3. At the Publishing House

[07:22]

• Alfred Taggart, publisher, reveals Peg’s role: She chose books, discovered talent, and had a "special friend" and protégé, William Walter—a young writer from North Carolina.
  • "Peg had a very special friend." (Alfred Taggart, 08:34)

4. The Enigmatic William Walter & Mrs. Janice Kirk

[10:24]

• Walter, the promising novelist, was brought to New York by Janice Kirk, a self-styled talent discoverer, who is emotionally invested in him.
• Janice admits to deep feelings for Walter, whom she describes poetically:
  • "Wasn't it I that discovered the burning tree of talent in him?... Wasn't it I that brought him here so his poetry could cry out across your metropolitan sky?" (Janice Kirk, 11:37)

5. Another Tragedy at the Savannah Hotel

[12:24]

• Danny Clover is called back: William Walter is found dead in the same room as Peg, apparently by suicide. He insisted on having the very room where Peg died.

  • "He insisted on having exactly the same room where the girl was killed. Manager tried to talk him out of it... kid wouldn't have it any other way." (Detective Mugavan, 15:51)

• Key Evidence:

  • A marriage license for William Walter and Margaret (Peg) Ramsey.
  • A note written by Walter: "Peg. Beloved, Peg. All of it is done. Finished…" (16:40)
  • However, the note lacks explicit indication of suicide.

6. Doubt About the Apparent Suicide

[18:02]

• Detective Clover is skeptical the note was a true suicide note:
  • "Show me where he says he's gonna kill himself. Show me where it says that." (Danny Clover, 18:10)
• Technical evidence shows that the same gun killed both Peg and Walter.

7. Interrogation – Janice Kirk’s True Motives Revealed

[25:01]

• Clover investigates the missing manuscript; trail leads him to Tonto Jones and back to Janice Kirk.
• Janice reluctantly confesses to burning William’s manuscript, admitting she never read it:
  • "I burned it before I read it. As soon as I got it here, I tore it up and burned it." (Janice Kirk, 26:32)
• Confronted by Clover, Janice emotionally unravels:
  • She killed Peg out of jealousy and rage after learning of Peg’s secret marriage to William.
  • She destroyed everything William cared about, including his last work.

8. Resolution & Emotional Fallout

[28:06]

• Janice is taken into custody, her motivations laid bare—a mix of love turned obsessive, wounded pride, and vengeful despair.
  • "No one's going to do that to me. What he did. Not to me. Who did he think he was?" (Janice Kirk, 28:07)
• Closing reflection by Danny Clover on Broadway’s persistent loneliness, violence, and fleeting dreams.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Atmospheric Prose (Opening):
  • "Broadway's my beat. From Times Square to Columbus Circle, the gaudiest, the most violent, the lonesomest mile in the world." (Danny Clover, 02:44)
• Identity Revelation:
  • "This Mary Smith was not a Mary Smith. Oh, no. Not at all." (Sergeant Itaglia, 06:34)
• Janice on Obsession:
  • "He was a great writer. I said I was lonely. Now that William's dead, the world’s a little bit more lonely, too. Though it'll never know." (Janice Kirk, 19:02)
• The Missing Manuscript:
  • "I burned it before I read it. As soon as I got it here, I tore it up and burned it." (Janice Kirk, 26:32)
• Jealousy Motive:
  • "He was never going to marry that girl. He just wanted his novel." (Janice Kirk, 26:47)

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Key Timestamps

• [03:13] – Discovery of "Mary Smith" dead in Savannah Hotel.
• [06:09] – Peg Ramsey’s identity uncovered via fingerprints.
• [07:22] – Interview with publisher Alfred Taggart.
• [10:24] – Introduction of Janice Kirk and her connection to Walter.
• [12:24] – William Walter found dead.
• [16:46] – The "suicide" note is examined.
• [18:02] – Clover doubts suicide; the gun is forensically linked to both deaths.
• [25:01] – Clover confronts Janice Kirk about the missing manuscript.
• [26:32] – Janice admits to burning the manuscript.
• [27:02] – The confession: Janice killed Peg Ramsey.
• [28:07] – Janice’s final outburst as she’s arrested.
• [28:15] – Closing narration: Clover reflects on the darkness of Broadway.

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Host Commentary

[32:39]

• Host Adam Graham highlights the psychological realism of a writer writing to a dead woman as a way of processing.
  • "Not actually all that unusual for a writer to write a letter to a dead woman, because writers write and that's how they process. So I have to disagree with our villain there." (Adam Graham, 32:39)
• Listener feedback is addressed; Patreon supporters are acknowledged.

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Episode Tone & Language

The tone is classic noir: poetic, hard-edged, melancholy, and deeply empathetic to the brokenness of its characters. Dialogue is natural, at times witty, often laden with double meaning and literary allusions. The world of Broadway is depicted as both luminous and bleak—"the lonesomest mile in the world."

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Conclusion

"The Mary Smith Murder Case" is a layered detective drama drawing listeners into a web of literary ambition, jealousy, and psychological unraveling. The tragic fate of Peg Ramsey and William Walter, coupled with Janice Kirk's destructive obsession, make for a tale in which talent and love are fated to be devoured by Broadway’s insatiable night.

Listeners get both a gripping mystery and a meditation on loss: of love, of dreams, and of the stories that never see the light.

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Transcript

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[Adam Graham (Podcast Host)]

Welcome to the Great Detectives of Old Time Radio from Boise, Idaho. 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 want to encourage you. If you're enjoying the Ponch podcasts, 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 show on a one time basis by mailing a donation to Adam Graham, P.O. box 15913. That's P.O. box 15913, Boise, ID 83715. And I want to go ahead and thank you, Carl and Carolyn, for supporting the podcast. That way you can also become one of our ongoing Patreon supporters for as little as $2 per month at patreon.greatdetectives.net and I want to welcome our latest Patreon supporter, Rochelle, supporting the podcast at the Detective Sergeant level of $7.14 or more per month. Thanks so much for your support. We well, now, from December 8, 1951, here is the Mary Smith murder case.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Broadway's my beat. From Times Square to Columbus Circle, the gaudiest, the most violent, the lonesomest mile in the world.

[Liberty Mutual Spokesperson or Commentator]

Broadway is my beat. With larry thor as detective danny clover.

[Detective Danny Clover]

When the winter moon dips low over Broadway and hides again behind the scudding mists, Broadway is numbed. The year's ending is too swift. There's too much nighttime in December, as if the dimness of the subway had moved one flight up, as if the lights were not quite lights, but yellow things that drain off into shadows. It's a time of the muffler, the hurry up, the time of the Wind. The dreams are dying and it's a long while before April comes again. The place where I was also one flight up above the street of the tired apartment houses and hotels the avenue leased to anybody on the premise that home is any place where the rent is cheap. Hotel Savannah. The man who walked beside me and explained it all to me.

[Liberty Mutual Spokesperson or Commentator]

After all, Lieutenant.

[Detective Danny Clover]

After all what?

[Hotel Manager or Clerk (possibly Burgess)]

The do not Disturb sign has been hanging on the front of a door all day. And here it is, almost midnight.

[Detective Danny Clover]

So?

[Hotel Manager or Clerk (possibly Burgess)]

So a place like this. Rent a room for 350, pull out the old pills, Leave the world to its own sorrow. The Savannah's getting quite a reputation for. Oh, this is the room. That's how I found her. Right there on the bed. I could tell right away she wasn't a suicide. That bullet hole.

[Detective or Police Officer (possibly Michael or a colleague)]

No gun.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Who is she?

[Hotel Manager or Clerk (possibly Burgess)]

Took the room yesterday. Registered as Mary Smith. I keep a straight face as long as the payment is made in advance. Even she didn't have luggage. So what? Quite a few of my friends have not a presentable suitcase to their names.

[Detective Danny Clover]

What about her visitors?

[Hotel Manager or Clerk (possibly Burgess)]

This is her home away from home. That's our philosophy here at the Savannah. Why shouldn't she have visitors after?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Did she have them?

[Hotel Manager or Clerk (possibly Burgess)]

I don't know. People come and go. A regular little world in itself, this Savannah. I remark this to myself often as I stand at the desk. Like I was looking on into a regular little world. That's why I always say.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Don't say it, Mr. Burgess. I'll take it from here. And consider the place where a girl lies dead. A room of transients. A cubicle allotted, sold to the passer through the mark of their passing. The scars for cigarettes were ground into the desktop. The hotel stationary. The postcards of the scenes of gaiety tinted in ink, stained, finger smudged, blank. The sign please turn out lights when departing. Leave key at desk. The bed for passing sleep is sold at the current rate. And in it Mary Smith, dead by violence. Phone it in. Check other hotel personnel be told for the day she'd been there. The girl was quiet, discreet. No trouble at all. Visitors? Maybe, maybe not. Policy not to notice things like that. And take it home with you. Try to sleep against the image. Desolate, lonely, not quite make it. And welcome the coming of day. Somewhere to go, someone to talk to.

[Sergeant Gino Itaglia]

You have a bad night, Danny? You have the look of someone who has slept with rocks in his bed head to foot.

[Detective Danny Clover]

That's your morning's greeting to me, Sergeant Itaglia.

[Sergeant Gino Itaglia]

You see, other mornings you refer to me as Gino. But this morning, Danny. Why is this morning different from all other mornings?

[Detective Danny Clover]

You got something for me, Gino?

[Sergeant Gino Itaglia]

Goes without saying. Sure, I got something. We coded that girl's fingerprints. That Mary Smith put them on the wire to the chums of the FBI during the night.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Had an answer.

[Sergeant Gino Itaglia]

Those chums of the FBI are veritable. Johnny's on the spot, Danny.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You had an answer on the spot.

[Sergeant Gino Itaglia]

According to the info likely come to hand and now contained in my breast pocket. Danny, this Mary Smith was not a Mary Smith. Oh, no? Not at all.

[Detective Danny Clover]

All right, Gino, who was she?

[Sergeant Gino Itaglia]

Peg Ramsey, formerly of the Women's Army Corps. Which makes her a former white. Which makes it easy for our Washington co workers to check such things as fingerprints flying through the night. Such things as.

[Detective Danny Clover]

As what?

[Sergeant Gino Itaglia]

As the occupation of the deceased prior to sale. This Peg Ramsey, heretofore known as Mary Smith was a member of the publishing firm Taggett and Ramsey on Lower Madison. It brightens the morning for you, Danny. This info.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You tried, Gino. You really did.

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

Thank you.

[Alfred Taggart (Publisher)]

I can't believe it. I just can't believe it.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Get around to believing, Mr. Taggart. Ms. Ramsey was murdered in a cheap hotel named the Savannah. We want you to help us.

[Alfred Taggart (Publisher)]

What was she doing there? Was she registered?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Look, Mr. Taggart.

[Alfred Taggart (Publisher)]

I can't believe it. I just can't believe it.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Let's try it this way. What did Ms. Ramsay do here at your publishing house?

[Alfred Taggart (Publisher)]

At our publishing house, Mr. Clover, Peg is as much responsible for the success of Taggart and Ramsay as I am. Of course, I'm directly responsible for a book club's choosing. Four of our novels. Peg only had three.

[Detective Danny Clover]

But then, just tell me what she did.

[Alfred Taggart (Publisher)]

Had final say on what we would publish and what we wouldn't. Along with me, of course. Also the discovery of talent and so forth and so forth.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Friends?

[Alfred Taggart (Publisher)]

Every unpublished author in the world. You must understand, Taggart and Ramsay enjoys an enviable reputation. We publish stuff that others wouldn't even touch. Of course, sometimes we take a loss publishing literature, but we make up for it. Put out a crossword puzzle book.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Yeah, but what about special friends, Mr. Tiger?

[Alfred Taggart (Publisher)]

Oh, working on the premise that special friends can be special enemies, huh? That happens in our latest mystery, Killed the Murderer Dead. It'll be released for publication in May.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Mr. Tiger.

[Alfred Taggart (Publisher)]

Peg had a very special friend.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Who?

[Alfred Taggart (Publisher)]

William Walter.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Who is William Walter?

[Alfred Taggart (Publisher)]

A writer.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Where do I find him?

[Alfred Taggart (Publisher)]

I don't know. I have no idea. Peg handled him.

[Detective Danny Clover]

What made him so special?

[Alfred Taggart (Publisher)]

According to Peg, he was special because he Was talent. The once in a lifetime talent. Personally, I've heard that phrase too many times. Last year, after such a talent, we had to publish jumbo crossword puzzle books five, six and seven in a hurry.

[Detective Danny Clover]

And that was the relationship between Ms. Ramsay and this William Walter, publisher and writer, I think.

[Alfred Taggart (Publisher)]

More I think Peg had her times to be a publisher and times to be a woman. It's my belief from observing Peg that she mixed the two up for this boy.

[Detective Danny Clover]

What else about this William Walter?

[Alfred Taggart (Publisher)]

He was brought here from North Carolina.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Brought here? You mean your firm subsidized him.

[Alfred Taggart (Publisher)]

A writer's dream. But no, he was brought here by a Mrs. Janice Kirk, a self styled discoverer of talent. You pegged slightly, brought him to her with a couple chapters of a novel. Peg believed in this boy and gave him an advance.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Where do I find this Mrs. Kirk?

[Alfred Taggart (Publisher)]

Oh, I can tell you that easily. At the Ruxton Hotel. I've had cocktails with her there. An attractive woman, the way those women from North Carolina can be. Now. Will you pardon me, Mr. Clover?

[Detective Danny Clover]

And at the hotel ask for Janice Kirk. Be told she's been seen entering the cocktail lounge. Go there and wait. The head waiter raises his eyebrows with an effort, tilts a patrician head slightly to the left. And that way indicates the woman sitting alone, sipping the colorless drink. Sipping the colorless music weaving its frightened way through potted ponds. And on her face the smile of acceptance for the music, for the furtive cocktail time. Laughter for the glances of men attached, unattached.

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

Hello there.

[Detective Danny Clover]

No lady, Mrs. Kirk.

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

I saw Alec tilt his Roman coin head and that brought you to me. Whatever the reason, I'm glad. It's been lonely.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I'm from the police, Mrs. Kirk.

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

You didn't have to tell me that. You could have let me believe you'd walked in here and seen a. Well, an interesting face sitting alone with her lost thoughts. And you took pity in it. You could have let me believe that.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I've just come from Alfred Tygart of Tygert and Ramsay.

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

Alfred, you tell him. I'm very disappointed in him. He hasn't asked me to cocktails and. Well, it must be hours now. You tell him that.

[Detective Danny Clover]

He said you knew Peg Ramsey.

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

Ms. Ramsey? I've taken notice of her. Talked to her. I remember. I wouldn't call that knowing a girl. Why did he go and tell you I knew her?

[Detective Danny Clover]

She's dead. Murdered. She gave her name as Mary Smith and was killed in a hotel room.

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

Why didn't she have a home of her own? I didn't mean to say that. Truly. I didn't mean to be flippant over death. Not a death like that, but an empty way to die.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Tiger told me something else.

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

I'm sure he did. It was about the boy, wasn't it?

[Detective Danny Clover]

He told me about a boy. Young writer. William Walter William.

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

Sweet William. Sweet, sweet William.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Maybe you can tell me more about him than Tiger did, Mrs. Kirk.

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

Why, no, I can. I know more about him than I know about myself. Wasn't it I that discovered the burning tree of talent in him? Wasn't it I that beat him, tortured him, soothed him till he put it all on paper? Figuratively, that is. I did that to him. Figuratively. Wasn't it I that brought him here so his poetry could cry out across your metropolitan sky?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Where is he now?

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

I don't know.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You said.

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

I said, I don't know. First, William stayed here. Right here in his hotel, close to me. He took to living in all kinds of places. Dismal places. Dirty little furnished rooms, tenements, sordid hotels. Me, just high and dry for months so's he could taste your city.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Then you haven't seen him.

[Tonto Jones (Blurbist)]

There's a phone call for you, Mr. Clover. You can take it here.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Thank you. Danny Clover speaking.

[Sergeant Gino Itaglia]

You want it, Danny? Right away. Savannah Hotel.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Why, Gino?

[Sergeant Gino Itaglia]

A boy shot to death in one of the rooms. Savannah Hotel, Danny. The same one.

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

I hate your telephones. They interrupt. Just something bad's happened, hasn't it? I know it from your face. Something real bad.

[Hotel Manager or Clerk (possibly Burgess)]

And I'll tell you another thing, Mr. Clover. I should have kept my big mouth shut about the reputation of the Savannah. Right down here.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Same floor, same hallway as the last time I was here.

[Hotel Manager or Clerk (possibly Burgess)]

Not only that, same room. There he is, Mr. Clover.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You know who?

[Hotel Manager or Clerk (possibly Burgess)]

Yeah, registered about noon. Gave his name as William Walter. Said he was a writer. First time we ever had a writer.

[Detective Danny Clover]

And in the Room of Transience, yet another one. Sprawled there across the bed, a boy. Like a tired puppet discarded. The bullet hole in his temple gave him another quality, an attitude. Suddenly and forever caught in an instant of time and the gun held in his dangling fist, the end of him. The death of William Walter.

[Liberty Mutual Spokesperson or Commentator]

You are listening to Broadway's My Beat, written by Morton Fine and David Friedkin and starring Larry Thor as Detective Danny Clover. A titled Englishman wined and dined at a swank Park Avenue address is then mysteriously murdered. It takes no less than Mr. Chameleon, master of disguises, to make a dent in the hand of fate. Murder case. Follow Mr. Chameleon on this engrossing police operation. Tomorrow. Yes, that's tomorrow. On CBS Radio. Mr. Chameleon is now heard at a new time. Sundays on most of these same CBS radio stations.

[Detective Danny Clover]

On the eve of the Merry holidays, Broadway treats itself to a 10 cent sprig of mistletoe. Stands under it. Watches the women walk by. They hug the warm fur close. Let the December wind riffle it against their mouths, their cheeks. Let the wind breathe them away from you. And for background, the music flowing out of the tinseled metallic throats of loudspeakers. And the kids standing carefully away from the assorted street corner. Santa Clauses eyeing them, studying them, lifting great puzzled eyes to the grown up who holds their hand. Good Hakyun makes you glow. So find the coin. Drop it in the pot. Pay off for the year that never was. And in a room again. The place of the dead. Be alone with it for a little while. Be alone with the boy. With a bullet wound in his temple, the boy would come to the great city with poetry to offer. And in return had been given this. The end of searching. The end of pain. Be alone with it until Detective Mugavan comes back.

[Detective or Police Officer (possibly Michael or a colleague)]

I had a little talk with Burgess, the manager, Danny, like you told me.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Yeah.

[Detective or Police Officer (possibly Michael or a colleague)]

Says the boy made a big to do when he registered.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Burgess tell you why?

[Detective or Police Officer (possibly Michael or a colleague)]

Uh huh. Seems this kid, William Walter, insisted on having exactly the same room where the girl was killed. Manager tried to talk him out of it, Offered him other rooms. Kid wouldn't have it any other way.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I think I know why.

[Tonto Jones (Blurbist)]

Sure.

[Detective or Police Officer (possibly Michael or a colleague)]

Boy was a writer. That gives him a right to emotions the rest of us aren't privileged with. That's why he has to die in a room.

[Detective Danny Clover]

This room. Argument.

[Alfred Taggart (Publisher)]

Yeah.

[Detective or Police Officer (possibly Michael or a colleague)]

I guess I've been in it too long, Danny.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Here's why I wanted this room. Found it in his pocket. Marriage license.

[Detective or Police Officer (possibly Michael or a colleague)]

I look at it, Danny.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Thanks.

[Hotel Manager or Clerk (possibly Burgess)]

Hmm.

[Detective or Police Officer (possibly Michael or a colleague)]

Issued to William Walder and Margaret Ramsey. That'd be Peg Ramsay, the murdered girl, huh, Danny?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Yeah. A place like this, probably gonna keep the marriage a secret.

[Detective or Police Officer (possibly Michael or a colleague)]

Uh huh.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Hey, come over here. Michael. Find something else? Here on the desk.

[Detective or Police Officer (possibly Michael or a colleague)]

It's written so fine. Wait, I gotta put on my glasses.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Sure, go ahead.

[Detective or Police Officer (possibly Michael or a colleague)]

Peg. Beloved, Peg. All of it is done. Finished. For you now. For me. For someone you breathed life into. Then dying took it from him. Done. Finished. He wrote this, Dan.

[Detective Danny Clover]

We'll check it at headquarters. I think we'll find he wrote it

[Detective or Police Officer (possibly Michael or a colleague)]

with a gun in his hand. Like that. This note. How he insisted on the same room. Suicide, huh?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Call it in Magaman,

[Detective or Police Officer (possibly Michael or a colleague)]

Danny.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Come on in, Mugaman. Been down to technical?

[Detective or Police Officer (possibly Michael or a colleague)]

Yeah, for an hour, more or less. Took me that long to get out of Gordon. What? He knew as soon as I walked in. Guys like Gordon give mothers a bad name.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Gave you a rough time?

[Interviewer or Narrator]

Yeah.

[Detective or Police Officer (possibly Michael or a colleague)]

Had me looking through microscopes. Gave me a short lecture on the theory of spectrochemical analysis. Then when I didn't applaud, he got angry. Anyhow, the gun that William Walter allegedly killed himself with also fired the bullet that killed Peg Ramsey.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Murder and suicide, huh?

[Detective or Police Officer (possibly Michael or a colleague)]

Mug of them, I guess. So what do you think?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Take a look at this. Suicide note.

[Detective or Police Officer (possibly Michael or a colleague)]

I saw it, Danny.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I know you saw it, but look at it again.

[Detective or Police Officer (possibly Michael or a colleague)]

It's a suicide note.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Is it?

[Detective or Police Officer (possibly Michael or a colleague)]

Hmm.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Show me where he says he's gonna kill himself. Show me where it says that. What is it, Gino?

[Sergeant Gino Itaglia]

Lady outside to see you, Danny.

[Detective Danny Clover]

What lady?

[Sergeant Gino Itaglia]

Name's Janice Kirk.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Sure.

[Sergeant Gino Itaglia]

In this way. To see Danny Clover.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Thanks. That'll be all, Sergeant. Please sit down. Ms. Kirk, this is Detective Mugavan.

[Detective or Police Officer (possibly Michael or a colleague)]

How do you do, Mrs. Kirk?

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

I'm going to leave town tomorrow, Mr. Clover.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I see.

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

Yes. This is a lonely city. Now I'm afraid of it. I'm afraid of it because so many things.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Mostly William Walter.

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

Yes.

[Detective or Police Officer (possibly Michael or a colleague)]

Oh, I want to say, Mrs. Kirk, how sorry we are.

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

Thank you.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Mrs. Kirk, one thing I'd like to ask you. Just what interests you?

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

The way you said Mrs. The little glance that just happened between you, you and this other gentlemen the missus means. I was once married. My husband is dead.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I see.

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

And just what interest I had in William. He was a great writer. I said I was lonely. Now that William's dead, the world's a little bit more lonely, too. Though it'll never know.

[Detective Danny Clover]

It just. Why did you come here?

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

I want to ask something of you. May I?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Of course.

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

I brought William here. I want to take him home. I want to bury him.

[Detective Danny Clover]

We've already sent notification to North Carolina, to his next.

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

But in this case, don't you see, it should be me who should take. Well, call it responsibility, call it whatever.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I'm sorry, Mrs. Kirk. Until we hear from the next of kin, we have no authority.

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

I loved him. Is that what you wanted to hear me say? Go ahead, exchange glances again. Snicker a little bit behind your hands.

[Detective or Police Officer (possibly Michael or a colleague)]

Mrs. Kirkwood, the lieutenant said simply means.

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

At ease. This really makes no difference at all.

[Detective Danny Clover]

For a moment, consider her fury at being deprived of the dead boy and understand it. Understand it because of the sudden statement of love for him. Blurt it Out. Bitter, explosive. No longer to be contained. But let it also open a door onto new questions. The finding out of why a boy's life must. A boy of talent. A boy who was about to be married. A boy who had apparently scrawled a note against the insistent calling of death, murder, suicide. Make sure which. That'll take you to a place you've been before. To a man you talked to before.

[Alfred Taggart (Publisher)]

Can't tell you how glad I am you came Back to me, Mr. Clover. I just can't tell you how glad.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Why, Mr. Taggart.

[Alfred Taggart (Publisher)]

Well, this is perhaps an uncalled for thought after those dismal doings at the Savannah Hotel, even tragic, you might say. Peg and that boy.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Just tell me, Mr. Taggart.

[Alfred Taggart (Publisher)]

Well, I was wondering, just a fleeting thought, mind you. Did you happen to find the manuscript of the boy's novel? Did he perchance die with it there in the hotel room?

[Detective Danny Clover]

No, we didn't find it. Why?

[Alfred Taggart (Publisher)]

Well, you must forgive me for this rather scavenger like idea I've had. But not that we won't take care of the boy's estate, mind you. But it seems a provocative publishing stunt.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You want to publish the work posthumously? A boy kills himself, leaves a novel. Let him make a splash in the literary world.

[Alfred Taggart (Publisher)]

Yes, I would have tried to put it more tastefully, but that's it exactly.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Sorry, I can't help you then.

[Alfred Taggart (Publisher)]

I can't for the life of me imagine what else we have to talk about.

[Detective Danny Clover]

The reason why I came. I'm not sure the boy killed himself. He was going to marry Peg Ramsey. Did you know that?

[Alfred Taggart (Publisher)]

Marry? No, I didn't. Imagine.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You said you met the boy when he first came here. That you.

[Alfred Taggart (Publisher)]

Quickly, a quick introduction from Peg. As I said, his work impressed her, so I okayed in advance for him. That's why if you find the manuscript, I feel it rightfully belongs to me.

[Detective Danny Clover]

That's all you knew of him? The advance? Peg Ramsey's interest in him? Sponsoring of him?

[Alfred Taggart (Publisher)]

That and the money I've already expended on him for advance publicity on Peg's newfound genius. I even hired Tonto Jones.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Who?

[Alfred Taggart (Publisher)]

Tonto Jones. Ace blurbist. The Guy de Maupassant of book jackets. Told him to stick with Walter, get to his marrow, find out everything about him and write it in a hundred words to fit the back of a book jacket.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I'd like to talk to a man who knew all about William Walter. You have his address?

[Alfred Taggart (Publisher)]

Greenwich Village somewhere. The girl will give it to you

[Detective Danny Clover]

on your way out.

[Alfred Taggart (Publisher)]

Mr. Clover. You were going, weren't you?

[Detective Danny Clover]

So, downtown now to Greenwich village. Turn off 11th street on the bank. Pass the bargain basement bars where the floor shows, chuckle at the customers and the local color is prefabricated. And find an address. Another basement where the door is a painted mural of pink and satyrs with a motto in French over the brass knocker. When the door opens, the man puts a finger to his lips.

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

Shh.

[Detective Danny Clover]

It's the last side, huh?

[Tonto Jones (Blurbist)]

Schoenberg bought the records today.

[Alfred Taggart (Publisher)]

Come on, come on.

[Tonto Jones (Blurbist)]

Everybody's inside.

[Alfred Taggart (Publisher)]

All right,

[Tonto Jones (Blurbist)]

grab yourself a hunk of floor and sit.

[Detective Danny Clover]

If you don't mind, I'll stand.

[Tonto Jones (Blurbist)]

What did you bring?

[Alfred Taggart (Publisher)]

What?

[Tonto Jones (Blurbist)]

I told Barbette to tell everybody to bring a record, didn't she?

[Detective Danny Clover]

I brought a bench. Hey, who are you?

[Hotel Manager or Clerk (possibly Burgess)]

Aren't you one of Babette's police?

[Detective Danny Clover]

I'm looking for Tono Jones. Why? Where is he?

[Tonto Jones (Blurbist)]

Me? What do you want me for?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Few questions, Donald. By the way, where'd you get that name?

[Tonto Jones (Blurbist)]

I spent a summer in Mexico trying to write. The natives gave me the name affectionately.

[Detective Danny Clover]

It stuck. All right, now tell me what you can about William Walter.

[Tonto Jones (Blurbist)]

I was going to do his dust jacket for him.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You mean that stuff on the COVID of a book that tells how good it is?

[Tonto Jones (Blurbist)]

What do you mean? Stop.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Just tell me about William Walter.

[Tonto Jones (Blurbist)]

I could have done it too. Have somebody to support me. I could have written a novel.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Did William Walter finish his?

[Tonto Jones (Blurbist)]

About a week ago. Pretty good, too. Not that I would have approached his subject matter that way.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Then you read it?

[Tonto Jones (Blurbist)]

Parts of it. Other parts he read to us.

[Detective Danny Clover]

To us?

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

Mm.

[Tonto Jones (Blurbist)]

People who drop in from time to time. We had varied opinions as to the novel's significance. Of course, if you're the type who's satisfied with sheer entertainment value.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Where is the novel manuscript?

[Interviewer or Narrator]

Uh huh.

[Tonto Jones (Blurbist)]

Oh, he left it here for me to look over a couple of days ago. Janice picked it up.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Janice Kirk?

[Tonto Jones (Blurbist)]

She said Willie sent her for it. I gave it to her.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Hey, Tonto, we're disturbing your guest. Tono, go back to him. I'm just leaving.

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

Oh. Oh, hello, Mr. Clover.

[Detective Danny Clover]

May I come in, Mrs. Kirk?

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

Well, you don't want to talk to me now. I've been crying. I look a mess.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Well, only be a few minutes.

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

You promise?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Yes.

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

Revan, come here. You wait right here. I'll go in the next room and do my face. We can talk. Well, go on. Talk to me.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I've just come from Greenwich Village, Mrs. Kirk.

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

I hate it, don't you?

[Detective Danny Clover]

I spoke to Mr. Jones, Tonto. That's right. Tonto Jones.

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

You know what tonto means?

[Detective Danny Clover]

No, I don't.

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

I didn't either, till I looked at her. He's crazy. Fatuous, filthy. No one says anything.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I do.

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

How do I look? Better. Of course I look better. Can you tell I've been crying?

[Detective Danny Clover]

No.

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

Now we'll talk.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Did you like the novel?

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

Be more explicit, Mr. Clover. I'm always reading. What novel did you mean?

[Detective Danny Clover]

William Walters novel.

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

You know something? I told you I love the boy, and I did, even after he was so cruel to me.

[Detective Danny Clover]

What about the novel, Mrs. Kirk?

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

Well, that's what I mean. He didn't even let me read it, after all I did for him.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Maybe you didn't understand me, Mrs. Kirk. I said I saw Mr. Jones down in Greenwich Village.

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

He's a liar.

[Detective Danny Clover]

About what?

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

About anything he told you.

[Detective Danny Clover]

He said you picked up Walter's novel a couple of days ago. I don't think he lied. Nobody else has that manuscript.

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

And I suppose nobody will ever read it.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I suppose not. Mrs. Kirk.

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

Yes?

[Detective Danny Clover]

You told me how hard you worked to foster the boy's talent. How you brought him here to New York. How everything was wrapped up in that boy, in his novel. Doesn't it bother you that the manuscript is missing?

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

Well, I.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Do you have it?

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

No. No, I don't.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Did you destroy it? Did you?

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

Well, what difference does it make?

[Detective Danny Clover]

I'm just curious to know what the novel is about, that's all.

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

I burned it before I read it. As soon as I got it here, I tore it up and burned it.

[Detective Danny Clover]

That was the first part of it, wasn't it?

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

What?

[Detective Danny Clover]

To destroy everything about the boy.

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

Destroy somebody you loved. How can you say that?

[Detective Danny Clover]

You loved him, all right. Only he was going to marry Peg Ramsay. Did he show you the marriage license?

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

He was never going to marry that girl. He just wanted his novel.

[Detective Danny Clover]

I don't know. Marriage license usually means marriage. They were going to keep it secret, but they told you because you deserve to know.

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

Deserve to know? Do you know why they told me to be cruel to me? To laugh at me? To slap me in the face with it?

[Detective Danny Clover]

So you killed her.

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

Do you know what she said to me? Do you know what that girl said to me? I'll pay you for the train fare you spent to bring him to New York. Even if I had killed her, could you blame me?

[Detective Danny Clover]

But the boy. You said you loved him.

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

Him sitting there when I came into the room. I was ready to forgive him everything. I walked over to him, put my hands around his back. He Shrugged him off. Kept writing. Writing a note to a girl who was dead. Did you ever hear anything as crazy as that? Note to a dead girl.

[Detective Danny Clover]

We thought it was a suicide note.

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

Then he went over to the bed and he sprawled out and put his hands behind his head. And then he stared at me. He stared hate at me.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Because you'd killed Peg Ramsey.

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

He knew it. And he didn't go to the police. That made me think he still loved me.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Why didn't he go to the police?

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

Because he knew I'd crawl back to him. He wanted me there so he could tell me how much faith he had for me. How much he despised me.

[Detective Danny Clover]

You didn't give him the chance. You destroyed him. Everything that he touched. You destroyed the final thing. To ride on a train.

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

And he'd be back there with the baggage, the litter and the animals.

[Detective Danny Clover]

Let's go, Mrs. Kirk.

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

No one's going to do that to me. What he did. Not to me. Who did he think he was?

[Detective Danny Clover]

Let's go. Night bursts open like a sudden flame on Broadway. The crowd swarm dances between the silhouettes of a thousand buildings Dances its fury away against the time of morning until the night soaks up the sound and pain and color and turns it into dawn. It's Broadway. The gaudiest, the most violent, the lonesomest mile in the world. Broadway. My Beat.

[Liberty Mutual Spokesperson or Commentator]

Broadway's my Beat stars Larry Thor as Detective Danny Clover with Charles Calvert as Tartaglia and Jack Crucian as Mugavan. The program was produced and directed by Elliot Lewis, with musical score composed and conducted by Alexander Courage. In tonight's story, Betty Lou Gerson was heard as Janice Kirk. Featured in the cast were Stan Waxman, Steve Roberts and David Wolf. You've probably heard the poets sing the praises of Running Brooks, babbling Brooks and he who brooks no evil, but you'll sing the praises yourself of our Ms. Brooks, starring Eve Arden. Sunday nights on most of these same CBS radio stations as Connie Brooks. Eve Arden is sometimes running after a man, often babbling about men. And she brooks no evil that interferes with her pursuit of a man. So maybe the poets should sing her praises, too. Our Ms. Brooks is fun to hear Sunday nights on CBS Radio. Bill anders speaking. And remember edgar bergen and charlie mccarthy open fire on your funny bone Sunday nights on the cbs radio network.

[Liberty Mutual Spokesperson (possibly a female)]

And Doug, there's nowhere I wouldn't go to help someone customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual, even if it means sitting front row at a comedy show.

[Liberty Mutual Spokesperson (possibly a male)]

Hey, everyone. Check out this guy and his bird. What is this, your first date?

[Liberty Mutual Spokesperson (possibly a female)]

Oh, no.

[Liberty Mutual Spokesperson (possibly Doug)]

We help people customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual together.

[Liberty Mutual Spokesperson (possibly a female)]

We're married. Me to a human, him to a bird.

[Liberty Mutual Spokesperson or Commentator]

Yeah, the bird looks out of your league.

[Liberty Mutual Spokesperson (possibly Doug)]

Anyways, get a [e-mail], or with your local agent.

[Liberty Mutual Spokesperson (possibly a male)]

Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty.

[Adam Graham (Podcast Host)]

Welcome back. Well, not actually all that unusual for a writer to write a letter to a dead woman, because writers write and that's how they process. So I have to disagree with our villain there. Well, listener comments and feedback now. And we have a comment from Jeff, who writes regarding the Alex Raymond murder case. You're so right about Gordon. He is obnoxious and needs to be put in his place. Well, we've got quite a few episodes of Broadway's My Beat left, so hopefully in one of those episodes, it'll occur. Thank you to Steven Patreon, supporter since July of 2024, currently supporting the podcast at the Showmas level of $4 or more per month. Thanks so much for your support, Stephen. And that will do it for today. If you're enjoying the podcast, please follow us using your favorite podcast software. And be sure to rate and review the podcast wherever you download it from. We will be back next Wednesday with another episode of Broadway's My Beat. But join us back here tomorrow for Dragnet, where you and your sister lived

[Interviewer or Narrator]

alone here in the house, did you, ma'? Am?

[Woman being interviewed (possibly Dorothy's relative)]

Yes, Dorothy and I and the maids. I don't want to stay here after what's happened, though. I'm going to my cousin's in Vermont. Never wanted to see this place again.

[Interviewer or Narrator]

Yes, ma', am. I can understand. How soon after you met Reynolds did he marry your sister?

[Woman being interviewed (possibly Dorothy's relative)]

A little over two weeks. He'd been seeing her almost every night, taking her out, dancing to the theaters, big dinners, bringing her home late and sit here in the living room. I could hear them from my bedroom upstairs, laughing. Him telling her how beautiful she was. 42 year old woman. Imagine that.

[Interviewer or Narrator]

You're about the same age your sister

[Woman being interviewed (possibly Dorothy's relative)]

was, just about a little older. People always took us for twins, though. Here's a snapshot of me taken in my 20s. The boy with me there. He wanted to marry me. Our money, of course. That's all he wanted. Too bad Dorothy never seemed to realize that about men. Girls from wealthy families, they have to be careful.

[Interviewer or Narrator]

We understand Reynolds took your sister out of town to be married, Is that right?

[Woman being interviewed (possibly Dorothy's relative)]

Yes, Las Vegas. Reynolds had told her his bank funds were tied up temporarily in a Canadian bank. He wrote Dorothy a check for $10,000. And she gave him her check for the same amount. He said he wanted to book reservations for around the world trip for both of them.

[Interviewer or Narrator]

I see.

[Woman being interviewed (possibly Dorothy's relative)]

The same day Dorothy gave him the check, he cashed it. The bank called her about it and she said it was perfectly all right. An hour after he cashed it, Reynolds disappeared. No trace of him. Of course, his check's worthless. We found that out.

[Interviewer or Narrator]

You figured that's the only reason your sister took her own life?

[Woman being interviewed (possibly Dorothy's relative)]

There's no other reason. Wasn't the money so much? Dorothy has her share of the estate. It's a shame, I suppose.

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

Awful shame.

[Woman being interviewed (possibly Dorothy's relative)]

Disappointment. She should have known better, a woman her age.

[Adam Graham (Podcast Host)]

I hope he'll be with us then. In the meantime, send your comments to box Thirteenreatdetectives.net Follow us on Twitter radiodetectives. Check us out on Instagram. Instagram.com Great detectives from Boise, Idaho, this is your host, Adam Graham signing off.

[Liberty Mutual Spokesperson (possibly a female)]

And Doug, there's nowhere I wouldn't go to help someone customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual. Even if it means sitting front row at a comedy show.

[Liberty Mutual Spokesperson (possibly a male)]

Hey, everyone. Check out this guy and his bird. What is this, your first date?

[Liberty Mutual Spokesperson (possibly a female)]

Oh, no.

[Liberty Mutual Spokesperson (possibly Doug)]

We help people customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual together.

[Liberty Mutual Spokesperson (possibly a female)]

We're married. Me to a human, him to a bird.

[Liberty Mutual Spokesperson or Commentator]

Yeah, the bird looks out of your league.

[Liberty Mutual Spokesperson (possibly Doug)]

Anyways, get a'@libertymutual.com or with your local agent.

[Liberty Mutual Spokesperson (possibly a male)]

Liberty Liberty. Liberty Liberty.

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[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

Ugh.

[VRBO Advertiser]

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[VRBO Guest or Commentator]

Good reason.

[VRBO Advertiser]

Ooh, and the sauna.

[Janice Kirk (Character in the drama)]

Sweet.

[VRBO Guest or Commentator]

Another good reason.

[VRBO Advertiser]

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[VRBO Guest or Commentator]

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