transcript

Speaker 1:
[00:28] 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 Yours Truly Johnny Dollar. But first, I do want to encourage you, if you're enjoying this podcast, please follow us using your favorite podcast software. And be sure to rate and review the podcast wherever you download your podcast from. And remember, when you're making your travel plans, check johnnydollaraire.com. johnnydollaraire.com is a priceline affiliate link, so part of the purchase price supports The Great Detectives of Old Time Radio at no additional cost to you. But now, from March 22nd, 1959, here is the Lake Mead Mystery Matter.

Speaker 2:
[01:26] Johnny Dollar. Pat McCracken, Johnny at Universal Adjustment Bureau. Greetings, master. Oh, now don't give me that. Johnny, I believe you spent a couple of weekends down in Sarasota, Florida early this month. Pat, you know darn well I did. Have a chance to get in some fishing? You know darn well I didn't. That's why I've been sitting here dreaming about those Lunker Bass at the Lake Mojave Resort out in Arizona. What's the matter with Lake Mead? It's not a lake. It's not a lake. The Hoover Dam? Yeah, I know. A few miles this side of Las Vegas, Nevada? A lot of big ones in that water, I understand. Okay, France, you got me all excited. Now what's it all about? I told you, fishing. Yeah, and? That's all, except... Yeah, except what? Uh, slight case of murder. Bob Bailey in the Exciting Adventures of the Man with the Action-Packed Expense Account, America's Fabulous Freelance Insurance Investigator, Yours Truly Johnny Dollar. Here's actress Joan Bennet. It's terrible to try to act with a dreadful cold. To feel better quickly, I take four-way cold tablets, the fast way to relieve nasty cold distress. Yes, tests of four leading cold tablets proved four-way fastest acting of all. Amazing four-way starts in minutes to relieve aches, pains, headache, reduce fever, calm upset stomach, also overcomes irregularity. When you catch cold, try my way. Take four-way cold tablets, the fast way to relieve cold distress. Four-way, 29 and 59 cents. Now a word about another fine product of Grove Laboratories. Had dandruff for years, now get rid of it in three minutes with Fitch Dandruff Remover Shampoo. Three minutes with Fitch regularly is guaranteed to keep unsightly dandruff away forever. Apply Fitch before wetting hair, rub in one minute, add water, lather one minute, then rinse one minute. Every trace of dandruff goes down the drain. Three minutes with Fitch, embarrassing dandruff's gone. Fitch can also leave hair up to 35% brighter. Get Fitch Dandruff Remover Shampoo today. And now act one of Yours Truly Johnny Dollar. Expense account submitted by special investigator Johnny Dollar, to the Universal Adjustment Bureau Home Office, Hartford, Connecticut. Following is an account of expenses incurred during my investigation of the Lake Mead mystery matter. All right, now, Johnny, your contact will be Mr. Roscoe Trimmer. He's head of the local office of Greater Southwest Insurance and Liability, right there in Las Vegas. You said murder. Can you give me any details? No, you'll have to get everything from Trimmer. All I know is, there's a $20,000 policy involved and double indemnity. So the sooner you get out there, the better. Okay, Pat, I'll grab the first win I can. Expense account, item one, two bucks even, for a fast taxi to the airport. Item two, 670, plane fare to New York. Item three, 145.05, another plane ticket. And I barely made the 12 o'clock noon mainliner, which promptly took off and headed west to Las Vegas, Nevada. It was 9:45 p.m. Pacific time when we started the long glide down from a starlit sky to the landing strip at McCarran Field in Las Vegas, Nevada. I'll never cease to marvel at the nighttime view from the air of that fabulous city of chance. Sitting alone out there in the middle of the vast Mojave Desert, the sky filling glow from its millions of lights, it had put a rainbow to shame. Oasis in the desert, yeah, and very beautiful. I knew that Roscoe Turner's office would be closed this time of night, so I looked for a place to rest my weary head. Item 4, a buck and a half for a cab into the Flamingo. And I just happened to remember that the Flamingo has an excellent casino. Now, I'm really not a gambling man in the usual sense of the word, but who can resist the lure of the dice and roulette table, the blackjack, even the slot machines in a setting like this? Sure, the house always wins, and the sucker who forks out his hard-earned money doesn't stand a chance. But you know something? After a few hours of play, I came out so far ahead that I won't even bother to list my food and hotel room on this expensive counter. I really cleaned up. How much? Well, if I told you, you'd probably want me to absorb the whole thing, so I won't. Then early the next morning, I met Roscoe Tremere at the office of Greater Southwest Insurance and Liability. Dollar, I'm glad you could make it. I don't like this one at all. How are you? Hiya, Roscoe. Sit down, will you? Yeah, sure. But not for long. I've arranged a drive-it-yourself car for you. And the sooner you can get over to Lake Mead, the better. Well, just where, Roscoe? That's a pretty big lake. Overton, a little town 50, 60 miles north and east of here, at the upper end of the lake. So what's happened up there? Johnny, a client of mine, Thomas Mayfield Thomas came out here from Chicago last year, retired here. I don't know much about him except that our Chicago office sent me his file when he came and asked me to look out for him. Go on. About a week ago, Thomas and a friend went fishing together out of Overton Landing. They went out with Hob Fulton on his charter boat. Incidentally, if you ask me, Hob's the best guide on the whole lake. Good, I remember that. Only you're here on a case, remember? Oh, sure. But go on. Well, the fishing must have been pretty good because they stayed on at the Overton Motel. Then the next morning they went down to the landing, rented a little Arkansas Traveler and a ten horse Johnson, and went out fishing on their own. Rosk, I may try that very thing myself. But about the middle of the afternoon a big east wind came up. You know what that means? I know that when a big Easter hits one of those desert lakes, there's only one thing you do, get off it quick. Well, they didn't, Johnny. At least not quick enough. The following morning, when the blow had died down, Hob Fulton went out to look for them. And? He found the boat all right. Beached on a point down near Goat Island. And Mr. Thomas' friend. What about Thomas? His friend says that Thomas went overboard when the squall hit him. Well, it's certainly possible. Yes, it is. Possible. The chomp on a lake like that can build up waves eight and ten feet high enough to throw a man off any kind of a boat. Yes, I know. But you don't think that's the way it happened? I didn't say that, Johnny. It's just that... Well, OK, Rosk. What was this fishing pal's name? Charlie Wentworth. Does that mean anything to you?

Speaker 1:
[08:05] No.

Speaker 2:
[08:06] Well, I'm afraid I don't know very much about him either. Except that he, too, came here from Chicago. Arrived in town about two weeks ago. I take it that's where he knew Thomas back in Chicago. Yeah, apparently. Well, what about him? What does this Charlie Wentworth do? Apparently nothing, but hang around the gambling joints. Oh, he does a little dealing and shilling for some of them now and then. There's talk he's been making illegal book on the races, so nobody's pinned it on him. So in your book, he's an undesirable character. That's right. But is that reason to suspect he took Mr. Thomas out on that lake and murdered him? No, Johnny, there's been a lot of worry around this town about some of the people who have come out here recently from Chicago. You know, ever since those investigations began back east. So what does that mean, everybody who comes from there is a killer? No, of course not. But a man who doesn't really work for a living, you know, just spends all his time around the gambling tables, has no visible, regular means of support. Thomas was retired, maybe Charlie Wentworth is too. Oh, Johnny. Besides, who knows, maybe Thomas will show up. Maybe he swam to shore and is plotting his way back through the desert. Oh, now you know the odds against a city man surviving out there. Well, does anybody really look for him? Everybody. The police, the national park boys, everybody. Not only in boats, on foot, but they even use planes and helicopter. They found no trace of him. Well, that still doesn't prove anything. Tell me this, are the police holding Charlie Wentworth? No, they're not. Which means they don't feel they have any reason to. But you still think I ought to investigate? Yes, I do. Roscoe? So do I. Act Two of Yours Truly Johnny Dollar in a Moment. Hey, Dad, did you check your car filters today? No, son, I didn't. Why? Because it might pay you a thousand dollars. A thousand dollars for a car filter? That's right, folks. You may have a filter under the hood of your car worth one thousand dollars and not even know it. A Fram filter worth one thousand silver dollars. A regular filter change is important to today's cars. So important that Fram Corporation is paying sixty thousand dollars to get you to check your filters now. Last year, in preparation for Fram's Silver Anniversary, ten thousand secretly numbered Fram filter cartridges were distributed all over the United States and installed in cars during regular servicing. These filters are worth from one dollar to one thousand dollars. You may have one in your car right now and not even know it. Check your oil filter and air filter now. If there's a specially numbered Fram filter in your car, you will win up to one thousand silver dollars and your dealer will win the same amount. Get in on Fram's Big Silver Treasure Hunt. Check your car filters now. And now Act Two of Yours Truly Johnny Dollar and the Lake Mead Mystery Matter. Neither the police nor anybody else in Las Vegas seemed to think Thomas Thomas was murdered out on Lake Mead. But what Roscoe Trimmer told me made me suspicious. Yeah, of Thomas' fishing pal, a man named Charlie Wentworth. Expense account, item 5640. I telephoned to my old friend, Ken Bugby, reporter on the Chicago Citizen News. Thomas Thomas? Yeah, that's right, Ken. What can you tell me about him? Well, not everybody knew it, Johnny, but he was a mouthpiece for the old Moretti mob. That was some years ago. When they started the big cleanup, well, either Thomas couldn't or just plain wouldn't get them off the hook. Let them all go to jail. Then he settled down and retired in his home out in Elmhurst. Well, he's certainly not there now, Ken. No. About a year ago, he suddenly sold his place, packed up, moved out west somewhere. Why? Do you know? Change of climate, I guess. What about him, Johnny? Ever hear of Charlie Wentworth? You kidding? He was one of Moretti's trigger men. Casual Charlie, they called him. You know where he is now? Oh, they sent him up to Joliet Prison along with the rest of the mob. Those boys will be in the clink, the rest of their natu... Oh, wait a minute. Yeah? Casual Charlie and Snooty Wilson were released. Yeah, and... Hey, that was just about the same time that Thomas moved away from here. If that means anything. Maybe I got a hunch it means everything. Oh? Like what, Johnny? Thanks a lot, Ken. Next stop was the public library, the old newspaper mile. Getting some info on the almost forgotten already mob was a lead-pipe cinch, especially about the time when the gang was broken up. And apparently when Lawyer Thomas saw the jig was up for his boys, having made his pile, and to keep himself out of trouble, he left them flat. He'd let them get sent to the pen without raising a finger in their defense. So don't tell me that a mobster wouldn't want to get even with a guy who'd let him down. Then I drove north on Highway 91 to the quiet little town of Overton. There I learned that for once, Hob Fulton, the fishing guide, had a free day on his hands. That he was down at the lake some twelve miles east of the town. I met him at the dock and within a few minutes we were on board as Higgins ran about and heading south. Lake Mead is a tremendous thing, something like a five hundred and fifty mile shoreline. The biggest man-made body of water in the world, I believe. Just thinking about the record-breaking large mouthed bass that had come out of that lake fairly made my mouth water. I carefully checked out the equipment I'd brought along. So you spent a lot of good money renting that stuff from Shelby's Port and going down to Vegas, huh? Yep. Where's the spear? Bob, I don't think I'm going to need a spear. I don't think you're going to need any of that stuff. You ask me, Dollar, if you want to catch fish, borrow one of those rigs I brought along. Bob, I just want you to take me to the same spot where you took Mr. Thomas and Charlie went. I feel bad about that, Mr. Thomas. I got them a lot of nice bass, though. You know, fishing all of the real deep holes. That's where they are this time of year. That's what I figured. If only they had sense enough to come back in that next day when the wind started to blow. They seem to get along all right, Hob. I told the police about that, Mr. Dollar, but I guess it didn't mean anything. Told them about what? Well, you ask me, Mr. Thomas wasn't any too happy finishing with Charlie Wentworth. But Charlie kept saying, let bygones be bygones and let's enjoy the fishing, so... When you... when you found Charlie in the boat the next morning, was there tackle still in it? Have you ever seen this lake when there's a big blow from the east, Mr. Dog? I've seen Lake Mojave when it's been that way, but you haven't answered my question. No, sir. Their tackle boxes got thrown overboard along with everything else, even that big one of Charlie's. God, he had enough stuff in that thing to sink the Queen Mary. He did, huh? Like what, Hob? Well, I didn't poke around in it. When I hiked it on board. Oh, look, there's the glory hole, first place to stop for him. So if that's what you want, that's where it'll start. How deep is it? Oh, I'd say about a tree and a half. A tree and a half? Well, you know how high a fair size tree is. Glory hole is about a tree and a half. Oh, I see. Johnny, if you're going to use that rig, you brought a lot of... I just pulled up to the same spot you showed them where to fish. By the end of two hours, I'd tried at least half a dozen of the holes where Hob had taken Thomas and Charlie. No luck. Then we went four or five miles further down the lake and pulled up just below Goat Island, just below the big rock slide. Deepest hole in this part of the lake, Dollar. Must be near the five trees. A lot of ledges down there on the sides of it, so you better go kind of easy. I covered every inch of that hole with the aid of a powerful waterproof headlamp I'd brought along. And finally I came back up to the surface. That's right, I said came back up to the surface. Here, Johnny, let me give you a hand back in the boat. No, all thanks. I'll rest you in the water for a minute. That's a pretty deep hole. Yeah, but how you ever expect to catch bass in that skin diving rig without even a spear? Ami, Ami, a long rope hob, I found it down there. Huh? Yeah, on a ledge about 50 feet down, lashed onto that heavy tackle box you were talking about. That's what made it sink. What are you talking about, Johnny? The body of Thomas Thomas. What? Yeah, and there's a bullet hole right between the eyes. Act Three of Yours Truly Johnny Dollar in a Moment. When friends drop in, let your hospitality show you're sociable in the modern manner. Pepsi, you know, is the favorite of the smart and young at heart. Have you tried a Pepsi lately? And now, act three of Yours Truly Johnny Dollar. I took the body of Thomas Thomas back to headquarters in Las Vegas and hung around long enough to hear Dr. Richard Fallon say the bullet hole was definitely made by a 38 and at close range. To hear Police Captain Willis say there'd be no action taken until the bullet could be removed for study. But I knew he'd change his mind when he had time to think about it. So I left headquarters and started making the rounds of the gambling casinos. Luck was with me. At the second place I stopped, one of the public joints on Fremont Street. And I'm the winner of Fremont at 34, Rev and Neva. Well, have you seen them around here today? Yes, Charlie Wentworth did just come in the door, mister. Thanks. All right, ladies and gentlemen. Excuse me, please. Pardon me, will you? May I get through here, please? Thank you. Excuse me. Charlie? Charlie Wentworth? Yeah, Buster? Johnny Dollar, insurance investigator. Here's my credentials. Oh, yeah. I guess you want to talk about my pal Tommy Thomas that drowned over in Lake Mead last week, didn't it? Yeah, something like that. Oh, Buster, that was an awful thing him going like that. He was an old buddy of mine. Was he? Sure was. An old buddy. Let me talk over in my room, huh? Too much noise around here. Okay by you? Sure. Why not? Ha, are you kidding? I'm not kidding. No, listen, Dollar, I haven't packed the rod since the old days of the Maready mob back in child. I'll bet. That's a fact, it's a truth. You think I want to get in trouble again? Well, you're wrong, see? Maybe. Look, I did my stretch and it learned me a lesson. I'm all through with that kind of stuff. I'm all through with it. Oh, sure. It's a fact, it's a truth. I'm strictly legit now, you understand? What about making book around town without a license? Who said that? Well, you can't prove it, you or nobody else. What's that got to do with Tommy Thomas and the poor guy getting drowned? Tell me that. What is this dollar anyhow? You really hated his guts, didn't you? Sure, wouldn't you if, well... Sure, because when the chips were down, he didn't give you a hand. He let you and the rest of the mob take the rap, kept his own skirts clean at your expense. Listen, what are you trying to do? Get me excited, say something I shouldn't say? I mean, I don't mean... Keep talking, Charlie. Sure, I hate it, I could have killed him. At first, that is. Only at first. Anybody would have felt that way, but, you know, after a few years in the clink, you learn better. What good's it to you? Those things don't matter, you've learned your lesson. I know I did. Oh, you became a paragon of virtue, I suppose. I don't know what you're talking about, but that's all over, you hear me? When I just happened to find him living here in Vegas, that was all over. Let bygones be bygones. I mean it. We was pals. Charlie, there's about as much truth in that. That's a fact, that's the truth. Then why did you kill him? That's a lie, you can't prove it. That's where you're wrong. I have absolute proof. Oh yeah? Yeah. I found it on his body. His... his body? I fished it out of Lake Mead this morning. Now, now listen. You had Hob Fulton show you all the deepest holes when you went out fishing with him. Then the next day you took Thomas out there alone. You killed him, tied that weighted tackle box to his body and let him sink down in the deepest hole of all, down below the rockslide. that windstorm? Yeah, yeah. Gave you the greatest excuse in the world for coming back alone, didn't it? You couldn't have had it better if you'd planned that storm yourself. But it didn't excuse the bullet hole in Tommy Thomas' head from your gun. From my gun? Yeah. No longer packing a rod, huh? Dollar. Maybe I sort of... kind of... Well, maybe I forgot about this one. Trigger man, huh? You're a lousy shot. And pretty slow draw, thank heaven. You know something? Now I think I have got proof. Yeah. This gun of yours. Down at headquarters, the ballistics team took less than an hour. Yep. The bullet they found in Thomas Thomas' body came from the same gun Charlie had tried to kill me with. So it's back to prison for him. For a long, long time. Oh, and the company will not have to pay double indemnity for accidental death. Expense account total including a couple of days of excellent fishing with Hob Fulton and the trip back to Hartford, 196.45. Yours Truly Johnny Dollar. Our star will return in just a moment. I've used to medium-priced cars, but most of them raised prices way up for 59. Now what do I do? Come test our best, the Ambassador V8 by Rambler, the luxury car that did not raise prices. I've always bought medium-priced cars, but now they're just too long to handle, too hard to park, too big for my garage. Come test our best, the Luxurious Ambassador, so compact, it out turns, out handles, and out economizes other medium-priced cars. Just what is the Ambassador? It's the compact luxury car, finest product of American Motors. Ambassador has generous shoulder room, hat room and leg room, and no awkward hump in the middle of the floor. Ambassador offers personalized luxury, individual front seats that adjust to each person's exact leg room, adjustable headrests, 270 V8 horsepower, best power-to-weight ratio in the medium-priced field, air-coil ride. It's the finest car ever priced so close to the lowest. Come test our best, the luxurious Ambassador V8 at Rambler Dealers. Now here is our star to tell you about next week's story. Next week, a little boy in a small New England town leads me to tangle with a killer. Join us, won't you? Yours truly, Johnny Dollar. Yours Truly Johnny Dollar starring Bob Bailey originates in Hollywood and is written, produced, and directed by Jack Johnstone. Heard in our cast were Larry Dobkin, Bartlett Robinson, Frank Nelson, Harry Bartell, and Gil Stratton Jr. Be sure to join us next week, same time and station, for another exciting story of Yours Truly Johnny Dollar. This is Dan Cumberley speaking. By far, radio's outstanding theater of thrill, suspense, next on the CBS Radio Network. 59, your dial, W-A-W, Albany. If it happens to you and I think it might that now and then your cigarette doesn't taste right, that's the tip-off man and you're just speaking on the new kind of filter that's known as spin. Old Gold New Spin Filter. This new spin filter is the best you've seen, does more than reduce power and nicotine, it improves smoke and taste so that you can get the best taste yet in a filter cigarette. Old Gold New Spin Filter. Test for taste, try your present brand against old gold.

Speaker 1:
[26:09] Nice of Johnny to shrink his expense account so that he could boast about the killing he made at the casino. By the way, the Flamingo is actually a real casino in Las Vegas. It was relatively new at the time, but of course, in the years since this episode, it has been bought twice by Hilton in the 70s and more recently by Caesars. And it has also undergone several remodels, which is kind of the norm for Vegas casinos. So if you've been there, it looked entirely different during the time that Johnny Dollar would have been there. I thought it was a good episode, except the murderer's actions were a bit incongruous with who he was supposed to be. The killer is part of the Rackets from Chicago. And a killer from Chicago might do a lot of things, but holding on to the murder gun is probably not one of those. Well now we turn to listener comments and feedback. We start on Spotify with some comments regarding the Johnny Dollar episode The Baldero Manor. Mechanic 66 writes, I'm all in for leaving the original ads in with some caveats. I never ever ever want to hear another ad for Petri Wine or Broma Seltzer. If we've heard the ad more than twice, that's enough. I've heard Harry Bartell pedal Petri Wine well over 200 times. Well, I appreciate the sentiment on that. And to be honest, there are some commercials that might have saved me a whole lot of grief if I'd had that sort of policy like the beer ads that had the whole, it's so smooth or something to that effect. I'm probably messing that up on many episodes of Boston Blackie. But this is kind of one of those things where it's up to the listener to implement that, you know, you've got the fast forward button. The problem with me implementing it is it's kind of the assumption that everybody who listens to a series is listening to all of the episodes in the series. And that's often not the case because you might have people listen to an episode that comes in the middle of the series and they don't necessarily go back and replay all the ones that have come before, though certainly some do. And some people might prefer it. So I lean towards leaning that, leaving that in. But I appreciate your view on that. And then honestly, it'd be one of those things that I would just have to track. And I don't really need anything else to track as I'd have to figure out. Okay, this ad appeared on this series. Sometimes you have ads that appeared on multiple series. So would it count as, you know, if say you had a public service announcement that was played on Broadway's My Beat, and then later on Yours Truly Johnny Dollar, would we be looking at a time limit, like, you know, a certain look back period? I wouldn't think that would be a great use of my time. And so, yeah, I would just encourage people to fast forward through things they don't want to hear. And then Dr. Whodunit writes, I listened three times to make sure I heard it. At 1530, she misspeaks when she is talking about the pirates, she said Larry, but cuts herself short. Then as soon as I heard someone was named Larry, I knew he was guilty. Good catch. Well, now it's time to thank our Patreon supporter of the day. And I want to go ahead and thank Robert, Patreon supporter since March of 2025, currently supporting the podcast at the detective sergeant level of $7.14 or more per month. Thanks so much for your support, Robert. 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'll be back next Friday with another episode of Yours Truly Johnny Dollar. But join us back here tomorrow for The Great Adventurers of Old Time Radio and Counterspy where Mr. Black, Mr. Oscar Tiffin, President of the Kelvey National Bank.

Speaker 2:
[31:06] Mr. Black is our version of Pretty Boy Loved. How do you do? And this is Miss Smith, Pretty Boy's girlfriend.

Speaker 1:
[31:12] Hello.

Speaker 2:
[31:13] How do you do? Haven't I seen you someplace before?

Speaker 1:
[31:16] That's not an original line, Mr. Tiffin.

Speaker 2:
[31:19] Oh, no, no, I didn't mean... Well, that is... No, really, I'm sure I've seen you in a picture, perhaps. Maybe. I've been... Yes, she gets around. Maybe you have. All right, come on, let's get started. Right, Mr. Black. Mr. Tiffin, will you get in back of the teller's enclosure? Certainly. All right, now, everybody, I'll be talking all through this. React the way I want you to. Camera's ready? Good. All right.

Speaker 1:
[31:42] Let them roll.

Speaker 2:
[31:43] Go to work, Mr. Black. OK, everybody, this is a stick up. A little more frightened, please. Keep your hands at your sides, stand still and nobody will get hurt. Ah, that's that's the way. Baby. Yeah, pretty boy. Get the cages clean out the door. Every son of it. Right. Good. Good. Be all stricken, Mr. Tiffin. Come on, baby. Step on it. Don't really touch the money. Shut up, you. You heard the man, Mr. Tiffin. And I'll tell you a secret. That gun hasn't got blanks. It's got real bullets.

Speaker 1:
[32:06] Why?

Speaker 2:
[32:07] You see, this picture is going to be the last word in realism. We're robbing your bank for keeps. You'll notice the cameraman have guns also. And they're loaded too. How you doing, baby? One more case to go. Well, you can't do this. Why not call for the police then? They're expecting it. Or you could set off the burglar alarm. They're waiting to hear that. All right, big shot. You're not on the stage now.

Speaker 1:
[32:27] I hope you'll be with us then. In the meantime, send your comments to box13atgreatdetectives.net. Follow us on Twitter at Radio Detectives and check us out on Instagram at instagram.com/greatdetectives. From Boise, Idaho, this is your host, Adam Graham, signing off.