1
00:00:28,320 --> 00:00:35,799
Welcome to the Great Detectives of Old
Time Radio from Boise, Idaho. This

2
00:00:36,039 --> 00:00:40,039
is your host, Adam Graham.
If you have a comment, email it

3
00:00:40,079 --> 00:00:46,880
to me Box thirteen at Greatdetectives dot
net. Follow us on Twitter at Radio

4
00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:52,799
Detectives, and check us out on
Instagram, Instagram, dot com, slash

5
00:00:52,840 --> 00:00:58,439
Great Detectives. If you're enjoying the
podcast, please follow us using your favorite

6
00:00:58,520 --> 00:01:03,719
podcast software. Today's program is brought
to you in part by the financial support

7
00:01:03,759 --> 00:01:07,920
of our listeners. You can support
the show on a one time basis using

8
00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:12,400
the Zell app to Box thirteen at
Great Detectives dot net, and you can

9
00:01:12,480 --> 00:01:19,439
also become one of our ongoing Patreon
supporters for as little last two dollars per

10
00:01:19,519 --> 00:01:25,879
month at Patreon dot Great Detectives dot
net. Well, now it is time

11
00:01:26,280 --> 00:01:33,200
for this week's episode of Dangerous Assignment. The original air date January the fourteenth,

12
00:01:33,480 --> 00:01:52,799
nineteen fifty three, and the title
is The Blue Lion Dangerous Assignment Transcribe,

13
00:01:52,799 --> 00:02:13,400
starring Brian dun Leave as Steve Mitchell. Yeah, danger is my assignment.

14
00:02:13,439 --> 00:02:15,759
I could send to a lot of
places I can't even pronounce. They

15
00:02:15,759 --> 00:02:17,800
all spell the same thing though,
trouble. But when I walk into the

16
00:02:17,800 --> 00:02:22,680
Commissioner's office. I don't realize that
this assignment's going to prove that sometimes the

17
00:02:22,719 --> 00:02:34,319
guy who tries to take somebody for
a ride ends up getting taken. Morning,

18
00:02:34,360 --> 00:02:37,719
Commissioner, you sent me the Blue
Lion sent us another guest, Steve.

19
00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:39,879
The Blue Lion pop in London,
acting on a tip, we arrested

20
00:02:39,879 --> 00:02:43,719
a man on his arrival in the
States last night. His passport and other

21
00:02:43,759 --> 00:02:46,759
identification were forged. He's the fifth
illegal entry we've picked up in a month.

22
00:02:46,840 --> 00:02:50,240
So how does the Blue Lion fit
into the picture? That's where these

23
00:02:50,280 --> 00:02:53,039
people picked up their phony passports.
They don't know, won't tell us any

24
00:02:53,039 --> 00:02:55,599
more than that. I guess that
calls for a visit to the Blue Lion.

25
00:02:55,879 --> 00:03:00,159
Scotland Yard's given the place a clean
bill of health, Steve. The

26
00:03:00,199 --> 00:03:02,400
owners are well known, respectable,
and I doubt the man behind this racket

27
00:03:02,439 --> 00:03:06,680
is still using the place as a
rendezvous since so many of his clients have

28
00:03:06,759 --> 00:03:08,960
been arrested. Any other leads commissioned. Several days ago, a crew of

29
00:03:08,960 --> 00:03:13,479
workmen found a small package behind some
loose bricks in the basement of a house

30
00:03:13,520 --> 00:03:17,439
in Saint Margaret's Mews in London.
The package wrapped in newspaper contained a half

31
00:03:17,520 --> 00:03:23,280
dozen forged passports identified as our friend's
work. Right, I see, So

32
00:03:23,319 --> 00:03:24,960
if I can find out who put
that package there, I might find out

33
00:03:24,960 --> 00:03:30,280
our master penman exactly and the date
on the newspaper. Commissioner, grace yourself,

34
00:03:30,319 --> 00:03:36,199
Steve, April twenty ninth, nineteen
forty five, nineteen forty seven years

35
00:03:36,280 --> 00:03:38,680
ago. You mean that package was
stashed away all that time? Right?

36
00:03:38,960 --> 00:03:42,919
I know it's a long shot and
a coal trail, but we've nothing else

37
00:03:42,919 --> 00:03:46,039
to go on. Get over there, Steve, check with Inspector Jellico Scotland

38
00:03:46,080 --> 00:03:49,280
Yard, find out what you can
about that house in Saint Margaret's Mews,

39
00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:53,199
pick up the trail and nail a
man who's running this passport racket. Well

40
00:03:53,240 --> 00:04:11,439
that's it. You've got your assignment. Good luck. The National Broadcasting Company

41
00:04:11,479 --> 00:04:15,879
is presenting Dangerous Assignment, starring Brian
don Levy in the role of Steve Mitchell,

42
00:04:15,319 --> 00:04:19,360
colorful two fisted government agent. At
all those places of the world where

43
00:04:19,439 --> 00:04:24,360
danger and intrigue walk hand in hand. There you will find Steve Mitchell on

44
00:04:24,399 --> 00:04:30,079
another Dangerous assignment this Friday evening.
On most of these stations you'll hear a

45
00:04:30,079 --> 00:04:33,240
program by the NBC News and Special
Events Department titled End of an Era.

46
00:04:33,959 --> 00:04:39,319
The program will review the history of
the past twenty years. Narrated by Burgess

47
00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:43,639
Meredith. This hour long panorama of
the Roosevelt Truman period from nineteen thirty three

48
00:04:43,639 --> 00:04:46,399
to nineteen fifty three will bring the
happy moments of the thirties and forties,

49
00:04:46,680 --> 00:04:50,680
mingled with the sad, the joys
and sorrows, the victories and the defeats.

50
00:04:51,319 --> 00:04:55,560
The title for this survey of the
past two decades is taken from a

51
00:04:55,639 --> 00:05:00,120
remark by President Truman made the morning
after General Eisenhower was elected president. But

52
00:05:00,759 --> 00:05:05,120
this is the end of a mirror. So here are the special broadcast Friday

53
00:05:05,759 --> 00:05:17,480
on the NBC Radio Network. Sure, I've got my assignment. Get over

54
00:05:17,480 --> 00:05:21,279
to London and track down a master
penman who's running a flourishing racket and phony

55
00:05:21,319 --> 00:05:25,600
passports. And all I have to
start with is a package wrapped in a

56
00:05:25,639 --> 00:05:29,160
seven year old newspaper, the package
that was found hidden away in the basement

57
00:05:29,199 --> 00:05:31,639
of an old house. It's late
Thursday afternoon when my plane lands, I

58
00:05:31,680 --> 00:05:39,240
head for Scotland Yard in the office
of Mitchell and mister documents and earned his

59
00:05:39,319 --> 00:05:43,199
past and president. Look Inspector about
this newspaper, the wrapping on the package

60
00:05:43,240 --> 00:05:46,519
that was found in the basement.
Oh, yes, I have it right

61
00:05:46,519 --> 00:05:53,839
here, mister Mitchell. Is there
any possibility that the package might have been

62
00:05:53,920 --> 00:05:58,120
hidden away in the house during say, the past year or hardly you see,

63
00:05:58,160 --> 00:06:00,439
mister Mitchell. The Hussins and Margaret's
mew was severed damage during the war

64
00:06:00,519 --> 00:06:03,079
years. A good deal of repair
work was done in the basement in the

65
00:06:03,160 --> 00:06:06,920
latter part of nineteen forty five,
the wall's reinforcements. So on, I

66
00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:11,279
see, And the package was found
behind the new construction work. That's right.

67
00:06:11,519 --> 00:06:15,959
Exactly when did this repair job begin? You know? Let me see,

68
00:06:16,920 --> 00:06:19,600
yes, yes, here we are. The work was begun in August

69
00:06:19,600 --> 00:06:24,759
of nineteen forty five, and this
newspaper is dated April forty five. Well

70
00:06:25,120 --> 00:06:28,079
at narrows it down to roughly three
months when it could have been put there.

71
00:06:28,199 --> 00:06:30,680
I wonder why the package wasn't removed
during that time, why he didn't

72
00:06:30,680 --> 00:06:33,199
come back for it. It's hard
to say who owned the house, then,

73
00:06:33,279 --> 00:06:38,079
Inspector, it's in the report.
Yeah, let me see, yes,

74
00:06:38,800 --> 00:06:43,000
yes, Ian McKay. The second
cousin of Sir John lived there alone.

75
00:06:43,240 --> 00:06:45,480
He was with the Royal Air Force
at the time, living at the

76
00:06:45,480 --> 00:06:48,279
house with his wife Emily, two
youngsters, Ronald and Valery, Andy servants

77
00:06:48,480 --> 00:06:54,040
three, an earlyer couple named Denny, and a maid named clariup at Simmons.

78
00:06:54,120 --> 00:06:56,279
Where are they now? Do you
know? Well? Ian McKay was

79
00:06:56,319 --> 00:06:59,800
killed in a plane crash in nineteen
forty six. His wife remarried three years

80
00:06:59,879 --> 00:07:02,040
later and is now living in Canada
and the children are with him. The

81
00:07:02,079 --> 00:07:05,560
Dennis are book dead. That's for
the maid Clara. Well, we haven't

82
00:07:05,600 --> 00:07:09,720
able to track it down yet.
Who could have had access to that basement

83
00:07:09,759 --> 00:07:12,279
other than the people living in the
house, anyone in the hold of London,

84
00:07:12,319 --> 00:07:15,279
mister Mitchell, Why yes, you
see it was used for a time

85
00:07:15,319 --> 00:07:17,839
as an aird schilder. Oh great, well, let's get back to the

86
00:07:17,879 --> 00:07:21,360
item you were wondering about, Inspector. Why was the package stashed away there

87
00:07:21,360 --> 00:07:27,160
in the first place? Any ideas
well, let's examine this possibility. The

88
00:07:27,240 --> 00:07:30,279
person conning the package believes he's being
followed the police and he doesn't want to

89
00:07:30,319 --> 00:07:33,240
get caught with the evidence on him, so he slips into the air raid

90
00:07:33,279 --> 00:07:38,040
Hilder it's deserted. He finds the
place to hide the package, steps out

91
00:07:38,040 --> 00:07:41,240
again. This piece of newspaper seems
to back up that line of thinking.

92
00:07:41,240 --> 00:07:44,639
Inspector, are you notice that any
sure? Here we have a single sheet

93
00:07:44,720 --> 00:07:47,360
torn from the rest of the newspaper, and whatever part of the want ad

94
00:07:47,399 --> 00:07:50,439
section up at the top of the
page is the tail end of the column

95
00:07:50,759 --> 00:07:55,199
rooms to let indicating at our friend, aware that he was being followed with

96
00:07:55,279 --> 00:07:58,639
seeking a change of address, he
let us the last six listings in that

97
00:07:58,680 --> 00:08:03,000
column have London addresses, and there's
some pencil Knox decidement. Be too much

98
00:08:03,040 --> 00:08:05,720
to expect to find them still living
in one of those rooming houses after seven

99
00:08:05,800 --> 00:08:09,920
years, but it might give us
a lead right out. I'll take a

100
00:08:09,959 --> 00:08:11,920
crack at it, Inspector, you
have any plans? Or? I thought

101
00:08:11,959 --> 00:08:16,160
I'd drop around to the Blue Lawn
in check with a man I have there,

102
00:08:16,199 --> 00:08:18,279
and then go on trying to track
down that maid of the Mackays clad

103
00:08:18,360 --> 00:08:26,399
pit. Simmons, good idea,
I'll see you later, Inspector. The

104
00:08:26,480 --> 00:08:30,439
odds on our long shadder growing,
and the chances I'll find the gent I'm

105
00:08:30,439 --> 00:08:33,080
after looks slimmer by the minute.
As I start out with my list of

106
00:08:33,120 --> 00:08:35,360
addresses, the first one is a
bust. The same goes for the next

107
00:08:35,360 --> 00:08:39,639
address, and the next. Things
must have been tough in April. Four

108
00:08:39,720 --> 00:08:43,080
down and two to go. Now
it starts to rain. I rush on

109
00:08:43,120 --> 00:08:46,279
to the next place, sixty one
New Romney Road. Come. Indeed,

110
00:08:48,240 --> 00:08:50,759
at the door of the landlady,
a rather large one, greets me.

111
00:08:50,879 --> 00:08:54,480
There's a pleasant air about her,
and that air includes a faint trace of

112
00:08:54,600 --> 00:09:01,279
gin. I settle down into a
heavy overstone. That's going to take a

113
00:09:01,279 --> 00:09:03,320
bit of thinking. I'm afraid you
don't keep a record of your borders,

114
00:09:03,320 --> 00:09:07,840
Missus Farland, never bothered too,
Might I offer you a little nip of

115
00:09:07,960 --> 00:09:13,240
something I always have a small glass
before supper, the happy tipe. You

116
00:09:13,320 --> 00:09:16,039
know, thanks, but I'll skip
this round if you don't mind. Also

117
00:09:16,120 --> 00:09:20,200
takes the chill out of one's bones. Narsty weathered out, did he?

118
00:09:20,320 --> 00:09:24,159
So? It is now about this
advertisement, Missus Farland. It appeared in

119
00:09:24,159 --> 00:09:28,480
the Dover Times on April twenty ninth, nineteen forty five. I don't seem

120
00:09:28,519 --> 00:09:31,440
to recall it at the moment,
which if you say so, here's a

121
00:09:31,480 --> 00:09:35,039
copy of the paper. Oh yeah, so I see, so I see

122
00:09:35,480 --> 00:09:39,840
nineteen forty five, Hey, we
did it proper, if you know what

123
00:09:39,879 --> 00:09:45,559
I mean. Forty one was a
nasty year. It was dreadful Nazi bombers

124
00:09:45,600 --> 00:09:48,960
over a day or not. I'm
trying to locate a man who might have

125
00:09:48,080 --> 00:09:52,639
answered this ad Missus Farland. That
was more than seven years ago, did

126
00:09:52,679 --> 00:09:56,720
he? I know it's going back
a long time, but there's something in

127
00:09:56,720 --> 00:10:00,759
the back page of this paper that
might spark your memory. It's the continuation

128
00:10:00,919 --> 00:10:05,679
of a story regarding Mussolini. No, m what about boldly? He was

129
00:10:05,759 --> 00:10:09,559
killed at Lake Coma the day before
April twenty eighth, nineteen forty five.

130
00:10:09,919 --> 00:10:13,480
Was it really? That's right?
Help Anny? Of course it does.

131
00:10:13,360 --> 00:10:18,480
I remembered it clear as crystial.
I do Stella and the young men were

132
00:10:18,519 --> 00:10:22,559
supping with this. They just got
married Dullah, one of my rumors been

133
00:10:22,600 --> 00:10:28,120
with me for five years for mo. Now Stiller's room was advertised in the

134
00:10:28,159 --> 00:10:33,879
paper, of course it was.
Don't comes back to me now I've rented

135
00:10:33,879 --> 00:10:37,039
the room to ity next day.
And do you recall who took that room,

136
00:10:37,080 --> 00:10:39,639
Missus Farland. Well, I'll never
forget it, did he never?

137
00:10:39,240 --> 00:10:45,200
It was a gent named Pinto,
Jaggie's Pinto. I'm a good judge of

138
00:10:45,320 --> 00:10:48,759
character and all that, deary,
but mister Pinto was my first mistake.

139
00:10:48,919 --> 00:10:52,639
Oh what happened? Police came for
that nasty little twype the day after he

140
00:10:52,759 --> 00:10:58,039
moved in. Why that's right?
With his fine manners and only turned out

141
00:10:58,080 --> 00:11:03,759
to be a common smash and grab
man. You know, got five years,

142
00:11:03,799 --> 00:11:09,600
as I understand, Thanks Missus Farland. That's all I wanted to know.

143
00:11:13,600 --> 00:11:18,200
What did that name again, mister
Mitchel Jagger's Pinto inspector? He was

144
00:11:18,200 --> 00:11:22,159
picked up at sixty one New Romney
Road on May first, nineteen forty five.

145
00:11:22,440 --> 00:11:26,799
Smash and grab artist. Ah,
sub five years? I could explain

146
00:11:26,799 --> 00:11:30,039
why the package wasn't picked up in
the basement pending. The bess is nine

147
00:11:30,120 --> 00:11:33,240
hundred and twenty four Dexil Place.
Hey, how'd you know that? I've

148
00:11:33,240 --> 00:11:35,039
been checking up on your mister Pinto
for quite another lead. You see,

149
00:11:35,159 --> 00:11:39,200
I found Peroff at Simmons, the
maid who worked for the people who had

150
00:11:39,200 --> 00:11:41,799
the house on Saint Margaret's muse in
nineteen forty five. Right, she's a

151
00:11:41,799 --> 00:11:46,159
bombaide now and that name is missus
Jaeger Pinto. Oh, brother Wait a

152
00:11:46,159 --> 00:11:50,120
minute, did you say a bar
maid? I did? And just where

153
00:11:50,159 --> 00:11:52,600
is she working? Can't you guess? Yeah, the same pub where those

154
00:11:52,639 --> 00:11:58,000
people we arrested picked up their pony
passports, the Blue Lion in right.

155
00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:09,000
Ten minutes later, Inspector Jellico picks
me up in his car and we roll

156
00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:11,480
out to nine twenty four bex Hill
Place, the present address of our long

157
00:12:11,519 --> 00:12:16,399
lost friend Jagger's Pinto. It stops
raining as we pull up in front.

158
00:12:16,440 --> 00:12:18,759
We go inside and the landlord gives
us the room number we want. Then,

159
00:12:20,200 --> 00:12:26,120
just as we start up the stairs, Hey Mitchell, come on upstairs.

160
00:12:26,120 --> 00:12:35,360
Sounded like, yes, look they're
on the floor. Yeah. I

161
00:12:35,399 --> 00:12:39,799
hope it isn't. I'm afraid it
is, mister Mitchell. Yes, he

162
00:12:39,879 --> 00:13:01,159
matches this picture I have on It's
Jega's Pinto. He's dead. Steve Mitchell

163
00:13:01,240 --> 00:13:05,120
will continue his dangerous assignment in just
a moment. If your child can run

164
00:13:05,120 --> 00:13:09,279
and skip and jump, he's lucky. Just think how you'd feel if he'd

165
00:13:09,279 --> 00:13:13,600
been crippled. In last year's record
infantile paralysis epidemic, more than one hundred

166
00:13:13,600 --> 00:13:16,840
eighty six thousand Americans, most of
them children, were stricken by infantile paralysis

167
00:13:16,879 --> 00:13:20,879
in the last five years, and
last year's polio epidemic was the worst on

168
00:13:22,000 --> 00:13:26,840
record. Would you like to save
thirty million children from attack by infantile paralysis?

169
00:13:26,600 --> 00:13:31,879
Well, it takes millions of dimes
and dollars spent in medical research before

170
00:13:31,879 --> 00:13:37,600
a protective vaccine is discovered. And
now your national foundation is seven million dollars

171
00:13:37,600 --> 00:13:41,519
in debt. Yes, the nineteen
fifty two blow of polio has gotten its

172
00:13:41,519 --> 00:13:46,960
fighters rocking on their financial heels.
And remember, you can't fight your child's

173
00:13:46,039 --> 00:13:52,240
enemy just by wishing. It takes
giving your giving. Take a walk,

174
00:13:52,279 --> 00:13:54,919
now, won't you? So the
polio stricken may walk later join the nineteen

175
00:13:56,000 --> 00:14:09,600
fifty three March of Dimes. Now
back too dangerous assignment and Brian don Lavelle,

176
00:14:09,639 --> 00:14:16,240
Steve Mitchell, the inspector, and
I set up headquarters in the parlor

177
00:14:16,240 --> 00:14:20,600
to question the boarders. The first
one we talked to is a mister Sam

178
00:14:20,679 --> 00:14:26,679
keithcart Up in his room. He
was Pinto's room. That's right. There

179
00:14:26,679 --> 00:14:28,200
was a knock on the door.
Into went and opened it did to see

180
00:14:28,200 --> 00:14:31,840
who it was. No, Sir, I was sitting on the other side

181
00:14:31,879 --> 00:14:35,440
of the room. I heard Pinto
say, oh, it's you. Then

182
00:14:35,440 --> 00:14:39,399
he stepped out at the door and
closed the door. I sat there several

183
00:14:39,440 --> 00:14:41,000
minutes, and just as I was
about to go and see what had happened

184
00:14:41,039 --> 00:14:45,679
to I heard that shot. I
ran outside and down to the back hall,

185
00:14:45,759 --> 00:14:50,000
and well they were you, two
gentlemen bending over his body? Blimey

186
00:14:50,799 --> 00:14:52,919
the person who knocked down the door, mister Cathcart, did he say anything

187
00:14:52,960 --> 00:14:56,080
at all to Pindell? Not a
word? Is akadiasa? Then you don't

188
00:14:56,120 --> 00:14:58,480
know whether it was a man or
a woman that I don't, sir,

189
00:15:00,120 --> 00:15:03,080
to call your own you please send
it the next person, right chair,

190
00:15:03,759 --> 00:15:11,879
Poor Pinto, blindy, blinding,
quiet, Well he tells a straightforward story.

191
00:15:11,120 --> 00:15:13,240
Be interesting to know if it also
happened to be a true one.

192
00:15:13,360 --> 00:15:16,399
Yeah. The way it figures,
Pinto was the leg man in the passport

193
00:15:16,480 --> 00:15:22,240
racket, and the forger probably killed
him to shut his mouth. I come

194
00:15:22,240 --> 00:15:30,039
in, Yes, Yes, your
name Walter Michaels. I'm an insurance solicitor.

195
00:15:30,320 --> 00:15:31,480
I was calling on a client of
mine whose rooms were on the third

196
00:15:31,480 --> 00:15:37,120
floor, and mister Jones, but
he didn't answer the door. John's see,

197
00:15:37,159 --> 00:15:39,159
the landlord informed me that mister Johns
had left the house for the railroad

198
00:15:39,159 --> 00:15:43,440
station. Half an hour phone killing
a business, no right to prevent,

199
00:15:43,639 --> 00:15:50,360
you know, sounds like what seems
to be the trouble. This policeman will

200
00:15:50,360 --> 00:15:54,240
simply not allow me to go upstairs
for my room. It's ridiculous. Your

201
00:15:54,360 --> 00:15:56,320
name John's, but I don't see
what business this is. A go step

202
00:15:56,320 --> 00:16:00,679
in here a moment, please,
mister Johns. All right, all right,

203
00:16:00,759 --> 00:16:03,960
you've beaten tug at my sleeve.
It's enough out of shape with the

204
00:16:03,080 --> 00:16:07,519
damp as it is. I'll come. Sorry, this is mister Johns inspector.

205
00:16:08,200 --> 00:16:11,440
What sort of foolishness is this inspector? I just routine questioning, mister

206
00:16:11,480 --> 00:16:15,960
John's. If you'll just put your
other girt on that chair here, I'm

207
00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:18,759
in a frightful hurry. Can't I
make you understand that I was almost to

208
00:16:18,759 --> 00:16:22,919
the railroad station when I realized I'd
forgotten some important papers, so I hurried

209
00:16:22,960 --> 00:16:25,759
back. Now your man tells me
I can't even go up to my room

210
00:16:25,759 --> 00:16:29,200
to get them. Since when you'll
say there's been a murder, mister Johns,

211
00:16:29,200 --> 00:16:33,240
Since when, good, good lord, mister Johns, you haven't said

212
00:16:33,240 --> 00:16:37,279
a lord of your insurance solicitor here? What mister Michael's here. I've never

213
00:16:37,320 --> 00:16:40,879
seen the man before in my life. What's up? Well? Well,

214
00:16:40,879 --> 00:16:45,360
how now, mister Michaels. Gentlemen, if if I could speak to you

215
00:16:45,360 --> 00:16:48,559
in private, that will be orpan
on mister John's. But your trip will

216
00:16:48,559 --> 00:16:51,159
have to wait. But it's a
business trip now, see here, you've

217
00:16:51,240 --> 00:16:55,120
no right there, mister Johns.
I shall speak to your superior and I'll

218
00:16:55,159 --> 00:17:02,480
be glad to make an apartment for
it. You bah, sounds like my

219
00:17:02,559 --> 00:17:07,599
old college. Yell right good,
my mister Michaels. Well, I really

220
00:17:07,640 --> 00:17:10,680
came here to see Dora Mays.
She has the room across the hall from

221
00:17:10,720 --> 00:17:14,960
Jon's. You're a girlfriend, Yes, we had quite a row last night.

222
00:17:15,519 --> 00:17:17,799
I had a date tonight to thrash
the whole thing out, but she

223
00:17:17,799 --> 00:17:19,759
didn't show up. So you came
here to her room? Yes, but

224
00:17:19,799 --> 00:17:23,519
she was out. That's where I
was when I heard the shot. Why

225
00:17:23,559 --> 00:17:27,160
didn't you tell us his first off
is to Michaels. I was afraid it

226
00:17:27,200 --> 00:17:32,160
would get back to pet Her.
I see you chaps don't seem convinced,

227
00:17:32,160 --> 00:17:34,240
But that's my story. Take it
or leave it before we take it,

228
00:17:34,400 --> 00:17:45,720
mister Michaels, we'll check it,
but Michael's girlfriend Doris May still isn't back,

229
00:17:45,839 --> 00:17:48,119
so for the time being, there's
no way of checking up on his

230
00:17:48,240 --> 00:17:52,200
story. I leave Inspector Jellico at
the rooming house to continue the questioning,

231
00:17:52,279 --> 00:17:56,000
borrow a police guard and head for
Missus Pimbo's flat to break the news to

232
00:17:56,039 --> 00:18:02,880
her about her usband. End up
like this. I guess that's why I

233
00:18:02,960 --> 00:18:06,200
left him. You were separated.
It's been a year now. I see,

234
00:18:06,559 --> 00:18:10,000
Missus Pinto as I understand that you
were a maid in the house on

235
00:18:10,119 --> 00:18:15,240
Saint Margaret's muse back in nineteen forty
five. That's right. Pinto came to

236
00:18:15,279 --> 00:18:18,960
see me one night. I let
him hide down the basement. That's when

237
00:18:18,960 --> 00:18:22,279
he ditched the package of phony passports
down there, I suppose. So next

238
00:18:22,319 --> 00:18:26,279
morning he was gone, and later
I learned he'd been arrested. I see

239
00:18:26,440 --> 00:18:30,759
as soon as he was out,
he looked me up. I'd just started

240
00:18:30,759 --> 00:18:33,400
his bar made at the blue line. Then he promised to turn over a

241
00:18:33,440 --> 00:18:37,240
new leaf. So we got married, but it didn't last very long,

242
00:18:37,359 --> 00:18:40,720
huh. I found out he was
still mixed up in something shady, so

243
00:18:40,759 --> 00:18:44,759
I left him year ago. I
said, did you see anything of him

244
00:18:44,799 --> 00:18:48,079
after that. Oh yes, he'd
drop in every now and then at the

245
00:18:48,079 --> 00:18:51,559
Blue Line. I thought he was
coming to see me. Actually he was

246
00:18:51,599 --> 00:18:56,039
probably using it as a contact point
to hand out the passports. You happen

247
00:18:56,160 --> 00:18:59,559
to know any of his friends?
No, can't say I wanted to.

248
00:18:59,759 --> 00:19:03,559
He ever mentioned the man or woman
that he worked for, well, the

249
00:19:03,640 --> 00:19:06,200
last of James he always turned to
when he needed a bob or two.

250
00:19:06,799 --> 00:19:10,200
Traycer was his name. I think
Tracer, the old Tracer will fix me

251
00:19:10,279 --> 00:19:12,119
up. He always used to say, Wait a minute. Tracer was probably

252
00:19:12,119 --> 00:19:15,960
a nickname, and it would sure
fit a passport forger. That's probably the

253
00:19:15,960 --> 00:19:18,640
boy I'm after. Did you ever
see him? Not that I know of

254
00:19:19,279 --> 00:19:22,839
him too. Used to talk to
him with the telephone mostly. Did you

255
00:19:22,000 --> 00:19:25,519
ever answer the phone when he called? Oh? Yes, you think he

256
00:19:25,599 --> 00:19:27,319
might recognize his voice? I'm right. Is there a phone hear? No,

257
00:19:27,519 --> 00:19:30,880
but there's a phone box down the
street. Come on, I want

258
00:19:30,880 --> 00:19:33,599
to call the inspector and have him
line up all the suspects for you to

259
00:19:33,640 --> 00:19:40,799
listen to. Missus Kinda puts on
her coade and we go outside. I

260
00:19:40,839 --> 00:19:44,720
step into the phone box and the
light goes on just As I start to

261
00:19:44,759 --> 00:19:45,880
dial a number, I spot a
glint of metal across the street and I

262
00:19:45,960 --> 00:19:49,839
hit the floor fast. I dive
outside. There's no one inside across the

263
00:19:49,839 --> 00:19:52,640
street, nothing but the mouth of
an alley and the sound of some distant

264
00:19:52,720 --> 00:19:56,720
running steps. I could never catch
up to him. Now, mister Mitchell,

265
00:19:57,000 --> 00:20:00,160
you okay, Miss Pennell, Yes, I jumped into the story when

266
00:20:00,160 --> 00:20:03,839
it happened. Okay, come on, I've got a police card down the

267
00:20:03,880 --> 00:20:08,359
street. Huh, what is it? Missus Pinto. You told me you

268
00:20:08,400 --> 00:20:11,440
hadn't been out of your flat all
evening, didn't you. It's earlier this

269
00:20:11,480 --> 00:20:15,240
evening while we were looking for Pindo
it started to rain. What's about it?

270
00:20:15,319 --> 00:20:18,599
It rained for just about half an
hour. It stopped just as inspected.

271
00:20:18,680 --> 00:20:22,359
Jellico and I arrived at Pindo's rooming
house. I damp. See what

272
00:20:22,400 --> 00:20:25,000
all this has to do with your
coat sleeve is damp? Missus Pindo.

273
00:20:25,319 --> 00:20:27,160
What you didn't tell me the truth? You were out of your flat this

274
00:20:27,200 --> 00:20:32,920
evening during the time it rained,
But yes, I was. Where'd you

275
00:20:32,960 --> 00:20:36,519
go? I started for Pinto's rooming
house to tell him the police were making

276
00:20:36,559 --> 00:20:40,119
inquiries about him. Half Way there, it changed my mind. I came

277
00:20:40,200 --> 00:20:44,359
back. You sure you didn't go
to the rooming house? Hey, hold

278
00:20:44,400 --> 00:20:47,480
everything that damn sleeve? What about
it? I told you, Yeah,

279
00:20:47,559 --> 00:20:56,519
you just told me the answer.
I take Missus Pinda back to her flat

280
00:20:56,559 --> 00:21:00,559
and tell her to lock herself in. Then I go outside and flight behind

281
00:21:00,599 --> 00:21:03,160
the wheel of the barrow police car, just in time to feel a gun

282
00:21:03,160 --> 00:21:07,720
barrel nuts me in the back of
the neck. Well, well that would

283
00:21:07,720 --> 00:21:11,400
be mister John's I presume quite right, Michel, keep bruggae raight of head.

284
00:21:11,440 --> 00:21:15,519
Okay, so you're the big cheese
of the passport. Rackets out of

285
00:21:15,519 --> 00:21:22,039
the car straight down the street.
I'll tell you where it's hurt. You've

286
00:21:22,079 --> 00:21:23,920
been waiting for me here ever since
you took that shot at me in front

287
00:21:23,920 --> 00:21:30,079
of Missus Pender's not John, Yes, I double around the block he Gilbert

288
00:21:30,200 --> 00:21:33,319
place. Where are we heading?
Quiet room? Where you are going to

289
00:21:33,359 --> 00:21:37,640
phone missus Pindo and have her join
us. I'll get rid of us both.

290
00:21:37,720 --> 00:21:40,599
Huh. Right. She may have
seen me occasionally in the Blue Lion,

291
00:21:40,799 --> 00:21:42,880
and she's heard my voice over the
phone. I can't afford to have

292
00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:49,200
her around. Love her epping square. You knew It was I in the

293
00:21:49,240 --> 00:21:52,559
car as through as who felt the
gun barrel. How when you put on

294
00:21:52,640 --> 00:21:56,880
the act about storming back to the
rooming house for some forgotten papers, I

295
00:21:56,920 --> 00:22:00,359
remembered the sleeve de your suit was
damp, but you were carrying your top

296
00:22:00,359 --> 00:22:04,160
coat over your arm, so that
meant you got caught in the rain without

297
00:22:04,160 --> 00:22:07,480
your top coat when you went out
the first time. Your plan was to

298
00:22:07,480 --> 00:22:11,440
make a departure, then sneak back
and kill Pindo, which you did.

299
00:22:11,839 --> 00:22:14,960
You also picked up your top coat. That took me until now to put

300
00:22:15,000 --> 00:22:21,440
the pieces together. Wait, it's
a police car ahead of us, Coral.

301
00:22:22,160 --> 00:22:26,799
Huh Okay, back the way we
came to the first turn right,

302
00:22:26,119 --> 00:22:33,519
then another police car. How do
you know I'm getting out? Sorry,

303
00:22:33,640 --> 00:22:36,599
you're not leaving, John's, let's
go. Let's go to the gun.

304
00:22:36,960 --> 00:22:40,640
Drop it of your wrist, goes
with it? No, my, but

305
00:22:40,759 --> 00:22:44,480
you're hard to convince. Now,
just sit back and we'll wait for our

306
00:22:44,519 --> 00:22:48,200
friends the police. How could they
follow us? How did they know where

307
00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:51,240
we were? Real simple? John's, This is a police car. Remember

308
00:22:51,640 --> 00:22:53,720
when I reached down to start the
car, I also flipped the radio switch.

309
00:22:53,799 --> 00:22:57,559
We've been on the air all this
time. Yep, you saying plenty.

310
00:22:57,759 --> 00:23:00,960
That's how come you got the business. As a matter of fact,

311
00:23:00,200 --> 00:23:17,440
you might call it a singing commercial. Our star Brian don Levy will return

312
00:23:17,519 --> 00:23:22,519
in just a moment. Here's another
reminder about NBC's special program, The End

313
00:23:22,519 --> 00:23:25,880
of An Era. The End of
an Era will survey the past twenty years

314
00:23:25,880 --> 00:23:29,640
in our nation's history. During the
program, we'll recall when Eddie Canter was

315
00:23:29,640 --> 00:23:33,119
singing Potatoes are Cheaper, and Neville
Chamberlain announced that he had brought peace in

316
00:23:33,160 --> 00:23:37,440
our time. Those were the days
of Hugh Johnson and the Blue Eagle of

317
00:23:37,480 --> 00:23:41,759
the NRA, the time of Cab
Callaway's Heidi holl Those were the times of

318
00:23:41,799 --> 00:23:45,559
the sidewalk apple peddlers at street corners, of the hit song brother, Can

319
00:23:45,599 --> 00:23:48,000
you spare a dime? Of swing
music? Such as the music goes round

320
00:23:48,000 --> 00:23:53,559
and round. As NBC presents this
special survey, listeners will hear again Franklin

321
00:23:53,640 --> 00:24:00,480
Roosevelt's in Augill address in nineteen thirty
three, Hitler's angry speeches, Churchill's magnificent

322
00:24:00,519 --> 00:24:03,480
replies, the third of Bombs,
the rhythm of marching feet, the events

323
00:24:03,480 --> 00:24:07,839
at Pearl Harbor that made December seventh, nineteen forty one, A Day of

324
00:24:07,839 --> 00:24:14,200
Infamy. Yes, be sure to
hear this full hour documentary program end of

325
00:24:14,200 --> 00:24:30,599
an Era Friday Evening on most NBC
stations. Next week, Burma the road

326
00:24:30,640 --> 00:24:33,480
demand Delay almost turns into a one
way street, and that will be Steve

327
00:24:33,559 --> 00:24:49,279
Mitchell's dangerous assignment next week. Included
in tonight's cast were Virginia Gregg, Ben

328
00:24:49,319 --> 00:25:02,759
Wright, Don Morrison, and Dan
O'Hurley. This is John Storm speaking Dangerous

329
00:25:02,759 --> 00:25:06,960
Assignments, starring Brian don leve as
Steve Mitchell with Herb Butterfield as the Commissioner.

330
00:25:07,400 --> 00:25:11,359
Is written by Bob Right and Adrian
John Doe and is directed by Bill

331
00:25:11,440 --> 00:25:15,759
carn Be with us again next week
at the same time, when Brian don

332
00:25:15,799 --> 00:25:21,039
leve is starring in the role of
Steve Mitchell will embark on another transcribed dangerous

333
00:25:21,160 --> 00:25:37,319
assignment. Always tune where you hear
the familiar NBC chimes. They are your

334
00:25:37,359 --> 00:25:45,160
invitation to find radio entertainment. This
is NBC, the National Broadcasting Company.

335
00:25:56,079 --> 00:26:03,880
Welcome back. It's worth noting that
the credits list Virginia Gregg and we had

336
00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:08,119
two very different female characters in the
story, which means she did them both,

337
00:26:10,039 --> 00:26:15,000
and if you didn't have inside knowledge, you'd never know the difference.

338
00:26:15,200 --> 00:26:19,599
We talked about this a little bit
yesterday when I was reading some comments on

339
00:26:19,640 --> 00:26:26,240
the Nick Scharn matter. But she
was able to do these parts where she'd

340
00:26:26,319 --> 00:26:30,960
play two different characters and you'd have
no clue that it was the same actress.

341
00:26:32,200 --> 00:26:37,559
Bob Bailey's daughter told the story in
an interview that she did with John

342
00:26:37,720 --> 00:26:44,400
Dunning, that Virginia Gregg would form
one part in a story, and if

343
00:26:44,400 --> 00:26:48,880
she had a part later, she
would sit down and knit until it was

344
00:26:48,960 --> 00:26:52,480
time for her to play the other
part, and then she would jump up

345
00:26:52,599 --> 00:26:56,640
and be in the other character.
And she wasn't the only one doubling up

346
00:26:56,759 --> 00:27:03,519
this episode. The villain was played
by Herb Butterfield, aka the Commissioner.

347
00:27:04,799 --> 00:27:11,160
If you're wondering why you had so
few credited actors this week, once you

348
00:27:11,240 --> 00:27:15,880
realize Butterfield and Greg are in it, you don't have to wonder anymore now.

349
00:27:15,920 --> 00:27:21,440
The documentary end of an Era I
sounded intriguing. It wasn't just two

350
00:27:21,519 --> 00:27:26,279
decades with two presidents of the same
party with much the same political philosophy in

351
00:27:26,319 --> 00:27:32,599
the White House. It's also the
changes what they dealt with and how they

352
00:27:32,799 --> 00:27:38,160
and those changes shape the country.
And there might also be some news clips

353
00:27:38,240 --> 00:27:45,920
in that documentary that haven't otherwise survived. I can't actually find a copy of

354
00:27:45,960 --> 00:27:52,200
this documentary anywhere, but according to
Radio Gold Index, a copy did exist

355
00:27:52,240 --> 00:27:56,880
at one point, which obviously they
were able to catalog. Who knows,

356
00:27:56,960 --> 00:27:59,920
maybe I'll find a copy one of
these days. All right, well,

357
00:28:00,079 --> 00:28:03,680
listener comments and feedback now, and
we start on Facebook with Emmett and he

358
00:28:03,799 --> 00:28:11,000
writes regarding the Streetcar seventeen episode,
seems to me the last month or so

359
00:28:11,119 --> 00:28:15,559
of Dangerous Assignment has had better scripts
than the first few months. I can

360
00:28:15,599 --> 00:28:19,519
honestly say today's episode kept me on
the edge of my seat. Well,

361
00:28:19,559 --> 00:28:26,880
thanks so much, And I would
agree that the Streetcar seventeen episode really was

362
00:28:26,319 --> 00:28:33,359
just superb and did a great job
of keeping me engaged. And it does

363
00:28:33,519 --> 00:28:38,119
come down to the question of,
I think the length of the episodes,

364
00:28:38,240 --> 00:28:47,359
because for the first season, Dangerous
Assignment had a thirty minute toimeslot and the

365
00:28:47,440 --> 00:28:52,599
episodes we're hearing now it's been reduced
to twenty five minutes, and it's can

366
00:28:52,720 --> 00:29:00,480
vary how that affects some series.
Johnny Dollar had a similar traction after it

367
00:29:02,400 --> 00:29:07,319
returned from being a serial to being
a self contained half hour episodes. And

368
00:29:07,400 --> 00:29:14,839
I actually think that the later Johnny
Dollar episodes are not as good because they

369
00:29:14,920 --> 00:29:19,960
didn't have time to develop the plot, and I don't think Jack Johnstone really

370
00:29:21,000 --> 00:29:26,279
got the hang of consistently telling a
story in you know, twenty minutes or

371
00:29:26,279 --> 00:29:30,720
something like that. On the other
hand, I think Dangerous Assignment is actually

372
00:29:30,759 --> 00:29:37,559
a little bit better for it.
It's required tightening up the scripts, getting

373
00:29:37,599 --> 00:29:42,400
to the point more quickly, and
really getting us more into the good stuff

374
00:29:42,440 --> 00:29:48,720
of the story. So I think
that while the primary reason for reducing the

375
00:29:48,799 --> 00:29:53,720
length of Dangerous Assignment wasn't to make
the scripts better, I think it definitely

376
00:29:53,720 --> 00:29:59,480
did have that effect. Well,
now it's time to think our Patreon supporter

377
00:29:59,680 --> 00:30:03,440
of the now, I want to
go ahead and thanks Susan. Susan has

378
00:30:03,519 --> 00:30:08,319
been one of our Patreon supporters since
October twenty eighteen, currently supporting the podcast

379
00:30:08,400 --> 00:30:12,839
at the Detective Sergeant level of seven
dollars and fourteen cents or more per month.

380
00:30:14,319 --> 00:30:18,000
Thank you so much for your support, Susan, and that will do

381
00:30:18,079 --> 00:30:22,359
it for today. If you are
enjoying the podcast, please follow us using

382
00:30:22,440 --> 00:30:27,200
your favorite podcast software. If you're
enjoying the podcast on YouTube, be sure

383
00:30:27,240 --> 00:30:32,839
to like the video, subscribe to
the channel, and mark the notification bell

384
00:30:33,279 --> 00:30:37,359
all those great things that make the
channel grow. We'll be back next Wednesday

385
00:30:37,480 --> 00:30:45,920
with another episode of Dangerous Assignment.
But join us back here tomorrow for mister

386
00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:49,839
Chameleon. Where missus Kendall. Yes, it's that cop again. What do

387
00:30:49,880 --> 00:30:55,319
you want, elfriend? I just
wanted to tell you and your mother that

388
00:30:55,400 --> 00:31:02,160
your father's buddy was recovered from the
bending building. I would like to ask

389
00:31:02,240 --> 00:31:04,119
what made you so sure that he
was suffocated? But he was, mister

390
00:31:04,200 --> 00:31:07,440
Commedion. I could see my husband
lying there and I couldn't get through to

391
00:31:07,519 --> 00:31:11,480
him. I couldn't get through.
He was lying on his face in the

392
00:31:11,519 --> 00:31:15,839
back room of the store. Yes, Alfred, with a bullet in his

393
00:31:15,920 --> 00:31:21,839
back. I don't believe it.
My father murdered. Yes, Alfred,

394
00:31:21,880 --> 00:31:25,920
your father murdered. And I presume
you want to find your father's murder,

395
00:31:26,079 --> 00:31:29,599
Elifred, Oh, Helfred, take
it easy, mother, I'm still here.

396
00:31:29,960 --> 00:31:34,599
You've still got me. I've got
you, darling. Mister Comedion,

397
00:31:34,640 --> 00:31:38,480
who could have done this awful thing? Who could have hated my husband so

398
00:31:38,599 --> 00:31:41,240
much that they'd kill him. Well, don't you know, missus Kendall,

399
00:31:41,279 --> 00:31:45,240
don't you have any idea? No, no, I hope you'll be with

400
00:31:45,319 --> 00:31:49,079
us then. In the meantime,
do send your comments to Box thirteen at

401
00:31:49,119 --> 00:31:56,480
Great Detectives dot net, follow us
on Twitter at Radio Detectives, and check

402
00:31:56,559 --> 00:32:01,640
us out on Instagram, Instagram,
dot com, slash Great Detectives from Boise,

403
00:32:01,799 --> 00:32:06,640
Idaho. This is your host,
Adam Graham sogning Off
