Welcome to the Great Detectives of Old Time Radio from Boise Idahol. This is
your host, Adam Graham. If you have a comment, email it to
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dot Great Detectives dot net. Well, now it's time for this week's episode
of Filo Vans. The original air date February the fourteenth, nineteen fifty and
the title as the Scarface Murder Case, Really Vans. Don't you think you're
being a little obvious? Don't you think she rached it? Marcolm? Have
you ever seen a more beautiful woman been staring at her for an hour?
Is our foremost private investigator doing some really private investigating? That is a leading
question markot The district attorney should know better than to prompt a witness. Besides,
you haven't conceded that she's beautiful. I can see she's much prettier than
that, my friend. Besides, I'm certain she's been trying to attract my
attention. Rance. She's dining with a gentleman. Both of them seem to
me to be mining their own business. Are you sure you're not using a
little hopeful imagination? Quite? Do you know the man she's with by any
chance? No? I don't. Fact is, I can't make out his
face very well. You can see a scar on it. I imagine he's
about fourty, and he's relatively bald and quite stocky. There's something familiar about
him, and there's something very lovely about his blonde companion. Yes, there
is. I think she's Malcolm. Did you see that? The guys see
what they're leaving, and I could swear she indicated she wanted me to follow
her. You intend to go after her? Yes? Vance wars have been
fought over last Well, Jack is paid. Let's go. They've just passed
the head waiter. You can probably catch them in the fire before they get
into the street, all right. But after we do catch them, then
what that all depends on? Whether I did get a signal from the lady.
Well, here we are, lay advanced. They've already gone out the
street door. Oh no, no, the man is still here. You
see that chapter one to the scar There he is sitting over there in a
chair. The man is still here. That's the brakes I get. Come
with me a minute, will you right? I beg your pardon, sir.
Oh what is it the young lady you were dining with? You mind
telling me where she is? What are you talking about? He's talking about
the young lady you were dining with. We've been watching the two of you
inside for over an hour. I'm very sorry, but I'm afraid you,
gentlemen, were mistaken. What do you mean. I haven't been with any
young lady all evening. I'm on numous Foster. Tell us, sergeant what
you told me. I can't, I can't. What's going on, missus
George Foster? Sergeant Foster was her husband was murdered a couple of hours ago.
That's all right, Sergeant Heath is up at her house now, look
at the place over. I found her on my beak, crying just like
she is now. So I brought her here to headquarter. I see Missus
Foster and Missus Foster. Yes, yes, you want to take it easy,
Missus Foster, Let Officer Williams take you back to your house. No,
no, no, I don't want to go back there. I don't
want to go back. My husband was shocked. I saw him shoot my
You never want to go back to that hall. You saw who shot your
husband? Missus Foster, did you know the man? No? No,
I didn't describe him. Yes, yes, I know exactly what it looks
like. Well, that'll help us find him. Williams. Take down a
description Missus Foster gives you, then take her into the rogues gallery and see
if she can find the man in our fires were liable to crack this case
without leaving headquarters. Hello, Final Vans speaking, it's Mark and Vance.
Are you entirely recovered from that little restaurant scene last night? Not quite.
I'd hate to believe that girl wasn't attractive enough to stay in my memory overnight.
Don't tell me you found out something about her. No, that is
the reason for my call. A man named Foster was murdered last evening,
Vans, just about the time we were having dinner between seven and eight o'clock.
I mean yes, his wife saw the killing was able to describe the
man who fired the shot. More than that, she made a positive identification
from a rogue's gallery photograph. The killer was a man named Norman Jane.
Really yes, really well, your untitled do an easy case once in a
while, Markham. This sounds as if you have one, does it well,
doesn't it? Listen? The man Missus Foster positively identifies as having killed
her husband at seven thirty last night is the man we watched every minute between
seven and eight, The man who was dining with that beautiful blonde daddy.
What do you want? Buckles on a red nan, a black tang,
a black gate. Look beautiful. Babies can play Saladay? Why can't you?
Because I'm not a baby? Bucks on a red queen, a yellow
pumpkin. Well, don't bother me. I'm busy. I'm reading. It's
a very good picture you in the papers, Norman. It's not so good.
I think it's beautiful. Shows that scar on your face so clear.
Laddie, Oh, what is it that mister Vance? You told me to
make guys out in the restaurants. Awful cute that mister Vance happens to be
awful smart, you make sure you never talked to him, never see him
again. You understand that. But you gaus know who I am. How
could I ever talk to him or see him? You know he is sure
we could go to see him. Only Baby, You're not that stupid,
are you? Who says I'm stupid? You do every time you open your
mouth what this newspaper says. And I'm going to be arrested for murder because
of you. The disc turning pile of vans are going to be my alibi.
They'll swear they saw me in the restaurant with you at the time George
Foster was shot. Now, Missus Foster, please calm down for just one
moment. You seem to have made a terrible mistake. It wasn't a mistake,
mister Markam. I swear it wasn't. I saw the man who killed
my husband. It was this Norman James, the man whose picture I picked
out from the police Fire's been mistaken. I saw him. I'll never forget
his face when he shot my husband. He did it. I tell you,
he did it, Missus Foster. I disliked saying this to you,
but it would be physically impossible for him to be in the restaurant where I
saw him between seven and eight o'clock and at your house killing your husband at
the very same time, now, wouldn't it. I don't know and I
don't care. And there is a possibility, of course, that Norman James
had a twin brother, in which case I can figure out what happened checking
into his background. Now, mister Markham, you're the district attorney. You
know all about murders and now it buys and all that sort of thing.
I don't know anything about them. Well I know is my husband was killed
and I saw the man who did it, and that man was Norman James.
I swear it was Norman James. I don't doubt either your sincerity or
your identification, Missus Foster, but there are certain excuse me, I mean,
yes, Williams, what is it? Check on Norman james background.
Mister Markham was an like child. No brothers or sisters, winn or any
other guy. That's definitely I see, Thank you, Williams. All right,
No, what so the man had nold twin brother. I saw him
killed my husband. When you say you saw him in the restaurant, at
the same time. Not only saw him, I spoke to him in the
fire. What does this mean, missus Foster, I say to you in
all sincerity, I wish I knew. Daddy, I've got it. What
oh black chokos on a nary? Right, daddie Baby, you're a genius,
and take me out somewhere for the geniuses. Get hungry too. You
know you're gonna stay right here in your apartment. You'll have your Dennis sent
Dan. You're not going to move out of this place until I say so.
Why do I have to stay right here in my apartment? Where can
I go out? You can go out during the day, but keep away
from any places where a man might see you. I don't want file of
ants tracking you down. I don't want them to talking to you. I
never talked to strangers somehow, Patty baby, what you have make strangers talk
to you? Right now? I'm an easy street. Nobody's got a thing
on me, and except one little detail, I'm completely in the clary.
Who could that be? It would be the detail I was talking about right
on time too. I'll go to the door. You take the gun on
my top coat pocket. Find a silence in the other pocket screwed down the
end? Am I a loute myself? I'm coin and hold everything. I'll
get you got silence, you can put it on your tail, all right?
All right? Hi? Hi? You know Patty? Yeah? Please
to make you you know that guy? Dope? Oh James, you know
why I'm here? I most certainly do. When you're right in time,
you can't put the payoff, right, it's right, here's the gunning lens
are dead? What's that? I think? I just want to keep them
in my suit pocket. It's all. How much would you say? I
owed you what you promised? Five thousand dollars? Your life is what?
That isn't it? Yes? It is? But your life isness? O
ge diad you did? Wait a minute, let make sure? Yeah it's
dead? All right? Gee live one minute, it's dead the next.
That's life isness, Yes, my brilliant accomplice, it is. You know,
Daddy. When you said for me to get you that gun, I
was scared. Why? I thought maybe you were gonna kill me. Why
would I kill you genius? Why? Yeah? Well, because because I
know too much. We're almost the more advanced. You want to tell me
now? While you developed a sudden interest in a very ordinary shooting. Yes,
Markham, you called me a little while ago to tell me that a
next heavyweight fighter named Joe Stockton had been found shot to death. That's right
after quitting the ring, Stockton became a strong arm man for a racket gang.
It sounded to me like just an ordinary gangland robot. I call you
only because I'd promised to advise you of anything that happened since George Foster was
killed. That, of course, is the mysterious murder that has me confused.
You've got a lot of company, Oh, missus. Foster positively identifies
Norman James as her husband's murderer. And we saw James in a restaurant at
the time of the murder. Now how can that be? It can be
very easily, it can. Yes, Well, maybe you'd better tell me
as is it's so easy. Well, this Joe Stockton, the one whose
body we're going to see. He's about five feet ten, just about have
he said? Yeah, that's why, practically bald about forty? Why?
Yes, how did you know? I didn't know. I'm merely surmised,
and I also more than surmise. Now that I can give you the details
of how Norman James could have killed George Foster. One more question, did
Stockton have a scar on his cheek? Definitely not. Oh what's the old
for? It's or the sudden collapse of a beautiful theory. I take back
all my previous questions, Markham. They mean absolutely nothing now. I'm afraid
I don't know how Norman James could be in two places at once after all,
Or do I know how I can ever again find that beautiful blonde?
This is just you, Attorney Markham. The Scarface murder case opened with the
killing of George Foster, Foster's wife, who saw the murder and positively identifies
Norman James still at Liberty as her husband's killing. But Vans and I are
certain we saw James in a restaurant at the time of the murder. The
killing of a petty racket strong arm man proves no clue, even though final
Vans believed it might at first. At the moment, Vance and I are
questioning Missus Foster. Neither mister Markham nor I are doubting you, Missus Foster.
But what reason did Norman James have to kill you her husband? Reason?
Is the reason important? I saw him do. It is not enough,
not with the situation we find ourselves and missus Foster, it'll be your
word against his, and he has us to back up his alibi. Perhaps
you're giving us a reason for his killing. Your husband might help us,
all right. My husband borrowed money from Norman James. I never knew his
name, but i'd seen his face when he came to the house. My
husband was supposed to pay him a very high interest rate and he couldn't pay
it. He couldn't pay James back, so he was killed. So that's
Norman James's raggett. That's right. That second murder could have explained all this
so easily, Markham, but it didn't. What are you going to do
to break james alibivans? If I could find that blonde he was with at
the restaurant, that might do it. I don't see how I do,
but it's too early for me to explain. Lend me an officer from a
homicide department a telephone book and I might be able to locate her. You
don't know her name, no no where she lives. But let me have
what I ask for, and there's still a chance I can trace her for
you for me. I beg your pardon for both of us. That's all,
sir. Shave, haircut, massage, shaw finished. Pay the cashier,
will you please? That was next place I am Charlie A chill,
mister James. You want to shave. Maybe I want something, Charlie,
but there's no maybe about it. You owe me a hundred bucks. I
want one hundred or ten bucks interest. Oh, mister James, I wanted
to ask you something. Things were a little tough. Tough of me too.
You wanted the money, you ask me for it. You got it.
You know you'd have to pay me, didn't you. Yes, what
are you waiting for? I haven't got it, mister James. Maybe i'll
have it for you tomorrow. Tomorrow, Yeah, tomorrow. Sure, give
me another day, will you, mister James? Just one more day?
Okay, that'll be two bucks more entersts for that extra day. I'll be
back tomorrow about this time. I have the money, Charlie, or the
interest. I'll try if it'll help Penny. And you're trying. Remember what
happened to George Faster. He owed me money and he didn't pay, so
I paid him. Or I'll have a mind back here? Goodbye? Well
any luck Williams? Oh, mister Vance, any more numbers for me to
call? There are only about three more on my list. I think I'll
make the next call myself. Okay, you try for luck. Here's a
form. Thanks. Let's see we called about thirty numbers, didn't we,
mister Vance? So far? Yes, I'm sure this has to work.
Oh maybe if I knew what you were trying to doe. Hello, So
how do you do? My name is Filo Vance. I'm trying to find
a girl. I wish your luck brother, happy hunting just a moment,
please, I'm hoping that this particular girl is one of your customers. Well,
what's your name? Well, I don't know. She's blonde. I'd
say she was the kind of girl who'd come into your establishment about three times
a week. Does that help any Well, give me a little bit more
to work on. She's about five foot eight, very attractive, very smart
dresser. Her hair is blonde, but not golden, lack the huh,
dark eyebrows, nice mouth, gray eyes. Well I don't know what color
her eyes are. Do you know somebody that answers that description? Yes,
Well that's fine, wouldn't that make me a landmark for tourists. You are
as far as I'm concerned. I'm coming down to see you right away,
the district attorney. You've got to help me. Norman James will kill me,
just like he killed George Foster. He'll kill me. I know,
Charlie. I heard you. You're a barber and you borrowed money from James
and can't pay him back. Is that it? Well, he lends money
to a lot of us people, barber's new standman, taxi drivers. Well,
we have no security, so he charges us high interest, and when
we don't pay, he has us beaten up. He killed George Foster,
he told me he did. You gotta protect me, You gotta arrest him.
I could arrest him, of course, I could have had him arrest
him when Foster's wife identified him for us. But I'm sure I can't make
a charge stick against him. What does that mean? But he can take
me up and kill me if he wants. No, I'll see that you're
protected all day tomorrow and up until the time when final Vance gets the evidence
he needs against James. Why can't you arrest him? Why don't you put
him in jail? He threatened me. Didn't he charging those high rates of
interest is illegal, isn't it? Why can't you arrest him? Perhaps I
will. In any event, Charlie, you have nothing to worry about.
I give you my word that you won't be bothered by Norman James again.
Daddy, Oh bother me? Will you? That's silly. Everything they put
in your face, they leapt out in your head. Kid. I bet
you I don't think I have any brains. That's the only bet you ever
made that you had a chance they're winning. What do you want? I
want to go out to the beauty parlor. What do you think you're stupid?
Yeah? I know Ben of the beauty parlor once this week already she
said I could go any place where there weren't any man. Didn't you there?
There's no man in a beauty parducts at Antoine. He just does my
hair. You only wake on the inside of your head, kid, Oh
can I go? Don't only right down the street. I'll be back in
a couple of hours. It doesn't take long from my hair to draw.
Okay, okay, go ahead, a test to me to death. If
I don't let you want to go down to see Charlie the bobby. You'll
sneak out anyhow to go ahead? I'll pick you up there. Okay,
what are you gonna have done? Oh? I think I'll have my hair
just a shade lighter. Don't you think that would be becoming just a shade
lighting? I don't know where I set your lightheaded on up already? You
know something. I don't mind sitting under his hair dryer at all, not
a bit. I am bled, my dame, my damn, Yes I'm
not. I'm a damn. I'm more of aum whatever it is. It
means i'm younger. Yes, you're cheating me. You ain't French. I'm
sorry, that's all right. I like you. I like you as well
as I like Antoine, except your mustache is cut. I think I'll have
you every time I come in here. I'm a very good tepper. Well,
i'm sure you are. I'm sleepy. Noise from that dryer makes me
sleepy. Well, why not sleep a little? Then? I can't.
No, it's from the dryer keeps me awake. Can you play Solitaire?
I imagine so I just learned to play. That's quite an achievement. Sure,
Amy's daddy, daddy. Oh for good you're new here. I'm at
mister Jane. He's waiting for me downstairs. I hope we won't mind waiting
a little longer. You wait, got a lot of patience he has to
have with me. The only time he doesn't have any patience is when he's
jealous. Oh, he's jealous. I'll say he killed the guy just because
he took me out once. What do you like that, Joe Stockton,
that's the guy. Say you read the papers, don't you don't know?
Why? See the things you can relearn? Yes, I know from other
things besides the newspapers. What. Oh, it doesn't matter, you say.
Your friend mister James is waiting for you downstairs. Yeah, but he
won't mind. Well, we won't keep him waiting long. I'll just turn
the dryer up a little so we can get everything over in a hurry.
He's daddy, I mean, mister Jane's gotten over there in the door.
We're waiting for me. He's like I thought it would be. Oh,
thank you very much for doing my hair so well, Oh, it's quite
all right. And I think I want a word with your daddy. Sure,
i'll get him, Daddy, come on over here. Let's get moving.
We got this nice man wants to speak you. He just in my
hair, doesn't think it looks beautiful. Hello, James, we meet again.
Your finto vents. That's right, and after watch your friend here just
told me. I think I've got all I need to turn you over to
the district attorney. After what I told you, I didn't tell you anything.
Besides I saw a final vents in the restaurant. He didn't have a
mustache. Well, this guy's worn't comes up. Can't you see? It's
a phony? Betty. I don't think you can do anything at all,
James, except come with me to see mister Markham. That's one man's opinion.
Betty talked your mad enough to put everything together. I'm getting out of
here, doubtkay France, Let's play a rope. Oh you killed him Van,
you killed daddy? Oh, my dear, I didn't. I just
knocked him out. I didn't kill it. I wouldn't dream of sparing the
state all that trouble. I'm a patient man, advance, a very patient
man. But I'm also a very curious one. Now we know from his
confession and from what his girl Betty told us that Norman James did kill George
Foster and later the ex prize fighter Joe Stockton. But we did see James
in the restaurant at the time Foster was killed, did we? Of course
we did. He was sitting over in a corner with his girl. The
girl was making eyes at you, you claimed. Then they left. We
followed and there was James sitting in the fire, Markham. Do you remember
why I thought the prize fighter Joe Stockton would have a scar on his cheek
when we were on route to the Morgue to identify him. Yes, but
he didn't have. I told you that it was Joe Stockton who was in
the restaurant, Markham, not Norman James. Don't tell me that. I
spoke to James myself. So did you in the fire? Oh that was
Norman James. But the man in the restaurant, the one we saw with
the girl between seven and eight, was Joe Stockton's Stockton. He was built
like James, sat in the shadows so we couldn't really see his face.
He made sure we noticed the scar on it. You mean, the scar
was just makeup that was put on Joe's cheek exactly. Now here's what happened.
The girl had instructions to attract my attention. Your attention, that is,
because you're the district attorney and you were to be Norman James Aliba.
I see. It was all set up for us to follow the two of
them at the door. Then they were to disappear into the street, and
Norman James was to be found by us seated in the restaurant fire. He
denied there had been a girl with him to intrigue us to make sure we
remembered him. That was the plan, and it worked. You see,
James had time to kill George Foster between seven and eight, and to get
to the restaurant afterwards just as we were leaving, and then later James had
to kill Joe because of the possibility that Joe would either blackmail him or talk
in the future. That's right. It was a very clever plan and it
almost worked. I figured the girl would be a key to all of this,
and I also knew that a girl such as she would be a beauty
polor addict. She'd go to one several times a week, probably a swanky
one. So I called all the better beauty polors in Midtown and finally found
the right one. You most certainly did. That was quite a trick finding
a girl in a big city without knowing anything about her. Thank you.
After I found her, I also found a way of making her talk.
The result, you know, she put Norman James right in the middle of
a double murder. Rapper put him in the middle and us at the end
of the scarface murder case splend welcome back. Well, we can add being
a talented hairdresser to the list of follow Vance's many talents. This is an
interesting case because the villain's plan kind of defeated itself because essentially he wanted to
draw attention to himself with a beautiful woman, but she was so distinct that
it was amazingly easy for Vans to track her down. I think it'd be
hard to locate even a very distinct woman in New York City using the method
Advance used by what do I Know. One thing that's really odd about their
dynamic is the way that she called scarfaced Daddy was strangely reminiscent of Baby Snooks,
a radio program and one of the more memorable comedic series of skits,
both on her own show and as a sketch on other programs such as the
Maxwellhouse Good News program where Fanny Brice played a little girl named Snooks who was
very mischievous and said daddy in the exact same way the character and this story
did. And I have no idea why they adopted that particular verbal tech,
but at any rate, we turned out a listener comments and feedback, and
we have a comment on YouTube Brigardi meet Miss Sherlock and comment from Cantiflus.
I hope I'm pronouncing the name correctly, she writes, Adam, I've been
listening to you for years and love what you do. Literally. I start
every day with you and half for about eight years. Usually when you introduce
us to a new radio show, I always am able to find something positive
about it, even taking into accounts some times you can hear things that make
you go you glad. We've evolved since then, but I'm struggling with meet
Miss Sherlock in a series where she should be the lead, she feels like
a secondary player at best. While I appreciate the exposure to the new radio
shows, I can say this is one that only gets one spin on the
dance floor with me. Keep rocking and doing what you do well. Thanks
so much, and I definitely think that it's a valid criticism of the program
that the episodes that we have Jane Sherlock not really being the central character or
the key mover in the story, even though there's kind of like a last
minute bit of writing which indicates that maybe she played a bigger role in the
final outcome, even if it was an obvious I do wonder whether the entire
series was like this, as we only have two episodes of the series and
then we're probably something like thirty or forty mate or is this generally representative of
the role she had in the series. We'll likely never know, but I
think what you said is definitely a fair point. It didn't ruin the series
for me. I enjoyed it well enough, but I can definitely see how
you came at it. Thank you so much for your comment. And now
it's time to thank our Patreon supporter of the day. Thank you to Doug,
Patreon supporter since July of twenty twenty one, currently supporting the program at
the Shawmus level of four dollars or more per month. Thank you so much
for your support, Doug, and that will do it for today. A
reminder if you want to be sure to never miss an episode of the podcast.
I encourage you to follow us using your favorite podcast software, And if
you are enjoying this podcast on YouTube, be sure to like the video,
subscribe to the channel, and mark the notification bell. We will be back
next Thursday with another episode of Follow Vans, but join us back here tomorrow
for the conclusion of the Chesapeake fraud matter where If he was trying to cover
something, it certainly wasn't apparent from his conversational reactions. There had been a
moment when I was sure he wasn't Frank Bauer. On the other hand,
I was sure that he wasn't John That cuts it, Johnny right thumb an
index Prince don't match at all, Oh not even close. Charge, And
I thought I was getting somewhere. I found out he was never in Toledo,
or at least never registered or licensed as an engineer. Well, these
prints do it when you're going home, Johnny, There's no reason to stick
around any longer. This is crazy. You approved your case with the print.
He was too anxious to help me prove a Georgie. I hope you'll
be with us then. In the meantime, do Send your comments to Box
thirteen at Great Detectives dot and NAT, Follow us on Twitter at Radio Detectives,
and check us out on Instagram, Instagram dot COM's slash Great Detectives From
Boise, Idaho, This is your host, Adam Graham's son and Off