Yours Truly Johnny Dollar Radio

Johnny Dollar - The Case of the 100000 Legs

https://www.solgoodmedia.com - Listen to hundreds of audiobooks, thousands of short stories, and ambient sounds all ad free! Relive the excitement of Yours Truly Johnny Dollar Radio, where each episode revisits the classic tales of Johnny Dollar, the iconic freelance insurance investigator. Discover how Johnny unravels mysteries and battles crimes primarily through sharp wit and keen perception. This series is a treasure trove for enthusiasts of vintage radio dramas and detective mysteries.

Duration:: 31m
Broadcast on:: 09 Jul 2024
Audio Format:: mp3

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Go to the City of Dakono.com for more information! Time now for Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar. The next half hour has its baggage packed to take a trip with America's fabulous freelance insurance investigator, Johnny Dollar. At insurance investigation, he's just an expert. At making out his expense account, he's an absolute genius. Expense accounts submitted by special investigator, Johnny Dollar. To Home Office, I Were the Insurance Underwriters Association, Hartford, Connecticut. Attention, General Manager Harvey Anthony. Hmm, dear Mr. Anthony, here is your problem. The following is an accounting of my expenditures in the case of the $100,000 leg. Or, who put your company out on the loan? Expense accounts, item 1, $60, $20 across the board on a losing horse I was rushed into betting on when you had me paged on a public address system at the racetrack. This is Harvey Anthony Dollar. Thanks for calling back for soon. Only paged me. They said it was an emergency. It's better be. Why? What's the matter, Dollar? This is my day off. And if I know you, this call is going to make it an off day. If I know you, my friend, you won't mind this assignment. I want you to go out to Hollywood. Act as a bodyguard for a big movie star. Marilyn Major. Oh, not a bad body to God. What's the deal? We've issued one of those publicity policies, insured her legs for a hundred thousand. Policy will only be in effect for 48 hours. We want you to stick with her. Just to see that she doesn't get mixed up in a hockey game. I get it. She's been notified, so she expects you. When does the 48 hours start? Tomorrow noon. Can you make it? Now, with the help of American Airlines. You got enough cash with you to borrow your ticket? Uh, about that, I'll know right after the next race. I'll call you from Hollywood. Spencer Counts, item two. Ten dollars. Borrowed from a friend. Taxi fare from the racetrack to town. Where I cash check to pay, item three. One hundred and eighty-six dollars and thirteen cents. Point fare, Hartford to Hollywood. Item four, three fifty. Cab fare, Los Angeles Municipal Airport, to the Hall of the Insured. Miss Marilyn Major at the Horizon View apartment on the Sunset Strip. Hit the driver, one dollar. Miss Major's apartment had the best view of the horizon, it being the penthouse. But her outlook was anything but rosy. I found the apartment door open. First I looked in, and then I went in. I want to place a person-to-person call, please. Mr. Harvey Anthony, Hartford, Connecticut. Volunteer three, six thousand. My name is Dollar, as in Blood Money. While I was waiting to get Mr. Anthony, I wondered who had gotten Miss Major. In the movies, I'd always thought she looked right at home anywhere. And now right there in front of me, she was passing her toughest test. Flying there, nice and relaxed. She looked right at home in the role of the beautiful gal who had just been murdered. Her face was calm, her legs were neatly placed in the best of cheesecake tradition. The only thing not quite as it should have been was a very real bullet hole, which she was wearing where an earring should have been. But the next cameras that would be taking her picture would be police cameras. B pictures, B for Bloody. Mr. Dollar? Oh, yeah? Mr. Potty, go ahead. Hello. Hello. Hello, Dollar? Yeah, yeah, this is Dollar Alright. Anthony, first I want to tell you, those legs you ensured are still in beautiful shape. Good, good, fine. I only hope you didn't also ensure Miss Major's life. She's dead. What? Marilyn, Major's dead? That's right. Oh, we certainly do ensure her life. We only issued that publicity policy on our legs as a courtesy. Dollar, get to work on it right away. I'll get to work on it, but don't waste too much hope. The way it looks like you're only out is if the policy does not play off on murder. Murder, good to heaven, well, there may be something about the case that will save us from paying double indemnity for death by violence. Oh, this is death by violence, brother. Anyway, you'll look at it. Okay, Anthony, I'll get to work on it right after I call the cops and make a report. Do your mask, goodbye. Okay, goodbye. Hang up that telephone, mister. The Danes standing in the kitchen doorway had 32 caliber steel in her hand to back up the brass in her voice. She was a youngster, but obviously an old timer and a lot of things. Her hair was the same color as a murdered woman, smoke blonde, and her dress was tobacco brown, and round, and firm, and fully packed. I said, put down that phone. Yeah, sure, sure, okay. Now, you do me a favor, will you? Yeah, if you feel you want your finger near that trigger, how about moving it up to the front end of the trigger, God, huh? Mr, I only heard part of what you said, but you're not calling no police. What makes you think so? That Damon has done me enough harm. I came here to kill her, but somebody beat me to it and I'm not taking the act. Okay, so beaded, who cares? Then I'll call the police, somebody's going to eventually. Before I go, I'm fine in a few things and taking them with me. Now, come on, get up on your seat, mister, you're coming with me in the bedroom. Okay, okay, don't get excited. Okay, mister, over against that wall. With your face enclosing your hand straight up, come on, move. All right. You'll learn this at the movies or by watching your friend work. Don't be a wise guy, I'm not as dumb as I look. Now, how still? Look, uh, sister, by this time I shouldn't still like you well enough to want you, but what you're doing right now will get you in plenty of trouble, even if you didn't commit this murder. I'll take that, sir. If you don't get picked up for larceny, they'll still get you for tampering with evidence. As far as the police are concerned, at the scene of a murder, nothing gets touched. They like it that way. What I'm taking won't even be missed. There's plenty more here, just like him. I thought he's gotten here. Lovely, there's some men. Who are you covering up for? Your boyfriend? It's not in your business, mister, but it's my husband I'm covering up for. Then you're just playing nuts. If he knew her, they'll find that out. Then if they want him, they'll find him. Yeah, and they'll find it dead. Oh. Oh. Now, I've had enough out of you. Back up. Two steps. Okay. Now get over there and into that closet. Come on. Too bad. What's the matter? I always feel sorry for a sucker. Soap around in the dark. It was a small closet. I've met not much here. I've met doing something about it. I put my fingernail file, stood it on edge, and slipped it under the door, pressing down the naph of the rut. I did the same with my fountain pen. That would at least allow a small supply of air to sneak into my stuffy little shell. And then I glued my ear to the thin wooden panel that separated me from the bedroom. It wasn't long before my captor apparently completed her search. I had to pass the closet door and head to the front room. I didn't hear her dial the phone, but it didn't take me long to realize that's what she was doing and who she was calling. Give me the police. This is an emergency. Hello? Hello, police. I want to report a murder. All right. Hello? This is an emergency. Hello? Hello, police. I want to report a murder. All right. Hello? This is an emergency. Hello? This is an emergency. Hello? This is an emergency. Hello? Hello, police. I want to report a murder. All right. Hello? This is an emergency. Hello? This is an emergency. Hello? This is an emergency. I can only guess what was happening. I heard a man switch that brush in and then his voice. Blackmail me. What are you? That's what I'm saying here, please. Let us know I'm kicking him with me. I didn't think I had the time to spend picking the lock on the closet door, so I thought, "Tick it!" The girl who had just tried to turn me into the cops was lying on her face in front of a telephone stand. And a cubby of bugs had turned the brown silk on her back into wet red lace. She'd been shot in the back. And if she succeeded in finding her letters, her killer had taken them with them. I met a quick search myself and took a look for the remaining sets of letters. One from a guy who signed himself Baron, and the other one from a guy who's autographed red with all my love, Lawrence. My instincts were trying to pull me out of that apartment, but one looked down the street through them at the reverse. Black and white prowl cars were arriving, and it was less than another minute when their passengers started pouring out of the elevator and through the front door. The bedroom closet boys make sure they're all standing in front of that door. Never mind the closet, Lieutenant. It's empty. I kick my way out. All right, let's stay your hand. Get him up. I swear I'm gonna buy some stock and a gun company. Everybody's got them. Miller, get around behind him. Check him with a weapon. Yes, sir. He came, Lieutenant. Okay. Who are you? Johnny Dollar. And if you lend me back my right hand, I'll give him my ID. Send my wallet. Gave him up. Miller, get his wallet. Yes, sir. Here it is. Insurance, Dick. Please, I'm a freelance special insurance investigator. It sounds better. Keeps my price up. Parks are there. Oh, what's your story? Well, first I'd like to go on a record and sing. I didn't commit either one of the murders. Either one. What are you talking about? Well, this one here is the girl who phoned in the report that brought you here. The one she was talking about, Marilyn Major, is lying just as dead on the floor on the bedroom. Miller, get in there. Take a look. Yes, sir. While he's looking, you'll keep on talking. Okay. I'll start from the beginning. I was sent out here by high-worthy insurance. They just issued a policy on the legs of that dame in the other room. A $100,000 publicity stunt. I was supposed to protect their interests. What do you mean by that? Well, what do you think? I was supposed to see that she didn't attempt any Hindu fire dances. Or try walking any tightroaks during the next 48 hours. Well, you're worried they're over that department, at least. What else? When I got here, the door was open. I walked in and found her. Dead. Any way to prove that? Any witnesses? Just one. She's lying there behind her. Over the phone, she accused you of the murder. That's the wrong kind of a witness. No, lieutenant. The wrong kind of dame. She knew I didn't do it. She was somewhere in this apartment. I arrived. Why did she say it? I can hardly ask her. Listen, lieutenant. She did tell me that she came here to get some letters. Her husband had written them to the major dame. She said she was trying to protect him. From what? Who knows? Maybe she just wanted him a rest in peace. A guy coming at suicide this morning. We can't check her story with him, can we? You've got a lot of dead friends. Out of this one here, get that way. I'm not sure. While I was in the closet, I heard her crawl you. And then a man came in and yelled something about blackmail at her and shot her. And naturally, he had disappeared by the time you kicked your way out of the closet. That's right. This story was made with some kind of a prize dollar. But not for me. I'm not a judge. That's one thing in my favor. Hey, lieutenant, I got something. The dame is dead all right. And look what I found in that closet. A fingernail file, a fountain pen with a name on it, Johnny Dollar, and a 32 caliber revolver jammed in a shoe. Well, dollar, that combination puts you in a kind of jam, too. Look, lieutenant, I think I can make you sit things my way. If you let me go through my story once more, I was sent out here by a high-worthy insurance company, let it go. [Music] Spence account item for $3. Candy, gum, cigarettes, and magazines to make cell number 36, Los Angeles City Jail, less like a no place and more like a home. There's something about a jail door closing on you that sounds very final. [Music] In just a moment, we'll return to the second act of yours truly, Johnny Dollar. But first, we want you to know that the biggest jackpot in the history of radio, $50,000 goes in the works tomorrow night when CBS Great Saturday Night Quiz Show, Sing It Again, comes to you again over most of these same stations. $50,000, $25,000 in marvelous prizes, plus $25,000 in cold, hard cash. And that's only the beginning, because the looker, the phantom boy questions, elude the listeners, the higher the reward go. Be sure you're around tomorrow night when Sing It Again sets telephones ringing across the nation, and $50,000 goes riding on each call. And now, back to yours truly, Johnny Dollar. [Music] When I accepted this Hollywood assignment, I visualized spending much of my time gazing upon bars, but not the kind offered by cell number 36. The guy who said "stone walls do not a prison mate" had never been a guest in the Los Angeles City Jail. He had a better chance of getting out of barlets' quotations than I had of getting out of there. But, as we keep saying in the insurance racket, never say "dying". [Music] Wow, look at that roach. What are you in for? I've heard cell boys around headquarters have a very funny joke about roaches and jails. But that's not why I'm here. Sit down. Make yourself uncomfortable. Thanks. I can't offer you a mint julep. The closest I can come is the spearmint lifesaver. Oh, thanks. This kind of zero is a pleasure after facing the time we're up against. So, for a dollar or we've got to go on as you or a mess of evidence, we haven't as yet been able to trace down to its rightful owners. Oh, incidentally, about that gun we thought might be yours. Oh, don't tell me you're going to give it to me as a birthday present. It was the weapon used to kill Marilyn Major, all right? The parrot and test we took on your hands let you up. You haven't been firing any guns lately. Does that mean you've come here to escort me to the front door? No, not so fast. We do want to know what your fingerprints were doing all over those two bundles of love letters we found. I'm going to have to learn to pick things up with my knuckles. Lieutenant, I just had a natural curiosity as to who killed the cat. The only difference between us, Roach, is that your curiosity is official. How far did you get? That's far enough. Didn't take much figgling to know that Miss Major's been playing a high class badger game. All the perfume in the joint couldn't cover up the smell of black man. On top of that we found the two batches of letters that you've been messing around with. One signed Baron, the other signed Lawrence. Those, the fire department should be handling. Yeah, and remember there's probably a third set floating around. Why do you say that? Well, I'm not an eyewitness to this, only an ear witness. But, uh, from what I get here inside that closet, the name who came there looking for her husband's letters found them. And she called you to turn me in. On our way out of the apartment, some guy came in, stuck her for Marilyn Major and shot her on the back. When I kicked my way out of the closet, those letters of hers were gone. So, because the murderer grabbed the letters out of her hand thinking there was some heat written. Uh-huh. Then in your file that killer was either that Baron fellow or the other one, Lawrence. A little Senate. In my file they're both murderers. It's just a question of who killed home. The guy who killed Marilyn Major certainly wouldn't have come back to kill her again. See? In this town you never know. Look, Lieutenant, I got a two-way stake in this thing. One to get my name cleared, the other to get my job done, and I'm in a hurry. I imagine you are too. Well, Marilyn Major was a big name. That means we'll soon have newspapers burning under our seats. We're in a hurry, alright. Okay, then listen. If I were either one of those murderers, and I know that the police probably had a handful of letters that could send me to the gas chamber, I'd head for the border. Yeah. But, if I thought an outsider had him, somebody they might be able to buy off or scare off or be off, then I'd go find that guy. Well, let's bring this thing to what had in a hurry. Run a story in the papers. Tell them you released me. Tell them I escaped. Tell them anything. Just so long as you tell them that you suspect that I have those letters hidden someplace. Well, if you don't mind taking the chance of having two murderers gunning at you, we certainly don't. Oh, I mind. Believe me, I'm not doing you any favors. It's just that I'll feel safer in my own hands. Okay, Mr. Plissant, you've got your silver record. We'll publish that story. Then we'll let you fly the coop. Good enough. Just to make sure that you give me plenty of fighter cover. expense account, item six. Seven cents. Purchase of newspaper. An extra edition that hit the street about a half an hour before I did. Item seven, five dollars. A big square meal to make up for the ones I'd missed, ignoring the little round beans while I guess to the city. Seeing the lieutenant's fiction and black print on the front page of a newspaper almost had me believing it. There was my picture, Bigger's Life. And when those birds set up a pigeon, they made sure everybody would know the location of his roost. Firmly planted high in the story was the name of the hotel to which they had registered me, and to which I was under orders to proceed immediately. As I walked down the hotel corridor to my room, I felt an icy chill, and a flight of goose flesh headed south down my spine. Miss Arling and close that door. I expected company, but not your kind. At first, I thought I got into the wrong room. This kid looked right at home. And she used some some of the clothes from a half-packed over night bag to make her look it. Oh, you're Johnny Douglas. Yeah, thanks for saving me a calling card. How are you? Alice Hill. That doesn't mean anything. Otherwise known as Mrs. Lawrence Hill. Oh, Lawrence. Oh, the last time I saw that name, it said "with love," but not to you. That's why I'm here. I want those letters. Why aren't you carrying a gun? It'll be here if we need it. We? Yes. My husband's done a lobby. Look, if you give me those letters, he wrote, "I'll pack up my little bag and leave, and everybody will be very happy." Yeah, I think I know the next line, but go ahead. I hope you keep on being that smart. My husband was watching for you when he came in, so he knows you're up here. Naturally, he knows I'm here, and he's on his way up. We want those. This isn't just a badger game. This is a world series. If I don't give you the letters, your husband busts in here, shoots me, and I get written off under the unwritten law. Neat, neat, neat. It's a handy law. All right. Let's cover the multitude of sins. Where are the letters? Where's your husband? What's the matter with you? What do those letters mean to you? Well, right now, they look like my only hold on the future, Mrs. Hill. How do I know that you and your dear Lawrence won't kill me after you get them? Do you want me to take your word for it? Well, I... I... I had to press Lawrence. You know what to do. I already know. There's nothing else foreign to do. Look, Mrs. Hill, why don't you wise up? Your husband is ready to commit one murder to remove the evident motive for another. And he's dragging you into this rhythm. You'll wind up an accessory before, after, and during the fact. You're running up a blind alley as fast as you can run. And it's too late to turn around, so I'll just have to keep running. Oh, well, there he is. Lace up your track shoes, lady. The race is on. Come in. All right, so, so, please, both of you. So, King Alice, you can hold off on the dog and pony show. Save it for the witnesses when they arrive. Don't waste an allowance on me. That is important. What? Oh, so this must be barren. You all through? That depends on that gun in your hand. Or the letters. Letters, letters, letters. Yeah, I'm beginning to feel like a mailman when he's late getting around in the morning. There's one thing I want to know. Where's an ugly part-time Romeo like you? Find all those pretty words you wrote. Look, don't get me to her. I'll blast your letters and all letters. Ah, that's the tone I was trying to bring your voice up to, Mr. Bann. No letters. It's exactly what I've got to offer. Lying, he admitted to me that he had them. He tried to blackmail you, Baron. That's what he's doing. Oh, you. Never mind. My husband's in the same boat you are. I read the papers. Lauren, son. That's right. He'll be here any second. Between us, we'll figure out something. Now, stay away from it, darling. I'll answer it. Ah, good idea. If a man answers, hang up. It'll be Lieutenant Roach. Ah, wait a minute. Okay, answer it, dollar. But the first wrong word fires this gun. Oh, you can believe me. Nothing but right words are on the tip of my tongue. Hello? The weather was on the other end of the line, decided not to talk, and hung up. So, I started an imaginary conversation with Lieutenant Roach of Homicide. While I was talking, I was thinking. Baron's voice was the voice I'd heard when I was locked in the closet. That made him the guy who shot the girl who turned me in. By the process of elimination, Lawrence Hill was elected murderer of Marilyn Major. During my talk, which made no sense, and my thoughts which made funny a sense, I was checking the length of cord on a phone. I needed Baron a little closer. So I started tossing enough dangerous words into the mouthpiece to draw him closer, threatening me with his mutters, his looks, and his gun. He moved into range and I moved into action. I heaved the base of the telephone straight into his face. I moved in with my knee right after it. Stumbled back, letting go of the gun, which I kicked under the metal. Then I made a brake front on the pressure next to the bed, using his head to break the front. The water from the cracked up picture hit him in the face, but it didn't do him any good. Hey, get out for my knee there. Get out of my gun, come on. When I got a hole in your ankle, I got a good mind to do this thing right, and heave you up the window. Help me, let's go! Come on, I'll stand up. All right, I'll let you at once. We don't want any trouble, let me out of you. We'll pay you anything, my husband's an important man. So am I. I've had all of pushing around, I'm gonna take. From now on, I'll let you at her, and your hand is the shutter. Oh, I want to do it, get out of here. Oh, no, you don't. I baited you, you tried to bait me. Now we'll go sit here and face your husband. It must have been him that called this room and hung up when he heard my voice. One thing I didn't bother to tell you. Your husband couldn't have known I was up here until then, because I came in the hotel the back way and came up here the back way. Elevated and all. What do you mean? You baited me. Why do you think the police put my name, my address, and my picture in the newspapers to draw autograph on us? Oh, oh is right. Now get over there in the corner, while I retrieve Mr. Baron's gun from under the bed. Before some mouse crawls out of the woodwork and tries taking a shot at me. Go on and get going. Turn around. Okay, now if you don't want me shooting runs and you're stacking, don't make a move while I'm under the bed. I feel like something that old maids hope for. - Where is he? - From the floor he's got a gun shooting. Kill him under the bed. No, no, it's not him, no, he's under the bed. Under the bed and taking no chances. Listen, Roach, you may be a lieutenant to the police department, but to me you're just a fat private. No, no, calm down. I don't mind studying myself up as a pigeon, but you promised me protection. Well what, Tampa, Tampa. Now, who's who here? Let's get these sips sorted out, then we can talk. There's only one step. The other one, the one near the door is locked. He's only wounded. I had a shoot, it spins out from under him. He came crashing in and killed Baron by mistake. That's Baron over there by the bed. Oh, another case of mistaken identity. Oh, they miss you. I happened to be under the bed at the time. Oh. And I wasn't hiding. No. I was looking for a gun, and I found it, and I used it. If I had one right now, I'm not so sure I wouldn't use it on you. You still haven't told me why you left me here alone, holding a sack all this time. Yeah, I'll tell you why. And I guess it was for us. And then I had posted on a lobby. Didn't see you'll come into the hotel. Well, how do you like that? Johnny Dollar, wise guy. Huh? Lieutenant, I got some news for you. Just to make sure I was taking no chances. I came in the back way. Spencer Count, item eight. $62. Hollywood entertainment. Seeing what there is to see is girls. Item nine, $105. Seeing to it that one of the things I saw at girls had a good time with me at the most humble. Item 10, $186.13. Plainfair, Hollywood back to Hartford. Item 11, $1. Ticket to the movies, back in Hartford. To study the last motion picture of Marilyn Major. So that in the future I'd be sure to steer clear of her kind of a woman. Who is too much of a jinx for my kind of man. Uh, Spencer Count totaled $948.76. Signs your, um, truly Johnny Dollar. In keeping with the Easter season, you'll hear a different kind of story on CBS Gangbusters tomorrow night. The authentic story of a former gangster fight to go straight. Broadcast in cooperation without standing parole authorities. You'll find this Easter Eve gangbusters drama as gripping as any program CBS has ever brought to you. Tomorrow night you'll also find a mid-April adventure with the intriguing title, The Heat Wave, on CBS Philip Marlowe program. Gangbusters and the adventures of Philip Marlowe are regular Saturday nights on most of these same CBS stations. Listen in again next week when CBS brings you Yours Truly Johnny Dollar with Charles Russell as Johnny. Written by Paul Dudley and Gil Dowd with music by Mark Warnell. Yours Truly Johnny Dollar is produced and directed by Richard Sandville for CBS Little of the Broadcasting System. 5280 exteriors James Hardy's sighting is a low maintenance sighting made primarily of cement that resist flame spread and repels woodborne insects and woodpeckers. Through the month of July, you'll receive free, rigid foam installation with the purchase of whole house sighting. That's installing additional insulation behind your sighting for free. But only for the month of July. Call today for more details or visit 5280 exteriors.com. 5280 exteriors.com, a James Hardy preferred contractor. 5280 exteriors, the altitude of quality. The Dacono Music & Spirits Festival returns to Centennial Park Saturday, August 3rd from 2 to 10 p.m. and it's free. Live music from the Warren Treaty. Chris Daniels and the Kings is Callie and More. Enjoy a spirits competition. Kidzone and fireworks presented by Oxy and the City of Dacono. Admission and parking are free. The Dacono Music & Spirits Festival brought to you by Breckenridge Brewery and City of Dacono. Go to thecityofdicono.com for more information.