Yours Truly Johnny Dollar

Johnny Dollar - The Marigold Matter

https://www.solgoodmedia.com - Listen to hundreds of audiobooks, thousands of short stories, and ambient sounds all ad free! Daily Yours Truly Johnny Dollar offers a unique spin on the beloved old-time radio detective series. Tune in every day to follow the intelligent and daring Johnny Dollar as he solves complex cases involving insurance scams and more. This daily podcast blends nostalgia with gripping story arcs, perfect for detective genre enthusiasts and those who love a good mystery.

Duration:: 31m
Broadcast on:: 01 Jul 2024
Audio Format:: mp3

(upbeat music) - Save on a Riley Breakparts Cleaner. Get two cans of a Riley Breakparts Cleaner for just $8 valid in store only at O'Reilly Auto Parts. ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, Riley ♪ ♪ Auto Parts ♪ (dramatic music) - Welcome to So Good Media, where your journey into a world of endless audio possibilities begins. Imagine a place where you can discover thousands of captivating audio books. Immerse yourself in tranquil sounds for sleep and meditation, and explore timeless stories and lectures that expand your mind and enrich your soul. At sawgoodmedia.com, we believe in the power of stories to transform lives. Whether you're a lifelong learner, a parent seeking bedtime stories for your children, or someone looking to unwind after a long day, we have something just for you. We invite you to try all good media free for one month. Explore our extensive collection and find the perfect audio content that resonates with you. Join our community of passionate listeners and unlock a world of knowledge, relaxation, and inspiration. Visit sawgoodmedia.com today and start your free trial. That's S-O-L-G-O-O-D-M-E-D-I-A.com. (dramatic music) - From Hollywood, it's time now for John Lund as... - Johnny Dollar. - Dollar, my name's younger. Lieutenant Walt younger, I'm with the Marigold police. - Marigold police? - I guess maybe you never even heard of my little town, about 50 miles to the north. - Oh, oh yeah, sure. - Understand you're a pretty good friend to Joe Hickey's, Mr. Dollar? - Joe Hickey? Yeah, I know Joe. He used to do a little work for me now and then. - That all? - Yeah, why? - Joe was killed last night, Mr. Dollar. - Shot to death, found his body this morning. - I'm sorry to hear that, Mr. Younger. Anything I can do? - If you can get away for a couple of hours, come on up here, we sure appreciate it. - Sure, I'll come up, Mr. Younger. (dramatic music) - John Lund in a transcribed adventure of the man with the action-packed expense account. America's fabulous freelance insurance investigator, yours truly, Johnny Dollar. (dramatic music) - Spencer Kahn submitted by special investigator, Johnny Dollar, to chief of police, Marigold, Connecticut. The following is an accounting of expenditures during my investigation of the Marigold matter. Expense account item one, $2, bus fare and incidentals, Hartford, to Marigold, which turned out to be a little village settled in a sloping valley that was quiet and clean with fresh snow. A local citizen in Galash's and sheepskin jacket told me that the building that looked like a bookshop was the police station. And sure enough, it was. And two men who looked like anything the policeman greeted me. - Hello, Mr. Dollar, I'm Walt Younger. I talk to you on the phone too. - Dan, I get care, Sergeant Cherry. - You got the dollar? - Sergeant, haven't you? - Haven't you? - Hi. - When I said he'd make Mr. Dollar? - It's about Joe Hickey. - Wilson? - He's been murdered. We don't know who I am, or who did it? How well do you know him, Mr. Dollar? - Oh, he did some legwork for me when he lived in Hartford. - I see. - Here, this was on him. It's for you. - Huh? - He found it on his body. Go ahead, open it. - What'd you say? - Hi, Johnny, how are you? Good, I hope. I'm in the loan business up here now. You ought to come to see me. Besides, there are some funny things going on. And I could use some help from you for a change. Could you come up and give me a hand? - For guards, Joe Hickey. They did yesterday. Guess he never got to mail it. - Yeah. Why don't you hear from him last? - Oh, it must be two years, anyway. - Any idea why anybody had to kill him? - No, none at all, Sergeant. - Well, neither we, Mr. Dollar. But we wanted to talk to you before anybody. With that letter and all, it looked like a pretty good place to start. - Oh, I'm sorry I'm not more helpful than him. Wish I were. - Would you like to be? - Yeah, I would. - Cherry and I are the only cops on the Marigold force outside of four kids we got in uniform. - We've never had a murder here, Mr. Dollar. We don't have a lot of facilities for this kind of thing in my little town. - Well, if that letter had been mailed, I'd probably be here right now anyway, Mr. Younger. Hickey was a nice little guy. I'd like to help. - Sergeant Cherry stated the station while Lieutenant Younger and I drove out on the cold crisp day to the scene of the murder, abandoned the road about a mile out of town. - Found his car parked over there. - Pass by sight and reported it. - Uh-huh. - I figure he drove out with whoever killed him. - Could he have met the killer here? - Well, no prince and that snorled there. Of course, snows off a dry and the wind blowing tracks could be covered too. - Wind enough to cover a gunshot, you think? - I think so, yeah. - What did you find on him? - Everything. It wasn't robbery, it was something else. Maybe revenge. - How's that? - Well, I don't know, Mr. Dollar, Joe Hickey was in the loan business. He might have made some enemies. - Can you think of any of that? - No. Not yet. Can you? - No. - Any old ones over in Hartford? - Not that I know of. - Bullets came in at close range, he must have trusted whoever did it. - Where's the body? - The morgue, waiting for an autopsy. Now, if I was a big city force, I'd have all that done already and I'd have a lot of questions to ask a lot of people. But I don't have anything yet. Kind of like to peek around first and see just what kind of questions I want to ask when I do ask them. - Well, maybe that's the best way, Lieutenant. Who saw him last? - His wife, I talked to her. Ever met her? - Once or twice, yeah. - How'd you like to meet her again? - I didn't want to particularly, but I had a feeling that old Walt Younger wanted me to. He waited for me in the car as I went in to see Joe Hickey's widow. She'd aged a bit since my days, but not too much. - It was sweet of you to come all the way out here, Johnny. I'm glad you're here. - It's nice to see you again, Pat. I'm sorry the circumstances are what they are. - Johnny, I can talk to you, can't I? - I sure, Pat. What is it? - Oh, I feel so awful. Jonah, I hadn't been exactly hitting it off lately. I'd been thinking of divorcing him for some time. - Uh-huh. What'd he give you one? - Well, no, not exactly. Oh, stop it, Johnny, don't look at me like you're a policeman or something. You don't think I had anything to do with killing them, do you? - I didn't say that. - Oh, and you looked it. - Well, I didn't mean to. Just that I haven't seen him for a couple of years, and all of a sudden he's been murdered. So I'm here asking about it. - Johnny, he was my husband. - And a second ago, you were telling me you were thinking you were divorcing him. Did you love him? - I didn't love him, I didn't hate him. Don't, Johnny, not to me. - Well, where were you last night, Pat, while he was out being killed? - I was here, alone. He left about eight o'clock and said he had some business to attend to. He never came back. - Anybody call you? Anybody drop in and see you, Pat? - No. - But he happened to tell you why he was sending from me? - No. - You mentioned my name at all? - No. Johnny. - What? - I've done nothing wrong. - I'm sorry, Pat, I didn't think you'd mind the questions from me. - What will I do? - Somebody's gonna have to ask him sooner or later. - I'd rather it wasn't you. I thought you were my friend. - I am, and I was Joe's friend. - Please go. - Okay, Pat. - Well, that didn't take long. - I'm not very pleasant now. - Nope. - Murdered, never is. Come on, get in. - Am I doing your dirty work for you, look at us? - Well, now it all depends on how you look at it. For me, or for him, either one, this stuff's got to be done. Only so many people in this town and one of them killed him, left in there in the cold snow. I'd like to know who it is. - Yeah, so would I. Well, what now? - You just talked to the nearest a kin, and the last one to see him alive. I was hoping you'd map out the next move. - Who do you work with? - You got a girl helping him in the office. - Maybe she can help us. - Maybe she can. - Her name was Vivian Asher, and like most of the people in town, she'd heard about the murder, was frightened about it, and didn't want to talk too much about it. - Why? - I said, can you think of anybody who might have wanted to kill Joe Hickey? - Everyone makes friends and enemies. - Tell me about his enemies. - You'll find that out for yourself, Mr. Dollar. - You worked with him. You were around him all the time. Did you overhear anybody? - No, no, I didn't. - Did you know that he was worried about some situation here, and that he'd written to me? - No. - Did you like him, yourself? - Yes. - Anything else? - Don't be ridiculous. - How long did you work for him? - Two years. - Did he treat you well? - Fine. We got along fine, and incidentally, I didn't kill him. I was the shamrock grill last night from about eight until one. People saw me there. - Oh, you're pretty efficient, after all. - I tried to be. - I wish you'd loosen up on those people in town he didn't get along with. It would help a lot. - All right. - What? - I'll go through his files. Anyone there I can recall him arguing with, or not getting along with. I'll make a note. Fair enough. - Fair enough? - I can't guarantee it'll be a complete list. I'd appreciate anything. - Well, give me an hour. - I could think of a lot more questions I wanted to ask you, but I was more anxious to see what kind of lists you'd get up for me. And it was pretty impressive. About 35 names and addresses. The tenant younger took one half and I took the other. After two hours of plotting through the snowy streets of Merigold and interviewing a dozen people, I was convinced that all 35 hated Joe Hickey, because he'd been pressing them for loan payments, an occupational hazard, I guess. But I was also convinced that none of them hated him enough to kill him. However, when I chanced into the shamrock bar and grill, I met a man who was not on my list. Heel, Jim Teel's the name. Sure I knew Joe Hickey, what about him? - Trying to find out who killed him. - Oh yeah? - You don't seem much interested, Mr. Teel? - Why should I be? He was a bum when he was alive, being dead doesn't make him any better. - Yeah, you've got a point there. But why was he a bum when he was alive? - He was a shark. That's what he was, a thief. - Did he steal from you? - He tried to. - Yeah? When was this? - By this last week, he came to me with a paper and said that I owed him $235 on my car. He said I had a payer, he'd take my car away from me. I told him he was crazy. - Oh, if you owed him the money, he wasn't stealing. - You don't get it, fella. I didn't owe him any money, not a dime. - What? - I paid off that loan months ago, you were just trying to pull something, that's all. Other people tell you the same thing. - I've talked to quite a few others, none of them have told me anything like this. - Then you haven't talked to enough people. What did you do when he tried to repossess your car? I told him to get away and I'd take care of him. - And what happened? - I hit him. - So I remember Joe, he was about 140, dripping wet. - What are you, 180? - 87, Mr., and it was all my pleasure. - Yeah. - Especially when he came back a couple of hours later, he told me it was all a mistake. Imagine that squirt, doing his best to beat me out of some money, then coming back and apologizing for it when he couldn't get away with it. - Ever occur to you that he had made a mistake? - What loan company makes a mistake? - Invented bookkeeping. - Mr. Theo glowered a few long seconds, chewed on a toothpick, and let me know more of what he thought of Joe Hickey as a person. I'm afraid I wasn't listening too closely to what he had to say, because I was still thinking of what he'd already said, about the matter of bookkeeping. I decided I'd like to talk to Vivian Asher once more. - Oh yeah, I remember Mr. Hickey did argue with him. - He wasn't on the list you gave me. - Well, I told you it wouldn't be complete, I'm sorry. - Okay. Did you think of any others? - No. - Would it be possible for me to see the file on Jim Teal? - Why? - I'd like to know what it was all about. - I can tell you. - Well, tell me that. - I made a mistake, and Mr. Hickey thought it was a collection. - I saw. And he came back to the office, I told him about it. Doesn't it seem reasonable that such a thing could happen? - Yeah. - Or doesn't that policeman's mind of yours think that people can be human beings? - I'm no policeman, Vivian. - You're acting like one. - Funny. The second person who's told me that since I've been here, I'll have to see those files. - Do you have a search warrant? - I suppose I can get one. - Well, why don't you do that, Mr. Daller? - Yeah. Why don't I? - Oh, Mr. Daller, hi. - Hello, Sergeant Cherry, is, uh, Lieutenant Younger back yet? - Not just yet. Can I help you? - Yeah. Can you give me a search warrant for Hickey's loan company? - You run across something, Mr. Daller? - Maybe. - And we'll have to call Frank Rotorius, who's the county attorney. - Might take till tomorrow morning. - Oh, we're not incorporated here, you know? Not very fast. - Yeah. Well, never mind. Look, I picked up this ashtray in Vivian Ash's office. There's some good prints of hers on it. Can you wire them out when you go over to the county seat? - Yeah, sure. Do you think that she had it? - I don't know. Just checking. Somehow, I think that she might have a background. - Really? - After Sergeant Cherry left, I found myself holding down the desk in the Marigold police station. A light snow began to fall, and in an hour of the whole town was wearing a new blanket of white. The tenant younger stomped in, reported no luck, but wondered if I'd like to revisit the murder scene with him. I said I would, and we drove out there once more. - Warm's up when it begins to snow. Ever notice? - Uh-huh. - I've been thinking about it all day, Mr. Daller. They've made a real mistake. - How's that? - They didn't expect Joe Hickey's body to be found till spring. Look, we found it right there. But if he'd fallen down over there, or he'd have been covered with 20 feet of snow before winter was over, yeah, seems logical. I think maybe we'll find out a lot when they dig those bullets out of him. If we ever get him dug out, things in my little town must seem awful slower. - Thank you, Mr. Daller. We are still trying to sober up the doctor so he can play car in a... ain't that awful? - Well, if we're trying to get out of the way, we'll tell a younger sister to fall down. I went down with him. It was dark, and I didn't know who was shooting her from where, but I did know that somewhere along the line, among those people in town, Lieutenant Younger or I, had already talked to the killer of Joe Hickey. We'll return to yours truly, Johnny Daller, in just a moment. Now, with our star, John Lund, we bring you the second act of yours truly, Johnny Daller. Whoever fired at us did it from the road that ran above the small ledge we were standing on. Neither one of us was armed, and there was nothing to do but stay close to the ground. When I heard a car sliding away down the road, I figured it was safe to get up. Lieutenant Younger was crumpled in the snow, his blood staining him, but he was still alive. - I got one in the leg and one in the shoulder. - Yeah. I better get a tourniquet on that leg. - Take my belt. - Oh, yeah, my tie will do. - This isn't a very safe part of the country to be in, is it? - No, not very. - There. - There. How's that? - Fine, there's a fiddle. - You think you're going to make it back to the car? - Give me a little help. One good thing about this. - What's that? - Exhibit A is in my leg. - I have carried him up the path to the road and put him in the car. He didn't talk much the whole 50 miles to Hartford, or I turned him over to the medics in the emergency ward. After that, I returned to Marigold. There was one place I wanted to look at, search warrant or not. I didn't have too much trouble getting inside with the Ring of Pascades, however I didn't find much in the files that seemed important. When I jimmied open a locked drawer in Vivian Asher's desk, I came upon a good reason why she refused to let me look around. I dropped by her house to see her. - What do you want at this hour? - I know it's a hardship, Vivian, but it's a hard case. - May I come in? - All right. - I've been floundering around here for almost two days, not knowing what I was doing or where I was going. - Well, I can see- - Somebody tried to kill Lieutenant Younger tonight. They nearly made the grade, and they came off a close to killing me. He's out of the picture for the moment, and I'm going to do things my way. As a matter of fact, I already have. Let's start with Teal. - You forgot to tell me about him, didn't you? - I'm not a walking file cabinet. - Did you forget on purpose? Take a look at these. - You were in my desk. - Yeah, I sure was. - What right did you have? Why are you after me this way? - I'm after some truth. This is about $8,000 worth of delinquent loans, all recommended by you. What do they have to do with Hickey's death? - Nothing. Absolutely nothing that I know of. - And why did you hide him? - 'Cause I- Oh, I don't know who killed Mr. Hickey. I don't know what delinquent loans have to do with it. All I know is I got scared and hit all the loans that I recommended. - Go on. - Mr. Hickey started letting me write loans last year. I guess I made some mistakes. - Yeah, I guess you did. - What do you want me to say? No matter what it is, you'll make something terrible out of it. - We're lying. - You're all alike. You want to chase people and frighten them and make them lie just to get away from you. You're standing here with a handful of papers that make me look stupid. My boss has been murdered and the police can make anything out of those papers. - So that's why you had him locked up? - That's why. You can believe it or not. Well... - I'll let you know what I believe later on. - Why don't you get out of here? Why don't you get out of here and leave me alone? - I got out of there, but I didn't leave her alone. Instead, I stepped around at the side of the house and watched her through the dining room window as she told her troubles to an unidentified party over the phone. When she hung up, I moved around to the front of the house and took a plan across the street. Nothing happened. About midnight, she turned out the lights and went to bed. The next morning, I began to interview names at random from the loan applications I'd taken from her desk. After four interviews, I quit because all four parties involved vehemently denied being delinquent and furnished receipts to prove it. I spent an hour walking, talking to myself. Then I went back to the station with even fewer ideas as to how and why Joe Hickey had been killed. - Gosh, where you been, Mr. Dollar? - I don't know how getting some things done. What's that? - Just came in. Vivian Asher. - Oh? How's it look? - Not good. She's from Kansas City. See here. 1940 and '41, six arrests, conviction in '42 for car theft, two years. Another conviction in '45 for shoplifting, six months. And then this, she still wanted, what for, grand larceny, Denver police? It's pretty hard to believe, huh? She's lived here at least two years, well-liked, straight as an arrow. - Well, not exactly straight. - You find something? - Yeah. She's been writing loans delinquent and pocketing the payments for a long time now. - Do you suppose Hickey caught her and she shot him? - Yeah, probably that's it. - Yeah. - Guess there's nothing else to do but pick her up. - Guess not. - Do you mind holding it down here? - I'd like to go with you, Cherry. - Okay, Mr. Dollar. - I don't think I'll take any chances with her, Mr. Dollar. - No, I wouldn't. - No, sir. She's... She's been acting up quite a bit, Hickey dead, walled all shot up, yeah. - Maybe she's out. - No, no, she's home. How do you know? Cars in the garage, there. - No. - Daddy! - What the hell is that? - Look at that gun, you crazy fool. Let's go, hummy dollar. - Hey, he was going to kill me right here. - Yeah. All right, let's have it. - Hey, what? - I just saved your life and I want to know about him and about you. Come on. - It used to be a policeman in Denver. You're wrecking me. - I'm not going to go. - I'm not going to go. - I'm not going to go. - I'm not going to go. - I'm not going to go. - You recognize me here and said he sent me back. I didn't write down all the collections on those loans. I gave the money to him. - How about Joe? Come on, I want to know. - Cherry killed Mr. Hickey. Mr. Hickey found out what I was doing and where the money was going. I only wanted to live here and be left alone. Get your coat. - What? - I'm taking in. - The check with the Denver Police revealed that Cherry had been on the force there for a short time. Then Mendez charged for conduct on becoming an officer. A ballistic expert in Hartford matched slugs from Hickey's body and walled younger's legs. Both sets came from Cherry's 38th service revolver. He was arraigned and booked on suspicion of murder. So Vivian Asher named this as accomplice on a charge of grand theft. - Spence again on item two, same as item one. Fair back to Hartford. Total? Four dollars, even. Years truly, Johnny Dollar. Years truly, Johnny Dollar stars John Lund in the title role and was written by E. Jack Newman with music by Eddie Dunsteady. John Lund can currently be seen in the Universal International Picture just across the street. Beecured in tonight's cast were Parley Bear, Howard Culver, Vivianas, Virginia Gregg and Jim Nusser. Years truly, Johnny Dollar is transcribed in Hollywood by Jaime Del Valle. This is Dan Coverley inviting you to join us next week at this time when John Lund returns as Years Truly, Johnny Dollar. If you like your thrills to be real, your adventures to be true to life, gangbusters is the show for you. Every Saturday night, most of these same CBS radio stations bring you the enthralling drama that names, names, places and dates in the nation's battle against crime. Often time, the police official originally involved in the case narrates the story. Full of action, bravery and realistic excitement, gangbusters brings you new thrills straight out of life every Saturday night on CBS Radio. America now listens to 105 million radio sets and listens most to the CBS radio network. [Music] Hey there, it's Solomon from Solid Good Media. A lot of our listeners have asked how to get ad-free access to our podcasts. You asked and we answered. We're offering an exclusive one-month free trial to our ad-free streaming platform, packed with over 500 audiobooks, meditation sounds and engaging podcasts. No strings attached, just pure listening pleasure. Sign up today at solidgoodmedia.com and dive into a world of stories and sounds that inspire and relax. Don't miss out on this limited time offer, it's your gateway to unlimited audio enjoyment. That's solidgoodmedia.com, S-O-L-G-O-O-D-M-E-D-I-A.com. Check it out, we hope to see you over there.