Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 24:17 — 11.1MB)
The story you are about to hear is true. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent.
A murderer is on the loose, and it’s Joe Friday’s job to stop him. He and partner, Frank Smith goe to investigate the scene at a hotel. A maintenance man tells how he found the body. Who would want to kill the nondescript, unassuming man?
The maintenance man tells about a dumpy woman named Clara, who might know more, she had been seen going out on dates with the victim. Another clue comes in when a letter was left in the hotel safe. Friday talks with Clara. She is reluctant to talk with the cops, but is forthcoming about the previous night’s events. They had marriage plans, he had some kind of invention for his business. When Friday breaks the news of the murder, she seems remorseful enough. Has she shed enough light on the topic to help the cops?
Joe Friday goes over the details of the crime scene. Nothing seems to have been stolen so burglary isn’t a motive. A phone call from a lawyer may be the key to the motive. The invention has to do with a new chemical explosive for industrial purposes. The lawyer also gives other clues to go on. Friday talks how he thinks there could be some industrial espionage as the motive for the murder.
New developments dry up, until the phone rings about a robbery. A hotel room turns up loot from reported robberies, and a pistol of the same caliber as our murder victim was shot with. There’s a shooting, and the injured bandit becomes a fountain of information about his deeds.
