November 4, 2025 • 25 mins
Nick Carter, Master Detective was a radio crime drama based on tales of the fictional private detective Nick Carter, first seen in 1886, from Street & Smith's dime novels and pulp magazines. Lon Clark played Nick Carter and Charlotte Manson played his assistant, Patsy Bowen. Nick Carter ran from 1943 to 1955.
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Enjoy all six of our commercial-free OTR internet radio stations at theaterofthemind-otr.com - Subscribe or Download Free @ Spreaker | Apple | YouTube | Spotify | iHeart | Amazon
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
War Old Dutch Cleanser, famous for chasing dirt, presents Lick Carter,
famous for chasing prime every week at this time, two
great names. I joined as new post War Old Dutch
Cleanser brings you one of the most resourceful and daring
(00:22):
characters in all detective fiction, Nick.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Carter, Master Detective.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
Now let's have the truth. Why why did you get
that suit of clothes a.
Speaker 4 (00:37):
Fellow that got crooked? He took him off from give
him to me himself. Uh huh?
Speaker 5 (00:41):
And I suppose he gave you his shirt and socks
and necktie too.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Sure?
Speaker 4 (00:44):
Sure, he said, I need him to go with his suit,
and he stopped the car so.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
I could put him on.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Is that when you tried to kill him?
Speaker 3 (00:51):
No, Chief, that's when he tried to kill me.
Speaker 6 (00:54):
Oh, Nick, this isn't getting us anywhere.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
You're wrong, Petsy, Now I know who really killed mister Radwell,
now the Case of the Unexpected Corpse.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
Today's adventure starring Lawn Clark as Nick Carter, brought to
you by New Post War Old Dutch Cleanser. It's about
ten o'clock in the morning as Nick and Patsy enter
the office of Sheriff Tabor in the little town of
Plain City, Texas.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Hi a sheriff. Hello, Sheriff taber Well, love be dog,
Nick Carr and Petsy Golden. What are you two doing
out this way while we're on our way back home
from California.
Speaker 5 (01:29):
Shriff, And since we had to come through Texas anyway,
I reminded Nick of that invitation you gave us three
years ago.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Remember, sure, I remember, And you got here just at
the right time. We had a murder last night on
our white sheriff. This is purely a social.
Speaker 6 (01:42):
Visiit a murder cheer in Plains City.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
We about ten miles easter here a big oil man
from Dallas named Leonard Atwell. He was shot and killed
by some hitchhiker. How luck, Sheff.
Speaker 6 (01:52):
How do you know it was a hitchhiker, Sheriff.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
Well, because we know it. Well started out from Dallas alone,
and when he we found the bill, he was behind
the wheel of his car with powder burns and a
bullet hole in the right side of his head. That
sounds more like suicide. No, no, it couldn't have been that.
The gun was gone, so was at On's money, his
watch and the big gold signet ring.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
That they all was wore.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
You found any clues yet? No, I can't tell yet.
I had everything that was in the car brought up
here to my office and spread him out on those
big tables over there. Come on, I'll show you. I
I put the tools from the car in this table here.
See now what I use this piece of rubber tubing for? Yeah?
Search me. Now over here these were the clothes he
(02:38):
was aware, I see. And there's another piece of adhesive tape. Well,
that was on his right hand. There was a little
scratch there. And look at this piece of tape. See
that flaw on the weed where it was torn off
the room? Oh yeah, thing like that might be a clue.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
Sure.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
Now on this table here I got his suitcases and
the stuff that was in him close mostly m.
Speaker 6 (03:01):
This looks interesting. Last will and testament of Leonard frank.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
Atwell, yeah, he left everything to his wife in Detroit.
Part he was from Dallas, well he was, but he
deserted his wife in Detroit eighteen years ago. There's a
letter there in that envelope much to be opened in
case of my death. Asked the letter to forgive him
and all that stuff look Sivian. He must have been
carrying that around a long time.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Yeah, I guess so.
Speaker 6 (03:23):
I suppose a man like that carried a lot of insurance.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
One hundred and fifty thousand dollars Worth College took out
the policy only a couple of months ago, right here
in Claint City, by the way. One hundred and fifty
thousand dollars. Who gets it? Well the wife, I guess
she's so aware, And the policy's made out to his state. Hey, Sheriff,
I don't see any first aid kid here. No, there
wasn't one in the car, just that stuff you see here.
Then where they got that strip of an east of tape,
(03:47):
it's perfectly clean. He couldn't have had it on more
than a few minutes.
Speaker 5 (03:50):
Well, maybe when he cut his hand, he stopped at
a filling station or a lunch room and they fixed.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
It up for him, Say, Patsy, now that sure sounds reasonable. Yeah,
maybe if you can find that filling station or lunch room,
you can get a disc from the man who was
riding with that well just before he was killed. Say
that's a great idea, I'll do that. Goodn't have driven
more than a few miles without getting the tape. Soil
and if he should be all right, I'm sorry to
buddy in the sheriff. That's okay, buck, Folks, this is
Buck Henderson, my depity as mister Carter and miss Bowen.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
How do you do?
Speaker 3 (04:18):
How did you do?
Speaker 2 (04:19):
And this telegram just coming? I thought it might be important.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
Oh thank you Buck, Oh say Buck.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
Yeah, Sheriff, I.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
Want you to hop in your car and start out
on the highway toward Dallas. Stop at every filling station
in the lunch room along the way and find out
if at Well stop there last night, good gravesh Heriff.
Dallas is two hundred and ninety miles. Never mind, you
just do what I well, I'll be dogged something wrong. Well,
this telegram is from the chief of police in Dallas.
(04:46):
You see. I wired him to send someone out to
Atwell's home address and tell the folks there what had happened. Well, well,
the chief says they ain't no such address. It's a
vacant lot. We came out here to see you, Colonel Gardner,
(05:07):
because you knew mister Ratwell better than anyone.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
In the country. Well.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
Yes, and of course of our business dealings we became
very close friends. His death has been a terrible shock
to me. Do you have any idea why he should
have given a false address? No, ovid, I'm sure it
wasn't done with any intent to deceive. I've never known
a more honorable gentleman than Leonard Thatthwell.
Speaker 6 (05:24):
Oh, then you didn't know he deserted his wife.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
His wife, Hathwell told me he was a bachelor.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
Well, you'll get a chance to meet the bachelor's wife
this afternoon. She's coming here. Yep. When I notified her
of his death, she wired back that she was taking
the next plane. Colonel Gardner, would you mind telling us
the nature of your business dealings with mister.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
Ratwell, Not at all.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
He bought some oil leases from me, one hundred and
thirty thousand dollars worth, but he didn't sign those leases
over to him without getting the money.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
Did you, As a matter of fact, it did.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
He gave me a certified check for forty thousand at
the time, and he was on his way here last
night to pay the balance and take up his Nope, you.
Speaker 5 (06:00):
Mean the hitchhiker who killed him got away with ninety
thousand dollars.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
Oh, no, miss Warren. It wouldn't have been in cash.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
Of course, it's sure to be a warning to you, Colonel,
not to go picking up folks on the road.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
I'm afraid I'm too old to change my ways.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
Now, share, you make a habit of doing that, Colonel.
Why every tramp in the country knows that this ranch
is good for a meal and a night's lodging. My
last winter, another hobo got sick and died here, and
the Colonel even paid for his funeral. Well, Sheriff, there
is little enough that we can do for those less
fortunate than our.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Sad Oh excuse me, Hello, Yes, yes, he's here.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
Just a minute for you share. Oh thanks, colonel, let's
be from the courthouse. Hello, Yes, this is sheriff table.
You did whin? Yeah fine, fine, I'll come right back
to town.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
Dick.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
We got him a murderer, yep, caught him try to
peddle at wells ring watch.
Speaker 6 (07:00):
Is somebody from around here?
Speaker 3 (07:02):
No, it's some old bum, just like I thought. I'm
sorry to rush off, Colonel, but we got a killer
to take care of.
Speaker 4 (07:16):
Oh you got me wrong, chief, honest, I never croaked nobody.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
And where'd you get his watch? And ring? I told
you I've found and that suit he was were and
I suppose you found that too. Yeah, that's my chief.
Speaker 4 (07:27):
It was all rolled up in a bundle like at
the side of the road.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
Oh look you, whatever your name is, it's Morgan, Chief,
Weddy Morgan. Okay, Morgan. Now, why don't you open up
and tell us what you did with the gun. I
never had no gun. I'm a bum, sure, but I
never hurt nobody in all my life. You hitched a
ride with a gray haired guy in a big sit
down last night, didn't you. No, No, I pulled a
gun and you made him drive off on the side right.
Speaker 4 (07:52):
I've never seen the guy on.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
And after you've killed him and you took his watch
and ring, then you opened up his suitcases and got
yourself a nusolu clothes. No, no, no, I swear I didn't.
Speaker 4 (08:02):
Oh hey, look, Chief, You wouldn't send me to the
pen for something I didn't do.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
Would you. It ain't the pin you're headed for, brother,
it's the electric chair. But Nick, he's bound to be
the guy. How else would he get at Wells watch
and ring in those clothes. They were at Wells too, okay, Sheriff,
(08:30):
But why didn't they have any money in his pocket?
Speaker 2 (08:31):
You said that Well always carried a lot of cash.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
Yes, but you didn't think he really did find it stuff?
Do you think? No? Never, I saw a man trying
to lie on of a bad situation.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
It was Morgan.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
But well, that's pretty slim evidence in whish they convict
him of murder. Hey, yeah, ser I found it the
place where at Well got the adhesion tath Well. I
don't know about that, but he stopped at a filling
station about thirty miles up the line and had the
oil change in his car while he was eating dinner.
Good work, Bucky. And there was somebody with him too,
sort of an old gent with white hair. Whiney Morgan,
I knew it. I got the kid from the.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
Filling station out in the office. You want to talk
to him?
Speaker 3 (09:04):
I can't right now, Not right now, but miss Atwell's
doing about five minutes, and I gotta go down and
meet it. Come on, Nick, the undertaking parlors are at
the back of the store. Here, Miss Dwell, I want
(09:26):
you to identify the body, just.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
For the record.
Speaker 6 (09:29):
I can't believe it.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
After all these years, poor Leonard, judging by the letter
he left, he must have still thought a great deal
of you, missus.
Speaker 7 (09:36):
Apwell, yes, I don't suppose he ever married again, or
he'd have left the money to his second wife.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
It's quite a pile too, one hundred and fifty thousand
on the insurance a loon.
Speaker 6 (09:45):
I can't imagine Leonard getting rich. Why, twenty years ago
he couldn't.
Speaker 3 (09:49):
Even hold a job right through this door man the
blue casket over there.
Speaker 7 (09:55):
Just think everybody used to call him lazy and shiftless.
Speaker 6 (10:00):
Yes, now they'll.
Speaker 3 (10:02):
Do the matter of missus Atwell.
Speaker 7 (10:04):
Why that's not not your husband or yes, of course
that's learned. But what well, naturally he's changed a lot
in eighteen years, but that's definitely lened at Well, Sure
it is, Nick.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
I know him myself. Everybody can tell you.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
All right.
Speaker 3 (10:24):
Then, since we find outified the victim, suppose I go
back to the jail and see what the kid from
the filling station can tell us. You're sure you'd know
this man if you saw him again, Whittaker, Oh sure, sure.
Speaker 8 (10:41):
Him and mister Atwell stood around waiting while I finished
changing the oil, and I got a right.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
Good look at him. When my deputy brings the suspect
in here, I don't want you to say him think,
can I ask you?
Speaker 4 (10:53):
No?
Speaker 3 (10:53):
No, no, sir. By the way, did you notice the
strip of it? He's a tape on mister Atwell's right hand.
Speaker 8 (10:57):
He's well, I don't think he had none, or I
don't noticed it when he paid me for the ard.
Speaker 4 (11:03):
Here they are, Oh, Chief, Chief, you're gonna let me
go now. That's why you had me brung in here,
ain't it so as you can turn me loose?
Speaker 2 (11:10):
Huh?
Speaker 3 (11:10):
Well, that all depends why you still see that you
didn't hit you ride last night with a gray haired
man in a big seat?
Speaker 4 (11:17):
An o, Chief, so help me. I've never seen the
guyer the carne How.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
About that win again?
Speaker 8 (11:22):
No, no, he's a liash chere. That's the fella that
was with mister Atwell when the top of the filling station.
I'll swear it on a stack of bibles of foot high.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
With the filling station attendance identification, the case against Whitey
Morgan seems complete. We'll see what happens in just a minute.
Now back to the case of the Unexpected corpse. Today's
adventure with Nick Carter brought to you by new postwar
old Dutch cleanser. After a sleepless night in the county jail.
(11:59):
Whitey Morgan sent word that he's ready to tell the truth,
and the sheriff has asked Nick to accompany him to
white his cell.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
Oh, let's have.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
The confession, Whitey. You admit you were lying about where
you got.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
That suit of clothes.
Speaker 4 (12:11):
He here, Chief, I didn't find him. This fellows got croaked.
He give him to me what he did so help me.
Right after he picked me up on the highway, he
said it was an old suit that was getting too
tight for him.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
That suit was brand new. I don't care, that's what
he told me. I suppose the shirt and socks and
the necktie they were too tight for him, too, right.
Speaker 4 (12:31):
He said, I need them to go with a suit.
Then later, when it got good and dark, he stopped
the car so as I could get out and put
him mark.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
And that's when you killed him.
Speaker 4 (12:40):
No, no, honest, chief, that's when he tried to kill me.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
Oh wait a minute, he did.
Speaker 4 (12:46):
I put on the clothes he give me, and then
when I was getting back in the car, he slugged
me with a wrench. And I've seen it coming too
late to duck And that's all I knew to come
to and a ditch someplace else, someplace. Yeah. He must
have hauled me here in the car and dumped me
out for dead.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
Yeah, so he got you all dressed up so you
die happy. Huh, even gave you his watch and ring.
Speaker 4 (13:10):
I don't know nothing about the watch and ring when
I come to I.
Speaker 3 (13:13):
Was wearing them, Whitey, when you were in the car
with that world, did you notice a piece of it?
He'sa a tape on his right hand.
Speaker 4 (13:20):
Ugh, No, there was nothing.
Speaker 8 (13:23):
On his hand.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
You're sure? Yeah? What difference does it make?
Speaker 2 (13:27):
Nick?
Speaker 3 (13:28):
You're not gonna swallow this crazy story? Or why didn't
you tell us? Says at first Whitey Well, When.
Speaker 4 (13:33):
The chief here said the guy had been croaked, I
got scared. I didn't think he believed me.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
You bet, I wouldn't and take it from me, brother, neither.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
Will the jewelry. Hi, sir, Hi, Nick Patsy? Well?
Speaker 3 (13:59):
Where have you two been all afternoon?
Speaker 5 (14:00):
Oh?
Speaker 6 (14:01):
Lots of places?
Speaker 5 (14:02):
The post office, the photographers, the garage where you put
Atwell's car.
Speaker 3 (14:05):
What'd you go there for? Wanted to check the speedometer.
It registers nine four hundred and eighty five.
Speaker 5 (14:09):
Miles, and that boy changed the oil in the car
at nine four hundred and.
Speaker 6 (14:13):
Twenty seven according to the sticker inside the door.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
So what well from that filling station to where the
body was found as a distance of twenty four miles
from that spot to the garage here is ten miles.
That's thirty four all together.
Speaker 5 (14:24):
Yeah, but the car had been driven fifty eight miles.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
See what I mean. Sheriff Atwell must have driven twenty
four miles out of his way for that piece of
adiece of tape. For the love of Pete, Nick, I
think if you're touched on that subject of that tape.
Speaker 6 (14:36):
We found something else to share.
Speaker 5 (14:38):
Oh, a spot of blood on the floor in the
rear of Atwell's car.
Speaker 3 (14:41):
I'm going to have an analyzed to see if it
could possibly have come from that tout on Whitey's head. Oh, Nick,
don't tell me that you're taking any stock in that
wild's story of his Why any five year old kid
could make up a better lie than.
Speaker 6 (14:52):
That, and so could Whitey unless it happens to be true.
Speaker 3 (14:56):
But he's got to be lyle. Why would that will
give all this stuff to a trap then hit them
over the head and throw them out of the car. Look,
let me ask you a couple of questions, sheriff. He said,
the suitcases were both neatly packed and locked. Why would
Whitey repacked them after killing at Well? A steel in
the clothes?
Speaker 4 (15:11):
Why?
Speaker 6 (15:11):
And what happened to the money Atwell always carried?
Speaker 3 (15:14):
Okay, okay, I give up. But do you load the asses? No,
not all of them, but I can guess it a few.
For instance, Atwell took out a lot of insurance only
two months ago, payable to his estate. Yeah, I suppose
that Well planned the stage a fake accident with the car,
and suppose he planned on having Whitey's body found behind
the wheel, wearing his clothes, his watching his ring. Yes,
(15:35):
but he couldn't get away with it. Everybody in town
knew at Will. Yeah, Whitey and hat Well were both
about the same size and age, they both had gray hair.
And if the body were badly burned, burned, remember that
piece of rubber tubing. It had been just the thing
for siphoning gasoline out of the tank to be sure
that the fire burned everything it was supposed to.
Speaker 5 (15:51):
Why every insurance company knows that tricks here if it's
been done one hundred times.
Speaker 3 (15:55):
Yes, but Atwell didn't do that there wasn't any accident.
The car wasn't burned, right, Maybe something went wrong at
the last minute and the plan was changed. You remember
how surprised Missus Atwell looked when she saw the body. Yes,
I know, but she explained that. Yes, since she has
some more explaining to do, I've been in touch with
the Detroit Police and the surprise she got yesterday is
nothing to the one I have in store for her today.
(16:27):
Missus Atwell, you recognize this picture?
Speaker 6 (16:30):
Well, where did you get that?
Speaker 5 (16:32):
The Detroit Police found it in the bedroom of your
apartment and transmitted here to Nick by wire photo.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
Isn't that a picture of your husband? Well? Yes, but
what it.
Speaker 5 (16:41):
Was taken more than twenty years ago?
Speaker 3 (16:43):
And let me see it, Nick, Yeah, yeah, that's that.
Well all right, but I wouldn't have known it unless
I was looking for the resemblance. Now look at this picture.
What is it? An ear?
Speaker 4 (16:54):
Right?
Speaker 5 (16:55):
Here the left ear of Leonard Atwell and large fifty
times from.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
That snapshot you see, Missus aptap Well. Ears are as
individual as fingerprints. They never changed from birth to death
except in size. Say, I didn't know there and this here,
Leonard Atwell's here is an entirely different shape from that
of the man you identified yesterday as your husband. All right,
I lied about it.
Speaker 5 (17:13):
I knew that wasn't Leonard.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
Nick, it is Atwell. I know him myself.
Speaker 5 (17:19):
You mean you knew the man who posed as Leonard
at Well.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
I don't understand.
Speaker 6 (17:24):
Why should anyone do that.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
There's one obvious reason, missus Atwell one hundred and fifty
thousand dollars insurance money. Hey, I get it, Nick. He
was going to fake the accident, like you said, and
split the money with her, But then she killed him
in order to keep it off to herself. You're accusing
me of murdy. You better no, no, no, no share.
According to the Detroit Police, Missus Atwell was at turning
a bridge party the night of the murder. I checked
(17:46):
that angle Well. She coulda hire somebody to do it for,
couldn't she? Perhaps? But I don't think so. There was
big money behind.
Speaker 5 (17:53):
This impersonation, Nick, Think I have an idea. Didn't the
colonel say that he signed those or leases over the
at Well?
Speaker 3 (17:59):
Absolutely yes, and return for a check a promisory note
for the balance.
Speaker 6 (18:03):
And maybe that was the real reason behind it, and the.
Speaker 5 (18:06):
Insurance was only part of the scheme to carry out
the idea that he was a rich man.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
If you think he was cheating the colonel, you're bucking
up the wrong tree, Patsy. Nobody gets ahead of that
old bird.
Speaker 5 (18:17):
Yeah, but the dead man did get absolute title to
one hundred and thirty thousand dollars worth of oil leases,
and all he actually paid out was forty thousand.
Speaker 3 (18:24):
Well, even if the Colonel never gets another sin.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
He's doing all right?
Speaker 3 (18:28):
What do you mean why those leases ain't worth anything?
He couldn't have peddled him to anybody around here for
more than five or ten thousand, So that's it. Come on, passy, hey,
where you go? Look for her?
Speaker 2 (18:39):
All of it.
Speaker 3 (18:39):
He's a tape.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
Here's my first daid kit, mister Carter.
Speaker 6 (18:51):
It's the big one, isn't it.
Speaker 2 (18:53):
Connor Ranch. You never know what may happen, Miss Bowen.
Speaker 3 (18:55):
May I look through the kit, Colonel Gardener, certainly, mister Carter,
I'd like to know why you're so interested. I'm interested
because the man who was murdered two nights ago had
a fresh grip of adhesive tape on his right hand,
and I'm wondering whether it came from here. Well, that
will never got to my range. I told you he
was on his way. I know that's what you said, Colonel.
There was an extra twenty four miles in this speedometer.
(19:16):
In other words, he must have made a side trip
of twelve miles in.
Speaker 5 (19:19):
Back, and this ranch is exactly twelve miles off the
main highway.
Speaker 3 (19:23):
Are you calling me a liars or worse than that? Colonel,
I'm calling you a murderer. Ridiculous. Leonard ad Well was
my friend. The man who called himself Leonard Addwell was
your stooge. You paid his expenses for four months while
he built up the illusion of being a wealthy oil promoter.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
You're out of your mind. Why should I do such
a thing so that.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
He could take out a big life insurance policy, payable
to his estate, and then make a will starting with
the usual clause about paying all.
Speaker 6 (19:49):
Just debts, meaning that promisory note, you hole.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
Colonel, there's a neat way to collect ninety thousand dollars
for your worthless oil leases, your imagining things. Maybe so
they I see it. The plan went like this. Atwell
picked up somebody who roughly resembled him, dressed him in
his clothes, then knocked him out. This man was Whitey Morgan,
who was to be found dead in Atwell's car and
would be taken for Atwell because his body would be
too burned for positive identification.
Speaker 5 (20:13):
Then you and Atwell would share the money you would
collect from at was a state because of that note
for ninety thousand you held, but went.
Speaker 3 (20:19):
At Well, with Morgan's unconscious body in his car, came
here to get your help in faking the accident. You
decided that a substitute wasn't as effective as a real thing, so.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
You killed that Well. This is ridiculous.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
Then you emptied Atwell's pockets to make it look like
a robbery. Then you took the unconscious Morgan miles away
and dumped him by the side of the highway, knowing
he'd be the logical suspect in Atwell's murder. And you
didn't burn the car because it was no longer necessary
with a real Atwell dead in it. How do you
expect to prove any such wild story. Atwell had no
adhesive tape on his hand when he picked up Morgan.
(20:51):
He did have it when he was found dead. If
that tape came from your first aid kit, it'll prove
he was here after he had set Morgan up for
the fake killing. A very interesting theory, Carter, but not proof.
You'll hand me the roll of it he'esive taped from
your kit. I think it'll give me the proof I
need very well.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
All right, get your hands up, both of you.
Speaker 6 (21:15):
Can you get a gun and the kid?
Speaker 3 (21:16):
Yes? I put it there when I went out of
the room to get this kid, Carter, I thought there
was something odd about your wanting to inspect my first
aid supplies. Why because you remember the last time you
used that kit was just before the murder.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
A very shrewd guess.
Speaker 3 (21:31):
Mister Carter.
Speaker 6 (21:32):
So you did kill that man, just as Nick said,
with this very gun.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
But dear, it's too bad that you have to be
so clever. Mister Carter, what do you mean by that?
I mean that you two are the only people who
suspect I killed that stupid fool.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
So I'm going to kill both of you right now.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
With his hands in the air, Nick hasn't a chance
of reaching his own gun before Colonel Gardner. This finger
closes on the trigger. We'll see what happens in just
a minute.
Speaker 3 (22:04):
Now.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
For the conclusion of the case, of the Unexpected Corpse.
Today's Adventure with Nick Carter roup to you by new
post war old Dutch Pleanser. In the living room of
Colonel Gardner's ranch house, Nick and Patsy stand with their
hands in the air, staring at the revolver in the
colonel's hands.
Speaker 3 (22:20):
As he says, you two are the only ones who
suspect I killed that stupid fool, so I'm going to
kill both you right now. You're wrong, Colonel. The sheriff
knows all about this. I told him not half an
hour ago. I'm too good a poker player to fall
for a bluff like that.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
Carter. This is no bluff, Colonel Drop that can't table you.
Speaker 3 (22:38):
It's Colonel. I've been standing outside at Windy. That was
a mighty interesting confession. And thanks for telling us that
this is the gun you killed your partner with. I.
Speaker 5 (22:46):
Nick, you were right about this adhesive tape. It does
nash that strip on the dead man's hands. You can
tell by that same floor on the WII.
Speaker 3 (22:52):
Oh, even if we didn't have the gun, that would
prove he was here just before he was murdered. You're
pretty smart, Nick. No mistake, by the way, Colonel will
you tell us why Atwill or whatever his name was
had that adhesive tape on his hand. He scratched it
while he was getting his suitcase out of the luggage compartment.
Didn't the mount to anything, but it was leading some Well, Colonel,
you ought to be right proud. You'll go down in history.
(23:14):
He is the first man who ever hung himself with
a piece of adhesive tape. Well, Patsy, I hope he
can get home without any more distraction.
Speaker 5 (23:30):
Uh huh, Nick, do you suppose they'll ever find out
what happened to the real Leonard at Well?
Speaker 3 (23:35):
Why Patchy that came out in the colonel's confession, Remember
the chrieff telling us about that old bum that died
on the colonel's ranch last winner. He was Leonard at Well,
nobody else. When the colonel went through his effects, he
found that letter to his wife asking her to forgive
him for deserting her eighteen years ago. That's why the
colonel got the idea for cashing in on those worthless
oil leases.
Speaker 5 (23:52):
Then it's no wonder the force that will resemble the.
Speaker 6 (23:54):
Picture of the real one. The colonel knew the type
of person he needed for the impersonation and.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
They found him in Hollywood, broken down movie extra with
a shady repetition.
Speaker 5 (24:03):
You know, Nick, I bet he never knew to the
last minute that he was casting the corpse and the
colonel little drama.
Speaker 3 (24:09):
Well, that corps is an unexpected shock to almost everyone.
Missus Atwell expected it to be her husband, the impostor
expected it to be Whitey.
Speaker 5 (24:16):
And only the colonel knew who the unexpected corpse really was,
and he wasn't telling.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
And now, Nick, how about the adventure new post war
old Dutch cleanser is going to bring us next week?
Speaker 3 (24:36):
Well, Mike, if you were a young man with all
the money you wanted, and if you had everything in
the world to live for, can you think of any
reason why you would want to die?
Speaker 1 (24:43):
I can't think of a reason for wanting to die
under any circumstances.
Speaker 5 (24:46):
Well, a young man named Miles Kincaid had a different attitude.
Speaker 3 (24:50):
Yes, he was found drowned in the lake, and yet
he wasn't drowned.
Speaker 2 (24:52):
In the lake.
Speaker 5 (24:53):
And before the case was over, Nick uncovered the reason
for not just one, but for three mysterious deaths.
Speaker 1 (24:59):
Well as though, we're in for a lot of excitement
as well as mystery.
Speaker 3 (25:02):
What do you call the adventure?
Speaker 4 (25:03):
Nick?
Speaker 2 (25:04):
I call it the.
Speaker 3 (25:05):
Case of the Flowery Farewell.
Speaker 1 (25:13):
Nick Carter, Master Detective is presented each week at this
time by The Cut, a heat packing company. It is
produced and directed by Jack McGregor and is copyrighted by
Street and Smith Publications Incorporated.
Speaker 3 (25:24):
Charlotte Manson is featured as Patsy.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
Today's script was written by Jim Parsons.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
Original music is played by Henry Silvern. This program is
fictional and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead
is purely coincidental. This is Michael Fitzmorris saying, when minutes count,
use new post war old Dutch cleanser.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
This is the mutual broadcasting system.
War Old Dutch Cleanser, famous for chasing dirt, presents Lick Carter,
famous for chasing prime every week at this time, two
great names. I joined as new post War Old Dutch
Cleanser brings you one of the most resourceful and daring
(00:22):
characters in all detective fiction, Nick.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Carter, Master Detective.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
Now let's have the truth. Why why did you get
that suit of clothes a.
Speaker 4 (00:37):
Fellow that got crooked? He took him off from give
him to me himself. Uh huh?
Speaker 5 (00:41):
And I suppose he gave you his shirt and socks
and necktie too.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Sure?
Speaker 4 (00:44):
Sure, he said, I need him to go with his suit,
and he stopped the car so.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
I could put him on.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Is that when you tried to kill him?
Speaker 3 (00:51):
No, Chief, that's when he tried to kill me.
Speaker 6 (00:54):
Oh, Nick, this isn't getting us anywhere.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
You're wrong, Petsy, Now I know who really killed mister Radwell,
now the Case of the Unexpected Corpse.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
Today's adventure starring Lawn Clark as Nick Carter, brought to
you by New Post War Old Dutch Cleanser. It's about
ten o'clock in the morning as Nick and Patsy enter
the office of Sheriff Tabor in the little town of
Plain City, Texas.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Hi a sheriff. Hello, Sheriff taber Well, love be dog,
Nick Carr and Petsy Golden. What are you two doing
out this way while we're on our way back home
from California.
Speaker 5 (01:29):
Shriff, And since we had to come through Texas anyway,
I reminded Nick of that invitation you gave us three
years ago.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Remember, sure, I remember, And you got here just at
the right time. We had a murder last night on
our white sheriff. This is purely a social.
Speaker 6 (01:42):
Visiit a murder cheer in Plains City.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
We about ten miles easter here a big oil man
from Dallas named Leonard Atwell. He was shot and killed
by some hitchhiker. How luck, Sheff.
Speaker 6 (01:52):
How do you know it was a hitchhiker, Sheriff.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
Well, because we know it. Well started out from Dallas alone,
and when he we found the bill, he was behind
the wheel of his car with powder burns and a
bullet hole in the right side of his head. That
sounds more like suicide. No, no, it couldn't have been that.
The gun was gone, so was at On's money, his
watch and the big gold signet ring.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
That they all was wore.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
You found any clues yet? No, I can't tell yet.
I had everything that was in the car brought up
here to my office and spread him out on those
big tables over there. Come on, I'll show you. I
I put the tools from the car in this table here.
See now what I use this piece of rubber tubing for? Yeah?
Search me. Now over here these were the clothes he
(02:38):
was aware, I see. And there's another piece of adhesive tape. Well,
that was on his right hand. There was a little
scratch there. And look at this piece of tape. See
that flaw on the weed where it was torn off
the room? Oh yeah, thing like that might be a clue.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
Sure.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
Now on this table here I got his suitcases and
the stuff that was in him close mostly m.
Speaker 6 (03:01):
This looks interesting. Last will and testament of Leonard frank.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
Atwell, yeah, he left everything to his wife in Detroit.
Part he was from Dallas, well he was, but he
deserted his wife in Detroit eighteen years ago. There's a
letter there in that envelope much to be opened in
case of my death. Asked the letter to forgive him
and all that stuff look Sivian. He must have been
carrying that around a long time.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Yeah, I guess so.
Speaker 6 (03:23):
I suppose a man like that carried a lot of insurance.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
One hundred and fifty thousand dollars Worth College took out
the policy only a couple of months ago, right here
in Claint City, by the way. One hundred and fifty
thousand dollars. Who gets it? Well the wife, I guess
she's so aware, And the policy's made out to his state. Hey, Sheriff,
I don't see any first aid kid here. No, there
wasn't one in the car, just that stuff you see here.
Then where they got that strip of an east of tape,
(03:47):
it's perfectly clean. He couldn't have had it on more
than a few minutes.
Speaker 5 (03:50):
Well, maybe when he cut his hand, he stopped at
a filling station or a lunch room and they fixed.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
It up for him, Say, Patsy, now that sure sounds reasonable. Yeah,
maybe if you can find that filling station or lunch room,
you can get a disc from the man who was
riding with that well just before he was killed. Say
that's a great idea, I'll do that. Goodn't have driven
more than a few miles without getting the tape. Soil
and if he should be all right, I'm sorry to
buddy in the sheriff. That's okay, buck, Folks, this is
Buck Henderson, my depity as mister Carter and miss Bowen.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
How do you do?
Speaker 3 (04:18):
How did you do?
Speaker 2 (04:19):
And this telegram just coming? I thought it might be important.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
Oh thank you Buck, Oh say Buck.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
Yeah, Sheriff, I.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
Want you to hop in your car and start out
on the highway toward Dallas. Stop at every filling station
in the lunch room along the way and find out
if at Well stop there last night, good gravesh Heriff.
Dallas is two hundred and ninety miles. Never mind, you
just do what I well, I'll be dogged something wrong. Well,
this telegram is from the chief of police in Dallas.
(04:46):
You see. I wired him to send someone out to
Atwell's home address and tell the folks there what had happened. Well, well,
the chief says they ain't no such address. It's a
vacant lot. We came out here to see you, Colonel Gardner,
(05:07):
because you knew mister Ratwell better than anyone.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
In the country. Well.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
Yes, and of course of our business dealings we became
very close friends. His death has been a terrible shock
to me. Do you have any idea why he should
have given a false address? No, ovid, I'm sure it
wasn't done with any intent to deceive. I've never known
a more honorable gentleman than Leonard Thatthwell.
Speaker 6 (05:24):
Oh, then you didn't know he deserted his wife.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
His wife, Hathwell told me he was a bachelor.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
Well, you'll get a chance to meet the bachelor's wife
this afternoon. She's coming here. Yep. When I notified her
of his death, she wired back that she was taking
the next plane. Colonel Gardner, would you mind telling us
the nature of your business dealings with mister.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
Ratwell, Not at all.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
He bought some oil leases from me, one hundred and
thirty thousand dollars worth, but he didn't sign those leases
over to him without getting the money.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
Did you, As a matter of fact, it did.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
He gave me a certified check for forty thousand at
the time, and he was on his way here last
night to pay the balance and take up his Nope, you.
Speaker 5 (06:00):
Mean the hitchhiker who killed him got away with ninety
thousand dollars.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
Oh, no, miss Warren. It wouldn't have been in cash.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
Of course, it's sure to be a warning to you, Colonel,
not to go picking up folks on the road.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
I'm afraid I'm too old to change my ways.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
Now, share, you make a habit of doing that, Colonel.
Why every tramp in the country knows that this ranch
is good for a meal and a night's lodging. My
last winter, another hobo got sick and died here, and
the Colonel even paid for his funeral. Well, Sheriff, there
is little enough that we can do for those less
fortunate than our.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Sad Oh excuse me, Hello, Yes, yes, he's here.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
Just a minute for you share. Oh thanks, colonel, let's
be from the courthouse. Hello, Yes, this is sheriff table.
You did whin? Yeah fine, fine, I'll come right back
to town.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
Dick.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
We got him a murderer, yep, caught him try to
peddle at wells ring watch.
Speaker 6 (07:00):
Is somebody from around here?
Speaker 3 (07:02):
No, it's some old bum, just like I thought. I'm
sorry to rush off, Colonel, but we got a killer
to take care of.
Speaker 4 (07:16):
Oh you got me wrong, chief, honest, I never croaked nobody.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
And where'd you get his watch? And ring? I told
you I've found and that suit he was were and
I suppose you found that too. Yeah, that's my chief.
Speaker 4 (07:27):
It was all rolled up in a bundle like at
the side of the road.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
Oh look you, whatever your name is, it's Morgan, Chief,
Weddy Morgan. Okay, Morgan. Now, why don't you open up
and tell us what you did with the gun. I
never had no gun. I'm a bum, sure, but I
never hurt nobody in all my life. You hitched a
ride with a gray haired guy in a big sit
down last night, didn't you. No, No, I pulled a
gun and you made him drive off on the side right.
Speaker 4 (07:52):
I've never seen the guy on.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
And after you've killed him and you took his watch
and ring, then you opened up his suitcases and got
yourself a nusolu clothes. No, no, no, I swear I didn't.
Speaker 4 (08:02):
Oh hey, look, Chief, You wouldn't send me to the
pen for something I didn't do.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
Would you. It ain't the pin you're headed for, brother,
it's the electric chair. But Nick, he's bound to be
the guy. How else would he get at Wells watch
and ring in those clothes. They were at Wells too, okay, Sheriff,
(08:30):
But why didn't they have any money in his pocket?
Speaker 2 (08:31):
You said that Well always carried a lot of cash.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
Yes, but you didn't think he really did find it stuff?
Do you think? No? Never, I saw a man trying
to lie on of a bad situation.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
It was Morgan.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
But well, that's pretty slim evidence in whish they convict
him of murder. Hey, yeah, ser I found it the
place where at Well got the adhesion tath Well. I
don't know about that, but he stopped at a filling
station about thirty miles up the line and had the
oil change in his car while he was eating dinner.
Good work, Bucky. And there was somebody with him too,
sort of an old gent with white hair. Whiney Morgan,
I knew it. I got the kid from the.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
Filling station out in the office. You want to talk
to him?
Speaker 3 (09:04):
I can't right now, Not right now, but miss Atwell's
doing about five minutes, and I gotta go down and
meet it. Come on, Nick, the undertaking parlors are at
the back of the store. Here, Miss Dwell, I want
(09:26):
you to identify the body, just.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
For the record.
Speaker 6 (09:29):
I can't believe it.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
After all these years, poor Leonard, judging by the letter
he left, he must have still thought a great deal
of you, missus.
Speaker 7 (09:36):
Apwell, yes, I don't suppose he ever married again, or
he'd have left the money to his second wife.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
It's quite a pile too, one hundred and fifty thousand
on the insurance a loon.
Speaker 6 (09:45):
I can't imagine Leonard getting rich. Why, twenty years ago
he couldn't.
Speaker 3 (09:49):
Even hold a job right through this door man the
blue casket over there.
Speaker 7 (09:55):
Just think everybody used to call him lazy and shiftless.
Speaker 6 (10:00):
Yes, now they'll.
Speaker 3 (10:02):
Do the matter of missus Atwell.
Speaker 7 (10:04):
Why that's not not your husband or yes, of course
that's learned. But what well, naturally he's changed a lot
in eighteen years, but that's definitely lened at Well, Sure
it is, Nick.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
I know him myself. Everybody can tell you.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
All right.
Speaker 3 (10:24):
Then, since we find outified the victim, suppose I go
back to the jail and see what the kid from
the filling station can tell us. You're sure you'd know
this man if you saw him again, Whittaker, Oh sure, sure.
Speaker 8 (10:41):
Him and mister Atwell stood around waiting while I finished
changing the oil, and I got a right.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
Good look at him. When my deputy brings the suspect
in here, I don't want you to say him think,
can I ask you?
Speaker 4 (10:53):
No?
Speaker 3 (10:53):
No, no, sir. By the way, did you notice the
strip of it? He's a tape on mister Atwell's right hand.
Speaker 8 (10:57):
He's well, I don't think he had none, or I
don't noticed it when he paid me for the ard.
Speaker 4 (11:03):
Here they are, Oh, Chief, Chief, you're gonna let me
go now. That's why you had me brung in here,
ain't it so as you can turn me loose?
Speaker 2 (11:10):
Huh?
Speaker 3 (11:10):
Well, that all depends why you still see that you
didn't hit you ride last night with a gray haired
man in a big seat?
Speaker 4 (11:17):
An o, Chief, so help me. I've never seen the
guyer the carne How.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
About that win again?
Speaker 8 (11:22):
No, no, he's a liash chere. That's the fella that
was with mister Atwell when the top of the filling station.
I'll swear it on a stack of bibles of foot high.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
With the filling station attendance identification, the case against Whitey
Morgan seems complete. We'll see what happens in just a minute.
Now back to the case of the Unexpected corpse. Today's
adventure with Nick Carter brought to you by new postwar
old Dutch cleanser. After a sleepless night in the county jail.
(11:59):
Whitey Morgan sent word that he's ready to tell the truth,
and the sheriff has asked Nick to accompany him to
white his cell.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
Oh, let's have.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
The confession, Whitey. You admit you were lying about where
you got.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
That suit of clothes.
Speaker 4 (12:11):
He here, Chief, I didn't find him. This fellows got croaked.
He give him to me what he did so help me.
Right after he picked me up on the highway, he
said it was an old suit that was getting too
tight for him.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
That suit was brand new. I don't care, that's what
he told me. I suppose the shirt and socks and
the necktie they were too tight for him, too, right.
Speaker 4 (12:31):
He said, I need them to go with a suit.
Then later, when it got good and dark, he stopped
the car so as I could get out and put
him mark.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
And that's when you killed him.
Speaker 4 (12:40):
No, no, honest, chief, that's when he tried to kill me.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
Oh wait a minute, he did.
Speaker 4 (12:46):
I put on the clothes he give me, and then
when I was getting back in the car, he slugged
me with a wrench. And I've seen it coming too
late to duck And that's all I knew to come
to and a ditch someplace else, someplace. Yeah. He must
have hauled me here in the car and dumped me
out for dead.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
Yeah, so he got you all dressed up so you
die happy. Huh, even gave you his watch and ring.
Speaker 4 (13:10):
I don't know nothing about the watch and ring when
I come to I.
Speaker 3 (13:13):
Was wearing them, Whitey, when you were in the car
with that world, did you notice a piece of it?
He'sa a tape on his right hand.
Speaker 4 (13:20):
Ugh, No, there was nothing.
Speaker 8 (13:23):
On his hand.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
You're sure? Yeah? What difference does it make?
Speaker 2 (13:27):
Nick?
Speaker 3 (13:28):
You're not gonna swallow this crazy story? Or why didn't
you tell us? Says at first Whitey Well, When.
Speaker 4 (13:33):
The chief here said the guy had been croaked, I
got scared. I didn't think he believed me.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
You bet, I wouldn't and take it from me, brother, neither.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
Will the jewelry. Hi, sir, Hi, Nick Patsy? Well?
Speaker 3 (13:59):
Where have you two been all afternoon?
Speaker 5 (14:00):
Oh?
Speaker 6 (14:01):
Lots of places?
Speaker 5 (14:02):
The post office, the photographers, the garage where you put
Atwell's car.
Speaker 3 (14:05):
What'd you go there for? Wanted to check the speedometer.
It registers nine four hundred and eighty five.
Speaker 5 (14:09):
Miles, and that boy changed the oil in the car
at nine four hundred and.
Speaker 6 (14:13):
Twenty seven according to the sticker inside the door.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
So what well from that filling station to where the
body was found as a distance of twenty four miles
from that spot to the garage here is ten miles.
That's thirty four all together.
Speaker 5 (14:24):
Yeah, but the car had been driven fifty eight miles.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
See what I mean. Sheriff Atwell must have driven twenty
four miles out of his way for that piece of
adiece of tape. For the love of Pete, Nick, I
think if you're touched on that subject of that tape.
Speaker 6 (14:36):
We found something else to share.
Speaker 5 (14:38):
Oh, a spot of blood on the floor in the
rear of Atwell's car.
Speaker 3 (14:41):
I'm going to have an analyzed to see if it
could possibly have come from that tout on Whitey's head. Oh, Nick,
don't tell me that you're taking any stock in that
wild's story of his Why any five year old kid
could make up a better lie than.
Speaker 6 (14:52):
That, and so could Whitey unless it happens to be true.
Speaker 3 (14:56):
But he's got to be lyle. Why would that will
give all this stuff to a trap then hit them
over the head and throw them out of the car. Look,
let me ask you a couple of questions, sheriff. He said,
the suitcases were both neatly packed and locked. Why would
Whitey repacked them after killing at Well? A steel in
the clothes?
Speaker 4 (15:11):
Why?
Speaker 6 (15:11):
And what happened to the money Atwell always carried?
Speaker 3 (15:14):
Okay, okay, I give up. But do you load the asses? No,
not all of them, but I can guess it a few.
For instance, Atwell took out a lot of insurance only
two months ago, payable to his estate. Yeah, I suppose
that Well planned the stage a fake accident with the car,
and suppose he planned on having Whitey's body found behind
the wheel, wearing his clothes, his watching his ring. Yes,
(15:35):
but he couldn't get away with it. Everybody in town
knew at Will. Yeah, Whitey and hat Well were both
about the same size and age, they both had gray hair.
And if the body were badly burned, burned, remember that
piece of rubber tubing. It had been just the thing
for siphoning gasoline out of the tank to be sure
that the fire burned everything it was supposed to.
Speaker 5 (15:51):
Why every insurance company knows that tricks here if it's
been done one hundred times.
Speaker 3 (15:55):
Yes, but Atwell didn't do that there wasn't any accident.
The car wasn't burned, right, Maybe something went wrong at
the last minute and the plan was changed. You remember
how surprised Missus Atwell looked when she saw the body. Yes,
I know, but she explained that. Yes, since she has
some more explaining to do, I've been in touch with
the Detroit Police and the surprise she got yesterday is
nothing to the one I have in store for her today.
(16:27):
Missus Atwell, you recognize this picture?
Speaker 6 (16:30):
Well, where did you get that?
Speaker 5 (16:32):
The Detroit Police found it in the bedroom of your
apartment and transmitted here to Nick by wire photo.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
Isn't that a picture of your husband? Well? Yes, but
what it.
Speaker 5 (16:41):
Was taken more than twenty years ago?
Speaker 3 (16:43):
And let me see it, Nick, Yeah, yeah, that's that.
Well all right, but I wouldn't have known it unless
I was looking for the resemblance. Now look at this picture.
What is it? An ear?
Speaker 4 (16:54):
Right?
Speaker 5 (16:55):
Here the left ear of Leonard Atwell and large fifty
times from.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
That snapshot you see, Missus aptap Well. Ears are as
individual as fingerprints. They never changed from birth to death
except in size. Say, I didn't know there and this here,
Leonard Atwell's here is an entirely different shape from that
of the man you identified yesterday as your husband. All right,
I lied about it.
Speaker 5 (17:13):
I knew that wasn't Leonard.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
Nick, it is Atwell. I know him myself.
Speaker 5 (17:19):
You mean you knew the man who posed as Leonard
at Well.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
I don't understand.
Speaker 6 (17:24):
Why should anyone do that.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
There's one obvious reason, missus Atwell one hundred and fifty
thousand dollars insurance money. Hey, I get it, Nick. He
was going to fake the accident, like you said, and
split the money with her, But then she killed him
in order to keep it off to herself. You're accusing
me of murdy. You better no, no, no, no share.
According to the Detroit Police, Missus Atwell was at turning
a bridge party the night of the murder. I checked
(17:46):
that angle Well. She coulda hire somebody to do it for,
couldn't she? Perhaps? But I don't think so. There was
big money behind.
Speaker 5 (17:53):
This impersonation, Nick, Think I have an idea. Didn't the
colonel say that he signed those or leases over the
at Well?
Speaker 3 (17:59):
Absolutely yes, and return for a check a promisory note
for the balance.
Speaker 6 (18:03):
And maybe that was the real reason behind it, and the.
Speaker 5 (18:06):
Insurance was only part of the scheme to carry out
the idea that he was a rich man.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
If you think he was cheating the colonel, you're bucking
up the wrong tree, Patsy. Nobody gets ahead of that
old bird.
Speaker 5 (18:17):
Yeah, but the dead man did get absolute title to
one hundred and thirty thousand dollars worth of oil leases,
and all he actually paid out was forty thousand.
Speaker 3 (18:24):
Well, even if the Colonel never gets another sin.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
He's doing all right?
Speaker 3 (18:28):
What do you mean why those leases ain't worth anything?
He couldn't have peddled him to anybody around here for
more than five or ten thousand, So that's it. Come on, passy, hey,
where you go? Look for her?
Speaker 2 (18:39):
All of it.
Speaker 3 (18:39):
He's a tape.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
Here's my first daid kit, mister Carter.
Speaker 6 (18:51):
It's the big one, isn't it.
Speaker 2 (18:53):
Connor Ranch. You never know what may happen, Miss Bowen.
Speaker 3 (18:55):
May I look through the kit, Colonel Gardener, certainly, mister Carter,
I'd like to know why you're so interested. I'm interested
because the man who was murdered two nights ago had
a fresh grip of adhesive tape on his right hand,
and I'm wondering whether it came from here. Well, that
will never got to my range. I told you he
was on his way. I know that's what you said, Colonel.
There was an extra twenty four miles in this speedometer.
(19:16):
In other words, he must have made a side trip
of twelve miles in.
Speaker 5 (19:19):
Back, and this ranch is exactly twelve miles off the
main highway.
Speaker 3 (19:23):
Are you calling me a liars or worse than that? Colonel,
I'm calling you a murderer. Ridiculous. Leonard ad Well was
my friend. The man who called himself Leonard Addwell was
your stooge. You paid his expenses for four months while
he built up the illusion of being a wealthy oil promoter.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
You're out of your mind. Why should I do such
a thing so that.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
He could take out a big life insurance policy, payable
to his estate, and then make a will starting with
the usual clause about paying all.
Speaker 6 (19:49):
Just debts, meaning that promisory note, you hole.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
Colonel, there's a neat way to collect ninety thousand dollars
for your worthless oil leases, your imagining things. Maybe so
they I see it. The plan went like this. Atwell
picked up somebody who roughly resembled him, dressed him in
his clothes, then knocked him out. This man was Whitey Morgan,
who was to be found dead in Atwell's car and
would be taken for Atwell because his body would be
too burned for positive identification.
Speaker 5 (20:13):
Then you and Atwell would share the money you would
collect from at was a state because of that note
for ninety thousand you held, but went.
Speaker 3 (20:19):
At Well, with Morgan's unconscious body in his car, came
here to get your help in faking the accident. You
decided that a substitute wasn't as effective as a real thing, so.
Speaker 2 (20:28):
You killed that Well. This is ridiculous.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
Then you emptied Atwell's pockets to make it look like
a robbery. Then you took the unconscious Morgan miles away
and dumped him by the side of the highway, knowing
he'd be the logical suspect in Atwell's murder. And you
didn't burn the car because it was no longer necessary
with a real Atwell dead in it. How do you
expect to prove any such wild story. Atwell had no
adhesive tape on his hand when he picked up Morgan.
(20:51):
He did have it when he was found dead. If
that tape came from your first aid kit, it'll prove
he was here after he had set Morgan up for
the fake killing. A very interesting theory, Carter, but not proof.
You'll hand me the roll of it he'esive taped from
your kit. I think it'll give me the proof I
need very well.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
All right, get your hands up, both of you.
Speaker 6 (21:15):
Can you get a gun and the kid?
Speaker 3 (21:16):
Yes? I put it there when I went out of
the room to get this kid, Carter, I thought there
was something odd about your wanting to inspect my first
aid supplies. Why because you remember the last time you
used that kit was just before the murder.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
A very shrewd guess.
Speaker 3 (21:31):
Mister Carter.
Speaker 6 (21:32):
So you did kill that man, just as Nick said,
with this very gun.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
But dear, it's too bad that you have to be
so clever. Mister Carter, what do you mean by that?
I mean that you two are the only people who
suspect I killed that stupid fool.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
So I'm going to kill both of you right now.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
With his hands in the air, Nick hasn't a chance
of reaching his own gun before Colonel Gardner. This finger
closes on the trigger. We'll see what happens in just
a minute.
Speaker 3 (22:04):
Now.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
For the conclusion of the case, of the Unexpected Corpse.
Today's Adventure with Nick Carter roup to you by new
post war old Dutch Pleanser. In the living room of
Colonel Gardner's ranch house, Nick and Patsy stand with their
hands in the air, staring at the revolver in the
colonel's hands.
Speaker 3 (22:20):
As he says, you two are the only ones who
suspect I killed that stupid fool, so I'm going to
kill both you right now. You're wrong, Colonel. The sheriff
knows all about this. I told him not half an
hour ago. I'm too good a poker player to fall
for a bluff like that.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
Carter. This is no bluff, Colonel Drop that can't table you.
Speaker 3 (22:38):
It's Colonel. I've been standing outside at Windy. That was
a mighty interesting confession. And thanks for telling us that
this is the gun you killed your partner with. I.
Speaker 5 (22:46):
Nick, you were right about this adhesive tape. It does
nash that strip on the dead man's hands. You can
tell by that same floor on the WII.
Speaker 3 (22:52):
Oh, even if we didn't have the gun, that would
prove he was here just before he was murdered. You're
pretty smart, Nick. No mistake, by the way, Colonel will
you tell us why Atwill or whatever his name was
had that adhesive tape on his hand. He scratched it
while he was getting his suitcase out of the luggage compartment.
Didn't the mount to anything, but it was leading some Well, Colonel,
you ought to be right proud. You'll go down in history.
(23:14):
He is the first man who ever hung himself with
a piece of adhesive tape. Well, Patsy, I hope he
can get home without any more distraction.
Speaker 5 (23:30):
Uh huh, Nick, do you suppose they'll ever find out
what happened to the real Leonard at Well?
Speaker 3 (23:35):
Why Patchy that came out in the colonel's confession, Remember
the chrieff telling us about that old bum that died
on the colonel's ranch last winner. He was Leonard at Well,
nobody else. When the colonel went through his effects, he
found that letter to his wife asking her to forgive
him for deserting her eighteen years ago. That's why the
colonel got the idea for cashing in on those worthless
oil leases.
Speaker 5 (23:52):
Then it's no wonder the force that will resemble the.
Speaker 6 (23:54):
Picture of the real one. The colonel knew the type
of person he needed for the impersonation and.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
They found him in Hollywood, broken down movie extra with
a shady repetition.
Speaker 5 (24:03):
You know, Nick, I bet he never knew to the
last minute that he was casting the corpse and the
colonel little drama.
Speaker 3 (24:09):
Well, that corps is an unexpected shock to almost everyone.
Missus Atwell expected it to be her husband, the impostor
expected it to be Whitey.
Speaker 5 (24:16):
And only the colonel knew who the unexpected corpse really was,
and he wasn't telling.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
And now, Nick, how about the adventure new post war
old Dutch cleanser is going to bring us next week?
Speaker 3 (24:36):
Well, Mike, if you were a young man with all
the money you wanted, and if you had everything in
the world to live for, can you think of any
reason why you would want to die?
Speaker 1 (24:43):
I can't think of a reason for wanting to die
under any circumstances.
Speaker 5 (24:46):
Well, a young man named Miles Kincaid had a different attitude.
Speaker 3 (24:50):
Yes, he was found drowned in the lake, and yet
he wasn't drowned.
Speaker 2 (24:52):
In the lake.
Speaker 5 (24:53):
And before the case was over, Nick uncovered the reason
for not just one, but for three mysterious deaths.
Speaker 1 (24:59):
Well as though, we're in for a lot of excitement
as well as mystery.
Speaker 3 (25:02):
What do you call the adventure?
Speaker 4 (25:03):
Nick?
Speaker 2 (25:04):
I call it the.
Speaker 3 (25:05):
Case of the Flowery Farewell.
Speaker 1 (25:13):
Nick Carter, Master Detective is presented each week at this
time by The Cut, a heat packing company. It is
produced and directed by Jack McGregor and is copyrighted by
Street and Smith Publications Incorporated.
Speaker 3 (25:24):
Charlotte Manson is featured as Patsy.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
Today's script was written by Jim Parsons.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
Original music is played by Henry Silvern. This program is
fictional and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead
is purely coincidental. This is Michael Fitzmorris saying, when minutes count,
use new post war old Dutch cleanser.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
This is the mutual broadcasting system.
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