# Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Chain of Death Matter (EP5055)

An episode of [The Great Detectives of Old Time Radio| Daily Mystery Dramas](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/335549005), 4 Sep 2026, 25 min.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/pdrl.fm/997ffb/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/74777163/gd5055.mp3

Today's Mystery: Johnny Dollar is summoned by his eccentric old acquaintance Alvin Peabody Cartwright, who has received a chain letter promising good fortune if he continues it—and disaster if he breaks it. Johnny is skeptical until he learns that two of Cartwright’s friends died exactly when the letter predicted, suggesting that someone may be using superstition to disguise a very real threat. Original Radio Broadcast Date:August 2, 1959 Originated from Hollywood Cast: • Bob Bailey as Johnny Dollar • Virginia Gregg • Howard McNear • Paul Dubov • Frank Gerstle • Herb Vigran • Written, produced, and directed by Jack Johnstone • Jim Matthews, announcer When making your travel plans, remember http://johnnydollarair.com Become one of our Patreon Supporters at https://patreon.greatdetectives.net Thank you to our Patreon Supporter of the Day: Ryan, Patreon supporter since July 2017 Take the listener survey…http://survey.greatdetectives.net Give us a call 208-991-4783 Become one of our friends on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter @radiodetectives Join us again tomorrow for another detective drama from the Golden Age of Radio.

## Transcript

[0:03] Speaker 1: THE END.
[0:28] Speaker 2: Welcome to the Great Detectives of Old Time Radio from Boise, Idaho.
[0:35] Speaker 2: This is your host, Adam Graham. In a moment, we're
[0:38] Speaker 2: going to bring you this week's episode of Yours Truly,
[0:42] Speaker 2: Johnny Dollar. But first, I want to encourage you, if
[0:45] Speaker 2: you're enjoying the podcast, to please follow us using your
[0:49] Speaker 2: favorite podcast software. And you can also become one of
[0:52] Speaker 2: our ongoing Patreon supporters at patreon.greatdetectives.net. for as little as
[0:58] Speaker 2: $ 2 per month, and this is our listener support appreciation campaign,
[1:02] Speaker 2: so you can sign up there and you'll get a
[1:05] Speaker 2: monthly update from me, and you will also get to
[1:09] Speaker 2: vote and have some feedback on some important aspects of
[1:13] Speaker 2: the program, including which series we're going to do on
[1:18] Speaker 2: Mondays when the saint leaves. Check it all out at patreon.greatdetectives.net. Well, now,
[1:27] Speaker 2: from August 2nd, 1959, here is The Deadly Chainmatter.
[1:38] Speaker 1: Johnny Dollar.
[1:40] Speaker 3: Well, now, that's nice. What can I do for you?
[1:42] Speaker 1: I beg your pardon?
[1:44] Speaker 3: Oh, it's quite all right, and it's granted. Granted. And
[1:47] Speaker 3: now that's all you.
[1:48] Speaker 4: Have to say.
[1:50] Speaker 1: No, wait a minute. Who are you?
[1:51] Speaker 3: Wait a minute. Well, what for? I'm busy. I'm a
[1:54] Speaker 3: busy man.
[1:55] Speaker 1: Alvin Peabody Cartwright. Who? You.
[1:59] Speaker 5: That's right.
[2:00] Speaker 4: Cartwright.
[2:00] Speaker 1: Well, what are you calling about, Mr.
[2:02] Speaker 3: Cartwright? Calling who?
[2:04] Speaker 2: Me.
[2:05] Speaker 3: Who are you?
[2:06] Speaker 1: Johnny Dollar. Listen.
[2:07] Speaker 3: Oh, well, Johnny.
[2:09] Speaker 6: What a fortunate coincidence. You're just the man I want
[2:13] Speaker 6: to talk to.
[2:13] Speaker 1: Coincidence?
[2:14] Speaker 3: Of course that you happen to call me this way.
[2:17] Speaker 1: Well, I'm afraid it was the other way around.
[2:19] Speaker 4: Ah.
[2:20] Speaker 1: What's on your mind, Mr.
[2:20] Speaker 3: Cartwright? Johnny, I'm being threatened.
[2:24] Speaker 1: Oops, again?
[2:25] Speaker 3: Yes, sir.
[2:26] Speaker 6: And since my life is insured by the Continental Insurance
[2:28] Speaker 6: and Trust Company, well, that makes it an insurance matter.
[2:31] Speaker 1: Yeah, well, now look... And I refuse to let.
[2:34] Speaker 6: Anybody but you look into such matters. So, Johnny, I
[2:37] Speaker 6: want you to come over here to Lakewood and see
[2:39] Speaker 6: me right away.
[2:41] Speaker 1: Yeah, well, Mr. Cartwright, you're sure this isn't just.
[2:43] Speaker 3: Some, some.
[2:44] Speaker 1: Yes? Well, you know, a couple of times in the past,
[2:47] Speaker 1: that is, these emergency calls.
[2:49] Speaker 3: Of yours You think I'm joking? Well, I'm not.
[2:52] Speaker 6: You fail to come here and protect me against this,
[2:55] Speaker 6: this threat, and only two things can happen.
[2:58] Speaker 3: First, I can be murdered.
[3:00] Speaker 1: And?
[3:01] Speaker 6: And second, I'll cancel all the rest of the insurance
[3:04] Speaker 6: I have with that company.
[3:05] Speaker 1: After you've been murdered?
[3:06] Speaker 6: Until you get yourself on over here right away.
[3:08] Speaker 7: Mr.
[3:09] Speaker 3: Cutt, hello?
[3:12] Speaker 1: Well, here we go again. And yet, I wonder... CBS
[3:25] Speaker 1: Radio brings you Bob Bailey in the exciting adventures of
[3:28] Speaker 1: the man with the action-packed expense account, America's fabulous freelance
[3:32] Speaker 1: insurance investigator... Yours truly, Johnny Dollar. Expense account submitted by
[3:55] Speaker 1: Special Investigator Johnny Dollar to the Continental Insurance and Trust
[3:59] Speaker 1: Company Home Office, Hartford, Connecticut. Following is an account of
[4:02] Speaker 1: expenses incurred during my investigation of the deadly chain matter.
[4:10] Speaker 1: Thanks to Alvin Peabody Cartwright, I've been involved now and
[4:12] Speaker 1: then in some real wild cases, real crazy. On the
[4:16] Speaker 1: other hand, he's an erratic old eccentric, but extremely wealthy.
[4:20] Speaker 1: As a result, he's not only been the target of
[4:22] Speaker 1: a lot of rackets, but has come very close to
[4:23] Speaker 1: being murdered more than once. So, item one on the
[4:26] Speaker 1: expense account, a dollar for a taxi to the office
[4:28] Speaker 1: of Bill Ferguson at Continental Insurance and Trusts.
[4:31] Speaker 8: No, Johnny, he hasn't said a word to me. Can
[4:33] Speaker 8: he tell you what kind of threat he's received?
[4:35] Speaker 1: No, Bill, as usual, he told me nothing. Well, it
[4:37] Speaker 1: doesn't matter, but with the millions worth.
[4:39] Speaker 8: Of insurance we've written for Cartwright, and I mean millions,
[4:42] Speaker 8: and to be sure we don't lose his account or
[4:43] Speaker 8: some other company.
[4:45] Speaker 1: Well, we can afford to pamper.
[4:46] Speaker 8: Him a bit, which is to say we can well
[4:48] Speaker 8: afford to pay your expense account even if all he
[4:50] Speaker 8: wants to do is say hello to you.
[4:51] Speaker 1: Okay, then, Bill. I'll run over to his home in
[4:53] Speaker 1: Lakewood and see him. Of course, if he really is
[4:56] Speaker 1: being threatening... Don't worry. I'll let you know about it.
[5:04] Speaker 1: Expense account item 2, 570 mileage on my car to Lakewood.
[5:08] Speaker 1: For my money, it's one of the prettiest little towns
[5:10] Speaker 1: in all of New England, home of a lot of
[5:12] Speaker 1: wealthy retired people. The Cartwright place, where the old man
[5:15] Speaker 1: lives alone, sits on top of a low hill at
[5:17] Speaker 1: one side of the lake, with two or three acres
[5:19] Speaker 1: surrounding the fine old house.
[5:21] Speaker 6: Hi, Mr.
[5:25] Speaker 1: Cartwright.
[5:26] Speaker 3: Johnny Dollar!
[5:28] Speaker 4: Oh, well, this is an unexpected pleasure.
[5:31] Speaker 1: Unexpected?
[5:32] Speaker 4: Come in, boy. Come in.
[5:33] Speaker 3: Come in.
[5:33] Speaker 1: Thanks. Well, sir, how are you this fine July afternoon?
[5:38] Speaker 4: Afternoon? It's almost evening. Can't you see that?
[5:41] Speaker 1: Well, how are you anyway?
[5:43] Speaker 4: Oh, I'm terrible now. Oh, I'm just terrible. That rainy
[5:47] Speaker 4: weather the past couple of days. I've hardly been able
[5:50] Speaker 4: to talk.
[5:51] Speaker 1: Well, there's been nothing wrong with today. A lot of
[5:53] Speaker 1: nice warm sunshine.
[5:54] Speaker 4: Today? Oh, today I've been feeling fine. Whatever made you
[5:58] Speaker 4: think otherwise? Oh, and tell me, whatever brought you here
[6:03] Speaker 4: to Lakewood?
[6:04] Speaker 1: A phone call, Mr. Cartwright.
[6:06] Speaker 4: Oh?
[6:06] Speaker 1: Yeah, from you. You said you wanted to see me
[6:09] Speaker 1: right away.
[6:09] Speaker 4: I said I wanted to see... Oh, yeah, of course
[6:12] Speaker 4: I did. And you know why?
[6:15] Speaker 1: Why, sir?
[6:15] Speaker 4: Because I refuse to do anything foolish, that's why. And
[6:18] Speaker 4: yet if I don't, Johnny, I'll get myself killed. Just
[6:22] Speaker 4: like Hector Kenworthy and Alphys J. Perrim.
[6:25] Speaker 1: If you don't what, Mr. Cartwright?
[6:27] Speaker 4: Carry on the chain lesser I've received.
[6:29] Speaker 1: Oh, now, wait a minute. That's a fact.
[6:31] Speaker 4: That's a fact. Look here. Like this.
[6:33] Speaker 7: Yeah, I'll read.
[6:35] Speaker 4: You see what it says? Continue this chain, he says,
[6:40] Speaker 4: and you will not only receive a lot of money
[6:42] Speaker 4: when your name reaches the top of the list, but
[6:45] Speaker 4: in exactly a dozen dozen hours.
[6:47] Speaker 2: A.
[6:49] Speaker 4: Dozen dozen hours is exactly six days, John. I figured
[6:51] Speaker 4: that one out.
[6:51] Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah. Well, go on reading.
[6:53] Speaker 4: Yes, now, here. In exactly a dozen dozen hours, you
[6:57] Speaker 4: will have unexpected great good luck. But if you break
[7:02] Speaker 4: the chain, In a dozen, dozen hours, dire disaster will
[7:05] Speaker 4: overtake you.
[7:06] Speaker 1: Oh, now, look, look. Surely you don't believe that kind
[7:08] Speaker 1: of junk.
[7:08] Speaker 4: This very same letter was received by the two friends
[7:11] Speaker 4: of mine I mentioned, Paramin out in Chicago and Kenworthy
[7:14] Speaker 4: out in Los Angeles. They broke the chain. In exactly
[7:17] Speaker 4: six days, they were both dead.
[7:19] Speaker 2: Coincidence.
[7:19] Speaker 3: Oh, no.
[7:20] Speaker 1: No, sir.
[7:21] Speaker 4: This is a vicious, murderous racket.
[7:23] Speaker 1: I'm sure of it. Why do you say that, Mr.
[7:25] Speaker 4: Carter? Because of the way they died, Johnny.
[7:28] Speaker 1: Oh.
[7:29] Speaker 4: Yes.
[7:30] Speaker 3: Hmm. Hmm.
[7:31] Speaker 1: Then maybe you'd better tell me about it.
[7:33] Speaker 4: Johnny, my good friend Kenworthy, out in Los Angeles, died
[7:55] Speaker 4: exactly six days after he broke the chain of these letters.
[7:59] Speaker 4: just the way the letter said he would.
[8:01] Speaker 1: Coincidence, I tell you, Mr. Cartwright, or at most a
[8:03] Speaker 1: result of some superstitious fear that the letter instilled in him. No, sir. Well,
[8:07] Speaker 1: that's what these chain letters do. They hold out that phony,
[8:10] Speaker 1: hollow promise of giving you something for nothing. And they
[8:13] Speaker 1: scare you into doing it, work on your superstition.
[8:15] Speaker 4: Johnny.
[8:16] Speaker 1: And if you think superstition is dead in this enlightened age,
[8:18] Speaker 1: you're wrong. Why, some of these chain letters even include
[8:21] Speaker 1: a religious-sounding prayer for good luck.
[8:23] Speaker 4: Let me explain.
[8:24] Speaker 1: And you know the only people who profit by the
[8:26] Speaker 1: letters that ask to send money... The people who start
[8:29] Speaker 1: them are maybe one or two others out of the
[8:31] Speaker 1: millions who sent them along. Millions of suckers, that is.
[8:33] Speaker 4: But, Johnny, that is.
[8:34] Speaker 1: Look, ask anybody you know, anybody who's ever carried on
[8:38] Speaker 1: the chain, how much did they get out of it? Nothing.
[8:41] Speaker 4: Well, now, this one is only for an exclusive group
[8:44] Speaker 4: of wealthy, retired people.
[8:47] Speaker 3: Oh, sure.
[8:48] Speaker 1: But take my word for it, it's worthless.
[8:50] Speaker 4: But don't you see.
[8:50] Speaker 1: Even if it's one of those that doesn't require sending
[8:53] Speaker 1: any money, you can be sure the crook who got
[8:55] Speaker 1: it going either has some ulterior purpose or he's just
[8:58] Speaker 1: a plain crackpot. Anybody who gets scared into going on
[9:02] Speaker 1: with it ought to have his head examined.
[9:03] Speaker 4: Johnny, will you listen to me?
[9:04] Speaker 1: And if they want you to send money... Oh, I'm sorry, Mr.
[9:08] Speaker 3: Cartwright.
[9:08] Speaker 1: Go ahead. Just how did your friend in Los Angeles
[9:12] Speaker 1: die after the dozen times a dozen hours had passed?
[9:15] Speaker 4: Yes, well, now, The same as my other friend, Alpheus
[9:18] Speaker 4: Perryman in Chicago.
[9:19] Speaker 3: Yeah, well?
[9:20] Speaker 4: They were both of them run over by a hit-and-run
[9:22] Speaker 4: driver at exactly the time the chain letter said disaster
[9:26] Speaker 4: would overtake them.
[9:28] Speaker 1: You know they're against the law, don't you? Chain letters
[9:30] Speaker 1: for any purpose.
[9:30] Speaker 4: Of course they are, and they should be. But you
[9:32] Speaker 4: just listen to this, and this is why I'm worried.
[9:34] Speaker 3: Yeah?
[9:36] Speaker 4: A dozen, dozen hours after he received this letter and
[9:41] Speaker 4: carried on the chain... Admiral Parley Barron came into a
[9:45] Speaker 4: great fortune.
[9:46] Speaker 1: Oh, sure.
[9:47] Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, you see. Now, and this one. Adjutant General
[9:51] Speaker 4: Frederick Melchior was suddenly and miraculously cured of cancer.
[9:57] Speaker 1: Same old junk. No, no, no, no, listen now.
[9:59] Speaker 4: Listen. About a dozen, dozen hours after Hector Kenworthy of
[10:04] Speaker 4: Los Angeles broke the chain, that's my friend Johnny, that Hector.
[10:07] Speaker 1: Yes, I know.
[10:08] Speaker 4: And after A.J. Perryman of Chicago broke the chain, they
[10:11] Speaker 4: were both dead.
[10:13] Speaker 1: There, you see that?
[10:14] Speaker 4: Right here.
[10:15] Speaker 1: Let me see. And if you break the chain, beware.
[10:19] Speaker 1: The same thing can happen to you. It will happen
[10:23] Speaker 1: to you.
[10:23] Speaker 4: Yeah, I know.
[10:23] Speaker 3: You see, Johnny?
[10:26] Speaker 1: I think maybe you're right. This is the same kind
[10:29] Speaker 1: of scare stuff, but it goes a little bit too far.
[10:32] Speaker 4: Well, it isn't the $ 100 I'm supposed to send.
[10:34] Speaker 1: $ 100?
[10:35] Speaker 4: Yes, $ 100 in cash to the name at the top
[10:38] Speaker 4: of the list. Exclusive list of honest, wealthy, retired people. Exactly.
[10:42] Speaker 4: And do you know who else has received one?
[10:45] Speaker 3: Here in Lakewood?
[10:46] Speaker 1: Who?
[10:46] Speaker 4: Who? Mrs. Templeman, the rich widow who lives over at
[10:49] Speaker 4: Piney Woods, and Wilford W. Winterbottom, the retired oral millionaire.
[10:55] Speaker 1: This name at the top, the one who gets the
[10:57] Speaker 1: hundred bucks, Mr. Daniel Stringer.
[10:58] Speaker 4: Yes, is the address care of Post Office Box 101,
[11:00] Speaker 4: New York, Zone 84, New York.
[11:02] Speaker 1: I don't know what part of New York that postal
[11:04] Speaker 1: zone is, but believe me, I'm going to find out.
[11:06] Speaker 3: You are?
[11:07] Speaker 4: You're not going to leave me?
[11:08] Speaker 1: I'm not just going to sit here.
[11:09] Speaker 4: But don't you see? A dozen times a dozen hours
[11:12] Speaker 4: are over for me.
[11:15] Speaker 1: And you're superstitious, too? Enough to be scared by the
[11:18] Speaker 1: threat in this chain letter? Enough to maybe hurt yourself
[11:21] Speaker 1: by doing some fool thing or other because you are scared? Oh, no, John, no.
[11:24] Speaker 4: Why, of course not.
[11:25] Speaker 1: All right, then. I'm going to get you a bodyguard
[11:27] Speaker 1: from the local police. Where's your phone?
[11:28] Speaker 4: They're there on the stand in the corner. But now, Johnny... Yeah?
[11:31] Speaker 4: If the police come around, wouldn't that warn anybody who
[11:35] Speaker 4: might be coming here to harm me?
[11:38] Speaker 5: Mr.
[11:39] Speaker 3: Cartwright.
[11:40] Speaker 4: Yes, Johnny?
[11:41] Speaker 1: There are times when I think you're... Well, I think
[11:44] Speaker 1: a lot of things about you. Oh, sure, I know, yes.
[11:46] Speaker 4: Wild and crazy, eccentric old man.
[11:48] Speaker 1: To be very blunt about it, yes.
[11:49] Speaker 4: You are, but maybe I am a little bit.
[11:53] Speaker 1: But when the chips are down, you're no fool. Oh, no,
[11:56] Speaker 1: I wouldn't be too sure about that. I've never really
[11:58] Speaker 1: given much thought to this chain-letter thing before. Sure, I've
[12:01] Speaker 1: tossed some of them into the wastebasket, but maybe I
[12:04] Speaker 1: should have investigated them, even the little ones, because they
[12:06] Speaker 1: all work on the same principle. They all contain a threat,
[12:09] Speaker 1: and they all capitalize on fear. Look, look at that.
[12:12] Speaker 4: It says.
[12:13] Speaker 1: Exclusive list of honest, wealthy, retired people.
[12:16] Speaker 4: Yes.
[12:16] Speaker 1: Why, a list like that can be bought from a
[12:18] Speaker 1: hundred sources, from companies that cater to the mail-order business.
[12:21] Speaker 4: Yes, of course.
[12:22] Speaker 1: Oh, maybe I'm all wrong, but suppose somebody bought a
[12:25] Speaker 1: list of wealthy people all over the country. Suppose he
[12:27] Speaker 1: went to Los Angeles.
[12:27] Speaker 4: Yeah, well, where Kenworthy lived.
[12:28] Speaker 1: All right, yeah. Suppose he rented a post office box.
[12:31] Speaker 1: Then he sent out a couple of hundred of these letters,
[12:33] Speaker 1: maybe a thousand. A lot of rich people live out there.
[12:36] Speaker 1: The letters were all the same, with his name at
[12:38] Speaker 1: the top of the list. Then half a dozen fictitious ones.
[12:41] Speaker 3: Fictitious? Yeah.
[12:42] Speaker 1: Any names on that list that you recognize?
[12:44] Speaker 4: Let me see here. No.
[12:47] Speaker 1: All right. So maybe only a hundred people were scared
[12:50] Speaker 1: into sending the money, carrying on the chain. After all,
[12:52] Speaker 1: like you said, it isn't a hundred dollars.
[12:54] Speaker 4: You're right, Johnny. At a hundred people, at a hundred
[12:57] Speaker 4: dollars a piece.
[12:57] Speaker 1: Ten thousand bucks. Even half of that would make it
[13:00] Speaker 1: worth sending out those letters. By the time the six
[13:02] Speaker 1: days are up, he's collected enough, so he skips town.
[13:05] Speaker 1: And people like Kenworthy and Perriman, you think he killed
[13:08] Speaker 1: them to carry.
[13:09] Speaker 4: Out the warning?
[13:09] Speaker 1: Well, frankly, I doubt it. Just the same, I think
[13:12] Speaker 1: I'll call the Lakewood police and have somebody sent out
[13:14] Speaker 1: here to look after you.
[13:15] Speaker 4: Even though.
[13:16] Speaker 1: Even though....
[13:25] Speaker 4: What is it, Johnny?
[13:27] Speaker 1: Maybe I was wrong, Mr. Cartwright. Your phone wire has
[13:32] Speaker 1: been cut.
[13:40] Speaker 4: Johnny, the phone. The telephone isn't working.
[13:43] Speaker 1: Ask me, Mr. Cartwright. Somebody's cut the wires.
[13:45] Speaker 4: Then the threat in that letter, it means that somebody's
[13:47] Speaker 4: come here to carry it out.
[13:49] Speaker 1: Only one way to make sure. You stay inside here
[13:51] Speaker 1: while I go out and take a look around.
[13:52] Speaker 4: Maybe that's what they want you to do, go out
[13:54] Speaker 4: there in the dark, huh? Johnny, I'm going with you.
[13:56] Speaker 1: No, you're staying right here. I'll be back in a minute.
[13:58] Speaker 4: But there may be some danger.
[14:00] Speaker 1: Or it may be that your phone is just out
[14:02] Speaker 1: of order.
[14:03] Speaker 3: We'll see.
[14:07] Speaker 1: There was enough moonlight for me to see where the
[14:09] Speaker 1: line off the telephone pole led to a connector box
[14:11] Speaker 1: at the back end of the house. There wasn't enough
[14:14] Speaker 1: light for me to notice a trailing vine as I
[14:16] Speaker 1: edged my way along. So what happened? I tripped and
[14:19] Speaker 1: fell flat on my face. Before I could get back
[14:22] Speaker 1: up on my feet. So you come out to see
[14:24] Speaker 1: what was wrong.
[14:26] Speaker 3: You were, Mr.
[14:27] Speaker 1: Cartwright. For not reading your mail real good. When I
[14:38] Speaker 1: finally came to, I found myself on a big leather
[14:40] Speaker 1: sofa in one corner of Mr. Cartwright's library. My head
[14:43] Speaker 1: felt like it had been the target for a bolt
[14:45] Speaker 1: of lightning, and the lightning hadn't missed. A familiar face
[14:48] Speaker 1: slowly came into focus.
[14:49] Speaker 4: That's right, Johnny. Another little sip of this brandy, and
[14:55] Speaker 4: you'll feel much.
[14:57] Speaker 1: Better.
[14:58] Speaker 3: Mr.
[14:58] Speaker 1: Cartwright.
[14:59] Speaker 4: Here you are. Thanks.
[15:04] Speaker 1: Thanks.
[15:05] Speaker 4: I was afraid there might be somebody out there... So
[15:08] Speaker 4: I sneaked on out after you. Yes. And I took
[15:12] Speaker 4: along an old cricket bat.
[15:13] Speaker 1: Oh, no. Yes.
[15:15] Speaker 4: And when I saw what he was doing to you,
[15:17] Speaker 4: I let him have it. Yes, with all I had. Oh,
[15:20] Speaker 4: I slayed him.
[15:21] Speaker 1: Who is he? Where is he?
[15:23] Speaker 4: I had an awful time dragging him into the house, but...
[15:25] Speaker 4: I did it, Johnny. Yes, indeed, I did it. And
[15:28] Speaker 4: I locked him up in the broom closet, too. I
[15:30] Speaker 4: locked him up tight.
[15:31] Speaker 1: Good. I told you you're okay when the chips are down.
[15:33] Speaker 4: Oh, it's just that I caught him off guard.
[15:36] Speaker 1: Oh, sure, sure. But now if I can get up
[15:38] Speaker 1: on my feet... Yes, the boy. Yeah, I think I'd
[15:41] Speaker 1: like to talk to him. Our visitor turned out to
[15:48] Speaker 1: be a pug-ugly gorilla, hardly the brains behind a chain-letter racket.
[15:53] Speaker 1: Except for admitting he'd been hired by somebody in New
[15:55] Speaker 1: York to come up here and give Mr. Cartwright a beating.
[15:57] Speaker 1: That'd make it look like a burglary job. He refused
[15:59] Speaker 1: to talk. So we locked him up again, and I
[16:01] Speaker 1: laid my splitting head on a pillow for some much-needed rest.
[16:05] Speaker 1: By the time I awoke in the morning, feeling somewhat better, Mr.
[16:08] Speaker 1: Cartwright had fixed me a mess of bacon and eggs
[16:09] Speaker 1: for breakfast.
[16:10] Speaker 4: It's you, Johnny. I just walked down to the corner
[16:12] Speaker 4: gas station and called the telephone company. And you know something?
[16:15] Speaker 4: They came out here and had that line all connected
[16:18] Speaker 4: up again in less than an hour.
[16:19] Speaker 1: Good, good.
[16:20] Speaker 4: Yes, just like that. So maybe I'll buy a couple
[16:23] Speaker 4: thousand more shares of stock in the telephone company, huh?
[16:26] Speaker 4: Just to show them how I appreciate it.
[16:28] Speaker 1: What about our little pal? I mean, the one who
[16:29] Speaker 1: slugged me last night.
[16:30] Speaker 4: No, Sir Johnny. I decided that after the way he
[16:33] Speaker 4: behaved last night, he doesn't deserve any breakfast.
[16:37] Speaker 1: No, I mean, where is he?
[16:39] Speaker 4: He's still locked up in the broom closet. Do you
[16:42] Speaker 4: think I ought to call the police to come and
[16:43] Speaker 4: get him?
[16:44] Speaker 1: No, not yet. Maybe I can beat some information out
[16:47] Speaker 1: of him if we need it.
[16:48] Speaker 4: Well, of course we need it. Don't we?
[16:50] Speaker 1: Let's wait and see. First, I'd like to make a
[16:53] Speaker 1: phone call. The call was to my old friend, Lieutenant
[17:00] Speaker 1: Randy Singer, New York Police Department, 18th Precinct.
[17:04] Speaker 3: Post Office Box 101.
[17:05] Speaker 1: Yes.
[17:06] Speaker 3: Postal Zone 84.
[17:08] Speaker 1: And if he comes around to pick up his mail,
[17:09] Speaker 1: you nab him.
[17:10] Speaker 3: On what charges, Johnny?
[17:11] Speaker 1: Fraud, sending threatening letters through the mail, anything you can
[17:14] Speaker 1: think of.
[17:15] Speaker 3: Yeah, okay, I'll dig up something.
[17:16] Speaker 9: But I can't hold him for long unless you come
[17:18] Speaker 9: down here and prefer something.
[17:19] Speaker 3: Definite against him. And, Johnny.
[17:21] Speaker 1: Yeah?
[17:22] Speaker 3: You still haven't told me what this is all about.
[17:24] Speaker 3: And if I didn't know you.
[17:25] Speaker 1: Just you grab hold of that box holder if he shows,
[17:28] Speaker 1: and I hope he does.
[17:28] Speaker 3: Yeah, well, just you be sure and get on down here. Mr.
[17:38] Speaker 1: Cartwright and I piled into my car. We drove over
[17:40] Speaker 1: to call on first the wealthy widow Templeman, then the
[17:43] Speaker 1: retired millionaire, Mr. Winterbottom.
[17:44] Speaker 4: Why, yes, Mr.
[17:45] Speaker 1: Dollar, I was just about to mail in the $ 100
[17:47] Speaker 1: to the name at the top of the list.
[17:49] Speaker 3: Don't.
[17:49] Speaker 4: Then later I'd mail out the other letters to some
[17:51] Speaker 4: of my friends.
[17:52] Speaker 1: Don't do it.
[17:53] Speaker 4: But if I don't, something terrible might happen to me.
[17:56] Speaker 4: The chain letter said so.
[17:57] Speaker 1: If you do, it'll be a violation of federal law.
[17:59] Speaker 3: What?
[18:00] Speaker 1: That's right. And you could end up in prison for it.
[18:03] Speaker 3: Prison?
[18:04] Speaker 1: Well, Mrs.
[18:04] Speaker 3: Templeman....
[18:09] Speaker 1: Is Mr.
[18:10] Speaker 4: Dollar?
[18:10] Speaker 7: Yes, sir.
[18:11] Speaker 3: Yes?
[18:12] Speaker 4: Better do as he says, Mr. Winterfoss.
[18:14] Speaker 1: But I didn't realize. I didn't know that... You do now, sir.
[18:21] Speaker 1: Then back to Mr. Cartwright's home on the hill, just
[18:23] Speaker 1: in time to answer the telephone. Johnny Dollar.
[18:29] Speaker 3: Johnny, I've got him. And what a find. Yeah, Randy?
[18:32] Speaker 9: Daniel Stringer, alias Danny McKay, alias Willie Daniels, and half
[18:36] Speaker 9: a dozen other things. I watched him unload the post
[18:38] Speaker 9: office box myself, Johnny. Then I tail him to a
[18:41] Speaker 9: cheap rooming house.
[18:42] Speaker 1: Go on.
[18:42] Speaker 3: When I nabbed him, he was opening... must have been 50,
[18:46] Speaker 3: 60 letters he'd got. Chain letters. And Johnny? Yeah? You
[18:49] Speaker 3: know what he was taking out of them?
[18:50] Speaker 1: I can guess, Randy.
[18:51] Speaker 4: Thousands.
[18:52] Speaker 3: Enough money to hold him on suspicion of almost anything.
[18:55] Speaker 4: And Johnny.
[18:55] Speaker 1: Still here.
[18:56] Speaker 3: He also had a bunch of new letters he'd written.
[18:58] Speaker 9: All addressed to folks in a wealthy section down.
[19:00] Speaker 3: Near Germantown, PA.
[19:01] Speaker 1: Then hang on to them, Randy. I'll be down to
[19:03] Speaker 1: make formal charges against them.
[19:04] Speaker 3: Okay.
[19:06] Speaker 1: Um, maybe I'll pick up a chief inspector from the
[19:09] Speaker 1: post office department to do it.
[19:11] Speaker 3: Okay, Johnny.
[19:18] Speaker 1: Yeah, maybe some of those chain letters, the little ones,
[19:21] Speaker 1: are harmless. But again, maybe they're not. And they're all
[19:25] Speaker 1: against the law. But there's only one thing to do.
[19:28] Speaker 1: Avoid them like the plague. Or better still, if you
[19:30] Speaker 1: get one, take it right down to your local postmaster.
[19:34] Speaker 1: He'll know how to go about helping to stamp out
[19:36] Speaker 1: this racket. And believe me, that's all it is, a racket.
[19:41] Speaker 1: Expense account total, including mileage on my car and the
[19:43] Speaker 1: trip to New York and back, $ 27. 35. Yours truly, Johnny Dollar.
[20:02] Speaker 1: Now here is our star to tell you about next
[20:04] Speaker 1: week's story. Next week, mystery, suspense, and, yeah, murder. Take
[20:09] Speaker 1: me to Columbus, Ohio. Join us, won't you? Yours truly,
[20:13] Speaker 1: Johnny Dollar. Yours truly, Johnny Dollar, starring Bob Bailey, originates
[20:26] Speaker 1: in Hollywood and is written, produced, and directed by Jack Johnstone.
[20:30] Speaker 1: Heard in our cast were Virginia Gregg, Howard McNair, Paul Dubov,
[20:34] Speaker 1: Frank Ursel, and Herb Bikram. Be sure to join us
[20:37] Speaker 1: next week, same time and station, for another exciting story
[20:41] Speaker 1: of Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar. This is Jim Matthews speaking.
[20:52] Speaker 2: Welcome back. Well, an interesting PSA against chain letters. And
[20:58] Speaker 2: I don't think it's unfair to say that's what the
[21:00] Speaker 2: episode adds up to.
[21:02] Speaker 3: It's made.
[21:04] Speaker 2: Fun to listen to by the presence of Alvin Peabody Cartwright,
[21:09] Speaker 2: who I think is a perfect person for Johnny to
[21:12] Speaker 2: explain the whole chain letter thing to. We, of course,
[21:16] Speaker 2: did get some fisticuffs because I think Johnstone, even though
[21:20] Speaker 2: he was clearly targeting chain letters, knew he needed to
[21:23] Speaker 2: do something other than just have Johnny talk about chain
[21:28] Speaker 2: letters and call Randy Singer. So yeah, we get some
[21:31] Speaker 2: action in this one. Though, of course, Randy Singer does
[21:35] Speaker 2: handle things appropriately. He doesn't follow Johnny's suggestion of nab
[21:40] Speaker 2: him and charge him with anything you might be able
[21:43] Speaker 2: to think of. Randy says, okay, that's a great suggestion.
[21:46] Speaker 2: How about I get some proof? And thankfully, the suspect
[21:50] Speaker 2: is more than happy to provide Randy with enough evidence
[21:55] Speaker 2: to choke a horse in pretty short order. Well, now
[21:59] Speaker 2: it's time to thank our Patreon supporter of the day.
[22:03] Speaker 2: Thank you to Ryan, Patreon supporter since July 2017, currently
[22:10] Speaker 2: supporting the podcast at the Detective Sergeant level of $ 7. 14
[22:14] Speaker 2: or more per month. Thanks so much for your support, Ryan,
[22:18] Speaker 2: and that will do it for today. If you're enjoying
[22:21] Speaker 2: the podcast, please follow us using your favorite podcast software,
[22:26] Speaker 2: and be sure to rate and review the podcast wherever
[22:28] Speaker 2: you download it from. We will be back next Friday
[22:33] Speaker 2: with another episode of Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, but join
[22:36] Speaker 2: us back here tomorrow as we give way to the
[22:39] Speaker 2: great adventurers of old-time radio and Counterspy, where... Want.
[22:46] Speaker 5: To find out something about the famous Flanagan system?
[22:49] Speaker 1: Wide, Buster.
[22:51] Speaker 5: I'm Harry Peters, United States Counterspy.
[22:55] Speaker 7: Oh, Peters, I got news for you. I'm the famous
[22:58] Speaker 7: Flanagan sister.
[23:00] Speaker 5: You're the famous Flanagan sister?
[23:02] Speaker 1: All of them?
[23:04] Speaker 7: Yeah, it's only a trade name, and I bought the
[23:06] Speaker 7: business a couple of years ago. My name's Hype Gordon.
[23:08] Speaker 7: Sit down.
[23:09] Speaker 3: Thank you, Mr.
[23:09] Speaker 7: Jordan. I, uh.
[23:13] Speaker 1: You believe in large offices? Why not?
[23:16] Speaker 7: I spent half my life here.
[23:17] Speaker 5: Is this one of.
[23:20] Speaker 9: Your cans, Mr.
[23:20] Speaker 3: Stewart?
[23:21] Speaker 7: A sample, yeah. That label... That is a portrait of
[23:27] Speaker 7: the original Flanagan sisters bending over a hot stove, making
[23:30] Speaker 7: their corn syrup according to a receipt handed down from
[23:34] Speaker 7: mother to daughters. Between you and me, the daughter should
[23:38] Speaker 7: hand it back.
[23:40] Speaker 5: Tell me, do you know what happens to your used skins?
[23:43] Speaker 1: Why?
[23:44] Speaker 5: Well, do you take them back, for instance?
[23:45] Speaker 1: Like milk bottles, you mean?
[23:47] Speaker 3: No.
[23:48] Speaker 7: Why?
[23:49] Speaker 5: A lot of them seem to be used for shipping
[23:51] Speaker 5: illegal alcohol around the country.
[23:54] Speaker 1: Labels drift off, of course. My cans where?
[23:56] Speaker 5: Into the so-called monopoly states where liquor is sold only
[24:00] Speaker 5: by state-owned liquor stores. Bootleg liquor undersells those stores very
[24:04] Speaker 5: profitably because somebody forgets to pay the federal alcohol taxes.
[24:09] Speaker 5: We figure around three million dollars on this particular operation alone.
[24:13] Speaker 7: Oh, you trace those cans to me.
[24:16] Speaker 1: Mm-hmm.
[24:17] Speaker 5: Through the manufacturer.
[24:18] Speaker 7: Want to look around the place, Peter's? I'll show you
[24:23] Speaker 7: where we make the syrup and can it. Fifty, sixty employees,
[24:26] Speaker 7: that guy. I'll even show you the garage where we
[24:29] Speaker 7: ship it out to stores and wholesalers.
[24:31] Speaker 1: Maybe I'll even.
[24:32] Speaker 4: Give you a couple of cans to take home to
[24:33] Speaker 4: the little woman.
[24:34] Speaker 2: I hope you'll be with us then. In the meantime,
[24:37] Speaker 2: send your comments to box13 at greatdetectives.net. Follow us on
[24:43] Speaker 2: Twitter at Radio Detectives. And check us out on Instagram, instagram.com
[24:48] Speaker 2: slash greatdetectives. From Boise, Idaho, this is your host, Adam Graham,
[24:54] Speaker 2: signing off.

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