Broadway's My Beat with Anthony Ross as Detective Danny Clover. Broadway's My Beat, from Times Square to Columbus Circle, the gaudiest, the most violent, the lonesomest mile in the world. That's the street I walk, but today trouble is waiting for me in the squad room in the 47th Street Station House. Lieutenant Clover? That's me, Danny Clover. Well they told me, told me our friend I'd find you here. You gotta help me. Sure, sure. Hey, by those tags on your shoulders, I see you two fellas are in New York for a convention. What's your trouble? Well you see, I've never been in the big city before and well I've heard about things like this happening, but I never thought it would happen to me. A girl is trying to blackmail me. Blackmail? That's right. Now, now there's nothing to it, but if my wife finds out about it- Hey, wait a minute, wait a minute young fella, now make me acquainted with you first and then we'll listen to your troubles. Oh, my name's Peter Daly, I'm stopping at the Cleveland Hotel. Exactly two hours, my wife arrives in New York- Hold on now, hold on, where are you from? You sound like Kansas. No, Arkansas. That's close enough. Who's this gent with you here? I'm his friend, Lieutenant, the name is Ben Cotton. Pete asked me to come up here to the station with him, sort of for moral support, poor devil. Ah, you're from his hometown? Yes, sir, Little Rock. We're partners in a little business out there. We've been in New York a week now, Pete and I, attending a convention. Oh boys, boys. When will you out of towners learn how to relax in New York without getting into trouble? You attend a convention, you gotta go unconventional. Oh, sir, I don't even know that girl, she's a stranger to me. Huh? Well then I don't get it, I don't get it, just what did happen? Well a lot of the boys after yesterday's convention session went down to the Hi Hat Club and, well I'm standing at the bar, Lieutenant, having a drink, minding my own business. The bar was pretty crowded and this redheaded girl takes a place next to me and asks for a light and I give it to her. Lesson one, when a strange girl asks you for a light, zip your wallet. Yeah, yeah, go ahead, what then? Well a little while later the nightclub photographer passes by and this redhead stops her and says to her she'd like her picture taken, right there against the bar. And just as the photographer's about to snap her picture, this redhead takes my arm with a laugh to include me, you see, and well I was feeling pretty good so to enter into the fun of the thing. Hey hello sucker, she must have been saying under her breath. So, well you both listened to the birdie. Yeah, and when I got back to my hotel I thought nothing more about it. This morning I got a phone call. From the redhead? That's right. Oh, yeah, she'd sell you the picture for a price or show it to your wife, huh? That's right. Why, she wanted $500, I don't have money like that. How'd she know you were married? Well, Lieutenant, I never told her I was married. Hardly said a word to her. What? Well then how did she know? I don't know. She even knew my wife was arriving in New York at 2 today. Can you beat that, Lieutenant? Go on, go on, Daly. Well, she told me over the phone that unless I came across with the money she'd mail that picture to my wife today. So what'd you tell her? Well, I told her I wouldn't give her a cent. Why should I pay her? Look, Lieutenant, believe me, I'm a happily married man and I haven't done anything wrong but what will my wife think if she gets that picture? Daly, what's the name of that redhead and where does she live? Well, I don't know that. She didn't tell me. Well then how did she expect you to get to her with the dough? Well, she said if I was agreeable she'd tell me where I could leave the money and she'd later leave the picture in the same place. But I told her nothing doing. I'd go to the police first. Then she hung up. Well, you did the right thing by coming to the police. Well, but if she sends that picture to my wife, my wife's an understanding woman, Lieutenant, but after all, oh, if I could get my hands on that girl, I swear I'd kill her. Hey, hey, hey. Go on, go on. Pick up your wife at the station, Daly, and relax. I'll drop into the high hat club, see if that redheaded is known over there and, and Daly, make sure your wife puts you on a leash. Lieutenant Clover. Yes, Sergeant, what's up? Look, get all over for you, Lieutenant. Broadway Towers. Detective Tom, Tom Donnelly's already up there. Apartment 5E. Some dame there. Found dead, Lieutenant. Looks like murder. How do you like that? Just when I was staring up at the skyscrapers wishing I was a pigeon. All right, let's go, Sergeant. Broadway Towers. Who is she, Tom? Name Rita Rondell, Danny. According to the building superintendent. Redhead, huh? Yeah. Fractured skull. Body was discovered by the super. Yeah, no witnesses. No one seen entering or leaving. Hey, look over that back room, Sarge. Right, Lieutenant. Say you found off the phone off the hook, Tom? Yeah. Yeah. Looks like the whole scuffle was over that phone. Yeah. And what's this written on the calendar here, Danny? Bobo 1 p.m. Yeah, let me see. Bobo 1 p.m. Bobo? Could be some guy. Ask around the stem, Tom. Any characters named Bobo. Okay. You say dark places are death about 110. Right. Well, whoever a visitor was, boy, they had quite a tussle. Say, Danny, look here. I found some photographs hidden in the bottom of this drawer. Take a look. Well, what do you know? What's the matter, Danny? Hey, you remember that nice guy, Daly, from Little Rock? Came in the station house this noon about a blackmailing redhead? Yeah, this is him with Rita Rondell taken against the bar at the Hi-Hat Club. Look. Yeah. Yeah, how about that, huh? This must have been the dame who was trying to shake him down. And this is the frame of pictures she meant to sock him with. Yeah, so this is the redhead. And me, I'm looking all over for her. Open and shut. Remember? He said he'd like to kill her. Never can tell. He didn't look that man. Well, like I always say, cherche le motive and you got your man. Shall I bring him in? Hey, hold your horses, Tom. There's no evidence. He had anything to do with this, but I'd better drop in on him and have a little chat. Question him, huh? Yeah, yeah. Anything else turns up, let me know. And check Bobo. Right. I'll keep in touch. Poor Daly. I feel sorry for him. With a wife just arrived in town. Tom, this is going to be a heartbreaker, especially if the little lady from Arkansas answers the door. Coming. Just a moment. Mrs. Daly. Yes. Uh, is your husband in? Why, yes. He's just lying down for a bit. Who shall I say? Mrs. Daly, I'm Lieutenant. Well, here's an old Artie. We forgot our appointment, fella. Huh? Darling, I want you to meet Art Smith. He was my lieutenant, third airborne. The old dog. Imagine meeting him at the convention after all these years. Yeah, yeah. Mr. Smith, just imagine. You two must be thrilled. I guess New York's the place one meets all the- Be right with you, Art. Just put on my jacket. Uh, yeah. Okay, I'll wait. How do you like the little missus, Art? Oh, just fine. Pleased to meet you, ma'am. Step on it, Pete, huh? Yeah, yeah. It won't take a minute, Art. Why? Where are you boys off to? Oh, uh, Cookie, I forgot to tell you. I promised Art I'd have a cup of coffee with him. You know, catch up on the old gang. Uh, he leaves for Cincinnati in a little while. Uh, Mrs. Daly, does your husband often go to conventions alone? Oh, heavens no. This is the first time we've ever been separated in the three years we've been married. I see. Ben Cotton, his partner, was going too, so there was nothing to worry about. Besides, I know that Peter wouldn't even look at anyone else. Let's go, Art. All right, Peter. Let's go down to that coffee shop and have that little chat. Yeah, we can talk right here in the lobby. Yeah, okay. That's one sweet wife, Daly. Yeah, you can say that again. You can see why I didn't want to let on you were a police officer. Yeah, yeah. I got it. Well, Lieutenant Clover, did you ask in that nightclub, like you promised, to find out if anyone knows that redheaded blackmailer? She hasn't sent that picture yet. You wouldn't be kidding me, mister, would you? What do you mean? When did you see Alas, this, this Rita Rundell? Oh, is that her name? You found that out? Whoa, I last night at that bar. You didn't go to her apartment today? At one o'clock, say? You know, son, if you're on the level with me, I'd be about the happiest guy on earth. What do you mean, Lieutenant? If I'm on the level, what's up? Rita's dead, son. Dead? Mm-hmm. We found that picture you were talking about in her apartment. What happened? Oh, there was a scuffle from the look of the place, and she fell against something in the struggle and fractured her skull. Probably accidental, but there'll be a manslaughter rap for somebody. My gosh. Who do you suppose? Daly, right now, I don't have any idea, but my men are going over that apartment inch by inch police routine. I'll get a report just as soon as I call headquarters, but before I put in that call, were you or were you not in Rita Rundell's apartment? No. Well, I told you before, I didn't even know where she lived. Good, good. Come on, now let's walk over here to the phone. I'll call headquarters. If nothing else turned up, you can go back upstairs to your wife. Yeah, she'll think it's funny, my leaving her to talk with you so soon after she gets to New York. Yeah, you wait outside the booth, will you? I'll only be a minute. Clover, Sergeant, anything turned up on the Rundell dames place? Uh-huh. Yeah, I see you. No, you didn't. There's nothing else, huh? Out where? Oh, then he... I see. Thanks, Sergeant. Billy, where's your hat? My hat? Your hat. Well, I must have left it out in my room. Shall we go up and see? Well, I'm not sure. Maybe I lost it. That's right. You lost it at Rita Rundell's apartment. What are you driving at, Clover? It was found on her fire escape. Has your initials? Well, lots of people have initials. Okay. Well, then let your wife identify it. No. No, no, I'll leave my wife out of it. I'll tell you why I lost it. Come to think of it, I remember now. Yeah, yeah, at that bar last night where I met her. That's right. I missed it when I got back to the hotel. So either that girl or someone else picked it up and... Well, maybe that explains her. Father, you killed me. You were wearing that hat in the station house this noon. I'm sorry, Daly. I'll have to take you to headquarters. I'm charging you with manslaughter. You're listening to Broadway's My Beat. We'll continue in just a minute, but first, Sunday nights on CBS are famous for their top comedy with Jack Benny, Amos and Andy, and the other great comedians, for the splendid drama that Helen Hayes brings each week, and for the appearance of one of the greatest detectives in modern times, Sam Spade, created by Dashiell Hammett. Sam Spade's approach to crime detection has now become the pattern for many another sleuth, but none so well combines the hard-boiled view toward a fast dollar, the down-to-earth appreciation of a well-formed ankle, and the readiness with a wisecrack. A bestseller in the fiction field, Sam Spade's Adventures on the Air are now among the top rating mystery shows. And you'll find here tonight and every Sunday night on most of these same stations, Sam Spade, ready for rough-and-tumble action and a battle of wits in the best Dashiell Hammett tradition. And now back to the 16th Precinct and Detective Danny Clover. Why, this is awful. Look, Lieutenant, I'm from Daly's hometown and I've known him for years. Why, he couldn't have had anything to do with this. Mr. Cotton, I know you're Daly's friend and I know how you feel. I simply phoned you, seeing as you're a friend of the family, to notify Mrs. Daly of her husband's arrest. Yes, of course. Well, she wasn't in her room when I stepped by, so I rushed down here as fast as I could. Those two are so much in love, Lieutenant. I just don't have the heart to tell her. Any luck this time, Tom? Nah, try to persuade Daly again, but no soap, Danny. See, Mr. Cotton, we offered to allow your friend a few minutes to call his wife, tell her himself about his arrest, but he says he can't do it. Yeah, that's right, Mr. Cotton. It says it'd kill him to tell her. Why don't you tell her? She's such a sweet kid, she's gonna take this awful hard. You see, in a way, I feel kind of responsible for this being here with Ben. I just don't believe I could face her. Tom? Unless it's an order, Lieutenant, I'd rather be included out. Okay, I guess a policeman's job can include almost anything. Get over there right now. Oh, Tom, come here a minute. Yes, Lieutenant? Yeah, Danny? You didn't find any guy anywhere named Bobo. No Bobo. No Bobo. All right, then, that's that. Okay, fellas, I'm on my way. Oh, believe me, this is gonna be tough. Breaking the bad news to the little lady from Arkansas. I'm coming, Peter. Peter, I... Oh, why, it's you, Mr. Smith. Where'd you two boys get lost? Where's Peter, isn't he, with you? Well, no, no, Mrs. Daley. Say, let's go inside. I want to talk to you. I don't understand, Mr. Smith. Where is Pete? Well, the fact is, Mrs. Daley... Where, for goodness sake? Well, I mean, the fact is, Mrs. Daley, I'm not... I looked downstairs for you two and couldn't find you anywhere. Now you come back alone and... Do tell me you frightened me. Has something happened to him? Mr. Smith, I thought you had to catch a train. Well, now, you see, that's just what I wanted to explain, Mrs. Daley. I... Oh, I get it now. You went to a bar instead of the coffee shop, so you missed your train and he... Oh, Mr. Smith, why didn't you say so in the first place? You had me so worried. Oh, I'm sorry, ma'am. Where is he? Is he in bad shape? Well, he... You just bring him back here, no matter what condition he's in, and I'll take care of him. Maybe some coffee would help. Do you hear me, Mr. Smith? Mr. Smith? Mrs. Daley, I'm not Mr. Smith. What? You're not... It was all just an act. I'm sorry. I mean, your husband called me that when I came in before, and, well, I played along. An act? What in heaven's name are you talking about? And who are you? Detective Lieutenant Danny Clover, ma'am, of the 16th precinct. Your husband... Oh, now, wait a minute. Wait a minute. Here, let me help you. Hey, perhaps you better sit down. No, I'm all right. Please go on. Something happened to him. An accident or something. Is he hurt badly? Oh, no, no. He hasn't hurt. Ma'am, your husband is under arrest. Under arrest? Peter? Nonsense. What for? Well, you see, it dates back to before you arrived, naturally. You see, last night, he got into a jam at a nightclub. A jam? I mean, that is, there was a girl at the bar next to him. A girl? Oh, don't get me wrong there, ma'am, in that respect, I assure you, but it's something else that happened. Oh, now, Mrs. Daly, let me tell you the whole story from the beginning. He wouldn't do anything. But please don't get me wrong, ma'am. You mean he got mixed up with a girl, but he couldn't... Oh, no, no, it's not that. There was this redheaded... The redheaded... Oh, now, wait a minute. Wait. Oh, I'm no good at this sort of thing, Mrs. Daly. Go on. Well, look, it was all a framed up thing. Your husband came up to the station this morning and then told us the whole thing. Your husband was blackmailed. Blackmailed? But you said he was framed. Well, as far as the redhead... I mean, the girl is concerned there's nothing to it. Oh, of course, I should have known. He was framed with a picture taken at a bar and, well, to protect you, to keep you from seeing that picture. Oh, well, a picture. What would I have cared about an old picture? There's nothing to it. Everything's all right. But you said Peter was arrested. Well, you see, ma'am, to keep you from seeing that picture, I figure maybe he went up to that girl's room and there was a little fight or a struggle or something and this girl fell. Oh, she's hurt. She's dead. Dead? She's dead? Oh, no, he didn't mean to... Well, it's a charge. We call manslaughter. Manslaughter? He didn't... He couldn't have killed anyone. Does he say he didn't? Yes, ma'am. He denied it. He was even in her apartment, but you see, there's some evidence. Then I believe him. And you've got to believe him, Lieutenant. My husband's never told a lie in his life. He's incapable of lying. Ask anyone in Little Rock where he's loved and respected and they'll tell you. But, Mrs. Daly, the evidence shows that... I don't care what evidence you say you've got. His words good enough for me. But look, Mrs. Daly... And I'll tell you something else, sir. If he was guilty, he'd have told me so. In our whole married life, he's never held back one single little thing. Lieutenant, my husband didn't kill that girl. He was a good man. He was a good man. He was a good man. He was a good man. He was a good man. And if he says so, he was never even up in her apartment. Well, ma'am, I'm glad to hear you talk like that. I was pretty sure your husband was holding out on me, but maybe there's a chance he was telling the truth. Could be he was framed again. I'll go back and have another talk with him. I'll be praying, Lieutenant. Yeah. Yeah, Mrs. Daly. You do that. Danny, Danny, Peter Daly's confessed. Confess? Oh, no. I just visited him again in his cell with his friend, Mr. Cotton here. Darned if Daly didn't say... No, no, wait, wait, wait a minute, Detective Donnelly. Peter did not confess, at least not to killing that girl. He just admitted that he went up to her apartment and he saw a line with her head in the kitchen at against the milk bottle. She was already dead. That's an old one, Danny, you know. She was already dead. Lieutenant, you've got to believe him. I'll tell you what. I think I'll have a talk with him myself. Hello, Danny. They told you, Lieutenant Clover? Yeah. Yeah, so you were holding out on me. You were in that Rondell Dane's apartment. Oh, I was afraid to admit. You know, you should have told me everything right from the beginning. Well, after I left here this morning, I stopped back at the hotel and she called me again. Said she had settled for $25. So I figured it'd be worth that much to get the thing over with. I didn't tell you about it because I was afraid it'd get in the paper. It'll make the papers now all right. Go on. Well, she gave me her address and went up there and the door was partly open. I didn't go in, but I could see through the open door and she was lying on the floor. When you were talking to Donnelly and your friend just now, are you, you told them she was lying with her head in the kitchenette? Oh, no, I couldn't see her head. Oh, I see. Then what'd you do? Well, then I heard someone coming. I got scared, so I ran down the fire escape. Oh, please believe me, Lieutenant. Poor Joan, she comes to New York for once in her life and this has to happen. Daly, how long have you known this poly yours? What's his name? Cotton? Yeah. Oh, way back from school days. How does he get along with your wife? Oh, fine. Well, you see, Lieutenant, he, well, he and Joan were sort of engaged at one time. Before I met her, that is. Naturally, when Joan and I fell in love. So that's the way it goes. Did he marry someone else? No, Ben's still a bachelor. Still a bachelor? What's so strange about that? Well, what do you know? Lieutenant Clover, you back again? This is the third time today. What gives? Like this, like that. Hey, a couple of perfectos, let me. Did you come in here to see me or did I see you keeping an open eye on that gentleman from 305 that just got on the elevator? Hey, you know. Shouldn't I smoke cigars? His name's Ben Cotton from Little Rock. I think I'll go up and have a word. Give Bobo my best. You know, for an out of towner, the tips he hands out. Bobo, did you say? Yeah, Bobo. You know how it is at these conventions, the nicknames you pick up. I've heard some good ones, but Bobo, that kills me. Everyone around here calls him that. Well, thanks, Ellie. Thanks a lot. Thanks for what? Oh, nothing, lover. I'll be seeing you. Oh, why, Lieutenant Clover. What's the matter, Mr. Cotton? You going somewhere? Why? What do you... I see your suitcase is all packed there on the bed. Oh, yes, Lieutenant. I'm going back home. Bobo. Hmm? A note on Rita Rundell's calendar. Probably expecting some guy named Bobo at 1 o'clock. You know any Bobo? Why, uh, well, that happens to be sort of a nickname of mine. I picked it up here at the convention. Why? Well, you said you didn't even know the girl. You know the inside of Rita's apartment better than Peter did, Bobo. He didn't tell you her head was against a milk bottle? Oh, I never said... Oh, you arranged for Rita to bump into Peter like at that nightclub, get a picture taken with him, and then she was to send it to his wife. I'll tell you why you arranged it, too. You were in love with his wife. You wanted her to think the worst, maybe, and throw him over for you. Come on, come on, come clean, Bobo. All right, all right. I was up to that double-crossing redhead's apartment, but I didn't mean to kill her. Let's have the story. Well, I told her yesterday I'd give her $100 if she could manage to get her picture taken with him and send it to his wife. Oh. And then Miss Rita pulled a fast one, asked Daly for $500 for it. Yeah, that's right. But when Peter went to the police about it, I got scared. So you went up to her apartment today at one, huh? Yes, I did, to make her call the whole thing off. And she demanded from you the price she was asking from Peter, $500. That's right. And when I refused... She threatened to expose you to your friend Daly, began to phone him at his hotel. Yes, yes, that's just the way it happened. I struggled with her for the phone. I gave her a push and she fell. But I swear, Lieutenant, it was an accident. So that's that. Well, okay, Lieutenant, I'm ready to go to jail. But I don't know what got into me trying to do something like that to my best friend. The old triangle, huh? Well, you see, I've been in love with Joan for a long time, longer than Peter. But he came along and she married him. And well, ever since, I've been hoping and waiting for a chance... Chance to break them up. Yeah, that's right. But I didn't mean to go so far. Once I got into it... You got into it all right. Yeah, I guess I've been a real number one heel, huh? Mister, that's the greatest understatement since... Ah, come on. All forward! That's us, Joan. All right, Peter. Lieutenant Clover, I don't know how to say... We'll never be able to thank you for all you've done. Oh, skip it, Arkansas. Just promise me one thing. What's that? Well, I mean, you've come to New York. This is the first time for both of you, isn't it? That's right. You've had a pretty rough time. You got one impression of New York, the wrong one. Come back and give it another whirl, will you? That's a promise. I want to see you both again, you know. So you know, miss, I don't often meet somebody like you. Why the faith, the trust you have in your husband... Oh, you see, Lieutenant. We're in love. It's getting late now. A million lights have gone out. But I'm thinking about people on Broadway, in Arkansas, good, bad. They get into trouble here like everywhere else. Only maybe here it's just a little bit easier. On the gaudius, the most violent, the lonesomest mile in the world. Broadway, my beat. Columbia has just brought you Broadway's My Beat with Anthony Ross as Detective Danny Clover. Gene Carson was Sally. John Forsyth was Tom. Today's broadcast was written by Joseph Roscoe and produced and directed by John Dietz. The musical score was composed and conducted by Robert Stringer. This is Bern Bennett speaking. In just a moment, CBS begins the presentation of its 10 great Sunday evening entertainments. In order tonight, you'll hear Barbara Stanwyck starring on The Prudential Hour, followed by the unsurpassed comedy of Ozzie and Harriet, Jack Benny, and Amos and Andy in succession. Sam Spade takes over next, and then on to Lumb and Abner's delightful Jottum Down store in Pine Ridge, Arkansas. Then from Pine Ridge to England, as the First Lady of Broadway, Helen Hayes, brings you Noah Coward's famous motion picture, Brief Encounter. A solid hour and a half of laughs follow with Eve Arden as the Arden School Mistress, R. Miss Brooks, with J. Carol Nash as Luigi, and the little Italian immigrant, and with the geniuses on It Pays to Be Ignorant. They'll all be heard on most of these same CBS stations, with Jack Benny, of course, coming to you on all of them. So start your stay tuned Sunday evening with CBS now, as Barbara Stanwyck stars on The Prudential Hour. This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.
