Broadway's My Beat, from Times Square to Columbus Circle, the gaudiest, the most violent, the lonesomest mile in the world. Broadway's My Beat, with Larry Thor as Detective Danny Clover. When it's sunny August and you walk the morning on Broadway, walk slow. Give yourself time to gather up things you want to save for memories. And stop now and then and look around. Beneath your feet, the concrete strikes glints of any color you want. And the passersby are nicely proportioned with sun-panned shoulders and dachshunds and breezed-past hairdos. And skyward, the copper sky and the blue. But mostly, the secret things that only you can see, set to the carousel music your mind makes. This is the day Broadway belongs to you. The feast of Broadway, where I was in Detective Muggerman's ground floor apartment in Rooming House in 49th. And the man whose room it was. Hang me by the thumbs. I didn't have anything to do with it. His name was Joey Pell. The man who was visiting him was named Herb Morrie. Hang me right alongside Joey, if you want. Only I have no thumb on my left hand. Okay, Herb, okay. Well, I was just going to tell the lieutenant about my accident, that's all. But my conversation is one of the social graces. This I learned when I was... I said okay. Okay. Look. I want to say something. Go ahead. Nancy Lee likes to brain herself trying to knock down a building by auto which has stood up for the last 25 years. I remember when they were putting up that building, how sturdy they made it. Press steel they used. I remember asking. I remember... Shut up, Herbie. I'm talking. Well, I'm just trying to prove to these fellas... I said shut up. You ought to eat something, Joey. You're always like this when nothing's on your stomach. Well? Look, Danny. Joey. Forget it, forget it. What's the matter? Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Look, Danny. Okay, what? Nancy two days ago runs smack into this building and gets banged up. Drunk, the papers say. They didn't say poison because we just found that out for sure this morning. So what has that got to do with... Hey! Look, a monkey. Uh-oh. What's the matter? Go away, little Manny. Little Manny? You know him? Why don't you just shut up, Herbie? Okay, brainy type. You'll get rid of the monkey. Hey, Manny. Pull off the monkey's head. Big Manny, pull off the monkey's, Big Manny. Nothing today. Now, what was that? Uh, uh, nothing. Nothing. They offered that monkey a nickel. He wouldn't take it. What was it? Couldn't be that monkey was taking betting slips and the races, could it? And Big Manny is making book? It couldn't be that, could it? What a thought. I only asked because we got a reader on an organ grinder who was doing that in Jersey. Big Manny will say it was my fault. Why don't you just shut up? You ought to eat something. That's a good idea. Take Joey downstairs for a cup of coffee, Muggerman. You can call Vice from the drug store and mention Manny to them. I want to keep this phone open for a call to the hospital. Now, bring me back a sweet bun, toasted with butter. I'll kill him. Why? Come on, Joey. Yeah. Well, here we are. Herb. Uh-huh. How'd you lose your thumb, Herb? You know, Nadin's Delicatessen on third. You worked at Nadin's before you started a pitch for the Diamond Dance Palace? Yeah, that's right. You ever anything to do with Nancy Lee's accident? We ought to be ashamed asking a question like that, long as we've known each other. How long you known Joey? Eh, five years or so, I guess. Why? I'm just asking. Yeah, I'd say it was five years. He was selling bears out front where I was pitching. Bears? Yeah, he's still doing it. What kind of bears, Herb? The kind you see every day on the street. Oh. Yeah, you know, all mechanical little bears. You'll wind up with them. Move from side to side like this and walk around. Oh, yeah, yeah. That's a very nice item. Herb. Yeah? Listen, Herb, Nancy Lee had an insurance policy that was going to pay off a lot of money. Is that a fact? It would have been only for $75,000 except that she had an accident and there was a double indemnity clause in the policy. And $150,000. Right. Right. Herb. You'd better ask Joey. Herb, how come you and Joey are beneficiaries of this policy? We're like, I guess. How come both of you... Wait a minute. Danny Clover speaking. Dr. Sinski, Danny. How is she, doctor? I just called to give you the latest, Danny, which is not good. Nancy Lee Hunter is still a very sick woman. I called to tell you we put her in oxygen. You'll keep me posted, won't you? Sure. Thanks. Okay, Herb, how come last week both of you were spreading it around town how you're coming into a lot of money? Oh, I'm sorry. Oh, is that what you're worried about, part of it? Well, ease your mind, please. Why should I do that? We had a sure thing on a filly in Miami. We're just boasters, I guess. The filly ran out, Danny. We boasted for nothing. What about Beebe, Herb? Ask Beebe Barrett. Well, how should I know? You're really asking to be booked for murder, aren't you? My wife would kill me. Let's chat about Beebe. Oh, gee, I don't know what to say about her. Hey, did you bring me the sweet bun? What's the matter? I went to lunch with a shy cop. You didn't eat? I can tell just looking at you. The joint's crowded and he's too shy to flash a badge to get service. No coffee or nothing, huh? Sit down, Joey. You're not kidding. We were just talking about Beebe Barrett. Oh, from downstairs in the basement, I'll think of that. What's the matter? You look funny jumping up and down, that's all. I'm glad I entertain you, Herb. You're not the type, that's all. What about Beebe, Joey? Me, Herb, and Beebe. The three beneficiaries to Nancy Lee's insurance box. Why not? Listen, you cops have called me a lot of things, so now you call me beneficiary, bet? That's what you want to know, huh? That's right. You know the kind of girl Nancy Lee was, don't you? Tell us. Wild. Brother. Crazy wild with the booze, with the fast cars. Anything that was rapid, Nancy Lee's crazy wild. Brother. Go on. Keep him quiet, will you? Keep quiet, Herb. He's got the floor, so it isn't polite. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well... So, Nancy Lee and me and Beebe and Joey... That was three years ago before I was married. That was three years ago before I was married. We four had a large bottle one night. We, all of us, got feeling floaty. Nancy Lee come up with an idea. Take out a policy and I pay the premium. He guarantees to be dead in three years. That's the way it was. That's the way it was. From a girl like Nancy Lee, it was the kind of idea you'd expect. Listen, the kind of girl she was, everybody was surprised to see her alive from one day to the next. How much did each of you put up? Me, Herbie, Beebe, 15 Granny. Nancy Lee was gonna die, so it didn't cause her a nickel. It's just the kind of girl she was, that's all. You know... What? They say it takes all kinds. There was a creature who did everything hard. When she played, she played hard. When she loved, she loved hard. Real nutsy, huh, didn't Nancy Lee? So each of you put $15,000 in the kiddies. That's the way it went, Joey? That's right. 15 grand per annum. We paid the premiums to buy her a car, apartment, clothes, various things. You know, this and that. Uh-huh. You know how ladies are. Go give them a budget. Go ahead. The three of us formed a syndicate and put up the 15 Gs each and said, that's it, Nancy Lee, that's it, baby doll. You're not kidding. You know, the first time I saw Herbie was talking to the photos in front of the dance place he pitches. So go ahead, blame him. He sits there and talks to himself. What'd I do? What is this? Come here, baby. That's what I like to hear. Oh, baby. Mr. Semple. Get rid of all the fellas. Tell all the fellas to come back several hours later with something. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Don't tell me you're not going to get rid of this lady. We'll see each other. I pretty much need to get rid of this lady. You're not going to play with sandwiches and what then, huh? The two you don't know are cops. Detective Mark of a man and this gentleman is Lieutenant Clover. How do you do? Quite well, thank you. Make mine on pumpernickel. We're talking to a fella here about attempted murder. I'm glad you could join us. How do you like yours, Julie? Cops kidding, isn't he, Julie? Men said they found poison in Nancy Lee. Men said that's why she banged the side of that building. Kidding? Why don't you listen to him. He's telling you, ain't he? Men said they found poison in Nancy Lee. Men said that's why she banged the side of that building. Kid. Why don't you listen to him? He's telling you, Annie. Kiss yourself under your light socket, yes, pretty please? Ah, I'm not kidding. Ask him. That's right. Now, just to keep it straight, you're B.B. Barrett, aren't you? Just to keep it straight, it's Miss B.B. Barrett. Later to become Mrs. Joey's parent. Little man, what now? Are you dying? One of these days I'm going to brain him. Look, I got a real good sense of humor and I laugh easy. What do you want from me, plasma? Nancy Lee dies, you come into a lot of money, right, Miss Barrett? Joey? They know about it. Joey says you know about it, so why ask me? Fifty thousand dollars each. You did it in your mind. I had to sit down with pencil and paper. Yeah. That's right, cop. Fifty thousand dollars. You fellas... Yeah, I'm not going... Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. What do you call it? Uh-huh. Oh, thanks, Doc. Yeah, sure. That was Dr. Sinsky. Nancy Lee Hunter just died. Dr. Sinsky gave me a medical term why Nancy Lee Hunter died. When I couldn't understand it, he explained to me it was the name of a poison. Oh, gee, that's too bad. Dr. Sinsky believes that Nancy Lee Hunter took or was given the poison, which made her crash the car. Oh. Watch this. Ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha ha! Come on, let's all go down to headquarters. What for? You'd pay attention, you'd know. Nancy Lee just died. The police, these fellas here, think she was poisoned. They want us to go down to headquarters to talk to us about murder. Oh. Music You are listening to Broadway's My Beat, written by Morton Fine and David Friedkin, and starring Larry Thor as Detective Danny Clover. Do you know the facts of death? The simple truth is that unsafe driving is an open invitation to the Grim Reaper. It's amazing how many otherwise sensible and even brilliant people permit themselves to lose their perspectives to the point where a moment's speed and instant's poor driving judgment can result in disaster. Driver, if it's a gamble, don't take it. Be a pessimist and live. Music Sunbursts of a new August morning, and Broadway takes a moment from the swarm to lean against subway exit to gird itself against another day by a quick rundown of mileposts of the long night past. There was the afterwork bottle of beer at the corner bar, and the hazed reflection of a woman's mouth in the soap mirror, and remembered over supper, Junior remarking on the funny look on Pla's face, and mattress on the roof then, your corner of sleep, and from windows of the street the floating siren songs of the disc jockeys, and the dream fragments, for you're someone else somewhere else. Somewhere else, fathoms low, Everest high, deserts wide. The dawn chill then, the awakening, the waiting time clock, sunburst of a new August morning, and try once more. Maybe it'll happen today. Music And the police headquarters, the normal phenomenon of all the mornings. In August it is good to be alive, Danny. Sergeant Geno Tartaglia. And in order for you to more freely savor this feeling on your desk, I deposit a container of hot coffee, and a hot cinnamon bun likewise. Oh, thank you, Geno. Ask a question, Geno. It's allowed. I've thought about it a lot, and well, I... Out with it, Danny. Sometimes I get in here, like this morning, maybe a half hour late, sometimes a couple hours. You always have a hot bun for me. How do you keep it hot? Fish-pash, my secret. Oh. Any more questions, Danny? No? Danny, drink to the affairs of the day. A few leaves from the chapters in our records entitled Joey, Pell, Herb, Morrie, which I will synopsize for you as after a while it becomes dull from repetitiousness. Oh, thank you, Geno. Thank you for being thoughtful. Don't mention it. Joey Pell, a Broadway boy on familiar terms with the lads of Bunko Squad, for various street corner pitches, empty store pitches, the drop the blank at the telegraph office pitch, also friendly with the roving squad for floating crab games, anchored crab games, and various flights in the realm of chukaluk and fantaine and so on and so on. As for Herb Morrie? They're out here, Danny, the beneficiaries. Oh, yeah, bring them in. Hello, I'm just playing. All right, all right, break it up, Levers. The lieutenant says he wants you inside. Come on, come on. Don't get lost, Herb. Stick with the crowd. They'll do that. Don't say that, Joey and Beebe. They make a real tight bunch of crowd. Let's put it this way, Herb. Oh, let's just put it, Joey. In Beebe here, I got a hive of honey. And in your wife, Herb, what about my wife, Joey? In your wife, Herb, you got a barrel of marinated olives. I love you, Joey, the things you think to speak. Oh, will you two break it up? Pablo's over, jokes are over. Joey and Herb, Muggerman, get them out of here. Danny. What? Delicate with Beebe, huh? Gentle with Beebe, huh? Because I have the very highest type thoughts about Beebe and deep respect and all... Muggerman. All right, outside lover. You two, Herb. Wait. Joey, hold me a minute, Joey, like you do. I don't want to forget ever how you do that, Joey. Even for a minute. No, Joey, you go with the man like the man says. It's a flipped world, baby. Put you in it, and I like it. That fella, that Joey fella, he loves me. You get the chance, you look on that stone wall, that building on 39th, you look. You'll see scratched into the stone, two hearts entwined, and initials J and Beebe. Sit down, Miss Barrett. Oh? I will move the chair in for you, Miss Barrett. Oh, sure. Miss Barrett. It's sweet. Thank you. Miss Barrett, if you should... That's all, you know, you can go, Lieutenant. Miss Barrett. You're sweet. You're thinking. Huh? Sometimes around me, fellas think. I always know when. I let them. Sometimes even with Joey. You really love him, don't you? I can cry how much, or yell, beat my chest. You know what you're thinking? What? You're thinking, did I make Nancy Lee die? Did you? I will be very wealthy because Nancy Lee crashed her automovie. You and Joey, two-thirds of 150,000. Best part, me and Joey. I read there's a mountain in Rio, someplace they call Sugarloaf. Me and Joey will sweeten it. You're making it easy. What? I said you're making it easy. Easy to explain. Motive in simple language to a jury. You kidding? Get me a jury, 12 men and true. After me, they'll mark you low boy on the grease pole. You kill her, drink with her, poison her, get her in her car. Nancy Lee was very talented with that stuff herself. Very capable of a routine like that without any assist from me. From anybody. From Joey, maybe. No, not Joey. Don't you say Joey to me. Don't you dare. Yes, I will. Sit down, Miss Barrett. Tell me about Nancy Lee, Miss Barrett. About Nancy Lee. It's got me in it. Tell me. From five years ago, uh, uh-huh, five, I answered an ad in billboard to the Blue Lagoon Diamond Dance. Nancy Lee auditioned right ahead of me. You ever see a diamond dance audition? No. You get this opportunity, you go see. Well anyhow, from the audition, Nancy Lee and Bibi, like it was sisters, a sister act, of interest to any type of dancing fellow you could mention. Me, quiet, smooth rhythm. Nancy Lee, crazy, flipperoo, gone, drums and percussion type. Between us we could handle all the fellows that had their dimes in hand. Then one evening, I met Joey. Joey, Joey. Just about Nancy Lee, huh? Nancy Lee didn't meet any Joey. She didn't want to. She told me. She wanted types. You know, we bought her a car, me and Joey and her. It was part of the deal when she came up with that insurance proposition. A car also. For how she promised us to die in three years. Yes, I know. What's that got to do with it? Well, this has got to do. From over the windshield of that car, she hung charms. What? Charms, like I wear my charm bracelet. But Nancy Lee's were bigger. Symbols, she called them. She used words like that. Symbols is the men she was going with at the time. There were three monkeys, for instance, representing one fellow. Then there was a large radish molded from silver, for instance. And for a while there was even a baby shoe. A symbol, Nancy Lee said, of a toddler romancing her at the time. Crazy, gone Nancy Lee. Symbols of fellows. And you were with her all the time, you and Joey and Herb. No, for maybe a month we were with her. You had an investment, 15,000 apiece, and you didn't... Well, I'm saying it to you, for a month we didn't see her. We looked at each other and we said, why? So, I took it in my own hands. I went to see Nancy, asked her why. When was that? You think I'm ashamed to tell you? Earlier of the same night when Nancy Lee beat her head against a building. What happened? She was bubbly is what happened. She said, why see our types when she now had a fella? One fella who put an end to all the others. A fella she thought she'd never have. Then she laughed and that way she laughed. And she threw me out. The man was coming, she said. So, out you go, baby. You know what? What? Nancy Lee promised us to die in three years. Last night I looked up the date. She made it by four days early. Nancy Lee. A girl who never knew what time it was. Oh, you want me to walk out in the hall, Danny? No, it's all right. Stay where you are. Mugglesby. Bring Herb Morrie in, Mugglesby. Oh, look, Danny, right now I'm in the middle. Good, then I can count on you. Thanks a lot, Mugglesby. Look, I have to sit here while that creep Herb Morrie's in the same room with me. Just relax, Miss Barrett. I want... Danny, I... Oh, pardon me. What do you want, Gino? There is a Mrs. Herb Morrie out here to see you, Danny. Shall I visit her? Mrs. Herb Morrie? At least six-four in her stocking seat. Sure am. This way to see Danny Clover. What have you done with my Herb? This stuff has got to be cut out, you understand? You don't push Herb around. Not when I'm around. Just relax. Relax? How can I? I brought him, Danny. Get in there, Herb. Oh, gosh, honey, baby, if they told me you were coming, I'd have baked a fish. You've gone and cut yourself into a mess, Herb. Oh, look, honey, it ain't no mess. It's been a ball. Tell me about the ball you had when I get you home. First, he's going to tell us something, Mrs. Morrie. Yeah, honey, baby, first I got to tell Danny something. Then when we get home... Herb. Yeah, Danny? Where were you the night Nancy Lee got killed? Where was I the night? Honey, baby, you tell them where I was the night Nancy... I don't know, Herb. Don't tell a fib, honey, baby. I was tucked under your arm, remember? My wife's a bomb. I don't know where you were Herb the night Nancy Lee was killed. You wasn't home, Herb. I was alone, Herb. And I cried, Herb. You got us into a mess, Herb. Get them out of there. Get Muggerman to clear the office of B.B. of Herb Morrie of Mrs. Morrie, a big woman, the tears somehow strange from her and Herb's comforting of her strange also. Now, don't do that, honey, baby. You're a no mess. Just me. And the door closed on them and sit now in a new silence, let the day drift, change color, change pace, and the thoughts, too, which concern a woman dead who had made promise to her friends and benefactors that her death was in three years and who missed it by four days because there was drunkenness and poison and crash of steel into a building which took precedence over time schedules and schedules for dying. And now the swifter draining of day, and remember something you hadn't eaten, walk downstairs to the commissary and the ham on white and the coffee and the cupcake with pink coconut and twilight commissary talk. When you come back to the office, Detective Muggerman has been waiting. Hi, Danny. You got anything this afternoon, Muggerman? Yeah, a couple things. Well, what? For one thing, I made a routine check through the files of Nancy Lee Hunter. Go on. Beneficiaries weren't kidding. Nancy Lee would have made dying before long. Oh. According to records, about a year ago, she was brought into police emergency hospital pretty badly beaten. Real hurt. Said it was a man, but she wouldn't say who. Wouldn't prefer charges. Another time, they clocked her at 97 miles an hour on East River Parkway. She told the officer it was crazy to stop her. Another time, Central Park Zoo. She climbed the barrier to the tiger cage, stuck an arm in, challenged the tiger to take it. She would have made it, Danny. Maybe they should have waited. Anything else? Yeah, I found out where she kept her car. I went down there for a routine check. You never know. Look on. It's a place where Herb and Joey and B.B. bought her the car. They've been taking care of it ever since. They got the wreck now. I talked to a man there. About a month ago, Nancy Lee drove it in, said, wash it, lubricate it, and get rid of all those things over my windshield. Put this up. Just this. Put what up? This, Danny. A toy. Mechanical bear. You see guys selling them on the street. Cute, huh? Yeah. Get them, Hal Muggerman. Okay, inside, all of you. Here they are, Danny. Herb, go home. Huh? Get out of here. Your wife wants you. I want to give you fellows a fair chance. I'm a small fellow with no alibi. Remember? Call on me anytime, fellas. I'm going to get you. I'm going to get you. I'm going to get you. I'm going to get you. I'm going to get you. Call on me anytime, fellas. Baby. Uh-huh? We're left. Why? Hey, Danny, why are we left? Who fed Nancy Lee the poison? Well, not me, not him either. What for? Why should I? Simple. For $50,000. Well, so why pick on my boy? We each get 50 grand. Herb, me, him, everybody. Not a bad return on a 15 grand investment, huh? I sat down with paper and pencil on that one, too. We always get the same answer, you and me. Oh, come on. Come on, you guys. Hey. Joey has them. You take from Joey, Danny? Yeah, secondhand. Both of you have got a need. What for? This toy was taken out of Nancy Lee's car. You kidding? He's not kidding, baby. Joey. Yeah? Right now, I had a gun. I'd make holes all over you. Look, they got nothing on me, baby. What did you just kill me for, Joey? You're going to listen to me. Baby, look. Don't. Don't touch me again. I just crawled when you touched me. You think I loved you? For that whole month's sake. You're going to listen to me? For that whole month, Nancy Lee's not seeing any of us except you. Listen to me. And when I see her, she tells me about a new fella. She can hardly believe it. A fella she wants all the time and finally gets. And she hangs up a bear in her car. The symbol of my joy. Say goodbye to her, Joey. Just let me explain to her. Why? Why do you want to do that? Because I want you to think kindly of me. Because I want you to know I did it for you. Thank you very much for killing a lady for me. That's just what I needed. How long were we going to wait, baby? That crazy thing was going to live forever. It was nice waiting. I was enjoying it. What'd you have to push it for? We had dough invested. 15 GBs each. It had to be protected. You didn't kill her. She'd have died some other way. Oh, Joey. Honey, honey. Oh. You touched me. My skin just crawled again, Joey. Danny, can I get you a cup of coffee? I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Danny, can I go? All right. I got nothing to say, fella. I wanted the money because I thought I could make the love I had with baby better. It was real love. Come on, Joey. Broadway's sleeping now. The furious avenues of the night are still. Only the sleepwalkers are there. The seekers, the sodden, the huggers close of nothing at all. It's Broadway, the gaudiest, the most violent, the lonesomest mile in the world. Broadway, my beat. Broadway's my beat stars Larry Thor as Detective Danny Clover with Charles Calvert as Tartaglia and Jack Crouchen as Muggervin. The program is produced and directed by Elliot Lewis with musical score composed and conducted by Alexander Courage. In tonight's story, Mary Jean Quast was heard as Beebe, Tony Barrett as Joey, Gigi Pearson as Mrs. Morrie, and Hi, Everback as Herb. Bill Anders speaking. Later tonight, CBS Radio's Gangbusters brings you an authentic story of diamond smuggling and operations that started on the Belgian diamond mark, caused briefly in Canada, and reached a surprising and lethal windup in New York City. Remember, tonight and every Saturday night, the program that brings you exciting mysteries of real life brings you your latest Gangbusters adventures on most of these same stations. And remember, for thrilling dramas of escape, listen Sunday nights to the CBS Radio Network. Thank you. .
