Microfilm in the Fishtank: Barrie Craig, Confidential Investigator (October 24, 1951)

“Microfilm in the Fishtank” is an episode of Barrie Craig, Confidential Investigator, the old-time radio show, first broadcast October 24, 1951. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Barrie Craig, confidential investigator, meets tailor George who is being shaken down by a protection racket demanding $50 a week. Craig promises to alert Lieutenant Edwards to help, but that night George's shop catches fire and George is found dead inside. Craig discovers celluloid scrap at the scene—evidence of professional arson—and takes on the case, only to be hired by newspaper publisher Alfred P. Whittington to investigate the murder and protection scheme for an exclusive story.

New York City; George's tailor shop, police headquarters, insurance company office, Whittington's penthouse apartment

Characters: Barrie Craig, George the tailor, Lieutenant Edwards, Alfred P. Whittington, Arthur B. Goldsmith, Irving Turkle

Listen for: The clues involving celluloid scrap used in professional arson, the protection racket operation, and the connection between the newspaper crime series and the murder investigation.

Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.