Joe Gates Murdered On Sightseeing Tour: Boston Blackie (May 4, 1949)

“Joe Gates Murdered On Sightseeing Tour” is an episode of Boston Blackie, the old-time radio show, first broadcast May 4, 1949. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

A murder victim is discovered on a Chinatown sightseeing tour, stabbed to death in broad daylight. Boston Blackie becomes entangled in the case when he visits an auction house run by a suspicious character named Harry Slocum, uncovering a web of blackmail and hidden identities.

San Francisco's Chinatown and surrounding areas, including a sightseeing tour bus, an auction gallery, and a boat on the water

Characters: Boston Blackie, Mary, Harry Slocum, Joe Gates, Beasy, Cleft, Homer, Matilda

Listen for: The contrast between the cheerful tour guide's patter and the grim discovery of a corpse; the killer's confession about using a knife; Blackie's clever deduction that the body's complete lack of identification is itself a clue

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.