The Merry-go-round Murder: Boston Blackie (May 14, 1946)

“The Merry-go-round Murder” is an episode of Boston Blackie, the old-time radio show, first broadcast May 14, 1946. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Boston Blackie discovers a dead body dressed in riding habit, slumped on a wooden horse of a merry-go-round running at two in the morning in the park. The victim is John Van Dorn, a well-known horseman, and Blackie learns that Van Dorn had complained to the Park Commission about the carousel, threatening its closure. As Blackie investigates the carousel owner Pete Carson and visits Van Dorn's widow, a lawyer named Wilcox blocks further questioning and throws Blackie out of the house.

A city park with a merry-go-round, and the Van Dorn residence, during the early morning hours.

Characters: Boston Blackie, Mary Wesley, Inspector Faraday, Pete Carson, John Van Dorn (deceased), Mrs. Van Dorn, Mr. Wilcox (lawyer)

Listen for: The bizarre image of a murder victim posed on a carousel horse, and Blackie's growing suspicion that there is more to Pete Carson's story than the lawyer will allow.

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.