The Ed Koster Murder Case: Broadway Is My Beat (October 13, 1951)

“The Ed Koster Murder Case” is an episode of Broadway Is My Beat, the old-time radio show, first broadcast October 13, 1951. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Detective Danny Clover investigates a fire at Russell Chemical Company where arsonist Joe Gantt dies, along with police officer Ed Koster who received an anonymous tip to be there. When George Russell's car is booby-trapped and his home is bombed, Clover uncovers a conspiracy involving hoodlum Frankie Crown and discovers that Russell orchestrated the fire to kill Koster in revenge for arresting his daughter Patrice on narcotics charges.

New York City, primarily Broadway and its surrounding areas; includes Russell's home, police headquarters, hospital, and Frankie Crown's penthouse apartment

Characters: Detective Danny Clover, George Russell, Patrice Russell, Frankie Crown, Joe Gantt, Ed Koster, Vera Koster, Detective Muggaben

Listen for: The atmospheric opening and closing describing Broadway as a violent, lonely mile; the tragic wife Vera's grief at the hospital; the technical investigator Gordon's explanations of the fire and explosion; the revelation of the narcotics arrest connection and Russell's revenge plot

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.