The Joey Macklin - John Howard Murder Case: Broadway Is My Beat (November 10, 1951)

“The Joey Macklin - John Howard Murder Case” is an episode of Broadway Is My Beat, the old-time radio show, first broadcast November 10, 1951. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Detective Danny Clover investigates the death of retired Lieutenant Colonel John Howard, found dead from alcohol poisoning on skid row alongside a pickpocket named Joey Macklin. Howard's wealthy wife reveals her husband made a drunken bet to live as a vagrant on the Bowery for a week, while evidence suggests Howard and his wartime colleague Frank Clifton shared knowledge of hidden Nazi loot in Germany—loot worth far more than the comfortable life Howard abandoned.

New York City, primarily the Bowery and police headquarters, during November in the early 1950s.

Characters: Detective Danny Clover, Lieutenant Colonel John Howard, Mrs. Lila Howard, Frank Clifton, Joey Macklin, Mickey Thomas, Sergeant Pataglia, Detective Muckerman

Listen for: The atmospheric opening describing November on Broadway and the morgue's cold isolation; the vivid Bowery scenes; the revelation about the Nazi loot from Essen; and the final confrontation in Howard's apartment.

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.