What happens
Escape presents Maracas, first broadcast on November 22, 1949. Mate Tom Doyle signs on the coastwise tramp steamer Bruno, captained by the brutal Kelso, and sails for Central America with passengers George and Joy Marling. Doyle discovers that the cargo marked as farm equipment is actually a hold of rifles, and Kelso demands a share of the profits. When George Marling tries to force a larger split and threatens Doyle, a struggle on deck leaves him dead, and Doyle must decide how to handle the consequences. The crew then learns the rifle crates have been filled with dummy cargo, and the ship's trade goes badly wrong at a rendezvous in the bay of Maracas with the bandit general Topaz. The transcript breaks off with Topaz and his men holding the three survivors at gunpoint.
A coastwise tramp steamer, the Bruno, sailing from San Diego toward Santa Gordo, then a cantina in the bay of Maracas in Central America.
Characters: Tom Doyle, Captain Kelso, George Marling, Joy Marling, Estelle, General Topaz
Listen for: Doyle discovering the rifles hidden in the cargo, and the tense shootout with the bandit general Topaz at the cantina.
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.