What happens
Mr. Cummings, a traveling salesman, is stuck in a New Orleans hotel room during Mardi Gras, waiting for a call from his boss. Bored, he picks up a Gideon Bible and begins reading it. Over the evening, a series of visitors come to his door on various pretexts, his belongings are searched, and he finds himself pursued by a masked devil and a clown who demand the book. Arrested, he is freed after someone pays his fine, and he attempts to escape the danger by helping a nun find her way through the French Quarter. The story is part of the Escape radio series and was first broadcast on August 30, 1951.
New Orleans during Mardi Gras, a hotel in the French Quarter, and the city streets and police station
Characters: Mr. Cummings, Gregory, Frenchy
Listen for: The hotel visitors who keep coming to Cummings' door, and the masked devil and clown who chase him through the Mardi Gras crowds.
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.