The Bennet Matter - Ep 4: Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar (February 23, 1956)

“The Bennet Matter - Ep 4” is an episode of Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, the old-time radio show, first broadcast February 23, 1956. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Insurance investigator Johnny Dollar testifies for the prosecution in the arson trial of George Foley, establishing that Foley used his signature fire-setting method at the Bennett Building. As the jury deliberates, Johnny attempts to convince Foley to implicate his employer, Arnold Bennett, the actual target of the investigation, before it's too late.

San Francisco Superior Court and county jail during the trial of arsonist George Foley for burning the Bennett Building.

Characters: Johnny Dollar, Andrew Court, Judge William J. Bainbridge, Charles Finlay, Jake Eggleston, George Foley, Arnold Bennett, Elizabeth Bennett

Listen for: Johnny's detailed testimony about the arson method—a paraffin-soaked wick in a paper sack filled with celluloid—and the physical evidence connecting Foley to the crime. The tension between prosecutor Finlay and defense attorney Eggleston, and Johnny's post-trial conversation with Foley in his cell.

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.