The Burma Red Matter: Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar (May 6, 1962)

“The Burma Red Matter” is an episode of Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, the old-time radio show, first broadcast May 6, 1962. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Insurance investigator Johnny Dollar takes on a case involving the Burma Red, a large stolen ruby that was taken from the home of wealthy Mrs. Harvey Laramond Brittigan in Hartford four weeks ago. Police suspect master safe cracker Oscar Mayfield, who was in town at the time and has the skills to match the safe-cracking method, but he has an alibi they cannot break and must be released.

Hartford, Connecticut and New York City, present day

Characters: Johnny Dollar, Jimmy Bartell, Oscar Mayfield, Sergeant Holcomb, Lieutenant Randy Singer, Mrs. Harvey Laramond Brittigan

Listen for: Johnny's history with the dangerous criminal Oscar Mayfield and his threat of retaliation; the police investigation that cannot pin the theft on their prime suspect despite strong circumstantial evidence; the hunt for a large ruby that may have already changed hands or been cut into smaller stones.

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.