The Nathan Gayles Matter: Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar (November 17, 1953)

“The Nathan Gayles Matter” is an episode of Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, the old-time radio show, first broadcast November 17, 1953. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Insurance investigator Johnny Dollar arrives in New York to investigate the murder of police officer Nathan Gale, who was shot in his garage. A witness initially identifies a suspect named Bancroft, but then recants his identification. When the witness is killed in a hit-and-run accident, Dollar works with Sergeant Kemper to prove Bancroft's guilt by posing as a wealthy Texas oilman to get close to Bancroft's girlfriend Betty Holmes.

New York City, including police precinct, Gale residence, Fifth Avenue fur shop, apartment, and hotel

Characters: Johnny Dollar, Sergeant William Kemper, Nathan Gale (deceased), Bancroft, Betty Holmes, George Fisher (deceased), Evelyn Gale, Virgil Cummins (deceased)

Listen for: The clever undercover operation where Johnny Dollar poses as a Texas oilman to win over Betty Holmes and recover stolen watches that connect Bancroft to the murder; the hit-and-run killing of the key witness; the revelation that Bancroft has been using Betty to unload the incriminating evidence.

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.