The Shady Lane Matter - Ep 1: Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar (July 9, 1956)

“The Shady Lane Matter - Ep 1” is an episode of Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, the old-time radio show, first broadcast July 9, 1956. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Insurance investigator Johnny Dollar arrives in Shady Lane, Vermont to investigate the shooting death of Ellen Bates, who was killed a month ago in her own home. Her husband Ben Bates stands to collect a $10,000 insurance policy, but the local constable insists Ben couldn't be capable of murder, and the investigation has stalled with no witnesses and no clear motive.

Shady Lane, Vermont, a small rural town in the summer of 1956

Characters: Johnny Dollar, Pete Carlson, Jed Bramler, Ellen Bates, Ben Bates, Martin Preeny, Sarah

Listen for: The mysterious unsigned letter warning Johnny to look close to home; the unusual hand-poured bullet from an old-fashioned squirrel rifle; Constable Bramler's curious insistence that his childhood friend Ben Bates couldn't possibly be the killer.

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.