The Shady Lane Matter - Ep 3: Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar (July 11, 1956)

“The Shady Lane Matter - Ep 3” is an episode of Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, the old-time radio show, first broadcast July 11, 1956. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Insurance investigator Johnny Dollar arrives in Shady Lane, Vermont to investigate the murder of Ellen Bates, a semi-invalid farmwife shot through her front window with a squirrel rifle. As he interviews witnesses, Dollar discovers that the prime suspect, Ellen's husband Ben Bates, has a strong motive: he's deeply in debt, his wife's $10,000 insurance policy would solve his financial troubles, and he's apparently attracted to Millie Wells, a cafe waitress with a troubled past.

Shady Lane, Vermont - a small rural township featuring a cafe, a farmhouse, and the constable's office

Characters: Johnny Dollar, Constable Jed Bramler, Millie Wells, Ben Bates, Ellen Bates

Listen for: The details of Millie Wells' past murder trial and how it connects to the current case; the significance of the missing squirrel rifle and who in town owns one; Ben Bates' explanation of his financial desperation and his relationship with Millie.

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.