What happens
Helen Hudson returns to Brightwood Hospital, where her husband, Dr. Wayne Hudson, has just drowned after a swim in the lake. Robert Merrick, a wealthy young man whose life was saved by the lake rescue, is recovering in the same hospital. Helen learns from the hospital's accountant that her husband's finances are oddly depleted, with large cash withdrawals over the years and no clear record of where the money went. Former patients and their families tell her the same story: Dr. Hudson lent them money and insisted they never repay it. Helen begins to suspect her husband had a hidden purpose behind his generosity. The story is told in the Lux Radio Theatre production of Magnificent Obsession, adapted from Lloyd C. Douglas's novel, broadcast on November 13, 1944, with Claudette Colbert and Donald Woods in the leading roles.
Brightwood Hospital in the Westchester County countryside, near New York
Characters: Helen Hudson, Joyce, Robert Merrick, Dr. Wayne Hudson, Nancy, Dr. Ramsay, Miss Ashley, Mr. Perry
Listen for: Mr. Perry revealing that Dr. Hudson's estate is nearly empty despite his fortune, and the repeated stories of patients who say he gave them money and refused repayment
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.