What happens
Ken Thurston, known as the man called X, investigates the hijacking of American relief shipments in Naples. He learns that children from the city's dark areas may be involved, and that a shipment of grain seed has vanished from a warehouse. The Man Called X is a radio drama from 1947, starring Herbert Marshall, and this episode aired on December 28 of that year. Thurston follows the trail through the docks, a pay clerk's false voucher, and a politician's secretary who has shown kindness to the street children. Along the way, a tense night at the warehouse brings violence and a wounded young girl, and Thurston must weigh who is truly responsible for the crimes.
Naples, Italy, shortly after the war, in the cold and dark streets, docks, and warehouses near the Via Delarosa
Characters: Ken Thurston, Chief, Miss Brooks, Pay Gun Zelleschmitt, Alfredo Cignonfie, Francesca, Grito, Bianca
Listen for: Pay attention to the warehouse scene where the seed shipment is found missing, and to the conversation between Thurston and Francesca about the street children.
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.