Death in the Pines: Nick Carter, Master Detective (March 4, 1944)

“Death in the Pines” is an episode of Nick Carter, Master Detective, the old-time radio show, first broadcast March 4, 1944. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

When a truck driver is murdered during a hijacking operation, Nick Carter investigates a protection racket targeting produce shipments from New Jersey to New York markets. A year-long scheme of extortion and violence escalates with the driver's death, and Nick must uncover whether the leak comes from inside the trucking company or from the criminal gang itself.

New Jersey and New York, involving truck routes carrying produce and a state police investigation into organized hijacking operations

Characters: Nick Carter, Patsy Bowen, Mr. Tate, Al Lapparo, Dave Morgan, State Trooper, Regan, Jake

Listen for: Nick's clever deduction that someone inside Tate's company is connected to the hijackers, his decision to place Patsy as a typist and another operative as a truck driver to gather information, and the revelation that the driver was shot rather than burned to death

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.