Murder in the Night: Nick Carter, Master Detective (November 12, 1944)

“Murder in the Night” is an episode of Nick Carter, Master Detective, the old-time radio show, first broadcast November 12, 1944. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

When a murder occurs at a remote house in upstate New York, Sheriff Summers calls on his vacationing friend Nick Carter to help solve the case. A man breaks into the home of Henry and Laura Parsons in the dead of night, shoots Henry through the head, and attempts to silence his wife by gagging, tying her up, and turning on the gas. Laura survives and can describe her attacker.

A small county in Upper New York State; the Parsons' bungalow on the edge of a cliff overlooking a river

Characters: Nick Carter, Sheriff Walt Summers, Patsy, Laura Parsons, Henry Parsons, Doc Winslow, Jed Peters

Listen for: The description of the intruder—medium-sized, unshaven with a scar across his forehead and cheek—and his attempt to frame the killing as a burglary gone wrong. Nick hints he may recognize the culprit.

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.