The Case of Make-Believe Murder: Nick Carter, Master Detective (July 22, 1945)

“The Case of Make-Believe Murder” is an episode of Nick Carter, Master Detective, the old-time radio show, first broadcast July 22, 1945. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Nick Carter is invited to join the exclusive alphabet club and attends an initiation dinner where the members stage a make-believe murder mystery as a prank. When Carter and his associate Patsy arrive, they find a body on the floor dressed as Santa Claus, but what begins as an elaborate hoax turns into a real murder when Carter realizes a fifth shot was fired among the blanks meant for the fake killing.

The alphabet club, an exclusive gathering of prominent men, in a room decorated for an initiation ceremony featuring a make-believe murder setup.

Characters: Nick Carter, Patsy Bowen, Sergeant Matheson, Arnold Archer, Nelson Burns, Walter Crane, George Dennis

Listen for: Nick Carter's deduction about the fifth shot that reveals the murder is real; the members' explanations of the initiation prank and their relationships; Sergeant Matheson's investigation into the suspects.

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.