The Case of Shakespeare's Ghost: Nick Carter, Master Detective (December 30, 1945)

“The Case of Shakespeare's Ghost” is an episode of Nick Carter, Master Detective, the old-time radio show, first broadcast December 30, 1945. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Nick Carter investigates a fraud case when a rare book dealer named Rodney Stone swindles collector J.T. Reed out of a valuable first folio Shakespeare, but the case becomes a murder investigation when they discover Stone's decapitated body in his locked hotel room on the 23rd floor. The murder weapon is a sixteenth-century claymore sword, and the gruesome method recalls an old legend about Shakespeare's ghost taking revenge on anyone who steals a copy of the plays signed by Ben Jonson.

New York City, including Nick Carter's brownstone mansion office and a hotel on the 23rd floor in 1946

Characters: Nick Carter, Patsy, J.T. Reed, Rodney Stone

Listen for: Nick's detective methods as he examines the crime scene and gathers evidence, including analysis of the bloodstained sword and testing blood samples; the legend of Shakespeare's ghost and its connection to the stolen book

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.