The Case of the Absent Clue: Nick Carter, Master Detective (March 7, 1948)

“The Case of the Absent Clue” is an episode of Nick Carter, Master Detective, the old-time radio show, first broadcast March 7, 1948. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Nick Carter learns that his old friend Paul Elliott, who runs a small candy store with his wife Ruth, is being threatened by Jeff Greeley, a racketeer trying to force him into selling numbers slips. When Nick and his assistant Patsy arrive at the store to help, they discover Paul has been murdered with a crowbar. Ruth witnessed the killing and can identify the killers, while Nick finds evidence in a ledger suggesting Greeley may be hiding at a farm he recently purchased.

A small candy store in the suburban town of Beechwood, and Nick Carter's office in the city.

Characters: Nick Carter, Patsy, Jeff Greeley, Paul Elliott, Ruth Elliott, Sergeant Mathison, Mary

Listen for: The discovery of Paul's body, Ruth's eyewitness account of the murder, and Nick's deduction that Greeley may be hiding at a farm.

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.