The Case of the Lucrative Wrecks: Nick Carter, Master Detective (April 20, 1947)

“The Case of the Lucrative Wrecks” is an episode of Nick Carter, Master Detective, the old-time radio show, first broadcast April 20, 1947. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Nick Carter is hired by an insurance underwriters association to solve a wave of car thefts plaguing their clients. After discovering a criminal ring is systematically wrecking new cars and reselling them, Nick plants three stolen vehicles equipped with hidden radio transmitters to track the gang to their hideout.

A city with a garage operation and railroad tracks, during an unspecified time period in the 1940s.

Characters: Nick Carter, Mr. Benson, Betsy, Bob Anderson, Peggy Anderson, Dylan, Rocky, Miss Collins

Listen for: The clever use of radio transmitter technology hidden in new cars to track down the car theft gang; the tension as Nick pursues a stolen vehicle through city streets and narrowly misses being stopped by a passing train.

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.