The Case of the Salesman of Death: Nick Carter, Master Detective (May 16, 1948)

“The Case of the Salesman of Death” is an episode of Nick Carter, Master Detective, the old-time radio show, first broadcast May 16, 1948. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Nick Carter investigates a threatening letter sent to wealthy Park Avenue philanthropist Mrs. Benjamin Gordon, warning that a death prayer has been placed upon her. Hours after receiving the letter, Mrs. Gordon falls down the stairs and dies. Nick traces the letter to Rama, a self-proclaimed Oriental mystic who runs the Temple of Thought and claims to sell death prayers to clients for a fee.

New York City, including Mrs. Gordon's Park Avenue mansion and the Temple of Thought on Second Avenue

Characters: Nick Carter, Patsy, Mrs. Benjamin Gordon, Albert Farmer, Miss Bowen, Blake Gordon, Rama, High Priest of the Temple of Thought, Matty

Listen for: The mysterious death prayer scheme and Rama's claim that he was paid five hundred dollars by an unknown client to pray for Mrs. Gordon's death, with the money and instructions arriving by mail.

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.