The Case of the Substitute Slayer: Nick Carter, Master Detective (October 3, 1948)

“The Case of the Substitute Slayer” is an episode of Nick Carter, Master Detective, the old-time radio show, first broadcast October 3, 1948. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Radio soap opera writer Clara Corbin receives threatening letters from someone claiming she will be murdered if she doesn't stop writing about a love triangle involving her brother-in-law Larry Harris. Nick Carter investigates whether the threats are real or part of a scheme to manipulate the plot of her show, discovering tensions between Clara, her sister Sue, and Larry that blur the line between fiction and reality.

Nick Carter's office and the homes of the Harris family in the city

Characters: Nick Carter, Clara Corbin, Patsy Bowen, Larry Harris, Sue Harris

Listen for: The confusion between Clara's radio serial and real life, the revelation of whether the threatening letters are genuine, and which character might be behind the murder threats

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.