The Corpse in the Cab: Nick Carter, Master Detective (February 5, 1944)

“The Corpse in the Cab” is an episode of Nick Carter, Master Detective, the old-time radio show, first broadcast February 5, 1944. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

When taxi driver Shorty Bentano picks up two passengers who ask him to drive through the park, one of them turns out to be dead by the time Shorty realizes something is wrong. Nick Carter takes the case and discovers the victim is Professor Ivan Johnson, a history teacher who was on his way to the police station to report something important. Nick must uncover what the professor knew and who wanted to silence him before he could talk to the authorities.

New York City, including a city park, streets, taxi cab, and police headquarters.

Characters: Nick Carter, Shorty Bentano, Lieutenant Riley, Professor Ivan Johnson, Patsy

Listen for: Nick's deductive reasoning about the chalk under the victim's fingernail, and his theory that the professor was killed to prevent him from reaching the police station.

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.