Agnes Bolton: Pat Novak, for Hire (June 4, 1949)

“Agnes Bolton” is an episode of Pat Novak, for Hire, the old-time radio show, first broadcast June 4, 1949. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Pat Novak, a waterfront private investigator in San Francisco, is hired by a mysterious man named Max Hunter to follow a large, unattractive woman named Agnes Bolton, shadow her to a boat called the Seventh Heaven, and report which ship she delivers a green leather bag to. The job turns deadly when Agnes Bolton dies of poison in a hotel phone booth, a young woman named Joan Hayward pursues Pat with conflicting offers regarding the green bag, and bodies begin piling up across the city.

San Francisco waterfront and surrounding areas including a bowling alley, hotel, garage, bars, and the Muza Tone Company offices, during a rainy evening and following morning.

Characters: Pat Novak, Max Hunter, Agnes Bolton, Joan Hayward, Detective Helman, Francine Kane, Jackie Rand, Jocko Matigan

Listen for: The discovery that the mysterious Max Hunter is actually a spy named Jackie Rand, recordings from the Muza Tone Company switchboard that reveal the plot, and the connection between the murders and espionage activities centered around intercepting messages through jukebox microphones.

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.