Father Leahy - Joe Feldman: Pat Novak, for Hire (April 2, 1949)

“Father Leahy - Joe Feldman” is an episode of Pat Novak, for Hire, the old-time radio show, first broadcast April 2, 1949. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Father Leahy, a tall priest, hires Pat Novak to intercept Joe Feldman, an escaped convict from Alcatraz, and bring him to the ferry building so the priest can convince him to return voluntarily. Novak picks up a man at Pier 19 who claims to be Feldman, but the man insists on stopping at a hotel on Geary Street first. When Novak wakes from being knocked unconscious, he finds the man dead with his throat cut.

San Francisco waterfront, including Pier 19, a hotel on Geary Street, the Gold Rush Club, and various bars and streets

Characters: Pat Novak, Father Leahy, Joe Feldman, Mike Greeley, Anne (Giffon's sister), Charlie Giffon, Norma Feldman, Detective Helman

Listen for: The moral ambiguity of Novak's situation as he tries to help a priest save a convict's life, and the revelation that multiple people are seeking money Feldman had hidden

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.