Jack Of Clubs: Pat Novak, for Hire (February 20, 1949)

“Jack Of Clubs” is an episode of Pat Novak, for Hire, the old-time radio show, first broadcast February 20, 1949. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Private investigator Pat Novak discovers a thousand dollars mysteriously deposited in his bank account on Friday, then finds a dead man in his kitchen closet. A mysterious woman named Connie Riley enlists him to retrieve a jack of clubs card from an incoming ship, while Inspector Hellman and the FBI close in, convinced Novak is involved in smuggling microfilm.

San Francisco waterfront and various locations including Pat's apartment, a bank, a restaurant, and Oakland morgue

Characters: Pat Novak, Connie Riley, Inspector Hellman, Jocko Matigan, Max Coleman, Christopher Downs, Kirk Toomey

Listen for: Pat's wisecracking narration and banter with the colorful characters he encounters, plus the plot twists involving the phony jack of clubs card and hidden microfilm

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.