Sam Tolliver: Pat Novak, for Hire (April 9, 1949)

“Sam Tolliver” is an episode of Pat Novak, for Hire, the old-time radio show, first broadcast April 9, 1949. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Pat Novak, a waterfront private investigator in San Francisco, is approached by an old friend, Sam Tolliver, who asks him to retrieve a mysterious package from a ship in the bay. When Novak returns with the package, he finds a dead body in his office and becomes entangled in a murder investigation involving a phony detective, a beautiful woman, and a political scandal surrounding a candidate running for office.

San Francisco waterfront and surrounding areas including apartments, hotels, and the bay, during an election night in 1949.

Characters: Pat Novak, Sam Tolliver, Ellen Morrow, Sergeant Grimes (Vic Rothrey), Hellman, Jaco Matigan, John Reedy, Captain (of China Star)

Listen for: The distinctive noir narration of Pat Novak as he becomes increasingly entangled in murder and deception; the plot twists involving the mysterious package containing drugs and its connection to a political frame-up; the climactic confrontation between Novak, Hellman, and Sam Tolliver.

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.