The Baton Sinister: The Adventures of Philip Marlowe (September 17, 1949)

“The Baton Sinister” is an episode of The Adventures of Philip Marlowe, the old-time radio show, first broadcast September 17, 1949. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Private detective Philip Marlowe is hired by a nervous importer named Schindler to deliver a valuable 15th-century tapestry to a collector in Seattle. After retrieving the tapestry from a bus station locker, Marlowe is attacked by a scarred man named A-car seeking revenge against Myron Loft, and then knocked unconscious by a mysterious woman in a green veil who steals the tapestry from his office.

Los Angeles and environs, including Marlowe's apartment, a bus depot, an alley, and his office.

Characters: Philip Marlowe, Schindler, Myron Loft, A-car, Arthur Merritt, Lieutenant Matthews, Woman in green veil

Listen for: Discussion of the valuable tapestry, its theft, and the mysterious baton sinister marking on the Duke's shield; encounters with the revenge-seeking A-car and the woman in green.

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.