The Ebony Link: The Adventures of Philip Marlowe (May 28, 1949)

“The Ebony Link” is an episode of The Adventures of Philip Marlowe, the old-time radio show, first broadcast May 28, 1949. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Philip Marlowe is hired by Ivan Pack, a man in a wheelchair, to find out who is blackmailing him for fifty thousand dollars. A mysterious redhead visits Marlowe first with a false story, and a blackmail letter written on distinctive stationery leads him to the Beverly Crest Hotel, where he discovers a redheaded manicurist named Rhea Fleming may be involved in the scheme. Marlowe finds an ebony cufflink at the scene of a hit-and-run and must unravel the blackmail plot before the deadline.

Los Angeles, including Marlowe's apartment building, the Beverly Crest Hotel, and various city streets.

Characters: Philip Marlowe, Ivan Pack, Rhea Fleming, Leona Pack, Ramsay, Moro Chek

Listen for: The distinctive ebony cufflink that becomes a key clue, the blackmail letters on special stationery, the hit-and-run car with license number 440, and revelations about Leona Pack's past imprisonment.

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.