Mary Bellman Killed: Richard Diamond, Private Detective (June 28, 1950)

“Mary Bellman Killed” is an episode of Richard Diamond, Private Detective, the old-time radio show, first broadcast June 28, 1950. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Richard Diamond is hired by attorney Raymond R. Waldron to investigate a case involving his client, the beautiful Mary Bellman, who claims to fear for her life. When Diamond arrives at Mary's address expecting a simple meeting, he is knocked unconscious and his gun is stolen. He awakens to find Mary shot dead, and becomes the prime suspect when gangster Louis Hall discovers the murder weapon is Diamond's missing pistol.

New York City, including Diamond's apartment, Waldron's law office, the Ace High Club nightclub, a police station, and Bellevue Hospital

Characters: Richard Diamond, Raymond R. Waldron, Mary Bellman, Lieutenant Walt, Louis Hall, Jean Willis, John Webb, Otis

Listen for: The solution reveals that Raymond R. Waldron is actually John Webb, a criminal Diamond had sent to prison years earlier, who murders Mary and frames Diamond for revenge. The trap set at the hospital exposes both Jean Willis's protective obsession with Louis Hall and Webb's attempt to finish Diamond.

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.