The George Lexington Murder Case: Richard Diamond, Private Detective (September 13, 1950)

“The George Lexington Murder Case” is an episode of Richard Diamond, Private Detective, the old-time radio show, first broadcast September 13, 1950. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Private detective Richard Diamond is hired by George Lexington, who claims to fear for his life. When Diamond arrives for their appointment, he finds Lexington shot and stabbed to death, with his former fiancée June Morris holding a smoking gun. The investigation reveals that Lexington was actually a criminal with a record under the alias Jack Short, and that someone else stabbed him before Morris fired the fatal shot.

New York City, primarily in George Lexington's home on Long Island and the Fifth Precinct Police Station, with visits to June Morris's apartment and newspaper morgue files.

Characters: Richard Diamond, Lieutenant Walt Elvinson, June Morris, George Lexington (Jack Short), Lucius Farnsworth, Mrs. Judea Wright, Arthur the butler

Listen for: The clever logical deduction by which Diamond and Lieutenant Elvinson determine that the stabbing occurred before the shooting, proving Morris could not have committed the murder. The revelation that lawyer Lucius Farnsworth was blackmailing victims through his client Lexington and orchestrated the frame-up. Farnsworth's dramatic attempted escape through a window.

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.