The Hank Burton Case: Richard Diamond, Private Detective (March 21, 1952)

“The Hank Burton Case” is an episode of Richard Diamond, Private Detective, the old-time radio show, first broadcast March 21, 1952. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Richard Diamond is hired by the dying criminal Hank Burton to locate a girl named Lee Thorpe before Burton turns himself in to the police. Diamond's investigation takes a dark turn when he discovers that Thorpe has been murdered, and he finds himself drawn into a dangerous web of betrayal and revenge involving Burton's former associates.

New York City, including a warehouse on Front Street, a pool room on Third Street, the Bluebird Club, the city morgue, and a ferry on the Christopher Street route.

Characters: Richard Diamond, Helen Asher, Hank Burton, Shrimp Martin, Lieutenant Walt Levinson, Davey Thorpe, Lee Thorpe

Listen for: The tense confrontation at the warehouse where multiple murders are revealed, and Diamond's clever use of the candle to turn the tables on his would-be killers.

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.