The Merry-Go-Round Case: Richard Diamond, Private Detective (January 4, 1952)

“The Merry-Go-Round Case” is an episode of Richard Diamond, Private Detective, the old-time radio show, first broadcast January 4, 1952. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Private detective Richard Diamond hunts for Smiley Brill, a small-time criminal who shot police officer Ben Johnson during a robbery and fled. Diamond follows leads from the Bowery to a merry-go-round amusement park, where Brill is hiding with help from his uncle Joe, who runs the Toy Land attraction. As Diamond closes in on his quarry, the confrontation escalates into a final shootout on the fairground.

New York City, including the Bowery, a theater, a rooming house, and the Toy Land amusement park with its merry-go-round on 34th Street

Characters: Richard Diamond, Helen Asher, Lieutenant Walter Levinson, Ben Johnson, Smiley Brill, Leo Watts, Jewel Sank, Bertie Morgan

Listen for: The contrast between Diamond's tough detective work and his playful relationship with his secretary Helen; the moral debate when Diamond must convince Joe Brill that his nephew is a murderer, not just a car thief; the climactic chase and shootout among the carnival rides.

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.