The Ralph Baxter Case: Richard Diamond, Private Detective (April 26, 1950)

“The Ralph Baxter Case” is an episode of Richard Diamond, Private Detective, the old-time radio show, first broadcast April 26, 1950. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Private detective Richard Diamond is called by his friend Walt at the police station to help track down Ralph Baxter, a dangerous convict who escaped from prison that morning along with seven other men in an elaborate break involving a garbage truck. When Jean Lawrence, a woman connected to one of the escapees, turns up murdered in the river, Diamond investigates and discovers she knew William Nash, a man with a criminal record. Nash becomes a key to finding Baxter.

A city with a fifth precinct police station, a diner and motel on the outskirts of town, an apartment building, a garage, and a jewelry store.

Characters: Richard Diamond, Walt Levinson, Helen, Ralph Baxter, Sergeant Andre Klum, Jean Lawrence, William Nash, Tony Laguetti

Listen for: The running jokes between Diamond and the new Sergeant Klum, whom Diamond finds ridiculous; the clever scheme to use Nash as bait to draw out Baxter; the stakeout and final confrontation at the roadside diner.

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.