What happens
Walter Gage, an idle but resourceful man, is asked by his fiancée Ellen McIntosh to recover a string of pearls stolen from Mrs. Penrodock. The pearls are imitations, and Mrs. Penrodock fears blackmail if the substitution comes out. Walter suspects Henry Eichelberger, a former employee who left suddenly, and goes to his hotel room. There he finds Henry, who is large and wary, and a fight breaks out. Afterwards the two men talk, and Walter tries to trace the pearls through the underworld and a jeweller named Gallimore. The story is a comic detective tale from the Suspense series, adapted from a Raymond Chandler story and broadcast in 1950 with Ray Milland in the lead.
A 1950s American city, including an apartment, a hotel above a Chinese laundry, a nightclub called the Blue Lagoon, and a jeweller's shop.
Characters: Walter Gage, Ellen McIntosh, Mrs. Penrodock, Henry Eichelberger, Lou Scandese, Roger Gallimore
Listen for: Walter's dry, self-mocking narration and the exchanges with Henry Eichelberger.
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.