Dark Pattern: The Whistler (June 13, 1954)

“Dark Pattern” is an episode of The Whistler, the old-time radio show, first broadcast June 13, 1954. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Norma Wells, a wealthy businesswoman in Bel-Air, learns that her partner Benjamin Sloan has died in an explosion on Indian Lake, leaving her everything they owned jointly. Her lover Rick Mason and his friend Harry Grayson are part of her circle, and she grows uneasy when Sloan's body has not been found. A neighbor is seen lurking near her home, and Sheriff Leighton arrives with a file of Sloan's business letters. As the sheriff's questions about the accident mount, Norma and Rick begin to turn on each other.

Bel-Air and Malibu, California, and Indian Lake, 1950s

Characters: Norma Wells, Rick Mason, Benjamin Sloan, Arthur Morris, Sheriff Fred Leighton, Mike Regan, Harry Grayson

Listen for: Norma's growing unease after the phone call about the missing body, and the sheriff's visit to her Bel-Air home

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.