What happens
Lawyer Clifford Carstairs, famed for never losing a case, has just won the acquittal of actor David Faraday, whose hot-tempered behavior and the trial scandal have made him a Hollywood celebrity. At a party in Carstairs' honor, Carstairs and actress Madeline Lorraine talk about his talent for arranging evidence before a crime. Later, Faraday is found shot dead in his apartment. The story follows Carstairs, Madeline, and her former husband Jack Tanant, who is connected to an old gun, as they struggle over what happens next. The Whistler narrates the tale of murder, loyalty, and the cost of reputation.
Hollywood, California, on the Sunset Strip, in the 1940s
Characters: The Whistler, David Faraday, Clifford Carstairs, Madeline Lorraine, Jack Tanant, Jenny, Charlotte, Miss Manering
Listen for: Listen for Clifford Carstairs boasting that he arranges the evidence in advance of a crime, and for Madeline's remark that the whole situation is terribly funny.
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.