 Johnny tell her Byron Kay intercoastal maritime life. Why are things in dear old Boston here in Boston fine But Cod Harbor or something else again Cod Harbor. It's a little fishing village up north of here up near Gloucester Yeah, I know I handle a case up there a couple years ago. Oh, yes, that's right It was for Meg McCarthy a big blousey brawling old gal who ran a joint she called Meg's Palace Well, it's Meg McCarthy after that didn't she die. She was running burned down She took the insurance money and moved away Johnny listen. Oh Yes Insisting that I have you go up there and see her right away Well, she's back in Cod Harbor and running another restaurant and rooming house. We wrote the insurance on it What's happened up there? All she'd tell me was it if you didn't show up in a big fat hurry. She'd cancel out on us So what do you think I'll tell you this make is used to handling things pretty much by herself I mean she wouldn't have called for help unless there's something pretty serious going on the last time You know it turned out to be a murder. I know so if you're willing to pay my expenses go to it Johnny Right CBS radio brings you Bob Bailey in the exciting adventures of the man with the action-packed expense account America's fabulous freelance insurance investigators truly Johnny dollar Expense account submitted by special investigator Johnny dollar to the intercoastal maritime and life insurance company Boston office Following is the kind of expenses incurred during my investigation of the silver Queen matter Oh Cod Harbor is on the coast up near the famous old town of Gloucester mass Transportation facilities are practically nails. So I decided to go up there in my own car Item one in the old expense account then is 495 for gas and having got an early start. I arrived there shortly afternoon It's quite a colorful spot Cod Harbor if you could somehow manage to lose your sense of smell Or maybe if you were an artist bent on painting a picturesque waterfront The residential section on a low hill a couple hundred yards back from the beach consisted of a scattering of weather beaten shacks On the long wharf at the water's edge was an ice plant a packing house and a ship's chandler At the end of the wharf the disreputable looking cafe and boarding house known as Megs Palace Alongside the piers that stuck out into the harbor with a really important part of the village the fishing boats There were schooners dating back to the last century and still carrying sail There were power boats in all shapes and sizes from 18 foot outboards to 80 foot diesel jobs All of them used for only one thing fishing the banks far out in the Atlantic with saints and trawls and trot lines. I Walked on over to Megs Palace wondering how much the old gal had changed since I saw her last You know something Meg McCarthy hadn't changed one in bed Just to look out to you and that scurvy crew swabs on that stank and tub of yours made a decent catch for once It's no good excuse for coming over here to get drunk all over a male only place Are you crazy old video you listen to me? No, but I tell you I'll pay you the money I'll pay a double for them few dishes in the broken down table They busted up on you and I tell you to keep your dirty offensive a little money to yourself Captain Annie and get out of here and never come back now get make put down that frying pan Right school wear on the tub of your filthy head I'm late. No, Meg. I Before I lose it's me temper and frigates. I'm a lady. You hear me Meg if you start throwing them things at me I Have some peace and quiet around here Hey Now who are you standing there in the shadows? All right, Meg just knock it off knock it off is it when I'll show you sneaking in here like I love oh It's me love me darling miss wait hard for me Johnny boy. Yeah. I am egg still throwing you wait around They're like a brooder crazy trouble some kids They are the men that puts to see and it loves every blink and bloom and worthless one of them Oh, you do huh? Well, of course I do that's why I make some toe of the mark the way I does Somebody's got to love them and mother them and keep them in line Especially captain Andy the man who just left that's the one I know oh come Come sit down and have a cup of this here delicious coffee. I just brewed up in the pot. Yeah, sure Put some hair on your chest and build up your strength and a cut you'll be needing it Oh, that is if that marty's silver finds out to your open around these parts mighty silver Sure, and he owns the silver Queen that leaky old Talbus. It's down alongside pure number seven But here now you have yourself a cup of this nice aromatic and hot strong coffee. Hmm. Yeah, thanks Oh What are you trying to do murder me good Well now just a minute me fire fair feathered friend is it a snide in despair and a max you'll be making about me lovely coffee You call it a rat poison coffee No, just you look here you hairy brained young in one of this trouble up here in Cod Harbor Oh, it's that so well if you think I'm going to let you sit here and make degradation remarks about me cook Okay, stop waving that coffee pot and settle down You listen you swab headed young whiskers never piped down quiet. Will you? Now sit out Yes Okay Johnny Johnny you remind me so of me dear dead departed over barren Husband when you talks up to me like that I'm sure and I tell you if I was a few years younger and maybe I might prettier looking in the face Oh, I tell you there wouldn't dare another girl so much a satirized on to Oh, that's true Okay, but now what about this Marty solar captain Marty said a very causing self And he sailed in here a few days ago from up to gloss or he says and that coffee caused the silver Queen Says he wants to sell the old wreck and that he will make it and who invited you in here again Captain Andy and there's already two or three suckers bitten up to buy the old wreck from him He's pushing them hard to make a sale. He is Then Andrew P. Hoggin whom you keep them from buying it until Johnny dollar here gets through his investigation Investigating well now. Where's your manners shake hands with them this here's mr. Johnny dollar me lover boy from way back Lover boy him at pasty-face landlubber like it Just you mind your manners Andy and get out here and don't let none of them boys buy the server Queen not yet No, look ahead me go on go on with you Or do I got to throw y'all together whatever you say me but I won your woman if you'll be an untrue to me in favor of this here Johnny Ain't he handsome Johnny boy And we don't make it generally known, but Captain Andy is me very own fiance No, yes, sir, and all this time. I thought you only had eyes for me. Oh Okay, okay. I'll just tell me about this Captain Marty silver Well, now listen darling if Marty silver finds out that I sent for you if he finds out you're here to investigate Investigating investigating for what come on Maggie are beating around the bush. Oh, it's because I hate the word Because I'm a feared of it. What word murder. Oh, well, I can't say that I What yes, Johnny? murder And now act two of yours truly Johnny dollar You're accusing this Captain Marty silver of murder. I'm accusing him of preparing the murder That's why me and Captain Andy has been caping the eye onto him. Well, just keep talking me down from Gloucester It's what he said he come but a telephone be old friend Captain Leverie up there and Tom Leverie said he never heard of it Oh, well now look that's calm has been living up there since every time in memoriam never heard of any Captain Marty Silver so I says to myself says I if Captain Marty ever was there He was used in another name and maybe on forged papers when I thought I had a suspicious mind Then last night I takes a really good look at his boat the way the name was painted on to it No wonder it was all fresh paint. Yeah account of the name before he painted over it was the Arctic Queen Well, so what's wrong with changing the name of his book? So I phoned up Captain Tom again, and you know what he told me what make it was the Arctic Queen was supposed to have disappeared In a storm up there not three weeks before with the loss of all hands-on bard consistent of only two come on Them too was the skipper and the deckhand by the name of Marty flag So you figured that Marty flag and Marty silver are one of the same that I do and that somehow Undercover the storm he did away with a skipper of the Arctic Queen Then he changed the name to Silver Queen and brought it down here to sell. Yeah, that's exactly what I figured And you could be right Now look if his papers are forged and that includes the registration on his boat many's the time it's been done Johnny boy You know sit that a phone booth. I saw outside the front door, but it is but what for I'm gonna check with a coast guard up in Gloucester. They'll know in a minute if they have a registration in the name of Open a way. Yes, dearie Let's assume that he did kill the skipper of the Arctic Queen Now you and this captain Andy think he's going to commit another murder here in Cod Harbor Another skipper in order to get his hands on another a better boat. Oh lover. All right, then who me You yes, but why does he knows I've been suspicious of him that I've been keeping tabs on to him And I think he's seen me when I was poking around his balls Oh, no, no, no wait make that that's not reason enough to think he might want to murder you All right, I'll keep an eye on them just to make sure just to make sure Meantime I'll check with a coast guard in Gloucester just to make sure he does want to murder me by letting him do it Is that it's now may yes well if I can prove his boat is the one supposed to have been lost at sea And if his registry and papers are forged, okay, then the coast guard can come down here and take care of me Look, I think you're getting all worked up over nothing Well, I and I thought you with me friend I've been officially in that you cared a little about what But no, you're like everything else of the male sex that wears the past Oh, no, no, no person don't have a pity leg or a pity face full of powder and rouge handle hair for the peroxide blonde That's not true. Make will you shut up a minute? Have you just let me finish? Yes, Mr. Darlin I shut up me ugly old mouth And smother me grief and me poor old Look listen So maybe Marty silvers is suspicious of you Maybe he is the crock the killer you think he is and maybe he will try to get at you So look, I'll make sure nothing happens to you and until I can get this other stuff straight I know that you wouldn't let down poor old me. Yes So why don't you go back in the kitchen and fix me something to eat or Johnny love it should be the finest over You ever put your teeth good call me after I've called the Coast Guard I'll come back here and I'll make the coffee to go with it You're trying to make some more cracks about to be coffee Johnny Put it down all right your bullguide young get out of here Good My call to the Coast Guard proved that Meg was right 100% They'd never heard of a Captain Marty Silver had no record of him whatsoever That's for the boat Well, it was pretty obvious now that he must have killed the skipper of it in order to steal it bring it down here to sell I Promise them that I do nothing to alarm Silver to scare him away But that I would keep tabs on them until they could come down here and arrest him But I had to break that promise because of what happened exactly two minutes later Yeah, right after I hung up that phone And now act three of yours truly Johnny dollar I left the outside phone booth and walked back into Meg's Palace Cafe It was still flooded with the pots and pans and crockery that she loved to throw at anyone who happened to disagree with her In this case it was Captain Andy and me her lover boys I heard a lot of activity off in the kitchen where she'd promised to cook me something to eat And I hope she'd hurry because I was hungry But then I heard a door slam somewhere in the back and footsteps on the boardwalk that I knew led down to the pier I Wondered if she changed her mind about fixing that meal for me But when I got to the kitchen Mike Meg What happened here? Thank you, and you got here and scared him away Oh, if he hadn't heard you coming in the front he would have killed me for sure Marty Silver. Oh He must have been hiding the way here in the kitchen. He must have heard everything me and you was saying about all right Let me help you up on this chair All right, darling, I think you can make it but when I get a hold of that Yeah, but I thought Captain Andy said that Silver's was down at the dock trying to sell that book Wait listen Stay right here make while I get the back of that door Oh Hey, I just seen Marty Silver coming up Hey, who done this to you? Ah, Marty Silver Captain. I'll kill him for this. Oh, make me better. You're all right Yes, I'm all right But where would you when Marty Silver come in here and attacked it me like you told me to I went back to the doctor Keep an eye on it. He was right here in the kitchen and when I went out to phone the Coast Guard Oh Maggie darling, did he hurt you? Oh, yeah, I'm all right, but if Johnny hadn't come back in here You said you saw him leaving here that I did where'd he go down to the doctor the silver queen I may have ideas for taking off getting away from here. Well, of course you burn a cut rain pair of You know what? Look there after the winder You're right, of course. I'm right. That's the silver queen headed out to see come on captain Andy We're going after him, but he's got a start on us a head start in with the doctors and night come on I'm standing here talking about it won't get us anywhere. Come on We cast off and made for the open sea because far out ahead of us we could spot the running lights of the silver queen And he put her on full power and slowly the lights of cod harbor disappear to sternum I sit alone over the bow staring into the blackness of the night We'll keep your eye on those running lights Johnny. We lose them. We lose the silver queen. I think I think we're gaining on them All right, I'm very fast. Don't worry. Bye. That's not a car. The harbor cannot run this boat of mine Anything you can do to give us some more power. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah Yeah, that's better than it is. Come on back to Johnny. Take me there. All right. You are You see him. She's nice from here. All right. Yeah, I see him. Let me take the wheel. All right. I got it What are you gonna do? Now I'll get to this carburetor to see if I can keep her wide open Johnny that she is Let's slow this down. Just keep an eye on the silver queen Good good. That's it That's the best thing to do with it I'll take the wheel now. We'll get back up forward. Aye aye sir As we slowly but surely pulled up on her I could see the big shape of Captain Marty Silver at the wheel But see him turn and look back at us now then just a few more minutes and we'd overtake the queen But if Silver had a gun I eased my 38 out of the holster made sure I had a full off just in case And then it suddenly occurred to me that if he could see us and our lights were far brighter than those in the Queen I went on back to Captain Andy the wheel Hey, where's the switch to the cabin lights if Silver is armed then when we get up close to home He'll be able to pick us up like ducks in the shooting gallery. You're right. The switch is right there in safety Look silver has turned them off turned off all these lights we do with him. We never touch him. No, what we Doesn't the spotlight work? Sorry to turn it on and I just put out the other like good It was the switch for this spotlight here running lights Now the cabin lights the switch captain. Now. We're just this black as you switch. Oh, here it is Now swing that lighter on Johnny so you come the whole horizon with a bright when you get it on him I About Gonna run us down. I see the wheel hard to port give it a gas. I am He's got us in the turn. We lose it way Time pass the cat as we get back on the straight course the searchlight on the square in his face Maybe if you find it, maybe I'm lucky with my other hand. We'll never make it boy. We'll never make it Now hold us steady, but either I'm a slightly close to all steady, but Johnny. Don't you see? You're hitting I suppose I ought to make some crack about it being a long swim back to God harbour, but I won't because it wasn't Silver Queen sank like a rock and with the help of the spotlight We finally managed to find and pick up the body of Marty Silver and with both hand me bailing like mad We slowly limped on back to port and that's about it Expensive out total including room and board. It makes palace and another tank full of gas 5835 yours truly Johnny dollar Now here's our star to tell you about next week's program next week murder a real weirdie Because there was no one there to commit it John. That's won't you yours truly Johnny dollar Johnny dollar starring Bob Bailey Originates in Hollywood and is written produced and directed by Jack Johnstone Heard in our cast where Virginia Greg all in Suley and Ralph Moody Be sure to join us next week same time and station for another exciting story of yours truly Johnny dollar This is John Wall speaking Johnny dollar has come to you through the worldwide facilities of the United States Armed Forces Radio and television service