 Johnny dollar Huh, who's that Johnny? Yeah, red who? Red bird. That's right. Lake Mojave resort out in Arizona. Yes, sir. Well red you old Scalaway How are you and how's the fishing? And believe me you do Yeah, and I suppose you think it's time I made another trip out there and tango with some of those beautiful lunker bass It's no good red. I I just can't do it. Now you the way the work is piled up on me I'm just about going crazy. I've been trying to get away for some kind of a vacation for weeks now But I just can't do it sounds to me like you need it to yeah It's been a tough year and I'll let up at all Pat McCracken over at Universal Adjustment Bureau half a dozen of my other contacts They've been begging me to take some time off, but I I just can't read. I'm not on a regular payroll I'm a freelance so I have to take on every assignment that's handed me whether I like it or not No use red so don't make me feel any worse by talking about it Oh now wait You mean there's some insurance matter. I ought to look into out there. It was this Pat McCracken. Oh Great, and he's the one who's been after me to take a rest So what's happened out there? Yeah, like what? Come on get to the point red Johnny be pretty tragic for Lake Mojave resort You mean somebody's trying to wreck the place something like that. Oh, what is it? I just don't think I ought to tell you But red unless I know if somebody was to hear me talking to you this way red look and anyhow You'll find out soon enough when you get here Johnny, and you won't like it. No, sir red quit stalling with you Of course, if you just want to sit around up there at Hartford and let a terrible thing like this happen without even raising the finger Well, I just can't believe you do that. Look. Would you stop beating around the bush it? Red Red I can't tell you over the phone. It's too often now. Listen you will go but Johnny They say there's a airplane leaves New York City just about 12 o'clock noon. So what so it'll get you in Las Vegas about 945 tonight Okay, what do you mean? Okay? I mean, yes, you be sure and be on it, and I know you will oh now look I can buy Johnny red That crazy old cool thinks I'm gonna fly all the way out there just because he Yet If he was serious CBS radio brings you Bob Bailey in the exciting adventures of the man with the action-backed expense account America's fabulous freelance insurance investigators truly Johnny dollar Winston tastes good like a cigarette should Winston tastes good like a cigarette should Winston gives you real flavor full rich tobacco flavor Winston's easy drawing to the flavor comes right through to you Winston tastes good like a cigarette A modern fielder sure Winston has it, but that's only the beginning of a Winston Upfront up where it really counts Winston packs exclusive filter blend light flavorful tobaccos specially selected and specially processed for filter smoking Filter blend that's why it's fun to smoke Winston America's best-selling filter cigarette Winston tastes good like a cigarette should And now act one of yours truly Johnny dollar Expense accounts submitted by special investigator Johnny dollar to the Universal Adjustment Bureau Hartford, Connecticut attention, mr. Pat McCracken Following is the kind of expenses incurred during my investigation of the red mystery matter that crazy phone call from red Barrett I know that wild old carried it pretty well I'm fully aware of his faculty for stretching the truth making a couple of mountains out of a molehill or two And once or twice before I'd wound up making the trip across the country just to wet a fishing line with him And yet those other times I'd fallen for his gag I'd run headlong in the serious insurance matters trouble with a capital T And if he really meant what he said about something terrible and pending at Lake Mojave resort Well, it was one way to find out expense account item won a hundred fifty-three dollars plain fare Hartford to New York to Las Vegas, Nevada Beauty of the clear night sky over the desert with its billions of stars twinkling in the black sky above is something I'll never tower The stars seem close enough to reach out and touch As the plane hit the glide path down to the landing strip of the south end of Las Vegas the myriad many colored lights of the city Winkton sparkle like the lights on a gigantic Christmas tree Yeah, from the air Las Vegas the fabulous city of chance is just plain beautiful I'd like to have stuck around Vegas for a while and tried my hand at some of the casinos and clubs along the gambler's alley They called a strip, but I had other things to do so item two was fifty bucks to deposit on a rental car And within minutes after the plane landed I was heading south and east across the desert down toward Davis Dam down to Lake Mojave resort the desert mile after mile of nothing but sand and sagebrush and Joshua trees of tumbleweed and cactus of High plateaus and broad windswept maces Here and there the skeleton of some animals perished in the remorseless terrible summer sun And then suddenly in the middle of it the life-giving waters of Lake Mojave At the south end of the lake just above Davis Dam as the resort with its clean comfortable motel a good restaurant Tackle shop and dock everything to warm the heart of a fisherman Yeah, and in the bright light of the moon. I could see the lake itself calm as a millpond That meant that unlike the cold and snow I'd left back east here. It was warm and perfect weather for fishing Took a bit of self-control to keep them driving right on down to the dock Instead I circled the driveway to the office as I pulled up to a stop in spite of the hour Someone came out to greet me. It was my old friend Buster favor general fact told him at the resort. Yeah buster I think you can I Don't see why when I get word this trouble around here. Oh, then you know Buster, I only know that something is about the police. I'm not a chance to get over here yet The police Johnny. I sure hope he's all right that you can find him. Yeah, I find who What red red Barrett mean you didn't know Buster. What's happened to him Johnny? Red is Well, he's disappeared. Oh, and I could be awfully wrong, but from the looks of things Johnny wait a minute. You think somebody could have murdered him. Come on Take you over to his room. You can see for yourself. Look red phone me in Hartford buster He told me that he had some premonition that something was gonna happen. Well, that's just it He didn't seem worried about himself All he would say well, it sure looks like he should have been worried Johnny You know Yeah, the housekeeping unit was a shamble's Clothing pull out of the drawers and closet as old somebody had ransacked the place looking for something that stuff So part of the uniform Working Johnny Stuff he had I don't exactly know So if anything the furniture though, none of it was actually broken was overturned and cluttering up the floor On the electric range in the kitchenette with the pots and pans He'd apparently used to cook his dinner some fish bones laying a plate on the table Probably one of them bass he caught this afternoon Your old fellow went out fishing as usual not realizing what was gonna happen to him after he came back here and had to suck Now wait, wait a minute Buster Yeah, John that he left here in a hurry is pretty obvious or his body was hauled out But I still don't see anything to indicate he was murdered or even badly hurt Look here then Look Buster, you know as well as I do how unpredictable red is always getting restless always talking about going somewhere else doing something else I know he's told me it doesn't times about a gold mine He hoped to go to back there and work someday 50 or 60 miles north of here up near Lake Mead He's told me about offers to work as a guide for other fishing spots Johnny So what makes you think he didn't just pack up and leave for some other place some of the job? Without letting us know and leaving things this way red sure sure he was So unless you can show me some good Yeah, Johnny, that's blood there on the floor. I'm sure of it That's blood all right it It still hasn't even dried either. Yeah, I see All right When did you find he was missing when Ham Pratt, what do you remember him the manager of this place sure? Well after supper ham came over here to talk to him and Well, this is what he found. Do you know of any enemies he may have had red? No, sir. Of course all of us used to get out of patience with him now and then some of the crazy things He'd do wild stories. He'd tell that There wasn't one of us didn't love the crusty old coop Same thing applied everybody else who knew him then why Why would anybody want to do him in I don't know I can't figure it out But sure looks like somebody did Johnny you can see the evidence yourself. Yeah, maybe What do you mean by that? Red's phone call that brought me out here if he thought that he himself was in danger. Don't you think he would have said so? Yeah, I guess red would have built it up, too Would have made it sound real dramatic sure he was sure he would but instead he told me something tragic was gonna happen to the resort Like what Buster? Nothing I can possibly think of But now Johnny this blood on the floor They did red have a car. Yeah, where is it gone Johnny whoever did well did whatever they did to him Must have used it to carry away his body the poor old Buster, I've just got a lead on it. Oh, I am come in see I've phoned everybody up and down the lake to look out for Johnny damn. Oh, yeah, Buster's told you about red. Yeah in spite of this so-called evidence around here I still don't he simply doesn't believe the red was muddy But there's blood on the floor the way things were left around Or Johnny have you some reason for thinking he wasn't first I want some definite reason why he was If you want the truth, I think you're both gone overboard about this Are you kidding me a reason a reason for killing him for anybody killing him just one good reason well now Johnny Johnny this blood on the floor. Yeah Yeah, this But what is it Johnny? Johnny you Haven't called in the police yet. Oh, I was just about to when you arrived Don't you think I'd better call them then right away. Yeah, Johnny. Why don't you do that? No, no, I've done something better Johnny I spread the word up and down the lake all the way up the Colorado River by telephone and listen It's it's paid off. That's what I came in here to tell you about well I just got word that a car same description as red Barrett's that was seen pulling off highway 93 about 33 miles This side of Boulder City What Johnny you want me to find poor old red, huh? Well, of course if the poor old fella still alive and maybe I will and when I do I have a sneaking suspicion I may have a score to settle with you too now just a minute Johnny If you mean to imply that either of us did hear I didn't say that Johnny what do you mean? You don't know Buster Well, you think you can find red and if I can be of any help no No, no, that's exactly what I don't want. Well now Johnny just let me work out this little mystery myself No help no interference from either of you Johnny this isn't like you. I don't understand. You don't know. I swear it. Yeah We'll see Two of yours truly Johnny dollar in a moment welcome recording star Mel Torme It's terrible trying to sing with a bad cold So I always take four-way cold tablets to relieve cold miseries fast good idea Tests of all the leading cold tablets proved four-way fast as acting Four-way starts in minutes to relieve muscular pains headache reduce fever calm upset stomach also overcomes Irregularity when you catch cold try my way take four-way cold tablets Fast way to relieve cold distress and feel better quickly four-way only 29 cents now Here's a word about another fine product of Grove Laboratories to get rid of embarrassing dandruff in three minutes change to fitch dandruff remover shampoo Three minutes with fitch regularly is guaranteed to keep unsightly dandruff away forever Apply fitch before wetting hair rub in one minute add water lather one minute then rinse one minute Every trace of dandruff goes down the drain Three minutes with fitch and embarrassing dandruff gone at the same time fitch can brighten hair up to 35% Yet fitch dandruff remover shampoo today And now act two of yours truly Johnny dollar and the red mystery matters Suddenly things have begun to add up yeah from right in the beginning when red had mentioned over the phone that he talked with Pat McCracken at Universal Adjustment Bureau and red called Pat or vice versa And there was the lamp there in Reds room apparently knocked to the floor in a struggle But not even the bulb was broken The clothes that were left only the uniforms he'd worn while at work Was that supposed to mean that the only personal things he had with those he was wearing when he disappeared? hardly Then there was that spot of blood on the floor a Fish scale a single scale in the middle of it I had no microscope to examine that blood probably wouldn't have known how to use it anyway But I had a sneaking suspicion there was something very very Yeah Knowing red and ham and Buster and Pat McCracken pretty well Okay The first thing I did after ham and Buster left me alone was to look over the room again And yes one parcel of equipment that should have been there was conspicuously absent I went down to the boat dock and found the old Arkansas traveler that red had always used to fish in It was empty absolutely empty of the stuff. I knew he always kept in it What are you doing up and around this time of night ham? Oh, just sort of checking up on things. Yeah Or checking up on me Now Johnny Hey, you are hoping to find some lead on red there in his boat. I found exactly what I expected him Nothing, I don't understand. Don't you Johnny? What goes with you? You've certainly been acting kind of feisty this trip. Well, I'm sorry Now if you feel you have some lead on red on what may have happened to him Well, yeah, yeah, I think I have and you helped to give it to me I did but there's no point in following it up for a morning. What? What is the lead no help no interference remember? Okay, Johnny, whatever you say Know you're doing an evil morning. That's right and you Well, what I'm just thinking Remember a couple of moonlight nights like this when you were here before how you and I took the workboat a couple of fishing rods How we plug those deep coals just above the dam? Yeah Now we take some nice fish out of there I'm going to be blunt with you Johnny. You aren't yourself. You're a bundle of nerves been working too hard Yeah, much too hard Well, I'm great cure for that Why don't we go out there and pick us up a couple of nice baths? Okay, why not? Well, of course you feel you ought to do something more about finding red. I told you no more until morning. I also told you I I I'm sorry Let's go fish Sure Johnny. I understand Yeah, I I guess you do Maybe I had been little feisty as Hammett put it And he was right about the fishing out there in the smooth black water with a bright moonlight overhead When those two six powders hit my lure and I carefully played them into the boat Believe me they did more to bring me back to normal than anything else in the world That night for the first time in weeks. I slept like a baby Then first thing in the morning Well, the whole thing really wasn't too hard to figure out red was a fisherman every day of his life But I found no sign of his tackle there in the room or in the boat. He'd always use In other words, no matter how or why he'd left he himself wants to take in those things with him Also his personal clothes and stuff, but naturally not the uniforms that belong to the resort Blood on the floor From one of the bass he'd head for dinner carefully put there after he turned the room inside out As far as whereabouts Ham had given me the clue when he told me reds carb and seen at the highway turn off 33 miles south of Older City That turnoff led to only one place a fishing camp at the lower end of Lake Mead known as Temple Bar And when I got there sure enough waiting for me in his outboard beside the dock red Barrett Ready for you Johnny. Why red you rascal got a extra rod and reel a bucket of live bait You and me will go out there and slay him get in Here we go Maybe I'd make a change Well, then Ham wasn't on this plot to get me out here Well, I sure he was and the terrible things to happen at Lake Mojave. Why of course Johnny They've lost me Ah You old son of a gun. Hey buster another to know Ham's probably telling him about it right now probably showing him the letter he got from mr. McCracken McCracken Papa Cracken Now maybe you better read this one that he wrote to me first part just the usual howdy-toes, but here and Red I'm convinced a man can take only so much even Johnny dollar And I'm afraid then unless he gets some rest and relaxation He'll get him out there for some of that fishy. He'll be catches on if he starts worrying about the expense Tell him it's on the house. Tell him sincerely yours Well, God bless Pat McCracken As for you red you old reprobate Johnny There's a hole over near the jeep beds whereas the old ten pounder land under a rock just wait You me ready. Let's go the time a man spends in fishing has never deducted from his lifespan You know something I for one I'm convinced that he was right so I'll Merry Christmas to you all too yours truly Johnny down Our star will return in just a moment Every year some Christmas celebrations are ruined by fire a little precaution can prevent a Christmas fire from happening in your home First of all make sure your tree is on a firm foundation So it can't fall over then be sure to use only approved lighting Wiring that's frayed may be dangerous replace it never use lighted candles Let all the glow of Christmas come from within not from fire With a safe Christmas plan. Here's an idea for Christmas giving For her and a ray of all-new Yardley get the dollar 50 to 1350 a Yardley red roses spray mist and soap set $3.50 all prizes plus times Yardley give him Now here is our star to tell you about next week story next week a man a girl and a Gangster, that's right. They add up to trouble me join us. Won't you yours truly Johnny dollar? originates in Hollywood and is written produced and directed by Jack Johnstone heard in our cast were for us Lewis Barney Phillips Alan Reed senior and Lawrence Dobkin Be sure to join us next week say in time and station for another exciting story of yours truly Johnny dollar this is Dan coverley speaking Now stay tuned for suspense which follows next on the CBS radio network