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Welcome to the Great Detectives of Old Time Radio's Sunday Encore.From Boise, Idaho, this is your host, Adam Graham.And today, in addition to our Monday through Saturday lineup, we are sharing a special Sunday Encore program from our archives.
This program was played many years ago, and so any offers or information included in the episode may not be valid unless it's reflected on our website at greatdetectives.net.But now, here is your Sunday Encore.
Welcome to the Great Detectives of Old Time Radio.From Boise, Idaho, this is your host, Adam Graham.If you have a comment, please send it to me, box13 at greatdetectives.net.
Follow us on Twitter at Radio Detectives and become one of our friends on Facebook, facebook.com slash radiodetectives.Before we do get started, I want to encourage you to pick up your copy of Slime Incorporated
It's my first ever full-length detective novel, and we've been receiving some very positive reviews on it.Scott picked up the copy, and he wrote a very nice review on Goodreads and Amazon.He said he just picked it up to be supportive of the show.
and didn't have any interest in reading it.However, he said once he picked it up, I could not put it down.He said it's a really fun and unique read in a genre that is very crowded with characters who are hard to differentiate and cliches that
become quickly irritating.However, Cole is, with all of his faults, a flamboyant, albeit cocky, detective driving a pink Jaguar, who is also a person of integrity and honor, rare for a modern detective.
And you can pick up Slime Incorporated for the Kindle, for the Nook, as well as an iBook, also available at smashwords.com and in paperback form. Well now it's time for today's episode of Pat Novak for Hire, Sam Tolliver.
Sure, I'm Pat Novak for hire.That's what the sign out in front of my place says.Pat Novak for hire.It's the easy way because Down here on the waterfront in San Francisco, you can't afford to wait your turn.
If you're going to make a living down here, you've got to do everything you can.You've got to be out of the henhouse by sunup.Even then, it doesn't work out always because you get trouble tax-free.It's like leukemia.
There's nothing you can do about it.There's no way to duck it.You might as well try to start a conga line in the cathedral. I found that out Monday night when I met an old friend.
It was the night before elections, and I was sitting in the office scratching married women out of an old date book when Sam Tolliver showed up.I hadn't seen him for years, but it was a nice, easy meeting.
What other way is there when you're good friends?
You look just the same, Patsy.
Yeah.It's good to see you, Sam.Sit down.
Doing well, I guess, huh?
You get different stories.Where have you been?
All the hard luck stops.Syracuse for a while, and Joliet.That's where I come from now.
Yeah?That's where they got a big prison.Uh-huh.When you came too far, Sam, you should have stopped in Oakland.Huh?That's right.If you're out here to play small robber, you better think it over.It's a tough town.All right, me patsy.I'm not, Sam.
But once you start losing them, it's hard to win again.I just thought you might want to know about San Francisco.Thanks.
Thanks, but you don't have to worry, Pat.See, I got a smart streak.I'm here mostly to ask a favor.Yeah?Can you spare me one for old time's sake?Medium-sized.Go ahead.I want to borrow one of your boats.
Did you come all the way from Joliet to borrow a boat, Sam?If it's gonna hurt that much, forget it.I just asked.All right.When do you need it?Tonight?It's to pick up a package in the bay about nine o'clock.
No, it's a little different, Patsy.I can't make the trip.You'd have to do it for me.
The favor's getting bigger, Sam.
You'd have to pick up the package and bring it back here.I'll be waiting at 10 o'clock.I guess you won't buy, huh, Patsy?
It'd mean a lot to me, Patsy.It really would.And you couldn't get hurt, honest.Nobody gets hurt honest.It's the other way I'm worried about.I wish I could tell you, Patsy, but I can't.You know how it is.Sometimes you can't.
Well, it's that way now, but you'd be doing me a real favor and you wouldn't get hurt.
That's what Henry used to tell his wives.All right, Sam.But you put out a bad story.
Well, Patsy, you have to go by the China Star.She's out in the stream.Just tell them you came for that package.They won't ask.Just tell them you want the package.Yeah.Talk to the captain.I'll be waiting here at your place about 10 o'clock.
And Patsy, it's important.Don't let anybody else have it.
All right.I'll see you here at 10.
Thanks, Betsy.It's a big favor.
Nothing wrong with them, huh?No, there's nothing wrong with old friends, Sam, except sometimes they wear out on you.When Sam Tolliver walked out of there, I began to worry.I don't know why.Because he was always a good guy.
But if you leave good silk out in the rain, it'll shrink.Well, it was too late to change my mind now.I was gonna get that package and say goodbye to Sam Tolliver.Only things didn't work out that way.You start with trouble and it never stops.
It's like offering to buy aspirin for a two-headed boy.About 8.30, I took a boat and I started out into the bay.Halfway out into the stream, I had to give way to a tanker. After she throbbed by, I picked up the China Star, tied up at buoy 327.
It was a broken down old barge, so old I expected to find Noah hiding out in the bilges.Well, I went aboard, and they took me into the captain's cabin.It was going to be tougher than Sam thought.
The old man had some questions, and he was about as smooth as a bag of fingernails.Right away, I got the idea.What do you want? I came out for a package.
What good will a name do you?
Who are you?What do you care, mister?This isn't our dance.Just give me the package and I'll leave.Keep shouting, tough boy.And when you're all through, tell me your name.
Now look, I'm not out here to haunt your boat.You got the right face for it.I'm just passing through.
If you run in a small boat, you got papers.Let's see them.
Yeah.You're too handy in your own cabin.
Novak, huh? You a Polack, Novak?
Yeah, and it feels fine.How's it being a pig these days?
Don't get jumpy.I just asked.Who sent you here, Novak?
Just keep the package.I'm going home.You walk home on the bottom, then.Now, look, Novak.Somebody steered you wrong.Maybe it was no questions once, but it's not that way anymore.Just want to keep the book straight.Who sent you?Sam Tolliver.
You need a pencil?No, that's enough questions.You see, Novak, all you had to do was answer. Then have the package now and talk some more.I'll take it now.
On the desk behind you there.
The captain didn't like company. When he hit me, I dropped down to the floor like a piece of hard-working lint.The last thing I remember was Sam Tolliver sending me out to this boat.
I knew then I had no more business here than second trumpet in a string quartet.I could hear voices and people moving around, but it didn't help much.You can get that kind of service in a tomb.
Somewhere along the line, they moved me, because when I woke up, I was lying in a cloud of platine on a couch in a different cabin. Class of people had improved.She was bending over me with a cold towel and a warm look.
And from where I was, she had a figure like a shot of brandy on a winter night.When she said hello, you knew that all you had to do was send up a flare and relax.
Good evening.Welcome back.
A little used up.I need recharging.
Here, put your head on my lap.
Yeah, that's it.Forget the towel.I'll struggle along this way.By the way, whose lap is it?
I guess so.The brave guy.Axelarm.
He's down getting your boat ready.
What's he doing?Punching holes in the bottom?
He'll be back in a minute.The package will be ready and you can leave.
No, you keep the package.The last time I got a headache.
I'm sorry about that.It was a mistake.
That's what they told Marie Antoinette.By that time, her head was 40 feet down the street.What's in that package?
It wouldn't help if you knew.
You let me work that out, huh?
Work out the answer, then.
You're going the wrong way.I hope you lick your wounds, darling, but I'm not gonna get talky.
What have I got to gain except your gratitude?I can get that any night with a couple of drinks.
Too comfortable.On your feet, Novak.
Yeah. You ought to rent that out, sweetheart.I'd sign a lease myself.
I'll finish the sweet talk, Novak.You get on your way.Here's the package.
You know, I changed my mind about the package.You keep it.
Your boat's ready.Unless you want to get tossed in like a mackerel, take the package and beat it.
What's in it, and where does Sam Tulliver fit?
You asked once already with your head in her lap.You want me to sit down?
Well, you got brains after all.Yeah.Sorry, I thought they were all in your fist.Yeah, you're still smart.Take this package. Show him the boat, Alan.
I'm gonna remember you, mister.Alan's gonna lead you by the hand through the dark.Stop beefing and settle for the simple pleasures.I will.I'll remember you.Concentrate on Alan, you'll get a better memory.
I went out on deck with a girl.And as I got to the starboard side, I noticed her hair for the first time. The way you're liable to suddenly notice a flower after a hard rain.
Her hair was red, and as the orange lights of the bridge reflected against it, it seemed like a prairie fire, way down in the valley, flaring up quick and then burning low again.The rest of her would have made a good prairie fire, too.
It was the only good thing I could think of on the way across the bay.The water was as quiet as a drowsy caterpillar, and I had a chance to think. Why had they changed their mind about giving me that package?And how wet were Sam Tolliver's feet?
Well, it must have been about 11.30 when I pulled into the pier and started on the run for my office.The lights were on and I burst right in because I had a lot to ask Sam.But it wasn't Sam.
What's your hurry, mister?
I came here to meet a friend.
That's the guy laying in the corner.You don't have to hurry.
No, this isn't my friend.
He doesn't look like one. I'm Sergeant Grimes from Homicide.If you're a Novak, you're in trouble.
A guy lying under your desk, dripping like a broken inkwell, and you trot out a question like that?
Well, it's a bum keeper somewhere.I was supposed to wait for a guy named Sam Tolliver.
It might as well have been a streetcar.I'm not gonna press you, Novak.I don't care.I'm just gonna take you downtown.
Well, this boy quit too late.I've been in the bay the last two hours.You can check.I went out there to pick up a package.
The one you got in your arm?
Yeah.It's for a guy named Sam Tolliver.
It doesn't say that.It says Mr. John Reedy, 720 Post Street.
I wonder what that means.
Let's find out.We'll take it by Reedy's place.I got it for Sam Tolliver.You can buy him another.We're going by Reedy's before we get on Sam.
What's the matter with you?Do you want it on an 18-foot screen?I didn't kill a guy.I don't even know him.I don't even know this John Reedy.
Wait a minute, Novak.I believe you.I believe every word you're saying.Except this is one time you'd be better off lying.
When we left my office, I felt as if somebody had walked through my stomach on stilts.Oh, there were loose ends bobbing up everywhere, and you couldn't get to any of them.It was like chasing a spider with a bowling ball.
With all this new stuff, I forgot about the ship.Who's going to worry about blood poisoning if he's busy having hemorrhages?I began to wonder more about Sam.Where was he?And how was I going to palm off that dead stand-in?Grimes didn't seem worried.
We got into his Nash and headed for 720 Post Street.It was an apartment hotel, and Reedy lived up on the third floor.
On the way in, Grimes picked up a key at the desk, and we rode up in the elevator with one of those shifty-eyed little guys who'd sell his mother if he didn't have to fatten her up.When we got to Reedy's door, Grimes took over.
Maybe he can't hear you, Grimes.
Nobody home. the lights on your side leave it out let's look around okay the stray bodies belong to you Grimes you go look in that set of bedrooms I'll check over here in the library give me a yell if you see any all right two of them
I got one by the desk, the other started down the fire escape.I'm going down in front.Take this gun and stand by the fire escape.He may get trapped and start up, so keep your eyes open.
I walked into the library.The window was open and the curtains were blowing over the dead man's face.It was a good thing, because you can't split the difference with a service 45.I took him by the heels and dragged him away from the window.
His eyes were rolled back as if he expected somebody to tap him on the shoulder and tell him it was all a mistake.His face was contorted and frightened, maybe a little embarrassed, like a deer caught in a traffic jam.
Well, I stayed at the window about 10 minutes and watched the fire escape.There was no action there and Grimes wasn't back, so I started for the door.I had company right away.
Hello, Novak. You move?Oh, Hellman.That's a big gun you got.
Well, ask Junior here on the floor.He thinks it's even bigger.
Sure, and it's gonna be easy because it's right in the family.Yeah?Yeah.Belongs to one of your boys down in Homicide.
A sergeant by the name of Grimes steamed in here and knocked down Junior, and then he beat it down to get the other guy.
I don't believe it.Well, talk to him.That's why I don't believe it.There's nobody on the force named Grimes. On this one, you're all alone, Novak.There's gotta be a Grimes.The guy had on a uniform.I don't care if he had on a play suit, Novak.
The guy's a phony.He's not from homicide.He's a killer.
That's what I meant, Hellman.I knew Hellman was right.If Grimes was on the level, he'd have booked me instead of coming up here.He came up to Reedy's with murder in mind.Even if they believed the story about Grimes, I was still in the spot.
That made me accessory to murder.And I was gonna look worse when Hellman found the guy down in my office.On that one, I had star billing.Oh, everywhere I turned, things were worse.I knew it was gonna take a low-budget miracle to bail me out.
Was like trying to give nose drops to a herd of elephants.Hellman seemed to like the idea.Hellman rolled the guy, and there was no identification.But he never works for nothing.
Few bucks on the guy, I'll put it in the safe.The only safe you got has suspenders on it.
I don't like that, Novak.Oh, you'd do anything for a buck, Hellman.If you got the right bid, you'd sell the tomb of the unknown soldier.Thanks, Hellman.I'm getting a big list tonight.
I can do all of that I want, Novak. Because you're in the corner pocket now.I got a tip off from the Chronicle to come up here and I find you holding last rites.
You got a bigger headache, Hellman?There's another stiff down at my place.Huh?That's right, Grimes again.He was sitting there when I walked in.Where were you?Out in the bay, picking up a package.It's right there on the desk.
I don't know.It was for a friend of mine named Sam Tolliver. He's disappeared, and Grimes brought the package up here.
You better tag by the China Star.That's where I picked up the package.It's out in the bay, so you'll need a boat.Even a guy with your complex needs a boat.
I'll touch all the bases, Novak.You just stay ten cents away from headquarters.You can pay your own way into the can.
Yeah, well, that's what'll happen if I wait for you.I'll be standing out in the downpour.
That's right, Novak.If there's a chance, I wanna see you get first prize.
Yeah, well, I'm gonna be stuck unless I shop around myself, because you got Lockjaw the Brain Helmet.Yeah?That wouldn't hurt you so much, but if it spreads, you're gonna be in trouble.That's what I'm waiting for.
Well, if something didn't happen soon, I was gonna be about as embarrassed as a hostess with leaky plumbing.I was counting on Hellman to shake down the skipper of the China Star.If that didn't work, I could close shop.I didn't have any leads.
There wasn't anything I could do but sit on my hands.It was like taking your niece to a nightclub.I had to stumble around until something showed.So, I looked up the only honest guy I know.An ex-doctor and a boozer by the name of Jocko Madigan.
He was alright until he found out sometimes you can feel as bad the next morning without a hangover.I toured the town and finally found him at Lupo's trying to put the vineyards out of business.
Ah, Patsy, you're just in time to start the day off right. Mama Lupo, some wine for Mr. Novak.You can only have a quart, we're running low.
Look, it's almost midnight, Jocko, I gotta talk to ya.
We're not gonna turn into pumpkins.You need some wine.No, I don't.Patsy, when you die, the artwork is going to be simple.On your grave, they'll chisel a picture of a pair of slacks, a hamburger, and a double malt.
The final symbols of a decayed civilization, because that's as close as you ever got to civilization, a remote connection at best. Like a bookie, they love horses, but they die on a stock farm.It's the same with you and civilization.
You all through, Jekyll?I won't fight against your sober babble.What's the matter? There's a dead guy down in my office.A friend of ours?
No.Oh, that's too bad.We'll miss the wake.I'm gonna get half hung by homicide.The other half is dead up in a Post Street apartment.Hellman thinks I'm the boy.
Patsy, I wish you wouldn't hang around me when you've just killed somebody.You tarnish my declining years.I went out to the bay to pick up a package.
When I got back to my place, instead of a friend named Sam Tolliver, there was a dead guy there and a phony cop called Grimes. How do you make the distinction?He grabbed the package and we took it up to Post Street.
After a quick hassle in the dark, I'm standing over a dead guy in John Reedy's apartment.
Most people do.He's running for office tomorrow.Is he the dead man?
What about Reedy?He's running for a board job.Yeah?Would anybody have a reason to work a plant on him?Maybe.
Oh, sort of liberal by marriage.Hm?A reactionary with a rich wife. Supposed to be a good man.How about the opposition?A lot of them are running.One is Simpson.He couldn't beat an asthmatic turtle across a tennis court.
Well, we're getting somewhere, at least.If Reedy's good, the gambling dough would frame him to lose.
Yes, if politicians can ever lose, a murder in his apartment would look too phony, though.
Yeah, but maybe that package wouldn't.Jocko, you gotta help me.I want you to check on the registration of the China Star, and then nose around to find out what you can about tomorrow's election, will ya?
If we lived in a monarchy, this wouldn't happen.
That fast double play has got something to do with this election.Now hurry up, Jocko, and when you're through, tag by my place.I'll call you there.
Have you a bottle in the house?
There's a tap in the kitchen.That'll have to do.No thanks.
Outside of a child in pain, the most pathetic sound in the world is running water.Good night, lover.
I left Jocko and ducked into a phone booth.When I called Hellman, he poured out news like a rotary press. They broke open that package down at headquarters.It was full of dope.
Plain garden variety, the kind a man uses to forget either his wife or secretary.I was sure then the package was a plant on Reedy.Hellman didn't see it that way.
He said the two dead men were Gunsels, last addressed before San Francisco State Prison at Joliet.I needled him about that phony cop Grimes.Hellman said they just got a tip off by telephone.
Grimes was an ex-sergeant in homicide whose real name was Vic Rothery. I asked him who phoned in the tip-off, and Hellman said he didn't know the guy.His name was Sam Tolliver.
I got out of the Chronicle morgue and looked up everything I could on John Reedy.All politicians' children sit on the floor.There was a picture of Reedy there with his family grouped around him on the floor.I pulled the clips on Vic Rothrie.
It was Grimes, all right.Well, that gave me something to work on, so I went on the prowl for Ellen Morrow.I found her running a dice game, and a little after hours joined on Eddy Street. You don't want to play against yourself?Yeah, give me some.
Alright.See how good you are.
Yeah.You seen Sam Taliber?
That's it.Where's Sam Taliber?
Five.You're not even warm.You're not warm on Sam either.
He left me hanging with a murder rat.
Your friend double-crossed you.
He double-crossed you too.
Another five.You're in a rut, Patsy.
He turned in Grimes.That's right, baby.They know he's Vic Rothrie now.You still like Sam Tolliver?
No.Keep rolling, darling.
Is Grimes your boyfriend?
He used to be.I'm sentimental.
The Herrick Hotel.When you see him, tell him I sent you.
I will, if we talk that long.
I guess you do.Be seeing you, baby. She changed when I left.The first time out, she was alive and breezy like the Maine coast in July.But now she was broken up and lonely looking.
And as I walked out, I thought of an old Dixie cup somebody had used up and thrown in the alley.Well, I got down to the Herrick Hotel, but Sam Tolliver wasn't there.Maybe it was better that way.
I left a note for him, a short note that even a Mongolian idiot couldn't trip up on.If Sam was going to show his hand, he had to do it soon. When I got back to my apartment, Jocko was already there.He was giving a concert for the mice.
Oh, she pushed a baby carriage.She pushed a baby carriage in the merry, merry month of May.All right, Jocko.She pushed a baby carriage.She pushed a baby carriage.She pushed it for a Williams man who's far, far away.
Patsy, I wish you'd get rid of that radio and buy a good harpsichord.
What'd you find out, Jocko?
Nothing from the China Star.She weighed anchor and went to sea at a quarter to twelve.
Well, there's heavy gambling money against him. And there's talk about a last-minute scandal.All the newspapers had tip-offs.
At a rally in the Mission District with his whole family.
Well, I had to leave time for a plant.They broke open that package.It was full of dope.
Oh, that makes sense.He was once under treatment for malaria.The drugs found in his apartment would make it look bad.
Yeah, I'll get it.Hello, Novak talking.I hope so, because you got a lot to do.What's on your mind, Hellman?
About 20 minutes ago.Vic Rothery's picture was all over the place.
Yeah, they were chums.You better pick up Sam Tolliver.He's at the Herrick Hotel.I'd rather have Vic Rothery.Haven't you picked him up yet?No, we're on our way out.Well, you better hurry, Hellman.There won't be any voters left.
I thought Sam Tolliver was a friend of yours.
Well, that's the trouble with close friends.You give them the shirt off your back so they can see where to put in the knife. After Hellman's call, I knew we were coming up for the last hand.I met him, and we rode down to Vic Rothrie's hotel.
It was early morning, just about the time dawn is too sleepy to get out of bed.In the pale light, Geary Street looked like a shabby old lady with a snootful, and Rothrie's hotel was worse.
Hellman flashed a badge in the night clerk, who reached over and handed us a key. It was a funny thing to notice then, but the guy's hands were short and his fingers were peeled and stained yellow as if they'd been dipped in weak acid.
Well, we rode up to Rothery's room.As we got out of the elevator and turned the corner, somebody ducked into Rothery's room.That was enough for Hellman.He started down the hall.
You got another customer, Hellman.
Come on in.You're gonna wake everybody up.Hello, Sam.Come on in.Oh, mind the gun.It's loaded.You're a handy cop, Helman.That's it.Now close the door.All right, over near the window.Yeah.Go on.Sure.
You got an answer for Rothery here?You too, copper.Over near the window.I ask you, you got an answer for Rothery here?
You're looking at it, mister. You know, Patsy, I'm sorry you came.I could bounce a few off of this guy with no pain at all, but it's gonna hurt on you.Don't kid me, Sam.I don't know why you came, Patsy.You could've left me alone.
I didn't mean to put you in for this.Things went wrong and you were in, that's all, but I didn't mean to do it, Patsy.Give the man your gun.You were a good guy to me, Novak.I'm sorry you drew the deuce.
I'm really sorry because... well, you were a good guy to me.
Well, I'm not anymore, Sam. You got five feet to make up your mind.
I got it made up, Patsy.Now stay back.Let me try it out on him first.
Stay back, Patsy.I'm in a hole, and I'll burn my way out.You know that.Patsy, I'm in a hole.I gotta get out.Don't kid me, Sam.
I was your last friend.All you got now is the road.Stay back, Patsy, please.
Patsy, stay back.Don't let that, Sam.
I must have prayed wrong, Novak.
Yeah. Sorry, Sam.I'm a tough loser.
You were right, Betsy.It's a bum town for a small robber.For a while, you looked big.
No.You're a small-time bum, Sam, and you're better off dead.I wouldn't argue.I'm sorry, though.
I doubt it.I guess that's right.I... I didn't try very hard.
I was your friend, Novak.Let's go.Our friendship's over.
Well, Hellman finally pieced it all together.He got that skipper back and put him under the lights.The story was damp, but it fit together.They were all in on a deal to railroad John Reedy.
Vic Rothrie headed up a bunch to plant the dope in his apartment.But Sam Tolliver got anxious and decided to get the stuff for sale.He talked a couple of buddies into it and sent me out to the ship to pick it up.
The captain smelled a switch and knocked me out long enough to get word to Rothrie on the beach. Rothery got the guy in my office and the other guy that Sam posted in Reedy's place in case anything went wrong.That left only Sam on the other team.
Rothery wore the uniform because it was an easy way to plant the stuff in Reedy's apartment.But the timetable went haywire and he got tripped up by that tip-off call to the Chronicle.That's about the way it was.Well, Hellman asked only one question.
How come Sam Tolliver headed for the girls' place and then Rothery's?I don't know. Maybe that note I left Sam, how'd I know he'd believe a lie?Well, it worked out for everybody except John Reedy.He lost the election anyway.
Jocko forgot to mention the guy was a Republican.
Hat Novak for Hire was previously released by ABC, the American broadcasting company, for listeners in the United States, and rebroadcast for our men and women overseas.
This is the United States Armed Forces Radio Service, the voice of information and education.
And welcome back. You know, some of the similes in the show make more sense than others.For example, Novak talking about the trouble he gets into.It's like leukemia.There's no way to duck it.
You might as well try to start a conga line in a cathedral. Okay, uh, yeah.Alright, that one's not particularly logical, because Pat Novak could just stick to renting boats.
Nevertheless, an interesting episode with kind of an absurd twist at the end.You find the guy whose campaign they were trying to sabotage was a Republican.
So in San Francisco, even in the 1940s, they were sitting there going to all this trouble to frame a guy who wasn't going to win anyway.Okay. But Pat Novak definitely has its charm.Some listeners enjoy it and some don't.
I actually had a couple of dueling comments regarding Pat Novak. Joel says, Adam, I continue to struggle with Pat Novak in that the shows all seem so repetitive and cliche.They're almost a parody of the radio noir detective programs.
Debbie said, I love Pat Novak.The repetitive and the cliche are what makes it great. That and Jack Webb and Raymond Burr.I love you replaying these episodes."And that's pretty much the point of view.
He then, Joel, kind of summarized the various cliches, but he also had some comments on some of the other shows we do. And he says, police headquarters, on the other hand, is a wonderful program.
Each episode is tightly written, and the characters of the hardboiled top detectors are wonderfully drawn.The episodes move quickly from crime to detection to solution in a very satisfying way.Nick Carter is also an interesting program.
I think it's interesting how the relationship with the police officers among the principal characters of these shows.
Nick and Riley have a great relationship while Novak is always in a battle with the top detective who seems to want to indict Novak for every crime in every episode. Boston Blackie seems to have an antagonistic relationship with Faraday.
Johnny Dollar has mostly friendly relationships with the police, as do the other detectives whose name I can't recall, but was the ladies' man.
There's some, uh, these are some of the benefits of your wonderful podcast and your own commentary on these shows.I make it a nightly go to bed ritual to tune into the war and great detective podcast.
They keep my mind focused on the entertainment and away from business issues.Well, thanks so much for the comment, Joel.And I agree.It's interesting that there is this, um, contrasting police relationships.
In some ways, the relationship between Riley and Carter is certainly fed by the amount of awe that everyone holds Nick Carter in within his own domain from Pulp Fiction.
Other, you know, very brilliant detectives such as Nero Wolfe and Sherlock Holmes have more mixed relationships with the police.
Though with Nero Wolfe, the conflict with the police was not so much of a staple, particularly when you get to the late 40s, early 50s. The hard-boiled police or detectives really does depend on the level of antagonism between Novak and Hellman.
is extremely high.You don't see that with Philip Marlowe and Lieutenant Dundee.And you also don't see it with, or excuse me, Lieutenant Ibarra and Sam Spade and Lieutenant Dundee, excuse me.
So in a lot of the books, there tended to be more of an antagonistic relationship.With Pat Novak, everything is dialed up to the nth degree. Sometimes, whether it makes sense or not, it's the ability to put things in there.I think that is the appeal.
And as I've said before, if this went on for 100 episodes, I don't know if I would enjoy it quite as much.But I think with the 18 we have, it's pretty interesting.
I will say, I think the last episode is somewhat of a different take and has a different tone.And that definitely makes it work. Uh, listening to, uh, well, thanks so much.I do appreciate your comment, Joel, and that will do it for today.
We will be back tomorrow with the adventures of Philip Marlowe, and then be sure to listen in next Tuesday for another episode of Pat Novak for hire.In the meanwhile, send your comments to box 13 at great detectives dot.
Follow us on Twitter, Radio Detectives, and become one of our friends on Facebook, Facebook.com slash Radio Detectives.From Boise, Idaho, this is your host, Adam Graham, signing off.
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