Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar - The Stanley Springs Matter - podcast episode cover

Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar - The Stanley Springs Matter

Jul 08, 202429 min
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From Hollywood. I'm no for Edmond O'Brien, as Johnny d Mister Dalla, my name is ed Best. I'm in the investment pup of the Financial Surety Company. We' sure I've worked for the company. Yes, Bruce Hardwick told me about you. I have something i'd like to have you look into. What is it? Briefly? A few years ago we bought controlling interest in the Stanley Springs Company, an organization in the Southwest that deals in cotton.

As a couple of gins, I just got a letter from out there the effect that behind the scenes the company is carrying on illegal traffic across the Mexican border. How close a check do you keep on the outfit? Our content goes out for a quarterly examination, and he certainly reported nothing suspicious. But we businessmen aren't trained to handle smuggling organizations if one does exist. Yeah, well training is very seldom enough. But I'll come down this abnoon talking over

with you. Edmund O'Brien and another adventure of the Man with the action packed expenser God America's Pabulus freelance insurance investigator, Yours truly, Johnny Dollar and as a special guest, this evening you are truly August and expense account submitted by Special Investigator Johnny Dolla to Home Office Financial Surrety Company, Hartford, Connecticut. The following is an accounting of expenditures during my investigation of the Stanley Springs matter.

Expense account IDEM one A dollar seventy five cab fair from my apartment to Hartford's insurance role and the financial surity officers the best the money in the stars. Happy to meet you. Bruce praised you quite highly. Uh. I know Bruce well enough to suspect he was selling me so he wouldn't have to take the trip himself. I got what be that? As it may? This is enough, thank you. Here's the letter I mentioned to you, very brief unsigned. He's not generous with details, is he? No?

Nothing but the bold accusation. What does he call it? The illegal shipment? Yeah? What do you make of it? I don't know. Stanley Springs stationary must be an employee, maybe a crank, Yes, that had occurred to work. You have no reason to think that what he says is true? Is that right? Good lord? No, we'd have the faintest suspicions. We would have investigated them. Won't you think it'd be a good idea to turn the matter over to the federal people. After discussing it,

we decided that it wouldn't be a good idea at this time. There's not enough perhaps there's nothing behind the letter. We decided to carry out our own investigation first, and then if there's basis, we'll turn to the federal agency. That was about it from the heart to end. My only instruction was to keep secret, if possible, my identity and the investigation expense coount item two one hundred and thirty five dollars. Transportation first by air, then by

train, then by bus to Stanley Springs. I arrived there late in the afternoon, and at first I couldn't see the true character of the town. It was dusty, set in a depression of the desert that's called Stanley Springs Valley. There was a company built town, two dirty streets, saloons, A few cafes and stores made up the center of town. The rest was a cluster of identical white dwellings. There was only one small hotel, and I checked into it under the curious glance of a dark haired girl who knocked

on the door. A few minutes after I'd gotten into my room. Ah, hello, hello, are you busy? I know not at the moment. Then could I come in? Sure? Sure? I don't see why not? I uh, I am not quite ready to receive visitors. I don't have anything to offer you but a cigarette. I don't want anything. I only wanted to talk to you. My name is Dan, and I live here in the hotel. We don't see many strangers here in Stanley Springs. Well, I'm not all right, so I'm why are you here?

Mm? Take care a look at a lot of organizations like the Stanley Springs Company. I uh, I'm gonna write an article for a textiles magazine. You up from the East, Yeah, in New York. You. I lived in Denver before I came here, and I have been in Fort Worth, in Tucson and Phoenix. Why do you want to write about the company? Uh? I'm being paid to by a lot of men. Are own controlling interest in a lot of companies, and they're too fat and wealthare to

come out themselves to find out how they earn their money. You don't like these men? I can take'em or leave'em alone. What do you do? I work in one of the clubs. Clubs. Is that a pretty fancy name for them, huh. I know they don't look like much in the daytime, but at night you'll see. Is the company owned these clubs? I think they sold them. That was before I came here. I take it. I can drop my money on a craft table if I want to. Yeah, there are games in all of them. I hope

you aren't interested in that. And I'm talking too much. Do you want me to go? No, of course not. I'm glad you came, then, so am I. It's good to have someone new to talk to. She stayed about an hour, long enough for me to learn, among other things, that her name was Anne Salava and that she sang. It seemed to me then that she, as well as I, was leaving things unsaid, and I wondered if her warm, friendly and seemingly honest approach wouldn't

be a good method of learning why any stranger dropped into Stanley Springs. No. I didn't do anything that first evening and night, but recover from my long fifteen hours of travel. The next morning, I started out on the only lead I had, the unsigned two sentence note on company stationary. There were three men in the Stanley Springs Allies when I got there. One of them was Norman Steger manager. Oh that's interesting, mister Dollar. What sections

have you been through on your survey? I uh came up through the Southeastern States, then through Oklahoma, Texas, Arizona, California now here. Quite an extensive trip. They seem to think it's worth it. Ah, you will find us about the same as the rest of the ginning concerns, except the ones that handle American upland cotton. They use saw gins, We use uh roller gins. You'll find nothing new here. I won't bother you, mister Staker. I'd like to talk to your personnel go through your warehouses,

but I meet them here in the office. Yes, you can meet them, but I'd rather you didn't talk to them until after we close tonight. I've got a lot of work this week. I'm sure anything you say, come on. Ah. Phillips, Yeah, uh meet mister Dollar. Came up from the east to look over our plant. How do you do Phillips. Phillips is our chief clerk. Mister Dollar is going to write a magazine article. Oh, I see. I want you to help him with any

information He wants phillips er, but not until through hours. All right, Phillips is through at five. You can meet him then, fine, I'll see you, mister Phillips. Yes, that's five. Uh, this is uh Child's over here. He's a shipping clerk, mister Dollar. Child's hello, mister child, howdy he gonna ride us up? Huh Hello, Try not to get in the way. Hey, you've got a shipman going out this morning, haven't you, childs? Yeah, maybe mister Dollar can go

out and watch the bales being loaded. That won't slow things down. Sure, I'm going out now. Good. You can get an idea of the size of our shipments. We send one about like this every other week, Like with a girl. There was nothing there on the office that I could put my finger on, only things to wonder about, like the quick look Phillips the clerk threw at me when I was introduced, and something about the

tone Stager used with him. I went through the formalities of watching the loading operation and noting the number of baiales, and then returned to Stager's office for my meeting with Phillips. Ow are you making out Philip's say, no, he isn't. He was Uh feeling sick this afternoon. Let him go home at about two thirty. Oh, it's a matter with him. I don't know, something with his stomach. I think he worries too much. It

seem like he did very much to worry about in his job. No, I wouldn't, but I guess it can be quite as strain if you let it. I mean, I don't worry about anything. Oh, that's the way to be. I'll find him at home then, I guess, or uh, he doesn't feel that I can wait over tomorrow. You'd better catch him. Maybe he's sicker than he thinks. What do you mean? Just what I said? Maybe he's in worse shape than he realizes. I hope

not. Why do you say that, mister Stager. It just seemed to me that he acted kind of funny when I introduced you to him this morning. Didn't you notice? Oh? I guess I didn't. I've had my doubts about him for quite a while. I think there's something wrong with him, like what something about his past that he's hiding. I've even thought he may have had a criminal record. When he met you, it was almost like he was afraid you'd come out here after him be easy enough to check

if you wanted to, we could phone the state authorities. Oh not yet, doll him. Let's wait till after you talk to him, find out how he reacts. Lives in number eighteen, that's on First Street. Okay, Stega, thanks, I'll go right over. I would, I mean, awhile you find out. I was almost positive then who'd written a note and that there was something behind it. I banged on the door of number

eighteen for a reasonable length of time and then forced my way in. Phillips wasn't there, and according to some unwaged dishes, hadn't been there since breakfast. I found only one thing that pointed someplace, a photograph of the girl and Saliva. I didn't find her at the hotel when I got back,

so at eight that night I walked into the club where she worked. She was singing as I entered, Less Solidis said Katia, I love cover from goa CM playing for as no si me bable both where is my word just excase thing like cano resting cy you remember I E the love no Saca come Skia ah y when and Johnny, I'm glad you came. He didn't last night. I want to talk to you, mane, Is there any place we can go? I want to talk to you about erving Phillips. Why

I had an appointment with him at Fine? I can't find him. Where can we talk? He don't want to talk to you. Why not here alone? Do you know where Phillips is? No? Why don't you want to talk about him? I don't know because he wrote a letter. I'll try to come to your room after I finished. Don't talk to you here? It would be about four, all right, I'll wait for you. Uh you did come. I wondered if you would. Who are you? I think both of us would have been better off if they hadn't been any

deception. You came to my room yesterday because you were expecting somebody to show up in the east. Isn't I right? Who are you really? Johnny? Who did Phillips write the letter to? He was sent here by the owners of the company. Yes, that's right. The letter got there. Then he didn't know if it had been mailed. It got there. They were following Irving, and he was sure they saw him give the letter to the man. They asked him about it, and he told him he hadn't

He gave it to somebody else because he couldn't mail it himself. They were following him and this stuff about traffic because the border is true. Huh. Yes, why did Phillips write the letter? He wanted to leave Stanley Springs, but they wouldn't let him because he knew about the smuggling. Yes, he didn't have anything to do with it, and he didn't try to find out about it, but he learned about it and they knew it, so they couldn't lets him leave. Yeah, how much do you know about it?

Now? It's narcotics. A cotton grower right in the border brings it up. Doesn't that put you on about the same spot as Phillips? They won't let me leave. Irving wrote a letter because the only thing we could do was to tell somebody else about it. And now you know we'll do something about it. What, Johnny, I'm gonna get worried out. I'm going to call the nearest Treasury department an office. Oh no, Johnny, this is Stanley Springs. The company owns everything, and Steger has thought of

everything. There's only one telephone in town that's in the company office, and I'll have to use that one. I guess you go back to your room. I'll get word out someway. It's pretty obvious that I wasn't going to get worried out. It was four thirty in the morning when I left the hotel. The two men were waiting for me in the street. Eight dollars. Huh, alright's you, Childs? You up earlier late? I can ask the same thing of you. You get a lot of information from Phillips

for that article you're writing. I think you know more about Phillips than I do. Well way he acted when he met you. I thought he was afraid of you. I wondered if you'd seen him, what are you driving at, Childs. I didn't see him. I went to his house. He wasn't there. He was. That's funny. I saw him going about eight thirty or nine last night. Maybe I ought to try again, Yeah, I guess. So. You know, you can't start too early in Stanley Springs. Thanks for the tip. I'll go right over. I figured

it for a cat and mouse game. They wanted me to find Phillips, and I did. Phillips was dead from a bullet wound in his temple. The thirty eight Revolver was still held in his right hand, except for one completely work floss bit of evidence irving Philip's death was apparently a result of suicide. We will return you to the second act of Yours, Truly, Johnny Dollar, in just a moment. There have been some changes made, and it's faster, it's funnier, it's got new life and a brand new punch

because Jan Murray's taken over. What show is this? Why CBS is Saturday Night Musical Quiz Sing It Again, an hour of melody, mirth and money that's heard on most of these same CBS stations. Yes, Jan Murray is your new host, Alan Dale, Judy Lynn, the Riddlers and Ray Block are your music makers, and there are still loads and loads of cash for identifying the phantom voice. Be sure to hear the news Sing It Again, starring Jan Murray tonight on CBS Now with our star Edmond O'Brien, We return

you to the second act of Yours, Truly, Johnny Dollar. A brief and faltering examination of the scene was made about an hour later by an aged deputy Sheriff Stanley Springs only law enforcement officer. He didn't ask for a statement, I did not offer one because I knew it would be useless. I watched the removal of Philip's body, and then, with Chiles and the other man following me, I went back to the hotel. Kay, who is it, Johnny, I have to see it. I was asleep. I

didn't think I could sleep. I don't know what he meant to here, but I don't have time to fill me punches. Phillips is dead. I thought he would be because they didn't want him to talk to me. Here's the key to my room. To get out of this one, stay in mind, don't answer if anybody knocks, don't say anything. All right, Johnny, what about you? I'll be all right. I'll get back to you as fast as I can. For the two men still tailing me, I found an early cafe and spent some time on the coffee. I knew

what their mission was, but to check it. I started toward the bus station at a little after seven point thirty. When I got within a block of it, they started to close in and they were ready to jump me. When I reached the point directly across the street from it, it looked like I was in Stanley Springs to stay. At a quarter past eight, I walked into the company office again. Ah, good morning, Dollar. I was hoping you'd come in. I wanted to talk to you about what

about Phillips. Of course, I told you I wondered about his past. It's behind his suicide anyway. You know, I know it wasn't suicide. Staga. That'll help you, of course, as it was. The gun was found in the man's hand, wasn't it. Yeah, but he still smelled the chloroform, and I saw him chloroform. It wasn't mentioned to me. I wouldn't worry about it if I were you. I understand the traces

disappear in a short time. But let's understand each other. You and I know that he was chloroformed, that when he was unconscious, a gun was put in his hand, that it was pointed at his head, and somebody helped them pull the trigger. You saw this happen. It happened, But the tests will prove that his hand fired the gun. You and probably a couple of young men know he was murdered, and I know it as far as proof goes. Just say, for a textile writer, you seem to

know quite a bit about these things. I think we understand each other now, Stagan, I hope you'll do. I know you've been sitting on a good thing, probably for a long time. The whole town has been a front for you. You control everything, but trying to control me is a different proposition. I guess I didn't realize that your men have made it clear that they won't let me leave town. Things will change, You're right, they will. The people who sent me out here suspect your dealing in contraband.

What do you think they'll do? Forget it if they don't hear from me? According to plan, you can worry about that dollar. I'm not going to I don't know what you're talking about. Made a lot of empty accusations. The only reason I can think of is that you're a stupid, stumbling bum. There's that way. I guess you don't mind my using your phone. Get away from it, put it down, come in Chile, put it down, dollar behind it, plastic, Now let me have it. Hey, Hey, come on, get up, dollar get away,

come on, get up? Yeah, sure, sure, let go. That's enough, Kyle, Uh, empty accusations, stay good. The company rule. Nobody uses that phone but employees. Now get out of here and get yourself cleaned up. You can see of the man. That's first of all. Anne. He's been toying with me ever since I got here, leading me around, showing me the murder he committed because he knows he'll get away with it. Well, please sit down, Johnny, M so I

can put something on your face. I know what he's doing and I can't stop him. I think this will hurt? Oh? Is it very bad? Sorry? Sorry? He's gonna hold me here until he gets ridder than narcotics evidence, and then there won't be a thing I can prove against him. Oh wait, Johnny, you're fore it? Oh, I'm sorry. Does it hurt? Yeah? I can that. There's only this one more there. Your aunt's very pretty now, Johnny, h commit here? Yes? How can you be so calm about this? Aren't you afraid of him?

I have been afraid of a lot of things. What things? I don't wanna talk about them, Johnny. I've made my life the way it is, and I didn't have to come to Stanley Spring. Okay, we'll leave it at that. Why do you want to know about me? H? It's been less than twenty four hours, but it seems like I've known you for a long time. I know. I guess meeting like this in trouble does that sort of thing to people. I have heard that life goes very fast and there is danger. Oh, you haven't slept, and you

should do you want me to go? No, I don't want you to go, not for awhile, all right, Johnny, I've been trying to think. But this day would have been without you if I've helped you. I'm glad. Only a few times in my life when I've been driven to the point where I could kill a man, I reached it today and Stagger and his men kicked me out of that office. I think if you hadn't been here, I I would've gone back to it. Oh, I think it would be better if you forgot all about that. I got it.

Hm, I'm afraid that's a luxury that's not allowed me. I'm not paid to forget, even for a little while. I only stayed for little You haven't slept on me shore, But tell me about yourself. That was the last time I saw Anne Saliva. She stayed an hour maybe less. When she'd gone, I slept. There hadn't been any secrets left the between Norman Stager and me. After our last meeting, I had told him what I knew, and he told me how he felt. Because of that, I

thought Anne Saliva was no longer in danger as a giver of information. That's why I let her leave. When after I'd rested, I went to her room and she wasn't there. The desk clerk told me that she left the two men, and his description came close enough to fitting Chiles and the other man who had been following me this time. When I started for the Stanley Springs office, I was carrying and automatic. Well, mister Dollard, I thought you'd had enough out of this off. That's just why I came back.

Where is she? Who looked the time for tossing words around his gun? Childs? Where is she? You know, a gun don't make you mayor this town. You use that, you'll be cut down for you can move a hundred yards. I won't have to use it. If you tell me where she is. I don't know what you're talking about. Where Steger, He's uh? Where? I don't know where? Childs, I I don't know. You took her out of the hotel. The court told me that was you take her? What did you do with her. I I

I don't know what you're talking about. It understand his child's I'll kill her if I have to. And where is she? I don't know? Where is Steger? He he's out in the warehouse? Which one number three? Take out there? No, I won't no, no, no, don't take me out there. Take me out there? H kiddy? I mean man, alright, alright, I'll take you out too. Where child's he said he was coming here. Don't play with me. Don't tell me anything but the truth. I'm not I'm not he said he was coming here.

Huh, Stagger a new child? Yeah, what do you want? Hit? Dollar? Where is it? I'm here, Stagger? Haven't you gotten yourself into enough trouble? Dollar? Yeah, honey, it's the matter with you. Che He hit me with a gun. You're liable to find yourself in prison. Dollar, do you know that I've thought about it. I'm the salt. It's a felony. I believe. I wanna know where Anne Salivar is. I didn't know you were acquainted as she did. Tell me what you did with it? I didn't do anything. Where is she?

I don't know. This is another example of these halfway accusations of yours with no proof. You can't find her. It's quite possible that she left town. You wouldn't let her do that. You don't know what you're talking about, and I've heard enough. I think you've lost your mind. Stay, don't, don't leave. I'll kill you if I have to. No, you won't dollar because you don't have proof of anything. Well what, oh, you kill it? What's the money? You're crazy? You kill No,

I didn't, but you might not be so lucky. So don't do anything. I don't tell you to do it. No, I won't. I won't. I won't do nothing. What do you want from me? Take me to that deputy sheriff. I want to be arrested. Expense count had him three one hundred dollars retainer for a lawyer in Farmington, the county seat, and saliva I was found in the building where she was being held and she was released. The rest of it is up to the treasury man,

who moved into Stanley Springs after I gave them my statement remarks. I won't total this account at the moment, as I'm mailing it from the county jail where I am being held on the charge of assault with intempt to kill. The word is that I'll be freed on the grounds that my assault was justifiable since it was the only way to stop a man of Norman Steger's power. So I hope to see you soon. I was Truly Johnny Dollar.

Yours Truly Johnny Dollar stars Edmond O'Brien in the title role and is written by Gildowd with music by Wilbur Hatch. Edmond O'Brien's special guest this evening was August and Juan. Featured in tonight's cast were Ray Hartman, Bill Conrad, and Herb Butterfield. Yours Truly Johnny Dollar is produced and directed by Hime del Valli. This is Dick Cutting inviting you to join us next week at this time when Edmond O'Brien returns as Truly Johnny Dollar. Since the fighting began in Korea,

prices have been modeling throughout the country. The cost of living today is at an all time high, and under pressure will rise still higher. We can protect ourselves, our families, and our country against dangerous inflation if each of us will resolve to pay no more than fair prices. To watch for repeated price rises, to buy only what we need, and to refrain from hoarding at the expense of our neighbors and our country. Fight inflation by following

those simple rules. Stay tuned now for von Monroe's caravan, which follows immediately over most of these same CBS stations. This is CBS where you laugh at Jack Benny every Sunday night. The Columbia Broadcasting System

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