Counterspy: Counterfeit Traveler’s Checks (A0134)

0:05 Welcome to the Great Adventurers of Old Time Radio. From Boise, Idaho, this is your host, Adam Graham. In a moment, we're going to bring you this week's episode of Counterspy. But first, I want to encourage you, if you're enjoying the podcast, to please follow us using your favorite podcast software. And today's program is brought to you in part by the financial support of our listeners. You can support the show on a one-time basis, and those are all listed at support.greatdetectives.net.

0:40 And you can also become one of our ongoing Patreon supporters for as little as $ 2 per month. Just go to patreon.greatdetectives.net. I do want to go ahead and warn that the audio quality on today's episode is listenable, but not at the level that we've come to expect of Counterspy over the last few months. But now, from February 13th, 1950, here is Counterfeit Traveler's Checks.

1:14 And now to Counterspy.

1:22 Well, I got.

1:28 An order for you. Just the right kind of an eye for it. A car?

1:32 Look, I'll wait for you in the car. You handle Steve Morris alone. There's nobody else here on the wall.

1:37 Nothing's doing, pal. Officer Lusky said you're in on this with me and your study. Hey, it's coming out of the dark now. Got the bottle? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I got your message to meet you. What's up? No more, Steve.

1:57 What?

1:58 What's the idea of the gun? Steve, Count Zaleski don't like competition. Competition? Especially for one of his own passes. I don't know what you're talking about, that's it.

2:07 I can't find out about you setting up shop for yourself on 12th Street to cut phony traveler's checks.

2:13 Lou, get your... I can't explain this.

2:14 That's why Carl's got that bottle of engraving acid in his hand.

2:19 Hitcher, the count's orders is to get rid of you the best way. Hitcher, don't. Yes, it is the best way I know of. Okay, go ahead. Give it to him.

2:35 All counter-spy field officers, stand by. This is headquarters Washington. A special message from Mr. David Harding. This is David Harding. One of the cleverest counterfeiting rings in criminal history is now operating.

2:50 In high gear.

2:51 This gang specializes in passing fake traveler checks and has to date cashed over a half a million dollars worth in 37 states. All counters by field officers will immediately contact local police authorities and set up cooperation plan R3.

3:07 Reports will be radioed daily to this headquarters. Hello? Hilda? This is Carl. Okay to talk? Yes, yes, Carl. What about Count Zaleski?

3:28 He's down in the basement of the house with Etcher. They're in the print shop. Carl, I've been waiting for your call for hours. I was afraid you'd run out on me. What, me run out on you, Hilda?

3:37 Listen, you and I are going to cash in on those printing plates together, just like I promised. Do you have the plates with you, Carl? I got them where they're nice and safe. How did John take it when he found the plates were gone? Thought he could get away with throwing me crumbs. I showed him, didn't I, baby? Uh, Carl, when do I meet you and where? I'm up in White Plains, Hilda.

4:01 Remember that spot outside town where we parked on our first date?

4:06 Uh-huh. I'll be waiting for you there. I'll start right away, Carl. From here on, honey, it's just you and me and a nice fat million bucks thanks to the Miley Hilda? It's all range, Count Zaleski. He's waiting for me up at White Plains. And the plates? He says he has them in a safe place. Hilda performed excellently. Don't you think, Hector? Sure.

4:35 As a regular captain, I have fun. Count, I feel like such a... Well, Carl isn't a bad choice. What's the idea of slapping me?

4:46 To remind you, my dear Hilda, just what a bad sort Kong is.

4:50 Low despicable feet. Slimy double courses. Makes one lose faith in human nature.

4:56 Three months of my best and clever work went into those plates for the new Travers checks.

5:00 Real masterpiece.

5:01 And even more important than Etcher's professional pride is the tremendous financial setback. My passes throughout the country are awaiting the shipment of new checks. In the meantime, my press in the basement stands idle. Million-dollar business. Hilda stands still. And you have the temerity to say Carl is not a bad sort. Really, Hilda, I'm ashamed of you.

5:24 As you bring the car around, you'll go keep Hilda's date with Carl. Yeah.

5:39 Carl, any untoward move and I'll fire this automatic without hesitation.

5:43 Now, honest, Con, Celestia, you got it all wrong.

5:46 That's a knife right beside Hilda when you spoke to her on the phone.

5:50 She's a liar. She probably took the plates herself. You can't trust a dame like Hilda in the police. Yeah, yeah, Con. Well, if Con wants to hear out of you as a place where you had the plates hidden. Con, I wouldn't try to pull a fast one on you. Side road, Con.

6:05 Carl, I'm going to let Etcher have a session with you. But I told you... Perhaps recall the session with Steve Morris last month.

6:13 I brought an extra large bottle of engraving ass for me.

6:17 Etcher, I'm sure Carl vividly recalls there was hardly enough left of Steve Morris.

6:22 To make a decent burial. Count, if I tell you where the plates are, will you give me a break? Where are they? I promise you, Count, you won't let Etcher do that to me. I promise. I won't permit Etcher to touch you. Where are the plates? Yeah. In a locker in Grand Central Station. The key to the locker?

6:46 Right here in my coat. Come on. I'll reach in and get it. I have it, Etcher. Now everything's okay. Now you get the plates back. You'll let me go? Of course, Carlton. Open the door. Huh? You heard the cop. Open the door to the cop. You're going to jump.

7:06 Out, cop.

7:06 No, but, cop, you promised you'd give me a break. This is it. We're only doing 40 miles an hour. Now, cop. Now, cop, please. No, please. Get out. Cop, what if the cop didn't finish him off? Pull up and turn back.

7:24 That's it.

7:30 Well, if he's alive and someone picks him up, he'll talk. You should have let me give him the acid treatment. We're doing this the way I planned.

7:38 Okay, cop. You're the boss. Hey, look up ahead, cop. Man, trying to crawl up the road. Took a smart fall.

7:48 Hey, he's just coming. Step on it. More speed. He's crawling faster. More speed. More speed.

7:58 Now, that's it.

7:59 Get him. Stop! Hello, Hilda. Quick, let me talk to the count.

8:12 Yes, Dr.

8:12 Miller.

8:13 Count Valesky, that's her. What's the matter with you, that's her? I told you to come right back here to the house after you picked up the plates at Grand Central.

8:21 Carl pulled a fast one on us. The plates aren't there. Carl's locker was empty. Harding, Washington, calling Peters at Baltimore Field Office.

8:35 Peters, Baltimore Field Office.

8:39 Go ahead, Chief.

8:40 I'm leaving my office now to get the 5 o'clock train for New York. You board the train at Baltimore and meet me car 4, compartment C.

8:47 What's up, Mr. Harding?

8:49 With a surprise break in the traveler check fraud, Peters, I'll fill you in on the details on the way to New York. Peter, the counterfeit engraving plates are now in our New.

9:08 York field office. How'd we get them, Ted?

9:10 Right before last, a man named Carl Walton was found dead on a dirt road north of White Plains, New York. Apparently, the victim of a hit-and-run accident. Apparently, while our agents went over the scene of the accident, they found evidence that Walton had tried to crawl off the road before the car hit him.

9:27 Why are interests in Walton, Ted?

9:28 Two previous convictions as a passer of counterfeit money. So Brayden from the New York office went to the rooming house where this Walton had lived. The landlady turned a package over to Brayden that Walton had left with her for safekeeping.

9:40 And the package contained the traveler check plates. Right, Peter. The landlady was also helpful in another way. There's a coin phone in the rooming house.

9:48 And she recalled that Walton spoke on the phone many times to someone he called Count Zaleski.

9:54 Count Zaleski? Our old friend the International Swindler. According to our periodic surveillance reports.

10:00 He arrived back here in the States from Argentina six months ago. He rented a brownstone house on East 86th Street in New York City. An operation like the phony traveler's check syndicate would be right up his alley, Dad. Looks like Zaleski's our boy, all right. Well, we can pick him up for questioning, but when we take him in, I want to make sure that we have all.

10:17 The evidence we need. Oh, by the way, Peter, remember my friend Mickey Alvin?

10:23 The Colby City bootlack who sends his savings to the Counterspy Fund?

10:27 You said you hoped to meet him sometime. Well, here's his latest letter. Oh, let's see.

10:33 Dear Mr.

10:33 David Harding, I'm very glad you put my money in the fund. It makes me feel like I am part of your wonderful bunch of fellows.

10:42 Even if it's only $ 2.

10:43 62.

10:43 Quite a boy, huh? Last week, I had a very good week, Mr.

10:49 Harding, because there was a big convention in Colby City, and I picked up a lot extra in tips. I figured that if I take a bus and back, I could take a trip to Washington pretty soon. I know this is asking pretty much, but could I at least walk through the counter-spy main building?

11:08 I wouldn't bother anybody. I'd just like to walk through. And if I knew I could do that, I would work extra hard and save every cent. I hope this is not asking too much, Mr. Hunting.

11:18 I'm surely Nicky Allen.

11:21 Well, I wrote him, Peter, that he can not only walk through the building, but he can come and have lunch or dinner with us, whichever he likes. Oughtn't you to send him the money, Dave? Well, the way I think of that boy, he likes to make his own way. Let him earn the trip, and then I'll give him the money when he starts back for Colby City.

11:35 Good hunch, Dave. Um, what's your plan now about Count Zaleski? Oh, yes, I didn't tell you, did I? Uh-oh. Here I go again. That's right.

11:46 Only this time, when you go undercover, Peter, it's going to be much more risky than usual.

12:04 Well, now, I told you to stay away from that window.

12:07 But, Count Gillespie, I just wanted to see if that man was still watching his house from across the street.

12:11 Of course he is. He may be from the police. Well, we'll soon find out. Hatcher. Yeah, Tom Selesky?

12:20 Come on upstairs. I got a more important job for you at the moment. And, uh, Hatcher, bring your gun with you.

12:32 Hey, okay, you don't have to shove it.

12:49 Why were you standing across the street watching this house?

12:52 Oh, me?

12:54 You answer a question with an answer, not a question. You wouldn't be so free with that midi-ear that you didn't have a rod on the other one.

13:01 Consuleski, he doesn't sound as if he's from the police. Keep out of this, is he? Well, are you prepared to answer my question now?

13:09 I'm standing over there waiting for an invitation to come in.

13:12 Who are you? You mean in New York? That's, uh... All right, all right.

13:19 Don't take me long to catch on. My name's Vince Powell. I used to be tied up at the Tyler crowd in Mason City. I got out of the jug there a couple of months ago and I come east to look up an old friend of mine. What friend, Powell?

13:32 Carl Walton.

13:34 Too bad about what happened to Carl, eh, Chancellor? I don't know any Carl Walton. Now look, Cal, if you and me are going to do any business, let's talk him the up and up, hmm?

13:46 Carl was working for you before he had that accident.

13:50 This guy's twice. How about that, Jack? Carl, you said something about our doing business. Carl left something for me to hold for him. The plates.

14:01 Count, your boy here is a real genius, ain't he?

14:04 About that business, Carl. Well, putting counterfeit ain't in my line. So I figured I'd put those plates on the market. I also figured that I ought to give you first chance to buy them. Where are the plates now? You know something, Cap? I think I got a temporary loss of memory. And you know something, Power? I admire you.

14:33 Sure.

14:34 I'm a grand guide. The courage for you to come here and make your offer.

14:39 Oh, I don't know.

14:40 I figured as long as I had those plates on set, you'd make sure that I wouldn't have any, uh.

14:45 Sudden accidents. Now that we understand each other, Captain Zaleski, what do you say we talk business?

15:00 Peters to Harding. Peters to Harding. Harding, go ahead, Peters.

15:04 I just got back to my room, Dave. Zaleski's stooge, Etcher, tailed me. He reads outside in the hall now.

15:09 Are you sure he can't hear you, Peters?

15:12 I set up the tuning radio in the closet. You did all right, Dave. I set up a deal to sell him back the plate one at a time the.

15:20 Way you lined it out. All right, Dave. Boy, be careful.

15:24 Dave, there might be a shortcut to some of the evidence to Zaleski's secretary, Ilda Krakow. Huh?

15:30 Yes, she was going in the aisle all the time I was there. Maybe I can make Ilda Krakow really go for Vince Powell. Okay. Vince Carl asked me to go out with him tonight, John Celestis. Of course, you accepted me.

15:50 Look, Carl, I'm not telling you how to run your business, but I don't trust Carl.

15:54 How do we know who he is? That's what I intend to find out, Edger. Who he really is.

16:00 If he actually was a member of the Tyler crowd and did serve time in Mason City, as he says, then a fingerprint check will prove it.

16:08 I can get a routine check through a politician friend.

16:11 Of mine in Mason City. The police won't know anything about it. Oh, I get you, Card. You're going to use Hilda to get a set of Powell's prints, huh?

16:20 Hilda, use the compact trick. Make sure it's open when you drop it till the powder spills out. For his own sake, Vince Powell had better be everything he says he is.

16:41 Well, good night, please. Good night, Hilda. Aren't you going to ask me in for a night, Kat?

16:54 Count Gillespie doesn't approve of my entertaining friends in his home. But I've had a wonderful evening again.

17:01 Thanks. I know a better way than that of saying thanks. Hmm?

17:04 Yeah.

17:11 My compact had slipped right out of my hand. Shows what a kiss can do sometimes. There's powder spilled all over. No use crying over spilled powder.

17:23 Vince, aren't you going to pick up my compact?

17:27 Well?

17:29 Sure, I'll clean it off with my handkerchief.

17:31 No, no. Never mind, Vince. I'll clean it when I get inside. Okay. Here. Thanks.

17:41 That's supposed to mean bad luck. I hope not, James. I hope dropping this compact meant only good luck.

17:50 For both of us. Now, back to Counterspy.

18:12 Crouched in the closet of his room, Harry Peters is working over a small two-way radio.

18:17 Peters to Harding. Peters to Harding. Come in, Dave. Peters to Harding.

18:21 Go ahead, Peters. Dave, I thought I'd never get you on this two-way. I had some trouble with the condenser. Been fooling around with it for almost an hour. How did you do with Zaleski's secretary tonight? He'll have pulled a fast one on me, Dave. Got my fingerprints by using the old dropped compact gang. I couldn't avoid it.

18:37 And Zaleski's not as sold on Vince Powell as we thought he was.

18:42 I figure you'll probably have somebody in Mason City check on my prints.

18:45 You sit tight, Peters. I'll contact Washington and have a set of your prints rushed out to the Mason City police. We'll make it easy for Zaleski. Okay, Dad. Here's hoping we beat Zaleski to the punch.

19:13 Don't want that press stopped until the run is completed. Then you'll set it up for the run on backflip. Too bad we haven't got that backflip right now, Con. We'll have it by tomorrow night when Vince Powell makes his second.

19:32 Ah, and a final delivery.

19:35 I should know. Someone's coming down the stairs to the place right now. Wait, I'll log out through the transparent mirror. Let's kill them and bolt the door, I tell you.

19:43 Right.

19:41 It's Hilda, on Boca Doit. Right. Come on, Hilda. I was going to ask you, but a call just came in from Mason City.

19:53 And?

19:54 The fingerprint's checked. Vince Powell's everything he says he is.

19:57 Looks to me, it sounds like our girlfriend Hilda's fallen again.

20:01 Why, don't be silly. Would be a shame, Hilda, if you fall in love with Powell.

20:07 Would be such a short-lived romance.

20:10 What? What do you think?

20:13 I'm afraid, Hilda, that Vince Powell will soon join his friend, Carl Watson.

20:18 But Vince hasn't double-crossed you. Did you think I was really going to pay him for those plates?

20:26 My own plates? The man's practically a blackmailer. And I detest blackmailers.

20:47 Vince, I'm so glad I found you in your room. What's the matter, Gilda?

20:50 Take an honest day a minute. Look, don't deliver that back plate to the count tomorrow night.

20:55 But I've got a deal. He's going to kill you.

20:57 What?

20:58 Just as soon as you turn that back plate over to him, he's going to have Etcher kill you.

21:02 Vince, I don't want that to happen to you. You don't? You don't believe me. Should I? Vince, I don't want to help you.

21:12 Why?

21:13 Because you're nice, and I liked you very much when you kissed me the other night. You know something? I'm beginning to believe you. Thanks for the tip, Hilda. Well, I've got to get back now. Maybe I'll hear from you sometime, Vince. Goodbye. That's it. You move, Paul, and the gun goes off. Linda, I didn't know he followed me here. Believe me. It's okay, Hilda.

21:46 Thanks for the try, anyway. Hilda, I told the count it seemed like you couldn't be trusted. I heard the talk you two had in the air. Come on, both of you. Count Zalewski's waiting for you downstairs in the car. It's kind of cold out there, too. Do you mind if I get my coat out of the car? I'm trying tricks.

22:00 Don't worry. I know better. Come on, come on. Make it snappy.

22:05 Right with you. I'm just looking for my best coat. After all, I want to look stylish when I go riding with Count Zaleski.

22:11 I said snap it up. Here it is.

22:16 Nice looking coat, huh? Get it on fast, pal. A cop don't like to be kept waiting.

22:21 Yeah. Enter, there's a turn off the main highway up ahead. Take it. We're flushing, consular. Hilda brought here with me. She's got the shakes, cons. Hilda recalls what happened to Carl Walton, don't you? Consular, please don't do that to me. You don't have to worry about being thrown from the car, Hilda.

22:50 I've got something special planned for you when we get.

22:53 Through with Powell.

22:54 You know, Count, I thought you were a smart operator. Why should you doubt it now, Powell? Because getting rid of me isn't going to get you what you want.

23:02 Here's a time-off, cop. Uh-huh. Uh, you were saying, Powell?

23:13 Oh, yes, about my lack of judgment and disposing of you now.

23:18 You need that back plate to finish printing the traveler's check. You'll never get it this way.

23:22 I realize that. Well, I'm forced to attend to first things first. It'll take Etcher a long time to make a new plate. You can save all that time.

23:30 Sorry, pal. No more deals. Be good enough to open that door. Look, Count, don't be a sucker.

23:36 Open the door, pal, unless you prefer that I fire this gun at you.

23:41 Police car. I can see the headlights in the rear view mirror. Step on it, Etcher. They're gated on us. Faster, faster. I can't get any more out of it, cop. They'll be up to us in a minute. All right, slow down. Don't stop. Let them come. Are you crazy? Don't stop, I said. All they can do is give us a ticket for speeding. Brother, are you in for a surprise?

24:08 Oh, Hilda, I love you so much as to open your mouth.

24:15 I shoot. Remember your tune, not a word.

24:17 Brayden, you and Carpenter come to the other side of the car.

24:20 All right.

24:22 All right, everybody out. What's the meaning of this?

24:25 We're under arrest by the United States government. Keep them covered, Braden.

24:28 Got it, Mr.

24:29 Harding.

24:29 Harding?

24:29 Do you know what I meant, Count Zaleski? I had a couple of bad minutes back there, Mr. Harding, before I heard the patrol car siren. Sorry we took so long, Peter. We wanted to avoid shooting on the main highway.

24:38 What is this?

24:39 This, Zaleski, is my assistant, Counter-Spy Agent Harry Peters. And it's also the wind-up for you and your gang, Zaleski. By the way, Etcher, thanks for giving me the chance to get my coat out of that closet. When I went in there, I switched on a radio transmitter and my conversation with you tipped off Mr.

24:52 Harding as to what was going on.

24:53 Chief, I want to talk to you about Hilda Krakow, about putting in a clemency plea for her when they come to trial.

24:59 Brayden, you and Carpenter take care of this bunch. Will do, Mr.

25:01 Harding.

25:02 Come on, Peter.

25:03 We'll talk about that clemency plea on the way back to town.

25:20 Tune in every Tuesday and Thursday, same time, same station, to Counterspy. Listen on Thursday for the exciting case of the rats of relief. An empty truck and a dead man lay at the bottom of the river as rats of relief gnawed at the goodwill between America and Europe. To smash the racket, a Counterspy took his life in his hands to save another life. Be tuned in on Thursday to Case of the Rats of Relief on Counterspy.

26:01 Tonight's Counterspy program originated in New York and was directed by Leonard L.

26:04 Bass.

26:05 Dramatized by Edward Adamson, featured Don McLaughlin and Mandel Kramer, with music by Jesse Crawford.

26:11 Counterspy is a Phillips H. Lord production for Pepsi-Cola. Enjoy some delicious Pepsi tonight.

26:17 Welcome back.

26:41 As I said before the episode, the quality is not great, but I did catch Ralph Bell in this episode as Etcher. Overall, I thought the Count was quite ruthless and intimidating, which certainly can be a one of those criminals who seemed destined to get caught because he left a trail of bodies. And really, the only way that he got caught here was because on that second murder, he didn't verify that he had been given the correct location of the plates.

27:25 before he killed off his henchmen. And the murder of Peter seemed to be based more on a, it's the principle of the matter. I don't want to be seen as playing blackmail, even if it means that I am forfeiting a plate and all the works that Etcher went in to make it. Listener comments and feedback. And we go, first of all, to Patreon regarding the case of the high-class hijacker. David Harding grows on me all the time as a leader. He is very smart, creative, and would be a great boss to work for. Definitely agreed. He does show a lot of creativity, but he also does care about keeping his people safe. A random Spotify user writes, Central City. Maybe this is the same place where Mr.

28:17 Chameleon is from. He worked at Central Police Headquarters, and he was the most famous and dreaded detective. Heck, maybe David Harding was working alongside him and didn't even know it because of the disguise. trying to remember whether they specifically said this in Mr. Chameleon, but I always took the series as being based in New York and the central police headquarters was the particular place where he worked and not a separate city. Personally, when I heard Central City, I thought of one of my favorite superheroes of all time, who I've loved since I was nine and saw the John Wesley ship live-action version in 1990, The Flash. Of course, Central City was not actually the home of the original Flash,

29:18 who had been published in comics at this point, Jay Garrick, who was located in New York City at the time. One thing you find reading and listening to old Golden Age fiction is that Central City was just one of those common names. Go City was to an extent, but much like Gotham, Central City became so associated with the superhero, you wouldn't really, as a writer, associate it with some other character nowadays. but there were plenty of generic central cities back.

30:00 In the day.

30:01 Then, Peter writes regarding the episode The Society Swindler, Counterspy hasn't exactly been my favorite series to listen to, but this episode was fantastic from start to finish. It was a good story with memorable villains and had a satisfying ending.

30:17 Well, thanks so much, Peter.

30:19 And then we had another comment regarding the episode on YouTube and casting. Saisoff writes another casting note. If that wasn't Raymond Edward Johnson in the role of Babson, I'll eat my hat. I mean, several months ago, I suspected that I heard him in a minor role as a doctor, but this time I'm sure of it. Now, if only Mary could have been with him to sell us some Lipton tea, the setup would have been complete. Well, thanks so much, Sesov, and I'll take your word on it.

30:49 I've not gotten to the point where I can just easily clock Raymond Edward Johnson's voice. So I can't say 100% for sure whether you're right or wrong. But regardless, your hat is safe. Thanks so much. And once again, thanks for the comment. Now it's time to thank our Patreon supporter of the day. Thank you to James, Patreon supporter since March of 2020. Currently supporting the podcast at the first mate level of $ 7. 14 or more per month.

31:20 Thanks so much for the support, James. And that will do it for today. If you're enjoying the podcast, please follow us using your favorite podcast software. And be sure to join us back here on the Great Detectives of Old Time Radio podcast tomorrow for the best of our past season. And, uh, then on the Great Adventurers podcast, we will be back on Tuesday with Tarzan, and of course, we'll be back next Saturday with another episode of Counterspy.

31:55 In the meantime, do send your comments to box13 at greatdetectives.net from Boise, Idaho. This is your host, Adam Graham, signing off.