Counterspy: The High-Class Hijacker (A0130)

0:06 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, 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 at support.greatdetectives.net or become one of our ongoing Patreon supporters for as little as $ 2 per month. Just go to patreon.greatdetectives.net. But now, from October 13th, 1949, here is.

0:51 The High Class Hijacker.

1:04 Pepsi-Cola, P-E-P-S-I, that's your smartest cola buy. Pepsi-Cola presents Counterspy.

1:15 Washington calling David Harding, Counterspy.

1:27 Washington calling David Harding, Counterspy.

1:31 Harding, counter-spy, calling Washington.

1:36 United States counter-spy, especially appointed to.

1:44 Investigate and combat the enemies of.

1:46 Our country, both at home and abroad.

1:54 Tonight, the case of the high-class hijacker. Another counter-spy report to the American people. Brought to you each Tuesday and Thursday by Pepsi-Cola.

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2:44 And now, to Counterspy. Counterspy It is approaching midnight. On a dirt road at right angles to a paved, steeply graded highway in Tennessee, a dark blue sedan is parked. Two men sit in the front seat, waiting. Suddenly, the silence of the night is broken by the roar of a trailer truck climbing the steep highway. The thin man in the sedan flicks away his cigarette.

3:16 Okay, fatso, let's go.

3:33 Hey, what's the idea, you guys?

3:35 Hijackers. That's right. Keep your hands on the wheel and sit tight.

3:39 Corny, you know I ain't that fast.

3:42 Two of you, huh?

3:43 Yeah, my pal's kind of slow on his feet.

3:45 Always running, always running.

3:47 Skip the complaints, pal. Okay, driver, outside and climb down. What are you going to do with me?

3:54 Turn around, Junior. Yeah, but.

3:56 Turn around. Okay, Fatso.

4:02 Did that neat, didn't I, Corny?

4:04 Drag him to the side of the road.

4:06 Always I get the heavy work.

4:09 Good for you, Fatso. Helps you reduce. Well, we can take these masks off now we's in dreamland.

4:16 Glad to get it off. Suffocate a guy.

4:20 Fatso, you take the car. I'll follow in the truck.

4:22 Oh, Corny, let me take the truck. It's a long walk to the car, all uphill.

4:27 All of 50 feet. Scram, Fatso. Start walking.

4:30 Oh, always I got to walk.

4:32 Come on.

4:54 Attention, counter-spy headquarters Washington from.

4:57 Counter-spy field office Central City.

4:59 Truck operating in interstate.

5:01 Commerce hijacked last night on Route 201, 20 miles north of Central City. Local authorities request counter-spy investigation on the basis of interstate federal.

5:11 Nature of crime.

5:17 Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. Joyce, the door. More guests arriving.

5:33 I'll get it, Mr.

5:33 Midland.

5:34 Oh, never mind, Joyce. This is out of office hours. I'll play receptionist.

5:38 All right.

5:39 You see that our other guests have enough to drink.

5:41 Of course.

5:45 Hello, Mr.

5:45 Midland.

5:46 Hello, Cornelius.

5:47 You're early.

5:48 Ah, it went like clockwork. Good. Go into the library. I'll get Joyce and we'll finish the paperwork.

5:53 Right.

5:54 Joyce? Oh, Joyce?

5:56 Yes, Mr.

5:57 Midland?

5:57 I'm sorry, but a little business has come up. Right away, Mr. Midland.

6:02 You see, folks, that's what happens to a secretary when she attends a boss's party.

6:08 It won't take long, Joyce, in the library.

6:11 Yes, Mr.

6:11 Midland.

6:12 We'll be right back.

6:21 Hello, Joyce.

6:22 Hello, Carney.

6:23 I'll get my notebook, Mr.

6:24 Midland.

6:25 Yes. Good haul, Corny? Yeah, sure. Soaps, detergents, toothpaste, candy, regular items. I had fatso make up a list.

6:34 Let me have it, Corny. I'll copy it.

6:35 Joyce, check off any items that we don't buy from regular sources. We'll make our purchase orders tomorrow at the office.

6:41 Right.

6:42 Now, Corny, I'm opening up two new drugstores in our chain next week.

6:46 Two?

6:47 We'll make a total of 14 stores. We're getting big.

6:50 That means we've got to knock off more trucks to keep up with the demand in our stores.

6:55 Okay by me, Mr. Midland. The more trucks I knock off, the more dough I get. That's right.

7:00 Now.

7:00 Oh, Fort. What's the matter, Joyce?

7:02 Oh, Fatso's handwriting. I can't read it.

7:05 Well, just try.

7:05 It's no use. I'll have to go out to the hideout myself and check this load.

7:10 All right.

7:11 I'll drive you out.

7:13 Tomorrow will do. But from here on in, Mr. Midland, I think we should check these trucks ourselves.

7:18 Always the efficient secretary, eh, Joyce?

7:20 I believe in doing a thing right.

7:22 Then we'll do it right. Corny, on the next load, we'll be out there to check. What is the next load?

7:28 A tobacco shipment via the Valley Trucking Company two nights from now. You and Fatso knock it off, and then Joyce and I will check it off.

7:45 Attention, Counterspy Headquarters, Washington, from Counterspy Field Office, Central City. Valley Trucking Company, Interstate Concern, reports hijacking of $ 40, 000 tobacco load. This is the second interstate hijacking out of 14 all told in this area during the last month. Local police urge Counterspy intervention in this case.

8:12 Got us by photo laboratory. Haley speaking.

8:15 Haley, this is Harding. What's the situation on those new mini cameras?

8:19 They're coming in fast with the Harding and their beauties.

8:21 Small, compact, and they turn out crystal clear prints and enlargements.

8:24 Wonderful. Well, get up here with one of those cameras right away. We've got a headache. We may be able to use them. Statistical Department, Harding speaking. Send the modus operandi files on all hijackings for the last two years to my office as soon as you can. Chemical Division, this is Harding. Our data on black light and fluorescent pigments.

8:49 Get it all together and bring it into my office. I'm going to have a problem for you technicians to solve.

8:58 Peter's office.

8:58 Miss Trumbull speaking.

8:59 Miss Trumbull, where's Peters? I've been buzzing his private office. No answer.

9:02 Well, he went down to Barbershop, Mr.

9:04 Harding.

9:04 I can get him for you.

9:05 Do it.

9:06 Tell him I want to see him right away.

9:14 Hello, Chief.

9:15 What's up? Why the rush?

9:16 Sit down, Peters. We're going to work on those hijackings in the Midwest.

9:21 Oh?

9:21 They knocked off a second truck interstate, so we're assuming jurisdiction now instead of just advising the local authorities.

9:27 Good.

9:28 Those records you got on your desk from the modus operandi file?

9:30 Yes.

9:31 Now, all told, there are 14 hijackings that fit the same pattern. Hijackers masked, trucks stopped on hills where they can't pick up speed, drivers slugged. All in the same general area? Well, more or less, they've been concentrated in these three Midwest states. Trailer trucks. Ten of them with built-in alarm systems. Going to be tough to crack?

9:50 Well, maybe.

9:51 Maybe not. Now, I've got two jobs for you right away.

9:54 Shoot. Well, first.

9:56 You. What's the matter, Dave? Well, what's the matter with you?

9:59 Me?

9:59 Well, there's something... You look lopsided. What's the matter with your hair?

10:05 Oh, that.

10:05 Well, you wanted me to come up here right away. I was in the middle of a haircut. Well, it didn't have to be that right away. Okay, Dave.

10:10 Now, first.

10:11 Get down to the photo lab.

10:13 Haley's got that slick new mini camera down there. He'll explain the operation to you.

10:16 Check.

10:17 And go see the companies that make these truck alarm systems. We want to attach cameras to their alarms.

10:23 Will do.

10:24 Now, next. See Carl Palmer in the materials division. He's compiling a list of patent medicines and drugs that were hijacked.

10:31 Right.

10:32 Now, you make contact with the manufacturers of those products. You see they're required to keep a chemical analysis of each batch of their product as manufactured. You want me to get the analysis of the hijacked batch if I can?

10:42 That's right.

10:43 Report to me when you've obtained results. Here, or will you be on your way to the Midwest? Well, here, most likely, Dr. Boswell in the chemical lab is trying to turn out a permanent type of breadcrumb for us.

10:53 Hmm?

10:54 The Hansel and Gretel ferry story, remember? A trail of breadcrumbs? We're going to see if we can get the hijackers to leave us the same kind of trail. I don't get it. Well, you don't have to at the moment. Just get started on that stuff I gave you. Right away, Ted. Well, not too right away. Take ten minutes to finish that haircut.

11:11 Then get going. Hello, Cornelius.

11:28 Ah, Mr.

11:28 Midland.

11:29 You've come to check the load yourself, like you said, huh? Yes. Everything go all right? Yeah, Mr.

11:34 Midland.

11:35 In fact, I'll tell you. Just double-checking. Pull the truck over to the empty van. We'll unload this one right away.

11:40 Okay.

11:41 Joyce!

11:42 Right, Lincoln?

11:47 We'll check this stuff. It all goes to our Central City warehouse. Make out the bill of lading accordingly.

11:52 Yes, Mr.

11:53 Midland.

11:54 Hiya, Joyce.

11:54 Hello, Carney.

11:55 Now, where's that big.

11:56 That's how he probably fell asleep in the car. No, I didn't.

11:59 Not me.

12:01 A long walk from the driveway. Always a long walk.

12:04 Hello, Mr.

12:05 Midland.

12:05 Hello, Fatso.

12:06 We brought three men to help with the unloading. They're playing cards in the old farmhouse.

12:10 I'll open the truck and put them to work, Mr. Midland.

12:12 Do some yourself, Fatso. Good for that front porch of yours.

12:15 Now, don't you worry about my front porch, Corny. I'll take care of it. Always I do the work.

12:21 Always he complains.

12:23 Always.

12:25 Corny.

12:25 Hey.

12:26 In the next few days, I want you to put on four more men. We're expanding our operations. They'll work in the northern part of the state around Norport.

12:34 Four more, Mr.

12:34 Middleton? Yes.

12:35 I want to buy as little as possible from legitimate wholesalers. Getting our product this way is much more profitable.

12:42 Okay. I'll dig up some real good boys. Now, Joyce, you'd better... What's that? Holy mackerel.

12:49 That fool, he's.

12:50 Broken the auto alarm system.

12:51 Come on.

12:56 What happened?

12:57 What did I do?

12:57 You fat moron. Joyce, the keys. Have you got them?

13:00 Here, Mr.

13:01 Midland.

13:01 The alarm box.

13:02 They're on the side of the truck.

13:06 Yes, I see it.

13:08 That's so you subhuman idiot.

13:11 All your brains are on your stomach.

13:13 No. I didn't do nothing. Just broke open the lock.

13:17 Didn't you see the shield on the tailgate? Get closer so you.

13:20 Can read it.

13:21 Mr.

13:22 Midland, easy on him.

13:23 I ought to kill him. Easy, Mr.

13:24 Midland.

13:25 Hey, muttonhead, read what it says on the shield.

13:28 This truck protected by CKY auto alarm. The alarm system is not under the control of the driver.

13:39 What's it mean?

13:39 It means that we're lucky I had the foresight to anticipate this. If I hadn't picked a hideout here on the hills, half the cops in creation would have been down on us by now.

13:47 Always, it's my fault, always. Ah, I'm sorry. Nobody told me.

13:52 What have you got a brain for? You can read, you prove that.

13:54 Okay, so I did wrong.

13:57 Well, how come you can shut it off, Mr. Midland, when it says not even the driver can?

14:01 Because I have keys to the alarm system. Here, Corny, you take them, three keys. One for each alarm system used on trucks in this area.

14:10 Okay, Mr. Midland.

14:11 Have duplicates made for the new men that you hire. I want things set up so that we're knocking off but truck a day.

14:28 Back to Counterspy in just a moment.

14:30 But first.

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15:49 Now back to Counterspy. Following David Harding's instructions, Harry Peters is calling on a leading manufacturer of automatic alarm systems.

16:05 Ready?

16:11 Well, Mr.

16:11 Denton, your auto alarms are certainly loud enough. Oh, yes, Mr.

16:15 Peters.

16:16 That's why I think the hijackers drive these trucks to some backwoods section and break them open. Our sirens can be heard a couple of miles away once they're tampered with.

16:25 Well, the hijackers might have a key to your alarm system. Well, that's a possibility.

16:29 A good one, too.

16:30 That's why we want these mini cameras installed on the trucks separate from your system.

16:34 Yes, sir.

16:35 Three of them in each truck. Now, our photo lab has worked out a way to do it. When the truck doors are open, each camera will take a picture. That way, we'll get three actual photos of the crooks breaking in.

16:47 Well, we'll be glad to install them before you, Mr. Peters.

16:50 Well, pretty soon, these cameras will be standard equipment for all counter-spies. But right now, we'll just want them installed in whatever trucks in that Midwest area use your alarms.

16:57 I see.

16:58 Well, that's about 40 or 50. But there are other companies in this general area with similar systems.

17:03 Yes, I know.

17:03 I'm going to contact them, too.

17:05 Good, good.

17:06 Now, Mr.

17:06 Danton, when your mechanics install these cameras... Please tell them only this. They're just an additional feature of your regular alarm system.

17:16 Oh, naturally.

17:17 Mighty nice-looking job, these cameras. My boy would love to have one for himself. Well, later on, Mr.

17:22 Harding told me he wants them to be available to everyone. I'll let you know. Meantime, be cautious about them. We'll be discreet, Mr.

17:29 Peters.

17:29 Good.

17:30 And let's hope the counter-spies will be successful. Goodbye, Mr.

17:33 Denton.

17:40 And, Mr.

17:41 Frost, you do have a chemical analysis of the lot of your cough remedy that was hijacked.

17:45 Better than that, Mr. Peters. We keep a spectroscope card of every lot. Color breakdown? That's right, Mr. Peters.

17:52 We take a sample of every batch we make, then we throw a light on it, project it through a prism that breaks it down into its component colors, and photograph those colors for our records.

18:01 We want to make copies of that color card, Mr. Frost. You're welcome to.

18:04 If you can match it exactly with a sample, that sample will be from the lot that was stolen.

18:09 That's what we hope to do, Mr. Frost.

18:11 Thank you.

18:21 Dr. Boswell?

18:22 Boswell, yes?

18:24 Oh, Mr. Hardy, wait till I turn this off. How's it coming, Dr. Boswell?

18:37 Well, as you see, I've been working with this standard truck engine mounted on blocks.

18:41 Mr. Harding, the problem's licked.

18:42 Good.

18:43 Show me. Well, here's the oil. I've impregnated it with a green fluorescent pigment. It looks like ordinary oil. Well, look at it under our blacklight lamp.

18:54 Well.

18:55 A nice, bright green dot.

18:57 Yes, you equip our patrol cars with a blacklight headlamp and it'll pick up this spot on a road at 40 feet.

19:03 Well, now, have you worked out a way of dropping the oil for a trail? Yes, sir. You see, just back of the oil crankcase, this can? Yes, I see it.

19:10 Well, it has a hole in it and a shutter arrangement like a camera. The shutter is driven by a small electric motor and continually revolves inside the can.

19:18 Mm-hmm.

19:19 Now, this switch here, which can be fastened to the truck dashboard, controls the outlet in the can.

19:24 The moment the driver switches it on, oil starts dripping.

19:28 Good.

19:28 Good enough. Boswell, have a hundred of these made up right away, will you?

19:31 All right, sir. Mr.

19:32 Harding, Mr.

19:33 Peters is on the phone. Mr. Harding, Mr. Peters is on the phone.

19:36 Excuse me, doctor. This is Harding. Put Mr. Peters on this line, please.

19:42 Peters? Yes, Dave.

19:43 How's it going?

19:44 Okay.

19:45 I've arranged for the installation of the cameras, and I've got a color card on Dobbs' cough remedy, one of the hijacked items.

19:50 Oh, that's better than I expected. We'll have copies of it made and forwarded to all our field offices in those Midwestern states.

19:56 I've already done that, Chief.

19:57 Good. Also, send a TWX to our field offices. Have them buy samples of the remedy from every retail outlet in their area. Then they're to make color cards of the samples to check with the card on the stolen lot.

20:10 Will do.

20:11 You meet me in Central City. We'll work out of our field office there, since it's the biggest city in the area.

20:16 Harding Central City Field Office, forwarded from Washington.

20:29 Spectroscope analysis, Dobbs cough remedy, reveals Midland Drug Store is only outlets handling the stolen batch here in Danville. Well, continue reports.

20:38 There it is again, Dave. Midland Drug Company. Nine times in two weeks.

20:43 And not another company in this whole area has had a single bottle of that batch of cough remedy.

20:48 Peters, call Joe Lincoln in our tax department. We'll set up some excuse to examine the Midland Drug Company's books. Okay, yeah. Wait a minute, hold on. Countess by field office, Harding speaking. Huh? Three quarters of an hour overdue. You have a map of the route he was taking?

21:06 Good.

21:06 I'll be over at your office. I'll pick it up in ten minutes.

21:09 Goodbye.

21:09 Hijacking, Dave?

21:11 That was the traffic manager of the Valley Trucking Company. One of their trucks is three-quarters of an hour overdue in Danville. I'll get out a police alarm on it right away. Well, now, if the truck's located, tell them to call us in patrol car number 23.

21:22 Right.

21:22 That's equipped with a blacklight headlamp. Now, we'll follow the truck's route. And I hope the driver had time enough and sense enough to turn on that oil switch. See anything yet, Peters? No, not yet, Dave. How far have we come? About 35 miles from the city. Well, hey, that hill up ahead.

21:55 Yeah, look, Peters.

21:57 A pool of green on the road up ahead. I see it. Peters, this is it.

22:11 The hijackers must have left the motor idle after the driver turned on the oil switch.

22:15 Search the side of the road. See if we can find the driver.

22:17 Right.

22:20 Dave. Dave, here he is, out cold.

22:23 Is he all right?

22:25 I felt his pulse.

22:26 Just unconscious.

22:27 Radio the state police to pick him up right away. Then we'll pick up the trail of these oil drops and hope they lead to a real pickup. Not too fast, Peters. We followed the trail about 15 miles. They must be turning off the road pretty soon.

22:49 All right, Chief.

22:50 Wait, hold it.

22:50 Stop. What is it? No more oil spots on the highway. We passed a dirt road on our right just a few yards back.

23:00 Back up.

23:00 They must have turned in there. The road's getting worse, Dave. We may be getting close. Better stop the car, Peters. I'll take the blacklight hand lamp and go ahead on foot. And I'll wave you ahead as long as I can follow the trail of oil drops.

23:30 See, Peters?

23:43 Fluorescent oil spots end right at that bar. Then they doubled back where they drove the truck out again. A wonderful hideout. An abandoned farm really in the backwoods. There's a light in only one room in the old farmhouse. The gun's ready, Peters. We may need it.

24:13 Wash your dishes. Always they leave the dirty work to Fatso.

24:18 Always.

24:20 Someday I'm going to tell that corny someday. Eat like pigs. The dish is so dirty, they call me Fatso.

24:31 What?

24:32 All right, big boy.

24:33 Take it easy and keep holding that dish. He said keep holding it.

24:36 Who are you guys?

24:39 United States counter-spies. You're under arrest for hijacking.

24:42 Counter-spies? Now, how'd you find this place?

24:45 We might tell you if you tell us some of the things we want to know.

24:48 I don't do no talking.

24:49 Maybe not here. Well, a ride may loosen your tongue.

24:53 Get going.

24:54 Now, look, let me get rid of this apron, huh? I'd look awful silly being arrested in an apron. Okay, put down that dish. Get your jacket on. At least that's one dish I won't have to clean.

25:07 There's a lot of dishes to clean in prison. And you could use the exercise.

25:11 Always cracks about my front porch. Even the cops, even.

25:14 Skip the lamentations. Start moving. You've got a lot of questions to answer.

25:17 All right, now, Fatso.

25:31 Car radio, Chief. Yeah, I'll take it, Peters.

25:34 Keep driving. Carlin, count us by car 23, Mr.

25:38 Harding.

25:40 Carlin, count us by car 23, Mr.

25:42 Harding. Harding speaking, Haley.

25:43 Go ahead. I'm at the valley transportation truck that was hijacked.

25:47 The local police found it abandoned here in Milton, a suburb of Central City.

25:51 Nice going, Haley. The cameras, have you checked them?

25:53 Yes, sir. I brought a.

25:55 Portable developer outfit along when we got the flash about the truck.

25:58 What results?

25:58 Plenty. There are seven people in the photos.

26:02 Three men unloading the truck. A girl checking the load. Uh, a human blimp eating a candy bar and two other men.

26:11 Any identification?

26:12 You haven't heard at all, Mr. Hiding.

26:14 The local police have checked the miniature photos and they swear that one of the men is Mr.

26:19 Midland. Midland? Head of the Midland Drug Company.

26:23 Okay, Haley. Get a squad of men together and head for the Midland Drug Warehouse in Central City.

26:27 Okay, Mr. Hiding.

26:28 We'll meet you there. Just keep it under observation. Don't move until we arrive.

26:32 Right, sir.

26:33 Step on it, Peter. I'll have a little chat with Fatso back here. After what he's heard, I'm sure he feels a lot more like talking. Don't you, Fatso?

26:41 Well, that's it, Mr. Higgins.

26:53 The last of the load's been put away in the warehouse.

26:55 Any items that we don't order through our regular channels?

26:58 Nope, all standard products.

27:00 How much was the load worth, Joyce?

27:02 Approximately $ 10, 000, Corn. 5% of that is 500 bucks.

27:08 Not bad for a night's work, eh, Cornelius? I'm happy, Mr.

27:11 Midland.

27:11 Good.

27:12 As we get bigger, there'll be more money in it for you. I hope so. Put out the warehouse lights, Joyce. We may as well leave.

27:18 Right, Mr.

27:19 Midland.

27:20 We all leave together, Mr. Midland? Why not?

27:23 Just an industrious boss and his equally industrious employees working overtime.

27:28 All right, Mr.

27:29 Midland.

27:30 All lights out.

27:30 Let's go.

27:43 Hello, Mr.

27:44 Midland.

27:45 What?

27:46 I'm sorry, I don't... Know me? You will, Mr. Midland, you will. I'd like you and your companions to come with me. Who do you think you are, guy? His name is David Harding.

27:55 Harding? Harder, Spice.

27:56 Oh, my.

27:57 I don't understand. It's no use, Midland. We've got the whole picture of your hijacking set up. In nice, clear pictures.

28:02 Oh, no.

28:03 Corny.

28:03 Get him, Peters.

28:07 All right, Dave, I've got him.

28:08 But I don't understand.

28:09 I had it all figured.

28:11 My setup, my big organization. There's one thing you didn't figure, Midland. The counter spies have a bigger organization. Okay, Peters, let's take them along.

28:33 When your friends drop in, be generous, but be thrifty, too. Serve plenty of delicious Pepsi-Cola. Pepsi's big 12-ounce bottle gives you not just one sparkling glass full, but two. Get a carton of six and serve 12 delicious drinks. Yes, Pepsi is America's biggest cola value. You get twice the tangy taste, twice the refreshment, twice the Pepsi. So why take less when Pepsi is best? Whenever you reach for refreshments, remember...

29:03 Pepsi-Cola hits the spot. Two full glasses, that's a lot. Lots more value, lots more zest.

29:09 I take less when Pepsi's best.

29:12 Tune in every Tuesday and Thursday, same time, same station, to Counterspy. Listen next Tuesday for the exciting Counterspy case of the photographed furrier.

29:22 When international complications were threatened because of stolen furs, your Counterspies had to use a camera and a special cameraman. How this setup ran into an unusual obstacle that spelled murder will be exposed next Tuesday. Be sure to be tuned in for Case... of the Photographed Furrier on Counterspy.

29:54 Tonight's Counterspy program originated in New York, was directed by Marks B. Loeb, dramatized by Palmer Thompson, and featured Don McLaughlin and Mandel Kramer with music by Jesse Crawford.

30:06 Bob Shepard speaking. Counterspy is a Phillips H. Lord production for Pepsi-Cola. Enjoy some Pepsi. Ice cold tonight.

30:28 Welcome back. Some recognizable voices in this week's episode. Of course, we had Ken Lynch as Corny. and of course Ken Lynch has been in quite a few episodes of Counterspy that we've heard in recent weeks, but also recognized Jackson Beck as Fatty. I also recognized him on a couple of the phone or radio voices in the episode, and that's even closer to the typical Jackson Beck voice. This episode is interesting for a few reasons, mainly having to do with the investigation. First of all, I am glad that that line that we heard a couple weeks ago wasn't a throwaway line about the cameras or a prediction.

31:20 It was set up for what would come down the line. And the way cameras are used in this episode is clever and... within the capabilities that you had with models of cameras like the Minox. And certainly, a little modification could get them what they wanted. I also like the whole fluorescent oil aspect. Because it's an update of a bit of a trope in detective stories. And there are so many places you can see it where luminescent paint is left behind a truck. As it goes, leaving a trail for our detective heroes to follow. Some examples of it are in the 1943 film Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon. It can also be found in the pilot episode for the Bulldog Drum and Radio program. There are many practical problems with this. The big one is that

32:32 the crooks are going to know what's up if they look behind them and see the luminescent paint. But this, you know, really takes some of the science of the time and creates something that's a bit more plausible and also which the police can track because it requires the black light. Now, the tracing the cough medicine part is the weakest part of it, but you still did have spectrograph technology. That's real enough, but... The cough medicine all should be very similar, and the idea that you could give each batch of cough medicine effectively its own fingerprint, probably not happening in 1949.

33:30 But still, the.

33:31 Science in this is a lot more sound than the whole plan, because, you see, normal criminals, what they would do, they would hijack the truck, and they would sell the merchandise to a fence, who would then sell it to someone else, maybe a black market source. Ideally, quite a bit away from where the robbery took place. Mr. Midland decides to use the stolen property to stock his shelves, which creates a whole lot of problems for.

34:08 Him, because.

34:10 If you've got a legitimate business that you're running, you're going to have inventory and taxes and records, and you're going to have to make up a lot of only invoices and receipts, you know, to cover yourself. And all of this is going to have to pass scrutiny. They have to set up fake corporations, right? It's an incredibly complex thing that there's no indication that Mr. Midland has prepared for at all. And trying to scale this so that you have a robbery every single day, that's not what we call a sustainable business practice. So the investigative methods are interesting and generally believable, and far more so than the crime. Now, by the way, it's really fascinating that they named Joe Lincoln in the Treasury Division because

35:17 that's actually the name of the lead in another Phillips Lord series. Probably the least successful one, at least in the 1940s. Treasury Agent. which lasted in its initial run just about a season, and would eventually come back at the end of the 1950s over Mutual. But I guess this confirms that Treasury Agent does exist in the same world as Counterspy. Now, whether it also exists in the same world of Mr. District Attorney, we'll have to see.

35:56 I also think that there is an overall thrust of the episode beyond the accuracy of the science involved. Midland did this whole thing, you know, based on some knowledge he had, particularly about the truck's alarms, that allowed them to pull off the robbery by taking it to somewhere remote to be opened, but he didn't know all of the capabilities of Counterspy, and that Counterspy was constantly innovating, constantly finding new ways to take down criminals, and that essentially crime will not pay in the long term if because you cannot tell what new tools or methods law enforcement might deploy against you. All right, well now it's time to thank our Patreon supporter of the day. Thank you to Gretchen, Patreon supporter since September 2017, currently supporting

37:08 the podcast at the secret agent level of $ 4 or more per month. Thanks so much for your support, Gretchen, 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 rate and review the podcast wherever you download it from. We'll be back next Saturday with another episode of Counterspy. But join us back here tomorrow on the Great Detectives of Old Time Radio as we bring you another Sunday Encore featuring more of the Landini murder mystery. And then on Monday, we have our regular lineup with the Saint. And then join us back here on the Great Adventurers podcast On Tuesday for Tarzan. In the meantime, do send your comments to box13 at greatdetectives.net.

38:01 Follow us on Twitter at Radio Detectives. And check us out on Instagram, instagram.com slash greatdetectives. From Boise, Idaho, this is your host, Adam Graham, signing off.