Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar: The Buffalo Matter (EP5095)

0:03 THE END.

0:28 Welcome to the Great Detectives 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 Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar. But first, I want to encourage you, if you're enjoying the podcast, please follow us using your favorite podcast software. Also, I do want to encourage you as you're making your travel plans to remember JohnnyDollarAir.com. JohnnyDollarAir.com is a Priceline affiliate link, so part of the purchase price benefits the great detectives of old-time radio at no additional cost to you. That's JohnnyDollarAir.com. But now, from October 4th, 1959, here is The Buffalo Matter. The Buffalo Matter.

1:25 Johnny Dollar.

1:25 Pat McCracken, Johnny, Universal Adjustment Bureau.

1:28 Pat, haven't had an assignment from you in, uh, oh, several days.

1:32 Yes, I know.

1:34 Now, listen, this expense account of yours.

1:36 Huh? On that case you just finished... Oh, now, listen, Pat, after all these years, and I not only gave you a full report, but an itemized statement.

1:43 I know.

1:44 That expense account was completely legitimate from start to finish. Every single item was money out of my own pocket that I spent to solve that case. What case? The one you're talking about, the one I handled for you last week, whatever it was. You don't remember what it was. Well, what difference does it make? All I'm saying is that whatever expenses I put down there were completely justified.

2:00 You remember what the total came to?

2:02 I haven't the least idea.

2:03 Then let me remind you.

2:04 Oh, now, look, that's beside the point. It was exactly $ 12.

2:06 30.

2:06 Well, I tell you, every penny.

2:07 Of it was $ 12.

2:08 30.

2:08 That's right.

2:14 Now, do you blame me for thinking maybe you were sick or something?

2:17 Oh, no. And I thought you were... Okay, Pat, argument's over. Only it isn't, Johnny.

2:24 Huh? Not by a long shot.

2:26 You mean you are going to question that expense account? No, I mean we never discussed a fee on that case.

2:32 Oh, well.

2:33 And the.

2:33 Fact that you had a pretty rough time of it and almost got yourself killed?

2:36 Well, I persuaded the company to slap on an extra fee of 500 bucks.

2:41 Oh, Pat, you are a doll. Then I ought to slug you. Instead, I'll partake in another one. Uh, fee on this one, too?

2:49 We'll see.

2:49 I'll risk it. Then grab a flight to Buffalo. Buffalo.

2:52 Contact Edward J.

2:53 McNair at McNair's Emporium. McNair's what?

2:56 The Emporium.

2:56 That's one of the big department stores.

2:58 Somebody lifted a few.

2:59 Dollars out of their safe last Saturday. How much?

3:02 Something over $ 400, 000.

3:03 Wowee.

3:03 Yeah.

3:03 Well?

3:04 Okay, Pat, I'm on my way.

3:05 Okay.

3:17 CBS Radio brings you Bob Bailey in the exciting adventures of the man with the action-packed expense account. America's fabulous freelance insurance investigator.

3:26 Yours truly, Johnny Dollar.

3:33 And now, act one of yours truly, Johnny Dollar. Expense account submitted by Special Investigator Johnny Dollar to the Universal Adjustment Bureau Home Office, Hartford, Connecticut. Following is an account of expenses incurred during my investigation of.

4:00 The Buffalo matter. Expense account item one, $ 49. 50 plane fare and incidentals to Buffalo, New York. Item two, $ 8 even for taxi fares. After dropping my luggage at a hotel, I went over to the Emporium. In the big office on the top floor, I talked to Mr.

4:20 McNair himself. $ 421, 216, according to the books.

4:26 Well, that's quite a loss, Mr. McNair.

4:30 And I suppose, Mr. Dollar, that to some extent it's my own fault. My fault.

4:36 Oh?

4:36 Why do you say that, sir?

4:37 Heaven knows John Harker suggested changing the procedure more than once.

4:41 John Harker?

4:42 Yes, my young personal assistant. Also company treasurer.

4:46 Oh, I see.

4:47 But I've run things single-handed the same old way for so long, and nothing like this ever happened before. Mm-hmm.

4:54 What do you want to tell me about it?

4:56 We've followed the same procedure every Saturday night for over 28 years, which is to say that as soon as the store was closed, each department head, in turn, brought his cash receipts up here to the treasurer.

5:10 This, uh, John Harker.

5:12 Then Harker gave the department head a receipt, put the money in the vault, and that was that.

5:18 Well, sir, it seems to me it would have been a lot safer to have an armored car deliver that money to the depository of some bank during the day, maybe several times a day.

5:27 Exactly what John suggested some time ago. I suppose I should have listened to him.

5:34 Well, go on, sir.

5:36 Last Saturday, after we closed, things went along quite as usual. That is, until Mr. Ellery in sporting goods, always the last to bring his money to the vault... until he knocked on Harker's door.

5:48 Well, right on cue.

5:50 Excuse me. Come in.

5:52 Mr.

5:53 McNair, I... John, John, come in, please. I want you to meet Mr. Johnny Dollar. This is John Harker.

6:01 Dollar, hiya.

6:02 Dollar represents the insurance companies we trust will make good on our loss.

6:07 Well, I certainly hope you can make more progress than the police have, Mr. Dollar.

6:11 That bandage on your head have anything to do with the robbery, Harker?

6:13 Uh-huh.

6:15 Yes, it certainly has.

6:16 Terrible, isn't it? Now, sit down, John. Tell Mr. Dollar exactly what happened on Saturday night when Mr. Ellery came up to turn his cash over to you.

6:25 Thank you, sir.

6:27 Oh, I'm afraid it was all my fault, Dollar.

6:29 Not a bit of it.

6:30 Yes, yes, for being caught off guard.

6:33 All right, what happened?

6:34 Well, when Ellery knocked on the door of the vault room, I asked who it was. He told me, and, uh... Well, I should have known by his tone of voice that something was wrong.

6:43 Now, John, you're not to blame. This sort of thing could have happened to anybody. Even... even to me.

6:51 Thank you, Mr. McNair, but it doesn't alter the fact that... Well, Dollar, I went over and unlocked the door for Ellery. But instead of walking in, he was forcibly thrust into the room. The door was thrown back so hard, it knocked me.

7:03 Down, knocked me unconscious.

7:04 Terrible.

7:05 Terrible.

7:06 And when I came to, the cash drawers of the vault were empty. The keys had been literally... Torn out of my pocket.

7:12 You should have a new suit for that, John.

7:14 Thank you, sir. Ellery, poor Mr. Ellery, lay there bound with adhesive tape that would be badly beaten.

7:21 Did you see whoever it was came barging in that way?

7:25 If I hadn't been standing behind that door, I might have.

7:28 I see. What about this man, Ellery?

7:30 Tell him, John.

7:31 Yes, sir. Well, poor Ellery did catch a glimpse of him, but the man was wearing a sort of mask over his face.

7:37 He gave what description he could to the police, of course.

7:40 And, uh. Well, that's about it.

7:45 Thank you, John. Now go along.

7:46 Yes, sir.

7:47 Now, wait a minute.

7:48 Don't misunderstand me, Mr. Dollar, but I don't want to keep John around here any longer than necessary.

7:52 Well, but I'd like to. If Mr.

7:53 Dollar wants to be around, I'll cancel the trip gladly.

7:56 Trip? Of course. After what's happened, that knock on the head was pretty serious, John is taking my cruiser on a little trip.

8:04 Oh, I can't say I blame him.

8:06 So run along, John. You can leave tonight as you planned.

8:08 Whatever you say, Mr.

8:09 McNair. Parker, wait a minute.

8:10 Your friend all ready to go with you.

8:12 Oh, I hope you don't mind my taking him along, sir.

8:15 Not a bit. Now run along. Run along. Have a good time. And a good rest.

8:19 Look, it's customary.

8:20 Thank you very much, sir. Mr. Dollar, I suppose you'd like to talk to Mr. Ellery now. Well? Uh, yeah.

8:32 I'd like to talk to somebody who was involved in this thing. David Ellery, the other victim of the robbery, was still out to lunch, so I grabbed a bite myself. That's item three, a buck seventy-five, and check with the police. Nothing helpful at all. No leads on the man who got away with over $ 400, 000 from a store there in Buffalo, New York. Then I went over to the Emporium, to the sporting goods department. Ellery was back, and I talked with him in a little office in a corner of the stockroom. He was still suffering from the beating he'd taken.

9:13 Yes, sir, Mr.

9:14 Dollar, it was awful, terrible. And, yes, sir, it was just like young Mr. Harker told you it was.

9:21 I understand that you gave the police a description of the man who attacked you. Yes, sir, best I could. Had you ever seen him before that you know of?

9:29 Well, of course, I can't be absolutely sure because of that mask he was wearing, but I.

9:36 Don't think so. Was he waiting at the door of the vault room when you got there to put the money in the safe?

9:42 Well, Mr.

9:42 Harker always does that, sir.

9:44 Yeah, I suppose so. I just go up.

9:47 And knock on the door and tell him who I am. Well, you see, he always keeps the door locked when he's taking the company cash that way.

9:55 Yeah, sure.

9:56 So I knock on the door and shout my name, and then he.

10:00 he opens up and I give him the money.

10:02 Then he gives.

10:03 Me a receipt, and he puts the money in the vault. But you didn't answer my question. When did you first see this man in the mask?

10:12 Well, only when Mr.

10:13 Harker was opening the door for me.

10:16 Yes?

10:16 He must have sneaked up on me, and then just when Mr. Harker opened the door, he grabbed me by the shoulders, and, sir, he just threw me into that ballroom.

10:28 Ah, and John Harker was struck by the door as it was banged open.

10:32 Poor young girl. It must have hurt him something terrible, knocking him out that way.

10:37 Looks to me like you got the worst of it, though.

10:39 I'm so sorry for John Harker.

10:42 What?

10:42 Nice young fellow like him, trying so hard to make his way in the company and then to have a thing like this happen.

10:51 Mr.

10:51 Ellery, if you.

10:52 He was real good for himself, too.

10:54 Doing real good for the Emporium. Now, why not tell me.

10:57 Lots of good ideas for building up the business. And Mr. McNair liked that and kept.

11:03 Pushing him ahead.

11:04 Oh, yeah, sure.

11:05 So that someday, John could be earning himself a lot of money.

11:10 Not that Us old timers ever complain. Mr. Ellery.

11:13 I mean about the wage scale here at the airport.

11:16 Wait a minute, please.

11:18 Yes, sir.

11:20 How long has John Harker been with the important?

11:23 Oh, about a year now.

11:25 And he's lived up.

11:26 To the recommendations he come with so well.

11:30 It's just no wonder, Mr.

11:31 McClare.

11:32 Recommendations? From where?

11:34 Macy's and Gimbel's in New York. And John Wanamaker in Philadelphia. Oh, from lots of big stores. A couple in Chicago, too.

11:47 Yes, sir. Mr.

11:49 McNair told us about it himself when he hired Mr. Harker and explained that's why he'd give him a better job than some of us old-timers.

11:58 I see.

11:59 Kimball's one of them.

12:00 You don't believe me, you ask Mr.

12:02 McNair. You know something, Mr. Elray?

12:05 What, sir?

12:06 That's the one thing I believe I'd better not do.

12:09 What?

12:09 Well, thanks a lot. Even a lot of help.

12:12 Well, now, Mr.

12:14 Dollar. I had suddenly begun to wonder about the way Mr. McNair had gotten Harker out of his office before I could barely question him. About the possibility that McNair might have engineered this robbery himself. Because it had to be somebody completely familiar with the procedures, the routines of that store, because of the timings. Somebody who knew the place would be virtually empty at that time of day. Who knew that Ellery was always the last to take his money up to the vault. I'd noticed a checkbook on Mr.

12:43 McNair's desk. It made a mental note of the name of the bank. But it was now after 5 p.m., so rather than push things until I was sure, I went back to my hotel room to clean up, eat some dinner, and get a good night's sleep. But as I started to open my handbag, wondering, by the way, if I'd forgotten to lock it for the first time in my life.

13:00 Yes, I'd heard that sound before. I grabbed the bag near the dash to the open window and threw it as hard and as far out from the building as I could out over the empty lot beside the hotel. Honey, I got a sneaking suspicion about then that somebody in Buffalo didn't particularly want me around. Needless to say, I had to do a bit of explaining to the police about the infernal machine in my handbag that I'd tossed out of my hotel. And the company will have to pay for some broken windows in that neighborhood. And needless to say, their only theory about who might have planted that bomb was the man in the mask, whose identity was still unknown to them. But I had an idea.

13:59 Besides the police, only three people could have known I was there.

14:02 Mr.

14:03 Elrean, pride of the type. Young John Harker. No, he was off on a yachting trip. And that left Mr. McNair. But like I said, rather than push things without some proof. Well, item four is seven dollars for drinks and a good dinner, and I hit the sack for some much-needed rest. But first thing in the morning, I was in the cashier's office at the bank.

14:25 Yes, sir. What can I do.

14:27 Johnny! Willie Barton! Now, what under the sun are you doing here?

14:31 I'll have you know that I'm not only cashier of this bank, but a.

14:33 Vice president, too.

14:34 How are you, boy?

14:35 Congratulations. Well, look, I've got to get right to the point. I want to know all I can about the financial condition of not only Mr.

14:42 Edward J.

14:42 McNair, but also the story on the Emporium.

14:46 Johnny, you know that things like that are of a confidential nature between a banker and his client.

14:50 Oh, I can see you're going to be a lot of help.

14:52 I'll tell you this, though.

14:54 McNair is worth millions.

14:56 Millions, Johnny.

14:57 How about outstanding debts against the store?

15:00 McNair is old-fashioned.

15:01 He pays cash.

15:03 Cash on the line for everything. That store has not a penny for, oh, I'd say over 25 years.

15:10 Nor has McNair himself. So, Johnny, if you're by any chance thinking... 400,000 is still a lot of money, Will.

15:19 Damn, it's only a drop in the bucket.

15:21 But of course, he's entitled to recover it, and if one of the companies you represent has to pay... Wait a minute.

15:26 Wait a minute. Let me use your phone. Why, sure. Item 5-840, long-distance calls to New York and Philadelphia to Macy's, Gimble's, and John Wanamaker's, to the personnel directors. And from each of them, I get the same answer. They'd never even heard of John Harker. I left the bank and went over to the Emporium to the office of Mr.

15:49 McNair. I know, Mr.

15:52 Dollar.

15:52 I haven't the least idea where John and his friend are going in my cruiser. He simply asked if he might have it for a few days.

15:59 Asked for it? I thought it was your idea that he take that trip.

16:03 Well, of course I agreed that he should get away for a few days to rest, recuperate.

16:08 A few days?

16:08 Yes.

16:10 And also get away with your $ 400, 000. What? Played right into his hands. You know anything about this friend he's taking along?

16:19 Well, I presume being a young man with lots of lady friends.

16:24 Well, I presume it's the guy who helped him with that robbery.

16:28 What are you saying, Mr. Dollar?

16:30 Oh, brother, how nicely things are beginning to add up around here. To begin with, it had to be somebody here in the store. And listen.

16:36 I'm listening, sir.

16:37 Parker told me right here in your office... He told me that when old man Ellery knocked on the door of the vault room, that he, that Harker, should have known something was wrong when Ellery called to him and identified himself.

16:49 Mr.

16:49 Dollar. I should have known by the tone of his voice that something was wrong. Now, those were the words that Harker used. You heard him say it, too. But he was lying.

16:58 Lying?

16:58 Yeah. Because Ellery didn't know the robber was even there until after John had opened the door for him.

17:05 You're sure of that?

17:07 I'm sure.

17:07 Mr.

17:07 Dollar.

17:09 Are you trying to say that John Harker, that fine young man.

17:12 I am trying to tell you that you have made an old fool of yourself, that you made your first mistake when you hired that smart young crook.

17:19 I'll have you know that John came here with the highest possible recommendation. Yeah, well, Macy's and Gimble's and the rest never even heard of him.

17:26 What?

17:26 So in your blind faith, you not only taught him how to stage the robbery, he and his pal, whoever he is... But now, with your cruiser, you've helped him get away with it, with your money.

17:36 But good heavens, Mr. Dobson.

17:37 Now, if you'll just give me a hand, come up with some bright idea for finding that boat of yours somewhere out in the middle of Lake Erie. Yeah, I'm probably headed for some remote little port on the Canadian side of the lake.

17:49 Believe me, if.

17:50 Ever I needed a stroke of luck, it's right now. You know something? Well, Lady Luck must have been tagging along right at my heels. And don't ever underestimate the United States Coast Guard. A big sou'wester had built up over Lake Erie, so they'd contacted every small boat within a hundred miles. The boys aboard McNair's yacht hadn't dared not answering the call. They would only have sent the Coast Guard out looking for them. And where were they? Dollar, they're riding out the blow in the Leo Long Point off the Canadian shore. Here it is in the chart.

18:23 Or is that just where they say they are? No, radio compass checks have verified their position. Right, uh, there. But now, Mr. Dollar... Yeah, no. That puts him in Canadian waters, doesn't it? Yeah, I'm afraid so. Which means we have no jurisdiction, no authority. Of course, our friends across the border will be glad to cooperate any way they can. I'm sure of that. Yeah, but by the time we take whatever legal procedures may be necessary... No, listen. Yes, sir? Now, off the record, unofficially, suppose I were to go out there after them myself. Oh, now, Mr.

18:55 Dollar.

18:55 Well, somebody has to have them. Suppose I could find a boat and a skipper willing to weather this storm. Huh? How about that?

19:03 Well, I think maybe.

19:05 Now, I'm not sure, mind you, but I think I've heard of some chap around here that owns a converted subchaser. Weather out any kind of a storm. Yeah? Now, of course, you understand, I'm hardly in a position to recommend that you attempt any such... Expense account item 6, 585 bucks. Rental of the subchaser and the skipper to go with it.

19:28 And while I'd like to give you a thrilling, dramatic ending for this case, well, the trip across Lake Erie in that storm did have its moments. But from there on in, it was just a matter of running down John Harker and his pal, clapping him into chains and hauling him back to Buffalo with the money. So expense account total, including transportation home? Well, now, wait. As it turned out, there's a lot more to this. this thing. Yeah.

19:52 I'll tell you all about it in my next report. Yours truly, Johnny Dollar. Now here's our star to tell you about next week's story. Next week, well, as I told you, there's a lot more to this case. As a matter of fact, it turned out to be the most exciting, most dangerous assignment. Well, join us, won't you?

20:22 Yours truly, Johnny Dollar.

20:40 Yours truly, Johnny Dollar, starring Bob Bailey, originates in Hollywood and is written, produced, and directed by Jack Johnstone. Heard in our cast were Lawrence Dobkin, Bartlett Robinson, James McCallion, Dick Crenna, Junius Matthews, and Gil Stratton.

20:56 Welcome back. Well, this one ends a bit unresolved, but we'll do the best we can with it. Now, if you noted last week's episode, was September 20th, then it looks like there might be a missing episode in between this week's episode and the previous one. But, according to John Abbott, who wrote the Who is Johnny Dollar matter, and also has maintained a list of missing episodes, on September 27th, the show ends. was listed in newspapers as being preempted for a Maurice Chevalier music special. So, there was no episode, and we're actually in another period between May of 1959 and August of 1960 with no missing episodes, which, after the large amount of missing episodes at the end of 1958, was certainly a bit of a relief. I

22:04 note something here that ties in to a recent response regarding the payment of the expense account from the backfire that backfired matter. This illustrates my general thoughts on that account. And that's the importance of maintaining goodwill with Johnny Dollars. And you saw here, Pat got him a $ 500 fee he hadn't explicitly requested on that other case. And so part of the working relationship is Johnny having confidence that these insurance company agents are going to be in there pitching for him. And you see why that's important when Pat needs Johnny to go on a $ 400, 000 case at a moment's notice. Now, I do have to comment on Mr. McNear. Now, it should be said at this point that we don't know what's coming up next week. Now, I have listened

23:06 to next week's show before, but that was many, many years ago. So, I don't remember what's coming. But I will say that if things stand as they look in this episode... that McNair had no motive and no involvement in the crime, then his actions really appear to be some of the biggest lapses in security and good business practices that you could find. He hired an employee without checking his major references and then advanced him rapidly in the company. let him take off in the company cruiser to an unknown destination with an unknown guest when he really should have been handy for the investigation and for further questioning from Johnny Dollar and the police. Whether that will be addressed next week or what exactly new complications

24:09 Johnny will find in the case is something that we'll all have to wait for until next week. Now it's time to thank our Patreon supporter of the day, and I want to go ahead and thank Emily, Patreon supporter, February 2021, currently supporting the podcast at the rookie level of $ 2 or more per month. Thanks so much for your support, Emily, and that will do it for today.

24:31 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 Friday with another episode of Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar. And next Tuesday, be sure and listen for Burton Trent. Join us back here tomorrow as we give way to the great adventurers of old-time radio and counter-spyware.

24:57 Alan, let's add up what we know about the attacker. Now, that bullet you dug out of the wall... A.

25:02 38 caliber, sir.

25:04 That's from an automatic. All right. Man using a. 38 caliber automatic... He fired at a distance of about 20 feet in imperfect light, and I'd suggest he's a good marksman for a gunman, if he was aiming at Peter. And we know he gained entrance to the house at the back through the sunroom by cutting out a square of glass above the door lock.

25:23 Yeah.

25:24 I guess then he reached inside and let himself in. This complicates the problem, Edward. It's a burglar's technique. Not often you find a professional gunman who uses burglar techniques, or vice versa. All right, Edward, let's get to work. Now, if you'll be good enough to handle the loudspeaker system to the floor below there. Identification.

25:43 This is Edwards with Mr. Harding in the supervisor's booth. We've got an identification job. Electronic classifiers, stand by. First back, gunman. Thirty-eight automatic. Gunman, thirty-eight automatic.

26:04 You'll be with us then. In the meantime, send your comments to box13 at greatdetectives.net. 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.