Mystery is My Hobby Presented by the Great Detectives of Old Time Radio · Adam Graham Radio Detective Podcasts

Mystery is My Hobby: John Crain Murdered

·30 min·2 clips

Drake says John Crane is not dead, then reveals the body in the trunk was Hugh Crane's.

1. Mystery Is My Hobby Presented by the Great Detectives of Old Time Radio covers "John Crane Murdered" and follows a trunk, a lake, and a knife wound. 2. Barton Drake and Inspector Noah Denton carry the case, with Albert Evans, Hugh Crane, Mrs. John Crane, and Nate Hobart driving the conflict. 3. The episode asks who killed John Crane and why the body was hidden in a trunk and dumped in the lake. 4. Denton rejects the suicide explanation because Crane had been stabbed above the heart and the trunk theory made no sense. 5. Albert Evans says Hugh Crane found the trunk, and Evans fears the hotel will be ruined if his name stays tied to the body. 6. Hugh Crane arrives at the hotel and loudly blames Evans, saying John owed him money for supplies. 7. Drake uses John Crane's weight, the trunk's size, and Evans's smaller build to argue that Evans could not have moved the body alone. 8. The case widens when Drake and Denton inspect John Crane's cabin and hear Mrs. John Crane arguing with Nate Hobart inside. 9. Mrs. Crane says John refused to give her a divorce, while Hobart is exposed as a man who wanted to marry her. 10. Drake and Denton let Hobart go because Drake says Hobart is not the murderer and can still help them by staying free. 11. Albert Evans is found bleeding at the hotel, and Denton sees a knife through his heart. 12. Drake tells the others that Evans also knew who murdered John Crane, which makes Evans another target. 13. At the cabin, Drake says the dead body in the trunk was Hugh Crane, not John Crane. 14. Drake explains that John Crane lived as a hermit so people would forget his traits and accept Hugh's identity later. 15. He says John practiced Hugh's gestures, blustering voice, and handwriting for ten years to pull off the impersonation. 16. Drake ties the crime to money that John and Daphne believed had been taken from them after the father's will. 17. The final deduction turns on the trunk: if enough water entered to decompose a body, the trunk could not have floated. 18. The tone is fast, slangy, and argumentative, with Denton and Drake trading insults while suspects shout over one another. 19. Listeners who like old-time radio mysteries with hardboiled banter and identity tricks will get the most from it. 20. Listeners looking for calm pacing or a simple linear crime story may skip it.

As heard by us

A murder case driven by competing motives and sharp cross-accusations.

"John Crane Murdered" follows a knot of competing motives, with Mrs. Crane saying John wanted a divorce while she refused, and the rest of the cast tossing out accusations about who might have wanted him out of the way.

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Why you'd press play

You want a murder mystery where every answer turns into another accusation.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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