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

Mystery is My Hobby: Stephanie Brent Murdered

·30 min·1 clip

Barton Drake says Stephanie called him before the shooting and the phone detail changed everything.

1. Mystery is My Hobby Presented by the Great Detectives of Old Time Radio centers on the episode "Stephanie Brent Murdered." 2. Adam Graham hosts from Boise, Idaho, and introduces Barton Drake, Inspector Noah Danton, and the case at Chaminade's place. 3. The episode asks how Stephanie Brett died in the library and why the phone call matters. 4. Barton Drake is researching poison when a telephone call comes in, and Miss Brett loses consciousness on the line. 5. Drake calls Inspector Noah Danton and drives to Chaminade's driveway, where guests and models crowd the house. 6. Hala Brett says Stephanie is her cousin, and she points Drake toward the library after describing Stephanie's headache. 7. Drake finds Stephanie Brett sprawled at the desk with blood on her face, a gun on the floor, and the telephone receiver off the hook. 8. Hala Brett, Orion Cooper, and Inspector Danton all react differently as the body is identified and the room fills with suspicion. 9. Orion Cooper says he was engaged to Stephanie, while Hala and Orion accuse each other of motive. 10. Pierre Chaminade enters as Stephanie's model agent and claims Stephanie was about to die from "some strange disease" known only to him. 11. Drake later checks the Ledger and asks what time the first edition went to press, which matters because the paper was read during Cooper's claimed alibi hour. 12. Danton reports that the fingerprint department finds two sets of prints on the gun: Stephanie Brett's and Hala Brett's. 13. The script gives Hala a heated confrontation with Stephanie about Pierre Chaminade's contract and her job option. 14. Stephanie tells Hala that Pierre will not renew her contract, and Hala says, "I'll kill you for this," before admitting she ran out of nerve. 15. Orion later admits he heard angry voices by the library door and claims he found Stephanie and Pierre arguing over letters and a contract. 16. Pierre reveals that Stephanie had a brain tumor and says she had about six months, maybe less. 17. Drake and Danton eventually connect the timing of the call, the medical examiner's report, and the phone lying off the hook. 18. The ending explanation hinges on Drake's line, "Dead people don't talk over telephone," and the case logic built around that fact. 19. The performance is fast, stagey, and dialogue-driven, with repeated accusations and quick reversals. 20. Fans of old-time radio detective stories will like this; listeners wanting modern realism probably will not.

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