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

Mystery is My Hobby: Two Hours to Live

·32 min·2 clips

The sodium bicarbonate tablets were coated with enteric seal, which dissolved after exactly six hours.

The episode opens with a new Inspector Danton, now played by Ken Christie. He steps into a case that already has a story wrapped around it. Mr. Slocum has died in what the family says was a heart attack. Helene and her father say they were with him when it happened. Danton does not stay with that version for long. He asks direct questions and keeps the pressure on. The trouble begins with a trust fund. Helene says her father had demanded an accounting from Slocum. Her mother left the fund in Slocum's care after she died, and now it looks as if the money may be gone. That gives the argument a clear motive before the facts are even settled. The family is upset, and the inspector is already suspicious. Danton takes over the conversation with short, pointed exchanges. He asks whether Slocum had been upset, whether anyone said something that might have pushed him, and exactly when the attack happened. Helene and her father keep saying it was a heart attack. Danton answers with the opposite conclusion: Slocum was poisoned. Once that lands, the room changes. A natural death becomes a crime, and every calm answer starts to sound rehearsed. The story moves through interrogation instead of explanation. Facts come out because somebody gets cornered. The clock matters. The family says the hall clock had just struck 2:30 when Slocum died, and that detail adds more pressure. The episode stays close to the immediate suspects, the money dispute, and the gap between what the family says happened and what the inspector believes. The style is compact and dialogue-driven. People interrupt each other, defend themselves, and commit to a version of events before they seem ready. The mood stays dry rather than solemn, with the detective work doing most of the work. It is an old radio mystery built for argument, accusation, and the kind of clue that only matters once someone has been forced to say it out loud. The change in Inspector Danton also adds a little extra interest, since the role has just been taken over while the case is already underway. The episode gives you a poisoned-death setup, a family money fight, and a detective who does not let the first explanation survive contact with the second. It moves quickly and keeps the evidence tied to the conversation. The pleasure comes from watching the story narrow as each answer starts to fail.

As heard by us

A poisoned death, a trust fund fight, and answers that keep shifting.

Two Hours to Live turns a trust fund dispute into a poisoning mystery, and Mr. Slocum's death lands right when the story starts tightening its grip. Helene and her father keep insisting it was a heart attack, while Inspector Danton refuses to let that stand.

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Why you'd press play

You want a tight old-radio mystery with a poison clue and a family under pressure.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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