Science Fiction - Sleepy Radio · Various Authors

The Case of the Rich Racketeer

April 11, 2026·28 min·2 clips

Flo Sullivan picks up a gun and pretends she'll shoot herself after learning of her husband's affair.

1. "The Adventures of the Falcon" episode "The Case of the Rich Racketeer" is a classic 1940s radio crime drama starring Les Damon as private detective Mike Waring. 2. The episode is narrated by Ed Hurley and features a cast playing characters including racketeer Larry Sullivan, his wife Flo, his girlfriend Bonnie Shaw, her brother Tom Shaw, and Sullivan's lawyer Arthur Garland. 3. The episode's core hook is a locked-room murder mystery: who shot Sullivan at his remote lake cottage, given that three people all had motive and opportunity on the same night? 4. The episode opens with Garland confronting Sullivan in his Central Park West apartment, producing a loaded gun and demanding $30,000 in cash as a fee for keeping Sullivan free of an income tax evasion charge. 5. Sullivan claims he is broke, having lost his cash in an oil deal, but Garland is unconvinced — he believes Sullivan has more than $300,000 hidden somewhere. 6. Flo Sullivan interrupts the standoff, distracting Garland long enough for Sullivan to disarm him, after which Flo reveals she knows about Sullivan's affair with Bonnie Shaw. 7. Sullivan tells Flo he is divorcing her for Bonnie, claims he is flat broke, and leaves — Flo threatens to harm herself but it is revealed to be a ruse. 8. Separately, Tom Shaw visits Sullivan's lakeside cottage to warn him away from Bonnie, and the two fight, with Sullivan striking Tom in the jaw before throwing him out. 9. Sullivan then phones the Falcon to hire him, claiming someone has been following him and he needs protection; the Falcon agrees to drive to Tallow Lake by midnight. 10. An anonymous caller (later revealed to be Tom Shaw) tips off Flo Sullivan about the location of Sullivan's love nest, urging her to go there that night. 11. The Falcon arrives at the cottage just after midnight, discovers Bonnie trembling in front of the closed bedroom door, and pushes past her to find Sullivan dead with a bullet wound to the back of his head. 12. The Falcon interrogates Bonnie, who claims she just arrived and found the body, and then Tom Shaw arrives — the Falcon knocks him out when he tries to flee before police arrive. 13. The next morning the Falcon questions Flo Sullivan, who admits knowing about the affair but claims she had no motive since Sullivan was broke and she was glad to be rid of him. 14. Garland arrives at the Sullivan apartment, feigning ignorance of the murder, but slips by saying "I swear I didn't shoot Larry" before anyone told him Sullivan had been shot rather than killed by another means. 15. Bonnie Shaw visits the Falcon and reveals Sullivan was not actually broke — he had just made a large cash killing in a business deal and the two were planning to flee to South America with steamer tickets already purchased. 16. The Falcon and Bonnie drive to Tallow Lake, where they find the cottage ransacked — every drawer emptied, pillows slashed, rugs overturned — as someone searched desperately for the hidden cash. 17. A hidden shooter fires at the Falcon from the woods; the bullet misses the Falcon but shatters a wall mirror, revealing an envelope stuffed with thousand-dollar bills that had been hidden behind the glass. 18. Bonnie's offhand use of the word "shot" triggers the Falcon's realization that Garland's earlier slip — knowing Sullivan had been shot before being told — was the killer's tell; police subsequently catch Garland. 19. The episode will appeal to listeners who enjoy classic Golden Age radio mystery dramas with a sharp, wisecracking detective and period-authentic production values. 20. Listeners expecting modern crime procedurals, psychological complexity, or non-commercial content will find the Kraft Foods sponsorship interruptions and 1940s conventions dated.

As heard by us

A brisk mystery with sponsor breaks, a frightened blonde, and a body behind a closed door.

The Case of the Rich Racketeer opens The Adventures of the Falcon with a blunt, pulpy setup: a frightened blonde, a closed bedroom door, and Larry Sullivan dead with a bullet hole in the back of his head.

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Why you'd press play

Tune in for a murder in a quiet lakeside cottage and a detective who gets straight to work.

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