1938-12-04 Murder in E Flat

Broadcast December 4th 1938 on Mutual at 5:30 p.m. EST sponsored by D.L. & W. Coal Company "Blue Coal" and  syndicated for the summer by Goodrich Tires

This episode is included in Radio Spirits CD Set The Shadow: Strange Puzzles

Written by: Frederic Dannay and/or Manfred B. Lee

Announcer: Ken Roberts

Cast: Bill Johnstone (Lamont Cranston/The Shadow) Agnes Moorehead (Margot Lane) Margot Stevenson, Alan Devitt, Dwight Weist, Everett Sloane, Kenny Delmar

Music: Rosa Rio or Elsie Thompson

Synopsis:

A mad doctor of music wages a war of noise against the city, planting bombs rigged with E-flat tuning forks that detonate from any form of loud noise. In a world in chaos, the musician wagers, the only true peace is silence — a word he uses in every note left at the scene of the crimes. Passenger airliners, automobiles and nightclubs are not immune to his devices, forcing Commissioner Weston to urge the people of the city to remain silent to prevent further explosions until the criminal is tracked down. Lamont, meanwhile, tracks down a music store responsible for selling thirteen E-flat tuning forks and sends Margot under the guise of a student to the studio of Andre Bedaux. Discovering that four unexploded bombs still remain, The Shadow pretends to be the madman’s conscience to trick the organist into revealing their locations. One sits atop the organ, ready to go off during the climax of Bedaux’s symphony. Margot faints from the suspense and wakes to discover The Shadow has disconnected the bomb while tricking Bedaux into revealing the location of the remaining three. Bedaux, however, died of heart failure during the climax — he was so sure that the explosion would occur that it did — in his distorted mind.

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