Detectives on the Air

Originally Aired: January 2, 1956 Johnny Dollar #296, "The Caylin Matter Ep 1," insurance investigator Johnny Dollar heads to Los Angeles after Walt Albright from Trinity Mutual develops his telltale case of asthma over a suspicious death claim. Eddie Caylin died in a mysterious car fire just six weeks after his wife arranged a five thousand dollar policy with double indemnity, with only one premi...

Originally Aired: December 30, 1955 Johnny Dollar #295, "The Forbes Matter Ep 5," Johnny Dollar meets with Betsy Walker to inventory the expensive gifts Sheldon Forbes sent her during his misguided courtship, purchased with stolen company funds. The investigation reveals Forbes spent over $4,000 on gifts, restaurant reservations, and flowers trying to win the attention of the actress and model, wh...

Originally Aired: December 29, 1955 Johnny Dollar #294, "The Forbes Matter Ep 4," Johnny Dollar races against time after discovering embezzler Sheldon Forbes has attempted suicide by gas in his apartment. After dragging Forbes from the deadly fumes and calling for help, Dollar watches as emergency medical technicians fight to save the man's life. The interns work methodically with a pulmotor, unce...

Originally Aired: December 28, 1955 Johnny Dollar #293, "The Forbes Matter Ep 3," Johnny continues his investigation into embezzler Sheldon Forbes, who has inexplicably refused to defend himself or return the stolen money. Attorney Ed Gumby informs Johnny that Forbes has waived trial and plans to plead guilty at the upcoming preliminary hearing. Determined to uncover the truth and give Forbes a fa...

Originally Aired: December 27, 1955 Johnny Dollar #292, "The Forbes Matter Ep 2," Johnny Dollar continues his investigation into the embezzlement case of Sheldon Thomas Forbes, who has confessed to stealing $4,285 from Century Styles. While Rob Elliott calls from the district attorney's office to sign the complaint, Dollar makes it clear his real work is just beginning: recovering the money for th...

Originally Aired: December 26, 1955 Johnny Dollar #291, "The Forbes Matter Ep 1," insurance investigator Johnny Dollar finds himself reluctantly accepting a case in New York as a favor to Pauline Morris at the Continental Adjustment Bureau. After taking her to dinner at the Crystal Room, Dollar learns the details: Century Styles Incorporated, a high-end dress manufacturer, has discovered a deficit...

Originally Aired: December 23, 1955 Johnny Dollar #290, "The Nick Shurn Matter Ep 5," During a raging blizzard in a remote Michigan cabin, Johnny Dollar spends the long night trying to convince Kathy O'Dare to testify against nightclub owner Nick Shurn in a murder case. Kathy's young daughter Jill stays awake with them, playfully suggesting Johnny should marry her mother. After Jill goes to bed, J...

Originally Aired: December 22, 1955 Johnny Dollar #289, "The Nick Shurn Matter Ep 4," finds Johnny and Mike O'Dare desperately searching for Kathy and her daughter Jill, who have vanished as a blizzard descends on Branbury, Michigan. The situation is doubly dangerous: not only is the weather deteriorating rapidly, but killer Benny Stark is somewhere in the area. Johnny pieces together that Kathy,...

Originally Aired: December 21, 1955 Johnny Dollar #288, "The Nick Shurn Matter Ep 3," Johnny Dollar and Mike O'Dare man a freezing roadblock on a Michigan logging road, waiting to intercept hired killer Benny Stark, who has tracked Kathy O'Dare to her hometown of Bramberry. As they pass the long, cold hours with cigarettes and applejack, Mike opens up about his daughter, asking Johnny honestly whe...

Originally Aired: December 20, 1955 Johnny Dollar #287, "The Nick Shurn Matter Ep 2," Johnny Dollar continues his search for the missing nightclub singer Kathleen O'Dare, racing against time to reach her before dangerous men do. After learning that thug Benny Stark has already been to Mrs. Gottler's rooming house and broken the landlady's arm trying to find Kathy's whereabouts, Johnny helps the in...

Originally Aired: December 19, 1955 Johnny Dollar #286, "The Nick Shurn Matter Ep 1," Johnny Dollar is called to New York by Don Wilkins of Tri-Mutual Insurance to investigate the murder of Mel Pryker, a former racketeer turned nightclub owner. Pryker's business partner, Nick Schearn, stands to collect a hundred thousand dollar policy and is the prime suspect. Lieutenant Ed Rafferty of the Homicid...

Originally Aired: December 16, 1955 Johnny Dollar #285, "The Lansing Fraud Matter Ep 5," Johnny Dollar arranges a midnight meeting with fugitive insurance agent Hillary Franks at the Mission San Javier, an ancient church in the Arizona desert. Franks, desperate and armed with a .38, emerges from the shadows to tell his story. He reveals how Arlene Kennedy, the sister of dying alcoholic James Lansi...

Originally Aired: December 15, 1955 Johnny Dollar #284, "The Lansing Fraud Matter Ep 4," Johnny Dollar confronts insurance broker Hillary Franks, laying out his case that Franks helped arrange for someone else to take James Lansing's physical examination two years ago. Lansing was already dying, making this a calculated fraud scheme orchestrated with his sister, Mrs. Arlene Kennedy, as beneficiary...

Originally Aired: December 14, 1955 Johnny Dollar #283, "The Lansing Fraud Matter Ep 3," Johnny Dollar confronts Arlene Kennedy at her luxurious Catalina Vista home about her brother James Lansing's suspicious death. Mrs. Kennedy is hostile and defensive, insisting her brother drank himself to death and demanding her $50,000 insurance benefit immediately. She threatens to sue the insurance company...

Originally Aired: December 13, 1955 Johnny Dollar #282, "The Lansing Fraud Matter Ep 2," Johnny Dollar continues his investigation into the suspicious death of James Lansing, a man who died of malnutrition just two years after passing an insurance physical examination with flying colors. Dollar pressures Dr. Mayhood to view Lansing's body at the morgue, hoping the physician can confirm whether thi...

Originally Aired: December 12, 1955 Johnny Dollar #281, "The Lansing Fraud Matter Ep 1," Johnny Dollar receives an urgent call from Jim Carter at Universal Adjustments about a suspicious death in Tucson, Arizona. A man named James Lansing, who held a $50,000 life insurance policy, has died under bizarre circumstances—he starved to death. According to the coroner's report, Lansing died of malnutrit...

Originally Aired: December 9, 1955 Johnny Dollar #280, "The Cronin Matter Ep 5," As dawn breaks after a violent storm, Johnny Dollar faces a grim reality: both Jason Prell and the beloved Dolly Cronin are dead. When Dr. Bigby arrives at the estate, Johnny reveals his shocking discovery that Mrs. Cronin was murdered by Prell himself, who substituted deadly pills for her prescription before being ki...

Originally Aired: December 8, 1955 Johnny Dollar #279, "The Cronin Matter Ep 4," Johnny Dollar finds himself in a deadly game of cat and mouse as a violent storm rages around the Cronin estate. When someone cuts the phone line, trapping Johnny and handyman Shorty Weber inside with no way to call for help, Jason Prell reveals his true intentions by taking shots at them through the darkness. Armed a...

Originally Aired: December 7, 1955 Johnny Dollar #278, "The Cronin Matter Ep 3," Johnny Dollar finds himself stranded at the isolated Cronin estate as a storm approaches from the mountains. With Mrs. Cronin seriously ill and needing medical attention, Dollar discovers that the only local doctor, the disgraced Dr. Bigby, refuses to come to the house. When Dollar mentions the patient is Mrs. Cronin,...

Originally Aired: December 6, 1955 Johnny Dollar #277, "The Cronin Matter Ep 2," Johnny continues his investigation into protecting the priceless Circle of Fire necklace for former Broadway star Dolly McLean Cronin's Roaring Twenties party in the Adirondacks. Jason Prell, Mrs. Cronin's longtime business manager and trust fund administrator, urgently warns Johnny not to retrieve the half-million-do...

Originally Aired: December 5, 1955 Johnny Dollar #276, "The Cronin Matter Ep 1," insurance investigator Johnny Dollar is summoned by Joe Parker to protect an extraordinary prize. Dolly McLean, the legendary "Champagne Dream Girl" of the 1920s, is emerging from ten years of seclusion following her husband Barnaby Cronin's death. For her grand finale party in the Adirondacks, she plans to wear the C...

Originally Aired: December 2, 1955 Johnny Dollar #275, "The Henderson Matter Ep 5," Johnny becomes convinced that George Henderson's death was not accidental and that his young widow Pauline lied under oath about her husband drinking the morning he died. When Johnny's supervisor Tim Connors flies in from Hartford, Johnny argues forcefully for denying the insurance claim and even filing a murder co...

Originally Aired: December 1, 1955 Johnny Dollar #274, "The Henderson Matter Ep 4," Johnny arranges to meet the widow Pauline Henderson at the elegant Bighorn Lodge restaurant to discuss her late husband's death. On his way there, he encounters Maddie Knickerbocker, a gentle schoolteacher in her mid-forties, visiting George Henderson's snow-covered grave. Johnny is startled to recognize her name,...

Originally Aired: November 30, 1955 Johnny Dollar #273, "The Henderson Matter Ep 3," Johnny Dollar faces mounting resistance in his investigation of George Henderson's death after the coroner's inquest officially rules it an accident. The local hotel manager, Porter, suddenly demands Johnny vacate his room, claiming it's reserved for a convention, though Johnny sees through the transparent attempt...

Originally Aired: November 29, 1955 Johnny Dollar #272, "The Henderson Matter Ep 2," Johnny Dollar's request for a coroner's inquest into George Henderson's death stirs up immediate resistance in the small Montana town of Culver. Sheriff Holton warns Dollar to expect action, and it comes quickly in the form of Mayor Newton, who visits Dollar's hotel room with an urgent plea. The mayor insists Hend...