Detectives on the Air

Originally Aired: February 20, 1956 Johnny Dollar #331, "The Bennet Matter Ep 1," insurance investigator Johnny Dollar heads to San Francisco with Four State investigator Andrew Cord to probe a suspicious fire that destroyed a ten-story office building owned by Arnold Bennett. The building, insured for half a million dollars by five companies, went up in flames just a month after completion. Arson...

Originally Aired: February 17, 1956 Johnny Dollar #330, "The Cui Bono Matter Ep 5," Johnny Dollar prepares to close his investigation into the death of Dan Parker, shot by his daughter Luann in what she claims was a tragic accident. Despite exhaustive investigation, Johnny finds himself unable to answer the central question: when Luann fired down those dark stairs, did she know she was shooting he...

Originally Aired: February 16, 1956 Johnny Dollar #329, "The Cui Bono Matter Ep 4," Johnny Dollar faces mounting hostility from Tom Bates, the acting county attorney who's replaced the murdered Dan Parker. Bates insists on being present when Dollar finally gets to interview Lou Ann Parker, the daughter who shot her father thinking he was a prowler. Dollar turns the tables on Bates, suggesting that...

Originally Aired: February 15, 1956 Johnny Dollar #328, "The Cui Bono Matter Ep 3," Johnny Dollar continues his investigation into the death of Dan Parker, despite mounting resistance from acting county attorney Tom Bates, who threatens to block Dollar's attempts to question the victim's adopted daughter, Luann Parker. Bates claims the young woman is too upset to be interrogated, but Dollar suspec...

Originally Aired: February 14, 1956 Johnny Dollar #327, "The Cui Bono Matter Ep 2," Johnny Dollar confronts Acting County Attorney Tom Bates about the suspicious death of longtime county attorney Dan Parker. Despite the official ruling of accidental death, Dollar presses Bates for cooperation, threatening subpoenas and legal action when the young attorney initially refuses to talk. Bates, who's in...

Originally Aired: February 13, 1956 Johnny Dollar #326, "The Cui Bono Matter Ep 1," Johnny Dollar heads to Green Pass, Virginia, to investigate a suspicious death that looks almost too convenient to be an accident. Dan Parker, the county attorney, was shot dead by his stepdaughter Lou Ann Parker, who claims she mistook him for a prowler when he returned unexpectedly from a business trip. The probl...

Originally Aired: February 10, 1956 Johnny Dollar #325, "The Mcclain Matter Ep 5," Johnny Dollar races to a Los Angeles hospital after learning that Dr. Dave McClain has been shot three times by Riley, the devastated boyfriend of Teresa Corbett. Despite his critical injuries, McClain refuses to make any statement about the insurance fraud case, betting on his own survival rather than cooperating w...

Originally Aired: February 9, 1956 Johnny Dollar #324, "The McClain Matter Ep 4," Johnny Dollar confronts Dr. David E. McClain at his Pacific Palisades office about a patient who disappeared two years ago. Before the meeting, Dollar encounters George Riley, the heartbroken fiancé of Teresa Corbett, who has just learned from police that they're exhuming a body they believe to be his missing love. R...

Originally Aired: February 7, 1956 Johnny Dollar #322, "The Mcclain Matter Ep 2," Johnny Dollar continues his investigation into Doris McClain's shocking confession that she faked her own death so her husband, Dr. David McClain, could collect her life insurance. While Don Taylor at Tri-State Insurance is eager to press charges based on her signed statement, Johnny isn't convinced she's telling the...

Originally Aired: February 6, 1956 Johnny Dollar #321, "The McClain Matter Ep 1," Johnny Dollar is called to the office of Don Taylor at Tri-State Insurance to meet a woman with an extraordinary claim. Mrs. McClain, a well-dressed woman in her late twenties, reveals that she is legally dead and her husband, Dr. Dave McClain, collected ten thousand dollars on her insurance policy two years ago in L...

Originally Aired: February 3, 1956 Johnny Dollar #320, "The Flight Six Matter Ep 5," Johnny Dollar's investigation in Acapulco takes a deadly turn when Marvel Terrence, the key witness who promised to reveal who caused the Flight 6 explosion, is murdered and her body pulled from the surf below her hotel. With his assistant Gino Romero, Johnny pursues a prowler on the hotel grounds, discovering sus...

Originally Aired: February 2, 1956 Johnny Dollar #319, "The Flight Six Matter Ep 4," Johnny and Inspector Gino Romero discover that all the Flight 6 beneficiaries have fled Mexico City for Acapulco. Marvel Tearns, Bill Blakely, and Ramon de Lagos each took separate commercial flights, while the mysterious Don Serrano chartered a private plane. Despite Gino's superstitious dread that their own flig...

Originally Aired: February 1, 1956 Johnny Dollar #318, "The Flight Six Matter Ep 3," Johnny Dollar receives an unexpected visit at his Mexico City hotel from Don Serrano de Almeida Ypico, the brother of crash victim Maria de Lagos. The aristocratic Don Serrano arrives with strong accusations, convinced that Maria's husband Ramon is a diabolical maniac who planted a bomb on Flight Six to kill his w...

Originally Aired: January 31, 1956 Johnny Dollar #317, "The Flight Six Matter Ep 2," Johnny investigates the wreckage of Flight 6, learning that dynamite planted in the baggage compartment brought down the plane. A suspicious baggage handler named Ramirez had insisted on loading one particular suitcase himself just before takeoff. At the crash site, Johnny encounters the enigmatic Marvel Terence,...

Originally Aired: January 30, 1956 Johnny Dollar #316, "The Flight Six Matter Ep 1," Johnny Dollar is pulled into a high-stakes investigation when Pete Codley of Guaranteed Transport summons him to Mexico City. Flight 6 of the Aztec Caribbean line, traveling from Mexico City to Havana, has exploded in mid-air and crashed into the mountains, killing all seven passengers and three crew members. Thre...

Originally Aired: January 27, 1956 Johnny Dollar #315, "The Duke Red Matter Ep 5," Johnny pushes deeper into the mystery surrounding the death of the racehorse Duke Red and the disappearance of trainer Thomas Warner. After reporting Warner missing to Constable Tad Polk, Johnny confronts veterinarian Dr. Gorey with a stark choice: cooperate now or face perjury charges in court. Under pressure, Gore...

Originally Aired: January 26, 1956 Johnny Dollar #314, "The Duke Red Matter Ep 4," Johnny Dollar continues his investigation into the suspicious death of the racehorse Duke Redd at the Abbott Ranch in San Pietro, California. The key to solving the case appears to be finding Thomas Warner, the missing horse trainer who was supposedly responsible for the accident that led to Duke Redd's destruction....

Originally Aired: January 25, 1956 Johnny Dollar #313, "The Duke Red Matter Ep 3," Johnny Dollar continues his investigation into the suspicious death of the racehorse Duke Red, a champion thoroughbred insured for $65,000. After being thrown off Benjamin Abbott's racing farm, Johnny receives help from a worker named Cully to secretly meet with Abbott's daughter, Terry. The encounter proves frustra...

Originally Aired: January 24, 1956 Johnny Dollar #312, "The Duke Red Matter Ep 2," Johnny Dollar continues his investigation into the death of the racehorse Duke Red, and things are starting to look suspicious. After sending injury reports to Cleveland for verification, Johnny visits the Abbott breeding farm to question owner Seamster Abbott directly. Upon arrival, he witnesses a heated argument b...

Originally Aired: January 23, 1956 Johnny Dollar #311, "The Duke Red Matter Ep 1," Johnny Dollar travels to San Pietro, California, to investigate a $65,000 insurance claim on Duke Red, a valuable racehorse allegedly injured and destroyed. Upon arrival, he encounters immediate complications: Mr. Abbott, the horse's owner, is unavailable, and his business manager Monroe, who filed the claim just da...

Originally Aired: January 20, 1956 Johnny Dollar #310, "The Ricardo Amerigo Matter Ep 5," Johnny Dollar has discovered two identical violins in violin maker Eric Snowden's shop, one supposedly the genuine $30,000 Amati insured violin belonging to the late concert violinist Ricardo Amerigo, whose car was found in a South Jersey swamp with a sawed-through steering arm. After switching the violins in...

Originally Aired: January 19, 1956 Johnny Dollar #309, "The Ricardo Amerigo Matter Ep 4," Johnny continues his investigation into the death of violinist Ricardo Amerigo by visiting the bars where the alcoholic musician spent his final months. The story is always the same: Amerigo drank alone until one of his few remaining friends—agent Pete Corbyn, saxophonist Willie Elliott, fiddler Jerry Goldsmi...

Originally Aired: January 18, 1956 Johnny Dollar #308, "The Ricardo Amerigo Matter Ep 3," Johnny Dollar faces mounting pressure from all sides as his investigation deepens. After retrieving what he believes to be Ricardo Amerigo's priceless Amati violin from a South Jersey swamp, Dollar brings it to Harry Branson at Philadelphia Mutual for authentication. When the supposed expert Foresto Sherniero...

Originally Aired: January 17, 1956 Johnny Dollar #307, "The Ricardo Amerigo Matter Ep 2," Johnny Dollar arrives in Port Morris, New Jersey with retired investigator Ed Bowles, only to learn that Pete Corbin, the prime suspect in Ricardo Amerigo's murder, has mysteriously shown up in town. Sergeant Barney Peters warns that Corbin may be gunning for Johnny. Despite Ed Bowles' certainty that Corbin i...

Originally Aired: January 16, 1956 Johnny Dollar #306, "The Ricardo Amerigo Matter Ep 1," Johnny Dollar travels to Philadelphia after insurance executive Harry Branson alerts him to a puzzling case involving a missing concert violinist and his priceless violin. Ricardo Amerigo, once a brilliant performer who graced the world's finest concert halls, has disappeared after his car crashed through a b...