Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar: The Embarcadero Matter (EP5070)

The Great Detectives of Old Time Radio| Daily Mystery Dramas

Freelance investigator Johnny Dollar travels from Paris to San Francisco to recover a priceless Cellini medallion stolen from the Louvre. Ut

Key takeaways

• The stolen treasure is a Cellini medallion hidden within a specific case of wine marked with a Maltese cross.
• Louis de Marsac, known as 'the Great Cat,' provided the crucial clue regarding the identifying mark on the crate.

Main topics

• Theft of the Cellini medallion
• Underworld informants and contacts

Notable quotes

I've had all the thrills I need here in Paris.

Conclusion

A gripping classic radio mystery that highlights the complex relations

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:12) Welcome to the Great Detectives of Old Time Radio. From Boise, Idaho, this is your host, Adam Graham. In a moment, we're going to bring you this week's episode of Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar. But first, I want to encourage you, if you're enjoying the podcast, please follow us using your favorite podcast software. And remember, as you're making your travel plans, check JohnnyDollarAir.com. JohnnyDollarAir.com is a Priceline affiliate link. So, part of the purchase price... supports the great detectives of old-time radio at no additional cost to you. So remember, when making your travel plans, check JohnnyDollarAir.com first. But now, from August 23rd, 1959, here is the Embarcadero matter. Speaker 6 (1:24) Johnny Dollar. Yeah, well, I think I've had all the thrills I need here in Paris. And who are you? Oh, what's all the excitement about? Speaker 4 (1:38) Monsieur and Monsieur? Speaker 6 (1:41) Yeah. Speaker 4 (1:45) Transatlantic? A Speaker 6 (1:47) transatlantic call. Speaker 4 (1:48) From the... Speaker 4 (1:50) Wow, Speaker 6 (1:51) bully for you. Speaker 4 (1:55) Yeah, Speaker 6 (1:55) well, put them on and we'll see. Speaker 4 (1:57) Hello? That's right. Well, Speaker 6 (2:02) George. All right, clerk, you can get off the line now. Speaker 4 (2:06) What, Johnny? Speaker 2 (2:07) You Speaker 6 (2:08) hear me? Clerk? Come on, hang up. Now, George, you get my cable report on the Olney jewels? Speaker 4 (2:17) Yes, you did a great job in spite of all that you gave that man to Marsac. Glad I caught you before you left. Speaker 6 (2:25) I'm flying on back tonight, see you in Hartford in the morning. No! What? Speaker 4 (2:29) Contact Mr. Marsac. at our Paris office. Speaker 6 (2:32) Oh, what about it? Getting those jewels back to America? No, Speaker 4 (2:35) that's all taking... ...you to stay around and see if you can medallion. Speaker 6 (2:44) Cellini, the famous Italian artist? Speaker 4 (2:46) Yes. Speaker 6 (2:53) Well, I'll do what I can, George. Speaker 4 (2:55) Good. Contact this man Rigaud at our office there immediately. Speaker 6 (2:59) Contact Rigaud, huh? Speaker 4 (3:01) That's right. Speaker 6 (3:04) Because maybe I won't bother him. Speaker 2 (3:06) What? Speaker 6 (3:07) George, maybe I've got a better idea. Speaker 6 (3:18) CBS Radio brings you Bob Bailey in the intriguing adventures of the man with the action-packed expense account, America's fabulous freelance insurance investigator... Yours truly, Johnny Dollar. Expense accounts submitted by Special Investigator Johnny Dollar. The Floyds of England, North American office. Or maybe it's the Paris office, we'll see. Following is an account of expenses incurred during my investigation of the Embarcadero matter. Speaker 6 (4:07) Expense account item one, a few francs. Call at Ten Cents American for a telephone call. Not to Rigaud at Floyd's of England, but to my old underworld contact, Louis de Marsac. The strange little character who calls himself the Great Cat. Speaker 4 (4:22) Yeah, Speaker 6 (4:26) yeah, I'm sure. Are you living it up on that money I gave you for locating the only jewels for me? Easy come, easy go, huh? What kind of an investment, de Marsac? Oh, no. Speaker 4 (5:00) Such a lovely vision deceived me so. I'm crushed, a man without hope, sir. Yeah? Uh Speaker 6 (5:12) -huh. Think $100 might help to raise your spirits? Speaker 4 (5:16) What? Speaker 6 (5:21) $100. For some information. About what happened to the Cellini Vidalian. Speaker 4 (5:25) Huh. Speaker 6 (5:27) Oh, you know about it, then? Speaker 4 (5:29) Of course. Speaker 6 (5:30) You know where it is? Speaker 4 (5:31) No, I'll find out. Good. For you and the $400 you have promised me. Speaker 6 (5:48) Okay, okay, $150. Want to call me when you've got the dope on? Speaker 4 (5:53) If I bring the information to you, I can then collect for it right away. Speaker 6 (6:00) I'll wait to hear from you. Okay, now, George, don't flip your lid over some more money for Dumasac. After all, he knows more about what goes on in the Paris underworld than any other man alive. And if in a day or two he can come up with the information I need, I'll put it this way. He saved the company a lot of time and money in the past, and I'm sure he can do it again. Also, if his poking around is as dangerous as he seems to... Speaker 6 (6:29) Yeah? Well, come in, come in. De Marsec. Speaker 4 (6:34) Oh, oui, monsieur. De chargouille. Oh, the dangerous mission you send me on is a fait accompli. But Speaker 6 (6:41) I only talked to you on the phone about an hour ago. Speaker 4 (6:43) I've wasted no time. You have Speaker 6 (6:46) the $300 for me? $150. You have the information? Speaker 4 (6:50) Oui. The Cellini Medallion. Well? Well, it's on the way to your own country. On the way? How? Hidden away in a case of wine aboard the ship. The Klemper Hall. Out of Le Havre. The Klemper Hall, huh? Speaker 6 (7:01) Destination? Speaker 4 (7:02) San Francisco. And when's it due to arrive there? Late tomorrow night. The cargo is many cases of wine. Yes, bottles of wine. The medallion is hidden away in one of them. Speaker 6 (7:12) You're sure of all this, de Marsac? Speaker 4 (7:14) But of course, one of me. Speaker 6 (7:15) Because if I fly all the way to San Francisco and find out you're giving me a wrong steer... Speaker 4 (7:19) Oh, no, no. How can you, my oldest, Speaker 6 (7:22) my dearest... Yeah, sure. Now, this means that someone over there is going to have to pick it up. Speaker 4 (7:27) Oui, at Speaker 6 (7:28) the warehouse at the pier. A monsieur Frank Gristel. Castell? Speaker 4 (7:32) You know? Speaker 6 (7:33) If he's the one I'm thinking of. A fence who used to operate New York, but I can never pin anything on him? He must be the same. But in the shippo to wine, how will he know which case has the Cellini medallion in it? By this mark, mon ami. Yeah? So. A tiny circle, yeah? Ah, with a Maltese cross in it. Oui, like so. Okay, de Marsac. You