Dangerous Assignment: Deadly Bacteria 06/07/1950

Welcome to Choice Classic Radio, where we bring to you the greatest old-time radio shows. Like us on Facebook, subscribe to us on YouTube, and thank you for donating at choiceclassicradio.com. Dangerous Assignment, starring Brian Donlevy as Steve Mitchell. Yeah, danger is my assignment. I get sent to a lot of places I can't even pronounce. They all spell the same thing, though. Trouble. But when I walk into the commissioner's office, I don't realize that this assignment is going to involve my trying to save the lives of several thousand people with just a ferry boat whistle, a window, and a hunk of tape. Steve. Well, here he is, commissioner. I found him slaving over a hot swimming pool. Thanks, Ruth. Morning, Steve. Commissioner. I'll have his papers in order when you're through with him, commissioner. Steve, what do you know about Istanbul, Turkey? Well, is that something like Chicken Hall of King? You can take that up with their Chamber of Commerce the day after tomorrow. What? I'm flying to Turkey? I'm practically airborne right now. What's the deal? Steve, with the Korean situation what it is, we're up against a giant conspiracy to discredit us in all parts of the world. And we've got to be on the alert against it, no matter how fantastic these attempts are. Last week, for example, we were accused of dropping potato bugs in Eastern Germany to ruin the crop. Yeah, I guess you can call that fantastic, all right. Sure it is. But don't forget that a lot of people in this world have been brought up to believe what they're told. But look, how does all this tie in with my flying to Istanbul? There's a radio commentator named George Champlin who's been touring the Near East. This morning he called his headquarters here in the States to tell him he'd recorded something pretty hot on his tape recorder. Well, what was it? We don't know. He said over the phone that it affects our government directly and that whatever it was, it was going to happen Thursday. Then the connection was broken off and Champlin hasn't been heard from since. He said it was going to happen Thursday. Well, look, it's Tuesday now. I won't even get to Istanbul until Thursday. I know it's cutting it off or close, but we can't help it. Now, Steve, this could be another of those attempts to discredit us. We've got to find out. Lieutenant Deverek of the Istanbul Police is in charge in there and get over there. Work with him and find Champlin and his roll of tape. Well, I said, you've got your assignment. Good luck. Dangerous assignment will continue in a moment. Now, here is the Wheaties man, Frank Martin. Isn't that a perfect name they thought up for him? Says just exactly what they are. Wheaties. There just isn't anything that sounds wheatier than that. Nothing that gives you more 100% whole wheat energy either. The good kind that stays right in there with you all morning long. You just try it and see. Just see how Wheaties at 7 can help at 11. You get a bowl of Wheaties under your belt or apron tomorrow morning and see how the big Thursday chores all seem to turn out to be little ones. This is to do, breeze right through them. Tough customer to call on, nothing to it. Papers to carry, ballgame to win. They're all going to seem a lot, lot easier with Wheaties, vitamins and minerals helping you out. So tomorrow for sure, see how Wheaties at 7 can help at 11. That's the swell thing about my job. I'm always fighting the our hand. All I have to do is fly 5 or 6,000 miles to Turkey and find a guy named George Champlin and his tape recording the day I get there. Well, my plane lands at Istanbul and I head for the police station. Lieutenant Deverek is roosting behind his desks, staring glumly at two natives who are squirming uneasily in their chairs across from him. I am afraid you are too late, Mitchell. What do you mean, Lieutenant? You are looking for this man George Champlin. That's right. His body has just been taken to our morgue downstairs. What? Yes. You, what is your name again? I am Kozan, Lieutenant. Yes, tell Mr. Mitchell what you have just told me, Kozan. Yes, it was a bad thing. I was leaving my horse cart along a narrow road in the hills outside the city. Suddenly, I saw a car traveling down the road toward me very fast. It was weaving back and forth across the road. Oh, I was covered by fear. I looked for a place of safety, but I could find... Combine your story to the essentials, Kozan. Yes, son, Lieutenant. I jumped to one side just as the car hit my horse cart and plunged over the side of the hill. I ran to the edge of the hill and looked over in time to see the car burst into flames. One of my men nearby heard the crash and went to investigate. He found a body in the wreckage. We have identified that body as that of the American George Champlin. I see. Kozan, you said the car was weaving back and forth across the road as it approached. Yes, it was so. At first, I thought the driver was drunk, but then as the car drew near, it looked as though he was struggling with someone who was in the back seat. Did you get a close look at this other person? No. Could this other person have jumped to safety as the car went over the hill? That is a perhaps. The car hesitated on the side of the hill for an instant, then plunged to the bottom. Where does this other fellow fit into the deal, Lieutenant? Permit me. I am Abdul. What this man Kozan says is true. I was walking along the road when this car sped by me and hit his horse cart. Did you get a look at the person in the back seat, Abdul? Only for a moment. It seemed to me it was a woman. A woman? But I could not be certain. Very well, very well. The two of you may go now. Thank you, Anadlute. Thank you. But leave your names and addresses with the sergeant outside this office. It will be done. One question, if you will permit. What is it? Who is to pay for my horse and car? You will be notified as to the insurance company involved. The matter rests between you and them. Thank you, Anadlute. I am most regrettable development in the case, Lieutenant. Yeah. I suppose you know I am also looking for some tape on which Champlans supposedly recorded something pretty hot. Yes. According to our understand, it was something vital to our government. We did find a tape recorder and some spools of tape in the back of Champlans car. What? But they were almost completely destroyed by fire. You say Champlans body is in the morgue now? Yes, downstairs. Come on. Let's take a look. There was nothing in his pockets, huh? No tape, if that is what you mean. Well, I guess we can't fight on anything more here. Brother, his clothes sure look like they took a beating. Yes, they are quite scorched. Yeah. You see how this sleeve pulls away in your hand? Debrake. What is it? He's wrapped around his arm under the sleeve. A fragment of tape? Yeah, just a fragment, but maybe it's what we're looking for. Come on. Let's get a recorder and play it. I'm ready, Miju. Let it go. Very well. I will start the machine. Now, Sif, you know who this is? Good. Now listen carefully. The meeting will be here on Thursday night at midnight. I... just a minute. There is too much noise. There. I closed the window. Now your job is to get the necessary equipment. You understand? Hmm? Do not tell me you are getting faint hearted, Nassif. Of course many will die. That is the plan. The Americans will be blamed for it. And do not let me hear any more of your stupid fears. One more thing. Contact the other party involved and have him telephone me for his instructions within 30 minutes. I will wait here until 10.30. There. That's all there is of the tape? Yes. The rest was burned beyond use. Oh, great. We've sure got a lot to go on. So there's going to be a meeting somewhere in Istanbul tonight. It has a lot to do with a plot to kill a lot of people. Look, I still don't see how my government can be blamed. It is very mystifying, Miju. We have only a recorded fragment of a telephone conversation to go on. But one thing is certain. We must find the location of that meeting place before midnight tonight. And how that guy on the phone wasn't kind enough to furnish us with his address. I... Hey, wait. What is it? Rewind that tape and start it over again. Very well. What do you have in mind, Miju? There's a sound in there I want to hear again, up near the front. Yes. Yes, I was wondering about that also. There. There it is, rewind. Now, here it is again. Nasif, you know who this is? Good. Now listen carefully. The meeting will be here on Thursday night at midnight. Hi. Just a minute. There is too much noise. That's the sound I wanted to hear. It sounds like a boat whistle, Miju. Yeah. Have you heard enough? Late. There. I close the window. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. There. I close the window. Now, your job is to get the necessary equipment. Turn it off. Do you understand? It's not much to go on, but... Indeed, it is not. All we know is that the boat whistle sounded as he was talking on the telephone. Yeah, we also know that that whistle was sounded at about 10 p.m. The guy on the phone said that he'd wait there till 10.30. That's 30 minutes later. The peg is the time for us, doesn't it? Yes, yes, but we still do not know where he called from. Yeah. That's what we've got to try to find out. And we have no idea what's behind this whole thing. And you've got me. Excuse me. I wonder... Lieutenant Debrek speaking. Yes? What? What? I see. 70 minutes once. Mitchell. What's the matter? A very strange occurrence. This must be the man now. You are Lieutenant Debrek? Yes. You are the one from the university? That is right. Yes, I am Kumbhsar. Hey, hey, you look like you've been tangling with a meat grinder. Tell us your story. I work for the university in their research laboratory. An hour ago, I was carrying a rack full of test tubes to devolve. I was attacked and knocked unconscious. When I recovered, the test tubes were gone. What was in these test tubes? Cultures of many rare basillae. I have the list written down as you can see. Skip the technicalities and give it to us in plain English. Very well. In those test tubes were some of the most deadly bacteria known to man. What? Look, do you have any idea who jumped you? No. I heard one of them call the other, Naseef. I think it was. Naseef? That was the name the guy on the tape recording used. And he told him to get what he called the necessary equipment. It ties in, Debrek. But that means those test tubes will be at the meeting tonight. Eleven. Say, I've got a little story to tell you about that. One of my wife's girlfriends was saying the other night that every time she goes to the store to buy laundry, it reminds her to buy a couple of boxes of Wheaties. She knows Doggone well if she's going to do the washing. She needs all the stamina and drive and energy she can get. So naturally, she starts Wash Day off with a good big bowl of Wheaties. What's on your things to do list for tomorrow? Maybe it's not the washing. Maybe you're going to go a couple of rounds with a vacuum cleaner or sell a man a new car or cultivate the South 40. Well, then, isn't it good sound sense to let Wheaties good sound vitamins and minerals give you a boost? And if this is your vacation, why you can even loaf better when you've had your Wheaties. Wheaties, the golden, lighthearted little whole wheat flakes that eat as good as they make you feel. Honest, substantial Wheaties. Each crisp flake made from a whole kernel of plump, ripe wheat. Well, how's about you? You just try it. Just see how Wheaties at 7 can help at 11. Now back to dangerous assignment and Steve Mitchell. Mличel, as you suggested, I have checked with all the boat companies along the waterfront. There is a ferry boat which makes a regular trip along the waterfront each night. Now back to dangerous assignment and Steve Mitchell. Mitchell, as you suggested, I have checked with all the boat companies along the waterfront. There is a ferry boat which makes a regular trip along the waterfront each night. At ten o'clock as it nears its mooring, it sounds the whistle. That could be the boat whistle we heard on the tape recording. But that whistle can be heard over this entire section of the city. That does not help us locate the room from which that man was telephoned. What time is it? Six o'clock. And we've got to find that meeting place before midnight. That doesn't leave us much time. Have you been able to think of any reason why you Americans would be blamed for anything that might happen with those deadly bacteria? No, I telephoned my boss. The commissioner back in the States, he's checking on it for me. So far, all he knows is that we've sent quite a few engineers and equipment over here. Yes, yes, I am aware of that, but I still don't see the connection. Look, Deverex, suppose you call a ferry boat company and tell them to have their boats stop its engines at ten tonight and keep sounding its whistle. Then mount all the tape recorders you can get hold of on jeeps and trucks. Use the same volume setting that was used on Champlain's recorder. I do not understand what you have in mind. It's a slim chance, but it's our only chance of locating that room. Have your boys meet me at the ferry boat slip at five minutes to ten tonight and I'll fill them in on the plan then. Attention men, quiet, quiet. This is Steve Mitchell from the United States. You will take your orders from him. I want you men to start up this road which leads away from the waterfront. Station your jeeps at four block intervals. When that ferry boat starts tooting its whistle in a couple of minutes, record it. Then drive a block away as fast as you can, cut your engines and record the toot again. Each of the jeeps will cover four blocks. Lieutenant Deverex and I will cover the four blocks closest to the waterfront in our jeep. Now, when you've made your recordings, take them to police headquarters as fast as you can. Any questions? Okay, shove off and take your station. I hope this will work, Mitchell. Well, we picked a nice night for the job anyway. Look, the moon is just starting to come up over that building across the street. Ah, yes. One wishes he were not engaged on official business on an evening such as this. Yeah, that's funny. Looks like a man in the moon. Hey, Deverex. There's a guy on top of that building. Get down. Mitchell, Mitchell, are you all right? Yeah. That second shot hit the door handle beside me. Looks like somebody doesn't like the color of our tape recorder. Come. We may be able to catch you. No, no, there's not time. It's 10 o'clock right now. There's the boat whistle. Start recording. The recorder's on, Mitchell. Okay, we'll drive to the next block now. Turn the recorder off and label the recording you just got. Yes. We'll take one of each block in our stretch and then we're going to make a beeline for head police headquarters. You got all the recordings together, Deverex? Yes. Six jeeps, four recordings each. 24 recordings. 24 hunks of tape. Well, I hope our answers in there somewhere. What are you going to do with them? I've got two recorders here. Each of them is hooked up to a volume indicator. On one machine, I've got the recording of the guy on the phone. And on the other machine, you're going to play the tapes we just made, huh? That's right. We'll be trying to match the volume of that boat whistle. Now, watch those volume indicators. When the two needles hit the same spot on the dial, that's it. I am ready. Okay. I'll start the tape we made. Now, you start shamblin'. Very well. Just a minute. There is too much noise. No, no. Too loud. Shut it off. The one shamblin' recorded was louder than ours. Okay, we'll try the one we made a block closer to the waterfront. But, Mitchell, we have 24 recordings to cover. This will take all night. If it takes past midnight, we're cooked. Come on, set up that next recording. Start ours first, and then shamblin'. Very well. Just a minute. There is too much noise. Hey, we're getting closer. What recording was that you just played? Number eight. Okay, try number nine. I'll reset the original. Ready? Yes. Let it go. Just a minute. There is too much noise. Yeah, that's it. Look at the needles on those volume indicators. That's the same level. Okay, turn it off. That was number nine, huh? Yes, yes. It was recorded nine blocks from the waterfront. Show me on the map of the city. Now, very well. Now, let me see. Here, here at this spot. Okay. And I've got the ferry boat's location already plotted. Now, I take this compass, I point the point at the ferry boat position, and the pencil on the spot the whistle recorded from. Then I draw a circle. Ah, yes, yes. I see. The two whistles were of the same volume. That means our number nine recording was made at the same distance from the whistle as the original tape. That's right. About a thousand yards from the whistle. It also means that the room we're looking for is somewhere on the circumference of that circle I just drew on the map. But half of the circle is out in the water. Yeah, we get a break. We can forget about that part of it. And another quarter of the circle is out in this side of the channel in the harbor. We can throw that out too. Now, that just leaves us a quarter of it. Are your men standing by, Debra? Yes. Give them copies of this map with the quarter circle drawn on each one. Have them start along the rim of the circle from each end. Give them pictures of that dead correspondent. Tell them to try and find somebody along that route who remembers him. What time is it? Eleven o'clock. That's what I was afraid of. We've got just one hour to find that meeting place. So, we sit and wait and sweat. The minutes tick by eleven fifteen, eleven thirty, and at eleven forty, Debra's phone jangles. One of his boys has found a small apartment house whose owner remembers the dead radio correspondent, Champlain. Debra, can I beat it up? You say you rented an apartment to this man Champlain several days ago? Yes, Lieutenant, but I haven't seen him since. Here is the apartment. Unlock the door. Very well. No sign of Champlain having lived here. Mitchell, it is obvious that he rented this apartment for about one purpose. Yeah. Connect that tape recording. And that sort of points to the apartment next door. Who lives there? A man called Groven, but I do not see much of him. He comes and goes mostly by night. I think we're getting pretty warmed up, Rick. Come on, out and home. What are you going to do, Mr. Mitchell? We're going to crash that party next door if there is one. Oh, please, I don't want any trouble. You got a key? Yes. Lieutenant Debra, what do you want, Turghan? This cablegram from Mr. Mitchell arrived at police headquarters right after the tour of your left. Here you are. Thanks. Huh? From the commissioner back in the States. What does he say? It's a list of the projects here in Istanbul that American engineers are working on. Good, good. Maybe we can get some idea from studying as to what is behind all this. Look, this is no time to be reading lists. I still want to find out what's going on in this apartment next to the champolins here. Give me that key. Here you are. Okay, get ready for anything, Debra. Yes. Okay, come on. Huh? It is empty. Oh, great. Look, this has got to be the meeting place. Champolin already had an apartment in Istanbul. Why, why would he rent the apartment in Istanbul? Why, why would he rent the one next door here unless it was to make that recording? Maybe, maybe the meeting has not yet taken place. What time is it? One minute after midnight. Oh, well, I guess the only thing to do is to wait. Hope we're not too late. Yes, yes. Oh, it's stuffy in here. I will open the window. There, there, this better. Yeah, wait a minute. What does the matter? Oh, brother, have I been a chump? What? I was so busily listening to the sound of that ferry boat whistle on the tape recording that I didn't pay any attention to another sound that was just as important. Look, this can't be the room where the meeting's to be held. But why not? You just opened that window. How did you open it? Why, I just pushed it open. Yeah, that's the point. It's a casement window. Now, think back to that recording. How did that guy close the window? Why, why, let me see. He just...wait. Wait, he pulled the window down. Yeah, that's the point. It was an up and down window. And this one's a casement window. This isn't the room. Yes, yes, you are right, Mitchell. But that means we have lost. Where's that apartment house owner? Dragner? Yes. Look, Dragner, do you have any apartments in this building that have up and down windows? Well, I, why, don't believe so. They all have casement windows. Except the little room on the roof. What little room? Oh, just a small place on the roof which is rented to a friend of Groven. The man who has this apartment. Come on, Debra. Do you think that is the place, Mitchell? It's got to be the place. I only hope we're not too late. Here. This must be the door that opens out on the roof. Yeah. Mitchell, Mitchell, there is the room over there. Yeah, sort of a poor man's penthouse. Wait, someone is coming out. Yeah. One of them's got a little black bag. Abdul, the police. Take care of them. I will take the bag. Anyone? Stop. Stop or I will shoot. You will not shoot. Out of the way, busher. Mitchell, Mitchell, the one with the black bag jumped over onto the next roof. You missed. Come on, Abdo. Careful now. Mitchell, Mitchell, do you realize who those two men are? Sure. Coz in the Abdo, the two innocent peasants who witnessed Champlain's accident. That was quite a little act they put on for us. But now they've changed clothes and voices. Yes, yes. As soon as I heard Cosan's regular voice a second ago, I recognized it as a voice on the tape recording. I got a hand into them. That was a pretty neat cover. Hey, look, Coz in went through that door. When we reached the stairway, Coz in his nowhere in sight. We pound down through the building not on the street just in time to spot a car pulling away fast. His Coz in heading out of the city. Devrick throws a couple of shots after him, but they don't take effect. We grab the first car we see and start hightailing after him. We are not gaining much on him, Mitchell. I know. Where is he heading anyway? This road leads out to Lake Dirkos. But why should he be? Hey, wait a minute. Did you say Lake Dirkos? Yes, yes, why? That name rings a bell. I think the commissioner listed it in this cable. See, yeah, here it is. Hey, that's one of the projects the American engineers are working on. A new water filtration plant. Yes, yes, that is right, Mitchell. And that plant started pumping at midnight. It supplies one entire quart of the city with drinking water. So that's the plan. Coz in dumps the bacteria in the water and then half the city drops dead. And Coz in's got a half a mile head start on his... We are almost to Lake Dirkos, Mitchell. There. There is the water filtration plant ahead of us on that rise. Yeah, I see it. And Coz in is there. Look, he stopped his car. He's getting out. I'm okay. Here we are. He's heading for that water tank. Yes. Yes, look, there is a night watchman. There was the night watchman. See if you can get a shot at him, Coz. Yes. Debrake, Debrake. Just the shoulder wound. I am all right. Get him, Mitchell. It is up to you. I head for the water tank. And Coz in, if I have counted right, his gun is empty. If not, he's got a slug for me. When I get to the tank, he's halfway up the middle ladder. Then I spot his gun on the ground and know my arithmetic is okay. I start climbing up after him. He's almost to the top by now. But I'm climbing faster than he is because he's holding the little black bag of tubes in one hand. Just as he reaches the top rung, I grab one of his ankles. He kicks with my hand. He's grinding my knuckles into the ladder. I let go, then grab both of his ankles. He twists his body and pulls me off the ladder. But I'm still hanging on to his legs. He's only hanging on with one hand now. I know if he goes, I go with him. I swing back to the ladder and wrap my legs around it. Then I jerk as hard as I can. I get back down the ladder and Lieutenant Debrake is bending over Cozanne. He is dead, Mitchell. Yeah, I shouldn't wonder. I almost went with him. One second more and we would have... Yeah, one second more and we'd have been too, too many. Well, it's pretty fitting, I guess. What do you mean? Cozen was out to kill a lot of people with that little black bag. But that bag is the reason he couldn't hold on to the ladder. Yeah, those bacteria were deadly all right to Cozen. He can't hold on to the ladder. Now here is our star, Brian Donlevy. Well, Frank, I'm waiting. You're waiting with Sir Donlevy? Waiting for what? Waiting to find out what you're going to say about Wheaties tonight. Why so interested, Brian? Well, I want to see if you'll say about the same things I would... Well, let's see. wheat. And that means good, solid, all morning long energy. Check. Wheaties are packed with plenty of vitamins and minerals. Oh, lots of them. That help you feel better and work better and play harder. Check, check, and check. Wheaties taste so good. Check. Well, that isn't all, is it? Oh, what do you... Oh, you mean see how... Check. See how Wheaties at 7 can help at 11. Well done, Frank. You took the words right out of my mouth. Check, Brian. See you next week. Music Dangerous assignments starring Brian Donlevy as Steve Mitchell is written by Bob Wright with music by Basil Adlin, conducted by Ralph Hollenbeck, and is produced and directed by Bill Karn. Join us again next Wednesday when Brian Donlevy as Steve Mitchell embarks on another dangerous assignment. Now, Brian Donlevy, I believe you said you had another word for us. I want to remind everyone that they can help feed Europe's hungry through care. 550 to Care, New York, will send a package of food to a hungry family in Europe. Mail your 550 tonight, Care, New York. Next, the Falcon, one of three exciting mysteries tonight on NBC. Music