Makeup for Murder, Dec.1, 1946

The recording is not in really good shape, unfortunately.

The show opens with an add for some salt called Carey's

Lamont is walking Margo home at night through a bad part of town. Their cab didn't show up. An old begger comes up to them and begs for food, their laughs at their costumes, which are those of old bums. Lamont pretends he's a bum and talks to the guy.

The guy tells them that something has been killing bums in Mike's flophouse, which is also called the graveyard by the bums. The old guy says he's got a way. Then he dies in front of them.

Lamont goes to the morgue to look at the guy's body. There is no mark of violence on the body. Lamont tells the cops that the old guy had said there were ten deaths in the flophouse.

Lamont shows up at the flophouse and tells the guy that softshoe, the old man, died. Another bum is one called Smokey who appears to be sort of nuts. (The sound quality drops badly here for a bit.)

Lamont meets Mike's wife. Mike won't let Lamont stay there the night, though, thinking he's too nosey.

Lamont, still disguised, meets Smokey later by accident. Smokey tells Lamont that someone tried to kill him.

Smokey later leaves the hospital before Lamont can talk to him.

Lamont and Margo sneak into the flophouse. They get into a room and find Smokey hiding there. There are bottles filled with money, apparently. He smashes some of the bottles and tries to attack Lamont.

Commercial for the salt, with some kind of contest winners who wrote letters about how they used the salt, one using it for cooking, one for putting on ant hills to kill the ants. (The sound level goes way up for the commercial.)

Smokey then dies after cutting Lamont on the cheek. (Why didn't the noise wake up the entire place?)

Mike's wife, Minnie, is coming towards the room. Lamont has Margo leave, to have Minnie greeted by The Shadow.

The Shadow tells Minnie she stole the money from the beggars. He tricks her into admitting that she killed Smokey. He then tells her that the bum named Flipper (who is Lamont in disguise) knows all this stuff. She says the professor will take care of the bum.

Minnie goes to the professor to tell him what happened. The Shadow has followed her, and the Shadow's laugh is heard.

Lamont talks to the police commissioner the next morning. He gives the commissioner a bottle that he stole from the professor's room, and wants the contents analyzed.

Lamont tells the police commissioner that he will use himself as bait.

Flipper encounters the professor and Minnie. The three drink together and they go back to the professor's studio. The professor offers to give Flipper a painting he has. Apparently he plans to give Flipper a tattoo. Flipper suddenly comes aware, and reveals that the ink the professor uses is poisoned. The professor drinks the ink, thinking he will die.

Lamont had changed the bottles, though, so the professor only swallowed colored water.

Margo and Lamont go back to the saloon. Mike was innocent; the professor and Minnie stole any life savings the bums had on them, then killed them with the tattoos of poisoned ink.

The show ends with another commercial for the salt.

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