Wednesday, October 11, 2023

OTR Halloween 2023 Day 11: "Never Send to Know"

"I wouldn't be caught in an alley with a derby hat, or with one of those light snap-brimmed ones, either. Look, you know what this thing is? It's an automatic pistol. It's not a rod, a roscoe or a heater. Do you know where I keep it? In my desk drawer. I can't speak Chinese; I think most policemen are very nice fellows, very efficient, generally courteous, almost always intelligent, I get along with them beautifully. I don't know any stoolpigeons; I have never hit a woman in my life. No one has ever called me a 'private eye' or a 'shamus' or however you pronounce it and I do not indulge in rapid-fire slang."

Quiet, Please was a show of many moods. As the above quote indicates, "Never Send to Know" sets out as a fairly whimsical tale like so many other episodes. The detective's opening monologue about all the genre cliches he does not support is very funny. The episode soon takes a turn as his latest client is a dead man who wants to know the identity of his murderer. This too is presented with a somewhat whimsical tone, but the story ends up in a very nightmarish place!

"Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee." - John Donne

"Never Send to Know" was originally broadcast March 8, 1948. You can listen to the episode at Quiet, Please.org.

Image created using Firefly.

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