Get this and get it straight. Crime is a suckers road and those who travel it wind up in the gut of the prison of the grave.

The story you are about to hear is true, only the names have been changed to protect the innocent.

The Adventures of Sam Spade Detective.

The Adventures of the Saints starring Vincent Prize

Bob Bailey in the exciting adventures of the man with the action-packed expense account

America's fabulous freelance insurance investigator.

Yours truly, Johnny Deller. The Hello and welcome to down these mean streets where today we're saluting a writer who penned

adventures for Sam Spade, Johnny Dollar, and Richard Diamond.

He was a master at blending tongue-and-cheek comedy with murder and mayhem, and it was a skill set that attracted the attention of

Alfred Hitchcock. Today we're going to hear three old-time radio mysteries penned

by two-time Academy Award nominee John Michael Hayes.

Hayes started out in journalism, but in college he became interested in writing for radio.

After he served in the Army during World War II, Hayes headed west

and embarked on a career of radio script writing.

He eventually amassed over 1,500 credits to his name, including episodes of Johnny

Dollar, Nightbeat, and Richard Diamond, usually in collaboration with E. Jack Newman, another great radio mystery writer we've profiled on the podcast.

Hayes also wrote several episodes for the final season of the Adventures of Sam Spade, the run of shows

starring Steve Dunn as the detective. His scripts were witty and clever with sharp

dialogue. No surprise, as he also contributed scripts for radio comedies,

like my favorite husband and Amos and Andy.

But it was that knack for tongue-in-cheek humor

that made him a natural for the style of the

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