Title: The Inventor of Death
Air date: November 12, 1939
Plot summary: Lamont takes Margot to an exhibit at the Hall of Science. To her surprise Margot is entertained. The two of them go to the exhibit of a Dr. George Alton, who has invented a "mechanical man." As Dr. Alton enthusiastically proceeds with his lecture, Lamont's attention is distracted by a hunchback—an oddly tall hunchback—who glares at Dr. Alton with murder in his eyes.
The demonstration goes perfectly fine until the big finish, in which Dr. Alton has the robot pick up Alton's wife and carry her over to him. Suddenly, the robot goes out of control, and crushes Mrs. Alton to death! After the cops have interviewed everyone, Lamont and Margot take Dr. Alton to their home. When asked if he has any enemies, Dr. Alton mentions a Dr. Zaruga, who invented a "radio-controlled incendiary bomb" that was rejected by the military, and who invented a robot that was rejected by the "Board of Science" in favor of Dr. Alton's.
But before Lamont can do much about that, some mysterious force takes control of their car, and crashes it! Lamont wakes up after a full 24 hours, only to be told that Dr. Alton is dead, and Margot is missing...and earlier, at the exhibition, Margot had carelessly let slip a comment about The Shadow, in the strange hunchback's hearing.
Tropes:
- Death Glare: In fact, it's the look of concentrated hate on Dr. Zaruga's face that draws Lamont's attention at the exhibition.
- Evil Cripple: Averted. Lamont thinks the man with the hate-filled face at the exhibition is a hunchback, but he's a strangely tall one. It turns out that Dr. Zaruga was hiding a robot control pack under his coat.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: After The Shadow gets his hands on the robot controller, Dr. Zaruga attempts to control the robot manually, in order to send it after The Shadow.
- Mad Scientist: Dr. Zaruga murders Mrs. Alton, murders Dr. Alton, and sends his killer robot after The Shadow.
- Mecha-Mooks. Dr. Zaruga takes remote control of Dr. Alton's robot and uses it to kill Mrs. Alton. He then tries to send his own killer robot after The Shadow. Both times the robots are simply tools, being controlled by Zaruga's remote.
- Murder by Remote Control Vehicle: In what may be the Ur-Example, Dr. Zaruga somehow takes remote control of Lamont's car, and crashes it. Dr. Alton is killed, Lamont is badly injured, and Margot winds up kidnapped.
- Narrating the Obvious: Almost unavoidable in radio drama, but more of it than usual here, as characters have to describe everything the robots are doing. ("Look! The robot is opening its mouth!")
- Perception Filter: One of the occasional episodes where The Shadow is somehow tracked by means not subject to his "power to cloud men's minds." Dr. Zaruga points out that while Lamont can use his hypnotic power to make himself invisible to a man like Zaruga, it won't work with the robot.
- Robot Soldier: Dr. Zaruga calls his robot "a weapon of war", meant to kill. Apparently it's an ugly thing.
- They Called Me Mad!: "The silly fools! They wouldn't look at my inventions!"
