Title: Tunnel of Terror
Air date: October 24, 1954
Plot summary: Fritz Weber runs a Seaside Park attraction, a tunnel boat ride called "Tunnel of Terror." He is quite possessive of pretty young Vicky Vale, who works as his ticket taker. When Vicky is getting ready to meet her date for the evening, a young man named Tom Regan, Fritz says he'll never let it happen.
Only Fritz doesn't have to do anything, because another one of Vicky's suitors, a strongman named Leo who works in the Tunnel of Terror ride, kills Tom Regan instead. Leo and Fritz chuck Tom's body into the ocean in hopes of making it look as if he drowned while taking a swim, but the autopsy reveals fresh water instead of salt in Tom's lungs. The crime took place out of Commissioner Weston's jurisdiction and the sheriff is clueless, so Weston asks his friend Lamont Cranston to look into it.
Lamont and Margo, accompanied by Tom Regan's revenge-minded brother Jim, head out for the Tunnel of Terror ride. After Fritz mentions Leo, Lamont and Margo elect to take the Tunnel of Terror ride. Meanwhile, Leo is still around, and he decides that Fritz knows too much.
Note: This episode is lost, as is almost every episode for the last six seasons of The Shadow, 1949-1954. But a script survives, and is the basis for this recap.
Tropes:
- As You Know: A near-unavoidable hazard of radio drama. In this episode Lamont and Margo for some reason have to tell each other that they see a crack in the wall, that the crack in the wall is actually a secret passage from the ticket office to the carnival ride, and that they see the flowing water of the ride as well as a catwalk over the water.
- Circus Episode: The Shadow takes on a case of murder at a carnival.
- Death by Falling Over: Leo claims this is how Tom Regan met his end, falling into the water of the tunnel ride and drowning after they had an argument. But given how quickly and casually Leo murders, this explanation is dubious.
- Fainting: Vicky faints dead away after being confronted with Jim Regan, brother of the dead Tom, with the two so alike that they might be twins.
- He Knows Too Much: Why Leo kills Fritz, believing that Fritz will rat him out for Tom's death.
- Jedi Mind Trick: The Shadow manipulates Leo's mind, getting Leo take the net off of Jim Regan and throw it at him, so Jim is free to grab Leo.
- Make It Look Like an Accident: After Vicky's boyfriend Tom drowns in the tunnel ride, after an argument with Leo, Leo and Fritz dump the body in the ocean to make it look like an accidental drowning. Unfortunately they don't count on how the ocean is salt water and Tom has fresh water (from the ride) in his lungs.
- Nobody Here but Us Statues: Leo's part of the "Tunnel of Terror" attraction. He poses as Neptune with a spear, pretending to be a wax statue, until he springs to life and jabs his spear at the customers in the boats.
- Shout-Out: When the character of Batman was created, he was basically an obvious rip-off of The Shadow from the original pulp fiction novels. So it can't be a coincidence that the attractive ticket-taker in this episode is named "Vicky Vale."
- Title Drop: The "Tunnel of Terror" is the name of the horror-themed amusement park boat ride that Fritz Weber runs.
- Villain Opening Scene: Leo kills Vicky's latest suitor, and he and Fritz cover it up.
