The Radio Cop by Vic Whitman
Patrolman Tom Jennings' doggerel sums up Officer Dave Cates well enough: a splendid voice housed in a face no handsome man would claim. Cates serves as the announcer for station KYK's police division, reading coded bulletins that mean one thing to the public and quite another to listening police details. His current broadcast signals that gangster "Big Ed" Margolo has been acquitted of murder, and that the Dolliver Street detail must watch for renewed gang war between Margolo and "Red" McGuirk. After the broadcast, a gunman accosts Cates on the street, ordering him into a car. A girl rushes up, kisses him to disguise the moment, and leads him away before the gunman can act. She vanishes without explaining herself, leaving Cates smitten and mystified. Captain Henessey confirms the gang tension: Margolo, cleared on a technicality, is expected to move against McGuirk. Cates, frustrated at being barred from street duty because of his looks, resolves to pursue Margolo on his own time, practicing his draw nightly. Trailing Margolo to the Salon Quintesse, he recognizes his rescuer as a dancer there. He also befriends a naive youth about to start driving for Margolo, lending him money and planting a seed of future usefulness. Gunmen fire on Cates outside the station, narrowly missing him. Soon after, a note signed "Miss Talbot" warns him to be careful. Visiting her, he learns Anabelle Talbot cannot speak, her vocal cords paralyzed by childhood scarlet fever; she explains she overheard the gang's plan at the Salon Quintesse and intervened to save him, since Slim Fiske, the gunman, was infatuated with her. Cates and Anabelle grow close, and he invites her to watch him broadcast. Investigating further, Cates trails Margolo to a rented house on River Street and gets Captain Henessey to approve a hidden broadcast post in a nearby garage. When Margolo's own driver is called out, Cates overpowers and replaces him in disguise, driving Margolo and his men to a confrontation where they gun down a rival outside a cafe. Returning to the garage just in time for his broadcast, Cates finds Anabelle waiting, having slipped in despite the danger. On air, Cates relays the coded tip pinpointing Margolo's house, triggering a police raid, and narrates the gun battle live to his listening audience. Margolo, realizing he's been betrayed, creeps up on Cates with a gun drawn. Anabelle, seeing the danger and unable to warn him physically, forces out his name in a desperate cry despite her paralysis, breaking her years of silence. Cates reacts in time, shoots Margolo, and subdues him. Overwhelmed, the two embrace before the still-live microphone, broadcasting Cates's unguarded declaration of love to every startled listener on the police circuit.
By Vic Whitman · Genre: Crime Fiction, Police Procedural, Pulp Adventure · 6 chapters · 10,015 words
First lines
Patrolman Tom Jennings, who claimed he had a flair for poetry, described him thus:
A talking fool with a voice like a dove / And a face that only a mother could love, / Small and ready to fight at a nod / Was Officer Cates of the wave-length squad.
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Genres
- Crime Fiction — Central plot involves police investigation of organized crime, gang warfare, and murder. Dave Cates works to prevent murders and capture gangster Big Ed Margolo, making criminal investigation the primary narrative driver.
- Police Procedural — Story depicts police department operations, radio dispatch codes, investigation methods, and law enforcement protocols. Captain Henessey and the police station structure define much of the narrative framework.
- Pulp Adventure — Exhibits characteristic pulp magazine style: rapid pacing, melodramatic tone, action-oriented plot, sensational elements, and serialized narrative conventions typical of early-20th-century mass-market fiction.
- Thriller — Relentless suspense throughout: assassination attempts, surveillance, undercover operations, gunfights, and escalating danger create mounting tension leading to climactic confrontation.
Tags
police procedural · crime fiction · organized crime · gang war · radio broadcasting · coded communication · undercover detective · murder · romance · speech disability · appearance versus character · urban setting
What this Textopian page supports
The Radio Cop is listed on Textopian as a novella by Vic Whitman, dated Date unknown.
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- Work type: Novella
- Author: Vic Whitman
- Date: Date unknown
- Language: English
- Genres: Crime Fiction, Police Procedural, Pulp Adventure, Thriller, Detective Fiction
- Length: 10,015 words
- Structure: 6 chapters, 274 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
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- Work identity for The Radio Cop by Vic Whitman
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