The Road Test Matter

Originally Aired: March 2, 1954 Johnny Dollar #204, "The Road Test Matter," finds insurance investigator Johnny Dollar called in by his boss Mr. King to investigate a dangerous mystery at Allied Motors' top-secret testing facility. The company's revolutionary new automobile model has crashed three times during road tests, resulting in one fatality, and both the manufacturer and the insurance company are baffled. Dollar travels to Detroit to meet with MacGregor, the veteran engineer overseeing the project, who insists there's no evidence of sabotage despite meticulous inspections of each wrecked vehicle. The investigation takes a personal turn when Dollar interviews Grace Johnson, widow of the test driver killed in one of the crashes. She reveals a complicated situation involving her troubled marriage and her relationship with Joe Simmons, another test driver and friend of her late husband. Grace suggests that Simmons might have had reason to want her husband dead, though she seems uncertain. When Dollar tracks down Simmons at a local bar, he finds a man still grieving his friend's death, claiming his relationship with Grace Johnson was innocent and known to Steve. As Dollar digs deeper into the overlapping professional and personal connections at Allied Motors, the question remains whether these crashes are mechanical failures, sabotage, or something more sinister. Become a supporter of this podcast