Get this and get it straight.

Crime is a sucker's road,

and those who travel it'd wind up in the gut of the prison of the grave.

The story you're about to hear is true. The

The story you were 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 Happy Holidays and Welcome to Down These Mean Streets. Hard to believe, but it's our final show of the year.

And before I sign off, I've lined up our annual showcase of Christmas mysteries

from the Golden Age of Radio and this year all of our stories come from the

Whistler the long-running anthology series known for its twist endings and its sinister storyteller who

introduced each of his tales by whistling an eerie melody. The Whistler was

played by several actors over the course of the series, including

Gail Gordon, Joseph Kearns, and former Shadow Star Bill Johnstone.

But for most of the run run and for all of the shows we'll hear today

he was played by Bill Foreman. We've heard Foreman's voice on the podcast before

not only as the Whistler, but as an announcer for Rexall

Drugs in commercials on Richard Diamond Private Detective and the Phil Harris Alice Faye show.

Christmas provided the backdrop for several stories told by the Whistler.

And today we'll hear four of them to wrap up the year and head into the holidays. Up first is Christmas

...