Murder in the Silo

Murder in the Silo is a 1937 radio drama by Edmund Barclay. It was described as a psychological melodrama and was very popular at a time when Australian set radio dramas were relatively rare. Leslie Rees called it "one of the most effective of our shorter radio plays."
Barclay's script was published in a collection of one-act plays in 1937, Best Australian One-Act Plays.
The play was produced by the BBC radio in 1938.
The play was produced again in Australia in 1939, 1941, 1942, 1945 and 1953.

Reception

The Bulletin called it "more than ordinarily good. It is a mystery-thriller, making the usual bald bid for the listener’s curiosity and subsequent undisguised attack on his feelings, but it also gives what appears to be an authentic glimpse of certain Australian types and an aspect of Australian rural life hitherto unportrayed."
Wireless Weekly called it "a well-constructed melodrama with an unusual setting."
The play's use of hearing the lead character's thoughts in the style of Eugene O'Neill was praised by Max Afford.

Premise

An old swagman explains why riding in a wheat truck is bad. A man operates the machines of a wheat silo. A mate asks him for a job. The operator takes him up to the top of the silo and pushes him because of a woman. As the narrator passes by, he notices the dead man's swag and takes it. Later, he meets the killer on a train. The sight of a man among the wheat, along with the victim’s swag, causes the murderer to jump overboard with a hideous shriek.