Death has a small voice

the long version

When Pam North receives a Dictaphone record in the mail, he naturally assumes it is a message from her husband, Jerry, who is in San Francisco on business. She goes to his office to play it back and hears instead an ear-witness account of murder! Harry Eaton, a small-time burglar, is found dead in his apartment and the police discover a stolen Dictaphone machine which belongs to novelist Hilda Godwin. Her newest novel could have something to do with the murder, for it seems she has used her friends as models for many of the characters. When Pam suddenly disappears, Jerry rushes home to join in the search for his beloved wife.