Will you give a few seconds of your time to help win this war?
Then listen. At Stalingrad the other day, a Nazi tank unit attacked a corps of Russian soldiers.
The Russians tried to stop the tanks and fought until their guns were silenced.
Then did they surrender? Did they retreat?
No. Eighteen of them rushed forward with bombs in their hands, got under the tanks and blew them up.
They gave their lives for their country.
You and I are not asked to give our lives for ours. All we're asked to do is buy war bonds and stamps.
Our American soldiers are giving their lives for us each day.
More and more of them every day. Can we do less than loan our money to them?
It's such a simple, easy thing to do. Out of every dollar you earn, lend one dime to your country.
Do it regularly by joining the 10% club where you work. And do it now.
Our soldiers need your help.
The Columbia Network takes pleasure in bringing you...
Suspense.
Suspense. Columbia's parade of outstanding thrillers, produced by William Spear and scored by Bernard Herman.
The notable melodramas from stage and screen, fiction and radio, presented each week to bring you to the edge of your chair.
To keep you in service.
Tonight's story deals with a remote and dangerous house, and a terrifying thing that happened there because the rain went on for days and days.
The
Tonight's story deals with a remote and dangerous house, and a terrifying thing that happened there because the rain went on for days and days.
It deals with a surgeon and a girl, a giant and a young man who took a long chance.
And over them all, the moan of the night wind and the ceaseless roar of the storm.
For your suspenseful listening, we invite you to learn about...
The Kepler Method.
Four days of rain have been ceaseless, teeming, pouring with a steady, relentless rhythm.
Four solid days. The fields around Coulston had been turned into huge puddles that reflected the heavy, swollen sky.
And Dr. Morrissey was stirred by a deep anxiety.
He stood beside a window in his sanitarium, which rose high on a lonely hill, a few miles from the little town of Coulston.
He stared into the jagged, spraying screen of rain.
It was just three o'clock. Three o'clock of an afternoon he would long remember.
He was on the point of sending for Caffrey, the ward attendant, when the door opened, and Caffrey came in, pale, disturbed.
Dr. Morrissey.
Is there anything wrong, Caffrey?
I don't know. There's a feeling down in the ward.
Feeling?
This rain's going on too long.
The patient's getting uneasy?
They're bound to, ain't they? If a guy with good nerves gets jumpy, I can imagine what it does to theirs.
Seem to be affecting anyone in particular?
Number five's been carrying on.
Kettler?
Yeah. I brought him up. Nurse Carter's waiting with him out in the hall.
Bad as that.
He's upsetting the others. He keeps asking for some guy named Benham.
Oh, that's the man he killed.
I didn't know he was homicidal.
Oh, it was an accident. He was performing a brain surgery on Benham and...
Him?
Oh, Kettler was a very important surgeon, Caffrey. Didn't you know that?
He keeps saying so, but...
It's perfectly true. Very successful Dr. Kettler was.
Until he perfected an operative procedure that he called the Kettler Method.
A new process of brain operation. Spent most of his life on it and...
Well, when he tried it for the first time on this young lad Benham and...
Benham died on the table, it... it unbalanced his mind.
I've got to go back down there now.
I think you'd better wait while I talk with Kettler.
Okay, I'll bring him in. But don't make it long.
I don't like the feel of things around here.
Nurse! Miss Carter!
Yes, we're coming.
You can bring him in now.
Come along. Dr. Morrissey wants to see you.
Does he now? Does he?
Come in, Kettler.
I'd like to ask Dr. Morrissey a question.
I'd like to ask him a question.
Yes, Dr. Kettler.
I should like to ask him where lad Benham is.
I know he'll never tell me.
But I will, Kettler.
Lad Benham is buried somewhere out there under the rain.
He is at peace, Kettler.
Can't you forget about him? Just forget.
You'd all like me to forget about him, wouldn't you?
Then you could keep him hidden away forever, couldn't you?
Benham is dead, Kettler. You know that. Benham died.
He did not. He's alive.
He was alive when you and the rest of the envious medical profession...
stole him from the operating table.
Kidnapped him with my bandages still round his head.
You were determined to make the Kettler Method seem a failure, weren't you?
Weren't you?
Easy, easy now.
Believe me, Kettler.
I let Benham die now, Dr. Morrissey.
He's in the cellar under the ward downstairs, isn't he?
Isn't he?
Kettler.
Let me see him.
There. Benham.
You'd better take him down, Keffrey.
All right. Come along now, sir.
I'll take him, nurse.
You won't show him to me.
Even though it would make me well again.
My cellars are empty, Kettler. Believe me, Benham isn't there.
You sit there in power and order me away.
Come on, Kettler.
There's something I have to say.
I've always been above violence, Dr. Morrissey.
But the time comes when there's no other course.
This is a warning, doctor. A warning.
And the joke is that you won't heed it.
Come on with your...
You won't heed it now.
But you'll remember it. And soon you'll remember it.
Tables turned, Dr. Morrissey.
Tables turned.
Poor thing.
I'm afraid I'm failing with him.
Failing completely.
But you're not.
It takes time to put a man back together.
It's taken me too long with Kettler.
I'm beginning to be afraid.
If you'll pardon me, doctor.
Yes?
I do think you're making a mistake.
With him?
No. With yourself.
You haven't had a real vacation in three years, Dr. Morrissey.
Oh. You think I'm wearing a bit thin just now, don't you?
And you're right.
But I really can't leave my patients in anyone else's hands.
Not now, at any rate.
No, I'll have to make the best of it.
But you need relaxation.
I know, I know.
Well, I hope to soothe my ragged nerves somewhat over this weekend.
I've some friends coming down from the city Friday night.
Leslie and Claire Winton.
Young married couple, newlyweds.
And I'm just going to relax with them and forget everything until Monday morning.
You must, doctor. You do need it so badly.
Oh, by the way, doctor.
Yes?
I slipped some of those new sample bandages into your coat pocket.
Thanks. Thanks. I'll have a look at them.
I think they're quite good. The salesman said that...
Yes, nurse. What is it?
Did... did you hear something?
Thunder, wasn't it?
Something else besides thunder. I thought it.
Well, I didn't hear it.
My nerves must be getting the best of me.
Perhaps it's a case of nurse heal thyself, eh?
I'm not the only one who needs a rest.
You know, it might be a very good idea if we both...
Move!
Dr. Morrissey.
I heard that.
What is it?
It's coming from the ward. Sounds like...
That was a shock, nurse.
You get on the phone. Call the police at Colston.
Hello? Hello? Hello?
Keep at it. Keep at it.
Hello?
Someone's trying to get in from the hall.
Dr. Morrissey! Dr. Morrissey!
It's Caffrey. Just a moment.
Caffrey! Caffrey, what is it?
It's ganged up on me.
All of them are coming up the stairs.
Kittler, clear out of here.
Steady, nurse.
He's dead, isn't he? Isn't he?
Yes.
Dr. Morrissey.
Kittler!
Remember my warning.
Remember it, doctor.
Tables turn, Dr. Morrissey.
Tables turn.
It rained for three more days.
Friday night came, black, wet and glistening.
The 815 Express groaned into Colston Station,
bringing Leslie and Claire Wentley out from the city with their weekend luggage.
Isn't Dr. Morrissey sending his car for us, Leslie?
Yes, Claire. The chauffeur was supposed to drive us over to the sanitarium to pick up the dock,
and then we're all going over to his house together.
I don't see any car to you.
I don't see anything but water.
Maybe we're rowing over in a skiff.
Oh, oh, I hate that sound.
Like somebody's in agony.
I think you're a little depressed, dear.
Well, I shouldn't be surprised.
My head's still aching dreadfully.
Poor lover. How long's that been going on now?
Almost a week. It frightens me.
I don't think it's anything serious.
Waiting in the rain like this doesn't do it any good, I'm sure.
I don't understand. Docks usually sell punctual right on the dot.
You don't suppose we ought to call the sanitarium...
You people for Dr. Morrissey, yes?
Well, yes, yes, we're the Wintons.
Doc sent you to pick us up?
Aye, Kato. Dr. Morrissey's chauffeur.
You got luggage?
Yes. Here it is.
I take. You follow me to Carr. Come.
We're coming.
Leslie?
Yes?
He's tremendous, isn't he?
He must be six and a half feet tall.
I'm over six myself, darling.
He's nearer eight. That's a giant.
Get those shoulders. He could snap me in two like a matchstick.
Well, I hope he likes us.
So do I, light of my life.
Far waiting. You come, please.
But I really don't think he does.
Coming.
The heavy car lurched and hurtled over the rain-soaked roads,
tearing wildly through the dark and careening up the hillside toward the stark walls of the sanitarium.
It skidded to a standstill in front of the main entrance,
and cold, black Kato led them inside.
The brightly lit corridors were deserted, silent, like hallways in a nightmare.
Claire was aware of her headache growing steadily worse.
This Kato opened the double doors and ushered them into the waiting room.
You'll tell Dr. Morrissey we're here, huh?
Doctor, be with you soon. You do not go away.
Yes, thanks.
I hope we're not staying in here very long.
It isn't very cheery, is it?
I don't like places like this.
I suppose it's very foolish of me, but I always feel as if I'm in some sort of danger.
That's the headache again.
Everything seems worse than it really is when you're not feeling well.
Don't you always find...
Leslie.
Yes?
Listen. What is it?
Somebody's knocking.
Just a moment.
Gracias, adios.
Who is it, Leslie?
I don't know.
What? You do not know me?
I am Arturo Alvarez, the South American pianist.
You have heard of me?
Sure, I've heard of Arturo Alvarez, but I'd hardly expect to find him in...
Leslie, humor him.
Of course, for a moment I forgot where I was.
I've heard of you, Mr. Alvarez. Is there anything I can do for you?
Will you help me? I must get out of this place.
Oh, sure.
I came here several days ago to be treated for a mild nervous trouble.
Now they won't let me go.
I am being held a prisoner, and tonight I am scheduled to give a concert at Carnegie Hall,
and I must get out of here. Please, will you help me?
Ah, number 10 out of the ward again, I see.
How many times must I tell you that that is strictly against the rules?
I was doing nothing wrong. I was only telling this gentleman that I must be at Carnegie Hall for my concert.
Yes, yes, yes. I'm sure the gentleman was very interested.
Kato.
Yes, doctor?
Kato, you will escort number 10 back to the ward
and see to it that he doesn't wander back into the waiting room.
No, no, I will not be taken back to the ward. Help me.
Oh, no.
Help me, no. No, no, no. No.
Ah, how strongly he believes in his delusion.
Strange fantasy of a diseased mind.
Seriously believes that he's Arturo Alvarez.
He was telling me.
Why, I'm very sorry. I'm afraid I haven't been very cordial.
Won't you sit down? Is there anything I can do for you?
Well, you see, Dr. Morrissey invited us up for the weekend.
Oh, yes, of course. He told me he was expecting you.
Does he know we're here?
I'm afraid not.
Dr. Morrissey was unexpectedly called away on an emergency case,
and I'm in charge of the sanitarium until he returns.
Well, do you have any idea about when that'll be?
It's very hard to say.
However, he asked me to ask you to wait and see to it that you're made comfortable.
Let me see now. Your name is?
Wynton, Leslie Wynton, and this is my wife, Claire.
Ah, yes. Let me introduce myself.
I'm Dr. Kettler, Dr. Morrissey's assistant.
What can I do for you? A bite of food or a drink, perhaps?
I don't think so.
There's nothing in the world I want so much as an aspirin.
Aspirin?
Yes, Doctor, she's had a headache that's been troubling her for days.
It's terribly annoying.
I can well imagine. Annoying and interesting.
That is, to a man of my profession, of course.
But if you will step into the inner office,
I think I can offer you something a good deal more effective.
Oh, I'd hate to trouble you.
No trouble at all. I find these things most intriguing.
Should I, Leslie?
I think you might as well. Morrissey won't be back for a long time by the looks of things.
You're quite right, Mr. Wynton. Dr. Morrissey won't be back for a long, long time.
Well, then, which way do I go?
Right this way, the large door on your left.
You won't mind waiting alone, will you, darling?
Oh, Mr. Wynton shall make himself comfortable.
There are cigarettes in the box, whiskey in the liquor cabinet,
and no radio behind the ferns there.
I'm sure he'll be quite happy.
After you, Mrs. Wynton.
If Dr. Morrissey comes in, let me know.
I hope you'll find everything you want, sir.
Thanks. Oh, by the way, doctor.
Yes?
You said you had something better than aspirin.
I didn't know there was anything better than aspirin for a headache.
I have something, Mr. Wynton.
Really?
It is a process which I invented myself, one that never fails.
A little treatment, very effective and highly complicated, called the Kettler Method.
Please make yourself at home, Mr. Wynton.
Leslie sat there alone in the big waiting room for a while.
Then creeps began setting in and he thought to himself,
maybe I'll have that drink after all.
He rose and went over to the liquor cabinet that Kettler had pointed out to him and opened it.
Why, there's nothing in here but books.
Yes, books.
Books that were so thick with dust that it was clear they'd been there for months.
No drink for Leslie. Maybe a cigarette.
Kettler said the box was full.
He picked it up and started opening it.
Why, it isn't even a cigarette box. The darn thing's a book end.
Yes, that's just what it was.
Leslie began to think it was a tough job making himself at home in that waiting room.
Then the idea occurred to him.
Maybe the radio works.
He went over to the radio then, turned it on and...
We are sorry to announce that the program scheduled for this time from Carnegie Hall has been canceled
due to the mysterious disappearance of Arturo Alvarez, the noted South American pianist.
Mr. Alvarez was known to be suffering from a minor nervous disorder
and was last seen departing on a short trip to Colston in upstate New York.
Alvarez. That guy is Alvarez.
What's going on here?
Claire, Claire!
Locked.
Dr. Kettler, open this door.
Open it, do you hear me?
Yes, Quinton.
You, tell him to open up. Tell him, tell him.
Doctor, send me. Tell you young lady headache, bad, very bad.
What do you mean?
He operate.
Operate?
He say take long time. He say you not wait. You come back tomorrow.
Operate? No, no.
Kettler, Kettler! Claire, can you hear me? Can you hear me?
Of course she can hear you, Mr. Quinton. The operating table is just inside the door.
Bring her out here. Let her go, I tell you, Kettler.
But I find that an operation is indicated, Mr. Quinton.
I forbid you to touch her.
You forbid? You? I'm in charge here. No one forbids me. Do you understand?
You're insane. You're... If you lay your hands on her, I'll kill you. So help me. I'll kill you.
Very well, Mr. Quinton. You do not wish me to operate. That's all there is to it.
I would scarcely force my service upon you.
However, the girl's condition is quite serious and I...
Good work. Good work, Kettler, my boy. A master stroke.
Do you still forbid me, Mr. Quinton? Do you? Do you?
Oh, you don't answer. Good. Good. Take him to the cellar, Kettler.
And lodge him there with his friend, Dr. Morrissey.
They should have a good deal to talk over in the still hours of the night while I cure the young lady's headache...
...unmolested.
You've got to pull yourself together, Leslie. Now try. Try to think.
Hicado brought you down a few moments ago. You've been hit in the head. Can you remember?
Yes. I was talking to Kettler, trying to make him let Claire go.
Claire? Oh, good Lord, Morrissey.
Where is she? He's got her.
Kettler? She's on that operating table up there. We've got to do something. We've got to do something.
Well, I'm afraid there's not much we can do. I've been here for three days and nights.
What happened?
Oh, it was a nightmare come to life. I'd had Kettler in my office for treatment.
Yeah?
He was off on a wild tangent, insisting that I had a man whom he had killed hidden down here in the cellar.
That I and the rest of the medical profession had kidnapped him off the operating table with his head still suave.
He thinks I've been keeping this venom from him all along, even though I've known that just one side of him would cure his mental disorders.
He hates me with every fiber of his twisted brain. He's a dangerous case, Leslie.
He'll... he'll kill Claire?
He may. There's a slim chance he won't.
What's that?
Well, all the surgical instruments are locked away. It's possible they may not be able to find them.
Isn't there any way we can get out of here?
Wouldn't I have used it?
Where does that corridor lead to?
To the staircase that goes to the first floor.
Well?
Not a chance. It comes out in the operating room and they keep that door locked as tight as a drum.
Besides, Kettler still has the pistol he took from my nurse.
I've got to think. I've got to. And my head hurts so I can't make good sense.
Let's see that. I think they gave you a nasty cut.
Oh, it doesn't matter.
Say, Doc.
Yes?
What was his name?
Who?
The guy Kettler thought you were keeping from him. The one he killed.
Binnum.
Led Binnum. Why?
Was he a young fellow?
Yes. A rather tall, slender chap.
Say, Doc.
Hmm?
Do you have any bandages down here?
What?
Bandages.
Why, yes. I think so. They're... they're stored down here.
Enough to bandage my whole head, face and everything?
Why?
I might have a chance of getting through that door up there.
Please. Let me go now. Oh, let me go. Leslie! Leslie!
You will be better soon. Much better. I will take the pain away, Mrs. Wynton.
Kato.
Hmm?
Have you found the surgical case?
Not found yet. I look. Kato, look.
Find it. We must not keep Mrs. Wynton in agony.
Find it, I say.
You'll have to create some order in this place.
I want my instruments at hand on a moment's notice.
Please. Let me go. Oh, let me go.
You shall be well again, my dear. I promise you, you shall be.
Doctor, here tall white cabinet behind curtain.
That's it. Open it. Open it, Kato.
Locked. Locked, Doctor.
Smash it open. Open it.
I do.
You'll find scalpels on the top tray. Bring them to me.
Yes, Doctor. Is here, Doctor. See? Knives. Good. Sharp knives.
Kato find. He find them.
Excellent. How they glitter.
Ah, it is good to feel the knife in my hand again.
Put the others right beside my pistol here on the table.
Please. Oh, please.
There, there, my girl. I shall expend all my genius on you.
You shall be well again. No. No. No.
Now to work.
What was that?
Who's there?
Doctor Ketler.
Who is it?
I have found my way back to you.
Open the door, Doctor Ketler.
I've come back again.
Who are you?
You remember? You remember Led Benham?
Kato. Kato.
Yes, Doctor.
The door. The door. Let him in. He's come back. Let him in, I say.
Yes, Doctor.
Oh, let me out of here.
He's come back. He's come back, Kato.
Doctor Ketler.
Benham. Benham, I knew it.
I knew it all along. You're alive. You're living.
Yes. Yes, Doctor Ketler.
You. Just as they took you from the table.
Yes. They took me away before the operation was complete.
Finish it now. Hurry.
I can't live much longer. I'm about to die.
No, no. Kato. Get Benham out of the table.
Girl. Girl. On table.
Take her off. Take her out of here. Put her in the cellar.
Let Benham take her place. At once. You hear?
Yes, Doctor. Kato.
No. No. I won't be put in the cellar. I won't.
It might be well if you went down into the cellar, you know.
It's nice down there. You'll see old friends, perhaps.
Old friends who need help.
Leslie.
Hurry. Hurry, I say.
Yes, Doctor. Come.
I'm coming.
Are you all right, Benham?
Weaker. Weaker.
Kato. Kato.
Kato, close door.
No. Stop wasting time. Leave the door alone. Help me.
Help me get Benham on the table.
Yes, Doctor. Kato, do.
That's right. Now, lift him carefully.
Good.
Now, lie back. Lie back.
Gently. Gently.
All right. Careful now.
There we are.
Kato. Give me the knife.
Yes, Doctor.
Take off the bandages.
From the top, Kato.
That's correct.
That's proper procedure.
There.
Yeah, now that's...
I thought his hair was blonde, not black.
Well, perhaps I've forgotten.
I've forgotten so many things that...
there was a scar on his forehead.
I clearly remember a scar on his forehead.
Maybe. Maybe I imagine that, too.
Perhaps it was someone else who...
brown eyes.
Benham.
Benham, didn't you have blue eyes?
I know they were blue.
And your nose. Your nose was thinner and longer.
Yes. Yes.
And your lips. You had thick lips.
That I know.
Bandages off, Doctor.
Doctor Kattler, there's a trick here.
You're not Benham. You're not Benham.
You're that young Mr. Winton.
Doctor Kattler, listen to me.
Cheat. Cheat.
So you wanted me to finish you, did you?
Yes, Mr. Winton, I will. I will.
Hold him, Kattler. Hold him.
See the knife, Mr. Winton?
Watch it glisten as it comes down, down, down and into your...
He's wonderful.
You don't doubt that he's Arturo Alvarez when you hear him play the piano, do you?
That's a marvelous old instrument you have, Doc.
It was my mother's.
This old house has been in the family for generations.
Who'd ever thought we'd be alive to sit in your house and listen to somebody play a concerto?
We wouldn't have been. At least I wouldn't have been if you hadn't snatched that revolver off the table right out from under Kattler's nose before they threw you into the cellar.
That was the lifesaver. Made the weekend perfect.
I'm afraid it wasn't very restful.
Hereafter, I'm spending all weekends in a cozy little corner under the El.
It was worse for Claire than anybody. She had a dreadful time.
It was ghastly, all right. Horrible. But you know something?
What?
My headache. It's completely gone.
So ends the Kattler Method, the tale of a memorable weekend and a long-awaited dead man who didn't return after all.
This was tonight's story of Suspense.
Suspense is produced by William Spear.
John Dietz was our director this evening.
Tonight's radio drama was written by Peter Barry and scored by Bernard Herrmann.
Roger DeKoven was Dr. Kettler. John Gibson, Leslie Winton, and Gloria Stewart played Claire Winton.
Others in the cast were Guy Rept, Martha Faulkner, Winfield Honey, and Ralph Smiley.
Next week at this time, Columbia will bring you another selected story from the world's great literature of thrills.
Another study in...
Suspense.
This is Barry Kroger and this is the Columbia Broadcasting System.