1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,000 Suspense. 2 00:00:11,000 --> 00:00:16,000 This is the man in black, here again to introduce Columbia's program, Suspense. 3 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:23,000 Tonight in one of her rare radio appearances, we bring you a star who has occupied a unique place in the affections of moviegoers 4 00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:28,000 ever since the screen first became of age, Miss Lily and Gish. 5 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:37,000 Appearing with Miss Gish are two distinguished players, Mr. Ray Collins of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mare fold, whose current release is Thousand's Cheer, 6 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:42,000 and Mr. Bramwell Fletcher, who has ornamented many a stage in film success. 7 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:48,000 There are only three players in Marry for Murder, which is tonight's tale of Suspense. 8 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:55,000 Only three characters in this story, whose beginning and end are shrouded in a dense, down-east fog. 9 00:00:55,000 --> 00:01:00,000 A story of slow terror and swift death, planned by a brilliant murderer. 10 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:08,000 And so were the performances of Lily and Gish as Letty Hawthorne, a frightened neurotic creature who seemed destined to be a perfect victim. 11 00:01:08,000 --> 00:01:12,000 Of Bramwell Fletcher as Mark Taylor, so handsome and attentive. 12 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:16,000 And of Ray Collins as the lawyer, Philip Alden, who relates these events to us. 13 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:19,000 We again hope to keep you in. 14 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:28,000 Suspense. 15 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:35,000 I used to love the sound of foghorns on the bay, especially at night when I sat before the fire. 16 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:42,000 Let their lonely wail weave a contrast between my snug comfort and the gray immensity outside. 17 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:56,000 But I've lost my taste for them now. Lost it on the night I heard them moan a dirge of death. 18 00:01:56,000 --> 00:02:04,000 It's hard enough to lose a friend. But to lose one as I lost Letty Hawthorne is the kind of blow you'll never quite forget. 19 00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:10,000 I remember the first time I met her. It had fogged up all of a sudden, as it does here on the Cape. 20 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:14,000 But Anne Wentworth held her Sunday night supper as usual. 21 00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:18,000 Letty was the only stranger there, a newcomer to the Cape. 22 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:24,000 I looked at her and thought she'd be an attractive woman if she only didn't flutter so much. 23 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:31,000 She was a trim, pretty woman of about my own age, which is faulty. 24 00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:37,000 You're Philip Alden, the lawyer, aren't you? Oh, what a pleasure to meet so many nice people. 25 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:41,000 There go those foghorns again. Yes. Does one really get used to them in time? 26 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:49,000 Well, I... I love the Cape, but I can hardly bear that sound. So depressing, isn't it? So morbid. 27 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:54,000 Well, to your first question, yes, I'm Alden, an attorney. 28 00:02:54,000 --> 00:03:01,000 As for the foghorns, well, if you stay with us for a few years, you won't be able to live without them, Mrs. Hawthorne. 29 00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:07,000 It is Mrs. Hawthorne, isn't it? Anne never gets around to introducing people. It's her only fault. 30 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:11,000 Oh, I never stand on ceremony. That's my fault, if you consider it one. 31 00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:16,000 Besides, I knew you at once, you see, and you knew me. Don't you think that's a promising beginning? 32 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:21,000 I never thought of it that way. Oh, dear me, there it goes again. 33 00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:28,000 It makes me think of ghosts walking over my grave. How can you bear it? 34 00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:34,000 They do serve a very important purpose, you know. I suppose they do, but they give me the shudders. 35 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:37,000 As a matter of fact, I find them comforting. 36 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:43,000 I made Jane Hart promise to stay with me tonight if the fog doesn't lift. I daren't be alone. 37 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:50,000 You see, I'm still a bit nervous. I've been ill, you know, and the doctor prescribed complete rest and quiet. 38 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:54,000 That's why I came up here. Well, you'll find what you're looking for here, I'm sure. 39 00:03:54,000 --> 00:03:59,000 Do you think so? I do hope I will. My nerves are simply shattered. 40 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:04,000 Mr. Hawthorne's dead, you see. Such a tragedy. I'm terribly sorry. 41 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:09,000 You see, it happened so suddenly. I can't quite believe that. 42 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:13,000 Can I get you some of Anne's cider cup? That's one of our Sunday night features. 43 00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:20,000 Oh, thank you. That would be so nice. It's such a comfort to have a man take care of one again. 44 00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:27,000 You make me feel so, so protected. I know we're going to be great friends, aren't we? 45 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:36,000 I can tell you I worried a bit for a while after that first party. 46 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:42,000 Letty Hawthorne was a charming woman, a bit fluttery as I said, but still attractive and rather pathetic. 47 00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:48,000 I was afraid she was setting her cap for me. You see, I'm a crusty old bachelor. 48 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:51,000 But even my friends were beginning to wonder. 49 00:04:51,000 --> 00:05:01,000 So it was with mingled relief and regret that I learned one day that Letty Hawthorne had transferred her attentions to another newcomer to the Cape, Mark Taylor. 50 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:07,000 He was eight or ten years younger than she, a handsome fellow, but somewhat dissolute looking. 51 00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:10,000 I didn't like him. I may as well admit that from the start. 52 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:14,000 But short of marrying her myself, there wasn't much I could do. 53 00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:18,000 Anyway, they seemed happy enough at first. 54 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:22,000 One day after the wedding, Letty called me on a matter of business. 55 00:05:22,000 --> 00:05:28,000 I went down there after sundown. The three of us sat out on the beach in front of her cottage. 56 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:36,000 I'm so glad you were able to come, Philip. You see, Mark and I were counting on you. 57 00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:37,000 Always glad to oblige you, Letty. 58 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:40,000 As a matter of fact, Alden, we want you to attend to a legal matter for us. 59 00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:41,000 Yes? 60 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:48,000 Yes, Philip. Mark wants to make a will. I told him I don't like wills. There's something so, what's so unhealthy about them. 61 00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:50,000 But Mark simply insists upon it. 62 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:52,000 Very sensible, I'm sure. 63 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:54,000 Oh, you men. You're all alive. 64 00:05:54,000 --> 00:05:59,000 It needn't be a very elaborate affair, Alden. Just a simple document stating that I leave all my property to Letty. 65 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:02,000 Well, if he does that, Philip, I want you to make out a will for me, too. 66 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:04,000 Leaving everything I have to Mark. 67 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:06,000 But Letty, that's, there's no need. 68 00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:07,000 No, I insist. 69 00:06:07,000 --> 00:06:11,000 Oh, well. Alden here is going to think I married you for your money. 70 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:17,000 Money? Oh, why, I really don't know anything at all about my affairs. Really, I don't. 71 00:06:17,000 --> 00:06:23,000 Frank, Mr. Hawthorne always used to say, Letty, I really think you know less about business than a child. 72 00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:26,000 I left the management of his estate entirely to his secretary. 73 00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:32,000 Well, just some simple document that makes my intention clear. You know the form, Alden. And of course, if Letty insists, then... 74 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:37,000 But I do. We'll have to win wills. It doesn't sound so frightening that way. 75 00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:41,000 The way Letty talks about wills, you can tell she has a secret vice, can't you? 76 00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:42,000 A secret vice? 77 00:06:42,000 --> 00:06:47,000 My wife's a murder mystery fan, Alden. I didn't find out until it was too late. 78 00:06:47,000 --> 00:06:49,000 Oh, Mark, you silly. 79 00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:53,000 When you say that, Taylor, smile. I'm a detective fan myself. 80 00:06:54,000 --> 00:06:58,000 It's a busman's holiday, of course, but I always read the latest whodunits. 81 00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:03,000 If my father hadn't insisted that I follow in his footsteps, I'd have been a detective instead of a lawyer. 82 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:07,000 Really? How interesting. Tell us, Philip, do you ever get any cases like the ones we read about? 83 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:12,000 Well, if you want my opinion, the chief difference between fact and fiction is that the author of a novel... 84 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:16,000 wants you to see the pattern and the author of a murder tries to hide it. 85 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:18,000 Well, what do you mean by that? 86 00:07:18,000 --> 00:07:22,000 Well, take your case, for example. You and Letty are making out your wills. 87 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:25,000 I heard her say that she wanted to leave her money to you. 88 00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:29,000 But how do I know the idea just sprang into her head of its own accord? 89 00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:32,000 How do I know that you didn't plant it there? 90 00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:36,000 Plant it? What do you mean? Why, what possible reason could I have? 91 00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:41,000 Well, as things stand now, there's no reason for me to ask if you planted the idea in her head. 92 00:07:41,000 --> 00:07:44,000 But, if Letty were found dead... 93 00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:47,000 Dead? Oh, Philip, how dreadful. How can you even think such thoughts? 94 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:52,000 Mark, darling, how terrible for you. Philip, you're to apologize this minute. 95 00:07:52,000 --> 00:07:54,000 No, no, no, Letty. Philip was just trying to explain. 96 00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:56,000 Well, I won't have him talking about such horrible things. 97 00:07:56,000 --> 00:07:59,000 Of course, I didn't mean you to. I was just using you as an example. 98 00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:02,000 Well, I didn't mean to be rude, Philip, but... 99 00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:06,000 Well, you know my nerves and it's getting dark and... 100 00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:10,000 Oh, the bay is beautiful at night, of course, but... 101 00:08:10,000 --> 00:08:12,000 I've always been afraid of the water. 102 00:08:12,000 --> 00:08:16,000 That's why I've had such a time persuading her to come out for a sail. 103 00:08:16,000 --> 00:08:19,000 The Artemis has been tied up all summer waiting. 104 00:08:19,000 --> 00:08:23,000 It's just silly, I know. And I will go with you, Mark. 105 00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:26,000 But let's do wait for a calm day. 106 00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:31,000 You know, Letty's idea of a sail is to sit becalmed half a mile offshore. 107 00:08:31,000 --> 00:08:33,000 My wife has perfect confidence in me, you see. 108 00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:37,000 Oh, Mark, it isn't that? You're making fun of me, aren't you? 109 00:08:37,000 --> 00:08:41,000 Of course, I trust you completely, but I'm not very athletic. 110 00:08:41,000 --> 00:08:43,000 You're missing one of the treats of the Cape if you don't sail. 111 00:08:43,000 --> 00:08:46,000 But I shall. Of course I shall, and soon. 112 00:08:46,000 --> 00:08:50,000 And what's more, I'm going to get Mark to teach me to handle the Artemis. 113 00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:53,000 Well, I'll be looking forward to seeing your sails on the bay, then. 114 00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:56,000 Oh, Mark, a storm. 115 00:08:56,000 --> 00:08:58,000 I'd better be getting home before it breaks. 116 00:08:58,000 --> 00:09:00,000 Are you sure you'll be all right? 117 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:02,000 I'm simply terrified of thunder. 118 00:09:02,000 --> 00:09:04,000 Wouldn't you rather stop with us? 119 00:09:04,000 --> 00:09:05,000 Oh, I can make it to town. 120 00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:09,000 Stop by tomorrow, won't you, Aldon? Or as soon as you have those papers. 121 00:09:09,000 --> 00:09:10,000 Right. 122 00:09:10,000 --> 00:09:15,000 Now, you won't be nervous after our talk of wills and murders. 123 00:09:15,000 --> 00:09:16,000 But of course you won't. 124 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:20,000 I'm such a coward myself that I can never understand how other people can be so brave. 125 00:09:20,000 --> 00:09:24,000 You know, Philip, Lettie's helplessness is one of her chief charms. 126 00:09:24,000 --> 00:09:28,000 Sometimes I suspect she exaggerates it just to make me feel important. 127 00:09:28,000 --> 00:09:32,000 Oh, Mark, you mustn't. Giving all my secrets away. 128 00:09:32,000 --> 00:09:36,000 Well, don't worry about me or the wills, Lettie. 129 00:09:36,000 --> 00:09:52,000 Someday you will frighten yourself to death. 130 00:09:52,000 --> 00:09:55,000 There was little enough for me to go by. 131 00:09:55,000 --> 00:10:00,000 But gradually I found myself worrying about Lettie and Mark. 132 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:03,000 They didn't seem to be hitting it off. 133 00:10:03,000 --> 00:10:06,000 Oh, on the surface everything was smooth. 134 00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:12,000 But I was haunted by a premonition of what I didn't know. 135 00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:18,000 It was only a nameless dread of something, some undercurrent of feeling. 136 00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:21,000 Lettie's nerves were getting no better. 137 00:10:21,000 --> 00:10:24,000 In fact, she seemed more tense, more frightened than ever. 138 00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:29,000 Yet she was making an effort to meet Mark halfway. 139 00:10:29,000 --> 00:10:32,000 Many times I saw them out sailing. 140 00:10:32,000 --> 00:10:38,000 Only when Lettie returned after a day on the water, she seemed pinched and white. 141 00:10:38,000 --> 00:10:46,000 While Mark appeared to be glowing with vitality, Lettie grew paler and more distracted. 142 00:10:46,000 --> 00:10:50,000 I realized suddenly that she was a middle-aged woman. 143 00:10:50,000 --> 00:10:53,000 One day in town I met them in the general store. 144 00:10:53,000 --> 00:10:56,000 They'd been quarreling. 145 00:10:56,000 --> 00:10:58,000 But I tell you, Mark, you're just imagining it. 146 00:10:58,000 --> 00:11:01,000 I hate to have that stuff around, as you very well know. 147 00:11:01,000 --> 00:11:05,000 You read all kinds of stories about the way it gets mixed up in food. 148 00:11:05,000 --> 00:11:06,000 Oh, nonsense. 149 00:11:06,000 --> 00:11:09,000 Well, I'm sure there aren't any rats around the boathouse. 150 00:11:09,000 --> 00:11:12,000 I'd know if there were. I'm simply terrified of them. 151 00:11:12,000 --> 00:11:16,000 But I... well, I can't bear a thinking of having poison around. 152 00:11:16,000 --> 00:11:18,000 Why be worried all the time? 153 00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:22,000 Oh, Lettie, for heaven's sake, stop being childish. 154 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:25,000 I didn't put traps around because you didn't want them. 155 00:11:25,000 --> 00:11:28,000 Now that I'm trying to get rid of them in another way, you make a scene. 156 00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:31,000 I don't see why we have to go into a three-act tragedy 157 00:11:31,000 --> 00:11:33,000 just because I want to buy some rat poison. 158 00:11:33,000 --> 00:11:35,000 Hello. Hello, you two. 159 00:11:35,000 --> 00:11:36,000 Oh, hello, Aldon. 160 00:11:36,000 --> 00:11:38,000 Why, Philip, how nice to see you. 161 00:11:38,000 --> 00:11:40,000 Mark and I were just doing a little shopping. 162 00:11:40,000 --> 00:11:42,000 Philip, will you do me a favor? 163 00:11:42,000 --> 00:11:46,000 Will you please reason with Lettie and try to get some sense into her head? 164 00:11:46,000 --> 00:11:48,000 Say, wait a minute. This sounds serious. 165 00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:49,000 Well, it isn't really. 166 00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:53,000 But, Philip, you know my nerves and the way things upset me, 167 00:11:53,000 --> 00:11:54,000 and Mark just doesn't understand. 168 00:11:54,000 --> 00:11:56,000 Oh, I know I'm just a silly woman, 169 00:11:56,000 --> 00:11:58,000 but the doctor says I have to be humored. 170 00:11:58,000 --> 00:12:01,000 And now Mark is so unreasonable, and it's such a little thing. 171 00:12:01,000 --> 00:12:02,000 Of course it's a little thing, 172 00:12:02,000 --> 00:12:04,000 and that's why I can't understand your attitude. 173 00:12:04,000 --> 00:12:08,000 Now look here, Philip. The boathouse is infested with rats. 174 00:12:08,000 --> 00:12:11,000 Wouldn't you say the obvious course of action would be to get rid of them? 175 00:12:11,000 --> 00:12:12,000 Why, of course. 176 00:12:12,000 --> 00:12:14,000 But poison, rat poison. 177 00:12:14,000 --> 00:12:17,000 Oh, Philip, don't you see how horrible it is? 178 00:12:17,000 --> 00:12:19,000 I mean, accidents do happen. 179 00:12:19,000 --> 00:12:22,000 I've always hated to have anything like that around just in case. 180 00:12:22,000 --> 00:12:24,000 I've heard of children eating this stuff by accident. 181 00:12:24,000 --> 00:12:27,000 But you two people can take care of yourselves. 182 00:12:27,000 --> 00:12:30,000 Frankly, lady, I think you're making a fuss over nothing. 183 00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:33,000 Yes, yes, that's right, Philip. That's just what I told her. 184 00:12:33,000 --> 00:12:35,000 Well, very well then. 185 00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:36,000 But if I'm found dead, 186 00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:39,000 I hope you realize you'll both be under suspicion. 187 00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:42,000 It seemed a foolish quarrel at the time. 188 00:12:42,000 --> 00:12:46,000 Yet when I left them, I kept hearing Lettie's voice. 189 00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:50,000 Very well then. But if I'm found dead. 190 00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:54,000 Very well then. But if I'm found dead. 191 00:12:54,000 --> 00:12:56,000 Very well then. 192 00:12:56,000 --> 00:12:58,000 Very well then. 193 00:12:58,000 --> 00:13:00,000 Very well then. 194 00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:02,000 Very well then. 195 00:13:02,000 --> 00:13:04,000 Very well then. 196 00:13:04,000 --> 00:13:06,000 Very well then. 197 00:13:06,000 --> 00:13:10,000 Very well then. But if I'm found dead. 198 00:13:10,000 --> 00:13:15,000 Suddenly a monstrous idea occurred to me. 199 00:13:15,000 --> 00:13:19,000 I wondered if Lettie had been trying to warn me. 200 00:13:19,000 --> 00:13:22,000 And then the horrible suspicion broke. 201 00:13:22,000 --> 00:13:26,000 All the trifling things began to add up. 202 00:13:26,000 --> 00:13:28,000 Lettie's nervousness. 203 00:13:28,000 --> 00:13:31,000 Her fear of sailing with Mark. 204 00:13:31,000 --> 00:13:35,000 Her terror of having the poison in the house. 205 00:13:35,000 --> 00:13:38,000 But why? 206 00:13:38,000 --> 00:13:41,000 Why should she be afraid of Mark? 207 00:13:41,000 --> 00:13:43,000 What motive had he? 208 00:13:43,000 --> 00:13:46,000 And then I knew. 209 00:13:46,000 --> 00:13:51,000 I had helped to give him the motive when I drew up Lettie's will. 210 00:13:51,000 --> 00:13:55,000 Yet my whole case was founded on thin air. 211 00:13:55,000 --> 00:13:58,000 Figment of a nervous imagination. 212 00:13:58,000 --> 00:14:00,000 I had to be sure. 213 00:14:00,000 --> 00:14:03,000 I had to keep an eye on them. 214 00:14:03,000 --> 00:14:06,000 I found myself making excuses. 215 00:14:06,000 --> 00:14:10,000 Excuses to drop by at their cottage. 216 00:14:10,000 --> 00:14:13,000 Where is it Lettie? Who's there? 217 00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:15,000 It's Philip. 218 00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:18,000 Oh Philip. Well, well, well. 219 00:14:18,000 --> 00:14:21,000 You're almost getting to be a member of the family. 220 00:14:21,000 --> 00:14:25,000 Well I just thought I'd ask you to help me eat the first bluefish of the season. 221 00:14:25,000 --> 00:14:28,000 There's too much here for an old bachelor like me. 222 00:14:28,000 --> 00:14:31,000 Why Philip Alden if you aren't the most thoughtful person. 223 00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:34,000 How perfectly sweet of you. Of course you'll stay to dinner. 224 00:14:34,000 --> 00:14:36,000 We'll have a real feast. 225 00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:38,000 Yes, yes. You might as well stay as long as you're here. 226 00:14:38,000 --> 00:14:40,000 Thank you. If you're sure I won't be intruding. 227 00:14:40,000 --> 00:14:42,000 Intruding? Why of course not. 228 00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:44,000 And you can help me get the dinner ready. 229 00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:47,000 I'd be glad to but won't I be in Anna's way? 230 00:14:47,000 --> 00:14:49,000 Anna's gone. 231 00:14:49,000 --> 00:14:52,000 Gone? Why I thought you were well satisfied with her. 232 00:14:52,000 --> 00:14:56,000 So we were Philip. But Anna didn't seem to be satisfied with us. 233 00:14:56,000 --> 00:14:58,000 In fact they've all gone. 234 00:14:58,000 --> 00:14:59,000 All? 235 00:14:59,000 --> 00:15:01,000 Anna and Elsie and Otto the handyman. 236 00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:03,000 They just walked out and left us. 237 00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:04,000 Well for heaven's sake. 238 00:15:04,000 --> 00:15:08,000 Since the ship and engine place opened on the heights nobody can keep a servant. 239 00:15:08,000 --> 00:15:09,000 Can't blame them myself. 240 00:15:09,000 --> 00:15:13,000 I wonder. I don't believe Anna'd take a job at the ship and engine. 241 00:15:13,000 --> 00:15:17,000 Anyhow it does seem strange they all went at once doesn't it? 242 00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:20,000 Letty I do wish you'd stop dramatizing everything. 243 00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:23,000 Ship and engine just opened and the call went out for help. 244 00:15:23,000 --> 00:15:26,000 I don't see any mystery in the servants answering. 245 00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:31,000 In fact it's their patriotic duty and it's our patriotic duty to get along without them. 246 00:15:31,000 --> 00:15:34,000 But it's so lonely here. Especially at night. 247 00:15:34,000 --> 00:15:37,000 Now Letty you're not living here by yourself you know. 248 00:15:37,000 --> 00:15:42,000 No of course not. But all the same we are isolated. 249 00:15:42,000 --> 00:15:45,000 Just the two of us. And you know how tricky my nerves are. 250 00:15:45,000 --> 00:15:48,000 I always feel so much better if the servants are around. 251 00:15:48,000 --> 00:15:52,000 After all if anything were to happen and anything might happen... 252 00:15:52,000 --> 00:15:55,000 Letty this isn't getting us any closer to our dinner. 253 00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:58,000 Oh of course. 254 00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:01,000 Now you boys wear these aprons. 255 00:16:01,000 --> 00:16:04,000 Philip since it's your fish you may have the honor of cooking it. 256 00:16:04,000 --> 00:16:07,000 All right you asked for it. It'll be your funeral. 257 00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:12,000 Now Philip oh Mark you hull the berries for the dessert. 258 00:16:12,000 --> 00:16:30,000 I'll do the vegetables and set the table. 259 00:16:30,000 --> 00:16:34,000 Well for a seasoned bachelor this dinner's a rare treat Letty. 260 00:16:34,000 --> 00:16:36,000 Oh I'm so glad you enjoyed it Philip. 261 00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:38,000 Oh I don't deserve the credit. 262 00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:40,000 That blue fish was simply delicious. 263 00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:43,000 How did you manage to catch it all by yourself? 264 00:16:43,000 --> 00:16:46,000 I always think men are so wonderful. 265 00:16:46,000 --> 00:16:48,000 I'll be glad to take you both the next time I go fishing. 266 00:16:48,000 --> 00:16:51,000 It's good fun. Fresh air would be good for you Letty. 267 00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:52,000 Oh no I couldn't. 268 00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:56,000 Well I'm still just a wee bit nervous about the water. 269 00:16:56,000 --> 00:16:58,000 Though I tried terribly hard haven't I Mark? 270 00:16:58,000 --> 00:16:59,000 Yes yes. 271 00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:01,000 I've been good about the sailing. 272 00:17:01,000 --> 00:17:03,000 And you know I'm learning to manage the Artemis all by myself. 273 00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:04,000 Aren't I Mark? 274 00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:07,000 I don't write my name in the wake anymore do I? 275 00:17:07,000 --> 00:17:10,000 Yes Letty's a real hand at the tiller. 276 00:17:10,000 --> 00:17:13,000 She'll be a better sailor than I am soon you see. 277 00:17:13,000 --> 00:17:15,000 You'd have seen her take the Artemis into harbor the other day. 278 00:17:15,000 --> 00:17:16,000 You did all by yourself? 279 00:17:16,000 --> 00:17:19,000 Yes she came through that channel with a breeze against her. 280 00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:22,000 I wanted to take it over afraid she'd run into the mud flats. 281 00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:25,000 But no she coaxed it all the way and we came in under sail. 282 00:17:25,000 --> 00:17:28,000 Yes and I wanted to do it all by myself even though I was terrified. 283 00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:31,000 Good for you why that's really a splendid accomplishment. 284 00:17:31,000 --> 00:17:36,000 I've been negotiating the harbor for years but I confess that I have trouble every now and then. 285 00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:41,000 Well since nobody wants any more berries I guess it's time to do the dishes. 286 00:17:41,000 --> 00:17:44,000 Now I'll show you what a good hand I am as a dishwasher. 287 00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:46,000 Wait a minute wait a minute that's my job. 288 00:17:46,000 --> 00:17:48,000 No I clean and wash. 289 00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:52,000 You two can dry and you can dry. 290 00:17:53,000 --> 00:17:54,000 Letty what is it? 291 00:17:54,000 --> 00:17:56,000 Well you shouldn't have tried to carry that tray. 292 00:17:56,000 --> 00:17:58,000 No it's not that. 293 00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:00,000 Why Letty what happened to you? You look ghastly. 294 00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:05,000 I'm afraid I... something I ate. 295 00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:07,000 Here here you better lie down. 296 00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:10,000 I'll carry her upstairs get a doctor will you. 297 00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:38,000 I'm afraid Mark I'm afraid I've been poisoned. 298 00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:41,000 But great heavens Philip I just can't believe it. 299 00:18:41,000 --> 00:18:44,000 Arsenic poisoning? 300 00:18:44,000 --> 00:18:47,000 Do you think Dr. Potter knows what he's talking about? 301 00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:48,000 I'm sure he does. 302 00:18:48,000 --> 00:18:52,000 Of course we can't be sure till the tests are made but I don't see I don't understand. 303 00:18:52,000 --> 00:18:54,000 Not very hard to understand. 304 00:18:54,000 --> 00:18:57,000 Letty ate arsenic. 305 00:18:57,000 --> 00:19:00,000 However where she got it we don't know but it's not difficult to guess. 306 00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:04,000 But we all ate the same meal you and I and she. 307 00:19:04,000 --> 00:19:07,000 Why? Good Lord Philip. 308 00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:09,000 Do you think we are poisoned too? 309 00:19:09,000 --> 00:19:11,000 I feel perfectly all right. 310 00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:13,000 You appear to be comfortable. 311 00:19:13,000 --> 00:19:15,000 I think we'd feel it by now. 312 00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:16,000 But then how on earth... 313 00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:18,000 Let's be perfectly logical about it. 314 00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:20,000 We all ate the bluefish. 315 00:19:20,000 --> 00:19:21,000 Yes. 316 00:19:21,000 --> 00:19:22,000 I prepared it. 317 00:19:22,000 --> 00:19:24,000 We all had potatoes and string beans. 318 00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:26,000 Letty cooked those. 319 00:19:26,000 --> 00:19:27,000 Yes yes. 320 00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:29,000 Then we all ate strawberries. 321 00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:31,000 You prepared them. 322 00:19:31,000 --> 00:19:32,000 Why? 323 00:19:32,000 --> 00:19:35,000 Now the fish and the vegetables were all served in large platters 324 00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:37,000 and each one of us helped ourselves. 325 00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:41,000 Therefore if any poison were in the food we'd all be sick. 326 00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:43,000 But the strawberries Mark... 327 00:19:43,000 --> 00:19:45,000 See here Alden are you suggesting... 328 00:19:45,000 --> 00:19:46,000 Wait a minute wait a minute. 329 00:19:46,000 --> 00:19:49,000 We're just following this through logically. 330 00:19:49,000 --> 00:19:52,000 The strawberries were put on the table in separate dishes. 331 00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:56,000 The poison could have been slipped into Letty's plate in the kitchen. 332 00:19:56,000 --> 00:19:59,000 Alden you have no right to accuse me of this. 333 00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:01,000 Why you're fixing up a case against me. 334 00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:03,000 I'm doing nothing of the sort. 335 00:20:03,000 --> 00:20:07,000 In any event I think you might worry less about your own skin and more about Letty. 336 00:20:07,000 --> 00:20:09,000 Thanks I think I can take care of my own wife. 337 00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:11,000 Nevertheless I suggest you get someone to help you. 338 00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:13,000 I'm perfectly well able to nurse her myself. 339 00:20:13,000 --> 00:20:16,000 If I were you I'd have someone else as well. 340 00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:18,000 I'll send Mrs. Halstead over from town. 341 00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:20,000 She's an experienced practical nurse. 342 00:20:20,000 --> 00:20:26,000 What I've always appreciated about you Philip is the way you mind your own business. 343 00:20:26,000 --> 00:20:28,000 I'll be going now. 344 00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:33,000 Mrs. Halstead will be along as soon as I can get her. 345 00:20:46,000 --> 00:20:51,000 When the doctor's analysis came it was arsenic poisoning all right. 346 00:20:51,000 --> 00:20:55,000 There were traces of arsenic in the sugar on Letty's dish. 347 00:20:55,000 --> 00:21:00,000 Letty was recovering the dose wasn't large enough to kill her. 348 00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:04,000 Mrs. Halstead was installed as nurse and housekeeper. 349 00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:07,000 Just then business called me to New York. 350 00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:10,000 Where I found myself worrying about Letty. 351 00:21:10,000 --> 00:21:14,000 I couldn't get her out of my mind. 352 00:21:14,000 --> 00:21:16,000 She will then. 353 00:21:16,000 --> 00:21:18,000 But if I'm found dead. 354 00:21:18,000 --> 00:21:22,000 I was bothered by a few loose ends of Letty's problem. 355 00:21:22,000 --> 00:21:26,000 The sort of questions that would occur to a legal mind. 356 00:21:26,000 --> 00:21:31,000 So I decided to spend an evening in the reference room of the law library among the files where. 357 00:21:31,000 --> 00:21:36,000 I found out enough about Mark and Letty Taylor to send me racing back to the Cape. 358 00:21:36,000 --> 00:21:41,000 I knew I had to hurry if I was to prevent a devilish murder. 359 00:21:45,000 --> 00:21:50,000 It was one of those dull gray afternoons when I arrived at the station. 360 00:21:50,000 --> 00:21:55,000 Fog was so thick over the bay that it seemed to cloud the whole town. 361 00:21:55,000 --> 00:21:58,000 Cold fear gripped me. 362 00:21:58,000 --> 00:22:02,000 Letty and Mark I learned had left at dawn for a weekend sale. 363 00:22:02,000 --> 00:22:04,000 I could picture them. 364 00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:07,000 Murderer and victim. 365 00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:10,000 Shrouded in the gray veils of the fog. 366 00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:12,000 Drifting. 367 00:22:12,000 --> 00:22:14,000 Waiting. 368 00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:17,000 While the foghorns called a horse warning. 369 00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:20,000 Of murder. 370 00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:24,000 So. 371 00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:26,000 I was too late. 372 00:22:26,000 --> 00:22:29,000 The trap was sprung. 373 00:22:29,000 --> 00:22:35,000 My newly gained insight into the affairs of Letty and Mark I could have averted the tragedy but. 374 00:22:35,000 --> 00:22:37,000 I was too late or. 375 00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:39,000 Or was I. 376 00:22:39,000 --> 00:22:43,000 If only they hadn't really left for that sale. 377 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:45,000 I took the chance. 378 00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:48,000 Feeling my way along the Cape Road. 379 00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:51,000 I reached the Taylor cottage. 380 00:22:51,000 --> 00:22:53,000 Nobody was there. 381 00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:55,000 Then I. 382 00:22:55,000 --> 00:22:57,000 I heard noises in the boathouse. 383 00:22:57,000 --> 00:23:00,000 I crept down the slope. 384 00:23:00,000 --> 00:23:02,000 Listen. 385 00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:12,000 Oh Mark you fool. 386 00:23:12,000 --> 00:23:16,000 Philip Alden will be sure you plan to murder me for my money. 387 00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:20,000 I saw the suspicion dawn in his mind that day we made out our twin wills. 388 00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:24,000 I saw it grow when our scene in the general store. 389 00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:26,000 And you brought the rat poison. 390 00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:29,000 And that night when I was taken ill he was sure. 391 00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:32,000 Do you hear me? Sure. 392 00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:37,000 You wanted to teach me to sail the Artemis. 393 00:23:37,000 --> 00:23:40,000 Thought I was afraid of the water. 394 00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:43,000 Well Mark Taylor when your body drifts to shore. 395 00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:48,000 Philip Alden will swear that only an accident prevented you from murdering me. 396 00:23:48,000 --> 00:23:53,000 What fools you men are. 397 00:23:53,000 --> 00:23:54,000 Aren't you. 398 00:23:54,000 --> 00:23:56,000 Aren't you. 399 00:23:59,000 --> 00:24:02,000 Well wouldn't you like to answer me Mark. 400 00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:05,000 Don't you wish you could talk to me again. 401 00:24:05,000 --> 00:24:08,000 To your helpless little message. 402 00:24:08,000 --> 00:24:11,000 But you can't. Can you? 403 00:24:11,000 --> 00:24:15,000 Dead men can't talk can they. 404 00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:22,000 But they say that in the instant of dying a man can understand many things. 405 00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:24,000 Did you understand Mark? 406 00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:26,000 But how could you? 407 00:24:26,000 --> 00:24:30,000 You are really a stupid man Mark. 408 00:24:30,000 --> 00:24:36,000 Didn't you ever wonder about my former husband and his tragic death. 409 00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:39,000 Did you ever want to know about Frank Hawthorne. 410 00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:45,000 He did. At the very end he wondered about his predecessor George Martin. 411 00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:51,000 Strange how both died in a yachting accident. Isn't it. 412 00:24:51,000 --> 00:24:54,000 Frank died off the coast of California. 413 00:24:54,000 --> 00:24:58,000 And George was drowned in the Gulf of Mexico. 414 00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:00,000 And now you Mark. 415 00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:05,000 Your body will be found some place along the Cape here I suppose. 416 00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:10,000 Oh what bad luck I've had with my husband. 417 00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:15,000 But how thoughtful all of you were to leave me your property. 418 00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:19,000 Too bad I'm such an extravagant widow isn't it. 419 00:25:19,000 --> 00:25:21,000 For I do run through money. 420 00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:24,000 I wasn't lying about that. 421 00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:28,000 Oh dear I wish I could. 422 00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:32,000 I wish you could help me get your body to the Artemis. 423 00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:37,000 If only you hadn't insisted on turning back when the fog rose. 424 00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:41,000 I could have killed you so much more neatly. 425 00:25:41,000 --> 00:25:45,000 A sudden gust of wind while I was at the wheel. 426 00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:47,000 And the Artemis jives. 427 00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:53,000 And the boom catches you and off you go to the bottom of the sea. 428 00:25:53,000 --> 00:26:00,000 But now I've got to lug you back on board. 429 00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:06,000 And pitch you overboard somewhere. 430 00:26:06,000 --> 00:26:10,000 It was really inconsiderate Mark. 431 00:26:10,000 --> 00:26:14,000 To make me kill you in the boathouse here. 432 00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:17,000 You will have to drag the body aboard Letty. 433 00:26:17,000 --> 00:26:20,000 Oh Philip I'm so glad you've come. 434 00:26:20,000 --> 00:26:21,000 Are you Letty? 435 00:26:21,000 --> 00:26:23,000 Something dreadful's happened to Mark. 436 00:26:23,000 --> 00:26:25,000 I'm so upset I hardly know how to tell you. 437 00:26:25,000 --> 00:26:26,000 Oh Philip I think I've. 438 00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:30,000 You needn't fool a fooling faint this time Letty. 439 00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:34,000 I fell for it before when you made me think that Mark had poisoned you. 440 00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:36,000 That is almost. 441 00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:38,000 What do you mean Philip? 442 00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:41,000 That was a little too smart Letty that poisonsy. 443 00:26:41,000 --> 00:26:44,000 Because when I left you I wondered about two things. 444 00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:48,000 Why anyone should be foolish enough to attempt that type of murder before an audience. 445 00:26:48,000 --> 00:26:53,000 And why having attempted it he should fail to make the dose large enough. 446 00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:55,000 I don't know what you're talking about. 447 00:26:55,000 --> 00:26:57,000 I think you do. 448 00:26:57,000 --> 00:27:02,000 You see while I was in New York I took the trouble to look up a few matters that were bothering me. 449 00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:06,000 And I found the newspaper clippings of your two previous. 450 00:27:06,000 --> 00:27:07,000 Shall we say accidents. 451 00:27:07,000 --> 00:27:09,000 Oh Philip isn't it dreadful. 452 00:27:09,000 --> 00:27:11,000 Still pretending. 453 00:27:11,000 --> 00:27:13,000 You're a clever woman Letty. 454 00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:15,000 But I overheard you just now. 455 00:27:15,000 --> 00:27:16,000 You'll never prove anything. 456 00:27:16,000 --> 00:27:17,000 I think I will. 457 00:27:17,000 --> 00:27:19,000 You see I found the motive too. 458 00:27:19,000 --> 00:27:21,000 It was marry for money. 459 00:27:21,000 --> 00:27:22,000 Marry for murder wasn't it? 460 00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:24,000 I wouldn't try to run away Letty I brought a gun. 461 00:27:24,000 --> 00:27:27,000 You're coming with me to the police station. 462 00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:34,000 Don't wonder that you hate the sound of fog horns Letty Taylor. 463 00:27:34,000 --> 00:28:00,000 You've spoiled them for me too. 464 00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:07,000 And so closes Marry for Murder starring Lillian Gish with Ray Collins and Bramwell Fletcher. 465 00:28:07,000 --> 00:28:32,000 Tonight's tale of suspense. 466 00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:41,000 This is your narrator the man in black who conveys to you Columbia's invitation to spend this half hour in suspense with us again next week same time. 467 00:28:41,000 --> 00:28:49,000 When Virginia Bruce and John Loder will star in the Dorothy B Hughes suspense thriller The Cross-Eyed Bear. 468 00:28:49,000 --> 00:28:55,000 The producer of these broadcasts is William Spear who with Ted Bliss the director. 469 00:28:55,000 --> 00:29:13,000 Bernard Herman and Lucy and Marowick conductor and composer and Walker T Field the author collaborated on tonight's suspense. 470 00:29:13,000 --> 00:29:28,000 This is CBS the Columbia broadcasting system.