Suspense.
This is the man in black, here again to introduce Columbia's program, Suspense.
Tonight in one of her rare radio appearances, we bring you a star who has occupied a unique place in the affections of moviegoers
ever since the screen first became of age, Miss Lily and Gish.
Appearing with Miss Gish are two distinguished players, Mr. Ray Collins of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mare fold, whose current release is Thousand's Cheer,
and Mr. Bramwell Fletcher, who has ornamented many a stage in film success.
There are only three players in Marry for Murder, which is tonight's tale of Suspense.
Only three characters in this story, whose beginning and end are shrouded in a dense, down-east fog.
A story of slow terror and swift death, planned by a brilliant murderer.
And so were the performances of Lily and Gish as Letty Hawthorne, a frightened neurotic creature who seemed destined to be a perfect victim.
Of Bramwell Fletcher as Mark Taylor, so handsome and attentive.
And of Ray Collins as the lawyer, Philip Alden, who relates these events to us.
We again hope to keep you in.
Suspense.
I used to love the sound of foghorns on the bay, especially at night when I sat before the fire.
Let their lonely wail weave a contrast between my snug comfort and the gray immensity outside.
But I've lost my taste for them now. Lost it on the night I heard them moan a dirge of death.
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.
I remember the first time I met her. It had fogged up all of a sudden, as it does here on the Cape.
But Anne Wentworth held her Sunday night supper as usual.
Letty was the only stranger there, a newcomer to the Cape.
I looked at her and thought she'd be an attractive woman if she only didn't flutter so much.
She was a trim, pretty woman of about my own age, which is faulty.
You're Philip Alden, the lawyer, aren't you? Oh, what a pleasure to meet so many nice people.
There go those foghorns again. Yes. Does one really get used to them in time?
Well, I... I love the Cape, but I can hardly bear that sound. So depressing, isn't it? So morbid.
Well, to your first question, yes, I'm Alden, an attorney.
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.
It is Mrs. Hawthorne, isn't it? Anne never gets around to introducing people. It's her only fault.
Oh, I never stand on ceremony. That's my fault, if you consider it one.
Besides, I knew you at once, you see, and you knew me. Don't you think that's a promising beginning?
I never thought of it that way. Oh, dear me, there it goes again.
It makes me think of ghosts walking over my grave. How can you bear it?
They do serve a very important purpose, you know. I suppose they do, but they give me the shudders.
As a matter of fact, I find them comforting.
I made Jane Hart promise to stay with me tonight if the fog doesn't lift. I daren't be alone.
You see, I'm still a bit nervous. I've been ill, you know, and the doctor prescribed complete rest and quiet.
That's why I came up here. Well, you'll find what you're looking for here, I'm sure.
Do you think so? I do hope I will. My nerves are simply shattered.
Mr. Hawthorne's dead, you see. Such a tragedy. I'm terribly sorry.
You see, it happened so suddenly. I can't quite believe that.
Can I get you some of Anne's cider cup? That's one of our Sunday night features.
Oh, thank you. That would be so nice. It's such a comfort to have a man take care of one again.
You make me feel so, so protected. I know we're going to be great friends, aren't we?
I can tell you I worried a bit for a while after that first party.
Letty Hawthorne was a charming woman, a bit fluttery as I said, but still attractive and rather pathetic.
I was afraid she was setting her cap for me. You see, I'm a crusty old bachelor.
But even my friends were beginning to wonder.
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.
He was eight or ten years younger than she, a handsome fellow, but somewhat dissolute looking.
I didn't like him. I may as well admit that from the start.
But short of marrying her myself, there wasn't much I could do.
Anyway, they seemed happy enough at first.
One day after the wedding, Letty called me on a matter of business.
I went down there after sundown. The three of us sat out on the beach in front of her cottage.
I'm so glad you were able to come, Philip. You see, Mark and I were counting on you.
Always glad to oblige you, Letty.
As a matter of fact, Alden, we want you to attend to a legal matter for us.
Yes?
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.
But Mark simply insists upon it.
Very sensible, I'm sure.
Oh, you men. You're all alive.
It needn't be a very elaborate affair, Alden. Just a simple document stating that I leave all my property to Letty.
Well, if he does that, Philip, I want you to make out a will for me, too.
Leaving everything I have to Mark.
But Letty, that's, there's no need.
No, I insist.
Oh, well. Alden here is going to think I married you for your money.
Money? Oh, why, I really don't know anything at all about my affairs. Really, I don't.
Frank, Mr. Hawthorne always used to say, Letty, I really think you know less about business than a child.
I left the management of his estate entirely to his secretary.
Well, just some simple document that makes my intention clear. You know the form, Alden. And of course, if Letty insists, then...
But I do. We'll have to win wills. It doesn't sound so frightening that way.
The way Letty talks about wills, you can tell she has a secret vice, can't you?
A secret vice?
My wife's a murder mystery fan, Alden. I didn't find out until it was too late.
Oh, Mark, you silly.
When you say that, Taylor, smile. I'm a detective fan myself.
It's a busman's holiday, of course, but I always read the latest whodunits.
If my father hadn't insisted that I follow in his footsteps, I'd have been a detective instead of a lawyer.
Really? How interesting. Tell us, Philip, do you ever get any cases like the ones we read about?
Well, if you want my opinion, the chief difference between fact and fiction is that the author of a novel...
wants you to see the pattern and the author of a murder tries to hide it.
Well, what do you mean by that?
Well, take your case, for example. You and Letty are making out your wills.
I heard her say that she wanted to leave her money to you.
But how do I know the idea just sprang into her head of its own accord?
How do I know that you didn't plant it there?
Plant it? What do you mean? Why, what possible reason could I have?
Well, as things stand now, there's no reason for me to ask if you planted the idea in her head.
But, if Letty were found dead...
Dead? Oh, Philip, how dreadful. How can you even think such thoughts?
Mark, darling, how terrible for you. Philip, you're to apologize this minute.
No, no, no, Letty. Philip was just trying to explain.
Well, I won't have him talking about such horrible things.
Of course, I didn't mean you to. I was just using you as an example.
Well, I didn't mean to be rude, Philip, but...
Well, you know my nerves and it's getting dark and...
Oh, the bay is beautiful at night, of course, but...
I've always been afraid of the water.
That's why I've had such a time persuading her to come out for a sail.
The Artemis has been tied up all summer waiting.
It's just silly, I know. And I will go with you, Mark.
But let's do wait for a calm day.
You know, Letty's idea of a sail is to sit becalmed half a mile offshore.
My wife has perfect confidence in me, you see.
Oh, Mark, it isn't that? You're making fun of me, aren't you?
Of course, I trust you completely, but I'm not very athletic.
You're missing one of the treats of the Cape if you don't sail.
But I shall. Of course I shall, and soon.
And what's more, I'm going to get Mark to teach me to handle the Artemis.
Well, I'll be looking forward to seeing your sails on the bay, then.
Oh, Mark, a storm.
I'd better be getting home before it breaks.
Are you sure you'll be all right?
I'm simply terrified of thunder.
Wouldn't you rather stop with us?
Oh, I can make it to town.
Stop by tomorrow, won't you, Aldon? Or as soon as you have those papers.
Right.
Now, you won't be nervous after our talk of wills and murders.
But of course you won't.
I'm such a coward myself that I can never understand how other people can be so brave.
You know, Philip, Lettie's helplessness is one of her chief charms.
Sometimes I suspect she exaggerates it just to make me feel important.
Oh, Mark, you mustn't. Giving all my secrets away.
Well, don't worry about me or the wills, Lettie.
Someday you will frighten yourself to death.
There was little enough for me to go by.
But gradually I found myself worrying about Lettie and Mark.
They didn't seem to be hitting it off.
Oh, on the surface everything was smooth.
But I was haunted by a premonition of what I didn't know.
It was only a nameless dread of something, some undercurrent of feeling.
Lettie's nerves were getting no better.
In fact, she seemed more tense, more frightened than ever.
Yet she was making an effort to meet Mark halfway.
Many times I saw them out sailing.
Only when Lettie returned after a day on the water, she seemed pinched and white.
While Mark appeared to be glowing with vitality, Lettie grew paler and more distracted.
I realized suddenly that she was a middle-aged woman.
One day in town I met them in the general store.
They'd been quarreling.
But I tell you, Mark, you're just imagining it.
I hate to have that stuff around, as you very well know.
You read all kinds of stories about the way it gets mixed up in food.
Oh, nonsense.
Well, I'm sure there aren't any rats around the boathouse.
I'd know if there were. I'm simply terrified of them.
But I... well, I can't bear a thinking of having poison around.
Why be worried all the time?
Oh, Lettie, for heaven's sake, stop being childish.
I didn't put traps around because you didn't want them.
Now that I'm trying to get rid of them in another way, you make a scene.
I don't see why we have to go into a three-act tragedy
just because I want to buy some rat poison.
Hello. Hello, you two.
Oh, hello, Aldon.
Why, Philip, how nice to see you.
Mark and I were just doing a little shopping.
Philip, will you do me a favor?
Will you please reason with Lettie and try to get some sense into her head?
Say, wait a minute. This sounds serious.
Well, it isn't really.
But, Philip, you know my nerves and the way things upset me,
and Mark just doesn't understand.
Oh, I know I'm just a silly woman,
but the doctor says I have to be humored.
And now Mark is so unreasonable, and it's such a little thing.
Of course it's a little thing,
and that's why I can't understand your attitude.
Now look here, Philip. The boathouse is infested with rats.
Wouldn't you say the obvious course of action would be to get rid of them?
Why, of course.
But poison, rat poison.
Oh, Philip, don't you see how horrible it is?
I mean, accidents do happen.
I've always hated to have anything like that around just in case.
I've heard of children eating this stuff by accident.
But you two people can take care of yourselves.
Frankly, lady, I think you're making a fuss over nothing.
Yes, yes, that's right, Philip. That's just what I told her.
Well, very well then.
But if I'm found dead,
I hope you realize you'll both be under suspicion.
It seemed a foolish quarrel at the time.
Yet when I left them, I kept hearing Lettie's voice.
Very well then. But if I'm found dead.
Very well then.
Very well then. But if I'm found dead.
Suddenly a monstrous idea occurred to me.
I wondered if Lettie had been trying to warn me.
And then the horrible suspicion broke.
All the trifling things began to add up.
Lettie's nervousness.
Her fear of sailing with Mark.
Her terror of having the poison in the house.
But why?
Why should she be afraid of Mark?
What motive had he?
And then I knew.
I had helped to give him the motive when I drew up Lettie's will.
Yet my whole case was founded on thin air.
Figment of a nervous imagination.
I had to be sure.
I had to keep an eye on them.
I found myself making excuses.
Excuses to drop by at their cottage.
Where is it Lettie? Who's there?
It's Philip.
Oh Philip. Well, well, well.
You're almost getting to be a member of the family.
Well I just thought I'd ask you to help me eat the first bluefish of the season.
There's too much here for an old bachelor like me.
Why Philip Alden if you aren't the most thoughtful person.
How perfectly sweet of you. Of course you'll stay to dinner.
We'll have a real feast.
Yes, yes. You might as well stay as long as you're here.
Thank you. If you're sure I won't be intruding.
Intruding? Why of course not.
And you can help me get the dinner ready.
I'd be glad to but won't I be in Anna's way?
Anna's gone.
Gone? Why I thought you were well satisfied with her.
So we were Philip. But Anna didn't seem to be satisfied with us.
In fact they've all gone.
All?
Anna and Elsie and Otto the handyman.
They just walked out and left us.
Well for heaven's sake.
Since the ship and engine place opened on the heights nobody can keep a servant.
Can't blame them myself.
I wonder. I don't believe Anna'd take a job at the ship and engine.
Anyhow it does seem strange they all went at once doesn't it?
Letty I do wish you'd stop dramatizing everything.
Ship and engine just opened and the call went out for help.
I don't see any mystery in the servants answering.
In fact it's their patriotic duty and it's our patriotic duty to get along without them.
But it's so lonely here. Especially at night.
Now Letty you're not living here by yourself you know.
No of course not. But all the same we are isolated.
Just the two of us. And you know how tricky my nerves are.
I always feel so much better if the servants are around.
After all if anything were to happen and anything might happen...
Letty this isn't getting us any closer to our dinner.
Oh of course.
Now you boys wear these aprons.
Philip since it's your fish you may have the honor of cooking it.
All right you asked for it. It'll be your funeral.
Now Philip oh Mark you hull the berries for the dessert.
I'll do the vegetables and set the table.
Well for a seasoned bachelor this dinner's a rare treat Letty.
Oh I'm so glad you enjoyed it Philip.
Oh I don't deserve the credit.
That blue fish was simply delicious.
How did you manage to catch it all by yourself?
I always think men are so wonderful.
I'll be glad to take you both the next time I go fishing.
It's good fun. Fresh air would be good for you Letty.
Oh no I couldn't.
Well I'm still just a wee bit nervous about the water.
Though I tried terribly hard haven't I Mark?
Yes yes.
I've been good about the sailing.
And you know I'm learning to manage the Artemis all by myself.
Aren't I Mark?
I don't write my name in the wake anymore do I?
Yes Letty's a real hand at the tiller.
She'll be a better sailor than I am soon you see.
You'd have seen her take the Artemis into harbor the other day.
You did all by yourself?
Yes she came through that channel with a breeze against her.
I wanted to take it over afraid she'd run into the mud flats.
But no she coaxed it all the way and we came in under sail.
Yes and I wanted to do it all by myself even though I was terrified.
Good for you why that's really a splendid accomplishment.
I've been negotiating the harbor for years but I confess that I have trouble every now and then.
Well since nobody wants any more berries I guess it's time to do the dishes.
Now I'll show you what a good hand I am as a dishwasher.
Wait a minute wait a minute that's my job.
No I clean and wash.
You two can dry and you can dry.
Letty what is it?
Well you shouldn't have tried to carry that tray.
No it's not that.
Why Letty what happened to you? You look ghastly.
I'm afraid I... something I ate.
Here here you better lie down.
I'll carry her upstairs get a doctor will you.
I'm afraid Mark I'm afraid I've been poisoned.
But great heavens Philip I just can't believe it.
Arsenic poisoning?
Do you think Dr. Potter knows what he's talking about?
I'm sure he does.
Of course we can't be sure till the tests are made but I don't see I don't understand.
Not very hard to understand.
Letty ate arsenic.
However where she got it we don't know but it's not difficult to guess.
But we all ate the same meal you and I and she.
Why? Good Lord Philip.
Do you think we are poisoned too?
I feel perfectly all right.
You appear to be comfortable.
I think we'd feel it by now.
But then how on earth...
Let's be perfectly logical about it.
We all ate the bluefish.
Yes.
I prepared it.
We all had potatoes and string beans.
Letty cooked those.
Yes yes.
Then we all ate strawberries.
You prepared them.
Why?
Now the fish and the vegetables were all served in large platters
and each one of us helped ourselves.
Therefore if any poison were in the food we'd all be sick.
But the strawberries Mark...
See here Alden are you suggesting...
Wait a minute wait a minute.
We're just following this through logically.
The strawberries were put on the table in separate dishes.
The poison could have been slipped into Letty's plate in the kitchen.
Alden you have no right to accuse me of this.
Why you're fixing up a case against me.
I'm doing nothing of the sort.
In any event I think you might worry less about your own skin and more about Letty.
Thanks I think I can take care of my own wife.
Nevertheless I suggest you get someone to help you.
I'm perfectly well able to nurse her myself.
If I were you I'd have someone else as well.
I'll send Mrs. Halstead over from town.
She's an experienced practical nurse.
What I've always appreciated about you Philip is the way you mind your own business.
I'll be going now.
Mrs. Halstead will be along as soon as I can get her.
When the doctor's analysis came it was arsenic poisoning all right.
There were traces of arsenic in the sugar on Letty's dish.
Letty was recovering the dose wasn't large enough to kill her.
Mrs. Halstead was installed as nurse and housekeeper.
Just then business called me to New York.
Where I found myself worrying about Letty.
I couldn't get her out of my mind.
She will then.
But if I'm found dead.
I was bothered by a few loose ends of Letty's problem.
The sort of questions that would occur to a legal mind.
So I decided to spend an evening in the reference room of the law library among the files where.
I found out enough about Mark and Letty Taylor to send me racing back to the Cape.
I knew I had to hurry if I was to prevent a devilish murder.
It was one of those dull gray afternoons when I arrived at the station.
Fog was so thick over the bay that it seemed to cloud the whole town.
Cold fear gripped me.
Letty and Mark I learned had left at dawn for a weekend sale.
I could picture them.
Murderer and victim.
Shrouded in the gray veils of the fog.
Drifting.
Waiting.
While the foghorns called a horse warning.
Of murder.
So.
I was too late.
The trap was sprung.
My newly gained insight into the affairs of Letty and Mark I could have averted the tragedy but.
I was too late or.
Or was I.
If only they hadn't really left for that sale.
I took the chance.
Feeling my way along the Cape Road.
I reached the Taylor cottage.
Nobody was there.
Then I.
I heard noises in the boathouse.
I crept down the slope.
Listen.
Oh Mark you fool.
Philip Alden will be sure you plan to murder me for my money.
I saw the suspicion dawn in his mind that day we made out our twin wills.
I saw it grow when our scene in the general store.
And you brought the rat poison.
And that night when I was taken ill he was sure.
Do you hear me? Sure.
You wanted to teach me to sail the Artemis.
Thought I was afraid of the water.
Well Mark Taylor when your body drifts to shore.
Philip Alden will swear that only an accident prevented you from murdering me.
What fools you men are.
Aren't you.
Well wouldn't you like to answer me Mark.
Don't you wish you could talk to me again.
To your helpless little message.
But you can't. Can you?
Dead men can't talk can they.
But they say that in the instant of dying a man can understand many things.
Did you understand Mark?
But how could you?
You are really a stupid man Mark.
Didn't you ever wonder about my former husband and his tragic death.
Did you ever want to know about Frank Hawthorne.
He did. At the very end he wondered about his predecessor George Martin.
Strange how both died in a yachting accident. Isn't it.
Frank died off the coast of California.
And George was drowned in the Gulf of Mexico.
And now you Mark.
Your body will be found some place along the Cape here I suppose.
Oh what bad luck I've had with my husband.
But how thoughtful all of you were to leave me your property.
Too bad I'm such an extravagant widow isn't it.
For I do run through money.
I wasn't lying about that.
Oh dear I wish I could.
I wish you could help me get your body to the Artemis.
If only you hadn't insisted on turning back when the fog rose.
I could have killed you so much more neatly.
A sudden gust of wind while I was at the wheel.
And the Artemis jives.
And the boom catches you and off you go to the bottom of the sea.
But now I've got to lug you back on board.
And pitch you overboard somewhere.
It was really inconsiderate Mark.
To make me kill you in the boathouse here.
You will have to drag the body aboard Letty.
Oh Philip I'm so glad you've come.
Are you Letty?
Something dreadful's happened to Mark.
I'm so upset I hardly know how to tell you.
Oh Philip I think I've.
You needn't fool a fooling faint this time Letty.
I fell for it before when you made me think that Mark had poisoned you.
That is almost.
What do you mean Philip?
That was a little too smart Letty that poisonsy.
Because when I left you I wondered about two things.
Why anyone should be foolish enough to attempt that type of murder before an audience.
And why having attempted it he should fail to make the dose large enough.
I don't know what you're talking about.
I think you do.
You see while I was in New York I took the trouble to look up a few matters that were bothering me.
And I found the newspaper clippings of your two previous.
Shall we say accidents.
Oh Philip isn't it dreadful.
Still pretending.
You're a clever woman Letty.
But I overheard you just now.
You'll never prove anything.
I think I will.
You see I found the motive too.
It was marry for money.
Marry for murder wasn't it?
I wouldn't try to run away Letty I brought a gun.
You're coming with me to the police station.
Don't wonder that you hate the sound of fog horns Letty Taylor.
You've spoiled them for me too.
And so closes Marry for Murder starring Lillian Gish with Ray Collins and Bramwell Fletcher.
Tonight's tale of suspense.
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.
When Virginia Bruce and John Loder will star in the Dorothy B Hughes suspense thriller The Cross-Eyed Bear.
The producer of these broadcasts is William Spear who with Ted Bliss the director.
Bernard Herman and Lucy and Marowick conductor and composer and Walker T Field the author collaborated on tonight's suspense.
This is CBS the Columbia broadcasting system.