WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:27.200 Suspense! 00:27.200 --> 00:33.320 This is the man in black, here again to introduce Columbia's program, Suspense. 00:33.320 --> 00:38.600 With us in Hollywood tonight as star is Mr. Gene Lockhart, whose remarkable characterizations 00:38.600 --> 00:43.560 on the screen have won him a notable following with American audiences. 00:43.560 --> 00:49.640 It is with rueful satisfaction, but with satisfaction nonetheless, that the genial Mr. Lockhart 00:49.640 --> 00:52.880 contemplates his reputation. 00:52.880 --> 00:58.920 Because of his cinematic misdoings, his numberless treacheries, betrayals and cowardly villainies, 00:58.920 --> 01:02.440 he is one of the most hated men in the country today. 01:02.440 --> 01:09.280 Our story this evening by John Shaw is called, Statement of Employee Henry Wilson. 01:09.280 --> 01:13.800 And so with the performance of Gene Lockhart, as he relates and relives the events of the 01:13.800 --> 01:19.520 climactic moment in Henry Wilson's life, we again hope to keep you in Suspense. 01:19.520 --> 01:36.880 I, I was aware that I was trembling. 01:36.880 --> 01:42.960 I tried walking slowly back and forth in front of the desk, but even in motion my knees felt 01:42.960 --> 01:46.040 weak and my whole body shook. 01:46.040 --> 01:51.600 I was it always I who trembled and never this pompous insect sitting in front of me. 01:51.600 --> 01:53.920 His voice was cool and mocking. 01:53.920 --> 01:55.680 His voice was clear and hard. 01:55.680 --> 02:00.400 Well, I sympathize with you, of course, Wilson, but the error must be brought to Mr. Larkin's 02:00.400 --> 02:01.400 attention. 02:01.400 --> 02:05.400 It is quite a big mistake, though, quite a costly mistake. 02:05.400 --> 02:07.640 Mr. Larkin must know. 02:07.640 --> 02:08.960 He wouldn't cover it up. 02:08.960 --> 02:09.960 I knew that. 02:09.960 --> 02:12.840 Two years ago, this man had come with the firm. 02:12.840 --> 02:17.120 For eight years before that, I had worked there, enjoying the work, liking the people. 02:17.120 --> 02:20.240 And then he had come there. 02:20.240 --> 02:26.240 Have you, have you ever stood quietly by and watched someone rob your house and steal your 02:26.240 --> 02:27.240 pocketbook? 02:27.240 --> 02:29.220 I was helpless. 02:29.220 --> 02:30.220 He was ambitious. 02:30.220 --> 02:31.220 He was clever. 02:31.220 --> 02:32.560 He was fluent. 02:32.560 --> 02:35.360 And as of tonight, I was his subordinate. 02:35.360 --> 02:38.400 Two years against 10 years. 02:38.400 --> 02:42.480 Around the office, I had a reputation of being casual and carefree. 02:42.480 --> 02:44.100 But I hated this man. 02:44.100 --> 02:46.640 Every inch of me hated this man. 02:46.640 --> 02:48.360 And it was not a new hatred. 02:48.360 --> 02:51.120 Of course, there is no question of your honesty. 02:51.120 --> 02:53.400 His voice was patronizing. 02:53.400 --> 02:56.280 The patient teacher and the unruly pupil. 02:56.280 --> 02:58.000 I hated him. 02:58.000 --> 03:01.400 He smiled up at me and waved his hand in dismissal. 03:01.400 --> 03:07.000 He almost brushed a small iron vase off the top of the desk with the gesture. 03:07.000 --> 03:13.800 I, I had seen that vase so often, but I had never seen it out of the eyes that I was looking 03:13.800 --> 03:14.800 at it with now. 03:14.800 --> 03:15.800 Good night, Wilson. 03:15.800 --> 03:16.800 Good night, I said. 03:16.800 --> 03:25.960 Good night, clever boy. 03:25.960 --> 03:31.000 I walked out into the corridor and rang for the elevator. 03:31.000 --> 03:35.600 What a terrible night, ain't it, Mr. Wilson? 03:35.600 --> 03:40.600 I heard the boy talking, like he was yelling at me from some distant mountain. 03:40.600 --> 03:44.640 He was talking and I was answering, but I rather whether or not I was saying I didn't 03:44.640 --> 03:45.640 know. 03:45.640 --> 03:49.640 I was thinking of, of something else. 03:49.640 --> 03:51.800 I looked at my watch as I stepped out of the car. 03:51.800 --> 03:53.960 It was 11.30 already. 03:53.960 --> 03:54.960 I mentioned it. 03:54.960 --> 03:57.200 You've had a long day today, Mr. Wilson. 03:57.200 --> 03:59.720 Those were the first words of the boy that I heard. 03:59.720 --> 04:00.720 Heard clearly. 04:00.720 --> 04:01.720 Very clearly. 04:01.720 --> 04:03.400 A yes, I told him. 04:03.400 --> 04:06.320 Oh, plenty of overtime this week. 04:06.320 --> 04:08.680 I stood and looked at him for a moment. 04:08.680 --> 04:10.160 Mr. Dodds is still in the office. 04:10.160 --> 04:11.840 You might drop in and see if he wants anything. 04:11.840 --> 04:12.840 I think he'd be very grateful. 04:12.840 --> 04:13.840 I will, sir. 04:13.840 --> 04:14.840 I certainly will. 04:14.840 --> 04:16.120 It'll help to pass the time, sir. 04:16.120 --> 04:19.240 I don't like to complain, but these nights pass awful slow sometimes. 04:19.240 --> 04:20.380 Ah, yes. 04:20.380 --> 04:22.440 Go up and see if he wants anything. 04:22.440 --> 04:25.280 Go up and see. 04:25.280 --> 04:29.400 I walked out of the lobby and came back into the building again when the boy had gotten 04:29.400 --> 04:30.400 into the elevator. 04:30.400 --> 04:31.400 Four flights up. 04:31.400 --> 04:34.560 I took the stairs slowly. 04:34.560 --> 04:35.560 I was in no rush. 04:35.560 --> 04:38.920 I must let the boy get out of the room first. 04:38.920 --> 04:41.520 He said the nights passed slowly. 04:41.520 --> 04:46.760 This one wouldn't, and yet there would be an eternity compressed in it. 04:46.760 --> 04:50.720 When I got to the fourth floor, I stood at the top of the stairs and watched the door 04:50.720 --> 04:52.320 to Dodds' office. 04:52.320 --> 04:55.680 The elevator was parked at the floor so I knew the boy was in the room. 04:55.680 --> 05:00.000 A short while later, he came out, and I crouched back in the shadows until he'd gone down in 05:00.000 --> 05:06.000 the car, and then I walked into the room, not in a crouch or moving my feet so that 05:06.000 --> 05:09.880 no sound would wake the stillness, but casually, honestly. 05:09.880 --> 05:13.880 There was a small waiting room at Mr. Dodds' office. 05:13.880 --> 05:16.640 In two years, he had a waiting room. 05:16.640 --> 05:18.600 In ten, I had none. 05:18.600 --> 05:21.480 I felt like laughing at the symbolism of that fact. 05:21.480 --> 05:22.560 Who's there? 05:22.560 --> 05:25.280 I called out my name and entered his office. 05:25.280 --> 05:26.280 Yes? 05:26.280 --> 05:28.440 What is it, Wilson? 05:28.440 --> 05:34.000 He was still sitting down, and the iron vase was still alongside of him, very close to 05:34.000 --> 05:35.000 him. 05:35.000 --> 05:36.000 I started to talk. 05:36.000 --> 05:38.120 I don't know what about business, things in general. 05:38.120 --> 05:39.120 I've quite forgotten. 05:39.120 --> 05:44.960 I reached across and picked up the iron vase casually, very casually, but his eyes went 05:44.960 --> 05:53.160 wild suddenly, and he jumped, and I hit him square on the top of the head with the vase. 05:53.160 --> 05:54.320 It wasn't a very good shot. 05:54.320 --> 05:58.040 I had no leverage, but he started to slump back in the chair. 05:58.040 --> 06:02.800 I hit him again hard, and again and again, and a red streak ran across his forehead, 06:02.800 --> 06:04.240 and he laced him. 06:04.240 --> 06:05.800 I put my hand against his heart. 06:05.800 --> 06:18.320 For a moment, there was a soft beating, and then I could feel nothing. 06:18.320 --> 06:21.280 I was very calm and very warm. 06:21.280 --> 06:24.880 I was calmer than I'd ever been before. 06:24.880 --> 06:27.760 I wiped off the vase and put it back onto the desk. 06:27.760 --> 06:31.720 I ran through the papers the guards had been looking at until I found the one paper I was 06:31.720 --> 06:32.720 looking for. 06:32.720 --> 06:36.760 I ripped it into little bits, and I put the pieces into my pocket. 06:36.760 --> 06:39.160 Outside the building, my first act would be to scatter the pieces. 06:39.160 --> 06:41.680 I'd cover my mistake myself. 06:41.680 --> 06:43.760 I moved slowly back to the door. 06:43.760 --> 06:48.480 I wiped the door knob and looked once around the room before I opened the door and stepped 06:48.480 --> 06:54.080 out into the waiting room, and then... 06:54.080 --> 06:57.120 Going home, Mr. Wilson? 06:57.120 --> 07:01.520 I stood there, afraid to turn, afraid to think. 07:01.520 --> 07:05.560 I slammed the door shut behind me and stood in front of it. 07:05.560 --> 07:07.240 Are you all right, Mr. Wilson? 07:07.240 --> 07:11.240 I tried to talk, but the words got caught somewhere in my throat. 07:11.240 --> 07:14.840 It was the sweeper, Tom Heapy, the night sweeper. 07:14.840 --> 07:17.080 I almost fainted. 07:17.080 --> 07:18.320 Everything had been set so nicely. 07:18.320 --> 07:19.560 I'd left the building. 07:19.560 --> 07:22.500 The elevator boy had come up and found Dodds in good health. 07:22.500 --> 07:24.360 Someone had stolen him later and killed him. 07:24.360 --> 07:26.240 That would be the elevator boy's story. 07:26.240 --> 07:28.960 If there was no suspicion attached to anyone, it would be the boy. 07:28.960 --> 07:30.560 I had left the building. 07:30.560 --> 07:35.120 I had left the building, but now this. 07:35.120 --> 07:37.320 Are you all right, Mr. Wilson? 07:37.320 --> 07:38.320 I'm fine, Tom. 07:38.320 --> 07:39.760 A bit of a cold, that's all. 07:39.760 --> 07:40.760 A weakens one. 07:40.760 --> 07:41.760 How are the wife and kids? 07:41.760 --> 07:42.760 Fine, fine. 07:42.760 --> 07:44.560 The shock was wearing off. 07:44.560 --> 07:46.040 Mr. Dodds is in his room now. 07:46.040 --> 07:47.600 Tom, working very late tonight. 07:47.600 --> 07:51.000 You'd better, you know, let his office go for this once. 07:51.000 --> 07:53.080 Well, if you say so, Mr. Wilson. 07:53.080 --> 07:55.280 I could give it a quick brush, though, sir. 07:55.280 --> 07:57.240 I wouldn't disturb him, none. 07:57.240 --> 08:00.000 I stood firm in front of the door. 08:00.000 --> 08:03.440 For a moment, I wondered if he'd seen anything when I'd come out of the room. 08:03.440 --> 08:05.280 It was possible. 08:05.280 --> 08:07.280 He could have looked over my shoulder. 08:07.280 --> 08:08.280 Ah, no. 08:08.280 --> 08:11.440 No, he hadn't seen anything. 08:11.440 --> 08:15.000 He began to sweep the sitting room, and I stood and watched him. 08:15.000 --> 08:16.800 I couldn't let him get out of here. 08:16.800 --> 08:20.480 I'd go to the chair if he told me about being there. 08:20.480 --> 08:21.480 And I couldn't kill him, too. 08:21.480 --> 08:23.920 Oh, what a quick step it had been. 08:23.920 --> 08:25.200 Back to normal. 08:25.200 --> 08:28.840 I was nervous again, and I felt a sickness at the bottom of my stomach. 08:28.840 --> 08:33.200 I tried to talk, to talk, and I sounded stupid. 08:33.200 --> 08:34.440 Tom looked at me. 08:34.440 --> 08:35.800 I wouldn't. 08:35.800 --> 08:37.440 I wouldn't have to touch him. 08:37.440 --> 08:38.960 It would be his word against mine. 08:38.960 --> 08:39.960 And I had left the building. 08:39.960 --> 08:44.520 I opened the door quickly and went back into Dodds' office. 08:44.520 --> 08:49.320 I tried to keep my eyes away from that thing at the desk. 08:49.320 --> 08:54.240 I remember that he'd kept a bottle in one of the doors, and I took it and brought it 08:54.240 --> 08:56.120 out to the sitting room with me. 08:56.120 --> 09:00.880 Oh, Tom, Mr. Dodds has a birthday tomorrow, and he wonders if you'll drink his health 09:00.880 --> 09:01.880 with me. 09:01.880 --> 09:03.760 Well, I don't think you'd better take any tonight. 09:03.760 --> 09:05.440 Mr. Dodds has a birthday. 09:05.440 --> 09:08.640 Sometime tomorrow he'll be a day old in the next world. 09:08.640 --> 09:11.280 Tom was famous for his liquor habits, but he hesitated. 09:11.280 --> 09:12.280 Well, now... 09:12.280 --> 09:13.280 I poured the drinks. 09:13.280 --> 09:14.560 I don't think you'd better... 09:14.560 --> 09:16.180 Up with it, Tom, and down with it. 09:16.180 --> 09:17.680 And here's to Mr. Dodds. 09:17.680 --> 09:19.240 Well, all right. 09:19.240 --> 09:20.720 Here's kindness. 09:20.720 --> 09:23.440 He drank one. 09:23.440 --> 09:24.440 He drank another. 09:24.440 --> 09:28.400 He drank a third, and still I poured them into him. 09:28.400 --> 09:32.640 He got talkative and grew very gay, but he didn't pass out. 09:32.640 --> 09:33.640 I looked at my watch. 09:33.640 --> 09:36.840 It was almost half past 12. 09:36.840 --> 09:38.880 One whole hour I'd wasted with him. 09:38.880 --> 09:40.440 I could stand no more. 09:40.440 --> 09:41.440 He was drunk. 09:41.440 --> 09:43.120 Any test would show that. 09:43.120 --> 09:45.720 His story tomorrow would be listed as a drunkard's babble. 09:45.720 --> 09:50.440 I had left the building an hour ago. 09:50.440 --> 09:52.560 I couldn't afford to waste any more time. 09:52.560 --> 09:55.280 I walked behind him, and he was laughing. 09:55.280 --> 09:59.600 And I hit him as hard as I could on the back of the neck. 09:59.600 --> 10:03.560 He pitched forward off the chair onto the floor. 10:03.560 --> 10:08.040 I dragged him into Dodds' office, and I lifted him into the chair facing Dodds. 10:08.040 --> 10:11.200 I brought the bottle in from the sitting room and put it on the desk in front of Dodds. 10:11.200 --> 10:15.200 I took the iron vase and curled Tom's hands around it for the fingerprints, and I dropped 10:15.200 --> 10:16.200 it at his feet. 10:16.200 --> 10:17.200 A bottle. 10:17.200 --> 10:18.200 A fight. 10:18.200 --> 10:19.200 A killing. 10:19.200 --> 10:24.320 I was sweating. 10:24.320 --> 10:27.640 I went out into the sitting room again and almost fell to my knees. 10:27.640 --> 10:29.080 I was frightened. 10:29.080 --> 10:30.920 I had to get out of here. 10:30.920 --> 10:34.080 I got to the lobby and looked out of the shadows at the elevator. 10:34.080 --> 10:37.760 The boy was sitting on a chair outside the car, and he seemed asleep. 10:37.760 --> 10:42.320 I came out of the darkness and went quickly towards the street and began to walk rapidly. 10:42.320 --> 10:44.560 I wanted to get somewhere out of the world. 10:44.560 --> 10:48.280 Would I ever sleep again? 10:48.280 --> 10:51.920 Many murderers are not supposed to, and I want to rest. 10:51.920 --> 10:52.920 Ah! 10:52.920 --> 10:55.400 I had a sudden idea. 10:55.400 --> 10:58.120 I went into a cafeteria and used the telephone. 10:58.120 --> 11:03.160 I called the building and got the elevator boy on the phone. 11:03.160 --> 11:04.160 Hello there. 11:04.160 --> 11:05.160 Hello, Jim. 11:05.160 --> 11:07.880 Oh, this is Mr. Wilson, Jim. 11:07.880 --> 11:10.320 Has Mr. Dodds left yet? 11:10.320 --> 11:14.600 The voice that answered me was sleepy, and the words were hard to make out, but I knew 11:14.600 --> 11:16.600 all the answers. 11:16.600 --> 11:19.480 Well, listen closely, Jim. 11:19.480 --> 11:23.480 Will you tell him that the address of the place we were talking about is 144 Grey Street? 11:23.480 --> 11:24.880 Yes, one for... 11:24.880 --> 11:26.160 Yes, that's right. 11:26.160 --> 11:28.280 Oh, he'll know what I mean. 11:28.280 --> 11:30.240 Will you go up and tell him now, Jim? 11:30.240 --> 11:31.440 All right. 11:31.440 --> 11:33.720 Thanks a lot, Jim. 11:33.720 --> 11:37.700 I was sure the sweeper would be discovered in the room with Dodds. 11:37.700 --> 11:39.080 The address was a Turkish bath. 11:39.080 --> 11:40.080 It's logical. 11:40.080 --> 11:43.280 A man working all night might want to go to a Turkish bath afterwards. 11:43.280 --> 11:48.200 Jim, Jim would walk in now, and Heaven only knew what came next. 11:48.200 --> 11:51.880 The sweeper would be caught like a rat in a trap, drunk, and with a murdered man sitting 11:51.880 --> 11:53.880 across from him. 11:53.880 --> 11:57.680 I walked home through streets that crushed me in their shadows, between walls that whispered 11:57.680 --> 11:59.160 at me as I passed. 11:59.160 --> 12:04.520 I sat up in my room for hours listening to the sounds Manhattan makes in the night, and 12:04.520 --> 12:07.480 finally, finally I fell asleep. 12:07.480 --> 12:20.240 And I sat, and I slept, and I dreamed until sunrise. 12:20.240 --> 12:21.680 I woke with a start. 12:21.680 --> 12:24.240 I was shaking like some miserable wet cur. 12:24.240 --> 12:27.360 I took a drink and tried breathing deeply. 12:27.360 --> 12:30.920 Somewhere I read that deep breathing killed that scared feeling. 12:30.920 --> 12:32.760 What in blazes was I frightened about? 12:32.760 --> 12:33.760 I was safe. 12:33.760 --> 12:34.760 I was completely safe. 12:34.760 --> 12:38.400 But when I left the house, I was still shaking. 12:38.400 --> 12:42.640 I walked all around the block that the building was on before I went inside. 12:42.640 --> 12:44.960 It looked like any other morning. 12:44.960 --> 12:51.280 On the floor where my office was, I saw a policeman, and then another, and then my world 12:51.280 --> 12:56.160 was surrounded by a ring of police and plainclothes men. 12:56.160 --> 12:57.160 I must watch my nerves. 12:57.160 --> 13:01.400 I must move carefully, very carefully. 13:01.400 --> 13:04.440 None of them paid any more attention to me than they did to any of the others. 13:04.440 --> 13:08.080 They assembled all of us in the president's office, and then one of them, a sharp alert 13:08.080 --> 13:10.120 young man, began to talk. 13:10.120 --> 13:14.040 Last night, please. 13:14.040 --> 13:20.800 Last night an attempt was made on the life of one of your associates, Mr. Charles Dodds. 13:20.800 --> 13:24.160 A murmur ran around the room. 13:24.160 --> 13:27.360 I was talking with the rest, being surprised with the rest. 13:27.360 --> 13:30.000 But what did he, what does he mean, an attempt? 13:30.000 --> 13:33.280 Dodds had been dead, or had he? 13:33.280 --> 13:39.920 Unfortunately, however, the attack was not successful. 13:39.920 --> 13:44.000 And Mr. Dodds has supplied us with some rather unbelievable information. 13:44.000 --> 13:45.000 Oh. 13:45.000 --> 13:46.000 Information which we are checking. 13:46.000 --> 13:47.800 I tried to hold myself. 13:47.800 --> 13:53.240 I felt faint suddenly, and then something happened inside me, and I did not break. 13:53.240 --> 13:54.240 It was a trick. 13:54.240 --> 13:55.240 It was a trick. 13:55.240 --> 13:56.240 I was sure of it. 13:56.240 --> 14:01.240 The detective stared at us, running his eyes across our faces, across my face, searching, 14:01.240 --> 14:05.520 staring, and then he, he shrugged his shoulders. 14:05.520 --> 14:12.880 Well, as a matter of fact, Mr. Dodds was killed. 14:12.880 --> 14:17.160 And another man you might know also died last night. 14:17.160 --> 14:20.000 Mr. Thomas Higbee, the night sweeper. 14:20.000 --> 14:21.000 Higbee? 14:21.000 --> 14:22.000 Dead, too? 14:22.000 --> 14:27.760 Again, that rustle of voices, that droning conversation that I was part of. 14:27.760 --> 14:29.680 Some of them had known Higbee, liked him. 14:29.680 --> 14:31.360 I hadn't meant to kill him. 14:31.360 --> 14:32.760 Could there be some mistake? 14:32.760 --> 14:34.400 I wanted to ask one of these men. 14:34.400 --> 14:35.400 Was there some mistake? 14:35.400 --> 14:36.720 I hadn't meant to kill him. 14:36.720 --> 14:38.440 Mr. Dodds was clubbed to death. 14:38.440 --> 14:41.280 A night sweeper died of a heart attack. 14:41.280 --> 14:43.760 Nothing more is known as yet about what happened here last night. 14:43.760 --> 14:48.120 You must all consider yourselves at the disposal of the police, till you're told otherwise. 14:48.120 --> 14:49.120 Blast them. 14:49.120 --> 14:51.120 Why didn't they say something? 14:51.120 --> 14:52.820 They were lying to these people. 14:52.820 --> 14:53.820 Nothing more was known. 14:53.820 --> 14:54.820 That's nonsense. 14:54.820 --> 14:56.460 Why, it was all there for them to see. 14:56.460 --> 14:57.840 It told its own story. 14:57.840 --> 14:59.240 Higbee had killed Dodds. 14:59.240 --> 15:03.360 Poor, harmless little Higbee had killed that big, famous executive. 15:03.360 --> 15:04.360 And now... 15:04.360 --> 15:06.960 Mr. Wilson, will you come this way, please? 15:06.960 --> 15:09.080 Just a little routine questioning, that's all. 15:09.080 --> 15:11.920 Everybody here will have to undergo it. 15:11.920 --> 15:12.920 I must wash myself. 15:12.920 --> 15:18.880 I must go very slowly. 15:18.880 --> 15:22.000 Sit here, won't you, Mr. Wilson? 15:22.000 --> 15:25.680 Now, do you remember what time you left the office last night? 15:25.680 --> 15:26.680 Yes, yes. 15:26.680 --> 15:27.680 It was 11.30. 15:27.680 --> 15:31.600 I remember mentioning it to the elevator boy. 15:31.600 --> 15:33.200 And what time did you get home? 15:33.200 --> 15:36.600 Oh, somewhere about half past 12, I guess. 15:36.600 --> 15:38.400 Yes, just about that time. 15:38.400 --> 15:40.280 Is there anybody who would swear to that? 15:40.280 --> 15:41.920 Well, the elevator boy... 15:41.920 --> 15:43.800 Oh, I don't mean that. 15:43.800 --> 15:46.480 Is there anyone who saw you go into your house at 12.30? 15:46.480 --> 15:48.880 I hardly think so. 15:48.880 --> 15:52.240 At that time, the streets aren't too well populated, you know, officer. 15:52.240 --> 15:54.360 And I live in a house where people mind their own business. 15:54.360 --> 15:56.480 I really don't know anybody in the house. 15:56.480 --> 15:59.040 And I doubt if anybody saw me go into it. 15:59.040 --> 16:02.840 But you can check with the elevator boy, though, as to my going home at 11.30. 16:02.840 --> 16:06.420 Yes, we have already. 16:06.420 --> 16:09.640 You weren't on the best of terms with Dodds, were you, Wilson? 16:09.640 --> 16:12.240 Oh, I was fond of him. 16:12.240 --> 16:14.480 But I don't know what right you have to say a thing like that. 16:14.480 --> 16:17.560 He kind of did you out of a job around here, didn't he? 16:17.560 --> 16:19.800 Oh, he was a smart man. 16:19.800 --> 16:22.360 Mr. Dodds was an exceptionally smart man. 16:22.360 --> 16:25.000 It was not at all a disgrace to lose a position to him. 16:25.000 --> 16:27.120 When I left him last night, he was in excellent health. 16:27.120 --> 16:31.600 And if I killed a man every time I had a job taken away from me, I'd have quite a long 16:31.600 --> 16:33.240 line of victims behind me. 16:33.240 --> 16:36.140 Of course, I'm just joking, you know. 16:36.140 --> 16:38.680 You made a phone call to him last night, didn't you? 16:38.680 --> 16:40.400 Yes, to the elevator boy. 16:40.400 --> 16:45.320 I remember suggesting that he go to a Turkish bath after he'd finished work to sort of tone 16:45.320 --> 16:46.320 up. 16:46.320 --> 16:47.320 They're very good, you know. 16:47.320 --> 16:50.080 And I mentioned that I knew a very good one that I could recommend. 16:50.080 --> 16:53.560 And then when he asked me the name of it, I couldn't think of the address of the place. 16:53.560 --> 16:55.800 I thought of it later, though, and I phoned the building. 16:55.800 --> 16:57.680 Where'd you phone from? 16:57.680 --> 16:59.440 From a little place in the neighborhood. 16:59.440 --> 17:01.080 And about what time did you phone? 17:01.080 --> 17:05.120 Well, it was about 12.25, I guess. 17:05.120 --> 17:06.880 I was getting a little mixed up. 17:06.880 --> 17:07.880 It couldn't have been then. 17:07.880 --> 17:11.080 I was still in the building at 12.30. 17:11.080 --> 17:12.120 They were confusing me. 17:12.120 --> 17:15.880 You called at exactly 12.55. 17:15.880 --> 17:19.560 So you must have miscalculated the time of your arrival at home. 17:19.560 --> 17:21.840 However, that isn't important. 17:21.840 --> 17:25.560 None of us is expected to time ourselves from place to place, are we? 17:25.560 --> 17:28.760 When we find too good an alibi, we get kind of suspicious. 17:28.760 --> 17:32.760 Well, I don't think we'll have to bother you anymore, Mr. Wilson. 17:32.760 --> 17:33.760 Thank you. 17:33.760 --> 17:36.720 He asked me to send somebody in to see him as I went out. 17:36.720 --> 17:39.320 I forget who it was. 17:39.320 --> 17:41.680 I was thinking very hard. 17:41.680 --> 17:44.400 I went into my office and sat down. 17:44.400 --> 17:45.520 So easy. 17:45.520 --> 17:48.920 Was it possible the whole thing was over and so easily? 17:48.920 --> 17:50.960 Hello there, Wilson. 17:50.960 --> 17:53.880 Very sad, this business. 17:53.880 --> 17:54.880 Very sad. 17:54.880 --> 17:56.440 Good morning, Mr. Larkin. 17:56.440 --> 17:57.720 But we must go on. 17:57.720 --> 17:59.120 Mr. Dodds would want it that way. 17:59.120 --> 18:00.800 Yes, sir, he would. 18:00.800 --> 18:04.880 It's a responsible job he had, Wilson, but you've been with us long enough to know that. 18:04.880 --> 18:05.880 Yes, sir. 18:05.880 --> 18:07.360 Do you think you can handle it? 18:07.360 --> 18:08.360 Well, sir, I... 18:08.360 --> 18:10.240 Yes, sir, I think I can. 18:10.240 --> 18:11.240 Good. 18:11.240 --> 18:13.480 Get your stuff together and take over Dodds' old office. 18:13.480 --> 18:17.560 You deserve this, Wilson, and I'm sure you'll reward our confidence in you. 18:17.560 --> 18:18.720 Well, thank you very much, sir. 18:18.720 --> 18:20.400 Of course, I hardly expected... 18:20.400 --> 18:24.480 On second thought, I think you'd better go into his office right away and sort of straighten 18:24.480 --> 18:26.160 out some of the things on his desk. 18:26.160 --> 18:28.640 I'll have one of the boys bring your things in later. 18:28.640 --> 18:29.640 Very well, sir. 18:29.640 --> 18:30.640 Good luck. 18:30.640 --> 18:31.640 Thank you, sir. 18:31.640 --> 18:35.680 The fat pompous pig. 18:35.680 --> 18:38.320 Why hadn't he said those things before last night? 18:38.320 --> 18:39.480 They were all in a spot now. 18:39.480 --> 18:41.720 They needed poor, stupid Wilson. 18:41.720 --> 18:43.640 They needed me to get them out of a hole. 18:43.640 --> 18:46.320 The further the thing went, the funnier it got. 18:46.320 --> 18:49.760 Books were wrong about virtue and good, counting for anything. 18:49.760 --> 18:54.480 To get ahead, you either married the boss's daughter or killed the boss. 18:54.480 --> 18:58.080 I took a pencil and a small notebook and went out into the corridor. 18:58.080 --> 19:02.760 I stood for a moment outside Dodds' office, just like last night, and then I pushed the 19:02.760 --> 19:09.000 door open slowly, the sitting room, and then the door to the office. 19:09.000 --> 19:11.240 I opened it and walked inside. 19:11.240 --> 19:17.880 I heard the door close softly behind me, and I stood there, smelling the death in the air. 19:17.880 --> 19:21.520 And then, and then, I saw it. 19:21.520 --> 19:22.520 I saw it. 19:22.520 --> 19:25.840 I tried to yell, but I couldn't get the words out. 19:25.840 --> 19:32.280 There, there in front of me, sitting in the chair. 19:32.280 --> 19:37.520 What I'd propped him last night was Tom Higbee, his eyes open, his expression blank and staring, 19:37.520 --> 19:42.400 and at his feet was the bottle and the vase, the same bottle, the same vase. 19:42.400 --> 19:43.920 Dodds was all that was missing. 19:43.920 --> 19:46.640 I turned and I bolted into the hall. 19:46.640 --> 19:47.960 Higbee? 19:47.960 --> 19:50.280 What's the matter, Wilson? 19:50.280 --> 19:51.760 You look like you'd seen a ghost. 19:51.760 --> 19:53.760 In the office, in the office. 19:53.760 --> 19:54.760 Higbee. 19:54.760 --> 19:55.760 Higbee? 19:55.760 --> 19:56.760 Why, Higbee's dead, man. 19:56.760 --> 19:57.760 What's the matter? 19:57.760 --> 19:59.240 Mr. Larkin, where's Mr. Larkin? 19:59.240 --> 20:00.240 Here I am, Wilson. 20:00.240 --> 20:01.240 What's the matter? 20:01.240 --> 20:02.240 In the office, in the office. 20:02.240 --> 20:03.240 What? 20:03.240 --> 20:08.680 Why, if nothing's the matter in here, I don't... 20:08.680 --> 20:10.640 I walked in after him. 20:10.640 --> 20:12.680 There was nothing there, nothing. 20:12.680 --> 20:14.720 No Higbee, no bottle, no vase. 20:14.720 --> 20:15.960 But I saw them. 20:15.960 --> 20:16.960 I saw them. 20:16.960 --> 20:17.960 Oh, was I going crazy? 20:17.960 --> 20:18.960 Was I beginning to go mad? 20:18.960 --> 20:19.960 I felt Larkin's pat on my shoulder. 20:19.960 --> 20:22.960 He murmured something about everybody being a little touchy, a little jumpy. 20:22.960 --> 20:29.960 And then he left and I was alone in the room. 20:29.960 --> 20:34.960 Be careful, be careful, be careful. 20:34.960 --> 20:39.680 I stood, I stared at the desk and at the chair. 20:39.680 --> 20:41.120 No one was there. 20:41.120 --> 20:42.960 No one could have been there. 20:42.960 --> 20:45.960 I must watch myself. 20:45.960 --> 20:46.960 What? 20:46.960 --> 20:50.480 Oh, I beg your pardon. 20:50.480 --> 20:52.280 Oh, not at all. 20:52.280 --> 20:54.480 I seem to be in the wrong room. 20:54.480 --> 20:56.480 I'm Mrs. Charles Dodds. 20:56.480 --> 20:58.560 I'm looking for that young detective. 20:58.560 --> 21:00.080 He doesn't seem to be out here. 21:00.080 --> 21:02.480 I believe he's in the end room, questioning the employees. 21:02.480 --> 21:06.160 Then I don't suppose he'll be able to see me for a little while. 21:06.160 --> 21:07.760 Do you mind if I wait here for him? 21:07.760 --> 21:08.760 Well, I... 21:08.760 --> 21:09.760 Thank you so much. 21:09.760 --> 21:11.760 Excuse me for a second. 21:11.760 --> 21:16.280 Charlie, will you tell the detective that Mrs. Dodds is waiting for him in... 21:16.280 --> 21:17.280 in my new office? 21:17.280 --> 21:19.760 Oh, you've already seated yourself. 21:19.760 --> 21:23.520 I was going to suggest that perhaps this seat might... 21:23.520 --> 21:24.760 She was sitting in his chair. 21:24.760 --> 21:26.280 There was blood in that chair. 21:26.280 --> 21:29.200 This is quite all right, thank you. 21:29.200 --> 21:32.760 Charles would have liked to see the way everybody's taking his death. 21:32.760 --> 21:34.160 Everyone is so kind to me. 21:34.160 --> 21:36.280 Mr. Dodds was a fine man, a fine man. 21:36.280 --> 21:38.080 You're Mr. Wilson, aren't you? 21:38.080 --> 21:39.880 He used to talk about you. 21:39.880 --> 21:42.920 Thought you were a very bright person. 21:42.920 --> 21:44.960 He seemed very fond of you. 21:44.960 --> 21:45.960 I... 21:45.960 --> 21:49.920 I don't know how I'll be able to go on without him. 21:49.920 --> 21:52.920 Mrs. Dodds, you mustn't, you mustn't. 21:52.920 --> 21:56.880 I'm sorry. 21:56.880 --> 21:59.760 He wouldn't like to see me carrying on like this, would he? 21:59.760 --> 22:02.560 We were going to buy a home in Westchester this summer. 22:02.560 --> 22:04.880 Did he ever tell you that? 22:04.880 --> 22:05.880 Yes. 22:05.880 --> 22:08.360 Just outside Yonkers. 22:08.360 --> 22:10.520 We have two lovely little ones. 22:10.520 --> 22:12.520 Toby and Little Mary. 22:12.520 --> 22:14.920 He loved the New York state countryside. 22:14.920 --> 22:16.360 We talked so much about it. 22:16.360 --> 22:18.560 On, on she rambled. 22:18.560 --> 22:19.560 He liked this. 22:19.560 --> 22:20.560 He didn't like that. 22:20.560 --> 22:21.560 The children, the children. 22:21.560 --> 22:22.560 Toby and Little Mary. 22:22.560 --> 22:24.560 Toby and Little Mary, she was driving me crazy. 22:24.560 --> 22:25.560 Stop it, I wanted to yell. 22:25.560 --> 22:28.000 Get out of here and leave me in peace. 22:28.000 --> 22:29.000 Get out of here, you witch. 22:29.000 --> 22:30.000 Get out, get out. 22:30.000 --> 22:34.640 Mrs. Dodds, Detective Lewis would like to see you now. 22:34.640 --> 22:36.640 Thank you for everything, Mr. Wilson. 22:36.640 --> 22:37.640 And goodbye. 22:37.640 --> 22:38.640 Goodbye. 22:38.640 --> 22:41.640 Goodbye and get out and leave me alone. 22:41.640 --> 22:43.760 I hadn't meant to do anything like that. 22:43.760 --> 22:46.000 I hadn't wanted to do any of the things I was doing. 22:46.000 --> 22:48.160 All I'd wanted to do was to kill Dodds. 22:48.160 --> 22:50.000 All these other things, they weren't mine. 22:50.000 --> 22:51.440 I hadn't killed Higbee. 22:51.440 --> 22:53.040 He can't haunt me. 22:53.040 --> 22:54.920 His wife can't cry at me. 22:54.920 --> 22:55.920 Heart attack. 22:55.920 --> 22:56.920 That's it. 22:56.920 --> 22:57.920 Higbee died of a heart attack. 22:57.920 --> 22:58.920 I beg your pardon, sir. 22:58.920 --> 23:00.080 Have you seen Mrs. Higbee? 23:00.080 --> 23:01.320 The detective is looking for her. 23:01.320 --> 23:02.320 How would I see her? 23:02.320 --> 23:03.320 Am I everybody's guardian? 23:03.320 --> 23:05.320 How can anybody get lost in this office? 23:05.320 --> 23:06.320 Sorry, sir. 23:06.320 --> 23:07.320 Mrs. Higbee. 23:07.320 --> 23:08.320 Stop it, you fool. 23:08.320 --> 23:09.320 Mrs. Higbee. 23:09.320 --> 23:10.320 You howling idiot. 23:10.320 --> 23:11.320 Can't you be looked for quietly? 23:11.320 --> 23:12.320 You will drag Higbee from his grave with your yelling. 23:12.320 --> 23:13.320 Two widows. 23:13.320 --> 23:14.320 What? 23:14.320 --> 23:15.320 You manufacture widows, don't you, Mr. Wilson? 23:15.320 --> 23:16.320 Widows and orphans. 23:16.320 --> 23:17.320 Tell me, Mr. Wilson, is it your life's work or is it just a hobby with you? 23:17.320 --> 23:18.320 Tell me, Mr. Wilson. 23:18.320 --> 23:19.320 Who is that? 23:19.320 --> 23:20.320 Who is that talking? 23:20.320 --> 23:21.320 Do they think they can make a fool of me? 23:21.320 --> 23:22.320 I'm not a fool. 23:22.320 --> 23:23.320 I'm a fool. 23:23.320 --> 23:24.320 I'm a fool. 23:24.320 --> 23:25.320 I'm a fool. 23:25.320 --> 23:26.320 I'm a fool. 23:26.320 --> 23:27.320 I'm a fool. 23:27.320 --> 23:28.320 I'm a fool. 23:28.320 --> 23:29.320 I'm a fool. 23:29.320 --> 23:30.320 I'm a fool. 23:30.320 --> 23:31.320 I'm a fool. 23:31.320 --> 23:32.320 I'm a fool. 23:32.320 --> 23:36.320 I'm a fool. 23:36.320 --> 23:38.720 Aha, aha, the office communication. 23:38.720 --> 23:39.560 It's off. 23:41.060 --> 23:43.180 Oh, stop it, Mr. Wilson. 23:43.180 --> 23:44.840 You'll go bombing. 23:44.840 --> 23:46.760 You've committed the perfect crime. 23:46.760 --> 23:48.940 Don't go crazy and spoil it. 23:48.940 --> 23:49.780 No. 23:49.780 --> 23:52.000 Perfection is instinctive with you, isn't it? 23:52.000 --> 23:53.020 Yes, yes. 23:53.020 --> 23:56.360 Not a plan did you make, spontaneous perfection. 23:56.360 --> 23:57.200 Yes, yes. 23:57.200 --> 23:59.240 There aren't many who do that. 23:59.240 --> 24:02.000 Go on, go on, voices can't frighten me. 24:02.000 --> 24:04.240 They deserve to die, and that's why they're dead. 24:04.240 --> 24:07.700 Thou shalt not kill, Mr. Wilson. 24:07.700 --> 24:10.480 Thou shalt not kill. 24:10.480 --> 24:12.960 Thou shalt not kill. 24:12.960 --> 24:14.040 Not Igby. 24:14.040 --> 24:15.120 I didn't kill him. 24:15.120 --> 24:16.120 His heart stopped. 24:16.120 --> 24:17.280 Do you hear me, that's all? 24:17.280 --> 24:18.320 I didn't kill him. 24:18.320 --> 24:19.200 Now you voices stop. 24:19.200 --> 24:20.040 Do you hear me? 24:20.040 --> 24:21.080 Stop it, I command. 24:21.080 --> 24:21.920 Stop it. 24:21.920 --> 24:23.880 Is something wrong, Mr. Wilson? 24:23.880 --> 24:25.440 What do you mean is there's something wrong? 24:25.440 --> 24:26.440 Do you hear them too? 24:26.440 --> 24:27.560 Well, you mustn't listen. 24:27.560 --> 24:28.380 They lie. 24:28.380 --> 24:29.220 Do you hear me? 24:29.220 --> 24:30.060 They lie. 24:30.060 --> 24:32.040 Now get out, get out, get out. 24:32.040 --> 24:33.200 You must talk only to me. 24:33.200 --> 24:34.040 You understand me? 24:34.040 --> 24:36.160 Only to me, not to these others. 24:36.160 --> 24:37.520 Don't say anything to them. 24:37.520 --> 24:39.780 Only to me, only to me. 24:41.640 --> 24:42.640 Well, what do you want? 24:42.640 --> 24:43.920 Well, I don't know. 24:43.920 --> 24:45.920 You think they'll say something bad about me, don't you? 24:45.920 --> 24:47.460 So you can carry me off to jail. 24:47.460 --> 24:48.760 That's what you're waiting for, isn't it? 24:48.760 --> 24:49.840 Well, you're going to be disappointed. 24:49.840 --> 24:50.800 You see, they're quiet. 24:50.800 --> 24:51.640 What's quiet? 24:51.640 --> 24:52.460 Yeah, who's quiet? 24:52.460 --> 24:53.560 You think I'm going to tell you. 24:53.560 --> 24:55.240 They won't say anything unless I tell them to, 24:55.240 --> 24:56.600 and I'm not going to tell them to say anything, 24:56.600 --> 24:57.800 not one little word. 24:57.800 --> 24:59.480 Last night, last night you wanted to know 24:59.480 --> 25:01.520 all about last night, when you asked them, 25:01.520 --> 25:02.360 but they won't tell you. 25:02.360 --> 25:05.120 But the expression on that face, look at him, Lieutenant. 25:05.120 --> 25:06.720 They were there, they saw me hit him, 25:06.720 --> 25:07.840 but they won't say anything. 25:07.840 --> 25:09.240 They were there, but they won't tell you a thing, 25:09.240 --> 25:10.440 not one little word, not a single thing. 25:10.440 --> 25:11.280 He's a gibbering idiot. 25:11.280 --> 25:12.120 Because I'm not going to let him. 25:12.120 --> 25:13.920 Oh, I shouldn't have let you monkey around. 25:13.920 --> 25:15.880 We could have gotten it out of him some other way. 25:15.880 --> 25:18.000 You and your psychology. 25:18.000 --> 25:19.600 You know, you should leave that stuff in colleges. 25:19.600 --> 25:21.160 All I did was plant Higbee in the office 25:21.160 --> 25:22.640 and route Mrs. Dodds in here 25:22.640 --> 25:24.320 and talked into the ventilating system. 25:24.320 --> 25:26.160 Those voices had me creepy too. 25:26.160 --> 25:28.320 Incidentally, Dodds was single. 25:28.320 --> 25:29.160 Why? 25:29.160 --> 25:30.920 That girl's my fiancee, she's an actress. 25:30.920 --> 25:34.120 Well, for, why did you tell them Higbee was dead? 25:34.120 --> 25:36.600 No, maybe you better not explain. 25:36.600 --> 25:38.200 Psychology, huh? 25:38.200 --> 25:40.520 Well, what are we going to do with the confession now? 25:40.520 --> 25:43.040 We should have pinched him the moment he walked in here. 25:43.040 --> 25:46.320 Maybe I'm lucky I never went to college. 25:46.320 --> 25:47.800 There's no use you waiting here. 25:47.800 --> 25:48.800 They won't tell you anything. 25:48.800 --> 25:50.200 They're mine, all mine. 25:50.200 --> 25:51.520 I tell them what to say. 25:51.520 --> 25:53.360 All right, get the wagon up here. 25:53.360 --> 25:55.840 I'm not going to walk this thing through the streets. 25:55.840 --> 26:00.840 I won't say a word. 26:05.640 --> 26:09.280 Henry Wilson, it's the judgment of this court 26:09.280 --> 26:12.000 that you be sent to the Hillview Mental Home 26:12.000 --> 26:14.520 and be kept there in close confinement until... 26:14.520 --> 26:15.360 Ah. 26:22.120 --> 26:23.880 On the voice went. 26:23.880 --> 26:26.080 I had stopped listening to voices, 26:26.080 --> 26:29.000 all but the ones that I couldn't help hearing. 26:30.000 --> 26:32.680 But, but I'm not crazy. 26:32.680 --> 26:34.360 I'm not crazy. 26:34.360 --> 26:37.360 I tell people that and they look at me clearly. 26:37.360 --> 26:38.800 The stupid fools. 26:38.800 --> 26:42.560 The guards here have spread the lies that I have fits. 26:42.560 --> 26:44.680 Lies, lies I tell you. 26:44.680 --> 26:47.600 They say every night when the moon comes up, I have fits. 26:47.600 --> 26:49.040 Loud roaring fits. 26:49.040 --> 26:50.520 Well, they lie. 26:50.520 --> 26:52.480 Because it's then that I hear the voices. 26:52.480 --> 26:56.720 I hear Dodds and his wife and Toby and little Mary. 26:56.720 --> 26:59.200 And I sit quietly and I listen to them. 27:00.600 --> 27:03.080 Do you think I can have a fit in front of them? 27:03.080 --> 27:04.280 Do you now? 27:04.280 --> 27:06.480 No, I'd be ashamed. 27:06.480 --> 27:07.960 I tell you I'm not crazy. 27:07.960 --> 27:09.400 And they lie when they tell you that they lie. 27:09.400 --> 27:10.880 All of them, they lie. 27:10.880 --> 27:28.120 They're the lies, lies, lies, lies, lies. 27:28.120 --> 27:31.280 And so closes Statement of Employee Henry Wilson, 27:31.280 --> 27:33.360 starring Gene Lockhart. 27:33.360 --> 27:54.640 Tonight's tale of Suspense. 27:54.640 --> 27:57.240 This is the man in black who conveys to you 27:57.240 --> 28:01.080 Columbia's invitation to spend this half hour in suspense 28:01.080 --> 28:04.240 with us again next week, same time, 28:04.240 --> 28:09.880 when our two distinguished stars will be Margot and Philip Dawn. 28:09.880 --> 28:13.840 They will appear in a suspense play by John Dixon Carr, 28:13.840 --> 28:26.920 entitled Cabin B 13. 28:26.920 --> 28:30.240 The producer and director of Suspense is William Spear, 28:30.240 --> 28:32.080 who with Led Gluskin and Lucian Marowick, 28:32.080 --> 28:36.360 conductor and composer, and John Shaw, the author, 28:36.360 --> 28:49.840 collaborated on tonight's Suspense. 28:49.840 --> 28:52.680 Suspense fans, please note that this program will shortly 28:52.680 --> 28:54.720 move to a different day of the week. 28:54.720 --> 28:57.520 Suspense will come to listeners in Eastern and Central time 28:57.520 --> 29:00.760 zones on Thursdays beginning December 2nd, 29:00.760 --> 29:03.840 and to Mountain and Pacific time zone listeners on Mondays 29:03.840 --> 29:05.800 beginning December the 6th. 29:05.800 --> 29:08.800 Now remember Thursdays beginning December the 2nd 29:08.800 --> 29:11.280 in Eastern and Central time zones, 29:11.280 --> 29:15.040 and Mondays beginning December 6th in the Pacific and Mountain 29:15.040 --> 29:16.880 time zones for Suspense. 29:16.880 --> 29:23.160 This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.