1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,000 Suspense. 2 00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:12,000 Old Reprieve, starring Mr. John Garfield. 3 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:21,800 This morning my lawyer, Mr. Gurley, said he was trying to get me a reprieve, so I looked 4 00:00:21,800 --> 00:00:24,040 it up in a dictionary I got. 5 00:00:24,040 --> 00:00:31,080 It says reprieve to suspend temporarily the execution of a sentence upon and relief for 6 00:00:31,080 --> 00:00:33,320 secession from pain or ill. 7 00:00:33,320 --> 00:00:36,200 Well, the first part I guess Mr. Gurley can get. 8 00:00:36,200 --> 00:00:38,040 He knows all the rules. 9 00:00:38,040 --> 00:00:44,280 But the second part, secession of pain, that's up to me. 10 00:00:44,280 --> 00:00:48,640 Maybe when I've spilled it all out, put it out on a table where I can look at it, why 11 00:00:48,640 --> 00:00:56,040 I'm here, about the kid, about Laurie, maybe then will come secession of pain. 12 00:00:56,040 --> 00:00:58,040 I don't know. 13 00:00:58,040 --> 00:01:02,040 Anyway, I can try. 14 00:01:02,040 --> 00:01:04,040 Okay, name? 15 00:01:04,040 --> 00:01:05,440 Steve Hanwell. 16 00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:09,160 My old lady had to name me something, so I guess she read the name Steven on a book, 17 00:01:09,160 --> 00:01:11,240 she could read, which I doubt. 18 00:01:11,240 --> 00:01:12,240 Age 34, health? 19 00:01:12,240 --> 00:01:13,240 Excellent. 20 00:01:13,240 --> 00:01:18,600 But wait up, you don't want to sell me insurance, because tonight I'm state prisoner eight 21 00:01:18,600 --> 00:01:24,320 oh four eight three, registered in cell 77 of the state penitentiary. 22 00:01:24,320 --> 00:01:25,720 That's the death cell. 23 00:01:25,720 --> 00:01:30,800 I'm in for murder. 24 00:01:30,800 --> 00:01:36,640 I was always the bright boy, but right now, I don't know, I'm mixed up, but good. 25 00:01:36,640 --> 00:01:39,440 They're not about being here, not about murder. 26 00:01:39,440 --> 00:01:42,600 Well, the pen is my home away from home kind of. 27 00:01:42,600 --> 00:01:47,160 And murder in my social set, well, murder is as common as chickenpox in PS 137. 28 00:01:47,160 --> 00:01:53,160 No, it's that last year of honest toil that threw me for a loss, because I wasn't mixed 29 00:01:53,160 --> 00:01:56,280 up at all the night Murph and Joe and I blew out of Chicago. 30 00:01:56,280 --> 00:02:00,240 That was a minor inconvenience right in line with the way I've always lived. 31 00:02:00,240 --> 00:02:04,640 Let's see it was nearly two years ago, Murph and Joe and I and the boys had knocked off 32 00:02:04,640 --> 00:02:09,600 a payroll, a good clean job, except for a couple of guys getting hurt fatally. 33 00:02:09,600 --> 00:02:13,120 And the Murph was tipped off that one of the boys, he didn't know who had squealed to the 34 00:02:13,120 --> 00:02:14,120 cops. 35 00:02:14,120 --> 00:02:18,840 So Murph knew we were hot and he came up to my room on Madison Street. 36 00:02:18,840 --> 00:02:20,440 I'm leaving town Steve tonight. 37 00:02:20,440 --> 00:02:21,760 It's an idea, so am I. 38 00:02:21,760 --> 00:02:23,620 Yeah, yeah, we better blow you and me and Joe. 39 00:02:23,620 --> 00:02:24,620 And the rest of the boys? 40 00:02:24,620 --> 00:02:27,280 Look, I can't take care of everybody, Steve, you know how it is. 41 00:02:27,280 --> 00:02:31,680 Sure I know, you'll take care of the ones that can't, you can't get along without, that 42 00:02:31,680 --> 00:02:32,880 do you're thinking for you. 43 00:02:32,880 --> 00:02:33,880 Oh, it ain't that Steve. 44 00:02:33,880 --> 00:02:34,880 Cut it. 45 00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:39,000 Well, okay, so we got around 20 grand. 46 00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:40,000 Twenty three. 47 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:41,400 Yeah, yeah, sure, yeah, twenty three. 48 00:02:41,400 --> 00:02:43,280 Well, with that dough, we can go to Florida. 49 00:02:43,280 --> 00:02:46,680 Yeah, yeah, lie down there all winter till the heat's off. 50 00:02:46,680 --> 00:02:48,280 You think that's a bright idea, don't you Murph? 51 00:02:48,280 --> 00:02:49,280 Well, sure, why not? 52 00:02:49,280 --> 00:02:52,960 Yeah, we take a nice big shiny suite in the Paradise Hotel, pick up some dolls. 53 00:02:52,960 --> 00:02:53,960 Yeah, that's right. 54 00:02:53,960 --> 00:02:55,960 Well, that's just what we're not going to do. 55 00:02:55,960 --> 00:02:57,280 What, what do you mean? 56 00:02:57,280 --> 00:03:01,160 We're not going to travel first class, spread dough around places like the Paradise accompanied 57 00:03:01,160 --> 00:03:02,160 by any dolls. 58 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:03,360 And why not? 59 00:03:03,360 --> 00:03:06,240 The dough's marked, bird brain. 60 00:03:06,240 --> 00:03:09,160 The serial numbers have been written down and we'll be looking for that kind of dough 61 00:03:09,160 --> 00:03:13,200 in places where dough changes places, places like the Paradise. 62 00:03:13,200 --> 00:03:15,800 Oh, we could go to some other place like a Roman house in St. Pete. 63 00:03:15,800 --> 00:03:19,000 Yeah, and we could be smart if we put our minds to it. 64 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:21,120 Yeah, like what? 65 00:03:21,120 --> 00:03:26,080 Like putting that package of dough out of circulation in a safety deposit box. 66 00:03:26,080 --> 00:03:27,600 You know that's all the dough we got. 67 00:03:27,600 --> 00:03:29,720 Sure, so we can get along without it for the time being. 68 00:03:29,720 --> 00:03:31,880 It's worth a little discomfort to beat a murder app. 69 00:03:31,880 --> 00:03:35,320 Okay, okay, say you're right, but we still have to leave town. 70 00:03:35,320 --> 00:03:37,280 We'll leave Murph, and this is how. 71 00:03:37,280 --> 00:03:41,640 I figured I'll never look for you where there isn't a stall shower, so we'll fool them. 72 00:03:41,640 --> 00:04:00,000 We'll ride the rails. 73 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:02,040 You can play the nine of hearts, Joe. 74 00:04:02,040 --> 00:04:03,040 Huh? 75 00:04:03,040 --> 00:04:04,040 Where? 76 00:04:04,040 --> 00:04:05,760 Oh yeah, yeah, I was going to. 77 00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:06,760 You were. 78 00:04:06,760 --> 00:04:08,760 You never saw her, huh? 79 00:04:08,760 --> 00:04:09,760 What a guy. 80 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:10,760 Outsmart himself in solitaire. 81 00:04:10,760 --> 00:04:13,520 Hey, it's cold in this box car, Steve. 82 00:04:13,520 --> 00:04:14,960 Yeah, just pick up a phone, Murph. 83 00:04:14,960 --> 00:04:15,960 Tell the management. 84 00:04:15,960 --> 00:04:16,960 They'll give you more heat. 85 00:04:16,960 --> 00:04:17,960 All right, all right. 86 00:04:17,960 --> 00:04:18,960 I just said it was cold. 87 00:04:18,960 --> 00:04:21,600 At a time like this, be glad it's cold. 88 00:04:21,600 --> 00:04:22,600 Uh-uh, Joe. 89 00:04:22,600 --> 00:04:23,600 Mustn't cheat. 90 00:04:23,600 --> 00:04:24,600 I wasn't cheating. 91 00:04:24,600 --> 00:04:25,600 Oh, new game. 92 00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:29,600 You slip the card under when you can't play it, huh? 93 00:04:29,600 --> 00:04:31,200 So what if I'm cheating? 94 00:04:31,200 --> 00:04:32,200 It's my skin in it. 95 00:04:32,200 --> 00:04:33,200 You're absolutely right. 96 00:04:33,200 --> 00:04:37,400 Well, I wonder how many of the boys have been picked up. 97 00:04:37,400 --> 00:04:39,200 I couldn't take care of everybody, Steve. 98 00:04:39,200 --> 00:04:40,800 None of them have been picked up. 99 00:04:40,800 --> 00:04:41,800 Why should they be? 100 00:04:41,800 --> 00:04:43,960 Oh boy, there's that three I've been looking for. 101 00:04:43,960 --> 00:04:45,800 None of them have been picked up, huh? 102 00:04:45,800 --> 00:04:47,440 Who's protecting them, Joe, your fairy godmother? 103 00:04:47,440 --> 00:04:49,200 Why would the cops pick them up? 104 00:04:49,200 --> 00:04:51,200 They know it was Murph who used the gun. 105 00:04:51,200 --> 00:04:52,200 Huh? 106 00:04:52,200 --> 00:04:56,320 Uh, I mean, uh, I mean, they probably guessed Murph was Trigger Man. 107 00:04:56,320 --> 00:04:58,240 Why, you dirty... 108 00:04:58,240 --> 00:04:59,240 Shut up, Murph. 109 00:04:59,240 --> 00:05:01,440 What else did the cops probably guess, Joe? 110 00:05:01,440 --> 00:05:03,800 Well, how would I know, Steve? 111 00:05:03,800 --> 00:05:06,360 Well, honest, I only thought that maybe... 112 00:05:06,360 --> 00:05:07,360 Talk, Joe. 113 00:05:07,360 --> 00:05:08,360 What else did they guess about me? 114 00:05:08,360 --> 00:05:09,360 Oh, nothing about you, Steve. 115 00:05:09,360 --> 00:05:10,360 Honest, they... 116 00:05:10,360 --> 00:05:11,360 Spill it. 117 00:05:11,360 --> 00:05:12,360 Spill it. 118 00:05:12,360 --> 00:05:13,360 They knew Murph was Trigger Man and that... 119 00:05:13,360 --> 00:05:14,360 You squealing, dirty rat. 120 00:05:14,360 --> 00:05:16,360 And that he took the dough and no one else. 121 00:05:16,360 --> 00:05:19,200 Honest, Steve, I didn't tell them anyone else who was on the job. 122 00:05:19,200 --> 00:05:22,240 I thought if they picked up Murph, then you and me could... 123 00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:24,120 Hey, Steve, stop Murph. 124 00:05:24,120 --> 00:05:25,120 Get back, Mike. 125 00:05:25,120 --> 00:05:26,120 Let him finish. 126 00:05:26,120 --> 00:05:27,120 Go on, finish. 127 00:05:27,120 --> 00:05:28,120 I didn't squeal on you, Steve. 128 00:05:28,120 --> 00:05:29,120 You gotta believe me. 129 00:05:29,120 --> 00:05:30,120 Steve, you gotta... 130 00:05:30,120 --> 00:05:31,120 Steve, stop Murph. 131 00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:32,120 Don't let him do it. 132 00:05:32,120 --> 00:05:33,120 Steve, no! 133 00:05:33,120 --> 00:05:42,560 That was Murph being trigger happy. 134 00:05:42,560 --> 00:05:47,240 Joe went down sort of slow and quiet like the movies you see of a parish who's settling 135 00:05:47,240 --> 00:05:48,240 on the ground. 136 00:05:48,240 --> 00:05:50,240 I think he twitched a little. 137 00:05:50,240 --> 00:05:54,040 I looked out and saw the train was slowing up and that we were coming into a freight 138 00:05:54,040 --> 00:05:56,040 yard, not 50 feet across the tracks. 139 00:05:56,040 --> 00:06:00,200 I could see a couple of guys heading our way who looked like railroad dicks. 140 00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:04,960 I thought fast like always, Murph was hot, very hot, and being very shy on brains. 141 00:06:04,960 --> 00:06:09,000 If they picked him up, he'd lead them to the payroll door like a homing pigeon inside a 142 00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:10,360 24 hours too. 143 00:06:10,360 --> 00:06:12,800 And I hadn't anything pinned on me for a few years. 144 00:06:12,800 --> 00:06:15,040 If anyone took the rap, it would have to be me. 145 00:06:15,040 --> 00:06:19,640 If I ever wanted to smell my share of that 23 game, and this was a rap I thought I could 146 00:06:19,640 --> 00:06:20,640 beat. 147 00:06:20,640 --> 00:06:24,400 Unlucky, well, I thought for a year or so for manslaughter, claiming self-defense. 148 00:06:24,400 --> 00:06:27,840 Lucky, I blocked my way out of it altogether. 149 00:06:27,840 --> 00:06:29,440 I talked fast to Murph. 150 00:06:29,440 --> 00:06:33,440 When the boxcar stopped opposite those dicks, I had Murph's gun in my hand. 151 00:06:33,440 --> 00:06:40,920 How many of you guys in there? 152 00:06:40,920 --> 00:06:41,920 Three, mister. 153 00:06:41,920 --> 00:06:42,920 Well, pile up, boys. 154 00:06:42,920 --> 00:06:43,920 It's the end of the... 155 00:06:43,920 --> 00:06:44,920 Hey. 156 00:06:44,920 --> 00:06:45,920 What's the matter, Whitey? 157 00:06:45,920 --> 00:06:46,920 One of those guys has a gun. 158 00:06:46,920 --> 00:06:51,920 What are you doing with that gun, brother? 159 00:06:51,920 --> 00:06:52,920 I don't know. 160 00:06:52,920 --> 00:06:55,040 And what's wrong with the other guy? 161 00:06:55,040 --> 00:06:56,040 He shot him. 162 00:06:56,040 --> 00:06:58,960 I was over there at the other end minding my own business, and those two guys were yelling 163 00:06:58,960 --> 00:06:59,960 at each other, and he... 164 00:06:59,960 --> 00:07:00,960 Okay, okay. 165 00:07:00,960 --> 00:07:01,960 Drop that gun, mister. 166 00:07:01,960 --> 00:07:02,960 I'm coming in. 167 00:07:02,960 --> 00:07:03,960 Is he dead? 168 00:07:03,960 --> 00:07:04,960 Dead as a macro. 169 00:07:04,960 --> 00:07:05,960 All right, mister. 170 00:07:05,960 --> 00:07:06,960 Tell me about it. 171 00:07:06,960 --> 00:07:07,960 I don't know what happened. 172 00:07:07,960 --> 00:07:08,960 It was his gun, and it just went off. 173 00:07:08,960 --> 00:07:09,960 Yeah? 174 00:07:09,960 --> 00:07:10,960 Did you see it? 175 00:07:10,960 --> 00:07:11,960 You over there. 176 00:07:11,960 --> 00:07:12,960 I didn't see nothing. 177 00:07:12,960 --> 00:07:15,960 I was down at this end of the car minding my own business. 178 00:07:15,960 --> 00:07:18,240 They'd been yelling at each other for hours. 179 00:07:18,240 --> 00:07:19,240 I didn't pay any attention to them. 180 00:07:19,240 --> 00:07:20,240 I didn't see anything. 181 00:07:20,240 --> 00:07:21,240 I didn't see anything. 182 00:07:21,240 --> 00:07:22,240 I didn't see anything. 183 00:07:22,240 --> 00:07:23,240 I didn't see anything. 184 00:07:23,240 --> 00:07:24,240 I didn't see anything. 185 00:07:24,240 --> 00:07:25,240 I didn't see anything. 186 00:07:25,240 --> 00:07:26,240 I didn't see anything. 187 00:07:26,240 --> 00:07:27,240 I didn't see anything. 188 00:07:27,240 --> 00:07:28,240 I didn't see anything. 189 00:07:28,240 --> 00:07:29,240 I didn't see anything. 190 00:07:29,240 --> 00:07:30,240 I didn't see anything. 191 00:07:30,240 --> 00:07:31,240 All right. 192 00:07:31,240 --> 00:07:42,620 What about my Carbonara Corn 193 00:07:42,620 --> 00:07:46,120 All right, Dreamy, no matter what you remember, 194 00:07:46,120 --> 00:07:48,120 the rap is murder. 195 00:07:48,120 --> 00:07:50,120 I've been in worse spots. 196 00:07:50,120 --> 00:07:52,620 The charge was murder, first degree. 197 00:07:52,620 --> 00:07:54,620 But I knew I could get that cut down. 198 00:07:54,620 --> 00:07:57,120 The best thing was that they turned Murph loose 199 00:07:57,120 --> 00:07:59,620 without checking on him, and Joe was unidentified. 200 00:07:59,620 --> 00:08:02,620 I dreamed up a name I said I knew just as well as the rap. 201 00:08:02,620 --> 00:08:04,620 And I was a little bit worried. 202 00:08:04,620 --> 00:08:07,620 I thought I'd be able to get him out of the way. 203 00:08:07,620 --> 00:08:09,620 But I was right. 204 00:08:09,620 --> 00:08:13,120 Joe was unidentified. I dreamed up a name I said I knew Joe by. 205 00:08:13,120 --> 00:08:14,620 He read something or other. 206 00:08:14,620 --> 00:08:16,620 And it went down all right. 207 00:08:16,620 --> 00:08:20,120 So then I settled down for what might be an extended vacation, 208 00:08:20,120 --> 00:08:23,620 a vacation that would earn me half of 23 grand. 209 00:08:23,620 --> 00:08:25,620 Only one thing bothered me. 210 00:08:25,620 --> 00:08:29,620 It seems the town we picked to kill Joe in was going through one of those, 211 00:08:29,620 --> 00:08:33,620 you know, reform spasms, and the papers were really lathered up about it. 212 00:08:33,620 --> 00:08:35,620 And my case was made to order for them. 213 00:08:35,620 --> 00:08:39,620 A crime they could get wholly about without stepping on any local toes. 214 00:08:39,620 --> 00:08:43,620 While I was waiting trial, they fried me but good, and I burned about it. 215 00:08:43,620 --> 00:08:48,620 So that's why I didn't exactly clap hands when they told me a reporter was coming in to see me. 216 00:08:48,620 --> 00:08:52,620 And I didn't shout hallelujah either when I saw it was a doll. 217 00:08:52,620 --> 00:08:56,620 Sharp looking, all right, but still just a doll. 218 00:08:56,620 --> 00:08:58,620 Uh, hello. 219 00:08:58,620 --> 00:09:00,620 Hiya, chick. 220 00:09:00,620 --> 00:09:01,620 You're Steve Hanbel? 221 00:09:01,620 --> 00:09:02,620 Yeah. 222 00:09:02,620 --> 00:09:04,620 I'm Laurie Ware of the News Press. 223 00:09:04,620 --> 00:09:05,620 Uh-huh. 224 00:09:05,620 --> 00:09:06,620 I'd like to get your story. 225 00:09:06,620 --> 00:09:08,620 Look, sister, your job is writing. 226 00:09:08,620 --> 00:09:11,620 If you can't do it alone, you shouldn't have had the job. 227 00:09:11,620 --> 00:09:13,620 I mean your side of the story. 228 00:09:13,620 --> 00:09:15,620 Oh, it's nice of you to take an interest. 229 00:09:15,620 --> 00:09:17,620 Please, I wish you'd listen to me. 230 00:09:17,620 --> 00:09:18,620 Go pet your paper somewhere else. 231 00:09:18,620 --> 00:09:19,620 Please. 232 00:09:19,620 --> 00:09:20,620 Don't you understand English? 233 00:09:20,620 --> 00:09:22,620 Look, I don't blame you for being suspicious of me. 234 00:09:22,620 --> 00:09:24,620 You see, I know the papers haven't been fair to you. 235 00:09:24,620 --> 00:09:27,620 I know they've been trying your case before it comes to trial. 236 00:09:27,620 --> 00:09:28,620 So it happens every day. 237 00:09:28,620 --> 00:09:32,620 And I feel sure there's more to this case than has been told. 238 00:09:32,620 --> 00:09:33,620 I have a feeling that... 239 00:09:33,620 --> 00:09:36,620 You've got to be careful of those feelings, baby. 240 00:09:36,620 --> 00:09:38,620 I got a hunch you didn't do it. 241 00:09:38,620 --> 00:09:40,620 That maybe you were framed. 242 00:09:40,620 --> 00:09:43,620 So, uh, so what if I was? 243 00:09:43,620 --> 00:09:45,620 I don't know how much I can do. 244 00:09:45,620 --> 00:09:47,620 Except I know that if you have a story, I can get it printed. 245 00:09:47,620 --> 00:09:51,620 And, uh, and that'll make the difference? 246 00:09:51,620 --> 00:09:52,620 I don't know. 247 00:09:52,620 --> 00:09:54,620 At least when it comes to picking your jury, 248 00:09:54,620 --> 00:09:57,620 there'll be some people in this town who haven't made up their minds. 249 00:09:57,620 --> 00:09:59,620 Oh, nothing in that. 250 00:09:59,620 --> 00:10:00,620 Well? 251 00:10:00,620 --> 00:10:01,620 Okay. 252 00:10:01,620 --> 00:10:03,620 Okay, I'll tell you the real McCoy truth. 253 00:10:03,620 --> 00:10:06,620 Oh, that's wonderful, Steve. I'll take it down. 254 00:10:06,620 --> 00:10:08,620 Well, there isn't much to tell. 255 00:10:08,620 --> 00:10:11,620 It was just what the papers call an innocent bystander. 256 00:10:11,620 --> 00:10:12,620 I was asleep when it happened. 257 00:10:12,620 --> 00:10:14,620 And how many men were in the boxcar? 258 00:10:14,620 --> 00:10:16,620 Before I went in, I got to sleep. 259 00:10:16,620 --> 00:10:17,620 There were about six or seven. 260 00:10:17,620 --> 00:10:19,620 When the shots woke me up, I saw two guys jump off, 261 00:10:19,620 --> 00:10:21,620 and we were moving pretty slow. 262 00:10:21,620 --> 00:10:23,620 Then because the train was coming into the yard, you see. 263 00:10:23,620 --> 00:10:26,620 But at the inquest, the police said you were holding the gun. 264 00:10:26,620 --> 00:10:27,620 Sure, sure I was. 265 00:10:27,620 --> 00:10:30,620 The cops yelled at me, and I saw I was holding it. 266 00:10:30,620 --> 00:10:32,620 Someone had planted it on me while I was half asleep. 267 00:10:32,620 --> 00:10:36,620 And the old boy in the corner there, you know, he said, he said, I'd done it. 268 00:10:36,620 --> 00:10:38,620 Yeah, he said that you were fighting with the other. 269 00:10:38,620 --> 00:10:40,620 Yeah, I know. I'd been fighting with Red. 270 00:10:40,620 --> 00:10:42,620 I don't think he meant to frame me. 271 00:10:42,620 --> 00:10:45,620 He just got me, you know, mixed up with one of the guys who scrammed. 272 00:10:45,620 --> 00:10:46,620 That's it, Steve. 273 00:10:46,620 --> 00:10:47,620 That's what, baby. 274 00:10:47,620 --> 00:10:49,620 If you'd done it, you would have jumped off. 275 00:10:49,620 --> 00:10:52,620 You wouldn't just stand there waiting to be arrested with a gun in your hand, 276 00:10:52,620 --> 00:10:54,620 or you would have thrown the gun out. 277 00:10:54,620 --> 00:10:59,620 Well, they'll claim I didn't have time, but it's an angle. 278 00:10:59,620 --> 00:11:01,620 And I'll pound it, Steve. I'll get you a lawyer. 279 00:11:01,620 --> 00:11:03,620 Yeah, yeah. I guess I'll need one. 280 00:11:03,620 --> 00:11:05,620 You'll need all the help you can get. 281 00:11:16,620 --> 00:11:18,620 What a doll. 282 00:11:18,620 --> 00:11:21,620 Sold on me before she even got the pitch. 283 00:11:21,620 --> 00:11:24,620 And what made my hand all aces was the girl could really write. 284 00:11:24,620 --> 00:11:27,620 She had the news press giving me more space than the World Series. 285 00:11:27,620 --> 00:11:29,620 Well, the other papers had to pick it up. 286 00:11:29,620 --> 00:11:34,620 By the time the trial came up, I was local hero number one, an orphan child. 287 00:11:34,620 --> 00:11:36,620 The whole town wanted to adopt me. 288 00:11:36,620 --> 00:11:43,620 So no one, least of all of me, was much surprised when a jury filed back into the jury box with their decision. 289 00:11:50,620 --> 00:11:53,620 Have the gentlemen of the jury reached a verdict? 290 00:11:53,620 --> 00:11:55,620 We have, Your Honor. 291 00:11:55,620 --> 00:11:57,620 Will you read the verdict? 292 00:11:57,620 --> 00:12:01,620 We, the jury, find the defendant not guilty as charged. 293 00:12:01,620 --> 00:12:03,620 Wait, I did! 294 00:12:14,620 --> 00:12:16,620 Oh, Steve. 295 00:12:16,620 --> 00:12:18,620 Well, your work, kitten. 296 00:12:18,620 --> 00:12:20,620 What do they say? The pen is mightier than the sword. 297 00:12:20,620 --> 00:12:22,620 Oh, I'm so happy I could help you, Steve. 298 00:12:22,620 --> 00:12:24,620 Oh, you don't see me crying, honey. 299 00:12:24,620 --> 00:12:26,620 Want to dance? Come on. 300 00:12:26,620 --> 00:12:27,620 Sure, but... 301 00:12:27,620 --> 00:12:28,620 Come on. 302 00:12:28,620 --> 00:12:30,620 I want to talk first. 303 00:12:30,620 --> 00:12:32,620 Have you got a home you're going to? Or a job? 304 00:12:32,620 --> 00:12:35,620 Look, kid, you've been girl-scout enough today. Let's dance. 305 00:12:35,620 --> 00:12:37,620 Please tell me, Steve. I'm worried about you. 306 00:12:37,620 --> 00:12:40,620 I'm going to winter in California and summer in Maine. 307 00:12:40,620 --> 00:12:42,620 You haven't any place to go. 308 00:12:42,620 --> 00:12:44,620 See America first. That's my motto. 309 00:12:44,620 --> 00:12:47,620 Steve, I don't want to butt in, but Harry Singles will give you a job. 310 00:12:47,620 --> 00:12:49,620 Yeah? Doing what? 311 00:12:49,620 --> 00:12:50,620 In the circulation department. 312 00:12:50,620 --> 00:12:51,620 Ah, you're kidding. 313 00:12:51,620 --> 00:12:54,620 I know it's a good job to start, but I know you could work up, Steve, and you'd like Harry. 314 00:12:54,620 --> 00:12:56,620 Nine hours a day, five days a week, is that it? 315 00:12:56,620 --> 00:12:57,620 Five and a half days. 316 00:12:57,620 --> 00:13:00,620 Steve Hannibal punching a time clock. 317 00:13:00,620 --> 00:13:03,620 Boy, I suppose I'd get a Social Security number and everything, huh? 318 00:13:03,620 --> 00:13:04,620 Don't you have one? 319 00:13:04,620 --> 00:13:06,620 Unemployment, security, income. 320 00:13:06,620 --> 00:13:08,620 That's a lot of legality. 321 00:13:08,620 --> 00:13:09,620 Legality? 322 00:13:09,620 --> 00:13:12,620 Oh, skipper kitten. Let me think. 323 00:13:12,620 --> 00:13:15,620 You know, I might just take a whirl at that job. 324 00:13:15,620 --> 00:13:17,620 Oh, Steve, I think that's wonderful. 325 00:13:17,620 --> 00:13:22,620 You know, it's not so much the job, but you and I have a lot of unfinished business, baby. 326 00:13:22,620 --> 00:13:25,620 And we can't get it all done in one day. 327 00:13:25,620 --> 00:13:28,620 Right now I want to dance. Come on, baby, let's go. 328 00:13:34,620 --> 00:13:37,620 That was the old brain working again. 329 00:13:37,620 --> 00:13:41,620 You see, I had countenance drifting, until it was safe to join up with Murph. 330 00:13:41,620 --> 00:13:45,620 I didn't know where he'd be gone, but I figured I'd be able to find him when the heat was off. 331 00:13:45,620 --> 00:13:48,620 And when Laurie said job, it was a kind of new angle. 332 00:13:48,620 --> 00:13:53,620 I could stay right here in town, pull down enough money to get by, and maybe even a little on the side. 333 00:13:53,620 --> 00:13:57,620 It was the safest spot I could possibly be for the time being. 334 00:13:57,620 --> 00:14:02,620 I went down to the newspaper office with Laurie the next morning and was hired. 335 00:14:02,620 --> 00:14:04,620 First time in my life such a thing ever happened to me. 336 00:14:04,620 --> 00:14:09,620 Harry Singles was a sharp guy for any racket, and working with him, I got so...I didn't mind. 337 00:14:09,620 --> 00:14:14,620 Of course, the hours were very regular, all daytime, and I had to put on a clean shirt now and then. 338 00:14:14,620 --> 00:14:17,620 But I always had that twenty-three grand to think about. 339 00:14:17,620 --> 00:14:22,620 And the kid, Laurie, I couldn't have squired a better doll in Chicago, New York, or any place. 340 00:14:22,620 --> 00:14:25,620 Only sometimes she made me nervous. 341 00:14:25,620 --> 00:14:30,620 Let's not go out tonight, huh, Steve? Let's stay here in my place. I'll cook something. 342 00:14:30,620 --> 00:14:32,620 I don't know. It doesn't seem right. 343 00:14:32,620 --> 00:14:34,620 What doesn't seem right? 344 00:14:34,620 --> 00:14:37,620 Seeing a doll with class and an apron. I can't get used to it. 345 00:14:37,620 --> 00:14:41,620 You will eventually. After all, you're used to being a working man now. 346 00:14:41,620 --> 00:14:43,620 Don't be too sure, baby. 347 00:14:43,620 --> 00:14:45,620 Ah, Steve, you know you love it. 348 00:14:45,620 --> 00:14:48,620 I don't know. Sometimes I get the itch to move on. 349 00:14:48,620 --> 00:14:51,620 Forget the itch, Steve. 350 00:14:51,620 --> 00:14:54,620 A rolling stone gathers no moss, you know. 351 00:14:54,620 --> 00:14:58,620 Yeah, so they tell me. But I saw some moss once, and I still wonder, 352 00:14:58,620 --> 00:15:00,620 what does a stone want with moss anyway? 353 00:15:00,620 --> 00:15:05,620 ["The Star-Spangled Banner"] 354 00:15:09,620 --> 00:15:11,620 See what I mean? 355 00:15:11,620 --> 00:15:15,620 Harry kept telling me how much I liked being a pillar of society, 356 00:15:15,620 --> 00:15:17,620 so that sometimes I even began to wonder. 357 00:15:17,620 --> 00:15:20,620 And then Harry started shoving razors at me and titles, 358 00:15:20,620 --> 00:15:23,620 and boy, inside of no time, I was a district manager. 359 00:15:23,620 --> 00:15:27,620 And I sat down and figured the dough angle, and it gave me a shock. 360 00:15:27,620 --> 00:15:30,620 Because even if it was legal, I was making more dough week in and week out 361 00:15:30,620 --> 00:15:33,620 than I had with Murph and the boys. 362 00:15:33,620 --> 00:15:37,620 Well, the Chicago stick-up stayed hot, and I didn't hear from Murph, 363 00:15:37,620 --> 00:15:39,620 so I let it all ride and kept working. 364 00:15:39,620 --> 00:15:43,620 Along about then, the papers were in a lather again, all about reform. 365 00:15:43,620 --> 00:15:48,620 The town was just crawling with rackets, and Laurie was working on the stories. 366 00:15:48,620 --> 00:15:50,620 One night, Laurie was typing a story in a room, 367 00:15:50,620 --> 00:15:53,620 and I was in the living room waiting for it to finish. 368 00:15:57,620 --> 00:16:00,620 I'll be with you in a minute, Steve. One more paragraph. 369 00:16:00,620 --> 00:16:02,620 And that's finished for tonight? 370 00:16:02,620 --> 00:16:06,620 Yeah, finished for tonight. I've got something to show you. Come in here. 371 00:16:06,620 --> 00:16:09,620 Okay, kitten, what is it? Buying hats again? 372 00:16:09,620 --> 00:16:12,620 Uh-uh. It's a letter I got in the mail, right here on the desk. 373 00:16:12,620 --> 00:16:14,620 Oh, the local wolves are moving in, huh? 374 00:16:14,620 --> 00:16:16,620 Much more exciting. 375 00:16:16,620 --> 00:16:21,620 Lay off or we'll measure you for a coffin. 376 00:16:21,620 --> 00:16:25,620 You have 24 hours to quit your job. 377 00:16:25,620 --> 00:16:28,620 First time I ever got anything like that. Want to read my answer? 378 00:16:28,620 --> 00:16:29,620 Your answer? 379 00:16:29,620 --> 00:16:31,620 Yeah, my article for tomorrow morning. 380 00:16:31,620 --> 00:16:33,620 I've written all about the note and why it was sent to me. 381 00:16:33,620 --> 00:16:35,620 Yeah? Well, what do you figure? 382 00:16:35,620 --> 00:16:38,620 Well, there's an out-of-town mobster who's moved in on the local rackets, 383 00:16:38,620 --> 00:16:40,620 and he's making a good thing of it. 384 00:16:40,620 --> 00:16:44,620 I found out about him three days ago, and I've really tracked him down. 385 00:16:44,620 --> 00:16:45,620 Who is he? 386 00:16:45,620 --> 00:16:49,620 Well, here he goes with the name of Dude Ringler, but I knew that was an alias. 387 00:16:49,620 --> 00:16:52,620 I finally find out that he's a former big-time operator from Chicago, 388 00:16:52,620 --> 00:16:55,620 wanted there for a lot of things, including murder. 389 00:16:55,620 --> 00:16:57,620 Yeah? 390 00:16:57,620 --> 00:16:58,620 I'm going to print it in the paper, 391 00:16:58,620 --> 00:17:01,620 and he'll be picked up just about the time the papers hit the street. 392 00:17:01,620 --> 00:17:03,620 Oh, you're a total of cops, huh? 393 00:17:03,620 --> 00:17:05,620 Not yet. I thought you could go down with me. 394 00:17:05,620 --> 00:17:08,620 And what's the guy's name in Chicago? 395 00:17:08,620 --> 00:17:12,620 I don't know all of it. He headed up a gang there. They call him Murph. 396 00:17:12,620 --> 00:17:22,620 I got that rollercoaster feeling, only worse. 397 00:17:22,620 --> 00:17:25,620 I still can't figure it. 398 00:17:25,620 --> 00:17:30,620 She was only a half-baked doll moving into territory where anyone was likely to get clipped. 399 00:17:30,620 --> 00:17:31,620 Why should I care? 400 00:17:31,620 --> 00:17:35,620 But something funny happened to me, and she could see it. 401 00:17:35,620 --> 00:17:37,620 Steve, what's the matter? 402 00:17:37,620 --> 00:17:39,620 Well, you got to lay off, Laurie. You got to quit. 403 00:17:39,620 --> 00:17:41,620 Because of that ridiculous nose? 404 00:17:41,620 --> 00:17:43,620 Don't ask me why. Just quit. 405 00:17:43,620 --> 00:17:47,620 Well, I certainly won't quit, don't you see? That's just what he wants me to do. 406 00:17:47,620 --> 00:17:51,620 Okay, I'll tell you. I know Murph. 407 00:17:51,620 --> 00:17:52,620 You know him? 408 00:17:52,620 --> 00:17:56,620 Yeah, and he's trigger-happy. He's a rattlesnake in pants. 409 00:17:56,620 --> 00:17:58,620 Well, then that's all the more reason, Steve White. 410 00:17:58,620 --> 00:17:59,620 Now, listen to me. I don't know why I'm doing this. 411 00:17:59,620 --> 00:18:02,620 I never missed figuring percentages before in my life, but I'm going to tell you something. 412 00:18:02,620 --> 00:18:04,620 I'm going to tell you before I wise up. 413 00:18:04,620 --> 00:18:05,620 What, Steve? 414 00:18:05,620 --> 00:18:08,620 You remember when you got my true story when I was up for the murder rap? 415 00:18:08,620 --> 00:18:10,620 Of course I remember. 416 00:18:10,620 --> 00:18:14,620 Well, that was all a pipe dream, sweetheart. Something for the books. 417 00:18:14,620 --> 00:18:18,620 You lied to me? You did kill Red? 418 00:18:18,620 --> 00:18:25,620 His name wasn't Red. He was a slimy little punk from a mob that I ran with named Joe Tenelli. 419 00:18:25,620 --> 00:18:26,620 Mob? 420 00:18:26,620 --> 00:18:32,620 He wasn't killed by me. He was killed by the other guy who was in the car. He was killed by Murph. 421 00:18:32,620 --> 00:18:35,620 I covered for Murph because he was hot. 422 00:18:35,620 --> 00:18:36,620 Steve, then you... 423 00:18:36,620 --> 00:18:37,620 Listen. 424 00:18:37,620 --> 00:18:39,620 Steve, they want you for those jobs, too. They... 425 00:18:39,620 --> 00:18:41,620 Well, shut up. I'm listening. 426 00:18:41,620 --> 00:18:43,620 What? What is it, Steve? 427 00:18:43,620 --> 00:18:46,620 I thought I heard someone in the other room with the door closed. 428 00:18:46,620 --> 00:18:49,620 You're just imagining it, Steve. 429 00:18:49,620 --> 00:18:53,620 Yeah, yeah, I guess I am. And this being a squealer takes my skin off. 430 00:18:53,620 --> 00:18:55,620 Oh, Steve. 431 00:18:55,620 --> 00:18:59,620 But you got the story, baby. Short and sweet. Now you can do what you want with it. 432 00:18:59,620 --> 00:19:03,620 Quit your job and live, or turn me in, too. 433 00:19:03,620 --> 00:19:17,620 What a doll. What a doll. She cried on the front of my shirt, and then she smiled. 434 00:19:17,620 --> 00:19:21,620 And she called Harry Singles with me sitting there and told him she quit. 435 00:19:21,620 --> 00:19:26,620 She told him she was getting married the next morning to me. And I played along. 436 00:19:26,620 --> 00:19:30,620 Then I left her. After telling her to button her lip and keep the door locked, 437 00:19:30,620 --> 00:19:37,620 I started to go find Murph to check on that 23 grand and put him wise so he'd lay low. 438 00:19:37,620 --> 00:19:40,620 I could see that he still needed me to think for him. 439 00:19:40,620 --> 00:19:44,620 But there was something wrong. Something very wrong. 440 00:19:44,620 --> 00:19:49,620 I felt like I was kind of cracking up, so I let it ride until the morning. 441 00:19:49,620 --> 00:19:52,620 I was climbing the stairs to pick up Laurie at nine. 442 00:19:52,620 --> 00:19:55,620 I'm a duck, and for some reason I was feeling pretty good. 443 00:19:55,620 --> 00:20:00,620 Open up, chick. It's me. Open. 444 00:20:10,620 --> 00:20:15,620 Hello, Murph. You're still trigger happy, huh? 445 00:20:15,620 --> 00:20:19,620 Hello, Steve. And you don't have to call me names. 446 00:20:19,620 --> 00:20:22,620 You kind of hung up early, aren't you, Murph? 447 00:20:22,620 --> 00:20:25,620 I was making a little call on your doll. 448 00:20:25,620 --> 00:20:27,620 Yeah, I see you was. 449 00:20:27,620 --> 00:20:29,620 She wasn't a bad-looking doll. 450 00:20:29,620 --> 00:20:32,620 You didn't have to plug her. She quit her job. 451 00:20:32,620 --> 00:20:37,620 Yeah, I didn't know about that. Well, she still knew too much. 452 00:20:37,620 --> 00:20:38,620 She wasn't going to use it, Murph. 453 00:20:38,620 --> 00:20:44,620 Maybe. You told her about Joe. You shouldn't have done that, Steve. 454 00:20:44,620 --> 00:20:47,620 So it was you I heard here last night, huh? 455 00:20:47,620 --> 00:20:50,620 No kidding. You really heard me? 456 00:20:50,620 --> 00:20:53,620 Yeah, yeah. I heard the door close. And you heard me tell her? 457 00:20:53,620 --> 00:20:58,620 Yeah. This work in legal's giving you bad habits, Steve, but I'll forgive it. 458 00:20:58,620 --> 00:21:04,620 Come here. Come over here. Just look what she would have wrote. 459 00:21:04,620 --> 00:21:08,620 Dude Ringler. Elias Murph. Elias, we don't know how many other names. 460 00:21:08,620 --> 00:21:12,620 One in a half a dozen cities for murder, larceny, and kidnapping. 461 00:21:12,620 --> 00:21:14,620 That wouldn't have looked good, Steve. 462 00:21:14,620 --> 00:21:15,620 She wasn't going to use it. 463 00:21:15,620 --> 00:21:18,620 No. Well, don't let it worry you. 464 00:21:18,620 --> 00:21:21,620 Well, it's about time we picked up that 23... 465 00:21:21,620 --> 00:21:23,620 Hey. Hey, what's up, Steve? 466 00:21:23,620 --> 00:21:25,620 You shouldn't have put your gun down, Murph. 467 00:21:25,620 --> 00:21:26,620 What's eating you? 468 00:21:26,620 --> 00:21:27,620 You shouldn't have put it down. 469 00:21:27,620 --> 00:21:28,620 Steve, you're nuts. 470 00:21:28,620 --> 00:21:30,620 Because I'm going to drill you, Murph. I've always wanted to drill you. 471 00:21:30,620 --> 00:21:47,620 And before I wise up, I'm going to do it. 472 00:21:47,620 --> 00:21:52,620 That time the neighbors heard it. I didn't care. I kept pumping lead. 473 00:21:52,620 --> 00:21:56,620 When they came in, I was standing over Murph holding the gun. 474 00:21:56,620 --> 00:21:59,620 The same gun he'd used to kill a kid. 475 00:21:59,620 --> 00:22:03,620 So the cops got me for both of them. Both of them. 476 00:22:03,620 --> 00:22:06,620 And for Joe and the payroll job, too. 477 00:22:06,620 --> 00:22:09,620 They really thought they hit the jackpot with me. 478 00:22:09,620 --> 00:22:13,620 I didn't give them any argument. It wasn't any use. 479 00:22:13,620 --> 00:22:15,620 But you see what I mean? 480 00:22:15,620 --> 00:22:17,620 Why I'm mixed up? 481 00:22:17,620 --> 00:22:21,620 I've always been a sharp guy. I could have beat the game. 482 00:22:21,620 --> 00:22:25,620 Murph was right when he knocked off the kid. She did know too much. 483 00:22:25,620 --> 00:22:28,620 Well, it's the way things work out in our set. 484 00:22:28,620 --> 00:22:33,620 And why should I get the case of highs over a dog getting drilled? 485 00:22:33,620 --> 00:22:37,620 I can't figure it out. 486 00:22:37,620 --> 00:22:44,620 And well, now I'm trimming my fingernails waiting for Mr. Gurley to get a reprieve. 487 00:22:44,620 --> 00:22:49,620 And I'm all mixed up about that, too. 488 00:22:49,620 --> 00:22:54,620 Because in the dictionary, it's a word that's got two meanings. 489 00:22:54,620 --> 00:22:59,620 And the way I feel, they don't mesh. They kind of cancel each other out. 490 00:22:59,620 --> 00:23:08,620 To suspend temporarily the execution of sentence upon and relief or cessation of pain or ill. 491 00:23:08,620 --> 00:23:13,620 Well, any time now. 492 00:23:18,620 --> 00:23:20,620 Hello, Mr. Gurley. 493 00:23:20,620 --> 00:23:21,620 Hello, Steve. 494 00:23:21,620 --> 00:23:23,620 What's the good word? 495 00:23:23,620 --> 00:23:28,620 Turn your color around, Mr. Gurley, if you're going to talk that way. Spill it. 496 00:23:28,620 --> 00:23:34,620 It wasn't any of you, Steve. No reprieve. I'm sorry. 497 00:23:34,620 --> 00:23:42,620 So I got till 6 a.m. No reprieve. 498 00:23:42,620 --> 00:23:46,620 No reprieve. I wouldn't say that, Mr. Gurley. 499 00:23:46,620 --> 00:23:49,620 I draw definition number two. 500 00:23:49,620 --> 00:23:53,620 I get cessation of pain. 501 00:24:05,620 --> 00:24:08,620 And so closes reprieve. 502 00:24:08,620 --> 00:24:13,620 John Garfield, a star of tonight's study in Suspense. 503 00:24:13,620 --> 00:24:19,620 Suspense is produced, edited, and directed by William Spear. 504 00:24:19,620 --> 00:24:23,620 This is the Armed Forces Radio Service. 505 00:24:49,620 --> 00:24:53,620 The Armed Forces Radio Service. 506 00:25:19,620 --> 00:25:22,620 The Armed Forces Radio Service.