1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:11,000 Now, Roma Wines, R-O-M-A, made in California for enjoyment throughout the world. 2 00:00:11,000 --> 00:00:18,000 Roma Wines present the MGM star Robert Taylor in Suspense. 3 00:00:18,000 --> 00:00:27,000 Tonight, Roma Wines bring you Mr. Robert Taylor, a star of The Argyle Album, a suspense play 4 00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:32,000 produced, edited and directed for Roma Wines by William Spear. 5 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:42,000 Suspense. Suspense. Radio's outstanding theater of thrills is presented for your enjoyment by Roma Wines. 6 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:51,000 That's R-O-M-A, Roma Wines. Those California wines that can add so much pleasantness to the way you live. 7 00:00:51,000 --> 00:00:57,000 To your happiness and entertaining guests, to your enjoyment of everyday meals. 8 00:00:57,000 --> 00:01:05,000 Yes, right now a glass full would be very pleasant. As Roma Wines bring you Mr. Robert Taylor in a remarkable tale of... 9 00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:07,000 Suspense. 10 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:16,000 Back when I got my first job on The Herald, Alan Pierce was its star reporter. 11 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:21,000 A little later he went to Washington and became top dog of all syndicated political columns. 12 00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:24,000 Pierce could tell you what the President said when he didn't like his breakfast. 13 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:28,000 Or what? Who was getting paid off? Or what? By whom? And how much? 14 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:34,000 He was a national big shot, so naturally his coming back to the hometown late January got local front page. 15 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:39,000 Especially since the first thing happens, he checks into the Belden General Hospital from a heart attack. 16 00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:42,000 Heart attack he had on the train right as it pulled into the station. 17 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:44,000 Quite an entrance. And time. 18 00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:46,000 Remember, well... 19 00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:52,000 Maybe you remember. Just when 22 million anxious readers were waiting for his promised expose of the contents of the Argyle album. 20 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:56,000 The thing he'd been building up in his columns for about two weeks before. 21 00:01:56,000 --> 00:02:02,000 Teapot Dome was going to be a church club misunderstanding compared to this. 22 00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:06,000 Naturally all the boys hung around the ante room of his hospital suite during visiting hours. 23 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:10,000 But nobody from the press cracked the door to the sick room for the first three days. 24 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:14,000 On the fourth morning, Van Sullivan, the doctor, came smiling out into the ante room to us. 25 00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:16,000 Good morning, gentlemen. 26 00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:22,000 Gentlemen, gentlemen, Mr. Pierce would have willingly seen you all the first day. 27 00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:26,000 Of course, as his medical advisor, I couldn't permit anything of the sort. 28 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:29,000 However, today I'll allow you to see him one at a time. 29 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:32,000 I suggest that you gentlemen draw straws or something to test. 30 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:38,000 That is except the man from the Herald. Mr. Pierce asked expressly to see him first. 31 00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:40,000 The Herald man? That's me. 32 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:41,000 Is the Herald representative here? 33 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:42,000 Yeah, right over here, doctor. 34 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:43,000 Do you want to come in now? 35 00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:44,000 Right with you, doctor. Pinky, come here. 36 00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:45,000 Yeah, Harry. 37 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:49,000 Dr. Van Sullivan, this is Mr. Melvin Pinkus, the Herald's best and, believe me, the quietest photographer. 38 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:51,000 He's very good for patients. I wonder... 39 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:53,000 I'm not a great, not Mr. Mitchell. 40 00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:54,000 Okay, doctor. Stand by, Pinky. 41 00:02:54,000 --> 00:02:55,000 Right. 42 00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:58,000 The nurse left this gentleman in. I'll be on the fifth floor. 43 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:06,000 Hello there. 44 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:10,000 Say, you're Harry Mitchell, aren't you? 45 00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:12,000 That's right, Mr. Pierce. 46 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:14,000 Just make it, Al. 47 00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:16,000 Right, Al. 48 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:19,000 So you're young Mitchell. 49 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:22,000 Well, how time flies. 50 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:31,000 I spoke to the old man on the phone. I said, send your next Alan Pierce over, and he sent you. 51 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:33,000 Do you consider that a compliment? 52 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:37,000 Compliment? I'm going to hit him for a nice fat raise. 53 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:43,000 Well, Harry, have you got your questions all written down like a good reporter should? 54 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:45,000 No, I don't work that way. 55 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:49,000 Neither do I. 56 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:52,000 I suppose you want to know what the Argyle album is. 57 00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:57,000 Yeah, that's about it. Only it's your business, whatever it is, so I can't ask it. 58 00:03:57,000 --> 00:03:58,000 You're a smart boy. 59 00:03:58,000 --> 00:04:01,000 But I'll ask anyhow. What is the Argyle album? 60 00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:06,000 Good. Now, how shall I begin? 61 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:08,000 You're not really going to tell me. 62 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:19,000 Harry, it's got to a point where I think I ought to share it with somebody, preferably somebody like myself, who thinks like me. 63 00:04:19,000 --> 00:04:25,000 But I'm going to ask you not to use this unless I'm not in a position to. 64 00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:27,000 It's a deal. 65 00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:32,000 Well, you know what an album is. 66 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:36,000 This is quite a fancy looking one. 67 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:44,000 White tooled leather bound and a flaming crimson double headed eagle crest etched on the cover. 68 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:47,000 It's an impressive item. 69 00:04:47,000 --> 00:04:49,000 Maybe you better take it easy, Mr. Pierce. 70 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:53,000 You were going to call me Al. 71 00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:55,000 Okay, Al, maybe you better just. 72 00:04:55,000 --> 00:04:58,000 No, I'm all right. I'm all right. 73 00:04:58,000 --> 00:05:00,000 It's. 74 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:01,000 I guess I'm. 75 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:03,000 I guess I'm a little dizzy. 76 00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:04,000 You want the doctor? 77 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:05,000 No. 78 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:07,000 No, just a drink. 79 00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:11,000 A drink of water, please. 80 00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:13,000 The man back on his trip was breathing terribly. 81 00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:16,000 There was a thermos on the bed stand that turned out empty. 82 00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:19,000 I grabbed a glass and ran it to the bathroom, filled it from the tap. 83 00:05:19,000 --> 00:05:20,000 I'll be right there, Al, boy. 84 00:05:20,000 --> 00:05:21,000 I called him. 85 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:30,000 When there was no answer, I just about guessed what it was. 86 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:32,000 Mr. Pierce. 87 00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:37,000 Al. 88 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:42,000 Stood there for a while, feeling awfully bad, thinking awfully hard. 89 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:46,000 I finally figured an idea. 90 00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:47,000 Hey, Pinky. 91 00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:49,000 Here I am, General. Is he going to pose? 92 00:05:49,000 --> 00:05:53,000 Yeah, he's going to pose. Come on in here. 93 00:05:53,000 --> 00:05:55,000 Pinky, look at him. He's dead. 94 00:05:55,000 --> 00:05:56,000 Huh? 95 00:05:56,000 --> 00:05:57,000 Passed out while we were talking. 96 00:05:57,000 --> 00:05:59,000 This is our beat. It's big. It's a scoop. 97 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:01,000 I don't want those other tin horns out there cutting in. 98 00:06:01,000 --> 00:06:02,000 What are you going to do? 99 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:03,000 Go on out and phone. 100 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:05,000 You stay here and don't let anybody through that door. 101 00:06:05,000 --> 00:06:06,000 You're not letting me along with him. 102 00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:08,000 An old hound like you, are you kidding? 103 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:11,000 I don't like it. I don't like it. 104 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:14,000 I went out to the pay station in the hall and phoned in the story. 105 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:17,000 Then I found Dr. Van Selben on the fifth floor and broke the news. 106 00:06:17,000 --> 00:06:20,000 Between the fifth and the seventh floor, where Pierce's suite was, 107 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:25,000 we picked up the chief surgeon, superintendent, poor nurses, and litter bearers in attendance. 108 00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:28,000 We went through the ante room where the reporters were. 109 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:31,000 The newspaper boys smelled something was up. 110 00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:33,000 Nobody let them in Pierce's room. 111 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:37,000 The official hospital gang and me barged in and headed straight to the bed where the corpse was. 112 00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:41,000 I got a funny feeling. Pinky wasn't in the room. 113 00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:45,000 Dr. Van Selben and the chief surgeon went over to the bed and pulled back the covers. 114 00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:49,000 You could feel the shock go through the whole crowd. 115 00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:53,000 A long steel scalpel was sticking right up in the middle of Alan Pierce's chest. 116 00:06:53,000 --> 00:07:07,000 Lieutenant Horslips Sampson, who was top man in homicide, strutted in and took over. 117 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:13,000 He got the story from us and just sat there for a while thinking, very professional, exuding brilliance. 118 00:07:13,000 --> 00:07:15,000 His majesty spoke. 119 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:17,000 Dr. Van Selben. Yes, sir. 120 00:07:17,000 --> 00:07:24,000 In your opinion, did your patient die from a heart attack as our reporter friend here claims, or from the knife wound? 121 00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:28,000 I can't really tell you yet. Indications are that it might be either. 122 00:07:28,000 --> 00:07:31,000 You see, in either case, the heart was stopped. 123 00:07:31,000 --> 00:07:33,000 Yeah, the heart usually stops in case of death, doesn't it, Doc? 124 00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:37,000 The only thing is, I took his pulse before I left the room. There was no pulse. 125 00:07:37,000 --> 00:07:40,000 That scalpel could just as well have been stuck in a loaf of bread for all the damage he did. 126 00:07:40,000 --> 00:07:44,000 Mr. Mitchell, why did you leave a dead man unreported? Why'd you leave that photographer here without telling the nurse? 127 00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:48,000 I was a reporter by the scoop. Would you expect me to leave here? Somebody from the Express? 128 00:07:48,000 --> 00:07:51,000 Nurse, were you outside the door the whole time? 129 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:54,000 Yes, sir. We're the reporters. And nobody came out except Mr. Mitchell. 130 00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:57,000 The photographer went in, but he never came out. 131 00:07:57,000 --> 00:07:59,000 No. 132 00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:02,000 Take a gander to the bathroom, Haggerty. 133 00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:04,000 There's nobody here, kid. 134 00:08:04,000 --> 00:08:06,000 No. 135 00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:08,000 Michelson, are those windows locked? 136 00:08:08,000 --> 00:08:09,000 Yes, sir. 137 00:08:09,000 --> 00:08:12,000 In that room, Kay's horse lips should bring out your Scotland yard training. 138 00:08:12,000 --> 00:08:15,000 Mitchell, you're in too tough a spot to be fresh. 139 00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:19,000 Oh, if I could just get an angle. 140 00:08:19,000 --> 00:08:21,000 Must be an angle. 141 00:08:21,000 --> 00:08:24,000 He got up, sower, and started looking around himself. 142 00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:27,000 He walked over to the white bed screen in the corner. 143 00:08:27,000 --> 00:08:32,000 It's funny, it stood there all the time, such a natural piece of hospital equipment, you never noticed it. 144 00:08:32,000 --> 00:08:35,000 But now, even before he touched it, I knew what he'd find there. 145 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:40,000 He started to pull it aside like somebody looking hopelessly in any unlikely spot for a lost collar button. 146 00:08:40,000 --> 00:08:43,000 Before he had his hand on it, I was at the door. 147 00:08:43,000 --> 00:08:46,000 I was practically on my way out to the ante room when they let the screen fall over, 148 00:08:46,000 --> 00:08:52,000 showing Pinky all huddled up among his photographic equipment with a surgeon's scalpel sticking out of his neck. 149 00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:54,000 Hey! Hey! 150 00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:57,000 Michelson! Get him! 151 00:08:57,000 --> 00:09:00,000 I yelled at the reporters in the ante room that they could go in now. 152 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:04,000 The crowd coming out after me met the crowd going in, and I was in the corridor while they argued it out. 153 00:09:04,000 --> 00:09:07,000 I was around the corner in the elevator before they got to the car, 154 00:09:07,000 --> 00:09:10,000 and I was in a borrowed ambulance before anybody could ask embarrassing questions. 155 00:09:10,000 --> 00:09:22,000 I walked right through the Waldorf lobby up to the second floor. 156 00:09:22,000 --> 00:09:25,000 Nobody said a thing. Time was still with me. 157 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:31,000 I knew Pierce's secretary was keeping Suite 213 for him until he was supposed to get out of the hospital. 158 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:34,000 One moment. 159 00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:35,000 Yes? 160 00:09:35,000 --> 00:09:36,000 May I come in? 161 00:09:36,000 --> 00:09:37,000 Well... 162 00:09:36,000 --> 00:09:38,000 I'm a friend of Mr. Pierce's, Mitchell the Herald. 163 00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:40,000 Well, what is it, Mr. Mitchell? Something I can do. 164 00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:43,000 Yeah, would you let me rifle your boss's desk, files, papers, and possessions? 165 00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:46,000 I'll put them back real neat. There's something I have to find. 166 00:09:46,000 --> 00:09:48,000 Are you crazy? 167 00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:50,000 Uh-huh. I was afraid that would be your answer. 168 00:09:50,000 --> 00:09:51,000 What are you going to do? 169 00:09:51,000 --> 00:09:52,000 I'm sorry. 170 00:09:52,000 --> 00:09:54,000 Don't! 171 00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:56,000 I really am. 172 00:09:56,000 --> 00:10:00,000 And I really was. I didn't like to hit a woman. 173 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:02,000 Especially that cute. 174 00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:04,000 I searched that sweet top and bottom. 175 00:10:04,000 --> 00:10:08,000 But if Pierce ever had the R.Gal album, he took no chances keeping it around. 176 00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:12,000 I found his personal address book. I figured it was no more use to him than it might be to me. 177 00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:15,000 Now, I needed a place where I could sit down and think. 178 00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:20,000 Then I remembered I was carrying a key for my pal, Joe Walsh's apartment while he was sending himself somewhere in Florida. 179 00:10:20,000 --> 00:10:23,000 At least nobody could figure my going there. 180 00:10:23,000 --> 00:10:26,000 At Walsh's place, I spent about 20 minutes with Pierce's address book. 181 00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:31,000 He had Washington phone numbers in it that hadn't been in public directors for the last 30 years. 182 00:10:31,000 --> 00:10:35,000 But there was one in this town that had a red crayon circle around it. 183 00:10:35,000 --> 00:10:37,000 It was a query. 184 00:10:37,000 --> 00:10:41,000 Jor Broad. J-O-R-B-R-O-D on Worcester Street. 185 00:10:41,000 --> 00:10:45,000 Not the kind of neighborhood that Alan Pierce used to socialize in. 186 00:10:45,000 --> 00:10:48,000 I was just about deciding I'd go see this Jor Broad. 187 00:10:48,000 --> 00:10:52,000 And somebody decided to pay me a visit. 188 00:10:52,000 --> 00:10:54,000 I checked through the keyhole. Didn't see much. 189 00:10:54,000 --> 00:10:58,000 What there was to see was females. So I took my chances and opened the door. 190 00:10:58,000 --> 00:11:00,000 She stood there. 191 00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:04,000 About five foot seven of the most interesting stuff I ever remember seeing. 192 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:09,000 Not young, mind you, nor angelic, but gorgeous and smart-looking and sweet-boiced. 193 00:11:09,000 --> 00:11:11,000 Hello there. 194 00:11:11,000 --> 00:11:12,000 Who are you? 195 00:11:12,000 --> 00:11:13,000 May I come in? 196 00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:15,000 Yeah, sure. It's your risk. 197 00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:16,000 Who are you? 198 00:11:16,000 --> 00:11:21,000 You may call me Marla, Mr. Mitchell, and I want the Argyle album. 199 00:11:21,000 --> 00:11:22,000 Just like that? 200 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:28,000 No, not just like that. I could be nasty, you know. After all, the police want you. 201 00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:34,000 Somehow, Marla, that doesn't worry me at all. I just don't think you make it a policy to have traffic with the police. 202 00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:37,000 And a stooped youngster. I like you. 203 00:11:37,000 --> 00:11:39,000 I like you too, but I haven't time. 204 00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:41,000 I'll give you $500 for it. 205 00:11:41,000 --> 00:11:44,000 I don't even know what it is. What is the Argyle album? 206 00:11:44,000 --> 00:11:45,000 Ten thousand. 207 00:11:45,000 --> 00:11:47,000 Without a breath, that's some jump. 208 00:11:47,000 --> 00:11:48,000 Ten thousand? 209 00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:51,000 I'm really sorry, Marla. 210 00:11:51,000 --> 00:11:56,000 That's what I wanted to know. It's not for sale. Well... 211 00:11:56,000 --> 00:12:03,000 She moves her casually and directly to the door and opens it so quickly that I hadn't even gotten out of my chair before her two boyfriends stepped in. 212 00:12:03,000 --> 00:12:08,000 The first one looked like a round-faced, pleasant businessman. Hair slightly gray, nice smile. 213 00:12:08,000 --> 00:12:13,000 The one who followed him had the square, low-cut, irresistible appearance of a medium-sized tank. 214 00:12:13,000 --> 00:12:16,000 Mr. Winter and Mr. Hobrey. Mr. Mitchell. 215 00:12:16,000 --> 00:12:17,000 How do you do? 216 00:12:17,000 --> 00:12:18,000 Mr. Mitchell. 217 00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:20,000 He's not terribly cooperative. 218 00:12:20,000 --> 00:12:21,000 Oh, no? 219 00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:25,000 He doesn't perform not for love nor for money. Very stubborn. 220 00:12:25,000 --> 00:12:27,000 She really didn't try love, Mr. Winter. 221 00:12:27,000 --> 00:12:32,000 From what I know of Marla, that's hard to believe, eh, Marla? 222 00:12:32,000 --> 00:12:38,000 So... so you're stubborn, Mr. Mitchell. A stubborn murderer. 223 00:12:38,000 --> 00:12:41,000 I'll repeat my question. What is the Argyle album? 224 00:12:41,000 --> 00:12:43,000 You are a gifted actor. 225 00:12:43,000 --> 00:12:45,000 Never mind. Forget it, Mr. Winter. 226 00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:50,000 Isn't $10,000 enough? That's the best we can offer and still make a profit. 227 00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:51,000 Let's not waste time. 228 00:12:51,000 --> 00:12:53,000 Have it your way, son. 229 00:12:53,000 --> 00:12:54,000 Gill! 230 00:12:54,000 --> 00:12:56,000 Gill! 231 00:12:58,000 --> 00:13:02,000 The big guy stepped toward me. I ducked and took the table from his. 232 00:13:02,000 --> 00:13:04,000 Gill pushed it aside like it was magic. 233 00:13:04,000 --> 00:13:09,000 His left hand lashed out and he had the lapels of my coat and I was lifting till only my shoe tips touched the floor. 234 00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:12,000 I was helpless as a baby. He started slapping my face, front hand and back. 235 00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:17,000 He kept up and up like a flick on the drums and the acne was unbearable. 236 00:13:17,000 --> 00:13:22,000 He stopped. I waited like the wait between pauses at the dentist's drill multiplied by a million. 237 00:13:22,000 --> 00:13:27,000 I must have moved suddenly because I saw the small eyes flicker and a huge fist come swinging in my face. 238 00:13:27,000 --> 00:13:29,000 I wanted to duck but I couldn't. 239 00:13:29,000 --> 00:13:34,000 My hands were torn from the front of my face and it came shocks of incalculable pain like searing flames. 240 00:13:34,000 --> 00:13:53,000 Then the flames went out. 241 00:13:53,000 --> 00:14:01,000 For suspense, Roma Wines are bringing you a star, Mr. Robert Taylor, in The Argyle Album by Cyril Enfield. 242 00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:15,000 Roma Wines presentation tonight in radio's outstanding theater of thrills, Suspense. 243 00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:21,000 Between the acts of suspense, this is Truman Bradley for Roma Wines. 244 00:14:21,000 --> 00:14:26,000 Happy days ahead. The gay festive season when guests call. 245 00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:29,000 And hospitality is the order of the day. 246 00:14:29,000 --> 00:14:33,000 And what better order for your guests than Roma California Sherry? 247 00:14:33,000 --> 00:14:38,000 Yes, serving delicious Roma Sherry is a gracious American custom. 248 00:14:38,000 --> 00:14:43,000 As an appetizer, Roma Sherry is the perfect first call for dinner. 249 00:14:43,000 --> 00:14:51,000 And because gold and amber, Roma Sherry is a mellow wine with tempting fragrance, natural sweetness and nut-like taste, 250 00:14:51,000 --> 00:14:54,000 it's a delightful treat any time. 251 00:14:54,000 --> 00:15:02,000 If you prefer a dry Sherry, Roma California Pale Dry Sherry is made especially to suit your taste. 252 00:15:02,000 --> 00:15:08,000 For smart hospitality, get both Roma Sherries and give your guests their choice. 253 00:15:08,000 --> 00:15:14,000 Like all Roma Wines, Roma Sherry is a true wine, unvaryingly good always. 254 00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:19,000 And Roma's new low prices save you as much as one-fourth. 255 00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:28,000 Insist on Roma, R-O-M-A, Roma Wines for uniformly fine quality at low cost. 256 00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:33,000 Remember, more Americans enjoy Roma than any other wine. 257 00:15:33,000 --> 00:15:42,000 And now Roma Wines bring back to our Hollywood Soundstage Robert Taylor as reporter Harry Mitchell in The Argyle Album. 258 00:15:42,000 --> 00:15:49,000 A play well calculated to keep you in suspense. 259 00:16:00,000 --> 00:16:07,000 This is the bedroom of the apartment. Marla was bathing my forehead with a damn panty-chief. 260 00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:14,000 I lay quiet until things cleared up a bit. That's it. Rest a little, that's the boy. 261 00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:19,000 Marla. Where's the album, darling? Where's the album? 262 00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:24,000 I swear I don't know. I don't know. You don't want me to call him again, do you Harry? 263 00:16:24,000 --> 00:16:29,000 No, no, no, no, please. They're both in the kitchen. I'm supposed to help you wake up and then call. 264 00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:32,000 No, no, just don't. If you haven't got it, do you know where it is? 265 00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:39,000 I swear, Marla, I swear I don't even know what it is. All I know is it's tulle, white leather or something. 266 00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:47,000 You don't? You don't? All right. Here's what I know. 267 00:16:47,000 --> 00:16:50,000 Winter found it originally. He was in occupied Europe then. 268 00:16:50,000 --> 00:16:55,000 He doesn't admit it, but I think he was the leader of a looting party after an American raid. 269 00:16:55,000 --> 00:17:03,000 It was a sheaf of documents recording the transfer of large sums of money by certain individuals, both German and American. 270 00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:08,000 Big men, who wanted to make sure that they'd come out right no matter whose armies won. 271 00:17:08,000 --> 00:17:11,000 Winter knew that he found a fortune that day, a fortune in blackmail. 272 00:17:11,000 --> 00:17:13,000 What happened? 273 00:17:13,000 --> 00:17:17,000 He kept it in a public locker in a bus station. Normally the safest place in the world. 274 00:17:17,000 --> 00:17:23,000 It was in a town down here in Virginia, Argyle. On a million to one twist he lost it. 275 00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:27,000 A gang of young hoodlums blew open that section with a dynamite stick. 276 00:17:27,000 --> 00:17:33,000 And it's been missing ever since, until Alan Pierce started hinting about it in his column in the international scandal it involved. 277 00:17:33,000 --> 00:17:40,000 So, when Pierce died, you see, Winter had a right to suspect that Pierce's murderer might have the album. 278 00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:48,000 Naturally, the big men wanted to. Lots of people wanted badly. Including me. 279 00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:50,000 You? What for? 280 00:17:50,000 --> 00:17:52,000 Resale value. 281 00:17:52,000 --> 00:17:54,000 I see. That's a decent motive. 282 00:17:54,000 --> 00:17:56,000 I'm a decent person. 283 00:17:56,000 --> 00:18:01,000 Yeah, you are. Come here. 284 00:18:01,000 --> 00:18:05,000 You're nice. You're a nice boy. 285 00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:10,000 You know, I could just press my thumbs here at your windpipe and you couldn't even yell. 286 00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:13,000 You don't think I'd have given you a chance like this if I really cared? 287 00:18:13,000 --> 00:18:14,000 You're not kidding me. 288 00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:18,000 That's the excuse I'll give to Winter. That you choked me and I couldn't yell. 289 00:18:18,000 --> 00:18:21,000 You go down the fire escape. I'll give you plenty of time before I call him. 290 00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:22,000 I figure. What's in it for you? 291 00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:27,000 We'll see each other again, won't we? You'll find it. Hurry up. 292 00:18:27,000 --> 00:18:29,000 Okay, honey, you ask for it. 293 00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:33,000 Not too hard. 294 00:18:33,000 --> 00:18:36,000 It was a funny experience choking a woman deliberately. 295 00:18:36,000 --> 00:18:40,000 I squeezed pretty hard, scuffing bruises at her throat to make it look good. 296 00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:44,000 I got some mixed up. I didn't know what I was doing. I took her once and kissed her very hard. 297 00:18:44,000 --> 00:18:50,000 I ripped her clothes a little and mustered hair. And when she looked pretty battered, I kissed her again and crawled out on the fire escape and down. 298 00:18:50,000 --> 00:18:53,000 I gave the cabbie the Worcester Street address from Pierce's book. 299 00:18:53,000 --> 00:19:07,000 It was a junkyard. Joe Broad's junkyard. 300 00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:08,000 What do you want? 301 00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:10,000 Are you Mr. Broad? Joe Broad? 302 00:19:10,000 --> 00:19:12,000 That's my name. What do you want? 303 00:19:12,000 --> 00:19:14,000 The Argyle album. 304 00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:17,000 What? What? How did you? 305 00:19:17,000 --> 00:19:24,000 Oh, I know you. You are that Mitchell guy the police want for the murder of Ellen Pierce. 306 00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:26,000 If you move, I'll kill you. 307 00:19:26,000 --> 00:19:32,000 I got you figured, Broad. You're the fence for all the juvenile crooks around here. Some junkyard. 308 00:19:32,000 --> 00:19:37,000 I'm on lots better terms with the cops than you are, Mitchell. And I'm phoning them right now. 309 00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:41,000 Sure, sure. One of your kids brought you a nice white leather book with a two-headed eagle on it. 310 00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:44,000 Maybe you stretched and gave him two bits for it. 311 00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:47,000 Then you found you had something too big for a little guy. 312 00:19:47,000 --> 00:19:54,000 You knew it was worth dough, but your stomach wasn't tough enough for big-time blackmail, so you figured a way to be a right guy and still make dough. 313 00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:55,000 Sell it to Ellen Pierce. 314 00:19:55,000 --> 00:19:57,000 Selling is no crime. 315 00:19:57,000 --> 00:19:59,000 I'm really guessing, but good, huh? 316 00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:00,000 No. 317 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:02,000 You invested the price of a couple of photostats and a train ticket to Washington. 318 00:20:02,000 --> 00:20:06,000 You got to Pierce and sold him the photostats and told him he'd have to come here for the rest. 319 00:20:06,000 --> 00:20:09,000 There's nothing to keep me from killing you right now. 320 00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:10,000 I guess not. 321 00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:14,000 You're a fugitive, aren't you? An escaped killer. They wouldn't touch me. 322 00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:15,000 Wait a minute. Don't... 323 00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:16,000 Oh! 324 00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:23,000 Well, don't you even say thanks when your life is saved? 325 00:20:23,000 --> 00:20:25,000 Thanks, nice shot. 326 00:20:25,000 --> 00:20:28,000 Don't mention it. Do you wonder how I knew you were here? 327 00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:31,000 You watched me take the cab from the window and got the number. I know that one now. 328 00:20:31,000 --> 00:20:36,000 You're bright as well as nice. Maybe we can play this game together now that we have the album. 329 00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:37,000 Have we? 330 00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:41,000 Well, it can't be far in the desk drawer or the filing cabinet. 331 00:20:41,000 --> 00:20:44,000 I think we both saw Broad move at the same time. 332 00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:47,000 The gun at the edge of his fingers was somehow in his hands again. 333 00:20:47,000 --> 00:20:50,000 It wavered weakly between Marla and me. 334 00:20:50,000 --> 00:20:52,000 It was like watching a slow motion movie. 335 00:20:52,000 --> 00:20:54,000 Marla didn't waste time. 336 00:20:54,000 --> 00:20:59,000 I... I saw the sweet little body jump as the slug tore into it, but he's... 337 00:20:59,000 --> 00:21:03,000 His gun kept waving and it went off. 338 00:21:03,000 --> 00:21:07,000 Marla sighed and fell down at my feet. 339 00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:09,000 She smiled at me once. 340 00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:11,000 That's all. 341 00:21:21,000 --> 00:21:28,000 I walked through three cops in the halls of the police station, getting no more reaction than a nod of greeting, and entered Horslip Samson's office. 342 00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:32,000 Oh! Thanks for the phone call, Mitchell, but you gave us a bump steer. 343 00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:33,000 What's your angle? 344 00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:34,000 Bump steer? I saw the shooting. 345 00:21:34,000 --> 00:21:37,000 We found a woman very dead indeed, but there was no man. 346 00:21:37,000 --> 00:21:39,000 Sure, Broad? He didn't look alive when I saw him last. 347 00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:40,000 Well, he wasn't there. 348 00:21:40,000 --> 00:21:41,000 I'm only telling you what I saw. 349 00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:43,000 Now what do you expect us to do with you? 350 00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:45,000 Oh, put me on suspicion of murder. 351 00:21:45,000 --> 00:21:47,000 The murder of who, might I ask? 352 00:21:47,000 --> 00:21:49,000 Alan Pearce, naturally. 353 00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:51,000 Hey, do you want to confess? 354 00:21:51,000 --> 00:21:53,000 It's not bargain day today, Lieutenant. 355 00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:54,000 Oh, it's just an angle. 356 00:21:54,000 --> 00:21:56,000 Say, did the autopsy on Pearce come through? 357 00:21:56,000 --> 00:21:59,000 I was wondering why you gave yourself up, yeah. 358 00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:04,000 He died of heart failure, like you claimed. Only because he was so loaded with dope, even a normal heart would give out. 359 00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:06,000 Dope? You mean poison? 360 00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:10,000 Same thing, too much medicine. And Dr. Van Selben, the one who dosed him, has disappeared. 361 00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:14,000 Took a powder. You're not even runner-up for suspect now, Mitchell. 362 00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:22,000 Hey, maybe... maybe the one who stuck the scalpel into Pearce just wanted to create suspicious circumstances around the death just to be sure there'd be an autopsy. 363 00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:23,000 That's an angle. 364 00:22:23,000 --> 00:22:26,000 And how about Pinky? And how did the murderer get in and out of the room? 365 00:22:26,000 --> 00:22:28,000 Well, that's an angle. 366 00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:30,000 Hey, look, Mitchell, do you want to be held? 367 00:22:30,000 --> 00:22:31,000 No, I don't want to. 368 00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:34,000 Then stop asking questions I can't answer. Go on, beat it. 369 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:45,000 I still wanted to crack it. 370 00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:53,000 I found myself nursing a deep belief that there must be equal justice for the murderers of a man I loved, another I respected, and a woman I... I admired. 371 00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:56,000 There was only one place I could figure where to start. 372 00:22:56,000 --> 00:22:59,000 I picked my way through Jor-Brod's junkyard. 373 00:22:59,000 --> 00:23:02,000 The shapes of skeleton cars stood out dark in the moonlight. 374 00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:06,000 At the far end of the yard was a lighted shack. I went up to it, almost to the door. 375 00:23:06,000 --> 00:23:09,000 Somebody pushed from behind and my own body knocked the door open. 376 00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:10,000 Get in there. 377 00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:13,000 Rod was propped up in a chair facing me, his eyes wide. 378 00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:16,000 Winter stood beside him and Gil walked up from behind me alongside. 379 00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:17,000 Get in there. 380 00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:19,000 Come in, Mitchell. 381 00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:20,000 Thanks. 382 00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:24,000 Well, Mr. Mitchell, this is a proper ending. 383 00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:27,000 Another demonstration of the ascendancy of will. 384 00:23:27,000 --> 00:23:28,000 Is he alive? 385 00:23:28,000 --> 00:23:33,000 Oh. Oh, oh, Rod here. No, not now. 386 00:23:33,000 --> 00:23:38,000 He was very weak and had no resistance, but we learned what we needed. 387 00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:43,000 He had the album, quite cleverly hidden, but we have it now. 388 00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:45,000 Here, want to see it? 389 00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:46,000 Thanks. 390 00:23:46,000 --> 00:23:50,000 Say, uh, who hired Dr. Van Selben to kill Pierce? 391 00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:57,000 A very powerful and very wealthy individual most concerned with retrieving the album, Mr. Mitchell. 392 00:23:57,000 --> 00:24:00,000 But you didn't want it to be heart failure. You wanted to force an autopsy. 393 00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:02,000 That's why you stuck the scalpel into the corpse. 394 00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:05,000 That's rather clever of you, Mr. Mitchell. 395 00:24:05,000 --> 00:24:07,000 In the hospital, you were dressed as an attendant, right? 396 00:24:07,000 --> 00:24:12,000 You got behind that bed screen sometime early in the day, probably early in the morning before Pierce woke up, right? 397 00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:15,000 You were willing to wait a long time for what you wanted. 398 00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:17,000 It was very tiresome. 399 00:24:17,000 --> 00:24:20,000 You hoped to find out from Pierce where he had hidden the album. 400 00:24:20,000 --> 00:24:22,000 You found out instead that Pierce didn't have it. 401 00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:25,000 But you knew that Pierce was going to die anyhow from the overdose, 402 00:24:25,000 --> 00:24:29,000 so you decided to put the doctor in a compromising position with the scalpel forcing the autopsy. 403 00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:35,000 There's only one conceivable reason for you to have placed yourself in a hazardous position just for the sake of compromising the doctor. 404 00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:38,000 And what, may I ask, can that conceivable reason be? 405 00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:42,000 That you are the powerful and wealthy individual who got Dr. Van Selben to do Pierce's murder. 406 00:24:42,000 --> 00:24:44,000 That you're no more Mr. Winter than I am. 407 00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:45,000 Winter? 408 00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:50,000 The original Mr. Winter who smuggled the album out of Europe you eliminated when he first tried to blackmail you and your fellow thieves. 409 00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:55,000 By that line of reasoning, I was able to do a little research in the files of my reporter's memory. 410 00:24:55,000 --> 00:25:01,000 And in spite of the fact that you have no mustache and that there are several other slight physical changes that could easily be adjusted, 411 00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:07,000 you have an amazing resemblance to the very powerful, very wealthy Mr. Gerald K. Avery. 412 00:25:07,000 --> 00:25:09,000 Huh? What's that? 413 00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:18,000 A theory. But isn't this indulgence in violence a strange occupation for a man like Gerald Avery? 414 00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:24,000 Not at all, Mr. Avery. A man doesn't become an international power by going to Sunday school every week. 415 00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:27,000 You decided nobody could do your dirty work for you better than yourself. 416 00:25:27,000 --> 00:25:34,000 I suppose you felt you needed help so you got a professional adventurer like Marla to work with you on the grounds that you yourself were an adventurer, a blackmailer. 417 00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:35,000 Same goes for Gil here. 418 00:25:35,000 --> 00:25:37,000 Your time's run over, Mitchell. 419 00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:44,000 And Pinky. Of course, it doesn't bother you that you killed a nice guy with a nice family. To you, he was only in the way. 420 00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:49,000 You stuck the scalpel into Pierce's corpse to save yourself some more trouble, the trouble of paying off Dr. Van Selvin. 421 00:25:49,000 --> 00:25:54,000 He'll probably show up floating. You dragged Pinky behind the screen and you got behind with him and hid. 422 00:25:54,000 --> 00:26:01,000 Then when all the doctors and attendants broke into the room and rushed around Pierce's bed, you stepped out casually from behind the screen and mingled with the crowd. 423 00:26:01,000 --> 00:26:02,000 You were dressed for the part. 424 00:26:02,000 --> 00:26:09,000 As a reporter, Mr. Mitchell, would you describe that exploit as daring or brilliant? 425 00:26:09,000 --> 00:26:12,000 Oh, Mr. Avery, I'd use the word selfish, traitorous, foul. 426 00:26:12,000 --> 00:26:14,000 Your morality sickens me. No, Mitchell. 427 00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:16,000 Now there's only one more thing you didn't count on. Gil here. 428 00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:17,000 Gil has nothing to do with this. 429 00:26:17,000 --> 00:26:18,000 Oh, yes he has. 430 00:26:18,000 --> 00:26:19,000 Keep your mouth shut, Mitchell. 431 00:26:19,000 --> 00:26:21,000 I'll do nothing with the sword. I'll tell Gil not to... 432 00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:29,000 Let him talk. I fear you fool. Let go of my arm. Let him talk. 433 00:26:29,000 --> 00:26:32,000 Thanks, Gil. And just keep hold of his arm, will you? 434 00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:33,000 Talk. 435 00:26:33,000 --> 00:26:40,000 Okay. As I was saying, Mr. Avery, you forgot that Marla and Gil have been playing along with you because they figured you were their kind. 436 00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:44,000 There's a certain honor among little crooks, but not among you big timers, Mr. Avery. 437 00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:49,000 Now you have the album, the album that couldn't hurt anybody but yourself. Who's the blackmail? Where's the payoff? 438 00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:56,000 Gil's wondering what's going to protect his interests, aren't you, Gil? He knows now what's happened to Dr. Van Selvin. 439 00:26:56,000 --> 00:26:59,000 You see, he figured you for an honest crook, not a big timer. 440 00:26:59,000 --> 00:27:05,000 You're not listening to him, Gil. He's only playing for time, only trying to save his own miserable skin. 441 00:27:05,000 --> 00:27:08,000 I'll pay you off, Gil. I'll pay you more than you ever dreamed. 442 00:27:08,000 --> 00:27:12,000 So you really are Gerald K. Avery, huh? 443 00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:29,000 Don't be an idiot, Gil. You cooperate with me on the... 444 00:27:29,000 --> 00:27:35,000 That was a bad mistake for Mr. Gerald K. Avery. You see, he figured his gun was bigger than Gil. 445 00:27:35,000 --> 00:27:41,000 He moved fast, but not quite fast enough. The lead that hit Gil in the shoulder, but didn't even seem to faze him. 446 00:27:41,000 --> 00:27:45,000 I understand he broke Avery's arm. That's when Avery screamed. 447 00:27:45,000 --> 00:27:47,000 The next blow broke Avery's neck. 448 00:27:47,000 --> 00:27:54,000 It was an awful lot of excitement because horse-lip shadows caught up with the proceedings just about this time, and the details aren't too clear. 449 00:27:54,000 --> 00:27:59,000 All I know is that it had been a big day, and I was awfully tired. 450 00:27:59,000 --> 00:28:26,000 I went home, climbed into bed, put my head on a nice pillow made of tulle-white leather, and slept a long, long time. 451 00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:31,000 Suspense! Starring Robert Taylor in The Argyle Album. 452 00:28:31,000 --> 00:28:39,000 Presented by Roma Wines, R-O-M-A. Made in California for enjoyment throughout the world. 453 00:28:39,000 --> 00:28:42,000 Eleven more shopping days to Christmas. 454 00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:47,000 No shopping worry for those who plan to give fine Roma Wines this year. 455 00:28:47,000 --> 00:28:50,000 Roma Wines are easy to buy, always welcome. 456 00:28:50,000 --> 00:28:58,000 And gifts of Roma Wine can be as impressive as you wish. One bottle, several, or a case, in colorful wrappings. 457 00:28:58,000 --> 00:29:04,000 Says famed hostess Elsa Maxwell, gifts of Roma Wines are always in perfect good taste. 458 00:29:04,000 --> 00:29:11,000 Flatter your friends. Save time and money with gifts of Roma California Saturn or Burgundy. 459 00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:20,000 Delicate, pale gold Roma Saturn. Red, robust Roma Burgundy. Make meals more flavorful, more friendly. 460 00:29:20,000 --> 00:29:25,000 Remember, all Roma Wines are true wines from selected grapes. 461 00:29:25,000 --> 00:29:31,000 Unhurriedly guided to taste perfection. Then bottled at the wineries in California. 462 00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:35,000 Now, Roma's increased sales make possible new low prices. 463 00:29:35,000 --> 00:29:40,000 No wonder more Americans enjoy Roma than any other wine. 464 00:29:40,000 --> 00:29:48,000 Insist on Roma. R-O-M-A. Roma Wines for good living, good giving, this Christmas. 465 00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:52,000 Robert Taylor appeared by courtesy of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, producers of They Were Expendable. 466 00:29:52,000 --> 00:29:58,000 Next Thursday, same time, Roma Wines will bring you Keenan Wynne and Hume Cronin as stars of... 467 00:29:58,000 --> 00:30:02,000 Suspense! Radio's outstanding theater of thrill. 468 00:30:02,000 --> 00:30:07,000 Produced by William Spear for the Roma Wine Company of Fresno, California. 469 00:30:07,000 --> 00:30:11,000 This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.