Now, Roma wines, R-O-M-A, made in California for enjoyment throughout the world.
Roma wines present Suspense.
Tonight, Roma wines bring you Mr. Paul Henry, star of No More Alice, a suspense play produced,
edited and directed for Roma Wines by William Spear.
Suspense, radio's outstanding theater of thrills, is presented for your enjoyment by Roma Wines.
That's R-O-M-A, Roma Wines, those excellent California wines that can add so much pleasantness
to the way you live, to your happiness and entertaining guests, to your enjoyment of
everyday meals.
Yes, right now a glass full would be very pleasant, as Roma Wines bring you Paul Henry,
in a remarkable tale of Suspense.
Driving along there, I had the radio on, but I was thinking of Alice, a few more miles
and I'd be home with her.
I was thinking how her teeth gleamed through the twisted smile she'd gotten the habit of
wearing, how white and inviting her throat was.
I was thinking of her voice when she accused me of being in love with Elisa Waters, cold,
shrill, full of bitterness.
Your attention please, a prison break has been reported by warden J.G. Johnson of Greystone
Penitentiary.
At 9.15 tonight, less than one hour ago, the notorious Frankie Tatham shot his way out
of the death house at State Prison, killing two guards and wounding two others.
All stated local police, as well as all motorists in the vicinity of Greystone, are warned to
be on the lookout for this escaped convict.
Once again, the name is Frankie Tatham.
He is armed and dangerous.
I was just entering Greystone, and somewhere in these mountains was that escaped convict.
A condemned murderer.
It seemed such a cliché somehow, I'd heard that situation worn threadbare on cheap mystery
broadcasts.
The escaped murderer announced over the radio, the innocent listener.
But I began to think about it, and all at once Alice got mixed in those thoughts.
I slowed down the car and pulled over to the side of the road.
I kept the motor running and the lights on.
I sat there.
I don't know how long I waited there.
Maybe 15 minutes, maybe an hour.
All I did know was that so long as that siren screeched, Frankie Tatham was still at large
somewhere in these mountains.
I was in no hurry.
Finally, someone was coming.
I sat very still and kept my eyes focused on the overhead mirror.
The figure was materializing out of the thick brush that lined the road, moving stealthily
toward the car.
I waited.
Presently, the handle on the door nearest to me turned.
All right, don't move you.
I had no intention of moving.
Shut up.
Get out of the car and don't try anything.
The car isn't going to do you any good, Tatham.
The highway is patrolled and blocked off for miles.
I told you to button up and get out.
Two motorcycle troopers just went by here looking for you.
I said get out of that car.
Well, I want to help you, Tatham.
Why do you think I sit here with the lights on and the motor running?
Huh?
I knew the lights and the sound of the motor would attract you.
God, don't give me that.
There's miles of country here.
How could you tell I'd come this way?
This is the shortest and safest route of the old stone quarry on the other side of the
mountain.
If I had just escaped from prison and wanted to hide out until my pals could get to me,
that's where I'd head.
Hey, cops.
There's a rope on the back seat.
Get in.
Lie on the floor and cover yourself over quickly.
What kind of a shot do you take before?
You have much choice in the matter, Tatham.
In a few seconds, that trooper will be here.
If you pull that trigger or try to get away without pulling it, you won't get 20 feet
in those bushes.
Now, get in and fast.
Okay.
Okay, I don't know what this is all about, but it better be on the level, pal.
Get in.
All right back there?
Yeah.
And don't forget this gun.
What's going on here?
Having trouble with my motor officer.
Keeps heating up on me and stalling.
Well, you got it running now, four of us overheated.
Just started it up.
I see your license.
Oh, gladly.
Here.
Here you are.
Warren Rice.
Warren...
Oh, Dr. Rice.
All right.
Gosh, Doc, why didn't you say it was you?
Because you didn't ask me.
You better watch it, Doc.
Frankie Tatham's escaped from the death house up here.
Frankie Tatham?
Yeah, you must remember him, the bank robber and killer.
Papers were full of him a while back.
Bad guy.
Shoot you in the back quick as he breathes.
Did you say shoot me in the back?
Yeah, he's loose somewhere in these mountains.
You better not hang around any longer than you have to, Doc.
He's a bad actor.
Thanks very much, officer.
I'll get started right away and see if I can make home without stalling again.
Yeah, well, good luck, doctor.
Good luck to you, officer.
Hope you'll find Tatham.
All right, Tatham, he's gone.
So you were Doc, huh?
Hmm?
Saw bones?
No, I'm a doctor of psychiatry.
Yeah?
Well, let's see what I'm going to do now.
I'll take over from here.
You'll take over?
Look, Doc, you seem to forget which one of us is holding this gun.
Look, if I figure it out, you'd hear it for the Quarry.
Eventually, the cops will, too.
I ain't afraid to shoot it out with no cops.
There is no profit in shooting it out with them.
You got a better idea, I suppose, huh?
I think so.
All right, what's this all about?
You wait in here for me, hide me under the robe.
Now figure in out an escape for me.
It don't add.
We'll talk about that on the way.
On the way to where?
On the way to my home.
You see, Tatum, a psychiatrist every once in a while comes upon a subject so interesting.
In other words, Doc, you're trading me a safe hideout and a chance to make a clean getaway
for the opportunity of using me as a guinea pig.
That's right, Tatum.
I want to study you for a while.
Yeah?
Well, you're funded for me all along the line.
And if I can make a clean break out of town in a few days or so, well, I guess I can stand
being under glass that long.
OK, it's a deal.
All right, Tatum, follow me.
Wait a minute.
Can we go into the front door?
No, no.
There's a side entrance.
It leads to the left wing of the house.
That's where I have my office.
OK.
This is it, Tatum.
Wait till I get my keys out.
This is the one.
There, there is a light switch right where your hand is, Tatum.
Click it on, will you please?
OK.
Well, this is quite a layout.
Yes, I have this annex put on the main building so I could have it private.
No one uses it but me.
Eh?
Where will I stay?
Well, there's a bit of a room back of the office.
It has a bed and everything else you'll need.
I use it sometimes for patients I bring home and sometimes for myself when I work late and
don't wish to be disturbed by my wife.
Yeah?
Well, it's not bad.
Well, I'm glad you like it.
Just make yourself comfortable.
I'll be back.
OK.
Hey, hey, Doc, bring some grub with you.
All right, I will.
As soon as I've had a little talk with my wife.
Good evening, dear.
So you got home?
Yes, Alice, I just got in.
I didn't expect you until morning.
I finished a case earlier than I thought.
Had anything to eat?
No.
I'll get, I'll call Greta.
It's her night off.
Do we, too?
Yes.
I'll get you something myself.
No, no, no, Alice.
Don't bother.
Father, it's a pleasure, darling.
Thanks.
Oh, yes, I almost forgot I have someone with me.
Not Lisa, by any chance.
Alice, I'd hoped you'd forget about the other night and all the disagreeable things we said
and...
Disagreeable?
I found them rather enlightening.
Did you?
Yes.
It isn't every wife whose husband is so honest telling her that he's in love with someone
else.
Oh, I'm sorry about that, Alice.
I didn't mean to say it, really.
I can believe that.
I mean, it isn't true.
I'm not in love with Lisa.
I have never been.
Is that why you wanted a divorce?
I said that in the heat of the argument, Alice.
I have no reason to want a divorce.
Especially since I told you I'd never give you one.
I'm not going to argue with you any more, Alice.
I told myself that on the way home.
I'm going to try to make our marriage the way it was ten years ago.
A very pretty speech, darling, but I'm afraid it will take a great deal more than the power
of words to convince me of that.
Oh, I think I convinced you, Alice, if you'll give me time.
I'm sure I can convince you.
For Suspense, Roma Wines are bringing you a star, Paul Henry, in No More Alice by Martin
Ryerson.
Roma Wines presentation tonight in radio's outstanding theater of thrills, Suspense.
Between the acts of suspense, this is Truman Bradley for Roma Wines.
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And now Roma Wines bring back to our Hollywood soundstage, Paul Henry, who as Dr. Warren
Rice in No More Alice continues a narrative well calculated to keep you in suspense.
One might suppose there are no particular advantages to hiding an escaped convict in
one's home, and a convict who is a murderer at that.
But there are, under certain circumstances, sometimes.
The morning after, I began the procedure of winning his confidence, making him believe
I'd really brought him there for the purpose of using him as a guinea pig.
It was an interesting deception.
School?
Yeah, sure, I went to school.
Laforme School for six whole years.
How long did you bury your nose in books?
About twenty years.
Twenty years?
Mm-hmm.
What's there to learn that would take twenty years?
I went through college.
Then I took several post-graduate courses.
You sure had plenty of time to waste.
What did your father do for a living, Tatham?
He was sharp in the Chicago stickup when I was two years old.
How about yours?
My father was the president of a bank.
Bank?
Ha-ha!
Blank check, huh?
Yes, Tatham.
I never really wanted for a thing in my life that I couldn't have.
Well, we sure came out of different baskets, didn't we, Doc?
Tell me, when you robbed a bank or killed someone, was it premeditated?
You mean, did I plan it?
Yes.
Sure.
Sure, you have to lay out a bank job.
But killing?
Well, that just happened.
Somebody just had the rough luck to get in my way.
Did you feel you had the right to take the life of another human being?
Why not?
Somebody tries to take something from me, so I nudge them out of the way.
But you...
Well, you wouldn't understand that, Doc.
You just said you never wanted anything you couldn't have.
Ever feel remorseful when you kill someone?
Remorseful?
What's that?
Well, did you ever regret it?
Did it ever bother your conscience?
No.
Ha-ha-ha!
Why should it?
Why, I'd kill my own brother if he ever got in my way.
It went on like that for the next three days.
I kept Tatum in that little room and had Dooley, our butler, bring his meals to the office.
No one saw him.
Finally, on the morning of the third day...
Look, Doc, how much longer you gonna keep me holed up in this room?
I'm starting to get punchy.
Maybe tomorrow you'll be able to leave Tatum.
I've contacted your friends.
What'd they say?
Well, they said, uh...
Well, as soon as I get a definite answer from them, you'll be on your way.
Well, look, look, Doc, I don't want you to think I don't appreciate all this, see, but
staying cooped up in this two-by-four room is almost as bad as being in sturd.
Except that you know you're going to get out of here.
Yeah.
Ha-ha-ha!
Yeah.
Yes.
It's funny.
You know, I had you pegged wrong at first, Doc.
I thought you was just using me, and that sooner or later I'd have to bump you.
Ha-ha!
But I guess, uh, I guess that won't be necessary now, eh, Doc?
Ha-ha-ha!
Yes, Tatum was getting restless.
So was I.
I couldn't keep him hidden out much longer.
The rooms were getting dirty and had to be cleaned by Greta.
Alice was getting a little curious as to who my patient was.
If you stayed there too long, there would be questions.
It was time to act.
That evening it rained, came down in torrents, though it was mild compared to the storm that
surged inside me.
I walked into the drawing room and saw Lisa Waters sitting in front of the fireplace alone.
Alice asked me to drop over and said you'd be curious if I didn't stay for dinner.
Hello, Lisa.
Where is Alice?
Hello.
She went to see Greta about dinner.
Warren, aren't you going to sit down?
Hey, no, you're beside me on the divan.
Thanks.
Why, it's been a long time since I last saw you.
Does that mean you missed me?
But of course.
Don't you know by this time that you're my favorite husband?
Am I?
Uh-huh.
I've often told Alice that if I ever get married, I'll try to find a husband just like you.
Well, hello, Doctor.
Hello.
You finished your work rather early this evening, darling.
Or did you happen to see Lisa's car in the driveway?
Alice, anyone hearing you would think...
Think what, Lisa?
Warren isn't early for dinner very often.
Come to think of it, he hasn't been early since the last time you were here.
Doesn't she tease something awful, Warren?
Oh, but I'm not teasing.
Don't you know, Lisa, that the other night Warren confessed...
Alice, please.
What's the matter, darling?
I was only going to say you confessed that of all my friends you prefer Lisa.
That was sweet, Warren.
Mind if I sit between you two?
Well, you'll be breaking up a very handsome couple.
Yes, I know.
By the way, speaking of breaking up, we had a most interesting discussion the other night
about divorce.
Alice, must you...
Certainly not you and Warren.
Oh, no.
No, Lisa, darling.
I don't believe in divorce.
I told Warren that no matter what happened, I'd never give him a divorce.
I don't imagine you would.
After sacrificing and working with him for ten long years, I'd never step aside for
anyone.
Not even if that anyone was you, Lisa, my best friend.
That's how marriage should be.
Till death do us part.
At ten o'clock, please, I'll leave.
It was still stormy.
As I walked her to the car under an umbrella, I fought the desire to take her in my arms.
Tell her that after tonight she would be mine and I would be hers.
And there would be no more, no more, Alice.
But she seemed so young, so far from the thought of murder.
Suppose I were wrong and took her into my confidence.
Tell her about my plan to kill Alice.
It could mean the end of everything.
No, I must wait.
It wouldn't be long now before there'd be no more goodbyes like this one.
I watched a car crawl down the driveway into the rain and the darkness.
Then I went back into the house.
Alice was in the drawing room.
I didn't have much to say.
She did all the talking.
She still goaded me about Lisa, asked if I kissed her goodnight, if we made a secret
tryst.
Well, finally I told her I had to get back to my patient in the office outside.
I watched her turn out the lights and climb the stairs to her room.
It was the last time I'd ever see Alice alive, I told myself.
But I didn't feel badly.
I felt good.
When I got to the office, Tatum was listening to the radio.
This was it.
All right, all right, Tatum, better kill the radio.
Yeah, sure, sure.
What?
What's up?
My wife.
What's the matter with her?
She... she found out you were here and who you are.
Hey, hey, that ain't good.
What's she gonna do?
Call the police.
One side, brother.
Wait a minute.
I've cut the phone wires.
She's got legs in.
She can't get out of the house without us hearing her.
We've got time.
Let's try to think this thing out.
You think it out?
I'm the one that's on the spot.
What?
Hey, wait a minute.
How did she find out?
Well, I don't know.
Just put two and two together somehow.
What's the difference now?
Plenty, plenty, because from the way it looks here, nobody could have tipped her off but
you.
Don't be a fool.
Come on, talk fast, Doc, because if you cross me...
Put that gun down.
Why should I cross you?
How do you think I stand in this?
I don't know.
How do you?
Shielding an escaped convict.
I'd go to prison for that.
Some kind of a trap.
This is what you've been leading up to.
Why you...
All right, Taffon.
Oh, you stupid fool.
Listen to me.
We are together in this.
You understand that?
We are together in this.
You can't kill me and I can't turn you in.
Yeah, that's right.
You and me are kind of in the same boat, ain't we, Doc?
I'm glad it's penetrating finally, Taffon.
I've got to do something quickly.
You sure your wife can't leave without us hearing?
No, I have the car keys.
Anyway, it's a mile to the nearest phone.
Of course, she's up in her room now.
Look, Doc, look.
She must have known the spot she put you in.
Why does she want to pull a thing like that for?
Because she hates me.
Yeah?
She's hated me for years.
Yeah?
I would have killed her long ago if I had the nerve.
I've never killed a thing, but I would have.
If what?
If she got in my way.
Where do you think she is now?
I'm thinking.
I'd say somebody broke in, a burglar.
You could take my other car.
You could be half a way across the country.
Yeah, unless you had me picked up.
Make myself an accessory to murder, huh?
How could I?
Oh, we've gone all through over there before.
Yeah.
Yeah, you're right.
You really are in this, ain't you?
Any way you play it.
The only way for either of us.
Pick up your gun.
Yeah.
Okay, Doc.
It's a deal.
Slowly Tatum opened the door and slipped into the hall.
I waited a few seconds.
Then I walked to the desk.
I unlocked the top drawer and got out my revolver.
Cautiously I opened the door and moved into the hall toward my main building.
As I reached the foot of the stairs, I heard the door to Alice's room squeak open.
I went up the stairs quickly without a sound.
As I reached the stop step, there was a muffled scream, a slight struggle, a single shot.
Then a terrible silence.
I crept in the door of the bedroom.
Slowly I opened it.
And in the dull light from the bed lamp, I took careful aim with the revolver at Frankie
Tatum's broad back.
Four bullets I pumped into him.
A wave of conquests swept through me.
For this, this was perfection.
This was the difference between a crude killer like Frankie Tatum and me.
This was exactly as I had planned it.
In a moment duly, our butler, summoned by the shots, would rush into the room.
He would find me standing there with a gun in my hand.
The way I would disarrange the room in the next few seconds would convince him and the
police that Frankie Tatum had broken into my wife's bedroom and murdered her.
And I, the gallant husband, had rushed to the scene and blazed away at him.
It would look awfully nice in prints.
I would be quite a hero.
And no one would know that I had carefully planned this murder step by step from the
moment when I first heard the prison siren on the mountain road.
Yes, now at last I was free to marry Lisa.
Already I was busy turning over the furniture, disarranging the bed, reaching to tear the
robe from the probe figured on the bed.
And then...
Juan.
A voice.
A woman's voice.
Warren.
I spun to face the doorway.
I could feel a blood drain from my face.
A terrible coldness reached out and grabbed at my heart.
Alice.
It was Alice.
Framed in the doorway.
Fear smashed into my brain.
I turned to her, the figure on the bed.
Turned it over.
A scream choked in my throat.
There.
Look before me.
Lay the lifeless body of Lisa.
He's the man who escaped from Greystone Penitentiary.
He's the man you kept locked in your office, isn't he?
But I...
I put her in her car.
I saw her drive away.
You planned to have him murder me.
But he killed her instead.
But I...
I saw her drive away.
She came back.
I saw her.
Landslide blocked the highway.
I told her to spend the night.
She could have my room.
You planned to have him murder me, didn't you?
She spoke.
She gloated.
Alice moved into the room.
I circled to her the doorway.
The revolver was still warm in my hand.
As I reached the doorway, I raised the gun.
My finger tightened on the trigger.
And then something came down out of the blackness and washed away and he crawled from my room.
And that, gentlemen of the jury, is the true confession of Dr. Warren Rice told you in
his own words.
Ironically, the very person Rice expected would be his chief collaborating witness turned
out to be the man who trapped and convicted him.
I mean Dooley the butler who was summoned by the shots, hurried to the door of Mrs.
Rice's bedroom, found Rice about to kill his wife and struck him down.
The state rests.
Suspense.
Presented by Roma Wines.
Our OMA made in California for enjoyment throughout the world.
Before we hear again from Paul Henreid, the star of No More Alice, tonight's suspense
play, this is Truman Bradley for Roma Wines.
If meatless Lenten meals fail to intrigue that family of yours, just serve a fine Roma
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dinner.
You can enjoy Roma wines often, for they cost just pennies a glass.
So insist on Roma, R-O-M-A, Roma Wines, made in California for enjoyment throughout the
world.
This is Paul Henreid.
Next week, I know you will want to make it a point to hear a suspense show that promises
to be really something.
It will star Gregory Peck in a remarkable study of the mental breakdown of a man who
brings himself to the very brink of murder because of a woman.
I know you won't want to miss hearing Gregory Peck in The Lonely Road.
Thank you.
Paul Henreid will soon be seen in the Warner Brothers production, Devotion.
Next Thursday, same time, Roma Wines will bring you Mr. Gregory Peck as star of Suspense,
radio's outstanding theater of thrill.
Produced by William Spear for the Roma Wine Company of Fresno, California.
This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.