WEBVTT

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Now, Roma Wines, R-O-M-A.

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Made in California for enjoyment throughout the world.

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Roma Wines presents Suspense.

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Tonight, Roma Wines bring you the David O. Sulznik star, Mr. Joseph Cotton,

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in Crime Without Passion by Ben Hecht.

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A Suspense play produced, edited, and directed for Roma Wines by William Spear.

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Suspense, Radio's outstanding theater of thrills, is presented for your enjoyment by Roma Wines.

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That's R-O-M-A, Roma Wines.

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Those excellent California wines that can add so much pleasantness to the way you live.

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To your happiness and entertaining guests.

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To your enjoyment of everyday meals.

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Yes, right now, a glass full would be very pleasant.

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As Roma Wines bring you Joseph Cotton in a remarkable tale of...

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Suspense.

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She had phoned me to come over to her apartment. She wanted a showdown.

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Well, I wanted a showdown too, and so I went over to her apartment.

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And after all the time I've given you, why everybody thinks we're engaged to be married,

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now you're trying to give me the go-by just like that.

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The girls in this show, what a laugh they'll hand me.

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Who do you think you are anyway?

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Now, now, calm and watch your temper.

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To think, to think I've been such a fool.

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Earl Wilson and Winster, well, just everybody won't think give me the rash in their column.

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And the rest of the bunch around the El Bravo.

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When they get through with me, I'll probably lose my lead in the bird of paradise.

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The nerve, treating me as if I was a nobody.

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What do you get like that, taking up a girl's time?

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She was a dancer at the El Bravo club.

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She was number one on the line in the bird of paradise number in the floor show.

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That was where I first noticed her.

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I looked at her now with complete detachment.

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I wondered what I had ever seen in this redheaded illiterate creature with her childish face and muscular legs.

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How could I have ever considered her charming or desirable?

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Probably for you.

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More likely it's Eddie White calling you that dean of collegiate heroes.

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Oh, yeah?

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For me, by any mischance, just say I'm not here.

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Hello? Hello?

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No, he's not here. I don't know where he is. He's not here.

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Your office. Always making me lie for you.

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And as for that crack about Eddie White, you don't fool me, not for a minute.

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Don't just stand there and say, mm-hmm, in that smutting way.

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You know very well I haven't been seeing Eddie White. You're just using that for an excuse, aren't you?

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Well, I...

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Well, I know, aren't you?

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You know all the answers.

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Sure I know the answers to that. You're just saying that because you're trying to get rid of me.

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Trying to put me on the escalator, that's what.

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Well, have it your own way.

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Have it your own way? Why, you...

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Now cut that out.

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You think that because you're a lawyer you can get away with this? I'll show you.

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Hey, look out.

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You're a photograph and it's swell expensive frame. I'll show you what I think of that too.

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You're not going to make a sucker out of me, you stupid...

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No, no, no. No, not my Derby.

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Your Derby. Why, I'll smash your face.

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Stay away from me now. Don't come near me. Oh, that hurt.

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I need to have it out.

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Why, you...

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Why, you little vixen. How...

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I hate you. I loathe you.

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I hate all of your...

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Don't you try to strike me. Don't you dare.

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Lou.

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Put down the candlestick, Lou.

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Put it down, Lou.

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Don't. Don't.

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I was suddenly aware of a large brass candlestick in my hand.

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And on the floor lay calm and brown.

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I leaned over her.

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Her skull cracked and blood was running from it.

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Her eyes were closed. I listened.

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No heartbeat.

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I was suddenly overwhelmed with the thought that...

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I had committed a murder.

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I don't think there's a lawyer in New York with more thorough experience

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in the handling of criminal cases. No.

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I knew all the angles.

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I knew the pitfalls of the defense in such a case as this.

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I knew the psychology of the prosecution.

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I had unexpectedly and inadvertently been cast in the role of a criminal.

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Through my mind rushed all the prejudices and difficulties of such a case.

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And in less than a minute, I had put myself on trial on a plea of self-defense,

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reviewed the evidence, and found myself guilty.

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It's a curious thing.

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No doubt the public at large, the laymen, would expect that some unpublicized

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and secret professional legal maneuver would be used by the great Lou Hendricks

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in the present predicament.

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It would seem to the reader of crime fiction and the listener to radio mystery drama

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that some less hackneyed word than alibi would be the key word to my puzzle.

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I am sorry, ladies and gentlemen.

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I should dearly love to shake some diabolically ingenious trick out of my lawyer's sleeve.

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But such would be a waste of time.

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An alibi was what I needed.

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I needed to establish simply and conclusively that I was not there

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at the time of Carmen Brown's murder.

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Time was the important element.

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Yes, I must begin at once to establish that alibi.

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For suspense, Roma wines are bringing you Joseph Cotton

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in Crime Without Passion by Ben Hecht.

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Roma wines presentation tonight in radio's outstanding theater of thrills, Suspense.

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Between the acts of suspense, this is Truman Bradley for Roma wines.

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For suspense, Roma wines are bringing you Joseph Cotton

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in Crime Without Passion by Ben Hecht.

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Roma wines presentation tonight in radio's outstanding theater of thrills, Suspense.

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Between the acts of suspense, this is Truman Bradley for Roma wines.

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Do you know the principal difference between American and European hospitality?

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Well, here's how famed Elsa Maxwell, authority on entertaining, sees it.

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Says Miss Maxwell, American hospitality is distinguished by its informality.

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Good friends in America don't need an invitation.

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They just drop in and take potluck.

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That's why millions of American families always keep Roma California sherry on hand.

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Roma sherry is ideal for entertaining.

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A delicious wine, mellow, fragrant, and medium sweet with tempting nut-like taste.

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Glorious Roma sherry is so easy to serve, so good with a simple snack any time of day.

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And Roma sherry is popular with men and women alike,

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Yes, you can serve Roma sherry proudly, for Roma wine is America's first choice.

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Yet, Roma costs no more than ordinary wines.

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So for better, easier entertaining, get Roma sherry tomorrow.

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That's R-O-M-A, Roma wines.

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Remember, more Americans enjoy Roma than any other wine.

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And now, Roma wines bring back to our Hollywood soundstage Joseph Cotton,

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who as New York's famous criminal lawyer Lou Hendricks,

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in Crime Without Passion, resumes a narrative well calculated to keep you in...

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Suspense.

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I leaned over and glanced at the watch on common thrift.

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The dialed glass was broken, the watch had stopped.

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The hands pointed to two minutes of four.

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The clock on the desk had just struck four.

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The telephone. I let it ring. Had to.

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Of course, the phone made it impossible to establish an alibi by setting the time forward.

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Other phone calls might come in before five o'clock.

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Someone, perhaps a maid, might even come to the apartment in person.

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Through my mind rushed the courtroom scene in which my case would be tried.

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The prosecuting attorney wouldn't miss that.

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At three-fifty, Carmen Brown was alive.

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As witnessed the fact that she answered a phone call,

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which came through the switchboard to her apartment at that time.

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At two minutes after four, just twelve minutes later,

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a phone call came through that same switchboard which she failed to answer.

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Why, gentlemen of the jury?

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No. What I needed was an alibi for the hour preceding four o'clock.

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The time at which her watch had stopped.

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I must provide not only an alibi for myself, but also fortify it with evidence.

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Tending to prove that someone other than myself had done the deed.

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But how?

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Fingerprints? They told a graphic story.

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A story that would reveal that Carmen had been in a rage demanding something of the killer.

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This would point directly to me since I was known to have been her admirer

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and steady caller at her apartment.

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But if I could make it appear as though the assailant was demanding something of her,

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he was in a jealous rage.

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It smashed the articles including the frame-framed photograph of Lou Hendrix.

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And it concluded with the killing of Carmen.

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I wiped the fingerprints carefully from the articles in question with my soap handkerchief.

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Again, I imagined myself on trial in the courtroom.

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This time with my defense counsel addressing the jury.

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Ladies and gentlemen of the jury,

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Carmen Brown had undoubtedly been attacked by some other shooter

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who was obviously jealous of the defendant, Lou Hendrix.

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As witness, the destroyed photograph of the latter.

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You will also note her assailant was crafty enough to remove all fingerprints.

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So far it was good.

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I had set the scene. I was ready to leave the apartment.

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But wait, I just remembered.

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A gun was in Carmen's desk only a few freaks from where she now lay.

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They would wonder why she hadn't defended herself with it.

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The prosecuting attorney wouldn't miss that.

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Oh no, he had pointed an accusing finger at me.

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And yet Carmen Brown did not reach for this weapon

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with which she could have defended herself.

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Why? Was it because the assailant was someone familiar with her?

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Someone against whom she had no thought of harming herself?

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Or perhaps because the assailant was familiar with the premises

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and knew where the gun was and prevented her from reaching it.

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I took the gun and slipped it into my coat pocket.

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I would dispose of it later.

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I took every precaution to make sure that no one saw me as I left the building.

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My trained legal mind warned me against a surprise witness

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which in so many court cases was dramatically brought forth by the prosecutor to confound the guilty.

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I remembered grimly how some of my best cases had tumbled by the appearance in court

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of some aimless, stray human, someone who happened to have seen the defendant

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during his pre-supposed alibi.

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The prosecutor would have a gleam in his eye questioning such a witness in the courtroom.

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And you say you saw the defendant Lou Hendricks leaving the apartment building

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shortly after the time of the murder?

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This must not happen.

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I had my plan pretty well in mind by now.

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I took a back short cut to Broadway, the Palace Theater.

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With an off hour, there was not a long line waiting.

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I bought my ticket and went quickly in.

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Seats without waiting. Seats in the third aisle to your right, please.

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The moment I was seated, I got up again.

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I returned to the lobby up the other side of the aisle and went directly to the lost and found desk.

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Is there something I can do for you, sir?

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I wish to report the loss of a pair of gloves.

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Do you have any idea where they were lost?

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Somewhere in the theater I had them when I came in.

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Not usually to look careless, but the picture was so engrossing,

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I was completely carried away with it.

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Apparently I failed to carry away my gloves.

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Gloves, I imagine they'll be turned in, sir?

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Oh, I'm sure they'll be found.

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If you'll just make a record of it.

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Lou Hendrix is the name with an X.

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Hendrix, huh? H-E-N-D-R-I-X, huh?

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That's an unusual spelling.

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Well, all right there, Mr. Hendrix.

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If you'll just fill out this blank with your name and address and the time.

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Oh, yes, yes, to be sure, the time.

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Let's see, what is the time?

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It's exactly 20 minutes after four.

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I'll record that on the blank for you.

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Oh, could it be that late?

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I haven't had no idea of the time.

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Quite a long picture.

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Yes, the picture was a little longer than most.

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I hope you enjoyed it, sir.

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Oh, yes, yes, indeed, I enjoyed it very much.

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It was well worth sitting through.

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Well, thank you very much.

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I had established an alibi for having spent the time

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between 2.30 and 4.20 in the movie theater.

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This was a period of two hours,

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and this was now recorded in black and white at the lost and found desk.

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I'd taken care that this should be a movie that I had already seen

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so I'd be able to recite the plot of question.

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The main body of my alibi had been a cheese.

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I now went directly from the movie to my next court of call,

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Sardi's Restaurant, where I'm well known.

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How are you, Mr. Hendrix? Your usual same?

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Yes, Henry.

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Sin the headline?

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No, no, I just came from a movie.

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Oh, by the way, what is the exact time?

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I've got to make a telephone call.

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It's just 4.30, Mr. Hendrix.

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4.30? I think I'll make my telephone call while you make me a chicken sandwich.

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Okay, the booth is just there, you know.

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Hendrix, Brown, Walsh, and Healy.

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Mr. Healy, please. This is Mr. Hendrix.

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Oh, certainly, Mr. Hendrix. One moment.

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Hello?

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Hello, Tom. This is Hendrix.

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I've been trying to locate you all afternoon.

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Oh, what for?

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Several things came up that needed your attention.

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Oh, it's not so hard to locate. Where did you try?

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I tried everywhere I could think of. Even Carmen Brown's apartment.

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Yeah? Did you talk to her?

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Sure. I was trying to find out if she knew where you were.

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What time was that?

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Oh, about 3.50.

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How did she seem when you asked if I were there?

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Well, I don't know. Why?

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Well, try and think. I'd like to know.

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Well, come to think of it, she struck me as a little curt or upset about something.

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Upset, eh?

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Listen, I don't want you to call me at that number anymore, understand?

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Well, sure, if you say so.

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I'm all washed up at that telephone number.

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Understand what I mean?

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In the future, that number is out. Any other calls?

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No.

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Okay.

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Again, my mind reverted to the courtroom scene in which I imagined my case being tried.

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But this time, I had my case well in hand.

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The thought of facing the prosecuting attorney did not disturb me.

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The thought of that little bout between the two attorneys even amused me.

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So, Mr. Hendricks told you that you needn't try to reach him at Ms. Brown's apartment anymore, eh?

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Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, when the defendant made this statement to his trusted friend and law partner,

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he had undoubtedly good reason to believe there was another man in Carmen Brown's life.

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I had forged another link in the chain of evidence pointing to my innocence.

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Everything was working out in favor of a perfect alibi for my defense.

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Everything was going fine. I was beginning to enjoy the case very much.

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Now that the tension was relieved, I began to look upon my case as a sort of a game.

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I began to get a kick out of it, and I conceived the idea of building up another witness.

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Eddie White was the only one of Carmen's previous and was whom I knew,

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and I considered for a moment involving him in the case.

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He was Carmen's previous suitor just before I entered the picture.

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He was known to be a hot-headed young gentleman given to nocturnal fisticuffs in public places,

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but I finally dismissed this idea.

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This witness I decided would be Miss Moore, who was also a dancer at the El Bravo Club.

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She was Carmen's closest friend and confidant.

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I telephoned Miss Moore and requested her to join me at the restaurant. She came right over.

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You see before you, Miss Moore, a man suffering from the perfidy of one whom he has loved and trusted.

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Would you mind saying that again in plain English?

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Well, to put it more simply, I think Carmen has been two-timing me.

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Miss Moore, I am consumed with jealousy. I must know the truth, and you are the only one who can tell me.

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I don't get you, Mr. Hendricks.

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Miss Moore, I'm going out of my mind with a brooding and uncertainty of this thing.

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Oh, that's terrible, Mr. Hendricks.

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My law practice is suffering. I'll wind up by losing all my money.

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Oh, you mustn't do that, Mr. Hendricks. You know something?

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No. What is it?

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Oh, honest, Mr. Hendricks, I wouldn't tell this to another soul.

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You know Carmen's my best girlfriend.

17:26.000 --> 17:27.000
Oh, yes.

17:27.000 --> 17:31.000
But you're such a swell guy. Well, I think you should know.

17:31.000 --> 17:35.000
But to tell you the truth, I don't think Carmen appreciates you. That's what.

17:35.000 --> 17:45.000
Miss Moore, if there is another man someone Carmen really loves, I'd force myself to step aside. It's her happiness.

17:45.000 --> 17:52.000
Oh, well, I ain't saying she has. I just say Carmen has got an awful swell head since she got the lead in the Bird of Paradise number.

17:52.000 --> 17:58.000
She thinks she's some punkin'. And I'm only saying I don't think she appreciates a high-class gentleman like you.

17:58.000 --> 18:01.000
Thank you, Miss Moore. Have you seen Carmen today?

18:01.000 --> 18:03.000
No, I haven't. Have you seen her?

18:03.000 --> 18:08.000
No, I don't trust myself with fear. Goodness knows what I would do feeling this way.

18:08.000 --> 18:12.000
Oh, Mr. Hendricks, you're all worked up, and I don't blame you.

18:12.000 --> 18:18.000
Say, I have to leave you. I hate to leave, but I gotta go. It's getting late, and the dinner show goes on before long, you know.

18:18.000 --> 18:22.000
Tell Carmen I'll be over to the El Bravo tonight and give her a last chance to prove herself.

18:22.000 --> 18:27.000
Oh, I'll sure give her your message, Mr. Hendricks. I sure will.

18:27.000 --> 18:33.000
I knew Carmen had not been receiving attention from another man, but if I could get Miss Moore to testify in court,

18:33.000 --> 18:41.000
I could use her to convince the jury that I was jealous of Carmen, but that I loved her and wanted her alive, not dead.

18:41.000 --> 18:44.000
This would make my case airtight.

18:47.000 --> 18:52.000
I then made another telephone call. This was the Commons' apartment.

18:54.000 --> 18:55.000
Hello?

18:55.000 --> 18:57.000
Hello, is Miss Carmen Brown in?

18:57.000 --> 18:59.000
I'll ring her apartment.

19:05.000 --> 19:07.000
I'm sorry, she doesn't answer.

19:07.000 --> 19:11.000
Well, this is Mr. Hendricks calling. Hadn't she been in at all? I've been trying to get her all day.

19:11.000 --> 19:13.000
She hasn't come in while I've been here, Mr. Hendricks.

19:13.000 --> 19:14.000
How long is that?

19:14.000 --> 19:15.000
About three hours.

19:15.000 --> 19:18.000
Thank you. I'm coming over there. Tell her if she comes in, will you?

19:20.000 --> 19:27.000
This would strengthen my apparent effort to contact Carmen. It was a bold stroke, this, to go back to her house.

19:27.000 --> 19:29.000
I approached the switchboard operator.

19:29.000 --> 19:30.000
Good afternoon, Mr. Hendricks.

19:30.000 --> 19:33.000
Oh, has Miss Brown come in since I called on the phone?

19:33.000 --> 19:37.000
I haven't seen her. I'll ring her apartment again.

19:41.000 --> 19:43.000
She still doesn't answer.

19:43.000 --> 19:45.000
Well, please give her this note when she comes back.

19:45.000 --> 19:47.000
All right, Mr. Hendricks. I'll see that she gets it.

19:48.000 --> 19:50.000
I handed her the note. It read,

19:50.000 --> 19:55.000
Darling, don't torture me anymore. Give me a chance to believe you.

19:55.000 --> 20:01.000
I'm willing to forget what I heard or thought I heard over the phone, as ever, Lou.

20:01.000 --> 20:04.000
This, too, would throw suspicion on another suitor.

20:04.000 --> 20:11.000
Not only had I established an alibi for myself, but also I had succeeded in pointing a finger at a suspected rival.

20:12.000 --> 20:19.000
I saw myself looking winningly at the jury while my defense counsel continued to address them.

20:20.000 --> 20:23.000
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury,

20:23.000 --> 20:29.000
if the defendant Lou Hendricks had known Carmen Brown being dead in her apartment,

20:29.000 --> 20:32.000
would he have written such a note?

20:32.000 --> 20:35.000
The testimony reveals, ladies and gentlemen of the jury,

20:35.000 --> 20:42.000
that the defendant strongly suspected that Carmen Brown was receiving, uh, attentions from a suitor.

20:42.000 --> 20:46.000
But, but he did not know that this very afternoon,

20:46.000 --> 20:50.000
this creature had entered her apartment, struck her down, and killed her,

20:50.000 --> 20:59.000
while the defendant was still trying to seek her out and forgive her.

20:59.000 --> 21:01.000
My alibi was now complete.

21:01.000 --> 21:06.000
I had every angle worked out. I summed up my case. It was perfect.

21:06.000 --> 21:12.000
From my superior legal knowledge, my vast experience, I had built a perfect case for myself.

21:12.000 --> 21:15.000
I was very pleased. My case was ready.

21:15.000 --> 21:18.000
I had an excellent dinner, really excellent.

21:18.000 --> 21:21.000
I then put in another phone call to Carmen's apartment.

21:21.000 --> 21:24.000
I was ready to hear the news of the finding of the body.

21:24.000 --> 21:30.000
At the news of the crime, I would rush right over and act my part of the thoroughly grief-stricken suitor.

21:30.000 --> 21:35.000
This would be the finishing touch, our final flourish, if it were.

21:35.000 --> 21:38.000
Miss Brown does not answer.

21:38.000 --> 21:41.000
Crime had evidently still not been discovered.

21:41.000 --> 21:44.000
I decided the best course would be to go to the El Bravo Club.

21:44.000 --> 21:49.000
I was well known there. I would order coffee and dessert and wait there until Carmen's absence was noticed

21:49.000 --> 21:52.000
and her murder discovered.

21:53.000 --> 21:55.000
Good evening, Mr. Hendricks. Please wait there.

21:55.000 --> 21:58.000
Oh, good evening, George. Hello there. How are you?

21:58.000 --> 22:00.000
Hello, Lenore. Hi, Kay.

22:00.000 --> 22:01.000
Hello.

22:01.000 --> 22:02.000
David, oh, Ludd.

22:02.000 --> 22:05.000
So I sent you away with my son because you think I'm going to sit around here.

22:05.000 --> 22:07.000
Blond, blond, can't you think of anything but blond?

22:07.000 --> 22:09.000
Oh, honey, come on, let's go home.

22:09.000 --> 22:11.000
Oh, no, dear children, no, I can't trust you.

22:11.000 --> 22:14.000
Oh, the famous criminal lawyer Lou Hendricks.

22:14.000 --> 22:19.000
Our ex-college hero Eddie White. Product of the higher education.

22:19.000 --> 22:21.000
Looking him over, I see.

22:21.000 --> 22:22.000
Yeah, why have I sit here?

22:22.000 --> 22:24.000
This is the entertainer's table. I have no monopoly on it.

22:24.000 --> 22:26.000
Then I'll sit down.

22:27.000 --> 22:30.000
By the way, Hendricks, I didn't know you were such a movie fan.

22:30.000 --> 22:31.000
Just what do you mean?

22:31.000 --> 22:33.000
Saw you going into the Palace Theater this afternoon.

22:33.000 --> 22:37.000
You did? Just what time was that?

22:37.000 --> 22:41.000
What time? Oh, a little after four, I should say.

22:41.000 --> 22:42.000
You're crazy.

22:42.000 --> 22:45.000
You think you saw me going to the Palace after four?

22:45.000 --> 22:48.000
Well, I came out at 4.20 after seeing the whole show.

22:48.000 --> 22:53.000
I don't care what you say. I saw you going in at a quarter after four, to be exact.

22:53.000 --> 22:55.000
I was going to say hello, but you weren't looking my way.

22:55.000 --> 23:00.000
Had you liked the picture, ought to be in your line, all about one of those crooked legal sharks.

23:00.000 --> 23:06.000
And you say you saw the defendant Lou Hendricks going into the theater at a quarter after four?

23:06.000 --> 23:08.000
Yes, sir, I did.

23:09.000 --> 23:13.000
The surprise witness that I had been so carefully guarding against.

23:13.000 --> 23:18.000
Here he was, sitting opposite me and the person of all people, Andy White.

23:22.000 --> 23:26.000
In a flash, I could see all the evidence I had planted turning against me.

23:26.000 --> 23:30.000
The prosecution would take it apart piece by piece.

23:30.000 --> 23:34.000
The all too obvious false mechanism of my alibi.

23:34.000 --> 23:37.000
There wasn't an alibi. I had no case.

23:37.000 --> 23:45.000
Andy White's simple statement of the time, 4.15, revealed all of my subsequent actions as those of a thoroughly guilty man.

23:46.000 --> 23:49.000
Look, White, it must have been somebody else you saw.

23:49.000 --> 23:53.000
Listen, don't tell me I saw you looking around, buying your chicken and ducking in.

23:53.000 --> 23:57.000
I know it was a quarter after four because I had a date outside.

23:57.000 --> 23:59.000
And don't get excited it wasn't with Carmen.

23:59.000 --> 24:00.000
That's a lie.

24:00.000 --> 24:01.000
What's that?

24:01.000 --> 24:02.000
I said you're lying, you didn't see me.

24:02.000 --> 24:03.000
Oh, that's what you said, is it?

24:03.000 --> 24:06.000
Listen, I never liked you and I don't take that kind of talk off a guy I got no use for.

24:06.000 --> 24:07.000
Get that!

24:07.000 --> 24:08.000
You're a liar.

24:08.000 --> 24:11.000
You're not only a liar, but a numbskull, a perennial dropkicker.

24:11.000 --> 24:13.000
Once a dropkicker, always a dropkicker.

24:13.000 --> 24:15.000
Oh, you little shyster!

24:15.000 --> 24:16.000
Take your hands off my collar.

24:16.000 --> 24:17.000
Let me go.

24:17.000 --> 24:18.000
Take your hands off me.

24:18.000 --> 24:19.000
You're calling me a liar, huh?

24:19.000 --> 24:21.000
You little shyster!

24:21.000 --> 24:23.000
You're no good little...

24:28.000 --> 24:32.000
Somehow, I don't know how or when, I had taken the gun out of my pocket.

24:32.000 --> 24:35.000
Carmen's gun, the gun I was going to dispose of.

24:35.000 --> 24:37.000
I was holding it in my hand, and it exploded.

24:37.000 --> 24:40.000
No one heard the shot through the blair of the orchestra.

24:42.000 --> 24:44.000
A new number of the floor show was starting.

24:44.000 --> 24:47.000
Everyone's attention was focused on the dance floor.

24:47.000 --> 24:50.000
The chorus girls were coming out for the Bird of Paradise number.

24:50.000 --> 24:53.000
Everything was a little blurred, a little hazy.

24:53.000 --> 24:55.000
I looked at the girls as they came forward.

24:55.000 --> 24:58.000
Leading the chorus, I saw...

24:59.000 --> 25:01.000
I saw Carmen Brown.

25:01.000 --> 25:03.000
She was dancing.

25:03.000 --> 25:05.000
This... this could not be.

25:05.000 --> 25:07.000
I... I grew sick.

25:07.000 --> 25:09.000
I shut my eyes.

25:09.000 --> 25:10.000
And I opened them again.

25:10.000 --> 25:12.000
There was no hallucination.

25:12.000 --> 25:14.000
It was Carmen.

25:14.000 --> 25:17.000
Under her ear, at the back of her head, I saw strips of quirt plaster.

25:17.000 --> 25:19.000
Now I knew then what had happened.

25:19.000 --> 25:22.000
I left her apartment without taking a second look at her.

25:22.000 --> 25:24.000
Evidently, the blow had merely knocked her out.

25:24.000 --> 25:27.000
She must have regained consciousness and called for a doctor.

25:29.000 --> 25:32.000
But as simple as that, she was alive now.

25:32.000 --> 25:34.000
And dancing.

25:41.000 --> 25:43.000
Lou Hendrix.

25:43.000 --> 25:46.000
The shining legal intelligence.

25:46.000 --> 25:51.000
I had built a perfect alibi to exonerate myself of a murder which had never occurred.

25:51.000 --> 25:54.000
While across the table, slumped in a chair opposite me,

25:54.000 --> 25:58.000
was the body of a man for whose murder I had no defense.

25:58.000 --> 26:02.000
Every step of my carefully built alibi, my perfect case,

26:02.000 --> 26:06.000
would help to convict me of the killing of Betty White.

26:07.000 --> 26:09.000
This time I had no alibi.

26:09.000 --> 26:13.000
This time there was no possible defense.

26:13.000 --> 26:18.000
This time when the judge asked the foreman if they had reached a decision,

26:18.000 --> 26:21.000
there could be only one reply.

26:21.000 --> 26:24.000
Yes, your honor, we have.

26:24.000 --> 26:43.000
We find the defendant guilty of murder in the first degree.

26:43.000 --> 26:45.000
Suspended.

26:45.000 --> 26:48.000
Presented by Roma Wines, R-O-M-A.

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Made in California for enjoyment throughout the world.

26:52.000 --> 26:56.000
Before we hear again from Joseph Cotton, the star of Crying Without Passion,

26:56.000 --> 27:01.000
tonight's suspense play, This is Truman Bradley for Roma Wines.

27:01.000 --> 27:06.000
One of the finest cooks I know recently told me her secret for winning praises.

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She said she cooks no better than her friends, uses about the same recipes.

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But her dinners win more compliments.

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Actually, tastes better because she regularly serves Roma wine with meals.

27:19.000 --> 27:22.000
Yes, Roma wine does make food taste better.

27:22.000 --> 27:28.000
For proof, tomorrow night, savor the tempting taste harmony of Red Roma California Burgundy

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and the good thick hamburger steak.

27:31.000 --> 27:34.000
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27:34.000 --> 27:39.000
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Made in California for enjoyment throughout the world.

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This is Joseph Cotton.

28:10.000 --> 28:15.000
I've always been particularly fond of crime without passion and it's been a great pleasure indeed

28:15.000 --> 28:18.000
to appear in it tonight for you on Suspense.

28:18.000 --> 28:26.000
Next Thursday, I know you'll want to hear a very young actor whom we've all admired for a very great number of years.

28:26.000 --> 28:30.000
It's Jackie Cooper grown up in just out of Uncle Sam's Navy.

28:30.000 --> 28:36.000
He'll appear on Suspense in a role quite different from anything you've ever associated with him.

28:36.000 --> 28:40.000
Joseph Cotton will soon be seen in the David O. Selznick Technicolor Production,

28:40.000 --> 28:42.000
Dual in the Sun.

28:42.000 --> 28:48.000
Next Thursday, same time, Roma Wines will bring you Jackie Cooper as star of Suspense,

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radio's outstanding theater of thrill.

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Produced by William Spear for the Roma Wine Company of Fresno, California.

28:58.000 --> 29:27.000
Music

29:27.000 --> 29:34.000
Suspense is broadcast from coast to coast and to our men and women of the armed forces overseas by short ways

29:34.000 --> 29:39.000
and through the worldwide facilities of the Armed Forces Radio Service.

29:39.000 --> 29:43.000
This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.

29:43.000 --> 29:58.000
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