And now, Roma Wines, R-O-M-A, made in California for enjoyment throughout the world, Roma Wines
presents Suspense.
Tonight, Roma Wines bring you Mr. Dane Clark as star of Till the Day I Die, 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 in entertaining guests, to your enjoyment of
everyday meals.
Yes, right now, a glass full would be very pleasant as Roma Wines bring you Dane Clark
in a remarkable tale of Suspense.
I practically won a track in the linoleum and I was on my third pack of cigarettes in
three hours.
I was jumpy as a three-year-old thoroughbred that's flunked a saliva test.
Partly it was because you always feel like that after a job.
Partly it was the idea of staying holed up in that crummy dump when I had enough dough
not to buy a good-sized hotel, but mostly it was packed.
She and I were washed up anyway, even if she didn't know it.
And when you're washed up with a dame, almost, but when it's a kind of bellyache and she
was doing, it's enough to get you set for a canvas course.
It's the future I'm worried about, Frankie.
What's the matter with the future?
It doesn't look like you'll ever be on any bread lines.
No, I don't mean that.
I mean our future, yours and mine.
Well, stop worrying about it.
I can't.
You didn't have to do it, Frankie.
What do you mean I didn't have to do it?
The guy had his cold.
We were walking out of the place with a bag full of dough and all of a sudden he steps
around the corner and slaps a light in my face.
But you didn't have to kill him.
Oh, I suppose I should have given him cab fare to the police headquarters.
He'd have put the finger on us, don't you understand that?
He'd have given the description to the cops and a good description is all those guys
need because sooner or later, sister, they'd get you.
I don't know, Frankie.
I just never figured you'd ever do a thing like that.
Ah, stop it.
Look, you've been going out on these jobs with me for over a year now.
You know what the score is.
What do you think we carry a gun for?
For looks?
Yeah, but this is different, Frankie.
This is murder.
All right, so it's murder and the only difference between murder and what you've been doing
is that murder gets you the works and armed robbery only gets you 10 to 20.
Doesn't it even bother you?
Well, why should it?
A guy I don't know the first thing about, a guy that just had the tough luck to be working
late in the joint we stacked out the crack, a guy I don't even see his face.
I don't know what he looks like even now.
He was a man though, Frankie.
He was a human being.
So what, guys?
I knocked off every day.
Guys you don't know anything about, only what you read in the paper.
And do you worry about it?
You do not.
I don't like it, Frankie.
I don't like any part of it.
But you like that 50 grand in the suitcase over there.
You like that all right, don't you?
I'm not so sure, Frankie.
I'm not so sure.
Because I was in on this too.
Maybe you don't have a conscience, but I do.
A man was murdered and it was partly my fault.
You don't just brush off a thing like that, Frankie.
Shut up.
Sooner or later it begins to work on you.
Sooner or later it begins to catch up with you.
I said shut up.
And when it does you...
Now forget it, will you?
I'm sorry I hit you.
Look I'm a little nervous now.
Pull yourself together, will you?
Anyway it's time to go out and get the papers.
Come on, come on.
Come down for them like a good kid, will you?
All right.
And see if you can get me a couple of packs of cigarettes while you're at it.
All right, Frankie.
And stop worrying.
Nothing's going to happen.
I can't help it, Frankie.
Listen Pat.
Yeah?
I don't like you to worry, see.
Because you might get ideas.
What do you mean ideas?
I mean you might get some ideas about saying something to somebody.
Oh, Frankie.
And you know what would happen if you did get any ideas like that.
You don't need to worry because I do know now.
I went over to the window and I watched her go down the steps of the street and then start
for the corner.
I know I didn't have to worry about anything yet but having somebody around who could put
the finger on you for a murder rap isn't so healthy.
I was just starting on my fourth pack of cigarettes when I heard her running up the stairs.
All right, all right.
Hurry up, Frankie.
Open the door.
All right.
You don't have to knock...
What's the matter?
Is somebody after you?
No.
No, but look at the paper.
Let's see.
Oh, front page, huh?
Pear, lute, broker jar.
No, the picture.
What about the pi...
It's me.
Listen, Pat, there's only one place in the world they could have got a picture of me.
No, don't listen, Frankie.
Don't you...
You're hurting me.
Look what it says.
What about it?
Look at it.
Look what it says under it.
Huh?
Philip Abel accounting shot down...
No.
It couldn't be.
It can't be.
It is, though, Frankie.
It's the man you killed.
It couldn't be, l tell you.
Why, that's me.
It's exactly like me, any way you look at it, even the way the hair is parted.
Look.
Why, it's some kind of a mistake or something.
You know it isn't, Frankie.
How could it be?
l don't know.
l don't have any picture of you.
You told me you never had any taken.
You said you'd been smart.
You hadn't let him take your picture since you were a kid.
That's right.
l never did.
l...
But it's almost exactly like me.
l couldn't tell the difference myself.
lt's just one of those freak things.
The guy you didn't know or care about.
The guy who wasn't going to bother your conscience one little bit.
The guy you killed turns out to be your double.
Yeah.
lt's sort of like killing yourself.
Shut up.
l told you it's not so easy to kill a man without...
Come on, give me that paper.
Frankie, listen.
What are you trying to do?
l'm tearing up that picture, see?
And now l'm burning it.
See?
And it's over with.
lt's forgotten, see?
It's nothing but a little pile of ashes.
l never heard of the guy.
l don't know the first thing about him.
l don't even remember his name.
l do.
lt was...
Shut up!
l don't want to hear about it.
Ever!
Maybe l should have let her talk about it then when she wanted to.
lf l'd really got to thinking about the face in that picture, it might have made some difference.
l don't know.
It might have saved my life, but l don't know.
For Suspense, Romowinds are bringing you Dane Clark, Until the Day l Die, a radio play by
Martin Ryerson.
Romowinds' presentation tonight in radio's outstanding theatre of thrills, Suspense.
Between the acts of Suspense, this is Ken Niles with a friendly suggestion.
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swap vacation yarns with you.
Make these evenings of friendly companionship rich in hospitality by serving a delicious
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You know, there's a solid reason why more Americans enjoy Roma than any other wine.
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No wonder so many Americans insist on Romowinds, R-O-M-A, Romowinds for unvarying goodness
at reasonable cost.
And now, Romowinds bring back to our Hollywood soundstage Dane Clark in Till the Day I Die,
a tale well calculated to keep you in suspense.
I won't say it didn't get under my skin because it did.
To bump a guy off and then to see his picture in a paper the next day, and it's a picture
of yourself.
Feature for feature.
The spitting image.
I guess it would get anybody.
But it was like Pat said, just one of those freak things, so what was the use of worrying
about it?
What was worrying me more right now was that somebody must have seen us making our getaway
because the cops knew it was a man and a woman who pulled the job.
And that wasn't good.
It meant that we were just that much easier to spot.
It meant that with 50 grand in a suitcase under the bed, we still had to stay cooped
up in that crummy rooming house day after day waiting for the heat to slack off.
And finally, I couldn't stand it any longer.
Yeah, but Frankie, I thought you said-
I know, I know what I said, but I'm going nuts in this place.
I got to get out.
All right.
It'll mean we have to separate for a while.
Separate?
Now keep your shirt on, will you?
We can't hang around here, so one of us goes to Chicago and the other one goes to Philly.
You take your share of the dough and I-
I don't want any share, Frankie.
Are you still beefing about that?
That I killed a guy?
I just don't want the money, Frank.
All right, all right, take a couple of grand and anything you want enough to last you a
while.
But you're getting out of town, see?
All right, Frank, but I got enough money.
Okay, okay, have it your way.
You go to the Allerton and Philly.
You know the place now and you wait for me there.
For how long, Frankie?
A month, two months.
How do I know?
Until it cools off.
I'll get in touch with you and when the heat's off, we'll meet someplace like KC or St. Louis
and then we'll head to the West Coast, right?
Frankie.
You won't forget to show, will you, Frankie?
Because if you're going to, I'd rather know it now.
Forget you, baby?
When you're the one person in the world who can put the finger on me for murder?
Don't worry, baby.
I won't forget you.
I walked back to the subway station a couple of blocks from where the room was and I said
goodbye to her there.
Then I bought me a couple of ready-to-wear suits, a few shirt shoes, and the rest of
the trimmings and I stuffed everything in a brand new Gladstone and hopped the bus for
the railroad terminal.
I wasn't doing anything or thinking anything.
I was just sitting there in a bus on a seat all by myself looking out the window and up
front somewhere, the kid was hollering and I didn't pay any attention to him.
I figured the kid was just calling to his old man to come and sit down or something.
I went right on looking out the window and then all of a sudden I felt a tug on my sleeve
and the kid was there hollering at me.
Daddy, oh mommy, come quick.
I found daddy.
I turned around quick and kneeling there beside me on the seat was a blonde, curly-haired
kid about four or maybe five years old.
I don't know much about kids' ages.
He was laughing and yet there was big tears running down his cheeks.
I don't go much for kids but there was something about this particular character that...
Daddy, daddy, it's daddy, mommy.
Hey now, wait a minute, just a second kiddo.
I'm afraid you got...
Hey, what's got into you jumping up on that seat and shouting at the gentleman?
It's daddy, mommy.
It's my daddy.
Daddy, I'm awfully sorry.
Oh no.
She was standing there just like I'd seen her a million times with that long blonde
hair and those big expressive eyes.
Yes, I'd seen her before but always with my eyes closed.
This was the first time I'd ever seen her with my eyes open.
Is it so crazy?
Haven't you got some kind of a person in your mind that you've always dreamed about?
Her eyes were fastened on my face, wide and full of expression.
I couldn't figure it but she got very pale and licked her lips and then she began to
sway and I jumped up and I grabbed her.
I'm all right.
No, look, you're not all right.
You better sit down here.
Thank you.
Maybe I will.
Sit here, mommy.
I'll move over.
Let's just turn the seat, Teddy.
Oh, that's okay, kiddo.
You stay put.
There's plenty of room here for the three of us.
All right, if you insist.
Well, I do insist.
It is daddy, isn't it, mommy?
No.
No, darling.
I'm afraid it isn't.
I'm so sorry.
You must think we're both a little insane.
No, I...
Only you looked for a minute there as if you saw a ghost or something.
I'm afraid for a moment I thought you were a ghost.
Me, a ghost?
Yes, I...
No, it sounds perfectly ridiculous but for a moment there I thought you were my husband.
Oh, oh, now I get that daddy routine.
Yes, it's almost uncanny but he was the image of you that...
The image?
The image of me?
Yeah, only...
See, he's dead.
Oh?
Well, Teddy hasn't quite gotten used to the idea yet.
That's why he mistook you for his daddy.
Philip was killed only about a week ago.
About a week ago?
Yes, perhaps you read about it in the newspapers.
Philip Abel killed by a hoodlum who was robbing the brokerage office where he worked.
There was a terrible knot inside my stomach.
I tried to speak but the words got lost somewhere in my throat.
I looked down at the kid with the blonde curly hair, the cutest kid I'd ever seen in my life
and I...
I was a guy who killed his daddy.
I kept thinking, this kid is what my kid would have looked like.
I had to get a grip on myself.
The right sir was a coincidence.
I happened to get on the same bus with the wife of the guy I shot down in the bank but
how was I supposed to know he had a beautiful wife and a curly haired kid when I shot him?
To me he was just a Joe who stood in my way.
So it was a coincidence, that's all.
Anyway I was getting off the bus at the end of the line catching a train for Chicago and
that would be that.
Well, they rode almost as far as the railroad station and we sat there and we talked about
a lot of different things.
And it wasn't hard to talk to her somehow and that kid.
And then finally they were getting up to leave.
And then the kid reached up and he did something no kid had ever done to me before.
He kissed me.
If you ever come back to this place Mr. King, we live right down this block, seventh house
from the corner.
I'll remember that.
Goodbye Mr. Daddy.
Uh, goodbye son.
I bought my ticket to Chicago one way.
I went down and got aboard the train and the porter showed me my seat.
But I couldn't get myself to sit down in it.
I went out and stood on the platform.
I stood there a long time.
I tried not to think about her.
I tried not to remember her face and the kid's face with all those tears.
But it was no good.
There was everything I've wanted all my life.
A home, a kid and the right girl.
The girl.
And why not?
If she'd married Abel she'd marry me wouldn't she?
Wasn't I the very image of the guy?
Didn't she say that herself?
Didn't the kid even call me daddy?
Why not?
Porter!
Yes sir?
Hey uh, get my bag.
What we're getting ready to pull out?
Get my bag off this train.
Yes sir.
Why, why Mr. Cade?
Hello.
It's Mr. Daddy.
Hi Teddy, hi.
Oh gee.
I thought you were on your way to Chicago.
There was a wire waiting for me when I got to the station that told me that the business
deal I had there had been called off so there wasn't any need of me going since then I remembered
your invitation.
I certainly never expected it to be filled so soon.
Well if it's too soon I'll go and I'll...
Don't be silly.
Come in please.
Gee I'm glad you're home.
I, I mean...
I went into the house.
It was everything I knew it would be.
Neat, well furnished, nothing overdone.
Just a real solid home.
And we went into the living room and there in a big silver frame on the brady grand piano
was the same picture that had appeared in the newspaper.
A picture of him.
That's Philip.
He does look like you, doesn't he?
Yeah he does, he does.
Quite a lot.
You can hardly blame Teddy very much can you?
Or me?
No I, I guess I can't.
After those first few uneasy moments I, I guess you could say everything settled down a routine.
I became a regular visitor.
She and Teddy called me Frank and I called her Barbara and I, I had dinner with her a
couple of times a week and we went to the movies and the shows and even a couple of
night spots together.
But I feel funny about moving in on a wife and the kid of a guy I killed.
Why should I?
The guy was still a total stranger to me wasn't he?
And whenever she brought up the subject I just ducked it and she wasn't bringing it
up so often now.
From now on it was just a matter of time.
Except for one thing, one little thing.
So about two months after I met her I told her how I had to go away on business.
Where Frank?
Do you have to go far?
Oh just to Philly that's all.
Philip, I feel that's not far.
No and Barbara.
Yes?
When I come back there's something I'd like to ask you.
Ask me?
Well, a question.
What kind of a question Frank?
Oh something about you and Teddy and me.
Oh.
Well, will you be gone long?
No.
What I got to do in Philly won't take long.
I knew the Allerton Hotel in Philly like I knew the inside of my hat.
I knew how to get in without being seen and how to get out without being seen.
So I just went up to a room.
Who is it?
Just an old friend.
Frankie.
Hi baby.
Oh Frank.
Take it easy will you?
Take it easy.
You just want to let me in?
Oh sure, sure come on in.
Oh Frankie I thought you, I thought maybe you wouldn't.
Yeah but I did didn't I?
Sure you did.
Gee you look great.
You look relaxed and happy.
Yeah I'm glad you're here.
I'm glad you're here.
Yeah I'm happy.
Now what have you been doing with yourself Pat?
Oh just waiting.
Well nice and private here.
Yeah.
I guess we better get it over with.
Get what over with?
I'm afraid I have some bad news for you Pat.
Bad news?
Yeah.
I'm going to have to kill you.
Kill me?
Oh Frankie always did have a lousy sense of humor.
Only don't kid that way.
Yeah.
Oh I'm not kidding.
Frankie put away that gun.
For heaven's sake.
I'm sorry Pat.
But why?
What have I done?
Nothing yet.
Well then.
You see Pat I uh.
I met a girl.
Alright alright take her.
But you'll come back.
No no this is different.
She's a wife, was a wife of a guy named Philip Abel.
Philip Abel?
That's the man you killed?
You see Pat you got too good a memory.
But I wouldn't talk Frankie.
You know I wouldn't talk.
It's a chance I can't take Pat because from now on I'm not taking any chances.
From now on I'm going to be happy.
Happy?
How could a thing like you be happy?
A cold blooded butcher like you.
You think all you've got to do is spill enough blood around and you'll get what you want.
You'll be happy.
Happy try and be happy with all the blood you've got on your hands.
You'll never be happy until the day you die.
Truth.
Yeah.
Go ahead.
Kill me.
Murderer.
I will.
I was back that same night but I didn't go around to see Barbara and the others.
I called and she asked me over to dinner.
And afterwards I helped her put the kid to bed and he kissed me good night.
Then I sat down with her on a couch in the front room.
Well Frank.
It's about that question that I told you I was going to ask you when I came back.
What is the question Frank?
It's uh Barbara will you marry me?
Oh.
Is that all you got to say?
No it isn't.
But why?
Well I've got to have a little time to think about it Frank.
Think about it?
Yes.
Well you must have known I was going to ask you.
Yeah I suppose I did but it's still a pretty serious question to answer just like that
Frank.
Well is it that you don't love me enough to marry me?
Is that it?
It's not just a question of myself.
Well what is it then?
Steady.
Why?
He's crazy about me.
I know he is but things are easy.
Simple for a child.
I'm the one who has to think about his future.
I can take care of his future.
Well I know you can financially I believe that but.
Well what other way is there?
That's what I sometimes wonder if you know Frank.
You see you're a little different from other men I've known.
From a little rougher mold.
A little harder.
Well I can be changed.
I can.
Yes I think you can.
But I want to be sure first Frank.
I want to be sure that Teddy's father, his second father isn't just a successful man
but that he's a good man.
Like his first father?
Yeah.
And what did he have that I don't have?
No.
Since you ask he had a lot of struggle in his life.
Oh struggle.
He was a successful public accountant when he died.
But it hadn't been easy for him.
He'd had to work his way through college.
He was an orphan.
He'd been adopted you see.
Real name was Lundin.
Lundin?
His real parents were killed in an accident when he was less than Teddy's age.
They lived on a farm in a little town called Hemley-Vermont.
Farm in Hemley-Vermont?
Yes.
Do you know the place?
When he was adopted by a family called Abel.
He didn't even remember it himself.
He was too small.
But they told it.
Frank.
Frank where are you going?
Frank!
I started walking.
I tried to put it out of my mind like I had everything else.
But it was no good.
It grew and grew until my head was bursting with it.
Until it was the only thing in the whole world that the things she told me.
So when I got back to my room I knew what I was going to have to do.
And I sat down to write this.
To tell her before I do it.
It wasn't just what I'd done.
It wasn't realizing that a man with another man's blood on his hands can't be a fit father
to that man's kid.
Or a fit husband to that man's wife.
It was what she had told me.
A kid named Lundin.
A farm in Hemley-Vermont.
And I remembered.
I knew now why I looked like Philip Abel.
Because I had a, I had been a kid named Lundin.
On a farm in Hemley-Vermont.
I had been adopted by a family named Kane and I'd grown up.
But in reform schools mostly.
And I'd lived to shoot and kill a man named Philip Abel.
Who was my twin?
Who was my brother?
The gun is by my hand.
Pat said I'd never be happy until the day I died.
I guess she was kind of right at that.
Suspense.
Presented by Roma Wines.
For O-M-A. Made in California for enjoyment throughout the world.
And now here is our distinguished star of tonight's Suspense play, Dame Clark.
And our producer director, William Spear, carrying a huge basket of Roma Wines.
As Frankie the Killer, you deserve the cruel fate which just overtook you.
I'm glad that you're dead, you rascal.
But as Dame Clark, the actor, I think you deserve a handsome present for a very fine
performance.
So here it is.
A basket of fine Roma Wines from Roma and me, Dame.
Thank you, Bill.
And while we're tossing compliments around, so happens that Suspense is my favorite radio
show and that you're my favorite producer.
And that Roma my favorite wine.
Let's see if Roma Sherry is here.
Ah, there it is.
Oh, say, Dame, are you having dinner at home this evening?
I am, can't wait then with a few friends after the show.
Well, you'll find, along with all of Hollywood's famous hosts, that Roma California Sherry is
the perfect first call for dinner.
Of course it's the favorite of millions everywhere, anytime.
It's the ideal wine for afternoon or evening parties.
Yes, at any time there is no other wine so good in so many tasty ways as fragrant golden
amber Roma Sherry with its tempting nut-like taste.
I'll go along with you on that, Ken.
Ah, but you do know why all this is true, Dame?
Of course there are reasons why delicious Roma Sherry is so good.
You see, only Roma, America's foremost vintner, selects for your enjoyment from the world's
greatest reserves of fine wines.
And because Roma's vast winemaking resources are unmatched anywhere, Roma Sherry, like every
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So ladies and gentlemen, for gracious hospitality at your next party or simple evening at home,
serve Roma.
Roma wine.
And just selling wine in all history.
Well Dane, how are the Warner Brothers these days?
Oh, they're fine.
Of course I've been seeing more of the Davis sisters.
Betty and Betty, you mean, in the stolen life?
You were fine in that picture, Dane, as my Aunt Judy says you took off your part real
good.
Oh, my compliments to your Aunt Judy.
Who's for suspense next Thursday, Bill?
Well next week it's a story about an unfortunate but murderous minded clerk, an accountant,
who does what many a downtrodden employee must have often at least considered doing.
He kills his boss.
Our star will be Gene Lockhart.
I think you'll like it.
It's quite a character study.
Well, I'll certainly catch it next Thursday, Bill.
And thanks again for everything.
Oh, by the way, Bill, thanks so much for having Kathy Lewis and Betty Lou Gerson on the show
with me tonight.
I think they're wonderful.
They are indeed.
Good night, Dane.
Next Thursday, same time here, Gene Lockhart in Suspense.
Presented by the Roma Wine Company of Fresno, California.
In the following week, Suspense will present such stars as Judy Garland, Rita Hayworth,
and Edward G. Robinson.
Make it a point to listen each Thursday to Suspense, radio's outstanding theater of thrills.
This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.