Yes, Roma wines taste better because only Roma selects from the world's greatest wine
reserves for your pleasure.
And now Roma wines, R-O-M-A, Roma wines present Suspense.
Tonight, Roma wines bring you Mark Stevens in Tree of Life, 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 better tasting California wines enjoyed by more Americans
than any other wine, for friendly entertaining, for delightful dining.
Yes, right now a glass full would be very pleasant as Roma wines bring you Mark Stevens
in a remarkable tale of Suspense.
Everything went wrong.
From the very beginning, everything that possibly could went wrong.
Because you see, I'd already planned, planned for quite a while to kill my wife.
The first thing was the doors.
That's funny too because that was the thing that impressed me the most about the new place,
the doors.
The house was a double bungalow, twin apartments really, white stucco with two doors in the
front center.
The doors were exactly alike, made of modern yellow wood studded with nails.
The nails spread out in a Tree of Life pattern.
Tree of Life.
I can still see Helen standing with her slim elegance figure silhouetted against the door
and her hair blending with its warm color and her blue eyes burning with that strange
acquisitive fire I'd once mistaken for passion.
Isn't it a beautiful door, Jimmy?
I really think I'm clever to have found it, don't you?
You know it's definitely the smartest place we've ever had.
Well don't just stand there darling, come on, come on, you'll possibly love the inside.
You see, see Jimmy, the entrance hall and the living room can be thrown into one.
Jimmy, we can have some stunning parties.
Bedroom from the back?
Three rooms, small dressing room, two baths.
Of course we'll have to buy some new furniture to go with the house.
Most of our old pieces simply won't belong.
Softly dark back here.
Oh nonsense darling, it's just cloudy today.
Besides you'll love it when you want to sleep late on Sunday.
That's why I'm giving you the center room, I'm taking the front one with the dressing
room.
The corner room with the three windows?
Oh well that'll be the guest room, Mom and the girls will be coming in every so often,
you know.
Then you'll want to bring home some of your business associates.
I never have.
Oh but don't you see, now you can.
Jimmy Dawson, I'm not going to let you be an old stick in the mud anymore.
We're going to have a wonderful winter darling.
There's a young couple in the other part, their name is Roxborough, I think that's what
the agent said.
Anyway, I saw her from a distance, she seemed to be a perfectly stunning brunette, just
our sort.
I imagine the four of us will do lots of things together.
Oh darling, admit it, the house is priceless, isn't it?
Yeah, yeah of course Helen, but isn't there a small room somewhere where I might do some...
Painting?
Well, yes.
We've discussed this before, it's not healthy for you to bring your work home with you.
Besides it's much too lovely a house to mess up.
Oh I don't mean advertising there Helen, I want to try some real work, well creative
work.
I've told you what I think about it, Jimmy.
I want to make your home your castle darling, I want it to be a place for you to relax away
from work.
We must concentrate now on gracious living.
Of course it's your home, if you feel you must.
No, no Helen, skip it.
Of course darling, from now on it's gracious living, remember?
Sure, gracious living.
I'd already begun to make some plans for Helen, for killing Helen that is, when we moved into
the new house two weeks later.
I rode the interurban to work that day and left the car with Helen.
She said she needed it to move some of our smaller, more breakable treasures.
I offered to stay and help her with the moving, but Helen said I'd be in the way.
I ate dinner in town and rode the interurban back, walked the seven blocks to my new home.
I hated it more with each step I took.
When I got there the shades were down, the lights were out on both sides, which meant
Helen was out again.
I stood outside for a while not wanting to go in.
Suddenly I started up the steps, but the doors made me pause.
I suddenly realized I didn't know which was my door.
I felt like a fool.
Suppose I were to go barging in on the Roxboroughs, or whatever the name was.
Certainly they'd think I was a fool.
All I could do was choose one of the doors.
I was just fumbling at the lock with my key, and when the door opened from the inside I
couldn't see the man who opened it very well, but I could see the gun he held in his hand.
It was the biggest gun I've ever seen in my life.
Come in.
Why I...
Come in.
After he closed the door, the man with the gun switched on the lights.
Hey, what...
Then I saw the other one.
He was big with a lot of black hair and an angry face.
He had a gun too.
Kept fooling with it, spinning the cylinder.
He was standing in front of the couch trying to hide something, something lying there covered
with an overcoat.
But I knew what it was, I saw the hand trailing down on the floor, a woman's hand.
And just who are you?
I'm...
You heard him, who are you?
Is that my wife?
So you're Roxborough, huh?
You're supposed to be halfway to Chicago by now.
Roxborough?
Well, well.
Cute, ain't he?
Curly hair and everything.
Real cute.
Look, I made a mistake, you see...
What do you know about that?
He thinks he made a mistake, Rico.
What kind of mistake you think you made, Curly?
What kind of a mistake?
You fix this thing all up with our boss today to time the alibi, the works, and then you
walk in right in the middle of it.
Ho ho, you made a mistake, all right, Curly?
The biggest mistake you ever made in your life.
Maybe the last too, Enrico.
Maybe the last.
Who knows?
For a minute they both just stood and looked at me.
Oh, I'd made a mistake, all right.
Here I'd gone and stumbled in on a job being done by a couple of hired killers.
The job of killing his wife for Roxborough.
My neighbor Roxborough.
And they thought I was Roxborough.
Even that wasn't the worst.
As long as they thought I was Roxborough, though, I might be able to make a deal.
But if they ever found out I wasn't Roxborough, the end of the line, I had to be Roxborough.
Any last words, Curly?
Oh, wait a minute.
Honest, I...
I made a mistake.
You said that.
We don't like those kind of mistakes in our business.
You can see how that would be, can't you?
But listen, if it wasn't a mistake, why else would I come home right when...
Oh, you can say it.
It don't matter now.
Right when we're knocking off your wife, huh, Curly?
I bet you I know.
I bet she likes to play hero, Enrico.
Hero?
Sure, you come home, you find burglars.
That's us.
And we just knocked off your wife, so you knock us off.
You're a hero.
Get it?
You ought to be in Hollywood, bud, where they pay for that stuff.
Only, you better tell Curly that I ain't making it up.
Because the poor guy tried that on us once, Curly.
The poor guy.
But I couldn't have meant anything like that.
I don't even have a gun.
I ain't even got a jackknife.
Listen, we can make some kind of a deal.
There's a rod in the desk.
Maybe you figured I'm using that.
Huh, Curly?
Hey, wait a minute, Enrico, wait a minute.
Curly here said something about a deal.
I don't like deals.
The boss don't like deals.
I like the other way.
It's cleaner all around.
Turn around, Curly.
No, wait a minute.
Relax, relax.
I just want to frisk you this time.
He started going over my pockets and that was all right.
Until he came to my wallet and took it.
My wallet.
Driver's license, social security card, every identification under the sun to prove I wasn't
Roxborough but James Dawson.
If he ever looked inside, it was finished.
I had to do something to distract his attention.
I had to do it right then.
Hey, where you going?
Oh, I, I just, just wanted to look.
At her?
Yeah.
Baby Curly thinks we don't know our jobs, huh, Max?
Go ahead.
Take a look.
Take a good look.
Might be somebody you know.
I walked over to the couch.
I lifted the coat off her face.
I looked.
And I put the coat back again.
I felt sick.
I hadn't needed more than that one look to know she was dead.
And I knew something else.
I knew that my chances of getting out of this alive had just gone down about 90 percent.
Well, satisfied?
He looks kind of sick, Max.
Maybe he's the sensitive type.
You know, these sensitive guys are funny.
They don't mind having it done.
Oh, no, that don't worry them a bit.
But the guy that does it because he needs a few bucks, he's just a big ape.
A guy with no feelings.
Ain't that right, Curly?
I'm not complaining.
He's not complaining?
Well, that's something anyway, huh, Max?
He's not complaining.
Oh, that's good.
But a minute ago, he was talking about a deal.
I like to think about it.
He's got a lot of money.
We got work to do.
We can talk about deals later.
And I still say no deal.
Maybe we ought to ask Curly.
You want us to finish the job up right, don't you, Curly?
Oh, sure.
Ask Curly.
Finish the job?
Sure.
Collect the ice.
He don't know what that means.
Do you, Curly?
The jewelry, the silverware, the stuff that makes it look like burglars.
Remember?
Oh.
Oh, yeah.
Where do you keep it?
Why, uh, her bedroom, I guess.
Your guess?
Oh, these sensitive guys are great guesses, but you better have guessed right, Curly.
Come on inside.
All right, now where is it?
I, uh, I think the dressing table.
Take a look, Rico.
Yeah.
Well, well, looky here.
He guessed it right on her nose.
Oh, Curly, sharp, sharp he is.
And there's some real pretty ice here, too.
I bet this was her engagement ring, huh, Curly?
You got the stuff?
You don't have to talk about it.
Oh, you got the wrong attitude, Curly.
You knew this was part of the deal.
We get part of our cut out of this stuff.
Hey, I'll tell you what I did with that sapphire, Max.
What sapphire?
The Allison job, the place you got the garnets.
Oh, yeah, yeah.
I had it made into a pen for my kid.
I gave it to her for graduation.
She was crazy about it.
Your kid?
Sure.
I didn't swell kids, boy and a girl.
Smart, too.
Maybe that's the trouble with these sensitive guys.
How many go?
No kids.
I wanted four.
But she didn't, huh?
Well, that's the way it goes sometimes.
I bet she'd have figured it a little different if she'd have known how it was going to turn
out for her, huh, Curly?
Yeah.
Yeah, maybe she would.
All right, now listen.
We got work to do.
The rest of the house.
Now, about that deal.
Never mind that deal.
What are we going to do with him while we're working?
I'd leave him in here.
You wouldn't try to holler or anything like that, would you, Curly?
Oh, no.
No, I won't.
There you see?
I told you.
He's sharp, sharp.
He's going to think over the deal while we're gone.
I tell you, I don't like him.
How do you know?
You haven't heard it.
Oh.
Now, listen, Curly.
There's two ways.
The first is Rico's way.
Quick and clean.
You know what I mean?
Yeah, I know.
The other way, you pay us five grand.
But I haven't got $5,000.
With a setup like this, with the business you got, you can raise it and you're better
too.
I like my way better.
You see what I mean, Curly?
Think it over.
Come on, Rico.
Well, maybe I'd better stay here and watch him.
If you watch him, who's going to watch me?
I see what you mean.
And don't try nothing funny, Curly.
Because I still like my way better.
I like my way better.
He knew he wasn't kidding, so did I.
It already killed once tonight.
There was already one dead body in that house that could be just as easy be another.
There could be me.
For Suspense, Roma Wines are bringing you Mark Stevens in Tree of Life.
Roma Wines presentation tonight in radio's outstanding theater of thrills, Suspense.
Between the acts of Suspense, this is Ken Niles for Roma Wines.
Here's an easy way to return the compliment of the friendly hospitality you've enjoyed
over the holidays.
Simply invite your holiday hosts to an open house and delight them with Roma California
wines.
Yes, you're sure to please every guest with better tasting Roma Sherry, Port or Muscatel
because more Americans enjoy Roma than any other wine.
The reason?
Roma wines taste better because Roma starts with choicest grapes because Roma Wintner
skill and America's finest winemaking resources guide this grape treasure unhurriedly to tempting
taste perfection.
Because Roma selects at peak taste richness from the world's greatest wine reserves for
your pleasure.
No wonder Roma wines are America's favorites.
So for smart, gracious hospitality at your thank you party, be sure to serve Roma, R-O-M-A,
Roma Wines by America's greatest Wintner.
And now Roma Wines bring back to our Hollywood soundstage, Mark Stevens in Tree of Life,
a tale well calculated to keep you in suspense.
So there I sat waiting, locked in the bedroom by a couple of hired killers while I ransacked
the house for loot.
All because I just moved into a two family house with two front doors that had that Tree
of Life design on each one exactly alike.
All because these gunmen thought I was my neighbor Roxborough who had hired them to
kill his wife.
Well, they'd done their best all right.
There was the dead body on the couch in the front room right now.
That was why I had to make a deal somehow.
A dead body.
And more than that, if I did manage to put it over, I had to have money to get away.
Because I knew I had to go away, far away for a long time.
They had my wallet.
There was just the off chance there might be some in the room here somewhere.
She must have had money.
I started going over the room with a fine tooth comb.
The closet, inside of shoes, hat boxes, under the mattress, any place in every place that
a woman might be liable to hide money.
In the bottom bureau drawer I found a leather pocketbook.
It had two affectionate notes from some guy named Steve and that was all.
I gave up.
I went back to sit down in front of the dressing table again.
I knocked something on the floor.
There was a powder box, one of those musical things that keeps playing some gimmick tune
over and over until they run down.
There was powder and little heaps spilled on the floor.
There was something else.
Buried in all that powder is what I'd been looking for.
A roll of bills.
Nearly $400.
I just had about time to put the stuff in my pocket when I heard the two gunmen galloping
down the hall.
What do you think you're doing in there?
Hold it Rico.
All right, what's the idea?
I, I, I'm not sure.
I'm not sure.
All right, what's the idea?
I, I, I'm just a little nervous I guess.
I knocked that thing on the floor, see.
Well put it back together again.
Sure, sure.
What do you know?
He's nervous.
What are you nervous about, Curly?
My wife's got one of them things too.
Made me get it for our last Christmas.
Did it make you nervous like Curly?
Curly ain't nervous about that.
You got a way to get that five grand, Curly?
I can't get, can't get the cash right away.
Well, uh, maybe we could take a note, huh Rico?
Huh?
Oh, oh yeah, a note.
Sure, maybe we could.
Come on Curly, you're gonna come out here and write us a nice little note, all right?
Now sit down there at the desk.
Make yourself real comfortable.
Maybe you better tell him how that note should go.
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, maybe I should.
Now Curly, all you gotta do is write us a nice little note telling, uh, telling how
you killed your wife.
How I?
Killed my wife?
He don't think he did kill his wife.
I mean, thanks Wade then.
But if I did that, you could blackmail me.
You could keep blackmailing me.
Hey, you see, I told you it was sharp.
You know, this thing has gotta be said right so one can believe it, right Curly?
Yeah, yeah, that's right.
That's right.
Now, you're gonna sit right down there and write how you and your wife was always getting
in your hair, you know?
You was always having fights and finally, uh, well you had a real big one tonight and
you hit her over the head with a bottle.
Only you hit her a little too hard, see?
Is that how she...
You don't think we use these things unless we have to, do you?
Too noisy.
We don't want to cause you no trouble, understand Curly?
We just want to be sure you do raise that five grand, see?
Yeah, I see, but, well, if it came to a showdown, how would you explain the note?
Very sharp, very sharp.
See what I mean, Rico?
Curly wants to know, if we turn him in, how do we tell the cops we got the note?
Easy.
We make a deal with a guy who's gotta take a ramp for burglary anyway, says he burgled
this place too and found the note we bought it from.
Get it?
I get it.
Then start writing.
For a minute, I sat there thinking.
I wasn't too worried about the handwriting.
The chances that Roxborough had been fool enough to write anything in his own hand that these
mugs had ever seen was pretty slim.
And it couldn't do me any harm writing a confession in another man's name.
So I began to write.
And I stopped thinking about Roxborough and his wife.
Began thinking about Helen in five wasted years.
The opportunities missed, the friends lost, the time gone down the drain.
All because of Helen and what she thought was gracious living.
Gracious living.
When I got through it, it was a pretty good note.
I see it.
Yeah, huh?
Okay.
It almost sounds like you met it, Curly.
I did.
Okay.
Sign it.
Huh?
I said sign it.
Sign it?
I couldn't sign it.
I didn't know Roxborough's first name.
They'd know that.
But one thing they'd be sure to know, I could have cried.
To get this far, freedom almost incited, and then to have it end this way, I just sat there
holding the pen.
What's the matter?
Cold feet?
I...
Yeah, yeah, maybe.
Come on, sign it.
Well, I...
And not K. Roxborough like that little printed note you sent the boss.
The full name.
Not K. Roxborough, the full name.
What's the K for, Curly?
Kenneth?
No.
No, it's Kendall.
Is that all?
No, that's not all.
Oh, no, the $5,000.
That's the idea.
That's my sharp boy, the five grand.
Well, I don't know where I can lay my hands on that much cash tonight.
Well, cash was sort of what we had in mind, Curly.
I could write you checks.
No checks.
Hey, wait a minute.
Wait a minute.
I think he's got something there.
Yeah, he could date it ahead.
He could say he gave it to his wife for a mink coat or something, and it was stolen
by them nasty burglars.
You could think up something, couldn't you, Curly?
You better.
Why can't we get the cash from him tomorrow?
Because Curly's got to be in Chicago tonight for sure.
If the cops nab him for this job, what good is that little note he just wrote us, huh?
Oh, yeah.
Okay, Curly, write a check.
Sure.
To cash.
Yeah.
Five grand.
Five... five thousand.
Kendall, Roxborough.
Okay.
Now we're going to do you a favor, Curly.
We're going to take you down and put you on that next train to Chicago.
How do we know we won't take a powder and never come back?
And leave this nice business of his?
Oh, Curly wouldn't do that, would you, Curly?
No.
Of course not.
Okay, then let's go.
I don't like sticking around here with that.
She can't hurt you.
She can't hurt nobody.
Even Curly, if he's smart.
They went around wiping off fingerprints, even mine.
They were very good about that.
They snapped off the lights, opened the door, snapped that behind them, too.
Harvey, are you sure this is the Dalton's new place?
Why, no, he said you were.
I heard their voices first, then I saw them.
Lillian and Harvey Reynolds.
I tried to step back, out of the street light, but the two gunmen pushed me forward.
I just kept my head down and prayed.
Oh, I didn't see you.
Excuse me.
What's the matter, Lil?
I bumped into someone.
Come on, let's go home.
I want to know who I bumped into.
You know, it's awfully dark, but he looks like Jimmy.
Hey, are you Jimmy?
No.
You see, Lil, come on, let's go home.
I think he's Jimmy.
Who are you?
I'm Jimmy.
Jimmy?
Who are your friends, Jimmy?
They're not Jimmy.
They're not my friends.
Must be relatives.
Don't you think so, Harvey?
Must be relatives.
Oh, come on, Lil, let's go home.
Sounds like Jimmy.
If you're not Jimmy, where is Jimmy?
I don't know.
Oh.
Well, I'm going to find Jimmy.
I beg your pardon, madam.
I think I know where he is.
What?
Where is he?
Where's Jimmy?
You're just a little mixed up.
Now, if you go five blocks up the street, then four blocks over, you'll find Jimmy.
I'm going to find Jimmy.
Where's Jimmy?
You're just a little mixed up.
Now, if you go five blocks up the street, then four blocks over, it's the big yellow
house on the corner.
Come on, Harvey.
I told you we'd find Helen and Jim.
Don't run it, Lil.
I want to go home.
I sure feel sorry for Jimmy if she finds him.
So do I.
We drove down the station.
Found the next train for Chicago in about 45 minutes.
One of them went in with me while I got my ticket.
And we just stood out there in the darkness on the platform and waited.
When the train finally pulled in, they walked me down to my car and stood there with me
in the vestibule until the train was ready to pull out.
Take it easy now, Curly.
And about that check.
Yeah.
It better be good.
Yeah.
And if it ain't, we'll be waiting for you when you come back.
What did I care where they'd be?
I was free.
I was going to Chicago all right.
But from there, I was going to catch a train to Detroit.
From there, I was going to cross the Canadian border.
I was never coming back because I'd made it.
I was free, free.
I got in Chicago all right.
I got a train to Detroit last night.
I was walking through the observation car, not paying much attention to anything except
the receipt when somebody slapped me on the shoulder.
Well, well, well, if it isn't Dawson.
Huh?
Oh, yes.
Maybe you don't know me, Mr. Dawson.
I know you, at least by sight.
I'm your next door neighbor, Kent Roxborough.
Kent Roxborough.
Mm-hmm.
Well, well, small world these days, isn't it?
I suppose you're out this way on business like me.
I stayed over in Chicago last night.
Got a good room for a change, too.
Then I thought I might just as well clear up a couple little things out in Detroit.
Listen, Roxborough, I got to talk to you.
Of course, old man.
Come on, let's find a seat.
No, no, no, not here.
What's the matter, old boy?
Trouble?
Listen, I ran into those men last night.
My mistake.
Those men you sent to see your wife.
What?
What in the world are you talking about?
I never sent any...
Okay, it's all right.
I understand why you did it.
I was thinking of doing the same thing myself, but I walked in on my mistake.
They told me all about it.
They thought I was you.
Let's you and me take a little stroll out onto the observation platform, Dawson.
Yeah, yeah, sure.
No, what's all this, Dawson?
I tell you, it was a mistake.
The doors, they're exactly alike.
Yeah, yeah, I remember.
I walked in.
They thought I was you.
They'd already done it.
They thought I'd come back to double crossings.
So they made me sign a confession that I'd done it in your name.
Confession?
Oh, it's all right.
It's in my handwriting, not yours.
I even got your first name wrong.
I had to write them a check, too.
High thousand dollars.
You say they... they'd done it.
You know that.
Yeah, yeah, I saw her.
So I'm going away, Canada.
I'm never coming back.
Yeah.
Now, you're going away all right, Dawson.
No.
No, don't shoot.
There's something else.
They didn't...
Oh!
They... they didn't...
They didn't...
They found me beside the tracks this morning.
They say I may live until tonight, maybe even a little longer.
I guess I can't blame him.
The cops picked him up.
He'll get his.
So will those two hired killers.
I guess he thought he had to do it once he knew that I knew.
I guess I can't blame anyone but myself.
I guess it's what you call retribution, because I had planned to kill my wife.
I'd have done it, too, I guess.
But what he didn't give me time to tell him was that it wasn't me that got the wrong door.
It was the gunman.
It wasn't me that got into his house.
It was the gunman that got into mine.
It wasn't his wife they killed.
It was mine.
Gracious living.
Helen had always talked about it.
Now gracious dying.
I guess that's what you'd call it.
Retribution.
Suspense.
Now this is Ken Niles making a curtain call with the star of tonight's Suspense play,
Mark Stevens.
Mark, I'm sure that Mr. Webster gave the world the word suspense just to describe a dramatic
performance such as you've given us here tonight.
Oh, thank you very much, Ken.
It was a wonderful part.
I've noticed that you make it a custom here on Suspense to provide your guests with the
most wonderfully dramatic roles.
And there's another Suspense custom I'm sure you'll enjoy.
Each week we present our star with a gift basket of Roma wines.
This is yours, Mark, with the compliments of Roma, America's greatest vendor.
Oh, and a pleasant custom it is too.
Well, pleasantest of all is the enjoyment you share with friends when you serve the
delicious Roma California Port in your basket.
For Roma Port adds warmth to any welcome.
Roma Port is the favorite of millions for evening entertaining.
And Roma Port is so easy to serve.
All you do is pour and hospitality reign.
Oh, it sounds like Roma Port is a host's best friend.
Indeed it is, Mark.
And Roma Port tastes so good.
In fact, all Roma wines are famous for better taste.
And here's the reason.
Roma vintners with ancient skill and America's finest winemaking resources guide the rich
treasure of choicest grapes to tempting taste perfection.
Then at peak taste richness, Roma selects from the world's greatest reserves of fine wines
for your pleasure.
No wonder more Americans enjoy Roma than any other wine.
Well, the popularity of Roma wine speaks for itself, Ken.
And thank you very much and good night.
Tonight's Suspense play was written by J. Douglas Ware.
Mark Stevens will soon be seen in the 20th Century Fox Technicolor production, I Wonder
Who's Kissing Her Now.
Next Thursday, same time, you will hear Mr. Dan Douriez as star of Suspense.
Produced and directed by William Spear for the Roma Wine Company of Fresno, California.
This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.