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And now, Roma wines, R-O-M-A, Roma Wine Company of Fresno, California bring you Suspense.
Tonight, Roma Wines present Mr. Elliot Reed in Dead of Night, a suspense play produced
for Schenley by William Spear.
Suspense, radio's outstanding theater of thrills, is presented for your enjoyment by Roma Wines.
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And now, Roma Wines bring you Mr. Elliot Reid in a remarkable tale of Suspense.
Helen and I had never been apart since our folks died, never before that summer when
I got a job at a mountain resort.
She was supposed to go with me, wait on tables or something, and it was to be our vacation.
But at the last minute, she decided to stay in town.
She figured her boyfriend, Steve, might be coming home on furlough.
I should have known better.
My sister was such a kid, but I let her talk me into it, and I went alone.
That was the beginning of the whole thing.
That's when she met him, Phil Armstrong.
If I hadn't gone away that summer, I guess Phil would be alive today.
All during the time I was gone, Helen didn't write much, and what letters I did get didn't
seem natural.
So I was anxious to finish my job and get home.
I expected her to be at the bus station, but she wasn't.
And when I got to the apartment, I could hear someone moving inside.
The door was locked, so I knocked.
Helen!
Who is it?
It's me.
Jimmy?
Yeah, open the door.
Oh, Jimmy, just a minute.
Well, since when have you taken to locking the door in the daytime?
Helen, what did you do to yourself?
Your face... were you in an accident?
I... I fell, Jimmy.
I fell and I hurt myself.
Your eyes swollen shut.
Let me look at it.
Jimmy, I have something to tell you.
What are these suitcases doing here?
You and I are going away, Jimmy.
We've got to get out of here.
I've packed everything.
We're going no place till you tell me what this is all about.
While you were gone, I got married.
Married?
You mean Steve was here on furlough?
No, Jimmy, not to Steve.
Not... but you were engaged to him.
I know, but I got a letter from him right after you left.
He married someone he met where he was stationed.
Oh, Helen, gee.
I was pretty upset, Jimmy.
That's when I met Phil Armstrong.
But gee, I think you might have...
I don't even know the guy.
No, neither did I.
But I was unhappy...
You just don't go off and marry someone you don't know.
That's what I did, Jimmy.
Now, we've got to get out of here.
But why?
Because there's been trouble.
What kind of trouble?
I'm afraid, Jimmy.
He's terrible.
He takes something.
I don't know what, but sometimes he... he's just crazy.
Helen.
Yes?
Your face.
You didn't fall.
No.
He did that.
I'll... I'll kill him.
Or he'll kill you.
That's what I mean.
That's why we've got to get away.
You can get a divorce, can't you?
No, he threatened me if I even tried to get one.
We'll put him under a peace bond.
What good would a peace bond be, Jimmy, if he killed one of us?
So I let her talk me into running away.
I guess I shouldn't have.
But I knew that if I saw him after what he'd done to her... well, anyhow, she looked so
frightened.
I thought it best to let her do it her way.
We got to Santa Monica that night, and we stopped at a motel near the water.
Well, a week slipped by, and Helen seemed to be forgetting.
She didn't jump every time someone knocked at the door.
I managed to get a job at one of the shooting concessions on the pier, and we both began
to feel good for a while.
Then one night late, as I came home from work, I heard voices coming from our apartment.
I knew who it was, and I knew from what Helen had told me it would be foolish for me to
go in unarmed, so I ran back to the shooting concession.
I knew something was going to happen.
It didn't take long, but when I got back, the lights were out, and the sound of voices
was gone.
I tried the door.
It was very dark, and then my foot struck something soft and heavy on the floor.
I snapped on the switch, and the room was flooded with light, and I looked down into
a dead man's face.
I stood there shivering with cold and terror, looking down at that man.
Although I'd never seen him in life, I knew this was Phil, her husband.
There was a deep gash over his eye, and the blood still flowed from it onto the floor.
I stepped over him, and I ran into the bedroom.
Helen!
But there was no one in the bedroom or in the kitchen, and then I heard the front door
open.
Oh, Jimmy!
Close the door, Helen.
Jimmy!
Close it, do you hear me?
Be quiet.
Turn the lights out.
Be quiet, I tell you.
Oh, Jimmy.
What have I let you in for?
Stay where you are.
Shh.
Don't move, Helen.
Who is it?
I don't know.
Keep quiet.
Jimmy, it's Mrs. Gordon.
She's going to unlock the door.
Just a minute, Mrs. Gordon.
I'll get something on.
Jimmy, what's going on in there?
All the tenants have been complaining.
Oh, some friends of mine, Mrs. Gordon.
They were having a party.
They're gone now.
Jimmy Barton, you should be ashamed of yourself.
Open this door.
I want to talk to you.
I'm not dressed.
I was taking a shower.
Well, flip something on.
I'm tired.
I was just going to bed.
Jimmy, I told you I wanted to talk to you.
Now, will you open this door?
She has a passkey, Jimmy.
All right.
All right, Mrs. Gordon.
Just let me get some clothes on.
I didn't know what to do.
I knew that she was determined to come in.
Mrs. Gordon is a nosy old woman.
But she meant well.
She'd taken it upon herself to mother Helen and me since the first minute she laid eyes
on us.
And we'd had a time keeping her out of the apartment with her pots of jam and her bowls
of soup.
What do we do, Jimmy?
Helen, take him by the feet.
No.
Helen, take him by the feet.
We started half dragging, half carrying him towards the bedroom, the rug slipping along
the floor as we moved.
We'd just gotten into the bedroom and then...
Well, if your mother isn't here to look after you, I'm going to do it myself.
We can't leave him here.
She might come into the bedroom.
Quick, the bathroom.
Jimmy, where are you?
Jimmy, what if she comes in here?
Pull back those shower curtains.
Jimmy, we can't.
Don't argue.
Pull them back.
Jimmy, I can't get his legs in.
Here.
I'll double them up.
There.
Now pull the curtains together.
Jimmy, what's been going on in here?
Look at my rug.
Has there been a fight?
Just a minute, Mrs. Gordon.
Jimmy, why are you so upset?
I'm not upset.
I'm just worried about my daughter.
Jimmy, what's going on in here?
Get me a razor out of the medicine chest.
Here.
What are you going to do?
Never mind.
Stay where you are.
I'm coming, Mrs. Gordon.
Well, just as I suspected, you've been fighting.
You've hurt yourself.
Here, let me see your hand.
It isn't bad, Mrs. Gordon.
No wonder you didn't want me to come in.
Where's Helen?
She's out.
She hasn't been here all evening.
Here, let's look at your hand.
It isn't bad, Mrs. Gordon.
You let me see that hand.
There.
But, Jimmy, this is a bad gash.
Have you disinfected it?
Yes.
Yes, I have.
Well, let me bandage it for you.
No, this towel's all right.
It's not all right.
Where are your bandages and things?
In the bathroom?
No, no.
I don't have any.
You're just saying that, Jimmy Barton, because you don't want to be bandaged.
You're not fooling me.
And I'm going right into the bathroom and get some.
No, not the bathroom.
I mean, I don't have any.
Well, I'll just see for myself.
No, no, Mrs. Gordon.
Jimmy, you've dripped blood all over this floor.
Here, let's look in this medicine closet.
There.
I knew it.
Here's some tape and some gauze, too.
Mrs. Gordon, can't we do this in the living room?
No, we'll do it right here.
Now, here's some alcohol.
Put your hand over here.
We stood there, and she bandaged me.
And I kept wondering where Helen had gone.
And then I saw the shower curtain move slightly.
And I knew.
For a moment, I thought Mrs. Gordon had seen it move, too.
Jimmy, just look at that shower curtain.
Yes.
Goodness, you smeared that with blood, too.
I'd better clean things up before Helen gets home.
You'll scare the life out of her.
I'll clean it up, Mrs. Gordon.
You've done enough.
Thanks very much for taking care of this hand.
Well, all right, if you don't want me to.
Now you'd better get some sleep.
I'll see you in the morning.
Good night, Jimmy.
Good night, Mrs. Gordon.
Jimmy.
Shh, Helen.
Oh, I had to hide someplace, and it was terrible.
I know, I know.
It was the only thing you could do.
Oh, Jimmy.
Yes?
Jimmy, I forgot to tell you that I'm having a heart attack.
I'm having a heart attack.
Yes?
Jimmy, I forgot to tell you that I'm having some painting done tomorrow, so you'll have
to be out of here early.
It's hard enough getting painters these days without making them wait for my tenants to
get up.
All right, Mrs. Gordon.
I'll be out first thing in the morning.
Good night.
Do I have to get him out of here?
Yeah.
Where will we take him?
I don't know.
I've got to think.
Helen, you try and rest.
Jimmy, let me get to the police.
Let me tell them that I did it.
Let me tell them what he was and they won't do anything to me.
No, no, you try and rest.
What time is it?
About six.
I've got two hours before the painters get here.
What are you going to do?
Well, there's the car.
No one will see us if we take him through the service porch into the garage.
Then what?
I don't know, but that'll get him out of here anyway.
I think I can do it alone, Helen.
Listen, Jimmy, we're in this mess because of me, and I'm going to help you.
For Suspense, Roma Wines are bringing you Elliot Reid in Dead of Night.
Roma Wines presentation tonight in radio's outstanding theater of thrills, Suspense.
Presented by Roma, R-O-M-A, Roma Wines, those better tasting wines that come from California's
finest vineyards to enrich your table, to enhance the hospitality of your home.
To bring you better tasting wine, Roma selects and presses California's choicest grapes.
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These fine wines are placed with other Roma wines of years before, and from these reserves,
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Tomorrow as a special after dinner treat, try rich Roma port or mellow muscatel.
Be sure to ask for Roma, America's favorite wine.
And now Roma Wines bring back to our Hollywood soundstage Elliot Reid as Jimmy Barton with
Cathy Lewis as Helen in Dead of Night, a tale well calculated to keep you in suspense.
When I went into the bathroom, the shower curtains were standing open.
His legs had slipped from their cramped position and they'd pushed themselves into the room.
He sat there with his head twisted down and his chin digging into his chest.
I took a washcloth and I...
It was awful.
I wiped the blood off his face.
Just in case anyone saw us, they might think he was just sick.
Then I tried to lift him, but I slipped and his head made a hollow sound as it thumped
down on the shower floor.
Helen helped me get him into the luggage compartment of the car.
Where are we going, Jimmy?
Helen, won't you stay in the apartment, please?
No, I couldn't.
I'm going with you.
All right, come on.
Lucky, it's so foggy.
What time is it?
Five or seven.
The fog will be clearing soon.
It'll be harder getting him out of the car than...
Jimmy.
What?
Jimmy, there's a Santa Monica Pier.
You can drive cars out to the end of it.
Maybe we can...
Yeah, it's worth a try anyway.
We'll have to act fast.
That fog's clearing.
You stay here.
I can manage alone this time.
Jimmy.
You stay here this time.
All right.
Call me if you need me.
I'll go around to the back.
Keep your eyes open.
All right.
Jimmy, someone's coming.
Who is it?
I can't see.
Jimmy, it's a policeman.
What?
It's a policeman.
Jimmy.
Oh, it's Slugger Vanda.
He's patrolman on the pier.
Hello, Slugger.
Well, hello, Jimmy.
When do you get your sleep, Jimmy?
While you're working?
Yeah, Slugger.
But I couldn't seem to remember if I'd locked up the old shooting gallery.
So I came over this morning to have a look around.
Oh, I see.
This is my sister, Slugger.
Hello, this is Slugger Vanda.
How do you do?
Hello.
Well, you're an early riser too, huh?
Yes.
Well, the fog's clearing up.
Looks like we're going to get some sun today, Franchet.
Yeah.
Well, I guess I'll be getting back.
I think I'll try and catch a few more hours sleep.
So long.
Yeah, so long.
Oh, say, say, Jimmy.
Yeah?
Say, Jim, I have to take my wife over to a nursery today and pick up some plants and
stuff, and I don't have a trunk on my car.
I wonder if you'd let me use your car.
I...
Well, you have to drive me over to Malibu this afternoon, Jimmy.
Yeah, I'd forgotten.
Well, you can drive over in my car.
How's that?
Well, you see...
Your brother thinks I'll wreck that beautiful car?
Oh, it isn't that, Slugger.
Okay, then, okay.
I'll be over about noon.
I'll leave my car for when I get back.
I won't be home at noon, Slugger.
Well, then I'll meet you at the entrance to the pier.
How's that?
All right, Slugger.
Okay.
Why'd you say you'd meet him?
Oh, if I don't, he'll go over to the apartment looking for you.
I mean, for us.
And I don't want a policeman going over there.
Oh, I'm sorry.
As we drove along the ocean, the fog cleared up rapidly.
It was almost 8 o'clock, and some kids were already out on the beach playing around.
Then I saw a group of early picnickers.
They were unloading their blankets and umbrellas and things.
I guess it was from them that I got the idea.
From seeing them.
Listen, Helen.
I'm going to let you out of this car.
You can't help me with what I have to do now.
No.
Jimmy, I'm staying with you.
Don't argue, Helen.
I'm not leaving you, Jim.
We can't go back to the apartment with the painters there, and we can't leave him in
the car.
Slugger's liable to see us and pin us down to using it.
There's only one place left.
Where, Jimmy?
Helen, get out of this car.
Do you hear?
Well, but, Jimmy...
I haven't time to argue with you.
I...
Get out.
I won't do it, Jimmy.
Yes, you will.
If I have to push you out...
Oh, Jimmy, you're hurting me.
There.
I'm sorry.
Go back to the apartment.
Get off that running board, Helen.
I can't leave you alone, Jimmy.
I want to help you.
I'm not blaming you for killing him, Helen.
But now you've got to do as I say.
What?
What did you say?
I don't blame you for what you did.
He deserved it.
But now you've got to help me handle things.
Jimmy, you've got to let me explain.
Goodbye, Helen.
Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy!
I watched her out of the mirror.
She kept calling me.
I drove on as fast as I could.
I knew that what I was going to do was one chance in a million.
But I knew I had to take it.
And I didn't want her to be part of it.
If I could keep him on the beach that whole day, then maybe I'd be able to get rid of
him when night fell.
It wasn't until after I stopped that I realized I'd driven right back to a strip of beach
not far from the apartment.
I had my swimming shorts and a blanket and a towel in the car.
And I got out.
I looked around carefully.
And then I opened the luggage compartment.
It was the hardest thing I'd ever done in my life.
But I started taking his clothes off.
I managed to get my shorts onto him.
Lucky, we were pretty near the same size.
Then I closed the door.
And I went out onto the beach.
And I spread my blanket out on the sand.
And I went back for him.
When there were no cars in sight, I carried him over to where I'd spread my blanket.
And I placed him on it face down with his hands folded over his head as though we were
sunbathing.
Then I spread my towel out a short distance from him.
And I laid down on it.
And I tried to look relaxed.
People didn't start to arrive until about an hour later.
And gradually, little groups of sunbathers started to form.
He and I, we looked no different from the others.
No one paid any attention to us.
And I was beginning to feel that everything was going to be easy once it was dark again.
Jimmy, I've been looking all over for you.
What?
I...
Hello, Mrs. Gordon.
Where's Helen?
Isn't she in the apartment?
Oh, no.
And what time did you go out this morning?
I...
I couldn't sleep.
Say, didn't Helen come in at all last night?
Oh, yes.
Yes, she did.
But she left early, too.
Said she was going into Los Angeles.
Oh, and I left her a note to tell her I was going down to the beach today.
I was so worried about her.
Say, the painters came, Jimmy.
Everything's a mess.
You know, I think I'll just sit here with you for a while.
You're, uh, you're not with anyone, are you?
No.
No, I'm not.
I wish I brought some oil along.
Looks like it's going to be a hot day.
These things, these days, it start off foggy or deceiving, you know?
Yeah, they are.
This is a real treat for me, Jimmy.
I never get out on the beach.
I think I'll have a nice day of rest for a change.
Later, we can get some sandwiches.
The treat's on me.
Oh, Mrs. Gordon, no.
I hadn't planned on spending the day at the beach.
Oh, it'll be good for you, Jimmy.
Not healthy for a boy your age to be working all night and sleeping all day.
But, Mrs. Gordon, I...
Oh.
Say, Jimmy, do you know that man over there?
Which one?
That one right there.
No.
I don't know him.
He's lying so still.
His back's going to get an awful burn.
Yeah.
You suppose he's asleep?
See, it isn't good to sleep in the sun.
Mrs. Gordon, will the painters be finished by this afternoon?
I hope so.
You know, a person can get an awful burn on a day like this.
Somebody ought to speak to him.
Mrs. Gordon, wouldn't you like to go for a walk?
Oh, I'm not one for walking.
You can go ahead if you like.
Well, I...
Come on, Dick, pitch it over here.
Oh, those kids.
You children, stop that.
You're getting sand all over me.
Sorry, lady.
There's no need to play ball here.
There's a playground over by the pier.
Now get away from here.
I don't pay no attention to her.
She don't own the beach.
Pitch it over here.
Oh, we hit that guy in the beazer.
Now see what they've done.
They've hit that poor man.
Now they'll get what's coming to them.
Mrs. Gordon, are you sure you don't want to go up and jump on the beach?
I'm not going to jump on the beach.
I'm going to jump on the beach.
Look at that. Balls right in the crook of that man's arm. He's pretending he's asleep.
He's not gonna hand it to them. But just wait till they reach for it.
He'll give them something besides their ball.
Hey, mister, could we...
Ah, what are you waiting for, Dicky? It's our ball. Just take it.
Go on, take it. Here, I'll get it.
Thanks, mister. For you.
What's the matter?
Hey, he's cold.
What did you say?
He's cold, lady. His arm's like ice. I just touched it.
Why don't you...
Well, you probably hurt him.
Ah, a little ball like this couldn't hurt nobody.
Well, nevertheless, it did. Here, let's have a look.
And then she started moving toward him.
I knew it was useless to try and stop her.
And she reached over and put her hand on his back.
And suddenly she was screaming...
I can't believe it! This man's dead!
Before long, there was a crowd of people around us.
And someone called the police.
I wanted to run, but I knew that would be the wrong thing to do.
So I stayed there, numb like, watching things.
When the police came, they started questioning everyone.
Mrs. Gordon was first.
But he'd been there all morning. I came early and he was here already.
Just like that, with his face down, just like he was Sunday.
Was there anyone else around when you arrived?
Well, yes, Jimmy was here. He was here all alone with him, weren't you, Jimmy?
Yes. Yes, I was.
Doesn't anyone know the man?
Hey, I told you kids to keep away, do you hear?
Ah, we discovered him, didn't we? If it hadn't been for us, you...
Yeah, you don't even know a clue when you see one. Look at his fingernails.
See, the child's right, Officer. Look.
Ah, what's that? Now, let's see.
Ah, it looks like powder, something flaky.
You sure none of you people around here recognize him?
Well, I've never seen him.
Officer, that blanket he's lying on, it's from my motel.
See, it's stamped right under where you moved his hand.
Seaside motor cabins.
You sure he wasn't registered?
I'm positive.
Is there anyone around here from your motel?
Look, look, Jimmy.
Jimmy! Jimmy!
Here comes Helen. She's crying.
Mrs. Gordon, I asked if there's anybody around here from your motel.
Yes, just Jimmy Gordon here. And that girl, she's his sister.
They've been with us for several weeks.
And suddenly everyone was looking at me and at Helen as she ran towards us.
And like a fool, I too started to run in Helen's direction to ward her off.
I didn't get far, though, for someone caught me by the arm.
Jimmy, I've been looking all over for you.
Don't say anything, Helen. Let me do the talking. Don't say anything.
Jimmy, when you forced me out of the car this morning, you said you didn't blame me for having killed him.
Helen, be still. Don't...
Jimmy, I didn't kill him. I thought you had.
I was helping you get rid of him because I thought you'd done it.
Helen, are you telling the truth?
I swear it, Jimmy. Bill and I were quarreling.
He'd been taking something again. He was just like he was crazy.
And I knew there'd be trouble when you came home from work, so I got out the back way
and I went looking for you on the pier, and I couldn't find you.
I went back to the apartment and I... I... I found him on the floor. I thought you'd...
But Helen, why didn't you say so?
You didn't give me a chance, Jimmy. You just took it for granted that I did.
Then who did kill him, Helen?
That's what I'm trying to tell you. Nobody killed him.
What are you talking about?
I went to the apartment a little while ago to wait for you, and while I was there, I remembered about Bill last night.
How strangely he'd acted, Jimmy, and how he'd almost fallen several times while we were quarreling.
And then I saw the gas heater, Jimmy. There was a sharp edge on the top of it with blood on it.
He must have fallen. He must have...
But Helen, we've no way of proving that.
There was something else, Jimmy. The wall above the heater was scratched.
That there might be fingerprints. There might be...
Officer!
Yeah?
That flaky stuff you found under his fingernails, that might have been plastic.
Uh-huh. I think we'd better get down to the station.
Oh, Jimmy, they've got to believe us!
Don't cry, Helen. As long as we know that we didn't do it, that's all that matters.
Everything's gonna be all right. Don't cry anymore.
Well, that's about it.
Lucky for us, everything checked pretty well back at the motel, and the autopsy showed he was full of some kind of drug.
They call it highly toxic.
But I guess it was really Mrs. Gordon who saved our necks for us, besides talking so loud and so long that they'd have probably acquitted us just to be rid of her.
She did dig up a witness who'd heard Helen and Phil quarreling, and who'd seen Helen leave alone after he'd threatened her.
Well, everything's all right now. Helen and I are beginning to forget.
But it's Mrs. Gordon who's making quite a nuisance of herself on the beach these days, as she goes along poking all the sunbathers and asking if they're sure they're all right.
And now we will hear from the star of tonight's show, Mr. Elliot Reed.
Thank you very much. It was a great pleasure to appear on tonight's broadcast of Suspense.
For the next three weeks, Suspense will originate from New York, when you will hear Eva LeGallion, Alan Baxter, and Gloria Swanson.
Tonight's Suspense play was written by Mel Dinelli. Next Thursday, same time, you will hear Ms. Eva LeGallion as star of Suspense, produced by Williams-Peer for the Roma Wine Company of Fresno, California.
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Listen to Suspense next week, same time, same station.
This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.