WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:13.920 Suspense! 00:13.920 --> 00:18.680 In the finest homes and restaurants where distinguished hospitality is a gracious tradition, 00:18.680 --> 00:29.360 the choice in wines is C-R-E-S-T-A, B-L-A-N-C-A, Cresca, Blanca, Creta, and Piazza. 00:29.360 --> 00:32.800 Cresca Blanca. 00:32.800 --> 00:35.680 Yes, the best serve Cresca Blanca. 00:35.680 --> 00:39.800 And whatever the occasion, there's a magnificent Cresca Blanca California wine 00:39.800 --> 00:43.200 to bring rare pleasure to every discriminating taste. 00:43.200 --> 00:46.320 That's why for gracious dining this holiday weekend, 00:46.320 --> 00:53.200 the smart hostess offers her guests distinguished Cresca Blanca wines from the finest of the vines. 00:53.200 --> 01:01.760 Schenley's Cresca Blanca Wine Company, Livermore, California. 01:01.760 --> 01:06.200 And now for Roma wines, that's R-O-M-A. 01:06.200 --> 01:08.920 Roma wines for your everyday pleasure. 01:08.920 --> 01:12.400 Schenley brings you radio's outstanding theater of thrills. 01:12.400 --> 01:15.160 Suspense! 01:15.160 --> 01:20.200 Tonight, Roma wines of Fresno, California present Alan Baxter as star of a suspense play 01:20.200 --> 01:24.160 produced, edited, and directed for Schenley by William Spear. 01:24.160 --> 01:38.160 Alan Baxter in Money Talks, a remarkable tale of suspense. 01:38.160 --> 01:41.360 I had my credentials and the letters of recommendation in my hand. 01:41.360 --> 01:46.360 I was wearing the dark blue with a conservative pinstripe and a Van Huesen collar with a knit tie 01:46.360 --> 01:48.960 and was showing it all off to Mr. Purley. 01:48.960 --> 01:53.960 Mr. Purley was one of a mere eight vice presidents of the Banker's Industrial Trust Company. 01:53.960 --> 01:59.960 He had a big shiny desk with nothing on it and the kind of a mind that went right along with it. 01:59.960 --> 02:01.960 He was my meat. 02:01.960 --> 02:06.960 Well, Mr. Golf, of course the bank does occasionally have openings for the right kind of man. 02:06.960 --> 02:09.960 I don't like to blow my own horn, Mr. Purley, but... 02:09.960 --> 02:12.960 Have you had any previous experience in banking, Mr. Golf? 02:12.960 --> 02:16.960 No, sir, I haven't, but there's this. 02:16.960 --> 02:20.960 Ah, yes, yes. So you're a graduate of the Harvard Business School. 02:20.960 --> 02:23.960 Yes, sir. Investment banking was my field. 02:23.960 --> 02:27.960 Well, I must say, Mr. Golf, your grades there were exceptional, most exceptional. 02:27.960 --> 02:33.960 I worked hard, Mr. Purley. Banking was my first love, you might say, ever since I can remember. 02:33.960 --> 02:35.960 It's always been more than just a business to me. 02:35.960 --> 02:40.960 It's been, well, I suppose you could call it an ideal, a sacred trust 02:40.960 --> 02:44.960 in the best tradition of our financial and national institutions. 02:44.960 --> 02:46.960 I guess that sounded a little romantic. 02:46.960 --> 02:48.960 No, not at all, Mr. Golf, not at all. 02:48.960 --> 02:53.960 I see you graduated four years ago, Mr. Golf. Now, during the past four years? 02:53.960 --> 02:56.960 Well, you know how it's been with everybody the last four years. 02:56.960 --> 02:59.960 Oh, of course. I didn't see you wearing any veterans insignia. 02:59.960 --> 03:02.960 I don't like to be ostentatious about it, Mr. Purley. 03:02.960 --> 03:07.960 Oh, yes, yes, yes. Do you understand, Mr. Golf, that you'd have to start in a rather minor capacity? 03:07.960 --> 03:11.960 Oh, I'm not worried about that, sir. Frankly, Mr. Purley, I'm ambitious. 03:11.960 --> 03:16.960 Without being conceited, I'm confident I can make my mark with Bankers Industrial. 03:16.960 --> 03:18.960 You'll give me a chance. 03:18.960 --> 03:21.960 I like your attitude, Mr. Golf. You come in tomorrow morning. 03:21.960 --> 03:23.960 I think we can work something out. 03:23.960 --> 03:26.960 Thank you, Mr. Purley. This is a day I'll never forget. 03:26.960 --> 03:29.960 I think I can safely predict that you won't either. 03:34.960 --> 03:38.960 I gave him the old do or die, look him straight in the eye, handshake, and he left. 03:38.960 --> 03:41.960 That was more than two years ago. 03:41.960 --> 03:46.960 The whole thing was phony as an eight dollar bill, all but the part about ambition. 03:46.960 --> 03:48.960 There was nothing phony about that. 03:48.960 --> 03:51.960 I was going to make my mark with Bankers Industrial, all right. 03:51.960 --> 03:55.960 About a hundred thousand dollars worth. 04:01.960 --> 04:05.960 You probably know how a bank works, the bookkeeping, I mean. 04:05.960 --> 04:10.960 All day long the tellers pay it out and take it in, and then at three o'clock the bank closes. 04:10.960 --> 04:12.960 Only that's when the work really begins. 04:12.960 --> 04:16.960 Because then the tellers have to hand over their checks and receipts and statements of cash on hand 04:16.960 --> 04:20.960 to girls, you see, running those big calculating machines. 04:20.960 --> 04:24.960 When it's all over, hundreds of thousands of dollars worth in a big bank like this one, 04:24.960 --> 04:29.960 it has to balance out to the last penny. I mean penny. 04:29.960 --> 04:32.960 That's where Anita Willoughby came in. 04:32.960 --> 04:37.960 She was young and demure looking, but sort of intense too, if you know what I mean. 04:37.960 --> 04:40.960 She looked like just what the doctor ordered. 04:40.960 --> 04:42.960 Of course, I couldn't start anything in the bank. 04:42.960 --> 04:45.960 Banks are poison on office romances. You'll see why after a while. 04:45.960 --> 04:48.960 But a couple of weeks of little attentions and I was ready. 04:48.960 --> 04:51.960 It just happened that I was looking into the window of a men's furnishing store. 04:51.960 --> 04:53.960 She was passing by on her way home. 04:53.960 --> 04:56.960 I was lighting a cigarette and it just happened. 04:56.960 --> 04:59.960 I turned suddenly and of course it just happened. 04:59.960 --> 05:01.960 I bumped right into it. 05:01.960 --> 05:04.960 Oh, Miss Willoughby. Oh, I am sorry. 05:04.960 --> 05:08.960 Oh, it's all right, Mr. Gough. Just startled me a little. 05:08.960 --> 05:12.960 It's terribly clumsy of me. You on your way home? Going my way? 05:12.960 --> 05:15.960 I don't know. What is your way, Miss Gough? 05:15.960 --> 05:19.960 Well, as a matter of fact, I was just going down here a couple of blocks to where I left my car. 05:19.960 --> 05:20.960 You have a car, Miss Willoughby? 05:20.960 --> 05:22.960 No, unfortunately I don't. 05:22.960 --> 05:25.960 Well then, perhaps I could give you a lift, Miss Willoughby. 05:25.960 --> 05:31.960 Perhaps you could, Mr. Gough. 05:31.960 --> 05:35.960 Well, we wound up having dinner. It went on from there. 05:35.960 --> 05:41.960 After the first ten minutes I knew that demure act was strictly something for Mr. Purley and the adding machine. 05:41.960 --> 05:45.960 Anita Willoughby was smart. She'd been around and she knew the score. 05:45.960 --> 05:48.960 I was glad of this because it would take less sales talk later on. 05:48.960 --> 05:55.960 In another way, it was too bad, really. It was too bad because I was going to have to kill her. 05:55.960 --> 06:07.960 For suspense, Roma Wines are bringing you Alan Baxter in Money Talks. 06:07.960 --> 06:20.960 Roma Wines presentation tonight in Radio's Outstanding Theatre of Thrills, Suspense. 06:20.960 --> 06:25.960 Suspense, Radio's Outstanding Theatre of Thrills, is presented for your enjoyment by Roma. 06:25.960 --> 06:29.960 That's R-O-M-A, Roma California Wines. 06:29.960 --> 06:34.960 Those better tasting wines enjoyed by more Americans than any other wine. 06:34.960 --> 06:40.960 Speaking of enjoyment, here's a practical hint from Roma to make your holiday weekend cool and comfortable. 06:40.960 --> 06:45.960 Whether you're planning a trip to the country, a gay picnic at the beach, or a quiet rest at home, 06:45.960 --> 06:48.960 keep cooler with refreshing Roma wine and soda. 06:48.960 --> 06:53.960 Simply half-fill glasses with Roma Burgundy, Roma Sauternes, or your favorite Roma wine. 06:53.960 --> 06:59.960 Fill up with ice and soda, sweeten to taste, and garnish with a fragrant sprig of mint or colorful fruit slices. 06:59.960 --> 07:04.960 You'll find delicious Roma wine and soda America's smartest way to cool off. 07:04.960 --> 07:07.960 A wonderful way to say welcome when friends drop in. 07:07.960 --> 07:09.960 A marvelous thirst for adventure anytime. 07:09.960 --> 07:15.960 To beat the heat you can't beat refreshing Roma wine and soda iced. 07:15.960 --> 07:21.960 Made with better tasting Roma wine from America's greatest reserves of fine wine. 07:21.960 --> 07:27.960 And now Roma Wines bring back to our New York Soundstage, Alan Baxter in Money Talks. 07:27.960 --> 07:31.960 A tale well calculated to keep you in suspense. 07:39.960 --> 07:44.960 If you're cool-headed and cold-blooded, if you have a plan, if there's something you really want, 07:44.960 --> 07:49.960 all the laws and locks in the world won't stop you from latching onto it. 07:49.960 --> 07:52.960 That's what I'd always figured and that's what I figured now. 07:52.960 --> 07:56.960 That's why I sold two years of my life to a bank for a lousy 60 bucks a week. 07:56.960 --> 07:58.960 That's why I made the play for Anita. 07:58.960 --> 08:02.960 That's why I was going to have to kill Anita. 08:02.960 --> 08:05.960 Before that there was a lot of other ground I had to cover with Anita. 08:05.960 --> 08:08.960 I spent six months more covering it and then I was ready. 08:08.960 --> 08:13.960 We were having dinner at a quiet little place we used to go to and Anita was happy as a lark. 08:13.960 --> 08:18.960 I was bearing down hard on an act I'd been working up all week. 08:18.960 --> 08:19.960 What's the matter, Cliff? 08:19.960 --> 08:20.960 Oh, I don't know. 08:20.960 --> 08:24.960 Oh, come on. You've been moody like this for days. 08:24.960 --> 08:26.960 What's on your mind? 08:26.960 --> 08:28.960 Well, it's about us, I guess. 08:28.960 --> 08:29.960 What about us? 08:29.960 --> 08:30.960 I don't know. 08:30.960 --> 08:33.960 When I first started to work in that salt mine two years ago, 08:33.960 --> 08:35.960 I thought I was going to set the world on fire. 08:35.960 --> 08:37.960 But now... 08:37.960 --> 08:39.960 What's all this got to do with us, Cliff? 08:39.960 --> 08:42.960 What kind of a life is it to look forward to? 08:42.960 --> 08:44.960 Two years and I'm third assistant cashier. 08:44.960 --> 08:48.960 Maybe in ten years I'll even get to be first cashier. So what? 08:48.960 --> 08:52.960 Well, you didn't expect them to make you majority stockholder, did you? 08:52.960 --> 08:54.960 Or if you did, you shouldn't have. 08:54.960 --> 09:00.960 Honey, I wish we could get away from here, go places, see things, have fun. 09:00.960 --> 09:01.960 So do I, Cliff. 09:01.960 --> 09:03.960 Yeah, but on what? 09:03.960 --> 09:07.960 Well, maybe in ten years or so when you are first cashier. 09:07.960 --> 09:09.960 All right, laugh at me. I got it coming. 09:09.960 --> 09:12.960 It's a job, that's all, Cliff. That's the way most jobs are. 09:12.960 --> 09:16.960 But it's not the kind of job you want your husband to have, is it? 09:16.960 --> 09:17.960 My husband? 09:17.960 --> 09:20.960 What do you think I've been talking about all this time? 09:20.960 --> 09:24.960 What's the use if we can't look forward to getting married and having some fun, 09:24.960 --> 09:27.960 some romance, some glamour in our lives? 09:27.960 --> 09:33.960 Well, it's a funny proposal, Cliff, but I like what it says. 09:33.960 --> 09:38.960 But if some guy with a hundred thousand bucks came along, I can't blame you. 09:38.960 --> 09:41.960 I'd rather have you with my hundred thousand, Cliff. 09:41.960 --> 09:44.960 Darling, why can't we have both? Where's the justice in it? 09:44.960 --> 09:48.960 When I think of the millions, millions in cash money that's gone through my hands 09:48.960 --> 09:51.960 in the past two years, what have I got? 09:51.960 --> 09:55.960 Doesn't it make you feel funny sometimes, Cliff? 09:55.960 --> 09:56.960 What? 09:56.960 --> 09:58.960 Handling all that money. 09:58.960 --> 10:02.960 Yeah, yeah, sometimes I can almost hear it talking to me. 10:02.960 --> 10:03.960 So can I. 10:03.960 --> 10:09.960 You too, huh? Listen, Nina, do you ever get to thinking how you could get that hundred thousand? 10:09.960 --> 10:14.960 Of course I have, but I never thought of a way it'd work. 10:14.960 --> 10:16.960 Suppose you had, suppose there was one. 10:16.960 --> 10:22.960 Listen, Cliff, I've got no scruples. You only live once, but I'm allergic to penitentiaries. 10:22.960 --> 10:24.960 I asked you a question. 10:24.960 --> 10:28.960 You mean a way that was absolutely certain, guaranteed safe? 10:28.960 --> 10:29.960 Yeah. 10:29.960 --> 10:31.960 I'd buy it. 10:31.960 --> 10:36.960 Listen, baby, you know what's the matter with all those guys that try to clip a bank? 10:36.960 --> 10:38.960 They're not dishonest. 10:38.960 --> 10:41.960 No, I mean it. Look what happens, what always happens. 10:41.960 --> 10:43.960 The guy's hard up or he's got a tip in the market or the races or something, 10:43.960 --> 10:46.960 and he dips into the till, and after a while he takes a little more and then a little more, 10:46.960 --> 10:48.960 but he always figures he's going to pay it back. 10:48.960 --> 10:50.960 He covers it up with a lot of fancy bookkeeping. 10:50.960 --> 10:53.960 So along comes some auditor that's a little smarter than he is, 10:53.960 --> 10:56.960 and bluey, the big vacation, the long-term lease. 10:56.960 --> 10:59.960 All because the guy is fundamentally honest. 10:59.960 --> 11:01.960 Well, you can't win, I guess. 11:01.960 --> 11:03.960 No? Listen, you know the guys that do? 11:03.960 --> 11:05.960 The big shots, the president's board chairman. 11:05.960 --> 11:08.960 When those guys clip a bank, they grab themselves anywhere from a hundred grand 11:08.960 --> 11:11.960 to a cool million one fine night and blow. 11:11.960 --> 11:13.960 You never hear of them again. 11:13.960 --> 11:15.960 But you can bet they're sitting pretty somewhere. 11:15.960 --> 11:17.960 You know why? Because they were dishonest. 11:17.960 --> 11:19.960 They planned it. 11:19.960 --> 11:22.960 They'd laugh themselves to death at the idea of paying it back. 11:22.960 --> 11:24.960 Only you're not a big shot, darling. 11:24.960 --> 11:26.960 Listen, they do it all at one clip. 11:26.960 --> 11:28.960 They're out of the country before anybody finds out. 11:28.960 --> 11:30.960 That's what I'm talking about. 11:30.960 --> 11:32.960 Sure, but they have the chance. You don't. 11:32.960 --> 11:36.960 No, but us, between us, we do. 11:36.960 --> 11:38.960 We? 11:38.960 --> 11:41.960 Dick Breen, the first cashier, takes his vacation in August. 11:41.960 --> 11:43.960 Every Thursday, Jerry Malone the second goes over to investment. 11:43.960 --> 11:45.960 They're teaching us out of the business. 11:45.960 --> 11:47.960 That means that for two Thursdays in August, 11:47.960 --> 11:49.960 I take his place and consign for cash from the vault. 11:49.960 --> 11:50.960 But, Clare... 11:50.960 --> 11:51.960 Wait a minute. 11:51.960 --> 11:53.960 All I have to do is give you a receipt 11:53.960 --> 11:55.960 so that when you add it up at the end of the day, we get our balance. 11:55.960 --> 11:56.960 Don't you see it? 11:56.960 --> 11:57.960 What kind of a receipt? 11:57.960 --> 11:59.960 Any kind. One of the big payroll receipts will do it. 11:59.960 --> 12:00.960 But how you... 12:00.960 --> 12:02.960 How do I get it? I write it myself. 12:02.960 --> 12:04.960 You won't question it. 12:04.960 --> 12:05.960 Oh. 12:05.960 --> 12:07.960 Now, do you get it? 12:07.960 --> 12:09.960 Oh, it's awful risky, Cliff. 12:09.960 --> 12:11.960 What about the next day? 12:11.960 --> 12:13.960 I've been trying to tell you. You don't wait for the next day. 12:13.960 --> 12:15.960 Do you realize how far from these United States you can get 12:15.960 --> 12:17.960 in 18 or 20 hours nowadays? 12:17.960 --> 12:19.960 You can get to places where you can live like a king 12:19.960 --> 12:21.960 for the rest of your life on $100,000. 12:21.960 --> 12:23.960 The rest of my life, Cliff? 12:23.960 --> 12:25.960 Sure, baby, sure. Why not? 12:25.960 --> 12:28.960 Well, what about it? 12:28.960 --> 12:38.960 All right, Cliff. I'll do it. 12:38.960 --> 12:41.960 The first Thursday in August was six weeks away. 12:41.960 --> 12:45.960 But waiting for them to pass was like living through six lifetimes. 12:45.960 --> 12:49.960 We went over it again and again, every detail, every possible variation. 12:49.960 --> 12:52.960 There's no use saying I wasn't nervous, because I was. 12:52.960 --> 12:55.960 A couple of times I even thought Anita and I were being followed in the car. 12:55.960 --> 12:59.960 I was that bad. I managed to keep under control at the bank. 12:59.960 --> 13:02.960 And the big day finally rolled around. 13:02.960 --> 13:05.960 I waited until about a quarter of twelve, just before the noon rush hour, 13:05.960 --> 13:09.960 and then I marched over to Mr. Purley's desk, trying to look casual and nonchalant. 13:09.960 --> 13:13.960 This was the worst part. Right here, right now. 13:13.960 --> 13:17.960 My hands were sweating and my mouth was dry until I began to be afraid 13:17.960 --> 13:19.960 the words would stick in my throat. 13:19.960 --> 13:23.960 There was nothing to it, really. It's the kind of things that's done every day in a bank, 13:23.960 --> 13:26.960 not the way I was doing it. 13:26.960 --> 13:29.960 Sure, I was scared. 13:29.960 --> 13:31.960 Hello, Cliff. What is it? 13:31.960 --> 13:34.960 You want to countersign this for me, Mr. Purley? 13:34.960 --> 13:35.960 A hundred and four thousand. 13:35.960 --> 13:36.960 Cash? 13:36.960 --> 13:40.960 Yeah, Eastern Chemical. They want us to get their payroll together on Thursdays after this. 13:40.960 --> 13:42.960 Some kind of new accounting system over there. 13:42.960 --> 13:44.960 Oh, well... 13:46.960 --> 13:48.960 There you are. 13:48.960 --> 13:53.960 Thank you, Mr. Purley. 13:55.960 --> 13:58.960 There it was. Just as simple as that. 13:58.960 --> 14:02.960 After all those weeks of worry and jumpy nerves, there it was. 14:02.960 --> 14:06.960 I went to the vault and drew the cash, and the worst was over. 14:06.960 --> 14:10.960 I came out on the floor again. The noon crowds are beginning to line up in front of the windows, 14:10.960 --> 14:12.960 keeping everybody on the jump and minding their own business. 14:12.960 --> 14:15.960 I took over Harrison's cage, same as I always did at the lunch hour, 14:15.960 --> 14:18.960 and I don't think he even noticed the canvas bag I was carrying. 14:18.960 --> 14:20.960 It's that usual. 14:20.960 --> 14:24.960 After he left, I simply took a minute to transfer the cash from the bag into my own briefcase, 14:24.960 --> 14:26.960 and that was that. 14:26.960 --> 14:30.960 When he came back, I strolled over to Anita's machine with the Eastern Chemical receipt 14:30.960 --> 14:33.960 that I'd made up the night before. 14:33.960 --> 14:35.960 Oh, Miss Wellaby. 14:35.960 --> 14:36.960 Yes, Mr. Gough? 14:36.960 --> 14:39.960 Eastern Chemical has changed their payroll date to Thursday. Here's the receipt. 14:39.960 --> 14:41.960 Don't forget to include it in your tally. 14:41.960 --> 14:45.960 Yes, Mr. Gough. 14:48.960 --> 14:52.960 There was nothing to do now but sweat it out until five o'clock. 14:52.960 --> 14:57.960 I went out to lunch myself, but I didn't eat much. I was beginning to get nervous again. 14:57.960 --> 14:59.960 I went back to my desk and tried to look busy. 14:59.960 --> 15:02.960 I kept thinking of all the things that could go wrong. 15:02.960 --> 15:06.960 Purley happened to call Eastern Chemical on some other business. 15:06.960 --> 15:08.960 But it turned out to be one of those days that come about twice a year 15:08.960 --> 15:13.960 when you can't get a balance and you can't find the error and everybody has to go over every transaction of the day until they do. 15:13.960 --> 15:18.960 That hundred and four thousand item would stand out like a red flag at a businessman's lunch. 15:18.960 --> 15:22.960 I was beginning to think about what I would have to do afterwards, too. 15:22.960 --> 15:25.960 But, well, that wasn't getting me anywhere, and I knew it. 15:25.960 --> 15:28.960 Finally, three o'clock came and the bank closed. 15:28.960 --> 15:32.960 The gang went to work on their totals and the girls began to bring me their balance sheets. 15:32.960 --> 15:34.960 Anita was the last one. 15:34.960 --> 15:35.960 Hey, you want us to go up? 15:35.960 --> 15:36.960 The balance? 15:36.960 --> 15:37.960 Uh-huh. 15:37.960 --> 15:38.960 How are the others? 15:38.960 --> 15:40.960 Well, I guess that's all then, Miss Willoughby. 15:40.960 --> 15:41.960 Good night. 15:41.960 --> 15:42.960 Good night, Mr. Gough. 15:42.960 --> 15:43.960 Oh, Mr. Purley. 15:43.960 --> 15:44.960 Oh, uh, yes, Cliff. 15:44.960 --> 15:46.960 Oh, I got your balance. 15:46.960 --> 15:49.960 Yes, sir. All in order, I guess. Here you are. 15:49.960 --> 15:51.960 Uh-huh. 15:51.960 --> 15:53.960 All right, Cliff, thank you. 15:53.960 --> 15:55.960 Well, going to do a little homework tonight? 15:55.960 --> 15:57.960 A pretty bulky briefcase you're taking home there. 15:57.960 --> 15:59.960 Oh, yes. 15:59.960 --> 16:03.960 Yes, I wanted to do a little reading up on that South American situation. 16:03.960 --> 16:05.960 Good boy. Well, good night, Cliff. 16:05.960 --> 16:07.960 Good night, Mr. Purley. 16:12.960 --> 16:18.960 Well, I had a hundred thousand dollars in wonderful bright green folding money. 16:18.960 --> 16:21.960 Driving out of town, I felt edgy and depressed. 16:21.960 --> 16:24.960 I even got the idea I was being followed again. 16:24.960 --> 16:28.960 I knew what it was all about. Of course, it was Anita, what I was going to have to do. 16:28.960 --> 16:31.960 I tried to forget it up until now. I tried to kid myself it would be some other way. 16:31.960 --> 16:34.960 But I know there wasn't. She was smart, too smart. 16:34.960 --> 16:38.960 She'd have the little poison blue after me before I could get to the airport. 16:38.960 --> 16:43.960 One thing was for sure, I wasn't splitting that dough with her or anyone else. 16:43.960 --> 16:48.960 So it had to be this way. It just had to be. 16:48.960 --> 16:51.960 So far, I was pretty sure the idea had never entered her head. 16:51.960 --> 16:56.960 I'd let her get the plane tickets to Mexico, although of course I had other than my own to Rio. 16:56.960 --> 17:00.960 And I told her to meet me at the little shack I had in the country because it would be safer. 17:00.960 --> 17:02.960 She'd already arrived when I got there. 17:02.960 --> 17:04.960 Cliff, can I come? 17:04.960 --> 17:06.960 Okay, baby. Are you ready? 17:06.960 --> 17:10.960 Of course. You're early. Are you sure? 17:10.960 --> 17:12.960 You mean did I get it? 17:12.960 --> 17:17.960 Look at that. What do you think that stuff is, huh? How about that? 17:17.960 --> 17:19.960 So you did. You really did. 17:19.960 --> 17:22.960 Of course I did. Did you think I wouldn't? 17:22.960 --> 17:25.960 Well, something might have gone wrong, Cliff. 17:25.960 --> 17:27.960 Not with me, baby. Not with me. 17:27.960 --> 17:31.960 Have you got that Eastern chemical receipt? I told you to slip it out of the heap when you got through. 17:31.960 --> 17:34.960 Yeah, I've got it. Let's see it. 17:34.960 --> 17:36.960 Here. 17:36.960 --> 17:39.960 Uh-huh. Okay, that's all I need. 17:39.960 --> 17:41.960 But... that's what? 17:41.960 --> 17:46.960 I'm sorry about this, Nita. Honestly. I really am. 17:46.960 --> 17:49.960 Cliff! No! No! Cliff! 17:49.960 --> 18:02.960 I got the rope and tied her up and tied a towel over her head, mostly because I didn't want to see her face. 18:02.960 --> 18:06.960 And I got out the gasoline and spread about half of it around the room. 18:06.960 --> 18:11.960 I took the rest of it down the cellar and poured it in a big shallow pan I had down there. 18:11.960 --> 18:16.960 There was a candle set in the middle of the pan and it came about three inches above the level of the gasoline. 18:16.960 --> 18:22.960 It would take about two hours to burn down. By that time, I'd be in a plane over the Atlantic Ocean. 18:22.960 --> 18:26.960 The way it was pretty rugged and I felt sort of bad about it. 18:26.960 --> 18:31.960 But you always hear that they suffocate from the smoke before the fire ever gets to them. 18:31.960 --> 18:35.960 So I lit the candle and I got out of there. 18:35.960 --> 18:39.960 Well, it was over. It was done with now. 18:39.960 --> 18:45.960 And I began to hear it again. All the way down there in the clipper, I could hear that money talking. 18:45.960 --> 18:50.960 Maybe I'd get a rancho, one of those cattle outfits with a big hacienda and a couple dozen servants. 18:50.960 --> 18:53.960 Plenty of dough and Argentine beef. 18:53.960 --> 18:56.960 Or maybe it'd be oil or nitrates. 18:56.960 --> 19:00.960 All I knew for sure was that this hundred thousand was all I needed. 19:00.960 --> 19:05.960 If it was smart operating, I'd roll it up to a million before I was forty. 19:05.960 --> 19:11.960 In Rio, I registered under my new name of Clarence Gage for the best suite and the best hotel in town. 19:11.960 --> 19:13.960 Got ready to relax. 19:13.960 --> 19:19.960 Next day, I got the times that they fly down here for the big shots and there it was on the suburban page. 19:19.960 --> 19:23.960 I found Anita and she'd been identified by jewelry and stuff. 19:23.960 --> 19:26.480 I mentioned that she was employed at the blueprints and she was a very good 19:26.480 --> 19:31.960 and she'd been identified by jewelry and stuff. I mentioned that she was employed at the Bankers Industrial 19:31.960 --> 19:33.960 and hinted she might have been in some trouble there. 19:33.960 --> 19:37.960 I was all to the good and I relaxed even more. 19:37.960 --> 19:42.960 And then the next day, I got a very funny feeling. 19:42.960 --> 19:46.960 All the way up in the elevator, I felt it. 19:46.960 --> 19:49.960 I didn't like it. I didn't like it at all. 19:49.960 --> 19:53.960 When I opened my door, I liked it even less. 19:53.960 --> 19:54.960 Mr. Gage? 19:54.960 --> 19:56.960 Yeah? Who are you? 19:56.960 --> 19:59.960 Gorman's the name. Sam Gorman. 19:59.960 --> 20:01.960 You and me have got a little bills to transact. 20:01.960 --> 20:04.960 Have we? I don't think I know you, Mr. Gorman. 20:04.960 --> 20:07.960 Well, maybe this heater will jog your memory, huh? 20:07.960 --> 20:11.960 Guns never remind me of anything but trouble and I don't like trouble. 20:11.960 --> 20:15.960 But you got it, Mr. Goff. You got it. 20:15.960 --> 20:18.960 All right. What's the pitch? 20:18.960 --> 20:21.960 You mean this heater doesn't remind you of anything? 20:21.960 --> 20:24.960 Like money? About a hundred grand? 20:24.960 --> 20:27.960 Or somebody named Anita? 20:27.960 --> 20:29.960 You got a rotten memory, haven't you? 20:29.960 --> 20:31.960 You're a cop. You're wasting your time. 20:31.960 --> 20:33.960 Cop? 20:33.960 --> 20:36.960 I know some guys who get a big kick out of that. 20:36.960 --> 20:38.960 No, I'm no cop, Mr. Goff. 20:38.960 --> 20:40.960 Well, let's talk then. What do you want? 20:40.960 --> 20:42.960 Can't you guess, Mr. Goff? 20:42.960 --> 20:43.960 I wouldn't try. 20:43.960 --> 20:46.960 I want the bill, Mr. Goff. The money. 20:46.960 --> 20:48.960 What makes you think you're going to get it? 20:48.960 --> 20:51.960 Well, for one thing, this. 20:51.960 --> 20:53.960 Wouldn't try that again. Gun or no gun? 20:53.960 --> 20:54.960 No. 20:54.960 --> 20:57.960 Cut it out, Sam. I said no rough stuff. 20:57.960 --> 20:58.960 Anita. 20:58.960 --> 21:00.960 Yeah. I owe him at least that much. 21:00.960 --> 21:03.960 Oh, don't be silly, Sam. All we want is the money. Now start looking for it. 21:03.960 --> 21:07.960 Sure. He just tried to fry in gasoline. That's all. No rough stuff. 21:07.960 --> 21:10.960 Did it just make complications with the local police and you know it? 21:10.960 --> 21:13.960 Now stop being jealous. Find the money. 21:13.960 --> 21:16.960 Anita. They said... What's said in the paper... 21:16.960 --> 21:18.960 That little fire at your place? 21:18.960 --> 21:20.960 Oh, they found somebody all right. 21:20.960 --> 21:22.960 It just didn't happen to be me. 21:22.960 --> 21:24.960 You don't mean... You didn't deliberately... 21:24.960 --> 21:26.960 Yes, him, well, yes. 21:26.960 --> 21:29.960 I don't think the guy's got much of a sense of humor, sugar. 21:29.960 --> 21:32.960 It was somebody Sam didn't like. And nobody that'll be missed. 21:32.960 --> 21:35.960 All right, I've got no sense of humor. Maybe I'm dumb, too. I don't get it. 21:35.960 --> 21:39.960 Well, you see, Civ, we never did like the idea of leaving the country. 21:39.960 --> 21:40.960 You said it. 21:40.960 --> 21:42.960 But this way, I'm off the hook. 21:42.960 --> 21:47.960 We can go back any time we want to, because legally, I'm dead. See? 21:47.960 --> 21:51.960 May I ask who this we is that suddenly got into the conversation? 21:51.960 --> 21:53.960 Me and Sam. My husband. 21:53.960 --> 21:54.960 Your husband. 21:54.960 --> 21:55.960 That's me. 21:55.960 --> 21:59.960 Mm-hmm. I went to work in the bank for the same reason you did, Civ. 21:59.960 --> 22:02.960 There was gonna be a stick-up and I was gonna help from the inside. 22:02.960 --> 22:05.960 Only your way seems so much better. 22:05.960 --> 22:07.960 Well, how do you like that? 22:07.960 --> 22:09.960 Yeah. How does it feel, wonder boy? 22:09.960 --> 22:12.960 It's like me trying to tell you how to be dishonest. 22:12.960 --> 22:15.960 Aw, there don't have to be any hard feelings, Civ. 22:15.960 --> 22:17.960 At least I don't have any. 22:17.960 --> 22:19.960 It was really Sam's fault what happened to me. 22:19.960 --> 22:20.960 What? 22:19.960 --> 22:21.960 We're almost dead. 22:21.960 --> 22:24.960 He lost you somehow, following you out to the place. 22:24.960 --> 22:26.960 We were almost certain that you'd try it, of course. 22:26.960 --> 22:27.960 Yeah, of course. 22:27.960 --> 22:30.960 Yeah. I still owe him some lumps for that. 22:30.960 --> 22:33.960 A hundred thousand really wasn't enough for both of us. 22:33.960 --> 22:35.960 If it were two bits, I'd give it to him. 22:35.960 --> 22:37.960 Sam, haven't you found that money yet? 22:37.960 --> 22:39.960 Of course I have, wonder boy. 22:39.960 --> 22:41.960 I don't think I have it here, do you? 22:41.960 --> 22:42.960 I do. 22:42.960 --> 22:44.960 Look for a brown leather briefcase, Sam. 22:44.960 --> 22:46.960 Two will get you ten. It's all right there. 22:46.960 --> 22:49.960 Yeah? Well, here's the briefcase. 22:51.960 --> 22:53.960 Well, well, well. 22:53.960 --> 22:57.960 I guess wonder boy just didn't have much confidence in thanks, huh? 22:57.960 --> 22:59.960 Not that I blame him. 22:59.960 --> 23:01.960 Well, I guess we better get going. 23:01.960 --> 23:04.960 Listen, Nita, it was a bum deal all the way around. 23:04.960 --> 23:07.960 I'm sorry. I'm sorry about that other part, about you, I mean. 23:07.960 --> 23:09.960 I believe it. You even said so. 23:09.960 --> 23:11.960 No hard feelings, Cliff. 23:11.960 --> 23:14.960 I think wonder boy is leading up to something. 23:14.960 --> 23:16.960 I can see you, the intellectual type. 23:16.960 --> 23:18.960 All right, how about leaving me a little? 23:18.960 --> 23:19.960 Nuts. 23:19.960 --> 23:20.960 Why not, Sam? 23:20.960 --> 23:21.960 Just a thousand or so. 23:21.960 --> 23:24.960 What's the use? They won't get him anyplace, even down here. 23:24.960 --> 23:27.960 Listen, you don't think I'm going to stick around down here now, do you? 23:27.960 --> 23:29.960 I've got to get back to the States and make another pitch. 23:29.960 --> 23:31.960 Give him the money, Sam. One thousand. 23:31.960 --> 23:33.960 And, uh, Cliff. 23:33.960 --> 23:34.960 Yeah? 23:34.960 --> 23:37.960 I'd be a little careful about going back to the States if I were you. 23:37.960 --> 23:40.960 Sure. That goes double, Nita. 23:40.960 --> 23:41.960 What does? 23:41.960 --> 23:42.960 About being careful. 23:42.960 --> 23:43.960 I don't get it. 23:43.960 --> 23:47.960 You will. And that money begins to talk. 23:54.960 --> 23:57.960 Talk about honor among thieves. 23:57.960 --> 24:02.960 But it could have been worse. I'd only lost two years of my life, not all of it. 24:02.960 --> 24:07.960 So, a month later, I was out on the West Coast, credentials, dark blue, pinstripe, Van Huser and all, 24:07.960 --> 24:10.960 and this time the sucker was a Mr. Ambrose. 24:10.960 --> 24:15.960 Uh-huh. Well, your record at the business school is certainly impressive, Mr. Gage. 24:15.960 --> 24:17.960 I worked hard, Mr. Ambrose. 24:17.960 --> 24:20.960 Banking has always seemed more than just a business to me. 24:20.960 --> 24:27.960 It's been, well, an ideal, a sacred trust, and the best tradition of our financial and national institutions. 24:27.960 --> 24:29.960 Ah, you've got the right spirit, Mr. Gage. 24:29.960 --> 24:33.960 Come in tomorrow morning, and I think we can work something out. 24:38.960 --> 24:41.960 So, it all began all over again. 24:41.960 --> 24:46.960 Only about three months later, there was a little man in a derby hat standing in line in front of my window, 24:46.960 --> 24:49.960 and his business was strictly personal. 24:49.960 --> 24:50.960 You Clarence Gage? 24:50.960 --> 24:52.960 Yes, that's right. 24:52.960 --> 24:54.960 Can we have a little private talk? 24:54.960 --> 24:58.960 Well, I guess, oh, can you take over for me a minute, Harry? 24:58.960 --> 25:01.960 And maybe for a little bit longer than a minute. 25:01.960 --> 25:03.960 Well, now, what can I do for you, Mr.... 25:03.960 --> 25:06.960 I used to work on a name of Clifford Goff on the East Coast. 25:06.960 --> 25:07.960 Oh. 25:07.960 --> 25:10.960 Yeah. Headquarters. 25:10.960 --> 25:13.960 Listen, you got me all wrong on that. I didn't have anything to do with it. 25:13.960 --> 25:16.960 What would I be working here for if I had that kind of dough? 25:16.960 --> 25:18.960 I can prove to you, I never got a cent. 25:18.960 --> 25:21.960 Now, wait a minute. You knew the girl, didn't you? 25:21.960 --> 25:26.960 Sure. When I heard what had happened, well, I'd been going around with her, and I got scared, that's all. 25:26.960 --> 25:30.960 Yeah, I bet you didn't. Well, she's dead. 25:30.960 --> 25:33.960 Anita? Oh, no, she's not dead. It was another girl that... 25:33.960 --> 25:38.960 Get your coat, Mr. Goff. You're under arrest for attempted murder and grand larceny. 25:45.960 --> 25:50.960 Well, it's a funny thing what happens to people when they hear that money begin to talk. 25:50.960 --> 25:54.960 I guess Anita finally heard it, too, before she died. 25:54.960 --> 25:59.960 You see, Sam Gorman had started a big gambling joint in Las Vegas, and it was held up, and he was killed. 25:59.960 --> 26:02.960 There was a girl with him that was killed, too, Anita. 26:02.960 --> 26:07.960 But before she died, she talked money, told him everything. 26:07.960 --> 26:11.960 Well, she won't talk anymore, but that money will. 26:11.960 --> 26:31.960 So, I wonder who that money is talking to now. 26:31.960 --> 26:38.960 In just a moment, we will bring you Alan Baxter, tonight's star of Suspense. 26:38.960 --> 26:45.960 Presented by Roma, that's R-O-M-A, Roma Wines, America's Largest Selling Wines. 26:45.960 --> 26:50.960 When you enjoy your favorite Roma wine, you taste the rich reward of nature's treasure, 26:50.960 --> 26:55.960 selected grapes pressed at the peak of taste goodness, then guided unhurriedly 26:55.960 --> 27:01.960 with the ancient skill of Roma master vinterners and winemaking resources unmatched in America, to taste perfection. 27:01.960 --> 27:05.960 These Roma wines are placed with mellow Roma wines of years before, 27:05.960 --> 27:11.960 and from these, the world's greatest wine reserves, Roma later selects for your pleasure. 27:11.960 --> 27:16.960 This holiday weekend, when entertaining friends serve Roma California wines, 27:16.960 --> 27:21.960 you ask for a grand and glorious fourth, enjoy better tasting Amber Roma Sherry, 27:21.960 --> 27:30.960 Ruby Red Roma Port, or Golden Roma Muscatel, and you enjoy America's favorite wines, now at lowest prices in years. 27:30.960 --> 27:35.960 This is Alan Baxter. It was a great pleasure to appear on tonight's broadcast of Suspense. 27:35.960 --> 27:38.960 Next week, Suspense will again originate from New York, 27:38.960 --> 27:44.960 and Roma Wines will bring you one of the most provocative and glamorous actresses in America, Miss Gloria Swanson. 27:44.960 --> 27:48.960 Tonight, tonight's Suspense play was written by Robert L. Richards. 27:48.960 --> 27:55.960 Next Thursday, same time, you will hear Miss Gloria Swanson as star of Suspense, 27:55.960 --> 28:00.960 produced for Schenley by William Spear. 28:00.960 --> 28:26.960 This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.