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Suspense!

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And now, Schenley brings you radio's outstanding theater of thrill, Suspense! Presented by

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Roma Wines. That's R-O-M-A. Roma Wines, for your everyday enjoyment. And now, Roma Wines

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of Fresno, California, bring you Mr. Edmund O'Brien in the Argyle album, a suspense play

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produced, edited, and directed for Schenley by William Spears. Back when I got my first

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job on the Herald, Alan Pearce was a star reporter. A little later, he went to Washington

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and became top dog of all syndicated political columnists. Pearce could tell you what the

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president said when he didn't like his breakfast and who was getting paid off for what, by

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whom, and how much. He was a national big shot, so naturally, he's coming back to the hometown

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last January, got local front page. Especially since the first thing happens, he checks into

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the Belden General Hospital from a heart attack he had on the train, right as it pulled into

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the station. Quite an entrance in time. Well, maybe you remember. Just when 22 million anxious

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readers were waiting for his promised expose of the contents of the Argyle album, the thing

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he'd been building up in his columns for about two weeks before, T-Pot Dome was going to

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be a church club misunderstanding compared to this. Naturally, all the boys hung around

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the ante room of this hospital suite during visiting hours, but nobody from the press

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cracked at order to sick rooms for the first three days. Then, on the fourth morning, Van

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Selben, the doctor, came smiling out into the ante room.

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Good morning, General Man. General Man. Mr. Pearce would have willingly seen you all

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the first day. Of course, as his medical advisor, I couldn't permit anything of the sort. However,

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today I'll allow you to see him one at a time. I suggest that you gentlemen draw straws or

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something for turn. Oh, that is except the man from the Herald. Mr. Pearce asked expressly

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to see him first. Hey, the Herald man? That's me. Is the Herald representative here? Over

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here, Doctor. Do you want to come in now? Right with you, Doctor. Hey, Pinkley, come

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in. Harry? Listen, Dr. Van Selben, this is Mr. Melvin Pinker, the Herald's best and,

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believe me, quietest photographer. Now, he's very good for patients. I wonder if... I'm

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afraid not, Mr. Mitchell. Okay, Doctor. Okay. Stand by, Pinkley. Right. No, sir, let this

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gentleman in. I'll be on the fifth floor. Very well. Hello there. How are you, sir? You're

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Harry Mitchell, aren't you? That's right, he's disappeared. Come on, I'll make it out.

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All right, Al. So you're young Mitchell. How time flies. I spoke to the old man on the phone.

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I said send your next Alan Pearce over, and he sent you. Do you consider that a compliment?

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Compliment, brother. I'm going to hit him for a nice fat raise. Well, Harry, have you got

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your questions all written down like a good reporter should? Oh, no, I don't work that

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way, sir. Neither do I. I suppose you want to know what the Argyle album is? Hey, you're

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not really going to tell me. Look, crank me up a little bit, will you? Yeah, sure, sure.

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Harry, Harry, it's got to a point where I think I ought to share it with somebody. Preferably,

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like myself, who thinks like me. And I'm going to ask you not to use this unless I'm not

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in a position to. Okay, okay, it's a deal. Well, you know what an album is. This one

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is quite a fancy looking one. Tooled, white leather bound, and a flaming crimson double

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headed eagle crest etched on the cover. It's an impressive item. Maybe, say maybe you better

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take it easy, Mr. Pierce. You were going to call me Al. Okay, okay, Al, but honest, maybe

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a better. I'm all right, I'm all right. I'm a little dizzy. Want the doctor? No, no, no,

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just a drink. A drink of water, please. He laid back on his pillow, breathing terribly.

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There was a thermos on the bed stand that turned out empty. I grabbed a glass and ran

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into the bathroom, filled it from the tap. I'll be right there, Al. Mr. Pierce. Al.

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Oh. I stood there for a while feeling awfully bad, thinking awfully hard. Finally figured

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an idea. Hey, Harry. Hey, Harry, come on, what's going on? Here I am, General. Is he

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going to pose? Yeah, yeah, he's going to pose. Come on in here. What's going on? Piggy.

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Piggy, look at him. He's dead. Passed out while we were talking. This is heartbeat. It's

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big, it's a scoop. I don't want those other tin horns out there cutting in. What are you

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going to do? I'm going out and phone. You stay here and don't let anybody in through

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that door. You're not letting me along with them. An old hound like you, are you kidding?

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I don't like it. I went out to the pay station in the hall and phoned in the story. Then

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I found Dr. Van Selden on the fifth floor and broke the news. Between the fifth and

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seventh floor, where Pierce's suite was, we picked up the chief surgeon, superintendent,

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four nurses and litter bearers in attendance. We went through the anteroom where the reporters

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were. The newspaper boys felt something was up. Nobody had left them in Pierce's room,

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but the official hospital gang and me barged in and headed straight for the bed where the

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corpse was. I got a funny feeling. Pinky wasn't in the room. Dr. Van Selden and the chief

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surgeon went over to the bed and pulled back the covers and you could feel the shock go

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through the whole crowd. A long steel scalpel was sticking right up in the middle of Alan

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Pierce's chest. An hour later, Lieutenant Horslip Sampson, who was top man in homicide,

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strutted in and took over. He got the story from us and just sat there for a while thinking,

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very professional, exuding brilliance. Then his majesty rose and spoke. Dr. Van Selden?

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Yes, sir. In your opinion, did your patient die from a heart attack, as our reporter friend

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here claims, or from the knife wound? I really can't tell you yet. The indications are that

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it might be either. You see, in either case, the heart was stopped. Yeah, yeah. The heart

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usually stops in cases of death, doesn't it, Doc? The only thing is, I took his pulse before

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I left the room. There was no pulse. That scalpel could just as well have been stuck

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in a loaf of bread for all the damage it would have... Mitchell! Why did you leave a dead

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man and report? Why did you end up at Targra here without telling the nois? I was a reporter

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with a scoop. Who'd you expect me to leave here, somebody from the express? Nois, were

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you outside the door the whole time? Yes, sir, with the reporters, and nobody came out except

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Mr. Mitchell. The photographer went in but never came out. Take a stand in the bathroom,

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Haggerty. Yes, sir. There's nobody here, chief. Marguson, close windows lock. Yes, sir. Torslip,

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should bring out your Scotland yacht. Good tougher spot to be fresh. If I could only get

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an angle. Must be an angle. He got up sore and started looking around himself. He walked

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over to the white bed screen in the corner. It's funny, it stood there all the time, such

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a natural piece of hospital equipment, you never noticed it. But even now, before he

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touched it, I knew what he'd find there. I edged for the door. He started to pull aside

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the screen like somebody'd look hopelessly in any unlikely spot for a lost collar button.

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Then he let the screen fall. And there was Pinky, all huddled up among his photographic

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equipment with a surgeon's scalpel sticking out of his neck. I yelled to the reporters

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in the anteroom that they could go in now. The crowd coming out after me, met the crowd

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going in, and I was in the corridor while they argued it out. I was around the corner

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and in the elevator before the cops could get through. I walked right through the walled

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off lobby and up to the second floor and nobody said a thing. Time was still with me. I knew

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Pierce's secretary was keeping sweet two one three for him until he was supposed to get

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out of the hospital. One moment. Yes. May I come in? Well I'm a friend of Mr. Pierce's,

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Mitchell of the Herald. What is it Mr. Mitchell? Something I can do? Would you let me write

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for your boss's desk, huh? What? Files, papers, and possessions. I'll put them back real neat.

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What? There's something I have to find. Are you crazy? I was afraid that would be your

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answer. What are you going to do? I'm sorry. Don't. Really? I really was. I didn't like

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to hit a woman. Especially that cute. I searched the sweet top and bottom of it. Pierce had

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never had the Argyle album. He took no chances keeping it around. I found his personal address

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book though and figured it was no more use to him than it might be to me. Now I needed

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a place where I could sit down and think. Then I remembered I was carrying a key from my

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pal Joe Walsh's apartment while he was sonning himself in Florida. Now at least nobody could

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figure my going there. At Walsh's place I spent about twenty minutes with Pierce's address

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book. He had Washington phone numbers in it that hadn't been in public directories for

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the last thirty years. There was one in this town that had a red crayon circle around it.

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The query. Joe Broad. J-O-R-B-R-O-D on Worcester Street. Not the kind of neighbor that Alan

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Pierce usually socialized in. I was just about deciding I'd go and see Joe Broad. Then somebody

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decided to pay me a visit. I checked through the keyhole. I didn't see much. But what there

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was to see was female. So I took my chances and opened the door. She stood there. About

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five foot seven of the most interesting stuff I ever remember seeing. Not young mind you,

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not angelic. But gorgeous and smart looking and sweet voiced. Hello there. Who are you?

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May I come in? Sure, at your risk. Who are you? You may call me Marla, Miss Mitchell. And

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I want the Argyle album. Just like that? No, not just like that. I could be nasty, you

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know. After all, the police want you. Somehow Marla, that doesn't worry me at all. I just

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don't think you make it a policy to have traffic with the police. You're an astute youngster.

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I like you. I like you too, but I haven't time. I'll give you five hundred dollars for it.

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I don't even know what it is. What is the Argyle album? Ten thousand. Without a breath,

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huh? There's some junk. Ten thousand. I'm really sorry, Marla. But I wanted to know.

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It's not for sale. Very well. She moved so casually and directly to the door and opened

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it so quickly, I hadn't even gotten out of my chair before her two boyfriends stepped

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in. The first one looked like a fat businessman, hair slightly gray, nice smile. The one who

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followed him had the square, low-cut, irresistible appearance of a medium-sized tank. Mr. Winter,

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Mr. Holbury, Mr. Mitchell. How do you do? He's not terribly cooperative. Oh, no. He doesn't

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perform, not for love, not for money. Very stubborn. She really didn't try love, Mr.

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Winter. From what I know of Marla, that's hard to believe. Hey, Marla. So you're stubborn,

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Mr. Mitchell, a stubborn murderer. I'll repeat my question. What is the Argyle album? My,

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my, you are a gifted actor. Never mind. Forget it, Mr. Winter. Well, isn't ten thousand

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dollars enough? That's the best we can offer and still make a profit. Let's not waste time.

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Oh, I am sorry, my boy. I'm very sorry. Very well, Gil. Yeah. The big guy stepped toward

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me. I dug and took the table between us. Gil put to the side like it was match-fitting.

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His left hand lashed out and he had the lapels of my coat and I was lifted until my shoe

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tips touched the floor, helpless as a baby. It started slapping my face, front hand and

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back. It kept up and up like a hot lick of the drums and the agony was unbearable. He

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stopped. I waited. Like your wait between pauses of the dentist drill. Then I, I guess

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I tried to move because I saw the small eyes flicker and the huge fist come swinging at

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my face. I wanted to duck but couldn't. My hands were torn from in front of my face and

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I came. Shocks of intolerable pain like searing flames and then the flame flickered and went

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out.

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For suspense, Roma Wines are bringing you Mr. Edmund O'Brien in the Argyle album. Roma

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Wines presentation tonight in Radio's outstanding theater of thrills, Suspense.

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Suspense, Radio's outstanding theater of thrills is presented by Roma Wines. That's R-O-M-A,

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Roma Wines, selected from the world's greatest reserves of fine wines. Now that the vacation

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Remember, always insist on Roma Wine. That's R-O-M-A, Roma Wines, America's favorite wines.

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And now Roma Wines bring back to our Hollywood soundstage, Mr. Edmund O'Brien as reporter

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Harry Mitchell in the Argyle album, a play well calculated to keep you in suspense.

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I was in the bedroom of the apartment and Marla was baiting my forehead with a damp

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handkerchief. I lay quiet until things cleared up a bit. That's the little, that's the boy.

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Marla. Where's the album darling? Where's the album? I swear I don't know. I don't know.

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I don't know. You don't want me to call him again, do you Harry? No, no, no, please,

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no. In the kitchen. I'm supposed to help you wake up, not on the phone. No, no, don't.

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If you haven't got it, do you know where it is? I swear, Marla, I swear, I don't even

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know what it is. All I know is it's tooled white leather or something. You know. Well,

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all right, here's what I know. Winter found it originally. He was in occupied Europe then.

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He doesn't admit it, but I think he was the leader of a looting party after the American

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raid. It was a sheaf of documents recording the transfer of large sums of money by certain

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individuals, both German and Americans. Big men who wanted to make sure that they'd come

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out right, no matter whose armies won. Winter knew that he'd found a fortune that day, fortune

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in blackmail. What happened? He kept it in a public locker in a blackmail. Normally the

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safest place in the world. He was in a town down here in Virginia, Argyle. On a minute

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to one twist, he lost it. A gang of young hoodlums blew up in that section with a dynamite

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stick. And it's been missing ever since until Alan Pierce started hinting about it in his

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column in the international scandal that involved. So when Pierce died to say, Winter had a right

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to suspect that Pierce's murderer might have the album. Naturally, the big men wanted to.

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Lots of people wanted badly, including me. You? What for? Resale value. I see. That's

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a decent motive. I'm a decent person. Yeah. Yeah, you are. Come here. Oh, you're nice.

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You're a nice boy. You know, I can just press my thumbs here at your windpipe and you couldn't

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even yell. I thought of that. You're not kidding me. That's the excuse I'll give to Winter.

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You choked me and I couldn't gel. You get on the fire escape and I'll give you plenty

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of time before I call. I don't figure what's in it for you. We'll see each other again.

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You'll find it. Hurry. Okay, honey, you asked for it. Not too hard. It was a funny experience

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choking a woman deliberately. I squeezed pretty hard, scuffing bruises at her throat to make

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it look good. I got so mixed up, I didn't know what I was doing. I took her once and

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kissed her very hard. I rumpled her clothes a little and mustered her hand. When she looked

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pretty battered, I kissed her again and I crawled out in the fire escape and down. I

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gave the cabbie the Worcester Street address from Pierce's book. It was a junkyard. Joe

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Broad's junkyard. What do you want? You Mr. Broad, Joe Broad. That's my name. What do

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you want? The Argyle album. How did you? I know you. You're that Mitchell guy. The police

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one for the murder of Alan Pierce. If you move, I'll kill you. Say, I got you figured,

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Brian. You're the fence for all the juvenile crooks around here. Some junkyard. I'm on

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lots better terms with the cops than you are, Mitchell. And I'm falling in them right now.

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Sure, sure. One of your kids brought you a nice white leather book with a two-headed

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eagle on it. Maybe you stretched and gave him two bits for it. Then you found out you

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had something too big for a little guy. You knew it was worth it, but your stomach wasn't

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tough enough for big-time black men. So you figured a way to be right and still make dough.

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Sell it to Alan Pierce. What of it? Selling's no crime. I'm really guessing but good, huh?

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You invested the price of a couple of photo stats and a train ticket to Washington. You

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got to Pierce and sold him the photo stats. And then you told him he'd have to come here

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for the rest, huh? Nothing to keep me from killing you right now. No, no, I guess there

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isn't. Sure not. You're a fugitive, aren't you? Escape killer, you wouldn't touch me.

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Wait, don't! Don't you even say thanks when your life is saved? Thanks. And nice shot.

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Don't mention it. You wonder how I knew you were here. Yeah, you watched me take the cab

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from the window and got the number. I know that one now. Oh, you're bright as well as

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nice. Maybe we can play this game together now that we have the album. Huh? Have we?

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Well, it can't be far. In the desk drawer, the filing... I think we both saw Broad move

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at the same time. The gun at the edge of his fingers was somehow in his hands again. It

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waved weakly between Marla and me. It was like watching a slow motion movie. Marla didn't

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waste time. I saw the sweet little body jump at the impact, but his gun kept waving. And

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it went off. Marla sighed and fell down at my feet. She smiled at me once. That's all.

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I walked through three cops in the hall of the police station getting no more reaction

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than an art of greeting and into Horst Lipsamson's office. Thanks for the phone call, Mitchell,

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but you gave us a bum steer. What's your angle? Bum steer. I saw the shooting. We found a

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woman. Very dead indeed, but there was no man. Your bra? He didn't look alive when I saw

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him last. Well, he wasn't dead. I'm only telling you. What do you expect us to do with you?

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Well, book me on suspicion of murder. The murderer who, may I ask? Alan Pearce, naturally.

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You want to confess? It's not bargain day today, Lieutenant. Oh, it was just an angle.

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Look, did the autopsy on Pearce come through? I was wondering why you gave yourself up.

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Yeah, he died a heart failure like you claimed, but only because he was so loaded with dope,

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even a normal heart would give up. Dope? You mean poison? Same thing. Too much medicine.

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And Dr. Van Selben, the one who dosed him, has disappeared, took a powder. You're not

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even running up a suspect now, Mitchell. Heart failure. Heart failure. But then why the scalpel?

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Whoever stuck that scalpel into Pearce wanted to create suspicious circumstances around

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the death so they'd be sure they'd be in our... Hey, that's an angle. Yeah. Yeah, but how

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about Pinky? And how did the murderer get in and out of the room? How? Look, Mitchell,

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you want to be held? No. Then stop asking questions I can't answer. Go on, beat it.

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I still wanted to break it. I found myself nursing a deep belief that there must be equal

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justice for the murders of a man I loved, another I respected, and a woman I... I admired.

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Well, there was only one place I could figure out where to start. I picked my way through

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Jawbrad's junkyard. Shapes of skeleton cars stood out dark in the moonlight. At the far

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end of the yard was a lighted shack. I went up to it, almost to the door. Somebody pushed

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me from behind. My own body knocked the door open. Get in there. Broad was propped into

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a chair, facing me, his eyes wide. Winter stood beside him, and Gil walked up from behind

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me alongside. Oh. Come in, Mitchell. Thanks. Well, Mr. Mitchell, this is a proper ending.

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Another demonstration of the ascendancy of will. Is he alive? Who? O'Brod here? No,

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not now. He was very weak and had no resistance, but we learned what we needed. He had the

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album quite cleverly hidden. But we have it now. Well, here. You want to see it? Thanks.

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Say, who hired Dr. Van Selvin to kill Pierce? A very powerful and very wealthy individual,

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most concerned with retrieving the album, Mr. Mitchell. But you didn't want it to be

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heart failure. You wanted to force an autopsy. That's why you stuck the scalpel into the

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corpse. That's rather clever of you, Mr. Mitchell. And in the hospital, you were dressed as an

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attendant, right? You got behind that bed screen sometime earlier in the day, probably

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early in the morning, before Pierce woke up, right? You were willing to wait a long time

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for what you wanted. It was very tough. You hoped to find out from Pierce where he had

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hidden the album. You found out instead that Pierce didn't have it. But you knew that Pierce

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was going to die anyhow from the overdose. Oh, you decided to frame the doctor with the

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scalpel, forcing the autopsy. You know, there's only one conceivable reason for you to have

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taken all those chances. And what may I ask can that conceivable reason be? That you are

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the powerful and wealthy individual who got Dr. Van Selvin to do Pierce's murder. Really?

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That you are no more Mr. Winter than I am. Yeah, the original Mr. Winter, who smuggled

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the album out of Europe, you eliminated when he first tried to blackmail you and your fellow

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thieves. Seizures. By that line of reasoning, I was able to do a little research in the

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files of my reporter's memory. And in spite of the fact that you have no mustache and there

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are several other slightly physical changes that could be easily adjusted, you have an

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amazing resemblance to the very powerful, very wealthy Mr. Gerald K. Avery.

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Theory, merely theory. But isn't this indulgence and violence a strange occupation for a man

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like Gerald Avery? Not at all, Mr. Avery. A man doesn't become

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an international power by going to Sunday school every week. You decided nobody could

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do your dirty work better than yourself. As well as you felt you needed help, so you got

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a professional adventurer like Marla to work with you on the grounds that you yourself were

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an adventurer blackmailer. The same goes for Gil here.

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Your time's run over, Mitchell. And Pinky, yeah. Pinky, of course it doesn't

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bother you that you killed a nice guy with a nice family. To you, he was only in the

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way. You stuck the scalpel into Pierce's corpse to save yourself some more trouble. The trouble

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of paying off Dr. Van Selvin. He'll probably show up floating. You dragged Pinky behind

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the screen and you got behind with him and hid. And when all the doctors in attendance

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broke into the room and rushed around Pierce's bed, you stepped out casually from behind

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the screen and mingled with the crowd. You were dressed for the part.

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As a reporter, Mr. Mitchell, would you describe that exploit as daring or brilliant?

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No. No, Mr. Avery. I'd use the words selfish, traitorous, foul.

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Oh, your morality sickens me. There's one more thing you didn't count

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on, Gil. Gil here. Gil has nothing to do with it.

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Oh, yes he has. You keep your mouth shut.

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I'll do nothing of the sort. Let him talk.

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Gil, let go of my arm. Let him talk.

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Thanks. Thanks, Gil. And just keep hold of that arm.

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Let him talk. Okay. As I was saying, Mr. Avery, you forgot

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that Marla and Gil have been playing along with you because they figured you were their

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kind. There is a certain honor among little crooks, but not among you big timers, Mr.

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Avery. Now you have the album, the album that couldn't hurt anybody but yourself. Who's

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the blackmail? Where's the payoff? Gil's wondering what's going to protect his interests. He

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knows now what happened to Dr. Van Selvin. He knows. You see, he figured you were an

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honest crook, not a big timer. He's only playing for time. He's not only trying to save his

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own miserable skin. I'll pay you off, Gil. I'll pay you more than you've ever dreamed.

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You really are, Gerald Avery. Don't be an idiot, Gil. Now you cooperate with me and I...

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Gil! That was a bad mistake of Mr. Gerald K. Avery. You see, he figured his gun was bigger

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than Gil. He moved fast, but not quite fast enough. The lead hit Gil in the shoulder, but

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that didn't even faze him. I understand he broke Avery's arm. That's when Avery screamed.

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The next blow broke Avery's neck. Well, there was an awful lot of excitement because horse-lip

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shadows caught up with the proceedings just about this time, and the details aren't too

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clear. All I know is, oh, that it has been a big day. I was awfully tired. I went home,

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climbed in bed, and slept a long, long time, with my head on a nice pillow made of tulle

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