WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:08.880 Suspense! 00:08.880 --> 00:13.640 In America's most discriminating homes and clubs, where dining and entertaining is the 00:13.640 --> 00:27.080 last word in luxury, the first word in wines is C-R-E-S-T-A, B-L-A-N-C-A, Cresta Blanca, 00:27.080 --> 00:34.480 Cresta Blanca. Yes, Cresta Blanca California wines bring gracious luxury to your table from 00:34.480 --> 00:40.720 the finest of the vines. When you pour superb Cresta Blanca Burgundy, Sauveterne, or any 00:40.720 --> 00:47.440 Cresta Blanca table wine, you enjoy the wine offered in America's most discriminating homes. 00:47.440 --> 00:54.520 For the best, serve Cresta Blanca, Schenley's Cresta Blanca wine company, Livermore, California. 00:54.520 --> 01:02.000 And now, Schenley brings you radio's outstanding theater of thrill, Suspense! Presented by 01:02.000 --> 01:10.240 Roma Wines. That's R-O-M-A. Roma Wines, for your everyday enjoyment. And now, Roma Wines 01:10.240 --> 01:15.640 of Fresno, California, bring you Mr. Edmund O'Brien in the Argyle album, a suspense play 01:15.640 --> 01:25.520 produced, edited, and directed for Schenley by William Spears. Back when I got my first 01:25.520 --> 01:31.000 job on the Herald, Alan Pearce was a star reporter. A little later, he went to Washington 01:31.000 --> 01:35.680 and became top dog of all syndicated political columnists. Pearce could tell you what the 01:35.680 --> 01:40.120 president said when he didn't like his breakfast and who was getting paid off for what, by 01:40.120 --> 01:45.440 whom, and how much. He was a national big shot, so naturally, he's coming back to the hometown 01:45.440 --> 01:50.080 last January, got local front page. Especially since the first thing happens, he checks into 01:50.080 --> 01:53.400 the Belden General Hospital from a heart attack he had on the train, right as it pulled into 01:53.400 --> 01:59.020 the station. Quite an entrance in time. Well, maybe you remember. Just when 22 million anxious 01:59.020 --> 02:03.840 readers were waiting for his promised expose of the contents of the Argyle album, the thing 02:03.840 --> 02:09.000 he'd been building up in his columns for about two weeks before, T-Pot Dome was going to 02:09.000 --> 02:15.560 be a church club misunderstanding compared to this. Naturally, all the boys hung around 02:15.560 --> 02:19.560 the ante room of this hospital suite during visiting hours, but nobody from the press 02:19.560 --> 02:23.640 cracked at order to sick rooms for the first three days. Then, on the fourth morning, Van 02:23.640 --> 02:26.720 Selben, the doctor, came smiling out into the ante room. 02:26.720 --> 02:32.800 Good morning, General Man. General Man. Mr. Pearce would have willingly seen you all 02:32.800 --> 02:37.920 the first day. Of course, as his medical advisor, I couldn't permit anything of the sort. However, 02:37.920 --> 02:43.440 today I'll allow you to see him one at a time. I suggest that you gentlemen draw straws or 02:43.440 --> 02:49.120 something for turn. Oh, that is except the man from the Herald. Mr. Pearce asked expressly 02:49.120 --> 02:54.080 to see him first. Hey, the Herald man? That's me. Is the Herald representative here? Over 02:54.080 --> 02:58.000 here, Doctor. Do you want to come in now? Right with you, Doctor. Hey, Pinkley, come 02:58.000 --> 03:02.960 in. Harry? Listen, Dr. Van Selben, this is Mr. Melvin Pinker, the Herald's best and, 03:02.960 --> 03:06.400 believe me, quietest photographer. Now, he's very good for patients. I wonder if... I'm 03:06.400 --> 03:11.760 afraid not, Mr. Mitchell. Okay, Doctor. Okay. Stand by, Pinkley. Right. No, sir, let this 03:11.760 --> 03:22.760 gentleman in. I'll be on the fifth floor. Very well. Hello there. How are you, sir? You're 03:22.760 --> 03:28.400 Harry Mitchell, aren't you? That's right, he's disappeared. Come on, I'll make it out. 03:28.400 --> 03:39.240 All right, Al. So you're young Mitchell. How time flies. I spoke to the old man on the phone. 03:39.240 --> 03:45.680 I said send your next Alan Pearce over, and he sent you. Do you consider that a compliment? 03:45.680 --> 03:50.480 Compliment, brother. I'm going to hit him for a nice fat raise. Well, Harry, have you got 03:50.480 --> 03:54.920 your questions all written down like a good reporter should? Oh, no, I don't work that 03:54.920 --> 04:03.200 way, sir. Neither do I. I suppose you want to know what the Argyle album is? Hey, you're 04:03.200 --> 04:11.480 not really going to tell me. Look, crank me up a little bit, will you? Yeah, sure, sure. 04:11.480 --> 04:19.400 Harry, Harry, it's got to a point where I think I ought to share it with somebody. Preferably, 04:19.400 --> 04:27.680 like myself, who thinks like me. And I'm going to ask you not to use this unless I'm not 04:27.680 --> 04:36.840 in a position to. Okay, okay, it's a deal. Well, you know what an album is. This one 04:36.840 --> 04:44.160 is quite a fancy looking one. Tooled, white leather bound, and a flaming crimson double 04:44.160 --> 04:51.200 headed eagle crest etched on the cover. It's an impressive item. Maybe, say maybe you better 04:51.200 --> 04:56.440 take it easy, Mr. Pierce. You were going to call me Al. Okay, okay, Al, but honest, maybe 04:56.440 --> 05:04.080 a better. I'm all right, I'm all right. I'm a little dizzy. Want the doctor? No, no, no, 05:04.080 --> 05:09.320 just a drink. A drink of water, please. He laid back on his pillow, breathing terribly. 05:09.320 --> 05:12.640 There was a thermos on the bed stand that turned out empty. I grabbed a glass and ran 05:12.640 --> 05:26.360 into the bathroom, filled it from the tap. I'll be right there, Al. Mr. Pierce. Al. 05:26.360 --> 05:35.080 Oh. I stood there for a while feeling awfully bad, thinking awfully hard. Finally figured 05:35.080 --> 05:43.240 an idea. Hey, Harry. Hey, Harry, come on, what's going on? Here I am, General. Is he 05:43.240 --> 05:46.120 going to pose? Yeah, yeah, he's going to pose. Come on in here. What's going on? Piggy. 05:46.120 --> 05:50.920 Piggy, look at him. He's dead. Passed out while we were talking. This is heartbeat. It's 05:50.920 --> 05:53.960 big, it's a scoop. I don't want those other tin horns out there cutting in. What are you 05:53.960 --> 05:56.560 going to do? I'm going out and phone. You stay here and don't let anybody in through 05:56.560 --> 05:59.840 that door. You're not letting me along with them. An old hound like you, are you kidding? 05:59.840 --> 06:06.000 I don't like it. I went out to the pay station in the hall and phoned in the story. Then 06:06.000 --> 06:09.960 I found Dr. Van Selden on the fifth floor and broke the news. Between the fifth and 06:09.960 --> 06:14.600 seventh floor, where Pierce's suite was, we picked up the chief surgeon, superintendent, 06:14.600 --> 06:20.800 four nurses and litter bearers in attendance. We went through the anteroom where the reporters 06:20.800 --> 06:25.840 were. The newspaper boys felt something was up. Nobody had left them in Pierce's room, 06:25.840 --> 06:29.480 but the official hospital gang and me barged in and headed straight for the bed where the 06:29.480 --> 06:35.960 corpse was. I got a funny feeling. Pinky wasn't in the room. Dr. Van Selden and the chief 06:35.960 --> 06:41.560 surgeon went over to the bed and pulled back the covers and you could feel the shock go 06:41.560 --> 06:47.760 through the whole crowd. A long steel scalpel was sticking right up in the middle of Alan 06:47.760 --> 07:00.160 Pierce's chest. An hour later, Lieutenant Horslip Sampson, who was top man in homicide, 07:00.160 --> 07:04.600 strutted in and took over. He got the story from us and just sat there for a while thinking, 07:04.600 --> 07:11.760 very professional, exuding brilliance. Then his majesty rose and spoke. Dr. Van Selden? 07:11.760 --> 07:17.280 Yes, sir. In your opinion, did your patient die from a heart attack, as our reporter friend 07:17.280 --> 07:22.360 here claims, or from the knife wound? I really can't tell you yet. The indications are that 07:22.360 --> 07:26.640 it might be either. You see, in either case, the heart was stopped. Yeah, yeah. The heart 07:26.640 --> 07:31.280 usually stops in cases of death, doesn't it, Doc? The only thing is, I took his pulse before 07:31.280 --> 07:35.280 I left the room. There was no pulse. That scalpel could just as well have been stuck 07:35.280 --> 07:38.880 in a loaf of bread for all the damage it would have... Mitchell! Why did you leave a dead 07:38.880 --> 07:43.560 man and report? Why did you end up at Targra here without telling the nois? I was a reporter 07:43.560 --> 07:47.840 with a scoop. Who'd you expect me to leave here, somebody from the express? Nois, were 07:47.840 --> 07:51.600 you outside the door the whole time? Yes, sir, with the reporters, and nobody came out except 07:51.600 --> 07:56.320 Mr. Mitchell. The photographer went in but never came out. Take a stand in the bathroom, 07:56.320 --> 08:04.120 Haggerty. Yes, sir. There's nobody here, chief. Marguson, close windows lock. Yes, sir. Torslip, 08:04.120 --> 08:08.840 should bring out your Scotland yacht. Good tougher spot to be fresh. If I could only get 08:08.840 --> 08:15.960 an angle. Must be an angle. He got up sore and started looking around himself. He walked 08:15.960 --> 08:20.160 over to the white bed screen in the corner. It's funny, it stood there all the time, such 08:20.160 --> 08:24.880 a natural piece of hospital equipment, you never noticed it. But even now, before he 08:24.880 --> 08:30.600 touched it, I knew what he'd find there. I edged for the door. He started to pull aside 08:30.600 --> 08:36.120 the screen like somebody'd look hopelessly in any unlikely spot for a lost collar button. 08:36.120 --> 08:42.280 Then he let the screen fall. And there was Pinky, all huddled up among his photographic 08:42.280 --> 08:53.600 equipment with a surgeon's scalpel sticking out of his neck. I yelled to the reporters 08:53.600 --> 08:56.760 in the anteroom that they could go in now. The crowd coming out after me, met the crowd 08:56.760 --> 08:59.680 going in, and I was in the corridor while they argued it out. I was around the corner 08:59.680 --> 09:09.240 and in the elevator before the cops could get through. I walked right through the walled 09:09.240 --> 09:12.800 off lobby and up to the second floor and nobody said a thing. Time was still with me. I knew 09:12.800 --> 09:16.440 Pierce's secretary was keeping sweet two one three for him until he was supposed to get 09:16.440 --> 09:22.760 out of the hospital. One moment. Yes. May I come in? Well I'm a friend of Mr. Pierce's, 09:22.760 --> 09:25.760 Mitchell of the Herald. What is it Mr. Mitchell? Something I can do? Would you let me write 09:25.760 --> 09:29.400 for your boss's desk, huh? What? Files, papers, and possessions. I'll put them back real neat. 09:29.400 --> 09:32.520 What? There's something I have to find. Are you crazy? I was afraid that would be your 09:32.520 --> 09:40.000 answer. What are you going to do? I'm sorry. Don't. Really? I really was. I didn't like 09:40.000 --> 09:45.160 to hit a woman. Especially that cute. I searched the sweet top and bottom of it. Pierce had 09:45.160 --> 09:49.680 never had the Argyle album. He took no chances keeping it around. I found his personal address 09:49.680 --> 09:55.240 book though and figured it was no more use to him than it might be to me. Now I needed 09:55.240 --> 09:59.600 a place where I could sit down and think. Then I remembered I was carrying a key from my 09:59.600 --> 10:03.880 pal Joe Walsh's apartment while he was sonning himself in Florida. Now at least nobody could 10:03.880 --> 10:08.200 figure my going there. At Walsh's place I spent about twenty minutes with Pierce's address 10:08.200 --> 10:12.880 book. He had Washington phone numbers in it that hadn't been in public directories for 10:12.880 --> 10:19.040 the last thirty years. There was one in this town that had a red crayon circle around it. 10:19.040 --> 10:25.440 The query. Joe Broad. J-O-R-B-R-O-D on Worcester Street. Not the kind of neighbor that Alan 10:25.440 --> 10:32.080 Pierce usually socialized in. I was just about deciding I'd go and see Joe Broad. Then somebody 10:32.080 --> 10:38.080 decided to pay me a visit. I checked through the keyhole. I didn't see much. But what there 10:38.080 --> 10:46.080 was to see was female. So I took my chances and opened the door. She stood there. About 10:46.080 --> 10:50.600 five foot seven of the most interesting stuff I ever remember seeing. Not young mind you, 10:50.600 --> 10:57.600 not angelic. But gorgeous and smart looking and sweet voiced. Hello there. Who are you? 10:57.600 --> 11:01.560 May I come in? Sure, at your risk. Who are you? You may call me Marla, Miss Mitchell. And 11:01.560 --> 11:07.640 I want the Argyle album. Just like that? No, not just like that. I could be nasty, you 11:07.640 --> 11:11.720 know. After all, the police want you. Somehow Marla, that doesn't worry me at all. I just 11:11.720 --> 11:17.160 don't think you make it a policy to have traffic with the police. You're an astute youngster. 11:17.160 --> 11:21.480 I like you. I like you too, but I haven't time. I'll give you five hundred dollars for it. 11:21.480 --> 11:25.560 I don't even know what it is. What is the Argyle album? Ten thousand. Without a breath, 11:25.560 --> 11:30.800 huh? There's some junk. Ten thousand. I'm really sorry, Marla. But I wanted to know. 11:30.800 --> 11:35.920 It's not for sale. Very well. She moved so casually and directly to the door and opened 11:35.920 --> 11:40.120 it so quickly, I hadn't even gotten out of my chair before her two boyfriends stepped 11:40.120 --> 11:45.720 in. The first one looked like a fat businessman, hair slightly gray, nice smile. The one who 11:45.720 --> 11:51.040 followed him had the square, low-cut, irresistible appearance of a medium-sized tank. Mr. Winter, 11:51.040 --> 11:56.520 Mr. Holbury, Mr. Mitchell. How do you do? He's not terribly cooperative. Oh, no. He doesn't 11:56.520 --> 12:02.560 perform, not for love, not for money. Very stubborn. She really didn't try love, Mr. 12:02.560 --> 12:08.760 Winter. From what I know of Marla, that's hard to believe. Hey, Marla. So you're stubborn, 12:08.760 --> 12:13.600 Mr. Mitchell, a stubborn murderer. I'll repeat my question. What is the Argyle album? My, 12:13.600 --> 12:18.520 my, you are a gifted actor. Never mind. Forget it, Mr. Winter. Well, isn't ten thousand 12:18.520 --> 12:22.520 dollars enough? That's the best we can offer and still make a profit. Let's not waste time. 12:22.520 --> 12:32.040 Oh, I am sorry, my boy. I'm very sorry. Very well, Gil. Yeah. The big guy stepped toward 12:32.040 --> 12:36.440 me. I dug and took the table between us. Gil put to the side like it was match-fitting. 12:36.440 --> 12:40.040 His left hand lashed out and he had the lapels of my coat and I was lifted until my shoe 12:40.040 --> 12:44.400 tips touched the floor, helpless as a baby. It started slapping my face, front hand and 12:44.400 --> 12:48.920 back. It kept up and up like a hot lick of the drums and the agony was unbearable. He 12:48.920 --> 12:57.520 stopped. I waited. Like your wait between pauses of the dentist drill. Then I, I guess 12:57.520 --> 13:01.360 I tried to move because I saw the small eyes flicker and the huge fist come swinging at 13:01.360 --> 13:04.560 my face. I wanted to duck but couldn't. My hands were torn from in front of my face and 13:04.560 --> 13:13.320 I came. Shocks of intolerable pain like searing flames and then the flame flickered and went 13:13.320 --> 13:14.320 out. 13:14.320 --> 13:30.840 For suspense, Roma Wines are bringing you Mr. Edmund O'Brien in the Argyle album. Roma 13:30.840 --> 13:39.440 Wines presentation tonight in Radio's outstanding theater of thrills, Suspense. 13:39.440 --> 13:49.920 Suspense, Radio's outstanding theater of thrills is presented by Roma Wines. That's R-O-M-A, 13:49.920 --> 13:56.520 Roma Wines, selected from the world's greatest reserves of fine wines. Now that the vacation 13:56.520 --> 14:01.240 season is over, friends and neighbors are dropping in evenings to talk over summertime 14:01.240 --> 14:06.880 experiences. 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That's R-O-M-A, Roma Wines, America's favorite wines. 14:52.200 --> 14:58.680 And now Roma Wines bring back to our Hollywood soundstage, Mr. Edmund O'Brien as reporter 14:58.680 --> 15:18.240 Harry Mitchell in the Argyle album, a play well calculated to keep you in suspense. 15:18.240 --> 15:22.280 I was in the bedroom of the apartment and Marla was baiting my forehead with a damp 15:22.280 --> 15:30.440 handkerchief. I lay quiet until things cleared up a bit. That's the little, that's the boy. 15:30.440 --> 15:38.080 Marla. Where's the album darling? Where's the album? I swear I don't know. I don't know. 15:38.080 --> 15:41.840 I don't know. You don't want me to call him again, do you Harry? No, no, no, please, 15:41.840 --> 15:46.120 no. In the kitchen. I'm supposed to help you wake up, not on the phone. No, no, don't. 15:46.120 --> 15:50.040 If you haven't got it, do you know where it is? I swear, Marla, I swear, I don't even 15:50.040 --> 15:57.040 know what it is. All I know is it's tooled white leather or something. You know. Well, 15:57.040 --> 16:01.920 all right, here's what I know. Winter found it originally. He was in occupied Europe then. 16:01.920 --> 16:05.320 He doesn't admit it, but I think he was the leader of a looting party after the American 16:05.320 --> 16:10.120 raid. It was a sheaf of documents recording the transfer of large sums of money by certain 16:10.120 --> 16:14.480 individuals, both German and Americans. Big men who wanted to make sure that they'd come 16:14.480 --> 16:20.360 out right, no matter whose armies won. Winter knew that he'd found a fortune that day, fortune 16:20.360 --> 16:26.080 in blackmail. What happened? He kept it in a public locker in a blackmail. Normally the 16:26.080 --> 16:31.240 safest place in the world. He was in a town down here in Virginia, Argyle. On a minute 16:31.240 --> 16:35.600 to one twist, he lost it. A gang of young hoodlums blew up in that section with a dynamite 16:35.600 --> 16:39.960 stick. And it's been missing ever since until Alan Pierce started hinting about it in his 16:39.960 --> 16:45.360 column in the international scandal that involved. So when Pierce died to say, Winter had a right 16:45.360 --> 16:51.360 to suspect that Pierce's murderer might have the album. Naturally, the big men wanted to. 16:51.360 --> 17:02.360 Lots of people wanted badly, including me. You? What for? Resale value. I see. That's 17:02.360 --> 17:15.360 a decent motive. I'm a decent person. Yeah. Yeah, you are. Come here. Oh, you're nice. 17:15.360 --> 17:22.360 You're a nice boy. You know, I can just press my thumbs here at your windpipe and you couldn't 17:22.360 --> 17:28.360 even yell. I thought of that. You're not kidding me. That's the excuse I'll give to Winter. 17:28.360 --> 17:31.660 You choked me and I couldn't gel. You get on the fire escape and I'll give you plenty 17:31.660 --> 17:36.360 of time before I call. I don't figure what's in it for you. We'll see each other again. 17:36.360 --> 17:43.560 You'll find it. Hurry. Okay, honey, you asked for it. Not too hard. It was a funny experience 17:43.560 --> 17:48.200 choking a woman deliberately. I squeezed pretty hard, scuffing bruises at her throat to make 17:48.200 --> 17:52.560 it look good. I got so mixed up, I didn't know what I was doing. I took her once and 17:52.560 --> 17:57.000 kissed her very hard. I rumpled her clothes a little and mustered her hand. When she looked 17:57.000 --> 18:02.840 pretty battered, I kissed her again and I crawled out in the fire escape and down. I 18:02.840 --> 18:06.480 gave the cabbie the Worcester Street address from Pierce's book. It was a junkyard. Joe 18:06.480 --> 18:19.480 Broad's junkyard. What do you want? You Mr. Broad, Joe Broad. That's my name. What do 18:19.480 --> 18:25.200 you want? The Argyle album. How did you? I know you. You're that Mitchell guy. The police 18:25.200 --> 18:33.240 one for the murder of Alan Pierce. If you move, I'll kill you. Say, I got you figured, 18:33.240 --> 18:39.320 Brian. You're the fence for all the juvenile crooks around here. Some junkyard. I'm on 18:39.320 --> 18:43.120 lots better terms with the cops than you are, Mitchell. And I'm falling in them right now. 18:43.120 --> 18:46.520 Sure, sure. One of your kids brought you a nice white leather book with a two-headed 18:46.520 --> 18:49.480 eagle on it. Maybe you stretched and gave him two bits for it. Then you found out you 18:49.480 --> 18:52.920 had something too big for a little guy. You knew it was worth it, but your stomach wasn't 18:52.920 --> 18:57.520 tough enough for big-time black men. So you figured a way to be right and still make dough. 18:57.520 --> 19:01.920 Sell it to Alan Pierce. What of it? Selling's no crime. I'm really guessing but good, huh? 19:01.920 --> 19:05.280 You invested the price of a couple of photo stats and a train ticket to Washington. You 19:05.280 --> 19:09.400 got to Pierce and sold him the photo stats. And then you told him he'd have to come here 19:09.400 --> 19:14.000 for the rest, huh? Nothing to keep me from killing you right now. No, no, I guess there 19:14.000 --> 19:18.200 isn't. Sure not. You're a fugitive, aren't you? Escape killer, you wouldn't touch me. 19:18.200 --> 19:25.200 Wait, don't! Don't you even say thanks when your life is saved? Thanks. And nice shot. 19:26.200 --> 19:30.280 Don't mention it. You wonder how I knew you were here. Yeah, you watched me take the cab 19:30.280 --> 19:34.160 from the window and got the number. I know that one now. Oh, you're bright as well as 19:34.160 --> 19:37.760 nice. Maybe we can play this game together now that we have the album. Huh? Have we? 19:37.760 --> 19:44.320 Well, it can't be far. In the desk drawer, the filing... I think we both saw Broad move 19:44.320 --> 19:48.720 at the same time. The gun at the edge of his fingers was somehow in his hands again. It 19:48.720 --> 19:53.920 waved weakly between Marla and me. It was like watching a slow motion movie. Marla didn't 19:53.920 --> 19:59.640 waste time. I saw the sweet little body jump at the impact, but his gun kept waving. And 19:59.640 --> 20:17.520 it went off. Marla sighed and fell down at my feet. She smiled at me once. That's all. 20:17.520 --> 20:20.880 I walked through three cops in the hall of the police station getting no more reaction 20:20.880 --> 20:25.640 than an art of greeting and into Horst Lipsamson's office. Thanks for the phone call, Mitchell, 20:25.640 --> 20:30.680 but you gave us a bum steer. What's your angle? Bum steer. I saw the shooting. We found a 20:30.680 --> 20:37.360 woman. Very dead indeed, but there was no man. Your bra? He didn't look alive when I saw 20:37.360 --> 20:41.440 him last. Well, he wasn't dead. I'm only telling you. What do you expect us to do with you? 20:41.440 --> 20:46.560 Well, book me on suspicion of murder. The murderer who, may I ask? Alan Pearce, naturally. 20:46.560 --> 20:52.680 You want to confess? It's not bargain day today, Lieutenant. Oh, it was just an angle. 20:52.680 --> 20:56.840 Look, did the autopsy on Pearce come through? I was wondering why you gave yourself up. 20:56.840 --> 21:02.040 Yeah, he died a heart failure like you claimed, but only because he was so loaded with dope, 21:02.040 --> 21:08.280 even a normal heart would give up. Dope? You mean poison? Same thing. Too much medicine. 21:08.280 --> 21:12.760 And Dr. Van Selben, the one who dosed him, has disappeared, took a powder. You're not 21:12.760 --> 21:20.240 even running up a suspect now, Mitchell. Heart failure. Heart failure. But then why the scalpel? 21:20.240 --> 21:25.160 Whoever stuck that scalpel into Pearce wanted to create suspicious circumstances around 21:25.160 --> 21:31.840 the death so they'd be sure they'd be in our... Hey, that's an angle. Yeah. Yeah, but how 21:31.840 --> 21:36.600 about Pinky? And how did the murderer get in and out of the room? How? Look, Mitchell, 21:36.600 --> 21:43.920 you want to be held? No. Then stop asking questions I can't answer. Go on, beat it. 21:43.920 --> 21:53.120 I still wanted to break it. I found myself nursing a deep belief that there must be equal 21:53.120 --> 21:59.920 justice for the murders of a man I loved, another I respected, and a woman I... I admired. 21:59.920 --> 22:05.840 Well, there was only one place I could figure out where to start. I picked my way through 22:05.840 --> 22:11.200 Jawbrad's junkyard. Shapes of skeleton cars stood out dark in the moonlight. At the far 22:11.200 --> 22:15.800 end of the yard was a lighted shack. I went up to it, almost to the door. Somebody pushed 22:15.800 --> 22:19.960 me from behind. My own body knocked the door open. Get in there. Broad was propped into 22:19.960 --> 22:25.000 a chair, facing me, his eyes wide. Winter stood beside him, and Gil walked up from behind 22:25.000 --> 22:32.440 me alongside. Oh. Come in, Mitchell. Thanks. Well, Mr. Mitchell, this is a proper ending. 22:32.440 --> 22:38.880 Another demonstration of the ascendancy of will. Is he alive? Who? O'Brod here? No, 22:38.880 --> 22:44.080 not now. He was very weak and had no resistance, but we learned what we needed. He had the 22:44.080 --> 22:50.680 album quite cleverly hidden. But we have it now. Well, here. You want to see it? Thanks. 22:50.680 --> 22:57.240 Say, who hired Dr. Van Selvin to kill Pierce? A very powerful and very wealthy individual, 22:57.240 --> 23:01.120 most concerned with retrieving the album, Mr. Mitchell. But you didn't want it to be 23:01.120 --> 23:05.160 heart failure. You wanted to force an autopsy. That's why you stuck the scalpel into the 23:05.160 --> 23:10.000 corpse. That's rather clever of you, Mr. Mitchell. And in the hospital, you were dressed as an 23:10.000 --> 23:14.760 attendant, right? You got behind that bed screen sometime earlier in the day, probably 23:14.760 --> 23:19.120 early in the morning, before Pierce woke up, right? You were willing to wait a long time 23:19.120 --> 23:23.240 for what you wanted. It was very tough. You hoped to find out from Pierce where he had 23:23.240 --> 23:27.120 hidden the album. You found out instead that Pierce didn't have it. But you knew that Pierce 23:27.120 --> 23:30.920 was going to die anyhow from the overdose. Oh, you decided to frame the doctor with the 23:30.920 --> 23:38.200 scalpel, forcing the autopsy. You know, there's only one conceivable reason for you to have 23:38.200 --> 23:43.320 taken all those chances. And what may I ask can that conceivable reason be? That you are 23:43.320 --> 23:47.880 the powerful and wealthy individual who got Dr. Van Selvin to do Pierce's murder. Really? 23:47.880 --> 23:52.520 That you are no more Mr. Winter than I am. Yeah, the original Mr. Winter, who smuggled 23:52.520 --> 23:56.400 the album out of Europe, you eliminated when he first tried to blackmail you and your fellow 23:56.400 --> 24:00.640 thieves. Seizures. By that line of reasoning, I was able to do a little research in the 24:00.640 --> 24:05.840 files of my reporter's memory. And in spite of the fact that you have no mustache and there 24:05.840 --> 24:11.240 are several other slightly physical changes that could be easily adjusted, you have an 24:11.240 --> 24:17.360 amazing resemblance to the very powerful, very wealthy Mr. Gerald K. Avery. 24:17.360 --> 24:23.400 Theory, merely theory. But isn't this indulgence and violence a strange occupation for a man 24:23.400 --> 24:26.780 like Gerald Avery? Not at all, Mr. Avery. A man doesn't become 24:26.780 --> 24:31.960 an international power by going to Sunday school every week. You decided nobody could 24:31.960 --> 24:37.040 do your dirty work better than yourself. As well as you felt you needed help, so you got 24:37.040 --> 24:41.520 a professional adventurer like Marla to work with you on the grounds that you yourself were 24:41.520 --> 24:44.300 an adventurer blackmailer. The same goes for Gil here. 24:44.300 --> 24:49.200 Your time's run over, Mitchell. And Pinky, yeah. Pinky, of course it doesn't 24:49.200 --> 24:53.840 bother you that you killed a nice guy with a nice family. To you, he was only in the 24:53.840 --> 24:58.520 way. You stuck the scalpel into Pierce's corpse to save yourself some more trouble. The trouble 24:58.520 --> 25:03.880 of paying off Dr. Van Selvin. He'll probably show up floating. You dragged Pinky behind 25:03.880 --> 25:08.200 the screen and you got behind with him and hid. And when all the doctors in attendance 25:08.200 --> 25:11.760 broke into the room and rushed around Pierce's bed, you stepped out casually from behind 25:11.760 --> 25:16.800 the screen and mingled with the crowd. You were dressed for the part. 25:16.800 --> 25:21.000 As a reporter, Mr. Mitchell, would you describe that exploit as daring or brilliant? 25:21.000 --> 25:28.000 No. No, Mr. Avery. I'd use the words selfish, traitorous, foul. 25:28.000 --> 25:32.000 Oh, your morality sickens me. There's one more thing you didn't count 25:32.000 --> 25:34.600 on, Gil. Gil here. Gil has nothing to do with it. 25:34.600 --> 25:36.320 Oh, yes he has. You keep your mouth shut. 25:36.320 --> 25:40.280 I'll do nothing of the sort. Let him talk. 25:40.280 --> 25:44.600 Gil, let go of my arm. Let him talk. 25:44.600 --> 25:48.280 Thanks. Thanks, Gil. And just keep hold of that arm. 25:48.280 --> 25:52.440 Let him talk. Okay. As I was saying, Mr. Avery, you forgot 25:52.440 --> 25:56.080 that Marla and Gil have been playing along with you because they figured you were their 25:56.080 --> 26:01.920 kind. There is a certain honor among little crooks, but not among you big timers, Mr. 26:01.920 --> 26:05.840 Avery. Now you have the album, the album that couldn't hurt anybody but yourself. Who's 26:05.840 --> 26:10.880 the blackmail? Where's the payoff? Gil's wondering what's going to protect his interests. He 26:10.880 --> 26:15.320 knows now what happened to Dr. Van Selvin. He knows. You see, he figured you were an 26:15.320 --> 26:20.800 honest crook, not a big timer. He's only playing for time. He's not only trying to save his 26:20.800 --> 26:24.600 own miserable skin. I'll pay you off, Gil. I'll pay you more than you've ever dreamed. 26:24.600 --> 26:30.960 You really are, Gerald Avery. Don't be an idiot, Gil. Now you cooperate with me and I... 26:30.960 --> 26:51.080 Gil! That was a bad mistake of Mr. Gerald K. Avery. You see, he figured his gun was bigger 26:51.080 --> 26:56.120 than Gil. He moved fast, but not quite fast enough. The lead hit Gil in the shoulder, but 26:56.120 --> 27:01.320 that didn't even faze him. I understand he broke Avery's arm. That's when Avery screamed. 27:01.320 --> 27:06.280 The next blow broke Avery's neck. Well, there was an awful lot of excitement because horse-lip 27:06.280 --> 27:10.400 shadows caught up with the proceedings just about this time, and the details aren't too 27:10.400 --> 27:21.400 clear. All I know is, oh, that it has been a big day. I was awfully tired. I went home, 27:21.400 --> 27:31.360 climbed in bed, and slept a long, long time, with my head on a nice pillow made of tulle 27:31.360 --> 27:54.400 and white leather. Suspense, presented by Roma. That's R-O-M-A, better tasting Roma wines, 27:54.400 --> 28:00.680 America's largest selling wines. 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That's 28:52.320 --> 28:58.280 R-O-M-A, Roma wines than any other wines in the world. Edmund O'Brien appeared to the 28:58.280 --> 29:02.380 courtesy of Universal International Pictures, now releasing Something in the Wind starring 29:02.380 --> 29:08.220 Deanna Durbin. Tonight's Suspense play was by Cyril Enfield. Next Thursday, same time, 29:08.220 --> 29:15.320 you will hear Michael O'Shea, a star of Suspense, produced and directed by William Spear for 29:15.320 --> 29:20.880 the Roma Wine Company of Fresno, California. This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System. 29:20.880 --> 29:27.880 Thank you.