Suspense!
Tonight's suspense brings you our star, Mr. Dennis O'Keefe.
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And now, Schenley brings you Radio's outstanding theater of thrills,
Suspense!
Presented by Roma Wines.
That's R-O-M-A. Roma Wines of Fresno, California.
And starring Dennis O'Keefe in the X-Ray Camera.
A suspense play produced, edited, and directed for Schenley by William Spear.
I've been reading a lot here, and I came across something good the other day.
There is a shadowy borderland between hate and love.
And there are men who dwell in this land of mixed emotions,
loving deeply and fiercely, and yet, at the same time, hating venomously and murderously.
I guess I both loved and hated my wife.
I was crazy for her, lonely and desperate without her.
At the same time, I wished she'd be killed or die somehow,
so I wouldn't keep depending on her for the affection I'm always so hungry for.
Hello?
Hello. Hello, Anna. Anna, this is Johnny.
Oh. What do you want? I told you not to bother me.
Well, now listen, Anna, I've got to see you.
I don't want to see you, Johnny. If I told you once, I told you a hundred times, don't phone.
Yes, I know, but now wait, this is important. I must talk to you. Anna, just let me talk to you.
Oh, Johnny, listen.
Listen, please, let me see you for just a few minutes, Saturday night.
After that, if you still want me to stay away, I will. I'll never bother you again.
That's what you always say.
Oh, listen, honey, won't you just let me talk to you? If it's no go, I'll let you have that divorce.
All I want is ten minutes, that's all.
You on the level about the divorce?
Yeah, yeah, sure.
All right, Johnny, come over at seven o'clock Saturday,
but I might as well tell you now you're wasting your time.
Oh, why can't you be reasonable about it, Anna? You know, you and I could...
Save your breath, Johnny. You want to see me? All right, all right, I'll see you. Seven o'clock Saturday. Goodbye.
It didn't look good.
I could feel that all the things I'd saved up to say to her wouldn't work.
She hated me and she'd never have me back again.
There's a stubborn streak in me that wouldn't let me give it up.
I figured I'd play it as I'd planned it.
Then if she wouldn't change her mind, I'd go through with it to the end.
Late Saturday afternoon, I went down to Hooper's department store,
and saw it over to the jewelry counter.
Yes, sir?
I'd like to see a wristwatch. Ladies' wristwatch, please.
How much would you like to spend?
Oh, I don't know, about, uh, 200 or so.
Oh, well, here you are. Seven-deam jewel movement,
14-karat white gold case set with 10 small diamonds.
It's very pretty. And it's reduced from $349 to $225.
Well, say, that's pretty classy.
Some girl's going to get a mighty nice surprise.
Huh? You like it?
I like it. I love it.
I wish I had a friend who could buy things like that for me.
Now you're kidding me.
A beautiful girl like you must have plenty of friends.
Oh, not anyone I could really call a friend.
I see. Uh, this watch.
How would you like it if I gave this to you?
Just like that, huh?
Well, not exactly just like that.
First, I'd have to get to know you better.
Not from that side of the county.
I know, but you could meet me after you get through with work.
I don't leave here till nine.
Okay. I could wait until nine. For you.
On the 34th Street side.
It'll take me about ten minutes to change my clothes.
I'll be there.
Here's the date. Even if you don't buy the watch.
Oh, I told you I am buying it.
Well, I'll have to make out a sales slip.
Name, please.
James Landry. Yeah, James Landry.
What's yours?
Joyce.
See, that'll be $225 plus tax of 20%, making it $270.
And that sales tax of $450.
$270, $450, all totaled.
Your address, please.
Oh, you don't need that.
It is $270 and $4 and 50 cents. Right?
Right. Shall I wrap it?
I don't know, just like that.
Ten after nine, baby, huh?
I'll be there.
Yes, the chances were I would be there.
I didn't hold out much hope that Anna would listen to me.
If she didn't, why not?
This Joyce girl was quite a kid.
Tall, slim, terrific eyes, pleasant smile.
Sure, why not?
And besides, she'd work right in with the whole thing.
She'd work in swell.
I had plenty of time before seven in my appointment with my wife,
so I wandered through the shop.
Even bought myself a new robe.
After all, you might want to impress someone.
I had the robe sent home, and then I dropped into Patty's Clam House.
When I'd finished coffee, it was time to take the BMT to Anna's.
I got there just at seven.
It was a little awkward at first, but after a while I got through it.
Oh, I tell you, Anna, this last year's just been awful.
Oh, you know, I'm still crazy about you,
and every hour we're apart just makes me feel worse.
Is that all you have to say, Johnny?
No, no, no, let me finish. I admit I've been a heel.
Well, I've done everything wrong.
You're perfectly right to leave me.
All I can say is I'm sorry, and then it won't happen again.
Oh, Johnny.
No, Anna, really, I'll turn over a new leaf.
You take me back and you'll see.
I promise you'll never have any reason to complain.
Johnny, you know it'll never work out.
Oh, but it will.
You've given me your word dozens of times, and always it's the same.
I just can't take that sort of thing anymore. I can't.
But you can't be happy living alone like this in a furnished room, eating out.
I still have the apartment.
If you come back, you don't have to work either.
I've got a swell job now.
I'm head mechanic at a big garage.
It is all.
I think things can be a lot better than before.
We'll have more money.
Johnny, I'm not thinking of the money.
I make enough to get by.
Then why not try?
I just want my peace of mind, Johnny.
Oh, but Anna...
It hasn't been so bad this last year.
At least I don't have to be worrying about where you are, Knights.
If you want to chase the girls, it's not my concern anymore.
Oh, now, wait a minute.
No, if we get together again, I'll have it all over again.
Sitting up and wondering and hating it and hating you and hating myself.
No, no, Johnny, no, not anymore.
Oh, but there won't be any more of that, I swear it.
No, not until the next time.
Oh, gee, Anna, why don't you believe me?
Oh, I know I lied about it before, but not this time.
It means too much to me this time.
I've got to have your back.
Look, look, honey, I brought you something.
Just to show you, I do mean it.
A watch.
Very nice.
Well, put it on, Anna. Go ahead, wear it.
I won't do, Johnny.
That isn't enough.
It's not nearly enough to convince me you're really any different.
What more can I say?
Nothing, nothing. Just forget it, Johnny.
Just let me get a divorce and forget all about it.
You'll find someone else.
Is that why you want a divorce?
So you can find someone else?
Well, there isn't anyone just now, but I don't see why there shouldn't be.
Well, I won't do it.
I'll never give you a divorce.
You're my wife and you're going to stay my wife,
like the preacher said, till death do us part.
Well, the preacher was wrong, Johnny.
I'm saving my money. When I have enough, I'll get it.
You can't keep me tied to you all my life.
There's only one thing that'll break up our marriage,
and that's you are dying.
You better go, Johnny. I don't like this kind of talk.
Well, I'm warning you, Anna. If you don't come back, I'll kill you.
Oh, Johnny, you're bluffing. You can't kill a fly.
No, I'm bluffing.
You're too scared. And besides, the first one the cops would look for would be you.
They know all about your threats, Johnny. You don't scare me.
Any more than you ever did. Oh, you better go, please.
But this time I'm not bluffing.
Wait a minute. Here's your watch, Johnny.
Take it back to the store and get your money.
Give it to that little redhead.
You're still seeing her, aren't you, Johnny?
You think I'm bluffing, huh?
Well, you'll see. You'll see if I'm bluffing or not.
You know, Mr. Landry, I was sure you wouldn't show up at 9 o'clock.
What made you think that?
I thought you were giving me a line.
Anyone who buys a watch like that must have a girl.
I still have it in my pocket.
Guys, then you weren't kidding.
Why should I kid you, sister? You're too pretty to kid.
But you can't mean you're going to give it to me.
Sure. Why not? If I feel like it.
What business are you in?
You're not a racketeer, are you?
Matter of fact, I'm on the other side of the fence.
What do you mean?
I'm a private eye.
A private eye? Oh, gosh, this is thrilling.
Imagine me knowing a real detective.
Well, just keep it under your hat.
It doesn't do for people to know my business, you know.
Makes it harder to tailor crooks.
Oh, you must have so many exciting things happening to you.
That's all in a day's work.
Are you working on a case now? Are you trying to solve a murder?
No. I'm trying to get the goods on a jewel thief.
Really? Yeah.
This gal, she works for a big diamond-cutting firm.
The firm hired me.
And she's been stealing diamonds?
We think so.
Well, then why don't you arrest her?
My goodness, if someone is stealing diamonds, just...
You can't just haul her in. You've got to get the goods on her first.
Well, I should think that would be easy. Just search her.
We arrest her and find nothing, and we can get sued for false arrest.
Even if she's a crook?
Sure, sure. You've got to have the proof first.
And I'm out to get it.
But how?
Can I trust you not to talk?
Why, Mr. Landry, you know you can't.
Jim.
Oh, sure. Jim. But tell me about it.
Well, you see, there are a lot of things in detective work that crooks don't know about.
For example, and this is a secret, remember, we have an X-ray camera.
An X-ray camera? What for?
Well, suppose we want to see if someone has something hidden in his clothes.
You know, a gun or something.
Oh, my goodness.
Take a picture with this X-ray camera, and we know.
And then you can use that camera to tell if this woman has the stolen diamonds on her, huh?
Sure. Sure, only I, uh, I can't do it.
Why not?
I can't get close enough to her. She knows me.
Every time she sees me, she ducks.
Oh.
You see, you've got to stand real close with that camera, or else it doesn't register.
Well, then why don't you hire someone to take the picture? Someone she doesn't know.
I can't trust anybody.
This camera is so secret that you can't let a stranger handle it.
Well, get someone you can trust.
What am I going to do? Advertise in the papers for someone I can trust?
How would I know I could trust anyone who answered the ad?
You could trust me. I could do it for you.
Oh, yes, yes, but I wouldn't ask you to. It's dangerous work.
If a gang ever found out, they might rub you out.
Would they have to find out?
I could just slip up behind her and take the picture and nobody would know.
And that's because they saw the camera.
Well, I wouldn't have to see it. I could hide it in a box or something.
There you are. I could do it.
Oh, but you have a job.
I'll take a day off.
You know, that's mighty nice of you.
You know, it would mean quite a lot to me.
Oh, I'd love to do it.
Well, I'd get a big fee if I could get the goods on it.
And of course, I'd pay you for your time.
Oh, you wouldn't have to pay me. I'd do it just for friendship.
Okay, then. Okay, it's a deal.
And just to show you how I feel about it here,
wrap this around your wrist.
The watch?
Oh, Jimmy, you don't have to give it to me.
Take it, honey. I want you to.
Well, anything you say, Jimmy.
You're the boss.
The next day I brought home a short piece of three-inch pipe
and a cheese box I picked up in the alley.
And I set to work.
I got the grenade out.
It was a grenade that my cousin Ed gave me when he came back.
I used to show it around, say it was a war souvenir
I'd picked up in Berlin, although I never got near Germany.
In no time at all, I had everything assembled.
And I got some wrapping paper.
The paper my robe came wrapped in from Hoopers.
It was a good double thickness, and I made a neat package of it,
tying it securely with string.
Through a tiny hole in one end, I left the cord attached to the firing pin,
stick out of the box.
It would be kind of tough on Joyce
when that cord was pulled, something was going to happen.
And I didn't want to be around when it did.
For Suspense, Roma Wines are bringing you Mr. Dennis O'Keefe
in the X-Ray Camera.
Roma Wines presentation tonight in Radio's outstanding theater of thrills,
Suspense.
Suspense, Radio's outstanding theater of thrills,
presented by Roma Wines.
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Discover for yourself why Roma Wines are America's largest selling wines.
And now Roma Wines bring back to our Hollywood soundstage
Dennis O'Keefe as John Lawrence,
with Kathy Lewis as his wife Anna,
and Loreen Tuttle as Joyce,
in the X-Ray Camera, a play well calculated to keep you in suspense.
Hi. Hi, Hop in, Joyce.
Hello, Jimmy. Oh, I'm so excited.
It's been the camera.
No, not this time, kid. We don't work that fast.
I took the afternoon off, especially.
Yes, yes, I know you did. But first we have to do some groundwork.
Later, when we take the picture, you'll have to take another afternoon off.
All right, I can do that. What do we do today?
Well, I'm going to park the car on the street near this diamond-cutting farm.
It's down here on Fulton Street. We'll sit in the car until she comes out.
Oh, then you'll, uh, you'll put the finger on her.
That's one way of saying it.
You see, I don't want her to see us together. Give her an idea.
Oh, I know that.
She walks up the street to the BMT. You follow her.
You mean I, I tailor. That sounds more professional.
Uh-huh, yeah. You tailor.
Stick close by, just as if you had the camera.
Here, take this dummy package I made up for you.
What's in this?
Nothing. It's just a box wrapped in paper.
The camera's real heavy, but this is just for practice.
Oh, I see.
When you get into the subway, you stand right next to her.
What if she gets a seat?
Not at five o'clock, she won't.
You just make sure you're right behind her.
Oh, I'll stick to her all right. Don't you worry about that.
And then you hold the camera like this, the long way, see?
Try to hold it steady and pull on this cord I have attached to the inside.
What's that for?
Well, it, uh, it trips the shutter on the camera in the box.
You see, the camera's all wrapped up, so in order to get it to shutter,
I had to tie a cord to it.
Oh, I see.
Will the camera take a picture from inside the box?
It's an X-ray camera, isn't it?
Oh, yes. Of course, I forgot.
It'll take about 15 seconds for the exposure to be made.
You better wait till you're going through the tunnel to Brooklyn
before you take the picture.
That way, you'll be sure people won't be shoving you, you know,
getting in and out of the train.
I understand.
Then I'll meet you in Brooklyn.
You get off at Court Street,
and I'll meet you in the St. George Hotel lobby.
It's very simple.
All you gotta remember is to hold the camera still
during the 15 seconds it takes to expose the film.
Oh, of course, I'll hold it right between us.
That's a girl. You're real smart.
What time is it?
Um, it's just five after five now by my very favorite watch,
which a bowl of mine gave me.
And there she comes out of that door.
You see her? She's walking up the street.
The girl in the blue hat.
Oh, I see her.
Go on. Go on. Get on her tail.
I'll see you in Brooklyn later.
Leave it to me, Jim.
This rehearsal is gonna go just perfect.
Goodbye.
Yeah. Goodbye, honey.
I watched her as she hurried up the street after Anna,
and I almost regretted that I hadn't given her the real package.
But it was better this way.
If there were any chinks in the plan,
this rehearsal would show them up.
I drove over the bridge and across the river to Brooklyn.
She was waiting in the St. George lobby.
Ah, how did it go?
Well, I could have held it still for two minutes instead of 15 seconds.
She was pushed into a corner right in front of me.
No hitches?
No, nothing.
She didn't even complain at the box pushing into her back.
She's awfully pretty, Jim.
Why should a pretty girl like that be mixed up in stealing diamonds?
Some people will do anything for money.
You know how much she got away with in the last couple of months?
A lot?
More than $100,000.
Wow. Oh, now I see.
Will you get much of a reward?
Five grand, maybe ten.
And a good slice of that'll be yours.
Oh, Jim, I don't care about the money.
I'm doing this for you.
I know, kid.
And don't think I don't appreciate it.
Now, about the real job.
You think you can get off in the store at four on Friday?
Four o'clock it is.
Great, great.
Now, a little after five, someone will be in for a mighty big surprise.
So Friday, I picked her up in front of the store,
and we drove over to the subway.
I kissed her, and then I gave her the camera.
Is that it?
Yeah.
Now, be careful of it now.
Don't drop it or anything.
It's awfully expensive.
One of its kind in this country.
It's heavy.
Oh, sure, sure it is.
It's got batteries in there, an x-ray tube.
It's very complicated.
It looks just like one of the packages from the store.
I know.
I got it up to look that way so it wouldn't be suspicious.
She must know you're carrying a camera.
Oh, don't you worry.
Nobody would know that.
Is this the corridor, Pa?
Hey, be careful.
Don't fool around with that.
What was I going to pull now?
Well, I just don't want the plate, I suppose.
But when you do pull, pull it all away, hard.
Give it a real yank.
Why do that?
You leave it to me.
Remember, the cord is at the back,
and you point the front right at her middle.
She carries the diamonds around her waist.
I'm sure of that.
I get it.
All right.
It's up to you.
So long and good luck, kids.
Sure.
I'll see you later.
I went back to the garage.
I hoped I'd get in without the boss seeing me.
But, oh, legal, I wouldn't miss anything.
Ah, where have you been, Johnny?
Me?
I was out for a cup of coffee.
Oh, do you have to get out of your coveralls for that?
Go on, get back on the job.
I promised that green convertible for tomorrow morning.
Now, don't worry about it.
I've only got about another half hour's work on it.
I'll finish it up.
Okay.
Let me know when it's done.
Sure.
Sure, you'll know when it's done.
Five o'clock.
Five after five.
Ten after five.
Fifteen after five.
Finally, 5.30.
It was done.
Everything was done by now.
Go home and wait.
I have my alibi.
I was under a convertible in the garage when it happened.
All I had to do was make sure the boss saw me leave and what time.
I finished that job, Mr. Granger.
Oh, that's fine, Johnny.
Of course you'll be paying me overtime.
Got a half hour's overtime coming.
Overtime?
Like the devil I will.
I didn't ask you to stay overtime.
Oh, yeah, but you wanted the job done, didn't you?
Sure, but not on time and a half.
It's only a half an hour.
Half an hour?
No, half an hour.
No overtime.
Okay, okay.
Have it your way.
Next time you quit at five like everybody else.
Go on, Johnny.
I took my time about dinner.
It would be some time before the news came through on the radio about the mysterious
explosion in the subway.
When I reached home, there was a letter waiting for me.
I started to shake when I saw the handwriting.
It was from Anna.
Dear Johnny, I'm sorry I spoke to you the way I did.
You had good reason to get angry and I know you didn't mean what you said.
I've been thinking it over, Johnny, and maybe the preacher was right and we should try to
make our marriage stick.
If you really meant what you said about turning over a new leaf, call me, Johnny.
We'll talk about my coming back.
I've always loved you, Johnny, in spite of everything, Anna.
I broke out in a sweat.
I don't know what I hoped or thought.
I grabbed the phone.
I couldn't wait for the news to come through on the radio.
I had to know.
Hello?
Is this Johnny?
Hello, who is it?
Oh, she was alive.
She hadn't been killed.
Joyce, what happened to her?
Maybe...
Why hasn't it gone off?
I had to know that too, so I phoned her home.
Hello?
Is this Joyce?
Jim?
Oh, Jim, I was wondering when you'd call.
I waited for you at the St. George and you didn't come.
What happened?
Oh, I don't know what to say to you, Jim.
I don't know what you'll think of me.
Never mind about that. What happened?
I was so stupid.
It was all my fault. Now you'll be angry.
What happened?
I had so much time to wait.
I sat in the subway until it was time to meet her.
I had the camera right beside me.
And a man sat down next to me, just as the train was about to leave.
Oh, Jim, I should have known.
Joyce, what happened?
He stole the camera.
He picked it up and ran into the train before I could open my mouth.
I didn't know whether to go to the police or not,
but I waited for you at the hotel and you didn't come, so I came home.
I knew you'd come.
You didn't tell anyone about it, did you?
Oh, no. I thought you'd want to take care of it.
Okay. Okay, forget it. I'll take care of it. Just forget it.
You aren't angry, are you, Jimmy?
No, no, I'm not angry. I'm crazy about you, baby. Forget it.
Oh, for once luck was with me.
I could thank my lucky stars that there was one chink in the plan,
something I never could have foreseen.
All I thought about now was Anna, to call Anna,
to arrange to meet her and start my life all over again.
I felt like somebody must feel when he gets an eleventh hour of pre-
took a shower and was sitting there in my new robe,
smoking a cigarette and feeling like a million dollars.
Who is it?
Brody, homicide.
Huh?
What did you say?
I said Brody, homicide.
What do you want?
About a guy who was killed today,
a pickpocket and sneak thief named Mickey Rafferty, you know him?
How should I know him?
Yeah, yeah, something in that. How should you know him?
I guess you didn't want to kill him, did you?
I didn't want to kill anybody. I don't know what you're talking about.
Where were you at five o'clock?
Working, working. I was at the Nemo garage.
Why?
I see. Who were you trying to kill, punk?
Come on, come on, talk. Why did you make that nice little bomb?
I didn't make any bomb. I don't know a thing about any bomb.
Okay, maybe this will refresh your memory.
What is it?
Well, look at it. It's a sales slip.
Sold to John Lawrence, 185 East 45th Street,
one robe, $19.50. Deliver.
I guess it's that pretty one you're wearing now, huh?
Where did you get that sales ticket?
It was between two sheets of wrapping paper on that homemade bomb you fixed up.
Made it very easy for us, bud.
All we had to do was to deliver the package again.
And this time it's got a new suit for you, Johnny.
A nice suit with stripes.
Well, I could have weaseled out of it, maybe.
But Joyce testified against me.
She was sore when she heard about what that X-ray camera really was
that she'd been carrying around.
Hannah's mad, too.
I guess that's natural. That's the way people are.
Oh, it's such a nice suit.
I'm glad you're happy.
I'm glad it's natural. That's the way people are.
Oh, it's certainly as lonely here without dames.
You'd think one of them would forget her grudge
and come up and see a guy that's only got a few more weeks.
Suspense!
The X-ray camera starring Dennis O'Keefe
brought to you by Roma Wines.
That's R-O-M-A, Roma Wines, America's largest selling wines.
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Dennis O'Keefe may soon be seen in the Seymour Nebenzal production, Atlantis.
Tonight's suspense play was by George and Gertrude Fass.
Next Thursday same time, you will hear Miss June Havoc as star of Suspense,
produced and directed by William Spear for the Roma Wine Company of Fresno, California.
In the coming weeks, Suspense will present radios Henry Morgan, Lucille Ball, and others.
Make it a point to listen each Thursday to Suspense,
radio's outstanding theater of thrills.
This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.