WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:19.240 Suspense! 00:19.240 --> 00:26.560 Radio's outstanding Theatre of Thrills brings you an hour, a full 60 minutes of suspense. 00:26.560 --> 00:31.200 Produced by Anton M. Leder and produced by Robert Montgomery, who tonight also stars 00:31.200 --> 00:41.240 in a play entitled, In a Lonely Place by Dorothy B. Hughes. 00:41.240 --> 00:43.400 This is Robert Montgomery. 00:43.400 --> 00:46.880 The other day a friend of mine repeated a familiar phrase. 00:46.880 --> 00:51.720 He indicated the travel folder on his desk and said with a kind of triumph, I'm going 00:51.720 --> 00:53.440 to get away from it all. 00:53.440 --> 00:55.400 He's lucky my friend is. 00:55.400 --> 00:58.760 He's going to change the scene, the whole scene. 00:58.760 --> 01:03.740 New horizons, new vistas, new people, or no people at all. 01:03.740 --> 01:06.520 New thoughts or no thoughts at all. 01:06.520 --> 01:11.680 He has a rendezvous with a cloudless sky and a peaceful stream and the easy whisper of 01:11.680 --> 01:13.340 the wind. 01:13.340 --> 01:16.760 Only time stands between him and a fresh beginning. 01:16.760 --> 01:21.240 Indeed, he has a lonely place where there is no loneliness. 01:21.240 --> 01:23.460 Yes, my friend's lucky. 01:23.460 --> 01:28.120 He can get away from it all with a simple change of scene and he has no fear of being 01:28.120 --> 01:30.680 alone with his thoughts. 01:30.680 --> 01:33.960 It isn't like that with Dixon Steele. 01:33.960 --> 01:36.320 It isn't like that at all. 01:36.320 --> 01:41.940 And so with the performance of Robert Montgomery as Dixon Steele and with our play, In a Lonely 01:41.940 --> 01:56.720 Place by Dorothy B. Hughes, we again hope to keep you in suspense. 01:56.720 --> 02:01.620 I stood there at the foot of sunset at the end of the city of Los Angeles looking out 02:01.620 --> 02:04.560 through the evening fog at the Pacific. 02:04.560 --> 02:10.880 The swirling mists kept lifting themselves like gauzy veils coming up to touch my face. 02:10.880 --> 02:16.520 There was something in it like flying, the sense of being lifted high above the crawling 02:16.520 --> 02:23.080 earth, of being part of the wildness of air and something more, of being wrapped tight 02:23.080 --> 02:27.920 in a strange world of fog and cloud and wind. 02:27.920 --> 02:33.240 I had liked flying at night, but the war's ending had finished that. 02:33.240 --> 02:38.440 Since then it had left me, that feeling of power and exhilaration and freedom that came 02:38.440 --> 02:41.120 from being alone in the sky. 02:41.120 --> 02:51.200 But here, tonight, at the edge of this noisy fog-wrenched ocean, I had it again. 02:51.200 --> 02:55.080 Then I turned away. 02:55.080 --> 02:59.480 I was already late for my appointment with Brub and his new wife. 02:59.480 --> 03:04.440 I walked past my coupe parked at the curb and went up the path to the little white cottage. 03:04.440 --> 03:09.360 The lights from the living room windows made little concentric circles in the heavy fog. 03:09.360 --> 03:12.760 It would be good to see Brub again. 03:12.760 --> 03:14.720 You old son of a seeker. 03:14.720 --> 03:16.720 What do you mean by not calling us before now? 03:16.720 --> 03:17.720 Let me see you. 03:17.720 --> 03:19.800 It's the same boy, Brub. 03:19.800 --> 03:22.240 I haven't changed a bit, and neither have you. 03:22.240 --> 03:24.200 Oh, sure I have for the better. 03:24.200 --> 03:25.360 And this is why. 03:25.360 --> 03:27.920 Sylvia, this is Dix, Dix and Steele. 03:27.920 --> 03:28.920 Hello, Dix. 03:28.920 --> 03:29.920 Oh. 03:29.920 --> 03:31.080 We're old friends, really. 03:31.080 --> 03:34.240 You've been Brub's favorite topic of conversation as long as I've known you. 03:34.240 --> 03:36.080 Oh, we flew together, Sylvia. 03:36.080 --> 03:38.400 Brub took care of me like a big brother. 03:38.400 --> 03:40.840 You needed some looking after Colonel Steele. 03:40.840 --> 03:41.840 Remember the night in Selmo... 03:41.840 --> 03:43.280 Save it for later, mister. 03:43.280 --> 03:44.760 And it's not Colonel anymore. 03:44.760 --> 03:48.600 The army made me a gentleman, gave me the only mark of distinction I've ever had, and 03:48.600 --> 03:50.000 then took it away from me. 03:50.000 --> 03:53.480 Say, why didn't you tell me you were married into such a lovely girl? 03:53.480 --> 03:54.480 Well, thank you, Dix. 03:54.480 --> 03:55.480 Tell you. 03:55.480 --> 03:56.960 You called me up five months ago. 03:56.960 --> 04:01.360 And last April the 8th, to be exact, told me you'd just get in and let me know as soon 04:01.360 --> 04:02.360 as you were located. 04:02.360 --> 04:03.700 That's the last I heard. 04:03.700 --> 04:07.000 You checked out of the Ambassador three days later and you didn't leave a forwarding address. 04:07.000 --> 04:08.800 How could it tell you anything? 04:08.800 --> 04:10.160 Keeping tabs on me, Brub? 04:10.160 --> 04:12.720 Oh, trying to find you, you crazy lug. 04:12.720 --> 04:13.840 And here I am. 04:13.840 --> 04:15.040 It's like being home again. 04:15.040 --> 04:16.120 Well, brief me, boy. 04:16.120 --> 04:17.840 What have you been doing and how's it going? 04:17.840 --> 04:18.840 Slow, Brub, slow. 04:18.840 --> 04:24.480 I've got a little apartment and a car and a typewriter, and that's about it. 04:24.480 --> 04:26.160 A typewriter's a new touch. 04:26.160 --> 04:29.640 Try to write a book, like 90% of the other GIs. 04:29.640 --> 04:34.080 The detective novel, My Rich Uncle Fergus, back east, is taking me for a year to see 04:34.080 --> 04:35.080 what I can do. 04:35.080 --> 04:39.000 He calls it giving me a hand over the period of my readjustment. 04:39.000 --> 04:41.800 So that keeps me busy most of the time. 04:41.800 --> 04:42.920 And the rest of the time? 04:42.920 --> 04:47.900 The rest of the time, I hardly know what to do with myself. 04:47.900 --> 04:50.600 You were a hot pilot in England, Dix. 04:50.600 --> 04:51.600 Just a kid at that. 04:51.600 --> 04:53.640 Sure, it's gonna take a little time. 04:53.640 --> 04:56.360 Would anyone care for something to eat or drink? 04:56.360 --> 04:57.360 Cold beer? 04:57.360 --> 04:58.360 No, thanks. 04:58.360 --> 05:00.800 Not at the moment, I'm too relaxed. 05:00.800 --> 05:02.800 We were a casual generation, Dix. 05:02.800 --> 05:06.200 They put us in the middle of something that wasn't very casual. 05:06.200 --> 05:08.000 There's bound to be a reaction. 05:08.000 --> 05:11.880 Oh, Brub's always looking for the hidden motive power. 05:11.880 --> 05:13.360 That's because he's a policeman. 05:13.360 --> 05:14.360 A policeman? 05:14.360 --> 05:17.120 Oh, not a policeman now, darling, a detective. 05:17.120 --> 05:19.520 I'm sorry, darling. 05:19.520 --> 05:20.920 What happened to you, Brub? 05:20.920 --> 05:24.440 Oh, my old buddies asked me why, and I can't help them. 05:24.440 --> 05:25.440 I don't know why. 05:25.440 --> 05:28.480 All I do know is it's rotten hard work. 05:28.480 --> 05:30.680 No, the things men do. 05:30.680 --> 05:34.080 You with a badge and me with a typewriter. 05:34.080 --> 05:36.680 And that reminds me, I ought to be getting back to it. 05:36.680 --> 05:38.320 Oh, but it's still early. 05:38.320 --> 05:39.320 What's the hurry, Dix? 05:39.320 --> 05:42.800 Well, Brub will want his rest, Sylvia, if he's gonna dig around for the glory of the 05:42.800 --> 05:44.160 L.A. police force. 05:44.160 --> 05:45.640 It is L.A., isn't it, Brub? 05:45.640 --> 05:46.640 It is, indeed. 05:46.640 --> 05:47.640 Then you do need some sleep. 05:47.640 --> 05:49.640 Plenty of work in L.A., you know? 05:49.640 --> 05:50.640 Plenty. 05:50.640 --> 05:51.640 I'll be seeing you two. 05:51.640 --> 05:52.640 Well, good night, Dix. 05:52.640 --> 05:54.640 We'll expect you to come off in a... 05:54.640 --> 05:56.040 Hey, hey, wait a minute. 05:56.040 --> 05:57.040 We don't have your number. 05:57.040 --> 05:58.040 My number? 05:58.040 --> 05:59.040 Sure will. 05:59.040 --> 06:00.040 Want to get in touch. 06:00.040 --> 06:01.760 Oh, yeah, right. 06:01.760 --> 06:02.760 Crestview, 908-98. 06:02.760 --> 06:03.760 908-98. 06:03.760 --> 06:04.760 Good. 06:04.760 --> 06:11.320 You'll be hearing from me, Dix. 06:11.320 --> 06:12.720 I'd be hearing from Brub. 06:12.720 --> 06:14.320 And why not? 06:14.320 --> 06:18.920 Good old Brub with his tired eyes and rumpled hair. 06:18.920 --> 06:20.720 Brub had been my big brother. 06:20.720 --> 06:24.480 But he hadn't known everything there was to know. 06:24.480 --> 06:27.440 Some things a man keeps secret. 06:27.440 --> 06:30.720 It's amusing to keep something secret. 06:30.720 --> 06:33.480 I wondered if they were surprised by my quick exit. 06:33.480 --> 06:35.360 But I had to get out of there. 06:35.360 --> 06:36.360 I couldn't stay. 06:36.360 --> 06:39.320 I had to figure things out. 06:39.320 --> 06:41.120 So Brub was a detective now. 06:41.120 --> 06:43.880 And he had my telephone number. 06:43.880 --> 06:50.800 There was something amusing about Brub being able to lay his hands on me whenever he wanted. 06:50.800 --> 06:56.000 Something more exciting than anything that had happened in a long time. 06:56.000 --> 06:59.680 The hunter and the hunted, arm in arm. 06:59.680 --> 07:04.160 The hunt sweetened by danger. 07:04.160 --> 07:07.440 I was driving slowly, hugging the curb. 07:07.440 --> 07:08.440 And then I saw her. 07:08.440 --> 07:17.040 A girl, an unknown girl, standing alone on the corner of Camden Drive waiting for a bus. 07:17.040 --> 07:20.160 And buses didn't run often out here at night. 07:20.160 --> 07:24.600 I pulled up a block ahead and got out, shutting the door so it made no sound. 07:24.600 --> 07:27.600 And then I walked back toward her. 07:27.600 --> 07:28.960 She heard me coming in the fog. 07:28.960 --> 07:32.320 She turned her face to me, smiling a little. 07:32.320 --> 07:36.160 Glad to have someone to share the darkness and the silence with her. 07:36.160 --> 07:39.720 I walked up to her, slowly. 07:39.720 --> 07:40.720 And I was smiling back. 07:40.720 --> 07:51.240 Yes, hello? 07:51.240 --> 07:55.520 Hello, Dix. 07:55.520 --> 07:56.520 Speaking. 07:56.520 --> 07:57.520 Oh, is this Sylvia? 07:57.520 --> 07:58.520 How'd you know? 07:58.520 --> 07:59.520 Recognize your voice. 07:59.520 --> 08:00.520 I've been ringing and ringing. 08:00.520 --> 08:01.520 Where have you been? 08:01.520 --> 08:02.520 Well, I guess I slept through it. 08:02.520 --> 08:03.520 I was up late last night working on the book. 08:03.520 --> 08:04.520 Can you break away long enough to have dinner with us tonight at the club? 08:04.520 --> 08:05.520 Tonight? 08:05.520 --> 08:06.520 I'm not going to be long. 08:06.520 --> 08:07.520 I'm going to be late. 08:07.520 --> 08:08.520 I'm going to be late. 08:08.520 --> 08:09.520 I'm going to be late. 08:09.520 --> 08:10.520 I'm going to be late. 08:10.520 --> 08:11.520 Tonight? 08:11.520 --> 08:12.520 Oh, fine. 08:12.520 --> 08:13.520 Fine. 08:13.520 --> 08:14.520 What time? 08:14.520 --> 08:15.520 Oh, about eight. 08:15.520 --> 08:16.520 Oh, I almost forgot. 08:16.520 --> 08:17.520 Don't dress. 08:17.520 --> 08:18.520 We're informal at the beach. 08:18.520 --> 08:19.520 Thanks. 08:19.520 --> 08:20.520 You had me a little worried. 08:20.520 --> 08:21.520 My dinner coat shrank while I was away flying. 08:21.520 --> 08:22.520 Oh, grubs too. 08:22.520 --> 08:23.520 They fed you gentlemen all together too well. 08:23.520 --> 08:24.520 All right then. 08:24.520 --> 08:25.520 Tonight at eight. 08:25.520 --> 08:26.520 Thanks for calling, Sylvia. 08:26.520 --> 08:27.520 I had slept late. 08:27.520 --> 08:28.520 The day was almost gone. 08:28.520 --> 08:29.520 The apartment was already in shadows. 08:29.520 --> 08:30.520 The afternoon paper was on the table. 08:30.520 --> 08:31.520 I was in the bathroom. 08:31.520 --> 08:32.520 I was in the bathroom. 08:32.520 --> 08:33.520 I was in the bathroom. 08:33.520 --> 08:34.520 I was in the bathroom. 08:34.520 --> 08:35.520 I was in the bathroom. 08:35.520 --> 08:36.520 I was in the bathroom. 08:36.520 --> 08:37.520 I was in the bathroom. 08:37.520 --> 08:38.520 I was in the bathroom. 08:38.520 --> 08:39.520 I was in the bathroom. 08:39.520 --> 08:40.520 I was in the bathroom. 08:40.520 --> 08:41.520 I was in the bathroom. 08:41.520 --> 08:43.840 My door was on the lawn just outside my window, the paper. 08:43.840 --> 08:47.360 I threw on a robe and ducked out quickly. 08:47.360 --> 08:51.160 And I was back in the room standing in the middle of the floor, holding it still folded 08:51.160 --> 08:54.560 in my hand, listening to the blood hammer in my head. 08:54.560 --> 08:58.600 I switched on the floor lamp and sank down into an easy chair. 08:58.600 --> 09:00.900 I lit a cigarette. 09:00.900 --> 09:05.960 Then I took a deep drag and I unfolded. 09:05.960 --> 09:09.400 That was all I had to do. 09:09.400 --> 09:18.280 lay spread open in my lap. They'd found their biggest type for the headline. Strangler strikes again. 09:30.040 --> 09:35.640 Huh? Dix, over here. Oh, hello Sylvia. Where's Brab? He called at the last minute to say he'd be 09:35.640 --> 09:41.240 detained. It's like being married to a doctor. Would you like a drink meanwhile? Here he is now. 09:41.240 --> 09:47.720 Sorry to be late darling. Hello Dix. Glad you could join us. You look exhausted Brab. Hard day? 09:47.720 --> 09:53.400 Haven't you seen the papers? No, I didn't get a chance. Why? It's another one. Oh Brab. Well, 09:53.400 --> 09:59.480 what's it all about? Another woman killed, the same way. Did the commissioner call you in? Yeah, 09:59.480 --> 10:04.600 the whole department. We've been with him since five. We've got to stop it. Yes darling. 10:04.600 --> 10:12.440 Oh, was it someone important? No, no it never is. Oh, I forgot you're just a visitor Dix. You see, 10:12.440 --> 10:17.080 the only pattern we can find is in the time schedule. They come one a month regularly. 10:17.080 --> 10:22.280 You must be starved Brab. Wouldn't you like to order? In a minute baby, I want to unwind. 10:22.280 --> 10:28.120 Have a highball anyway. Malcolm. Yes Mrs. Nicolai. Three scotch and sodas Malcolm. We'll order later. 10:28.120 --> 10:35.000 Certainly ma'am. The first one was about four months ago, May to be exact. May 16th, the night 10:35.000 --> 10:39.800 before my birthday party. There was a girl down on Skid Row. She was a nice enough kid, dancer in a 10:39.800 --> 10:45.880 cheap joint. We found her in an alley, strangled, no clues. And that was number one? Yeah, in June 10:45.880 --> 10:51.800 number two. We found her in Westlake Park. Wasn't any reason for it. A nice normal girl, young and 10:51.800 --> 10:57.480 attractive. She'd been killed the same way and no clues. And then the others? Last night was the 10:57.480 --> 11:03.160 fourth. No motive, no connection between any of them. And never the same neighborhood. And last 11:03.160 --> 11:07.880 night? Beverly Glen Canyon, up where it's country. She was lying on the brush at the side of the road. 11:08.520 --> 11:12.600 There were about 500 car tracks superimposed on that particular stretch, so it wouldn't do any good 11:12.600 --> 11:18.440 to lift them. But we've got one clue, a great one. We know the killer uses a car. How can you tell Brab? 11:19.000 --> 11:23.800 Well, her name was Mildred Atkinson and she'd been playing bridge with three girlfriends in Beverly. 11:23.800 --> 11:28.520 At 11, she and another girl went out to the bus stop together. A friend caught a Wilshire bus and 11:28.520 --> 11:34.360 left Mildred behind, waiting for a Hollywoodland. So how did she get up to the canyon where we found 11:34.360 --> 11:40.520 her this morning? It's a long way. The answer is she went for a ride. Where's that drink? Just another 11:40.520 --> 11:46.280 minute darling. Los Angeles is too big, too sprawling. You can't patrol every street every night. 11:46.280 --> 11:52.840 He's safe. He's insane, of course. Sure he is. A maniac walking the streets, mild-mannered and 11:52.840 --> 12:00.200 soft-spoken and looking as normal as anyone. A homicidal maniac. I sat there watching Brab's 12:00.200 --> 12:08.200 angry black eyes and Sylvia's white pallid face. He's insane, of course. Their imaginations were 12:08.200 --> 12:13.560 poor, blunted little things reaching only as far as the obvious. He's insane, of course. 12:14.360 --> 12:20.120 So that was to be the chorus. What could they know of the world of imagination and beauty, 12:20.120 --> 12:27.160 in which a sane man, as sane as any, could kill and kill again? Don't you like your drink, Dix? 12:27.960 --> 12:35.160 Huh? Oh sure. Lost in the fog, eh boy? But I know why. Do you? Could it be that little banning girl 12:35.160 --> 12:39.560 over at the next table? Could it be that she reminds you of someone? I don't know what you're 12:39.560 --> 12:45.720 talking about, Brab. What girl at what time? Now he sees her. What's the mystery about Betsy Banning? 12:45.720 --> 12:49.960 Does Dix know her? No darling, it's just that she's a dead ringer for another girl we used to know 12:49.960 --> 12:58.920 in England. Especially Dix. He knew her well. Am I right? Yeah. Yes, you're right, little Brucie. 12:59.560 --> 13:05.400 This, this girl is so much like her. You're wrong, Dix. She's not as pretty as Brucie. 13:05.400 --> 13:12.040 Don't you remember? Remember? Yes, I remember Brucie. 13:12.040 --> 13:18.200 But I didn't want to remember Brucie. Brucie of the sea green eyes. Brucie whom I had loved and 13:18.200 --> 13:25.160 wanted and needed. No, I'd been through it before. It was now that mattered. It was today in Southern 13:25.160 --> 13:29.960 California, 6,000 miles away from her, with something else hammering in my head to be looked 13:29.960 --> 13:37.960 at and examined. What? Oh yes, tires. They were good tires, no patches, no distinctions. 13:37.960 --> 13:43.960 Rubber said it himself, they couldn't get tire marks from dry concrete. I hadn't thought so. 13:43.960 --> 13:51.320 Still, I should have made sure. Certain gambles are legitimate. Like taking Mildred to that drive-in 13:51.320 --> 13:56.920 last night. Gambling on the muddled memory of waitresses who served hundreds of average-looking 13:56.920 --> 14:04.120 men and women every day, every night. Sure it was a risk, but really, it was a risk. 14:04.120 --> 14:12.600 Every night. Sure it was a risk, but risks were like spice. Like stunt flying. As long as you 14:12.600 --> 14:18.120 used them like spice sparingly. Like stunts, planning them with precision I could afford to 14:18.120 --> 14:27.320 take risks. I just couldn't make mistakes. I left the club right after dinner. Got back to the 14:27.320 --> 14:34.200 apartment early. I pulled up in front and got out. I started up through the patio to my place at the 14:34.200 --> 14:41.080 rear when I saw I wasn't alone out there. She was hurrying in, not noticing me. In the blue light, 14:41.080 --> 14:48.520 her hair and her slacks and her jacket were all blue. Different depths of blue. I did it out of 14:48.520 --> 14:56.120 impulse without thought. I beg your pardon. Who, who is it? I'm your neighbor, my name's Steel. 14:56.120 --> 15:03.000 So your name's Steel. Did you drop something? I don't know, did I? No, no you didn't. It's 15:03.000 --> 15:07.720 just conversation. Try again another time. No, no, no, wait a minute, wait a minute. I, 15:07.720 --> 15:13.560 I just lost my dinner date. I thought maybe you'd lost yours too. Sorry, mine'll be here any minute. 15:13.560 --> 15:20.200 You've got red hair. I didn't notice that. It's no secret. Like I say, I'm your neighbor, 15:20.200 --> 15:27.240 4A. If you do ever lose a dinner date, let me know, will you? I'll be sure to make a note of that. 15:28.120 --> 15:36.600 Good night. I got some cold beer and some cheese from the refrigerator and draped myself over the 15:36.600 --> 15:44.040 divan. The night was a scorcher. A Los Angeles September night. I lay there eating and drinking 15:44.040 --> 15:52.040 and waiting for it. Not that I thought for a minute it would come, but I was waiting for it and it did 15:52.040 --> 16:05.000 come. It's you. I've just lost a dinner date. Come in, come in. Maybe you'll find him here. I hope not. 16:05.000 --> 16:09.640 I told him I had a headache and was going to bed and that I was disconnecting the phone, 16:09.640 --> 16:14.440 but I still want dinner. You mind if I finish my beer? Go ahead. 16:21.000 --> 16:26.680 I'm Dick Steele. Who are you? My name is Laurel and that's all you get for the time being. 16:26.680 --> 16:33.240 All right Laurel, I don't mind beginning at a crawl. I suppose you're in pictures. Not often. 16:33.240 --> 16:36.680 I don't like getting up mornings. No, I don't either. That's why I'm a writer. 16:36.680 --> 16:41.960 Why'd you come by, Laurel? Because I'm hungry and because tonight I didn't want to sit opposite a 16:41.960 --> 16:48.920 man who's rich and 60 and eats oatmeal. You have a grudge against money? No, only against the men 16:48.920 --> 16:53.960 and women who go with it. People who think that everything in life is for sale. I hate them. 16:53.960 --> 16:57.640 Sometimes they pay the rent and the jeweler. They don't pay mine. 16:57.640 --> 17:05.240 They don't pay mine. How did we get onto this? Haven't you finished the beer yet? 17:05.240 --> 17:08.760 All finished and all ready. Let's go Laurel. 17:11.320 --> 17:19.080 We aided Carl's out on the road to Malibu. We didn't say much. We ate and smoked and had coffee 17:19.960 --> 17:26.520 and I watched what the lights did glinting on that red hair. When we left there I knew it. I knew it 17:26.520 --> 17:32.680 was the beginning of something, of something good. She was beside me and with me and that was enough. 17:33.720 --> 17:42.280 I'd needed her for a long time. Ever since Brucie. That's how long. This girl, this Laurel, 17:42.280 --> 17:47.320 could make it up to me, could make me forget. I parked on an open stretch overlooking the dark 17:47.320 --> 17:52.920 beach in the ocean. She wanted to go down closer so we left the car and struggled through the sand 17:52.920 --> 17:58.440 down to the water's edge. I held her hand tightly. The spin drift salted our lips. 17:59.480 --> 18:05.960 I haven't done this in a long, long time. Having fun? Oh wonderful. You can really smell the ocean 18:05.960 --> 18:16.120 here. Breathe Dix. Breathe deep. Laurel, would you laugh at me if I said I was happy? That I 18:16.120 --> 18:24.360 never thought I'd be happy again? That I didn't think I could be? No Dix. Laurel, Laurel you're 18:24.360 --> 18:51.720 wonderful. Am I? Laurel come here. Come here. Hello? Hello Dix, it's Brock. Did I break into your 18:51.720 --> 18:56.360 writing? No, no not at all. What's up? Who was that redhead I seen you with last night? 18:57.000 --> 19:01.000 What are you talking about? Where did you see me? You didn't see us. We were pulling out of Carl's 19:01.000 --> 19:06.680 restaurant when you went in. Sylvia spotted you and I spotted the redhead. There are always people 19:06.680 --> 19:11.880 looking, brub. There are always eyes to see. Why sure boy. You can't take a step in this world, 19:11.880 --> 19:18.200 you know that. But listen, how about lunch? Fine, fine. What time and where? Noon at the Beverly 19:18.200 --> 19:25.400 Hill station. Beverly Hill station? Police station kid. Pick me up there. Okay, brub. I'll see you there. Noon. 19:34.280 --> 19:39.720 That was a nice station you got there, brub. Flowers and shrubs and a white facade. It looks 19:39.720 --> 19:45.240 like a small eastern university. Beverly Hills is just a small town, Dix. Almost a village but 19:45.240 --> 19:50.280 the forest is first rate. I'll be working out of there from now on. How's the case coming? 19:51.080 --> 19:57.560 Uh, the case? Oh, that. It's a dead end, I'm afraid. You mean you're closing the books? 19:59.320 --> 20:04.120 We don't ever close the books. After the newspapers and all the rest of them forget it, 20:04.760 --> 20:09.400 our books are still open. That's the way it is. That's the way it has to be, I guess. 20:09.400 --> 20:14.840 There's been tough cases before but we find the answer. Our department's had cases running 20:14.840 --> 20:19.480 10, 12 years. Sometimes it's just because we're waiting for the next move but we find them. 20:20.280 --> 20:24.760 This is Dix, old pal, remember? What are you trying to tell me, that the criminal doesn't escape? 20:24.760 --> 20:29.640 That's right. One way or another he's caught. Sometimes it's because he's caught there in that 20:29.640 --> 20:36.200 lonely place living with himself. So it ends in suicide or the insane asylum but there's no escape. 20:37.000 --> 20:42.440 You were saying the other night that this killer is insane. He is. I can't figure it. He's been 20:42.440 --> 20:46.840 pretty smart, hasn't he? The insane are more clever about their business and more careful 20:46.840 --> 20:51.560 too than the sane. It's normal for them to be sly and secretive. That's part of the mania. 20:52.200 --> 20:58.200 But they give themselves away. How do you like this apple pie? Just like mom used to make. 20:58.200 --> 21:04.440 How do they give themselves away? Yeah, they repeat the pattern. Now take the strangler. 21:04.440 --> 21:10.520 Look at his pattern. I don't see any. I must be writing a lousy detective novel. Okay, look. 21:10.520 --> 21:14.920 It's a girl at night alone. He comes along in a car. She accepts a ride. You're positive about 21:14.920 --> 21:20.520 the car? It has to be. My theory is he didn't use it on the last one on Mildred until he'd made the 21:20.520 --> 21:25.160 approach on foot and lulled her. She was waiting for a bus and he's waiting on the same corner. 21:25.160 --> 21:29.800 They get to talking. He invites her to have a cup of coffee. Then he mentions his car isn't far away 21:29.800 --> 21:34.600 and he'll give her a lift. He takes her to the drive-in. Drive-in? What drive-in? Oh, that's 21:34.600 --> 21:39.000 something new. One of the car hops recognized Mildred's picture after the story broke. 21:39.000 --> 21:44.280 She remembered her coming in with a man and ordering coffee. Good girl. That's a big help. 21:44.280 --> 21:50.600 Yeah, it is. And the man. Did she remember him? Eh, it could be you or me or our grandfathers. 21:50.600 --> 21:56.280 No, she couldn't remember. Half a loaf is better than none, eh? I've got to go up to Beverly Glen, 21:56.280 --> 22:02.280 the scene of the crime. Want to come along? Well, I had a date. Come on. I can give you a better idea 22:02.280 --> 22:07.880 of what we're up against. All right. I'll charge it up to research on the book. Good. Show me and 22:07.880 --> 22:17.880 take your car or mine. What was that? My car? Why? Was Brub suspicious? Did he want my car back up on 22:17.880 --> 22:25.800 that street? That street? Was this lunch arranged? No. I'd already hesitated too long in answering. 22:26.680 --> 22:34.120 It couldn't matter which car. It had been too late and too foggy. Did you say something, Brub? 22:34.120 --> 22:40.040 I'm sorry. Thinking about the redhead, I said, whose car do we take? Yours or mine? Oh, we might 22:40.040 --> 22:44.680 as well take mine. You don't mind another passenger? Not at all. The chief wants to come along, Jack 22:44.680 --> 22:58.360 Lochner. We'll go back by the station for him. We swung out toward sunset, all three of us up front. 22:58.360 --> 23:04.520 Lochner was a tall, thin man with wispy gray hair. He didn't look like the chief of anything. 23:05.320 --> 23:09.800 I drove carefully. I suppose it's the thing to do with cops besides him. 23:12.280 --> 23:17.800 Nice day for a ride. Yeah. Okay, so I'll shut up. 23:20.440 --> 23:27.080 This is it, Dicks. Turn right. Beverly Glen. My hands began to sweat. If Brub hadn't called out, 23:27.080 --> 23:33.240 I knew I would have turned onto that street myself automatically. And I was a visitor from the east 23:33.240 --> 23:38.120 who didn't know the country very well. There was tension in my hands and arms, fear that I might 23:38.120 --> 23:45.240 recognize the place at the side of the road and react to it. And then slowly I relaxed again, 23:45.960 --> 23:51.640 realizing that I didn't know the road, that I could never find the spot even if I wanted to, 23:51.640 --> 24:00.600 before it had been dark. We climbed into the valley. There was a chill in the air and the sun was far 24:00.600 --> 24:08.600 away. Nobody spoke. These two men were on a case that had them tired and sore. It wasn't a time for 24:08.600 --> 24:14.680 a conversation piece. I drove on, waiting for somebody to tell me to stop. 24:14.680 --> 24:20.840 Here we are. Just pull up along here, Mr. Steele, if you will. 24:32.520 --> 24:38.120 Is this where you found her? Right there in the brush. You see how thick it is in here? 24:38.680 --> 24:43.320 He'd have known that. He'd have figured that she wouldn't be found for a long time with the leaves 24:43.320 --> 24:49.160 falling on her, covering her. And every day there'd be more leaves. Not many people look off at the 24:49.160 --> 24:54.200 side of the road when they're driving, not unless there's something scenic to look at. This canyon 24:54.200 --> 24:59.560 would be perfect. Then how was she found so quickly? Look, the milkman picked this spot in the world to 24:59.560 --> 25:06.920 have a flat. The killer figured it smart. See how the road curves here? Well, you could see any lights 25:06.920 --> 25:12.600 coming from behind, two loops below. And he could look up to the top of the hill, see the lights of 25:12.600 --> 25:19.320 a car approaching him when it takes the first of those two curves. He can sit with her in the car, 25:20.200 --> 25:28.120 looking like a spooner, until the other cars go by. He was playing it safe. So he does it. 25:28.920 --> 25:34.680 He opens the door of the car, he rolls her out into the leaves, and he's away. No chance of being 25:34.680 --> 25:41.880 caught at it. And strangling's the easiest way. Yes. Yes, that makes sense. How about it, 25:41.880 --> 25:47.240 Brob? Find anything? The experts have been over every inch with their microscopes. He won't find 25:47.240 --> 25:52.680 anything. But he wanted to have another look around, so I came along. Well, it seems hopeless to me, 25:52.680 --> 25:57.800 Mr. Lochner. If there's nothing here, of all places, where can you look? There's only one place we'll 25:57.800 --> 26:03.960 find anything. And where's that? In his car. In the murderer's car? That's where the evidence is right 26:03.960 --> 26:14.840 now. Enough to send them to the gas chamber. Cigarette, Captain Lochner? Yeah, thanks. Got it? 26:18.520 --> 26:23.960 You, um, you haven't been able to get a description of that car yet, have you? Not yet. We're working 26:23.960 --> 26:28.680 on the people at the drive-in. One of them is going to remember. And when you find it, then you'll go 26:28.680 --> 26:33.640 through it for those clues that you were talking about. Hairpins and lipstick. No, Mr. Steele. 26:33.640 --> 26:41.400 Nothing like that. What then? Dust, Mr. Steele. Dust? You heard the man, Dix. He said dust. Like 26:41.400 --> 26:47.480 this stuff all over me. No matter how much I beat it, I can't get it all out. Yeah, that's dust. 26:48.040 --> 26:52.840 We've got dust from the drive-in, dust from her clothes and her shoes, and dust from here, 26:52.840 --> 26:59.400 from a little thicket off Beverly Glen. Three different kinds. And all of them in his car. 26:59.400 --> 27:04.920 It's really fantastic. And even in 10 or 12 years, the dust will still be there. Some of it will, 27:04.920 --> 27:09.560 yes. You want my opinion of this case, gentlemen? The strangler doesn't have a chance. 27:11.080 --> 27:15.000 I swung the car around and we rolled back down the canyon and into town. 27:15.720 --> 27:21.400 They were sitting beside me again, up front, sitting on the dust they wanted so desperately, 27:21.400 --> 27:25.960 breathing it into their lungs, having it settle on the flesh of their hands and their faces and in 27:25.960 --> 27:31.320 their hair. The golden little molecules that would send the strangler to the gas chamber 27:31.320 --> 27:40.120 floated gently and unseen before our eyes as we drove back. And I felt good. My hands were easy 27:40.120 --> 27:46.840 on the wheel. I could be talkative now. I was expected to be curious and impressed. I would 27:46.840 --> 27:53.640 come back to it again. Did it help you, Brud, coming back? No, I didn't find anything. Didn't 27:53.640 --> 28:00.920 expect it. You know something? He's from the East. He is? Oh, you mean the waitress recognized an 28:00.920 --> 28:06.120 Eastern accent? No, he talked just like anybody else. No accent. That's just Lochner's reconstruction. 28:06.120 --> 28:10.920 He's from the East. I know that. He's a mugger. I'm afraid I don't follow you, Captain. What's a 28:10.920 --> 28:16.040 mugger? Certain gangs used to operate in New York. One man would get the victim's soul, you see, 28:16.040 --> 28:21.400 with his right arm. The others would rob him. Until they found out it could be a one-man job. 28:21.400 --> 28:26.920 You don't need more than two fingers to strangle a man or a woman. He's a mugger. He doesn't use his 28:26.920 --> 28:33.560 fingers. They're on any finger marks. He used his arm. He's from the East. As a fellow Easterner, 28:33.560 --> 28:38.120 Captain Lochner, you must admit that a Westerner could have learned the trick. I've seen the way 28:38.120 --> 28:45.000 they did it in New York. He knows how. Same way. I think you're right, Loch. We keep getting closer. 28:45.000 --> 28:52.040 If you will, Miss Steele, I'll get out right here. All right. Thanks for the lift, Steele. 28:52.040 --> 28:55.400 Thanks for letting me go along. I'll see you at the station, Bob. 29:03.000 --> 29:09.320 Ever since this thing started, I've been afraid for her. For her? You mean Sylvia? She's lived in 29:09.320 --> 29:13.720 the canyon all her life. She never had any fear, wandered all over at any time of day. 29:13.720 --> 29:18.440 But the canyon at night, the way the fogs come in, it's a place for him. And I've scared her. 29:19.160 --> 29:24.440 She's alone so much, I never know what hours I have to keep. You know our street, how dark and 29:24.440 --> 29:30.040 lonely it is and the way our house is set up there. I'm the one who scared Dix. I've infected her, 29:30.040 --> 29:36.760 and I can't help it. I can't pretend. Until we've caught him, she isn't safe. Sylvia isn't safe. 29:36.760 --> 29:43.960 I saw how it was with both of them. How they clung together, fear in both of them. The woman 29:43.960 --> 29:50.680 fearing to have her man close on the heels of a murderer and, Brub, afraid for her because she 29:50.680 --> 29:57.800 was a woman, because she was his woman and women were being stalked in the night. And yet, even 29:57.800 --> 30:04.760 though he was afraid, he would leave her because he was a hunter and this was a big help. 30:04.760 --> 30:13.000 And this was a big hunt for Wild Game. Yeah, Wild Game. 30:21.800 --> 30:27.800 In tonight's full hour of suspense, Mr. Robert Montgomery stars as Dixon Steele in the play, 30:27.800 --> 30:35.000 In a Lonely Place. Tonight's study in suspense. 30:40.040 --> 30:46.040 In just a moment, we will return with Act Two of Suspense. This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System. 30:48.120 --> 30:55.480 And now, back to our Hollywood sound stage and Act Two of In a Lonely Place, starring Mr. Robert 30:55.480 --> 30:59.960 Montgomery in a narrative well calculated to keep you in suspense. 31:11.240 --> 31:17.560 I was very tired. Tired of thinking about Sylvia and Brub and the fear that had bound them 31:17.560 --> 31:25.480 as desperately as their love for each other. I was weary of the big hunt, for I was hunting on my own. 31:25.480 --> 31:31.320 I was looking for happiness. I spent the next few days with Laurel. It got so that I didn't 31:31.320 --> 31:39.160 count the hours anymore. All I knew was beauty and I knew intensity and I called it happiness. 31:39.160 --> 31:46.760 And all the time I knew it wouldn't last. I sensed the restlessness coming into her. I could feel it. 31:49.560 --> 31:54.680 Dix, Dix, what is it? Did I say something? 31:58.120 --> 32:08.040 Laurel, Laurel. Oh, what is it? You tell me. You've been sitting there without moving for more than an hour. 32:08.040 --> 32:15.080 Oh, just daydreaming. Was it something nice? Tell me about it. Turn off the radio, Dix. It's making me nervous. 32:15.080 --> 32:20.440 All right. Do you like a drink? Yes, please. 32:29.800 --> 32:35.320 Thanks. You know what we ought to do tonight? Go out on the town. Put on our Sunday best and have 32:35.320 --> 32:39.400 the biggest dinner on the menu. The sky's the limit. How does that sound? Where do you want to go? 32:40.280 --> 32:47.560 To a drive-in? Dix. I'm sorry. I seem to be all thumbs. Here, let me make you a note. No, no, no. 32:47.560 --> 32:54.600 That's all right. I didn't want it anyway. No, baby. No drive-in for you tonight. You're not the drive-in type. 32:54.600 --> 33:01.400 What type am I? The Ciro type, baby. Expensive and plush and chromium plated. 33:01.400 --> 33:07.960 Ciro's. That'll do fine. I'll call and reserve a table for 10 o'clock. Save your money. You can take me to a drive-in tonight. 33:07.960 --> 33:13.160 I won't take you to a drive-in. Why not? Are you afraid someone might see you there? Is that why? 33:13.160 --> 33:17.560 What do you mean by that? I mean you keep me hidden away from sight as if we might run into some of your friends 33:17.560 --> 33:26.280 like that Brub and Sylvia, as if I wasn't good enough for you. Look, baby, relax. You're not making sense. 33:26.280 --> 33:33.080 Didn't I say I wanted to spread out tonight, get dressed up for once and go to Ciro's? Hide you away. 33:33.080 --> 33:41.080 You come with me tonight and I'll show you all for everybody to see. No, I'm tired. I don't want to get dressed and go places. 33:41.080 --> 33:48.040 All I want is to go up to the drive-in. We're not going to the drive-in. We're not going. Dix, you're hurting me. 33:48.040 --> 33:58.040 Hello. Hello, Dix. How are you? Fine. What's on your mind? Can you come over to the house? I want to see you. 33:58.040 --> 34:06.040 Sorry, Brub, but I got a date tonight. I've just had a letter from England, Dix. It's about Brucie. Brucie? That's right. 34:06.040 --> 34:22.040 Okay, I'll be right over. It seems that I can't have dinner with you after all. All right. You don't seem very unhappy about it. 34:22.040 --> 34:34.040 Laurel. Yes? I'm sorry if I hurt you. Forget it. It's all right. We haven't been soft lovers. We haven't played it that way. 34:34.040 --> 34:44.040 The world keeps coming in between us. That makes me afraid. Why should you be afraid? Because I might lose you. 34:44.040 --> 34:56.040 I have to keep telling myself to remember, to remember that I can't take any chances, that I can't lose you. I can't, Laurel. 34:56.040 --> 35:04.040 Don't be afraid, Dix. You see, I love you very much. 35:14.040 --> 35:22.040 Have a chair, Dix. All right. Would you care for anything to eat? No, thanks, Evie. I just finished them. Remember Adam Tyne, Dix? 35:22.040 --> 35:28.040 No. Sure you do. The flight commander from Bath. Nice, quiet fellow. We saw a lot of him that spring of 43. 35:28.040 --> 35:34.040 Well, we knew a lot of fellows over there, bruv. I don't remember. Well, it's not important, except that I've had a letter from him. 35:34.040 --> 35:48.040 First one in more than a year. It's a sad piece of news, Dix. Let's have it. Brucie is dead. Brucie? Is dead? Brucie? 35:48.040 --> 35:58.040 Oh, Dix. Dix, I didn't know. I'm sorry, Dix. I guess none of us realized how much you and Brucie... Brucie. 35:58.040 --> 36:12.040 We didn't know, Dix. No. How could you? How could anyone know? How did she die? Was bombs? No. 36:12.040 --> 36:24.040 Well, then how? How? She was murdered. Murdered? Yeah, murdered. Well, how... Why? Why? Who? 36:24.040 --> 36:33.040 The police have never found out. Better not talk about it, Dix. Well, I want to talk about it. I want to know who did it. Why should anyone kill Brucie? 36:33.040 --> 36:47.040 They don't know. Her family missed her for two weeks. When she was found, it was in a rocky cove. She'd been strangled. 36:47.040 --> 37:04.040 Brucie was dead. Brucie, whom I had loved, who was my only love. Brucie was dead. And no one cared. No one in all the world cared. Except me. Brucie. 37:18.040 --> 37:29.040 I called Laurel when I got home that night. She didn't answer. I stepped outside and looked up to her apartment across the patio from mine. It was dark. 37:29.040 --> 37:36.040 She didn't come home at all that night. Or the next day, or the next night. No word from her. Not a sign. Nothing. 37:36.040 --> 37:48.040 The following morning was a dirty gray rag. I called Laurel's number once more. No answer. I had to get out of that cramped room. Away from the unremembered shape of my dreams. 37:48.040 --> 37:58.040 I didn't take the car. I wanted to breathe, to put motion into my body. I walked as far as Wilshire and then went up to Beverly Drive to my favorite delicatessen. 37:58.040 --> 38:09.040 Dix, where'd you spring from? A guy gets hungry, bruv. How are you, Captain Locker? Fine, fine. Good to see you again. Slide in. Okay, thanks. 38:09.040 --> 38:17.040 Would you like to order now, sir? If you please. Salami sandwich on rye and a beer, please. It'll be just a few minutes. Well, more trouble in Beverly? 38:17.040 --> 38:28.040 Well, same old case. We're not going to let it happen again. That's all. And you think it comes from this neighborhood? It's the last clue we have. We pick up a little more each time we check. 38:28.040 --> 38:35.040 Yeah, but where do you check? How? Well, we've been talking to the help again. At the drive-in where he stopped with her that night. Any luck? 38:35.040 --> 38:41.040 I don't know yet. In these neighborhood spots, a lot of people come by to eat regularly. I got to thinking about it. 38:41.040 --> 38:52.040 There must have been some of the regulars around that night when he took Mildred in for coffee. The Nerva, driving in there, coming in under all those bright lights and gambling that no one would remember what he looked like. 38:52.040 --> 38:59.040 Like you and me, bruv. An ordinary man. Yeah, an ordinary man with the nerve of a jet pilot. 38:59.040 --> 39:09.040 I see what you're after, bruv. Have the help ask questions of the regulars when they come in. Were they at the drive-in the night of the murder? And did they see the couple? 39:09.040 --> 39:17.040 That's it. And I suppose you're hoping this fella's a repeater, too. And then it'd be a break, but there's no chance. No chance except for his nerve. 39:17.040 --> 39:25.040 You mean he might have the nerve to walk in again. He might, Dix. He just might. And you think the help might spot him if he did? I think they might. 39:25.040 --> 39:36.040 They're keyed up to remember, Mr. Steele. The little car-hop Jean, her name is, swears she'd know him again if he came in. She'll know him if she sees him again. 39:36.040 --> 39:43.040 Only she can't describe him. That's the trouble with people in these cases. You remember how it was when we were flying, bruv? How do you mean? 39:43.040 --> 39:50.040 You said yourself he's a gambler. He's reckless. I mean, he'll take chances, like going to that drive-in before killing the girl. 39:50.040 --> 39:59.040 Well, it occurs to me that it's the same kind of recklessness we had when we were flying during the war. We took chances, but we were sure that we'd pull out of them. 39:59.040 --> 40:05.040 Mr. Steele makes sense. And something else. He's probably an ex-serviceman. How do you figure that? 40:05.040 --> 40:12.040 Well, the people who saw him at the drive-in all say he's a nice-looking fellow with nice clothes. At least that's what the newspaper accounts have to say. Am I right? 40:12.040 --> 40:13.040 So far. 40:13.040 --> 40:19.040 Then it's ten to one. He's the right age, good, healthy specimen, average. The average were in the service. 40:19.040 --> 40:26.040 Oh, I know. That's not a very brilliant deduction, but it fills out the picture a little more. 40:26.040 --> 40:28.040 I'll buy that, Mr. Steele. 40:28.040 --> 40:30.040 Yeah, I will, too. 40:30.040 --> 40:32.040 Well, I'll be getting back to the office. 40:32.040 --> 40:34.040 I'll be in a little later today, Chief. 40:34.040 --> 40:35.040 Okay. 40:35.040 --> 40:40.040 By the way, Captain Lochner, every time I see you, I seem to be asking a lot of questions I hope you haven't minded. 40:40.040 --> 40:44.040 Not at all. Rob vouched for you a long time ago. You just keep asking. 40:44.040 --> 40:46.040 I will, Captain. Thanks. 40:46.040 --> 40:52.040 I'm late now. I want to check over those Bruce reports again. See me as soon as you get back. 40:52.040 --> 40:53.040 Right. 40:53.040 --> 40:54.040 Here's your order, sir. 40:54.040 --> 40:56.040 I beg your pardon? 40:56.040 --> 40:58.040 Wasn't yours the salami sandwich? 40:58.040 --> 40:59.040 Oh, yes. Thank you. 40:59.040 --> 41:00.040 Will that be all today? 41:00.040 --> 41:01.040 Yeah, that's all. 41:01.040 --> 41:04.040 Your check, sir. And thank you. 41:04.040 --> 41:10.040 Bruce. This is a pretty common name. There must be a hundred thousand in the United States. 41:10.040 --> 41:11.040 At least. 41:11.040 --> 41:13.040 And hundreds in Los Angeles. 41:13.040 --> 41:14.040 Yeah. 41:14.040 --> 41:22.040 He said he was going to check the Bruce reports. It's not the same one, Rob. It couldn't be. Not Brucey. 41:22.040 --> 41:27.040 I'm sorry, Dick. I know it's a raw wound, but I couldn't help talking to Lochner about her. 41:27.040 --> 41:32.040 I was knocked off my pins when I heard the news and I wanted to report on the case. I figured you'd won one, too. 41:32.040 --> 41:33.040 You were right. Then what happened? 41:33.040 --> 41:39.040 Loch cabled the London police. He thought it'd help us. That maybe Brucey was one of a series like our series. 41:39.040 --> 41:45.040 It's far-fetched, but the killer might have been an American. England was full of GIs at the time. 41:45.040 --> 41:47.040 And was she one of the series? 41:47.040 --> 41:56.040 They don't know. There was a series, but it didn't start right after Brucey. A couple of months, then it began. The same pattern. Strangler. 41:56.040 --> 41:58.040 Well, what was the matter with him? Couldn't they catch him? 41:58.040 --> 42:06.040 No, he was never caught. After six months, it stopped just as suddenly as it had begun. Maybe he was shipped back home. 42:06.040 --> 42:15.040 If I could ever find him, if I could ever get my hands on him, the man who killed Brucey, I guess we feel the same about that. 42:15.040 --> 42:18.040 Do you want to come back with me, Dicks, and see the reports? 42:18.040 --> 42:22.040 No, I don't think I could take them, Rob. You understand? 42:22.040 --> 42:26.040 Of course I do, Dicks. Of course I do. 42:29.040 --> 42:38.040 I went back to the apartment and lay on the divan for the rest of the afternoon, thinking about Brucey, strangled, so many miles away. 42:38.040 --> 42:44.040 And Laurel, who lived just across the patio from me and had disappeared as if the earth had swallowed her. 42:44.040 --> 42:52.040 I thought of them both, and soon their figures swam together in my mind and were co-mingled so that they became one. 42:52.040 --> 43:01.040 It was already dark, and I found myself very hungry. I got in the coop and drove over to Wiltshire, not knowing where I'd eat. 43:01.040 --> 43:10.040 Past the Savoy, Romanoffs, the tropics, and then suddenly, the brilliant lights of the driving glittered ahead of me. 43:10.040 --> 43:17.040 I didn't stop to think. I twisted the wheel and pulled into a parking space right up front, right under the lights. 43:17.040 --> 43:26.040 They were looking for a man of my height, a man of my build. I was here for them. I'd come. 43:26.040 --> 43:36.040 Two young fellows were in the car to my left, a middle-aged couple to my right. No police. No police in sight. 43:36.040 --> 43:42.040 I was safe. The girl who came with the menu was pert and pretty, no more than 16. 43:42.040 --> 43:44.040 Good evening. Hello. 43:44.040 --> 43:49.040 Want to see a menu? I know what I want. I'll have the special tonight. It's kind of a celebration. 43:49.040 --> 43:52.040 Yes, sir. All below. 43:52.040 --> 43:58.040 I wondered what the girl's name was. I wondered if she was Jean, the car hop whom the police had alerted, 43:58.040 --> 44:02.040 the girl who would come up to each customer in the hope of finding me. 44:02.040 --> 44:08.040 And here tonight, she had found me, and she didn't know it. 44:08.040 --> 44:18.040 I ate slowly, lingering over the food, and before I left, I handed her a large tip, just to be sure she remembered me. 44:18.040 --> 44:24.040 She thanked me, smiling, and said, and I promised I would. 44:24.040 --> 44:31.040 I went out, Wilshire, to the ocean. The fog blew in at 14th Street, and I should have turned back then, but I didn't. 44:31.040 --> 44:41.040 I could hear the boom of the breakers, and I could smell the sea and the fog, and the fog itself was sweet and cool. 44:41.040 --> 44:51.040 It was silent. The world was shrouded in mists and silence, except for the thump of the water and the far-off cry of the foghorn. 44:51.040 --> 44:58.040 And then, at that moment, I knew what I was going to do. 44:58.040 --> 45:10.040 I got out of the car, and I listened to my footsteps across the pavement toward the beach, and then I listened to the silence, 45:10.040 --> 45:16.040 as I began walking in the sand, sludging through heavy, damp sand. 45:16.040 --> 45:26.040 I passed the club where I'd gone to dinner one night with Brub, where I'd seen a young girl, a pretty brown-haired girl, who looked like Brucie. 45:26.040 --> 45:35.040 I went on, trying to forget. I drifted along the deserted beach, looking for the shape of the living thing, of a woman. 45:35.040 --> 45:45.040 But I was alone. I passed a beach house where people huddled together in warmth and gaiety, and found myself trembling with hatred for Laurel. 45:45.040 --> 45:49.040 If she had come back to me, I'd not be shut out like this and cut off. 45:49.040 --> 45:57.040 I'd always leave you before you're ready. I groped on, my feet chained in the mud, and I stumbled and fell to one knee. 45:57.040 --> 46:05.040 I stayed there, my head buried in my arms. I was there for a long time, lost in the world of swirling fog, 46:05.040 --> 46:12.040 in a crashing wave, lost in a lonely place, and the red knots tightened in my brain. 46:12.040 --> 46:22.040 Suddenly, something came running through the darkness. A small, dark shape rippled upon me, and I realized it was a dog, a friendly terrier. 46:22.040 --> 46:30.040 I stroked it gently and held it close. And then there were footsteps coming over the sand. 46:30.040 --> 46:39.040 I could feel my blood begin to pound with excitement, whether it was a dog, it was a master, or a mistress. 46:39.040 --> 46:45.040 The sound of the steps came closer, and then she stepped forward out of the fog. 46:45.040 --> 46:51.040 I looked up from the door and said, hello. And then I smiled. 46:51.040 --> 46:59.040 She couldn't know that behind that smile lay my hatred of Laurel, my hatred of Brub, my hatred of Sylvia, 46:59.040 --> 47:09.040 my hatred of Lochner, of everyone in the whole living world, of everyone. But Brucie... 47:09.040 --> 47:12.040 and Brucie was dead. 47:12.040 --> 47:16.040 The End 47:25.040 --> 47:28.040 Laurel at last. Laurel. 47:28.040 --> 47:31.040 No, it isn't Laurel. 47:31.040 --> 47:33.040 What brings you, Brub? 47:33.040 --> 47:34.040 Am I invited in? 47:34.040 --> 47:36.040 Yeah, of course. 47:36.040 --> 47:38.040 Sit down. 47:38.040 --> 47:39.040 Yeah. 47:39.040 --> 47:40.040 Anything wrong? 47:40.040 --> 47:41.040 Plenty wrong. 47:41.040 --> 47:42.040 Is it Sylvia? 47:42.040 --> 47:45.040 No. What makes you think it is? 47:45.040 --> 47:46.040 Well, I don't know. You look so worried. 47:46.040 --> 47:49.040 You mean... you mean you don't know what's happened? 47:49.040 --> 47:55.040 I don't know from nothing. I awoke to a beautiful morning, the birds singing, the California sunshine, 47:55.040 --> 48:00.040 and I decided it was a day for the beach. I've been out there all day riding the breakers. Oh, wonderful sport. 48:00.040 --> 48:02.040 You were at the beach today? 48:02.040 --> 48:05.040 Sure. What's wrong with that? 48:05.040 --> 48:10.040 He was out again last night. The strangler. He did it on the beach. 48:10.040 --> 48:12.040 Brub. Again? 48:12.040 --> 48:16.040 The little banning girl. Betsy Banning. You remember her. The girl who looked like Brucie. 48:16.040 --> 48:19.040 Yeah. I remember. 48:19.040 --> 48:23.040 When I get him, and I will get him, I'm gonna kill him. 48:23.040 --> 48:27.040 I'm gonna kill him with my hands. The way he likes to do it. 48:27.040 --> 48:31.040 Oh, now take it easy, Brub. Would you like a drink? 48:31.040 --> 48:35.040 She always took her dog out for a run at night, no matter what time it was. 48:35.040 --> 48:44.040 She wasn't afraid. She was like Sylvia. The ocean was always something safe, something good, and she had her dog. 48:44.040 --> 48:45.040 And the dog? 48:45.040 --> 48:49.040 Buried in the sand, dead, strangled. 48:49.040 --> 48:50.040 Poor fella. 48:50.040 --> 48:54.040 Right on time, just about a month, on the nose, every month. 48:54.040 --> 48:55.040 And no clues? 48:55.040 --> 49:01.040 On the sand, no. No clues, no buttons, no fingerprints, no cigarette stubs, no match folders, not even a calling card. 49:01.040 --> 49:07.040 Well, there's not much I'm good for at a time like this, but if there's anything I can do, Brub, anything... 49:07.040 --> 49:11.040 I was in the neighborhood. I had to stop by and talk. 49:11.040 --> 49:14.040 I'll be going now. Thanks, Dix. 49:14.040 --> 49:18.040 Anytime, Brub. You know that. Anytime. 49:23.040 --> 49:30.040 The sand had been my first mistake. For sand was an evil, penetrating thing, and could never wholly be rid of it. 49:30.040 --> 49:34.040 If dust could tell a story, then sand screamed out its secrets aloud. 49:34.040 --> 49:40.040 That was why the morning afterward, early, I had gone down to the beach and spent the whole day there in the sand. 49:40.040 --> 49:43.040 That was why I had been ready for Brub when he came. 49:43.040 --> 49:48.040 That was why I was ready for the whole L.A. police force, if they wanted to come. 49:48.040 --> 49:54.040 After Brub left, I went out of the house, drove to the cleaners on Pico, and left a bundle of dirty clothes. 49:54.040 --> 49:58.040 Then I ate in Beverly, and afterward went into Warner's Theater for a double bill. 49:58.040 --> 50:00.040 On the way home, I thought I was being followed. 50:00.040 --> 50:04.040 A large gray sedan that stayed with me for three miles, but I was wrong. 50:04.040 --> 50:10.040 We were together in a red light, and when it changed, the sedan shot ahead of me and disappeared into the night. 50:10.040 --> 50:18.040 I slept, without dreams, and didn't wake until late afternoon of the next day. 50:18.040 --> 50:22.040 And still Laurel hadn't come back. 50:22.040 --> 50:25.040 Do you love me? I'd asked her. 50:25.040 --> 50:28.040 And she said, yes. 50:28.040 --> 50:31.040 She lied in my face and in my arms. 50:31.040 --> 50:34.040 I hated her. A cheat and a liar. 50:34.040 --> 50:37.040 No one cared. No one ever cared. 50:37.040 --> 50:39.040 Only Brucie. 50:39.040 --> 50:41.040 Brucie who was dead. 50:41.040 --> 50:43.040 Who had left me alone. 50:43.040 --> 50:45.040 Alone forever. 50:45.040 --> 50:57.040 For all of my life. 50:57.040 --> 51:01.040 Mr. Steele? 51:01.040 --> 51:02.040 Yes. 51:02.040 --> 51:06.040 Captain Locknore would like to see you up at the station, if you don't mind. 51:06.040 --> 51:07.040 I don't mind at all. 51:07.040 --> 51:09.040 Well, take your time. There's no hurry. 51:09.040 --> 51:10.040 Well, that's all right. I'm ready now. 51:10.040 --> 51:12.040 You can follow me in your own car, if you like. 51:12.040 --> 51:13.040 It doesn't matter. 51:13.040 --> 51:16.040 You might as well take yours. You know the way, don't you? 51:16.040 --> 51:18.040 Oh, yes. I know the way. 51:18.040 --> 51:21.040 So they wanted to look at my car. 51:21.040 --> 51:25.040 While Locknore kept me occupied. 51:25.040 --> 51:27.040 I laughed out loud driving over. 51:27.040 --> 51:31.040 Let them crawl through it. Let them look at the sand and the dust. 51:31.040 --> 51:35.040 Let them make casts of the tires. It didn't mean a thing to me. 51:35.040 --> 51:38.040 It only made the game more exciting. 51:38.040 --> 51:41.040 Thought maybe you could help us, Steele. 51:41.040 --> 51:43.040 I'd be glad to, Captain. You name it. 51:43.040 --> 51:47.040 It's the Bruce case. The English girl. I understand you knew her. 51:47.040 --> 51:49.040 Yes, yes. Brub and I both knew her. Wonderful girl. 51:49.040 --> 51:53.040 I've been doing a good deal of thinking about Miss Bruce. 51:53.040 --> 51:56.040 Brub told me your idea. It could have been the same man. 51:56.040 --> 52:00.040 I've got a list here of American men who were friendly with the Bruce girl. 52:00.040 --> 52:02.040 And were all in England when it happened. 52:02.040 --> 52:05.040 Just look it over. See what you can remember about these men. 52:05.040 --> 52:09.040 Anything they might have said or done. Here. 52:09.040 --> 52:14.040 Oh. I see Brub's name is on it. 52:14.040 --> 52:16.040 Yeah. Mine too. 52:16.040 --> 52:18.040 But you'd been transferred before then, Dix. 52:18.040 --> 52:21.040 My transfer wasn't completed until after I got back from Scotland. 52:21.040 --> 52:23.040 I had a month's leave accumulated. 52:23.040 --> 52:24.040 You came home after that? 52:24.040 --> 52:27.040 No, no, no. I was sent to Paris and into Germany on the cleanup. 52:27.040 --> 52:29.040 I was overseas another six months. 52:29.040 --> 52:31.040 What about the men on that list? 52:31.040 --> 52:33.040 I can't tell you a thing against any single one of them. 52:33.040 --> 52:37.040 They were all good men. Not one could have had anything to do with this. It's impossible. 52:37.040 --> 52:39.040 Okay, okay. 52:39.040 --> 52:43.040 Brub's been telling me the same thing. It's another dead end. 52:43.040 --> 52:45.040 Well, that's enough for the day. 52:45.040 --> 52:48.040 I'm going home to sleep for 20 hours. 52:48.040 --> 52:50.040 Thanks for coming over. 52:50.040 --> 52:52.040 Deal. 52:52.040 --> 52:54.040 Good boy, Dix. 52:54.040 --> 52:56.040 Why? Because I stood up for the fellas? 52:56.040 --> 52:58.040 You did too. We had to. 52:58.040 --> 53:00.040 I never knew about Scotland. 53:00.040 --> 53:02.040 How'd you like it up there? 53:02.040 --> 53:04.040 It was wonderful. 53:04.040 --> 53:06.040 Because she was with me. 53:06.040 --> 53:08.040 Brucie. 53:08.040 --> 53:10.040 She loved it there. 53:10.040 --> 53:12.040 And I loved her. 53:20.040 --> 53:22.040 The car was where I'd left it. 53:22.040 --> 53:25.040 If the police had gone after dust, they hadn't taken much. 53:25.040 --> 53:28.040 The floor mat was no cleaner than it had been before. 53:28.040 --> 53:33.040 I went home and sat in the living room, watching it get dark, not bothering to turn on any of the lights. 53:33.040 --> 53:35.040 There were no slips, no mistakes. 53:35.040 --> 53:38.040 There had never been any. There never would be any. 53:38.040 --> 53:43.040 I'd go back east. I'd get my trunk off tomorrow by express, and then I'd go by plane. 53:43.040 --> 53:47.040 Goodbye, Brub. Goodbye, Sylvia. Thanks for the buggy ride. 53:47.040 --> 53:53.040 But first I'd find a room, not too far away, and hole up for a few days. 53:53.040 --> 53:57.040 Once I was gone, Laurel would come back to her apartment and I'd be waiting. 53:57.040 --> 53:59.040 In the shadows. 53:59.040 --> 54:01.040 I'd take care of Laurel. 54:01.040 --> 54:06.040 I sat there in the heavy darkness, my fingers aching, my head banded by iron. 54:06.040 --> 54:08.040 There were footsteps outside. 54:08.040 --> 54:10.040 No, not Laurel. 54:10.040 --> 54:13.040 A man coming home late from the office. 54:13.040 --> 54:16.040 But she might come tonight. I'd been cleared by the police. 54:16.040 --> 54:19.040 No one need be afraid of me tonight. 54:19.040 --> 54:21.040 She might come. 54:21.040 --> 54:24.040 I sat behind the dark window, hardly breathing. 54:24.040 --> 54:28.040 Then I heard them coming, clicking on the pavement. 54:28.040 --> 54:31.040 High, pointed heels. I looked out. 54:31.040 --> 54:35.040 Slacks, a careless coat over the shoulders, a scarf to mask her flaming hair. 54:35.040 --> 54:40.040 I moved quickly, out the door, stepping softly through the windows, coming up behind her. 54:42.040 --> 54:45.040 So you decided to come back? 54:45.040 --> 54:48.040 Turn around, look at me. 54:48.040 --> 54:49.040 Sylvia. 54:49.040 --> 54:51.040 Yes, Sylvia. 54:51.040 --> 54:54.040 Where's Laurel? Where's Laurel? What have you done with her? 54:54.040 --> 54:57.040 Laurel's all right, Dix. She's all right. 54:57.040 --> 54:58.040 Where is she? 54:58.040 --> 54:59.040 Dix. 54:59.040 --> 55:00.040 Where is she? 55:00.040 --> 55:03.040 She isn't coming back. She's safe and she's going to stay safe. 55:03.040 --> 55:06.040 So you poisoned her against me because you hate me from the beginning you hated me. 55:06.040 --> 55:08.040 No, Dix, no. 55:08.040 --> 55:10.040 Only I did feel something was wrong with you. 55:10.040 --> 55:13.040 From the first night you walked into our house, I knew something was terribly wrong. 55:13.040 --> 55:16.040 You knew what could you know, a jealous dame. 55:16.040 --> 55:19.040 You couldn't even stand to see Brub have a friend like me. 55:19.040 --> 55:23.040 Wanted him all for yourself, didn't you? And now Laurel, you take her away from me too. 55:23.040 --> 55:26.040 Laurel came to us because she was afraid. Afraid of you and what you might do to her. 55:26.040 --> 55:28.040 That's a lie. 55:28.040 --> 55:30.040 Is it, Dix? 55:30.040 --> 55:34.040 Tell me, what happened to the girl who had coffee in the drive-in with you? 55:34.040 --> 55:37.040 What happened to the girl in Westlake Park? 55:37.040 --> 55:40.040 The girl down on Skid Row? 55:40.040 --> 55:45.040 Sylvia, I'm going to kill you. 55:45.040 --> 55:46.040 No! 55:46.040 --> 55:47.040 Huh? 55:47.040 --> 55:49.040 All right, get him! 55:49.040 --> 55:51.040 All right. 55:51.040 --> 56:08.040 It worked, Brub, it worked! 56:08.040 --> 56:13.040 We were all in my apartment, Lochner and Brub and Sylvia. 56:13.040 --> 56:17.040 And some of the boys I'd seen from the Beverly station. 56:17.040 --> 56:21.040 They put on the lights and sat me down on the die-van. 56:21.040 --> 56:24.040 And they stood around looking down at me. 56:24.040 --> 56:26.040 All of them but Sylvia. 56:26.040 --> 56:30.040 They stood between me and the chair in which she sat huddled. 56:30.040 --> 56:33.040 And Lochner was looking down to talk to me. 56:33.040 --> 56:37.040 I'm arresting you in suspicion of the murder of Mildred Atkinson. 56:37.040 --> 56:39.040 That's very funny. 56:39.040 --> 56:42.040 And suspicion of the murder of Betsy Banning. 56:42.040 --> 56:45.040 And the attempted murder of Sylvia Nicolai. 56:45.040 --> 56:47.040 Have you anything to say? 56:47.040 --> 56:48.040 Yes. 56:48.040 --> 56:49.040 I think you're crazy. 56:49.040 --> 56:51.040 Listen to me, Dicks, it's no use. 56:51.040 --> 56:53.040 We have Mildred Atkinson's fingerprints in your car. 56:53.040 --> 56:55.040 There's only one way they could get there. 56:55.040 --> 56:57.040 Would you be lying? 56:57.040 --> 56:59.040 You, an old friend, just to trap me? 56:59.040 --> 57:00.040 And we have the dust. 57:00.040 --> 57:03.040 Do you know what a good lawyer could do with your precious dust? 57:03.040 --> 57:04.040 I'm not through, Dicks. 57:04.040 --> 57:07.040 There's quite a bit of lint from the Atkinson girl's coat. 57:07.040 --> 57:08.040 Lint? 57:08.040 --> 57:11.040 And there are hairs from Betsy Banning's Scotty Dog. 57:11.040 --> 57:15.040 We found them on the suit you took to the cleaners. 57:15.040 --> 57:21.040 But you can't think of everything, Brab. 57:21.040 --> 57:24.040 Especially when you're rushed. 57:24.040 --> 57:26.040 When your luck runs out. 57:26.040 --> 57:28.040 Dicks, Dicks, look at me. 57:28.040 --> 57:31.040 Why did you do it? Why? 57:31.040 --> 57:34.040 Was it because you loved Brucie and she wouldn't have you? 57:34.040 --> 57:36.040 Is that what set you off? 57:36.040 --> 57:39.040 Is that what made you do it, Brab? 57:39.040 --> 57:42.040 Why, Dicks, tell me why. 57:42.040 --> 57:48.040 Because... because I killed Brucie. 58:06.040 --> 58:08.040 This is Robert Montgomery again. 58:08.040 --> 58:11.040 With thanks to our cast for their splendid performances. 58:11.040 --> 58:16.040 Next week for Suspense, we've chosen a story with triple threat possibilities. 58:16.040 --> 58:21.040 The title, the story, and the author taken by themselves are enough to command our interest. 58:21.040 --> 58:25.040 In combination, they become a dramatic force powerful in suspense. 58:25.040 --> 58:28.040 I speak of Nightmare by William Irish. 58:28.040 --> 58:31.040 A story which fuses reality with unreality. 58:31.040 --> 58:34.040 And a frightening pattern of fear and suspicion. 58:34.040 --> 58:37.040 If you've ever had a nightmare, you know its impact. 58:37.040 --> 58:40.040 You know the difficulty with which you cast it aside. 58:40.040 --> 58:44.040 If you've never had a nightmare, we cordially invite you to have one on us next week. 58:44.040 --> 58:49.040 When with Nightmare by William Irish, we again hope to keep you in suspense. 58:49.040 --> 58:51.040 Good night. 58:51.040 --> 58:56.040 Mr. Montgomery may currently be seen in the Universal International Production, Ride the Pink Horse. 58:56.040 --> 59:01.040 In a Lonely Place by Dorothy B. Hughes was adapted for radio by Irving Ravitch. 59:01.040 --> 59:06.040 Directed by Anton M. Leder and produced by Robert Montgomery. 59:06.040 --> 59:09.040 Ludgluskin is our musical director and conductor. 59:09.040 --> 59:12.040 And Lucian Morrowek composes the original scores. 59:12.040 --> 59:17.040 Next week here, Nightmare on Radio's outstanding theater of thrills. 59:17.040 --> 59:21.040 One hour of Suspense. 59:21.040 --> 59:33.040 Music 59:33.040 --> 59:37.040 Remember to give gladly to the 1948 Red Cross Fund. 59:37.040 --> 59:40.040 This is CBS, where 99 million people gather every week. 59:40.040 --> 01:00:07.040 The Columbia Broadcasting System.