1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,000 In just a moment, Suspense with Martha Scott. 2 00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:11,000 Hey, it's time for the Auto Light radio show, Mom. 3 00:00:11,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Better wake your dad up. 4 00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:15,000 I know darn well he won't want to miss it. 5 00:00:15,000 --> 00:00:17,000 Hey, Dad. This will get him. 6 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:20,000 Dad, who makes the stay full batteries? 7 00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:22,000 Auto Light. 8 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:25,000 And who makes spark plugs and complete ignition systems for your car? 9 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:27,000 Auto Light. 10 00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:31,000 And what radio show do the Auto Light people put on over CBS every Thursday night? 11 00:00:31,000 --> 00:00:34,000 What? Hey, it's time for Suspense. 12 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:35,000 Switch on the radio, Billy. 13 00:00:35,000 --> 00:00:39,000 The radio's on, dear. Just be quiet and listen. 14 00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:54,000 Suspense. 15 00:00:54,000 --> 00:01:05,000 Auto Light and its 60,000 dealers and service stations bring you Radio's Outstanding Theatre of Thrills. 16 00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:12,000 Starring tonight, Miss Martha Scott in Anton Lido's production of Crisis. 17 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:39,000 A tale well calculated to keep you in suspense. 18 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:49,000 Mrs. Norquist. Mrs. Norquist. 19 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:54,000 It's the doctor, Mrs. Norquist. 20 00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:59,000 What? Oh, coming. 21 00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:03,000 Oh, I'm sorry, Doctor. I fell asleep. 22 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:05,000 I told you not to. I warned you. 23 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:06,000 I couldn't help it. 24 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:21,000 Let me see the baby. 25 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:28,000 How is he? Is he better? 26 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:32,000 Well, pneumonia's tricky. Temperature 106. 27 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:37,000 Oh, all day long it's been 106. If he'd only move, if he'd only cry. 28 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:39,000 Oh, Doctor, you've got to do something. 29 00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:41,000 Mrs. Norquist, get hold of yourself. 30 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:43,000 Fasten that sheet down. 31 00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:45,000 It's important that you don't let any of that steam escape. 32 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:48,000 All right. It's just that I'm so tired. 33 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:49,000 When will the nurse be here? 34 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:50,000 There won't be a nurse. 35 00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:51,000 No nurse, but you said there... 36 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:56,000 I've tried everywhere. It's the worst epidemic since 1918. The hospitals are full. 37 00:02:56,000 --> 00:02:58,000 Oh, but I can't go on without a nurse. I can't. 38 00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:01,000 Well, isn't there someone who can help you? Some neighbor? 39 00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:02,000 There's no one. 40 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:04,000 Well, what about your husband? When's he due back? 41 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:06,000 Two or three days. 42 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:08,000 Maybe you'd better send for him. 43 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:10,000 You don't mean the baby's... 44 00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:12,000 Well, you can't keep this up. You need help. 45 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:15,000 Oh, I didn't want to worry Paul. This business trip's so important to him. 46 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:19,000 Besides, I expected to get a nurse. Why, he doesn't even know the baby's sick. 47 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:22,000 You'll have to do it alone then. How's the sulfur holding out? 48 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:23,000 I have enough. 49 00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:26,000 Good. Now, don't neglect the steam for an instant. 50 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:30,000 Keep up the warm alcohol sponge bath. Don't leave his side. 51 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:33,000 I'll try to get back in the morning. And don't sleep. 52 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:38,000 No matter how tired you get, no matter how you scream for it, you must not sleep. 53 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:42,000 Here. Here, take these pills. They'll help you. 54 00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:47,000 Thank you, Doctor. Doctor, is little Kurt going to make it? 55 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:51,000 Well, that you'll know one way or the other before morning. 56 00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:52,000 Oh. 57 00:03:52,000 --> 00:04:00,000 Crack that temperature tonight and he'll pull through. It's the crisis. 58 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:09,000 Poor baby. Little thin legs. 59 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:14,000 Kick the covers, darling. Kick them. That's what legs are for. 60 00:04:14,000 --> 00:04:17,000 You don't want to give up now, Kurt. You're just beginning. 61 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:20,000 You haven't seen half there is. You've never thrown a snowball 62 00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:23,000 or gone home run or gone fishing with your dad. 63 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:28,000 Oh, Kurt. Kurt, you should be in a hospital. 64 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:32,000 Not an homemade croup tent with a kettle of steam under your bed. 65 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:37,000 In a hospital with nurses in white starched uniforms. 66 00:04:37,000 --> 00:04:43,000 Nurses who are awake, whose hearts don't break when they look at you. 67 00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:46,000 I mustn't think about it. 68 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:50,000 Steam. A kettle under the bed. Steam to breathe. 69 00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:55,000 Another kettle on the stove. Sponge baths every few minutes. 70 00:04:55,000 --> 00:04:58,000 Every few minutes. 71 00:04:59,000 --> 00:05:03,000 Temperature, 106. 72 00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:07,000 Temperature, 106. 73 00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:11,000 Temperature, 106. 74 00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:14,000 How many times I took it, I don't know. 75 00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:18,000 Nothing in the room seemed real or tangible anymore. 76 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:22,000 Nothing but the steam. 77 00:05:22,000 --> 00:05:24,000 Steam. 78 00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:27,000 I watched it hypnotized. 79 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:32,000 Now it was an eraser on a blackboard removing today's problems. 80 00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:37,000 Now it was a windshield wiper pushing aside the rain so I could see ahead of me. 81 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:41,000 The vision slowly cleared. 82 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:45,000 And then I saw it. A light. No, six lights. 83 00:05:45,000 --> 00:05:50,000 Bright flames, birthday candles, six birthday candles on top of a white cake. 84 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:54,000 Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. 85 00:05:54,000 --> 00:06:00,000 Happy birthday, little Kurt. Happy birthday to you. 86 00:06:01,000 --> 00:06:04,000 Six years old. You're a big boy now, son. 87 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:06,000 I want my present. 88 00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:09,000 Mercenary little creature, isn't he, Paul? 89 00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:11,000 Hey, monkey, here it is. 90 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:13,000 Here, son, let me help you. 91 00:06:13,000 --> 00:06:16,000 Leave it alone! Don't you dare touch it! 92 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:17,000 Now, look, here, Kurt. 93 00:06:17,000 --> 00:06:19,000 Please, Paul, it's his birthday. 94 00:06:19,000 --> 00:06:23,000 All right. Go ahead, unwrap it. 95 00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:29,000 Well, Kurt, don't you like it? 96 00:06:29,000 --> 00:06:30,000 No. 97 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:36,000 Why, Kurt Norquist, how can you say such a thing after your daddy bought you a wonderful fire engine? 98 00:06:36,000 --> 00:06:38,000 Why didn't you get me one with one seat? 99 00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:39,000 What's wrong with two seats? 100 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:43,000 When it's got two seats, you gotta let some other kid ride with you. 101 00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:45,000 But don't you want to share your fun with your little friends? 102 00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:48,000 I don't like nobody to have fun but me! 103 00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:49,000 Kurt, you come back here. 104 00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:50,000 Let him go, Paul. 105 00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:51,000 Oh, but Mary... 106 00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:53,000 He's just a little boy. He'll get over it. 107 00:06:53,000 --> 00:06:56,000 Well, I hope so. 108 00:06:56,000 --> 00:07:03,000 There were more birthdays, but as Kurt grew, a mounting fear began to grow in me, too. 109 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:09,000 He looked like a choir boy, but there was something else hiding back at those innocent eyes. 110 00:07:09,000 --> 00:07:12,000 At eight, he forged his report card. 111 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:15,000 At ten, he stole some things from the dime store. 112 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:20,000 By the time he showed promise of being taller than his father, his personality, in spite of everything we tried to do, 113 00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:22,000 was really beginning to whine. 114 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:26,000 You wanted to see me, Father? 115 00:07:26,000 --> 00:07:27,000 Yes, I did. 116 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:30,000 Your mother and I are very concerned about you. 117 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:31,000 Again? 118 00:07:31,000 --> 00:07:33,000 Why weren't you in school all week? 119 00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:34,000 It bores me. 120 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:36,000 Where were you? What have you been doing? 121 00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:38,000 Thinking. Just thinking. 122 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:41,000 What about Kurt? What is it you think about? 123 00:07:41,000 --> 00:07:43,000 Is there something bothering you? 124 00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:44,000 Yes. 125 00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:45,000 What is it, son? 126 00:07:45,000 --> 00:07:47,000 School. I have to go to school. 127 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:49,000 What about your mother? 128 00:07:49,000 --> 00:07:52,000 Yes. What is it, son? School. I hate it. 129 00:07:52,000 --> 00:07:54,000 But you like to read. 130 00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:56,000 That's different. I read what I like. 131 00:07:56,000 --> 00:07:58,000 I don't like to be told what to do. 132 00:07:58,000 --> 00:08:02,000 But don't you understand? Everybody has to be guided and told what to do. 133 00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:06,000 Sure, I understand. But I don't have to like it. And I don't like it. 134 00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:08,000 Kurt, I'm surprised at you. 135 00:08:08,000 --> 00:08:11,000 Is that all, Father? 136 00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:14,000 Yes, yes, that's all. 137 00:08:14,000 --> 00:08:17,000 I'm disappointed. I thought you were going to beat me. 138 00:08:17,000 --> 00:08:19,000 You insolent... 139 00:08:19,000 --> 00:08:21,000 Paul, Kurt! Please, please. 140 00:08:21,000 --> 00:08:23,000 There's someone at the door. 141 00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:27,000 What? Mr. Johnson? 142 00:08:27,000 --> 00:08:28,000 Kurt home? 143 00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:30,000 Yes, he is. 144 00:08:30,000 --> 00:08:32,000 Hello, Paul. 145 00:08:32,000 --> 00:08:34,000 Oh, Fred. 146 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:36,000 What is it this time? 147 00:08:36,000 --> 00:08:39,000 Are you going to tell them Kurt or do you want me to? 148 00:08:39,000 --> 00:08:42,000 I don't mind. I stole a watch from Evans's jewelry store. 149 00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:44,000 A swell wrist watch. 150 00:08:44,000 --> 00:08:45,000 A watch? 151 00:08:45,000 --> 00:08:48,000 Kurt, we were going to buy you one for your birthday. 152 00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:50,000 You didn't have to steal it. 153 00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:52,000 It was more fun stealing. 154 00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:54,000 Lots more fun. 155 00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:57,000 This time I'll have to take him to the juvenile court, Mrs. Norquist. 156 00:08:57,000 --> 00:08:58,000 Oh, no. 157 00:08:58,000 --> 00:09:01,000 Fred, Fred, let me bring him down. 158 00:09:01,000 --> 00:09:03,000 You go on. I want to talk to him. 159 00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:07,000 Paul's face was gray with hurt. 160 00:09:07,000 --> 00:09:11,000 His cheeks sagged and his eyes were bleak as he turned to Kurt. 161 00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:15,000 I didn't want it this way, son, but maybe it's the only solution. 162 00:09:15,000 --> 00:09:17,000 Maybe it'll help straighten you out. 163 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:19,000 You're not going to put me in a reform school. 164 00:09:19,000 --> 00:09:21,000 Kurt! Kurt! 165 00:09:21,000 --> 00:09:24,000 Paul was savage as he ran up the stairs after him. 166 00:09:24,000 --> 00:09:27,000 Kurt slammed the bedroom door in his face and as Paul flung it open... 167 00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:29,000 You've had this coming to you for a long time. 168 00:09:29,000 --> 00:09:32,000 Oh, no, you don't. Keep away from me. 169 00:09:32,000 --> 00:09:34,000 Kurt! 170 00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:38,000 While lust was on Kurt's face and a gun was in his hand, his father's revolver, 171 00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:41,000 I knew he'd do it even before it happened. Kurt! 172 00:09:41,000 --> 00:09:45,000 Paul went limp as he turned to me with a look of shock surprise. 173 00:09:45,000 --> 00:09:47,000 Mary. 174 00:09:47,000 --> 00:09:49,000 Paul! 175 00:09:59,000 --> 00:10:03,000 For suspense, Autolite is bringing you Miss Martha Scott 176 00:10:03,000 --> 00:10:08,000 in radio's outstanding theater of thrills, Suspense. 177 00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:18,000 Phew. If that didn't wake you up, Dad, nothing will. 178 00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:22,000 Wake me up? I wasn't asleep a while ago. I was just fooling you. 179 00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:24,000 Fooling, huh? Then tell me what I said. 180 00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:26,000 Just before suspense started? Yeah. 181 00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:28,000 You asked me who made the Stafol battery. 182 00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:30,000 Naturally, I said Autolite. 183 00:10:30,000 --> 00:10:33,000 And when those Autolite people named it the Stafol battery, 184 00:10:33,000 --> 00:10:35,000 they weren't talking through their hats either. 185 00:10:35,000 --> 00:10:38,000 Why, that battery needs water only three times a year. 186 00:10:38,000 --> 00:10:40,000 Get that, Billy? Only three times a year. 187 00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:42,000 Golly. What's more... 188 00:10:42,000 --> 00:10:46,000 That's fine, dear. But don't you think you ought to let Mr. Martin give the commercial? 189 00:10:46,000 --> 00:10:48,000 Yes, folks, what Hap says is true. 190 00:10:48,000 --> 00:10:53,000 Autolite Stafol batteries need water only three times a year in normal car use. 191 00:10:53,000 --> 00:10:56,000 This means less trouble and care for you. 192 00:10:56,000 --> 00:10:59,000 For Autolite's greater liquid reserve practically eliminates 193 00:10:59,000 --> 00:11:01,000 one of the major causes of battery failure. 194 00:11:01,000 --> 00:11:06,000 Car owners everywhere tell us the Autolite Stafol is the greatest battery ever built. 195 00:11:06,000 --> 00:11:09,000 So, friends, visit your neighborhood Autolite dealer 196 00:11:09,000 --> 00:11:12,000 and get an Autolite Stafol battery for your car. 197 00:11:12,000 --> 00:11:15,000 Enjoy the advantages of extra plates and fiberglass insulation. 198 00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:18,000 It means so much to long battery life. 199 00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:25,000 And remember, Autolite Stafol batteries need water only three times a year in normal car use. 200 00:11:25,000 --> 00:11:30,000 No doubt about it. Money can't buy a better battery for your car than Autolite. 201 00:11:30,000 --> 00:11:35,000 And now Autolite brings back to our Hollywood sound stage 202 00:11:35,000 --> 00:11:38,000 Miss Martha Scott as Mary in Crisis. 203 00:11:38,000 --> 00:11:41,000 A tale well calculated to keep you in. 204 00:11:41,000 --> 00:11:56,000 Suspend. 205 00:11:56,000 --> 00:12:01,000 The visions continued to rise out of the steam clouds. 206 00:12:01,000 --> 00:12:04,000 I found myself sitting beside Paul's bed. 207 00:12:04,000 --> 00:12:06,000 He was out of danger. 208 00:12:06,000 --> 00:12:11,000 Accidental shooting while cleaning a gun, that's what Paul told the doctor. 209 00:12:11,000 --> 00:12:15,000 I wanted to tell the truth but I wouldn't hurt him any further. 210 00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:19,000 No, Kurt didn't go to the reform school. We hushed that up too. 211 00:12:19,000 --> 00:12:21,000 Lies, lies suffocating us. 212 00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:30,000 We shrank, Paul and I crawled into our shells, confused, disillusioned, afraid of our only son. 213 00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:33,000 But Kurt grew and so did his misdemeanors 214 00:12:33,000 --> 00:12:39,000 until he was a handsome giant with the face of a Viking saint and no soul at all. 215 00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:42,000 The incident with Elaine McGregor proved that. 216 00:12:42,000 --> 00:12:46,000 I was transplanting geraniums on the other side of the hedge. 217 00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:48,000 I didn't mean to eavesdrop. 218 00:12:48,000 --> 00:12:51,000 But what's going to happen to us? 219 00:12:51,000 --> 00:12:52,000 I wouldn't know. 220 00:12:52,000 --> 00:12:54,000 Doesn't it make any difference to you? 221 00:12:54,000 --> 00:12:55,000 Should it? 222 00:12:55,000 --> 00:12:58,000 It's easy for you, isn't it? 223 00:12:58,000 --> 00:12:59,000 What did you expect? 224 00:12:59,000 --> 00:13:02,000 Nothing really. 225 00:13:02,000 --> 00:13:05,000 You're in a class by yourself, Kurt. 226 00:13:05,000 --> 00:13:08,000 You've got the heart of a tapeworm but you're not going to eat into me. 227 00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:12,000 Very pretty speech. I didn't know you were so valuable. 228 00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:13,000 But what does it mean? 229 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:18,000 It means I'm lucky. I can walk out of your life, you can't. 230 00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:20,000 You've got to live with yourself. 231 00:13:20,000 --> 00:13:25,000 You're rotten, Kurt, rotten all the way through. You warp everything you touch. 232 00:13:25,000 --> 00:13:28,000 You destroy all the decent things around you. 233 00:13:28,000 --> 00:13:29,000 Decent. 234 00:13:29,000 --> 00:13:31,000 I despise you. 235 00:13:31,000 --> 00:13:34,000 I thought you loved me, madly. 236 00:13:34,000 --> 00:13:39,000 You can't love a snake. You can only be charmed by it. 237 00:13:39,000 --> 00:13:41,000 Goodbye, darling. 238 00:13:41,000 --> 00:13:45,000 Mother, you can come out from behind there. 239 00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:47,000 Kurt, how could you? 240 00:13:47,000 --> 00:13:49,000 Mother, I knew you were there all the time. 241 00:13:49,000 --> 00:13:53,000 I didn't mean that. I mean the way you treated Elaine. 242 00:13:53,000 --> 00:13:56,000 Oh, Kurt, maybe marriage would be good for you. 243 00:13:56,000 --> 00:14:00,000 Come, come, Mother. First you want me to get a job, any job. 244 00:14:00,000 --> 00:14:03,000 Now, you wouldn't want me to get married at my age, would you? 245 00:14:03,000 --> 00:14:04,000 I'm just a child. 246 00:14:04,000 --> 00:14:09,000 No, Kurt, not you. You've never been a child. 247 00:14:12,000 --> 00:14:15,000 Everything he did seemed to be aimed at hurting someone. 248 00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:17,000 And always it pleased him. 249 00:14:17,000 --> 00:14:22,000 And then one day, as suddenly as you turn over a page, Kurt was different. 250 00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:24,000 He slammed the front door and he was whistling. 251 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:27,000 He was gare than I'd ever seen him. 252 00:14:28,000 --> 00:14:29,000 Hi. 253 00:14:29,000 --> 00:14:31,000 Well, what are you so gay about? 254 00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:33,000 The proverbial leaf has been turned. 255 00:14:33,000 --> 00:14:36,000 And you see before you a hardworking young man. 256 00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:38,000 Kurt, you've got a job. 257 00:14:38,000 --> 00:14:40,000 That's right, Mother, a job. 258 00:14:40,000 --> 00:14:41,000 At the lumber yard? 259 00:14:41,000 --> 00:14:43,000 Don't be silly. I'm a banker. 260 00:14:43,000 --> 00:14:44,000 A banker? What bank? 261 00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:47,000 First National. Mr. Cox was very nice about the whole thing. 262 00:14:47,000 --> 00:14:51,000 Your father's bank? Then Paul got you the job. 263 00:14:51,000 --> 00:14:54,000 You talk like the old man owns the place. He's just a teller. 264 00:14:54,000 --> 00:14:57,000 Then how did you get the job? 265 00:14:57,000 --> 00:14:59,000 I talked to Mr. Cox. 266 00:14:59,000 --> 00:15:02,000 Kurt, what did you tell Mr. Cox? 267 00:15:02,000 --> 00:15:05,000 You should have been there, Mother. I melted the old boy's heart. 268 00:15:05,000 --> 00:15:07,000 He swallowed the whole thing. 269 00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:09,000 Swallowed what? 270 00:15:09,000 --> 00:15:10,000 What did you tell Mr. Cox? 271 00:15:10,000 --> 00:15:12,000 Don't get melodramatic, Mother. 272 00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:15,000 I merely told him that I had to go to work because we needed the money. 273 00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:18,000 That I liked the idea of working in a bank. 274 00:15:18,000 --> 00:15:20,000 You know, like father, like son. 275 00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:23,000 Oh, needed the money? Oh, Kurt, you didn't. 276 00:15:23,000 --> 00:15:25,000 You didn't humiliate your father that way. 277 00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:26,000 But you wanted me to get a job. 278 00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:29,000 Kurt, ever since you've been old enough to think, you've been bad. 279 00:15:29,000 --> 00:15:31,000 You've caused your father nothing but heartache. 280 00:15:31,000 --> 00:15:34,000 You're aging him, draining all the joy out of his life. 281 00:15:34,000 --> 00:15:38,000 And now this... this crowning humiliation. 282 00:15:38,000 --> 00:15:41,000 But I'm warning you, Kurt. 283 00:15:41,000 --> 00:15:43,000 If you cause your father any more sorrow, 284 00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:47,000 if you hurt him just once more, I'll... I'll... 285 00:15:47,000 --> 00:15:48,000 Kill me? 286 00:15:48,000 --> 00:15:52,000 Bravo, Mother. Now, now let's have the second act. 287 00:15:52,000 --> 00:15:56,000 You... you feet! 288 00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:01,000 It was the first time I ever slapped him. 289 00:16:01,000 --> 00:16:04,000 But I knew then there would never be any peace for us. 290 00:16:04,000 --> 00:16:07,000 That he would go on and on until there was nothing left. 291 00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:10,000 No honor, no decency, nothing. 292 00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:14,000 But even I didn't suspect the depth of his malignancy until... 293 00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:17,000 he was still left. 294 00:16:17,000 --> 00:16:19,000 Paul was coming up the walk alone. 295 00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:22,000 His step was slow, his back was stooped, 296 00:16:22,000 --> 00:16:24,000 and his face was lined and tortured. 297 00:16:24,000 --> 00:16:27,000 I... I opened the door for him. 298 00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:33,000 Paul? Paul, what's wrong? 299 00:16:33,000 --> 00:16:35,000 I've been fired. 300 00:16:35,000 --> 00:16:38,000 Fired? After 22 years? 301 00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:41,000 There was a shortage this morning. A thousand dollars. 302 00:16:41,000 --> 00:16:45,000 A thousand? Oh, surely they... they don't think you took it. 303 00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:47,000 You've handled millions of dollars down there 304 00:16:47,000 --> 00:16:50,000 and never touched a penny of it. How could... 305 00:16:50,000 --> 00:16:52,000 Kurt took it, didn't he? 306 00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:53,000 Yes. 307 00:16:53,000 --> 00:16:55,000 And you took the blame? 308 00:16:55,000 --> 00:16:57,000 Not exactly. 309 00:16:57,000 --> 00:17:00,000 He's very clever, Mary. He's... 310 00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:02,000 devilishly clever. 311 00:17:02,000 --> 00:17:04,000 He worked hard, he did his work well. 312 00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:06,000 I thought... 313 00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:11,000 I tried to kid myself anyway that he was outgrowing his badness. 314 00:17:11,000 --> 00:17:13,000 It was all part of a warped scheme. 315 00:17:13,000 --> 00:17:15,000 He won the respect of everyone in the bank, 316 00:17:15,000 --> 00:17:18,000 and very simply stole the money and planted the evidence. 317 00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:19,000 It led straight to me. 318 00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:21,000 Why didn't you tell Mr. Cox what we've been through, 319 00:17:21,000 --> 00:17:23,000 what a bad boy he is? 320 00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:25,000 There are records at juvenile hall. We... we could prove it. 321 00:17:25,000 --> 00:17:28,000 You know what Mr. Cox said to me? 322 00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:32,000 He said he wouldn't prosecute because of my wonderful son. 323 00:17:32,000 --> 00:17:35,000 My wonderful son. I never had a son. 324 00:17:35,000 --> 00:17:38,000 I couldn't look at him, Mary. 325 00:17:38,000 --> 00:17:42,000 When I walked out of the bank, Garvey and Cage One didn't even say goodbye 326 00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:46,000 or good luck or too bad or anything. 327 00:17:46,000 --> 00:17:50,000 He just got suddenly too busy to look up. 328 00:17:50,000 --> 00:17:53,000 He forgot all about the months we lay in the mud together 329 00:17:53,000 --> 00:17:58,000 at Tarrow and the Navy Crosses. We went on the same day. 330 00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:03,000 Garvey was too busy to look up. 331 00:18:03,000 --> 00:18:08,000 I couldn't tell him the truth. I'm not strong like you, Mary. 332 00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:13,000 I can't take it anymore. 333 00:18:13,000 --> 00:18:17,000 He was looking at me, but he didn't see me. 334 00:18:17,000 --> 00:18:20,000 His eyes were covered with a film of tears. 335 00:18:20,000 --> 00:18:23,000 Then he turned and staggered out of the house. 336 00:18:23,000 --> 00:18:26,000 He walked like he was drunk. 337 00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:31,000 Yes, that's what he was, drunk with despair. 338 00:18:31,000 --> 00:18:34,000 He got in the car. I wanted to go to him to hold him in my arms, 339 00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:38,000 but I couldn't. I was frozen. 340 00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:41,000 The car lurched away from the curb, skidded around the corner. 341 00:18:41,000 --> 00:18:45,000 It was like a madman, driving. 342 00:18:50,000 --> 00:18:54,000 I wasn't surprised when they called me from the hospital. 343 00:18:54,000 --> 00:18:58,000 Reckless driving, they said, accidental death. 344 00:18:58,000 --> 00:19:01,000 But I called it something else. 345 00:19:01,000 --> 00:19:04,000 I called it murder. 346 00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:12,000 At that moment, I died too. 347 00:19:12,000 --> 00:19:16,000 I went through the motions of living at the cemetery. 348 00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:21,000 I kept on not counting the days coming or going. 349 00:19:21,000 --> 00:19:26,000 One day I realized Kurt was 25, a man. 350 00:19:26,000 --> 00:19:29,000 A handsome, ruthless man. 351 00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:33,000 We lived in the same house, but we had nothing to do with each other. 352 00:19:33,000 --> 00:19:38,000 Until one November afternoon, I was in the kitchen making an apple pie. 353 00:19:38,000 --> 00:19:41,000 It had always been Paul's favorite. 354 00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:45,000 Suddenly, the room was throbbing with Paul's presence. 355 00:19:45,000 --> 00:19:50,000 Paul! I dropped the knife on the floor and ran up the stairs into my bedroom. 356 00:19:50,000 --> 00:19:52,000 Mine and Paul's. I was wild out of my mind. 357 00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:56,000 I turned about the room, everywhere searching. I needed him terribly. 358 00:19:56,000 --> 00:19:59,000 I could feel his presence, and yet it wasn't enough. 359 00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:02,000 It had to be something tangible, something I could touch. 360 00:20:02,000 --> 00:20:05,000 And then I remembered the Navy Cross and the Purple Heart. 361 00:20:05,000 --> 00:20:07,000 They were his, they were part of him. 362 00:20:07,000 --> 00:20:10,000 I pulled out the shirt drawer and threw his shirts on the bed. 363 00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:14,000 The Purple Heart was there and it sat in line box. 364 00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:17,000 But the Navy Cross was gone. 365 00:20:17,000 --> 00:20:22,000 Paul! Paul! Paul! 366 00:20:22,000 --> 00:20:27,000 Paul! Paul! 367 00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:39,000 The room was dark. I lay there for quite a while. 368 00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:41,000 I had no reason to get up. 369 00:20:43,000 --> 00:20:45,000 Kurt was home. 370 00:20:45,000 --> 00:20:49,000 I tidied the bed and spread it up, ran a comb through my hair. 371 00:20:49,000 --> 00:20:52,000 I walked along the hallway to his room. 372 00:20:54,000 --> 00:20:56,000 Yes? 373 00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:58,000 You want something? I'm in a hurry. 374 00:20:58,000 --> 00:21:00,000 Yes, I do want something. 375 00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:02,000 Your father's Navy Cross. Where is it? 376 00:21:02,000 --> 00:21:06,000 Oh, that. I was holding three aces when I ran into a straight. 377 00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:10,000 Jack Carn said he'd take the cross in lieu of five bucks. 378 00:21:10,000 --> 00:21:12,000 How do you like a guy like that? 379 00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:17,000 I looked at Kurt for a long time. 380 00:21:17,000 --> 00:21:22,000 Then I walked away. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered. 381 00:21:22,000 --> 00:21:24,000 Not that day or any other day. 382 00:21:24,000 --> 00:21:27,000 Not even later when the policeman came to the door. 383 00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:30,000 I have a warrant for the arrest of Kurt Norquist. 384 00:21:30,000 --> 00:21:31,000 On what charge? 385 00:21:31,000 --> 00:21:33,000 Murder. 386 00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:46,000 It was a colorful trial. Murder in the first degree. 387 00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:49,000 The front pages were blotched with it. 388 00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:53,000 Little shop girls hurried to buy the evening editions of the sordid testimony 389 00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:55,000 to read on their way home from work. 390 00:21:55,000 --> 00:22:02,000 I went to the trial every day and listened with this strange sense of unreality. 391 00:22:02,000 --> 00:22:04,000 Sure I killed him. 392 00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:08,000 All I could think was that flashing handsome young man up there 393 00:22:08,000 --> 00:22:11,000 admitting to murder and worse is my son. 394 00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:15,000 No, I didn't hate him. I didn't even know him very well. 395 00:22:15,000 --> 00:22:17,000 Why don't I feel anything? 396 00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:20,000 I just wanted to see what it was like. That's all. 397 00:22:20,000 --> 00:22:24,000 Why don't I shudder with disgrace? Why don't I crawl off into a corner and die? 398 00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:27,000 Sorry? What for? He's dead, isn't he? 399 00:22:27,000 --> 00:22:31,000 The trial went on for days and Kurt was unmoved. 400 00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:34,000 Insolent, triumphant almost. 401 00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:39,000 Even as his wretched soul made ready for the lethal chamber, he was untouched. 402 00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:44,000 In there, madam. Five minutes. 403 00:22:44,000 --> 00:22:46,000 Thank you. 404 00:22:46,000 --> 00:22:48,000 Well, hello, mother. 405 00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:52,000 Mother? Oh, yes, I am your mother. 406 00:22:52,000 --> 00:22:55,000 Oh, you brought me some cigarettes. Thanks. 407 00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:07,000 Well, I wonder what it's going to be like. 408 00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:08,000 What? 409 00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:11,000 You know, that last mile. 410 00:23:11,000 --> 00:23:13,000 I'm a queer guy, all right. 411 00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:16,000 I don't feel sorry about anything. 412 00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:20,000 As a matter of fact, I don't feel anything at all. 413 00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:22,000 Never did. 414 00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:25,000 Except that maybe this is a good smoke. 415 00:23:28,000 --> 00:23:34,000 I looked deeply into his face, beyond the pale blue eyes, into the black soul. 416 00:23:34,000 --> 00:23:39,000 I gave him life, but I couldn't give him honor. 417 00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:47,000 He exhaled. Smoke came out of his mouth and nose and spun around him, enveloping his face, framing it in a circle of fog. 418 00:23:47,000 --> 00:23:49,000 Then he smiled. 419 00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:56,000 Not the smile of a murderer, more the slow, wistful smile of a small boy. 420 00:23:56,000 --> 00:24:00,000 And abruptly his face was changed. 421 00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:02,000 I've been here before. 422 00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:07,000 I watched the smoke rings as they billowed upward. I couldn't take my eyes off them. 423 00:24:07,000 --> 00:24:12,000 And each smoke ring was a face, Kurt's face. 424 00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:16,000 And the faces kept changing, getting smaller and smaller. 425 00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:22,000 The eyes were round, full of wonder, changing, and slowly the vision faded. 426 00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:26,000 They all converged into one face. 427 00:24:26,000 --> 00:24:30,000 And Kurt was a baby again. 428 00:24:30,000 --> 00:24:33,000 In a crook tent. 429 00:24:33,000 --> 00:24:38,000 Fighting for the right to live a useless life. 430 00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:41,000 I've seen ahead. That's what it was. 431 00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:45,000 I know what's in store for him, and it's all bad. 432 00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:50,000 Steam. Steam. Not much left. 433 00:24:54,000 --> 00:24:58,000 In a moment there won't be any. 434 00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:00,000 Oh, let him go. 435 00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:05,000 He'll turn out bad. No good, not worth my tears. It won't be wrong. 436 00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:08,000 Let him go. 437 00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:14,000 Steam. It's gone. 438 00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:17,000 I won't get the kettle. 439 00:25:17,000 --> 00:25:20,000 It isn't wrong. Let him go. 440 00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:30,000 No. No. Little Kurt, wait. Don't go. 441 00:25:30,000 --> 00:25:33,000 Steam. Kettle. Kettle. 442 00:25:33,000 --> 00:25:38,000 Don't take him home, please. He's just a little baby. He doesn't know. 443 00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:41,000 Steam. I must take his temperature. 444 00:25:41,000 --> 00:25:44,000 Oh, I'm afraid. 445 00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:46,000 Crisis. 446 00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:51,000 Temperature. 106. Six tenths. 447 00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:56,000 107. Oh, no. No. 448 00:25:56,000 --> 00:26:15,000 He's gone. He's gone. He's dead. 449 00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:20,000 Kurt. Kurt. You're alive. 450 00:26:20,000 --> 00:26:23,000 Hold on, baby. Hold tight. 451 00:26:23,000 --> 00:26:26,000 The kids got in my way as I held the thermometer to the light. 452 00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:29,000 I brushed them off and then I looked. 453 00:26:29,000 --> 00:26:36,000 The mercury stood at 106. 105. 103. 454 00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:39,000 You're going to get well, Kurt. 455 00:26:39,000 --> 00:26:44,000 Temperature 101. Grow strong and handsome. 456 00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:49,000 Temperature 100. And good, Kurt. 457 00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:53,000 You're going to be good. 458 00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:57,000 Please, God. Please. 459 00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:16,000 Thank you, Martha Scott, for a splendid performance. 460 00:27:16,000 --> 00:27:18,000 Miss Scott will be back in just a moment. 461 00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:21,000 Billy, would you mind getting me a glass of water, dear? 462 00:27:21,000 --> 00:27:23,000 You ought to install a stay-full battery, Mom. 463 00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:27,000 Billy. Sure. Then you'd only need to take a drink three times a year. 464 00:27:27,000 --> 00:27:32,000 Oh, you men. Can't you talk about anything but that auto light battery? 465 00:27:32,000 --> 00:27:35,000 Now, look, honey, if you wanted to go downtown tomorrow morning 466 00:27:35,000 --> 00:27:37,000 and the car wouldn't start, you'd be pretty mad, wouldn't you? 467 00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:40,000 Why, of course I'd be mad. Sure, so would anybody. 468 00:27:40,000 --> 00:27:43,000 That's one reason why we have a stay-full battery in our car. 469 00:27:43,000 --> 00:27:46,000 And listen to this. Yes, friends, auto light stay-full batteries 470 00:27:46,000 --> 00:27:49,000 are designed to save you trouble and care by practically eliminating 471 00:27:49,000 --> 00:27:53,000 one of the major causes of battery failure, lack of water. 472 00:27:53,000 --> 00:27:57,000 You see, auto light stay-full batteries need water only three times a year 473 00:27:57,000 --> 00:27:59,000 in normal car use. 474 00:27:59,000 --> 00:28:02,000 And remember, when it comes to automotive electrical parts, 475 00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:04,000 auto light means batteries. 476 00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:06,000 Stay-full batteries. 477 00:28:06,000 --> 00:28:08,000 Auto light means spark plugs. 478 00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:10,000 Ignition engineered spark plugs. 479 00:28:10,000 --> 00:28:12,000 Auto light means ignition systems. 480 00:28:12,000 --> 00:28:16,000 The lifeline of your car. 481 00:28:20,000 --> 00:28:22,000 And now here again is Miss Martha Scott. 482 00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:25,000 It's been a real pleasure to appear on Suspense tonight. 483 00:28:25,000 --> 00:28:28,000 You know, I never miss hearing the program whenever possible, 484 00:28:28,000 --> 00:28:32,000 and I'm going to make a special effort to be at my radio next Thursday night 485 00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:36,000 when Van Heflin stars in a story called Song of the Heart, 486 00:28:36,000 --> 00:28:38,000 a gripping study in... 487 00:28:38,000 --> 00:28:40,000 Suspense. 488 00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:43,000 Miss Martha Scott is currently appearing in the RKO production 489 00:28:43,000 --> 00:28:45,000 So Well Remembered. 490 00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:48,000 Tonight's Suspense play was written by Gwen and John Bagney 491 00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:51,000 with music composed by Lucian Morawick and conducted by Lud Gluskin. 492 00:28:51,000 --> 00:28:54,000 The entire production was under the direction of Anton M. Lieder. 493 00:28:54,000 --> 00:28:59,000 Next Thursday, same time, you will hear Van Heflin in Song of the Heart. 494 00:29:02,000 --> 00:29:08,000 This is the Auto Light Suspense Show. 495 00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:10,000 Drive carefully. 496 00:29:10,000 --> 00:29:12,000 Save a life. 497 00:29:12,000 --> 00:29:14,000 It may be your own. 498 00:29:14,000 --> 00:29:16,000 Good night. 499 00:29:16,000 --> 00:29:18,000 Switch to auto light. 500 00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:38,000 This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.