WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:05.000 In just a moment, Suspense with Martha Scott. 00:05.000 --> 00:11.000 Hey, it's time for the Auto Light radio show, Mom. 00:11.000 --> 00:13.000 Better wake your dad up. 00:13.000 --> 00:15.000 I know darn well he won't want to miss it. 00:15.000 --> 00:17.000 Hey, Dad. This will get him. 00:17.000 --> 00:20.000 Dad, who makes the stay full batteries? 00:20.000 --> 00:22.000 Auto Light. 00:22.000 --> 00:25.000 And who makes spark plugs and complete ignition systems for your car? 00:25.000 --> 00:27.000 Auto Light. 00:27.000 --> 00:31.000 And what radio show do the Auto Light people put on over CBS every Thursday night? 00:31.000 --> 00:34.000 What? Hey, it's time for Suspense. 00:34.000 --> 00:35.000 Switch on the radio, Billy. 00:35.000 --> 00:39.000 The radio's on, dear. Just be quiet and listen. 00:39.000 --> 00:54.000 Suspense. 00:54.000 --> 01:05.000 Auto Light and its 60,000 dealers and service stations bring you Radio's Outstanding Theatre of Thrills. 01:05.000 --> 01:12.000 Starring tonight, Miss Martha Scott in Anton Lido's production of Crisis. 01:12.000 --> 01:39.000 A tale well calculated to keep you in suspense. 01:42.000 --> 01:49.000 Mrs. Norquist. Mrs. Norquist. 01:49.000 --> 01:54.000 It's the doctor, Mrs. Norquist. 01:54.000 --> 01:59.000 What? Oh, coming. 01:59.000 --> 02:03.000 Oh, I'm sorry, Doctor. I fell asleep. 02:03.000 --> 02:05.000 I told you not to. I warned you. 02:05.000 --> 02:06.000 I couldn't help it. 02:06.000 --> 02:21.000 Let me see the baby. 02:21.000 --> 02:28.000 How is he? Is he better? 02:28.000 --> 02:32.000 Well, pneumonia's tricky. Temperature 106. 02:32.000 --> 02:37.000 Oh, all day long it's been 106. If he'd only move, if he'd only cry. 02:37.000 --> 02:39.000 Oh, Doctor, you've got to do something. 02:39.000 --> 02:41.000 Mrs. Norquist, get hold of yourself. 02:41.000 --> 02:43.000 Fasten that sheet down. 02:43.000 --> 02:45.000 It's important that you don't let any of that steam escape. 02:45.000 --> 02:48.000 All right. It's just that I'm so tired. 02:48.000 --> 02:49.000 When will the nurse be here? 02:49.000 --> 02:50.000 There won't be a nurse. 02:50.000 --> 02:51.000 No nurse, but you said there... 02:51.000 --> 02:56.000 I've tried everywhere. It's the worst epidemic since 1918. The hospitals are full. 02:56.000 --> 02:58.000 Oh, but I can't go on without a nurse. I can't. 02:58.000 --> 03:01.000 Well, isn't there someone who can help you? Some neighbor? 03:01.000 --> 03:02.000 There's no one. 03:02.000 --> 03:04.000 Well, what about your husband? When's he due back? 03:04.000 --> 03:06.000 Two or three days. 03:06.000 --> 03:08.000 Maybe you'd better send for him. 03:08.000 --> 03:10.000 You don't mean the baby's... 03:10.000 --> 03:12.000 Well, you can't keep this up. You need help. 03:12.000 --> 03:15.000 Oh, I didn't want to worry Paul. This business trip's so important to him. 03:15.000 --> 03:19.000 Besides, I expected to get a nurse. Why, he doesn't even know the baby's sick. 03:19.000 --> 03:22.000 You'll have to do it alone then. How's the sulfur holding out? 03:22.000 --> 03:23.000 I have enough. 03:23.000 --> 03:26.000 Good. Now, don't neglect the steam for an instant. 03:26.000 --> 03:30.000 Keep up the warm alcohol sponge bath. Don't leave his side. 03:30.000 --> 03:33.000 I'll try to get back in the morning. And don't sleep. 03:33.000 --> 03:38.000 No matter how tired you get, no matter how you scream for it, you must not sleep. 03:38.000 --> 03:42.000 Here. Here, take these pills. They'll help you. 03:42.000 --> 03:47.000 Thank you, Doctor. Doctor, is little Kurt going to make it? 03:47.000 --> 03:51.000 Well, that you'll know one way or the other before morning. 03:51.000 --> 03:52.000 Oh. 03:52.000 --> 04:00.000 Crack that temperature tonight and he'll pull through. It's the crisis. 04:06.000 --> 04:09.000 Poor baby. Little thin legs. 04:09.000 --> 04:14.000 Kick the covers, darling. Kick them. That's what legs are for. 04:14.000 --> 04:17.000 You don't want to give up now, Kurt. You're just beginning. 04:17.000 --> 04:20.000 You haven't seen half there is. You've never thrown a snowball 04:20.000 --> 04:23.000 or gone home run or gone fishing with your dad. 04:23.000 --> 04:28.000 Oh, Kurt. Kurt, you should be in a hospital. 04:28.000 --> 04:32.000 Not an homemade croup tent with a kettle of steam under your bed. 04:32.000 --> 04:37.000 In a hospital with nurses in white starched uniforms. 04:37.000 --> 04:43.000 Nurses who are awake, whose hearts don't break when they look at you. 04:43.000 --> 04:46.000 I mustn't think about it. 04:46.000 --> 04:50.000 Steam. A kettle under the bed. Steam to breathe. 04:50.000 --> 04:55.000 Another kettle on the stove. Sponge baths every few minutes. 04:55.000 --> 04:58.000 Every few minutes. 04:59.000 --> 05:03.000 Temperature, 106. 05:03.000 --> 05:07.000 Temperature, 106. 05:07.000 --> 05:11.000 Temperature, 106. 05:11.000 --> 05:14.000 How many times I took it, I don't know. 05:14.000 --> 05:18.000 Nothing in the room seemed real or tangible anymore. 05:18.000 --> 05:22.000 Nothing but the steam. 05:22.000 --> 05:24.000 Steam. 05:24.000 --> 05:27.000 I watched it hypnotized. 05:27.000 --> 05:32.000 Now it was an eraser on a blackboard removing today's problems. 05:32.000 --> 05:37.000 Now it was a windshield wiper pushing aside the rain so I could see ahead of me. 05:37.000 --> 05:41.000 The vision slowly cleared. 05:41.000 --> 05:45.000 And then I saw it. A light. No, six lights. 05:45.000 --> 05:50.000 Bright flames, birthday candles, six birthday candles on top of a white cake. 05:50.000 --> 05:54.000 Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. 05:54.000 --> 06:00.000 Happy birthday, little Kurt. Happy birthday to you. 06:01.000 --> 06:04.000 Six years old. You're a big boy now, son. 06:04.000 --> 06:06.000 I want my present. 06:06.000 --> 06:09.000 Mercenary little creature, isn't he, Paul? 06:09.000 --> 06:11.000 Hey, monkey, here it is. 06:11.000 --> 06:13.000 Here, son, let me help you. 06:13.000 --> 06:16.000 Leave it alone! Don't you dare touch it! 06:16.000 --> 06:17.000 Now, look, here, Kurt. 06:17.000 --> 06:19.000 Please, Paul, it's his birthday. 06:19.000 --> 06:23.000 All right. Go ahead, unwrap it. 06:26.000 --> 06:29.000 Well, Kurt, don't you like it? 06:29.000 --> 06:30.000 No. 06:30.000 --> 06:36.000 Why, Kurt Norquist, how can you say such a thing after your daddy bought you a wonderful fire engine? 06:36.000 --> 06:38.000 Why didn't you get me one with one seat? 06:38.000 --> 06:39.000 What's wrong with two seats? 06:39.000 --> 06:43.000 When it's got two seats, you gotta let some other kid ride with you. 06:43.000 --> 06:45.000 But don't you want to share your fun with your little friends? 06:45.000 --> 06:48.000 I don't like nobody to have fun but me! 06:48.000 --> 06:49.000 Kurt, you come back here. 06:49.000 --> 06:50.000 Let him go, Paul. 06:50.000 --> 06:51.000 Oh, but Mary... 06:51.000 --> 06:53.000 He's just a little boy. He'll get over it. 06:53.000 --> 06:56.000 Well, I hope so. 06:56.000 --> 07:03.000 There were more birthdays, but as Kurt grew, a mounting fear began to grow in me, too. 07:03.000 --> 07:09.000 He looked like a choir boy, but there was something else hiding back at those innocent eyes. 07:09.000 --> 07:12.000 At eight, he forged his report card. 07:12.000 --> 07:15.000 At ten, he stole some things from the dime store. 07:15.000 --> 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, 07:20.000 --> 07:22.000 was really beginning to whine. 07:22.000 --> 07:26.000 You wanted to see me, Father? 07:26.000 --> 07:27.000 Yes, I did. 07:27.000 --> 07:30.000 Your mother and I are very concerned about you. 07:30.000 --> 07:31.000 Again? 07:31.000 --> 07:33.000 Why weren't you in school all week? 07:33.000 --> 07:34.000 It bores me. 07:34.000 --> 07:36.000 Where were you? What have you been doing? 07:36.000 --> 07:38.000 Thinking. Just thinking. 07:38.000 --> 07:41.000 What about Kurt? What is it you think about? 07:41.000 --> 07:43.000 Is there something bothering you? 07:43.000 --> 07:44.000 Yes. 07:44.000 --> 07:45.000 What is it, son? 07:45.000 --> 07:47.000 School. I have to go to school. 07:47.000 --> 07:49.000 What about your mother? 07:49.000 --> 07:52.000 Yes. What is it, son? School. I hate it. 07:52.000 --> 07:54.000 But you like to read. 07:54.000 --> 07:56.000 That's different. I read what I like. 07:56.000 --> 07:58.000 I don't like to be told what to do. 07:58.000 --> 08:02.000 But don't you understand? Everybody has to be guided and told what to do. 08:02.000 --> 08:06.000 Sure, I understand. But I don't have to like it. And I don't like it. 08:06.000 --> 08:08.000 Kurt, I'm surprised at you. 08:08.000 --> 08:11.000 Is that all, Father? 08:11.000 --> 08:14.000 Yes, yes, that's all. 08:14.000 --> 08:17.000 I'm disappointed. I thought you were going to beat me. 08:17.000 --> 08:19.000 You insolent... 08:19.000 --> 08:21.000 Paul, Kurt! Please, please. 08:21.000 --> 08:23.000 There's someone at the door. 08:25.000 --> 08:27.000 What? Mr. Johnson? 08:27.000 --> 08:28.000 Kurt home? 08:28.000 --> 08:30.000 Yes, he is. 08:30.000 --> 08:32.000 Hello, Paul. 08:32.000 --> 08:34.000 Oh, Fred. 08:34.000 --> 08:36.000 What is it this time? 08:36.000 --> 08:39.000 Are you going to tell them Kurt or do you want me to? 08:39.000 --> 08:42.000 I don't mind. I stole a watch from Evans's jewelry store. 08:42.000 --> 08:44.000 A swell wrist watch. 08:44.000 --> 08:45.000 A watch? 08:45.000 --> 08:48.000 Kurt, we were going to buy you one for your birthday. 08:48.000 --> 08:50.000 You didn't have to steal it. 08:50.000 --> 08:52.000 It was more fun stealing. 08:52.000 --> 08:54.000 Lots more fun. 08:54.000 --> 08:57.000 This time I'll have to take him to the juvenile court, Mrs. Norquist. 08:57.000 --> 08:58.000 Oh, no. 08:58.000 --> 09:01.000 Fred, Fred, let me bring him down. 09:01.000 --> 09:03.000 You go on. I want to talk to him. 09:05.000 --> 09:07.000 Paul's face was gray with hurt. 09:07.000 --> 09:11.000 His cheeks sagged and his eyes were bleak as he turned to Kurt. 09:11.000 --> 09:15.000 I didn't want it this way, son, but maybe it's the only solution. 09:15.000 --> 09:17.000 Maybe it'll help straighten you out. 09:17.000 --> 09:19.000 You're not going to put me in a reform school. 09:19.000 --> 09:21.000 Kurt! Kurt! 09:21.000 --> 09:24.000 Paul was savage as he ran up the stairs after him. 09:24.000 --> 09:27.000 Kurt slammed the bedroom door in his face and as Paul flung it open... 09:27.000 --> 09:29.000 You've had this coming to you for a long time. 09:29.000 --> 09:32.000 Oh, no, you don't. Keep away from me. 09:32.000 --> 09:34.000 Kurt! 09:34.000 --> 09:38.000 While lust was on Kurt's face and a gun was in his hand, his father's revolver, 09:38.000 --> 09:41.000 I knew he'd do it even before it happened. Kurt! 09:41.000 --> 09:45.000 Paul went limp as he turned to me with a look of shock surprise. 09:45.000 --> 09:47.000 Mary. 09:47.000 --> 09:49.000 Paul! 09:59.000 --> 10:03.000 For suspense, Autolite is bringing you Miss Martha Scott 10:03.000 --> 10:08.000 in radio's outstanding theater of thrills, Suspense. 10:15.000 --> 10:18.000 Phew. If that didn't wake you up, Dad, nothing will. 10:18.000 --> 10:22.000 Wake me up? I wasn't asleep a while ago. I was just fooling you. 10:22.000 --> 10:24.000 Fooling, huh? Then tell me what I said. 10:24.000 --> 10:26.000 Just before suspense started? Yeah. 10:26.000 --> 10:28.000 You asked me who made the Stafol battery. 10:28.000 --> 10:30.000 Naturally, I said Autolite. 10:30.000 --> 10:33.000 And when those Autolite people named it the Stafol battery, 10:33.000 --> 10:35.000 they weren't talking through their hats either. 10:35.000 --> 10:38.000 Why, that battery needs water only three times a year. 10:38.000 --> 10:40.000 Get that, Billy? Only three times a year. 10:40.000 --> 10:42.000 Golly. What's more... 10:42.000 --> 10:46.000 That's fine, dear. But don't you think you ought to let Mr. Martin give the commercial? 10:46.000 --> 10:48.000 Yes, folks, what Hap says is true. 10:48.000 --> 10:53.000 Autolite Stafol batteries need water only three times a year in normal car use. 10:53.000 --> 10:56.000 This means less trouble and care for you. 10:56.000 --> 10:59.000 For Autolite's greater liquid reserve practically eliminates 10:59.000 --> 11:01.000 one of the major causes of battery failure. 11:01.000 --> 11:06.000 Car owners everywhere tell us the Autolite Stafol is the greatest battery ever built. 11:06.000 --> 11:09.000 So, friends, visit your neighborhood Autolite dealer 11:09.000 --> 11:12.000 and get an Autolite Stafol battery for your car. 11:12.000 --> 11:15.000 Enjoy the advantages of extra plates and fiberglass insulation. 11:15.000 --> 11:18.000 It means so much to long battery life. 11:18.000 --> 11:25.000 And remember, Autolite Stafol batteries need water only three times a year in normal car use. 11:25.000 --> 11:30.000 No doubt about it. Money can't buy a better battery for your car than Autolite. 11:30.000 --> 11:35.000 And now Autolite brings back to our Hollywood sound stage 11:35.000 --> 11:38.000 Miss Martha Scott as Mary in Crisis. 11:38.000 --> 11:41.000 A tale well calculated to keep you in. 11:41.000 --> 11:56.000 Suspend. 11:56.000 --> 12:01.000 The visions continued to rise out of the steam clouds. 12:01.000 --> 12:04.000 I found myself sitting beside Paul's bed. 12:04.000 --> 12:06.000 He was out of danger. 12:06.000 --> 12:11.000 Accidental shooting while cleaning a gun, that's what Paul told the doctor. 12:11.000 --> 12:15.000 I wanted to tell the truth but I wouldn't hurt him any further. 12:15.000 --> 12:19.000 No, Kurt didn't go to the reform school. We hushed that up too. 12:19.000 --> 12:21.000 Lies, lies suffocating us. 12:21.000 --> 12:30.000 We shrank, Paul and I crawled into our shells, confused, disillusioned, afraid of our only son. 12:30.000 --> 12:33.000 But Kurt grew and so did his misdemeanors 12:33.000 --> 12:39.000 until he was a handsome giant with the face of a Viking saint and no soul at all. 12:39.000 --> 12:42.000 The incident with Elaine McGregor proved that. 12:42.000 --> 12:46.000 I was transplanting geraniums on the other side of the hedge. 12:46.000 --> 12:48.000 I didn't mean to eavesdrop. 12:48.000 --> 12:51.000 But what's going to happen to us? 12:51.000 --> 12:52.000 I wouldn't know. 12:52.000 --> 12:54.000 Doesn't it make any difference to you? 12:54.000 --> 12:55.000 Should it? 12:55.000 --> 12:58.000 It's easy for you, isn't it? 12:58.000 --> 12:59.000 What did you expect? 12:59.000 --> 13:02.000 Nothing really. 13:02.000 --> 13:05.000 You're in a class by yourself, Kurt. 13:05.000 --> 13:08.000 You've got the heart of a tapeworm but you're not going to eat into me. 13:08.000 --> 13:12.000 Very pretty speech. I didn't know you were so valuable. 13:12.000 --> 13:13.000 But what does it mean? 13:13.000 --> 13:18.000 It means I'm lucky. I can walk out of your life, you can't. 13:18.000 --> 13:20.000 You've got to live with yourself. 13:20.000 --> 13:25.000 You're rotten, Kurt, rotten all the way through. You warp everything you touch. 13:25.000 --> 13:28.000 You destroy all the decent things around you. 13:28.000 --> 13:29.000 Decent. 13:29.000 --> 13:31.000 I despise you. 13:31.000 --> 13:34.000 I thought you loved me, madly. 13:34.000 --> 13:39.000 You can't love a snake. You can only be charmed by it. 13:39.000 --> 13:41.000 Goodbye, darling. 13:41.000 --> 13:45.000 Mother, you can come out from behind there. 13:45.000 --> 13:47.000 Kurt, how could you? 13:47.000 --> 13:49.000 Mother, I knew you were there all the time. 13:49.000 --> 13:53.000 I didn't mean that. I mean the way you treated Elaine. 13:53.000 --> 13:56.000 Oh, Kurt, maybe marriage would be good for you. 13:56.000 --> 14:00.000 Come, come, Mother. First you want me to get a job, any job. 14:00.000 --> 14:03.000 Now, you wouldn't want me to get married at my age, would you? 14:03.000 --> 14:04.000 I'm just a child. 14:04.000 --> 14:09.000 No, Kurt, not you. You've never been a child. 14:12.000 --> 14:15.000 Everything he did seemed to be aimed at hurting someone. 14:15.000 --> 14:17.000 And always it pleased him. 14:17.000 --> 14:22.000 And then one day, as suddenly as you turn over a page, Kurt was different. 14:22.000 --> 14:24.000 He slammed the front door and he was whistling. 14:24.000 --> 14:27.000 He was gare than I'd ever seen him. 14:28.000 --> 14:29.000 Hi. 14:29.000 --> 14:31.000 Well, what are you so gay about? 14:31.000 --> 14:33.000 The proverbial leaf has been turned. 14:33.000 --> 14:36.000 And you see before you a hardworking young man. 14:36.000 --> 14:38.000 Kurt, you've got a job. 14:38.000 --> 14:40.000 That's right, Mother, a job. 14:40.000 --> 14:41.000 At the lumber yard? 14:41.000 --> 14:43.000 Don't be silly. I'm a banker. 14:43.000 --> 14:44.000 A banker? What bank? 14:44.000 --> 14:47.000 First National. Mr. Cox was very nice about the whole thing. 14:47.000 --> 14:51.000 Your father's bank? Then Paul got you the job. 14:51.000 --> 14:54.000 You talk like the old man owns the place. He's just a teller. 14:54.000 --> 14:57.000 Then how did you get the job? 14:57.000 --> 14:59.000 I talked to Mr. Cox. 14:59.000 --> 15:02.000 Kurt, what did you tell Mr. Cox? 15:02.000 --> 15:05.000 You should have been there, Mother. I melted the old boy's heart. 15:05.000 --> 15:07.000 He swallowed the whole thing. 15:07.000 --> 15:09.000 Swallowed what? 15:09.000 --> 15:10.000 What did you tell Mr. Cox? 15:10.000 --> 15:12.000 Don't get melodramatic, Mother. 15:12.000 --> 15:15.000 I merely told him that I had to go to work because we needed the money. 15:15.000 --> 15:18.000 That I liked the idea of working in a bank. 15:18.000 --> 15:20.000 You know, like father, like son. 15:20.000 --> 15:23.000 Oh, needed the money? Oh, Kurt, you didn't. 15:23.000 --> 15:25.000 You didn't humiliate your father that way. 15:25.000 --> 15:26.000 But you wanted me to get a job. 15:26.000 --> 15:29.000 Kurt, ever since you've been old enough to think, you've been bad. 15:29.000 --> 15:31.000 You've caused your father nothing but heartache. 15:31.000 --> 15:34.000 You're aging him, draining all the joy out of his life. 15:34.000 --> 15:38.000 And now this... this crowning humiliation. 15:38.000 --> 15:41.000 But I'm warning you, Kurt. 15:41.000 --> 15:43.000 If you cause your father any more sorrow, 15:43.000 --> 15:47.000 if you hurt him just once more, I'll... I'll... 15:47.000 --> 15:48.000 Kill me? 15:48.000 --> 15:52.000 Bravo, Mother. Now, now let's have the second act. 15:52.000 --> 15:56.000 You... you feet! 15:58.000 --> 16:01.000 It was the first time I ever slapped him. 16:01.000 --> 16:04.000 But I knew then there would never be any peace for us. 16:04.000 --> 16:07.000 That he would go on and on until there was nothing left. 16:07.000 --> 16:10.000 No honor, no decency, nothing. 16:10.000 --> 16:14.000 But even I didn't suspect the depth of his malignancy until... 16:14.000 --> 16:17.000 he was still left. 16:17.000 --> 16:19.000 Paul was coming up the walk alone. 16:19.000 --> 16:22.000 His step was slow, his back was stooped, 16:22.000 --> 16:24.000 and his face was lined and tortured. 16:24.000 --> 16:27.000 I... I opened the door for him. 16:29.000 --> 16:33.000 Paul? Paul, what's wrong? 16:33.000 --> 16:35.000 I've been fired. 16:35.000 --> 16:38.000 Fired? After 22 years? 16:38.000 --> 16:41.000 There was a shortage this morning. A thousand dollars. 16:41.000 --> 16:45.000 A thousand? Oh, surely they... they don't think you took it. 16:45.000 --> 16:47.000 You've handled millions of dollars down there 16:47.000 --> 16:50.000 and never touched a penny of it. How could... 16:50.000 --> 16:52.000 Kurt took it, didn't he? 16:52.000 --> 16:53.000 Yes. 16:53.000 --> 16:55.000 And you took the blame? 16:55.000 --> 16:57.000 Not exactly. 16:57.000 --> 17:00.000 He's very clever, Mary. He's... 17:00.000 --> 17:02.000 devilishly clever. 17:02.000 --> 17:04.000 He worked hard, he did his work well. 17:04.000 --> 17:06.000 I thought... 17:06.000 --> 17:11.000 I tried to kid myself anyway that he was outgrowing his badness. 17:11.000 --> 17:13.000 It was all part of a warped scheme. 17:13.000 --> 17:15.000 He won the respect of everyone in the bank, 17:15.000 --> 17:18.000 and very simply stole the money and planted the evidence. 17:18.000 --> 17:19.000 It led straight to me. 17:19.000 --> 17:21.000 Why didn't you tell Mr. Cox what we've been through, 17:21.000 --> 17:23.000 what a bad boy he is? 17:23.000 --> 17:25.000 There are records at juvenile hall. We... we could prove it. 17:25.000 --> 17:28.000 You know what Mr. Cox said to me? 17:28.000 --> 17:32.000 He said he wouldn't prosecute because of my wonderful son. 17:32.000 --> 17:35.000 My wonderful son. I never had a son. 17:35.000 --> 17:38.000 I couldn't look at him, Mary. 17:38.000 --> 17:42.000 When I walked out of the bank, Garvey and Cage One didn't even say goodbye 17:42.000 --> 17:46.000 or good luck or too bad or anything. 17:46.000 --> 17:50.000 He just got suddenly too busy to look up. 17:50.000 --> 17:53.000 He forgot all about the months we lay in the mud together 17:53.000 --> 17:58.000 at Tarrow and the Navy Crosses. We went on the same day. 17:58.000 --> 18:03.000 Garvey was too busy to look up. 18:03.000 --> 18:08.000 I couldn't tell him the truth. I'm not strong like you, Mary. 18:08.000 --> 18:13.000 I can't take it anymore. 18:13.000 --> 18:17.000 He was looking at me, but he didn't see me. 18:17.000 --> 18:20.000 His eyes were covered with a film of tears. 18:20.000 --> 18:23.000 Then he turned and staggered out of the house. 18:23.000 --> 18:26.000 He walked like he was drunk. 18:26.000 --> 18:31.000 Yes, that's what he was, drunk with despair. 18:31.000 --> 18:34.000 He got in the car. I wanted to go to him to hold him in my arms, 18:34.000 --> 18:38.000 but I couldn't. I was frozen. 18:38.000 --> 18:41.000 The car lurched away from the curb, skidded around the corner. 18:41.000 --> 18:45.000 It was like a madman, driving. 18:50.000 --> 18:54.000 I wasn't surprised when they called me from the hospital. 18:54.000 --> 18:58.000 Reckless driving, they said, accidental death. 18:58.000 --> 19:01.000 But I called it something else. 19:01.000 --> 19:04.000 I called it murder. 19:08.000 --> 19:12.000 At that moment, I died too. 19:12.000 --> 19:16.000 I went through the motions of living at the cemetery. 19:16.000 --> 19:21.000 I kept on not counting the days coming or going. 19:21.000 --> 19:26.000 One day I realized Kurt was 25, a man. 19:26.000 --> 19:29.000 A handsome, ruthless man. 19:29.000 --> 19:33.000 We lived in the same house, but we had nothing to do with each other. 19:33.000 --> 19:38.000 Until one November afternoon, I was in the kitchen making an apple pie. 19:38.000 --> 19:41.000 It had always been Paul's favorite. 19:41.000 --> 19:45.000 Suddenly, the room was throbbing with Paul's presence. 19:45.000 --> 19:50.000 Paul! I dropped the knife on the floor and ran up the stairs into my bedroom. 19:50.000 --> 19:52.000 Mine and Paul's. I was wild out of my mind. 19:52.000 --> 19:56.000 I turned about the room, everywhere searching. I needed him terribly. 19:56.000 --> 19:59.000 I could feel his presence, and yet it wasn't enough. 19:59.000 --> 20:02.000 It had to be something tangible, something I could touch. 20:02.000 --> 20:05.000 And then I remembered the Navy Cross and the Purple Heart. 20:05.000 --> 20:07.000 They were his, they were part of him. 20:07.000 --> 20:10.000 I pulled out the shirt drawer and threw his shirts on the bed. 20:10.000 --> 20:14.000 The Purple Heart was there and it sat in line box. 20:14.000 --> 20:17.000 But the Navy Cross was gone. 20:17.000 --> 20:22.000 Paul! Paul! Paul! 20:22.000 --> 20:27.000 Paul! Paul! 20:34.000 --> 20:39.000 The room was dark. I lay there for quite a while. 20:39.000 --> 20:41.000 I had no reason to get up. 20:43.000 --> 20:45.000 Kurt was home. 20:45.000 --> 20:49.000 I tidied the bed and spread it up, ran a comb through my hair. 20:49.000 --> 20:52.000 I walked along the hallway to his room. 20:54.000 --> 20:56.000 Yes? 20:56.000 --> 20:58.000 You want something? I'm in a hurry. 20:58.000 --> 21:00.000 Yes, I do want something. 21:00.000 --> 21:02.000 Your father's Navy Cross. Where is it? 21:02.000 --> 21:06.000 Oh, that. I was holding three aces when I ran into a straight. 21:06.000 --> 21:10.000 Jack Carn said he'd take the cross in lieu of five bucks. 21:10.000 --> 21:12.000 How do you like a guy like that? 21:13.000 --> 21:17.000 I looked at Kurt for a long time. 21:17.000 --> 21:22.000 Then I walked away. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered. 21:22.000 --> 21:24.000 Not that day or any other day. 21:24.000 --> 21:27.000 Not even later when the policeman came to the door. 21:27.000 --> 21:30.000 I have a warrant for the arrest of Kurt Norquist. 21:30.000 --> 21:31.000 On what charge? 21:31.000 --> 21:33.000 Murder. 21:42.000 --> 21:46.000 It was a colorful trial. Murder in the first degree. 21:46.000 --> 21:49.000 The front pages were blotched with it. 21:49.000 --> 21:53.000 Little shop girls hurried to buy the evening editions of the sordid testimony 21:53.000 --> 21:55.000 to read on their way home from work. 21:55.000 --> 22:02.000 I went to the trial every day and listened with this strange sense of unreality. 22:02.000 --> 22:04.000 Sure I killed him. 22:04.000 --> 22:08.000 All I could think was that flashing handsome young man up there 22:08.000 --> 22:11.000 admitting to murder and worse is my son. 22:11.000 --> 22:15.000 No, I didn't hate him. I didn't even know him very well. 22:15.000 --> 22:17.000 Why don't I feel anything? 22:17.000 --> 22:20.000 I just wanted to see what it was like. That's all. 22:20.000 --> 22:24.000 Why don't I shudder with disgrace? Why don't I crawl off into a corner and die? 22:24.000 --> 22:27.000 Sorry? What for? He's dead, isn't he? 22:27.000 --> 22:31.000 The trial went on for days and Kurt was unmoved. 22:31.000 --> 22:34.000 Insolent, triumphant almost. 22:34.000 --> 22:39.000 Even as his wretched soul made ready for the lethal chamber, he was untouched. 22:42.000 --> 22:44.000 In there, madam. Five minutes. 22:44.000 --> 22:46.000 Thank you. 22:46.000 --> 22:48.000 Well, hello, mother. 22:48.000 --> 22:52.000 Mother? Oh, yes, I am your mother. 22:52.000 --> 22:55.000 Oh, you brought me some cigarettes. Thanks. 23:05.000 --> 23:07.000 Well, I wonder what it's going to be like. 23:07.000 --> 23:08.000 What? 23:08.000 --> 23:11.000 You know, that last mile. 23:11.000 --> 23:13.000 I'm a queer guy, all right. 23:13.000 --> 23:16.000 I don't feel sorry about anything. 23:16.000 --> 23:20.000 As a matter of fact, I don't feel anything at all. 23:20.000 --> 23:22.000 Never did. 23:22.000 --> 23:25.000 Except that maybe this is a good smoke. 23:28.000 --> 23:34.000 I looked deeply into his face, beyond the pale blue eyes, into the black soul. 23:34.000 --> 23:39.000 I gave him life, but I couldn't give him honor. 23:39.000 --> 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. 23:47.000 --> 23:49.000 Then he smiled. 23:49.000 --> 23:56.000 Not the smile of a murderer, more the slow, wistful smile of a small boy. 23:56.000 --> 24:00.000 And abruptly his face was changed. 24:00.000 --> 24:02.000 I've been here before. 24:02.000 --> 24:07.000 I watched the smoke rings as they billowed upward. I couldn't take my eyes off them. 24:07.000 --> 24:12.000 And each smoke ring was a face, Kurt's face. 24:12.000 --> 24:16.000 And the faces kept changing, getting smaller and smaller. 24:16.000 --> 24:22.000 The eyes were round, full of wonder, changing, and slowly the vision faded. 24:22.000 --> 24:26.000 They all converged into one face. 24:26.000 --> 24:30.000 And Kurt was a baby again. 24:30.000 --> 24:33.000 In a crook tent. 24:33.000 --> 24:38.000 Fighting for the right to live a useless life. 24:38.000 --> 24:41.000 I've seen ahead. That's what it was. 24:41.000 --> 24:45.000 I know what's in store for him, and it's all bad. 24:45.000 --> 24:50.000 Steam. Steam. Not much left. 24:54.000 --> 24:58.000 In a moment there won't be any. 24:58.000 --> 25:00.000 Oh, let him go. 25:00.000 --> 25:05.000 He'll turn out bad. No good, not worth my tears. It won't be wrong. 25:05.000 --> 25:08.000 Let him go. 25:10.000 --> 25:14.000 Steam. It's gone. 25:14.000 --> 25:17.000 I won't get the kettle. 25:17.000 --> 25:20.000 It isn't wrong. Let him go. 25:20.000 --> 25:30.000 No. No. Little Kurt, wait. Don't go. 25:30.000 --> 25:33.000 Steam. Kettle. Kettle. 25:33.000 --> 25:38.000 Don't take him home, please. He's just a little baby. He doesn't know. 25:38.000 --> 25:41.000 Steam. I must take his temperature. 25:41.000 --> 25:44.000 Oh, I'm afraid. 25:44.000 --> 25:46.000 Crisis. 25:46.000 --> 25:51.000 Temperature. 106. Six tenths. 25:51.000 --> 25:56.000 107. Oh, no. No. 25:56.000 --> 26:15.000 He's gone. He's gone. He's dead. 26:15.000 --> 26:20.000 Kurt. Kurt. You're alive. 26:20.000 --> 26:23.000 Hold on, baby. Hold tight. 26:23.000 --> 26:26.000 The kids got in my way as I held the thermometer to the light. 26:26.000 --> 26:29.000 I brushed them off and then I looked. 26:29.000 --> 26:36.000 The mercury stood at 106. 105. 103. 26:36.000 --> 26:39.000 You're going to get well, Kurt. 26:39.000 --> 26:44.000 Temperature 101. Grow strong and handsome. 26:44.000 --> 26:49.000 Temperature 100. And good, Kurt. 26:49.000 --> 26:53.000 You're going to be good. 26:53.000 --> 26:57.000 Please, God. Please. 27:13.000 --> 27:16.000 Thank you, Martha Scott, for a splendid performance. 27:16.000 --> 27:18.000 Miss Scott will be back in just a moment. 27:18.000 --> 27:21.000 Billy, would you mind getting me a glass of water, dear? 27:21.000 --> 27:23.000 You ought to install a stay-full battery, Mom. 27:23.000 --> 27:27.000 Billy. Sure. Then you'd only need to take a drink three times a year. 27:27.000 --> 27:32.000 Oh, you men. Can't you talk about anything but that auto light battery? 27:32.000 --> 27:35.000 Now, look, honey, if you wanted to go downtown tomorrow morning 27:35.000 --> 27:37.000 and the car wouldn't start, you'd be pretty mad, wouldn't you? 27:37.000 --> 27:40.000 Why, of course I'd be mad. Sure, so would anybody. 27:40.000 --> 27:43.000 That's one reason why we have a stay-full battery in our car. 27:43.000 --> 27:46.000 And listen to this. Yes, friends, auto light stay-full batteries 27:46.000 --> 27:49.000 are designed to save you trouble and care by practically eliminating 27:49.000 --> 27:53.000 one of the major causes of battery failure, lack of water. 27:53.000 --> 27:57.000 You see, auto light stay-full batteries need water only three times a year 27:57.000 --> 27:59.000 in normal car use. 27:59.000 --> 28:02.000 And remember, when it comes to automotive electrical parts, 28:02.000 --> 28:04.000 auto light means batteries. 28:04.000 --> 28:06.000 Stay-full batteries. 28:06.000 --> 28:08.000 Auto light means spark plugs. 28:08.000 --> 28:10.000 Ignition engineered spark plugs. 28:10.000 --> 28:12.000 Auto light means ignition systems. 28:12.000 --> 28:16.000 The lifeline of your car. 28:20.000 --> 28:22.000 And now here again is Miss Martha Scott. 28:22.000 --> 28:25.000 It's been a real pleasure to appear on Suspense tonight. 28:25.000 --> 28:28.000 You know, I never miss hearing the program whenever possible, 28:28.000 --> 28:32.000 and I'm going to make a special effort to be at my radio next Thursday night 28:32.000 --> 28:36.000 when Van Heflin stars in a story called Song of the Heart, 28:36.000 --> 28:38.000 a gripping study in... 28:38.000 --> 28:40.000 Suspense. 28:40.000 --> 28:43.000 Miss Martha Scott is currently appearing in the RKO production 28:43.000 --> 28:45.000 So Well Remembered. 28:45.000 --> 28:48.000 Tonight's Suspense play was written by Gwen and John Bagney 28:48.000 --> 28:51.000 with music composed by Lucian Morawick and conducted by Lud Gluskin. 28:51.000 --> 28:54.000 The entire production was under the direction of Anton M. Lieder. 28:54.000 --> 28:59.000 Next Thursday, same time, you will hear Van Heflin in Song of the Heart. 29:02.000 --> 29:08.000 This is the Auto Light Suspense Show. 29:08.000 --> 29:10.000 Drive carefully. 29:10.000 --> 29:12.000 Save a life. 29:12.000 --> 29:14.000 It may be your own. 29:14.000 --> 29:16.000 Good night. 29:16.000 --> 29:18.000 Switch to auto light. 29:18.000 --> 29:38.000 This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.