WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:12.000 And now, Auto Light and its 60,000 dealers and service stations present... 00:12.000 --> 00:14.000 Suspense! 00:20.000 --> 00:24.000 Tonight, Auto Light brings you Mr. Dana Andrews in... 00:24.000 --> 00:31.000 If the Dead Could Talk, a suspense play produced and directed by Anton M. Lieder. 00:36.000 --> 00:41.000 Friends, you know what happens when you take a fish out of water? Sure, it dies. 00:41.000 --> 00:46.000 Well, by Cornelius, the same thing happens when your car's battery runs out of water. 00:46.000 --> 00:49.000 It lies right down and quits. No water, no light. 00:49.000 --> 00:51.000 So, what did the Auto Light people do? 00:51.000 --> 00:55.000 They made the Auto Light stay full battery with an extra large liquid reserve. 00:55.000 --> 00:57.000 Gave it more room for more water. 00:57.000 --> 01:03.000 Result? The Auto Light stay full battery needs water only three times a year in normal car use. 01:03.000 --> 01:09.000 Think of it. Auto Light stay full batteries need water only three times a year in normal car use. 01:09.000 --> 01:13.000 Just like that, Auto Light practically eliminates one of your major battery bothers. 01:13.000 --> 01:21.000 So, friends, be right with Auto Light. Switch to an Auto Light stay full battery tomorrow. 01:21.000 --> 01:29.000 And now, Auto Light presents Dana Andrews in a tale well calculated to keep you in suspense. 01:34.000 --> 01:39.000 They'll never know how it happened. No one will ever know. 01:39.000 --> 01:44.000 I knew I was going to have to kill him almost from the first. That's how I am. 01:44.000 --> 01:49.000 That's what my blood is. I couldn't change it even if I tried. 01:51.000 --> 01:57.000 We were on a circus train, the three of us in the Trapeze Act, going from Tulsa to St. Louis. 01:57.000 --> 02:01.000 Fran had asked me to come and sit with her, but she had something to tell me. 02:01.000 --> 02:05.000 When I went over, she was staring out the window into the night. 02:05.000 --> 02:10.000 And the dim train lights made her features kind of soft and blurred. 02:10.000 --> 02:14.000 And I stood watching her getting all choked up like I always did, 02:14.000 --> 02:19.000 wanting to freeze this picture of her in my brain with all the other pictures. 02:19.000 --> 02:22.000 Then she saw my reflection on the window glass and she turned. 02:22.000 --> 02:23.000 Oh, Joe. Hi. 02:23.000 --> 02:27.000 Sit down, Joe. Sure. What's the secret? 02:27.000 --> 02:32.000 Joe, I can't keep it inside me a second longer. If I do, I'll bust. 02:32.000 --> 02:35.000 Tommy and me have been talking about getting married. 02:35.000 --> 02:36.000 You're cute. 02:36.000 --> 02:38.000 Well, honey, did you tell him? 02:38.000 --> 02:41.000 As she told me. Congratulations. 02:41.000 --> 02:43.000 That's all? Just congratulations? 02:43.000 --> 02:46.000 Well, you know Joe's a man of few words. 02:47.000 --> 02:51.000 So what do you think, Joy Boy? At least we'll be able to keep her in the act now. 02:51.000 --> 02:55.000 That's probably the only reason he's marrying me. 02:55.000 --> 02:58.000 Well, the way I figured, it had to be one of us. 02:58.000 --> 03:01.000 Joe, you're my pal. I couldn't let it happen to you. 03:01.000 --> 03:03.000 Well! 03:03.000 --> 03:06.000 And then Tommy threw his arm across my shoulder. 03:06.000 --> 03:12.000 I felt every nerve in my body tighten up like somebody was turning a screw. 03:12.000 --> 03:16.000 And I thought, so this is how your life goes smash. 03:16.000 --> 03:23.000 Rattling through the night on a dinky train with a circus fat lady sitting across the aisle munching chocolates. 03:23.000 --> 03:31.000 I didn't know what I was going to do. Not then. 03:31.000 --> 03:35.000 At first I tried to go on just like before. 03:35.000 --> 03:40.000 When we got to St. Louis, Tommy and me shared a room in a theatrical hotel like always. 03:40.000 --> 03:46.000 And the three of us went on through our routines on the high trapeze like always. 03:46.000 --> 03:49.000 Yeah, that part was the same. 03:49.000 --> 03:53.000 That part was as natural as breathing. 03:53.000 --> 03:59.000 But the other things, like the looks they gave each other, they're long walks together. 03:59.000 --> 04:01.000 Nothing worked for me. 04:01.000 --> 04:05.000 Drinking myself blind, taking out a different girl in the show every night of the week. 04:05.000 --> 04:07.000 Nothing worked. 04:07.000 --> 04:12.000 I still woke up in the middle of the night, shivering, my heart pounding and crying her name. 04:12.000 --> 04:15.000 Fran! Fran! Fran! 04:15.000 --> 04:18.000 Joe, Joe, what's wrong? 04:18.000 --> 04:20.000 Huh? Oh. 04:20.000 --> 04:22.000 Uh, nothing's wrong. 04:22.000 --> 04:23.000 You were yelling in your sleep. 04:23.000 --> 04:24.000 I'm okay. 04:24.000 --> 04:25.000 You sure? 04:25.000 --> 04:28.000 Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay. 04:28.000 --> 04:31.000 What are you getting dressed for? It's the middle of the night. 04:31.000 --> 04:32.000 I'm going for a walk. 04:32.000 --> 04:33.000 But, Joe... 04:33.000 --> 04:35.000 Look, I want to go for a walk, so I'm going for a walk. 04:35.000 --> 04:39.000 Joe, Fran and I were noticing. 04:39.000 --> 04:40.000 Noticing what? 04:40.000 --> 04:43.000 We've been going at this night life pretty hot and heavy lately. 04:43.000 --> 04:49.000 For a fellow who works on a trapeze 60 feet up and without a net, ladies and gentlemen. 04:49.000 --> 04:52.000 Well, that's not so good, Joe. 04:52.000 --> 04:55.000 What's the matter? You afraid someday I won't catch you, Tommy? 04:55.000 --> 04:59.000 Look, why don't you take it a little easier, kid? It's all right to have a good time. 04:59.000 --> 05:02.000 Good time? So that's what I'm having. 05:02.000 --> 05:13.000 What do you know? 05:13.000 --> 05:16.000 I walked the dark, empty streets for hours. 05:16.000 --> 05:19.000 I didn't know where I went or why. 05:19.000 --> 05:22.000 Why did it have to be him and Fran over and over again? 05:22.000 --> 05:25.000 Why did it have to be him and not me? 05:25.000 --> 05:29.000 And then it was like coming out of a sleep almost. 05:29.000 --> 05:34.000 I realized that for a long time I'd been looking through the lighted window of an all-night pawn shop, 05:34.000 --> 05:36.000 looking at a gun. 05:36.000 --> 05:39.000 At first I started walking away fast. 05:39.000 --> 05:45.000 Then I turned back and went into the shop. 05:45.000 --> 05:48.000 Yes, sir. What can I do for you? 05:48.000 --> 05:51.000 That revolver in the window there, the black one next to the binoculars. 05:51.000 --> 05:53.000 Oh, yes, that's the beauty, ain't it? 05:53.000 --> 05:54.000 Yeah, I want it. 05:54.000 --> 05:57.000 Good enough. Can't go wrong on that one. 05:57.000 --> 05:59.000 You got your permit, of course. 05:59.000 --> 06:03.000 No, I'm just passing through town. I didn't have time to get one. 06:03.000 --> 06:07.000 Well, I'm sorry, mister, but I can't help you. 06:07.000 --> 06:11.000 I've got a hundred dollar bill that says you can. 06:11.000 --> 06:18.000 You've just bought yourself a gun. 06:18.000 --> 06:21.000 It was after three in the morning when I got back to the hotel. 06:21.000 --> 06:23.000 The gun was in my top coat pocket. 06:23.000 --> 06:27.000 As I walked through the lobby, the circus fat lady was sitting on the big sofa 06:27.000 --> 06:29.000 counting the faces that went through the revolving door. 06:29.000 --> 06:31.000 She stopped me as I went past her. 06:31.000 --> 06:32.000 Turning in, Joe? 06:32.000 --> 06:33.000 Yeah. 06:33.000 --> 06:37.000 Lucky you can sleep. Wish I could sleep. 06:37.000 --> 06:39.000 I started for the elevator and then it hit me. 06:39.000 --> 06:42.000 How dumb can a guy be, walking into the lobby like that, 06:42.000 --> 06:44.000 being seen going up to the room? 06:44.000 --> 06:47.000 Is that all you want, Joe? That he should be dead? 06:47.000 --> 06:49.000 No matter what happened to you? 06:49.000 --> 06:52.000 Don't you want friends? Don't you want to live? 06:52.000 --> 06:54.000 I turned back and started out again. 06:54.000 --> 06:57.000 No, Patsy, I guess I won't go upstairs after all. 06:57.000 --> 06:58.000 Oh? 06:58.000 --> 07:01.000 Nothing to do till tomorrow afternoon anyhow. 07:01.000 --> 07:03.000 Maybe I'll take in an all-night show. 07:03.000 --> 07:07.000 I haven't seen a show since I was a little girl. 07:07.000 --> 07:15.000 Can't fit in the seat. 07:15.000 --> 07:17.000 I went around to the back of the hotel. 07:17.000 --> 07:21.000 Tommy and me roomed three stories up next to the rusty fire escape. 07:21.000 --> 07:25.000 It was so quiet there, I could hear the pounding inside my head. 07:25.000 --> 07:29.000 The first rung of the fire escape was a good ten feet off the ground. 07:29.000 --> 07:33.000 I jumped for it and pulled it down. 07:33.000 --> 07:35.000 It made enough noise to wake up half the building. 07:35.000 --> 07:37.000 I scrambled up into the shadows. 07:37.000 --> 07:41.000 I expected the lights to start going on in every window. 07:41.000 --> 07:43.000 But nothing happened. 07:43.000 --> 07:47.000 So, when I started up the fire escape, 07:47.000 --> 07:55.000 I started up for Tommy. 07:55.000 --> 07:57.000 I reached the landing. 07:57.000 --> 07:59.000 The room was dark. 07:59.000 --> 08:01.000 The window was closed. 08:01.000 --> 08:04.000 I tried raising it, but it was locked. 08:04.000 --> 08:07.000 Why did everything have to go bad for me? 08:07.000 --> 08:09.000 Wait a minute. 08:09.000 --> 08:11.000 He never locked the window before. Why did he lock it now? 08:11.000 --> 08:13.000 What was he afraid of? 08:13.000 --> 08:15.000 How could he know what was inside me? 08:15.000 --> 08:19.000 Suddenly I had to do something, so I smashed the window with my fist. 08:19.000 --> 08:21.000 I didn't care. Let him know it was me. 08:21.000 --> 08:23.000 Let him know what was coming. 08:23.000 --> 08:27.000 I reached in, unlocked the window, went over the sill. 08:27.000 --> 08:29.000 I took the gun out of my pocket. 08:29.000 --> 08:32.000 I could feel the blood running warm down my arm. 08:32.000 --> 08:34.000 And then I saw that he was gone. 08:34.000 --> 08:36.000 The room was empty. 08:36.000 --> 08:38.000 I sat down on the bed. 08:38.000 --> 08:40.000 I felt weak in my knees. 08:40.000 --> 08:43.000 I sat there a long time, numb. 08:43.000 --> 08:45.000 Then I heard a key in the door. 08:45.000 --> 08:47.000 It was him. He'd come back. 08:47.000 --> 08:50.000 I put the gun back in my pocket. 08:50.000 --> 08:52.000 I held it there. 08:52.000 --> 08:54.000 The door swung open. 08:54.000 --> 08:56.000 I saw him framed in the light from the hall. 08:56.000 --> 09:00.000 And I thought, now, do it now. 09:07.000 --> 09:11.000 For suspense, Auto Light is bringing you Mr. Dana Andrews. 09:11.000 --> 09:16.000 In radio's outstanding theater of thrills, Suspense. 09:23.000 --> 09:29.000 Ab, you know this spell of freezing weather that drifted over sunny California by mistake last week? 09:29.000 --> 09:30.000 I'll see. 09:30.000 --> 09:35.000 Well, by Cornelius, I haven't had so much fun since my Auto Light stay full battery last needed water. 09:35.000 --> 09:37.000 And that's a mighty long time ago. 09:37.000 --> 09:39.000 You mean you enjoyed the cold, Harlow? 09:39.000 --> 09:41.000 Yes, I did. 09:41.000 --> 09:44.000 Listen, I was purring along up in the mountains in my Auto Light equipped car, you see, 09:44.000 --> 09:47.000 when I spied a stricken stranger stuck in the snow. 09:47.000 --> 09:49.000 He had on a raccoon coat and a coon skinned cap, 09:49.000 --> 09:51.000 and he was looking under the hood of his car, muttering, 09:51.000 --> 09:55.000 Water, water everywhere, not a drop in my battery. 09:55.000 --> 09:57.000 Friend, I said to this shivering shambles, 09:57.000 --> 10:01.000 if you had an Auto Light stay full battery in that thirst-starved convertible, 10:01.000 --> 10:05.000 you'd be singing How Deep is the Ocean instead of How Dry I Am. 10:05.000 --> 10:07.000 What do you mean, asks he? 10:07.000 --> 10:11.000 I said that Auto Light stay full batteries have an extra large liquid reserve. 10:11.000 --> 10:16.000 Auto Light stay full batteries, I said, need water only three times a year in normal driving. 10:16.000 --> 10:18.000 You get that, pal? Only three times a year. 10:18.000 --> 10:23.000 And then I explained that thanks to extra plates and special fiberglass insulation, 10:23.000 --> 10:27.000 Auto Light stay full batteries have extra power and extra long life, too. 10:27.000 --> 10:29.000 But Harlow, did you get the poor fellow unstuck? 10:29.000 --> 10:34.000 Sure did. I just happened to have an extra Auto Light stay full battery in my trunk. 10:34.000 --> 10:38.000 I handed it to him until he could get one of his own at his nearest Auto Light dealers. 10:38.000 --> 10:41.000 I'll sure switch to Auto Light, he said as he zoomed off, 10:41.000 --> 10:44.000 and I answered, you're right with Auto Light. 10:44.000 --> 10:48.000 Right, Harlow, but right now, suspense. 10:48.000 --> 10:53.000 And now, Auto Light brings back to our Hollywood soundstage, 10:53.000 --> 11:00.000 Mr. Dana Andrews as Joe, in a tale well calculated to keep you in suspense. 11:00.000 --> 11:05.000 I held the gun in my pocket. 11:05.000 --> 11:09.000 The door swung open and I saw him framed in the light from the hall. 11:09.000 --> 11:12.000 And I thought, now, do it now. 11:12.000 --> 11:14.000 When did you come back, Joe? 11:14.000 --> 11:16.000 A while ago. 11:16.000 --> 11:17.000 Where's the lights, Joe? 11:17.000 --> 11:18.000 Don't turn the lights on, Tommy. 11:18.000 --> 11:20.000 What's the matter with you? 11:20.000 --> 11:21.000 I said... 11:21.000 --> 11:22.000 What have you got against lights? 11:22.000 --> 11:24.000 How can you just sit there in the dark? 11:24.000 --> 11:26.000 You know, Fran and I wonder what happened to you. 11:26.000 --> 11:28.000 We were out looking for you. 11:28.000 --> 11:33.000 I held tight to the gun in my pocket. 11:33.000 --> 11:36.000 I followed him with it as he moved around the room, 11:36.000 --> 11:38.000 stopping at the dresser to comb his hair, 11:38.000 --> 11:42.000 whistling because he was getting franned and it was such a good feeling. 11:42.000 --> 11:46.000 And all I had to do was just squeeze the trigger. 11:46.000 --> 11:48.000 Come on in. 11:48.000 --> 11:50.000 Say, honey, fact tells me that... 11:50.000 --> 11:52.000 Oh, you got back, Joe. 11:52.000 --> 11:53.000 Yeah. 11:53.000 --> 11:55.000 Yeah, what did you do to yourself? 11:55.000 --> 11:56.000 Look at that arm, Tommy. 11:56.000 --> 11:58.000 His arm, it's bleeding. 11:58.000 --> 11:59.000 I didn't notice that. 11:59.000 --> 12:00.000 Joe, you take your coat off. 12:00.000 --> 12:02.000 I'll get some towels and a maculacrome from the bathroom. 12:02.000 --> 12:04.000 What did you do, get yourself in a brawl? 12:04.000 --> 12:05.000 Not exactly. 12:05.000 --> 12:07.000 Tommy, where's the maculacrome? Hurry up. 12:07.000 --> 12:08.000 I'll show you where it is. 12:08.000 --> 12:10.000 Get your coat off, Joey. 12:10.000 --> 12:12.000 Here. 12:12.000 --> 12:14.000 I hurried to the dresser, 12:14.000 --> 12:17.000 dug the gun out of my pocket and put it in the drawer. 12:17.000 --> 12:20.000 Fran came back with an arm full of stuff. 12:20.000 --> 12:22.000 Her fingers started to probe my arm 12:22.000 --> 12:24.000 while she was rolling up my sleeve. 12:24.000 --> 12:27.000 Look what this guy did to himself. 12:27.000 --> 12:30.000 Joey, you big silly kid, you. 12:30.000 --> 12:32.000 What are you fighting for? 12:32.000 --> 12:33.000 Tommy, get a... 12:33.000 --> 12:34.000 Hey, what happened to this window? 12:34.000 --> 12:36.000 Well, that's how I cut myself just now. 12:36.000 --> 12:38.000 I thought it was stuck. 12:38.000 --> 12:41.000 You know me, long on muscles and short on brains. 12:41.000 --> 12:43.000 Well, it's all right. 12:43.000 --> 12:45.000 Just a little cut. 12:45.000 --> 12:47.000 Our boy's gonna be all right, Tommy. 12:47.000 --> 12:49.000 The show goes on, doesn't it, Joey? 12:49.000 --> 12:51.000 Sure, sure. 12:51.000 --> 12:54.000 What a sweet, helpless guy this is. 12:54.000 --> 12:56.000 We gotta take better care of our boy, Tommy. 12:56.000 --> 12:57.000 Yeah. 12:57.000 --> 13:00.000 You know, our Joey's just a great big kid. 13:00.000 --> 13:03.000 He likes to go on adventures with silly blondes, 13:03.000 --> 13:06.000 but there's nobody got wrists like this man 13:06.000 --> 13:09.000 to catch my Tommy when he flies through the air 13:09.000 --> 13:11.000 with the greatest of ease. 13:11.000 --> 13:13.000 You know, Joe, 13:13.000 --> 13:16.000 I wouldn't trust Tommy's life in anybody's hands but yours. 13:16.000 --> 13:19.000 And she leaned over me and I could smell her hair. 13:19.000 --> 13:22.000 And her warm breath danced around my eyes. 13:22.000 --> 13:26.000 And him and that whistling, why shouldn't he whistle? 13:26.000 --> 13:28.000 He had the world. He had Fran. 13:28.000 --> 13:31.000 There. How's that feel, Joey? 13:31.000 --> 13:35.000 Her talking into my face, smoothing my hair. 13:35.000 --> 13:39.000 Now, don't you punch any more windows in the nose, you understand? 13:39.000 --> 13:41.000 Didn't she see what she was doing to me? 13:41.000 --> 13:43.000 Didn't they see what was happening to me? 13:43.000 --> 13:46.000 How could two people be so blind? Couldn't they see? 13:46.000 --> 13:48.000 Feel better, Joey. 13:48.000 --> 13:50.000 I asked you. 13:50.000 --> 13:52.000 Leave me alone. Leave me alone! 14:01.000 --> 14:03.000 So I went walking in the streets again, 14:03.000 --> 14:06.000 burning inside like a guy with 105 fever, 14:06.000 --> 14:09.000 still smelling the perfume in her hair, 14:09.000 --> 14:12.000 still hearing her whistling, 14:12.000 --> 14:15.000 still hearing her voice in my head. 14:15.000 --> 14:19.000 It was after four in the morning when I got back to the hotel. 14:19.000 --> 14:21.000 Nobody in the lobby. 14:21.000 --> 14:24.000 Nobody but the room clerk taking a snooze at the desk. 14:24.000 --> 14:27.000 This time, Tommy was in bed asleep. 14:27.000 --> 14:30.000 I sat on the edge of the bed for a long time, 14:30.000 --> 14:32.000 listening to his breathing. 14:35.000 --> 14:38.000 Then I went to the drawer and got the gun. 14:38.000 --> 14:40.000 I laid it aside for a moment 14:40.000 --> 14:43.000 and then I scattered the stuff on the drawer like a burglar would. 14:43.000 --> 14:45.000 He was looking for something. 14:45.000 --> 14:48.000 Then I went over to where his pants were hanging on a chair. 14:48.000 --> 14:52.000 I guess I got a little excited as I grabbed for the pants, the chair fell over. 14:58.000 --> 15:02.000 I waited, my heart hammering away like it was trying to break loose. 15:03.000 --> 15:05.000 But he didn't wake up. 15:06.000 --> 15:08.000 I found his wallet and his pants, 15:08.000 --> 15:10.000 then his watch on the nightstand. 15:10.000 --> 15:12.000 Then I went over to the broken window, looked down. 15:12.000 --> 15:15.000 It was dark, a lot of sound. 15:15.000 --> 15:18.000 Tomorrow all the cops in the city would be looking for the burglar 15:18.000 --> 15:22.000 who came up the fire escape and killed his victim when caught in the act. 15:23.000 --> 15:25.000 I went back to the dresser for the gun. 15:26.000 --> 15:28.000 I went over to the bed. 15:28.000 --> 15:31.000 I wouldn't let him take her away from me. 15:31.000 --> 15:32.000 Simple as that. 15:32.000 --> 15:35.000 I raised the gun barrel level with his head. 15:35.000 --> 15:38.000 My finger curled around the trigger. 15:38.000 --> 15:40.000 I felt a tiny nerve start throbbing in my wrist. 15:40.000 --> 15:42.000 I squeezed the trigger. 15:42.000 --> 15:44.000 What is this? 15:44.000 --> 15:45.000 Are you Joe? 15:45.000 --> 15:47.000 Yeah, yeah. 15:47.000 --> 15:49.000 What a bad Joe. 15:49.000 --> 15:51.000 Okay. 15:55.000 --> 15:58.000 When Tommy had gone back to sleep, I broke open the gun. 15:58.000 --> 16:00.000 It was empty. 16:00.000 --> 16:02.000 But it had been loaded before. 16:02.000 --> 16:04.000 They must have found the gun after I left. 16:04.000 --> 16:06.000 But why had they taken the bullets? 16:06.000 --> 16:07.000 I didn't understand. 16:07.000 --> 16:09.000 How could they know anything? 16:09.000 --> 16:11.000 All of a sudden I was afraid. 16:11.000 --> 16:13.000 I put the wallet and the wristwatch back. 16:13.000 --> 16:15.000 I put the gun back in the drawer. 16:15.000 --> 16:17.000 What was I going to do? 16:17.000 --> 16:21.000 I flopped down on the bed and tried to think. 16:21.000 --> 16:34.000 But somewhere along the line I fell asleep. 16:34.000 --> 16:36.000 I slept until almost noon. 16:36.000 --> 16:38.000 When I woke up, Tommy was gone. 16:38.000 --> 16:41.000 I dressed and went down the hall to Fran's room. 16:41.000 --> 16:42.000 She was gone. 16:42.000 --> 16:45.000 At the desk, they didn't know what had happened to them. 16:45.000 --> 16:47.000 I went down to the armory where we were playing. 16:47.000 --> 16:49.000 They went around there. 16:49.000 --> 16:51.000 It was getting close to the matinee. 16:51.000 --> 16:53.000 I went to the dressing room. 16:53.000 --> 16:55.000 No sign of either of them. 16:55.000 --> 16:57.000 Then, just a few minutes before we'd go on, 16:57.000 --> 17:00.000 the door burst open and they were standing there. 17:00.000 --> 17:03.000 We thought we weren't going to make it. 17:03.000 --> 17:04.000 That's no kidding. 17:04.000 --> 17:05.000 Where were you? 17:05.000 --> 17:08.000 Just feast your eyes on the little gold object 17:08.000 --> 17:14.000 third finger left hand, sometimes called a wedding ring. 17:14.000 --> 17:18.000 Well, aren't you at least going to say bon voyage, weren't you? 17:18.000 --> 17:19.000 Sure, sure. 17:19.000 --> 17:24.000 Best of everything. 17:24.000 --> 17:26.000 Fran left a change into her costume 17:26.000 --> 17:33.000 and Tommy started getting ready, happy as a lark. 17:33.000 --> 17:36.000 And I felt the heat choking me till I couldn't breathe, 17:36.000 --> 17:39.000 burning in me like fire. 17:39.000 --> 17:42.000 Then I realized something that sent the cold shivers through me. 17:42.000 --> 17:44.000 If I went up on that trapeze today 17:44.000 --> 17:47.000 and if his life depended upon my catching him, 17:47.000 --> 17:49.000 he would die. 17:49.000 --> 17:51.000 It made me sick thinking about it. 17:51.000 --> 17:53.000 Everybody's got to have some kind of belief. 17:53.000 --> 17:56.000 I grew up different, not like most people. 17:56.000 --> 17:58.000 The only belief I had was the act. 17:58.000 --> 18:00.000 I had to keep the act clean. 18:00.000 --> 18:02.000 I couldn't let it happen that way. 18:02.000 --> 18:04.000 But it would happen. 18:04.000 --> 18:07.000 If I went up there, it would happen. 18:07.000 --> 18:08.000 Three minutes. 18:08.000 --> 18:10.000 Okay. 18:10.000 --> 18:13.000 Well, we'd better be getting out of here, Joey. 18:13.000 --> 18:14.000 Well, Joe, come on, come on. 18:14.000 --> 18:15.000 They're not going. 18:15.000 --> 18:16.000 What? 18:16.000 --> 18:17.000 What are you talking about? 18:17.000 --> 18:18.000 I'm not going on. 18:18.000 --> 18:19.000 Can't you understand English? 18:19.000 --> 18:20.000 What, Joey? 18:20.000 --> 18:21.000 I'm not going on. 18:23.000 --> 18:26.000 He couldn't do anything with me and time was running out. 18:26.000 --> 18:27.000 He left and I thought, 18:27.000 --> 18:29.000 what I'd better do is just pack and leave 18:29.000 --> 18:31.000 and never see either of them again. 18:31.000 --> 18:34.000 Then just beyond the door, I heard him whispering to somebody. 18:34.000 --> 18:36.000 I knew what it was. 18:36.000 --> 18:38.000 He was putting her to work on me. 18:38.000 --> 18:39.000 I didn't want to see her. 18:39.000 --> 18:42.000 I went to close the door, but she was already standing there, 18:42.000 --> 18:44.000 her hand on the doorknob. 18:44.000 --> 18:46.000 But it was the wrong hand. 18:46.000 --> 18:48.000 It was the hand with a ring on it. 18:48.000 --> 18:50.000 His ring. 18:50.000 --> 18:52.000 Is it something to do with the act, Joe? 18:52.000 --> 18:54.000 No, nothing with the act. 18:54.000 --> 18:55.000 Well, then... 18:55.000 --> 18:56.000 Don't ask me to go out there, Fran. 18:56.000 --> 18:58.000 You know we can't go on without you. 18:58.000 --> 18:59.000 Well, do what you can. 18:59.000 --> 19:00.000 Fake those triple plays. 19:00.000 --> 19:02.000 Look pretty and swing hard. 19:02.000 --> 19:03.000 Just don't ask me to go out there. 19:03.000 --> 19:05.000 Joey, what's wrong with you lately? 19:05.000 --> 19:06.000 Look, don't... 19:06.000 --> 19:07.000 I'm worried about you. 19:07.000 --> 19:10.000 You've been acting so funny the last week or so. 19:10.000 --> 19:12.000 What were you doing with a gun, Joey? 19:12.000 --> 19:13.000 I... 19:13.000 --> 19:15.000 We found it in your dresser last night. 19:15.000 --> 19:17.000 Scared me to death. 19:17.000 --> 19:19.000 I made Tommy take the bullets out. 19:19.000 --> 19:21.000 I just bought it for protection, that's all. 19:21.000 --> 19:23.000 Protection from what? 19:23.000 --> 19:26.000 Joey, you've been so moody, so melancholy. 19:26.000 --> 19:29.000 I'm so afraid you might hurt yourself. 19:29.000 --> 19:32.000 You think that's why I bought the gun, to hurt myself? 19:32.000 --> 19:34.000 Gosh, I hope not. 19:34.000 --> 19:35.000 I could... 19:35.000 --> 19:36.000 It's our cue. 19:36.000 --> 19:38.000 Come on, Joel. 19:38.000 --> 19:40.000 She moved up close to me. 19:40.000 --> 19:43.000 Her hand touched the side of my face. 19:43.000 --> 19:44.000 Soft and warm. 19:44.000 --> 19:46.000 We'll be waiting for you. 19:46.000 --> 19:48.000 We won't go on without you. 19:50.000 --> 19:52.000 She left. 19:52.000 --> 19:54.000 I didn't know what to feel. 19:54.000 --> 19:57.000 Inside me, some of the hate was unwinding. 19:57.000 --> 19:59.000 I didn't want to hate him. 19:59.000 --> 20:01.000 I began thinking maybe I could... 20:01.000 --> 20:03.000 I could get by today after all. 20:03.000 --> 20:06.000 And after today, I'd just beat it and never see him again. 20:06.000 --> 20:10.000 I began thinking how lucky it was that everything had gone wrong last night. 20:10.000 --> 20:12.000 I started for the door. 20:14.000 --> 20:19.000 And then I saw the two of them behind some props, kissing each other. 20:19.000 --> 20:21.000 While they were waiting for me. 20:21.000 --> 20:24.000 I'd never seen him kissing her before. 20:24.000 --> 20:27.000 I felt cold and empty. 20:27.000 --> 20:29.000 I went back into the dressing room. 20:29.000 --> 20:34.000 On the table was the tube of Vaseline I used to hold my hair in place. 20:34.000 --> 20:37.000 I stuck the tube into the waistband of my trunks. 20:37.000 --> 20:40.000 I didn't worry anymore about hurting the act. 20:51.000 --> 20:53.000 The act went off like clockwork. 20:53.000 --> 20:55.000 It always did. 20:55.000 --> 20:57.000 It was such second nature to us by now. 20:57.000 --> 21:01.000 The precision climb up the ladders to the two little takeoff platforms. 21:01.000 --> 21:03.000 Me on one side of the ring. 21:03.000 --> 21:05.000 The two of them on the other. 21:05.000 --> 21:08.000 I felt good like I always felt up here. 21:08.000 --> 21:12.000 I knew what was going to happen, but I wasn't fighting it anymore. 21:12.000 --> 21:14.000 When it came, it came at so long. 21:14.000 --> 21:16.000 And then it was time. 21:18.000 --> 21:20.000 All the easy stuff was over. 21:20.000 --> 21:22.000 We were ready for our big specialty. 21:22.000 --> 21:24.000 Tommy's Triple Somersault. 21:24.000 --> 21:29.000 Ladies and gentlemen, your kind attention, please. 21:29.000 --> 21:39.000 It is once again my privilege to present the most breathtaking trapeze stunt in all the world. 21:39.000 --> 21:43.000 I was already on the lower trapeze, lolling on the crossbar. 21:43.000 --> 21:47.000 It was Tommy's stunt, so no one noticed me. 21:47.000 --> 21:52.000 I reached up into the waistband of my trunks and flicked the cap off the tube of grease. 21:52.000 --> 21:57.000 I pinched the tube and a coil of Vaseline spurted into my palm. 21:57.000 --> 22:02.000 I greased my wrists until they were as slippery as a pair of heels. 22:02.000 --> 22:05.000 That was where he was going to hang on to. 22:05.000 --> 22:08.000 Where he was going to try to hang on. 22:08.000 --> 22:11.000 ...the great Joseph. 22:11.000 --> 22:15.000 The slightest miss will mean instant death. 22:15.000 --> 22:17.000 Tommy signaled that he was ready. 22:17.000 --> 22:19.000 I was ready too. 22:22.000 --> 22:26.000 I turned lazily on the bar until my head hung down. 22:26.000 --> 22:30.000 I was dangling by my legs, flexing my arm. 22:30.000 --> 22:34.000 My eyes running over the row upon row of tiny upturned faces. 22:34.000 --> 22:37.000 It was a matter of seconds now. 22:37.000 --> 22:40.000 Five thousand pairs of eyes watching. 22:40.000 --> 22:43.000 Five thousand hearts starting to speed up. 22:43.000 --> 22:45.000 Even the peanut and popcorn boys had stopped. 22:45.000 --> 22:50.000 Just the roll of the drums building up louder and louder. 22:50.000 --> 22:54.000 Without looking, I knew Fran was putting on Tommy's blindfold. 22:54.000 --> 22:57.000 For another second, I'd swing around and face them. 22:57.000 --> 22:59.000 And begin the count. 22:59.000 --> 23:01.000 I began turning. 23:03.000 --> 23:05.000 What happened? I turned quickly. 23:05.000 --> 23:07.000 Fran was alone on the platform. 23:07.000 --> 23:09.000 For a split second, I couldn't figure it out. 23:09.000 --> 23:11.000 And then I saw Tommy falling through the air. 23:11.000 --> 23:14.000 He grabbed at a guy wire as he passed and he held on. 23:14.000 --> 23:17.000 He slid down the wire spiraling down in a sickening crazy corkscrew. 23:17.000 --> 23:20.000 Down all the way to the bottom but never letting go. 23:20.000 --> 23:22.000 He landed in a huddle at the bottom. 23:22.000 --> 23:24.000 Then he picked himself up. 23:24.000 --> 23:26.000 So he was all right. Nothing broken. 23:26.000 --> 23:31.000 Except the way he held his hand, you could tell it was as raw as if he'd cut it open with a knife. 23:31.000 --> 23:34.000 I swung around and looked up at Fran. 23:34.000 --> 23:36.000 She caught my eye and formed the words, 23:36.000 --> 23:38.000 My fault with her lips. 23:38.000 --> 23:40.000 And then, sorry. 23:40.000 --> 23:43.000 Then she had made him slip. 23:43.000 --> 23:45.000 She had kept him from swinging out on that trapeze. 23:45.000 --> 23:47.000 But why? I swung back. 23:47.000 --> 23:50.000 All of a sudden, I wanted to get down. I wanted to get away. 23:50.000 --> 23:52.000 But while my back was turned to her, 23:52.000 --> 23:55.000 she must have passed along the signal because suddenly I heard... 23:55.000 --> 23:57.000 Ladies and gentlemen, 23:57.000 --> 24:04.000 this unforeseen accident will not in any way change our spectacular triple somersault. 24:04.000 --> 24:10.000 The event will continue with the great Thomas's understudy, 24:10.000 --> 24:20.000 The Lovely Frances. 24:20.000 --> 24:22.000 I guess at first I was just too shocked to think. 24:22.000 --> 24:24.000 This was something I'd never figured out. 24:24.000 --> 24:27.000 Sure, she'd done the trick before, but then there was a split second 24:27.000 --> 24:30.000 in which she signaled me to drop my head and begin the count. 24:30.000 --> 24:34.000 And then before I could get my own desperate signal back to her to stop, not to go ahead, 24:34.000 --> 24:38.000 the black mask had dropped over her eyes and I was cut off from her. 24:38.000 --> 24:41.000 Fran, don't do it! Don't do it! 24:41.000 --> 24:44.000 But the drums had already begun that thunder. 24:44.000 --> 24:46.000 My voice couldn't reach her now. 24:46.000 --> 24:50.000 She'd swung the empty trapeze out into space. 24:50.000 --> 24:52.000 The count had begun. 24:52.000 --> 24:55.000 One as she let go. 24:55.000 --> 24:59.000 Two as the trapeze made its mark. 24:59.000 --> 25:02.000 Three as it returned. 25:02.000 --> 25:07.000 Twice more the empty trapeze would swing out and then on its return she would grab it. 25:07.000 --> 25:11.000 Fran, don't do it! Don't do it! 25:11.000 --> 25:14.000 But I knew she could only hear the drums 25:14.000 --> 25:21.000 if there were only some way to stop the drums. 25:21.000 --> 25:35.000 I heard the terrified roar of thousands of throats and I knew it was death. 25:35.000 --> 25:40.000 And who is the next of kin of the deceased? 25:40.000 --> 25:43.000 Look, officer, I told you I'm only the manager of this outfit. 25:43.000 --> 25:47.000 Why don't you ask those two over near the body? They know all about it. They're part of the act. 25:47.000 --> 25:51.000 I told you I'd get to them. Now, how exactly did the deceased... 25:51.000 --> 25:56.000 Listen, officer, why so many questions? It wasn't murder, you know. It was just an accident. 25:56.000 --> 25:59.000 Slipped and fell off the trapeze. 25:59.000 --> 26:02.000 I guess it was the excitement of seeing Tommy take that bad spill. 26:02.000 --> 26:06.000 Why can't you just put it down as an accident and let it go? 26:06.000 --> 26:10.000 Look, I'm only following the rules, mister. I don't tell you how to run your circuits. 26:10.000 --> 26:15.000 Yeah, yeah, but when you're all finished with your questions it'll still add up to the same thing. 26:15.000 --> 26:20.000 An aerialist named Joe Crosby was accidentally killed while giving a performance. 26:20.000 --> 26:22.000 Just as simple as that. 26:22.000 --> 26:26.000 Yeah, poor Joe himself couldn't tell you any more. 26:26.000 --> 26:52.000 Even if the dead could talk. 26:52.000 --> 26:58.000 Thank you, Dana Andrews, for a splendid performance. Mr. Andrews will return in just a moment. 26:58.000 --> 26:59.000 Uh, Harrow? 26:59.000 --> 27:00.000 Yes, Hap? 27:00.000 --> 27:01.000 A question. 27:01.000 --> 27:02.000 Shoot. 27:02.000 --> 27:03.000 Do you ever run out of words? 27:03.000 --> 27:10.000 Oh, now, Hap, be sensible. How could any guy run out of words with those sensational auto-lights stay full batteries to talk about? 27:10.000 --> 27:11.000 I got my answer. 27:11.000 --> 27:20.000 Why, Hap, those auto-lights stay full batteries have the start of a jackrabbit, the power of a bulldozer, and the life of a redwood all wrapped up in one. 27:20.000 --> 27:25.000 And to top it all off, they need water only three times a year in normal car use. 27:25.000 --> 27:28.000 So, friends, when you buy a battery, buy the best. 27:28.000 --> 27:29.000 Switch to auto-light. 27:29.000 --> 27:36.000 Makers of over 400 automotive, aviation, and marine products in 27 plants from coast to coast. 27:36.000 --> 27:39.000 Auto-light, the lifeline of your car. 27:39.000 --> 27:42.000 Always remember, auto-light means batteries. 27:42.000 --> 27:43.000 Stay full batteries. 27:43.000 --> 27:45.000 Auto-light means spark plugs. 27:45.000 --> 27:48.000 Ignition engineered resistor spark plugs. 27:48.000 --> 27:50.000 Auto-light means ignition systems. 27:50.000 --> 27:52.000 The lifeline of your car. 27:59.000 --> 28:02.000 And now here again is Mr. Dana Andrews. 28:02.000 --> 28:06.000 My thanks to Tony Leeder for the opportunity of appearing again on Suspense. 28:06.000 --> 28:09.000 There's always a pleasant and rewarding experience. 28:09.000 --> 28:15.000 And you'll have a pleasant and rewarding experience, I'm sure, next week when radio's Outstanding Theatre of Thrills brings you Robert Montgomery 28:15.000 --> 28:19.000 in another gripping study in Suspense. 28:20.000 --> 28:24.000 Dana Andrews appears through the courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn, producers of Enchantment. 28:24.000 --> 28:28.000 Tonight's Suspense play was adapted by Larry Marcus from the short story by William Irish. 28:28.000 --> 28:32.000 Music was composed by Lucian Morrowek and conducted by Lud Bluskin. 28:32.000 --> 28:36.000 The entire production was under the direction of Anton M. Leeder. 28:36.000 --> 28:45.000 In the coming weeks, Suspense will present such stars as Fibber McGee and Molly, Charles Lawton, James Wyman, James Mason, and many others. 28:45.000 --> 28:52.000 Make it a point to listen each Thursday to Suspense, Radio's Outstanding Theatre of Thrills. 28:52.000 --> 29:06.000 Next Thursday same time, hear Robert Montgomery. 29:06.000 --> 29:14.000 Remember, you're right with auto light. So switch to auto light. Good night. 29:14.000 --> 29:29.000 This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.