WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:14.000 Now, Auto Light and its 60,000 dealers and service stations present... 00:14.000 --> 00:16.000 Suspense! 00:16.000 --> 00:25.000 Tonight, Auto Light brings you Ronald Coleman in... 00:25.000 --> 00:36.000 Noose of Coincidence, a suspense play produced and directed by Anton M. Leader. 00:36.000 --> 00:40.000 If you're a fellow who won't put up with second best, what are you waiting for? 00:40.000 --> 00:47.000 Replace those old narrow gap spark plugs with wide gap Auto Light resistor spark plugs and see the difference in your car. 00:47.000 --> 00:54.000 Your car will idle smoother, give you better power and performance on leaner gas mixtures, actually save gas. 00:54.000 --> 01:01.000 Auto Light regular type spark plugs have long been standard factory equipment on many leading makes of cars and trucks. 01:01.000 --> 01:12.000 And now six, that's right, six of these leading makes of cars and trucks have switched to Auto Light resistor type spark plugs for factory installation on their new 1949 models. 01:12.000 --> 01:18.000 The new wide gap Auto Light resistor spark plugs are the spark plugs of today and the future. 01:18.000 --> 01:22.000 Remember, you're right with Auto Light. 01:22.000 --> 01:41.000 And now, Auto Light presents Ronald Coleman in a tale well calculated to keep you in suspense. 01:41.000 --> 01:46.000 Do you know London? Do you remember Swan's Bookshop, 12 Edgemont Row? 01:46.000 --> 01:55.000 Now that's it. It's hard to believe that such a quiet unassuming shop was the scene of unusual, even fantastic happenings. 01:55.000 --> 02:03.000 The only thing out of the ordinary about my bookshop, although I feel it's most appropriate, is the sign, or rather symbol, hanging above the door. 02:03.000 --> 02:09.000 An arm made of cast iron holding a loft of flaming torch. 02:09.000 --> 02:20.000 I must confess that the sharp angle inside the elbow attracted some distinctly unbookish creatures, birds, who found the crook of the arm a splendid place for nest building. 02:20.000 --> 02:28.000 I rather liked the birds beneath my bedroom windows, but some of my customers complained quite bitterly about their nesting over the door. 02:28.000 --> 02:40.000 So each spring it became my wicked task to clear away the little home that was a building, and then to try in vain to make peace with the birds and my angry conscience. 02:40.000 --> 02:43.000 Well, Mr. Swan, is it spring again? 02:43.000 --> 02:45.000 Ah, good morning, Constable. 02:45.000 --> 02:48.000 Have a care up there on that ladder, sir. Steady. 02:48.000 --> 02:53.000 Oh, it's not the ladder that's making my knees shaky. It's this monstrous crime I commit every year. 02:53.000 --> 02:57.000 But if you didn't, Mr. Swan, how would the rest of us know it was spring, eh? 02:57.000 --> 03:01.000 Yes, a distinguished courier, Christopher Swan, calendar to the neighborhood. 03:01.000 --> 03:03.000 Very honest, sir, be all of us. 03:03.000 --> 03:05.000 Thank you, Constable. 03:05.000 --> 03:08.000 Begging your pardon, Mr. Swan, but you have a customer in your shop? 03:08.000 --> 03:09.000 I do not. 03:09.000 --> 03:15.000 Yes, I saw him go in while I was half way down the street. He walked right under the ladder, he did, with never a care. 03:15.000 --> 03:18.000 Brave man indeed. Thank you. 03:21.000 --> 03:26.000 Good morning. I'm sorry I didn't see you enter. I didn't hear the bell. May I help you? 03:26.000 --> 03:29.000 I don't need help. Your name is Christopher Swan? 03:29.000 --> 03:30.000 Yes. 03:30.000 --> 03:33.000 Good morning. My name is Christopher Swan. 03:33.000 --> 03:36.000 I... Well, forgive me, I didn't quite hear. 03:36.000 --> 03:39.000 But you did. Christopher Swan, sir. Your name, my name. 03:39.000 --> 03:41.000 Well, how odd. 03:41.000 --> 03:46.000 Why, people must have names. More people than names, therefore duplication. Bound to happen. My card. 03:46.000 --> 03:53.000 Thank you. Yeah, sure enough. Christopher Swan. Mental telepathist. 03:53.000 --> 03:56.000 Telepathist and prophet of the future. 03:56.000 --> 04:00.000 No. Well, nevertheless, it is very odd. 04:00.000 --> 04:04.000 Perhaps it is. In that case, you must save my card and show it to Margaret. 04:04.000 --> 04:05.000 Margaret? 04:05.000 --> 04:06.000 Your wife, sir. 04:06.000 --> 04:10.000 Oh, no, I'm afraid you're mistaken. I have no wife and I've never been married. 04:10.000 --> 04:12.000 Do you suppose I'm not aware of that? 04:12.000 --> 04:15.000 You are? Well, then I don't see how you can... 04:15.000 --> 04:20.000 Mr. Swan, mental telepathist and prophet of the future. The future. 04:20.000 --> 04:26.000 Yes. Margaret. Young woman. Pretty too. Red hair. 04:26.000 --> 04:32.000 Oh, now really. I've read a good bit about extrasensory perception, Mr. Swan, but when you speak of foretelling the future... 04:32.000 --> 04:36.000 You don't believe a word of it. Well, I don't blame you. No one believes at first. 04:36.000 --> 04:38.000 And later? 04:38.000 --> 04:43.000 Mr. Swan, suppose we drop the subject. I've come here simply to buy some books. 04:43.000 --> 04:54.000 Perhaps we may have a little talk in a short time after your marriage. 04:54.000 --> 04:59.000 Now, if a thing like that happened to you, you'd probably laugh at it as I did. 04:59.000 --> 05:06.000 But then, if only five days later you met a red-haired girl named Margaret, 05:06.000 --> 05:12.000 and she was pretty, and the fresh perfume of spring began to engage in mortal combat with a bachelor in you, 05:12.000 --> 05:19.000 then you might begin to believe that all nature conspired to fulfill the prophecy of Christopher Swan. 05:19.000 --> 05:23.000 Of course I want to marry you, but we know so little about each other. 05:23.000 --> 05:26.000 I think that's excellent, Margaret. It'll be an adventure. Finding out. 05:26.000 --> 05:29.000 Oh, you'll be disappointed in me. There's nothing to find out. 05:29.000 --> 05:34.000 I don't intend to try. I expect to be content with you as you are. 05:34.000 --> 05:36.000 Well, Margaret? 05:36.000 --> 05:42.000 Oh, I wish you hadn't told me about all that money you inherited. 05:42.000 --> 05:46.000 I'd like you to believe that I'm marrying you for yourself. 05:46.000 --> 05:52.000 Chris, will you be happy with me? Will you be content? 05:52.000 --> 05:58.000 Happy with Margaret? Content with Margaret? 05:58.000 --> 06:03.000 Less than three months later, anyone within earshot could have told the answer to that. 06:03.000 --> 06:05.000 Christopher! 06:05.000 --> 06:06.000 Margaret, I'm coming. 06:06.000 --> 06:08.000 Christopher, this back room is a sight. 06:08.000 --> 06:09.000 Yes, Margaret. 06:09.000 --> 06:13.000 If only you'd do some tidying about here instead of going on as you do. 06:13.000 --> 06:17.000 Talk, talk, talk with the customers, day in, day out. And what do you talk about? Books. 06:17.000 --> 06:19.000 Nothing but musty old books. 06:19.000 --> 06:21.000 But that's my business, my dear. 06:21.000 --> 06:25.000 Well, more's the pity. Why, any man with 50,000 good English pounds in Barclays Bank 06:25.000 --> 06:28.000 insists upon running an out-of-the-way little bookshop 06:28.000 --> 06:31.000 instead of going out into the world and making something of himself. 06:31.000 --> 06:33.000 Margaret, please, there are people in the shop. 06:33.000 --> 06:34.000 People? Loafers. 06:34.000 --> 06:36.000 Now, see here, Margaret... 06:36.000 --> 06:39.000 Don't you dare lose that nasty temper with me. 06:39.000 --> 06:41.000 I know you're sorry you married me, but you made a bargain. 06:41.000 --> 06:44.000 You might as just as well be resigned. 06:44.000 --> 06:46.000 Till death do us part, the minister said. 06:46.000 --> 06:48.000 Till death do us part. 06:55.000 --> 06:58.000 One day I went up to Hampstead Heath for the fair. 06:58.000 --> 07:02.000 Oh, not so much to see the fair as to get away from Margaret. 07:02.000 --> 07:07.000 I watched the children on the carousels and the pearlies from Lambeth Road 07:07.000 --> 07:10.000 and the girls in white smocks selling jellied apples. 07:10.000 --> 07:15.000 And then, suddenly, there he was again. 07:15.000 --> 07:18.000 Well, sink me, it's my friend, the doubter. 07:18.000 --> 07:19.000 How'd you do, Mr Swan? 07:19.000 --> 07:20.000 Quite well, thank you. 07:20.000 --> 07:22.000 My question, Mr Swan, was purely rhetorical. 07:22.000 --> 07:25.000 I'm thoroughly aware that you are not doing well at all. 07:25.000 --> 07:26.000 Wrong again, Mr Swan. 07:26.000 --> 07:28.000 How can you say again? 07:28.000 --> 07:31.000 You did marry a red-haired woman named Margaret, didn't you? 07:31.000 --> 07:33.000 You really believe in your powers. 07:33.000 --> 07:35.000 Candidly, I don't. 07:35.000 --> 07:39.000 The only thing thus far proven is that there are remarkable coincidences. 07:39.000 --> 07:42.000 My dear Mr Swan, how the thing happened is quite unimportant. 07:42.000 --> 07:45.000 All we must remember is my prediction that it would happen. 07:45.000 --> 07:46.000 I didn't say how. 07:46.000 --> 07:48.000 Could you have done that too? 07:48.000 --> 07:50.000 With a little more concentration, why not? 07:50.000 --> 07:53.000 For instance, let me tell you about your wife. 07:53.000 --> 07:57.000 Your wife, Mr Swan, is a shrew and will become more of a shrew each day. 07:57.000 --> 07:59.000 Now, please, I don't think I care to hear about it. 07:59.000 --> 08:02.000 No, don't go, Mr Swan, please, not while I'm concentrating. 08:02.000 --> 08:03.000 Now, let me see. 08:03.000 --> 08:06.000 Christopher Swan, born one day... 08:06.000 --> 08:08.000 I can't quite make that out. 08:08.000 --> 08:12.000 In March 1908, both placed the manor house, lower orchard, 08:12.000 --> 08:15.000 Bellingdon near Chasm-Barks. 08:15.000 --> 08:18.000 1940, removed to London, acquire bookshop. 08:18.000 --> 08:20.000 Father and mother killed in blitz. 08:20.000 --> 08:21.000 It's a pity, Mr Swan. 08:21.000 --> 08:25.000 You, however, inherit £50,000, right? 08:25.000 --> 08:28.000 Yes, every bit of it, but would it be impertinent 08:28.000 --> 08:32.000 to point out that you had access to this information in several publications? 08:32.000 --> 08:34.000 Not one bit impertinent, Mr Swan, but tell me, 08:34.000 --> 08:38.000 in which publication could I have learned that on the 9th of November, 08:38.000 --> 08:41.000 this year, you will be hanged by the neck until dead? 08:41.000 --> 08:45.000 I... I beg your pardon? 08:45.000 --> 08:47.000 Don't look so taken aback, my friend. 08:47.000 --> 08:50.000 The gift of prophecy, nothing more, ability to foresee the future. 08:50.000 --> 08:54.000 You... you charlatan, do you seriously expect me to believe... 08:54.000 --> 08:56.000 That you'll be hanged? 08:56.000 --> 08:58.000 Yes, I don't expect you to believe it, Mr Swan, 08:58.000 --> 09:01.000 any more than you believed my first prophecy about your marriage. 09:01.000 --> 09:04.000 But you will be hanged, Mr Swan, pity, really a pity, 09:04.000 --> 09:09.000 on the morning of November 9th, hanged by the neck, until you are dead. 09:09.000 --> 09:20.000 MUSIC 09:20.000 --> 09:24.000 For suspense, Auto Light is bringing you Ronald Coleman 09:24.000 --> 09:28.000 in Radio's outstanding theatre of thrills, Suspense. 09:28.000 --> 09:34.000 MUSIC 09:34.000 --> 09:38.000 Hey there, Harlow, heard you played Truth or Consequences at a big Hollywood party. 09:38.000 --> 09:41.000 Sure, they asked me to tell the truth and naturally I did. 09:41.000 --> 09:45.000 I said, friends, those Auto Light resistor spark plugs always give a star performance. 09:45.000 --> 09:48.000 Smoother idling, better performance on leaner gas mixtures, 09:48.000 --> 09:52.000 and actually save gas, why, they're bigger box office than a movie star. 09:52.000 --> 09:53.000 Hollywood stood for that? 09:53.000 --> 09:55.000 Well, I had to tell the truth. 09:55.000 --> 09:59.000 Wide gap Auto Light resistor spark plugs are the spark plugs of today and the future. 09:59.000 --> 10:04.000 Yep, I said, more men go for Auto Light resistor spark plugs than for glamorous movie stars. 10:04.000 --> 10:06.000 So switch from old narrow gap plugs to... 10:06.000 --> 10:08.000 Yeah, they must have loved you. 10:08.000 --> 10:11.000 There I was telling the truth and I had to take the consequences too. 10:11.000 --> 10:12.000 Oh, you did? 10:12.000 --> 10:14.000 Yeah, they threw me into the swimming pool. 10:14.000 --> 10:16.000 Well, it's duck, Harlow, suspense is on. 10:16.000 --> 10:18.000 MUSIC 10:18.000 --> 10:21.000 And now, Auto Light brings back to our Hollywood sound stage, 10:21.000 --> 10:27.000 Ronald Coleman as Christopher Swan in Noose of Coincidence. 10:27.000 --> 10:31.000 A tale well calculated to keep you in suspense. 10:31.000 --> 10:33.000 MUSIC 10:33.000 --> 10:35.000 BELL RINGS 10:35.000 --> 10:37.000 Good morning, Mr. Swan. 10:37.000 --> 10:39.000 And a good morning to you, Constable. 10:39.000 --> 10:41.000 Well, I hope it's better than the night I had. 10:41.000 --> 10:44.000 Oh, fair and horrible, that's what it was. 10:44.000 --> 10:48.000 Oh, Mr. Swan, do you have any books that talk about spirits? 10:48.000 --> 10:50.000 Oh, yes, sir, some very fine ones. 10:50.000 --> 10:53.000 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. 10:53.000 --> 10:56.000 Then there's the American psychologist William James. 10:56.000 --> 10:59.000 It's an odd coincidence, that's the man I'm reading now. 10:59.000 --> 11:02.000 There you are, William James, the will to believe. 11:02.000 --> 11:05.000 Oh, it ain't the believing that bothers me. 11:05.000 --> 11:08.000 It's the will to leave it in the bottle. 11:08.000 --> 11:09.000 The bottle? 11:09.000 --> 11:11.000 Spirits, Mr. Swan. 11:11.000 --> 11:13.000 Oh, last night. 11:13.000 --> 11:16.000 Oh, I beg your pardon, Constable. 11:16.000 --> 11:20.000 You know, my mind is so set upon a certain... 11:20.000 --> 11:22.000 Well, let's see now. 11:22.000 --> 11:25.000 Ah, spirits, spirituous, here we are. 11:25.000 --> 11:27.000 Spiritus frumenti. 11:27.000 --> 11:28.000 Christopher! 11:28.000 --> 11:29.000 Oh, heavens. 11:29.000 --> 11:31.000 When will you ever clean this filthy back room? 11:31.000 --> 11:33.000 I'll be there in half a moment, Margaret. 11:33.000 --> 11:35.000 Not in half a moment, now. 11:35.000 --> 11:39.000 Oh, she does have a voice that carries, don't she, Mr. Swan? 11:39.000 --> 11:42.000 I suppose you just browse along that shelf, Constable, 11:42.000 --> 11:44.000 and help yourself to whatever you like. 11:44.000 --> 11:46.000 Look at this place, look at it. 11:46.000 --> 11:47.000 Nothing but old books. 11:47.000 --> 11:49.000 Dickens, Thackeray, Victor Hugo. 11:49.000 --> 11:52.000 Filthy nonsense, filthy nonsense. 11:52.000 --> 11:54.000 These are rare editions, Margaret. 11:54.000 --> 11:55.000 Please don't handle them like that. 11:55.000 --> 11:57.000 I'll handle them as they deserve. 11:57.000 --> 11:59.000 I'll tear them or burn them or fling them about. 11:59.000 --> 12:02.000 No, Margaret, Margaret, how dare you? 12:02.000 --> 12:05.000 It happens that I love this shop and the things in it. 12:05.000 --> 12:07.000 You'd like to die here. 12:07.000 --> 12:08.000 What? 12:08.000 --> 12:10.000 You said so in your sleep last night. 12:10.000 --> 12:11.000 I wish I were dead. 12:11.000 --> 12:13.000 That's what I heard you say. 12:13.000 --> 12:15.000 I don't know what's come over you, Christopher. 12:15.000 --> 12:16.000 Moody all the time. 12:16.000 --> 12:18.000 Sulking, sulking, sulking. 12:18.000 --> 12:20.000 Pity you feel so sorry for yourself. 12:20.000 --> 12:23.000 Margaret, please, Constable Smithers can hear every word. 12:23.000 --> 12:24.000 Let him. Let everybody hear. 12:24.000 --> 12:26.000 I've nothing to hide. 12:26.000 --> 12:28.000 I never dream about suicide. 12:28.000 --> 12:31.000 I made a mistake when I married you, but I'm trying to make the best of it. 12:31.000 --> 12:33.000 Pity you can't do the same. 12:33.000 --> 12:35.000 Pity you feel there's only one way out. 12:36.000 --> 12:38.000 Yes, a pity. 12:38.000 --> 12:39.000 Pity. 12:39.000 --> 12:41.000 Pity. 12:41.000 --> 12:43.000 The quiet was gone. 12:43.000 --> 12:45.000 The gentle, thoughtful quiet. 12:45.000 --> 12:48.000 A bookshop should be a peaceful place. 12:49.000 --> 12:54.000 I didn't remember dreaming about suicide, but I suppose I had such dreams. 12:54.000 --> 12:58.000 A man wants peace, even if it's only the peace of the grave. 12:59.000 --> 13:00.000 Oh, good morning. 13:00.000 --> 13:01.000 Good morning. 13:01.000 --> 13:04.000 I wonder if you have St. Moore by D.H. Lawrence. 13:04.000 --> 13:06.000 I believe published by Heinemann. 13:06.000 --> 13:08.000 Yes, Heinemann does publish, Lawrence. 13:08.000 --> 13:10.000 But I'm afraid we don't have... 13:10.000 --> 13:12.000 If you would just step over here. 13:13.000 --> 13:15.000 There's been quite a demand for Lawrence lately. 13:15.000 --> 13:17.000 And with books in short supply... 13:17.000 --> 13:18.000 I know. 13:18.000 --> 13:20.000 Let me see. 13:20.000 --> 13:22.000 St. Moore, St. Moore, St... 13:23.000 --> 13:25.000 One copy of Sons and Lovers. 13:25.000 --> 13:27.000 One Gypsy. 13:28.000 --> 13:29.000 No, no, I'm afraid we're out. 13:29.000 --> 13:31.000 May I order it for you? 13:31.000 --> 13:33.000 No, I really prefer to look for it. 13:33.000 --> 13:36.000 It's a good excuse to go tramping about, prowling through bookshops. 13:37.000 --> 13:39.000 Do you like bookshops? 13:39.000 --> 13:40.000 Oh, yes. 13:40.000 --> 13:42.000 I'm glad. 13:42.000 --> 13:43.000 Why? 13:43.000 --> 13:46.000 Nothing, I simply am glad. 13:47.000 --> 13:49.000 I'm sorry not to have had your book. 13:49.000 --> 13:51.000 I'll find it. Thank you so much. 13:51.000 --> 13:55.000 You might try the Ken Bookshop near Victoria Station. 13:55.000 --> 13:57.000 Thank you, I will. 13:57.000 --> 13:59.000 Oh, another idea. 13:59.000 --> 14:01.000 Suppose you leave your name and telephone number. 14:01.000 --> 14:04.000 Then I'd be able to ring you up if you should happen to come in. 14:04.000 --> 14:06.000 Would you be good enough to do that? 14:06.000 --> 14:08.000 My name is Anne Stevens. 14:08.000 --> 14:10.000 Mrs. Anne Stevens? 14:10.000 --> 14:12.000 No, Miss Anne Stevens. 14:12.000 --> 14:15.000 Bayswater 3210. 14:15.000 --> 14:17.000 Christopher! 14:21.000 --> 14:24.000 Miss Anne Stevens had red hair too. 14:24.000 --> 14:27.000 But not simply orange red like Margaret's. 14:27.000 --> 14:32.000 Her hair was like burnished copper, all warm and bright, down to her shoulders. 14:32.000 --> 14:36.000 And when she walked in the sunlight, it seemed to be splashed with gold. 14:36.000 --> 14:40.000 And I thought to myself, it's probably fragrant and soft to touch. 14:42.000 --> 14:46.000 It was only a few days later, I met her again in crowded Hyde Park. 14:48.000 --> 14:50.000 Oh, I'm sorry. 14:50.000 --> 14:52.000 Why, Miss Stevens. 14:52.000 --> 14:53.000 I am sorry. 14:53.000 --> 14:55.000 Well, no, I'm not really. I mean... 14:55.000 --> 14:56.000 Hello. 14:56.000 --> 14:57.000 Did I hurt you? 14:57.000 --> 15:01.000 Of course not. It's Mr. Swan, isn't it? 15:01.000 --> 15:04.000 Yes. You have a remarkable memory for faces. 15:04.000 --> 15:06.000 No more than you. You remembered me. 15:06.000 --> 15:09.000 Oh, but that's different. I've thought about you. 15:09.000 --> 15:11.000 Did you? How nice. 15:11.000 --> 15:16.000 Trying to find a copy of Saint-Maur. You know, you remember, that's what you wanted. 15:16.000 --> 15:22.000 Oh, I'm so sorry. I did find a copy that same day at the Ken Bookshop, thanks to your advice. 15:22.000 --> 15:23.000 Oh. 15:23.000 --> 15:24.000 It's a lovely work. 15:24.000 --> 15:25.000 I haven't read it. 15:25.000 --> 15:30.000 Really? Oh, Mr. Swan, let me give it to you. 15:30.000 --> 15:33.000 That is so you could read it. I'll bring it to your shop. 15:33.000 --> 15:38.000 Suppose you bring it to me here. Right here, to this very spot. 15:38.000 --> 15:41.000 Good. Tomorrow, same time. 15:41.000 --> 15:45.000 Tomorrow, same time. And I'll bring something I want you to read. 15:51.000 --> 15:54.000 There were many tomorrows, but never enough of them. 15:54.000 --> 15:57.000 We talked and walked and spent wonderful hours together. 15:57.000 --> 16:01.000 And so many of them were utterly silent because it wasn't necessary to talk. 16:01.000 --> 16:06.000 Because when you know someone deeply in your heart and... 16:06.000 --> 16:12.000 a red-haired woman, so that charlatan with my name could look into the future. 16:12.000 --> 16:17.000 But there were two red-haired women and I'd met the wrong one first. 16:17.000 --> 16:21.000 He came to the shop again late in the autumn. 16:21.000 --> 16:25.000 Well, good morning, Mr. Swan. Still alive, I see. 16:25.000 --> 16:26.000 Still alive. 16:26.000 --> 16:30.000 Yes, naturally. Until November 9th, that was my prediction, Mr. Swan. 16:30.000 --> 16:31.000 Pity, pity. 16:31.000 --> 16:34.000 What is it you want of me, please? Why do you try to impress me? 16:34.000 --> 16:36.000 I don't believe a word you say. You must know that... 16:36.000 --> 16:40.000 The prophet who gazes into the future, Mr. Swan, knows many things. 16:40.000 --> 16:44.000 Bitter things. And he knows more than anything else 16:44.000 --> 16:49.000 how we struggle against that which is ordained and which we cannot change. 16:49.000 --> 16:50.000 Ah, rot! 16:50.000 --> 16:52.000 If you say so. Have you a bit of paper, please? 16:52.000 --> 16:54.000 Just a bit of paper, whatever's about. 16:54.000 --> 16:56.000 What do you mean, to write on? To wrap something? 16:56.000 --> 16:59.000 To write a curious phrase that's been running through my mind. 16:59.000 --> 17:02.000 Oh, there, that tablet, that will do. Thank you, Mr. Swan. 17:02.000 --> 17:04.000 Here, here. 17:04.000 --> 17:08.000 Now, here, here. I'm writing down a bit from a book. 17:08.000 --> 17:14.000 You're a bookman. Perhaps you can tell me what book it's from. 17:14.000 --> 17:15.000 Yeah. 17:15.000 --> 17:23.000 And there. Wasn't like a man at all to her. 17:23.000 --> 17:27.000 There we are. Just read it aloud, please. 17:27.000 --> 17:33.000 She could not believe it was actually happening. 17:33.000 --> 17:36.000 When she was dancing in the afternoon at cladrages 17:36.000 --> 17:40.000 or in the evening at the Carlton, sliding about with some slovenian man 17:40.000 --> 17:42.000 who wasn't like a man at all to her. 17:42.000 --> 17:44.000 Where, Mr. Swan? 17:44.000 --> 17:46.000 I recognise it. What about it? 17:46.000 --> 17:50.000 It's from a novel by D.H. Lawrence, a novel called Saint-Maur. 17:50.000 --> 17:53.000 It appears somewhere in the first third of the book. 17:53.000 --> 17:57.000 How curious. I seem to see it written on the flyleaf for the book. 17:57.000 --> 18:01.000 He said, wait, now I seem to see something beneath it. 18:01.000 --> 18:02.000 Oh, this is absurd. 18:02.000 --> 18:06.000 In the same feminine hand, a delightful hand, the words, 18:06.000 --> 18:12.000 you see, I love you, Anne. Is that correct, Mr. Swan? 18:12.000 --> 18:13.000 Get out of here. 18:13.000 --> 18:17.000 That book seems to be under the papers in the left-hand bottom drawer of your desk. 18:17.000 --> 18:19.000 Mr. Swan, how can you be so indiscreet? 18:19.000 --> 18:20.000 Get out. 18:20.000 --> 18:24.000 Suppose Margaret should find it. Trouble, Mr. Swan, trouble. 18:32.000 --> 18:36.000 What did this mean? How could he know what Anne had written in that book? 18:36.000 --> 18:41.000 Was she in league with him? She couldn't be. Not Anne. 18:41.000 --> 18:46.000 And yet, I had fallen in love with her, a red-haired woman, as he had prophesied. 18:46.000 --> 18:49.000 The answer came soon enough. 18:49.000 --> 18:53.000 Christopher, Constable Smithers is in the shop. 18:53.000 --> 18:55.000 Is he browsing, buying or chatting? 18:55.000 --> 18:58.000 He wants a copy of a book called St. More. 18:58.000 --> 19:01.000 Constable Smithers wishes to read St. More. 19:01.000 --> 19:04.000 By D.H. Lawrence. 19:04.000 --> 19:07.000 To begin with, I don't believe he ever heard of it. 19:07.000 --> 19:09.000 Second, we haven't had a copy for ages. 19:09.000 --> 19:12.000 You should take more pains with your inventory, Christopher. 19:12.000 --> 19:15.000 There's a copy right there in the bottom left-hand drawer of your desk. 19:15.000 --> 19:16.000 No, there's not. 19:16.000 --> 19:20.000 I say there is. And we'll have to sell it second-hand. 19:20.000 --> 19:23.000 Some lovesick girl's written something on the flyleaf. 19:23.000 --> 19:27.000 You know Constable Smithers doesn't want that book, Margaret. 19:27.000 --> 19:28.000 Of course he doesn't. 19:28.000 --> 19:32.000 I didn't think so. And there's no copy of St. More in the desk. 19:32.000 --> 19:33.000 There we differ. 19:33.000 --> 19:34.000 Well, look for yourself. 19:34.000 --> 19:36.000 Thank you. I will. 19:39.000 --> 19:40.000 And what do you call this? 19:40.000 --> 19:41.000 Oh, but it's impossible. 19:41.000 --> 19:43.000 Impossible, is it? 19:43.000 --> 19:47.000 Didn't I find it here myself this morning and didn't I read the inscription? 19:47.000 --> 19:49.000 You put it there yourself. 19:49.000 --> 19:53.000 Oh, now I know you've gone mad. I only suspected it before. 19:53.000 --> 19:58.000 Yesterday, the book was in that drawer when Swan predicted that you'd find it there. 19:58.000 --> 20:01.000 But I took it out and hid it upstairs in my bedroom. 20:01.000 --> 20:13.000 You returned it to the drawer to make his prediction come true. 20:13.000 --> 20:17.000 I didn't sleep well that night. It was the night of November the 8th. 20:17.000 --> 20:19.000 Many things had become clear. 20:19.000 --> 20:23.000 Margaret knew this fellow Swan had known him before I met her. 20:23.000 --> 20:28.000 Between them, they'd arranged his prophecies, the marriage, then the business of the book. 20:28.000 --> 20:33.000 This duplicity, this plot against me was relieved only by one thing. 20:33.000 --> 20:37.000 Anne was not in league with Swan and she did love me. 20:37.000 --> 20:42.000 I remember thinking as I drifted into sleep that if I could survive the next 24 hours, 20:42.000 --> 20:48.000 I would be safe and could free myself for Anne. 20:48.000 --> 20:53.000 When I awoke, I found my hands tied to a bedpost with a silk scarf 20:53.000 --> 20:57.000 and Margaret standing at the window that's above the entrance to the shop. 20:57.000 --> 21:01.000 Then there was a Swan, stood on a chair with the clothes covered. 21:01.000 --> 21:06.000 He was twisting a large hook into the top of the door frame. 21:06.000 --> 21:10.000 Good morning, my boy. It's the 9th of November. 21:10.000 --> 21:11.000 Oh, your prophecy. 21:11.000 --> 21:15.000 Christopher Swan hanged by the neck until dead. 21:15.000 --> 21:18.000 Well, you might show some fright, at least some surprise. 21:18.000 --> 21:22.000 I'm too filled with loathing for you both. 21:22.000 --> 21:26.000 So you're going to... to murder me. 21:26.000 --> 21:30.000 Oh, that's a wonderful idea. No, no, no, you're going to commit suicide. Pity. 21:30.000 --> 21:32.000 Don't talk to him, Kit. Get it done with. 21:32.000 --> 21:35.000 Oh, yes, Maggie, sure. Maggie's my sister, Mr. Swan. 21:35.000 --> 21:37.000 I knew there was some relationship between you. 21:37.000 --> 21:39.000 You have the same tricks of expression. 21:39.000 --> 21:42.000 You use the word pity so often. 21:42.000 --> 21:45.000 There's not much pity in either of you, is there? 21:45.000 --> 21:50.000 There is a little, Mr. Swan, but it's not stronger than 50,000 pounds. 21:50.000 --> 21:52.000 There we are. 21:52.000 --> 21:54.000 Do you think that hook will hold, Mr. Swan? 21:54.000 --> 21:59.000 I'll tell you the point. You don't really intend to murder me. 21:59.000 --> 22:01.000 What is it you want? 22:01.000 --> 22:04.000 Maggie, he thinks we're only pretending. 22:04.000 --> 22:06.000 Hurry, will you? It's almost time. 22:06.000 --> 22:09.000 Oh, poor Maggie. I hope her share of your fortune will console her. 22:09.000 --> 22:10.000 Will it console you, Maggie? 22:10.000 --> 22:11.000 Oh, shut up. 22:11.000 --> 22:13.000 Maggie's having a touch of nerves. 22:13.000 --> 22:16.000 Isn't that silly, Mr. Swan? There's no danger to us in this. 22:16.000 --> 22:19.000 So many of your customers have heard you threaten to commit suicide. 22:19.000 --> 22:21.000 I doubt if one ever did. 22:21.000 --> 22:23.000 Oh, they think they did, Mr. Swan. That's all that matters. 22:23.000 --> 22:27.000 Do you realize how many times Maggie has shouted that information from the back of the shop? 22:27.000 --> 22:29.000 Constable Smithers heard it. 22:29.000 --> 22:31.000 Nevertheless, he knows me better than to believe that I... 22:31.000 --> 22:35.000 Oh, does he? Shall I tell you what Constable Smithers will say to the coroner? 22:35.000 --> 22:41.000 He'll say, yelled he would dough himself in some day, yelled it all the time from the day they was married. 22:41.000 --> 22:46.000 And there he swung, sir, with his face all black, his eyes bugged out. 22:46.000 --> 22:50.000 Stop it! You're too fond of talking. You'll get us into trouble. 22:50.000 --> 22:51.000 Absurd. 22:51.000 --> 22:55.000 Margaret, you... you actually married me with this day in mind? 22:55.000 --> 22:56.000 Of course I did. 22:56.000 --> 23:00.000 And you're really going to... to kill me? 23:00.000 --> 23:01.000 That's the plan. 23:01.000 --> 23:05.000 I'm sorry there isn't enough of a drop to do the thing quickly, old man. You'll be struggling for quite a bit. 23:05.000 --> 23:07.000 Yes, I know you'll both enjoy watching me. 23:07.000 --> 23:12.000 Not Maggie. Maggie's watching for the constable to turn the corner on his rounds. 23:12.000 --> 23:17.000 Then she's going to scuttle down the stairs while I do the job, lock the door from the inside, 23:17.000 --> 23:21.000 slip through the trap door in the cupboard and away like St. Nicholas over the rooftops. 23:21.000 --> 23:25.000 Then she'll say to him, Constable, there's something wrong. There's something wrong. 23:25.000 --> 23:29.000 There he is, Kitt, at the corner. Oh, he stopped to talk. 23:29.000 --> 23:34.000 Oh. Are you ready, Mr. Swan? Because here you go. 23:34.000 --> 23:37.000 Don't come at me with that noose. I can still kick. I can shout. 23:37.000 --> 23:40.000 Oh, the walls are thick, my friend. That's why you bought this house. They were built to endure. 23:40.000 --> 23:41.000 I told you to chloroform him. 23:41.000 --> 23:43.000 Ah, don't be stupid. Chloroform leaves traces. 23:43.000 --> 23:47.000 You wanted him conscious so he could know how clever you are, always acting. 23:47.000 --> 23:49.000 You and your silly November nights. 23:49.000 --> 23:52.000 Oh, will you stop yammering? The constable must be halfway down the street. 23:52.000 --> 23:53.000 He's still at the corner. 23:53.000 --> 23:56.000 Better wait. Better wait till he comes this way, Margaret. 23:56.000 --> 23:59.000 They'll say you had time to do it. If he finds me cold... 23:59.000 --> 24:02.000 Oh, thank you, Christopher. That's excellent advice. 24:02.000 --> 24:07.000 He's not really pleased, Margaret. Look at him. He wants you to be caught. 24:07.000 --> 24:10.000 Christopher, I'm disappointed. What childish tactics. 24:10.000 --> 24:15.000 Is it, Swan? Is it? Look at him, Margaret. That struck home. It struck home. 24:15.000 --> 24:17.000 I think I'll have to close your mouth, my friend. 24:17.000 --> 24:18.000 Not while I can kick. 24:18.000 --> 24:20.000 Maggie, throw yourself across his legs. 24:20.000 --> 24:25.000 Don't give in, Margaret. Remember, you face the constable. He gets away over the rooftops. 24:25.000 --> 24:28.000 Maggie, are you in a trance? Throw yourself across his legs. 24:28.000 --> 24:29.000 No. 24:29.000 --> 24:30.000 Maggie, I can't get at him. 24:30.000 --> 24:31.000 I don't care. I don't like it. 24:31.000 --> 24:33.000 It's too late to think about that. Where's the constable? 24:33.000 --> 24:35.000 You won't help me here. Get back to that window. 24:35.000 --> 24:36.000 No. He's right. 24:36.000 --> 24:37.000 Bravo, Margaret. 24:37.000 --> 24:40.000 I'm the one who has to go down to Smithers and establish an alibi. 24:40.000 --> 24:41.000 Yes. 24:41.000 --> 24:42.000 I'm the one who'll have to answer all their questions. 24:42.000 --> 24:43.000 That's right. 24:43.000 --> 24:46.000 And where will you be? Where will you be safe? Who knows about you? 24:46.000 --> 24:51.000 Yes, and when they hang you for murdering me, he'll inherit the loot. He'll get it all. 24:51.000 --> 24:52.000 Don't close your trap. 24:52.000 --> 24:55.000 No. I haven't any protection. You hold all the cards. 24:55.000 --> 24:56.000 Of course he does. 24:56.000 --> 24:59.000 Maggie, you're going to ruin everything. Don't you trust your own flesh and blood? 24:59.000 --> 25:00.000 No. 25:00.000 --> 25:01.000 Get back to your post. 25:01.000 --> 25:02.000 Let go of me. 25:02.000 --> 25:03.000 Back to the window. I'll kill you both. 25:03.000 --> 25:04.000 That's it, Margaret. 25:04.000 --> 25:05.000 Don't push me. 25:05.000 --> 25:06.000 Fight him. Fight him. 25:06.000 --> 25:07.000 Don't push me. I can push too. 25:07.000 --> 25:08.000 I can push. 25:08.000 --> 25:09.000 Oh, Kit. Kit. Oh. 25:09.000 --> 25:33.740 It's queer goings on, sir. You being bound to the bed of a bed of 25:33.740 --> 25:40.200 this, and him breaking through the window and then hanging from the sign. You'll have 25:40.200 --> 25:43.000 to answer some questions, Mrs. Swan. 25:43.000 --> 25:44.000 Hanging from the sign? 25:44.000 --> 25:45.000 I killed him. I killed him. 25:45.000 --> 25:51.880 Yes, and I saw it happen. Saw him smash through the window and come tumbling down and catch 25:51.880 --> 25:56.160 his Adam's apple right in the very crook of the elbow where the sparrows build a nest 25:56.160 --> 26:02.440 every spring. Right in the very crook. And there he swung, caught fast, Mr. Swan. It 26:02.440 --> 26:06.360 was horrible, sir. His face black and his eyes bugged out. 26:06.360 --> 26:09.120 Stop it. Oh, stop it. 26:09.120 --> 26:10.800 Another prophecy come true. 26:10.800 --> 26:12.200 What's that, Mr. Swan? 26:12.200 --> 26:20.160 I think he could foretell the future. I believe he could. November the 9th. Christopher Swan 26:20.160 --> 26:40.440 hanged by the neck until dead. Only he had the wrong Christopher Swan. 26:40.440 --> 26:42.680 Thank you, Ronald Coleman, for a splendid performance. 26:42.680 --> 26:46.480 Oh, Mr. Coleman, would you listen to a sound effect with us for a moment? 26:46.480 --> 26:50.480 Why, certainly, Mr. Wilcox. 26:50.480 --> 26:54.480 Okay, boys. Mr. Coleman, would you say that sounds like Jack Benny's Maxwell? 26:54.480 --> 26:56.640 Yes, I'd say there's a great similarity. 26:56.640 --> 27:00.760 Well, just listen to what Jack Benny's old Maxwell might sound like if it had new autolight 27:00.760 --> 27:06.880 resistor spark plugs in the complete autolight ignition system. 27:06.880 --> 27:11.420 Mr. Wilcox, if I had a set of those autolight spark plugs around the house, sooner or later 27:11.420 --> 27:15.360 Benny would borrow them. And then perhaps we'd be spared that awful racket. 27:15.360 --> 27:20.000 Well, we'll see what we can do, Mr. Coleman. Friends, autolight resistor spark plugs are 27:20.000 --> 27:25.040 made by autolight men who make over 400 products for cars, trucks, airplanes, and boats in 27:25.040 --> 27:27.320 28 autolight plants from coast to coast. 27:27.320 --> 27:31.560 Yes, sir, and autolight also makes complete electrical systems for many makes of America's 27:31.560 --> 27:36.840 finest cars. Batteries, spark plugs, generators, starting motors, coils, distributors. All 27:36.840 --> 27:41.000 ignition engineered to fit together perfectly, work together perfectly, because they're a 27:41.000 --> 27:42.540 perfect team. 27:42.540 --> 27:46.960 So folks, don't accept electrical parts that are supposed to be as good. Ask for and insist 27:46.960 --> 27:51.520 on autolight original factory parts at your neighborhood service station, car dealer, 27:51.520 --> 27:55.520 garage, or repair shop. Remember, you're always right with autolight. 27:55.520 --> 28:05.440 Now here again is Mr. Ronald Coleman. 28:05.440 --> 28:09.840 It's always an interesting and pleasant experience to appear on suspense, and especially when 28:09.840 --> 28:15.360 I can work with such a fine company of actors. Next week, we're all in for a special treat 28:15.360 --> 28:21.800 when radio's outstanding theater of thrills presents Edmund Gwen in a story called Murder 28:21.800 --> 28:26.240 in Black and White, another gripping study in suspense. 28:26.240 --> 28:31.920 Tonight's play was written by William Fiefield and adapted for suspense by Herb Meadow. Music 28:31.920 --> 28:35.900 was composed by Lucian Morrowek and conducted by Lud Bluskin. The entire production was 28:35.900 --> 28:39.720 under the direction of Anton M. Leeder. In the coming week, suspense will present such 28:39.720 --> 28:43.920 stars as Betty Grable, Mickey Rooney, Bob Hope, and many others. Make it a point to listen 28:43.920 --> 28:49.120 each Thursday to Suspense, Radio's Outstanding, Theater of Thrills. Next Thursday, same time, 28:49.120 --> 28:51.520 here, Edmund Gwen in Murder in Black and White. 28:51.520 --> 28:57.840 You can buy autolight resistor spark plugs, autolight staple batteries, autolight electrical 28:57.840 --> 29:01.840 parts at your neighborhood autolight dealers. Switch to autolight. Good night. 29:01.840 --> 29:05.520 Here's great news. Suspense on television may be seen in many parts of the country every 29:05.520 --> 29:10.080 Tuesday night. This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.