Now, Auto Light and its 60,000 dealers and service stations present...
Suspense!
Tonight, Auto Light brings you Edmund Gwen in Murder in Black and White, a suspense play
produced and directed by Anton M. Leader.
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And now, Auto Light presents Edmund Gwen in a tale well calculated to keep you in.
Suspense!
Tom.
He's asleep at last.
Now, let's see.
I wrap this blanket around the gun to muffle the sound.
Aim about there.
Then...
Tom!
Tom.
Tom is dead.
Now my notebook.
Tab A, preliminary procedure.
Yeah, yeah.
Tab B, performance of murder.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Yes, yes.
Everything has been carried out exactly as I planned it.
Tom is dead.
Now, 915.
Good.
Everything is working out right on schedule.
Now Tab C, procedure to follow murder.
Yeah, here it is.
Replace pistol in my left jacket pocket.
Mm-hmm.
Fold blanket across foot of bed, making sure that it's not still smoldering from the discharge
of the gun.
Using clean handkerchief from breast pocket, wipe soda dispenser and replace on sideboard.
Then, pick up decanter and glasses, take them to the kitchen.
Wash glasses, dry them on handkerchief from breast pocket.
Put them away.
Holding with handkerchief.
Yeah.
Dry handkerchief with handkerchief.
Return to Tom's room and restore it to sideboard.
That's it.
The decanter there.
Replace handkerchief in breast pocket.
Pull covers up around body on the bed.
Put on my hat.
Take off my gloves.
Put them in my left hand pocket with gun.
And place notebook in right hand pocket.
Remember, there is no hurry.
No.
Oh, no.
Now, now let me see.
I believe I anticipated everything quite correctly.
Oh, yes.
Yes, the bedroom lights.
I'll leave on the downstairs light, naturally.
Yeah.
Well, now 9.30.
Thomasina and Clark can't possibly return before 11.30, and I doubt if they'll want
to disturb Tom at that hour.
No.
No, I'll just stroll across town to my apartment house.
People are quite accustomed to my taking a walk each evening after dinner.
Then the train at 11 o'clock for my usual weekly business trip to the city.
I'll go directly upon arriving in the city in the morning to my usual hotel.
And shortly after that, someone should notify me of Tom's death.
Yes.
I believe this has been a most satisfactory murder.
Yes.
For suspense, Auto Light is bringing you Edmund Gwen in Radio's outstanding theater of thrills,
Suspense.
Hi, there, Arnold.
Say, what's that?
That's my sound man.
To make this commercial dramatic, we start with the deep, solemn tone of a gong.
Sound man, I said gong.
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Hey, Arnold, that's a horse.
Oh, that's sound man.
Well, all right, let's say that's folks who missed the train galloping to town to get
Auto Light Resistor spark plugs.
And next, the happy hoot of a hilarious horn.
That sounds like a big celebration.
Sure, that's the way folks feel once they install Auto Light Resistor spark plugs because
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Arnold, before your sound man loses his head, let's get back to suspense.
And now Auto Light brings back to our Hollywood sound stage, Edmund Gwynn as Rice Archer in
Murder in Black and White, a tale well calculated to keep you in suspense.
I hope you had a nice trip, sir.
Yes, very pleasant.
Here you are, sir.
Ah, yes, my regular room.
Put my luggage on the floor there.
Yes, sir.
Thank you, boy.
This is for you.
Oh, thanks for nothing.
My train was two minutes late in arriving, so it must be a long journey.
I'll see you in a minute.
It must be, yes, 832.
Now my notebook.
Tab C, item four.
Procedure upon arrival in the city.
I...
Yeah, yeah, yeah, she is excellent, excellent.
Your order, please.
Room service, please.
Just a minute, sir.
Room service.
This is room 459.
459, yes, sir.
I'd like to see you in a minute.
Room 459.
459, yes, sir.
I'd like some grapefruit.
Be sure that it's fresh.
Two eggs boiled exactly one minute and a half.
Three slices of whole-wheeled toast.
I'd like this toasted exactly two minutes on each side.
Plenty of butter, a pot of coffee with a double order of cream.
Yes, sir.
Oh, yes.
And would you sit up at times and find out if there's an Amesville Gazette around, will
you?
Yes, sir.
Let me see now.
Undress, take a shower.
Then shave and get dressed.
Wear the blue shirt with matching tie.
And by that time, breakfast should be served.
Yes.
Come in.
Room service, sir.
I'm sorry, sir, but there was no Amesville paper.
It's not important.
I have a niece who lives in Amesville.
She works for an aircraft factory, the Hannigan Company.
It's our company.
That is, I'm a junior partner in the firm.
The senior partner was... is Tom Hannigan.
Well, I must remember to tell my niece.
Will there be anything else, sir?
No, no, no, thank you.
I'll just sign the bill.
I'm adding your gratuity to the bill.
Thank you, sir.
Perhaps you know my niece, sir.
Her name is...
I'm afraid I'm not familiar with the names of the employees.
That'll be all, waiter.
Yes, sir.
Phew.
I must be more careful.
You almost referred to Tom in the past tense.
I believe I should make a note of that.
Yes.
Be sure to speak of Tom in present tense until after the notification of his murder.
Too bad I couldn't get the Amesville paper.
But to have made an issue about them sending out for it would have been too pointed.
Oh, perhaps the city paperwork.
They must have discovered the body by this time.
They probably haven't called or wired out of consideration of the hour.
Yes.
Yes, now let's see.
Cold war gets warmer.
President fishing in Gulf Stream.
New highway.
Politics.
Benefit.
Prominent citizen dies.
Yes.
Now, I'm going to go and get the Amesville paper.
Yes, sir.
Now, now the wrong one.
Society.
Sports.
Drama.
Oh, nothing.
Nothing.
It must be that it's just too early, of course.
Of course, that's it.
Yes.
Fortunately, I've prepared for every possibility.
All I have to do is to look in the notebook.
It should be right here.
Yes.
Nothing in the morning paper and no notice received by time breakfast is served.
Eat breakfast leisurely.
Yes, then proceed with normal business calls, checking back with hotel at frequent intervals.
Yes.
That's it.
Normalcy.
Normalcy is the proper note.
Now let's see.
Plenty of butter.
Toast.
Just right.
Time.
Well, Mr. Archer, I hope you didn't come in to tell me that the Hannigan Company can't
deliver that order on time.
Not at all.
This is merely one of my courtesy calls.
Tom and I like to keep our customers happy.
Then all you have to do is to continue turning out precision parts as well as you have been.
How is Tom?
Tom, oh, Tom is fine.
Hotel Sherman.
Mr. Archer speaking.
Tom, I'm sorry.
Tom, can I have another pair of gloves?
Please?
Mr. Archer speaking.
Mr. Rice Archer, room 459.
Are there any messages for me?
Just a minute, Mr. Archer.
I'll connect you with the desk clerk.
Thank you.
I must be sure I have this right.
Tab C. Yes, here it is.
Procedure with hotel clerk.
And hm, hm, hm.
Ah, good.
Good.
Ah, good. Good I have an answer for anything he may tell me.
Yes, clerk.
Hello, desk clerk.
This is Mr. Rice Archer, room 459. Any messages, please?
Just a minute, Mr. Archer.
They are probably telephone, aren't they?
Mr. Archer?
Yeah?
There's nothing for you, Mr. Archer.
Nothing?
Not a thing.
Thank you.
Very much.
I'm really in town on business, Mr. Whiticum.
But I couldn't resist stopping in long enough to see if there was anything new in jade on the market.
I don't know if you're interested, Mr. Archer, but I've just heard that Joyner in Philadelphia is willing to sell his snuff box from the Ming dynasty.
You know, it's white jade with an inlaid green dragon.
Joyner is asking 12,000.
From the Ming dynasty? Try to get it for me.
All right, Mr. Archer. Business must be good.
Business is... excellent.
No, no one is called, Mr. Archer.
And how's that old son of a gun Tom?
Tom, he's... I believe he's fine.
Not a thing, Mr. Archer. There's nothing for you, Mr. Archer.
And sure, the eggs are one and a half minutes each. Three slices of whole wheat toast, toasted two minutes on each side, plenty of butter, a double order of cream with a pot of coffee, and that'll be all.
24 hours since I arrived in the city and still no word?
Well, there must have been some sort of slip-up at home in some manner, some manner perfectly plausible if I knew what it was.
News of Tom's death has been delayed.
It doesn't mean anything except my plan of action must be held up until someone calls me.
Oh, surely I'll hear sometime during the day.
It's nice of you to take me to lunch, Archer. I must say I look forward to your regular visits.
How's Tom?
Tom, I haven't... I mean, he's fine, very fine.
Well, Archer, you certainly know your restaurants. That was quite a dinner.
Thank you.
You know, the last time I was talking to Tom, he mentioned you had a lot of bomber clips ordered by the government and then cancelled.
He said you'd sell them cheaply since the government paid for the cancellation if someone could figure out a use for them.
Well, I believe I've got an idea and I'd like to know what you and Tom think.
Tom? Why, Tom's fine.
Your order, please.
Yes, clerk, please.
Just a minute.
Yes, clerk.
This is Mr. Rice, Archer, room 459. Any... messages?
No, no messages, Mr. Archer.
I see. I'll be checking out in a few minutes, clerk. Taking the midnight train back to Amesville.
You might send the boy up in 15 minutes and if there are any messages before I check out, you will call me, won't you?
Two days away from home and not a word from anyone. Well, they must have discovered the body.
Well, I'll be home in the morning. I'll go straight to the factory and then someone will tell me.
Surely it's... of course, it's entirely possible that everyone thinks I've been told by someone else. Of course, of course, that's it.
Things have been very strange today. Why, there have been times when I almost felt as if I hadn't killed Tom.
That I'd imagined the whole business.
Yes, it's really most fortunate that I wrote everything down in the notebook. I only have to reread it to remember...
to remember that Tom is dead and that I killed him.
Well, I'll be home in the morning. Nothing to worry about now.
Now, I have everything in the notebook ready to say and do when I at last hear the news.
Good morning. Good morning, Mr. Archer. Good morning. Good morning, sir. Good morning. Good morning, Mr. Archer.
Strange. Everyone seems to be acting quite normally.
Perhaps because they're only employees. Of course, that's it. The workers would feel no sorrow. They didn't know Tom was... as I did.
Now, now, let me see. Normal procedure would be to let Clark Henry know I'm back.
Yes. Miss Gordon, would you inform... Oh, never mind. Morning, Clark.
Good morning, Mr. Archer. How was your trip to the city?
Excellent, Clark. I managed to get a couple of orders increased substantially. Everything go all right here?
Yeah. Sure. That's fine. How's Tom? Great. He'll probably be back to work in a day or two.
He will? Fine. Excellent, in fact. Yeah, it'll be great to have him back, won't it, Mr. Archer?
Oh, yes. Yes, yes. I was thinking about the additional orders.
Tom will be glad to hear about those. You know how he worries about the business.
Well, gotta get back to work. See you later, Mr. Archer. Yeah, yeah.
Procedure following murder. What to say if notified of Tom's death by Thomas Senor, by Clark, by police?
What to do if read of death in paper before personal notification? Everything. Everything except...
Uncle Rice, you're back. Yeah.
How was the wicked city, Uncle Rice? Like... like it always is. Everything is normal.
Uncle Rice. Yeah. What is it, Thomas Senor?
Purple lipstick. See? I'm going to leave lathers of it on Clark's cheek. You know why? He proposed last night.
Congratulations. I suppose your father will be pleased.
Tom, he was delighted. We're going to have an engagement party tomorrow night.
Couldn't have it until after you got back. Tom wouldn't hear of it.
Tom? How is he? Fine. Tom's fine.
Mr. Archer, I'm going home early. I'm not feeling too well and tomorrow's a big day.
But I'm taking some work home with me. Yeah, yeah, yes, of course.
I suppose you'll be going over tonight to tell Tom about the new orders.
Oh, yeah, yes, that might be a good idea.
You'll be tickled to death to hear about him. You know Tom.
Oh, Mr. Archer. Yeah? What is it, Miss Gordon?
Clark Henley just called. He said he'd taken one of the account books home with him.
And he suddenly thought you might see it was missing and worry about it.
So he just wanted you to know he had it. Oh, which account book?
Mr. Henley said he had the one covering our old government contracts.
He but why? Well, Mr. Henley ordered a general audit for tomorrow.
And he said he wanted to go over that book tonight.
Why, Mr. Archer, what's wrong? You've turned as white as a sheet.
Order. Order and control. Those are the important things.
There must be a logical explanation why they haven't told me about Tom.
Why Clark has ordered an audit? And why he's looking into our government contracts?
Everything is in my notebook. Yes.
Here it is. Plan for killing Tom Hannigan. Reasons why murder is necessary.
The government contracts. Yes.
Yes, it was so easy when the war was over and everything was being cleaned up
to make the government pay twice for the orders.
Just a few little changes in the books and that money was mine.
It wasn't like taking the money from Tom or our regular customers.
And it wasn't as if I was spending the money foolishly. No.
No, it was spent on my jade collection.
But Tom might have misunderstood him, might have called it stealing
and I would have been put in jail. I wouldn't have had my jade.
No, no, no. When Tom was ill, he started thinking about the government orders.
Maybe Clark Henley put him up to it. He...
Yes. I didn't think of that. All I knew was that I could let Tom live
and lose all that was dear to me, which was unthinkable,
or I could kill Tom and keep everything.
Now I did put Tom to sleep and I did shoot him.
And here, Tom's daughter who loved him giggles about her purple lipstick
or it's unseemly. I'll demand that she...
No, no. Order, order and control.
Now what, what, what would be the normal procedure?
Yes, course.
The phone rings.
Mr Hannigan's residence.
Evening, Ethel. This is Mr Archer.
Well, hello, Mr Archer.
Is Mr Hannigan there?
Yes, sir. You want to talk to him?
Yes, please.
Just a minute.
Hey, Mr Tom. Mr Tom.
Well, I guess he's sleeping, Mr Archer, but I'll tell him you called.
He ain't feeling so good this afternoon.
What seems to be trouble?
Oh, he must have ate something. Something that didn't sit right.
He's got kind of an ache-like, kind of a pain.
Oh, you might call it heartburn.
Oh, too bad. Bye.
Bye. Clark, Thomasina.
Now the housekeeper. Heartburn.
Doesn't anyone know that Tom's dead except me?
I can't be the only one. I've got to tell. I've got...
No, no. Order and control.
Yes, yes, I've got to think this out. I...
Now, look here. I know. I know that Tommy's dead.
I saw him die. But Clark and Thomasina announced an engagement, plan a party.
Clark...
Clark, Thomasina will do anything, he says.
Clark ordered an audit of the books for tomorrow.
Clark took home the book of government accounts, the book I had to alter.
Clark.
That's it. Uninterfering bibsqueak. I'll fire him right now.
No. No, no, no, no, no. Better think it out. Think it out.
Order, control. Yes. Yes, yes, yes. That's a better idea.
Now, I shot Tom. I know I did. Because I wasn't sure I could stab him.
A human being is a human being's frailness. Tom was my friend, had been for 20 years.
It was just unthinkable that I could take a knife and stab him. I couldn't do a thing like that to a man who was my friend.
No. No, that's why I shot him.
But I... I can stab young Clark Henley.
Impudent, interfering Clark Henley.
Pierce him like a child's balloon. He's home now. Now. Looking for the mistake that'll catch me.
My notebook.
We'll take a new page for this. Yes. Yes.
Plan for killing Clark Henley.
The
Evening, Clark. Well, hello, Mr. Archer.
How are you? I wanted to talk to you about something. I hope I'm not intruding.
Not at all. Come right in. In fact, I'm glad you came. We were just talking about you.
We? Yes, Tom and I.
Tom? Yes, he's in the kitchen mixing a drink.
Come on out, Tom. Mr. Archer's here.
No. No, he can't be. Tom. Tom's dead.
What did you say? How did you know Tom is dead?
Well, it was either my notebook, it's right here, it's tab, it must be one of them.
I'll take that notebook.
And now? Yes. Yes. Just as I thought.
All right, officer, here's the whole story in this little notebook.
I guess you were right, Mr. Henley, but I never thought I'd see anything like this.
No, no, you can't. You can't do this. It isn't the way I planned it.
I knew we'd trap him this way. He's never been able to do anything without preparing a notebook.
Tom told me you couldn't even hire a secretary without planning all the dialogue in advance and writing it out.
Right. That's why I made everyone pretend Tom was still alive.
I knew if he didn't have all the answers in his little book, he'd have to break.
Break. Break. Well, come along, Archer.
No, it really wasn't fair.
Not telling me.
And I had it all written down.
Black and white.
Thank you, Edmund Gwen.
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Now here again is our star, Mr. Edmund Gwen.
You know, I really enjoyed returning to the Suspense Playhouse.
This program is a favorite of most Hollywood actors, and much of their enthusiasm comes from the opportunities
Suspense gives them to play a different kind of part.
See?
Well, for instance, I'm sure you're going to want to hear next week's show,
when Betty Grable appears in an unusual role in a story called The Copper Tea Strainer.
Another gripping study in Suspense.
Edmund Gwen appeared through arrangement with MGM, producers of the Technicolor picture Little Women,
starring June Allison, Peter Lawford, Margaret O'Brien, and Elizabeth Taylor.
Tonight's Suspense Play was adapted for radio by Eli David from a story by Ann Wormser and Jess Oppenheimer.
Music was composed by Lucian Morrowek and conducted by Ludd Gluskin.
The entire production was under the direction of Anton M. Lieder.
You can buy autolight resistor spark plugs, autolight staple batteries, autolight electrical parts
at your neighborhood autolight dealers. Switch to autolight. Good night.
This is Cancer Control Month. Do your share in the fight to control this vicious killer
by generously supporting the American Cancer Society.
This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.