WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:07.000 Suspense. 00:07.000 --> 00:29.920 Tonight, Auto Light and its 96,000 dealers present Mr. Ray Meland in Chicken. 00:29.920 --> 00:34.080 A suspense play produced and edited by William Spear. 00:34.080 --> 00:42.320 Hey, Hap, what happened? 00:42.320 --> 00:45.360 Get me a doctor. Rushed so fast, getting here, run my battery dry. 00:45.360 --> 00:48.800 Why, you don't need a doctor. 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Oh, and friends, a reminder, suspense may be seen on television in many parts of the country 01:28.720 --> 01:35.080 every Tuesday night. And now with Chicken Feed and with the performance of Ray Meland, 01:35.080 --> 01:39.320 Auto Light hopes once again to keep you in suspense. 01:39.320 --> 01:49.680 All right, it was a silly thing to fight over, I admit it, but there it was, a nickel, 01:49.680 --> 01:54.640 a measly, worthless nickel, Chicken Feed. But of course, that was the only the beginning. 01:54.640 --> 01:59.920 Junior had asked for a nickel and I flipped it over to him. After he left the room, Mary said, 01:59.920 --> 02:03.040 I shouldn't spoil the kid. It was time he learned the value of money. And I said, 02:03.040 --> 02:07.480 great Scott, if I couldn't give my own child a nickel without her jumping down my throat, 02:07.480 --> 02:12.520 I said, after all, what's a nickel good for? Cup of coffee? Oh, you know, you know how these 02:12.520 --> 02:16.880 things get going. You keep saying things you shouldn't and she lashes out with an answer. 02:16.880 --> 02:19.920 And before you know it, you've stormed out of the house and you're taking it out on the car. 02:19.920 --> 02:28.160 Fifty miles cool me down a little, but not much. I automatically slowed up when I came 02:28.160 --> 02:33.000 with the sign, you are now entering Lansing, California. Go slow and see our town, 02:33.000 --> 02:41.280 go fast and see our jail. Everybody knew Lansing, speed trap, tough town. Driving at a normal speed 02:41.280 --> 02:45.440 through the quiet Sunday street gave me time to think of something besides the biting words Mary 02:45.440 --> 02:49.320 and I had slugged at each other. I pulled up in a little cafe next to the police station, 02:49.320 --> 02:53.280 had a whitewash sign on the window, best cup of coffee in town for five cents. 02:53.280 --> 03:03.440 And I resent that officer Brady. Too over easy, Sam, and heavy on the pride. What's yours, Mr.? 03:03.440 --> 03:13.280 Coffee, please. Coming up. Here you are. Hey, officer Brady, how's your starboarder? 03:13.280 --> 03:17.280 Phillips? Ah, they're coming for him in the morning. They could be able to hold him until then. 03:17.280 --> 03:21.360 He got out of that Bennington jail like a paper bag. But don't worry sister, 03:21.360 --> 03:27.840 Mr. Phillips won't get out of this room. Well, I listened to him half an ear while I sip my coffee. 03:27.840 --> 03:34.040 Best cup in town for five cents. That reminded me of our argument over a nickel. That's about all a 03:34.040 --> 03:39.600 nickel's good for, a cup of coffee some places, a newspaper, a phone call. There was a stack of 03:39.600 --> 03:44.960 local papers nearby and I poked it over to look at. This Phillips is on the front page, bank robber, 03:44.960 --> 03:51.120 killed a teller. He had a face I wouldn't want to run into. Close. After a while, the hot coffee 03:51.120 --> 03:56.000 made me feel a little better. Maybe, well, maybe I'd been at fault as much as Mary. She wasn't the 03:56.000 --> 04:01.200 only one who had a bad temper. On a sudden impulse, I left my coffee, went over to the phone on the 04:01.200 --> 04:11.040 far wall. I heard the dial tone and then I fished in my pocket for change. It was empty. Say miss, 04:11.040 --> 04:13.840 could you change the dollar for me? I want to use the phone. Oh yes, sir. 04:19.200 --> 04:25.200 What's the matter, mister? Well, my wallet, I seem to have... Look, I'll be back in a minute. 04:25.200 --> 04:29.120 No, Mary wasn't the only one with a temper. I'd stormed out of the house without changing the 04:29.120 --> 04:35.120 contents of my pockets to clean my suit. Didn't have a dime on me, not a nickel. I rummaged in 04:35.120 --> 04:40.160 the glove compartment. Mary sometimes left the coin first, but this time, naturally, it wasn't 04:40.160 --> 04:46.880 there. I felt like a fool. What seems to be the trouble, mister? Oh, hello officer. I seem to 04:46.880 --> 04:52.000 have come out without any money. It's embarrassing. Yeah, yeah, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. 04:52.000 --> 04:59.200 I didn't realize it. I tried to phone, but I... Oh, wait a minute. Just a minute. 05:00.480 --> 05:06.640 Huh? Where's your driver's license? Oh, it's in my wallet. San Francisco. Got any other 05:06.640 --> 05:11.360 identification? Well, the registration slip on the car. Oh yeah, that's the car. What about you? 05:12.000 --> 05:16.560 Look officer, I'm Ralph Clark. Clark and Jacobs in the Hatfield building. We're attorneys. 05:16.560 --> 05:21.520 Attorneys. I should have a card somewhere. Kind of far from home to be without any dough, 05:21.520 --> 05:25.440 ain't you? Well, I came out of the house without changing the stuff into this suit. You know how. 05:25.440 --> 05:30.480 Yeah. How do you happen to have the keys to the car? Well, I don't take them out and it's in the 05:30.480 --> 05:37.760 garage. Yeah. Say, you don't think... Where are you headed for? Well, I know it sounds funny, but 05:37.760 --> 05:42.560 nowhere really. You see, I had a fight with my wife and I just batted out of the house to cool off. 05:42.560 --> 05:46.880 I'll tell you what, Mr. Clark, suppose we just mosey over to the station house. The station house? 05:46.880 --> 05:51.840 Say, what is this? Oh, nothing. Nothing at all. It's right next door and you can call your wife 05:51.840 --> 05:56.160 from there. But I don't see why that's necessary. If you'd just lend me a nickel, I could call here 05:56.160 --> 06:00.160 and reverse the charges. Come on, we'll go. You can leave the car here. I'll take the keys. 06:00.160 --> 06:06.720 And look here, officer, I don't bet this is... Come on, move on. Move on. All the stupid situations today. 06:11.120 --> 06:15.440 Hi, Jim. What you got this time? I'll tell you better after he makes his call. Give me the phone, 06:15.440 --> 06:21.360 will you, Ross? That's out of order. Went dead half hour ago. Yeah? I reported it. They said they 06:21.360 --> 06:25.280 can't have a man here before tomorrow. But did you tell them this is a police station for Pete Sanks? 06:25.280 --> 06:30.400 Oh, sure I told them. It ain't that, though. We get incoming calls and we still got the nickel 06:30.400 --> 06:35.120 snatcher over there. Oh, yeah. Well, there's a pay phone, Mr. Clark. You can make your call from there. 06:35.120 --> 06:41.440 I don't have any money, remember? Oh, yeah, okay. Here's a nickel. Gee, thanks. Let me speak to your 06:41.440 --> 06:48.000 wife when you get her. This is gonna sound fine, just fine. She'll think I really tied one on. 06:50.000 --> 06:56.000 Operator. I want to call San Francisco. Fillmo 60098. Reverse the charges, please. Thank you. 06:57.360 --> 07:00.800 Your number, please. This is 460. 07:00.800 --> 07:04.400 6-0. 07:09.600 --> 07:16.720 Hello? I have a collect call from Lansing, California for Fillmore 60098. Will you accept it? 07:16.720 --> 07:22.480 Lansing? Well, I don't know anyone in Lansing. It's me, Mary. Take the call. Oh, it's you, is it? 07:22.480 --> 07:27.280 What do you think you're doing, 50-month-old? Will you accept the call, madam? I should say not. 07:27.280 --> 07:31.920 A very idea. Hey, Mary, wait! I'm sorry. The party will not accept the call. Look, 07:31.920 --> 07:35.120 operator, get her back, will you? This is important. I will ring them again. 07:35.120 --> 07:36.320 Swell, that's a sweetheart. 07:42.160 --> 07:47.520 She's there, the little... Why doesn't she pick up that phone? Your party does not answer. Oh. 07:48.480 --> 07:53.200 Now, it's out of time. Well, that's your nickel. Let me have another one, will you? 07:53.200 --> 07:57.680 I'll get hold of my partner. He'll identify me. Look, we've wasted enough time. Come on in here. 07:57.680 --> 08:04.400 But those are the cells. Right. You're locking me up? Right again. But what's the big idea? I 08:04.400 --> 08:07.360 didn't do anything. What are you charging me with? You don't have to charge me with anything. I'm 08:07.360 --> 08:12.160 holding you on suspicion. Suspicion? Suspicion of what? Defroting the cafe, for one thing. 08:12.160 --> 08:16.880 I want to check that car. You think I stole it? Well, it's been done. Now, wait a minute. If you'll 08:16.880 --> 08:23.280 just let me fall... You're entitled to one call. You've had it. But look here, officer... Come on inside. 08:24.160 --> 08:29.680 In jail? All on account of a measly nickel, a lousy, stinking nickel. 08:32.320 --> 08:38.080 Hey, welcome to our jail. Stink pot of the Santa Nueva Valley. That's slim. Yeah, you said it. 08:38.080 --> 08:42.800 What's your beef, chum? Suspicion. Can you feature that suspicion? They won't even give me a nickel 08:42.800 --> 08:48.720 to phone. You mean you ain't even got a nickel? No, you see... That's too bad, ain't it, Pete? Oh, 08:48.720 --> 08:54.640 yeah, sure is. I wish we could help you out. Yeah, maybe we can at that. You got a nickel? 08:55.280 --> 09:00.240 Sure. I got three of them. Well, let me one. Well, just one. I'll pay you back. I'll send you 09:00.240 --> 09:05.120 ten dollars as soon as I get out of here. What's it worth to you, chum? What? I just told you ten 09:05.120 --> 09:11.520 dollars. Yeah, yeah, I know. Pie in the sky. Hey, my wristwatch. Why didn't I think of that before? 09:11.520 --> 09:15.440 What's the matter with it? Oh, nothing. Nothing's the matter with it. It's worth fifty dollars. 09:16.000 --> 09:21.440 Yeah, you fool, look at it. It's yours for five cents for one measly nickel. What can you lose? 09:21.440 --> 09:27.360 Must be something wrong with it. Is it hot? Hot? You mean stolen? Yeah. Of course not. 09:27.360 --> 09:30.640 What are you offering it for nickel for? Because I want to get out of this filthy place. 09:31.360 --> 09:36.960 Oh, so you don't like our company, is that it? Well, if you want to put it that way, no, I don't. 09:36.960 --> 09:43.680 All right, a man don't like our company. Now, why ain't that just too bad? Hey, what do you think 09:43.680 --> 09:49.600 of that, Mr. Phillips? He don't like us. You got any nickels, Mr. Phillips? 09:51.920 --> 09:57.680 I followed his glance. For the first time I saw deep in the gloom of the locked cubicle, 09:57.680 --> 10:01.600 the face I'd seen on the front page of the newspaper, the face I'd said I wouldn't want 10:01.600 --> 10:06.400 to run into, close. Well, it was close, and I was glad there were bars between us. 10:06.400 --> 10:12.240 Of course, us guys ain't much, but Mr. Phillips here, he's a big shot. Robbed four banks and 10:12.240 --> 10:20.080 broke into two jails. He killed a man, too. Yeah, sure. We're just bags, but Mr. Phillips, 10:20.080 --> 10:25.040 he's going to the hot seat. Yeah, they're coming to get him, take him back to Utah and burn him. 10:25.040 --> 10:32.160 They don't burn him in Utah. They shoot him. Oh. Ain't that right, Mr. Phillips? Hey, Mr. Phillips 10:32.160 --> 10:37.760 don't want to talk about it. Yeah, Mr. Phillips, he don't want to talk about nothing. Mr. Phillips, 10:37.760 --> 10:44.480 he ain't very sociable. Just like this. Oh, now look, fellas, I didn't mean, I just meant I want 10:44.480 --> 10:48.800 to get out of this jail. Here, take the watch and give me the nickel, huh? Tell you what I'll do, 10:48.800 --> 10:54.240 I'll match you for it. Match me? Yeah, nickel against the watch. Well, then... Take it or leave it. 10:55.360 --> 11:01.120 All right. Leave Pete Hall to watch here, huh? I'll flip a nickel on the floor and you call it, huh? 11:01.120 --> 11:06.560 Heads. Tails, I win. Hey, wait a minute, wait a minute, get your foot over it. How do you know 11:06.560 --> 11:12.160 it's tails? It's tails. I ain't a fish. Sure, it's tails, all right. Here's the watch, Slim. 11:12.160 --> 11:16.000 Say, what is this? Watch it, brother. You're not going to get away with this. Get him, Pete. 11:16.000 --> 11:17.040 Yeah. 11:21.040 --> 11:27.920 I had to learn you. This is for me and me. Oh, don't kick me. Hey, what's going on in there? 11:27.920 --> 11:32.640 Officer, these men... It ain't nothing, officer. This new guy is acting up, that's all. Well, quiet 11:32.640 --> 11:42.160 down in there. Now, get up. I can't, he kicked me. Trying to get us in trouble, huh? No, no, I... 11:42.800 --> 11:49.360 Look, fella, for heaven's sake... Shut up. Okay. Kangaroo. I'll be the judge and you'll be the 11:49.360 --> 11:55.680 prosecutor, huh? Right. Maybe Mr. Phillips will be the defense attorney. You want to, Mr. Phillips? 11:55.680 --> 12:02.480 He don't want to. Prisoner at the bar, stand up. 12:06.240 --> 12:13.360 I said, stand up. Cut it out, Willie. Shut up. All right, consular, what is the prisoner charged 12:13.360 --> 12:19.200 with? Your honor, this man's a desperate criminal. He's charged with breaking into jail, insulting his 12:19.200 --> 12:25.280 fellow boarders, poor sportsmanship and fighting a very dangerous character, your honor. Oh, yeah, 12:25.280 --> 12:29.840 yeah. Guilty on all counts. Prisoner, have you anything to say before I pronounce sentence? 12:31.120 --> 12:38.480 No? Well, I fine you five cents. Hand it over. You know I haven't got it. Can't pay, huh? 12:39.200 --> 12:45.520 Well, then you can work it out. A rate of one cent a day. Your first job will be to shine 12:45.520 --> 12:52.480 the court's shoes. Shine your own shoes. Oh, he's going to be like that, huh? Hold him, Slim. 12:52.480 --> 13:02.400 Yeah. Officer, officer. Put your damn hand in there. Yes, sir. All right. 13:04.080 --> 13:13.040 Now get on them shoes. I don't have anything to shine them with. You got a code, ain't you? Now get going. 13:13.040 --> 13:25.440 The next hours were unadulterated agony. It was unbelievable, the filthy, inhuman things they could 13:25.440 --> 13:31.040 think up for me to do. It was just frightful. With every move I made, I could feel the glittering, 13:31.040 --> 13:36.720 steely eyes of the silent man in the locked cage on me, following me, weighing me. And finally, 13:36.720 --> 13:40.080 when they couldn't think of anything more, they forced me to stand at attention, looking right 13:40.080 --> 13:46.880 into Phillips's cage. They couldn't see his face. It was too close to mine. But he winked at me, 13:47.680 --> 13:52.480 and he nodded his head as though it were a signal. And then his two huge arms came through the bars 13:52.480 --> 14:11.840 and thrust me, reeling across the cell. And I fell and hit my head. And that's all I remember. 14:11.840 --> 14:16.080 Auto Light is bringing you Mr. Ray Milan in Chicken Feet, 14:16.080 --> 14:23.440 tonight's production in Radio's outstanding theater of thrills, Suspense. 14:30.240 --> 14:36.400 Hey, Hap, get a load of this picture. What the? A herd of camels picketing the Auto Light battery 14:36.400 --> 14:40.800 plane. Yeah, look at the signs. Auto Light Stay Full Batteries, unfair to camels. Now, 14:40.800 --> 14:44.560 how do you figure that? Well, it's easy. Those thirstless Auto Light Stay Full Batteries have 14:44.560 --> 14:49.280 kicked camel's water reserve reputation into a cocked hat. You mean because an Auto Light 14:49.280 --> 14:54.320 Stay Full needs water only three times a year? Yay, and verily, and also correct. Auto Light 14:54.320 --> 15:00.080 Stay Full Batteries need water only three times a year in normal car use. This extra liquid reserve 15:00.080 --> 15:05.520 expels one of the major causes of battery failure, means exceedingly excellent performance and 15:05.520 --> 15:11.760 extremely long life. You'd say it's expedient to own an Auto Light Stay Full Battery. Exactly. 15:11.760 --> 15:16.960 And for a few more Auto Light Stay Full extras, get this, extra protection with fiberglass retaining 15:16.960 --> 15:23.040 mats, extra long life as compared to batteries without Stay Full features. In fact, 70 percent 15:23.040 --> 15:27.920 longer average life as established by tests conducted according to life cycle standards 15:27.920 --> 15:33.200 of the Society of Automotive Engineers. Why, with an Auto Light Stay Full Battery, you can tell the 15:33.200 --> 15:41.280 difference in your car. You're right with Auto Light. And now, Auto Light brings back to our 15:41.280 --> 15:49.520 Hollywood sound stage, Ray Milan in Chicken Feet, a tale well calculated to keep you in suspense. 15:59.920 --> 16:04.800 I don't know what time it was, two or three in the morning, I guess, when I felt a stealthy 16:04.800 --> 16:12.160 touch on my shoulder. I opened my eyes, I was still on the stone floor and Phillips was bending over 16:12.160 --> 16:16.960 me holding a revolver. My mouth opened for an involuntary cry and he clapped a hand over. 16:16.960 --> 16:22.000 Shut up, you fool. You want to wake them punks? Get up quick and be quiet about it. I glanced quickly 16:22.000 --> 16:26.640 at Phillips' cell. It was open. So was the door to the corridor. He pushed me on and locked the door 16:26.640 --> 16:32.000 behind us. In his office, spowned and gagged securely to his desk chair, Sergeant Ross glared 16:32.000 --> 16:35.120 at us. The empty holster at his side told where Phillips had got his gun. 16:37.680 --> 16:42.880 Here, which is the key to your car? This one. Okay, take it and let's move. 16:48.560 --> 16:50.800 Where's the car? Over there. You drive. 16:50.800 --> 16:59.520 Okay. Well, we made it. 17:02.080 --> 17:08.400 Them hick bulls, they panicked me. Guy could spring that crock with a hairpin. But you, 17:08.400 --> 17:11.840 you nearly done a fine job of lousing things up. What happened to you? Getting 17:11.840 --> 17:16.240 thrown in the can in the middle of the day. Well, they picked me up on suspicion. Well, 17:16.240 --> 17:21.440 I wasn't supposed to be till midnight tonight. And all that phony kid stuff about the nickel. 17:21.440 --> 17:25.120 The nickel? Yeah, all that double talk when all you had to do was slip me the word that 17:25.120 --> 17:31.200 Jerry Nichols sent you. Served you right the way them luscious treated you. Acting like a diet 17:31.200 --> 17:42.960 in a world square. Jerry Nichols? Nichols? My numbed brain slowly put the meaning of his words 17:42.960 --> 17:49.280 into shape. He thought, he thought I was an accomplice. Sent by a partner to help him break 17:49.280 --> 17:53.920 jail. Then all my screams about a nickel but nothing but a signal to him. A signal that I 17:53.920 --> 18:01.680 came from Jerry Nichols. Jerry got the hideout set up? Uh, yes. Oh, where is it? Uh, the hideout? 18:01.680 --> 18:08.080 The hideout. Going to Jerry's place first, ain't we? Then what? Well, I, uh, I'll take you to Jerry's. 18:08.080 --> 18:12.560 Then I guess he'll take you, take over from there. How far is it to Jerry's? Can't be any more than 18:12.560 --> 18:18.080 about five miles, is it? Well, it's, uh, look behind you. What's the matter? There's a car 18:18.080 --> 18:25.760 following us, dark lights. Well, I don't see... Hey, what's the big idea? You're trying to cross me. 18:25.760 --> 18:30.320 I couldn't help it. My foot slammed on the brake. That car, we've got to get out of here. Go ahead, 18:30.320 --> 18:37.440 get it started. Come on, come on. It's flooded. I'm getting out till that car passes. You make for 18:37.440 --> 18:44.480 the other side, no tricks. Just to make sure I'll take this key. I made myself a chance and I took it. 18:45.520 --> 18:49.760 I slipped out of the car on the other side and ran. Ran across the fields until I could run no more. 18:49.760 --> 18:53.600 After an interminable two miles, I found a road and after a while of tramping along the road, 18:53.600 --> 18:57.920 a dark shape loomed up before me. A gas station. And through the glass, I could make out the outline 18:57.920 --> 19:02.960 of a telephone. I tried the door. It was locked, of course, but I found a tire line and sprang the latch. 19:02.960 --> 19:08.160 I'd run to the phone, almost thrown myself on it before I saw it was a payphone. In a rage, I shook 19:08.160 --> 19:12.000 the black box. I could hear the nickels inside, of course, a sheet of metal no thicker than a 19:12.000 --> 19:17.360 playing card, yet as inaccessible as the moon. But there must be some money in this room. My eyes 19:17.360 --> 19:22.640 focused on a battered desk. There were some change in it and a couple of dollar bills. The kind of 19:22.640 --> 19:29.760 money a man leaves as a sup to possible burglars. Burglars? That meant me. Carefully, I abstracted 19:29.760 --> 19:38.160 a single nickel. Number, please. Get me San Francisco. Sutter 15994. It's Morris Jacobs. 19:38.160 --> 19:42.000 Tell him that this is his partner, Ralph Clark, and ask him to accept the charges. Thank you. 19:42.800 --> 19:46.720 There's an interruption on the line and there may be a slight delay, sir. Will you hold on or shall 19:46.720 --> 19:50.800 I call you? I'll hold on, but hurry, Operati. It's important. One moment, please. 19:52.320 --> 19:55.600 As I waited, a glint of light came through the window. 19:55.600 --> 20:01.440 One moment, please. As I waited, a glint of light pulled my eyes away from the phone. 20:02.160 --> 20:05.760 Far down the road, headlights of a car juggled over the rise and aimed towards me. 20:06.480 --> 20:11.600 It was the first car to come by since I'd hit the road. It might be a stray, a farmer starting out 20:11.600 --> 20:16.880 before sunup, but I couldn't take the chance. Hastee hung up the receiver, closed the cash drawer, 20:16.880 --> 20:27.120 snapped a lock on the door, then I crouched beneath the desk. Open up! Hey! Hey! I've tried to wake 20:27.120 --> 20:32.000 that geezer before he sleeps like a dead man. He may be back on the bottle again. I will get him up. 20:32.000 --> 20:38.560 Hey, Jerry! Jerry! To my horror, I heard the creak of bed springs from the rear of the station. 20:39.120 --> 20:43.600 A light appeared under the door I'd thought was just a rear door to the outside. It opened, 20:43.600 --> 20:47.280 and two hairy barefoot legs under a fan of light gun came through and made for the front. 20:48.160 --> 20:50.720 Who, who is it? Ready and lost. Open up. 20:53.920 --> 20:58.000 Well, you're a fine bunch of cops running out of gas in the middle of the night. 20:59.040 --> 21:01.680 Come on in, come on in. Chill here with your door open. 21:01.680 --> 21:04.560 That ain't gas, pal. Phillips broke jail. 21:04.560 --> 21:10.080 What? Oh, oh, you don't tell me. Well, how did he do that? 21:10.080 --> 21:13.040 Well, you see, there was two of them. He hadn't accomplished. Said he was a lawyer. 21:13.040 --> 21:16.160 He found their car abandoned on the road back at Ferris' Hopperville, 21:16.160 --> 21:21.120 ran out of gas, so they can't be far away. Say, there was a big reward for Phillips 21:21.120 --> 21:24.960 after he broke jail at Bennington, wasn't there? Yeah, a thousand dollars. 21:24.960 --> 21:32.320 Hey! You know him, don't you? Yeah! You was in the Bennington Polk when he done that break. 21:32.320 --> 21:36.400 What was it? A drunk and disorderly or something. 21:36.400 --> 21:40.880 Yeah, he had me a little too much and broke a wind in the general store. 21:40.880 --> 21:44.400 We was roommates for the night. I was pretty scared. 21:44.400 --> 21:47.520 How'd he do it, the break? Oh, I don't know. I was sleeping it off. 21:49.040 --> 21:54.160 Thousand dollars reward, huh? Man can do a lot with a thousand dollars. 21:54.160 --> 21:56.880 Not that he couldn't. Don't you get any ideas now? 21:56.880 --> 21:59.600 That Phillips is a killer and so is his partner most likely. 21:59.600 --> 22:05.040 Well, I ain't exactly helpless myself. Get a nice little fella on my side. 22:05.040 --> 22:09.440 You take my advice, chum, and put that gun away. They show up here, you talk soft, 22:09.440 --> 22:13.040 let us do the capture. Oh, sure, sure. I'll play safe. 22:13.040 --> 22:15.920 Well, we'll be going. Just wanted to alert you, Jerry. 22:15.920 --> 22:18.240 Yes, thanks. Thanks, and so long, boys. 22:23.520 --> 22:29.440 All right, you, come out from under that desk. Come on out, I say, this gun's mighty nervous. 22:32.000 --> 22:34.480 Now, get your hands up and stand over there. Look, Mr. 22:34.480 --> 22:37.600 I'll do the talking. Who are you? 22:37.600 --> 22:40.160 Look, you've got to believe me. I'm not a criminal. I'm a lawyer. 22:40.160 --> 22:43.840 Oh, you must be the other one, huh? Keep them hands up. 22:43.840 --> 22:47.200 But I got into this by accident. I don't know. He helped me escape. 22:47.200 --> 22:49.520 Where is Phillips? Well, I left him in the car. 22:49.520 --> 22:52.960 And that's another thing. You can get the reward. I know who he's going to meet. 22:52.960 --> 22:57.280 And they're going to a hideout and... Oh, I see. Who is he going to meet? 22:57.280 --> 23:00.240 Well, somebody named Jerry Nichols. There you are. 23:00.240 --> 23:01.920 If you let me get to that phone, I can clear everything up. 23:01.920 --> 23:04.320 No, you don't. Stay right where you are, I'll plug you. 23:04.320 --> 23:07.440 But that's my partner, my law partner in San Francisco. I only broke in. 23:07.440 --> 23:09.920 Here's where I could phone him. He let Dan to fire me. 23:09.920 --> 23:14.480 You don't believe me? Oh, I believe you all right. 23:14.480 --> 23:18.320 Then what? Answer it yourself. You'll see. Not on your life, Mr. 23:18.320 --> 23:21.280 You think I'm out of my mind? But you've got to answer it, Jerry. 23:21.280 --> 23:24.080 You don't know what I went through to place that call. You just can't stand... 23:24.080 --> 23:31.120 Jerry. You're Jerry Nichols. 23:31.120 --> 23:34.640 That's right. So you see... 23:34.640 --> 23:38.640 Jerry. Jerry. Sam. Turn off that light, you. 23:38.640 --> 23:41.360 It's Phillips. Stand over there by the window, where he can see you. 23:41.360 --> 23:43.680 Go on. Jerry. 23:43.680 --> 23:51.840 Uh, come on in, Phillips. I ran out of gas. 23:51.840 --> 23:55.360 Jerry, I... 23:58.880 --> 24:02.000 It happened so fast that for a moment I had no reaction at all. 24:02.000 --> 24:06.800 None. I just watched it. Watched Phillips holding his chest with both hands. 24:06.800 --> 24:10.880 Watched that giant body twist convulsively on the floor and then... 24:10.880 --> 24:15.440 Lie still. Watched Jerry bend over him. Then straighten up. 24:15.440 --> 24:19.440 Then as he turned, grinning to me, emotion, feeling came back. 24:19.440 --> 24:22.560 What I felt was seething, overpowering, rage, 24:22.560 --> 24:26.160 fury. Everything I'd been through this night. It was like a boiler that had to 24:26.160 --> 24:30.720 burst. Well, dead or alive, I just made me a 24:30.720 --> 24:34.480 thousand bucks. You foul, stinking scum. 24:34.480 --> 24:38.080 What? You're worse than he is. Shut up. 24:38.080 --> 24:44.320 Maybe I'll get a reward for you, too. A small one. 24:44.320 --> 24:48.000 I could feel the bullet land in my side, just below the belt, 24:48.000 --> 24:52.160 and the avenues of pain spread out like the cracks in a hammered window glass. 24:52.160 --> 24:57.920 But somehow, strangely, it didn't stop me. I kept moving toward him. He backed 24:57.920 --> 25:01.520 away, surprised. He was aiming for another shot when we grabbed him. 25:01.520 --> 25:05.120 I got the gun, he got me by the throat. I'm kidding you. He stumbled. 25:05.120 --> 25:08.080 I fell onto his hand that was holding the gun. I wouldn't let go, and then as he fell 25:08.080 --> 25:09.920 backwards over the chair, I was on top of him. 25:09.920 --> 25:12.800 He wouldn't let go of that gun. As we thrashed him on there on the floor, I 25:12.800 --> 25:18.000 brought his hand up suddenly and smashed his own gun into his face. 25:18.000 --> 25:20.800 Then he lay still. 25:20.800 --> 25:28.560 I listened. I listened to his heart. He was all right. 25:28.560 --> 25:32.800 He was all right. I got up gasping for breath, 25:32.800 --> 25:40.640 and then I realized that I was all right. Yet he'd shot me, hit me. 25:40.640 --> 25:44.000 I should be lying there on the plank floor instead of that grotesque heap in 25:44.000 --> 25:49.120 the shapeless flannel nightgown. I felt my side with the bullet it struck, 25:49.120 --> 25:53.280 brought my hand away. There was no blood on it. 25:53.280 --> 25:56.800 Yet there should be blood. I touched the spot again. I 25:56.800 --> 26:00.720 fingered the contour of something small and hard and round. 26:00.720 --> 26:04.480 I pulled it out of my watch pocket, battered with a slug that struck it, bent 26:04.480 --> 26:10.080 almost double. A nickel, a nickel. 26:10.080 --> 26:14.240 The twentieth part of a dollar. All a man needed to buy a cup of coffee, 26:14.240 --> 26:19.040 to make a phone call, to buy a fine in a kangaroo court, to save his life. 26:19.040 --> 26:25.280 And I'd had it all the time. I'd had it all the time. I'd had it all the time. 26:27.280 --> 26:29.280 Huh? Huh? 26:38.640 --> 26:42.640 Hello. I have your party now in San Francisco. Shall I connect you, sir? 26:42.640 --> 26:48.400 Huh? Yeah. But first, first get the Lansing police station. 26:48.400 --> 26:51.440 Will you, operator? Lansing police. 26:51.440 --> 26:57.520 Yeah. Shut up, Jerry. You're gonna live. And I'm gonna be in court with you. 26:57.520 --> 27:02.240 Yeah. But I wouldn't give a plugged nickel for your chances. 27:02.240 --> 27:22.640 Suspense presented by Auto Light. Tonight's star, Ray Meland in Chicken Feed. 27:22.640 --> 27:26.800 Say, uh, Mr. Meland, in a recent movie, I saw you as a baseball pitcher. 27:26.800 --> 27:30.720 Yes, that's right. You as a pitcher and Paul Douglas as a catcher made a wonderful 27:30.720 --> 27:36.160 battery. That sounds like a lead-in for me to say that Auto Light makes a wonderful battery, too. 27:36.160 --> 27:39.440 You can say that again. All right, I will. Auto Light makes a 27:39.440 --> 27:42.320 wonderful battery. Right you are, Ray. It's the Auto Light 27:42.320 --> 27:47.360 Stay Full that needs water only three times a year in normal car use. Made by Auto Light, 27:47.360 --> 27:52.720 makers of over 400 products for cars, trucks, airplanes, and boats in 28 Auto Light plants 27:52.720 --> 27:56.960 from coast to coast. Auto Light also makes complete electrical systems for many makes 27:56.960 --> 28:02.640 of America's finest cars. Batteries, spark plugs, generators, starting motors, coils, distributors. 28:03.200 --> 28:08.720 All engineered to fit together perfectly, work together perfectly, because they're a perfect team. 28:09.440 --> 28:13.280 So folks, don't accept electrical parts that are supposed to be as good. 28:13.280 --> 28:18.240 Ask for and insist on Auto Light Original Factory Parts at your neighborhood service station, 28:18.240 --> 28:31.680 car dealer, garage, or repair shop. Remember, you're always right with Auto Light. 28:31.680 --> 28:37.440 Next Thursday for Suspense, Dorothy Maguire will be our star. The play is called Last Confession, 28:37.440 --> 28:48.880 and it is, as we say, a tale well calculated to keep you in suspense. 28:56.240 --> 29:01.680 Tonight's Suspense play was produced and edited by William Spear and directed by Norman MacDonald. 29:01.680 --> 29:06.880 Music for Suspense is composed by Lucian Morawek and conducted by Lud Gluskin. 29:06.880 --> 29:11.360 Chicken Seed was a radio play by Lawrence Goldman. Ray Milan appeared through the 29:11.360 --> 29:15.040 courtesy of Paramount Pictures, whose current release is Top of the Morning, 29:15.040 --> 29:20.560 starring Bing Crosby, Anne Blythe, and Barry Fitzgerald. Don't forget, next Thursday, same time, 29:20.560 --> 29:24.560 Auto Light will present Suspense, starring Dorothy Maguire. 29:24.560 --> 29:37.600 You can buy Auto Light staple batteries, Auto Light resistor spark plugs, Auto Light electrical 29:37.600 --> 29:42.000 parts at your neighborhood Auto Light dealers. Switch to Auto Light. Good night. 29:42.000 --> 29:55.280 This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.