WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:20.720 Suspense! 00:20.720 --> 00:27.120 Auto Light and its 96,000 dealers present Mr. Edward Arnold in Account Payable, a suspense 00:27.120 --> 00:34.160 play produced and edited by William Spear. 00:34.160 --> 00:36.160 It's a pip for pep and power. 00:36.160 --> 00:37.160 What is Harlow? 00:37.160 --> 00:39.080 A but for bustling bounce and brawn. 00:39.080 --> 00:40.160 Yeah, but what? 00:40.160 --> 00:44.380 It's the famous Auto Light Stay Full Battery, the battery that needs water only three times 00:44.380 --> 00:46.280 a year in normal car use. 00:46.280 --> 00:50.920 Why its larger liquid reserve above the plates as compared to ordinary batteries helps leak 00:50.920 --> 00:53.680 one of the leading causes of battery failure. 00:53.680 --> 00:58.760 It has an extra lifeguard too, fiberglass retaining mask to protect every positive plate. 00:58.760 --> 01:04.400 Yes, sir, in tests conducted according to SAE life cycle standards, Auto Light Stay Full 01:04.400 --> 01:09.720 Batteries gave 70% longer average life than batteries without Stay Full features. 01:09.720 --> 01:13.120 So friends, get an Auto Light Stay Full Battery for your car. 01:13.120 --> 01:16.040 And remember, you're always right with Auto Light. 01:16.040 --> 01:20.620 Oh, a reminder, suspense on television may be seen in many parts of the country every 01:20.620 --> 01:21.620 Tuesday night. 01:21.620 --> 01:27.400 And now with the count payable and with the performance of Mr. Edward Arnold, Auto Light 01:27.400 --> 01:35.680 hopes once again to keep you in suspense. 01:35.680 --> 01:40.520 When you wait for something, a minute seems like an hour, an hour like a century. 01:40.520 --> 01:44.280 I've heard that all my life, but now waiting for a door to open a door at the far end of 01:44.280 --> 01:49.240 a big office, at last I realized the true meaning of those words. 01:49.240 --> 01:54.800 He's in there, in that office, but he won't be the one to open the door this time. 01:54.800 --> 01:57.800 A dead man doesn't open doors. 01:57.800 --> 02:02.160 That body, sooner or later someone will have to discover that body. 02:02.160 --> 02:10.440 But why do I feel it must be later? 02:10.440 --> 02:14.800 It seems like almost all my life I've watched Mr. Waterbury's door, the door at the far 02:14.800 --> 02:18.600 end of the office, not private, bang open and that fighting, sobbing voice. 02:18.600 --> 02:24.600 Mr. Baker, Mr. Timothy Baker, will you come in here? 02:24.600 --> 02:28.880 And I'd quickly lay down my pencil, take off my eye shade, pick up the count payable ledger 02:28.880 --> 02:35.400 and walk the full length of the office with all eyes upon me until I was at that impersonal 02:35.400 --> 02:37.280 frosted glass door. 02:37.280 --> 02:41.080 As many times as I'd walked down that aisle, as well as I knew these people all around 02:41.080 --> 02:43.120 me, it still made me uncomfortable. 02:43.120 --> 02:50.240 And as many times as I'd been in Mr. Waterbury's office, I still trembled slightly inside. 02:50.240 --> 02:54.880 Well, Baker, have you the accounts payable ledger with you? 02:54.880 --> 02:57.160 Yes, Mr. Waterbury, right here. 02:57.160 --> 02:59.920 Drop a chair, Baker. 02:59.920 --> 03:02.680 I want to go over these with you. 03:02.680 --> 03:04.680 I'll stand if you don't mind. 03:04.680 --> 03:05.680 Stand? 03:05.680 --> 03:06.680 That's right. 03:06.680 --> 03:10.440 Those chairs are too heavy for you to move, that it? 03:10.440 --> 03:11.440 Too heavy. 03:11.440 --> 03:13.440 Too heavy. 03:13.440 --> 03:25.240 Waterbury's favorite joke, because I'm a big man, but he's a wiry giant. 03:25.240 --> 03:30.120 There were only two things we had in common, Mr. Waterbury and I. 03:30.120 --> 03:38.120 We worked in the same office and we were both sick men. 03:38.120 --> 03:42.400 But after five o'clock, after five o'clock, my life was different. 03:42.400 --> 03:45.320 I shook off my bounds and I was king. 03:45.320 --> 03:47.760 My daughter, my Jessie, would be waiting for me. 03:47.760 --> 03:53.280 And every night I knew that there was no indignity that John Waterbury or anyone else in the world 03:53.280 --> 03:54.280 could subject me to. 03:54.280 --> 04:02.080 It wasn't more than outweighed by a single smile from my little girl. 04:02.080 --> 04:05.520 Jessie, Jessie, darling. 04:05.520 --> 04:07.520 I'll be with you in a second, Dad. 04:07.520 --> 04:08.520 I'm ready. 04:08.520 --> 04:09.520 All right, dear, I'll wash up. 04:09.520 --> 04:10.520 Here, kiss me. 04:10.520 --> 04:11.520 Kiss. 04:11.520 --> 04:12.520 Get away from me. 04:12.520 --> 04:13.520 My face is all wet. 04:13.520 --> 04:14.520 Kiss. 04:14.520 --> 04:15.520 All right. 04:15.520 --> 04:16.520 There. 04:16.520 --> 04:23.520 I'm not going to let you until I'm fed and careful. 04:23.520 --> 04:27.520 I got your favorite tonight, lamb stew. 04:27.520 --> 04:28.520 Fine. 04:28.520 --> 04:32.520 Yes, there's only one place set, aren't you? 04:32.520 --> 04:36.880 And Mr. Timothy Baker, how can you have such a brilliant, beautiful, thoughtful daughter 04:36.880 --> 04:37.880 when you're so absent-minded? 04:37.880 --> 04:38.880 Hmm? 04:38.880 --> 04:39.880 Wednesday night, remember? 04:39.880 --> 04:40.880 Dinner date, remember? 04:40.880 --> 04:41.880 Fraternity party, remember? 04:41.880 --> 04:42.880 Oh, yes. 04:42.880 --> 04:43.880 I completely forgot. 04:43.880 --> 04:44.880 Tonight, huh? 04:44.880 --> 04:45.880 Well, well, and what time do you leave? 04:45.880 --> 04:54.880 Well, I'll have a cup of coffee with you and then I'm going over to Margaret's house and 04:54.880 --> 04:55.880 the boys will pick us up there. 04:55.880 --> 04:56.880 Ah, that's wonderful. 04:56.880 --> 04:57.880 At last, an evening alone. 04:57.880 --> 04:58.880 Peace and quiet. 04:58.880 --> 04:59.880 Baker, you won't know what to do with yourself. 04:59.880 --> 05:00.880 Wait, you'll sit up and read a mystery book till I come home. 05:00.880 --> 05:08.880 And then you'll say, home already? 05:08.880 --> 05:09.880 Didn't you enjoy yourself? 05:09.880 --> 05:10.880 All right, all right. 05:10.880 --> 05:11.880 You win. 05:11.880 --> 05:12.880 Who's taking you? 05:12.880 --> 05:13.880 I don't know. 05:13.880 --> 05:14.880 What? 05:14.880 --> 05:15.880 Won't know, in fact, until he picks me up at Margaret. 05:15.880 --> 05:16.880 Isn't it exciting? 05:16.880 --> 05:17.880 Oh, yes, I'm sure. 05:17.880 --> 05:18.880 Well, all right. 05:18.880 --> 05:19.880 Where's my napkin? 05:19.880 --> 05:20.880 And sure enough, I was sitting up in bed with the mystery book. 05:20.880 --> 05:35.880 When she came home, I heard her close the door and come up the stairs. 05:35.880 --> 05:36.880 Jesse. 05:36.880 --> 05:39.880 Dad, put down that book and get to sleep. 05:39.880 --> 05:40.880 Enjoy yourself. 05:40.880 --> 05:43.880 Oh, I had a wonderful time, Dad. 05:43.880 --> 05:44.880 Perfectly grand. 05:44.880 --> 05:47.880 It's two o'clock and you've got to get up at seven and so good night. 05:47.880 --> 05:54.880 Good night, dear. 05:54.880 --> 05:58.880 I knew that someday Jesse would marry and leave me for a home of her own. 05:58.880 --> 06:03.880 It didn't worry me, although I thought twenty was well around the tender age. 06:03.880 --> 06:06.880 She was so shy this time. 06:06.880 --> 06:08.880 No mention of the boy. 06:08.880 --> 06:10.880 Just a new bloom in her cheeks. 06:10.880 --> 06:12.880 A distant look in her eyes. 06:12.880 --> 06:17.880 During the days that followed, I was practically living in the house by myself. 06:17.880 --> 06:20.880 Just was so lost in her own little world. 06:20.880 --> 06:22.880 Then there was a black night. 06:22.880 --> 06:25.880 The night I heard the door slam. 06:25.880 --> 06:31.880 It wasn't like Jesse not to say good night, even if it was only a cold word through my closed door. 06:31.880 --> 06:37.880 I sat still for a moment, then put down my book and got out of bed. 06:37.880 --> 06:41.880 I could hear Jesse sobbing. 06:41.880 --> 06:42.880 I'm sorry. 06:42.880 --> 06:43.880 Good night, Dad. 06:43.880 --> 06:44.880 Jesse. 06:44.880 --> 06:46.880 Jesse, what's the matter? 06:46.880 --> 06:48.880 Nothing. It's nothing. 06:48.880 --> 06:50.880 Jesse, darling, what's wrong? 06:50.880 --> 06:53.880 Dad, I'm so unhappy. 06:53.880 --> 06:56.880 Oh, there, sweetheart. 06:56.880 --> 06:58.880 What's the trouble? 06:58.880 --> 06:59.880 Nothing can be that bad. 06:59.880 --> 07:02.880 Nothing in the world should make you cry like that. 07:02.880 --> 07:04.880 It's Bill. 07:04.880 --> 07:07.880 You know, Dad, I'm so in love with him. 07:07.880 --> 07:08.880 I know it and I... 07:08.880 --> 07:10.880 Oh, I see. 07:10.880 --> 07:11.880 You had a fight. 07:11.880 --> 07:12.880 Oh, no. 07:12.880 --> 07:17.880 No, he hasn't done a thing except be sweet and wonderful and thoughtful and kind. 07:17.880 --> 07:19.880 Well, then what's wrong? 07:19.880 --> 07:20.880 Hasn't he got a job? 07:20.880 --> 07:21.880 He's studying. 07:21.880 --> 07:23.880 He'll be a doctor in about another year. 07:23.880 --> 07:24.880 No, it's not that. 07:24.880 --> 07:25.880 It's... 07:25.880 --> 07:26.880 It's his father. 07:26.880 --> 07:27.880 His father? 07:27.880 --> 07:29.880 Yes, his father. 07:29.880 --> 07:31.880 He didn't know Bill was going with me. 07:31.880 --> 07:35.880 When he met me, when he bumped into us on the street by mistake, he even seemed to like me. 07:35.880 --> 07:36.880 Until... 07:36.880 --> 07:38.880 Until what? 07:38.880 --> 07:40.880 Come, come, tell me, tell me. 07:40.880 --> 07:43.880 Look, Dad, Bill's father is Mr. Waterbury. 07:43.880 --> 07:45.880 And when he found out I was your daughter, he... 07:49.880 --> 07:52.880 I felt the blood rush to my head and my body go weak. 07:52.880 --> 07:56.880 Mr. John Waterbury, the daughter of a bookkeeper. 07:56.880 --> 07:58.880 Even this head bookkeeper wasn't fit for his son. 07:58.880 --> 08:00.880 His son was going to be a doctor. 08:00.880 --> 08:02.880 I felt myself going dizzy. 08:02.880 --> 08:03.880 Oh, Dad, sit down. 08:03.880 --> 08:04.880 Huh? 08:04.880 --> 08:05.880 Oh, Dad, it's not another attack, is it? 08:05.880 --> 08:06.880 Oh, please, sit here. 08:06.880 --> 08:07.880 Oh, I didn't mean to. 08:07.880 --> 08:08.880 Oh, I didn't mean to upset you. 08:08.880 --> 08:09.880 Oh, Dad. 08:09.880 --> 08:10.880 It's all right. 08:16.880 --> 08:17.880 I was prepared for the next day. 08:17.880 --> 08:19.880 I knew Mr. Waterbury would call me. 08:19.880 --> 08:23.880 And for the first time in my life, I was prepared to stand up to him. 08:23.880 --> 08:27.880 He could do what he wanted to me, but not to my Jessie. 08:27.880 --> 08:29.880 I'd quit. I'd take her to South America. I'd... 08:29.880 --> 08:37.880 Baker, come in here at once. 08:41.880 --> 08:43.880 Well, come in, Baker. 08:43.880 --> 08:45.880 Yes, Mr. Waterbury. 08:45.880 --> 08:46.880 Close that door. 08:46.880 --> 08:48.880 Yes, Mr. Waterbury. 08:48.880 --> 08:52.880 Baker, how long have you worked for me? 08:52.880 --> 08:54.880 22 years last November, sir. 08:54.880 --> 08:56.880 And this is how you pay me back? 08:56.880 --> 08:57.880 I don't understand. 08:57.880 --> 08:59.880 You understand. 08:59.880 --> 09:02.880 Baker, my son graduates from medical school in just one year. 09:02.880 --> 09:04.880 He'll do it without a wife. 09:04.880 --> 09:06.880 I won't have him getting serious with a girl, 09:06.880 --> 09:08.880 especially one who can do him no good. 09:08.880 --> 09:14.880 A doctor, a young doctor, starting out today, needs to marry position, family, society. 09:14.880 --> 09:16.880 Otherwise, he's licked before he begins. 09:16.880 --> 09:17.880 You understand me? 09:17.880 --> 09:19.880 Yes, sir. 09:19.880 --> 09:20.880 Now, I have nothing against you. 09:20.880 --> 09:22.880 Your daughter is a pretty girl. 09:22.880 --> 09:25.880 But let her go with her own class. Let her stay in her own class. 09:25.880 --> 09:26.880 But, Mr. Waterbury... 09:26.880 --> 09:27.880 Yes. 09:27.880 --> 09:28.880 I... 09:28.880 --> 09:29.880 Yes, yes. 09:29.880 --> 09:31.880 What is it? What is it? 09:31.880 --> 09:34.880 I didn't know she was going with your son. 09:34.880 --> 09:36.880 Well, she has been. And I won't have it, you hear? 09:36.880 --> 09:38.880 I won't have it. 09:38.880 --> 09:40.880 Please, Mr. Waterbury, don't get excited. You're asthma. 09:40.880 --> 09:42.880 Oh, blast me, asthma. 09:42.880 --> 09:44.880 I won't have it, you understand? I won't have it. 09:44.880 --> 09:46.880 Please don't excite yourself. 09:46.880 --> 09:47.880 I'm not excited. 09:47.880 --> 09:48.880 But, sir, I... 09:48.880 --> 09:49.880 I'm all right. 09:49.880 --> 09:51.880 Oh, needle. 09:51.880 --> 09:53.880 My desk drawer. 09:53.880 --> 09:56.880 Get the needle. 09:56.880 --> 09:58.880 For the past ten years, Mr. Waterbury's asthma attacks 09:58.880 --> 10:00.880 have grown increasingly severe 10:00.880 --> 10:03.880 until he was forced to have an adrenal hypodermic handy at all times. 10:03.880 --> 10:07.880 For just such a case as this, the adrenaline was mashing. 10:07.880 --> 10:09.880 The coughing stopped. 10:09.880 --> 10:12.880 He sat back in his chair, white and exhausted. 10:12.880 --> 10:13.880 Ah... 10:13.880 --> 10:14.880 That's... 10:14.880 --> 10:17.880 That's my final word, Baker. 10:17.880 --> 10:18.880 Tell your daughter... 10:18.880 --> 10:19.880 Yes, sir. 10:19.880 --> 10:20.880 I... 10:20.880 --> 10:23.880 I think I'm going to take the rest of the day off. 10:23.880 --> 10:27.880 Mr. Waterbury, I have to work on some records in the safe. 10:27.880 --> 10:28.880 What should I do? 10:28.880 --> 10:30.880 I'll leave it open. 10:30.880 --> 10:32.880 Make sure you close the safe when you leave. 10:32.880 --> 10:34.880 And lock my door. 10:34.880 --> 10:36.880 Yes, sir. 10:39.880 --> 10:42.880 How I hated myself. Weakling coward. 10:42.880 --> 10:45.880 But 22 years is a long time. 10:45.880 --> 10:47.880 The ingrained habit of 22 years 10:47.880 --> 10:50.880 kept me the bookkeeper, him the boss. 10:50.880 --> 10:53.880 I opened the safe and took out Mr. Waterbury's private ledger. 10:53.880 --> 10:57.880 In so doing, I knocked over a small lock box. 10:57.880 --> 11:00.880 The key was still in the lock and curiosity got the better of me. 11:00.880 --> 11:02.880 I snapped up the lid and... 11:04.880 --> 11:06.880 $500 bills. 11:06.880 --> 11:09.880 Two thick packets of $500 bills. 11:09.880 --> 11:12.880 I counted 50 bills in each pack. 11:12.880 --> 11:14.880 $50,000. 11:14.880 --> 11:17.880 My mind raced. 11:17.880 --> 11:20.880 I remembered stories, rumors of black market operations and drugs. 11:20.880 --> 11:25.880 If this was the result, no wonder it was in cash and in the box. 11:25.880 --> 11:28.880 Waterbury had been to the bank yesterday 11:28.880 --> 11:30.880 and had come back with the package. 11:30.880 --> 11:32.880 This must be it. 11:32.880 --> 11:34.880 Undeclarable profit. 11:34.880 --> 11:36.880 Money without record, money without claim. 11:36.880 --> 11:38.880 Illegal profit. 11:38.880 --> 11:40.880 If it was lost, 11:40.880 --> 11:44.880 no police force could be called in to recover it. 11:44.880 --> 11:46.880 It was... 11:46.880 --> 11:48.880 I was watching someone else. 11:48.880 --> 11:50.880 A tired old bookkeeper, 11:50.880 --> 11:53.880 removing the money from the box, putting it in a large envelope. 11:53.880 --> 11:56.880 He stuffed the lock box with a package of blothers 11:56.880 --> 11:58.880 and I realized that this was me. 11:58.880 --> 12:00.880 This was Timothy Bacon. 12:00.880 --> 12:02.880 I was stealing the money. 12:02.880 --> 12:04.880 I locked the box, replaced it. 12:04.880 --> 12:07.880 I was putting the key in my pocket when he... 12:07.880 --> 12:09.880 I heard a hand on the door. 12:09.880 --> 12:11.880 I raised the seat cushion of a big black leather chair, 12:11.880 --> 12:14.880 jammed the envelope under it and turned to the ledger. 12:14.880 --> 12:16.880 I was working on it. 12:16.880 --> 12:17.880 Oh, Baker. 12:17.880 --> 12:18.880 Yes, Mr. Waterbury, yes. 12:18.880 --> 12:20.880 I was halfway out of the building. I forgot something. 12:20.880 --> 12:22.880 Did you see a little black metal box in the safe? 12:22.880 --> 12:24.880 Box? By... Oh, oh, oh. 12:24.880 --> 12:26.880 Do you mean that one over there? 12:26.880 --> 12:28.880 Oh, yes, that's it. I've got to take it home. 12:28.880 --> 12:31.880 Goodbye, Baker. And don't forget to talk to your daughter tonight. 12:31.880 --> 12:33.880 A final warning, remember? 12:33.880 --> 12:35.880 Yes, Mr. Waterbury, I will. 12:35.880 --> 12:37.880 And remember to lock the safe. 12:37.880 --> 12:40.880 He closed the door, and I stood there. 12:40.880 --> 12:42.880 I was thinking very clearly. 12:42.880 --> 12:44.880 He hadn't missed the key. 12:44.880 --> 12:46.880 But before long he would. 12:46.880 --> 12:49.880 And his next move would be to break the box open. 12:49.880 --> 12:51.880 And then? Then he would remember. 12:51.880 --> 12:53.880 He would suspect me. 12:53.880 --> 12:55.880 That money was mine. I'd earned it. 12:55.880 --> 12:57.880 It would take me to South America. 12:57.880 --> 13:00.880 It would take us, Jesse and me, away from all the John Waterburys of the world. 13:00.880 --> 13:03.880 But I needed time. 13:03.880 --> 13:06.880 I had to get out before he discovered his loss. 13:06.880 --> 13:08.880 How? 13:08.880 --> 13:10.880 And then even if I did get away, 13:10.880 --> 13:12.880 he wouldn't know I had done it. 13:12.880 --> 13:14.880 And vindictive, 13:14.880 --> 13:17.880 he'd keep after me as long as he lived. 13:17.880 --> 13:19.880 As... 13:19.880 --> 13:23.880 As long as he lived. 13:25.880 --> 13:29.880 Yes, but... but what if Mr. John Waterbury were to die 13:29.880 --> 13:36.880 before he opened that box? 13:45.880 --> 13:49.880 Auto Light is bringing you Mr. Edward Arnold in Account Payable, 13:49.880 --> 13:59.880 tonight's production in radio's outstanding theater of thrills, Suspense. 14:01.880 --> 14:03.880 Say, Harlow, did you ever drive a camel? 14:03.880 --> 14:06.880 Drive a camel? Why, I've driven camels to distraction 14:06.880 --> 14:09.880 since I've been spreading the word about auto light stay full batteries 14:09.880 --> 14:12.880 needing water only three times a year in normal car use. 14:12.880 --> 14:14.880 You mean you've given camels a complex? 14:14.880 --> 14:18.880 You bet. The dreary dromedaries are dejected, discouraged, distressed and dismayed 14:18.880 --> 14:22.880 because they can't hold a candle to auto light's larger liquid capacity. 14:22.880 --> 14:24.880 Wilcox the camel baiter. 14:24.880 --> 14:28.880 Auto light stay full batteries need water only three times a year in normal car use, 14:28.880 --> 14:31.880 and it's their extra liquid reserve above the plates 14:31.880 --> 14:35.880 that helps eliminate one of the major causes of battery failure. 14:35.880 --> 14:38.880 Auto light stay full batteries have fiberglass retaining mats 14:38.880 --> 14:40.880 protecting every positive plate, 14:40.880 --> 14:42.880 and they have extra long life too, 14:42.880 --> 14:45.880 70% longer average life in fact 14:45.880 --> 14:50.880 than batteries without stay full features according to tests based on SAE life cycle standards. 14:50.880 --> 14:53.880 It's the battery that makes camels cry. 14:53.880 --> 14:58.880 Yes sir, the auto light stay full battery needs water only three times a year in normal car use. 14:58.880 --> 15:02.880 Get one for your car. Remember, you're always right with auto light. 15:02.880 --> 15:06.880 And now auto light brings back to our Hollywood sound stage 15:06.880 --> 15:11.880 Edward Arnold in Account Payable, a tale well calculated to keep you in... 15:11.880 --> 15:15.880 Suspended! 15:21.880 --> 15:24.880 Yes, I had the solution. 15:24.880 --> 15:27.880 Mr. Waterbury would die and I would have $50,000, 15:27.880 --> 15:30.880 a fitting retirement sum for 22 years of hard work. 15:30.880 --> 15:33.880 But, but how? 15:33.880 --> 15:36.880 I looked around the room and knew that I was thinking more clearly, 15:36.880 --> 15:39.880 more quickly than I ever had in my life. 15:39.880 --> 15:42.880 My eyes came to rest upon a group of sample bottles, 15:42.880 --> 15:46.880 samples of new Waterbury drug company products. 15:46.880 --> 15:49.880 I picked up one small bottle marked, 15:49.880 --> 15:51.880 poison. 15:51.880 --> 15:54.880 I felt a sudden rush of blood to my head. 15:54.880 --> 15:56.880 My body seemed to be floating, weak. 15:56.880 --> 15:59.880 I was perspiring but something kept driving me to act, 15:59.880 --> 16:01.880 and act quickly. 16:01.880 --> 16:04.880 Poison, poison! 16:04.880 --> 16:08.880 And how to administer it, how to... 16:08.880 --> 16:12.880 The hypodermic needle, of course. 16:12.880 --> 16:14.880 Ho ho ho. 16:14.880 --> 16:17.880 Poison, self-inflicted! 16:17.880 --> 16:21.880 Technical suicide, it would be easy, simple. 16:21.880 --> 16:25.880 I emptied the adrenaline out of Mr. Waterbury's ever-present hypodermic needle 16:25.880 --> 16:28.880 and filled it with the colorless liquid from the bottle in my hand. 16:28.880 --> 16:31.880 This was the poison of freedom. 16:31.880 --> 16:33.880 The poison of my freedom! 16:33.880 --> 16:35.880 Mr. Baker, I'm sorry. 16:35.880 --> 16:36.880 What is it, Miss Jones? 16:36.880 --> 16:39.380 Mr. Baker, I'm in awful trouble. Could you come right away, please? 16:39.380 --> 16:44.080 I've got Abilene, Texas, on the phone, and Mr. Baker, if Mr. Waterbury finds out, I'll get fired. 16:44.080 --> 16:45.880 All right, all right. I'll be right there. 16:45.880 --> 16:47.880 Oh, no, no, Mr. Baker, please, please, come now. 16:47.880 --> 16:49.880 Oh, all right. Lock the safe, will you? 16:49.880 --> 16:51.380 Oh, it's your thing. 16:51.380 --> 16:53.880 It was a maddening interruption. 16:53.880 --> 16:56.880 I was shaking with impatience, and yet as I strode to the telephone, 16:56.880 --> 17:00.880 and as I talked to our representative in Texas, I felt a new authority in my manner. 17:00.880 --> 17:03.880 A new strength of character. 17:03.880 --> 17:05.880 Yes, Mr. Peterson. 17:05.880 --> 17:07.880 Yes, the shipment is completely insured. 17:07.880 --> 17:10.880 You haven't a thing... you haven't a thing to worry about. No, sir. 17:10.880 --> 17:12.880 Thank you, Mr. Peterson. Goodbye. 17:12.880 --> 17:15.880 You have lots of authority when you want to use it. 17:15.880 --> 17:19.880 Well, Miss Jones, you shouldn't get so excited. It doesn't pay. 17:19.880 --> 17:21.880 Now, may I go back to my work? 17:21.880 --> 17:23.880 Of course, Mr. Baker. 17:24.880 --> 17:26.880 Miss Jones, Miss Jones! 17:26.880 --> 17:27.880 Yes? 17:27.880 --> 17:29.880 Miss Jones, this door to Mr. Waterbury's office. I... I can't open it. 17:29.880 --> 17:31.380 Will you tell me to lock it? 17:31.380 --> 17:33.880 Lock it, you stupid fool. Don't you know I... I haven't got the key? 17:33.880 --> 17:35.880 Don't you know nobody but Mr. Waterbury has the key? 17:35.880 --> 17:36.880 But you told me to lock it! 17:36.880 --> 17:40.880 The safe! The safe! I... I told you to lock the safe, not the office. 17:40.880 --> 17:42.880 How am I going to get in there? 17:42.880 --> 17:44.880 Mr. Baker, Mr. Baker, please. Sit here, you purple... 17:44.880 --> 17:46.880 Oh! Mr. Baker! 17:46.880 --> 17:48.880 Oh, I'm sorry. I've got to get me a hand. 17:53.880 --> 17:55.880 Yes, I have painted it. 17:55.880 --> 18:00.880 All I could visualize was that envelope under the cushion of a chair in Mr. Waterbury's office. 18:00.880 --> 18:06.880 The envelope was $50,000 so near and I couldn't get into that office until the next day. 18:06.880 --> 18:11.880 Why, even the cleaning woman had to get a key for Mr. Waterbury himself to go in there once a week. 18:12.880 --> 18:16.880 Well, I went home. There was nothing else to do. 18:17.880 --> 18:20.880 Do you look off and tired, Dad? Why don't you go to bed? 18:20.880 --> 18:23.880 Oh, I'm really not tired, Jessie. I'm... I'm just a little nervous. 18:23.880 --> 18:25.880 But I've told you, you shouldn't be. 18:25.880 --> 18:28.880 Don't worry about Bill or Mr. Waterbury or me. 18:28.880 --> 18:29.880 I won't. 18:29.880 --> 18:31.880 I'll go work things out. You wait and see. 18:31.880 --> 18:35.880 Of course, dear, of course. Yes, I'll get to bed right away. 18:41.880 --> 18:45.880 But it was no use. Sleep just wouldn't come. 18:46.880 --> 18:49.880 No, I could... I could only think of Mr. Waterbury. 18:49.880 --> 18:51.880 Of a lockbox without a key. 18:51.880 --> 18:54.880 $50,000 of the broken heart of my darling Jessie. 18:54.880 --> 18:59.880 And of a hypodermic needle filled with poison. 18:59.880 --> 19:02.880 Finally, it was morning and I was in the office. 19:02.880 --> 19:07.880 Mr. Ball, Waterbury was in when I arrived, even though I came a half hour early. 19:07.880 --> 19:11.880 The reports were that Waterbury was a raging man. 19:11.880 --> 19:13.880 I waited on edge. 19:13.880 --> 19:16.880 Baker! Mr. Baker! Will you come in here? 19:16.880 --> 19:18.880 Yes, sir. 19:18.880 --> 19:24.880 Baker, when you were working here yesterday, did you see that lockbox? 19:24.880 --> 19:28.880 Of course, Mr. Waterbury. I handed it to you, don't you remember? 19:28.880 --> 19:30.880 That's not what I mean. Did you see the key? 19:30.880 --> 19:31.880 Key? 19:31.880 --> 19:33.880 Key, yes, the key to the box. Was it in the safe? 19:33.880 --> 19:36.880 I don't know what you're talking about, sir. I didn't see any key. 19:36.880 --> 19:38.880 You fool, didn't you see anything? 19:38.880 --> 19:39.880 No, sir. 19:39.880 --> 19:42.880 Baker, come here. Here is the safe. You examine it. 19:42.880 --> 19:45.880 I've got to find that key. I've been all through it. Do you hear? It's not there. 19:45.880 --> 19:48.880 Well, I'll look for it, Mr. Waterbury. 19:48.880 --> 19:52.880 You look there. I'll look here. Maybe I fell under here. 19:52.880 --> 19:57.880 I'm sorry. I can't find anything that even resembles the key. 19:57.880 --> 20:00.880 Never mind. I'll get it. I'll get it. 20:00.880 --> 20:04.880 Yes! This is John Waterbury. 20:04.880 --> 20:09.880 What? No. It can't be. 20:09.880 --> 20:15.880 It can't be? Thank you. I've got about this right now. 20:15.880 --> 20:20.880 Baker, do you know that Baker, my boy Bill... 20:23.880 --> 20:25.880 Mr. Waterbury. 20:25.880 --> 20:28.880 Needle. Get the needle. 20:28.880 --> 20:32.880 I started to open mechanically the desk drawer when I froze to the spot. 20:32.880 --> 20:36.880 Waterbury was writhing on the floor, gasping for breath, turning in deep red color. 20:36.880 --> 20:40.880 I couldn't move. His eyes started to bulge and his face was contorted with agony. 20:40.880 --> 20:44.880 The drawer which held the hypodermic needle was half open in my hand... 20:44.880 --> 20:47.880 when another thought flashed through my brain. 20:47.880 --> 20:54.880 Poison can be traced. Death from suffocation in the throes of an asthmatic attack could not be. 20:54.880 --> 20:58.880 Slowly I closed the desk drawer and stood near Waterbury. 20:58.880 --> 21:02.880 He could hardly breathe. He gasped spasmodically. 21:02.880 --> 21:08.880 Years of incest and brow-beating flash before me as I watched him transfixed. 21:08.880 --> 21:15.880 Then with one final convulsive gasp, he stopped breathing and fell back. 21:15.880 --> 21:20.880 I waited until every muscle spasm stopped. 21:20.880 --> 21:23.880 I reached over and felt his heart. 21:23.880 --> 21:33.880 And I knew that at last Mr. John Waterbury was dead. 21:33.880 --> 21:40.880 As soon as I caught control of myself, I backed out of his office as though I was still talking to him. 21:40.880 --> 21:44.880 Yes, Mr. Waterbury. I'll take care of those accounts. 21:44.880 --> 21:46.880 Payable right away, sir. Yes, sir. 21:46.880 --> 21:49.880 Mr. Baker. How is he? You look scared to death. 21:49.880 --> 21:53.880 Oh, he's bad this morning. He's really on the warpath. 21:53.880 --> 21:56.880 He said you're not to bother him under any circumstances. 21:56.880 --> 21:59.880 So don't let any calls through or anything until he gives you the go ahead. 21:59.880 --> 22:03.880 Oh, don't worry. You couldn't get me inside that office, not for anything. 22:03.880 --> 22:09.880 I don't blame you. I hope I never have to go in there again. 22:09.880 --> 22:11.880 I came back to my desk. 22:11.880 --> 22:15.880 An hour would give me time, an hour, and I can compose myself so that I can... 22:15.880 --> 22:19.880 ...place that dead body on the floor without exposing myself. 22:19.880 --> 22:21.880 I need that hour. 22:21.880 --> 22:24.880 Peter Galloway, my assistant, came up to me a few moments ago and... 22:24.880 --> 22:28.880 Tim, did you go over that ledger of the old man's yesterday? 22:28.880 --> 22:31.880 Well, I didn't get too much chance, Peter. 22:31.880 --> 22:33.880 Miss Jones called me out of the office. 22:33.880 --> 22:36.880 Oh, yeah, yeah, I know. Miss Jones was in a jam again. You got locked out. 22:36.880 --> 22:37.880 Yes, yes. 22:37.880 --> 22:41.880 Hey, it's lucky you didn't leave that accounts payable ledger in there. 22:41.880 --> 22:43.880 The old man would have blown his top. 22:43.880 --> 22:46.880 Yes, but he blew his top anyhow. 22:46.880 --> 22:48.880 Oh, yeah? I wonder what's eating him. 22:48.880 --> 22:49.880 I don't know. 22:49.880 --> 22:51.880 Well, I got to get to that ledger. 22:51.880 --> 22:54.880 Oh, I'll just have to go in and beard the lion in his den. 22:54.880 --> 22:56.880 No, no, no, no, you can't! 22:56.880 --> 22:57.880 Why, why, why not? 22:57.880 --> 23:00.880 I mean, I mean, you better wait an hour or so. 23:00.880 --> 23:02.880 I'll go in there in a little while and get it for you. 23:02.880 --> 23:03.880 Yeah, but I need it. 23:03.880 --> 23:06.880 There's something in there I need too. I... 23:06.880 --> 23:09.880 Be a good boy, Peter. Have patience. 23:09.880 --> 23:11.880 You've got a wife and a family. You need your job. 23:11.880 --> 23:15.880 I've worked here for 22 years. I know Mr. Waterbury. 23:15.880 --> 23:17.880 Now, don't go in there just now. 23:17.880 --> 23:20.880 Well, okay, if you say so. What did you leave in there? 23:20.880 --> 23:23.880 Why, I left... 23:23.880 --> 23:25.880 Oh, just something personal. 23:25.880 --> 23:27.880 Oh, oh, I see. 23:27.880 --> 23:31.880 Something personal. 23:31.880 --> 23:35.880 $50,000 that rightfully belonged to me. 23:35.880 --> 23:38.880 After Peter Gotaway went back to his desk, I relaxed for a moment. 23:38.880 --> 23:41.880 And now I... 23:41.880 --> 23:44.880 Why, why am I so frightened? 23:44.880 --> 23:47.880 Sooner or later, someone will have to discover that body. 23:47.880 --> 23:49.880 But why do I feel it must be later? 23:49.880 --> 23:52.880 Bill Waterbury, young Waterbury, my Jesse's bill just came in. 23:52.880 --> 23:54.880 Miss Jones is arguing with him. 23:54.880 --> 23:57.880 Look, Miss Jones, I know you're efficient, I know what a terror dad is, but this is important. 23:57.880 --> 23:59.880 But he doesn't want to be disturbed, Mr. Bill. 23:59.880 --> 24:02.880 I know his blood pressure's up and I know what's causing it. I'm the doctor. 24:02.880 --> 24:05.880 When he sees me, will he explode completely or he'll calm down? 24:05.880 --> 24:08.880 Did he get a phone call about three quarters of an hour ago? 24:08.880 --> 24:11.880 I think he did, but he left in struggle... 24:11.880 --> 24:14.880 Yeah, I know who called him and I know what his trouble is. 24:14.880 --> 24:17.880 You catch me if I come flying out. 24:17.880 --> 24:20.880 Won't even answer. 24:20.880 --> 24:23.880 Well, here goes. 24:23.880 --> 24:25.880 Uh, Mr. Baker, I was... 24:25.880 --> 24:27.880 Shut up. 24:27.880 --> 24:29.880 I'm sorry, I mean... 24:29.880 --> 24:32.880 Can I have some help in here, please? It's Dad, he's just passed out. 24:32.880 --> 24:35.880 Passed out? Here, here, here, here. 24:35.880 --> 24:37.880 Here, uh, golly, take a seat. 24:37.880 --> 24:39.880 Get him up on the floor. 24:39.880 --> 24:41.880 Here, here, here, here. 24:41.880 --> 24:43.880 We ought to get a pillow for his head. Tim, Tim, get a pillow. 24:43.880 --> 24:44.880 A pillow? 24:44.880 --> 24:47.880 Yeah, yeah, get anything. Miss Jones, Miss Jones, go get a glass of water. 24:47.880 --> 24:49.880 How's it coming, Bill? 24:49.880 --> 24:51.880 Where can I find a pillow? 24:51.880 --> 24:53.880 I don't know, take that cushion off the black leather chair. 24:53.880 --> 24:54.880 That'll do. 24:54.880 --> 24:56.880 The black leather chair? 24:56.880 --> 24:58.880 Don't bother, Mr. Baker. 24:58.880 --> 25:00.880 What? 25:00.880 --> 25:03.880 Don't bother, it isn't necessary. 25:03.880 --> 25:05.880 My father's dead. 25:05.880 --> 25:06.880 Dead? 25:06.880 --> 25:10.880 Must have had a bad attack and couldn't get to his adrenaline. 25:10.880 --> 25:12.880 I know what had happened some day. I just knew it. 25:12.880 --> 25:15.880 What do we do, call the hospital or the police? 25:15.880 --> 25:19.880 I think you'd better call the police and report it. 25:19.880 --> 25:22.880 Mr. Baker, would you... 25:22.880 --> 25:24.880 Would you please... 25:24.880 --> 25:27.880 Now, come on, snap out of it, Tim. Tim, you're shaking like a leaf. 25:27.880 --> 25:30.880 Here, here, I'll do it. Tim, Tim! 25:30.880 --> 25:32.880 Mr. Baker, why are you painted again? 25:32.880 --> 25:34.880 What? No, he'll be all right. He's just painted. 25:34.880 --> 25:35.880 Get a doctor. 25:35.880 --> 25:37.880 Here, let me take care of him. I'm almost a doctor. 25:37.880 --> 25:40.880 I've got to take care of him. He doesn't know it, but he's my father-in-law. 25:40.880 --> 25:42.880 I married his daughter this morning. 25:42.880 --> 25:43.880 How is he? 25:43.880 --> 25:44.880 When will I open his collar? 25:44.880 --> 25:45.880 Say this is serious. 25:45.880 --> 25:47.880 Then what is it? Is he going to be all right? 25:47.880 --> 25:48.880 Poor Mr. Baker. 25:48.880 --> 25:50.880 You think I'd better call somebody? 25:50.880 --> 25:52.880 His pulse is terribly weak. We've got to act quickly. 25:52.880 --> 25:54.880 This isn't a normal painting. Spell it, almost. 25:54.880 --> 25:56.880 Do something, do something, someone. 25:56.880 --> 25:58.880 Roll up a sleeve, Miss Jones. 25:58.880 --> 26:01.880 Adrenaline. A shot of adrenaline will bring him right around. 26:01.880 --> 26:05.880 Galloway, in the top drawer at Dad's desk, there's a little black box and a hypo needle. 26:05.880 --> 26:08.880 It's filled with adrenaline. Hurry up, bring it over here. 26:08.880 --> 26:10.880 That's it. 26:10.880 --> 26:12.880 Now... 26:13.880 --> 26:15.880 Good. 26:15.880 --> 26:30.880 He'll be all right now. 26:33.880 --> 26:35.880 Suspense presented by Auto Light. 26:35.880 --> 26:37.880 Tonight's star, Edward Arnold. 26:37.880 --> 26:38.880 Oh, I say, Mr. Arnold. 26:38.880 --> 26:39.880 Yes, Mr. Wilcock. 26:39.880 --> 26:42.880 I understand you own an orange ranch out San Bernardino way. 26:42.880 --> 26:43.880 That's right. 26:43.880 --> 26:45.880 Well, I'm glad to know that. 26:45.880 --> 26:48.880 My lad, you have a very commercial glint in your eye. 26:48.880 --> 26:54.880 What else? Anyhow, on an orange ranch, you're using batteries for trucks, tractors, and stuff like that there. 26:54.880 --> 26:57.880 Your English is wrong, but your assumption is correct. 26:57.880 --> 27:01.880 All right, come on, give me the pitch on your Auto Light staple batteries. 27:01.880 --> 27:04.880 Well, time's limited here, Mr. Arnold, so I'll just repeat. 27:04.880 --> 27:09.880 Auto Light staple batteries need water only three times a year in normal car use. 27:09.880 --> 27:18.880 That's typical of the superiority Auto Light builds into more than 400 products for cars, trucks, planes, and boats in 28 plants coast to coast. 27:18.880 --> 27:24.880 And you'll find the same dependable quality in the complete electrical systems Auto Light makes for many of America's finest cars. 27:24.880 --> 27:28.880 Batteries, spark plugs, generators, starting motors, coils, distributors. 27:28.880 --> 27:34.880 All engineered to fit together perfectly, work together perfectly, because they're a perfect team. 27:34.880 --> 27:44.880 So friends, don't accept electrical parts that are supposed to be as good. Ask for and insist on Auto Light original factory parts at your service station, car dealer, garage, or repair shop. 27:44.880 --> 27:47.880 Remember, you're always right with Auto Light. 27:47.880 --> 27:58.880 Next Thursday, for Suspense, our star will be Miss Betty Davis. 27:58.880 --> 28:02.880 The play is called Good Night, Mrs. Russell, and it is, as we say, 28:02.880 --> 28:08.880 a tale well calculated to keep you in suspense. 28:08.880 --> 28:13.880 Tonight's Suspense play was produced and edited by William Spear and directed by Norman MacDonald. 28:13.880 --> 28:17.880 Music for Suspense is composed by Lucian Moraweck and conducted by Lud Bluskin. 28:17.880 --> 28:21.880 Accountable was an original radio play written by Robert Platt. 28:21.880 --> 28:29.880 Edward Arnold appeared by arrangement with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, producers of The Red Danube, starring Walter Pigeon, Ethel Barrymore, and Peter Lawford. 28:29.880 --> 28:36.880 In the coming weeks, Suspense will present such stars as Victor Mature, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, and Red Skelter. 28:36.880 --> 28:48.880 And don't forget, next Thursday, same time, Auto Light will present Suspense, starring Betty Davis. 28:48.880 --> 28:55.880 You can buy Auto Light staple batteries, Auto Light resistor spark plugs, Auto Light electrical parts at your neighborhood Auto Light dealers. 28:55.880 --> 28:58.880 Switch to Auto Light. Good night. 28:58.880 --> 29:05.880 The increased demand for community chest services indicates that those services are needed to help families in trouble. 29:05.880 --> 29:13.880 Children without homes, the old and sick, in fact, to provide whatever your community needs to make it a healthier, better place to live in. 29:13.880 --> 29:17.880 Give generously now to your local community chest fund. 29:17.880 --> 29:29.880 This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.