Suspense!
Auto Light and its 96,000 dealers present Miss Rosalind Russell in consideration.
A suspense play produced and edited by William Spear.
A Hollywood and Vine driver.
And can you make it snappy?
I'm late.
Can I make it snappy?
I got Auto Light spark plugs.
What's snappier?
Auto Light spark plugs, which type?
Regular or resistor?
Why resistor, my hurried huckster.
Only Auto Light resistor spark plugs.
Hold on, my haloed hackster.
Let me say it.
Only Auto Light resistor spark plugs can give you smoother performance on leaner gas
mixtures, greater gas savings, and double life under equal service conditions.
You're right there, all right.
Of course I'm right.
And it's all because every Auto Light resistor spark plug has an exclusive built-in 10,000
ohm resistor that permits a wider gap setting and makes all these advantages possible.
So friends, next time you have your car serviced, ask your dealer to install a set of Auto Light
spark plugs.
Remember, whether you choose Auto Light regular spark plugs or wide gap Auto Light resistor
spark plugs, you're always right with Auto Light.
And now, with consideration and the performance of Rosalind Russell, Auto Light hopes once
again to keep you in suspense.
Well Gloom, don't I rate a good morning?
I'm sorry.
Good morning, darling.
You know, the Masons have asked us to cocktails tomorrow.
I told them I didn't know.
I checked with you.
Oh, oh, by the way, I'm completely out of aspirin again.
Would you mind picking me up a bottle on the way?
Charles, you're not reading the paper, are you?
No, Ellen, I'm not.
Oh, what's the matter?
Everything's the matter, darling.
Everything.
What is it?
What have I?
Oh, come dear, nothing could be as bad as the look on your face.
I'm afraid it's worse.
Oh dear, what on earth can...
What a bad trouble, honey.
Charles, what do you mean?
Business has been pretty bad since the war and our contracts ran out and so you wouldn't
have to go without, I took out a mortgage.
Mortgage?
On everything, house, car, even your jewelry.
I figured on business getting better, but the note came due so I paid it off out of
company funds.
Oh, don't look at me like that.
Tom and I had a Navy contract coming up that would cover it and I wouldn't have to dip
into our savings.
With the Navy canceled and now next week the auditors are coming in to examine the books
and I have to cover them.
Oh, why didn't you tell me?
I figure roughly we should have between 15 and 18 thousand in the safety deposit box.
I want you to go down this morning, take out 10 thousand, put it into a cashier's check
and bring it to my office before three this afternoon.
Charles, I...
I know, all I can say now is that I'm sorry, but well, just do it, will you please?
Charles, I've got to tell you something.
I can't bring the money down to you this afternoon.
Honey, you have to.
Because there isn't any.
What did you say, Ellen?
Well, you know how I love to go to the races.
You took me by first one, remember, Charles?
We went with Zell and Tom and well, you always used to say that if you lose, so what?
You'd spend it on a nightclub and you'd hate the floor show, remember?
Go ahead.
Well, I don't know how it happened.
I started betting here at home on the phone and got in deep and began doubling up.
Ellen, I'll go to prison if I don't have that money.
Oh, I had to catch us one winner.
Just one and I've been even.
Just one, Charles, but it wouldn't come in.
Believe me, you couldn't do that to me.
Charles.
In one month, I'd gone through twenty two thousand dollars, including some money I borrowed
from the bank.
Charles.
I didn't mean to.
Oh, Charles, don't hate me.
Charles.
That night, he didn't come home till very late.
Very late and when he did, he he was different.
He wasn't angry with me.
It's all right, darling.
Don't you worry.
What are we going to do?
Won't be so bad.
Oh, you can't go to jail.
Of course not.
Have you, have you worked out something?
Everything.
Oh, I'm sick.
I'm so sorry.
What are you going to do?
No worrying now.
Oh, but I do worry and I should.
Darling, don't work yourself up.
I've already made arrangements and everything's going to be taken care of.
Now take your aspirin and go to bed.
Aspirin?
Even in the midst of all this, you didn't forget.
No, Ellen.
I'm never going to forget anything that will make you rest easier.
From then on, he began to work a great deal at night.
Worked for hours alone in his little laboratory that he had built out there in the garage.
I could feel a tension mounting inside me.
Building and building and building till my nerves became so taut that I couldn't sleep.
The least sound awakened me.
One night in particular, I thought I heard the muffled whine of a dog in our backyard.
We had a high wire fence completely enclosing our grounds.
It would be impossible for any animal to get in.
I raised up on one elbow, listened intently.
There it was again.
I got up and went to the window.
Saw nothing.
There was no reason to arouse Charles.
He'd worked late out there again.
I slipped on a robe and went down the stairs.
I opened the back door.
Then again.
This time it was distinct.
There was no doubt.
It was coming from the laboratory.
I walked across the yard to the garage and waited.
There were no more sounds.
As I reached for the latch, I noticed that my hands were wet.
And then I stopped.
There was a new lock on the laboratory door.
In the practical light of the next day, I convinced myself that I had a very bad dream
and that I'd better watch my nerves.
That evening, Charles brought home a dinner guest, Bill Dover, an old friend of the family
and our insurance agent.
After dinner, Bill leaned back and did a cigar.
Well, how about it?
What Bill?
The insurance, darling.
He's talking about increasing our policies.
Oh, well, I don't know.
Maybe sometime.
You've come a long way.
Your standard of living is higher.
If something should happen to either of you...
Maybe things seem more prosperous than they are.
Right now I don't think we can even...
Let him talk, Ellen.
But you...
You see, we have a new family plan.
Talking to Chuck about it this afternoon.
Where both of your policies could be increased to 30,000 apiece.
In other words, tripled.
While your premiums would only be twice what you're paying now.
We can't afford anything like that right now.
Don't you agree, dear?
If there's anything we can afford, it's this.
We've discussed it before.
Write up the papers, Bill.
Oh, well, as the fellow says, I just happen to have them here in my briefcase.
This is very wise.
But now, please wait a minute.
No, I don't mean it as a salesman.
Insurance is always a wise investment.
Security.
It isn't pleasant, but should something happen to either of you, the other would receive
$30,000.
That's security.
I watched with a sort of numb helplessness as Bill filled out the papers.
Charles signed his name and handed them to me.
He looked at me.
And then he lowered his eyes.
I looked down at the application form that he put into my hand.
It was a mass of fine print, all those clauses.
But one word jumped up at me.
One word that stood out as if it were printed in bold type in big letters.
The word was...
Murder.
I found myself reading, suicide by the insured within two years, following date policy is
in effect, voids all claims.
Murder of insured by beneficiary or any party connected in a fraudulent manner with beneficiary
in said murder, voids all claims.
Any fraudulent act.
$30,000.
Well, Ellen, sign it.
Yes.
Yes, of course.
That night Charles did something I'd never known him to do before.
He got drunk.
Bill left finally about midnight and I got Charles upstairs somehow.
I helped him out of his clothes and he stumbled into bed and fell into a troubled sleep.
I reached down and picked up a letter that had fallen out of his pocket.
The letterhead said the city health department, office of the veterinary surgeon.
Dear Mr. Forrester, the autopsy you requested to be performed on your dog revealed no trace
of poison any place in his system.
Blood and all organs seem normal.
Therefore, it is the belief of this office that your dog died of natural causes, probably
a hidden heart ailment, and that there are no grounds from this examination to be suspicious
of your neighbor.
Sincerely yours, Dr. Lois Morial, Examiner.
I stood there over my sleeping husband.
All these terrible words that I'd heard and seen tonight.
Fraud, beneficiary, autopsy, murder.
And two other words that Charles was mumbling in his sleep.
Thirty thousand.
Thirty thousand dollars.
Thirty thousand.
Thirty thousand dollars.
Autolight is bringing you Rosalind Russell in consideration.
Tonight's production in radio's outstanding theater of thrills, Suspense.
Say, driver, how is it you know so much about wide gap autolight resistor spark plugs?
I used to have a set of worn out spark plugs and this old buggy jumped and jumped like
a bucking bronco.
Then I heard a guy named Wilcox on the radio.
Did he say that autolight resistor spark plugs let your engine idle smoother than silk, run
better on leaner gas mixtures and actually save gas?
Yeah, and he...
And did he say that with autolight resistor spark plugs your engine starts like a whirlwind
and gets off to a galloping start in cold weather?
Yeah, he said that...
That autolight resistor spark plugs have doubled the life of ordinary spark plugs under equal
conditions?
Yeah.
Everyone with old worn out spark plugs should tell his dealer to install a set of autolight
spark plugs right away.
Either autolight regular spark plugs or wide gap autolight resistor spark plugs because
you're always right with autolight.
And now autolight brings back to our Hollywood soundstage our star Rosalind Russell with
John McIntyre in consideration a tale well calculated to keep you in suspense.
The next morning I woke with a frightful sense of lurking danger.
Charles was up and gone.
There was a note that said, sorry darling.
As I got out of bed I stepped on something cold.
It was a key to a padlock.
The key to the new laboratory.
I went out there.
I stood in the tiny room, a maze of odd shaped bottles, test tubes and boxes.
I was about to leave when my hand brushed against the side of an old steamer trunk.
It was ice cold and damp.
It was locked and I couldn't force it open.
So I called a locksmith and he came over.
I'm going to have it open in a minute.
Please hurry.
You just slipped this little rod in like this.
A little turn and...
Don't open it.
I thought you wanted me...
No no, just open the lock.
Don't lift the lid.
Well I can't very well...
Don't lift the lid!
There.
Hey, you always keep dead guinea pigs in trunks?
Oh, no.
It was just part of an experiment.
What killed him?
There ain't a mark on him.
Well, the experiment.
Give me my money.
Yes, yes of course.
Thanks.
After the locksmith left, I forced myself to look through the trunk.
Nothing else in it.
Nothing but a few pieces of wrapping paper.
Wrapping paper with the words, frozen carbonic company.
Dry ice printed on it.
Dry ice.
A guinea pig.
A dog.
I got in the car and went to our doctor's office.
Doctor Hanson might tell me.
Here you are, Ellen.
Now sit down here.
Thank you.
Now, what's our trouble, Ellen?
Jay, maybe I'm being silly.
Nothing silly if it worries you.
Well, Charles has been puttering around his laboratory.
You know how he does.
And he's been doing some experimenting with... with dry ice.
And I... I've heard some things about it.
What kind of things?
Well, that it... that it was dangerous.
Say if left in a closed room, it might even kill a person.
Oh, now listen.
Of all the chemicals he plays around with, dry ice is the least of your work.
Would it kill a person?
Oh, Ray.
Well, would it?
Well, I... I suppose it would.
It evaporates into carbon dioxide gas, would actually cause suffocation.
Heart would go.
There wouldn't be any trace of poison in the system.
It would seem like natural causes.
Huh?
What's that?
And then... and if it evaporated, there wouldn't be anything left, like water.
No way to know.
Nothing to trace.
What are you driving at?
Oh, I don't know.
I'm upset.
I guess you're right.
I am being silly.
Now, look, Ellen.
Charles is really a brilliant man.
He knows exactly what everything he experiments with can do.
Yes, of course.
Of course.
Huh.
You didn't sleep well again last night, did you?
No, no, I...
I'll take two of those sleeping tablets and get to bed early.
Sleeping tablets?
The ones I gave Charles for you.
Oh, yes.
Yes, of course.
That night, I sat in the upstairs den, read until my eyes burned without having the least
idea what was written in the book.
An hour passed by.
Two.
Three.
There were no more sounds coming from the bedroom.
Charles was asleep.
I wanted to sleep myself.
Desperately, I had to sleep, but I wouldn't go into that room with him.
I remember hearing the clock in the living room strike three.
The night breeze shake loose a shutter downstairs.
The distant cry of a tomcat, and then unmistakably, I sensed a chill coming over the room surrounding
me.
A pale light was filtering through the Venetian lines.
Morning was near.
The room was like ice.
Ice!
Charles, don't!
Oh, Ellen, you fell asleep.
I just brought a blanket for you.
I thought maybe you were cold.
No, I...
You've been dreaming.
Now, there.
I don't want a blanket.
All right.
Here, take these.
Take what?
The bed sheets.
Take what?
A couple of your aspirin.
Here.
No.
No!
No, I don't want them!
I don't want them!
I apologize an hour later for getting so upset.
I even made coffee for him before he left for work.
I was weary now, you see.
It was far better not to let him know that I'd found out.
Then I'd have the advantage on him.
And he wasn't able to deny it and change his tactics.
So now I held the advantage and I...
Hello, darling.
Surprise.
Oh, Charles.
You're home early.
Well, don't look so disappointed.
Expecting the iceman?
Look.
What is it?
Open it up.
An orchid.
It's beautiful.
Not half as beautiful as my lovely wife.
And that ain't all.
More?
Lots.
Tonight, my darling, we're going out.
Dinner at the plaza, the show at the Green Hat, the gypsy violinist at Little Asia, and
champagne.
Nothing but champagne.
All the champagne we can drink.
We're going to pack into this night everything you ever wanted and ever loved.
All the places we used to go.
Tonight's yours.
Why, Charles?
Why?
Who does it have to be a why?
Usually.
Not for this husband.
Well, I mean, I don't think...
You deserve it.
That's enough.
Now, upstairs and into your best.
Tonight's the night.
We started on the merry ground.
But all that I could think of was, tonight is the night.
We went to all those places.
Charles laughed a lot.
But there was something horrible in the back of his eyes.
They didn't laugh.
It was very late when we got home.
There was one of those notices on the door you get when a telegram has been delivered,
and no one was home to receive it.
He called Western Union, listened while they read it to him.
And then he put his coat back on, came over and put his arms around me.
Ellen, there's a new contract that came in this afternoon.
I've got to go down to the office.
But it's nearly three in the morning.
I'll call you when I get there.
Well, if you have to.
It's a rush deal, and I've got to figure out a formula so the boys can work on it in the morning.
So go to bed, dogs.
Operator.
Western Union, please.
Just a moment.
Western Union.
This is Mrs. Charles Forrester, 1552 Carlton Manoway.
You sent a wire that was just read over the phone.
My husband wanted me to get the exact wording.
Would you read it again, please?
One moment, please.
Here it is.
Go ahead.
Charles, tried reaching you by phone.
Auditors still working on books.
Call office immediately.
Signed, Tom.
Thank you.
The auditors were still working on the books.
Charles' boss was trying to contact him.
Well, Charles wasn't worried.
He'd have the missing money and a little extra besides.
The difference between $30,000 and...
Hello?
Hello, darling.
How do you feel?
All right.
I called to tell you that I wouldn't be home until very late tonight.
Maybe not even until tomorrow.
Something came up at the office and I'll have to drive out of town.
Oh?
Now, I want you to go to bed.
I will.
You haven't had a good night's sleep in a week and I'm worried about you.
Take a couple of aspirin and hit the hay.
Why don't you sleep in the upstairs den and I won't wake you if I should have to.
All right.
Promise?
Promise.
Bye, darling.
Goodbye.
Tonight's the night.
Yes, of course, he wouldn't be home when it happened.
He'd be out of town.
But then what?
Where would it come from?
Oh, my head was aching so that I could hardly see.
I took three aspirin and sat down to wait for him.
Hello?
Is Charles Forrester there?
Well, who's calling him?
Well, I'm terribly sorry to bother you at this hour, but I'm not sure that this is the Forrester I want.
This is the frozen carbonic company.
You wouldn't know whether your Mr. Forrester ordered some dry ice for tonight.
Well, why?
Well, the plant's shutting down for the night and this fellow made such a fuss about it,
said it was so important that I wanted to make sure he found it.
He said for us to leave it on the back ramp, but he hasn't picked it up yet.
I guess he'll find it all right.
You will. You must have the wrong Forrester.
Oh, I'm sorry to bother you.
The upstairs den.
That's why he wanted me to sleep there.
A small room where dry ice could do it suffocating faster, more surely, more believably.
And realizing it, I wasn't that excited.
My heart wasn't beating fast anymore.
In fact, I felt quite cool.
Drowsy.
I shook my head.
Oh, it still ached, the aspirin. Why hadn't it stopped my headache?
I'd have to take two more.
I started to the medicine cabinet.
Oh!
I...I couldn't walk straight.
I opened the cabinet and got out the bottle of aspirin.
I'd already taken five.
Why didn't they?
No! No!
They weren't aspirin at all.
They were sleeping tablets.
He tricked me.
I'd been drugged.
I had to run. Stop him.
I was helpless. He won.
I got to keep awake. Got to...
Got to...
Yes?
Hello. Er, Ellen?
Yes, who is this?
This is Tom. Where's Charles?
Well, isn't he there?
He said he was going to the office.
No, I've been trying to get him all night.
He even sent a wire.
Oh, no.
Now, Ellen, things aren't as bad as all that.
Look, I've known you for 20 years.
Think I haven't made mistakes shown wrong.
I knew he took that money months ago,
and I figured it must have been for a pretty good reason.
All I wanted was for Charles to tell me about it.
I've already made up for it out of my own pocket,
and, well, you can chuck and pay me back whenever you can.
He's much more valuable to me than a few dollars.
Well, do you hear me, Ellen?
Yes.
Yes, Tom, I hear you.
He doesn't know that, does he?
It's all right. It's all all right.
That's why I wanted him to come down.
All he had to do was ask me.
Well, after all, that's what friends are for, and...
Oh, cut this stuff. I've got this stuff.
Now, you go to sleep, Ellen.
We'll get it all straightened out in the morning.
Give Zella a ring one of these days.
She's home a lot. Maybe you two could...
Sleep, yes. Thank you.
Thank you. It's all right.
I've got to tell him. I've got...
Information.
What... what is the number of the frozen carbonic company, please?
Just a moment.
It is in your directory.
The number is L4-4892.
Thank you.
L...
4...
5...
2...
4...
Frozen Carbonic Company.
Hello.
This... this is Mrs. Forrester.
Yes?
My husband is coming down to pick up some dry ice from you.
I want you to tell him...
that I called and said everything was all right.
And... understand.
Well, lady, your husband picked up the dry ice about 20 minutes ago.
Hello? Hello, Mrs. Forrester?
I...
I hear you.
If he comes back, I'll...
Zell...
Come on, Zell.
Zell...
I'll be home soon.
Zell...
Hello?
Zell...
This is Ellen.
Is Tom home?
Oh, he's still at the office, she says.
No matter. I...
I want you to talk to me.
Ellen, do you know what time it is?
No matter what happens, keep talking.
Don't let me go to sleep.
Is it a game?
Say, are you all right?
Please, just talk.
Tell me what you've been doing.
Tell me everything you did today.
Who did today?
Oh, I had a terribly fascinating day.
I got up at eight and made Tom's breakfast.
I got Lola off to school, and at 10.30 I dusted and vacuumed the living room.
Then at 12, I...
How are we doing?
Ellen?
Oh, Ellen.
Ellen!
Ellen! Ellen! Wake up, Ellen!
Charles!
No, no, no, it's Tom, Ellen.
What?
Tom, Chuck's boss.
Zell, what are you doing here?
Well, you fell asleep while I was talking to you.
I tried to call you back then when Tom got home.
I told him about it.
Oh, that can wait, Zell.
Listen, I have to talk fast.
Are you awake now, Ellen?
Yes, yes, go ahead.
Well, look, Charles is downstairs.
I brought him home.
He doesn't know anything about the house.
He's not going to tell me anything.
Charles is downstairs. I brought him home.
He doesn't know anything about our conversation last night.
And he doesn't want you to know that he wasn't at the office.
Have you got it?
Where was he?
Well, the police picked him up in his car.
I went down to the station and got him.
He was so groggy they thought he was drunk.
Crazy guy had taken a couple of sleeping pills,
put her off to the side of the road and gone to sleep.
They noticed his car because the windows were frosted up.
Frosted up?
Yes, yes, all frosted on the outside.
The cops couldn't understand...
Come in, Charles.
Come on, let's go, Zelle.
Yes, sure.
Hello, darling.
Thirty thousand dollars.
You wanted me to have the money.
And you were going to die for the...
Yes, darling, I...
It just seemed the only way to make things right.
They could never be right without you.
Oh, Ellen, I love you.
I know, darling.
I know.
Suspense presented by Auto Light.
Tonight's star, Rosalind Russell,
with John McIntyre as Charles.
Here we are, Hollywood and Vine.
Say, I just figured out something.
You're Harlow Wilcox.
Right, my friend, and next time I see you,
I'll tell you about Auto Light Bullseye Sealed Beam Headlights,
the new safe headlight that's guaranteed to function
even when the lens is cracked or broken.
Got them, Mr. Wilcox, got them.
Well, they're unbeatable, just like Auto Light spark plugs,
and they're only one of more than 400 products
made by Auto Light for cars, trucks, planes and boats.
These include complete electrical systems
used as original equipment on many makes of America's finest cars.
Batteries, spark plugs, generators, coils, distributors,
starting motors, and Bullseye Sealed Beam Headlights.
All engineered to fit together perfectly,
work together perfectly, because they're a perfect team.
So don't accept electrical parts supposed to be as good.
Ask for and insist on Auto Light,
original factory parts at your neighborhood service station,
car dealer, garage, or repair shop.
Remember, you're always right with Auto Light.
Next Thursday for Suspense, Kirk Douglas will be our star.
The play is called Never Steal a Butcher's Wife.
And it is, as we say...
A tale well calculated to keep you in...
Suspense!
Tonight's Suspense play was produced and edited by William Spear
and directed by Norman MacDonald.
Music for Suspense is composed by Lucian Moorowek
and conducted by Lud Bluskin.
Consideration is an original play for radio by Richard Vodra.
Rosalind Russell will soon be seen in the Columbia Pictures comedy,
A Woman of Distinction.
You can buy Auto Light regular or resistor spark plugs,
Auto Light staple batteries, Auto Light electrical parts
at your neighborhood Auto Light dealers.
Switch to Auto Light. Good night.
This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.