Suspense.
Mortal Light and its 96,000 dealers presents Miss Marlena Dietrich in Murder Strikes Three
A suspense play produced and edited by William Spear.
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And now with murder strikes three times and the performance of Marlene Dietrich, auto
light hopes once again to keep you in suspense.
And so John L. Lewis and the soft coal mine operators will be getting down to specific
cases soon.
And now the exclusive that I promised you earlier in the program, a report so sensational
that I am going to devote all of my remaining time to it.
I have before me a copy of a document delivered in person today to the district attorney's
office by one Fredonia Bell.
Fredonia Bell was the trusted personal maid of Laura Starling Morton, who you will remember
from the widely publicized murder trial of two years ago.
This document is a statement written by Laura Starling Morton in her own hand.
And it begins as follows, quote, I only regret that it will be impossible for me to be present
when this is read aloud.
What I shall relate here concerns three men.
Of these three men, it is not on behalf of my husband, Robert, that I write, nor on behalf
of my husband, Charles.
This is for Elmer.
But I do not think that Elmer will ever see it.
For Elmer too is going to die.
Laura, Laura.
Yes, Robert?
Where's my electric razor?
In the medicine cabinet where it always is.
Oh.
Robert, I wish you wouldn't shave while you're in the bathtub that way.
What's the difference where I shave?
I like to shave in the bathtub.
I just don't like to see you meddling with electricity while you're in there.
You might get a shock or something.
Oh, sure, sure.
Mrs. Thomas Edison.
All right, go ahead.
I don't care.
I like to shave in the bathtub.
I'm relaxed in the bathtub.
I read in the bathtub.
I think in the bathtub.
I'm not going to change my habits for you.
I know, dear.
I suppose that is a lot to expect.
Oh, for heaven's sake.
I don't really understand.
Robert!
It was a good loud scream.
Then I stood in the door of the bathroom and looked.
Good long look.
Then I called a doctor.
The doctor called the police.
The police called the district attorney.
And I found myself confronted by a young man with red hair and glasses who gave the immediate
impression of being clever, unscrupulous, and objectionable.
That was Elmer.
Mrs. Williams, I'm Elmer Garner of the district attorney's office.
How do you do, Mr. Garner?
I thought you and I had better have a little private chat.
What about, Mr. Garner?
About your husband.
What about my husband?
Mrs. Williams, I'm going to be very frank with you on a number of counts.
I am what is known as an assistant district attorney.
Mr. Garner, I have just lost my husband.
I hardly think...
I'm coming to that, Mrs. Williams.
Now, the district attorney has put me on this case because...
Well, he thinks he doesn't have a case.
Routine investigation.
Now maybe it's because the DA is essentially a nice man with nice instincts, and I am not,
but I don't agree with him.
About what?
About not having a case.
Because I can smell him, Mrs. Williams.
I can smell him a mile away.
What can you smell, Mr. Garner?
Murder.
Oh, I see.
Good.
Well, your attitude is very good.
No phony hysteria, no fake indignation.
Realistic.
Oh, I like that.
I'm that way myself.
Mr. Garner, I'm trying my best to maintain my composure under trying circumstances.
I must say your extraordinary insinuation does not make it any easier.
Now, look, I know you killed him, and you know that I know you killed him.
Mr. Garner.
Now, as I said, I was going to be very frank with you, Mrs. Williams, and I am.
On your side of the story is the fact that although I know you killed him, it may be
a little difficult to prove that you killed him.
Not too difficult, but a little.
I should think it might.
It seems it is utterly untrue.
Now, let's see what cards I hold.
You are a laboratory technician, or you were before you were married, right?
Right.
And your technical knowledge would have told you that a man using a faulty electrical appliance
while sitting in a tub full of water stood an excellent chance of electrocuting himself.
I also know that a man firing a bullet into his head would stand an excellent chance of
killing himself.
The insulation in the cable of that electric razor was frayed.
Now, that might have happened through normal wear, but it also might have happened because
it was tampered with by you.
And then again, as you say, it might not.
Would it surprise you to know that we've got your fingerprints all over that razor?
It would surprise me more if you hadn't.
Or on everything else in the house for that matter, Mr. Garner.
Uh-huh.
Oh, you're a very intelligent woman, Mrs. Williams.
You're right.
It would have looked funny.
You were smart not to wipe off those prints.
Very smart.
Thank you.
So much for the means, now for the motive.
We can establish, of course, that you and your husband didn't get along.
Unfortunately, you can establish that about many husbands and wives.
And that your husband was insured for $50,000 in your favor.
And that there's about $50,000 more in community property.
And that you inherit, right?
Naturally.
Well, $100,000 is quite a nice little motive, Mrs. Williams.
But it doesn't prove anything, does it, Mr. Garner?
It depends on how it's used by the prosecuting attorney.
And that's me, you know.
I know.
Tell me, do you have a lawyer, Mrs. Williams?
Not yet.
Uh-huh.
Oh, you are a very intelligent woman.
That would have looked bad, too, if you'd had a lawyer right on path.
But you're going to need a lawyer, you know.
So it would appear.
All right.
How about me?
You?
Sure.
I'm a lawyer.
You have just finished telling me that you would be the prosecuting attorney.
Well, that's just the point.
Why spend a lot of money on a lawyer who probably can't get you off anyway when you can spend
it on me and have a sure thing?
You see?
Yes.
I see.
All I want is half.
$50,000.
No.
It's a matter of too much?
No.
Now, look, sister, you don't seem to realize that I'm in a position, depending on how I
handle this case, either to set you free or to hang here.
That, Mr. Garner, is where we disagree.
You mean you're willing to gamble that I can't do it?
If you wish to put it that way.
All right.
But $50,000 will look cheap.
Cheap.
When they slip that noose around your neck.
There she sits, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, cold, calm, emotionless, the same Laura
Williams who carefully calculated, carefully planned and premeditated the murder of her
daughter.
I ask the death penalty.
I must ask it.
For ponder well, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, if you set her free, if you set her
free, believe me, this will not be the last accident to mark the bloody trail through
life of Laura Williams.
And when that accident occurs, when the next victim is struck down, his innocent blood
will be upon your hands.
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, have you reached a verdict?
We have.
What is your verdict?
On the grounds of insufficient evidence, we find the defendant not guilty.
Well, Mrs. Williams, I guess the sporting thing to say is congratulations.
Congratulations.
Thank you, Mr. Garner.
Say one thing, you've got what it takes.
The jury was evenly divided that whole first day.
Did you know that?
Yes, I knew it.
Yes, I wasn't too far wrong at that, was I?
Just far enough, Mr. Garner.
Say, listen again, just as a sporting proposition, tell me, did you?
Did I what?
Oh, come on, we're alone here anyway, it doesn't matter, because you can't be tried
twice for the same thing.
You know that, don't you?
Yes, I know it.
Well, did you?
Yes.
You cheap, contemptible blackmailer, yes.
I killed him.
How do you like that?
I killed him.
Yes, I told him.
Told him the truth.
Just to see the smirk fall from his face.
Just to see him actually snarl with frustration, knowing that I'd gotten away with murder and
he couldn't do anything about it.
Yes, I couldn't have resisted telling him then, even though it meant I'd die of it,
which I will.
Auto Light is bringing you Marlene Dietrich in Murder Strikes Three Times, tonight's production
in radio's outstanding theater of thrills, Suspense.
Debbie, my dear director of elocution, you interest me strangely.
First you're hoity-toity, then you're hoity-poloity.
How come?
Mr. Wilcox, I am leading a double life.
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starting in cold weather.
Mr. Wilcox, your diff songs are showing.
Thank you, my little lecturer.
Next time you stop at your favorite service station, ask your dealer to install a set
of ignition engineered Auto Light spark plugs in your car.
And whether you choose the regular type or the resistor type spark plugs, you'll be right
because you're always right with Auto Light.
And now, Auto Light brings back to our Hollywood sound stage, our star Marlene Dietrich and
featuring Hans Conrad as Elmer in Murder Strikes Three Times.
A tale well calculated to keep you in suspense.
Perhaps I gambled too recklessly with Elmer.
I have since had cause to wonder.
But there were things I could not foresee as well as Elmer.
Suffice it to say that after my acquittal with $100,000 from Roberts Estate, I moved
to another city and took up my life again under another name.
But there, as Laura's darling, I met and married Charles Morton, a charming and eccentric man
whose genius as a research chemist accounted not only for those qualities which endeared
him to me, but for a very considerable personal fortune as well.
I was quite happy and completely in love.
And as the years went by, I had seen, I thought, the last of Elmer.
Charles?
Oh, Charles?
Yes, my dear?
I have your coffee.
Coffee?
You said you wanted coffee.
It's ready now.
But I have some coffee.
You took that out there three hours ago.
Now come in and get your coffee.
Yes, in a moment, my dear.
As soon as I finish...
Charles!
Yes, my dear?
I'm sorry.
But I...
Charles, you come out of that smelly laboratory and have your coffee.
Besides, I have a surprise for you.
You have?
Well, I'll be right in, dear.
And bring the other coffee cup with you.
Yes, yes.
Now, what's on the list about a surprise?
Look.
What?
Oh, yes.
I seem to have left my glasses in the laboratory.
Oh, Charles, you're simply priceless.
It's a cake.
This is our anniversary, darling.
Our fourth wedding anniversary.
Is it?
So it is.
Laura, this is so thoughtful of you.
I'm afraid I'm hopeless, my dear.
I know it's the husband who should be thoughtful, but I-
You're just you, darling.
Now sit down and relax for a while.
Yes.
Oh, here's your cup.
Thank you.
Charles, what's in that cup?
Coffee.
Charles, I'm sure that even in the atomic age,
coffee does not come in the form of white crystals.
Hmm?
Oh.
Oh, yes, yes.
I finished my coffee.
Charles, what is it?
Thyoclorate.
You see, at the moment, I'm looking-
Charles!
What?
That's deadly poison.
So it is.
You see, the time I've-
Oh, Charles, I wish you wouldn't mix things up in the cups
and dishes that way.
It's dangerous.
Dangerous?
Suppose you got the cups mixed up.
Suppose you drank-
Heavens, Laura, half the stuff you use in chemistry
is dangerous if you go to drink it.
But who's going to do that?
It's like eating soap.
You wash your hands with it every day,
but who'd think of eating it?
You take that cup right back out of the lavatory
and empty it and wash it out.
All right.
Charles?
Yes?
I was wondering, since it's our anniversary-
Yes?
Let's go out to dinner and celebrate.
Why, yes.
I think that's a splendid idea.
Oh, my goodness.
What?
Oh, I completely forgot.
My brother is coming to see us today.
Your brother?
Well, my half-brother.
I meant to tell you-
Charles, I never knew you had a brother.
Didn't you?
Well, you see, he's been in the army for about five years.
He just got back a short time ago,
and I got a wire yesterday saying he'd be passing through town
and he'd like to see me.
So-
Does he know you're remarried?
Well, I suppose.
I suppose he doesn't.
As a matter of fact, we've never been very close.
Neither of us much of a lesson, righty?
And so on.
But he's the only relative I've got.
And all the sympathy I've wasted on you,
because I thought you were an orphan or something.
Oh, I was, but privately.
When is he coming?
By this afternoon sometime, I think.
Well, I guess there's your answer.
I am sorry, my dear.
My child, that's all right.
Maybe your brother would like to go out and celebrate with us.
Well-
Right in there, dear.
Hello, there.
Hello, Charles.
Come in, come in.
And I want you to meet my wife.
Laura, this is my brother, Elmer.
There was no doubt that it was Elmer.
There was no doubt that he recognized me.
And there was no doubt in my mind as to how he intended
to play his hand this time either.
For he gave no public sign of recognition,
but simply looked straight at me and smiled,
and smiled and smiled.
So you've gone into private practice, eh, Elmer?
Criminal law, I suppose.
Yeah, there's no appreciation in this country of men
who hold public office, financially at least.
Oh, Elmer, you always did have your eye on the dollar,
didn't you?
What about your racket, Charlie?
What have you been up to?
Oh, just puttering around here in my laboratory.
You mean right here at home?
Of course.
Oh, I guess that's new, since you were here last.
There's a lot that's new since I was here last.
It's right in there, right through those doors.
Isn't that sort of a nuisance for a wife, or isn't it?
Not in the least.
Why should it be?
Now, Laura, don't try to cover up my feelings.
Just before you came, she was scolding me
for carrying thioclorate around in the family coffee cup.
Isn't that interesting?
Isn't that a coincidence?
Why?
Now, I was just thinking, what a fine setup for a murder.
Somebody poisons a chemist in his own laboratory,
and it looks just like an accident.
Neat, huh?
You will find that Elmer has a morbid mind, my dear.
He used to try people for murder back in Illinois.
And I tried some beauties, too.
Oh, well, I've got to get going.
I'm sorry I can't accept your invitation for the night.
But you are staying over a few days, are you?
Oh, yes, yes, I'll see you again.
Good.
Good, good.
Now, don't bother to come to the door with me, Charles.
I know you want to get back to your work.
Well.
Perhaps Laura will, huh?
Give us a little chance to get acquainted.
Why, yes, of course.
Call us, Elmer.
You can depend on it, Charlie.
Good, good.
Well, well, well.
Little Laura William.
What do you want?
What do you think old Charlie would say if he knew, huh?
I asked your question.
I suppose he'd go on loving you in his own peculiar fashion,
but never be quite the same, would it?
There'd always be that little gnawing doubt.
Another accident, maybe.
Oh, no, I'm afraid things are kind of under strain
around here, Laura.
You do have a price, I suppose.
Am I?
By the way, why are you so eager to pay it?
I'm happy here.
I'm at peace with myself and the world.
I don't want anything to change.
No other reason?
What other reason would there be?
I suppose all this property would go to you
in the event of another little accident.
You don't really believe that.
No, the motive and the means.
Money and poison.
How much, Elmer?
No, no, you got me wrong, Laura.
I don't want money.
When did that happen?
Did it ever occur to you that I might simply be interested
in my brother's welfare?
No.
All that has occurred to me so far is to wonder
why I had to pick the one man in the world
who was related to you.
Do you want to hear my proposition?
I'm waiting.
The motive and the means.
Now, there's always the means
for an intelligent person like you.
But if we took away the motive.
The motive?
The money, the will.
No motive, no temptation, you see?
I see.
In a way, it's for your own protection, too.
Because if Charlie so much as slipped on a banana peel
and you inherited that money,
there's no jury in the world that wouldn't convict you.
Simply on your past record.
You realize that, don't you?
Yes.
So, no motive, no case either, you see?
What do you want me to do?
Get him to change his will.
In favor of his only living relative, I presume?
Uh-huh.
That's me.
And then?
That's all.
And you're in the clear.
Because after that, Charlie couldn't suspect you,
even if I told him, probably wouldn't believe it.
Throw me out of the house for persecuting his little bride.
Maybe even change his will right back again, you see?
All right.
You can do it, can't you?
I suppose so.
Oh, I know you can.
I know you'd better.
I suppose so.
It seems such a strange request to me.
Darling, I don't want your money.
I only want you.
I know, dear, but after all,
I'm considerably older than you are, my dear,
and chances are that someday...
No, the whole idea of losing you
and then profiting by it, it's just hateful.
Who else would I leave it to?
Leave it to your brother.
Elmer?
Why not?
It doesn't matter, but...
Well...
Please, darling, for me.
All right, my dear,
if it really makes a difference to you,
now don't you worry about it anymore.
I'll take care of it sometime.
No, I want you to do it now, right away, today.
Well, I'd have to get in touch with my lawyer.
I'll call him for you.
I'll get him on the phone right now.
My goodness, Laura.
You act as though it were a matter of life and death.
And death.
Ambassador Hotel?
Mr. Elmer Garner, please.
Thank you.
This is Laura.
It's all right.
It's all arranged.
Yes, the lawyer's coming tomorrow.
Did he tell the lawyer the changes he wanted made?
Yes, he did.
Not that I think you'd ever tell a lie, Laura,
but how do I know all this?
Haven't he told you?
No.
Then perhaps you'd better drop in this evening.
That's more like it.
I'll expect you after dinner.
I'll be there.
Elmer arrived this evening,
less than an hour ago.
We were having coffee in the living room.
Earlier, Charles had been showing him through the laboratory.
It was not until after that that I had a moment to speak to him alone.
The wonderful fellow, old Charlie.
So trusting.
Did he tell you?
About what?
The will.
Oh, that.
Yeah.
It seems to me that I'm to be to old Charlie's beloved heir.
He still can't understand it.
Are you satisfied then?
My dear Laura,
I was never more satisfied in my life.
Almost even things up, doesn't it?
Almost.
You never forgot that, did you?
That you lost.
Lost? Who says I lost?
Game isn't over till the last card is played, sister.
It is for you.
Now get out of here.
OK.
OK. All in good time.
Sorry I had to leave you,
but those reactions have to be checked every hour.
Oh, that's all right, Charlie.
Laura and I were just going over old times in Illinois.
You didn't know we both came from Illinois, did you?
No, no, I hadn't realized.
I'm sure I told you, Charles, you must have forgotten.
Oh, yes, probably.
Coffee ready?
Yes.
Will you have coffee with us, Elmer?
Oh, you bet I will.
Anything in it?
No, nothing in mine.
Charles always takes his black two.
Laura does make the best coffee.
Well then, here's to Laura's coffee.
There was something about his smile when he said it.
That smile.
And then all of a sudden I saw it.
I saw the whole terrible thing.
Don't, don't drink it, Charles.
Charles!
Well, well, well, old Charlie seems to have keeled over.
Wouldn't be surprised if that was thiocluride poison.
Charles, Charles.
The motive and the means.
And the motive's a real beaut this time, Laura,
because you had to kill him before he changed his will.
Neat, huh?
You killed him.
Sure, but that's not what the jury's going to say.
No!
And of course, I'll get the money anyway.
You couldn't very well collect it,
because they're going to hang you.
No!
Elmer's downstairs in the living room.
I'm in my study.
And once more I'm waiting for the police.
There's no escape for me, of course.
Elmer knows that.
But there's one little thing that he has forgotten,
the last play of the game.
For I just have drawn up a will of my own,
leaving my property and everything
that I inherit from Charles to Elm.
It is stated three days ago.
This statement I shall give into the safe keeping
of my personal maid, Fredonia Bell,
who, after all, has said and done, has been the only true friend
I've ever had.
I shall give it to her with instructions
for its eventual disposal, which I know
she will follow to the letter.
When that is done, I shall play the last card in the game.
I don't think Elmer will find it possible to taunt that card,
because you see, when the police come,
it is Elmer who will have to do the explaining, not I.
And he will have to explain to body, Charles and mine.
Charles and mine, unquote.
And as the world knows, Laura Morton
was found dead, dead by the same means which
caused her husband's death in that double tragedy two years
ago.
And now we have this document.
And the irony of the document, ladies and gentlemen,
the terrible irony is that it was delivered to the district
attorney's office by Fredonia Bell this evening at 8 o'clock,
two years later.
And why did the good Fredonia wait until tonight?
Because she was thus following explicitly the instructions
of her mistress, Laura Starling Morton,
who specified that the envelope be handed to the police
exactly 24 hours after the execution of Elmer Garner.
Good night.
["The Star-Spangled Banner"]
Suspense presented by Auto Light, tonight
starring Marlene Dietrich and featuring Hans Connery.
Well, Deborah, are you satisfied with my diction?
Completely, Mr. Wilcox.
I've decided it is what you say that matters, not how you say it.
Well, then let me say that Auto Light makes more than 400
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["The Star-Spangled Banner"]
Next Thursday for Suspense, Dick Powell
will be our star of the play is called Slow Burn.
And it is, as we say, a tale well calculated
to keep you in suspense.
That suspense play was produced and edited by William Spear
and directed by Norman MacDonald.
Music for Suspense is composed by Lucian Morrowek
and conducted by Lut Luskin.
Murder Strikes Three Times is an original play for radio
by John DeWitt.
Marlena Dietrich will soon be seen in the Warner Brothers
production, Stage Fright.
You can buy Auto Light regular or resistor spark plugs,
Auto Light staple batteries, Auto Light electrical parts
at your neighborhood Auto Light dealer.
Switch to Auto Light.
Good night.
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