WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:08.000 Auto Light and its 96,000 dealers present Suspense. 00:08.000 --> 00:18.040 Tonight, Auto Light brings you Mr. Charles Boyer in the case of Henri Vibard, a suspense 00:18.040 --> 00:22.000 play produced and edited by William Spear. 00:22.000 --> 00:28.920 Oh, Mr. Wilcox, Filbert's taking me to the junior prom tonight. 00:28.920 --> 00:29.920 Isn't that exciting? 00:29.920 --> 00:32.480 I adore my tempestuous teenage neighbor. 00:32.480 --> 00:37.000 It's almost as exciting as that exemplary exponent of extra starting dependability, 00:37.000 --> 00:40.960 the Auto Light Stay Full Battery, the battery that needs water only three times a year in 00:40.960 --> 00:41.960 normal car use. 00:41.960 --> 00:44.720 Gee whiz, Mr. Wilcox, I want to talk about the dance. 00:44.720 --> 00:49.220 So do I, Dora, the dance of delight you devotees of driving will do when you find out how much 00:49.220 --> 00:51.520 more you get with an Auto Light Stay Full Battery. 00:51.520 --> 00:56.680 You see, tests show this famous battery gives 70% longer average life than batteries without 00:56.680 --> 01:01.640 Stay Full features, and those tests were based on SAE life cycle standards. 01:01.640 --> 01:03.640 Filbert's kept every dance in reserve. 01:03.640 --> 01:04.640 Reserve? 01:04.640 --> 01:08.120 That reminds me, Dora, the Auto Light Stay Full Battery has three times as much liquid 01:08.120 --> 01:11.240 reserve as batteries without the Stay Full features. 01:11.240 --> 01:14.280 That's why it needs water only three times a year in normal car use. 01:14.280 --> 01:15.840 Mr. Wilcox, you ought to see. 01:15.840 --> 01:19.240 So friends, see your neighborhood Auto Light Battery dealer tomorrow. 01:19.240 --> 01:22.280 Remember, you're always right with Auto Light. 01:22.280 --> 01:28.000 And now with the case of Henri Vibar and the performance of Charles Boyer, Auto Light hopes 01:28.000 --> 01:41.320 once again to keep you in suspense. 01:41.320 --> 01:48.520 I watched the taxi cab enter the gate and roll slowly up the driveway toward the entrance. 01:48.520 --> 01:54.080 Gatstone Memorial Rest Home is a big, busy place, dozens of cars come and go every day, 01:54.080 --> 01:59.080 and yet somehow this cab caught my attention and held it. 01:59.080 --> 02:01.400 It seemed to fascinate me. 02:01.400 --> 02:07.160 As it approached, yes, I got a definite feeling of menace from it. 02:07.160 --> 02:12.640 These warnings, these premonitions, they come to me whenever I'm in danger. 02:12.640 --> 02:13.640 Danger? 02:13.640 --> 02:14.640 What danger? 02:14.640 --> 02:22.800 The cab stopped just below my window and a man got out, Sergeant Jack Freeman of the 02:22.800 --> 02:25.520 London Bureau of Missing Persons. 02:25.520 --> 02:31.000 He came here often checking on new arrivals, nothing to fear from Freeman. 02:31.000 --> 02:34.060 He's just a big, good-natured moron. 02:34.060 --> 02:38.840 But now he was assisting a woman from the cab. 02:38.840 --> 02:40.280 I sighted a woman. 02:40.280 --> 02:42.280 Something snapped inside my head. 02:42.280 --> 02:48.000 The woman was Mary, my wife. 02:48.000 --> 02:53.600 Mary, the sudden sight of her made me furious. 02:53.600 --> 02:56.920 I would have enjoyed striking her dead then and there. 02:56.920 --> 02:59.920 But how was it possible? 02:59.920 --> 03:04.000 Mary, free, walking around like a decent woman? 03:04.000 --> 03:08.480 She'd been convicted of murder, sentenced to life in prison. 03:08.480 --> 03:12.600 Now, now, now, was it possible she was out on parole? 03:12.600 --> 03:13.600 No. 03:13.600 --> 03:15.600 English justice is harsh with killers. 03:15.600 --> 03:20.840 And Mary's crime had been called blood and murder. 03:20.840 --> 03:22.840 Suddenly I understood. 03:22.840 --> 03:27.040 Mary was being brought here to Gladstone Rice Home to identify me. 03:27.040 --> 03:29.040 Such simple people. 03:29.040 --> 03:31.040 Trap and revivre. 03:31.040 --> 03:33.040 It was amusing. 03:33.040 --> 03:38.520 I might have a few unpleasant moments, but that would be all. 03:38.520 --> 03:39.520 I would make a fool of her. 03:39.520 --> 03:42.520 I'd always made a fool of her. 03:42.520 --> 03:49.200 Mary meant by the window for some time, planning just what to say and how to act. 03:49.200 --> 03:52.160 After a while, there was a knock on the door. 03:52.160 --> 03:55.960 Oh, this would be Dr. Sampson, the chap who runs this place. 03:55.960 --> 03:56.960 Nice fellow, Sampson. 03:56.960 --> 03:58.920 Not too smart, but... 03:58.920 --> 03:59.920 Come in. 03:59.920 --> 04:00.920 Good afternoon, Mr. Leclerc. 04:00.920 --> 04:02.920 Oh, Dr. Sampson, come in. 04:02.920 --> 04:06.720 You have a visitor, Sergeant Freeman again. 04:06.720 --> 04:08.720 He'd like another chat with you in my office. 04:08.720 --> 04:10.720 Oh, Freeman, the bloodhound. 04:10.720 --> 04:14.520 Tell me truly, Doctor, does he ever find any of the people he looks for? 04:14.520 --> 04:16.080 Oh, indeed he does. 04:16.080 --> 04:17.080 Hundreds of them every year. 04:17.080 --> 04:20.600 Well, he has failed utterly in my case. 04:20.600 --> 04:24.080 With you, Monsieur, he has a good excuse. 04:24.080 --> 04:27.440 Most victims of amnesia have people searching for them. 04:27.440 --> 04:30.000 Friends or relations who can identify them. 04:30.000 --> 04:33.920 I'm beginning to think you'll just have to recover your own memory. 04:33.920 --> 04:40.720 To recover my memory, I wish I could forget. 04:40.720 --> 04:46.640 A few minutes later, I was sitting across the desk from Sergeant Freeman. 04:46.640 --> 04:50.960 I had the upper hand, of course, because I knew what was coming. 04:50.960 --> 04:57.920 As usual, he was humble, apologetic, and yet, for the first time since I'd known him, 04:57.920 --> 05:03.080 I got a definite feeling that he was deliberately trying to trap me. 05:03.080 --> 05:04.720 That's me in some trifling mistake. 05:04.720 --> 05:07.760 Yes, I have an instinct that warns me. 05:07.760 --> 05:10.080 Just a few more questions, Monsieur Leclerc. 05:10.080 --> 05:12.720 Well, as many as you like, Sergeant. 05:12.720 --> 05:13.720 You're looking very well. 05:13.720 --> 05:15.440 Oh, thank you, sir. 05:15.440 --> 05:17.800 Now think hard, sir. 05:17.800 --> 05:19.800 Does the name Vibar mean anything to you? 05:19.800 --> 05:20.800 Or Vibar? 05:20.800 --> 05:21.800 Vibar? 05:21.800 --> 05:22.800 Vibar. 05:22.800 --> 05:26.480 No, no, I can't say it does. 05:26.480 --> 05:29.760 How about Falmouth? 05:29.760 --> 05:32.520 Ever spend a summer at Falmouth down in Cornwall? 05:32.520 --> 05:34.520 Never heard of the place, Sergeant. 05:34.520 --> 05:35.520 Very well. 05:35.520 --> 05:41.560 How about the name Willard, an American, retired sea captain, sickly old fellow in a wheelchair. 05:41.560 --> 05:43.720 Oh, tell me more about him, Sergeant. 05:43.720 --> 05:48.360 Well, sir, unless we're wrong again, you married his daughter. 05:48.360 --> 05:50.840 Oh, a wife and a father-in-law. 05:50.840 --> 05:53.920 You're very generous, Sergeant. 05:53.920 --> 05:55.480 Did you bring them along? 05:55.480 --> 05:56.480 Captain Willard was an invalid. 05:56.480 --> 05:57.480 He committed suicide. 05:57.480 --> 05:59.640 He felt he stood in the way of his daughter's happiness. 05:59.640 --> 06:05.720 Left a bit of money, though, about 10,000 pounds. 06:05.720 --> 06:08.840 I could hardly keep from laughing at Freeman. 06:08.840 --> 06:14.520 He went on telling how Mary and her father came to England on a visit, how I met her 06:14.520 --> 06:18.880 at Falmouth, how her father objected to our romance. 06:18.880 --> 06:25.040 Freeman had most of the facts straight, except that Captain Willard did not commit suicide. 06:25.040 --> 06:28.920 No, I arranged that little matter. 06:28.920 --> 06:30.880 It was quite easy. 06:30.880 --> 06:34.600 He suffered from a bad heart condition, took strenthening for it. 06:34.600 --> 06:37.480 So I managed to contrive an overdose for him. 06:37.480 --> 06:39.160 I put it in his pot of tea. 06:39.160 --> 06:43.800 It was a bitter tea, I imagine, but then he liked it strong. 06:43.800 --> 06:48.360 When Mary and I returned from the beach, he was dead. 06:48.360 --> 06:53.120 But he didn't leave 10,000 pounds, more like 5,000. 06:53.120 --> 06:55.280 Then went on with his stories. 06:55.280 --> 07:00.280 Unless I'm completely wrong, you and Mary Willard were married, settled up Captain Willard's 07:00.280 --> 07:04.600 estate, which is practically all cash, then went up to London to live. 07:04.600 --> 07:09.480 Now, Monsieur Leclerc, does none of that strike a familiar note? 07:09.480 --> 07:11.680 Well, you seem to think it should. 07:11.680 --> 07:13.680 Why, Sergeant Freeman? 07:13.680 --> 07:18.240 Because you've been identified from those pictures we took of you when you first came 07:18.240 --> 07:19.240 here. 07:19.240 --> 07:20.240 Really? 07:20.240 --> 07:21.240 Who? 07:21.240 --> 07:22.240 Oh, the woman, of course. 07:22.240 --> 07:23.720 She says you are her husband. 07:23.720 --> 07:26.520 Well, she probably discovered that I have money and... 07:26.520 --> 07:27.520 How? 07:27.520 --> 07:28.520 How could she possibly know that? 07:28.520 --> 07:30.520 Well, you could have told her, Sergeant Freeman. 07:30.520 --> 07:31.520 Innocently, of course. 07:31.520 --> 07:32.520 It's no secret. 07:32.520 --> 07:38.200 Oh, I don't mind, but it makes me a perfect target for designing women. 07:38.200 --> 07:41.200 One moment, Monsieur Leclerc. 07:41.200 --> 07:43.640 Let's talk about your money for a while. 07:43.640 --> 07:47.280 Doesn't it strike you as strange that a man could walk into this rest home, as you did 07:47.280 --> 07:51.160 three years ago, carrying $200,000 in American money? 07:51.160 --> 07:53.280 Why, of course, it's strange. 07:53.280 --> 07:54.280 Suppose. 07:54.280 --> 07:55.640 Suppose you had committed a crime. 07:55.640 --> 07:58.560 Wouldn't it have been a perfect way to elude the police? 07:58.560 --> 08:02.920 Yes, but if I were a criminal, you would have my fingerprints. 08:02.920 --> 08:04.680 You said so yourself three years ago. 08:04.680 --> 08:05.680 Remember? 08:05.680 --> 08:07.400 You came here carrying nothing but money. 08:07.400 --> 08:10.320 No extra clothing, no papers, nothing by which you could be identified. 08:10.320 --> 08:13.800 Now, Sergeant, what sort of crime are we discussing? 08:13.800 --> 08:14.800 Murder? 08:14.800 --> 08:18.000 It would have to be murder. 08:18.000 --> 08:19.600 You detectives. 08:19.600 --> 08:20.600 And who did I kill? 08:20.600 --> 08:23.040 Well, to be honest about it, we don't know. 08:23.040 --> 08:25.160 Oh, just anyone. 08:25.160 --> 08:27.720 To be this woman's husband, I must have murdered somebody. 08:27.720 --> 08:30.440 Well, that makes her very attractive, I'm sure. 08:30.440 --> 08:32.540 Tell me, did she help me with a job? 08:32.540 --> 08:35.360 She was tried for the murder, convicted and sentenced to spend the rest of her life in 08:35.360 --> 08:36.360 prison. 08:36.360 --> 08:40.120 Would you care to hear about it? 08:40.120 --> 08:44.800 Not particularly, but it's part of your job, and we've rather taken over Dr. Sampson's 08:44.800 --> 08:45.800 office. 08:45.800 --> 08:47.440 Oh, that's quite all right. 08:47.440 --> 08:50.720 I find this very interesting. 08:50.720 --> 08:57.840 Well, it's not interesting to me, because Freeman had the story all wrong. 08:57.840 --> 09:02.760 Just knew Mary's side of it, and there was so much she didn't know. 09:02.760 --> 09:09.200 We buried the old man, got married, collected the old man's insurance, and went up to London 09:09.200 --> 09:10.200 to live. 09:10.200 --> 09:14.320 It was very nice for a few months, but the money didn't last long. 09:14.320 --> 09:16.320 Very soon I was broke. 09:16.320 --> 09:22.040 Nasty feeling, being broke, makes me nervous, uncertain of myself. 09:22.040 --> 09:27.960 Fortunately, just as things were getting really bad, I met an American friend, a chap I had 09:27.960 --> 09:31.960 met in New York a few years before, named Nate Blackburn. 09:31.960 --> 09:36.920 He had a lot of American bonds, hot bonds, he called them, but he didn't know how to 09:36.920 --> 09:37.920 dispose of them. 09:37.920 --> 09:42.960 It was a simple matter for me, with my connections on the continent. 09:42.960 --> 09:47.600 Blackburn stipulated one thing, he wanted to be paid in American dollars. 09:47.600 --> 09:53.560 That delayed matters for a few days, and finally, when I received the money, I decided not to 09:53.560 --> 09:55.240 share it with Blackburn. 09:55.240 --> 10:00.320 So, instead of keeping my appointment with him, I went to my hotel, sent Mary out on 10:00.320 --> 10:05.120 a fool's errand, and packed my grapes for a quick disappearance. 10:05.120 --> 10:07.720 I'm very clever at quick disappearances. 10:07.720 --> 10:13.200 I was all packed, ready to leave, when there was a knock on the door. 10:13.200 --> 10:14.200 That startled me. 10:14.200 --> 10:19.880 Did Blackburn didn't know where I was living, and Mary couldn't get home for an hour. 10:19.880 --> 10:22.880 Who could it be? 10:22.880 --> 10:23.880 Again the knock. 10:23.880 --> 10:26.600 My nerves steady down. 10:26.600 --> 10:29.120 They never fail me in a tight spot. 10:29.120 --> 10:30.920 Hello, what is it? 10:30.920 --> 10:32.920 Sergeant Randall, Scotland Yard. 10:32.920 --> 10:35.960 Well, what do you want? 10:35.960 --> 10:38.360 Some information, that's all, sir. 10:38.360 --> 10:41.920 Did you attend the palladium last night with a man named Nate Blackburn? 10:41.920 --> 10:44.400 Well, yes, yes, I did. 10:44.400 --> 10:45.600 What about it? 10:45.600 --> 10:47.960 We're trying to find Mr. Blackburn. 10:47.960 --> 10:48.960 Do you have his address? 10:48.960 --> 10:50.720 No, no, look here, I'm trying to catch a train. 10:50.720 --> 10:55.240 I know very little about Nate Blackburn, except that he is a thoroughly respectable businessman. 10:55.240 --> 10:56.880 You've been misled, Mr. Vybar. 10:56.880 --> 10:59.120 Nate Blackburn's a bad one. 10:59.120 --> 11:02.080 Tell me, did he talk to you about bonds? 11:02.080 --> 11:03.120 Bonds? 11:03.120 --> 11:04.120 What sort of bonds? 11:04.120 --> 11:06.080 Stolen bonds, Mr. Vybar. 11:06.080 --> 11:09.960 They're part of an American post office robbery during which two policemen were killed. 11:09.960 --> 11:13.000 Only today we traced the bonds to Nate Blackburn. 11:13.000 --> 11:14.000 But he seems to have disappeared. 11:14.000 --> 11:15.000 No, no, this is too silly. 11:15.000 --> 11:16.000 Please, clear out. 11:16.000 --> 11:17.000 See me some other day. 11:17.000 --> 11:18.960 Oh, too bad, sir, I can't. 11:18.960 --> 11:20.640 We must get Nate Blackburn's address. 11:20.640 --> 11:22.440 Suppose I say I don't know it. 11:22.440 --> 11:25.200 I can't accept that, Mr. Vybar. 11:25.200 --> 11:28.040 Perhaps you better come along with me to the yard. 11:28.040 --> 11:29.520 If you can convince Captain Nichols... 11:29.520 --> 11:31.640 No, no, one moment, please. 11:31.640 --> 11:34.240 Blackburn did give me his address. 11:34.240 --> 11:38.040 Well, if I remember it and give it to you, will you go away and stop bothering me? 11:38.040 --> 11:40.640 Mr. Vybar, I ask you a simple question. 11:40.640 --> 11:42.360 All I want is an honest answer. 11:42.360 --> 11:44.880 All right, I'll give it to you. 11:44.880 --> 11:48.240 Blackburn lives at the Afton Hotel, Suite 618. 11:48.240 --> 11:50.880 You dirty, rotten, scurvy rat. 11:50.880 --> 11:52.640 No, no, no, no, I mean it. 11:52.640 --> 11:53.880 He's probably there right now. 11:53.880 --> 11:54.880 Here, I'll get him on the telephone. 11:54.880 --> 11:55.880 Never mind the phone. 11:55.880 --> 11:58.440 Of course he's there. 11:58.440 --> 12:00.400 Waiting for you to show up with our money. 12:00.400 --> 12:01.400 Where is it? 12:01.400 --> 12:02.800 I can't remember your English accent. 12:02.800 --> 12:04.800 Come up with that, Owen, quick. 12:04.800 --> 12:06.200 Well, I don't have it. 12:06.200 --> 12:07.200 I put the money in the mail. 12:07.200 --> 12:08.800 I've been tailing you all day. 12:08.800 --> 12:11.560 I saw you sell the stuff an hour ago. 12:11.560 --> 12:14.160 Come on, Vybar, I want the money. 12:14.160 --> 12:15.840 That gun doesn't frighten me. 12:15.840 --> 12:17.120 You wouldn't dare kill me. 12:17.120 --> 12:19.480 No, but I can put a couple of slugs in your legs. 12:19.480 --> 12:20.480 How about that? 12:20.480 --> 12:21.480 Want to be a cripple the rest of your life? 12:21.480 --> 12:22.480 No, no, no, wait. 12:22.480 --> 12:23.480 Wait. 12:23.480 --> 12:29.120 I intended to deliver the money to Nate personally, but since he doesn't trust me... 12:29.120 --> 12:30.120 Now, please. 12:30.120 --> 12:31.480 Put that gun away. 12:31.480 --> 12:32.480 There, that's better. 12:32.480 --> 12:34.480 I have an aversion to fire. 12:34.480 --> 12:35.480 Where's the money? 12:35.480 --> 12:37.480 There, in that grave on the table. 12:37.480 --> 12:38.480 Huh? 12:38.480 --> 12:39.480 The small one. 12:39.480 --> 12:40.480 Oh. 12:40.480 --> 12:41.480 Huh. 12:41.480 --> 12:42.480 Good. 12:42.480 --> 12:43.480 Old bills. 12:43.480 --> 12:44.480 Not in sequence. 12:44.480 --> 12:45.480 Can't see any marks. 12:45.480 --> 12:46.480 Drop that money. 12:46.480 --> 12:47.480 Huh? 12:47.480 --> 12:48.480 Hey, what's that thing, a gun? 12:48.480 --> 12:49.480 Put that money on the table. 12:49.480 --> 12:50.480 Let's see that gadget. 12:50.480 --> 12:51.480 Stand still, don't move. 12:51.480 --> 12:52.480 Don't tell me it shoots real bullets. 12:52.480 --> 12:53.480 Pops, stay where you are. 12:53.480 --> 12:54.480 Stay away from me. 12:54.480 --> 12:55.480 Give me that thing. 12:55.480 --> 12:56.480 Give me that thing. 12:56.480 --> 12:57.480 Give me that thing. 12:57.480 --> 12:58.480 Give me that thing. 12:58.480 --> 12:59.480 Give me that thing. 12:59.480 --> 13:00.480 Give me that thing. 13:00.480 --> 13:01.480 Stop, I said. 13:01.480 --> 13:02.480 I'll shoot. 13:02.480 --> 13:03.480 Come on, hand it over. 13:03.480 --> 13:04.480 No, no. 13:04.480 --> 13:05.480 You jerk. 13:05.480 --> 13:06.480 You silly jerk. 13:06.480 --> 13:24.280 He fell dead right at my feet. 13:24.280 --> 13:28.320 Auto Light is bringing you Charles Boyer in the case of Henri Vibard. 13:28.320 --> 13:34.760 Tonight's production in radio's outstanding theater of thrills, Suspense. 13:34.760 --> 13:41.160 Hey, Dora, what's the matter? 13:41.160 --> 13:42.160 You look blue. 13:42.160 --> 13:43.160 Filbert just called. 13:43.160 --> 13:47.880 His car wouldn't start because the battery's dry and now he can't go to the dance. 13:47.880 --> 13:49.400 Dry your eyes, my pretty neighbor. 13:49.400 --> 13:50.960 I'll lend Filbert my car. 13:50.960 --> 13:52.960 Oh, gee, thanks, Mr. Wilcox. 13:52.960 --> 13:53.960 You're wonderful. 13:53.960 --> 13:56.640 Oh, not half as wonderful as the auto light stay full battery. 13:56.640 --> 13:59.800 The battery that needs water only three times a year in normal car use. 13:59.800 --> 14:01.720 If Filbert knew that, he wouldn't be stuck. 14:01.720 --> 14:03.720 Oh, now, don't be hard on poor Filbert. 14:03.720 --> 14:07.920 He just hasn't heard that the auto light stay full battery has a fiberglass retaining mat 14:07.920 --> 14:12.160 protecting every positive plate to keep the power producing material in place for longer 14:12.160 --> 14:13.160 battery life. 14:13.160 --> 14:18.080 Why, in recent tests based on SAE life cycle standards, auto light stay full batteries 14:18.080 --> 14:22.640 gave 70% longer average life than batteries without stay full features. 14:22.640 --> 14:23.920 I can hardly wait to get started. 14:23.920 --> 14:27.880 Well, you don't have to wait to get started with an auto light stay full battery. 14:27.880 --> 14:32.680 It's a demon for starting stamina and needs water only three times a year in normal car 14:32.680 --> 14:33.680 use. 14:33.680 --> 14:35.200 I'll tell Filbert to remember. 14:35.200 --> 14:38.240 You're always right with auto light. 14:38.240 --> 14:44.120 And now auto light brings back to our Hollywood soundstage our star, Charles Boyer in the 14:44.120 --> 14:49.400 case of Henri Vibar, a tale well calculated to keep you in suspense. 14:49.400 --> 15:00.600 It's a terrible thing to kill a man like that, to see him go limp and pitch forward on his 15:00.600 --> 15:01.600 pace. 15:01.600 --> 15:03.640 Just the memory of it made me sick. 15:03.640 --> 15:12.320 I must have betrayed my feelings because Sergeant Freeman stopped whatever he was saying. 15:12.320 --> 15:13.320 Anything wrong, sir? 15:13.320 --> 15:15.920 Oh, pardon me, Sergeant Freeman. 15:15.920 --> 15:19.120 My mind strayed for a moment from what you were saying. 15:19.120 --> 15:20.840 But you look ill, Monsieur. 15:20.840 --> 15:21.840 What? 15:21.840 --> 15:22.840 Are you sure you feel all right? 15:22.840 --> 15:25.760 I'm quite all right, Dr. Sampson. 15:25.760 --> 15:28.040 Sergeant Freeman, please continue with your story. 15:28.040 --> 15:29.400 I found it quite interesting. 15:29.400 --> 15:31.000 Oh, thank you, sir. 15:31.000 --> 15:36.280 Well, when Madame Vibar returned, her husband had a fantastic story to tell her. 15:36.280 --> 15:43.240 Only a woman in love could have believed that. 15:43.240 --> 15:44.240 Fantastic tale. 15:44.240 --> 15:47.400 There you have an example of Sergeant Freeman's intelligence. 15:47.400 --> 15:48.400 Fantastic. 15:48.400 --> 15:49.400 It was a masterpiece. 15:49.400 --> 15:58.400 I think I told you how my mind works best in a crisis. 15:58.400 --> 16:04.560 Well, it worked now like a well-hauled machine. 16:04.560 --> 16:06.560 Had nothing to fear from the police. 16:06.560 --> 16:12.240 I could explain this dead man as a, well, a thief or a burglar. 16:12.240 --> 16:14.120 But what about Nate Blackburn? 16:14.120 --> 16:17.840 After this, he never stopped looking for me. 16:17.840 --> 16:19.440 Nate is a killer. 16:19.440 --> 16:21.480 Human life means nothing to him. 16:21.480 --> 16:24.320 No, no, I'd have to disappear. 16:24.320 --> 16:26.320 Make it absolutely convincing. 16:26.320 --> 16:29.360 Well, I could do just that. 16:29.360 --> 16:33.160 No one, not even my adoring wife, would ever hear of me again. 16:33.160 --> 16:43.200 I would dissolve into thin air and take $200,000 with me. 16:43.200 --> 16:46.520 The sight of the dead man sickened me. 16:46.520 --> 16:51.160 So I dragged him into the bedroom and closed the door. 16:51.160 --> 16:56.640 Then I sat down and planned out every detail of the wonderful scheme. 16:56.640 --> 17:02.280 Of course, I wiped my fingerprints from the little gun I had used and left it on the table 17:02.280 --> 17:05.080 where my wife would be sure to handle it. 17:05.080 --> 17:09.640 Funny thing, Nate and I had talked about fingerprints. 17:09.640 --> 17:12.760 He had bragged that none of his men had ever been fingerprinted. 17:12.760 --> 17:14.240 Neither had I. 17:14.240 --> 17:16.480 Maybe that's what gave me the inspiration. 17:16.480 --> 17:20.600 By the time Mary came home, I had every detail of my plan. 17:20.600 --> 17:21.600 Hello, dear. 17:21.600 --> 17:23.600 Your man didn't show up, maybe. 17:23.600 --> 17:26.120 Henry, what's the matter? 17:26.120 --> 17:28.120 Mary, I'm in trouble. 17:28.120 --> 17:29.120 Trouble, dear? 17:29.120 --> 17:30.120 What? 17:30.120 --> 17:31.120 I... 17:31.120 --> 17:32.120 I killed a man. 17:32.120 --> 17:34.120 Henry, don't fool about such things. 17:34.120 --> 17:36.120 I'm not fooling, Mary. 17:36.120 --> 17:37.120 Look, here. 17:37.120 --> 17:38.120 No, don't go in. 17:38.120 --> 17:39.120 Henry, who is it? 17:39.120 --> 17:40.120 How did it happen? 17:40.120 --> 17:41.120 Good girl. 17:41.120 --> 17:42.120 I was afraid you'd be here. 17:42.120 --> 17:43.120 I was afraid you'd be here. 17:43.120 --> 17:48.120 Never mind me. 17:48.120 --> 17:49.120 What about you? 17:49.120 --> 17:50.120 Well, I'm in for it, I guess. 17:50.120 --> 17:51.120 No, it couldn't have been your fault. 17:51.120 --> 17:52.120 You wouldn't hurt anyone, please, Henry. 17:52.120 --> 17:53.120 How did it happen? 17:53.120 --> 17:54.120 Well, this man in there, he gave me some bonds. 17:54.120 --> 17:55.120 Asked me to sell them for him. 17:55.120 --> 17:56.120 I lost them. 17:56.120 --> 17:57.120 Don't ask me how. 17:57.120 --> 17:58.120 Some thief must have picked my pocket. 17:58.120 --> 17:59.120 Anyway, this man came up here today and demanded the bonds or the money from them. 17:59.120 --> 18:00.120 Darling. 18:00.120 --> 18:01.120 I tried to explain, to reason with him, but he wouldn't listen. 18:01.120 --> 18:02.120 He got rattled. 18:02.120 --> 18:03.120 He was in a hurry. 18:03.120 --> 18:04.120 He was in a hurry. 18:04.120 --> 18:05.120 He was in a hurry. 18:05.120 --> 18:06.120 He was in a hurry. 18:06.120 --> 18:07.120 He was in a hurry. 18:07.120 --> 18:08.120 He was in a hurry. 18:08.120 --> 18:09.120 He was in a hurry. 18:09.120 --> 18:10.120 He was in a hurry. 18:10.120 --> 18:12.980 I tried to explain, to reason with him, but he wouldn't listen. 18:12.980 --> 18:14.080 He got rattled. 18:14.080 --> 18:17.340 And I, well, I managed to get that little gun of yours. 18:17.340 --> 18:19.120 We struggled for it. 18:19.120 --> 18:21.640 It went off and... 18:21.640 --> 18:22.640 No. 18:22.640 --> 18:23.640 But it was self-defense. 18:23.640 --> 18:25.880 Oh, what English jury would believe that? 18:25.880 --> 18:28.200 The man did give me the bonds for witnesses. 18:28.200 --> 18:31.980 Who would believe I didn't sell them and keep the money and then kill that man to keep 18:31.980 --> 18:32.980 him from talking? 18:32.980 --> 18:34.140 We've got to be practical, Mary. 18:34.140 --> 18:35.880 Did you call the police? 18:35.880 --> 18:36.880 No. 18:36.880 --> 18:37.880 No. 18:37.880 --> 18:38.880 I waited for you. 18:38.880 --> 18:39.880 Why, Henry? 18:39.880 --> 18:45.500 Because there is a possible way out if you'll stand by me. 18:45.500 --> 18:46.960 Stand by you? 18:46.960 --> 18:49.460 What? I'll do anything you say. 18:49.460 --> 18:52.800 Mary, it will take nerve if you weaken. 18:52.800 --> 18:56.340 Henry, you're my husband. I love you. 18:56.340 --> 18:59.140 Tell me what to do, and I'll do it. 18:59.140 --> 19:08.680 If all life's problems were as simple as women, 19:08.680 --> 19:10.680 I told her my plan. 19:10.680 --> 19:14.060 The dead man looked like me in a general way. 19:14.060 --> 19:16.940 My size, black hair, eyeglasses. 19:16.940 --> 19:21.360 And after he dropped 20 floors to the street, he wouldn't have any features. 19:21.360 --> 19:25.200 Mary would simply hurry downstairs, perhaps a bit hysterical, 19:25.200 --> 19:27.740 which would be difficult in the circumstances, 19:27.740 --> 19:32.780 identify my broken body, and allow herself to be consoled. 19:32.780 --> 19:36.740 Could be suicide or an accident, whichever suited her. 19:36.740 --> 19:38.740 Unless she forgot. 19:38.740 --> 19:41.540 She forgot about the bullet in the man's body. 19:41.540 --> 19:46.380 Yes, the bullet that would convict her of killing her own husband. 19:46.380 --> 19:55.380 My plan was a great inspiration, but it had one terrifying angle. 19:55.380 --> 20:02.760 To make identification complete, I had to change clothes with the dead man. 20:02.760 --> 20:08.780 That was a fearful ordeal, a nightmare, but it had to be done. 20:08.780 --> 20:12.780 It was almost too much for me, but I think I told you, 20:12.780 --> 20:16.240 I'm equal to anything if I put my mind to it. 20:16.240 --> 20:22.280 But I'll take to my grave the horrible memory of dragging that body 20:22.280 --> 20:25.660 to the bedroom window and pushing it through. 20:25.660 --> 20:34.660 I walked down the back stairs, 20 flights of them. 20:34.660 --> 20:37.660 I saw the crowd in the street around the body. 20:37.660 --> 20:39.660 I took a bus, the first one I saw. 20:39.660 --> 20:45.680 I changed to another and another, destroying everything that might identify me, 20:45.680 --> 20:48.680 but keeping a little bag filled with money. 20:48.680 --> 20:51.680 It's quite a coincidence, Mr. Leclerc. 20:51.680 --> 20:53.680 What? What? I didn't get that. 20:53.680 --> 20:56.680 I say it's quite a coincidence that you came to this rest home 20:56.680 --> 20:58.680 the day following the murder of Henri Vibard. 20:58.680 --> 21:01.700 Well, very well. Make the most of it. 21:01.700 --> 21:03.700 Dr. Sampson, do you consider that coincidence? 21:03.700 --> 21:05.700 I had to come here sometime. 21:05.700 --> 21:09.700 Yes, Sergeant Freeman, since he's here, you had to come sometime. 21:09.700 --> 21:11.700 Well, apparently you've brought this woman with you. 21:11.700 --> 21:14.700 Bring her in. Let's get through with this farce. 21:14.700 --> 21:17.700 Thank you, thank you. Perhaps that would be best. 21:17.700 --> 21:24.720 Madame Vibard, will you come in, please? 21:24.720 --> 21:30.720 A big moment, and I wasn't even excited. 21:30.720 --> 21:31.720 I'm like that. 21:31.720 --> 21:36.720 Little things may bother me, but big things, really important things, 21:36.720 --> 21:40.720 and my nerves are like steel. 21:40.720 --> 21:43.740 Mary walked into the room. 21:43.740 --> 21:46.740 I looked at her without a flicker of an eye. 21:46.740 --> 21:53.740 She was a changed girl now, so different from the girl I married. 21:53.740 --> 21:56.740 Prison does that, I suppose. 21:56.740 --> 21:59.740 She was looking at me. 21:59.740 --> 22:03.760 Our eyes met and held. 22:03.760 --> 22:08.760 For a moment, there seemed a shadow of doubt in her face. 22:08.760 --> 22:11.760 Then she took a step toward me. 22:11.760 --> 22:12.760 Hello, Henry. 22:12.760 --> 22:13.760 No, no, young woman, please. 22:13.760 --> 22:15.760 Don't try to involve me in your troubles. 22:15.760 --> 22:16.760 A friend of mine. 22:16.760 --> 22:18.760 Henry, it won't do. You can't get away with it. 22:18.760 --> 22:21.760 Now, Dr. Sampson, this woman is either crooked or crazy. 22:21.760 --> 22:23.760 Let's take this calmly. 22:23.760 --> 22:25.780 Madame Vibard, you're positive this man is your husband? 22:25.780 --> 22:28.780 Oh, yes. This is Henry Vibard. 22:28.780 --> 22:29.780 He pronounces it Henri. 22:29.780 --> 22:32.780 Never mind the pronunciation. Is he the man? 22:32.780 --> 22:33.780 Yes, sir. 22:33.780 --> 22:35.780 He's changed a little. 22:35.780 --> 22:37.780 It's only three years. 22:37.780 --> 22:39.780 He looks older. 22:39.780 --> 22:41.780 His hair has turned gray, and he isn't wearing his glasses, 22:41.780 --> 22:42.780 but he's the same age. 22:42.780 --> 22:43.780 Glasses? 22:43.780 --> 22:47.800 One moment, please. I never wore glasses in my life. 22:47.800 --> 22:50.800 My vision is perfect. 22:50.800 --> 22:53.800 Monsieur Leclerc, that is your name. 22:53.800 --> 22:57.800 Suppose you try to read this newspaper without glasses. 22:57.800 --> 22:58.800 Oh, no, no. 22:58.800 --> 23:02.800 Look, I'm in no mood to give demonstrations just to plead. 23:02.800 --> 23:04.800 There, you see? He doesn't dare. 23:04.800 --> 23:05.800 Make him try. He can't read a word. 23:05.800 --> 23:08.800 I tell you not a word. 23:08.800 --> 23:12.820 Monsieur Leclerc, it might be expedient. 23:12.820 --> 23:15.820 It would certainly settle the issue once and for all. 23:15.820 --> 23:19.820 Oh, very well, Doctor, since you suggest it. 23:19.820 --> 23:21.820 Give me the paper. 23:24.820 --> 23:28.840 I pretended to be nervous just to give them a thrill. 23:28.840 --> 23:32.840 Then I opened the paper to the want ads. 23:32.840 --> 23:34.840 Dread them all glibly. 23:34.840 --> 23:35.840 The small print. 23:35.840 --> 23:38.840 Glasses? I've got eyes like a hawk. 23:38.840 --> 23:42.840 Mary didn't know that because the summer I met her, 23:42.840 --> 23:46.860 I was avoiding the police, and part of my disguise included glasses 23:46.860 --> 23:49.860 and touching up my prematurely gray hair. 23:49.860 --> 23:51.860 I never told Mary. 23:51.860 --> 23:53.860 I didn't know how far I could trust her. 23:53.860 --> 23:56.860 When I finished reading the paper, 23:56.860 --> 23:58.860 Mary just stared at me, 23:58.860 --> 24:02.860 unable to believe the evidence of her own eyes. 24:02.860 --> 24:05.860 Silence for a moment, then... 24:05.860 --> 24:07.860 I'm sorry, sir. 24:07.860 --> 24:11.860 Perhaps these young women can think up some other difficult trick. 24:11.860 --> 24:12.860 She'd like me to perform. 24:12.860 --> 24:14.860 Trick? It was a trick. He can't read. 24:14.860 --> 24:16.860 Madame Rivard, we've had quite enough. 24:16.860 --> 24:18.860 No, this is my husband. He's fooled you. 24:18.860 --> 24:20.860 That's all that paper. It's a trick. 24:20.860 --> 24:23.860 Of course, a trick. I did it with mirrors. 24:23.860 --> 24:25.860 Young woman, you're not clever. 24:25.860 --> 24:28.860 You've got plenty of nerve, all right, but you're not clever. 24:28.860 --> 24:31.860 Why didn't you say I have a mole on my right shoulder, 24:31.860 --> 24:33.860 a small scar on my hip, and very flat feet? 24:33.860 --> 24:35.860 Almost anyone could have told you these things. 24:35.860 --> 24:37.860 I use the swimming pool every day. 24:37.860 --> 24:41.860 Now, Sergeant Freeman, I can't applaud you apart in this. 24:41.860 --> 24:44.860 For three years, I've done my best to help you, 24:44.860 --> 24:47.860 because I thought you were trying to help me regain my memory 24:47.860 --> 24:50.860 and take my right foot place in society. 24:50.860 --> 24:53.860 But I must tell you, sir, I no longer feel that way. 24:53.860 --> 24:56.860 Not after you try to connect me with this jailbird. 24:56.860 --> 25:01.860 Jailbird. That's right, Henry. 25:01.860 --> 25:03.860 I'm a jailbird, and I deserve to be. 25:03.860 --> 25:05.860 I helped you, and that was wrong. 25:05.860 --> 25:07.860 But don't think you're safe. 25:07.860 --> 25:10.860 I'll rot and die in prison, but you won't know about it. 25:10.860 --> 25:13.860 You'll be dead. For heaven's sake, take this woman away. 25:13.860 --> 25:15.860 Yes, Sergeant. Come along, Madam Lebar. 25:15.860 --> 25:17.860 No! Let me tell him something. 25:17.860 --> 25:20.860 Have you forgotten Nate Blackburn? Henry, well, he hasn't forgotten you. 25:20.860 --> 25:23.860 Blackburn. Blackburn came to me in prison, 25:23.860 --> 25:25.860 and I told him the whole thing. 25:25.860 --> 25:27.860 By tomorrow, he'll know right where to find you. 25:27.860 --> 25:29.860 He knows. Now. 25:29.860 --> 25:31.860 Where is he? 25:31.860 --> 25:36.860 There, in the doorway, stood Nate Blackburn. 25:36.860 --> 25:39.860 A gun in his hand. He was smiling. 25:39.860 --> 25:42.860 Dr. Sampson and Freeman started forward, 25:42.860 --> 25:45.860 but he waved them back with a gun. 25:45.860 --> 25:48.860 No one spoke as he walked across the room 25:48.860 --> 25:51.860 and stopped in front of me. 25:51.860 --> 25:52.860 Hello, Frenchy. 25:52.860 --> 25:55.860 Well, you had some mistake. 25:55.860 --> 25:57.860 Yeah, but you made it, Frenchy. 25:57.860 --> 26:00.860 I had a hunch you'd get together with your wife sooner or later. 26:00.860 --> 26:02.860 I spent a lot of time and money keeping an eye on her. 26:02.860 --> 26:04.860 Okay, my man, put away that gun. 26:04.860 --> 26:05.860 That sort of thing doesn't go in this country. 26:05.860 --> 26:06.860 You're right, Copper, I know. 26:06.860 --> 26:08.860 Only this is a special occasion. 26:08.860 --> 26:09.860 You won't get a mile away. 26:09.860 --> 26:10.860 I know that too. 26:10.860 --> 26:12.860 Blackburn, I'll give you the money. 26:12.860 --> 26:14.860 What money? 26:14.860 --> 26:15.860 Well, that bring back Jack Randall. 26:15.860 --> 26:17.860 Well, let's put this girl back in circulation. 26:17.860 --> 26:20.860 Listen to me. I can explain if you let me. 26:20.860 --> 26:22.860 It wasn't like you think at all. 26:22.860 --> 26:25.860 Nate, we used to be pals. Remember? 26:25.860 --> 26:28.860 New York, San Francisco, Paris. 26:28.860 --> 26:30.860 We were lots of fun. 26:30.860 --> 26:32.860 I bailed you out in Rio. 26:32.860 --> 26:33.860 I'll make good, Nate. 26:33.860 --> 26:35.860 I swear it will. Only... 26:35.860 --> 26:38.860 No, don't. Don't. 26:38.860 --> 26:40.860 I can square it. 26:44.860 --> 26:49.860 So, I lasted after all. 26:50.860 --> 26:54.860 You didn't think I'm good, did you, Doctor? 26:54.860 --> 26:56.860 You don't know me? 26:56.860 --> 27:03.860 Anytime I really try, I can... 27:03.860 --> 27:06.860 I can... 27:06.860 --> 27:09.860 Dr. Sampson, can he sign this confession? 27:09.860 --> 27:12.860 I doubt it, Sergeant. He's too badly off. 27:12.860 --> 27:14.860 Yes. Yes, I... 27:14.860 --> 27:16.860 I... 27:16.860 --> 27:18.860 I can... 27:18.860 --> 27:20.860 S... 27:22.860 --> 27:24.860 I didn't think he could. 27:24.860 --> 27:26.860 Is he gone? 27:26.860 --> 27:28.860 That's all. 27:28.860 --> 27:30.860 Strange fellow. 27:30.860 --> 27:33.860 Not at all the criminal type. 27:33.860 --> 27:36.860 What is the criminal type, Doctor? 27:36.860 --> 27:38.860 I've never found it. 27:38.860 --> 27:40.860 He's gone. 27:54.860 --> 27:57.860 Suspense. Presented by Auto Light. 27:57.860 --> 28:00.860 Tonight's star, Mr. Charles Boyer. 28:01.860 --> 28:05.860 Mr. Wilcox, why do you always say you're always right with Auto Light? 28:05.860 --> 28:11.860 It's true. Auto Light makes more than 400 products for cars, trucks, planes and boats in 28 plants coast to coast. 28:11.860 --> 28:17.860 These include complete electrical systems used as original equipment on many makes of America's finest cars. 28:17.860 --> 28:22.860 Generators, coils, distributors, voltage regulators, wire and cables, starting motors, electric windshield wipers. 28:22.860 --> 28:27.860 All engineered to fit together perfectly, work together perfectly because they're a perfect team. 28:27.860 --> 28:30.860 Don't accept electrical parts supposed to be as good. 28:30.860 --> 28:37.860 Ask for and insist on Auto Light, original factory parts at your neighborhood service station, car dealer, garage or repair shop. 28:37.860 --> 28:40.860 Remember, you're always right with Auto Light. 28:46.860 --> 28:49.860 Next Thursday for Suspense, our star will be Mr. Broderick Crawford. 28:49.860 --> 28:52.860 The play is called Deadline and it is, as we say... 28:52.860 --> 28:54.860 A tale well calculated to keep you in... 28:54.860 --> 28:56.860 Suspense. 28:56.860 --> 29:00.860 Tonight's Suspense play was produced and edited by William Spear and directed by Norman MacDonald. 29:00.860 --> 29:04.860 Music for Suspense is composed by Lucian Mora-Wacken, conducted by Ludd Bluskin. 29:04.860 --> 29:08.860 The case of Henri Vibar is an original play written for radio by Bradbury Foote. 29:08.860 --> 29:12.860 Charles Boyer may soon be seen in the Douglas Cirque production, The First Legion. 29:15.860 --> 29:22.860 You can buy Auto Light staple batteries, Auto Light standard or resistor spark plugs, Auto Light electrical parts at your neighborhood Auto Light dealers. 29:22.860 --> 29:27.860 Switch to Auto Light. Good night. 29:27.860 --> 29:55.860 This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.