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The Armed Forces Radio Service invites you to hear Fibber McGee and Molly in Backseat

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Driver, a tale well calculated to keep you in suspense.

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It can't happen to you. You read about stuff like that in the papers. Girls murdered, mutilated,

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drunks left dying in the gutter for the handful of chains they had in their pockets, lonesome

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old men tortured because some hoodlum gets the idea they're misers with a pot of gold

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hidden under the floorboards of the shack. Sure, you know it's real, but it can't happen

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to you. Oh, you get your fair share of trouble. I've been a professional man here in Los Angeles

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for 30 years. I've met up with bums and grifters and petty sharpers. They're around in any

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business. But the viciousness, the real deep down dirt, that's for somebody else. You do

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your work and you go home to your family. And for a real bang up evening to break the

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monotony, you take your wife out to a movie. That's what I did that Saturday night. We

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driven all the way in from the San Fernando Valley to Beverly Hills for a picture Ellie

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especially wanted to see. Wasn't that a good movie, Joe? Uh huh. Just the kind I like.

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Songs and dancing and girls in pretty clothes. I get so tired of cops and robbers. What's

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wrong with cops and robbers? Oh, you know what I mean. Murder movies, honestly. All the

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policemen stupid and all the crooks nearing out of the corners of their mouth. Yeah, the

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stuff those Hollywood boys dream of. Yeah. You'd think the streets were knee deep in

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blood and you couldn't hear yourself think for machine guns. Well, here we are honey.

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You get in first. Okay. All right, Ellie. Just a second. All right, Joe.

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Don't forget gas. I got plenty to take us out to the valley. I'll fill up with bills.

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Remember how that song goes Joe? What song? In the picture. You know, two on the moon.

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The one the boy sang to the girl. Oh, that one. Let's see. Oh heck, I don't know. Oh

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hell, we'll be hearing it again on the radio. How about turning it on? The radio? Why sure.

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Set it around 1100. We ought to get some news in a few minutes. I'd like to hear whether

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they caught that fellow. That awful mass murderer? Uh huh. They spotted him in LA this afternoon

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but he got away. I know. You told us at supper. Oh, it makes you shiver. Don't you worry.

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He won't get away with it. We left the lights of Beverly Hills behind and turned into Cold

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Water Canyon. It's as quick away as any to get us across the Hollywood Hills to the valley.

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It's dark and we came in quiet with mighty little traffic at night. I cut my lights full

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up and we swept up the side of the ridge. The news program came on but I didn't pay much

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attention. The fellow was talking about brush fires. They'd already put out the one near

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my place but they were still patrolling it. We were over the ridge and sliding down to

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the valley before the program got to the part I wanted to hear. There it is. Put it up higher,

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Ellie. Wife dot an entire family in Greenlee, New Hampshire. Today he was spotted 3000 miles

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from the scene of his crime. At 5.30 this afternoon a patrolman saw and definitely identified

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Matric in downtown Los Angeles. However, by darting through heavy traffic at the risk

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of his life, the killer was again able to make his escape. According to neighbors of

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the slaughtered family, Matric was first appeared in Greenlee about a year ago. From fingerprints

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in the Nolan home, Lewis Matric has been identified as Lloyd Matthews, ex-convict. He is wanted

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for questioning in the robbery and murder of a New York storekeeper a year ago, a crime

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that netted the killer less than $20. Matric or Matthews is 32 years old, height 5 feet

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9 inches, weight 155 pounds. He has blue eyes, light brown hair, nose slanted to the left.

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When seen this afternoon he was wearing a blue suit and gray pork pie hat. Awful, awful.

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Not pretty, no. And he's somewhere around LA this minute. Joe, you think it's right

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us leaving Annie and Bud all alone while he... No, Ellen. Annie's grown up and Bud's a smart

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youngster if I do say so myself. You can't wrap kids in cotton wool. I know. Oh, I'm

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silly I guess. Neighbors close all around. All they'd have to do is yell. But now what

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would make a young man do a dreadful thing like that? Could be a lot of things. Maybe

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he's got a screw loose. Maybe he went nuts over a girl. Maybe he gets a kick out of killing

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like some of them do. You know all the answers, don't you? Joe! Hey, what the... Keep going,

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keep going. I got a gun here and I'll use it. Tell him you... Ellie? Against the back

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of my neck. I can feel it. Cold. Well, are you gonna move? OK. OK, brother, you're the

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boss. Yeah, you said it, I'm boss. And remember it. Otherwise I'll blow a hole through your

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wife's head. I've had experience in these things. I drove that car like we were skirting

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the rim of the Grand Canyon. With nothing between us and the bottom but a mile of country

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air. This was it. The thing that happens to other people. To the ones that end up on slabs

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in the morgue. But not to me. Not to Ellie. The first car we'd seen since we left traffic

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swooped down behind us. It passed. But not before the headlights caught our passenger

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clean in my rearview mirror. He was hunched forward, sitting on the edge of the back seat

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so he could keep the gun rammed into the nape of Ellie's neck. He had light brown hair,

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pale eyes, a nose that slanted. His mouth twitched, jittery. As the car went by, his

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eyes caught mine in the mirror and flickered. Keep your eyes on the road. Sure, sure. Lose

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your hat? Right, boy. Like I said, you know all the answers. No, I didn't lose it. I stuffed

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it down a drain. Still wearing the blue suit, though. I figured it changed pretty quick

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now. Think yours will fit me? You can have the suit and the car, but just let us...

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Helen. But Joe, it's Mattrick. The missus is bright, too. He crawled in here while we

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were in the movie. Joe, you should have that car door fixed. You know better. Honey, I

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meant to. I was going to tend to it... Shut up! Let's see if he can both be bright enough

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to give you a trap shot. Turn left on Ventura. Take a slow lane. Don't try plain old tricks.

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I've been in this for it before. Okay by me. That's real sweet of you. Straight out to

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open country, Mac. Then I'll take a missus up on that offer of the suit and car. What happens

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to us? Why, you just walk home. What else? Lay it safe and you ain't got a thing to worry

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about. That was a laugh. That was. Nothing to worry about. That'd kill you. Once we got

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out into the open country, we didn't have a chance of walking away from the car. All

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a murderer can hope for is time. He doesn't leave witnesses around to get the law on his

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tail one second sooner than necessary. All I could do was stall and pray. Make what people

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gestures I could at Lady Luck. The thing that came into my mind was so risky it brought

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my hair up on end. But there was a chance, provided that trigger finger didn't start

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jerking. In the bright lights of the boulevard, I didn't think he'd notice. But a traffic

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officer would. I turned into Ventura, took the far lane, obedient as a whip pup. Must've

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made two or three miles before I saw what I was hoping for. What's that? Huh? The red

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light? Oh, why, an ambulance, I guess. We see a lot of them here. That ain't no ambulance.

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It's a motorcycle car. Joe, it's young Mike Kennedy. He patrolled this trip. Look, what

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are you up to? What are you trying to pull? Nothing. The kid's a friend of ours. Think

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you can get me away easy, huh? I warned you. I ain't got a loan you ask for. Listen, listen,

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will you? The kid lives near us. Practically grew up under our feet. All he wants is to

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pass the time of day or maybe send a message to our Annie. Here? Yeah. You start popping

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now and we'll all be dead. Keep your shirt on. I'll get rid of him. Okay. But it better

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be good. I pulled to the curb. Mike came alongside. He sat balancing the bike between his knees

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and the grin on his face was a mile wide. It had worked. At least we were still alive

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and Mike wasn't two feet away. Where did we go from here? I had to think, but my brain

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was wet wool. My tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth. Well, what do you know if it

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isn't Uncle Joe? Something funny, kid? After all the times you've read us the riot act

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about observing the letter of the law, brother, wait till I tell Annie. Mike Kennedy, what's

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the matter with you? I didn't notice anything wrong. Hi, Annie. Nothing much the matter.

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Just Uncle Joe here proceeding sedately out the Boulevard with his headlights up full.

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Headlights? Oh, by golly, that's right. I must have forgotten to dim them. You ought

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to forget these things. Someday a big bad cop might come along and haul you off to the

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stand. Is that Annie back there? No, no, no, no, it isn't. It's our new neighbor, Mike,

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Mr. Anderson. Oh, is that right? Glad to meet you, sir. Hello. I didn't know there were

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any vacancies on our way. Well, there weren't any until recently. Mr. Anderson has taken

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the Charles place. The Charles place? Are you kidding? Nope. Looks like things got too

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much for old man Charles at last. He's clearing out for good. Kind of sudden, wasn't it? I

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guess so. Oh, that's too bad for old man Charles, isn't it? Mighty nice for Mr. Anderson, though.

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Good places are hard to find these days. All right, Uncle Joe, I'll let you off this time.

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Give my love to Annie. Mike. What? Yes, sir? Nothing. Just come see us soon, boy. Always

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glad to have you. Thanks. I'll be around the next night off. Got a date with Annie. So

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that was that. Mike turned his bike and headed back down the boulevard. The chance had come

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and gone. But it felt to me like half my mind went off with the boy yelling at him. Must

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have been a half minute before I could pull myself together and ease back into traffic.

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Nobody said anything. I didn't dare to, neither did Ellie. I couldn't see her, but I could

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feel her holding herself stiff as a ramrod, scared even to turn her head. When two people

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have lived together as long as we had, each one knows what the other one is thinking.

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I went back to driving and praying. That and cutting my eyes up to the mirror, just in

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case there might be a white motorcycle eye following us. There wasn't, of course. Back

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in the back, I knew he was watching too. Those flickering eyes darting like lightning between

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us in the rear window. He was too busy checking to talk. Not that that helped much. Rage and

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fear were pouring out of him so thick you could have grabbed a hunk of the atmosphere in your

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hand. It was queer to drive along that crowded highway, traffic streaming both ways, lights

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from drugstores and cocktail joints and eating houses blazing to the sky. Know if I lifted

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a finger for help, I'd sign our death warrants. It had to be luck, all luck. There was still

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a chance I'd get it. The way I'd figured it, we'd started out with just about enough

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gas to get us back to Bill's station. When we hit that, the meter ought to show empty.

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The gas gauge was hidden from me by the rim of the steering wheel, but I was pretty sure

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I was right. I waited until I saw the red and green lights above Bill's pumps a block

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and a half away. And very slow and easy, I slumped over for a peek at the gauge. I leaned

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just too far.

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Sit up.

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Huh? Oh, sure.

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What now? Who were you looking at?

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I was just easing the crick out of my neck.

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Yes, you was. He was looking at the dash. He was... Oh, so that's it, huh? Fresh out

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of gas.

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Look, I just remembered.

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Don't give me that. You know it all along. From now on, you keep your hands on the wheel,

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but you leave me to the drive. Why, turn in that filling station. Get high test gas and

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fill her up.

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Hiya, Joe. Evening, Ellie.

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Oh, evening, sir.

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Hello, Bill.

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Bill.

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Up to the top?

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Yeah, Ethel.

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Ethel it is.

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Hi. I hear you've been in the pictures.

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Uh-huh.

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You people know everybody in the whole of that.

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We've lived here 30 years. From back when this was farmland. Of course, we know lots

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of people.

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I don't like it. Get the gas and get out.

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Hey, I was up to Miranda's for supper.

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Is that right?

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Boy, her chili gets better every time. Don't see how it can, but it does.

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Yeah, she's saving some for you. Said you'd be around after the show.

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Miranda. Oh my, I saw Miranda this afternoon and told her we'd be by for sure, Joe.

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Oh.

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Well, that'll be 350 on the nose.

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Three and 50. Thanks, Bill.

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Same to you.

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Oh, so a lot of problems.

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Nothing much.

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Come on. Come on. I gotta ask you everything twice.

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Miranda runs a drive-in up the road a ways. On show nights, we usually drop in for a carton

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of chili to take home.

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I just hope she won't call home when we don't show up and get Annie all worried.

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Wait a minute. Drive-in, you said?

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Yeah. And this Miranda could start checking on you.

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Why, I didn't mean it like that. It's just that I...

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They could call you and Annie and between the two of them, they'd have the cops on a

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lookout for you before midnight, huh?

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You're crazy.

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Yeah, like a fox. I kept ahead of the buttons all this time by taking chances. We'll just

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pick up that chili.

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You want me to go to Miranda's?

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Why not? Leave Annie get a beauty sleep. I can cover a lot of ground before tomorrow

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morning. I ain't eating so good lately. I could use the food. With you and the Mrs. to

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come on for me. What's to worry about?

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He was right about that. I went back to driving and pray. Miranda's place is one of those

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goldfish bowls, mostly glass with light pouring out across the space marked for outside service

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and music coming from the jukebox. She saw us pulling up, grabbed a quart carton off

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the back shelf and hustled to the door.

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Well, here you are, Ellie. I was just saying to Betsy, better fix up that chili, Betsy.

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It's about time Ellie and Joe were showing up. Figuring the distance from Beverly Hills.

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Who's that in the back seat? Don't seem to recollect your face, young man. Though anybody

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will tell you I never forget a face.

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This is Mr. Anderson, Miranda. He just came out here from the East.

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Is that a fact? Say, Joe, you plan to go straight up Ventura home?

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Why, sure.

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Don't you do it. Go the back way, even if it does take longer. Of course, it's brush

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fire between here and your place is out, but there's still 50, 60 men patrolling.

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What's that?

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Well, that ain't nothing to what's going on further out the valley. That new fire's clean

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out of control. Just a licking up hundreds acres. They've been sending truckloads of

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firefighters past here all evening and the road's blocked for miles.

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The road is blocked?

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Well, for miles, they tell me, and all them poor ranchers losing their homes. Being from

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the East, you wouldn't understand. But brush fires is awful things when you're about a

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half...

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Well, start moving. We'll take the back way to your house.

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To our house?

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What say? Oh, you staying with Ellie and Joe?

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Yeah, until the road is... until I can get into my own place.

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Well, what are we waiting for?

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Night, Miranda.

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Well, bye. Be sure you come see me, Mr. Anderson. I'll be looking for you.

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So there it was. We weren't going to the country. We weren't going to be left to rot at the

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foot of a cliff or buried deep in brush. No, we were going home. Home to the kids. And

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taking a murderer with us. I still couldn't see Ellie, but I could feel her tensing up,

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tight as a pulled drawstring.

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Mr. Matrick, you... you didn't mean what you said, did you, about coming home with us?

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You know a better place I can hide out until the road's open?

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But it wouldn't be safe. We've got neighbors close all around. If somebody sees you...

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Nobody will see me. Nobody better.

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Joe, couldn't we get around the fire?

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Yeah, that'd be better. We could try. There are other roads through the valley.

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Listen, Matrick, we'll nose around and find a way through.

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Cut it out!

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You heard the old biddy, hundreds acres burning, firefighters, cops? Get off the highway. We're

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going home.

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No! No, I won't have it! Joe, you stop the car right here!

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Shut up!

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You heard me, Joe! I won't have him in my house, not with Annie and Buzz!

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I said shut up!

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Oh, for Lord's sake, Ellie!

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It doesn't matter about us, but the kids, I won't let him touch his...

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One word or two!

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Joe, stop!

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Helen, hush!

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Oh, Joe!

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Don't say another thing. I'm sorry, honey, but Matrick's the boss. We've got to do like

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he says.

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Ah, that's telling her. Sure, do like I say, and everything will be rosy. You got no call

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to worry about the kids. I like kids, as long as nobody gives me the brush off. We'll wake

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them up soon as we get home, and you and this Annie can fix up a chili supper for us. We'll

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have us a picnic. Then, soon as the fire's out, we'll all take a trip to the country.

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Another picnic, huh?

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Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

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You keep going. As long as you're breathing, you keep going. Even when it looks like there's

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no way out, you hang on by your toenails. We poked up and down those black valley streets

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to twist and turn, and sometimes wind up in dead ends.

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Ellie stopped crying after a while. She slumped down with her head rolling on the seat back,

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limp as a rag doll, with the stuffing leaked out.

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It took a long time, but it had to come to an end. I saw the bulk of the house looming

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up. There was light sneaking around the edges of the blinds up in Annie's room. She wasn't

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asleep after all. She'd be sitting up in bed, maybe plastering red stuff on her fingers,

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dreaming about the date with Mike. Bud's room was dark. He'd be wrapped in covers like

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a cocoon and dreamy. Whatever boy's dream, I couldn't remember.

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I pulled up to the concrete walk. I'd poured with my own hands before there was any Annie

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or Bud to cut the lights. In a second or two, my eyes got used to the dark. I could make

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out the high hedge Ellie planted around the place and the roof rising up beyond it.

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Out, Mrs. Face the house.

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Now you, Mac. Slide out same side. Stand beside her.

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Walk to the door. Slow, no funny business. Right behind you.

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Bye.

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Look out, Joe!

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Hold him, boys!

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It's okay, Mike. I got him.

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You all right, Uncle Joe? And Ellie?

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Ellie, Ellie, honey, are you all right?

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All right, indeed. Smack flat on my face on a concrete walk and you falling on me.

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Nothing wrong with her.

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That's my girl.

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Well, don't just stand there. Help me out. I've got to get in the house before the kids

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come busting out here. I won't have them mixed up in this thing.

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Well, how's he doing, boys? Got him through the gun hand on the right shoulder, see?

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Lucky shot, copper. More lucky than all the cold meat now.

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Maybe.

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Mattrick, isn't it, Uncle Joe?

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That's him. Miranda described him to you?

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The old girl doesn't miss a trick. She even knew you were taking the back way home.

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You left a clear trail, Uncle Joe. Slick work.

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I had to get him out of the car before the fireworks started.

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Ellie didn't stand a chance. She helped, though. Ellie catches on quick.

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I'll bet she does.

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A mean guy like Mattrick. Make him think you don't want to do something

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and he'll break his neck doing it.

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I let on I was trying to run out of gas. That got us to bilge.

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Then we both made it and made it out. There was no sense going to Miranda's,

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so we get bullied into going to Miranda's.

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If it was a thousand to one, she'd run off at the mouth about the brush fires

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and scare him into hiding out.

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After that, all Ellie had to do was turn on the hysterics.

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He was dead set on coming here.

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You're a bright boy.

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Bright enough. You did all right, too, Mike.

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I was watching the rear view mirror all the time you were trailing us,

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but you never showed.

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You knew I was there, though. When one officer starts double talking

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another officer, he wants to know why.

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Officer? Double talk?

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He never said a thing to him, except I'd bought some place out here.

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The child's place.

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Poor old man Charles in a tough spot and moving out for good.

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What's wrong with us?

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Matric, didn't anybody ever tell you it wasn't smart to take up with strangers?

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Maybe I'd better introduce myself.

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The name's Charles.

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Joe Charles.

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Detective.

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Homicide.

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Tonight I was off duty and just taking my wife to a movie.

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The suspense comes to you through the worldwide facilities of the United States Armed Forces Radio Service,

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the voice of information and education.