1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:12,300 Auto Light and its 96,000 dealers bring you Mr. Herbert Marshall in tonight's presentation 2 00:00:12,300 --> 00:00:17,440 of Suspense. 3 00:00:17,440 --> 00:00:26,200 Tonight, Auto Light presents an adaptation of Jeffrey Household's terrifying novel, Rogue 4 00:00:26,200 --> 00:00:32,720 Mail, starring Mr. Herbert Marshall. 5 00:00:32,720 --> 00:00:38,120 Oh, Harlow. 6 00:00:38,120 --> 00:00:42,520 Yes, Hap. 7 00:00:42,520 --> 00:00:43,520 What was that all about? 8 00:00:43,520 --> 00:00:46,720 Well, I was just demonstrating the Auto Light electrical system, Hap. 9 00:00:46,720 --> 00:00:47,720 You were? 10 00:00:47,720 --> 00:00:48,720 Sure. 11 00:00:48,720 --> 00:00:54,040 It goes to work every time you start your car, sound the horn, play the radio, or turn 12 00:00:54,040 --> 00:00:55,960 on your lights or heater. 13 00:00:55,960 --> 00:00:57,880 The electrical system does all that? 14 00:00:57,880 --> 00:00:58,880 Sure, Hap. 15 00:00:58,880 --> 00:01:03,160 The Auto Light coil, distributor, generator, and all the other units and thousands of component 16 00:01:03,160 --> 00:01:04,160 parts. 17 00:01:04,160 --> 00:01:08,840 They're all related by Auto Light engineering design and manufacturing skill and used as 18 00:01:08,840 --> 00:01:12,360 original factory equipment on many leading makes of our finest cars. 19 00:01:12,360 --> 00:01:14,880 A real team operation, eh, Harlow? 20 00:01:14,880 --> 00:01:18,640 You said it, Hap, for the smoothest car performance money can buy. 21 00:01:18,640 --> 00:01:24,240 So, friends, when your Auto Light equipped car needs replacement parts, insist on Auto 22 00:01:24,240 --> 00:01:26,560 Light original factory part. 23 00:01:26,560 --> 00:01:33,000 Be sure, because from bumper to tail light, you're always right with Auto Light. 24 00:01:33,000 --> 00:01:38,640 And now with Rogue Mail and the transcribed performance of Mr. Herbert Marshall, Auto 25 00:01:38,640 --> 00:01:49,840 Light hopes once again to keep you in suspense. 26 00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:58,320 I had him in my sights, the biggest game on earth. 27 00:01:58,320 --> 00:02:03,120 There was no mistaking him with his chaperone moustache and his mincing strut. 28 00:02:03,120 --> 00:02:09,240 I spent a day checking all points commanding the terrorists and I timed the guards on their 29 00:02:09,240 --> 00:02:10,240 beats. 30 00:02:10,240 --> 00:02:15,280 Then I chose my spot on a grassy slope at the edge of a cliff. 31 00:02:15,280 --> 00:02:21,040 I estimated the range of 550 yards, when the great man appeared, I got the three pointers 32 00:02:21,040 --> 00:02:24,320 of my sights ready on the V of his waistcoat. 33 00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:28,640 He was facing me, winding up his watch. 34 00:02:28,640 --> 00:02:33,720 He would never have known what shattered him, that is, if I meant the fire. 35 00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:36,960 Just then I felt a slight breeze on my cheek. 36 00:02:36,960 --> 00:02:38,960 I'd have to allow for wind. 37 00:02:38,960 --> 00:02:39,960 Stop! 38 00:02:39,960 --> 00:02:40,960 Stop! 39 00:02:40,960 --> 00:02:41,960 Careful! 40 00:02:41,960 --> 00:02:44,480 That's a hair trigger adjustment. 41 00:02:44,480 --> 00:02:45,480 Dirty dog! 42 00:02:45,480 --> 00:02:48,640 You don't understand, it was only a sporting stalk. 43 00:02:48,640 --> 00:02:51,640 A session, you dirty dog! 44 00:02:51,640 --> 00:02:52,640 Killer! 45 00:02:52,640 --> 00:02:53,640 All fired. 46 00:02:53,640 --> 00:02:59,320 All morning I felt his eyes watching me, I felt strange. 47 00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:02,400 So I turned back seven minutes early when I reached the purchase. 48 00:03:02,400 --> 00:03:04,400 He was going to kill our Fuhrer. 49 00:03:04,400 --> 00:03:07,120 Your Excellency, sir, who helped you? 50 00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:08,120 Nobody. 51 00:03:08,120 --> 00:03:09,120 I was alone. 52 00:03:09,120 --> 00:03:10,120 Were you acting for your government? 53 00:03:10,120 --> 00:03:11,120 Of course not. 54 00:03:11,120 --> 00:03:12,120 We are at peace. 55 00:03:12,120 --> 00:03:13,120 So far, yes. 56 00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:14,920 I'm a sportsman, a big game hunter. 57 00:03:14,920 --> 00:03:17,600 With what we call a sporting stalk. 58 00:03:17,600 --> 00:03:18,600 You expect us to believe that? 59 00:03:18,600 --> 00:03:20,560 Only what you wish, it's true. 60 00:03:20,560 --> 00:03:21,560 Corporal! 61 00:03:21,560 --> 00:03:22,560 Take him inside. 62 00:03:22,560 --> 00:03:23,560 We'll break him. 63 00:03:23,560 --> 00:03:24,560 There are ways. 64 00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:25,560 Heil Hitler! 65 00:03:25,560 --> 00:03:26,560 Heil Hitler! 66 00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:27,560 Is he conscious? 67 00:03:27,560 --> 00:03:28,560 No, sir. 68 00:03:28,560 --> 00:03:29,560 He's not. 69 00:03:29,560 --> 00:03:30,560 He's not. 70 00:03:30,560 --> 00:03:31,560 He's not. 71 00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:32,560 He's not. 72 00:03:32,560 --> 00:03:33,560 He's not. 73 00:03:33,560 --> 00:03:34,560 He's not. 74 00:03:34,560 --> 00:03:35,560 He's not. 75 00:03:35,560 --> 00:03:36,560 He's not. 76 00:03:36,560 --> 00:03:37,560 He's not. 77 00:03:37,560 --> 00:03:38,560 He's not. 78 00:03:38,560 --> 00:03:39,560 He's not. 79 00:03:39,560 --> 00:03:40,560 He's not. 80 00:03:40,560 --> 00:03:41,560 He's not. 81 00:03:41,560 --> 00:03:42,560 He's not. 82 00:03:42,560 --> 00:04:06,940 You mean the 83 00:04:06,940 --> 00:04:07,940 man? 84 00:04:07,940 --> 00:04:09,440 Yeah, I just thought so. 85 00:04:09,440 --> 00:04:12,440 Corporal, bring his things. Gun, binoculars and papers. 86 00:04:12,440 --> 00:04:13,440 Yes, sir. 87 00:04:13,440 --> 00:04:17,440 I ought to banish myself a bit before I leave. 88 00:04:17,440 --> 00:04:20,440 But you're not leaving. We can't release you. 89 00:04:20,440 --> 00:04:24,440 Your appearance, that left eye, and your hands. 90 00:04:24,440 --> 00:04:27,440 Oh, no, you'd certainly want to get even with us. 91 00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:29,440 How would you explain the state of your fingernails? 92 00:04:29,440 --> 00:04:31,440 I'm willing to call it even now. 93 00:04:31,440 --> 00:04:33,440 Yes, I believe you really mean that. 94 00:04:33,440 --> 00:04:36,440 It's no wonder we admire you, English. 95 00:04:36,440 --> 00:04:38,440 No, we can't risk it, old man. 96 00:04:38,440 --> 00:04:40,440 Too much criticism abroad of our methods. 97 00:04:40,440 --> 00:04:42,440 I tell you, the story will die with me. 98 00:04:42,440 --> 00:04:45,440 It will indeed, this very evening. 99 00:04:45,440 --> 00:04:49,440 If you're concerned about world opinion, my murder most certainly... 100 00:04:49,440 --> 00:04:51,440 Oh, but it won't be murder. 101 00:04:51,440 --> 00:04:53,440 It will be an accident. 102 00:04:53,440 --> 00:04:56,440 A sporting accident. 103 00:05:02,440 --> 00:05:05,440 They drove me north 50 miles, took me to the edge of a cliff, 104 00:05:05,440 --> 00:05:08,440 and put me over, all but my hands. 105 00:05:08,440 --> 00:05:09,440 That was cunning. 106 00:05:09,440 --> 00:05:12,440 Scrabbling at the rough rock would account for the state of my fingers 107 00:05:12,440 --> 00:05:14,440 when I was found. 108 00:05:14,440 --> 00:05:17,440 I did hang on, of course, until I had to drop. 109 00:05:17,440 --> 00:05:19,440 But they'd bungled the job. 110 00:05:19,440 --> 00:05:22,440 There was a terrifying instant of pain, 111 00:05:22,440 --> 00:05:24,440 then I plopped into something soft. 112 00:05:24,440 --> 00:05:27,440 I had crashed into a patch of swamp, small and deep. 113 00:05:27,440 --> 00:05:30,440 When I moved, I found I was wrapped in mud. 114 00:05:30,440 --> 00:05:33,440 It was dark, and I was quite numb. 115 00:05:33,440 --> 00:05:35,440 I couldn't stand. 116 00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:39,440 So I traveled on my belly, using my elbows for legs, 117 00:05:39,440 --> 00:05:42,440 leaving a track like a wounded crocodile. 118 00:05:42,440 --> 00:05:45,440 I had only one thought to hide myself. 119 00:05:45,440 --> 00:05:49,440 A mile, two miles. 120 00:05:49,440 --> 00:05:52,440 I came through a river and, crawling into the shadows, 121 00:05:52,440 --> 00:05:56,440 I made my trail look as if I had taken to the stream. 122 00:05:56,440 --> 00:06:00,440 Then I crawled back over my own track to a tree. 123 00:06:00,440 --> 00:06:03,440 I caught at a low branch. 124 00:06:03,440 --> 00:06:06,440 The muscles of my hands were still intact. 125 00:06:06,440 --> 00:06:10,440 And went up the first ten feet in a single burst. 126 00:06:10,440 --> 00:06:12,440 I couldn't rest my legs on the lower branches 127 00:06:12,440 --> 00:06:14,440 without leaving a smear of blood. 128 00:06:14,440 --> 00:06:16,440 I pulled myself higher. 129 00:06:16,440 --> 00:06:19,440 When I reached the thick branches of the upper tree, 130 00:06:19,440 --> 00:06:21,440 I wedged myself in. 131 00:06:21,440 --> 00:06:33,440 Then I fainted. 132 00:06:33,440 --> 00:06:36,440 The sound of their search woke me. 133 00:06:36,440 --> 00:06:41,440 This afternoon, I peered down and saw the half-English major 134 00:06:41,440 --> 00:06:44,440 with two uniformed men and three dogs. 135 00:06:44,440 --> 00:06:46,440 His trail goes into the river. 136 00:06:46,440 --> 00:06:48,440 He couldn't swim. His legs. 137 00:06:48,440 --> 00:06:49,440 He had to be sure. 138 00:06:49,440 --> 00:06:52,440 You, go downstream. I'll go up with the dog. 139 00:06:52,440 --> 00:07:04,440 We must find his buddy. 140 00:07:04,440 --> 00:07:07,440 I stayed in the tree all night. 141 00:07:07,440 --> 00:07:10,440 Just before dawn, I came down. 142 00:07:10,440 --> 00:07:13,440 I could walk after a passion, but I had to have different clothes, 143 00:07:13,440 --> 00:07:17,440 a razor, and many things, or I might as well turn myself in. 144 00:07:17,440 --> 00:07:19,440 Then a tall, stooping man with a fishing rod 145 00:07:19,440 --> 00:07:22,440 came through the woods to the riverbank. 146 00:07:22,440 --> 00:07:24,440 I crept closer to study him. 147 00:07:24,440 --> 00:07:28,440 His face was melancholy, but there was courage in it. 148 00:07:28,440 --> 00:07:31,440 I had to take that one chance. 149 00:07:31,440 --> 00:07:34,440 Good morning. Any luck? 150 00:07:34,440 --> 00:07:36,440 No, I... Who are you? 151 00:07:36,440 --> 00:07:40,440 Don't be afraid. I need help. Look, look at my hands. 152 00:07:40,440 --> 00:07:42,440 Do you know how that was done? 153 00:07:42,440 --> 00:07:45,440 Yes. I mean, I've heard... 154 00:07:45,440 --> 00:07:47,440 No, I don't know anything. 155 00:07:47,440 --> 00:07:48,440 I have money, if you'll help me. 156 00:07:48,440 --> 00:07:49,440 I don't want money. 157 00:07:49,440 --> 00:07:50,440 I'm English. 158 00:07:50,440 --> 00:07:52,440 It's better for you not to know my name or what I've done, 159 00:07:52,440 --> 00:07:55,440 but I need clothes, food, gloves to hide these hands, 160 00:07:55,440 --> 00:07:59,440 a razor to shave, things that can't be traced back. 161 00:07:59,440 --> 00:08:01,440 Wait, don't go. Where are you going? 162 00:08:01,440 --> 00:08:04,440 You need something to hide that eye, too. 163 00:08:04,440 --> 00:08:09,440 Ah, a patch, I think. Yes, an eye patch would be best. 164 00:08:09,440 --> 00:08:15,440 I'll put the things under that, sorry. 165 00:08:20,440 --> 00:08:22,440 He was back for an hour, 166 00:08:22,440 --> 00:08:24,440 but I waited till dark to pick up the bundle. 167 00:08:24,440 --> 00:08:26,440 I changed, shaved, adjusted the eye patch, 168 00:08:26,440 --> 00:08:28,440 and studied myself in the mirror. 169 00:08:28,440 --> 00:08:31,440 It was a fair disguise. 170 00:08:31,440 --> 00:08:39,440 That same night, I stole a punt and pushed off downriver. 171 00:08:41,440 --> 00:08:44,440 It took me a week to reach the sea. 172 00:08:44,440 --> 00:08:45,440 There was a large harbor there, 173 00:08:45,440 --> 00:08:48,440 and walking along the wharves, I saw several English ships. 174 00:08:48,440 --> 00:08:51,440 From two English sailors I met in a bar, 175 00:08:51,440 --> 00:08:55,440 I learned that one freighter was sailing next morning for London. 176 00:08:55,440 --> 00:08:59,440 Her first mate was named Mr. Vayner. 177 00:08:59,440 --> 00:09:02,440 Yes, who is it? 178 00:09:02,440 --> 00:09:05,440 Mr. Vayner. Who is it? 179 00:09:05,440 --> 00:09:09,440 Oh, the police didn't catch you. 180 00:09:09,440 --> 00:09:10,440 Didn't you know? 181 00:09:10,440 --> 00:09:13,440 They've searched every ship in the harbor. 182 00:09:13,440 --> 00:09:14,440 Found that punt you abandoned. 183 00:09:14,440 --> 00:09:16,440 How did they place it to me? 184 00:09:16,440 --> 00:09:18,440 They had reports of a man wearing a black eye patch, 185 00:09:18,440 --> 00:09:20,440 seen on the river. 186 00:09:20,440 --> 00:09:21,440 That's how I know who you are. 187 00:09:21,440 --> 00:09:23,440 Can you help me? 188 00:09:23,440 --> 00:09:26,440 I could hide you in the storeroom. 189 00:09:26,440 --> 00:09:27,440 No, no, too risky. 190 00:09:27,440 --> 00:09:30,440 No place in the hold. 191 00:09:30,440 --> 00:09:34,440 I've got it. Come on. 192 00:09:34,440 --> 00:09:35,440 Anyone see you come aboard? 193 00:09:35,440 --> 00:09:36,440 I don't think so. 194 00:09:36,440 --> 00:09:39,440 Everybody's ashore except me and the cook. 195 00:09:39,440 --> 00:09:42,440 It's time to hide you. 196 00:09:42,440 --> 00:09:43,440 It's all clear. 197 00:09:43,440 --> 00:09:47,440 Come on, run. 198 00:09:47,440 --> 00:09:48,440 Keep your head down. 199 00:09:48,440 --> 00:09:50,440 Police might come back, spot you from the wharf. 200 00:09:50,440 --> 00:09:52,440 What's this manhole cover for? 201 00:09:52,440 --> 00:09:56,440 Empty fresh water tank. 202 00:09:56,440 --> 00:10:00,440 I'll be in fast. 203 00:10:00,440 --> 00:10:02,440 I'll bring you food and blankets. 204 00:10:02,440 --> 00:10:04,440 Would you like some whiskey? 205 00:10:04,440 --> 00:10:06,440 Very much. Thanks. 206 00:10:06,440 --> 00:10:09,440 And Mr. Vayner, when we dock in the Thames, 207 00:10:09,440 --> 00:10:10,440 will you keep a sharp lookout? 208 00:10:10,440 --> 00:10:12,440 See if the ship's watched? 209 00:10:12,440 --> 00:10:14,440 You'll be safe in England, sir. 210 00:10:14,440 --> 00:10:29,440 Maybe, but I'm going to look before I leave. 211 00:10:29,440 --> 00:10:30,440 We're docked. 212 00:10:30,440 --> 00:10:31,440 You're right, sir. 213 00:10:31,440 --> 00:10:34,440 There's a funny-looking chap watching the gates. 214 00:10:34,440 --> 00:10:35,440 Could I row ashore? 215 00:10:35,440 --> 00:10:38,440 I have the dinghy ready under the starboard quarter. 216 00:10:38,440 --> 00:10:39,440 Fine. 217 00:10:39,440 --> 00:10:42,440 I'll leave it at the Hurlingham East Wall so you can pick it up. 218 00:10:42,440 --> 00:10:44,440 Have you friends, sir, who'll hide you? 219 00:10:44,440 --> 00:10:46,440 I can't let them be involved. 220 00:10:46,440 --> 00:10:48,440 I'll see my lawyer first thing in the morning, 221 00:10:48,440 --> 00:11:00,440 then I'll disappear. 222 00:11:00,440 --> 00:11:02,440 Oh, come in quickly. 223 00:11:02,440 --> 00:11:04,440 You're taking a frightful risk coming here. 224 00:11:04,440 --> 00:11:06,440 I know, Saul, that I have to. 225 00:11:06,440 --> 00:11:09,440 There's no telling who saw you come into the building. 226 00:11:09,440 --> 00:11:11,440 I noticed a man in a black hat 227 00:11:11,440 --> 00:11:13,440 feeding the birds in the courtyard. 228 00:11:13,440 --> 00:11:15,440 Oh, yes, he's been there all week. 229 00:11:15,440 --> 00:11:17,440 And I just glimpsed a certain Major. 230 00:11:17,440 --> 00:11:18,440 You mean you know him? 231 00:11:18,440 --> 00:11:21,440 When he called on me and asked all those pointed questions about you, 232 00:11:21,440 --> 00:11:23,440 I thought he was lying. 233 00:11:23,440 --> 00:11:25,440 He said he was a friend and a neighbor, 234 00:11:25,440 --> 00:11:27,440 called himself Major Keefe Smith. 235 00:11:27,440 --> 00:11:29,440 He's no friend, Saul. 236 00:11:29,440 --> 00:11:31,440 He's a half-English major in the German army. 237 00:11:31,440 --> 00:11:33,440 How are you tangled up with the Germans? 238 00:11:33,440 --> 00:11:35,440 Why, their ambassador's been asking about you, too. 239 00:11:35,440 --> 00:11:36,440 I can't tell you, Saul. 240 00:11:36,440 --> 00:11:38,440 I'm in a mess. 241 00:11:38,440 --> 00:11:40,440 I can't go to the police or involve the government in any way. 242 00:11:40,440 --> 00:11:43,440 I have to disappear, and I need 5,000 pounds in cash. 243 00:11:43,440 --> 00:11:44,440 Hmm. 244 00:11:44,440 --> 00:11:47,440 Then I'll send Sims out to cash a check. 245 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:51,440 But, uh, they'll follow you when you leave 246 00:11:51,440 --> 00:11:53,440 Black Hat and the Major up? 247 00:11:53,440 --> 00:11:55,440 They'll try. 248 00:11:55,440 --> 00:11:57,440 But I'll shake them somehow. 249 00:12:02,440 --> 00:12:04,440 When I started for the Hoban Underground Station, 250 00:12:04,440 --> 00:12:07,440 the man in the black hat was close behind me. 251 00:12:07,440 --> 00:12:10,440 Then I saw, before I dived into the station, 252 00:12:10,440 --> 00:12:12,440 that he'd stopped at the newsstand. 253 00:12:12,440 --> 00:12:13,440 That puzzled me. 254 00:12:13,440 --> 00:12:15,440 Until I looked further back and spotted the Major 255 00:12:15,440 --> 00:12:17,440 moving toward me fast through the crowd. 256 00:12:17,440 --> 00:12:19,440 Our eyes met and clashed in recognition, 257 00:12:19,440 --> 00:12:21,440 and suddenly I saw their plan. 258 00:12:21,440 --> 00:12:23,440 Black Hat would stay behind to guard the exit. 259 00:12:23,440 --> 00:12:25,440 The Major would keep on my heels. 260 00:12:25,440 --> 00:12:28,440 I ran to the escalator and went down to the third level, 261 00:12:28,440 --> 00:12:31,440 and I raced across the platform to a southbound train. 262 00:12:31,440 --> 00:12:34,440 I jumped aboard and worked my way forward, peering out. 263 00:12:34,440 --> 00:12:36,440 The Major was delayed on the jam platform, 264 00:12:36,440 --> 00:12:38,440 and he barely hurled himself through the same door I'd entered, 265 00:12:38,440 --> 00:12:41,440 while I stepped off the train through another door. 266 00:12:41,440 --> 00:12:43,440 The door slid shut. 267 00:12:43,440 --> 00:12:45,440 The train hauled the Major off toward Piccalilly. 268 00:12:45,440 --> 00:12:47,440 I started back toward the escalator, 269 00:12:47,440 --> 00:12:49,440 then stopped in panic. 270 00:12:49,440 --> 00:12:51,440 Black Hat was there on the platform. 271 00:12:51,440 --> 00:12:54,440 He'd been there all along, not at the newsstand. 272 00:12:54,440 --> 00:12:57,440 I plunged into that platform like a frightened rabbit. 273 00:12:57,440 --> 00:12:59,440 Black Hat and I were alone. 274 00:12:59,440 --> 00:13:02,440 He moved toward me, his hand poised over the pocket. 275 00:13:02,440 --> 00:13:04,440 I was sure he held a gun. 276 00:13:04,440 --> 00:13:06,440 I jumped off the platform and ran, 277 00:13:06,440 --> 00:13:08,440 keeping well away from the third rail. 278 00:13:08,440 --> 00:13:10,440 His footsteps pounded behind me. 279 00:13:10,440 --> 00:13:12,440 The tunnel curved into blackness. 280 00:13:12,440 --> 00:13:16,440 Just beyond the curve, I flattened myself against the tunnel wall. 281 00:13:25,440 --> 00:13:27,440 You might as well come out. 282 00:13:27,440 --> 00:13:29,440 The Major wants to talk to you. 283 00:13:29,440 --> 00:13:31,440 Just come along. Talk. 284 00:13:31,440 --> 00:13:34,440 You need a gun in your hand to talk? 285 00:13:34,440 --> 00:13:55,440 Autolite is bringing you Mr. Herbert Marshall in Rogue Mail. 286 00:13:55,440 --> 00:14:05,440 Tonight's production in radio's outstanding theater of thrills, Suspense. 287 00:14:15,440 --> 00:14:17,440 Well, Hap, how's the team? 288 00:14:17,440 --> 00:14:19,440 You mean our basketball team, Harlow? 289 00:14:19,440 --> 00:14:25,440 No, I mean the autolite team in your autolite-equipped car. 290 00:14:25,440 --> 00:14:27,440 That team of autolite electrical system units, 291 00:14:27,440 --> 00:14:30,440 including the coil, distributor, generator, starting motor, 292 00:14:30,440 --> 00:14:33,440 and all their thousands of component parts. 293 00:14:33,440 --> 00:14:36,440 Why, they're all related by autolite engineering design 294 00:14:36,440 --> 00:14:41,440 and manufacturing skill to give your car the smoothest performance money can buy. 295 00:14:41,440 --> 00:14:44,440 The autolite electrical system does a big job, eh, Harlow? 296 00:14:44,440 --> 00:14:46,440 You said it, Hap, and it vitally does. 297 00:14:46,440 --> 00:14:49,440 It's the smooth and efficient operation of your autolite-equipped car. 298 00:14:49,440 --> 00:14:52,440 And I'm off to treat my car to a periodic checkup 299 00:14:52,440 --> 00:14:55,440 at my nearest authorized autolite service station, Harlow. 300 00:14:55,440 --> 00:14:58,440 Right, Hap, and friends, it will pay you to do the same. 301 00:14:58,440 --> 00:15:02,440 Visit your car dealers or nearest authorized autolite service station. 302 00:15:02,440 --> 00:15:06,440 You'll find the authorized autolite service station nearest to you 303 00:15:06,440 --> 00:15:09,440 listed in the classified section of your telephone directory. 304 00:15:09,440 --> 00:15:13,440 Or call Western Union by number and ask for a call. 305 00:15:13,440 --> 00:15:18,440 Or call Western Union by number and ask for operator 25. 306 00:15:18,440 --> 00:15:23,440 And remember, from bumper to tail light, you're always right with autolite. 307 00:15:23,440 --> 00:15:28,440 And now, autolite brings back to our Hollywood soundstage 308 00:15:28,440 --> 00:15:33,440 Mr. Herbert Marshall in Elliot Lewis' production of Rogue Male, 309 00:15:33,440 --> 00:15:36,440 a tale well calculated to keep you in... 310 00:15:36,440 --> 00:15:51,440 suspense. 311 00:15:51,440 --> 00:15:54,440 I can still hear his scream when he fell on the fair rail. 312 00:15:54,440 --> 00:15:56,440 It echoed along the tunnel, 313 00:15:56,440 --> 00:16:04,440 a queer place for a soul to find itself adrift. 314 00:16:04,440 --> 00:16:07,440 I had to leave London, hide somewhere in the country. 315 00:16:07,440 --> 00:16:10,440 At a series of shops, I bought camping equipment, 316 00:16:10,440 --> 00:16:13,440 a primer stove, pans, a sleeping bag, 317 00:16:13,440 --> 00:16:16,440 a heavy slingshot, and a hunting knife. 318 00:16:16,440 --> 00:16:18,440 I couldn't buy a gun without having it registered. 319 00:16:18,440 --> 00:16:21,440 Finally, I bought a bicycle, and by evening, I was pedaling southwest 320 00:16:21,440 --> 00:16:26,440 toward Dorset, looking, I hope, like a carefree man on a rambling holiday. 321 00:16:26,440 --> 00:16:31,440 I picked my hiding place above Marshwood Vale between two lonely farms. 322 00:16:31,440 --> 00:16:36,440 It's not on any map. Choke with dead wood, blocked at both ends by tangled thorn. 323 00:16:36,440 --> 00:16:40,440 Nobody would ever find it except a curious child, 324 00:16:40,440 --> 00:16:42,440 which is why I knew of it. 325 00:16:42,440 --> 00:16:45,440 For in love, one becomes a child again. 326 00:16:45,440 --> 00:16:49,440 That bit of road had been our discovery, hers and mine, 327 00:16:49,440 --> 00:16:54,440 during the brief two weeks which were to begin our life together. 328 00:16:54,440 --> 00:17:01,440 Two weeks which were instead our last, our only time. 329 00:17:04,440 --> 00:17:09,440 The next days, I slept and watched. Nights, I worked. 330 00:17:09,440 --> 00:17:12,440 I tunneled back ten feet into the soft stand, 331 00:17:12,440 --> 00:17:17,440 totaled a bank, hollowing out a low room and a hut. 332 00:17:17,440 --> 00:17:19,440 My chimney went straight up into a blackberry bush. 333 00:17:19,440 --> 00:17:21,440 Over the entrance, I fitted a heavy door, 334 00:17:21,440 --> 00:17:25,440 camouflaged with sandstone dust and dead twigs and vines. 335 00:17:25,440 --> 00:17:28,440 If anyone should blunder into that piece of road, 336 00:17:28,440 --> 00:17:30,440 you'd see no sign of my hiding place. 337 00:17:30,440 --> 00:17:34,440 I would be warm, dry, reasonably well fed, 338 00:17:34,440 --> 00:17:39,440 troubled only by my memories and my loneliness. 339 00:17:39,440 --> 00:17:46,440 Then one morning, down my chimney, came a thin, black, powerful tomcat, 340 00:17:46,440 --> 00:17:50,440 who seemed to think me the trespasser. 341 00:17:50,440 --> 00:17:53,440 Hello there. Here, here. 342 00:17:53,440 --> 00:17:55,440 Share a biscuit? 343 00:17:55,440 --> 00:17:58,440 Not with your civil old man. 344 00:17:58,440 --> 00:18:00,440 Would you rather have some bully beef? 345 00:18:00,440 --> 00:18:03,440 Here, here you are. 346 00:18:03,440 --> 00:18:08,440 I bet that's the first cook meeting beaten. 347 00:18:08,440 --> 00:18:11,440 What do you live on mostly? Mice? Peasants? 348 00:18:11,440 --> 00:18:15,440 Look at your ribs. You haven't had good hunting of late. 349 00:18:15,440 --> 00:18:20,440 Ha-ha! The bully beef brings out your better nature. 350 00:18:20,440 --> 00:18:24,440 Maybe you'll let me scratch your ear. 351 00:18:24,440 --> 00:18:31,440 Why, you're a veritable asmodious, demon of hatred and malignity. 352 00:18:31,440 --> 00:18:34,440 Now, easy. I'm not going to hurt you. 353 00:18:34,440 --> 00:18:38,440 That's right. I won't tell anyone. 354 00:18:38,440 --> 00:18:41,440 Stick around and keep me from being lonely. 355 00:18:41,440 --> 00:18:46,440 I won't tell a soul that old asmodious is a sentimental fool. 356 00:18:52,440 --> 00:18:55,440 But in the end, my loneliness seemed more acute. 357 00:18:55,440 --> 00:19:01,440 In the long nights of that silent fulcide, I was haunted by a memory of her violet eyes. 358 00:19:01,440 --> 00:19:06,440 By a futile wish that I'd followed my premonition, forced her to stay with me in England. 359 00:19:06,440 --> 00:19:13,440 Strange, when I first heard that she was dead, I'd suffered very little. 360 00:19:13,440 --> 00:19:20,440 But at night, in that cave, remembering, I felt such pain. 361 00:19:26,440 --> 00:19:32,440 The next afternoon, lying hidden in the top of an oak tree, I saw a car drive into the yard of the farm to the east. 362 00:19:32,440 --> 00:19:37,440 A man climbed out, carrying a gun case and bag. 363 00:19:37,440 --> 00:19:41,440 The car drove away and the man went into the farmhouse. 364 00:19:41,440 --> 00:19:49,440 I stayed in the tree and in the evening saw the farmer and his visitor emerge with guns under their arms, probably going out to hunt wood pigeons. 365 00:19:49,440 --> 00:19:54,440 After a while, they came out from a thicket to my left. 366 00:19:54,440 --> 00:19:59,440 The farmer's visitor was Major Keeve Smith. 367 00:19:59,440 --> 00:20:02,440 We haven't much luck for your first evening shooting, sir. 368 00:20:02,440 --> 00:20:05,440 That's all right. I have two weeks holiday. 369 00:20:05,440 --> 00:20:09,440 What's behind that growth of porthorn over there? 370 00:20:09,440 --> 00:20:12,440 Nothing, but dead wood and more horse horn. 371 00:20:12,440 --> 00:20:14,440 I ought to find pigeons nesting in there. 372 00:20:14,440 --> 00:20:16,440 Most likely, because of the cat. 373 00:20:16,440 --> 00:20:17,440 What cat? 374 00:20:17,440 --> 00:20:21,440 Perishing black cat. Can't shoot him, can't tame him, neither. 375 00:20:21,440 --> 00:20:25,440 Right there, there he goes now, that black devil, where? 376 00:20:25,440 --> 00:20:27,440 Oh, yes, into the hedge. 377 00:20:27,440 --> 00:20:30,440 He's very fat for a stray, isn't he? 378 00:20:37,440 --> 00:20:41,440 I was underground nine days, watching daylight and starlight through my chimney. 379 00:20:41,440 --> 00:20:44,440 Then as Modius disappeared. 380 00:20:44,440 --> 00:20:47,440 That night I heard noises. 381 00:20:47,440 --> 00:20:49,440 There were two men. 382 00:20:49,440 --> 00:20:52,440 They were moving something heavy. 383 00:20:52,440 --> 00:20:57,440 Then I heard a thud against a door when I knew with terror that my door was barred. 384 00:20:57,440 --> 00:21:00,440 I was trapped underground. 385 00:21:03,440 --> 00:21:05,440 Can you hear me? 386 00:21:05,440 --> 00:21:06,440 Yes. 387 00:21:06,440 --> 00:21:08,440 Wonder how I found you? 388 00:21:08,440 --> 00:21:10,440 It was a cat. 389 00:21:10,440 --> 00:21:12,440 I was sure that somebody was feeding him. 390 00:21:12,440 --> 00:21:15,440 How sentimental you English are about animals. 391 00:21:15,440 --> 00:21:18,440 Can't you give me a cleaner death than this? 392 00:21:18,440 --> 00:21:20,440 My dear fellow, I don't want you to die at all. 393 00:21:20,440 --> 00:21:23,440 Put your signature on a document I have here and I'll release you immediately. 394 00:21:23,440 --> 00:21:25,440 A document? Which says what? 395 00:21:25,440 --> 00:21:28,440 Well, I'll read you the most important sentence. 396 00:21:28,440 --> 00:21:33,440 On April the 5th I attempted to assassinate the leader of the German people 397 00:21:33,440 --> 00:21:36,440 and did so with the knowledge of the British government. 398 00:21:36,440 --> 00:21:39,440 See it? A very simple, straightforward statement. 399 00:21:39,440 --> 00:21:40,440 It's a pack of lies. 400 00:21:40,440 --> 00:21:42,440 Oh, come now, no heroics. 401 00:21:42,440 --> 00:21:44,440 Truth is relative. 402 00:21:44,440 --> 00:21:47,440 You think about it overnight, old fellow. 403 00:21:47,440 --> 00:21:49,440 I'll be back at seven in the morning. 404 00:21:49,440 --> 00:21:52,440 Oh? Who do you have on night duty? 405 00:21:52,440 --> 00:21:55,440 The paid hand. Swiss fellow. 406 00:21:55,440 --> 00:22:00,440 You must have realized it took two of us to lift the log of firing your door. 407 00:22:00,440 --> 00:22:04,440 But by the way, why did you try to assassinate our leader? 408 00:22:04,440 --> 00:22:09,440 I told you. I wanted to see if it was possible. 409 00:22:09,440 --> 00:22:12,440 And then I didn't think his death would be any loss. 410 00:22:12,440 --> 00:22:14,440 Ah, then you did mean to shoot. 411 00:22:14,440 --> 00:22:16,440 I'm glad you finally admit it. 412 00:22:16,440 --> 00:22:18,440 Why, yes. 413 00:22:18,440 --> 00:22:20,440 I did mean to shoot. 414 00:22:26,440 --> 00:22:30,440 I'd given myself away, not to him, to myself. 415 00:22:30,440 --> 00:22:32,440 It had not been a game. 416 00:22:32,440 --> 00:22:34,440 I had rarely meant to kill the head of a state. 417 00:22:34,440 --> 00:22:36,440 I must have been mad. 418 00:22:36,440 --> 00:22:41,440 And indeed I was driven mad by rage and grief so great I didn't let myself know what I was thinking. 419 00:22:41,440 --> 00:22:46,440 I am a man who was loved only once and didn't know it until she was dead. 420 00:22:46,440 --> 00:22:48,440 They killed her. 421 00:22:48,440 --> 00:22:51,440 He, that leader, killed her. 422 00:22:51,440 --> 00:22:55,440 She was so swift, so sensitive, so generous of spirit. 423 00:22:55,440 --> 00:22:59,440 She made the cause of all oppressed, unhappy people her own. 424 00:22:59,440 --> 00:23:02,440 And so they caught her and killed her. 425 00:23:02,440 --> 00:23:05,440 For reasons of state. 426 00:23:05,440 --> 00:23:08,440 And so I had declared war on them. 427 00:23:08,440 --> 00:23:11,440 One man at war with a nation. 428 00:23:11,440 --> 00:23:14,440 And I would have destroyed their leader. 429 00:23:14,440 --> 00:23:17,440 If the wind hadn't shifted. 430 00:23:17,440 --> 00:23:20,440 I slipped and was awakened by the sound of a shot. 431 00:23:20,440 --> 00:23:25,440 And then something was stuffed down my chimney, shutting off my only source of fresh air. 432 00:23:25,440 --> 00:23:27,440 Hours passed. 433 00:23:27,440 --> 00:23:30,440 The air grew foul and I banged on the door. 434 00:23:30,440 --> 00:23:32,440 Keith Smith paid no attention. 435 00:23:32,440 --> 00:23:35,440 Finally I reached up the chimney to see what he'd stuffed it. 436 00:23:35,440 --> 00:23:39,440 And pulled poor Asmodeus down into my cave. 437 00:23:39,440 --> 00:23:42,440 He'd been shot at close quarters. 438 00:23:42,440 --> 00:23:45,440 I was choking with sorrow and rage. 439 00:23:45,440 --> 00:23:48,440 It wasn't an easy shot, old man. 440 00:23:48,440 --> 00:23:50,440 Very difficult and sporty. 441 00:23:50,440 --> 00:23:53,440 That's a lie. He trusted you because he'd learned to trust me. 442 00:23:53,440 --> 00:23:55,440 Oh? Well, perhaps you're right. 443 00:23:55,440 --> 00:23:59,440 The Anglo-Saxon love of animals is a weakness I'm happy to be without. 444 00:24:04,440 --> 00:24:08,440 And so, with the death of Asmodeus, 445 00:24:08,440 --> 00:24:11,440 the Major condemned himself to death. 446 00:24:11,440 --> 00:24:14,440 All my plans were directed to that end. 447 00:24:14,440 --> 00:24:19,440 I had no gun, no access to my victim except through the chimney hole. 448 00:24:19,440 --> 00:24:22,440 No weapon but the slingshot. 449 00:24:22,440 --> 00:24:25,440 There was only one way to kill him. 450 00:24:25,440 --> 00:24:29,440 To shoot a lethal missile through that opening. 451 00:24:29,440 --> 00:24:34,440 After some hours I hit on an iron spit with my weapon. 452 00:24:34,440 --> 00:24:37,440 To be fired by the slingshot. 453 00:24:37,440 --> 00:24:41,440 Then I set about luring the Major to the hole. 454 00:24:41,440 --> 00:24:44,440 Ah? Want to talk? 455 00:24:44,440 --> 00:24:47,440 Yes, I've been thinking. 456 00:24:47,440 --> 00:24:50,440 You'd only use that document in case of a war, is that right? 457 00:24:50,440 --> 00:24:51,440 Exactly. 458 00:24:51,440 --> 00:24:55,440 So it doesn't matter if I sign it or not, since there isn't going to be a war. 459 00:24:55,440 --> 00:24:58,440 You're perfectly right. The mere formality. 460 00:24:58,440 --> 00:25:00,440 Then hand it down. 461 00:25:00,440 --> 00:25:02,440 And give me a pen and a flashlight. 462 00:25:02,440 --> 00:25:04,440 Right away. 463 00:25:04,440 --> 00:25:07,440 I'm glad you decided to be sensible. 464 00:25:07,440 --> 00:25:11,440 You're a cut above the average Englishman. 465 00:25:11,440 --> 00:25:13,440 There it is. Got it? 466 00:25:13,440 --> 00:25:15,440 Yes. 467 00:25:15,440 --> 00:25:17,440 Here's the pen. 468 00:25:17,440 --> 00:25:20,440 Where are you? I can't see... 469 00:25:27,440 --> 00:25:30,440 There was a look of surprise in his eyes. 470 00:25:30,440 --> 00:25:32,440 But he was already dead. 471 00:25:32,440 --> 00:25:35,440 The iron spit took him square about the nose. 472 00:25:35,440 --> 00:25:37,440 Then he toppled backward. 473 00:25:37,440 --> 00:25:41,440 Immediately I had to wait at the end of the chimney until it was large enough to receive my body. 474 00:25:41,440 --> 00:25:43,440 Then I burst out into the blackberry bush. 475 00:25:43,440 --> 00:25:48,440 The Major was lying on his back with the spit projecting through the back of his skull. 476 00:25:48,440 --> 00:25:54,440 I searched him through this revolver, burned that scandalous document he'd meant me to sign. 477 00:25:54,440 --> 00:25:57,440 And sat down to wait. 478 00:25:57,440 --> 00:26:00,440 It was dark when I heard the Swiss agent coming. 479 00:26:00,440 --> 00:26:04,440 When he was a few paces away, I flashed the light on him. 480 00:26:04,440 --> 00:26:06,440 Put your hands up. 481 00:26:06,440 --> 00:26:08,440 Now walk over here slowly. 482 00:26:08,440 --> 00:26:10,440 What do you want? 483 00:26:10,440 --> 00:26:12,440 Your gun. Turn around. 484 00:26:12,440 --> 00:26:16,440 Oh, you killed the Major. 485 00:26:16,440 --> 00:26:18,440 Oh, please, sir. 486 00:26:18,440 --> 00:26:20,440 Don't turn me in. They will hang me. 487 00:26:20,440 --> 00:26:22,440 They will hang me for treason. 488 00:26:22,440 --> 00:26:24,440 Now we are at war. 489 00:26:24,440 --> 00:26:25,440 At war? 490 00:26:25,440 --> 00:26:27,440 Oh, yes, sir. It came over the wireless. 491 00:26:27,440 --> 00:26:29,440 Germany has marched into Poland. 492 00:26:29,440 --> 00:26:31,440 England has declared war. 493 00:26:38,440 --> 00:26:42,440 And so my private war merged with the greater cause. 494 00:26:42,440 --> 00:26:47,440 And I had no need to worry further about the ethics of my revenge. 495 00:26:47,440 --> 00:26:50,440 They were the same as the ethics of war. 496 00:26:50,440 --> 00:26:52,440 True. 497 00:26:52,440 --> 00:26:56,440 It had not been as I had claimed a sporting stop. 498 00:26:56,440 --> 00:26:59,440 But you can't call me unsporting. 499 00:26:59,440 --> 00:27:03,440 After all, if I'd pulled the trigger, 500 00:27:03,440 --> 00:27:27,440 I would have achieved one of the two or three most difficult shots in the world. 501 00:27:33,440 --> 00:27:36,440 This is Harlow Wilcock speaking for Auto Light, 502 00:27:36,440 --> 00:27:41,440 the world's largest independent manufacturer of automotive electrical equipment. 503 00:27:41,440 --> 00:27:45,440 Auto Light is proud to serve the greatest names in the industry. 504 00:27:45,440 --> 00:27:48,440 That is why during the early months of 1952, 505 00:27:48,440 --> 00:27:53,440 the Auto Light family will join together in saluting the leading car manufacturers 506 00:27:53,440 --> 00:27:58,440 who install Auto Light products as original equipment right on their assembly line. 507 00:27:58,440 --> 00:28:03,440 The Auto Light family is made up of the nearly 30,000 men and women 508 00:28:03,440 --> 00:28:06,440 in 28 great Auto Light plants from coast to coast, 509 00:28:06,440 --> 00:28:09,440 as well as more than 18,000 Auto Light stockholders, 510 00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:13,440 97,000 Auto Light distributors and dealers in the United States, 511 00:28:13,440 --> 00:28:17,440 and thousands more in Canada and throughout the world. 512 00:28:17,440 --> 00:28:21,440 The Auto Light family will salute the Packard Motor Car Company 513 00:28:21,440 --> 00:28:24,440 in the next Auto Light Suspense Television Program. 514 00:28:24,440 --> 00:28:29,440 So if you live in a television area, check the day and time of suspense on television 515 00:28:29,440 --> 00:28:31,440 so that you won't miss this program. 516 00:28:31,440 --> 00:28:36,440 And remember, from bumper to tail light, you're always right with Auto Light. 517 00:28:36,440 --> 00:28:42,440 Next week on Suspense, our star will be Mr. Jeff Chandler in a story taken from life, 518 00:28:42,440 --> 00:28:46,440 a factual document concerning the San Francisco Tongue Wars, 519 00:28:46,440 --> 00:28:50,440 which we call the Case Against Lou Dock. 520 00:28:50,440 --> 00:28:54,440 In weeks to come, we shall also present Ms. Agnes Moorhead, Mr. Charles Boyer, 521 00:28:54,440 --> 00:29:00,440 and Mr. J. Carroll Nash, all on Suspense. 522 00:29:02,440 --> 00:29:05,440 Suspense is transcribed and directed by Elliot Lewis 523 00:29:05,440 --> 00:29:09,440 with music composed by Lucian Morawieckin, conducted by Lud Bluskin. 524 00:29:09,440 --> 00:29:14,440 Rogue Mail was adapted for Suspense by Sylvia Richards from the novel by Jeffrey Household. 525 00:29:14,440 --> 00:29:17,440 In tonight's story, best read by the author, 526 00:29:17,440 --> 00:29:20,440 the novel by Jeffrey Household. 527 00:29:20,440 --> 00:29:23,440 In tonight's story, Ben Wright was heard as the major. 528 00:29:23,440 --> 00:29:27,440 Featured in the cast were Larry Dobkin, Ramsey Hill, Harry Brartell, 529 00:29:27,440 --> 00:29:31,440 Peter Owen, Joseph Kearns, William Johnstone, and Earl Keen. 530 00:29:31,440 --> 00:29:37,440 Herbert Marshall may be heard each week on his own radio program, The Man Called X. 531 00:29:37,440 --> 00:29:47,440 This is the CBS Radio Network.