Auto Light and its 98,000 dealers bring you Mr. Richard Widmark in a true story of murder.
Tonight's presentation of...
Suspense.
Tonight, you're going to hear a true story, a classic of American crime, as documented
by criminologist Edmund Pearson. The story is called, Mate Bram. Tonight's star, Mr.
Richard Widmark.
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And now with Mate Bram and the performance of Mr. Richard Widmark, Auto Light hopes once
again to keep you in suspense.
Dear Mr. Cooper, I write to you as my true friend who has given me wise counsel in the
past, who knows of my faults and weaknesses, and who also knows my strength. Respecting
the latter, I advise you that during the past year, I have totally abstained from drink
in any form. And because of that and hard study, I now have a first mate's ticket. It
was in that birth that in Boston, I signed on the Barqueteen Herbert Fuller from where
I now write you to give you a report of this fatal voyage. As a matter of truth, I myself
might be dead when you read this, if it ever reaches you.
I signed on the master of the vessel being Charles I. Nash and the company of the following
men each important to this account. Henry J. Slyse Seaman.
Aye, aye, sir.
Here, Captain.
Sign this line, Slyse. You'll have the port watch.
Aye, aye, sir.
Charlie Brown, Seaman.
Aye, aye, sir.
This line, Brown. Port watch.
Aye, aye, sir.
Jonathan Spencer, steward.
Yes, sir.
Right here, Spencer. Glad to have you aboard again.
Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.
Thomas Bram, first officer.
Yes, Captain.
This line. First trip, Mr. Bram. Good luck.
Thank you, sir.
August Blomberg, second officer.
Aye, aye, sir.
This line, Mr. Blomberg.
Aye, aye, sir.
There are two other names important to this account. Lester H. Monks, who came aboard as
a passenger in the interest of his house, and the
captain of the ship, Mr. Bram.
There are two other names important to this account. Lester H. Monks, who came aboard as
a passenger in the interest of his health, as the nature of our voyage was to be tropical.
The other name is Laura Nash, wife of Captain Nash. If I had known that this woman was going
to sail with us, I never would have signed on. But when I saw her and learned that she
was, I didn't sign off, although I could have. I stayed on because she was compelling, with
a bold look, and because a man is always a hunter. That same day, still in harbor, when
first I saw her, I went to the steward to learn more.
Yes, sir, Mr. Your name is Bram, isn't it?
Yes, my name is Bram. Can I get a cup of tea?
Yes, sir, it's hot. Are you a home man, Mr. Bram, or did you come from another ship?
I came from another ship. What ship was it?
The Antilles. She came in yesterday, we go out tomorrow.
You don't like it shore side, Mr. Bram? Nope, I find it too much trouble. You've
sailed this ship before? Two trips.
What is this woman that goes with us? She's the captain's wife, sir.
I know that. Is she a good wife, Spencer?
I don't know what you mean, sir. Well, she's younger than he is. Why does a young
woman marry with a man like that and go sailing off on a ship with him and 11 other men?
I don't know, Mr. Bram. No lady would do that, would she?
I don't know many ladies, Mr. Bram. You won't find out asking me, you'd better ask her.
Maybe I will. Hello, Blomberg.
More deck cargo ready to load for...
I'll see to it. You want tea, Mr. Blomberg?
Ah, tea time. Spencer, you've sailed this ship before.
What do you know about this woman that goes with us?
Nothing. What kind of woman she is?
The way she looks at a man. I don't know, sir. I don't know anything.
When I left the steward, the second mate was asking the same questions I asked.
I mentioned this to remind you that I was not alone with my thoughts.
The same ones were in the minds of the others, perhaps all of them.
This then, my good friend, was the state and nature of the ship when we made to open sea.
The first day passed in shaking her down, but then evening was upon us and the woman
ate supper in the cabin at the officer's table, which also included the passenger, Mr. Monks.
These meals, there were only six of them, may be exaggerated in my memory, but I think not.
It seems now that nothing was discussed except that I abstained from the wine that was served.
It was difficult because I didn't want to give as my reason for refusal the fact that you know,
sir, that I am a slave to drink unless I abstain entirely.
Your glass, Laura.
Yes. Thank you.
Mr. Monks.
Yes, please.
Thank you, Captain.
Mr. Bram.
No, sir, I don't want any.
Mr. Blomberg.
Yeah, I like good wine.
Are you a religious man, Mr. Bram?
No, sir, not overly so.
That was why you wouldn't have a glass of wine with us.
No, I don't care for wine.
What you drink then, rum like the pirates?
I don't drink at all.
I didn't think that a seafaring man lived that didn't drink, Mr. Bram.
Seafaring men are much like any men, Mr. Monks.
Some of them drink, some of them don't.
Wine with a meal and a good whiskey or brandy at the end of a watch.
Nothing can take their place.
Is there a reason you don't drink, Mr. Bram?
Yes, I don't like to.
Have you ever drunk?
No, I never have.
I don't believe that.
I've heard that some men don't drink because they expose their true selves when they do.
Do you have a true self that you are hiding?
I'm sorry to disappoint you, madam.
You are seeing my true self, a man who doesn't drink.
Oh, there must be a reason.
And I'll find out what it is.
That's enough, Laura.
You're too forward.
Eat your supper.
As I stated, my memory of that first supper may now be exaggerated, but I think not.
There was more drinking after the meal, but I left as it was my watch.
I know that the second mate stayed with the woman, though, even after Captain Nash had
retired to his cot in a chart room.
Now this sleeping arrangement must be explained because it's important.
The captain with a cot in the chart room forward in the main house, the woman in the first
cabin starboard, the passenger in the second.
Across the companion way, I in the first cabin port, Mr. Blomberg in the second.
I heard the woman come to her quarters after I'd been relieved.
And I think that night I started dreaming about her and her taunting smile.
And with her, I dreamed of being drunk.
The next day passed the same and the next night.
There's little enough of interest on a ship and anything unusual is left upon.
On this ship, it was my sobriety.
The first sign of trouble came upon us during the third evening.
And I swear upon our friendship, sir, that it was not of my doing.
I was only walking out past the main house.
Mr. Blom.
Yes?
Come in my quarters.
I'm still on watch, Mr. Blomberg.
What do you want?
I think of you too much today.
Now I don't like you.
What you think is your business, not mine.
And that I don't like you?
It's a man's privilege to like or dislike.
You don't care.
There'd be nothing for me to do about it if I did.
There is something.
Oh?
Stop acting like you're better than us, all of us.
I'm no better or worse than anyone.
You think you are.
You think so because we drink and you don't.
You think you're saint or something.
You're wrong.
And I'll thank you to leave me alone.
No.
Let go of me.
I give you a chance to make me wrong.
I give you a chance to act like man.
I ask you now, come in my quarters.
Drink with me like friends.
I don't want to drink, Blomberg.
His insult not to drink when man asks you.
Leave off me.
Take it as an insult if you like.
I say I have my reasons and my rights to do as I choose.
Now mind your own affairs.
There'll be no trouble.
You better run me.
You woman.
Leave off me.
Oh, you.
I.
Blomberg.
I'll kill you next time.
What is the meaning of this?
There were some words, C.
What words?
His woman.
Words about Laura?
No, C.
I've seen the way both of you are mooning about her.
There's an end to that right now.
You'll both eat in your own quarters from this day on.
Stay away from her.
Your officers are on this ship.
Go to your quarters, Mr. Bram.
I see.
There'll be a report on this, Mr. Blomberg.
You'll relieve the watch.
Mr. Bram.
What happened?
There was some trouble.
About what?
Nothing.
Man trouble.
I heard what my husband said.
Were you fighting over me?
No.
Why should you fight over me?
You've hardly looked at me.
You're a married woman, Mrs. Nash.
I think that makes more difference to you than it does to me.
Why are you so good?
You couldn't choose a word farther from the truth, and I think I'd better go inside.
Wait.
Why did you fight?
Because he was teasing you about not drinking, wasn't it?
He told me he was going to.
Yes, that was why.
Are you playing the game with me, too?
I'm intrigued.
You're a man with a past, aren't you?
And you won't drink because you're afraid someone will find out what it is.
Drink what you like.
Don't you know that's a challenge to a woman like me?
Wouldn't you even drink with me?
Yes.
Yes, perhaps with you.
Is that a promise?
No, Mrs. Nash, I promise nothing anymore.
I've been ordered to my quarters.
I'd better go.
Mr. Cooper, sir, I feel as though I should apologize even to you who know me so well,
but I will not, because I must shamelessly recount all details.
There were no more words except ship words between Mr. Blomberg and myself.
We ate in our quarters, and for the three days following the quarrel on deck, Captain Nash
vigilantly allowed his wife no freedom on the ship.
I hope you'll understand that, however wrong, her words to me lived in my mind, and they
grew.
So when I was relieved of watch on the fourth night following, I was very pleased to find
her waiting inside the open door to her quarters.
Mr. Bram?
Yes?
I've been waiting for you.
Won't you come in?
Where's Captain Nash?
In the chart room, asleep.
I knew he wouldn't watch me forever.
What do you want?
Just to talk to someone who's young.
Won't you sit down?
Thank you.
There's no harm.
I want you to know that.
All right, Laura, there's no harm.
Whether I'm married or not, I'm a woman, am I not?
Yes, yes, you are.
And I deserve to have the company that I like?
I brought a bottle of wine.
I see that you have.
I stole it when he wasn't looking.
You took a chance.
I thought it would be nice.
Shall I open it?
Yes, if you like.
Here you are.
Thank you.
You haven't been very nice to me, have you?
I've hardly been able to be anything to you.
Then shall we drink to how nice you can be?
All right.
Oh, I drank, my friend, the bottle of wine.
And when I left her, I went into Mr. Blomberg's quarters and stole what he had and took it
to my own.
The warmth that I remembered in my middle body, the courage I assumed, the eyes that
weren't really mine, seeing things.
The false happiness, the excitement, the great proud feeling of self-satisfaction, the elation,
the slipping away from reality and the wonder of it, the pleasure of numbness, the peace,
and the luxury of knowing that when you went to bed, you'd sleep.
Mr. Brown.
What's the matter?
There's murder.
What?
What's that you say?
You've got to come up on the deck.
The captain and his wife, Mr. Blomberg, they've all been murdered.
They're dead.
Auto Light is bringing you Mr. Richard Widmark in Mate Bram, tonight's production in radio's
outstanding theater of thrills, Suspense.
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And remember, from bumper to tail light, you're always right with Auto Light.
And now, Auto Light brings back to our Hollywood soundstage, Mr. Richard Widmark, in Elliot
Lewis's production of Mate Bram.
A true story well calculated to keep you in suspense.
It was eight bells midnight when I went into the woman's quarters, some time later when
I left.
I didn't want a drink, but what could I do?
I found myself by telling her about the last time, the fights, the broken windows, the
jail, and the other times.
I should have, but considering the situation, I doubt any man would.
I remember leaving, going to Mr. Blomberg's quarters, then to my own.
But there, after another while, my memory stops.
I have lost an hour, my good friend, or perhaps two, until Mr. Monks awoke me some minutes
before four with a gun in his hand.
There's a murderer on board.
He killed them all with an axe.
Mr. Bram, what is the matter?
What are you doing with that gun?
None of us is safe.
There's a murderer on board.
What are you doing?
Water first.
You're drinking, Mr. Bram.
Yes.
Yes, I have.
You'll have to sober up.
You're in command now.
I'm all right.
Where are they?
Mrs. Nash is in her cabin.
I'll show you.
There.
Ah.
Yes.
What do you know of this?
Nothing.
Nothing at all.
How did you learn?
Something woke me up.
It was like a scream, but I didn't know with all the sounds of the ship.
When was that?
I can't be sure.
I went to sleep again.
Then I woke up again.
What woke you that time?
I don't know, but I began to worry about the sound I'd heard.
The scream.
I got up and went to tell the captain about it.
He was dead.
I was sure the sound meant something, and I came to Mrs. Nash's cabin.
Then I saw Mr. Blomberg's door open and found him the same way.
There's a maniac on board.
Come with me.
We'll check at the others.
We looked in the quarters of the others and found no weapon.
And I'll state now that when I looked in my locker for my gun, I also looked for bloodstains
on the clothes in there and on the clothes I was wearing as I'd slept fully dressed.
And I found none.
Then pursuing the actions of Mr. Mugson and me, we awoke the steward and went on deck.
Wait.
There's the axe.
That's the one.
That's the one that did it.
Get rid of it, Mr. Brown.
Throw it overboard.
The fiend might use it on us next.
No, Mr. Brown.
We can't do that, sir.
Throw it overboard.
That's the weapon.
We've got to keep it.
By law, we've got to.
All right.
We'll keep it aboard.
It's sliced at the wheel.
We'll see what he knows.
What is it?
What's that axe?
There's been murder aboard, Slice.
How long have you been at the wheel?
Two hours, sir.
Who is it?
Brown and Cantwell share your watch, don't they?
Yes, sir.
Where are they?
At Forest, sir.
Standing lookout.
Who's dead?
The captain and his wife and Mr. Blomberg.
Have you seen anybody on deck, Slice, while you've been at the wheel?
Only you, Mr. Brann.
I didn't see nobody else.
I didn't remember.
It's a frightful thing to have a man say you were out on deck and not remember.
I tried to carry on without arousing suspicion, and this is what I learned.
That I had come out and asked for Mr. Blomberg, and upon being told that he was tending the
forsook with two deckhands, I'd gone back inside.
And that then Mr. Blomberg had come aft and gone inside, too.
And that he'd never come out again.
I couldn't help feeling guilty, but on the other hand, I couldn't help heeding my instinct
to protect myself.
For example, at my earliest opportunity, when I was not seen, I took that axe and I threw
it overboard.
But that was wrong.
I acted in excitement and fear, and I'm sorry now that I did.
When dawn came, I ordered the ship to come about and set her back toward Boston.
Soon after this was done, the steward came to me.
The crew wants me to talk to you, sir.
Yes, what about?
They all say they'll be afraid to go to sleep tonight for fear of being murdered in their
bunks.
All right.
All right, I'll have them all sleep on deck where a watch can be kept over them.
And if you will, Spencer, you can tell them all to come on deck in an hour for the funeral
services.
Funeral services, sir?
Yes.
We can't put those people over the side, sir.
By law, we've got to take them back.
Oh, yes, yes, of course, Spencer, but it's not good to have them on the ship.
I mean to put them in the longboat and tow it astern.
Now bring them out and with Captain Nash bring his Bible.
It's open on the table next to his cot.
It is, sir?
I don't know why I thought I knew where the captain's Bible was.
I wasn't sure that I did know, but I was afraid to ask Bensie.
So once more on impulse and in fear, I acted.
That night I went after the man at the wheel and ordered him below to get my glass, telling
him I'd seen a light in the distance.
When he was gone lashing the wheel, I turned with a knife to the line towing the longboat
to cut the body's adrift and to finally destroy the evidence.
Mr. Bram!
Mr. Bram, stop there!
Don't do that, Mr. Bram.
Leave off, Spencer.
It's not good to have dead people following along behind.
Leave off!
What's this for?
For killing those people out there.
No.
It was you, Mr. Bram.
No, I didn't.
You were with a wife last night drinking.
Who says that?
Mr. Slice.
Mr. Blomberg told him.
That's no proof.
You knew where his Bible was, sir.
And that's nothing either.
You relieved Slice at the wheel and after that the axe was missing.
Mr. Brown saw you throw it overboard.
I didn't kill them.
Then why were you cutting the longboat free, Mr. Bram?
Hold still, Mr. Bram.
Confess and ease yourself, Mr. Brown.
No, I won't confess.
Nobody saw me kill them because I didn't.
I didn't!
Come along, Mr. Bram.
Who are you taking me?
To lock you up.
By law, we've got to do it.
They put me in irons, locked in my own quarters.
And here I have stayed.
There have been no more murders in the three days past, which does not stand in favor of
another killer being aboard and my being innocent.
What I have written, my good friend, is the whole truth.
And I beg of you to be my legal counsel when my case comes to trial, as I'm sure it will.
In my own mind, I am not convinced that I'm guilty.
For one reason, that however violent I've been, I have never killed before.
Before.
Never killed before.
If I could only remember, if I could just remember, why can't I?
Why can't I?
Why?
Why can't I remember?
As the passenger aboard the Fuller, I was called along with the crew to testify in both
of Mr. Bram's trials.
And each time, I stayed to hear him pronounced guilty by two separate courts of law of a
crime he steadfastly swore that he did not remember committing.
Suspense.
A true story presented by Auto Light.
Tonight's star, Mr. Richard Widmark.
And here he is once again, our star, Richard Widmark.
It's always good to have you aboard, Dick.
Thank you, Harlow.
I sort of feel like one of the family since this is my fourth appearance on Suspense this
season.
Well, you are a member of the family, Dick.
The Auto Light family, which includes 98,000 Auto Light distributors and dealers in the
United States, nearly 30,000 men and women in 28 great Auto Light plants from coast to
coast, and the 18,000 people who have invested a portion of their savings in Auto Light.
It's a big family, Harlow, and I'm proud to be included.
Now, we're all proud to be members of the Auto Light family, Dick, because Auto Light
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And every Auto Light product is backed by constant research and precision built to the
highest standards of quality and performance.
So remember, from bumper to tail light, you're always right with Auto Light.
Next week, the dramatic recreation of a race, five brave men made with death.
A true story based on the writings of one of those men.
Our star will be Mr. Herbert Marshall.
The story is called The Diary of Captain Scott, presented next week on Suspense.
Suspense is produced and directed by Elliot Lewis, with music composed by Lucian Morawick
and conducted by Lud Bluskin.
Mate Bram was written for Suspense by Gil Dowd.
In the cast were Joan Banks, Joseph Kearns, Ben Wright, Lou Merrill, Steve Roberts, Roy
Glenn, and Robert North.
Richard Widmark appeared through the courtesy of 20th Century Fox, producers of the Technicolor
Musical with A Song in My Heart, starring Susan Hayward.
And remember next week on Suspense, Mr. Herbert Marshall in The Diary of Captain Scott.
This is the CBS Radio Network.