1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:19,000 And now, tonight's presentation from radio's outstanding theater of thrills, Suspense. 2 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:22,120 Tonight, the story of a man who lost his shoes. 3 00:00:22,120 --> 00:00:26,080 And when you're suspected of murder and you've got to run for your life and the temperature 4 00:00:26,080 --> 00:00:31,080 is in the 90s, why then you're correct in saying it's too hot to live. 5 00:00:31,080 --> 00:00:36,080 Hey you, reloader! 6 00:00:36,080 --> 00:00:37,080 What? 7 00:00:37,080 --> 00:00:52,080 We don't sell tickets on this freight. 8 00:00:52,080 --> 00:00:55,080 It was empty, I didn't think anybody had mind. 9 00:00:55,080 --> 00:00:59,080 We're slowing down for a crossing, I don't want to find you when I come back. 10 00:00:59,080 --> 00:01:00,080 Where are we? 11 00:01:00,080 --> 00:01:02,080 Half mile from Marcus Junction. 12 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:03,080 Thanks. 13 00:01:03,080 --> 00:01:07,080 Forget the thanks, just beat it before somebody inquisitive starts asking questions. 14 00:01:07,080 --> 00:01:16,080 Yeah, don't they always? 15 00:01:16,080 --> 00:01:21,080 The train rolls by slowly and the crossing bell warns that death is here. 16 00:01:21,080 --> 00:01:23,080 I don't recognize it though. 17 00:01:23,080 --> 00:01:35,080 I walk towards Marcus Junction, towards death. 18 00:01:35,080 --> 00:01:39,080 The sun is 11 o'clock high and starting to pucker the tar road. 19 00:01:39,080 --> 00:01:41,080 I'm heading in. 20 00:01:41,080 --> 00:01:45,080 Sweat is beginning to streak through the old sun-tan uniform and my shoes are sucking tar 21 00:01:45,080 --> 00:01:47,080 every time I lift them. 22 00:01:47,080 --> 00:01:51,080 The sole of one boot busts loose and starts flapping against the road. 23 00:01:51,080 --> 00:01:53,080 That's bad. 24 00:01:53,080 --> 00:01:57,080 A drifter needs a good pair of shoes and I'm on the drift. 25 00:01:57,080 --> 00:02:01,080 Marcus Junction, no different than any thousand others like it. 26 00:02:01,080 --> 00:02:05,080 About a mile square of small buildings all pasted together. 27 00:02:05,080 --> 00:02:09,080 I walk a couple of blocks without finding a shoemaker. 28 00:02:09,080 --> 00:02:12,080 The town is almost empty this Saturday morning. 29 00:02:12,080 --> 00:02:16,080 And then a door opens ahead of me and a big man steps out. 30 00:02:16,080 --> 00:02:18,080 Really big, both ways. 31 00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:20,080 Big high and big wide. 32 00:02:20,080 --> 00:02:26,080 He's wearing steel rimmed glasses screwed up tight above the pug nose of his round face 33 00:02:26,080 --> 00:02:31,080 and six full inches of hat brim circle the pink flesh like a halo. 34 00:02:31,080 --> 00:02:34,080 Good morning, son. 35 00:02:34,080 --> 00:02:36,080 My name's Benjamin. 36 00:02:36,080 --> 00:02:37,080 Benjamin Martin. 37 00:02:37,080 --> 00:02:39,080 Good morning, Mr. Martin. 38 00:02:39,080 --> 00:02:40,080 Benjamin, son. 39 00:02:40,080 --> 00:02:42,080 Call me Benjamin. 40 00:02:42,080 --> 00:02:47,080 That's the handle that shakes this pump. 41 00:02:47,080 --> 00:02:49,080 What's yours, boy? 42 00:02:49,080 --> 00:02:50,080 Jeff Casey. 43 00:02:50,080 --> 00:02:52,080 Jeffrey or Jefferson? 44 00:02:52,080 --> 00:02:53,080 Jefferson. 45 00:02:53,080 --> 00:02:54,080 Jefferson. 46 00:02:54,080 --> 00:02:55,080 That's a good name. 47 00:02:55,080 --> 00:03:02,080 Now, don't think I'm changing the subject, but where could I get this fixed, Benjamin? 48 00:03:02,080 --> 00:03:05,080 Well, pretty socks. 49 00:03:05,080 --> 00:03:07,080 They are at that. 50 00:03:07,080 --> 00:03:09,080 But who will take care of this shoe? 51 00:03:09,080 --> 00:03:12,080 Yeah, I'm going down to Stacy's for a coke. 52 00:03:12,080 --> 00:03:14,080 Shoe fixer's right next door. 53 00:03:14,080 --> 00:03:18,080 Come along, Jefferson. 54 00:03:18,080 --> 00:03:23,080 On my turn I see his left side, gun holstered high up on his hip 55 00:03:23,080 --> 00:03:27,080 and the gold star with the word sheriff glinting in the sunlight. 56 00:03:27,080 --> 00:03:30,080 Still wearing your old army clothes. 57 00:03:30,080 --> 00:03:33,080 I hear those duds wear like iron. 58 00:03:33,080 --> 00:03:37,080 You just throw them away when they start to rust. 59 00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:39,080 Uniforms wear forever. 60 00:03:39,080 --> 00:03:41,080 I believe you've seen their last war. 61 00:03:41,080 --> 00:03:42,080 Where were you in, boy? 62 00:03:42,080 --> 00:03:43,080 Air Corps. 63 00:03:43,080 --> 00:03:44,080 Captain. 64 00:03:44,080 --> 00:03:48,080 Uniform, sweet pay, and lots of respect. 65 00:03:48,080 --> 00:03:50,080 You miss it, Jefferson? 66 00:03:50,080 --> 00:03:52,080 Maybe I do. 67 00:03:52,080 --> 00:03:54,080 What are you looking for now? 68 00:03:54,080 --> 00:03:58,080 I'm not looking for anything, just living, more or less. 69 00:03:58,080 --> 00:04:01,080 A man ought to find more to do with his life than that. 70 00:04:01,080 --> 00:04:03,080 It's all the same to me. 71 00:04:03,080 --> 00:04:07,080 I could die today and it wouldn't make any difference to me or anyone else. 72 00:04:07,080 --> 00:04:12,080 You've got a bad taste in your mouth, but you'll spit it out someday. 73 00:04:12,080 --> 00:04:16,080 Eee, daddy like this weather. 74 00:04:16,080 --> 00:04:20,080 If it gets any warmer, it'll be almost too hot to live. 75 00:04:20,080 --> 00:04:23,080 In a manner of speaking, you understand. 76 00:04:23,080 --> 00:04:25,080 Yeah, I understand. 77 00:04:25,080 --> 00:04:27,080 Well, here's a shoe repair. 78 00:04:27,080 --> 00:04:29,080 I'll be next door. 79 00:04:29,080 --> 00:04:33,080 Leave your shoes and waddle in on them pretty socks of yours. 80 00:04:33,080 --> 00:04:36,080 I'll buy you a drink, Coke or coffee. 81 00:04:36,080 --> 00:04:40,080 The shoemaker tells me that my shoes will take a couple of hours, 82 00:04:40,080 --> 00:04:43,080 so I start next door to join Benjamin. 83 00:04:43,080 --> 00:04:47,080 I don't know, maybe I'm feeling pretty good, but I pull an old schoolboy trick of mine. 84 00:04:47,080 --> 00:04:52,080 I take off my socks, roll them up and throw them on the counter with my shoes. 85 00:04:52,080 --> 00:04:58,080 Then I walk outside to feel a cool shaded cement trickle up through the bottom of my bare feet. 86 00:04:58,080 --> 00:05:03,080 Through the store window next door, I see the four people in the restaurant. 87 00:05:03,080 --> 00:05:06,080 Benjamin waves for me to come in. 88 00:05:06,080 --> 00:05:14,080 Inside the entrance, a blonde sliver of a man who's showing about three inches of wrist and shin bone below the edges of his clothes. 89 00:05:14,080 --> 00:05:19,080 The squat moon-faced grill man has his Popeyes focused intently on the argument. 90 00:05:19,080 --> 00:05:26,080 His flabby hands, purple-red from too much hot soapy water and frying grease, make fluttering passes at a fly. 91 00:05:26,080 --> 00:05:30,080 Now look, I want you to get out of here once and for all. 92 00:05:30,080 --> 00:05:35,080 I go in, brushing past the argument, walk over to Benjamin and sit on the next stool. 93 00:05:35,080 --> 00:05:38,080 And I shall return. Though she's scared, I must run. 94 00:05:38,080 --> 00:05:39,080 Hi, Jefferson. 95 00:05:39,080 --> 00:05:40,080 Hi, Benjamin, came for the coffee. 96 00:05:40,080 --> 00:05:43,080 In a minute, Rachel's about finished. 97 00:05:43,080 --> 00:05:49,080 And all her sins was find her out. She's a Jezebel and kin only to the devil. 98 00:05:49,080 --> 00:05:52,080 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You'll find it on the menu next week. 99 00:05:52,080 --> 00:05:55,080 Now find yourself a street corner and get it out of your system. 100 00:05:55,080 --> 00:06:00,080 Oh, you are bad, bad beyond all hope. 101 00:06:00,080 --> 00:06:03,080 See you around, Pop. I don't hope. 102 00:06:03,080 --> 00:06:05,080 The girl plays rough. 103 00:06:05,080 --> 00:06:11,080 Well, that's just Rachel's way, Jefferson. I see you lean to bare feet. 104 00:06:11,080 --> 00:06:13,080 What's your friend having, Buster? 105 00:06:13,080 --> 00:06:15,080 Benjamin, Rachel, Benjamin. 106 00:06:15,080 --> 00:06:21,080 Maybe smart to tack nicknames on people, but my folks figured me for a Benjamin and I like it that way. 107 00:06:21,080 --> 00:06:23,080 Sure, Buster. What'll it be, soldier? 108 00:06:23,080 --> 00:06:28,080 Black coffee, lady. And don't let the uniform throw you. I'm no soldier anymore. 109 00:06:28,080 --> 00:06:37,080 The Hollywood line of her mouth twists up into a lopsided kind of inviting grin as she turns to get the coffee. 110 00:06:37,080 --> 00:06:43,080 I watch the dark shadows that follow the rippling lines of her uniform when she moves. 111 00:06:43,080 --> 00:06:47,080 Rachel is quite a woman. All woman. 112 00:06:47,080 --> 00:06:51,080 Coffee, barefoot. Like you, soldier. 113 00:06:51,080 --> 00:06:54,080 Hey, your friend's real pretty, Buster. 114 00:06:54,080 --> 00:06:56,080 Yeah, you think everybody's pretty. 115 00:06:56,080 --> 00:07:00,080 Oh, but he's a doll. You be around long, soldier? 116 00:07:00,080 --> 00:07:04,080 Long enough to get my shoes fixed, Rachel. 117 00:07:04,080 --> 00:07:08,080 Rachel, that name doesn't go with you. 118 00:07:08,080 --> 00:07:14,080 It's a name. Too bad you're moving on so soon. New faces are scarce around here. 119 00:07:14,080 --> 00:07:17,080 Especially one like yours. 120 00:07:17,080 --> 00:07:25,080 Well, I got some law to enforce. Will I see you before you go, Jefferson? 121 00:07:25,080 --> 00:07:26,080 I'll find you, Benjamin. 122 00:07:26,080 --> 00:07:32,080 Do that, boy. I'm afraid to face that heat out there. Now, you behave yourself, Rachel. 123 00:07:32,080 --> 00:07:35,080 Yeah, yeah, yes, well. 124 00:07:35,080 --> 00:07:38,080 You like playing it tough? 125 00:07:38,080 --> 00:07:44,080 Under it all beats a heart of gold. Tell me what it's like in the world outside, soldier. 126 00:07:44,080 --> 00:07:46,080 Hey, Rachel, why don't you put up some more coffee? 127 00:07:46,080 --> 00:07:49,080 Tandy your bacon, lover. I got company. 128 00:07:49,080 --> 00:07:50,080 Your boyfriend? 129 00:07:50,080 --> 00:07:55,080 Loverboy there? Oh, no, that's Kenny. He's keeping company with a hot grill. 130 00:07:55,080 --> 00:07:57,080 You ought to talk about me like that, Rachel. It's not right. 131 00:07:57,080 --> 00:08:02,080 Well, then don't bother me while I'm with my friends. 132 00:08:02,080 --> 00:08:05,080 Hey, soldier, I'm off about now. 133 00:08:05,080 --> 00:08:07,080 Why don't you and me go out to carnival for a couple of hours, huh? 134 00:08:07,080 --> 00:08:09,080 You let her alone. Don't go with her, you hear? 135 00:08:09,080 --> 00:08:15,080 Yeah, I hear, Kenny. I'd like to, Rachel, but how do I go barefoot? 136 00:08:15,080 --> 00:08:17,080 Oh, forget. 137 00:08:17,080 --> 00:08:20,080 Got any other ideas? 138 00:08:20,080 --> 00:08:25,080 Yeah, matter of fact, I live upstairs over this greasy spool. 139 00:08:25,080 --> 00:08:29,080 Let's go up and mix ourselves something cool while we wait for your shoes. 140 00:08:29,080 --> 00:08:32,080 You can't do that. It isn't nice. It don't look right. 141 00:08:32,080 --> 00:08:35,080 Don't it? Let's go, Rachel. 142 00:08:35,080 --> 00:08:38,080 Don't. You can't. I'll stop you. 143 00:08:38,080 --> 00:08:42,080 Go hash some potatoes, lover. My arm, soldier. 144 00:08:42,080 --> 00:08:47,080 No, no, Rachel. I'll get someone to tend here. I'll come right up. 145 00:08:47,080 --> 00:08:50,080 You do and I'll barbecue you on your own grill. 146 00:08:53,080 --> 00:08:58,080 We go out and my feet scruff over the shaded pavement as we pass through the doorway on the left. 147 00:08:58,080 --> 00:09:06,080 I follow her up a flight of stairs and into a small box-like apartment, living room, bedroom, kitchen and bathroom. 148 00:09:06,080 --> 00:09:09,080 Be it ever so humble, this is home. 149 00:09:09,080 --> 00:09:12,080 Let's kick out a wall or something. 150 00:09:12,080 --> 00:09:15,080 The windows don't help much, but the drinks will. 151 00:09:15,080 --> 00:09:18,080 Why do you have to lean into the kitchen? Why not just walk in? 152 00:09:18,080 --> 00:09:22,080 Fresh varnish on the floor. The heat don't let it dry. 153 00:09:22,080 --> 00:09:25,080 It's a long reach for a long drink. 154 00:09:25,080 --> 00:09:27,080 It's a long day. 155 00:09:30,080 --> 00:09:33,080 There you go, soldier. 156 00:09:33,080 --> 00:09:35,080 Don't you believe in mixing anything with your liquor? 157 00:09:35,080 --> 00:09:39,080 What for? The cubes will melt. 158 00:09:39,080 --> 00:09:43,080 Now, what do we drink to, soldier? 159 00:09:43,080 --> 00:09:44,080 The heat. 160 00:09:44,080 --> 00:09:49,080 The heat. Cools you off, don't it? 161 00:09:50,080 --> 00:09:53,080 It burns its way down my stomach and explodes. 162 00:09:53,080 --> 00:09:55,080 That's good, ain't it, soldier? 163 00:09:55,080 --> 00:09:58,080 My pores open and the perspiration oozes down. 164 00:09:58,080 --> 00:10:00,080 Here, let's have another. Don't let it wear off. 165 00:10:00,080 --> 00:10:02,080 She's still talking, but I'm going numb. 166 00:10:02,080 --> 00:10:04,080 Let's drink to my catch. 167 00:10:04,080 --> 00:10:07,080 No heat, no food. 168 00:10:07,080 --> 00:10:10,080 I shouldn't be drinking. Who cares? 169 00:10:10,080 --> 00:10:12,080 You're a real cute soldier. 170 00:10:12,080 --> 00:10:15,080 I'm getting foggy. Let's drink down to your touch. 171 00:10:15,080 --> 00:10:17,080 She's drifting closer. 172 00:10:17,080 --> 00:10:20,080 I don't know who kisses who first. 173 00:10:20,080 --> 00:10:22,080 Oh, yeah, you're real pretty. 174 00:10:22,080 --> 00:10:26,080 Bitter tears. Tears of loneliness and regret. 175 00:10:26,080 --> 00:10:28,080 Another drink, huh? Hey! 176 00:10:28,080 --> 00:10:32,080 Everything is moving around like feathers in a high wind. 177 00:10:32,080 --> 00:10:34,080 You're a real cute soldier, isn't it? 178 00:10:34,080 --> 00:10:37,080 And sometimes one drifts in through the fog. 179 00:10:37,080 --> 00:10:39,080 How? 180 00:10:43,080 --> 00:10:45,080 We're drinking. 181 00:10:45,080 --> 00:10:48,080 How many? I don't know. 182 00:10:48,080 --> 00:10:52,080 Breathing, sucking down scorching air, 183 00:10:52,080 --> 00:10:56,080 hot, damp waves of heat suffocating. 184 00:10:56,080 --> 00:10:58,080 She's close. 185 00:10:58,080 --> 00:11:02,080 Can smell perfume, cheap like tin earrings. 186 00:11:02,080 --> 00:11:04,080 Black rolling in. 187 00:11:04,080 --> 00:11:09,080 Black velvet in the shimmering heat. 188 00:11:09,080 --> 00:11:13,080 Wavering like plucking a taut string. 189 00:11:13,080 --> 00:11:28,080 Wavering, wavering, wavering. 190 00:11:28,080 --> 00:11:31,080 There's a steady sound, sharp, smart little cracks. 191 00:11:31,080 --> 00:11:33,080 All right. 192 00:11:33,080 --> 00:11:35,080 I tear my eyelids apart and a flash of ceiling whirls by. 193 00:11:35,080 --> 00:11:37,080 All right, come on. 194 00:11:37,080 --> 00:11:40,080 A purple-red mass is coming toward my face, and when it hits... 195 00:11:40,080 --> 00:11:44,080 There's a sound in the ceiling moving the other way. 196 00:11:44,080 --> 00:11:48,080 A frozen kind of pain is seeping through to my brain, 197 00:11:48,080 --> 00:11:50,080 and I can make out a voice now. 198 00:11:50,080 --> 00:11:53,080 I get my hand up to my face and wipe my eyes. 199 00:11:53,080 --> 00:11:56,080 My hand comes away wet and sticky and red. 200 00:11:56,080 --> 00:11:59,080 The ugly purple mass comes. 201 00:11:59,080 --> 00:12:02,080 Awake now? Swell. 202 00:12:02,080 --> 00:12:04,080 I got something for you. 203 00:12:04,080 --> 00:12:06,080 Over there, in the corner of the kitchen. 204 00:12:06,080 --> 00:12:08,080 See how she's lying there? 205 00:12:08,080 --> 00:12:10,080 Take your hands off me. 206 00:12:10,080 --> 00:12:12,080 That's how I found her. 207 00:12:12,080 --> 00:12:15,080 You beside her and your filthy hands still tight around her throat. 208 00:12:15,080 --> 00:12:18,080 What's the matter with my hands? 209 00:12:18,080 --> 00:12:20,080 Sticky, wet. 210 00:12:20,080 --> 00:12:22,080 That's varnish and blood, your blood. 211 00:12:22,080 --> 00:12:24,080 See that knife in her hand? 212 00:12:24,080 --> 00:12:26,080 She cut you trying to stop you. 213 00:12:26,080 --> 00:12:28,080 You killed her. 214 00:12:28,080 --> 00:12:34,080 You killed Rachel. 215 00:12:34,080 --> 00:12:37,080 He doesn't make any kind of sense. 216 00:12:37,080 --> 00:12:40,080 The bathroom door is open, and I stagger towards it, 217 00:12:40,080 --> 00:12:44,080 stepping on broken glass, pain stinging, remembering bare feet. 218 00:12:44,080 --> 00:12:47,080 The open shower waiting for me. 219 00:12:47,080 --> 00:12:50,080 I turn the handle to the cold water and half throw myself 220 00:12:50,080 --> 00:12:53,080 into the shock of the cold stream. 221 00:12:53,080 --> 00:12:55,080 I'm coming alive. 222 00:12:55,080 --> 00:12:57,080 The reaction's setting in. 223 00:12:57,080 --> 00:12:59,080 Fright. 224 00:12:59,080 --> 00:13:01,080 He said I'd killed her. 225 00:13:01,080 --> 00:13:04,080 Hey, Sheriff. Benjamin, hey, Benjamin, come up here. 226 00:13:04,080 --> 00:13:06,080 I got a dirty killer for you. 227 00:13:06,080 --> 00:13:09,080 That lousy friend of yours killed Rachel. 228 00:13:09,080 --> 00:13:11,080 Come and get him. 229 00:13:15,080 --> 00:13:18,080 Kenny shouting out the window in the other room to Benjamin. 230 00:13:18,080 --> 00:13:20,080 I gotta get away, gotta think. 231 00:13:20,080 --> 00:13:22,080 What happened, what? 232 00:13:22,080 --> 00:13:25,080 I get through the bathroom window out into the glare of the sun, 233 00:13:25,080 --> 00:13:28,080 and my feet hit the scalding car of the marquee. 234 00:13:28,080 --> 00:13:31,080 I scramble across it, drop to the street, a narrow alley, 235 00:13:31,080 --> 00:13:34,080 and I'm running down it toward the fence that blocks off the far end. 236 00:13:34,080 --> 00:13:37,080 A garbage can near the fence and a woman putting something into it. 237 00:13:37,080 --> 00:13:39,080 I jump, reaching for the fence. 238 00:13:39,080 --> 00:13:41,080 Hey, what do you think you're doing? 239 00:13:41,080 --> 00:13:42,080 Let me go, let go. 240 00:13:42,080 --> 00:13:44,080 Pick up that garbage, you crazy. 241 00:13:44,080 --> 00:13:45,080 Let go, I didn't do it. 242 00:13:45,080 --> 00:13:47,080 What do you mean? I saw you kick it over. 243 00:13:47,080 --> 00:13:48,080 I'm not gonna clean up that mess. 244 00:13:48,080 --> 00:13:50,080 I didn't kill her. Take your hands off me. 245 00:13:50,080 --> 00:13:51,080 Why would I kill Rachel? 246 00:13:51,080 --> 00:13:53,080 Why would you kill? 247 00:13:53,080 --> 00:14:08,080 All right, Jefferson, come along and tell me why you killed Rachel. 248 00:14:08,080 --> 00:14:12,080 You are listening to Mr. Sam Edwards in Sam Rolfe's story, 249 00:14:12,080 --> 00:14:16,080 Too Hot to Live, tonight's presentation in radio's outstanding 250 00:14:16,080 --> 00:14:29,080 theater of thrills, Suspense. 251 00:14:29,080 --> 00:14:32,080 Bachelor would be completely safe was on a stag line. 252 00:14:32,080 --> 00:14:35,080 Usually, of course, there's no more secure terrain, 253 00:14:35,080 --> 00:14:38,080 but a couple of slick swindlers figure out a new wrinkle in crime, 254 00:14:38,080 --> 00:14:43,080 and the stag line becomes the focal point for a neat, ruthless racket. 255 00:14:43,080 --> 00:14:46,080 Hear the complete story of the stag line swindlers tomorrow night 256 00:14:46,080 --> 00:14:52,080 when CBS radio presents the FBI in Peace and War on most of these same stations. 257 00:14:52,080 --> 00:14:56,080 And now we bring back to our Hollywood sound stage Mr. Sam Edwards 258 00:14:56,080 --> 00:15:00,080 in Elliot Lewis's production of Too Hot to Live, 259 00:15:00,080 --> 00:15:05,080 a tale well calculated to keep you in suspense. 260 00:15:05,080 --> 00:15:18,080 Benjamin is leading me out into the sweltering street again. 261 00:15:18,080 --> 00:15:23,080 The sun burns into my flesh, accusing, as if to cause the murder 262 00:15:23,080 --> 00:15:26,080 to flow out of my open pores. 263 00:15:26,080 --> 00:15:31,080 And Benjamin walks beside me again, not holding me, just talking, 264 00:15:31,080 --> 00:15:35,080 asking questions, which I can't answer. 265 00:15:35,080 --> 00:15:36,080 Why'd you do it, son? 266 00:15:36,080 --> 00:15:40,080 I didn't kill her, Benjamin. I don't remember, but I... 267 00:15:40,080 --> 00:15:44,080 You don't sound sure, Jefferson. Now, don't you know? 268 00:15:44,080 --> 00:15:47,080 We were drinking. I blacked out. 269 00:15:47,080 --> 00:15:51,080 Drunk unconscious. You could still move around. 270 00:15:51,080 --> 00:15:53,080 You could do what was done in that apartment. 271 00:15:53,080 --> 00:15:56,080 But I couldn't. Why would I want to do a thing like that? 272 00:15:56,080 --> 00:16:01,080 Maybe you played it too rough. Maybe she tried to stop you, 273 00:16:01,080 --> 00:16:04,080 cut you with a knife. Why'd you run away? 274 00:16:04,080 --> 00:16:09,080 I... I was scared. Kenny said my hands were around her throat. 275 00:16:09,080 --> 00:16:11,080 Blood, varnish, heat. 276 00:16:11,080 --> 00:16:13,080 Remember anything? 277 00:16:13,080 --> 00:16:19,080 Rachel. Sprawling a gummy floor. I can't remember. 278 00:16:19,080 --> 00:16:21,080 Yeah? I'll have to lock you up, 279 00:16:21,080 --> 00:16:24,080 and then I'll go back and have a good look around. 280 00:16:24,080 --> 00:16:26,080 Maybe I'll find something. 281 00:16:26,080 --> 00:16:28,080 And if you don't... 282 00:16:28,080 --> 00:16:30,080 Rachel's dead, Jefferson. 283 00:16:30,080 --> 00:16:33,080 Wasn't premeditated, but that don't excuse it. 284 00:16:33,080 --> 00:16:35,080 She's still dead. 285 00:16:39,080 --> 00:16:41,080 They'll try to hang me. 286 00:16:41,080 --> 00:16:45,080 Why can't I remember what happened? What led to this? 287 00:16:45,080 --> 00:16:48,080 The sweats rolling down Benjamin's forehead, 288 00:16:48,080 --> 00:16:52,080 collecting along the top of his glasses, sliding into his eyes. 289 00:16:52,080 --> 00:16:55,080 They smart and snapped shut. 290 00:16:55,080 --> 00:16:58,080 He has to stop, try to rub the sting away. 291 00:16:58,080 --> 00:17:02,080 I slap the glasses, knocking off his face, and grab for his gun. 292 00:17:02,080 --> 00:17:04,080 His arm comes down, fast, hard, chopping at my hand, 293 00:17:04,080 --> 00:17:07,080 numbing the arm to the shoulder, and the gun falls to the road. 294 00:17:07,080 --> 00:17:09,080 I run, hobbling up and down, lopsided. 295 00:17:09,080 --> 00:17:10,080 Jefferson! 296 00:17:10,080 --> 00:17:13,080 Trying to get away from Benjamin, from the burning and torn feet under me. 297 00:17:13,080 --> 00:17:16,080 Come back! You can't get far, I'll get you anyway! 298 00:17:18,080 --> 00:17:21,080 I'm running again down the burning streets, out to the end of town. 299 00:17:21,080 --> 00:17:24,080 Toward the railroad, now off the searing pavement. 300 00:17:24,080 --> 00:17:28,080 But jagged rocks and sharp brush tear at the numb pain that is my feet. 301 00:17:28,080 --> 00:17:31,080 I run till my legs slide away from under me, 302 00:17:31,080 --> 00:17:34,080 then crawl, dragging a body that has no feeling. 303 00:17:34,080 --> 00:17:37,080 A dead weight that robs my arms of their strength. 304 00:17:37,080 --> 00:17:41,080 And finally, steel rails glisten ahead as I lay sprawled out, 305 00:17:41,080 --> 00:17:44,080 heart and lungs going crazy in my body. 306 00:17:44,080 --> 00:17:47,080 Something starts down in my chest, 307 00:17:47,080 --> 00:17:50,080 spreads up to my throat, spilling out of my mouth. 308 00:17:50,080 --> 00:17:52,080 I run, hob! 309 00:18:00,080 --> 00:18:04,080 An hour has passed, and the sun is moving away towards the west. 310 00:18:05,080 --> 00:18:08,080 No trains have passed, but it's all right. 311 00:18:09,080 --> 00:18:11,080 I know what I have to do now. 312 00:18:11,080 --> 00:18:15,080 Find Kenny, and one way or another force him to tell the truth, 313 00:18:15,080 --> 00:18:17,080 for he must be lying. 314 00:18:17,080 --> 00:18:22,080 I lick my handkerchief, and wipe the dried blood off my hands and feet. 315 00:18:22,080 --> 00:18:27,080 Comb my hair, throw away the army shirt, and move back to town. 316 00:18:27,080 --> 00:18:32,080 Stepping gently, I make my way up the back streets to the restaurant. 317 00:18:32,080 --> 00:18:36,080 Pulling my pants down low to cover as much of my bare feet as possible, 318 00:18:36,080 --> 00:18:38,080 I step inside. 319 00:18:38,080 --> 00:18:41,080 There's a stranger behind the counter. 320 00:18:41,080 --> 00:18:42,080 Well, howdy. 321 00:18:42,080 --> 00:18:44,080 Hi. 322 00:18:44,080 --> 00:18:46,080 Where's everybody in this town? 323 00:18:46,080 --> 00:18:48,080 Oh, most are out at the carnival. 324 00:18:48,080 --> 00:18:50,080 Some are looking for a killer roaming around. 325 00:18:50,080 --> 00:18:52,080 I heard about him. 326 00:18:52,080 --> 00:18:55,080 Heard he was picked up a couple of miles out. 327 00:18:55,080 --> 00:18:57,080 They got him. Good deal. 328 00:18:57,080 --> 00:18:59,080 You know, Rachel worked here. 329 00:18:59,080 --> 00:19:01,080 Yeah, I know. 330 00:19:01,080 --> 00:19:03,080 Say, where's Kenny? 331 00:19:03,080 --> 00:19:05,080 Oh, he's out at the Clovis place. 332 00:19:05,080 --> 00:19:09,080 He wanted to be the one to tell Rachel's folks about, you know. 333 00:19:09,080 --> 00:19:13,080 I guess I ought to go out there and pick him up. 334 00:19:13,080 --> 00:19:14,080 I don't know the place, too. 335 00:19:14,080 --> 00:19:15,080 Well, how do I get there? 336 00:19:15,080 --> 00:19:17,080 Oh, just follow this road down. 337 00:19:17,080 --> 00:19:20,080 About a half mile out of town, you'll find a dirt cutoff. 338 00:19:20,080 --> 00:19:21,080 Can't miss the mailbox. 339 00:19:21,080 --> 00:19:22,080 Thanks. 340 00:19:22,080 --> 00:19:24,080 Say, if you miss him, who'll I say was asking? 341 00:19:24,080 --> 00:19:27,080 Just tell him his cousin Jim was here. 342 00:19:27,080 --> 00:19:29,080 Well, pleased to have met... 343 00:19:29,080 --> 00:19:31,080 Hey, you ain't wearing shoes. 344 00:19:31,080 --> 00:19:34,080 You, you're the one. You're the killer. 345 00:19:37,080 --> 00:19:39,080 Run, run, run again. 346 00:19:39,080 --> 00:19:40,080 Another alley. 347 00:19:40,080 --> 00:19:44,080 Blistering pavements, cement ripping, and the jagged rocks again. 348 00:19:44,080 --> 00:19:46,080 Time is running, too. Running out. 349 00:19:46,080 --> 00:19:48,080 Benjamin will know where I'm going. 350 00:19:48,080 --> 00:19:50,080 Out to the main highway. 351 00:19:50,080 --> 00:19:52,080 Hands pulled low and thumb up in the air. 352 00:19:52,080 --> 00:19:54,080 Here comes my ride. 353 00:19:54,080 --> 00:19:56,080 He's got to stop. Got to stop. 354 00:19:56,080 --> 00:19:58,080 Please. 355 00:20:00,080 --> 00:20:02,080 Pepper, instead. 356 00:20:02,080 --> 00:20:04,080 Thanks, mister. Thanks a lot. 357 00:20:04,080 --> 00:20:06,080 You're welcome, but I'm not going far. 358 00:20:06,080 --> 00:20:09,080 I'm just going out to the Clovis farm. 359 00:20:09,080 --> 00:20:10,080 That's about... 360 00:20:10,080 --> 00:20:12,080 I know the place. 361 00:20:12,080 --> 00:20:13,080 Why are you going there now? 362 00:20:13,080 --> 00:20:16,080 I'm a cousin of Kenny's. I'm going to meet him out there. 363 00:20:16,080 --> 00:20:19,080 Oh. I don't place here. 364 00:20:19,080 --> 00:20:21,080 I'm visiting from back east. 365 00:20:21,080 --> 00:20:23,080 You're not wearing shoes. 366 00:20:23,080 --> 00:20:26,080 Ha. Yeah. 367 00:20:26,080 --> 00:20:28,080 That's a silly thing. 368 00:20:28,080 --> 00:20:32,080 I lost my shoes while wading barefoot in a stream. 369 00:20:32,080 --> 00:20:33,080 Didn't help my feet any. 370 00:20:33,080 --> 00:20:36,080 What stream is that for? 371 00:20:36,080 --> 00:20:39,080 You know the one. I don't know the name of it. 372 00:20:39,080 --> 00:20:41,080 It's out there in the woods. 373 00:20:41,080 --> 00:20:45,080 Yeah. I think I know the one. 374 00:20:45,080 --> 00:20:48,080 This is the dirt road you want. 375 00:20:48,080 --> 00:20:50,080 House is over the rise. 376 00:20:50,080 --> 00:20:52,080 Thanks again. 377 00:20:52,080 --> 00:20:54,080 See ya. 378 00:21:01,080 --> 00:21:04,080 I limp up the rising dirt path. 379 00:21:04,080 --> 00:21:07,080 At the top I turn for a look at my ride. 380 00:21:07,080 --> 00:21:10,080 He's swinging around towards town. 381 00:21:10,080 --> 00:21:13,080 Benjamin will get to me. And soon. 382 00:21:13,080 --> 00:21:18,080 An old two-storied farmhouse rises out of the cleared fields around me. 383 00:21:18,080 --> 00:21:24,080 A big gray barn stands off near the house and two old cars are sitting empty behind it. 384 00:21:24,080 --> 00:21:27,080 Kenny's got to come to one of them. 385 00:21:27,080 --> 00:21:29,080 I'll wait. 386 00:21:29,080 --> 00:21:32,080 Time still running out and away from me. 387 00:21:32,080 --> 00:21:37,080 Little shimmering waves of heat rise off the tin hoods of the cars. 388 00:21:37,080 --> 00:21:39,080 Here he comes. 389 00:21:39,080 --> 00:21:42,080 Now or never. 390 00:21:42,080 --> 00:21:44,080 Hey! 391 00:21:44,080 --> 00:21:47,080 Quiet! Quiet or I'll break your back! 392 00:21:47,080 --> 00:21:49,080 I want the truth, Kenny. 393 00:21:49,080 --> 00:21:51,080 The truth if I have to kill you for it. 394 00:21:51,080 --> 00:21:52,080 I didn't kill Rachel. 395 00:21:52,080 --> 00:21:53,080 You did. 396 00:21:53,080 --> 00:21:56,080 I didn't. I didn't. I didn't. 397 00:21:56,080 --> 00:21:59,080 You killed her. You were crazy jealous. 398 00:21:59,080 --> 00:22:00,080 No! 399 00:22:00,080 --> 00:22:03,080 Yes! You came to check up. You found us drunk and you got wild. You killed her. 400 00:22:03,080 --> 00:22:05,080 I didn't. I can prove it. 401 00:22:05,080 --> 00:22:06,080 Prove it? 402 00:22:06,080 --> 00:22:10,080 There wasn't three minutes between the time I left the restaurant and the time I called Benjamin. 403 00:22:10,080 --> 00:22:13,080 Not enough time to get up there, kill her and bring you around. 404 00:22:13,080 --> 00:22:14,080 Three minutes? 405 00:22:14,080 --> 00:22:17,080 I can prove it. That's all the time. 406 00:22:17,080 --> 00:22:20,080 You did it. You have cut hands from her knife. 407 00:22:20,080 --> 00:22:23,080 Those hands were still around her throat when I came in. You killed Rachel. 408 00:22:27,080 --> 00:22:30,080 And there it is. He isn't lying about the three minutes. 409 00:22:30,080 --> 00:22:34,080 That gloating smirk on his face tells me that I had killed her. 410 00:22:34,080 --> 00:22:37,080 The horror of this afternoon had been for nothing. 411 00:22:37,080 --> 00:22:41,080 I'd tried to save my life. Instead I'd proven myself guilty. 412 00:22:41,080 --> 00:22:44,080 Tied the rope finally and for all time around my neck. 413 00:22:44,080 --> 00:22:47,080 Shoot him! Don't just stand there, shoot! 414 00:22:47,080 --> 00:22:49,080 He's the man who killed your daughter. 415 00:22:53,080 --> 00:23:01,080 He stands there watching the gaunt sliver of a man with shins and freshly scarred wrists exposed below the edges of his clothing. 416 00:23:01,080 --> 00:23:04,080 A double-barrel shotgun is cradled in his arms when he just looks at me. 417 00:23:04,080 --> 00:23:07,080 A wild fire striking out of the black pupils of his eyes. 418 00:23:07,080 --> 00:23:11,080 Shoot him! He killed your daughter! He killed Rachel! 419 00:23:11,080 --> 00:23:15,080 So you're her father. I thought it was a nickname. 420 00:23:15,080 --> 00:23:18,080 She was no daughter of mine. 421 00:23:18,080 --> 00:23:23,080 She was born to me and I named her Rachel from the Bible. 422 00:23:23,080 --> 00:23:26,080 But she was the daughter of Satan. 423 00:23:26,080 --> 00:23:28,080 I'm sorry, Mr. Clovis. 424 00:23:28,080 --> 00:23:30,080 Shoot him! Because of him Rachel is dead. 425 00:23:30,080 --> 00:23:33,080 She turned away from me. 426 00:23:33,080 --> 00:23:36,080 But within me the voice was strong. 427 00:23:36,080 --> 00:23:41,080 I followed her begging, reading to her from the book. 428 00:23:41,080 --> 00:23:44,080 To the place where she lived, where she worked. 429 00:23:44,080 --> 00:23:47,080 But she turned me away with curses. 430 00:23:47,080 --> 00:23:50,080 I'm sorry, I was drunk, crazy. 431 00:23:50,080 --> 00:23:56,080 In that apartment, the stench of drink like an evil cloud. 432 00:23:56,080 --> 00:24:01,080 You lying there, drunk with a devilish fever. 433 00:24:01,080 --> 00:24:03,080 You... you were there! 434 00:24:03,080 --> 00:24:05,080 Shut up, you crazy old fool! 435 00:24:05,080 --> 00:24:08,080 She took a knife to drive me out. 436 00:24:08,080 --> 00:24:15,080 These scars on my wrists, vile words, attacked me. 437 00:24:15,080 --> 00:24:19,080 And it came to me like a voice from on high. 438 00:24:19,080 --> 00:24:22,080 I knew what I must do. 439 00:24:22,080 --> 00:24:25,080 You killed her! It wasn't me, it was you! 440 00:24:25,080 --> 00:24:27,080 I knew you couldn't keep your mouth shut. 441 00:24:27,080 --> 00:24:29,080 You knew he did it, Kenny. 442 00:24:29,080 --> 00:24:32,080 You tried to make me believe I'd been the one. Why? 443 00:24:32,080 --> 00:24:35,080 You... you and tramps like you. 444 00:24:35,080 --> 00:24:38,080 Always keeping her from me. 445 00:24:38,080 --> 00:24:40,080 Coming along every time. 446 00:24:40,080 --> 00:24:42,080 I couldn't know this, Kenny. 447 00:24:42,080 --> 00:24:47,080 You didn't care. You laughed at me, made Rachel laugh at me. 448 00:24:47,080 --> 00:24:50,080 I passed the old man when I went up. 449 00:24:50,080 --> 00:24:52,080 I knew as soon as I walked into the room. 450 00:24:52,080 --> 00:24:54,080 And you tried to blame it on me. 451 00:24:54,080 --> 00:24:56,080 It wasn't the crazy old goat who killed her. 452 00:24:56,080 --> 00:24:58,080 It was you and men like you. 453 00:24:58,080 --> 00:24:59,080 She would have married me. 454 00:24:59,080 --> 00:25:02,080 But you and your kind came along. 455 00:25:02,080 --> 00:25:05,080 I hate you. You did kill her. 456 00:25:05,080 --> 00:25:07,080 And you'll die for it. 457 00:25:07,080 --> 00:25:08,080 Give me the gun, old man. 458 00:25:08,080 --> 00:25:10,080 No, no, Kenny, not now. 459 00:25:10,080 --> 00:25:12,080 Turn around, soldier. 460 00:25:12,080 --> 00:25:14,080 Turn around and see it when it happens. 461 00:25:14,080 --> 00:25:16,080 What of your gun, Kenneth? 462 00:25:16,080 --> 00:25:18,080 No. 463 00:25:18,080 --> 00:25:19,080 No! 464 00:25:19,080 --> 00:25:24,080 Ow! 465 00:25:29,080 --> 00:25:31,080 All right, Jefferson. 466 00:25:31,080 --> 00:25:33,080 We'll go home now. 467 00:25:33,080 --> 00:25:37,080 The Sun is moving down low in the skies, 468 00:25:37,080 --> 00:25:40,080 and a cool light breeze has come up from somewhere. 469 00:25:40,080 --> 00:25:44,080 I'm leaning back on the front seat besides Benjamin, 470 00:25:44,080 --> 00:25:47,080 breathing deeply, evenly, 471 00:25:47,080 --> 00:25:51,080 feeling the goodness of just living seep through. 472 00:25:51,080 --> 00:25:55,080 In the back seat, the old man is sitting in his chair. 473 00:25:55,080 --> 00:26:01,180 He's got a little bit of a 474 00:26:01,180 --> 00:26:03,180 little bit of a sense of humor. 475 00:26:03,180 --> 00:26:07,180 In the back seat, the old man Clovis sits staring ahead, 476 00:26:07,180 --> 00:26:10,180 not even aware of the blanket-wrapped body of Kenny 477 00:26:10,180 --> 00:26:12,180 lying on the floor at his feet. 478 00:26:12,180 --> 00:26:14,180 If you hadn't been so eager to run, 479 00:26:14,180 --> 00:26:17,180 I could have saved your feet a lot of wear. 480 00:26:17,180 --> 00:26:19,180 I knew you weren't a murderer, son. 481 00:26:19,180 --> 00:26:21,180 You knew? 482 00:26:21,180 --> 00:26:23,180 Sure, I went back to the apartment. 483 00:26:23,180 --> 00:26:26,180 The old story's there in the varnish on the kitchen floor. 484 00:26:26,180 --> 00:26:29,180 No marks of bare feet around the body, 485 00:26:29,180 --> 00:26:32,180 but you cut your hand on broken glass in the living room. 486 00:26:32,180 --> 00:26:34,180 It bled. 487 00:26:34,180 --> 00:26:38,180 And his eye was running. 488 00:26:38,180 --> 00:26:40,180 Yes. 489 00:26:40,180 --> 00:26:43,180 For a man who don't care whether he lives or dies, 490 00:26:43,180 --> 00:26:46,180 you sure got lots of jackrabbit in your legs. 491 00:26:46,180 --> 00:26:48,180 What a day. 492 00:26:48,180 --> 00:26:51,180 It's been quite a day, Benjamin. 493 00:26:51,180 --> 00:26:54,180 Sure has been a scorcher, ain't it? 494 00:26:54,180 --> 00:26:57,180 Glad to see the sun going down. 495 00:26:57,180 --> 00:27:01,180 On a day like this, it's almost too hot to live. 496 00:27:01,180 --> 00:27:03,180 Don't say that, Benjamin. 497 00:27:03,180 --> 00:27:30,180 It never gets that hot. 498 00:27:30,180 --> 00:27:36,180 Suspense, in which Sam Edwards was starred in Too Hot to Live. 499 00:27:36,180 --> 00:27:40,180 Next week, the story of a woman who had a strange visitor, 500 00:27:40,180 --> 00:27:43,180 a man who wanted to spend a day with her, 501 00:27:43,180 --> 00:27:46,180 just waiting until her husband got home from work 502 00:27:46,180 --> 00:27:48,180 so that he could kill him. 503 00:27:48,180 --> 00:27:50,180 It's called The Tip. 504 00:27:50,180 --> 00:27:55,180 That's next week on Suspense. 505 00:27:55,180 --> 00:28:10,180 Suspense is produced and directed by Elliot Lewis, 506 00:28:10,180 --> 00:28:12,180 with music composed by Lucian Morrowick 507 00:28:12,180 --> 00:28:14,180 and conducted by Lud Gluskin. 508 00:28:14,180 --> 00:28:18,180 Too Hot to Live was written for Suspense by Sam Rolfe. 509 00:28:18,180 --> 00:28:21,180 In tonight's story, Sam Edwards was heard as Jefferson 510 00:28:21,180 --> 00:28:23,180 and Paul Fries as Benjamin, 511 00:28:23,180 --> 00:28:26,180 featured on the cast were Mary Jane Croft, Lee Millar, 512 00:28:26,180 --> 00:28:31,180 Junius Matthews, Charles Calvert, Herb Butterfield, and Gene Wood. 513 00:28:31,180 --> 00:28:47,180 And remember, next week, Carl Abrams played The Tip. 514 00:28:47,180 --> 00:28:50,180 The tragic story of an unidentified boy hit by a car 515 00:28:50,180 --> 00:28:52,180 after hitching a ride on the back of a truck 516 00:28:52,180 --> 00:28:56,180 is told tomorrow night on CBS Radio's 21st Precinct. 517 00:28:56,180 --> 00:28:59,180 Police of the 21st Precinct track down the boy's identity 518 00:28:59,180 --> 00:29:02,180 through his sweater marked Red Tigers. 519 00:29:02,180 --> 00:29:04,180 Before they're through, even case-hardened cops 520 00:29:04,180 --> 00:29:07,180 have to swallow hard to keep back tears. 521 00:29:07,180 --> 00:29:09,180 Don't miss 21st Precinct tomorrow night 522 00:29:09,180 --> 00:29:17,180 on most of these same stations. 523 00:29:17,180 --> 00:29:20,180 He really clicks against criminals, crime photographer, 524 00:29:20,180 --> 00:29:23,180 on the CBS Radio Network.