WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:13.000 And now, tonight's presentation of radio's outstanding theater of thrills, Suspense. 00:13.000 --> 00:20.720 Tonight, the story of a murder in which no gun was used, nor knife, nor blunt instrument, 00:20.720 --> 00:23.960 nor poison, nor suffocation, nor force of any kind. 00:23.960 --> 00:25.440 And yet, a man was murdered. 00:25.440 --> 00:41.440 So now, with Lawrence Dobkin as Joe Porter, here is tonight's Suspense play, Destruction. 00:41.440 --> 00:42.440 Okay, doctor. 00:42.440 --> 00:43.440 Okay. 00:43.440 --> 00:44.440 Okay, doctor. 00:44.440 --> 00:45.440 Okay. 00:45.440 --> 00:46.440 Call her. 00:46.440 --> 00:53.440 You're going to be all right, Mr. Porter. 00:53.440 --> 00:57.440 You're brought here to emergency by ambulance and you're going to be all right. 00:57.440 --> 00:58.440 Color? 00:58.440 --> 00:59.440 As good as new. 00:59.440 --> 01:00.440 Cyanotic at all? 01:00.440 --> 01:03.440 Don't worry about a thing, Mr. Porter. 01:03.440 --> 01:09.440 Inject intravenously, Lantoside C, being a digitalis derivative and highly recommended 01:09.440 --> 01:11.440 in cases of near death. 01:11.440 --> 01:13.440 You won't die, Mr. Porter. 01:13.440 --> 01:18.440 As, for example, when a man collapses in the streets, coronary seizure on the streets, 01:18.440 --> 01:21.440 blood plasma by intravenous drip, as, for example. 01:21.440 --> 01:24.440 So as to restore the blood volume. 01:24.440 --> 01:25.440 Doctor? 01:25.440 --> 01:26.440 Yes, doctor. 01:26.440 --> 01:27.440 Cyanotic doctor? 01:27.440 --> 01:30.440 His color is poor, doctor. 01:30.440 --> 01:36.440 The will to live is a remarkable thing. 01:36.440 --> 01:55.440 Every cell in the body musters its own peculiar chemistry, its own soul, if you wish. 01:55.440 --> 01:58.440 Joe. 01:58.440 --> 02:07.440 Why don't you come in and get your breakfast, Joe? 02:07.440 --> 02:10.440 As long as I've got to get up and get your food before the maid comes, you'll be in here 02:10.440 --> 02:11.440 when it's ready. 02:11.440 --> 02:13.440 Don't shatter me so early in the morning, girl. 02:13.440 --> 02:15.440 Don't shatter him so early in the morning. 02:15.440 --> 02:16.440 Who do you think you are? 02:16.440 --> 02:18.440 Well, who do you think you are? 02:18.440 --> 02:19.440 Oh, stop it. 02:19.440 --> 02:21.440 You ever stop and think of anybody else? 02:21.440 --> 02:23.440 You'd only do that once in a while. 02:23.440 --> 02:25.440 You'd ever wonder how it is for the people around you? 02:25.440 --> 02:26.440 The people around me? 02:26.440 --> 02:27.440 There's always... 02:27.440 --> 02:28.440 Just don't cry, that's all. 02:28.440 --> 02:29.440 Why not? 02:29.440 --> 02:30.440 Why shouldn't I cry? 02:30.440 --> 02:31.440 Can't you listen to a joke? 02:31.440 --> 02:32.440 No. 02:32.440 --> 02:34.440 Don't tell me it breaks your heart or something like that. 02:34.440 --> 02:36.440 It terrifies me. 02:36.440 --> 02:37.440 Why? 02:37.440 --> 02:39.440 When you cry, Vera. 02:39.440 --> 02:40.440 Well? 02:40.440 --> 02:43.440 It's another failure I've created, that's all. 02:43.440 --> 02:44.440 Well, listen to him. 02:44.440 --> 02:48.440 I walked into the kitchen this morning, my wife looked at me and she began to cry. 02:48.440 --> 02:51.440 Your coffee, you want juice or something, what do you want? 02:51.440 --> 02:53.440 Why did you cry, Vera? 02:53.440 --> 02:54.440 Oh. 02:54.440 --> 02:57.440 Please, tell me. 02:57.440 --> 02:58.440 Some juice. 02:58.440 --> 02:59.440 Please tell me why you... 02:59.440 --> 03:01.440 You want to know what happened to me this morning? 03:01.440 --> 03:02.440 Yes. 03:02.440 --> 03:06.440 All of a sudden you turned into a small man in an undershirt. 03:06.440 --> 03:08.440 Well, it's hot. 03:08.440 --> 03:10.440 You wouldn't understand if I told you. 03:10.440 --> 03:11.440 Yes, I would. 03:11.440 --> 03:17.440 Small man in an undershirt like somebody I'd never seen before, a stranger. 03:17.440 --> 03:20.440 And I know you're not a stranger, you're what my life is up to now. 03:20.440 --> 03:21.440 Oh, no. 03:21.440 --> 03:22.440 Oh, no it isn't. 03:22.440 --> 03:23.440 Oh, no it isn't. 03:23.440 --> 03:27.440 The fact that I loved you and this is what it's gotten me, little man, little failure in an undershirt. 03:27.440 --> 03:28.440 Did you hear what I said? 03:28.440 --> 03:29.440 I said, oh, no it isn't. 03:29.440 --> 03:30.440 What are you talking about? 03:30.440 --> 03:31.440 Don't you think I know? 03:31.440 --> 03:32.440 What are you talking about? 03:32.440 --> 03:33.440 Stupid or something. 03:33.440 --> 03:34.440 What are you talking about? 03:34.440 --> 03:37.440 The guy, the guy, the guy that comes around. 03:37.440 --> 03:38.440 Stupid or something. 03:38.440 --> 03:40.440 What do you think, I don't know or something? 03:40.440 --> 03:41.440 So? 03:41.440 --> 03:42.440 So. 03:42.440 --> 03:46.440 Yeah, so what? 03:46.440 --> 03:48.440 You don't care that I know? 03:48.440 --> 03:51.440 I said so what, didn't I? 03:51.440 --> 03:53.440 Yeah, yeah you did. 03:53.440 --> 03:56.440 You want to leave me? 03:56.440 --> 03:58.440 I don't know. 03:58.440 --> 04:01.440 I got to keep seeing him, Joe. 04:01.440 --> 04:05.440 I don't love you anymore, I don't care a thing for you. 04:05.440 --> 04:07.440 Nothing, huh? 04:07.440 --> 04:10.440 Joe, just not a thing. 04:10.440 --> 04:13.440 After ten years now I'm like dirt. 04:13.440 --> 04:15.440 I worked my head off. 04:15.440 --> 04:18.440 I worked my head off so you can have a mate I can't even get my socks darned. 04:18.440 --> 04:19.440 You sit around all day and I... 04:19.440 --> 04:22.440 You want to whip yourself with it, yeah, just like dirt, let's. 04:22.440 --> 04:23.440 Okay, okay. 04:23.440 --> 04:25.440 That's Joe, to let you know where you stand. 04:25.440 --> 04:26.440 You want me to tell you some things about yourself. 04:26.440 --> 04:30.440 You want me to... 04:30.440 --> 04:39.440 You're a very little man, Joe. 04:39.440 --> 04:41.440 I started to die then. 04:41.440 --> 04:46.440 I know it's been building up for a long time, but this morning I felt it for the first time. 04:46.440 --> 04:48.440 While I was talking to Billy. 04:48.440 --> 04:54.440 Something all at once slipped away and something in me tried to grab out after it, but it was gone. 04:54.440 --> 04:57.440 And I had a little pain then. 04:57.440 --> 05:04.440 Once, a long time ago, on a summer's night, on a moonlighted night, 05:04.440 --> 05:09.440 I stood on a lonely street corner and stretched my arms out for the world. 05:09.440 --> 05:11.440 And Vera stood close to me. 05:11.440 --> 05:14.440 I love you, Joe. 05:14.440 --> 05:17.440 You're not small, Joe. 05:17.440 --> 05:19.440 I love you. 05:19.440 --> 05:25.440 This morning there was a small pain and I started to die. 05:25.440 --> 05:26.440 Hey, Joe. 05:26.440 --> 05:27.440 Oh, hi, Herb. 05:27.440 --> 05:28.440 Hiya. 05:28.440 --> 05:30.440 How's tricks? 05:30.440 --> 05:31.440 Fine. 05:31.440 --> 05:32.440 Fine. 05:32.440 --> 05:34.440 Everything great, huh? 05:34.440 --> 05:35.440 Yeah. 05:35.440 --> 05:37.440 Excuse me. 05:37.440 --> 05:39.440 Everything great, huh? 05:39.440 --> 05:41.440 What's the matter with you? 05:41.440 --> 05:42.440 With me? 05:42.440 --> 05:43.440 With me? 05:43.440 --> 05:46.440 Yeah, something funny? 05:46.440 --> 05:47.440 I'll tell you. 05:47.440 --> 05:52.440 Don't worry. 05:52.440 --> 05:54.440 What's funny, huh? 05:54.440 --> 05:55.440 You are. 05:55.440 --> 05:57.440 You're a funny man. 05:57.440 --> 05:58.440 What do you mean? 05:58.440 --> 06:01.440 How can anybody be as miserable as you, huh? 06:01.440 --> 06:02.440 Now, look. 06:02.440 --> 06:04.440 Where's the five for the picnic, Joe? 06:04.440 --> 06:07.440 Everybody in the office but Joe Turner. 06:07.440 --> 06:11.440 Last year the picnic committee had to wait until September to park you from five bucks. 06:11.440 --> 06:13.440 Look, I don't have it. 06:13.440 --> 06:15.440 That's all. 06:15.440 --> 06:17.440 I have been delegated to tell you something, Joe. 06:17.440 --> 06:18.440 Now, wait a minute. 06:18.440 --> 06:20.440 Tonight is the poker game, yeah? 06:20.440 --> 06:21.440 What about it? 06:21.440 --> 06:22.440 Don't come. 06:22.440 --> 06:23.440 What? 06:23.440 --> 06:26.440 I have been delegated to tell you that the boys don't want you. 06:26.440 --> 06:29.440 The boys say you can't pay your just and honest debts. 06:29.440 --> 06:31.440 You can't afford to play poker. 06:31.440 --> 06:32.440 Herb. 06:32.440 --> 06:33.440 For your own protection, kid. 06:33.440 --> 06:34.440 Herb. 06:34.440 --> 06:35.440 What? 06:35.440 --> 06:36.440 Oh, Herb. 06:36.440 --> 06:38.440 What's the matter with you? 06:38.440 --> 06:40.440 I look forward so much to the... 06:40.440 --> 06:41.440 Hi. 06:41.440 --> 06:42.440 Hi, Herb. 06:42.440 --> 06:43.440 Joe. 06:43.440 --> 06:44.440 Good morrow, fair one. 06:44.440 --> 06:47.440 Would you drink from the bubbling brook of a watercool? 06:47.440 --> 06:48.440 I would. 06:48.440 --> 06:50.440 Well, then be my guest. 06:50.440 --> 06:52.440 You're carrying me. 06:52.440 --> 06:53.440 Drink. 06:53.440 --> 06:55.440 Drink you. 06:55.440 --> 06:57.440 Crazy, huh? 06:58.440 --> 06:59.440 Joe. 06:59.440 --> 07:00.440 Yeah? 07:00.440 --> 07:02.440 I heard something, Joe. 07:02.440 --> 07:03.440 What? 07:03.440 --> 07:04.440 Herb, you go away. 07:04.440 --> 07:06.440 This is between Joe and me. 07:06.440 --> 07:07.440 Now, come on. 07:07.440 --> 07:08.440 I mean it. 07:08.440 --> 07:09.440 Now, go away. 07:09.440 --> 07:11.440 This is between my little shortstop and me. 07:11.440 --> 07:13.440 Okay, but you'll tell me later. 07:13.440 --> 07:14.440 No, I won't either. 07:14.440 --> 07:15.440 Nostradu. 07:18.440 --> 07:20.440 Hello, Joe. 07:20.440 --> 07:22.440 What are you looking at me like that for? 07:22.440 --> 07:25.440 You're just lucky you don't have kids, that's all. 07:25.440 --> 07:26.440 What are you talking about? 07:26.440 --> 07:27.440 I've always wanted kids. 07:27.440 --> 07:30.440 What makes me so lucky I don't have any? 07:30.440 --> 07:31.440 Are you kidding? 07:31.440 --> 07:32.440 What's the new... 07:32.440 --> 07:34.440 I can't tell you my source. 07:34.440 --> 07:38.440 But my source says your wife's running around. 07:38.440 --> 07:39.440 My source... 07:39.440 --> 07:40.440 Shut up. 07:40.440 --> 07:44.440 Joey, my source never lies. 07:45.440 --> 07:47.440 Oh, Joe. 07:47.440 --> 07:50.440 I don't know who told you, but she's lying. 07:50.440 --> 07:53.440 It's not a she, it's a he. 07:53.440 --> 07:57.440 And Joey, there isn't a better source alive. 07:57.440 --> 08:00.440 I know because I've got a lady friend 08:00.440 --> 08:02.440 who knows this party we're discussing. 08:02.440 --> 08:06.440 And what she's told me, he's told her about. 08:07.440 --> 08:08.440 Ellis. 08:08.440 --> 08:09.440 Yeah? 08:09.440 --> 08:12.440 Don't say anything to anybody, not to anybody. 08:12.440 --> 08:13.440 Why should I say anything? 08:13.440 --> 08:16.440 Because it's something that my wife... 08:16.440 --> 08:19.440 My wife and I will straighten out. 08:19.440 --> 08:21.440 Just please don't tell anybody. 08:23.440 --> 08:25.440 Little shortstop. 08:25.440 --> 08:27.440 Little Joey. 08:32.440 --> 08:35.440 And died the small deaths. 08:35.440 --> 08:39.440 Phyllis' face wavered and lost focus and dissolved into the day 08:39.440 --> 08:43.440 of columns and posts and plus signs and minuses and ciphers 08:43.440 --> 08:46.440 and Herb coming over just before lunch. 08:46.440 --> 08:47.440 Hey, man. 08:47.440 --> 08:48.440 Tough about your wife. 08:48.440 --> 08:50.440 Heard she's running around. 08:50.440 --> 08:52.440 I had no good. 08:52.440 --> 08:53.440 It was strange. 08:53.440 --> 08:57.440 It was a kind of surrender bits of me seemed to be making. 08:57.440 --> 08:59.440 As if I were drowning. 08:59.440 --> 09:02.440 Submerging only so far and getting used to it 09:02.440 --> 09:04.440 and then sinking a little more. 09:04.440 --> 09:09.440 There was a time, a bright spring day when a girl laughed 09:09.440 --> 09:13.440 at a very wonderful thing I had said and touched my hand. 09:13.440 --> 09:15.440 There were days. 09:17.440 --> 09:19.440 Turner, see you. 09:19.440 --> 09:20.440 Oh, sure, Mr. Collins. 09:20.440 --> 09:21.440 Right away, my office. 09:21.440 --> 09:22.440 Sure, Mr. Collins. 09:24.440 --> 09:25.440 Thor. 09:25.440 --> 09:26.440 Yes, sir. 09:29.440 --> 09:30.440 Have a seat. 09:30.440 --> 09:31.440 Thank you. 09:31.440 --> 09:34.440 This is not a depression we're in, Turner. 09:34.440 --> 09:35.440 No, sir, far from it. 09:35.440 --> 09:37.440 Lovingly off, I'd call it. 09:37.440 --> 09:38.440 It's a good sign. 09:38.440 --> 09:41.440 Anybody who invests in a false economy, now mind you, 09:41.440 --> 09:43.440 I'm not saying at this stage we just pass it over 09:43.440 --> 09:45.440 with anything but healthy, but now you've got to do 09:45.440 --> 09:47.440 a little bit more retrenching here, you agree? 09:47.440 --> 09:49.440 Oh, yes, sir, yes, sir. 09:49.440 --> 09:50.440 You're fired, Turner. 09:50.440 --> 09:53.440 Economists all over the country agree that a strong inventory 09:53.440 --> 09:57.440 that's fluid is the soundest investment and that any company 09:57.440 --> 10:00.440 that carries too much of a load as far as personnel is concerned 10:00.440 --> 10:01.440 is foolish. 10:01.440 --> 10:03.440 Now I only appeal to your intelligence. 10:03.440 --> 10:06.440 You can see for yourself that we must cut down on our expenses. 10:06.440 --> 10:08.440 Please, please. 10:09.440 --> 10:11.440 Are you crying, Turner? 10:11.440 --> 10:12.440 Yes. 10:13.440 --> 10:14.440 Mr. Collins. 10:14.440 --> 10:15.440 We've got to level off. 10:15.440 --> 10:18.440 Now I have charge to show that there's no time like now 10:18.440 --> 10:19.440 to undertake minimum... 10:19.440 --> 10:20.440 Mr. Collins. 10:21.440 --> 10:22.440 Yes, what is it? 10:22.440 --> 10:24.440 I'll work for less money. 10:25.440 --> 10:27.440 Please, please don't fire me. 10:27.440 --> 10:28.440 Well... 10:28.440 --> 10:30.440 I'll take a cut. 10:30.440 --> 10:32.440 Figure out how much I'm worth to you. 10:32.440 --> 10:33.440 Why don't you do that? 10:33.440 --> 10:35.440 Figure out how much I'm worth to you. 10:35.440 --> 10:36.440 I'll take a cut. 10:36.440 --> 10:40.440 You're forcing me to say we don't need you. 10:40.440 --> 10:44.440 We don't want people like you in our organization. 10:44.440 --> 11:04.440 You're fired. 11:04.440 --> 11:06.440 You are listening to Destruction, 11:06.440 --> 11:09.440 tonight's presentation in radio's outstanding 11:09.440 --> 11:20.440 theater of thrills, Suspense. 11:20.440 --> 11:22.440 Later tonight on most of these stations, 11:22.440 --> 11:25.440 CBS radio continues Mr. Keen's latest serial thriller, 11:25.440 --> 11:27.440 The Ice Queen Murder Case. 11:27.440 --> 11:30.440 The old investigator finds himself skating on thin ice 11:30.440 --> 11:32.440 in his efforts to find clues. 11:32.440 --> 11:34.440 Tonight through Friday of this week, 11:34.440 --> 11:38.440 continue with Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons. 11:38.440 --> 11:41.440 Now we bring back to our Hollywood sound stage, 11:41.440 --> 11:45.440 Lawrence Dabkin, in tonight's production of Destruction, 11:45.440 --> 12:09.440 a tale well calculated to keep you in suspense. 12:09.440 --> 12:12.440 Dr. Landis. 12:12.440 --> 12:14.440 Yes? 12:14.440 --> 12:16.440 Mr. Turner's cyanotic, the bluish color 12:16.440 --> 12:18.440 indicating lack of oxygen. 12:18.440 --> 12:19.440 Yes. 12:19.440 --> 12:22.440 It seems to me only a thought, 12:22.440 --> 12:25.440 but it seems to me... 12:25.440 --> 12:28.440 You had a thought, doctor? 12:28.440 --> 12:31.440 Is it Mr. Turner had no will to live, 12:31.440 --> 12:36.440 or the want, or the desire? 12:36.440 --> 12:38.440 I don't know. 12:38.440 --> 12:41.440 I wouldn't. 12:41.440 --> 13:06.440 I'll prepare the syringe. 13:06.440 --> 13:08.440 What Mrs. Porter said for me to do, 13:08.440 --> 13:10.440 see that you got your dinner, serve it to you, 13:10.440 --> 13:11.440 and then you'll be home for the day. 13:11.440 --> 13:12.440 Where is Mrs. Porter? 13:12.440 --> 13:13.440 Out. 13:13.440 --> 13:14.440 Did she tell you where she was going? 13:14.440 --> 13:15.440 What? 13:15.440 --> 13:17.440 Did Mrs. Porter tell you where she was going? 13:17.440 --> 13:18.440 She said out. 13:18.440 --> 13:19.440 That's all she told me. 13:19.440 --> 13:20.440 She said out. 13:20.440 --> 13:21.440 Why, don't you know? 13:21.440 --> 13:23.440 Didn't she call you up at the office? 13:23.440 --> 13:25.440 This keeps you overtime, doesn't it, Thelma, 13:25.440 --> 13:26.440 staying on to serve my dinner? 13:26.440 --> 13:28.440 Mrs. Porter talked to somebody on the telephone. 13:28.440 --> 13:29.440 I thought sure it was you. 13:29.440 --> 13:31.440 The way I was ironing her things in the kitchen, 13:31.440 --> 13:32.440 I didn't hear the words. 13:32.440 --> 13:35.440 Just that kind of soft laugh Mrs. Porter has sometimes 13:35.440 --> 13:36.440 when she's talking on the phone. 13:36.440 --> 13:38.440 I didn't hear the words, 13:38.440 --> 13:41.440 but I sure thought it must be you she was talking to. 13:41.440 --> 13:42.440 It was. 13:42.440 --> 13:44.440 Then she went into the bedroom and called out to me 13:44.440 --> 13:46.440 to iron that silk blouse first. 13:46.440 --> 13:49.440 That frilly one cut low off the shoulder. 13:49.440 --> 13:50.440 Yes, yes. 13:50.440 --> 13:53.440 Oh, you sure got an attractive wife, Mr. Porter. 13:53.440 --> 13:55.440 And we two get along real fine. 13:55.440 --> 13:56.440 Thelma. 13:56.440 --> 13:57.440 It was around four she went out, 13:57.440 --> 13:59.440 smelling pretty and looking real nice. 13:59.440 --> 14:03.440 I said, you have a nice time now, Mrs. Porter. 14:03.440 --> 14:04.440 Didn't tell you where she was going, 14:04.440 --> 14:05.440 huh, and talked to you on the phone? 14:05.440 --> 14:06.440 Thelma. 14:06.440 --> 14:07.440 Well, I guess I'll be going. 14:07.440 --> 14:08.440 Nothing more. 14:08.440 --> 14:10.440 No, why don't you stay a little while? 14:10.440 --> 14:12.440 We'll talk. 14:12.440 --> 14:15.440 I hate to eat alone. 14:15.440 --> 14:17.440 I'll be through eating in just a few minutes. 14:17.440 --> 14:19.440 You could clear the table and maybe wash the dishes 14:19.440 --> 14:21.440 and by then Mrs. Porter will be home. 14:21.440 --> 14:22.440 Not me, Mr. Porter. 14:22.440 --> 14:24.440 She's already paid you the extra. 14:24.440 --> 14:25.440 Not me. 14:25.440 --> 14:26.440 Besides. 14:26.440 --> 14:27.440 Besides what? 14:27.440 --> 14:29.440 If I was you, I'd go to a movie or something. 14:29.440 --> 14:31.440 Mrs. Porter's not liable to get home until real late. 14:31.440 --> 14:33.440 That's what she said to me, she said. 14:33.440 --> 14:48.440 Tell him not to wait up. 14:48.440 --> 14:50.440 It was moving in on me. 14:50.440 --> 14:52.440 All the dying that had happened to me during the day 14:52.440 --> 14:55.440 moving in, adding up. 14:55.440 --> 14:57.440 Very close now. 14:57.440 --> 14:59.440 The emptiness, the stillness left behind 14:59.440 --> 15:03.440 when she walked out of the house. 15:03.440 --> 15:05.440 And the quick dark of nightfall speeding through the rooms 15:05.440 --> 15:07.440 and moving in on me. 15:07.440 --> 15:11.440 And the sigh of wind close to my ear. 15:11.440 --> 15:15.440 And farther away the silence somehow quivering, 15:15.440 --> 15:17.440 trembling somehow through the grass and on the leaves 15:17.440 --> 15:20.440 in the yard outside. 15:20.440 --> 15:23.440 And it was close to me as I went into another room 15:23.440 --> 15:26.440 to the closet that held Vera's clothes, 15:26.440 --> 15:29.440 that held the perfume she wore and the scent of seasons, 15:29.440 --> 15:34.440 long dead, season dying, even now. 15:34.440 --> 15:36.440 And back into the room. 15:36.440 --> 15:43.440 A room where a long time ago. 15:43.440 --> 15:46.440 Oh, Joey baby, look what you've done. 15:46.440 --> 15:54.440 You made me drop my mirror. 15:54.440 --> 15:56.440 Yeah, tricks, sonny. 15:56.440 --> 15:58.440 Tricks that just wouldn't work for me. 15:58.440 --> 16:00.440 But it's going to. 16:00.440 --> 16:03.440 Hey, bar, set me up another row of wine glasses. 16:03.440 --> 16:05.440 Got to show my friend here there's tricks. 16:05.440 --> 16:07.440 Who's twisting your arm? 16:07.440 --> 16:09.440 What did you say, friend? 16:09.440 --> 16:10.440 You said something? 16:10.440 --> 16:12.440 I said don't bother. 16:12.440 --> 16:14.440 You don't care if I ever do this trick? 16:14.440 --> 16:15.440 No. 16:15.440 --> 16:18.440 If not ever in my whole life I ever do this trick? 16:18.440 --> 16:19.440 Look, I don't. 16:19.440 --> 16:21.440 You're not a true friend. 16:21.440 --> 16:23.440 Why, any true buddy would forget it. 16:23.440 --> 16:25.440 You show somebody else, I'll move. 16:25.440 --> 16:27.440 Where are you going, Fred? 16:27.440 --> 16:28.440 Get your paws off of me. 16:28.440 --> 16:30.440 Get my. 16:30.440 --> 16:34.440 Oh, get my paw. 16:34.440 --> 16:36.440 I like you. 16:36.440 --> 16:38.440 You're my friend. 16:38.440 --> 16:40.440 I'm going to show you my trick. 16:40.440 --> 16:43.440 I told you, get your hands off of me. 16:43.440 --> 16:45.440 You didn't tell me a thing. 16:45.440 --> 16:48.440 Because you're going to sit right there where you were sitting. 16:48.440 --> 16:52.440 And you're going to be friendly and watch a trick. 16:52.440 --> 16:55.440 Or else I'm going to smash your face in, little one. 16:55.440 --> 16:59.440 Make you drink beer right off the bar room floor. 16:59.440 --> 17:02.440 Sit down, little one. 17:02.440 --> 17:04.440 I like you, little one. 17:04.440 --> 17:06.440 I like how you pay attention. 17:06.440 --> 17:07.440 I like the... 17:07.440 --> 17:08.440 What will these two, Mr. Stevens? 17:08.440 --> 17:10.440 These the kind of class? 17:10.440 --> 17:13.440 You're a lad, a fine upcoming lad you are. 17:13.440 --> 17:15.440 Hey, look, I'll... 17:15.440 --> 17:17.440 Don't worry about it, Mr. Stevens. 17:17.440 --> 17:19.440 Do all the tricks you want. 17:19.440 --> 17:21.440 An old customer like you, who's going to mind? 17:21.440 --> 17:23.440 You hear that, little one? 17:23.440 --> 17:24.440 This lad's a friend. 17:24.440 --> 17:26.440 He likes to see me do tricks. 17:26.440 --> 17:27.440 Sure. 17:27.440 --> 17:30.440 I'm a barrel of fun, Mr. Stevens. 17:30.440 --> 17:34.440 Now, this trick I'm going to show you... 17:34.440 --> 17:36.440 What's your name, little one? 17:36.440 --> 17:38.440 Come on, what's your name? 17:38.440 --> 17:39.440 Joe Porter. 17:39.440 --> 17:40.440 You don't look good, Joe. 17:40.440 --> 17:41.440 No? 17:41.440 --> 17:42.440 You look sick. 17:42.440 --> 17:43.440 Pale and sick. 17:43.440 --> 17:44.440 You sick? 17:44.440 --> 17:45.440 No. 17:45.440 --> 17:46.440 You're sick. 17:46.440 --> 17:47.440 Oh, look. 17:47.440 --> 17:48.440 Look, mister, please, just... 17:48.440 --> 17:50.440 You want to tell me something, Joe? 17:50.440 --> 17:51.440 Because I'm listening. 17:51.440 --> 17:53.440 It's like you said. 17:53.440 --> 17:55.440 I don't feel too great. 17:55.440 --> 17:58.440 All I want to do, mister, is sit here and have a quiet drink. 17:58.440 --> 18:00.440 What eats you, Joey? 18:01.440 --> 18:03.440 Nothing. It's not any... 18:03.440 --> 18:04.440 Girlfriend? 18:04.440 --> 18:05.440 No. 18:05.440 --> 18:06.440 Wife? 18:06.440 --> 18:07.440 You're the type who's got a wife, little one. 18:07.440 --> 18:08.440 If you've got a thing going... 18:08.440 --> 18:09.440 Leave me alone! 18:09.440 --> 18:10.440 Joey! 18:10.440 --> 18:11.440 Joey! 18:11.440 --> 18:13.440 I tell you what. 18:13.440 --> 18:16.440 I'm going to do this trick I do with a row of glasses. 18:16.440 --> 18:20.440 And it's going to take your mind off whatever it is that's eating away on you. 18:20.440 --> 18:22.440 A man like you, a little one like you, 18:22.440 --> 18:26.440 he's bound to have something going for him with his women, folks. 18:26.440 --> 18:30.440 Now, don't tell me nothing about that, because I know. 18:30.440 --> 18:33.440 And Stevie's got a trick with a row of wine glasses. 18:33.440 --> 18:34.440 No! 18:34.440 --> 18:35.440 Hey! 18:38.440 --> 18:42.440 Now, why did you go and do a thing like that, little one? 18:42.440 --> 18:45.440 Why you go and spoil my trick? 18:45.440 --> 18:47.440 Because I had enough of you. 18:47.440 --> 18:48.440 I had enough of your talking. 18:48.440 --> 18:49.440 Now, shut your mouth! 18:49.440 --> 18:52.440 You're a slob! You're a fat, overdrawn slob! 18:52.440 --> 18:54.440 I said to you to shut your mouth! 18:54.440 --> 18:55.440 That's what I said! 18:55.440 --> 18:56.440 Oh, you! 18:56.440 --> 18:58.440 You come on outside, I'll have you! 18:58.440 --> 18:59.440 What's wrong, Mr. Stevens? 18:59.440 --> 19:01.440 Come around the side of the bar, lad. 19:01.440 --> 19:03.440 We got ourselves a drunk here. 19:03.440 --> 19:05.440 That's what's wrong, lad. 19:05.440 --> 19:07.440 Smashed your nice glasses and everything. 19:07.440 --> 19:08.440 He kept at me. That's what. 19:08.440 --> 19:10.440 He kept bothering me. He kept digging at me. 19:10.440 --> 19:14.440 You got yourself a real drunk, lad. A lush. 19:14.440 --> 19:18.440 A man can hardly find peace in a little fun anymore. 19:18.440 --> 19:19.440 Get out, mister. 19:19.440 --> 19:21.440 We don't want any trouble. 19:21.440 --> 19:24.440 I wasn't making any trouble. It's him. 19:24.440 --> 19:25.440 It's this fat slob. 19:25.440 --> 19:28.440 Maybe he didn't understand you, lad! 19:32.440 --> 19:36.440 Only way to make a drunk understand is to kick their teeth. 19:38.440 --> 19:39.440 Throw him away, lad. 19:39.440 --> 19:41.440 Sure, Mr. Stevens. 19:41.440 --> 19:45.440 Come on. You can't walk, but I've got a way. 19:45.440 --> 19:46.440 Drag him along. 19:58.440 --> 20:02.440 He dragged me out. Threw me into the gutter. 20:02.440 --> 20:07.440 A man and a young woman walked by, arm in arm. 20:07.440 --> 20:11.440 A girl, really, with a nighttime soft on her face. 20:11.440 --> 20:14.440 She tugged at his sleeve and stopped him. 20:14.440 --> 20:16.440 And they looked at me. 20:16.440 --> 20:18.440 Look what I found, Dicky. A drunk. 20:18.440 --> 20:19.440 Yeah. 20:19.440 --> 20:21.440 A drunk in the gutter. 20:21.440 --> 20:24.440 That's where the wine leads. Straight to the gutter. 20:24.440 --> 20:25.440 Is that what he is? A wino? 20:25.440 --> 20:29.440 Boozer. A wino. Guy in the gutter. 20:29.440 --> 20:31.440 Well, Mr. Wino. 20:31.440 --> 20:34.440 Hello, down there. Mr. Boozer? 20:34.440 --> 20:37.440 Let's go, baby. There's sights in sight. 20:37.440 --> 20:39.440 I want to see sights in sight. 20:39.440 --> 20:42.440 Good night, Mr. Wino. Sleep tight, Mr. Boozer. 20:42.440 --> 20:44.440 Sleep tight. Wake up bright. 20:44.440 --> 20:46.440 Come on. 20:52.440 --> 20:54.440 And they walked on. 20:54.440 --> 20:57.440 And it had a kind of warmth to it, this dying. 20:57.440 --> 21:00.440 And the hurt with the man who'd hit me and the humiliation. 21:00.440 --> 21:02.440 Part of it. 21:02.440 --> 21:07.440 A manner of dying that had begun a long time ago, far off time ago. 21:07.440 --> 21:11.440 And became the man of the tricks and the girl with sights to see. 21:12.440 --> 21:16.440 And along the gutter the question ran how much longer now. 21:16.440 --> 21:19.440 How much further to die. 21:19.440 --> 21:21.440 Wonder and a warmth to it. 21:21.440 --> 21:25.440 Mister? You hurt, mister? 21:25.440 --> 21:30.440 Aw, you hurt your face, baby. 21:30.440 --> 21:33.440 Poor baby, poor baby. 21:33.440 --> 21:35.440 And a gentle touch on the hurt. 21:35.440 --> 21:38.440 You've been in a fight. You've been drinking and getting in a fight. 21:38.440 --> 21:41.440 You shouldn't, not a fellow like you. 21:41.440 --> 21:43.440 Nice looking fellow like you. 21:43.440 --> 21:47.440 Let me help you. I want to. Honestly, I want to. 21:47.440 --> 21:49.440 She helped me? 21:49.440 --> 21:52.440 Maybe you ought to wash up a little, dust yourself off. 21:52.440 --> 21:56.440 A fellow like you oughtn't to go home looking like a wall hit him. 21:56.440 --> 22:00.440 A man like you. 22:11.440 --> 22:15.440 There. There you're going to be new as pie. 22:15.440 --> 22:17.440 What's your name? 22:17.440 --> 22:20.440 Ellie. It's Ellen, but you say Ellie. 22:20.440 --> 22:24.440 I don't know why you should. 22:24.440 --> 22:27.440 Feels nice, huh? Ellie's doing nice, huh? 22:27.440 --> 22:30.440 Yes, but I don't... 22:30.440 --> 22:33.440 Now, you're new as pie. 22:33.440 --> 22:36.440 I'll get this stuff out of the way. 22:39.440 --> 22:41.440 What's yours? 22:41.440 --> 22:42.440 What? 22:42.440 --> 22:44.440 What's your name, foolish? 22:44.440 --> 22:45.440 Joe. 22:45.440 --> 22:46.440 Hi, Joe. 22:46.440 --> 22:49.440 Hi. 22:49.440 --> 22:52.440 Mind if I sit next to the patient? 22:52.440 --> 22:54.440 Why are you doing all this? 22:54.440 --> 22:55.440 What? 22:55.440 --> 22:57.440 Pick me out of the gutter. 22:57.440 --> 22:59.440 Bring me here. Take care of me. 22:59.440 --> 23:00.440 You mean that? 23:00.440 --> 23:01.440 Yes. 23:01.440 --> 23:04.440 The drunk in the gutter's face bashed him. 23:04.440 --> 23:05.440 Foolish. 23:05.440 --> 23:09.440 No, no, no, I'm not. I'm asking a simple question. 23:09.440 --> 23:13.440 Why one human being will do a thing like that, do something nice like that, 23:13.440 --> 23:14.440 and another one will do... 23:14.440 --> 23:16.440 You really are, aren't you? 23:16.440 --> 23:17.440 Or what? 23:17.440 --> 23:20.440 Foolish. You really are. 23:20.440 --> 23:22.440 Sit a couple of minutes if you want, Joe. 23:22.440 --> 23:23.440 Ellie. 23:23.440 --> 23:25.440 You sit. Just the way you are. 23:25.440 --> 23:26.440 What are you doing? 23:26.440 --> 23:28.440 Watch me. I do it well. 23:28.440 --> 23:30.440 You want to do that good? 23:30.440 --> 23:32.440 Every light in the room goes on just in this one switch. 23:32.440 --> 23:34.440 I had an electrician come up once and see... 23:34.440 --> 23:36.440 Why did you do that? 23:36.440 --> 23:38.440 Ask me again. 23:38.440 --> 23:42.440 Why? Why did you turn on all the lights? 23:42.440 --> 23:44.440 So I could get a good look at you, Joe. 23:44.440 --> 23:46.440 A real close look. 23:46.440 --> 23:51.440 Ellie, all I want... 23:51.440 --> 23:55.440 Get out of here, Joe. 23:55.440 --> 23:56.440 Why? 23:56.440 --> 24:00.440 Don't make me let out a yell about it. Just get out. 24:00.440 --> 24:02.440 Before you were nice to me, kind. 24:02.440 --> 24:03.440 No more. 24:03.440 --> 24:05.440 Why? 24:05.440 --> 24:07.440 It's not much to ask. Just why. Tell me. 24:07.440 --> 24:10.440 You got some place to go? Some place far from here? 24:10.440 --> 24:12.440 Yes, I have. I have a home. 24:12.440 --> 24:14.440 Wife? 24:14.440 --> 24:16.440 Where? 24:16.440 --> 24:18.440 I saw it once. 24:18.440 --> 24:20.440 I was a kid and I saw it once. 24:20.440 --> 24:21.440 Never forgot. 24:21.440 --> 24:22.440 What are you talking about? 24:22.440 --> 24:25.440 I saw it. I was a kid. 24:25.440 --> 24:27.440 This man fell flat on the street. 24:27.440 --> 24:30.440 I came up close and I saw his face. 24:30.440 --> 24:31.440 Close as I am to you. 24:31.440 --> 24:32.440 What's that got to do... 24:32.440 --> 24:36.440 Do it somewhere else. 24:36.440 --> 24:44.440 Die somewhere else. 25:06.440 --> 25:11.440 Landis, quickly. 25:11.440 --> 25:14.440 Nor a pinaforene should have. 25:14.440 --> 25:17.440 Normally it would have, but it didn't. 25:17.440 --> 25:19.440 No response to it. 25:19.440 --> 25:21.440 The blood volume. 25:21.440 --> 25:23.440 No longer a question of that. 25:23.440 --> 25:25.440 I'm sorry. 25:25.440 --> 25:27.440 I'm sorry. 25:27.440 --> 25:29.440 I'm sorry. 25:29.440 --> 25:31.440 I'm sorry. 25:31.440 --> 25:33.440 I'm sorry. 25:33.440 --> 25:36.440 The blood volume. 25:36.440 --> 25:38.440 No longer a question of that. 25:38.440 --> 25:40.440 Tell me. 25:40.440 --> 25:44.440 Landis had C, plasma, nor a pinaforene, 25:44.440 --> 25:47.440 and the one medication we cannot give, 25:47.440 --> 25:50.440 beyond our power to give. 25:50.440 --> 25:55.440 But his body seems to have lost the will to live. 25:55.440 --> 25:58.440 There's a chemistry that kills 25:58.440 --> 26:13.440 and we know nothing about. 26:13.440 --> 26:42.440 He's dead. 26:43.440 --> 26:45.440 Suspense. 26:45.440 --> 26:48.440 In which Lawrence Dobkin was starred in Morton Fine 26:48.440 --> 26:52.440 and David Friedkin's story, Destruction. 26:52.440 --> 26:54.440 This Thursday night on CBS radio, 26:54.440 --> 26:56.440 Kathy and Elliot Lewis will be on stage 26:56.440 --> 26:58.440 with an original thriller titled The Telegram. 26:58.440 --> 27:00.440 The Lewises paint a startling, 27:00.440 --> 27:02.440 believable picture of a young married couple 27:02.440 --> 27:05.440 spending a harrowing night with an unopened telegram. 27:05.440 --> 27:07.440 Listen for it. Thursday night. 27:07.440 --> 27:09.440 Next week, the story of a woman, 27:09.440 --> 27:11.440 a most attractive woman who learns to her discomfort 27:11.440 --> 27:15.440 that even the smallest of arguments could lead to her death. 27:15.440 --> 27:29.440 That's next week on Suspense. 27:29.440 --> 27:31.440 Suspense is directed by Norman MacDonald 27:31.440 --> 27:33.440 with music composed by Lucian Morrowick 27:33.440 --> 27:35.440 and conducted by Lud Bluskin. 27:35.440 --> 27:37.440 Destruction was written for Suspense 27:37.440 --> 27:39.440 by Morton Fine and David Friedkin. 27:39.440 --> 27:42.440 Featured in tonight's cast were John Dana, 27:42.440 --> 27:44.440 Michael Ann Barrett, Jack Crouchon, 27:44.440 --> 27:46.440 Charlotte Lawrence, Jerry Hausner, 27:46.440 --> 27:48.440 Virginia Gregg, Clayton Post, 27:48.440 --> 27:51.440 Frank Gerstel, Georgia Ellis, and Farley Bear. 27:51.440 --> 27:53.440 And remember, next week, 27:53.440 --> 27:55.440 Ben S. Hunter's Suspense Story. 27:55.440 --> 28:02.440 Good night, Mrs. Russell. 28:02.440 --> 28:03.440 Listen while you work. 28:03.440 --> 28:05.440 Enjoy Wendy Warren every Monday through Friday 28:05.440 --> 28:09.440 in the daytime on the CBS Radio Network.