WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:16.440 And now, tonight's presentation of radio's outstanding theater of thrills, Suspense. 00:16.440 --> 00:20.280 Tonight the story of a man who sets out to prove that he cannot be murdered, only to 00:20.280 --> 00:23.840 find there was a slight error in his calculations. 00:23.840 --> 00:29.920 So now, starring John Danaer, here is tonight's Suspense play, The Last Letter of Dr. Bronson. 00:29.920 --> 00:47.840 My dear Dr. Mosher, forgive me if I dash this letter off rather hurriedly. 00:47.840 --> 00:52.120 There are but a very few minutes remaining for me. 00:52.120 --> 00:57.520 The few minutes between now and midnight. 00:57.520 --> 01:01.640 You have always protested my fascination with the subject of death. 01:01.640 --> 01:06.040 It irked you to hear me discuss the latest electrocution or hanging. 01:06.040 --> 01:11.680 You alone, Mosher, will know how this fascination has led me to this terrible moment. 01:11.680 --> 01:15.000 I should like you to have all the facts. 01:15.000 --> 01:18.920 First of all, let me recall a conversation which we held here in my study a little over 01:18.920 --> 01:22.960 a year ago. 01:22.960 --> 01:24.240 Death and murder. 01:24.240 --> 01:25.640 There you go again, Bronson. 01:25.640 --> 01:27.120 Really, you're unhealthy. 01:27.120 --> 01:28.120 No, no, no, no. 01:28.120 --> 01:29.680 Now, now, wait, Mosher. 01:29.680 --> 01:33.560 I've been studying the question for some time and I have concluded that there are five basic 01:33.560 --> 01:37.760 checks which serve to restrain man from murdering his fellow man. 01:37.760 --> 01:38.760 An interesting theory. 01:38.760 --> 01:40.320 No, it's, it's more than a theory. 01:40.320 --> 01:41.840 I can and I intend to prove it. 01:41.840 --> 01:43.360 Oh, come on now, Bronson. 01:43.360 --> 01:48.880 I shall select five men, each of whom I shall supply with a motive to commit a murder, greed, 01:48.880 --> 01:51.560 revenge, jealousy, whatever. 01:51.560 --> 01:55.800 I shall encourage each man to kill and then restrain him from the act by means of the 01:55.800 --> 01:57.840 particular check which I'm testing. 01:57.840 --> 02:04.160 You forget, of course, that a murderer requires a partner in crime, the victim, the man to 02:04.160 --> 02:05.160 be killed. 02:05.160 --> 02:07.080 Well, I shall supply one. 02:07.080 --> 02:13.160 You will ask this victim to face five men, each standing to derive satisfaction or profit 02:13.160 --> 02:14.520 from murdering him? 02:14.520 --> 02:15.520 Correct. 02:15.520 --> 02:19.760 And his only chance of survival being the validity of your theory of checks? 02:19.760 --> 02:21.560 Yes, yes, yes, yes. 02:21.560 --> 02:26.200 Do you seriously imagine you will persuade any man to have such utter confidence in your 02:26.200 --> 02:27.200 reckonings? 02:27.200 --> 02:29.160 There is one such man. 02:29.160 --> 02:30.160 Who? 02:30.160 --> 02:31.160 Myself. 02:31.160 --> 02:34.680 Bronson, this is insane. 02:34.680 --> 02:35.840 Why? 02:35.840 --> 02:39.280 Why should I hesitate to risk high stakes on a sure thing? 02:39.280 --> 02:40.280 But your life... 02:40.280 --> 02:44.480 No, no, I tell you there's no danger involved whatsoever. 02:44.480 --> 02:47.440 When will you begin your experiment? 02:47.440 --> 02:52.000 Well, why don't we begin right now? 02:52.000 --> 02:55.160 Mosher, I invite you to kill me. 02:55.160 --> 02:56.160 What? 02:56.160 --> 02:58.480 There's a revolver right here in my desk. 02:58.480 --> 02:59.480 I... 02:59.480 --> 03:01.280 You're joking, Bronson. 03:01.280 --> 03:04.800 I'm not. 03:04.800 --> 03:08.480 What possible motive would I have for murdering you? 03:08.480 --> 03:09.480 Motive? 03:09.480 --> 03:11.720 Why, we're associated rather closely in our work. 03:11.720 --> 03:13.680 You'll come naturally into my entire practice. 03:13.680 --> 03:15.880 I'll put that in writing for you. 03:15.880 --> 03:16.880 It's preposterous. 03:16.880 --> 03:17.880 Oh. 03:17.880 --> 03:20.080 Why won't you kill me, Mosher? 03:20.080 --> 03:21.080 Why? 03:21.080 --> 03:22.840 There are dozens of reasons. 03:22.840 --> 03:25.520 In the first place, I'd go to the electric chair for it. 03:25.520 --> 03:26.520 There, there. 03:26.520 --> 03:27.520 There you are. 03:27.520 --> 03:30.020 A perfect illustration of the first and most obvious check. 03:30.020 --> 03:35.640 Man refrains from killing because he himself will be killed by law. 03:35.640 --> 03:37.560 All right, Bronson. 03:37.560 --> 03:41.880 Maybe that proves your point, the first one at any rate. 03:41.880 --> 03:44.160 But what about next time? 03:44.160 --> 03:46.160 And the next? 03:46.160 --> 04:03.520 That, my dear doctor, remains to be seen. 04:03.520 --> 04:07.880 And so, my dear doctor, you yourself illustrated the first of my five positive checks which 04:07.880 --> 04:10.720 restrain man from murder, fear of the law. 04:10.720 --> 04:13.200 Now, that was more than a year ago. 04:13.200 --> 04:15.480 The remaining checks have not been so simple. 04:15.480 --> 04:17.040 I had to locate my four subjects. 04:17.040 --> 04:21.720 I had to cultivate the friendship of each so that when the time should come to confront 04:21.720 --> 04:25.520 him with my proposition, I would be certain of how he would act. 04:25.520 --> 04:33.400 Now, the first of my four potential murderers was a clerk named Tutton. 04:33.400 --> 04:37.120 We frequently went to church together on Sunday evenings at St. Stephen's, right around the 04:37.120 --> 04:39.480 corner of my apartment. 04:39.480 --> 04:43.640 One Sunday evening after the service, I asked him at my apartment. 04:43.640 --> 04:47.000 And as we walked along, we talked. 04:47.000 --> 04:51.320 You know, Dr. Bronson, I was talking about you to my wife the other day before they took 04:51.320 --> 04:52.320 her to the hospital. 04:52.320 --> 04:53.320 Oh? 04:53.320 --> 04:57.160 I was saying what a great comfort it was to be with you these Sunday nights. 04:57.160 --> 05:00.160 Oh, now, come, Mr. Tutton, you embarrass me. 05:00.160 --> 05:02.120 Oh, no, no, I mean it. 05:02.120 --> 05:08.040 In the world today, too many people seem to feel that they no longer need their God. 05:08.040 --> 05:13.200 Yes, yes, their lives seem to be void of the great thing you have in your faith. 05:13.200 --> 05:16.160 And the church is a great comfort to me. 05:16.160 --> 05:21.400 And I do need something to cling to in times like these. 05:21.400 --> 05:23.240 Isn't this your apartment that we're passing? 05:23.240 --> 05:25.480 Oh, I wonder about the side way. 05:25.480 --> 05:28.480 We should be unobserved. 05:28.480 --> 05:29.480 Unobserved? 05:29.480 --> 05:32.480 Yes, yes. 05:32.480 --> 05:47.280 Won't you step into the study, please? 05:47.280 --> 05:49.280 Yes. 05:49.280 --> 05:55.200 Now, if you will take this chair opposite my desk. 05:55.200 --> 05:57.200 Thank you. 05:57.200 --> 05:59.200 Good. 05:59.200 --> 06:03.560 Now, Tutton, you could make rather good use of $5,000. 06:03.560 --> 06:05.480 Now, couldn't you? 06:05.480 --> 06:06.840 I beg your pardon. 06:06.840 --> 06:09.120 No, I'm quite sincere. 06:09.120 --> 06:13.320 You know what even $100 would mean to me with my wife in the hospital. 06:13.320 --> 06:14.320 Exactly. 06:14.320 --> 06:19.000 And so here in this desk, I have this little package containing $5,000. 06:19.000 --> 06:23.480 Now, it's yours if you will do me one service. 06:23.480 --> 06:26.600 What could I do for you that would be worth all that money? 06:26.600 --> 06:27.920 Let me explain. 06:27.920 --> 06:33.440 My doctor called on me yesterday and he told me, well, to be quite frank with you, Tutton, 06:33.440 --> 06:37.200 he said that I was slowly going mad. 06:37.200 --> 06:39.520 No, that couldn't be. 06:39.520 --> 06:44.480 No, I'm quite all right at present, but it's only a matter of time and I'd rather not have 06:44.480 --> 06:45.480 to face it. 06:45.480 --> 06:48.920 And so if you will take these rubber gloves. 06:48.920 --> 06:49.920 I don't understand. 06:49.920 --> 06:51.520 Put them on, please. 06:51.520 --> 06:52.520 But why? 06:52.520 --> 06:57.080 Now, as soon as you have them on, I shall hand you this small bottle. 06:57.080 --> 07:01.200 It contains cyanide potassium, one of the deadliest poisons known to man. 07:01.200 --> 07:06.400 Now I hold it firmly thus and clearly impress my fingertips on it. 07:06.400 --> 07:11.720 Finally, here on the desk, I'm leaving this note explaining that I have committed suicide. 07:11.720 --> 07:12.720 Suicide? 07:12.720 --> 07:17.920 Now, when the bottle is in your hand, I want you to remove the stopper and empty the contents 07:17.920 --> 07:19.720 upon my outstretched tongue. 07:19.720 --> 07:23.040 You see, I will be dead within a few seconds. 07:23.040 --> 07:25.360 Then you may leave by the same way we came in. 07:25.360 --> 07:30.320 You will be quite unnoticed and with $5,000 in your pocket. 07:30.320 --> 07:31.760 What do you say? 07:31.760 --> 07:37.120 Well, you can't take the matter of life and death into your own hands. 07:37.120 --> 07:38.120 Precisely. 07:38.120 --> 07:39.960 That's why I'm asking you to do this for me. 07:39.960 --> 07:42.040 Well, I'm very sorry. 07:42.040 --> 07:43.040 I can't oblige you. 07:43.040 --> 07:44.640 Well, now, if it's the law, you feel... 07:44.640 --> 07:46.560 No, no, no, it's not that. 07:46.560 --> 07:49.760 You seem to have arranged that perfectly. 07:49.760 --> 07:53.440 Then what is it? 07:53.440 --> 07:59.360 If you don't understand why I can't do this monstrous thing, I suggest you look up the 07:59.360 --> 08:02.840 Sixth Commandment. 08:02.840 --> 08:10.320 Good night. 08:10.320 --> 08:20.120 So, Mosher, my second point was proved. 08:20.120 --> 08:28.160 No one refrains from killing because it is against his religious principles. 08:28.160 --> 08:33.120 The hands of the clock now read 15 minutes to midnight, one quarter of an hour in which 08:33.120 --> 08:35.080 to complete this report. 08:35.080 --> 08:39.440 Now, my third proposition called for an entirely different sort of man. 08:39.440 --> 08:43.200 One night I came upon him very unexpectedly. 08:43.200 --> 08:45.840 I was walking along one of the darker streets of the city. 08:45.840 --> 08:48.680 There was no one in view. 08:48.680 --> 08:53.800 He was slumped down beside an ash can. 08:53.800 --> 08:57.000 He had been shot in the chest and left arm, severing an artery. 08:57.000 --> 08:58.160 He was bleeding profusely. 08:58.160 --> 09:03.240 I tore off his shirt, made a tourniquet for his arm. 09:03.240 --> 09:04.240 Never mind me. 09:04.240 --> 09:05.240 Get away. 09:05.240 --> 09:09.880 Now, who did this to you? 09:09.880 --> 09:11.240 What difference does it make? 09:11.240 --> 09:12.240 You're going to a hospital. 09:12.240 --> 09:14.240 No, they'll call the cops. 09:14.240 --> 09:15.240 There, there. 09:15.240 --> 09:16.240 Now, come on. 09:16.240 --> 09:17.240 I'll help you to your feet. 09:17.240 --> 09:18.840 Come on. 09:18.840 --> 09:22.080 No, thank God. 09:22.080 --> 09:23.080 I'm a doctor, man. 09:23.080 --> 09:24.440 You'll die if you're not treated quickly. 09:24.440 --> 09:26.440 Go on, I tell you. 09:26.440 --> 09:30.120 They'll call the cops. 09:30.120 --> 09:32.760 I don't want no cops. 09:32.760 --> 09:36.720 His name was Matt Doyle, a small-time hoodlum. 09:36.720 --> 09:39.720 I visited Doyle in the hospital almost every day. 09:39.720 --> 09:43.240 Several months later, I was ready to put him to the test. 09:43.240 --> 09:46.180 I found Doyle in one of his hangouts and brought him to my apartment. 09:46.180 --> 09:50.480 And for the third time, I carefully explained my proposition. 09:50.480 --> 09:53.400 Oh, that's the angle. 09:53.400 --> 09:55.880 Here, here are the gloves. 09:55.880 --> 10:00.840 Here is the suicide note and here is a.45 caliber automatic. 10:00.840 --> 10:03.880 You're familiar with this type of weapon, I take it? 10:03.880 --> 10:04.880 Familiar. 10:04.880 --> 10:05.880 Yeah. 10:05.880 --> 10:06.880 Is this on the level? 10:06.880 --> 10:07.880 Absolutely. 10:07.880 --> 10:11.640 And this water door is mine if I kill you? 10:11.640 --> 10:12.640 That's right. 10:12.640 --> 10:14.280 Nobody will know I've done it. 10:14.280 --> 10:15.280 No one. 10:15.280 --> 10:16.280 Yeah. 10:16.280 --> 10:20.280 These gloves, they're kind of small for me. 10:20.280 --> 10:21.280 That's all right. 10:21.280 --> 10:22.280 They'll do. 10:22.280 --> 10:23.280 Yeah. 10:23.280 --> 10:24.280 You want me to put on the other one? 10:24.280 --> 10:26.280 It's safer, yes, yes. 10:26.280 --> 10:27.280 Yeah. 10:27.280 --> 10:28.840 I guess it is. 10:28.840 --> 10:32.880 Now, I want you to understand exactly what you're doing, Doyle. 10:32.880 --> 10:38.280 Without any justifiable cause, merely for the sake of money, you are going to murder me. 10:38.280 --> 10:40.040 Now, you understand that. 10:40.040 --> 10:41.040 Yeah. 10:41.040 --> 10:43.280 You've been hired to do this before. 10:43.280 --> 10:45.680 Well, yeah. 10:45.680 --> 10:49.280 But you've never killed a friend, have you? 10:49.280 --> 10:50.280 Yeah. 10:50.280 --> 10:52.280 Yeah, I have. 10:52.280 --> 10:55.840 Anyway, they were my pals until they got in the boss's way. 10:55.840 --> 11:04.200 But when the boss would say, see to a mat, then there was just another job to me. 11:04.200 --> 11:09.120 Whatever the boss said was always right, you see. 11:09.120 --> 11:12.280 But you, well, I don't know. 11:12.280 --> 11:16.520 No, no, I can't do it. 11:16.520 --> 11:17.520 But I thought you said that you... 11:17.520 --> 11:18.520 No, here, here. 11:18.520 --> 11:19.520 You take the gloves. 11:19.520 --> 11:20.520 Are you afraid of the law? 11:20.520 --> 11:21.520 No. 11:21.520 --> 11:22.520 What's the matter then? 11:22.520 --> 11:23.520 It's... 11:23.520 --> 11:28.880 Well, the boss always told me what to do, you see. 11:28.880 --> 11:34.560 And then afterwards, he'd always come around and slap me on the back and he'd say, good 11:34.560 --> 11:36.960 boy, Matt. 11:36.960 --> 11:40.440 But if I took care of you, well, you couldn't come around later to tell me that I'd done 11:40.440 --> 11:41.440 a good job. 11:41.440 --> 11:45.080 And you see, well, that's important to me. 11:45.080 --> 11:46.440 Yes, but look, Kyle... 11:46.440 --> 11:48.520 No, no, I'm sorry, Doc. 11:48.520 --> 11:51.040 But if there's somebody else that you want me to take care of... 11:51.040 --> 11:53.880 No, no, no, there's no one. 11:53.880 --> 12:00.040 Thank you just the same. 12:00.040 --> 12:02.640 That was my third proposition. 12:02.640 --> 12:08.380 Even a criminal of low intelligence, a professional killer, cannot bring himself to murder unless 12:08.380 --> 12:23.160 the act follows the code of his society, unless it is approved by some voice of authority. 12:23.160 --> 12:26.320 My next subject was altogether different in temperament. 12:26.320 --> 12:30.800 I first encountered Judith Ainsley about five years ago when I operated on Barrett Sheffield, 12:30.800 --> 12:31.800 the actor. 12:31.800 --> 12:35.920 You will recall that Sheffield was brought to the hospital with a lung abscess. 12:35.920 --> 12:40.680 As I prepared to do the rib resection, I noticed that the nurse standing beside me was greatly 12:40.680 --> 12:41.680 agitated. 12:41.680 --> 12:42.680 Retract his doctor. 12:42.680 --> 12:43.680 Thanks. 12:43.680 --> 12:46.680 Doctor, do you think this is advisable? 12:46.680 --> 12:47.680 What? 12:47.680 --> 12:48.680 His dyspnea is more pronounced. 12:48.680 --> 12:49.680 Listen. 12:49.680 --> 12:50.680 Miss Ainsley, another hemostat, please. 12:50.680 --> 12:51.680 But he's getting blue. 12:51.680 --> 12:52.680 Doctor, do you think you really should? 12:52.680 --> 12:53.680 He's cyanotic. 12:53.680 --> 12:54.680 Miss Ainsley. 12:54.680 --> 12:55.680 I'm sorry, Doctor, but if... 12:55.680 --> 12:56.680 Doctor, Doctor, I'm sorry. 12:56.680 --> 12:57.680 I'm sorry. 12:57.680 --> 12:58.680 I'm sorry. 12:58.680 --> 12:59.680 I'm sorry. 12:59.680 --> 13:00.680 I'm sorry. 13:00.680 --> 13:01.680 I'm sorry. 13:01.680 --> 13:02.680 I'm sorry. 13:02.680 --> 13:03.680 I'm sorry. 13:03.680 --> 13:04.680 I'm sorry. 13:04.680 --> 13:05.680 I'm sorry. 13:05.680 --> 13:06.680 Doctor. 13:06.680 --> 13:07.680 Catherine, quickly please. 13:07.680 --> 13:08.680 Quickly! 13:08.680 --> 13:13.020 Well, that's that. 13:13.020 --> 13:18.760 You killed him. 13:18.760 --> 13:23.740 You killed him. 13:23.740 --> 13:35.280 You should never have gone ahead. 13:35.280 --> 13:36.720 You know that, I warned you. 13:36.720 --> 13:38.520 What does it matter with you, Ainsley? 13:38.520 --> 13:40.880 Have you never seen a pulmonary before? 13:40.880 --> 13:41.920 Yes, I have. 13:41.920 --> 13:43.560 Well? 13:43.560 --> 13:46.080 We were going to be married next week. 13:46.080 --> 14:02.280 If ever I saw hate, cold, undying hate, 14:02.280 --> 14:04.600 it was in that girl's eyes. 14:04.600 --> 14:11.240 I had made the most implacable enemy of my life. 14:11.240 --> 14:13.600 A few months ago, I inquired about Miss Ainsley 14:13.600 --> 14:15.600 and learned that she had done four years of medical 14:15.600 --> 14:19.720 and was now interning in the hope of picking up a residency. 14:19.720 --> 14:22.080 I went down to the hospital and sat in the doctor's lounge, 14:22.080 --> 14:24.200 waited for her. 14:24.200 --> 14:26.600 Presently, she came in with another intern. 14:26.600 --> 14:29.480 I stood up, walked towards her. 14:29.480 --> 14:32.040 Oh, I would say about three months ago. 14:32.040 --> 14:33.120 Miss Ainsley. 14:33.120 --> 14:33.480 Huh? 14:33.480 --> 14:34.880 Could I speak with you, please? 14:34.880 --> 14:35.640 Excuse me. 14:35.640 --> 14:37.440 Of course, Doctor. 14:37.440 --> 14:40.240 Doctor Ainsley, if you please. 14:40.240 --> 14:42.640 Yes, Doctor. 14:42.640 --> 14:44.440 I have a little proposition to make to you. 14:44.440 --> 14:47.920 But first of all, there are two facts I'd like to be sure of. 14:47.920 --> 14:50.080 A, you are unable to set up your own practice 14:50.080 --> 14:51.720 because you don't have the money to get started now. 14:51.720 --> 14:53.200 Is that right? 14:53.200 --> 14:54.000 Perhaps. 14:54.000 --> 14:57.360 Fact B, you still hate me and feel a strong desire 14:57.360 --> 15:02.080 to be revenged for the wrong which you consider I have done you. 15:02.080 --> 15:04.480 Yes, I'm afraid that's true, Doctor Bronson. 15:04.480 --> 15:05.400 Good. 15:05.400 --> 15:06.000 Good? 15:06.000 --> 15:07.720 Yes. 15:07.720 --> 15:10.480 You see, I want to pay someone to murder me. 15:15.200 --> 15:19.200 So once again, I carefully and painstakingly 15:19.200 --> 15:21.080 set forth my simple conditions. 15:21.080 --> 15:24.480 I'm not sure that you're entirely sane, Doctor. 15:24.480 --> 15:25.840 But go on, you interest me. 15:25.840 --> 15:27.720 You see, it's my heart. 15:27.720 --> 15:29.200 I've had considerable damage. 15:29.200 --> 15:32.720 Coronary occlusion had to spend six weeks on my back. 15:32.720 --> 15:34.040 Just got up last week. 15:34.040 --> 15:37.440 So naturally, I was given digitalis and... 15:37.440 --> 15:39.360 Oh, I see, Doctor. 15:39.360 --> 15:40.920 You've been heavily digitalised. 15:40.920 --> 15:44.760 And if someone were to give you an injection of calcium gluconate, 15:44.760 --> 15:48.240 you would have an immediate heart block dead within a few minutes. 15:48.240 --> 15:49.520 Exactly. 15:49.520 --> 15:51.720 A simple error of judgement, unavoidable. 15:51.720 --> 15:54.640 Five thousand dollars. 15:54.640 --> 15:55.680 My own practice. 15:55.680 --> 15:58.560 And I will say that I'm feeling badly again, 15:58.560 --> 16:01.480 a recurrence of my pericardial pains. 16:01.480 --> 16:04.320 I will go back to bed and ask that you be assigned to care for me. 16:04.320 --> 16:06.520 And the rest is simple. 16:06.520 --> 16:10.480 No one would ever expect you to know that I had been digitalised. 16:10.480 --> 16:13.320 Still, if I were on my toes, I would naturally go via case history 16:13.320 --> 16:15.280 before giving medication of any kind. 16:15.280 --> 16:17.160 Well... 16:17.160 --> 16:20.240 Yes, I suppose that's true. 16:20.240 --> 16:23.600 Professional people might think you had been a little lax. 16:23.600 --> 16:26.760 Doctor, I want to thank you. 16:26.760 --> 16:28.560 You've done me a great service. 16:28.560 --> 16:30.160 You mean you'll do it? 16:30.160 --> 16:33.200 You've reminded me that nothing, 16:33.200 --> 16:36.520 no money, no revenge, nothing, 16:36.520 --> 16:41.680 can be worth the slightest shadow of suspicion in a doctor's career. 16:41.680 --> 16:46.560 They'll never say that I lost a patient because of an error in judgement. 16:46.560 --> 16:58.360 You see, I once knew a doctor who did. 16:58.360 --> 17:01.120 There, Mosher, is my fourth check. 17:01.120 --> 17:04.160 Man, or in this case, woman, 17:04.160 --> 17:11.600 refrains from killing because of the fear of loss of reputation. 17:11.600 --> 17:14.520 Now... 17:14.520 --> 17:18.160 Now I come to the testing of my fifth subject, 17:18.160 --> 17:22.520 man who would not murder because he couldn't bear the sight of blood, 17:22.520 --> 17:26.160 much less the responsibility for shedding it. 17:26.160 --> 17:31.560 Ladurn was my man, and I found him shortly after my search began. 17:31.560 --> 17:37.440 On that day, I saw him turn a ghastly white as a fast-moving car, 17:37.440 --> 17:40.120 ran over a small dog which had run into the street. 17:40.120 --> 17:43.760 Ladurn clutched at his throat and fell in a dead faint. 17:43.760 --> 17:48.840 Now I, of course, made it my business to become acquainted with him. 17:48.840 --> 17:52.360 I hadn't seen him for more than four months until tonight. 17:52.360 --> 17:56.320 As he took his place at my desk, I noticed he's changed. 17:56.320 --> 18:00.640 He's thinner, his dark eyes seem blacker than ever. 18:00.640 --> 18:07.920 And so now, for the fifth and last time, I explain the necessary details. 18:07.920 --> 18:10.600 Uh-huh. So it will look like suicide. 18:10.600 --> 18:15.440 Yes, that's right. Here is the knife and the suicide note. 18:15.440 --> 18:17.720 You've arranged everything? Everything. 18:17.720 --> 18:20.520 No-one knows I'm here? No-one. 18:20.520 --> 18:24.440 You want me to kill you now? Yes. 18:24.440 --> 18:26.720 Why do you want to die? 18:26.720 --> 18:30.560 My doctor says that I am going insane. 18:30.560 --> 18:33.920 That's strange. About going mad? 18:33.920 --> 18:37.800 About him saying you're going mad. Oh, yes. 18:37.800 --> 18:40.760 It was a shock. I don't mean that. 18:40.760 --> 18:46.760 What do you mean? That's the same thing they told me. 18:46.760 --> 18:52.080 They what? They told me over a year ago that I was going mad. 18:52.080 --> 18:59.240 The sight of blood no longer troubles you? No. 18:59.240 --> 19:02.360 Then there is no check. What check? 19:02.360 --> 19:07.600 I mean, is it? No, nothing. Nothing. 19:07.600 --> 19:11.960 Well, might as well get this over with. 19:11.960 --> 19:16.280 Nice gloves you've got here. Nice and smooth on my hand. 19:16.280 --> 19:19.160 Then you're going through with it? 19:19.160 --> 19:22.840 I've got my gun right here, too. Beauty, isn't it? 19:22.840 --> 19:26.240 Yes. Then if you'll give me back the knife... 19:26.240 --> 19:29.400 No, no, I'll keep that. 19:29.400 --> 19:34.760 I've used this gun a lot the past three months. Killed about 50 dogs. 19:34.760 --> 19:37.320 You've done what? 19:37.320 --> 19:40.800 It's very interesting. I do it after midnight. 19:40.800 --> 19:45.400 It's fun watching the dogs. You have to know just where to hit them. 19:45.400 --> 19:48.320 Kills them instantly. Yes, but the noise... 19:48.320 --> 19:53.760 I have a silencer. I don't like to wake people up when I kill their dogs. 19:53.760 --> 19:59.600 Now, look here, Lutern. This has gone far enough. 19:59.600 --> 20:02.480 I was only joking. No, you weren't. 20:02.480 --> 20:05.520 Now, listen to me. I was only joking. 20:05.520 --> 20:07.720 Shall I do it now? No. 20:07.720 --> 20:10.960 No, no, wait. You want it through the heart, don't you? 20:10.960 --> 20:15.720 Not yet. Can't you wait? Just a little while. 20:15.720 --> 20:21.680 What for? There's no use you're trying anything. I'd kill you quick. 20:21.680 --> 20:25.680 Yes, I suppose you would. 20:25.680 --> 20:27.920 Look, I have been conducting a little experiment. 20:27.920 --> 20:33.960 I would like to write an account of it before I go. 20:33.960 --> 20:36.880 What sort of an experiment? 20:36.880 --> 20:40.200 I don't think you'd understand. 20:40.200 --> 20:44.160 Okay, I'll wait till midnight. Then I've got to go. 20:44.160 --> 20:47.640 There's a German police dog, a big ugly brute. 20:47.640 --> 20:50.680 But I'll wait. Thanks. 20:50.680 --> 20:54.520 The clock says 10 minutes past 11. 20:54.520 --> 20:58.840 Yeah, you've got 50 minutes. 20:58.840 --> 21:13.560 I'll wait by the window. 21:13.560 --> 21:19.600 And so, Mosher, my experiment has ended. 21:19.600 --> 21:21.680 Strange, isn't it? 21:21.680 --> 21:25.200 The one thing I didn't count on was the choosing of a subject 21:25.200 --> 21:30.920 who would not respond to my checks, who in fact had no checks at all, 21:30.920 --> 21:36.680 for insanity knows no restraint. 21:36.680 --> 21:41.560 Dr. Branson, it's midnight. 21:41.560 --> 21:44.160 He is still at the window. 21:44.160 --> 21:49.720 I know that I am beginning to understand exactly what is going on in his wicked mind. 21:49.720 --> 21:52.480 I wonder why. 21:52.480 --> 22:00.160 Now I shall sign my name for the last time and lay down my pen. 22:00.160 --> 22:05.040 Then I shall look up and say, 22:05.040 --> 22:18.960 All right, Ladurn. 22:18.960 --> 22:46.000 All right, Ladurn. 22:46.000 --> 22:51.720 Suspense, in which John Dana starred as Dr. Branson. 22:51.720 --> 22:57.120 Next week, the story of a man who learns far too late that in horse racing or life, 22:57.120 --> 23:00.280 there is no such thing as a sure thing. 23:00.280 --> 23:03.560 We call it the sure thing. 23:03.560 --> 23:17.160 That's next week on Suspense. 23:17.160 --> 23:21.240 Suspense is produced and directed by Norman MacDonald with music composed by Lucian Morawick 23:21.240 --> 23:23.040 and conducted by Lud Bluskin. 23:23.040 --> 23:27.440 The last letter of Dr. Branson was specially written for Suspense by Leonard St. Clair 23:27.440 --> 23:30.400 from the story by Richard Crake. 23:30.400 --> 23:35.520 Created in the cast were Harley Bear, Howard Culber, Paul Richards, Virginia Gregg and 23:35.520 --> 23:37.120 James Nusser. 23:37.120 --> 24:04.520 You enjoy City Hospital every Saturday in the daytime on the CBS Radio Network.