1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:14,000 And now, tonight's presentation of radio's outstanding theater of thrills, Suspense. 2 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:20,000 Tonight, the story of terror in the streets. 3 00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:22,760 We call it, The Whole Town Sleeping. 4 00:00:22,760 --> 00:00:27,360 So now, starring Miss Jeanette Nolan, here is tonight's Suspense play written by Ray 5 00:00:27,360 --> 00:00:37,800 Bradbury, The Whole Town Sleeping. 6 00:00:37,800 --> 00:00:42,640 It was a warm summer night in the middle of Illinois country. 7 00:00:42,640 --> 00:00:46,720 The little town was deep, far away from everything. 8 00:00:46,720 --> 00:00:52,760 Kept to itself by a river and a forest and a ravine. 9 00:00:52,760 --> 00:00:56,160 In the town, the sidewalks were still scorched. 10 00:00:56,160 --> 00:01:00,800 The stores were closing and the streets were turning dark. 11 00:01:00,800 --> 00:01:03,800 Screen doors whined their springs and banged. 12 00:01:03,800 --> 00:01:10,400 And there was the sound of Grandma Hanlon's swing hammock across the street. 13 00:01:10,400 --> 00:01:18,060 On her solitary porch, Lavinia nebs, age 37, very straight and slim, sat with a tinkling 14 00:01:18,060 --> 00:01:23,560 lemonade in her white fingers, tapping it to her lips, waiting. 15 00:01:23,560 --> 00:01:26,560 Here I am, Lavinia. 16 00:01:26,560 --> 00:01:27,560 Lavinia turned. 17 00:01:27,560 --> 00:01:29,800 There was Francine at the bottom porch step. 18 00:01:29,800 --> 00:01:35,080 She was all in snow white and didn't look 35. 19 00:01:35,080 --> 00:01:36,440 I won't be a minute, Francine. 20 00:01:36,440 --> 00:01:37,440 I'll just lock the door. 21 00:01:37,440 --> 00:01:38,440 All right. 22 00:01:38,440 --> 00:01:40,960 Oh, I do like your dress, dear. 23 00:01:40,960 --> 00:01:41,960 Why thank you, dear. 24 00:01:41,960 --> 00:01:44,200 You look so well in that color. 25 00:01:44,200 --> 00:01:45,800 I'm afraid I could never wear it. 26 00:01:45,800 --> 00:01:46,800 It makes me look sallow. 27 00:01:46,800 --> 00:01:47,800 No, it doesn't. 28 00:01:47,800 --> 00:01:48,800 I'm sure not. 29 00:01:48,800 --> 00:01:51,800 Of course, I've always loved you in white. 30 00:01:51,800 --> 00:01:53,960 Evening, ladies. 31 00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:54,960 Good evening, Mrs. Hanlon. 32 00:01:54,960 --> 00:01:55,960 Good evening. 33 00:01:55,960 --> 00:01:59,440 Where are you ladies going all dressed up so pretty? 34 00:01:59,440 --> 00:02:01,520 To the Majestic Theater, Mrs. Hanlon. 35 00:02:01,520 --> 00:02:04,160 Robert Mitchum's playing in Not as a Stranger. 36 00:02:04,160 --> 00:02:06,760 Won't catch me out on a night like this. 37 00:02:06,760 --> 00:02:09,960 Not with the lonely one strangling women. 38 00:02:09,960 --> 00:02:12,120 Lock myself in with my gun. 39 00:02:12,120 --> 00:02:13,400 That's what I'm going to do. 40 00:02:13,400 --> 00:02:15,760 I wouldn't worry, Mrs. Hanlon. 41 00:02:15,760 --> 00:02:17,640 What about Eliza Ramsell? 42 00:02:17,640 --> 00:02:19,880 You think she's not worrying? 43 00:02:19,880 --> 00:02:21,720 Lock myself in with my gun. 44 00:02:21,720 --> 00:02:26,240 That's what you ladies should do. 45 00:02:26,240 --> 00:02:27,240 So silly. 46 00:02:27,240 --> 00:02:29,240 Silly old woman. 47 00:02:29,240 --> 00:02:34,360 Lavinia, you don't believe all that gossip about the lonely one, do you? 48 00:02:34,360 --> 00:02:37,840 A lot of silly old women who haven't got anything better to do than talk. 49 00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:39,000 Well, just the same. 50 00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:44,160 Hattie McDowell was killed a month ago and Roberta Ferry the month before. 51 00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:46,480 And now Eliza Ramsell disappearing. 52 00:02:46,480 --> 00:02:49,760 Eliza Ramsell walked off with a traveling man, I bet. 53 00:02:49,760 --> 00:02:58,000 The others strangled old Francine. 54 00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:02,360 They reached the edge of the ravine that cut the town in two. 55 00:03:02,360 --> 00:03:03,360 Stood there. 56 00:03:03,360 --> 00:03:06,360 Behind them were the lighted houses. 57 00:03:06,360 --> 00:03:15,760 Ahead, deepness, moistness, fireflies and dark. 58 00:03:15,760 --> 00:03:19,240 The ravine had to be crossed to reach the movies. 59 00:03:19,240 --> 00:03:21,680 Deep and black as a cut under the hills. 60 00:03:21,680 --> 00:03:25,400 Then a creaking bridge to cross over the stream. 61 00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:31,720 Then 113 steps up the steep and bramble bank to the other side. 62 00:03:31,720 --> 00:03:36,320 The ladies stood there, looking down. 63 00:03:36,320 --> 00:03:38,680 It won't be me coming back tonight, Lavinia. 64 00:03:38,680 --> 00:03:39,680 It'll be you. 65 00:03:39,680 --> 00:03:42,680 Oh, I'd never, never walk there alone at night. 66 00:03:42,680 --> 00:03:43,680 Never. 67 00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:44,680 Bosch. 68 00:03:44,680 --> 00:03:45,680 Well, you can say Bosch. 69 00:03:45,680 --> 00:03:48,000 But it'll be you alone on the path, not me. 70 00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:51,920 Oh, Lavinia, I do wish you didn't live on this side. 71 00:03:51,920 --> 00:03:55,560 Don't you get lonely living by yourself in that house? 72 00:03:55,560 --> 00:03:57,680 Old maid loved to live alone. 73 00:03:57,680 --> 00:03:59,280 Come on, we'll take the shortcut. 74 00:03:59,280 --> 00:04:00,280 I'm afraid. 75 00:04:00,280 --> 00:04:01,280 Oh, come on. 76 00:04:01,280 --> 00:04:02,280 Don't be so silly. 77 00:04:02,280 --> 00:04:04,280 I'll hold your hand. 78 00:04:04,280 --> 00:04:11,560 Lavinia, cool as mint ice cream, took the other woman's arm and led her down the dark 79 00:04:11,560 --> 00:04:19,040 winding path into cricket warmth and frog sound and mosquito delicate silence. 80 00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:21,720 Oh, let's run, Lavinia, please. 81 00:04:21,720 --> 00:04:22,720 No. 82 00:04:22,720 --> 00:04:24,720 Why should we? 83 00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:29,320 If Lavinia hadn't turned her head just then, she wouldn't have seen it. 84 00:04:29,320 --> 00:04:36,680 But she did turn her head, and it was there, back among a clump of bushes half hidden, 85 00:04:36,680 --> 00:04:42,200 but laid out as if she had put herself there to enjoy the soft stars. 86 00:04:42,200 --> 00:04:49,600 Lay Eliza Ramseau, her face moon freckled, her eyes like white marble. 87 00:04:49,600 --> 00:04:55,360 Then Francine saw it too, and the women stood on the path for a frozen second, not believing 88 00:04:55,360 --> 00:04:58,360 what they saw. 89 00:04:58,360 --> 00:05:12,000 Lavinia held Francine, and the policemen were all around in the ravine grass. 90 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:19,360 Flashlights dotted about, voices mingled, and the night grew on toward 8.30. 91 00:05:19,360 --> 00:05:21,240 You didn't move her, ladies. 92 00:05:21,240 --> 00:05:22,240 Of course not. 93 00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:23,640 Oh, no, we couldn't touch her. 94 00:05:23,640 --> 00:05:24,640 How could we? 95 00:05:24,640 --> 00:05:25,640 And there was nobody? 96 00:05:25,640 --> 00:05:26,640 You didn't hear anything? 97 00:05:26,640 --> 00:05:27,640 Sounds? 98 00:05:27,640 --> 00:05:28,640 No, nothing. 99 00:05:28,640 --> 00:05:29,640 It's, it's the lonely one, isn't it? 100 00:05:29,640 --> 00:05:30,640 He did it, didn't he? 101 00:05:30,640 --> 00:05:31,640 Couldn't say, ma'am. 102 00:05:31,640 --> 00:05:32,640 We, we knew her, you know. 103 00:05:32,640 --> 00:05:33,640 She was a friend of ours. 104 00:05:33,640 --> 00:05:34,640 Oh, I'm sorry. 105 00:05:34,640 --> 00:05:35,640 Well, I'll have one of my men walk you across the ravine. 106 00:05:35,640 --> 00:05:36,640 That won't be necessary. 107 00:05:36,640 --> 00:05:37,640 Thank you very much. 108 00:05:37,640 --> 00:05:38,640 We'll be all right. 109 00:05:38,640 --> 00:05:39,640 Oh, Lavinia. 110 00:05:39,640 --> 00:05:40,640 Come along, dear. 111 00:05:40,640 --> 00:05:41,640 And they crossed the ravine, each with her own thing. 112 00:05:41,640 --> 00:05:49,060 The 113 00:05:49,060 --> 00:06:01,240 river, and the creek waters under the bridge whispered, I'm the lonely one. 114 00:06:01,240 --> 00:06:03,240 I'm the lonely one. 115 00:06:03,240 --> 00:06:05,280 I kill people. 116 00:06:05,280 --> 00:06:18,160 Then they were at the top of the stairs and bathed in safe light from the street lamp. 117 00:06:18,160 --> 00:06:20,620 I've never seen a dead person before. 118 00:06:20,620 --> 00:06:22,600 It's only a little after 8.30. 119 00:06:22,600 --> 00:06:25,000 We'll pick up Helen and get on to the show. 120 00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:26,000 The show? 121 00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:28,080 Oh, Lavinia, you don't mean it. 122 00:06:28,080 --> 00:06:29,680 Of course, I do. 123 00:06:29,680 --> 00:06:32,360 We've got to forget that, it's not good to remember. 124 00:06:32,360 --> 00:06:34,480 But Eliza's back there and... 125 00:06:34,480 --> 00:06:36,320 We need to laugh. 126 00:06:36,320 --> 00:06:39,040 We've got to pretend that nothing happened. 127 00:06:39,040 --> 00:06:40,880 But she was our friend. 128 00:06:40,880 --> 00:06:43,000 We can't help her. 129 00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:44,800 There's no good brooding about it. 130 00:06:44,800 --> 00:06:49,400 I'm going to get it out of my mind, and you should too. 131 00:06:49,500 --> 00:06:51,800 Now if we hurry, we won't miss too much. 132 00:07:02,100 --> 00:07:04,700 I thought you'd never come. You're an hour late. 133 00:07:04,800 --> 00:07:05,300 Well, we... 134 00:07:05,400 --> 00:07:08,300 Someone found Eliza Ramselle dead in the ravine. 135 00:07:09,000 --> 00:07:11,900 Oh, no! Eliza... 136 00:07:12,500 --> 00:07:13,500 Who found her? 137 00:07:13,500 --> 00:07:15,000 We don't know. 138 00:07:15,100 --> 00:07:18,800 Oh, how awful. Did you see her? Was it terrible? 139 00:07:18,900 --> 00:07:20,400 Let's not talk about it. 140 00:07:20,500 --> 00:07:22,800 Oh, I really think I should lock myself in my house. 141 00:07:22,900 --> 00:07:24,200 I don't think we'd better go tonight. 142 00:07:24,300 --> 00:07:26,900 Of course we will. It's the last showing today. 143 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:30,600 Besides, the lonely one can't kill three ladies. 144 00:07:30,700 --> 00:07:34,000 There's safety in numbers. Anyway, it's too soon. 145 00:07:34,100 --> 00:07:36,100 The murder's come a month separated. 146 00:07:36,200 --> 00:07:37,400 Come along, Helen. 147 00:07:37,500 --> 00:07:38,900 Well... 148 00:07:38,900 --> 00:07:43,200 Oh, I'll get a sweater. You wait for me. 149 00:07:44,500 --> 00:07:47,700 Why didn't you tell her about us finding Eliza? 150 00:07:47,800 --> 00:07:49,300 Why upset her? 151 00:07:49,400 --> 00:07:50,900 Time enough tomorrow. 152 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:53,400 I told you, tonight we've got to forget. 153 00:07:53,500 --> 00:07:56,200 We're going to the show, and let's not talk about it anymore. 154 00:07:56,300 --> 00:07:57,700 Enough's enough. 155 00:08:04,100 --> 00:08:07,800 The ladies walked downtown and stopped at the drugstore, 156 00:08:07,800 --> 00:08:10,300 which was a few doors from the theater. 157 00:08:10,400 --> 00:08:13,900 Lavinia bought a quarter's worth of green mint chews, 158 00:08:14,000 --> 00:08:17,800 and the druggists dropped the mints into a sack with a silver shovel. 159 00:08:17,900 --> 00:08:21,600 You looked mighty cool this noon, Miss Lavinia, when you was in. 160 00:08:21,700 --> 00:08:24,300 So cool and nice, someone asked after you. 161 00:08:24,400 --> 00:08:25,400 Oh? 162 00:08:25,500 --> 00:08:27,500 Yeah, a man sitting at the counter. 163 00:08:27,600 --> 00:08:30,100 He watched you walk out, and he says to me, 164 00:08:30,200 --> 00:08:31,500 Who's that? 165 00:08:31,600 --> 00:08:33,300 Just like that, he says. 166 00:08:33,400 --> 00:08:37,600 Why, that's Lavinia Neb's prettiest maiden lady in town, I says. 167 00:08:37,600 --> 00:08:39,300 Beautiful, he says. 168 00:08:39,400 --> 00:08:40,700 Beautiful. 169 00:08:40,800 --> 00:08:41,900 Where she live. 170 00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:44,400 You didn't give him her address, I hope. 171 00:08:44,500 --> 00:08:45,500 You didn't. 172 00:08:45,600 --> 00:08:47,900 Well, maybe I shouldn't have. 173 00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:50,100 I didn't give him the exact address. 174 00:08:50,200 --> 00:08:52,900 I said over on Park Street, you know, near the ravine. 175 00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:54,400 Kind of casual. 176 00:08:54,500 --> 00:08:55,900 I'm sorry. 177 00:08:56,000 --> 00:08:57,300 What did he look like? 178 00:08:57,400 --> 00:08:59,100 Oh, not much, I guess. 179 00:08:59,200 --> 00:09:02,900 Wore a dark suit, tail, kind of thin. 180 00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:05,100 Probably nothing but a stranger passing through. 181 00:09:05,200 --> 00:09:06,600 I'm sorry, Miss Lavinia. 182 00:09:06,600 --> 00:09:07,900 No charge for the peppermint. 183 00:09:08,000 --> 00:09:09,700 Don't be silly, Mr. Briggs. 184 00:09:09,800 --> 00:09:12,300 Well, I know what we're going to do right now. 185 00:09:12,400 --> 00:09:14,100 We're going straight home. 186 00:09:14,200 --> 00:09:16,100 That man asking after you. 187 00:09:16,200 --> 00:09:18,100 You're next, Lavinia. 188 00:09:18,200 --> 00:09:19,800 You want to be dead in that ravine? 189 00:09:19,900 --> 00:09:22,800 It was just a man, that's all. 190 00:09:22,900 --> 00:09:24,300 It doesn't mean a thing. 191 00:09:24,400 --> 00:09:25,400 That's what I figure. 192 00:09:25,500 --> 00:09:26,600 Nothing to worry about. 193 00:09:26,700 --> 00:09:27,900 Nothing to worry about. 194 00:09:28,000 --> 00:09:29,600 I'm not going to miss the movie. 195 00:09:29,700 --> 00:09:31,000 You two can do what you want. 196 00:09:31,100 --> 00:09:32,100 I'm going. 197 00:09:32,200 --> 00:09:33,400 Well, I think we should all go home. 198 00:09:33,500 --> 00:09:34,800 So do I. She's right, Lavinia. 199 00:09:34,900 --> 00:09:35,900 No, she's not. 200 00:09:35,900 --> 00:09:36,900 Yes, she is. 201 00:09:37,000 --> 00:09:38,000 She's not. 202 00:09:42,700 --> 00:09:44,300 They argued for five minutes, 203 00:09:44,400 --> 00:09:47,100 then the three of them went to the theater. 204 00:09:47,200 --> 00:09:49,500 Francine and Helen reluctantly. 205 00:09:49,600 --> 00:09:54,100 Lavinia, head high, self-possessed, cool. 206 00:09:54,200 --> 00:09:57,700 In the auditorium, they sat in the order of ancient brass 207 00:09:57,800 --> 00:10:01,800 polish, waiting for the second show to begin. 208 00:10:01,800 --> 00:10:05,800 And the lights began to fade. 209 00:10:05,900 --> 00:10:19,500 As we came in, a man in a dark suit followed us. 210 00:10:19,600 --> 00:10:22,000 He was thin, and I think he had a pale face. 211 00:10:22,100 --> 00:10:24,200 He just came in, and he's sitting behind us. 212 00:10:24,300 --> 00:10:25,000 What? What? 213 00:10:25,100 --> 00:10:25,900 Oh, Helen. 214 00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:26,700 What man? 215 00:10:26,800 --> 00:10:28,000 The man behind us. 216 00:10:28,100 --> 00:10:30,400 It's the one Mr. Briggs said was in the drug store. 217 00:10:30,400 --> 00:10:32,000 The one behind us now. 218 00:10:32,100 --> 00:10:34,300 Oh, I'm calling the manager. 219 00:10:34,400 --> 00:10:35,100 It's him. 220 00:10:35,200 --> 00:10:36,500 Oh, stop the movie. 221 00:10:36,600 --> 00:10:37,300 Stop it. 222 00:10:37,400 --> 00:10:38,700 Put on the lights. 223 00:10:38,800 --> 00:10:40,700 It's the murderer, the lonely one. 224 00:10:40,800 --> 00:10:41,900 He's here. 225 00:10:42,000 --> 00:10:43,000 Put on the lights. 226 00:10:43,100 --> 00:10:43,900 Lights! 227 00:10:54,500 --> 00:10:57,900 The drug store clocked set 1125. 228 00:10:57,900 --> 00:11:00,800 They'd come out of the theater feeling new, 229 00:11:00,900 --> 00:11:04,100 and now they were laughing at Francine. 230 00:11:04,200 --> 00:11:06,600 And Francine was laughing at herself. 231 00:11:06,700 --> 00:11:10,600 You see how silly it was, all that riot for nothing. 232 00:11:10,700 --> 00:11:13,400 When you went running up the aisle screaming lights, 233 00:11:13,500 --> 00:11:14,900 honestly, I thought I'd die. 234 00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:16,700 Oh, that poor man. 235 00:11:16,800 --> 00:11:20,500 The theater manager's brother from Racine. 236 00:11:20,600 --> 00:11:21,900 Oh, Francine. 237 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:23,300 Well, I did apologize. 238 00:11:23,400 --> 00:11:24,200 No. 239 00:11:24,200 --> 00:11:27,900 You see what a panic can do, and all for nothing. 240 00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:29,800 We shouldn't have stopped for sodas, though. 241 00:11:29,900 --> 00:11:31,500 Wasn't that a wonderful picture? 242 00:11:31,600 --> 00:11:32,900 Will you ever forget? 243 00:11:38,700 --> 00:11:41,100 The streets were clean and empty. 244 00:11:41,200 --> 00:11:45,200 Not a car or a truck or a person was in sight. 245 00:11:45,300 --> 00:11:48,400 The ladies walked under a flickering neon sign, 246 00:11:48,500 --> 00:11:51,100 buzzing like a dying insect. 247 00:11:51,100 --> 00:11:54,900 The sounds of their heels shot on the big pavement. 248 00:11:55,000 --> 00:11:56,700 First, we'll walk you home, Francine. 249 00:11:56,800 --> 00:11:57,300 Oh, no. 250 00:11:57,400 --> 00:11:58,500 I'll walk you home. 251 00:11:58,600 --> 00:12:00,900 If you walked me home, you'd have to come back 252 00:12:01,000 --> 00:12:02,800 across the ravine alone. 253 00:12:02,900 --> 00:12:03,800 I know you. 254 00:12:03,900 --> 00:12:06,400 If a leaf even fell on you, you'd drop dead. 255 00:12:06,500 --> 00:12:08,800 Well, I could stay the night at your house. 256 00:12:08,900 --> 00:12:10,500 No, it's all settled. 257 00:12:10,500 --> 00:12:23,400 First, I'll take you home, and then Helen. 258 00:12:23,500 --> 00:12:26,400 Lavinia, Helen, stay here with me tonight. 259 00:12:26,500 --> 00:12:27,200 It's late. 260 00:12:27,300 --> 00:12:28,600 Mrs. Murdock has an extra room. 261 00:12:28,700 --> 00:12:29,900 No, thanks. 262 00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:32,000 I don't sleep well away from my own bed. 263 00:12:32,100 --> 00:12:34,600 Oh, please, Lavinia, please. 264 00:12:34,700 --> 00:12:36,200 I don't want you dead. 265 00:12:36,300 --> 00:12:38,800 Now, you've got to stop this. 266 00:12:38,900 --> 00:12:40,100 I mean it. 267 00:12:40,100 --> 00:12:43,000 I promise I'll call you the very minute I get home. 268 00:12:43,100 --> 00:12:43,800 Now, will you? 269 00:12:43,900 --> 00:12:44,800 Will you really? 270 00:12:44,900 --> 00:12:45,800 I promise. 271 00:12:45,900 --> 00:12:48,100 And Helen, you make her promise you to call. 272 00:12:48,200 --> 00:12:49,600 I will. 273 00:12:49,700 --> 00:12:52,100 Well, good night. 274 00:12:52,200 --> 00:12:52,900 Be careful. 275 00:12:56,200 --> 00:13:02,400 Now, I'll walk you home. 276 00:13:02,500 --> 00:13:05,300 The courthouse clock struck the hour, 277 00:13:05,400 --> 00:13:09,000 but the sounds went across a town that was empty. 278 00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:11,900 Emptier than it had ever been before. 279 00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:16,900 Over empty streets and empty lots and empty lawns, 280 00:13:17,000 --> 00:13:18,900 the sound went. 281 00:13:19,000 --> 00:13:25,400 10, 11, 12. 282 00:13:25,500 --> 00:13:28,900 I don't suppose it's any use asking you to stay, Lavinia. 283 00:13:29,000 --> 00:13:31,400 There's no reason for me to. 284 00:13:31,500 --> 00:13:34,400 You've acted so strangely tonight. 285 00:13:34,500 --> 00:13:36,900 I'm just not afraid, that's all. 286 00:13:36,900 --> 00:13:39,000 And I'm curious, I suppose. 287 00:13:39,100 --> 00:13:41,000 Of course, I'm using my head. 288 00:13:41,100 --> 00:13:45,500 I mean, logically, the lonely one can't be around. 289 00:13:45,600 --> 00:13:47,100 Not now, with the police and all. 290 00:13:47,200 --> 00:13:49,300 Did you ever think that maybe your subconscious 291 00:13:49,400 --> 00:13:51,100 doesn't want you to live anymore? 292 00:13:51,200 --> 00:13:54,200 You and Francine, honestly, Helen. 293 00:13:54,300 --> 00:13:55,900 Well, I feel so guilty. 294 00:13:56,000 --> 00:13:58,000 I'll be drinking a cup of coffee just about the time 295 00:13:58,100 --> 00:14:03,200 you get to the ravine and, ooh, that awful bridge in the dark. 296 00:14:03,300 --> 00:14:05,600 You will call us the minute you get home, won't you? 297 00:14:05,600 --> 00:14:07,100 I won't sleep a wink if you don't. 298 00:14:07,200 --> 00:14:08,500 I'll call. 299 00:14:08,600 --> 00:14:12,300 Now good night. 300 00:14:12,400 --> 00:14:16,000 Lavinia Nebs walked down the midnight street, 301 00:14:16,100 --> 00:14:19,200 down the late summer silence. 302 00:14:19,300 --> 00:14:22,500 She saw the houses with their dark windows, 303 00:14:22,600 --> 00:14:26,000 and far away she heard a dog barking. 304 00:14:26,100 --> 00:14:28,500 She thought to herself, in five minutes, 305 00:14:28,600 --> 00:14:30,500 I'll be safe at home. 306 00:14:30,600 --> 00:14:34,000 In five minutes, I'll be phoning Francine and Helen. 307 00:14:34,000 --> 00:14:37,700 They're so silly, like old hens. 308 00:14:37,800 --> 00:14:38,700 Old. 309 00:14:38,800 --> 00:14:40,100 I'm older than either of them. 310 00:14:40,200 --> 00:14:43,100 I'm... 311 00:14:43,200 --> 00:14:46,100 She heard a man's voice singing away among the trees, 312 00:14:46,200 --> 00:14:48,600 and she walked a little faster. 313 00:14:48,700 --> 00:14:50,300 And then coming down the street toward her 314 00:14:50,400 --> 00:14:55,200 in the dimming moonlight was a man. 315 00:14:55,300 --> 00:14:57,000 Well, look who it is. 316 00:14:57,100 --> 00:14:59,900 What a time of night for you to be out, Miss Nebs. 317 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:02,000 Officer Kennedy. 318 00:15:02,000 --> 00:15:04,100 Oh, I'm so glad it's you. 319 00:15:04,200 --> 00:15:05,900 Is something wrong, Miss Nebs? 320 00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:07,300 No, nothing at all. 321 00:15:07,400 --> 00:15:09,600 I'm just glad it's you. 322 00:15:09,700 --> 00:15:11,900 You know you shouldn't be out now. 323 00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:12,700 I know. 324 00:15:12,800 --> 00:15:13,700 I've been to the movies. 325 00:15:13,800 --> 00:15:14,700 It is late. 326 00:15:14,800 --> 00:15:15,300 Yeah, come on. 327 00:15:15,400 --> 00:15:16,200 I'd better see you home. 328 00:15:16,300 --> 00:15:17,500 Oh, no. 329 00:15:17,600 --> 00:15:19,200 I can make it fine. 330 00:15:19,300 --> 00:15:21,000 Moon's going behind the trees. 331 00:15:21,100 --> 00:15:22,600 Be pretty dark. 332 00:15:22,700 --> 00:15:25,400 I'm not afraid of the dark, Mr. Kennedy. 333 00:15:25,500 --> 00:15:27,100 You sure you'll be all right? 334 00:15:27,200 --> 00:15:28,100 Quite sure. 335 00:15:28,200 --> 00:15:30,200 All right, tell you what. 336 00:15:30,200 --> 00:15:32,100 I'll wait here at U-Cross. 337 00:15:32,200 --> 00:15:33,300 If you need help, just give me a yell, 338 00:15:33,400 --> 00:15:35,100 and I'll come running. 339 00:15:35,200 --> 00:15:37,600 I'll check by your house later on my way back. 340 00:15:37,700 --> 00:15:38,800 Thank you. 341 00:15:38,900 --> 00:15:39,600 Good night. 342 00:15:39,700 --> 00:15:41,100 Good night. 343 00:15:43,200 --> 00:15:45,600 As she walked away, she thought, 344 00:15:45,700 --> 00:15:48,700 I won't walk in the ravine with any man. 345 00:15:48,800 --> 00:15:51,600 How do I know who the lonely one is? 346 00:15:51,700 --> 00:15:53,400 No, thank you. 347 00:15:53,500 --> 00:15:55,400 Then the ravine. 348 00:15:55,500 --> 00:15:59,100 She stood on top of the 113 steps, 349 00:15:59,100 --> 00:16:01,000 down the steep bramble bank 350 00:16:01,100 --> 00:16:03,500 that led across the creaking bridge 100 yards 351 00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:07,000 and up through the black hills to Park Street. 352 00:16:07,100 --> 00:16:08,500 Three minutes from now, 353 00:16:08,600 --> 00:16:12,000 I'll be putting my key in the house door. 354 00:16:12,100 --> 00:16:14,000 Nothing can happen. 355 00:16:14,100 --> 00:16:15,500 Nothing. 356 00:16:15,600 --> 00:16:18,800 She started down the dark green steps 357 00:16:18,900 --> 00:16:21,300 into the deep ravine night. 358 00:16:21,400 --> 00:16:26,200 Five, six, seven, eight, nine. 359 00:16:26,300 --> 00:16:28,000 The ravine was deep. 360 00:16:28,000 --> 00:16:30,900 Eleven, twelve, thirteen. 361 00:16:31,000 --> 00:16:33,900 The world of safe people and beds. 362 00:16:34,000 --> 00:16:35,400 The locked doors. 363 00:16:35,500 --> 00:16:36,900 The town. 364 00:16:37,000 --> 00:16:38,400 The drugstore. 365 00:16:38,500 --> 00:16:39,400 The theater. 366 00:16:39,500 --> 00:16:40,900 Lights. 367 00:16:41,000 --> 00:16:42,900 Everything was gone. 368 00:16:43,000 --> 00:16:46,900 Only the ravine existed and lived. 369 00:16:47,000 --> 00:16:49,400 Black and huge around it. 370 00:16:49,500 --> 00:16:52,900 Nineteen, thirty, one. 371 00:16:53,000 --> 00:16:55,400 Nothing's happened, has it? 372 00:16:55,500 --> 00:16:56,900 No one around. 373 00:16:56,900 --> 00:17:00,800 The town is there. 374 00:17:00,900 --> 00:17:02,800 Remember that old ghost story you told each other 375 00:17:02,900 --> 00:17:04,800 when you were children? 376 00:17:04,900 --> 00:17:07,800 About the dark man coming into your house 377 00:17:07,900 --> 00:17:10,800 and you upstairs in bed. 378 00:17:10,900 --> 00:17:14,800 Now he's at the first step coming up to your room. 379 00:17:14,900 --> 00:17:17,800 Now he's at the second step. 380 00:17:17,900 --> 00:17:19,800 Now he's at the third. 381 00:17:19,900 --> 00:17:21,300 The fourth. 382 00:17:21,400 --> 00:17:23,800 The fifth step. 383 00:17:23,800 --> 00:17:26,700 You laughed and screamed at the story. 384 00:17:26,800 --> 00:17:29,700 Now the hard man is at the twelfth step 385 00:17:29,800 --> 00:17:31,700 opening your door. 386 00:17:31,800 --> 00:17:34,700 Now he's standing by your bed. 387 00:17:34,800 --> 00:17:37,700 Ah! 388 00:17:37,800 --> 00:17:39,700 What? 389 00:17:39,800 --> 00:17:41,700 What the? 390 00:17:41,800 --> 00:17:43,700 There at the bottom of the steps. 391 00:17:43,800 --> 00:17:46,700 The man under the light. 392 00:17:46,800 --> 00:17:48,700 No. 393 00:17:48,800 --> 00:17:51,700 He's gone. 394 00:17:51,700 --> 00:17:54,600 He's waiting there. 395 00:17:54,700 --> 00:17:57,600 Oh, but there's nothing. 396 00:17:57,700 --> 00:17:59,600 It's empty. 397 00:17:59,700 --> 00:18:01,600 There's nothing. 398 00:18:01,700 --> 00:18:03,600 Nothing on the bridge. 399 00:18:03,700 --> 00:18:04,600 Fool. 400 00:18:04,700 --> 00:18:07,600 It's that story I told myself. 401 00:18:07,700 --> 00:18:10,600 How silly. 402 00:18:10,700 --> 00:18:13,600 Shall I call Mr. Kennedy? 403 00:18:13,700 --> 00:18:15,600 Did he hear me scream? 404 00:18:15,700 --> 00:18:17,600 Or did I scream? 405 00:18:17,700 --> 00:18:20,600 Maybe I only thought I did. 406 00:18:20,600 --> 00:18:23,500 But then he didn't hear me at all. 407 00:18:23,600 --> 00:18:25,500 I'll go back up. 408 00:18:25,600 --> 00:18:28,500 Go to Helen's and sleep there tonight. 409 00:18:28,600 --> 00:18:30,500 No. 410 00:18:30,600 --> 00:18:32,500 It's nearer home now. 411 00:18:32,600 --> 00:18:35,500 Don't be silly. 412 00:18:35,600 --> 00:18:37,500 Wait. 413 00:18:37,500 --> 00:18:41,400 Someone's following me. 414 00:18:41,500 --> 00:18:46,400 Someone's on the steps behind me. 415 00:18:46,500 --> 00:18:51,400 I don't dare turn around. 416 00:18:51,500 --> 00:18:56,400 Every time I take a step, 417 00:18:56,500 --> 00:19:00,400 I feel like I'm being chased. 418 00:19:00,500 --> 00:19:04,400 I feel like I'm being chased. 419 00:19:04,400 --> 00:19:08,300 Every time I take a step, 420 00:19:08,400 --> 00:19:12,300 he takes one. 421 00:19:21,400 --> 00:19:24,300 Officer Kennedy? 422 00:19:24,400 --> 00:19:27,300 Is that you? 423 00:19:27,400 --> 00:19:29,300 Is it? 424 00:19:29,300 --> 00:19:34,200 The crickets were suddenly still. 425 00:19:34,300 --> 00:19:37,200 The crickets were listening. 426 00:19:37,300 --> 00:19:41,200 The night was listening to her. 427 00:19:41,300 --> 00:19:44,200 Then there was a sound. 428 00:19:44,300 --> 00:19:49,200 Only a woodchuck surely beating a hollow log. 429 00:19:49,300 --> 00:19:51,200 But it was Lavinia Nebbs. 430 00:19:51,300 --> 00:19:55,200 It was most surely the heart of Lavinia Nebbs. 431 00:19:55,300 --> 00:19:58,200 She went down the steps faster, faster, 432 00:19:58,200 --> 00:20:00,100 faster, run. 433 00:20:00,200 --> 00:20:04,100 She heard music in a mad way, a silly way. 434 00:20:04,200 --> 00:20:07,100 She heard the search of music that pounded at her. 435 00:20:07,200 --> 00:20:12,100 Rush punching her faster and faster down, down into the pit of the ravine. 436 00:20:12,200 --> 00:20:16,100 Only a little way across the bridge. 437 00:20:16,200 --> 00:20:18,100 Run, run. 438 00:20:18,200 --> 00:20:20,100 Don't turn. 439 00:20:20,200 --> 00:20:21,100 Don't look. 440 00:20:21,200 --> 00:20:23,100 If you see him, you'll not be able to move. 441 00:20:23,200 --> 00:20:25,100 Just run. 442 00:20:25,200 --> 00:20:27,100 And across the bridge, 443 00:20:27,100 --> 00:20:29,000 between the hills, 444 00:20:29,100 --> 00:20:31,000 to the top of the path, the street, 445 00:20:31,100 --> 00:20:37,000 and even with the light, the fear swirled about her, closing in, pressing. 446 00:20:37,100 --> 00:20:41,000 If I get home safe, I'll never go out alone. 447 00:20:41,100 --> 00:20:44,000 I was a fool. Never again. 448 00:20:44,100 --> 00:20:46,000 If you let me get home, 449 00:20:46,100 --> 00:20:50,000 but this, I'll never go out again, alone. 450 00:20:50,100 --> 00:20:53,000 I promise. Please. 451 00:20:53,100 --> 00:20:55,000 Please, let me. 452 00:20:55,000 --> 00:20:56,900 Please, please. 453 00:20:57,000 --> 00:21:00,900 Get me down to get inside and lock the door. 454 00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:02,900 And I'll be safe. 455 00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:07,900 Oh, safe at home. 456 00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:09,900 Safe, safe at home. 457 00:21:10,000 --> 00:21:10,900 Listen. 458 00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:12,900 Not a sound. 459 00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:14,900 Oh, wait. 460 00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:16,900 Oh, wait. 461 00:21:16,900 --> 00:21:18,800 Oh. 462 00:21:22,900 --> 00:21:24,800 The window. 463 00:21:33,900 --> 00:21:37,800 Why, there's no one there at all. 464 00:21:37,900 --> 00:21:39,800 Nobody. 465 00:21:39,900 --> 00:21:43,800 There was no one following me at all. 466 00:21:43,800 --> 00:21:47,700 Nobody running after me. 467 00:21:47,800 --> 00:21:49,700 How silly. 468 00:21:49,800 --> 00:21:53,700 If a man had been following me, he would have caught me. 469 00:21:53,800 --> 00:21:57,700 I can't run as fast as a man. 470 00:21:57,800 --> 00:22:01,700 I wasn't running from anything except me. 471 00:22:01,800 --> 00:22:05,700 The ravine was safer than safe. 472 00:22:06,800 --> 00:22:08,700 Oh. 473 00:22:08,800 --> 00:22:12,700 It's nice to be home, though. 474 00:22:12,700 --> 00:22:16,600 Home's a really good, warm, 475 00:22:16,700 --> 00:22:18,600 safe place. 476 00:22:18,700 --> 00:22:20,600 The only place. 477 00:22:20,700 --> 00:22:23,600 She had just put her hand out to the light switch 478 00:22:23,700 --> 00:22:27,600 when she heard it behind her in the blackness. 479 00:22:27,700 --> 00:22:30,600 Just a movement. 480 00:22:30,700 --> 00:22:32,600 What? 481 00:22:32,700 --> 00:22:34,600 What? 482 00:22:34,600 --> 00:22:40,500 Who is it? 483 00:22:40,500 --> 00:22:54,400 Beautiful. 484 00:23:10,500 --> 00:23:13,400 Suspense. 485 00:23:13,500 --> 00:23:16,400 In which Miss Jeanette Nolan starred with Paula Winslow, 486 00:23:16,500 --> 00:23:19,400 Eve McVeigh, and Bill Conrad in tonight's presentation of 487 00:23:19,500 --> 00:23:24,400 Ray Bradbury's The Whole Town Sleeping, adapted by Anthony Ellis. 488 00:23:24,500 --> 00:23:27,400 Next week, the story of a fishing cruise and bait 489 00:23:27,500 --> 00:23:29,400 that was a life insurance policy. 490 00:23:29,500 --> 00:23:32,400 We call it Over the Bounding Main. 491 00:23:32,500 --> 00:23:36,400 That's next week on Suspense. 492 00:23:36,400 --> 00:23:41,300 Suspense is produced and directed by Anthony Ellis. 493 00:23:41,400 --> 00:23:45,300 The music was composed by Lucian Marowick and conducted by Wilbur Hatch. 494 00:23:45,400 --> 00:23:48,300 Featured in the cast were Tom McKee, Florence Wolcott, 495 00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:51,300 Tom Brown, and Will Wright. 496 00:23:51,300 --> 00:24:07,200 Thursday night, The Whistler brings mystery on the CBS Radio Network. 497 00:24:21,300 --> 00:24:50,200 The Whistler.