1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:10,000 And now, tonight's presentation of radio's outstanding theater of thrills, Suspense. 2 00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:20,000 Tonight, we bring you a story of a pet cat and the fear it carried with it. 3 00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:22,000 We call it Black Death. 4 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:28,000 So now, starring Mr. Edgar Barrier, here is tonight's suspense play, Black Death. 5 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:48,000 Music 6 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:54,000 April 3rd. Remember what you did that day? It was a Saturday, so maybe you weren't working. 7 00:00:54,000 --> 00:01:00,000 The air held that first promise of spring, so you probably felt the urge to go outside, maybe to the park. 8 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:09,000 If you did, chances are you brushed against death. Black, unpredictable, anonymous death. 9 00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:11,000 Listen. 10 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:17,000 Yes, it's a cat. We called him Cherry. 11 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:24,000 Just a tomcat, color black, disposition friendly, usually. Not too good as a mouser, no real need for it. 12 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:27,000 You see, Jerry gets pretty well fed where he lives. 13 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:33,000 And what mice we have there in the biological institute wouldn't be very healthy for Jerry. 14 00:01:33,000 --> 00:01:41,000 They were likely as not to be inoculated with anthrax, typhoid, rabies, cholera, typhus, or plague. 15 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:48,000 We were doing special work with plague at the institute, studying and manipulating the deadly Pastorella pestis, 16 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:51,000 the rod-like germ of the Black Death. 17 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:55,000 I blame myself, of course. I should have known about Jerry. 18 00:01:55,000 --> 00:01:59,000 As director, it is my business to know everything about the biological institute, 19 00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:05,000 to keep track of the last submicroscopic bacillus and spore in the smallest test tube. 20 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:09,000 But that morning, I didn't know about Jerry. 21 00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:20,000 I was home. I had just finished breakfast, and Patty, as usual, was flitting about me. 22 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:27,000 A pocket full of posy, ashes, ashes, we all fall down. 23 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:29,000 Where did you learn that song, Patty? 24 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:34,000 It's a game. The kids in the park play it. Why, Daddy? 25 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:44,000 I didn't answer her. How could I tell Patty the harmless nursery rhyme had its horrible origin among the victims of the great plague of London? 26 00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:52,000 In their desperation, they hoped the smell of flowers might ward off the deadly miasma. 27 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:57,000 It didn't help, of course. Posy or no, they coughed their lives away. 28 00:02:57,000 --> 00:03:02,000 Ashes, ashes, we all fall down. 29 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:08,000 We did fall down by the uncounted thousands, never to rise again. 30 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:10,000 Don't forget, Daddy, you promised. 31 00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:12,000 Promised? What did I promise now? 32 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:14,000 To take me with you to the office. You remember? 33 00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:16,000 I said if it was all right with Mother. 34 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:20,000 Oh, I asked Mama. And first she said no, because she always worries about the germs. 35 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:27,000 Then I told her you said the institute is the safest place in town, because every germ is under a lock and a key. So she said all right. 36 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:29,000 All right, you little minx. You win. 37 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:32,000 Patty, now I'll get to play with Jerry. 38 00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:35,000 I'll get it, dear. Hello? 39 00:03:35,000 --> 00:03:36,000 Dr. Gephardt. 40 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:37,000 Oh, hello, Mac. 41 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:40,000 Dr. Gephardt. Dr. Gephardt, I think I've got it. 42 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:42,000 Got it? What's the matter, Mac? 43 00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:43,000 Plague. 44 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:44,000 No, that's impossible. 45 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:47,000 All the symptoms. There's a leak somewhere. Hurry, Doctor. 46 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:48,000 I'll be right down. 47 00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:49,000 I'm already, Daddy. 48 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:50,000 Not today, Patty. 49 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:51,000 But, Daddy. 50 00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:53,000 Not today, I said. I'm sorry. 51 00:03:53,000 --> 00:04:04,000 But you promised, Daddy, and I wanted to play with Jerry. 52 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:10,000 Mac was waiting for me in my office. It took only a moment to see that it was true. 53 00:04:10,000 --> 00:04:17,000 The characteristic expression of fear and anxiety. His skin hot and dry. The hacking cough. 54 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:19,000 Am I glad to see you? 55 00:04:19,000 --> 00:04:22,000 Oh, Mac, Mac, what are you doing up? Have you treated yourself? 56 00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:24,000 Yes, but it's advanced pretty far. Don't get near me. 57 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:26,000 How on earth did this happen? 58 00:04:26,000 --> 00:04:32,000 Slipped up somewhere. Yesterday I had chills, headache, dizzy. Thought it was something I didn't pay any attention to. 59 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:35,000 All right, all right. Enough of that. Now you get into bed. 60 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:39,000 No, not until we locate the leak. The guinea pigs, the cage over there. 61 00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:44,000 No, it can't be. Not one of those animals is a pastorella. There must be something else. 62 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:49,000 Now get away, Jerry. Mac, you're sure you didn't work with some others? Those mice, maybe? 63 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:50,000 I'm positive. 64 00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:55,000 Oh, that fool cat. Let me get him out of here. Now come on, Jerry. Outside. 65 00:04:55,000 --> 00:04:58,000 Careful, doctor. He's been funny lately. He scratched me the other day. 66 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:02,000 What did you say, Mac? 67 00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:06,000 I said, Jerry. Jerry scratched me, doctor. That's what... 68 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:15,000 He lay there, writhing on the floor. And then he was gone. 69 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:26,000 Once the deadly bacillus took hold of his lungs and his blood, our miracle drugs were no more effective than the poses of those ancient, terrified Londoners. 70 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:32,000 But I wasn't thinking of that. I was looking at the long, ugly, inflamed scratches on his arm. 71 00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:37,000 Jerry. It didn't seem possible, yet there was the proof. 72 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:56,000 Somehow, Jerry had picked up the infection, which could happen a hundred ways, and passed it on to Mac. And Jerry was outside somewhere, in the streets, in the unsuspecting city, sick, unpredictable, with death in every one of his claws. 73 00:05:56,000 --> 00:06:03,000 And I had sent him out there. I ran outside, but the earth had swallowed Jerry up. 74 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:09,000 The police. I needed the police. But I had to handle this carefully. Very carefully. 75 00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:16,000 If it got out, if all these people learned of the black killer stalking among them, there would be panic. 76 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:21,000 No, no, they mustn't know. I had to see the chief of police. Immediately. 77 00:06:21,000 --> 00:06:26,000 I'm sorry, mister, but the chief's a busy man. You tell me who you are and what's your business. 78 00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:32,000 All I am asking is to open that door, get the chief on the phone, anything. This is absolutely vital, I tell you. The whole city. 79 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:34,000 Yeah, yeah, I understand. 80 00:06:34,000 --> 00:06:35,000 Chief. Chief Williams. 81 00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:37,000 Now look, you don't want to get into trouble. 82 00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:38,000 Hey, Chubby, what goes on here? 83 00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:42,000 There's no story in this for you, Ryan. Just a nut thinks he's going to see the chief. 84 00:06:42,000 --> 00:06:43,000 I've got to see him. 85 00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:48,000 Hey, hold it, hold it. Wait a minute. I've covered some of your lectures. Your doctor... 86 00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:50,000 Gibhart, Gibhart, you know me. Tell him. 87 00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:54,000 He works at the Biological Institute, Chubby. Got a story for me, doctor? Something hot, maybe? 88 00:06:54,000 --> 00:06:57,000 I've got to see the chief. Can you make this man understand? 89 00:06:57,000 --> 00:07:02,000 Yeah, sure, sure. Let him in, Chubby. He's all right. I'll vouch for him. 90 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:06,000 You'll vouch for him. That's a laugh. If I let him in there, it's my job. 91 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:08,000 If you don't let him in, it's your job, brother. 92 00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:10,000 Yes. 93 00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:12,000 There's a Dr. Gibhart to see you. Says it's urgent. 94 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:14,000 Gibhart? All right, send him in. 95 00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:16,000 Yes, sir. 96 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:28,000 That door right there, doctor. I'm sorry. I didn't have any way of knowing... 97 00:07:28,000 --> 00:07:32,000 I tell you, chief, that cat has got to be found, even if it takes every man in the department to do it. 98 00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:38,000 Well, that's just fine, doctor. Have you any idea just how many black cats of that description are at large in a city of this size? 99 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:45,000 It doesn't make any difference. We were working with plague bacillus in its purest form at the Institute. 100 00:07:45,000 --> 00:07:50,000 That cat is capable of infecting any human, any animal he scratches. 101 00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:53,000 Doctor, are you sure of this? 102 00:07:53,000 --> 00:07:57,000 My assistant just died. That's how sure. 103 00:07:57,000 --> 00:08:05,000 All right. Emergency alarm, disaster level. All leaves canceled. Alert every available man for orders. 104 00:08:05,000 --> 00:08:10,000 Transmit to fire department, highway patrol, county sheriff's office, state and federal agencies. 105 00:08:10,000 --> 00:08:12,000 Already, sir. 106 00:08:12,000 --> 00:08:17,000 I hand black cat, male, answers to name of Jerry. 107 00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:31,000 Repeat, shoot on sight, but do not approach or touch the cat dead or alive. 108 00:08:31,000 --> 00:08:43,000 Report in location immediately on contact and stand by for decontamination squad. 109 00:08:43,000 --> 00:08:48,000 Then we'll requisition all available streptomycin, sulfidazine, penicillin. 110 00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:52,000 Alert medical staffs of all city hospitals to prepare for treatment of the plague. 111 00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:53,000 No, no, don't say that. 112 00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:54,000 What? 113 00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:59,000 Don't use the word plague. Once it gets out, what we're after, the whole city will let go and panic. 114 00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:03,000 Yes, I agree with you, doctor, but these alarms go only to the law enforcement bodies. 115 00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:06,000 As soon as I can get the machinery going, I'll warn the newspapers to clamp the lid on it. 116 00:09:06,000 --> 00:09:07,000 They'll do it? 117 00:09:07,000 --> 00:09:11,000 Sure, they'll all play ball. I accept maybe the tabloid. 118 00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:13,000 The tabloid? 119 00:09:13,000 --> 00:09:14,000 What's the matter? 120 00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:17,000 I'll be right back. 121 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:21,000 Officer, where's that man who was here before? 122 00:09:21,000 --> 00:09:27,000 Ryan, I don't know. He listened about half the chief's order and then he beat it out of here. 123 00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:33,000 I remembered where I had seen Ryan before. He was a reporter on the tabloid. 124 00:09:33,000 --> 00:09:37,000 A year ago he'd broken off the record statement of mine, caused no end of trouble. 125 00:09:37,000 --> 00:09:43,000 He had recognized me just now, and he had heard enough of the chief's orders to put two and two together. 126 00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:48,000 I had to catch him before there was a bank of phone booths ahead. 127 00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:52,000 I scanned the glass doors until I saw his form hunched inside. 128 00:09:52,000 --> 00:09:54,000 It's the plague. A cat's got it. 129 00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:57,000 Of course I'm sure I even know the cat. I've seen him in the Institute. 130 00:09:57,000 --> 00:10:01,000 A black to... Oh, hello, Dr. Gebhardt. Hey, hold it, Bill. Here's Dr. Gebhardt. 131 00:10:01,000 --> 00:10:03,000 Maybe he'll give us a direct statement. 132 00:10:03,000 --> 00:10:05,000 How about it, Doctor? What's the latest on the plague situation? 133 00:10:05,000 --> 00:10:08,000 The latest is you're going to kill that story and kill it quick. 134 00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:10,000 Why? It's true, isn't it? 135 00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:14,000 Look, you can't let this out. Do you realize what it means if that news breaks on this city? 136 00:10:14,000 --> 00:10:17,000 The hospitals will be swamped with panic-stricken people. 137 00:10:17,000 --> 00:10:20,000 There won't be men or equipment or time to take care of the real victims. 138 00:10:20,000 --> 00:10:22,000 Oh, what an angle. Hey, Bill, get this. 139 00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:25,000 Stake out photographers in all the hospitals and watch for the fireworks. 140 00:10:25,000 --> 00:10:27,000 Oh, wait. You've got to call this off. 141 00:10:27,000 --> 00:10:30,000 Read it in your daily tabloid, Doctor. Plague Strikes City. 142 00:10:30,000 --> 00:10:32,000 You dirty... Go ahead. Hit me. 143 00:10:32,000 --> 00:10:34,000 The tab gives us a bonus if we're socked in the line of duty. 144 00:10:34,000 --> 00:10:53,000 You're an addict. 145 00:10:53,000 --> 00:10:55,000 You are listening to Black Death, 146 00:10:55,000 --> 00:11:10,000 tonight's presentation in radio's outstanding theater of thrills, Suspense. 147 00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:14,000 Tomorrow evening, exclusive on CBS Radio for the ninth straight year, 148 00:11:14,000 --> 00:11:18,000 Hear the Hamiltonian, the greatest event in the world of harness racing. 149 00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:22,000 Coming to you direct from Good Time Track in historic Goshen, New York, 150 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:25,000 the Hamiltonian is this season's climax in harness racing, 151 00:11:25,000 --> 00:11:28,000 matching the best trotters in the Grand Circuit. 152 00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:31,000 CBS Radio's John Deer provides color and comment. 153 00:11:31,000 --> 00:11:35,000 Charles Hinkle, official announcer for Grand Circuit trotting events, 154 00:11:35,000 --> 00:11:36,000 is your reporter. 155 00:11:36,000 --> 00:11:41,000 Tomorrow evening on most of these stations, a CBS Radio sports exclusive. 156 00:11:41,000 --> 00:11:45,000 Hear the Hamiltonian start to finish. 157 00:11:45,000 --> 00:11:49,000 And now we bring back to our Hollywood soundstage Mr. Edgar Barrier, 158 00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:53,000 starring in tonight's production, Black Death, 159 00:11:53,000 --> 00:12:11,000 a tale well calculated to keep you in suspense. 160 00:12:11,000 --> 00:12:14,000 Five minutes after the tabloid hit the streets, 161 00:12:14,000 --> 00:12:17,000 the lines were jammed with frightened calls from anybody who had ever seen 162 00:12:17,000 --> 00:12:21,000 or imagined a black cat, and we had to investigate them all. 163 00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:26,000 There was no way around that. 164 00:12:26,000 --> 00:12:28,000 Let me through, please. 165 00:12:28,000 --> 00:12:30,000 Officer, where is the cat? 166 00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:32,000 This way, doctor. 167 00:12:32,000 --> 00:12:34,000 There, there he is. 168 00:12:34,000 --> 00:12:36,000 I've got him cornered in that area away. 169 00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:38,000 Couldn't reach him to shoot. 170 00:12:38,000 --> 00:12:40,000 Watch your step, doctor. He's mean. 171 00:12:40,000 --> 00:12:47,000 No, don't worry. I'm not going any closer without my mask and gloves. 172 00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:49,000 All right, officer. Keep your gun ready. 173 00:12:49,000 --> 00:13:07,000 Yes, sir. 174 00:13:07,000 --> 00:13:11,000 No, it's not Jerry. 175 00:13:11,000 --> 00:13:15,000 This is the 18th false alarm we've chased down in the last two hours. 176 00:13:15,000 --> 00:13:21,000 Call the animal shelter, officer. 177 00:13:21,000 --> 00:13:23,000 Chief Williams was right about one thing. 178 00:13:23,000 --> 00:13:28,000 I had no idea how many black cats could be loose in a city the size of ours. 179 00:13:28,000 --> 00:13:33,000 It was late afternoon when the alarms stopped coming in faster than we could take care of them, 180 00:13:33,000 --> 00:13:38,000 and then I got back to the chief's office, tired, with a feeling of hopelessness. 181 00:13:38,000 --> 00:13:43,000 Every substation, every hospital, every doctor's office in town, it's the same. 182 00:13:43,000 --> 00:13:51,000 You'd never believe so many people could get bitten, scratched, mauled, or kissed by cats in a single day, or think they did. 183 00:13:51,000 --> 00:13:52,000 Every blood test? 184 00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:53,000 Every last one negative so far. 185 00:13:53,000 --> 00:13:54,000 Thank heaven for that, anyway. 186 00:13:54,000 --> 00:13:59,000 I don't know. We're going to have to find one victim anyhow, or we'll never get a line on that cat. 187 00:13:59,000 --> 00:14:02,000 Now, come over here, doctor. Let's look at this map. 188 00:14:02,000 --> 00:14:04,000 I followed Chief Williams to the big wall map. 189 00:14:04,000 --> 00:14:10,000 Inside the perimeter of the circle that stretched a mile in every direction from its center at the Institute, 190 00:14:10,000 --> 00:14:20,000 colored pins dotted sector after sector as the area was slowly, painstakingly mopped up by peace officers with drawn guns. 191 00:14:20,000 --> 00:14:23,000 It was like war. It was war. 192 00:14:23,000 --> 00:14:29,000 War without quarter against a single enemy more dangerous than a battalion of soldiers. 193 00:14:29,000 --> 00:14:35,000 Slowly, the cordon narrowing in around Jerry, compressing him into a smaller and smaller space. 194 00:14:35,000 --> 00:14:36,000 Chief? 195 00:14:38,000 --> 00:14:39,000 Yes? 196 00:14:39,000 --> 00:14:41,000 Dr. Gilbert's wife is calling again. 197 00:14:41,000 --> 00:14:42,000 Oh? 198 00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:46,000 Oh, yes, doctor. I'm sorry. She's been trying to get you all day. Here, you can take the call here. 199 00:14:46,000 --> 00:14:47,000 Oh, thanks. 200 00:14:48,000 --> 00:14:49,000 Hello, darling. 201 00:14:50,000 --> 00:14:56,000 Yes, yes, I know. No, we haven't caught him yet, but don't worry about it. 202 00:14:56,000 --> 00:14:57,000 What? 203 00:14:57,000 --> 00:14:58,000 Oh? 204 00:14:58,000 --> 00:15:01,000 Good, good. Switch all the men you can to the park. That's right. 205 00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:03,000 Well, I suppose she's safe enough there, darling. 206 00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:04,000 I don't want him to slip through again. 207 00:15:04,000 --> 00:15:07,000 You'd better get her inside. Don't take any chances. 208 00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:08,000 Dr. Gephardt? 209 00:15:08,000 --> 00:15:11,000 Yes? I've got to go now, Ella. Yes, of course I'll be careful. 210 00:15:11,000 --> 00:15:12,000 Dr. Gephardt? 211 00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:14,000 You watch out for Patty. Goodbye. 212 00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:16,000 Yes, Chief? What is it? 213 00:15:16,000 --> 00:15:18,000 It's a break, doctor. Your cat's pinned down. We'll get him now. 214 00:15:18,000 --> 00:15:19,000 Oh, thank heaven. Where? 215 00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:20,000 In Washington Park. 216 00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:21,000 Where? 217 00:15:21,000 --> 00:15:25,000 I've thrown an airtight cordon around the park and given shooting orders. It's only a matter of time now. 218 00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:27,000 Washington Park? Are you sure? 219 00:15:27,000 --> 00:15:30,000 Yes. We got a positive blood test. A woman was picnicking in the park. 220 00:15:30,000 --> 00:15:34,000 She petted and fed her cat and he scratched her. The blood test was... 221 00:15:34,000 --> 00:15:37,000 What? What's the matter, doctor? 222 00:15:37,000 --> 00:15:42,000 Patty, my little girl is in Washington Park. 223 00:15:42,000 --> 00:15:44,000 What? 224 00:15:44,000 --> 00:15:58,000 Yes, she's been playing there all afternoon. My wife just told me. 225 00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:04,000 I should have been glad, I suppose. It was the first real break we'd had all day, pointing directly to Jerry. 226 00:16:04,000 --> 00:16:08,000 But all I could think of was my daughter. But soon it would be dark. 227 00:16:08,000 --> 00:16:20,000 And then Jerry would be nothing but two shining coals of eyes, hungry and erratic, invisible, as the virus of death he carried in his own dying body. 228 00:16:20,000 --> 00:16:29,000 It was then, I think, I first thought of Jerry as what he really was. Death. Black death. 229 00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:34,000 The police had herded all the people caught by the dragnet into a corner of the park. 230 00:16:34,000 --> 00:16:45,000 Then I had shots. The clean-up squad was going through the park with drawn guns, systematically killing all living things that could spread the plague. 231 00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:51,000 But shots go wild. Patty... Patty was somewhere out there. 232 00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:55,000 What are you doing here? Can't you civilians follow orders? You belong back there with the others. 233 00:16:55,000 --> 00:16:58,000 I'm Dr. Gebhart. You've got to stop shooting. 234 00:16:58,000 --> 00:17:00,000 Don't tell me what I've got to do. I've got my orders. 235 00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:02,000 That's all right, officer. I'll take over here. 236 00:17:02,000 --> 00:17:03,000 Oh, yes, sir. 237 00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:06,000 Have you seen a little girl? About eight. Long brown hair. 238 00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:09,000 Well, there's lots of kids there with the others. We heard of them all over by the picnic tables. 239 00:17:09,000 --> 00:17:11,000 No, no, she's not there. I looked. 240 00:17:11,000 --> 00:17:16,000 Then I'll guarantee she ain't in the park. We covered every inch of the place, going down to the water on all sides of the lake. 241 00:17:16,000 --> 00:17:17,000 What about that island? 242 00:17:17,000 --> 00:17:20,000 Mister, can you imagine a cat getting out of that island? A cat? 243 00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:22,000 Well, there's a bridge, isn't there? 244 00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:26,000 I know cats, mister. No cat's going to cross water if he can help it. Bridge and no bridge. 245 00:17:26,000 --> 00:17:30,000 Are you idiot? He could be carried, couldn't he? And it's the last possible place. 246 00:17:30,000 --> 00:17:36,000 Officer, your orders were to mop up this park, all of it, not to use your own judgment about the habits of cats. 247 00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:37,000 Yes, sir. 248 00:17:39,000 --> 00:17:51,000 I ran over the bridge, the little island in the middle of the lake, so I deleted peaceful by day, now looked in the darkening shadows like a silent, waiting jungle. 249 00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:55,000 It was the one last place that Jerry could be. 250 00:17:55,000 --> 00:18:00,000 At the chief's orders, we spread out five yards apart, then started across the island. 251 00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:09,000 We were like jungle beaters, driving warily ahead, leaving no single inch of ground or bush or tree unexplored. 252 00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:13,000 It was dark now. I could not see the others. 253 00:18:13,000 --> 00:18:22,000 Except for the trample of their feet on the twigs and the fitful play of the officer's flashlights, I might have been alone on this island. 254 00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:25,000 Alone with death. 255 00:18:25,000 --> 00:18:31,000 The windows of the tall apartment surrounding the park lights went on and off in a haphazard pattern. 256 00:18:31,000 --> 00:18:34,000 One of those lights should have been my own. 257 00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:40,000 Only I knew my wife was pressed anxiously against the police cordon that kept her out of the park. 258 00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:43,000 And Patty, my own little girl... 259 00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:49,000 Oh, you bad man! You tried to kill my kitty! 260 00:18:49,000 --> 00:18:50,000 Patty! 261 00:18:50,000 --> 00:18:51,000 You tried to kill my kitty! 262 00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:52,000 Patty! Patty! 263 00:18:52,000 --> 00:18:54,000 What happened? What happened? Did you get him? 264 00:18:54,000 --> 00:18:57,000 Chief, I saw the eyes shining in the dark. I didn't know there was a kid there. 265 00:18:57,000 --> 00:18:59,000 Patty! Patty, are you hurt? 266 00:18:59,000 --> 00:19:01,000 Where is she? Why did you see the cat? 267 00:19:01,000 --> 00:19:03,000 In there, down under them bushes. 268 00:19:03,000 --> 00:19:11,000 I followed the beam of the officer's flash. Patty had crawled deep inside a natural tunnel under the thick, clining cypress. 269 00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:15,000 I saw her tear-stained face, frightened. 270 00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:20,000 And then two calls of fire glared at me from the shadow. 271 00:19:20,000 --> 00:19:22,000 In her arms. 272 00:19:22,000 --> 00:19:24,000 It takes an ocean to scratch her. 273 00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:29,000 Patty! Patty! Let the kitty go! 274 00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:32,000 No! No! Go away! 275 00:19:32,000 --> 00:19:35,000 I can make him out better now, Chief. I think I could hit that cat. 276 00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:37,000 Put it away, Blanchard. 277 00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:38,000 Yes, sir, Chief. Only... 278 00:19:38,000 --> 00:19:41,000 Give me your flashlight, officer. I'm going in there. 279 00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:48,000 I raised my mask, dropped to my knees, and started into the opening between the closed, set hedges. 280 00:19:48,000 --> 00:19:50,000 But I got no further than the opening. 281 00:19:50,000 --> 00:19:54,000 No! No! Go away! Go away! 282 00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:59,000 Patty! Patty, darling! It's Daddy! It's me, darling! 283 00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:07,000 No! No! You're not my daddy! You're a bad man! You didn't hurt me! Go away! 284 00:20:07,000 --> 00:20:08,000 What's got into her? 285 00:20:08,000 --> 00:20:11,000 It's your mask, Ebbheart. That's what's scaring her. 286 00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:13,000 Of course, of course. That's what it is. 287 00:20:13,000 --> 00:20:15,000 But you're not going in there without a mask. 288 00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:19,000 Patty has no mask. I'm going in to get my little girl. 289 00:20:22,000 --> 00:20:34,000 Patty! Patty! It's Daddy! Don't be scared. I'm coming in with you. To take you home. To Mama. 290 00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:37,000 Daddy! Oh, Daddy! 291 00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:40,000 Don't be scared, darling. 292 00:20:40,000 --> 00:20:44,000 I'm not scared, Daddy. Jerry's here. 293 00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:50,000 Yes. Patty, let me hold Jerry. 294 00:20:50,000 --> 00:20:52,000 You won't take him away from me? 295 00:20:52,000 --> 00:21:00,000 Don't squeeze him. He'll scratch. He hasn't scratched you, has he, darling? 296 00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:04,000 Oh, no, Daddy. Jerry wouldn't do that. He's my friend. 297 00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:13,000 Yes, of course he is, baby. But Jerry is sick. He's very sick. You'd better let me hold him. 298 00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:17,000 You make people well, don't you, Daddy? You're a doctor. 299 00:21:17,000 --> 00:21:20,000 That's right, darling. I make people well. 300 00:21:20,000 --> 00:21:24,000 Here, then, Daddy. You take Jerry and make him well. 301 00:21:24,000 --> 00:21:31,000 He was in my arms. Suddenly he didn't seem like Black Death anymore. 302 00:21:31,000 --> 00:21:38,000 It was just Jerry. The old familiar Jerry I had fed and scolded and petted for all the years he'd been a fixture at the Institute. 303 00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:45,000 He relaxed in my arms as only a cat can and stretched forth a long paw. 304 00:21:45,000 --> 00:21:48,000 The claws came out and rested on my bare wrist. 305 00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:55,000 If he made a quick move, even involuntarily, but Jerry didn't make the move. 306 00:21:55,000 --> 00:22:03,000 Slowly, the claws, still holding their deadly venom, sank back into their furry sheaths. 307 00:22:03,000 --> 00:22:08,000 I took a bottle out of my pocket, uncapped it. 308 00:22:08,000 --> 00:22:10,000 What's that funny smell, Daddy? 309 00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:15,000 It's medicine for Jerry. It's called chloroform. 310 00:22:15,000 --> 00:22:17,000 Will it make him well? 311 00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:24,000 It will make him go to sleep, dear. You see? He's asleep now. 312 00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:27,000 I'm sleepy too, Daddy. Can we go home now? 313 00:22:27,000 --> 00:22:33,000 Oh yes, Perthie. We're going home. We're going home now. 314 00:22:57,000 --> 00:23:03,000 Suspense, in which Mr. Edgar Barrier starred in tonight's presentation of Black Death. 315 00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:10,000 Next week, the story of betrayal and retribution on Devil's Island. We call it The Stoolpigeon. 316 00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:27,000 That's next week on Suspense. 317 00:23:27,000 --> 00:23:30,000 Suspense is produced and directed by Anthony Ellis. 318 00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:32,000 Tonight's script was written by Lawrence Goldman. 319 00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:36,000 The music was composed by René Garagin and conducted by Wilbur Hatch. 320 00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:48,000 Featured in the cast were William Conrad, Mary McGovern, Gil Fry, Jack Edwards, Jim Musser, Joe Cranston, and Barney Phillips. 321 00:23:48,000 --> 00:24:14,000 Thursday nights, The Whistler brings mystery on the CBS Radio Network. 322 00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:39,000 The Whistler plays the tune of The Whistler. 323 00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:48,000 The Whistler plays the tune of The Whistler.