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Suspense - "Marry for Murder" (Old Time Radio, 1943) · Suspense | Old Time Radio

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Lillian Gish, in one of her rare radio appearances, stars
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: as recently widowed Lettie Hawthorne. On September 9th, 1943, CBS
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: presented Suspense, episode 57, Marry for Murder, with Ray Collins
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: as attorney Philip Alden and Bramwell Fletcher as Lettie's younger husband,
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: Mark Taylor. On a fog-bound cape, Alden grows concerned after
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: Lettie's marriage, while the couple's reciprocal wills and a series
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: of domestic incidents bring unease to their isolated waterfront cottage.
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: The three-character drama was written by Walker T. Field, directed
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: by Ted Bliss, and produced by William Spear. We now
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: take you back to the original broadcast....
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: Suspense.
• 1:04
  Speaker 3: This is the man in black, here again to introduce
• 1:07
  Speaker 3: Columbia's program, Suspense. Tonight in one of her rare radio appearances,
• 1:12
  Speaker 3: we bring you a star who has occupied a unique
• 1:14
  Speaker 3: place in the affections of moviegoers ever since the screen
• 1:18
  Speaker 3: first became of age, Miss Lillian Gish. Appearing with Miss
• 1:22
  Speaker 3: Gish are two distinguished players, Mr. Ray Collins of the
• 1:26
  Speaker 3: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer fold, whose current release is Thousands Cheer, and Mr.
• 1:30
  Speaker 3: Bramwell Fletcher, who has ornamented many a stage.
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: And film success.
• 1:35
  Speaker 3: There are only three players in Marry for Murder, which
• 1:38
  Speaker 3: is tonight's tale of suspense. Only three characters in this story,
• 1:43
  Speaker 3: whose beginning and end are shrouded in a dense, down-east fog.
• 1:48
  Speaker 3: The story of slow terror and swift death, planned by
• 1:51
  Speaker 3: a brilliant murderer. And so were the performances of Lillian
• 1:55
  Speaker 3: Gish as Letty Hawthorne, a frightened neurotic creature who seemed
• 1:59
  Speaker 3: destined to be a perfect victim. Of Bramwell Fletcher as
• 2:02
  Speaker 3: Mark Taylor, so handsome and attentive. And of Ray Collins
• 2:06
  Speaker 3: as the lawyer, Philip Alden, who relates these events to us.
• 2:09
  Speaker 3: We again hope to keep you in.
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: Suspense.
• 2:22
  Speaker 4: I used to love the sound of foghorns on the bay.
• 2:25
  Speaker 4: Especially at night when I sat before the fire. Let
• 2:28
  Speaker 4: their lonely wail weave a contrast between my snug comfort
• 2:32
  Speaker 4: and the gray immensity outside. But I've lost my taste
• 2:37
  Speaker 4: for them now. Lost it on the night I heard
• 2:40
  Speaker 4: them moan a dirge of death. It's hard enough to
• 2:50
  Speaker 4: lose a friend. But to lose one as I lost
• 2:54
  Speaker 4: Lettie Hawthorne is the kind of blow you'll never quite forget.
• 2:56
  Speaker 4: I remember the first time I met her. It had
• 3:01
  Speaker 4: fogged up all of a sudden, as it does here
• 3:02
  Speaker 4: on the Cape. But Anne Wentworth held her Sunday night
• 3:06
  Speaker 4: supper as usual. Lettie was the only stranger there, a
• 3:10
  Speaker 4: newcomer to the Cape. I looked at her and thought,
• 3:14
  Speaker 4: she'd be an attractive woman if she only didn't flutter
• 3:16
  Speaker 4: so much. She was a trim, pretty woman of about
• 3:20
  Speaker 4: my own age, which is 40.
• 3:25
  Speaker 5: You're Philip Alden, the lawyer, aren't you? Oh, what a
• 3:28
  Speaker 5: pleasure to meet so many nice people. There go those
• 3:31
  Speaker 5: foghorns again.
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 3:33
  Speaker 5: Does one really get used to them in time?
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: Well, I.
• 3:35
  Speaker 5: I love the cape, but I can hardly bear that sound.
• 3:40
  Speaker 5: So depressing, isn't it? So morbid.
• 3:42
  Speaker 4: Well, to your first question, yes, I'm Alden, an attorney.
• 3:48
  Speaker 4: As for the foghorns, well... If you stay with us
• 3:50
  Speaker 4: for a few years, you won't be able to live
• 3:52
  Speaker 4: without them, Mrs.
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: Hawthorne. It is Mrs.
• 3:56
  Speaker 4: Hawthorne, isn't it? Anne never gets around to introducing people.
• 3:59
  Speaker 4: It's her only fault.
• 4:00
  Speaker 5: Oh, I never stand on ceremony. That's my fault, if
• 4:03
  Speaker 5: you consider it one. Besides, I knew you at once,
• 4:06
  Speaker 5: you see, and you knew me. Don't you think that's
• 4:08
  Speaker 5: a promising beginning?
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: I never thought of it that way.
• 4:12
  Speaker 5: Oh, dearie me, there it goes again. It makes me
• 4:16
  Speaker 5: think of ghosts walking over my grave. How can you
• 4:20
  Speaker 5: bear it?
• 4:21
  Speaker 4: They do serve a very important purpose, you know.
• 4:24
  Speaker 5: I suppose they do, but they give me the shudders.
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: As a matter of fact, I find them comforting.
• 4:30
  Speaker 5: I made Jane Hart promise to stay with me tonight
• 4:33
  Speaker 5: if the fog doesn't lift. I... I daren't be alone.
• 4:36
  Speaker 5: You see, I'm still a bit nervous.
• 4:39
  Speaker 4: Oh?
• 4:39
  Speaker 5: I've been ill, you know, and the doctor prescribed complete
• 4:42
  Speaker 5: rest and quiet.
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: I see.
• 4:43
  Speaker 5: That's why I came up here.
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: Well, you'll find what you're looking for here, I'm sure.
• 4:47
  Speaker 5: Oh, do you think so? I... I do hope I will.
• 4:50
  Speaker 5: My nerves are simply shattered.
• 4:52
  Speaker 4: Hmm.
• 4:53
  Speaker 5: Mr. Hawthorne's dead, you see. Such a tragedy.
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: I'm terribly sorry.
• 4:58
  Speaker 5: You see, it happened so suddenly. I can't quite believe that.
• 5:03
  Speaker 4: Can I get you some of Anne's cider cup? That's
• 5:04
  Speaker 4: one of our Sunday night features.
• 5:06
  Speaker 5: Oh, thank you. That would be so nice. It's such
• 5:10
  Speaker 5: a comfort to have a man take care of one again.
• 5:14
  Speaker 5: You make me feel so, uh, so protected. I... I
• 5:18
  Speaker 5: know we're going to be great friends, aren't we?
• 5:26
  Speaker 4: I can tell you I worried a bit for a
• 5:27
  Speaker 4: while after that first parting. Lettie Hawthorne was a charming woman.
• 5:32
  Speaker 4: A bit fluttery, as I said, but still attractive and
• 5:35
  Speaker 4: rather pathetic. I was afraid she was setting her cap
• 5:38
  Speaker 4: for me. You see, I'm a crusty old bachelor, but
• 5:42
  Speaker 4: even my friends were beginning to wonder... So it was
• 5:46
  Speaker 4: with mingled relief and regret that I learned one day
• 5:48
  Speaker 4: that Lettie Hawthorne had transferred her attentions to another newcomer
• 5:52
  Speaker 4: to the Cape, Mark Taylor. He was eight or ten
• 5:56
  Speaker 4: years younger than she, a handsome fellow, but somewhat dissolute-looking.
• 6:01
  Speaker 4: I didn't like him. I may as well admit that
• 6:03
  Speaker 4: from the start. But short of marrying her myself, there
• 6:06
  Speaker 4: wasn't much I could do. Anyway, they seemed happy enough
• 6:11
  Speaker 4: at first. One day after the wedding, Lettie called me
• 6:15
  Speaker 4: on a matter of business. I went down there after sundown.
• 6:19
  Speaker 4: The three of us sat out on the beach in
• 6:20
  Speaker 4: front of her cottage.
• 6:26
  Speaker 5: I'm so glad you were able to come, Philip. You see,
• 6:28
  Speaker 5: Mark and I were counting on you.
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: Always glad to oblige you, Lettie.
• 6:31
  Speaker 6: As a matter of fact, Alden, we want you to
• 6:33
  Speaker 6: attend to a legal matter for us.
• 6:35
  Speaker 5: Yes? Yes, Philip. Mark wants to make a will. I
• 6:38
  Speaker 5: told him I don't like wills. There's something so... so
• 6:41
  Speaker 5: unhealthy about them. But Mark simply insists upon it.
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: Very sensible, I'm sure.
• 6:46
  Speaker 5: Oh, you men. You're all alive.
• 6:48
  Speaker 6: It needn't be a very elaborate affair, Alden. Just a
• 6:51
  Speaker 6: simple document stating that I leave all my property to Lettie.
• 6:54
  Speaker 5: Well, if he does that, Philip, I want you to
• 6:56
  Speaker 5: make out a will for me, too. Leaving everything I
• 6:58
  Speaker 5: have to Mark.
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: But, Lettie, that.
• 7:00
  Speaker 5: No, I insist.
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: Oh, well.
• 7:03
  Speaker 6: Alden here is going to think I married you for
• 7:05
  Speaker 6: your money.
• 7:05
  Speaker 5: Money? Why, I really don't know anything at all about
• 7:10
  Speaker 5: my affairs. Really, I don't. Frank, Mr. Hawthorne always used
• 7:13
  Speaker 5: to say, Lettie, I really think you know less about
• 7:16
  Speaker 5: business than a child. I left the management of his
• 7:18
  Speaker 5: estate entirely to his secretary.
• 7:20
  Speaker 6: Well, just some simple document that makes my intention clear.
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: You know the form, Alden. And, of course, if Lettie insists...
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: But I do.
• 7:28
  Speaker 5: We'll have twin wills. It doesn't sound so frightening that way.
• 7:31
  Speaker 6: The way Lettie talks about wills, you can tell.
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: She has a secret vice, can't you?
• 7:35
  Speaker 5: A secret vice?
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 7:37
  Speaker 6: My wife's a murder mystery fan, Alden.
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: I didn't find out until it was too late.
• 7:42
  Speaker 5: Oh, Mark, you silly.
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: When you say that, Taylor, smile. I'm a detective fan myself.
• 7:48
  Speaker 4: It's a busman's holiday, of course, but I always read
• 7:51
  Speaker 4: the latest whodunits. If my father hadn't insisted that I
• 7:54
  Speaker 4: follow in his footsteps, I'd have been a detective instead
• 7:57
  Speaker 4: of a lawyer.
• 7:58
  Speaker 5: Really? How interesting. Tell us, Philip, do you ever get
• 8:00
  Speaker 5: any cases like the ones we read about?
• 8:02
  Speaker 4: Well, if you want my opinion, the chief difference between
• 8:04
  Speaker 4: fact and fiction is that the author of a novel...
• 8:07
  Speaker 4: wants you to see the pattern and the author of
• 8:09
  Speaker 4: a murder tries.
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: To hide it.
• 8:11
  Speaker 6: Well, what do you mean by that?
• 8:13
  Speaker 4: Well, take your case, for example. You and Lettie are
• 8:16
  Speaker 4: making out your wills. I heard her say that she
• 8:18
  Speaker 4: wanted to leave her money to you. But how do
• 8:20
  Speaker 4: I know the idea just sprang into her head of
• 8:23
  Speaker 4: its own accord? How do I know that you didn't.
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: Plant it there? Plant it? What do you mean?
• 8:29
  Speaker 6: Why, what possible reason could I have?
• 8:31
  Speaker 4: Well, as things stand now, there's no reason for me
• 8:33
  Speaker 4: to ask if you planted the idea in her head.
• 8:35
  Speaker 5: But.
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: If Lettie were found dead.
• 8:38
  Speaker 5: Dead? Oh, Philip, how dreadful. How can you even think
• 8:41
  Speaker 5: such thoughts? Mark, darling, how terrible for you. Philip, you're
• 8:45
  Speaker 5: to apologize this minute.
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: No, no, no, Lettie. Philip was just trying to explain.
• 8:49
  Speaker 5: Well, I won't have him talking about such horrible things.
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: Of course, I didn't mean you to. I was just
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: using you as an example.
• 8:54
  Speaker 5: Well, I didn't mean to be rude, Philip, but... Well,
• 8:56
  Speaker 5: you know my nerves, and it's getting dark, and.
• 9:01
  Speaker 5: Oh, the bay is beautiful at night, of course, but...
• 9:05
  Speaker 5: I've always been afraid of the water.
• 9:06
  Speaker 6: That's why I've had such a time persuading her to
• 9:09
  Speaker 6: come out for a sail. The Artemis has been tied
• 9:12
  Speaker 6: up all summer waiting.
• 9:14
  Speaker 5: It's just silly, I know. And I will go with you, Mark.
• 9:17
  Speaker 5: But let's do wait for a calm day.
• 9:20
  Speaker 6: You know, the latest idea of a sail is to
• 9:22
  Speaker 6: sit becalmed half a mile offshore. My wife has perfect
• 9:26
  Speaker 6: confidence in me, you see.
• 9:28
  Speaker 5: Oh, Mark, it isn't that. You're making fun of me,
• 9:30
  Speaker 5: aren't you? Of course, I trust you completely, but Well,
• 9:34
  Speaker 5: I'm not very athletic.
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: You're missing one of the treats of the Cape if
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: you don't sail.
• 9:38
  Speaker 5: But I shall. Of course I shall, and soon. And
• 9:41
  Speaker 5: what's more, I'm going to get Mark to teach me
• 9:43
  Speaker 5: to handle the artemis.
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: Well, I'll be looking forward to seeing your sails on
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: the bay then.
• 9:48
  Speaker 5: Oh, Mark, a storm.
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: I'd better be getting home before it breaks.
• 9:52
  Speaker 5: Are you sure you'll be all right? Oh, I'm simply
• 9:55
  Speaker 5: terrified of thunder. Wouldn't you rather stop with us?
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: Oh, I can make it to town. Stop by.
• 10:00
  Speaker 6: tomorrow, won't you, Alden? Or as soon as you have
• 10:02
  Speaker 6: those papers.
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 10:04
  Speaker 5: Now, you won't be nervous after our talk of wills
• 10:08
  Speaker 5: and murders. But of course you won't. I'm such a
• 10:11
  Speaker 5: coward myself that I can never understand how other people
• 10:14
  Speaker 5: can be so brave.
• 10:15
  Speaker 6: You know, Philip, Lettie's helplessness is one of her chief charms.
• 10:19
  Speaker 6: Sometimes I suspect she exaggerates it just to make me
• 10:22
  Speaker 6: feel important.
• 10:23
  Speaker 5: Oh, Mark, you mustn't. Giving all my secrets away.
• 10:26
  Speaker 4: Well, don't worry about me or the wills, Lettie. Someday
• 10:31
  Speaker 4: you will frighten yourself to death.
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: THE END There was little enough for me to go by. Gradually,
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: I found myself worrying about Lettie and Mark.
• 10:54
  Speaker 4: They didn't seem to be hitting it off. Oh, on
• 10:58
  Speaker 4: the surface, everything was smooth. But I was haunted by
• 11:03
  Speaker 4: a premonition of what I didn't know. It was only
• 11:07
  Speaker 4: a nameless dread of something, some undercurrent of feeling. Lettie's
• 11:12
  Speaker 4: nerves were getting no better... In fact, she seemed more tense,
• 11:16
  Speaker 4: more frightened than ever. Yet she was making an effort
• 11:20
  Speaker 4: to meet Mark halfway. Many times I saw them out sailing.
• 11:26
  Speaker 4: Only when Lettie returned after a day on the water,
• 11:29
  Speaker 4: she seemed pinched and white. While Mark appeared to be
• 11:33
  Speaker 4: glowing with vitality, Lettie grew paler and more distracted.
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: I realized suddenly that she was a middle-aged woman.
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: One day in town, I met them in the general store.
• 11:47
  Speaker 5: But I tell you, Mark, you're just imagining it. I
• 11:50
  Speaker 5: hate to have that stuff around, as you very well know.
• 11:53
  Speaker 5: You read all kinds of stories about, well, about the
• 11:55
  Speaker 5: way it gets mixed up in food.
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: Oh, nonsense.
• 11:57
  Speaker 5: Well, I'm sure there aren't any rats around the boathouse.
• 12:00
  Speaker 5: I'd know if there were. I'm simply terrified of them.
• 12:04
  Speaker 5: But I, well, I can't bear thinking of having poison around. Well,
• 12:08
  Speaker 5: I'd be worried all the time.
• 12:10
  Speaker 6: Oh, Lettie, for heaven's sake, stop being childish. I didn't
• 12:14
  Speaker 6: put traps around because you didn't want them. Now that
• 12:17
  Speaker 6: I'm trying to get rid of them in another way,
• 12:18
  Speaker 6: you make a scene. I don't see why we have
• 12:21
  Speaker 6: to go into a three-act tragedy just because I want
• 12:23
  Speaker 6: to buy some rat poison.
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: Hello. Hello, you two. Oh, hello, Alden. Mathis.
• 12:28
  Speaker 5: Why, Philip, how nice to see you. Mark and I
• 12:31
  Speaker 5: were just doing a little shopping.
• 12:32
  Speaker 6: Philip, will you do me a favor?
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: Hmm?
• 12:34
  Speaker 6: Will you please reason with Lettie and try to get
• 12:36
  Speaker 6: some sense into her head?
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: Say, wait a minute. That sounds serious.
• 12:40
  Speaker 5: Well, it isn't really. But, Philip, you know my nerves
• 12:43
  Speaker 5: and the way things upset me, and Mark just doesn't understand. Oh,
• 12:46
  Speaker 5: I know I'm just a silly woman, but the doctor
• 12:48
  Speaker 5: says I have to be humored. And now Mark is
• 12:51
  Speaker 5: so unreasonable, and it's such a little thing.
• 12:53
  Speaker 6: Of course it's a little thing, and that's why I
• 12:55
  Speaker 6: can't understand your attitude.
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: Now look here, Philip.
• 12:58
  Speaker 6: The boathouse is infested with rats. Wouldn't you say the
• 13:01
  Speaker 6: obvious course of action would be to get rid of them?
• 13:03
  Speaker 4: Why, of course.
• 13:04
  Speaker 5: But poison, rat poison. Oh, Philip, don't you see how
• 13:08
  Speaker 5: horrible it is? I mean, accidents do happen. I've always
• 13:11
  Speaker 5: hated to have anything like that around, just in case.
• 13:13
  Speaker 4: I've heard of children eating this stuff by accident. But
• 13:17
  Speaker 4: you two people can take care of yourselves. Frankly, Lettie,
• 13:20
  Speaker 4: I think you're making a fuss over nothing.
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: Yes, yes, that's right, Philip.
• 13:23
  Speaker 6: That's just what I told her.
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: Well, very well, then.
• 13:26
  Speaker 5: But if I'm found dead, I hope you realize you'll
• 13:29
  Speaker 5: both be under suspicion.
• 13:44
  Speaker 4: Seemed a foolish quarrel at the time. Yet when I
• 13:48
  Speaker 4: left them, I kept hearing Lettie's voice.
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: Very well, then.
• 13:52
  Speaker 5: But if I'm found dead... Very well, then. But if
• 13:57
  Speaker 5: I'm found dead.
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: Very well, then. But if I'm found dead.
• 14:04
  Speaker 4: Suddenly, a monstrous idea occurred to me. I wondered if
• 14:09
  Speaker 4: Lettie had been trying to warn me. And then the
• 14:13
  Speaker 4: horrible suspicion broke. All the trifling things began to add up.
• 14:19
  Speaker 4: Lettie's nervousness. Her fear of sailing with Mark. Her terror
• 14:25
  Speaker 4: of having the poison in the house.
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: But why? Why should she be afraid of Mark? What
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: motive had he? And then I knew.
• 14:37
  Speaker 4: I had helped to give him the motive when I
• 14:41
  Speaker 4: drew up Lettie's will. Yet my whole case was founded
• 14:45
  Speaker 4: on thin air. Figment of a nervous imagination. I had
• 14:50
  Speaker 4: to be sure. I had to keep an eye on them.
• 14:55
  Speaker 4: I found myself making excuses. Excuses to drop by at
• 15:00
  Speaker 4: their cottage.
• 15:03
  Speaker 6: Who is it, Lettie? Who's there?
• 15:04
  Speaker 5: It's Philip.
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: Oh, Philip.
• 15:07
  Speaker 6: Well, well, well. You're almost getting to be a member
• 15:11
  Speaker 6: of the family.
• 15:12
  Speaker 5: Well, hi.
• 15:13
  Speaker 4: Just thought I'd ask you to help me eat the
• 15:14
  Speaker 4: first bluefish of the season. There's too much here.
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: For an old bachelor like me.
• 15:19
  Speaker 5: Why, Philip Alden, if you aren't the most thoughtful person.
• 15:22
  Speaker 5: How perfectly sweet of you. Of course you'll stay to dinner.
• 15:25
  Speaker 5: We'll have a real feast.
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: Yes, yes, you might as well stay as long as
• 15:28
  Speaker 2: you're here. Oh, thank you. If you're sure I won't
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: be intruding.
• 15:31
  Speaker 5: Intruding? Why, of course not. And you can help me
• 15:34
  Speaker 5: get the dinner ready.
• 15:35
  Speaker 4: Well, I'd be glad to, but... Won't I be in
• 15:37
  Speaker 4: Anna's way?
• 15:38
  Speaker 6: Anna's gone.
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: Gone? Why, I thought you were well satisfied with her.
• 15:43
  Speaker 5: So we were, Philip. But Anna didn't seem to be
• 15:46
  Speaker 5: satisfied with us. In fact, they've all gone.
• 15:49
  Speaker 4: All?
• 15:50
  Speaker 5: Yes. Anna and Elsie and Otto, the handyman. They just
• 15:53
  Speaker 5: walked out and left us.
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: Well, for heaven's sake.
• 15:56
  Speaker 6: Since the ship and engine place opened on the heights,
• 15:58
  Speaker 6: nobody can keep a servant. Can't blame them myself.
• 16:01
  Speaker 5: I wonder. I don't believe Anna'd take a job at
• 16:03
  Speaker 5: the ship and engine. Anyhow, it does seem strange they
• 16:07
  Speaker 5: all went at once, doesn't it?
• 16:09
  Speaker 6: Lettie, I do wish you'd stop dramatizing everything. Ship and
• 16:12
  Speaker 6: engine just opened. The call went out for help. I
• 16:15
  Speaker 6: don't see any mystery in the servants answering. In fact,
• 16:18
  Speaker 6: it's their patriotic duty. And it's our patriotic duty to
• 16:21
  Speaker 6: get along without them. But it's so lonely here, especially
• 16:25
  Speaker 6: at night. Now, Lettie, you're not living here by yourself,
• 16:28
  Speaker 6: you know.
• 16:29
  Speaker 5: No, of course not, but... All the same, we are isolated.
• 16:34
  Speaker 5: Just the two of us. And you know how tricky
• 16:36
  Speaker 5: my nerves are. I always feel so much better if
• 16:38
  Speaker 5: the servants are around. After all, if anything were to happen,
• 16:42
  Speaker 5: and anything might happen.
• 16:44
  Speaker 6: Letty, this isn't getting us any closer to our dinner.
• 16:47
  Speaker 5: Oh, of course. Now, you boys wear these aprons. Philip,
• 16:53
  Speaker 5: since it's your fish, you may have the honor of
• 16:55
  Speaker 5: cooking it.
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: All right, you ask for it. It'll be your funeral.
• 16:59
  Speaker 5: Now, Philip... Oh, Mark, you hull the berries for the dessert.
• 17:04
  Speaker 5: I'll do the vegetables and set the table.
• 17:22
  Speaker 2: Well, for a seasoned bachelor, this dinner's a rare treat, letty.
• 17:26
  Speaker 5: Oh, I'm so glad you enjoyed it, Philip. Oh, I
• 17:28
  Speaker 5: don't deserve the credit. That bluefish was simply delicious. How
• 17:32
  Speaker 5: did you manage to catch it all by yourself? I
• 17:36
  Speaker 5: always think men are so wonderful.
• 17:38
  Speaker 4: I'd be glad to take you both the next time
• 17:39
  Speaker 4: I go fishing. It's good fun. Fresh air would be
• 17:42
  Speaker 4: good for you, Lettie.
• 17:42
  Speaker 5: Oh, no, I couldn't. Well, I'm still just a wee
• 17:46
  Speaker 5: bit nervous about the water. So I tried terribly hard,
• 17:49
  Speaker 5: haven't I, Mark?
• 17:50
  Speaker 6: Yes, yes, you have.
• 17:51
  Speaker 5: I've been good about the sailing. And you know I'm
• 17:53
  Speaker 5: learning to manage the Artemis all by myself, aren't I, Mark?
• 17:56
  Speaker 5: I don't write my name in the wake anymore, do I?
• 17:59
  Speaker 6: Yes, let is a real hand at the tiller. She'll
• 18:02
  Speaker 6: be a better sailor than I am soon, you see.
• 18:04
  Speaker 6: You'd have seen her take the Artemis into harbor the
• 18:06
  Speaker 6: other day.
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: You did, all right.
• 18:07
  Speaker 6: Yes, she came through that channel with a breeze against her.
• 18:10
  Speaker 6: I wanted to take it over, afraid she'd run into
• 18:12
  Speaker 6: the mudflats. But no, she coaxed it all the way,
• 18:15
  Speaker 6: and we came in under sail.
• 18:16
  Speaker 5: Yes, and I wanted to do it all by myself,
• 18:18
  Speaker 5: even though I was terrified.
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: Good for you. Why, that's really a splendid accomplishment.
• 18:22
  Speaker 4: I've been negotiating the harbor for years, but I confess
• 18:24
  Speaker 4: that I have trouble every now and then.
• 18:27
  Speaker 5: Well, since nobody wants any more berries, I guess it's
• 18:31
  Speaker 5: time to do the dishes. Now, I'll show you what
• 18:33
  Speaker 5: a good hand I am as a dishwasher.
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: Wait a minute, wait a minute. That's my job.
• 18:36
  Speaker 4: Here.
• 18:37
  Speaker 5: No, I'll clear, clean, and wash dishes. You two can dry.
• 18:40
  Speaker 5: And you can dry.
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: Lettie, what is it? Well, you shouldn't have tried to
• 18:45
  Speaker 2: carry that tray.
• 18:46
  Speaker 6: No.
• 18:48
  Speaker 5: It's not that.
• 18:49
  Speaker 2: Why, Lettie, what's happened to you? You look ghastly.
• 18:51
  Speaker 5: I'm... I'm afraid I... Something I ate. Here.
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: You'd better lie down.
• 18:58
  Speaker 6: Oh, I'll carry her upstairs.
• 18:59
  Speaker 2: Get a doctor, will you?
• 19:01
  Speaker 5: I'm afraid, Mark. I'm afraid I've been....
• 19:29
  Speaker 6: But great heavens, Philip, I just can't believe it. Arsenic poisoning?
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: Do you think Dr.
• 19:36
  Speaker 6: Potter knows what he's talking about?
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: I'm sure he does. Of course, we can't be sure
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: till the tests are made, but I don't see. I
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: don't understand.
• 19:43
  Speaker 4: It's not very hard to understand. Letty ate arsenic. How
• 19:48
  Speaker 4: or where she got it, we don't know, but it's
• 19:50
  Speaker 4: not difficult to guess. But we all ate the same meal,
• 19:53
  Speaker 4: you and I and she. Why, good Lord, Philip.
• 19:58
  Speaker 6: Do you think we are poisoned, too?
• 20:00
  Speaker 4: I feel perfectly all right. You appear to be comfortable.
• 20:05
  Speaker 4: I think we'd feel it by now.
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: But then how on earth did she... Let's be perfectly
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: logical about it.
• 20:08
  Speaker 4: We.
• 20:09
  Speaker 2: We all ate the bluefish. Yes. I prepared it. We
• 20:13
  Speaker 2: all had potatoes and string beans. Lettie cooked those. Yes, yes.
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: Then we all ate strawberries. You prepared them. Why?
• 20:22
  Speaker 4: Now, the fish and the vegetables were all served in
• 20:25
  Speaker 4: large platters... and each one of us helped ourselves. Therefore,
• 20:29
  Speaker 4: if any poison were in the food, we'd all be sick.
• 20:32
  Speaker 4: But the strawberries, Mark.
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: See here, Alden, are you suggesting... Wait a minute, wait
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: a minute.
• 20:37
  Speaker 4: We're just following this through logically... The strawberries were put
• 20:41
  Speaker 4: on the table in separate dishes. The poison could have
• 20:44
  Speaker 4: been slipped into Lettie's plate in the kitchen.
• 20:46
  Speaker 6: Walden, you have no right to accuse me of this
• 20:50
  Speaker 6: while you're fixing up a case against me.
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: I'm doing nothing of the sort.
• 20:54
  Speaker 4: In any event, I think you might worry less about
• 20:56
  Speaker 4: your own skin and more about Lettie.
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: Thanks.
• 20:58
  Speaker 6: I think I can take care of my own wife.
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: Nevertheless, I suggest you get someone to help you.
• 21:02
  Speaker 6: I'm perfectly well able to nurse her myself.
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: If I were you, I'd have someone else as well.
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: I'll send Mrs. Halstead over from town. She's an experienced,
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: practical nurse.
• 21:11
  Speaker 6: What I've always appreciated about you, Philip... is the way
• 21:14
  Speaker 6: you mind your own business.
• 21:17
  Speaker 2: I'll be going now. Mrs. Halstead will be along as
• 21:20
  Speaker 2: soon as I can get her. When the doctor's analysis came...
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: It was arsenic poisoning, all right.
• 21:41
  Speaker 4: There were traces of arsenic in the sugar on Lettie's dish.
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: Lettie was recovering. The dose wasn't large enough to kill her.
• 21:50
  Speaker 6: Mrs.
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: Halstead was installed as nurse and housekeeper.
• 21:54
  Speaker 4: Just then, business called me to New York, where I
• 21:58
  Speaker 4: found myself worrying about Lettie.
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: I couldn't get her out of my mind.
• 22:09
  Speaker 4: I was bothered by a few loose ends of Lettie's problem.
• 22:12
  Speaker 4: The sort of questions that would occur to a legal mind.
• 22:16
  Speaker 4: So I decided to spend an evening in the reference
• 22:18
  Speaker 4: room of the law library among the files, where I
• 22:21
  Speaker 4: found out enough about Mark and Lettie Taylor to send
• 22:24
  Speaker 4: me racing back to the Cape. And I knew I
• 22:27
  Speaker 4: had to hurry if I was to prevent a devilish murder.
• 22:36
  Speaker 4: It was one of those dull gray afternoons when I
• 22:38
  Speaker 4: arrived at the station. Fog was so thick over the
• 22:41
  Speaker 4: bay that it seemed to.
• 22:43
  Speaker 2: Cloud the whole town. Cold fear gripped me. Letty and Mark,
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: I learned, had left at dawn.
• 22:51
  Speaker 4: For a weekend's sail. I could picture them. Murderer and victim.
• 22:57
  Speaker 4: Shrouded in the gray veils of the fog.
• 23:00
  Speaker 2: Drifting.
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: Waiting.
• 23:02
  Speaker 2: Waiting. while the foghorns called a hoarse warning of murder. So,
• 23:14
  Speaker 2: I was too late. The trap was sprung.
• 23:18
  Speaker 4: With my newly gained insight into the affairs of Lettie
• 23:21
  Speaker 4: and Mark, I could have averted the tragedy, but I
• 23:25
  Speaker 4: was too late.
• 23:28
  Speaker 2: Or was I? If only they hadn't really left for
• 23:31
  Speaker 2: that sale. I took the chance. Feeling my way along
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: the Cape Road, I reached the Taylor Cottage. Nobody was there.
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: Then I... I heard noises in the boathouse.
• 23:48
  Speaker 4: I crept down the slope and listened.
• 24:00
  Speaker 5: Oh, Mark, you fool. Philip Alden will be sure you
• 24:04
  Speaker 5: planned to murder me for my money. I saw the
• 24:07
  Speaker 5: suspicion dawn in his mind that day we made out
• 24:09
  Speaker 5: our twin wills. I saw it grow when I was
• 24:12
  Speaker 5: seen in the general store and you brought.
• 24:15
  Speaker 6: The rat poison.
• 24:16
  Speaker 5: And that night when I was taken ill, he was sure.
• 24:18
  Speaker 5: Do you hear me? Sure! You wanted to teach me
• 24:25
  Speaker 5: to sail the Artemis. Thought I was afraid of the water. Well,
• 24:30
  Speaker 5: Mark Taylor, when your body drifts to shore, Philip Alden
• 24:34
  Speaker 5: will swear that only an accident prevented you from murdering me.
• 24:38
  Speaker 5: What fools you men are. Aren't you? Aren't you? Well,
• 24:46
  Speaker 5: wouldn't you like to answer me, Mark? Don't you wish
• 24:53
  Speaker 5: you could talk to me again? To your helpless little nephew.
• 24:58
  Speaker 5: But you can't. Can you? Dead men can't talk, can they?
• 25:06
  Speaker 5: But they say that in the instant of dying, a
• 25:09
  Speaker 5: man can understand many things. Did you understand, Ma? But
• 25:14
  Speaker 5: how could you? You are really a stupid man, Ma.
• 25:20
  Speaker 5: Didn't you ever wonder about my former husband and his
• 25:24
  Speaker 5: tragic death? Did you ever want to know about Frank Hawthorne?
• 25:29
  Speaker 2: He did.
• 25:30
  Speaker 5: At the very end, he wondered about his predecessor, George Martin.
• 25:35
  Speaker 5: Strange how both died in a yachting accident, isn't it?
• 25:41
  Speaker 5: Frank died off the coast of California, and George was
• 25:45
  Speaker 5: drowned in the Gulf of Mexico. And now you, Mark,
• 25:50
  Speaker 5: your body will be found someplace along the Cape here,
• 25:53
  Speaker 5: I suppose. Oh, what bad luck I've had with my husband.
• 26:00
  Speaker 5: But how thoughtful all of you were to leave me
• 26:03
  Speaker 5: your property. Too bad I'm such an extravagant widow, isn't it?
• 26:08
  Speaker 5: For I do run through money. I wasn't lying about that. Oh, dear,
• 26:16
  Speaker 5: I wish I could... I wish you could help me
• 26:19
  Speaker 5: get your body to the Artemis. If only you hadn't
• 26:24
  Speaker 5: insisted on turning back when the fog rose. I could
• 26:28
  Speaker 5: have killed you so much more neatly. A sudden gust
• 26:33
  Speaker 5: of wind while I was at the wheel, and the
• 26:36
  Speaker 5: Artemis jibes, and the boom catches you, and off you
• 26:39
  Speaker 5: go to the bottom of the sea. But now, I've
• 26:45
  Speaker 5: got to lug you back on board.
• 26:50
  Speaker 5: And pitch you overboard somewhere. This was really inconsiderate, Mark,
• 27:00
  Speaker 5: to make me kill you in the boathouse here.
• 27:05
  Speaker 2: You won't have to drag the body aboard, Lettie.
• 27:07
  Speaker 5: Oh, Philip, I'm so glad you've come.
• 27:09
  Speaker 2: Are you, Lettie?
• 27:11
  Speaker 5: Something dreadful's happened to Mark. I'm so upset I hardly
• 27:14
  Speaker 5: know how to tell you.
• 27:15
  Speaker 4: Oh, Philip, I think I've... You needn't pull a phony
• 27:17
  Speaker 4: feint this time, Lettie. I fell for it before when
• 27:21
  Speaker 4: you made me think that Mark had poisoned you.
• 27:23
  Speaker 2: That is, almost.
• 27:26
  Speaker 5: What do you mean, Philip?
• 27:27
  Speaker 4: That was a little too smart, Lettie, that poison scene.
• 27:31
  Speaker 4: Because when I left you, I wondered about two things.
• 27:33
  Speaker 4: Why anyone should be foolish enough to attempt that type
• 27:36
  Speaker 4: of murder before an audience, and why, having attempted it,
• 27:40
  Speaker 4: he should fail to make the dose large enough.
• 27:43
  Speaker 5: I don't know what you're talking about.
• 27:45
  Speaker 2: I think you do.
• 27:47
  Speaker 4: You see, while I was in New York, I took
• 27:49
  Speaker 4: the trouble to look up a few matters that were
• 27:50
  Speaker 4: bothering me. And I found the newspaper clippings of your
• 27:54
  Speaker 4: two previous, shall we say, accidents.
• 27:57
  Speaker 5: Oh, Philip, isn't it dreadful?
• 27:59
  Speaker 2: Still pretending. You're a clever woman, Lettie. But I overheard
• 28:04
  Speaker 2: you just now.
• 28:04
  Speaker 5: You'll never prove anything.
• 28:06
  Speaker 2: I think I will. You see, I found the motive, too.
• 28:09
  Speaker 2: It was Mary for money... Married for murder, wasn't it?
• 28:12
  Speaker 4: I wouldn't try to run away, Lettie.
• 28:13
  Speaker 2: I brought a gun. You're coming with me to the
• 28:16
  Speaker 2: police station.
• 28:20
  Speaker 4: Don't wonder that you hate the sound of foghorns, Lettie Taylor.
• 28:25
  Speaker 2: You've spoiled them for me, too.
• 28:50
  Speaker 3: And so closes Mary for Murder, starring Lillian Gish with
• 28:54
  Speaker 3: Ray Collins and Bramwell Fletcher.
• 28:57
  Speaker 2: Tonight's tale of.
• 28:58
  Speaker 3: Suspense.
• 28:59
  Speaker 2: Suspense.
• 29:21
  Speaker 3: This is your narrator, the man in black, who conveys
• 29:24
  Speaker 3: to you Columbia's invitation to spend this half hour in
• 29:27
  Speaker 3: suspense with us again next week, same time, when Virginia
• 29:31
  Speaker 3: Bruce and John Loder will star in the Dorothy B.
• 29:34
  Speaker 3: Hughes suspense thriller, The Cross-Eyed Bear. The producer of these
• 29:39
  Speaker 3: broadcasts is William Spear, who with Ted Bliss, the director,
• 29:44
  Speaker 3: Bernard Herman and Lucienne Marowick, conductor and composer, and Walker T. Field,
• 29:49
  Speaker 3: the author, collaborated on tonight's Suspense.
• 29:52
  Speaker 2: Suspense. This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: That brings suspense, Mary for Murder, to a close. This
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: is Victor Sterling. Until next time, good night.