Latest / The Whistler | Old Time Radio / The Whistler - "Murder in Paradise" (Old Time Radio, 1948)

Transcript

The Whistler - "Murder in Paradise" (Old Time Radio, 1948) · The Whistler | Old Time Radio

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Paroled ex-con Danny Williams comes to Mirror Lake for a
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: fresh start, taking a job as piano player at the
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: secluded Paradise Inn. There he meets Lucille Hedges, wife of
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: the inn's jealous owner Johnny, while warnings from cook Gus
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: Peters and gambling operator Andy Slade do little to keep
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: Danny clear of the tensions around the lakeside roadhouse. From
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: November 28, 1948, this is The Whistler. Murder in Paradise,
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: episode 338, from the Signal Oil-sponsored run, with Sterling Tracy
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: among the cast. Settle in for a late-night visit to
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: Mirror Lake. We now take you back to the original broadcast.
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: The Whistler.
• 0:41
  Speaker 3: Whistling And now the Whistler's strange story, Murder in Paradise.
• 0:59
  Speaker 4: High in the Sierras, a lone hawk circled over Mirror Lake.
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: Its beady eyes fixed on a white patch moving slowly
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: through the blue waters below. From the narrow road that
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: ran along the lake's edge, another pair of eyes followed
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: the patch of white. watched the girl emerge from the
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: water and remove the white bathing cap, saw the mass
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: of red hair fall on tan shoulders, now glistening in
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: the bright sunlight. The eyes belonged to Danny Williams, who
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: stood there looking at the girl in the yellow bathing suit.
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: Then as she sat down at the edge of the
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: long wooden pier, he shifted the heavy suitcase from one
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: hand to the other and darted through the trees toward her.
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: As he emerged at the edge of the lake, He
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: walked into the range of another pair of eyes looking
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: through field glasses, trained on the scene from a point
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: a quarter of a mile away.
• 2:01
  Speaker 5: Hello. I'm looking for Paradise Inn. You know where it is? Uh-huh.
• 2:06
  Speaker 6: You a salesman?
• 2:08
  Speaker 5: Do I look like one?
• 2:08
  Speaker 6: Oh, in a way. Are you?
• 2:12
  Speaker 5: In a way.
• 2:13
  Speaker 7: I don't think they'll be interested in buying any brushes.
• 2:15
  Speaker 5: Thanks for the tip, and I'm still looking for the inn.
• 2:17
  Speaker 6: Got a cigarette?
• 2:19
  Speaker 5: Sure. I'm smoking it.
• 2:20
  Speaker 6: How'd you ever get to be so charming?
• 2:23
  Speaker 5: Look, Red, they tell me in the village the inn
• 2:24
  Speaker 5: was a mile up the road.
• 2:25
  Speaker 6: So you know. Why come to the lake to ask me?
• 2:28
  Speaker 5: It was a bathing suit. On the road, I couldn't
• 2:32
  Speaker 5: believe it.
• 2:33
  Speaker 6: Like it?
• 2:34
  Speaker 5: I've seen more material in a pen library.
• 2:38
  Speaker 6: The inn's over there. Take the side road.
• 2:40
  Speaker 5: Thanks.
• 2:40
  Speaker 6: See it?
• 2:41
  Speaker 5: Nothing wrong with my eyes.
• 2:42
  Speaker 6: From the way you've been staring at me, I thought
• 2:44
  Speaker 6: you might have strained them.
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: A quarter of an hour later, you arrive at the roadhouse,
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: a low white frame building sitting back silently in the
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: shadows of the giant redwoods. This is it, isn't it, Danny?
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: Paradise Inn, where you're going to spend the next three
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: months pounding the piano for Johnny Hedges. Your first job, Danny,
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: since the prison gates closed behind you, gave you back
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: your freedom, and you've made up your mind that it
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: will never happen again. You're going to stay out of trouble.
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: That's all you can think about as you cross the
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: parking area, mount the wooden stairs, and walk along the veranda.
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: There's a musty odor in the air. You set your
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: suitcase down by the front door. The entrance hall is empty,
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: silent except for the buzz of flies against the sun-drenched window.
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: You make your way across the deserted dining room, past
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: the battered upright piano. and push open the swinging doors
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: at the far end of the room. The short, gray-haired
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: man at the sink turns, peers at you over his glasses,
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: and then begins to wipe his hands on the soiled apron.
• 4:05
  Speaker 5: Hi, young fella.
• 4:06
  Speaker 3: Hi.
• 4:06
  Speaker 5: Where'd I find the boss? Oh, he'll be around. You
• 4:10
  Speaker 5: must be the new piano player. That's right, Danny Williams. Williams.
• 4:15
  Speaker 5: Danny Williams. You never heard of me before. I'm Gus Peters.
• 4:19
  Speaker 5: I do the cooking. Sit down, sit down.
• 4:21
  Speaker 6: Thanks.
• 4:23
  Speaker 5: He didn't meet you at the bus stop, huh? Who's he?
• 4:26
  Speaker 8: Mr.
• 4:27
  Speaker 5: Hedges. Hedges?
• 4:28
  Speaker 8: No.
• 4:29
  Speaker 5: How about a cold beer? You look like you could
• 4:32
  Speaker 5: use one. Got any milk? Milk? Say, you sure you're
• 4:36
  Speaker 5: the piano player? I said I was.
• 4:39
  Speaker 6: Ulcers?
• 4:40
  Speaker 5: No ulcers. The cows need publicity. Okay. If that's what
• 4:44
  Speaker 5: you want. Why didn't somebody meet me at the bus stop?
• 4:47
  Speaker 5: It's a long hike out in this heat. Well, I
• 4:50
  Speaker 5: can't drive for one thing. Never could learn how. Slade
• 4:55
  Speaker 5: is still sleeping, I guess. He wouldn't go after you anyway.
• 4:59
  Speaker 5: And the boss had other things to do. Must have
• 5:03
  Speaker 5: outside interests. Ain't business so much that keeps Mr. Hedges busy.
• 5:09
  Speaker 5: It's keeping up with his wife that's got him going.
• 5:11
  Speaker 5: His wife?
• 5:13
  Speaker 3: Yep.
• 5:15
  Speaker 5: Don't let her out of his sight much. Hey, you
• 5:18
  Speaker 5: want a sandwich or something? No, not that. He doesn't
• 5:21
  Speaker 5: trust you. Really jealous, you know. Thinks every man he
• 5:24
  Speaker 5: talks to is going to take her away from him.
• 5:26
  Speaker 5: How about a piece of pie? No, no, no. This
• 5:29
  Speaker 5: will do.
• 5:32
  Speaker 8: We sure have been having a fast turnover of piano
• 5:36
  Speaker 8: players around here.
• 5:38
  Speaker 5: They couldn't stay away from us. It's the perfume, huh? Uh-huh.
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 5:49
  Speaker 5: Then only two men around here who ain't ever been
• 5:51
  Speaker 5: bothered by Mrs. Hitches. Me and Andy Slade. You'll meet him.
• 5:57
  Speaker 5: He works here in the back. How does he manage
• 5:59
  Speaker 5: to resist? Ain't never been able to figure it out.
• 6:03
  Speaker 5: He's strictly business and a natural cold fish. You leave
• 6:07
  Speaker 5: your stuff on the veranda, Danny? Yeah. I'll take it up.
• 6:09
  Speaker 5: Your room's in the attic next to mine. Don't bother.
• 6:12
  Speaker 5: No bother. Just going upstairs in a few minutes anyway.
• 6:15
  Speaker 5: Take a little snooze. Any objection if I try the
• 6:18
  Speaker 5: piano on for size?
• 6:19
  Speaker 6: No, go ahead.
• 6:21
  Speaker 9: Thanks.
• 6:22
  Speaker 5: Uh, Gus? Uh, Tierney.
• 6:26
  Speaker 3: Yeah?
• 6:28
  Speaker 5: Stay away from her, son. Just tend to your piano
• 6:31
  Speaker 5: and you'll be all right. Yeah. Yeah, sure.
• 6:36
  Speaker 6: Yeah.
• 6:54
  Speaker 10: Hello.
• 6:59
  Speaker 6: So this is what you sell?
• 7:00
  Speaker 5: Yep. Strictly music.
• 7:04
  Speaker 6: You, uh, you play very well.
• 7:07
  Speaker 7: Much better than the others.
• 7:08
  Speaker 5: Nice.
• 7:09
  Speaker 7: I knew you would.
• 7:11
  Speaker 6: I could tell by your hands. They're different. I bet
• 7:15
  Speaker 6: you were a child prodigy.
• 7:16
  Speaker 5: I was born a poor but honest peasant in the Bronx.
• 7:19
  Speaker 5: My mother scrubbed floors so I could have piano lessons.
• 7:22
  Speaker 5: She thought I'd become a concert pianist. It didn't work out.
• 7:26
  Speaker 5: Don't cry. I just made that up.
• 7:28
  Speaker 6: Who kicked you while you were down, music man?
• 7:30
  Speaker 5: Look, Red. The story of Danny Williams is sort of dull.
• 7:33
  Speaker 5: You wouldn't be interested. Now, why don't you go back
• 7:34
  Speaker 5: to the lake?
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: You're very rude.
• 7:36
  Speaker 5: Business is business, Mrs. Hedgeson.
• 7:38
  Speaker 11: Oh.
• 7:39
  Speaker 5: Oh.
• 7:40
  Speaker 6: You know who I am?
• 7:41
  Speaker 5: Yeah, the boss's wife. Period.
• 7:44
  Speaker 6: What does that mean?
• 7:44
  Speaker 5: It means I need the job and I don't like
• 7:46
  Speaker 5: wives that are on the prowl. Sort of fast with
• 7:51
  Speaker 5: your mitts, aren't you, baby?
• 8:08
  Speaker 6: You're off to a great.
• 8:09
  Speaker 5: Start, Clint. Who are you?
• 8:13
  Speaker 11: I'm not Johnny Hedges, if that's what you're worried about. Relax, Clint.
• 8:17
  Speaker 6: My name is Slade.
• 8:19
  Speaker 5: Andy Slade. I got the gambling concession.
• 8:23
  Speaker 3: I'll bet.
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: Welcome to paradise.
• 8:27
  Speaker 10: Welcome to paradise.
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: It's an unusual job, isn't it, Danny? One of the
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: strangest you've ever had. You never bargained for this sort
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: of thing when.
• 9:02
  Speaker 5: You first accepted it.
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: Johnny Hedges' roadhouse at Mirror Lake didn't seem to suggest
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: the danger and intrigue that suddenly presents themselves. Lucille and
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: the way you met her on the boat dock. The
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: warning from Gus. And now the coldly calculating gambler, Andy Slade.
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: stands at your side with the strangest greeting you've ever received.
• 9:24
  Speaker 11: Like I said, Williams, you're off to a great start.
• 9:28
  Speaker 11: But here only and now, and the boss's wife slaps
• 9:30
  Speaker 11: your face.
• 9:32
  Speaker 5: Uh, political discussion.
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: Wasn't it?
• 9:34
  Speaker 5: Yeah, you might call it that. Now, some dames get
• 9:37
  Speaker 5: mad if you don't whistle at them. Anything else on
• 9:41
  Speaker 5: your mind?
• 9:42
  Speaker 6: No, nothing.
• 9:43
  Speaker 11: Except the boss wants to see you.
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: He went up there in the office listening to you.
• 9:47
  Speaker 5: He thinks you're good. And you don't?
• 9:49
  Speaker 11: I keep telling him he'd be better off with a jukebox.
• 9:52
  Speaker 11: Nobody ever heard of a jukebox making a play.
• 9:55
  Speaker 5: For a dame. You, uh, know what I mean? I
• 9:58
  Speaker 5: know what you mean. Just let me give you a tip.
• 10:00
  Speaker 5: Save it. It's all I've been getting ever since I
• 10:02
  Speaker 5: come here. Okay, okay. It's your funeral.
• 10:05
  Speaker 11: But, uh, Hedges is getting a little sick and tired
• 10:08
  Speaker 11: of hearing the wolf call.
• 10:09
  Speaker 5: You said he wanted to see me.
• 10:11
  Speaker 6: Yeah.
• 10:13
  Speaker 5: Up the stairs there on your right. Thanks. Oh, uh, William. Yeah?
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: Yeah?
• 10:18
  Speaker 5: It was nice to have you with us.
• 10:21
  Speaker 6: I think you'll get to like it here.
• 10:23
  Speaker 5: That is, if you stay long enough.
• 10:26
  Speaker 9: Come in, William.
• 10:37
  Speaker 5: Come in. Your gambling concession said you wanted words. That's right.
• 10:45
  Speaker 5: I just want to iron out a.
• 10:46
  Speaker 8: Few things before you start.
• 10:48
  Speaker 5: Now, you're an ex-con on parole. That's been ironed out.
• 10:51
  Speaker 5: The past three years took care of it. I'm here
• 10:53
  Speaker 5: to play the piano, and that's all. Yes.
• 10:57
  Speaker 8: That's all you're here for. Just remember that. Some of
• 11:01
  Speaker 8: the others didn't. So I love music. Well, I'm glad
• 11:04
  Speaker 8: to hear it, Williams. I'm glad to hear it. It'll
• 11:07
  Speaker 8: save us both a lot of headaches.
• 11:10
  Speaker 3: All right.
• 11:11
  Speaker 5: Now, you'll play in the dining room from 8 till
• 11:13
  Speaker 5: closing time. You take the breaks to suit yourself. Won't
• 11:16
  Speaker 5: be a lot of people in the dining room. Sometimes
• 11:18
  Speaker 5: there may not be any at all. I'm not fussy.
• 11:22
  Speaker 5: And another thing you might as well know from the start.
• 11:25
  Speaker 8: I don't make my money from the dining room. Not
• 11:28
  Speaker 8: much on the bar either. I didn't think I did.
• 11:30
  Speaker 8: I got a place fixed up in the back. Dice table,
• 11:32
  Speaker 8: roulette wheel. Andy Slade runs that end of it. Not
• 11:37
  Speaker 8: going to affect you one way or the other.
• 11:38
  Speaker 5: Sure am. Well, that all? Yeah. You met everyone, have you? Yeah,
• 11:45
  Speaker 5: Slade and Gus the cook. And my wife. We were
• 11:49
  Speaker 5: talking to her down there on the pier a couple
• 11:50
  Speaker 5: hours ago.
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 11:54
  Speaker 5: No one picked me up at the bus stop, so
• 11:55
  Speaker 5: I had to walk. I was asking directions.
• 11:58
  Speaker 4: Uh-huh.
• 12:00
  Speaker 5: All right, Williams, just remember what I said.
• 12:02
  Speaker 8: You stick to your piano playing, we're going to get
• 12:04
  Speaker 8: along fine. If you get bored, let me know. I'll
• 12:09
  Speaker 8: buy you a book.
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: That night, you play for a half a dozen couples
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: in the dining room. And more than once during the evening,
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: your thoughts turn to Lucille. She means trouble, doesn't she, Danny?
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: And you don't intend to have any. You're going to
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: stay clear of her. You're going to play it safe
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: with Johnny Hedges, her husband. You have no intention of
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: winding up in the lake with a bullet in your
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: head or back in a prison cell. In the nights
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: that follow, you become accustomed to the habits of the
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: paradise customers. Learn when to be on hand, when you
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: can slip away for a quiet smoke or a chat
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: with Gus. And then one night in the middle of
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: the second week, you go out on the veranda and
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: light up a cigarette.
• 13:03
  Speaker 6: Hello, Danny.
• 13:04
  Speaker 5: Oh, hello.
• 13:05
  Speaker 6: You've done a good job these past ten days.
• 13:07
  Speaker 5: Thanks.
• 13:08
  Speaker 6: Of staying away from me, I mean.
• 13:10
  Speaker 5: Take that, John, quick.
• 13:11
  Speaker 7: You don't know what it is to feel out of place.
• 13:13
  Speaker 7: Go for drives all by yourself. And just walks along
• 13:17
  Speaker 7: the beach.
• 13:17
  Speaker 5: You do that?
• 13:19
  Speaker 6: Almost every night after the customers leave. The cove on
• 13:22
  Speaker 6: the north shore.
• 13:23
  Speaker 5: Why?
• 13:24
  Speaker 6: Oh, I don't know.
• 13:26
  Speaker 7: Get away, I guess.
• 13:27
  Speaker 5: From your husband?
• 13:29
  Speaker 6: From myself, maybe. I don't know, Danny. I'm just confused sometimes.
• 13:34
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I'd say so, too. Excuse me, will you? I've
• 13:37
  Speaker 5: got to go confuse some customers.
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: You leave her, Danny, go back to your keyboard and
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: the cocktail concerto. But somehow through the evening, the haze
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: of music, the laughter in the smoke-filled room, the something
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: that haunts you, keeps drifting back like broken parts of
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: an old refrain.
• 14:00
  Speaker 6: Almost every night, as the customers leave, the cold.
• 14:03
  Speaker 10: On the lost shore.
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: It stays with you, Danny, that night, and into the
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: next until after you've finished playing, unable to fight down
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: the urge you... You find yourself slipping away, taking a
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: rowboat and crossing the lower tip of the lake in
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: the half darkness. At the cove, you look around and
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: there's no sign of her. You call yourself a fool
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: and wonder why you came out here when you promised
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: yourself to stay out of trouble. You're about to turn
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: back when... Oh, yes.
• 14:35
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 14:42
  Speaker 7: We can step right out here.
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 14:44
  Speaker 5: I'll pull the boat up, boys.
• 14:48
  Speaker 4: That's better.
• 14:53
  Speaker 5: I really don't know why I came.
• 14:54
  Speaker 6: I'm glad you did, Danny. I'm glad to have somebody
• 14:57
  Speaker 6: talk to you.
• 14:59
  Speaker 5: But I don't want to.
• 15:00
  Speaker 6: Get you into trouble.
• 15:01
  Speaker 5: Any harm in just talking?
• 15:02
  Speaker 6: He wouldn't think we were just talking.
• 15:04
  Speaker 5: Forget about it for a while, Lucina.
• 15:06
  Speaker 4: Lucina.
• 15:08
  Speaker 6: Sounds nice the way you say it.
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: Does it?
• 15:11
  Speaker 6: You know, Danny.
• 15:12
  Speaker 7: You're not as hard as you pretend.
• 15:14
  Speaker 6: No? If you were, you wouldn't have rode way out
• 15:17
  Speaker 6: here to meet.
• 15:19
  Speaker 3: Me.
• 15:19
  Speaker 5: Danny.
• 15:20
  Speaker 7: Yeah? Don't do it again.
• 15:21
  Speaker 6: You'll lose your job.
• 15:23
  Speaker 5: No, it's a job, and I'm at a piano needs two.
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: But he can cause you trouble.
• 15:27
  Speaker 7: Danny, you've got to ignore me. Act as if I
• 15:29
  Speaker 7: didn't exist. If it's any other way, you won't last here.
• 15:33
  Speaker 6: Not at all.
• 15:35
  Speaker 5: Is that why Slade lasted?
• 15:37
  Speaker 7: Slade and I hated each other from the first.
• 15:41
  Speaker 6: Johnny knows that. That's why he gives Slade anything he wants.
• 15:44
  Speaker 5: Nice guy, your husband. Charming as a meat-ass.
• 15:49
  Speaker 6: Please, Danny, I want you to understand because... Because I'm
• 15:53
  Speaker 6: going to avoid you.
• 15:54
  Speaker 5: You sound like a magazine ad.
• 15:55
  Speaker 6: Oh, Danny. Danny, why did you come here?
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: Why?
• 15:58
  Speaker 5: I don't know, I don't know. Boy scout instinct, maybe.
• 16:01
  Speaker 6: There's nothing we can do. I can't leave him. He'd
• 16:05
  Speaker 6: follow me, bring me back.
• 16:06
  Speaker 5: What if he didn't want to come back? You don't
• 16:09
  Speaker 5: know him.
• 16:10
  Speaker 6: But tell me, Danny, I know. Believe me, I know.
• 16:13
  Speaker 3: Maybe.
• 16:13
  Speaker 5: Maybe not. Anyway, Lucille, give me a little time to
• 16:18
  Speaker 5: think about it. You're in a tough spot. Maybe I
• 16:21
  Speaker 5: can help you. I got a merit badge once for pathfinding.
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: When you leave her, Danny, and start the long road
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: back across the lake, you remember a promise. One that
• 16:38
  Speaker 2: you made to yourself about... staying out of trouble. And
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: you ask yourself if this is the way. When you
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: arrive at the boat dock, you're convinced that it must
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: end right here. And then going up the path toward
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: the roadhouse, you pass a small cottage in back of
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: the inn, and suddenly you're aware of voices arguing, and
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: you stop to listen. You go over on the lake,
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: you mess up guys. Don't leave my Easy, son.
• 17:06
  Speaker 5: Where are you going? I've been waiting to warn you.
• 17:09
  Speaker 5: Hedges knows she met somebody. Good thing you didn't ride
• 17:11
  Speaker 5: back with her in the car. Come on, Danny. Let's
• 17:14
  Speaker 5: go back to the inn. Come on, Danny.
• 17:17
  Speaker 9: Yeah.
• 17:19
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I guess for a minute I had the crazy
• 17:20
  Speaker 5: idea I should be butting in. You better stay clear
• 17:23
  Speaker 5: of that setup, Danny. She's his wife, not yours, you know.
• 17:26
  Speaker 5: I just play the piano here, sure. That's what you
• 17:29
  Speaker 5: get paid for. Okay, okay. Just forget everything else, son.
• 17:32
  Speaker 5: Forget everything. that you're the guy who wants to stay
• 17:36
  Speaker 5: out of trouble.
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: If old Gus expected the passage of hours to make
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: any difference, he was wrong, wasn't he, Danny? Even without
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: seeing Lucille all that next day, you can't get her
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: off your mind. The struggle within you goes on, and
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: the following night as your hands move across the keyboard
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: when you entertain the late dinner crowd... And then shortly
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: after one.
• 18:17
  Speaker 4: In the morning, she comes in.
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: Moves quickly across the room. And as she goes past
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: you at the piano, there's a quickly whispered message. I've
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: got to see you, Danny. Out back.
• 18:27
  Speaker 6: Come as quickly as you can.
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: You continue playing as if nothing happened. You've made up
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: your mind, haven't you, Danny? You know it was a
• 18:36
  Speaker 2: mistake meeting her at the cove. And you're not going
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: to repeat that mistake.
• 18:53
  Speaker 6: Danny.
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: Lucille.
• 18:54
  Speaker 5: Danny, I had to see you. Sure.
• 18:58
  Speaker 6: Danny, I can't stand it any longer.
• 18:59
  Speaker 5: Danny, someone's coming.
• 19:03
  Speaker 11: Wow.
• 19:04
  Speaker 5: Hello.
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: Easy.
• 19:07
  Speaker 5: I thought I told you to stick to your piano playing,
• 19:10
  Speaker 5: music man. Leave us alone, Lucille. Go back inside. Danny,
• 19:14
  Speaker 5: I'm afraid... Go on. Yeah, beat it, Lucille. Because right
• 19:18
  Speaker 5: now I'm going to go to work on him.
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: As Johnny Hedges comes out of the darkness after you,
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: there's the flash of a knife blade. You lunge for it.
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: It's like a nightmare, isn't it, Danny?
• 19:32
  Speaker 5: All out of focus.
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: Unreal. A strange, struggling sensation. There's the fleeting memory of
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: the knife falling on the path. And then movement over
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: which you have no control. Blows falling. Exchanging. A dull thud.
• 19:45
  Speaker 2: And then.
• 19:46
  Speaker 6: Danny.
• 19:47
  Speaker 9: Danny, you all right?
• 19:48
  Speaker 2: I hit him, Gus.
• 19:50
  Speaker 5: He came at me and I hit him. With this?
• 19:53
  Speaker 2: I know.
• 19:54
  Speaker 5: Drop it, Danny.
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: Drop it.
• 19:56
  Speaker 5: Come on, son. You've got to get out of here. No, wait.
• 19:58
  Speaker 5: He's still alive, Danny. You've got to get away before he.
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: No, it was self-defense.
• 20:03
  Speaker 5: I can tell him that.
• 20:04
  Speaker 3: They won't believe you.
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: You're an ex-con.
• 20:06
  Speaker 4: It doesn't make any difference.
• 20:08
  Speaker 5: Can't leave him like this, no matter what happens to me.
• 20:10
  Speaker 5: I'm going to get him to a hospital. Come on,
• 20:13
  Speaker 5: help me get him to his car. He's still alive.
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: And I've got to try to keep him that way.
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: Somehow you managed to get him into his car. And
• 20:25
  Speaker 2: through it all, you know that Gus is right. The
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: trouble you wanted to escape, you're now inviting, asking for.
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: But as you back the car onto the road with
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: Hedges in the seat beside you, all you can think
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: of is saving him And then suddenly you're aware of
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: Lucille at the window of the car.
• 20:42
  Speaker 4: Danny.
• 20:43
  Speaker 7: Danny, what are you doing?
• 20:44
  Speaker 5: I've got to get him to a hospital.
• 20:45
  Speaker 6: He'll die if I don't... No, Danny, they'll arrest you.
• 20:47
  Speaker 7: They'll say you killed him.
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: It was self-defense.
• 20:48
  Speaker 6: They won't believe you.
• 20:49
  Speaker 7: I can't let you do it.
• 20:52
  Speaker 6: Please, Danny, if you love me, you'll leave him here
• 20:54
  Speaker 6: and get away.
• 20:55
  Speaker 5: If you love me, don't you, Danny? I'm taking him
• 20:59
  Speaker 5: to the hospital, Lucille.
• 21:01
  Speaker 4: Danny!
• 21:01
  Speaker 6: Danny, no!
• 21:02
  Speaker 3: No!
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: He leaps back as the car moves forward. You catch
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: a fleeting glimpse of her face, white, drawn, concerned. And
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: then it's gone. And you're aware of Hedges beside you,
• 21:17
  Speaker 2: breathing softly but steadily. And as your foot presses down
• 21:21
  Speaker 2: on the accelerator, you realize that your own strength is
• 21:24
  Speaker 2: fading fast. The struggle, Danny, the pounding you took, it's
• 21:27
  Speaker 2: telling now as you fight to hold the car on
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: the road. Moments later, a flash of light caught in
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: the rearview mirror. It blurs your vision. In the haze,
• 21:41
  Speaker 2: the fog that envelops your brain, you think you hear
• 21:44
  Speaker 2: Lucille's voice. Her face seems to float close to you
• 21:47
  Speaker 2: out of the darkness.
• 21:48
  Speaker 3: Denny!
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: Denny, listen to me! Stop the car!
• 21:51
  Speaker 11: No.
• 21:51
  Speaker 5: No, Lucille.
• 21:52
  Speaker 8: Denny, the curb!
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: Look out! No!
• 22:08
  Speaker 5: He's coming around, Doc.
• 22:14
  Speaker 8: Yes.
• 22:15
  Speaker 5: He's going to be all right. I'd better call the lieutenant.
• 22:19
  Speaker 5: He's sick there. Lieutenant. Police. Take it easy, son. Gus.
• 22:27
  Speaker 5: Where am I? The hospital, Danny. You've been unconscious for
• 22:32
  Speaker 5: over 12 hours. Hedges. Look. What about Hedges? Edges is.
• 22:51
  Speaker 10: Dead.
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: Trouble, Danny. You were headed for it the day you
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: walked up the road to Paradise Inn. No matter how
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: hard you struggled and tried to avoid it, it was
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: there all around you, closing in. Because you couldn't stay
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: with your music and leave Lucille alone. She couldn't help
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: it either, could she, Dan? You're sure of that? But
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: it doesn't matter now. Because instead of helping her, you've
• 23:26
  Speaker 2: ruined everything. Her husband is dead and you'll be blamed,
• 23:30
  Speaker 2: won't you, Dan? They'll never believe it was self-defense, not
• 23:34
  Speaker 2: with your past records. You lie back on the white
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: hospital bed.
• 23:41
  Speaker 5: The doc will be bringing the police back in a minute. Yeah,
• 23:44
  Speaker 5: I know.
• 23:46
  Speaker 2: Hedges.
• 23:46
  Speaker 5: Well, this is it. I have to tell him, Captain.
• 23:49
  Speaker 5: You don't have to tell him anything. You didn't kill him.
• 23:52
  Speaker 5: You only knocked him out, Danny. He broke his neck
• 23:55
  Speaker 5: in that car crash. You were crowded off the road, son. What?
• 24:00
  Speaker 5: Lucille Hedges. She was trying to stop you.
• 24:03
  Speaker 6: Lucille.
• 24:05
  Speaker 5: Is she all right? No. She was killed, too.
• 24:08
  Speaker 6: Oh.
• 24:10
  Speaker 5: It was my fault. She was in love with me.
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: No, she wasn't.
• 24:14
  Speaker 5: You played it straight. She didn't. She framed you, Denny.
• 24:18
  Speaker 5: Set that meeting there behind the roadhouse with you knowing
• 24:21
  Speaker 5: her husband would find you together. What? She wanted you
• 24:23
  Speaker 5: to kill him. Didn't care what happened to you. I
• 24:26
  Speaker 5: don't believe it. Son, that's why she didn't want you
• 24:28
  Speaker 5: to make it to the hospital. She wanted him dead.
• 24:30
  Speaker 5: My gosh.
• 24:31
  Speaker 8: It was so she could be free for the guy
• 24:33
  Speaker 8: who was driving the car after you last night.
• 24:35
  Speaker 5: He was killed with her.
• 24:38
  Speaker 3: Oh.
• 24:39
  Speaker 5: The one guy nobody figured.
• 24:40
  Speaker 7: Slade.
• 24:44
  Speaker 5: Andy Slade. The only guy she was ever crazy about.
• 25:03
  Speaker 11: The Whistler has been a presentation of the United States Armed.
• 25:06
  Speaker 5: Forces Radio Service, the voice of information and education.
• 25:09
  Speaker 2: The Whistler.
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: And so we leave Mirror Lake with The Whistler, Murder
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: in Paradise. Follow The Whistler for more classic broadcasts.