Latest / Suspense | Old Time Radio / Statement of Mary Blake [episode 383], Broadcast 5/4/1950

Transcript

Statement of Mary Blake [episode 383], Broadcast 5/4/1950 · Suspense | Old Time Radio

0:11
Speaker 1: Suspence auto light and it's ninety six thousand dealers present
0:19
Speaker 1: Miss Joan Bennett in statement of Mary Blake, a suspense
0:23
Speaker 1: play produced and edited by William Spear.
0:30
Speaker 2: Harlow. Where did you get those suspenders?
0:33
Speaker 1: Half? My envious end man? Those are auto lights stay
0:36
Speaker 1: full battery suspenders.
0:38
Speaker 2: What queer animals on them? Is that a camel?
0:40
Speaker 1: That half is a contented camel with a smile from
0:43
Speaker 1: hump to hump. He knows that auto light stay full
0:45
Speaker 1: batteries are the batteries that need water only three times
0:48
Speaker 1: a year in normal car use, and that's because they
0:50
Speaker 1: have over three times more liquid reserves than batteries without
0:53
Speaker 1: stay full features.
0:54
Speaker 2: WHOA what's this dancing derby's doing.
0:56
Speaker 1: He's celebrating his release from camel watering. Just gotten used
0:59
Speaker 1: to battery.
1:00
Speaker 2: This is gonna kill me. Do auto light stainful batteries
1:04
Speaker 2: do handstands too?
1:05
Speaker 1: No, on my suspenders, they do because auto light stay
1:08
Speaker 1: full batteries give seventy percent longer average life than batteries
1:11
Speaker 1: without stay full features, according to recent tests based on
1:14
Speaker 1: SAE life cycle standards. And remember too, auto light stay
1:18
Speaker 1: full batteries need water only three times a year in
1:20
Speaker 1: normal car use. Anything else will come, just one more thing.
1:24
Speaker 1: You're always right with auto Light. And now, with statement
1:28
Speaker 1: of Mary Blake and the performance of miss Joan Bennett,
1:31
Speaker 1: Auto Light hopes once again to keep you in suspense.
1:40
Speaker 3: I found myself at the far end of a long corridor,
1:43
Speaker 3: the length of its stretching before me in a winding pattern.
1:47
Speaker 3: The walls of that a thick and pregnable salt. There
1:50
Speaker 3: were no windows, only a small opening high in the
1:53
Speaker 3: world am I right through this? A single shaft of
1:56
Speaker 3: light fell into a pattern which told me there were
1:58
Speaker 3: iron bars on the in the small window. At first,
2:02
Speaker 3: it seemed that I was alone in this place. I
2:05
Speaker 3: stood huddled and frayed, unable to move. Somehow I had
2:10
Speaker 3: the feeling that soon I would not be alone. Then, faintly,
2:14
Speaker 3: from out of the darkness ahead of me, I heard
2:17
Speaker 3: him coming, with slow, shuffling footsteps, the walk of a
2:23
Speaker 3: man who has not long been without his eyes. I
2:28
Speaker 3: saw his cane first, a slim thread of white in
2:32
Speaker 3: the blackness before me. I watched it tapping up and
2:37
Speaker 3: down in a nervous rhythm, tapping coming closer closer. I
2:45
Speaker 3: felt the muscles in my throat tighten on an effort
2:48
Speaker 3: to scream, But I made no sound at all, nor
2:52
Speaker 3: did I move. I just stood there and waited and
2:57
Speaker 3: watched him come toward me. Then, in the next instant,
3:02
Speaker 3: his face was caught in a shaft of light, and
3:05
Speaker 3: I saw him very clearly. The steering marks of pain
3:11
Speaker 3: were there, and with them the lines born of brooding
3:14
Speaker 3: and evil. And I looked for a long time at
3:17
Speaker 3: that face, and I found myself wondering, if I could
3:21
Speaker 3: see behind those dark glasses, would I find in her
3:24
Speaker 3: sightless eyes any sign of repentance.
3:33
Speaker 4: I remembered suddenly how Gregory Martin had.
3:35
Speaker 3: Looked the first time I saw him, his tall form
3:38
Speaker 3: standing with a casual poise in the doorway, that handsome
3:41
Speaker 3: face creased.
3:42
Speaker 4: By the broad smile that bid me welcome into his home.
3:50
Speaker 1: Hello, miss Blake, coming, won't you?
3:51
Speaker 4: Thank you?
3:53
Speaker 1: Yeah, let me take your bags. Missus Martin isn't here
3:57
Speaker 1: just now, so I'll show you your room.
3:59
Speaker 4: Oh.
3:59
Speaker 1: I think you'll find it very comfortable. In fact, I
4:03
Speaker 1: hope you'll enjoy your life here and you'll work with me.
4:05
Speaker 4: Oh, I'm sure I will.
4:07
Speaker 3: I'm a little overwhelmed to find myself actually about to
4:10
Speaker 3: work with the doctor Gregory Martin.
4:12
Speaker 1: When you've gotten your things unpacked, and I had the
4:14
Speaker 1: chance to catch your breath a bit, perhaps you'll join
4:17
Speaker 1: me for coffee.
4:17
Speaker 4: Wonderful.
4:18
Speaker 1: Then I'll show you through my laboratory.
4:27
Speaker 4: I felt no fear at all that Thursday.
4:30
Speaker 3: My room was luxurious and beautiful, and the laboratory is
4:32
Speaker 3: beyond anything I'd ever imagined in its completeness.
4:36
Speaker 4: I didn't meet.
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Speaker 3: Lorna Martin during that Thursday as a member of the household,
4:40
Speaker 3: but in the evening her husband invited me to join
4:41
Speaker 3: the intimate group of friends that were gathered in front
4:43
Speaker 3: of a glowing fire in their living room.
4:47
Speaker 1: And how about your professor, let me fill your glass.
4:50
Speaker 1: I have my customary toast to me, he's my boy.
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Speaker 4: Indeed, ah, I want to join you on.
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Speaker 1: Network Attention everyone, A toast the toe to the lovely Lorna,
5:02
Speaker 1: a woman of such abundant charm that it's unfair really
5:07
Speaker 1: for one man only to call her his. But three
5:11
Speaker 1: years ago she made her choice, and I found that
5:13
Speaker 1: it was such a commendable one that I, for one
5:17
Speaker 1: think we.
5:18
Speaker 2: Should forgive her.
5:20
Speaker 1: And so.
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Speaker 5: He is to the lovely Lorna, my wife.
5:32
Speaker 3: I joined in doctor Martin's toast to his wife, and
5:35
Speaker 3: at the same time study the faces of the people
5:37
Speaker 3: who were gathered in a semicircle around the room. There
5:40
Speaker 3: was a glint on the glass of one man's pasne
5:42
Speaker 3: that gave his face so.
5:43
Speaker 4: And weird, somewhat supernatural look.
5:46
Speaker 3: He was smiling broadly in the direction of missus Martin,
5:50
Speaker 3: and his teeth and the light of the fire seemed
5:51
Speaker 3: to be made entirely of gold. I looked down at Lawna.
5:55
Speaker 3: She was looking past the others at her husband, and
5:58
Speaker 3: although she was smiling, I I saw that there were
6:00
Speaker 3: tears in her brown arrays. Beneath her polish and exquisite breeding.
6:05
Speaker 3: She was insecure and afraid. Late that night, after the party,
6:17
Speaker 3: I was thirsty, so I put on my robe and
6:19
Speaker 3: went quietly down the carpeted stairs. The big double door
6:22
Speaker 3: that led into the living room was closed, but I
6:25
Speaker 3: could see that a lamp was lit inside the room.
6:28
Speaker 3: And then as I passed by, I heard her. She
6:31
Speaker 3: was sobbing softly. I turned quickly to go back to
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Speaker 3: my room. I didn't want to be placed in the
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Speaker 3: embarrassing position of hearing something I shouldn't but before I'd
6:39
Speaker 3: gotten out of earshot, I heard her sobbing stop suddenly
6:42
Speaker 3: with a noise that sounded like the flat of her
6:43
Speaker 3: palm hand hitting hard against her cheek. Next morning, I
6:54
Speaker 3: was working with doctor Martin and loving every minute of it.
6:56
Speaker 3: We worked silently, swiftly, with no regard for anything outside
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Speaker 3: of the task immediately at hand, that is, save for
7:03
Speaker 3: one little thing. Doctor Martin seemed fascinated with a little
7:07
Speaker 3: vial of amble liquid, which he kept on a desk.
7:10
Speaker 3: Price He abandoned his work to walk over to the again,
7:13
Speaker 3: lift the glass container up to the window and study
7:16
Speaker 3: its contents, his lips forming a strange half smile.
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Speaker 1: Why, yes, yes, that's it, of course.
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Speaker 4: What I beg your pardon, Doctor Martin? Were you you
7:26
Speaker 4: speaking to me?
7:27
Speaker 1: No, no, Miss Blake, talking to myself. I expect my
7:31
Speaker 1: scientists frequently, do I understand?
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Speaker 4: Yes, I've heard, sir, my.
7:34
Speaker 1: Formula, Miss Blake. I just realized it's almost the color
7:38
Speaker 1: of her hair, isn't it, Lorna's. I mean, my wife
7:42
Speaker 1: is very pretty hair, don't you think?
7:43
Speaker 3: I think missus Martin is a beautiful woman in many ways?
7:47
Speaker 1: That's a rather generous opinion of forem in so short
7:49
Speaker 1: a time, isn't it? Do you always analyze people so
7:53
Speaker 1: quickly and so flatteringly?
7:55
Speaker 5: How about me?
7:56
Speaker 4: For instance?
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Speaker 3: I don't think you're being fair, doctor, But since you are,
8:00
Speaker 3: i'd say you're a man of great charm, and certainly
8:02
Speaker 3: a scientist of remarkable ability.
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Speaker 1: I should be pleased, I suppose. However, it sounds like generalities.
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Speaker 1: I think I'll have to see what I can do
8:13
Speaker 1: towards creating a more specific impression. Yes, a truly beautiful color,
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Speaker 1: isn't it.
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Speaker 4: I've never seen anything quite that shade of amber? What
8:25
Speaker 4: is it?
8:25
Speaker 1: Doctor, It's a mixture of my own. I'll let you
8:28
Speaker 1: in on it some day soon, But meanwhile, i'd advise
8:31
Speaker 1: you to keep clear of it. I think I could
8:33
Speaker 1: safely claim it to be the fastest acting poison in existence.
8:37
Speaker 1: A new experiment, doctor, the most exciting experiment to which
8:40
Speaker 1: a scientific mind can apply itself, and I have every
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Speaker 1: confidence that I'll be able to work it out to
8:45
Speaker 1: a successful conclusion.
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Speaker 4: Sounds challenging, challenging, doctor, I hope I'll be allowed to
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Speaker 4: work on it too.
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Speaker 1: I assure you, my dear miss Blake, I wouldn't attempt
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Speaker 1: this particular experiment.
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Speaker 3: Without you, Neither of us made mention of his poison again,
9:05
Speaker 3: and indeed it seemed that the doctor had quite forgotten it.
9:08
Speaker 3: We were both working hard on the completion of his
9:10
Speaker 3: current project. Lorna Martin worked with us part of the time.
9:13
Speaker 3: It was only then that I learned she had previously
9:15
Speaker 3: always assisted her husband with his work. It was in
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Speaker 3: fact Lorna who suggested the final step that led him
9:21
Speaker 3: quickly to the result he had.
9:22
Speaker 4: Been striving for.
9:24
Speaker 3: We worked from early morning until late at night, and
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Speaker 3: on the third day, towards midnight, the project was completed.
9:29
Speaker 3: We had a late supper, and after agassive liqueur, I
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Speaker 3: left the doctor and his wife and went to my room.
9:37
Speaker 1: Yes, I'm sorry, were you asleep?
9:41
Speaker 3: Oh no, Now, I was just sitting here relaxing. Doctor,
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Speaker 3: I'm still too excited to do any sleeping.
9:45
Speaker 1: Well, that's exactly how Lona and I found ourselves feeling.
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Speaker 1: So we decided to sit up and talk a bit
9:51
Speaker 1: over another glass of liqueur. We wonted if you join us.
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Speaker 1: After all, this has been a free way victory, Miss Blake.
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Speaker 1: We want you in on our triumphal toe.
10:00
Speaker 4: Now that's a generous thought.
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Speaker 3: I'm afraid I wasn't much more than a spectator, and
10:03
Speaker 3: this no, it's come along well. I am certainly eager
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Speaker 3: to talk with missus Martin. I had no idea she
10:08
Speaker 3: was an active colleague of yours and the laboratary.
10:10
Speaker 1: Oh. Yes, Lorna has been a tremendous hope to me
10:14
Speaker 1: in the past. I would say she's been quite indispensable.
10:18
Speaker 1: Lorna's brilliant mind amazed me from the first moment I
10:21
Speaker 1: met her. Here we are, Lona, my dear, Miss Blake
10:26
Speaker 1: and I were just having a most engrossing conversation wholly
10:29
Speaker 1: about you. It seems Miss Blake has been greatly impressed
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Speaker 1: by the work you've done on this idea of mine.
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Speaker 3: Oh, doctor Martin, you're making it sound as if I
10:37
Speaker 3: had minimized your own work.
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Speaker 1: I didn't mean, of course you didn't. I do understand,
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Speaker 1: and you needn't make apologies in my direction for your
10:44
Speaker 1: appreciation of my wife's talents. Here now it occurred for you,
10:48
Speaker 1: Miss Blake, same as earlier. Please, hey, you are thank you,
10:53
Speaker 1: Lona dear. How about you? Your glass can stand a
10:56
Speaker 1: little replenishing, I should imagine, and let me see, No,
11:03
Speaker 1: why you still have something that you haven't even touched.
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Speaker 3: In a few seconds that had passed since doctor Martin
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Speaker 3: and I had entered the room, three distinctly sharp and
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Speaker 3: clear thoughts had crossed my mind in sudden, quick succession,
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Speaker 3: and each of them struck at my inside as like
11:16
Speaker 3: the painful puncture of a.
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Speaker 4: Thin, sharp blind.
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Speaker 3: One that doctor Martin professionally was insanely jealous of his wife.
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Speaker 4: Two that it was totally unlike Lorna Martin not to
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Speaker 4: speak to us as we entered the room.
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Speaker 3: And three that doctor Martin had just gone over to
11:31
Speaker 3: his wife to make absolutely certain that she was dead.
11:45
Speaker 1: Auto Ida is bringing you, miss John Bennett, in statement
11:48
Speaker 1: of Mary Blake Tonight's production in Radio's outstanding Theater of
11:52
Speaker 1: Thrills Suspense, Say.
12:01
Speaker 2: Harlow, can I get a pair of those auto light
12:03
Speaker 2: stay full battery suspenders?
12:05
Speaker 1: Ah, there's a catch to these suspenders. Of course, wouldn't
12:09
Speaker 1: be suspenders without a catch. Well, to get a pair
12:12
Speaker 1: of these, you'll have to rave about that special feature
12:15
Speaker 1: of the auto light stay full battery, the fiberglass retaining
12:18
Speaker 1: math that protects every positive plate to keep the power
12:20
Speaker 1: producing material in place for longer life. Seventy percent longer
12:24
Speaker 1: life in fact than batteries without stay full features, and
12:27
Speaker 1: this is proven in recent tests based on SAE life
12:30
Speaker 1: cycle standards.
12:31
Speaker 2: Doesn't anyone but you have a pair of those wonderful,
12:33
Speaker 2: wonderful suspenders.
12:35
Speaker 1: No, No, these suspenders were made for me by a
12:38
Speaker 1: happy car owner who recently bought an auto light stay
12:40
Speaker 1: full battery, the battery that needs water only three times
12:43
Speaker 1: a year in normal car use. Said he couldn't thank
12:46
Speaker 1: me enough for telling him about it. So friends, see
12:48
Speaker 1: your auto light battery dearer tomorrow, and remember you're always
12:51
Speaker 1: right with auto light. And now auto light brings back
12:55
Speaker 1: to our Hollywood downstage, our star, Miss Joan Bennett in
12:59
Speaker 1: state of Mary Blake, a tale well calculated to keep
13:03
Speaker 1: you in suspend.
13:09
Speaker 4: I stood there, unable to speak. Doctor Martin looked at me.
13:12
Speaker 3: He was amused, amused at my reaction to his wife's murder.
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Speaker 1: I rather think I could read your mind quite accurately
13:21
Speaker 1: at this moment, Miss Blake. Why why, why? Why does
13:26
Speaker 1: one do anything? What motivates any action of man? There
13:30
Speaker 1: is a need, a desire I want behind every action.
13:35
Speaker 1: I wanted to kill my wife. It's as simple as that.
13:40
Speaker 4: The poise.
13:42
Speaker 1: Yes, come into the laboratory. The poison. We'll look for it.
13:52
Speaker 3: It isn't on your desk. You did kill her with it,
13:54
Speaker 3: but I don't see it. And why have you made
13:57
Speaker 3: it a point to have a witness? I remember now
14:00
Speaker 3: you talked of this as an experiment. You told me
14:02
Speaker 3: I would work with you on it.
14:03
Speaker 1: Just what what shance, my dear girl, patience?
14:07
Speaker 4: What is the next step? Doctor? To call whom the
14:09
Speaker 4: police and tell them?
14:10
Speaker 1: What? When one discovers that one's wife has been murdered,
14:13
Speaker 1: one naturally calls in the authorities. Oh, yes, Surjon, I
14:17
Speaker 1: listened carefully. Please, this is doctor Gregory Martin. My address
14:22
Speaker 1: is one two four four eight Pilgrim Drive. Would you
14:25
Speaker 1: send some men over immediately, please? My wife has just
14:28
Speaker 1: been murdered.
14:34
Speaker 3: The complete realization of what he had done seemed to
14:36
Speaker 3: count upon me all at once. A sudden, delayed shock
14:39
Speaker 3: had hit me with the impact of a hammer blow.
14:42
Speaker 3: I looked at him, and he seemed a total stranger,
14:44
Speaker 3: hermeniac whose next move I could not predict him?
14:47
Speaker 4: Who was laughing?
14:48
Speaker 3: And while he laughed, I reached desperately behind me, disposing
14:51
Speaker 3: my things.
14:51
Speaker 4: Up tightly round the glass container.
14:53
Speaker 3: I felt them, and I prayed that it contained something
14:55
Speaker 3: that would serve as an effective weapon against the murderers.
14:58
Speaker 4: With one quick movement, I shall the coil in his
15:00
Speaker 4: laughing faces, and.
15:04
Speaker 3: I watched it eat away his skin like a sheet
15:07
Speaker 3: of tissue paper and a soaring place. When the police arrived,
15:21
Speaker 3: they found Lorna Martin, see her direct and beautiful in
15:24
Speaker 3: the chair in the sitting room, while her husband writhed
15:26
Speaker 3: in pain on the floor of his laboratory. I was
15:29
Speaker 3: at doctor Martin's desk, they said. I remember lifting my
15:33
Speaker 3: eyes to follow mutely the movements of the men who
15:35
Speaker 3: streamed into the room through the door. I could see
15:38
Speaker 3: them bending over the body of Lorna Martins, and I
15:41
Speaker 3: washed with a strange, detached curiosity as two in turns
15:45
Speaker 3: administered temporary treatment to doctor Martin's injuries. Then they took
15:49
Speaker 3: us away, the three of us. I don't remember much
15:53
Speaker 3: about it.
16:02
Speaker 6: Do you want to talk now? Come now, miss Blake.
16:06
Speaker 6: We realize that you've been under a great strain. We
16:09
Speaker 6: want to find out exactly what happened, and we must
16:11
Speaker 6: know exactly what part you played.
16:14
Speaker 2: You know, in view of what has.
16:15
Speaker 6: Happened to doctor Martin and his wife, a man so
16:17
Speaker 6: revered and well known. We will be subjected to a
16:20
Speaker 6: great deal of pressure to bring someone to justice for
16:22
Speaker 6: this thing.
16:23
Speaker 4: Justice, hearken, Lorna Martin, never know justice.
16:26
Speaker 1: Let's hear your story, miss Blake.
16:28
Speaker 2: From the beginning.
16:29
Speaker 6: There were three people alone in that house when this happened,
16:31
Speaker 6: and of them only you were able to speak.
16:33
Speaker 1: Now, let's hear what you have to say. How about it?
16:41
Speaker 6: All right?
16:42
Speaker 2: You'll talk on the stand.
16:53
Speaker 1: Well, the witness, Please take the time just where to
16:55
Speaker 1: tell the truth, the whole truth.
16:56
Speaker 4: Nothing about the.
16:57
Speaker 1: Truth awk to God was like a dreams too.
17:00
Speaker 4: The setting now is a court of justice.
17:02
Speaker 3: And I sat numbly among strange faces and gesturing hands
17:05
Speaker 3: and questions. I can hear where it's tumbling, Friez.
17:13
Speaker 7: Doctor Martin has been my close friend and associate for
17:16
Speaker 7: over a dozen years. His fine character cannot be questioned.
17:20
Speaker 7: He and his wife were an unusually devoted couple. This
17:23
Speaker 7: thing that has happened is shocking.
17:26
Speaker 1: You're a visitor in the Martin home for many years,
17:29
Speaker 1: Doctor lee is, can you relate to the court an
17:31
Speaker 1: he seens you witness in the Martin household, which might
17:34
Speaker 1: have an important bearing on this case.
17:36
Speaker 8: I tended a gathering at the Martin home on the
17:39
Speaker 8: very night that miss Blake first came there. She sat
17:42
Speaker 8: with us in the living room, and throughout the evening
17:44
Speaker 8: I was aware of her studying doctor Martin with a
17:47
Speaker 8: peculiar intensity.
17:49
Speaker 4: It was extremely.
17:52
Speaker 1: Medical examiner on this case, Will you please tell the
17:54
Speaker 1: court your findings which revealed the cause of Lorna Martin's death.
17:58
Speaker 9: Missus Martin was poisoned. The poison was in liquid form,
18:01
Speaker 9: taken internally. It was obviously expertly prepared by someone well
18:06
Speaker 9: acquainted with scientific formulas, someone who had access to an
18:09
Speaker 9: excellently equipped letter.
18:13
Speaker 1: Tell the court whose fingerprints were found on the liqueur
18:15
Speaker 1: glass from which Lorna Martin drank the poison that killed up.
18:18
Speaker 6: We found on the glass the prince of Missus Martin
18:22
Speaker 6: and those of Mary Blake, and no.
18:25
Speaker 1: Others, I said, no others. Did you discover any more
18:28
Speaker 1: the poison like that which was used to kill Missus Martin?
18:32
Speaker 6: There were several drops of it left in the glass
18:34
Speaker 6: from which Missus Martin drank. Later, during our investigational search
18:40
Speaker 6: of the entire house, more of the poison was found.
18:43
Speaker 6: And will you please tell the court where the remainder
18:45
Speaker 6: of that poison was found, Yes, sir, in a perfume
18:49
Speaker 6: bottle on the dressing table in the room of Mary Blake.
18:56
Speaker 3: The voices floated in an out and around the room.
18:59
Speaker 3: In Some of the words hit against the walls and
19:01
Speaker 3: echoed back of me. Then I rode on them to
19:03
Speaker 3: the front of the rum, and the voices were loud
19:05
Speaker 3: and strange, and my senses seemed blocked by them, and
19:07
Speaker 3: by a hand that pointed towards me in a face
19:10
Speaker 3: that swung down at me like an inflated comic balloon.
19:12
Speaker 4: I almost laughed, Perhaps I did.
19:15
Speaker 1: Can you, Mary Blake, in any way account for the
19:18
Speaker 1: fact that only missus Martins and your own fingerprints were
19:21
Speaker 1: found on the glasses of poison? Can you give the
19:24
Speaker 1: court any explanation for the perfume bottle containing the remainder
19:28
Speaker 1: of the poison being found in your role, Mary Blake,
19:33
Speaker 1: Can you in any way explain the testimony we have
19:36
Speaker 1: heard repeatedly during this trial of your unusually strong personal
19:40
Speaker 1: interest in doctor Martin.
19:44
Speaker 3: The words were strung like beads on a string, and
19:46
Speaker 3: wound round and round me until I help them. So
19:48
Speaker 3: tired it seemed couldn't breath. Then suddenly the voice that
19:51
Speaker 3: was strangling me with the words came through to me,
19:53
Speaker 3: clearer and louder than ever performed. And this time the
19:56
Speaker 3: words were built in a big stick, and it.
19:58
Speaker 1: Was carefully aimed and swung st The prosecution at this
20:02
Speaker 1: time is able to bring forth its most important witness.
20:05
Speaker 1: We ask, however, that you consideration be given him by
20:08
Speaker 1: all those present in this courtroom, as his condition is
20:11
Speaker 1: still very serious. He has suffered from extreme shock, and
20:15
Speaker 1: as a result of the injuries he recently sustained, he
20:18
Speaker 1: is and will forever remain totally blind. How clerk, will
20:22
Speaker 1: you please inform the nurse outside that you may now
20:24
Speaker 1: bring the doctor into the courtroom. The prosecution course to
20:27
Speaker 1: the stand doctor Gregory Martin.
20:31
Speaker 3: He came in seated in a wheelchair, his hands and
20:34
Speaker 3: almost all his face save an open slit across his mouth,
20:37
Speaker 3: squads in.
20:38
Speaker 4: Thick white bandages.
20:40
Speaker 3: There was something about seeing so handsome and powerful figure.
20:43
Speaker 4: So completely incapacitated.
20:45
Speaker 3: Involuntary gas escaped from my own lips, as well as
20:47
Speaker 3: from those of every person in the crowded courtroom, without
20:50
Speaker 3: a word being spoken. The prosecution had easily scored its
20:53
Speaker 3: most effective point, And after doctor Martin had finished his
20:56
Speaker 3: spoken testimony, the big stick of words came down upon
21:00
Speaker 3: me with full force.
21:04
Speaker 1: Mister foreman, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, how do
21:07
Speaker 1: you find the defendant?
21:09
Speaker 9: We find the defendant guilty as charge.
21:12
Speaker 3: Much then more words words, coming at me with final
21:18
Speaker 3: flattening blow, is.
21:20
Speaker 10: Caught hereby sentences you to the Women's State Penitentiary for
21:26
Speaker 10: a period of not less than ninety nine years.
21:42
Speaker 3: I found myself at the far end of a long curl,
21:46
Speaker 3: the length of it stretching before me in a winding pattern,
21:49
Speaker 3: the walls of it a thick and pregnable cement. There
21:52
Speaker 3: were no windows, save for a small opening high on
21:55
Speaker 3: the world am I right through this? A single shaft
21:59
Speaker 3: of light fell into a pattern which told me that
22:00
Speaker 3: there were iron bars on that one small window.
22:04
Speaker 4: At first, it seemed that I was alone in this place.
22:07
Speaker 3: I stood huddled and afraid, unable to move. Somehow I
22:12
Speaker 3: had the feeling that soon I would not be alone. Then, faintly,
22:16
Speaker 3: from out of the darkness ahead of me, I heard
22:19
Speaker 3: him coming, with slow, shuffling footsteps, the walk of a
22:26
Speaker 3: man who has not long been without his eyes. I
22:30
Speaker 3: saw his cane first, a slim thread of white in
22:33
Speaker 3: the blackness before me. I watched it tapping up and
22:37
Speaker 3: down in a nervous rism, tapping coming closer, closer. I
22:45
Speaker 3: felt the muscles in my throat tighten an effort to scream.
22:49
Speaker 4: But I made no sound at all, nor did I move.
22:52
Speaker 3: I just stood there and waited and watched him come
22:56
Speaker 3: towards me. Then in the next instant, his face caught
23:00
Speaker 3: in the shaft of light, and I saw him very clearly.
23:06
Speaker 4: Mary, Mary, and clan wake out. Come on, now, get
23:09
Speaker 4: hold before you round the whole block. I'm on now.
23:13
Speaker 4: We can't have this every night. How's that dream? I
23:17
Speaker 4: can't stop dreaming? It isn't Sarah, didn't Sarah.
23:19
Speaker 3: I don't belong here. I didn't do anything, but I'm here.
23:22
Speaker 3: He still won't leave me alone, not even there, your tea, Warden.
23:27
Speaker 4: That's the way it is every night. We can't fining this.
23:31
Speaker 1: We're releasing Mary Blake.
23:34
Speaker 4: What did you say?
23:36
Speaker 1: You're free, Miss Blake. The nightmare is over come with me,
23:39
Speaker 1: and I'll tell you what has happened, Miss Blake. The
23:58
Speaker 1: state has no way of returning these weeks of freedom
24:01
Speaker 1: it wrongly took from you, or of erasing the shock
24:04
Speaker 1: and heartbreak you've been forced to suffer. We can only
24:06
Speaker 1: hope that it is not too deeply embittered you hasn't
24:09
Speaker 1: totally destroyed your faith in the justice one customarily finds
24:13
Speaker 1: in our court rooms.
24:14
Speaker 3: There seems to be a limit to bitterness. Warden, I
24:17
Speaker 3: I find that what I feel now is not a
24:19
Speaker 3: release from injustice, but a release from fear. I know
24:23
Speaker 3: that he can never reach me again, even in my dreams.
24:27
Speaker 4: How can I be so sure of that?
24:29
Speaker 1: Well, it's another of the things that can't be accounted
24:31
Speaker 1: for rationally about this case. It leads one to wonder
24:35
Speaker 1: if some, oh some metaphysical force wasn't put to work
24:39
Speaker 1: in place of the erring machinery of justice, Miss Blake.
24:43
Speaker 1: When you blinded doctor Martin, you limited his vision to
24:45
Speaker 1: mental images, and over the period of time that has
24:48
Speaker 1: lapsed since the day received sentence, it seems the doctor's
24:52
Speaker 1: mind would not free him from one particular visual experience.
24:56
Speaker 1: He too, suffered from a recurring dream, which, due to
24:59
Speaker 1: his pairment, was inflicted upon his waking as well as
25:03
Speaker 1: sleeping hours.
25:04
Speaker 4: The dream did he describe it, Oh.
25:06
Speaker 1: He did. In the tail, it seemed that there was
25:09
Speaker 1: a slow groping steps. I entered a narrow corridor with
25:20
Speaker 1: my hands.
25:21
Speaker 11: I felt that the walls were of a thick, impregnable cement,
25:27
Speaker 11: and the tap of my cane produced an echo that
25:32
Speaker 11: told me the.
25:33
Speaker 1: Corridor was one of interminable winding links. I did not
25:38
Speaker 1: want to enter or walk through it, yet it seemed
25:41
Speaker 1: that I was forced to, and the walking walking seemed endless.
25:48
Speaker 1: I wanted to cry out, but could find no voice.
25:52
Speaker 1: I wanted to see a single light from a window
25:54
Speaker 1: or an open door, to know that there was somewhere
25:58
Speaker 1: an end of the blackness, but there was no light
26:04
Speaker 1: and no end. I wanted to turn back, but there
26:08
Speaker 1: was no turning back and no end to my walking.
26:14
Speaker 1: Although I had the feeling of being alone in this place,
26:18
Speaker 1: I knew that I was not alone, and never would be,
26:22
Speaker 1: And it was worse than being alone, For though I
26:26
Speaker 1: could not see her, and though she did not touch
26:29
Speaker 1: nor speak to me, I knew she was there and
26:33
Speaker 1: for me, she would always be there. Mary Blake, my accuser,
26:41
Speaker 1: for she is the innocent and I am the guilty.
26:49
Speaker 1: And for the innocent, there is always a freedom and for.
26:55
Speaker 5: The guilty there is never an escape.
27:25
Speaker 1: Suspense presented by Auto Light Tonight's star, Miss Joan Bennett. WELLO,
27:31
Speaker 1: I just ran out and bought Anto Light Stay full battery.
27:34
Speaker 1: Now do I get a pair of those wonderful suspenders?
27:37
Speaker 2: Well?
27:38
Speaker 1: Have you sway me?
27:39
Speaker 4: But let me sway.
27:40
Speaker 1: I mean say a word about the more than four
27:42
Speaker 1: hundred products made by Auto Light for cars, trucks, planes,
27:45
Speaker 1: and boats in twenty eight plants coast to coast. These
27:48
Speaker 1: include complete electrical systems used as original equipment on many
27:51
Speaker 1: makes of America's finest cars. Spark plugs, batteries, generators, coils, distributors,
27:56
Speaker 1: electric windshield wipers, starting motors, bulls, I see beam headlights,
28:01
Speaker 1: all engineered to fit together perfectly, work together perfectly because
28:05
Speaker 1: they're a perfect team. So friends, don't accept electrical parts
28:08
Speaker 1: supposed to be as good, ask for and insist on
28:11
Speaker 1: Auto Light original factory parts at your neighborhood service station,
28:14
Speaker 1: car dealer, garage, or repair shop. Remember, from bumper to
28:18
Speaker 1: tail light, you're always right with Auto Light. Next Thursday,
28:28
Speaker 1: for suspense, our star will be mister John Lund. The
28:31
Speaker 1: play is called The Man in the Room and it is,
28:34
Speaker 1: as we say, a tale well calculated to keep you
28:37
Speaker 1: in a spend. Tonight's suspense play was produced and edited
28:43
Speaker 1: by William Spear and directed by Norman MacDonald. Music for
28:47
Speaker 1: Suspense is composed by Lucian Morowicke and conducted by Lud Bluskin.
28:51
Speaker 1: Statement of Mary Blake is an original play written for
28:53
Speaker 1: radio by Shirley Gordon. Miss John Bennett will soon be
28:57
Speaker 1: seen in the MGM production Father of the Bride. In
29:00
Speaker 1: the coming weeks, you will hear such stars as Claire
29:02
Speaker 1: Trevor and Charles Boyer. Don't forget. Next Thursday, same time,
29:06
Speaker 1: auto Light will present Suspense starring John Lundon.
29:16
Speaker 3: You can buy auto Light stainful batteries, autolight resistor or
29:19
Speaker 3: regular spark plugs, Autolite electrical parts at your neighborhood.
29:22
Speaker 4: Autolight dealers switch to autolight goodnight.
29:25
Speaker 1: This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System