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Inner Sanctum Mysteries - "The Murder Prophet" (Old Time Radio, 1945) · The 50 Greatest Old Time Radio Shows | Old Time Radio

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: On a stormy night, Claudia Dale stops beside a cemetery
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: and gives a ride to a solitary hitchhiker. He appears
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: to know intimate details of her life and brings disturbing
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: news about her husband before she reaches home. As Claudia
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: tries to learn whether she has met a genuine prophet
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: or someone connected with a crime, suspicion follows her from.
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: The road to her own door.
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: This is Inner Sanctum Mysteries, episode 235, The Murder Prophet,
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: first broadcast on the CBS network September 4th, 1945. Wendy
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: Barry stars as Claudia Dale. Hyman Brown produced and directed
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: with Paul McGrath as host.
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: And now, the original broadcast.
• 1:00
  Speaker 3: Lipton Tea and Lipton Soup present Inner Sanctum Mysteries, starring
• 1:06
  Speaker 3: Wendy Barry. Good evening, friends of the Inner Sanctum. This
• 1:24
  Speaker 3: is your host to welcome you through the squeaking door.
• 1:28
  Speaker 3: into a gay little world of homicidal maniacs, vampires, ghosts, werewolves,
• 1:34
  Speaker 3: and assorted forms of sudden and gory death. Friends, if
• 1:41
  Speaker 3: you ever walk through a cemetery at midnight and see
• 1:44
  Speaker 3: a girl whose hair is on fire, who's carrying her
• 1:47
  Speaker 3: head under her arm, you know what.
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: To tell her, don't you?
• 1:49
  Speaker 4: Just say... Keep a cool head on your shoulders, Toots.
• 1:55
  Speaker 4: And run like crazy.
• 1:57
  Speaker 5: I suppose you think that kind of advice will help her.
• 1:59
  Speaker 4: Why, of course, Mary. What else could you say to
• 2:01
  Speaker 4: a girl whose hair is on fire?
• 2:03
  Speaker 5: Wait.
• 2:04
  Speaker 4: I know what you'd tell her.
• 2:05
  Speaker 3: You'd say, My dear, why don't you cool off with
• 2:09
  Speaker 3: a glass of Lipton's Iced Tea?
• 2:13
  Speaker 6: I declare, you sure think of Lipton's at the strangest times.
• 2:17
  Speaker 6: But you know, folks, come to think about it, this
• 2:19
  Speaker 6: is a strange time of year. The days are hot,
• 2:23
  Speaker 6: and yet the nights are apt to be a bit chilly. Yes,
• 2:26
  Speaker 6: this is the time when people keep cool with a
• 2:28
  Speaker 6: refreshing pitcher of Lipton's iced tea while the sun's on
• 2:31
  Speaker 6: the rampage, and then later, after sundown, a hot cup
• 2:35
  Speaker 6: of Lipton's seems to taste just right. And do you
• 2:38
  Speaker 6: know the reason why Lipton's hot or iced is always
• 2:41
  Speaker 6: so welcome and satisfying? Well, it's because Lipton's has that
• 2:45
  Speaker 6: famous brisk flavor. That word brisk, B-R-I-S-K, means that Lipton
• 2:52
  Speaker 6: tea tastes fresh and full-bodied.
• 2:55
  Speaker 5: It's never flat or wishy-washy. That's right, folks.
• 2:59
  Speaker 6: You just don't know how good tea can be till
• 3:01
  Speaker 6: you've tried Lipton's.
• 3:03
  Speaker 3: And now, friends, get ready to try a new kind
• 3:06
  Speaker 3: of inner sanctum story.
• 3:08
  Speaker 4: It's called The Murder Prophet.
• 3:11
  Speaker 3: And it's an original radio play by Milton Lewis, who
• 3:14
  Speaker 3: copied it from a tombstone. Yes, and our star tonight
• 3:19
  Speaker 3: is that glamorous Hollywood movie star, Wendy Barry, who plays
• 3:23
  Speaker 3: the role of Claudia Dale.
• 3:27
  Speaker 4: All right. Clear the floor and give your flesh room
• 3:31
  Speaker 4: to creep.
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: Ready?
• 3:34
  Speaker 4: Well, let's hear Claudia tell us the story in her
• 3:36
  Speaker 4: own words.
• 3:43
  Speaker 5: At exactly midnight, I saw him for the first time.
• 3:47
  Speaker 5: My headlights picked him up when he hailed me along
• 3:49
  Speaker 5: a lonely stretch of road near my home. I wouldn't
• 3:52
  Speaker 5: have stopped. The storm was so fierce. I felt sorry
• 3:57
  Speaker 5: for him. I drew up to the side of the road.
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: Thank you.
• 4:04
  Speaker 5: Going far?
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: No, not far. Where to? I'll let you know.
• 4:13
  Speaker 5: What's that?
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: Where?
• 4:14
  Speaker 5: There on the side.
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: Tombstone.
• 4:17
  Speaker 5: Oh. There's a cemetery where I picked you up.
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: Yes, Birch Lawn. Cigarette?
• 4:22
  Speaker 6: No, thank you.
• 4:23
  Speaker 4: I don't smoke.
• 4:23
  Speaker 5: You said nothing for a few minutes. In the reflection
• 4:38
  Speaker 5: of the dashboard light, I saw his face for the
• 4:41
  Speaker 5: first time. Sunken eyes. Hollow cheeks. Mouth set in a
• 4:47
  Speaker 5: queer grin. A skull. Barely covered with a thin layer
• 4:53
  Speaker 5: of milk-white flesh. With a start, I realized he was
• 4:57
  Speaker 5: staring at me.
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: I've seen you before.
• 4:59
  Speaker 5: Oh, I don't think we've met.
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: No, I know you.
• 5:02
  Speaker 5: Are you sure? Yes.
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: But never forget someone so beautiful.
• 5:06
  Speaker 5: Oh, really?
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: You're Claudia Dale.
• 5:09
  Speaker 5: Why, yes.
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: You're married to Howard Dale. That's right.
• 5:14
  Speaker 5: But I don't seem to place you.
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: No, you wouldn't. I know quite a lot about you.
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: Do you really? Your first husband was Willard Banks.
• 5:23
  Speaker 5: How did you know that?
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: He died eight years ago, a suicide.
• 5:27
  Speaker 6: Who are you?
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: You don't know me. Be careful, you're speeding.
• 5:31
  Speaker 5: I'm sorry, I didn't realize.
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: You're trembling.
• 5:35
  Speaker 5: How do you know so much about me?
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: I just know.
• 5:37
  Speaker 5: Oh, really? I suppose you have second sight or some
• 5:40
  Speaker 5: such rubbish.
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: It is not rubbish.
• 5:42
  Speaker 5: Then tell me where I'm coming from.
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: Fitzfield.
• 5:46
  Speaker 5: You guessed.
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: You went there to visit a sick friend, Martha Walston.
• 5:49
  Speaker 5: But you couldn't guess that.
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: You're going too fast. You're losing control.
• 5:53
  Speaker 5: No, I'm not. I'm quite all right. I can go
• 5:56
  Speaker 5: fast if I choose to. I shall go as fast
• 5:58
  Speaker 5: as I wish.
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: Would you care to know more of yourself? No.
• 6:03
  Speaker 5: No, I do not find your little trick particularly amusing. Besides, I...
• 6:09
  Speaker 5: What else do you think you can tell me about myself?
• 6:11
  Speaker 5: Your future. Nonsense.
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: Your husband is dead.
• 6:14
  Speaker 5: How?
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: Murdered.
• 6:16
  Speaker 3: Oh, you're lying.
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: You'll find his body on the floor near the piano
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: of your living room when you get home. There are
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: two bullets in his head.
• 6:22
  Speaker 5: Get out of here. Get out of this car.
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: Get out, you hear me?
• 6:26
  Speaker 5: Get out!
• 6:27
  Speaker 4: Very well.
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: It happens that this is where I wish to go.
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: Good night and thank you, Mrs.
• 6:33
  Speaker 5: Dale. He vanished into the shadows on the side of
• 6:41
  Speaker 5: the road. And then I noticed something white and shining
• 6:44
  Speaker 5: queerly in the spot where he disappeared.
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: I looked closely.
• 6:57
  Speaker 5: I raced madly for home, fighting the hysteria that seized me.
• 7:01
  Speaker 5: The nightlight was burning in the living room. It couldn't
• 7:03
  Speaker 5: be true. Howard would take me in his arms and
• 7:05
  Speaker 5: kiss me when I stepped into the house. I rang
• 7:08
  Speaker 5: the bell. No answer. Somehow I managed to get the
• 7:15
  Speaker 5: key in the lock. I ran into the living room.
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: Howard! Don't move.
• 7:21
  Speaker 5: Who is it?
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: Right behind you. I've got a gun.
• 7:22
  Speaker 5: Oh, a gun.
• 7:24
  Speaker 4: You're whipping the body. Who are you?
• 7:26
  Speaker 5: Turn around.
• 7:27
  Speaker 6: You murdered him.
• 7:28
  Speaker 4: Keep quiet.
• 7:28
  Speaker 5: Don't come near me.
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: Sit down.
• 7:29
  Speaker 5: Don't touch me.
• 7:30
  Speaker 4: I said sit down.
• 7:31
  Speaker 6: Please.
• 7:34
  Speaker 7: Sorry I had to slap you. You were losing control.
• 7:38
  Speaker 7: You don't have to scream for the police.
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: Here's my badge. You. Detective Sergeant Quinn. Homicide.
• 7:45
  Speaker 5: I thought you were.
• 7:48
  Speaker 4: Yes, I know.
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: Drink this.
• 7:51
  Speaker 5: Thanks.
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: Feel better? Yeah, much. Who is he?
• 7:58
  Speaker 5: My husband.
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: Sure? Positive.
• 8:02
  Speaker 5: When was he killed?
• 8:04
  Speaker 7: About 20 hours ago. Before yesterday morning.
• 8:07
  Speaker 5: How do you know?
• 8:09
  Speaker 7: One of the bullets went wild, hit that clock on
• 8:11
  Speaker 7: the mantel. Where were you yesterday morning?
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: Pittsfield.
• 8:16
  Speaker 5: I stayed with a sick friend, Martha Wallstone.
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: Yeah, look at these things. I took them out of
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: his pocket. They all his?
• 8:26
  Speaker 5: Yes. Where... where's the snake ring?
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: There were no rings.
• 8:31
  Speaker 5: But he had one. It was quite valuable. He was
• 8:35
  Speaker 5: never without it. I gave it to him.
• 8:37
  Speaker 4: All right, now look.
• 8:38
  Speaker 7: Did he wear it on the third finger of his
• 8:40
  Speaker 7: left hand?
• 8:41
  Speaker 5: Yes.
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: There's a mark, but no ring.
• 8:45
  Speaker 5: When did you come here?
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: I drove in behind you. You left the front door open.
• 8:50
  Speaker 5: I think I know who killed him.
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: Who?
• 8:52
  Speaker 5: A man I met on the road coming here. He
• 8:55
  Speaker 5: knew my husband had been murdered.
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: He did, huh?
• 8:57
  Speaker 5: He even said his body would be near the piano.
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: When did you see this guy?
• 9:01
  Speaker 5: Oh, ten, twenty minutes ago. Picked him up on the road.
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: Where?
• 9:05
  Speaker 5: At Birch Lawn Cemetery.
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: Where'd you drop him?
• 9:08
  Speaker 5: At another cemetery near here.
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: He.
• 9:11
  Speaker 5: He seemed to walk behind one of the tombstones. Oh.
• 9:15
  Speaker 5: I know it sounds mad. But it happened just as
• 9:19
  Speaker 5: I said.
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: What's his name?
• 9:20
  Speaker 5: I don't know. But he looked like... Like a human cadaver.
• 9:27
  Speaker 5: Like a man who's dead and.
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: You don't believe me. Why'd you kill your husband?
• 9:34
  Speaker 5: What? What are you saying?
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: You heard me.
• 9:38
  Speaker 5: I told you I was in Pittsfield.
• 9:39
  Speaker 4: Why'd you go there?
• 9:40
  Speaker 5: Martha was ill.
• 9:41
  Speaker 7: Were you there at four yesterday morning?
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: Of course.
• 9:43
  Speaker 5: Stop shouting at me. I told you who killed him.
• 9:46
  Speaker 5: What are you trying to do to me? Isn't it
• 9:48
  Speaker 5: enough to come home and find Howard like that without
• 9:50
  Speaker 5: you trying to... Oh, in heaven's name, leave me alone.
• 9:55
  Speaker 5: Leave me alone!
• 10:08
  Speaker 4: Not a scotch, lady?
• 10:09
  Speaker 5: No.
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: No, thanks.
• 10:11
  Speaker 5: Here, keep the change. I'm leaving.
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: Sit down, Mrs. Dale. Don't go yet.
• 10:17
  Speaker 5: Ew.
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: Yes. Won't you please sit down?
• 10:20
  Speaker 5: Yes.
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: Didn't expect to find you here. Nor I you. Are
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: they making it difficult?
• 10:28
  Speaker 5: It's a nightmare.
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: You told them about me?
• 10:32
  Speaker 5: Yes.
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: You shouldn't have. They wouldn't understand.
• 10:37
  Speaker 5: Did you kill him?
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: Would you care for another drink, Mrs. Dale?
• 10:40
  Speaker 5: No.
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: Who are you? I'll tell you later.
• 10:44
  Speaker 5: Why'd you come here?
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: To talk to you. I knew I'd find you here.
• 10:49
  Speaker 5: Yes, yes, you knew.
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: You're not so skeptical now.
• 10:54
  Speaker 5: No. What did you want to tell me?
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: That you are the most beautiful woman I have ever
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: seen and that I love you. I've loved you since
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: I first saw you seven years ago when you came
• 11:07
  Speaker 2: here to live with your husband.
• 11:09
  Speaker 5: Is that why you.
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: Why I killed him? Is that what you meant to say?
• 11:13
  Speaker 5: Yes. I....
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: I'm not an ordinary man, Mrs. Dale, but I'm not
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: a fool. Now, on this card, you'll find my name, address,
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: and telephone.
• 11:24
  Speaker 5: Do you really believe I'd phone you?
• 11:27
  Speaker 4: Yes.
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: There will come a time when you shall want love.
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: Good night, Mrs. Dale.
• 11:33
  Speaker 5: Good night.
• 11:47
  Speaker 4: Hello?
• 11:48
  Speaker 5: Operator, get me police headquarters and hurry, please.
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: Yes?
• 12:02
  Speaker 5: That's him, Detective Quinn. That's Garth Dragman.
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: Thank you, Mrs.
• 12:05
  Speaker 5: Dale.
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: Do you mind coming down to headquarters, Mr. Dragman? Not
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: at all. Did she tell you that I murdered her husband? Yes.
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: I thought she would. I'm not angry, Mrs. Dale, and
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: what I told you earlier this evening still goes. I'll
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: come along right now, Mr. Quinn.
• 12:25
  Speaker 5: I didn't sleep a wink that night. Twice I got
• 12:28
  Speaker 5: out of bed and drove to police headquarters. The lights
• 12:32
  Speaker 5: were blazing in Quinn's office. I went in the third time.
• 12:36
  Speaker 5: I couldn't bear waiting. Oh, Mrs.
• 12:39
  Speaker 8: Dale.
• 12:39
  Speaker 5: Well?
• 12:40
  Speaker 7: Glad you stopped by. Checked everything Dragman said. Seemed he
• 12:46
  Speaker 7: was in the same bar and grill where you met
• 12:47
  Speaker 7: him tonight when your husband was killed.
• 12:49
  Speaker 5: You believed him?
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: Naturally.
• 12:51
  Speaker 7: Bartender and several regular customers backed up a story. Seems
• 12:55
  Speaker 7: they all left together after the place was closed to
• 12:56
  Speaker 7: play poker.
• 12:57
  Speaker 5: Well, what about the things he said to me in
• 12:58
  Speaker 5: the car? How could he know about the murder before
• 13:00
  Speaker 5: you or I?
• 13:01
  Speaker 7: That I don't know. Perhaps he does have second sight.
• 13:06
  Speaker 7: Out-looking fellow, isn't he? Can't arrest a man for murder
• 13:09
  Speaker 7: because of that.
• 13:09
  Speaker 5: He's criminally insane, I tell you. I know he is.
• 13:12
  Speaker 5: My dear Mrs. Dale.
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: What's the use?
• 13:19
  Speaker 5: I loved Howard. I loved him to the point of insanity. Otherwise,
• 13:24
  Speaker 5: there was no accounting for the things I did when
• 13:26
  Speaker 5: I left police headquarters. I was determined to find the
• 13:30
  Speaker 5: man who murdered my husband. It was towards dawn when
• 13:34
  Speaker 5: I made up my mind what to do. I went
• 13:37
  Speaker 5: to Garth Dragman's home. I was about to ring the
• 13:40
  Speaker 5: doorbell when.
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: Don't ring, Mrs.
• 13:42
  Speaker 5: Dale.
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: The door is open. Come in.
• 13:46
  Speaker 5: You were expecting me?
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: Yes, I was expecting you. Do you still think that
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: I killed him?
• 13:53
  Speaker 5: I don't know what to think anymore.
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: Do you want me to find the person who murdered him?
• 13:59
  Speaker 5: Yes, more than anything in the whole world.
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: See, I have strange gifts, Mrs. Dale. And I do
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: believe I understand the mind of a criminal. That mad
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: impulse to crime, that strange, twisted desire to take a
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: living being, a creature of arrogance and power, and make
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: it a corroding, lifeless mass of flesh fit for worms.
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: You're shocked? Crime is a shocking, evil thing. And only
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: a man with a brain of a genius can succeed
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: at it. And only a man with a greater brain
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: can trap a successful criminal. I'll find your murderer for you, Mrs.
• 14:38
  Speaker 5: Dale.
• 14:40
  Speaker 2: On one condition.
• 14:41
  Speaker 5: What's that?
• 14:42
  Speaker 4: That you marry me.
• 14:45
  Speaker 5: I felt my body.
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: Turn to ice.
• 14:48
  Speaker 5: I knew I was talking to a madman. I was
• 14:51
  Speaker 5: sure I was talking to the man who'd murdered my husband.
• 15:02
  Speaker 4: Oh, shucks. It's not so hard to predict a murder.
• 15:05
  Speaker 4: I can do it. It's easy.
• 15:08
  Speaker 3: I predict that there'll be at least one murder every
• 15:11
  Speaker 3: week on Inner Sanctum.
• 15:12
  Speaker 5: Good gracious, yes. You might say it's worth a character's
• 15:17
  Speaker 5: life to appear on this program.
• 15:19
  Speaker 3: Oh, don't feel sorry for them, Mary. Don't forget they
• 15:21
  Speaker 3: can always make a comeback as a ghost on next
• 15:24
  Speaker 3: week's show. In fact, I predict that Claudia's husband will
• 15:27
  Speaker 3: be around one of these Tuesdays.
• 15:28
  Speaker 6: All right, now it's my turn to make a prediction.
• 15:31
  Speaker 6: And I predict that during the coming fall and winter,
• 15:34
  Speaker 6: more people will drink Lipton tea than any other brand.
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: Oh, you said that last year.
• 15:39
  Speaker 6: Yes, and it came true then just as it will now.
• 15:42
  Speaker 6: Folks just naturally seem to prefer Lipton's. If you'd ask
• 15:45
  Speaker 6: a tea expert to explain this preference, he'd say it's
• 15:48
  Speaker 6: because Lipton's has a brisk flavor. You see, that word brisk, B-R-I-S-K,
• 15:54
  Speaker 6: is a technical word. Brisk means that Lipton tea always
• 15:57
  Speaker 6: tastes fresh and tangy. Yes, full-bodied and vigorous, never flat
• 16:02
  Speaker 6: or insipid. So, folks, even if you're not a regular
• 16:06
  Speaker 6: tea drinker, you should try Lipton's. That brisk flavor makes
• 16:09
  Speaker 6: all the difference.
• 16:10
  Speaker 5: In the world.
• 16:12
  Speaker 4: All right.
• 16:13
  Speaker 3: Let's get back to the other world now. The world
• 16:16
  Speaker 3: of creeping, crawling horrors. I'll bet you think that Garth
• 16:21
  Speaker 3: Dragman can't really foretell murders. Or do you think that
• 16:25
  Speaker 3: Claudia doesn't have the courage to trap this homicidal Romeo?
• 16:28
  Speaker 3: Or is he the killer? We'll let our star, Wendy Barry,
• 16:33
  Speaker 3: and the role of Claudia tell you.
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: Go ahead, Claudia.
• 16:37
  Speaker 4: Shock him into the shakes.
• 16:40
  Speaker 5: Two weeks later, I married Garth Dragman. He was the
• 16:44
  Speaker 5: strangest man I ever knew. He would disappear for days
• 16:48
  Speaker 5: at a time and then suddenly turn up without warning.
• 16:53
  Speaker 5: He had all the money he wanted, yet I never
• 16:56
  Speaker 5: knew where.
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: It came from.
• 16:57
  Speaker 5: There was a closet in his room which was always
• 17:01
  Speaker 5: kept locked and bolted. I knew from the way he
• 17:04
  Speaker 5: acted about it that the closet contained the answer to
• 17:07
  Speaker 5: all the things I wanted to know about him. One
• 17:10
  Speaker 5: night while he was away, I obtained tools and tried
• 17:13
  Speaker 5: to force the lock.
• 17:16
  Speaker 4: Good evening, Claudia.
• 17:17
  Speaker 5: Oh, God.
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: You didn't expect me back, did you?
• 17:19
  Speaker 5: No, I.
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: I knew you'd try to open that closet someday.
• 17:23
  Speaker 5: Why do you keep it locked?
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: So that no one but myself shall know what's in there.
• 17:27
  Speaker 5: Not even I?
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: You in particular. But, God, I.
• 17:33
  Speaker 2: You'll not attempt to open it again, will you, Claudia? No.
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: Forgive me for striking you, I... Not quite myself tonight.
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: I sometimes do things I regret when these moods come
• 17:45
  Speaker 2: upon me.
• 17:46
  Speaker 5: He sat down. He seemed terribly exhausted, completely spent. But
• 17:52
  Speaker 5: there was a strange, wild light in his eyes. He
• 17:57
  Speaker 5: seemed like a man intoxicated with some strange drug that
• 18:00
  Speaker 5: few men know.
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: The taste of. You do forgive me, don't you, Claudia?
• 18:03
  Speaker 5: Yes, yes, of course.
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: See, it's something that few people know, Claudia, but a
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: person who has... Extraordinary powers carries an extraordinary burden.
• 18:12
  Speaker 5: You mean your gift of prophecy?
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: Yes, I didn't want to mention it. It seems to
• 18:17
  Speaker 2: upset you so.
• 18:18
  Speaker 5: It doesn't frighten me any longer.
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: Did you read in the newspaper about a woman's body
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: being found in the river? She'd been murdered, garroted.
• 18:25
  Speaker 5: Yes, it was in this evening's paper. They don't know
• 18:28
  Speaker 5: who she is.
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: I can tell you who she is. Josephine Ford. The
• 18:32
  Speaker 2: stupid girl, Claudia. I could have told you that she'd
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: been murdered three days ago.
• 18:38
  Speaker 5: How do you know these things?
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: Because I see them. A sort of vision. Now I'm
• 18:44
  Speaker 2: seeing another vision. It's a house, 346 Harbor Street. Near
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: the waterfront, a young woman lies in bed reading. She's
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: very attractive. In an hour, she'll be dead. When the
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: police come, they'll find her body decapitated. The criminal did
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: this to destroy her identity.
• 19:07
  Speaker 5: But who is the criminal?
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: What difference does it make? He'll never be caught.
• 19:16
  Speaker 5: Garth, while you were gone, Martha Wollstone telephoned. She's ill again.
• 19:21
  Speaker 5: She asked me to come up immediately.
• 19:24
  Speaker 2: Why didn't you go?
• 19:25
  Speaker 5: I was waiting for you to get home before I left.
• 19:27
  Speaker 2: You want to leave immediately?
• 19:29
  Speaker 5: If you don't mind. It's really an emergency.
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: You may go, Claudia. I shall go to sleep. I'm
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: extremely tired.
• 19:43
  Speaker 5: It took only a few minutes to get to the waterfront.
• 19:46
  Speaker 5: I found the house at 346 Harbor Street. I went in.
• 19:50
  Speaker 5: The lamp in the bedroom was burning. I looked at
• 19:54
  Speaker 5: the bed. I fainted.
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: Hey, Mrs.
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: Dale. Think you can sit up now?
• 20:03
  Speaker 5: Detective Quinn.
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: Yes. Hardly expected to find you here.
• 20:08
  Speaker 5: I came because Garth Dragman predicted this would happen.
• 20:11
  Speaker 2: Mrs. Dale.
• 20:12
  Speaker 5: You still don't believe me?
• 20:15
  Speaker 7: I'm a strange woman, all right. You accused this man
• 20:17
  Speaker 7: of killing your husband, and then you married him. I
• 20:20
  Speaker 7: suppose you're going to accuse him of this.
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: Murder, too.
• 20:22
  Speaker 5: Yes. This and heaven only knows how many others. Mrs.
• 20:24
  Speaker 7: Dale, do you realize that you haven't got a single
• 20:27
  Speaker 7: piece of evidence to back up your contention?
• 20:29
  Speaker 5: I'll get the evidence tonight. Will you let me have
• 20:31
  Speaker 5: a gun?
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: No.
• 20:31
  Speaker 5: Will you be near my house? I need protection.
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: No, after all.
• 20:34
  Speaker 5: What must I do to convince you what he is?
• 20:37
  Speaker 5: I've risked my own life. I'm willing to risk it again.
• 20:39
  Speaker 5: He's a monster. You've got to wait until he murders
• 20:42
  Speaker 5: me before you believe what I say.
• 20:43
  Speaker 4: All right.
• 20:45
  Speaker 7: I'll give it a try. I'll come back to your
• 20:47
  Speaker 7: house with you. If you want me for an emergency,
• 20:50
  Speaker 7: smash the window pane.
• 20:53
  Speaker 5: We drove back together. I dropped Detective Quinn on the corner.
• 20:58
  Speaker 5: The house seemed deserted when I came in. But I
• 21:01
  Speaker 5: wasn't taking any chances. I went to the kitchen, got
• 21:06
  Speaker 5: a knife, hidden in the folds of the long-sleeved gown
• 21:09
  Speaker 5: I was wearing. I went into Garth's room.
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: He wasn't there.
• 21:16
  Speaker 5: But the closet door was open. What I saw in
• 21:20
  Speaker 5: there nearly made me ill. Clothes. Garth's clothes. Some of
• 21:27
  Speaker 5: them soaked in blood. I forced myself to examine them.
• 21:32
  Speaker 5: Then I found something that made my heart beat faster.
• 21:37
  Speaker 5: A little jewelry case.
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: I'll take that, Claudia. Oh, Garth. Give me that jewelry case, please.
• 21:42
  Speaker 5: Oh, no. No, don't take it.
• 21:44
  Speaker 2: Thank you. Garth. Get away from that window, Claudia. Go on.
• 21:48
  Speaker 5: Oh, don't shoot, Garth.
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: You were so anxious to see what's in that closet. Well,
• 21:55
  Speaker 2: now you have. And perhaps you'd like to see the
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: latest addition to my collection. It's in this box.
• 22:03
  Speaker 5: That box?
• 22:04
  Speaker 2: Yes, Claudia.
• 22:05
  Speaker 5: Huh?
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: A hat box. Sit down, Claudia.
• 22:09
  Speaker 5: What are you going to do?
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: Tell you who killed your husband.
• 22:13
  Speaker 5: You? No. You. You're insane.
• 22:16
  Speaker 2: I've written out a confession for you to sign.
• 22:18
  Speaker 5: What'll happen if I don't sign it?
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: Well, I credited you with more imagination. Would you like
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: to hear it? Yes.
• 22:26
  Speaker 5: Yes, read it.
• 22:27
  Speaker 2: Please. Sit over here, away from that window.
• 22:29
  Speaker 5: Yes.
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: Yes. I, Claudia Dale, murdered my first husband, Willard Banks,
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: for his insurance by administering poison.
• 22:39
  Speaker 5: My first husband?
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: Yes, Claudia. See, I mean to make this document strong
• 22:43
  Speaker 2: enough to send you to your death if I wish.
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: I've got all the details here. Just how you murdered
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: your first husband, how you killed your second. Shall I
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: go on?
• 22:54
  Speaker 5: No. You know it's all a lie.
• 22:56
  Speaker 2: Will you sign it?
• 22:57
  Speaker 5: Of course not. Just what is your game anyway? If
• 23:00
  Speaker 5: you want to kill me, why don't you shoot? You've
• 23:02
  Speaker 5: been very successful before. There's no reason you shouldn't succeed again.
• 23:06
  Speaker 5: Go on, shoot.
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: You put me in a very difficult position, Claudia. You see,
• 23:14
  Speaker 2: you have found out certain things about me. Things that
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: could cost me my life. I will not tell you
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: again to get away from that window, Claudia. I should
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: prefer to see you live because I love you. But
• 23:27
  Speaker 2: I shouldn't hesitate to murder you.
• 23:30
  Speaker 5: You love me?
• 23:31
  Speaker 2: Yes. Yes.
• 23:32
  Speaker 5: You haven't taken me in your arms once since I
• 23:34
  Speaker 5: know you.
• 23:35
  Speaker 2: The right time had not arrived.
• 23:38
  Speaker 5: What do you consider the right time?
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: When I feel that you understand me. When I feel
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: that you, who murdered two men, understand the deep and
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: strange cravings and desires that race in my blood.
• 23:52
  Speaker 5: You really believe I'm a murderess?
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: Of course. That's why I love you.
• 23:58
  Speaker 5: Then the time is now.
• 24:00
  Speaker 2: The time is... Take me in your arms. Claudia.
• 24:07
  Speaker 5: He still held the gun. He wasn't more than two
• 24:11
  Speaker 5: inches from me. I turned my lips up to him.
• 24:16
  Speaker 5: I twisted my body to get out of the range
• 24:18
  Speaker 5: of his revolver. When I felt his lips touch mine,
• 24:23
  Speaker 5: I slowly let the knife slip into my hand. Slowly, caressingly.
• 24:31
  Speaker 5: I drew my hand up towards his neck. Then I
• 24:34
  Speaker 5: plunged the blade in.
• 24:35
  Speaker 2: Detective Quinn, hurry!
• 24:40
  Speaker 4: I'm coming.
• 24:42
  Speaker 2: What happened?
• 24:43
  Speaker 5: I killed him. And here's the proof that he murdered
• 24:45
  Speaker 5: my husband. I found it in the jewelry case he
• 24:47
  Speaker 5: had in his pocket. It's the snake ring that was
• 24:49
  Speaker 5: missing from my husband's body. Now do you believe me?
• 24:52
  Speaker 2: The End.
• 25:01
  Speaker 5: That's the whole story. I realize that you, as the
• 25:04
  Speaker 5: district attorney, must know all the facts. There they are.
• 25:08
  Speaker 2: Thank you.
• 25:09
  Speaker 8: There are a few points in the story that interest
• 25:11
  Speaker 8: me particularly.
• 25:13
  Speaker 2: First, the confession that he asked you to sign.
• 25:16
  Speaker 5: What about it?
• 25:16
  Speaker 8: The confession says that you were not in Pittsfield at
• 25:19
  Speaker 8: 4 a.m.
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: When your husband was killed.
• 25:21
  Speaker 8: You gave your friend Martha Wallstone a sleeping pill, drove
• 25:23
  Speaker 8: her down here, shot your husband, drove back to Pittsfield,
• 25:27
  Speaker 8: turned Miss Wallstone's bedside clock to 4.15 and wakened her.
• 25:31
  Speaker 2: And you gave her the medicine. She thought it was 4.15
• 25:33
  Speaker 2: and went back to sleep.
• 25:35
  Speaker 5: Garth was very clever at things like that. He had
• 25:38
  Speaker 5: extraordinary brilliance of the insane.
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: And just one question. Was that the way you murdered
• 25:43
  Speaker 2: Howard Dale? I?
• 25:44
  Speaker 5: Oh, but Garth murdered him. The ring proves it.
• 25:50
  Speaker 2: He never had the ring. You put it in the
• 25:52
  Speaker 2: jewelry box.
• 25:54
  Speaker 5: I can't believe what you say. Garth was a homicidal maniac.
• 25:58
  Speaker 5: He predicted the death of the people he murdered.
• 26:01
  Speaker 2: My dear woman, don't you know yet? Know what?
• 26:06
  Speaker 8: That dragon was a detective working out of my office.
• 26:09
  Speaker 8: That's how he knew about those deaths. He was put
• 26:11
  Speaker 8: on the case because we suspected you of murdering your
• 26:13
  Speaker 8: first husband as well as your second.
• 26:16
  Speaker 5: A detective?
• 26:17
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 26:19
  Speaker 8: And you're going to die for killing him. Extremely daring
• 26:23
  Speaker 8: and clever of you to murder him. But you never
• 26:27
  Speaker 8: would have gotten away with it if he hadn't kissed you.
• 26:31
  Speaker 8: Kissed you because he fell in love with you. That
• 26:35
  Speaker 8: poor fool.
• 26:49
  Speaker 3: Well, friends, that just goes to prove that you should
• 26:51
  Speaker 3: never pick up hitchhikers who come out of cemeteries at midnight. Well,
• 26:56
  Speaker 3: I bet you've guessed the moral for our story. It's
• 26:59
  Speaker 3: taken from a famous quotation that Harry the Hangman uttered
• 27:03
  Speaker 3: during a nightmare. Never steal the rings of people you
• 27:08
  Speaker 3: murder on account of that's robbery.
• 27:11
  Speaker 6: My goodness, you call that immoral. That's one of the
• 27:15
  Speaker 6: most immoral things I've ever heard you say.
• 27:17
  Speaker 3: All right, Mary, I'll take it back. Here's one you'll
• 27:20
  Speaker 3: really like. There's many a slip twixt the cup and
• 27:23
  Speaker 3: the lipton. That's why teaspoons were invented.
• 27:28
  Speaker 5: That's very clever.
• 27:29
  Speaker 6: But I guess the reason they're called teaspoons is because
• 27:32
  Speaker 6: people drink tea so many times during the day. Yes,
• 27:36
  Speaker 6: folks enjoy that brisk Lipton tea not just at mealtime,
• 27:39
  Speaker 6: but between meals as well, such as when friends drop
• 27:42
  Speaker 6: in for a visit. That's why it's a good idea
• 27:45
  Speaker 6: always to keep a good supply on hand. So, folks,
• 27:48
  Speaker 6: ask for Lipton tea in the larger, more economical-sized packages.
• 27:52
  Speaker 5: Yay!
• 27:56
  Speaker 3: And now here's a cheerful little thought. You can let
• 27:59
  Speaker 3: a man murder you once, but you'd have to be
• 28:02
  Speaker 3: a stiff to let him do it again. Oh, by
• 28:06
  Speaker 3: the way, this month's Inner Sanctum mystery novel is Puzzle
• 28:09
  Speaker 3: for Wantons by Patrick Quentin. Yes, and next week's Inner
• 28:14
  Speaker 3: Sanctum story directed by Hyman Brown and brought to you
• 28:18
  Speaker 3: by Lipton Tea and Lipton Soup Next week's story is
• 28:22
  Speaker 3: about a woman with canary yellow eyes.
• 28:25
  Speaker 4: Murderous eyes. Everyone she looks at, she wants to kill.
• 28:29
  Speaker 4: And you know what? She keeps a harpoon in her house. Well, well.
• 28:35
  Speaker 4: You never know what's going to harpoon next.
• 28:40
  Speaker 3: And I'm afraid it's time to close the squeaking door.
• 28:43
  Speaker 4: So, good night. Pleasant dreams.
• 28:58
  Speaker 6: Folks, it's wonderful how little time cooking takes these days. Now,
• 29:02
  Speaker 6: when I was a girl, my mother used to spend
• 29:04
  Speaker 6: half a day making a pot of chicken noodle soup.
• 29:06
  Speaker 6: But now, we have Lipton's Noodle Soup Mix. When you
• 29:09
  Speaker 6: use Lipton's, you just empty the contents of the package
• 29:12
  Speaker 6: into boiling water, and in no time at all, soup's on.
• 29:15
  Speaker 6: And what delicious chickeny-tasting soup it is. Yes, Lipton's has
• 29:19
  Speaker 6: an old-fashioned homemade flavor, and it's brimful of tender golden
• 29:24
  Speaker 6: egg noodles. So, folks, don't forget to ask for Lipton's
• 29:28
  Speaker 6: Noodle Soup. And don't forget to tune in next Tuesday
• 29:30
  Speaker 6: night for another Inner Sanctum mystery.
• 29:33
  Speaker 2: This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: Inner Sanctum Mysteries brings The Murder Prophet to a close.
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: The CBS broadcast first aired September 4th, 1945.