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Suspense - "Aria from Murder" (1951) · Old Time Mystery Radio | Old Time Radio

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Between acts of Don Giovanni, opera baritone Niccolo Mazzini telephones
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: police headquarters from his dressing room at the Grandier Opera House.
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: It is Suspense, episode 413, Aria from Murder. First heard
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: on CBS on January 25th, 1951, Ezio Pinza stars as
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: Mazzini with Junius Matthews, Kathy Lewis, Wally Maher, Howard McNair,
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: Tony Barrett, and Joseph Kearns. Speaking with Lieutenant Morgan, Mazzini
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: recounts tensions in the opera company and a troubled private
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: life as the next curtain approaches. From the CBS Autolite series,
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: here is Aria from Murder. We now take you back
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: to the original broadcast.
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: Autolite and its 96,000 dealers present Suspense. Tonight, Autolite brings
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: you a tale of jealousy and hate on the stage
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: of a deserted opera house.
• 1:09
  Speaker 3: Aria from Murder, starring Mr.
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: Ezio Pinza, who is appearing tonight by arrangement with MGM
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: producers of the Technicolor picture Kim, starring Errol Flynn, Dean Stockwell,
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: Paul Lucas, and Robert Douglas. Before our play begins, here
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: is a word about Autolite from our good friend, Harlow Wilcox.
• 1:32
  Speaker 4: Hi, Hap.
• 1:33
  Speaker 5: Where are you going?
• 1:33
  Speaker 4: To the zoo, Harlow. Oh, why bother?
• 1:36
  Speaker 6: I'll give you the zoo's who on the Autolite Stay
• 1:38
  Speaker 6: Full battery. The battery that needs water only three times
• 1:41
  Speaker 6: a year in normal car use. Why, that even beats
• 1:44
  Speaker 6: the record of camels.
• 1:46
  Speaker 5: Yes, but.
• 1:46
  Speaker 6: And when it comes to starting a bear of an
• 1:49
  Speaker 6: engine these cold winter mornings, the Autolite Stay Full battery
• 1:53
  Speaker 6: is the cat's pajamas.
• 1:54
  Speaker 4: Harlow.
• 1:55
  Speaker 6: Why, Hap, the stay-full is kept strong as an ox
• 1:58
  Speaker 6: by fiberglass retaining mats protecting every positive plate. They prevent
• 2:02
  Speaker 6: shedding and flaking. keep the power-producing materials in place, and
• 2:06
  Speaker 6: give that Autolite stay-full battery a life longer than an
• 2:09
  Speaker 6: elephant's memory. Why, that eager beaver Autolite stay-full battery gives
• 2:14
  Speaker 6: 70% longer life as proved by tests run according to
• 2:17
  Speaker 6: SAE minimum life cycle standards.
• 2:19
  Speaker 4: Carlo, please. So, friends, please see your.
• 2:22
  Speaker 6: Neighborhood Autolite battery dealer and ask him for an Autolite
• 2:25
  Speaker 6: stay-full battery. The great battery that needs water only three
• 2:29
  Speaker 6: times a year in normal car use. As the lion says...
• 2:34
  Speaker 6: Roar always right with Autolite.
• 2:41
  Speaker 5: And now with Aria.
• 2:43
  Speaker 3: From Murder and the performance of Mr.
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: Ezio Pinza, Autolite hopes once again to keep you in suspense.
• 3:00
  Speaker 4: Me, me, me, me, me. Ah, Niccolo, tonight you are
• 3:04
  Speaker 4: singing as you have never sung before. How wildly the
• 3:09
  Speaker 4: patrons applaud. I wonder if they would applaud so tremendously
• 3:13
  Speaker 4: if they knew the thing that you suffer in your heart.
• 3:18
  Speaker 4: I will call now. There is time.
• 3:25
  Speaker 5: Intermission, Mr.
• 3:26
  Speaker 4: Marzini.
• 3:27
  Speaker 5: You've got about 15 minutes.
• 3:28
  Speaker 4: Thank you.
• 3:33
  Speaker 5: Police headquarters.
• 3:35
  Speaker 4: I wish to speak with the policeman in charge of
• 3:38
  Speaker 4: the homicide department, please.
• 3:39
  Speaker 5: Yes, come on. Homicide, Lieutenant Morgan.
• 3:46
  Speaker 4: This is Niccolo Mazzini, Lieutenant Morgan.
• 3:49
  Speaker 3: Yes?
• 3:50
  Speaker 4: I am the base baritone with the Grandia Opera Company.
• 3:54
  Speaker 7: Oh?
• 3:55
  Speaker 5: Well, what can I do for you, Mr. Mazzini?
• 3:58
  Speaker 4: I should like to make a confession at this time.
• 4:01
  Speaker 5: A confession? Yes.
• 4:02
  Speaker 4: Yes. I would like to confess to murder.
• 4:06
  Speaker 5: Where are you now, Mr. Mazzini?
• 4:08
  Speaker 4: I am calling from my dressing room here at the
• 4:10
  Speaker 4: Grandia Opera House. In just a very few moments, I
• 4:14
  Speaker 4: will step out on the stage and finish my performance
• 4:16
  Speaker 4: in Mozart's opera Don Giovanni. It is my last performance.
• 4:21
  Speaker 4: I shall try to explain.
• 4:23
  Speaker 5: About the confession you wanted to make, Mr. Mazzini.
• 4:27
  Speaker 4: My explanation, Lieutenant, becomes the confession. Your law books tell
• 4:34
  Speaker 4: you that murder begins with reason. This murder that I
• 4:39
  Speaker 4: have committed did not begin with a reason. It began
• 4:43
  Speaker 4: with a weakness. A weakness. My weakness was a woman.
• 4:49
  Speaker 4: Not the woman I married, but rather the woman I loved.
• 4:52
  Speaker 4: Leola Dantes. I was successful in hiding my association with
• 4:57
  Speaker 4: Leola from the people around me, except in the eyes
• 5:01
  Speaker 4: of one man. Felix Levine, the general manager of the company.
• 5:06
  Speaker 4: Two weeks ago, after a performance of The Marriage of Figaro,
• 5:10
  Speaker 4: Felix sent word that he wanted to see me. I
• 5:14
  Speaker 4: finished dressing and started across the stage on my way
• 5:17
  Speaker 4: to his office. The opera house was deserted. And I
• 5:22
  Speaker 4: was quite surprised to find him standing there on that
• 5:25
  Speaker 4: barren stage, under that single work light, staring out into
• 5:29
  Speaker 4: the darkened auditorium.
• 5:34
  Speaker 3: Oh, I would like to talk to you, Niccolo, if
• 5:37
  Speaker 3: you have a few minutes.
• 5:39
  Speaker 4: Of course, Philip.
• 5:40
  Speaker 3: There's something very important we must discuss.
• 5:43
  Speaker 4: Then by all means, let's discuss it.
• 5:45
  Speaker 3: May I be very frank with you?
• 5:47
  Speaker 4: I would have it no other way. Good.
• 5:50
  Speaker 3: I am happy you feel that way.
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: First, I have known for some time about you and Leoladantis.
• 5:58
  Speaker 4: So you know about Leoladantis.
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 6:01
  Speaker 4: And who else besides you, Felix, knows?
• 6:04
  Speaker 3: I have tried as best I could to keep it
• 6:06
  Speaker 3: from the others.
• 6:07
  Speaker 4: And my wife? Have you told my wife? No, no, Nicolau.
• 6:11
  Speaker 3: I did not have the heart. I have wanted to
• 6:13
  Speaker 3: spare Irene's feelings.
• 6:15
  Speaker 8: You?
• 6:16
  Speaker 4: You wanted to spare her feelings? This touches me deeply. Huh?
• 6:20
  Speaker 3: I don't know what you mean.
• 6:22
  Speaker 4: This concern of yours, it really is not so much
• 6:24
  Speaker 4: for me as it is for Irene. Oh, don't be ridiculous, Niccolo.
• 6:28
  Speaker 4: You want to spare her feelings.
• 6:30
  Speaker 3: Don't read meaning where there is no.
• 6:32
  Speaker 4: Meaning, Niccolo. I think that you've been waiting for something
• 6:36
  Speaker 4: like this for a long time. Tell me, Felix, are
• 6:39
  Speaker 4: you masking your love for Irene with pity? Your reason
• 6:43
  Speaker 4: has gone. What else can I believe? What other possible
• 6:45
  Speaker 4: reason can there be for this threat?
• 6:48
  Speaker 3: Do you know what these are, Niccolo?
• 6:50
  Speaker 4: Papers? Pieces of paper?
• 6:52
  Speaker 3: They are bills, hundreds of them. Look at them, Niccolo, bills.
• 6:56
  Speaker 3: Bills that you have run up.
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: Almost $ 5, 000 worth of flowers, champagne, gifts.
• 7:02
  Speaker 4: What are you doing with these?
• 7:03
  Speaker 3: They were sent here to the company.
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: as attachments on your guarantee for the present season.
• 7:07
  Speaker 4: So?
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: So, it turns out, Nicolau, that there isn't any more guarantee.
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: You've already been advanced way over your guarantee. At the moment,
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: you owe the company almost an entire season.
• 7:19
  Speaker 4: Oh, I don't believe you. It's impossible.
• 7:21
  Speaker 3: It's not impossible, Nicolau.
• 7:24
  Speaker 4: But, Felix, this question of the money can so easily
• 7:27
  Speaker 4: be solved. These creditors know me. They know that next
• 7:30
  Speaker 4: season I will take care of... Nicolau. Nicolau.
• 7:34
  Speaker 3: There won't be any next season for you.
• 7:37
  Speaker 4: I don't understand. I have a contract.
• 7:40
  Speaker 3: I am going to break it.
• 7:42
  Speaker 4: You've waited for this moment for a long time, haven't you?
• 7:46
  Speaker 3: You're being very stupid now, Nick.
• 7:47
  Speaker 4: I am being much more realistic about this than you
• 7:50
  Speaker 4: can possibly imagine.
• 7:51
  Speaker 5: Are you really?
• 7:52
  Speaker 4: My reason isn't gone. It's just that you have made
• 7:55
  Speaker 4: a stupid mistake.
• 7:57
  Speaker 3: I have a mistake?
• 7:59
  Speaker 4: I am not a violent man. I dislike violence very much.
• 8:03
  Speaker 4: But you really haven't given me any alternative. You have
• 8:06
  Speaker 4: only given me one choice to make. What do you mean?
• 8:11
  Speaker 4: The opera house is so quiet at night when no
• 8:14
  Speaker 4: one is here. Listen, Felix. Not a sound. Look out.
• 8:19
  Speaker 4: What is wrong with you? Look at the enormous shadows
• 8:22
  Speaker 4: we throw upon the stage from this work light. Are
• 8:25
  Speaker 4: you trying to frighten me? You won't, you know. No,
• 8:29
  Speaker 4: I am not trying to scare you, Felix. That would
• 8:32
  Speaker 4: do no good at all.
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: Well, then what are you talking about?
• 8:34
  Speaker 4: The only problem was your business. But my association with
• 8:38
  Speaker 4: Leo Adantes was no concern of yours, Felix.
• 8:40
  Speaker 3: Not whatsoever.
• 8:41
  Speaker 4: Niccolo! I grabbed his shirt and twisted the collar until
• 8:48
  Speaker 4: it grew red. And then I yanked at the white light,
• 8:52
  Speaker 4: lifted his eye, and with all my strength brought it
• 8:54
  Speaker 4: crashing down on his head. I released my hand from
• 9:02
  Speaker 4: his collar. He swayed for a moment and then fell
• 9:06
  Speaker 4: awkwardly down upon the stage. I reached over and picked
• 9:11
  Speaker 4: up the beers lying on the table. Then I heard it.
• 9:16
  Speaker 4: A sound from out in the auditorium. A sound of
• 9:19
  Speaker 4: something or someone. It was too dark to see anything.
• 9:24
  Speaker 4: I rushed over to the electrician's case through the house
• 9:27
  Speaker 4: light switch and rushed back on the stage.
• 9:29
  Speaker 8: There.
• 9:30
  Speaker 4: There. Sitting in the sixth or seventh row, staring at
• 9:34
  Speaker 4: me in complete bewilderment, was a beady-eyed man wearing a
• 9:38
  Speaker 4: brown jacket with a hat of flaming red air.
• 9:44
  Speaker 5: You!
• 9:45
  Speaker 4: You out there!
• 9:47
  Speaker 3: Who are you?
• 9:49
  Speaker 4: What are you doing out there? Don't sit there looking
• 9:53
  Speaker 4: at me. Say something! Oh, so you are scared, is
• 9:58
  Speaker 4: that it? Did you see everything?
• 10:02
  Speaker 5: No, no, don't move.
• 10:03
  Speaker 4: Wait, wait, I want to talk to you. Come back now.
• 10:06
  Speaker 4: I won't hurt you, I promise. Are you afraid of me?
• 10:10
  Speaker 4: Why don't you answer me? You are afraid of me,
• 10:12
  Speaker 4: aren't you? Come back here. You, come back, I want
• 10:16
  Speaker 4: to talk to you.
• 10:17
  Speaker 6: Come back!
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: Come back!
• 10:28
  Speaker 4: He was gone. I stood there and could feel the
• 10:33
  Speaker 4: perspiration roll down of my face as I realized that
• 10:38
  Speaker 4: a red-headed man had just witnessed the murder that I
• 10:41
  Speaker 4: had committed.
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: Autolight is bringing you Mr. Ezio Pinza in Aria from Murder.
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: Tonight's production in radio's outstanding theater of thrills, Suspense.
• 11:13
  Speaker 9: Harlow, the zoo has a giraffe with the longest neck
• 11:17
  Speaker 9: in the world.
• 11:18
  Speaker 6: Ah, but it can't be as long as the life
• 11:20
  Speaker 6: of an Autolite stay-full battery, the battery that needs water
• 11:23
  Speaker 6: only three times a year in normal car use. Why,
• 11:26
  Speaker 6: that world-famous stay-full battery gives 70% longer life. And this
• 11:30
  Speaker 6: is proven by tests conducted according to SAE minimum life
• 11:34
  Speaker 6: cycle standards.
• 11:35
  Speaker 5: Harlow.
• 11:36
  Speaker 9: When this giraffe takes a drink, the water doesn't get
• 11:38
  Speaker 9: down for a month.
• 11:40
  Speaker 6: But, Hap, the Autolite Stay Full Battery only needs a
• 11:43
  Speaker 6: drink three times a year in normal car use.
• 11:45
  Speaker 9: This giraffe's neck is so long that when his head
• 11:48
  Speaker 9: is in Tuesday, his tail is still in last week.
• 11:52
  Speaker 6: Now, there's a guy who needs fiberglass retaining mats to
• 11:55
  Speaker 6: keep all the energy in one place. That's what they
• 11:58
  Speaker 6: do for the Autolite Stay Full Battery because fiberglass retaining
• 12:01
  Speaker 6: mats protect every positive plate to prevent shedding and flaking,
• 12:06
  Speaker 6: and keep the power-producing materials in place for fast, dependable starts.
• 12:11
  Speaker 6: So see your Autolite battery dealer, have him install in
• 12:14
  Speaker 6: your car an Autolite stay-full battery. And remember, you're always
• 12:19
  Speaker 6: right with Autolite.
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: And now Autolite brings back to our Hollywood soundstage Mr.
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: Ezio Pinza in Elliot Lewis' production of Aria from Murder.
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: A tale well calculated to keep you in suspense.
• 12:34
  Speaker 4: I stood in the alley next to the opera house
• 12:48
  Speaker 4: for a long time. My mind was confused and I
• 12:52
  Speaker 4: felt numb with pain. Not an abnormal reaction for a
• 12:57
  Speaker 4: man who has just committed a murder, I believe. This
• 13:01
  Speaker 4: witness of flaming redhead at that moment might have been
• 13:04
  Speaker 4: on his way to the police. Oh, I was desperate.
• 13:09
  Speaker 4: And a desperate man seeks refuge. My weakness was my refuge.
• 13:15
  Speaker 4: And I went to my weakness.
• 13:22
  Speaker 7: Nicky, darling.
• 13:23
  Speaker 4: Leola, Leola.
• 13:27
  Speaker 7: Sit down, darling. I'll fix you a drink.
• 13:30
  Speaker 4: I need it.
• 13:31
  Speaker 7: Recognize the record, darling?
• 13:33
  Speaker 5: Yes.
• 13:33
  Speaker 7: One of your best, I thought.
• 13:35
  Speaker 4: It seems so long ago.
• 13:37
  Speaker 7: There's something wrong, Nicky.
• 13:39
  Speaker 4: Wrong, Leola. Why, no, no. There is nothing wrong.
• 13:44
  Speaker 3: Here.
• 13:45
  Speaker 7: Here's your drink.
• 13:46
  Speaker 4: Thank you.
• 13:48
  Speaker 7: I know there's something wrong.
• 13:51
  Speaker 5: Why?
• 13:51
  Speaker 4: Whatever gives you that idea?
• 13:54
  Speaker 7: Because you've forgotten. And it's not likely for you to forget, Nicky.
• 14:03
  Speaker 4: Forgotten?
• 14:04
  Speaker 10: You've forgotten to bring me something. And you never forget
• 14:07
  Speaker 10: unless there's something wrong.
• 14:09
  Speaker 4: Oh, Leola, I am sorry.
• 14:10
  Speaker 10: Nicky, please, I know something is wrong. Now tell me
• 14:13
  Speaker 10: what it is. Something to do with your wife? Has
• 14:17
  Speaker 10: she found out?
• 14:18
  Speaker 4: No, nothing, nothing.
• 14:19
  Speaker 7: Well, then tell me, please.
• 14:23
  Speaker 4: Leola.
• 14:23
  Speaker 7: What is it, Nicky? Tell me, please.
• 14:28
  Speaker 4: Leola. Leola, tell me. You love me. Tell me.
• 14:31
  Speaker 7: Nicky, you know I do.
• 14:34
  Speaker 4: Oh, darling.
• 14:35
  Speaker 7: Nicky, no, wait. Wait, please. First tell me what it is.
• 14:41
  Speaker 4: Tonight, just after the performance, Felix Levine sent word that
• 14:45
  Speaker 4: he wanted to see me on stage.
• 14:48
  Speaker 7: Go on, Nicky.
• 14:49
  Speaker 4: He knew all about us.
• 14:52
  Speaker 7: It had to come out sooner or later, didn't it, Nicky?
• 14:56
  Speaker 4: He threatened to go to Irene, my wife. He threatened
• 14:59
  Speaker 4: to tell her everything. And then he threatened to go
• 15:02
  Speaker 4: to the newspaper.
• 15:04
  Speaker 5: Oh?
• 15:05
  Speaker 4: Do you see what that would have meant?
• 15:06
  Speaker 7: I'm afraid I don't quite follow you.
• 15:08
  Speaker 4: Oh, don't you understand, Leola? What it would involve, the scandal,
• 15:13
  Speaker 4: the effect it would have on my reputation. I see.
• 15:15
  Speaker 4: I see. He offered to bargain with me.
• 15:18
  Speaker 5: Bargain?
• 15:19
  Speaker 4: Yes. If I would stop seeing you, he would remain silent.
• 15:23
  Speaker 4: He became very adamant in his demand. And when I refused,
• 15:27
  Speaker 4: he became violent. I, too, became violent. And in a rage,
• 15:32
  Speaker 4: I hit him with the stage work light.
• 15:34
  Speaker 8: He.
• 15:35
  Speaker 7: What are you trying to say?
• 15:37
  Speaker 4: Oh, Leola, I killed him.
• 15:39
  Speaker 5: Nicola.
• 15:41
  Speaker 4: But then, Leola, while I was standing over his body,
• 15:44
  Speaker 4: I heard the noise from out in the auditorium. Someone
• 15:47
  Speaker 4: out there in the auditorium had seen the entire thing. What?
• 15:51
  Speaker 4: I rushed to turn the house lights on. A man
• 15:54
  Speaker 4: wearing a brown coat with beady eyes and flaming red
• 15:57
  Speaker 4: hair was sitting there looking at me.
• 15:59
  Speaker 7: Who was he?
• 16:00
  Speaker 4: Oh, I don't know. I had never seen him before
• 16:02
  Speaker 4: in my life.
• 16:03
  Speaker 7: Are you sure he saw everything?
• 16:05
  Speaker 4: Oh, there is no doubt of it.
• 16:09
  Speaker 7: Well, I really don't know what to say. I I
• 16:16
  Speaker 7: think I suspected that something like this would happen.
• 16:18
  Speaker 4: What are you talking about?
• 16:21
  Speaker 7: Am I supposed to condone what you did, Nicky?
• 16:25
  Speaker 4: I need your help, Leola.
• 16:27
  Speaker 7: My help? How can I help you, Nicky?
• 16:31
  Speaker 4: Oh, Leola, darling, please.
• 16:32
  Speaker 7: This isn't something I asked you to do. Best it
• 16:37
  Speaker 7: happened this way. Because you'd have to wake up sometime.
• 16:40
  Speaker 7: It's a hard, cruel world, Mr.
• 16:43
  Speaker 5: Opera Singer.
• 16:45
  Speaker 7: Am I supposed to comfort this thing? Am I supposed
• 16:47
  Speaker 7: to become involved in this whole rotten mess all because
• 16:50
  Speaker 7: you made a mistake?
• 16:51
  Speaker 4: Don't you understand what I did for us to keep
• 16:55
  Speaker 4: us together?
• 16:55
  Speaker 7: Take your last bow, Nicky.
• 16:58
  Speaker 10: The curtain's about to ring down, just like it falls
• 17:01
  Speaker 10: on one of those operas you sing in.
• 17:03
  Speaker 4: Don't you realize that if Felix had gone through with
• 17:06
  Speaker 4: what he threatened to, it would have meant losing you?
• 17:10
  Speaker 7: It's funny to see you standing there.
• 17:13
  Speaker 10: So strong and yet so weak.
• 17:16
  Speaker 7: So much like a little boy. And yet so very
• 17:20
  Speaker 7: much an old man.
• 17:22
  Speaker 10: Did you ever actually believe that I was capable of
• 17:25
  Speaker 10: loving you?
• 17:25
  Speaker 7: Leora, I.
• 17:29
  Speaker 4: Won't believe this. I won't believe it.
• 17:32
  Speaker 10: Put the key to the apartment on the table as
• 17:35
  Speaker 10: you leave, Nicky.
• 17:36
  Speaker 4: Thank you. I left Cleola's apartment in a daze and
• 17:46
  Speaker 4: I went home just as a condemned man goes to
• 17:49
  Speaker 4: the gallows and waited for the police. But the police
• 18:01
  Speaker 4: never came. At least they didn't come the first day
• 18:04
  Speaker 4: after the murder. The second day I did receive a
• 18:08
  Speaker 4: call from the police. It was a routine check. They
• 18:12
  Speaker 4: told me they wanted to know if I knew anything
• 18:14
  Speaker 4: about the crime or if I suspected anyone. My answers
• 18:18
  Speaker 4: were vague. I was safe. Safe from the police. Finally,
• 18:26
  Speaker 4: not being able to contain myself any longer, I decided
• 18:30
  Speaker 4: to call Leola just before my Saturday matinee of Boris Godunov.
• 18:39
  Speaker 4: That's the overture, Mr. Mazzini. Yes, thank you.
• 18:47
  Speaker 5: Hello?
• 18:49
  Speaker 4: Niccolo, Leola.
• 18:51
  Speaker 8: Oh, it's you.
• 18:53
  Speaker 4: It looks like it was me. This means the case.
• 18:56
  Speaker 8: What happened to the man in the brown coat and
• 18:58
  Speaker 8: the flaming red hair, Nicky?
• 19:00
  Speaker 4: I don't know.
• 19:02
  Speaker 5: Are you sure there was such.
• 19:04
  Speaker 4: A man, Nicky? Oh, I swear there was such a person, Leola.
• 19:07
  Speaker 4: I swear to you.
• 19:08
  Speaker 8: Then you've been very fortunate, Nicky.
• 19:12
  Speaker 4: But why does he wait? Why doesn't he go to
• 19:15
  Speaker 4: the police?
• 19:16
  Speaker 5: I don't know.
• 19:16
  Speaker 4: Oh, Leola, please. May I come to see you?
• 19:20
  Speaker 5: Not yet, Nicky.
• 19:22
  Speaker 8: At least not until this whole thing is over completely.
• 19:24
  Speaker 4: Leola, please.
• 19:25
  Speaker 8: Let's say at least until we're sure that this man
• 19:28
  Speaker 8: in the brown coat and red hair doesn't put in
• 19:31
  Speaker 8: an appearance.
• 19:33
  Speaker 5: Let's wait, Nicky.
• 19:35
  Speaker 8: Shall we?
• 19:37
  Speaker 4: Yes, Leola. We'll wait. And so I waited, waited for
• 19:48
  Speaker 4: I didn't know what. Possibly I was waiting for a
• 19:52
  Speaker 4: knock at the door or the ring of the phone,
• 19:54
  Speaker 4: expecting at any moment it would be the police. At
• 19:58
  Speaker 4: the end of the second week, I found myself beginning
• 20:01
  Speaker 4: to regain my composure. But yet, beneath that composure, I
• 20:05
  Speaker 4: still waited. On Friday night, I was to sing as Camillo.
• 20:10
  Speaker 4: While putting on my makeup, in my dressing room, I
• 20:12
  Speaker 4: received a phone call. Hello.
• 20:17
  Speaker 5: Hello, Nick.
• 20:19
  Speaker 4: Who is this, please? I am busy.
• 20:20
  Speaker 5: I was just telling my friends my brown coat needs
• 20:24
  Speaker 5: to be cleaned and pressed. And I need a haircut.
• 20:28
  Speaker 4: What are you talking about?
• 20:30
  Speaker 5: Barbers tell me that men with red hair are the
• 20:34
  Speaker 5: best conversationalists. You? Yeah, me.
• 20:39
  Speaker 4: Who are you? Who are you?
• 20:42
  Speaker 5: A little faster, you might have caught me. Tell me,
• 20:45
  Speaker 5: what would you have done to me if you had
• 20:47
  Speaker 5: caught me, Nick? The same thing you did to Felix Levine?
• 20:51
  Speaker 4: I don't know what you're talking about.
• 20:53
  Speaker 5: Let's not be corny, Nick.
• 20:55
  Speaker 4: Why didn't you go to the police? Why didn't you?
• 20:58
  Speaker 5: You sing well, Nick. You're a great singer. And I
• 21:02
  Speaker 5: admire you. I sing, too. Do you know that? I
• 21:07
  Speaker 5: sing very well.
• 21:08
  Speaker 4: Listen to me.
• 21:09
  Speaker 5: I haven't got the time right now, Nick. I think
• 21:12
  Speaker 5: I'll call you in a day or so and let
• 21:14
  Speaker 5: you know just how well I want you to sing.
• 21:17
  Speaker 4: But listen to me.
• 21:18
  Speaker 5: It's going to be an expensive song. Just remember that.
• 21:23
  Speaker 5: A real expensive song. Wait.
• 21:27
  Speaker 4: Wait.
• 21:28
  Speaker 10: Please, please.
• 21:36
  Speaker 4: The man in the brown coat and flaming red hair
• 21:39
  Speaker 4: had finally come out from his hiding place. And now
• 21:42
  Speaker 4: I knew the reason why he had remained silent. He
• 21:46
  Speaker 4: was going to blackmail me. He had seen everything. There
• 21:51
  Speaker 4: was no escape for me now. I was helpless. How
• 21:56
  Speaker 4: was I going to pay any demands he might make?
• 21:59
  Speaker 4: As for the other creditors, I could easily have taken
• 22:01
  Speaker 4: care of them. But these new creditors. His was a
• 22:05
  Speaker 4: demand that could not be taken care of. Yes, this
• 22:09
  Speaker 4: man in the brown jacket with flaming red hair had
• 22:11
  Speaker 4: my life in his hands. And he knew it. That evening,
• 22:23
  Speaker 4: my performance in Carmen was a mockery. I sang as
• 22:27
  Speaker 4: Camillo as if in a trance. I think that even
• 22:29
  Speaker 4: the cast around me suspected something was wrong. Saturday, I
• 22:35
  Speaker 4: waited for his phone call, but it didn't come. Then
• 22:38
  Speaker 4: in the afternoon, I received a call to report to
• 22:41
  Speaker 4: the Opera House wardrobe room for a custom fitting. I
• 22:44
  Speaker 4: went down. I walked down on the long side alley
• 22:48
  Speaker 4: entrance to the Opera House. I opened the door and
• 22:50
  Speaker 4: stepped in.
• 22:51
  Speaker 5: Hello, Mr. Martini.
• 22:53
  Speaker 4: The doorman greeted me and I nodded to him. And
• 22:57
  Speaker 4: as I lifted my head, there sitting next to the doorman,
• 23:01
  Speaker 4: his back to me, was the man in the brown
• 23:03
  Speaker 4: coat and flaming red hair. I walked rapidly across the stage.
• 23:09
  Speaker 4: I made my way back to a darkened corner from
• 23:12
  Speaker 4: where I could watch the two of them. What was
• 23:15
  Speaker 4: he doing here? Had he purposely exposed himself to me?
• 23:18
  Speaker 4: It must have been half an hour and the doorman
• 23:22
  Speaker 4: received the phone call and left. Now, the man with
• 23:25
  Speaker 4: red hair was sitting at the stage door alone. He's
• 23:29
  Speaker 4: back to me. I fell behind me and my hand
• 23:32
  Speaker 4: closed upon a wooden stage brace. Then I made my
• 23:35
  Speaker 4: way carefully against the back brick wall of the opera house.
• 23:39
  Speaker 4: I was only a few feet from him now. I
• 23:42
  Speaker 4: looked around. There was no one in sight. And then
• 23:46
  Speaker 4: I was upon him. I brought the stage brace crashing
• 23:50
  Speaker 4: down in his head. He did not cry out. And
• 23:58
  Speaker 4: I caught him before he fell off the chair. I
• 24:00
  Speaker 4: held him in my arms waiting. No sounds. No one there. Good.
• 24:07
  Speaker 4: I lifted him upon my shoulders and in darkness made
• 24:11
  Speaker 4: my way back to my dressing room. I kicked the
• 24:14
  Speaker 4: door closed behind me. Emptied my traveling trunk and deposited
• 24:18
  Speaker 4: the body in it. In the morning I could have
• 24:21
  Speaker 4: the trunk delivered to my home and dispose of its contents.
• 24:27
  Speaker 4: I left the opera house. A great weight had suddenly
• 24:31
  Speaker 4: been lifted from my shoulders. As I arrived at the
• 24:42
  Speaker 4: opera house tonight, I knew that I was to give
• 24:44
  Speaker 4: a performance of opera that the patrons would never forget.
• 24:49
  Speaker 4: A few minutes before I was to go on stage,
• 24:51
  Speaker 4: I was putting the finishing touches on my macabre. Hello.
• 24:59
  Speaker 5: Hello, Nick. How are you?
• 25:02
  Speaker 8: Hi.
• 25:02
  Speaker 5: Have you thought over what I said, Nick? Have you
• 25:06
  Speaker 5: thought about singing for me?
• 25:09
  Speaker 4: But you, you're dead.
• 25:12
  Speaker 5: You gotta convince me, Nick. I feel very much alive.
• 25:16
  Speaker 5: I feel like singing.
• 25:18
  Speaker 4: This is a joke.
• 25:19
  Speaker 5: Tomorrow, Nick. I want you to sing for me tomorrow.
• 25:24
  Speaker 5: Sing for, say, about $ 25, 000. That should keep me from singing.
• 25:30
  Speaker 4: I don't... I'll.
• 25:31
  Speaker 5: Phone you tomorrow, Nick.
• 25:33
  Speaker 4: Wait.
• 25:36
  Speaker 3: Wait. Wait.
• 25:38
  Speaker 4: Wait. I placed the phone back on the hook and
• 25:46
  Speaker 4: walked toward the trunk. I lifted the lid. The man
• 25:52
  Speaker 4: who lay in that trunk was the man who had
• 25:54
  Speaker 4: seen me kill Felix Levine.
• 25:57
  Speaker 8: No.
• 25:58
  Speaker 4: I have not made a mistake, Lieutenant. I am sure
• 26:01
  Speaker 4: you can guess the obvious.
• 26:03
  Speaker 5: Viola Dottis?
• 26:04
  Speaker 7: Yes.
• 26:05
  Speaker 4: She was the only other person besides the man with
• 26:09
  Speaker 4: the red hair who knew about Felix Levine.
• 26:12
  Speaker 5: This other guy who called you?
• 26:14
  Speaker 4: It must have been somebody she hired. The woman for
• 26:18
  Speaker 4: whom I had killed twice had betrayed me.
• 26:22
  Speaker 5: We call it blackmail, Mr. Mazzini.
• 26:24
  Speaker 4: Oh, it matters so little now.
• 26:27
  Speaker 5: And then we'll be down for you.
• 26:29
  Speaker 4: I shall be ready.
• 26:31
  Speaker 5: You're on, Mr.
• 26:32
  Speaker 8: Mazzini.
• 26:32
  Speaker 4: Coming. With your permission, Lieutenant Morgan, I go to give
• 26:39
  Speaker 4: my finish, my final performance.
• 26:43
  Speaker 5: Sing well, Mr. Mazzini.
• 27:13
  Speaker 2: What a voice.
• 27:22
  Speaker 3: Far and few between.
• 27:25
  Speaker 4: Where's Ray?
• 27:26
  Speaker 3: I don't know where he is.
• 27:28
  Speaker 9: Saw him around this afternoon and he just disappeared.
• 27:31
  Speaker 3: He wanted to hear Mazzini, didn't he?
• 27:33
  Speaker 4: Are you kidding?
• 27:35
  Speaker 3: Mazzini's his whole life. I don't think there's anything in
• 27:38
  Speaker 3: the world he wouldn't do for Mazzini. Well, that's because
• 27:42
  Speaker 3: he wanted to be a singer himself, probably.
• 27:44
  Speaker 4: A singer? That crazy redhead a singer?
• 27:47
  Speaker 9: How could a guy who was born a mute be
• 27:50
  Speaker 9: a singer?
• 28:19
  Speaker 5: Suspense. Presented by Autolite. Tonight's star, Mr.
• 28:24
  Speaker 2: Ezio Pinza.
• 28:26
  Speaker 4: Well, Harlow, if you're through horsing around, I'll go now. Nay, nay, Hap.
• 28:30
  Speaker 6: Not till I tell you that Autolite makes more than
• 28:33
  Speaker 6: 400 products for trucks, cars, planes, and boats in 28
• 28:37
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• 28:41
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• 28:45
  Speaker 6: Electric windshield wipers, spark plugs, starting motors, batteries, bullseye sealed
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  Speaker 6: beam headlights, coils, distributors, generators, wire and battery cable. All
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  Speaker 6: engineered to fit together perfectly, work together perfectly because they're
• 28:57
  Speaker 6: a perfect team. So, friends, don't accept electrical parts supposed
• 29:01
  Speaker 6: to be as good. Ask for and insist on original
• 29:04
  Speaker 6: factory parts at your neighborhood service station, car dealer, garage,
• 29:07
  Speaker 6: or repair shop. And because all Autolite parts are original
• 29:11
  Speaker 6: factory parts, you're always right with Autolite.
• 29:21
  Speaker 2: Next week on Suspense, Mr. Paul Douglas in Fragile Contents Death.
• 29:27
  Speaker 2: And in weeks to come, you will hear Fred McMurray
• 29:30
  Speaker 2: to be followed by the first lady of suspense, Miss
• 29:32
  Speaker 2: Agnes Moorhead. And then on February 22nd, in answer to
• 29:36
  Speaker 2: your many requests, Backseat Driver, repeated for you with its
• 29:40
  Speaker 2: original stars, Pfebber McGee and Molly.
• 29:43
  Speaker 5: All on Suspense.
• 29:47
  Speaker 2: Suspense is produced and directed by Elliot Lewis, with music
• 29:50
  Speaker 2: composed by Lucian Morawieck and conducted by Lud Bluskin. Portions
• 29:53
  Speaker 2: of this program were transcribed. Ariel from Murder was written
• 29:56
  Speaker 2: for Suspense by Richard George Pettuccini. Included in tonight's cast
• 30:01
  Speaker 2: were Joseph Kearns, Kathy Lewis, and Wally Mayer. And remember
• 30:05
  Speaker 2: next week on Suspense, Mr. Paul Douglas, as a postmaster
• 30:09
  Speaker 2: who knows there are explosives in the mail and has
• 30:11
  Speaker 2: only five hours to find them. The story we call
• 30:15
  Speaker 2: Fragile Contents Death.
• 30:20
  Speaker 4: You can buy Autolite stay-full batteries, Autolite standard type or
• 30:23
  Speaker 4: resistor type spark plugs, Autolite electrical parts at your neighborhood
• 30:26
  Speaker 4: Autolite dealers.
• 30:27
  Speaker 5: Switch to Autolite. Good night.
• 30:29
  Speaker 2: This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: We leave suspense and aria from murder. Thank you for
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: sharing this evening's radio hour, and good night. Follow Old
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: Time Mystery Radio for more classic mystery and detective broadcasts.