Latest / Old Time Mystery Radio | Old Time Radio / Suspense - "The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Part Two" (1953)
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Edwin Drood has disappeared, and the Victorian cathedral town of
- 0:03Speaker 1: Cloisterham is left with suspicion gathering around those closest to him.
- 0:09Speaker 1: From CBS, this is Suspense, episode 495, The Mystery of
- 0:15Speaker 1: Edwin Drood, part two, first heard January 12th, 1953. Herbert
- 0:22Speaker 1: Marshall stars as John Jasper, the cathedral choir master, with
- 0:26Speaker 1: Ben Wright, Betty Harford, Joseph Kearns, and Ramsey Hill. Adapted
- 0:32Speaker 1: by Sidney Marshall from Charles Dickens' unfinished final novel, this
- 0:37Speaker 1: second part follows the investigation through cloisterum, where Rosa, Neville Landless,
- 0:43Speaker 1: Dean Chris Parkle, and the newcomer Mr. Datchery each figure
- 0:47Speaker 1: in the mystery. Producer and director Elliot Lewis brings the
- 0:52Speaker 1: radio version to its conclusion, and now our story begins.
- 1:03Speaker 2: Autolite and its 98,000 dealers bring you Mr. Herbert Marshall
- 1:08Speaker 2: in tonight's presentation of Suspense.
- 1:16Speaker 3: Tonight, Autolite presents part two of one of the most
- 1:19Speaker 3: famous of all literary puzzles, Charles Dickens' unfinished novel, The
- 1:24Speaker 3: Mystery of Edwin Brood.
- 1:26Speaker 4: Our star, Mr. Herbert Marshall.
- 1:34Speaker 2: Hello, Senator. How's our legislative leader?
- 1:37Speaker 5: Harlow, what's this I hear about you being up for
- 1:40Speaker 5: assault and battery?
- 1:41Speaker 2: Oh, that's a stay-full battery, Senator. The Autolite stay-full. That fit, fine,
- 1:46Speaker 2: and famous battery that needs water only three times a
- 1:49Speaker 2: year in normal car use.
- 1:51Speaker 5: Then you're not in trouble.
- 1:53Speaker 2: Not with an Autolite stay-full, Senator. Fiberglass mats protect every
- 1:57Speaker 2: positive plate against shedding and flaking to give the Autolite
- 2:00Speaker 2: stay-full battery longer life. as proved by tests conducted according
- 2:04Speaker 2: to accepted life cycle standards.
- 2:06Speaker 5: Then my Autolite battery dealer will substantiate that story, Harlow?
- 2:10Speaker 2: He sure will, Senator. And he's the expert who services
- 2:14Speaker 2: all makes of batteries. To quickly locate your nearest Autolite
- 2:18Speaker 2: battery dealer, call Western Union by number.
- 2:20Speaker 6: And ask for Operator 25.
- 2:23Speaker 7: I'll gladly tell you.
- 2:23Speaker 6: The name of your nearest Autolite battery dealer, where you
- 2:26Speaker 6: can get an Autolite stay-full.
- 2:28Speaker 2: The battery that needs water only three times a year
- 2:31Speaker 2: in normal car use. And remember, from bumper to tail light,
- 2:35Speaker 2: you're always right with Autolite. And now, Autolite presents Charles
- 2:41Speaker 2: Dickens' The Mystery of Edwin Drood, starring Mr. Herbert Marshall,
- 2:46Speaker 2: hoping once again to keep you in suspense.
- 3:02Speaker 4: When the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness, he
- 3:05Speaker 4: shall save his soul alive. So it has been said.
- 3:09Speaker 4: so it has been written. But what of him who
- 3:13Speaker 4: strives to turn away in torment and desperation and finds
- 3:17Speaker 4: that he cannot? What is it that will happen to him?
- 3:21Speaker 4: What is it that will happen to me? It was
- 3:35Speaker 4: on a gray Christmas morn that I, John Gasper, instructor
- 3:38Speaker 4: in music at Toystone College, sought the answers to those questions.
- 3:44Speaker 4: I sought them within myself, within my music. Within the
- 3:48Speaker 4: paling stars seen dimly through the organ loft windows. But
- 3:53Speaker 4: no answers came. Only a memory. Or a dream. I
- 3:59Speaker 4: seemed to see a man walking, alone. To the deserted
- 4:03Speaker 4: night-blackened streets of Klaustrum. The deserted streets which were suddenly
- 4:08Speaker 4: no longer deserted.
- 4:08Speaker 2: What?
- 4:34Speaker 4: Then the memory was gone. The dream was over. And
- 4:38Speaker 4: I was at my gatehouse lodging looking for him who
- 4:40Speaker 4: should have been there, looking for the man I suddenly
- 4:42Speaker 4: knew would never be there again.
- 4:43Speaker 5: Edwin!
- 4:49Speaker 8: Edwin!
- 5:04Speaker 2: Chris Parkle.
- 5:05Speaker 8: Dean Chris Parkle.
- 5:06Speaker 3: Open up.
- 5:08Speaker 8: It's John Jasper. Open up, I say. Jasper? What is it, man?
- 5:17Speaker 4: My nephew, Edwin Drool. Where is he?
- 5:19Speaker 8: Edwin?
- 5:20Speaker 4: Yes, he went to the river last night to look
- 5:22Speaker 4: at the storm with Neville Landless. With Neville?
- 5:25Speaker 8: Yes, but he never came back.
- 5:26Speaker 4: Where is he? Ask Landless where he is.
- 5:28Speaker 8: Neville's not home either.
- 5:30Speaker 4: Not home? I'll be down directly. As he joined me,
- 5:42Speaker 4: the brave realization of what might have transpired was clearly
- 5:45Speaker 4: writ upon Dean Chris Parker's face. Hurriedly, he roused a
- 5:48Speaker 4: number of cottage servants from their holiday beds and a
- 5:51Speaker 4: search was begun. A search for my missing nephew, Edwin Drood,
- 5:56Speaker 4: and for the dean's missing protege, Neville Landless. There it is.
- 6:08Speaker 8: The river.
- 6:10Speaker 4: The river they went to see at the height of
- 6:11Speaker 4: the storm last night.
- 6:12Speaker 8: You never saw them again, Jasper?
- 6:15Speaker 4: No, neither one returned.
- 6:17Speaker 8: Was there any quarrel between them?
- 6:19Speaker 9: Any hint of the disagreements they'd had upon other occasions?
- 6:22Speaker 2: None.
- 6:23Speaker 4: The Christmas Eve dinner had gone exactly as I'd planned.
- 6:25Speaker 4: They'd shaken hands. Apparently it resolved their differences. And when
- 6:29Speaker 4: they left, they went arm in arm.
- 6:31Speaker 9: Tell me, Jasper, whose idea was it to visit the river?
- 6:35Speaker 9: Was it Neville's?
- 6:38Speaker 4: I'll not cast doubt where it may be undeserved. It
- 6:41Speaker 4: could have been anyone's suggestion. Mine, Edwin's.
- 6:45Speaker 8: I don't like this, Jasper.
- 6:47Speaker 9: There's a feeling about it all that strikes chill to
- 6:50Speaker 9: my bones. Oh, Mark, one of the searching parties. They
- 6:53Speaker 9: found someone, Jasper.
- 6:55Speaker 8: They found... You take your hands off me. What right
- 6:58Speaker 8: have you to... Edwin Grood is still among the missing.
- 6:59Speaker 8: Easy does it now, sir.
- 7:01Speaker 4: Take them off.
- 7:01Speaker 8: Easy, if you please, Mr.
- 7:02Speaker 10: Landis.
- 7:05Speaker 8: Take your hands off me. What right have you to
- 7:07Speaker 8: seize my person like this? Will you take them off me?
- 7:09Speaker 4: In a moment, sir.
- 7:09Speaker 2: In a moment.
- 7:11Speaker 8: There you be, Dean Crisparkle. We found your man, as
- 7:14Speaker 8: you see.
- 7:14Speaker 4: Yes, Joe.
- 7:15Speaker 8: I see you may release him.
- 7:16Speaker 4: Aye, sir.
- 7:17Speaker 8: But it's belligerent he is. I'd beware of him if
- 7:19Speaker 8: I was you. Didn't want to return with us at all,
- 7:22Speaker 8: he didn't. What is all this, sir? What is the meaning?
- 7:25Speaker 2: I was out for an early morning walk when these
- 7:27Speaker 2: blackguards seized me bodily.
- 7:28Speaker 8: They forced me to return here and said it was
- 7:30Speaker 8: by your orders. As it was, Neville. But why, sir?
- 7:34Speaker 8: Surely there's some explanation. Why? Where is my nephew, Landless?
- 7:38Speaker 8: Your nephew? Yes, Edwin Drood. Where is he? Why ask me?
- 7:41Speaker 8: Why should I know of Drood's whereabouts?
- 7:42Speaker 4: Because you were the last person in his company and
- 7:44Speaker 4: he's not to be found.
- 7:45Speaker 8: Speak, sir.
- 7:46Speaker 4: Where is he?
- 7:46Speaker 9: Stay, stay, Jasper. Permit me to question him. Neville, you
- 7:51Speaker 9: left Mr. Jasper's residence last night with Edwin Drood? I?
- 7:56Speaker 8: Yes, sir. You went down to the river together? Yes,
- 8:00Speaker 8: to see the reaction of the storm upon it.
- 8:02Speaker 9: How long did you stay there?
- 8:03Speaker 2: Well, it's ten minutes, more or less.
- 8:06Speaker 8: And then? Well, Drood took leave of me. Did he
- 8:09Speaker 8: say where he was going then? Well, yes, to return
- 8:11Speaker 8: to Mr. Jasper's. That was the last you saw of him?
- 8:15Speaker 8: The very last. If something's happened to Drood, I most
- 8:17Speaker 8: certainly had nothing to do with it.
- 8:20Speaker 4: What are those stains upon your jacket, Mr.
- 8:22Speaker 5: Landless?
- 8:24Speaker 4: Stains? And that walking stick you're carrying, Joe, the same
- 8:27Speaker 4: stains are upon it.
- 8:28Speaker 8: Aye, so they are. Blood stains, they be, Mr. Jasper.
- 8:32Speaker 4: And the stick, to whom does that belong? Why, to Mr.
- 8:36Speaker 2: Landis, sir.
- 8:36Speaker 4: We took it off him.
- 8:37Speaker 8: Had to, the fuss and all he was putting up. Well,
- 8:39Speaker 8: of course they're blood stains.
- 8:41Speaker 2: I fought with these men thinking they were foot pads.
- 8:44Speaker 8: If their blood has been spilled, it must be theirs
- 8:46Speaker 8: or mine. Neville, I think you'd best accompany us to
- 8:52Speaker 8: the authorities.
- 9:00Speaker 4: At my suggestion, we repair to the residence of Cloisterham's
- 9:03Speaker 4: Lord High Mayor, Mr. Thomas Sapsy. And as we stood
- 9:07Speaker 4: there in his parlour, the rendering of authority was as
- 9:10Speaker 4: I knew it would be. Not unlike the person in Mr.
- 9:13Speaker 4: Sapsy himself. Unimaginative, dull, stupid.
- 9:23Speaker 7: Well, gentlemen, this all seems quite clear to me, quite clear.
- 9:26Speaker 7: And I am one who has spared little pain, little pain, gentlemen,
- 9:29Speaker 7: in training myself to see things clearly.
- 9:31Speaker 8: They may be clear to you, sir, but they are
- 9:33Speaker 8: far from being so to me.
- 9:34Speaker 4: Patience, young man, patience.
- 9:35Speaker 7: Justice will be done here of that you may rest
- 9:37Speaker 7: well assured, yes, well assured. And now, allow me to
- 9:41Speaker 7: enumerate the situation. Point number one. There have been several
- 9:45Speaker 7: witnessed quarrels between the two young men in question. The
- 9:48Speaker 7: missing Edwin Drew to the here present Neville Landless.
- 9:51Speaker 8: The quarrels had been repaired, sir. Mr. Jasper himself bears
- 9:54Speaker 8: witness to that.
- 9:55Speaker 4: I have stated there was no quarrel or apparent difference
- 9:58Speaker 4: at your last meeting, Mr. Landless. so, quite so.
- 10:00Speaker 8: One meeting without quarrel, several with.
- 10:02Speaker 7: The scales are unbalanced, I quote. Particularly, one might say,
- 10:06Speaker 7: as the subject or object of those quarrels was the
- 10:09Speaker 7: fiancée of Mr.
- 10:11Speaker 8: Drood.
- 10:11Speaker 4: Surely, Mr. Sapsy, it is not necessary to bring a
- 10:14Speaker 4: young lady's name into this.
- 10:15Speaker 7: I apologize for the necessity, Mr. Jasper, but it would
- 10:17Speaker 7: seem to me that the charming and delightful Miss Rosa
- 10:20Speaker 7: is truly at the heart of the matter confronting us.
- 10:23Speaker 8: At its heart, yes.
- 10:24Speaker 4: In one respect, I am forced to agree with you.
- 10:26Speaker 4: There is no doubt that Lambeth was extremely envious of
- 10:29Speaker 4: Edwin's good fortune in being betrothed of Rosa.
- 10:31Speaker 7: Yes, as I say, the heart. Now, point number two.
- 10:37Speaker 7: The two gentlemen disappear together into the night. Point number three.
- 10:42Speaker 8: Mr. Drood never appears again. Point four. Mr.
- 10:45Speaker 7: Landless is apprehended upon the heath, obviously fleeing cloisterum, and
- 10:49Speaker 7: is returned only by force. Point five. Unexplained bloodstains are
- 10:54Speaker 7: found upon his person and upon the stick he was carrying.
- 10:57Speaker 2: I was not fleeing cloisterum, and the bloodstains are not unexplained.
- 11:00Speaker 7: Circumstances indicate otherwise, Mr.
- 11:02Speaker 5: Landless.
- 11:03Speaker 4: Yes.
- 11:03Speaker 7: Otherwise, and the taking of a fellow creature's life is
- 11:06Speaker 7: to take something that don't belong to you, you know.
- 11:09Speaker 8: Taking of a fellow creature? What madness is this? Oh, Mr. Jasper,
- 11:15Speaker 8: surely you don't believe that.
- 11:16Speaker 4: My interest lies only in the return of my nephew.
- 11:19Speaker 4: And if he's never to return, in seeing that justice
- 11:21Speaker 4: is rightly done.
- 11:22Speaker 7: Yes, precisely what I had in mind, Mr.
- 11:24Speaker 4: Jasper.
- 11:25Speaker 8: Precisely.
- 11:33Speaker 4: My further suggestions to Mr. Sapsee were immediately carried out.
- 11:36Speaker 4: Black cards were posted, the river dragged. A feverish search began.
- 11:41Speaker 4: Days went by, then weeks. And the end result was nothing.
- 11:44Speaker 4: No trace of Edwin Drool was ever found. Finally, when
- 11:54Speaker 4: all hope was abandoned, Mr. Sapsey delivered his final resolution.
- 11:58Speaker 7: It would appear, gentlemen, that the mystery of Edwin Drood
- 12:02Speaker 7: has not as yet been solved.
- 12:04Speaker 4: No, not solved.
- 12:06Speaker 7: However, certain horrible suspicions as yet remain. In the interest
- 12:10Speaker 7: of all concerned, therefore, I make the following suggestion.
- 12:15Speaker 4: It is that Mr.
- 12:17Speaker 7: Neville Landless remove his presence from the city of Cloisterham...
- 12:21Speaker 7: And unless there comes a time when certain horrible suspicions
- 12:24Speaker 7: no longer exist, that he'll remain away from here forever.
- 12:36Speaker 4: Late afternoon of that same day, I went to see Rosa.
- 12:39Speaker 4: We met in the garden of the seminary house.
- 12:43Speaker 11: You wish to see me, Mr.
- 12:44Speaker 2: Jasper?
- 12:45Speaker 4: That is a desire which has lived with me for
- 12:46Speaker 4: a long while, Rosa. Only the unhappy circumstances of the
- 12:50Speaker 4: past few weeks have prevented its fulfillment.
- 12:53Speaker 11: And you feel that Mayor Sapsy's announcement has now cleared
- 12:56Speaker 11: the way for you?
- 12:57Speaker 4: Not for me.
- 12:59Speaker 8: For us.
- 12:59Speaker 11: Grief does not come to an end with an official pronouncement, Mr.
- 13:03Speaker 8: Jasper.
- 13:04Speaker 4: Surely even the natural sadness you feel must be tinged
- 13:07Speaker 4: with relief.
- 13:08Speaker 1: Relief?
- 13:08Speaker 4: You no longer are faced with the prospect of a forced,
- 13:11Speaker 4: distasteful marriage to Edwin. You're free of your promise to
- 13:14Speaker 4: your parents. Now that Edwin's gone, there's There's nothing to
- 13:19Speaker 4: prevent our getting married at once.
- 13:21Speaker 8: Our getting married?
- 13:22Speaker 4: I'm sorry I put it so bluntly, my dear, but
- 13:24Speaker 4: we waited so long, kept our love for each other
- 13:26Speaker 4: buried so deeply. Surely you can't blame me for speaking
- 13:30Speaker 4: so frankly now.
- 13:31Speaker 11: No, and with Edwin gone, there's no need for me
- 13:34Speaker 11: to be silent. You have my solemn word for it, Mr. Jasper,
- 13:38Speaker 11: that there is not one drop of love in my
- 13:40Speaker 11: heart for you, rather only loathing and hatred.
- 13:43Speaker 10: Rosa!
- 13:44Speaker 11: I've always despised you, though I tried to hide it
- 13:47Speaker 11: for Edwin's sake. Despised you because you pursued me with
- 13:50Speaker 11: your eyes, with your thoughts, whispering to me in your
- 13:53Speaker 11: mind of your obscene love, even though I was engaged
- 13:56Speaker 11: to Edwin. Edwin, the nephew you so falsely pretended was
- 14:00Speaker 11: the dearest thing on earth to me.
- 14:02Speaker 8: Rosa, you're overwrought.
- 14:03Speaker 4: The strain of these past weeks.
- 14:05Speaker 8: You refuse to believe.
- 14:06Speaker 4: I can't believe it, my dear.
- 14:07Speaker 11: I love you, an old man. The man I love,
- 14:11Speaker 11: the man I still love, is Neville Landless.
- 14:13Speaker 8: Landless?
- 14:14Speaker 11: Yes, Neville. The man I was going to marry.
- 14:16Speaker 8: What do you mean, Rosa? You were going to marry Edwin? No, Mr. Jasper.
- 14:21Speaker 8: You told me you were.
- 14:21Speaker 11: That was before Edwin and I released each other from
- 14:24Speaker 11: our vows, Mr.
- 14:25Speaker 8: Jasper. Released? Then Edwin didn't have to die? No, Mr. Jasper.
- 14:35Speaker 11: Whether Edwin was alive or dead, I was free to
- 14:38Speaker 11: marry the man of my choice.
- 14:40Speaker 8: Oh!
- 14:56Speaker 3: Autolite is bringing you Mr. Herbert Marshall in The Mystery
- 15:00Speaker 3: of Edwin Drood. Tonight's presentation in radio's outstanding theater of thrills, Suspense.
- 15:07Speaker 11: Suspense.
- 15:18Speaker 5: Hello, our committee is investigating.
- 15:20Speaker 2: And what have you found, Senator?
- 15:22Speaker 5: That the Autolite Stay-Full battery needs water only three times
- 15:26Speaker 5: a year in normal car use.
- 15:29Speaker 2: Now, that's not all, Senator, because the Autolite Stay-Full battery
- 15:32Speaker 2: gives longer life. as proved by tests conducted according to
- 15:36Speaker 2: accepted life cycle standards.
- 15:37Speaker 5: Yes, Harlow, and you know what's responsible.
- 15:41Speaker 2: Why, those fiberglass retaining mats that surround every positive plate...
- 15:45Speaker 2: to reduce shedding and flaking... and hold the power-producing materials
- 15:49Speaker 2: in place.
- 15:49Speaker 5: And we've found the Autolite stay-full battery... is the favorite
- 15:53Speaker 5: of millions of car owners from coast to coast.
- 15:56Speaker 2: Thank you, Senator. Friends, see your Autolite battery dealer. He
- 16:00Speaker 2: services all makes of batteries... and he has an Autolite
- 16:03Speaker 2: stay-full for your car if a replacement is needed. To
- 16:07Speaker 2: quickly locate him, phone Western Union by number and ask
- 16:10Speaker 2: for Operator 25.
- 16:11Speaker 8: I'll tell you the name of.
- 16:13Speaker 6: Your nearest Autolite battery dealer where you can get an
- 16:15Speaker 6: Autolite stay-full, the battery that needs water only three times
- 16:19Speaker 6: a year in normal car use.
- 16:21Speaker 2: And remember, from bumper to tail light, you're always right
- 16:26Speaker 2: with Autolite.
- 16:29Speaker 3: And now, Autolite brings back to our Hollywood soundstage Mr.
- 16:33Speaker 3: Herbert Marshall in Elliot Lewis' production of The Mystery of
- 16:37Speaker 3: Edwin Drood, a tale well calculated to keep you in suspense.
- 16:42Speaker 8: Suspense.
- 16:58Speaker 4: How does one relate the ending of a world, the
- 17:01Speaker 4: stunning collapse of all that has meaning, of all that
- 17:04Speaker 4: is life? I will not attempt to do so. For
- 17:09Speaker 4: everything that can be said was said on that fateful afternoon.
- 17:11Speaker 4: And so the story of Edwin Drood was over. Or
- 17:17Speaker 4: so I thought.
- 17:18Speaker 10: Good day to you, Mr.
- 17:23Speaker 8: Gaspar. What?
- 17:27Speaker 4: Oh, it's you, Duddles.
- 17:29Speaker 10: I am what is known as old Duddles, it be.
- 17:32Speaker 10: Come to pay another visit to the resting place of
- 17:35Speaker 10: the old ones, Mr.
- 17:37Speaker 4: Jasper? I didn't know, Duddles. As a matter of fact,
- 17:39Speaker 4: I hadn't even noticed that I was walking past the crypt.
- 17:42Speaker 4: My mind was elsewhere, I imagine.
- 17:44Speaker 10: I thought perhaps you might be coming round for another
- 17:47Speaker 10: lesson in burying dead bodies, Mr.
- 17:50Speaker 4: Jasper. What's meant by that about, Duddles?
- 17:53Speaker 10: Well, now, I recall one night old Doddles gave you
- 17:57Speaker 10: a lesson about finding bodies of the old ones. Stopped
- 18:00Speaker 10: here and there with his hammer, he did. Quoting out
- 18:04Speaker 10: the hollow walls.
- 18:05Speaker 8: Remembers, don't you?
- 18:07Speaker 4: Oh, yes, yes, I believe I recall something like that.
- 18:10Speaker 4: An evening without anything to do. Idle curiosity.
- 18:13Speaker 5: He could have been, Mr.
- 18:14Speaker 10: Jasper. Though it didn't seem as such on last Christmas.
- 18:18Speaker 8: Eve, it didn't.
- 18:19Speaker 4: What about last Christmas Eve?
- 18:21Speaker 10: Why, you was down here again, Mr.
- 18:24Speaker 4: Jasper.
- 18:25Speaker 10: Tapping the walls with Donald Hammer.
- 18:28Speaker 4: Yourself, you was. You're mistaken. I was nowhere near the
- 18:30Speaker 4: crypt on Christmas Eve. Perhaps. Perhaps. And I'll wager you
- 18:35Speaker 4: had a bottle or two of holiday cheer beneath your belt.
- 18:37Speaker 8: At the time.
- 18:37Speaker 4: Perhaps.
- 18:40Speaker 10: Though I would have swore it were you.
- 19:00Speaker 4: Hello. Come in, Mr. Jasper. Come in. And who may
- 19:05Speaker 4: you be, sir? Thatcher is the name, Vic Thatcher. Came calling.
- 19:11Speaker 4: Found you out. Made myself at home. So I note. This?
- 19:16Speaker 4: Favorite of mine. Mulled wine. Thought I'd prepare. Honor the
- 19:20Speaker 4: occasion and all. The occasion of an absolute stranger making
- 19:24Speaker 4: himself at home in my lodgings. Not ordinary circumstances, hmm?
- 19:29Speaker 4: Quite agree. Nevertheless, honorable occasion. Then perhaps you'd care to explain, Mr. Dattery. Gladly. Gladly. Perfect, sir.
- 19:42Speaker 4: Won't you join me? I'm awaiting that explanation, sir. I
- 19:45Speaker 4: bring you greetings, sir.
- 19:47Speaker 5: Greetings from whom?
- 19:49Speaker 4: Your dear... boy, Mr. Jasper. Greetings from Edwin Drew. Greetings
- 19:55Speaker 4: from Edwin?
- 19:57Speaker 10: Aye.
- 19:58Speaker 4: Sent you the best. Apologizes for not writing. Trust you're
- 20:01Speaker 4: not worried. Told you, didn't I? Honorable occasion. Indeed, this
- 20:06Speaker 4: is an occasion, Mr. Datchery. I've been worried sick about
- 20:09Speaker 4: the dear boy. You found him well?
- 20:11Speaker 5: Blooming.
- 20:11Speaker 4: Best of health. Where is he? Where did you meet
- 20:13Speaker 4: with him? London. Some lodging house. Kept meeting on stairs.
- 20:17Speaker 5: Natural thing.
- 20:18Speaker 4: Of course.
- 20:18Speaker 8: Quite natural.
- 20:19Speaker 4: Business took me to Cloisterham. Told Edwin. Made me promise
- 20:23Speaker 4: a greeting. Here I am. Care to try the wine?
- 20:27Speaker 5: Quite good.
- 20:29Speaker 4: My apologies, Mr. Thatcher. Certainly I would. Toast to Edwin.
- 20:35Speaker 8: To Edwin.
- 20:35Speaker 5: Ah! Perfect.
- 20:40Speaker 4: Well, you're on your way now. Duty over. One moment, Mr. Thatcher.
- 20:44Speaker 4: I must write Edwin and tell him how happy you've
- 20:46Speaker 4: made me. What's the dear boy's address? He hasn't got it.
- 20:50Speaker 4: He moved. Didn't say where. Then there's no more you
- 20:53Speaker 4: can tell me about him, where he can be reached? Nothing.
- 20:55Speaker 8: I see.
- 20:57Speaker 4: Wondering if it's a tall tale, Mr.
- 20:59Speaker 8: Jasper?
- 21:00Speaker 4: No real greetings? No real Edwin? Surely that's a possibility, Mr. Thatcher. Ordinarily,
- 21:07Speaker 4: not now. Mementos. Wanted you to have them. To remember him. Oh,
- 21:14Speaker 4: duty's fully discharged. I'll be leaving.
- 21:16Speaker 1: Good day, Mr.
- 21:19Speaker 8: Jasper.
- 21:20Speaker 4: Excellent, boy. I scarcely heard him leave, this Mr. Datchery.
- 21:33Speaker 4: I was staring at the objects he'd placed upon the table...
- 21:37Speaker 4: A watch and chain. Edwin's watch and chain. He'd been
- 21:41Speaker 4: wearing them the night of the big storm. The last
- 21:44Speaker 4: night he'd been seen alive.
- 21:45Speaker 8: Mr.
- 21:48Speaker 10: Desiree!
- 21:51Speaker 8: Mr. Jasper, one moment, please.
- 21:54Speaker 4: Good afternoon, Rosa.
- 21:55Speaker 11: Have you heard the news, Mr.
- 21:57Speaker 8: Jasper?
- 21:57Speaker 4: What news, Rosa?
- 21:58Speaker 11: It concerns Edwin Brood.
- 22:00Speaker 7: Edwin?
- 22:00Speaker 11: Yes. He's alive, Mr.
- 22:02Speaker 1: Jasper.
- 22:03Speaker 11: Edwin's alive. Did you hear me, Mr.
- 22:06Speaker 2: Jasper?
- 22:06Speaker 11: Did you hear what I said about Edwin? He's alive.
- 22:09Speaker 4: That's a rather astounding statement, Melissa.
- 22:11Speaker 8: I know.
- 22:12Speaker 11: I could scarcely believe it myself.
- 22:14Speaker 7: But here.
- 22:16Speaker 11: This came to me in the post today from London.
- 22:18Speaker 11: It's a letter from Edwin. Oh, isn't it wonderful, Mr. Jasper,
- 22:22Speaker 11: that we were all so certain that he was dead
- 22:24Speaker 11: that someone had killed him on the night of the storm.
- 22:27Speaker 11: And there, there in your very hand is the proof
- 22:30Speaker 11: that he's alive.
- 22:41Speaker 4: No greater horror can visit the mind of man than
- 22:44Speaker 4: the certain knowledge that he has suddenly become mad. And
- 22:48Speaker 4: such was the horror which dwelt within me that fateful day.
- 22:50Speaker 4: For it was the only explanation that was left. Edwin
- 22:54Speaker 4: was dead. He had to be. The memory or dream
- 22:57Speaker 4: that has lived with me since Christmas morn is too clear,
- 23:00Speaker 4: too sharply etched, for there to be any doubt. Edwin
- 23:04Speaker 4: was dead. And yet within a single afternoon, two people
- 23:08Speaker 4: have brought me proof that Edwin was alive. Proof as clear,
- 23:11Speaker 4: as sharply edged, as that memory. A sane mind does
- 23:16Speaker 4: not exist in a world of such paradox. I'd gone mad.
- 23:28Speaker 4: Time finds no haven within the dread confines of madness.
- 23:32Speaker 4: Nor was that the exception. Somehow, without my knowing of it,
- 23:37Speaker 4: the day was gone... In what had been a sunlit sky,
- 23:40Speaker 4: a night-darkened storm lay muttering ominously. My mud-spattered gaiters, bone-weary
- 23:46Speaker 4: legs spoke mutely of hours of aimless wandering, hours of
- 23:49Speaker 4: doing fruitless battle with that thing of horrible wonder apart,
- 23:54Speaker 4: which was now my mind. And then I was where
- 23:57Speaker 4: I'd been destined to be all along, the one place
- 24:00Speaker 4: where the truth could be found, incontestable truth. I entered
- 24:05Speaker 4: the venerable crypt of Troisterum. The flashes of lightning etched
- 24:20Speaker 4: in weird relief the ruined habitations of the dead. Half-standing
- 24:24Speaker 4: pillars of stone assumed the attitude of watchful guardians, grinning
- 24:28Speaker 4: evilly from their sentry boxes of the night. And the
- 24:30Speaker 4: broken wall toward which I made my way was an
- 24:32Speaker 4: ancient catacomb. Concealing within it the secret that only I
- 24:36Speaker 4: knew was there. I climbed to its top and looked
- 24:40Speaker 4: down upon the rubbish that almost filled the hollow space
- 24:43Speaker 4: between its sides. A rusty spade lay nearby. I seized
- 24:47Speaker 4: it and began to dig. Again, time became meaningless. There
- 25:06Speaker 4: was nothing but the feverish labor of uncovering the truth.
- 25:10Speaker 4: Of finding a rusted watch and chain that would not
- 25:12Speaker 4: possibly lie bright and untarnished on my table. of uncovering
- 25:15Speaker 4: a skeletonized human hand that was incapable of writing the
- 25:18Speaker 4: letter I'd seen. And then the labor, too, became meaningless.
- 25:24Speaker 4: There was no watch, no chain, no hand. There was
- 25:29Speaker 4: nothing in there but rubble.
- 25:30Speaker 8: Looking for something, Mr.
- 25:31Speaker 4: Jasper?
- 25:32Speaker 8: Landers. I asked you if you were looking for something, Mr. Jasper.
- 25:35Speaker 8: What are you doing here?
- 25:36Speaker 4: You ordered to stay away from Christchurch.
- 25:37Speaker 8: I came back, Mr. Jasper. Why? What are you doing here?
- 25:39Speaker 8: The same thing that you are, seeking the truth. The
- 25:41Speaker 8: truth about what? The mystery of Edwin Drood.
- 25:43Speaker 5: There is no mystery.
- 25:44Speaker 4: Edwin Drood is alive.
- 25:46Speaker 8: Is he?
- 25:47Speaker 4: Ask Rosa. Ask Mr. Datchery.
- 25:48Speaker 5: They'll tell you.
- 25:49Speaker 8: They know he's alive. No, Mr. Jasper.
- 25:51Speaker 2: You killed him last Christmas Eve. Edwin Drood is dead.
- 25:54Speaker 2: He's not.
- 25:54Speaker 8: I tell you. How could he be? If he were dead,
- 25:56Speaker 8: why isn't he lying in this grave? The grave in
- 25:59Speaker 8: which I... The grave in which you buried him?
- 26:03Speaker 5: No.
- 26:04Speaker 8: There was no grave.
- 26:05Speaker 4: Only a dream.
- 26:05Speaker 8: It was all a dream. What was the dream, Mr.
- 26:07Speaker 4: Jasper? Everything. Following him back to the river. My hands
- 26:10Speaker 4: around his throat. Hiding his body here.
- 26:11Speaker 8: In this wall. It was all a dream. Can't you understand?
- 26:14Speaker 4: I've been driven.
- 26:15Speaker 8: Out of my mind by a dream.
- 26:17Speaker 4: I didn't do it.
- 26:18Speaker 8: But you did, Mr. Jasper. You're a fool, analyst.
- 26:20Speaker 5: Look for yourself.
- 26:21Speaker 4: This grave I prepared for him is empty.
- 26:23Speaker 8: He isn't there. No, but he was here until two
- 26:25Speaker 8: weeks ago. Two weeks ago?
- 26:29Speaker 2: That was when a London detective and I found what
- 26:31Speaker 2: was left of him.
- 26:33Speaker 10: Actually?
- 26:33Speaker 5: Yes.
- 26:34Speaker 2: With the help of doodles and his invaluable hammer, we
- 26:37Speaker 2: found Edwin Drood. Found the watch which identified him. You
- 26:41Speaker 2: told me just now how.
- 26:43Speaker 8: You killed him. The watch? And Rosa's letter?
- 26:47Speaker 2: Written several years ago. Reposted from London. Shall we go now, Mr. Jasper?
- 26:52Speaker 8: No.
- 26:54Speaker 2: You took me before the authorities once. Now it's my
- 26:57Speaker 2: time to take you.
- 27:01Speaker 8: Prospect of the gallows make you happy, Jasper? In a way, Lenders.
- 27:07Speaker 4: At least I'll go to it. Knowing that I wasn't mad.
- 27:43Speaker 8: Suspense.
- 27:45Speaker 3: Presented by Autolite. Tonight's star, Mr. Herbert Marshall.
- 27:50Speaker 2: This is Harlow Wilcox speaking for Autolite, world's largest independent
- 27:55Speaker 2: manufacturer of automotive electrical equipment. Autolite is proud to serve
- 28:00Speaker 2: the greatest names in the industry. That's why during the
- 28:03Speaker 2: early months of this year, as we did a year ago,
- 28:06Speaker 2: the Autolite family will join together in saluting the leading
- 28:10Speaker 2: car manufacturers who install Autolite products as original equipment. Our
- 28:15Speaker 2: Autolite family includes some 30,000 men and women in Autolite
- 28:19Speaker 2: plants in the United States, Canada, and many foreign countries,
- 28:23Speaker 2: and the 18,000 people who have invested a portion of
- 28:26Speaker 2: their savings in Autolite. as well as thousands of Autolite
- 28:30Speaker 2: distributors and dealers, and the many leading manufacturers who use
- 28:34Speaker 2: Autolite products as original equipment. Our Autolite family will salute
- 28:39Speaker 2: the DeSoto division of Chrysler Corporation on the next Autolite
- 28:42Speaker 2: suspense television program. If you live in a television area,
- 28:46Speaker 2: check the day and time of suspense so that you
- 28:49Speaker 2: will be sure to see this program.
- 28:59Speaker 3: Next week, we recreate an historical puzzle as we attempt
- 29:03Speaker 3: to locate a sunken treasure. The story, based on fact,
- 29:07Speaker 3: is called Gold of the Atomar.
- 29:11Speaker 4: Our star, Mr.
- 29:12Speaker 3: John Hodiak.
- 29:13Speaker 4: That's next week on... Suspense. Suspense.
- 29:30Speaker 3: Suspense is produced and directed by Elliot Lewis with music
- 29:34Speaker 3: composed by Lucian Morawick and conducted by Ludd Gluskin. The
- 29:38Speaker 3: Mystery of Edwin Drood was adapted from Charles Dickens' unfinished
- 29:42Speaker 3: novel by Sidney Marshall. In tonight's story, Ben Wright was
- 29:46Speaker 3: heard as landless. Featured in the cast were Betty Harford,
- 29:50Speaker 3: Joseph Kearns, Ramsey Hill, Charles Davis, and William Johnstone. And remember,
- 29:57Speaker 3: next week, Mr. John Hodiak in Gold.
- 30:02Speaker 8: Of the Atomar.
- 30:11Speaker 2: This is the CBS Radio Network.
- 30:14Speaker 11: This is the CBS Radio Network.
- 30:25Speaker 1: You have heard Suspense and The Mystery of Edwin Drood,
- 30:28Speaker 1: Part 2. Good night, and thank you for joining us.
- 30:32Speaker 1: Follow Old Time Mystery Radio for more classic mystery and
- 30:36Speaker 1: detective broadcasts.