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Suspense - "Death of an Old Flame" (Old Time Radio, 1961) · Suspense | Old Time Radio

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Cocktail lounge pianist Ronnie Warren is drawn back toward Anna,
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: the wife who left him years earlier, when a lucrative
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: fur robbery offers money and a chance to revive their past.
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: Their arrangement includes Anna's criminal associate, Leo, and places Ronnie
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: between old attachments, divided loyalties, and mistrust. From CBS's Suspense,
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: this is Death of an Old Flame, Episode 9, originally
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: broadcast October 2, 1961. Larry Haynes stars as Ronnie, with
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: Terry Keene as Anna and Robert Donnelly as Leo. The
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: supporting cast includes Ralph Bell as Frank and Evie Juster
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: as the girl. George Bamber wrote the script, Bruno Zirato Jr. produced,
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: and Norman Paris composed and performed the special music. And now,
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: our story begins.
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: A tale well calculated to keep you in... Suspense.
• 1:04
  Speaker 3: I looked over his shoulder to see the big open
• 1:06
  Speaker 3: mouth of a nice blue.
• 1:08
  Speaker 4: 45.
• 1:09
  Speaker 3: And suddenly I knew what a man feels like when
• 1:11
  Speaker 3: he's just finished digging his own grave.
• 1:14
  Speaker 5: Listen now to Act One of Death of an Old Flame,
• 1:18
  Speaker 5: starring Larry Haynes and Terry Keene, and written especially for
• 1:22
  Speaker 5: suspense by George Bamber.
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: The name's Warren, Ronnie Warren. I play piano. I play
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: what they call piano bars.
• 1:34
  Speaker 3: That's where they tear the top off a baby grand
• 1:36
  Speaker 3: and build a counter all the way around for the
• 1:38
  Speaker 3: jerks to put their drinks on. I must have played
• 1:41
  Speaker 3: back and forth across the country a dozen times. Never
• 1:43
  Speaker 3: the top spots, but all the joints I worked kept
• 1:46
  Speaker 3: the pianos tuned.
• 1:47
  Speaker 6: There I mean. The lady wants to hear a song.
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: That's Leo. He owns this place. Not a bad guy,
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: as owners go, but still an owner.
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: I look up at the chick at the far end
• 1:59
  Speaker 3: of the piano. She smiles, I smile, slow and shy.
• 2:03
  Speaker 3: You know, I gave her the old cock of Spaniel,
• 2:05
  Speaker 3: like a boy fresh out of college.
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: And she eats it up.
• 2:08
  Speaker 6: She even wrote it out for you.
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so I see.
• 2:13
  Speaker 3: A hundred and fifty a week to expend her had
• 2:14
  Speaker 3: just stumbled to the back. I figured if she was
• 2:17
  Speaker 3: going to make a move, she'd wait.
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: Till his back was turned.
• 2:19
  Speaker 6: She says she'd like to hear stardust.
• 2:22
  Speaker 7: How?
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: Well, tell her that looks more like a telephone number
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: to me.
• 2:26
  Speaker 6: I think she wants you to call her.
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: Well, tell her I never learned how to use a phone. Ronnie,
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: she's a customer. Yeah, yeah, I know.
• 2:34
  Speaker 3: So I smile at her again like we're both college
• 2:36
  Speaker 3: sophomores and this is our first date.
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: But she's a chick like any other.
• 2:41
  Speaker 3: Poured into an expensive dress for a night on a town.
• 2:44
  Speaker 3: A local princess who thinks she deserves better than she got.
• 2:47
  Speaker 3: Better than a second-hand car in.
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: A garage and television every night. Better than the guy
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: that brought her.
• 2:51
  Speaker 3: Better than anything she'll ever have from the first moment
• 2:53
  Speaker 3: she has it until the last moment she throws it away.
• 2:55
  Speaker 3: For the moment, the piano player in the downtown club
• 3:00
  Speaker 3: is better.
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: And that piano player is me. Tell her I get
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: off work at 2. She says she can't make it.
• 3:09
  Speaker 6: She's with a guy.
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I see that, but it hasn't stopped her this far,
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: has it?
• 3:12
  Speaker 8: Ronnie.
• 3:13
  Speaker 6: Leo, I've.
• 3:13
  Speaker 3: Been playing saloons for 10 years, and if I've learned anything,
• 3:16
  Speaker 3: I've learned never to trust a chick and.
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: Never give them an even break. She'll be here, and
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: I'll take her home. If something better doesn't turn up.
• 3:24
  Speaker 6: Tell me, Ronnie, how do you do it?
• 3:27
  Speaker 3: It's my boyish charm. My boyish charm. That's a joke
• 3:32
  Speaker 3: around the saloons. I'm 35 years old, and I still
• 3:36
  Speaker 3: look like I should be in college. Some guys say
• 3:39
  Speaker 3: that's why I score so much, but really, it's the.
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: Way I play piano. I play like... like I'm in
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: another world.
• 3:47
  Speaker 3: And when I look up, I always smile, like I'm
• 3:50
  Speaker 3: pleasantly surprised that such excellent music could find itself in
• 3:53
  Speaker 3: the presence of such superior company. I smile this way
• 3:58
  Speaker 3: whether I'm looking at the wall, a bartender, a crying drunk,
• 4:00
  Speaker 3: or the chick I'm working on at the moment. But
• 4:03
  Speaker 3: out of all of them, only the chicks are flaky
• 4:06
  Speaker 3: enough to take it personally.
• 4:09
  Speaker 7: Why do I get along without you?
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: I don't play that number.
• 4:13
  Speaker 7: You used to.
• 4:16
  Speaker 3: I hadn't seen her come in. And I swung around
• 4:19
  Speaker 3: to see what the voice told me I would find.
• 4:21
  Speaker 3: The eyes were still incredible.
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: So deep and brilliantly blue that you had to look
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: twice to believe what you saw.
• 4:29
  Speaker 7: Hello, Ronnie.
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: She smiled.
• 4:33
  Speaker 3: Then somebody took a clean blade and dumped my insides
• 4:36
  Speaker 3: on the floor.
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: There was nothing left but an empty, aching hurt.
• 4:41
  Speaker 3: I turned back to the piano because I was afraid
• 4:43
  Speaker 3: I couldn't control my mouth.
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: Hello, Anna.
• 4:50
  Speaker 7: Mind if I sit down?
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: No, no, go right ahead. Haven't seen you around the
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: pool in a long time.
• 4:58
  Speaker 7: Five and a half years, to be exact.
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: I didn't keep track.
• 5:01
  Speaker 7: Will you buy me a drink?
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: I don't buy drinks for customers. She sat like she
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: was suddenly very tired. She toyed with her gloves for
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: a moment the way she used to.
• 5:13
  Speaker 3: Her mouth was as I remembered it. And her hair,
• 5:18
  Speaker 3: still soft and natural gold. But then I noticed there
• 5:22
  Speaker 3: was a hole in one of the fingers of her
• 5:24
  Speaker 3: white cotton gloves and her dress was last year's style.
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: I signaled the bartender to buy her a drink.
• 5:31
  Speaker 7: Thanks.
• 5:33
  Speaker 9: I read in the paper you were playing here. I
• 5:36
  Speaker 9: kept track of you, where you'd been, when you'd hit town.
• 5:39
  Speaker 3: Yeah, well, I would have kept in touch, but when
• 5:42
  Speaker 3: I got back that night, all I could find was
• 5:43
  Speaker 3: an empty hotel room.
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: You didn't leave much of a forwarding address.
• 5:46
  Speaker 7: Ronnie, I know. I know it was wrong. I've been
• 5:51
  Speaker 7: sorry a million times. The paper never said... Did you
• 5:57
  Speaker 7: marry again?
• 5:59
  Speaker 3: When the man said, until death do you part, I
• 6:01
  Speaker 3: figured he wouldn't have bothered to say it if he
• 6:03
  Speaker 3: hadn't meant it. Besides, it came in handy. When a
• 6:07
  Speaker 3: chick would scream, marry me, I'd just say, oh, baby,
• 6:09
  Speaker 3: I'd love to, but I'm already married.
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: Saved me a lot of scenes. How about you?
• 6:15
  Speaker 9: No.
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: Frankie leave you for somebody else?
• 6:19
  Speaker 7: No, he won't marry me.
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: You still with him?
• 6:25
  Speaker 9: Yes.
• 6:29
  Speaker 4: Ronnie.
• 6:33
  Speaker 7: Play our song.
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: Now, you heard me before. I don't play that song.
• 6:37
  Speaker 7: Ronnie, please.
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: I haven't heard it in so long. Well, I forgot
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: how it goes. I don't believe that. Please.
• 6:43
  Speaker 7: Just once more for old time's sake.
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: That's it. The set's over.
• 7:15
  Speaker 3: Everybody gets a coffee break, including piano players. Come on, Anna,
• 7:18
  Speaker 3: what's the pitch? You don't just run out and then
• 7:20
  Speaker 3: pop up six years later for nothing.
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: What do you want?
• 7:22
  Speaker 6: Ronnie.
• 7:23
  Speaker 7: I need help.
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: What kind of help?
• 7:25
  Speaker 7: Frank's flat. We don't have a cent.
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: What, do you want me to do a loan of money? No, no. Well,
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: then what?
• 7:30
  Speaker 9: He knows where he can make a score. He figures
• 7:33
  Speaker 9: if he can make one good score, we can leave
• 7:34
  Speaker 9: town and start all over again. Maybe go to another country.
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: What score?
• 7:38
  Speaker 9: Frank knows where there's a half million dollars worth of
• 7:40
  Speaker 9: furs just waiting to be picked up. It's an inside job.
• 7:43
  Speaker 9: He'd handle it himself, except he'd be the first one
• 7:45
  Speaker 9: they'd suspect. All you gotta do is help me load
• 7:49
  Speaker 9: the truck and drive.
• 7:51
  Speaker 3: Now, let me get this straight. You want me to
• 7:55
  Speaker 3: help you make a heist, risk a prison rap so
• 7:57
  Speaker 3: you can have enough money to take your boyfriend Frankie
• 8:00
  Speaker 3: someplace else where.
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: He can live happily ever after?
• 8:01
  Speaker 7: Ronnie, you'd get half the take.
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: Anna, the last thing I want is your money.
• 8:06
  Speaker 7: Ronnie, please.
• 8:08
  Speaker 9: Look, I know I shouldn't ask you, but there's no
• 8:10
  Speaker 9: place else I can turn, nobody else I can trust.
• 8:12
  Speaker 3: I wanted to take her in my arms and tell
• 8:14
  Speaker 3: her everything would be all right. Because in the heart
• 8:17
  Speaker 3: of every cynic lie the fragments of one great dream.
• 8:20
  Speaker 3: And in the heart of every lady killer smolders the
• 8:23
  Speaker 3: embers of one great love.
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: So when she said.
• 8:28
  Speaker 7: Please, Ronnie. Just this once.
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: I said... Okay, Anna. Just this once. For old time's sake.
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: When I got to work the next night, I talked
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: to Leo. Boss man, look, I, uh... I have some
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: business from 10 or 12 tonight. I'd like out. It's important?
• 8:54
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's so important that if anybody should ask, I'd
• 8:57
  Speaker 3: be much obliged if you'd say I spent the time
• 8:59
  Speaker 3: sleeping off a hangover on your office couch.
• 9:03
  Speaker 8: Okay.
• 9:04
  Speaker 6: Let me give you a little piece of advice.
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: Like?
• 9:07
  Speaker 6: Like I don't want to know, but if this important
• 9:10
  Speaker 6: business has anything to do with that broad I saw
• 9:12
  Speaker 6: you talking to last night, I'd watch my step.
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: Why?
• 9:17
  Speaker 6: That's Frankie Amato's girl.
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: He's one of the worst rats in this town. I know. Okay,
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: so you know. But watch yourself.
• 9:30
  Speaker 3: When ten o'clock came, I left the piano and slipped
• 9:32
  Speaker 3: out the back way to a truck marked Royal Furs.
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: Anna was sitting inside waiting.
• 9:38
  Speaker 7: Hi, Ronnie.
• 9:39
  Speaker 3: She drove us across town into the back of a
• 9:41
  Speaker 3: small shop. No one was in the alley, so she
• 9:44
  Speaker 3: got out and opened the overhead garage door with a
• 9:46
  Speaker 3: key while I backed the truck inside.
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: She closed the door behind us and locked it.
• 9:50
  Speaker 9: I'll be further inside this cold storage vault.
• 9:56
  Speaker 3: She slid back the heavy door and started stripping the hangers.
• 9:59
  Speaker 3: It didn't take long because there weren't too many pieces.
• 10:02
  Speaker 3: I don't know anything about furs, but I do know
• 10:04
  Speaker 3: that what we took wasn't worth any half a million dollars. Finally,
• 10:08
  Speaker 3: the truck was loaded and we were ready to go.
• 10:10
  Speaker 3: But then she started pouring cleaning fluid out of cans.
• 10:13
  Speaker 9: Help me spread the stuff around, huh? What We can
• 10:18
  Speaker 9: destroy it. Frank says we have to set fire to
• 10:20
  Speaker 9: the place to burn all the evidence.
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: Look, you didn't mention anything about a fire before.
• 10:25
  Speaker 9: I didn't because I was afraid you wouldn't go through with.
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: It if I did. Well, of course I wouldn't.
• 10:29
  Speaker 3: Taking a few furs is one thing, but arson is
• 10:31
  Speaker 3: something else. Somebody could get killed.
• 10:33
  Speaker 7: We have to.
• 10:33
  Speaker 9: Right now, Frank is playing cards with the guy that
• 10:36
  Speaker 9: owns this place. We have to fix his alibi with
• 10:37
  Speaker 9: the time of the fire.
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: Oh, I see. All that matters is Frank and his alibi, huh?
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: All that matters is that Frank is safe. That he's
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: got somebody to steal from, to lie for him. And
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: for what? What does he do for you, Anna?
• 10:50
  Speaker 8: Answer me.
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: What does he do for you?
• 10:51
  Speaker 8: Annie, please.
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: Come on, answer me. What does he do for you? Nothing.
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: Then what do you stay with him for? You happy
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: being turned into a two-bit thief to do his dirty
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: work for him? And for what? To lick his boots
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: in gratitude? Are you happy, Anna? No. Then why, Anna?
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: Why?
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: Ronnie, I.
• 11:16
  Speaker 7: I don't know.
• 11:17
  Speaker 9: If I knew, I probably wouldn't do it. I've wanted
• 11:22
  Speaker 9: to leave him a hundred times.
• 11:25
  Speaker 7: I don't know.
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: Just answer me one thing, baby. Do you love him? I.
• 11:33
  Speaker 7: I don't know.
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: Anna, answer me. Do you love him?
• 11:36
  Speaker 9: No.
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: I love you. Honey, please. I never stopped, Anna.
• 11:41
  Speaker 3: Every town I hit, every place I went, I walked
• 11:43
  Speaker 3: the places we used to walk and listened to the
• 11:45
  Speaker 3: songs we used to sing.
• 11:46
  Speaker 7: Willie, please don't.
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: You don't need this, Anna. Put it down.
• 11:49
  Speaker 3: We could cut out of here, leave this town and
• 11:51
  Speaker 3: never come back.
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: No.
• 11:52
  Speaker 3: We could start all over again, right from the very beginning, Anna.
• 11:54
  Speaker 3: Make it like it was before, only better, a hundred
• 11:56
  Speaker 3: times better.
• 11:57
  Speaker 7: Willie, please, no. Look, we.
• 12:00
  Speaker 9: We can't talk about it now. There isn't any time.
• 12:04
  Speaker 9: Help me finish this, and then... Then we can go
• 12:07
  Speaker 9: to some place and talk about it.
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: No.
• 12:09
  Speaker 7: Ronnie, please. We've got to get out of here.
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: No, no.
• 12:12
  Speaker 9: Help me do this, and I'll never ask you for
• 12:14
  Speaker 9: another thing as long as I live.
• 12:15
  Speaker 8: No, Anna.
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: Please, Ronnie, please.
• 12:21
  Speaker 7: Okay.
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: I'll do it. But on one condition.
• 12:27
  Speaker 6: What?
• 12:28
  Speaker 3: That after we burn this place, you'll come with me
• 12:30
  Speaker 3: and promise never to see Frank again.
• 12:35
  Speaker 7: Okay, Ronnie.
• 12:38
  Speaker 3: I took the chem cleaning fluid from her hands and
• 12:40
  Speaker 3: started splashing it all over the back room and the
• 12:42
  Speaker 3: cold storage vault while she got more of it down.
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: Off the shelf.
• 12:45
  Speaker 3: We splashed more of it on the loading dock and
• 12:47
  Speaker 3: down the hall leading toward the front of the store.
• 12:51
  Speaker 3: Then she stopped at a door marked office.
• 12:54
  Speaker 6: In here.
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: Why in the office?
• 12:55
  Speaker 9: Frank said to make sure the whole store burns.
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: By the way, it didn't sound right to me.
• 13:00
  Speaker 3: But I splashed the stuff all over the walls, behind
• 13:02
  Speaker 3: the desk, the plush carpet on the floor, the papers
• 13:04
  Speaker 3: over the desk, everything. Until the room was reeking with
• 13:07
  Speaker 3: cleaning fluid flames until you could hardly breathe. And suddenly,
• 13:11
  Speaker 3: little things I'd been noticing in the corner of my
• 13:13
  Speaker 3: skull began to hit me wrong. It just didn't add up.
• 13:17
  Speaker 3: Until now, Anna had been as cool as a cucumber,
• 13:19
  Speaker 3: but now she was shaking so badly she could hardly
• 13:21
  Speaker 3: hold a can in her hands. A long coil of
• 13:24
  Speaker 3: rope lay on the top.
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: Of a filing cabinet, looking strangely out of place.
• 13:29
  Speaker 3: And then I noticed that all the mail spread across
• 13:31
  Speaker 3: the desk was addressed to a Mr.
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: Frank Amato. Now, wait a minute. This is Frank's office,
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: isn't it? Ronnie, we gotta hurry. Come on, now answer
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: my question. This is Frank's office, isn't it?
• 13:43
  Speaker 9: No.
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: This is Frankie's office, and he wants it burned for
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: a reason. Now, what is it? I don't know what
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: you're talking about.
• 13:47
  Speaker 8: Oh, yes, you do, Anna.
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: You know a lot more about this setup than you're
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: letting on. Now, what is it?
• 13:51
  Speaker 7: Telling you what?
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: You haven't leveled with me all night, have you? Stay
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: away from me. You haven't leveled with me since the
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: night we met. Don't touch me. Come on, answer me, Anna.
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: What's going on?
• 13:58
  Speaker 10: You heard the lady. You're no player. Keep your hands off.
• 14:03
  Speaker 3: I looked over her shoulder to see the big open
• 14:05
  Speaker 3: mouth of a nice blue. 45. And suddenly I knew
• 14:09
  Speaker 3: what a man feels like when he's just finished digging
• 14:11
  Speaker 3: his own grave.
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: In a moment, we'll return with Act Two of... Suspense.
• 14:21
  Speaker 4: Suspense.
• 14:29
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• 14:34
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• 14:38
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• 14:39
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• 14:40
  Speaker 8: T-E-L-A-R. TELAR.
• 14:43
  Speaker 5: It takes one and a half gallons of Tellar to
• 14:45
  Speaker 5: protect the average full-size car down to zero. And at
• 14:49
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• 14:52
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• 14:56
  Speaker 5: even less for compact cars. But, and this is important,
• 15:00
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• 15:04
  Speaker 5: summer and winter, for as long as you keep your car,
• 15:08
  Speaker 5: any car, new or old. Your servicing dealer will tell
• 15:11
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• 15:15
  Speaker 5: specially recommended for modern aluminum engines. So ask your servicing
• 15:19
  Speaker 5: dealer to install Tellar antifreeze and summer coolant in your car. Remember,
• 15:24
  Speaker 5: it's made by DuPont.
• 15:26
  Speaker 8: Tellar. T-E-L-A-R.
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: Tellar.
• 15:33
  Speaker 8: That's right, college boy. Keep your hands over your head.
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: No one ever introduced us, but I'd say offhand, you're frank.
• 15:40
  Speaker 8: And you're bright, college boy, real bright.
• 15:42
  Speaker 3: Now, look, if this is a shakedown, I'm afraid you
• 15:44
  Speaker 3: got the wrong party.
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: I'm broke.
• 15:46
  Speaker 10: Oh, this isn't penny ante stuff. I'm going after this
• 15:49
  Speaker 10: is money, big money.
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: Well, pardon my density, but I still don't get it.
• 15:52
  Speaker 8: You've had an insurance, haven't you, college boy?
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: Oh, sure, sure.
• 15:55
  Speaker 3: But I don't see how you can collect on a
• 15:57
  Speaker 3: store you don't own.
• 15:59
  Speaker 8: Or do you?
• 16:00
  Speaker 10: I don't own a store. I don't have that kind
• 16:02
  Speaker 10: of change in prison. So I insured myself. Alive, I'm
• 16:06
  Speaker 10: not worth two cents, but dead, I'm worth 50 grand.
• 16:09
  Speaker 10: That's quite a piece of change. And Anna here is
• 16:12
  Speaker 10: my only beneficiary.
• 16:14
  Speaker 6: Oh.
• 16:15
  Speaker 3: Well, I don't know how this figures me. Unless you
• 16:17
  Speaker 3: want me to help you commit suicide.
• 16:20
  Speaker 10: Oh, suicides don't collect. Besides, I wouldn't die for any broad.
• 16:25
  Speaker 10: That's stricter for suckers like you.
• 16:27
  Speaker 3: Okay, I've been a sucker up until now. But I
• 16:30
  Speaker 3: don't think I can make this gig anymore, man.
• 16:32
  Speaker 8: Nobody's gonna commit suicide. I'm gonna be murdered.
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: Well, like I said, I still don't get it.
• 16:37
  Speaker 10: I guess you ain't as bright as I thought. I
• 16:41
  Speaker 10: told the owner of the store I was going to
• 16:43
  Speaker 10: work late tonight, go over the books. The police will
• 16:47
  Speaker 10: think I accidentally left the door unlocked. Somebody found it open,
• 16:50
  Speaker 10: came in, tied me to my chair, stole all the furs...
• 16:52
  Speaker 10: and then burned the store to destroy the evidence.
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: Now, wait a minute.
• 16:56
  Speaker 10: In the meantime, I'll be on my way to Mexico
• 16:58
  Speaker 10: where Anna.
• 16:59
  Speaker 8: Will join me.
• 17:00
  Speaker 10: after she's had sufficient time to recover from her grief...
• 17:04
  Speaker 10: and collected the insurance money.
• 17:05
  Speaker 3: Well, there's only one thing wrong with that little plan, Frankie...
• 17:10
  Speaker 3: Nobody would ever confuse me.
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: With you, not in a million years.
• 17:14
  Speaker 8: Oh, I don't know.
• 17:15
  Speaker 10: We're about the same height and build. You ever seen
• 17:20
  Speaker 10: what a man looks like after he's been soaked with
• 17:21
  Speaker 10: cleaning fluid and touched off with a match? I'm betting
• 17:26
  Speaker 10: there's not much more than a crisp char to compare
• 17:28
  Speaker 10: anything with. You always wanted to take my place, college boy.
• 17:33
  Speaker 10: Sit down in my chair behind the desk and turn
• 17:35
  Speaker 10: around and.
• 17:36
  Speaker 3: Face the wall. I did as I was told. There
• 17:39
  Speaker 3: wasn't much else I could do. But before I did,
• 17:42
  Speaker 3: I took one last look at Anna. She couldn't face me.
• 17:45
  Speaker 10: Hold the gun on him, Anna, while I tie him up.
• 17:48
  Speaker 10: If he even looks like he's going to move, let
• 17:50
  Speaker 10: him have it.
• 17:50
  Speaker 3: Since I was as good as dead anyway, I knew
• 17:52
  Speaker 3: that anything I did would be the right thing. They
• 17:54
  Speaker 3: say that a man who's about to die starts praying.
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: I didn't.
• 17:57
  Speaker 3: I started thinking hard and fast because I wanted so
• 18:00
  Speaker 3: badly to go on living. I don't look like I
• 18:04
  Speaker 3: could punch my way out of a paper bag, but
• 18:06
  Speaker 3: while I was waiting out the army's boredom in Japan,
• 18:09
  Speaker 3: a gentle old Japanese man taught me you don't need
• 18:11
  Speaker 3: brawn to defend yourself, just brains and speed.
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: And a thing called karate. Piano player's best friend. You
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: don't hurt your hands.
• 18:19
  Speaker 3: And I knew I had to have something to defend
• 18:22
  Speaker 3: myself against husbands and boyfriends.
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: So I learned karate. And the art of timing and surprise.
• 18:32
  Speaker 3: I waited until I could feel him touch my arm.
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: And when he slid his hand down to my wrist,
• 18:36
  Speaker 2: I made my move. I grabbed two.
• 18:38
  Speaker 3: Of his fingers and heard them snap as I bent
• 18:41
  Speaker 3: them back. That couple of surprise made it easy for
• 18:44
  Speaker 3: me to slip him around in a half Nelson. His
• 18:47
  Speaker 3: fingers hanging like loose spaghetti. So his body was between
• 18:50
  Speaker 3: me and the gun. I knew Anna wouldn't hesitate to
• 18:52
  Speaker 3: shoot me, but I figured maybe Frankie boy was something.
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: Shoot!
• 18:56
  Speaker 7: For God's sake, Anna, shoot!
• 18:58
  Speaker 9: I can't!
• 18:59
  Speaker 2: Kill him, Anna!
• 19:00
  Speaker 10: Kill him!
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: I can't! I might hit him! All right, Anna. Put
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: the gun down and back out into the hall. No.
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: Come on, do as I say, Anna. I can kill
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: him with my hands if I want to. You know that. No, Anna, no.
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: You know I can do it, Anna. You've seen me practice, remember?
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: All I have to do is add a little pressure
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: right here. Do like he says. Do like he says.
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: That's better, Anna.
• 19:24
  Speaker 3: I waited until she put the gun on the table
• 19:26
  Speaker 3: and then backed clear out to the hall before I
• 19:28
  Speaker 3: spun Frank around and slammed him with stiff fingers hard
• 19:31
  Speaker 3: right under the breastbone. He crumpled like a rag doll
• 19:34
  Speaker 3: with his eyes bulging like a drunk with the heaves.
• 19:37
  Speaker 2: I ran from the office, grabbed Anna by the arm
• 19:39
  Speaker 2: as I went.
• 19:39
  Speaker 7: What did you do to him?
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: Nothing, nothing. He'll live. Come on. You killed him. The
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: only wishes I had. Come on. I dragged her all
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: the way back to the loading dock and she fought
• 19:48
  Speaker 2: me every step of the way. We jumped... down and
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: ran past the truck to a small.
• 19:51
  Speaker 3: Door where I struggled with the bolt all the time,
• 19:53
  Speaker 3: keeping a tight grip on her wrist.
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: I guess I didn't jab him hard enough because Frank
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: came out of the dock after us, doubled over in pain,
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: his gun in his hand. Frank! Come back here, you!
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: Come back! I shoved her out the door ahead of
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: me and dove out just as he cut loose. The
• 20:13
  Speaker 2: shots were like matches in a gas tank.
• 20:16
  Speaker 3: The cleaning fluid fumes made the whole building explode in
• 20:19
  Speaker 3: a roar of flames.
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: Frank! Come on, let's get out of here. We can't
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: leave him. He'll burn alive. You can't help him, Anna.
• 20:25
  Speaker 2: It's too late. Let me go to work. Anna, you
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: can't go in there. Frank, I've got to go. Anna, no. Anna,
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: come back.
• 20:32
  Speaker 7: Anna!
• 20:32
  Speaker 4: Anna!
• 20:47
  Speaker 6: I see here in the paper where my old friend
• 20:49
  Speaker 6: Frank Amato finally met with a fatal accident.
• 20:53
  Speaker 8: He burned to death.
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: Ah, that's all.
• 20:57
  Speaker 6: It happened last night. I don't guess you'd know anything
• 21:01
  Speaker 6: about it.
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: Would you?
• 21:02
  Speaker 2: Uh, no, no. I don't guess I would.
• 21:05
  Speaker 6: I didn't think so. The way the cops figured it,
• 21:09
  Speaker 6: he was trying to rob the place where he worked
• 21:11
  Speaker 6: and then burn the store to cover his tracks. And
• 21:16
  Speaker 6: somehow he touched off the place ahead of time and
• 21:18
  Speaker 6: burned him and the girl that was with him.
• 21:20
  Speaker 2: That was a girl?
• 21:22
  Speaker 7: Yeah.
• 21:23
  Speaker 6: Yeah, probably the one that was in here last night.
• 21:27
  Speaker 6: But they aren't sure yet. They haven't even been able
• 21:30
  Speaker 6: to identify his body positively yet.
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: That's too bad.
• 21:34
  Speaker 8: Yeah.
• 21:36
  Speaker 6: That's the way I.
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: Thought you'd feel.
• 21:40
  Speaker 6: I don't look now, but I think you've got a
• 21:41
  Speaker 6: customer coming your way. I think I'll check the bar.
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: Yeah, thanks, Leo. I knew what was coming. Without even looking,
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: I knew.
• 21:59
  Speaker 7: Do you know Stardust?
• 22:01
  Speaker 3: I have to struggle to keep from choking. Do I
• 22:04
  Speaker 3: know Stardust? But I don't let it show. I look up,
• 22:09
  Speaker 3: slow and shy.
• 22:12
  Speaker 2: Smile. And give her the old cocker spaniel. Stardust.
• 22:19
  Speaker 3: It's a beautiful song about a beautiful girl.
• 22:24
  Speaker 2: I was hoping you'd ask.
• 22:25
  Speaker 7: Thank you.
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: The pleasure's mine.
• 22:28
  Speaker 7: I've been listening to you. You play very well.
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: Thank you. It's been a long time since anyone said that.
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: Most people just drink, pretend to listen.
• 22:41
  Speaker 7: But not you.
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: You're different.
• 22:43
  Speaker 7: You're special.
• 22:46
  Speaker 3: So, for a special girl, I'm going to play a
• 22:50
  Speaker 3: special number. Not just something like Stardust.
• 22:55
  Speaker 4: Stardust Oh, that's nice.
• 23:18
  Speaker 7: What's it called?
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: All this?
• 23:24
  Speaker 3: It used to be called. I get along without you
• 23:29
  Speaker 3: very well.
• 23:31
  Speaker 4: But from now on.
• 23:35
  Speaker 2: Let's just call.
• 23:36
  Speaker 4: It our song. Suspense.
• 24:07
  Speaker 5: You've been listening to Death of an Old Flame, starring
• 24:10
  Speaker 5: Larry Haynes and Terry Keene, and written especially for Suspense
• 24:14
  Speaker 5: by George Bamber. Suspense is produced and directed by Bruno Zorato, Jr.
• 24:30
  Speaker 5: Special music for today's story of Suspense was composed and
• 24:34
  Speaker 5: performed by Norman Parris. Featured in tonight's story were Ralph
• 24:38
  Speaker 5: Bell as Frank, Robert Donnelly as Leo, and Evelyn Juster
• 24:42
  Speaker 5: as the girl. Listen again next week when we return
• 24:45
  Speaker 5: with Till Death Do Us Part, written by Ben Kagan.
• 24:50
  Speaker 5: Another tale well calculated to keep you in.
• 24:53
  Speaker 4: Suspense.
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: Suspense, Death of an Old Flame has come to its close.
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: This is Victor Sterling. Until next time, good night. Follow
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: Suspense for more classic broadcasts.