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Suspense - "The Story of Markham's Death" (Old Time Radio, 1947) · Suspense | Old Time Radio

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Against the bomb-damaged streets and buildings of post-war London, mystery
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: novelist Phil Markham, halted by a severe case of writer's block,
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: goes searching for fresh inspiration and finds a cache of
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: papers connected with Edgar Allan Poe. The material appears to
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: offer Markham an extraordinary literary opportunity as ambition and secrecy
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: bear on his decision. On October 2nd, 1947, CBS brought
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: listeners Suspense, the story of Markham's death, episode two, with
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: Kirk Douglas as Phil Markham. Robert Platt wrote the script,
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: and William Speer directed and produced this 30-minute broadcast. Now
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: back to the golden age of radio.
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: Suspense.
• 0:54
  Speaker 3: Tonight's suspense brings you Mr. Kirk Douglas as star. But first,
• 0:58
  Speaker 3: a brief message from your announcer.
• 1:00
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• 1:05
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• 1:09
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• 1:22
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• 1:27
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• 1:31
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• 1:36
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• 1:40
  Speaker 4: you and your friends enjoy the best. Shenley's Cresta Blanca
• 1:44
  Speaker 4: Wine Company, Livermore, California.
• 1:47
  Speaker 6: And now, Shanley brings you radio's outstanding theater of thrills, Suspense.
• 1:55
  Speaker 6: Presented by Roma Wines. That's R-O-M-A. Roma Wines of Fresno, California. Tonight,
• 2:01
  Speaker 6: starring Mr.
• 2:02
  Speaker 5: Kirk Douglas in The Story of Markham's Death.
• 2:05
  Speaker 3: A suspense play produced, edited, and directed for Shanley by
• 2:08
  Speaker 3: William Spears.
• 2:15
  Speaker 5: You say Phil Martin's run dry? Well, I didn't make
• 2:17
  Speaker 5: it up. My wife got it for man. Hasn't written
• 2:20
  Speaker 5: a word in six months.
• 2:20
  Speaker 3: Yes, and I got it from Peterson, his publisher. They've
• 2:23
  Speaker 3: dropped him from their spring list. Well, bye-bye, Dean of
• 2:26
  Speaker 3: American Mystery Writers. I'm glad to see him go.
• 2:29
  Speaker 5: Phil Martin. I thought that guy'd write from the grave.
• 2:31
  Speaker 5: I don't understand it. I guess it happens to the
• 2:33
  Speaker 5: best of us. Hope he saved his money, but I
• 2:35
  Speaker 5: suspect he hasn't. Phil Martin run dry. I don't get it.
• 2:40
  Speaker 5: I don't get it. No, I didn't get it either.
• 2:46
  Speaker 5: Unless you border on that fringe of abnormality which marks
• 2:49
  Speaker 5: you as a writer, you can't possibly understand the complete
• 2:52
  Speaker 5: futility you feel when your talent is suddenly turned off
• 2:55
  Speaker 5: like a water spout. I spent as much time staring
• 2:58
  Speaker 5: at the blank paper in my typewriter as I ordinarily
• 3:01
  Speaker 5: spent in writing an entire novel. Oh, Anne could sympathize
• 3:05
  Speaker 5: with me because she loved me, but I didn't need
• 3:08
  Speaker 5: Anne's stupid sympathy. Phil, darling, I'm sure it's only temporary. Temporary?
• 3:14
  Speaker 3: Ann, I can't even write a decent ten-word telegram. It's
• 3:18
  Speaker 3: no use, Ann. I'm afraid I'm through.
• 3:20
  Speaker 5: Oh, no, you can't be. Not anyone as great as you. Phil,
• 3:24
  Speaker 5: maybe you've done too much. Darling, maybe you'll rest. Why
• 3:27
  Speaker 5: don't you rest for a few months? I've been resting. Well,
• 3:31
  Speaker 5: I mean, get away. Yes, that's my last chance, dear.
• 3:34
  Speaker 5: I'm going to do just that. I'm going abroad. Abroad? Yes. Oh, honey,
• 3:39
  Speaker 5: when are we going? We aren't going.
• 3:41
  Speaker 3: I am.
• 3:42
  Speaker 5: Hi. You're... Philly, is this a way of letting... I mean... Oh,
• 3:48
  Speaker 5: don't worry, dear. I'm not running out on you. I'll
• 3:51
  Speaker 5: just be gone for a few months. Oh. Oh, well,
• 3:54
  Speaker 5: just a few months.
• 3:55
  Speaker 3: Yes, alone.
• 3:55
  Speaker 5: And I told you when I first met you. I'm
• 3:57
  Speaker 5: a complex person. I'm difficult to understand. Yes, yes, dear.
• 4:00
  Speaker 5: I know that. But I thought I understood you. Well,
• 4:03
  Speaker 5: you can't. Nobody can. But I love you, Phil. And
• 4:07
  Speaker 5: I love you, Ann, but that doesn't change matters. I'm
• 4:09
  Speaker 5: going to England for a few months by myself. You
• 4:11
  Speaker 5: don't have a thing to worry about.
• 4:13
  Speaker 3: You keep your apartment and wait for me.
• 4:14
  Speaker 5: The rent's paid through the first of the year. I'll
• 4:17
  Speaker 5: be back before that. Ann Fleming was the beautiful, not
• 4:27
  Speaker 5: overly intelligent type of girl I've associated with since my divorce.
• 4:31
  Speaker 5: Her only family was a half-brother. A petty hoodlum whose
• 4:35
  Speaker 5: habit of always wearing gloves won him the imposing nickname
• 4:38
  Speaker 5: of Kid Gloves. That hadn't helped when he ran his
• 4:41
  Speaker 5: car into a storefront, killing two people just a block
• 4:45
  Speaker 5: from where he'd held up a tavern. Kid Gloves had
• 4:48
  Speaker 5: gone to jail three months before I met Ann to
• 4:50
  Speaker 5: serve 40 years for manslaughter and robbery. A very corny plot,
• 4:55
  Speaker 5: the whole thing, including Ann. As I roamed around London,
• 5:02
  Speaker 5: I thought maybe a visit in this city of great
• 5:04
  Speaker 5: mystery tradition would be my answer. And it was. The
• 5:08
  Speaker 5: second day, while wandering around aimlessly in the bombed out
• 5:12
  Speaker 5: and still unrepaired section of Bloomsbury, I stumbled onto my
• 5:15
  Speaker 5: last inspiration quite by accident. Oh, say, when was all
• 5:22
  Speaker 5: this hit? Oh, right at the start of the war, sir. Oh,
• 5:25
  Speaker 5: then this isn't V-bomb damage. Oh, no, doesn't it? As
• 5:28
  Speaker 5: a matter of fact, the old house across the street
• 5:30
  Speaker 5: had it the first time Jerry come over. I'd almost
• 5:33
  Speaker 5: say it was the first house to be hit in
• 5:34
  Speaker 5: the war.
• 5:35
  Speaker 3: Oh, well, did it take only one bomb to level
• 5:37
  Speaker 3: it like that? Well, how many do you think it takes?
• 5:40
  Speaker 3: They've cleaned it up a bit now.
• 5:43
  Speaker 5: Old house, that too. Built back in 1750. Really? Yeah,
• 5:47
  Speaker 5: pretty well known. Lots of Yanks made their digs there.
• 5:50
  Speaker 5: Before the war, that is. A Yankee writer stayed there
• 5:55
  Speaker 5: once when he was here. What was his name, Ducky?
• 5:58
  Speaker 3: Oh, E.P.
• 5:59
  Speaker 5: Rowe.
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: No, Poe.
• 6:01
  Speaker 3: Poe.
• 6:01
  Speaker 5: Oh, that's it.
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: Poe.
• 6:03
  Speaker 5: Say, you don't mean Edgar Allan Poe, do you? That's him.
• 6:06
  Speaker 5: That's him. What? Edgar Allan Poe once stayed in that house?
• 6:10
  Speaker 5: That's right. American writer. Acquaintance of yours? Well, hardly a contemporary. What? Oh, nothing.
• 6:19
  Speaker 3: My little halbert was playing in the rubble there Tuesday
• 6:22
  Speaker 3: last and dug out a box of junk.
• 6:24
  Speaker 5: Maybe some of it was Mr. Poe's. Like to see it?
• 6:28
  Speaker 3: Why, yes, certainly. Well, it's vaguely possible. I looked through
• 6:39
  Speaker 3: the battered steel box. The woman provided me with a
• 6:42
  Speaker 3: cup of tea as I spread the contents out in
• 6:44
  Speaker 3: front of me. It was thrilling somehow to think that
• 6:47
  Speaker 3: these dusty things perhaps had once belonged to the man
• 6:50
  Speaker 3: who had invented the detective story more than a hundred
• 6:53
  Speaker 3: years ago. As she went out and I replaced the trinkets,
• 6:57
  Speaker 3: I snagged the faded, musty, gray satin lining of the
• 7:00
  Speaker 3: box and accidentally tore it.
• 7:03
  Speaker 5: Trying to get it back together, I only ripped it further.
• 7:06
  Speaker 5: I put my hand under the lining to straighten it,
• 7:09
  Speaker 5: and something fell out. It was a waterproof packet containing
• 7:14
  Speaker 5: three yellowed sheets of paper written in a small, fine hand.
• 7:18
  Speaker 5: At the bottom of the third page was the name
• 7:21
  Speaker 5: Edgar Allan Poe. I slipped the packet into my pocket
• 7:29
  Speaker 5: and returned the box. Oh, find anything? No, just as
• 7:34
  Speaker 5: you said, a lot of worthless trinkets. Oh, by the way,
• 7:38
  Speaker 5: I ripped the lining as I was putting everything back. Oh,
• 7:41
  Speaker 5: that's all right. Oh, no, I'd like to give you
• 7:43
  Speaker 5: something for your trouble and for my clumsy damage. Here.
• 7:47
  Speaker 5: And thank you so much. Five quid? Oh, I say,
• 7:51
  Speaker 5: five quid. But the old thing probably ain't worth a
• 7:54
  Speaker 5: threepenny bit. Well, your time, your trouble and your courtesy are, though.
• 7:57
  Speaker 5: Thank you very much. But five quid. Oh, I say.
• 8:10
  Speaker 5: Five pounds for an original Edgar Allan Poe manuscript. It
• 8:14
  Speaker 5: was a short story written by Poe during his brief
• 8:17
  Speaker 5: stay in England many years before his rise and subsequent fall.
• 8:21
  Speaker 5: As I read and reread the manuscript, I realized that
• 8:24
  Speaker 5: it was an experiment in a completely new mystery technique. Here,
• 8:28
  Speaker 5: in effect, was what Poulty had never discovered in his
• 8:31
  Speaker 5: thesis on the existence of only 32 basic dramatic situations. Suddenly,
• 8:36
  Speaker 5: I realized I was the only one who knew this story,
• 8:40
  Speaker 5: and that I could put it to better use than
• 8:41
  Speaker 5: as a museum piece. Why, here, indeed, was the 33rd situation. Why,
• 8:46
  Speaker 5: in my hands, it could blossom forth as a novel
• 8:49
  Speaker 5: of Theoma radio play. I was about to be reborn,
• 8:52
  Speaker 5: and literary immortality was at my fingertips. I began writing
• 8:56
  Speaker 5: in London and all the way back home. It took
• 8:59
  Speaker 5: me six months to complete my work, and then, with
• 9:02
  Speaker 5: everything finished, I burned the original Poe composition and sent
• 9:06
  Speaker 5: the novel off to the publisher. Then I called Anne.
• 9:10
  Speaker 5: Will it be a big success, darling? Big success? Well,
• 9:14
  Speaker 5: I've never been as confident of anything in my life. Oh,
• 9:16
  Speaker 5: that's wonderful. They said you were through. I told you.
• 9:19
  Speaker 5: A rest was all I needed. A change of scenery.
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: I'm proud of you, Phil. I'm so proud.
• 9:24
  Speaker 5: I'm glad. Maybe now you.
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: Now, Phil, maybe you'll think differently about things.
• 9:29
  Speaker 5: I'm so glad.
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: Phil, you aren't even listening to me.
• 9:34
  Speaker 5: Oh, I'm sorry, dear. Oh, look, look, Ann. I'm going
• 9:37
  Speaker 5: to be pretty busy for the next few weeks. Now,
• 9:39
  Speaker 5: I won't be able to see you very often. I
• 9:41
  Speaker 5: should think you'd have time now that the... Well, I haven't,
• 9:44
  Speaker 5: but we'll see. You have a date tonight. Well, I'm
• 9:47
  Speaker 5: going to the mystery writer's banquet tonight. And tomorrow? Well, okay,
• 9:53
  Speaker 5: but I'll come over for you at 8 o'clock, and
• 9:55
  Speaker 5: for once will you try to be ready on time.
• 10:07
  Speaker 5: Every year on the anniversary of Edgar Allan Poe's birth,
• 10:11
  Speaker 5: the mystery writers of America hold a banquet similar to
• 10:14
  Speaker 5: the Academy Award Banquet. Instead of awarding Oscars, they give
• 10:19
  Speaker 5: Edgars for the outstanding works of the year. All of
• 10:23
  Speaker 5: a sudden, everybody was looking at me.
• 10:25
  Speaker 7: Now I have a special Edgar to give. This special
• 10:29
  Speaker 7: award goes to the first writer to discover a new
• 10:33
  Speaker 7: and startling different approach to the mystery story since the
• 10:36
  Speaker 7: death of our patron saint, the great Edgar Allan Poe himself.
• 10:41
  Speaker 7: Philip Martin, for your novel Markham's Death.
• 10:53
  Speaker 5: Yes, a special Edgar for an idea plagiarized from Edgar
• 10:58
  Speaker 5: Allan Poe. The end had justified the means, and I
• 11:03
  Speaker 5: knew that the original manuscript was now only ashes. I
• 11:07
  Speaker 5: was the only one who had ever seen it. I
• 11:09
  Speaker 5: was completely happy and enjoying my victory after the banquet
• 11:13
  Speaker 5: in the quiet of my own home. Mr.
• 11:17
  Speaker 3: Martin?
• 11:18
  Speaker 5: Yes, speaking.
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: This is Dr.
• 11:20
  Speaker 5: Selgrove. Dr. Selgrove?
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: Yes, I'm head of the Academy of American Letters. I
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: want to congratulate you, Mr.
• 11:26
  Speaker 3: Martin.
• 11:27
  Speaker 5: I was at the banquet tonight. Oh, well, thank you, sir. Yes, indeed.
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: I've been collecting data on Edward Allan Poe all my life.
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: Your work was in the finest traditions of Poe.
• 11:38
  Speaker 5: Well, that is the supreme compliment, doctor.
• 11:40
  Speaker 3: Mr.
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: Martin, what did you find behind the lining in that
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: steel box in London? What?
• 11:46
  Speaker 5: Was you, wasn't it? I don't know what you're talking about. Yes,
• 11:50
  Speaker 5: in the truest Poe tradition.
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: So much so that I have reason to believe your
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: idea was once Poe's.
• 11:56
  Speaker 5: Now look, Doctor, I hope you haven't spread this misinformation around. Why,
• 12:00
  Speaker 5: you're wrong, of course, but even the faintest suggestion could
• 12:04
  Speaker 5: do me irreparable harm. If you mean, have I been discreet, sir?
• 12:07
  Speaker 5: I have, until now. What? Look, how do you want
• 12:10
  Speaker 5: me to disprove this ridiculous accusation?
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: I'm at the academy every day. I'll be there tomorrow
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: night until 9.30. The doors close at 8, but I'll
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: wait for you.
• 12:19
  Speaker 5: That will be fine, Doctor. I'll be there around 9.
• 12:26
  Speaker 5: And as I set the receiver back on the hook,
• 12:29
  Speaker 5: I wondered just how much he actually knew and what
• 12:33
  Speaker 5: I would have to do to silence him.
• 12:44
  Speaker 3: For Suspense, Roma Wines are bringing you Mr. Kirk Douglas
• 12:48
  Speaker 3: in the story of Markham's death. Roma Wines' presentation tonight
• 12:52
  Speaker 3: in radio's outstanding theater of thrills, Suspense.
• 13:03
  Speaker 6: Suspense, radio's outstanding theater of thrills, is presented by Roma Wines.
• 13:08
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• 14:02
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• 14:06
  Speaker 3: And now Roma Wines bring back to our Hollywood soundstage
• 14:09
  Speaker 3: Kirk Douglas as Philip Martin in the story of Markham's death.
• 14:14
  Speaker 5: A play well calculated to keep you in suspense. The
• 14:28
  Speaker 5: hands of the clock on the wall seemed drugged. They
• 14:31
  Speaker 5: moved so slowly that day. My appointment with Dr. Selgrove
• 14:36
  Speaker 5: was for 9 p.m. I was to be at Anne's
• 14:38
  Speaker 5: at 8. I figured about 20 minutes would wipe that
• 14:42
  Speaker 5: slate clean. Hello, honey. I'll be ready in a minute.
• 14:46
  Speaker 5: I said I'd be here at 8. Oh, dear.
• 14:48
  Speaker 3: Isn't 8 already, is it?
• 14:49
  Speaker 5: Yes, it's after 8. Oh, I thought it was only
• 14:52
  Speaker 5: about 7.30. I'll hurry. Well, there's no reason. Aren't we
• 14:56
  Speaker 5: going out? No, Ann, we're not going out. As a
• 14:58
  Speaker 5: matter of fact, we're never going out again.
• 15:02
  Speaker 3: What?
• 15:03
  Speaker 5: I'm sorry, Ann. This is the last time we'll see
• 15:05
  Speaker 5: each other.
• 15:07
  Speaker 3: But.
• 15:08
  Speaker 5: I... Phil, I.
• 15:11
  Speaker 5: I told everyone that... What have you told everyone?
• 15:16
  Speaker 3: That we were going to be married. You shouldn't have.
• 15:19
  Speaker 3: Did I ever say I'd marry you? No, I was
• 15:21
  Speaker 3: married once and it doesn't work for me.
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: This would be different.
• 15:24
  Speaker 5: Oh, would it? I don't think so. You see, Ann,
• 15:26
  Speaker 5: you're taking up too much of my time. But I
• 15:28
  Speaker 5: wouldn't get in the way, Phil. You know that.
• 15:30
  Speaker 3: You're also taking up too much of my thoughts. I
• 15:33
  Speaker 3: probably hit that bad slump a few months ago because
• 15:35
  Speaker 3: of you.
• 15:35
  Speaker 5: Phil. Oh, it wasn't your fault. It was mine for
• 15:39
  Speaker 5: not realizing it. Phil, you... You really mean... Oh, now look.
• 15:43
  Speaker 5: What about me?
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: What about me?
• 15:48
  Speaker 3: What am I going to do?
• 15:49
  Speaker 5: You'll get over it.
• 15:51
  Speaker 3: Here.
• 15:52
  Speaker 5: This should help.
• 15:53
  Speaker 4: What's that?
• 15:54
  Speaker 5: Take it. Just what you like.
• 15:56
  Speaker 3: A roll of nice, clean, new $ 50 bills.
• 16:00
  Speaker 5: Feel better now? You think you can buy everything with money,
• 16:04
  Speaker 5: don't you?
• 16:05
  Speaker 3: Well, you can't.
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: And stop drumming with that letter opener.
• 16:09
  Speaker 5: Sorry, I didn't realize. Well, that takes care of everything,
• 16:14
  Speaker 5: doesn't it? We're still friends? No. No, we'll never be friends.
• 16:20
  Speaker 5: Bill Martin, you're rotten.
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: You're rotten and you're conceited and you're everything I ever...
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: I hate you.
• 16:28
  Speaker 5: I said I don't like scenes. Goodbye, Ann.
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: Get out of here.
• 16:32
  Speaker 5: Get out. As I left her apartment, I paused to
• 16:45
  Speaker 5: look at my watch. It was 8.30.
• 16:48
  Speaker 3: I noticed a man fade back into the darkness of
• 16:50
  Speaker 3: the doorway, but outside of the fact that he looked
• 16:53
  Speaker 3: vaguely familiar, I thought nothing more of it.
• 16:56
  Speaker 5: I felt as though a weight had been lifted from
• 16:57
  Speaker 5: my shoulders, at least from one shoulder. And I was
• 17:01
  Speaker 5: on my way to lift the weight from the other one.
• 17:03
  Speaker 5: The Academy of American Letters was just a short distance
• 17:06
  Speaker 5: from Ann's apartment. Mr.
• 17:10
  Speaker 3: Martin? Yes.
• 17:12
  Speaker 5: I take it you're Dr. Selgrove. Right? Sit down, Mr. Martin.
• 17:16
  Speaker 3: I'll stand, thank you. You were at the banquet last night.
• 17:19
  Speaker 3: I remember seeing you. And when I saw you, I
• 17:21
  Speaker 3: knew my search was over. You fit the description just
• 17:24
  Speaker 3: like the missing piece in a jigsaw puzzle. I knew
• 17:27
  Speaker 3: you were the man Mrs. Carruthers described.
• 17:29
  Speaker 5: Who is Mrs. Carruthers? The woman who gave you the
• 17:32
  Speaker 5: steel box.
• 17:33
  Speaker 2: The box which must have contained the Edgar Allan Poe
• 17:36
  Speaker 2: manuscript you so skillfully rewrote.
• 17:38
  Speaker 5: Preposterous. You deny that you were in London?
• 17:40
  Speaker 3: No, but... Or that you found the box and examined it?
• 17:43
  Speaker 5: Well, no, but... Mr.
• 17:45
  Speaker 2: Martin, a poverty-stricken woman like Mrs. Carruthers couldn't forget a
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: man who gave her five pounds. She could forget seeing
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: him slip a packet into his pocket... That is, until
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: someone came along and gave her ten pounds to refresh
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: her memory.
• 17:58
  Speaker 5: For ten pounds, she probably dreamed up the whole story. Look,
• 18:01
  Speaker 5: you say you know something of Poe. Then you know
• 18:04
  Speaker 5: that the time he spent in London was long before
• 18:06
  Speaker 5: his prominence as an author. Why, for all we know,
• 18:08
  Speaker 5: he didn't write a line during his entire stay there. Mr.
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: Martin, I've devoted my life to gathering information about Edgar
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: Allan Poe. It's my hobby as well as my job.
• 18:17
  Speaker 2: I've been looking for one missing manuscript for a long time.
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: A manuscript whose existence I learned of by quite by chance.
• 18:24
  Speaker 5: What are you talking about?
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: This letter which Edgar Allan Poe wrote to a cousin
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: in Boston during his London visit.
• 18:31
  Speaker 5: Fine piece, isn't it? Well, what about it? Well, let
• 18:33
  Speaker 5: me read it to you.
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: He says, My new theory for a tale of murder
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: is a form of induction as opposed to deduction.
• 18:41
  Speaker 5: I refer to it.
• 18:42
  Speaker 2: As Markhamism after the title character. My first draft manuscript
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: is stored behind a satin curtain built of steel to
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: age and mellow until such a time as I may
• 18:52
  Speaker 2: produce it without being turned mad.
• 18:55
  Speaker 5: I see.
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: Dear me, you were overconfident, Martin, calling your novel Markham's death.
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: Not only didn't you change the process, you didn't even
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: alter the name.
• 19:04
  Speaker 5: And if I should admit to all this? What would
• 19:09
  Speaker 5: be your price? Now, Mr.
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: Martin, money's of no consequence. I'm a student, a collector
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: of American letters. All I want from you is the manuscript.
• 19:18
  Speaker 5: Impossible.
• 19:19
  Speaker 2: In return for my everlasting silence. Possessing the manuscript is
• 19:24
  Speaker 2: payment enough. I have no desire to ruin you. Unless,
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: of course, it should become necessary for me to do so.
• 19:30
  Speaker 3: How would I know you wouldn't show it? Certainly you
• 19:33
  Speaker 3: don't question my word. The manuscript has been destroyed. Don't
• 19:39
  Speaker 3: expect me to believe that.
• 19:40
  Speaker 5: It's the truth. I burned it.
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: Well, if you want to be difficult, I won't agree
• 19:45
  Speaker 2: with you, Mr. Martin. Pity you won't cooperate. I'll just
• 19:49
  Speaker 2: put this letter... back in the safe, and then tomorrow, well,
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: we'll see.
• 19:52
  Speaker 5: The panic fled with the return of cold logic. Dr.
• 20:06
  Speaker 5: Selgrove was unquestionably dead. I had to act quickly because
• 20:09
  Speaker 5: speed was essential. I knew that from what I myself
• 20:12
  Speaker 5: had often written. I took the letter and pocketed it.
• 20:14
  Speaker 5: It would be burned later in the privacy of my
• 20:16
  Speaker 5: own home. There would be no suspicious ashes for the
• 20:18
  Speaker 5: police to sift. The bookend was the only thing I touched.
• 20:22
  Speaker 5: I carefully filled the wash basin with hot water and
• 20:24
  Speaker 5: dropped the bookend into it, smearing and obliterating any fingerprints. Now,
• 20:29
  Speaker 5: I had to work backwards. The average murderer establishes his
• 20:32
  Speaker 5: alibi first. But in my case, I had to establish
• 20:36
  Speaker 5: it behind me and cover my time. Most people are
• 20:49
  Speaker 5: careless about exact times and can be off many minutes,
• 20:52
  Speaker 5: especially in their recollection. Have you ever looked at your watch?
• 20:56
  Speaker 5: Then had someone asked you the time only to find
• 20:58
  Speaker 5: that you had to look again? Yes, Anne would work
• 21:02
  Speaker 5: as my alibi. I couldn't confide in her, but she
• 21:05
  Speaker 5: was careless about time. But what of the man I'd
• 21:10
  Speaker 5: seen in her hall at 8.30? Suddenly I knew. It
• 21:14
  Speaker 5: was Anne's brother, Kid Gloves Fleming. Now that I thought
• 21:18
  Speaker 5: about it, I knew I recognized him from his pictures.
• 21:20
  Speaker 5: He'd obviously escaped from prison and had gone to Anne
• 21:23
  Speaker 5: for help.
• 21:24
  Speaker 3: Yes, and would be more than happy to say I'd
• 21:27
  Speaker 3: been with her until a quarter to nine.
• 21:29
  Speaker 5: Unobserved, I hurried back to her apartment house. In front
• 21:33
  Speaker 5: of the building, I hailed a passing taxi and entered
• 21:36
  Speaker 5: at precisely nine-five. Where to, mister? The Milford Club on 59th.
• 21:41
  Speaker 5: Not many taxis in this neighborhood, are there? Were you
• 21:46
  Speaker 5: waiting long? Ten or fifteen minutes. I wanted to be
• 21:49
  Speaker 5: at the club by nine if... Oh, it's almost that now.
• 21:52
  Speaker 5: Is that all? I thought it was later. Oh, well,
• 21:54
  Speaker 5: I'll get you there fast. Oh, that's all right. There's
• 21:56
  Speaker 5: no hurry. Oh, evening, Mr.
• 22:05
  Speaker 3: Martin.
• 22:06
  Speaker 5: Oh, good evening, Henry. Well, not many coats being checked tonight,
• 22:09
  Speaker 5: are there? No, sir. But look at all those hats.
• 22:12
  Speaker 5: Let me see. Hmm. Seems as though I've misplaced my watch.
• 22:16
  Speaker 5: Have you the time, Henry? Why, sure.
• 22:18
  Speaker 2: It's 20 minutes after nine.
• 22:20
  Speaker 5: Oh, thanks. I seem to be losing everything tonight. Oh,
• 22:26
  Speaker 5: what's wrong? Well, I've dropped my notebook. Oh, I must
• 22:29
  Speaker 5: have dropped it in that taxi. Was it important? Well,
• 22:32
  Speaker 5: just to me. I had some personal notes in there. Oh, look,
• 22:36
  Speaker 5: I wonder, Henry, if you'd call the cab company for
• 22:38
  Speaker 5: me and ask if it's turned in. Oh, sure.
• 22:40
  Speaker 3: Thanks.
• 22:40
  Speaker 5: My name and address are engraved in the cover. As
• 22:43
  Speaker 5: a matter of fact, I even recall the name of
• 22:45
  Speaker 5: the driver. It struck me as unusual. It was Alonzo P. Alonzo.
• 22:49
  Speaker 5: I'll take care of it for you.
• 22:50
  Speaker 3: Thanks.
• 22:51
  Speaker 5: Oh, and you might add that I'll post a $ 25 reward.
• 23:00
  Speaker 5: Then I went down to see Lieutenant John Kirkland of Homicide.
• 23:04
  Speaker 5: We'd been classmates, and I'd spent many an evening at
• 23:07
  Speaker 5: headquarters discussing our favorite subject, crime. Well, well, well. Hello, hello, Phil. Hiya, Johnny.
• 23:15
  Speaker 5: Anything on the docket? Oh, just routine. Mind if I
• 23:19
  Speaker 5: sit in? I want to get my mind off Ann. Ann? Well,
• 23:24
  Speaker 5: what's the matter? Oh, you know, Johnny, the usual. I
• 23:27
  Speaker 5: wrote Finney to our little romance, and, well, she wasn't
• 23:30
  Speaker 5: too happy about it. Still a dog with the women, eh, kid? Oh, say, say,
• 23:36
  Speaker 5: this is a coincidence. Remember that wild kid brother of Ann's?
• 23:40
  Speaker 5: Kid brother. Oh, oh, you mean the one they call
• 23:42
  Speaker 5: Kid Glove. Well, I remember reading about him.
• 23:45
  Speaker 3: Why?
• 23:45
  Speaker 5: Well, he broke out of jail late this afternoon. Uh-oh. Say,
• 23:49
  Speaker 5: Ann will certainly be worried. Well, she won't have to
• 23:51
  Speaker 5: worry anymore. What? Yeah, they caught him down at the
• 23:55
  Speaker 5: railroad station trying to get out of town.
• 23:57
  Speaker 3: What?
• 23:58
  Speaker 5: Are they bringing him in? Yeah. Stiff.
• 24:02
  Speaker 3: Oh.
• 24:03
  Speaker 5: Yeah, the poor fool decided to shoot it out, and
• 24:05
  Speaker 5: he picked a crack shot like.
• 24:06
  Speaker 3: O'Malley to draw on. Oh, well, is O'Malley all right? Oh, sure,
• 24:11
  Speaker 3: O'Malley's always all right. But the kid's dead. Oh, this
• 24:16
  Speaker 3: is going to be tough on Ann. Even though they
• 24:18
  Speaker 3: didn't get along, he's still their brother. She'll get over it.
• 24:22
  Speaker 3: I guess it's better this way. That's a funny thing, though.
• 24:25
  Speaker 3: He was still wearing those kid gloves, and he had
• 24:29
  Speaker 3: a roll of new $ 50 bills that would choke a horse.
• 24:36
  Speaker 5: Now I understood. Ann's brother had visited her just after
• 24:40
  Speaker 5: I left, and she'd given him the money. Well, I
• 24:44
  Speaker 5: was completely relaxed now. The only person who could possibly
• 24:48
  Speaker 5: spoil my perfect story was dead. Oh, pardon me, Phil, please. Sure. Hello.
• 24:58
  Speaker 5: This is Kirkland speaking. Oh?
• 25:02
  Speaker 3: When?
• 25:05
  Speaker 5: I see... Who? Look, Martin.
• 25:11
  Speaker 4: Huh?
• 25:12
  Speaker 5: Why, he's right here. I said he's right here. Oh,
• 25:17
  Speaker 5: is it for me? Just a second, Phil, please. Yeah. Okay.
• 25:25
  Speaker 5: Let me know. I'll send him right out. Hey, what's up, Johnny?
• 25:28
  Speaker 5: I thought that call was for me. No, no, it
• 25:30
  Speaker 5: wasn't for you, Phil. It was about you. About me?
• 25:36
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 25:36
  Speaker 5: Yeah. Where were you this evening? I told you.
• 25:40
  Speaker 3: I had dinner, went over to see Ann, and then
• 25:42
  Speaker 3: met you. Oh, weren't you anyplace else, sir?
• 25:45
  Speaker 5: Are you sure?
• 25:45
  Speaker 3: Of course I'm sure. Say, Johnny, what is this, the
• 25:49
  Speaker 3: third degree? Do you remember what time you left Ann's? Why, well,
• 25:53
  Speaker 3: I must have left about a quarter of nine. Yes,
• 25:55
  Speaker 3: I'm sure of that. It was just about nine when
• 25:57
  Speaker 3: I caught my cat.
• 25:58
  Speaker 5: Was anyone with you? At Ann's? No, we were alone.
• 26:01
  Speaker 5: Couldn't you be mistaken? Couldn't you have been someplace else,
• 26:04
  Speaker 5: maybe at 8.15 or 8.30? No.
• 26:08
  Speaker 3: Why, Phil? Why do you play right into my hands?
• 26:11
  Speaker 3: Why do you make it impossible for me to help you?
• 26:13
  Speaker 5: What are you talking about? Murder, Phil. I'm... I'm arresting you.
• 26:23
  Speaker 5: For murder. Murder. In a few hours, I'm going to
• 26:36
  Speaker 5: be executed for the murder of Dr. Selgrove. But the
• 26:40
  Speaker 5: police don't know that yet. You see, although I'm innocent
• 26:45
  Speaker 5: of the crime I'm scheduled to die for, I'm powerless
• 26:48
  Speaker 5: to save myself. Yes, I backed out of my own
• 26:57
  Speaker 5: crime successfully. Only I set myself squarely in the middle
• 27:01
  Speaker 5: of a worse one. The only way I can save
• 27:04
  Speaker 5: myself is by telling that I was busy killing Dr.
• 27:07
  Speaker 5: Selgrove at the time I'm supposed to have killed Anne Fleming.
• 27:11
  Speaker 5: I know that Anne was killed by her brother, but
• 27:13
  Speaker 5: there's no way of proving it.
• 27:14
  Speaker 3: The letter opener he plunged into her chest still had
• 27:17
  Speaker 3: my fingerprints, slightly smeared by his kid gloves.
• 27:20
  Speaker 5: Robbery was ruled out because nothing was disturbed. Snooping neighbors
• 27:23
  Speaker 5: had heard Anne and me quarrel and had heard her
• 27:25
  Speaker 5: scream around a quarter of nine. They suspected that I
• 27:28
  Speaker 5: had hit her and nothing more. But it placed the
• 27:30
  Speaker 5: time exactly... Exactly as I had placed myself in her
• 27:34
  Speaker 5: company during that time. Well, I see where they dug
• 27:42
  Speaker 5: up another original, hitherto unknown manuscript by Edgar Allan Poe.
• 27:47
  Speaker 5: In somebody's closet in Fordham, New York. It's all about
• 27:51
  Speaker 5: a man who builds such a perfect alibi for himself
• 27:54
  Speaker 5: that he gets executed for the wrong murder. Well.
• 27:58
  Speaker 3: I'm glad they only found it today, after I had
• 28:01
  Speaker 3: already written the above confession.
• 28:03
  Speaker 5: Otherwise, they'd say I'd been plagiarizing Poe again. Suspense!
• 28:26
  Speaker 6: The Story of Markham's Death, starring Kirk Douglas, presented by
• 28:30
  Speaker 6: Roma Wines. That's R-O-M-A, Roma Wines, America's largest selling wines. Yes,
• 28:38
  Speaker 6: Roma Wines are America's largest selling wines. And this is
• 28:42
  Speaker 6: Truman Bradley to tell you the reason. It's because Roma
• 28:46
  Speaker 6: Wines taste better. You see, Roma gathers and presses only
• 28:51
  Speaker 6: the choicest California grapes. Then, with age-old skills and unmatched
• 28:56
  Speaker 6: winemaking resources, Roma master vintners guide this grape treasure unhurriedly
• 29:02
  Speaker 6: to peak taste richness. These fine Roma wines are laid
• 29:06
  Speaker 6: aside with mellow Roma wines of years before to await
• 29:09
  Speaker 6: later selection for your enjoyment from the world's greatest reserves
• 29:14
  Speaker 6: of fine wines. This weekend, enjoy the better taste of
• 29:18
  Speaker 6: nut-like Roma sherry, fruity Roma port, or fragrant Roma toque.
• 29:23
  Speaker 6: And always remember to ask for Roma. That's R-O-M-A. Roma Wines.
• 29:30
  Speaker 6: Enjoyed by more Americans than any other wines.
• 29:34
  Speaker 3: Kirk Douglas may soon be seen in the Hal Wallace production,
• 29:37
  Speaker 3: I Walk Alone. Tonight's suspense play? was written by Bob Plath.
• 29:42
  Speaker 3: Next Thursday, same time, you will hear Richard Ney as
• 29:45
  Speaker 3: star of Suspense. Produced and directed by William Speer for
• 29:51
  Speaker 3: the Roma Wine Company of Fresno, California. Suspense In the
• 30:02
  Speaker 3: coming weeks, Suspense will present such stars as Louis Jourdain,
• 30:06
  Speaker 3: June Havoc, Dennis O'Keefe, Marsha Hunt, and others. Make it
• 30:10
  Speaker 3: a point to listen each Thursday to Suspense, radio's outstanding
• 30:14
  Speaker 3: theater of thrills.
• 30:22
  Speaker 5: This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: That was Suspense, the story of Markham's death. Thank you
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: for sharing another evening with the voices of Classic Radio.