Latest / Suspense | Old Time Radio / Circumstantial Terror [episode 542], Broadcast 3/8/1954

Transcript

Circumstantial Terror [episode 542], Broadcast 3/8/1954 · Suspense | Old Time Radio

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Auto Light and it's ninety eight thousand dealers. Bring you,
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: mister Ronald Reagan, into Night's presentation of suspense. Tonight Auto
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: Light presents the story of a man who wanted to
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: apologize for threatening a stranger and when he got there,
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: the stranger was dead and the police were waiting.
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: It's called circumstantial Terror. Our Star, mister Ronald Reagan.
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: This is Harlow Wilcox with a one hundred thousand dollars
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: reminder that total will be given to recognize charities in
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: cash through the Auto Light Family Charity Drawing, and you
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: may be one of twenty five persons selected to name
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: your own church, hospital, or any other local or national
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: recognized charity to share in its huge sum. There's no
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: obligation except printing your name and address, but your favorite
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: recognized charity may share in thousands of dollars. To tell
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: you how important this is to his organization, we are
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: privileged to present General George Kenney, President of the Arthritis
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: and Rheumatism Foundation.
• 1:14
  Speaker 3: This generous Auto Light offer would greatly aid the work
• 1:18
  Speaker 3: of such groups as the Arthritis and Rheumatism Foundation. If
• 1:22
  Speaker 3: you are one of the twenty five persons chosen to
• 1:24
  Speaker 3: name your favorite organization. I hope you will remember the
• 1:28
  Speaker 3: ten million people who suffer the pain in the crippling
• 1:31
  Speaker 3: of arthritis. They will be most grateful for your help.
• 1:36
  Speaker 3: Good luck to you in this Auto Light Family Charity drawing.
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: To enter this drawing, just visit any of these Auto
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: Light Family car show rooms and fill out a registration form. DeSoto, Hudson, Plymouth, Studebaker, Dodge, Willis, Nash, Packard,
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: Kaiser or Chrysler. It may mean thousands to your favorite
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: recognized charity. So sign up tomorrow and now.
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: Autolite presents Circumstantial Terror, starring mister Ronald Reagan, hoping once
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: again to keep you in suspense.
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: I wasn't the only one who was mad at him.
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: All the other guys felt just about like I did
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: about Curly Weather. That is, you see, if he hadn't
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: let the pressure go too high, we'd have all been
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: in good shape right now. As it was, the boiler
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: blew up and wrecked the cleaning plank where I worked.
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: The owner collected the insurance money and got out of
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: the business, which left us with no jobs. After a
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: few months of looking around for a job, I was
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: in a pretty bad way.
• 2:44
  Speaker 4: Then I connected.
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: Only trouble was it wouldn't start for three weeks, and
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: now I was broke, irritable, and mad at the world.
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: So I wasn't what you'd call a pleasant type fellow
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: when I walked into this liquor store for a package
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: of smokes about eleven o'clock one night. Else could I do?
• 3:00
  Speaker 5: Ddy?
• 3:01
  Speaker 6: There I was, with egg on my face, and that
• 3:03
  Speaker 6: phony salesman telling me I was gonna.
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: Have to take what he gives me. You get nothing
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: at all what you have to buy from him for
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: his outfit.
• 3:10
  Speaker 6: Has the distributor tied up twenty five percent of what
• 3:13
  Speaker 6: I make?
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: I make from his scotch.
• 3:16
  Speaker 4: I like a pack of cigarettes.
• 3:17
  Speaker 6: Oh joe, horses, mister, I got another customer, So I
• 3:21
  Speaker 6: check around town to see if maybe I can get
• 3:23
  Speaker 6: the scotch somewhere else.
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: Did you make a go ahead, take a guess. Come on, mister,
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: get off the dime. Just get guess the matter with you.
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: Ain't you got no manners? Just give me a pack
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: of cigarettes and stop shooting off your mouth, me shooting
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: off my mouth.
• 3:37
  Speaker 6: Look, buster, I got a pretty good trade right now,
• 3:40
  Speaker 6: So why don't you take your two bits sails somewhere else.
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: I don't even like the way you'll look. Listen, smart guy,
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: I've taken a lot of lip from guys like you
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: in the last few months. One more crack out of
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: you and I'll smear you all over the joint.
• 3:52
  Speaker 4: Do you hear? All right?
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: Mister?
• 3:53
  Speaker 7: All right, take it easy, Sammed on me, No harm,
• 3:56
  Speaker 7: that's just the way he talks.
• 3:58
  Speaker 4: And let him talk to somebody else like that.
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: Why don't you give me cigarettes? Sam? We can talk
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: some more at three leaves? Okay, what kind do you want? Mistake,
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: I don't want any kind. I just want you to
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: remember something. Next time you see me, you'd better cross
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: over to the other side of the street. It'll be
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: healthier for you. Remember that. I went back to my
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: room and poured myself a drink, No doubt about it.
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: That acted like a fool, But four months of being
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: unemployed didn't exactly develop an even temper. It was a
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: half hour before I realized I still hadn't got any
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: cigarettes in another fifteen minutes before I could talk myself
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: and going back to the liquor store to apologize for
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: losing my temper. The street was dark and the only
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: light on the whole block came from the glowing window
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: with a liquor store. I still wasn't sure what I
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: was gonna say to Sam when I got there, and
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: I knew i'd fix everything up all right. I'd gotten
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: within about one hundred feet of the store when I
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: noticed a black or what seemed to be black coop
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: parked in front of the store. Just about the time
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: I noticed it, I heard a shot seemed to come
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: from the direction of the store and stopped for a second,
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: and the guy rushed out of the store right in
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: front of me, jumped into the car, and before I
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: could do anything, could roar down the darkened street out
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: of sight. I ran to the store and looked in.
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: Nobody around, and I looked behind the counter. The guy
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: i'd argued with Sam was on the deck. I could
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: tell right away that it was a waste of time
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: to check his pulse, but I did it anyway. He
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: was dead all right. Then I started for the door
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: to call the cops. Hey, what's going on? When I
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: tell you, I saw who did it? He ran out
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: the door as I was coming up the street. Come on,
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: grab him move, he did it. That's the guy I
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: was telling you about. Come on, buddy, let go.
• 5:50
  Speaker 4: I tell you I didn't do it. I didn't do it.
• 5:52
  Speaker 4: I saw the guy that did.
• 5:53
  Speaker 7: Let go hold on them, EF, that's the guy Sam
• 5:55
  Speaker 7: had to throw out of the store.
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: He was casing the joint, that's what he was doing.
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: Let go holme them gun earth, I'm going for the cup.
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: Don't worry.
• 6:03
  Speaker 8: Hain't con nowhere.
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: As I was getting up to go after the police,
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: these two guys rush in and hold me.
• 6:19
  Speaker 4: I didn't do what I tell you.
• 6:20
  Speaker 5: He's lying, Officer. You'll find out if he's lying when
• 6:23
  Speaker 5: the guys from homicide get here.
• 6:24
  Speaker 4: I don't even own a gun.
• 6:25
  Speaker 7: That gun laying by Sam's body is Sam's gun.
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: Looks to me like this guy shot him with his
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: own gun.
• 6:31
  Speaker 4: If you don't shut your easy, does it what happens
• 6:36
  Speaker 4: when the guys from homicide get here?
• 6:38
  Speaker 5: You want my honest opinion, mister, Yeah, sure, I didn't
• 6:41
  Speaker 5: put the cuffs on you for laughs.
• 6:43
  Speaker 4: I think you've had it, buddy. It's only an opinion.
• 6:46
  Speaker 5: But what I can see here and I've gotten from
• 6:48
  Speaker 5: these witnesses, your nail, buddy, nail good.
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: And I was by the time it was presented to
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: the grand jury. The state had a real good case
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: prepared against me. The liquor store owner's gun only had
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: his prints on it, which made it look as if
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: I'd tried a phony hold up and jumped him when
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: he drew it, And there was money scattered all over
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: the store, which made it look as if I'd been
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: surprised before I had a chance.
• 7:22
  Speaker 4: To get away.
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: At Kaytie, who had been in the store when I
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: had my argument, wouldn't let me up. He pounded nails
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: in my coffin every time he opened his mouth. I'd
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: had a job when all this happened, that I had
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: trouble giving me a motive and being broken unemployed made
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: it look.
• 7:36
  Speaker 4: That much worse.
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: As a result, I wasn't surprised when the grand jury
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: came through with an indictment for first degree murder.
• 7:44
  Speaker 4: As far as I was concerned, it was all over
• 7:46
  Speaker 4: but the hanging.
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: Him Thompson right now, I wish I weren't. But I
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: am Who are you?
• 8:03
  Speaker 5: I'm Ernest Gibbons. I've been assigned as public defender in
• 8:06
  Speaker 5: your case. You're wasting your time. Why are you guilty? No,
• 8:11
  Speaker 5: I'm not well, then I'm not wasting my time. Mind
• 8:14
  Speaker 5: if I sit down, go ahead. Well, I think you
• 8:17
  Speaker 5: get most of the facts straight in my mind. Now
• 8:19
  Speaker 5: I want you to tell me in your own words,
• 8:21
  Speaker 5: what happened.
• 8:22
  Speaker 4: Did you read the transcript of the inquest?
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: Yes? I did.
• 8:25
  Speaker 4: That's all there is to it.
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: Uh huh. Well, look, Frank, I'm here to help you
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: if I can. I don't make it tough for me,
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: and I think we can beat this if you're help you.
• 8:34
  Speaker 5: Oh well, first, let's forget that story about running in
• 8:37
  Speaker 5: after the storekeeper was shot and nobody believes that.
• 8:40
  Speaker 4: Would you believe it if I tell it to you again?
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: Should I?
• 8:43
  Speaker 4: Yes? Because it's the truth.
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: What can you describe the man you saw running out.
• 8:48
  Speaker 4: More or less?
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: Or what do you mean but more or less?
• 8:51
  Speaker 4: Well? I got a pretty good look at his face.
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: He had a mustache, but I couldn't tell you how
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: tall he was or how much you weighed.
• 8:57
  Speaker 4: Seem to me to be just medium all around.
• 9:00
  Speaker 5: You said at the inquest that he got in a
• 9:01
  Speaker 5: car and he drove. Can he describe the car as
• 9:04
  Speaker 5: a black coop?
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: And what years?
• 9:05
  Speaker 4: You don't know?
• 9:06
  Speaker 5: How about to make I couldn't tell it's too dark.
• 9:09
  Speaker 5: The license number all or any part of the license.
• 9:12
  Speaker 4: None of it. All the lights were out.
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: In other words, if you.
• 9:15
  Speaker 5: Wanted to lie, this would be a pretty good way
• 9:16
  Speaker 5: of blaming someone the police couldn't possibly track down.
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: I guess so, but I'm not lying.
• 9:24
  Speaker 5: All right now, let's see the state has set the
• 9:27
  Speaker 5: trial for a week from to day in a hurry anything.
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: I guess they figured that they'd got you sewed up.
• 9:32
  Speaker 5: The papers have public opinion running pretty high against you.
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: You know, the man left a wife and three little kids.
• 9:41
  Speaker 4: That's tough, real tough.
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: There's a couple of days later that Ernie came to
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: me and said they were selecting the jurors would hear
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: the case.
• 9:56
  Speaker 4: This was a part of the law I didn't know
• 9:58
  Speaker 4: a thing about.
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: So when he's I had a right to sit in
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: in the selection, I went along only to get out
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: of the cell for a few hours.
• 10:06
  Speaker 5: Well, to put it simply, it's more of an interview
• 10:08
  Speaker 5: than anything else. It also gives us a chance to
• 10:10
  Speaker 5: get jurors we think might be more easily swathed.
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: Our way of thinking under the point where I don't
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: care much one way or another. I just wanted to
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: get out of the cell. For a little while. Maybe
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: I'd be better off I just played guilly and get
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: it over with.
• 10:25
  Speaker 5: Well, now you're talking, foolish boy. There's a lot that
• 10:28
  Speaker 5: didn't happen the next couple of weeks.
• 10:30
  Speaker 4: Yeah, that's all gonna happen to me.
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: Some of it might be good, you know.
• 10:35
  Speaker 4: Don't hold your breath.
• 10:39
  Speaker 5: Over here, Frank, you sit down right, Okay, I'm going
• 10:45
  Speaker 5: to try to get as many women as I can
• 10:47
  Speaker 5: on the jury.
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: You're a pretty good looking boy at help sometimes. What
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: about the prosecution? Don't they have anything to say about it?
• 10:54
  Speaker 5: Well, I doubt if they challenge more than once or twice.
• 10:57
  Speaker 5: Now they think they have such a strong case. Don't
• 11:00
  Speaker 5: matter much of them who's.
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: On the jury.
• 11:02
  Speaker 4: They're right too, aren't they.
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: That remains to be seen here they count. Yeah, Now
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: i'd trade places with any given one of them. I
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: don't think you'd get any takers. Not as many women
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: as all act to've seen. Ernie, Ernie, what's up the
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: guy with a gray suit over there next to the
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: dame with a fur coat? Oh yeah, well what about him?
• 11:29
  Speaker 4: Don't challenge him? What? Don't challenge him? That's the guy?
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: What guy? That's the guy? That killed the shopkeeper. That's
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: the guy I saw running out of the store that night.
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: Get him on the jury. Don't let him get away.
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: I don't want to die for what he did.
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: Auto Light is bring you, mister Ronald Reagan in Circumstantial
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: Terror Tonight's presentation in Radio's outstanding Theater of Thrills Suspense.
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: Hey, Charlie, what Nash model is this?
• 12:25
  Speaker 9: Well, this is the new Nash, Statesman, Harlow. You know
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  Speaker 9: as power steering, power breaks, and even powerlift windows. And
• 12:37
  Speaker 9: of course, Harlow, Nash has auto Light equipment too, and
• 12:40
  Speaker 9: auto Light is proud of its long association with Nash
• 12:43
  Speaker 9: and Nash dealers everywhere. That's why we're privileged to salute
• 12:46
  Speaker 9: Nash as a distinguished member of our auto Light family.
• 12:49
  Speaker 9: Distinguished is the word for the new Nash, Harlow, and
• 12:52
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• 13:01
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• 13:13
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• 13:15
  Speaker 4: Watch for it.
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: Okay, Charlie, and thanks for the ride. Always a pleasure, Harlowe, especially.
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: In a new Nash and now Auto Light brings back
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: to our Hollywood sound stage. Mister Ronald Reagan in Elliott
• 13:33
  Speaker 2: Lewis's production of Circumstantial Terror, a tale well calculated to
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: keep you in suspense. It was tough sitting through the
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: selection of the jury, especially when I knew that the
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: prosecution could, for no apparent reason disqualify the man I'd
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: pointed out to Ernie. If he was the man I'd
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: seen run out of the liquor store the night of
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: the shooting, then he had to be where we.
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: Could keep tabs on him. Ernie sacrificed a couple of
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: his limited number of peremporary challenges just to make sure
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: the guy came up for selection. When he did, there
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: was no objection on either side, and we had him.
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: Later that afternoon, when Ernie came to my cell, we
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: tried to figure out what we were going to do
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: with him. Well, now that we've got him, what are
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: we going to do.
• 14:31
  Speaker 5: It's your job to figure out, Ernie, you're the lawyer.
• 14:33
  Speaker 5: We're no better off now we were at the beginning.
• 14:35
  Speaker 5: We haven't got a shrewd of evidence to substantiate your claim.
• 14:38
  Speaker 4: And I saw him.
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: Isn't that enough? Well, you're on trial, not him. Well,
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: supposing I get up in court and say he's the man,
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: what would happen?
• 14:46
  Speaker 5: Probably declared to mistrial and discharge the jury and go
• 14:50
  Speaker 5: to work on another trial.
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: But huge stay in jail. Wouldn't they question him? Maybe
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: it was pretty obvious he'd say you were off your rocket.
• 14:57
  Speaker 5: Remember, Frank, you're the one who's choosed defending yourself by
• 15:02
  Speaker 5: accusing him just on your sayso's pretty flimsy.
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: Who believed?
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: Would you?
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: Well, couldn't you do it? Couldn't you tell someone proof proof?
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: What can I possibly do? But quote you?
• 15:13
  Speaker 4: What am I going to do?
• 15:14
  Speaker 5: Just what we're doing? Go through with this trial. Then
• 15:17
  Speaker 5: I'll appeal no matter what the verdict is, and see
• 15:19
  Speaker 5: if we can rope our friend into making a mistake.
• 15:22
  Speaker 5: But Hugh Duck as soon as the trial's overwel probably,
• 15:24
  Speaker 5: but at least he'll be around while the trial is on. Now,
• 15:27
  Speaker 5: if you cause a mistrial, he'll be gone a lot faster.
• 15:30
  Speaker 5: It isn't fair, I know, he says. A court of law,
• 15:33
  Speaker 5: the burden of proof is on the accuser.
• 15:35
  Speaker 4: What real proof have they got against me?
• 15:37
  Speaker 5: We don't have to catch a man in the active
• 15:39
  Speaker 5: murder to convict him of its. Circumstantial evidence can be
• 15:42
  Speaker 5: strong enough, and in your.
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: Case it seems to be. It's driving me nuts to
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: think that this guy's got to help send me away
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: for a murder he committed. Yeah, I haven't since you yet. Boy.
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: Let's see what happens, and if it does happen, maybe we'll.
• 15:54
  Speaker 5: Have something I can use to ask for a new
• 15:56
  Speaker 5: trial if we get into trouble. Where's the trial going
• 15:59
  Speaker 5: to be, well, Judge thurston't we'll preside, I think.
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: Let me see that'll put it in the city Hall annex.
• 16:04
  Speaker 4: Where's that?
• 16:05
  Speaker 5: And the annex has a small building on the north
• 16:06
  Speaker 5: side of the city Hall that's next to the parking lot.
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: Why just ask him that?
• 16:11
  Speaker 5: So rank, Yeah, don't try any grandstand plays, any tang
• 16:17
  Speaker 5: or the jury might result in a mistrial. And I
• 16:20
  Speaker 5: don't think that's a good idea.
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: Okay, I won't mess with them.
• 16:24
  Speaker 4: That's good.
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I gotta get go on going home.
• 16:28
  Speaker 4: I guess, Sir, tell me something, Ernie.
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: Sure, well, what do you want to know? What are
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: my chances?
• 16:35
  Speaker 8: Ernie?
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: And don't kid me.
• 16:37
  Speaker 5: I wouldn't kid you, Frank, I don't know right now,
• 16:40
  Speaker 5: but I sure be lying if I said they were good.
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: Thanks. That's what I wanted to know. That's what I
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: liked about, Ernie. And he asked for the truth.
• 16:58
  Speaker 4: He gave it to you. After he left, I lay
• 17:01
  Speaker 4: back in my.
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: Cot and thought about the whole miss. Everything had happened
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: so fast. I really hadn't had time to take stock
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: of my position. Now I did, and what I came
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: up with made me want to beat my brains out
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: against the steel bars out of sheer frustration. Wasn't anybody's
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: fault if you discounted the guy that actually did the killing.
• 17:19
  Speaker 4: I didn't have any beef with the.
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: Law, the people who were carrying out the law. It
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: was just that they didn't know they were going to
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: convict an innocent man. For hours, I guess, I lay
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: there thinking about ways to clear myself. Most of the
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: ways were more daydreaming than anything else. I finally came
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: up with the conclusion that anything I did was going
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: to have to really go from the time I started,
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: there wouldn't be time for talk or reason. In the morning,
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: I got dressed and ready for the first day of
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: the trial. When I got to the court room, I
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: was seated beside Ernie. Then came the time when papers
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: were being shuffled and everyone was getting set for the
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: opening arguments.
• 18:01
  Speaker 5: Well, then you take it easy, Frank, We're gonna fight
• 18:03
  Speaker 5: real hard.
• 18:04
  Speaker 4: You know what a backfire is.
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: Do you mean like when a car No, I mean
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: like when you're caught in a bad brush fire without
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: any water. I'm not with you, kid, What are you
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: going for?
• 18:14
  Speaker 4: You light another fire downwind.
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: Let it give you a big burn spot to stand
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: in while the main fire goes fast. Have you explained
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: it to me? Later?
• 18:20
  Speaker 5: Frank to Judge over be here in a minute of doing.
• 18:22
  Speaker 5: I want to get my paper straight in here. He
• 18:24
  Speaker 5: doesn't like to see an unprepared attorney.
• 18:27
  Speaker 4: Listen to me, or Anie. I'm in the path of
• 18:28
  Speaker 4: a real big fire right now.
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: I know, I know, but so I gotta try a backfire.
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: A guy can get killed in a backfire, but at
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: least you got to take a chance What are you
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: trying to tell me? Now say it fast because.
• 18:38
  Speaker 4: You will hear from me.
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: Stick with me, or I'm a pretty good guy, but
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: I'm in real bad trouble and I'm the only guy
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: that can get me out of it. What are you
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: gonna do this? Get on my quick.
• 19:05
  Speaker 4: It was the only thing I could do.
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: I couldn't sit by while twelve people tried to make
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: up their minds whether I must die for a murder
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: I didn't commit. As I went out the window, I
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: folded my arms in front of my face to keep
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: them being cut to ribbons with a broken glass. I
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: lit feet first in the parking lot and started running.
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: I didn't know where I was going. All I knew
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: was I had to get away fast. By the time
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: everyone got organized, I'd pretty well lost myself in the
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: alleys of the city. I got to a place where
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: they were putting up an office building and ducked into
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: the sub basement.
• 19:31
  Speaker 4: Crawled into a corner, and stayed there.
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: Somewhere around midnight, I slid out and started to the
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: only guy in town I knew wouldn't turn me in
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: as soon as he saw me, Ernie Gibbons. When I
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: got there, his place had a light out in the kitchen,
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: so I went around the back. Hi, you let me in.
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: I'll come on here. What are you doing here?
• 20:11
  Speaker 5: If you find out about this, I'll be disparred. I
• 20:13
  Speaker 5: won't stay long.
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: Turn the light off. Sit right there, Frank, I don't
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: move around too much.
• 20:21
  Speaker 5: Thanks, Okay, tell me why you did it?
• 20:26
  Speaker 4: I told you this morning in court. This is my backfire.
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: I couldn't just stand around while they made up their
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: minds whether to kill me or let me rot in jail.
• 20:34
  Speaker 4: I didn't do it. I'm going to get the guy
• 20:36
  Speaker 4: the did.
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: Oh, then they'll really have you, and.
• 20:38
  Speaker 4: They'll have me for something I did, not something I didn't.
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: Why did you come here? I need an address and
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: address me. The guy with the mustache, Yeah, got anything?
• 20:46
  Speaker 4: Got him?
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: He isn't around, Frank.
• 20:48
  Speaker 5: How do you know by the time I got through
• 20:50
  Speaker 5: with the miss you left behind, and he was pretty
• 20:52
  Speaker 5: late in the day.
• 20:53
  Speaker 4: What are you talking about?
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: Just this?
• 20:55
  Speaker 5: We knew he'd duck out as soon as the trial
• 20:57
  Speaker 5: was over. During the trial might have been able to
• 21:00
  Speaker 5: work something. That's why I warned you about causing a mistrial.
• 21:05
  Speaker 5: On this afternoon, I went over to the address.
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: He had given and he moved out a few hours.
• 21:09
  Speaker 4: After your break and forwarding.
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: Don't be so naive. The man is a murderer.
• 21:14
  Speaker 5: I don't think he knows you saw I'm running out
• 21:17
  Speaker 5: of the store. But he isn't taking any chances. He's lost, Frank,
• 21:21
  Speaker 5: and you're in a bigger gamman before.
• 21:23
  Speaker 4: I do now. Oh, yes, you tell me. I won't
• 21:25
  Speaker 4: give myself. That's up to you.
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: You're on your own.
• 21:27
  Speaker 5: Now what's your position in this? I should turn you in,
• 21:32
  Speaker 5: but you won't go here since they have the book
• 21:34
  Speaker 5: thrown out. When they get you, I gotta think. Yeah, sure,
• 21:39
  Speaker 5: then you do something for me, will you?
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: I might? What do you say? I'm a pretty hungry man.
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: Could you wrestle me have some food? Oh? Sure, Frank,
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: I'll fix you some.
• 22:02
  Speaker 4: Ernie.
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: Yes. What about that witness that claims he saw me
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: casing the place? That Eddy character? Yeah, well what about him?
• 22:08
  Speaker 4: He's the state's number one witness, isn't he?
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: Oh? I guess, sir.
• 22:12
  Speaker 4: What's he got against me? Why is he trying so
• 22:14
  Speaker 4: hard to get me?
• 22:15
  Speaker 8: Well?
• 22:15
  Speaker 5: I think that for the first time in his life,
• 22:17
  Speaker 5: he's somebody and he's going all out to prove it.
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: I'm gonna see. No, no, you're not. You're in enough trouble.
• 22:22
  Speaker 4: Off him.
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: Give me his address, Ernie, Well, you're out of your mind.
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: Give me his address. I want to talk to him.
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: But Frank, I know you've got it. You've got the
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: addresses of all the witnesses.
• 22:30
  Speaker 4: Get it.
• 22:33
  Speaker 5: Okay, it's here in my briefcase. Hey what, Well, that's funny.
• 22:46
  Speaker 5: I don't even noticed this before noticed What what are
• 22:49
  Speaker 5: you mumbling about? The witness against you lives right over
• 22:52
  Speaker 5: the liquor store where the guy was shot.
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: Ernie, Yeah, just a thought. But he's the fella that
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: accuse me of casing the shop. Suppose it was the
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: other way around. Suppose he was casing it for our
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: friend with a mustache. Well, you would have to prove
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: a connection between the two men. So how are you
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: going to do that?
• 23:11
  Speaker 4: I don't know. I'll figure that out when I get there.
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: Well, I can't let you do that.
• 23:15
  Speaker 4: Don't try to stop.
• 23:16
  Speaker 5: Well, you can get picked up on the way there.
• 23:18
  Speaker 5: I'll be there in a few three or four miles
• 23:19
  Speaker 5: from here.
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: You're lending me your car, I am, yeah, give me
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: the keys. Okay, here, so long? I mean, I wish
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: I could stop people. Don't try it. I wouldn't want
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: to hurt you. Oh thank you somehow?
• 24:28
  Speaker 4: Who was it, Whidy Wilson? Come on, open up.
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: I don't know any but you know me, Eddie Thompson.
• 24:36
  Speaker 4: That's right, Frank Thompson.
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: Fall guy? What do you want from me?
• 24:39
  Speaker 4: I want to know why you're so anxious to see
• 24:41
  Speaker 4: me burn?
• 24:42
  Speaker 7: You tied the whole Sam up and kill him. That's
• 24:44
  Speaker 7: why you know better than that I do. What other
• 24:47
  Speaker 7: reason would I have hold.
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: It down to a Rolready?
• 24:50
  Speaker 4: I gotta get some sleep.
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: Come on in, mister you with a mustache Thompson. Yeah,
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: that's what Eddie said when he saw me. All right, Eddie,
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: what's this guy doing here? He's my brother? But it
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: don't mean posey. One guy in a witness box and
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: one guy in a jury. You really got it made?
• 25:08
  Speaker 8: Yeah?
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: What are you gonna do about it? Make you tell
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: the truth? What are you talking about? Why do you
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: kill it? Need the money? Get out of here after
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: you write me a confession so I can burn instead
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: of you.
• 25:19
  Speaker 4: That's right.
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: You're wasting your time? Am I get the.
• 25:25
  Speaker 5: Cops in it now?
• 25:27
  Speaker 4: Get up? You am I wasting my time, am I.
• 25:32
  Speaker 10: I don't write nothing, you won't, okay, Okay, now.
• 25:47
  Speaker 4: Start writing. You come the cops. You're dead, No, mister,
• 25:52
  Speaker 4: you are.
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: If the cops get here before you finish writing, I'll
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: kill you. I'm gonna fry for something you did. I'm
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: gonna be sure you go with me. Now, make up
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: your mind if you want to die right now or
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: take a chance with a jury. Okay, give me a pen.
• 26:23
  Speaker 5: I hope you understand why I sent for the cops, Frank,
• 26:25
  Speaker 5: I didn't want you to get in any more trouble.
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: Oh sure, that's all right. Well, how's it feel? Mighty good?
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: It's a pretty time when you don't have to look
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: at it behind steel bars. Yeah, what are you going
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: to do? Now? It looks like I'll be able to
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: make that job I told you about, only a few
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: more days to wait. Where you be staying? I don't
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: know you got any money? You got any mon?
• 26:48
  Speaker 4: No?
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: Then it's settled. You'll stay with us until you get
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: on your feet.
• 26:53
  Speaker 4: You okay, lend me a quarter, sir? What for?
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: How to buy a pack of cigarettes from a machine.
• 27:26
  Speaker 2: Suspense presented by Autolite to light star Mister Ronald Reagan
• 27:32
  Speaker 2: congratulations on an excellent performance, Ronald, Well, thanks, Harlow.
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: Say what about this one hundred thousand dollars Auto Light
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: Family charity drawing?
• 27:39
  Speaker 4: Am I eligible?
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: Well, if you're over eighteen, you are, I'm eligible. We
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: All you do is visit any Auto Light Family car
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: dealer showroom, print your name and address on a registration
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: form and have the dealer sign it.
• 27:52
  Speaker 4: And if you're one of the twenty five.
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: People selected, you can name your favorite church, hospital, or
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: any other local or national recognized charity to share in
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: one hundred thousand dollars.
• 28:02
  Speaker 4: And all I do is fill out a form. You
• 28:04
  Speaker 4: mean there are no puzzles to solve or anything like that.
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: That's right, Ronald, nothing to solve, buy or try?
• 28:10
  Speaker 4: And where do I register?
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: At any of the following showrooms DeSoto, Hudson, Plymouth, Studebaker, Dodge, Willis, Nash, Packard,
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: Kaiser or Chrysler. Sounds like a wonderful opportunity, Harlol. Thank you,
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: Ronald Reagan. Friends, you can help you your favorite recognized
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: charity share in one hundred thousand dollars just by signing
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: your name and address. So why not sign up tomorrow?
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: Next week?
• 28:41
  Speaker 2: The story of a cross country train trip during which
• 28:44
  Speaker 2: a police officer finds himself torn between his assignment and
• 28:47
  Speaker 2: his personal feelings for the Girl in Car thirty two.
• 28:52
  Speaker 2: Our star mister Victor Mature. That's Next Week on Suspense.
• 29:00
  Speaker 2: Suspense is produced and directed by Elliott Lewis, with music
• 29:04
  Speaker 2: composed by Lucian Morrowick and conducted by Lud Bluskin. Circumstantial
• 29:08
  Speaker 2: Terror was written for suspense by Ross Murray. In Tonight's story,
• 29:12
  Speaker 2: Howard mcneer was heard as Ernie Teatured in the cast
• 29:15
  Speaker 2: were Victurn, Clayton Post, Charles Calvert, hal Gerard, and Kirk Martell.
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: Ronald Reagan is currently starred with Steve Forrest and Dewey
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: Martin in the MGM production Prisoner.
• 29:26
  Speaker 2: Of War and Remember Next Week Mister Victor Mature in
• 29:29
  Speaker 2: Thomas Walsh's story The Girl in Car thirty two.
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: This is the CBS Radio Network.