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Suspense - "Death on Highway 99" (Old Time Radio, 1945) · Suspense | Old Time Radio

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: From jail, Morton Blake writes of a high school love
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: long left unspoken and of the unhappy marriage that took
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: him and his wife Pauline onto Highway 99. This CBS
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: broadcast of suspense, Death on Highway 99, first heard October 4th, 1945,
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: is episode 161. George Murphy stars as Morton, with Kathy
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: Lewis as Pauline. Bill Johnstone, Joe Kearns, and Joe Granby
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: are also heard in the cast.
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: Written by Larry.
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: Marcus and Robert Light, the story follows the Blakes after
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: an argument in their car brings an accident and a
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: difficult moral decision. As police investigate, pressure gathers around their
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: conflicting loyalties.
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: And now, our story begins.
• 0:50
  Speaker 3: Now, a tale well calculated to keep you in suspense.
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: Dear Julie.
• 1:06
  Speaker 4: The clock here in my room has just struck seven,
• 1:09
  Speaker 4: which means I have about an hour for writing.
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: This letter to you. I guess already you've said, who's
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: this from? What goes?
• 1:16
  Speaker 4: So I'll tell you right off. Remember Morton Blake? Speed Blake,
• 1:20
  Speaker 4: they called me.
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: In high school.
• 1:21
  Speaker 4: The guy who sat behind you in Algebra II and Chemistry?
• 1:25
  Speaker 4: That was more than seven years ago. And I'm writing
• 1:28
  Speaker 4: to you because there's no one else in the.
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: World that I give a darn about.
• 1:31
  Speaker 4: There never has been, Julie, since I saw you the
• 1:34
  Speaker 4: first time. Well, I sure had other plans about you,
• 1:38
  Speaker 4: and that's probably a surprise, too, because I never had
• 1:41
  Speaker 4: the nerve to let you know I was alive before.
• 1:44
  Speaker 4: But as it is with me now, this letter is
• 1:46
  Speaker 4: all you'll ever know. A letter telling what a mess
• 1:49
  Speaker 4: I've made of things, what a mess I've made of
• 1:51
  Speaker 4: my life. You see, Julie, it's because I always decided
• 1:55
  Speaker 4: too late what to do, because I always was a coward.
• 1:59
  Speaker 4: That's why I never spoke up and told you back
• 2:01
  Speaker 4: then what I thought about you until it was too late.
• 2:06
  Speaker 4: And you married someone else. That's why I'm writing you
• 2:09
  Speaker 4: the last letter I'll ever write. To a girl who
• 2:12
  Speaker 4: can't even remember my face. That's why I'm waiting for
• 2:16
  Speaker 4: Captain Shannon to come and get me.
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: You see, Julie, I'm a murderer. Yes, in just a little.
• 2:27
  Speaker 4: While I'll see the squad car pull up outside and
• 2:29
  Speaker 4: then all the fumbling and mistakes will be over. But
• 2:32
  Speaker 4: I want you to understand, that's all. Because it really
• 2:35
  Speaker 4: was all her fault, Pauline's. Do you remember Pauline? She
• 2:39
  Speaker 4: was that strawberry blonde who hated you so much. Of course,
• 2:42
  Speaker 4: Pauline hated everyone. She was so sharp and mean and
• 2:45
  Speaker 4: not like you. But when you got married, I married
• 2:48
  Speaker 4: Pauline just to show myself that I didn't care.
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: Just because she was there handy and you were lost.
• 2:54
  Speaker 4: It was five long years we were clawing each other
• 2:57
  Speaker 4: like two cats tied in a sack, right up to
• 3:00
  Speaker 4: that last night. She'd gone to a show alone. I
• 3:03
  Speaker 4: picked her up afterwards. I was a little late, so
• 3:07
  Speaker 4: she really began writing me.
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: She was in a fine.
• 3:09
  Speaker 5: One thing after another. I tell you, I've just about
• 3:12
  Speaker 5: had my fill, Mort. I've stood as much as I'm
• 3:13
  Speaker 5: going to. As much of what? As much of what?
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: Oh, look, Pauline, I work late. I'm tired. Now, why
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: don't you just sit there and be quiet?
• 3:20
  Speaker 5: Yes, you'd like that, wouldn't you? You'd like it if
• 3:23
  Speaker 5: I was deaf and dumb. But you won't shut me up,
• 3:25
  Speaker 5: Morton Blake. When I want to talk, I'll talk. What
• 3:29
  Speaker 5: are you stopping for?
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: It's a boulevard stop sign.
• 3:31
  Speaker 5: Oh, isn't that silly? It's almost two in the morning.
• 3:34
  Speaker 5: There isn't a car in sight.
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: Oh, Pauline, let me drive the car, will you?
• 3:38
  Speaker 5: All right, sure. Take your time after I waited almost
• 3:41
  Speaker 5: an hour in the cold. You don't care about anybody
• 3:44
  Speaker 5: but yourself.
• 3:45
  Speaker 6: Pauline.
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: What?
• 3:47
  Speaker 4: Look, let's stop kidding ourselves. Let's be honest for five minutes.
• 3:51
  Speaker 5: Honest? You're a fine one to speak about being honest.
• 3:55
  Speaker 5: I just wonder if it really was work that kept
• 3:57
  Speaker 5: you tonight. After all, I know a couple of things.
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: Oh, forget all that, will you? And listen. What I'm
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: trying to say is our marriage is finished. You know
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: it and I know it. It was no good before
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: we started.
• 4:06
  Speaker 5: Yes. And whose fault was that, may I ask? I
• 4:10
  Speaker 5: know what you were thinking of then. I know who
• 4:12
  Speaker 5: you were mooning about. I know that.
• 4:13
  Speaker 4: Oh, all right, all right. But why should you and
• 4:15
  Speaker 4: I go on? Why don't we just call the whole
• 4:17
  Speaker 4: thing off?
• 4:19
  Speaker 5: You've been working too hard, Mort.
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: You're delirious.
• 4:23
  Speaker 5: Do you really think I'd ever give.
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: You a divorce? Well, it's as bad for you as
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: it is for me, Pauline. Why not?
• 4:28
  Speaker 5: I got my reasons.
• 4:29
  Speaker 4: But we're wasting our lives. You're still young and pretty
• 4:33
  Speaker 4: and you could get a much better deal.
• 4:35
  Speaker 5: You think you could too, don't you, Mort?
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: Oh, I don't know.
• 4:37
  Speaker 5: Well, just because you want your freedom so much, it's
• 4:39
  Speaker 5: no go, see? Because I like to make you squirm
• 4:42
  Speaker 5: because I loathe and despise you. Do you get me, Mort?
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: Yes, yes, I get you. Pauline, Paul, let's don't talk anymore.
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: Let's forget it.
• 4:53
  Speaker 5: Look, you don't have to speed up just because we started.
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: Look, a minute ago I was going too slow. You said.
• 4:58
  Speaker 5: Never mind what I said. Stop going so fast.
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: Well, I'm under the limit. Dry up.
• 5:01
  Speaker 5: Mort will turn over.
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: Oh, I said dry up.
• 5:04
  Speaker 5: But, Mort, there's somebody on the road.
• 5:07
  Speaker 6: Morton!
• 5:08
  Speaker 5: Look out!
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: You're going to hit him!
• 5:13
  Speaker 5: You hit him. You hit him.
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: You stay in the car, Pauline.
• 5:17
  Speaker 5: Don't go, Mort. And he's dead.
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: Maybe. Just stay where you are. He's moving.
• 5:23
  Speaker 4: Hey, mister.
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: Mister, can you hear me? Not your fault. Couldn't see
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: me in the dark. Now, don't try to talk. Here,
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: just hang on to me. I'll get you into the car. Good,
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: now you're on your feet. Who are you, mister? Name, Haggerty. Okay, Mr. Haggerty.
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: Take it easy now and I'll take you to a doctor. Yes, doctor, quickly.
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: He's passed out. Pauline, open the back door.
• 5:52
  Speaker 5: Is he dead?
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: He's alive. He's alive.
• 5:54
  Speaker 6: Here.
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: There, now, if we hurry.
• 5:55
  Speaker 4: We've got to get him to the hospital right away.
• 6:01
  Speaker 5: Well, there. There's the result of your temper, Mort.
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: My temper? Well, you know it wasn't my fault. He
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: jumped right in front of the wheels. It's not your fault.
• 6:11
  Speaker 5: He doesn't seem to think it was your fault either.
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: Well, it wasn't. You saw. He ran out from the
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: side without looking.
• 6:16
  Speaker 5: Oh, sure. You're lucky. As usual, Mort.
• 6:19
  Speaker 6: Lucky?
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: What are you talking about?
• 6:21
  Speaker 5: The streets are completely deserted.
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: Well, it's late. What's so strange about that?
• 6:25
  Speaker 7: Nothing.
• 6:26
  Speaker 5: There weren't any witnesses.
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: Well, that's right. No witnesses except him and you. Yes.
• 6:30
  Speaker 5: That's right. Him and me. What's your hurry, Morton?
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: What's mine? Well, I've got to get him to a hospital.
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: He may be dying.
• 6:43
  Speaker 5: No, Mort, he's not dying. You don't have to hurry.
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: He's dead. She said it just like that. Like she
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: was handing me a birthday present. I pulled the car
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: to the curb and got in the back seat. The
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: old man was sprawled across the cushions. His head twisted back.
• 7:05
  Speaker 4: When I put my face down, there wasn't a whisper
• 7:08
  Speaker 4: of any breathing on my cheek.
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: I slipped my hand inside his coat. Still as stone.
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: Not a flicker from his heart. I crawled back under
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: the wheel and sat there thinking. Mort.
• 7:21
  Speaker 6: Yeah.
• 7:23
  Speaker 5: You know what you've done?
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 7:26
  Speaker 6: He's dead.
• 7:28
  Speaker 5: That means you're guilty of... What is it, Mort?
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: Murder? No, it's not murder.
• 7:35
  Speaker 5: Or manslaughter. And even manslaughter will mean prison. Won't it, Mort?
• 7:42
  Speaker 4: Huh?
• 7:42
  Speaker 5: I said manslaughter will mean prison, won't it?
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: Prison? No, it wasn't my fault. You heard him say so. Yeah.
• 7:50
  Speaker 5: If I testify that I heard, then you'll get off.
• 7:54
  Speaker 5: Is that it?
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: Why? Well, you'll have to testify, or else.
• 7:57
  Speaker 5: Or else what, Morton?
• 7:58
  Speaker 4: Or else I'll be sent up. There weren't any other witnesses.
• 8:01
  Speaker 5: That's right, Morton.
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: Hey, what are you trying to tell me?
• 8:05
  Speaker 5: Mort, you must have imagined that poor man said it
• 8:08
  Speaker 5: wasn't your fault.
• 8:09
  Speaker 6: What?
• 8:10
  Speaker 5: Because I didn't hear him say a thing.
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: You're lying. You're lying, Pauline. You heard him. As soon
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: as I put him in the car, he said, it's
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: not your fault.
• 8:17
  Speaker 5: Can you prove it, Mort?
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: Can I prove?
• 8:20
  Speaker 5: This is what I've wanted, Morton. I'll have my freedom,
• 8:24
  Speaker 5: but you won't have yours. You'll be that jailbird Speed Blake.
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: And you'll have.
• 8:29
  Speaker 5: Years and years and years to think about the other
• 8:31
  Speaker 5: girls you used to know. Won't you, Mort?
• 8:35
  Speaker 6: I looked at her.
• 8:39
  Speaker 4: She had a thin smile on her lips. I got
• 8:42
  Speaker 4: a crawling feeling at the back of my neck. I
• 8:44
  Speaker 4: held onto the wheel so tight my knuckles began to ache.
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: Well, Morton.
• 8:48
  Speaker 5: What are you waiting for?
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: What was I waiting for? What had I always waited for?
• 8:52
  Speaker 5: Well, Morton.
• 8:53
  Speaker 4: I began to think of something. A line my beloved
• 8:55
  Speaker 4: wife's ran through my brain.
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: No witnesses. There were no witnesses. Why wait, Mort?
• 9:00
  Speaker 5: Be a man.
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: No witnesses. There were no witnesses.
• 9:04
  Speaker 4: I could dump the old man's body somewhere on the
• 9:06
  Speaker 4: edge of town and no one would be the wiser.
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: No one but Pauline.
• 9:09
  Speaker 6: But.
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: But what if there was no Pauline?
• 9:18
  Speaker 5: Where are you going? This isn't the way, Mort. Morton,
• 9:22
  Speaker 5: look at that speedometer.
• 9:24
  Speaker 7: I'll tell you, you're going the wrong way, Mort.
• 9:28
  Speaker 5: We're way past the city limits. Morton. Morton, stop this.
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: Car at once.
• 9:33
  Speaker 5: Stop it. Do you hear?
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: Okay. Okay. I'll stop the car, Pauline.
• 9:41
  Speaker 5: Oh. Mort, you... You didn't really believe me when I
• 9:47
  Speaker 5: said I wouldn't testify? Did you, Mort?
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: Yes. Yes, I believed you.
• 9:52
  Speaker 5: But I was only kidding. I wouldn't think of not telling.
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: I believed you, Pauline.
• 9:57
  Speaker 5: But you know I'd never do such.
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: I believed you, and so I'm going to kill you. You're...
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: You're joking. Am I?
• 10:04
  Speaker 5: You wouldn't dare, Mort. Anyway, how could you?
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: Look outside, Pauline. Did you notice where we are?
• 10:11
  Speaker 5: What do you mean?
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: We're on Austin Bluff. Remember the cliff just ahead?
• 10:16
  Speaker 4: What?
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: Martin. Must be at least 300 feet to the bottom.
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: It's a pretty picture.
• 10:22
  Speaker 6: Huh, baby?
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: Oh, please.
• 10:23
  Speaker 5: Please, Martin.
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: Come on, get out of the car. No, no, no, no. Oh, yes, yes,
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: we're going for a walk. No, no, no. A walk
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: in the moonlight.
• 10:33
  Speaker 4: No.
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: Just you and me.
• 10:34
  Speaker 4: After five years, we ought to have a little romance,
• 10:37
  Speaker 4: we two.
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: She didn't budge. Her eyes blazed at me.
• 10:44
  Speaker 4: I got out of the car and closed the door.
• 10:46
  Speaker 4: Walked around to the other side to pull her out.
• 10:48
  Speaker 4: But she locked the door from the inside before I
• 10:50
  Speaker 4: got there. I ran fast, back to.
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: The other side.
• 10:53
  Speaker 4: If I wasn't fast enough, she'd lock that door. And
• 10:55
  Speaker 4: the back doors, too. She and Haggerty were locked in. Oh,
• 10:58
  Speaker 4: it made me crazy wild to see her little white
• 11:00
  Speaker 4: face in there.
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: The face that had kept me from anything a guy
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: could want in life. Open up. Open up the door.
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: You can't get away. I got the key, so quit stalling.
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: Open up. Stop it. Stop that horn or I'll... Okay,
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: I'll fix that. You won't keep that ragging up long, sweetheart?
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: Let's see now. Which is it?
• 11:19
  Speaker 6: Ah, there.
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: Got him. You see, Pauline?
• 11:24
  Speaker 4: You'd be smart to come out and get it over with.
• 11:29
  Speaker 4: I pressed my face against the glass. She was crouched
• 11:32
  Speaker 4: down in the front seat. Her eyes watched every move
• 11:34
  Speaker 4: I made. She was trapped and she knew it. I
• 11:36
  Speaker 4: could see Haggerty in the back seat, his head still
• 11:39
  Speaker 4: twisted back. His eyes were shut and a sprawled old
• 11:42
  Speaker 4: body had a look of pain and surprise. Even wild
• 11:44
  Speaker 4: like I was, I felt bad about him.
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: But I had to hurry. Pauline was fooling with the lights,
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: flashing them on and off. I fell around in the
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: ground and I found a good solid rock. I picked
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: it up and I showed it to her. Open up.
• 11:56
  Speaker 4: This is your last chance or I'll smash the window. Okay,
• 12:00
  Speaker 4: whatever you.
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: Say, baby. Here we go.
• 12:02
  Speaker 4: No!
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: No, Martin, no! Now for that walk. No, no. Come on.
• 12:10
  Speaker 5: Don't hurt me, please.
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: Don't hurt me. Come on, I'll stop that screaming. Now,
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: I think it's a clear drop here. No ledge. See
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: that glow down there? That's water. Tailor Creek. Clear all
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: the way down.
• 12:25
  Speaker 5: Ah!
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: Oh, you want to talk, huh? Okay, talk. You can
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: even yell. No one will hear you now.
• 12:32
  Speaker 5: You can't do this, Mort. I promise I won't hurt you.
• 12:35
  Speaker 5: You're not the kind of person to kill. You can't
• 12:37
  Speaker 5: do it, Mort.
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: You can't do it. Can't I?
• 12:39
  Speaker 5: No, please, please.
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: You'd be surprised what I can do, Pauline. Mort, please
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: let me. No, please. Stop it, Mort. Goodbye, baby. Goodbye.
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: Sweet dreams. Yes, Julie, I did it.
• 12:57
  Speaker 4: And when you get this letter, you'll be the only
• 12:59
  Speaker 4: person who'll really know why. Who'll know that I'm only
• 13:02
  Speaker 4: sorry that I didn't kill her sooner. All right, so
• 13:05
  Speaker 4: you can't quite remember which guy I was, if I
• 13:08
  Speaker 4: was the tall one or the red-headed one, or if
• 13:10
  Speaker 4: you spoke to me when you saw me in the hall.
• 13:12
  Speaker 4: That doesn't matter to you or to me now.
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: Five years.
• 13:17
  Speaker 4: Five years I might have spent at least thinking about you. Well,
• 13:23
  Speaker 4: it was done. I climbed back in the car. The
• 13:26
  Speaker 4: clock on the dash said 20 after 2. I still
• 13:29
  Speaker 4: had to get rid of the old man's body before daylight,
• 13:31
  Speaker 4: so I started driving. When I came to a strip
• 13:34
  Speaker 4: of forest along the road, I stopped my car and
• 13:36
  Speaker 4: I got out. And right then, the beam of a
• 13:39
  Speaker 4: spotlight pinned me in my tracks.
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: I didn't move. I thought it was a cop. Hey,
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: what you doing there?
• 13:44
  Speaker 4: He started walking toward me, rolling his motorcycle.
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: No parking anywhere along the highway, mister. Okay, officer. Okay,
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: I didn't know. This ain't no lover's lane. You gotta
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: keep moving. I'm sorry. I'll get going right away, officer.
• 13:56
  Speaker 7: Say, you're not carrying any vegetables in your car, are you?
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: Vegetables?
• 14:00
  Speaker 4: No.
• 14:00
  Speaker 7: There's a beetle thing going on again. I just better
• 14:04
  Speaker 7: take a look in the back there. Oh, there's nothing
• 14:06
  Speaker 7: in there, honest.
• 14:07
  Speaker 6: What?
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: Listen. Where does that guy think he's going? Oh, yeah. Yeah,
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: he's speeding all right, isn't he?
• 14:14
  Speaker 7: Say, am I going to slap a ticket onto him? Hey,
• 14:16
  Speaker 7: but you clear out of here, mister.
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: And don't ever park on this highway again. No, no.
• 14:21
  Speaker 7: Never again.
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: So I took another road and got back on Highway 99.
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: By then, I felt jittery.
• 14:33
  Speaker 4: I smoked one cigarette after another, and the sweat was
• 14:35
  Speaker 4: rolling down my face. I found another spot, and this
• 14:38
  Speaker 4: time I made sure I was alone. Then I parked
• 14:40
  Speaker 4: the car, and I opened the back door. I reached
• 14:43
  Speaker 4: in for Haggerty's body. He was still.
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: Limp and warm, and really, I was sorry about him.
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: You see, that proves I wasn't a killer. That proves
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: it was her fault, Pauline's.
• 14:54
  Speaker 4: And if she hadn't been like she was, I never
• 14:56
  Speaker 4: would have killed.
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: Not anyone. Well, I got the old.
• 15:00
  Speaker 4: Man out onto the road and I left him there.
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: I got home i put the car.
• 15:11
  Speaker 4: In the garage and looked it over to see that
• 15:12
  Speaker 4: everything was okay no blood on the seat that was
• 15:15
  Speaker 4: a break the window was broken of course but i
• 15:17
  Speaker 4: could fix that there was mud on the tire so
• 15:19
  Speaker 4: i got out the garden hose and washed them down
• 15:22
  Speaker 4: then i went into the house i was pretty nervous
• 15:25
  Speaker 4: i knew i'd have to be on my toes for
• 15:26
  Speaker 4: the next three or four days so so i took
• 15:28
  Speaker 4: a couple of sleeping pills they did the trick i
• 15:31
  Speaker 4: was asleep.
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: The minute my head hit the pillow.
• 15:41
  Speaker 4: The telephone sounded like it was ringing miles away.
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: I didn't know if it was day or night, but
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: I stumbled down the hall, shaking my head, trying to
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: clear my brain.
• 15:50
  Speaker 7: Hello?
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: Hello? Is this Martin Blake? Yes.
• 15:58
  Speaker 8: This is Sergeant Graham down at headquarters.
• 16:01
  Speaker 6: Oh, yeah.
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: Is anything wrong?
• 16:04
  Speaker 8: I got some bad news for you, Blake.
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: Bad news? Yeah.
• 16:09
  Speaker 8: A report just came in from the East Precinct. A
• 16:12
  Speaker 8: couple of campers found a body at the bottom of
• 16:14
  Speaker 8: the cliff.
• 16:16
  Speaker 3: Yes?
• 16:18
  Speaker 8: Well, it's tough to tell you, but, well, the body's
• 16:21
  Speaker 8: been identified as your.
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: Wife, Pauline.
• 16:24
  Speaker 6: Pauline?
• 16:30
  Speaker 4: It looked like an accident. They didn't suspect a thing.
• 16:33
  Speaker 4: I was in the clear. The sleeping pills were still working.
• 16:36
  Speaker 4: I wanted to go back to bed, but I didn't dare.
• 16:38
  Speaker 4: I had to get down to that morgue right away
• 16:40
  Speaker 4: to identify.
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: What was left of Pauline. I thought that might throw me, but.
• 16:44
  Speaker 4: I was as cold as steel when they took me
• 16:45
  Speaker 4: in to see her.
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: They were watching me, so I pulled an act. Hey, hey, hey, hey,
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: take it easy. Take it easy there. Here, sit down here.
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: I'll get you some water. Oh, thanks. I'm all right now. Here,
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: take a swallow of this. Oh, thank you. Let's see.
• 17:09
  Speaker 4: I guess you must get pretty hard into these things
• 17:13
  Speaker 4: after a while.
• 17:14
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I see them every day. I don't know. You
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: never really get used to it. We had another sad
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: case this morning. Another accident? Yeah.
• 17:24
  Speaker 7: They brought in an old fellow. Found him on Highway 99.
• 17:26
  Speaker 7: Smacked by a hit-and-run driver.
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: Is that right? Yeah.
• 17:30
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 17:31
  Speaker 2: That's a nasty business. Of course, this old man isn't dead,
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: but still, you know.
• 17:36
  Speaker 7: Hey, you're a jumpy.
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: Here, I'll get you another glass. Oh, thanks. You see,
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: seeing my wife, I guess... Sure, I understand. Here, just
• 17:49
  Speaker 2: take it easy now. Thank you.
• 17:51
  Speaker 6: Feel better? Oh, yeah. Yeah, sure.
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: You were telling me the old man wasn't dead? No.
• 17:58
  Speaker 7: Just by luck, one of the boys got a very
• 18:00
  Speaker 7: faint heartbeat when he felt his pulse.
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: We went to work on him fast, and it looks
• 18:03
  Speaker 2: like he's going to pull through. Well, that's sure a break.
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: For him, I mean. Yeah.
• 18:10
  Speaker 7: He's at the receiving hospital. The report is he's coming
• 18:12
  Speaker 7: along fine. He got a bad smack in the head.
• 18:15
  Speaker 7: Lost his memory.
• 18:16
  Speaker 4: Oh.
• 18:17
  Speaker 6: For good?
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: No, no. They say it's only temporary.
• 18:20
  Speaker 5: Oh.
• 18:21
  Speaker 7: They think when he snaps out of it, he may
• 18:22
  Speaker 7: even remember the dirty rat that hit him.
• 18:24
  Speaker 4: Haggerty was.
• 18:30
  Speaker 6: Alive. Alive.
• 18:33
  Speaker 4: Well, of course, I should have been glad. The poor
• 18:35
  Speaker 4: old guy had never done anything to me. But I
• 18:37
  Speaker 4: couldn't think that way then. Haggerty was alive and he'd
• 18:40
  Speaker 4: remember me.
• 18:41
  Speaker 2: And he'd remember Pauline was with me. I almost gave up.
• 18:44
  Speaker 2: I almost shouted, all right, I did it, I killed
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: my wife. But something kept me fighting.
• 18:48
  Speaker 4: Long enough to get out of there. Long enough to
• 18:50
  Speaker 4: drive to the hospital where Haggerty was. It was an
• 18:52
  Speaker 4: awful chance to take, but I couldn't stay away. I
• 18:56
  Speaker 4: was just walking up to the desk to find out
• 18:57
  Speaker 4: his room number.
• 18:58
  Speaker 6: Blake! Aren't you Morton Blake?
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: Oh, yes. Yes, I am.
• 19:04
  Speaker 6: I'm Captain Shannon from headquarters. I just saw you down
• 19:07
  Speaker 6: at the morgue.
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: Oh, yes. I didn't remember.
• 19:10
  Speaker 6: Well, can I tell you how sorry I am about
• 19:13
  Speaker 6: your wife?
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: Oh, thank you very much, Captain.
• 19:16
  Speaker 6: Funny running into you here.
• 19:18
  Speaker 4: Yes, I... Well, I thought I'd find out if I
• 19:22
  Speaker 4: could get a room and take a rest for a
• 19:25
  Speaker 4: few days.
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: I feel pretty well shot.
• 19:28
  Speaker 6: Yes, I can imagine. But I don't think you have
• 19:31
  Speaker 6: a chance the way hospitals are crowded. You'd better get
• 19:34
  Speaker 6: your rest at home. Get a friend to stay with you.
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: Yes, I guess you're right, Captain.
• 19:39
  Speaker 6: I'd drive you home, but I get called down on
• 19:41
  Speaker 6: this hit-and-run case.
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: Oh, the old man? The attendant at the morgue was
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: telling me.
• 19:47
  Speaker 6: He was? Oh, I shouldn't talk to you about such things,
• 19:50
  Speaker 6: the way you feel. Oh, but it looks like it
• 19:53
  Speaker 6: all turned out all right. The old man's only shock,
• 19:56
  Speaker 6: not even a bad bruise or broken bone. He's conscious now,
• 20:00
  Speaker 6: so I'm going up to talk to him.
• 20:01
  Speaker 4: You, you, uh, do you think you'll know who hit him?
• 20:04
  Speaker 6: Oh, they said over the phone he has a good description,
• 20:07
  Speaker 6: and even if it isn't good... We've got the tire
• 20:10
  Speaker 6: print of the car and the footprint of the driver.
• 20:13
  Speaker 6: You have?
• 20:13
  Speaker 2: From where?
• 20:15
  Speaker 6: There was a lot of mud where the car stopped.
• 20:18
  Speaker 6: The driver was careless. That kind usually are. Oh, there's
• 20:23
  Speaker 6: a doctor on the case now. Oh, Dr. Leeds.
• 20:26
  Speaker 7: Yes?
• 20:27
  Speaker 6: I was just going to walk up and talk to
• 20:28
  Speaker 6: the old Pagetti. Oh, yes, I know.
• 20:30
  Speaker 8: Did the nurse tell you he described the driver, Captain?
• 20:33
  Speaker 6: Yes. I'm going to take it down and then make
• 20:37
  Speaker 6: the arrest.
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: Fine, but would you mind waiting about two hours?
• 20:40
  Speaker 8: The old man's sleeping now, and rest is important to
• 20:42
  Speaker 8: a man his age.
• 20:43
  Speaker 6: Mind, doctor?
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: No.
• 20:46
  Speaker 6: What's time to me? It's two hours more for the
• 20:49
  Speaker 6: hit-and-run driver, whoever he is, to wonder just how smart
• 20:53
  Speaker 6: he really was. And we know the answer. What?
• 21:12
  Speaker 2: So, Julie, I'm waiting now. I'm writing you all.
• 21:16
  Speaker 4: This because I got a crazy idea that you have
• 21:19
  Speaker 4: a right to know. You, a girl I knew seven
• 21:21
  Speaker 4: years ago, who won't remember me, who won't remember that nickname, Speed.
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: Or if I had freckles.
• 21:28
  Speaker 6: I did.
• 21:29
  Speaker 4: Or if you signed my book on class day. You
• 21:32
  Speaker 4: didn't because I didn't have the nerve to ask you.
• 21:34
  Speaker 4: So maybe it isn't a real girl at all that
• 21:36
  Speaker 4: I'm writing this to. I guess I'm writing to how
• 21:41
  Speaker 4: I failed, to how I never did anything in time,
• 21:46
  Speaker 4: to how.
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: I thought good and acted bad.
• 21:49
  Speaker 4: You see, what I think you were adds up to
• 21:52
  Speaker 4: how much I failed. I guess every guy in the
• 21:55
  Speaker 4: world has someone like you, a girl in a blue dress,
• 21:59
  Speaker 4: and success is having her now, not back a long
• 22:03
  Speaker 4: way in the past.
• 22:05
  Speaker 2: They drove up now. Captain Shannon and, yes, a couple
• 22:09
  Speaker 2: of cops. And Haggerty. Old Haggerty's walking.
• 22:14
  Speaker 6: Okay.
• 22:15
  Speaker 2: Well, I only got seconds to get ready for them.
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: So goodbye, Julie. Goodbye. All right. All right, you can
• 22:34
  Speaker 2: come in. It isn't locked.
• 22:37
  Speaker 6: I brought Mr. Haggerty, Blake. I think we all ought
• 22:41
  Speaker 6: to have a little talk.
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: Oh, sure.
• 22:42
  Speaker 4: Sure, I know.
• 22:43
  Speaker 6: This is the man, isn't it, Haggerty?
• 22:45
  Speaker 2: Yes, but I told you, Captain, it wasn't his fault.
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: You told him? You told him what? Of course. I
• 22:52
  Speaker 2: stepped out and you couldn't miss hitting me.
• 22:54
  Speaker 6: But he left you there. You might have been dying, Haggerty.
• 22:57
  Speaker 2: I know, but he got scared. I don't blame him.
• 23:01
  Speaker 7: I'm not going to make any charges, Captain, and that's that.
• 23:05
  Speaker 6: Well, I guess that's all, Blake.
• 23:08
  Speaker 4: All?
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: All.
• 23:10
  Speaker 6: You ought to be happy about it.
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: But didn't he tell you about Pauline? About my wife?
• 23:15
  Speaker 6: What about your wife?
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: Well, that she was with me in the car.
• 23:19
  Speaker 6: Last night? Your wife was with you? Haggerty!
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: He didn't tell you?
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: And now?
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: Now it's too late. I.
• 23:27
  Speaker 6: Well, what's wrong with you, Blake? Somebody get some water.
• 23:30
  Speaker 2: It's too late. I took cyanide when you drove up.
• 23:34
  Speaker 2: It's too late. You see, I killed Pauline.
• 23:37
  Speaker 6: But Haggerty never said... I know. I know now.
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: He didn't say it. He passed out before I put
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: him in the car. But it's too late. It's funny
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: about me, Captain.
• 23:49
  Speaker 6: I was always too late.
• 23:51
  Speaker 3: And they used to call me Speed.
• 23:53
  Speaker 5: Speed Blake.
• 23:56
  Speaker 2: Speed Blake.
• 25:08
  Speaker 6: Thank you.
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: That concludes Suspense, Death on Highway 99 from October 4th, 1945.
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: Follow Suspense for more classic broadcasts.