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Suspense - "Black Death" (Old Time Radio, 1955) · The 50 Greatest Old Time Radio Shows | Old Time Radio

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: A laboratory cat accidentally exposed to black plague bacteria has
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: escaped into the city. That urgent situation sets the course
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: for suspense, Black Death, episode 609, broadcast on CBS August 2nd, 1955.
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: Edgar Barrier plays Dr. Gebhardt, who joins Police Chief Williams,
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: played by William Conrad, in the search before fear, or infection,
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: can spread. The action begins at the Biological Institute, and
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: the search becomes personal when Gebhardt's young daughter, Patty, devoted
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: to the missing cat, may be near it. Mary McGovern
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: is heard as Patty, with Larry Thor as narrator. Written
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: by Lawrence Goldman, here is the original broadcast.
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: And now, tonight's presentation of radio's outstanding theater of thrills, Tonight,
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: we bring you a story of a pet cat and
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: the fear it carried with it. We call it Black Death.
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: So now, starring Mr. Edgar Barrier, here is tonight's suspense play,
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: Black Death.
• 1:37
  Speaker 3: April 3rd.
• 1:38
  Speaker 4: Remember what you did that day? It was a Saturday,
• 1:41
  Speaker 4: so maybe you weren't working. The air held that first
• 1:44
  Speaker 4: promise of spring, so you probably felt the urge to
• 1:47
  Speaker 4: go outside, maybe to the park. If you did, Chances
• 1:52
  Speaker 4: are you brushed against death. Black, unpredictable, anonymous death.
• 1:58
  Speaker 3: Listen. Yes, it's a cat.
• 2:05
  Speaker 4: We called him Jerry. Just a tomcat, color black, disposition friendly, usually.
• 2:10
  Speaker 4: Not too good as a mouser, no real need for it.
• 2:13
  Speaker 4: You see, Jerry gets pretty well fed where he lives.
• 2:16
  Speaker 4: And what mice we have there in the biological institute.
• 2:20
  Speaker 3: wouldn't be very healthy for Jerry.
• 2:22
  Speaker 4: They were likely as not to be inoculated with anthrax, typhoid, rabies, cholera, typhus,
• 2:29
  Speaker 4: or plague. We were doing special work with plague at
• 2:32
  Speaker 4: the Institute, studying and manipulating the deadly Pastorella pestis, the
• 2:37
  Speaker 4: rod-like germ of the Black Death. I blame myself, of course.
• 2:42
  Speaker 4: I should have known about Jerry. As director, it is
• 2:45
  Speaker 4: my business to know everything about the Biological Institute. to
• 2:48
  Speaker 4: keep track of the last submicroscopic bacillus and spore in
• 2:52
  Speaker 4: the smallest test tube.
• 2:54
  Speaker 3: But that morning, I didn't know about Jerry. I was home.
• 3:04
  Speaker 4: I had just finished breakfast, and Patty, as usual, was
• 3:07
  Speaker 4: flitting about me.
• 3:08
  Speaker 5: A pocket full of posy, ashes, ashes, we all fall down.
• 3:16
  Speaker 3: Where did you learn that song, Patty?
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: It's a game.
• 3:19
  Speaker 5: The kids in the park play it. Why, Daddy?
• 3:23
  Speaker 3: I didn't answer her.
• 3:25
  Speaker 4: How could I tell Patty the harmless nursery rhyme had
• 3:28
  Speaker 4: its horrible origin among the victims of the.
• 3:31
  Speaker 3: Great plague of London?
• 3:33
  Speaker 4: In their desperation, they hoped the smell of flowers might
• 3:36
  Speaker 4: ward off the deadly miasma.
• 3:40
  Speaker 3: It didn't help, of course. Posey or no, they coughed
• 3:44
  Speaker 3: their lives away.
• 3:45
  Speaker 5: Ashes, ashes We all fall down.
• 3:50
  Speaker 4: And they did fall down by the uncounted thousands, never
• 3:55
  Speaker 4: to rise again.
• 3:57
  Speaker 5: Don't forget, Daddy, you promised.
• 3:58
  Speaker 3: Promised? What did I promise now?
• 4:00
  Speaker 5: To take me with you to the office. You remember.
• 4:03
  Speaker 3: I said if it was all right with Mother.
• 4:05
  Speaker 5: Oh, I asked Mama, and first she said no, because
• 4:07
  Speaker 5: she always worries about the germs. Then I told her
• 4:09
  Speaker 5: you said the Institute is the safest place in town.
• 4:12
  Speaker 5: Because every dream is under a lock and a key.
• 4:14
  Speaker 5: So she said all right.
• 4:15
  Speaker 3: All right, you little minx. You win. Oh, goody.
• 4:18
  Speaker 5: Now I'll get to play with Jerry.
• 4:21
  Speaker 3: I'll get it, dear. Hello?
• 4:24
  Speaker 4: Dr.
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: Gephardt.
• 4:25
  Speaker 3: Oh, hello, Mike.
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: Dr.
• 4:26
  Speaker 3: Gephardt.
• 4:27
  Speaker 4: Dr.
• 4:27
  Speaker 6: Gephardt, I think I got it.
• 4:29
  Speaker 3: Got it? What's the matter, Mike? Plague. Oh, that's impossible.
• 4:33
  Speaker 3: All the symptoms. There's a leak somewhere.
• 4:35
  Speaker 6: Hurry, doctor.
• 4:36
  Speaker 3: I'll be right down.
• 4:37
  Speaker 5: I'm all ready, Daddy.
• 4:38
  Speaker 3: Not today, Patty.
• 4:39
  Speaker 5: But Daddy.
• 4:40
  Speaker 3: Not today, I said. I'm sorry.
• 4:43
  Speaker 5: Promise, Daddy, and I wanted to play with Jerry.
• 4:53
  Speaker 4: Mac was waiting for me in my office. It took
• 4:56
  Speaker 4: only a moment to see that it was true. The
• 4:59
  Speaker 4: characteristic expression of fear and anxiety. His skin hot and dry.
• 5:04
  Speaker 4: The hacking cough.
• 5:06
  Speaker 3: Am I glad to see you. Oh, Mac, Mac, what
• 5:08
  Speaker 3: are you doing up? Have you treated yourself? Yes, but
• 5:11
  Speaker 3: it's advanced. Pretty far. Don't get near me. How on
• 5:14
  Speaker 3: earth did this happen? Slicked up somewhere. Yesterday I had chills, headache, dizzy.
• 5:18
  Speaker 3: Thought it was something I ate. Didn't pay any attention.
• 5:21
  Speaker 3: All right, all right. Enough of that. Now you're getting
• 5:23
  Speaker 3: to bed.
• 5:23
  Speaker 4: No.
• 5:24
  Speaker 3: No, not until we locate the leak. The guinea pigs.
• 5:27
  Speaker 3: The cage over there.
• 5:28
  Speaker 4: No, it can't be. Not one of those animals is
• 5:30
  Speaker 4: a pastorelli. There must be something else.
• 5:33
  Speaker 3: Now get away, Jerry.
• 5:35
  Speaker 4: A mack.
• 5:36
  Speaker 3: You're sure you didn't work with some others? Those mice, maybe.
• 5:38
  Speaker 3: I'm positive. Oh, that fool cat. Let me get him
• 5:41
  Speaker 3: out of here. Now, come on, Jerry. Outside.
• 5:44
  Speaker 5: Careful, Doctor.
• 5:45
  Speaker 6: He's been funny lately.
• 5:46
  Speaker 3: He scratched me the other day. What did you say, Mac?
• 5:51
  Speaker 6: I said, Jerry.
• 5:52
  Speaker 3: Jerry scratched me, Doctor.
• 5:53
  Speaker 5: That's what.
• 5:59
  Speaker 3: He lay there, writhing on the floor. And then he
• 6:03
  Speaker 3: was gone.
• 6:05
  Speaker 4: Once the deadly bacillus took hold of his lungs and
• 6:07
  Speaker 4: his blood. Our miracle drugs were no more effective than
• 6:11
  Speaker 4: the posies of those ancient, terrified Londoners.
• 6:15
  Speaker 3: But I wasn't thinking of that. I was looking at
• 6:18
  Speaker 3: the long, ugly, inflamed scratches on his arm. Jerry.
• 6:23
  Speaker 4: It didn't seem possible, yet there was the proof. Somehow,
• 6:27
  Speaker 4: Jerry had picked up the infection. It could happen a
• 6:29
  Speaker 4: hundred ways, and passed.
• 6:31
  Speaker 3: It on to Mac. Then Jerry.
• 6:34
  Speaker 4: was outside somewhere, in the streets, in the unsuspecting city, sick, unpredictable,
• 6:42
  Speaker 4: with death in every one of his claws. And I
• 6:46
  Speaker 4: had sent him out there. I ran outside, but the
• 6:50
  Speaker 4: earth had swallowed Jerry up.
• 6:52
  Speaker 3: The police. I needed the police. But I had to
• 6:56
  Speaker 3: handle this carefully, very carefully.
• 6:59
  Speaker 4: If it got out, if all these people learned of
• 7:01
  Speaker 4: the black killer stalking among them There would be panic.
• 7:06
  Speaker 3: No, no, they mustn't know. I had to see the
• 7:08
  Speaker 3: chief of police immediately. I'm sorry, mister, but the chief's
• 7:12
  Speaker 3: a busy man. You tell me who you are and
• 7:14
  Speaker 3: what your business is.
• 7:15
  Speaker 4: All I am asking is to open that door, get
• 7:17
  Speaker 4: the chief on the phone, anything.
• 7:19
  Speaker 3: This is absolutely vital, I tell you. The whole city. Yeah, yeah,
• 7:22
  Speaker 3: I understand.
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: Chief!
• 7:23
  Speaker 3: Chief Williams! Now, look, you don't want to get into trouble.
• 7:26
  Speaker 6: Hey, Chubby, what goes on here?
• 7:27
  Speaker 3: There's no story in this for you, Ryan. Justin Nutt
• 7:30
  Speaker 3: thinks he's going to see the chief. I've got to
• 7:32
  Speaker 3: see him. Hey, hold it, hold it. Wait a minute.
• 7:34
  Speaker 3: I've covered some of your lectures. Your doctor... Gibhart. Gibhart.
• 7:38
  Speaker 3: You know me. Tell him. He works at the Biological Institute, Chevy.
• 7:41
  Speaker 3: Got a story for me, doctor? Something hot, maybe? I've
• 7:43
  Speaker 3: got to see the chief. Can you make this man understand? Yeah. Sure, sure.
• 7:49
  Speaker 3: Let him in, Chevy. He's all right. I'll vouch for him.
• 7:51
  Speaker 3: You'll vouch for him. That's a laugh. If I let
• 7:53
  Speaker 3: him in there, it's my job. If you don't let
• 7:55
  Speaker 3: him in, it's your job, brother.
• 7:58
  Speaker 4: Yes.
• 7:59
  Speaker 3: There's a Dr. Gibhart to see you. Says it's urgent.
• 8:01
  Speaker 6: Gibhart. All right, send him in.
• 8:04
  Speaker 3: Yes, sir. That door right there, Doctor.
• 8:08
  Speaker 6: I'm sorry. I didn't have any way of knowing.
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: I.
• 8:17
  Speaker 4: Tell you, Chief, that cat has got to be found,
• 8:19
  Speaker 4: even if it takes every man in the department to
• 8:21
  Speaker 4: do it.
• 8:21
  Speaker 3: Well, that's just fine, Doctor.
• 8:23
  Speaker 7: Have you any idea just how many black cats of
• 8:25
  Speaker 7: that description are at large in a city this size?
• 8:27
  Speaker 4: It doesn't make any difference. We were working with plague
• 8:31
  Speaker 4: bacillus in its purest form at the Institute. That cat
• 8:34
  Speaker 4: is capable of infecting any human, any animal he scratches.
• 8:39
  Speaker 3: Doctor, are you sure of this? My assistant just died.
• 8:44
  Speaker 3: That's how sure. All right.
• 8:49
  Speaker 7: Emergency alarm. Disaster level. All leaves canceled. Alert every available
• 8:54
  Speaker 7: man for orders. Transmit to fire department, highway patrol, county
• 8:57
  Speaker 7: sheriff's office, state and federal agencies.
• 8:59
  Speaker 6: All ready, sir.
• 9:00
  Speaker 3: Apprehend black cat.
• 9:02
  Speaker 6: Mailed.
• 9:04
  Speaker 3: Answers to name of cherry.
• 9:14
  Speaker 6: Repeat, shoot on sight, but do not approach or touch
• 9:18
  Speaker 6: the cat dead or alive. Report in location immediately on
• 9:22
  Speaker 6: contact and stand by for decontamination squad.
• 9:32
  Speaker 7: Then we'll requisition all available streptomycin, sulfadiazine, penicillin. Alert medical
• 9:37
  Speaker 7: staffs of all city hospitals to prepare for treatment of
• 9:40
  Speaker 7: the plague.
• 9:40
  Speaker 3: No. No, don't say that. What? Don't use the word plague.
• 9:45
  Speaker 3: Once it gets out, what we're after, the whole city
• 9:47
  Speaker 3: will let go in panic.
• 9:48
  Speaker 7: Ah, yes, I agree with you, Doctor, but these alarms
• 9:50
  Speaker 7: go only to the law enforcement bodies. As soon as
• 9:52
  Speaker 7: I can get the machinery going, I'll warn the newspapers
• 9:54
  Speaker 7: to clamp the lid on it.
• 9:55
  Speaker 3: They'll do it? Sure, they'll all play ball. Except maybe
• 9:59
  Speaker 3: the tabloid. The tabloid? What's the matter? I'll be right back. Officer,
• 10:08
  Speaker 3: where's that man who was here before? Ryan?
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: I don't know.
• 10:12
  Speaker 3: He listened to about half the chief's order and then
• 10:14
  Speaker 3: he beat it out of here. I remembered where I
• 10:18
  Speaker 3: had seen Ryan before.
• 10:19
  Speaker 4: He was a reporter on the tabloid. A year ago,
• 10:23
  Speaker 4: he'd broken off the record statement of mine, caused no
• 10:25
  Speaker 4: end of trouble. He had recognized me just now. He
• 10:28
  Speaker 4: had heard enough of the chief's orders to put two
• 10:31
  Speaker 4: and two together.
• 10:31
  Speaker 3: I had to catch him before.
• 10:34
  Speaker 4: There was a bank of phone booths ahead. I scanned
• 10:37
  Speaker 4: the glass doors until I saw his form hunched inside.
• 10:41
  Speaker 3: It's the plague. A cat's got it.
• 10:43
  Speaker 6: Of course I'm sure. I even know the cat. I've
• 10:45
  Speaker 6: seen him in the institute. A black top... Oh, hello, Dr.
• 10:48
  Speaker 3: Gebhardt. Hey, hold it, Bill. Here's Dr. Gebhardt.
• 10:50
  Speaker 6: Maybe he'll give us a direct statement.
• 10:52
  Speaker 3: How about it, Doctor? What's the latest on the plague situation?
• 10:54
  Speaker 4: The latest is you're going to kill that story and
• 10:57
  Speaker 4: kill it quick.
• 10:57
  Speaker 5: Why?
• 10:58
  Speaker 3: It's true, isn't it?
• 10:59
  Speaker 4: Look, you can't let this out. Do you realize what
• 11:01
  Speaker 4: it means if that news breaks on this city? The
• 11:04
  Speaker 4: hospitals will be swamped with panic-stricken people. There won't be
• 11:07
  Speaker 4: men or equipment or time to take care of the
• 11:09
  Speaker 4: real victims.
• 11:10
  Speaker 3: What an angle.
• 11:10
  Speaker 6: Hey, Bill, get this. Stake out photographers in all the
• 11:13
  Speaker 6: hospitals and watch for the fireworks.
• 11:15
  Speaker 3: Wait, you've got to call this off.
• 11:16
  Speaker 6: Read it in your daily tabloid, Doctor.
• 11:18
  Speaker 3: Plague strikes city. You dirty... Go ahead, hit me.
• 11:21
  Speaker 8: The tab gives us a bonus if we're socked in
• 11:23
  Speaker 8: the line of duty.
• 11:23
  Speaker 3: You're an addict.
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: You are listening to Black Death, tonight's presentation in radio's
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: outstanding theater of thrills, Suspense.
• 11:59
  Speaker 8: Tomorrow evening, exclusive on CBS Radio for the ninth straight year,
• 12:03
  Speaker 8: hear the Hamiltonian, the greatest event in the world of
• 12:06
  Speaker 8: harness racing. Coming to you direct from Good Time Track
• 12:09
  Speaker 8: in historic Goshen, New York, the Hamiltonian is this season's
• 12:13
  Speaker 8: climax in harness racing, matching the best trotters in the
• 12:16
  Speaker 8: Grand Circuit. CBS Radio's John Durr provides colorant comment. Charles Hinkle,
• 12:22
  Speaker 8: official announcer for Grand Circuit trotting events, is your reporter.
• 12:25
  Speaker 8: Tomorrow evening on most of these stations, a CBS Radio
• 12:29
  Speaker 8: sports exclusive. Hear the Hamiltonians start to finish.
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: And now we bring back to our Hollywood soundstage Mr.
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: Edgar Barrier, starring in tonight's production, Black Death, a tale
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: well calculated to keep you in suspense.
• 12:47
  Speaker 3: ¶ ¶.
• 13:00
  Speaker 4: Five minutes after the tabloid hit the streets, the lines
• 13:03
  Speaker 4: were jammed with frightened calls from anybody who had ever
• 13:06
  Speaker 4: seen or imagined a black cat. And we had to
• 13:09
  Speaker 4: investigate them all. There was no way around that.
• 13:15
  Speaker 3: Let me through, please. Officer, where is the cat? This way, doctor.
• 13:21
  Speaker 5: There.
• 13:22
  Speaker 6: There he is.
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: Got him cornered in that area way.
• 13:25
  Speaker 3: Couldn't reach him to shoot. Watch your step, doctor.
• 13:28
  Speaker 4: He's mean.
• 13:29
  Speaker 3: Oh, don't worry. I'm not going any closer without my
• 13:31
  Speaker 3: mask and gloves. All right, officer. Keep your gun ready. Yes, sir. Oh,
• 13:49
  Speaker 3: my God. No, it's not Jerry.
• 13:59
  Speaker 4: Here, this is the 18th false alarm we've chased down
• 14:02
  Speaker 4: in the last two hours.
• 14:04
  Speaker 3: Call the animal shelter, officer.
• 14:09
  Speaker 4: Chief Williams was right about one thing. I had no
• 14:12
  Speaker 4: idea how many black cats could be loose in a
• 14:15
  Speaker 4: city the size of ours. It was late afternoon when
• 14:18
  Speaker 4: the alarms stopped coming in faster than we could take
• 14:21
  Speaker 4: care of them, and I got back to the chief's office,
• 14:24
  Speaker 4: tired with a feeling of hopelessness.
• 14:26
  Speaker 7: Every substation, every hospital, every doctor's office in town, it's
• 14:30
  Speaker 7: the same. You'd never believe so many people could get bitten, scratched, mauled,
• 14:35
  Speaker 7: or kissed by cats in a single day. Or think
• 14:39
  Speaker 7: they did.
• 14:39
  Speaker 3: Have a blood test? Every last one negative so far.
• 14:42
  Speaker 3: Thank heaven for that, then.
• 14:43
  Speaker 7: I don't know. We're going to have to find one
• 14:45
  Speaker 7: victim anyhow, or we'll never get a line on that cat.
• 14:48
  Speaker 3: Now, come over here, Doctor. Let's look at this map.
• 14:51
  Speaker 3: I followed Chief Williams to the big wall map.
• 14:53
  Speaker 4: Inside the perimeter of the circle that stretched a mile
• 14:56
  Speaker 4: in every direction on its center at the Institute, colored
• 15:00
  Speaker 4: pins dotted sector after sector, and the area was slowly,
• 15:04
  Speaker 4: painstakingly mopped up.
• 15:06
  Speaker 3: By peace officers with drawn guns. It was like war.
• 15:10
  Speaker 3: It was war.
• 15:12
  Speaker 4: War without quarter against a single enemy more dangerous.
• 15:16
  Speaker 3: Than a battalion of soldiers.
• 15:18
  Speaker 4: Slowly, the cordon narrowed in around Jerry, compressing him into
• 15:22
  Speaker 4: a smaller and smaller space.
• 15:24
  Speaker 3: Chief? Yes?
• 15:28
  Speaker 6: Dr.
• 15:29
  Speaker 3: Gebbert's wife is calling again.
• 15:31
  Speaker 5: Oh?
• 15:31
  Speaker 3: Oh, yes, Doctor, I'm sorry. She's been trying to get
• 15:33
  Speaker 3: you all day. You can take the call here. Oh, thanks. Hello, darling? Yes, yes,
• 15:40
  Speaker 3: I know. No, we haven't caught him yet, but... Chief?
• 15:44
  Speaker 3: Don't worry about it.
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: What?
• 15:46
  Speaker 4: Oh? Good, good.
• 15:48
  Speaker 3: Switch all the men you can to the park, that's right.
• 15:50
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I suppose she's safe enough there, darling. You'd better
• 15:53
  Speaker 4: get her inside. Don't take any chances.
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: Dr. Gebhardt. Yes?
• 15:58
  Speaker 3: I've got to go now, Ella. Yes, of course, I'll
• 16:00
  Speaker 3: be careful.
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: Dr.
• 16:01
  Speaker 3: Gebhardt. You watch out for Patty. Goodbye. Yes, Chief. It's
• 16:05
  Speaker 3: a break, Doctor. Your cat's pinned down. We'll get him now. Oh,
• 16:07
  Speaker 3: thank heaven. Where? In Washington Park.
• 16:10
  Speaker 6: Where?
• 16:10
  Speaker 7: I've thrown an airtight cordon around the park and given
• 16:12
  Speaker 7: shooting orders. It's only a matter of time now.
• 16:15
  Speaker 3: Washington Park. Are you sure?
• 16:17
  Speaker 7: Yes, we got a positive blood test. A woman was
• 16:19
  Speaker 7: picnicking in the park. She petted and fed your cat
• 16:21
  Speaker 7: and he scratched her.
• 16:22
  Speaker 3: The blood test was.
• 16:25
  Speaker 3: What's the matter, Doctor? Patty, my little girl, is in
• 16:30
  Speaker 3: Washington Park. What? Yes, she's been playing there all afternoon.
• 16:36
  Speaker 3: My wife just told me.
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: The End.
• 16:47
  Speaker 3: I should have been glad, I suppose.
• 16:49
  Speaker 4: It was the first real break we'd had all day,
• 16:51
  Speaker 4: pointing directly to Jerry.
• 16:52
  Speaker 3: With all I could think, I was my daughter.
• 16:54
  Speaker 4: But soon it would be dark, and then Jerry would
• 16:58
  Speaker 4: be nothing but two shining coals of eyes, hungry and erratic,
• 17:03
  Speaker 4: invisible as the virus of death he carried in his
• 17:07
  Speaker 4: own dying body. It was then, I think, I first
• 17:11
  Speaker 4: thought of Jerry as what he really was.
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: Death.
• 17:16
  Speaker 3: Black Death.
• 17:18
  Speaker 4: The police had herded all the people caught by the
• 17:20
  Speaker 4: dragnet into a corner of the park.
• 17:23
  Speaker 3: Then I heard shots.
• 17:25
  Speaker 4: The cleanup squad was going through the park with drawn guns,
• 17:29
  Speaker 4: systematically killing all living things that could spread the plague.
• 17:34
  Speaker 3: But shots go wild. And Patty... Patty was somewhere out there.
• 17:40
  Speaker 6: What are you doing here? Can't you civilians follow orders?
• 17:42
  Speaker 6: You belong back there with the others.
• 17:44
  Speaker 3: I'm Dr. Gebhardt. You've got to stop shooting.
• 17:47
  Speaker 6: Don't tell me what I've got to do. I've got
• 17:48
  Speaker 6: my orders.
• 17:49
  Speaker 3: That's all right, officer. I'll take over here.
• 17:51
  Speaker 6: Oh, yes, sir.
• 17:52
  Speaker 3: Have you seen a little girl, about eight, long brown hair?
• 17:54
  Speaker 6: Well, there's lots of kids there with the others. We
• 17:56
  Speaker 6: herded them all over by the picnic table.
• 17:58
  Speaker 3: No, no, she's not there. I looked.
• 18:00
  Speaker 6: And I'll guarantee she ain't in the park. We covered
• 18:02
  Speaker 6: every inch of the place, going down to the water
• 18:04
  Speaker 6: on all sides of the lake.
• 18:05
  Speaker 3: But what about that island?
• 18:06
  Speaker 6: Mister, can you imagine a cat getting out of that island?
• 18:09
  Speaker 5: A cat?
• 18:09
  Speaker 3: But there's a bridge, isn't there?
• 18:11
  Speaker 6: I know cats, mister. No cat's going to cross water
• 18:13
  Speaker 6: if you're going to help it. Bridge or no bridge.
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: Well, you idiot.
• 18:16
  Speaker 3: He could be carried, couldn't he? And it's the last
• 18:18
  Speaker 3: possible place.
• 18:19
  Speaker 6: And I tell you that.
• 18:19
  Speaker 7: Officer, your orders were to mop up this park, all
• 18:22
  Speaker 7: of it, not to use your own judgment about the
• 18:24
  Speaker 7: habits of cats.
• 18:25
  Speaker 4: Yes, sir. I ran over the bridge, the little island
• 18:31
  Speaker 4: in the middle of the lake, so I deleted peaceful
• 18:34
  Speaker 4: by day now looked in the darkening shadows like a silent,
• 18:38
  Speaker 4: waiting jungle. It was the one last place that Jerry
• 18:42
  Speaker 4: could be. At the chief's orders, we spread out five
• 18:46
  Speaker 4: yards apart, then started across the island. We were like
• 18:50
  Speaker 4: jungle beaters, driving warily ahead, leaving no single inch of
• 18:55
  Speaker 4: ground or bush or tree unexplored.
• 18:59
  Speaker 3: It was dark now. I could not see the others.
• 19:02
  Speaker 3: Except for the trample.
• 19:03
  Speaker 4: Of their feet on the twigs and the fitful play
• 19:06
  Speaker 4: of the officer's flashlights, I might have been alone on
• 19:09
  Speaker 4: this island.
• 19:11
  Speaker 3: Alone with death.
• 19:14
  Speaker 4: The windows of the tall apartment surrounding the park lights
• 19:17
  Speaker 4: went on and off in.
• 19:19
  Speaker 3: A haphazard pattern. One of those lights should have been
• 19:21
  Speaker 3: my own.
• 19:23
  Speaker 4: Only I knew my wife was pressed anxiously against the
• 19:26
  Speaker 4: police cordon that kept her out of the park.
• 19:29
  Speaker 3: And Patty, my own little girl....
• 19:34
  Speaker 5: Oh, you mad man. You tried to kill my kitty.
• 19:38
  Speaker 3: Patty.
• 19:38
  Speaker 5: You tried to kill my kitty.
• 19:40
  Speaker 3: Patty. Patty. What happened?
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: What happened?
• 19:42
  Speaker 3: Did you get him?
• 19:43
  Speaker 6: Chief, I saw the eyes shining in the dark. I
• 19:45
  Speaker 6: didn't know there was a kid there.
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: Patty.
• 19:47
  Speaker 3: Patty, are you hurt? Where is she? Why did you
• 19:49
  Speaker 3: see the cat?
• 19:50
  Speaker 6: In there, down under them bushes.
• 19:52
  Speaker 3: I followed the beam of the officer's flash.
• 19:55
  Speaker 4: Patty had crawled deep inside a natural tunnel under the
• 19:58
  Speaker 4: thick-clining cypress. I saw her tear-stained face, frightened, and then
• 20:04
  Speaker 4: two coals of fire glared at me from the shadows.
• 20:10
  Speaker 3: In her arms. Takes a notion to scratch her. Patty. Patty.
• 20:16
  Speaker 3: Let the kitty go.
• 20:18
  Speaker 5: No. No. Go away.
• 20:21
  Speaker 3: I can make him out better now, Chief.
• 20:23
  Speaker 6: I think I can hit that cat.
• 20:24
  Speaker 3: Put it away, Blanchard. Yes, sir, Chief.
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: Only.
• 20:27
  Speaker 3: Give me your flashlight, officer. I'm going in there.
• 20:30
  Speaker 4: I raised my mask, dropped to my knees, and started
• 20:34
  Speaker 4: into the opening between the close-set hedges.
• 20:37
  Speaker 3: But I got no further than the opening. Patti. Patti, darling.
• 20:46
  Speaker 3: It's Daddy. It's me, darling.
• 20:48
  Speaker 5: No, you're not my daddy. You're a bad man. You're
• 20:53
  Speaker 5: going to hurt me. Go away.
• 20:56
  Speaker 3: What's got into her? It's your mask, Gebhardt. That's what's
• 20:59
  Speaker 3: scaring her. Of course, of course. That's what it is.
• 21:02
  Speaker 3: But you're not going in there without a mask. Patti
• 21:05
  Speaker 3: has no mask. I'm going in to get my little girl. Patti.
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: Patti.
• 21:14
  Speaker 3: Patty, it's Daddy. Don't be scared.
• 21:18
  Speaker 4: I'm coming in with you to take you home to Mama.
• 21:26
  Speaker 4: Don't be scared, darling.
• 21:28
  Speaker 5: I'm not scared, Daddy. Jerry's here.
• 21:33
  Speaker 3: Yes. Patty, let me hold Jerry.
• 21:39
  Speaker 5: You won't take him away from me?
• 21:42
  Speaker 3: Don't squeeze him. He'll scratch. He hasn't scratched you, has he, darling?
• 21:49
  Speaker 5: Oh, no, Daddy. Jerry wouldn't do that. He's my friend.
• 21:53
  Speaker 3: Yes, of course he is, baby. But Jerry is sick.
• 21:57
  Speaker 3: He's very sick. You'd better let me hold him.
• 22:03
  Speaker 5: You make people well, don't you, Daddy? You're a doctor.
• 22:06
  Speaker 3: That's right, darling. I make people well.
• 22:10
  Speaker 5: Here then, Daddy. You take Jerry and make him well.
• 22:16
  Speaker 3: He was in my arms.
• 22:17
  Speaker 4: Suddenly he didn't seem like Black Death anymore. It was
• 22:21
  Speaker 4: just Jerry, the old familiar Jerry I had fed and
• 22:24
  Speaker 4: scolded and petted for all the years he'd been.
• 22:26
  Speaker 3: A fixture at the Institute.
• 22:28
  Speaker 4: He relaxed in my arms as only a cat can,
• 22:31
  Speaker 4: and stretched forth a long paw.
• 22:34
  Speaker 3: The claws came out, rested on my bare wrist. If
• 22:38
  Speaker 3: he made a quick move, even involuntarily... But Jerry didn't
• 22:43
  Speaker 3: make the move.
• 22:45
  Speaker 4: Slowly, the claws, still holding their deadly venom, sank back
• 22:50
  Speaker 4: into their furry sheaths.
• 22:53
  Speaker 3: I took a bottle out of my pocket, uncapped it.
• 22:57
  Speaker 5: What's that funny smell, Daddy?
• 22:59
  Speaker 3: It's medicine for Jerry. It's called chloroform.
• 23:04
  Speaker 5: Will it make him well?
• 23:07
  Speaker 3: It will make him go to sleep, dear. You see?
• 23:10
  Speaker 3: He's asleep now.
• 23:13
  Speaker 5: I'm sleepy too, Daddy. Can we go home now?
• 23:16
  Speaker 3: Oh, yes, Patty. We're going home. We're going home now.
• 23:46
  Speaker 6: Suspense, in which Mr.
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: Edgar Barrier starred in tonight's presentation of Black Death. Next week,
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: the story of betrayal and retribution on Devil's Island. We
• 23:57
  Speaker 2: call it The Stool Pigeon. That's next week on Suspense.
• 24:01
  Speaker 6: Suspense.
• 24:16
  Speaker 2: Suspense is produced and directed by Anthony Ellis. Tonight's script
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: was written by Lawrence Goldman. The music was composed by
• 24:22
  Speaker 2: Rene Garigan and conducted by Wilbur Hatch. Featured in the
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: cast were William Conrad, Mary McGovern, Gil Fry, Jack Edwards,
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: Jim Musser, Joe Cranston, and Barney Phillips.
• 24:37
  Speaker 8: Thursday nights, The Whistler brings mystery on the CBS radio network.
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: Thank you. Suspense leaves us with its August 1955 broadcast,
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: Black Death. Follow the 50 greatest old-time radio shows for
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: more classic broadcasts.