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The Adventures of Philip Marlowe - "The Mexican Boat Ride" (1949) · Old Time Mystery Radio | Old Time Radio

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: A wealthy husband is troubled by his wife's unexpected trip
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: to Mexico, a voyage made more puzzling because she is
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: afraid of water. On July 30th, 1949, CBS brought Gerald
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: Moore to the microphone as Philip Marlowe in episode 43
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: of The Adventures of Philip Marlowe, The Mexican Boat Ride.
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: Hired to look into Ona Estabrook's journey, Marlowe follows leads
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: involving travel baggage and mistaken identity, despite his reluctance to
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: take on a domestic assignment. Here is the original broadcast.
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: Get this and get it straight. Crime is a sucker's
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: road and those who travel it wind up in the
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: gutter of the prison of the grave. This time I
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: took a beating and gave one. The man who lived
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: in the dark was afraid. Someone I never got to
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: meet was murdered and a knife-wielding crab was destroyed. All
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: because a girl who hated the water took a boat
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: ride in old Mexico.
• 0:57
  Speaker 3: From the pen of Raymond Chandler, outstanding author of mystery,
• 1:00
  Speaker 3: comes his most famous character and crime's most deadly enemy
• 1:04
  Speaker 3: as we present The Adventures of Philip Marlowe. Now, with
• 1:18
  Speaker 3: Gerald Moore, starred as Philip Marlowe, we bring you tonight's story,
• 1:23
  Speaker 3: Mexican Boat Ride. Mexican Boat Ride.
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: It was a rare morning, clear and clean. You know
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: the kind that knocks ten years off your age and
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: makes you taste the sunshine in your orange juice? It
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: was a day to be spent on an open road
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: to someplace new and exciting. But a phone call I'd
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: received had reduced my open road to Kamalita Avenue and
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: nothing more exciting than Beverly Hills. The house I stopped
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: at was one of those you entered through a tunnel
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: of dank, overhanging foliage on a flagstone path grown green
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: with damp moss. A low, thick wall to fail with
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: tiny barred windows hidden from the sidewalk. I pressed the bell,
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: and a moment later a sallow housekeeper opened the door
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: with what seemed to be our last ounce of strength.
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: She squinted at my card and beckoned me inside. I
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: followed her down a dusky corridor to a heavy closed door,
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: where she signaled me to wait. The air in the
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: house smelled thick and stale. When she came out again,
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: she held the door open for me and motioned me
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: into a room full of darkness. It became nearly complete
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: when the door clicked shut behind me. All I could
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: see was the vague form of a man in smoke
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: glasses propped up on a bed across the room.
• 2:52
  Speaker 4: There's a chair beside you, Marlowe, if you care to sit.
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: Oh, thanks.
• 2:56
  Speaker 4: I'm Carl Estabrook, importer. You may have heard of me.
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: No, I don't think so.
• 3:00
  Speaker 4: Well, no matter. Marlowe, I have a peculiar problem. I
• 3:06
  Speaker 4: want to know why my wife Ona was on a
• 3:08
  Speaker 4: boat day before yesterday off the coast of Mexico. Think
• 3:11
  Speaker 4: you could find out?
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: Well, if that's all you got to go on, I
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: doubt it.
• 3:14
  Speaker 4: No, there's a little more. Ona and I planned to
• 3:17
  Speaker 4: take vacation together. But when I was confined with this illness,
• 3:22
  Speaker 4: we decided she should go on alone.
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: Oh, then your illness is the reason for the midsummer blackout, huh?
• 3:27
  Speaker 4: Yes. If I expose my eyes to light at any
• 3:30
  Speaker 4: time in the next few weeks, the doctors promise me
• 3:33
  Speaker 4: plenty of pain and virtual blindness.
• 3:35
  Speaker 5: Oh.
• 3:36
  Speaker 4: It's temporary, but tedious to mend. That's why I need
• 3:39
  Speaker 4: a capable man with sharp eyes.
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: To look into what, specifically?
• 3:43
  Speaker 4: The paradox of my wife aboard a boat. She has
• 3:46
  Speaker 4: a phobia about them. The mere thought of being on
• 3:49
  Speaker 4: a boat makes her panicky. She drove to Ensenada, Mexico
• 3:53
  Speaker 4: early this week, but believe me, her plans did not
• 3:56
  Speaker 4: include boat rides.
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: Well, tell me, how'd you find out she was on one?
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: Is she right?
• 4:00
  Speaker 4: No, she hasn't written me at all, but that's not
• 4:03
  Speaker 4: unusual for her. friend of mine got back yesterday from
• 4:07
  Speaker 4: a fishing trip down there. The day before, his boat
• 4:11
  Speaker 4: passed another with a girl aboard. He got a good
• 4:13
  Speaker 4: look at her. He was so sure that it was
• 4:15
  Speaker 4: Ona that he hailed her. The girl turned and ran inside.
• 4:19
  Speaker 4: It bothered him to the extent that when he got
• 4:24
  Speaker 4: home here, he called me to find out if Ona
• 4:26
  Speaker 4: was in Ensenada.
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: Was that all?
• 4:28
  Speaker 4: That's all. He didn't get the name of the boat.
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: Look, you want me to go all the way down
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: there just to find out if the girl he sold
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: was Mrs. Estabrook?
• 4:35
  Speaker 4: Right. What is your fee, Marlowe?
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: Fifty bucks a day, plus expenses. That's the minimum, if
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: I take the job. I don't think I will. When
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: business gets so bad I have to do divorce work,
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: I'll quit and write my memoirs. I'm sorry, but that's
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: the way it is.
• 4:49
  Speaker 6: No, no.
• 4:50
  Speaker 4: Sit down, Marlowe. Ona and I have had our share
• 4:53
  Speaker 4: of difficulties, true. She's quite a few years younger than
• 4:57
  Speaker 4: I and used to be a dancer. But Generally speaking,
• 5:01
  Speaker 4: we're happy.
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: Specifically what?
• 5:03
  Speaker 4: I'm worried about her.
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: Here.
• 5:06
  Speaker 4: There's money in this envelope and a recent photograph of
• 5:09
  Speaker 4: my wife. And there's more of both if the need arises. Incidentally,
• 5:15
  Speaker 4: what kind of a day is it outside?
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: Gorgeous.
• 5:18
  Speaker 4: Well, then you can drive. It's only 250 miles.
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: Yeah. By the way, how has the importing business been lately,
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: legitimately speaking?
• 5:27
  Speaker 4: You do have a suspicious mind, don't you?
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: Only when the situation calls for it, and this does. However,
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: I can understand an imagination working overtime here in the dark, Mr. Estabrook.
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: So I'll take your money and go on down to
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: Ensenada and see if anything's wrong. But look, I'm giving
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: you notice beforehand. If it turns out to be family
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: laundry or nothing more, I drop it.
• 5:46
  Speaker 4: You're a reputable man. Just see that I get my
• 5:49
  Speaker 4: money's worth, Marlowe, and you can keep the change. I'll
• 5:53
  Speaker 4: expect to hear from you.
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: When my eyes adjusted to the dazzling glare outside, I
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: looked in the envelope and picture of an impish, dark-haired
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: woman and five $ 100 bills. For the first time, I
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: realized what Estabrook had meant by keep the change. But
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: it didn't help my attitude even a little. By two o'clock,
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: I was on the road south, a late lunch in
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: La Jolla with an old friend or routine baggage inspection
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: at the border. Then 70 twisting miles of lonely road
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: brought me to Ensenada, just as the Mexican sun dropped
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: into the sea. I drove past the piers and canneries
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: at the edge of town, and then along the curving
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: shore to the only hotel elegant enough to meet the
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: demands of the woman I figured Ona Estabrook to be.
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: After I'd gotten a room and cleaned up, I went
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: to the desk and asked for her. She was registered,
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: had number 74, and at the moment was out on
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: the patio, all of which sounded ridiculously normal. And I
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: thought again of an imagination at work in a dark
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: room back in L.A. I thanked the clerk in crippled
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: Spanish and turned in time... catch the end of a long,
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: cold stare from a pair of frog-like eyes that bulged
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: out of an otherwise handsome head on a man in
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: a gray gabardine suit. I didn't think my language had
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: been that bad. But when Popeye followed me out onto
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: the patio, I wasn't too sure. There was no mistaking
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: Ona Estabrook. She sat alone at a table in the
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: far corner, a tall, minted gin drink in front of her.
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: So I put on my best tourist-type smile and walked over. Well,
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: Ona Estabrook, this is a pleasure. Enjoying your visit?
• 7:29
  Speaker 5: What?
• 7:30
  Speaker 7: Oh, yes, very much, but I don't think I.
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: Know me?
• 7:33
  Speaker 5: Oh, of course, you wouldn't remember. My name's Marlowe, Philip Marlowe.
• 7:37
  Speaker 8: Oh, no, I'm sorry, Mr.
• 7:37
  Speaker 5: Marlowe, but I.
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: You were a dancer, weren't you, before your marriage, I mean?
• 7:40
  Speaker 7: Yes, I was a dancer, but you'll have to excuse
• 7:43
  Speaker 7: me now. I'm expecting a friend.
• 7:44
  Speaker 5: I hope you don't mind.
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: Oh, well, just one thing then, Mrs. Estabrook. Would you
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: mind telling me why you were out on a boat
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: day before yesterday?
• 7:51
  Speaker 5: A boat?
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: Mm-hmm.
• 7:53
  Speaker 7: Why do you ask that?
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: Because you hate boats. You have a phobia about them.
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: And yet you were seen aboard one just two days ago.
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: How come?
• 8:00
  Speaker 5: Well, I... Oh, how comes he helped me?
• 8:03
  Speaker 7: I've spilled the drink all over my skirt.
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: Excuse me.
• 8:05
  Speaker 7: I'll have to change.
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: That maneuver was as subtle as a bulldozer at work.
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: When she spilled her drink, it was done desperately, and
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: fear sent her running for the exit. I turned to
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: follow her as she left the lighted patio and headed
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: down a dark arcade. But a gray gabardine suit and
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: a pair of Popeyes slid out of her chair and
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: beat me to it. I waited until their footsteps faded,
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: which said they'd turned a corner. Then I started after them.
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: It was strictly follow the leader, but I didn't realize
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: how many were playing the game until a knife point
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: stung at the skin at the soft part of the
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: back about kidney high.
• 8:40
  Speaker 5: Stop, senor, and don't cry out. Don't even say ouch.
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: I turned and saw a mottled red face, ugly on
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: a squat, long-armed body. The ivory-handled knife in his hand
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: could have clipped my spine in one easy thrust.
• 8:52
  Speaker 5: You got a car here, senor? Come on, I speak
• 8:55
  Speaker 5: English good. You got a car?
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I got a car. What's it to you?
• 9:00
  Speaker 5: I am high about the crab. It's lots to me.
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: What's your pitch, Buster? Come on, tell me.
• 9:07
  Speaker 9: Martinez says for me to keep a sharp eye on things,
• 9:10
  Speaker 9: be sure something is not wrong.
• 9:12
  Speaker 5: It looks to me like something is wrong with you, senor.
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: Who's Martinez?
• 9:18
  Speaker 5: You gonna play possum, senor? This one is your car, huh?
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: All right. Yeah. Okay.
• 9:25
  Speaker 5: Okay. I take first your one. Now, please to get in.
• 9:30
  Speaker 5: You gonna drive.
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: Believe it or not, you're making a big mistake, crabby. Besides,
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: what if I don't want to drive?
• 9:37
  Speaker 5: You better want to drive, gringo. Or I kill you
• 9:41
  Speaker 5: right here. Go on, drive. Andale!
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: Andale!
• 9:58
  Speaker 9: She's not here. And now we get out. It's nice
• 10:05
  Speaker 9: and quiet here on the beach, no? Walk over there
• 10:08
  Speaker 9: to that old adobe wall. We're going to have a
• 10:11
  Speaker 9: talk there.
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: It's going to be dull, Buster. We've got nothing in common.
• 10:15
  Speaker 5: Please, senor, don't make it hard on me.
• 10:17
  Speaker 9: I don't know why you gotta come and mix everything
• 10:19
  Speaker 9: up again when time is running out.
• 10:21
  Speaker 5: Why did you come?
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: I needed new huaraches. Look, senor. You think I'm ugly?
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: You're no beauty, crab. Let's face it.
• 10:30
  Speaker 5: Si. And I can act even uglier. Maybe I could
• 10:33
  Speaker 5: go on the radio and make a big hit, no?
• 10:36
  Speaker 5: Or maybe I make the big hit on your face.
• 10:40
  Speaker 5: Don't try something, senor. Or I kill you with your
• 10:43
  Speaker 5: own gun. Now, the truth. You spoke to the senora
• 10:48
  Speaker 5: about the boat.
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: Why?
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: I forget.
• 10:52
  Speaker 5: Who are you, senor?
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: Private detective named Marlowe.
• 10:56
  Speaker 5: Oh, a private detective. Who are you working for? Dolph Bentley?
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: I never heard of Dolph Bentley. Who's he?
• 11:01
  Speaker 5: You're lying. The senora knows him. I heard her say
• 11:04
  Speaker 5: Dolph Bentley won't make it tonight.
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: Yeah, he's lucky.
• 11:07
  Speaker 9: Si, I tell you something else. He better not make it.
• 11:11
  Speaker 9: Martinez is going to do business with one man only tonight.
• 11:15
  Speaker 9: Now you want to say something?
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: No?
• 11:19
  Speaker 5: Then I'll say it. You take what's going to be
• 11:22
  Speaker 5: left of your face better, Senor Bentley, until you get
• 11:24
  Speaker 5: out of Insenada and don't come back. Wait a minute.
• 11:41
  Speaker 5: Wake up.
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: Wake up. Stop. Come on. Who are you?
• 11:44
  Speaker 5: Oh, it's you.
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: I'll kill you.
• 11:46
  Speaker 5: Take it easy, will you? You're in good hands now, Marlow.
• 11:49
  Speaker 5: I'm a fellow American.
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: You know, you're pretty lucky, you know that? I am? Oh, sure, yeah.
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: Where'd my pal go?
• 11:55
  Speaker 5: Him?
• 11:55
  Speaker 10: Oh, I chased him off. You know, it's a wonder
• 11:57
  Speaker 10: he didn't put a knife in you. These fellas are
• 11:59
  Speaker 10: mean with knives.
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: This guy was no slouch with a gun butt, either. Hey,
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: where'd you come from, anyway?
• 12:06
  Speaker 5: Oh, down the beach a ways.
• 12:07
  Speaker 10: I just finished working on my boat, and I was
• 12:08
  Speaker 10: taking a walk, and I heard the commotion, and came
• 12:10
  Speaker 10: over to see about it. This guy was beating you up,
• 12:12
  Speaker 10: so I yelled and started for him.
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: But he ran. Oh, is that right?
• 12:15
  Speaker 5: Mm-hmm.
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: I'm glad somebody stopped him. Thanks very much, Mr.
• 12:19
  Speaker 5: De.
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: Roman. Oh.
• 12:20
  Speaker 5: Lou Roman's my name.
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: Uh-huh.
• 12:22
  Speaker 5: I'm pleased to meet you, Mono.
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: Thanks. You know me? Uh, well, yes.
• 12:27
  Speaker 5: I took the liberty of looking in your wallet to
• 12:28
  Speaker 5: see that that devil had robbed you.
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 12:30
  Speaker 5: It doesn't seem so, though. Yeah, because I got here
• 12:32
  Speaker 5: just in time. You're a private investigator, I see. Uh,
• 12:36
  Speaker 5: you working on a case now?
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: It's debatable. So far, the case is working on me. Oh.
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: I'd like to find a guy named Dolph Bentley, though.
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: Dolph Bentley? Yeah, yeah. The guy who beat me up
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: had the idea that I was... Ooh, I was hired
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: by Dolph Bentley. Did you ever hear of him? No.
• 12:54
  Speaker 10: No, and I come down here every year to fish, too.
• 12:56
  Speaker 10: I know a lot of folks around here, but I
• 12:57
  Speaker 10: never heard of that one before.
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: Why are you after him? Well, he's tied up in
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: some way to the crab who seems to work with
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: another guy named Martinez who... In turn, he's going to
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: do some business of some kind tonight with somebody other
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: than Dolph Bentley. I don't know. And it's all connected
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: for some screwy reason with the woman who took a
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: boat ride the day before yesterday. Well, what about that?
• 13:20
  Speaker 5: The woman being on a boat, I mean.
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: Oh, well, she can't stand boats. She's afraid.
• 13:24
  Speaker 8: Oh, my head.
• 13:26
  Speaker 5: Wait, wait. Here.
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: Thanks. I'm going to get you some first aid right away. Yes,
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: good idea. Holy smoke, my car. Relax, relax.
• 13:33
  Speaker 5: It's right over there.
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: Come on.
• 13:34
  Speaker 5: Let me help you up. All right.
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: Easy now.
• 13:36
  Speaker 8: Easy.
• 13:36
  Speaker 5: That's it now.
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: I'll drive you.
• 13:38
  Speaker 10: Where are you staying?
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: At the hotel? Yeah. Thanks, Roman. I'm still busy.
• 13:44
  Speaker 5: Easy.
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: I got you. I got to get back there. I
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: got to find that girl because she's up to her
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: head doing a very nasty mess. Listen, Marlo.
• 13:52
  Speaker 10: If I can help in any way, let me know,
• 13:54
  Speaker 10: will you? You know, us Americans have to stick together
• 13:57
  Speaker 10: in a place like this.
• 13:58
  Speaker 5: Right?
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: That's it.
• 13:59
  Speaker 5: Come on.
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: Let's go. Oh. Lou Roman, the Hale fellow, was indeed
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: well met. He found my gun and drove me back
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: to the hotel. A long hour had gone by since
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: own Astabrook had run from the patio, followed by the
• 14:16
  Speaker 2: Popeye character in the gabardine suit. I tried a room
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: check with the desk again, and from there spent 30
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: minutes peering into corners and balconies and getting nothing but
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: indignant glares from Mexican lovers. So I left the building
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: and started through the grounds. I worked my way from
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: the stables up into a secluded garden, deserted by all
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: but a marble statue of Matazuma. But when I passed him, groaned.
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: In the dark at my feet lay Haiba, the crab.
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: His mottled face twisted into a tortured grin of agony.
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: And sticking straight up just above his belt buckle was
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: the white ivory handle of his own knife. Crab! Crab,
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: who was it? Who got you?
• 14:48
  Speaker 4: Oh, senor, I am sorry.
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: What I did... Never mind that. Who did this? Do
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: you know?
• 14:53
  Speaker 4: Oh, si, si.
• 14:54
  Speaker 5: It's Dolph Bentley.
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: I'll get a doctor. Crab.
• 15:03
  Speaker 8: Yeah.
• 15:20
  Speaker 5: In just a moment, the second act of Philip Marlowe.
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: But first.
• 15:25
  Speaker 3: When you're 65, if you have worked in business or industry,
• 15:29
  Speaker 3: call any office of the Social Security Administration for information
• 15:33
  Speaker 3: about your old age and survivor's insurance. The account number
• 15:37
  Speaker 3: that appears on the Social Security card identifies your wage account.
• 15:41
  Speaker 3: The amount of retirement and family insurance that may be
• 15:44
  Speaker 3: payable is set by this account. Now with our star,
• 15:49
  Speaker 3: Gerald Moore, we return to the second act of Philip
• 15:52
  Speaker 3: Marlowe and tonight's story, The Mexican Boat Ride.
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: Even as the life trickled out of the ugly little
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: man called Aiba, and his face, which had been knotted
• 16:11
  Speaker 2: tight in pain, went slowly limp and he was still,
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: I knew that I'd have to get next to Dolph
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: Bentley before the importance of owner Estabrook aboard a fishing
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: boat off Ensenada would make any sense. Also, I knew
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: that there was a good chance that said Mr. Bentley
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: and the gentleman in gray gabardine known to me as
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: Popeyes were one and the same. So I started back
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: for the hotel. But halfway there, I stopped at the
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: sight of a figure ahead scampering toward an all-alone taxi
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: parked near the main entrance. It was owner Estabrook. I
• 16:38
  Speaker 2: took off after it. Went she was in the cabin
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: away before I could get close enough to do any good.
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: I tried the next best thing, which was the sombrero
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: doorman nearby, who I figured might have heard the address
• 16:47
  Speaker 2: she'd given the driver. Yeah, but what I didn't figure
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: was that the doorman might not habla much English.
• 16:53
  Speaker 5: Di Signore Esterbrook. Si, Signore. Her enters Libre a minute ago.
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, that's right. I know that.
• 17:01
  Speaker 5: Now, look.
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: Where did her go? Which way in the Libre? Libre.
• 17:05
  Speaker 5: Oh, un momento, Signore. No, no. No.
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: Amigo, I don't want a taxi. No libre. None whatsoever. Now, please,
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: come here. Let's back it up a little, huh? Señora
• 17:22
  Speaker 2: Estabrook in libre, right? Okay. Now, where did she go?
• 17:27
  Speaker 2: What direction? Uh,¿ Qué dirección? Oh, ahora comprendo. El señor.
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: El señor.¿ Qué dirección?¿ Comprendo? Sí, señor.
• 17:39
  Speaker 9: Señora Estarbrook, go to the pier, the fishing's pier.
• 17:45
  Speaker 2: Which one? Which fishing's pier?
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: Oh.
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: Cuál pier?
• 17:49
  Speaker 8: The small pier, señor. The little one near the big canary,
• 17:54
  Speaker 8: the fish's canary.
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: That's all I want to know. Gracias, amigo, and Uh-oh.
• 18:00
  Speaker 5: Señor, what are you seeing?
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: I'm not sure. But even if I were, I wouldn't
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: be able to explain it to you. Buenas noches, pal.
• 18:06
  Speaker 5: Thanks a lot.
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: I had been seeing at the silhouette of a man
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: huddled close to the ground and slinking out from a
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: hotel along a high hedge that led back toward the
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: statue and the body of Aiba, a man who I
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: knew could be the elusive Popeyes. I followed the walk
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: that was close into the hotel until I was on
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: a line with a hedge, and I started after him fast.
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: I still had a good two yards to go when
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: he heard me and pivoted, so I swung first. Why,
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: you dirty... Roman, wait a minute.
• 18:34
  Speaker 5: Hold it.
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: Gee, it's me, Marlowe. I'm sorry. Holy smoke, I thought
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: you were someone else. Gargantua, maybe?
• 18:41
  Speaker 5: Oh, brother.
• 18:42
  Speaker 2: Oh, I'm sorry. What'd you hit me with, Marlowe? Everything
• 18:44
  Speaker 2: I had. I figured you were Dolph Bentley, and as such, Roman,
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: I didn't want you to get away with murder, literally.
• 18:49
  Speaker 4: Murder?
• 18:50
  Speaker 5: Hey, not that girl you mentioned, Marlowe.
• 18:52
  Speaker 2: On Estabrook? No, no, no. The corpse is that item
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: you sigged away from me over in those ruins. Somebody
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: got to him with his own knife there near the statue.
• 19:00
  Speaker 10: Ah, then I was right. I did see someone move
• 19:02
  Speaker 10: over there. Well, yeah, a couple of minutes ago, Marlon.
• 19:05
  Speaker 10: I was on the balcony outside of my room at
• 19:06
  Speaker 10: Face of the Garden, you see. And when I saw
• 19:08
  Speaker 10: you run for the main entrance, I had a feeling
• 19:09
  Speaker 10: that you might be in trouble again, so I came
• 19:12
  Speaker 10: on down here.
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: Well, then what happened?
• 19:13
  Speaker 5: Well, I was about to call out to you when
• 19:15
  Speaker 5: I heard some noise over there near the statue.
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: It was a man.
• 19:17
  Speaker 5: He was running away fast, heading toward those stables. A
• 19:20
  Speaker 5: man wearing gabardine, maybe tan, maybe gray.
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: Maybe Dolph Bentley. Thanks, Roman. You've been a big help.
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: When you get back to the hotel, tell them about
• 19:27
  Speaker 2: the dead man, will you? I gotta run. The stable
• 19:32
  Speaker 2: was a robust left field as pegged to home plate
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: from where we'd been standing. So by the time I
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: got there, I was out of breath and facing nothing
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: more important than thick darkness, a lot of hay, and
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: a couple of horses who couldn't sleep nights talking things over.
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: Until I moved around a corner past the stalls and
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: close to the half-open door of a shack, marked both
• 19:49
  Speaker 2: cabina telephone and the equivalent in English that showed a
• 19:51
  Speaker 2: single unshaded light and under that a man standing alone
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: next to a telephone writing something on the back of
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: an envelope he was wearing a gray gabardine suit and
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: when he lifted his Popeyes from a paper in front
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: of him I knew the next move had to be
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: mine 38 and all let it.
• 20:06
  Speaker 5: Go buster keep your hands close to your sides.
• 20:10
  Speaker 8: Just as you say, senor. I'd be a fool not
• 20:13
  Speaker 8: to obey you.
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: You're so right, a dead fool. So keep that in
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: mind while we chat, won't you, Mr. Bentley?
• 20:18
  Speaker 5: Bentley? Uh-huh.
• 20:20
  Speaker 8: How did you find out who I am?
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: It was easy. All I had to do was listen
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: to a dying man's last two words when I asked
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: him the name of his murderer. He said, Dolph Bentley.
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: Any comment?
• 20:29
  Speaker 5: Yes.
• 20:30
  Speaker 8: You know a lot, senor.
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: Don't resent it, friend. I learned it all the hard way.
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: Don't move, Bentley.
• 20:35
  Speaker 8: I was only changing my position, senor.
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: Which you'll be prone if you try it again. Now,
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: what do you know about this whole mess and an
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: American girl named Ona Estabrook who I figure is no mobster?
• 20:44
  Speaker 8: Nothing, senor.
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: You're a liar, Bentley. Which brings me to the point. One,
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: why the pressure on the girl, and two, what's so
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: important about her taking a ride on a fishing boat?
• 20:52
  Speaker 2: Come on, brother, it's getting late for a murderer to
• 20:54
  Speaker 2: start talking straight the first time out.
• 20:56
  Speaker 8: All right. I'll start with a question. Senor, how does
• 21:01
  Speaker 8: all this concern you? You gain a percentage if the
• 21:04
  Speaker 8: smugglers are not interfered with, perhaps?
• 21:06
  Speaker 2: We were talking about the girl, remember?
• 21:08
  Speaker 8: Yes, I remember. But you see, senor, I have little
• 21:10
  Speaker 8: to offer on that score.
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: How little?
• 21:12
  Speaker 8: A single observation. In your country, senor, people who do
• 21:17
  Speaker 8: not mind their own business are called nosy. Here in Mexico,
• 21:20
  Speaker 8: we have another term.
• 21:22
  Speaker 4: Asno.
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: Which means what?
• 21:24
  Speaker 8: Jackass, senor. Who, unlike the cat, cannot see in the dark.
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: But can try his best, Bentley.
• 21:31
  Speaker 5: No gun, senor. Okay, amigo, no gun, but this.
• 21:36
  Speaker 2: Ah, snow. When Bentley met the floor and went out cold,
• 21:47
  Speaker 2: I sagged to one knee, stayed that way until the
• 21:50
  Speaker 2: air rushing into my lungs quit sounding like sandpaper over
• 21:52
  Speaker 2: a drumhead, and I got back to my feet and
• 21:55
  Speaker 2: turned on a bracket lamp on the other side of
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: the room. I opened Bentley's jacket, slipped his. 32 automatic
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: out of its shoulder holster, emptied the clip, and Stopped
• 22:04
  Speaker 2: dead at the shimmer of light dancing on polished silver
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: that I hadn't expected. It was a badge. Below his
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: shoulder holster and pinned to his vest. Republic of Mexico,
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: Department of Customs, Captain. I made a dive for the
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: envelope near the telephone. On the back there was writing
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: in thick pencil which I finally figured to mean fishing
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: pier near cannery, 2 a.m. Inside, nothing. On the front,
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: further proof that I'd never met Mr. Dolph Medley at all,
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: but instead it tangled hard-like with one Captain Juan Descartes
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: Intelligence Section Custom Building, Mexico City, Mexico. While trying to
• 22:41
  Speaker 2: revive Captain Descartes, the truth rammed into my mind. Owner
• 22:45
  Speaker 2: Estabrook had rushed off for the pier near the cannery.
• 22:48
  Speaker 2: Captain Descartes had noted it was a good place to
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: be at 2 o'clock in the morning, which was less
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: than 20 minutes away, and a.
• 22:53
  Speaker 5: Great time for me to get to my car and
• 22:54
  Speaker 5: the pier. Thank you.
• 23:10
  Speaker 6: It won't work, senor.
• 23:11
  Speaker 5: You're a bright boy.
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: Thanks.
• 23:13
  Speaker 6: Do you like the job on the car, senor? I
• 23:16
  Speaker 6: think it shines well for the eight pesos you owe me.
• 23:19
  Speaker 5: Nobody asked you to bother, Junior, but I'll see you later.
• 23:22
  Speaker 5: Right now I gotta run, huh?
• 23:23
  Speaker 6: For eight pesos, one dollar you can ride, senor. I'll
• 23:26
  Speaker 6: replace the distributor cap.
• 23:28
  Speaker 5: What?
• 23:28
  Speaker 2: Come here, you.
• 23:30
  Speaker 6: But, senor, it was very dirty all over inside, too.
• 23:34
  Speaker 6: The steering wheel, black as can be. Look, I ruined
• 23:38
  Speaker 6: my best drag cleaning it.
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: That's tough. Now give me that distributed cap or you'll
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: be the saddest pair of dark eyes between here and
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: the Panama Canal.
• 23:45
  Speaker 5: Senor!
• 23:46
  Speaker 2: Oh, never mind.
• 23:48
  Speaker 5: Here.
• 23:48
  Speaker 6: You pay me the dollar?
• 23:49
  Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: Just put the cap back where it belongs. Quick, will you?
• 23:52
  Speaker 2: I'm in a hurry.
• 23:52
  Speaker 5: Well, come on.
• 23:53
  Speaker 2: Let's go, let's go, let's go! Let's go! 60 seconds
• 24:02
  Speaker 2: ticked off before I was out of the parking lot
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: and driving fast toward the fishing pier near the cannery,
• 24:06
  Speaker 2: where I knew I was finally going to get next
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: to Dolph Bentley and, if I made it in time,
• 24:09
  Speaker 2: prevent another murder. When I screeched to a stop away
• 24:12
  Speaker 2: from the pier, piled out of my car and ran
• 24:14
  Speaker 2: the length of the oil-soaked planking to where a single
• 24:17
  Speaker 2: boat was making ready to cast off, I saw one
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: of the two persons aboard the small catch was owner Estabrook.
• 24:23
  Speaker 2: The other was Lou Roman, hearty American fisherman. When I
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: stepped aboard, a hunch hit me right between the eyes.
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: I pulled my gun and pointed it an inch above
• 24:32
  Speaker 2: his waist. What are you doing here, Marlowe? I might
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: ask you the same question, Roman, or do I call
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: you Bentley from here on out?
• 24:38
  Speaker 7: Marlowe, you know, now he can't kill me. Now I
• 24:40
  Speaker 7: don't have to be afraid of him anymore. Oh, Marlowe,
• 24:43
  Speaker 7: thank goodness you got here in time.
• 24:45
  Speaker 5: Yeah, hooray. The Marines have landed in the form of
• 24:47
  Speaker 5: a private army.
• 24:48
  Speaker 2: Cut it out, Bentley, and don't move. Ona, what do
• 24:51
  Speaker 2: you mean about being afraid? What's your connection with this
• 24:53
  Speaker 2: fisherman here?
• 24:54
  Speaker 7: It was an accident, Marlowe. A mix-up in our baggage.
• 24:58
  Speaker 7: Lou Roman and I both happened to stop for customs
• 25:00
  Speaker 7: inspection at the border at the same time, and our
• 25:02
  Speaker 7: suitcases were switched. I didn't notice it at the time,
• 25:05
  Speaker 7: but when I got to the hotel, I discovered the
• 25:07
  Speaker 7: mistake and went to Roman's room to correct it.
• 25:09
  Speaker 2: Instead, you found Bentley here posing as Roman, right?
• 25:11
  Speaker 8: Yes.
• 25:11
  Speaker 7: He killed him, Marlowe. He told me he did.
• 25:13
  Speaker 5: That's a dirty lie, Roman's all right.
• 25:14
  Speaker 2: He's in Chicago.
• 25:15
  Speaker 5: No, he's not. He's dead.
• 25:16
  Speaker 6: You killed him.
• 25:17
  Speaker 7: Someplace between here and Tijuana, Marlowe. He said I'd get
• 25:20
  Speaker 7: the same treatment if I opened my mouth.
• 25:22
  Speaker 2: Then he's the one who forced you to go out
• 25:24
  Speaker 2: on that boat yesterday. Stay back, Bentley. Yes.
• 25:26
  Speaker 7: So that people wouldn't be suspicious, he made me appear
• 25:29
  Speaker 7: at the hotel, in the patio there, at the restaurant.
• 25:32
  Speaker 2: Why didn't you run?
• 25:32
  Speaker 5: I couldn't.
• 25:34
  Speaker 7: He wasn't around. Another man was. A horrible man with
• 25:37
  Speaker 7: large eyes that never left me.
• 25:38
  Speaker 5: Yeah. So why don't you drop it, Marlowe?
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: No sale, Bentley. You see, I know that the horrible
• 25:43
  Speaker 2: man with the large eyes can't be one of your henchmen.
• 25:45
  Speaker 2: His badge says so.
• 25:47
  Speaker 5: What?
• 25:48
  Speaker 6: He's an officer, Marlowe?
• 25:49
  Speaker 2: Yeah, a captain owner. Give up, Bentley?
• 25:51
  Speaker 5: You had better.
• 25:52
  Speaker 8: There are too many men ready to take you.
• 25:54
  Speaker 2: Descaros.
• 25:57
  Speaker 8: Where'd you come from? Oh, I had been here quite
• 25:59
  Speaker 8: a while. But your story was so interesting, I just
• 26:02
  Speaker 8: couldn't interrupt.
• 26:14
  Speaker 7: When Marlowe took you for Dolph Bentley, Captain Descartes, you
• 26:17
  Speaker 7: played along because you didn't know who he was, is
• 26:19
  Speaker 7: that it?
• 26:20
  Speaker 8: Yes, senora, and I did not find out until I
• 26:22
  Speaker 8: heard Bentley call Marlowe a private eye.
• 26:25
  Speaker 2: You're not mad at me, Captain, huh? even though I
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: bungled your plan to capture Martinez, and not to mention
• 26:31
  Speaker 2: our little meeting at the stables.
• 26:32
  Speaker 8: Ah, senor, do not say that you bungled the job
• 26:35
  Speaker 8: of catching Martinez.
• 26:36
  Speaker 5: It was more a matter of priority.
• 26:39
  Speaker 8: Por favor, senora de tacos. Of course, here you are.
• 26:41
  Speaker 2: Gracias.
• 26:42
  Speaker 8: You see, senor Marlowe, I am certain that one day
• 26:45
  Speaker 8: I will catch Martinez, but not at the cost of
• 26:48
  Speaker 8: letting a murderer kill again. But, senor Marlowe, there is
• 26:51
  Speaker 8: one thing that puzzles me. The murder of the one
• 26:54
  Speaker 8: known as Jaiba.
• 26:56
  Speaker 2: Oh, Martinez Henchman. Well, you see, Captain, he knew that
• 26:58
  Speaker 2: a man named Dolph Bentley was mixed up in this
• 27:00
  Speaker 2: because he'd overheard Ona and her keeper, then called Lou Roman,
• 27:03
  Speaker 2: talking about him. He wanted to know more. Also, he
• 27:07
  Speaker 2: couldn't figure who I was.
• 27:08
  Speaker 7: So he beat you up?
• 27:09
  Speaker 2: Correct. Bentley, of course, only saved my life because it
• 27:12
  Speaker 2: was an easy way to find out just how much
• 27:14
  Speaker 2: Haiba did know, after which he got to him. Enough?
• 27:17
  Speaker 8: Not quite, Senor. There is still one thing. How did
• 27:20
  Speaker 8: you know that Lou Roman was actually Bentley?
• 27:23
  Speaker 2: On a hunch, Captain. And by positive identification from you, owner,
• 27:26
  Speaker 2: when we were on the boat. But, um, now it's
• 27:29
  Speaker 2: my turn. I got a question for you, honey. Have
• 27:32
  Speaker 2: you had enough vacation?
• 27:34
  Speaker 8: Uh-huh.
• 27:35
  Speaker 7: Matter of fact, Marlo, I wired my husband just before
• 27:37
  Speaker 7: we came in to eat.
• 27:38
  Speaker 4: Oh.
• 27:39
  Speaker 7: I said the change didn't your world of good be
• 27:40
  Speaker 7: home tomorrow to stay?
• 27:42
  Speaker 5: Love always.
• 27:43
  Speaker 7: Well, Captain, will you pass the tacos, please? They're awfully good, really.
• 27:59
  Speaker 2: It was late the next afternoon, and owner Estabrook was
• 28:02
  Speaker 2: already gone when I checked out of the hotel, said
• 28:05
  Speaker 2: goodbye to Captain Dos Catos, and headed north for the border,
• 28:09
  Speaker 2: where two hours later I stopped for customs inspection of
• 28:12
  Speaker 2: my baggage. It was dark, and I was only 50
• 28:15
  Speaker 2: miles from Los Angeles before I realized exactly what that
• 28:17
  Speaker 2: inspection had meant, because it was then, for the first time,
• 28:21
  Speaker 2: that I noticed that the little cowhide suitcase on the
• 28:24
  Speaker 2: seat next to me, which should have been mine, was
• 28:26
  Speaker 2: tagged differently. The name and address of a man who
• 28:29
  Speaker 2: lived in Long Beach, California. When I got there, I
• 28:33
  Speaker 2: kept driving. I knew I could ship it to him
• 28:36
  Speaker 2: and ask for mine in exchange when I got home. Ah, yes.
• 28:40
  Speaker 2: I'd had just about enough for a while.
• 28:42
  Speaker 10: The End.
• 28:56
  Speaker 3: The Adventures of Philip Marlowe, bringing you Raymond Chandler's most
• 28:59
  Speaker 3: famous character and crime's most deadly enemy, starred Gerald Moore
• 29:04
  Speaker 3: and are produced and directed by Norman MacDonald. Script is
• 29:08
  Speaker 3: by Mel Dinelli, Robert Mitchell, and Gene Levitt. Featured in
• 29:12
  Speaker 3: the cast were Mary Shipp, Harry Bartell, Nestor Paiva, Bill Boucher,
• 29:16
  Speaker 3: Ralph Moody, Bill Shaw, and Jerry Farber. The special music
• 29:20
  Speaker 3: is written by Richard Arant. Be sure and be with
• 29:27
  Speaker 3: us next week when Philip Marlowe says.
• 29:31
  Speaker 2: It started with death on my doorstep and got worse
• 29:33
  Speaker 2: when I lied to a sympathetic bull, was pistol-whipped by
• 29:36
  Speaker 2: a gorilla with dimples and fought with a kitten on
• 29:37
  Speaker 2: the keys. And it might have gone on that way all...
• 29:40
  Speaker 2: night if I hadn't been helped by the king of
• 29:41
  Speaker 2: the beasts.
• 29:54
  Speaker 3: This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: The Adventures of Philip Marlowe has concluded with The Mexican
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: Boat Ride. Good night, and thank you for joining us
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: at the radio dial.