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Suspense - "For Love or Murder" (1949) · Old Time Mystery Radio | Old Time Radio

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: At a nightclub, young pianist Tommy becomes involved with Ann Thomas,
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: an older married woman whose proposal draws him toward a
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: plan concerning her wealthy husband. Tonight, Suspense presents For Love
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: or Murder, episode 362. First heard on CBS December 8th, 1949.
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: Mickey Rooney stars as Tommy, with Lorene Tuttle as Ann Thomas,
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: alongside Barney Phillips, Joe Kearns, and Ted Reed. John Shaw
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: wrote the drama, produced by William Spear. Now, back to
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: the golden age of radio.
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: Suspense. Autolite and its 96,000 dealers present Mr. Mickey Rooney
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: in For Love or Murder, a suspense play produced and
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: edited by William Spears.
• 1:09
  Speaker 3: Wilcox!
• 1:11
  Speaker 4: Hello, Wilcox!
• 1:12
  Speaker 5: Right here.
• 1:13
  Speaker 4: Say, aren't you Remingchester Shotgun, the big game hunter?
• 1:17
  Speaker 6: I am. Wilcox, someone said you could help me.
• 1:21
  Speaker 4: Now, what are you hunting?
• 1:23
  Speaker 6: A battery from a car.
• 1:26
  Speaker 4: Well, your safari's over. Just shoot down to your Autolite
• 1:29
  Speaker 4: dealer and get an Autolite stay-full battery. The battery that
• 1:32
  Speaker 4: needs water only three times a year in normal car use.
• 1:35
  Speaker 6: Capital! I shan't have to scout for water holes anymore.
• 1:40
  Speaker 4: Right you are. And your Autolite stay-full battery has a
• 1:43
  Speaker 4: fiberglass retaining mat, protecting every positive plate to lengthen battery life. Why,
• 1:48
  Speaker 4: in recent tests based on SAE life cycle standards, Autolite
• 1:52
  Speaker 4: stay-full batteries gave 70% longer average life than batteries without
• 1:56
  Speaker 4: stay-full features. Get an Autolite stay-full battery, the battery that
• 2:00
  Speaker 4: needs water only three times a year in normal car use. Remember,
• 2:05
  Speaker 4: you're always right with Autolite.
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: And now with For Love or Murder, and with a
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: performance of Mickey Rooney, Autolite hopes once again to keep
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: you in... Suspense.
• 2:25
  Speaker 7: Nothing could have stopped me. Nothing on earth could have
• 2:27
  Speaker 7: stopped me. There were drums beating in my head as
• 2:29
  Speaker 7: I left the taxi and started down 55th Street. The
• 2:32
  Speaker 7: moon was high over Jersey, staring. There was no one
• 2:36
  Speaker 7: outside the building, no one there at all. I walked
• 2:40
  Speaker 7: slowly toward the service entrance and into the cellar. I
• 2:43
  Speaker 7: knew where the back stairs were. We'd rehearsed the whole
• 2:45
  Speaker 7: thing on paper a hundred times, more than a hundred times.
• 2:48
  Speaker 7: It wasn't something you blundered into. Ann had taught me that.
• 2:52
  Speaker 7: It wasn't something you did on the spur of the moment.
• 2:55
  Speaker 7: Murder had to be a calm, organized thing. Murder had
• 2:59
  Speaker 7: to be planned. If anyone saw me going up the
• 3:06
  Speaker 7: back stairs, it might cause a little fuss. But if
• 3:08
  Speaker 7: I were calm, if I were organized, if I moved
• 3:11
  Speaker 7: slowly and acted as though nothing was wrong, they'd pass
• 3:13
  Speaker 7: and ignore me. I was just an eccentric fellow who'd
• 3:16
  Speaker 7: rather walk up stairs than ride elevators. New York was
• 3:18
  Speaker 7: full of such people. But no one saw me. All
• 3:22
  Speaker 7: the way up to the fourth floor, no one saw me.
• 3:26
  Speaker 7: Then I stepped out onto the landing. I waited an
• 3:35
  Speaker 7: hour or ten seconds or ten years. Time meant nothing.
• 3:38
  Speaker 7: I wasn't aware of it passing. I slid the gun
• 3:40
  Speaker 7: into my hand. It felt as hot and heavy as
• 3:42
  Speaker 7: death itself.
• 3:45
  Speaker 3: Oh, you're late. You're a few minutes late. I thought
• 3:48
  Speaker 3: you weren't coming.
• 3:50
  Speaker 5: Where is he?
• 3:51
  Speaker 7: In there.
• 3:51
  Speaker 5: In there.
• 3:52
  Speaker 4: Wait a minute, Ann.
• 3:53
  Speaker 6: Who is it?
• 3:53
  Speaker 3: Do it quickly, darling.
• 3:54
  Speaker 5: Do it fast. Yeah, yeah. Who is it, Anne? Um.
• 3:57
  Speaker 3: Who is it?
• 3:59
  Speaker 7: Uh.
• 4:01
  Speaker 6: Who are you?
• 4:02
  Speaker 5: What do you want?
• 4:06
  Speaker 7: That little man who was about to die looked at me,
• 4:08
  Speaker 7: at my face, at my neck, and then his eyes
• 4:10
  Speaker 7: flooded down into the gun that hung there.
• 4:12
  Speaker 5: He looked like a little fish.
• 4:14
  Speaker 7: Like a helpless, harmless, scared fish, and the drums in
• 4:17
  Speaker 7: my head beat louder, and wheels turned, and lights flashed,
• 4:19
  Speaker 7: and that little man melted toward me. No, I see.
• 4:22
  Speaker 7: I see.
• 4:23
  Speaker 8: No.
• 4:23
  Speaker 4: No.
• 4:24
  Speaker 5: I hit him.
• 4:24
  Speaker 7: I hit him.
• 4:25
  Speaker 3: I hit him.
• 4:26
  Speaker 5: I hit him.
• 4:26
  Speaker 4: Pete, wait, Tom.
• 4:27
  Speaker 5: Wait.
• 4:27
  Speaker 9: Now, wait.
• 4:28
  Speaker 7: He's dead.
• 4:28
  Speaker 9: He must be dead after that.
• 4:44
  Speaker 7: He'd only fought back or something.
• 4:49
  Speaker 5: He just took it.
• 4:51
  Speaker 7: Now he's dead.
• 4:53
  Speaker 3: He's dead.
• 4:53
  Speaker 9: Huh?
• 4:55
  Speaker 3: Now, dear.
• 4:56
  Speaker 5: Huh?
• 4:57
  Speaker 7: Me.
• 4:57
  Speaker 5: Huh?
• 4:57
  Speaker 3: You've got to hit me.
• 5:00
  Speaker 7: I didn't think it'd be like this, Ann.
• 5:01
  Speaker 3: How'd you think it'd be? A tea party?
• 5:02
  Speaker 5: So awful and dirty and.
• 5:03
  Speaker 3: What's the matter with you, Tommy?
• 5:05
  Speaker 7: I didn't think it'd be like this, Ann.
• 5:07
  Speaker 3: You can't weaken now, Tommy.
• 5:09
  Speaker 5: No.
• 5:10
  Speaker 3: Take the gun.
• 5:11
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 5:11
  Speaker 3: And the rest. Do you remember the rest of it?
• 5:13
  Speaker 3: The other things you've got to do?
• 5:14
  Speaker 5: Yes, I remember.
• 5:15
  Speaker 3: Hit me hard. You've got to hit me hard.
• 5:17
  Speaker 7: Hit you hard.
• 5:18
  Speaker 3: You've got to be marks. It mustn't look like I
• 5:20
  Speaker 3: framed this. Now, it must be hard.
• 5:21
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 5:22
  Speaker 3: And then the jewelry and stuff.
• 5:23
  Speaker 5: Jewelry and stuff.
• 5:24
  Speaker 3: I'll put them up on the dresser. In his wallet. Here,
• 5:28
  Speaker 3: take it. It must look good, darling. It must look good.
• 5:32
  Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah.
• 5:33
  Speaker 3: And mess up the room. I remember? I remember, I remember.
• 5:35
  Speaker 3: All right, now, quickly.
• 5:37
  Speaker 5: Hit me.
• 5:38
  Speaker 3: Hit me.
• 5:38
  Speaker 5: I love you, Aunt.
• 5:40
  Speaker 7: I must love you very much. She fell, but she
• 5:54
  Speaker 7: didn't just fall down. She fell into a graceful little ball.
• 6:00
  Speaker 7: Even unconscious, she seemed in perfect control of things. The
• 6:05
  Speaker 7: room had to be ripped up.
• 6:08
  Speaker 5: The room.
• 6:13
  Speaker 7: I took the stuff she had piled up on the dresser, bracelets, rings, pins.
• 6:20
  Speaker 5: I stuffed his wallet into my pocket.
• 6:24
  Speaker 3: Then I got out.
• 6:25
  Speaker 7: I got out as fast as I could. The way
• 6:30
  Speaker 7: was clear all the way down, just a cellar. That
• 6:32
  Speaker 7: was all that was left.
• 6:33
  Speaker 5: One fast... Hey, who's that? Who's that?
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: Hey, young fellow.
• 6:47
  Speaker 4: What are you doing down there this time?
• 6:49
  Speaker 7: Whoever it was came straight toward me. He saw me.
• 6:51
  Speaker 7: There was no hiding. And he was between me and
• 6:53
  Speaker 7: the street. He shuffled toward me.
• 6:54
  Speaker 5: I lifted the gun. Good.
• 6:55
  Speaker 4: You're just the second, young fellow.
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: Let me get a look.
• 6:57
  Speaker 6: I swung hard and I spun back into the row
• 6:59
  Speaker 6: of cannons.
• 7:05
  Speaker 7: I waited a moment.
• 7:07
  Speaker 5: And then.
• 7:11
  Speaker 5: The street was.
• 7:19
  Speaker 7: Still empty when I came out and I felt like
• 7:21
  Speaker 7: running along it.
• 7:22
  Speaker 3: I almost ran along it.
• 7:24
  Speaker 7: The night was cool. The air felt good. I walked away.
• 7:29
  Speaker 5: I walked away. And I thought... I thought about love.
• 7:35
  Speaker 5: About me... Being in love.
• 7:40
  Speaker 7: What kind of love was this? What kind of love
• 7:44
  Speaker 7: was it that made a guy behave like this? What
• 7:47
  Speaker 7: kind of love was it that caused people to be hurt.
• 7:49
  Speaker 5: People to be killed?
• 7:51
  Speaker 3: What kind of love was it?
• 7:54
  Speaker 5: I walked. I walked. Finally, I looked at my watch.
• 7:59
  Speaker 5: It took ten minutes.
• 8:00
  Speaker 7: The whole thing had taken just ten minutes. Ten minutes.
• 8:07
  Speaker 7: What was the rest of it? Yeah, I had to
• 8:10
  Speaker 7: get back to the club before it was time for
• 8:12
  Speaker 7: me to go on again. Before it was time for
• 8:15
  Speaker 7: me to seat myself at the piano in the lounge
• 8:17
  Speaker 7: and soothe away the cares of tired, sophisticated New Yorkers.
• 8:22
  Speaker 5: I had to get back quickly. No one saw me.
• 8:36
  Speaker 5: The back way. I used the back way, the same one.
• 8:40
  Speaker 7: I'd left by.
• 8:41
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 8:43
  Speaker 7: That was my life from now on, maybe.
• 8:45
  Speaker 5: The back way.
• 8:45
  Speaker 7: Sneak in, sneak out. It'd be hard to break myself
• 8:48
  Speaker 7: from the habit after tonight. But it was cheap. It
• 8:53
  Speaker 7: was a cheap price to pay for in.
• 8:55
  Speaker 5: Any price really was cheap to pay for in.
• 8:57
  Speaker 7: That's all I had to ever remember. I was in
• 9:02
  Speaker 7: my little dressing room for two or three minutes, had
• 9:05
  Speaker 7: a Chance even to wash my face. Almost 12.15, Tommy.
• 9:10
  Speaker 5: You awake? Yeah.
• 9:14
  Speaker 7: Yeah, I'll be with you in a minute.
• 9:15
  Speaker 5: Okay, Tommy.
• 9:16
  Speaker 7: The wallets, the bracelets, the junk I'd forgotten to ditch
• 9:22
  Speaker 7: and get rid of the first thing Anna told me.
• 9:24
  Speaker 7: And I'd forgotten.
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: I didn't want them around.
• 9:26
  Speaker 5: They might make trouble hanging around. Hello, Tommy.
• 9:31
  Speaker 4: How's the boy Rachmaninoff, huh?
• 9:33
  Speaker 5: How are you, Jimmy?
• 9:34
  Speaker 4: Have your nap?
• 9:35
  Speaker 5: All set to go?
• 9:37
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I slept a little.
• 9:41
  Speaker 7: I'll be right back.
• 9:42
  Speaker 4: Sure, kid, sure.
• 9:47
  Speaker 5: Hello there, Mr.
• 9:48
  Speaker 6: Lee.
• 9:48
  Speaker 5: How are you, Frank? I thought I'd get a little air.
• 9:53
  Speaker 4: Yes, sir.
• 9:54
  Speaker 7: Nothing like it.
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: One thing about being a doorman, I don't make much money,
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: but I get an awful lot of fresh air.
• 10:00
  Speaker 6: Air.
• 10:00
  Speaker 7: Fresh as you can get in New York anyway, huh?
• 10:03
  Speaker 5: Right you are, Mr. Lee.
• 10:05
  Speaker 7: I'm going to take a little walk.
• 10:08
  Speaker 4: Certainly hit it right that time. Fresh as you can
• 10:11
  Speaker 4: get in New York.
• 10:12
  Speaker 6: Come on.
• 10:22
  Speaker 7: The moon was still high over Jersey.
• 10:25
  Speaker 5: Staring. Sewer. That was the best spot.
• 10:30
  Speaker 7: Just throw him in and let the East River take
• 10:32
  Speaker 7: care of him.
• 10:33
  Speaker 5: I had the wallet in my hand when I.
• 10:34
  Speaker 4: What's the matter, Tommy?
• 10:36
  Speaker 5: You look like you're in love.
• 10:39
  Speaker 7: Officer, I didn't see you.
• 10:42
  Speaker 5: Officer, is it?
• 10:43
  Speaker 4: You're getting awful formal.
• 10:44
  Speaker 7: Kind of jumpy, ain't you?
• 10:46
  Speaker 5: No, no, no. No, Dan.
• 10:48
  Speaker 7: Dan, it's just that you startled me.
• 10:52
  Speaker 5: I startled you, did I?
• 10:54
  Speaker 4: I was just standing there and you walked within two
• 10:57
  Speaker 4: inches of me and didn't see me.
• 10:59
  Speaker 5: It's you're in love.
• 11:00
  Speaker 7: I know the symptoms.
• 11:01
  Speaker 6: You're in love.
• 11:04
  Speaker 5: Love. Maybe you're right, Dan.
• 11:07
  Speaker 7: That's a great feeling, lad.
• 11:09
  Speaker 5: Dangerous.
• 11:10
  Speaker 4: If you need someone to help you find your way
• 11:12
  Speaker 4: back to the club, just tell me.
• 11:13
  Speaker 6: In your condition, no telling where you'll walk.
• 11:15
  Speaker 7: Yeah. I'll wait until his footsteps died out, and then...
• 11:22
  Speaker 7: In the sewer. In the sewer, fast.
• 11:26
  Speaker 3: And again.
• 11:27
  Speaker 4: Stop it.
• 11:28
  Speaker 5: Stop it. Ah, back so soon, Mr.
• 11:45
  Speaker 7: Lee? Got to go to work, got to.
• 11:50
  Speaker 3: What's that?
• 11:52
  Speaker 7: Ah, now that's boys with something on their minds. Yeah.
• 11:57
  Speaker 4: Gone down 55th, looks like, from here. Somebody's in for it.
• 12:02
  Speaker 5: I got to be.
• 12:04
  Speaker 7: The customers are screaming for you.
• 12:05
  Speaker 3: Come on, come on.
• 12:25
  Speaker 7: I wasn't afraid.
• 12:26
  Speaker 5: I wasn't nervous.
• 12:30
  Speaker 7: The cops would be talking to Ann now. If she
• 12:33
  Speaker 7: made a slip, the two of us would be dead.
• 12:35
  Speaker 7: As dead as you could get. I knew she wouldn't
• 12:39
  Speaker 7: make any slips. We'd be too smart for them. We'd
• 12:42
  Speaker 7: plan too well for them. It was all so simple.
• 12:45
  Speaker 7: They couldn't make anything out of it. A crook slipped
• 12:47
  Speaker 7: into her apartment, killed her husband, her rich, fat, tired,
• 12:52
  Speaker 7: helpless husband, and slugged her. That was all there was
• 12:56
  Speaker 7: to it.
• 12:58
  Speaker 5: Happens in New York.
• 13:00
  Speaker 7: Happens a lot in New York. Could she help it
• 13:04
  Speaker 7: if the whole thing made her a rich woman? Could
• 13:08
  Speaker 7: she help it if the house breaker freed her from
• 13:10
  Speaker 7: her husband so.
• 13:11
  Speaker 5: She could marry someone else?
• 13:14
  Speaker 7: Would she help him? The setup was so perfect.
• 13:19
  Speaker 5: What could go wrong?
• 13:22
  Speaker 7: So I sat and played Chopin, Strauss, Gershwin, Berlin. I
• 13:29
  Speaker 7: sat and.
• 13:29
  Speaker 5: Played the music of kind and great and gentle men.
• 13:34
  Speaker 7: And I tried to keep that thing on the floor
• 13:37
  Speaker 7: out of my mind.
• 13:38
  Speaker 5: I tried to keep that Out of my mind.
• 13:42
  Speaker 9: Thank you. Thank you. Hey, Tommy.
• 13:46
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 13:46
  Speaker 9: You know that dame that used to come in here,
• 13:53
  Speaker 9: that Ann Thomas? I don't think I.
• 13:57
  Speaker 7: Oh, you remember the one.
• 14:11
  Speaker 5: The brunette. The cute one.
• 14:12
  Speaker 4: Used to have a crush on you. Lives on 55th Street.
• 14:15
  Speaker 4: Ann Thomas?
• 14:18
  Speaker 7: Yeah. I remember. What?
• 14:24
  Speaker 5: A fuss down her house tonight. Somebody broke in and
• 14:27
  Speaker 5: messed things up.
• 14:28
  Speaker 4: Killed her husband.
• 14:30
  Speaker 5: Banged her around.
• 14:30
  Speaker 4: Dan Ryan was telling me.
• 14:31
  Speaker 7: It's too bad. Yeah.
• 14:35
  Speaker 4: You're never safe in these big towns, are you? Never
• 14:38
  Speaker 4: safe anywhere.
• 14:52
  Speaker 7: You were safe if you were smart. You were safe
• 14:56
  Speaker 7: if you had someone like Anne to think things out
• 14:58
  Speaker 7: for you. You were safe if.
• 14:59
  Speaker 5: You had her to look forward to, to depend on.
• 15:04
  Speaker 5: I was safe. That was all that mattered, really.
• 15:06
  Speaker 7: I was safe. It was childish to worry about guys
• 15:09
  Speaker 7: like Anne's husband. It was silly to get squeamish over
• 15:12
  Speaker 7: a little blood.
• 15:15
  Speaker 5: People died every minute in New York. They were useless
• 15:17
  Speaker 5: and they weren't in the way and they died.
• 15:19
  Speaker 7: But it didn't matter whether it was murder or something else.
• 15:23
  Speaker 5: People died. Sure, sure.
• 15:29
  Speaker 7: That's what Ann would have said. That's what Ann would
• 15:31
  Speaker 7: have told me. And that was the right way to
• 15:33
  Speaker 7: look at it. That was the right way.
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: Autolite is bringing you Mr. Mickey Rooney in For Love
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: or Murder, tonight's production in radio's outstanding theater of thrills, Suspense.
• 16:07
  Speaker 6: Yes, we'll call five-bag baboons from Bogota, trapped tigers in Tasmania,
• 16:14
  Speaker 6: snared sparrows in Schenectady.
• 16:18
  Speaker 4: Got them all stuffed and mounded, too. Say, that reminds me.
• 16:21
  Speaker 4: Let me show you my Autolite Stay Full Battery trophies.
• 16:24
  Speaker 4: You mean you battled beasts with a battery? Why, sure.
• 16:29
  Speaker 4: Take this camel, for instance. You know how I got him?
• 16:31
  Speaker 4: I just told him about Autolite Stay Full Battery's extra
• 16:34
  Speaker 4: liquid reserve above the plates. Needs water only three times
• 16:37
  Speaker 4: a year in normal car use, I said. Well, sir,
• 16:40
  Speaker 4: the dreary dromedary died of mortification.
• 16:43
  Speaker 6: Remarkable.
• 16:45
  Speaker 4: See this rabbit? Ran himself ragged, the upstart, trying to
• 16:48
  Speaker 4: outstart an Autolite stay-full battery.
• 16:51
  Speaker 5: Incredible.
• 16:52
  Speaker 6: But what about that rather moth-eaten elephant head?
• 16:56
  Speaker 4: Oh, he died of old age, trying to outlive an
• 16:59
  Speaker 4: Autolite stay-full battery. You know, Autolite stay-full batteries with extra
• 17:03
  Speaker 4: liquid reserve above the plates and fiberglass retaining mats at
• 17:06
  Speaker 4: every positive plate give 70% longer average life than batteries
• 17:10
  Speaker 4: without stay-full features. This is based on recent tests conducted
• 17:15
  Speaker 4: according to SAE life cycle standards. So see your Autolite dealer, friends,
• 17:19
  Speaker 4: for a power-packed, long-life Autolite stay-full battery. Remember, you're always
• 17:24
  Speaker 4: right with Autolite.
• 17:27
  Speaker 2: And now, Autolite brings back to our Hollywood soundstage our
• 17:31
  Speaker 2: star Mickey Rooney with Lorene Tuttle in For Love or Murder,
• 17:36
  Speaker 2: a tale well calculated to keep you in suspense.
• 17:48
  Speaker 5: The night went fast.
• 17:49
  Speaker 7: People came, people went.
• 17:52
  Speaker 5: Stood in front of the piano. He smiled and frowned.
• 17:58
  Speaker 7: Once in a while, someone requested a number. Once in
• 18:00
  Speaker 7: a while, someone applauded. It was a night like any
• 18:03
  Speaker 7: other night.
• 18:04
  Speaker 4: Hey, you gonna play till Christmas, Tommy?
• 18:07
  Speaker 7: Uh, what time is it? Almost three.
• 18:12
  Speaker 5: Oh, you sure can tickle those keys, Tommy.
• 18:17
  Speaker 4: You must have a beautiful soul.
• 18:18
  Speaker 5: Well, what's the matter?
• 18:21
  Speaker 7: Shut up.
• 18:22
  Speaker 5: What?
• 18:22
  Speaker 7: I said shut up!
• 18:24
  Speaker 4: I didn't mean to say anything wrong, Tommy.
• 18:25
  Speaker 3: What did I say?
• 18:26
  Speaker 4: Shut up!
• 18:27
  Speaker 3: Shut up!
• 18:30
  Speaker 9: Shut up!
• 18:39
  Speaker 7: Talk to yourself all night.
• 18:41
  Speaker 5: Build yourself up.
• 18:42
  Speaker 7: Tell yourself things.
• 18:43
  Speaker 5: Were all right and you were a great guy.
• 18:47
  Speaker 7: Smart guy. And one stupid remark mixed you all up again.
• 18:52
  Speaker 7: One stupid remark made you see blood again.
• 18:56
  Speaker 5: Made you feel like garbage.
• 19:00
  Speaker 7: One stupid remark. Beautiful soul?
• 19:06
  Speaker 5: My soul? So what?
• 19:09
  Speaker 9: The apartment was likable.
• 19:20
  Speaker 5: Big, bare, ugly cave.
• 19:24
  Speaker 7: I tried to sleep.
• 19:27
  Speaker 5: I got up. Tried to read.
• 19:35
  Speaker 7: Words danced in front of me like they'd been hung
• 19:37
  Speaker 7: on rubber bands.
• 19:40
  Speaker 5: Nerves, nerves, nerves.
• 19:41
  Speaker 7: It's just nerves. Ann could have talked me out of
• 19:43
  Speaker 7: them in a minute. All I had to do was get.
• 19:45
  Speaker 5: Some sleep or... talk to Ann. Yeah.
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 19:51
  Speaker 6: Huh.
• 19:52
  Speaker 5: All night, not a word.
• 19:53
  Speaker 7: That's why I was jumpy. Suppose she was in trouble.
• 19:55
  Speaker 5: Suppose something had gone wrong.
• 19:57
  Speaker 3: Suppose somewhere we'd slip. Operator, give me.
• 20:02
  Speaker 7: No.
• 20:03
  Speaker 5: If the wires were tapped, no, I wouldn't do the call.
• 20:05
  Speaker 7: But if I went to the apartment the way I
• 20:07
  Speaker 7: went last night, no one would see me. The police
• 20:10
  Speaker 7: wouldn't expect that.
• 20:11
  Speaker 5: That's the last thing they'd expect. I had to touch her.
• 20:14
  Speaker 5: I needed her strength.
• 20:15
  Speaker 7: I needed her to tell me things were all right.
• 20:17
  Speaker 7: I had to see her.
• 20:18
  Speaker 5: I had to see her.
• 20:30
  Speaker 7: I could get in and out again. No one would
• 20:31
  Speaker 7: be the wiser. Four in the morning, the street was empty.
• 20:35
  Speaker 7: The cellar was colder than it had been. The stairs
• 20:37
  Speaker 7: were lighted.
• 20:38
  Speaker 5: A thin red bulb at each landing. I didn't remember that.
• 20:41
  Speaker 4: Finally.
• 20:41
  Speaker 7: Who's there?
• 20:45
  Speaker 5: It's me. It's Tom.
• 20:48
  Speaker 3: No, Tom, no.
• 20:49
  Speaker 5: Let me in.
• 20:50
  Speaker 7: You shouldn't have come.
• 20:52
  Speaker 3: I suppose they're watching.
• 20:52
  Speaker 5: You think they're watching?
• 20:53
  Speaker 7: I don't know.
• 20:54
  Speaker 3: You know what I told you?
• 20:55
  Speaker 4: Yeah, but I.
• 20:55
  Speaker 3: You know what we planned? You weren't to get in
• 20:57
  Speaker 3: touch with me for days. For days.
• 20:59
  Speaker 7: I know, but I had to see you, baby.
• 21:01
  Speaker 3: Please let me in.
• 21:02
  Speaker 7: No, now stop it.
• 21:04
  Speaker 3: You shouldn't have come.
• 21:05
  Speaker 7: Just a moment.
• 21:05
  Speaker 5: I love you so, honey. I had to be with you. No, no.
• 21:11
  Speaker 5: I had to be with you, baby.
• 21:13
  Speaker 3: You're really a sweet boy, Tom.
• 21:17
  Speaker 7: You're not angry with me, honey.
• 21:18
  Speaker 3: Did anyone see you?
• 21:19
  Speaker 6: No, no.
• 21:20
  Speaker 7: I'm sure of it.
• 21:21
  Speaker 5: I was careful.
• 21:22
  Speaker 7: Let me kiss you. I feel strong again. I feel strong.
• 21:28
  Speaker 7: I could do anything now. I was kind of mixed
• 21:30
  Speaker 7: up tonight, but I'm all right now. I feel good now.
• 21:32
  Speaker 3: Oh, sweet boy.
• 21:34
  Speaker 5: Worried? Huh?
• 21:35
  Speaker 8: Why?
• 21:36
  Speaker 3: Didn't we plan? Didn't we plan good enough to fool anybody?
• 21:40
  Speaker 3: Why were you worried?
• 21:41
  Speaker 7: I don't know.
• 21:41
  Speaker 5: I don't know.
• 21:42
  Speaker 3: I don't believe me. I knew they would. Empathetic and kindly.
• 21:48
  Speaker 3: They were nice.
• 21:49
  Speaker 7: But suppose they were only pretending. Sometimes, you know, they pretend.
• 21:51
  Speaker 3: Oh, when men are acting with me, I know it.
• 21:54
  Speaker 5: Oh, baby Camille, you're wonderful.
• 21:55
  Speaker 8: Ain't no reason in the world to think this is
• 21:56
  Speaker 8: any different than a thousand other robberies.
• 21:59
  Speaker 3: I told you that. I told you that from the beginning.
• 22:01
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 22:02
  Speaker 7: We'll be happy now, huh?
• 22:02
  Speaker 5: Won't we?
• 22:03
  Speaker 7: Won't we be happy together? Now tell me that, baby.
• 22:05
  Speaker 5: We'll be happy, won't we?
• 22:06
  Speaker 3: Yeah, we'll be happy. You're a wild boy.
• 22:10
  Speaker 7: I love you, baby. I love you.
• 22:14
  Speaker 3: Aren't you a little sorry about the janitor?
• 22:18
  Speaker 5: Janitor? What about the janitor? Oh.
• 22:23
  Speaker 7: What about the janitor? See the man I met in
• 22:25
  Speaker 7: the cellar?
• 22:25
  Speaker 5: What about him?
• 22:26
  Speaker 7: He's dead.
• 22:27
  Speaker 5: What?
• 22:27
  Speaker 3: You fractured his skull.
• 22:30
  Speaker 5: No, no.
• 22:31
  Speaker 3: I said you were a wild boy.
• 22:32
  Speaker 7: I never meant that. I didn't know I hit him
• 22:35
  Speaker 7: so hard. I like you because you're a wild boy.
• 22:38
  Speaker 7: I didn't mean to kill a man.
• 22:40
  Speaker 3: I'm sorry I told you.
• 22:41
  Speaker 8: You're going to worry about him all night. Well, I'll
• 22:44
  Speaker 8: be careful next time when I tell you. I wish
• 22:49
  Speaker 8: I had a piano so you could play for me.
• 22:51
  Speaker 8: I'd like to hear you play, Tommy.
• 22:55
  Speaker 4: Be careful, baby.
• 22:56
  Speaker 5: Of what?
• 22:56
  Speaker 3: It's only the phone.
• 22:57
  Speaker 7: Careful, honey.
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: Yes?
• 23:00
  Speaker 5: What? What?
• 23:02
  Speaker 3: You've got the wrong number. Wrong number. Silly boy.
• 23:05
  Speaker 7: What do you want, honey?
• 23:07
  Speaker 3: I don't know. It's the wrong number. You want a drink, Tommy?
• 23:11
  Speaker 5: No, no.
• 23:11
  Speaker 3: Do you mind if I make one for myself?
• 23:13
  Speaker 5: Go ahead, honey.
• 23:14
  Speaker 3: You know, you hit me awful hard last night. Look
• 23:16
  Speaker 3: at the lump there. Look at it.
• 23:17
  Speaker 5: Yeah, it is.
• 23:18
  Speaker 7: Didn't want to hit you that hard.
• 23:19
  Speaker 3: You made it look good. You made it look awful good.
• 23:21
  Speaker 7: Oh, for pity's sake.
• 23:23
  Speaker 4: Careful, babe. Yes.
• 23:26
  Speaker 3: Oh, it's you again. You've got the wrong number. The
• 23:29
  Speaker 3: wrong number.
• 23:30
  Speaker 7: The way people annoy you. Annie.
• 23:33
  Speaker 3: Yeah, tell me.
• 23:34
  Speaker 5: Annie.
• 23:35
  Speaker 7: That janitor. Who? Who was he?
• 23:39
  Speaker 4: Who was he?
• 23:39
  Speaker 5: I don't know.
• 23:40
  Speaker 3: Just a janitor, that's all.
• 23:42
  Speaker 7: Did he have any kids?
• 23:45
  Speaker 3: Two or three, yeah.
• 23:47
  Speaker 7: I think so.
• 23:47
  Speaker 5: Why?
• 23:48
  Speaker 3: You want to get some ice?
• 23:49
  Speaker 7: I don't know why I wanted to know. I'll get it.
• 23:52
  Speaker 5: I'll take it. I'll tell the guy.
• 23:53
  Speaker 7: No, Tommy, I'll get it.
• 23:54
  Speaker 4: I'll get it. Okay, this is the last time.
• 23:58
  Speaker 7: I love that wrong number routine.
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: Who you got up there?
• 24:01
  Speaker 4: The young jerk who rubbed your husband.
• 24:03
  Speaker 6: Out for you?
• 24:04
  Speaker 5: Huh?
• 24:05
  Speaker 2: You're a Lulu, honey.
• 24:06
  Speaker 7: Get rid of him as soon as you can.
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: And I don't want him hanging around after we're married.
• 24:11
  Speaker 7: You know.
• 24:12
  Speaker 4: That you, Ann? Why don't you say something? Why don't you.
• 24:15
  Speaker 6: Tommy.
• 24:17
  Speaker 7: I sat down in the bed and I felt very
• 24:25
  Speaker 7: calm and very organized.
• 24:27
  Speaker 5: And I heard the.
• 24:29
  Speaker 7: Drums start thumping in my brain. But delicate and far off.
• 24:34
  Speaker 7: This time they had a sad lost beat.
• 24:36
  Speaker 3: Was it, Tommy? Was it that same silly guy?
• 24:39
  Speaker 7: The janitor has three kids, huh?
• 24:46
  Speaker 3: Who's going to feed them?
• 24:49
  Speaker 7: Annie, who's going to love him?
• 24:50
  Speaker 3: What's the matter with you, Tom?
• 24:52
  Speaker 8: Oh, Tom, come here.
• 24:54
  Speaker 7: What have you got on me, anyway? What is there
• 24:56
  Speaker 7: about you? Tom. You're bad for.
• 24:58
  Speaker 5: Me, Annie.
• 24:59
  Speaker 7: Awful bad for me. You could make all kinds of
• 25:01
  Speaker 7: a sucker out of me. You could turn my stomach
• 25:03
  Speaker 7: in 50 different directions a minute. And I'd still go
• 25:07
  Speaker 7: on loving you.
• 25:10
  Speaker 5: Why?
• 25:10
  Speaker 3: I don't like it when you talk like that. I
• 25:12
  Speaker 3: don't like it.
• 25:13
  Speaker 7: Why would I love you?
• 25:14
  Speaker 3: Oh, you're tired. Come on, sit down.
• 25:17
  Speaker 7: Here by me. Don't touch me! Tom, what.
• 25:19
  Speaker 3: What is it, that phone call? That's a gag. That's
• 25:22
  Speaker 3: someone playing a joke. I was a patsy, huh? All
• 25:25
  Speaker 3: that horror and all that fright.
• 25:28
  Speaker 6: I got blacked with two good men's blood helping you
• 25:31
  Speaker 6: and that guy on the phone.
• 25:33
  Speaker 3: Tom, Tom, put that gun away. Now listen, I'll explain, Tom.
• 25:36
  Speaker 3: Let me talk.
• 25:37
  Speaker 5: You think I like to do those things, Annie?
• 25:39
  Speaker 3: Tom, now listen.
• 25:40
  Speaker 5: I killed two men to get you, Annie.
• 25:43
  Speaker 3: But I haven't got you.
• 25:44
  Speaker 6: No.
• 25:45
  Speaker 5: He's got you.
• 25:45
  Speaker 7: The guy on the boat's got you.
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: No, Tom.
• 25:47
  Speaker 3: No, he hasn't.
• 25:48
  Speaker 5: I did.
• 25:49
  Speaker 3: I bought you.
• 25:49
  Speaker 5: That's not fair. By rights, you should be mine.
• 25:52
  Speaker 3: You're not mine, are you?
• 25:53
  Speaker 6: No, Tom.
• 25:53
  Speaker 3: No, it was always you.
• 25:54
  Speaker 5: You're here.
• 25:55
  Speaker 8: I'll give him up.
• 25:56
  Speaker 3: I was only kidding him, only singing him along.
• 25:58
  Speaker 7: I wasted a whole night there.
• 25:58
  Speaker 5: It was always you, Tommy.
• 25:59
  Speaker 3: I wasted all that blood on him.
• 26:01
  Speaker 8: No, Tom, please.
• 26:01
  Speaker 5: I wasted two guys and three kids. It's got to
• 26:04
  Speaker 5: end then.
• 26:05
  Speaker 8: Tom, don't!
• 26:06
  Speaker 7: It's got to end!
• 26:07
  Speaker 5: No!
• 26:07
  Speaker 7: It can't be love, can it?
• 26:11
  Speaker 3: It couldn't have ever been love. Love doesn't hurt like this.
• 26:14
  Speaker 6: Does it, Ann?
• 26:15
  Speaker 8: Does it?
• 26:15
  Speaker 3: Hey, in there!
• 26:18
  Speaker 9: What's going on in there?
• 26:24
  Speaker 5: Wasn't neat enough.
• 26:27
  Speaker 7: Just fell in a silly little lump and lay quiet.
• 26:31
  Speaker 5: Hey, in there!
• 26:32
  Speaker 9: Hey, open up!
• 26:35
  Speaker 5: What's going on in there?
• 26:36
  Speaker 9: What's going.
• 26:39
  Speaker 7: On? I shall walk down the corridor the night of
• 26:45
  Speaker 7: December 10th.
• 26:48
  Speaker 5: And I shall die.
• 26:50
  Speaker 7: It's not important. They've let me play the piano here.
• 26:56
  Speaker 7: I've even composed some stuff, short pieces. I always wanted
• 27:00
  Speaker 7: to compose, but I never had the time for it.
• 27:04
  Speaker 7: Maybe someday somebody important will play my stuff. Maybe someday
• 27:08
  Speaker 7: you'll hear some of it. Funnier things have happened. There
• 27:12
  Speaker 7: are even people who get away with murder.
• 27:15
  Speaker 5: Hey, tell me. I think a lot about Ann.
• 27:24
  Speaker 7: Poor Ann. She should affect someone older than me, someone
• 27:35
  Speaker 7: solid and stable and wise, someone with a stronger stomach.
• 27:42
  Speaker 7: I'm not a musician.
• 27:46
  Speaker 5: I'm not a musician.
• 27:48
  Speaker 9: I'm not a musician.
• 28:03
  Speaker 2: Suspense, presented by Autolite. Tonight's star, Mickey Rooney with Lorene Tuttle.
• 28:09
  Speaker 2: I like your trophies, Harold. You'll like your Autolite Stay
• 28:13
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• 28:17
  Speaker 2: than 400 products made by Autolite for cars, trucks, planes,
• 28:20
  Speaker 2: and boats in 28 plants coast to coast. These include
• 28:23
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• 28:27
  Speaker 2: spark plugs, generators, coils, distributors, starting motors, and Autolite bullseye headlights.
• 28:32
  Speaker 2: All engineered to fit together perfectly, work together perfectly, because
• 28:35
  Speaker 2: they're a perfect team.
• 28:37
  Speaker 4: So don't accept electrical parts supposed to be as good.
• 28:40
  Speaker 4: Demand and get Autolite, original factory parts, at your neighborhood
• 28:43
  Speaker 4: service station, car dealer, garage, or repair shop. Remember, you're
• 28:47
  Speaker 4: always right with Autolite. Next Thursday for Suspense, Lana Turner
• 28:57
  Speaker 4: will be our star. The play is called The Flame
• 29:00
  Speaker 4: Blue Glove, and it is, as we say... A tale.
• 29:02
  Speaker 2: Well calculated to keep you in... Suspense.
• 29:08
  Speaker 4: Tonight's Suspense play was produced and edited by William Speer
• 29:11
  Speaker 4: and directed by Norman MacDonald. Music for Suspense is composed
• 29:14
  Speaker 4: by Lucian Morawieck and conducted by Ludd Bluskin. The second
• 29:18
  Speaker 4: prelude by George Gershwin was used as thematic material. For
• 29:22
  Speaker 4: Love or Murder is an original radio play by John Shaw.
• 29:25
  Speaker 4: Mickey Rooney appeared by arrangement with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, producers of Battleground,
• 29:28
  Speaker 4: starring Van Johnson, John Hodiak, Ricardo Montalban, and George Murphy.
• 29:33
  Speaker 4: In the coming weeks, you will hear such stars as
• 29:35
  Speaker 4: Eddie Cantor, Ida Lupino, and Daddy K. Don't forget, next Thursday,
• 29:38
  Speaker 4: same time, Autolite will... present Suspense, starring Lana Turner.
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: You can buy Autolite's faithful batteries, Autolite resistor or regular
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: spark plugs, Autolite electrical parts at your neighborhood Autolite dealers.
• 29:54
  Speaker 3: Switch to Autolite.
• 29:56
  Speaker 4: Good night. Join the fight against tuberculosis. Through your purchase
• 30:00
  Speaker 4: of Christmas seals in 1948, there were fewer deaths from
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• 30:08
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• 30:13
  Speaker 4: This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: Suspense has been heard in For Love or Murder. We'll
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: meet again among radio's mysteries.
• 30:43
  Speaker 5: Good night.
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: Follow Old Time Mystery Radio for more classic mystery and
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: detective broadcasts.