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Suspense - "The Dead Sleep Lightly" (Old Time Radio, 1943) · Suspense | Old Time Radio

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: A wealthy elderly man becomes convinced that his long-dead wife
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: has returned to haunt him. A telephone call placed to
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: her grave seems to bring her voice onto the line,
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: deepening the mystery at Meadowvale Cemetery near New York City.
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: The story also moves to the elderly man's home, where
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: that call has consequences. The broadcast date is March 3rd, 1943,
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: and this is episode zero of Suspense, The Dead Sleep Lightly.
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: Susan Hayward, Walter Hampton, and Lee Bowman star in an
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: original radio play by John Dixon Carr, directed by John
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: Dietz and produced by William Spear for CBS. Now back
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: to the golden age of radio.
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: This is The Man in Black.
• 1:07
  Speaker 3: Here again to introduce Columbia's program, Suspense.
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: Our stars this evening are three.
• 1:15
  Speaker 4: In the order of their appearance, they are.
• 1:17
  Speaker 3: Walter Hempton, one of the theater's proudest names for two generations,
• 1:22
  Speaker 3: and Susan Hayworth and Lee Bowman, two.
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: Of Hollywood's brightest younger stars. The story called The Dead
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: Sleep Lightly by.
• 1:33
  Speaker 3: John Dixon Carr is tonight's tale of suspense.
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: If you've been with us on these.
• 1:40
  Speaker 3: Tuesday nights, you will know that suspense is compounded of
• 1:43
  Speaker 3: mystery and suspicion and dangerous adventure. In this series, our
• 1:48
  Speaker 3: tales calculated to intrigue you, to stir your nerves, to
• 1:51
  Speaker 3: offer you a precarious situation, and then withhold the solution
• 1:55
  Speaker 3: until the last possible moment.
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: And so, with the dead sleep lightly, and with the
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: performances of Walter Hamden, Susan Hayward, and Lee Bowman, we
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: again hope to keep you in suspense. Ashes to ashes,
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: and dust to dust. Meadowvale Cemetery. not far from New York.
• 2:23
  Speaker 3: Meadowvale Cemetery, on a dim, gray morning in early April,
• 2:29
  Speaker 3: when rain forms a mist across leafless trees and white gravestones.
• 2:35
  Speaker 3: You see, over there, the group of silk-hatted gentlemen, each
• 2:39
  Speaker 3: with his protecting umbrella, gathered around an open grave. You
• 2:44
  Speaker 3: see the clay soil freshly dug. You can hear, perhaps,
• 2:48
  Speaker 3: the creaking of supports as the coffin is lowered into
• 2:52
  Speaker 3: its everlasting house.
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: And the droning voice of the surgeon.
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: I am the resurrection and the life of the Lord.
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: He that believeth on me, though he were dead, yet
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: shall he live. Live? Quiet, Mr. Templeton, please. What's wrong
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: with old Templeton? Please, sir, remember where you are. She's
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: not alive, I tell you. She's not alive.
• 3:29
  Speaker 3: It might seem a long distance, that, from the Cosmopolite
• 3:33
  Speaker 3: Club in Gramercy Park on the following evening, when that
• 3:36
  Speaker 3: same well-fed man, as hard and unemotional as the diamond
• 3:41
  Speaker 3: pin in his tie, hurries up the steps into the club, then.
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: Yes, Mr. Templeton? Tell me, is Mr. Wilmot in the club,
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: do you know? Yes, sir. Don't you see him? See him? Where?
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: In the lounge over there, sir. Sitting by the fire. Yes, yes,
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: of course. I'm a little upset. You're a good fellow, Henry.
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: I won't forget you. Thank you, sir. Excuse me, sir,
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: but aren't you going to take off your hat and overcoat?
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: Never mind my hat and coat. Just tell me one
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: other thing. When I came into the club, was there
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: anybody following me? Following you, Mr. Templeton? Yes, a woman.
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: A woman with a long skirt and a heavy black veil.
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: There aren't many women who wear that kind of dress nowadays, sir.
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: Look out into the street. Do you see anybody? No, sir.
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: There's just a... What's that? Oh, that's only the old
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: street musician, sir. He doesn't mean any harm. I won't
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: have that tune played, you hear? I'm used to getting
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: my orders obeyed, and I'm going to have this one obeyed.
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: Here's the money. Go out and tell him to go away. Yes, sir,
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: if you insist, but... Do as you're told and don't
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: ask questions. If anybody wants me, I shall be with Mr. Wilmot.
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: Very good, sir. Good evening, Wilmot. Mind if I sit
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: down for a minute? Why, not at all. Pull up
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: a chair. Want some coffee? No, thanks. I'll get down
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: to brass tacks right away. Yes, you always do. I've
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: noticed that. Well, I'm a pretty self-sufficient kind of a fellow, Wilmot.
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: I made a name for myself, even if I do
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: say it myself. But, well, the fact is, I need advice.
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: A successful publisher asking advice from one of his own authors.
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: That's something new, isn't it? Now look here, Wilmot, I'm serious.
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: All right, all right, I take it back. What's on
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: your mind? You've studied what we'll call the supernatural, haven't you?
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: I've lectured and written books about it, yes. And did
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: you ever meet a ghost? No, I can't say I
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: ever did. Have you? It might only be my own imagination. Yes,
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: that's what scares me. You get on in years, and
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: your arteries harden, and you don't take enough exercise, and
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: you think something ought to be done about your waistline,
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: but you never bother. You see, Wilmot, I went to
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: a funeral yesterday. You did? Whose funeral was it? The
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: person who died has nothing to do with this. It
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: was old Simpson of Harley and Sons. We thought it
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: was only decent to make up a party and go
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: to the funeral. And I took my secretary along, a
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: girl named Molly Carroll. I'm leaving for Washington tomorrow. Besides,
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: I'm moving house. So there was a lot of work
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: to do. Where I couldn't stand... was that infernal cemetery
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: in the rain. We must have gone in by the
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: wrong gate... because we were in a neglected, desolate part
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: of the cemetery... where the rank grass grew over the grave.
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: You'll oblige me, Miss Carroll... if you'll first find out
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: the proper directions of our places... You've come in the
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: wrong gate to the cemetery. Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. Templeton.
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: I thought... What you thought doesn't matter now. This is
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: the wrong part of the cemetery. My shoes are absolutely
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: ruined with wet clay. Well, it isn't doing my own
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: shoes and stockings any good either, Mr. Templeton. If there's
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: been any damage to them, Miss Carroll, I'll replace them.
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: You never found me ungenerous, now have you? Well, not
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: exactly ungenerous, no. I'll pay you the compliment, Miss Carroll,
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: saying that you're the best secretary I ever had. Thank you.
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: Yet you want to leave me. Yes, I... I want
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: to get married. That's what Mr. Barnes was telling me.
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: And who is this paragon of yours? What does he do?
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: Does he make any money? Well, Frank's a radio technician.
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: He's not very wealthy, I'll admit. Wealthy? A radio technician?
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: I'll bet he doesn't make as much as I pay you.
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: Yet you want to get married. Well, is there anything
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: very strange about that? Yes. If it interferes with your career,
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: if it... Good Lord. Look at that. Look at what, Mr. Kempis?
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: Over there, around 20. You mean that? That's only an
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: old gravestone covered with weeds and brambles. I haven't seen
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: that grave in years. It looks rather neglected. It is neglected,
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: isn't it? Will you go closer, please, and read the inscription? Mr. Templeton...
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: Do as I tell you, please. It says... Let's see
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: if I can get some of these weeds aside. It says... Sacred.
• 8:18
  Speaker 5: To the memory of Mary Ellen Cleaver... Born September 5th, 1892.
• 8:24
  Speaker 5: Departed this life March 25th, 1919. Thou should still be
• 8:32
  Speaker 5: adored as this moment thou art.
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: Let thy loveliness fade as it will. If you lower
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: that umbrella, Mr. Templeton, you'll get soaking wet. Sentimental crash.
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: But she always liked it. She always liked it? Mary
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: Ellen Cleaver. Did you know her? Very well, indeed. She
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: was my wife. Your wife? But I never knew you
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: were married. Neither did anybody else. Where's my flask of brandy?
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: What have I done with it? It's in your hip pocket, Mr. Templeton,
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: but do you think that's very wise? You've already had
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: more than enough. Whatever I do is wise, Miss Carroll.
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: We were married very young. She was a nice little thing.
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: I was fond of her, yes. But she couldn't have
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: helped me. I'm not a snob, but she wasn't in
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: my class. No style, you know, no manners, no education. Indeed.
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: Could I have introduced her to the friends I was making?
• 9:24
  Speaker 6: No.
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: I wouldn't have been kind to her. She didn't even
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: want to go to the places where I was invited.
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: She'd sit at home and say, what was it like?
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: Did you have a nice time? What was Mrs. So-and-so wearing?
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: And she loved me. I'll put that to her credit. But...
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: You left her? I thought it was the kindest thing
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: to do, yes. She went away. Then I heard she'd had...
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: Had what? Nothing. Doesn't matter. Well, there was a war on.
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: I attended the peace conference in Europe. Never even knew
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: she was dead until I heard some friends had buried her.
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: I always promised to call... her up. She said she'd
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: come back to me if I did. You couldn't call
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: her up now, Mr. Templeton, even if you wanted to. Oh,
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: I suppose not. But I was fond of her. I
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: wish there was something I could do.
• 10:13
  Speaker 5: You could have her grave cared for.
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: Have some flowers put on it. That's it. That's an idea.
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: She'd have liked that. Can you take care of that
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: for me? I'll look after it tomorrow morning, Mr. Templeton.
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: But how will they ever be able to locate the grave?
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: There must be thousands in this cemetery.
• 10:29
  Speaker 5: Well, each grave has a number, you know, cut into
• 10:31
  Speaker 5: the stone so you can identify it.
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: This is number 1212. 1212. Sounds like a telephone number,
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: doesn't it? Yes, doesn't it? Meadowvale 1212. Poor girl. I
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: was fond of her. Please, Mr. Templeton, come along. And please,
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: no more brandy. You've got a funeral to attend.
• 10:53
  Speaker 4: And then, Wilmot, the night came.
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: And the horror. What horror? Take it easy, man. There's
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: nothing to worry about. You were sitting here in the
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: Cosmopolites Club. Yes, but I wasn't sitting in the club
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: last night. I was on my way home. And why
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: should that scare you? I don't know, but it did.
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: I'd been jumping all day. That infernal number kept running
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: through my head. Meadowvale, 1212. Have you ever seen my house? Yes,
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: it's that big sham gothic place on Riverside Drive, isn't it? Yes,
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: big and dark and draughty like a mausoleum. I told
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: you it was moving house to an apartment downtown. But
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: there were some papers there. I had to get out
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: of the safe in the library to take with me
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: to Washington tomorrow. I knew the servants would be gone,
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: of course. But I hoped Mrs. Bloom, that's my housekeeper,
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: would still be there. Then, when I went up the
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: park about 6.30... Meadowvale.
• 12:02
  Speaker 4: 12, 12.
• 12:05
  Speaker 7: Meadowvale, 12.
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: 1-2. Meadowvale.
• 12:14
  Speaker 5: 1-2.
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: 1-2.
• 12:14
  Speaker 6: Meadowvale.
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: 1-2. 1-2. Mr. Templeton.
• 12:18
  Speaker 6: This is a surprise.
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: Sorry to trouble you, Mr. Bloom. I seem to have
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: mislaid my key. The other guy swore I had it
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: on the key ring this morning. It's no trouble, Mr. Templeton. Only.
• 12:38
  Speaker 8: I hope you're not planning to spend the night here.
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: No, I'm going to a hotel. Why do you ask?
• 12:44
  Speaker 8: Because they've disconnected everything except the electricity and taken away most.
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: Of the furniture. I haven't touched anything in the library. No, sir.
• 12:51
  Speaker 8: I told them you said to leave that. Sir, but
• 12:54
  Speaker 8: it does seem a pity in a way.
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: What seems a pity?
• 12:57
  Speaker 8: To break up a lovely home like this after all
• 13:00
  Speaker 8: these years.
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: Home? This big, ugly picture gallery?
• 13:03
  Speaker 8: It's been a home to me, sir.
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: I've treated you generously, haven't I? Yes, sir. I'm sorry.
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: I've got several hours' work to do, Mrs. Bloom. A
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: whole safe full of papers to sort over. I'm going
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: to the library and... What's that you're hiding behind your back?
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: I'm not hiding anything, sir. All the same, what is it?
• 13:20
  Speaker 8: It's only a music box, sir. I found it in
• 13:23
  Speaker 8: the attic when the moving men were here. If I
• 13:26
  Speaker 8: hadn't known there were, well, no ladies in your life,
• 13:30
  Speaker 8: I'd have.
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: Said it belonged to one of them.
• 13:33
  Speaker 8: I love to hear them, sir.
• 13:34
  Speaker 6: May I?
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: Yes, sir.
• 13:37
  Speaker 3: If you don't want me to smash that music.
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: Box, turn it off.
• 13:40
  Speaker 8: Yes, sir, I'm sure I'll never.
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: I'm going to the library. If you can find any
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: sandwiches and coffee, bring them.
• 13:46
  Speaker 7: Yes, sir.
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: Excuse me. Same old library. Same old claw-footed desk. There's
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: the Venetian mirror she bought for you. Look at yourself
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: in the mirror, Templeton. Admit you can't face it. Admit
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: you can't work here tonight. Admit you've got to have
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: lights and music and... That's it. Go out for dinner.
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: Telephone Wilmot. They've left the phone. Oh, yes. Good. Here
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: it is. Hello, hello.
• 14:22
  Speaker 5: Yes, sir.
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: Number, please. I, uh... Number, please. I want, uh... Meadowvale 1212.
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: Meadowvale 1212.
• 14:31
  Speaker 7: Wait.
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: What in the devil's name am I saying? Change that.
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: I want... Hello, my darling.
• 14:37
  Speaker 7: I knew you'd call me when you needed me.
• 14:40
  Speaker 2: Who is that speaking? Who are you?
• 14:41
  Speaker 7: It's Mary Ellen, dear. Don't you recognize my voice?
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: You're not Mary Ellen.
• 14:46
  Speaker 6: This is strict.
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: Mary Ellen is dead.
• 14:48
  Speaker 7: Yes, but the dead sleep lightly, and they can be lonely, too.
• 14:54
  Speaker 7: And now that you do need me.
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: I don't need you. I don't need anybody.
• 14:58
  Speaker 7: I'm coming back to join you, dear. It's not easy,
• 15:01
  Speaker 7: but I'll be there by the time the clock strikes seven.
• 15:05
  Speaker 7: I'll wear a veil because I don't look very pretty.
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: I won't have this. I won't listen to you. I won't. Goodbye,
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: my dear.
• 15:12
  Speaker 7: Remember, when the clock strikes seven.
• 15:15
  Speaker 6: Mrs.
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: Bloom, Mrs. Bloom!
• 15:20
  Speaker 6: Mr. Templeton, what on earth is the matter?
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: Who's been playing tricks on me? Tick, sir. I don't understand.
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: Who spoke to me on this phone?
• 15:27
  Speaker 8: But, sir, nobody could have spoken to you on that phone.
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: Nobody could have? What are you talking about? That phone's disconnected, sir. Disconnected? Yes, sir.
• 15:35
  Speaker 8: The man came here this afternoon and took that little
• 15:37
  Speaker 8: muscle box off the wall and rolled all the wires
• 15:40
  Speaker 8: up and put everything on the desk there. Said he'd
• 15:42
  Speaker 8: be back tomorrow to take it away.
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: Mrs. Bloom, that's impossible. Look for yourself, sir.
• 15:47
  Speaker 8: You're standing in the middle of the room holding that phone,
• 15:50
  Speaker 8: and the.
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: Wires don't lead anywhere. That's true.
• 15:54
  Speaker 8: So you couldn't very well have talked to anybody on
• 15:56
  Speaker 8: the phone that wasn't connected?
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: Now could you? I tell you, I got the operator.
• 16:00
  Speaker 2: I heard it ring. I talked to... to someone else. Oh?
• 16:05
  Speaker 8: And what did that person say?
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: She said she'd be here to visit me when... Mr. Templeton,
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: what's the matter?
• 16:26
  Speaker 4: Mr.
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: Wilmot, that's what happened last night. The phone was disconnected.
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: It was Mary Ellen's voice. There's no doubt about that.
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: Am I out of my mind or what? Before I
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: say anything about that, my friend, well... Let's hear the
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: end of your story. What did happen when the clock
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: struck seven? I don't know. You don't know? No. I
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: lost my head. Ran out of that house as though
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: the devil were after me. Maybe he was. And since then?
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: I spent the night at the hotel. Today, I've walked
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: past that house 50 times, 100 times, trying to muster
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: up enough nerve to go in. I couldn't do it.
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: But I've got to go in there. Why? It's those
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: papers I've got to take to Washington. Send somebody else
• 17:14
  Speaker 2: to get them. I can't do that, Wilmot. It's confidential
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: information for the government. I've thought of everything. I've even
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: bought a revolver, see? For the love of heaven, man,
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: put that gun away. You want the other club members
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: to think you have gone insane? Then I thought of you.
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: You know all the tricks of fake spiritualists. You've written
• 17:31
  Speaker 2: about it and lectured about it. Which reminds me, by
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: the way, that I'm lecturing before the Acropolis Club in
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: about 20 minutes. You've got to break that engagement, Wilmot. Why?
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: Because you're going with me to my house. Tonight. Now.
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: That's impossible, old man. Now sit quietly and listen to me.
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: I'll go with you willingly. Tomorrow morning. That's too late.
• 17:49
  Speaker 2: I'm taking an early play to Washington. Well, then wait
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: until I can get away from the lecture. Say, around midnight.
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll take a taxi
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: and join you as soon as I can. That won't do.
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: I've got to know. Know the answer now. Do you understand?
• 18:03
  Speaker 2: Aren't you being a little unreasonable about this? Unreasonable or not,
• 18:06
  Speaker 2: I usually get my own way and I mean to
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: have it now. Well, then I'm afraid you'll have to
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: go to the house alone. Besides... You know, Wilmot, you
• 18:12
  Speaker 2: worry me. You sit there puffing at that pipe and
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: looking at me out of those queer eyes of yours
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: like a young Satan. I've often wondered what you were
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: really thinking about. Since you flatter my intelligence so much,
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: I was wondering whether you'd been quite frank with me.
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: Frank with you how? About your late wife, Mary Ellen Kleber.
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: What about her? After she left you, something happened that
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: you don't like to talk about. Was there by any
• 18:42
  Speaker 2: chance a child, a son, for instance? Did you say
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: a son? Yes. I don't know what you're talking about.
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: Then let's agree not to understand each other, shall we?
• 18:53
  Speaker 2: Are you coming with me or aren't you? I tell you, man,
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: I'll get there as soon as I can. All I
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: can think about... There's the wet red clay in that cemetery.
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: And the dismal grave in the rain. And what her
• 19:06
  Speaker 2: face might look like if she raised the veil. And
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: what am I going to see in that house? What
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: am I going to see in that house?
• 19:28
  Speaker 3: Though the clocks chime, the hours dwindle, and the traffic
• 19:33
  Speaker 3: roar of the city sinks to a low growl.
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: Behind twinkling lights, it is midnight.
• 19:40
  Speaker 3: When a taxi moves along a certain street towards a
• 19:43
  Speaker 3: certain house out of a bygone age, nightless, black against
• 19:49
  Speaker 3: the stars, surrounded by iron railings and with a path
• 19:52
  Speaker 3: bordered by fir trees leading to the front door. Look, too,
• 19:57
  Speaker 3: at the face of Mr. Patrick Wilmot when that taxi
• 20:00
  Speaker 3: draws near.
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: All right, driver. This is the place. I'll be in
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: a wait for you, sir. No, you needn't wait. Keep
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: the change. Thank you, sir. Good night. So, the front
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: gate is open. And he did go in. I beg
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: your pardon. I didn't mean to bump into you. Mr. Wilmot.
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: You know who I am. Oh, yes.
• 20:39
  Speaker 5: I've seen you several times in our office. I'm Molly Carroll, Mr.
• 20:42
  Speaker 5: Templeton's secretary.
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: What are you doing here? Well, it's Mr. Templeton. What
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: about him?
• 20:47
  Speaker 5: Well, that's what I want to know. I was out
• 20:49
  Speaker 5: with Frank. That's my fiancé. And when I got home,
• 20:52
  Speaker 5: the girl I room with said that Mr. Templeton had
• 20:54
  Speaker 5: been phoning and phoning all evening. She said he sounded
• 20:57
  Speaker 5: drunk or something. He wanted somebody to go with him.
• 21:00
  Speaker 2: To this house. Evidently, I wasn't the only person he
• 21:03
  Speaker 2: applied to. Shall we go in? Yes, but the whole
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: house is dark. Suppose he isn't there. He's there, all right.
• 21:12
  Speaker 2: You don't know men like Burt Templeton.
• 21:13
  Speaker 8: But I.
• 21:15
  Speaker 2: I'll push the gate wider. Now, straight up the walk
• 21:20
  Speaker 2: to the front door. I've got a flashlight. What are
• 21:24
  Speaker 2: we going to find? Something rather unpleasant, I try to
• 21:27
  Speaker 2: warn you. How do you know? I have my ways
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: of knowing, Miss Carroll. Oh, look. What is it? That
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: French window to the left of the front door. Yes.
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: It's partly open. Well, there's nothing in that, necessarily. Templeton
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: said he'd lost his key. He might have had to
• 21:44
  Speaker 2: open a window. That's true, but... So you see it too,
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: do you? See what? There's a footprint across the sill
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: of that French window. A footprint made in wet clay.
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: It's like... like the clay of the cemetery. So I
• 21:59
  Speaker 2: should imagine. Will you go in first, or shall I?
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: Into that dark room, I will not. Well, then stay here, please,
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: until I get some lights on. No, wait. I'll go.
• 22:09
  Speaker 2: Let me take your arm. All right, be careful now.
• 22:14
  Speaker 7: Hmm.
• 22:15
  Speaker 2: I thought so. This room is the library. And there
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: are more footprints of somebody or something walking in. Say lead.
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: Who's there? Who's there? It's only me, sir. Mrs. Bloom,
• 22:31
  Speaker 2: the housekeeper. Then what's the idea of standing in a
• 22:34
  Speaker 2: dark room in the middle of the night with what
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: sounds like... It's only a music box, sir.
• 22:38
  Speaker 8: I left it behind along with some other things and
• 22:40
  Speaker 8: came back to get them.
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: I've got my own key.
• 22:44
  Speaker 8: I thought I heard a noise in here.
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: But why aren't there any lights?
• 22:47
  Speaker 8: The electricity's cut off, sir.
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: It must cut off today. I see. Now, if Templeton
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: is here or was here, he must have had some
• 22:58
  Speaker 2: kind of light. If I turn this flashlight on the desk, maybe...
• 23:02
  Speaker 2: Be quiet, Miss Carroll! What is it, sir? I'm as
• 23:05
  Speaker 2: blind as a bat without my glasses. It's Mr. Templeton.
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: He's lying on the floor beside the desk. Oh, he isn't... No,
• 23:11
  Speaker 2: he isn't dead. Face is the color of putty. I
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: think he's had some kind of stroke. We'd better not
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: take any chances. Mrs. Bloom? Yes, sir? Get outside to
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: the nearest telephone and call for an ambulance. Tell them
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: it's an emergency case. You're Mr. Wilmot, aren't you? But
• 23:24
  Speaker 2: what's happened to him? Ask a dead woman. I beg
• 23:27
  Speaker 2: your pardon. Never mind. Hurry. Of course I'll hurry, Mr. Wilmot.
• 23:34
  Speaker 2: What are we going to do? Let's have a look around.
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: Templeton seems to have been working at his papers by
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: the light of a couple of candles, which somebody's blown out.
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: We'll relight them. Ah, there's the desk. There's all the papers.
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: Scattered round him.
• 23:52
  Speaker 5: Mr.
• 23:52
  Speaker 2: Wilmer, please! What happened to him? I'll tell you. As
• 23:57
  Speaker 2: he sat there in the dim light of two candles,
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: a ghostly figure appeared at that French window. It wore
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: a long, old-fashioned skirt and a heavy black veil to
• 24:05
  Speaker 2: hide the face. It walked toward Templeton, tracking graveyard clay.
• 24:10
  Speaker 2: It stretched its arms to him like this. Keep away
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: from me, please! Templeton couldn't stand it. He collapsed. And now,
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: before the old housekeeper returns, would you care to hear
• 24:21
  Speaker 2: how the whole trick was worked? Trick? What trick? Have
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: you heard about the ghost voice that talked on a
• 24:26
  Speaker 2: disconnected telephone? Oh, yes.
• 24:28
  Speaker 5: Yes, he said something about it this morning, but I
• 24:30
  Speaker 5: thought he wasn't himself.
• 24:32
  Speaker 2: He wasn't, but he heard it. Remember Mrs. Bloom's story
• 24:35
  Speaker 2: about the telephone man? Yes. They don't send a man
• 24:40
  Speaker 2: around to yank the whole apparatus off the wall, put
• 24:42
  Speaker 2: it on the desk, and say he'll be back for
• 24:44
  Speaker 2: it next day. This man from the telephone company was
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: an imposter. The man from the telephone company was an imposter? Exactly. Oh, look,
• 24:53
  Speaker 2: he's moving his hand. He's trying to open his eyes.
• 24:56
  Speaker 5: Isn't there anything we can do for him?
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: No, there's nothing we can do till the doctor arrives.
• 25:00
  Speaker 2: In the meantime, listen to me. All right. What did
• 25:03
  Speaker 2: this imposter do? He took away the real phone and
• 25:07
  Speaker 2: substituted a spirit telephone. You don't know what a spirit
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: telephone is? No, of course not. It's an old device
• 25:13
  Speaker 2: used by fake mediums. You see a telephone without wires
• 25:17
  Speaker 2: standing on a desk like that one. You pick up
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: the receiver and talk to the dead. Of course, you
• 25:23
  Speaker 2: never really talk into the phone at all. But if
• 25:25
  Speaker 2: you don't talk into the phone, then... Fixed underneath the
• 25:27
  Speaker 2: desk is a tiny microphone with hidden wires leading to
• 25:31
  Speaker 2: another room in the same house. That microphone picks up
• 25:34
  Speaker 2: every word you think you're saying to the phone. Is
• 25:36
  Speaker 2: that clear? I think so. Well, the dummy telephone is
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: really a low-power radio receiving set. Somebody in another room
• 25:43
  Speaker 2: can talk back to you after hearing what you say
• 25:46
  Speaker 2: on the wired microphone. Then Mr. Templeton... If Templeton hadn't
• 25:49
  Speaker 2: rung Meadowvale 1212, then rest assured that same number would
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: have rung him. Well, then the scheme couldn't fail either way. But,
• 25:57
  Speaker 2: you see, there's one thing in this matter I haven't
• 25:59
  Speaker 2: got quite clear even yet. And what's that? Tell me,
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: Miss Carroll, just why did you work this whole trick?
• 26:04
  Speaker 2: Why did you try to scare your father to death?
• 26:06
  Speaker 2: My father... Templeton is your father, isn't he? That might
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: be rather difficult to prove, Mr. Wilmot. By George, I
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: admire you. Thanks very much. I'm flattered. Expressionless as ever.
• 26:20
  Speaker 2: Eyes as hard and cold and blue and handsome as... Well,
• 26:24
  Speaker 2: make your own comparison. But I knew you were guilty,
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: of course, when I heard your fiancé was a radio ticker.
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: You can leave Frank out of this.
• 26:31
  Speaker 7: Oh.
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: You have scruples. Have I touched you? Nothing can touch me.
• 26:36
  Speaker 2: Not since my mother died. Your fiancé installed the ghost
• 26:39
  Speaker 2: mechanism and took it away today. He probably thought it
• 26:41
  Speaker 2: was only a joke. He did. I swear he did.
• 26:43
  Speaker 2: And the rest of it was plain enough. Who led
• 26:45
  Speaker 2: Templeton to the wrong gate in the cemetery, past that
• 26:47
  Speaker 2: woman's grave? You did. Who was the only one who
• 26:50
  Speaker 2: could have stolen the key to this house off that
• 26:52
  Speaker 2: key ring he took to the office? You were. You
• 26:54
  Speaker 2: needed that key to come and go as you liked
• 26:56
  Speaker 2: and impersonate the two voices on the phone. Is there
• 26:58
  Speaker 2: any need to go on with this? He killed her,
• 27:00
  Speaker 2: you know. Didn't he, Templeton, kill your mother?
• 27:04
  Speaker 5: Oh, not with a knife or a bullet or poison.
• 27:07
  Speaker 5: All he did was break her heart. And that's no
• 27:10
  Speaker 5: offense in law.
• 27:11
  Speaker 2: Be honest, Betty, now. Well, I've done what I wanted
• 27:13
  Speaker 2: to do.
• 27:14
  Speaker 5: I've torn his whole rotten life to pieces. And there
• 27:16
  Speaker 5: he is, gasping for breath.
• 27:18
  Speaker 2: On the floor. And I'm glad. I'm glad I'm... Oh, God,
• 27:23
  Speaker 2: forgive me. He is my father. Does he know you're
• 27:27
  Speaker 2: his daughter? No. No, of course not.
• 27:30
  Speaker 5: When I went to work for him as a secretary,
• 27:32
  Speaker 5: he hadn't even seen me since I was a child.
• 27:35
  Speaker 2: Well, I got near him. I worked for years to
• 27:37
  Speaker 2: get near him. I wish I hadn't. No, dear, you've
• 27:42
  Speaker 2: got to pull yourself together. Why? Who cares? The ambulance
• 27:46
  Speaker 2: coming and maybe the police. What do I care? Tell
• 27:48
  Speaker 2: the police what you like. My dear girl, you don't
• 27:51
  Speaker 2: think I'll tell them anything. I'm merely an onlooker, an
• 27:54
  Speaker 2: amateur Satan who doesn't believe in ghost voices. What's that? Templeton,
• 28:00
  Speaker 2: his eyes are open. He's trying to get up.
• 28:01
  Speaker 5: Mary Ellen.
• 28:02
  Speaker 2: Mary Ellen. Mary Ellen. It's as though he could see
• 28:05
  Speaker 2: something that we can't see. What's that he's got in
• 28:07
  Speaker 2: his hand? It's a revolver. He had one at the club.
• 28:10
  Speaker 5: He's putting it against his chest.
• 28:11
  Speaker 2: I'll stop him. Look out.
• 28:12
  Speaker 6: Look out.
• 28:15
  Speaker 2: He did love her after all. And now he's tried
• 28:19
  Speaker 2: to join her. Oh, don't let him die. He's all right, Molly.
• 28:23
  Speaker 2: You've grabbed a gun just in time. If he doesn't die,
• 28:26
  Speaker 2: I'll make it up to him. I swear I'll make
• 28:29
  Speaker 2: it up to him. I tell you now, he's not
• 28:31
  Speaker 2: going to die, but... Mary Ellen.
• 28:34
  Speaker 7: Mary Ellen.
• 28:35
  Speaker 6: What?
• 28:35
  Speaker 2: Mary Ellen. But what? But what? Mary Ellen. I was...
• 28:39
  Speaker 2: I was just wondering. Is there a ghost in this
• 28:43
  Speaker 2: room tonight? Mary Ellen.
• 29:04
  Speaker 3: And so closes The Dead Sleep Lightly, starring Walter Hemsden,
• 29:10
  Speaker 3: Susan Hayward, and Lee Bowman. Tonight's tale of suspense.
• 29:20
  Speaker 2: This is your.
• 29:21
  Speaker 3: Narrator, the man in black, who conveys to you Columbia's
• 29:25
  Speaker 3: invitation to spend this half hour in suspense. with us
• 29:29
  Speaker 3: again next evening. Miss Hayward appeared through the courtesy of
• 29:33
  Speaker 3: Paramount Pictures, and Mr. Bowman appeared through the courtesy of
• 29:37
  Speaker 3: Metro-Golden-Mayer Studios. William Spear, the producer, John Dietz, the director,
• 29:43
  Speaker 3: Bernard Herman, the composer-conductor, and John Dixon Carr, the author,
• 29:48
  Speaker 3: collaborated on tonight's Suspense.
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: This is the Columbia Broadcasting System. This has been Suspense,
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: The Dead Sleep Lightly, with Susan Hayward, Walter Hampton, and
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: Lee Bowman. Follow Suspense for more classic broadcasts