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The Adventures of Philip Marlowe - "The Eager Witness" (1949) · Old Time Mystery Radio | Old Time Radio

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: On August 27th, 1949, CBS Radio presented episode 47 of
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  Speaker 1: The Adventures of Philip Marlowe, The Eager Witness. Gerald Moore
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  Speaker 1: stars as Raymond Chandler's Los Angeles private detective, called to
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  Speaker 1: the witness stand for the prosecution in the murder trial
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  Speaker 1: of Bookie Earl Jernigan. When an alibi throws the case
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  Speaker 1: into doubt, Marlowe has one evening to follow the loose ends,
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  Speaker 1: beginning with a witness notably eager to testify. Gene Levitt
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  Speaker 1: and Robert Mitchell wrote the script with Norman MacDonald producing
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  Speaker 1: and directing, and now our story begins.
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  Speaker 2: Get this and get it straight. Crime is a sucker's road,
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  Speaker 2: and those who travel it wind up in the gutter
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  Speaker 2: of the prison of the grave. This started with a
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  Speaker 2: man on trial for his life, and an A1 citizen
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  Speaker 2: eager to testify. But there it was interrupted, and it
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  Speaker 2: wasn't until I found a corpse in a bubbling bath,
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  Speaker 2: gunplay in the woods, and lots of blackmail that the
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  Speaker 2: real eager witness had a chance to talk.
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  Speaker 3: From the pen of Raymond Chandler, outstanding author of mystery,
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  Speaker 3: comes his most famous character and crime's most deadly enemy,
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  Speaker 3: as we present The Adventures of Philip Marlowe. Now, with
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  Speaker 3: Gerald Moore, starred as Philip Marlowe, we bring you tonight's
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  Speaker 3: exciting story, The Eager Witness.
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  Speaker 2: The Eager Witness.
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  Speaker 3: Division 88 of the Superior Court of the State of
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  Speaker 3: California for the County of Los Angeles is now in session.
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  Speaker 4: The Honorable Albert Winston, judge presiding. Everybody rise.
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  Speaker 2: It was the case of the people versus the oft-arrested,
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  Speaker 2: never convicted, smooth Earl Jernigan, sometimes bookie, charged in the
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  Speaker 2: first degree with a month-old killing of a kindly gray-haired
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  Speaker 2: horse trainer named Kurt Hopper, who had once almost been
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  Speaker 2: my client. It was the afternoon of the fourth day
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  Speaker 2: of the trial, and the prosecutor for the state had
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  Speaker 2: already built an almost airtight case against the alleged gambler
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  Speaker 2: when my turn finally came.
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  Speaker 5: To further substantiate the state's claim that Earl Jernigan did
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  Speaker 5: willfully and with malice of forethought take the life of
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  Speaker 5: the deceased Curt Harper, will Mr. Philip Marlowe take the stand?
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  Speaker 4: Raise your right hand.
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  Speaker 6: Promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but
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  Speaker 6: the truth, Salvy Guard.
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  Speaker 2: I do.
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  Speaker 6: State your name and occupation.
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  Speaker 2: Philip Marlowe, private detective.
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  Speaker 6: Next stand.
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  Speaker 2: Mr.
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  Speaker 5: Marlowe, on the morning of the 30th day of July last,
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  Speaker 5: the day on which the late Kurt Hopper was murdered,
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  Speaker 5: were you hired as a private detective by the said Mr.
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  Speaker 7: Hopper?
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  Speaker 2: I was.
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  Speaker 4: And at that time, Mr. Marlowe, did Mr. Hopper state
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  Speaker 4: his reason for hiring?
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  Speaker 2: He did. He wanted me to act as his personal
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  Speaker 2: bodyguard on the following day when he planned to drive
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  Speaker 2: to San Francisco.
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  Speaker 4: Did he say why he needed a personal bodyguard?
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  Speaker 2: He did. He told me he was afraid for his life,
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  Speaker 2: that he refused the gambler's demand that he drug a
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  Speaker 2: certain racehorse a week earlier, that that gambler had threatened
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  Speaker 2: to kill him. I see.
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  Speaker 4: Now, Mr. Marlowe, did Mr. Harper name that gambler?
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  Speaker 2: Yes, he did.
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  Speaker 4: Who was it?
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  Speaker 2: Earl Jernigan.
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  Speaker 4: Thank you. No further questions, Your Honor. Counsel for the defense.
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  Speaker 4: Counsel for the defense waives cross-examination, Your Honor. The witness
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  Speaker 4: is excused.
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  Speaker 2: Didn't make sense. No cross-examination. Because from the opening adjective,
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  Speaker 2: the counsel for the defense, a dapper item named Calder,
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  Speaker 2: who always appeared in French cuffs, gray gabardine, and a cocky,
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  Speaker 2: uninviting smile, had raved, ranted, and practically spit at each
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  Speaker 2: witness the state had presented. I don't have a debt
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  Speaker 2: to the witnesses. So the courtroom was left with a
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  Speaker 2: tingling impression that Earl Jernigan's attorney had something of a
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  Speaker 2: surprise waiting up his legal sleeve. Later, when Calder was
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  Speaker 2: on his feet and addressing the jury, that something started
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  Speaker 2: out fast.
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  Speaker 8: Now that the state has taken the trouble to offer
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  Speaker 8: so much circumstantial evidence, so much hearsay, rumor, conjecture, now
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  Speaker 8: will I smash all of that with the testimony of
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  Speaker 8: one man. One man known to all of you as
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  Speaker 8: an outstanding citizen of this city. A prominent real estate broker.
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  Speaker 8: An unimpeachable witness eager to testify.
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  Speaker 9: Mr.
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  Speaker 4: Leonard Gaines.
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  Speaker 2: It worked. Landed in each and every lap like a
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  Speaker 2: live grenade and exploded all the way around at once.
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  Speaker 2: And when the eminent Mr. Gaines, gray at the temples,
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  Speaker 2: maybe 45, a neat and expensive midnight blue flannel with
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  Speaker 2: giant stick pin to match, took the stand. And in
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  Speaker 2: his own meeting of the board, tone of voice, told
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  Speaker 2: the court that Earl Jernigan had spent the entire day
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  Speaker 2: and night of July 30th last with him at his
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  Speaker 2: Malibu beach home. The prosecuting attorney's jaw dropped to his
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  Speaker 2: chest and he stared dumb.
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  Speaker 10: Day or night did Mr. Jernigan ever leave my home.
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  Speaker 10: And as for the hour of the murder, 8 o'clock
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  Speaker 10: in the evening, we were having dinner. After that, we
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  Speaker 10: played gin rummy until, oh, until midnight.
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  Speaker 4: Are you sure of that, Mr. Gaines? The hour of
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  Speaker 4: your dinner, I mean.
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  Speaker 6: I am positive, Mr.
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  Speaker 2: Calder. No, you can't be. You're lying.
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  Speaker 4: Quiet, quiet in the court.
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  Speaker 2: Order.
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  Speaker 4: Miss Harper, order in the court, please.
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  Speaker 2: No, I won't be quiet.
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  Speaker 9: I won't anymore.
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  Speaker 4: Miss Harper, quiet.
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  Speaker 9: Order, order. This court is adjourned until tomorrow morning.
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  Speaker 2: At 10 o'clock. The End.
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  Speaker 6: Another scotch and soda, mister?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I guess so. Now, wait a minute, baby. I
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  Speaker 2: think I'm going to have company.
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  Speaker 9: Mr.
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  Speaker 7: Marlowe, can I talk to you for a minute?
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  Speaker 6: I'm Gail.
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  Speaker 2: Gail Harper, yeah, I know. What I don't know is
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  Speaker 2: why you're not doing 30 days on a rock pile
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  Speaker 2: for that rumpus you just kicked up in court. Would
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  Speaker 2: you like a soft drink?
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  Speaker 7: No, thanks.
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  Speaker 2: All right, just one, baby. Jerk.
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  Speaker 7: The judge said he understood and left me off with
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  Speaker 7: a short lecture, which is what I accounted on.
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  Speaker 2: Oh... You mean all that fireworks in there was planned,
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  Speaker 2: not just spontaneous combustion?
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  Speaker 7: That's right. I had to have time. Look, Mr. Marlowe,
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  Speaker 7: will you work for me?
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  Speaker 2: Oh, well, now look, baby.
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  Speaker 7: Will you help me prove that Mr. Leonard Gaines is
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  Speaker 7: alive and that Earl Jernigan did kill my father?
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  Speaker 2: Oh, take it easy, girl. It's a big mouthful, you know.
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  Speaker 4: Mr.
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  Speaker 7: Marlowe, listen, please. There isn't much time. We gotta prove
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  Speaker 7: this tonight or never. By noon tomorrow with the outside,
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  Speaker 7: the case will go to the jury.
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  Speaker 2: Okay, what do you want me to do?
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  Speaker 7: Take over where I left off. But first, let's get
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  Speaker 7: out of here.
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  Speaker 2: All right. And never mind that drink, miss. Where do
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  Speaker 2: we start, honey?
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  Speaker 7: With Leonard Gaines' ex-wife, Debbie Jansen. Here's a snapshot of her.
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  Speaker 7: They were divorced about six months ago, Mr. Marlowe, and
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  Speaker 7: she wasn't very happy about it.
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  Speaker 11: No, huh?
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  Speaker 2: Made you figure she was your in?
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  Speaker 7: Yes, and I was right.
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  Speaker 9: Mr.
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  Speaker 7: Marlowe, it took eavesdropping, bribery, second story work, but I
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  Speaker 7: found out plenty.
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  Speaker 2: I'll bet you did. Like what? Oh, hold it, girl.
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  Speaker 2: Lights red.
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  Speaker 7: Like the fact that Debbie and a guy called Eugene
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  Speaker 7: Mowry are putting a bite on Gaines for $ 20, 000.
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  Speaker 2: Blackmail, Mr.
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  Speaker 6: Marlowe.
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  Speaker 7: With the payoff schedule to be made sometime tonight. Right now,
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  Speaker 7: she's staying at the Sunland Sulphur Springs Lodge out in
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  Speaker 7: the valley. Gaines used to go there once in a
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  Speaker 7: while for his arthritis. And the why of the whole
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  Speaker 7: business is a letter Gaines once wrote to his ex-wife.
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  Speaker 2: No fooling.
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  Speaker 6: Uh-huh.
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  Speaker 2: Well, tell me, what's that to do with Jernigan's trial
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  Speaker 2: and Gaines being a... Oh, it's green now.
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  Speaker 7: I think there's a connection, because yesterday I overheard Debbie
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  Speaker 7: tell this Maui something about Gaines' scheduled appearance at the
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  Speaker 7: trial today, and.
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  Speaker 3: Oh, Mr.
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  Speaker 4: Gaines!
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  Speaker 9: Hey, hey!
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  Speaker 2: Those jerk California drivers... The man behind the wheel. What
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  Speaker 2: about him?
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  Speaker 7: That thin face, blonde hair. I've seen him before. I
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  Speaker 7: know he was trying to hit one of us.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, fine. Well, that'll keep things from getting dull, won't it?
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  Speaker 4: Then.
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  Speaker 7: Then you're gonna help me.
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  Speaker 2: Well, now, look, I.
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  Speaker 2: Who could resist you, baby? Okay, tonight I check in
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  Speaker 2: at the lodge at Sunland Sulphur Springs. Come on, let's
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  Speaker 2: get out of here. Come on. It was eight o'clock
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  Speaker 2: and almost dark when I reached the foothills of the
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  Speaker 2: mountain range that separates the San Fernando Valley from L.A.
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  Speaker 2: proper and turned off onto a narrow dirt road that
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  Speaker 2: ran through a twisting gorge past a moon-faced watchman who
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  Speaker 2: asked no questions as he slowly opened a sagging wooden gate,
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  Speaker 2: faintly labeled Sunland Sulphur Springs, where Mother Nature's remedies bubble
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  Speaker 2: from the earth private. It was another five minutes along
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  Speaker 2: the same dirt road uphill and through thick foliage, before
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  Speaker 2: I was at a parking space out of my car
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  Speaker 2: and walking the last quarter of a mile toward the
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  Speaker 2: lodge itself that was spotted with widely separated cottages, also saggy,
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  Speaker 2: and each tagged Casa, and followed by something Spanish and
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  Speaker 2: hard to pronounce. Inside the place was cheap porch furniture
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  Speaker 2: and occasional threadbare rugs over scarred pine and deserted, except
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  Speaker 2: for a sleepy old guy with thick-lidded eyes and an
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  Speaker 2: accordion-wrinkled face was slouched in a heap behind a sign
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  Speaker 2: on the reservation desk. It read Maynard Sharp, no less.
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  Speaker 2: Night manager. When I gave him my name and said
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  Speaker 2: that both my rheumatism and I needed a rest, he
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  Speaker 2: came too. Almost. Rheumatism, Mr.
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  Speaker 4: Marlowe? Well, let's see.
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  Speaker 9: I can let you have most any one of the cottages.
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  Speaker 9: Half of them are empty. Things are kind of slow
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  Speaker 9: this time of year.
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  Speaker 2: How slow can you get?
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  Speaker 9: You'd be surprised. How's about Casa Francisco de Leon?
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  Speaker 2: Casa Francisco, hmm? Yeah, that'll be fine, Mr. Sharp.
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  Speaker 9: All righty, sir. Now, if you'll just sign the register here,
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  Speaker 9: I'll get your key. But, uh.
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  Speaker 2: As I sign my name, I check the guest list quickly.
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  Speaker 2: And the next second found what I wanted. Deborah Jansen.
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  Speaker 2: And next to that, and in a different hand, her
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  Speaker 2: cottage for the night. Casa Rolando de Barandido. That's close enough. Well, anyway,
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  Speaker 2: it was all I needed. I took the key from Mr. Sharp,
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  Speaker 2: a misnomer if ever you heard one, learned the location
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  Speaker 2: of my quarters, paid him in advance, and left. Outside,
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  Speaker 2: I turned to my right, passed a large open bath
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  Speaker 2: that smelled like rotten eggs and talked to itself like
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  Speaker 2: a junior Vesuvius, as more warm sulfur water is equally
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  Speaker 2: unpleasant to smell, bubbled from a pipe in the center.
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  Speaker 2: Beyond that was the first cottage, another casa I couldn't pronounce,
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  Speaker 2: and it stayed like that all the way down the line,
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  Speaker 2: until I reached the second one that showed light. It
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  Speaker 2: was the casa known as Rolando de Barandido. And when
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  Speaker 2: I moved closer and around to a window that was
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  Speaker 2: clean only, I knew that my client had done her
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  Speaker 2: eavesdropping well. Because in the center of the room and
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  Speaker 2: putting on her coat was the ex-wife named Debbie. And
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  Speaker 2: standing nearby and holding on tight to the cigarette in
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  Speaker 2: his hand like it was support was what had to
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: be the boyfriend, Eugene Mowry.
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  Speaker 6: You're sure that Gaines will go through with this all right?
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  Speaker 6: For the hundredth time, Eugene, yes, I'm positive.
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  Speaker 4: Can't you understand? He has to.
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  Speaker 7: Besides, $ 20, 000 won't break him. It won't more than bend
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  Speaker 7: him a bit.
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  Speaker 6: Now stop worrying.
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  Speaker 2: But I can't.
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  Speaker 6: Debbie, why must you go alone? Why can't I go
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  Speaker 6: with you? Eugene, please, we've been over that.
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  Speaker 7: I told Leonard that I'd meet him in town at
• 11:24
  Speaker 7: the Beverly Crest Hotel at 10 and alone.
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  Speaker 4: He agreed to also be alone.
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  Speaker 6: Except for the month.
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  Speaker 11: Debbie, you do handle things well.
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  Speaker 2: Come here, darling. Here's a kiss for your brilliance.
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  Speaker 7: Oh, please, Eugene.
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  Speaker 2: There isn't time.
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  Speaker 6: What's the matter? Are my kisses losing their flavor at
• 11:42
  Speaker 6: this point?
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: Don't be a fool.
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  Speaker 7: Look, it's late, Eugene.
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  Speaker 6: It's after nine already. I've got to hurry. Now, go on.
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: Go on.
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  Speaker 7: Be a good boy and leave now.
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  Speaker 2: We shouldn't even be seen together tonight.
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  Speaker 6: Why not, Debbie?
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  Speaker 7: It's not smart.
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  Speaker 6: Here.
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  Speaker 7: Meet me at the tulip room, darling, at 11 as
• 12:00
  Speaker 7: we plan.
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  Speaker 6: Then, Eugene, we'll have time and reason to relax.
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  Speaker 11: Twenty thousand bucks worth of reason.
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  Speaker 2: As Maury oozed toward the door, I slid away from
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  Speaker 2: the cottage and into the shadow of a clump of
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: trees nearby. Stayed there as he walked out of sight
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  Speaker 2: down a road that led back to the parking space.
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: Then a few minutes later when Debbie clicked off the
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: light and left. I moved out of hiding and started
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: slowly after at a safe distance. Until from someplace in
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: the night, an ugly, snub-nosed automatic that belonged to someone
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: blonde and thin-faced as a near-automobile accident stopped me cold.
• 12:40
  Speaker 6: Where are you going, Jack?
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: For air. I love to walk in the country at night, okay?
• 12:46
  Speaker 6: I wouldn't know, Jack. I'm a city boy myself. But
• 12:48
  Speaker 6: as long as that's what you want, it's Jake with me.
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  Speaker 6: As long as it's where it's good and dark.
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  Speaker 2: Now go on. That way.
• 12:56
  Speaker 6: Move. All right, Jack.
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: That's far enough.
• 13:12
  Speaker 6: Hold it.
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: Turn around and face me. Why? So I can watch
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: you pull the trigger? Never mind why.
• 13:19
  Speaker 6: Just turn.
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  Speaker 2: Okay. Turn it is.
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: That's better.
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  Speaker 6: Now, one step closer.
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: One step closer.
• 13:25
  Speaker 10: Hey, what's that?
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: A pheasant, my friend.
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  Speaker 6: Take him away.
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: Now, before I beat you into little pieces, let's have it.
• 13:30
  Speaker 4: Who are you?
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: Who do you work for and what do you want
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: with me? Come on, gunman.
• 13:33
  Speaker 10: Talk.
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  Speaker 6: Okay. Okay.
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  Speaker 9: No more.
• 13:38
  Speaker 6: My name's Langley. Worked for Earl Jennegan.
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  Speaker 2: Oh?
• 13:41
  Speaker 6: Yeah, I've been watching you ever since the trial started.
• 13:45
  Speaker 9: Jennegan didn't want you moving in on me.
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: Which is why you tried to pick me off with
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: a car when I was with Gail Harper this afternoon, huh?
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  Speaker 6: Come on! Yeah, yeah, that's why.
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  Speaker 2: Now, what are you going to do with me? For
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: the time being, bust her, leave her as is. Flat
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: on your back, because I've still got to catch up
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: with the lady before she reads a letter! City boy.
• 14:17
  Speaker 3: In just a moment, the second act of Philip Marlowe.
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: But first.
• 14:21
  Speaker 3: Because of the sharp rise in America's birth rate during
• 14:23
  Speaker 3: the war, we face a very serious educational crisis. Many
• 14:28
  Speaker 3: communities will find that their schools lack sufficient teachers, classrooms,
• 14:32
  Speaker 3: and facilities. Citizens must get together and work for better schools,
• 14:36
  Speaker 3: more teachers. If we want all of our children to
• 14:40
  Speaker 3: have a chance for a good education, we must take
• 14:42
  Speaker 3: action now. Now with our star, Gerald Moore, we return
• 14:48
  Speaker 3: to the second act of Philip Marlowe and tonight's story,
• 14:50
  Speaker 3: The Eager Witness.
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: It was strictly hit and run. I piled Langley into
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: the manzanita and didn't even wait to see him bounce. Instead,
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: I took off through a gully that was a shortcut
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: to my car, because I knew that Jernigan's watchdog had
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: nothing to offer compared with a hot-headed Debbie Jansen, who
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: at the moment, no doubt, was well on her way
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: to the Beverly Crest Hotel, and a blackmail rendezvous that
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: was a cinch to wind up in the final destruction
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: of the letter. That was my theory. But I dropped
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: it like a hot rock just as I crossed the
• 15:28
  Speaker 2: path to the sulfur pool. Mr. Marlowe! Mr. Marlowe!
• 15:35
  Speaker 4: Somebody scream! Yeah, in there by the spring. Oh, my gosh.
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: Oh, my gosh. It was nothing but sulfur fumes and
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: the thick gurgle of the springs until Sharp played his
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: flashlight over the pool. Then we saw her.
• 15:49
  Speaker 9: Oh, my gosh.
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: In the water that was turning red from blood oozing
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: around the knife in her back.
• 15:53
  Speaker 6: Look, look.
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  Speaker 9: It's Miss Jansen.
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  Speaker 2: Come on, Pop. Give me a hand. Let's get her
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: out of there.
• 15:58
  Speaker 9: Come on.
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: Take it easy now. Take it easy. That's it. Debbie. Debbie.
• 16:05
  Speaker 9: I never should have tried.
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: Tried what? Who was it, Debbie? Who did this?
• 16:09
  Speaker 9: He got the letter.
• 16:13
  Speaker 6: Who?
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: Who got the letter, Debbie? Debbie.
• 16:17
  Speaker 9: Marlowe, did she pass out?
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: For good, Maynard. She's dead. Oh, well.
• 16:28
  Speaker 9: She seemed to be mumbling something about a letter. Did
• 16:31
  Speaker 9: you get what it was?
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: The only part of it. The killer apparently took the
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: letter away from her. Believe me, that's bad.
• 16:38
  Speaker 5: Letter?
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: What's a letter? Wait a minute, wait a minute. Oh,
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: it's probably that pheasant again.
• 16:44
  Speaker 9: Letter? Pheasant? What are you talking about?
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: Oh, I guess I'm just getting jumpy. Hey, hey, there
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: is somebody. Come on, pop.
• 16:59
  Speaker 9: Sounds, sounds like he's over there, Marlowe.
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I can hear him.
• 17:04
  Speaker 9: Oh, now, that ain't gonna do you any good, son.
• 17:07
  Speaker 9: Not in that brush, it ain't. And what's more, I
• 17:09
  Speaker 9: wouldn't go any further if I was you.
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: But, Pop, all he needs is ten seconds and he
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: can destroy that letter for good.
• 17:14
  Speaker 9: Well, just to see him, there's a million and one
• 17:16
  Speaker 9: places a killer can hide in there and lay for you, son.
• 17:19
  Speaker 11: Yeah.
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: Yeah, Pop, well, the moment it's a stalemate. I'd sure
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: love to find out who that snake in the bush is.
• 17:28
  Speaker 6: You know.
• 17:29
  Speaker 9: I've run a peaceful place up until it's getting to
• 17:32
  Speaker 9: be like one of them there movies. Only thing left
• 17:36
  Speaker 9: out is a posse.
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you're so right. Murders in the night, lost letters.
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: It's corny enough without a posse.
• 17:41
  Speaker 9: Yeah, and my dangerous too.
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I see what you mean.
• 17:46
  Speaker 6: Are you ready to.
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm ready.
• 17:51
  Speaker 6: I'll lead you back to the office.
• 17:53
  Speaker 9: My Jasper, I don't understand this one bit. Miss Jensen
• 17:57
  Speaker 9: is stabbed to death over that letter and in her... Hey!
• 18:01
  Speaker 6: Huh? What is it?
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: Shh. Up ahead there. Somebody duck behind that big tree.
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: Keep the chatter going, man. Walk on up the path.
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: Don't let him know we spotted him. Go on, talk, talk.
• 18:10
  Speaker 9: Okay, sure, sure. I was saying, I don't understand. Our
• 18:13
  Speaker 9: place here is generally as quiet as a tomb.
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: As the old man grimly ad-libbed his way up the path,
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: they followed a few feet behind. When he got even
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: with the tree, I turned suddenly, took three fast steps.
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: And grabbed him.
• 18:24
  Speaker 9: Come here, you.
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: Hang on to him.
• 18:26
  Speaker 4: Hang on to him.
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: Well, well.
• 18:29
  Speaker 9: Mr.
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: Leonard Gaines, the unimpeachable citizen himself, stand still, Gaines.
• 18:33
  Speaker 9: A gun.
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: What's the idea, Marlowe? Try running and it'll come to you.
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: I suppose you've got a legitimate reason for being here
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: all thawed up.
• 18:41
  Speaker 10: I'm here because I've got a touch of arthritis. I
• 18:44
  Speaker 10: need a treatment and a night's rest.
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: Arthritis isn't all you're going to have if I find
• 18:48
  Speaker 2: what I think I'm going to find in your pockets.
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: Empty them, Buster.
• 18:51
  Speaker 6: I said empty them. All right, Harlow.
• 18:54
  Speaker 11: I'll empty them.
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: That's better. Sharp, you're a witness, and I demand that you.
• 18:58
  Speaker 6: Now, just a minute, Mr.
• 19:00
  Speaker 4: Gaines.
• 19:01
  Speaker 9: You're in a pretty bad spot to demand anything.
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: There. There's our baby. There's the letter we've been looking for.
• 19:06
  Speaker 2: Pick it up, Gaines. Pick it up and read it. Now,
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: see here, Marlowe. See there, Gaines.
• 19:10
  Speaker 4: Read it while you're able to.
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: Here. My dear Debbie.
• 19:16
  Speaker 10: If I didn't know you so well, I'd resent your
• 19:18
  Speaker 10: stupid accusations.
• 19:19
  Speaker 2: Now, look, Mark... Read it!
• 19:22
  Speaker 10: We've already made our property settlement, as you're well aware,
• 19:25
  Speaker 10: and you'll be a long time finding a court that
• 19:28
  Speaker 10: says otherwise.
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: Now you know where you can go.
• 19:31
  Speaker 10: So why not get started as ever, Leonard?
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: Oh, fine. This is about as incriminating as a lecture
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: on the family meat bill. Sharp, whose jurisdiction are we
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: under here?
• 19:44
  Speaker 9: County Sheriff's Office.
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: All right, call him. Also, call your man out on
• 19:48
  Speaker 2: the highway and have him lock that main gate. gate.
• 19:50
  Speaker 9: Main gate?
• 19:51
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 19:51
  Speaker 9: Say, now, that's a good idea. I'll do it right now.
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: Now, wait a minute. Have you got a gun?
• 19:55
  Speaker 4: Yep, got a rifle.
• 19:57
  Speaker 6: Been in the family for years.
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: Can you use it?
• 19:59
  Speaker 4: Well, yeah, I reckon I can.
• 20:03
  Speaker 9: Where are you going?
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: Out to round up Langley. He'll be pushing hard to
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: give his boss's star witness here a big helping hand.
• 20:09
  Speaker 2: I want to be in shape to push back. And remember, Pop,
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: keep your eye on Gaines and not on the phone
• 20:13
  Speaker 2: when you make those calls. I'll see you. The second
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: time that night, I started down the hill and toward
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: the car lot, keeping in the shadows and moving slowly
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: this time. Because it was odds on that Langley had
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: taken everything in. And I knew that he'd try to
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: part my hair with a gun barrel and pull Leonard
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: Gaines out of the jam. He was in the very
• 20:35
  Speaker 2: first chance he had. So I stayed off the paths
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: long enough to have both socks full of burrs when
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: it happened. But not what I expected. It was the
• 20:43
  Speaker 2: shop family blunderbuss that had exploded with a blast like
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: a small howitzer. So also for the second time I
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: turned and ran back up the hill, this time to
• 20:49
  Speaker 2: the office. I got there just as Maynard, climbing hand
• 20:52
  Speaker 2: over hand up a smoking rifle barrel, made it to
• 20:54
  Speaker 2: his feet. Maynard! Maynard, what happened? Where's Gaines?
• 20:58
  Speaker 4: I don't know.
• 20:58
  Speaker 6: He got away, I guess.
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: Well, the shot, what about that?
• 21:00
  Speaker 4: It went up there, through the roof.
• 21:02
  Speaker 2: Oh, fine.
• 21:03
  Speaker 9: Well, gosh, I didn't suspect a thing. He just said
• 21:06
  Speaker 9: he wanted to smoke.
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: But he didn't happen to have a match, I know.
• 21:09
  Speaker 2: So you hung your rifle over your arm, stuck both
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: hands in your pockets to find one for him, and
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: that's when he took you.
• 21:15
  Speaker 9: Yeah, that's exactly what happened.
• 21:17
  Speaker 6: How'd you know?
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: Never mind, pup.
• 21:20
  Speaker 4: I made a grab for him, though.
• 21:22
  Speaker 6: Ripped his coat.
• 21:23
  Speaker 4: About halfway off.
• 21:24
  Speaker 2: Oh, that's great, that's great.
• 21:26
  Speaker 9: I'm sure sorry he got away.
• 21:28
  Speaker 2: All right, don't worry about it. Can't get far with
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: the gate locked.
• 21:31
  Speaker 9: Well, I got bad news there, too. Oh, the gate's
• 21:36
  Speaker 9: locked all right.
• 21:37
  Speaker 6: But there's a back road.
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: There's a back what?
• 21:41
  Speaker 9: Back road.
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: Road, yeah.
• 21:43
  Speaker 6: It ain't much.
• 21:44
  Speaker 9: It's rough and rocky, but it's passable. And anybody who's
• 21:48
  Speaker 9: been up here as often as Mr. Gaines has, sure
• 21:51
  Speaker 9: know about it.
• 21:52
  Speaker 2: Oh, great. Look, Pop, can't you understand that there was
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: a murder committed here tonight and we had the murderer?
• 21:56
  Speaker 4: No buts!
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: Fell for the oldest gag in the world. I was
• 21:59
  Speaker 2: a sucker to turn him over to you. And will
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: you stop waving that envelope?
• 22:02
  Speaker 9: I just think you ought to see this.
• 22:05
  Speaker 2: All right, what is it? Oh, where'd you get all
• 22:08
  Speaker 2: that loot?
• 22:09
  Speaker 9: Gaines dropped it when I ripped his coat.
• 22:12
  Speaker 2: Twenty grand, it says here on the wrapper. There's something
• 22:15
  Speaker 2: else written here, too. Casa Rolando de Barandido. It's him. Casa... Pop,
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: that's it. That's the answer. Come on, we've got to
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: get down that back road now.
• 22:25
  Speaker 9: Hurry!
• 22:29
  Speaker 2: It was sharp at the wheel of the pickup truck.
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: We'd bounced over the pair of sometimes parallel ruts studded
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: with stones the size of bowling balls. It was called
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: a back road. The better part of two miles before
• 22:43
  Speaker 2: he cut lights and motor and whispered that if Gaines
• 22:45
  Speaker 2: was going to get stuck at all, it was sure
• 22:47
  Speaker 2: to happen in a dry wash just around the next bend.
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: I told him to wait and went ahead on foot.
• 22:52
  Speaker 2: He was right. Gaines was stuck in more ways than one.
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: His car was up to its hubcaps in sand and
• 22:57
  Speaker 2: his wallet up to its stamp compartment in blackmail, conducted
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: by his ex-wife's murderer with the same lever she'd had.
• 23:02
  Speaker 2: A letter. It was Eugene Murray and clenched in his
• 23:05
  Speaker 2: hand was a tattered white envelope, nothing more. I held my.
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: 38 in close to my side and edged up behind him.
• 23:11
  Speaker 6: Now, Murray, I don't have that much. You're lying. You're
• 23:15
  Speaker 6: going to pay her that.
• 23:16
  Speaker 10: I don't know.
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: I know because we worked the deal out together.
• 23:21
  Speaker 6: Only she got greedy.
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: She tried to.
• 23:23
  Speaker 6: Double-cross me and pull it alone.
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: So you killed her? Yes.
• 23:27
  Speaker 11: I didn't intend to, but when I found out that
• 23:29
  Speaker 11: she'd tricked me, I was furious. The first thing that
• 23:34
  Speaker 11: I knew, I'd stab her. That's enough of that. Just
• 23:38
  Speaker 11: give me the money. You've nothing to worry about.
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: Now, listen, Mowry, I tell you, I.
• 23:41
  Speaker 6: You listen, Gates.
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: You're in no position to buy that.
• 23:44
  Speaker 11: It's better than having your $ 200, 000 gambling debt exposed and
• 23:47
  Speaker 11: your reputation ruined, isn't it?
• 23:49
  Speaker 6: Or facing the.
• 23:49
  Speaker 11: Trigger man, Langley, if you refuse to alibi for Jenigan,
• 23:52
  Speaker 11: isn't it? Or bucking a perjury charge if you do alibi?
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: No, you've got yourself in a corner again, so pay off.
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: It's only 20 grand. But I tell you, Maury, I
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: don't have it.
• 24:02
  Speaker 6: You're lying again.
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: No, he isn't. Don't move, either one of you. Leave
• 24:06
  Speaker 2: your hands where they are. I got the 20 grand
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: right here, and it's pretty well earmarked as blackmail payment already.
• 24:12
  Speaker 2: But just to round things out, Maury, I'll take that
• 24:14
  Speaker 2: envelope you've got there.
• 24:15
  Speaker 9: This?
• 24:15
  Speaker 4: Well, what do you want this for?
• 24:16
  Speaker 2: Funny man. Because it's no doubt postmarked with an hour,
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: a date, and a location. which, together with Brother Gaines'
• 24:23
  Speaker 2: own handwriting, places him out of town on July 30th,
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: a time he swears he was at his Malibu home
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: all day with Jernigan. Right, Gaines?
• 24:29
  Speaker 4: Smart boy, aren't you, Marlowe?
• 24:31
  Speaker 6: You've still got a chance, Gaines. You'd better gamble with me.
• 24:33
  Speaker 6: You've got nothing to lose now.
• 24:34
  Speaker 9: I'm with you.
• 24:35
  Speaker 2: Stand still, Buster. Help me out. Now, Gaines, go!
• 24:39
  Speaker 9: Oh! Oh, my leg!
• 24:41
  Speaker 2: Were you thinking of going someplace, Mr.
• 24:43
  Speaker 9: Gaines?
• 24:45
  Speaker 7: No.
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: No, I... I'm not going anyplace. Mr.
• 24:51
  Speaker 9: Marlowe.
• 25:01
  Speaker 2: Well, Gail, the big show's about to start. Court will
• 25:06
  Speaker 2: be in session in a few minutes. I know.
• 25:08
  Speaker 7: And different from yesterday.
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 25:11
  Speaker 7: Oh, you did a swell job, Mr.
• 25:13
  Speaker 2: Marlowe.
• 25:14
  Speaker 7: Gee, gee, I don't know how to thank you.
• 25:16
  Speaker 2: Save it, baby. That scale Lady Justice holds in her
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: hands isn't better balanced today. It was your hunch and
• 25:22
  Speaker 2: old Maynard's blunderbuss that did as much to put it
• 25:24
  Speaker 2: there as my running around through the brush at Sulphur Springs.
• 25:27
  Speaker 7: But all I knew was that Gaines was lying. I
• 25:29
  Speaker 7: didn't know it was as complicated as it was.
• 25:32
  Speaker 2: Well, that's because Debbie Jansen was twice as treacherous as
• 25:34
  Speaker 2: we figured.
• 25:35
  Speaker 7: I still don't understand. How did you know that Eugene
• 25:39
  Speaker 7: Mowry had killed Debbie?
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: You see, baby, I overheard her tell Mowry that she
• 25:42
  Speaker 2: was going to meet Gaines in the Beverly Crest Hotel
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: at 10 for the payoff.
• 25:45
  Speaker 6: Uh-huh.
• 25:45
  Speaker 2: But I figured that was a lie strictly for Maury's
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: benefit when Pop gave me the packet of money Gaines
• 25:49
  Speaker 2: had dropped. It had that complicated name of a cabin
• 25:52
  Speaker 2: in the time of the appointment, which was also tan
• 25:54
  Speaker 2: written on it. So I knew the real meeting was
• 25:56
  Speaker 2: scheduled to take place out there.
• 25:58
  Speaker 6: See?
• 25:58
  Speaker 9: Oh, I see.
• 26:00
  Speaker 7: Then she was going to send Maury off to the
• 26:02
  Speaker 7: Beverly Crest while she collected the money at Sulphur Springs
• 26:05
  Speaker 7: and then beat it alone.
• 26:06
  Speaker 2: That's it, honey. You see, if her cabin had been
• 26:09
  Speaker 2: named something simple like Number Four, then Gaines could have
• 26:12
  Speaker 2: remembered it. Instead of that Casa Robino del Bangadoro. Whatever
• 26:18
  Speaker 2: it was. He had to write down, you see. Well,
• 26:20
  Speaker 2: then things might have been different.
• 26:21
  Speaker 7: Ah, you'd have.
• 26:22
  Speaker 4: Found a way.
• 26:23
  Speaker 7: After all, you figured out it was the postmark that
• 26:25
  Speaker 7: was important.
• 26:26
  Speaker 2: Only after I'd been slapped in the face by a
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: perfectly harmless letter with no envelope. Had to be the postmark.
• 26:30
  Speaker 2: What else?
• 26:31
  Speaker 7: Oh, they're starting.
• 26:34
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 26:35
  Speaker 7: Good luck, Mr.
• 26:36
  Speaker 4: Marlowe.
• 26:37
  Speaker 7: Give them the works.
• 26:37
  Speaker 2: Don't worry, baby. I'm the ego witness today. We're going
• 26:41
  Speaker 2: to knock them dead.
• 26:42
  Speaker 4: Literally.
• 26:43
  Speaker 2: They got it coming. I watched Jernigan's face as the
• 26:48
  Speaker 2: preliminaries got underway. The killer was beaten. When the court
• 26:52
  Speaker 2: finally settled down to work and the prosecutor took over,
• 26:55
  Speaker 2: I listened to his deft build-up as he primed the
• 26:57
  Speaker 2: jury and the dramatic ringmaster voice he used when he.
• 27:00
  Speaker 4: Called, Will Philip Marlowe take the stand, please?
• 27:08
  Speaker 2: Now, Mr.
• 27:08
  Speaker 4: Marlowe, you told us yesterday that you are a private investigator.
• 27:12
  Speaker 4: Now will you tell the court in your own words?
• 27:15
  Speaker 4: What happened to you last night?
• 27:21
  Speaker 2: I sat there looking into the cold, baleful eyes of
• 27:23
  Speaker 2: the prosecutor and thought of a paraphrase on that wonderful
• 27:27
  Speaker 2: quote from Oliver Wendell Holmes. It's not enough to ask
• 27:31
  Speaker 2: for justice. One must also hope for mercy. Mr.
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: Marlowe.
• 27:36
  Speaker 2: Oh, yes. I'm sorry. Well, it began here in this
• 27:40
  Speaker 2: room yesterday afternoon at about 3.30 when the Council for
• 27:43
  Speaker 2: Defense called a witness and Mr. Leonard Gaines to the stand.
• 28:04
  Speaker 3: The Adventures of Philip Marlowe, bringing you Raymond Chandler's most
• 28:07
  Speaker 3: famous character and crime's most deadly enemy, star Gerald Moore,
• 28:12
  Speaker 3: and are produced and directed by Norman MacDonald. Script is
• 28:15
  Speaker 3: by Mel Donnelly, Robert Mitchell, and Gene Levitt. Featured in
• 28:18
  Speaker 3: the cast were Joy Terry, John Daner, Michael Ann Barrett,
• 28:21
  Speaker 3: Junius Matthews, Ben Wright, Lou Krugman, Larry Dobkin, and Bud Whittam.
• 28:26
  Speaker 3: The special music is by Richard Orant. Be sure and
• 28:33
  Speaker 3: be with us again next week when Philip Marlowe says.
• 28:37
  Speaker 2: The trail started in Montana with a bum with two
• 28:39
  Speaker 2: names rushing away from his lady love and led fast
• 28:42
  Speaker 2: into L.A. past a southerner from Canada, a worried wool
• 28:45
  Speaker 2: dealer and a chorus girl with a. 45. When it
• 28:48
  Speaker 2: finally stopped at Murder in the Park, the tramp was
• 28:52
  Speaker 2: still in a hurry.
• 29:04
  Speaker 3: You and I have a friend coming to call next
• 29:06
  Speaker 3: Monday night. She's my friend Irma. If this beautiful, lovable,
• 29:11
  Speaker 3: but dumb blonde isn't your friend now, she will be
• 29:13
  Speaker 3: the moment you hear over most of these same CBS
• 29:16
  Speaker 3: network stations next Monday following the Lux Radio Theater. My
• 29:20
  Speaker 3: friend Irma will bring you plenty of laughs and great entertainment.
• 29:24
  Speaker 3: So be sure to make friends with my friend Irma
• 29:27
  Speaker 3: these Monday nights on CBS, where you'll hear them all
• 29:31
  Speaker 3: this fall. This is Roy Rowan speaking. Now stay tuned
• 29:36
  Speaker 3: for Gangbusters, which follows immediately over most of these same
• 29:39
  Speaker 3: CBS shows.
• 29:41
  Speaker 4: ¶ ¶.
• 29:49
  Speaker 3: This is CBS, where Arthur Godfrey's talent scouts are heard Mondays,
• 29:52
  Speaker 3: the Columbia Broadcasting System.
• 29:55
  Speaker 5: ¶ ¶.
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: This has been The Adventures of Philip Marlowe with The
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: Eager Witness. Good night and thank you for joining us.
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: Follow Old Time Mystery Radio for more classic mystery and
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: detective broadcasts.