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Suspense - "Too Hot to Live" (Old Time Radio, 1950) · Suspense | Old Time Radio

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: On October 2nd, 1950, Suspense presented episode six, Too Hot
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: to Live, a program from radio's dramatic years. It invites
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: us to settle in for a complete broadcast from the series.
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: We now take you back to the original broadcast.
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: Autolite and its 96,000 dealers present Suspense. Tonight, Autolite brings
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: you Too Hot to Live, a suspense play starring Mr.
• 0:36
  Speaker 3: Richard Widmar.
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: Hey, you.
• 0:45
  Speaker 4: Freeloader.
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: What? We don't sell tickets on this freight.
• 0:49
  Speaker 3: Well, it was empty. I didn't think anybody'd mind.
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: We're slowing down for a crossing. I don't want to
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: find you when I come back.
• 0:56
  Speaker 3: Where are we?
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: Half mile from Marcus Junction.
• 0:59
  Speaker 3: Thanks.
• 0:59
  Speaker 5: Forget the thanks.
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: Just be it. Before somebody inquisitive starts asking questions.
• 1:05
  Speaker 3: Yeah, don't they always?
• 1:10
  Speaker 4: The train rolls by, slowing, and the crossing bell warns
• 1:14
  Speaker 4: that death is here. I don't recognize it, though. I
• 1:18
  Speaker 4: walked toward Marcus Junction. Toward death.
• 1:26
  Speaker 5: In just a moment, Mr. Richard Widmark in the first
• 1:29
  Speaker 5: act of Too Hot to Live. Well, Hap, how are
• 1:33
  Speaker 5: the hobgoblins?
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: Well, Halloween isn't here yet, Harlow.
• 1:36
  Speaker 5: Soon will be, and that means the time has come
• 1:38
  Speaker 5: to have your car made ready for the cold driving
• 1:40
  Speaker 5: days ahead. And your friendly Autolite spark plug dealer is
• 1:43
  Speaker 5: the man to see.
• 1:44
  Speaker 3: And what'll he do, Harlow?
• 1:45
  Speaker 5: Why, your Autolite spark plug dealer will winterize your car,
• 1:48
  Speaker 5: put in antifreeze, change the oil and grease.
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: And check the spark plugs, too!
• 1:53
  Speaker 5: Thanks, Johnny Plug Check, for a worry-saving reminder. Because spark
• 1:57
  Speaker 5: plugs are the very heart of your car's ignition system.
• 2:00
  Speaker 5: These are better than ever.
• 2:01
  Speaker 3: You mean spark plugs need winterizing, too?
• 2:03
  Speaker 5: They sure do, App. And that's why it pays to
• 2:05
  Speaker 5: have your Autolite spark plug dealer replace worn-out spark plugs
• 2:09
  Speaker 5: with world-famous ignition-engineered Autolite spark plugs. Autolite spark plugs, you know,
• 2:15
  Speaker 5: are ignition-engineered to operate as a perfect team with your
• 2:18
  Speaker 5: car's ignition system. And that's why you can't buy better
• 2:21
  Speaker 5: spark plugs for your car than Autolite. So, folks, see
• 2:25
  Speaker 5: your friendly Autolite spark plug dealer. Remember, you're always right
• 2:29
  Speaker 5: with Autolite.
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: And now, with Too Hot to Live and the performance
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: of Mr. Richard Widmark, Autolite hopes once again to keep
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: you in suspense.
• 2:49
  Speaker 4: The sun is 11 o'clock high and starting to pucker
• 2:52
  Speaker 4: the tar road leading into Marcus Junction.
• 2:55
  Speaker 3: I'm heading in.
• 2:56
  Speaker 4: Sweat's beginning to streak through the old suntan uniform and
• 3:00
  Speaker 4: my shoes are sucking tar every.
• 3:01
  Speaker 3: Time I lift them.
• 3:03
  Speaker 4: The sole of one boot busts loose and starts flapping
• 3:05
  Speaker 4: against the road.
• 3:07
  Speaker 3: That's bad. A drifter needs a good pair of shoes.
• 3:11
  Speaker 3: And I'm on the drift. Marcus Junction. No different than
• 3:16
  Speaker 3: a thousand others like it.
• 3:18
  Speaker 4: About a mile square of small buildings all pasted together.
• 3:22
  Speaker 4: I walk a couple of blocks without finding a shoemaker.
• 3:25
  Speaker 4: The town's almost empty this Saturday morning. And then a
• 3:29
  Speaker 4: door opens ahead of me and a big man steps out.
• 3:32
  Speaker 3: Really big, both ways. Big high, big wide.
• 3:34
  Speaker 4: He's wearing steel-rimmed glasses screwed up tight above the pug
• 3:38
  Speaker 4: nose of his round face. And six full inches of
• 3:42
  Speaker 4: hat brim circle the pink flesh like a halo.
• 3:45
  Speaker 6: Hi, good morning, son. My name's Benjamin. Benjamin Maxwell.
• 3:50
  Speaker 3: Oh, good morning, Mr. Maxwell.
• 3:52
  Speaker 6: Benjamin, son. Call me Benjamin. That's the handle that shakes
• 3:56
  Speaker 6: his pump. What's yours, boy?
• 4:00
  Speaker 3: Jeff Casey.
• 4:01
  Speaker 6: Jeffrey or Jefferson? Jefferson. Jefferson. That's a good name.
• 4:06
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 4:06
  Speaker 4: Now, look, don't think I'm changing the subject, but where
• 4:09
  Speaker 4: can I get this fixed, Benjamin?
• 4:11
  Speaker 6: Well, pretty socks.
• 4:14
  Speaker 3: Yeah, they are at that. But who'll take care of
• 4:16
  Speaker 3: this shoe?
• 4:17
  Speaker 6: I'm going down to Stacy's for a Coke. Shoe fixtures
• 4:20
  Speaker 6: right next door. Come along, Jefferson.
• 4:28
  Speaker 4: As we turn to walk, I see his left side.
• 4:30
  Speaker 4: Gun holstered high up on his hip. And a gold
• 4:33
  Speaker 4: star with the word sheriff glinting in the sunlight.
• 4:36
  Speaker 6: Still wearing your old army clothes. I hear those duds
• 4:40
  Speaker 6: wear like iron. You just throw them away when they
• 4:43
  Speaker 6: start to rust.
• 4:45
  Speaker 3: Uniforms wear forever. These have seen their last war. What
• 4:49
  Speaker 3: were you in, boy? Air Corps. Captain. Pretty uniform, sweet pay,
• 4:53
  Speaker 3: and lots of respect.
• 4:55
  Speaker 6: You miss it, Jefferson?
• 4:56
  Speaker 4: Maybe I do.
• 4:58
  Speaker 6: What are you looking for now?
• 4:59
  Speaker 3: I'm not looking for anything. Just living, more or less. Oh.
• 5:05
  Speaker 6: Man ought to find more to do with his life
• 5:07
  Speaker 6: than that.
• 5:08
  Speaker 3: It's all the same to me. I could die today
• 5:10
  Speaker 3: and it wouldn't make any difference.
• 5:13
  Speaker 6: You got a bad taste in your mouth, but you'll
• 5:15
  Speaker 6: spit it out someday. Say, how do you like this weather?
• 5:20
  Speaker 6: If it gets any warmer, it'll be almost too hot
• 5:24
  Speaker 6: to live. In a manner of speaking, you understand.
• 5:29
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I understand.
• 5:31
  Speaker 6: Here's the shoe repair.
• 5:32
  Speaker 3: Here.
• 5:33
  Speaker 6: I'll be next door. Leave your shoes and waddle in
• 5:36
  Speaker 6: on them pretty socks of yours. I'll buy you a drink.
• 5:40
  Speaker 6: Coke or coffee.
• 5:45
  Speaker 4: The shoemaker tells me that my shoes will take a
• 5:47
  Speaker 4: couple of hours, so I start next door.
• 5:49
  Speaker 3: To join Benjamin.
• 5:51
  Speaker 4: I don't know, maybe I'm feeling pretty good, but I
• 5:54
  Speaker 4: pull an old schoolboy trick of mine. I take off
• 5:57
  Speaker 4: my socks, roll them up, and throw them on the
• 5:59
  Speaker 4: counter with my shoes. Then I walk outside to feel
• 6:02
  Speaker 4: the cool, shaded cement prickle up through the bottom of
• 6:05
  Speaker 4: my bare feet. Through the store window next door, I
• 6:08
  Speaker 4: see the four people in the restaurant.
• 6:10
  Speaker 3: Benjamin waves for me to come in.
• 6:13
  Speaker 4: Inside the entrance, a blonde waitress is arguing with a
• 6:15
  Speaker 4: tall sliver of a man who's showing about three inches
• 6:19
  Speaker 4: of wrist and shinbone below the edges of his clothes.
• 6:22
  Speaker 4: The squat, moon-faced grill man has his pop eyes focused
• 6:26
  Speaker 4: intently on the argument.
• 6:28
  Speaker 3: I go in. Walk over to Benjamin and sit on
• 6:31
  Speaker 3: the next stool.
• 6:32
  Speaker 6: Oh, Jefferson.
• 6:33
  Speaker 3: Hi, Benjamin. Came for that coffee.
• 6:35
  Speaker 6: In a minute. Rachel's about finished.
• 6:38
  Speaker 7: Try it somewhere else, Pop. Let me alone now. I'm busy.
• 6:41
  Speaker 8: And all her sins must find her out. She's a
• 6:45
  Speaker 8: Jezebel and kin only to the devil.
• 6:47
  Speaker 9: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 6:48
  Speaker 7: You'll find it on the menu next week. Now find
• 6:50
  Speaker 7: yourself a street corner. Get it out of your system.
• 6:53
  Speaker 6: Oh, you are bad. Bad beyond all hope.
• 6:57
  Speaker 7: See you around, Pop. I don't hope.
• 7:00
  Speaker 6: The girl plays rough. Oh, that's just Rachel's way, Jefferson.
• 7:06
  Speaker 6: I see you lean to bare feet.
• 7:08
  Speaker 7: What's your friend having, Buster?
• 7:10
  Speaker 6: Benjamin, Rachel. Maybe smart to tag nicknames on people, but
• 7:14
  Speaker 6: my folks figured me for a Benjamin, and I'd like
• 7:17
  Speaker 6: it that way.
• 7:18
  Speaker 7: Sure, Buster. Well, it be, soldier.
• 7:21
  Speaker 3: Black coffee, lady. And don't let the uniform throw you.
• 7:24
  Speaker 3: I'm no soldier anymore.
• 7:28
  Speaker 4: The Hollywood line of her mouth twists up into a
• 7:30
  Speaker 4: lopsided kind of inviting grin as she turns to get
• 7:33
  Speaker 4: the coffee. I watch the dark shadows that follow the
• 7:37
  Speaker 4: rippling lines of her uniform as she moves.
• 7:40
  Speaker 3: Rachel is quite a woman. All woman. Coffee. Barefoot. Like you, soldier.
• 7:49
  Speaker 7: Your friend's real pretty, Buster.
• 7:51
  Speaker 6: You think everybody's pretty.
• 7:53
  Speaker 7: He's a doll. You be around long, soldier?
• 7:56
  Speaker 3: Long enough to get my shoes fixed, Rachel. Rachel. You know,
• 8:03
  Speaker 3: that name doesn't go with you.
• 8:04
  Speaker 6: It's a name.
• 8:06
  Speaker 10: Too bad you're moving on soon. New faces are scarce
• 8:09
  Speaker 10: around here. Especially one like yours.
• 8:14
  Speaker 6: Well, I've got some lard in for us. Will I
• 8:18
  Speaker 6: see you before you go, Jefferson?
• 8:19
  Speaker 3: I'll find you, Benjamin.
• 8:21
  Speaker 6: Do that, boy. I'm afraid to face that heat out there.
• 8:25
  Speaker 3: Now, you behave yourself, Rachel. Yes, well.
• 8:30
  Speaker 3: You like playing it tough?
• 8:32
  Speaker 7: Under it all beats a heart of gold.
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: Mm-hmm.
• 8:36
  Speaker 7: Tell me what it's like in the world outside, soldier.
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: Hey, uh, Rachel, why don't you put up some more coffee?
• 8:42
  Speaker 7: Tend to your bacon, lover. I got company.
• 8:44
  Speaker 3: Your boyfriend?
• 8:45
  Speaker 7: Lover boy, there? No, that's Kenny. He's keeping company with
• 8:49
  Speaker 7: a hot grill.
• 8:50
  Speaker 9: You oughtn't to talk about me like that, Rachel. Not
• 8:52
  Speaker 9: very nice.
• 8:53
  Speaker 7: Well, then don't bother me while I'm with my friends. Hey, soldier,
• 8:58
  Speaker 7: I'm off about now.
• 9:00
  Speaker 10: Let you and me go out to the carnival for
• 9:01
  Speaker 10: a couple hours, huh?
• 9:02
  Speaker 4: Hey, you.
• 9:03
  Speaker 6: You let her alone.
• 9:05
  Speaker 3: Don't you go with her.
• 9:06
  Speaker 11: You hear?
• 9:07
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I hear, Kenny. Well, I'd like to, Rachel, but
• 9:11
  Speaker 3: how do I go barefoot?
• 9:13
  Speaker 6: Oh, I forgot.
• 9:15
  Speaker 3: Got any other ideas?
• 9:18
  Speaker 10: Yeah, matter of fact, I live upstairs over this greasy spoon.
• 9:22
  Speaker 10: Let's go up and mix ourselves something cool while we
• 9:25
  Speaker 10: wait for your shoes.
• 9:26
  Speaker 3: You can't do that.
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: It is nice.
• 9:28
  Speaker 3: It don't look right. Don't it? Come on, let's go, Rachel.
• 9:32
  Speaker 5: Don't you.
• 9:32
  Speaker 3: No, you can't. I'll stop you.
• 9:35
  Speaker 7: Go hash some potatoes, lover. My arm's so.
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: No, no, Rachel.
• 9:41
  Speaker 3: Hey, look, I'll get someone to tend here.
• 9:43
  Speaker 7: I'll come right up. You do, and I'll barbecue you
• 9:45
  Speaker 7: on your own grill.
• 9:48
  Speaker 4: We go out, and my feet scruff over the shaded
• 9:51
  Speaker 4: pavement as we pass through the doorway on the left.
• 9:54
  Speaker 4: I follow her up a flight of stairs and into
• 9:56
  Speaker 4: a small box-like apartment.
• 9:58
  Speaker 3: Living room, bedroom, kitchen. and bathroom.
• 10:01
  Speaker 7: Be it ever so humble, this is home.
• 10:04
  Speaker 3: Let's kick out a wall or something.
• 10:07
  Speaker 7: The windows don't help much, but the drinks will.
• 10:11
  Speaker 3: Hey, why do you have to lean into the kitchen?
• 10:13
  Speaker 3: Why not just walk in?
• 10:14
  Speaker 7: Fresh varnish on the floor. The heat don't let it dry.
• 10:18
  Speaker 7: It's a long reach for a long drink.
• 10:21
  Speaker 3: It's a long day.
• 10:22
  Speaker 7: Well, here you go, soldier.
• 10:28
  Speaker 3: Don't you believe in mixing anything with your liquor?
• 10:31
  Speaker 7: What for? The cubes will melt. What do we drink to, soldier?
• 10:37
  Speaker 3: The heat. The heat.
• 10:42
  Speaker 7: Cools you off, don't it?
• 10:48
  Speaker 4: It burns its way down my stomach and explodes.
• 10:51
  Speaker 3: My pores open and the perspiration oozes down. She's still talking,
• 10:55
  Speaker 3: but I'm going numb. The heat, no food, I shouldn't
• 10:59
  Speaker 3: be drinking. Who cares?
• 11:01
  Speaker 12: I'm getting foggy. She's drifting closer. I don't know who
• 11:07
  Speaker 12: kisses who first. Bitter tears, tears of loneliness and regret.
• 11:13
  Speaker 10: Everything's moving around.
• 11:16
  Speaker 3: Like feathers in a high wind.
• 11:18
  Speaker 4: You're real.
• 11:19
  Speaker 3: Sometimes one drifts in through the fog. We're drinking. How many?
• 11:31
  Speaker 7: I don't know.
• 11:32
  Speaker 3: Breathing, sucking down scorchy air. Hot, damp waves of heat suffocating.
• 11:37
  Speaker 3: Give me another glass. Can smell perfume cheap like tin earrings.
• 11:42
  Speaker 3: Black rolling in.
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: Black velvet.
• 11:45
  Speaker 4: And the shimmering heat wavering like plucking a taut string. Wavering, wavering.
• 12:02
  Speaker 4: There's a steady sound, sharp, smart little cracks. I tear
• 12:05
  Speaker 4: my eyelids apart and a flash of ceiling wears by.
• 12:08
  Speaker 4: A purple-red mass is coming toward my face, and when
• 12:10
  Speaker 4: it hits, there's a sound in the ceiling moving the
• 12:14
  Speaker 4: other way.
• 12:14
  Speaker 3: Laugh this off.
• 12:15
  Speaker 4: Laugh now, I don't... A frozen kind of pain is
• 12:18
  Speaker 4: seeping through to my brain, and I can.
• 12:19
  Speaker 3: Make out a voice now.
• 12:21
  Speaker 7: Then laugh.
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: I want to hear you laugh.
• 12:23
  Speaker 4: I get my hand up to my face and I
• 12:25
  Speaker 4: wipe my eyes.
• 12:26
  Speaker 9: Come on, wake up.
• 12:26
  Speaker 3: My hand comes away wet.
• 12:28
  Speaker 6: You hear me?
• 12:28
  Speaker 3: Sticky and red. The ugly purple mask comes. Awake now?
• 12:35
  Speaker 6: Swell.
• 12:37
  Speaker 3: I got something for you.
• 12:38
  Speaker 4: Leave me alone.
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: There, in the corner of the kitchen.
• 12:41
  Speaker 3: See how she's lying there? Take your hands off me!
• 12:44
  Speaker 3: That's how I found her.
• 12:46
  Speaker 11: You beside her, your filthy hands still tied around her throat.
• 12:50
  Speaker 3: What's the matter with my hands? They're sticky.
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: That's varnish and blood, your blood.
• 12:55
  Speaker 6: See that knife in her hand?
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: She cut you trying to stop you.
• 12:59
  Speaker 6: You killed her.
• 13:01
  Speaker 7: You killed Rachel!
• 13:08
  Speaker 4: He doesn't make any kind of sense. The bathroom doors
• 13:11
  Speaker 4: open and I stagger toward it, stepping on broken glass,
• 13:14
  Speaker 4: pain stinging, remembering bare feet. The open shower waiting for me.
• 13:19
  Speaker 4: I turn the handle of the cold water and I
• 13:20
  Speaker 4: half throw myself into the shock of the stream.
• 13:22
  Speaker 3: I'm coming alive. Reaction setting in. Fright. He said I
• 13:29
  Speaker 3: killed him. Hey, Sheriff!
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: Benjamin!
• 13:31
  Speaker 12: Hey, Benjamin, come up here!
• 13:33
  Speaker 5: I got a dirty killer for you.
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: That lousy friend of yours killed Rachel!
• 13:36
  Speaker 4: Shh!
• 13:37
  Speaker 11: Come and get him!
• 13:44
  Speaker 3: Kenny shouting out the window in the other room to Benjamin.
• 13:48
  Speaker 6: I gotta get away.
• 13:48
  Speaker 4: I gotta think.
• 13:50
  Speaker 3: What happened?
• 13:51
  Speaker 4: What?
• 13:53
  Speaker 3: I get through the bathroom window out into the glare
• 13:55
  Speaker 3: of the sun. My feet hit the scalding tar of
• 13:58
  Speaker 3: the marquee. I scramble across it, drop to the street.
• 14:01
  Speaker 4: A narrow alley and I'm running down.
• 14:03
  Speaker 3: It toward the fence that blocks off the far end.
• 14:05
  Speaker 3: A garbage can near the fence and a woman putting
• 14:07
  Speaker 3: something into it. I jump, reaching for the fence.
• 14:11
  Speaker 4: You're doing it.
• 14:11
  Speaker 6: Let me go.
• 14:12
  Speaker 7: Let go. Pick up that garbage, you crazy.
• 14:14
  Speaker 3: Let go. I didn't do it.
• 14:15
  Speaker 7: What do you mean? I saw you kick it over.
• 14:17
  Speaker 3: I'm not going to clean up that mess. I didn't
• 14:19
  Speaker 3: kill her.
• 14:20
  Speaker 7: Take your hands off me.
• 14:22
  Speaker 3: Why would I kill Rachel?
• 14:24
  Speaker 5: Why would you kill.
• 14:25
  Speaker 6: All right, Jefferson. Come along and tell me why you
• 14:28
  Speaker 6: killed Rachel.
• 14:29
  Speaker 12: I don't know.
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: Autolite is bringing you Mr. Richard Widmark in Too Hot
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: to Live. Tonight's production in radio's outstanding theater of thrills, Suspend.
• 14:59
  Speaker 5: Hey, Hap, did you hear about the wise witch? What
• 15:02
  Speaker 5: about her, Harlow? She brought her broom in for a tune-up.
• 15:05
  Speaker 5: The Autolite spark plug dealer tightened the straws, tightened the handles...
• 15:08
  Speaker 5: And checked the spark plugs, too! He would have if
• 15:12
  Speaker 5: that broom had had them, Johnny Plugcheck. Spark plugs are
• 15:15
  Speaker 5: the heart of a car's ignition system, one of the
• 15:18
  Speaker 5: keys to efficient engine operation.
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: And did the witch understand, Harlow?
• 15:22
  Speaker 5: Why, sure, Hap. Being a sage sorceress, she knew all
• 15:26
  Speaker 5: about ignition-engineered Autolite spark plugs, the spark plugs that are
• 15:29
  Speaker 5: world-famous for quality and dependability. Why, she even knew that
• 15:33
  Speaker 5: Autolite spark plugs are used as original factory equipment on
• 15:37
  Speaker 5: many leading makes of America's finest cars and trucks.
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: Did she know it pays to have spark plugs winterized, too?
• 15:42
  Speaker 5: She sure did, Hap. And she knew the place to
• 15:45
  Speaker 5: go was to her friendly Autolite spark plug dealer. Because
• 15:49
  Speaker 5: he can put in antifreeze, change grease and oil.
• 15:52
  Speaker 6: And check the spark plugs, too!
• 15:54
  Speaker 5: Yes, folks, see your friendly Autolite spark plug dealer and
• 15:58
  Speaker 5: have worn-out spark plugs replaced with ignition-engineered Autolite spark plugs.
• 16:02
  Speaker 5: And whether you choose the resistor type or the standard type,
• 16:06
  Speaker 5: you can be sure you can't buy better spark plugs
• 16:09
  Speaker 5: for your car because you're always right with Autolite.
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: And now Autolite brings back to our Hollywood soundstage... Mr.
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: Richard Widmark in Elliot Lewis' production of Too Hot to Live.
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: A tale well calculated to keep you in suspense.
• 16:34
  Speaker 4: Benjamin is leading me out into the sweltering street again.
• 16:38
  Speaker 3: The sun burns into my flesh.
• 16:41
  Speaker 4: accusing as if to cause the murder to flow out
• 16:43
  Speaker 4: of my open pores. And Benjamin walks beside me again,
• 16:48
  Speaker 4: not holding me, just talking, asking questions.
• 16:51
  Speaker 3: Which I can't answer.
• 16:52
  Speaker 6: Why'd you do it, son?
• 16:54
  Speaker 3: I didn't kill her, Benjamin. I don't remember, but I
• 16:57
  Speaker 3: know I.
• 16:57
  Speaker 6: Didn't kill her. You don't sound sure, Jefferson. Don't you know?
• 17:00
  Speaker 3: Well, we were drinking. I blacked out.
• 17:03
  Speaker 6: Drunk unconscious, you could still move around. You could do
• 17:07
  Speaker 6: what was done in that apartment.
• 17:08
  Speaker 3: But I couldn't. Why would I want to do that?
• 17:12
  Speaker 6: Maybe you played too rough. Maybe she tried to stop you.
• 17:15
  Speaker 6: Cut you with a knife. Why did you run away?
• 17:18
  Speaker 6: I was scared.
• 17:21
  Speaker 3: Kenny said my hands were around her throat.
• 17:24
  Speaker 6: I'll have to lock you up and then I'll go
• 17:26
  Speaker 6: back and have a good look around. Maybe I'll find something.
• 17:31
  Speaker 3: And if you don't?
• 17:32
  Speaker 6: Rachel's dead, Jefferson. Wasn't premeditated, but that don't excuse it.
• 17:38
  Speaker 6: She's still dead.
• 17:42
  Speaker 3: They'll try to hang me.
• 17:45
  Speaker 4: Why can't I remember what happened, what led to this?
• 17:50
  Speaker 4: The sweats rolling down Benjamin's forehead, collecting along the top
• 17:53
  Speaker 4: of his glasses, sliding into his eyes.
• 17:55
  Speaker 3: They smart and snap shut. He has to stop, try
• 17:58
  Speaker 3: to rub the sting away.
• 18:00
  Speaker 4: I slap at his glasses, knocking them off his face
• 18:02
  Speaker 4: and grab for his gun. His arm comes down fast, hard,
• 18:05
  Speaker 4: chopping at my hand, numbing the arm to the shoulder.
• 18:08
  Speaker 3: The gun falls to the road. I run, hobbling up
• 18:10
  Speaker 3: and down, lopsided.
• 18:12
  Speaker 4: Trying to get away from Benjamin and from the burning
• 18:14
  Speaker 4: and torn feet under me. Come back.
• 18:16
  Speaker 6: You can't get far. I'll get you anyway.
• 18:23
  Speaker 4: I'm running again down the burning streets out to the
• 18:25
  Speaker 4: end of town toward the railroad. I run till my
• 18:28
  Speaker 4: legs slide away from under me. And then I crawl,
• 18:32
  Speaker 4: dragging a body that has no feeling, a dead weight
• 18:37
  Speaker 4: that robs my arms of their strength. And finally, finally
• 18:42
  Speaker 4: steel rails glisten ahead as I lay sprawled out, my
• 18:46
  Speaker 4: heart and lungs going crazy in my body. Something, something
• 18:52
  Speaker 4: starts down in my chest, spreads up to my throat,
• 18:58
  Speaker 4: Spilling out of my mouth.
• 19:04
  Speaker 3: I've had enough!
• 19:13
  Speaker 4: An hour has passed. The sun is moving away toward
• 19:17
  Speaker 4: the west. No trains have passed, but it's all right.
• 19:22
  Speaker 4: I know what I have to do now. find Kenny
• 19:27
  Speaker 4: and one way or another force him to tell the
• 19:29
  Speaker 4: truth for he must be lying I lick my handkerchief
• 19:34
  Speaker 4: and I wipe the dried blood off my hands and
• 19:36
  Speaker 4: feet I comb my hair I throw away the army
• 19:38
  Speaker 4: shirt and move back to town stepping gently I make
• 19:42
  Speaker 4: my way up the back streets to the restaurant pulling
• 19:45
  Speaker 4: my pants down low to cover as much of my
• 19:47
  Speaker 4: bare feet as possible I step inside There's a stranger.
• 19:51
  Speaker 3: Behind the counter. Well, howdy.
• 19:53
  Speaker 6: Hi.
• 19:55
  Speaker 4: Say, where is everybody in this town?
• 19:57
  Speaker 9: Oh, most are out at the carnival. Some are looking
• 20:00
  Speaker 9: for a killer roaming around.
• 20:01
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I heard about him. Heard he was picked up
• 20:03
  Speaker 3: a couple of miles out.
• 20:05
  Speaker 6: Good deal.
• 20:06
  Speaker 9: You know, Rachel worked here.
• 20:07
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I know. Say, where's Kenny?
• 20:10
  Speaker 9: Oh, he's out at the Clovis place. You wanted to
• 20:12
  Speaker 9: be the one to tell Rachel's folks about, you know.
• 20:16
  Speaker 7: Uh, sure, sure.
• 20:17
  Speaker 3: Well, I guess I ought to go out there and
• 20:19
  Speaker 3: pick him up. I don't know the place too well.
• 20:23
  Speaker 3: How do I get there?
• 20:24
  Speaker 9: Just follow this road down. About a half a mile
• 20:27
  Speaker 9: out of town, you'll find a dirt cut-off. Can't miss
• 20:29
  Speaker 9: the mailbox.
• 20:29
  Speaker 6: Thanks.
• 20:30
  Speaker 9: Say, if you miss him, who will I say was asking?
• 20:33
  Speaker 3: Just tell him his cousin Jim was here.
• 20:36
  Speaker 6: Well, pleased to have met.
• 20:37
  Speaker 9: Hey, you ain't wearing shoes.
• 20:39
  Speaker 3: You, you're the one, you're the killer!
• 20:41
  Speaker 4: Run, run, run again, another alley, blistering pavement, cement ripping
• 20:49
  Speaker 4: in the jagged rocks again.
• 20:51
  Speaker 3: Time's running to running out. Benjamin will know where I'm going.
• 20:55
  Speaker 4: Out to the main highway, pants pulled low and thumb
• 20:58
  Speaker 4: up in the air.
• 21:00
  Speaker 3: Ah, here comes my ride. He's got to stop. He's
• 21:03
  Speaker 3: got to... Stop, please! Stop!
• 21:09
  Speaker 5: Hop on, son.
• 21:11
  Speaker 6: Oh, thanks.
• 21:12
  Speaker 3: Thanks, mister.
• 21:13
  Speaker 7: Thanks a lot.
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: You're welcome, but I'm not going far.
• 21:16
  Speaker 3: Well, I'm just going out to the Clovis farm. I
• 21:19
  Speaker 3: know the place.
• 21:21
  Speaker 2: Why are you going there now?
• 21:23
  Speaker 3: I'm a cousin of Kenny's. I'm going to meet him
• 21:24
  Speaker 3: out there.
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: Oh? I don't place you.
• 21:28
  Speaker 3: I'm visiting from back east.
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: You're not wearing shoes.
• 21:34
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's a silly thing, isn't it? I lost my
• 21:36
  Speaker 3: shoes while wading barefoot in the stream... Didn't help my
• 21:40
  Speaker 3: feet any.
• 21:41
  Speaker 2: What stream is that, fella?
• 21:43
  Speaker 3: Well, you know the one. I don't know the name
• 21:46
  Speaker 3: of it. It's out there in the woods.
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: Oh, yeah. I think I know the one. Yeah, this
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: is the dirt road you want. The house is over
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: the rise.
• 21:57
  Speaker 3: Thanks again. I'll see you.
• 22:03
  Speaker 4: I limp up the rising dirt path. At the top,
• 22:07
  Speaker 4: I turn for a look at my ride. He's swinging
• 22:09
  Speaker 4: around toward town. Benjamin will get to me, and soon.
• 22:14
  Speaker 4: An old two-storied farmhouse rises out of the cleared fields
• 22:17
  Speaker 4: around me. A big gray barn stands off near the house,
• 22:20
  Speaker 4: and two old cars are sitting empty behind it.
• 22:24
  Speaker 3: Kenny's got to come to one of them.
• 22:26
  Speaker 5: I'll wait.
• 22:29
  Speaker 3: Time, still running out and away from.
• 22:33
  Speaker 4: Little shimmering waves of heat rise off the tin hoods
• 22:36
  Speaker 4: of the cars.
• 22:39
  Speaker 3: Here he comes. Now or never!
• 22:43
  Speaker 2: Hey!
• 22:44
  Speaker 5: Help!
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: Quiet!
• 22:46
  Speaker 3: Quiet or I'll break your back! I want the truth, Kenny.
• 22:49
  Speaker 3: The truth or I have to kill you for it.
• 22:51
  Speaker 3: I didn't kill Rachel.
• 22:53
  Speaker 6: You did!
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: I didn't! I didn't!
• 22:56
  Speaker 3: You killed her! You were crazy jealous!
• 22:58
  Speaker 4: No!
• 22:58
  Speaker 3: Yes! Yes!
• 22:59
  Speaker 11: You came to check up, you found us drunk, and
• 23:02
  Speaker 11: you got wild.
• 23:02
  Speaker 6: You killed her.
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: I didn't. I can prove it.
• 23:05
  Speaker 3: How can you prove it?
• 23:07
  Speaker 11: That wasn't three minutes from the time I left the
• 23:08
  Speaker 11: restaurant and the time I called Benjamin. Not enough time
• 23:11
  Speaker 11: to get up there, kill her, and bring you around.
• 23:14
  Speaker 3: Three minutes. I can prove it.
• 23:16
  Speaker 6: That's all the time. You did it.
• 23:18
  Speaker 11: You have cut hands from a knife.
• 23:20
  Speaker 6: Those hands were.
• 23:21
  Speaker 11: Still around her throat when I came in.
• 23:23
  Speaker 6: You killed Rachel.
• 23:25
  Speaker 3: You killed Rachel. And there it is.
• 23:32
  Speaker 4: He isn't lying about the three minutes. That gloating smirk
• 23:35
  Speaker 4: on his face tells me that.
• 23:37
  Speaker 3: I had killed her.
• 23:39
  Speaker 4: The horror of this afternoon had been for nothing. I
• 23:41
  Speaker 4: tried to save my life, and instead I proved myself guilty.
• 23:44
  Speaker 4: Tied the rope finely and for all time around my neck.
• 23:48
  Speaker 6: Shoot him!
• 23:49
  Speaker 2: Don't you stand there! Shoot! He's the man who killed
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: your daughter!
• 23:56
  Speaker 3: He stands there watching.
• 23:57
  Speaker 4: The gaunt sliver of a man with shins and freshly
• 24:00
  Speaker 4: scarred wrists exposed below the edges of his clothing. A
• 24:04
  Speaker 4: double-barreled shotgun is cradled in his arms, but he just
• 24:07
  Speaker 4: looks at me. A wildfire striking out of the black
• 24:10
  Speaker 4: pupils of his eyes.
• 24:11
  Speaker 2: Shoot him!
• 24:12
  Speaker 11: He killed your daughter!
• 24:13
  Speaker 6: He killed Rachel!
• 24:14
  Speaker 3: So you're her father. I thought it was just another nickname.
• 24:17
  Speaker 8: She was no daughter of mine. She was born to me,
• 24:21
  Speaker 8: and I named her Rachel from the Bible. But she
• 24:24
  Speaker 8: was the daughter of Satan.
• 24:26
  Speaker 3: I'm sorry, Mr. Clover.
• 24:27
  Speaker 6: Go on, shoot him.
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: Because of him, Rachel's dead.
• 24:29
  Speaker 8: She turned away from me. But within me, the voice
• 24:33
  Speaker 8: was strong. I followed her, begging, to the place where
• 24:38
  Speaker 8: she lived.
• 24:38
  Speaker 3: I'm sorry. I was drunk, crazy.
• 24:40
  Speaker 8: In that apartment, the stench of drink like an evil cloud. You,
• 24:46
  Speaker 8: lying there, drunk with the devil's fever... You were there.
• 24:51
  Speaker 3: Shut up, you crazy old fool.
• 24:52
  Speaker 8: And it came to me like a voice from on high.
• 24:58
  Speaker 6: And I knew what I must do. You killed her.
• 25:01
  Speaker 3: It wasn't me. It was you. Now you did it.
• 25:04
  Speaker 2: Why couldn't you give your master?
• 25:05
  Speaker 3: And you knew he did it, Kenny.
• 25:06
  Speaker 5: You tried to make me believe that I'd been the one.
• 25:08
  Speaker 6: Why?
• 25:08
  Speaker 4: You.
• 25:09
  Speaker 11: You and tramps like you. Always keeping her from me.
• 25:13
  Speaker 6: Coming along every time.
• 25:14
  Speaker 3: But I couldn't know this, Kenny. You didn't care.
• 25:16
  Speaker 5: You laughed at me.
• 25:17
  Speaker 2: You made Rachel laugh at me.
• 25:19
  Speaker 3: I passed the old man when I went up. I
• 25:22
  Speaker 3: knew as soon as I walked into the room. You
• 25:24
  Speaker 3: tried to blame it on me.
• 25:25
  Speaker 6: Well, why not?
• 25:25
  Speaker 11: It wasn't the crazy old goat who killed her. Now
• 25:28
  Speaker 11: you killed her and you'll die for it.
• 25:30
  Speaker 2: Give me that gun, old man.
• 25:32
  Speaker 3: No, Kenny, not now.
• 25:33
  Speaker 11: Come on, turn around, soldier.
• 25:34
  Speaker 3: No.
• 25:34
  Speaker 2: Turn around and see it when it happens.
• 25:36
  Speaker 7: Put up your gun, Kenneth.
• 25:38
  Speaker 4: No.
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: No.
• 25:47
  Speaker 6: Get up, Jefferson. We'll go home now.
• 26:02
  Speaker 4: The sun is moving down low in the skies... and
• 26:05
  Speaker 4: a cool, light breeze has come up from somewhere. I'm
• 26:09
  Speaker 4: leaning back on the front seat beside Benjamin... breathing.
• 26:12
  Speaker 3: Deeply, evenly.
• 26:14
  Speaker 4: feeling the goodness of just living seep through... In the
• 26:18
  Speaker 4: back seat, old man Clovis sits, staring ahead, not even
• 26:22
  Speaker 4: aware of the blanket-wrapped body of Kenny lying on the
• 26:25
  Speaker 4: floor at his feet.
• 26:26
  Speaker 6: If you hadn't been so eager to run, I could
• 26:29
  Speaker 6: have saved your feet a lot of wear. I knew
• 26:32
  Speaker 6: you weren't a murderer, son.
• 26:34
  Speaker 3: You knew?
• 26:35
  Speaker 6: I went back to the apartment. Old stories there, in
• 26:38
  Speaker 6: the varnish on the kitchen floor. No bare feet around
• 26:42
  Speaker 6: the body, but lots of hobnailed boot prints. You cut
• 26:46
  Speaker 6: your hand on broken glass in the living room. It bled.
• 26:51
  Speaker 6: And I was running. Yeah, you can stop running now, son.
• 26:56
  Speaker 6: Stay here in town with us, huh? There's lots for
• 26:59
  Speaker 6: you to do. Thanks.
• 27:03
  Speaker 3: Well, it's been quite a day, Benjamin.
• 27:06
  Speaker 6: Sure has been a scorcher. Glad to see the sun
• 27:09
  Speaker 6: going down. On a day like this, it's... Almost too
• 27:14
  Speaker 6: hot to live?
• 27:15
  Speaker 3: No, don't say that, Benjamin. It never gets that hot.
• 27:40
  Speaker 2: Suspense, presented by Autolite.
• 27:43
  Speaker 6: Tonight's star, Mr.
• 27:44
  Speaker 3: Richard Widmark.
• 27:46
  Speaker 5: Hey, uh, Hap, did you hear about the ghost who
• 27:48
  Speaker 5: got stiff on Halloween?
• 27:50
  Speaker 3: How come, Harlow?
• 27:51
  Speaker 5: The laundry starched his sheet.
• 27:53
  Speaker 6: Ooh, that must have been corn starch.
• 27:57
  Speaker 5: Well, this is no corn, Hap. It's good advice. Get
• 28:00
  Speaker 5: your car tuned up and winterized now. And remember, Autolite
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• 28:43
  Speaker 3: Mr.
• 28:43
  Speaker 2: Widmark may currently be seen in the 20th Century Fox production,
• 28:47
  Speaker 2: Daryl F. Zanuck's No Way Out. Next week on Suspense, Mr.
• 28:51
  Speaker 2: Herbert Marshall as star of Victoria Cross. And in weeks
• 28:56
  Speaker 2: to come, you will hear such famous stars as William Holden,
• 28:58
  Speaker 2: Cary Grant, Ozzie Nelson, and Harriet Hilliard, all appearing in
• 29:02
  Speaker 2: tales well calculated to keep you in.
• 29:05
  Speaker 9: Suspense!
• 29:09
  Speaker 5: Suspense is produced and directed by Elliot Lewis, with music
• 29:12
  Speaker 5: composed by Lucian Morawieck and conducted by Lud Bluskin. Too
• 29:15
  Speaker 5: Hot to Live was written for Suspense by Sam Rolfe.
• 29:18
  Speaker 5: And remember, next week on Suspense, Mr. Herbert Marshall in
• 29:21
  Speaker 5: Victoria Cross.
• 29:27
  Speaker 2: You can buy world-famous Autolite resistor type or standard type
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  Speaker 7: Switch to Autolite.
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  Speaker 2: Good night.
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• 30:01
  Speaker 1: That brings our presentation of suspense and Too Hot to
• 30:04
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