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The Whistler - "Seven Steps to Murder" (Old Time Radio, 1955) · The Whistler | Old Time Radio

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: On March 10, 1955, the CBS Pacific Network presented Signal
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Oil's The Whistler, episode 665. In Seven Steps to Murder,
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: New York's theater and publishing circles become the setting for
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: a bitter contest between drama critic Archer Atkins and playwright
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: and syndicated columnist Everett Clayton. After Atkins publishes a scathing
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: review of Clayton's new play, Clayton answers with a public
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: literary challenge, and a long acquaintance moves into a carefully
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: arranged campaign of humiliation and revenge. Hans Conrad, Bill Foreman,
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: and Howard Duff are heard in the cast in a
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: story that follows the Atkins-Clayton affair through seven deliberate stages.
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: And now, the original broadcast.
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: I am the Whistler, and I know many things, for
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: I walk by night. I know many strange tales, hidden
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: in the hearts.
• 1:12
  Speaker 3: Of men and women who have stepped into the shadows.
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: Yes, I know the nameless terrors of which they dare
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: not speak. Tonight transcribed, it's the Whistler's strange story, Seven
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: Steps to Murder. The Atkins-Clayton affair was unusual for two reasons.
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: In the first place, of course, it involved a pair.
• 1:41
  Speaker 3: Of famous newspaper men.
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: Archer Atkins, the dean of New York drama critics, and
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: Everett Clayton, the syndicated columns. But more than that, it
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: was interesting in its structure. Yes, there were seven distinct
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: steps between an apparently cordial relationship and a murder.
• 2:00
  Speaker 3: The opening night.
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: Of Clayton's first play, The Whirlwind, was step number one.
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: Atkins had attended, of course, with the rest of the critics,
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: and shortly after the final curtain, had walked across the
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: street to the offices of the New York Globe with.
• 2:14
  Speaker 3: Murchison, his editor, to meet the newspaper's deadlines.
• 2:26
  Speaker 4: Everett Clayton's new play, The Whirlwind, opened last night at
• 2:29
  Speaker 4: the Brighton Theatre with Diana Brooks and Paul Strand in
• 2:33
  Speaker 4: the leading role.
• 2:33
  Speaker 5: Finish it, Atkins.
• 2:35
  Speaker 6: Oh, Murchison.
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: I want to see what you did to Clayton's play.
• 2:39
  Speaker 3: I thought it was great.
• 2:41
  Speaker 5: Oh, did you?
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: Here's what I thought. Everett Clayton's new play, The Whirlwind,
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: is dullness itself.
• 2:51
  Speaker 3: Is utterly lacking in.
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: Originality, imagination, or even ordinary playability. The death rattle was
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: audible before the first act was five minutes old.
• 3:00
  Speaker 6: Listen, Atkins, you can't.
• 3:01
  Speaker 4: Why can't I?
• 3:02
  Speaker 5: You grew up together.
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: You came from Texas together.
• 3:05
  Speaker 6: You were even engaged to his sister.
• 3:06
  Speaker 3: He's your best friend. Art knows no friendship.
• 3:09
  Speaker 5: You're a liar.
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: You're jealous because Clayton's invading the drama, your sacred territory.
• 3:14
  Speaker 4: If that's true, you should fire me. Too bad I'm
• 3:17
  Speaker 4: too influential, huh?
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: You know.
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: One of these days, you'll stick your neck out too far,
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: and I'll chop it off. Your review of Everett Clayton's
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: play was step number two. The next day, you see
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: Clayton in the coffee shop of the Stratford Club, where
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: both of you live.
• 3:37
  Speaker 3: He walks over to your.
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: Booth, his face tense and expressionless, the paper folded in
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: his pocket.
• 3:42
  Speaker 3: Well, Everett, good to see you.
• 3:45
  Speaker 4: Sit down, please.
• 3:46
  Speaker 5: Thank you.
• 3:46
  Speaker 7: Wait up.
• 3:49
  Speaker 6: Yes, sir.
• 3:50
  Speaker 4: Coffee, please.
• 3:51
  Speaker 6: Yes, sir.
• 3:52
  Speaker 3: Two. No coffee for me.
• 3:53
  Speaker 5: Milk.
• 3:54
  Speaker 8: Yes, sir.
• 3:55
  Speaker 4: Your stomach again?
• 3:56
  Speaker 5: I'm getting worse, I'm afraid.
• 3:59
  Speaker 9: But that's not why I.
• 4:01
  Speaker 3: Came, is it, Archer? I suppose not. That review, Archer.
• 4:06
  Speaker 3: Nice of you.
• 4:08
  Speaker 9: You're not a playwright, Everett.
• 4:10
  Speaker 3: You, uh.
• 4:11
  Speaker 9: You at least saw the play, I presume?
• 4:13
  Speaker 3: Of course.
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: An author spends a year writing a play, and that's
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: the consideration he gets.
• 4:17
  Speaker 4: Any of your money in it?
• 4:18
  Speaker 3: Everything I've got. Oh, too bad.
• 4:21
  Speaker 4: Why didn't you consult me before? Let me read it.
• 4:23
  Speaker 9: Because I knew what I'd get. Sarcasm, smart cracks, not
• 4:26
  Speaker 9: one bit of constructive criticism.
• 4:28
  Speaker 4: There is a small item you've forgotten.
• 4:31
  Speaker 3: Talent.
• 4:32
  Speaker 4: No one has yet succeeded in drawing milk from an elephant.
• 4:36
  Speaker 6: Nor kindness from a critic.
• 4:37
  Speaker 4: If you wanted charity, you should have said so. Want
• 4:39
  Speaker 4: me to go over it scene by scene and show
• 4:41
  Speaker 4: you how bad it is?
• 4:42
  Speaker 9: No, because you couldn't.
• 4:44
  Speaker 3: That's the trouble, you know.
• 4:45
  Speaker 5: The people don't.
• 4:46
  Speaker 9: Decide what's good or bad anymore. They wait for the
• 4:47
  Speaker 9: critics to tell them. Well, thanks to you, I know
• 4:51
  Speaker 9: my play is dead, Atkins. But I also know you're
• 4:53
  Speaker 9: a fake. You've been phony all your life. If the
• 4:56
  Speaker 9: Rover Boys in Switzerland had Edgar Allan Poe's name on it,
• 4:58
  Speaker 9: you'd call it great.
• 4:59
  Speaker 7: No easy, old boy.
• 5:00
  Speaker 3: You're getting carried away.
• 5:01
  Speaker 9: You picked on the wrong guy, Archer. I've got 20
• 5:03
  Speaker 9: million readers, too. And before this thing's over, I'm going
• 5:05
  Speaker 9: to make you look like the village idiot.
• 5:09
  Speaker 5: Just do me a favor, Atkins.
• 5:12
  Speaker 9: Check my column tomorrow.
• 5:15
  Speaker 3: It'll interest you.
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: In just a minute, the Whistler will continue tonight's story.
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: All of us are proud of our hometowns, and rightly so.
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: In this brief moment before we continue with our program,
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: we'd like to offer a salute to one of our
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: hometowns in America, Los Angeles, California. In area, this is
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: the largest city in the world, stretching more than 40
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: miles from the ocean to the 5,000-foot level in the mountains.
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: And it all started from a tiny Mexican pueblo. In
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: the year 1781, the Mexican provincial governor, Felipe de Neve,
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: founded El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora Riana de los Hangulis,
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: meaning the village of Our Lady, the Queen of the Angels.
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: This pueblo became the capital of a Mexican province, and
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: it was the last place to surrender to the United
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: States in the war with Mexico. Los Angeles today is
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: the largest in population of any city in the West,
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: and according to the 1950 census, the fourth largest in
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: the nation. In the ten years between 1940 and 50,
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: the city increased by 31%. and still it continues to grow,
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: to absorb the people who are making their permanent homes
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: in the Los Angeles area. Many things have contributed to
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: this phenomenal growth. The exceptional all-year climate, the development of
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: the citrus fruit industry, the discovery of vast oil fields,
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: the development of a man-made harbor that handles more shipping
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: than Boston or San Francisco, big enough to hold the
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: entire United States Navy, and of course the motion picture
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: industry that produces two-thirds of all motion pictures in the world.
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: But industries of all sorts have prospered in Los Angeles.
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: More cars are made here than any place except Detroit.
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: More tires than any place except Akron, Ohio. More furniture
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: than Grand Rapids. More sport clothes, oil equipment, more processed food,
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: and more aircraft than any place in the world. Just
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: to give you an idea of how Los Angeles is
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: able to provide room for all these industries and people,
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: this city is bigger than the states of Rhode Island
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: and Delaware combined. It has been a rapid growth from
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: a tiny Mexican pueblo to the world's largest city and area.
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: And Los Angeles intends to continue its progress. The people
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: who call it their hometown are proud of the part
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: it has played in the building of America. And now,
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: back to The Whistler.
• 8:06
  Speaker 6: Yes, Archer.
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: Although you didn't know it at the time, the case
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: that was soon to become famous as the Atkins-Clayton affair
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: fell neatly into seven parts. Seven steps to murder. Clayton's play,
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: of course, was the first step. And the scathing review
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: that appeared in the Globe the next day over your
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: signature was the second. But when you arrive at your
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: office the next day, Murchison, the editor, is sitting on
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: your desk waiting for you.
• 8:34
  Speaker 3: The afternoon edition of The Ledger in his hand.
• 8:39
  Speaker 5: Hello, Murchison.
• 8:39
  Speaker 6: Did you read Clayton's column?
• 8:41
  Speaker 4: I did not.
• 8:43
  Speaker 6: Lead paragraph.
• 8:44
  Speaker 9: Listen.
• 8:46
  Speaker 5: I am now reconciled to.
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: The fact that my play, The Whirlwind, will close in
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: a matter of days as a result of the efforts
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: of a group of critics headed by Archer Atkins. As
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: a matter of fact, Atkins is not equipped to set
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: himself up as a critic or even a writer. He
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: has no conception of literature, dramatic, poetic, or otherwise. And
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: I intend to prove it. Well, amusing, but not very.
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: You started all of this, Atkins.
• 9:09
  Speaker 5: I think you should apologize.
• 9:10
  Speaker 3: I'm going to be quite busy, Murchison.
• 9:11
  Speaker 4: I'm sure there are a few obituaries that require your
• 9:14
  Speaker 4: keen intelligence.
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: I hope Clayton gives you a sock and a jaw.
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: That's step number three, Archer. The public challenge that went.
• 9:30
  Speaker 3: Out to 20 million readers. You decide it's ridiculous, of course,
• 9:34
  Speaker 3: and forget about it. The play lasts five days and closes.
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: Then one evening, some weeks later, Barbara Ross, the fashion
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: editor on the ledger, walks up to you in the
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: lobby and taps you on the shoulders.
• 9:48
  Speaker 6: Archer, darling.
• 9:50
  Speaker 4: Good evening, my dear.
• 9:51
  Speaker 3: Archer, I found something I thought you'd want.
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: To glance at.
• 9:53
  Speaker 4: Why, did Clayton put me in print again?
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: Nothing like that.
• 9:58
  Speaker 4: Somebody handed me this book of poetry.
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: Oh? It was printed privately, only 50 copies.
• 10:02
  Speaker 3: Let me.
• 10:06
  Speaker 7: See.
• 10:06
  Speaker 4: 14 by Jafar Ahmed.
• 10:08
  Speaker 6: What's it about?
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: Oh, I think it's lovely. It's written by an immigrant
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: boy about his love for a little girl.
• 10:14
  Speaker 3: Oh, no, thank you.
• 10:15
  Speaker 6: Oh, but our.
• 10:16
  Speaker 3: Poetry, darling, is as much a part of adolescence as
• 10:18
  Speaker 3: the first shave.
• 10:20
  Speaker 4: And just about as important.
• 10:22
  Speaker 8: But it's really quite good.
• 10:24
  Speaker 4: The boy seems to have an excellent sense of meter.
• 10:27
  Speaker 3: And a good deal of insight, too.
• 10:30
  Speaker 6: Archer, you know so much more about poetry than anyone
• 10:33
  Speaker 6: else I know.
• 10:34
  Speaker 3: All right, dear.
• 10:37
  Speaker 4: I'll look it over.
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: Step number four, the book of poetry.
• 10:46
  Speaker 3: Nothing to it, of course.
• 10:47
  Speaker 5: Is there, aren't you?
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: But you take it home and toss it on the nightstand.
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: And just before you decide to turn out the light,
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: you pick it up and glance at the first page.
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: Hold you from the start.
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: There's something about the poems that haunts you, almost as
• 11:07
  Speaker 2: if you've.
• 11:08
  Speaker 5: Read them before.
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: Memories. Things you'd forgotten completely spring to life.
• 11:14
  Speaker 4: Yes.
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: This boy has managed to capture something out of every
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: man's youth. Something that gets under your skin and stays there.
• 11:23
  Speaker 3: You finish the book.
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: Get out of bed hurriedly and sit down at your typewriter.
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: You can't wait until tomorrow, can you, Archer? You've got
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: to get it on paper now.
• 11:32
  Speaker 5: There.
• 11:39
  Speaker 10: Although the poems are immature, there's something great and universal
• 11:43
  Speaker 10: about this work. The volume has been printed privately, but
• 11:46
  Speaker 10: in my opinion, it would be a wise investment for
• 11:49
  Speaker 10: any publisher to issue it in quantity. Fourteen by Jafar
• 11:53
  Speaker 10: Ahmed should never be forgotten.
• 11:57
  Speaker 5: I ought to do it.
• 11:57
  Speaker 10: It'll be on the bestseller list in a month.
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: In the morning, you hand your article to a copy boy, unaware,
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: of course, that you've just completed step number five. Although
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: you don't know it, the minute you turned in that review,
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: you moved nearer to murder than you've ever been in
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: your life. It's just 24 hours later when the same
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: boy walks into your office, places a newspaper on your desk.
• 12:40
  Speaker 3: Step number six.
• 12:42
  Speaker 6: Here's your copy of the ledger, mister.
• 12:47
  Speaker 4: Round town with every plate.
• 12:48
  Speaker 6: Oh, here we are.
• 12:50
  Speaker 4: Three months ago, I promised to reveal Archer Atkins, the
• 12:53
  Speaker 4: so-called dean of literary critics, as a phony. Today, I
• 12:57
  Speaker 4: call attention to the raves he's been giving the book
• 12:59
  Speaker 4: of poems called Fourteen... Supposedly written by a 14-year-old Iranian lad.
• 13:06
  Speaker 4: The fact is, gentlemen, readers, I wrote 14.
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: Shocking, eh, Archer? Oh, hello, notice I didn't see you.
• 13:14
  Speaker 5: That's all right. You needn't hide that.
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: Some of our best people read Everett Clayton, including the
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: publishers of this paper.
• 13:20
  Speaker 3: That's trash.
• 13:21
  Speaker 4: Just trash.
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: And lies, too, I suppose.
• 13:23
  Speaker 4: Why, Clayton never wrote 14.
• 13:24
  Speaker 7: He hasn't got enough sense.
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: Seems to know a lot about it, Archer.
• 13:28
  Speaker 5: Read on.
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: He tells just how he did it. He had no
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: knowledge of poetry, he says. Just threw together the luscious
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: and most senseless adjectives he could concoct.
• 13:37
  Speaker 3: Had the whole mess printed up on the quiet.
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: And you, the great Archer Atkins, praised it to the skies.
• 13:44
  Speaker 8: Are you trying to tell me that you believe this nonsense?
• 13:46
  Speaker 3: What a man's a.
• 13:47
  Speaker 5: A man's got readers, Archer.
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: Twenty million of them, so calm down.
• 13:51
  Speaker 8: Don't tell me to calm down. As a matter of fact,
• 13:53
  Speaker 8: why don't you get out of here?
• 13:55
  Speaker 6: Let me at that typewriter.
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: I'll teach Clayton his place.
• 13:57
  Speaker 6: Not on a globe, you won't.
• 13:59
  Speaker 5: And why not?
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: I talked to the publishers. They want your resignation by
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: the end of the month. From now on, I'm editing
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: your material and I don't intend to have any libel
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: suits on my hands. Not even to save the great
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: name of Archer Atkins.
• 14:13
  Speaker 6: Good day.
• 14:16
  Speaker 2: Well, for once I've had the last word. Well, Archer,
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: a turn you never expected. And it's even worse when
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: you reach the Stratford Club and learn that you've suddenly
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: been turned into a laughing stock.
• 14:35
  Speaker 8: Dear old boy, how could you? What was it now? I, uh,
• 14:38
  Speaker 8: I still feel the music, the poignant expression of an
• 14:42
  Speaker 8: adolescent love. Sweetly agonizing emotions, part.
• 14:48
  Speaker 6: Of every man's youth.
• 14:50
  Speaker 8: I'm not about to climb this cane on your skull,
• 14:53
  Speaker 8: my dear Hanlon.
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: Gentlemen, gentlemen, you hear?
• 14:56
  Speaker 8: The great Atkins is no longer capable of using his
• 14:59
  Speaker 8: cutting tongue. He must now resort to a cane.
• 15:02
  Speaker 6: Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
• 15:09
  Speaker 3: This thing has got you, hasn't it, Archer?
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: And it hurts deep, twisting inside you until finally the
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: seventh step begins to take shape. The seventh and final step. Murder.
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: It's a frightening thought, isn't it, Archer?
• 15:31
  Speaker 3: Frightening, but very clear.
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: It's all there in your mind as you ride up
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: to your luxurious suite in the elevator. Everett Clayton is
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: a man of habits. One of them forced upon him
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: by his health.
• 15:44
  Speaker 5: You know all about that, aren't you?
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: How each evening at seven, a waiter brings a large
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: glass of milk into his apartment. You smile as you
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: let yourself into your rooms across the hall. Tonight, that
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: same waiter must bring you something as well.
• 16:01
  Speaker 5: Hello. Hello, coffee shop.
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: It was Mr.
• 16:03
  Speaker 3: Atkins.
• 16:04
  Speaker 4: I wonder if you'd send me up something, huh?
• 16:08
  Speaker 6: Oh, I don't know.
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: Something light.
• 16:09
  Speaker 3: A chicken sandwich, perhaps?
• 16:12
  Speaker 6: Oh, no. No hurry.
• 16:13
  Speaker 4: Walt said you have a waiter coming to Mr. Clayton's
• 16:17
  Speaker 4: rooms at seven. That's time enough, surely. Don't make a
• 16:21
  Speaker 4: special trip. Thank you.
• 16:23
  Speaker 7: Thank you.
• 16:35
  Speaker 5: Waiter.
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: Yes, sir?
• 16:38
  Speaker 4: You have a sandwich and coffee for me?
• 16:41
  Speaker 2: Yes, sir, but I was going to stop first at Mr.
• 16:44
  Speaker 3: Clayton's.
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: Yes, well, come in a moment.
• 16:45
  Speaker 4: I'll set it down there in the desk, will you?
• 16:47
  Speaker 4: And I wonder if you'd do something for me. I
• 16:49
  Speaker 4: tried to unlock a suitcase a moment ago, but I
• 16:51
  Speaker 4: couldn't seem to turn the key.
• 16:53
  Speaker 5: Would you have a.
• 16:54
  Speaker 7: Look at it, please?
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: Why, certainly, sir.
• 16:56
  Speaker 3: Where is it?
• 16:57
  Speaker 4: In the bedroom.
• 16:58
  Speaker 3: Of course, if it's too much trouble.
• 16:59
  Speaker 10: Not at all, sir.
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: I have handled a lot of things. You hesitate as
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: the waiter starts across to the bedroom. Then you turn
• 17:09
  Speaker 2: quickly to the tray he set down on your desk.
• 17:12
  Speaker 2: Before he comes back, you empty the contents of a
• 17:14
  Speaker 2: small envelope into the milk intended for Clayton. You stir
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: it hastily and then return to your book. Well, I
• 17:23
  Speaker 2: got it open for you, sir.
• 17:24
  Speaker 4: That lock is sprung a little bit, though. Oh, well,
• 17:27
  Speaker 4: I'll have to have it attended to. Here you go.
• 17:29
  Speaker 4: Thanks for your trouble.
• 17:30
  Speaker 6: Not at all, sir.
• 17:31
  Speaker 3: Thank you very much. Thank you.
• 17:33
  Speaker 7: Oh.
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: You settle back in your chair now, giving the waiter
• 17:40
  Speaker 2: time to deliver the.
• 17:41
  Speaker 3: Glass of milk to Clayton. A few minutes later, you
• 17:44
  Speaker 3: slip out into the corridor and down the hall.
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: Stop outside of Clayton's door and listen. He's talking to
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: someone on the telephone.
• 17:51
  Speaker 6: Yes, yes, I got your letter.
• 17:54
  Speaker 8: Well, what did you expect me to do?
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: All right, all right.
• 17:58
  Speaker 3: I promise I'll tell him about it first thing tomorrow.
• 18:02
  Speaker 6: Yes, yes, I promise.
• 18:04
  Speaker 5: Goodbye.
• 18:05
  Speaker 7: Goodbye.
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: You wait tensely after Clayton hangs up, hoping no one
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: will come along the hall and find you standing there.
• 18:15
  Speaker 3: A moment's dragged by. What is he doing?
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: Isn't he ever going to pick up that glass? And then.
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: Ah!
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: A moment later, you whip the door open, step inside
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: and lock it. A glance at Clayton's body sprawled on.
• 18:40
  Speaker 3: The floor assures you that he's dead.
• 18:42
  Speaker 2: Quickly, you cross the room and sit down at his
• 18:45
  Speaker 2: battered portable typewriter.
• 18:47
  Speaker 7: To my dear mother, comma, my sister, comma, and gentle readers, colon.
• 18:58
  Speaker 10: It isn't often that a man gets the opportunity.
• 19:05
  Speaker 7: To write.
• 19:06
  Speaker 2: His own obituary.
• 19:09
  Speaker 3: Period.
• 19:10
  Speaker 7: Believe me, comma, this isn't easy.
• 19:15
  Speaker 10: Comma, but I've been ill for some ten years now.
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: You type rapidly, Archer, because you know exactly what you
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: want Clayton's suicide note to say. It includes above all
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: else a confession, one in which the dead Everett Clayton
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: will admit to the world that he perpetrated a deliberate.
• 19:37
  Speaker 3: Hoax against you.
• 19:39
  Speaker 2: His note tells how he lied in claiming to have
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: written the verses in the book 14. How actually, he
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: simply dug up a number of anonymous ballads.
• 19:48
  Speaker 3: And revised them a bit. You put it all down, Archer.
• 19:52
  Speaker 5: Your way.
• 19:53
  Speaker 3: But in Everett Clayton's style.
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: And then you add his well-known signature. Just the two
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: simple typewritten letters.
• 20:03
  Speaker 3: E-C. Thanks, my dear Everett.
• 20:08
  Speaker 10: We'll see tomorrow how your 20 million readers like this one.
• 20:30
  Speaker 6: Don't be half right. Use Yusufi. For example, about how
• 20:34
  Speaker 6: many standard varieties of domestic chickens would you say there were?
• 20:38
  Speaker 7: Fifty?
• 20:39
  Speaker 6: No, that's only half right. Brush up on your poultry farming.
• 20:44
  Speaker 6: Tell your I & E officer you want to study
• 20:46
  Speaker 6: with the United States Armed Forces Institute. Use SOFI.
• 20:50
  Speaker 3: It's easy.
• 20:51
  Speaker 6: It's simple. If you don't want to be half right,
• 20:54
  Speaker 6: use your SOFI.
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: And now back to The Whistler.
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: The Whistler.
• 21:04
  Speaker 3: Well, the seven steps are passed now, Archer.
• 21:07
  Speaker 6: Everett Clayton is dead.
• 21:09
  Speaker 2: But more important than that, the suicide note in his
• 21:12
  Speaker 2: typewriter will put you back at the top of the heap. Yes.
• 21:17
  Speaker 3: Murchison, your publishers, Hanley.
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: And the whole literary world will have to admit who
• 21:22
  Speaker 2: has the right to wear the critic's crown.
• 21:26
  Speaker 4: But you're very practical about.
• 21:28
  Speaker 3: It, aren't you?
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: The police will come, of course, and you're ready for
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: them with that vague, superior, confident air that has always
• 21:36
  Speaker 2: carried you through before.
• 21:38
  Speaker 3: Then why not? What can they possibly prove?
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: You don't seem at all surprised at the police calling
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: on you, Mr.
• 21:45
  Speaker 5: Atkins.
• 21:46
  Speaker 4: Oh, my dear Captain Foss, the moment the manager of
• 21:49
  Speaker 4: this club informed me of Clayton's demise, I resigned myself
• 21:52
  Speaker 4: to a round of dull questions.
• 21:55
  Speaker 5: Naturally.
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: You've known him all his life, grew up with him,
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: sweet on his sister.
• 21:59
  Speaker 7: At one time.
• 22:00
  Speaker 6: Anything else you want to know?
• 22:01
  Speaker 4: I was an incubator baby, weighed three pounds, two and
• 22:04
  Speaker 4: one-third ounces.
• 22:05
  Speaker 2: I'm surprised you aren't more interested in the way Clayton died.
• 22:10
  Speaker 3: I like to believe people, Captain.
• 22:12
  Speaker 4: When I'm told someone is dead, I assume he's dead.
• 22:15
  Speaker 4: Whether he was shot through the head with a cannon,
• 22:18
  Speaker 4: threw himself into Mount Vesuvius, or was clubbed to death
• 22:20
  Speaker 4: with the missing arm of Venus de Milo doesn't concern.
• 22:23
  Speaker 3: Me in the least.
• 22:24
  Speaker 2: Poison is more to your liking, isn't it?
• 22:28
  Speaker 3: I don't know what you're trying to imply.
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: Let's make it clear, then. How long did it take
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: you to write that note?
• 22:34
  Speaker 3: Note, Captain?
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: The suicide note in Clayton's typewriter.
• 22:37
  Speaker 3: Oh, do tell.
• 22:38
  Speaker 7: In verse, no doubt.
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: It says Clayton never wrote those poems, that he stole
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: them from some anonymous ballads. Well, I insisted on that
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: all the time.
• 22:47
  Speaker 7: Wait till I get hold of that editor.
• 22:48
  Speaker 3: You wrote that note, Atkins.
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: You poisoned Clayton and ran the note off on his typewriter.
• 22:54
  Speaker 8: Nonsense.
• 22:54
  Speaker 7: Who gave you that story?
• 22:56
  Speaker 6: Some idiot from the ledger?
• 22:57
  Speaker 5: Take a look at these papers, Atkins.
• 23:00
  Speaker 3: Ever seen them before? They're yellow. They're very old, aren't they?
• 23:04
  Speaker 2: They're poems you wrote to Everett Clayton's sister when you
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: were 14, over.
• 23:09
  Speaker 6: 40 years ago.
• 23:09
  Speaker 3: What?
• 23:10
  Speaker 9: That book of poetry you reviewed.
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: Was not written by Jafar Ahmed or Everett Clayton, but
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: by Archer Atkins.
• 23:18
  Speaker 3: I'm reviewing my own poetry.
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: So it wasn't suicide, you see.
• 23:21
  Speaker 4: Now, wait a minute.
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: He still did it.
• 23:23
  Speaker 7: It was a malicious trick.
• 23:24
  Speaker 2: Now, listen, Captain.
• 23:25
  Speaker 5: It wasn't suicide, Atkins.
• 23:27
  Speaker 2: Because Clayton's sister blew up when she read what he
• 23:30
  Speaker 2: did with those poems after she sent them to him.
• 23:32
  Speaker 3: She phoned him last night. He was talking to his sister.
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: She made him promise a public retraction. Clayton was going
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: to see you about it in the morning.
• 23:48
  Speaker 5: Now, a question. Do you know the name of what
• 23:51
  Speaker 5: is considered to be the first American ship.
• 23:55
  Speaker 5: In 1798, a newspaper advertisement in Salem, Massachusetts, asked for
• 23:58
  Speaker 5: assistance in the building of the Essex. The ad requested
• 24:02
  Speaker 5: that every man in possession of a white oak tree
• 24:04
  Speaker 5: should bring it with him when he came to Salem.
• 24:07
  Speaker 5: In January 1799, there was enough lumber to start construction,
• 24:11
  Speaker 5: and by October of that year, the 32-gun Essex was launched.
• 24:15
  Speaker 5: It was a completely seaworthy ship and saw heavy duty,
• 24:19
  Speaker 5: although 720 days were spent building her. This is but
• 24:23
  Speaker 5: one of many interesting facts which can be found in
• 24:25
  Speaker 5: the history of your United States Navy. Featured in tonight's
• 24:42
  Speaker 5: transcribed story were Bill Foreman as the Whistler, Hans Conreid,
• 24:46
  Speaker 5: Olin Soule, Jack Moyles, Charlotte Lawrence, Vic Perrin, and Jack Carroll.
• 24:52
  Speaker 5: The Whistler, directed by Gordon T. Hughes with music by
• 24:55
  Speaker 5: Wilbur Hatch, is produced by Joel Malone and transmitted overseas
• 24:59
  Speaker 5: by the Armed Forces Radio Service. This evening's story was
• 25:03
  Speaker 5: by Meyer Dolinsky. The Whistler was entirely fictional, and all
• 25:06
  Speaker 5: characters portrayed on The Whistler are also fictional.
• 25:09
  Speaker 2: Any similarities of names or resemblances to persons living or
• 25:12
  Speaker 2: dead is purely coincidental. This is George Walsh speaking and
• 25:17
  Speaker 2: reminding you to listen again next week for another strange
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: tale by the Whistler.
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: We leave the Whistler with Seven Steps to Murder. Follow
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: the Whistler for more classic broadcasts.