 And now, tonight's presentation of Radio's Outstanding Theatre of Frills Suspense Tonight, we bring you the story of a fantastic theft of a million dollar pearl necklace We call it the end of the string So now, starring Stacey Harris, here is tonight's suspense play, The End of the String The necklace consisted of 61 perfectly matched pearls It was insured for $650,000 and was probably worth about a million I got to know about the deal because Sam liked me, I guess, because in Boston, I wasn't competition Just a nice young fellow who was trying to get ahead in costume jewelry That's why I happened to be in his private office when the parcel containing the pearls arrived I told you, young fellow, you were going to see something this morning That's what you said, Sam Yeah, I like you. You call me Sam Since I've been a big high finance, you know, I got to be Mr. Heiler You're not impressed. I like that I should have had a son like you to pass the business Go ahead, pass it anyway. I'm up for adoption Hey, smart. Come over here, to the window You ever see a million dollars? Like in the necklace you told me about? With it, in the package? Yeah, the same How come you have it delivered by mail, Sam? Isn't that risky? Uh-uh Sam Heiler's no dope You get a messenger to carry it from Detroit to Boston, what happens? Somebody gives him a crack in the head Registered mail, this they don't touch Yeah, I'm glad to know about that I'm just liable to send myself a million bucks Don't worry. Someday, maybe you will Hand me the scissors that will do on the desk Sure Here Thank you Hey, fancy ceiling wax, stamp I'm very impressed Sam Heiler, SH impresses the customers And I don't get anybody fooling with the parcel That's something you've got to learn, Mark In this business, you've got to pick and choose your agency, you know, in the other cities Mine, I know like sons, all bonded What was the necklace doing in Detroit? Customer, couldn't make up his mind So I had my boy there send it back to me You see, tomorrow, the next day, the customer will be screaming for it I'm better off in costume jewelry There's too much strain with that stuff Switch on the light, would you? Okay Now, young man, what do you think of this? You are going to see something Oh, no, Sam Sam He keeled over For a minute, I thought he was finished, but he'd only passed out from shock And I knew why Inside the box wrapped in cotton And enclosed in part of a newspaper Were eight cubes of sugar A million dollars worth of nothing In half an hour, the office was alive with uniforms Oral Sam just sat on the couch A wet towel on his head Staring over at the box on his desk I felt really sorry for the old guy I figured it was about time for me to go But that's when Sam woke up a bit And so did a Dartmouth-type cop from headquarters Mark, you're going? Well, unless there's something I can do, Sam I'll say it before you go Yeah What did you say your name was, sir? Hendricks Mark Hendricks Do you know anything about this? No, not much I was here when Mr. Hyler opened the box That's about it Uh-huh You and this business, too? Costume, Jory I have the office downstairs in the front Oh You were in here when the mail came? No No, I came up a couple of minutes later Didn't see anybody around in the hall? No, no, I didn't Well, Mr. Hyler, you say that the same postman's been on the route for five years? Every day Yeah Mark, you go ahead Thanks to stay And look, Sam, if there's anything at all I can do, huh? Well, maybe you could wait a little Sure, Sam, I'll stick around How do you feel now, Mr. Hyler? I'm all right, I'm fine I wish I was dead Okay, I want to get a couple of things straight You took the mail, Miss? Miss Cummings Yes, same as usual The mailman come into the office Nobody with him? That's right Nobody else in here? Only Mr. Hyler Mr. Hendricks arrived a few minutes later You'd already given the package to Mr. Hyler? Yes Okay I want the name and the address of the sender and then when the postal inspector gets here we'll go on from there The cop's name was Kale The postal inspector, Shira Between the two of them, they covered everything I hung around because Sam wanted me there and though nobody said anything I had the feeling that until they got through I was going to be around because they wanted it About 12 o'clock, the mailman was brought in He was really shaky The kind of guy that looks guilty just for living I tell you, I don't know, I'm sorry Listen, nothing like this has ever happened Mr. Hyler, you tell him I told him already Mr. Hendricks Oh, sure, I'll give you a clean bill You see Oh, looks like nobody said you switched packages All we want to know is where you stopped between the office and here I made all my stops Okay, we'll start in this building Did you put the mailbag down anywhere? No How many offices? Four No, three No, four Five, but next door it's empty All right, it's four Where'd you stop first? Mr. Hendricks, he's in the front Yes Did you put your mailbag down? Maybe just for a minute We talked about the game last weekend But nobody was around Nobody touched the mailbag That went on for another half hour They tried to catch him up on the point of leaving his mailbag unattended But he swore up and down he hadn't taken his eyes off it At three o'clock they quit I went back to my place and caught up on my own mail A couple of bills a free dog food coupon I saw Sam a lot in the next couple of weeks He took the dropping into the office before going home and taking me out for a drink No, no, no You're my guest I pay for the drinks Now look, Sam It's embarrassing You never let me think about you In the hour of need you were there I can trust you Sam, these are bad days for me, Mark I need a friend Sure, Sam, I know The insurance company called today Huh? Yeah, they're offering a reward $50,000 for information I added ten of my own $60,000? Still nothing on it, though, huh? Nothing The post office traced the package from the time it left Detroit Nobody touched it What about while the necklace was in Detroit? Well, like I told the police I trust my boy there He put my seal on it and he mailed it We checked I trust him, but we checked, too Sam, what about that seal? I mean, you're sure the one on the fake package was yours? It's my seal, the same The police examined it I don't know Somebody got a hold of it, I guess But yet they couldn't There's only me and the Detroits from what's got one and they're kept in the safe My boy, you know I'm gonna retire Come on, Sam Insurance will cover the loss You're not too badly off It'll take years I know that company Mark Years It's a funny thing about money You don't have a lot so you wish you had more Then when you've got more you want more than that so you won't go back to not having any Trouble is, where do you stop? The next day I caught Sam's secretary as she was leaving the office Oh, Jeannie Hi Hi Where have you been? All around Are you in a rush? No Want to take me to dinner? Yeah Yeah I got a date, but I'll break it Oh, great You know, you must be one of the compensations for being broke Can I use your phone? Sure, come on in the office He's a Harvard boy I've taken a terrible advantage of him I'll just bet you have Were you telling him you've got homework tonight, huh? I will I will Well, that's enough homework for a while Oh? You know, I think you've got something in your mind I mean, you haven't been concentrating at all I'm sorry, honey Ha I want to ask you something Yeah This isn't a proposal Oh You want to make $100,000? You have got something on your mind If you say no, it's okay If you say yes, you can't back out I love to say yes Come on, Ginny, I'm serious So am I It's about Sam Heiler's necklace Oh Who do you like more? Your boss or $100,000? I'm loyal You know that Yeah, I know Two Which one? Money Sam, too, depending Okay, I'll take a chance I want to show you something Deal's still on Mark, it's the necklace Yeah, beautiful, isn't it? You are listening to The End of the String Tonight's presentation in Radio's Outstanding Theatre of Thrills Suspense Chances are the average man in jail would be pleased and reassured to learn that his wife was safe at home but not the gentleman in the pokey in this week's episode of 21st Precinct Having jammed the lock on the door to his home prior to his arrest, he is startled and not a little dismayed to realize that his long-suffering wife cannot get out of the house to bail him out even when she wants to For engrossing drama with an extra good measure of human interest and humor don't miss this diverting story on 21st Precinct when it is broadcast this Friday night over most of these same stations And now we bring back to our Hollywood soundstage Stacy Harris starring in tonight's production The End of the String A tale well calculated to keep you in Suspense She sat looking at the necklace and her mouth opened and shut like a beautiful blonde fish Then she noticed me staring at her and she got a hold of herself reached for a cigarette and lit it Honey, Mr. Highler is the only one I've ever seen hold that necklace Huh? It's not heavy Yeah What are you gonna do? What I've been trying to do ever since I got a hold of it Paddle it Oh Trouble is I don't know where to start and that's where you come in Here, take it back No What do you mean no? I couldn't help you I mean I don't know anymore about where to get rid of it Well then you But if you did know I couldn't Wouldn't make any difference, I just couldn't It's worth a million I figure we could get 200,000 maybe more Split down the middle, that's That's a hundred thousand dollars, Jean Tax-free But you'll be caught, so will I No, no Worst of it's over How'd you do it, Mark? Well, it seems to me I've told you an awful lot already If we can't make a deal, let's forget it, huh? Aren't you afraid I'll tell Mr. Highler? No No, because if you did you'd have to prove what I've told you That wouldn't be easy They wouldn't find the necklace around here And besides you You wouldn't get a hundred thousand dollars Why'd you pick me? Well, Sam works with people in the business You get his phone calls, answer his mail Wouldn't be hard to find out who handles this kind of stuff You could even ask him if you're careful That's all I'd have to do Find out where to sell the necklace? Not another thing Good Now so I won't keep you up tonight I'll tell you how I worked it This wasn't done overnight Sam's been telling me for a long time about that necklace But how'd you know he was sending it to Detroit? And when did it come back? Empty office next to yours Do you ever hear of wall mics? Induction coils to pick up phone conversations? Oh That's it Let me turn that thing off You couldn't have got a hold of his seal All the packages have a seal on I didn't have to I got friendly with a mailman He always stops to gab when he brings my mail About a month ago I saw a package addressed to Sam That wasn't the necklace? No, but it was an important package Had Sam's seal on it So I got the mailman interested in some costume pieces For his wife And when he was looking at them I took a wax impression of the seal Had a stamp made from that Just like that? I heard Sam talking to his agent on the phone Two days before the necklace was mailed from Detroit I knew when it was going to arrive So I made up my own package with the seal Switched them when the mailman stopped by How'd you know what the box looked like? I was in the office when you were wrapping it To mail out to Detroit, remember? And I thought you hung around because of me Oh, sure Sure, you're pretty good in Sam We agreed not to make any contact with each other Until she had some word for me I'd worked it out pretty well I hoped that she wouldn't be suspected If she did ask questions about fences In Boston or New York And I hoped she wouldn't lose her nerve For the next five days I sweated it out alone The necklace was safe I didn't have to worry about that But you're never really happy When a million bucks is lying around You gotta borrow a hundred to pay a rent Then one evening just as I was getting home Hello Hello, Mark Hi, where are you? Downstairs Oh, come on up I wanted to see if it was all right There's somebody with me Oh I thought I'd do a little work to earn the money I found a man, called him myself Does he know what it is? Not yet Are you sure he's all right? I think so Yeah Okay, come on up Mark, this is Mr. Larkin Mark Hendricks How are you? Mr. Hendricks Can I fix your drink? Never drink, thanks Sit down Jeanne, you want to get me a scotch water? Yeah, all right Thanks Jeanne tells me you're interested in jewelry I represent an outfit that buys and sells In the market to buy right now? Might be Depends what's being sold Sure From folks we don't know We usually take stuff on consignment No, that's out This is a cash proposition only Uh-huh You have much call for pearls? Not much Of course, for special customers Once in a while we buy them How about a pearl necklace? Might be interested You got it? Not on me, I can get it though How much you want? $200,000 For pearl? That's worth a million You're crazy It's insured for over $600,000 The Highland necklace? You got that? I might You're a pretty foolish boy What do you mean? You're working backwards You should figure how to get rid of it Before you lift it Nobody's going to touch that necklace Wait a minute What's the matter? You didn't tell me what your boyfriend had Honey, you're wasting my time Well, just take a look at it, huh? Maybe you'll change your mind Whatever I want to look at it for I wouldn't give you a thousand for it Nothing You better get rid of that thing Any way you can I'm telling you Nice to have met you, folks And I'd like to ask you To please forget my name He was gone Just like that Genie stood there Holding a couple of glasses Looking at the door There wasn't anything to say So we didn't try After a couple of drinks Though we felt better So one guy was afraid to handle a big item There were others We'd go after them Genie and I got to know Most of the fences in the east During the next month We'd only have to say pearls And the door would slam Word gets around I was getting a little scared So I decided on another plan We had to be even more careful About getting together So Genie met me on a lunch hour In the public library We went to the reference room And walked down to a back aisle Listen, Mark Let's forget it, huh? What do you mean? We can't sell it We've tried Let's forget it What are you going to do with it? Just drop it in the bag? I don't care Just so we get rid of it Look, we've gone this far We can't just Excuse me Yes, certainly We've gone this far We can't just get rid of it Then what do we do? The reward What? What happens if we find it? We get the reward, don't we? That's $30,000 a piece No, I won't do it Listen to me I'm not going back to those $1.98 earrings I don't care about you You do what you want But I know we can get $30,000 each Out of this That's a lot better than nothing Is it better than prison? We won't get caught, Genie I promise you I've got it all figured out Like you had it figured out to sell All right, I was wrong I admit it This time I'm right I'm afraid No, no, look It's simple There's nothing to it They'll never know Are you sure? Let me give you the idea Then you decide Okay I guess a deal like this Is something like poker It's hoping you'll pull an inside Straight flush Which doesn't happen very often And the stakes are a lot higher I made it sound real easy to Genie, though I was to go to Hyler Tell him I'd been doing a bit Of private eyeing on my own And that I'd had a tip Some punk had seen a guy Put a small package In one of the lockers At the south station That was what I was supposed to know I'd paid said punk Fifty bucks for the information We set it up like that Genie took the necklace and a package To the station on her lunch hour I thought it best not to see her after that And I waited until the next morning Before I went to Sam And told him the news A college boy type cop Collie was at the office Ten minutes later Who was this fellow, Hendricks? Well, I told you I don't know I was snooping around I made a couple of contacts Yeah, and the pearls Are at the south station Well, if they're not I spent fifty bucks for nothing Mr. Collie, why do you waste time? Mark is doing me a big favor And you're asking questions Let's get over there And don't you worry, my boy If I get my necklace back You'll have your fifty dollars And everything else is coming to you Let's go Which locker is it, Mark, huh? Thirty-six That's what the guy told me We'll find out Look, Collie I don't like the way you talk I'm just trying to help If you didn't get the reward First, that's not my fault, you know Uh-huh Thirty-six Thirty-six I'll get the attendant over He'll have a key No, no Wait a minute Look, it ain't locked Well, Hendricks Mark, think Maybe you forgot the number, huh? No No, I didn't forget That's what he said, thirty-six There's nothing in it It's empty Well, Hendricks Well, I I guess I'm out fifty dollars Yeah Too bad What had she done with it? I couldn't get to the office I couldn't be seen with her But I had to know What had she done with it? I waited all day Until she finished work Then I was waiting outside her apartment When she got home Jean, now listen When do we get inside? Okay, okay, where is it? Here, take it Why didn't you do What I told you to do? Why didn't you put it in the locker? I did Why didn't you put it in the locker? I can't put it in Yesterday Then this morning I heard Mr. Heiler talking to Collie About you and me seeing So much of each other I was afraid they were beginning To suspect, so I went back To the station and took it out again I was trying to do you a favor Can you slap me? I'm sorry, Janie I'll bet you are Go away I don't want to see you again And I don't want to see That necklace again But you'd better get rid of it Go throw it in the bed I'm sorry, Janie I'll bet you are Go away Go throw it in the bay And you go with it Get rid of it Lose it A million dollars Burning a hole in your pocket And you throw it away No No, don't throw it away It's too beautiful Put it back where you got it Give it back to Sam Go back to Sam Heiler's office And in the morning Old Sam will be So happy to find it on his desk He won't ask any questions And maybe Kali won't So beautiful A million dollars And so beautiful That's a good boy, Mark Kali You know, I was getting awfully Tired of following you around Great idea, anyway Starting with a million dollars Sure, you have to take a loss Or you settle for two hundred thousand But nobody buys So Then there's the reward Sixty thousand It turns out nobody's Going to get that That takes care of the reward Anybody got a dime for a lawyer? Suspense In which Stacey Harris Stard in tonight's presentation of The End of the String Next week We bring you a story Of a mother, a father, A locked door and a baby We call it The Cellar Door That's next week on Suspense Suspense is produced and directed by Anthony Ellis Tonight's script was written by David Williams The music was composed by Lucian Morrowick and Rene Gerrigan And conducted by Wilbur Hatch Featured in the cast were Benny Rubin, Mary Jane Croft, Larry Thor, Jim Nusser and Jack Krushen There may be two sides to most stories But where a story of crime is concerned Is only one place to be And that is on the right side of the law Unfortunately for him The nice looking boy finds himself On the wrong side of the law When the FBI in peace and war Next goes into action To track down an impulsive killer How they link the handsome youth To the ugly crime is a story in itself A story you want to hear Tomorrow night Over most of these same CBS radio stations on The FBI in peace and war Stay tuned for five minutes On CBS News to be followed On most of these same stations By The Jack Carson Show You hear America's favorite shows On the CBS Radio Network