 And now, stay tuned for the mystery program that is unique among all mystery programs. Because even when you know who's guilty, you always receive a startling surprise at the final curtain. In The Whistler. I'm The Whistler, and I know many things, for I walk by night. I know many strange tales hidden in the hearts of men and women who have stepped into the shadows. Yes, I know the nameless terrors of which they dare not speak. Yes, friends, it's time for The Whistler, rated by independent research, the most popular West Coast program in radio history. Oh, The Whistler's Strange Story. There are strange paradoxes in the night. The night itself is a paradox. The same darkness that promises sleep and peace in a brighter tomorrow also offers wakeful torment, while disjointed thoughts that sometimes twist and turn until they fit into a pattern. And that pattern, born of night, is murder. Jim Mason woke with a start. The big room was flooded with moonlight, and for a moment he blinked daisily at the unfamiliar surroundings. He stared for a moment through the huge plate glass windows, saw the towering snow-capped peaks resplendent in the moon-washed night. And then he looked down at Laura, his wife, lying beside him, and he realized what had awakened him. Laura was moaning in her sleep. Suddenly she jerked convulsively, sat bold upright in bed, her eyes wide and staring. No. No, don't. Oh, please, please don't. You'll kill me. You'll kill me. Laura! Laura! Jim, don't. Please don't do it. Laura, what is it? What's wrong? I'm not going to hurt you. Oh, I... Jim, what is it? You must have been dreaming, Laura, a bad one. Just a dream. Oh, thank heaven. It was horrible, Jim. I was dreaming that... that... That what? Oh, it was nothing really. It's so silly. It doesn't sound so silly, something about somebody killing you. Who was it? Well, I was climbing a mountain. I was very high. It seemed I was coming down a sheer wall of rock. I was using my rappel line. Suddenly I felt something. I looked up. Yes? Somebody was cutting my rope with a knife, a big knife, very shiny. I begged him to stop, but he went right on, cutting and laughing. He? Who, Laura? Jim, it was only a dream. Probably a result of that close call I had this afternoon. I guess I'll be talking about it in my sleep for nights and nights. Who was cutting the rope, Laura? Who? Jim, you know how dreams are. They don't mean anything. They never make sense. No sense at all. Just a bad dream, Jim. You don't dare look for an explanation, do you? Because, as Laura says, dreams never make sense. But you're not quite sure, are you? Long after Laura goes back to sleep, you lie there, your mind reliving the past few days. The events that brought you here to this remote Swiss valley, to the sharp gabled and sprawling inn of Herr Schmidt, that you told Laura and your close friends who were with you, Mona and Peter, so much about. Willkommen, Willkommen, Herr Jim. So long it is, ja. Three years. And so well you look, Herr Schmidt. How are you? Oh, this is your wife? Yes, this is Laura. Willkommen, Frau Mason. Thank you. You two and your friends are going to climb? That is good. Your father, he did not come, Herr Jim? No, he did not come. I'm sorry. I am so happy when I get your letter. Right away I take it down to the village to Stefan, so he is happy too. Stefan? Was he still here then? I was afraid that he... Still here? But of course. Well, should he be? No one ever leaves here. Wait. Stefan, Stefan, come Stefan up. Here he comes. Stefan, Stefan, it's good to see you again. Jim, it is good to see you too. Ja, good. Laura, Laura, this is Stefan. Stefan, this is my wife, Mrs. Mason. She's a climber you're going to be proud of. I'm so glad to meet you, Stefan. Jim has told me so much about you. According to him you are the finest of all alpine guides. I will guide for us. Ja, formation, I will guide for you. A heartwarming reception, isn't it, Jim? Good talk and laughter. With nothing to foreshadow the dark tragedy that is to come. Just four very alive young people on a holiday. Your wife, Laura, yourself, and your two friends, Mona Williams and Peter Bennett. After a short visit, Herr Schmidt shows Mona to a room, Peter to his, and takes you and Laura to the room at the end of the hall. When you and Laura are alone, you turn to her. Well, what do you think of it, Laura? Was I exaggerating? No, you weren't. I love it, Jim. Everything, that enormous window, it's terrific. Or rather, the panorama is terrific. Yeah. Look at those mountains. From here they look so smooth and soft, but up there close, they're ridges, crags, ledges, ice walls. And that big gray dome there to the right, see it? I see it. Great cloud. That and I almost made it to the top, but a sudden storm licked us. You never know when a storm will hit up here, but when it does, it means trouble, real trouble. Yes, Jim, storms can be treacherous, can't they, when they strike suddenly without warning. But there is no storm on the horizon now that you can see. Shortly before lunch, you meet Herr Schmidt coming out of the dining room. Laura and the others haven't come down yet. Smells good, huh? Yeah, Herr Jim, this is herrings a lot and eggs with noodles, your father's favorite. I wish he could have come. He's not sick, I hope. He is dead, Herr Schmidt. Dead? I'm sorry. Very sorry, Herr Jim. Stefan, too, will be very sad. But in the letter you said nothing. He died over a year ago. You leave Herr Schmidt clucking sadly to himself and step out under the terrace, stroll to the rear of the inn and stop suddenly. A few feet away, locked in a close embrace of Peter and Mona. At that moment, Mona's eyes open and she stares straight into yours. And the storm you could not see strikes with full fury within you. You swing around and stalk back into the inn. After lunch, the four of you decide on a walk. You and Mona find yourselves paired off with Peter and Laura, your wife, up the path, talking and laughing. It's utterly beautiful, Jim. Jim? What is it, Jim? Out there on the terrace, he's kissing you. I thought that was all settled. Certainly a man has a perfect right to kiss the girl he's engaged to. I can't give you up. I can't. But you did. Remember? I had no choice. You know that. Yes, I guess I do. I think I always knew that you'd never marry me. I knew it for sure when Laura came along. Laura with practically all the money in the world. I tried working, didn't I? Didn't take long for me to find out. I knew a lot more about spending money than making it. Well, that was something anyway. I never even knew about spending it. You're learning now. I'm not marrying Peter just for his money, Jim. I'm very fond of him. Maybe I'll learn to love him. I hope so. You love me, Mona. You know you do. Jim, Jim, please. The only way I can ever have you is if Laura dies. And she's very healthy. Don't talk like that, Jim. Don't ever talk like that. You stalk along in sullen silence, Jim. Too torn and furious to speak. And the path grows steeper. When you and Mona catch up with Laura and Peter, you find that they're on an open, scrubby slab of rock that hangs out over a sheer drop of at least 300 feet. Below, there's a jumble of rocks. Beyond that stretches the Green Valley, cut by a river winding serenely on its way. Jim, Mona, it's a lovely, lovely view. Come see. It is lovely. Look, you can see the inn. That and I used to walk up here just to smoke and talk. Careful, that's a pretty steep drop. You ever fell, they need a vacuum cleaner to find you. Laura, what are you doing? Come back off that ledge. That beautiful flower. I'm going to get it. She shouldn't be out on that narrow ledge, or she should slip. Laura, come back. Laura! You move quickly, Jim. In an instant, you're out on the small ledge that protrudes no more than a foot on the face of the wall. A section of it had crumbled under Laura's weight. You advance as far as you can, praying that the narrow ledge will hold. You carefully go down on one knee and jam your elbow into a crack for support. Laura, I'm going to reach out my hand, grip it with your right hand, then with both hands. I'm going to pull you up slowly till you can find a toehold. Now, grab. That was close, that was too close. Thank goodness you can move that fast, Jim. I was paralyzed myself. Laura, are you all right? Are you, Laura? Yes, I'm quite all right. I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have. I guess I just didn't think. Oh, Jim, darling, it hadn't been for you. I'd be dead now. Now back to the Whistler. You lie there in bed, Jim, in the dead of night, wide awake, recalling today's strange chain of events. Your return to the High Valley and the Swiss Alps with your wife, Laura, and your friends, Mona Williams and Peter Bennett. The maddening sight of Mona and Peter's arms, Laura's possible fall from the rocky ledge, the fall that would have been fatal, Jim, had you not pulled your wife to safety. The irony of the situation twists within you. If Laura had fallen to her death, you'd have her money and Mona. It could have happened so simply, Jim, yet you stepped into the breach, saved your wife's life, and in that instant, widened the gap between yourself and the two things you want most, Laura's money and Mona. That evening, the four of you were seated in the bar of the inn, toasting Laura's good fortune. And I always thought that when a person was on the brink of death, his whole life flashed before him. Oh, and it doesn't... Oh, no, Peter. All I could think of was darn that flower. Then suddenly, there was Jim's beautiful face and his even more beautiful arm hauling me up. They were just lucky the rest of their ledge didn't collapse. Even when it was all over, I was still holding my thumbs. Well, I can joke about it now, but I was terribly frightened. I wonder if you'll ever know how grateful I am, darling. Sure, Laura. I know. Well, as the Chinese say, Jim, once you save a life, that life is yours and look after it for as long as it lives. See what you got yourself into, darling? Oh, cut it out. Okay, I was a hero. I saved you. Now forget it. Watch it. I said, Jim, well, I... I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. It's just that... I guess I'm a little jittery. A delayed reaction or something like that. I'm no darling. Laura, how about this dance? It's a shame to let music like this go to waste. All right, Peter. Excuse us. Sure, Laura. Jim and I will sit this one out. All right, Laura. All right, say something. Don't just stare. You know why I blew up. I do. Yes. You're thinking he wishes he hadn't been quite so fast getting down to that ledge till Laura he wishes... Jim, that's not true. But it is true. That's just what I was thinking. Yes, Jim, a thought stays with you. If you'd have only let Laura fall to her death, it would be all over now. You look down at Laura now sleeping soundly at your side, her nightmare over and done with. And you wonder if she suspects if that's why she dreamed that someone was trying to kill her. She didn't say it was you, did she, Jim? But you know it was you in her dream. Early the next morning, you arise without waking Laura. Go down to breakfast. Stefan comes in as you finish, and the two of you go to the storeroom to look over and choose the equipment that you will need for your climb. Shoo! Smells like mothballs in oil. Yeah. Hashmi takes good care of his equipment. He's got enough here to start a sporting goods store. There's plenty of everything here. You will need crampons, pitons, hammers, ripsacks, water flasks, and rope. Yeah, yeah, rope. Yeah, we couldn't do without the rope, could we, Stefan? No, it could not do without the rope. To a climber, it is often the difference between life and death. Oh, there you are, Jim. Morning all. Have you eaten, Jim? Oh, hours ago. Be sociable, anyway. Sit down. Well, I can do with a cup at that. Stefan thinks a climb to the upper ridges of the gray cloud would be a good climb. We won't try for the top, of course. There will be a little too rugged. Gray cloud. Sounds sort of ominous. It's not too tricky, though, Jim. I mean, after all, the girls of Mona especially hasn't done too much climbing. I resent that, Mr. Bennett. I'll have you know I'm very good. Oh, Laura, Jim, I've got wonderful news. Mona's broken down. And agreed to set our wedding date for early summer. Oh, that is wonderful. I'm so glad. And I was thinking, Jim, I have no brothers or anything like that. Well, you are our best friend. Will you be my best man? Oh, Jim, did it get our new trousers? Here, take mine. No, no, no, it's nothing. Nothing at all. Clumsy of me. You're not getting stage-fried already, are you, Jim? No, no, it's just that I certainly made a mess of this tablecloth. Well, what do you say, Jim? Well, I don't know what to say, Pete. Look, there's no one I'd rather have. Mona, too, I know. Mona, you ask him in your most irresistible way, please. Yes, yes, of course, Jim. I think that would be very, very nice. You want a leap to your feet. Scream that Mona belongs to you. Smash everything on the table, don't you, Jim? But you don't. No, you just sit there. Your eyes locked. Your eyes locked for a moment with Mona's. Go to Peter Bennett. But you don't dare look at Laura, do you, Jim? You're afraid of what she might see in your eyes. All the hate and resentment you feel for her. And you know now what you must do. After breakfast, you hurry to the storeroom. You study the four coils of repel rope. Select the darkest of the four and go to work. You work slowly and with infinite care. Finally, it's done. You smile. It looks like an extremely stout rope, doesn't it, Jim? Yes. But the full weight of a body, even a body as small and as light as Laura's, would snap it. Darker than the other three coils, it will be a simple matter to make certain that Laura gets this rope. By late the next afternoon, your party has passed the timber line. Stefan, who is leading, shouts, points to an arm. The hut is in sight. Small stone shelter built by the Swiss Alpine Club for use for the climbers. In a short time, you're there. We will camp here tonight. It's about time. Softy? I'm as fresh as a daisy. How about you, Laura? I'm fine. I'll be glad to get these shoes off, though. The only thing that hurts on me is my stomach. Let's rustle up some food. Sunset the next day and you'll reach the second hut. So far, there has been no occasion to use the ropes. You're impatient, aren't you, Jim? You've seen too it that Laura has the dark rope, the one you've cut, that will never support her weight, and tomorrow she'll have to use it. When you start out in the morning, the angle of your ascent steepens, and finally you hit solid rock. You remove your crampons and tread your way up the steep rock till finally you reach it. Solid grey wall of overhanging rock. Stefan pauses and faces the four of you. It is a bad spot. Something has happened here. It is better that we descend and look for another way around. But why, Stefan? We can work up to the overhang. There must be some sort of hold beyond it. What do you think, Pete? Well, maybe we could, but the girls aren't... Laura, do you think that you could? I can manage it. Mona, you... Oh, yes, yes, of course, I can make it. No, the eyes have it. Well, good, I go now. I will lower my rope when I clear the overhang. We'll be seeing you, Stefan. Your hand, Herr Jim. Yeah, yeah, up. Well, thanks, Stefan. Better than I expected. Ah, this wind is bad. Yeah, it is very bad. Well, that ledge up there, that is next. But a hundred feet up. Not too steep, though. We can take it on an angle. Laura, Mona, you girls okay? You went up there like mountain girls. I could have done it with one arm tied behind me. I'm not sure you'd be blown off. Me too. That gust hit me hard. It is best to stay close to the wall. You said it. There's nothing but space out there. I ascend now. Herr Jim, you will be lay the rope and make it secure. And the action goes on. Stefan first to ascend, then Peter. And then Mona joins them on the ledge. She waves, the rope comes down. It's time for Laura's ascent, isn't it, Jim? As you reach for the rope to draw it in, the winds hit with full force, and it clipped on a loose stone. Your clawing fingers fasten under the lip of the ledge. You're torn loose. Break down the side of the wall and claw about a nub. And hold. And there you cling, transfixed. Below you there is nothing but death. Sweat pours into your eyes. Your blood is a roar in your ears, and you go weak. Managed to look up, and the Laura's stricken face peering over the edge. Jim, thank goodness. Hold on, Jim. Hold on. We'll lower our rope. Lock it around your wrist and arm. It's on its way down. Hold on. Hang on, Jim. Laura. No, Laura. I can't. I can't. No, Stefan. Hurry. Hurry. No, it won't. Hold on any longer. Whistler will return in just a moment with a strange ending to tonight's story. Now back to the Whistler. The climbing party makes its descent slowly, silently. Stefan guiding Laura's every mechanical move. She's in a bad state of shock, moves like an automaton. Peter follows behind with Mona, the anguish of the experience written in their faces. Finally they reach the alpine hut, put Laura to bed, and after a while she falls into a deep, exhausted sleep. And her three companions take up a vigil by her bed. Suddenly the deadly silence of the room is broken. Stefan, is she all right? She's bad. Very bad. She dreams. It's all right, Mikey. All right. Such a horrible shock for her. So much to bear. Jim, Jim, you must... Jim, Jim? Oh, you, Stefan. It was a dream, wasn't it? All the... No. No. No dream. He's dead, isn't he, Stefan? Jim's dead. Yeah, her Jim is dead. Stefan, why didn't he take the rope? Why? He could have been saved. Why, why? If it is as you say from Mason, I do not know why. I do not understand. You are sure that this is so? Yes, yes, he wouldn't take my rope. He tried to say something and then he fell. Why, Stefan, why? We could have saved him. Yeah. Your rope would have saved him. I do not know why he would not take it. He seemed afraid. Yes, that's it. It was like he was afraid of my rope. I do not know why. It was a good rope. All the ropes are good. The night before we left, I go over them all carefully. And a good thing that I do. One of the ropes I took between my hands and poof its nap. So I replace it with a dark one. The one that you carried from Mason. It was a very good rope. It would have held three such men as her, Jim.