 Personal notice stages my stock and trade if the job's too tough for you to handle you got a job for me George Valentine write full details Standard Oil Company of California on behalf of independent Chevron gas stations and standard stations throughout the west Invite you to let George do it the ugly duckling another adventure of George Valentine My dear mr. Valentine Having devoted my entire life to music to the management of concerts development of singers I find that sometimes my knowledge of simple human nature is lacking a Friend of mine needs help quite desperately a woman who gave up her own musical career Just for the sake of a man who is as cold and bleak as Incapable of tenderness as the music he composes of the dreary stone house that they hibernate him His name is Edmund Salter. He is very ill. It's true But caring for him has made his wife even more than ill She can't even smile anymore Nor will she tell me her oldest and only remaining friend the strange secret of her unhappiness her worry her fear Perhaps even her danger Mr. Valentine since I must leave shortly for New York the opening of a new ballet Will you please please come immediately do meet me at the Salters home? It is far out on Ocean Drive Pacific Bluffs, California sincerely Yasha Hardwick come on George he won't mind hey I'm just beginning to wake up. It's the husband playing Edmund Salter It must be mr. Hardwick said composer and it never occurred to me But there was an Edmund Salter who was famous you couldn't prove it by me concert pianist When I was in school he performed once But there's something strange about him. He's a little tiny man George makes a lot of big music. He was he was shy and Well, he's the one they call the ugly duckling Well, how'd you do? Oh, excuse us. We were just listening to I have absolutely no statement to make for the papers And if you think you're going to hear a personal private record just a minute. My name is George Valentine This is miss Brooks You're Mrs. Salter aren't you the friends of Yasha Hardwick from town. Yes, that's right. Oh, excuse me He has such odd friends. I never would have guessed. Oh, I'm one of the artists don't be offended Yasha's staying at the hotel, but he's on his way over now. I think you may wait for him here Mrs. Salter is is that one of your husband's own pieces. He's playing Johann Sebastian Bach. Oh Well, I didn't know I just Sebastian Bach lovely Edmund plays it so neatly so cleanly so precisely Alongside of my husband's own music, you know Bach sounds like Chopin like the springtime like like boogie woogie What's that? Like something with blood in it, Mr. Valentine I'm afraid my husband was much too self-centered to be ever quite capable of What's the matter Mrs. Salter? Oh, pardon me. Yoo-hoo. Yoo-hoo Mary. Mary, darling, may we come in? Of course you may. Hello, Bertha And you too? Oh, this is Emil darling my new husband. I told you about Mrs. Salter Well, you get such handsome husbands. Don't you Bella? What does she say? Oh nothing dear Mary darling. I rush back. He's a friend of Yasha's Bella Miss Brooks, Mr. Valentine. Oh, Mrs. Bella Rappo Emil Rappo. Oh, hello. How do you do? Such a pleasure. Emil Rappo You're a pianist too, aren't you in this house? No, no, no alongside of Edmund Salter I would call myself a bricklayer. Oh, he's so modest too and polite and such a friendly smile Ah, yes, so Mrs. Salter... Mary, darling, I understand how upset you are. I rush back from San Francisco just the moment I heard But if only I hadn't left here yesterday, it was such a tragic surprise. Yes, you rush back. Of course you rush back And I'm so glad that you did Bella. I've been just waiting for you. I've been just waiting to slap your face Mary, darling. What in the name of... Why on earth did she do that? Why? To hit you. I don't know lady, but it seems... Oh no, no, please both of you. The poor thing must be almost out of her mind. After all she devoted her entire life to him Well, won't one of you please go in there and shut off that phonograph? Phonograph? It's making it worse for her. It sounds so real Well, I will shut off the phonograph. We should have guessed it, Angel. Yes, it happened late last night. She wired me. He had another attack Edmund Salter. The ugly duckling is finally dead Since moving here, Mrs. Salter seems to have changed so, Valentine. In the old days she used to be alive and warm and so cool Now she's a nervous wreck. Sure how do we go by that? But what exactly... Well, Mr. Valentine, her husband, Edmund Salter, he was called aloof. The sort of man who would keep things to himself Go on I strongly suspect there was some specific thing, some secret of his that might bear on the way she is. If you could only find it Perhaps in some of his papers there is a box of them somewhere, I'm sure. And it will be easier now that he is dead Yeah, yeah, now that he's dead. And Salter died of his illness, of course. Another attack I... I haven't talked to the doctor about it No, neither have I. But the doctor's name is Robinson. Miss Brooks is getting in touch with him for me You're curious? Wouldn't you be? Haven't you noticed all the bottles and medicines in this house? Well, of course, but... And a good many of them with red labels? Drugs? Maybe poisons? Mr. Valentine, I asked you here to Pacific Bluffs because I was afraid for Mary Salter She had the foolishness to devote her life to a man incapable of love A selfish man, a man she may have feared for some reason, but... No, I can't imagine she ever grew really to hate him I didn't say that Oh I didn't say anything Now, this is quite a place they have here With a good deal, I imagine He was wealthy, yes, if that's what you mean. He made it on concerts, invested wisely, I suppose Why? Why now that Edmund Salter is already dead, do you still want me to go nosing around for what was wrong between him and his wife? Well, I... Could it have been money? Mrs. Salter's career was never very successful, was it? You've managed them both Who gets his money now, Mr. Hardwick? Well, really, Mr. Valentine, I haven't the slightest notion I can answer that Mrs. Rappo I get some of it You do 25 or 30,000, I suppose 30,000? Well, there's nothing to be surprised about I started Edmund Salter on his career, you know Loaned money for his studies, his first concerts You see, there was a day when I had money to give to musicians There's a precarious thrill in being a patroness of the arts It's true, Mr. Valentine Mrs. Rappo has started a great many young people And I doubt if the ugly duckling ever paid her back He certainly did, the tables are reversed, that's all He knew that I needed help now And so does that pupil of his Pupil? Yes, Miss Diana Luskin, her name is She lives in your town, Mr. Valentine A great deal of promise, I've heard But no career's worth much unless you have a little money to start out on I see Salter was planning to give her some too And what about the rest of it? The rest, Mr. Valentine To his wife, naturally All the rest, the house, everything, to Mary, of course That's what I've always understood Where else would it go? What else was there in Edmund's life besides music and And his wife? George, hold me! George! None of your business None of your business I found her burning things in here, George I didn't mean to interrupt, but the door was open And she was so startled, screamed at me to get out Some sheets of music, that's all it's worth That's all there was No it isn't Those other papers weren't music But it's my house, I can do what I like A little fire might warm this house up Yeah, sure, of course you can, Mrs. Salter But you just found this stuff, didn't you? It was in the box there Your husband's name on it My husband's dead It's my estate now I can do what I like Now I can do anything I like That's right, operate a long distance It's a city number all the way Miss Diana Luskin What? Curiosity's getting me, Angel Say, tell me, Dr. Robinson Isn't it quite possible that Edmund Salter Could have been given an overdose of a wrong Or a wrong dose of medicine That somebody could have wanted him to die? No Oh, wanted Well, yes, yes Maybe I don't know about that But did it actually happen? No But Dr. Robinson I was with Edmund Salter For the last 12 hours of his life What? There is absolutely no conceivable possibility That the man died from anything Other than natural causes Oh, I see Your party doesn't answer, sir Oh, what's that operating? I said I'm sorry, sir But I have the correct number now And your party doesn't seem to answer Oh Brooksy, maybe we're just trying to open Some hidden boxes and private lines That shouldn't be open Shall I try again later, sir? No, no thanks, Operating Might as well cancel the... Hello Huh? Oh, I'm sorry, but never mind Hey, look, say hello again, will you? Valentine What in the name of... Lieutenant Johnson I was calling Diana Luskin What are you doing there? You can't talk to her, she's busy I'm busy watching the rescue squad Bring her around What do you think? Bring her around Oh, the young lady drank a little too much wine as all Out of a little gift bottle Sent to her yesterday From up where you are Pacific bluffs And what do you think was in that wine, Valentine? Poison We'll return to tonight's adventure Of George Valentine in just a moment A squeak or a rattle in the family car Is annoying to say the least But even worse, it's a sure sign That something could be wearing out And 60% of all auto repair bills Could be avoided If drivers remembered one simple rule Chassis lubrication at regular intervals That's how the protective service Offered you by standard stations And by independent chevron gas stations Can save you a lot of money Ask them for their expert lubrication job Every thousand miles It's one of the surest ways To keep your car out of the repair shop For here they're specially trained To catch every single wear spot And they use over a dozen RPM lubricants Each one tailor-made To do an important, wear-saving job It's a protective service That not only assures longer car life But a smoother cushioned ride Free of squeaks and rattles Ask for it every thousand miles At a standard station Or an independent chevron gas station Where they say, and mean We take better care of your car Now, back to tonight's adventure Of George Valentine The ugly duckling is dead A strange cold man Wants a concert pianist And then a composer of perfect, concise Cold music Edmund Salter is dead The doctor insists his death was quite natural But there's nothing natural About any of the little group of people Collected in the lonesome stone house Overlooking the ocean near Pacific Bluffs And so if your name is George Valentine It's no great surprise when you learn That a distant beneficiary of Salter's will Diana Luskin was made ill By a gift bottle sent from Pacific Bluffs By a drug, a poison Which you very soon confirm Could only have come from this very same house Some of Salter's medicine Here, George This is the room we caught Mr. Salter bringing those things in They're sewing room, huh? There's the little box of her husband She took the papers out of Whatever they were I don't know what I expect to find, Angel The doctor's already rounded up all the medicine bottles For fingerprinting it Stashes, that's all This folder of music is the only thing left Manuscript paper Something he wrote himself All we've got left to tell us The story of the ugly duckling Hmm Bum, dum, dum He's out of your class, George Here, let me try What was that? I don't know Thought you said everybody was downstairs Well, I... And here I think The next room was the study of the library Yeah Empty Sounded like something metal The porcelain's still there, maybe Only whoever it was George! Oh, Mr. Valentine Oh, I didn't know it was you Honestly, I... I just heard someone coming What are you doing, tickering with a stove, Mr. Hardwick Prying around? George, at least he wasn't burning anything The grate's cold No, no, of course, I'm just curious Like you are, Mr. Valentine I can't stand not knowing Not knowing what? That's just it, that's what I hired you to find out That Mary has had to destroy many things recently All has thought she had to But there was nothing in the ashes there Except these two little loops of ribbon Let me see Hmm, must have been Pink ribbon Silver threads kept them from burning completely Yeah, and burned some time ago Now, wait a minute Here, corner of a newspaper Corner of the lid, see Last week's newspaper Pink ribbon Lady, not exactly Mary Salter's style, is it? Well, nor her husband's The ugly duckling So I doubt if my discovery amounts to much Mr. Hardwick, do you remember what happened To the ugly duckling in the fairy tale? What? Come on, Angel, bring that music The duckling turned into a swan, Mr. Hardwick A swan Well, of course I can play this Mr. Valentine, but Salter Should have wanted it buried He would probably turn in his grave Shall I leave this door open too, George? Yeah, that's right, Bruxy Mr. Salter's still in the back parlor Oh, I bet she doesn't stay there long Oh, don't worry, she'll hear it all right You know, whatever this thing is It's tied up one way or another with the papers We know she did burn There, you see It is soupy, too much sentimentality Keep it up, you're doing fine If the while is gone It's gone It's gone You're doing fine The one thing Edmont Salter always had was Dignity Calm, concise clarity Too cold for the commoner But musicians' music Never mind the lecture, Mac Hey, Bruxy, look Yeah, here she comes It's a magnet, all right Hey, Neil, a little nerve Scrapple! Hello, my pet, how do you like this, this hot third Sunday? What is it? Come on, keep playing It's a new work of Edmont Salter's, Mrs. Rampo What? Oh, no! Oh, yes, what the man says is true, my pet Poor fellow, he would die all over again If he couldn't hurt anyone whilst hearing it Let me see the pages Mrs. Rampo, I'm sorry, but I want him to keep playing Did you look through the pages? Here, I can take the back one No, no, I don't read music that well, but will you... That's not what I mean, it's program notes What? On the backs of the pages Edmont always typed his own program notes That he insisted on Let me see I can read it To whom it may concern It is my absolute wish that the accompanying work Be performed by a pianist of the first rank Preferably in Carnegie Hall They're poor idiots While I realize that it is the departure From my usual technique I consider this work my most personal composition There are some loose leaf notes Attached in explanation Or perhaps, confession Those notes, George, maybe those were what she burned Yeah, yeah, go on, Mrs. Rampo Confession I call this work The Secret Sonata And I dedicate it to the two Secret loves Hey, Mrs. Rampo, wait, don't tear that up Give it to me, will you? Stop it, stop it all Yes, if you stop playing that Stop every mushy, feeble-minded note of Mary Mrs. soldier, won't you name a... And you, Bella, sonata to the two Mary, why do you stay here? I slapped your face once, I've insulted your husband I've... Mary, please Amy, you go on playing, please, please But so fast you took, I do not understand You heard the lady Buster, play it Here, have some more music, stay here with them, Boxy There's only a waste of time for any of you You're coming with me, ladies, both of you That's better, let's leave the husband out of this Mr. Valentine, I want you to clearly understand For years I was a patroness of music I was a patroness of Mr. Edmund Salter That is absolutely all It's all in the music For Carnegie Hall For the world to hear I sacrificed my own career, my entire life for that man Mary! You know the secret now, Mr. Valentine My jealousy My husband's infidelity I'm sure there's nothing more you need to know I'm very sorry, Mrs. Salter But the other half of the sonata The other of two loves A young woman who was sent some poison from this house You were in there, a policeman came to the house He said his name is Lieutenant Johnson And he wants to see you You bet he does, lady I'm trying to tell you There's still a little matter of attempted murder Oh, but Johnson, for the love of Pete You heard me, Valentine, there's no case Oh, but Diana Luskin was male poison That's attempted murder, that's... They bottled their own wine in this house Sure, some drug got into it by mistake But not enough to kill a mouse All I knew was she was sick from the stuff She'd come for me at the local police But I know now there's only one person Who could have sent that stuff to her Sure, sure, Mrs. Salter herself She's the one sent the poison, all right A vindictive gesture Vindictive gesture? That's what it'll be called What else could we ever prove? Oh, so that's it Mrs. Salter was the one who always gave that medicine To her husband She'd have known how much to use for a lethal dose, wouldn't she? And there's the case right there The important thing is, Miss Luskin herself refuses To bring charges of any kind She says it must have been a mistake, too We can't make a case without her help She's already in touch with Salter's lawyer And he came down here just behind her Yeah So Mrs. Salter was just a jealous woman Who was married to a two-timing heel And the other two women involved Are so afraid for their reputations Or maybe I should say a musical career for one And a new husband and meal ramble for the other That they'll do anything to keep it quiet, too That's about it Johnson, my best Go and offer my apologies To the lady of the house Mrs. Salter, what did you burn this time? The pages of the sonata that were still there In the piano? What do you mean? What did the lawyers say about burning the sonata? About going against your husband's wishes Is they... Well, I did it before they came They thought it was in the best interest Of my husband's memory The whole little guy on top of the musical pedestal I devoted my life to him, Mr. Valentine I never once suspected Toward me, he was always Well incapable of tenderness And sentimentality Why don't you cut it out? What? Tell me something, Mrs. Salter What was the rest of the deal to hush it up With the lawyers and Mrs. Bella Rappo And maybe they've talked again to Miss Luskin on the phone I don't know what you mean I've already talked to Mrs. Rappo myself I don't know if it was any more, is she? And the girl isn't taking hers either, is she? Not if there's a scandal to go with it Oh? Well... Mrs. Rappo's got her husband a meal to think about And I suppose the girl thinks too much of the memory Of your husband or too much of her own career They'll both refuse that money Mr. Valentine... That was the price you asked for burning the sonata, wasn't it? The price for interfering with your husband's Supposed desire to have that thing performed at Carnegie To wear some bad music and nasty program Notes like the family wash in public I had to burn it before I didn't want it to happen Oh, yes, yes It happened just the way you planned it, lady There'll be no constant You'll get all the money Yeah, pretty neat Except that it's not going to work Simply because of your bad timing Bad timing? You said you tried to burn the music before Well, and Mrs. Sota, why didn't you? When Miss Brooks caught you out at the first time Why did you leave your door open? And how did Yasha Hardwick know Yes, you told him about it And if you knew Then why hadn't you already looked into it? Your husband was an invalid? Yes, why didn't you burn the sonata days ago? I'll tell you why, lady It's because you wanted the big secret to be uncovered Just the way it was today Oh, I know none of what I've said is concrete But this is Just one page from that sonata But it's all I need I stuck it in my pocket on a hunch And the hunch is right, isn't it? Oh, no This is what I'll take to his publisher Who can examine his musical figure The same way a handwriting expert examines a forgery No, no, get me to him, please Please, let me have it Let me have it Because that's it, isn't it, lady? It was you who made up the whole nasty thing About some very nice people And I don't know why I didn't realize When I heard what bad music this was Because he didn't write the sonata That was your fraud, Mrs. Salter You wrote it Still nothing you can do, Mr. Valentine Even if I did write it No So long as you don't interfere with Salter's will How can I know? It was such a joke, that sonata Making people believe that he could be sentimental Capable of tenderness Mrs. Salter, I guess there isn't any way You can be punished Except maybe one You see, there's one thing I've left out A couple of pink ribbons They've been burned in the stove In your husband's study a week ago I showed them to Mrs. Rappo She said they'd been tied around the letters He wrote to her, which she'd returned later on What? He never wrote to her? They were just friends, he was incapable of... I suppose he burned those letters himself So as not to hurt you by finding them after he died Funny, isn't it? The little guy must have been Considerate and kind And lots of good things And the only punishment I can think For you, Mrs. Salter Is to tell you the real truth Your husband did love Bella Rappo And probably the girl too No, no, you're mistaken But not in a way that you can understand He loved them from a distance Because they were all he had Bella said he once wrote her That he wanted to give you so much happiness That his tragedy was And marrying a woman Incapable of tenderness Look, Valentine Would you tell that salt her damn anyway? Well, when she said goodbye to me She looked like she'd seen a ghost Did she? Well, I'm afraid Mrs. Salter's just beginning to realize How badly she wasted her life What do you mean by that, George? Oh, well, nothing, I guess But maybe it made me think about things a little Huh? Oh, you know, thinking about Well, thinking about the Pacific Plus here It's a beautiful place to live in Or, for that matter, to visit Or to take a vacation in Or to go on your honeymoon Yes, George Go on Oh, oh, oh, what am I doing? Getting sentimental? I've been out of my league That's all I wonder if there's any place around here We could catch some good Dixieland music Who drives the kids to school in stormy weather? Who uses the car To do the family shopping and other errands Around town In a lot of families, these are Equally shared duties And if you want to be extra nice To the person who's going to use the car next Let me give you a tip Before you put the car away, make sure There's plenty of chevron supreme gasoline In the tank This premium quality gasoline is climate tailored It's specially blended For each season of the year Based on weather reports from your Driving area Further, it's tailored to each different altitude And temperature zone in the west That's why chevron supreme Makes all your short trip driving More pleasant For it gives your car faster starts Smoother pickup and traffic Ping-free power on hills You'll find you can't buy a better gasoline For today's high compression engines Try chevron supreme tomorrow Get it at independent chevron gas stations And standard stations Where they say And mean We take better care of your car Tonight's adventure of George Valentine Has been brought to you by Standard Oil Company of California On behalf of independent chevron gas Stations and standard stations Throughout the west Robert Bailey is starred as George Let George do it is written by David Victor Jackson Gillis And directed by Don Clark Virginia Gregg appeared as Bruxy Jane Christie was heard as Lieutenant Johnson Larry Dobkin as Hardwick Irene Tedros Mary Lee Patrick as Bella Jane Ovello as Emile And Victor Robbins as Robinson The music is composed and presented by Eddie Dunstetter Your announcer John Heaston Listen again next week, same time Same station to Let George do it This is the Mutual Don Lee Broadcasting System