 Autolight and its 96,000 dealers bring you Mr. Robert Young in tonight's presentation of So Spence Tonight Autolight presents a story about a man who commits a murder efficiently and safely Only to find there was a witness the story is called a murder of necessity Starring Mr. Robert Young Great performance hey Harlow sure is half reminds me of the outstanding performance of that team Combination of precision-made units including the auto light generators starting motor coil distributor and all the other important parts of The complete auto light electrical system in your auto light equipped car. I know Harlow But I'm talking about the show and what a show that auto light electrical system puts on half It works every time you start and run your car blow your horn light your lights or use your electric windshield wiper cigarette lighter radio or heater and every unit is related by auto light engineering design and Manufacturing skill to give you the smoothest performance money can buy. Yes. Well, here's the next act Harlow The next act friends is to specify auto light original factory parts when replacements are needed for your auto light equipped car because From bumper to tail light. You're always right with auto light And now with a murder of necessity and the performance of mr. Robert Young Autolight hopes once again to keep you in suspense I'm walking along a city street murder in my heart Tonight is the night. I must kill remember the name Herbie sacks fat sweaty Herbie sacks You'll be sitting behind his big desk and he'll look up at me and smile and his fat neck will spill over the expensive collar of the Expensive shirt that he'll be wearing So far so good no one around So far so good What do I keep saying? Some sign painter will have a new job Scrape the name and gold letters off the glass door Herbert J. Sacks private investigator will soon be dead gentle Through the panel of the glass door the fat shadow of the big man sitting happily in his swivel chair Mr. Sacks waits within murderer Knock on his door Gets up from the chair Herbie Come and open the door meet your doom Start any other office. Oh Hello mark What do you want a few moments of your time? Oh, I'm busy. Let's make it inside Herbie Go ahead. Herbie sit down Well, what do you want? Herbie I'm through You've bled me for the last nickel. What are you talking about? I made a mistake a long time ago And when hunting and I killed a man it was an accident But instead of turning myself in and getting off on a charge of manslaughter I listened to the advice of a man named Herbie sacks go home. Nobody saw you shoot him You said nobody did except you Herbie I'll be silent said Herbie. I look mark. I've had to pay for your silence haven't I Herbie Through the nose Who do you think you are coming here like this? Well for two cents for two cents You'd sell your mother your grandmother and your wife Gretchen a nice girl who doesn't deserve you I'm warning you mark. You're through warning people Herbie I wonder how many others will breathe easier when once they learn you're no longer exercising a big stick What what are you gonna do this? Now the sign painter can scrape the gold letters off the glass door Herbert J sacks sets dead in his swivel chair The blood running a crazy pattern down the front of his expensive shirt his mouth silent no words no accusations No talk of any kind no talk Wait Wait Herbie was talking to somebody when I knocked on the door Nobody here. Who was he talking to? Must have been talking to somebody on the telephone He didn't hang it up Who's there? Please don't phone and Herbie's desk drawer had been off the hook Herbie'd been talking to someone on the phone Who would it been? Somebody I knew Somebody I didn't know Somebody like Herbie who'd make me suffer some more I had to find out but how How I got an idea the phone pad Today March 24th and under the date three names L. Collins The name Janice and a phone number And an art lafune Could it have been one of them? On the phone you heard What Was it a radio? Was it a record? That's all you have to go on but it'll have to be enough Even now whoever it was may be calling the police Down in the corner drugstore I look up L. Collins There's only one strange for a name like Collins, but only one Lucius Collins who lives on North Woodburn Drive The taxi gets me there in 20 minutes Yes Uh Mrs. Lucius Collins Yes Is um Is your husband at home? Yes, you want to see him? If it's possible Come in Just follow me What did you say your name was? I didn't say But it's uh Paul, Paul Drake Oh Lucius Is it Mr. Drake who wants to see you? Drake? Yes, Mr. Collins a mutual friend asked me to call I'd like to speak to you alone if I may I'll close the door Mr. Collins Oh uh Sit down Mr. Drake Thank you You said a mutual friend sent you or who? Herbie Sacks sent me Mr. Collins What does he want? He's not satisfied with the present setup Mr. Drake, I'm paying him all I can now I can't pay anymore If I did my wife might find out Then how would I explain it? Doesn't Mr. Sacks understand that? He's not satisfied, Mr. Collins That's all I can tell you But what am I going to do? Well Herbie just gave me a general picture of your situation Perhaps if you filled me in on the details There are no details, Mr. Drake I made a mistake once I met a girl we grew fond of each other Naturally my wife suspected something was wrong She went to Mr. Sacks and had him trail me He found out about us The girl and me but He didn't tell my wife He said he wouldn't tell her if I paid him And so I did The girl went away but I still paid Mr. Sacks I understand Mr. Collins You do You really do Uh have you been home all evening Mr. Collins? Well he is Now I guess I'll just tell Herbie what you told me If you can't increase it you can't do it That radio over there looks like an old one Oh it is we've had that for years It's broken, haven't bothered to have it fixed You got a phonograph? That's an old one The kind of wine's not much good It's up in the attic stored away Well thanks Mr. Collins Thanks I mean for seeing me or letting me talk to you Well I don't understand it A man like you working for Herbie Sacks? I know Mr. Collins I don't seem like the kind that would That poor little man If only I could have told him Whispered to him, yelled to him Mr. Collins your unhappiness is over The man who held you in the arms of terror is no more He's dead He's up in his office Spilling blood all over his nice clean carpet You're a free man Free to pick up the pieces of your life and start again But tomorrow you'll know It'll be in all the papers That'll be soon enough The first name on the list I check off Lucius Collins is a man with problems of his own He didn't play his broken radio or the old phonograph Stored away up in his attic So I call the phone number next to the name on the pad that reads Janice I've walked away with a Leon spot text speaking Is Janice there? Yeah but she's awful busy waiting on tables Can I give her a message? No Uh I'll call later Okay I found Leon's bar downtown on Maine It was a cheap place but it was full of people Then I saw the girl waiting on the tables She was pretty But a prettiness that was cheap like the bar I walked over to an empty booth in the corner and sat down I waited Then she saw me and came over and stood beside me What do you have? Whiskey and water Whiskey and water, right Janice Come here man What is it? I want to talk to you Look I'm awful busy right now Herbie sent me I didn't get your name Drake, Paul Drake Herbie sent you? Yes, Herbie sent me For what? What does Herbie usually want? What kind of a hold-up is this? Twice in one week Herbie's an ugly man isn't he Janice? You're a funny guy I almost get the impression you didn't like him Well it isn't necessary for an employee to like his employer is it? No What are you? His collection agency? In a sense I'm also an advisor of his What do you mean? Sometimes I advise him about his clients Perhaps I could advise him about you What would you advise him? I think you're a pretty girl A very pretty girl Janice I'd advise him of that You shouldn't say things like that Why not? Because they're not true Yes they are What do you want from me mister? I'd like to take you home tonight Where you live That's all I want That's a lot I think you're pretty Janice I told you I get off in an hour You can take me home In an hour She got up from the table and walked across the room There was something strange about this girl Something I didn't understand But something I had to find out She stopped at the jukebox in the corner of the bar Next to the phone book And dropped a dime into the machine That's when I heard this song again Here's bringing you Mr. Robert Young in A murder of necessity Tonight's production in radio's outstanding theater of thrills Sells spends Oh I'll admit it's the best system going And it's always going when your car is, huh? The auto light electrical system that works every second your engine runs As well as when you blow your horn, light your lights or use your electric windshield wiper, Cigarette lighter, radio or heater And the auto light electrical system is used by the finest, Harlow Yes sir, Hap has original equipment on many leading makes of our finest cars, trucks and tractors And in the auto light electrical system every unit and component part Is related by auto light engineering design and manufacturing skill To give you the smoothest performance money can buy That's why it pays to keep your car running right Right you are, Hap So friends make it a point to see your car dealer or authorized auto light service station soon You can easily locate your nearest authorized auto light service station In the classified section of your telephone directory Under automobile electrical service Or you can call Western Union by number and ask for operator 25 She will gladly tell you his location And remember from bumper to tail light you're always right with auto light And now auto light brings back to our Hollywood sound stage Mr. Robert Young in Elliott Lewis' production of A Murder of Necessity A tale well calculated to keep you in Suspense Well Oh, nice music You like it? My favorite record I play it all the time You do? Uh-huh Well, should we go? I'll call a cab You don't have to Why not? Ride home in style It's only a couple of blocks from here We can walk Wouldn't you like to walk? All right Beautiful night Not a cloud in the sky I love fresh air What's your last name, Janice? I've got a lot of them Call me Janice Gibson Janice Gibson All right, Janice Gibson What kind of a girl are you, Janice? If you work for Herbie Sacks, you know all about me Not the details, pretty girl Why do you keep saying pretty girl? Because it's a statement of fact You are pretty, Janice I'm the kind of a girl that you read about in the confession magazines Only they make those stories up, they're fiction My story's not fiction, it's a real one I believe you Long time ago, a girl with big ideas came out of the sticks Landed in a big city And she met a man named Herbie Sacks She met him after she'd gone off a deep end She wanted thrills Those thrills ended her up in a straight jacket and a sanitarium They were the kind of thrills you don't write the family back home about But how does Herbie fit you? Herbie is a man with many ways and means And when the girl ended up in an addict, Herbie was the big brother He had a soft shoulder and he stretched out a helping hand After I was cured, he told me I had to pay him for his silence The silence that would keep the family back home from finding out about the thrilling things That happened to the girl from the sticks Are you? Yes Well over them That's good Why do you work for a man like him? Check it off to living Were you at the bar all night tonight? Ever since eight o'clock, why? Nothing I guess I'm making conversation because I don't want to talk to you anymore Look, mister, you can walk on the other side of the street I didn't ask you to- Oh, wait a minute, I didn't mean it that way, Janice Honest, believe me What I meant was I didn't want to talk because I suddenly feel like kissing you This is where I live The bug house Want to come up and meet the fleas? Courtesy of Herbie's sacks Janice, don't be bitter I got one room and a hot plate What am I supposed to do? Dance or dance? Because I can't afford anything better Look, I'll- I'll talk to Herbie I'm his advisor, remember? Maybe I'll advise him that changes mine If you thought you could- I'll try That much, I promise I'll advise him that you ought to have a nice apartment to live in And a stove Paul? Yes You want to come upstairs? I'll make you some coffee All right, that's something to take care of and it's late to- Maybe after- You won't come back Once you leave, I won't see you anymore You're that kind of guy I'll come back I won't see you again I know I won't Kiss me, Paul Paul Like you were going away for a long time Come upstairs Let me make you some coffee I'll be back Paul Janice, someday if you ever find out that this is all over Go back home to where there aren't thrilling things for a girl like you to do I don't know They'll never know Home is a long and far away memory I- I don't know Promise me On the kiss Maybe Maybe, Paul Maybe I took her in my arms and kissed her again Then she turned and disappeared through the door into the cheap boarding house And the black knight closed in on me again in the fear and fright returned Under the streetlight up at the corner I checked the last name on the phone pad Art LaFoum He's not at his place of business on Houston Avenue, the watchman tells me Mr. LaFoum is never at his place of business at 2.30 in the morning, he says with raised eyebrows Even though it is a novelty business, novel things are always happening So I wait until eight o'clock the following morning Near his novelty business I find a very shabby hotel and for two dollars the night clerk Tells me that I can have a bed with a clean sheet and a loud knock on my door when it's seven o'clock By five minutes after eight I'm standing in front of Mr. LaFoum's novelty business on the third floor My hand closed tightly around a piece of blue steel that means death for Mr. LaFoum I promise you, Major, when LaFoum makes a promise he keeps his word Okay kid, I'll see you Hello, brother Mr. LaFoum That's it, brother LaFoum Anything that's novel or new, see LaFoum Yeah, let me show you these small telescopes we just got in I made some a couple of years ago, but those were tame Hey, take a look at this one Look, go ahead, go ahead, you squint your eye You got a focus Herbie sent me Yeah, I was... What was that, brother? Herbie Sax Yeah? You mentioned the name Herbie Sax, what am I supposed to do? You know Herbie Who are you anyway? I work for Herbie Sax You made another statement, tell me how to react, brother Hey, look, Mr. Novelty man, I don't know how to convince you, but I'll get rough if I have to Okay, okay, take it easy, brother, take it easy That's an expensive shirt That's why I'm here Herbie doesn't like you buying such expensive shirts Who are you? I'm recently hired to make collections I've come to collect You know what? I think you're lying You don't work for Herbie Sax, you don't work for him at all I told you, I was just recently hired And why didn't he tell me you'd be around, brother? I talked to him on the phone last night Why didn't he tell me, huh? You talked to Herbie on the phone last night? Yeah, brother, I talked to him What happened when you talked to Herbie? What do you mean, what happened? Who are you, brother? Nobody you'd be interested in Yeah, well maybe the cops are the investors Put it down Get your hands off of me Later, Mr. LaFoune Later we'll take care of some unfinished business When it's dark and no one will see me I got out of the building I had to before someone saw me Saw my face and would recognize it again But tonight when it's dark, I'll wait for you and follow you, Mr. LaFoune It was you on the phone, now I know Buy a paper and go home, lay low When I get home I open the paper and there it is On page two On the count of the death of Herbert J. Sachs, the private investigator Shot through the chest twice by an unknown assailant How soon would it be before Mr. LaFoune would tell the police the name of the unknown assailant Long enough Because LaFoune was the kind of man who'd wait for the killer to get in touch with him LaFoune was the kind of man who could be bribed And then while I tried to sweep Herbie's wife Yeah Hello Gretchen Did you read about Herbie and the papers this morning? Yeah, I read Gretchen I want to talk to you, Mark Talk? It's important Have the police been out to the house yet? No I was down for a few minutes at the morgue To identify the body That's all? I was on the other end of the phone, Mark Why didn't you answer me when I picked up the receiver? Have you thought them through? Wilson, talk to me Yes, Gretchen, I'll be out In a little while I'll wait for you It was Herbie's own wife Gretchen on the phone, sweet and lovable Gretchen And now the wife of the man I murdered waits to talk with me What about? The weather? No No, she waits to talk business Before the police arrive She waits to take up where the fat man left off Another murder of necessity Ring the doorbell, murderer Hello, Mark Come in I'm sorry, Gretchen Hey there, Gretchen Hi Hey there What are you saying? I couldn't stand him Everything he was, I hated He wouldn't let me go No, I don't believe you Last night I called him on the telephone Called him to tell him to come home Because... No, no When he got home, Mark I was going to kill him Operator Get me police headquarters I just committed a murder That wasn't necessary At all South Spence Presented by AutoLite, tonight's star, Mr. Robert Young This is Harlow Wilcox speaking for all of you AutoLite, world's largest independent manufacturer of automotive electrical equipment Our AutoLite family is made up of the nearly 30,000 men and women in 28 great AutoLite plants from coast to coast and in still other AutoLite plants in many foreign countries It also includes more than 18,000 people who have invested a portion of their savings in AutoLite as well as 96,000 AutoLite distributors and dealers in the United States and thousands more in Canada and throughout the world On April 1st, AutoLite will present the national television preview of the great parade of stars automobile show from the Grand Ballroom of New York's Waldorf Astoria Hotel This program may be seen at the regular AutoLite suspense television time on April 1st or a few days later in some television areas Don't miss this great program And remember to be with us next week for another thrilling AutoLite suspense show on radio Next week, our star will be Miss Deborah Carr as a girl who chose a most dangerous way of making a living and bet her life on its success A story true except for changes in names and places which we call the Colonel's Lady Presented on Suspense is produced and directed by Elliott Lewis with music composed by Lucian Morrowick and conducted by Lud Gluskin A Murder of Necessity was written for suspense by Richard George Padaccini Featured to tonight's cast were Paula Winslow Charlotte Lawrence Joe Gilbert Howard McNeer Lou Merrill and Joseph Kearns Robert Young, star of Father Knows Best appeared through the courtesy of the Crosley Corporation And remember next week on suspense Miss Deborah Carr in The Colonel's Lady This is the CBS Radio Network