 Suspends. This is the man in black. Here again to introduce Columbia's programs. Suspends. Tonight in one of her rare radio appearances, we bring you a star who has occupied a unique place in the affections of moviegoers ever since the screen first became of age. Miss Lily and Gish. Appearing with this Gish are two distinguished players. Mr. Ray Collins of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mare Gold whose current release is thousands cheer and Mr. Bramble Fletcher who has ornamented many a stage in film success. There are only three players in Marry for Murder which is tonight's tale of suspense. Only three characters in this story whose beginning and end are shrouded in a dense down east fog. The story of slow terror and swift death planned by a brilliant murderer. And so were the performances of Lily and Gish as Letty Hawthorne, a frightened neurotic creature who seemed destined to be a perfect victim of Bramble Fletcher as Mark Taylor so handsome and attentive and of Ray Collins as the lawyer Philip Alden who relates these events to us. We again hope to keep you in. Suspends. I used to love the sound of fog horns on the day especially at night when I sat before the fire let their lonely wail weave a contrast between my snug comfort and the gray immensity outside but I've lost my taste for them now lost it on the night I heard them moan a dirge of death it's hard enough to lose a friend but to lose one as I lost Letty Hawthorne is the kind of blow you'll never quite forget I remember the first time I met her it fogged up all of a sudden as it does here on the Cape but Anne Wentworth held her Sunday night supper as usual Letty was the only stranger there a newcomer to the Cape I looked at her and thought she'd be an attractive woman if she only didn't flutter so much she was a trim pretty woman of about my own age which is for aren't you what a pleasure to meet so many nights there go those fog horns again yes there's one really get used to them in time well I love the Cape but I can hardly bear that sound so so depressing isn't it so morbid well to your first question yes I'm Alden an attorney as for the fog horns well if you stay with us for a few years you won't be able to live without them mrs. Hawthorne um it is mrs. Hawthorne isn't it and never gets around to introducing people it's her only fault oh I never stand on ceremony that's my fault if you consider it one besides I knew you it once you see and you knew me don't you think that's the promising beginning um I I never thought of it that way oh dear me there it goes again it it makes me think of ghosts walking over my grave how can you bear it they do serve a very important purpose you know I suppose they do but they give me the shutters as a matter of fact I find them comforting I made giant Jane Hart promised to stay with me tonight if the fog doesn't lift I dare not be alone you see I'm still a bit nervous I've been ill you know and the doctor prescribed complete rest and quiet that's why I came up here well you'll find what you're looking for here I'm sure oh do you think so I do hope I will my nerves are simply shattered mr. Hawthorne's dead you see such a tragedy I'm terribly sorry you see it happens so suddenly I can't quite believe it can I get you some of an cider cup that's one of her our Sunday night feature oh thank you that would be so nice it's such a comfort to have a man take care of one again you make me feel so protected I I know we're going to be great friends aren't we I can tell you I worried a bit for a while after that first party Letty Hawthorne was a charming woman a bit fluttery as I said but still attractive and rather pathetic I was afraid she was setting her cap for me you see I'm a crusty old bachelor but even my friends were beginning to wonder so it was with mingled relief and regret that I learned one day that Letty Hawthorne had transferred her attentions to another newcomer to the Cape Mark Taylor he was eight or ten years younger than she a handsome fellow but somewhat disillusioned looking I didn't like him I may as well admit that from the start but short of marrying her myself there wasn't much I could do anyway they seemed happy enough at first one day after the wedding Letty called me on a matter of business I went down there after sundown the three of us sat out on the beach in front of her car we're able to come Philip you see Mark and I were counting on you always glad to oblige you Letty as a matter of fact Alden we want you to attend to a legal matter for us yes Philip Mark wants to make a will I told him I don't like wills there's something so much so unhealthy about them but Mark simply insists upon a very sensible I'm sure oh you men you're all alive it needn't be a very elaborate affair Alden just a simple document stating that I leave all my property to Letty well if he does that Philip I want you to make out a will for me too leaving everything I had to mark but Letty that's no I insist Alden here is going to think I married you for your money money oh why I really don't know anything at all about my affairs really I don't Frank uh Mr Hawthorne I was used to say Letty I really think you know less about business than a child I left the management of his estate entirely to his secretary well just some simple document that makes my intention clear you know the form Alden and of course if Letty but I do we'll have twin wills it doesn't sound so frightening that way the way Letty talks about wills you can tell she has a secret vice can't you a secret vice my wife's a murder mystery fan Alden I didn't find out until it was too late when you say that Taylor smile I'm a detective fan myself it's a busman's holiday of course will I always read the latest two donuts if my father hadn't insisted that I follow in his footsteps I I'd have been a detective instead of a lawyer really how interesting tell us Philip do you ever get any cases like the ones we read about if you want my opinion the chief difference between fact and fiction is that the author of a novel wants you to see the pattern and the author of a murder tries to hide it well what do you mean by that well take your case for example you and Letty are making out your wills I heard her say that she wanted to leave her money to you but how do I know the idea just sprang it to her head of its own accord how do I know that you didn't plant it there plant it for what do you mean why what possible reason could I have well as things stand now there's no reason for me to ask if you planted the idea in her head but if Letty were found dead dead oh Philip how dreadful how can you even think such thoughts mark darling how terrible for you Philip you're to apologize this minute no no no Letty Philip was just trying to explain well I won't have him talking about such horrible things of course I didn't mean you to I was just using you as an example well I didn't mean to be rude Philip but well you know my nerves and it's getting dark and all the bay is beautiful at night of course but I've always been afraid of the water that's why I've had such a time persuading her to come out for a sale the Artemis has been tied up all summer waiting it's just silly I know and I will go with you Mark but let's do wait for a calm day you know let his idea of a sale is to sit be calmed half a mile offshore my wife has perfect confidence in me you see oh market isn't that you're making fun of me aren't you of course I trust you completely but I'm not very athletic you're missing one of the treats of the cape if you don't say oh but I shall of course I shall and soon and what's more I'm going to get Mark to teach me to handle the Artemis well I'll be looking forward to seeing your sales on the bay then oh mark a storm I better be getting home before it breaks are you sure you'll be all right I'm simply terrified of thunder wouldn't you rather stop with us oh I can make it to town stop by tomorrow aren't you olden or as soon as you have those papers right now you won't be nervous after our talk of wills and and murders but of course you won't I'm such a coward myself that I can never understand how other people can be so brave you know Philip let his helplessness is one of her chief charms sometimes I suspect she exaggerates it just to make me feel important oh mark you mustn't giving all my secrets away well don't worry about me or the wills letty someday you will frighten yourself to death there was little enough for me to go by but gradually I found myself worrying about letty and mark they didn't seem to be hitting it off oh on the surface everything was smooth but I was haunted by a premonition of what I didn't know it was only a nameless dread of something some undercurrent of feeling let his nerves were getting no better in fact she seemed more tense more frightened than ever yet she was making an effort to meet mark halfway many times I saw them out sailing only when letty returned after a day on the water she seemed pinched white while mark appeared to be glowing with vitality letty grew paler and more distracted I realized suddenly that she was a middle-aged woman one day in town I met them in the general store you're just imagining it I hate to have that stuff around as you very well know you read all kinds of stories about well about the way it gets mixed up in food or nonsense well I'm sure there aren't any rats around the boathouse I'd know if there were I'm simply terrified of them but I well I can't bear thinking of having poison around why be worried all the time oh letty for heaven's sake stop being childish I didn't put traps around because you didn't want them now that I'm trying to get rid of them in another way you make a scene I don't see why we have to go into a three act tragedy just because I want to buy some rat poison hello hello you two oh hello all of them well I still have how nice to see you mark and I were just doing a little shopping Philip will you do me a favor will you please reason with letty and try to get some sense into her head say wait a minute this sounds serious well it isn't really but Philip you know my nerves and and the way things upset me and mark just doesn't understand oh I know I'm just a silly woman but the doctor says I have to be humid and now mark is so unreasonable and it's such a little thing of course it's a little thing and that's why I can't understand your attitude now look here for it the boathouse is infested with rats wouldn't you say the obvious course of action would be to get rid of them why of course but poison rat poison oh Philip don't you see how horrible it is I mean accidents do happen I've always hated to have anything like that around just in case I've heard of children eating this stuff by accident but you two people can take care of yourselves frankly letty I think you're making a fuss over nothing yes yes that's right that's just what I told her well very well then but if I'm found dead I hope you realize you'll both be under suspicion seemed a foolish quarrel at the time yet when I left them I kept hearing letty's voice suddenly a monstrous idea occurred to me I wondered if letty had been trying to warn me and then the horrible suspicion broke all the trifling things began to add up letty's nervousness a fear of sailing with mark a terror of having the poison in the house but why why should she be afraid of mark what motive had he and then I knew I had helped to give him the motive when I drew up letty's will yet my whole case was founded on thin air a stigma of a nervous imagination I had to be sure I had to keep an eye on them I found myself making excuses excuses to drop by at their coffee oh Philip well well well you're almost getting to be a member of the family well I just thought I'd ask you to help me eat the first bluefish of the season there's too much here for an old bachelor like me why Philip Alden if you aren't the most thoughtful person how perfectly sweet of you of course you'll stay to dinner we'll have a real feast yes yes you might as well stay as long as you're here thank you if you're sure I won't be intruding intruding well of course not and you can help me get the dinner ready well I'd be glad to but won't I be in Anna's way Anna's gone gone why I I thought you were well satisfied with it so we were Philip but Anna didn't seem to be satisfied with us in fact they've all gone all yes Anna and Elsie and Otto the handyman they just walked out and left us well since the ship and engine place opened on the heights nobody can keep a servant can't blame them myself I wonder I don't believe Anna take a job at the ship and engine anyhow it does seem strange they all went at once doesn't it letty I do wish you'd stop dramatizing everything ship and engine just opened the call went out for help I don't see any mystery in the servants answering in fact it's their patriotic duty and it's our patriotic duty to get along without them but it's so lonely here especially at night now letty you're not living here by yourself you know no of course enough but all the same we are isolated just the two of us and you know how tricky my nerves are I always feel so much better if the servants are around after all if anything were to happen and anything might happen letty this isn't getting us any closer to our dinner oh of course now you boys wear these aprons Philip since it's your fish you may have the honor of cooking it all right you ask for it it'll be your funeral now Philip oh a mark you hold the berries for the dessert I'll do the vegetables and set the table please and bachelor this dinner's a rare treat letty oh I'm so glad you enjoyed it Philip I don't deserve the credit that bluefish was simply delicious how did you manage to catch it all by yourself I always think men are so wonderful I'd be glad to take you both the next time I go fishing it's good fun fresh air be good for you letty oh no I couldn't well I'm still just a wee bit nervous about the water so I tried terribly hard haven't I Mark yeah I've been good about the sailing and you know I'm learning to manage the Artemis all by myself aren't I Mark I don't write my name in the wake anymore do I yes let is a real hand at the tiller she'll be a better sail than I am soon you've seen you just seen her take the Artemis into Harvard the other day did all right yes she came through that channel with a breeze against her I wanted to take it over afraid she'd run into the mud flats but no she coaxed it all the way in we came in under sail yes and I wanted to do it all by myself even though I was terrified good for you why that's really a splendid accomplishment I've been negotiating the heart of the years but I confess that I had trouble every now and then well since nobody wants any more berries I guess it's time to do the dishes now I'll show you what a good hand I am as a wait a minute that's my job yes no I'll clear a clean and wash you too can dry and you can dry let it what is it well you shouldn't have tried to carry that tray no it's not that why let it what's happened to you you look ghastly I'm I'm afraid I I'm afraid I'm afraid I've been poisoned but great heavens Philippi I just can't believe it arsenic poisoning do you think Dr. Potter knows what he's talking about I'm sure he does of course we can't be sure till the tests are made but I don't see I I don't understand it's not very hard to understand let me aid arsenic however she got it we don't know but it's not difficult to guess but we all ate the same meal you and I and she why good lord flick do you think we're poisoned too I feel perfectly all right you appear to be comfortable I think we'd feel it by now but then how on earth be perfectly logical about it we we all ate the blue fish yes I prepared it we all had potatoes and string beans and let it cook those yes yes then we all ate strawberries you prepared them why now the fish and the vegetables were all served in large platters and each one of us helped ourselves therefore if any poison were in the food we'd all be sick but the strawberries see here olden are you suggesting wait a minute wait a minute we're just following this through logically the strawberries were put on the table in separate dishes the poison could have been slipped into Leti's plate in the kitchen olden you have no right to accuse me of this why you're fixing up a case against me I'm doing nothing of the sort any event I think you might worry less about your own skin and more about Leti thanks I think I can take care of my own wife nevertheless I suggest you get someone to help you I'm perfectly well able to nurse her my son I were you I'd have someone else as well I'll send Mrs. Hallstead over from town she's an experienced practical nurse what I've always appreciated about you Philip is the way you mind your own business I'll be going now Mrs. Hallstead will be along as soon as I can get her when the doctor's analysis came it was arsenic poisoning all right there were traces of arsenic in the sugar on Leti's dish Leti was recovering the dose wasn't large enough to kill her Mrs. Hallstead was installed as nurse and housekeeper just then business called me to New York where I found myself worrying about Leti I couldn't get her out of my mind I was bothered by a few loose ends and Leti's problem the sort of questions that would occur to a legal mind so I decided to spend an evening in the reference room of the law library among the files where I found out enough about Mark and Leti Taylor to send me racing back to the Cape and I knew I had to hurry if I was to prevent a devilish murder it was one of those dull gray afternoons when I arrived at the station the fog was so thick over the bay that it seemed to cloud the whole town cold fear gripped me Leti and Mark I learned it left at dawn for a weekend sail I could picture them murderer and victim shrouded in the gray veils of the fog drifting waiting while the foghorns caught a horse warning of murder so I was too late the trap was sprung my newly gained insight into the affairs of Leti and Mark I could have avert at the tragedy but I was too late or or was I if only they hadn't really left for that sale I took the chance feeling my way along the Cape Road I reached the Taylor Cottage nobody was there then I heard noises in the boathouse I crept down slow and will be sure you planned to murder me for my money I saw the suspicion dawn in his mind that day we made out our twin wills I saw it grow when I was seen in the general store and you brought the rat poison and that night when I was taken ill he was sure you hear me sure you wanted to teach me to sail the Artemis thought I was afraid of the water well Mark Taylor when your body dressed ashore Philip Alden will swear that only an accident prevented you from murdering me what fools you men are aren't you aren't you wouldn't you like to answer me Mark don't you wish you could talk to me again to your helpless little message but you can't can you dead men can't talk can they but they say that in the instant of dying a man can understand many things did you understand Mark but how could you you are really a stupid man Mark didn't you ever wonder about my former husband and his tragic death did you ever want to know about Frank Hawthorne he did at the very end he wondered about his predecessor George Martin he shall both died in a yachting accident isn't it Frank died off the coast of California and George was drowned in the Gulf of Mexico and now you mark your body will be found someplace along the Cape here I suppose oh what bad luck I've had with my husband but how thoughtful all of you were to leave me your property too bad I'm such an extravagant widow isn't it for I do run through money I wasn't lying about that I wish I could wish you could help me get your body to the Artemis if only you hadn't insisted on turning back when the fog grows I could have killed you so much more neatly a sudden gust of wind while I was at the wheel and the Artemis jibes and the boom catches you and off you go to the bottom of the sea but now I've got to lug your back on board and pitch you overboard somewhere consider it Mark to make me kill you in the boathouse here you will have to drag the body aboard Levy oh I'm so glad you've come are you letting nothing happens to mark I'm I'm so upset I hardly know how to tell you oh Philip I think you needn't pull a phony faint this time I fell for it before when you made me think that Mark had poisoned you that is almost what do you mean that was a little too smart let me that poisons see because when I left you I wondered about two things why anyone should be foolish enough to attempt that type of murder before an audience and why having attempted it he should fail to make the dose large enough I don't know what you're talking about I think you do you see while I was in New York I took the trouble to look up a few matters that were bothering me and I found the newspaper clippings of your two previous um shall we say accidents still pretending you're a clever woman let me but I overheard you just now you'll never prove anything I think I will you see I found the motive too it was married for money married for murder wasn't it I wouldn't try to run away let me I brought a gun you're coming with me to the police station don't wonder that you hate the sound of thorn slutty taylor you've spoiled them for me too and so closes marry for murder starring lily and gish with ray collins and bramwell fletcher tonight's tale of suspends this is your narrator the man in black who conveys to you columbia's invitation to spend this half hour in suspense with us again next week same time when virginia bruce and john loder will star in the dorthy b hugh's suspense thriller the cross-eyed bear the producer of these broadcasts is william spear who would ted bliss the director for nard herman and lucy and marowick conductor and composer and walker t field the author collaborated on tonight's suspense this is cbs the columbia 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