 The signal oil program The whistler at whistle is your signal for the signal oil program The whistler. I am the whistler and I know many things for I walked 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 signal oil program the whistler Rated by independent research the most popular West Coast program in radio history and Signal gasoline is tops to tops in quality It takes extra quality, you know to give you extra mileage and signal is the famous go farther gasoline So look for the signal circle sign in yellow and black that identifies friendly dealer-owned signal service stations from Canada to Mexico And now the whistler strange story fateful Friday Friday May 16th seemed like any one of the 512 Fridays, Mr. Brown had spent as an employee of Crandall and Ames Certified public account with a morning ride to his office on the crowded subway Deadly hours over an adding machine Interrupted only by the usual cheese on rye and glass of milk in the company cafeteria The ride down from the 40th floor of the Crandall building in the crowded elevator at three minutes past five After his work was over and the usual Friday remarks to his fellow employees Night Brown night George have a nice weekend saying to you. See you Monday Frank Yeah, another day another dollar Same floor. Thanks, Steve. Say hello to your family And as usual on Fridays, Mr. Brown You weave through the crowd in the lobby to the door of the gourmet a rather elegant tobacco liquor and food shop a Glittering storehouse of delicacies of fine wines and good living Good evening, Elsie. Glad you stopped in tonight. I was gonna call your office We've just got a shipment of French champagne Berkeley coal. Oh, Berkeley coal good for vintage 1929 1929 not bad, but there are better vintages Elsie 1921. That's the vintage. I'm looking for You'll let me know of course, of course, Mr. Brown now Here's something you've asked about a jar of that very fine caviar. Yes, let's see it Elsie and cased within every one of these tiny eggs is a paradise of exquisite flavor Yeah, yes here. We really have something Just hold that for the time being certainly Mr. Brown and Here are some of those clear Havana's that just came in $2 specials. Yes, I see Tell you what Elsie just for tonight. Why don't you give me a couple of those two for 15 cent Mr. Brown like good there was too much rain in 1929 for good champagne and so on are they true Any true connoisseur knows there were 27 inches of rain that year too much for good champagne I don't understand how somebody like you. I mean you mean Why does a man who earns 45 dollars a week bother to learn about things he'll never be able to afford I Don't know Elsie, but doesn't it make you unhappy? Knowing and not having I'm going to have it someday Elsie you know Someone said a man can have anything he wants If he wants it bad enough and I do Yes, that's the cross you bear isn't it mr. Brown Trying to reconcile the appetites of a gourmet with a bookkeeper's budget With a drab bachelor apartment you come home to after a stifling ride on the subway And yet dull as it seemed this Friday is a remarkable one Set apart in a curious way from all the other Fridays in your uneventful little life as the kind of a day That will prove exciting things can happen even to people like you As you walk into your apartment building you have no way of knowing of course That in reaching into your mailbox in the lobby you're putting your hand on something that will change your whole life A Moment later you toss your hat on the table in the living room Slit open the largest and fattest of the envelopes in your mailbox It's then that you see it and clutch the table for support as a cascade of currency pours out onto the floor Then find yourself on your knees staring at it feeling it and counting thousand two five seven You go on counting piling it up 18,030 and then a scribbled note here is the forty grand Good luck Mike Forty-fifty thousand, but where did it? My mailbox you study the envelope. There are no stamps no return address Someone obviously dropped the money in your box by mistake You shove the money aside leave your apartment and go back to the lobby Trying to make sense out of it knowing the money can't belong to you The answer is there waiting for you on the row of mailboxes Particularly on the card in the end with a newly penciled notation over apartment 12 another William Brown You stand there a moment staring blankly at the card then without quite knowing why you find yourself walking upstairs On up to apartment 12 just above yours and even as you ring the buzzer Something inside is telling you of the doors that money could open of the new world waiting for you If you had the nerve of how easy it would be with $40,000 in cash unmarked with no strings attached X Excuse me. I I'm afraid I have the wrong apartment The voice inside was a telling one wasn't it mr. Brown You've made your decision now, and you know there's only one way to go from here on You forget about dinner sit alone in your apartment for the next two hours looking at the money Wondering what you're going to say when the man upstairs starts asking questions Your first impulse is to move out of the apartment But you decide it's best for the moment to stay to go on as usual as if nothing had happened To give the man upstairs as little reason as possible to suspect you and then just after eight o'clock Just a minute that's right. Sorry to bother you my name's brown, too I just moved in a few days ago. Oh, I was worried that you might be inconvenienced. That's quite a coincidence You know what do you mean? It seems there's not only two Browns in the building. There's two William Browns, too We got the same first name. Well, that is odd You know, I got a bunch of noisy friends. I hope they haven't been disturbing you coming here by mistake Oh, no, and there's a matter of fact until the mailman gets on to it I'm liable to get some of your mail and Vice versa It hasn't happened so far. I wouldn't let it bother me if I will you I see You know once in a while I get something kind of important to business stuff and all I Wouldn't want to see anybody make a mistake. Oh, no You know a little thing like that can be pretty serious sometimes but with the postal authorities and all see here Are you implying that I might know don't get me wrong just thought a friend of mine might have got mixed up You know how it is. I'm expecting an important envelope from him And just forget it mr. Brown tonight tonight mr. Brown $40,000 With the prologue of fateful Friday the signal oil company is bringing you another strange story by the whistler But now a tip to you drivers Here's a way you can be sure you're picking the gasoline that'll get top performance from your car the gasoline That stops in quality Just remember these two points One in gasoline it takes extra quality to go farther and to signal is the famous go farther gasoline Consider the fact the only way any gasoline can put more thrilling performance into your car is by helping your motor run more Efficiently and when your motor runs more efficiently naturally you get better mileage So mileage is really the best yardstick of gasoline quality That's why signals good mileage is so important to you And it's why throughout the west from Canada to Mexico more and more drivers every day are filling up with signal At those friendly dealer-owned signal stations After all remember those two points one in gasoline it takes extra quality to go farther and To signal is the famous go farther gasoline and Now back to the whistler Yes, it was a fateful Friday wasn't it mr. Brown the simple mistake at the apartment house mailboxes that placed $40,000 in your hand But there's a string attached to it Yes The small matter of the rightful owner of the money the other mr. William Brown upstairs in apartment 12 Your first impulse was to run away wasn't it mr. Brown Until you began to think how the man upstairs Might begin putting things together and there was something about him that told you he was not the kind to take this lying down But there are a few things you can do one of them Of course is to call it the little gourmet shop first thing Monday morning Good day, I'll see what can I do for you? Perhaps the case of that very fine brandy you're so fond of let me see a bottle of course sir here you are Hmm Excellent good district exactly the right age tell you what I'll see I think we'll open this bottle right here Mind if I borrow this corkscrew Now two glasses, please brandy snifters of course if anyone should see us mr. Brown I'll pour Elsie you and I are going to sample this A vote for a more son pay that's French for your very good health delicious Elsie first rate But if mr. Brown that bottle cost 1995 indeed very reasonable at that rate Elsie I believe I'll take the case have it delivered COD will you you know the address Does it well that takes care of all the measurements. Thank you Herman Herman's our best tailor. I don't go away. Haven't we may want something else That's a beautiful suit mr. Brown the newest thing out And that pinstripe gives you height. Oh, yes. Yes, it does And we can have it ready for you one say wednesday. I don't know fine. Thank you very much I'll help you into the other things and the way I'm not through I'd also like something in the tweed and perhaps cashmere. Oh, of course, Mr. Brown. Sit right down, sir I'll bring some things out. How very this I'll just be a moment take your time Is uh this today's paper? Yes, the noon edition The things that are going on in this town. Look at that headline $40,000 held key in highway shooting What is this I knew the fella that got shot Mike McKee and I made a suit for him one what What sort of business was it? Oh, you know What kind aren't they in the crowd that Mike ran around with had a string on all the ragged I see but look how they end up with a bullet in the back. Yes Says here. He was alive when the police found him Died though before he could tell him enough just something about 40 grand he delivered to somebody Only the other fellow claimed he never got it and shot him Terrible isn't it people like that running around lucia never know here we are mr. Brown everything you'd ever want to choose from imported tweed cashmere Look some other time I know I forgot there's something I have to do. Just alter this first suit and send it out. I'll be back Well, you know best Yes, mr. Brown, you do know best Because there isn't any question in your mind that the shooting of mike mckeen described in the paper is directly related to your 40 000 It's strange isn't it how you've come to look upon the money is yours now How you resent the strings attached to it the man in the apartment above you the struggle It must have taken place when mike mckeen was shot But you've long since decided that it isn't going to do them any good If the trail leads back to you you're going to have an answer to their question But one false step always requires another doesn't it mr. Brown And that's why shortly after leaving the clothing store You'll find yourself talking to a shoddy little man in an equally shoddy shop on the lower east side And just what kind of a gun that you have in mind shoddy Oh, I don't know something small compact and automatic perhaps What about the one in the case here on the end 32 nice little automatic Dependable and that ought to do like see it Here you are Secondhand of course, but it's a good buy. It's fine. I'll take it Just like that Okay, let's see now. I'm supposed to write your name down there. Uh, what is it? Why uh CJ uh wilson That'll be 25 hours, mr. CJ Wilson 24 the gun and five for not asking questions And there's something else isn't there mr. Brown Even with this new protection The incident and the newspapers tells you that now you've got to move out of the apartment no matter what suspicions it might around And late that night you slip into the apartment building hurry down the corridor to let yourself in You're about to put the key in the lock when mr. Brown Oh, it's mr. Brown. That's right. I uh waiting for you. Oh I thought we ought to have another little chatter, but it's so late. I don't see why whatever it is can't wait You can't wait at all mr. Brown Come on. Well, where are we going upstairs? We can talk much better in my apartment. Look mr. Brown There's no point not going round and round about this like I said. I made one mistake I don't want to make another I don't know what you're talking about. I don't know what you're talking about at all Well, the most important thing i'm talking about is 40 000 dollars. That's Quite a sum isn't it? Yeah, a man could do quite a bit on 40 g's buy things travel That's what I intended to do I uh Sort of need to travel mr. Brown your health my uh health Too bad. Yeah You know mr. Brown You're good really good. I Don't understand. Oh, yes, you do It's as simple as those two names on the mailboxes downstairs Remember I said I might get some things intended for you. Oh, yes, and I might get some things intended for me Now how about it? Want to give it back You know this doesn't make sense why I never knew there was that much money in the world until last friday Then you found out different. I didn't find out anything you say you made a mistake You're making another one accusing me. I'm only accusing you of being human mr. Brown You know with a little weakness as all of us have Well, I'd have done the same thing you did. I didn't do anything skip it I just had to be sure this time. That's all Mike mccain was right when he told me put the money in the mailbox I made a mistake with mike, but I won't make a mistake with you is that well You're full of surprises aren't you? Even bought yourself a gun. It's loaded. I'm sure of it. And I I'm not afraid to use it. Not there. I'm not so sure Let's be reasonable about this mr. Brown. Don't come near me. I'll shoot. We'll write off what you've spent so far Let's have the gun like a good I said I do it Yes, mr. Brown in that moment you found that you'd do anything to keep your 40 000 Even kill a man The thought brings your mind up short and then impulse starts you toward the door and the blood pounds in your head As you make your way to your own apartment open the door and get inside Nobody saw me bed Get into bed That's where I should be Oh I'm sorry to disturb you so early in the morning mr. Brown. Oh, this is mr. Simkins the manager I wonder if you could come down to my office right away your office, but I'm not dressed. It's really very important All right I'll come down This brown who was killed was beyond me. I never knew what he did or what his business was just a minute Good morning. Oh, oh, this is the other william brown lieutenant. Hello. How do you do? Something wrong, I'd say so Uh, you were pretty sound sleeper mr. Brown. What? Oh, I'm sorry. I hear anything unusual last night. Well, I don't know I Uh, about 11 o'clock. Well, I was in bed, of course Oh You said 11. Oh, that's right 11. Yes. I remember I looked at the clock I I heard a door slam upstairs and somebody running past my door Mm-hmm Is that all? Yes, that's all. I thought it was probably one of mr. Brown's friends What do you know about mr. Brown's friends? He came to me the other day. He said he hoped his visitors wouldn't get our names confused He he he told me he had a lot of noisy friends. I had indeed Uh, any particular reason why you use the past tense there? I I know What's the matter? What about it mr. Simpkins? Well No, not this mr. Brown. He couldn't have done it Okay, see here. I wish you'd tell me. Sorry mr. Brown. I just had to make sure Your friend upstairs was murdered last night murdered But why would anyone kill mr. Brown? His name wasn't brown. It was marco victor marco He was in the kind of business where people do get killed from time to time You understand lieutenant. I had no way of knowing when I let him have the apartment Yeah, he came here to hide out, of course That's a revenge job And I think I can put my finger on the guy who did it if the thing has kept quiet That means neither of you say anything to anybody about this until you see it in the papers. Is that clear? Yes, yes, okay Thanks to both of him and mr. Brown Yes, I'm sorry. I was a little short with you. That's quite all right However, mr. Stimkins with this sort of thing going on here. I I'm afraid I'll have to move I'm awfully sorry mr. Brown. I don't blame it. It was me. I'd leave too And I wouldn't stop with this apartment either. I'd leave the whole downtown flat The whistler will return in just a moment with a strange ending to tonight's story Meantime a message especially for you drivers who have new cars or expect to be getting one Just any motor oil won't do, you know for today's high efficiency motors. No, sir They need special protection against corrosion wear and carbon If they're to give you the long trouble-free service you have a right to expect That's why signal has brought out a new and finer motor oil Especially created to give modern motors this extra protection signal premium motor oil Of course, it has 100 pure paraffin base But in addition signal premium contains five scientific new compounds The result motors actually stay six times cleaner cylinder wear is reduced one third with signal premium motor oil So if you want to keep the performance of your car young Make your next oil change a change for the better Switch to the new type signal oil That's your guarantee of a sweeter running motor signal premium motor oil And now back to the whistler It's hard to believe, isn't it mr. Brown four days ago You were a nobody a dull little molecule in the tide of humanity that surges in and out of town at commuting hours Today you're important a man of wealth And somehow the fact that you've murdered a man to get there doesn't matter anymore On the morning after your talk with the police lieutenant You're packing your things making ready to leave when Oh, it must be some of the things I ordered are the moving people Yes, mr. Brown. Yes, I hope you don't mind the intrusion See here now. Well, what do you want? I'm sure Mike mccain's friend you've heard of me victor Victor What are you talking about? I'm not victor. You've made a mistake. You made the mistake victor out there on the highway What highway listen, I tell you my name's brown. I don't know anything about Mike mccain was a nice guy Victor Mike said he delivered that dough. I know he did You got it. Look, uh, I tell you I'm not victor. Look. Look at this apartment. Does it look like I have money? Boys told me victor was living here under the name of william brown. He he was upstairs There were two william browns here. Here is my business card. W. T. Brown Crandall and ames I I haven't any money. I'm just a clerk there make 45 a week Listen, are you on that level? Yes, I tell you the other william brown the one upstairs Right there. I'll get it for branding. Mr. Brown gourmet shop sign right here. You got the wrong Hey, how much is there 230 dollars each? Here's your soup, mr. Brown wins the morning right on the nose They're holding the tweet and cashmere for you. But I a c.o.d $118 on this one. I'm sorry boys. Mr. Brown can't take care of it right now. Uh, try tomorrow But mr. Brown and this is c.o.d. Too. We can't make another trip just for schibbit No money, huh Just a poor working stiff They tell me you always did live well victor Fancy suits Brandy by the case You You'll never get away with it. Yeah, yeah, no They'll pick me up all right But one more is not going to make any difference Except to my friend mike mccheon Yeah Yet a mic it'll make a lot of difference So long victor This time your expensive taste caught up with you Let that whistle be your signal for the signal oil program the whistler Each monday at this same time Brought to you by the signal oil company marketers of signal gasoline and motor oil and fine quality automotive accessories Signal has asked me to remind you To get the most driving pleasure drive its sensible speeds be courteous and obey traffic regulations It may save a life Possibly your own Featured in tonight's story were herb butterfield and jack moils The whistler was produced by george w allen with music by wilbur hatch and was transmitted to our troops overseas by the arm forces radio service This is marvin miller speaking for the signal oil company. This is cbs the columbia broadcasting system