 Present Inner Sanctum Mystery. Is your host to be Inner Sanctum? Welcoming you to another half hour of gorgomor. Come in, won't you sit down? No, no, no, not there. You'll sit under Zekiel. He wouldn't like that. Besides, you'll probably find him pretty cold. We've been keeping him on ice for about six months now. What? That noise? Oh, that's just his teeth chattering. No, not because he's cold, but because he just finished going over tonight's story. And, well, I guess you could call him a scared still. Mm-hmm. Goodness, is the story really going to be so scary? You mean that lots of people are going to be murdered? Yes, Mary, but don't worry. We're only killing people who've never been killed before. Well, I guess then that all the characters in the story will need plenty of whole sewer. Whole sewer? What's that? Chinese or Lipton Teeth? Well, you're half right. It's Chinese. Whole sewer means good luck. And that's what it says in Chinese characters on the sterling silver medallion that the Lipton people are offering to the ladies. Yes, ladies, the medallion is a Chinese good luck charm. But more than that, it's a really lovely piece of jewelry. It's made of solid sterling silver and it's hung on a narrow black rayon satin ribbon. That's the fashion this year, you know. Yes, this handsome medallion is the kind of jewelry you find at those smart shops on Fifth Avenue in New York. And to get it, all you have to do is to send 25 cents and the box top from a package of Lipton's, the tea with the brisk flavor, to Lipton Teeth Box 92. That's Box 92, New York City. All right, friends. Now get ready for a surprise. Tonight's story is called Death Across the Board. It's an original radio play by Robert Newman. And our star is that famous dramatic actor of stage and screen, Raymond Massey, who will play the role of John Strain. You like to play games. Your life, with even your soul on one throw of a dice or the turn of a car. You don't care for the child's take, say. Well, did it ever occur to you by living your playing such a game and that your opponent was death? Tonight I'm going to tell you a story about a man who sat in death's place, playing with human life and of what happened to him. It is about 10 o'clock on a cell for his summer evening and Dr. John Strain is standing in front of the window of a pawn shop in the oldest part of the city. On the sudden impulse, he pushes open the door. Good evening, sir. Good evening. Is there anything I can do for you? No, thank you. If you don't mind, I'd just like to look around. No, it means. I just thought it was something in particular. I really didn't have anything special in mind. I just thought... Hello. Ah, my chess set. Yes, a very interesting set. And a very interesting game you're playing. My dear sir, you have no idea how interesting. Whose move? Quite. Then why should win in six moves? That sir is very much open to question. Well, perhaps we can play some diamond. How much of this set? Not for sale. Oh, too bad. Yes. However, if you're interested in chess and chessmen, I know the set that I think might appear to you. It's an Arabian set. 12th to 13th century ivory. The white pieces are Saracen warriors and the black pieces are Crusaders. Do you have it here? Unfortunately, no. Not very far away. If you thought you'd like to see it. Well, if it's not too outrageously expensive then you're sure it's no bother? My dear sir, don't give it another thought. I'd be most anxious for your reactions, even if you don't buy. The address is 23 Valen Place. It's down two blocks and one to your right. Go up one flight and ask for feelings. Tell him that Raphael sent you. 23 Valen Place. Up one flight. Ask for feelings. I'll phone him and tell him to expect you. Your name is? Strand. Dr. John Strand. Very good, Dr. Strand. Somehow I have the feeling we shall see each other again. Perhaps we should even have the chance to play that game you mentioned before. Who's that? Who's there? Felix? I said who's there? My name's Strand. Raphael sent me over here. He said he'd phone you in... Just a second. How do you do? I hope I'm not disturbing you. Hey, come on in and stick them up. What? I'm afraid it must be some mistake. Sure is, Bob, and you made it. Thinking you could come here and take me this way. Well, this is ridiculous. I said stick them up. Keep them up or I'll let you have it right now. What for? Because I said so. That's what you want. Hey, how can we go? Why don't you have that gun? Or drop it, you hear? Where is it? Now get up and tell me what this is all about. I said get up and... Felix, dad. I'm sorry, but he can't come to the phone right now. Find out what it's all about. A wallet. Keys, Mr. Raphael. I think perhaps I'll take you up on that. I will go back to your shop. Sir, can I help you? Yes, where's Raphael? Oh, I'm sorry. He's not in right now, but... Are you Dr. Strand? I am. I'm Alice Hines. He must have been expecting you. He asked me to give you this. What is it? I don't know, but I... Another chessman. A white knight. Oh, yes. Mr. Raphael is quite a chess player. He's more than that. He's a murderer. What? What do you mean? He sent me to see someone, a man named Felix, to look at a chess set. When I got there, he pulled a gun on me and... Well, when I tried to get it away from him, it went off and killed him. Oh, no! Don't look so surprised and innocent. You work for him. You must know what it's all about. There must be some mistake, some horrible mistake. A mistake, huh? Then why did he phone Felix's while I was there? How did he know he'd been killed? Why did he laugh about it? Tell me to come here. Well, I... I don't know, but I can't believe that about him. I won't. Well, let's see what the police have to say about it. Where's the phone? Back there. But if you're serious about it, you don't have to bother calling them. Riley just went past here a few minutes ago. There he is, up at the corner. Fine. That'll save some time. Officer! Oh! Officer, what do you...? Trot him. That woman hiding you on that car there. The woman in black. She's coming in here. Don't just stand there. Get inside and shut the door. You shot Riley. You killed her. Next month I've been trying to find out who got Ben. Now I can rest in peace. Where's Rayfield? Rayfield? He's the one that got the dope for me. He told me how to knock the cop on. He told me to come in here afterwards. Mr. Hines? Well, you're looking so funny. Say, whose side are you on, anyway? Well, that's it. I just took it for granted you were working for Ray. OK, get him up and keep him up. What'll I do with him, Rayfield? Where are you, anyway? I repeat, Miss Hines. Well? Fantastic. What are you going to do to us? You can't be that dumb, babyface. Six months I've been wearing black for the only guy I ever loved. I finally get the guy that got him. You think I'm going to leave the two of you around to put the finger on me? You're going to kill us? You can, Owl. Seems to me I did a pretty neat job on that flat foot. After all, I can't burn you more than once. OK, open that door and go on down. Allow me, madam. Never mind, wise guy. You could answer it. And babyface. Not very good manner. No, I'm not going to let you do it. Give me that. No, no, no. I'm just trying to get the gun that she threw at herself. Why is she lying there so funny? Her head. Let's see. Huh? Her neck's broken. She's dead. Oh, no. I mean, I killed her. Not any more than it means I killed Felix. Look, they are lying next to her. Isn't there another chess piece? The Black Queen. What? He gave me one just like that when I first came to work for him. Only it was a white one. What? Black Queen? White Queen? White Knight? And? No. It's impossible. And still? You thought of something. It's too incredible. I've had a certain nightmare of vision that, come on, we're going to the police. Maybe it's our move now. I always had an idea that I wouldn't like chess, but it was a pretty slow game. But here, we've only been playing for about 15 minutes, and we've chalked up three corpses already. This kind of chess is just like a divorce. Well, what do you mean? Well, it's a good way to get rid of your wife. That is, if she's a stale maid. Well, I assure you, most men don't want to get rid of their wife. Is that so? Didn't you tell me that a man had written in to ask for that Lipton sterling silver medallion on the Black Ribbon? Yes. And didn't he say he wanted to put it around his wife's neck as a choker? Oh, dear, you don't understand. A choker is just one of the ways in which you can wear this medallion. Of course, you can also wear it as a necklace, or, well, here's what one of our listeners says she does. I put the medallion on my charm bracelet. I just took it off the narrow black rayon satin ribbon on which it's hung, and then flipped it on my bracelet. The medallion was just the right size. Yes, ladies, and no matter how you wear it, the medallion is really a smart piece of jewelry. It's made of solid sterling silver, and it's about an inch in diameter. So send for your medallion tonight. The Lipton people are making it easy for you to own one. Just send 25 cents and the box top from a package of Lipton. The tea with the brisk flavor to Lipton Tea Box 92. That's Box 92, New York City. It's better right now, friends, while your hands are still steady enough to address the envelope. Well, let's come back to our game of chess. And our star, Raymond Matthews, who's playing the role of John Strand. It's about a half hour later now. Dr. Strand and Alice Hines are sitting in a bare, quiet room. The chief's office at police headquarters. For the past 10 minutes, Strand has been talking steadily, describing everything that has happened. So you each bump someone off, eh? And you've come to give yourselves up. We certainly did not come here to give ourselves up, chief. I told you that in both cases it was self-defense. We're here because of the Madman Loose, a homicidal maniac. It just came to me a little while ago. There was something strangely familiar about this Rayfield. Did you ever hear of Rayfield Norbert? No. He was one of the greatest chess players the world has ever known. About five years ago, he disappeared. Well, he's playing another chess game now, the maddest game that ever was. Is there a map of the city around? Right there on the wall. Let's see. Now, here's Rayfield's shop. Yes, this would be it. This section of the city here is eight blocks each way. This is his chessboard. And human beings, people like Alice and I, are his chessmen. Well, I- John. I know it sounds fantastic, but I think it's true. When he sent me to Felix's, he told me to go down two blocks and one to the right. That's the move of the knight. In other words, he had cast me as one of the white knights in his crazy game. Alice was the white queen. He himself was the black king, and so on. He just lined up all these people, said, you play this piece, you play that man. That was the beauty of the game, the fascinating, exciting part to him. No one knew that they were playing in it, but he, for instance, Felix didn't know that he was a black rook any more than I knew. I was a white knight. But his black pieces were all criminals of some sort who wouldn't hesitate to kill. And it was by killing that one piece took another. You see, that was the ultimate refinement, the thing that made this the greatest game Norbert has ever played. He could plan a move, but he had no way of telling which piece would take which. For instance, I killed Felix instead of his killing me. In other words, he was not only playing his game against law and order, against society, but he was matching his brains against that of every piece in the game. Against law and order, eh? I got this in the mail a couple of weeks ago, without any letter or anything. How did it fit in with your theory? The white king. Of course. He's cast you in the role of the white king. In other words, he's playing this game principally against you. Now do you believe this, Mr. Adams? Do you? I don't know. It's possible, I suppose. We've been having a funny kind of crime wave lately, killings without any apparent. Hello? Detective's calling in 3rd, Sycamore. Said there was something screwy on. And then, well, sounded like somebody got him. I'll make sure about this before you answer. But would this be part of what you were talking about? Let's look at the map again. 3rd and Sycamore. That would be in the area that's Rayfield's chess board. Yes? I think it is. OK, come on. We're going down there. Lying next to the corvus. Dead. Stabbed. Look there, lying next to him. Another chess piece. A pawn. A white pawn. Of course. If you were the white king, then all your men would be pawns. Pawns? They're the pieces that get pushed around, aren't they? Well, they're the ones that are usually sacrificed. Two of my men. Riley and Valenti. OK, Strand, you're a chess player. You think you can figure out what this Rayfield character is going to do next? Tell me how I can meet him. I might. I only got a very quick look at the board. But if I can remember the location of the pieces. You mean he's actually got a board set up showing where all the pieces everybody is? There's one set up in the little table right next to his desk. No one's allowed to touch it. That's the one. And it was because I noticed it, commented on it, that I got involved in this nightmare. I think I do remember the position of all the pieces that were left. But of course, some moves may have been made since I saw it last. Well, what are we fooling around for? Let's go to that shop and make sure. Locked on. You got a key, haven't you, Alice? No, Rayfield never gave me one. He always locked up himself. Well, what do we do? Two of my men killed, and you asked me something like that. Look out. Right here. There's the chess board over there. I know. Let's take a look at it. This song, there is to the place. Except for the cellar. She must still be down there. That woman in the back. We'll be down there later. Love strand. Well, at the moment, Black seems to have the edge on us. Several moves have been made, and we've lost several pieces. But we still got a fair chance. The devil is winning that game. Where's this Rayfield guy, the Black King? What's he going to do next? Just give me another minute or two, will you? The Black King is still in his own square, which would seem to mean that Rayfield is still here someplace. The thing is, I'm not sure whose move it is now. Yeah, I'm speaking over some kind of loud speaker system, maybe from the cellar. From the cellar, huh? No, I'm going to... He must have had the place mined or set a booby trap, and when Adams went to open the cellar door, where is Adams? What? I'm not sure, but I think he's over there. I must have some matches, something. Here, under that beam. There. Help me lift it off. He's pretty badly hurt. Just let me get a few tourniquets tied on him, and we better get him to a hospital. Emergency ward's right in there. How do you know? I want to. I'm turned here. Funny. There's no one around. Let's put him right there, on the table. Gently. That's it. This is Dr. Strand speaking from the Emergency Ward. I've got a very severe accident case here. Is there anyone around who can take care of him? What about surgery? Crandall? Oh, fine. We were asked him to get down here as soon as possible. Thanks. The chap I used to know was just finishing an operation. He'll be down in a few minutes. Will there still be time? Yes, I think so. We'll have to give him a transfusion once we get him patched up. I'll start scrubbing up myself in case Crandall needs a hand. Isn't there anything I can do? Just keep your eye on him. The tourniquet is particularly. It'll be too bad if he lost any more blood. Right. He's still unconscious. Oh, hello, Crandall. That was quick. I'm very glad you were here. It's a pretty serious case. Adams, the Chief of Police. Explosion. If we don't work fast, we may lose him. Shock, possible concussion. Right axillary arch re-severed. I've got a tourniquet on. I'll be finished scrubbing up in a minute. Give you a hand. Take your time. No hurry. I'll just... What are you doing? Removing the tourniquet. Wait, I'm not ready with the ligatures yet or... You're not Crandall. You're... You're a racial. Right, Strand. Rayfield Norbert. Dr. Crandall is still in surgery. Dr. Finn is a matter of fact. I put on this mask and gown not because I thought it would fool you. Because, well, somehow it just seemed appropriate. Well, it can't be you. You were in the shop. No, Strand. You're thinking of my voice as coming over a loud speaker system from next door. If you're thinking of my position on the board, you forget. I hadn't made my move yet. Rayfield, I don't know why you've done all this and I don't care why, but you've got to let us do something about Chief Adams. All their bloodies... Yes, Rayfield, if I haven't said... Don't move, either, have you? Well, I have to shoot. I shouldn't say they owe, but it won't be necessary. After all, when the Chief of Police dies, the game will be over. And the most interesting game it's been. But haven't there been enough deaths? You're very sentimental. And I'm afraid you never would make a good chess player. Pieces have been taken, that's all. Rayfield, suppose we just give up. Say you've won. That's right, Rayfield. We'll feed you the game. But let me do something about Adams. There's still time. I've got everything ready here. All the instruments. No, Strand. This is one game I won't have seen it. But I insist on having played out to the last move. That's the way you want it. All right. If I'm not mistaken, it's my move now. Ah! The formaldehyde won't help them any. This is gone, Alex. Watch him while I get these tentacles back on Adams. You think you can feel this? The pulse is weak, but I think we can still save you. That was my idea. And for you, Rayfield, you made one bad mistake. You forgot that three of us came to your shop. The white king, white queen, and white knight. That would put you in check. Aye, well, Strand. I felicitate and congratulate you. If I'm to lose, I'd prefer to lose in my own way. Watch your- Through the window. There's a railroad underpants right outside. A drop of about 60 feet. I think that's game, match, and tournament. Don't you mean the game's over already? Well, that's impossible. We've still got some characters left. At least three of them that haven't been killed off. We've been robbed, and I think we ought to call for a return match. Let's take a vote on it there. All those in favor? One, two, three. That's funny. It came out just the way it is for our friend Rayfield. The eyes got it. Heavens, let's not have another game of chess. Yes, Mary. Now, do you see why they call the pieces chess men instead of women? Oh, this game's too rough for women. It certainly is rough. Oh, do you feel worn out and tired? Why don't you rest a while and you can slip into something comfortable? Like a winding sheet. And if you want to be really fancy, you can put on your sterling silver medallion. Well, you have no medallion? Well, here's how you get one. Just send... Never mind. I'll tell them, thank you. Ladies, if you want to own a handsome sterling silver medallion, just send 25 cents and the box top from a package of Lipton, the tea with the brisk flavor, to Lipton Tea Box 92, New York City. Before I say goodnight, a word of advice. If you should ever get into a chess game with a stranger, you happen to notice that he's got a... meat ax on his lap. Don't get up and run. Just make sure that there's someone else around to help pick up the pieces. Oh, by the way, this man's in a thank-to mystery novel is Lay That Pistol Down by Richard Powell. And oh yes, let me tell you about next week's inner thankton story, directed by Hyman Brown and brought to you by Lipton Tea and Lipton Soup. Next week's story is about a picture that kills everyone who owns it. It's a masterpiece of murder. Yes, just as soon as the man hangs up his picture, the vice versa happens. The picture hangs him. And now it's time to close the squeaking door until next Tuesday. So, goodnight. Pleasant dream. The next time you send a box of food to your boy overseas, be sure to include a package or two of Lipton's noodle soup mix. You see, Lipton's is just like a taste of home. Yes, it has the same homemade chickeny taste as the soup you make yourself. The soup your boy's always been so fond of. That's why it's such a thoughtful welcome little gift to send Lipton. And as you know yourself, Lipton's noodle soup makes a grand snack. So remember, send the package or two to your boy. And remember to tune in next Tuesday night for another inner sanctum mystery. This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.