 Murder! At midnight! So lovely. Everything about you. Your eyes, your lips, your lovely white throat. I can feel it pulsing under my hands. You're throbbing. Don't, Frank. You're hurting me. You're talking me. You're... You're hurting me. You're hurting me. You're hurting me. You're hurting me. You're talking me. You're... No! Midnight. The witching hour when the night is darkest. Our fears the strongest. And our strength that it's lowest ebb. Midnight. When the graves keep open and death strikes. How? You'll learn the answer in just a minute. Till death do us part. Till death do us part. Till death do us part. Till death do us part. At now, murder at midnight. Tales of mystery and terror by radios masters of the macabre. by radios masters of the macabre. Our story by Joseph Ruskel is Till death do us part. Till death do us part. Till death do us part. I upon that little tent of blue which prisoners call the sky. Ruth, I want to tell you something. Put down that book and listen. Hmm. Long. Some sell and others buy. Some do the deed with many tears and some without a sigh. You hear me, Ruth. I love you. Some do it with a bitter look. Some with a flattering word. Professor Clark. Yes, Professor Clark. Put the book away. Almost there now. Bridal sweet waiting. Frank, promise you'll always love me. Till death do us part. It's sweet to dance to violins when love and life are fair. To dance to flutes. To dance to loots is delicate and rare. But it is not so sweet with nimble feet to... To dance upon the air. Frank. Darling. You hardly kiss me. Why are you looking at me like that? You're so lovely. Come over here to the couch. A shy bridegroom in this day and age. Darling, why are you acting so strangely? Well, if the mountain won't come to Mohammed, come here, my lord and master. Kiss me. Oh, Ruth, I love you so much. Darling, why do you keep staring at me like that? Frank. Ruth, no. Darling, what's the matter? I don't know. Please, Frank, after all. No, don't come near me. Don't touch me. Ruth, something terrible has happened. It's a feeling... It's too dreadful to believe. What is it? When I take you in my arms, when I kiss you, I love you and I want you so that I feel a hideous urge to... To what, darling? Strangle you to death. Good evening. Finishing up now. Morning, professor. Morning, professor. Life is wonderful. Wonderful. Thank you. Leave us into the parlour, husband. Leave us eat, my bride. Ah! What feast is this that tempts me, pallet? Fall to spouse? Ah! Citrus, my favourite ice-squirt. I'm so happy. I feel like dancing. It's sweet to dance to violin. That's right. How's it go? It's sweet to dance to violin. When love and life are fair. Eat, dear. What's wrong? I'm not very hungry. Frank, you're thinking of that incident last night again. You are, aren't you? How could I have said that to you? I can't understand what got into me. Now, darling, you're to forget it. Don't talk about it anymore. Don't even think of it. It was just your little joke. Some joke. Wonder I didn't frighten you to death. Well... The funny thing is, the next minute I was laughing at myself, and so were you, but when I said it, I... Ruth, I... I... I can't explain it. I can't eat now. It was like an obsession. Yes, that's it. It was... It was an obsession. Ruth, you're a psychologist. What does it mean? To have felt that horrible urge to... to do that to you. To you, I must have been mad. Now, darling, don't say that. Don't spoil our honeymoon with this nonsense. You'll be talking things into yourself. I don't know what it is. Your nerves are on edge from your accident. That terrible crash just three months ago. Please, Ruth, please. I don't want to think about it. Well, you're lucky you're alive. Be thankful. I am. She was hitting 80, showing off. I couldn't stop her, that daffy little sister of yours. Darling. I'm sorry, dear. I'm sorry. I guess I felt as awful about it as you did. A brilliant student could have been one of my best if she'd ever opened a book. But poor kid, what a way to die. Maybe if I... If I hadn't accepted her lift to town, who knows she might still be... Now, please, please, darling, let's forget it. It's not good for you. You haven't been at all yourself ever since then. No, I haven't. Have I? Well, everything has its compensation, dear. After all, that's what brought us together. Closely, I mean. Yes, that's right. In the hospital, with... You were an angel. Well, you were just an angel from heaven, the way you helped him nurse me through all that time when I was only half-conscious, nursed me and read to me. Read to me. Yes. How do you read to me? Why do you say it's like that, Frank? Well, I don't know. There's something you read to me over and over when I was barely conscious. I've heard it ever since, deep down. I can't seem to recall it, but I feel that it had something to do with my crazy behavior last night. A line. It's still with me. It never seems to leave me. Seems to make me want to do something horrible. Now, Frank, stop talking. You're ill again. Your pale is a ghost. What is that line? I've got to know. Please, darling, please stop shouting. I'm with you. Your love is with you. Now kiss me, dear. Hold it tight. Oh, so lovely. Everything about you. Your eyes, your lips, your lovely white throat. I feel it pulsing. I can feel your throat pulsing, darling, in my hands. Pulsing. Frank, you heard it. Oh, you're choking me. No! Yes, sir? I'm checking out. A room number? 438. Call me a cab. From the bridal suite? Just a moment. There's something wrong, sir. You and your wife just checked in last night. Any complaint? No, no complaint. Just call me a cab. Oh, an emergency. What business is it of yours? Why, you'll find it very difficult in New York without a reservation. And if you and your wife... I'm checking out. Who said anything about my wife? She's better off without me, do you hear? Well, what are you gawking at? She's very lovely, remember? Would she make a nice corpse in a bridal suite? Oh, go to the devil. Where to now, mister? Where now? Just shake off that other cab. I did three hours ago. I told you ten times. What now? Just drive around the park. We've been around and around and around. How long can this go on? That line. What was that line? What was it? What was that line? Look, pal, we're going over that again, too. What line? You want the seventh avenue line? If I'm not talking about a turn button, you must have lifted quite a few today. Get me to a hotel. We tried a dozen. Remember, they're full up. Hey, just who are you, mister? What's your racket? What's that to you? Okay, okay, I just asked. I was a teacher, Cappy, in a woman's college. But that's only a blind. My name is Jack the Ripper, see? But some people just called me Blue Bee. This is the end of my line, Chum. Hey, Appen, get out. No, no, I won't. You can't make me get out. You can't. I can't, huh? I'll go back, and if I go back, don't you understand? I'll kill her. Forager, foreporter, in sickness and in health, till death do us part. A bridegroom, dazed and obsessed, standing on a city street, fearing to return to his bride, because he knows if he does, it will mean murder at midnight. And now, back to murder at midnight, and till death do us part. What do you want? Good evening, sir. My name is Blue Bee. You're the proprietor of this charming boarding house. You're drunk. For soothed is true. May I tarry tonight? No vacancies. Go on, I'll get on your way. Top floor. Rear, Mrs. Clark. He came in about an hour ago, drunk as you please. I'm here for a single. I'm not one to rent to drunks, mind you, but I can see he's really educated. And a gentleman. Though a queer one, if you ask me, with his eyes all bloodshot. Here it is. Did he say when he'll be back? He said he was going for his bags. I'll just wait in his room, if you don't mind. It's all right, I'm his wife, I tell you. I don't know. Something mighty fishy about all this. And excuse me, there's the hallphone. It's not one thing, it's another. All right, all right. Hello? Just a minute. It's him, ma'am. He wants to talk to the lady who just came in. Let me speak to him. Darling, it's so good to hear your voice again. I was so worried. Answer me, what are you doing there? How did you know where to find me? I've been following you everywhere. I don't want you to leave me, darling. I love you. I won't, you need me. I'm your wife. Come back to me, thank you. Come back? Why don't you take a train home? Do you want to die? You know I'll kill you the next time we're alone. I'll say that you're just ill and I'll nurse you back to health. Oh, Frank, this is your wife talking. What sort of spineless thing do you suppose you've married? How would you have me do? Run to the police and ask me to protect me from my husband? Run to the police and cry that the man I love wants to kill me? Run to the police and tell me... The police? That's right. No, Frank. Have a seat, Mrs. Clark. What is it you wanted me to inspect away? Why was I called here to the police station? You've no idea? No. Oh. Is he here, my husband? I told you. But I thought he was just drunk. Oh, I told him not to come here. I told him not to. Then it's all true? This beats anything I've ever heard. Man loves wife so much he wants to strangle her. Kisses her, gets an irresistible yender, choke her to death and on her honeymoon. You want to prefer charges? Prefer charges, what for? Or a tempted homicide ought to cover it. I won't, he's my husband. I love him. I'll stick by him no matter what. He ought to at least be sent to Bellevue for a mental... Oh, no, you won't. There's nothing mentally wrong with Frank. Nothing at all. It's simply nerves. The result of an accident he had recently. This really takes the cake. Mrs. Clark, another thing that puzzles me. Yes? He kept raving about a line when he staggered in here. As if it were life or death. A line of poetry he couldn't remember. Wanted me to tell him what it was. Confidentially, I've only read one poem in my life. Now, what's that all about? I haven't the vaguest notion, Inspector. Just part of his neurotic state, I suppose. When we get back to our hotel room... What? You want him back after what happened? Yes. Don't you see, I must cure him of that awful obsession. Who else can do it but me? I'd like to see him now, Inspector. Please release him to me. I'll take the consequences. He's not here. Not here? No. We held him overnight just to let him sober up like we would any other drug. Well, it was just all boozy eye-wash. Well, this morning he seemed a new man, laughed it all off, so we released him. Just a few minutes ago. Oh, wonderful. But then I had a hunch I ought to warn you anyway. Just a hunch. Warn me. Yeah. He said he was going to call on you tonight at the hotel for a little reunion. Oh, how marvelous. Maybe he's all cured. I don't know. I didn't like the way he smiled when he said it. Mrs. Clark, after what you just told me, I think I ought to have him picked up again. You'll do no such thing. It's taking your life in your hands. I think he's got wheels in his head. I don't care. I love him. You'd die just as dead when you're in love. I'm not afraid. I'll never leave him. Certainly not now when he needs me more than ever. Is that all, Inspector? Okay, lady. You're a 14-carat. He sure doesn't deserve a wife like you. And don't say I didn't warn you. It's your funeral. Thank you, Inspector. Good bye. Oh, Mrs. Clark, there's one more thing perhaps I ought to tell you. When I released him just a while ago, he said something else that puzzled me. That being in jail had suddenly given him revelation. He smiled very clearly when he said it. Oh. I think maybe he found that line of poetry, Mrs. Clark. Hello? Ruth? Where are you, Frank? In the lobby. Come up. Here's my sweet bride, Revelation. I know. It's high time. Come up, Frank. Sure? Sure. A coward does it with a kiss. Frank, the door's open. Throwing a party, my dear? Yes. Who's invited? You and I. What are we celebrating? An uninvited guest at our honeymoon. Death has come with you, hasn't it, this time? Yes. Shall we drink to it? Why not? Do you still love me, Frank? Yes, I still love you. But I love you better when you're dead for what you've done. How much do you know? Not enough. It came to me in jail last night. The jail had something to do with it. How I still don't know, but enough to make me remember something you whispered in the hospital when I was just coming to. You said, I'll get my revenge, Frank. Do you hear me? I'll get my revenge. Splendid. A for memory. What else? Enough to make me realize that you hate me and have always hated me, although you pretended otherwise. Brilliant. Say, loved and hated you. Go on. And that somehow, I don't know myself in what way, but I'm sure it must be a very clever way as your psychology students would agree. You've been coldly, deliberately torturing me, trying to make me think myself a maniac, or have others think so. Close enough. Why, what I can't understand is why you did it or why you weren't afraid that I'd really murder you. You'll soon find out. And I'm convinced now that you've done it all with a single line, a single line of poetry. In my jail cell, I was sure of it. The very walls seem to tell me, I don't know why, that it was a line that you kept reading to me at the hospital over and over and over again that made me think I wanted to kill you. And what was that line? That's what I'm going to find out right now. Don't come any closer, Professor. No, it's perfectly ridiculous. Looking at you now, close to you where I can almost touch you, that crazy obsession is still with me. I laugh at it intellectually. I know that you've tricked me into it by some very obvious power of suggestion, but I still, I still feel that way. Don't come any nearer, I'm warning you. Isn't it, Erie? I still love you and can strangle you for my love and will. Stay where you are. You're not going to kill me, darling. I'm going to kill you. Now do you see why I wasn't afraid of you? That gun, you've had it all the time. Correct, my love. Right here in the wine table drawer. I've planned this all along, Angel, from the very first, before we were even married. Yes, your intuition was right. From the day you and my little sister were brought to the hospital after the accident. From the day she died and the doctor said you'd pull through, I planned it all. And it's worked out like a perfect equation every step of the way. Why? Why? I had to commit the perfect crime, and I've done it. Even the police will testify that it was self-defense against a homicidal maniac, and when they find you here with a bullet in your head, they'll congratulate me. But what's this? I still don't understand. It had to be the perfect crime because I must go free. You see, one life has already paid for yours. And quote for quote, your blood is worth no more than my family's. I don't understand this at all. What did I ever do? You killed my sister. I killed her? She told me before she left on that drive with you that she was going to crash the car. She left before I could stop her. She told me everything, Frank, including what you'd done to her. Everything, I see. So that's it. Well, I don't suppose it would be of any use my trying to convince her. No, no use. I waited a long time for this moment. Revenge is sweet. And it was such fun to torture you. I used a weapon I knew. Of course, it was power of suggestions, or you guessed it. But what a pity you don't know the line yet. What was it? What was it? Tell me. Tell me. Don't keep me in torture. Keep back. Think hard, Frank. Think all around it. What about a jail and the revelation it gave you? What about a famous poet or wrote a famous poem while in jail? Why, yes, yes. Oscar Wilde. That's it. Yes, that's it from Oscar Wilde, a ballad. Of course, a ballad. The Ballad of Reading Jail. How could it ever have escaped me? Why, you witch, you've even been reading from it on our honeymoon. But what part, what verse, what line? What was the line? Don't take another step or I'll pull the trigger. Give me the line. I say I still can't think of the line. Keep back or I'll shoot. Oh, no, you won't. One more step and I'll shoot. Tell me that line or I'll kill you. All men kill the thing they love. Remember, Frank? How's the next line go, Mrs. Clark? All let this be heard. So I heard. Too bad I was a little late. Respect await. You know, ma'am, like I said, I only read one poem in my whole life. But ain't it the dandest thing? It happened to be the Ballad of Reading Jail. Still death do us part. A honeymoon in the bridal suite. Red wine spilled on the table. And red blood on the floor as the clock strikes twelve four. Murder! Me and die. Be with us again when death's key turns in the lock and the clocks strike twelve four. Murder! The part of Professor Ruth Clark was played by Elspeth Eric. Professor Frank Clark by Eric Dressler. With music by Charles Paul, Murder at Midnight was directed by Anton M. Leder.