 Murder by Experts. The Mutual Broadcasting System presents Murder by Experts with your host and narrator, Mr. John Dixon Carr. World-famous mystery novelist whose books have been published in 17 languages have sold over 10 million copies and who is author of the recently published detective novel Below Suspicion. Good evening. This is John Dixon Carr. Each week at this time, Murder by Experts brings you a story of crime and mystery which has been chosen for your approval by one of the world's leading detective writers. Tonight, our guest expert is the noted mystery novelist Frank Gruber. From the many thrillers he has read and enjoyed, Mr. Gruber has selected a tense and gripping story by George and Gertrude Fass. And now we present Larry Hain, Tim. It's luck that counts. When you're down on your luck, you can't expect things to break right. You see a dime lying on the street, you go to pick it up and get swiped by an auto. Or you snatch a bag from a rich-looking dame and all you find in it is six cents and a lipstick. You know what I mean. So when the bartender in this Pittsburgh dive told me to scram, I guess I should have listened. And I look crumb, keep your hooks out to free lunch, quit butting the customers. Nobody's gonna buy you a drink. I'm not bothering anybody. Well, just you standing there bothers me. It's because I'm near the freight yards, every spindle stiff in the county thinks I run a club for hobos or something. I told you once, I told you it doesn't time to shove off of you. Hey, what's going on? Other cops coming here first. All right, folks, stand right where you are. Hey, what is this? Keep your shirt on, Delaney. This is a raid. Commissioner's orders. Hey, you there. Come over here. I didn't do nothing. All right, search him, fucker. What for? What have I done? Never mind. Hey, you, you're in the brown suit. Get over there with the other one. And you there, Red. Go on, get over there. Hey, you, you're a new face. What's your name? Me? Yeah, you. Matthews, Dan Matthews. Where do you live? I'm just passing through. Get over with the others, Matthews. But I haven't done anything. Shit. Lieutenant, his name is Dan Matthews. All right, Dan, now here's your chance to come clean. Why did you kill him? Kill. I didn't kill anybody. I swear I didn't. As far as I told you, you were seen near the old lady's shack just about the time she was killed. What old lady? Sarah Grimes. Name's familiar, isn't it? No, I never heard of her. I never was near her. Where'd you hide the money, Danny? What money? The 75 grand you stole from the old lady after you killed her. 75 grand? Yeah. You think if I stole 75 G's, I'd be hanging around Delaney's bar mooching a drink? I'm asking the questions, Matthews. Now, where were you Tuesday night between eight o'clock and midnight? Well, if that's when it happened, that lets me out, Lieutenant. I was in Delaney's bar all that time. Ask him if you don't believe me. He'll tell you. All right, Matthews. If Delaney backs you up, that'll clear you. Can you let me go? Oh, no, no. No matter what Delaney says, we're holding you for vagrancy. Vagrancy? Yeah. You're a big, good-looking guy, Matthews. Why haven't you got a job? Well, I... This city doesn't like bums, Matthews, especially bums from out of town. We got enough of our own. Hey, Sergeant, take Matthews back to this cell and bring in the next one. They all gave me the big double O and I got shoved back into the cell, but I just grinned at him and flopped onto a cot. They still had it coming. All of them were guys like me, all except one. He was about 40 big and he wore a neat pinstripe suit. I could see he was really sweating under the cool front he was putting up. Presently, he came over to me. Hey, fella. Yeah? What are they looking for? Listen, they question you. What are they trying to find? I don't even know why they arrested me. You mean they just picked you up and pulled you in without telling you what for? Yes. I was just opening up a pulled parlor when the cops came. All me up without a word. What for? Why? You know what they want? Yeah, sure I know. They're looking for a murderer. Murderer? Who was killed? Some old crow named Grimes. Sarah Grimes? Yeah, you know her? Of course I know her. She was a friend of my old lady. Oh, she's dead. Head smashed in, blood all over everything. According to the cops, she had 75,000 bucks hidden in that tumbled down shackles, maybe more. 75,000? Well, what have I to do with this? Why, they arrest me. The same reason they arrested me to ask questions. Tell me. What, uh... what questions do they ask? Lots of questions, you know. Do, uh... Do they do anything else? What do you mean? They search you? Is that when you're closed? They didn't, but I decided to give the guy a ride. Yeah, sure. Sure, they go over you from head to foot. Examine your clothes under ultraviolet for blood stains, looking to your cups, your shoes, socks, everything. Why? Nothing. Nothing. Listen, fella. Danny's the name Danny Matthews. Danny, I'm Fred Bruno. You look like a nice guy. A guy I can trust. Sure, everybody can trust Danny. I want you to do me a favor. I'll be glad to, only I'm not getting out of here, so I can't call you lawyer. No, it's not that, uh... I'm a married man, see. Yeah, I see. But sometimes I go to New York on business, you know. Yeah. I don't like to carry a lot of baggage with me, so I keep a bag in the city suitcase. I got my clothes in it. Uh-huh. You know. You know New York? Do I know New York? You know that check room in Times Square in the subway? Yeah, I know. I got the suitcase checked there. I got the baggage checked with me. Well, that's no crime. Yeah, but you see, it's like this. If they find that baggage check on me, they'll investigate, won't they? Yeah, they'll investigate. That's what I'm afraid of. I've, uh, got a girlfriend in the city. My wife finds out about that. There's gonna be trouble. So, you see, I don't want them to know. You understand? Yeah, sure, sure. I know just how you feel. Uh, they're not gonna say, you again. No, no, they're not. Would you? Sure, I'll hold it for you. Just give it here. I'll give you $10 for the favor. That's all I have on me. Thanks. I'll be glad to do it for you. Good guy, Danny. You give it to me when I come back. Well, uh, maybe you're not coming back. Maybe they'll let you go. You needn't worry about that. I'll be around to pick it up. Okay. Whenever you want it, you can have it back again. It's fine. Yeah, here it is. Take care of it. Oh, sure. You haven't a thing to worry about. Well, Fred Bruno didn't come back to the cell, so I knew the police didn't have enough on him to hold him. A couple of hours later, I was hauled into night court and was handed a 30-day stretch for vacancy. I hadn't been in a week when they told me I had a visitor. Fred Bruno. He didn't waste any time getting down to business. Where is it? Where's what? The baggage check. What baggage check? I don't know what you're talking about. Don't fool around with me, Mathews. I want it. I tell you I don't know what you're talking about. I warn you, Mathews. I want that check. I don't get it. You're not going to like what happens to you. Maybe I'd better call a screw. You're threatening me. Maybe I'd better tell them you want a baggage check. Suppose they were to find that check, Bruno, and find the suitcase in your girl's picture and that your wife isn't going to like that. All right, Mathews. You're asking for it. And you're going to get it right on the neck. I knew then I had to do some planning. I wasn't letting that check slip through my fingers, not when, for the first time in my life, my luck was beginning to change. I ain't dumb. I knew it was in that suitcase. It was a 75G's Bruno got when he knocked off his old lady friend. I knew I had to get that baggage check to a safe place. I got an envelope and a stamp and addressed it to Dan Andrews, care of general delivery in New York. Then I got friendly with a stew who was in for 10 days on a D&D charge. I gave him 10 bucks to mail a letter for me when he got outside. I knew it was taking a chance, but what else could I do? Well, when my 30 days were up, I walked down the jailhouse expecting to find Fred Bruno waiting for me. He wasn't there. But that didn't mean he wasn't having me tailed. I walked down the street and then turned off toward the main highway out of town. As I hiked along, I kept thumbing cars. The fourth one slowed down and stopped. Would you like a lift? Oh, you bet. Oh, thanks. Thanks a lot. You're welcome. You going far? Uh, New York. You going that far? Oh, no. No, I'm not. Sorry. But I can take you about 20 miles on your way. Well, every little bit helps. Yes, I guess it does. She smiled at me. She was a luscious blonde with blue eyes that really set you back on your heels. She looked to be about 25. And there was class written all over her. I sat next to her smelling that wonderful perfume and cursing my clothes in the luck that made us meet like this. Um, you're not scared? Picking up a guy like me, I'm not dressed so well. Should I be scared? Oh, no, no. Well, I'm not. As a matter of fact, I didn't look at your clothes when I stopped for you. I looked at your face. Looked honest, huh? Not only that. Oh, say I, uh, I sure wish you were going to New York. We could have a great time there. Could we? Well, you may think because I'm dressed like a tramp. I am a tramp. Broke, but that's where you're wrong. I've got lots of money waiting for me. I'll have it just as soon as I get to the city. Yes, sir, I've got a steak there waiting for me. A big steak. That's nice. Somebody die and leave you fortune. I might say that. Sure you might say that. Well, I'm sorry. I'm not going to New York. I'm on my way to my country place. I've got a little place near Gloucester. Oh, you, uh, stay there all alone? Most of the time. Isn't it lonely? Well, yes, it, uh, it might be a bit lonely. It will, uh, look, I don't have to get to New York today. I could get in tomorrow or the day after. Are you angling for an invitation? Well, I just thought if you wanted company. I don't know. I don't know. Well, I guess you could come to lunch, maybe, and stay for a swim. I could. Yeah, that's well. Yes, I think it is, too. And since we'll be spending the afternoon together, I guess we better get to know each other's names. I'm Alice. I'm Danny, Danny Matthews. Glad to know you, Danny. You're not half as glad as I am, Alice. It took us about an hour to get to that summer place of ours. It was all by itself in the woods. Right near it was an old quarry filled with sparkling cold water. I helped a lug of cart in the groceries from the car into the kitchen. We stowed them away together and took the covers off the furniture. I could feel it building between us all the time. It's only 11 o'clock. Would you like to go for a swim now? The quarry's fine for swimming. Oh, sure. Only I don't have a suit. Oh, you can wear my brother's trunks. He's just about your size. I'll show you where you can change. Then I'll meet you in five minutes in front of the house. I was ready in three. And I waited for her on the porch. She came out in a white swimsuit. Now, when I saw her, I just about lost my breath. She was the drainiest day I have laid eyes on. She smiled and I just gulped. Come along. We go down this path. Do you swim well? It's very, very deep. Oh, like a fish. Come on. Let's get in. Woo! Boom! Ah! Harris, what is great? My goodness, you are a good swimmer. Well, I was born near the East River. Can you dive? Oh, sure. Can you touch bottom? I don't know. How deep is it? 30 feet. Oh, wait till I get on the sledge. Now watch me. The water was so clear I could see the bottom coming up at me as I kicked myself down. I grabbed a handful of gravel and started up. Here's a present for you. Thanks. I can't do that. I've tried, but I never can get all the way down. Ah, it's easy. Come on. Stand here on this rock and catch your breath. Oh, isn't the water wonderful? You're wonderful. You're nice too. She turned to face me. I let my arms float around her and closed them. And as she floated up close to me, her lips were soft and cool. And then suddenly the coolness was gone and she was warm and close. She looked at me for a long moment with those beautiful eyes, and then she slipped away and swam to the other end of the quarry. I swam after her. We climbed onto the rocks and she sat down and pulled off a bathing cap. Alice, I... Oh, Danny. Alice, Alice, I know it's crazy, just meeting you a couple of hours ago, but I'm nuts about you. You're very nice, Danny. You're so very nice. Alice, come to New York with me. I've got a pile of dough there just waiting for me to pick it up. I know I'm talking like a madam. I had me without a scent in my pocket dressed in rags. Well, it's true. But we'll really start living. Get married, Alice. You know, you don't know what you do to me. Don't, Dan, don't. We've got to get back to the house now. No, no, Danny, please. Not now. We went back to the house. I followed her inside into the living room. Somebody was standing there with a rod in his hand. Bruno. Don't move, Matthews. Don't move or I'll plug you. Danny. Danny, this is my husband. Oh, I get it. I get it now. Did you find it, Fred? No, it's not in his clothes. I took them apart. I haven't got it. Well, maybe he... maybe he hid it in the bedroom. No, I looked everywhere. Talk, Matthews. Where is it? Talk or you'll be wishing you were dead. I have nothing to say. Brave, aren't you? Wait before I get through with you. You talk plenty. Save it. Give it to him, Danny. Give it to him and you can go. That's to you, gorgeous. Never mind, I'll talk. Upstairs, Matthews. We went upstairs and Bruno told her to tie me to a chair and she did a good job, too. I was tied to that chair so tight I could hardly breathe. Here, go outside, Alice. Wait for me. Yes, Fred. Danny, I'm sorry. Well, this is your last chance. Are you going to talk? No. That's just the beginning. Really did a good job, too. When it was through, I knew I'd been shellacked by an expert, but I didn't talk. I knew I'd be signing my own death warrant by spilling. He wouldn't kill me as long as he thought if he'd get me to sing. I was alone in the room, still tied to the chair. Downstairs, I could hear the two of them moving around, talking. I had to get my hands free. I pulled and jerked until a blood came. Then I passed out. Must have been hours later when I came, too. It was dark and the house was quiet. I tried again to loosen my wrists, and I finally got my right hand free. Free, but almost useless. I rested, flexing my fingers. An hour passed, maybe more. I was picking at the knot that tied my left hand when the door quietly opened. The room was as dark as the inside of a camera, but I knew who it was. I'd know the smell of that perfume anywhere. Danny, Danny, are you awake? Yes, I'm awake. He mustn't hear you whisper. What for? I've got nothing to say. Danny, he's going to kill you. I know it. So what? I don't want you to die. You wouldn't kid me, would you? I'm going to untie you and let you go. Thanks. I mean it. I do mean it. Just tell me where it is, that baggage check. Please, Danny. You're keeping it. Won't do you any good. Believe me. Maybe not. Danny, listen to me. Freddie killed that old woman, and he'll kill you too. I don't want him to. No. No. Let him have the baggage check, Danny. And then we'll go away, you and I. I hate him. I hate him. He's a beast. You're not getting anywhere, baby. Oh, Danny. You think I want to get the money, don't you? You think I'm lying just to get the money? Well, I'll tell you something, Danny. There isn't any money in that suitcase. Where is it about in a suitcase? I have it. You have it? Yes, I have. I took it out of the suitcase, and put something else in. All right. All right. You have the money. Why didn't you take a powder with it? Because I can't get at it. That's why. You have it, but you can't get at it. That makes sense. Well, listen. The night that Freddie killed her, he came here with the money. I didn't know he was going to kill her. You didn't, huh? No. I didn't know a thing about it until he showed me the money. He put it in the suitcase so we could drive down to New York and check it. Well, Wiley changed his clothes. I took the money out and put something else in. Yeah? What'd you do with the dough? After he left, I put the money in a big mason jar and dropped it in the quarry. The quarry? Yes. I was sure that I'd be able to dive down and get it up again. Well, I tried, but it was too deep for me. That's why I asked you if you could touch bottom. You see? So please, please tell Freddie where the check is. He'll go to get it, Holly's gone. We'll get the money and go away. That's quite a yarn. But it's true, Danny. Please, it's true. All the time she talked, I kept working on my left hand, pulling to free it. And finally it slipped out of the rope. Oh, Danny, we can go out west. Some place where you'll never find us. Please. Please, you've got to believe me. Danny, I love you too. If I didn't, I wouldn't tell you all this. I'd keep the money for myself, wouldn't I? Don't play me for a sucker. Well, you've got to trust me. Please, please tell me where the baggage check is. Cut me free first. You don't trust me, do you? Sure, sure, I trust you. I haven't got an army, you know that. Where is it? In New York, in a safe place. Fine. I'll tell Freddie and he'll go for it. When he does pick up that suitcase, there'll be a surprise waiting for him. Holly's gone. We'll get the missions off in the bottom of the quarry and we'll be on our way west in the morning. Does he know you're in here now? Yes. Yes, I asked him to let me try talking to you. Danny, he thinks that I'm trying to fool you. But you wouldn't do that with Johnny. Oh Danny, can't I make you understand? I could feel the numbness leaving fingers on my left hand. Now I had both hands free and she was within my reach lying a fool head off to get me to give up the 75 grand to give her and Freddie. Come closer, Alice. Kiss me. Just to show me you're leveling with me. She came close. Her lips pressed against mine. And then I had one hand on that saw lying red mouth of hers and the other on that spot. With all my strength well done. Pulling it down on my knees so her feet wouldn't kick the floor. Suddenly she was limp. But I didn't let go. Minutes went by. Finally I took my hand off her mouth. She wasn't breathing anymore. She was dead. Slowly I let her body down on the floor. Then I untied the knots that held me to the chair. I reached for her and carefully with stiff fingers I took off a jacket. The perfume she drenched it with came off in waves. Then I got up holding the jacket ahead of me like a bullfighter's cape. I walked down the pitch black hall. Alice. Shh. Did he tell you? I stopped. He'd been waiting there all the time. The perfume and that jacket fooled him the way I thought it would. I was just a couple of feet from him. The next time he spoke I'd jump. Well, did he talk? No, Freddy. My first while punching the dog put him out. After that... he wasn't any more trouble than she was. There was a lot for me to do before daybreak. First I got rid of both the bodies tying weights to them and sinking them to the bottom of the quarry. Freddy had a fat wallet. I helped myself to that. Next I changed into one of his suits that was in a house. I closed the place, locked it and got into the car as the first streaks of light began to show in the east. By afternoon I'd be in New York. When I reached New York I got a shave and a haircut and had some lunch. Then I went down to the main post office. The letter was there. And at 10 minutes I was at the Times Square subway station with a baggage check in my hand. Here you are. One suitcase. Yes, sir. B-131. What are you waiting for? B-131. This was checked over 30 days ago. Oh, what of it? I'll pay the charges. We don't keep baggage up here after 30 days. Your suitcase is down in the storage room B. This way, please. Sure, just leave the way. We took the stairs down to one of the cellars, walked along some dark halls and then stopped in front of a locked door. It's in one of the bins down this way. Here we are. B-131. This it? It looks like it. Okay, take it. Oh, here, bud. This is for your trouble. No, no thanks. Come on, buy yourself a drink. No, I don't want it. All right, suit yourself. Let's go. As we walked back to the door, I wondered why the guy should refuse a tip. When we got to the door, I found out. He opened it and I walked out right into the arms of a big guy in a brown suit. He grabbed my wrist and before I knew what was happening, he had a pair of bracelets. All right, Matthews, you're under arrest. Arrest? What for? For the murder of Sarah Grimes in Pittsville, Massachusetts. I didn't kill that old lady. Save it, brother. You can do all your talking down at headquarters. For all the talking I did down at headquarters, there were a lot of things I couldn't explain away. Like, for instance, the bank books belonging to Sarah Grimes they found in the suitcase. My having the baggage check for the suitcase. One thing the cops didn't know. And that was what happened to the 75 grand, which should have been in the suitcase. And wasn't. Yeah, there wasn't a dime in that suitcase. The cops told me that two days after old lady Grimes was knocked off, they got an anonymous letter telling them to look into the suitcase checked in Times Square under number B131. The note said the man who'd call for that suitcase was the murderer of Sarah Grimes. So, now they're hanging me in half an hour. Yeah. Yeah, I'm getting the surprise that was meant for Fred Peruno. And when I think it all over, two things stand out. Down in that quarry, there's a mason jar with $75,000 in it. And down there, too, is a gorgeous blue-eyed dame with a rock tied around her neck. See what I mean by the brakes going against you? I could have had them both. Yep, I could have had them both. And so the curtain falls on its luck that counts, which was chosen by guest expert Frank Gruber, whose latest mystery thriller is The Leather Duke. Next week at this time, Murder by Experts brings you the story of four people trapped in a bus in a driving blizzard and faced with the realization that one of them is a murderer selected for your approval by Helen Riley. Until then, this is your host, John Dixon Carr, hoping you'll be with us next week at this time. It's luck that counts was written by George and Gertrude Fass. In the cast were Larry Haynes, Miss Leslie Wood, Santa Sortega, Bill Smith, and Ed Latimer. Music is under the direction of Emerson Buckley and was composed by Richard Dupage, Murder by Experts is produced and directed by Robert A. Arthur and David Cogan. All characters in our story were fictitious and any resemblance to the names of actual persons was purely coincidental. This is Jack Farron speaking. This is the Mutual Broadcasting System.