 Suspense and the producer of radio's outstanding theater of thrills the master of mystery and adventure William and Robeson Almost every mouth factor starts yelling I was framed as soon as the law puts the arm on him and sometimes they have been Nobody will ever know how many inmates of states prisons are there because of circumstantial evidence of such a one is our story concerned Listen listen then as Charles McGraw stars in the silver frame Which begins in exactly one minute another visit with Joe and Daphne foresight Joe, honey Joe darling put down the paper. I've got something important to ask you. Okay, Joe. All right. All right one How many savings bonds do we have what kind of a question is that a good one? How many I'm not sure I'd have to count and I'm reading the paper. Now. What do you want to know for? Have we got enough to make things comfortable for us very comfortable? That's why I buy in a payroll savings plan a bond a month will give us quite an estate for the future Enough for a college education Eventually, but who's going to college our children silly. We don't have any yet. Oh What do you mean? Oh Better buy some more bonds, honey Daphne you mean we've got a new investment. How about that and now? the silver frame Starring Charles McGraw a tail well calculated to keep you in Suspense They checked me out of the $10 bill in the twenty two fifty suit that the taxpayers give you when you leave I Took a quick look back at the place where I'd left two and a half years of my life in a cell Just because a Southern California district attorney had to have a pigeon in a hurry once Had too bad enough to frame a guy and get a conviction his favorite way Circumstantial evidence I Started walking just walking with no walls or iron bars or guys with sawed-off shotguns to stop me and somebody yelled at me It was a reporter a little rat named Melvin lester who'd crucify his own mother to get a headline I kept on walking See see wait a minute. I got nothing to say to you or the crummy rag you work for the morons that read it Right, all right. Can't you let bygones be bygones? I'm just a guy working for a living beat it. All right. All right So you got nothing to say to me. So What do you say to a thousand dollars? What about a thousand dollars? So you say you were framed How'd you like to get even with who the district attorney all those wise guys? Down there in LA. How'd you like to frame them for a change? For that I get a grand sure. That's what I'm telling you Come on. Let's you buy me a drink first build a booze in more than two years Okay, what's the pitch Melvin? Well? There's been quite a lot of cases like yours lately Circumstantial evidence the DA looking for quick convictions and building himself up for the election, you know, yeah Yeah, I know so all my publishers tangled with the DA a couple of times already. So we want to lower the boom on him That's where you come in How? Like this. There's a dame see what dame now. That's all arranged. You pay your little social visit See you cut yourself a little with a butcher knife or something and there's blood. She screams. You beat it But you leave your hat and your driver's license. I don't have one. So we'll get you one The neighbors hear the scream They see your car driving out the driveway. They call the cops now the cops don't find the body of course, but they find blood in your car Yeah, go on they pinch him and you tell a straight story the blood is an accident Then you had a quarrel and she started to yell and you left but they don't believe you They book you on suspicion of murder and we play it up big cops picking on ex-con, you know that angle You sweat it out and you plan up What happens to the dame? Two days later the dame comes back from Palm Springs and we splash it all over the front page Her story your story Circumstantial evidence again. We bring up all the other cases. We just keep right after him In a week that d8 don't even dare show his face on the street. He's dead finished Well How do you like it? I like it Okay, kid You're in. Well, what about the dome? Have now half when we spring yet okay, a Thousand bucks and the d8 thrown in Okay Lester paid my way down to LA bought me a new outfit and a hat with my monogram in the sweatband He rented me a car and checked me into a hotel While I was soaking in the tub He went over to his boss's office the big shot publisher lb rosson brought back five bills and the dame's name and address It turned out to be a beach house at Malibu. This was the first surprise I sort of expected it to be some third-rate downtown hotel But the big surprise came in the front door Mr. Gates That's right. Are you miss miss fox? Yes, won't you come in? Thanks? What's the matter mr. Gates you look a little startled maybe I am why well, I hadn't expected you to be so So what? Attractive is a polite word for it. I guess Why aren't you used to meeting attractive women mr. Gates not where I've been for the past few years? Oh, oh, of course I've forgotten Can I make you a drink? Well, thanks Why is it you always expect that anyone who's been in prison will be lantern-jawed and have a scar on his face Or something to tell you the truth. I'm a little startled myself Quite a layout you have here. It is nice isn't it right over the ocean? Uh-huh look here at this window You know from this window and the tide is in you can actually dive into 30 feet of water. I've done it That I'd like to see who would you? By the way, what's your first name Steve? What's yours? Silver Silver? Oh, I get it Silver Fox cute. It's my real name too one of dad's ideas Oh, you was a character. Yeah, but and I'm another round. What come on. Come on. What's this all about? What's the angle but what didn't they tell you? Oh sure sure they told me but they didn't tell me anything about a day I'm living in a $50,000 beach house with a half a grand of clothes on her back Steve. You're hurting my arm talk I'm doing this job for a lousy grand about what your kind would spend on a weekend Las Vegas Come on. Come on. You're not in this for dough. You're in it for something else and I'm gonna find out what it is Wait you little you didn't have to bite clear through my hand. Did you? Anyway, now you won't have to lie about our having a quarrel will you? Oh It's bleeding here. I'll get something never mind that just talk all right Steve. I Am doing it for the money really. What about all this? The house is rented for only a month and the clothes go back to Western costume. Oh Oh Steve you you hurt me. I'm sorry You know what my father used to say when I was a little girl Character, uh-huh. He'd say I'll kiss it and make it all well Like this Like this it must have been a couple of hours later when we heard the car that was supposed to pick her up Blowing its horn down the road and I let her out the front way as quietly as I could went back to finish up the rest of the job I knocked over a couple of chairs and shove the furniture around some to make it look as though She'd put up a good fight Then I threw my new hat with the initials in the band over in the corner and dropped the bloody handkerchief that I'd wrapped My hand in on the kitchen floor About an hour after that I was back at the hotel. I Corked off as soon as I hit the sack. Hello Excuse me, I must have the wrong number. Oh what number do you want? Excuse me? It was already dawn, so I got up a little later I knew I was gonna have a pretty busy day besides I'd ordered all the morning papers And I want to read about myself when I opened the door to get them. There was a little guy standing out there Oh, excuse me. I'm so sorry. That's all right. Excuse me I looked after him for a second because his voice sounded exactly like the one who'd wakened me on the phone So what I went back to bed with the papers sure enough there It was right on the front page how a young woman tentatively identified as Miss Silver Fox had been murdered in a swank Malibu Beach house and how the police expected an arrest momentarily And how the remains Charred almost beyond recognition had been found in the incinerator That's what it said right there in black type They'd found her body. I was still lying there shaking and looking at the ceiling The DA came for me. All right gates. Let's go downtown and talk it over. We continue with the second act of Suspense What constitutes a symbol of heroism when it comes to one of our best-known military medals the purple heart The symbol is a purple enameled heart within a bronze border Superimposed is a profile of George Washington in his uniform of general in the Continental Army Above is his coat of arms between two sprays of leaves in green enamel. The ribbon is purple with white edges The purple heart was the first American military decoration and was created as the badge for military merit on August 7th 1782 in an order from Washington's headquarters at Newburgh, New York Only three were awarded for action during the Revolutionary War and none after that time Until the order of the purple heart was reinstituted on the 200th anniversary of George Washington's birthday February 22nd 1932 The purple heart is awarded to individuals wounded in action against an enemy of the United States Or as a direct result of an enemy act the blood Often the lives of many brave servicemen backgrounds the purple heart a proud tradition of service and sacrifice and now Starring Charles McGraw act 2 of the silver frame And why did you kill her? I didn't you was in love with it wasn't you know You just get out of queue you went to see you found our ship at double-cross you say you killed it come on Come on. Don't be a sad talk. He's right Steve. Why don't you make a full statement? Maybe they were extenuating circumstances Maybe we can make a deal. I've told you I've told you the whole story. I've been framed sure you're always framed What about the blood? What about your hat? What about the body? I don't know anything about a body the blood is where she bit me you admit you had a fight with her sure But what about look look what's the use of putting me through this routine call the paper like I told you and talk to Mr Rosson I've got news for you Steve We did yeah, he says it's the most cut-guide story he ever heard in his life in short He says you're a liar. Oh, he did look he's covering. He's scared. All right, then get a hold of Malvin Lester He's a rat, but he can't be rat enough to let an innocent man go to the gas chamber just because his boss tells him to I'm afraid we can't get a hold of less. Why not he's in the morgue Who killed him that's our worry boy. It shouldn't worry me a bit, huh Steve be smart Do what I tell you maybe we can reduce it to second degree I can almost promise you the worst you'll get his life. Oh, thanks, but I'm warning you If you make us go to trial on a first-degree murder indictment, I'll send you to the gas chamber just as sure as okay Oh, okay, I'll talk now you're using your head Yeah, there's a statement all made out just a general confession. You understand we'll get the details later All you have to do is sign I'm not going to sign anything you wrote. Okay, write your own statement. I don't want to write anything Well, what do you want you just let it look? Take me out there to her place. I'll go through the whole thing for you just the way it happened every word every move You can have a sonographer take it down and then I'll sign it. Well, I Guess there's nothing wrong with that. It's a deal then it's a deal It was dark when we got out to the beach I was taking a long crazy desperate chance and I knew it. It didn't work. Well the spot. I was in it would make much difference anyway And then we were inside of the house and they were all standing around and I was in the center of the stage All right, Steve. Do your stuff well, we had a few drinks and Well, I hadn't been in the same room with a woman for two and a half years and I Now anyway, she fought me off and that's when she bit me That happened here. We were standing right here. Then what happened? Well She broke away and ran across the room and to about where you're standing only back a little further. Yeah Yeah, about there. What did you do? Well, she bit me it hurt. I was startled I backed up a couple of steps toward the window until I was standing about here Then what did you do then I jump? In just a moment we continue with the third act of Another visit with Joe and Daphne foresight Okay, Daphne the slides are all set turn off the lights there. Oh Joe isn't that pretty? Where was that? That was veiled pass on the grand divide Remember how hard the wind blew? I certainly do and it was cold, too Next time we go on a vacation. Let's get an earliest start. Well, we save money by wait until fall Remember this one. Oh sure that Zion National Park. Oh, it was lovely We sure had a lot of fun on that trip was worth the money. It was a good investment All right, almost as good as savings bonds. There you go again Well, I just can't get over how good a bargain. They are we women like bargains, you know Oh, I know I know that and four dollars back for every three investors is a pretty good bargain, right? Oh, was that where I fed the bear? Yeah, that's your sanity. We were lucky that bears weren't already in hibernation How do they live when they hibernate on fat? They store up during the warm months just like savings bonds, huh? Well, you buy a saving bond a month, right? Yeah, and it's a great way to save the way those bonds rack up interest, right? Right, so we're just like the bears We're storing up fat for our future use at interest rates that give us four dollars at maturity for every three invested Very interesting idea. You can learn a lot from nature. Yeah, just imagine smoky the bear selling savings bonds Oh Joe show the slide and now starting Charles McGraw act three of the sober frame One thing I can do is swim brother. I did some plain and fancy swimming that night Even with my clothes on I must have made 30 yards underwater before I had to come up for air I could see them running around with flashlights on the beach But out where I was it was dark as a pocket. There are only five of them. They couldn't cover the whole beach I made for a little rocky point about a hundred yards north and pulled myself out of the water I could see the flashlights all huddled together down by the house and I started crawling up the embankment to the road At the top I stopped for a second or two listening and then poked my head over the edge And right into the face of the little man. I'd seen that morning in my hotel I grabbed him hard. Please don't sound and I'll kill you. I won't I want to help you that that's why I'm here You got a car of course right here right by the side of the road then head for it I'll be right behind you one funny move and I'll break your neck and I mean it. Yeah. Oh follow me Here's the car. You see yeah, well get in hurry Oh boy You sure led me some wild news chase today Uptown downtown out to the beach and then you jump out the window into the ocean. Oh boy I sure earned my money today from who pays you your money or the person I work for who's that? Well someone who's interested in your welfare. Come on. Come on. What's behind all this? Please mr. Gates if you'll just be patient a little longer. I promise you that where I'm taking you you'll get all the answers After climbing up through the Malibu Mountains for a quarter of an hour We turned in at a big iron gate and drove through about three acres of a state I had a hunch whose place it was and the house made the hunch look even better big and impressive and strictly top bracket Milton rang the bell But when the door opened my hunch blew higher than a kite because standing there was the girl. I was supposed to have murdered silver fox Steve he escaped out of the beach house. Don't let that man in here. Don't be silly darling We've got to let him in now. I kind of thought I'd find you here mr. Rossin. It is mr. Rossin the eminent publisher, isn't it? I don't know who you are. I don't know what you're talking about I think you do we better kill him now mr. Rossin. That's the best thing to do That's why I brought him here. You put away that gun Milton and stop acting childish. All right now just for openers Who's Milton? Well, let's say he's my brother. All right, let's you're very foolish not to let me kill him now He's a very dangerous man. Please. Please don't talk about things like that Well Steve it looks as though we'll have to come to some sort of an arrangement. You want to tell me about it Yes You see Charlie that is mr. Rossin what he's been very good to me for the last year So and the house was rented in the clothes go back to Western costume Well, you don't expect a girl to tell a man everything the first time she meets him. Do you okay? So he's been very good to you. Yes, in fact He even ensured my life and made my brother Milton the beneficiary for how much? $300,000 gates. I swear to you I knew nothing about this the proposition that Lester put to you was Absolutely genuine. Well, maybe it was to start with But mr. Rossin I think I could make a pretty accurate guess as to who suggested the little stunt of framing the DA It was silver wasn't it? Yes, it was I thought so She's a very smart girl this one By the way, what happened to your reporter Malvin Lester who can trust a man like Lester something had to happen to him And the girl in the incinerator just a girl a friend of mine and nobody really so you kids collect the insurance And I hold the bag is that the way you want it mr. Rossin? No, no, I had no idea silver would do a thing like this How long do you think an old goat like you is gonna hold a doll like this when once she gets her hands on heavy dog? I think we can settle this mr. Rossin Of course, there's been a couple of murders before we can get the cops off her next They're gonna want somebody to pay for them if it's money Oh, no, no can do not a murder rap. They'll want a victim a patsy. I don't understand Why not Milton here? He actually did the killings boy. I all right. I warned you Thanks, baby You really have got everything, haven't you even your own gun? Well a girl needs protection sometimes Well, there's our patsy get the money Steve Milton's got it on him. You got it that quick big newspaper men have ways of arranging these things 300,000 bucks cash. It's pretty isn't it? Yeah Steve yeah, I've been thinking about something So I'm you and me What about your sugar daddy here? Oh, he couldn't say anything. He wouldn't dare silver baby. How could you we've got the dough? Yeah, yeah, it could work. Oh, I know it would darling. Okay But you'd better give me that gun of yours. All right Steve Thanks But what are you doing getting some law to clean this up? Give me the DA. He'll talk to me. Tell him it's Steve Gates Farley while I've solved your case for you. You'd better come out here 1124 Balano Canyon no no no two of them a little stiff named Milton and a dame named silver Fox Got drunk the night she went to the gas chamber, but I couldn't get drunk enough. I heard all the reports in the radio And you know the funny thing right up to the last minute. She was still saying she'd been framed Suspense In which Charles McGraw starred in William and Robeson's production of the silver frame by William Spear Supporting mr. McGraw in the silver frame were Tracy Roberts Jerome Thor Chester Stratton John Hoyt Dawes Butler and Jack Crushan listen Listen again next week when we return with Herbert Marshall in the long shot Another tale well calculated to keep you in Suspense Suspense has been brought to you through the worldwide Facilities of the United States armed forces radio and television service