 signal gasoline let every traffic signal remind you you do go farther with signal gasoline yes you do go farther with signal the signal oil company and your neighborhood signal dealer bring you another curious story by the whistler tonight murder will shout the whistler and I know many things for I walk 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 murder is born in many places most of them quite ordinary sometimes it's born in a smoke-filled hotel room sometimes around a nightclub table but more often it begins in a small secret place because murder is a secret thing at first take for example a small unobserved telephone booth in the back of a chain drug store the one in which a small-time racketeer peanut marola is talking yeah yeah I got all that dope it shouldn't be a tough proposition to swing the garage is out in the suburbs in the Oakdale district where the houses are far apart and everybody minds his own business nice place to work but said yeah yeah this guy who owns the place George Kramer is single lives by himself out in the little house on 71st Street yesterday I counted only three cars that stopped in that ain't enough to buy him a good breakfast right now the place is plenty big but empty hey here's an interesting angle I got on it seems that some small-fribe businessman named Albion if I got the jerk's name right he's got some kind of a mortgage on the place it might give us some trouble yeah yeah I'll get busy on it now call you when I got something definite don't worry it'll be easy picking yes that's the way murder is born in an ordinary way nothing unusual about it a small time racketeer makes a phone call to talk over a business deal and that's the beginning maybe if George Kramer had known things might have been different but he didn't in his little garage in the Oakdale section he was sound asleep slumped in his office chair Kramer Kramer wake up what's that oh Mr. Albion you were asleep asleep in the middle of the day how do you expect to make any money like that well Mr. Albion I was up half the night last night doing a hurry up ring job on an old school never saw an old small be last night and the last ring job you did was probably six months ago probably out carousing around last night now you know I don't go out nights Mr. Albion anyway you haven't got a single car in your garage to work on and you fall asleep in the middle of the day because you're tired why don't you go out and stir up some business hello care Mr. Albion you stick to your business and I'll stick to mine right now this happens to be my business I'm trying to tell you the things are tough in the garage business these days look you know I'm having a tough time of it why do you come in here every day and burn my ear can't you leave me alone I'll leave you alone for the next week but let me give it to you in black and white I've loaned you in various amounts a total of two thousand dollars which is more than I've come to think this place is worth you agreed to pay it back with interest of course one week from today you owe me two thousand dollars but what I thought you were going to carry it along until I get back on my feet I've been waiting six months for you to get back on your feet and you show no signs of ever making it oh I'll pay the interest I'll pay it faithfully haven't I always paid what good is the interest if I lose the principal or you you won't lose it honest Mr. Albion I promise you you won't lose it I think I've already lost it unless I can do something with this garage myself all I have to be going along now I have business to do I'll see you in a week Kramer wait a minute you you wouldn't take the garage away from me wouldn't you you've got a lot of money you you don't need it that's beside the point a debt is a debt but what what would you do with the garage if you haven't I'd sell it to someone who could run it profitably oh you wouldn't I'll be back in a week have some money for me Mr. Albion yes I I could kill you with a prologue of tonight's story murder will shout the signal oil company brings you another of the strange tales of the whistler but first I know you whistler fans will be interested to hear of the growing popularity of this program the whistler is now tops on the coast the latest program popularity survey of all radio program shows no other single Pacific Coast program has more listeners than the whistler yes people do know a good thing when they see it and when they hear it too and that goes for gasoline and auto lubrication too for 14 years so many drivers have been switching to signal products that today signal dealers serve six western states from Canada to Mexico but what's of most importance to you is the reason for this swing to signal what the signal products and signal dealers have that accounts for this growing popularity well throughout 14 years the name signal has stood for the absolute top quality in gasoline and auto lubricants even now with certain ingredients reserved for war signals famous go farther gasoline is still the finest gasoline that can be made today with the emphasis still on mileage and experienced signal dealers being in business for themselves have a real reason for giving your car more thorough more conscientious service that will keep you their satisfied customer there you have it two genuine reasons why signal service cars do go farther two reasons why when today's cars must last out the duration your neighborhood signal dealer is a man you should know to and now back to the whistler murder gets its start in simple and ordinary way for instance this murder in the heart of George Kramer and once the thought occurs the next step is easy if the opportunity presents itself and in this case it does very soon and in the person of peanut Marola you George Kramer that's right something wrong with your car I can fix not exactly got a couple of minutes time is all I've got good mind if I sit down well what do you want I want to talk over some business oh well and sit down sit down by all means thanks things kind of tough in the garage business these days oh they're not what they used to be but I managed to get along but not in the way you used to get along hey not exactly look what are you getting at can you use a little ready cash no references cosigners very little collateral who couldn't on those arrangements my name is Marola peanut Marola I'm glad to meet you now where does this ready cash come in you sound like a smart man Kramer mind if I talk turkey oh go ahead I can't lose anything listening is mr. Albion been bothering you lately how'd you know about him and I kind of looked into things and found out that Albion holds some kind of a mortgage on this place that right that's right how much $2,000 it's a nice little sum keeps you awake nights doesn't it awake at night and asleep in the daytime and if you want to let me I can fix it so you can sleep at night and spend your days buying expensive clothes what sort of a proposition is it if you hear the black market you mean where you buy meat without giving any ration points now the black market in automobiles I didn't know there was one well there is and it's big time and there's big money in it oh where do I fit in now look pal you have a nice big garage in a quiet neighborhood where nobody bothers you we get the cars as any way we can and then we sell them for anything we can get and it's always a lot we need some place to keep them until the soul you just want to store them here sure it's a cinch a guy drives into your garage with a car and ask you to fix it up see when it's ready the same guy calls for it again looks like a legitimate business nobody knows that anything out of the ordinary is happening or how much fixing up is there to do and that much it changed a few numbers switch a couple of wheels and maybe splash a little paint on them what about the police nothing to worry about pal when they get suspicious we just moved to another garage but while we work here there's plenty in it for you how much a hundred on a car good enough sounds too good to be true is it a deal it's a deal if you advance me two thousand dollars to pay off Albion with this is strictly a cash and carry business chum we don't advance nobody nothing well then it's no go in a week Alvin will have this garage and you will be able to use it yeah getting tough on you yeah we wouldn't want our plans upset now would we pal there's a cheaper way of paying off the debt than by me giving you the money yeah how simple maybe Mr. Albion just disappears someday do you mean yeah sure oh oh no no I I couldn't do that now maybe you won't have to maybe we'll do it for you you'll you'll do it for me sure my business is nothing to it and all your problems would be sound well I don't know but well if I said okay what would we do first well the first thing you do is just so that we can sort of pass a buck back and forth in a nice way you understand in case somebody starts poking his nose into our business we've got to have at least two partners in this garage what do you mean well what I mean is this you got to make me a 50-50 partner in this business establishment you mean you want me to sign over half of this garage to you that's the idea on our way wait a minute I'm not getting into anything that's going to end up with me losing this garage no sir all I want to do is make some money and in a hurry now if that's what you're in slow down Kramer don't get all excited nobody's trying to cut you out of your garage this business the more partners you have the better it is I'm not going to move in permanently soon as the racket wears thin we dissolve the partnership and the garage goes back to you oh well in that case everything's all right I'll make any sort of an arrangement you want I thought you would well I'm going to skip downtown I get in touch with a mouthpiece who will draw up the papers I'll bring him back this afternoon for you to sign see you later Marola just a minute yeah aren't you forgetting something forgetting what mr. Albion well what do you know I almost forgot about mr. Albion well don't you worry pal we'll take care of him in due time look I know you know your business but I know mr. Albion I've been doing some thinking I've got an idea yeah okay spill it well this guy Albion has a lot of money but just the same he's too tight to buy a car of his own so he always rides the bus everywhere he goes now the end of the Oakdale line doesn't quite reach his house and he has to walk a half mile along the highway from the end of the line in order to get home it can't bump a guy in broad daylight on the highway all you you don't have to every Saturday night he always stays in town and takes the last bus home at 2 o'clock at 2 o'clock in the morning that half way half mile of highway he walks is deserted and I get it quite a setup all we do is run over him and make it look like a hit and run case the easiest thing in the world but an automobile leaves a lot of clues behind who's worrying about clues we just pick some car up off the street use it in an abandonment somewhere but some other sucker worry about taking the wrap well I I don't want to know too much about it you just go ahead and handle it in your own way wait a minute today Saturday yeah mr. Albion takes the bus tonight okay don't worry about a thing now I'll take care of all the little business details it'll be a sin you heard what the man said he said it's a sin he ought to know because he's an old hand at this business of getting inconvenient people conveniently out of the way it's an art the way peanut Marola does it the art of murder yes and since it's going to mean so much to you you should be here to see it those two cars parked at the side of the road waiting for the bus to stop drop it loan passenger turn around and head back for town and when it does there's a quick flicker of light and the first car driven by a friend of Marola's starts down the road is headlight pick up mr. Albion walking along the right side of the pavement then Marola in the second car the stolen car walking along the highway Albion here's the first one come up and pass the noise of the first one hasn't died down before Marola roars in the rapid succession of sounds confused as Albion just enough he doesn't step off the road quite fast except for a slight bump there's nothing to it I'm George Kramer by identification Lieutenant Clark headquarters precinct oh yes Lieutenant you hear about my car yes yes the car that's right you reported it stolen yes last night I left the park in front of my house like I always do I don't have a garage on my property yet and when I came out to drive to work this morning it was gone it was a green Chrysler sedan license 6g 4537 yes that's right I just finished putting on that paint job two days ago yeah had at the shop a week fixing it up I reported the theft as soon as I could hit you right over here in telephone yeah I came right out when we got the report funny we were just checking up on the ownership of your car when you're called you know you mean you found it already yeah yeah we found it even before you reported it do you ever drive out around Miller Highway Mr. Kramer milk Miller Highway why no no I haven't been out that way for months you weren't driving out there last night around to well no no of course not I wasn't fed and my my my car was stolen yeah sure sure well well you may be telling me the truth Mr. Kramer and maybe you're trying to be pretty smart I don't know which but either way I think you'd better come down to the station with me get your hat and lock up a place oh but wait wait a minute you mean you're arresting me let's say we're going to hold you for questioning but why for what for hit and run maybe you can explain to the boys down there how your car happened to be found part 300 yards from where a guy was run over and killed and the front of it was covered with blood stains well George Kramer that's what happens sometimes when you think about murder it doesn't come out just the way you expected it you don't know what this is all about yet but you do know that there's only one person who can explain it to you so when you get to the police station and after they booked you and taking you to yourself you asked him to call peanut Marola and pretty soon I have minutes Marola okay I won't stay long hi Kramer Marola what is this they've got me in here for man slaughter my car was the one you used to run down I'll be in get up you fool I want somebody to hear you well before I'll take the blame for this I'll make sure somebody hears me I'll tell them you were driving that car not me listen small fry what do you want to go flying off the handle for more than one way to beat the record but you used my automobile why I was an accident one of those things that happens once in a century doing just like I told you who's going to come out here into town and stole the first car I found on a dark street I was I don't know you lived on that street and it was your car I was taking good Lord you expect me to believe that look all you got to do is tell them that you weren't driving your car last night and get an alibi tell him you were someplace else that's what I told him told him that I was home but they don't believe me and I got no proof okay look tell him you were mistaken about the time telling you spent the night until 2 o'clock at the Lido nightclub down on Foster and Green Street get a dozen people to swear that both of us were there until 2 tell them I drove you home in my car well is that any good they can't do a thing to you they gotta prove you were driving that car they won't be able to break an alibi like that but it's straightener yeah I I was at the Lido nightclub until 2 with you and some friends you'll you'll back me up now sure I'll pick you up get nothing to worry about that's right Kramer you don't have a thing to worry about that is under spending the rest of your life in prison worries you amateurs like you shouldn't get mixed up in murder George but of course your friend Marola your good friend Marola has everything figured out Marola's an old hand at this business he doesn't seem to be excited so don't you worry about a thing oh you're not Marola speaking yeah I'm at the Hall of Justice I just up to the jail talking with him listen to this he believes that I took his car by mistake how can you lose when you work with characters like that let him talk all he wants to what can he do this I got an alibi that he couldn't break if he talked a year besides the cops of an open and shut case against him now give him about two days to clear it up and we'll have the garage to ourselves and it'll be easy sailing yeah he signed the papers all right yesterday yeah everything's great that's not all of tonight's story the whistler will return in just a moment with a strange ending of tonight's tale meantime a question have you forgotten anything lately just anything well of course we all forget occasionally and suppose you had 32 different things to remember like the service station operator who lubricates the average modern car it'd be mighty easy to forget one of those parts wouldn't it and you know what that means going without lubrication might wear out some vital parts some part you can't replace today that's why signal gasoline dealers don't trust to memory when they lubricate your car instead they use the famous signal check chart on which the maker of your car lists each part and the exact lubricant it should have and your dealer isn't satisfied with checking each part against the chart just once no sir he checks each part twice so not a single part can be overlooked and go without lubricant and when I say lubricant I mean the nine specialized lubricants that signal dealers use to assure all parts the long trouble free life the maker of your car built into them it's just another example of signal gasoline dealers more conscientious service to help your car go farther another reason why a good man for you to know today is your neighborhood signal gasoline dealer now back to the whistler well George Kramer now you know what murder is like how it starts a fleeting almost meaningless wish in your mind and builds into a noose around your neck you're in jail charged with manslaughter and Marola the man who actually did the killing who double-crossed you with a frame up is going scot-free or is it everything's great he said a minute ago to someone on that telephone but now as he hangs up and steps out of the phone booth well what do you know he nut Marola huh nice to see you once in a while when you're not in trouble if that's possible yeah Lieutenant Clark you ought to quit the police force and go on the stage you are so funny so long wait a minute Marola yeah aren't you being a little unsociable step across the hall here to my office where we can talk come on I got nothing to talk to you about the down I think you have for instance you know a guy named George Kramer sure I know he's my pot in the garage business that's sort of a new one for you isn't it Marola maybe and maybe I like it yeah maybe you were just in talking to Kramer weren't you sure naturally my partner gets in trouble naturally I'm going to see him see what I can do you figure anything to do seems like there's not much I can do he got out of line you've got him looks like an open and shut case but can I do I was wondering if you'd say that yeah what else would I say knowing you nothing I just wanted to be sure this was the way I figured it what do you mean the way you figured it how else could you figure it you got the guy red handed I think maybe we have you say you went into partnership with Kramer in his garage sure he needed some dough so I bought in I figured it might be a good investment I'm sure you must have but didn't you know that Kramer already owed another investor some money sure I heard about it but that was Kramer's own personal affair had nothing to do without you after you talked to Kramer one of my boys went in to see him he's changed his story about where he was last night says he was with you down at the Lido nightclub until two then you drove him home he says that he's nuts you know the Lido's been closed for two weeks pulled it up because of the curfew and I didn't see Kramer last night I can prove who I was sure I'm certain you can you always were good at alibis hey listen clock take it easy just a couple of questions more one that you ever drive Kramer's car why those I did nothing I just wanted to check you see we found some fingerprints on the steering wheel it weren't Kramer's I just thought they might be yours away yes a matter of fact they might be I did drive it when well about a week ago think again Kramer's car was in the shop being fixed up until two days ago yeah I guess it must have been later a couple of days ago yeah it must have been the tenant Clark yeah okay thanks now it's nice you told me about driving the car Marola that was a file room those were your fingerprints when I heard you talk to Kramer I had them pull your prints and check okay so they were my prints I just got nothing on me I just said okay so I'm getting sick of this I told you what connection I got with Kramer it's strictly business my potency I got nothing to do with him going out and bumping off a guy he owes money to some through answering questions you get me wait a minute just one more answer this one Marola if you can how did you know mr. Albee on the guide Kramer owed money to was the one that was killed hey read the paper the only paper that carried the story was the morning Harold here read what it says hit and run driver early this morning hit and killed it go on read it unidentified man yes Marola until 20 minutes ago even I didn't know who he was so how could you have unless you had something to do with it listen Clark I tell you I didn't Kramer Kramer told us yes well maybe Kramer will tell us a lot more when he hears how you've been trying to frame him this is one time Marola when you depended too much on an alibi you forgot too many other things important things like the fingerprints on the steering wheel you forgot to find out that it would have been next to him too impossible for George Kramer to have driven that car last night you see he has a very advanced case of night blindness rare but very real and it prevents him from driving after dark now with his help our case against you won't be hard to prove the whistler will bring you another strange tale the curious story of checkmate for murder the whistler is broadcast for your entertainment by the marketers of signal gasoline and motor oil and fine quality automotive accessories and by your neighborhood signal dealer this program directed by George W. Allen with story by John Hayes music by Wilbur Hatch is transmitted to our troops overseas by the armed forces radio service Bob Anderson speaking and suggesting you let every traffic signal remind you you do go farther with signal gasoline yes you do go farther with signal this is CBS the Columbia Broadcasting System