 and the producer of radio's outstanding theatre of thrills, the master of mystery and adventure, William M. Rowson. You will have difficulty believing what you're about to hear, but it is true. Names and places have been changed to protect not only the innocent, but the terrified. For this is the actual circumstance of a man who walks in the shadow of death, and because of the nature of our laws, can find no protection from the person who threatens to kill him. He lives today, if you can call it living, in a great American city, not knowing from one minute to the next when his assailant may strike. Upon his horrible predicament, we have fashioned a chilling story of suspense. And now, Oh hiding place, starring Jim Amici, a tale well calculated to keep you in. Shall I order more coffee, Mrs. Marshall? No thanks, darling, but say it again. More coffee? No, silly. This is Marshall. This is Edward Marshall. I love to hear it. So do I. Mrs. Marshall? Oh, Eddie, darling, you've got so much to celebrate tonight. Year of promotion? Our second anniversary? Our second anniversary. Now we've been married a whole two weeks. Sue, darling, do you realize that at this rate, we'll celebrate our golden wedding anniversary before we've been married a year? Our golden wedding day. Darling, it's so wonderful to be able to look forward to it real what I mean. Sue, what's the matter? That man. Where? Over there at the bar. For a moment, I thought it was... Carl? Can't be. Silly of me. Oh, just look at this, just coffee all over this. Here, let me help. That couldn't have been Carl, could it? Of course not, but even if it was, you're not married to him anymore. No, and I never want to see him again. That's why I left New York to get away from him. Oh, such a mess. Darling, I'll have to go to the powder on the cream of coffee, mind? Take your time, darling. Oh, waiter, check, please. But you're a hurry, Eddie. Fairly. I thought that I was in New York. Not since Sue ran out on me. Just took me a while to catch up with her. You followed her here? Yeah. Maybe we'd better get one thing straight right now. Sue wants no part of you. She never wants to see you again. No? Then you poisoned her mind against me. How could I? I don't even know you. I don't know anything about you. You don't have to know anything to make up lies about me. Lies? Look, Myers, this is ridiculous. Why should I make up lies about you? How else could you have taken her away from me? What do you mean? Take her away from you. I mean you broke up my marriage with lies. You broke up your... Why never even met Sue until months after she divorced you? That's your story. Now, look, Myers. Whatever went wrong with your marriage had nothing to do with me. But I bet it wasn't Sue's fault either. Are you accusing me? If you want to put it that way, yes. You had your chance with Sue. You failed. I did not fail. It looks that way to me. No, no, it wasn't me. It wasn't my fault. Well, no matter whose fault it was, Sue's married to me. Now, there's nothing you can do about it. Yes, there is, Eddie. There's something I can do. Something I'm going to do. What's that? I'm going to kill you. You might ask, what a trick was the loop? Hello, Sue. What do you want, Carl? I just happen to be in town on business. Your business wouldn't bring you to this town. Well, I changed jobs, you see. You got fired more likely. Sue, I think we better be going. I mean, why you drink? Just for old times' sake. I saw enough drinking when I was married to you. Eddie, let's go, please. Eddie? What? Remember, I'll be singing you. I had much to say on the drive home, but I knew that she was upset. By the time we reached home, she had quietly told her handkerchief to shred. Hello, Louie. Good dog, Louie. Honey, has he been fed today? Hmm? Oh, yes, yes. I'm fed him at noon. Eddie, Eddie, I'm afraid. Of what? Carl? He scares me. Now, you are being silly. Am I? He threatened to kill you, didn't he? Oh, he just been drinking too much, not so long. But he did threaten you. What if he did? It didn't mean it. I knew it. I knew I never should have married you. Hey, what kind of talk is that? Oh, Eddie, he's got some crazy idea that... Well, every time I go out with somebody in New York after our divorce, Carl would get the idea that that man had broken up our marriage. That's how I was afraid to build anybody for fear that Carl would do something to him. That's the reason I left New York. I had to get away from Carl. And that's why you never wanted to talk about him. Well, I was afraid that if you knew you'd get scared like the others. I was afraid that you wouldn't want to marry me. You don't think that would have stopped me? I love you, Sue. Oh, and I love you. But don't you see, that's why it's different this time. I wasn't married to those other men. Now Carl will be sure that you made me leave him. Honey, that doesn't make sense. Oh, it makes Carl's kind of sense. Darling, there's something inside him that keeps him from succeeding at anything. And when he fails, when he loses his job or his wife or even an argument, it's always somebody else's fault. He can't admit failure. He always blames somebody else. Honey, you've got to stop worrying about it. Eddie, let's go away. You mean run away? All right, run away. Where? You've already tried it and you've just discovered that it doesn't work. Besides, we don't have to run. If Carl gives us any trouble, I'll just go to the police. Okay, Louie. Okay, I better take him for his walk. No, let me take him. No, don't worry. Nothing's going to happen. We'll be back in five minutes. I was completed his inspection of the neighborhood when I suddenly realized that someone was following me. Who's there? Hello. You're calling me again so soon? Quiet, Louie. Look, Myers, why don't you go back to New York and leave us alone? Sure. Just as soon as I finished the job I came here for. So go ahead and finish it and get out of our lives. You wouldn't want me to do that right now. Would you, Eddie? Put that away. I thought you might want to see it. Take a good look, Eddie. Put it away, Carl. You're a lousy actor. I'm not acting. This is the gun, Eddie. This is the gun I'm going to kill you with. I'm warning you, Carl. Put that gun away or I'll... You're what? Go to the police, maybe? To the police station right around the corner. Come on, I'll go with you. What? Sure. Or do you any good? I can kill you any time I want to when you can't stop me. The police can't stop me. You'll see. You must pull the gun on me and threaten to kill me. Is that right? Sergeant, if I threaten to kill my friend here, would I follow him into a police station right afterwards? You two guys know each other? Not exactly, but I'm married to his ex-wife. Look, why don't you both just go home and sleep it off? I told you, he's got a gun. You've got a gun, mister. Of course not. You heard him. Search him. You'll find it. No, I can't. Unless you've got evidence, there may be a witness. What do you mean? Well, did anybody here make this threat? No. Can you prove that he's carrying a gun? Do you know where he bought it? No. Then I can't help you. I don't see why not. You're a policeman. Isn't that what policemen are for? Well, we've got our orders. If I search this man, I can get fired from the force, maybe sued for damages, too. But evidence or a witness? What if the police can't help me? Who can? Right now, son, nobody can help you. That's right, Eddie. Like the sergeant says, nobody can help you. Nobody. But no one could help me. But after all, he was only a precinct sergeant. So the next morning, I went straight to police headquarters to the homicide bureau. I was sure I could get help there. Well, it's like this, mister. Martin, is it? Uh, Marshall. Well, it's like this. We can't pick this guy up for intent to kill just on your say so. If we did things like that, every man with a grudge against his next-door neighbor would be down here claiming the guy had threatened to kill him. But Carl Myers did threaten me. Yeah, that's what you say. But you also tell me that he denied it. That's your word against his. Who are we supposed to believe? We're policemen, you know, not mind-readers. There must be something you can do. Yeah. But is he clean? Clean? Yeah, clean. Does he have a police record? Oh, no, I don't think so. I'm sure he doesn't. Oh, that's too bad. See, if he did, we could chance picking him up. But not if he's clean. Then you can't help me. Look, Mr. Martin, it's Marshall. Yeah. Well, Mr. Marshall, we get complaints like this every day. You see, somebody's always threatening to kill somebody. You know how many of them actually do? No. Maybe one in five thousand. That's all. Out of five thousand, just one. And what if I'm that one? The detective had no answer to that question. A big help he was sitting there picking his teeth while a madman stalked me. It was then that I thought of another possible answer. Kyle certainly acted like a man who belonged in a mental institution. It might be just possible to have him committed. I hurried over to ask my lawyer. Well, it's entirely possible, Eddie. Now, of course, it might not be advisable. Why not? If Kyle were committed, he couldn't shoot me. If he were committed. But you just... I said it is possible, Eddie. Because there's no assurance that such a proceeding would result in commitment. But there is a chance, isn't there? There is a small one. I guess any chance is better than none. No, not necessarily, Eddie. To have Myers put away, you see, you'd have to sign the charge sheet against him. Now, he has the right to examine that, to learn the identity of his accuser. And if committed, which, as I said, is unlikely, he would almost certainly be released within two, three months. Matter than ever. Exactly. So, Eddie, my advice is to drop the idea. And so another door closed in my face. But I wasn't through yet. There was a higher authority which could order the police to arrest Kyle, the district attorney. But Mr. Marshall, even if we found a gun on this man, we couldn't use it as evidence against him. The law won't let us. That's crazy. What kind of a law is that? It's a decision of the state supreme court. Similar rulings have been handed down in several states. The principle is to ensure the individual's constitutional right of freedom from unreasonable search and seizure. Even if the individual is guilty, even if he's a homicidal maniac, and all men look alike to the law, Mr. Marshall, it protects the guilty as well as the innocent. The police sergeant was entirely right when he asked you to produce evidence or a witness. If you can't, I can't order Carl Myers arrested. Not at least until he commits an overt act. What would you call an overt act? An attempt to kill you. You mean I've got to get murdered before you can help me? Well, let's hope it doesn't come to that. But you're telling me it has to come to that, aren't you? Mr. Marshall, let's not get excited. Not get excited? You tell me the law can't help me, you tell me you'll arrest Carl Myers after he kills me, and you tell me not to get excited? How would you like to be in my shoes right now? Suppose you tell me that. Well? Mr. Marshall, just between us, I'd be scared to death. I had no place else to turn. Carl had been right. Nobody could help me, nobody. As I left the courthouse, I felt I was the loneliest man in the world. I was starting across the street wrapped in my own feet. I didn't realize how easy it is to kill a man. I wouldn't want you to think you were dying by accident. How do you think- I'm so upset I had to let her drive. There's only one thing I can do. What's that? Get a gun and kill her. Eddie, you couldn't. Why not? The law protects him, but protects me the same way. And what about afterwards? Afterward, I'd still be alive. And you'd be a killer. You'd be arrested, tried for murder. Is that what you want? Well... Tell me honestly. If you had a gun in your hand this minute and Carl in the sights, could you pull the trigger? No. Well, I guess I don't have that kind of guts. I'm glad. The 20th century civilization I lived in suddenly turned into a chrome plate of neon lighted jungle. Its intricate system of law built over 10,000 years gave me no protection. I couldn't even protect myself because I was too much a product of that civilization, too steeped in its moral code. As I nervously followed Sue from the cart of a house, I realized that death could come at me unexpected around any corner, out of any doorway. Get the mail, will you darling? Get her to be ready in about five minutes. You're getting cold? Sue, what's the matter? Sue, it's a warning for me. He's gonna kill me and I can't stop him. Please, I've been to the police. All I can do now is run. Eddie! Hiding, waiting for me. I can't just sit here and let him kill me. I've got to... Sitting Sony on fear, my only thought was to find a crowd and lose myself in it. The only way a crowd would dare try to kill me would be if he could catch me alone. Just ahead of me, I saw a crowd coming out of a theater. I hurried to join them. Elbowed my way toward the box office. Inside, I'd be surrounded by people. I'd be safe. One, please. That'll be one dollar. Huh! One dollar, please. Oh, can't be! Can't! Don't hold up the line, please. You want to ticket it, don't you? Get away from the window with horror. Through the glass, the ticket sellers face. Caro's face leers at me. I turned and ran. What is... am I going crazy? I can't take a chance. I've got to get out of this neighborhood. Hey, boss! Hey, driver! Wait! I want to get on! How much is a round trip to the end of the line back? We're not coming back, but we're going to bar. No, no, no. Jim, let me off. What's the matter, buddy? Let me off. Open the door. I've got to get off. It was crazy. The driver couldn't have been Caro. Caro couldn't be everywhere. In my panic, I was imagining things. It was a slight resemblance, that's all. I looked around. There was a neon light a block away, and I started toward it. My footsteps echoed in the quiet street. Or... was it an echo? It's an echo. There's no one following. Almost to that light. I've got to make it before the echo catches me. I've got to run faster. Nothing, officer. You scared me coming around that corner, that's all. No, no trouble. I was yelling for the police. Can I help? Nobody can help. Thanks, anyway. Good night, then. But I wanted less to stay on that dark, deserted street. I went inside. I drank a get-out, and I was afraid to get out. Caro would be looking for me. Sooner or later, he'd find me, but I wanted to put that moment off as long as possible. The hands of the clock behind the bar crept closer and closer to two o'clock. I dreaded the coming of that hour. Two o'clock. Give me another. Close enough. But you've got to let me have another. Besides, I lose my license if I sold you a drink after hours. Huh? Well, let me tell you a story, then. The funniest thing happened. I saw him. Ready to go, Eddie? No. Not with you. Oh, now come on. Eddie, it's late. I'm sure glad you showed up, mister. I hate to see him leave here like that without somebody steering him home. You know what I mean? I know. We have this problem with him all the time. What? He's lying. I don't drink honest. Oh, sure you don't. Please, he's going to kill me. Is that right? Yeah. Glad to get him out of here. I got to close up. Oh, come on. Oh, he's going to kill me. I'll tell you. Susie, you're going to have to kill before you can admit you're a failure. I'm warning you. Don't say that. Go ahead. Shoot. Had another failure to your list. I'm not a failure. I am not. Mister, do you realize that crazy guy could have killed the both of us? You ought to be more careful the friends you pick up in bars. Watching of No Hiding Place. Reporting, Jim Amici in No Hiding Place. We're Shirley Mitchell, Barney Phillips, Lawrence, and Wendell Hall. Listen. Listen again next week when we return with other tale well calculated to keep you in.