 Listen to Herbert Marshall transcribed as the man called X wherever there is mystery, adventure, intrigue in all the strange and dangerous places of the world there you will find the man called X. The news caused little excitement in the papers are on the air. A sentence or two was enough to inform a disinterested public that Dr. Frantz Sarlay convicted Nazi war criminal had escaped from the metal ward at Strasbourg Military Hospital and then the incident was forgotten. For who was there to know that this unimportant little episode might result in a major European catastrophe might result in World War III. Any word about Sarlay yet Chief? Oh Ken come here. Oh nothing new yet. They've set up a routine search for him probably find him heading for the Russian zone of Germany. Maybe they better try Portugal. Portugal? Why should Charlie go there? Well because the heads of the North Atlantic Treaty are going to meet there in Lisbon. I don't get it Ken. Chief do you remember what he was working on for the Nazis during the last war? Oh how could I forget. The deadliest gas ever invented by man, nerve gas. That's right but we heard about it in time. Man has to grab both Sarlay and the gas before the Nazis had a chance to use it. Yeah I know but what's that got to do with Lisbon? Chief I was at Sarlay's trial when he swore that someday he'd kill the man responsible for seizing the gas. You know who that man is? Well sure. The chairman of the NATO meeting at Lisbon. The man responsible for the entire defensive weapon you're... Ken. Yes. Good Lord. If he was able to release some of that gas at the NATO meeting he'd kill the heads of defense for every nation it's... No there's no reason on earth to think he'd try anything as fantastic as that. This report came in a few minutes ago Chief. From Paris. Better read it. Sure. David Bonham, Chief Administrative Aid to the chairman at the NATO meeting died suddenly this morning while boarding a plane to Lisbon caused a death tentatively diagnosed as an epileptic seizure. So what? Bonham was almost as responsible for stopping Sarlay from using the gas as the man at Lisbon. Bonham had no previous history of epilepsy and the symptoms of nerve gas poisoning are identical with those of a seizure. Better keep in touch with me Ken. From Lisbon. I take it's in your thirst and you are traveling to Lisbon on business rather than pleasure eh? You might call it that Senor Brava. And this business it would be connected with the Western Europe Defense Meeting there. What makes you think that? The meeting is so much on my mind. It is possible I leap to an unjustified conclusion. Yeah that's possible. What's your connection with the Senor Brava? I am an unofficial goodwill ambassador of the Portuguese government. What you might call a press agent. And this meeting is very important from the standpoint of Portugal's public relations. How about devoting some of your talent to private relations, Julio? Ilse, how could I have been so blind as not to see you get aboard the plane? For a most prosaic reason. I did not get aboard until the very last minute. But speaking of the prosaic, I believe that formal introductions come under that heading. A thousand partners. May I present Senor Ken Thurston. Senor Thurston, the most beautiful and entrancing of all newspaper women, Senorita Ilse Heller. How do you do, Miss Heller? I will do much better, Mr. Thurston, as soon as Julio brings us cocktails. Cocktails, Ilse? They are available now in the lounge. And we can drink to the NATO meeting. Oh, but of course. You will join us, Senor Thurston. I can hardly refuse to drink to Miss Heller's toast. A dry martini, please. With an onion, Julio. Well. And I will have the same. Certainly. I shall be right back. May I take Julio's seat while he's gone? That's why you sent him away, isn't it? I am a newspaper woman, Mr. Thurston, after a news or a story. And you think I can supply one? You have before. Contraven smuggling into the Russian zone. The so-called pre-youth movement in Berlin. You know quite a lot about me, don't you? My preference in cocktails, my work. What about this trip with you, Solisby? Sorry, you could be making a mistake. Why? No one stops me from getting a story. Even if it is necessary to cooperate with those on the wrong side of the fence. What's that supposed to mean? I cannot get the story from you. Perhaps I can get it from Julio Brava. And if not from him, well, there's always Dr. Franz Zalle, isn't there, Mr. Thurston? So you believe this Dr. Franz Zalle represents a real danger to the NATO meeting? That's why I tell you, I'm convinced you'll try to murder our man. Our man here. Probably by using nerve gas. It would be not a very discriminatory weapon, would it? If such an attempt to remate at the meeting itself, hmm? Yeah. Well, Colonel? Senior Thurston, I have been placed in charge of security for the meeting. I do not take the responsibility lightly, and I can assure you that all necessary precautions to safeguard the delegates have already been taken. I doubt it, Colonel. Zalle is brilliant, insane, and he's a scientist. He'll be one step ahead of every move you and your man will make. Then what precautions would you suggest? The meeting will be held tonight at the University of Cameland. Seen? We've got to keep him out of there, close the building, keep it closed until the delegates arrive. Meanwhile, make a security search of every room, every corner, every inch of it. Searching for these Dr. Zalle, and perhaps a cylinder of nerve gas. That's right. Such a procedure would require a hundred extra men. Disrupt the work of half a dozen government agencies. All on the strength of your story. No, no, I'm afraid that what you ask cannot be... Your pardon? A story like this. A minute. For you. Oh, thanks, Colonel. Hello? Hello, Mr. X. Don't say whereabouts to whom you're talking to whom, but this is Pagan. What? That's right, Pagan Celsius. Oh, you'd better meet me outside, boy. Have I ever got some red-hot information for you? Information? Oh, sure. All about Dr. Zalle and nerve gases and stuff. That's right, Mr. X. I'm here in Lisbon working for my cousin, Ariba. He figured we could make a killing in slightly used second-hand military secrets. Trump was hanging around at another building looking for a sucker when I bumped into her. Bumped into who? But that cute little Sir Heller cookie. Some tootsie here, Mr. X. And sure he goes for my accent. I'm still waiting to hear where Dr. Zalle comes in. That's right. He's coming into that nagging meeting to bump somebody up with gas or stuff. Did he also tell you that? No, no. She only told me where I could call you. Well, then we talked about all Lang's time. She interviewed me once when I was in the Clinton Hamburg. Well, I was framed, your lieutenant. Pagan, if you don't stop making sense, sir, help me out. But I'm making sense. Hmm. See? Here we are. Where are we? Where the guy lives who knows all about Dr. Zalle. His name is Mendoza and he's a friend of a cousin of a cousin of Rebus. He said he could sell you play... I mean tell you play. You were right the first time cousin, Pagan. Don't worry about the thing, Mr. X. Mendoza said we should walk right in if he wasn't home. He works for the Lisbon telephone company and sometimes he has to go out and hurry up calls, you understand? Yes. Mendoza? It was. But look at him. What could have done that to him? Nerve gas, Pagan. Nerve gas. Why are you getting to this university place, Mr. X? The meeting ain't started yet. I want to get in and look around before it does. Good evening. See your thirst. You were surprised to see the building closed. What happened, Colonel? That's the real. I thought over what you said in my office. I could not afford to take any chances. So I ordered security search made. And? We found absolutely nothing. Neither Dr. Sallie nor his nerve gas are inside. What about telephone wires? Telephone wires. Yes. Was any installation work done today? Why, yes. Additional facilities were placed in the meeting hall for the convenience of the delegates. By a man named Mendoza? Your details are most exact thing of person. You must have something in mind. A building this size ought to have a utilities conduit. For telephone wires, gas and water pipes, electric cables. It has. Big enough for a man to crawl through, maybe hide in. There is an entrance to it at the edge of the ground. We will check ability at once. Then you believe this telephone man, Mendoza. Don't Sallie down here while installing the wires today. You have to get his information someplace, Colonel. And somebody killed him with nerve gas. I would agree with your theory, except for one thing. We have come to the end of the conduit. Nothing lies ahead, but the basement, which we have already searched most carefully. I am afraid your Dr. Sallie simply is not down here. Maybe not. But he was here. What makes you say that? Just dust on the wall. Someone has been writing in it. Taking strange symbols. Yeah. Dr. Sallie sat here doodling while waiting for your security search to end. An old nervous habit it is. As it is of many men. But these symbols of the formula of the nerve gas. And look here. Just below it. 10 p.m. Repeat it a number of times. What time is it now? It's 8.45. Are you thinking the same thing I am? I'm thinking that Sallie came through this conduit. He's hiding somewhere in the building waiting to strike. Colonel, we've got exactly one hour and 15 minutes to stop him. We'll return to the man called X in just a moment. A young sailor 2000 miles from home receives a call that his mother is critically ill. He is needed. He has to take a plane to get there. He doesn't have enough money for the ticket. And so he turns to you because your Red Cross is somewhere near him. If he calls you, answer his call. Help him through your Red Cross. Give and give generously through the 1952 Red Cross Fund appeal. You answer the call of humanity through your Red Cross. Act two of the man called X starring Herbert Marshall with Leon Balasco as Pagan Zell Schmidt. One hour and 15 minutes. That's all the time Ken Thurston has to stop Dr. Sallie from using his deadly nerve gas. One hour and 15 minutes to prevent the murder of all the men responsible for the defense of Western Europe. And somewhere in the huge rambling building where the NATO meeting is being held, Zarlie lies waiting. Waiting for 10 o'clock. The hour he intends to strike. We cannot possibly make another search of the building, Sir Thurston. The delegates are already arriving. There is not nearly enough time. They will have to concentrate on guarding the meeting hall. You know where it is. Main banquet hall, third floor. Yes. I'll go there now. You round up all the additional guards you can find. I'll meet you later. Take the private elevator. It will bring you to the security point. Oh, thanks. Mind if I share the elevator with you, Sir Thurston? Hello, brother. What are you doing here? My duties require me to be in many places in your including the meeting hall. May I ride up with you? Sure, come on. I noticed that you and Colinell S. Torreel seem perturbed. Could I do something perhaps to alleviate your concern? There's a button with a number three on it. You might try pushing it. As you wish, Senor. Oh, the beautiful Senorita Heller. I will try to stop the car. Go back for it. Well, that fixes it, brother. Fixes? You jam the controls. The elevator's stuck between floors. Why, so it is. Now, how could I have been so clumsy as to do anything like that? That's what I was wondering. There's no alarm button, no phone. I noticed that. Let me see. It is now exactly two minutes past nine. What's time got to do with it? Well, if I were a betting man, Senor Thurston, I would say it will take at least an hour before we are rescued. It will be amusing to learn if I'm correct. Well, isn't it? If we are not released from here before two minutes past ten? All right, brother, that does it. We can reach that top floor now. Oh, you Americans are so ingenious, Senor. A pocket knife, some little effort on the iron drill work of the elevator roof. And we are free. Disappointed? Yeah, in a way. In a way, yes. I lose my bet. It took you only 14 minutes. It is now exactly nine sixteen. The same day we're looking for someone, Colonel Esther Heller. Oh, Senor Heller. Yes, Senor Thurston was to meet me here. Something important. I'm still after a good feature, Stoica, no? Sounds like you haven't had any luck, Ilta. Senor Thurston. You're right. I have not. Then why not ask brother about a stalled elevator? Are you serious? Sure. I'd like to know the truth about it myself. Very well. I will ask Julio. But don't go too far away. We could have other things to talk about besides the business of getting stories. What is all this talk about elevators, Senor Thurston? I can wait, Colonel. How are things going here? I have doubled the guards. Every possible entrance is covered. Every person inside that room has been double checked. I will swear to it that Sali is not inside, nor has he any means of getting in there. Well, it's nine twenty-three. We'll know in just thirty-seven minutes if you're right. Are you? Are you? Oh, fuck. Hello, Mr. Thurston. When do we eat? I'm hungry as a couple of bears. What the devil are you talking about? The refreshments inside that meeting place, natch. Boy, will we be able to tear into a couple of stakes or two. Colonel, is food going to be served by the... to the delegates? If you are a devil, some light wines, yes. Why? How will they be brought into the meeting room? Oh, no, Senor. Dr. Tali could not be disguised as a waiter. The food will be sent up directly from the kitchen to the banquet hall by dumb waiter. A banquet hall dumb waiter can be pretty good size, Colonel. How close is your kitchen to that conduit we found? Why, it is practically in the next room. There is only... Sir, you're Thurston. Yeah, come on. Where is it, Colonel? Over there. Do the right. Look, it is already on its way to the banquet hall. Take hold of that rope and... it has stopped. Yeah, at the second floor. But the banquet hall is on the third. Maybe we were wrong. Maybe it's only just getting on it now. Look, it is going up again. Grab the control ropes. Of course. I have... it's coming in your... but there is someone pulling on the rope from above. Someone is... Watch it. To surrender, Dr. Tali. In the name of the Portuguese government, I demand... We cannot get to him, Mass. As long as he has a gun, Senor Thurston. You won't have it long. Keep him busy until I join him. Join him? Yes. On the second floor. The dumb waiter shaft. It opens into that next room. But Dr. Tali is an important thing, Mr. Hicks. With guns and stuff. Watch it now. Drop the gun, Doctor. Drop it. You got him, Mr. Hicks. You got him. You're kidding, diesel. You're all through. What about the nerve gas? Ten o'clock. We'll kill. Ten o'clock, but we... Tali. Is he dead, Mr. Hicks? No. Unconscious. The same thing. He's cooked. Well, I guess we've got that thing all cleaned up. Not quite, Pega. Take a look at that dumb waiter. There's no gas cylinder in it. That means he's still hidden somewhere in this building. So it's hidden so what? Tali can't set it off. No, but a time mechanism can. Or somebody working with Tali. And he said it was going to kill at ten o'clock. Ten o'clock? But it's only nine fifty-three. We got plenty of time to find it. We get home with... Oh, Mr. Hicks. Yes. All of seven minutes. Any luck, Colonel? None, Senor. I have examined every inch of that dumb waiter shaft. Wherever Tali has hidden that nerve gas, it is not in there. And it is now three minutes of ten. Yes. Oh, stop shaking, Pega. Not going to do any good. Wait a minute. You are shaking. Oh, sure it's getting cold in here. Cold. The air conditioning system. Of course. Where's the main unit located? In the tower of the building. But we have no time. We've got one chance. The dumb waiter. The dumb waiter? Sure. Come on. I am with you, Senor. Come here, Pega. We're going. The perfect way for Tali to carry out his threat. Release the gas into the meeting hall through the air conditioning system. And now, we are too late. But it is only seconds before ten o'clock. We're coming to the end of the shaft. Why, Colonel? Here we go. The gas cylinder. Hold it. Don't turn that valve. Don't... Hold your breath, Colonel. We've got into the room. I am all right, Senor. You threw it out of the window in time. But look. The one who was going to... Looks like Ulster Heller finally got her story. And it killed her. Do not understand that beautiful young girl. Why should she do such a mad thing? Some kinds of madness are hereditary. Hereditary? The record show that Tali had a daughter. I see. What a pity. Two brilliant minds that could have done so much for the world. Becoming twisted and worth ending up like this. Ulster and Tali couldn't help themselves, Colonel. But there are plenty of others who can, sane men, who deliberately try to stir up revolution and war in order to conquer the world. And don't realize they're only destroying it. Now, Colonel, they're the ones who are truly insane. And now, here again is our star, Mr. Herbert Marshall. Thanks for being with us. And my thanks to Lillian Byef, Will Wright, Gerald Moore, and Robert Boone. Next week, Tanyang Yika, East Africa, where a trail of terror leads to a blue elephant, and where Pagorn sees nothing but pink elephants, and where a man dies only once. Pagorn, Leon Blascoe, I'm happy to say, so join us once you are next on the turn as the man called X. Good night. The Man Called X, starring Herbert Marshall, is a J. Richard Kennedy production with music by Milton Charles. Tonight's transcribed story was written by Sydney Marshall. This program is directed by Jack Johnstone. All characters and incidents on this program are fictitious, and any resemblance to actual characters or incidents is purely coincidental. And now, until next week, same time and station, this has Hal Gibney saying good night for The Man Called X. This is NBC, the national broadcasting company.