 Listen to Herbert Marshall 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 of western civilization, mother city of world famous men, modern and ancient symbol of the glory that is Greece. This is the city of Athens. You're sure everything's all set, Grisha? There's no chance for a slip out, eh? Believe me, my darling cousin Pagan, you've got absolutely nothing to worry about. I swear it by the father of my father of my father. Huh? I knew it. I knew it. You're lying to me. Give me back my money and let me out of this thing. Pagan, you wound me deeply. I have allowed you to buy a half interest in a genuine Byzantine Bible. Oh sure, for 50 bucks. When I could pick up all the Bibles I wanted for nothing in any hotel room. Of course, my darling cousin. But would they be worth fifty thousand dollars? Mm-hmm. And all you got to do is take it in that bookstore and give it to a man by the name of Centos. He'll give you the mazuma and we'll split it right down the middle, sixty-forty. Well, uh, well okay, I'll take it, but, uh, but believe me, Grisha, if I find out that you double-crossed me in any ways. Hey, God, how can you say such a thing? After all, we are both Zell Schmitz. That's just what I mean. Oh, well. Oh, how to do, I'm sure. I'm looking for a Mr. Centos. Would you be, by any chance, be him at, um, like, like I was saying, I, I got here a beautiful deluxe edition of a Bible that's worth maybe fifty thousand dollars. Hey, why, why do you sit there looking, looking at me like that, huh? Why do you, oh, you, you're dead. You're, you're dead. Let me out of here. Let me out, Mr. Drex. That's all I know, Mr. Rex. I walk in, this Centos joker is dead. And I'm left holding the bag. What happened to Grisha? Her dead double-crossing, no good was gone. Haven't seen the hide-up since. Hmm. So, what do you think, Mr. Rex? Is that Bible worth fifty grand like Grisha said? No. I knew it. I knew it. No, I'd say it was worth about ten million. Oh, sure. That's what I thought. It's only worth it. Allow me ten million. Ten million. Chief, does the name Ouredas Tumaros mean anything to you? No. That's right. He was going to establish a foundation for underprivileged Greek children when they access moved in and took over Greece. Tumaris escaped to Turkey and died there, penniless. And the foundation was never established. Well, the inscription on the fly leaf says it belongs to the Tumaros family. Sorry. So what? Chief, the ten million dollars Tumaros put up for that youth foundation was never located. Just disappeared. And now there's been an offer fifty thousand dollars on one murder over a Bible that should only be worth a few dollars. It'll be pretty nice, Chief, if that youth foundation could be started again. Ten million dollars could do a lot of good for a lot of Greek children. Noon, sir, is there something I could do for you? Yes. I'm looking for a buyer for a book. I thought someone here might be interested. Oh, I'm sorry. We are going out of business and are not interested in buying any additional stock. Not even a Byzantine Bible? You have such a Bible? If I did, would it be worth anything? Far more money than a bookshop like this could ever possibly afford. Strange. I understood a man by the name of Centos was willing to pay fifty thousand dollars for such a Bible. If it was delivered to him here, well? You are mistaken, sir. No one by the name of Centos is known here. Then what was the name of the man who was murdered here about an hour ago? No one has been killed on these premises. A call to the police should convince you of that. Oh, I've already called them. They've had no report of any murder here. But you are not convinced? No. Why not? You didn't pull that rug over far enough. That red stain on the floor is still showing. Anything more you'd like to tell me before I go? Nothing. Okay. You can fire me at the Janitsa Hotel if you change your mind. I can give you assurance right now that you have seen the last of me, Mr. Thurston. I might always believe that, except for one thing. And what is that? How you knew my name when I haven't mentioned it. Bye. Believe me, Mr. X, I've talked to practically every crook and I mean every friend I got in Athens. Nobody knows nothing about any 10 million bucks from any Tamara's Foundation for kids. Hmm. What about that dead man, Centos? Nothing. Nobody ever heard of such a character in the book business. I was afraid of that. I tell you we're wasting time with fake Bibles and stuff, Mr. X. And we should ought to concentrate on a good legitimate business like stolen diamonds. Diamonds? That's right. He's making a fortune in it. Who is? Mr. Centos? What? Oh, sure. He's the biggest fence in Athens. Handles more hot rocks than the firemen in the clinker fact. Bigon, if you don't start making sense of that. But I'm making sense, Mr. X. I am, really. The only guy named Centos in this town is a crook. And besides, he's alive. Where does he hang out? Oh, he's got a little joint over Miss Senior Street. Uh, but he isn't... Thanks. See you later, Bigon. Wish to sell me a Byzantine Bible, Mr. Thurston. I understand you're in the market for one, Centos. It would be more exact to say that I was in the market for one. What made you change your mind? I'm very fond of money, Mr. Thurston, and $10 million American is a good deal of money. However, there is one thing I value more in my life. That $10 million you mentioned, that's the money that was going to support the Tumaris Foundation. It is. Then it's still in existence. And the Byzantine Bible I have holds the clue as to where it is. Your reasoning is most exact, sir. Yes. You know, Centos, you're being very cooperative. Yes, I quite agree. Why? Why risk my life being hoggish, Mr. Thurston. Even half of $10 million is a considerable sum of money. That's the cut you want for disclosing the secret of this Bible I have? It is, sir. Giving you $5 million will rob a lot of Greek children out of a new way of life, Centos. Perhaps. But it will also bring a new way of life to me, Mr. Thurston. Yes. Well? No deal. As you wish. I'm certain I can find someone else who will enter into such an agreement with me. That'll be pretty tough. One of you would have to get the Bible away from me first. Yes, that is quite correct, Mr. Thurston. One of us would. So you finally found your cousin Grisha. That's right, Mr. Rex. He's waiting for us up here in the hotel room. Did he tell you when he got the Bible? He wouldn't tell me nothing. But now we'll learn what it is all about when we can... That is far enough, gentlemen. She's got a gun. She's got a gun. Wow. You are not surprised to find me here, Mr. Thurston? Why should I be? I told you we'd meet again. Grisha, what happened to Grisha? That rather obnoxious little man I found here when I came in, he's gone. I was afraid he would interfere with my search. For my Byzantine Bible? No, Mr. Thurston. For my father. I'll read his tomorrows and the ten million dollars that he stole from me. He'll return to the man called X in just a moment. This is Herbert Marshall. All of us on the man called X wish to send our sincerest congratulations to radio station WFBC Greenville, South Carolina. This great southern station today celebrates its 19th anniversary on the air. Best wishes to station WFBC and Mr. B. T. Whitmire, general manager of the station. And now act two of the man called X starring Herbert Marshall with Leon Balasco as Pagan Zellschmidt. Fake copy of an ancient Byzantine Bible apparently holds the clue to ten million dollars. Donated by the wealthy philanthropist Aritas Tomaras to establish a youth foundation for Greek orphans. And Ken Thurston is in Athens attempting to locate the missing funds in order to reestablish the foundation. And now in his hotel room he and Pagan are faced by a strange young girl who holds them at gunpoint. No, Mr. Thurston. I am not after your Bible. I am looking for my father, Aritas Tomaras, and the ten million dollars that he stole from me. So you're a realist daughter? Yes, Zürte Tomaras. As though you did not know. As a matter of fact, I didn't. And I didn't know your father was still alive, or that he'd stolen ten million dollars from... let's have that done. Thank you, Mr. Thurston. I suppose you'll tell us what this is all about, Mr. Maros. And what do you mean by looking for your father when he died penniless in Turkey a number of years ago? That is not true. He left my mother and me here to starve under the occupation. While he lived under the fat of the land in Turkey. With the ten million dollars he had stolen from us. From the foundation. Who told you all this? Sentos? Yes. He had been associated with my father before the war. And the man who called this morning verified it. What man? Well, he didn't give his name. He only said that my father was here in town and that he had our family Bible with him. And that I could have it to remember him by. If I was willing to pay fifty thousand American dollars for it. Yeah. Where did I come in? How did you know about me? Well, when I refused his offer, that man told me I could reach him at this hotel in your room. In the event I changed my mind. Well, a pack of lies, eh, Mr. Thurston? Let's take her down to the poking locker up for assault with a battery. No, no, no, Pig, I never hunched that a story is true. But how can it be? You know this Aridas Tamaris is dead? Yeah, but somebody could be playing a pretty cruel trick on her in order to cash in on that Bible. Let's take a good look at it and find out for ourselves. Good afternoon, Mr. Thurston. Is there something we can do for you? Yeah, I'd like to have that Bible I left here in the hotel safe. Oh, of course. The Bible I'll get it for you. Did you say the Bible, Mr. Thurston? Yeah, that's right. But I've already returned it to you. Returned it? But of course not half an hour ago. It doesn't give it to me. Not personally. No, but your friend brought your note. Here it is with your signature on it. You can see for yourself that it is your signature. That's a perfect forgery, all that. Forgery? You can't be serious. Did this friend of mine give you his name? Yes, yes, I believe he did. I can't remember exactly, but yes, yes, yes, now I remember. What was it? Tomorrow's. Your friend's name was Aridas Tamaris. That's the dive where you found him. That's right. Boy, with a bunch of throat cutters hanging around there, Mr. X. My dear friend, Mr. Thurston. Isn't it rather unusual to find a gentleman like you in such a squalid atmosphere? You seem to be at home in it, centros. Of course. In my business, one must frequent the haunts of one's customers. Smugglers, jewel thieves, others of that ilk. Yes. What about people who have stolen Bibles to sell? Yes, you are quite right. Where is he, centros? Who, Mr. Thurston? Grisha Zelschmidt. Surely you do not suspect Grisha of having stolen your Bible. Only two people could forge my signature that well. And Pagong was with me. In the face of such insuperable logic, any denial would be useless. When last I saw him, he was in that back room. However, Mr. Zelschmidt no longer possesses the Bible. Oh? Who did he sell it to? Poor Grisha could not inform me. He appeared to be rather dead. Oh, come on, Grisha. You're all right. Now start talking about that Bible. And I want the whole story. Oh, sir, help me out. Okay. Okay. I'll tell you everything I know. Everything. Where did you get it in the first place? Well, it was kind of given to me by some Turkish sailor. What? I swear it by the father of my father. But it was. He owed me a couple bucks or two from a crap game. From a business deal, you understand, and gave me the Bible in part payment. He'd picked it up in Turkey someplace and said it was worth a lot of money to somebody in Athens. Here. Look, here's the paper that came with it. The paper? Let me see that. What is it, Mr. X? Listen, in the event of my death, anyone but turning this Bible to the below mentioned people in Athens will be most suitably rewarded. And it's signed. I read this to Maros. Yes, the people he named are Zetto to Maros, Andrea Santos, and the Georgie, Pandele. Pandele? Who is he? Oh, he's captain of some steamship or something, a very low-class type of cheapskater. So you came to Athens and got in touch with these people? That's right. Pandele and the Zetto cook, you wouldn't have nothing to do with me. But Santos was different. First crack out of the bag, he offered me $50,000 for that fake door Bible. What happened then? Well, after Pandele knocked off Santos' pal in the bookstore, he called me and said he was ready to do business. But you already had the Bible in the safe, so I took it and brought it here to Pandele. Only that dirty crook knocked me subconscious and didn't pay me nothing, and that's all I know. Boy, not even in my best lying days did I ever come up with such a wallapa zoosa like that. Well, it could make sense, Pega. It could? Sure. And we're going to pay a visit to Pandele's ship to prove it. Sneaking on board of a primed-up steamer in the middle of the night like this, huh? We didn't sneak aboard. We're paying an open visit to Captain Pandele. Yeah, but... Come on. How do you know he wants to see us? Maybe you don't like people asking questions about Bibles and stuff. Maybe... Pandele. Can you hear me? Pandele. Sixth through Janet. So we got here too late. He's dead. Bible's gone. Now we'll never get that dough for Mr. Tamara's youth foundation. Why give up so easily, Pega? We've only worked on this about 40 hours. It took noir 40 days and 40 nights. Oh, that's right. That's right. It only took noir 40 days and... Thanks, Chief. That's all I wanted to know. Oh, wait a minute. Wait. The answer is in your Bible, Chief. Genesis, chapters six through ten. We've been working around this old broken-down factory for anyways. That's where I read us tomorrow. It's used to manufacture toys. So what? That the place was all bombed out in the war? There's nothing left but old smokestacks sticking up through a lot of rubble. Yeah. Towering over the rubble like a mountain, like the peak of Mount Everett rising above the waters after the flood. Let's see what's inside the boiler room at the end of that stack. Mr. Rex, it's so dark in here. And dark. What are we looking for anyway? A loose brick. Fell from somewhere inside that chimney. But how could it do that? Somebody's climbing up there. Climbing? Yeah. Have you found it yet, centaurs? In the version again. That's right. So you finally figured out where tomorrow's hid the funds of the foundation. It was not too difficult once I found it. Yes. The clues were in Genesis, chapters six through ten, the story of Noor and the Ark, and Mount Everett. That is right. But how did you figure it out? I noticed some words in Ionic and still of the old Attic dialect. And if tomorrow's had the money with him in Turkey, he wouldn't have needed the Bible and its code. That meant he hadn't taken it out of this country. Then I suppose you know how I came into the picture. And Pandelli. I guess tomorrow's put those funds into something with permanent value like diamonds. You could have been his broker. I was. As for Pandelli, well, tomorrow's got out of grease some way. Pandelli's ship could have been the answer. It was. It looks like his youth foundation is going to become a reality, centaurs. You will have to get the diamonds first. Take it easy, centaurs. That stack is old. Ready to collapse. The concussion for those shots could start it. This way, pay gone quick. Be under my way. Under all that stuff. Diamonds with here. Are they? Well, sure they, they... Mr. X, look. Sticking out of all those bricks and stuff. Yeah. Man's hand. Holding on to a steel string box. Looks like they'll still be a new world for thousands of Greek children. Rising out of the ruins of the old. And now here's our star, Mr. Herbert Marshall. Thanks for being with us. And my thanks to Resil Mededith, Will Wright, Polly Bear, Harry Bartell, and Stan Waxman. Next week, a story I promise will start with you with the, well, with the characters involved. One in particular. And that's in addition, of course, to Leon Balasker who will be along as Pagan Zelschmidt. So join us, won't you, when next I return as the man called X. Good night. Next, starring Herbert Marshall is a J. Richard Kennedy production with music by Milton Charles. This story is written by Sidney Marshall. The 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 is Hellgipney saying good night for the man called X. This is NBC, the national broadcasting company.