 And now, another tale well calculated to keep you in suspense. Pardon me, fellow, you mind if I sit down alongside you? Oh, uh, no, no, uh, not at all. Go ahead. Then the smoking car back there. Don't need a cigarette of your own, just have to breathe deep, that's all. Guess you headed to New York, aren't you? Yeah, yeah, uh, that's right, New York. Your hometown, is it? Oh, no. No, it isn't, not yet. I come from a little town about 2,000 miles west of here. But maybe someday, maybe someday it'll be my home. Oh, sure, man, why not? After all, home's where you find it. And now, home is where you find it, written for suspense by Edna Ray. Well, son, we're almost there. Yep, yeah, I guess we are. Sure we are, just look out that window there. See that, see that straight ahead? Look at that, son. That's the skyline, boy. Only about 10 miles away. 10 miles away. You know, you can't even see my town when you're standing right in it. That, uh, that high building there, that's, uh, that's the Empire State, isn't it? That's right, it sure is. The Empire State business. Wow. Looks red on top now from the sun going down, but it's silver when you close up to it. The Empire State, son, New York. You, uh, you come from New York? Well, I'm originally from Texas. That's where I used to hang out. But right now it's New York. And lately, a couple of hours ago, I've been to Poughkeepsie. Oh, by the way, a little town of yours, uh... Me? Oh, uh, Little Rock. I'm from Little Rock, Arkansas. Oh, sure, Little Rock, nice town, nice town. Oh, you, uh, you been there? No, no, I haven't, but I've heard about it. I heard it was a very nice town. Uh, don't believe I caught your name. Oh, I'm sorry. Uh, my name is John. John Adams. Glad to meet you, John. Oh, well, uh, thank you. My name's Tex. Just call me Tex. Everybody does. Oh, I see. Well, uh, glad to meet you, Tex. Oh, don't think about that. Uh, I suppose you have friends waiting for you at the station? Oh, no. No, I guess not. I don't know anybody in New York. Well, what do you know? You know, I came into town the very same way. Didn't know it so. But now, now I'll just bet you there are a couple of people waiting. Probably just tearing their hair out. Wonder where is the little boy, Tex? Hello. Hello, Joe. Yeah, this is Joe. Who's this? This is Oscar. Where's Tex? Oh, I expect him, Oscar. I don't know where he is. Well, call me when it comes in. Okay, Oscar. Joe, stop walking up and down like that. It makes me nervous. Well, where is Tex? Where is he? Mind you, said he'd be here about three. It's almost four. Worrying about? Well, I do worry. That was Oscar on the house phone again. He wants to know where Tex is, too. He wants to know where the money is, I hope. You have been late on the rent before. And anyway, now we've got the money. Pay him what you owe, and then we can leave. No, that's just it. Tex promised me the money, but we haven't got it, not yet. But you said that. I know what I said. I keep thinking about what I said, but I haven't got it. I said I had the money so that you would quit your job at the movie house the same time I did. We could leave Sunday night, but I haven't got it. Today is Saturday, Joe. Tomorrow is Sunday. Tex promised it when he got back, but if he doesn't come... Look, I gotta get out of here even without the money. I owe too much. I owe Oscar for the rent. I owe him personally, too, because he helped me out. That's the way he is. He keeps doing your favors. Then one day he says, you owe me a little something. I got away. Maybe you can pay back. And what is the way? Making book for him. Taking bets. A runner for bets on horses, games, politics, anything. And no. Tex says he got me into this and he will get me out. I met him on the train when I first came to New York. He got me a job at the movie house. He introduced me to Oscar. Oscar staked me. Tex got me the job so I could pay him back. But I never caught, not with what I make. Well, Tex must have known that. Well, of course he knew. Tex and Oscar are in this together. Being an assistant manager at the movie house is a sideline for Tex. And a place to operate from. He hires the ushers. Then he and Oscar box them in until they do anything they say. Steal if necessary. Kill if they have to. And what are you doing for Tex? You say he's giving you money now. Nothing. Just getting out of town. He says he'll give me enough to pay Oscar and get out of town. But he doesn't want me to tell Oscar where I got the money. He just wants me to get. Then he's kicking you out. Yes, he's kicking me out. Why? I don't know and I don't care. All I have to do, he says, is to wait for my replacement. Then we can go. He said by Sunday. Tomorrow is Sunday. I know. But what if Tex hasn't found the boy? What if he hasn't found him? And why isn't he here? Yeah, Johnny Boy, like I say, it's a big town. There's a lot of angles. You have to know your way around. You have to be smart, Johnny Boy. Smart? You want to get ahead, don't you? Well, yeah. Yeah. I guess I do. Well, sure you do. That's what people come to this town for. But you can't do it alone, boy. You can't do it alone. Well, I didn't think of it that way. For instance, you got yourself a place to stay. Well, no, I thought I'd just look around. Look around? Well, you'll end up in the park, man. Oh, well, I... And a job. Now, how about a job? Well, no, no. I thought that you're just thinking too much, son. Well, I... Stop interrupting, man. We'll be there in a minute. Money, I suppose you have money. Well, for a while. For a while. Didn't you ever hear about time? Time is what you'll hear about in New York, son. There ain't none. There is no time to waste. You've got to protect yourself. You've got nothing to protect yourself with. And the least of what you ain't got is time. You understand me, Johnny boy? I think I'm getting homesick. Oh, no, no. There's no call for that. There's no reason for being homesick, son. Not when you've got money. I'm trying to... I'm trying to save you. Now, come on now, Johnny. Get your stuff together. Oh, okay, Tex. Now, the first thing you're going to need is a room and then a job. I've got some connections and I'm going to make a call when we get off. I want you to meet two friends of mine and you're going to like them, Tom. Come on, kid. Follow me. Yeah, Tex, but... Who are your friends? Just a couple of boys, Johnny. Oscar and Joe. Yeah, who is it? Yeah, yeah, sure, Oscar. Hello, Oscar. I thought maybe it was Tex. He'll be here in a few minutes. Well, uh... And what do you want? I, uh... I haven't got it. You'll have to get some money, Joe. We need it. Well, how come the we? Because we're in business together. That's how come the we? Well, I'm not in business. Not with you or anybody else. You know, you're hysterical, Joe. Sometimes a man sounds tough when he's that one. Well, lay off of me. You and Tex leave me alone. All right, can that stuff, Joe? You've been a bookmaker for six months, a bookie. You've taken bets on every track in the country. You're a big boy now. Well, I didn't know it. I didn't know what was in them. Well, you know it now. And every gambler in town, big and little, knows your work for me. But no more. No more. I'm getting out. How? Huh? How? We got hit bad the other day. We ain't got enough cash on hand to pay off. We got to get it. We're in business, Joe, and we're staying in business. What can I do? What can I do about it? Just get up with your Omi. I don't care how. And for the rest, you do what Tex says. I don't know what he's got in mind, but you just do what he says. He's on his way up with a boy. Another kid like you. Oh, Oscar, no. Just do like he says. Come in. All right, boys. I want you to meet a friend. We've been waiting for you, Tex. Well, I took me a little train ride. Johnny, boy, these are the friends I've been telling you about. Oscar and Joe. I don't need you, Johnny. Well, thank you. Now, Joe is the shy type, boys. Say hello to the boy, Joe. Well, I'm sorry. How are you? How'd you do? That's diggin'. Now, Oscar, you got a room for the boy? Well, it just so happened. That's the spirit. Now, you see, you met yourself some friends, Johnny, boys. Well, no. I mean, wait a minute. I appreciate the favor, but how much? Well, it's only 60 a month. Oh, well, look. I want you to do the boy a favor, Oscar. Yeah, what kind of favor? This boy ain't got any ready cash, at least not enough. Give him an eye over you on the first month, and he'll pay you back out of his salary. Oh, what salary? Yeah, the boy anticipates my question, Tex. Well, my assistant Joe here is getting Johnny a job at the movie house. Tex, you can't do this. He's a fine boy. Well, now look, Johnny has a job. It's okay with me. Oh, now, fellas, you see, I don't want to be obligated. I'll just get a cheaper place and about the job. Now, there's no obligation among friends. Right, Oscar? Joe? Right, right. Johnny, boy, you're among friends. You want us to force a favor down your throat? Is that what you want? You need a little cash reserve to get started in this town. It ain't easy to find a place and a job. If you walk out of here, you're walking out on your friends. You'll walk right out to no place, and you'll have to hitchhike all the way home. Well, now that you put it that way, well, okay, I accept the favor, and maybe someday I can pay you back. Just a minute. There. Hello, John. How was the first day? Oh, confusing. It's kind of small in here, isn't it? Just enough for the tickets and the money. You? Almost. I'm supposed to pick up the money. Yes, I know. These two bags. You know, I don't understand. I wouldn't trust myself with these. Well, obviously they do. Here. It's kind of heavy, huh? I'd say about five pounds. How do you know? Well, I used to guess weights at the county fair. I was good, too. That's cute. You know where to take it? The manager's office, right? Right. I'm going to count up. I'll show you. Counting the receipts. That's Texas' job, isn't it? Well, on weekends, Texas is the manager. Joe's the assistant, so Joe counts up. Oh, so what do I become on weekends? You become Joe and take the money to the night deposit after Joe counts up. There's pretty fast promotions around here. Well, they must like you. Gosh, I'm in favors all the time. Texas has been doing a lot of favors for one day. What I want to know is, what am I supposed to do for him? I don't know. Oh, here we are. Well, okay, Marge. See you tomorrow. Yeah, I'd say about five pounds. Hello. Texas, Joe, boy, let me in. Hello, Texas. What are you doing here? Just a look, Sam. Just want to let you know I got you the tickets on the plane, son, right here in my hand. And he's counting up? Yeah, yeah, it's in the safe. What's the money? Well, that'll be Sunday tomorrow. After you finish counting tomorrow night, you'll have the tickets and the money. Where's Johnny? Well, he went to change. Oh, he's coming back. Yeah, yeah, he's coming back. He's taking the money to the night deposit with Officer O'Connor, just like you said. Everything is just like you said. Texas, what is going on? Well, I'm going to like seeing you on a vacation, Joe, because you're a little skittery. Oh, forget it. When are you going to lock up? Johnny's got to get the money. I think the combination is safe, isn't it? Yeah, yeah, that's right. Another thing you told me to do. Tex, listen, you can't... All right, you can go now. I'll wait and see him myself, and the cop ought to be here by the time he gets back. Okay, Tex, but I expect my tickets and the money tomorrow, or there'll be trouble. There won't be any trouble, Joe. Oh. Oh? Well, I expected to see Joe. He isn't here. No, so I see. You're Officer O'Connor, huh? And what would you be wanting me to like? Well, my name is John. Now, this may strike you kind of funny, but I'm supposed to pick up the money. Well, now that you say it, lad, it does strike me as kind of funny. And what are you aiming to do with this money may buy? Well, I don't rightly know. I mean, you and I are supposed to take it away. Well, no, no. I must say I thought of something like that before myself, but then there's my job to consider. I'm an officer of the law may buy, and it wouldn't look nice. My dignity, you know. No, no, no. Look, Officer, see, I'm the new usher here. I'm taking Joe's place when he leaves. I'm supposed to go to the night deposit vault with you. Oh, now we're getting someplace. And how do we get it out of the safe? Well, I've got the combination. Joe gave it to me. Joe gave it to you? Well, now. Well, what? Something to matter? No. No, I guess not. Seeing as you're taking Joe's place. Now, let me see now. Three left. It'd be funny if it wasn't here. A strange sense of humor may buy. And two to the right. But I wouldn't be surprised. What about? Speak up, may buy. Well, there's something mighty, uh... What, dear boy? What? Now, let's see. Yep. Yep. It's here, all right. Of course it's there, all right. Of course it is. Well, now, wait a minute. Oh, no, son. No, something else. Now, wait a minute. How much did I say they weighed? I don't remember, son. I don't remember you said. Five pounds. I said five pounds. Do you have a bit of a notion of what you're talking about, son? But it's more like three pounds now. Come along now, son. I have got... I don't know. Maybe. Maybe not. Well, Joe, just a few more hours to go. Yeah, Sunday at last. I'm hanging my clothes up in this locker for the last time. Uh-huh. Marge tells me you're taking a plane. Yeah, that's right. That's kind of expensive, isn't it? I mean, all the way to Mobile? No, I don't know. I... Yeah, yeah, I guess it is. Joe, tell me something. How does this night deposit thing work? Well, on weekends, we don't hold the day's receipts in the safe. Saturday's receipts couldn't be deposited in the bank on Sunday anyway. Oh, I see. So if you held Saturday and Sunday's receipts in the safe, you'd have to wait until Monday to deposit. That's right, and there's too much money there, so we deposit in the night deposit vault at the bank each night. And those receipts don't get counted at the bank until Monday morning. That's right. Tomorrow morning when the bank opens. Didn't, uh, Tex tell you? No. Well, wasn't he there when you came to take the money last night? No, he wasn't. Well, Tex told me. Never mind. Uh, by the way, uh, when do you leave? Right after I count up, we're taking the 1030 out of LaGuardia. Oh, well, that's fine. You thinking of coming back sometime? Sure, sure, why not? Well, now, Joe, you sure you can come back? Well, of course I'm sure. What do you mean? Well, that's nice, Joe. Then I'll be seeing you. Yeah, sure thing. And look, look, Johnny, do me a favor, huh? You get out too. You come back some other time. Why? Because they'll kill you, Johnny. You'll ask for money. That's the first step. How do you expect to pay back? You know, I've been wondering about that. You see, the way Oscar said it yesterday, I mean, it sounded like a favor. You can't pay him, Johnny, not on this salary. Then how did you? Oh, well, I, uh... Okay, Joe. Now, look, Johnny, they're gonna pull you into a racket. You're a guy like I used to be. Don't let them do it. Well, what is the racket, Joe? You worked for Tex and Oscar, didn't you? Well, Tex keeps his name out of it. Oh, it doesn't matter anymore. I'm on my way. Yes, yes, I worked for him. And they're letting you go? Tex is. Oscar don't know anything about it. So Tex is doing you another favor. I wonder what he's doing for Oscar. I'll see you at the terminal. Come here. Hi, Joe Boyd. I've been waiting for you. I counted up. The money's in the safe. Good boy, Joe. Here are the tickets and a hundred bucks. Well, uh, what about Oscar? Well, I'll take care of him. But a hundred bucks, it's not enough. That's all I can spend. Well, you said more. Now, you want to go, don't you, Joe? All right. Now, wait a minute. Wait a minute. These tickets are to Acapulco, Mexico. That's right, son. That's where you're going. Oh, now, wait a minute. You haven't got too much time, son. Ten-thirty flights. Well, not just a minute, son. No, Joe. You see, every time Oscar had lost a bet, he'd tell the boys that he didn't know anything about it. That you'd taken the bet yourself. But that he covered anyway. He paid off the bet for you. He said you must have made a mistake. I'm saving your time, kid. Just let me talk. Now, this time Oscar got hit bad, and he said the same thing. But this time, he said he couldn't cover. He said it was up to you to pay off. That's ridiculous. That's just what I told Oscar. So I figured it's better for you to go away, far away. But if I go away, they'll say I ran out. They'll come after me. Not in Mexico. Not if you kind of stay off by yourself. No, I'll stay here, and I'll explain. I won't go. I don't think you're going to get a chance to explain it, son. The boys are pretty mad. I don't think they'll believe me anymore. But if I go, they'll... Well, what about Oscar? They're not dumb. They'll think Oscar rigged it for me to go so that he could get out from under and by blaming me. Ah, you're getting smart, son. It's too bad you have to go just when you're learning so nice. That's right, they won't believe Oscar either. Well, then you all wiped out. You both wiped out anyway. No, no, no, no, not both of it, son. You see, I happened to come by and only cash. I was thinking I could help you out again and pay you a little debt to the boys and Oscars, too. The boys kind of take to me after that. Then I'd have a nice little business, and maybe you wouldn't have to stay the next go all your life. You're double-crossing Oscar. It's your only way, Joe. Oh, I wish you were smart like this in our picture. You're getting smarter, and Oscar's getting dumb. I won't go this way! You don't go to Mexico standing up right this minute, son. You'll go to Mobile feet first. Hello, Oscar. You don't mind if I called you Oscar, do you? What are you doing here? Well, Oscar, I've been thinking about our friendship and all, and I've been wondering... All right, get to the point. Well, I was thinking, Oscar's all right, you know, but I'd kind of like to get in business with you. Business? Where's Tex? Well, now, I didn't see any point in going to Tex. He'd only send me to you. What is this? Where is he? Oh, he's at the movie house, taking money out of the safe. What are you talking about? Well, Joe, you see, needed some money to go away, and Tex is just helping him out. Where'd you get all this? Where's Joe going? South, for the summer. Well, he can't go. Well, Tex said he could. Oh, you don't know what you're talking about. Well, okay, I just thought I could get a nice job like Joe. See, I'm going now to see him off on the plane. What? Yeah, that's right, he and Marge, a honeymoon. Where'd he get the money? Where's Tex? I told you, over at the movie house, taking money. Don't go away! Out of the safe. Oh, Oscar, I was expecting Johnny back to pick up the money. Maybe I can do it for you, Tex. I could use the money more than Johnny, and I could use it more than Joe. Now, what's he eating, Oscar? You know, you're making me sick, Tex. Looking at you is making me sick. Oh, now you're as bad as Joe, Oscar. You're getting just as jumpy as Joe. Yeah, but I don't get a plane ride. No honeymoon, Tex. Nobody wants to marry me because I'm broke. Okay, Oscar, what is it? Where's Joe? He's on a plane. How'd you know? Our new friend, Johnny Boy. Where's he? Look, I'm asking the questions now. Where'd he get the dough? How should I know? You know everything else, Tex. What kind of a deal did you two pull? I know a deal. Joe's on a plane, Tex. Somebody bought a ticket with dough. Maybe he sent it. He saved nothing. Go on, open the safe, Tex. Come on, now. Put away the gun. Open the safe, quick. Don't be a fool, Oscar. You can't get away with this. Oh, look, I need the dough, Tex. I need it bad. With Joe going, I need it bad enough to kill you. All right. All right, you got it. You got it, Oscar. You just don't get excited now. All right. Just talk fast, Tex. I'm very careful because I'm gonna listen carefully. All right, Oscar. Now, you listen. I scared Joe out of town. I pulled a switch on the receipts here. There's nothing deposited at the bank with scraps of paper. Where does Joe come in? He counted up both days before he left. Now, the cops know that. He'll be in Mexico tomorrow, and it'll look like he skipped, so I'm hanging the whole job on him, and he'll never come back. Where do I come in, Tex, little boy? Oscar. It's for both of us, Oscar. Man, don't you see that we can pay off that long shot with some despair? We're back in business again. Open that, sir. Oscar, the cop will be here any minute. It was easier to do this without you. Nothing's easier without me, except to cut me out. Now, open this safe. All right, Oscar. It ain't locked. There you are. All right. Now, take the locks off the bag. Oscar, to the... Open them up. Okay. Good. Scraps of paper. Very cute. Now, let's have the dog. Oscar, if you just... No, Tex, let me. No, it's a funny thing, but I don't trust you no more. You must have got away with last night's receipts, but not tonight's yet. I'll take tonight's. We'll let Joe be the fall guy just the same, but you and me are breaking the partnership. Okay, Oscar. Here's the dome. Thank you. And don't try to pin anything on me, Tex, because I'll find Joe and let him break you apart. What about Johnny? What about him? He suspects anything. He can blow this damn himself. We got to find out. It's your worry, Tex. You see, I wasn't in on this. You did a good job, Tex. A very friendly job. Go find Johnny yourself. Oh, uh, you fellas looking for me? Ooh, wee. A gun. I mean, is that the kind of business we're in, Oscar? Just come in here and close that door. Well, well. Scraps of paper, huh? I knew that wait was wrong. We've been waiting for you, Johnny boy. You have? Yes, indeed. He asked you and me just happened to check this money. We found scrap of paper in the bags and the money in the desk. Now, isn't that nice? No, it isn't. That ain't nice at all. So when the cop comes, we're going to give him the money and arrest you as an accomplice to Joe. Now, wait a minute. Shut up, Oscar. Uh, did Joe take the money? That's right. And you helped him. You pulled a switch and Joe skipped. And that's Joe leaving the nights for you. Well, now, I shouldn't have left it in the drawer, should I? And Joe and me shouldn't have come back. Joe? Yeah, he's right outside the door. And you made me shut it right in his face. Don't get him, Oscar. Get in here, Joe. Don't get Joe Cusco. Lock the door out. Okay, thanks. All right, boys, you asked for it. Give me those bags, Oscar. I'll put them in the safe. There now. Now, here's to Joe. These boys are going to disappear, Oscar. Take them out where they can't be found. Look, Tex, maybe this is going a little bit... You need money bad, don't you, Oscar? You need money bad enough to kill? Okay, Tex. And hurry for Pete's sake. Let's go. Oh, God. Right in the arm. Not bad shooting after being trapped in that closet these many hours. Johnny, boy, how'd you get in my closet? I'm sorry to have cheated on you, fellas, but Johnny put me up to it. And I just saw Scots who just racked the tears gone wrong. Joe, do you think we'll make the plane? In a police car, sure. You got to learn to take it easy, Marge. Mobile is a lazy town. That's right, Marge. Not like New York. New York is a tough place to live. Oh, well, I don't know about that. Just like home to me, New York's okay. You know, it's the out of town to give it a bad name. Suspense. You've been listening to Home is Where You Find It Written for Suspense by Edna Ray. Another tale well calculated to keep you in. Suspense. This is the CVS Radio Network. To help your party mood, your party fun, your party food. Remember, nothing does it like 7-up. You're tuned to Radio 590, W-R-O-W. First on the dial in Albany, New York.