 Stories and content in Weird Darkness can be disturbing for some listeners and is intended for mature audiences only. Parental discretion is strongly advised. Welcome Weirdos, I'm Darren Marlar and this is Retro Radio Sunday on Weird Darkness. Each week I bring you a show from the golden age of radio, but still in the genre of Weird Darkness. I'll have stories of the macabre and horror, mysteries and crime and even some dark science fiction. If you're new here, welcome to the show and if you're already a member of this Weirdo family, please take a moment and invite someone else to listen. And please leave a rating and review in the podcast app you listen from. Doing these things helps the show to keep growing. And while you're listening, be sure to check out WeirdDarkness.com for merchandise, my newsletter, to connect with me on social media and more. Coming up is an episode from Murder by Experts. Murder by Experts brought weekly episodes of crime and mystery that quickly birthed a loyal following of listeners and swiftly gained the respect and approval from the radio world at large. This show boasts the genius of Robert Arthur and David Cogan of the mysterious traveler fame, along with famous mystery writers like John Dixon Carr and Brett Halliday who hosted the program. The program featured stories by well-known writers of the time and chosen by guest experts like Craig Rice, Bruno Fisher, Lawrence Blockman and other household detective fiction names. This radio show was such an immediate favorite, it won the prestigious Edgar Award for the best radio drama in 1950 after being on the air for only six months. This was no surprise, given the fact that the Arthur and Cogan collaboration had already achieved much success with other radio shows such as The Mysterious Traveler, which had been previously nominated in 1949, and also writing episodes of The Sealed Book. The show ran for two seasons, from June 1949 through December 1951, but brought a total of 130 episodes. The episode we're about to listen to, It's Luck That Counts was broadcast August 29, 1949 on the Mutual Broadcasting Network. A woman has been killed and her $75,000 has been stolen. A vagrant finds himself with a claim check for a fortune. Now, bolt your doors, lock your windows, turn off your lights, and come with me into the weird darkness. Murder by experts. The Mutual Broadcasting System presents Murder by Experts with your host and narrator, Mr. John Dixon Carr, world-famous mystery novelist whose books have been published in 17 languages have sold over 10 million copies and who is author of the recently published detective novel Below Suspicion. Good evening. This is John Dixon Carr. Each week at this time, Murder by Experts brings you a story of crime and mystery which has been chosen for your approval by one of the world's leading detective writers. Tonight, our guest expert is the noted mystery novelist Frank Gruber. From the many thrillers he has read and enjoyed, Mr. Gruber has selected A Tense and Gripping Story by Georgian Guthrud Fass. And now we present Larry Haynes in It's Luck That Counts. When you're down on your luck, you can't expect things to break right. You see a dime lying on the street, you go to pick it up and get swiped by an auto. Or you snatch a bag from a rich-looking dame and all you find in it is six cents and a lipstick. You know what I mean. So, when the bartender in this Pittsburgh dive told me to scram, I guess I should have listened to it. And I look crumb, keep your hooks out to free lunch, quit butting to customers. Nobody's going to buy you drinks. I'm not bothering anybody. Well, just you standing there bothers me. That's because I'm near to freight shards, every spindle stiff in the county thinks I run a club for hobos or something. I told you once, I told you it doesn't time to shove off of you. Hey, what's going on? What are the cops coming here for? All right, folks. Stand right where you are. Hey, what is this? Keep your shirt on, Delaney. This is a raid. Commissioner's orders. Hey, you there. Come over here. I didn't do nothing. All right, search him, blocker. What for? What have I done? Never mind. What have I? Hey, you. You're in the brown suit. Get over there with the other one. And you there, red. Go on, get over there. You're a new face. What's your name? Me? Yeah, you. Matthews, Dan Matthews. Where do you live? I'm just passing through. Get over with the others, Matthews. But I haven't done anything. Kid! Here's the next one, Lieutenant. His name is Dan Matthews. All right, Dan. Now here's your chance to come clean. Why did you kill him? Kill. I didn't kill anybody. I swear I did. As I told you, you were seen near the old lady's shack just about the time she was killed. What old lady? Sarah Grimes. Name's familiar, isn't it? No, I never heard of her. I never was near her. Where'd you hide the money, Danny? What money? The 75 grand you stole from the old lady after you killed her. 75 grand? Yeah. You think if I stole 75 Gs, I'd be hanging around Delaney's bar, mooching a drink? I'm asking the questions, Matthews. Where were you Tuesday night between eight o'clock and midnight? Well, if that's when it happened, that lets me out, Lieutenant. I was in Delaney's bar all that time. Ask him if you don't believe me, he'll tell you. All right, Matthews. If Delaney backs you up, that'll clear you. Then you'll let me go? Oh, no, no. No matter what Delaney says, we're holding you for vagrancy. Vagrancy? Yeah. You're a big, good-looking guy, Matthews. Why haven't you got a job? Well, I... This city doesn't like bums, Matthews, especially bums from out of town. We got enough of our own. Hey, Sergeant, take Matthews back to this cell and bring in the next one. They all gave me the big double O and I got shoved back into the cell, but I just grinned at him and flopped onto a cot. They still had it coming. All of them were guys like me, all except one. He was about 40 big and he wore a neat pinstripe suit. I could see he was really sweating under the cool front he was putting up. Presently, he came over to me. Hey, fella. Yeah? What are they looking for? Listen, they question you. What are they trying to find? I don't even know why they arrested me. You mean they just picked you up and pulled you in without telling you what for? Yes. I was just opening up a pulled parlor when the cops came. All me up without a word. But what for? Why? You know what they want? Yeah, sure. I know. They're looking for a murderer. Murderer? Who was killed? Some old crow named Grimes. Sarah Grimes? Yeah, you know her? Of course I know her. She was a friend of my old lady. Well, she's dead. Head smashed and blood all over everything. According to the cops, she had 75,000 bucks hidden in that tumbled down shackles. Maybe more. 75,000? What do I do with this? Why, they arrest me? Same reason they arrested me to ask questions. Tell me. What, uh... What questions do they ask? Lots of questions, you know. Do, uh... Do they do anything else? What do you mean? They search you? Examine your clothes? They didn't, but I decided to give the guy a ride. Sure. Sure, they go over you from head to foot. Examine your clothes under ultraviolet for blood stains, looking to your cuffs, your shoes, socks, everything. Why? Nothing. Nothing. Listen for a while. Danny's the name Danny Matthews. Danny, I'm Fred Bruno. You look like a nice guy. Sure, everybody can trust Danny. I want you to do me a favor. I'll be glad to, only I'm not getting out of here, so I can't call you lawyer. No, it's not that. I'm a married man, see? Yeah, I see. But sometimes I go to New York on business, you know. I don't like to carry a lot of baggage with me, so I keep a bag in the city suitcase. I got my clothes in it. You know, you know New York? Do I know New York? You know that check room in Times Square in the subway? Yeah, I know. There's a nice check there. I got the baggage check with me. Well, that's no crime. Yeah, but you see, it's like this. If they find that baggage check on me, they'll investigate, won't they? Yeah, they'll investigate. That's what I'm afraid of. I've got a girlfriend in the city. My wife finds out about that. There's gonna be trouble. So you see, I don't want them to know. You understand? Yeah, sure, sure. I know just how you feel. Sure, I'll hold it for you. Just give it here. I'll give you $10 for the favor. It's all I have on me. Thanks. I'm glad to do it for you. Good guy, Danny. You give it to me when I come back. Well, uh, maybe you're not coming back. Maybe they'll let you go. You needn't worry about that. I'll be around to pick it up. Okay. Whenever you want it, you can have it back again. That's fine. Here, here it is. Take care of it. Oh, sure. You're having a thing to worry about. Well, Fred Bruno didn't come back to the cell, so I knew the police didn't have enough on him to hold him. A couple of hours later, I was hauled into night court and was handed a 30-day stretch for vagrancy. I hadn't been in a week when they told me I had a visitor. Fred Bruno. He didn't waste any time getting down to business. Where is it? Where's what? That baggage check. What baggage check? I don't know what you're talking about. Don't fool around with me, Matthews. I want... I tell you, I don't know what you're talking about. I warn you, Matthews. I want that check. I don't get it. You're not going to like what happens to you. Maybe I better call a screw. You're threatening me. Maybe I'd better tell them you want a baggage check. Suppose they were to find that check, Bruno, and find the suitcase in your girl's picture and that your wife isn't going to like that. All right, Matthews. You're asking for it. And you're going to get it right in the neck. I knew then I had to do some planning. I wasn't letting that check slip through my fingers, not when for the first time in my life my luck was beginning to change. I ain't dumb. I knew it was in that suitcase. It was a 75 G's Bruno got when he knocked off his old lady friend. I knew I had to get that baggage check to a safe place. I got an envelope and a stamp and addressed it to Dan Andrews, a delivery in New York. And I got friendly with a stew who was in for 10 days on a D&D charge. I gave him 10 bucks to mail a letter for me when he got outside. I knew it was taking a chance, but what else could I do? Well, when my 30 days were up, I walked down the jailhouse expecting to find Fred Bruno waiting for me. He wasn't there. But that didn't mean he wasn't having me tailed. I walked down the street and then turned off toward the main highway out of town. As I hiked along, I kept thumbing cars. The fourth one slowed down and stopped. Would you like a lift? You bet. Oh, thanks. Thanks a lot. You're welcome. You going far? Uh, New York. You going that far? Oh, no. No, I'm not. Sorry. But I can take you about 20 miles on your way. Every little bit helps. Yes, I guess it does. She smiled at me. She was a luscious blonde with blue eyes that really set you back on your heels. She looked to be about 25. And there was class written all over her. I sat next to her smelling that wonderful perfume and cursing my clothes in the luck that made us meet like this. Um... You're not scared? Picking up a guy like me, I'm not dressed so well. Should I be scared? Oh, no, no. Well, I'm not. As a matter of fact, I didn't look at your clothes when I stopped for you. I looked at your face. Looked honest, huh? Not only that. Oh, say I, uh... I sure wish you were going to New York. We could have a great time there. Could we? Well, you may think that I am a tramp broke, but that's where you're wrong. I've got lots of money waiting for me. I'll have it just as soon as I get to the city. Yes, sir, I've got a steak there waiting for me, a big steak. That's nice. Somebody die and leave you fortune. They might say that. Sure you might say that. Well, I'm sorry I'm not going to New York. I'm on my way to my country place. I've got a little place near Gloucester. Oh. You, uh, staying there all alone? Most of the time. Isn't it lonely? Well, yes, it, uh... It might be a bit lonely. Well, uh... Look, I don't have to get to New York today. I could get in tomorrow or the day after. Are you angling for an invitation? Well, I just thought if you wanted company... I don't know. I don't know. Well, I guess you could come to lunch maybe and stay for a swim. I could. That's swell. Yes, I think it is too. And since we'll be spending the afternoon together, I guess we better get to know each other's names. I'm Alice. I'm Danny, Danny Matthews. Glad to know you, Danny. You're not half as glad as I am, Alice. It took us about an hour to get to that summer place of ours. It was all far by itself in the woods. Right near it was an old quarry filled with sparkling cold water. I helped to lug a cart in the groceries from the car into the kitchen. We stored them away together and tucked the covers off the furniture. I could feel it building between us all the time. It's only 11 o'clock. Would you like to go for a swim now? The quarry's fine for swimming. Well, sure, only I don't have a suit. Oh, you can wear my brother's trunks. He's just about your size. I'll show you where you can change. Then I'll meet you in five minutes in front of the house. I was ready in three. And I waited for her on the porch. She came out in a white swimsuit. And when I saw her, I just about lost my breath. She was the dreniest day and I had laid eyes on her. She smiled and I just gulped. Come along. We go down this path. If you love old-time radio, you'll want to visit our friends at ClassicRadioStore.com who provide all the shows for me to wear. At ClassicRadioStore.com you'll find out where you can find the latest radio shows at ClassicRadioStore.com you'll find thousands of episodes available in pristine, digitally remastered sound. Every episode they offer at ClassicRadioStore.com has been transferred from the master recordings and digitally remastered for superior sound quality. That's why the episodes that you hear on Weird Darkness sound so clean. And the shows at ClassicRadioStore.com are all uncut, unedited and are delivered to you for originally broadcast including the classic commercials. You can download great shows that'll chill you and thrill you such as Suspense, The Whistler, Inner Sanctum, Lights Out and more. There are mystery and crime shows like Sherlock Holmes, Philip Marlowe, Dragnet and Sam Spade. They got a great collection of old-time science fiction radio shows like X-minus 1 or Dimension X. Plus, there is a ton of comedy and westerns there too if you want to relive the shows of yesteryear. All the shows are available to instantly digitally download and the links never expire so you can order them now and listen to them anytime you'd like. And because you're a listener of Weird Darkness, you can save 20% on any and all radio shows on the website by using the promo code Weird at checkout. Just visit ClassicRadioStore.com at checkout, use the promo code Weird and save 20% on your whole purchase. That's ClassicRadioStore.com promo code Weird at checkout. I don't know how deep is it? 30 feet. Oh, wait till I get on the sledge. Now watch me. The water was so clear I could see the bottom coming up at me as I kicked myself down. I grabbed a handful of gravel and started up. Here's a present for you. Thanks, I can't do that. I've tried but I never can get all the way down. Ah, it's easy. Come on, stand here on this rock and catch your breath. Oh, isn't the water wonderful? You're wonderful. You're nice too. She turned to face me. I let my arms float around her and closed them. Then as she floated up close to me her lips were soft and cool. And then suddenly the coolness was gone and she was warm and close. She looked at me for a long moment with those beautiful eyes and then she slipped away and I swam after her. We climbed onto the rocks and she sat down and pulled off a bathing cap. Alice, I... Oh, Danny. Alice, Alice, I know it's crazy just meeting you a couple of hours ago but I'm nuts about you. You're very nice, Danny. You're so very nice. Alice, come to New York with me. I've got a pile of dough there just waiting for me to pick it up. I know I'm talking like I'm out of my head and without a cent in my pocket dressed in rags. Well, it's true. But we'll really start living. Get married, Alice. You don't know what you do to me. Don't, don't, don't. We've got to get back to the house now. No, Alice. No, no, Danny, please, not now. We went back to the house. I followed her inside into the living room. Somebody was standing there with a rod in his hand. Bruno. Don't move, Matthews. Don't move or I'll plug you. Uh, Danny... Danny, this is my husband. Oh, I get it. I get it, no. Did you find it, Fred? No, it's not in his clothes. I took them apart. I haven't got it. Well, maybe he... maybe he hid it in the bedroom. No, I looked everywhere. Talk, Matthews. Where is it? Talk or you'll be wishing you were dead. I haven't a thing to say. Brave, aren't you? Wait before I get through with you. You talk plenty. Save it. Give it to him, Danny. Give it to him and you can go. That's to you, gorgeous. Have a mind or talk. Upstairs, Matthews. We went upstairs and Bruno told her to tie me to a chair and she did a good job, too. I was tied to that chair so tight I could hardly breathe. Here, go outside, Alice. Leave me alone. Yes, Fred. Danny, I'm sorry. Well... this is your last chance. Are you going to talk? Ah! That's just the beginning. Really did a good job, too. When he was through, I knew I'd been shellacked by an expert, but I didn't talk. I knew I'd be signing my own death warrant by spilling. He wouldn't kill me as long as he thought you'd get me to sing. I was alone in the room, still tied to the chair. Downstairs, I could hear the two of them moving around, talking. I had to get my hands free. I pulled and jerked until a blood came and I passed out. Must have been hours later when I came, too. It was dark and the house was quiet. I tried again to loosen my wrists and I finally got my right hand free. Free, but almost useless. I rested, flexing my fingers. An hour passed, maybe more. I was picking at the knot that tied my left hand when the door quietly opened. The room was as dark as the inside of a camera, but I knew who it was. I'd know the smell of that perfume anywhere. Danny, Danny, are you awake? Yes, I'm awake. It mustn't hear you whisper. What for are you going to say? Danny, he's going to kill you. I know it. So what? I don't want you to die. You wouldn't kid me, would you? I'm going to untie you and let you go. Thanks. I do mean it. Just tell me where it is. That baggage check, please, Danny. You're keeping it. Won't do you any good. Believe me. Maybe not. Now, Danny, listen to me. Freddie killed that old woman and he'll kill you, too. I don't want him to. No. No. Let him have the baggage check, Danny. And then we'll go away, you and I. I hate him. I hate him. He's a beast. You're not getting anywhere, baby. You think I want to get the money, don't you? You think I'm lying just to get the money? Well, I'll tell you something, Danny. There isn't any money in that suitcase. Where is it if not in the suitcase? I have it. You have it? Yes, I have. I took it out of the suitcase and put something else in it. All right. All right, you have the money. Why didn't you take a powder with it? Because I can't get at it. That's why. You have it, but you can't get at it. That makes sense. Now, listen. The night that Freddie killed her, he came here with the money. I didn't know he was going to kill her. You didn't, huh? No. I didn't know a thing about it until he showed me the money. He put it in the suitcase so he could drive down to New York and check it. Well, while he changed his clothes, I took the money out and put something else in. Yeah? What did you do with the dough? After he left, I put the money in a big mason jar and dropped it in the quarry. The quarry? Yes. I was sure that I'd be able to dive down and get it up again. Well, I tried, but it was too deep for me. That's why I asked you if you could touch bottom, you see? So please, please tell Freddie where the check is. He'll go to get it, and while he's gone, we'll get the money and go away. It's quite a yarn. But it's true, Danny. Please, it's true. All the time she talked, I kept working on my left hand, pulling it to free it. And finally, it slipped out of the rope. Oh, Danny, we can go out west. Some place where you'll never find us. Please. Please, you've got to believe me. Danny, I love you too. If I didn't, I wouldn't tell you all this. I'd keep the money for myself, wouldn't I? How do I know you're not playing me for a sucker? Well, you've got to trust me. Please, please tell me where the baggage check is. Cut me free first. You don't trust me, do you? Sure, sure, I trust you. If I haven't had an army, you know that. Where is it? New York in a safe place. Fine. I'll tell Freddie and he'll go for it. When he does pick up that suitcase, there'll be a surprise waiting for him. While he's gone, we'll get the mations off in the bottom of the quarry and we'll be on our way west in the morning. Does he know you're in here now? Yes. Yes, I asked him to let me try talking to you. Danny, he thinks that I'm trying to fool you. But you wouldn't do that with Johnny. Oh Danny, can't I make you understand? I could feel the numbness leaving the fingers on my left hand. Now I had both hands free and she was within my reach, lying a fool head off to get me to give up the 75 grand to give her and Freddie. Come closer, Alice. Kiss me, just to show me you're leveling with me. She came close, her lips pressed against mine and naked. I had one hand on that saw flying red mouth of hers and the other on that sword with all my strength well done. Pulling it down on my knees so her feet wouldn't kick the floor. Suddenly she was limp but I didn't let go. Minutes went by. Finally I took my hand off her mouth. She wasn't breathing anymore. She was dead. Slowly I let her body down on the floor and I untied the knots that held me to the chair. I reached for her and carefully with stiff fingers I took off a jacket. The perfume she drenched it with came off in waves. Then I got up holding the jacket ahead of me like a bullfighter's cape. I walked down the pitch black hall. Alice. Shh. Did he tell you? I stopped. He'd been waiting there all the time. The perfume and that jacket fooled him the way I thought it would. There was just a couple of feet from him. The next time he spoke, I'd jump. Well, did he talk? No. My first while punching the dog put him out. After that, he wasn't any more trouble than she was. There was a lot for me to do before daybreak. First I got rid of both the bodies, tying weights to them and sinking them to the bottom of the quarry. Freddy had a fat wallet. I helped myself to that. Next I changed into one of his suits that was in the house. I closed the place, locked it and got into the car as the first streaks of light began to show in the east. By afternoon I'd be in New York. When I reached New York I got a shave and a haircut and had some lunch. Then I went down to the main post office. The letter was there. And at 10 minutes I was at the Times Square subway station with a baggage check in my hand. Here you are. One suitcase. Yes, sir. B-131. What are you waiting for? B-131. This was checked over 30 days ago. Well, whatever. I'll pay the charges. We don't keep baggage up here. After 30 days, your suitcases down in the storage room B. This way, please. Sure, just lead the way. We took the stairs down to one of the cellars, walked along some dark halls and then stopped in front of a locked door. It's in one of the bins down this way. Here we are. B-131. This it? It looks like it. Okay. Take it. Oh, here, bud. This is for your trouble. No, no thanks. Come on, buy yourself a drink. No. I don't want it. All right, suit yourself. Let's go. As we walked back to the door, I wondered why the guy should refuse a tip. When we got to the door, I found out. He opened it and I walked out right into the arms of a big guy in a brown suit. He grabbed my wrist and before I knew what was happening, he had a pair of bracelets. All right, Matthews. You're under arrest. Arrest? What for? For the murder of Sarah Grimes in Pittsville, Massachusetts. I didn't kill that old man. Save it, brother. You can do all your talking down at headquarters. For all the talking I did down at headquarters, there were a lot of things I couldn't explain away. Like, for instance, the bank books belonging to Sarah Grimes they found in the suitcase, my having the baggage check for the suitcase. One thing the cops didn't know. And that was what happened to the 75 grand, which should have been in the suitcase and wasn't. Yeah. There wasn't a dime in that suitcase. The cops told me that two days after Old Lady Grimes was knocked off, they got an anonymous letter telling him to look into the suitcase, checked in Times Square and the number B131. The note said the man who'd called for that suitcase was the murderer of Sarah Grimes. So, now they're hanging me in half an hour. Yeah. Yeah, I'm getting the surprise that was meant for Fred Bruno. And when I think it all over, two things stand out. Down in that quarry, there's a mason jar with $75,000 in it. And down there, too, is a gorgeous blue-eyed dame with a rock tied around her neck. See what I mean by the brakes going against you? I could have had them both. I could have had them both. And so the curtain falls on its luck that counts, which was chosen by guest expert Frank Gruber, whose latest mystery thriller is The Leather Duke. Next week at this time, Murder by Experts brings you the story of four people trapped in a bus in a driving blizzard and faced with a realization that one of them is a murderer. This is directed for your approval by Helen Riley. Until then, this is your host, John Dixon Carr, hoping you'll be with us next week at this time. It's luck that counts was written by George and Gertrude Fass. In the cast were Larry Haynes, Miss Leslie Wood, Santa Sortega, Bill Smith, and Ed Latimer. Music is under the direction of Emerson Buckley and was composed by Richard DuPage. Murder by Experts is produced and directed by Robert A. Arthur and David Cogan. All characters in our story were fictitious and any resemblance to the names of actual persons was purely coincidental. This is Jack Farron speaking. This is the Mutual Broadcasting System. Thanks for listening to this week's Retro Radio episode of Weird Darkness. If you like the show, please share it with someone you know who loves old-time radio and leave a rating and review in the podcast app you listen from to help spread the word about Weird Darkness and Retro Radio Sunday and a huge thanks to our friends at ClassicRadioStore.com for generously providing the old-time radio shows you hear on Weird Darkness Retro Radio Sunday. Remember, you can save 20% on all of the ClassicRadioStore.com shows by using the promo code Weird at Checkout. The rest of the week, I narrate new stories of the paranormal or strange stories, true crime, monsters, and mysteries. So be sure to subscribe to the podcast if you haven't already done so. I upload episodes seven days a week. You can email me anytime and find all of my social media links on the contact page at WeirdDarkness.com. Also on the website, you can listen to free audiobooks that I've narrated, shop the Weird Darkness store, sign up for the newsletter to win monthly prizes and more. Weird Darkness is a production and trademark of Marlar House Productions. Copyright, Weird Darkness. I'm Darren Marlar. Thanks for joining me in the Weird Darkness.