 Now, Roma Wines, R-O-M-A, made in California for enjoyment throughout the world, Roma Wines, present. Suspense. Tonight, Roma Wines bring you Mr. Henry Daniel as star of the last letter of Dr. Bronson, a suspense play produced, edited, and directed for Roma Wines by William Spear. Suspense. Radio's outstanding theater of thrills is presented for your enjoyment by Roma Wines. That's R-O-M-A, Roma Wines, those excellent California wines that can add so much pleasantness to the way you live. To your happiness in entertaining guests, to your enjoyment of everyday meals. Yes, right now, a glass bowl would be very pleasant as Roma Wines bring you Henry Daniel in a remarkable tale of... Suspense. My dear Dr. Moshe, forgive me if I doubt you. I'll dash this letter off rather hurriedly. There are but a very few minutes remaining for me, the few minutes between now and midnight. You've always protested my fascination with the subject of death. He dirked you to hear me discuss the latest electrocution or hanging. You alone, Moshe, will know how this fascination has led me to this terrible moment. I should like you to have the fact. First of all, let me recall a conversation which we held here in my study a little over a year ago. Go again, Bronson, death and murder. Really, you're unhealthy. You're... Please, please, Moshe, just answer my question. Why do men behave as they do? What keeps them from breaking loose? Why don't they kill one another as animals do? Why? Because they aren't animals. But my dear Moshe, being neither vegetable nor mineral, they must be animals. What I mean is... That you don't know the answer. I do. So? I have been studying the question for some time and I am prepared to prove. In fact, I am going to prove that there are five basic checks which serve to restrain man from murdering his fellow man. Really, Bronson, I... The obvious corollary is that murder occurs only when some stronger drive overrides these five basic checks. You make it sound very simple. It is simple. And what are these five basic checks? A murder is composed of four elements. The murderer, the motive, the opportunity and the victim. I shall select five men, each of whom I shall predispose to murder and then restrain from murder by the particular check I am testing on him. Personally, I'd rather play with rattlesnakes. Then, having found my men, I simply supply each with a motive. Greed, revenge, jealousy. I see. And your next step must be to give each man an opportunity. Precisely. And finally, I must supply a victim. You'll ask this victim to face five men, each standing to derive satisfaction or profit from murdering him. Correct. His only chance of survival being the correctness of your theory of checks in all five instances. Yes. Do you seriously imagine that you'll persuade any man to have such other confidence in your reckoning? There is one such man. Who? Myself. Fransson, this is insane. Why? Why should I hesitate to risk high stakes on a sure thing? But your life? I tell you, there's no danger whatsoever. When will you begin your experiment? I suppose and about. Well, why wait? Why don't we begin right now? Moshe, I invite you to kill me. What? There's a revolver right here in my desk. You're joking, Fransson. What possible motive would I have for murdering you? Motive? Why, we're known to be associated rather closely in our work. You'll come naturally into my entire practice. I'll put that in writing. Why, it's preposterous. Why? Why don't you kill me then, Moshe? Why, there are dozens of reasons in the first place I'd go to the electric chair for it. Ha-ha, there you are. A perfect illustration of the first and most obvious check. Nan refrains from killing because he himself will be killed. By law. The first? What about the last? Ah, that, my dear doctor, remains to be seen. For suspense, Roma Wines are bringing you Henry Daniel in the last letter of Dr. Bronson, a radio play by Richard Craig and Lennox and Claire. Roma Wines' presentation tonight in radio's outstanding theater of frills, suspense. Between the acts of suspense, this is Ken Niles asking our suspense audience to allow me to make an important announcement to Roma Wine dealers throughout America. For many years, Roma has planned to introduce a limited bottling of premier quality wines. Wines which would bring America a new experience in tempting fragrance, in rich, full body, in taste, luxury. At last, these choice wines are a reality. For now, Roma proudly presents Grand Estate Wines. Each precious bottle of Grand Estate Wine reflects the patient perfection of winemaking methods at Roma. Yes, Grand Estate California Wines by Roma are now being released for discriminating wine users who select wines indisputably the finest. To fulfill every entertaining and dining need, Roma has created three distinguished Grand Estate Desert Wines. Medium Shari, Ruby Port and Golden Muscatel and two superb table wines, Burgundy and Sautern. To those who seek the ultimate in brilliant clarity, delicate bouquet and taste excellence, you can wisely recommend Grand Estate Wines by Roma. And so, through you gentlemen, America's leading wine merchants, I take pleasure in presenting Grand Estate Wines by Roma, the crowning achievement of Vintner Skill. And now, Roma Wine brings back to our Hollywood soundstage Mr. Henry Daniel in The Last Letter of Dr. Bronson, a tale well calculated to keep you in suspense. And so, my dear doctor, you yourself illustrated the first of my five positive checks which restrained man from murder, fear of the law. That was more than a year ago. The remaining checks have not been so simple. I had to locate my four subjects. I had to cultivate the friendship of each so that when the time should come to confront him with my proposition, I should be certain of how I would act. The first of my four potential murderers was a clerk named Totten. Totten was badly in debt. His wife was in the hospital, about to undergo an expensive operation. And he was a deeply religious man. We went to church together on Sunday evening as at St. Stephen's, right around the corner from my apartment. One Sunday evening after the service, I walked him up to my apartment. And as we walked along, we talked. You know, Dr. Bronson, I was talking about you to my wife the other day before they took her to the hospital. I was saying what a great comfort it was to be with you these Sunday nights. Oh, now come, Mr. Totten, you embarrass me. Oh, no, I mean it. In the world today, too many people seem to feel that they no longer need their God. Yes, their lives are void at the great thing you have in your faith. The church is a great comfort to me. And I do need something to cling to in times like these. Totten, you can make rather good use of $5,000, couldn't you? It isn't like you to make front of my apartment. I'm quite sincere. As you know, what even $100 would mean to me and at present more than ever. Yes, with your wife's misfortune. Well, isn't this your apartment that we're passing? I want to go in the sideway. We should be unobserved. Unobserved? You will understand presently. Please come into my study. Now, if you will take this chair opposite my desk. Thank you. Totten, you said that even $100 would be a great help to you. Here in my desk, I have this little package containing $5,000. It's yours. Well, what could I do for you that would be worth all that money? Let me explain. My doctor called on me yesterday. He told me, well, to be quite frank with you, Totten. He said that I was slowly going mad. Oh, no, doctor, that couldn't be. I'm quite all right at present. It's only a matter of time and I'd rather not have to face it. I believe you can understand that. But, sir, there must be something you can do knowing in advance. There is. And I want you to help me. I don't understand. Will you put on these gloves? Take them. But why? As soon as you have them on, I shall hand you this small bottle. Notice. I am clearly impressing my fingerprints on it. Finally, here on the desk, I'm leaving this note explaining that I have committed suicide. Suicide? When the bottle's in your hand, I want you to remove the stopper and empty the contents upon my outstretched tongue. Thus, I will be dead within a few seconds. Then you may leave by the same way you came in. You'll be quite unnoticed with the $5,000 in your pocket. $5,000? You can't die yet. What do you say? No, you can't die yet. You're not ready. Shall I be any readyer when I have gone mad? Of course it's... You can't take the matter of life and death into your own hands. Precisely. I have certain scruples in the matter. That's why I'm asking you to do this for me. I'm very sorry. I can't oblige you. If it's the law, you fear. No, it's not that. You seem to have arranged that perfectly. Then what is it? I am an honest Christian. I thought you were, too, Doctor. If you don't understand why I can't do this monstrous thing, I suggest you look up the Sixth Commandment. Good night. So, Mosha, my second point was proved. Man refrains from killing because it is against his religious principles. The hands of the clock now read 15 minutes to midnight. One quarter of an hour in which to complete this report. My third proposition called for an entirely different sort of man. In fact, the very antithesis of Totten. For a number of nights I frequented the rougher districts of the city. At first I had no luck. Then one night I came up on my man very unexpectedly. I was walking along one of the darkest streets. There was no one in... You dirty rat! It was a man sunk down beside an ash can. We've been shot in the chest and left arm, severing an artery. He was bleeding profusely. I tore up his shirt and made a turning cape for his arm. Oddly, no one came into the alley to investigate. Never mind me, get away. Was this a gang shooting? What do you think? I think they're going to the hospital. No, no, they'll squawk to the cops. Come on, I'll help you to your feet. No, I ain't going. You'll die, man, if you're not treated quickly. I ain't going, I tell you. No cops. No cops. No cops. His name was Matt Doyle. I visited Doyle in the hospital almost every day. Several months later, I decided to put him to the test. I found Doyle in one of his hangouts and brought him to my apartment. And for the second time, I carefully explained my proposition. So that's the angle, huh? Then you understand. Here are the gloves, here's the suicide note, and here is a .45 caliber automatic. You're familiar with this type of weapon I take it? Familiar, you kidding? Hey, is this on the level or are you nuts? Absolutely on the level. And I am not nuts yet. That's what a doe is mine if I kill you? That's right. And nobody will know I've done it? No one. These gloves are kind of small for me. That's all right, they'll do. Yeah, yeah. You want me to put on the other one? It's safer. Yeah. Yeah, I guess it is. Doyle, I want you to understand exactly what you're doing. Without any justifiable cause, merely for the sake of money, you are going to murder me. You understand that? Yeah, sure. You've been hired to do this before? Well, yeah, I suppose it don't hurt to talk about it now that you're going to... But you've never killed a friend, have you? Yeah, yeah, I have. Anyway, it was my past until I got into the boss's way and when the boss would say slip up to a mat, well, it was just another job to me. But you, I don't know. What? No, no, I can't do it. But I thought you said... Yeah, yeah, here, here, take these gloves. Afraid of the law? What's the matter then? Is it because I'm your friend? No, it's more than that, it's... It would be an act of true friendship. No, I can't do it, Doc. I'm sorry, Doc, I ain't the guy. Look, you saved my life. So that's it. I'm sorry. I wish you could help me. Yeah, yeah, me too, Doc, me too, but not that. Look, if there's any other person you want me to take care of, I'll... No, no, no, there's nothing. Thank you, just the same. That was my third proposition. Man will not kill fellow man if a sufficient degree of gratitude has been invoked. Even a professional killer, one of the lowest examples of human life such as Doyle, could not bring himself to murder his benefactor. My next subject was altogether different in temperament. With Judith Ainslie, I used a special technique. I first encountered Judith Ainslie when I operated on Barrett Sheffield, the actor. You will recall that Sheffield was brought to the hospital with a lung abscess. As I prepared to do the rib resection, I noticed that the nurse standing beside me was greatly agitated. Retractors, Doctor. Thanks. Doctor, do you think this is advisable? What, what? His dyspnea is more pronounced. Listen. Miss Ainslie, another hemistatic. But he's getting blue. Doctor, do you really think you should he cyanotic? Miss Ainslie. I'm sorry, Doctor, but if anything... Doctor! Caffeine, quickly! Please! Quickly! Stethoscope. There it is. Well, that's that. Yes, that's that. Miss Ainslie, what's the matter with you? You've been acting strangely all through this operation. You killed him. You killed him. You should never have gone ahead. You know that. I warned you. I shall see to it, Miss Ainslie, that you are never assigned to any of my cases again. What's the matter with you anyway? Have you never seen a pulmonary before? Or does it upset you to see a handsome actor like Battered Sheffield die? Yes. It did. Oh. Yes. We were going to be married next week. When I ever saw hate, cold, undying hate, it was in that girl's eyes. I had made the most implacable enemy of my life. I inquired about Miss Ainslie, learned that she'd done four years of medical and was now interning at Seeders of Lebanon in the hope of picking up a resident fellowship. I went down to the hospital, waited for her in the doctor's lounge, presently she came in with another intern. I stood up, she turned and looked at me. I saw again in her eyes that inexorable hate. She'd never forgiven me for what she incorrectly felt was my error in judgment. I walked towards her. Excuse me, please. I see you remember me, Miss Ainslie. Yes. Well, excuse me, please. Miss Ainslie, you may not believe this. I've come here especially to talk to you today. To talk to me, Dr. Bronson? Sit down, won't you? Miss Ainslie? Dr. Ainslie, if you please. Yes, of course. Doctor, I have a little proposition to make to you. First of all, there are two facts I'd like you to be sure of. A, you are unable to set up your own practice because you don't have the money to get started. Is that right? I don't see what business that is of yours. It happens to be true. Fine. Fact B, you still hate me and feel a strong desire to be revenge for the wrong which you consider I have done you. Yes, I'm afraid that's true, Dr. Bronson. Good. Good? Yes. You see, I want to pay someone to murder me. So once again, I carefully and painstakingly set forth the simple conditions. I'm not sure that you're entirely sane, Doctor. Go on, you interest me. You see, it's my heart. I've had considerable damage. Coronary occlusion. Had to spend six weeks on my back. I just got out last week. Naturally, I was given digitalism. Yes, I see, Doctor. You've been heavily digitalized. If someone were to give you an injection of calcium gluconate you would have an immediate heart block. Dead within a few minutes. Exactly. A simple error of judgment, unavoidable. $5,000. My own practice. Better be careful, Doctor. You may tempt me a little too far. I thought you'd find it an attractive proposition. It'll be only an error. I will say that I'm feeling badly again. A recurrence of my pericardial pains. I'll go back to bed and ask the Jubea sign to take care of me. The rest is simple. No one would ever expect you to know I'd been digitalized. Still, if I were on my toes, I would naturally go over your case history with the dedication of any kind. Well, yes. I suppose that's true. Professional people might think you'd been a little lax. They might not have the highest regard for the new doctor who launched a career with such an unfortunate, such an unprofessional incident. Just a slight stain on your reputation for just a short while. You're very clever, Doctor. You knew that would do it, didn't you? I want to thank you. You've done me a great service. You mean you'll do it? You've reminded me that nothing, no money, revenge, nothing can be worth the slightest shadow of suspicion in a doctor's career. No. They'll never say that I lost my patient because of an error in judgment. You see, I once knew a doctor who did. There, Mosha is my fourth check. Man, or in this case woman, refrains from killing because of the fear of loss of reputation to the testing of my fifth subject. A man who would not murder because he couldn't bear the sight of blood, much less the responsibility for shedding it. Ladurn was my man, and I found him shortly after my search began. On that day I saw, I saw him turn a ghastly white as a fast-moving car ran over a small dog which had run into the street. Ladurn clutched his throat and fell in a dead faint. I, of course, made it my business to become acquainted with him. From more than four months until tonight, he changed, I noticed, as he took his place at my desk. He's thinner, his dark eyes seem blacker than ever, and so now, for the fifth and last time, I explain the necessary details. I have arranged everything necessary to give the appearance of suicide. Here is the farewell note which I've written. It will look like suicide. That's right. And now here is the knife. It is with this knife that apparently I shall have killed myself. Notice how sharp it is. Notice I am carefully putting my fingerprints on it. You've arranged everything? Everything. No one knows I'm here? No one. You want me to kill you now? I... yes. Of course, it'll be a bit messy when a person is stabbed, his blood usually spurts out. But if you keep to one side... Why do you want to die? Well, my doctor says I'm going insane, that I haven't got much longer. That's strange. About going mad? About him saying that you're going mad. Yes. It was a shock. I don't mean that. What do you mean? That's the same things they told me. That is... They what? They told me over a year ago that I was going mad. But I just laughed at them. Over a year? Well, do you... Have you noticed any change? Not much. At least no change for the worse. That's good. In fact, I'm really much better. I've been having fewer and fewer of those six spells. You remember how I was the day that dog was run over? You don't mean you've gotten over those six spells? Haven't had one in three months. Then there isn't any check. What check? Nothing. Well, this is going to be a pretty messy business. Might as well get it over with. Nice gloves you got here. Nice and smooth on my hand. Then you're going through with it? I've got my gun right here, too. Beauty, isn't it? Yes. Then if you'll give me back the knife. Oh, no. I'd like to use the knife. I've used this gun a lot the past three months. Killed about fifty dogs. Dad, you've done that. It's very interesting. I'd do it after midnight. You have to know just where to hit them. Killed them instantly. But the noise. Aren't you afraid, somebody? Silence, sir. See? I don't like to wake people up when I kill their dogs. But they'll find the bullet. They'll trace it to your gun. They're sure to get you. You know, so you decide the weapon stays right beside the body where it falls. Who says this is suicide? It's murder. I'm going to murder you. That's what you were asking me to do. Look, Heledans, this has gone far enough. I was only joking. I don't want you to kill me. Five thousand, it's all here. Oh, listen to me. I was only joking. Shall I do it now? No, wait. You want it through the heart, don't you? Not yet. Can't you wait? Just a little while. What for? Well, I've been conducting a little experiment. I'd like to write an account of it before I go. What sort of an experiment? I don't think you'd understand. Well, I'll wait till midnight. Then I gotta go. There's a German police dog, a big ugly brute. But I'll wait. Thanks. It's ten minutes past eleven. Yeah. You've got fifty minutes. I'll wait by the window. And so, Mosha, my experiment has ended. Strange, isn't it? That the one thing I didn't count on was the choosing of a subject who would not respond to my checks. Who, in fact, has no checks at all. For insanity knows no restraint. Dr. Branson, it's midnight. He's waiting at the window. It's strange. I'm beginning to understand exactly what is going on in his mind. I wonder why. Now, I shall sign my name for the last time and lay down my pen. Then I shall look up and say, All right, LaDern. Presented by Roma Wines, R-O-M-A. Made in California for enjoyment throughout the world. And now, this is Ken Niles for Roma Wines. Ladies and gentlemen, between the acts of suspense, you heard me announce to Roma dealers the first release of Grand Estate Wines by Roma. Now, I'd like to tell you the discriminating wine users of America more about these superb triumphs in taste luxury Grand Estate Wines. Naturally, I want you to try Grand Estate Wines to see and taste the difference because I know you'll recognize in Grand Estate the brilliant clarity, tempting fragrance, and rich taste luxury so characteristic of truly great wines. The patient perfection of winemaking methods by Roma is reflected in each bottle of Grand Estate Wine, the perfect wine for your every entertaining and dining pleasure. So remember the name Grand Estate Wines, your assurance of unvarying excellence. Enjoy Grand Estate Wines by Roma, crowning achievement of fitness skill. Henry Daniel will soon be seen as the star of Lewis and Young's stage production, Lady Windermere's Fan. Thursday, same time, Roma Wines will bring you Miss Joan Loring, a star of Suspense, Radio's Outstanding Peter Afril, produced by Williamspear for the Roma Wine Company of Fresno, California. Suspense is broadcast from coast to coast and to our men and women overseas by shortwave and through the worldwide facilities of the Armed Forces Radio Service. This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.