 The signal oil program, the whistler, is your signal for the signal oil program, the whistler. And I know many things for I walk by night. I know many strange tales hidden in the hearts of men and women who have stepped into the shadows. Yes, I know the nameless terrors of which they dare not speak. Yes, friends, it's time for the whistler, now rated by independent research the most popular radio program on the west coast. And remember, let every traffic signal remind you, with new signal gasoline you do go farther than ever. Look for the familiar big yellow and black circle sign that identifies those popular signal service stations in seven western states from Canada to Mexico. And now the whistler's strange story. Six letter word for death. Thursday night was the climax. Every element in the marriage of George and Priscilla Haynes came to a sharp focus on that foggy Thursday night. Five years of it, 60 months, 1826 days, each adding a little pressure, each day contributing a little more water behind the dam that was destined to give way on that Thursday night when the fog hung like a blanket over the campus of State College. George Haynes had known the marriage wouldn't work from the first. Yes, George, as far back as a month after your wedding when you first felt the cold sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach. And these five years have proven it, but no one but you seems to recognize it. No, George, not even Priscilla. George, George, I'm talking to you. Oh, I, I'm sorry, Priscilla. George, what's the four letter word meaning former? Please dear, I'm awfully busy. Just this one. You say four letter word meaning former? Yes. Let's see, try erst. What? Erst, E-R-S-T. That's a silly word, you sure? You might try it and see. E-R-S-T. Looks funny. Now I've got to get to this lecture for tomorrow, dear. We're open with the pages work on Cambodia. And called what, of course? Fundamentals first general aspects distinction from South Chinese. Yes, of course. George. Yes, dear. I'm stuck again. There's a six letter word. Priscilla, darling, I've really got to get at this. Would you mind, please? Oh, don't be a stuffed shirt, George. Just this one. All right, Priscilla. Just this one. No, George. No one seemed to recognize the real trouble. The president of State College, Dr. Dawes, didn't get it either, did he, George? There was no way to explain it to anybody. Tell me, George, what's wrong? I'm afraid I don't understand, Dr. Dawes. I'm afraid I don't either. As you know, the regions have been considering you and Larry Price as possibilities for the chairmanship of the history department. I'd put a lot of faith in you, George. Now I'm beginning to wonder. I know. I know my work has fallen off. What's the matter, George? I guess it's nerves or something. Maybe you need a rest. Why do you take Priscilla and go out? No. I'm sorry, Dr. Dawes. I'd better go. Darling, I'm glad you're home. Hello, dear. Larry tells me you've declined the faculty dinner. I told him there must be a mistake, George. Surely we're not going... It's not a mistake, Priscilla. My work is in such bad shape that I've got to get down to business. But everyone will be there, dear. Larry and Dan and all the rest will think something's the matter. But don't you see, Priscilla, my work is more important. Oh. Oh, so that's it. Your work is more important than my happiness. You don't care, do you? You just as soon wrap yourself up in those stuffy... All right, all right, we'll go. I can't understand why we have to go through... Priscilla, please! Please, please! Larry and Anne, they didn't get it either, did they, George? They can't understand the terror you feel when you realize Dr. Dawes is right. Your work is slipping. George Haynes, full professor of history, candidate for chairman of the department, is slipping. You feel as if you're standing at the edge of a cliff and Priscilla with her inane remarks, her perpetual round of afternoon teas, faculty dinners, and a thousand other distractions is easing you over the brink. Five years of it, George. Five long years. And each day, each hour, building like a tower of blocks, designed to topple into ruins, on that foggy Thursday night, the night Priscilla invited Larry and Anne to the house for an evening of bridge. George, of all the stupid plays, that one takes the prize. First you double them into game, and then you... Well, he wouldn't have doubled if you hadn't bid clubs, Priscilla. That had nothing to do with it. He was simply... I'm sorry, Priscilla. I guess I wasn't paying much attention to the game. Lucky for you, we're not playing for a quarter percent, George. That's enough, Larry. Huh? What's the matter, Anne? George is tired. Maybe we'd better go. Go? Oh, don't be ridiculous, Anne. The evening's just started. Well, I really have got to admit that I am a bit bushed. Nonsense. Well, let's see. That's 120 below the line. Where's the pencil? Yeah, take mine. Oh, thanks. 120. 700 rubber. You are tired, aren't you, George? Would you think I was awfully rude if I... Don't be silly. Of course you're being rude. George just wants an excuse to get at those dusty old books. I don't mean that at all. I am very tired of... And terribly stupid, according to the score here. Priscilla. Larry, that makes your total score 2700. I'm talking to you, Priscilla. George, dear, let's not have another one of your scenes, shall we? That's just the trouble. There haven't been enough of them. Why, George, dear? I've kept quiet too long. That's the trouble. You can't keep quiet too long, or it gets inside of you. Oh, wait a minute. Take your hands off of me. George, I'm making you full of yourself. I ought to wring your neck. You know, I... I believe he meant that. I... I suppose I ought to feel embarrassed. We'd better go, Larry. Yeah, I guess we'd better. So the blocks toppled, didn't they, George? You've spoken your peace. Told Priscilla you could wring her neck. And you almost feel as if you could, don't you? She won't speak to you now. And for the first time in five years, the house is silent. Larry and Anne have gone home to the house next to yours on faculty row. Outside, the fog is cool and clean. And you suddenly want to lose yourself in it, to feel it press around you and clear some of the haze out of your mind. Fifteen minutes later, you find yourself near the bell tower on the campus. Looks like you ran away. Well, you're a nice dog. Yes, you are. I see his name's Cinder. Oh, thanks. He slipped his leash in the fog. Cinder's a good name for him. Black as in. I've had a chance to do much, but he only had him a couple of weeks. Well, I'm quite fond of cockas, particularly black ones. May I ask you where you got him? Certainly at the Coldwater Kennel. It's about three miles from here. There you are, boy. Well, we'd better run along, Cinder. Thanks for catching him. Not at all. Good night. Good night. Cinder. Well, better be getting back. I didn't see you in the fog. Here, let me help you. That was strange, wasn't it? You're sure it was Anne, as sure as you could be of anything in that fog. But why should she run from you? Why should she scream when you reached out to help her? You're puzzled as you turn and start for home and worried. The fog takes on an ominous quality, closing in on you, causing you to hurry faster and faster as you get closer and closer to home. It's been a strange evening. The quarrel with Priscilla. Anne's terror when she ran into you. Then, ten minutes later, as you arrive back at the house and open the door, it suddenly takes on a horrible meaning. Priscilla! Priscilla! Priscilla! Strangle! With the prologue of tonight's story, six-letter word for death. The Signal Oil Company brings you another strange story. By the Whistler. A friend of mine who was never too keen about babies recently became a papa himself. When I dropped in the other night and found him of all things bathing the baby, he grinningly remarked, Well, it's different when it's your own. Well, friends, right there you have the reason why you just naturally get a different brand of service, more conscientious and more thorough, a man who has his own money in his own business, such as your signal gasoline dealer. It's why, for instance, when a signal dealer lubricates your car, he takes no chance of forgetting some hidden part. Instead, he uses the famous signal check chart that specifies which of signals nine specialized lubricants each point should have. And he checks each point against the chart not just once, but twice, so not one part can be missed. Incidentally, while you're having your signal man to lubricate your car, don't forget what engineers of the American Petroleum Institute have proved that every thousand miles is also time for clean motor oil. To get the best performance and longest life from your motor, be sure you get today's super quality pure paraffin base oil, signal four star motor oil. And now, back to the whistler. Priscilla is dead, strangled, hanging on the floor by the window, a crossword puzzle and pencil beside her. For 15 seconds, all you can do is stand there staring at her, then terrified you pick up the phone. Operator, get the police, hurry. Wait a minute. Good Lord. Get some air. Get out of here. What's the hurry? Officer Gavin. What's up? Nothing, Officer. What's the matter? You look pretty worked up. There's nothing wrong. Nothing at all, Officer. Good night, Gavin. Wait a minute, Professor. Funny. You think yourself in it, trying to erase the horrible picture of Priscilla from your mind. Gavin, the campus policeman, saw you rush blindly from the house, saw the terror on your face that came with a realization that less than an hour after your exasperated statement at the bridge table, your wife Priscilla lies dead on the living room floor, strangled. You walk aimlessly in the fog for several minutes, trying to get a grip on yourself. Then finally you realize you can't go on this way and you force yourself to go back to the house, back to the living room and the chair by the window. She's gone. Good nightmare, isn't it, George? The body's gone from its place by the living room window. Prantically you search the house and finally discover it in the bedroom, stretched out on the floor. And something new has been added, George. One of your silk neckties is tightly knotted around her neck. Well, George, it's clear now. You're being framed. The minute it takes your fumbling fingers to take off the neckties seems a year. And you can almost hear the police outside as you burn it in the stove. And then you dash next door to Larry's. Larry! Well, George! Larry, you've got to help me. I don't know what's behind it, but... What's the matter? What are you staring at? What's that in your pocket, Larry? Huh? Oh, this? Yes. My pencil. Why? Your pencil? Yeah. What's wrong with that? Say, what's happened, George? Tell me. Nothing, Larry. Nothing. I need another cup of coffee, Prof. Here, let me get it. Why did he do it? What reason could he have for kidding? Get ahead of yourself, Professor. You're not sure? I'm positive, Charlie. I was right next to her body when I first went in. When I went back, she'd been moved, and the pencil was in Larry Price's pocket. That's pretty serious stuff. Charlie, you believe me, don't you? You don't think I'm... Yeah, I know. Almost makes me sick to think of it. I came here because I had to go somewhere. I thought that you'd... I believe you, Prof. Thanks. Brother, you're in a tough spot. I know. What are you going to do? You mean I have a choice? I don't know. You're sure that campus cop recognized you when you ran out of the house? Of course he did. I talked to him. Yeah, that's where you made your mistake. You should have spilled it then. I didn't know what I was doing. All I could think of was to get away from you. Yeah, I know. What about an alibi? What happened after you left the house the first time? I just took a walk, that's all. Alone? Yes. No one saw you, huh? Well, there was Anne, of course. Larry's wife, she was... Well, you can write that one off. You think she'd deny seeing me? If it met her husband's neck, she wouldn't. Well, she's not the kind who do... Well, you're wasting your time, I tell you. They're all the same. Wouldn't steal second in a Sunday school baseball game, but put them on the stand when their husband's in a jackpot and... No, Professor, that one's out. But there's no one else that's... Wait a minute. That dog? Huh? I saw a black cockerel and talked to his owner by the bell tower. He'd remember me. Who is he? I don't know his name. Oh, great. But the dog came from the cold water kennels. Did you see anyone else? No, I... After that, I started back. I didn't see anyone until I rented a Gavin when I left the house again. Oh. That's a pretty important dog, isn't it? I guess it is. I'm awfully sorry. I would have telephoned, but the telephone... But the telephone was disconnected. Now, look. It's 1 a.m. in the morning, and I have no intention... Wait a minute, will you? I told you this was a matter of life and death, but we wouldn't have come. My good man. The cold water kennels deal exclusively in Carcasspanos. Over a hundred dogs we have. More than half of them are black. How in thunder do you expect me to... But he said he bought in two weeks ago. Look, we've sold 30 dogs in the last two weeks. You don't know the man's name. Don't even know what he looks like. You come here and get me out of bed at 1 a.m. in the morning and expect me to make miracles with a sales record. It don't make sense. All right, Mr. Co-Order. Come on, Professor. Believe me, I'm sorry, but if you only had some males to go on... Wait a minute. The dog's name was Cinder. Does that help? Yeah, there was a man. Wait. Call him Cinder. I remember now. Who is it? Got it here. A man by the name of Morgenstern. He's new here. Staying at a pen hotel. Morgenstern? Let me check the register. Morgenstern? Where have I heard that name? Morgenstern. We had him here a couple of weeks ago. Kendrick P. Morgenstern. Yeah, yeah, I remember him now. He came in one night with a dog, and we had to tell him it wouldn't go here against the house rules. I've seen that name. I know it. You've got a forwarding address? No, no, he just moved out. He was kind of sore. It's three o'clock, Charlie. Yeah. Kendrick P. Morgenstern. I remember seeing the name. It's such a funny handle. We'll try and picture it. You're sure you saw it? Oh, yeah. Well, was it printed or written? Maybe a sign on a store window? It was written. I remember the K was funny. Well, it was a signature then. You saw him sign his name? Sure. It was a check. That's right. He came here to cash a check this morning. Wait a minute. You sent the deposits? No, I didn't. Where is it? In the safe. And it's got his name and an address on it. I'm sorry, Mrs. Brendan. I know it's late, but we've got to find him. You say he was staying here? Well, it was funny. A nice man, Mr. Morgenstern, but odd. He came here from the hotel with his dog about two weeks back, thought the world and all of that dog. But you said he's gone now? Where is he? Well, I'm getting to that. He only took the room for two weeks. Benzie's due to go east tonight on the plane. East where? Well, I don't know. When, what plane? Left at midnight. But come 11 o'clock, he decides to take his dog walking. Well, I don't see him for over an hour. 12.30 it was, but then the plane's gone. But then he's here? Oh, no, no, no. Left in an awful hurry. I think he was going to catch the next plane at 2 a.m. But I've called all the other lines. Haven't you a record of a canceled reservation on the midnight flight? Very well. Thank you. Something's haywire somewhere, Prof. Oh, it's useless, Charlie. Nothing else I can do. What time is it? 4.30. You better go home and get some sleep. Oh, that's okay. Gosh, Prof, I hate to give up. Well, there's one chance left. What's that? And price. It's a slim chance, George. But it's the only one you have. After you leave Charlie as you walk slowly through the campus toward faculty row, you try for the first time to think it through. To reason it out somehow. Lara's motive for killing Priscilla ends terror when she ran into you. The brutal heartless frame-up that hits you between the eyes when you went back the second time. It doesn't make sense. And you're too tired to think. Too tired to play with an impossible jigsaw puzzle. Professor Haynes? Oh, yes, I... Shul's homicide squad. You know Mrs. Price, I believe. Hello, Anne. Hello, George. And Gavin, the campus policeman. I saw Professor Haynes earlier this evening. Nice of you to come back, Haynes. There are nine squad cars out looking for you right now. All right, I... I'm here now. What do you want? Why did you burn that neck time? Well, I... I didn't know that... It was used to kill your wife, Haynes. We found some of the ashes. Some of the threads were left on our neck. You tossed it in the stove, didn't you? Well, I... I'd rather... Did you burn that tie? Yes. Yes, I did. All right, Haynes. That's all we want to know. No, wait a minute, you can't. I can explain. Listen, Lieutenant, please. Anne. Anne, you're my last chance. You've got to help me. Tell them. Tell them you saw me on the campus. You know, Anne, by the clock, you've got to help me, Anne. Tell them, will you? Oh, George, I... I don't know what you're talking about. The Whistler will return in just a moment with a strange ending of tonight's story. But now, in honor of the Boy Scouts of America, our sponsor, the Signal Oil Company, has asked me to bring you a special message. What is a Boy Scout? Well, a Boy Scout is a boy who keeps himself physically fit. He avoids alcohol and tobacco. He guards his tongue from loose speech or boasting or a sacrilege. When he speaks of anyone, he tries to speak well of him. His scout-good turns to someone each day, make him many friends. For the way to have friends is to first be one. He always tries to be a useful citizen. He helps his community. Another big thing a Scout enjoys is camping. There he finds fun in games or swimming. He finds new friends in woods and other fellows. And there among the trees are under the silent stars or by the campfire's ruddy embers. He dreams out his great tomorrow. Those excerpts from the Scout Handbook tell you better than any words of mine why the Boy Scouts deserve your whole-hearted cooperation. Tell you why. If there's a boy in your family nearing the age of 12, you could do him no better turn than to encourage his joining, the Boy Scouts of America. And now, back to the Whistler. So that's it, George. Anne denies it. She didn't see you. Charlie was right, wasn't he? Women are wide-eyed and righteous until the chips are down until something close to them is at stake. Then it doesn't seem to matter. You stand there quietly, looking at her for a minute. Then your knees begin to get weak and you sit down. You wonder for a moment where Larry is and decide he's probably somewhere rehearsing the testimony. He's going to use against you at the trial. Then suddenly you're too tired to wonder anything. George. Please, Anne, you don't need to say anymore. I know it sounds ridiculous for me to say I'm sorry at a time like this. I should have known it was coming. I've been written all over his face for the past month. What? Who are you talking about? Larry. Perhaps I'd better explain, Mrs. Price. You see, Haynes Price was in love with your wife. What? Why, that's ridiculous. Oh, it's true, George. He came to a climax yesterday afternoon. She refused to go away with him. That's fantastic. It's true, George. Oh, don't you see? That's why Priscilla was so unreasonable last night. But how long? A month. I thought Larry was acting strangely last night and then when I saw him leave the house, I followed him. She saw the whole thing, Haynes. Good Lord. All I could think of was running. He knew I saw him and followed me across the campus. I ran into him at the bell tower, but he was so surprised. Anne, that was I. I thought it was Larry. That's why I... Of course. You were frightened. Well, anyway, I went to the police and Lieutenant Schultz came right out. Apparently, Price returned after she gave him the slip and realized his only out was to incriminate you. He moved the body, planted the necktie, and so on. But how could he expect to get away with it? He wasn't thinking very rationally, Anne's. Oh. And that's another thing. When Price knew the jig was up, he ran for it. Took off across the campus and the fog. We had every available man out looking for him. But it was pretty much of a needle in the haystack proposition in the fog for a while until we got that big break. And what was that? A little black dog. Apparently, the dog got excited when Price ran by his master and broke away and ran after Price. One of our men was attracted by the barking. All he had to do was follow the dog and there was Price. Oh, um, forgot to introduce our star witness, Professor. Uh, how do you do? This is the dog's owner, Mr. Morgenstern. Next Monday at nine o'clock, the Whistler will bring you another strange tale. The Whistler is broadcast for your entertainment by the marketers of signal gasoline and motor oil and fine quality automotive accessories and by your neighborhood signal dealer. This program produced by George W. Allen with tonight's story by Robert Reif, music by Wilbur Hatch, is transmitted to our troops overseas by the Armed Forces Radio Service. That whistle is your signal for the signal oil program, the Whistler. This is Marvin Miller speaking, reminding you to look for those familiar yellow and black circle signs that identify those popular signal oil stations in seven western states from Canada to Mexico. This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.