 The National Broadcasting Company presents COUNTER SPY Harding, COUNTER SPY Calling Washington United States, COUNTER SPY Especially appointed to investigate and combat the enemies of our country both at home and abroad These COUNTER SPY reports to the American people are brought to you each week at this time Now, the case of the stolen secret Dr. Hilton, I wish you'd let me go with you It's best that I go alone, Lucy After you leave me off at the railroad station I'd like you to go back home and wait until you hear from me Just as you say But somehow I don't like the idea of you going to Washington by yourself I'll attract much less attention that way That formula in your briefcase is so important You can never tell what my... Now come, come, Lucy You're getting all upset over nothing at all You've worked two long years on it I've watched you, Dr. Hilton I know how much it's taken out of you It was worth every minute of it, my dear I know, but I can't help thinking of the desperate measures certain people might take to gain possession of it At the present moment, my dear Lucy that would be a sheer waste of time Only this week I discovered certain of my hypotheses were invalid Fortunately, I know now the cause of my errors Nevertheless, my formula will still be in the hands of the National Defense Coordinator in the morning Oh, you say it so lightly as though your very life weren't in danger Lucy, I'm not the swaggering hero you would like to think I am I think you're pretty wonderful, Dr. Do you mind? Not at all I'm flattered You've been like a father to me Yes, unfortunately I'm at the age where I best shoot the fatherly role Is this close enough to the platform? Fine, my dear, fine Dr. Hilton I still can't help worrying Won't you please let me go with you I brought along my overnight bag, please say yes Lucy, believe me, I assure you that nothing very much can happen to me or the formula But how can you be so sure? Because until I make certain revisions in my figures, my formula will be of no consequence Several hours work in my train compartment at most Until then, what I'm carrying in my briefcase is worthless Are you sure you're not telling me a story? My word of honor Now do you feel better about it? But you will be careful anyway Now promise me I promise, my dear, not to run afoul of any cloak-and-dagger tactics between now and my arrival in Washington Well, here's my train coming in I'll be back in Saturday or Tuesday Goodbye, Lucy Goodbye, doctor And don't worry Everything will be perfectly all right Perfectly Who is it? A doctor, sir No, just a moment One peep out of you helping your dad What? Inside What's the meaning of this? Sit down You'll be good or a bullet goes through your head What do you want? You know what I want It won't have to be a mess if you're handed over I don't know what you're talking about If it's money, you're after it Yes, it's money I'm after Not the kind you'd be carrying Maybe this has what I want Give me that briefcase Thanks for telling me it's in here I told you to sit down Please, you might not go out Okay, you asked for it Immediately to my office This is urgent And here's Jenison's supplementary report, Peter Came in over the counter-spire wire three minutes ago Dr. Theodore Hilton I've heard that name, Mr. Harding Dr. Hilton was a research scientist Oh, yes In the field of fuel refining Right He just completed developing a new formula For processing a special fuel for jets It was to have given us a sure edge on air power Dr. Hilton was on his way to Washington here To explain the process to government technicians It isn't hard to fill in the rest, chief The formula's missing Yes, but we do know that it was being carried In a tan leather briefcase Locked The case was missing from his train compartment Any other leads? No It's still too early to determine what sort of instrument Struck the blow that killed Dr. Hilton Did anyone see Hilton with another person on the train? We don't know yet All the passengers are being questioned The thing is to find out what happened to that briefcase Yes, and the espionage agent who took it I've already sent out orders to put every available man On this case All roads, trains, stations, bus depots And airports in that area are now under our surveillance What do we do now, Dave? Now, Peters, we're taking the jet to Meadville To supervise operations Coming up, a ham on rye Two coffee Yeah Coming up Yeah, what kind? What do I care, any kind Okay, yeah I'll get you some matches I'll keep them tonight Wait a minute Quick operator Get me the counter-spy field office here in town Right away, sir The office agent, Jenison Yeah, hello This is Sy Smith, Smitty's diner on Elm Street Yes Look, a guy just walked out of here Carrying a briefcase that looked like the one I heard about On the radio The one that Dr. Hilton had when he was killed He just walked out? Yeah Did you watch where he went? Yeah, he hopped into a car out front It looked to me like it was a Chevy Could you describe what he looked like? Sure He left a half a buck for a pack of smokes Who'd forget a guy like that? Harding, go ahead, Jenison Continuing report on the diner operator All right, Jenison, contact our statistical department in Washington Tell them to have everything prepared for an identification search Then have that diner operator flown to Washington as soon as possible You got that? Yes, Mr. Harding, I'll get right on it Uh, where were you, Garoc? I've been trying to get you on a phone for a couple of hours Steve, I do not sit in this hole in the wall Developing pictures every minute of my life I go out to eat sometimes Not often, but every once in a while Yeah, you take three hours to eat me I walk around with those hot papers on me Right out in the open I'm not interested in your tale of war Garoc has his own I stand in a dark room till the side of the sunlight blinds me I am not better than a donkey used in the mines Yeah, you and your torque At least I do my job well There was nothing about killing Dr. Hilton In the instructions given to you by Mr. Sibley Well, I couldn't help it The old guy got too rough for his own good Mr. Sibley will not be happy about that But who's asking you what Mr. Sibley will be happy about? Here's the stuff Put it on microfilm and shut your mouth The likes of you, Garoc, does not take orders from Garoc is an art Garoc is nothing but a big mouth Come on, take the papers and do what you're supposed to do I am to do nothing until Mr. Sibley arrives Garoc is wise enough to follow instructions You should put on a big front, don't you, Garoc? I do the dirty work Very dirty work I'm telling you, Garoc, I'm not taking much more of you You cannot frighten me, Steve Garoc has brains And Garoc also has a gun in his pocket Mr. Sibley Good evening, Mr. Sibley I see we're all assembled Good He just got here Yes, Steve Hello, Mr. Sibley It would be more appropriate to make that goodbye, my friend Why, you needn't become alarmed As yet I haven't decided under what circumstances we shall part I'm convinced only of the necessity of ending our relationship Now look, Mr. Sibley, I got what you were after Control yourself Yes, Steve, do There's no need for becoming upset A drink, Mr. Sibley Not at the moment, Garoc, thank you Here's the papers, Mr. Sibley Maybe we don't click too good together But anyway, here's what you were after So if it's okay with you, I'll take my pay off now and beat it The simple minds, everything seems so uncomplicated Sit down, Steve I have some things to say to you before you leave I'll stand As you wish Briefly, my friend, you've gone about your assignment In a fashion so slovenly that I find it absolutely incredible You mean about what happened to Dr. Hilton? What else could I possibly mean? Well, I couldn't hope that was an accident I didn't think that slug in the head would kill him on It's just an accident, Mr. Sibley That's unimportant now The man is dead And the formula is of almost no use to us because of that fact Without Dr. Hilton, it'll take much too long to make practical application of those papers you think so valuable That is why Garoc did not put them on microfil So the operation itself is a failure But added to that, you've allowed yourself to become identified What do you mean? Nobody saw me No The description of your unhappy countenance has been advertised on every radio station in the country But I'm telling you Why didn't you get rid of that brief casio embassy? I did get rid of it, but I threw it in an empty lot But not until after you were seen with it Well, I couldn't help it, it had a lock on it I had a break the lock, didn't I? Quiet The point is, you're very dangerous to us at the moment to our entire network And most important of all, to my superior Why, I thought you were running the operation Garoc Yes, Mr. Sibley I shall leave the matter of Steve's disposition up to you And I, Mr. Sibley, will leave it up to this gun Wait, wait For Garoc, this will be an exquisite pleasure I shall wait here until you return Where is the liquor? In the chest over there I have some very fine brandy Mr. Sibley, give me a break I do enjoy fine brandy so much Goodbye, Steve Miss Lucy Braden Yes I'm David Harding, Miss Braden This is my assistant, Mr. Peters We drove over from Meadville to speak with you Oh, please come in, gentlemen Thank you This way, we can talk in the living room All right You've been with Dr. Hilton for a number of years, we understand Yes, Mr. Peters, I was his ward After I became of age, I stayed on with him You might say as a secretary I see Won't you sit down? Thank you Now, we'll try not to take up too much of your time, Miss Braden We realize how you must feel Yes Just a few questions, and then we'll leave I'll tell you anything I can, Mr. Harding The doctor's laboratory is on the premises here Yes, at the rear of the house And his bedroom was right next to it My room is upstairs Does anyone else live in this house, Miss Braden? Well, we have a housekeeper, but she doesn't sleep in Then there was only you and Dr. Hilton There used to be my brother Charles He was the newspaper correspondent who disappeared in Eastern Europe two years ago Yes, Miss Braden As we know about your brother, his case is still an open matter in our files First Charles, and now Dr. Hilton We may yet locate your brother, Miss Braden Oh, I've given up hope Dr. Hilton and I both knew why Charles disappeared Because the country in which he was working didn't like the truth And Charles told the truth in his dispatch We'll be just a moment more I think it's quite all right I don't mind if I can give any help Who knew about Dr. Hilton's plan to go to Washington? I did Besides yourself? The housekeeper perhaps? Oh, I don't believe so, Mr. Harding Dr. Hilton cautioned me to mention it to no one I see Well, that's about all, Miss Braden If there's anything else I can do No, no, not at the moment But if you do think of anything that might help us You can reach me at the counters by field office in Meadville Call me any time, day or night Do you think you'll be able to find a member? I don't know, Miss Braden But we're certainly going to try very hard Very hard Garoke, you're back soon, haven't I? Mr. Sibley Garoke, what happened? Your head is bleeding That animal, that animal, Steve Come on, man, speak, what happened? He lunged at me before I could fire What? He was desperate You know how a man who is going to die sometimes becomes You let him get away I tried to stop him up, I held on to him Garoke, a small man He is such a large animal He kicked me, oh, my head He got away He kicked Garoke, kicked me in my head Oh, the counter-spies will have him in no time Help me, Mr. Sibley, oh, the pain in my head Five minutes after they have him, you've told him everything Oh, Garoke, you fool It was going to be an exquisite pleasure for you Garoke had the brains, but he had the instinct and speed of an animal You bungled ruined everything Oh, my head, oh, Mr. Sibley, do something for Garoke Do something to stop the pain in his head All right, Garoke I'll help stop the pain in your head Oh, you're a merciful man, Mr. Sibley I'll stop the pain in you forever You are listening to the case of the stolen secret on Counter-Spy That new private detective Charlie Wiles solves another mystery in just a short while over most of these NBC stations And later today there's another broadcast of your Sunday evening extravaganza, The Big Show Your stars tonight will be Groucho Marks Ezio Pinza, Jane Powell Fanny Bryce, Frankie Lane, Mindy Carson Frank Lovejoy, Meredith Wilson, and many, many more Supervising the hour-and-a-half Big Show will be MC Tallulah Bankhead And incidentally, when unpredictable Tallulah meets unconventional Groucho, look out It's The Big Show every Sunday on NBC Now, back to Counter-Spy That's the information, Carter The Big Show to all patrols Have them notify me here at the Meadville Field Office So his name is Steve Meeker, eh, Mr. Harding? Meeker, he's got a record a half-mile long If he's still in the area of our operation, he's a gone duck That idea of you sending the diner owner down to Washington for identification paid off Well, we can't be too sure yet, Peters but it certainly saved us some time, oh wait a minute Harding speaking I want to talk to you, Harding Who's this? Steve Meeker You're Steve Meeker, you're saying? That's right Meeker, Dave, get on the extension I give up I'm listening I heard my name on the radio just now I'm cut off, I know it I can't move two feet without there's a cop right there All right, Meeker, if you're ready to give up all you have to do is walk into the field office here I'll call my men off What ain't your men? There's someone else in Meadville I'm worried about Who? Over in Centerdale Who's after you, Meeker? Nothing doing I don't spill that until I know it's going to do me some good All right Where exactly are you? In a drug store Now listen to me Get out of that store The one you're worried about may be there instead of Meadville Go to the address I'm going to give you and tell whoever's there that I sent you and I'll be along to pick you up You'll be safe there Okay 14 Crown Street Got that? Yeah, 14 Crown Wait there for me I'm starting for Centerdale now Yes? Uh, this is 14 Crown, ain't it? Yes, it is Oh, then I got the right place Whom do you wish to see? Uh, I don't know the name I'm sure you must have the wrong information Oh, no, no This is where David Harding sent me Mr. Harding? Yeah, yeah, he said I should wait here for him He said if I gave you his name, you'd let me in Then come in You can wait for Mr. Harding in the living room I'm Lucy Brayden, Mr. My name doesn't cut Did Mr. Harding say what time he'd be here? As soon as he can get over from Meadville Sit down if you like Thanks Uh, mind if I smoke? Not at all Can I get you something? What have you got? Maybe rye? I'm sorry, we have no whiskey in the house Beer? No beer either But I have some soft drinks in the refrigerator Soda popper? Yes Would you care for some? Well, okay, I wouldn't mind I'll be right back Ah, hey Yes? Cut matches them all out You'll find a lighter on the table Thanks Work these lighters Never the first time Only have root beer Oh, root beer's okay In fact, it's perfect I took the liberty of pouring your glass Mm-hmm You can take any liberty you like with me, honey Anytime There's more if you want it Nice and cold I like drinks Better nice and cold Would you please... Would I what? Nothing Are you sure Mr. Harding sent you here? Mm-hmm, he sent me He sure set up something nice and neat for me What? What do you mean? Look honey, I'm no friend of Harding Then what are you... I'm on the lam Wait Let me go, please He came to me just now like that Please let me go, you're hurting me I was gonna do something, but now I got a better idea Yeah, great, what a setup Please let me go, please You're leaving this place now with me What? That's right You're getting me out of this jam, baby You're my rain check No cop in the world would take a pot shot While I got you right next to me And Harding set up the whole thing himself We'll write him a letter of thanks When we get out of the country You're crazy Sure, like a fox You can't get away with the way if you want it They'll get you sooner or later With you along, honey, nothing can... Nothing? Nothing, Steve Mr. Sibley I'm taking up where Garo cleft off Garoak was right, you are an animal A man dies much faster And that, Lucy, makes the final bridge We've burned behind us You waited long enough to fire, Sibley Sorry, my dear, it all rather amused Don't be insolent Forgive me Well, we owe a great deal of our good fortune To Harding, eh, Lucy? Yes, but you'd better not be here to thank him Listen, that must be Harding now It's too late for me to get out Get in the back of the house Hide in the kitchen closet They must have heard the shots What are you going to tell Harding? Leave that to me Give me your gun Here Now hurry, do what I told you All right Oh, Mr. Harding, it was terrible What's happened, Miss Braden? Where's the man I sent? Come in, please Did you hear the shots? Shots? What shots are you talking about? There's the man you sent Over there near the table What happened? He tried to make me go with him He said he was going to use me as a shield I broke away from him and there was a gun in the desk I tried to hold him at bay He came after me Take it easy, Miss Braden You don't have to be too upset He was a vicious killer He murdered Dr. Hilton He was the one? Yes Oh, Mr. Harding, how could you send that man Here to this house of all places? I'll let you think about my reason for that, Miss Braden When you're in a cell in a good, strong jail What? Until you come to trial for murder and espionage What are you talking about? As the head of aspiring, Miss Braden You should know exactly what I'm talking about You don't know what you're saying If you'll just come along We can talk it all over down at the field Then right where you are, I'll fire this gun Oh, I do know what I'm talking about Unfortunately for you, you do I'm interested in one thing, especially How can your sentiments be what they are In the face of what happened to your brother? Very simple My brother is alive and well He went to the place where he is now of his own free will We both have the same political sentiments Charles is waiting for me to join him You'll never make it now I never shot a woman, but I'd be glad to make you an exception Unless you drop that gun You're joining the party All right, all right Would you consider resisting arrest? No, what a shame Where'd you find him, Peter? Lined up with a couple of dirty brooms in the kitchen closet Lucy, what are we going to do now? Plead guilty as charged First, Mr. Harding, you'll have to prove those charges That won't be hard This evening, my agents came across a dead man named Garoak Of course, Garoak didn't talk But the data we found in his photo lab did I'll take these two along, Chief Wait, just a moment, Peter I have something that may interest Miss Brayden I doubt it Usually, Miss Brayden, the counterspies Operate on a highly scientific basis But every once in a while, we have to resort To our knowledge of criminal behavior to get results You were much too innocent of too many things You went out of your way to point out that you were the only one Who knew Dr. Hilton was going to Washington A fact you made no bones about Obviously to establish how innocent you were It was your behavior that got results in this case Oh, no It was the stupidity of my associates Oh, no, the stupidity was essentially yours To think you could get away with treason All right, now, Peter, you take them away Tune in every week Same time, same station to counterspies Listen next week for the exciting case of the pseudo-spuds When an agricultural magician Sowed tons of potatoes He hoped to reap a half million dollars in cash Instead, he reaped a harvest of sawdust That blew up in his face And launched your counterspies on a search for clues That covered thousands of miles The full details will be revealed next week In case of the pseudo-spuds On counterspies The Night's Counter-Spy program originated in New York Was directed by Marks B. Loeb And featured Don McLaughlin and Mandel Kramer Counter-Spy is produced by Phillips H. Lord Now, Charlie Wilde, and in a half hour Hear the big show on NBC