 Good evening, friends, we'll be in a tank soon. This is your host, inviting you in through the creaking door. Come in, come in, won't you? We're having a bit of a demonstration here tonight. Presto, the magician, is sewing a corpse in half. And for next to the tea he'll saw the halves in half. But we'll have to take up a collection of quarters. He won't go out in a limb, not your limb. He's strictly a torso man, only more so. And if you ever want him to decapitate anybody, remember, he gets five dollars a head. Tonight's inner sanctum mystery over my dead body an original radio drama written by Robert Sloan and stars Larry Haynes in the role of Robert with Vera Allen as Mary. Ready now, friends. You've heard of dead men who turn over in their graves, haven't you? Well, tonight's story is about a grave that turns over on a dead man. The casket was ordered from the local undertaking establishment. It was delivered to a private morselier among the estate of old Mr. Edgar Finley. But when it arrived, his housekeeper couldn't understand why the eccentric old gentleman had purchased it. Mr. Finley, did you order a casket? Well, yes, Mary. I ordered it. I told him to put it downstairs. It's the crypt of the morselier. What property do you want with a casket? Who is it for? For what? Now, Mary, I'm not nearly as eccentric as most people seem to think. I need that casket. Why? Because I'm going to die tonight. It's a treat. What are you saying? I'll call the doctor. No, no. You don't understand. There's nothing wrong with me, Mary. I just want to be sure my money falls into the right hands when I die. Don't talk about dying, Mr. Finley. I've got to consider it, Mary. I've got to make sure the bulk of my estate will go to the most deserving person. I'm going to make believe I'm dead. That way I can find out a great deal more about my prospective aid. You mean you're going to get into that casket and be closed up in the morselier? Oh, I won't be closed up for long. It's strong enough to make it look real. Then I'll ring the bell for you to let me out. But... Then I'll be so frightened, Mary. This one. There's a wire running from this room to the morselier. Oh, Mr. Finley. I'll connect it up with the casket before you close me in. And whenever I need you, I'll just ring the bell. No, no. I won't let you do it. Mary, you do as I say. Now stop being such a sentimental old fool and get yourself a pencil and a piece of paper. I want you to take down the addresses of my niece, Eleanor, and my cousin, Robert. You'll have to send them telegrams in the morning. Telegrams? I'm notifying them of my death. Can't you understand, Mary? Mr. Edgar Finley has just passed down. This way, Mr. Robert. The casket is down here in the crypt. Oh, thank you. Careful in these stairs, Eleanor. It's not very light. I can see. Oh, Mary, I wish you hadn't brought me down here. I don't want to look at Uncle Edgar's casket. I do. I think it's only decent force to pay our respect. Um, when was he late to rest, Mary? It's morning. It all happened very suddenly, didn't it? I mean, nobody ever knew he was sick. What did he die of? His heart, Mr. Robert. It came out on him. When? Good heavens. Must you ask me all these questions? I've got a right to know what happened. Eleanor has to. I told you, he died during the night. Without any warning? The doctor said with his heart? Yes. Well, it seems awfully strange. He never complained about his heart before. No. It's exactly what I was thinking. Um, has an autopsy performed on the body? No. I see. Where's the casket? Right here, Mr. Robert. Well, don't stand there. Aren't you going to open the lid? No. What for? I want to see him. Why do you think I came down here? But you can't open the casket. You can raise the lid. Oh, Robert, no. Don't be a fool. I'm going to make sure he's really down here. Don't you believe me? No. Raise the lid. Mr. Robert. Raise it, I said. All right. I'm not lying to you, Mr. Robert. You can look inside now. Thank you. Is he there? Yes, I am. I guess Mary was telling the truth. I'm sorry. That's all right. You, uh, you can lower the lid now. Yes, sir. What's the matter, Robert? Hmm? Oh, oh, nothing, nothing. I am. I was just thinking how strange you looked. It was just the way you looked. It's a lie. All right, Mr. Stanley. I hear you ringing. I'll come to you right now. I'm not sure. Mary. Good evening, Mr. Robert. I want to talk to you, Mary. I'll be back in a minute. I want to talk to you now. Honestly, Mr. Robert. I'm excited. I know what about it. About what? The trick. What's it for? Roger Fenley isn't dead. Why is he lying in that casket? I don't know what you're talking about. Don't lie to me. I can see him breathing underneath a glass. Why are you making believe he's dead? I'm not. I'll talk to you later, Mr. Robert. Stay where you are. No, I've got to go to him. He'll suffocate in there if I die. I said stay where you are. Please, didn't you hear that bell? He's ringing for me. Let him ring. But the casket is locked from the outside. He'll die if I don't let him out. Wouldn't that be just too bad? Mr. Robert, you wouldn't let him die. Wouldn't I? As far as I know, he's dead already. But he isn't dead. I'm telling you he is. I can't hear you. Let me go. He'll be dead in July. What if he is? When he really dies, I stand a very good chance of him hurting so much. No, I won't let you kill him. Oh, I'm not killing him. You are, Mary. You're the only one who knows about the arrangement with the bell. And if you open your mouth about it, the police will arrest you for murder. Mr. Robert Green, don't let him die. Don't make it easy, Mary. Well, it lasts very long. Well, tell me, uh... Can I ring one more? He's killed him. Be quiet. He's getting suffocated in there without lifting a finger. Stop it, will you? You won't get away with him. All right. Who's going to stop it? Your mind will stop you in your conscience. You'll hear that bell ringing in your mind as long as you leave. Shut up. You'll hear it, Robert. Day and night. You'll think about him in that casket, tortured and gasping for his last breath. He'll never be able to... Don't do this. Shut up. What's that? What's that bell? He's still alive. No. No, no, no, he can't be. It's a casket with my own hands. There isn't enough air in there to breathe. The same bell. It's a telephone. Let's see how it torches you, Robert. Let's see how it prays on your mind. Don't talk about it. That's that phone. Yes, sir. Yes, Mr. Cadman. Day and night. Can I speak to you later, Mr. Cadman? Huh? Can't you talk? What does Cadman want? Something about the will. He wants to speak to me. Why didn't you find out what it was? I didn't think he'd let me talk. Oh, no. It's about that bell. Hi. What's the matter? Listen. Can't you hear it? What? It's a bell. It's ringing again. I don't hear anything. It's him ringing the bell. He's still alive. No, you're just trying to frighten me. It's there, I tell you. I can hear it. It's alive. Listen, Robert. Listen. Oh, no. What happened? I saw a page of the window. Where were you? In the library. It was just outside. It was like a ghost. Oh, don't be scared, Miss Eleanor. It was probably the guard. No. It wasn't. It was... I'm going to... Hurry, Mary. Hurry. Before Eleanor finds out, we've come to the morpher. I don't know why we did come, Mr. Robert. It won't be your conscience to never see his body. Don't argue with me. I've got to know. I've got to find out if he's still in the casket. All right. All right, now quick. I'm latching it and opening the lid. Open it yourself. Your children. Very, I'm warning you not to annoy me anymore. My nerves won't stand. What's the matter, Mr. Robert? Do you still hear that bell? Open the casket. All right. I'll open it. You want to raise the lid, though? So loud. Never mind. I'll do it. It's still there. It's there, all right. Only this time he's dead. This time his tortured body is tightened up and twisting from gasping for air. Robert, stop it. What's wrong, Mr. Robert? Are you afraid to see what you've done? Don't over it. Look, Mr. Robert, look. Look, roll over and let go. Some rest. I've got to get those bells out of my mind. They're driving me crazy. Why don't they stop? Why can't I make them? Oh, no. Please, please stop that. I don't mind my hair. It's so thick. I'm a belly queen from this grave. I've got to stop them. I've got to cut the wire. Mary! Mary, where are you? In here, Mr. Robert. In the living room. You're making that bell. What, Joe? I can't hear anything from you. It's your mind, Mr. Robert. Don't laugh at me. Don't lie to me. You've been ringing it all the time, haunting me with it. I don't know what you're talking about. Where's the wire? Where is it? Where's the bell? Right over here. Give it to me. Mr. Robert, look at that. Give it to me, I said. I'll fix the door. We'll ring again. There. There. It's connected now. It won't ever ring. It's another power. There's only one, Mr. Robert. You're doing it. You're doing it. It's a trick. You're doing it with your foot. It's making me go. It's ringing anymore. Go. I warned them not to touch you, Mary. Mary, I told you, my nurse wouldn't stand. I'm ringing that bell. No, no, no. I'll make it stop. Fine, Robert, hovering over the body of dear Mary, the bell is still ringing. Quickly, he drags the body behind the sofa in the living room. And as the bell stops, he hears a door open behind him and footsteps in the hall. Who's there? Oh, Come on, please. Who's out there? Mr. Cadman. Nobody out to the front door. Oh, were you ringing the bell? I've been ringing it for some time. That's why I took the liberty of letting myself in. Uh, where's Mary? Oh, Mary? Yes. Why are you looking at me like that? For heaven's sake, what's going on here tonight? Why? Well, I called Mary earlier in the evening about Mr. Finley's will. She said she'd call me back, but she never did. Why, I don't know why not. Neither do I. I've been calling her all evening, but nobody answers the call. That's what the bells were. What? Nothing, nothing. Well, Robert, I've got to speak to Mary about some very important business. Where is she? Why, I don't know. Well, you'd better find out if you... Well, look, what do you want, Mr. Cadman? Make it short. Mary's gone into town and I'm busy. Too busy to find out about your inheritance. Why, uh, no. I thought that might interest you. Well, the will is supposed to be read tomorrow morning, but it won't be read unless I speak to Mary. It won't even be opened. Well, for what am I, you can't hold up that will. Well, you can't stop us from getting what belongs to us. I can't, but Mr. Finley can. Mr. Finley? Yes. You made a last request before he died. What? That the will is not to be read by herself. Mary? Was that... But it's not her Eleanor. Before that, why are you in Mary's room? I'm looking through some papers. Mary's gone away for a few days and Mr. Cadman said the will couldn't be read unless she opened it. She must have it here. The will? Uncle Edgar's will? Yes, yes. Well, don't stand there staring at me. We've got to find that will. But Mary hasn't got it. How do you know? Where is it? Well, Mr. Cadman must have it. He was Uncle Edgar's attorney. Well, then why did Mary have... Well, it's ringing again. Maybe it's Mary. Maybe she's come back. No, no, no, no. It's from across the hall from Mr. Finley's room. I can't understand why a bell should ring in there. I've got to find it. Wait. Why did it stop? I don't care. I've got to know why it rang. Robert, please. Please don't go in there. Why not? Because he wouldn't want you to disturb his will. Don't be a fool. Someone's working against us, Eleanor. Someone who doesn't want us to inherit that money. Well, Mr. Cadman maybe. It'd be just like him to... Yes, again. It's over here, Robert. It's right beside the bell. What? It's the bell that was downstairs. The one I hacked the wires from. It's been connected again. Who could have connected it? I don't know. I'm going to have a talk with Mr. Cadman. Wait for me, Eleanor. I'm going to find out about that world. I'm sorry, Robert. I'm not at liberty to show you the world. No one can see it without Mary's permission. Get up. What? Get up, I said. Open the safe. Put down that gun, you fool. No more eyes, I tell you. Open the safe. No, I can look, Cadman. I mean every word I say. All right, Robert. I'll open the safe. Be quick about it. Sir, do I? Why are you in such a hurry? Because I don't trust you. I think you know too much. About you? About old man Finley. I think you were in on a plan from the very beginning with Mary. My dear, what you're talking about. Come on, come on. Isn't that safe open yet? We'll be in a moment. What do you want? What do you think? The well, give it to me. Robert, you're making a great mistake. I'll be the judge of that. Disregarding Mr. Finley. Give me the well. I warn you, I'm going to report this to the police. Oh, no, you're not. Go! You're not going to report it to anybody. Long time getting back. Did you speak to Mr. Cadman? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I spoke to him. He's going to read the well in the morning. Wouldn't he let you see it? No. What are you doing out here? Waiting for you to get back. I've been going over the outside of the house. Facing those wires. What wires? The ones from that bell upstairs. They lead to the mausoleum. Right in through the stone wall. Really? Don't you think that's strange? I mean, why should wires run from the mausoleum directly into the house? I don't know. Your Uncle Edgar was a pretty eccentric guy. What a bell, Robert. Why would anybody want to set up a bell in the house so that it could be run from the mausoleum? Well, look, let's mind our own business. There's something funny going on, and I'd like to know what is here. Well, we'll figure it out in the morning. No. It's got to be done now before we go back into the house. Why? What's your hurry? Mary hasn't gone, Robert. I don't know where she is, but she hasn't really gone. How do you know? Her clothes and everything. They're all in the room. She hasn't even taken a bath. What? It doesn't mean anything. It does to me. I think something's happened to her. Robert, I think we ought to call the police. Now, don't be silly. I think we ought to have them investigate those wires. What for? Just to be on the safe side. Is there any reason why we shouldn't call the police? Well, well, no. Well, then let's go inside. No, wait a minute. Wait a minute. Now, look, we don't have to call anybody. We can investigate those wires ourselves. Just the two of us? Yeah, yeah, sure. We're not. Well, uh... Now, come on. Come on. You just show me where those wires are. No, uh... I don't want to go back there. What are you afraid of? Nothing's going to happen. Oh, my God. Now, come on. It'll just take a few minutes to check on those wires at the Marcelline, and then we can come back and call the police. No! I'm not going to let you have your way, Eleanor. I want to see about those wires. And I... I wouldn't think of leaving you all alone in that big house. Yeah, but you're going to come with me. Are you ready? Yes, I'm ready. You're making me go down into the crypt. The wires, Eleanor. They led down here. We've got to find out where they're attached on the inside. Help me! What's the matter? I saw something pass in front of me. Keep walking. Don't worry, God. What do you mean? Don't you know? Don't you realize you'll have to die? I can't afford to let you live, Eleanor. You'll find out too much. You'll put a rope around my mouth. Come on, please. Don't fight me, Eleanor. It has to be just the way it was with Marion Cadman. They didn't want me to get the money. They were in my way. Who's there? Me, Robert. Your cousin. Edgar Finley. No, no, no, no. You're dead. I would have been. I hadn't protected myself against a murderer like you. Once I have that casket comes off, Robert, it opens from the inside. You just don't believe you were dead. I have to. As soon as I found out what you were trying to do, I never expected you to murder anyone else. Run for the police. Eleanor, please. Come back here. Stop it. Stop or I'll come after you. Don't do anything of the kind, Robert. You'll stay with me. Will I? No. Since you know I had a gun, Mr. Finley, you won't get out of here, Robert. I won't let you out. Come on, Mr. Finley. Come on, get the rest of it. Get away out. You've gotten out of... What is it, officer? Finley killed him, too. What? His hands. They're stiffened around Robert's neck. There's a smile on his lips. 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