 Bold Venture, adventure, intrigue, mystery, romance, starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. Together in the sultry setting of tropical Havana and the mysterious islands of the Caribbean. Bold Venture, once again the magic names of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall bring you Bold Venture and a tale of mystery and intrigue. What'll they think of next? Slate, what do you think you're doing? Don't bother me sailor, with innkeeper comes certain inalienable rights. The right to hold the guest's mail up to the light and peek into their secrets. From these rights can come bruised peepers. You gonna blab it around sailor? The meteor was that ship's mate who checked in here six months ago. When he shipped out he left explicit instructions. I was to open his mail, get a few chuckles, then forward it. Then why don't you just open it instead of holding it up to the... Break me in two, I like to tease myself. You got problems, I got problems, all of Havana's chilling got problems. I got dreamy a little while ago, strayed through the mementos in my hope chest. You know what? What? The gun is gone. No. That little revolver you gave me last Valentine's Day. That 25 caliber Colt. Gone. Vanished. Missing. Stolen. Perlined. Sailor, that gun was our song. That little souvenir of blue steel was... I will grieve later sailor, a customer approaches. Good day sir. Welcome to Shannon's place, room 350. Step aside sir. Permit me one long lingering look. At this vision so many years lost. At this comely, beautious fare and ravishing... You were the customer's late, step aside. Go on sir. Prithee, pradoo. I wander the world for a glimpse of you. There's no memory of me left in you. No remembrance of me. Of Freddie Nay. Freddie. Your husband. Huh? You lost a gun, you find a husband. This is your red-letter day sailor. Darling, don't you recall the elopement from Moonlit Barretts. The highway that skirted the sea. The marriage at your only pan. The little French charwoman who's your bridesmaid. You don't recall, beloved? No, Freddie, I don't. But it's sure thrilling. Next chapter, please, so I can curl up with it. And then your sudden farewell at the boi in Paris. The autumn leaves the search. And now you're healthy, well, comfortable. All I needed to know. It will sustain me through desolate years. Au revoir, Shelley. Au revoir. Gee. Always a bride. Never a bridesmaid. Slate, why are you looking at me like that? You don't believe me. A man says he's your husband. A man ought to know about things like that. You can't berserk, Slate. You think I'd misplace a husband. Did you? No. Don't look at me like that, Slate. I said no. All right, if that's what you want me to believe, I believe you. Forget it. All we have to do is call Inspector LaSalle. Tell him this phony is... Be a nice girl and allow me my mood sailor. Get your hands off me. Get them off. Mark, wake up. Mark, please. Don't jiggle the chassis, Freddy Boy. It'll upset the fine balance I've struck between me and the Havana son. Oh, feel that son, Freddy Boy. Let it run through your fingers. Mark, I went there like you told me. I told that Mr. Val everything you told me to tell her that I married her in France, that she left me, that I've been looking for her all these years, just like you said... Tell me, boy, did it jerk tears your performance? You're a sad thing that tears must have been jerked. I don't know what it did or why you wanted it. All I know is I want the bonus you promised me. You doubt I'll give it to you, Freddy Boy. You doubt a tender soul like me when I fed you, clothed you, filled your pockets with nickels for extras. So you could live this moment with that tangy Mr. Val. You promised me, Mark. You promised. And if I am nothing, I am a keeper of promises, Freddy Boy. This, this little gun, small caliber, for size to grow warm and misty in a girl's hand. For you, Freddy. The sun touched you, Mark. I phony for you and I get a lousy lady pistol. What do I do? Get six bucks for it from a native pawn? What to do with it, Freddy Boy? Die from it. That makes you happy, huh? I'm talking to you, Slate. What's the matter? You hate yourself because you didn't stop fast enough and I didn't go through the windshield? Get out of the jeep. Okay, okay. Slate, listen to me, will you? For three days now, you've been acting like I'm off limits. Is this friendly? There he is, sailor. Inspector LaSalle. He called you. He wants to see you. He's got the man who says he's your husband. I've been saving it up for that joker. Hi, LaSalle. Buenos dias to you both. Please come with me. Into here. What's this all about, LaSalle? Why do you want us here at headquarters? I told you on the phone. About it is a man named Freddie Nay. Declaiming to the title of husband to you, Senorita Duval. In here, please. This is the morgue, LaSalle. In here. A suggestion to you, Senorita. Take a handkerchief from wherever and start to twist it. Is this the man who said he was your husband? Yes. Yes, that's him. This man was identified from his prints. He was found shot to death in a room at 27 Pavano. A 25 caliber bullet in his heart. Such a caliber as a woman might use, Senorita. The truth, if you will be so kind as to turn over a leaf. Is this man your husband? No. Adios to the two of you. Corpses and murders I make my living with. And always in my bushy hair is you and you. Get out. You get thin lip because I've suddenly got a husband I never married. Then you take me walking in dirty hallways. A regular baffler, you. Your boy was killed in this house. Any man who says he's a husband of yours deserves a better fate than that, Sailor. Take the long view, kid, the whole thing is very peaking. You've broken down, my boy. You still think that he's... I never think, Sailor. I just ask the management. Go away, please. No vacancies. You're wrong, manager. The room where Freddie Naye was killed, that's vacant. See, the police made to me a suggestion. They say to me, don't rent Senor Naye's room, Pecho. Pecho is me. A sucker for suggestions with no vacancies. You know anything about it, Pecho? Who killed Freddie? Maybe you know who visited him before he died. Martha of this house, Senor. No snooping from the management. The secret of Pecho's success. No vacancies. Goodbye. No vacancies, huh? Only in his head. McCrew's pointing a finger. Come on, let's find out what makes you so married. I want you to know how much I appreciate you doing all this for me, Slate. Running around, banging on doors, asking questions. Just for me. It's a grill glow. Look at me, Slate. Like me when I'm glowing? Why don't you go home? It worries you, doesn't it? About Freddie Naye, about the murder, about my being mixed up in it. It really does worry you, huh, Slate? Look, Sailor, the only reason I'm running around like this is because I've got a clinical interest in what's happened. I'm taking notes on it. Someday I'm going to write a book. I'm going in here for material. Go home. Sure. I'll put myself in the window for you, Slate. I'll still be glowing. Hurry up home. Hi, Maria. What do you want here, Slate Shannon? What's the matter with you? I ask a question of you, Slate Shannon. What do you want? I ask you one, too. What's the matter with you? Where's the big hello? Maria and her palace of jollies are for you. Only the smallest hello that can be heard. You see, I put my one finger over my thumb like so. The space between the hello from me to you. Look, all I want to do is ask you a question, Maria. I'm trying to get some information about a man named Freddie. About a murdered man named Freddie, now, you see? That's right. I will tell you. The whispers in the barrio says that Senor Ney is such a man as to be beloved by your Sailor Duval to be married to her. And this you could not stand, huh? So you kill him. Friends of man who kill for such a reason are not friends of mine. I'll just take it easy for a minute, Maria. I want... And you will get from Maria this. The big goodbye. Goodbye, Slate Shannon. I am sorry, ma'am, but Mr. Duval is not at the hotel at the moment. The moment just arrived, King Moses. I'm here. A lady on the phone wishes to talk to you, Lady Sailor. Yeah, give it to me. Mr. Duval speaking. I'm on the web for the Zapato Insurance Company. I hate to barbe you at such a time. No bother at all. No insurance at all, either. Well, it's been nice. Yes, it is. $50,000 nice, Mr. Duval. Or do you call yourself Mrs. Ney? I wouldn't know. What are you talking about? The policy on your husband, Freddie Ney. I'm handling it. You're the beneficiary, you know. $50,000. I'll have a check along in a day or so. Goodbye. Hey, wait a minute. Hello, hello. King. Yes, Miss Sailor? I never had a husband in my life, but shake hands with a wealthy widow. But the strangest one I tear my hair. Concerns, ladies, say, Lord, amidst so fair, she gets without benefit of usual clergy. $50,000 widow's beneficiary. Sing that last line again, King. $50,000 widow... Well, that's enough. $50,000, King. I can't touch that money. That $50,000's not mine. Into each life a little rain must fall, Sailor. A maxim I learned at the feet of a wise man at the foot of a mountain in lower Tibet. What $50,000? Tell him, King. $50,000 widow's beneficiary. You kiddies want to play games, I'll draw you a hopscotch ring. Or you want to tell me about $50,000. I got a phone call a little while ago. A nice voice said I inherited that much money. What is this, Sailor? How do I know what it is? A nice voice said I was going to get a check because my husband was dead. Because he left an insurance policy for $50,000. Who called you and told you about all this money? She said her name was Wanda Webster, an agent for Zapata Insurance Company. Stay here, Sailor. I'm going to find out why you stand still and somebody drops $50,000 on your head. I looked through your house, Wanda girl. You weren't there. So then I closed my eyes and I thought to myself, where would a woman of such beauty and form hide herself? On the beach, I said to myself, where a thousand eyes can admire her. I sell more insurance this way. Liability, life, fire. Take a dune mark. Enjoy me. You notified the bereaved widow of her solace. $50,000 worth. When she started spluttering on the phone, I hung up on her. Spluttering widow's bore me. Oh, that girl Duval. To kill her own husband and with her own gun, too. Shameless. Good boy like Freddie who never harmed anyone. He finally makes history because I issue a policy on him. Make that Duval girl his wife and beneficiary. Easy. Easy because the powder insurance company gave me a gold watch once for loyalty. She shouldn't have used her own gun. Leaves her so open to blackmail. Her a murderer and with only $50,000 so her name. Oh, but you'll lift her burden, huh, Mark? It was written in the stars, Wanda, for me to do that. Share it with Wanda. Hatties. I had me my rat, Mark, with him. The beach has had me. Well, part of the time I was doing that mess, the other part in between buzzes, that is, I was watching you walk up the beach. You'll forgive me if I ran down your battery, the thing got out of hand. If you're looking for a quick charge, there's a service station up the road. Me, I just sell insurance. That's a dream I keep having, an insurance broker in a swimsuit. You work on small commissions, huh, lady? The staff's $20 a yard. I have these suits custom made. Now if you step inside my office, I could, I could diagram a little annuity plan. Sorry, but I, I got an insurance agent that's been recommended to me. Wanda Webster, big operator, handles stuff like $50,000 death benefit. Well, don't look any more, mister. Wanda's all around you. Come on in. I'll just tag along behind. Go ahead, Miss Webster. Over there, that big leather chair. It's made for boys who get uneasy about $50,000 payments. Sepato's a big company, mister, um, Mr... Slate Shannon. Sepato's a big company, Mr. Shannon. The largest in Mexico City. All my years representing them, I, I find it's not unusual that they make death payments in that amount. Who, a widow who never saw her husband? Didn't even marry him? You and Sepato are really big, Miss Webster. Generous, too. Oh, you're referring, of course, to Mr. Val, or rather, the widow, Nay. Oh, this is a photostat copy of the policy, Mr. Shannon. Bought by Freddie Nay from me. Beneficiary, Mrs. Freddie Nay. Also known as Sailor DuVal. Death benefit $50,000. Look for yourself. Yeah, look, Miss Webster, I don't know what's... What's to know? Mr. Nay is dead. Your Mr. DuVal gets $50,000 for it. The check's on the way for Mexico. That way out, Mr. Shannon. Welcome, sir, to Shannon's place. You sailor DuVal. Did you want something? Yeah, I want something. Like what? Like a chat with sailor DuVal. So chat. I have got here a little thing, Mr. Val. You recognize it? Hey, that's my gun. That's right. A long time ago, I hired a man to lift a gun in Havana, and he did it to you. Well, well... Who are you, Mr....? A man with a message. Here's the message, honey. Sign it. With that gun in my eyes, I can't see it. Squint. The things you learn. Hey, this paper is an IOU to somebody named Mark Stewart for $50,000. And guess what? I'm Mark Stewart. This gun, your gun, killed Freddie Naye. You're gonna come into $50,000 any minute. The word is blackmail, honey. I lose the gun, you lose $50,000. Else, you know what's gonna happen? Yeah, it's kind of sneaking up on me. Sign it. Else, you'll commit suicide out of remorse for killing hubby Freddie. Now take the pen, honey. That's right. Now sign. Thanks. Gee, you're nice. On the beach, Slate. That's where you have to be to tell me what frolics went on between you and that Wonder Webster. Yeah. Maybe the Tropic Breezers will blow a memory back into your head. She showed me the policy sailor, the one Freddie Naye took out making you beneficiary. Look, Buster, why all the bitter? You keep telling me I'm a rich girl now. So talk nice to me, and some of it might rub off on you. Talk nice. That's what you've been doing, sailor, while I was out making a list of charities? Yeah, just that. A poor fellow walks in and says, look, lady, I ain't killed anybody, and I don't know how long, so would you please help out with 50 grand? What are you talking about? That wonder stuff your ears with olives. I'm talking about Mark Stewart, the guy who held a gun on a line with my eyes. This eye, this one here. Then made me sign an IOU for $50,000. Sure, I'm not cheap. You did something else too, sailor? Yeah. After he left, I started my breathing exercises again. Practice good, sailor. You just signed a confession of murder. This is where you had your big moment with that insurance agent, huh? Up the steps, killer. Push the buzzer. Watch me. Just watch me. On some bells, I can play Dixie. Hi, Shannon. When you put, uh, you must be Mrs. Nay, or sailor Duvall, or what shall I call you? You can call me Morton if you want. I try to get along. There's a check waiting for you, Morton. Come on in. It's late. She likes me. Yeah. Go in, will ya? When did the check come, Wanda? Oh, about 15 minutes ago. Special delivery, M.L. In here, my office. I want you to meet somebody. Him. Mark Stewart. He and I have already met, haven't we, Mr. Stewart? Oh, when did this happen, Mark? Sometime back. I stopped in the lobby of the hotel to buy a newspaper. This is the boy you were telling me about, sailor? The very one. Well, any friend of yours is my friend, too. Now, let's all as friendly people get on with it, huh? I hate to be crass at a moment like this, but I think we'll just take our 50 grand and blow. Except there's something you people might not realize. I can't let you have the check. Because you've got this to consider. This gun. Paragon. The one that killed Freddie Naye. This a blackmail bit, Wanda? How much of this check do you people get? Oh, I love it. Endorsed, honey. Should I slate? Endorsed, sailor. Thanks. I'll take that. Joker. Oh, I forgot to tell you something, Wanda. It was just a little while ago that I paid a call on Mr. Val. I got her IOU for 50,000. I guess I've got prior rights on the check. Oh, I don't care about that, honey. All I want is half. I doubt whether you'll get it, Wanda. You've also got a fine legal mind, Shannon. You've... Poor Mark. Poor, greedy Mark. You have to understand why I shot him. It makes the world a better place to live in. Now, um, give me that check, Mr. Val. How do you want it? All at once or a little at a time? Oh, well, give it to me. Don't tear it. Give that check. Hold on to me, Wanda. It's nicer. Let go of me. Let go of me. Get that gun, sailor. Drop it, honey. It's my gun, and I want it back. $2,000. All that money, I... Slate. Slate, I've got the gun. You can let her go. Slate, I've got the gun. You can let her go. Slate! Don't flip, baby. I'm just giving her a memory to take to the pokey. Go call a cop, sailor. Our stars, Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, will return in just a moment. Sailor? What are you doing? What does it look like I'm doing? I'm swimming in the ocean. Swimming? And two feet of water? No, so it's two feet of water. What do you want me to do? Get out over my head and get the bends? Still they have me. Well, um, how do you like it, Slate? I went to Wanda's tailor and had it custom made. Nice bathing suit, huh? Oh, that tailor did a nice job, all right. Nice material. Fine workmanship. Just fine. Oh, you like the suit? You like me in it? And at the air out of my water wing, sailor, I'm floating on my own tonight. And so our two stars, Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, have brought to a close our latest bold venture story. Special music was composed and conducted by David Rose. May we invite you to listen again next week at this time for another exciting adventure starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall together in Bold Venture.