 Now, Roma Wines, R-O-M-A, made in California for enjoyment throughout the world. Roma Wines, present. Suspense. Tonight, Roma Wines bring you an all-star cast of Hollywood radio players headed by Wally Mayer in Dead earnest. A suspense play produced, edited and directed for Roma Wines by Williams Spear. Suspense. Radio's outstanding theatre 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 full would be very pleasant, as Roma Wines bring you a remarkable tale of... Suspense. Accident reports submitted to Police Inspector Blandon from Lieutenant Steve Healy. Place 15th Street and 4th Avenue, time 245 p.m. March 11th. Remarks. Ernest Bowers, age 34, was crossing the intersection as a signal light changed from green to red. A car driven by Theodore Tobi made legal right turn from 15th Street into 4th Avenue. Hey, hey, look out! Look out for the car! I don't like stand back. Let me have a look here. He's a herd battle officer. I didn't see him. Honest, I didn't. I had the right of way. He's passed out. Hey, one of you people called for an ambulance. I'll go! Yeah, yeah, you, go on. Okay, move back, move back. He's bladed. Here, I'll prop up his head. Yeah, yeah, use his jacket. Here, I'll hold him. Hey, gully, he's limp. He was just like he's dead. Yes, Ernest Bowers felt like he was dead. Ernest Bowers suffered from catalepsy, a strange disease. He carried at all times a note in his inside jacket pocket stating that he was a cataleptic and that in the event of seeming death his wife should be immediately notified or his doctor in the event his wife is unavailable. The letter also requested that no autopsy or embalming should be performed on his body for 72 hours. Although in his particular case the duration of the attacks were usually four hours or less. Ernest Bowers also wore a sterling silver bracelet with an inscription reading Do not embalm me. I am not dead. Catalepsy is a disease of the nerves and mind. The physical condition of the cataleptic when he's under a spell closely resemble death in all aspects including the primary stages of rigor mortis. Officer Abbott was on the scene of the accident. He administered first aid to the injured man before making out his report. Well, that ought to stop the bleeding. Looks like just a cut in his forehead when he hit the ground. Nothing much. He can't be a hurt bad officer. I didn't hit him hard. That's right. It looked like just a little bump. All right. All right. Clear back. Clear back. Let's have a little air in here. I'll have to take down some information. All right. What's your name? Theodore Toby. Here's my license. Hey, hey, you kids. Hey, what those kids do? They picked up something off the street I saw. There's the ambulance. Here it comes. I hope he's all right. It doesn't look like he's breathing. My gosh, he ain't. I told you to get back. Come on now. He's back. He's back. All of you. I'm glad you got here, doctor. He's out cold. Oh, officer. Now let's have a look here. I'll see his... All right. Let's get him away. He's dead. Well, anyway, it didn't happen in the ambulance. Okay. We'll take him away. All right. Keep them back, officer, will you? All right. Keep back. Keep back. Clear out. All right. The show's over. All right. That's the second one today. Yep. Well, let's go. Hey, whose coat was that he was laying on? I don't know. Did you pick it up? No. Hey, hey, officer. Yeah? Now, where's the coat? Huh? Oh, my gosh. It's gone. Okay. Never mind. Let's go, pain. Ernest Bowers had lost the identification of his condition. The letter was in the inside pocket of his jacket. The silver chain he wore on his left wrist had snapped and fallen to the pavement. Two youngsters picked up the chain. Robert Minnelli aged nine and a half and Tommy Stoner aged eight. Maybe we should give it back. He's the guy's name. Was he hurt bad? Nah, just a little bump. What's it say? Just a second. We'll be out of the alley. Yeah. Pop's gone home to eat. Well, let me see it. Wait a second, will you? It says something, me. That's stealing, Bob. It ain't stealing. We found it, didn't we? But when we try to sell it, they'll ask us where we got it. What do we tell them? Nothing. Use your head. You know what we'll do. We'll use Pop's welding torch. We'll melt it down. He told us not to use it. Pop ain't here, is he? No. Well, come on. There it is. Yeah. Be careful. You don't know too much about this, you know. What are you kids doing? Nothing, Mr. Minnelli. We ain't doing nothing. Nothing, huh? I thought I told you kids not to go near that torch. We want to melt this down. Give me that. Now, what's this all about? We found this chain, Pop. Who's is it? We don't know, do we, Tommy? No, no, we don't. Well, you get it. We found it. Come on, come on. Let me have it. There's nothing wrong, Pop. We just found it, see? It's ours. Let me see. Say something. Do not embalm me. I'm not dead. What's that? It's scrolly. Where you found it? In the street. Honest, Pop. Ask Tommy. All right. Go on. Get out of here. Well, we can sell it and buy some baseball. All right, well, keep back. Look at Tommy, see it? Yeah, starting to melt. See how he does it? Keep away, I told you. It's all melted. They sold the melted chain to a dealer for a dollar thirty. One dollar and thirty cents. But the coat. The coat was the principal thing. In the coat in the inside pocket was the letter. The information about Bowers' condition was in the letter. The instructions that could save his life. The coat was picked up from the street by Honest Jerry Murdock. Now there's a big sign near the corner of 15th Street. It says Honest Jerry Murdock, swap shop. He brought the coat into a store, rummaged around on his shelves until he found some cleaner, then started to clean the blood stains. I'm looking for a sports jacket. Uh, just a minute. Now, what kind? Conservative. Would you come over here, please? Yeah. Yeah, something on that order. Pick out what you want. How much do you want to spend? About five bucks. These cost more. How much? Eight to twelve. Over here, we've got some cheaper. These don't look so hot for eight bucks. Eight to twelve. Over here. I'll take a look. Nah, these don't appeal to me. What size do you wear? Forty. Well, here, we'll try this one on. Nice and conservative. It's kind of tight around the shoulders. Yeah, it looks cheesy. Well, I guess you ain't got a lot. Wait a minute, wait a minute. What's your hurry? I'm just putting a new one in stock. Over here with a counter. Huh? Yeah, it looks all right. What size is it? I don't know. Here, try it on. Okay. Yeah, this feels all right. Sure. Kind of stiff at the front here, though. Well, it's almost new, ain't it? You'll break it in. Feels like cardboard or something. You want it? Five dollars. Okay. There still might be a couple of stains on it. I ain't had time to take out. Use some cleaner on it or bring it to the tailors. It'll be better than new. Yeah. Here's the five. Ernest Bowers was brought to the receiving room of the better general hospital. The time, 4.10. If Bowers was going to awaken, it would probably be before 6.45. In turn on duty, Dr. Weldon made out his report. He wrote it down while standing near the telephone switchboard. Uh, listen, honey, get this guy's wife on the phone if he's got a wife. Here, just a minute. Here's his wallet. Another dead one? Yeah. That is a macro. I'm going to stay that way, too. His home phone is here. I'll give it a whirl. This is better general hospital. Is there anybody but the name of Bowers at home? Bowers. Just a minute. She's going to see. How did it happen? An accident. Automobile hit him. Funny. What's funny? Superficial con forehead. Apparently, heart failure. I'm going to request an autopsy. I'd like to find out whether the heart disease was chronic. Hello. Here she is again. Nope, nobody home. Is Mr. Bowers married? His wife says he is. Where can I reach her? There's been an accident. I don't know. She's out. Well, you tell her to call the Vetter General Hospital. Yeah. What happened? Mr. Bowers is dead. Can't reach her, eh? No. Gee, I'd sure like to do that autopsy. Maybe later, after he's gone to the morgue. Get me the orderly room. OK. Use that one over there, here. OK. Hello? Uh, hello, Payne? Yeah. This is Dr. Weldon. There's a delivery for you to go to the morgue. Uh-oh. Yep. Boy, I ain't had nothing to eat since lunch. Yeah, yeah, yeah, since lunch. Go on now. It's down in the receiving room. Receiving room B. The papers are down there, too. Uh, why can't it wait a few minutes? It's got to go now. They'll want to start the embalming so they can go home. How about sending one of the other boys? I don't care just as long as it gets there. It was then 4.22 in the afternoon. Dr. Theodore J. Weldon left, uh, honey at the switchboard and walked upstairs to the intern quarters and settled down to reading the sports page of the afternoon paper. At that moment, if anyone had been in receiving room B a better general hospital where the body of Ernest Bowers lay on the patient carrier, they would have seen a fly crawl slowly across the face of the dead man. And they would have seen his nose switch. Among them were taking new naps, soaking wrists in ice water, and taking salt tablets. But none sounded half so pleasant as my favorite cooler offer, roma wine and soda iced. Yes, roma wine and soda is one of Hollywood's favorite ways to keep cool. And no wonder, for roma wine and soda is so light, so right, so easy to serve. 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When Henry Prince left the second-hand closed store, he stopped to have a chat with some friends, made some purchases at the grocery store and started home. The time? A few minutes after five. He lived about two blocks from the scene of the accident. His wife was waiting for him. Why do you like it for five bucks? It looks all right. What's that? A spot? Where? Take it off a second. Well, sure, yeah. I wonder what it is. Oh, he said there were a couple of spots. Cleaner will take them out. Yeah. Looks like a map. What's this in the pocket? I don't know. Oh, honestly. To whom it may concern, please open and read. Oh, that's what must have felt stiff. Yeah. This note is carried on my person wherever I go. It is to advise responsible parties that I am a cataleptic. That if it appears as though I am dead, I am not. And that my body is not to be molested for a period of 72 hours, neither by autopsy nor by embalming. Although the maximum periods of my attacks do not exceed four hours, please telephone my wife, Mrs. Margaret Bowers at Fulton 11231. This is a boarding house. Address, 841 and 1.5 West 25th Street. What? If she is not there, please try Ex-Minister 43422. This is the number of Dr. Benton. It is of vital importance. It may mean my life. Thank you, Ernest Bowers. That's a funny one. Where'd you get the coat, Henry? An honest, Jerry Murdox. I wonder what we can do. Nothing's probably forgotten already. Somebody sold the coat to him, forgot to take the letter out. Yeah, it doesn't sound like something a guy'd forget. Oh, the devil would. Well, it might be important. Look at that, Henry. Those spots look like blood. Nah, too dark. That's the color blood turns. I'm going to telephone that number. Go ahead. I think you're wasting your time. Well, I'd like to talk to Mrs. Bowers. Chin in. Well, how do you know you didn't even go? She went out. And you ain't the first after her. Who else wanted to get in touch with her? Oh, somebody I don't know. Well, thank you. Hey, say you're wasting your time. I'm going to try that Dr. Benton to... Oh, it's busy. How about some dinner? It's cooking, it's cooking. I just can't get it out of my head. That guy, whoever he is lying there and people thinking of him dead when he ain't. Maybe doing things to him. What's him bombin'? Well, he'd do that at the morgue. It's preparing his body for burial. I think they'd take all the blood out of his veins. Well, that'd kill him if he wasn't already dead. Well, it couldn't kill him no deader. Henry, I'm going to find out about that coat. Where's this place you bought it? No, wait a minute, Francis. I put it in a good day's work, I'm tired. I don't want to run around the city looking for someone I don't even know about. Well, I'll go myself. And how about me at home here while you go out? I want to eat, I'm hungry. Well, dinner won't be ready for another 15 minutes anyway. Where is the place? Oh, all right, I'll go with you. Heck yeah. Well, what's the sign say? Ten minutes? Yeah, but those guys put up signs like that after going away for an hour. Well, we'll just wait a few more minutes, Henry. Oh, come on, Francis. I said... Hello? I... Hello, is Mrs. Bowers in? No. Uh, Mr. Bowers? No, he's dead. Oh, he is? Yeah, that's what they tell me. Well, look, would you mind... You're bothering me, lady. I got a meal set up on the table. I can't be answering a million questions. Yeah, yeah, but look, all I want to know is when Mr. Bowers died. How do I know? Ask Mrs. Bowers. She'll be home soon. Yeah, Mr. Bowers is dead. Found that out. Well, you see, I told you. Well, what about the letter then? What if he ain't dead? What if they only think he's dead? Well, what do you want to do? Wait here all night? No, I'm going to go down to that place where you bought the coat. You going traipse around the whole city? Well, if I have to... Well, without me then. Well, do as you please. I'll be home. I'm hungry. If you think more of a crazy letter and you do a feedin' your own husband, then that's all. What do you mean that's all? Just what I said, that's all. The trouble with you is you just don't have no imagination. No, I just don't have no imagination. I'm just a home-lovin' guy. That's all. I don't go stickin' my nose or it don't belong. Well, go on home then. I'll find out about it. Oh, busy, busy, busy. How can a doctor's line be always busy? Pardon me. Sure, sure. What do you have? I just want to find out about the man next door. Do you know when he'll come back? Oh, honest, Jerry? No. Any there? No, there's a sign in his door. It says he'll be back in ten minutes. I've been waitin' for him more than a half hour. Oh, maybe he went home. Oh, yeah. Do you know where he lives? Search me, lady. He will come back. He's usually there when we close up here. That's about seven o'clock. Yeah, okay, thank you. Officer. Yes, ma'am. Officer, do you know where the fellow who owns that swap shop lives? No, ma'am, I don't. Oh, I just wanted to get in touch with him. There's a sign on his door. Oh, why don't you ask him, ma'am? There he is now, just going in. Oh, thanks. Thank you. James, Mr. Murdock, I'm glad you came back. Oh, I was just havin' a bite to eat. Yeah. Come on in. Thank you. What can I do for you? You sold my husband a jacket, a sports jacket this afternoon. Did I? What kind? A light blue one. It had a few stains on it. Oh, sorry. You can't take anything back once it's sold. No, no, no, that isn't it. But, back, where'd you get it, Mr. Murdock? I don't even know which one you're talkin' about. You know, I sell a lot of clothes. It must have been it just a few hours ago. Blue, blue with thin red boxes. Oh, what about it? Where'd you get it? What do you want to know for? Well, because there was a letter in it, an important letter. I don't know. How can I remember where I got it? Long ago. Was it very long ago? I don't see where it's any of your business. Where I got it? Mr. Bur... It may be important. I've been trying to reach the numbers. The doctor's number's always busy His wife isn't home yet. I don't know what you're talkin' about. Please, now I'm busy. I got lots to do here. But you must tell me just... Look, look, just tell me one thing. Did you have the jacket in here a long time? Well... Please, it's very important. Well, it's... No, no, I just got in this afternoon. Oh, you did? Where did you get it? You said one question. You asked it, I answered it. That's all. There was blood on it. That I can't help. Now, if you'll excuse me, I... No, no, you gotta tell me. I don't have to tell nobody nothin'. Mr. Murdock, look, I may be all wrong. I'm probably just crazy doin' this, but if that man's alive and they do anything to him, I'll just never get over it. I'll never be able to live with myself. What are you talkin' about? Listen, listen, there was a letter in the inside pocket of that jacket. You see, it said that Ernest Bowers was a cataleptic. What's that? You mean he goes in a fit? No, no, no. A cataleptic is somebody who looks like he's dead at times, you see, and he isn't. He goes into a spell and it looks as though he's dead. Sometimes they take dead bodies to the morgue. They bomb them. That means they take all the blood out of their veins. Now, this fellow Bowers is a cataleptic. I don't know whether he's dead or alive or even if he's worryin' about this letter, but I gotta find out. Well, there was a... What, what? An accident before the... Where? Who was in it? I don't know. Believe me, lady. I didn't know anything all about this, all this. Wait a minute. You think this guy who was takin' away in an ambulance was a cataleptic? That coat. That coat. Was it his? Yeah, lady. He was left there in the street. They drove away and left it. Who? The ambulance. What ambulance? Oh, now, I don't know. It was on the corner. The cop was there. He told somebody to call an ambulance. It come and took away the man. Is that the cop out there now? Yeah. Oh, but look, you gotta protect me. I ain't done anything wrong. I done anything like that. If this had happened, I would've never taken it. Officer. Listen, officer! Officer! Ernest Bowers lay on a slab at the morgue. If he were alive, probabilities were that he would regain consciousness 645. The two and bombers on duty at the time had decided to get a bite to eat when the phone rang. Yeah, but we're going out to eat. Yeah, I know another one just came in. We got it here. Well, what's a rush? No, no, no. We just want to grab a cup of coffee and then we'll get right on it. Well, is it our fault if it comes in just when we want to have a... Huh? Or we can go home after? Oh, well, that puts a different complexion on. Okay. Yeah. Hey, what time is it, Tony? Six thirty. Doc says if we bomb this one now, we can go home. Well, let's start in then. I'm hungry. Okay. Let's start the motor. That's a young guy, ain't he? Yeah. And I was speaking to the wife about that yesterday. Oh, get the injector out, Tony. She was saying more and more people die older and older. Yeah. Yeah, it looks like we can open through the neck. Yeah. Give me a piece of that gauze. I said that we should be around this place a while. We get them all ages. You want me to do it? Oh, that's all right. You get the injector ready. Look at him. You never think that such a little thing like his heart stops beating could make him dead and not alive. Hold the study now, will you? Yeah. Ready? Just a second. Yeah. All right. Here we go. Oh, what's the matter? My glasses. They're clouding up. Well, take them off. I'll just clean them. What did the wife say to that? What? Oh, about all ages? Yeah, yeah. Oh, she didn't have anything to say. Only that most of the guys we deal with probably come to a violent end. Well, there's something in that. OK. I got my glasses cleaned. Let's... Hmm. What's the matter? They're steamed up again. Now, every time I bend over in there... I wonder... What? Ah, it must be my imagination. What? I could have sworn this guy was breathing on my glasses. Oh, is he? No. How could he? Well, come on in. Let's go. It's quarter to seven already. Yeah. Hold it, hold it. I get the phone. Now, let's get started first. I will just... Al, what? Hi. What's the matter with you? Yeah. I thought I saw the guy's hand twitch. Oh, don't be silly. Oh, boy. He gave me a scare. Hey, let's wait a second. I'll get the phone. No, no. It'll probably be another job and we'll never get out of here. And I'll let it ring. It might be my wife. Well, if people are going to hang up faster and you can pick up the phone. Well, all right. Come on. Now, let's get this thing over with. All right. OK. Give me the knife again. I'll make a nice, neat little ins... Hey, Tony. Yeah? Now, look. I'm bent over like this. See? I ain't going to move. My glasses are full of steam again. Oh, Lord. Is... Is he alive? Hey. Oh, look at me. I'm shaking all over. Look at him now. Look at his lips. Listen. I... I... Hey, shut that thing off. The life of Ernest Bowers was worth $1.30 for a silver bracelet and $5 for a bloodstained jacket to honest Jerry Murdock. Their petty thefts brought a man to the brink of death. As for the busy telephone in Dr. Benton's office, it wasn't busy at all. The good doctor had unwittingly replaced the receiver on the stand incorrectly. There's just one more episode which perhaps doesn't belong in an accident report, but which I would like to include. After regaining full consciousness, Ernest Bowers put in a telephone call from the Moore. Hello, Mrs. Brawley. Is Mrs. Bowers in? I don't know. I didn't see her coming. This is Mr. Bowers. A hospital called in Sydney. I know Mrs. Brawley, but they made a mistake. Oh, well. Here she is for you. Well, darling, it's quite a long story. 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