 The signal oil program the whistler Yesterday the whistler visited the jack Benny program where mr. Benny sounded something like this. I am the fiddler As always mr. Benny theme by the real whistler Will sound like this at whistle is your signal for the signal oil program The whistler hey, I'm the whistler and I know many things for I walked 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 signal oil program the whistler Rated by independent research the most popular West Coast program in gasoline you know it takes extra quality to go farther and Signal is the famous go farther gasoline So look for the signal circle sign in yellow and black that identifies signal service stations from Canada to Mexico And now the whistler strange story Masquerade There was a strange tense silence in the room broken only Occasionally by the sound of the whirring roulette tables downstairs and the muffled cries of the croupiers Sam Baxter was serious this time deadly serious Irene could tell it by the nervous habit he had of blinking his eyes cold gray heartless eyes Stabbing at her now as she sat in the chair across the room It was like Sam she told herself to tackle it this way To sit there quietly for minutes on end and let the silence work for him She was almost ready to scream when he finally spoke Been Britain hitting it pretty lucky Irene. How much you win tonight? Go ask your cashier I hate to see that Hamilton awful vice. No one encouraged you. I made a pretty good living at it I got no complaints from now on you can make your living somewhere else What does that mean means you're barred from the casino It's from now on Is that why you called me up here? Yeah, I got a little advice for you, baby You better hit the road the town's no good for you no more if I want advice I'll go to a lawyer and you can save yourself the time. I'm giving it to you now for nothing I'm gonna treat you right Irene There's a set of railroad tickets with a little expense dough vacations on me That's a funny way to look at it Sam. I'm making money for you bringing in the suckers doing my job It's got nothing to do with it. What is it then? Think a lot of my kid brother Irene What's Joe got to do with this plenty he's a sucker for dames Listen, you shut up. I'm telling you he's a sucker for dames Had to get him out of one spot before and I'm not gonna let it happen again You or anybody else he's old enough to know his own mind Where do you get off telling me how to run my personal life like I said, baby the town's no good for you No more you're taking the train tomorrow. What does Joe think of this? He likes it Okay, now that I explained it to him. Now listen Sam get this through your thick head. I Love the guy. I'm on the square. Yeah. Well forget it. He doesn't love you You've got a lot of cross Sam back sir. I'm gonna see what Joe has to say about this wait a minute I'll be surprised if Joe acts like he's cooled off a little he's done a little thinking this afternoon And remind him of a couple of things like what another dame like you Rumbling his hair with one hand and count these dough at the other are you low down cheap double Baby, I don't take that from nobody Go on go on over and see him. He'll tell you where to get off. You might be surprised and Irene yeah You forgot something You train tickets you can keep them better take them baby Vacation might even be good for your health Yes, Irene Sam hates you As you leave the casino and walk toward Joe's apartment the cool night air clears your head and you realize how afraid you really are How easy it would be for a man with Sam's power to snuff you out like a candle? Joe is alone in his apartment when you arrive and the minute you see his face you know Sam has put the The fear into him too Joe So darling, what's the answer? I? Don't know Irene. I'm not gonna leave you Joe not now Nobody's big enough to separate us not ever Irene darling. I love you Joe. I Love you so much. It makes me sick inside Hold me darling. Oh Nobody's ever gonna keep us apart Irene Irene you don't know Sam. He's too big for us He gets what he wants there are guys working for him clear across the country can't be everywhere We'll leave the country anything so long as we're together. I Don't know There's no other way Joe If you stay here, you'll make a mug out of you turn you into a criminal You'll spend the rest of your life dodging the police and are on the stir on the lamb all the time That's no way to live. Oh We've got to try Joe. We've got to try Joe Whose gun is this on the table? It's mine Irene. You see he's got you carrying a gun already. Oh Joe if you love me you've got to do it now Here Yeah, Joe sit down. What are you please? All right Here's a pen paper Go ahead Joe. I want you to write a note for me, but I read you please Thank you Dear Sam dear Sam I've thought it over Now decided I can't go on like this So I'm taking the only way out Irene and I are in love. I can't do it Irene. Why don't you not now? This isn't the time for it, baby Look, you go ahead like Sam says see I got some things to clear up here I can meet you later somewhere in a couple of months. Oh wait a minute Joe just a minute You love me, don't you? Oh, it's not that but like I said, there are a couple of things lying to me Joe Listen, I mean what Sam was talking about. No, you got it all wrong You're different now sure I don't count anymore forget Irene. There are plenty of other women around Just listen to brother Sam. He's a big boy. He's the only one who counts Everything's great till Sam gives the word then you sell me out for a dime It's always been like that. Hasn't it Joe? Hasn't it? And I've been too blind to see it. Oh now wait a minute, baby. You got it Sam So it is another day money anything. I don't know You never loved me. You just lied to me. Oh stop it. I mean All right Joe all right have it your way Irene put on that gun. I'll get out of here. I'll do with the both ones Doesn't matter anymore. No wait a minute Irene With the prologue of masquerade the signal oil company brings you another strange tale by the whistler Have you had a ride in one of the new? 1946 cars yet? Well, I did this evening when a friend gave me a lift down to the studio and man with he proud I Was especially interested to hear him brag about the engineering Improvements that not only gave faster pickup and smoother speed, but also better gasoline mileage Because you know friends. That's the same thing science did for today's signal gasoline when they upped its power The first thing you notice of course is signals quicker starting its faster pickup and it's quieter higher anti-knock But if you check your speedometer, you'll find today's signal gasoline also gives you a bonus of extra mileage For after all it stands to reason a gasoline that helps your motor perform more efficiently also helps you get more miles per gallon That's why signal says look to your speedometer for the best proof of gasoline quality It takes extra quality to go farther Good reason why so many drivers are switching to signal the famous go farther gasoline And now Back to the whistler. So it's over now Irene and it's decided once and for all Joe will stay and you will go That's all you can think of it first after the awful finality of the thing that you did begins to sink in It happened so quickly Irene First is fumbling excuses than the doubt a few seconds later the blinding flash of hysteria the gun in your hand the shot And Joe lying at your feet still in silent Then you start out of the apartment and your eye falls on the note on the desk I thought it over carefully and I decided I can't go on like this. I'm taking the only way out Irene and I are in love Sounds like a suicide note Like a suicide note quickly you pick up the gun wipe the fingerprints off of it with your handkerchief Press it into Joe's limp hand and let it fall to the floor again The handkerchief again now on the doorknob the fountain pen everything you touched Then quickly out of the apartment into the service elevator through the alleyway and into the street You remember now with immense relief that the night clerk was asleep when you came in But no one saw you leave The half hour later you walk into your apartment house the clerk looks up as you enter Mr. Cardi you have a visitor waiting upstairs what? You didn't let him into my room. Oh, it's a man. It's isn't a man miss It's a young lady an old friend of yours. She didn't leave her name. I Thought you were in Las Vegas. Nobody stays in Las Vegas forever just passing through. I don't know my stay a while You seem to be doing all right darling nice place. You got here Nothing like a job with Sam Baxter is there why you say that? Take it easy, baby. I'm not gonna bite you Something wrong. What are you doing here? Mitzi just looking up an old friend? You know if this is Las Vegas, and I was you you know what I do missy. I'm sorry honey I'm just not enough for me a drink. How about it? All right Well, it'd be ginger ale or soda ginger ale thanks. I dropped in on Sam Baxter's afternoon. Oh Oh He tells me you're taking yourself a vacation We talked about it. Good idea. You need one Think so. I know a case of shakes when I see one and baby you got them Sam got anything to do with it No, Sam has nothing to do with it Here's your drink. Thanks. Yes. Do you darling? Oh? Oh, I forgot to tell you I'm staying here tonight. Oh now listen missy not another word darling No trouble at all. I'll sleep on the couch. You'll never know. I'm here. You can get a room at the hotel all fixed up I checked them an hour ago. Just be for tonight. So don't worry your little head. It's a darling I want to be alone tonight. I I I don't feel well I've got the shakes good liquor down the front of your desk. Oh, oh Wipe right off of the handkerchief got my handkerchief right here My handkerchief Where is it? I Love my handkerchief here. Here use mine. What's the matter with you, Irene? You look like a ghost Nothing nothing Nice handkerchief with my initials on it. I'll buy you one tomorrow Better. Let me put you to bed, baby. You got yourself a case of nerve Well Irene what about your handkerchief As you lie in bed you try and tell yourself you must have dropped it on the street That the chances are against anyone finding it where it would do you harm But every time you close your eyes you see it lying on the floor of Joe's apartment Where Sam is sure to find it It seems like hours later when the phone bells cut through the darkness like a night Yes, Irene Yes, like this two o'clock in the morning and everything. What do you want? I'm up at Joe's apartment. I got pretty worried when he didn't answer his phone Why are you calling me? You know, I am calling you, baby. Oh listen damn. I'm sleepy. I don't want to play games Get him sooner or later Why'd you have to do it to him, baby? The beef was with me. Do what to kill him kill him I'm saying Sam. You're kidding. You know, I could almost believe you if I didn't know you better. Tell me what's this all about? What do you mean? I mean someone shot Joe tonight with his own gun Joe baby. Oh baby. You're great. You're terrific. You ought to be in the stage. Yeah, he's dead There's a suicide note in his desk his own hand writing Everything's ready for that cops It wasn't my kid brother. I'd call it a wonderful job. This is Sam. I had nothing to do You're gonna see him tonight. Well, I called it off. I told him later. I'll give it to you straight Irene I think you've got ways of finding out If I'm right, you won't have to worry about the police You listen think Joe committed suicide so I can take care of you myself Might happen in a taxi Maybe in a crowd on a street corner, maybe even in in bed some night when you're asleep But you won't have to worry because you'll never know what hit you Yeah All you can think of is the lost handkerchief and what will happen if Sam finds it you're wondering now Imagining things fighting the desire to run and then you discover you're cold and walk to the closet for your role As you throw it around your shoulders your eye falls on something white Sticking out of the lining of the fur coat you wore tonight. Just below the right pocket Here in my coat all the time You take one look at the bloodstain on the corner and decide to burn it right now Quickly through the side door into the kitchen. You touch a match to some papers in the incinerator and throw the handkerchief into the blaze I'm gradually feel better as you watch it go up and smoke and then a Door closes in the other room and you remember She's still asleep on the couch Or is she You wonder how she could have slept through that ringing phone If she was watching you as you burned the handkerchief 19 is nine getting laid darling gonna have breakfast. Oh, go ahead. Let me leave me alone Lift yourself some breakfast in the kitchen and run along like a nice kid. Will you what about you? I don't want any breakfast. I don't want any going out You sit in the coffee shop now Trying to choke down a piece of toast with a morning paper in front of you Carrying a small article at the bottom of page one on the suicide of Joseph Faxter. That's all four or five lines Just another suicide Nothing more but over and over again inside your mind. You hear something else playing like a phonograph record Maybe and you know how short your time really is that perhaps right now. He's making up his mind How it's going to happen You know now you're going to have to run for it Irene No matter how useless it might seem to try to run from Sam Baxter It's your only chance now Why yes miss of course we can dye that blonde hair any color you want it it just seems a shame black. I wanted black And we'll change the arch of your eyebrows like this that ought to do it go ahead and on hurry Oh Why yes, we can we can fit you to a pair of horn rim glasses your eyes are in pretty good shape though, and I'd hardly I'm buying them Go on make them up There's five heels. Oh hi miss. They run all the way up to four inches. That would add a couple of inches to your height Not so good if you got a short boy. I'll take a pair five five and a half. I never mind the boyfriend You're just a time lady right up here I hope you don't mind my sitting next to you miss it's nice to have someone to talk to Of course, I have my nitin, but even at that. It's a long trip. How far you going Montreal Montreal My that must be a lovely city Regular piece of France they say just cross the border This your first trip. Yes, it's my first trip. Well, isn't that nice? Well, we stop up here at Hanford for a minute and then we'll begin to get some real nice scenery Then there's a tunnel just beyond there, and then we get into the mountains. Please if you don't mind Hey, is that a friend of yours up here? Oh, I don't have any Well, isn't that funny she turned and looked at you just as if she'd just say well that girl crossed the car a few seats ahead The one with the yellow hat Mitzy Yes, Irene Mitzy is sitting up there on the other side of the car just a few seats ahead. It's clear now Yes, she saw you burn that handkerchief, of course You realize how stupid you've been how it never entered your head that Sam would use Mitzy to put the finger on you Las Vegas Reno to your one-eyed Comes back to you now Mitzy and Sam together most of the time Perhaps even in love with each other and that's why she came to your apartment last night Sam sent her there, and that's why she's here now What happened in a taxi on a crowded street? Hanford it only stops for a minute. Excuse me. Oh, no time to get off You still have a chance Irene Mitzy's not sure of you yet. Thanks to the disguise You move down the aisle to the car exit with the commuters start down the steps and in one glance you realize how hopeless it all is There on the station platform Carefully watching each passenger get off is a big hulking man With a telltale bulge of a shoulder holster under his left arm You turn back into the car just in time sick with fear knowing now that Sam was right. There's no running away Oh, you come back. I thought you just went back there for a little. Oh, it does get mighty stuffy in these cars Sometimes you can smell that smoker clean way back to the observant What's the matter see what you're looking at now? What do you suppose that tough-looking fellas doing up there? I don't know maybe one of them survey fellas asking questions looks like that's what he's doing with those folks up How do we get to that tunnel? You told me about where is it? Oh, that's a about a half mile beyond Hanford. We ought to hit it any minute now Well, I wonder what that fellas up to. I suspect he'll ask me what brand of prunes I'm using In your praying now that the train will plunge into the blackness of the tunnel before the man The same man you saw on the platform reaches your seat He's moving closer now almost to Mitzy stopping at each seat to look carefully at its occupant Then moving backward in the car a closer and then The train hits the tunnel and in that precious moment of darkness you struggle out of your seat and back into the next car The train leaves the tunnel and it's light again. You hurry down the aisle toward the end of the train and the observation car The sound of steps behind you make your turn. It's Mitzy Irene. She's following you You're almost running now It doesn't matter what the passengers think anymore as you run through the observation car toward the rear platform You see her come in the other end and you know it's up to you now. It's your life or hers You slam the door stand behind it open your purse and take out the little 32 automatic. You hoped you wouldn't need All right, Mitzy He slumps to the floor and you turn toward the railing the trains moving too fast, but you're going to have to jump anyway No, you don't know you don't jump another train today It's a bright now, baby. You're all washed up The whistler will return in just a moment with a strange ending of tonight's story Meantime a word about the extra something you get when you have your car lubricated at a dealer owned signal gasoline station You see signal dealers being in business for themselves do go out of their way to give you the kind of job They're proud to stand back up It's why for instance they take no chances on memory when they lubricate your car Instead they check against signals factory recommended lubrication chart which shows every lubrication point on your car and they use nine specialized signal oils and greases so each part will have the exact type of protection it needs for long trouble-free service But do they stop there? No, sir just to make doubly sure not a single part has been overlooked they check each point again Which is why it's called signal double-check lubrication Now that's the kind of lube service you want when today's aging cars have to last until there are enough new ones to go around And that's the kind of lubrication you get from your friendly dealer owned signal service station And now back to the whistler Well Irene there's no use fighting anymore now. It's all over and Sam Baxter is one Suddenly you're weak and dizzy the sky turns a sickish green and the floor gives way underneath your feet When you open your eyes you find you're up forward in one of the coaches the train has stopped near a crossing and Some men in white uniforms are carrying mitzi into an ambulance. You try to lift your hand to your head and discover you can't It's a handcuff, baby New York police homicide detail the name stone No, I couldn't miss it everyone in the car saw through that window under the back platform. Oh, I I mean about Joe Joe who? Why did you come under this train? What did you follow me? We weren't following you lady. We were following that dame you knocked off mitzi roger And I'm afraid it's gonna go pretty tough on you still murder, you know What are you talking about mitzi was wanted for the murder of her ex-boyfriend at his office this afternoon Who was it? Oh a guy that was giving her the run around gambler, but the name of Sam Baxter Let that whistle be your signal for the signal oil program the whistler each Monday at 9 Brought to you by the signal oil company who have asked me to remind you to get the most driving pleasure Drive at sensible speeds be courteous and obey traffic regulation. It may save a life possibly your own The whistle was produced by George W. Allen based on a story by David Khan music by Wilbur hatch and was transmitted to our troops overseas by the armed forces radio service Marvin Miller speaking for the signal oil company This is CBS the Columbia broadcasting system