 Autolight and its 96,000 dealers present suspense. Tonight, Autolight brings you after the movies. A suspense play starring Mr. Ray Mulan. I'd been called a jury duty a couple of weeks before all this happened. It was one of those kind of sensational trials. And the judge told us jurors not to go out in any public places where we might be approached or influenced. So I've been sticking pretty close to the hotel. There was a real treat when they said we were free for a couple of days because the witness was sick. Of course, the movies is a public place, but Anne didn't think they would really count and neither did I. We went to the early show across the street from the hotel and got out about half past nine. I thought she was darling. I didn't care so much for him, though. I didn't think she was too hot, either. Say what's the difference, really? The first movie I've seen since the trial started. How much some ice cream? We've got those little cakes at home. Ice cream might go nice with them. I don't know if I can go home. I mean, this jury thing, you know. Oh, you're free for a couple of days. Isn't that what they told you? Not going to do any harm for you to sleep home tonight. I suppose not. What kind do you want? What? Ice cream. Chocolate. Come on. Well, well, hello there. How are you this evening, folks? Yeah, fine, just fine. What can I do for you? About a quart of ice cream, chocolate. Right. I'm not supposed to talk about it. Oh, yeah, I should know better than to ask. I bet you we have five, seven jurors a day come in here from a hotel across the street. Hey, you think you've been on this trial a long time? Some people stay on for months. Well, I'll tell you what I think about this Harman fella. I'm not supposed to let anybody talk to me about it, either. Oh, say that's right. I forgot about that. Well, that'll be 60 cents. Yeah, I got it, Ann. And what did I do with my wallet? Well, here. That's 60 out of one. And thank you. Well, I hope now that you know us, you'll trade here sometimes even after the trial's over. My name is Adelson. Well, I'm Mr. Benig, and this is my wife, Ann. I'm happy to know you. I hope you'll be through with the thing real soon. I hope so, too. Good night. Al. Yeah. Look what I found. What? An envelope on the floor, right here. Somebody dropped something, huh? Yeah. It's open, too. I wonder if we should, you know, to find the owner. Hey, money bills. Hey, let me see. How much is there, Al? Al? How much, Al? $10,000. Huh? $10,000? Who dropped $10,000 on the floor of a drugstore? In just a moment, Mr. Ray Milland in the first act of After the Movies. Will Cox? Why, it's Santa Claus. That's right. What are you doing here, Santa? Well, I thought you'd like to hear about Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, and Vixen. Your reindeer? Oh, no. My ignition-engineered auto-light spark plugs. On a sleigh? Oh, well, I turned in my sleigh for a sky sedan, and since I replaced my worn-out reindeer... 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And now with After the Movies and the performance of Mr. Ray Milland, auto-light hopes once again to keep you in suspense. $10,000? You mean the envelope was just laying there on the floor? I almost stepped on it, and then I picked it up and I saw there was something in it. Yeah, what should we do? Gee, a thing like this. I don't know what to say. If I was you, I'd keep it. That's what I do. And since it was in my store... No, no, we couldn't do that. Well, I could. It ain't stealing. You found it. And it was my store you found it in. We better turn it in. Look, if there's a reward, we'll get together on it, won't we? There's some kind of a note in it. A note? Yeah, and with the money. This is your first half as agreed in... No signature. It doesn't make much sense to me. Me either. Hey! Where you going with that money? If anybody comes looking for it, we live on Fifth Street, 229. If there's a reward we'll see you get your share, Mr. Adelson. Come on in. Don't worry, Mr. Adelson. Don't worry. $10,000 is a lot of money. I said there was nothing to worry about, but I wasn't feeling quite as breezy as I sounded. $10,000 is an awful lot of money. Anne was still trying to figure it out when we got home. One thing I'd always said about Anne, she had a good mind. Now she remembered the note and she took off from there. Al, it must mean something. It was written to somebody. It must mean something to them. After all, it's $10,000. Let's get on with the ice cream. All right. Look, Annie, if nobody claims it by tomorrow, we'll put an ad in the paper or something. It's not our worry. Yeah. Here, chocolate. We could keep it, couldn't we? I mean, the law says finders keepers. If nobody can prove it's theirs, we can keep it, can't we? Isn't there a law? Well, I guess as far as the law is concerned, we could keep it. Of course we'd have to give part of it to Mr. Adelson. Mm-hmm. I don't know, Al. That money belongs to somebody. All right. If they claim it, all right. If they don't, well, all right. Why worry about it? It belongs to whoever that note was written to. Ah-ha. Now listen, listen. This is your first half as agreed in the EH business. But if they are not hung up when the time comes, don't expect to get the rest or stay healthy very long. No signature. No signature. Al, that last part about staying healthy, that's a threat. That's what it is. Threat? Well, yeah, it could be. The man who's giving the money is threatening the man who's getting it, that if he doesn't... Doesn't what? Al, don't be so dense. Help me a little. Doesn't do what they're paying him to do. It's a bribe. Don't you see, Al, this money is a bribe. A bribe? That's right, Annie. It could be right at that. Well, now we're getting somewhere all right, a bribe. And it has something to do with something being hung up if they are not hung up when the time comes, it says. What could be hung up that's so important to anybody? Jury. That's it, a jury that can't reach a verdict. Al, I'll bet that's it. Somebody is trying to bribe somebody on a jury to... To what? Al, those initials, E-H, Edward Harmon, the name of the man that's on trial, the jury that you're on. Gee, I don't know, Ann. They all seem like such nice, decent people. But listen, listen, this is your first half, the $10,000, as agreed in the E-H, that is the Edward Harmon business. But if they are not hung up as a jury, don't expect to stay healthy. Yeah. Yeah, it does make sense, Annie. Now, we've got to call the police. Police? For sure, we've got to report it right away. Well, maybe I should give it to the district attorney in the morning. No, don't you see, Al, you're on that jury. Why, if we delay telling them for even an hour, they may think you've got something to hide. No, I think I'd better wait until the morning. If you don't phone them, I will right away now. Well, I hope you're right. I hope this is the right thing to do. My name is Albert H. Benig. That's right. I live at 229 Fifth Street. Yeah. I want to report something to you. There's a drug store on the corner, across the street from the courthouse, and my wife and I were in there earlier this evening, and my wife found something. Yeah. Well, on the floor. It was an envelope of $10,000 in it and a note. And we think it has something to do with the Edward Harmon trial. Yeah. No, just my wife. Yeah, she's sitting right here with me. Yeah, that's what I think. You'd be doing me a great favor if you'd... Yes, we'd wait right here. We'd be expecting you. What did they say? They said they'd send somebody up just as soon as they could. Well, weren't they excited about it? Didn't they say anything? Well, Anne, I guess with people like that, these things are just sort of routine. It must be them now, Al. I'll go. I must say they took their time about it. Oh, good evening, gentlemen. Come in. Thanks. Here, Mr. Penig. Albert H. Penig. That's right. This is my wife. How do you do? How do you do? I sort of expected to see someone in uniform. I should have known, I suppose. Uniform? Yes, you gentlemen are from the police, aren't you? No. No, we're not. Oh. You were expecting a police lady? Yes, we were. You better not take too much time, Johnny. I think you people got something at the long toss. Something you found at the drugstore in the corner. Oh. We lost it there. The drugists told us you had it. Well, we did find something, yes. 10 grand and 500 in a white envelope. Well, I guess it's theirs, all right, Anne. Yes, but... But what? Well, I'm sure it's yours, but there was something else, too. We better just give it to a man. The note. I always said that was foolish. There was a note. Yes. You read it? We glanced through it, of course. We thought it might tell us who the money belonged to. And it did, didn't it? No. Oh, no. Come on, lady. Now, wait a minute. This is a gun, man. Hey! The note told you that the dough was to buy off somebody on the jury of the Harman trial, didn't it? You talked too much, Johnny. Come on, let's get out of here. What's the difference? Use your head. All right, what about it, Mrs. Benning? How did you know it was in the note? We've got to know these things. We work for Mr. Harman. We know you're on the jury, too, Mr. Benning. Al? Where are you from, Mrs. Benning? I mean, where do your folks live? What part of the country? Why, Washington? Bo-Can, Washington. All right. Mr. Benning, you go on down that trial, Amar, just so nothing had happened. Anybody asked you about your wife? You tell them she's gone on a little visit to her folks in Bo-Can. Visit to my folks? In case you'll go to the jury on Friday, if everything goes like it should, your wife will be back here safe and sound. First thing Monday morning. Oh, good lord. But you can't do a thing like this. You can. You're reasonable, Mrs. Benning. We've got to. You people know too much about this thing. Well, we wouldn't say anything. I promise. I swear it. If we take a chance like that, Armin is up for murder. Better get your things together, Mrs. Benning. Go with us, Amar. We ain't got all night, though. I'll take the money, Mr. Benning, before I forget it. Thanks. I hope you understand our position. What are you going to do? Well, obviously, the money went to the wrong party. So, we've got to use another method. If everything goes like it should on that jury, your wife will be okay. But if it doesn't... You can't. You can't do that. Oh, but we can. It saves us a lot of money, too. And, Mr. Benning, not a word to the authorities. Your wife wouldn't make a cute corpse. All the light is bringing you Mr. Ray Maland in After the Movies. Night's production in Radio's Outstanding Theatre of Thrills. Suspense. Hey, Santa Claus, no kidding. Did you really name your auto-light spark plugs after your reindeer? I certainly did, Arlo. How come? Well, for one thing, those reindeer were always un-excelled for fast starts, smooth performance, and gas saving. And so are those ignition-engineered auto-light spark plugs. They sure are, Arlo. And, of course, those reindeer are famous as a perfect team. Just as ignition-engineered auto-light spark plugs are famous for working as a perfect team with your car's ignition system. Because, you see, they're designed by the same auto-light engineers who designed the complete ignition system, used as original factory equipment on many leading makes of America's finest cars. Well, that's why you say they're ignition-engineered, eh, Arlo? Sure, Santa. So, folks, see your friendly auto-light spark plug dealer and have him replace worn-out spark plugs with ignition-engineered auto-light spark plugs. And whether you choose the standard type or the resistor type, you're always right with auto-light. And now, auto-light brings back to our Hollywood soundstage, Mr. Ray Mulan, in Eliot Lewis' production of After the Movies, a tale well-calculated to keep you in suspense. After they left, I just sat there. Maybe another guy would have rushed right off and done something. But I couldn't. I had to think. It all happened so suddenly, in less than an hour, the whole thing. And picking up the money on the floor at the drugstore and then figuring out from the note that it was a bribe to someone on the jury of the Harmon trial. The jury I was on. And those gangsters arriving and claiming the money and taking Anne as the hostage for my verdict. The police hadn't arrived. They left home, sneaked out the back way, took the side streets and went to the office of the chief of detectives. So you came down here. What are we sitting here for? Why don't we do something? We gotta know what we're doing before we start doing it. Anyway, from what you told me, I don't think she'll be in any real danger. No real danger. She's been kidnapped by gangsters. But why? That's what doesn't make sense to me yet. I told you the money was some kind of a bribe. They thought we knew about it. But you didn't. How could we? Anne just picked up the money off the floor and they said that they'd have her backed by Monday? That's what they said. You can believe them if you want it, but she's my wife. Okay. Okay. Um, what do these two cookies look like? I don't know. Average size, dark, I think. I don't remember what they looked like. Did you catch their name? I didn't ask them. You're not going to be much help for a while, are you? Okay. It's all right. Um, by the way, my name's Dan. Mine's Al. You'll probably be seeing quite a lot of me in the next day or two, so we might as well get acquainted. And, uh, Al. Yeah. Take it easy. We'll find your wife. His being friendly like that made me feel a lot better. But we still weren't doing anything. First, you got a lot of pictures and they had to go through all those, but of course, I couldn't recognize anybody, and then he started making phone calls. That didn't make much sense to me either, except that he figured they might have stolen a car and he was trying to check on it. Finally, he called a police car and he drove back towards the courthouse. It was 12 o'clock, but Mr. Adelson hadn't left the store. He was anxious enough to talk, but didn't look as though he was going to get us any place. I tell you, Lieutenant, it was right there on the floor. Right there! Yeah, but when you talk to these two men... Yes, well, I talked to them. The one that is, and he said he'd lost an envelope he thought in my store. And I said, yes, we'd found it, and Mr. Bennick had it. So you talked to them. What did they look like? Well, how can I know what they look like when they called me on the telephone? Okay, I guess that's all, Mr. Adelson. I'm sorry, Lieutenant. I wish I could help you. That's perfectly all right. But if there's anything else... We'll call you. Hey, Mr. Bennick. Yeah. Did you tell him about the note? Note? Yeah, the note that was in with the money. So there was a note. Sure, in with the money. Wasn't it, Mr. Bennick? What about it, Al? Well, I'm sorry. I guess I forgot. We drove back to Fifth Street and parked in front of our apartment. Dan didn't say a word until we got into the elevator. Then he spoke to the elevator boy, not to me. You take Mrs. Bennick and a couple of men down tonight about 10.30. Yeah, that's right. Police? Mm-hmm. What do they look like? I couldn't really tell you. They had their hats pulled down, sort of. One was tall and the other was short. That's about all I noticed. Oh, wait a minute. Yeah? The tall one had kind of a limp. He had a cane. A limp, huh? You hear any names? Yeah, and now that you speak of it, the short one called the tall one Johnny. Funny, I didn't think of it. The tall one and the short one and the tall one's name was Johnny and he had a limp. But that breaks the case wide open, huh? Yeah, yeah, I'll see that you got a citation. We got off at my floor and I opened up the apartment and we went in. And he still didn't say anything. He prowled around the apartment, poking into view rows and closets but not saying a word. Then he came out in the living room and sat down in the big armchair and looked straight at me. All right, Al. What about the note? Well, I'm sorry, Dan. I didn't think it was important. You're not sore, are you? Me? What if I got to be sore about it? Sure, why? Yeah, I'm sorry. Now, what about the note? Well, all it said was something like, this is the first half as we agreed and no signature. Have you got it? No. It took it when it took the money. And you couldn't remember that one was a tall guy and the other was a short guy and that the tall guy's name was Johnny. But I was all upset. I didn't even know if I heard his name. Are you trying to protect her, Al? No, no. I've told you everything I can. Okay, forget it. And let's see. A bribe. That means that somebody wants something or is on the spot. The fix will be on by Monday, they say. Now, who is there in this town that employs gunsles that would have a deal with that much dough set for next Monday? Oh, there could be a million deals like that. Quiet. Let me think a minute, will you? Johnny, a cane and a short guy. It's on the tip of my tongue. And it wasn't so long ago, either. Sure. Sure. Why didn't I think of it? Think of what? Bill Quinlan, the defense lawyer in the Harman case. Those are his boys. Had him up a dozen times. He always comes and gets them off. The Harman trial? Yeah, this Harman is up on a murder rap. A bank robbery or guard was killed. His lawyer's Bill Quinlan. Quinlan's bribe moat juries and I got hairs on my head. If you could ever prove it. Got a couple of hung juries and they let you off the hook. Spilled it plenty of times. Well, isn't that a little far-fetched? No, it's like I say, Al. It's all we've got. I'll have the boys check the jury list anyway. Where's your phone? Uh, Dan. Yeah? Dan, uh, I'm on the jury. You what? Well, don't just see if I open my mouth and kill her. They told me so. So that's it. I didn't dare tell you, Dan. I hoped you'd find her without... Why are you long-legged, thick-headed idiot? Don't you think I've been in this business long enough to know it a little better than you do? Don't you think I know how to give people protection when I have to? Do you think we go around trying to get people killed? Do you know any more that you haven't told me? No. Do you know who the juror is that's trying to bribe? Nope. Yeah, okay. At least now we know where to start looking. Dan. Yeah. You're not sore at me, are you? Me? No. What have I got to be sore about? We knew where to start looking, but it wasn't as easy as that. I was still on the jury, of course, and it didn't dare make a move against Harmon because of Anne. The case went to the jury Friday and there was still no word of her. And of course I had to vote not guilty. They understood that. But as it turned out, the vote was 8-4, so it didn't really matter. With a hung jury, Harmon was scheduled for a new trial anyway. By now it was Monday that Anne was supposed to return, but there was no word. What if they'd found out the police knew I was on the jury? It was nearly midnight when Dan came to the apartment. He looked as though he hadn't slept for three days. I hadn't either. He told me to come along with him. He didn't say much, and we were way down on Avenue C in the lower east side. Don't let it get out, fella, but I think we're going to come out all right. When did you find out? About an hour ago. We trailed Harmon. That's why he got bail. Dan, don't kid me. Are you sure that she's... As sure as we can be. We know where they are. She'll be there. Now that's the place. Third house down. Ellis. Hi. You and Wilson stay out the back. Farley, Edwards, take the front. I'm going in. All right, get going. Dan. Yeah. I want to go with you. Now you stay in the car. I'm going with you. Okay, come on. Now let's go. There's a light in the front. They may give us a little reception now. They wouldn't do anything to her. Would they, Dan? I'll try the door. It's locked. Can we bust it open? I got a skeleton. All right, close it behind you so the street light won't show us up. Okay. Now those are my boys. Let's try in here. I don't think anybody's around. Mm-hmm. Come on. Maybe they took us someplace else. You better stay out. Why? What is it? What is it? It's her, Al. Your wife. She's dead. And the next day there was the funeral. A lot of friends came around and shook hands and looked at me sad. And I stood by where she was lying with all the flowers around her. This wasn't the way it was supposed to work out. Dan came to a long time he stood there looking at her and my friends and me. You called them, didn't you? I called them. Yeah. You called them and she thought you were calling the police. That's why the police never showed up. I called them. She was so insistent I had to call somebody. I didn't think they'd take her away. I thought they'd just take the money and leave, forget the whole thing. But they took her too. What about the money? The money they paid me for the trial? The money for the trial. $10,000. I told you. They took it. They took the money and they and they took her. All except $500. I kept that in my pocket. They didn't get that. That's what I paid for the funeral with. I know. We had the numbers of the bills when we picked them up later last night. They had it all except $500. That's what brought me back to you. It's funny. I did it for her. To buy her nice things. And all I bought her was a film. Say goodbye, Al. Suspense. Presented by AutoLite. Tonight's star, Mr. Ray Milland. My workshop, we make toys for all the little girls and boys. We work hard to make them right. Make them perfect. Like AutoLite. You said it, Santa. AutoLite makes more than 400 products for cars, trucks, planes, and boats in 28 plants from coast to coast. These include complete ignition systems used as original factory equipment on many makes of America's finest cars. Generators, coils, distributors, voltage regulators, wire and cable, starting motors, all engineered to fit together perfectly, work together perfectly because you're a perfect team. So, friends, don't accept electrical parts supposed to be as good. Ask for and insist on original factory parts at your neighborhood service station, car dealer, garage, or repair shop. And because all AutoLite parts are original factory parts, you can be sure you're right because you're always right with AutoLite. Next week on Suspense, Mr. Alan Ladd as star of A Killing in Abilene. And in weeks to come, as Dennis Day, Cornel Wild, and Ginger Rogers, all appearing in tales well calculated to keep you in... Suspense. Suspense is produced and directed by Elliot Lewis, with music composed by Lucian Morawek and conducted by Ludd Bluskim. Parts of this program were transcribed after the movies was written for suspense by Jack Finney and was adapted by Robert L. Richards and David Ellis. Ray Millan appeared by arrangement with the producers of the technical picture King Solomon's Minds, with Deborah Carr, Stuart Granger, and Richard Carlson. And remember next week on Suspense, Mr. Alan Ladd in A Killing in Abilene. You can buy world famous AutoLite resistor type or standard type spark plugs, AutoLite safe batteries, AutoLite electrical parts, and your neighborhood AutoLite dealers. Switch to AutoLite. Good night. This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.