 Yes, Roma Wines taste better because only Roma selects from the world's greatest wine reserves for your pleasure. And now, Roma Wines, R-O-M-A. Roma Wines, present. Suspense. Tonight Roma Wines bring you Mark Stevens in Tree of Life, a suspense play produced, edited and directed for Roma Wines by William 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 better tasting California wines enjoyed by more Americans than any other wine for friendly entertaining, for delightful dining. Yes, right now a glassful would be very pleasant as Roma Wines bring you Mark Stevens in a remarkable tale of suspense. Everything went wrong from the very beginning everything that possibly could went wrong because you see I had already planned, planned for quite a while to kill my wife. The first thing was the doors and that's funny too because that was the thing that impressed me most about the new place, the doors. The house was a double bungalow, twin apartments really, white stucco with two doors in the front center. The doors were exactly alike made of modern yellow wood studded with nails. The nails spread out in a tree of life pattern, tree of life. I can still see Helen standing with her slim, elegant figure silhouetted against the door, her hair blending with its warm color and her blue eyes burning with that strange, acquisitive fire I had once mistaken for passion. Isn't it a beautiful door Jimmy? I really think I'm clever to have found it. You know it's definitely the smartest place we've ever had. Well don't just stand there darling. Come on, come on. You'll positively love the inside. You see? See the entrance hall in the living room can be thrown into one or Jimmy we can have the most stunning parties. The bedrooms to the back. Uh-huh, three rooms, small dressing room, two beds. Of course we'll have to buy some new furniture to go with the house and most of our old pieces simply won't belong. Say it's awfully dark back here. Oh nonsense darling, it's just cloudy today. Besides you'll love it when you want to sleep late on Sunday. That's why I'm giving you the center room. I'm taking the front one with the dressing room. The corner room with the three windows? Well that'll be the guest room darling. Mom and the girls will be coming in every so often you know. Then you'll want to bring home some of your business and so it's it you know. I never have. Don't you see now you can darling. Jimmy Dawson, I'm not going to let you be an old stick in the mud anymore. We're going to have a wonderful winter. There's a young couple in the other part. Their name's Roxborough, I think that's what the agent said. Anyway I saw her from a distance. She seems to be a perfectly stunning brunette. Just our sort. Imagine the four of us will do lots of things together. Now admit it. Admit it the house is priceless isn't it? Yeah, yeah of course Helen. But isn't there some small room where I might do some... Painting? Yeah. We've discussed this before. It's not healthy for you to bring your work home with you and besides it's as much too lovely a house to mess up. Well I don't mean advertising layouts. I want to try some real work. Creative work Helen. I've told you what I think about it Jimmy. I want to make your home your castle darling. I want it to be a place for you to relax away from work. We must concentrate now on gracious living. Of course it's your home. If you feel you must. No, I'll skip it. Of course darling from now on it's gracious living. Remember? Sure gracious living. I'd already begun to make some plans for Helen for killing Helen that is when we moved into the new house two weeks later. I rode the interurban to work that day and left the car with Helen. She said she needed it to move some of our smaller more breakable treasures. I offered to stay and help her with the moving but Helen said I'd be in the way. I ate dinner in town and rode the interurban back and walked the seven blocks to my new home. I hated it more with each step I took. When I got there the shades were down. The lights were out on both sides which meant Helen was out again. I stood outside for a while not wanting to go in. Finally I started up the steps but the doors made me pause. I suddenly realized I didn't know which was my door. I felt like a fool. I suppose now we're to go barging in on the Rocksboro Zoo or whatever the name was. Certainly they think I was a fool. All I could do was choose one of the doors. I was just fumbling at the lock with my key when the door opened from the inside. I couldn't see the man who had opened it very well but I could see the gun he held in his hand. It was the biggest gun I've ever seen in my life. Come in. Why I... Come in. After he closed the door the man with the gun switched on the lights. Hey, what? Then I saw the other one. He was big with a lot of black hair and an angry face. He had a gun too. He kept fooling with it. Spinning the cylinder. He was standing in front of the couch trying to hide something. Something lying there covered up with an overcoat. I knew what it was. I saw the hand trailing down on the floor. A woman's hand. And just two of you? I'm... You heard him? Who are you? Is that my wife? Oh, so you're Roxborough, huh? You're supposed to be halfway to Chicago by now. Roxborough? Well, well. Cute, ain't he? Curly hair and everything. Real cute. Look, I... I made a mistake that the door... What do you know about that? He thinks he made a mistake, Rico. What kind of mistake you think you made, Curly? What kind of a mistake? You fixed this thing all up with our boss the day, the time, the alibi, the works. And then you walked right in in the middle of it. Oh, yeah. You made a mistake, all right, Curly. The biggest mistake you ever made in your life. Maybe the last, too, Rico. Maybe the last. Who knows. For a minute, they both just stood and looked at me. Oh, I'd made a mistake, all right. Here I'd gone and stumbled in on a job being done by a couple of hired killers. The job of killing his wife for Roxborough. My neighbor, Roxborough. And they thought I was Roxborough. Even that wasn't the worst. As long as they thought I was Roxborough, I might be able to make a deal. But if they ever found out I wasn't Roxborough, the end of the line, I had to be Roxborough. Any last words, Curly? Now, wait a minute. Honestly, I made a mistake. You said that. We don't like those kinds of mistakes in our business. You can see how that would be, can't you? Listen, if it wasn't a mistake, why else would I come home right when... Oh, go ahead. You can say it. It don't matter now. That's when we're knocking off your wife, huh, Curly? I bet you I know. I bet you he likes to play hero, huh, Rico? Hero? Sure. You come home, you find burglars. That's us. And we just knocked off your wife so you knock us off. You're a hero. Get it? You ought to be in Hollywood, bud, where they pay for that stuff. Well, you better tell Curly that I ain't making it up. Because a poor guy tried that on us once, Curly. The poor guy. I don't even have a gun. I don't even have a jackknife. Listen, listen, why can we make some kind of a deal? There's a rod in the desk. Maybe you're thinking I'm using that, huh, Curly? Hey, wait a minute, Rico. Curly here said something about a deal. I don't like deals. The boys don't like deals. I like the other way. It's cleaner all around. Turn around, Curly. No, wait. Relax, relax. I just want to frescure this time. He started going over my pockets, and that was all right. Until he came to my wallet and took it. My wallet. With driver's license, social security card, every identification under the sun to prove that I wasn't Roxborough, but James Dawson. He ever looked inside, I was finished. I had to do something to distract his attention. I had to do it right then. Hey, where you going? Oh, I just wanted to look at her. Yeah. Maybe Curly thinks we don't know our jobs, huh, Max? Go ahead. Take a look. Take a good look. It might be somebody you know. I walked over to the couch. I lifted the coat off her face. I looked. And I put the coat back again. I felt sick. I hadn't needed more than one look to know that she was dead. And I knew something else. I knew my chances of getting out of this alive had gone down about 90%. Well, you're satisfied. He looks kind of sick, Max. Maybe he's this sensitive type. You know, these sensitive guys are funny. They don't mind having it done. Oh, no, that, don't worry him a bit. But the guy that does it because he needs a few bucks, he's just a big ape. A guy with no feelings. Ain't that right, Curly? I'm not complaining. He's not complaining. Well, that's something anyway. Max, he's not complaining. Oh, yeah, that's good. But a minute ago, he was talking about a deal. I'd like that better. We can talk about deals later. And I still say no deal. Maybe we ought to ask Curly. You, uh, you want us to finish this job upright, don't you, Curly? Oh, sure. Ask Curly. Finish the job? Sure. Collect the ice. You don't know what that means, do you, Curly? The jewelry, the silverware, the stuff that makes it look like burglars. Remember? Oh, yeah. Where does she keep it? Why, uh, in her bedroom, I guess. You guess? Oh, these sensitive guys are great guesses, Rico. But, uh, you better have guessed right, Curly. Come on inside. All right, now where is it? I think the dressing table. Take a look, Rico. Yeah. Well, well, looky here. He guessed it right on her nose. Oh, Curly's sharp. Yeah, sharp he is. There's some real pretty ice here, too. I bet this was her engagement ring, huh, Curly? You got the stuff. You don't have to talk about it. Oh, wait a minute, you got the wrong attitude, Curly. You knew this was part of the deal. We get part of our cut out of the stuff. Hey, I tell you what I did with that sapphire, Max. What sapphire? The Allison job, the place you got the garnets. Oh, yeah, yeah. I had it made into a pen for my kid. I gave it to her for graduation. She was crazy about it. Your kid? Sure, I got a couple of swell kids, boy and a girl. Smart, too. Maybe that's the trouble with these sensitive guys. I don't recall no kids. They wanted for a sheet, isn't it? Well, that's the way it goes sometimes. I bet she'd have figured it a little different if she'd have known how it was going to turn out for her and Curly. Yeah, maybe she would. All right, now listen, we got work to do the rest of the house. Now, well, how about the deal? Never mind the deal. What are we going to do with him while we're working? Lock him in here. You wouldn't try to holler or anything like that, would you, Curly? Oh, no, no, I won't. Hey, you see, I told you he's sharp, sharp. He's going to think over the deal while we're gone. I tell you, I don't like it. How do you know you haven't heard it yet? Now, listen, Curly, there's two ways. First is Rico's way, quick, clean. You know what I mean? I know. The other way, you pay us five grand. Five? But I haven't got $5,000. But a setup like this with the business you've got, you can raise it. And you're better, too. I still like my way better. See what I mean, Curly? Sink it over. Come on, Rico. Maybe I better stay here and watch him. If you watch him, who's going to watch me? I'll see what you mean. And don't try nothing funny, Curly. Because I still like my way better. I like my way better. I knew he wasn't kidding. He already killed once tonight. There's already one dead body in the house. There could just as easy be another. There could be me. For Suspense, Roma Wines are bringing you Mark Stevens in Tree of Life. Roma Wines' presentation tonight in Radio's Outstanding Theatre of Thrills. Suspense. Between the acts of suspense, this is Ken Niles for Roma Wines. Here's an easy way to return the compliment of the friendly hospitality you've enjoyed over the holidays. Simply invite your holiday hosts to an open house and delight them with Roma California wines. Yes, you're sure to please every guest with better tasting Roma sherry, port, or muscatel because more Americans enjoy Roma than any other wine. The reason? Roma Wines taste better because Roma starts with choicest grapes. Because Roma Vintner skill and America's finest winemaking resources guide this grape treasure unhurriedly to tempting taste perfection. Because Roma selects at peak taste richness from the world's greatest wine reserves for your pleasure. No wonder Roma Wines are America's favorites. So for smart, gracious hospitality at your thank you party, be sure to serve Roma R-O-M-A. Roma Wines by America's greatest Vintner. And now Roma Wines bring back to our Hollywood soundstage Mark Stevens in Tree of Life. A tale well calculated to keep you in suspense. So I sat there waiting, locked in a bedroom by a couple of hired killers while I ransacked the house for loot. All because I had just moved into a two-family house with two front doors that had that Tree of Life design on each one exactly alike. All because these gunmen thought I was my neighbor Roxborough who had hired them to kill his wife. Well, they'd done their best, all right. There's the dead body on the couch in the front room right now. That was why I had to make a deal somehow. The dead body. And more than that, if I did manage to put it over, I had to have money to get away. Because I knew I had to go far away for a long time. They had my wallet. It was just the off chance there might be some in the room here somewhere. She must have had money. I started going over the room with a fine tooth comb, the closet, inside of shoes, hat boxes, under the mattress, any place, every place in the room might be liable to hide money. In the bottom bureau drawer, I found a letter pocketbook. It had two affectionate notes from some guy named Steve. And that was all I gave up. I went back to sit down in front of the dressing table again. I knocked something on the floor. It was a powder box, one of those musical things that keeps playing some gimmick tune over and over until they run down. There was powder and a little heaps spilled on the floor. There was something else. Buried in all that powder was what I'd been looking for. A roll of bills, nearly $400. I just about had time to stuff them in my pocket when I heard the two government galloping down the hall. Hold it, Rico. All right, what's the idea? Just a little nervous, I guess. I knocked that thing on the floor, see? Well, put it back together again. Sure, sure. What do you know? He's nervous. What are you nervous about, Curly? My wife's got one of them things, too. Make you nervous like Curly? Curly ain't nervous about that. You got a way to get that five grand, Curly? I can't get the cash right away. Well, maybe we could take a note, huh, Rico? Huh? Oh, oh, yeah, no. Sure, maybe we could. Come on, Curly. You're going to come out here and write us a nice little note. All right. Now, sit down there at the desk. Make yourself real comfortable. Maybe you better tell him how the note should go. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, maybe I should. Now, Curly, all you got to do is write us a nice little note telling how you killed your wife. How I killed my wife? He don't think he did kill his wife. I mean, thanks, Wade, then. But if I did that, you could blackmail me. You could keep blackmailing him. See, I told you he was sharp. You know, this thing has got to be said right, so one can believe it, right, Curly? Yeah, yeah, that's right. That's right. Now, you're going to sit right down there and write how you and your wife was always getting in your hair, you know? You was always having fights, and finally, well, you had a real big one tonight and you hit her over the head with a bottle. Only you hit her a little too hard, see? Is that how she... You don't think we use these things unless we have to, do you? It's too noisy. We don't want to cause you no trouble, understand, Curly? I just want to be sure you do raise that five grand, see? Yeah, I see, but... Well, if it came to a showdown, how would you explain the note? Very sharp, very sharp. You see what I mean, Rico? Curly wants to know if we turn him in, how do we tell the cops we got the note? Easy. We make a deal with a guy who's got to take a rap for burglary anyway, says he burgled this place too and found the note. We bought it from him. Get it? I get it. Then start writing. For a minute I sat there thinking. I wasn't too worried about the handwriting. The chances that Roxborough had been full enough to write anything in his own hand that these mugs had ever seen was pretty slim. And it couldn't do me any harm, writing a confession in another man's name. So I began to write. And I stopped thinking about Roxborough and his wife. I began thinking about Helen in five wasted years. The opportunities missed, the friends lost, the time gone down the drain, all because of Helen and what she thought was gracious living. Gracious living. When I got through it, it was a pretty good note. Let me see it. Uh-huh. Okay. It almost sounds like you met her, Curly. I did. Okay. Sign it. Huh? I said sign it. Sign it? I couldn't sign it. I didn't know Roxborough's first name. They'd know that. The one thing they'd be sure to know, I could have cried to get this far freedom almost in sight and then have it end this way. I just sat there holding the pen. What's the matter? Cold feet? I... Yeah, yeah, maybe. Come on, sign it. Well, I... And not K Roxborough, like that little printed note you sent the boss. The full name. Not K Roxborough, the full name. What's the K for, Curly? Kenneth? No. No, it's Kendall. Is that all? No, that's not all. Oh, no, the $5,000. That's the idea. That's my sharp boy to five grand. Well, I don't know why I can lay my hands on that much cash tonight. Well, cash was sort of what we had in mind, Curly. I could write you a check. No checks. Hey, wait a minute. I think he's got something there. Yeah, he could date it ahead. He could say he gave it to his wife for a mink coat or something, and it was stolen by the nasty burglars. You, uh, could think up something, couldn't you, Curly? You're better. Why can't we get the cash from him tomorrow? Because Curly's got to be in Chicago tonight for sure. If the cop snabbed him for this job, what good is that little note he just wrote us, huh? Oh, yeah. Okay, Curly, write a check. Sure. Sure. To, uh, cash. Yeah. $5,000. Kendall. Roxborough. Okay. Now we're going to do you a favor, Curly. We're going to take you down and put you on that next train to Chicago. How do we know we won't take a powder and never come back? And leave this nice business of his? Oh, Curly wouldn't do that. Would you, Curly? No. Don't, of course not. Okay, then, let's go. I don't like sticking around here with that. Ah, she can't hurt you. She can't hurt nobody. Curly, even Curly, if he's smart. They went around wiping off fingerprints. Even mine. Now they were very good about that. And they snapped off the lights, opened the door, snapped that behind them, too. How you said you were? I heard their voices first. And I saw them. Lillian and Harvey Reynolds. I tried to step back. Out of the street light. But the two gunmen pushed me forward. I just kept my head down and prayed. Ah! Come on, let's go home. I want to know who I bumped into. You know, it's awfully dark, but he looks like Jimmy. Hey, you Jimmy? No. You see, Lill, come on, let's go home. I think he's Jimmy. Who are your friends, Jimmy? They're not Jimmy. They're not my friends. Must be relatives. Let's go home. Sounds like Jimmy. If you're not Jimmy, where is Jimmy? I don't know. Define Jimmy. I beg your pardon, madam. I think I know where he is. What? Where is he? Where is Jimmy? You're just a little mixed up. Now, if you go five blocks up the street, then four blocks over, it's the big yellow house on the corner. Come on, Harvey. I sure feel sorry for Jimmy if she finds him. So do I. We drove down the station, found the next train for Chicago's in about 45 minutes. One of them went in with me while I got my ticket. Then we just stood out there in the darkness on the platform and waited. The train finally pulled in. They walked me down to my car and stood there with me in the vestibule until the train was ready to pull out. Take it easy now, Curly, and about that check. Yeah. That better be good. Yeah. Because if it ain't, we'll be waiting for you when you come back. What did I care where they'd be? I was free. I was going to Chicago, all right, but from there I was going to catch a train to Detroit. And there I was going to cross Canadian border. I was never coming back because I'd made it. I was free, free. I got in to Chicago, all right, and I got a train for Detroit last night. I was walking through the observation car, not paying much attention to anything except a look for a seat when somebody slapped me on the shoulder. Well, well, well, if it isn't Dawson. Huh? Oh, yes, maybe you don't know me, Mr. Dawson. I know you, at least by sight. I'm your next-door neighbor, Kent Roxborough. Kent Roxborough? Mm-hmm. Well, well, small world these days, isn't it? I suppose you're out this way on business like me, huh? I stayed over in Chicago last night, got a good room for a change, too. Then I thought I might just as well clear up a couple little things out in Detroit. Listen, Roxborough, I got to talk to you. Of course, old man. Come on, let's find a seat. No, no, no, not here. What's the matter, old boy? Trouble? Listen, I ran into those men last night by mistake. Those men you sent to see your wife. What? What in the world are you talking about? I never said anything. Okay, it's all right. I understand why you did it. I was thinking of doing the same thing myself, but I walked in on them by mistake. They told me all about it. They thought I was you. Let's you and me take a little stroll out under the observation platform, Dawson. Yeah, yeah, sure. What's all this, Dawson? I tell you, it was a mistake. The doors, they're exactly alike. I walked in, they thought I was you. They'd already done it. They thought I'd come back to double crosses. So they maybe signed a confession that I'd done it in your name. Confession? Oh, it's all right. It's in my handwriting, not yours. I even got your first name wrong. I had to write them a check, too. $5,000. You say they'd done it. You know that. Yeah, yeah, I saw her. So I'm going away, Canada. I'm never coming back. Yeah. You're going away all right, Dawson. No. No, don't shoot. There's something else. They didn't... They didn't... They found me beside the tracks this morning. They say I may live until tonight, maybe even a little longer. I guess I can't blame him. The cops picked him up. He'll get his. So will those two hired killers. I guess he thought he had to do it once he knew that I knew. I guess I can't blame anyone for myself. I guess it's what you call retribution, because I had planned to kill my wife. I'd have done it, too, I guess. But one he didn't give me time to tell him was that it wasn't me that got the wrong door. It was the gunman. It wasn't me that got into his house. It was the gunman that got into mine. It wasn't his wife. They killed it was mine. Gracious living, Helen had always talked about it. Now Gracious dying, I guess that's what you'd call it. Retribution. Suspense. Presented by Roma Wines. R-O-M-A. Roma. America's favorite wines. And now this is Ken Niles making a curtain call with a star on tonight's suspense play, Mark Stevens. Mark, I'm sure that Mr. Webster gave the world the word suspense just to describe a dramatic performance such as you've given us here tonight. Oh, thank you very much, Ken. It was a wonderful part. And I've noticed that you make it a custom here on suspense to provide your guests with the most wonderfully dramatic roles. And there's another suspense custom I'm sure you'll enjoy. Each week we present our star with a gift basket of Roma wines. It's yours, Mark, with the compliments of Roma America's greatest vendor. Oh, and a pleasant customer it is, too. A pleasantest of all is the enjoyment you share with friends when you serve the delicious Roma California Port in your basket. For Roma Port adds warmth to any welcome. Roma Port is the favorite of millions for evening entertaining. And Roma Port is so easy to serve. All you do is pour and hospitality reigns. Oh, it sounds like Roma Port is a host's best friend. Indeed it is, Mark. And Roma Port tastes so good. In fact, all Roma wines are famous for better taste. And here's the reason. Roma vintners with ancient skill and America's finest winemaking resources guide the rich treasure of choicest grapes to tempting taste perfection. Then at peak taste richness, Roma selects from the world's greatest reserves of fine wines for your pleasure. No wonder more Americans enjoy Roma than any other wine. Well, the popularity of Roma wine speaks for itself, Ken. And thank you very much and good night. Tonight's suspense play was written by J. Douglas Ware. Mark Stevens will soon be seen in the 20th Century Fox Technicolor production. I wonder who's kissing her now. Next Thursday, same time, you will hear Mr. Dan Durier as star of Suspense. Produced and directed by William Spear for the Roma wine company of Fresno, California. This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System. Thanks for watching.