 It is your host to welcome you into the Inner Sanctum. Come on in. Come in, whoever you are, whatever you are, whether you're alive or dead. In fact, the deader you are, the more we like you. Some of us have gotten the arts and crafts rage. You know, the urge to make and un-make things with our bare hands. Gadgets and copper, silver and bone. So striking they make you a head roll. One character drove himself into such a creative frenzy he worked himself right back into the grave. I won't tell you who or what he is because sooner or later you'll surely be seeing him around. And now for tonight's torment. Killer at large. Tonight's drama is the story of the short and unhappy life of a fugitive whose sullen face stares at us from hundreds of police posters. Read one. Mark Stribbling wanted for murder. Warning. This man is armed and dangerous. Is he guilty? Let's get our answer from Mark Stribbling. Not guilty. I was framed but good. Could happen to anybody. Come home unexpectedly for the wrong kind of wife. You're keys hardly in the door when there's a scream. Helen! Helen! But it's all over for Helen. And for you too. The killer's gone down the fire escape and so you're the patty. It's a perfect crime for the guy who pulled it. Your gun was used. The world knew there'd been bad blood between you and the missus. And there's an insurance angle. Missus Stribbling is worth ten thousand dollars to you dead. The cops won't forget that. There's enough circumstantial evidence to burn you. So you'll run. You don't face the music. You don't dare. You hide and drift all the time looking for it. Mr. Other Man. I found him. Six months and ten thousand miles later in a tourist town over the border. I found him in a club called the Casa Real. I got behind him and rammed a gun into his bed. Guess who did this? Don't turn around and don't stop smiling. Stribbling in person. I got a message for you from Mr. Stribbling. She wants you to join her as fast as you can go. Stribbling out! The long chase was over. I'd gotten my name. I ditched the gun and got away without being identified. I'd won. And I'd lost. I was really wanted for murder now. I got off the streets into another club. One with a jukebox that talked United States this time. I wanted to forget murder. I wanted to find a girl and find something to laugh about. And then one came in a door. A real looker. I watched her come right at me like she'd picked me. Just as I'd picked her. Let's go. Stribbling's the name I use. And you? Maxine. Fancy name. Can I buy you something? Coffee. Black. Black coffee for the lady, amigo. Thanks. Now can I sell you something? It depends. What are you selling? Blind packages. Like this one. For you, special. And don't be fool enough to open it here. Fool enough? What's in it? Your hammer is in that package. The one you use nailing up cough. In other words, stribbling. Your gun. Is there some kind of gag? No. Where'd you get the gun from? Out of the ash can. I saw you throw it in. Why? That's a long... Daring. Why? I want somebody to confide in somebody I can trust. Trust with what? I'll tell you some other time. Come see me tomorrow morning, room 110. The hotel keeps going. Bye now. I didn't wait for tomorrow morning. You don't when you're suddenly sitting on a cake at Dynamite labeled Maxine. I followed her out instead and tailed her through the streets. I didn't have to tail her far. Just about ten blocks to a club I recognized. The Casa Real. I'd run out of it only an hour ago. With a smoking gun in my hand. I didn't wait until morning to go to Maxine's room in the Hotel Chico. I went right to it to wait for her. Surprising. I didn't bother going up the usual way. I went up by way of the fire escape from the back. I found room 110. The window was sealed tight. I had to kick it in. Inside I found an easy chair and a deck of cards. I played solitaire. With my gun in my lap. Waiting for Maxine. Morning was an hour old when Maxine came home. She had a camera slung over her shoulder, a big one. Like she made picture taking of business. She saw me and didn't bat an eyelash. How's your solitaire game? I'm ahead. Don't you come home nights? I work nights. What ass? With this camera. I've got the picture taking concession and the custody out. You saw me shoot somebody in there? I did. Then you followed me out. That's how you came to fish my gun out of that ash can, huh? That's right. Did you really trail after me to return the gun? To get an idea across to you. What idea? That I own you from now on. Body and soul and gun. Here's my life insurance policies. A picture? Pop your eyes over it, killer. It's my life insurance and your death warrant. You were fast on the trigger in the custody out last night, but I worked with a fast camera lens. How many prints of this have you got? Just the one you're holding. It doesn't flatter me. Where's the negative? In an envelope addressed to the police to be delivered if... If what? If a friend holding it doesn't see me around for a while gets to think I've been murdered for taking pictures. What are you after? Money. Every dream of having all the money in the world? Not enough to lose any sleep. Where do we get all this money? Deep into the interior. And from there, a week's climb on foot with a mule pack. Climbing Montemuelto. Montemuelto? That's a lot of climbing. The mountain goes up 14,000 feet. Real climate. Who's got all that money up there? An American originally. Ever hear of Teacher Jonas? Never. Neither had I until I went to a library. Teacher Jonas was a multi-millionaire Oklahoma oil man once. Back in 1914, before we were born, oil poured for him like rain from heaven. Then a plague killed his family, his wife, his mother, his daughter. Right after that, his only son committed suicide. Guy blows his top when hard luck plows on like this. That's just what happened to Teacher Jonas. His mind cracked. So he took himself out of the world. He packed up and climbed out as high as he could get. Teacher Jonas came to Montemuelto with everything he owned converted into cash and gold. He's up there somewhere dribbling an old lunatic of 80 with more money than he can count. How'd you tumble to teach at Jonas? Listening in on-table talk at the custody of that pilot named Wiley Scott was boasting to a companion a ship's cook from a medicalist named Genesee. Wiley was trying to get Genesee to stake him to provisions, a pair of mules and a guide. How'd Wiley find out about Teacher Jonas? The pilot did a monoplane on a run from Pampico to San Jose in Guatemala. The plane developed engine trouble, and he had to make a forced landing. You can guess the rest. How do we find Teacher Jonas? Wiley got his plane repaired. He flew over Montemuelto again, made a detailed map. Map-making's his business. He carries the map in a pouch around his middle. Job number one is scheduled for me, huh? I'm to get the map from Wiley. Maxine laid out the strategy for surprising Wiley Scott. She was going to invite herself up a decoy with me behind her. It worked just like that. Wiley opened the door. Nice of you to visit, Maxine, a real nice... Now close your mouth, Wiley, and get back inside. Get inside. What do you want? Tell them, Maxine. The map of Montemuelto. The map? Pull your shirt out and unbutton that money pouch. Sure. Drop it on the table. See if the map's in there, Maxine. It's in there. What you people are? I'll be glad to cut you in this one enough for everybody. Don't go much there for one minute. Shut up. The lady says no deal. Now, Stibling. Picture that, Miller. Since Maxine became a camera of fiends, Stibling's become a horribly negative guy. She caught him acting the killer like the show so much she ordered a repeat performance on Wiley Scott. The treasure of Montemuelto. Now she's got him climbing the highest mountain. But let Stibling tell us what's his. Besides his mind, as he bushwhacks his way to the peak of Montemuelto. There were about a day off with the wind in our faces, maybe 4,000 feet up from Montemuelto with 10,000 more to go. We had two mules along packing provisions. We also had a guide we bought ourselves in a village, a local character named Stefano, whose face spoke trouble. We needed him for map reading. But he'd need watching. Stibling. Yes, Stefano. The wind blow like a hurricane. Better we camp here. I lose time. What's wrong with a little wind? Stefano's right. We try circling that ledge. The wind will blow us off the mountain mules and all. We'll make camp here. In this marsh? Better than the ledge. At least here we're not exposed. Now try telling that to the snakes. Build a fire. Make camp, Stefano. Yes, Stibling. The order of the day, huh? You're used to taking orders. And don't ever point your gun my way by mistake. Killing me is like committing suicide. We made camp and got a fire going. And within an hour, the wind let up as suddenly as it began. Montemuelto is like that. And then riding out with the wind as it blew up trail toward the peak came a shot. Hello! Hear that, Maxime? Somebody calling to us from downed trails. Let me listen. Hello! One thing, we haven't got the mountain to ourselves. That voice. I've heard it somewhere. Can you make out where and who? Hello! It's that ship's cook from Veracruz. Genesee. The one Wiley Scott was trying to get a steak from that night in the cathedral. Must have seen the smoke rising from our fire. Well, we suppose Genesee's on the mountain before. One guess. We pumped Wiley Scott like you did, huh? And he's out to make it in his own like we are. But he doesn't make anything, Maxime. Then he appears. Do you order me to give him what Wiley got? No. Not when he appears. Not with Stefano here watching. You go down to Genesee instead. I hurried through the brush. And then after a while, I slowed down. I was stalking like a hunter's stalks. There was no sound, not all except birds screeching. No sound of Genesee. And then, all of a sudden, I heard all the sound Genesee had in him. He was screaming somewhere. Screaming like a guy gone crazy with fright. I cut the direction of the screams as fast as I could go. I reached to where Genesee figured to be. But there was no Genesee. Only a packy hole at the edge of what looked like a shimmering bed of hot sand. Quicksand. It looked like Genesee had fallen in. All I was left on was a hat sitting on the edge. But as it turned out, that was what Genesee wanted me to see. God! It came to a bit of my left-hand smashed world. Bullet is dragged into it. And Genesee, looking down on me, had been squatting in the brush with his rifle aimed and ready. You're not very bright, my friend. You're fool-easy. That hat on the edge of the quicksand was only a stage setting. How could you know I was coming down after you? Oh, these field glasses. I saw you make camp up there off the legend and come down trail after whispering with Maxine. I guess you were coming down to kill me. Maybe not. I'll lie to me, my friend. I ain't no Maxine. Roll. Roll? End of the quicksand. I ain't got any bullets to waste. Roll! Okay. Okay, if you want it like that. I rolled. Slowly. I was dumb to sure, but Genesee wasn't very bright either. Rolling, my good hand underneath closed on the 38. The 38, the shoulder host. Coming up on the roll, I shot to my hip. Genesee never even knew what hit him. I got back to camp. Maxine was all smiled. She washed my hand and tied it up. Then we all turned in for the night. The last thing in my ears was Stefano's snoring. And then her fever swabbing in my hand rose to my head. And then I passed out. I came to wondering why Stefano wasn't snoring anymore. It wasn't because he was awake, up in the box. Packing the mules like a guy making a sneak getaway in the night. I reached for my gun. My gun. My gun was gone. I see you are awake, Senor Estriblian. Look at this! Quiet! You're awake, Senorita. You need to not do nothing foolish, Senor. Stefano does not want to harm you and the charming Senorita. What does Stefano want to do? To take the mules of himself to the Senor Teacher Jonas? What do you know about Teacher Jonas? As much as you do, Senor. You see, the Senor Wiley Scott also tells Stefano everything when he asks Stefano to work for him. He's a guide to the top of Montemuelto. And there's nothing else really. I have a long way to go. Stefano had left us to what seemed sure death. In the starvation, one of those sudden quicksand beds and an animal or a snake. But we kept pushing on Maxine and me. Three nights and two days. The Maxine breaking into a laughing jag after last. Now it's a funny day. Ah, you! The tender way you're keeping me alive and... I've got to keep you alive. Even if it kills you this time. Hey, don't you scribble. I'll give you one, yes. If you only knew where I'd left that negative. I'll know. I'm keeping you alive, sure, just about. But that mud water you've been drinking and the rotten food you'll catch yourself a fever on it sooner or later and then you'll talk. You'll rave with fever and before you know it you'll let on where you left that negative. When that happens, I'll kill you. But I had an exclusive on fever. My head was swelling in it. My hands. A hand-genesis shot. I wanted to cut it off. And then what seemed to have day from the days we ran into Stefano again. Maxine saw him first. Look! Where? Up there, hanging from the tree-gourd. Stung up by the neck and grinning like an over-joker's on him. I cut him down. The $64 question of who Stefano up was answered in a note tender was closed. What does the nurse say? I read it to you. Your neck dribbling and after you, a mutual Maxine. Signed... Wiley Scott. Wiley Scott? But I shot him through the heart and left him in a hotel club. His ghost took up where Wiley left off. Let me see that note. You've seen Wiley's handwriting before. Well, is it or isn't it? Yes. Wiley wrote this note. A dead man hung Stefano. You get to a point where you don't figure things out anymore. You don't think you just push on like we did to the top. Or die. And then not much further to go. Smokes. Smokes. It's teacher Jonas's hideaway. We made it. Almost. We got a good quarter-mile yet. Did we? What? Wiley's up there. Look through these field glasses. See what I saw? Yeah. Wiley out front with a rifle standing side. We made it, but we're licked anyway. We show and Wiley or his ghost shoots us down. No. We don't do it like that. I show. Wiley draws a bean down on me. His eyes are on me. With my bare hands, I only got one hand. Get a rock. You'll kill Wiley with the biggest rock you can find. We tried it like that. Maxine stumbling into Wiley's fumes and pulling a dead faint a hundred yards away. Me crawling on my knees and stomach from the rear with a rock. I waited until Wiley bent over Maxine and then I seeped. When Wiley came around to consciousness, I had his rifle. I rose again, I guess. How'd you come back to life? I'd stay in my room. You shot okay, but you only knocked me out. A contusion did that. I always wear a bulletproof vest. How'd you be disappeared? Short cut. I didn't indicate on the map. Any old man? Teacher Jonas, what'd you do with him? I don't see him. The old man's dead. He died this morning in his room. You killed him? Ah, I found him dying. Not that special on the old age. Your money, what about his money? That's a joke. Old Teacher Jonas told me I could have it if I wanted it bad enough, seeing as he was dying without airs. He was a real old gentleman. He was crazy, you couldn't tell. Where'd you say he kept the money, Wiley? In an iron trunk in the kitchen. In an iron trunk in the kitchen? Take care of Wiley, sibling. Maxine, wait a minute. Let her go. Stribbling, she just saved. She's gonna get it. What do you mean what she's gonna get? The house came down on Maxine. When the smoke cleared, Wiley told me what old Teacher Jonas had told him. A booby trap tooled into the iron trunk. Open the trunk to steal the money. And blow yourself up. I'm here on the top of Monte Muerto with Wiley Scott. That negative no doubt is in the hands of the police by now. They're probably sweating their way up here. Funny thing, I don't care anymore. I'm not worrying about being hung. It's pain shooting from my hand into every part of me. And you tell me, how many times can a man die? Nothing like blowing your top in high places. Maxine and Stribbling reached the peak, all right. The peak of insanity. Poor Stribbling definitely disinterested in that picture Maxine took of him now. He figures, you can't hang a man for dying. Maro, oh sure. I had copied this dilly out of an old edition of Callaghan's catalog for climbers. Quote, sometimes the road up leaves underground. Pleasant dream. Inner sanctum has been brought to you through the facilities of the United States Armed Forces Radio Service. The voice of information and education.