 The signal oil program the whistler at whistle is your signal for the signal oil program The whistler and the whistler and I know many things for I walk 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 program on the West Coast Remember, let every traffic signal remind you with new signal gasoline You do go farther than ever look for the familiar big yellow and black circle sign That identifies those popular signal service stations in seven western states from Canada to Mexico And now the whistler strange story Miracle on 49th Street No one knew better than Eddie Steckels that it would take a miracle to save him this time He'd been up on murder counts before but this was going to be the toughest one he'd ever faced The prosecution had drawn all the high cards his old friend district attorney Matthews had sworn to get him And Matthews would never let this one slip through his fingers in a million years Yes, it would take a miracle and Eddie was smart enough to recognize it For it was only by grace of luck and a brilliant lawyer that he was out on bail with only two weeks until the formal indictment But Eddie wasn't one to give up easily even when the odds were a million to one against him Miracles that happened before they could happen again Even in a place like Hardee's drugstore on 49th Street Even to a character like his friend Dutch Pactors smoke sir. Uh doors. Yeah, 15 Thank you. Let's see now. I want an evening paper Hey Eddie I thought you would sign up with the lawyer here have a sandwich I'll have a coffee cup coffee coffee with you. Hey, hey, Blake. Yeah, well coffee, huh? Gosh, Eddie. I saw a brand in yesterday sure looks tough, but they ain't kidding this time You know, I was telling Brandon that did you? What's matter? I say something wrong. I'm sorry. Well, you see I kid Clicker. Here's your coffee Rain, no, hey, there's a customer waiting over at the drug counter. Yeah, I see you Sorry Eddie always open on my big mouth in front of all around people. You can take over the whiskers now. Oh, what? Why should we use it? Why'd I close my eyes at this one? It was someone else What about Brandon Eddie? He's a good lawyer. There's a way out. You can bet he'll find it out for you I'm sorry. I don't understand What's matter? Why try to kid me? Are you afraid you've made a mistake? You see my name is Oliver little field Wait a minute You ain't trying to tell me This lady I'm judge. Remember me or pile judge Watson. I'm happy to know you mr. Watson This is rather embarrassing. You see I am Oliver little field. I don't know Eddie. I don't know you I've never seen you before Huh? Wait a minute. Come here. Look at me. Holy cow. You're right Why don't you sit down Eddie? I told you it's all tied up in a hard knot I couldn't get you out of it if you were the governor to get two weeks. Hey, baby Well Brandon, what do you mean? Maybe you're a fifty thousand dollar lawyer So is the DA Eddie and he's not playing for peanuts this time He could recommit you tomorrow if he wanted to what do you mean? I'm out on pay yesterday Tomorrow you go back in if mr. Matthews decide he had the case and I think he has I'm sorry Eddie. Yes, sir. You shouldn't have shot that cop. I shut up. There's got to be a way There's got to be something Give me a cigarette Yeah, there's always one thing left. Yeah, I can run for it They'd be waiting for you with open arms in every city from New York to San Francisco Looking for you on every freight pictures and all the post offices. No, you don't need a lawyer Eddie. You need a miracle Yeah, Eddie. Yeah Eddie, you'll never believe it. I can hardly believe it myself. Hey, who is this Dutch? I'm calling from a drug store 49th Street. There's a guy here ready a guy I sat right next to me maybe a foot away. What are you talking about this guy? He's you. Yeah, you drunk honest honest Betty I couldn't tell that guy knew if I was touching noises. I never seen anything like it only right So what is that all you called me for? Well, I shut up I'm busy enough without having you blubber on the other end of a telephone line. So the guy looks like me, so what? Nothing Dutch Dutch yeah, tell that guy don't let him out of your sight for that. He's still married. Yeah, but why never mind Why tell him follow him home. Then get back here as fast as you can Okay You hear anything no Good You're all through Brandon. You can go now. Huh? You heard me beat it. I Don't want to see you again. Are you crazy? Maybe Crazy enough to think you're right Brandon. I Don't need a lawyer. I need a miracle With the prologue of tonight's story the miracle on 49th Street The signal oil company is bringing you another strange story by the whistler But now With only two hours and fifty two and a half minutes left of the old year It's interesting to look back on the changes 1945 brought in a commodity We found was mighty essential to our American way of life gasoline Remember just four months ago you a book drivers were struggling along on only two gallons of gasoline per week Two gallons and it's for quality Well wartime restrictions made motors express great unhappiness in slow starts walkie pickup and pings But that's all changed now today. You can again thrill to those three little words Fill her up and when you fill her up with new signal gasoline You're getting the finest gasoline made for motoring In fact new signal is really an entirely new type super fuel in which chemists actually Rearranged the atoms in gasoline molecules to create amazing new power But even this is just the beginning For just as fast as still further advances are made in automotive or petroleum science You'll find them incorporated in an ever finer signal gasoline that will continue to merit the public preference Which has made signal grow in just 14 years from a mere handful of stations in Southern, California To almost 2,000 signal dealers serving seven western states from Canada to Mexico And now back to the whistler. Yes Eddie. You're right. Your lawyer is no good to you now With district attorney Matthews piling up a murder case against you piece by piece like bricks in a wall What you need is a first-class miracle Like the one Dutch ran into in the drugstore on 49th Street a miracle in a gray tweed suit five feet ten inches tall a hundred and sixty five pounds Sitting up at the counter eating a ham sandwich Oliver Littlefield is a miracle isn't he Eddie? He makes you remember the old wives tale about there being a duplicate of everyone in the world It makes you believe it You're not pacing the floor anymore. Are you Eddie? After Brandon leaves you sit quietly in the chair for a while thinking then you pick up the phone and call a friend of yours Mike Castro. Hey Mike. This is Eddie Yeah, I'm out on bail. Hey listen Mike got a job for you. Want to wire a joint for sound? Yeah, he's dictafone Right, and we might need some recording equipment and a 16 millimeter movie camera You get over here in a half hour Stanley Hotel Okay, Mike. I'll be waiting. That was a cinch Eddie He lives in a little house in Wilmot 40 minutes out of town. You get the address Dutch. Yeah, two two two for a Euclid ad Oliver Littlefield Two two and for a Euclid Avenue Wilmot. What's the matter Eddie? Oliver Littlefield. I Love him like a brother Mike. I was thinking about it while I was telling him. It's quite a thing, ain't it? Yeah, quite a thing. Hey, I think maybe we all got the idea a sweat. Yeah, yeah You said you couldn't tell us apart Dutch It ain't that he'll talk. He's got alibis. They'll check his friends. Wait a minute He won't talk as he'd be dead out in the highway somewhere And they won't check his prints because he'll take one look at his face and write Eddie stackles off the books as a gang murder No, no it won't work. I will go for it. Why it's crazy. That's why he does 10,000 bucks sound crazy to you, huh? Say it again 10,000 bucks cash on the line 10,000 bucks. That's a lot of dough Yeah, okay now Dutch you and Mike work together and the first thing you do is steal a telephone truck, huh? One of those little green babies are used for service in residence telephones What do you want? How do you do are you Mrs. Littlefield? Yes, telephone company came to check the wire What why I didn't call the service madam every so often we have to check up, you know connections get loose insulation wears out Well, that's strange. This has never happened before You don't suppose you could come back a little later. Could you I was just leaving for the afternoon And I wouldn't work ma'am. We have orders you see this is two two one four a isn't it yes Perhaps if I called in an explainer, you'd only get us in trouble Well, all right then you can go on in I'll have to leave you alone here though. Oh, don't worry about that, ma'am We'll find everything all right You want a place to rent, huh? Yeah, it's awful tough. I haven't got a thing on my books except a shack over on Acacia Street $50 a month. It's not worth fifty cents. That's the one you advertise two two two five are Casey Yeah, that's it backs up on Euclid Avenue, doesn't it? Mm-hmm Okay, I'll take it look at he got the back window here. Yeah, she's an awful dump. Yeah, but look We'll back the back with little field Mike ran the line from under the back porch to the fence under the back bedroom He's in there now set up that recording machine. Yeah, did you check on little field? Sure runs a hardware store just off the main track. No other employees Takes an hour and a half for lunch and hangs a sign the door, you know regular small town operator Yeah, can't beat that guy. I told you I love him like a brother You think it'll work Eddie just watch me for the weeks out I'll know more about Oliver than he knows himself Listen a couple of things I want you to do for me tomorrow on the way to the library library Yeah, we're gonna get some books on the hardware business on the way I want you to stop in at the Bradshaw Bureau What's that? They put out confidential financial reports. It'll cost you 20 bucks, but get one on little field It'll tell you what his investments are how much he owes in his house his earnings all that kind of stuff They won't ask questions. Yeah, just tell him he wants to borrow a thousand bucks from you on a personal note No, where's Mike? Oh this way Hey, how you like this broken down joiner in it, huh? It's broken down. All right How's it Mike working perfect close the door Dutch? Anything been doing yeah, they've been going at it quite a wife you picked out for yourself Eddie give a listen I'm gonna win a variety in the dining room the microphone's under the table. What happens if they go out of the room just a minute I'll show you What's he doing nothing coming through probably standing in the hallway in this bathrobe It's his old brown bathrobe Eddie. She took the buttons off his good one in the ring. Oh, I suppose I might as well take my shower We faded out the dining room now. We turn this dial up. Don't figure it out. Haven't you Eddie the smart way You're determined to make the most of a miracle on 49th Street For the next week you sit at the speaker listening to the voices of Oliver and Cynthia picked up by the efficient microphones Mike Castro has installed under tables and behind pictures in a little field house You make records and play them over and over learning the little details Oliver and Cynthia agree on the things they argue about Practicing the inflections of Oliver's voice absorbing his personality Try it again Dutch them way from the part about the roses. Okay, what a day to be tied up, too Okay, yeah, I'll read me the speech about the pansy beds Oh You mean I gotta put it on that thing again. Yeah, I don't know how many times I told you to bring some Spray home and that isn't all the snails out into the pansy beds I'm sorry Cynthia. I forgot it again. I'll be sure to bring some spray home tonight I don't know what's got into you lately. I'm getting tired of your nagging after all these years Cynthia That's what's got into me all this picking and jabbing is getting on my nerves now if you'll excuse me I'll go to work. Why Oliver? All right, Cynthia. I'm sorry Yeah, what's wrong with that? Oh nothing. You're in a wrong racket, boss. It's private It is perfect that you don't stop there at every spare moment You're studying up on the hardware business Learning the details of Oliver's financial dealings from the confidential reports Dutch brought you and Mike has been busy, too With a movie camera Photographing Oliver from an automobile parked across the street from the hardware store While he stands innocently on a street corner as Oliver hurries off to lunch You study the pictures carefully Eddie capturing his walk his nervous little mannerisms But there's still something missing You know practically nothing about his friends and neighbors the people they play bridge with on Thursday nights The members of Oliver's large the things you'll have to know about He worries you doesn't it Eddie And then all of a sudden you get another big break One afternoon as you're bending over your books Mike comes into the room Well, Eddie, I hope you can get by on the records. We already made why there ain't gonna be no more What's the matter machine break down since the left town last night on the 1115 train going to visit our mothers, huh? Right Oliver telling the guy next door Can't make records if you got nowhere to talk to yeah tough break, huh? No, not exactly. What do you mean Mike? Did anyone except Mrs. Littlefield see you the day you came to repair the phone? You sure yeah, why did you find yourself a camera a speed graphic like the newspapers use what's that got it but you find one Okay, get one and buy yourself a new suit, huh tomorrow night You're gonna call an Oliver you're from snap the photo magazine And you're assigned to do a story on the typical American citizen the average guy lives in the suburbs What he does in his spare time at home whose friends are what they do his hobbies the clubs he belongs to you know regular feature story and The guy the committee selected is the average citizen is Oliver Now see here mr. Dickinson. I don't know a little feel. There'll be nothing to it Well, you've come into rather bad time. My wife is away We can get pictures of her later, mr. Littlefield, and of course you'll get the usual fee of five hundred dollars Five hundred dollars. Yep. I can spend the afternoon with you here on the interview and tonight We'd like to have a little party for you at the magazine's expense, of course We can invite all your friends and take pictures you'll get yourself a lot of nice publicity Bring a lot of good in the hardware business How did you know I was in the hardware business? We went into that before you were selected always check up a little before we decide well Um, how about it mr. Littlefield? Well, I don't really want publicity, but but you could use the five hundred Yes as a matter of fact, I could good. I knew you'd be a sport now Suppose we get down to business, huh? First I'll get a list of all your relatives where they live and what they do that kind of stuff and then we'll check up Mrs. Lake live down the street a few doors two to two eight you could that is known the Littlefields Well ever since they came here in 1927 Oliver was working for the gross department store in the hardware department and my husband clam He was in the men's ready to wear My name is Barton pastured the Congregational Church Oliver's been a member for more than 10 years I'm his aunt Sarah. I guess when you get right down to it. I'm his only living blood relative There it is Eddie everything you need right there in the book complete with photographs You were right weren't you in a matter of 10 days? You've learned more about Oliver Littlefield and he knows himself And it's not too soon Hey Hey, you you've seen the papers. What's the matter look? Eddie Steckel's fugitive from justice. They record your band when this come out by an hour ago. Yeah, that's okay Where's Mike he's coming did he give Oliver the 500 bucks? No, no, he stole him off So he'd have a check for him tonight. The guy's getting smart beginning to think for himself We better get it over with Eddie It don't look so good, huh? But the neighborhood's full of patrol cars. Maybe somebody called a magazine or was it something you get the jitters Huh? When Mike came out of Oliver's house tonight He says there was a guy standing across the street that he could have swore was a plainclothes dick Well forget it. We got to take a chance. It's tonight or not at all Call Oliver and tell him we'll be around about eight o'clock to pay him off Which way Eddie take the next road to the right that's it up there by the sign see here What's this all about? I haven't done anything shut up ball of earth. Just keep your hands up. That's all that's better Around to the right How far ready anyway along here? It's okay. Yeah, sure. I know what you're going to do. You're going to kill me. Listen. Let me experiment Come on Oliver Eddie yeah, right behind you. He's all yours very no, please don't kill me Nice work. No Mike not Eddie Oliver little field remember The whistler will return in just a moment with a strange ending to tonight's story But first a word about the 248 people who were killed in auto accidents over the Christmas holiday Reports already indicate that tonight's total will be even higher Driving conditions are not good. Cars are old many people are at the wheel tonight who should not be if You don't absolutely have to go out tonight. Don't but if you must drive take it easy I know that with new signal gasoline in your tank There's great temptation to step on the accelerator, but don't tonight. Keep the speed down Keep a sharp eye on the other drivers and the pedestrians You see your signal dealer isn't only interested in your business because he's your neighbor and your friend He's also interested in you. That's why he's asked me to bring you this message So that one of tonight's auto accidents may not mar the happy new year Which all of us in the signal organization? Hope will be yours And now back to the whistler Yes, Eddie It was a miracle that sent Oliver little field to you at the exact moment when you could use him best And you knew how to make the most of it, didn't you? You've already decided what's going to happen from here on How you'll suddenly disappear from will mount one fine morning without telling anyone where you're going? There'll be gossip about Oliver little field finally wearying of his nagging wife But after a month or so it'll die down South America the Pacific Coast Canada there's lots of opportunity isn't there Eddie plenty of room for the smart ones? You abandon the car Eddie Steckel's car on the highway and hitch a ride back to town Outside of a slight pinch in the shoulders Oliver's gray tweed suit fits perfectly Almost as well as your clothes fit him back there in the trees on that side road It's 11 o'clock. Would you finally get back? To one to one for a Euclid Avenue and fit Oliver's key in the lock on the front door Is it like switch the way over the door? Oh, are you why Oliver? Don't you know me? Oh? Oh, I'm sorry. Of course. I sure you know me, Oliver Your wife wanted some work done in the garden. She called Oh, oh, yes And there was something else fading You didn't know about that Here I my name is for toy from headquarters What do you mean? You didn't know about the spading sheet ordered in the back of the yard Or you wouldn't have buried her there the day before that buried it sure You shouldn't have killed her with arsenic Oliver Too easy to find in a post mortem That's it put down that gun yeah packing a gun Who would have thought it of a punk like Oliver little field next Monday at 9 o'clock the whistler will bring you another strange tale The whistler is broadcast for your entertainment by the marketers of signal gasoline and motor oil and fine quality automotive accessories And by your neighborhood signal dealer This program produced by George W. Allen with tonight's story by Harold Swanton and Charles Smith Music by Wilbur Hatch is transmitted to our troops overseas by the armed forces radio service Is your signal for the signal oil program the whistler? This is Marvin Miller speaking reminding you to look for those familiar yellow and black circle signs That identify those popular signal oil stations in seven western states from Canada to Mexico CBS the Columbia Broadcasting System