 Inner Sanctum Mysteries Good evening, and welcome once again, friend of the Inner Sanctum. Don't hesitate, come right in. Once you get used to these grim surroundings, you'll never leave. Nobody ever does. Once you're in, you're out. This is the kind of place that grips you. The kind of place where the bars hold and no holds are barred. So, come right in. Your only ticket of admission is your promise not to tell anybody about anything you may happen to hear tonight. Brent, what a coincidence meeting you here at the post office. Yeah, gotta mail a package. Yeah, so do I. Hey, our packages are identical. That is a coincidence. Yeah. Same size, same kind of fiberboard boxes. Even the same reinforced wrapping tape. Well, I'm mailing something fragile. Oh. You should see the cushioning. Now, that's a coincidence. I'm mailing something fragile too. Two very rare unicorn lamps. I wrapped each one separately. Hey, it wasn't easy with those horns. Let me tell you. Unicorn lamps? Yeah. I'm mailing unicorn lamps to a special someone in Cleveland. Cleveland? Now, that's really a coincidence. I thought Katie was going to be the only one in Cleveland with unicorn lamps. Katie, yeah. Did you say Katie? Yeah. Talk about coincidence. Whatever your package, wherever you mail it, remember the three C's of good packing. Appropriate container, proper cushioning, secure closure. For more information, contact your military postal service. And now for tonight's tale. Lady with a plan. Written especially for Inner Sanctum by Michael Sklar and Richard Manoff. And starring Elsbeth Eric. It concerns a lady living in strange confinement and her fiendish scheme for escape. Moore Penitentiary is a sprawling mass of grey granite on a deserted landscape. To this grim and forbidding place has come a man with a purpose to visit with Gladys Cross. He's a newspaper writer and she is tomorrow's feature story. It's not a pretty story. I'll tell it right from the beginning. I'm no stranger to Moore Prison. I was a bride when I first came here. Wife of the Walkman. First lady of Moore Prison. What a laugh. It was a strictly business proposition. Edward got a wife and I got security and what I thought was a convenient way of life. But after two years of living like a prisoner in a house that was inside the walls of the jail with a man who was 15 years older than I was, I'd had enough. But Edward had other ideas. Divorce. You don't mean a word of it, Gladys. Stop telling me what I mean. Will you give me a divorce? When you're feeling less excited, we can discuss this sensibly. No, you can't put it off. I've had all I can take. I don't understand you, Gladys. I've been a model husband. Model husband? You've treated me the way you treat your prisoners. You don't beat them. You grind away at their nerves until their minds are so much mush. I'm getting out before it's too late. You're staying here with me where you belong. If you won't give me a divorce, I'll leave without it. Gladys, don't be a fool. No matter where you go, I'll bring you back. And I don't want to hurt you. You can't threaten me. Not you, my dear. I'm thinking of him. How do you... What are you talking about? Well, there is a man. You're inhuman. No, dear. Just a model husband. Trying to keep his home intact. There was another man. Stephen Romley and I are in love. Drawn together by a hate for more prison. Stephen was the assistant warden. I got word to him that I had to see him. To meet me that night at our secret rendezvous. A deserted side road, two miles from the prison. When I got there in my car soon after dark, I didn't have long to wait. Stephen? Yes, Gladys? I came as fast as I could. You're getting the car so we can talk. Something is wrong. I spoke to Edward this afternoon. He refused the divorce. And he threatened me if I left. He suspects there's someone else. What? He doesn't suspect it's me. Who's his assistant? He'd never suspect you. He will eventually. We've got to get away. But Edward threatened me. Edward, Edward, look ahead, Gladys. You know what'll happen? You've seen it happen to the prisoners. You'll snap your nerves. We'll give way. You'll break your... Stephen, stop it. You know there's no way out. There is. If you are game. I know what you're thinking, but that's impossible. We could never get away with it. If we could, would you do it? Tell me how. He breaks. Brings the life. You haven't transferred to work in the laundry. I signed to handle your stuff when you bring it down. What are you getting at? Bucky hates the warden worse than you do. Given half the chance, he'd strangle him in a second. I'll talk to him. Begin to feel sorry for him. Let him think you want to help him make a break. Then what? Then all we've got to do is give him the chance to use his hands on Edward. For two hours we talked. By the time we parted our plan had been worked out in detail. It was a plan for murder. Murder with clean hands. The next morning I took my soiled linens and drove across the prison yard to the laundry. Bucky Briggs came out to the car. He didn't even look up at me. Where is he? In the back of the car. Here, let me open the door. I've heard quite a bit about you, Briggs. You want to take your fresh stuff home? I don't really believe what they say. Look, lady, the warden needles me enough. I don't have to take it from you, too, C. Well, I don't know what you mean. You want your fresh laundry, don't you? In a minute. I just want you to know that I'm interested in your case. So is your husband. Get your laundry now. All right, Bucky. The seed was planted. All it needed was time. I began to plan the visits to the laundry in advance. The remarks I would use stopped intimately and at close quarters out of the year a shot of others. And after a month, it came like the fulfillment to a patient prayer. I was at the laundry waiting for Bucky to bring my clean stuff to the car. He came out, stepped into the car, took a quick glance around and suddenly stepped close to me. It's up to you, baby. Get me out of here and then it'll be you and me all the way. I've got it all figured out, Bucky. You don't waste time, beautiful. Give me the dope. Tomorrow, when I come back, be ready. Check. I'll get way to some friends to pick me up on the outside. Just one more thing. My husband. It'll be a pleasure, baby. I made a final check with Steven and then everything was set. I was sitting in the car the next day when Bucky came out. I reached over the front seat and opened a rear door for him. Get in, Bucky. Stay down. It's been fixed. The guard's busy on the other side. Where are we going? To the house. What about the what? He's in town today. Stop asking so many questions. Okay, baby. This is your show. Just make it good. This is the back of the house. Another stolen site. Now follow me out, hurry. Let's just sell our door. Open it, Bucky. Right. I've been hiding there. You may have a long wait. I've got patience, baby. I've been waiting two years for this. When it's clear, I'll call you. Three bangs on the steam pipe. I get you. That's when I take over. Our room is directly overhead on the second floor. Checking. All right, Bucky. Get in the bin. Well done, baby. It's not where to say goodbye. What? I like them personal. Like this. No, not now, Bucky. More like it. Something to remember you by. Edward returned an hour later. I was pottering around the dinner table too jittery to sit and wait for the commotion to break. And then quicker than I expected, it happened. Sarn. That must be the break. I know they can't get away with a break here. Hello. What the devil's happened? Breaks. Former searching party. Wait for me. I'm coming over. Rich is broken out. Any sign of how he did it? Nobody won't get far. I'll find him. And what I do, I'll break him for good. You show them. But instead of listening to that alarm, you should have paid more attention to that wife of yours. Because that siren is cooking up something that will be a real scream. Please. Help me. Most of us wouldn't think twice about answering a plea like that. We'd help save a life in an emergency, even if it were a total stranger. I'm hit. Nobody give me a medic. And if we can't depend on our buddies in time of need, who can we count on? But how do you help out when you don't know that there's an emergency? How can you meet a need you don't know about? One sure way is by giving blood to the Armed Services Blood Program, where your blood can help save someone's life. That's because the Armed Services Blood Program is the primary source of blood for military hospitals. And they need regular donations from us and our families. So contact your blood bank or the lab at your medical treatment facility. Be a life saver through the Armed Services Blood Program. And remember, their supply is our supply. The Roberts. They gave us a toaster. Joanne and Ed. Toaster. Mrs. Perez. Toaster. When you're looking for the perfect gift for any occasion, don't forget about U.S. savings bonds. A bond is the gift that keeps giving because it pays competitive rates when held for at least five years and will continue to earn interest for up to 30 years. Bill and Martha. Toaster. Oh, here Aunt Libby. A hot toaster. Oven. Ooh, the Philips. Toaster. U.S. savings bonds because unlike many gifts, you can never have too many bonds. Contact your finance office for more information. And now, back to our lady with the plan. And what a plan. Her husband, Warden Cross of Moor Penitentiary, is searching for Bucky Briggs in escaped convict. But Gladys has hidden Bucky on the cellar of the house. He's waiting there now to kill the warden. And Gladys, she's waiting too. For murder. I went up to bed after Edward left and lay there tense. The sirens had stopped. For hours there was dead quiet everywhere. And close to midnight I heard the door open downstairs. It was Edward. I could tell from his footsteps that he was tired. He was seated. I lay perfectly still, waiting for him to come in. Gladys? Yes? You're up? Yes. By the way, incredible. By the way, no one knows how. I didn't answer. He was a different person, harried, shaken. I watched him as he undressed. He looked suddenly older than ever. And I felt a thickening repulsion. It ejected. Practically it would come. I lay perfectly still as he slept in the bed. And fell off to sleep. He was about to sleep now. I reached down over the side of the bed for my shoe. And saw they tapped his heel against the steam pipe. Edward looked still asleep. I lay back and waited. Slowly, slowly. And Bucky Silhouette stood out lying in the house right from the hall. He moved quietly into the room right passing. In a moment his big hulking figure looking more guerrilla-like than ever stood towering over Edward's bed. I saw his hands reach out cautiously before Edward, but just a moment too late. Who is it? Get away from me. Get away. This is the pay-off one. Edward was awake. And like a flashing pistol out of Bucky's reach, I sat there paralyzed as he broke the floor. Edward tried to tear Bucky's hands when he approached. And Bucky held on tight to her. Tightened, digging his fingers deeper into the soft, flashing as the bed was soaked. That is not what happened, say. I didn't move. I didn't sleep. And he understood. You'll never get away with this. Bucky, easy, baby, easy. One of the squeezers broke. Just like you wanted him. I want to see for myself. You don't have to. When I twist her, Nick, stays twisted. Dead? Get me out of here. There's a rope and a scathing hook behind the cellar door. Check. Stick close to the house until you reach the hedge and out across the south wall gate. Check. All right, I'll go. Thank you for getting something. What? Come here. Oh, please. Bucky, please. You've got to do this more often. I'm getting the light. Please, go. Okay. Just one thing. Remember, read two hours before you turn in the alarm. I'll be waiting for you out there. Goodbye, baby. As soon as he was gone, I glanced at my watch and followed the second hand around. Twice. Now I was ready. It's Mrs. Cross. Bucky Briggs was hiding in our cellar all the time. He's killed my husband. What? Do something before it's too late. Which way do you go? Toward the south wall. Right. I'll put the phone down. My part was over. The rest was up to Stephen in the main tower. I waited five seconds, ten seconds, twenty seconds, then all of a sudden it came like a million shrieking demons. From the window I saw the long fingers of the searchlights pointed at the south wall. And pin beneath the glaring lights was Bucky, frantically pulling his way up the rope. I watched as the bullets hit all around him, picking cups of powder off the stone wall. One of them had to find his mark. Bucky shut it. Briggs then caught himself. The hand he started up again fired. I hung up. Days. Now Bucky was out there waiting for me. A light. A machine gun. Now that I double caught him. And he was waiting out there to kill me. The next week was a nightmare. The next funeral, the messages of condolence. No chance to see Stephen alone. And then one night a week later he came to me. Nervous, worried. We messed it up, Gladys. No trace of Briggs, which means he's alive and out there. That's not so safe for you. But we're safe here. Of course, Gladys. We just happened to be leaving here. Oh no, Stephen, I'm not going. That's impossible. The new warden's arriving next Tuesday morning. Oh. I haven't thought of that. Gladys, even if you could stay on, I'd argue against it. But what about Briggs? It's a big world out there, remember? Look at Lost and a Q&A. So Lost, no one will ever find us. Not even Briggs. Say you'll go. Well, I have no choice, I suppose. Good girl. Now listen, you've got it all figured out. A resignation as in takes effect next Tuesday night. Tuesday morning you take the train to New York and head straight for the Hotel Empress. Don't budge out of your room. You're on leave, okay? You're not listening. I was thinking of something. What? Something Edward said when he died. Hmm? You'll never get away with this. Tuesday morning I was on the train to New York. It was a short, pleasant trip. And my fears began to disappear. Once I reached the crowds of Grand Central Station, I knew I'd be safe. I threaded my way through the crowd. Just one of thousands of people. And suddenly there was a hand on my shoulder. Hello, baby. Bucky. What are you doing here? How did you find me? I've been waiting for you, baby, like I said. I got friends back there. The great point tipped me off when you was leaving and here I am. But I... The bullets... It takes a lot to stop me. Come on, let's get out of here before some fools bust me. Wait, Bucky, just give me a minute. I've got to call my hotel to hold my room for me. Can't it wait? Well, if I don't call, they'll cancel it. Okay, but only a minute. Make it call over there so I can keep my eye on you, sweetheart. I don't want to lose you. Bucky had nodded toward a drugstore. It was a slim chance, but it was better than I'd expected. I entered the store, made a quick dash for the other door. I flung it open and raced madly toward the taxi stand. Over my shoulder, I caught a glimpse of Bucky. He'd seen me. Hey, wait a minute. I ran to the cab and jumped in. Hotel Empress in a hurry and lose that cab behind us. Okay, lady, this is the Empress. We shook that other cab. I headed toward the entrance. Just as I entered, I caught a quick glimpse of a cab pulling up to the curb, but I couldn't stop to see. I rushed into the hotel, up to my room and locked myself in. Before I even had time to sink the phone rang. Hello? Hello, Mrs. Cross. I just had a gentleman up to see you. I banged the receiver down. So it was Bucky in that cab. I had to get out. There was only one elevator and I couldn't try the stairs because I didn't know which Bucky would use. I had only one way out, the desperate way, and I decided to take it. I unlocked the door. I turned off the light, and I took a pair of scissors from my handbag and waited behind the door. I wasn't a moment too soon. Knock, knock, knock, knock. Come in. I kept the wall behind the door and watched it open slowly. Then leaping forward, I plunged the scissors into his back. Oh! Uh-oh! This is me, Stephen. Stephen! I... What? I was surprised. Why didn't you phone? It's... You haven't arrived yet. Oh, Stephen. Surprised to see me, huh? Hey, who's that? I've done him in. Nice work, baby, but why did Chase? I had to run. I understand. This crew was following you. Thought you would lead him to me. Yes. Well, you did right, baby, but... Let's get out of here. No! You've got no choice. Come on. Let go of me! Shut up, you're in the whole hotel. Don't drive me. Come on, baby, or I'll break you. Get away from me. Come on. What's going on in you? The hostage. I'm getting out of here. Can't we are both of you? Look at that guy on the floor. He ain't going anywhere for a long time. I'll see you. Here. There's no toy. Neither is there. Oh! My hand! Now, let's get going. There isn't much more to tell. You were at the trial. You know the rest. I'm back at more prisons for good. There's a real prison at this time. Bucky? He's got a few hours before they take him to the chair. Mrs. Cross? What is it? Bucky Briggs is just outside the cell. He's due to go on 15 minutes. He wants to talk to you before he goes. To me? Yes. All right. It doesn't matter anymore. Briggs, it's okay. Wait a minute, Bucky. I'm registered, sir. Hello, baby. I don't have anything to say to you. But I've got something I want to ask you before. It's bothered me ever since I was nabbed. All right, Art. Why didn't you leave when I asked you to, if I could have a hotel room? Why? You were mad when I bought it. As if you didn't know. Know what? If I went with you, I knew it was the end for me. What are you talking about? You wanted to kill me. Me? Kill you? If we get out... Stop that, Bucky. It doesn't make any difference now. All right. So I double-crossed you when I do it. I called the tower exactly two minutes after you left. What? That's how they picked me up so fast. I thought you knew. What a sad one. What a sad one. You dirty double-crosser. Bucky, keep away. Double-crosser. Double-crosser. Double-crosser. Double-crosser. Get your hand off of him. Break her neck. Let her go. Break it. All right, shoot. Too late, screw. He's dead. A broken neck. It don't make no difference. Can't kill me twice. Are there's a nice, gentle character that's Bucky? Just a little too restless with his hand. So here and now I'm starting a new movement for Inner Sanctum Mystery. From now on our slogan should be when you grab a throat, stop and think, then stroke, don't choke. Before we say good night, friend, here's an epitaph for the tombstone of Gladys Cross. Here lies a good heart, rent a thunder. Thy man with a soul full of thunder. A sweetheart named Stephen tried to help her get even now they all live in peace six feet under. Oh, by the way, this month's Inner Sanctum Mystery novel is I Hate Blonde. Good night. Pleasant dream. Try Lipton's noodle soup and tune in next week for another Inner Sanctum Mystery. This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.