 a 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 and now the whistler's strange story so soon that music in his heart he heard a melody in the rustle of every leaf saw a song in the bend of every river a few years ago ted teamed up with lyric writer al wilson and now ted gray and al wilson formed one of the most successful songwriting combinations in the profession as ted played for the hundredth time his latest composition titled so soon his mood was one of major harmony except for one thing his partner for months his dislike for al wilson had been growing and now you almost hate him don't you ted you hate him because of his slow methodical pains taking rhyming his even disposition but most of all because you're almost certain he's captured the love of the only girl you ever truly cared for karen michael once your copyist and part-time secretarial helper now the head of her own publicity bureau hi ted sorry i'm late you're always late did you finish the lyrics yeah all but a couple of lines you've been playing around with him for three weeks i know but you knocked out a great tune this time kid and i want to be sure the lyrics are just as good as the tune that would be a novelty i don't know you've done all right with me i know a couple of composers who've done just as well and paid a lot less you're getting 50 percent of the royalties why reagan only gets 20 percent of the lyrics he writes for joe winslow's tunes well then why don't you get any reagan to write your lyrics he's under contract to winslow oh we got a contract to 50 percent remember and it's that or nothing any time you want to call off the whole thing well all you have to do is say so incidentally mentioning our contract reminds me of a change i want what kind of a change well that clause that if one of us dies the other gets complete ownership of all of our numbers how come you want that change all of a sudden neither of us has any near relatives nobody close enough to leave anything to well i expect to have a near relative soon a very near relative a wife who's the lucky girl karen karen yeah karen you're engaged well not yet but i'm going to ask her as soon as i say it and uh you think she'll say yes i think so you slay me out but so funny well i got news for you karen's gonna marry me funny she didn't say anything to me about that last night oh not so funny i asked her not to say anything until we got so soon rolling well i'll believe that when she tells me she'll tell you i'll she'll have a chance when she gets back from that publicity trip to seattle well that's all right with me meantime how about finishing those lyrics with karen out of town there's nothing to distract you and marsha wallace promised she'd sing in her opening at the club real week from saturday night if we finish it all right ted i'll try to finish it now i wish you would once we get the song going we can go into that contract thing only be a week of 10 days by that time karen ought to be back to that i'm not forgetting okay that's a deal good i'll drop by your place in a couple of days by then you ought to have the lyrics finished okay right as the door closes behind your partner you realize for the first time how much you really hate him how easy things would be for you if something happened to al you would be sole owner of all the songs you now own jointly wouldn't you ted and with al out of the way your certain karen would marry you in a moment then it hits you something must happen to al before karen returns and before your royalty contract is changed you're startled as you realize you're thinking of murder you've never even imagined yourself as a killer neither is anyone else have they ted no and you're certain they never will that's why you feel sure you can remove al and get away with it you think about it for a couple of days and then phone al oh well how are you coming on the lyrics for so soon oh i think i'll finish it tomorrow i only need one line i'm gonna stick here all day if i have to i won't even answer the phone good idea now let's see tomorrow is friday i'll take it out to lou late in the afternoon he'll get the lead sheet outside of the morning that'll give marsha time to learn it before roping at the club real plenty of time i think i'll have it tomorrow ted well hop to it kid phone me when it's finished when you hang up the phone you realize the time has arrived don't you ted you paste the floor of your apartment most of the night and by morning you're satisfied your plan will succeed at ten o'clock you pick up the phone again hi gracey ted gray hello ten is the boss in not yet how about frankie nobody here with me they're both tied up until after lunch about three three it is i'll run by al's place have lunch with him pick up the lyrics of so soon if he's finished them that'll make Lou real happy me too honey child see you around three because everyone believes you're the closest of friends you're certain you can kill al wilson and get away with it aren't you ted you won't make the mistake most criminals make prepare a perfect alibi make elaborate plans and then trip yourself no your alibi will actually be imperfect but you'll plan your day hour by hour your routine will be the average routine of a normal day yes your every action will be the very opposite of anyone planning a crime the simple audacity of your act will be your insurance of success you'll simply kill your partner as close to three o'clock as you can go straight from his apartment to central publishing where you'll wait your usual 20 minutes or more for lou when news of al's death breaks you will be as surprised and shocked as anyone you finish dressing eat a leisurely breakfast read the paper and then take step one in your plan three hours before you plan to kill him you drive over to the drugstore next door to al's apartment building around lunchtime hi mr. Adams oh hello ted just missed your partner al i was on my way to al you said he had to work all afternoon the lyrics to your new number well then i guess i'll take him to lunch huh give him strength for the job oh uh you better let me have a cotton of cigarettes too mr. adam yeah check well ted you now have at least one reputable witness who if needed will testify you are on the way to al's place to take him to lunch you leave the drugstore and just in case the drugist is watching you enter al's apartment building then walks straight through the downstairs hallway to the rear entrance you hurry down the alleyway to the boulevard where you've parked your car drive aimlessly for an hour or so then return to your own apartment building where you make certain another reputable witness will be able to testify that you were at home after your midday visit to al come in oh good afternoon mr. gray oh hello mrs. carter i uh i was just wondering if you might have a larger apartment vacant one with an extra bedroom well i will have on the first of the month do you have some friends no no al and i thought we might get more work done if we lived in the same place i just had lunch without oh this will be perfect for you two bachelors i can't show it to you right now oh that's all right it's all right i want out to see it anyway besides i've got a little copying to do then i've got to get out the central publishing i just wanted to make sure you had one we'll take a look at it sunday well ted your plans are now complete you have witnesses as to your whereabouts at two highly important times you paste the floor of your apartment watch the clock finally the minute arrives and at ten minutes before three you walk down the alleyway in the rear of al's apartment building hurry upstairs to the second floor oh hello ted come on in well how are you coming on that line i got it well let's hear it why must i end my dream so soon why get it why must i end my dream so soon well it's okay just can't figure out how it took you so long well you see karen and i don't want to talk about karen now well karen and forget karen for now oh look i'll take this lead sheet out to lew north right away he'll get it to marshal wallis okay ted uh look al i uh i had to skip lunch today uh have you got anything deep in the kitchen oh yeah there's some cheese and bread back there well that's enough for me but it isn't food you're after is it ted no you know exactly what you're looking for and you find it in a drawer of al's kitchen cabin the bread knife then you return to the living room find anything i found what i was looking for al what do you mean well what's the matter with you wait a minute listen to me ted it's done isn't it ted now you must be careful to establish the one important time factor of your day's activity you drive quickly to an outside phone booth half a block from central publishing operator hello police headquarters just a moment in quince pick up hello there's a there's a dead man in apartment 203 in the cheswell apartments i lost promise who is this who's talking that's something you'll never know sergeant going beautifully isn't it you've removed al wilson and you're certain you'll never be suspected aren't you it's all been time so smoothly within a minute after your call to the police from a public phone booth you're at the central publishing offices you planned things perfectly didn't you your innocent actions throughout the day your purchase of cigarettes before noon your inquiry about the apartment after lunch yes ted all that's required now is a quick finding of the body which of course your phone call is taking care of you're confident as you stroll into central publishing almost on time for your three o'clock appointment hello angel what's here always on time titty they call him no lose not here yet well that's all right how about old tenancy frankie he's here frankie yeah ted gray's here be right out hi ted how are you boy what you got oh just another moneymaker for central so soon yep so soon did you tell lou about it no you did 30 or 40 times come on back let's take a listen like it might go well is that the best you can say about it that's the best i can say about any song you'll never know how about getting a lead sheet on it right away would you frankie sure you know i put on that line i was having so much trouble with myself i saw him just before lunch he was still having trouble so i knocked it out myself why must i end my dream so soon you like it sounds all right well i'm glad you like it i'll pick up the lead sheets tomorrow huh okay you want it on the phone ted okay why all the excitement it's the police department okay take it easy i haven't robbed any banks about al al what's the matter with him i don't know the officer found out you were al's partner he wanted to know if you were here maybe he's had an accident accident oh no not out he's too careful hello yes yes what couldn't be murdered oh no uh no now i'll be right down al's dead al yeah cops say he was murdered you say you saw your partner this morning mr green yeah that's that's right lieutenant i got over there about about 1145 he was all right oh fine fine he was trying to finish the lyric to our latest number we needed only one line so we made a couple of sandwiches and ate them in the apartment and worked on it uh can you prove you were there at that time no i can't prove it but i think mr adam at the drug list will tell you i bought some cigarettes just before i went to al's i see how long were you in al's apartment oh not very long few minutes after we finished eating the line came to me and i went home typed out the complete lyric and took it to central publishing company you can prove this well no lieutenant after all i wasn't planning on having to account for my time but wait a minute i uh yeah i can prove i came back to my apartment after i had lunch with al i talked with mrs carter the apartment manager about a larger apartment well we'll check in your statement the important thing is uh where were you at three o'clock three o'clock uh central publishing yeah i uh i guess there's no way i can prove it unless the receptionist she would never die we'll question her of course oh you're not under suspicion mr gray and a modern anyone else i i realize that lieutenant but we do have to investigate every angle well thanks for your cooperation if we have any more questions we'll phone you and if i think of anything important i'll phone you anything i can do to help catch our killer will be a pleasure you return to your apartment certain you're beyond the slightest suspicion next day you phone central publishing learn that the police have double checked your statements and smile when you realize that gracy the receptionist verified that you were at central publishing at the time al wilson was killed two days later you'll receive a shock you phone corrin's office learned she returned from seattle the morning al was killed that she tried to phone you and then left for san diego the same evening you get her san diego address send her a telegram tell her to be sure and be back in time for marsha's opening at the club real the following saturday night finds the two of you sharing a table you know ted it seems well i don't know it was only last week that al told worry about it honey al and i both promised marsha she could sing at the minute we finished he wouldn't have it any other way believe me no i suppose not now look at me al was the closest friend i ever had we both agree that a well if anything ever happened to either one of us well the other go right ahead i know sure you do naturally you feel low honey being in love with al and no ted i was farmed of al but i'm surprised you thought that i thought you knew how i felt well you mean me correct let's talk about it some other time oh but i please ted well of course honey of course only i well you've made me happier than i've ever been ted yeah when did you tell me you finished that lyric why just after lunch the day i was killed the line just came to me why must i end my dream so soon look here's the original type written copy i got it back in the publish a couple of days ago he sent marsha a lead sheet ted uh-huh listen to me a minute now look honey we'll talk lady you're all excited now so am i another look you stay here catch things from our fun i'm going backstage to see marsha for a minute well do you mind no ted i don't mind good good i'll be right back after marsha finishes okay okay oh what's so amusing ted nothing's amusing honey only it's just like you said okay after what you told me a few minutes ago i'm sure everything's going to be okay from now on out you're certain you've won aren't you you have complete ownership of so soon and all the other songs fashioned by you and your late partner and you learned just a few moments ago that lovely karin mitchell the one woman you've ever really loved feels the same way about you standing in the wings of the semi dark stage your pulse quickens as the spotlight reaches marsha wallace and the orchestra goes into the introductory bars of so soon great didn't say did you oh i'm sorry come in i i was so excited i didn't notice that's all right ted this is lieutenant roberts homicide yeah we've met before well i knew marsha was going to slay him tonight but i didn't think she'd be arrested for it she won't be i call the police ted just after you went backstage you but why because you killed al wilson me are you crazy come in i was you it had to be you now look that new line you said you wrote by a messiah in my dreams so soon that was the tip off ted you said a little while ago you wrote that line right after lunch the day al was killed that's right i did you're lying ted when you handed me this typewritten copy a few minutes ago you told me the whole story that line wasn't even al's line it was mine it came to me about two o'clock the day al wilson was killed two hours after you say you saw al for the last time i typed it on my portable when i took it over to al you you went to al's apartment yes i called you earlier couldn't get you so i drove over to al well maybe i did lie about the song but that doesn't prove that i proves enough that i'm arresting you for the murder of al wilson mr great you see ted i reached al's apartment about 230 and left about a quarter of three the coroner says al was killed around three how maybe was in a three o'clock you were in al's apartment you had to be only two people besides me could have possibly known that line ted al wilson and the man who killed him will be back next week with another tale from his never-ending file this is the united states armed forces radio service