 Adventures by Morse, Carlton E. Morse, presents The City of the Dead, featuring Captain Friday. If you like high adventure, come with me. If you like the stealth of intrigue, come with me. If you like blood and thunder, come with me. Four o'clock on the morning of the third day in The City of the Dead. Four o'clock, the dead black hour just before dawn in this old abandoned cemetery. The night has already brought fear, mystery, and sinister implications. At midnight, Captain Friday and Jimmy Parker had slipped out of the caretaker's cottage, had picked up a trail of human bones, had finally come upon a ghoul digging in the grave of Ernie Morton. While Captain Friday and Jimmy were about this nocturnal business, old clothwood broke into the cottage, overpowered Dr. Tuner and frightened Phyllis Carroll into a fainting pit. But let Jimmy Parker tell what happened then. Well, first Captain Friday made me lie behind a gravestone while he approached the ghoul in the half of an open grave. It was too dark to see what was happening, but the next thing I knew there was a terrible silence. No sound from the grave, no sign of Captain Friday. I crept to the grave's edge and there was no one. The ghoul and Captain Friday had both vanished. Then I raced back to the cottage and found Phyllis just recovering consciousness and Dr. Tuner lying on the floor. Phyllis told me that old clothwood had broken into the cottage. I got quieted and was just bringing Dr. Tuner around when old Mayor Friday came in. He accused me of doing away with his son, Captain Friday. And then suddenly I saw in his vest pocket a gold pencil. A pencil that his son had in his pocket when we left the cottage. His son's pencil in his pocket and fresh earth on the knees of his trousers. If anybody had done away with Captain Friday, it was his own father. And I said so right out in meeting. Why you, you young whippersapper. Now then, Mayor, now now. But I tell you, Dr. Tuner. Just a minute, Mayor, now just a minute till we sort of get this straight. Well, I've got this thing straight all right. Now Parker, you keep stills who you're spoken to. Now let me sort of sum up this thing and see if we can't find out what's the matter here. Well, if any young squirt thinks he can accuse me of murder, he's... Oh, quit it, quit it. You're both on edge in saying things you don't mean. As far as I'm concerned, neither of you is a murderer. We don't even know if Captain Friday's dead. Well, he disappeared in a mighty queer way. Now, wait a minute. Before we go and might further, we're going to have a pot of black coffee. It's four o'clock and mighty black and miserable outside. Mayor, you go make the coffee. And Parker, you stir up the fire. Getting to might cold, peers like. I'm going to fix Miss Carol here so she'll rest easier. Party's all less foolish. You go along now, Mayor Friday, and do what I tell you. Well, you keep an eye on Parker. Now, take care of Parker. You go make the coffee. And Parker, you do what I tell you. Go rake up the coals and put fresh wood on the fire. Well, all right, but... Now, never mind about anything. Now, Parker, you go do as I say. All right. But I think Mayor Friday's got a guilty conscience. Well, now, isn't this a mess, Miss Carol? Well, I'm so mixed up, Dr. Tuner. I don't know what it's all about anymore. It is getting kind of complicated, isn't it? But you'll see, it'll come out all right. You don't think Jimmy killed Captain Friday, do you? Now, then, Jimmy Parker's a nice boy, Miss Carol. I don't reckon you've got much to worry about him. And Mayor Friday's such a grouchy old man. Now, now, Miss Carol, I reckon maybe you wouldn't say that if you'd known Mayor Friday as long time as I have. Now, then, you sort of shift over so I can straighten this sheet under you. Now, carefully that shoulder. Uh-oh, did we hurt you? It's all right. You've got your bed all torn up, shifting and turning. Now, that's better. Straighten the covers over your bed. If you need this extra blanket, you just sing out. How's it, pillow? It's very comfortable. Thank you, Dr. Tuner. Good. Now, I'm going to fix you up a real strong bit of sleeping medicine. Then, when you've had your hot drink, you're going to get hot milk, get a coffee. You just slip off to sleep before you know it. Oh, Mayor. What do you want? Warm up a glass of milk for Miss Carol while you're about it. All right. There. That's a fire that'll last until morning. Good. Here, Parker, hold his spoon for me. There. Now, I'll take it. Bring that glass of water from the table with you. Now, Miss Carol, you just swallow this spoon full of mixture and then take a drink of water. Is it very bad? I'm not very good at taking medicine. I don't reckon you'll even taste it. Here you go now. Jimmy, give me that water quick. Here, Phil. Not too bad, was it, Miss Carol? Well, I've taken things I liked a lot better. Here's the coffee and the hot milk. All right. All right, Miss Carol. Now, you sip this glass of milk while we're drinking our coffee. Let's stop this monkey business and get back to important matters. Now, Mayor, I was just thinking that none of us ain't quite so belligerent as we were a few minutes ago. Well... So, I thought I'd sort of act as pacifier and sum up everything. Is that all right with the rest of you? Yeah. All right with me. Go ahead, Doc. Now, this is the thing as I see it. Captain Friday and Parker went out of the cottage when they heard old clawfoot mucking around. Before he went out, the captain locked you in the bedroom, Mayor, said he didn't want to awaken you. Then he and Parker went out to the shed in back where they'd laid out that skeleton. And lo and behold, the skeleton was gone. But the skeleton had come apart and left a trail of bones. Captain Friday and Parker here followed this trail and found that it led down to Ernie Morton's grave. Well, get along. Get along, Doc. We all know about that. Well, I reckon I'll have to tell this my own way, Mayor. Now then, when they got down to the grave, blamed if there wasn't someone digging in it. That's what Parker says. Yes. So he and the captain dropped down behind a tombstone and then Captain Friday insisted on creeping out to the grave alone. Well, Parker waited. When he didn't hear any sound, he peeked out and there wasn't a soul any place. That all right, Parker? Yeah. Sounds dead burn funny to me. Well, never mind, Mayor. Well, back up here at the cottage, me and Miss Carol were having our own trouble. Old Clawfoot broke in, clumped me over the head and Miss Carol fainted. And I'm getting a little ahead of my story. We got scared when we heard Old Clawfoot and I broke into your bedroom door and there wasn't hiding her hair of you. We're still wondering, Mayor, how you got out of that room with the door locked and the windows barred the way they are. Go on at your story, Doc. Oh, yes, we're going to keep on wondering. Well, and then we don't know what Old Clawfoot wanted in the cottage here because he'd left before Miss Carol came to. What about the black pearl? Now, I'm coming to that, Parker. It seems that just as Miss Carol came to, Parker here ran into the house, saw how things was, quieted Miss Carol and brought me to. And then he announced that Captain Friday had vanished at Old Ernie Morton's grave. We were all pretty worried. Mayor Friday had vanished and so had his son. And then who should walk in on us but the mayor himself? Ain't you never coming to the party, Doc? I'm getting there, Mayor. I'm getting there. The thing is, you accuse Parker of doing away with your son. Then right on that, I happened to reach under Miss Carol's pillow to sort of straighten it out for her. And what do I pull out but one of the black pearls? One of the Theodore Beverly black pearls. Supposed to be buried somewhere in the city of the dead. Old Clawfoot left it, I tell you. Now, Parker here claims that Clawfoot left the pearl when he raided the place. Mayor Friday thinks that his son and Parker discovered the hiding place of the pearls and Parker killed Captain Friday so he could have the loot for himself. The mayor thinks that after doing away with the captain, Parker brought one of the pearls here to show Miss Carol and then hid it under her pillow. Parker denies this and so does Miss Carol. Don't you, Miss Carol? You know, the sleeping mixtures worked. He's gone off like a lamb. Well, that's good. She needs the rest. Poor little fellas. Well, to go on with our story, suddenly Parker here lets out a yell and says he reckons that Mayor himself knows what became of Captain Friday. He points to a gold pencil in the mayor's best pocket and he says it belonged to Captain Friday. He had it with him when they went out of the house together earlier this evening. Likewise, he points out that the mayor has fresh earth on the knees of his trousers. Now that's how things stack up to this point. Is that right? That's right. Well, what do you got to say to Parker's accusations, Mayor? Nothing, except that the boy is a lunatic. Well, Mayor, aren't you going to explain how you came by your son's pencil? It is the Captain's pencil, isn't it? Yes, I reckon. Well, aren't you going to tell us how you got it, Mayor? Don't mind. Parker's simply mistaken. My son loaned me the pencil this morning and I forgot to return it. That's all. You mean the Captain didn't have the pencil when he went out this evening? That's what I'm saying, Doc. That's not the truth and you know it's not. Are you calling me a liar, Parker? What do you mean, Doc? I mean, Mayor, that I was using that gold pencil myself just before we went to bed tonight. And I returned it to Captain Friday along about 10 o'clock. You couldn't have had it, Mayor. Well, what about it, Mayor? Oh, I must have two gold pencils in. I see. You still stick to your story then. Of course. Why shouldn't I? It's the truth. Well, what about the earth on your trousers? I was down on my knees several times last night. But that's freshly dug earth. Mayor Friday? Quite a detective, ain't you, Parker? What about the black pearl, Dr. Tuner? You're not going to let Mayor Friday keep that. It doesn't belong to him. It's part of Phyllis' estate. Oh, I reckon the mayor will take good care of it, Parker. I'd rather have you keep it, Dr. Tuner. Don't be a fool, boy. The pearls are safe with Mayor Friday as it is with me. Well, come on, Parker. There's been enough foolishness. What do you mean? You heard me say I was going to lock you up, didn't you? Yeah, but look here. The phantom church bells ringing again, Mayor. What of it? I'm getting so used to it, I don't pay no attention to it no more. Just the same. It's ringing and I don't like it. Anyway, that don't affect you, Parker. Come on. No, Mayor. Be sort of reasonable. You leave me be, Doc. I know what I'm about. Well, where are you going to put him, Mayor? There aren't many good lock-up places left in this house. Put him in his bedroom, of course. You don't reckon that it helped much since the fellow sawed the bars off his window the other night? And I'll put him in the girl's room. Sorry, Mayor, but I've busted in the door, as you can see. Well, what in tarnation will I do with him, then? Now, look here, Mayor, let the boy alone. He ain't going to run off while the girl's sick of bed here. I ain't so much of fear of his running away. Well, what is he then? He's liable to treat the rest of us just as he'd done my son. Now, now, Mayor, you don't believe young Parker here killed the captain. You know you don't believe that. Listen. There's the claw for it. Nasty brute. He drools and sucks his teeth all the while. I saw that much before he knocked me out. I wouldn't mind the whole business half so much if it wasn't for him. It makes my flesh creep. How was he dressed, Dr. Tuner? Did he still have on those flowing white robes? I reckon he had his robe on all right, Parker. And his bare, hairy shanks were sticking out below. Bare, eh? Do you notice his feet, Doc? Did you see if he did have claw feet? No, Mayor. I reckon I was too busy watching the knife in his hand to pay much attention to his feet. The bell? That phantom church bell? Yeah, it seemed to be an almighty lot of action down in the city of the dead tonight. Though whoever heard of corpses rising from their graves at four o'clock in the morning. Dark as the inside of a cow. Did you hear that? Hear what, Parker? I heard footsteps on the porch. Listen. Old phantom company of the old abandoned graveyard seems to be rising up at this dark hour to take part in the mystery of the city of the dead. The phantom church bell tolls. Old clothwood wails among the tombstones. And now the approach of stealthy footsteps outside the cottage. If the sinister figure of violence is coming. But, wait. Now, who in the tongue can't see a thing out the window? Darker in pitch black. Reckon it's claw foot, Mayor. How should I know? Not unless he's put on shoes. Listen, what's he doing anyway patrolling our front porch? Hey, you carrying a gun, Mayor? I sure am, and I'm going to throw open the door. Now be careful, Mayor. You got a light to your back. He's got you at a disadvantage. Put out the light. The light from the fireplace is just as bad. Well, I'm going to chance it. Nelson out here, Doc. It was just as well, Mayor. Come on back in and shut the door. Dang funny. There must have been something out there besides just them foot steps. Of course there was, but... Listen, there they are again. Strange. Well, claw foot never pulled anything like this before. I still want to know when he put on shoes. Of course it's claw foot. Who else could it be? I don't know. Besides, claw foot always wailed before when he was around. And we heard wailing back a bit. But that was way off. You haven't heard a sound since the foot steps began. Listen. Now I'm going to find out about this, Doc. Now wait a minute, Mayor. I wouldn't go out there again. Of course I'm going out. Here. Give me that flashlight. If you're going out, Mayor, so am I. Well, come on. Nobody's keeping you. Just the same. I think we hadn't ought to go. Do as you like. I'm going. Soon as you touch that latch, the foot steps stop. You see anything, Mayor? No. The porch is empty. Hello. Look there, Doc. A sack of something. Now where did that come from, you suppose? I reckon our visitor left it for us. A gunny sack of something or other. Tanks are very heavy. No, tied up. What do you suppose it is? Come on, Mayor, bring it into the house. What have you got there, Mayor? Shut the door, will you, Doc. On this sack out on the porch just now, Parker. Put the chain on, Doc. Say, you suppose it's the rest of the black pearls? Jiggers, Mayor. Hand me the knife on the table there, Doc. We'll soon find out. If it is the pearls, remember they belong to Phyllis and no one else. You stand back, young fella. This is none of your affair. It is my affair. I'm here to see that Phyllis gets what's coming to her. You'll both get what's coming to you before this thing settles. I reckon you two better stop there than at each other. Mayor, go on. Cut that sack open. Then make him stand back. Come on, Parker. Be a sensible chap. Well, I'm going to see what's in that sack. What is it, Mayor? What's in the sack? If I ever catch the fellow that does this... A sack of bones. A skeleton. Our skeleton's back with us again. Somebody is playing tricks on me, and I ain't going to have it. But look, not there on its neck. It's back with another message. Jiminy, Mayor. Look there. Printed just like the other one. Hmm. Listen to this. For 20 years, I've been resting uneasy in the grave of Theodore Beverly because it is not my grave and I do not belong in it. The bones that belong in Theodore Beverly's grave lie at this moment in the burned ruins of Lammy Fink's cabin. What's that, Doc? That's what it says. What does it mean? I reckon it means, for one thing, that Theodore Beverly is dead. I'm glad to know that, anyway. Glad? What do you mean by that, Parker? Well, to tell the truth, Dr. Tuna, I've had a hunch all along that old clothwood might be Phyllis's grandfather, Theodore Beverly. You know, come to think about it, I reckon I've had about to say my idea in the back of my mind. What have been terrible for Phyllis? They've never known for sure whether her grandfather was dead. Now, wait a minute. Hold on just a minute. I wonder if this message means that one of them three bodies that was burned up in Lammy's cabin was that of old man Beverly. I don't see how it could be. We know the caretaker Lammy Fink and Parker here identified the others, Miss Carol's cousin, Bert Arnold. But there was a third body. No, no, that couldn't have been Theodore Beverly. It was too young a man. Then there must have been a fourth body in the cabin when it burned. Now, I swear there wasn't. And if this skeleton's telling the truth, Beverly must have been one of the three. And he wasn't. You know, we ain't under any obligations to believe these here messages from the grave, as it were. Somebody may be just sending them to throw us off the track. I don't believe it, Doctor. There's something behind these notes. Someone's trying to warn us about something. All fired up, unpleasant way of doing it. It's someone with a horrible morbid complex. I've read about people with queer fetishes, fixed ideas and all that. This looks to me like the work of someone with a graveyard complex, morbid fascination for skeletons. I reckon he's morbid all right, whoever he is. That bell's ringing more tonight than any time yet. Every time it's rung, something's happened. Oh, I reckon not every time, Parker. It seems like it. There. There, do you hear that? Clawfoot, eh? Yeah, didn't I tell you the bell rings and then Clawfoot begins to wail? I reckon that thing would wail bell or no bell. Well, just the same, that bell's getting on my nerves. I wish it would hurry and get light. Well, not for another half hour yet. Shh. What's the matter, Doctor Turner? I thought I heard something in your room, Parker. Listen. Oh, don't hear nothing, Doc. I reckon you was mistaken. Maybe so, Mayor, but I... I'm sure I heard something, no. But how could anyone get into my room? Somebody could climb in between those sawed-off bars on your window. What did it sound like, Doc? You remember I told you how Clawfoot snibbled and drooled? Yeah. Sounded just like that. Maybe Clawfoot is back in the house again. Listen. There's Clawfoot wailing outside. It can't be him. Well, likely it was my imagination. Yeah, I reckon it was, Doc. But just the same, I'm going to take a look in there. Well, I'll go along, just in case. Got the flashlight? Yes. Shall I come? No, I reckon two's enough. You stay with the girl. Are you coming? Yeah. It's got the mayor. It's got the mayor. Parker, come here. I saw it, Doc. Just as the mayor opened the door, I hand-reached out and jerked him into the bedroom. It slammed the door right in my face and locked it. You're sure the door's locked? Yes, of course I am. Do something. Do something. We've got to save him if we can. Break down the door. That's it. We'll have that chair. Stand back, Doc. Get away from the door. That's it. That's it. Harder, Parker. Here. Let me do it. Stand back. I almost got it that time. It's giving. It's giving. I hit her lower down. It can fill us. Turn your flash over there in the corner. Murder. No. No, he's not. Look, he's sitting up. Mayor. Mayor Friday. Who was it? What happened? He choked me. Are you all right, Mayor? Are you hurt? He tried to ring my neck. He helped me up. Who was it strangled you? How did he get away? I don't know. I knocked through the window when you started battering the door, whoever he was. Can you stand? Yes. I reckon so. You don't need me. I'm going to fill us. I'll bring the mayor. Jimmy. Jimmy, what's happened? What's the matter now? Fill us. I'll let you mustn't cry like that. I'm all right. Look, Phil, here I am. Jimmy, what was that noise? It wasn't anything, Phil. Really, it wasn't. Look. What's the matter with Mayor Friday? Why? He just slipped and hurt himself. Jimmy, you're not telling me the truth. Now, Miss Carol, don't you go to get an excited? All right. My neck feels as big as a barrel. Being strangled ain't no picnic. Strangled? Strangled? Did somebody try to strangle the mayor? Oh, Phil, please. Please, it wasn't anything. Really, it wasn't, Phil. Oh, no. Not anything. Not anything. Well, I reckon you won't say that when I tell you that fella got your precious black pearl. The pearl? What's that? You let him have the pearl, Mayor Friday? No, I didn't let him have it. He took it. Well, I swore on. Got it, did he? Went right through your pockets, did he, Mayor? Held me by the throat with one hand and lifted the pearl out of my vis pocket with the other. Who was it, Jimmy? Who did it? We don't know. Oh, I can't stand any more of this. Well, it wasn't clawfoot. We've been hearing him outside. Oh, no, it wasn't clawfoot. Look. He had on dark clothes. Dawn's beginning to break. Look, Phil, you can see it through the windows. Oh, I'm so glad. Just the same, I'd like to know who got a hold of that black pearl. How did the person know about it in the first place? None of us had a chance to talk with anyone on the outside since it was found. That's an idea, Parker. And more than that, how did this burglar know that the mayor had the pearl? There's something mighty queer here. Not a queer thing, such a thing. And another queer thing. In spite of the fact that Mayor Friday claims he was choked until his neck felt like a barrel and he could hardly breathe, have you noticed there wasn't a mark any place on his neck? Look here, Parker. I guess that's just about the limit. No, no, Mayor. You're an old medical man, Doctor. I ask you, does a mayor's neck look as though he'd been choked? Look, you blasted young smart-elich. You keep on sticking that snooty oars into other folks' business and watch what happens. You're afraid to let Doc examine your throat. You know as well as I do that you weren't choked. So does Doctor Tuner here. No, no, don't include me in your fracaches. Are you going to let Doctor Tuner examine you? If it means that Dad burned much, yes. I'll let him look at my neck. Come on out in the kitchen, Doc. Why out in the kitchen? Let him examine it right here in front of me. Look here. Who are you ordering around? Whose house is this? I guess we've just about got you cornered, Mayor. Nothing left to defend yourself with but a lot of hot air and bluster. No, but after all, Parker, both you and me saw that hand reach out and jerked the mayor into the bedroom. We both saw that. Maybe there was a hand. Maybe there really was someone in the bedroom. But if there was, a fellow was a friend of the mayor's. No, no, Parker, I wouldn't say that. Well, I wouldn't. I say it again. Maybe you're in on it, Doctor Tuner, and maybe you're not. But whether you are or not, Mayor Friday knows what it's all about. Thanks. I tried, Parker. I know a good many things. Too much for your own safety. Well, I've used my eyes and I can tell you, Mayor Friday, I've picked up a few things on my own. When the showdown comes, I'm not going to be tongue-tied either. Well, Jimmy, please, don't quarrel. I'm so tired I can't even cry anymore. I just lie here and ache. Poor little Phil. This has been an awful night for you. Rub your hand over my head, Jimmy. My face is so hot. Of course I will. Oh, that feels so good. Your hands are cool, Jimmy. So nice and cool. There, I'll try to relax. The church bell, Jimmy. Do you hear it? The phantom church bell. There, there, Phil, less. That medicine I gave her a while back is strong enough to put her to sleep again, Parker. I think she's drifting off. She's going back to sleep in spite of herself. Jimmy, dear. Yes, Phil? Jimmy, dear, will you please go to the window and see if it isn't almost light? I think I could go to sleep if it wasn't so dark. Of course, I'll go to the window. It should be getting light. The night is beginning to break up, Phil. It isn't near as dark as it was. I can see the shapes of trees down as far as the edge of the road. It's getting light. It's getting light. Now I can sleep. Oh, Jimmy, I'm so tired. Yes, in another 15 minutes, Dawn will be down here in the city of the dead. Parker, she's dropped off. She's going back to sleep. My gosh, Doc! Clawfoot's right outside the house. Clawfoot. Yes. Yes, I see him moving among the trees just as outlined, but I couldn't miss him. Where? Where? I don't see him. Watch over there by that big pine. See? See, do you see him? Yeah. Yes, I see him. Do you see him there? Sure. My gosh, Doc. Look. Look right behind him. Do you see it? Something's crawling after Clawfoot. Something's stalking Clawfoot. Watch. He's going to leap. It's a man. It's a man. He's got Clawfoot. He's got Clawfoot. Look, he's handling him like a baby. Can you see who it is? No. No, it's too dark. Look, he's got him gagged. He's picking him up on his arms. He's kidnapping Clawfoot. He's kidnapping Clawfoot. The story of Theodore Beverly's priceless black pearls is whirling into a great seething cauldron of sinister activity. Captain Friday vanishes. Old Clawfoot kidnapped. Old Mayor Friday lying right and left like a cornered pirate. And the Phantom church bell. Where is it? What makes it ring so persistently? All these get further explanation next week when Courtney Morse Productions brings you another episode in Adventures by Morse. Listen for chapter nine of The City of the Dead entitled The Trail of the Phantom Church Bell.