 Hello I hope I haven't kept you waiting. Yes, this is the crime club. I'm the librarian. Serenade McCard. Yes, we have that story for you. Come right over. You're here. Good. Take the easy chair by the window. Comfortable. The manuscript is on this shelf. Here it is. Serenade McCard. The very exciting story of a circus in which the last performance was given by death. Let's look at it under the reading lamp. It is two o'clock in the morning and on the outskirts of the town where the tents have been set up and the red and gold wagons moored. The circus is asleep. A succession of shadows in the moonlight. Quiet. Peaceful. Except for the occasional roar of protest that comes from the throat of Sultan, the untrained lion that Victor Parnell had vowed he would break. And except for the movements of two people, Louise Parnell and Roy Turner. Come on. Come on. There's the training tent. We'll never have to worry about Victor again when Sultan gets through with him tomorrow morning. What's the matter? Nothing. I dropped the bottle of glue. Did it break? No. God. Now listen, kid. You've got to pull yourself together. We'll never get another chance. I can't help it, Roy. I'm frightened. There's nothing to be afraid of. What if we should get caught? What if somebody should see us? I tell you, there's nothing to be afraid of. Jim Hartness and I, watchman. He doesn't get to this point till three o'clock. What suppose he should decide to change? I'll be sick while you relax. I'm the owner of the circus. I set up the schedule for him. Oh, I hate that feeling. He's going to be our best friend tomorrow. Come on. We're only about ten feet in the tent. The whole job won't take more than a couple of minutes. You know, it's murder, Roy. So? The idea of having Victor ripped a piece in by a lion... You want to get rid of him, don't you? I could ask him again to give me the board. Maybe if I keep after him. Duck into the tent. Roy. Roy, that... Get in there. That's Jim Hartness. Quiet. You said he wouldn't be here until three o'clock. He's going to see us and he's going to tell Victor. He mustn't see us. You've got to kill him. He mustn't see us. He didn't look in. Maybe he saw us. Maybe he recognized you and decided not to... Roy, let's forget about it. Are you one of your mind? He is. I've got a feeling it's not going to work out. Do you want to marry me? Oh, you know I do. Then let's not forget about it. Give me the key. The train key. The key, Louise. There's no other way. Not if we're going to get married, babe. All right. Hold the flashlight. I took this off his key ring while he was asleep. Good thing he was drunk tonight. Swing the light around. Now we get to work with this saw. The police are going to know it's murder, Roy. No chair comes apart in a lion trainer's hand, not even when it's caught. One leg off. Now we go to work on leg number two. They've got to be strong. The police will suspect me, Roy. They'll suspect Tom Doyle. He hasn't got a key to this cage. She was mad enough to steal it. Victor gave him the whip this afternoon for not feeding the cats on time. This is simple, kid. Two legs and a gluing job to go. And by noon tomorrow... You hear that, babe? That Sultan telling you that by noon tomorrow you'll be a widow. There's your wagon, Louise. I'm turning off here. All right, Roy. I'll bury this saw in the bottle of glue under the wagon that Tom Doyle's in. And we've got nothing to worry about. I hope you're right. I love you very much. Yeah. I don't have to tell you how I feel about you. Good night, Russia. Good night. You won't sleep. Be shut up. Good heavens. What did you expect to find? The Maharaja, the circus? I thought you were asleep. I was. Put the light on. I'm tired. I want to go to bed. And I feel like talking. Well, Louise, will I have to get up and put the light on? Or would you do it? I'll do it. It's better. Now, come here. Victor, whatever it is you want to say. Got it, Wade? You never ask Roy. Turn it away, do you? Of course, he's the boss. The guy who inherited the circus and doesn't know what to do with it. Well, he keeps busy going after my wife. Please. Did he tell you tonight how beautiful you are? I didn't see him. I heard Sulton kicking up a row, so I went down to see what's the matter. Sulton, will you? I'm telling you the truth. Well, what's the matter, Louise? You're usually a lot calmer than this. Well, I'm sick and tired of having you suspect every move I make. Since when? You can't turn your back on me without a word. Shut up. Shut up. Is Sulton getting on your nerves, too? I can't stand him all day and all night. The cat never sleeps. Victor, I want you to get rid of him. Sure. I'll kill him in the jungle. Kill him. Do anything, but get rid of him. He cost me a small fortune, Louise. I don't care. You've got other lions. Well, he'll be great for my new act. You'll never break him, Victor. That's one cat that'll never take orders from you. And I say he will. You're wrong. You've been drying for weeks and you... Listen, Victor, kill him tomorrow morning. The worst thing tomorrow morning. I warn him for my new act, Louise. Don't do any more work on him. Don't get into that training cage with him again. Uh-huh. This is a new twist from you. I've never asked you to quit breaking a cat before. But this time I know. It can't be done. Are you afraid of what might happen to me? He'll kill you one of these days. That shouldn't bother you. I don't want you to die. Well, that calls for a celebration. And a kiss. No, Victor. Why not? Please, leave me alone. I always told you you had a beautiful mouth. Let me go. Let's see how it looks when it's... Bleeding. Now, turn out that light and go to bed. I've got a big day tomorrow with Sultan. He doesn't seem to bother you this morning, Louise. I'm getting used to him. Doesn't take long when you start hoping, does it? I warned you if you ever hit me again... Tell that to Sultan. He might decide to help you. Yes, who is it? It's me, Mr. Farnal Jim Hartman. What do you want? The boss wants to know if you're going to work in that lion today. Just a minute. Mr. Turner sent me to ask you if you were going... Why? I don't know, Mr. Farnal. He didn't tell me. It's morning, Mrs. Farnal. Good morning, Jim. That cat was howling all night, so it gave me the willies. He ain't like the other cats. He will be. Tell Roy Turner I'll go to work when I'm ready. Okay. Tell him I don't want anybody in the training tent when I'm working. You're going to tackle that lion all alone, Mr. Farnal? Oh, Roy can be there if he wants to. And Louise, of course. But Mr. Turner don't know nothing about lions, sir. Why, if that big fella should get... You heard what I said, Jim. Now go ahead and do it. Okay. I'm only the night watchman. But if I was in that training cage with that cat, I'd want a lot of people all around with long sticks. Yes, sir. All around. He's right, Victor. I'm running my own show, Louise. Finish the coffee and let's get out of here. In a minute. Now. You can put your face on later. Roy won't mind seeing you without makeup. I want you to stop talking about him. Here's the gun, baby. Yeah. Too bad it's not loaded with real bullets, huh? Instead of blanks? It's too bad. But maybe it won't make any difference to you. You can take orders like the rest of them, can't you, Roy? This is your department, Victor. If you don't want anybody around when you're working, it's okay with me. And you're a darn fool. It's an old habit, pal. Listen to him. He thinks he's still the king. And we're going to show him he isn't. Aren't we, Louise? We? Sure, you're still my wife, aren't you? She's not going in that cage with you, Victor. Here's the key, baby. Open it up. No. All right then. I'll open it up. I'm ready, dear. Come on. Get out of here, Louise. I'll take care of this. Put down that whip, Victor. Sure. Are you ready? Put it down. You're going into that cage alone. No. Alone, Victor. That's where you're going to stay. I got your keys. Let me out of here, Roy. That cat will kill me. Louise, get in the sultan's tent and open the cage door to the tunnel. Go on before somebody looks in here. You and Roy were in here last night. You spoiled something. Roy, no. I'm going to keep it on the ring. Let me out, will you? I was only kidding about asking you to come in here with me. I wasn't going in there. Just don't. Louise, you're wasting time. Louise, Louise, I'll give you a divorce. You can marry Roy. I'll do anything you want. Just let me out of here. I don't believe you, Victor. I don't believe you. Good grief, Louise. Victor, just you and me now. Roy. Roy, you've got to listen to me. In a couple of minutes it'll be just you and Sultan. Grab that chair. I'm going to open the trap door. Roy, I'll listen to reason. Don't open that trap door. I made it about the divorce. Grab the chair, Victor. Close it. Give me a break. I'll never bother you and Louise again. But again, set for company, Victor. Your friends should be here any second. Yeah. That'll cry afraid of you. He's in the tunnel. And the trap door is open. Goodbye, Victor. The chair. Maybe I can hold him off. Maybe I can drive him back into the tunnel. You and Louise spoiled something in here last night. I don't know what it is, but... More dust. You saw the legs off the chair. He broke the chair. Roy. Roy. Get help. Help. That's the whole story, Captain Williams. The chair broke in Victor's hand. And before Louise and I realized what had happened, something had knocked Victor down. Go ahead, Mr. Turner. Oh. It was the most horrible thing I ever saw. That animal telling it Victor's history. Oh, God. I'm sorry, Louise. But the police won't put that... All of them, Mr. Turner. What did you and Mrs. Parnell do while the lion was working on her husband? Well, there wasn't much we could do, Captain. Louise and I were alone in the training camp. Louise had a gun, but it was loaded with blank cartridges. Alone, huh? I thought lion trainers never got into a cage unless there was a lot of protection around. Well, Victor didn't like crowds. Is that so? That's pretty unusual for a circus performer. Well, he didn't like them when he was breaking a cast. Can I ask anybody outside this office? All the people working for me. I will, Mr. Turner, when I get around to them. How did you get that animal off, Mr. Parnell? I, uh, opened the trap door of the tunnel, and Louise fired the blanks in her gun. The noise frightened them. No real bullets? Lines are expensive, Captain Williams. But lion trainers aren't. Sultan was my husband's property, Captain. Victor made the rules and I kept them. Are you feeling better now, Mr. Parnell? A little. Good. I've got a couple of questions for you. Uh, who, uh, fixed it for that lion to kill your husband? I can't be sure, Captain, but I think it was... Yeah? Go on, Louise. The police and I have the right to know who you suspect. Well, I haven't any proof, but I... Yeah? I think it was Tom Doyle who thought that chair and glued the legs on again. The man, we've been feeding him right? Yes. You remember what happened yesterday afternoon? There was Victor being a man. With his whip. And all because Tom didn't feed the cats on time. Louise, that's no reason for me. I'm not accusing him, Roy. But late last night, Victor came back to the wagon drunk. He'd gone to town after the show. What's that got to do with Tom Doyle, Mrs. Parnell? You see, Captain, there's only one key to the training cage, and Victor always kept it on a wheel in his pocket. Yes. He was very superstitious about training the cats. He felt that anyone else in that cage at any time might bring bad luck. That's right, Captain. There's a bug that couldn't shake out of its head. Just keep going, Mrs. Parnell. Well, when Victor came back from town, he was very drunk. But he was also very upset. He'd lost the keys. Had them this morning, didn't he? Yes. I found them last night outside the training tent. Oh. And Victor was waving mad because he'd lost them, and I had to go out and look for them. As I got near the training tent, I saw Tom Doyle, he had been wetting me around the tent. And I found the key. Well, Louise, are you sure it was Tom Doyle? Yes, Roy. He was carrying something under one arm. A saw? I couldn't tell, Captain. But I looked inside the tent. Everything was in order. Do you think Tom Doyle swiped those keys? Please, Captain, I'm not trying to build up a case against a man. I'm only telling you what I saw. Uh, come in. Excuse me, Captain. What is it, Ralph? One of the boys dug up these two items, sir. Ooh, a saw. They were buried under a wagon of three guys living. Which three guys, Ralph? Joe Smith, Pete Frenzy, and Tom Doyle. Where's Tom Doyle? Him and the other two are in the wagon. Under guard. All right, we'll go have a talk with him. I'd like to go with you, Captain. Sure, come along, Mr. Turner. You want to join the party, too, Mrs. Parnell? Oh, I don't think you ought to, Louise. Why don't you go to your bungalow wagon and lay down? All right, Roy. Oh, by the way, Mr. Turner, when I got to the scene of the murder, I found you and Mrs. Parnell in the training cage with a body of her husband. Huh? For sure. We thought he might still be alive. Well, you'll get in if Mr. Parnell had the only key. He gave to me, just in case. Well, let's go, Ralph. You can come along, Mr. Turner, if you still want to. But remember, you listen while I ask the question. I told you there was nothing to worry about, babe. But that Captain wouldn't believe us. He didn't believe Tom Doyle, kid. The perfect fall guy. Roy. Yeah, the Lummox had no alibi for last night, so they took him away. Then we're in the clear. God, break. Come here. Why not? You gave a perfect performance for Captain Williams. How about giving one for me? Thank heavens, I don't have to convince you. Don't kid yourself, Torch. When it comes to love, I want all the convincing you can give. Don. How is that? Great. It's a sample. Don't rush me, dear. It's been only three hours since I became a widow. Well, babe, you'll even look better. Well, have to be very careful, Roy. What do you mean? No marriage until we're far away from this town. I had that figured out, too, Louise. So all that you have to have nothing to worry about with me. What's this? Partnership agreement. I'm giving you 50% interest in the circus. Don't, don't crowd me yet. I'm not true. What? It's my 50% too if I should die. Oh, you darling, I don't need all this insurance. I wouldn't want it without you. Here's the catch, sweetheart. I don't expect to die. You idiot. How about some more convincing? Come on, come on, Louise, I'm waiting. Not now, Roy. What's the matter? Listen. What's that? Whistling. I can't stand it. Roy, ever since last night, and Jim Martin has passed his training. Will you snap out of it? He didn't tell Captain Williams, did he? I just can't seem to get it out of my mind. Roy will have to do something about Jim. Wait, wait a minute. He's been with the circus for years. I practically inherited it. Well, I don't want him around. Okay. But believe me, kid, you're making a big fuss about... Come in. What do you want, Jim? Answer me when I talk to you. I noticed the Sultan stopped complaining after he chewed up Victor. I haven't heard a peep out of him since. Get out of here, Jim. Well, that ain't a nice way to talk to a business associate, ma'am. Business associate? Shut up, Louise. What do you mean, Jim? She knows what I mean, Roy. I'm Mr. Turner to you. Not anymore, Roy. I'm not working for you anymore. You're quitting? I'm tired of being a night watchman. For a guy like me that used to be a star tumbler keeping tabs on a bunch of tents and animals, it ain't dignified, Roy. I'm retiring. What's that got to do with me? You're going to make my retirement worthwhile. You and Louise. Jim, what do you want? Louise, I told you to shut up. Don't get mad at her, Roy. She's only trying to keep the rope off her neck. Tom Doyle ain't no killer, but I can tell the police who is. Now, look here, Jim. If you got me bluffing to do it... I have seen you and Louise in the train intent last night and heard you working with a saw. You don't know what you're talking about, Jim. Maybe the cops would say different, huh? You can't prove it, you dirty black mirror. It'll be your word against ours. Yeah, but whose word's going to count more? I've seen where you buried the saw in blue, Roy. Why don't you tell that to the police this morning? Well, with the police here. What are you driving at? I'm a night watchman. I work all night and I'm supposed to sleep all day. I ain't seen the police yet. Didn't they question you? Well, I wasn't in my bunk all day. I just got back from a snooze in the park. You see what I mean? God is, Roy, let's find out how much he wants. Well, you don't have to ask me twice. $50,000. $50,000? I want a nice, comfortable retirement, Roy, and I want to start today and think it over, but don't take too long. You set up the perfect crime, didn't you? Tom Doyle is going to take the rap for us. Well, Roy is here. Well, for Pete's sake, will you leave me alone? You've been pounding me for an hour. I can't stand it. All I want you to tell me is what are we going to do? I don't know. Have you got $50,000 for Jim Bosch? I told you, Lou. Have you more, haven't you? Suppose I have. Are you going to give it to him? Do you want me to? I don't want him to go to the police. It's about all the cash I have, Louise. If I give it to him... I don't want him to go to the police. He'll be flat-broke. He won't be able to pay salaries. There'll be plenty of cash coming in. But not enough to pay off, Louise. We'll be stranded. Would you rather swing? Maybe you'll never come to that. Kid yourself. Jim goes to the police with Rue. We can't alibi ourselves out of his story. And we'll never get a chance to call him a blackmailer. Why call him anything? Oh, what's the matter with you? Does $50,000 mean so much to you? Keeps us in business, Angel. Well, it won't keep us together. Roy, darling, we want to be together, don't we? Oh, sure, kid. We want to get married like other people in love. We committed a murder to get that, Roy. And we won't lose it, kid. We'll never get there if we take chances now. I, uh, wasn't thinking of taking chances, Louise. Then you'll give him the money? No. Roy. I got other ideas that'll save us $50,000 and still take care of Jim Harkness. No. That's right. You want Captain Williams back here? Let him come. Are you crazy? Another murder at this circus. Roy, well, Tom Doyle's in prison. What happens to the case against him? Nothing. What I got in mind won't be murdered officially. Oh. Oh, baby, you're gorgeous when your eyes sparkle. Tell me what you've got in mind. Come here real close, huh? Jim's a pretty old guy. So? So he gets dizzy when he looks down from a height. He's so dizzy he falls down and gets all smashed at the bottom of a cliff. Over by the river? How'd you guess? That's good, Roy. But how do we get him there? We'll pull him with a $50,000 magnet. I don't know what you mean. Oh, you don't? Well, then I'll have to tell you because, kid, you're going to set the traps. Jim, wake up. Wake up. Hey, what's up? Louise. Where are the other men who belong in this wagon? They're at work and I was catching some wind. I don't want them to find me talking to you. How soon are they coming back? I never know. Sometimes they knock off for a swig. That can be any time. How about the money? You'll have to wait until tonight. Huh? Roy's got most of it now, but he's counting on the ticket sale to make up the difference. I want a full $50,000, Louise. You'll get it, you dirty blackmailer. Meet me in the park at the top of the hill. What hill? Haven't you ever been in this town before? This is the first time Old Man Turner never played this circuit when he ran the show. Oh. Well, there's a hill just outside of town, a public park on top. Be there at 9 o'clock. Why up there, Louise? Because Roy doesn't want to be seen talking to you. Will you be there? Yeah. Okay, so will I. But if you got any notions, Louise... Don't be a fool. I'm not going to kill you. Roy and I could do that any night if we wanted to. You're a night watchman. There's nobody around when you work. So you thought of that, huh? Well... It's your date, Louise. And then, goodbye. He's on time, all right, Louise? Give me that package. You got everything straight? Yes, yes. I want to open the package and I'll suggest that bench over there. He doesn't know about the cliff. Now, remember, keep his back to me. I'll remember. When I rush him, get out of the way. I don't want to push you over the cliff, too. He's pretty close, Roy. You better get behind the tree. I know him. I'll talk. Yeah. Everything, all set, Louise? Yeah. Here's the package. It's got $50,000 in it. Is it all here? You can count it if you don't believe me. You wouldn't like it, would you? I'll open the package on that bench. It won't take you long to count it. Come on, I've got a flashlight. Well, Jim? I'll do that when I get back to my bun. Jim, you can save yourself a lot of time. There's no money in that package. Just a wad of newspapers. A trap, huh? There's a cliff behind you, Jim. You're going to have an accident. Look out. You don't have one first. He's got a gun, Roy. I'll take it away from him. No. I got nothing to lose. Have I, Jim? Stay away from me, Roy. I'll kill you. Go ahead. I'm not staying away. I'm going to throw you off the cliff. Maybe, but you're not making me back up. One more step, Jim. One more step. We're a murderer, anyhow. And nobody's going to punish me for killing a murderer. Your gun's jammed. Goodbye, Jim. No! Wait! Help! Help to have Louise! Oh, it's too bad, Louise. You had your hand on his sweater and you couldn't hold him. Roy shouldn't have rushed at me, Louise. He should have remembered I used to be a tumbler. Well, it's a bad break for me. I just lost $50,000. Come back again, Mrs. Parnell. Come in, Captain Williams. This has been a week of tragedy, hasn't it? My husband's murder and Roy's death last night. It's surprising I still got my sanity. Let me see your hands. My what? Your hands. I don't see what that's got to do with anything. How did you break that fingernail? Now, see here, Captain Williams. I'll tell you. It got caught in Roy Turner's sweater when you pushed him off the cliff last night. Have you gone out of your mind? We found the part of the nail that belongs on the finger, Mrs. Parnell. And here's something else we found. Just read it without putting your fingers on it. It's the carbon copy of a partnership agreement between you and Roy Turner. And it gives you his share of the business after his death. Roy gave this to me without my asking for it. We were going to be married. Yeah. Well, we're not holding Tom Doyle anymore. We've got you. And the worst that can happen to you is that you'll be tried for one murder and be executed once. And so closes tonight's story. Serenade McCard. Steadman Coles wrote the radio script. Roger Bauer produced and directed. Raymond Edward Johnson played Roy Turner. Joan Tompkins was Louise Parnell. Cameron Proudhon was Jim Harkness. King Calder was heard as Victor Parnell. Joe Latham was Captain Williams. And Brad Barker was the lion's sultan. Oh, I beg your pardon. Hello. I hope I haven't kept you waiting. Yes, this is the crime club. I'm the librarian. Yes, come over a week from tonight. Good. Yes, we have the very exciting story of a man who tried to cheat life and was cheated out of it. It's called the self-made corpse. In the meantime. Well, in the meantime, there was a new crime club book available this week. And every week at bookstores everywhere. Yes, it's available now. Fine. And we'll look for you next week. This program came from New York. Stay tuned now for Thrilley Adventure broadcast Johnny Madero, Pier 23, which follows in just a moment. This is the Neutral Broadcasting System.