 Yes, Roma wines taste better because only Roma selects from the world's greatest wine reserves for your pleasure. And now, Roma wines, R-O-M-A. Roma wines present suspense. Tonight, Roma wines bring you Mr. Dandurier in the Will to Power, a suspense play produced, edited and directed for Roma wines by William Spear. Suspense. Radio's outstanding theatre of thrills is presented for your enjoyment by Roma wines. That's R-O-M-A. Roma wines. Those better tasting California wines enjoyed by more Americans than any other wine. For friendly entertaining, for delightful dining. Yes, right now a glass bowl would be very pleasant as Roma wines bring you Dandurier in a remarkable tale of suspense. I walked over to the safe and began to dial the numbers. Before I snapped it open, I turned round to look at him. He was leaning back in the easy chair at the end of the room. His greasy face was covered with a shrewd smile. And he poured a revolver in his right hand. Come on. Get it open. The gun looked like a model they stopped making in 1900. A 22 with a 2-inch barrel. There were about 40 feet between the safe and where he was sitting. Unless that guy was an aniocly, he couldn't hit the broad side of a barn from that position. And with that gun... All right. Fit Stalin. Open it. I snapped open a little safe. And there it was. I could see special Super 38 automatic stamped on the blued surface of the slide. The hammer was back, just as I knew the old man had left it. I picked up that beautiful precision instrument. I turned, not too quickly. Snapped off the safety and brought the sights in line between our eyes. Hey, wait! Wait! Don't! Don't! The ladder! The ladder. He lay there on the floor. I looked at him. And I had that strange feeling that I overlooked something. Something important. I walked over to where he was lying. He'd pitched forward landing in a disjointed heap. The letter. What had he yelled about a letter? It meant nothing to me. A letter? Had I slipped up somewhere? No, it was impossible. I must have stood there over his body for 10 minutes, for the blood was soaking its way across the carpet. I tried to think of how I stood now. Of what I had to do next. But my mind wouldn't let me. It kept slipping back. Slipping back to three months ago. Three months ago. Three months ago. Old man Donovan was in a pretty bad mood that night. He and his wife, Roseanne, were scrapping. They stopped as I came into the living room. That's fine. Well, come in. Hello, Charles. Hello, Mrs. Donovan. I finished going over these papers, Mr. Donovan. They look okay. Yes, sir. Have you seen Mrs. Donovan's bank statements around anywhere? No, I haven't run across them. She's been overdrawing again. We've got to get this straightened out once and for all. I tell you I haven't been overdrawing. How many times do I have to tell you? Don't argue with me. Charles, will you see if you can find them somewhere? I don't know where they are. Of course you don't know where they are. Look for them. I know I have a private secretary for. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. I'm going to bed now. I want those statements in the morning. Do you understand? Good night, Mrs. Donovan. Good night, John. Come here. I can't stand it any longer. I can't live in the same house with him and see you around every day. No, no. Is that a nice way to talk about your ever-loving husband? I tell you, I just can't stand it any more. Yeah, this is no good. He's going to talk down to me once too often. I've got to get out of here before that happens. That's what I've been telling you. Charlie, let's run away. Take a plane to South America tomorrow. We could be together from then on. Let's do that, Charlie. I have a little money and I have my jewels and the furs we could get along. Let's do it. Let's call for tickets now. Run away. Look, Charlie, isn't our happiness together the most important thing? Let's just leave him. We could go to Mexico. He loves his bank books and bank statements and stocks and bonds more than me. Anyway, can't we do it that way? No, baby. We can't. What are we going to do? I can't go on with him. No, we do. Yeah, baby. That's it. You're reading my mind. Oh, Charlie, that's... That's the only way. Is that what you want to say? I don't know. I don't know. But I know, baby. You haven't got a thing to worry about. You look beautiful and black. There wasn't much time to waste. I couldn't take any chances on him catching on. If we were going to do it my way, we'd have to do it soon. I began to make plans. I told her we were going to push him out the window. I told her everything. Everything except about the poison. I was ready. I bought the poison. And now I only had to slip it into the old man's medicine. At six o'clock that night the phone rang. I knew that was Judge Peters. I'd picked him to establish my alibi for me. Hey, uh... It's your own job. Yes, sir. It's, uh, probably Judge Peters. He told me he wanted to see me tonight. Ah, but if I'm to finish your letters... Well, sir, uh... Could you perhaps tell him that I'm not here? Could it be simpler? And I have so much of your work to finish that I... Oh, my sure job. You know, I'm Judge Peters. The old man swallowed at hook, line, and sinker. You know what? He liked little intrigues. They were the only adventure in his life. Except for Rosanne. I'm sorry, Judge. Uh, uh, Charles isn't here. I haven't seen him all day, and I don't expect to see him tonight. All right, Judge. Yes, I'll tell him. Good night. We fixed that, huh? Yes, sir. I think it's better this way. Now I'll be able to finish those letters for you. Oh, fine. Uh, uh, say fix me my medicine first, will you, Charles? All right, sir. You want soda with it? Enough? Oh, a little more. Ah, that's it. That's good. You're only a fair secretary, Charles. But you're a swell butler. Thank you, sir. Well, I'll get busy on these reports. Oh, take them down to your room? Yes, sir. I can work better down there. All right. Oh, I say, make a note to dump my consolidated steel volumes tomorrow. Yes, sir. Don't you worry. I'll take care of everything tomorrow. As I walked out the door, I saw him take a sip out of his glass. The next couple of hours, I'd have a lot of work to do. I walked down the stairs instead of taking the elevator. No one had seen me enter, and no one was going to see me leave. My whole plan hinged on leaving without being noticed. I went out the side door. She was waiting for me outside just as we'd arranged. It was exactly 15 minutes after 6. So far, my timing was perfect. I took her through the hotel lobby, over to the elevator. Will you be all right? I'll be all right. Oh, boy. Will you see that Mrs. Donovan gets off at her floor all right? She's not feeling too well. Yes, sir. Thanks. Oh, say, do you happen to have the time? My watch must have stopped. Let's see. That's 20 after 6. Thanks. Thanks a lot. I'll be up in about an hour, Mrs. Donovan. Going up. That was that. Now all I had to do was to stall for time. I walked around for a while. Between 6.30 and 7, I went into some stores where I was known. I said hello to some people, just in case anyone checked. Then I walked around some more. The minutes dragged by. I must have looked at my watch 50 times during that hour and a half. At 8, I went back to the hotel. As I stepped into the elevator, I really noticed the elevator man for the first time. He was big and greasy. I had to make sure he wouldn't forget what time I went upstairs. He made the first move as the elevator began to go up. That was luck. Hey, get your watch fixed, sir? Hmm? Oh, oh, sure. It says 7.30. It's still not working. No? It's almost 8 now. How do you like that? You must have stopped again. Almost 8 o'clock, huh? Yeah. Thanks. By where have you been? There's something wrong with John. He keeps moaning and holding his stomach. He wants me to call a doctor. Stal him for a minute. What can be wrong with him? Search me, baby. Charles, I'm so glad you cared. Help me to my bed, Charles. Call a doctor for me, will you? Relax, old man. I'll get him in a minute. Are you going to do it now? Do you think we better do it now, Charlie? Charles, the love of heaven, get it, doctor. Don't just let me die here. Roseanne, please get a doctor. Charlie, I can't. I'm going to lose my nerve. Help me get him over to the window. No, I... That's it, Roseanne. No! Up on the sill. No! Now, push. You know everything now, don't you? I just come in. He fell. He fell. We were on the other side of the room. There was nothing wrong with him before the accident. Get it? Yes! Yes! I looked at her standing there. She was shaking. She was shaking. She was fighting half to death. And yet her face had a reddish glow like something warm and mellow. The kind of stuff you feel in your dreams. At that moment, I wouldn't have traded her in for anything. Anything less than a million dollars. Suspense, this is Ken Niles for Roma Wines. A friend, famed for her enjoyable little dinners, recently told me her secret of gracious hospitality. Because she's usually busy in the kitchen after guests arrive, her husband keeps their friends pleasantly entertained until dinner time by serving Roma California sherry. Yeah, she's a smart hostess. For better tasting Roma sherry is the favorite of millions. As the perfect first call for dinner and for entertaining any at any time. For Roma sherry, like all Roma wines, begins with choicest grapes. Then Roma vintner skill and America's finest wine making resources guide this luscious grape treasure unhurriedly to tempting taste perfection. Later at peak taste richness, Roma selects from the world's greatest wine reserves for your pleasure. So share with your guests the better taste of Roma California wines. Roma sherry, pork, muscatel, or toque. Insist on Roma, R-O-M-A. Roma wines by America's greatest vintner. And now Roma wines bring back to a Hollywood soundstage d'Andurrier in the will to power. A tale well calculated to keep you in suspense. At the inquest there was some talk of an autopsy, but the old man's prestige and a crew of lawyers preserved the body in a state of unmarred dignity at the request of the grief-stricken widow. That's just the way they put it too. The day after the funeral we were married, quiet, no publicity. Well, there I was. I had all the old man's dough and I had her. I don't know what it was that made me go on. Maybe it was the reading of the world that made me go through with my original plans. A million? Well, now we know better. In one safety deposit box alone there was over 400,000 in cash. And then there were the estates. Compared to that kind of money and what it meant to me, she was just another dame. James Donovan was poisoned and then pushed out the window. I suggest you dig up the body. What? Who's that speaking? I, uh, I work in the hotel. The night before Donovan was killed his wife threatened him. Ask anyone on the floor. They'll tell you how Donovan and his wife always fought. Now look, suppose you come down here and... That's all, Lieutenant. Dig him up. The second part was in the works. And now all I had to do was to sit back and wait. I was on my way to being the sole owner of the Donovan Millions, standing alone on top of a mountain with everyone looking up at me. Everyone looking up at me. What's the idea dragging us down here, Lieutenant? Treating us like a pair of common criminals? What is it you want of us, Lieutenant? You'll get the idea in just a minute now. Just don't get excited. Not get excited? Why, of all us... It's mighty strange the guy falls out of a window with two people in the room. What do you mean strange? We were on the other side of the room. Accidents are happening. Oh, sure. I know. I was at the inquest, too. What I really wanted to ask you was where were you before he fell out? I told you. I'd just come in. I see. You were out before. Why, yes. I'd gone... Can you prove that? What? Can you prove that you weren't in the apartment any length of time before the accident? Yes. I guess so. I hadn't seen him all day. Sure. I guess I could prove it. But why? And how about you, Mrs. Donovan? I... I... Listen, Lieutenant, if you have something to tell us, let's hear it. Otherwise, let us go. Okay, brother. We dug up old man Donovan. He had enough poison in him to kill an ox. Poison? Poison? Wife, that's impossible. He couldn't have been poisoned. Mrs. Donovan was up there with him all the time. Oh, she was. Of course. He couldn't have been poisoned. I see. Can we go now? Yeah, sure. Sure, you can go. Mrs. Donovan will have to wait, though. We're booking her for murder. It was perfect. They indicted her for second degree murder. That was a smart move on the part of the DA because he couldn't conclusively prove whether the fall or the poison killed him. And then she swore to High Heaven that she didn't see him drink anything while she was there. The lawyer who was trying to prove suicide almost broke a blood vessel. The best part came when the prosecution tried to get me to testify for them. I showed them our marriage license then. It convinced her that I was trying to protect her. But it gave the DA all the motive he needed. The jury finds the defendant guilty of murder in the second degree. There was only one more step left. I had to face her in herself. Five minutes, Mr. Darling. Charlie, I've been waiting for you to come. I'm still in a daze, Rosanne. How did it all happen? The trial, the conviction. It all went so fast. I don't know how it happened, but maybe it's better this way. At least part of what we did has been paid for. When I get out, we'll be able to live a free life together. But ten years? No, darling. I'm going to tell them. No. I'm going to confess everything. I'll do that rather than see you wasting away in prison. No. No, you're not. You'll just be trading places with me. It'll be punishment enough if we're deprived of each other's love. No, Charlie, this is the only way it can be. Ten years isn't so long. And I know you'll always be mine no matter where I am. Yes, darling. No matter where you are, I'll always be yours. I really felt bad about it, too. But you've got to compromise in life. I traded in a thing I wanted for something I wanted more. Money and power. It was right there in the palm of my hand. And all I did was make a fist. I headed up to one of the old man's hideouts in the White Mountains then to let things cool off. There I wanted to plan all the things I'd do during the coming weeks. It would have been a great time. Except for that phone call. Yes? Hello, Mr. Ross? I was reading about Mrs. Donovan's trial, Mr. Ross. Who is this? The old man was really poisoned, huh? And you were running off leaving your wife to take a rap. Who is this? Tell you what, for 25 grand no one will ever know about you sneaking out of the apartment that day. I think you'd better come up here and see me in person. Tomorrow night at nine. Why not tonight? You'll be there if you know what's good for you, brother. Blackmail. I knew what to do and paying him wasn't the answer. Once I began to pay, he'd then have the power that belonged to me. He'd pull the strings. This man, whoever he was, could degrade me and humiliate me more than I'd ever been degraded while serving the old man. I heard the car drive up at a little after nine. I'd left the front door open and sat in the living room waiting for him. He walked in. Hello, Mr. Ross? It was the elevator man. Well, well, Mr. Ross, you got a pretty classy set up here. Hi, Mike. Hello, Mr. Donovan. Poor Mr. Donovan. It's just a shame when a guy has to leave all that money behind. Get to the point or get out. Brother, from now on you're gonna treat me with respect. What I know can send you straight to the chair. Keep talking. I saw you sneak out of Donovan's apartment a couple hours before he died. I saw you pull your act in the lobby so the dame would be alone with the old man. It's pretty clear the way you framed her at the trial. You didn't fool me for a minute. What's the count? Well, I... I figure you're working the babe for plenty, so, uh, seeing the papers said that Donovan left the flock of millions, well, uh, 25,000 will do for a start. You know I haven't got that kind of money here. How much have you got? Well, I guess there ought to be, uh, $1,600, $1,700 in the wall safe. But look here, if I... Get it! Then what do I get in return? A client? For a while? For a while. That's it. You've seen I'm such a valuable guy. I figure you ought to put me on a payroll. Make me, uh, sort of a private secretary like you was the whole man Donovan. I think I understand. Yeah, you bet you'll understand. Now get the dough and fast! Yes, I see now. I think I see the whole picture. I walked over to the safe and began to dial the numbers. Before I snapped it open, I turned around to look at him. He was leaning back in the easy chair at the end of the room. His greasy face was covered with a shrewd smile. And he was pawing that silly little revolver in his right hand. It looked like a 1900 Iver Johnson .22 caliber with a two inch barrel. I took that and the fact that there were about 40 feet between us in at a glance. Unless that guy was an Annie Oakley, he couldn't hit the broad side of a barn from that position and with that gun. All right, French Stalin, open it! I snapped open the little safe and there it was. I could see Colt, Super 38, automatic, stamped on the blued surface of the slide. The hammer was back just as I knew the old man had left it. I snapped off the safety and brought the sights in line between our eyes. Hey, wait! Don't! Put the ladder! The ladder! He lay there on the floor. I looked down at him and I had this strange feeling that I'd overlooked something. I'd hidden his car in the garage and gotten rid of the body in the cellar under two feet of dirt. Maybe I should have left him alone. I could have pleaded self-defense. After Donovan, another trial might not have turned out so well. Now I had to get away. I was really in the clear. Nobody'd ever look under those boards in the cellar. Nobody'd ever dare to snoop around Donovan's place. My place. Not unless they suspect something. And why should anyone suspect anything? Not in my house. My house. In a minute I'd be off this dirt road and I'm on the highway to New York. Yes, that's it. Back to New York. Then out of the country. What the... Hey, you! How about pulling out of the road and letting me by? You seem to be an awful hurry, Mr. Where is it? Why don't you... Well, if it isn't Mr. Ross. Well, Lieutenant Braden, what's the trouble? Oh, no trouble at all. As a matter of fact, I just came up here to talk to you. Sort of a social call. Well, right now I'm going to New York. I mean, I can't. You see, Lieutenant... You know, Mr. Ross, I never had a chance to talk to you after the trial. I got a little theory about Donovan's death. Oh, it's too late to do anything about it now, of course, but I thought it might be nice if we could sort of discuss it. Sure, sure. Anytime except now. I'm in a great hug. So I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone. What? Well, some crank sent me a letter. See, he's saying he was coming up here to see you. It seems he thought that you might kill him. A letter? Yeah, oh, it probably didn't mean a thing, but... Well, you're a rich man now, Mr. Ross. You'll just have to get used to being a target for cranks. A letter. That's what he meant. A letter. What's the matter, Mr. Ross? You don't look so good. Yeah, there's nothing to be afraid of. Ah, I tell you what. Your house ain't far from here. Let's you and me take a little stroll up there and see if that crank has arrived, huh? It'll make you feel better. Oh, I'm all right. I'm all right. Just...let me go. No, no, no, no, no. I insist it'll set your mind at ease. Okay? Come on, let's go. The cop didn't have any trouble finding him at all. I guess Roseanne will get the money after all now when she gets out. It's too bad, really. Suspense. Presented by Roma Wines, R-O-M-A. Roma, America's favorite ones. This is Ken Niles returning to our suspense microphone with a star of tonight's play, Dan Durier. Dan, I've noticed in your last few pictures that you've forsaken the cloak of villainy to play the hero. Yes, Ken. I have managed to qualify for a love scene or two lately in spite of my wicked reputation. Well, then I'm afraid we've done you wrong tonight casting you as the villain. No, no, on the contrary, Ken. I don't want to be a hero on suspense. Look at what happened to the good guy tonight. Poisoned. Pushed out of a window in a couple of minutes. Flat. Well, maybe you're right, Dan, but he or a hero for your fine performance tonight, you rate a reward. So here's a gift basket of Roma Wines with thanks from Roma, America's greatest vintner. Oh, thank you, Ken. And Roma. I'll be glad to be a villain on suspense anytime. And you'll be glad to have Roma California Sherry on hand when guests drop in. Just serve the Roma Sherry in your gift basket and watch the smiles of enjoyment appear at the first sip of this better tasting Roma wine. Remember, too, Roma Sherry is the perfect first call for dinner, a delightful treat anytime. I know that about Roma Sherry, Ken. But do you know why Roma Sherry tastes better? Well, to begin with, Roma selects and presses the choicest, most luscious grapes in all California. Then the ancient skill of Roma vintners with America's finest winemaking resources guides this rich treasure unhurriedly to tempting taste perfection. Later, at peak taste richness, Roma selects from the world's greatest reserves of fine wines for your pleasure. That's why more Americans enjoy Roma than any other wine. What better reason? Thank you, Ken. And good night. Thank you, Dandurier. Dandurier appeared through the courtesy of Universal International Studios and is currently being seen in their production of The Italian Tales. Tonight's suspense play was written by Frank Taubus. Next Thursday, same time, you will hear Miss Joan Bennett as star of Suspense. Produced and directed by William Spear for the Roma wine company of Fresno, California. This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.