 This is Crime Classics. I am Thomas Highland with another true story of crime. Listen. King Arthur just buckled on his kneecap. Now the quishes, the falls, and observes himself in his brilliantly polished shield. The new leg armor he has just put on as a fine fit provides maximum maneuverability. Now the chest armor. Breast blade, neck piece. He tucks helmet under his arm, picks up Excalibur his sword, and walks from his tent into the sunlight. King Arthur is going into a battle against a friend of his. Four thousand men will be killed over a woman, which is known as chivalry. Tonight I report to you on the Triangle on the Round Table. Crime Classics. A series of true crime stories from the records and newspapers of every land from every time. Your host each week, Mr. Thomas Highland, connoisseur of crime, student of violence, and teller of murders. Now once again, Mr. Thomas Highland. Sixth century Britain, a time of mists and legend, of hunting horn and streaming banners and maidens and thistle, of sunlight slanting like a tapestry into cold castles and pagan rites and magic and stone. And the place that concerns us, Camelot, the court of King Arthur in the Knights of the Round Table. There's just been a meeting on the agenda, a report from Lancelot, why he failed in his quest for the Holy Grail, a report by Sir Gallahad on why he'd killed a scurvy knave, a reason being a look of scant, said Lady Vivian, and finally a suggestion by Sir Percival that a party be sent to slay the seven wicked knights at the Castle of Maidens. It was a fine meeting and it was breaking up in time for some mock jousting. King Arthur was anxious to get out on the field. The King, King Arthur, Terry, I would speak with you a moment. Agravain, nephew. What is it? I'll put a moment, Terry uncle, till the rest of the gentle knights are gone from the Great Hall. Sir Lionel, would you close, please, the Great Door when you leave us? No, uncle. But your cousin, Mordred, is still with us. I think he's slept at the Round Table in the sleeping still. Mordred? Wake, wake, gentle knight. Wake, wake. Mordred and I both wish to speak, uncle. Of what? Are you awake, Mordred? I was awakened by the touch of the sweet King. Speak to me of what, Agravain? Of Launcelot. And Guinevere. What is this? Since he is back from the failure, since he has returned without the Grail, Launcelot is much with the Queen. In the Queen's chamber? What falsehood is this? No falsehood, good King. Gentle King. The truth. That I swear on the hilt of my sword. And I also. But Guinevere, the Queen is with me constantly. Save when you hunt? Save when you jous? Save when you do the merry pie with us all? Yes. That is when Launcelot attends your Queen. When you hunt? When you jous? When you do the merry pie with us all? And King? What is it? If Launcelot be slain in the chambers of the Queen, what then? A province to the south I'll give to such a slayer. Good, uncle. Sweet King. To the sweet King, Lady Heretsu! Oh, traitor, Launcelot! Hold and take his red spice! I give you this, Agravain! Go to you, Mordred! Hold, hold, hold. Good night. Put up your sword. Yes, to your throat, that's it! Do not slay me. What a snibbler you are, cousin. Do not kill me. To sneak like a crawling thing and spy! I have forgotten what I have seen, you and Guinevere. Say my lady's name again and your tongue will be fed to me, lady's goldfish. Now get from here! Go! Mordred didn't walk away, nor did he skip. He ran. He told the King that in case Ser Agravain wasn't around anymore, that worthy could be found dead in Guinevere's anti-room from a sword blow delivered by Launcelot. The King Arthur, who'd had a bad day at the Mok Jous anyhow, having been unceded by Lucky Lance Thrust, well, this is all he needed. Oh, my Queen, what poisonous thing has bighted you? You'll die for it. Roast. Go in! Ser Agravain, come to me! And hark to me, Ser Agravain. I hark. It's Guinevere. Again. Hark to me. It's Launcelot. Hark to me, go in. The whole court knows it, now you know it, and you wish her burned at the stake, as it has been three times before. But you will forgive her. Hark to me. But you will forgive her. Not this time. You say that always. I will feed her to the flames. And Launcelot. He is my dearest knight. How can you save us? He is dear friend to me. But he and Guinevere... She is so beautyous that he cannot help it. I counsel you to burn him also. This is your counsel, noble knight. It is. Then it shall be done. So do it. When Launcelot heard the news, he didn't wait for a thing. He left. He didn't even say goodbye to Guinevere. Not that he didn't love her for this he did dearly. But he had a more spectacular plan. He waited for the day when Guinevere was shriven and tied to the stake, and the faggots were thrown and lit. And King Arthur's knights and the people were standing on tiptoes to watch. Then Launcelot and his men went into action. They did a very dramatic thing. Just as a whispered claim had touched Guinevere's linen, they swooped down and rescued her, killed some 50 people in the process, and rode away with her. Rode away with her. She up front with Launcelot on his horse. Launcelot, Launcelot. And with him set up house in Launcelot's castle, which was called the Joyous Bastion, after the good times which were had there. Launcelot, Launcelot. My queen. Not your queen, your love. Forever. For always. For as long as Yon Orb of Sun climbs in the sky and... Launcelot. My love, my love. Terry, Terry, sweet knight, and give look to where I point, to where Yon Orb of Sun climbs in the sky. Horseman. Knights. King Arthur's knights of the Round Table. I chill at the sight. I chill not. Nothing will befall you. Never will the king take you from me. And a little while after that, war, siege, playing of armor, yell of battle and scream of alarm. Many knights died and many were wounded and born away. And after a month the papal bull was issued, which said that the war between Arthur and Launcelot was a war of brothers, and it was to cease. And Guinevere was to be brought again into the favor of Arthur. Launcelot went back to France, Guinevere went back to Arthur, and everybody was happy until one day... If I offend, oh king, by being not announced, but first upon you like some squall of wind, it is because I've had a dream and in it, oh king. Oh king. Rise up, Mordred. Speak you. And in this dream, a mighty voice, Launcelot sits in France, said the voice, and makes plans to come here and make battle and win again the Lady Guinevere. What voices told you this? The voice of my father. And so wise your father and sweet, there he died a mystic death on the stoop of Lady Bernice. Sweet father. And he said, tell your king, tell the noble king Arthur to get him to France with all his noble knights and make pursuit of Launcelot. Seek him. Deer him. Say him. He has said this. Not in his head, he said it. Guine, come to me, Guine. You have heard what says Mordred, Guine. I heard. What say you? I... My father wept when he told me what he did, wept for the death of your two boys, Guine, who fell in battle against Launcelot. Your father... Compassionate man. What say you? That stalwart son who can never be again, that boy. I say go. A brutal day. At once. I say go. Day of blood. To France. Let there be war. Let the killing start. To France. To war. Sir Mordred was a bloodthirsty one, wasn't he? But he didn't get to go to France. Somehow he made King Arthur make him stay home. To watch Camelot. To watch Britain. To watch Queen Guinevere. You are listening to Crime Classics and your host, Thomas Highland. A too much traveled traveling man, a wife who is not what she seems, and a meek husband, are the leading characters of this Friday's Broadway's My Beat Mystery. They lead Detective Danny Clover quite a chase before he makes sense out of murder. Friday evening on most of these same CBS radio stations. And now once again Thomas Highland and the second act of Crime Classics and his report to you on the triangle on the round table. Camelot, which was the site of King Arthur's court and round table, has been variously located at Queen's Camel, the Somerset, 51 miles east northeast of Rochester, and at Winchester and Camelford, Cornwall, and at Carillon. In your Sunday supplement recently, you might have seen where Sir Malcolm Jettifer, FRCA, has tossed a blockbuster by announcing Camelot's location as being 20 miles out at sea on land now sunk beneath the waves. But, wherever it was, Camelot was the place to be if you wanted to become a knight. It was best to start at about the age of seven. There was so much to learn. Manners, morals, battle acts technique, mace wielding, emergency armor repair, lance, throwing, jousting, mock and for real, rescuesmanship, horsemanship, mostly you had to be a killer. One graduate of the curriculum who went through it like a whiz, skipping as it were, the course in advanced morals, was named Mordred. His king was away at war, his queen was in her chambers, and he was at his desk, putting quill department, writing up a pronouncement to the people. This should do, Sir Bohor. Here, read it. To the parliament and people of Britain. Words as you would proclaim it, Bohor. Being received this dullest day, that has fallen in battle king Arthur, most illustrious and bravest of kings. Is true, Mordred, go on. Even if Sir Gwain died in battle, bravely and... It's true about Gwain, surely? Or his body dead was carried here to Camelot to be buried. But the king, King Arthur... Cut your tongue to what is written! S'gravely and with no fear of dying. Therefore I, Mordred, do proclaim myself king and regent of Britain, as was the wish of the fallen Arthur. I do humbly pray that the knights and good people of the realm help make my reign a blessed one. I get you to your task, proclaim it. Yes. Yes? Yes, Sir Noble King. Noble Knight. Yes. Have you seen the gentle Gwinevere? When last I saw her, she was moving toward her chamber. How, Mordred? With milk, with grace, with queenly demeanor. Go. Go proclaim, sweet Bohor. Noble King, I fright you, Gwinevere. What man are you to come on bed here? I am your king. King? What? Arthur is dead. You will hear it proclaimed. How do you have this knowledge that Arthur is dead? No ship from France has come with tidings of battle in a fortnight. I dreamed that my father in a dream has told me. You make good use of your father's ghost, cousin. He is noble. Your dead husband, Arthur, has always said that. And as a ghost, my father is more noble and more wise. Mordred. Yes. You are a subtle beast. I sheed my claws for you, dear Gwinevere. Dearest Gwinevere. No. Dearest Gwinevere. Near me now and with this golden knife. Who is the beast, Gwinevere? I will, I'll stick you. I'll strive to kill you for honesty. You beast of golden claw. Now, we all know that Mordred was not mortally hurt, nor was he even badly hurt. He healed nicely and quickly enough to pursue Gwinevere, who had taken refuge in the Tower of London. Mordred caused arrows to be shot at the Tower of Battlements. He caused pots of molten flame to be catapulted into steps. He caused stout, oaken battering rams to be plunged against its doors. He caused all sorts of things to be done, according to his personal code of how to behave and love. But, as we all know too, the Tower of London was built to last, and he never got past the first moat. As a matter of fact, he was a little bit on this side of the first moat when Sir Bohort, the proclamer, came running up to him. And when Bohort ran, something was wrong. Something wrong, O King. What? At Dover. At Dover, a grievous sight. What? The fleets of King Arthur. And what? The tallest ship flies his banner. He is alive. A quest to my father. The ghost of your father lied. Arthur is alive. The ghost of my father plays tricks. What will you do? Proclaim to my knights that Arthur comes again. So, more battle. Blood. Blood, more blood. The life of sweet knighthood. Oh, what it was. The silence. Yes, O King. Then proclaim this. War without. Killing to be done against those who deserted us and went to France. War and killing. Killing and war. No peace till Arthur is dead. Look down there, Sir Betteville. Look how sadly burned the fires of my enemy, Mortrid. Like blood in the night. He met me on the sands of Dover and fled before my knights. And left 2,000 dead of his and 2,000 good men of mine. Oh, sad knight. No tortured knight of red moon and war fires and enemies. Eve of death. And dying to be done again tomorrow. Noble king. Go from me. Take your tears from me, sweet knight. Sleep. For tomorrow I go. Eve of death. Dim weird knight and a sudden shock of dismal thoughts. How was it when there was peace in Camelot? When there was golden youth and flood of laughter. Now how old appear the young faces. Ghosts, all of them. Where the good fellowship, the darts of joy. Ghosts, ghosts dead. And where is Gawain? Noble Gawain. Where your council now Gawain. The earth of France drank deep your blood. Now you a ghost too. Gawain. Friend Gawain, noble friend. Where your council now. I hear madness on the window. The grief for Gawain drives me mad. Ghost. Ghost of Gawain. List to me, disperse your forces. What? Do not fight tomorrow. For if you do, Mordred will kill you. Oh kill me. The sniveller of a knight. The chicken of a knight. He the traitor and you suffer. Do not fight on the Mordred. For Mordred will surely kill you. Make truth, do not die. Now that's a truly unnerving experience. A voice on the wind, a dead man's voice telling you you'll die tomorrow. That kind of a thing gives pause. You'd want to take your time about what you're going to do come sun up. Now Arthur was a mighty king and a great warrior and he'd killed more people by lance and mace and hot oil than you'd ever imagine. But he was also a human being. Voices on the wind shook him up. Ghosts jangle him. Oh weird knight. Oh ghostly wind. You see. Then better be here. Better be here. He needed to tell somebody. This night I heard the ghost voice of Gawain. He bad may not do battle tomorrow else I will die. So go to the camp of Mordred and say I wish to speak truth with him tomorrow. And no sword will be drawn from its scabbard during this talk of truth Arthur. No sword shall be drawn Mordred. You pursue me Arthur yet I have beaten you. How? I want no more dying. Arthur of the sword. Arthur of Excalibur. Truce and no more dying. And what will you get for it? Your life. Oh and more. What more? Cornwall and Kent while you are alive and all have written when you are dead. Cornwall will be yours and Kent and beware. You draw a sword. That adder at your feet that crawling feet. I slayed it. It was about to attack your foot. You drew a sword. The adder. You see it. You drew a sword. There is no truth Arthur. No truth with such as you. I returned to my camp and bid my knights make ready for battle. And then that I swear to you you die. I swear to you I will kill you. I swear to you. It was a great battle and history tells us that every man who died was a hero. And many died and the field was damp with blood. And on the fourth day those who were still alive crept away to be alone with their wounds and their anguish and the field was empty. But for two horsemen. How about you, Mordred? At you, sir, Kent. You shall not now escape, traitor. Your death has come, Arthur. Your fault. Oh, infamous knight. Look down going. You were wrong. Mordred. That's what Mordred did. He slew Arthur. Of course, Mordred died while he was doing it, but he did it. One more thing I'd like to report to you. What Arthur said while breathing his last. I could have found a woman as good as Guinevere. But such a fellowship of knights as was mine can never be brought together again. So that was the end of King Arthur. Guinevere and Lancelot lived for quite a while after that. In just a moment, Thomas Highland will tell you about next week's crime classic. The triangle on the round table tonight's crime classic was adapted from accounts and legends by Morton Fine and David Friedkin. The music was composed and conducted by Bernard Herman. And the program is produced and directed by Elliot Lewis. Thomas Highland is portrayed on radio by Lou Merrill. In tonight's story, William Conrad was heard as King Arthur and Ben Wright as Mordred. Featured in the cast were Ellen Morgan, Lamont Johnson, William Johnstone, Edgar Barrier and Bob Cole, Bob Lamont speaking. And here again is Thomas Highland. Next week, England in 1827, and the road from Polsted to London, and the bloody road it turned out to be. My report to you will be on the killing story of William Corder and the farmer's daughter. Thank you. Good night. Imperfect minor details mar a perfect crime on gangbusters this Saturday night. Past perfect tells the story of ingenious cross-country identity roots involving a Halloween souvenir and two would-be bandits with the law. It's another true crime case history, dramatized by gangbusters on most of these same CBS radio stations this Saturday night. When there's gun smoke, there's Western adventures Saturday night on the CBS radio network.