 Good evening, friends. This is your house to welcome you through the creaking door into the UNO's tank. Well, when sailing over the weekend, some little sloop known as the Vampire, named after its owner, Max. Everything went along with a charming frenzy. The owner yells, man the deck! And the captain promptly did. Just one man. Spread so thin over the deck, you'd think he was brave. That afternoon storm gave us a time for a while. One guest was washed right over the side. We didn't rescue him because we just know he'll turn up. He did once before. Tonight's Inner Sancta Mystery, Death on the Highway, was written by John Robert and stars Ted Osborn in the role of Carlisle with Alice Reinhardt as Ginger. And now for tonight's sweet symphony of Scream. We're on Chicago's famous Skid Row, a brassy carnival street of flea circuses, guide shows, dives, and honky-tons. Let's follow a muse boy as he dives into Enrico's, a basement talent serving ragtime music and chili concoction. Please drag River for Lester Samuel's read all about his paper, mister. Yes, I'll take a paper. Hey, didn't I tell you a paper right here last night? Same place, same table? You did. Same place, same table, same me. You've got a good memory, mister. Some story, huh? Samuel's jumping off that bridge. What a way to die. Hey, you sound funny. Did you know Samuel's? No, I didn't know Samuel's. You've got your nickel. What are you waiting for? Nothing. You don't have to get so off. Lay down at first, please. I did know Samuel's. Lester Samuel's embezzled $100,000 from Eric Carlisle, investment broker. And I'm Eric Carlisle. I did know Samuel's. I was an eyewitness to his last scene on Earth, I played it. Oh, well, I can't face it. You have no choice, then. You had a position of trust, and you embezzled $100,000. $10,000? I just took $10,000. Not the $100,000 it's missing. You're confused and hysterical. You lost heavily to gamblers, so heavily you lost track of how much. That's not what happened. The firm is in shaky condition. You used my small set to cover a bigger one of your own. You sold the other $90,000 from your own customer account. It's an improbable story, Sammy. No one will believe it. I sold only $10,000. I can borrow. It's great. Make restitution, but $100,000. It means the rest of my life, the end of my life. Please, Gala Hunt. You'll stand trial, and I'll help you. I'll do everything to mitigate your punishment if you pull up a ring. No! I won't be your cat. I'll kill you first! Get away from me, Samuel's suit. I'll kill you until the police will attack me. Now get out! Samuel got out. Out of his coat on the bridge. Then over the rail, just 24 hours ago. The police are still dragging for the body. With Samuel's death, I was safe. I thought his plunge into the river made the police story simple and passed himself. A saving employee had taken the only way out. I wasn't safe. Even here, a heavy set stranger on a joining table guessed my secret. How old about something, Mr. Carlisle? How'd you know my name? I read it off that tablecloth. You've been writing it over and over. Oh, I always do do my name. Eric Carlisle, your name's Austin. That newspaper in your lamp. I read the story a while ago. Look, if you're after a tattoo, I'm not. I'm just making talk. Funny how, man, his fears stick out all over him. If he's wearing a sandwich sign. Hate to break up your philosophizing, Mr. But I've got to go. Go ahead, run. You can run faster than the eyewitness. Did you say the eyewitness? Yeah. Every crime has its eyewitness color. Even the perfect crime. Who's the eyewitness? You. I ran, I ran in a high power convertible at 60 miles an hour into the teeth of an electric storm. The world's small and suffocating. And now I ran faster, 70 miles an hour, 72, 75. The rain fell on the sky's thunder. I kept seeing Samuel's face, eyes up and begging kindly. Floating in every road puddle, I flashed through. I pushed the car away, but Samuel kept appearing faster as I murdered him over again with every puddle and every mile. And then, where the macadam was level and the rain puddled ended, there was Samuel. This time alive and real, standing deep in my headlights right on the road with his thumb pointing like a professed hitchhiker. Look outside, Samuel! It was minutes before I dared get out of the car. The hallucination of having struck someone was too strong. When the mood passed, I went to look. I had struck somebody. And there was a witness to it. You poured down on the poor guy like you wanted to run him down. Yes, impossible. It was Samuel standing in my headlights with a man who died yesterday, a ghost. How did a nut like you ever get a license to drive? This is a kid named Slim. He was trying to hitch a ride for us. I was waiting on the side and he was thumbing you. How is he? I don't feel no pulse. He's dead. You're sure? Sure, I'm sure. Have a look for yourself. I can. Help me get him into your car. There's a trooper's headquarters two miles up. Wait a moment. What for, pneumonia? I'm so true to the skin. The victim. Who is, uh... Who was he? A kid named Slim, I told you. Friend of yours? I've met exactly. I only met him a couple of hours ago in a road banner. He had an argument with a red-headed dame he was with. They were all open to get hitched before they got to fighting. The dame faded in a huff and the kid, Slim, latched on to me. You're a hobo. Sure. I'm a hobo and you're a killer. What about it? I didn't mean to insult you. I'm desperate. Well, mister, you will be when I testify as how you tore along at 80 and smacked into the kid like he was a paper bag. Why should you testify? The kid, Slim, meant nothing to you. You mean even less. If I meant more. Is that an offer shaping up? If it was. How much? A thousand dollars. Eh... You got all that sugar on you? Yes. It was a horrible accident. I'm sick and desperate trouble. Okay, okay. What do you want from your grand? Dispose of Slim somewhere and forget everything. Let me continue on as if nothing happened. Is it a deal? A thousand talks. Get it up. Here. There are 20, $50 bills here. I'll go on. Sure. Hey, wait. Take the kid's overnight bag within. Dump it yourself somewhere. I don't want to be stuck with it. I drove as far as I could get and pulled into the yard of a roadside diner. The storm was over and there was a wild noise in my stomach. I had to pee somehow. What a famous... Something hot, anything. Can't you have a drink? Sure. Yes. And a chowder was in front of me. A sickening slot. It would do nothing to the agony in my stomach. I saw her come into the diner and into my life. My first sight of her was a face in the mirror in front of me. She stood behind me. My new company, mister. The public place? That's where you like? I like right beside you. How's the chowder? Don't know, haven't tasted it. Looks awful. Does it? How much do I owe you, mister? Two cents. After going? Yes. Without tasting your chowder? Wait for me, I'm not hungry either. A gentleman holds the door open for a lady. Look, mister, you're beautiful and desirous. And two companies, I'm sure. But I'm in no mood for flirtation. Neither am I, mister. And I'm in no mood for fish stories either. Fish stories? I haven't said anything. No, you haven't. But you're going to try. What are you driving at? I looked over your car before going into that diner. I wanted to figure how many were riding and there was a chance for me to catch a hit. Is that an overnight bag? And they called S-W on your front seat. S-W. Slim Williams. That's my boyfriend's bag. What are you doing with Slim's bag? I saw it lying on the highway and picked it up. I was going to turn it over to the state trooper for the first chance. Come again! And don't try to lie that Slim caught a ride with you and then got out for getting his bag. Slim never forgets anything. No, Slim. We were all hoping to get married. You think I robbed your boyfriend? No. Not a guy with your fancy clothing car. All Slim had on him was $30. The bag's just got a shirt, a toothbrush, and a keystone camera. I think you ran Slim down. What do you think of that? By the way, you're stalling and lying. Slim did suffer minor injury. I tried to stop for him and flimmed at his some miles back and stopping abruptly. My friend had hit him a flanchion blow. Where's Slim now? In a first aid clinic in Kenmore township 10 miles behind us. Why did you lie about it? I didn't want to be held up any longer. I'm in a hurry. Why did you keep Slim's release? An oversight. Just that. Believe me. I'll believe you when I see Slim. You're turning around and taking me to him. Come on, get going. Now, what are you staring at? Don't pull that old wheeze. You've never seen me someplace before. But I have. There's a quality in your voice. The likeness in your face. Sure. I'm Zazu, the hula dancer you met in Borneo. No. You're the face of a man I knew. You're another ghost. I remind you of a man. Mister, you sure pay pretty compliments. But I still want to be taken to Slim. Every crime has its eyewitness. Even the perfect ones. I was my own eyewitness. I had run from Samuel, the bookkeeper I'd framed and destroyed into a new terror and even greater danger. I had killed a hitchhiker named Slim and run. And now a girl with hard accusing eyes was forcing me to turn back, forcing me to produce a dead boy friend. How much further to that hospital clinic Slim is supposed to be at, Mister? What did you say your name was? I didn't. It's Carl... Chambers. Richard Chambers. Now you're lying again. Your name's Carlisle. Eric Carlisle. You live on Mulberry Drive. How did you know that? By reading. You've got your car ownership slip around your steering wheel. I'm Ginger Thomas. Hello. How much better to swim, did you say? Not much, Father. Well, step on it. You're loathing along like we're out joyriding. We're close to the place where I've paid all that hobo. And again, the thing was coming alive before me. The dead were coming back in black puddles. The car overtook and splashed through, mile after mile. Samuel's now Slim lying son by side. There had to be an escape for me. I had to rid myself of the girl. At any cost. Why are you stopping? The tire feels flat. Take a look at it. Oh, ahead. The tire is low. I have to pump air into it. I've got a hand pump in the trunk. Hurry it up. I've found a tire wrench in my tool chest. The only weapons available. Mr. Thomas. I'm used to being called Ginger. Ginger, I'll need your help. The tire pump keeps slipping. Someone has to hold it while I pump. All right, if I have to. It's pitch black and spooky out here. Where are you? Here, at the rear of the car. I hardly make it out. Please hurry if you're going to help. I'm staying where I am. Did you really think I was going to walk into a tire wrench whacking down on my... My hand! You've got a gun. It's slim. I saw it from him when we quarreled. Can you still drive with that hand? Yes. Your bullet hit the tire wrench. And it's just stunned from the concussion. Then let's go. This time I'll sit in the back and do the directing. In case you get any more funny ideas. What's our destination? Police headquarters. You're going to tell them you ran, slimmed down, and then tried to murder me. Ginger. You're warming up another fish. Sorry. No, no, no more lies. I killed your slim on the highway accidentally. I couldn't seem to stop in time. Where's his slim now? A hobo who was with him disposed of him. For a price. How much? $1,000. Cheap way out for you. I didn't haggle over price. I offered that much and the hobo took it. I never haggle over the price of my safety. No price too high. You're telling me. I saw you go for that wrench back there. You meant nothing to the hobo. Slim meant something to me. I understand. If I could make it up to you somehow. He meant a hundred times more to me than he meant to the hobo. A hundred times more? $100,000? Police headquarters about a quarter mile up. $100,000 is a porch. Here fit means my safety. Yes. I'm rich. You're the first cabin you see. I want the thrill of ordering a foreign steak and champagne. Eric, formalities are a little pointless now. Okay, Eric. Order something extra good. On me. Thanks, no. Say, how are you going to turn over all that money to me? I have that much in my bowl. In cash? In cash. Don't look now. Across the room in the end booth. In the piano. Who is it? The hobo. The one that Slim took up with. The one I took up with. He mustn't see us too much. Let's go quickly. I haven't finished half my stage. We'll get another one some other day. We've got to get out of here. We got out of the tavern without being seen. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. This dawns on me that your safety is my safety now. We're pardoners, darling. And the hobo is your problem and my problem. I don't follow. If the hobo gets to worrying about what he's done for you and yelled cops, I'm out that hundred thousand. You're going to get me tomorrow. You see it? In a way. And if the hobo sticks his hand up for a second helping of your money, you can't pay him because I've got your money. Oh, the hobo turns to me. But how can he get to me? He hardly saw me in the storm of darkness. I can't identify myself. You don't know hobos. At thousand dollars you gave him opened his eyes to a lot of possibilities. He doesn't know your name. I'll bet you anything. He got it down your license plate number when you pulled away. And what can we do? Just one thing. One thing. We're going to stay safe. We've got to shot him out. Good. You were the man with the lug wrench walking. Look, I've got a fortune now and Flynn wants me to protect it any way I must. When Mr. Hobo comes out, we're walking him down the road and into the woods. The hobo came out. And we walked him down the road. Then toward the woods. I was deciding to injure the hanky, robbing him with a gun. Jinju was protecting her fortune against hobo, as cold-bloodedly as I had once protected my fortune against families. What's the rap, mister? I ditched a kid like we agreed. You just let the talk. Oh, the fame's been selling you a bill of goods. If you were Slim's girl, I'd seen her with Slim. You're in the clear on us, mister. I loaded the kid down with rocks and threw him into a lake. I've really done my bit for that grand. Stop here, Eric. I'll take him into the woods. You...you were...killing? Yeah, it's me. I'll have to do the dirty work. That's us two with a gun, so I'm stuck doing it. Uh, don't run off while I'm in there for a while. We've got a morning date with your bank. I won't run off. There's no place to run through. Keep walking, hobo. Uh, look, I'll...I'll give you back that grand if that's what's cryin' you people. Rock! They disappeared into the woods for a moment. Victim and executioner. There was a long, heavy silence. And then... Came out of the hobo's wallet. Why, six, seven, four, three, two, eight. My car lights will cover. It was his number to it. This is career of last night. But we are really safe now. Sucker! We came back to town. Ginger and I. In the morning I went to my bank vault and turned the packet of new bills over to her. One hundred thousand dollars. The money I'd stolen in Samuel's name and hidden away. She took the money without a word and went off laughing. As if she had a huge joke she wants to tell the world. I'm here in Enrico's mouth. I've been an eyewitness to a lot of things in Samuel's. I'm back here because there's no place to run to. The heavy-set stranger who called the turn on me last night is coming over. Weren't able to shake that eyewitness, huh? No. How can a man shake himself? I didn't see him in Samuel's everywhere. He's been a boy named Slim, hobo, girl named Ginger. Lock me up somewhere. I'm out of my bath. No, you're so right. Samuel's in his family. His two sons and his daughter. Samuel's. And his family. Samuel didn't leap into the river. He nearly left his coat on the bridge. He walked away. But I ran over a boy named Slim. He was under my wheels. Before your wheels. He practiced just such a ball for days. It was all a frame-up, then. A frame-up to trap me, Slim, the hobo, the girl. No, not a frame-up. Just the way of giving justice a little push on a wave. Who are you? Another family. Samuel's father, maybe? No. I'm just an odd-job man working at a police headquarters. And now I witness. Funny thing, our nine times out of ten, the missing eye witness turns out to be the guilty party himself. Did someone just say all Carlisle needed was a dash of ginger to cook his goo? Ha, ha, ha. Still, you know, Carlisle hung on to his sanity, but tenaciously. Right down to the last crack. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. Well, Marl, though I got a couple. Short fees on the nearest tenetentiary wall, somebody. When embezzling money, be sure to amputate both hands so you won't finger yourself. I have this friendship. He who frames a bookkeeper only hangs himself. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. Good night. Pleasant dreams. So, for CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System, and has been rebroadcast for service men and women overseas. This is the United States Armed Forces Radio Service with a voice of information and education.