 Standard of California, on behalf of independent chevron gas stations and standard stations throughout the west, invites you to let George do it. Valley Sunset, another adventure of George Valentine. Personal notice, changes my stock and trade. If you worry about your life but worry even more about your death, you got a job for me, George Valentine. Write full details. Dear Mr. Valentine, I mustn't let anyone know that I'm writing to you. But they're all busy repairing one of the winery trucks tonight, and I've sneaked off to the safety of my childhood dollhouse. They say that some people can feel death like dogs can or coyotes. Well, I know that my uncle will die sooner or later. But what if my own brother should kill him? Or if he should kill my brother? Mr. Valentine, it's like when the dust flies and the grape finds so thick you can't tell what's underneath, whether there's ripening fruit or a rattlesnake. But there is something horrible that I can't find out alone. Because after all, I am only a prisoner in this strange world. And it's signed Rachel Agajnik. Any address, Booksy? Yeah, well let's see. It's on the back with the little map. The closest city is Fresno, I guess. 60 or 70 miles, care of Valley Sunset wineries. Because after all, I am only a prisoner in this strange world. Valley Sunset. Valley Sunset? What do you expect out of Hades, my friend? Road signs? Hades? Sure, sure. Whose hinges it is hotter than. Look, I'm sorry I flagged you down. But why? I'm happy. I noticed you were carrying very valuable freight. What's that? Hello, goddess. Oh, hello. On a day like today, you look better than a cold beer. Yes, well, get your foot off the brass rail. What's the matter? Haven't I got time to say any more before your boyfriend hits me? Okay, okay, smart boy. Just cool off and tell us where we are. The world, United States, heaven, Valley Sunset. What? Agaginic property. You've been on it for the last five miles. Yeah, but we haven't seen the winery or the ranch house. You won't for another five miles straight ahead. Oh, I see, a small type. Yes, indeed. The Kingdom of Limbo. Irrigated by the sweat of man, dedicated to the sweat of the great. Do you ever make sense? But of course not, I'm a poet. My name is Agaginic. Oh, Mr. Agaginic. It's common name. Lots of us are on. Mr. Agaginic, aren't there any, uh, newses right here on your ranch? Women? Yes, yes, exactly one, dear lady. The beautiful Rachel. Rachel Agaginic? The romantic type too. Your sister? No, no indeed. Nice. But I'll tell you a tragic secret, my friend. Rachel is only 14 years old. My childhood has passed me, Mr. Valentine. I'm not like other girls. I had to make you think I was a woman to get you here. I had to make you realize my awful plight. Yes, your awful plight. Now look, Rachel, you said you were a prisoner. And what are we fine? You live in a beautiful house. You've got one of the finest record collections I've ever seen. But nobody comes to the house. The best you have on is at least Sacksmith, haven't you? But I don't like the color. I didn't pick it out. It isn't proper for a girl my age. Who says so? That's the way it was in his old country, I guess. He picks out everything for everybody. He? Joseph, the oldest, the head of the family. Oh, the old fashioned patriarch, huh? My uncle, Mr. Valentine. Your... Now don't tell me Joseph has black hair and is tall and has a crooked smile. No, no, no, that's my uncle Sylvia Agaginic. Sylvia? Wouldn't you know the poet? He is a poet. Well, at least he had a poem published once. Uncle Joseph is awfully proud of you. Yeah, well, Rachel is... Sylvia does lots of things. He doesn't waste his time on the farm. And you know, he's the only one who ever pays any attention to me. He... He's a romantic kind of person. Sort of exciting, don't you think? Yeah, now look, you said your uncle was going to kill your brother or vice versa. Uncle Joseph and my brother Dimitro. But you haven't said... Dimitro's different, too. He never talks. He just works. And he hates. And he went to agricultural college. He what? Well, never mind. Why? Why? What's happened that makes you think all this? The way they've looked at each other the past few days. Dimitro and Joseph and poor Sylvia. It's nothing definite, Mr. Valentine, but I feel it. Wait, look, Rachel. And it feels horribly. It does. I'm not inventing it. I'm not lying. I don't want it to be there. It's like my music, Mr. Valentine. That record was Debussy, and it's wonderful. I love it. But I don't want to now. Listen. This is the only record like this I've got. I want to go swimming in the irrigation ditches like the other kids around here do. I want to see a football game at the Union High School. I want to be like the other children. Rachel! Joseph, no, don't. It is not good music. You know it yourself, Rachel. Now stop sounding like a circus organ in a rainstorm. I can't say that I blame her, Mr. Valentine. Young ladies are not talking to strangers. And strangers are not talking to young ladies. Now get out of here, Rachel. Get out. There is a good beachin'. So you're Joe Agaginick, huh? Yeah. The big boss. The big fist. The biggest fist that ever threw a 10-gallon cask. Who are you? The name. You talk to the girl, why? Take it easy, Marty Joe. Just relax. We're here asking questions because, well, I'm a writer. You're a writer? Yeah, sure, that's it. I'm interested in wineries. That's all. Joe Agaginick, a fool, no? A writer, huh? A real writer. Well, I'm just a... A valley sunset has never been honored before. Mr.... Oh, Valentine. This is Miss Brooks. Forgive my overalls. So much dirt in the hands is bad, and dirt in the eyes is worse, but a little dirt in the soul is good, huh? Don't you think? Come again? Yeah, there is music, Mr. Valentine. Music inside of a man who lifts the dirt and tends the vines. This is something to write about. Yeah, I can imagine. I will show you the poem. I will show you the poem in the magazine of my boy, my own boy. Your boy? Silvio, my baby brother. Yeah, my very baby brother. I read from a baby. Yeah. These others, they were the name, but they are nothing. What's the matter? You think I am crazy old farmer? Oh, no, I don't, Joe. Then you stay. You will visit the valley sunset, huh? You're sure he wouldn't be in the wedding? Oh. You're sure there's nothing else special going on? What is important in life, Mr. Valentine? Death? No, no, no. Beauty. Who cares about anything else? You will stay, huh? Mr. Regas, you know he couldn't keep us away. But the first one thing to show you. The poem here, my Silvio's poem. You can tell me. You are a writer. Let me see it, George. He has had everything, Silvio. There must be someone to say these things that I feel that the earth feels. Nuts. I'll show you how the earth feels. Silvio, let me smell your breath. Oh, dry up, grandmother. I just don't want them to know how bad it is. That's all. Well, you don't have to. Yes, yes, I do. Yes, I do, goddess. I do. It stinks. I'm smart enough to know that. But I'm also smart enough to be pretty good at cards and pretty good at women and pretty good at... Oh, no, please, Silvio. Excuse him, excuse me. Excuse me? Why should anybody excuse me? Who excuses you? Do you know what this old woman did this morning, Mr. Valentine? He fixed it so I can't leave it. Be quiet. Be quiet. Young people must be guarded from trouble. Trouble. Trouble. That's the funny part, Mr. Valentine. It's he who's in trouble. Silvio. Sure, sure. The little man is out there now, big brother. He's waiting in his car to see you. Well, I did not you say so. Excuse me, please. Look at the lion run. Look at him. Oh, for a man not five feet tall without any hair and a pale freckled face. Suppose you clear that up, Buster. What is a little man? What's going on here? What kind of trouble is Joe in? How should I know, writer? I'm just baby brother. I don't know any little man who carries a gun. Hey, look, your name is Demetro, isn't it? Yes, of course, Mr. Valentine, but I'm busy right now. My uncle goes to town in one season. I've got to see him first. Joseph? Well, I think he's talking to some man outside. I don't care. I've got to see him first. Silvio's a loafer. He doesn't know a wine bat from a pickle barrel. Only, why don't you two tell the truth? You're not interested in wineries. You're interested in us. Look, all we want. Sure, sure, I know. You're friends of Rachel's. Okay. Well, I'm not afraid to tell you what's going on. Joe sold some property. Oh? Well, what's that got to do with it? Family property. It belongs to all of us. It's like selling a hand. Only a few days ago, Joe goes out on a QT to raise himself 20,000 bucks. Get back to the fields. Get back on to the fields where you belong. Oh, wait a minute. I am head of this family. You will do what Joe says. And I wanted to ask you. I do not have to explain to you anything. It is my family, mine. One of the boys was cleaning your car with this dried blood on its head. Hey, cut it out. Oh, Joe, stop it. Joe, you're killing me. Get off of here. Get off of here. Crazy fool. You're killing me. Stop it. Uncle Joe. Rachel, get out of here. Uncle, he's gone. He's gone. Get out of here, pigeon. This is no place. What's up, boy? What did you say, kid? What's the matter? He's gone, Mr. Valentine. It's Sylvio. He's run away. No. Sylvio can't go. He knows what would happen. It was fixed, so he can't run away. No, he hasn't. Sylvio. Sylvio. We'll return to tonight's adventure of George Valentine in just a moment. If you spend a little more money than you planned on for your summer vacation, you may want to tighten up the family budget. 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Valley Sunset, where the heat and dust of September stretch from miles and miles over the vineyards of Joe Agaginick. You call yourself a visiting curious writer, but you still have a hard time finding out about the strange old-fashioned family that lives there. The Agaginicks, whose apparent love for the soil is only exceeded by their hatred of each other. Well, Brooksy, the big boy's left for Fresno. Yeah, Joe's at business at the bank or something. He goes every Monday. So we can look around his room all we want. Well, George, how's Demetro? Oh, no bones broken or anything after the beating he took. Well, what was the matter with Joe? He was insane. Oh, I don't know, Angel, but the big guy's so upset he doesn't know what he's doing. See, George... What have I found in the wastebasket? What is it? It says, dear Joe... Hey, let me see that. George, it's a good buy note from Sofia. Yeah. Dear Joe, so long, big brother. You'll never see me again. I've taken the $500 emergency payroll money you keep in your desk. You will never see it again either. Signed, Sylvia. Well, he stole some money before he went. But it's only $500 and it doesn't tell us about... No, no, no, Brooksy, wait, look at that note again. The wording, the crude sentences, the spelling. Look, George... Yeah, yeah, look on this other stuff, old invoices. And the ledges are the same. It's all the same handwriting, Angel. Joe's handwriting. Yeah, he wrote that farewell note to himself. But why? Think about it, Brooksy. It's just possible that the light is finally rising on Valley Sunset. Mr. Simpson, you represent the law in this country and, uh, fried blood on a friend, it could mean hit and run, couldn't it? Mr. Valentine, a hired hand named Sudzie was wandering around on the highway. Didn't know what hit him. Didn't you check around, Sheriff? Who would've? But up comes Joe Gaginick. Says it must've been him. Remembered he hitting something? Okay, okay. So Joe Gaginick hit a guy named Sudzie? That's all there was to it. Wasn't there any trouble, any charges preferred? Why, should there be everybody knows Joe? Oh, maybe he paid the hospital bills and bought Sudzie a few cigars. We kept it quiet. A few cigars. Would all that cost as much as $20,000? $20,000. All right, then try this one. Is Sudzie by any chance a little guy not five feet tall without any hair and a pale freckle face? A little man who might carry a gun? No. Oh, Mr. Simpson, you're a well of information. Take it easy, take it easy. Who works for him, though? Huh? Ty Wendell's the little guy, Guy Sudzie works for. Ty Wendell, huh? Mm-hmm. But he's got a permit for the gun. Knowns a little roadhouse out here to shake the yokels. Nice guy. You don't like him? Oh, I knock over his slot machines once a month. Best I've ever been able to do. Why, got any ideas? Slot machine. How'd you like it? Three lemons. Mr. Wendell. Hey, Mr. Wendell. Mr. Wendell, work. Three lemons for you, too, huh? But didn't you see anyone, George? Oh, no, no, I didn't. But Angel, the guy's pockets were inside out. His wallet was missing, only still had on his watch and a diamond ring. Well, George, uh, Ty Wendell had lots of enemies who might have... Sure, sure, and I hope that's just the way it is. But I can't help remembering that lots of people wouldn't be knowing about a certain $20,000. Oh, yeah. I don't want to talk to Simpson until I know where that dough is. What it was for. Because if things are what they seem to be, then the murderer was figuring on a perfect crime. And, Brooksy, there's only one way to break it. Oh, George. Yeah. It's to break a heart. Hello, Joe. I've been waiting for you. Is he home, Mr. Valentine? Has he come home? Silvio? No. But this car here on the drive, is that Mr. Simpson? Uh, yeah, yeah. He just stopped by for a visit, that's all. You're pretty late getting back from Fresno, huh? I stop on the road and talk to a friend. Uh-huh. I guess you're pretty used to seeing the Sheriff's car around here, aren't you? Why not? Valley Sunset is a small world. I guess you're used to seeing lots of police cars. Mr. Valentine, please, I am very tired. I guess your brother is almost always in trouble, isn't he? Please, please, no. Now listen to me, Joe. A week ago, a guy named Sudsy was smacked on the road. It was hit and run until you showed up to take the blame for it, to hush it up. Get away from that door. But you don't drink, you're not careless. You would have known what you hit. It was Silvio, wasn't it? He was the one who could have been nailed for drunk and reckless hit-run, prison, everything else. I'm going in. I said, listen to me. I just wanted to know one thing, Joe. Did the guy Sudsy work for figure it out, Ty Wendell? He's a crook anyway, Joe. Did he come around to you to ask for blackmail for $20,000? Mr. Valentine, I gave Ty Wendell his cash this morning. I was afraid it was our way. It was the only way. But selling some vineyards to raise the money, like my arm, piece of my soul. That's why you finally got tough with the boy, isn't it? You said you fixed it so Silvio couldn't run away. How else could I make something with such clay? The boy will come back, Mr. Valentine. You will see, Joe, I got you, and I could make a man of him. A poet of him. The things I cannot express, my baby. Hold it, Joe. The way you fixed it. I read that letter you wrote to yourself in your wastebasket. Of course. I'm sure Silvio, the words that I wanted, the words for him to write. You made him write a letter just like it? He confessed to a crime. He did not commit to stealing money from my desk. So any time he decided to leave, you could also bring him back by mailing his letter to yourself, showing it to the police so that they'd be your bloodhounds. He knew I would do it. Joe does not lie. He knew I would mail it from Fresno. Yeah, but did you mail it? I do not lie. The first thing this afternoon by special delivery. The first thing this afternoon. And a guy can't be in two places at once. So nobody'd ever suspect Silvio of... Joe can raise fines. Joe will protect his baby. Now, look, you've got to understand something, Joe. You've got to understand it before tomorrow morning when that mailman comes. There's a time when things happen. You can't protect him from him. You can't use that letter to... You are a fool, a fool. The world is a fool. I got the letter. What? The man I talked to on the road is special delivery. He has given me the letter. Already, Joe worked fast. He takes care of his baby. Joe. Uncle. Sheriff Simpson's inside asking questions. He wants to know where you were early this afternoon. He wants to know where Silvio was early this afternoon. Huh? Why does he ask about Silvio? To meet her, I'll tell him. He's out of his mind. I'll tell him. What about early this afternoon? Take it easy. He's just asking questions. That's all. Ty Wendell has been murdered. I... This afternoon... No, not my Silvio. Not my baby. Silvio, Joe won't take care of you. Joe won't... Brad Penny's home again on Silvio. Sure, Mr. Valentine? Hello, goddess. They located me in San Francisco. With the bad news. Yeah. Yeah. Too bad the stroke he had. Joe was pretty rough on people, though. You talked to Mr. Simpson yet? No, no. But I will. Ty Wendell got it. That's right. Early yesterday afternoon. Yeah. Well, that's the way it goes. I thought I'd better tell you something before you talk to Simpson. Your brother mentioned he'd given Wendell somebody something like $20,000 in cash. You see, I found the body. The money wasn't on Wendell. Oh. Oh, I get it. A motive robbery. Well, we had a funny thought probably nobody knew about that money except Joe. And maybe you. Oh, did you? Well, it's just a thought. A guy who wanted to leave Valley Sunset but could never squeeze enough Joe out of his brother might have been tempted by $20,000. Well, it just shows how funny thoughts can be, doesn't it? Well, I'll go down and talk to Simpson as soon as I do a little straightening up. You mean looking around, don't you? Like for a letter, maybe? Yeah, maybe. I know there is one someplace in Joe's coat. How do you know? A mailman happened to mention it. He'd given it to Joe last night. Happened to mention it. What did you do? Check with him on the phone before you flew back? Worth doing, I guess. Make a perfect dollar, boy, that letter. Look, what's all this to you right now? That is, it would, if you could find it. You haven't got that letter, have you? You didn't take it off at Joe. Why do you think your brother had that stroke? What? What do you mean? Where's that letter? I've got to have it. I've got to have it. Just underestimated Joe, that's all. He's dead because he realized he failed you. He loved you, Silvio. And last night, even before I met him, he'd already torn that letter up. No. No. I don't believe it. I don't believe that. You have no alibi, baby. No alibi at all. When the dust lies on the grapevine so thick, you can't tell what's underneath. Whether there's ripening fruit or a rattlesnake asleep in the hot shade. Hey, Rachel, look, kid. Snap out of it, will you? We've got to leave you now. I'm all right, Mr. Valentine. Of course you are, Rachel. Now you'll do all the things you want to. You'll swim in the irrigation ditches and go to the football games. Poetic, isn't it? Huh? What I mean is, maybe I could say some of those things Uncle Joseph thought should be said. The vines and the earth. I think he could do it. Demetra will take care of the vines. Poetry, beauty and grapes. You know, Angel, I think Joe is going to have the kind of monument he'd like. What's the weather going to be like tomorrow? Now, there's a frequent household question and curiously enough, it's a question that Standard of California asks nearly every day in the year. They want to know what the weather is going to be like in the low-calvary tomorrow and months from tomorrow. It's all part of making Chevron Supreme Gasoline a climate-tailored fuel for your car. Yes, this premium quality gasoline is specially blended for the different altitude and temperature zones throughout the West. And it's also tailored according to the season. That means the year-round and wherever you drive in the West, you can be sure of your car's peak performance under every driving condition. Try a tank full of Chevron Supreme Gasoline tomorrow. You'll notice right away how its ping-free power gives faster starts, faster pickup and traffic and smoother power on hills. You can't buy a better gasoline for today's high-compression engines. Get Chevron Supreme at independent Chevron gas stations and Standard stations, where they say, and mean, we take better care of your car. Now, ladies and gentlemen, here is Robert Bailey. This year's nationwide polio epidemic is the most disastrous in our history. Money set aside to pay for care of victims as being used up at the rate of $100,000 a day. Without your help, this fund will be exhausted in two weeks. So help America's children today. Send your dimes and dollars to polio care of your post office. Tonight's adventure of George Valentine has been brought to you by Standard of California on behalf of independent Chevron gas stations and Standard stations throughout the West. Robert Bailey is starred as George with Francis Robinson as Brooksy. Let George Do It is written by David Victor and Jackson Gillis and directed by Don Clark. Also heard in the cast were Jane Webb as Rachel, Bill Conrad as Joe, Tony Barrett as Sylvio, Joe Duvall as Simpson, and Clayton Post as Demetro. The music is composed and presented by Eddie Dunstetter, your announcer, John Easton. Listen again next week, same time, same station, to Let George Do It. This is the Mutual Downly Broadcasting System.