 This is CFC Act, written curtain of the mystery playhouse. Tonight we're visiting the Inner Sanctum for a story by your host, Raymond. Open the door and tell us about it, Mr. Ho. Good evening, gentle friends of the Inner Sanctum. Welcome through the creaking door for another soothing half-hour of sweetness and lying. Oh, I've learned a new trick. Would one of you like to step up here and be sore in half? Well, no volunteer. Well, maybe you're right. The first part, the soaring in half, that's easy. But the second part, the putting together again, I'm still not very good at that. Ah. What does a man think of when there's murder in the air? A close presence of death. Does it have matter and substance? Does it generate unseen light waves that touch a man's subconscious or unheard sound waves that speak to him when he asleep? Well, let's listen to I Walk in the Night, written by Amel Tepperman with Larry Haynes, the role of Peter Lang, to tell you this story himself. I don't know if it was the ringing of a doorbell that awoke me, dragged me back to consciousness out of a deep, heavy sleep. I felt groggy, as if I'd been drugged. My eyes were so heavy, so hard to keep open. That infernal ringing, I stumbled out into the hall. Mernizal, my wife. They are opposite mine. I knew the door would be locked. We'd quarreled last night while the Judges were visiting from the house next door. Merniz made a scene. She went to a room and locked herself in. Please, please wake up in there. As I stumbled down the hall of the front door, I recognized Bill Jetson's voice. So in hen we had to live in the house next door, just across the lawn. All right. All right, I'm coming. Let's let it. It's a soapy. Oh, thank heaven you woke up, Peter. I thought you'd never hear me. What's wrong, Phil? What's that poker for? Henry had to throw a prowler come out of this house. A prowler? What matter with you, Pete? You look groggy. Wake up. I don't know. I feel as if I've been doped. What's this about a prowler? Henrietta saw him climbing out of Merniz's window. She yelled at me and I grabbed the poker and came running out. The poker? What's the matter with you? Didn't you hear me? A man was in Merniz's room just now. Great Scott. I mean, there's the lawn in there. Come on. All right, open the door. She doesn't answer. Phil, are you sure the prowler came out of this room? Yes. He ran around the house and got away. Look, Pete, have you got a key to this door? Oh, it's bolted on the inside. We've got to break it down. Come on. Put your shoulder to it. One more now. Where's the light switch? Oh, here. I've got it. Better not come in, Pete. Oh, let me in. I've got to see. Take it easy, Pete. Oh, Merniz strangled the death. Merniz put it in black and blue, but I cannot throw it. There's chain on her neck. It's broken. What is that locket? The one I gave her last, please. The killer must have taken it with him. And see here her fingernails. There's bits of skin under them. She must have struggled and scratched the killer's face or hands. Why so? Why should anyone want to kill her? Then began the wrong torture of the investigation. Detectives swarming over the house. Man and derby had to examine the body of my wife, measuring the room, searching for fingerprints. And finally, more men who came and carried her away forever. Throw it off so when Henrietta sat with me, trying to give her comfort. Oh, Peter, dear, please talk to us. I can't stand seeing you sit there with your head in your hand. It won't bring Merniz back to life. Henrietta's right, Pete. You've got to get a hold of yourself. I know. I know what it... I can't stop thinking about it. Those locks and the throat. The torn chain, the locket, gone. Look here, Pete, there's something we have to talk about. Now, get that dazed look off your face and listen to me for a minute. Yes, yes, sir. There's a police inspector in Merniz's room right now. O'Brien is his name. He'll be coming in soon to question you. Now, you'd better not tell him about the quarrel you had with Merniz last night. I don't get you. It would look bad for you. For me? What do you mean? Sir, you don't say that I... My right hand in my bathrobe pocket had touched something cold. So Henrietta both stared at me. Peter. What's wrong? So... So look what I found in my pocket. What is it? A locket. It's Merniz's locket. The one that was going from her throat. So... So how could this get in my pocket? Here, give me that quick. So, give it to me. Merniz, Merniz locked it all right. Do you recognize it, Henrietta? Yes. What are you going to do with it, Phil? Get rid of it quick, out this open window. Now, the police find it out there. They'll think the killer dropped it. The silhouette was in my pocket. What are you looking at, Phil? Your hand, Pete. What? Your left hand. I looked down at my left hand. There on my list. What's really wrong with the ashes? The skin has been scraped. Is this by the fingernails of a woman fighting for her life? Do you think I could have killed it? I don't believe it. You could never do a thing like that, Pete. Couldn't I? How can you be sure? How can I be sure? Peter, please. Don't talk like that. You're making yourself out some terrible monster, but you aren't. Phil and I know you... you can't be like that. I don't know. Maybe I got up in my sleep and killed Marina without ever knowing it, consciously. After all, I did have that quarrel with the last nice-cutter, Pete. Here comes O'Brien, the detective. I hope I'm not intruding. Oh, no, it's all right, Inspector. Come in, O'Brien. The lying is very upset. The shock. I just don't understand. Believe me, Mr. Lying had my deepest sympathy. I wouldn't bother you at all at a time like this. Inspector O'Brien was a paint-cheeked, chubby-faced, chubby little man, but his eyes were cold and blue and restless. I kept jumping from Phil to Henrietta to me as he fired his question at us. Mr. Lying, one more thing. I understand you had a small party here last night. Oh, no, no, it wasn't a party. Just Phil and Henrietta and Ted Hale. Ted Hale? Yes, my name's Ted Hale. Uh, this Ted Hale, the cousin of your wife. Pardon me, Inspector. Peter's too easy-going and good-natured to tell you about Ted Hale. But Peter's attorney, it's my duty to give you certain information. Ah, go ahead. My name, Mrs. Lying, owned a considerable property in her own right. Recently, I drew a will at her request. In it, she leaves with sizable sum who Ted Hale, uh-huh. Oh, I, I just thought of something. What is it, Henrietta? Well, Peter was so groggy when he woke up. That's right. He looked as if he'd been drugged. Well, don't you remember last night? Ted Hale went in the kitchen to mix the last round of cream. Oh, Henrietta, that's ridiculous. On the contrary, it's quite important. Uh, tell me, this Ted Hale, what does he do for a living? Well, he works for me and my broker, Joe. Uh-huh. Please, murder, I give him a job as my confidential secretary. Hmm. Uh, I suppose you tell me where Mr. Ted Hale lives. I think I'll have a talk with him. Now, all you have to do, Pete, is sit tight. Let O'Brien follow up his lead. Well, I can't let him arrest Ted Hale. He didn't kill murder. I did. I must have the lock. He scratches. It's not fair to Ted. As your attorney, I won't let you strap yourself in the electric chair. You go back to your room and get some sleep. Uh, Henrietta, do you mind going back to our house by yourself? Of course not. I'm going to sleep right here in the living room on this couch. In case Peter needs me tonight. On my bed in the dark, I kept seeing a thousand pictures. Marina, her face modeled with strangulation. They all always so sure of themselves. Henrietta worried and frightened. And O'Brien, his face grim and his blue eyes cold. Going off to question Ted Hale. I must have been close to dozing off when I heard the doorbell faintly. It was just a dream. I tossed about in bed for a moment or two. And then I heard the voices in the living room. Films, cold and harsh. And someone else's, loud and angry and frightened. I got out of bed and opened the door. I went down the hall to the living room. I had to know who was in there arguing with Phil. It was Ted Hale. Ted. What are you doing here? Phil phoned me. He told me about Marina. I called him up. Called him up. O'Brien was becoming informed. I suggested he come over here and talk it over with me. Pete, don't let them arrest me. You've got to help me. Help you? You know I didn't kill Marina. Well, I'm not sure. Pete, what? I was here last night, you know. And you had that fight with Marina? What do you mean? If I'm arrested, I'll tell the police about that call. Phil says I had a motive. But what about you, Pete? You were always quarreling with Marina. I look here, Ted. If you're threatening me... I only want you to help me, Pete. Don't let them arrest me. Hide me. Hide me out until this blows over or until they get the real killer. I think... Ted is right, Pete. We should help them. But where? I'll handle it. You have a... ...dark room fixed up in the cellar, haven't you? Yes. We'll stick a card in there and let Ted to hold up for the day or two. Nobody will think of looking for him. In this house. Now listen to me carefully, Peter. If Ted Hale is arrested and talks, or Brian will learn about the quarrel you had with Marina last night, he'll start digging into things that won't look so good for you. No, Phil, wait. I know you're trying to help me, but... If I did it... If I did kill Marina then he was trying to protect me. It isn't right. I'm a dangerous man. But you can't brush it off like that. Do you know what it means to lie awake in the night wondering whether you killed your own wife, wondering whom I'll kill next? Cut that out. We've got business to attend to. Now here's my plan. We'll let Ted stay here tomorrow. And then tomorrow night I'll smuggle him out of the country, get him passage on a freighter to South America. You think he'll go? Sure he'll go. He's scared stiff. We'll need money. Lots of money. Now how much have you got in the safe at the office? So about ten thousand cash, but there's a batch of negotiable bonds. They'll do. I'll go down to the office the first thing in the morning and get them out of the safe. Oh, you have a combination? Yes, you gave it to me when you gave me your power of attorney, remember? Oh, yeah. Now don't you worry about a thing. Oh, um, here. Take this powder. It's just one of the bro-minds that Henrietta uses to help you get to sleep. By tomorrow morning, everything will be fixed up. Fine. It was almost dawn when Phil left. And it was to be hours later, close to noontime when I thought myself being roughly shaken out of a heavy, troubled party. Pete. Pete, wake up. What? Hey, wake up. Come on, snap out of it. Oh, I feel groggy. Look, what's in that powder you gave me? Never mind the powder. Get your eyes open. I've got something to tell you. So what's wrong? What happened? Listen to me carefully, Pete. I went down to the office before business hours this morning and opened the safe to get the money out. Yes. The safe is empty. And the securities are gone. But they can't be. Who else had the combination besides you and me? Only Ted Hale. Oh, do you think that... I'll bet you a dollar to a doughnut he's gone. Come on, let's check. Look, Pete, there's a light in the dark room. You must have gone up early and beat me to it for the safe. Ted, Ted, you in there? Always be optimist, huh? Come on, open it up. Ted. What happened? Ted Hale hadn't gone anywhere. He was lying there on a cot. His head was a bloody pulp. It had been bashed in while he slept. With a long handle of cold shovel which lay there alongside the cot. Great Scott. He's been murdered. We stood there in a narrow dark room till a night and we looked at each other. There was a strange gleam in Fozai's eyes. I tried to read the meaning of that gleam, but he averted his eyes too quickly. He dropped his gaze to my hands. I saw what he was looking at. A little black and grimy with cold dust. And I'm a grimy, cold black and handle of a shovel with a fresh set of fingerprints. Phil, did I kill him? Did I kill him in my sleep? The same as murder? Phil, I can't stand it. It's the English matter. I'm going to get myself up. You'll do nothing of a kind. If you did it, Pete, you're not responsible. You do think I did it. And murder too? I don't know. I don't know what to say. Just think, Phil. Maybe tonight I might kill you. Well, Henrietta, there's no telling what I might do. No, no, Philip. It's hard to believe, but there's the proof. I'm a murderer. I'm dangerous. There's only one thing to do. I won't let you do it. Both of us left. Come on. I'm going to help you hide Ted's body. How much further, Phil? Oh, there it is. There's the bridge up ahead. Okay. Here, help me with it. We had the body of Ted Hale in a sack with a pair of hundred-pound dumbbells to lay it down. When all took place the next morning, and I had to endure the condolences of friends and business associates. But Phil and Henrietta stood by me all. It'll be over soon, Peter. Then you can rest. Keep your chin up. I'll get rid of the stragglers. Look. Look who just came in. There. Oh. Hey, Mr. O'Brien, what did you want, Phil? Take it easy. Take it easy. Let me do the talking. I came to pay my respects, Mr. Lang. Oh. Well, thank you, and thank you. No trace of Ted Hale, is it? I'm afraid not, Mr. Judson. They're combing the city for him, but I'm afraid he's got clean away. It's marvelous to see how calmly Phil could talk to O'Brien about Ted Hale, knowing all the time just where the body was under that bridge. I glanced at Henrietta. She was watching Phil, too. You know what I think, Mr. Judson? I think Ted Hale will never be caught. I have a very funny feeling that he's dead. Later that afternoon, I took a taxi cab and went down to police headquarters. And I had to see Inspector O'Brien. Oh, glad to see you, Mr. Lang. You're looking a little better this afternoon. I feel better, Inspector. I feel better because I've come to an important decision. Oh, yeah? Well, I decided to tell you something. That'll start on you. That's pretty hard to start on old hand in my business. Go ahead, I'm with him. All right, Inspector. Ted Hale didn't kill Marina. I killed her. That is, I think I killed her. Phil, thank you, killed her. Don't you know? It sounds crazy, doesn't it, but I assure you, it won't perfectly say. Justice is gonna hire you either killed her or you didn't kill her. If you kill somebody, you know it. No, not in this case, Inspector. You see, I think I did it in my sleep. Both times. Marina and Ted Hale, too. Hold on, now. I'll get someone to take notes. As opposed to you starting at the beginning. Show them the whole story. I feel it awaken me. We found Marina strangled. A groggy drug-feeling I'd had. Ted Hale had tried to blackmail me. Now, Phil had awakened me once more and we'd gone down to the cellar. We found Ted with his head bashed in. I talked with him. I'm glad you came to see me, Mr. Lang. Glad you told me all this. You must have had a hard time reaching a decision to come here. Yes. It was hard to sleep with you. Phil wanted me to go away. It would have been so easy to go away and let him take care of things. But I'd never be able to sleep if you had to kill someone else. Well, you needn't worry, Mr. Lang. There won't be any more killings. It's not if I'm safely in jail. You're not going to jail. We're going home. What? And those notes the stenographer has taken, Mr. Lang. I have almost enough material to convict the real murder. I need just one more thing. Now, you go home and wait. Don't worry. You mean I didn't kill my dad? No, you just go along home and take it easy. I'm back at home now. It's two hours since I left O'Brien's office and I've taken the time to write down this full account. Just as I gave it to the stenographer. As I write now, I can look across the lawn to Phil Judson's house. Five minutes ago, I saw Inspector O'Brien and two detectives going there. The front door is opening now. I can see them coming out. O'Brien first, then the two detectives. With Phil between them. They've got a handcuffs on Phil. Here comes Henrietta. She's running across the lawn. Coming here. Peter. Peter. Coming in, Henrietta. Peter, they've taken Phil away. Yes, I saw it all from the window. Oh, darling. Everything went right. Exactly as we planned it. Hold me tight, Peter. Tight. We can be together now. Forever and ever. That has killed a dozen men to see you, baby. I know. And you were clever, Peter. So clever. The hardest part was getting Phil to cooperate. But I knew he'd do anything. Friend, what a fool he is. He stepped right in and took over. You should have seen O'Brien when I told him the story. I can tell exactly what he was thinking. Here's the poor innocent stat whose best friend is framing him. Giving him drugs and then making him think he commits murder. We can all... As soon as he's convicted, I'll be free. And we can go away together. All right. But you'll have to cancel that trip. Full of you. O'Brien. You... You heard... what we said? Sure did, every word. Remember at my office, Mr. Lang, when I told you I only needed one more thing to clinch the case against the murderer? Well, this was it. I faked the arrest of Mr. Judson. Then I sneaked back to see what you'd do about it. You did plenty. And with that familiar sound, we ring down the chitin. I was in a sanctum. I walk in the night. The night must replay our presentation. I face once again this is PSVX saying... Good night. Sleep tight. This is the armed forces video clip.