 through the creaking door into the innocent. You'll have to be very quiet tonight because one of our guests is asleep in the deep. Ha ha ha, poor chap. He was a sailor by trade, an old salt named Peter. I had a corpse in every port, but I'm afraid he went overboard. Now sit back in your uneasy chairs as Ken Griswold of Redmond County had seen death in all its cruel twisted forms. There had never been one brand new large alone. On the third day of my vacation, I was sitting on the lakefront dock when I heard my name called. Turned and saw Al Hendricks coming quickly down the hill. Ken, I'm afraid you'll have to interrupt your vacation. Why? You've got to come back to town. Come back to town? This is a very special case. Why? What's so special about this case? Dead in her house at 11 this morning. There doesn't seem to be any visible reason for that. Well, we can't find one. You'll have to find it for us, Ken. Me? Why must it be me? When you get there, you'll understand why. What do you mean, why? Al Hendricks pulled back the sheet. And for the first time, I saw my wife, Ellen, in death. Her face was twisted into a strange smile. And her eyes seemed to stare at me through half-open lids. But somehow the aura of the dead wasn't about her. It was as if she were only asleep. Dr. Vincent and I stayed there for three hours, testing, analyzing, checking back over every bit of evidence which might give us an inkling of the cause of death. And when we were finished, I asked Dr. Vincent to send Al in. Well, Ken, what's the verdict? There is no verdict. What? It doesn't seem possible, Al. I can't believe it. It's true. What are you talking about? Ellen's death. There's absolutely no cause, Al. There's no reason for her to be dead. Now, wait a minute, Ken. You set yourself on the way down from the lake. If somebody dies, there's got to be a reason for it. Some cause that makes them stop living. Yes, that's what I said, but this is different. Death is death. How can this be different from any other? I don't know, but it is. You mean she just stopped living? Only you can't explain it. Oh, that's not what I mean. I have a feeling that Ellen didn't stop living. She didn't stop living at all. Official certificate. The cause of death was listed as unknown. Two days later, Ellen was buried. That night, I sat in the half-dark living room, outside a howling wind slashed at the French windows that led to the lawn. I couldn't sleep. Couldn't get the thought out of my mind. I thought that I should never have allowed them to bury Ellen. I just sat there. The idea is searing deeper and deeper into my mind. And suddenly, one of the French windows was flung open, and the cold wind ripped into the dim-lit room. I come back here. At first, I thought it was just the echoing wind playing tricks. Then I heard it again, stronger. I'm here again. It was her voice. Ellen. You're not afraid, are you, King? She stepped out of the shadows and stood there before me in the yellow light of the lamp. She was dressed just the way she was when they put her in the coffin. The gold bracelet I had given her glistened on her wrist. Why do you look at me that way? It's not you, Ellen. Oh, yeah. It can't be. You're dead. Am I? Really? You were buried this morning. You died two days ago. Don't you remember, Ken? You told Inspector Hendricks I heard you. Ellen didn't stop living. Oh, this is just a dream. You know why I didn't stop living, Ken? It's because you can't make a wish like that come true. What wish? Don't you remember? You said to me, Ellen, I wish you were dead. No, no, Ellen, I always loved you. You didn't. You never did. When Carl was nice to me, you hated us both for it. You thought I was going to Carl, and so you made your wish. You wished that I would die. I didn't mean it, Ellen. I swear it was just something I said in anger. You wished me dead, Ken, but you can't kill by willing it. You can see now that I've lived on. This isn't real. You're only in my mind. It's just my nerves. No, Ken. Yes, it is, it is. It's nothing but a trick of my imagination. I'm as real as you are. I'm flesh and blood and bone, the same as you here. I moved back, but she kept coming closer and closer. And then I turned and ran across the room. I saw her follow up to me. I got to the bedroom door at seven o'clock. I turned the key in the lock. I stood there in the dark. My heart hammering a tattoo of fear that shook my old body. My fingers around my throat to hold back the scream that cried silently for release. And then it came. I heard you scream. What the deuce has been going on here? She came back, Ellen. I told you she wasn't dead. Oh, now look. No, I'm not crazy. You've got to believe me. She was here. She tried to get into this room, and that's why I locked myself in. Now you listen to me. The last couple of days have been rough. No, no, wait a minute. I know what I'm talking about. Ellen's come back. I said you listen. Your wife was buried this morning. I was at the funeral with you. She was buried, and it's all over. Had a nightmare, just a nightmare. Things like that happened to all of us. She wasn't here. She couldn't have been. It wasn't a dream, now. What are you talking about? That bracelet. The bracelet was on Ellen when she was buried this morning. She dropped a pearl gray blanket over your time, Ken. She's in there, and I bent down and snapped open the coffin here. Pulled up the lid just as he jumped down beside me. You've got to listen to me now. I can explain everything. I know what happened to Ellen. I'm saying a trick on us. The dead don't rise from that grave. See, in this room. That was a dream. No, she spoke to me. She was alive. And she'll be back again tonight. I know it. I can feel it back. She's going to be back soon. Stop talking like that. I can't face her. I just wanted to get some of your things out of this closet. Who want to come toward me? This time I knew she was really dead. The knife in her back told me that Ellen would never return. Your wife, Ellen, let that be a lesson to you the next time you make a. We found Ellen's body in that closet. I knew I had to get away from that house forever. I wanted to run out into the night. Some force held me stationary in its grip. The room began to swim crazily. Howdy, hospital. You banked on. Ellen, she was murdered. Now, you've got to take it easy. We won't talk about that now. I have to talk about it. Don't you see, Al? I was right. Ellen had lived on. No, she was already dead. Put that knife in her back. You only die once. What I said before still goes. Somebody's playing tricks and sleeping. Then he pulled down the shades and walked out of the room. A little later, the door of my room opened. In the semi-dark, I could see that it was a woman dressed in white. She stood at the foot of my bed. Who are you? Well, I'm your nurse, sir. Here, drink this. My name isn't Ellen. I'm just the nurse. You're Ellen. You've come back again. Now, now, you mustn't excite yourself. Just just, please, drink this. No, no. You're sleeping. No, don't. You'll feel much better after. You've come to take me with you. I know what's in that glass. You can trust me. It won't hurt you. It won't die. Take it away. Take it away. Oh, no, no. She just stood there, looking down at me, that same twisted smile on her face, slid out of the bed. Now, you mustn't get up, sir. You're not well. She came towards me, her hand outstretched, just like the other time. She came closer and closer. Let me help you back. I won't hurt you. I got to the door and opened it. I decided to run down the corridor and something got my heart. I'll be tight on the spot. Now, then go, please. To stay in bed. Now, let me go. I've got to get out of here. They're going back to your room. No, I can't go back there. Don't make me. She's there. What? Ellen, she's coming back again. Now, look. You've got to believe that she's in there waiting for you. No, Ken, it's just your nerves. I was outside the door. Her voice and her face weren't the same, but I knew who she was. I could tell by that smile of hers. She's posing as my nurse. That's how she got in. But that can't be, Ken. You don't have a nurse. She will. It was all in your mind. I think I can make you see that now. What do you mean? You felt responsible for Ellen's death because of that fight you had with her. That's why your imagination ran wild. Oh, that bracelet, her body in the closet. Like I told you, she was dead all the time. Somebody was playing tricks. The man who murdered your wife, we've got a lead on him. What are you talking about? What man? One of your neighbors gave us the tip. 2 o'clock in the morning on that day, your wife was found dead. A man was seen leaving your house. He was tall and wore a black hat and coat. The murderer must have known that you were at Grandview Lake. But it couldn't have been murder. The autopsy would have shown that. We couldn't find any cause for Ellen's death. There's always a cause. We'll find Ellen's murderous somehow. When I left, I thought back over everything he'd told me. Someone was playing tricks, a tall man and a black hat and coat. I kept searching my mind, probing. And then the idea struck, something Ellen had said. And Carl was nice to me. Carl Denson. They wouldn't allow me to leave, but I found a way of getting out of that hospital. And I went to see Dr. Carl Denson. Yes, what is? Hello, Denson. Why, Ken Griswold. I want to talk to you. Yes, of course. Come here, come here. I heard you were in the hospital. I got out of there tonight. The way you say that. Call it escape, if you want to. Look, Griswold, you're not well. That's what you want them to believe, that I am crazy. I don't know what you're talking about. I'm talking about Ellen. You killed her, Denson. What? You murdered my wife. You couldn't have her for yourself, so you killed her. You're mad. I read the report. Ellen died of causes unknown. You killed her. And now I know how you did it. You're a doctor. You know about things like that. There's an artery in the neck, the carotid. If you apply pressure on it the right way, the victim dies. And there's no evidence of murder. You can't bluff me, Griswold. I came out here to kill you. Then I'm here to choke this wife out of you, like this. You fool. You crazy fool. Get out of here. Yes, Denson. I changed my mind. You're going to die in the electric chair. I told you to get out. I'm going to prove that you killed Ellen. You can't, because I didn't. A man was seen leaving the house on the morning Ellen was murdered. You were that man, Denson. You knew I was up at Grandview Lake. You waited until I was away. You forgot something, Griswold. It couldn't have been me. I'll prove it. You forget. At the same time, you were up at Grandview Lake. I was there, too. I went back in my mind, and I remembered that Carl Denson had been at Grandview Lake while I was there. But I knew Denson was the murderer. He was the man in the black hat and coat. He had found some way to come back to town and kill Ellen, but I had to prove it. I started out to retrace his steps on the night of the murder. The train let me off at the Grandview Lake station at four in the morning. I phoned for the village taxi and ordered the sleepy driver to take me out to the lounge. I don't like to make trips this time of the night, mister. Don't worry. I'll pay you extra for it. Only hurry. I can't go much faster. Trouble with your city folks always hurrying to get nowhere. Reminds me, the fella I drove last week. City fella, too. Get off the four-row one, just like you. Says he's in a hurry. Wait a minute. Yes? You said he got off that same train? Yep. That's what I said. Same train as you. What day was that? Well, let's see. Was it Tuesday? Tuesday? Yes, yes. It was Tuesday that. What did he look like? Very much what I know from that. Tell me, what did he look like? Well, he was a tall fella. Didn't talk much tall. Couldn't see much of his face at the scope car, but nothing about that. Wasn't cold either. Was he wearing a black hat? Nothing, but kissy was. Yeah. Not getting cold. Where did you drive him to? Same place you're going, mister. Grandview Lake Blanche. That proved it. I was right. Denson had gone to town to kill Alan. Then, when he finished, he returned on the early morning train. I had him now. With just one more step left. When I walked into the lodge, George, the night clerk, was behind the door. Good morning, Dr. Griswold. Hello, Griswold. George. We weren't expecting you, but we have a room. I'm not staying. Oh. George, I need your help. Yes, of course. What is it? It's important. You must remember something. Remember? About Dr. Denson. You know him? Yes, certainly. Well, this happened just one week ago, last Tuesday morning at the same time. You were on duty then? Yes. And you would have seen anyone walk through the lobby here? Yes, I would. Dr. Denson returned to the lodge last Tuesday morning. He was wearing a black hat and coat. He came in here at this same time. You saw him? No. But you must have. I didn't. He came in here. I have proof. The cab driver who brought him here from the station saw him enter the lobby. I didn't see Dr. Denson that morning. You're lying. You did. No, sir. The only person who came in early last Tuesday was you. What? You came in, Dr. Griswold. You wore a black hat and coat, and you asked me for a key to your room. Me? That's right, Ken. With you all the time. How? I'll be good, Ken. Don't make me use this gun. How did you hear what he said? Yeah. That means I killed her. I was waiting for you, Ken. I knew you'd come. Now, let you find out for yourself. I don't remember. You're a doctor. You know about those things, but personalities and stuff like that? You just can't see it in yourself, I guess. But her body and the closet. That was you, too. I followed you out to the cemetery. You thought you were still alive. That's why you put the knife in her back. I'm no expert on those things, Ken, but that's the way it looks to me. Couldn't go back with him, not that way. I ran across the lobby. Stop, Ken. Stop right out the door. I got to the door, and then... burned in my chest. Al turned me over on my back. I'm sorry, Ken. It's all right, Al. This is just the way I wanted it. Al's gone for a doctor. I haven't got much longer. And no, I won't be here when Al comes back. I won't give them any trouble with this one. The cause of death, this one's easy to determine. Wives are bad enough alive, but imagine being hand-picked by a cork. That's the trouble with folks you meet around here. They're dead, but they just... you're thinking of doing away... This is the United States Armed Forces Radio Service, The Voice of Information and Education.