 Good evening creed tonight your mystery playhouse presents Inno sanctum good evening friends of the inner sanctum This is your house inviting you in through the squeaking door Ah, I just let the friend of mine. He runs an all-night billiard academy near the cemetery Yes after midnight he uncovers the ghoul table But no rough stuff in his place Now he settles all arguments by arbitration Simply lifts the shroud and points out they haven't a leg to stand on Believes the old model that a fiend in me. There's a fiend indeed Now dust off the edge of your chair Because that's where you'll be sitting for the rest of this half hour And listen to murder comes at midnight This is the story of how one average family Even as yours and mine spent a quiet night at their rented country house A night of terror As I said the cannings were just an average family Harry was 29 and worked as a sound engineer for a broadcast studio in the city Ethel was 27 and had been a school teacher before she was married Now she was kept pretty busy between writing the great american novel and taking care of Judy her seven-year-old daughter This was the first year they had rented a house in the country for the summer And Ethel didn't take much to the idea being alone But first I didn't know what it was that woke me Perhaps it was because I was expecting Harry He phoned that he was working overtime. He wouldn't be home till after midnight I didn't like the idea of his driving 60 miles from the city at that hour Or maybe it was just because I wasn't used to being alone with Judy in the old house I got out of bed I opened the connecting door to Judy's room She was sleeping Quietly I closed the door softly Went across to my window Something is awakening me What? Was it a sound I heard in my sleep? Or was it a premonition? I looked out the window and I was dark with a thousand secrets Harry should have been home by this time my watch showed a few minutes after 12 Maybe he'd had an accident. Maybe that's why I awakened some sort of telepathy And then I saw the headlights It was Harry He was turning in our road. The headlights phased me for a moment as he swung into our driveway. Everything was all right I'll be right down Harry Breathlessly, I raced downstairs to let him in. I was so happy I could drive It was only then I realized what tension I'd been under all because of my silly fears I unlocked the door quickly Oh, Harry, I was so worried Sorry to bother you so late, Ned Had an accident with my husband Oh, I I thought you were my husband Sorry to disappoint you Oh, no, no, I'm afraid you can't come in. My husband isn't home yet. Well, it won't be for long Well, I haven't yet heard It's your arm. Oh, I heard it in the accident I'm afraid it's broken. Oh, your poor man. Here sit down. Sit down right here. Oh, that's better Here Your arms so limp. Do you really think it's broken? I can't tell it's kind of numb Oh dear, I feel so helpless I don't know what to do. I I took a first aid course during the war, but I don't remember a thing Now maybe I got a call. Dr. Schultz Oh, please don't go to the trouble. There's no trouble. The phone's right here. I said no, doctor But it's all right. Put down that phone, please Understand Maybe you'll understand this A gun Put the phone down Who are you? I'll ask the questions from now on Your name's canning, isn't it? What did you know? Name's on the door, isn't it? Oh What kind of phone is that? What do you mean? Party line? No, it's a private line Can you dial or do you have to ask the operator for the number? No, you just dial Good Push the phone over here to the side of the table Who are you going to call? The phone, please You'd better get out of here before my husband comes home Oh How do you think he'd make out in an argument with this? Oh, thank you Now step back a little. I had to put this gun down while I make my call. It's on the mind But you understand that I can pick it up faster than you could reach it from there, don't you? Yes, I understand I see we'll get along all right Operator get me plaza nine nine nine seven. Oh Yeah, I'm very pleased. Well, this is uh eight six four, please After your phone call you'll get out before my husband comes home He's late already You wouldn't turn a ninja man out of your house in the middle of the night. Oh, hello Linda That's right Bad little trouble at my arm Look, I think you'd better come up here and bring Fred and Doc Stetson along No, no, no, it's fine Don't be any trouble I'm a guest of some very good friends up here Cannings to me or you drive up highway 26 through a court and turn right when you pass the first gas station Just a mile from there. You ought to be here by six in the morning There'll be a light in the downstairs window Right then in the morning You can't stay here all night. You've got to shut up What's that over there radio? Yes Pretty big It's ascending and receiving sir carry builders and selfie to radio engineers Can you get short wave please cause yes turn it on but I don't turn it on No Getting brave, huh? I don't think you dare to shoot me It would be murder. They'd send you to the chair Now you get out of here you call your friends and tell them to beat you some place else Other I've opened the door now get out Worried about your husband, right Afraid of what'll happen to him if he comes home now I want you to go away And if you don't go now I'll run out and scream for help There are other houses in this neighborhood and somebody you'll hear me. So go ahead and run What? I won't shoot you You won't I don't have to What do you mean? You wouldn't dare to run out and uh Leave your kid upstairs That little redheaded kid with a cute girl Judy How do you know I have a daughter easy a dog carriage over there How do you know she has red curves? Maybe I guessed it And her name too Turn on that radio All right All cars must be searched every passenger positively identified Officers are warned to exercise extreme caution Though believed to be wounded he's armed and dangerous I will repeat Arnie Bishop known as the gentleman killer Escaped from custody on board the Allegheny Limited at 11 o'clock while being escorted to the death house at the state prison He's thought to be heading north in the direction Now you know who I am Arnie Bishop You're Arnie Bishop How many rooms in this house? Six All right My friends and I will stay here for a few days. This will make a fine hideout What will you do when my husband comes home? Don't worry about him Now Suppose we go in the kitchen and you can make me something to eat Wait Why did you choose this house to come to? This house of all of it Can't you guess? Yes, I think How did you know Judy's name and about the color of her head? Ah, you're getting warm My husband, Harry, Harry told you Ah, you know you're pretty clever Oh, please don't you have any pity at all? Tell me what you did to Harry He's not hurt much. I just tapped him on the head He picked me up on the road, gave me a lift I pumped him Found out all about this house And about you And you Then I knocked him out and kept going It was pretty tough driving with one hand But I made it Where's Harry now? In the back of the car, he can't get loose I'm going out to- Stay where you are But Harry's hurt, I can't leave him out there alone About this little red-headed kid of yours, uh Can you sleep upstairs? You'd better stay here if you want to make sure Oh, no That's better Yeah Suppose we have something to eat Now let's return to the little white, single house on the hill Where Ethel Canning is entertaining her uninvited guest, Arnie Bishop You know, he's a pretty courageous guy for an ex-convict But then maybe he has the courage of his convictions But Arnie isn't so smart, you know, tangling with a red-headed gal He ought to recall that old Diddy How's it go? Beware of a girl with deep red hair A man who's safer in the electric chair But who can tell how a tale will end, not in a thank-you Let's join them in the kitchen Mmm, well, excellent bacon and eggs I'm sure my friends will like cooking when they come More coffee? Yes, please Careful Oh, I was only reaching for the coffee I thought you might have ideas about grabbing this There's your coffee What time is it? Twenty after two Three and a half hours to go before my friends get here How will they get through the roadblock? Oh, you'll leave it to them Oh, that's the telephone, it's in the living room You better get through it Oh, you don't, let go of that gun You shouldn't have tried that What are you going to do? Answer that telephone first Get going Anybody in the habit of calling you at this hour? No All right, answer it But be careful what you say Yes, this is Mrs. Canning This is for you Hmm, maybe we'll see her down on the table and walk away All right, try enough Don't try anything Hello? Linda, what, did you get started yet? But where are you? What? Roadblock Well, you've got to get through, I need Doc Stetson You've got to make it, Linda, I can't stay awake forever Call me back later Oh What's the matter, Mr. Bishop? Are your friends falling down on you? Shut up, I've got to think Oh, you don't have anything to worry about, Mr. Bishop Aren't you a guest of the Cannings in the little white-singled house a mile off Highway 26 north of Accord? Oh, you can be sarcastic, too Oh, I wouldn't dare be sarcastic to you, Mr. Bishop Especially when you have that gun and with my husband unconscious in the car and you threatening to harm my child, oh no No, you still hold all the cards, Mr. Bishop and you're such a big, strong, brave man What are you trying to do? Get me mad enough to kill you? Aren't you going to kill me anyway? What makes you think that? Because you're a killer by instinct, Mr. Bishop It's easier for you to kill than to do anything else I wonder why you didn't murder my husband instead of just knocking him out Was it because you thought you might need him? Well, you're not afraid of me anymore No, I'm not No, I just realized I can't afford to be afraid What? I'm a woman fighting for her family for Harry and Julie and I've got to use all my wits against you I can't afford to be afraid You've got some scheme in that crazy little brain of yours Yes, Mr. Bishop, I have I think I've found the chink in your armor You're a coward Me? Yes, you, you're the one who's afraid now Your friends aren't coming You have a wound in your arm that needs treatment and you know you can't trust me You don't dare close your eyes even for five minutes And you may have to stay here for several days How do you like the prospect of staying awake night and day? Watching me every minute of the time Afraid that you might drop off to sleep at any minute Oh, that's how you figure it, huh? Maybe you better kill us all right now, Mr. Bishop That would be easy, wouldn't it? Just three bullets Then you wouldn't have to worry about watching anyone That's an excellent idea, Mrs. Canning Yes But then you'd have other words things to worry about Such as? This is Saturday morning The milkman will come to collect for the week's milk The neighbors will stop by to ask if I want my marketing done And what will you do? Sculpt in the cellar while they ring the doorbell And then there's the police What about the police? They'll surely search this part of the country They'll be making inquiries at all the houses Do you want them to find the car outside? With Harry in it? You figured all the angles, huh? You know, you're pretty smart, Mrs. Canning I think you're even smarter than Linda But you forget one thing Yes? You forget that little girl upstairs What do you mean? Come along and I'll show you Upstairs You stay away from Judy Maybe you think you've got everything figured out But I'm still the boss Gun muscle hurts, doesn't it? Now, shall we go upstairs? So you think Arnie Bishop is licked, huh? This is Judy's room What are you going to do to her? Which is Judy's room? Or are you going to make me open all the doors to find her? Is that one? All right, let's go in Are you first, Mrs. Canning? I warn you, if you hurt Judy... You first, Mrs. Canning Please don't wake her Pretty child How peaceful she looks And innocent Ain't all childhoods the best time of life? It's almost a pity to grow up out of it You couldn't, you couldn't hurt her Oh, are you sure you're Mrs. Canning? I won't lay a hand on her Oh, no, not on a beautiful child like that But I've got to protect myself Oh, it's a... That's the connecting door to your room, isn't it? Yes There's a key in the door Lock it please That'll give me the key Thank you Now we'll go out the way we came in I'll take the key out of this door too Thanks You first I will lock this door on the outside There you are Everything's set You just want to make sure she doesn't get out? Yeah, do something like that No, will you pull a mattress and sheets off your bed and bring them out here, please? Are you going to sleep in front of her door? Do as I say All right I'll help you I don't understand Why do you want to sleep out here? Norm, everything just the way I want it The mattress against Judy's door But you can't sleep on it that way You have up against the door I didn't say I was going to sleep on it Oh, what are you going to do? Mrs. Canning will see if you can figure out how to beat this angle What would happen if I would have put a match to this mattress and bedding? Oh, no! This whole floor would be in flames in five minutes The both doors locked Judy wouldn't have much of a chance with me Oh, no! Don't think, Aunty Bishop, there's licks, Mrs. Canning You're right about one thing, Mrs. Canning I am in a corner With this bum arm, I've got no chance of running if the police come So if they do, and if I'm cornered I'll have to put a match to this mattress and fight them off till the whole house is just a bunch of rubble with Judy in it You understand me thoroughly, Mrs. Canning So it's up to you to see that the police don't come You're going to lie for me, Mrs. Canning And you're going to cheat for me and you're going to kill for me, if necessary because I always have a match, Trinity Now, do you still feel like trying any tricks? I do Whatever you say More like it Now, the first thing you do is go downstairs and run that car into the garage get it out of the way But don't touch your husband Don't even look in the back of the car I'll be watching, understand? Yes Ah, glad we understand each other at last Let's go I'll be standing right here in the driveway so don't try any tricks I won't Remember, I'm watching Harry Harry, can you hear me? Harry? You're still unconscious There's blood on his head Mrs. Canning Yes, I'm coming You did take a look at him, didn't you? No, no All right No All right, come inside Beautiful night, isn't it? It'll be morning soon What time is it? Almost six The milkman should be here soon Oh, well, here's where you start lying for me After you, madam Now, I'm going to sit right here in this chair with my hand in my pocket and in my hand's the gun Understand? Yes, sir Yes, that's the milkman You'll tell him I'm your cousin just visiting here for a few days You'll wonder why you're up so early Let him wonder Come on, entry Good morning, Mrs. Canning I'm the new milkman on the route Hope it didn't wake you up Come in, please That's two bottles of milk you wanted this morning and a bottle of cream Yes, you can put them on the table All right Oh, this is my cousin he's visiting us for a few days Oh, how are you? Hello You have my bill? Yeah, I got it right here in my pocket Here Hey, that's... That's right, Bishop, with the gun Sit still and take your hand out of your pocket very carefully Okay, okay, you win But how come a milkman with a gun? I borrowed this coat from the regular milkman I'm sergeant Wright, state police What? State police How did you know I was here? Mrs. Canning told us She? Well, how? I didn't let her out of my sight She brought Gaster to us Good Yes Over this set, Mr. Bishop Remember the speech I made you? You didn't know what it came over me I was really talking to the state police over the shortwave Don't you remember I told you that this was a sending and receiving set that my husband built it? And when I turned off the shortwave signals I turned the switch to sending and then I hoped I just hoped my message would get through I didn't think you were smart enough And I thought I had you scared stiff You looked like the kind that would scare easy Oh, I am, Mr. Bishop, I am But I warned you This was a time when I couldn't afford to be scared Let's all go as the proof that a determined man can always get what he goes at You remember Bishop tried to get free board and lodging for Mrs. Canning He finally got it all right But not exactly where he wanted it You know, as a matter of fact, Bishop was the type of man who should never have gone in for murder Oh, too many risks He should have specialized in art That's always a sure fire undertaking That was your host, Raymond Edward Johnson closing the door on intersection tonight's performance in the mystery playhouse It's late green, so good night