 The signal oil program The whistler that whistle is your signal for the signal oil program The whistler I am the whistler and I know many things for I walk by night I know many strange tales hidden in the hearts of men and women who have stepped into the shadows Yes, I know the nameless terrors of which they dare not speak Yes friends, it's time for the signal oil program the whistler Rated by independent research the most popular West Coast program in radio history In gasoline, you know it takes extra quality to give you extra mileage and signal is the famous go farther gasoline So look for the signal circle sign in yellow and black that identifies friendly dealer-owned signal service stations from Canada to Mexico And now the whistler strange story Backlash They sat at the table in silence the dinner almost over George Turner on one side and his wife Jan opposite him George could feel the tension between them growing from the moment Jan's aunt Irene had excused herself to take the telephone call It was a difficult situation George had always hated and Irene with all his heart only the housing shortage and the Prospect of rent free lodging had induced George to bring Jan to Irene's home and humbly asked permission to stay there of course It was difficult for a man like George to be humble under any circumstances and by now He was telling himself that it would be the greatest of all possible pleasures to kill and Irene with his bare hand The muffled sound of her voice was still coming from the next room when George looked up from his tapioca pudding to find Jan watching him Quiet George what I don't quite know how to say this darling go ahead and say it. This is jump on George And I have jurid no one's jumping on you George I just wish you try to understand Uncle David means a great deal to me, you know and so what where do you owe uncle David? What's he ever done for you? Oh, is that the only unstandard you ever judge people by what they've done for you? The point is that uncle David's sick and I feel that it's right to go to him. You mean and Irene feels that it's right It was her idea in the first place. Why not admit it was my idea to listen to me This is no time for you to travel 3,000 miles across the country to visit an ailing uncle and don't give me that drivel about owing it to him Unfortunately, it's not a matter of loyalty. It's a matter of geography. Is that clear? Yes, George. I suppose it is Well and Irene It was uncle David's position Jan long distance He says it's only a matter of days now. Thank heaven George. At least we'll have something new to talk about at dinner George ternary had Irene please. I wonder what uncle David thinks He's always thought the world and all of you Jan. Oh, I Please and Irene. I'd rather not talk about it now. Of course dear. I know how disappointed you must be After all uncle David Irene will you forget uncle David? I will not George Turner and don't you dare use that tone of voice on me This is my house. Good Lord. You have to throw that in my face every night at dinner Oh, you're just like your brother, aren't you? You look enough alike to be twins and what's worse? You're cut from the same cloth Oh, and Irene don't stop her Jan Don't stop her. She loves it like a kid sticking a pin through a bug your brother. Aides a criminal I put him where he belongs sure it's a criminal he belongs in prison But that's not the point The really horrible part is the morbid delight that showed on your face dear and Irene the day you took the stand and set him up Everything I testified was true. Yes But the only thing that never came out was your reason you thought if Ed went up I'd be ruined and Jan would leave stop it George. Oh, no, let's have it all out on the table You testified against Ed hoping you would get Jan away from me You let us come to live here so you'd have a better chance to get Jan away from me Now you wanted to go 3,000 miles across the country just so you can get her away from me That's not true not a word of it But by heaven you've given me an idea If I thought I could save Jan from the misery you bring down on her head. I'd I So at last it comes out Well go ahead Irene do your darndest But I'll warn you in advance. It won't work It won't work because my brother Ed and I are cut from the same cloth remember Yes George, it's all out on the table and as you stomp out of the house and walk alone down the street of The dark Elmline Street and try and cool off. It all goes round and round in your mind You know that Irene means what she says After a choir like that, she will try to separate you from Jan And you know too that you'll never let that happen That you won't stand by and lose the only person in the world Yourself accepted whoever meant anything to you So the idea begins to grow George and the next day at the office It's still there like a hangover and you find it hard to concentrate on your work Anderson's usually pretty thorough in covering his territory. Pretty hard to see how he could have missed Bradshaw's it George, oh Yeah, Martin that was What a count was that Bradshaw? Oh, yeah Bradshaw. That's it. San Vicente talking about Bradshaw drugs at midfield you've been on these books long enough to know that of course sure. I'm sorry Martin. I just Yes, excuse me Martin Who is he wouldn't give me his name? Why not over there at the counter the little man in the dark suit Thanks Yes, sir, you're George turni. That's right. I uh men across a little item. I thought you might be interested in 50 cent piece with a hole in it. What? Where seen it before where did you get it a friend? That's all just this a note comes with it want to take a look. Let me see it quick. Take it easy to dame over there's looking at us You interested yeah Yeah, I'm interested good room 238 Franklin hotel 10 tomorrow morning He picks up the note and leaves Pausing a moment at the office door to toss you a wink and you look again at the 50 cent piece with a hole in it It's like a magic charm isn't it George? The minute you saw it the dull ache inside you vanished anti-rein the crisis Jan's trip west it was all unimportant after all wasn't Yes That 50 cent piece is going to make everything so simple Martin yeah, you won't mind if I knock off for a few minutes for you Why not? I'll be right back my wife's going west, you know probably tomorrow and I thought you talked her out of it Oh, not a chance. It's her favorite uncle and all that. I want to pick up a corsage for at the florist and Another thing that Martin where was that place you bought the candy the other day? That was the best candy I ever tasted Valentine's on 8th Street. Oh, yeah, great. I want to get a box for anti-rein It's about time. I did something for the old girl With the prologue of backlash the signal oil company brings you another strange story by the whistler But now here's an important announcement about a change in time for the whistler beginning next Monday The whistler will be heard each week one hour earlier at eight o'clock instead of nine Remember beginning next Monday the whistler one hour earlier eight o'clock instead of nine Friends at the beginning of this program. You hear me say in gasoline It takes extra quality to give you extra mileage and signal is the famous go farther gasoline But just what does signal mean by that word quality? Well translated into driving language gasoline quality means quicker starts faster pickup smoother knock-free power In order for signal to give you that kind of performance the thrill of alert surging power that puts extra pleasure into driving Signal gasoline must help your motor run more efficiently and when your motor runs more efficiently you naturally get extra mileage That's why signal says your best yardstick of gasoline quality is your speedometer Check yours, and you'll find it's true in gasoline. It takes extra quality to give you extra mileage And remember signal is the famous go farther gasoline Good reason why drivers who want the tops in gasoline quality and those who appreciate extra value are switching to signal And now back to the whistler It wasn't amazing thing wasn't it George just last night It seemed intolerable with nothing ahead but dreary months of fencing with a vicious dominating woman of silent tense evenings at the dinner table While she picked away at the heart of your marriage to jam of useless rages and long lonely walks in the night But it's over now You can see daylight ahead and the thing that made the difference jingles in your pocket The 50 cent piece with a hole in it that the furtive little man left with you this afternoon You arrive home on schedule a box of chocolates and Jan's corsage held playfully behind your back anybody home Jan oh there you are good evening George. Oh, hello at Irene. Where's Jan? Be down in a minute. Oh the door. It's drafty. I have something to tell you George great I'm listening. I had a long talk with Jan today. Oh, we decided we mind you not high That you're entirely unfair about the trip. I see George Jan is leaving tomorrow to visit Uncle David And nothing you will say will change her mind. Is that clear? Of course well Is that all you're going to say? I think it's a wonderful idea the trouble to a good George, I want you to try and understand darling understand. Oh, what's there to understand? Well Will you see and Irene I just told him Well, George you see I he thinks it's a fine idea What of course dear? I know what I'm wrong. Well, I can't be right all the time can't Wait a minute. What are you hiding behind your back? Peace offering for you darling Well after all my wife's going to travel in style And for you at Irene a box of chocolates. Tell me What have you got in the back of your head now? It's very simple and Irene I know I said some intolerable things last night, and I'm sorry I thought it over very carefully and decided you were completely right It's unfair of me to keep Jan from making the trip. That's all you expect me to believe That I've been wrong about a lot of things and Irene. I want to change now I hope you'll try and understand when I tell you what's going to be different from now on It's wonderful When are you leaving Jan tomorrow morning at 10 30? Oh You'll forgive me if I don't see you off George and Irene will drive me to the station. Well, thanks dear. You see I I have a very important appointment at 10 o'clock Ten o'clock right on time Turner. Come in. Thanks This is mr. Frally Dan George Turner. How do you do? Sit down We dropped the four-bit piece along with my note to let you know this is the McCoy Recognize that I see yeah, that's my brother Ed's pocket piece. He's carried it for years It's a nice boy Shame to see him wasting his life away in a murder rap. Yeah And Dan here likes to help nice guys just like he said in the note Yeah, we want to get your brother out mr. Turner. That takes an organization doesn't we got one Takes money to prison breaks don't come cheap how much three thousand bucks three thousand Maybe it's not worth that much to you to see your brother sprung Maybe you don't like your brother No, it's not that You said he was a nice guy Frally Tell me does he still have red hair or his prison life turned to gray? I Get it you don't trust this oh Yeah, your brother doesn't have a red hair Turner or gray Sandy like yours About the same height and the same build in fact you could pass for him Is that a satisfying I've seen him yeah, yeah, I guess you've seen him all right you You think you'd recognize your brother's handwriting. I certainly I would okay Take a look at this letter George this Frally is okay. I know you've never liked me, but please make a deal with him Someday I'll pay you back Thanks Ed Satisfied Yeah, how this thing work, that's our end Don't you worry. We've got it cased and it can't miss. Where's this thing coming off? I don't know yet But you can count on this 12 hours after it comes off. We figured to have your brother in Mexico. I see Want to think it over for a while. No Now I've done all the thinking over I have to but I'll have to scot around to get that money I can have it for you in 24 hours, okay Okay, dinner It's a deal Yes, George. It's a deal a completely new deal for you because for once in your life. You hold a hand That's all aces and As you go about raising the necessary $3,000 using your wife's trip as an excuse you plan exactly how you'll play your card With Jan safely on her way to California the next day you manage to get the money to fraud Then after three days of anxiously watching the newspapers You're driving home from work with your next-door neighbor. Mr. Cameron the car radio playing softly as the two of you talk I'm always glad when we're out of that traffic. Oh, yes You know, I was reading an article on that George Some psychologists claim that half our nervousness is due to the increased traffic since the war. Yes I read that they blamed the other half on living with relatives. Why Yes, so they did Well, of course, it's a lot of foolishness with some people your case for instance Your wife's aunt Irene is a fine woman George. She's all right. Sometimes I Well, I don't think you understand her exactly You know, we think a good deal of her down at the garden club Well, she may be fine at the garden club. No, wait a minute George before you say anything against Let's skip it. I don't want to talk about her anymore Don't daily with a special item. Let's catch this on Daring daylight break three prisoners escaped from the state penitentiary this morning killing one guard and wounding three others Two of the fugitives have already been taken into custody by the swift work of state and county officers Third, however, is still at large. This man is Edward Turner 37 life-term killer Turner is said to be armed and dangerous. He is thought to be I am sorry George That's your brother, isn't it? Yes. I Guess I better hurry up and get home There may be some cause or something Yes, George you want to get home in a hurry now, but not for any cause You want to make sure that aunt Irene is there that she'll stay in the house You also want to get up to the attic and pick up that old bundle of your brother Ed's clothes stored away in a trunk That's the first thing you take care of Then you hurry downstairs again to find aunt Irene pacing the floor Well Something wrong at Irene, you know perfectly. Well, what's wrong? Oh You heard the news on the radio, too. I don't suppose you were going to tell me Well, I didn't see any point in alarming you. It'll be in the papers soon enough Ed to come here, wouldn't you? You're probably counting on it now Please aunt Irene haven't I been trying my best to get along he'll he'll try to kill me He's worried with that day in the courtroom. Oh, ain't I rain? He wouldn't try anything that foolish Well, the police in the state will be watching this area This amuses you doesn't it George the fact that I want to jan to go away that I'm alone in this house You're not alone. I'll be here and it'll make you feel any better I'll phone my friend lieutenant Andrews. I'll tell him you want police protection. You'd really do that for me George I sure so just take it easy and Irene Everything is going to be perfectly all right You don't intend to phone do you George? You get Irene to go to a room and then you sneak down to your car in the alley where you left it You toss the bundle of clothes into the back and drive to a secluded spot at the edge of town It doesn't take long to change from your suit into the old one of ed And a bit of dirt rubbed on your face makes the disguise more perfect You're thinner than ed. Yes, but even frolly remarked how much you look alike Back in town you run the car into an alley cut the lights and walk the few short blocks to granaries bar A place that has changed very little since the days when ed used to hang around This is an important step george. You must establish ed's presence in town Hello boys Surprised to see me. Watch it grinelly. Don't do anything foolish. You see I haven't got anything to lose you have Ed Turner Hey, you gotta go quick. The police will be the police are figuring. I'm a hundred miles from here What do you want? I'm sure to cash grinelly very short. I thought you'd like to give me 50 bucks No, no, no, I can't do that. I can't help a criminal that they so you believe it too, huh? All that lying old dame had to say you had a fair try sure and they hung it on me So now I want a fair chance to even things up and beat it The money grinelly get it out of the register but dad get it All right, I'll get it. This is no good ed. They could close me down. So could I Thanks Just don't any do anything until I'm away from here. I wouldn't like it And maybe killing comes easier for me now It wasn't easy George But you know as you hurry back to your car that there were four people in that bar who will swear Ed Turner was in town tonight at large Five minutes later you pull into a service station change clothes in the washroom and scrub the dirt from your face No one pays any attention as you toss the little bundle of Ed's clothes in the back of a truck which is pulled in for gas The next thing is your alibi just in case something should go wrong You drive over to the theater in your own neighborhood The picture is one you saw a week ago on a business trip Before going in you purposely stop and chat a minute with the manager Then you go inside take a seat near the fire exit and sit down to wait Half an hour later. You decide it's time You get up unnoticed and walk toward the fire door fumbling in your pocket Your hand lights on the 50 cent piece And as you slip out you insert it carefully into place holding back the latch Yes, George You'll want to be able to get back in the theater when the night's business is over After you've murdered Aunt Irene It's only a few minutes to the house from the theater you walk with quick determined steps This part wouldn't be difficult. Will it George? No You can't wait to walk in on her. Wait a minute. What's hello, George What's the matter lieutenant andrews? A little late to be getting home from work, isn't it? What? No, I was home before I I just went out for a little walk brought you back, George Forget something Or did you want to make sure your wife's aunt was dead? The whistler will return in just a moment with a strange ending to tonight's story Meantime since this is spring the season when a young man's thoughts turn to love and also to oil changes If he has a car, I'd like to say a word tonight on both subject Uh love that is and oil changes If you really love your car and want to keep it young happy and purring with contentment Make this spring's oil change a change for the better In short make it a change to that amazing new type signal lubricant That's your guarantee of a sweeter running motor signal premium motor oil You see because it combines five scientific new compounds with 100 pure paraffin base Signal premium motor oil does much more than just lubricate In fact tests prove signal premium actually keeps motor six times cleaner and reduces cylinder wear one third So remember if you want a sweeter running motor if you want to keep wear down and performance up The oil to change to this spring is signal premium motor oil And the place to get it your friendly neighborhood signal service station And now back to the whistler Well, George you stand there speechless Stun almost as if someone had struck you with a sledgehammer when you walked through the door Aunt Irene lying on the floor dead Andrews from the homicide squad staring at you his lean face full of questions You never figured it this way. Did you George? Not with Frawley's promise that they'd have Ed in Mexico 12 hours after his prison break But now it begins to make sense, doesn't it? Ed must have decided not to leave without evening the score with aunt Irene You take your time thinking it all through before saying anything And then you realize that it's better this way Ed safely out of town by now But he'll be blamed if you simply say you saw him And you can say that George Because Grinnelli and those people in the bar will back you up. Yes It's better this way You want to tell us what happened George? Yeah. Yeah, sure. Andrews. It was just an awful shock. That's all I I guess it's pretty simple My brother Ed He was in town this evening. You talked to him No, I saw him though. I don't think there could be any mistake And of course, you know how he felt about aunt Irene. Yeah, we know Only we're more interested in how you felt about her George. What do you mean? Mr. Cameron here says you hated her enough to kill her Wait a minute. You're not accusing me. That's exactly what I'm doing. Yes only last week at the garden club Irene yeah, yeah, you've told us all that mr. Cameron. All right, so we did quarrel So I hated her but that doesn't mean I killed her. He's lying lieutenant. I heard her scream I heard him run out of the house. It was my brother. It must have been my brother. He swore he'd kill her You've got to find him. He's on his way to Mexico. He's on his way. All right But not to Mexico He was killed less than an hour ago in a running battle with the police That doesn't make any difference I tell you he came here, George We know you're lying You see four witnesses are ready to swear that at the exact moment of the murder Your brother was downtown In granelli's bar Let that whistle be your signal for the signal oil program the whistler Each monday at nine brought to you by the signal oil company Marketers of signal gasoline and motor oil and fine quality automotive accessories And now let me remind you once more beginning next monday the whistler will be heard one hour earlier eight o'clock instead of nine Featured in tonight's story were howard duff and henry at a tedro The whistler was produced by george w allen with music by wilbur hatch story by j douglas where And was transmitted to our troops overseas by the armed forces radio service This is marvin miller speaking for the signal oil company This is cbs the columbia broadcasting system