 Lipton Tea and Lipton Soup presents Inner Sanctum Mysteries. Good evening, friends of the Inner Sanctum. This is your host, Raymond, inviting you once again to join our scary company. Please come in, won't you? We have a full quiver of shivers this evening and a... what? You say it's rather cold in here. Well, some of the chills of our story must have leaked out. Why don't you all huddle together? There's so much comfort in having someone else beside you, instead of being besides yourself. Now, Mr. Raymond, that's no way to welcome people. You're apt to chase them away, talking so scary like... Oh, hello, Mary Bennett. So, you don't think I'm a good host, huh? Maybe I should say, lay your little head on a pillow. Are you comfy? Now, Uncle Raymond will drone you to sleep with a bedtime story, and when you wake up, Aunt Mary will give you a nice heart-plate of Lipton's noodle soup. Oh, dear. There's just no talking to you. Folks, please don't listen to the way he talks about Lipton's noodle soup. Try it for yourself. You just don't know how good noodle soup can be until you've tasted Lipton's. It's got such a grand chickeny flavor. It really tastes homemade. And then, of course, Lipton's noodle soup comes in a package, so it's no work to prepare. You just empty it into boiling water, and in a jiffy, soup's on. And another thing, Lipton's makes lots more and costs less than canned soups. Well, thanks for the hot facts, Mary. And here's a fact for you. Did you know that more than two-thirds of the Earth's entire surface is unknown, the salty wastes of the sea? Only a short distance under the surface, death lurks in a hundred different shapes. And that's where we're going to take you tonight in Robert Newman's strange story of death in the death. A whore from a small seaside town a few minutes before midnight. Moored to the dock, just barely visible through the thick fog, is a stubby, broad-beamed ship. Suddenly out of the swirling mist, a man and woman appear. He is tall, heavy set, carries a sea bag over his shoulder. She's slim, attractive. They reach the end of the dock, and he stops. His face. I can't do it, Lil. I just can't. That's all there's to it. Stop arguing and get on board there. I'm telling you I can't, Lil. I can't. I even think about it the way the water looks down under. Feel of it pressing against you. And I'm telling you that you are going, whether you like it or not, two years of living in crummy, second-rate, rooming houses. That's plenty, see? Too much. You're going back to doing something that really pays off. I told you to shut up. Now stop squawking and let's go aboard. Okay. Hi there, the Casca Bay. Is Captain Brody around? I'm Brody. Come aboard. Good evening, Captain. My name's Farrell. This is my wife, Farrell. Farrell? I understand you're going off on a job and you're looking for divers. Yes, I am. We've got a salvage job off the keys. It's a tough one, 20 phathems. We only use real deep water men. Won't you say your name once again? Farrell. Steve Farrell. Big Steve Farrell? Won't you say so? Sure I can use you. Wait right there. I'll go get the paper. Okay, Captain. Well, was that so tough? Hey look, for heaven's sakes, don't make me do it. You don't know what you're asking me to do it. It's like sending me... Hey look, did you hear that? Nine bells. What of it? What of it? There's no such thing as nine bells. It's like a clock striking thirteen o'clock. Well, that means that. The only other time I ever heard it was when... Listen, I'm getting sick of this. See? You don't want to do any more diving because you've lost your nerve. And because a bell rings nine times instead of eight, you say it means something. Well, what do you think it would mean if I told the police a couple of things I know? I'll tell you. It would mean the chair. Now, how do you like that? Lila, you don't know. Take care of yourself, Stevie Boy. I'll be seeing you in a couple of weeks. Feeling pretty good, aren't you? You think you're getting just what you want? Well, maybe, uh... Because when I sign those papers, I won't be signing on as a diver. I'll be signing my own death certificate. Well, it's set, Captain. Any instructions before they close me up? No, Steve. You can't expect much on a first dive, but see if you can determine the extent of the damage. All we know about her now is that she's about fifteen hundred ton. Her name was the Santa Elena. She went down the collision. Right, Captain. Okay, close them up. Start the pumps. Far away. I'm scared. I'm scared. I swore I'd never go down again. Here I am. That's all just the way I remember it. Nothing at first, but the quiet. Just the pumps like the echo of your heart beating. And the light beating as you go down. Getting darker. And the cold. The pressure filling up. Pressing harder and harder. Grouping you tighter and tighter is everywhere being swallowed by something alive. Always down below where you can't see it. Something weighty. Something that... Stop it. Not a stop it. It was a time when I really used to like diving. Then it all began. I swear. Yes, that night in the bar in Tampa, she told me she married Carly. Well, this is certainly quite an evening. You're giving me Steve. It's more like a wake than a celebration. Why are you looking at me like that? I'm wondering whether I should kill you. Or if you talk to Carly and let him do it. What do you mean? You know what I mean. You know Carly. You've found out how things work with you and me. Well, he's just young enough and crazy enough about you to put your way for Capes. I can handle Carly with my little finger. Besides, you wouldn't do anything like that. Wouldn't I? Why'd you meet me here tonight? You know it's because you wish you were married to me instead of him. So what? What are you going to do about it? You know Don well, he'll never let me go. No. I guess he won't, but we've got to do something. Yeah. But what? After all, he wakes for me. He wakes for me. Diving's kind of dangerous. As a matter of fact, we're getting off on a job tomorrow that's pretty tricky. Steve. When you want something badly enough, there's always a way of getting it. That was the beginning. That wasn't when I was afraid for the first time. That came later. Two days later, out on the reefs. Two days of being with Carly and talking to him. And all the time what I was going to do. And that last dive, late in the afternoon. Standing on deck with Andy, the pump man, and watching Carly through the clear water. Watching him move across the deck of the hulk. As cool as she was. You going down too, Steve? Yeah, Andy. Maybe we can wind up today and start home tomorrow. You can handle both of us? Sure. Only watch the coral over on the port side there, sharp as a razor. Almost took Carly's boot off this morning. If you get into any trouble, I'm all alone up here. How about you? Want to button me up? Yeah, sure. I'm going down now. But I still wasn't afraid. Not yet. I was too busy figuring out just how I was going to do it. And landing on the bottom and starting to wake my way toward the hulk, over the coral. There was Carly's hose and safety line. Line on the coral. Sneaking its way to the hulk where he was working. I didn't have to look up. He told me by the shadow I was under the hull of my ship, so Andy couldn't see me. And I came to a place where Carly's line was lined right next to a coral square. And I knew that was it. I looked it around the square so Andy couldn't pull him up. Hello, Carly. Carly, try your line. I think it's fall. I took out my knife and cut Carly's air hose. Andy must have known it even before Carly did. As soon as a bubble started pouring out of the end of the hose. Hello, Carly. Can you still hear me? I think you're in trouble. You hear Steve? Yeah, I heard. I'm going as fast as I can. I just hit the deck, but it's crowded up and I can't see anything. Where's Carly? Up forward till the ship's bell. Listen, he says he's going to ring it so you can follow the sound. If for heaven's sake, hurry. One of the sound. As if I didn't know where he was. Straight forward. I could see him now as the lifeline tore it so we couldn't move. Pulled his air hose with one hand and ringing the bell with the other. He was swaying back and forth. I started counting the strokes. Five, six, seven, eight. Then he slipped down onto the deck. The air bubbled out of his helmet and I knew he was dead. I remember thinking, one bell after midnight. And suddenly it came over me that this was something I never... I was never going to be able to forget. Never. But every time I went down, I was going to see him swaying and hanging onto the bell. Waiting for me. Waiting. Waiting. So that's why Steve Ferrell wouldn't go back to his old profession of deep sea diving. I should think it would lose some of its peel if you expected me to dead man every time you go down. How about that, Mary? Climb board and tell us what you think. Well, Mr. Raymond, I certainly wouldn't like to be a deep sea diver. To be all alone down there in the cold water with fishes and all sorts of things swimming around you. That's not for me. Oh, but just think, Mary, when you come out you could have a nice hot plate of Lipton's noodle soup. I think you really got something there. Lipton's noodle soup would sure be welcome at a time like that. It's such a heartwarming dish. It perks you up just looking at it. Looking at those tender noodles floating in that golden broth. Well, I'm getting to talk fancy. But really, folks, Lipton's does taste sort of special. It's got a chickeny flavor. And it, well, it just tastes homemade like the old fashioned noodle soup you used to make yourself. But heavens, I don't want to be interrupting Mr. Raymond's story. So I'll just say, try Lipton's real soon, won't you, folks? Now shall I go on with the story of death and the depths of the sea? That strange underwater world where dead men wring their own death knell on the bells of sunken ship? OK. It's just a moment later now. And Steve Farrell is still standing on the deck of the sunken freighter, Santa Elena. Steve, anything the matter? No, no, Captain. I'm sorry. I thought I heard something funny and I... I guess I'll ask him now for a minute. After all, this is my first time in quite a while, but I'm OK now. You sure? We can haul you up, send Mike down. No, no, I'm OK. I'm going to stay. Well, all right. But don't forget, we can't see you from up here. So keep talking all the time so we'll know exactly where you are and what you're doing. Check. I'm up forward now on the port side of the deck. I'm just going inside. The tiny and wide door is jammed shut and I'm flaking on it. There she is. And now I'm inside in the car door. It's pretty dark and I'm switching on my light. I can see now, another way ahead of me, at least. It's all kind of queer. Queer? How? Just funny, strange. He's candid over on the starboard side so the card is tipped over at an angle. Sort of like a dream where everything's turned around. Kind of different and still familiar. How does it seem so familiar? Seems to remind me of something else. The hotel right after we were married. Walking down it with her, Leila. Out onto the terrace. The way she took the cigarette I gave her. Smiled at me. Very sure of herself. Thanks, Steve. Thanks a lot. Well, to smile, baby. Why shouldn't I smile? I'm young, healthy, and I'm married to a guy I like. A guy who's going to take real good care of me. I sure am, baby. Not only that, now on things are going to be different. I didn't have a chance to tell you before, but I'm through with diving. What keeps? What do you mean? Just that. I sold a boat yesterday and all the equipment. I'm out of that racket for good. You shouldn't have done that, Steve. Not without talking to me about it first. What do you expect to do from now on? Oh, I'm upset on that. I got a job as a second engineer and afraid of the outdoors. Well, I guess that'll be all right. For a while, anyway. What do you mean, for a while? You think you're going to tell me what kind of work I should do and what kind I shouldn't do? But of course, Steve. Like I said, I'm your wife. Besides, if I wanted to, I could tell either you or anyone else, a lot of other things. Like why you decided to give up diving. What are you talking about? Give it up because I was sick of it. Is that the reason? Or is it because you're afraid that if you did do any more diving, you might start seeing things? Seeing what? Well, after all, you were right there when Curly had his accident and got drowned. The funny thing is you were talking about how he might have an accident just before you went off on that trip. I've been thinking I really ought to talk to Andy about it since he was there too and find out just how it happened. Andy's not around anymore. He's in the left town right after I paid him off. Oh, I see. Well, remember that the police could probably find him, Steve, if they should ever want to ask him any questions. Are you all right? Oh, I'm sorry, Captain. Nothing's the matter. I guess I was just thinking about something else. I'm at the end of the corridor now. Just open the door to the engine room. Going across the gratings now and down the stairs. Something kind of familiar about all this... pattern and the grills. Picture the stairs. Hey, uh, Captain, what did you say the name of this tub was? Santa Elena. She kind of reminded me of another ship, the Arcturus. The Arcturus? What made me think of her? I know why. You're in a hair from which I almost forgot about Curly. What had happened down there on the deck of the school now. You're in a hair from which I was almost happy, even with Lila. And that night, the night McCannery came up to me. When I was on watch in the engine room. Hi, Steve. How are they going? It's well, Chief. I just got number two on the gun, and she's burning like a kitten. Good. Look, Steve, the old man claims she sounded a bit heavy. He wanted to sound up the pumps and check the bilge. I told him he was crazy, but, well, maybe we'd better. Okay, Chief, I'll get out right away. Anyone around to give you a hand? I don't really need any help. But if I want them, Swanson's I have some place. Well, report to me as soon as you're finished. All right, Chief. Oh, there you are, Swanson. Hey, where you going? Come back here. Hey, wait. Wait a minute. Well, not Swanson. Who are you? I'm nobody, Chief. I'm still away, huh? Heading down here behind the boiler. Now, give me a break, will you, Chief? I ain't doing nobody any harm. Well, I'll be. Steve, big Steve Farrell. Andy. Andy Andrews. And I wanted a break. This is terrific, Steve, like money in the bank. What happened to you anyway? Oh, usual thing and run a tough luck. Get out of work for about a year now. Look, Steve, I'm pretty hungry, are you? I ain't had nothing to eat since we left Port. Well, I guess I could pick up some stuff from the galley for you. But, uh, you'll have to be careful. You'd be the devil if they found out I was hiding. Good old Steve. I know you wouldn't let an old shipmate down. And, uh, Steve, while we're at it, I could use a little, uh, cash, too. Yeah, yeah, I figure that. Well, when we get to Port, I, I guess I could let you have 10 or 20. That's not enough. I was figuring on, like, uh, 500. Well, I started. 500. Are you nuts? I don't think so, Steve. You see, after Curly had his little accident and you sold the boat and all the equipment, I figured you'd given up diving because you were kind of upset about it. Then I heard you'd married his widow, that, uh, Leela Dame. I started thinking back. I remembered how Curly's air hose looked after we pulled him up. A place where it was cut wasn't rough, like it'd been done by Coral. It was clean, like it'd been done with a knife. Yeah. So that's it. Blackmail. Why do you have to use words like that, Steve? Okay, Andy. It's, uh, gonna be a little tough to get, but... Wait a minute. Someone's coming. One of the wipers. We've got to find some place for you to hide. I know. Down there in the belch. Here, climb in. Right down through that mountain. When you'll be safe, they're really safe. Okay, but you better not... What are you doing? Let go of me! Let go! You'll be safe here, all right? I'll see to that. Stop struggling like that, Andy. It's not going to do you any good. And I'm in too deep already to... Let you go wandering around with what you know. Weeks before they find you down here in the belches. They never will. And if they do, they'll figure you tried to hide down there and get drowned all by yourself. Down at the bottom of the ladder in the engine room. This light's not too good. The board is right in front of me. There seems to be some kind of a brass plate on the floor here. Captain! Captain! This is Miss Anna Lainer. It's the Arcturus. What are you talking about? It is. It is. Don't you understand? I don't know where I kill him. He must still be down here. Down the belches. Who are you? Who are you ever having sex? I think I see something moving back there. Behind the bars. Hey, Brody. I think I did one curly. That means that he said two. But, Steve, you'll know that, don't you? You're here to stay. What is you? Sure, Steve. I got a friend with me. A friend of yours, too. He's standing right next to you. We waited a long time, Steve. But now you're here with us. And now you're going to know exactly what it was like with both of us. You're going to know what it's like to drown. This is it. This is the way it was with us. Trying to hide it first. Holding your breath. Then, you can't fight it any longer. You can't go. The water rushing in. Into your mouth. You choke at first. Try to fight some more. Then everything starts to go black. And you relax. There are lights moving in the darkness. And suddenly you feel very peaceful. And very free. Peaceful. Did you find him, Mike? Yeah. He was right where you said. Down in the engine room. They're hauling him up now. He's used to his wife. How does it happen? There's a heavy iron door leading into the engine room. It swung shut. Got his lifeline and air hose. You're saying an awful lot of stuff that didn't make sense. But there was something about a bell. Well, his lifeline was looped around the bell on the foredeck. Mr. Gatton caught when you tried to pull him up. And that may have rung the bell a few times. There was something else, though. Remember you said he kept asking if the ship's name was really the Santa Helena? Yeah. Well, there was a brass plate in the engine room with her original name on it. And it was the Arcturus. They must have changed it when they re-registered it. That is funny. There's one thing that's even funnier. Of course, the whole thing was an accident. But I wonder what made that door close. You do. Even with two able-bodied ghosts about. But that's the way we like to leave you with a couple of things to keep you wondering. And when we do, then we've known we've really rung the bell. The funeral bell. Oh, Mr. Raymond, with all the different kinds of bells there are, why do you have to talk about that kind? All right, all right, Mary. Pick your own bell, see if I care. All right, then I'll choose a dinner bell. Will you ring it nine times? No, sir, you only have to ring it once if you're serving Lipton's noodle soup. And folks will come swarming to the table, because they know it takes Lipton's to show how good a noodle soup can be. Now, before I close the inner sanctum, here's a word of advice. If you should have nightmares tonight about drowning men and wake up with a start and see a strange figure in your room, a figure with staring eyes and seaweed in its hair, dipping water on the floor, don't be alarmed. Just ask it for its haunting license. Brother, by the way, this month's inner sanctum mystery novel is Net of Kabul Heads by Elizabeth Sanchez Holding. Now it's time to really close that squeaking door until next week at this same time when Lipton Tea and Lipton Soup present another inner sanctum mystery directed by Hyman Brown. So until then, good night. Pleasant dreams. I don't know how you feel, but that spooky bell gave me the shivers. Right now, I'd like to hear a cheerful sound that'd make me forget all about it. Yes, I'd like to hear a tea kettle singing on the stove, and when that water is at a good rolling boil, let's have a cup of Lipton Tea. You know, the tea with the brisk flavor. That word brisk, B-R-I-S-K, means that Lipton's has a lively, full-bodied flavor. It never tastes flatter or a wishy-washy. So don't forget Lipton Tea. And don't forget to tune in next Tuesday night for another inner sanctum mystery.