 Lipton tea and Lipton soup present in a sanctum mystery, starring Wendy Barry. Good evening friends of the Inner Sanctum. This is your host to welcome you through the squeaking door into a gay little world of homicidal maniacs, vampires, ghosts, werewolves, and assorted forms of sudden and gory death. Friends, if you ever walk through a cemetery at midnight and see a girl whose hair is on fire, it is carrying her head under her arm. You know what to tell her, don't you? Just say, keep a cool head on your shoulders, Terz. And run like crazy. I suppose you think that kind of advice will help her. Of course, Mary. What else could you say to a girl whose hair is on fire? Wait, I know what you'd tell her. You'd say, my dear, why don't you cool off for the glass of Lipton's iced tea? I declare you sure think of Lipton's at the strangest times. But you know folks come to think about it, this is a strange time of year. The days are hot and yet the nights are up to be a bit chilly. Yes, this is the time when people keep cool with a refreshing pitcher of Lipton's iced tea while the sun's on the rampage, and then later, after sundown, a hot cup of Lipton seems to taste just right. And do you know the reason why Lipton's hot or iced is always so welcome and satisfying? Well, it's because Lipton's has that famous brisk flavor. That word brisk, B-R-I-S-K, means that Lipton's tea tastes fresh and full-bodied. It's never flatter, wishy-washy. That's right, folks. You just don't know how good tea can be till you've tried Lipton's. And now, friends, get ready to try a new kind of inner sanctum story. It's called the Murder Prophet, and it's an original radio play by Milton Lewis who copied it from a tombstone. Yes, and our star tonight is that glamorous Hollywood movie star Wendy Barry who plays the role of Claudia Dale. All right? Clear the floor and give your flesh room to creep. Ready? Well, let's hear Claudia tell us a story in her own words. At exactly midnight, I saw him for the first time. My headlights picked him up when he hailed me along a lonely stretch of road near my home. I wouldn't have stopped, but the storm was so fierce, I felt sorry for him. I drew up to the side of the road. Thank you. Going far? No, not far. Where to? I'll let you know. What's that? Where? There, on the side. Tombstone. Oh. There's a cemetery where I picked you up. Yes, Birch lawn. Cigarette? No, thank you. I don't smoke. He said nothing for a few minutes in the reflection of the dashboard light I saw his face for the first time. Sunk in eyes, hollow cheeks, mouth set in a queer grin, a skull barely covered with a thin layer of no quite flesh. For the start, I realized he was staring at me. I've seen you before. Boy, I don't think we've met. No, I know you. Are you sure? Yes. I would never forget someone so beautiful. Oh, really? Your Claudia Dale. Why, yes. You're married to Howard Dale. That's right. Well, I don't seem to place you. No, you wouldn't. I know quite a lot about you. Do you really? Your first husband was Willard Banks. How did you know that? He died eight years ago, a suicide. Who are you? We don't know me. Be careful, you're speeding. Well, I'm sorry. I didn't realize. How do you know so much about me? I just know. Oh, really? I suppose you have second sight of some such rubbish. It is not rubbish. Then tell me where I'm coming from. It's new. You guessed. You went there to visit a sick friend, Martha Walston. But you couldn't guess that. You're going too fast. You're losing control. No, I'm not. I'm quite all right. I can go as fast if I choose to. I shall go as fast as I wish. Would you care to know more on yourself? No. No, I do not find your little trick particularly amusing. Besides, I... What else do you think you can tell me about myself? Your future? Nonsense. Your husband is dead. Oh! Murdered. Oh, you're lying. You'll find his body on the floor near the piano of your living room when you get home. There are two bullets in his head. Get out of here. It happens that this is where I wish to go. Good night and thank you, Mrs. Dale. He vanished into the shadows on the side of the road. And then I noticed something white and shining clearly. The spot where he disappeared. I looked closely. It was another tombstone. In another cemetery. I raced madly for home, fighting the hysteria that seized me. The night light was burning in the living room. It couldn't be true. Howard would take me in his arms and kiss me when I stepped into the house. I rang the bell. Somehow I managed to get the key in the lock. I ran into the living room. Don't move. Right behind you, I've got a gun. Oh, God. Do it in the body. Who are you? Come around. You murdered him. Be quiet. Don't come near me. Don't touch me. I said sit down. Sorry I had to slap you for losing control. You don't have the scream for the police. Here's my badge. You? Detective Sergeant Quinn. Homicide. Oh, well, I thought you were... Yes, I know. Drink this. Thanks. Will better? Yeah, much. Who is he? My husband. Sure? When was he killed? About 20 hours ago. Poor Yesterdemony. How do you know? One of the bullets went wild. Hit that clock in the mantel. Where were you, Yesterdemony? Pittsfield. I stayed with a sick friend, Martha Wallstone. Yeah, look at these things. I took them out of his pocket. Are they all his? Yes. Where... Where is the snake ring? There were no rings. But he had one. It was quite valuable. He was never without it. I gave it to him. All right, now look. You wear it on the third finger of his left hand? Yes. There's a mark, but no ring. When did you come here? I drove in behind you. He left the front door open. I think I know who killed him. Who? A man I met on the road coming here. He knew my husband had been murdered. He did, huh? He even said his body would be near the piano. When did you see this guy? Oh, 10, 20 minutes ago. Picked him up on the road. Where? At Birchlawn Cemetery. Where'd you drop him? At another cemetery near here. He... He seemed to walk behind one of the tombstones. Oh. I know it sounds mad, but it happened just as I said. What's his name? I don't know. But he looked like... like a human cadaver. Like a man who's dead and... oh, and you don't believe me. Why'd you kill your husband? What? What are you saying? You hurt me. I told you I was in Pittsburgh. Why'd you go there? Mass, I was ill. Were you there at four yesterday morning? Of course. Stop shouting at me. I told you you killed him. What are you trying to do to me? Isn't it enough to come home and find Howard like that without you trying to... Oh, in heaven's name, leave me alone. Leave me alone. Now, discuss, lady. No. No thanks. Here, keep the change. I'm leaving. Sit down, Mrs. Dale. Don't go in. Ew. Yes. Won't you please sit down? Yes. Didn't expect to find you here. Nor are you. Are they making it difficult? It's a nightmare. You told them about me? Yes. You shouldn't have. They wouldn't understand. Did you kill him? Would you care for another drink, Mrs. Dale? No. Who are you? I'll tell you later. Why'd you come here? To talk to you. I knew I'd find you here. Yes, as you knew. You're not so skeptical now. No. What did you want to tell me? That you are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen and that I love you. I've loved you since I first saw you seven years ago. You came here to live with your husband. Is that why you... Why I killed you? Is that what you meant to say? Yes. I... I'm not an ordinary man, Mrs. Dale, but I'm not a fool. Now, on this card, you'll find my name, address and telephone. Do you really believe I'd phone you? Yes. There will come a time when you shall want love. Good night, Mrs. Dale. Good night. Hello, operator. Get me police headquarters and hurry, please. Them Detective Quinn. That's Garth Dragman. Thank you, Mrs. Dale. Do you mind coming down to headquarters, Mrs. Dragman? Not at all. Did she tell you that I murdered her husband? Yes. I thought she would. I'm not angry, Mrs. Dale, and what I told you earlier this evening still goes. I'll come along right now, Mr. Quinn. I didn't sleep a wink that night. Twice I got out of bed and drove to police headquarters. The lights were blazing in Quinn's office. I went in the third time. I couldn't bear waiting. Mrs. Dale. Will. Glad you stopped by. We checked everything Dragman said. It seems he was in the same bar and grill where you met him tonight when your husband was killed. You believed him? Not truly. A bartender and several regular customers backed up a story. Seems they all left together after the place was closed to play poker. Well, what about the things he said to me in the car? How could he know about the murder before you or I? I don't know. Perhaps he does have a second sight. Outlooking fellow, isn't he? She can't arrest a man for murder because of that. He's criminally insane, I tell you. I know he is. My dear Mrs. Dale. What's the use? I loved Howard. I loved him to the point of insanity. Otherwise there was no accounting for the things I did when I left police headquarters. I was determined to find the man who murdered my husband. Just towards dawn when I made up my mind what to do. I went to Garth Dragman's home. I was about to ring the doorbell when... Don't ring, Mrs. Dale. The door is open. Come in. You... you were expecting me? Yes, I was expecting you. Do you still think that I killed him? I don't know what to think anymore. Do you want me to find the person who murdered him? Yes, more than anything in the whole world. See, I have strange gifts, Mrs. Dale. And I do believe I understand the mind of a criminal. That mad impulse to crime, that strange twisted desire to take a living being, a creature of arrogance and power, and make it a corroding, lifeless mass of flesh fit for worse. You're shocked? Crime is a shocking, evil thing. And only a man with a brain of a genius can succeed at it. And only a man with a greater brain can trap a successful criminal. I'll find your murderer for you, Mrs. Dale, on one condition. What's that? That you marry me. I felt my body turn to ice. I knew I was talking to a madman. I was sure I was talking to the man who'd murdered my husband. Oh, shucks. It's not so hard to predict a murder. I can do it. It's easy. I predict there'll be at least one murder every week on Inno Sanctum. Good gracious, yes. You might say it's worth the character's life to appear on this program. Oh, don't feel sorry for them, Mary. Don't forget they can always make a comeback as a ghost on next week's show. In fact, I predict that Claudia's husband will be around one of these Tuesdays. All right, now it's my turn to make a prediction. And I predict that during the coming fall and winter, more people will drink Lipton tea than any other brand. Oh, you said that last year. Yes, and it came true then, just as it will now. Folks just naturally seem to prefer Lipton's. If you'd ask a tea expert to explain this preference, he'd say it's because Lipton's has a brisk flavor. You see, that word brisk, B-R-I-S-K, is a technical word. Brisk means that Lipton tea always tastes fresh and tangy. Yes, full-bodied and vigorous. Never flatter and sip it. So, folks, even if you're not a regular tea drinker, you should try Lipton's. That brisk flavor makes all the difference in the world. All right, let's get back to the other world now. The world of creeping, crawling horrors. I'll bet you think that Garth Dragman can't really foretell murders. Or do you think that Claudia doesn't have the courage to trap this homicidal Romeo? Or is he the killer? We'll let our star, Wendy Barry, in the role of Claudia tell you. Go ahead, Claudia. Shut him into the shakes. Two weeks later, I married Garth Dragman. He was the strangest man I ever knew. He would disappear for days at a time, and then suddenly turn up without warning. He had all the money he wanted, yet I never knew where it came from. There was a closet in his room which was always kept locked and bolted. I knew from the way he acted about it that the closet contained the answer to all the things I wanted to know about him. One night while he was away, I obtained tools and tried to force the lock. Good evening, Claudia. Oh, God. You didn't expect me back, did you? I knew you'd try to open that closet someday. Why do you keep it locked? So that no one but myself shall know what's in there. Not even I? You in particular. But, Garth, I... You'll not attempt to open it again, will you, Claudia? No. Forgive me for striking you. I... not quite myself tonight. I sometimes do things I regret when these moods come upon me. He sat down. He seemed terribly exhausted, completely spent. But there was a strange, wild light in his eyes. He seemed like a man intoxicated with some strange drug that few men know the taste of. You do forgive me, don't you, Claudia? Yes, here's a course. See, it's something that few people know, Claudia, but a person who has extraordinary powers carries an extraordinary burden. You mean your gift of prophecy? Yes, I didn't want to mention it. It seems to upset you so. It doesn't frighten me any longer. Do you read in the newspaper about a woman's body being found in the river? She'd been murdered, grotted. Yes, it was in this evening's paper. I can tell you who she is, Josephine Ford. That stupid girl, Claudia. I could have told you that she'd be murdered three days ago. How do you know these things? Because I see them. Sort of vision. Now I'm seeing another vision. It's a house, 346 Harbor Street, near the waterfront. A young woman lies in bed reading. She's very attractive. In an hour she'll be dead. When the police come, they'll find her body decapitated. The criminal did this to destroy her identity. Who is the criminal? What difference does it make? He'll never be caught. Uh, Garth, while you were gone, Martha Wallstone telephoned. She's ill again. She asked me to come up immediately. Where did you go? I was waiting for you to get home before I left. You want to leave immediately? If you don't mind. It's really an emergency. You may go, Claudia. I shall go to sleep. I'm extremely tired. It took only a few minutes to get to the waterfront. I found the house at 346 Harbor Street. I went in. The lamp in the bedroom was burning. I looked at the bed. Mrs. Dale, you think you can sit up now? Detective Quinn. Yes. Hardly expected to find you here. I came because Garth Dragman predicted this would happen. Mrs. Dale. You still don't believe me? I'm a strange woman, all right. You accuse this man of killing your husband and then you married him. I suppose you're going to accuse him of this murder, too. Yes. This in heaven only knows how many others. Mrs. Dale, did you realize that you haven't got a single piece of evidence to make up your contingency? I'll get the evidence tonight. Will you let me have a gun? No. Will you be near my house? I need protection. Oh, after all. What must I do to convince you what he is? I've risked my own life. I'm willing to risk it again. He's a monster. You're going to wait until he murders me before you believe what I say. All right. I'll give it a try. I'll come back to your house with you. You want me for an emergency? Smash the window pane. We drove back together. I dropped Detective Quinn on the corner. The house seemed deserted when I came in, but I wasn't taking any chances. I went to the kitchen, got a knife, hid it in the folds of the long-sleeved gown I was wearing. I went into Garth's room. He wasn't there. But the closet door was open. What I saw in there nearly made me ill. Garth's clothes. Some of them soaked in blood. I forced myself to examine them. Then I found something that made my heart beat faster. A little jewelry case. I'll take that, Claudia. Give me that jewelry case, please. No, don't take it. Thank you. Get away from that window, Claudia. Go on. Don't shoot, Garth. You were so anxious to see what's in that closet. Well, now you have. Perhaps you'd like to see the latest addition to my collection. It's in this box. That box? Yes, Claudia. A hat box. Sit down, Claudia. What are you going to do? Tell you who killed your husband. You? No. You. You're insane. I've written out a confession for you to sign. What'll happen if I don't sign it? Well, I credited you with more imagination. Would you like to hear it? Yes. Yes, read it, please. Sit over here, away from that window. Yes. I, Claudia Dale, murdered my first husband, Willard Banks, for his insurance by administering poison. My first husband? Yes, Claudia. See, I mean to make this document strong enough to send you to your death, if I wish. I've got all the details here. Just how you murdered your first husband, how you killed your second. Shall I go on? No. You know it's all a lie. Will you sign it? Of course not. Just what is your game anyway? If you want to kill me, why don't you shoot? You've been very successful before. There's no reason you shouldn't succeed again. Go on, shoot. You put me in a very difficult position, Claudia. You see, you have found out certain things about me. Things that could cost me my life. I will not tell you again to get away from that window, Claudia. I should prefer to see you live because I love you. But I shouldn't hesitate to murder you. You love me? Yes. You haven't taken me in your arms once since I know you. The right time had not arrived. What do you consider the right time? When I feel that you understand me. When I feel that you, who murdered two men, understand the deep and strange cravings and desires that race in my blood. You really believe I'm a murderer? Of course. That's why I love you. Then the time is now. The time? To take me in your arms. Claudia... He still held the gun. He wasn't more than two inches from me. I turned my lips up to him. I twisted my body to get out of the range of his revolver. When I felt his lips touch mine, I slowly let the knife slip into my hand. Slowly, caressingly, I drew my hand up towards his neck. Then I plunged the blade in. Blade! Claudia! Detective Quinn, hurry! I'm coming. What happened? I killed him. And here's the proof that he murdered my husband. I found it in the jury case he had in his pocket. The snakering that was missing from my husband's body. Now do you believe me? That's the whole story. I realize that you, as a district attorney, must know all the facts. There they are. Thank you. There are a few points in the story that interest me particularly. First, a confession that he asked you to sign. What about it? Confession says that you were not in Pittsfield at 4 a.m. when your husband was killed. She gave your friend Martha Wallstone a sleeping pill, drove her down here, shot your husband, drove back to Pittsfield, turned Miss Wallstone's bedside clock to 4.15 and wakened her. And you gave her the medicine. She thought it was 4.15 and went back to sleep. Garth was very clever at things like that. He had extraordinary brilliance at the insane. And just one question. Was that the way you murdered Howard Dale? I? Oh, but Garth murdered him. The ring proves it. He never had the ring. He put it in the jewelry box. I can't believe what you say. Garth was a homicidal maniac. He predicted the death of the people he murdered. My dear woman, don't you know yet? Know what? That's Dragon. He was a detective working out of my office. That's how he knew about those deaths. He was put on the case because we suspected you of murdering your first husband as well as your second. A detective? Yes. And you're going to die for killing him. Extremely daring and clever of you to murder him. But you never would have gotten away with it. If you hadn't kissed him. He kissed you because he fell in love with you. Poor fool. Well, friends, that just goes to prove that you should never pick up hitchhikers who come out of cemeteries at midnight. I bet you've guessed the moral for our story. It's taken from a famous quotation that Harry the Hangman uttered during a nightmare. Never steal the rings of people you murder on account of that's robbery. My goodness, you call that a moral. That's one of the most immoral things I've ever heard you say. All right, Mary, I'll take it back. Here's one you really like. Yes, lip twakes the cap and the lipton. That's why teaspoons were inventive. That's very clever. But I guess the reason they're called teaspoons is because people drink tea so many times during the day. Yes, folks enjoy that brisk Lipton tea, not just at mealtime, but between meals as well, such as when friends drop in for a visit. That's why it's a good idea always to keep a good supply on hand. So folks, ask for Lipton tea in the larger, more economical-sized packages. And now here's a cheerful little thought. You could let a man murder you once, but you'd have to be a stiff to let him do it again. Oh, by the way, this month's in a sanctum mystery novel is Puzzle for Wantons by Patrick Quentin. Yes, the next week's in a sanctum story directed by Hyman Brown and brought you by Lipton Tea and Lipton Soup. Next week's story is about a woman with canary yellow eyes, murderous eyes. Everyone she looks at, she wants to kill. And you know what? She keeps a harpoon in her house. Well, well, you never know what's going to harpoon next. And I'm afraid it's time to close the squeaking door. So, good night. Pleasant dream. Folks, it's wonderful how little time cooking takes these days. Now, when I was a girl, my mother used to spend half a day making a pot of chicken noodle soup. But now, we have Lipton's noodle soup mix. And when you use Lipton's, you just empty the contents of the package into boiling water, and in no time at all, soup's on. And what delicious, chickeny-tasting soup it is. Lipton's has an old-fashioned homemade flavor and it's brim full of tender, golden egg noodles. So, folks, don't forget to ask for Lipton's noodle soup. And don't forget to tune in next Tuesday night for another Inner Sanctum Mystery. This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.