 The Whistler and the Whistler, and they know many things for our left 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. And now the Whistler's strange story, One Dark Night. Though it was only eight o'clock in the evening, it was quite dark. And the houses along the tree-lined suburban streets were quiet. In one house, a light could be seen burning brightly through the front windows of the house on the corner. It's illuminating rays reaching out across the front lawn to form finger-like shafts of light and shadow. And inside, Frank Jason paced the living room floor, moving with the nervous steps and motions of a sensitive, unable, contemplating danger. Frank Jason stopped his pacing on occasion. He stared down at a large, dark stain in the center of the living room carpet. Hey, don't you, Frank. Stand tall for a long moment. You're mind-racing, and then you hurry to the front door. Hello, Frank. Not disturbing you, am I? No, no doors, of course, sir. Come in. You seem nervous. I'm not worried about a next-door neighbor dropping in, are you? I saw your light on. I thought I'd drop in. You're a ever-loving wife, and I had a date to go shopping in the morning, but... I'm glad you start by, Don. I was about to phone you. Oh? Frank, what's the matter? Something wrong? It's about Cora. Do you have any idea where she could be? She's not home? No. I haven't seen her since this morning when I left for the office. You haven't. That's strange. What are you supposed to... Did you see her today? Around 10 this morning. We had a cup of coffee. That's when we planned to go shopping tomorrow. I came by to tell her I couldn't make it. I'm worried, Darius. Worried sick. I called everywhere. Wait a minute. Could she have gone to see her sister? I thought of a first thing. She does that often. Takes off without telling me, but she usually calls me when she gets there. And she hasn't? No. Did you call her sister's place? Yes. No answer. She's probably gone out. She could have tried to reach you when you weren't here. I haven't left the house since I got back from the office. Oh, I'm sure Cora's all right. She just forgot to call. You know how she is. Yes. That could be it, I suppose. I'll be up for a while. Let me know if you hear from her. Yeah. Sure. And don't worry. I'm sure Cora's all right. Good night, Frank. Good night. Give me the police department. Say, Mr. Jason, you last saw your wife this morning when you left for the office? Yes. That's right, Lieutenant. If you didn't mention her plans for the day or the evening. No. What time did you get back from the office? Around 3.30 or so, a bit earlier than usual. Any reason for that, Mr. Jason? Well, yes. I thought it would be nice if Cora and I drove out to the beach house for the weekend. Beach house? Oh, we have a little place at Shelton's Cove. Use it for summer vacation, weekend. I see. So you got here around 3.30. And there was no note, message of any kind? No. Still early. Only 8.30. You'll probably hear from her. It's not like her, Lieutenant. Not like her at all. She's left without telling you where she's going before. Yes, but she usually calls later. This time she hasn't called. I waited until 7.30 and then phoned her sister in Santa Barbara. There was no answer. I finally got through to her just before you got here, Lieutenant. And? Cora hadn't been there. And her sister hadn't heard from her. Something's happened to her. Something dreadful. I know it. I'll take it easy, Mr. Jason. There's no need to get excited. No need. Here. Let me show you something, Lieutenant. Over here. Well? That small scatter rug on the carpet. Lift it up. Okay. What's this? That stain wasn't there this morning, Lieutenant. Neither was the scatter rug. Somebody put it there to hide the stain in the carpet. What's that? I happened to notice it shortly before I called you. The rug doesn't belong here. We usually have it in front of the fireplace. I was curious, went over to pick it up. That's when I saw the stain. Could it be blood? Yeah, it could be, Mr. Jason. We'll check it. A kaleidoscope of thoughts and reactions go criss-crossing through your mind now, don't they, friend? As you wait for the lieutenant for his men from the police lab to arrive, go about their intricate methodical checkwork. You watch them for a while and then wander out to the kitchen. Discover that your hand is trembling as you light a cigarette. We're not thinking of the men in the living room, are you, friend? Not at this moment. As you stare out the window in the darkness of the garden and back, the only thoughts are interrupted by the appearance of the lieutenant at your side. Mr. Jason, yes, I have the report. Is it? Yeah, blood. I was afraid of that. This description of your life, Mr. Jason, dark hair, 38 years old, 5 feet 4, weight approximately 118 pounds. Yes? Yeah. Like, have you come down to headquarters with me? Down to the morgue. The morgue? The body of a woman answering this general description was found in a bay several hours ago. You mean, you think it might be? Yeah. And then again, it might not be. Well, Mr. Jason, do you feel up to it? Yes. Yes, of course. What if you don't mind? Oh, sure, sure. Here, would you like to sit down? No, no. I'll be all right. Just like that. I know, I know. Take it easy. Your conversation with the police lieutenant, his lab man working in your living room, the visit to the morgue, while things that you read about in the papers but never quite pictured is happening to you. Yes, Frank, it's all like a dream, a haze of unfamiliar activity, of questions and answers and nervousness and cigarettes and cups of coffee held in a shaking hand. And then finally, with the lieutenant driving you home, your nerves begin to settle back into place. Reality returns on about simultaneously with the sound of the police car's front tire touching the curb in front of your own home. Home. Thanks, lieutenant. You've been very kind. Not at all. You'll let me know if you hear anything. Oh, sure. Try and get a good night's rest, Mr. Jason. Yes. Good night. Frank? What? Saw you leaving the police car a while ago? Yes, I called him about Cora. I'm afraid something has happened to her. Of course something's happened to her, Frank. Yeah, doesn't she? And only the two of us know where she is. I don't understand. She's in your back garden where you buried her two hours ago. Right, darling? All of us are proud of our hometowns and rightly so. In this brief moment before we continue with our program, we'd like to offer a salute to one of our hometowns in America, Boston, Massachusetts. No city in the United States is richer in historical associations than Boston, the pencil-archist city of our country. The Declaration of Independence was proclaimed from the balcony of the old state house. All reverers saw the lantern shine from the old North Church before his famous ride that opened the Revolutionary War. The great New England poets had their homes here, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Julia Ward Howe, John Greenleaf Whittier, and writers like Nathaniel Hawthorne, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and Edgar Allan Poe. Today, Boston is the largest market of the shoe and leather industries in the world. It's also the largest wool market and the greatest fishing port in the United States. And they have the Boston Red Sox. It's the home of the Mother Church of Christian Science, and people all over the world know about Boston products. They buy $3 billion worth of them every year. It's no wonder that the people who call Boston their home town are proud of their two nicknames. They call Boston the hub of the universe and the cradle of liberty. Thus has Boston taken its place in the building of America. And now back to The Whistler. Very quickly, I doesn't expect to hear such accusing words from Dorothy Smart and your next-door neighbor. She saw you, didn't she? How do you bury your wife's crawler in the garden in the back of your house? And now the dread secret has to be shared with you. Yes, Frank, the momentary faith that you sense as you said good night to the police lieutenant is gone, right away, even more shockingly, because of the calm, assured serenity of the fastly-spiraling attractive young woman standing before you. You turn mechanically and move toward the house. And Dorothy Martin turns, too. Shadowlight can strangely apart of you now as she follows you inside. You see, Frank, I came over late this afternoon to talk with Kara about the shopping trip we planned. That door was open. I walked into the kitchen. The two of you were too busy arguing to hear me. Then may have heard everything. Yes. The money you were talking about, the old lady's $35,000, was Mrs. Faraday, wasn't it? Yes, yes, it was Mrs. Faraday. Kara had been her secretary companion once. You had been Mrs. Faraday's lawyer. That's how you met her. All right, Dorothy. There's no way. The old lady has spashed the money somewhere in the house. And when she died, you and Kara took it. No one ever knew. She told you? No. I thought about it things up after overhearing your conversation this afternoon. Kara was all set to step out with the money, wasn't she? Yes. If I hadn't come home early, surprised her? You surprised me, Frank. I never saw you in such a rage. And then when you picked up the letter out... All right, Dorothy, all right. You'll need a drink. No. What do you want to do, Doris? Do? Why, nothing darling, nothing at all. I'll keep your little secret. Will you, Doris? Of course. Providing... Providing I make it worth your while. Is that it? Mm-hmm. You won't find me greedy, Frank. I think you'll get along fine, the two of us. Darling, darling, your luck. If only the doorbell, I'll get it. No, no, no, wait. You'd better get out the back way. Of course. But it's late. And it might not look right. Oh, don't be silly. Look, I'm your next door neighbor. I just heard about Kara's disappearance. I'm her best friend. Sit right where you are, Frank. The most natural thing in the world can be to be right here, worrying with you. Oh, hello. Well, easy. Oh, say. Now, wait a minute. Wait a minute. Let me see. Let me see. Doris. Now, right? Right. And you're Harry Evan, Kara's brother. That's right. Well, nice to see you, honey. The folks up? Frank is. Come in. Hiya, Frankie. How's the boy? Hello, Harry. How are you doing? Oh, great. That's great. I thought you were out of town. Well, I just got in. I'm on my way to San Diego. Saw a light on. Thought I'd stop by and see you kids play. Where's Kara, seriously? She's not here. Oh? Hey, fellas, something wrong? You don't look so good. Yes, something is wrong, Harry. Kara has disappeared. Disappeared? Kara? She wasn't home when I got back from the office. I called everywhere. No one's seen her. Hey, maybe she's been in an accident. Do you check the hospitals? The police are taking care of it, Harry. Frank, you and Kara... Yes? Well, I mean, you didn't have a quarrel, did you? No, of course not. Well, she might have gone up to Santa Barbara to see you. Oh, she's not there. And you don't have... Well, you don't have any idea where she might have gone? No. Well, I don't like this, Frank. I don't like it at all. Sit down, Harry. I was about to fix a drink for Frank. No, no, no. Don't trouble, Doris. Oh, trouble? How about you, Harry? Oh, yeah. Yeah, I could go for a drink. Plain water. Plain water, it is. Yeah. Well, I don't know what to make of this, Frank. You don't like Kara to take off like that and not to let you know where she is? I don't mind telling you, Harry, I'm worried. I'm worried sick. Yeah, sure, sure. I know how you feel. I wish there was something I could do. What can we do? Nothing. Nothing, I guess. Just sit and wait. That's all. Just sit and wait. Sorry, a sudden appearance at the house is something to wane and worry about, isn't it, Frank? Yes. You haven't seen or heard from him in weeks. And at the night of our night. He is. Sitting in the easy chair across from you. I mean, curiously. Not so much now. But then you think slowly. The strange expression on his face. And your fears mountain your mind becomes more and more uneasy and restless as the minutes go by. Finally, Harry places the empty glass down on the end table. All right, all right. I think I'll shove off. Don't let me know if you hear anything from Kara, huh? I'll be staying at your man hotel. Then... Then you're not going on to San Diego? No, no. It can wait. I'll just stick around. Well, thanks for the drink. Hi, Harry. Hi, Frank. I'll be seeing you. Good night, Harry. You can relax now, darling. He's gone. No thanks to you. Why did you have to... You carried him to stay? I just wanted to find out what was on his mind. You know your dear brother-in-law is a big, fat liar. What? He said he got into town a couple of hours ago, didn't he? Yes. Really? It might interest you to know he was here in this house last night with Kara while you were out bowling. Here? Last night? That's all right. I saw him leaving around 10. Now, why do you suppose he lied, Frank? I don't know. I can make a guess. Kara was always very fond of her little brother, Harry, wasn't she? Yes. So he dropped in last night, mentioned these was on his way to San Diego. This gives Kara an idea. She'll take the money, drive off with Harry, maybe take her to the border. For services rendered, she cuts him in on the 35,000. Well, what do you think? I think that's a very good guess, Tara. It's a very good guess. He probably arranged to meet somewhere this afternoon. Kara didn't show, so little Harry trapped over here tonight to find out what's holding things up. Of course he knows about that money. Now he's going to stick around. He means trouble, Frank. Real trouble. I think we'd better keep a close watch on him from now on. There's very little sleep for you that night, isn't there, Frank? No second doubt is his right. Harry and Kara working together, running away, sharing the money. Now that Kara has disappeared, he's not suspect that you had something to do with it. The following morning as you wandered the kitchen, you happened to glance out the window and see someone moving about in the back garden through the trees. Someone was in there a bit. Yeah, morning, Frank. Oh, Harry. Yeah, just got by to see if he'd had anything from Kara. No, not a word. Yeah. Well, I saw you at Bedroom Creighton's with John. I didn't want to disturb you. You wouldn't move. Rough night, huh? Well, you get my sleep. I was wondering about Kara. I don't know if she could have gone, too, and why. Oh, uh, cigarette, Frank? Thanks, no, having that breakfast. I think I'll go back to the house. You coming? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hey, you know, you've fixed up your garden nice, Frank. Real nice. Well, I don't have too much time to work on it. Weekends, mostly. Still, you've done a nice job. I see you've changed the value of beds. Ground and turned up as... Yes. She likes gadgets. Uh-huh. Say, uh, say, isn't that your... Yeah, the phone. Yes. Yeah. That might be the police. I hope there's some news. Just a moment. Yeah, what is it, Frank? Uh, it's not the police. It's my office. I have to go in. Oh, oh. Well, I'll be shoving you up. Have some business to take care of downtown. I'll be back at the hotel around six tonight if you want to get in touch. Oh, all right, Harry. All right, I'll be seeing you. I'll be over. What did he want? I said I'll be over. Why you get so excited? We're not discussing things over the phone. It's too risky. But who? You heard me, Doris. So what did Harry want? He was asking about Cora. He noticed the flower bed I turned over. I think he suspects. Oh, don't be ridiculous. How could he? I don't know, but he suspects. I tell you. I see. Well, what are we going to do? I don't know, Doris. I don't know. I think the beach cottage is the perfect place for it, Frank. The perfect place for what? For Harry's little accident. Don't you remember what happened out there less than a year ago? You mean the fire or the explosion? That's right. The old-fashioned lamp, Frank. Hanging on a pulley from the ceiling. The explosion that caused. That was an accident. Only this time it'll be on purpose. But how could we get Harry out there? I'll call him at the hotel tonight. Tell him we, that is the neighbors, are worried about you. We think you've gone out to the cottage. This is greed. Do so. We're a little afraid of what you might do, that someone should be with you. Yes. Yes, I see. He gets out there, finds the cottage dark. Like so much. I trouble to go over, Frank. Well, depending on the night, you're strangely calm, aren't you, Frank? Sharing Doris' confidence that the plan will work. Yes. Because it must work. You find that your car has a low tire. So you borrow Doris' car, drive out to the beach. And park a short distance from the cottage. Go the rest of the way on foot. It doesn't take you long for what you have to do. Set the booby trap for Harry. And a few minutes later, you put in a car and a door. Yes, Frank. I am. I talked to our friend at the hotel. He'll be leaving for the cottage in another quarter of an hour. Good. It's all set for him. I'm heading back to town now. Oh, Frank. Yes? I'll get back and put my car away. Will you call me? Sure, Doris. I'll call him. It's a few minutes past seven when you return to your house. Harry will be leaving his hotel shortly. And then on the short drive to the cottage. And it will be all over. Back home, you'll reach for the phone to call Doris when... Evening, Mr. James. Oh, Lieutenant. Come in. I thought I'd drop by. A bit of a neighborhood all afternoon. Checking shops, stores. What up? There's been no news of Carl? Haven't turned up a lead yet. However, I put in the call to headquarters a few minutes ago. It seems they got word from a service station attendant out at the beach. What? Yeah. I think she saw a light at your beach cottage earlier tonight. Could have been a reflection of a car passing on the road, though. He's not sure. Oh, you must have been mistaken. Yeah. Still, if you let me have the key, I'd like to run out there and have a look. No? Yeah. I'll have a squad car picked me up. No. What? I mean... I'll drive you out there, Lieutenant. Well, I... Really? Look what you do. Really? It's no trouble, and I'd like to go. Now, please. Okay. Well, call headquarters. Let him know where I'll be. I'll get my car out of the garage. You'll glance nervously at your watch as you start out of the house to the garage. You'll reach in your pocket for your car keys. And I remember you left them in your car. You've got to stay with your tenant off, don't you, Frank? Yes. Harry is probably just leaving his hotel now, and it wouldn't do if you only returned to the cottage before he did. Goodlady, Frank. Five minutes or so. That's all you need. You want your car, bang down, and unscrew the tire valve and the low tire. A few minutes later, the lieutenant turns you. Something wrong, Mr. Jason? Oh, I'm afraid so. Flat tire? Uh-oh. Maybe I had better call a squad guard. No, no, no. Don't bother. It won't take us five minutes to change the tire. Then we'll drive out to the cottage. Okay. I guess a few minutes one way or another won't make much difference. The time we need to change a flat tire is important, Mr. Frank. Yes. Because it was a lay of the police lieutenant from reaching the beach cottage before your brother-in-law, Harry Evans, does. An accident that will take his life and free you of Harry's trick. As you reach inside the car and take the keys from the ignition switch, you'll hear your phone ringing inside the house. You'll hand your car keys to the lieutenant and hurry up the driveway to answer your phone. But you'll reach the phone too late. The wire is dead. And a moment later... Doris. Frank, why didn't you call me or answer the phone? Lieutenant showed up. I looked Doris. He's out of the car now. He wants me to go out to the cottage with him. Until I'm certain Harry gets there. He won't, Frank. Harry is dead. What? He didn't follow for our little gag. Instead of going out to the cottage, he went straight to your backyard. Started digging. Doris, did he...? No. I got behind him with a shovel. You were right, Frank, he knew. I found Kara's earring in his pocket. He must have found it near the cellar bed this morning. Doris, where is he? What did you do? What else? We had to get him out of there. I dragged him into your garage. He keys to your car in the ignition, so I put Harry in the trunk compartment. The trunk compartment! The spare tire is in there. The lieutenant will find the body. I have found the body, Mr. Jason. And the two murderers, too. Quite a chummy arrangement. You two neighbors. The foreman as the whistler, Les Romain, Alice Reinhart, Lawrence Dobkin, and Eddie Marr. The whistler, directed by Gordon T. Hughes with music by Wilbur Hatch, is produced by Joel Malone and transmitted overseas by the Armed Forces Radio Service. The seasoning story was by Adrian Jando. The whistler was entirely fictional, and all characters portrayed on the whistler are also fictional. Any similarities of names or resemblances to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. This is George Walsh speaking and reminding you to listen again next week for another strange tale by The Whistler.