Suspense!
This is the Man in Black, here to introduce Columbia's program, Suspense.
In Hollywood this evening, our two distinguished stars are the lovely actress Margot and the
Polish young actor from Holland, Mr. Philip Dorne.
A story by John Dixon Carr dealing with strange, very strange happenings aboard an ocean liner
and called Cabin B13 is tonight's tale of Suspense.
If you have been with us before, you will know that Suspense is compounded of mystery
and suspicion and dangerous adventure.
In this series our tales are calculated to intrigue you, to stir your nerves, to offer
you a precarious situation and then withhold a solution until the last possible moment.
And so with Cabin B13 and with the performances of Margot as Ann Brewster and Philip Dorne
as Dr. Karl Heinrich, we again hope to keep you in Suspense.
Come now in happier peacetime days to a great ocean liner on the night of her departure
for Europe.
There she is at the West 22nd Street Pier, the 25,000 tonne moravania of the White Planet
Line.
Smoke from her three funnels coils up lazily in mild October air.
You can see the decks white and shiny like shoeboxes and the string of lights along them
and the band standing by on a deck to play her out.
You can hear the murmur of an excited crowd and the rattle of the steam winches as cargo
is lowered into the hole.
You can see the bustle of activity and the second officer standing at the head of the
gangplank as two rather late passengers hurry through the custom shed towards that gangplank.
It's all right, Billy.
We are not too late.
No, and I thought we'd be in time.
A honeymoon in Europe.
Three whole months with nothing to worry about.
That's right, dear.
And you've been my wife for, let's see, practically five hours now.
I believe the correct phrase is, is, ah, it was so sudden, Mr. Brewster.
So sudden that we had to travel on our own passports instead of a husband and wife one.
I hope they don't think you're not an honest woman.
I'm going to act like a complete wad of just a devil.
Oh, what about our tickets, Ricky?
Do we give them to that officer standing at the top of the gangplank?
No, honey, you keep your ticket.
The cabin steward will come around and collect it after we're underway.
And the money, Ricky?
It's a lot of money, ain't it?
Ten thousand dollars in cash.
Maybe I better turn it in at the purse's office for safekeeping.
Yes, maybe you had.
Wait a minute, Ricky.
What is it then?
Wait.
Do you mind if we stand here for a second before we go up the gangplank?
What's the matter?
You're not ill, are you?
No, but getting over brain fever isn't any joke.
Oh, I know, dear.
You see, Ricky, I ought to be eager and excited like all those people up there, but suddenly
you get fancies.
Queer, sick fancies.
Suddenly, right now, all I can think of is the night and the wind and all the black water
in the dark.
And that's exactly the kind of morbid fancy I'm trying to cure you of.
I know, Ricky.
I'll be good, but I was just thinking of a story.
What story?
Oh, never mind.
It doesn't matter.
Which way do we go?
Up the gangplank, through that door there, and then down on the elevator to B deck.
And no more horrors, do you understand?
Here we are, Ann.
B deck and cabin number...
Good Lord.
B 13.
B 13.
You're not superstitious, are you?
No, dear, not about things like that.
Open the door.
Here we are.
Lights on and...
Oh, Ricky, darling.
It's a beautiful cabin.
The best I could get.
They've got a luggage in anyway.
And over there, madam, you'll find a basket of fruit and some books from your obedient
servant.
Oh, you are nice to me.
And I'm feeling so much better, Ricky.
I will be all right, darling.
Of course you will.
But you won't find any detective novels among those books.
Please, please, Ricky.
Detective novels may be all right for presidents and college professors, but they're straight
poison to you.
You'll read love stories and like it.
You know, Ricky, I keep thinking and thinking about that story I mentioned.
Oh, what story, dear?
It's an old one.
You probably know it, but it was new to me.
A woman and her daughter arrive in Paris and go to a hotel.
Oh, you mean the old Paris Exposition story?
Yes, that's it.
The daughter goes out.
When she returns, her mother has disappeared.
And even the hotel room isn't the same.
The proprietor of the hotel swears the girl came there alone and that there never was
a mother.
The whole room is different when she goes back to look at it.
The girl goes to the police and they won't believe her and she's nearly crazy.
Of course, it turns out that the mother has caught bubonic plague and died and they're
hushing it up so that the visitors won't keep away from the city and ruin the whole exposition.
Anne, you've got to stop this kind of talk.
I know.
But imagine being in a situation like that with all those queer eyes staring at you,
wondering if you'd lost your reason, wondering if your brain had cracked and the whole world
might dissolve and...
Listen.
That's the last call, Anne.
We'll be on the way any minute now.
You know, Ricky, I would like to see the skyline go past and the Statue of Liberty and the
rest of it.
Well, then why not go up and see it?
I've got to deposit this money in the Purser's Office on Seadam.
But I don't like you to leave me.
Oh, now look here, dear.
You don't think I'm going to disappear, do you?
I suppose I don't really.
When I get these ideas and I can't help it, Ricky, I wish you'd wallop me.
I'm not going to wallop you, Anne, but you've got to stop being afraid.
You certainly won't disappear in a crowded ship with any number of people around you.
As for me, I defy Houdini himself to make me vanish.
Don't talk like that.
I'm not going to vanish, and neither is this cabin, dear.
Now, run along.
I'll join you on deck as soon as I can.
All right, Ricky.
I'll be good.
In with your gangplank.
In with your gangplank.
Gangplank, please, sir.
Close the rails.
Stand by.
Eager people, excited people, happy people, all crowding up to the rail to wave goodbye.
Nothing to worry about.
Nothing on their minds except...
Except what?
Oh.
Except seasickness, madam?
Oh.
Why, back your pardon.
I hadn't meant to startle you.
Believe me.
Please don't mention it.
How silly of me.
It was my fault.
I haven't been very well.
I noticed it, madam, if you'll forgive me.
That was why I spoke to you.
As you see by my uniform, I'm the ship's doctor.
This is a British ship, isn't it?
But you don't sound British.
No, I'm an Austrian, madam.
Dr. Paul Henry, at your service.
I'm not very popular in my own country today.
Days of colored shirts and vacant minds.
I'm Mrs. Brewster, doctor, and Brewster.
When does the ship go?
In about a second, Mrs. Brewster.
You will hear the whistle, then the banter will strike up, all lungs in, and then...
We're moving, aren't we?
Yes.
Don't you feel the vibration of the engines?
Goodbye, Tommy.
Take care of yourself while I'm gone.
Come on, dear, I'll see you at Christmas.
Oh, the kid in the car is in the living room, table floor.
If you go out with Eddie Blom's tummy, I'll kill you when I get back.
Goodbye, man.
Yes, dear, of course I'll behave myself in Paris.
See, what time is the bar open aboard this time, then?
I imagine this is not your first crossing, madam.
I'm afraid it is, Dr. Henry.
My husband's crossed many times, he tells me, but not on this ship.
Well, then I hope you're a good sailor.
Why, Dr. Henry?
Well, because we'll run into some very dirty weather once we're out at sea.
October is a very bad month for traveling.
Well, if I do get seasick, doctor, I'll rush straight to you, and I'll expect to be cured.
Let me tell you a secret, madam.
There are two common ailments for which medical science has no cure.
One is ordinary seasickness, and the other is hangover.
Tomorrow morning, I shall be dealing with both.
And enjoying it?
Oh, no, no, no, no, no, sympathizing with it.
That's all I can do.
How do you like tomorrow of India?
Oh, it's a magnificent ship from what I've seen of it.
And you know, they've given us a very nice cabin down on B deck, B 13.
What's the matter?
Why are you looking at me like that?
I beg your pardon.
Did you say B 13?
Yes.
Why not?
You're quite sure of that, madam?
Well, yes, of course I'm sure of it.
I saw the number on the door.
Why not?
Well, because...
Go on, Dr. Henry.
Of course there's no such cabin aboard a ship.
I'm not joking, Mrs. Brewster.
You see, some people are superstitious.
Many ships, like this one, omit number 13 on each deck.
You must have been mistaken.
What are you trying to tell me?
Do you think I saw something that wasn't there?
No, no, Mrs. Brewster, not at all.
Then come along with me.
I'll show you.
I'll prove to you that there is a number 13.
Will you come along?
Yes, Mrs. Brewster.
I think perhaps I had better escort you.
Stuartus, Stuartus!
Yes, miss.
Yes, ma'am.
Come in straight away.
Tell me, Stuartus, this is B deck, isn't it?
B deck, ma'am.
Oh, yes, ma'am.
No doubt about that.
Dr. Henry and I have been all over this part of the ship looking for cabin number 13, but
we don't...
I've been trying to convince this lady stewardess that there's no such cabin, cabin number 13
on this ship.
It's a sure-to-heaven, isn't it, ma'am?
And never has been.
I served aboard the Moravania a matter of eight years, and I ought to know.
But I tell you, I saw it.
I was in there.
It was a big cabin with a private bathroom attached.
The walls were paneled in light oak, and the furniture was rosewood and yellow satin, and
the portholes were like real windows.
No, that's not much good, ma'am.
No, I'm afraid not.
Most of the cabins hereabouts look like that.
May I ask you, what name was the cabin booked in?
Brewster, naturally.
Mr. and Mrs. Richard E. Brewster.
Here, let's have a look on my list.
No.
No, there's no Brewster here, ma'am.
I tell you, I was in there.
They even delivered the luggage.
I saw it.
Excuse me, ma'am, but I had a look-see in all the cabins I'm in charge of just to see
if the passengers wanted anything, and I don't remember any luggage with a Brewster label
on it.
Wait a minute.
There may be a partial explanation of this.
You see, that's better, Mrs. Brewster.
I was hoping you might find one.
Ricky, that's my husband.
Ricky and I have only been married a very short time, and when my maid printed the baggage
label, she must have made them out in my maiden name.
I never noticed at the time.
Oh, what name might that be, ma'am?
Thornton.
Anne Marie Thornton.
Oh, darn, Miss.
Now, why couldn't you have said that before?
Oh, I remember it well.
Two silk cases and a little trunk.
They're in B-16 now.
Where's B-16?
Right behind you, Miss.
You're standing practically in front of the door.
Oh, thank goodness for you.
Oh, yes, but what about my husband's luggage?
There's no gentleman's luggage in that cabin, Miss.
Your husband's or any other gentleman's, if you know what I mean.
I won't stand for this.
Where's Ricky?
What have you done with Ricky?
Please, Mrs. Brewster, there's one easy way to settle this.
Settle it?
How?
Just look down the corridor.
You notice the man coming towards us, the man with the two gold stripes around his sleeve?
Well?
That's Mr. Marshall, our second officer.
Did you ever see him before?
Yes, yes, of course I have.
He was standing at the top of the gang plank when Rick and I got aboard.
Exactly.
So he might be able to tell us something.
Mr. Marshall?
Mr. Marshall?
Yes, Doctor, what's up?
Would you mind coming here for a moment?
Not at all, old boy.
I'm glad to oblige a chap who may have to cut me up at any moment.
What may I do for you?
Take a good look at this young lady and tell me, have you seen her before?
Seen her before?
My dear chap, if I had overlooked, young lady, pardon me, I know, a passenger as charming
as this lady is, I would be less of a gentleman than I fancy myself.
You saw her coming aboard tonight?
Oh yes, certainly.
And of course you saw the gentleman who was with her.
The gentleman who was with her?
Yes, yes, yes.
Oh, but there was nobody with her, old boy.
You're quite certain of that, Mr. Marshall?
My dear Doctor, she was the last of them to come aboard.
I take my Bible oath there was no other passenger with her, or ahead of her or behind her if
it comes to that.
You're lying, you're lying to me.
Please, please, Mrs. Rooster, lower your voice.
I know what it is.
It's the old Paris trick, like in the story.
But you won't get away with it, do you hear?
I'll look here, madame.
I'll go to the press or I'll go to the captain.
Dear Father in Heaven, won't anybody believe me?
Later that night, in the captain's room just above the bridge, there is a conference of
ship's officers, outside, stung by spray, clinging to the bulkhead rail in the dark,
a frightened girl waits until the door of the cabin's room opens.
Will you bring the young lady in, Doctor Heising?
Close the door.
Yes, sir, here we are.
This is Captain Wainwright.
Now, just tell your story straightforwardly and please don't excite yourself.
Well, maybe we can get some decision into this matter.
Would you sit down here beside my desk, Miss Thornton?
My name is Brewster, Captain.
Mrs. Anne Brewster.
Ah, whatever you say, Mrs. Brewster.
Thank you very much, Captain.
I might tell you, ma'am, I've got a lot on my mind already.
The first officer comes aboard with an attack of flu.
I'm facing an equinoctial gale, short-handed, and now this has to happen on top of it.
I'm terribly sorry.
I can't help that, Captain, but I want to know what they've done with Ricky.
Just one moment, please, while I get this straight.
At this time, I understand you yourself have personally interviewed practically every single
passenger aboard this ship.
Is that true?
Yes, it's true.
But your alleged husband is not here.
Is that true?
Yes, that's true, but I...
In the meantime, the person has sent a squad of men to search this ship.
They've searched every inch of it.
You can take my word for that.
There's nobody hidden.
Your husband's not here.
According to Mr. Marshall, who's standing over there...
I can't see him.
According to Mr. Marshall, he never was here.
Hang it all, Miss Thornton.
You needn't glare at me like that.
We couldn't see the chap.
He wasn't there, nor could we.
Be quiet, Mr. Marshall.
Yes, I'm sorry.
No, I'm not unreasonable, Mrs. Brewster.
I think you'll admit that.
But what can I do?
What can I say?
Can you offer any proof even that this husband of yours ever existed?
Proof?
Yes, of course I can.
Excuse me for interrupting, Book.
Would you mind, Captain, if I asked a question or two?
No, Doctor, go ahead.
I'll tell you I'm going deaf myself.
If you were married, Mrs. Brewster, you must be carrying a joint husband and wife passport.
Where is that?
Well, there wasn't time to get one.
We each carried our own passport.
Oh, I see.
But still, there must be someone back in America who can confirm what you say if you got in
touch via radio telephone.
Your parents, for instance...
I haven't got any parents.
They're dead.
What about relatives, then, or a guardian?
My guardian is a trust company.
The administrators don't even know I'm married.
But somebody must have performed the ceremony of marriage, the past and the justice of peace.
Yes, of course, of course, but...
Oh, I...
I can't remember the name of the town.
You don't remember the name of the town?
Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman, Mrs. Brewster.
The ship is going to pitch again.
How's the glass looking, Mr. Marshall?
Oh, barometers rising, sir.
This weather won't hold long.
We shall be in the fog before morning, though.
We are in the fog now, if you ask me.
This lady says she...
I'm terribly sorry, but I'm trying to think of it.
It was a little town in upstate New York where they can marry you at a moment's notice.
Ricky kept the certificate.
I...
I was confused.
I haven't been well.
No, you haven't.
You see, Ricky had been away, and he came back, and I was in love with him, and he sort
of swept me off my feet and...
Oh, what's the use?
Not much use, apparently.
If you'll take my advice, ma'am, you'll go below to your cabin and get some sleep.
I'll send the doctor down to make sure he has sedative.
You think I'm crazy, don't you?
I...
I think you're a little overwrought, ma'am.
What I can't understand is why.
Why?
Why should you want to do this?
It can't be the bubonic plague this time.
Bubonic plague, ma'am?
Who said anything about the bubonic plague?
Never mind.
But I'll show you.
You're all against me, except maybe the doctor.
But I'll show you.
I'll prove it to you.
I am going downstairs, and I don't want anybody to follow me.
Good night.
Good night, all of you.
Well, I'm glad that's over.
Look here, Mr. Marshall.
Huh?
You think it's quite safe to trust her out there alone?
Well, I don't know, sir.
She's mad as a hatter, if you ask me.
You think she might do something foolish?
I think she might chuck herself overboard if we're not careful.
What's your opinion, doctor?
I can give you my opinion, gentlemen, in a very few words.
That girl is as sane as you are.
What's that?
Wait and hear what I have to say.
I've shared your own belief at first, but I've been talking to her all evening.
I've heard her whole story, and there's not a psychopathic trait in her nature.
She firmly believes in this husband.
That's right, doctor.
A lot of people firmly believe they're Napoleon, but they get tossed into loony bins, that's
the same.
This matter is not a joke, Mr. Marshall.
I tell you, this man exists.
Or did exist.
What do you mean, doctor?
Or supposed he has been murdered.
Did exist.
Perhaps he has been murdered and thrown overboard.
Married?
Thrown overboard?
If you remember, Richard Brewster was carrying a very large sum of money in cash, his wife's
wedding gifts, practically all her inheritance.
He meant to go to the purse's office, but he never got there.
That money might have been a great temptation.
To whom?
To a stewardess, perhaps, or even to a ship's officer.
Just exactly what are you getting at?
Well, numbers on doors can be changed easily enough.
Just print a small card and put it on the metal slot on the door.
I still want to know what you're driving at.
If you use your intelligence, gentlemen, I think you will understand how a man can be
made to vanish into thin air, and why Mr. Marshall saw never another passenger.
You still don't see it?
No, I do not.
Well, then listen, and I'll explain exactly how it's been created.
Four o'clock in the morning.
Four o'clock, the hour of suicides and bad dreams.
The gala's subsided, the sea is calm.
The SS Moravania creeps blindly at barely eight knots through a thick and strangling
fog.
The whole ship is dark and sealed up in sleep.
There's no sound in all that mournful dimness, except when the foghorn cries out a warning
overhead.
Even cabin B16 is dark, and Brewster, still fully dressed, lies restlessly across one
of the berths, her head almost touching the inter-cabin telephone.
What was...
I thought I heard...
Telephone.
Yes?
Hello?
It's me, Ann.
Take it easy now.
Ricky!
Ricky, where are you?
Quiet!
Keep your voice down.
Where are you, Ricky?
What happened to you?
Are you hurt?
No, I'm not hurt, but he nearly got me.
Who nearly got you?
Listen, I'm not hurt.
I'm not hurt.
Who nearly got you?
Listen, dear, I can't explain over the phone, and I don't dare go down there.
Can you meet me up on deck?
Yes, of course.
Where?
Do you know the boat deck?
Boat deck?
Which one is that?
The top deck, where all the lifeboats are slung.
Oh, yes, I know it.
Well, go to the starboard side.
Yes.
That's the right-hand side, facing forward.
Find the fourth lifeboat from the aft companion wing.
Yes.
There's a thick fog, and nobody else will see us.
Ricky.
What is it?
Ricky!
He's gone.
He's gone.
Excuse me, miss, but I thought I heard somebody talking in here.
Stuartice, what are you doing up at this time of the night?
If I might ask, miss, what are you doing up and rest?
Oh, you ought to get some sleep, miss.
You're really off.
It might interest you to know, Stuartice, that I've just been talking to my husband.
Now, look here, miss.
Don't start that all over again.
Please don't start that all over again.
You all pretended to think I was mad, didn't you?
And you nearly drove me mad.
Ricky's beaten the whole crowd of you, and I'm going out on deck to meet him now.
Out on deck, miss.
That's what I said.
Where's my coat?
Don't go out there, miss.
Not in the state of mind you're in.
And the fogs are thick.
You can't hardly see your hand in front of your face.
Stand away from the door, please.
Suppose, miss, I didn't want to let you go out there.
I don't think that would matter much.
You've probably heard that mad people have ten times ordinary strength,
and I'm stronger than you anyway.
Miss, I'm a beggin' ya.
Stand away from that door.
One, two, third.
Am I? Is that you?
Yes. Ricky.
Ricky, darling, where are you?
Here. Duck your head under the lifeboat.
Here, take my hand.
But isn't it horribly dangerous out there on the edge?
There's no railing along the side of the ship.
Don't worry, Anne. I won't let you fall.
Look out!
Oh, we're overboard here.
We're well aft near the propellers, the suction would carry you into the propeller blades and...
Now, listen.
I can't hear anything except the foghorn.
Yeah, but I can.
There's somebody walking along the deck.
And I can see a flashlight moving in the fog.
You're quite right, my friend.
You can see a flashlight moving in the fog.
Dr. Heinrich, what are you doing here?
At the moment, young lady, I'm covering both of you with a revolver.
Please don't move.
So, you were in the conspiracy, Dr. Heinrich.
May I ask you what conspiracy?
The whole ship's conspiracy to say Richard Brewster didn't exist.
My dear young lady, you can set your mind at rest.
There never was any ship's conspiracy against you.
The people you spoke to were perfectly honest.
Including Mr. Marshall, I suppose.
Yes, including Mr. Marshall.
Ben, what is this all about?
Stand back there.
I suppose he was telling the truth when he said nobody came up the gangplank before or after me.
I beg your pardon. That was not what he said.
He said no peasanture came up the gangplank at this time.
Well, what's the difference?
A great crime is arranged for tonight, young lady.
No less a crime than murder.
Murder? Who's going to be murdered?
You are.
What?
That, I repeat, is the scheme.
But there is no conspiracy and only one criminal.
Oh. And who is the criminal?
The criminal is the man standing besides you.
Your so-called husband.
Ricky!
Oh, you don't know what you're saying.
I think I do.
Marshall, of course, did see someone walk up the gangplank, loitering behind you.
But he never dreamt of associating this person in any way with you.
He saw a ship's officer returning from shorely in civilian clothes.
A ship's officer?
Yes.
That man you called your husband, his name isn't Richard Brewster.
His real name is Blaney, and he's the first officer of the Moravania.
Are you trying to tell me that my...
The Captain can identify him.
He's actually British, though he can fake an American accent very well.
He has already got a wife in England, and he is planning to join her with the $10,000 he got from you.
I don't believe it. I don't.
Ricky, why don't you say something?
Oh, he planned it very cleverly, I must admit.
He never let you know he was a ship's officer, did he?
He's been away for some time, naturally.
So he persuaded you to marry him in a hurry.
Ricky, Ricky, is this true?
He has the money, you see.
All he did was hang a dummy number on the cabin door, remove it later, put on his uniform, and walk away with his own luggage.
But Captain Wainwright told us that the first officer had come aboard tonight with...
With a bad attack of flu, yes.
Our friend couldn't be seen in public until he after he disposed of you.
The best thing was to convince everybody you were insane, as he did.
Then, when you went overboard tonight...
They would all believe it was suicide.
Exactly.
But I began to suspect this Brewster because you quoted him as telling such an obvious lie.
He said he had never traveled in the Moravania, yet he could direct you all over the ship, and even knew what a person's office was.
So he went to his cabin, found it empty, searched, and found your $10,000.
Look out, Dr. Henry!
Put it down, you fool! Put it down!
He's over for him! You shot him! You shot him!
Your shots might be enough to have touched him.
Never touched him?
No. The weight of the iron carried him over backwards when he lifted it.
It was the weight he was going to have used to sink your body.
The propellers! The ship's propellers!
Yes, they suck you under.
Doctor, I can't stand it.
It won't be easy, my dear. It won't be easy, I know, but believe me, this way is better.
And so closes Cabin B-13, starring Margot and Philip Dawn, tonight's tale of suspense.
With our two stars tonight were Dennis Hoy as Captain Wainwright, and William Johnstone as Ricky Brewster.
This is the man in black who conveys to you Columbia's invitation to spend this half hour in suspense with us again next week, same time,
when our star will be one of the screen year's most sensational newcomers, Mr. Gene Kelly.
Mr. Kelly will be supported by Hans Conrad and William Johnstone.
The producer and director of suspense is William Spear, who has led Blusken and Lucian Morrowick, conductor and composer, and John Dixon Carr, the author, collaborated on tonight's Suspense.
Suspense fans, please note that these programs will shortly move to different days of the week.
Suspense will come to listeners in Eastern and Central time zones on Thursdays beginning December the 2nd,
and to Mountain and Pacific time zone listeners on Monday beginning December the 6th.
Remember Thursday beginning December the 2nd in Eastern and Central time zone,
and Mondays beginning December the 6th in the Pacific and Mountain time zones for Suspense.
This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.