Now, Roma Wines present...
Suspense!
Tonight, You'll Never See Me Again, starring Joseph Cotton.
Suspense is presented for your enjoyment by Roma Wines.
That's R-O-M-A, Roma Wines.
Those excellent California wines that can add so much pleasantness to the way you live,
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Suspense!
This is the man in black, here for the Roma Wine Company of Fresno, California.
Who tonight from Hollywood bring you as star, Mr. Joseph Cotton.
And so with Cornell Woolrich's story of marriage and murder, called You'll Never See Me Again.
And with the performance of Mr. Cotton as an American husband named Ed Bliss.
We again hope to keep you in... Suspense!
So, you're walking out on me.
What does it look like to you?
Like you're walking out on me? Got everything you need?
At least I'm glad you're showing your true colors. I'd rather have found it out now than later.
Didn't take you long, did it, baby? If you're looking for your coat, it's in here.
Thanks.
Need any money?
I don't need anything from you, including your wedding ring. There!
And you know what you can do with it.
Sure, a hock it. Well, pick a nice quiet hotel.
I don't have to pick a hotel. I'm no orphan.
And when you get good and sick of it, come on back and maybe I'll still be here.
You'll still be here. You'll never see me again as long as you live.
You'll never see me again as long as you live.
You'll never see me again as long as you live, she said.
If I'd known then what I know now, I guess that wouldn't have sounded so funny.
All right. Maybe I'm not the easiest guy in the world to get along with,
but it's perfectly natural for a couple to have at least one good fight
after they've been married nearly three months.
And I just wasn't going to be the first one to say uncle, that's all.
Still, you don't wait around forever when your wife walks in on you.
You're not going to be the first one to say uncle, that's all.
Still, you don't wait around forever when your wife walks out on you,
even if you are playing hard to get, so...
The third evening I put in a call, and you all along should head for a mother's place.
Anyway, she practically told me where she was going when she left.
Hello?
Oh, hello. Is this Mrs. Alden?
Yes.
Oh, this is Ed, Janet's husband.
Oh, oh, yes. How is Janet?
Isn't she there with you?
With me? Why, no. Isn't she with you?
No.
That was all I needed to hear.
I grabbed my hat and headed to the bus station.
That was the only way she could have possibly gone to her mother's place at that time of night by bus.
First I wanted to find out if there was anybody who could positively identify her as having left.
I got the ticket off. It wasn't very bright.
To West Hampton?
Yeah.
Well, seems like I remember somebody like that.
It would have been Monday night, just about this time.
West Hampton, Monday night?
Yeah.
Well, maybe. Couldn't be sure, though.
Never mind. Give me a ticket.
Uh, where to?
Where do you think? West Hampton.
She was blonde, blue eyes, good looking.
Uh, sure, sure. I remember her.
Where'd you get off?
I, uh, think it was West Hampton.
We're closed for the night, mister. Come for all walks.
I just want... I just wanted some information.
Huh?
Can you tell me where the Aldens live?
Aldens? Oh, yeah, they're those new people.
Yeah.
Well, you go up the crossroad there and then turn to your left,
go on down the hill, it's the one, two, three...
Let me see. No, fourth driveway on your right.
Did anyone ask you how to get there last Monday night?
No, we're closed Monday.
Thanks.
The fourth driveway on your right.
Oh, come on, come on, come on.
Must be somebody lost their way.
Yes?
I'm, uh, Ed Bliss, Janet's husband.
Oh. Oh, oh, yes. Uh, come in, Ed.
I've been looking forward so much to meeting you.
I wish it could have been under different circumstances, though.
Yeah.
Oh, I'm so sorry.
Oh, uh, haven't you heard anything yet, Ed?
No, me? No.
I can't understand it.
It's not like her to do a thing like that.
Oh, Ed, I...
Pardon me, I want you to meet Mr. and Mrs. Farley.
We were just playing a little bridge.
How do you do?
And this is my husband, Joe Alden.
I guess that makes him your stepfather-in-law, doesn't it?
Uh, Joe, this is Ed Bliss.
How do you do?
Nice to meet you, Ed.
Well, I guess we'd better be going.
Yes, I guess we had.
I do hope that your wife...
Well, I wouldn't worry about that.
Oh, uh, you heard about it, did you?
Well, Ed, you see, they dropped in a little while after you phoned and rethought it.
Oh, that's all right.
Well, thanks for asking us over.
Come again real soon.
Yes, we'll do that.
We will.
I hope you are.
Good night.
Good night.
Good night.
Oh, Ed, I hope you didn't mind about them.
It's all right.
Okay.
Well, come on into the living room, then, and tell us about it.
Not much to tell you that you don't know, is there?
No.
No, I suppose not.
Sit down.
Thanks.
Uh, can't I get you something to eat?
No, no, no, thanks.
Oh, some coffee or something.
I think I'll pass up the refreshments this time.
Well, I know how you must feel.
Yeah, I guess you do.
But I still can't... I just can't...
You've, uh, painted this room lately, haven't you?
Yeah.
What about it?
Nothing, just... looks a little funny, that's all.
You think so?
Yeah, that brick wall in front of the house is kind of new, too, isn't it?
You know I'm a brick lair by trade, don't you?
Well, now that you've mentioned it, I...
Oh, Joe, how can you talk about...
You better go on upstairs, Laura.
She's taking it pretty hard.
Yeah.
You seem to be bearing up all right, though.
You haven't lost any sleep over it yet yourself, have you?
I'm not her husband.
This doesn't get against anywhere.
How was that?
Laura, I guess she's going to bed.
Oh.
Well, I guess I better be getting down against that last buzz.
How about staying overnight?
No, thanks.
Suit yourself.
Wait a minute.
I'll put the porch line on.
I'd say all right.
Ah, that's better.
By the way, what happened?
What do you mean, what happened?
I suppose you and Janet had a row.
What's that got to do with anything?
I hear you got kind of a temper.
Were you a little too quick with the flat of your hand?
What's all this for?
The benefit of the neighbors?
It might be.
Have you notified the police yet?
No, and I don't like the way you ask questions.
OK, OK.
Want me to walk down to the bus with you?
It's pretty dark.
Maybe that's why I'd rather walk down alone.
Now, wait a minute, Ed.
I think maybe you got me wrong.
All right, all right.
Maybe I have.
Say good night to Mrs. Alden for me.
Yeah.
Let us hear from you.
Don't worry.
You'll hear from me all right.
Still plenty dark when I got back to town,
but I took a shortcut at the corner just the same,
a path across a vacant lot.
Between the lot and my house, there's a hedge.
I was just going through it when I stopped cold.
There was a light on in my house.
Only it wasn't a regular light.
It was the beam of a flashlight moving past the living room window.
That could only mean one thing, cops.
Of course, it was Joe Alden that tipped them off.
I just waited, and then I heard the front door open and close.
I saw two men standing outside.
One of them went up the street.
Very soon I heard a car drive off.
The other man was just a shadow now standing by a tree in front of the house.
You could see he was expecting me to come from the other direction.
I stepped through the hedge and went over to him.
Would you be looking for anybody in particular?
I might be.
Who are you?
Ed Bliss.
Who are you?
Detective Stillman, Bureau of Missing Persons.
How did you know anyone was looking for you?
Oh, I'm just bright that way.
Yeah?
Well, they like bright boys down at headquarters.
Come on, let's go.
Tonight for Suspense, Roma wines are bringing you a star, Mr. Joseph Cotton,
whom you have heard in the first act of tonight's tale of Suspense.
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And now it is with pleasure that we bring back to our sound stage Mr. Joseph Cotton,
who in the person of Ed Bliss resumes the story called,
You'll Never See Me Again.
Tonight's study in suspense.
She stood there in the shadows watching my face.
Detective Stillman of the Bureau of Missing Persons.
I'd been expecting this to happen sooner or later, but now that it had, I was stunned for a moment.
He said it again.
Come on, bright boy, they're expecting us at headquarters.
Now wait a minute, I want to talk to you. I'm in a jam.
Oh, you're telling me.
Not the way you think. Would you come inside with me?
I've been inside.
What kind of a furnace do you have in your cellar, Bliss?
An oil burner.
The kind that turns on automatic with an electric cut-in?
That's right. Why? Is there a fuse blown?
How did you know there was a fuse blown?
Was that why you were searching my house with a flashlight, or was it because you didn't have a warrant?
Oh, you really are a bright boy, aren't you?
Well, come on, come on.
Now listen, listen. I don't want to have any arguments. I want help, and I want it bad.
Will you give me a break?
What kind of a break?
Well, this is no place to talk. Will you come inside?
Okay, okay, but you'd better talk fast and good.
Don't worry.
Fuse box is right down here.
I'll flash your light up here. Always keep a couple of fuses on top of it.
Here, there we are. Let's go in the front room.
After you.
Okay.
Now, now what do you want to talk about?
Don't you understand? She's my wife. I'm scared.
Then why did you run out? Why didn't you tell the police?
Because at first I thought it was just, you know, one of those things.
I mean, I knew where she'd gone, back to her mother's.
How did you know that?
Because I went down there after her, because all kinds of people saw her go bus drivers, ticket sellers.
Only when I got there, she wasn't there.
How much life insurance did you carry on her bliss?
Twenty-five thousand.
That's quite a lot for a seventy-five dollar a week architect, isn't it?
Oh, her mother paid for it, a wedding present. For heaven's sake, what do you think I did, burn it in the cellar or something?
No, no, we know you didn't do that.
We looked.
Oh, cut it out, cut it out, will you? I, I love her. We've only been married three months.
Well, what do you want me to do?
Give me a break. You take me down to headquarters now. It may be hours.
Oh, it'll be hours, all right.
In the meantime, if there's still a chance, there's got to be.
She's somewhere and she's in danger. I know it.
Yeah, how?
I tell you, I followed her down to her mother's place in West Hampton.
There's a guy at the station who remembers selling her a ticket.
The bus driver remembers her getting off there and then she just disappeared.
Then what?
I went down to her mother's house. They hadn't seen her.
But there's something funny about it. There's something funny about her mother and that stepfather.
There's something funny about that house and about that room.
What room?
That living room of theirs. Listen, you've got to let me help you find her.
You've got to go down to West Hampton with me because I've got a hunch somehow that, that I'm the only one who can find her.
All right, Bliss. All right.
I don't know why, but I believe you.
You do? You'll go?
Yeah. And I, I shouldn't believe you either because...
Because what?
What was your wife wearing when she ran out on you Monday night?
What was she wearing?
Yes, yes. You must remember what she was wearing.
Well, she was wearing a gray flannel suit, a skirt and jacket, you know, a pink silk shirt waist, patent leather, high heeled shoes and those crazy little hats.
Any baggage?
Yeah, a little tan suitcase.
You're sure of that?
Sure.
Well, that's why I shouldn't believe you.
Why not?
Because when you find somebody's clothes around, you usually start looking for the body right nearby.
Well, what do you mean?
They weren't burnt up because that fuse had blown.
But we found every one of those things in the furnace down in your cellar about 20 minutes ago.
He said that I knew there wasn't much time, but he was going up to West Hampton with me anyway.
That was the main thing. Of course, first he had to route out the bus driver, the ticket seller and check my story with them just to be sure I wasn't trying to pull a fast one.
If that was all right, I'd expected that. And we climbed into the police car and headed out to West Hampton.
He believed me now all right. That car couldn't have been pushed any harder if I'd been driving it myself.
Still, it was getting daylight and we got there.
Parked the car a little ways down the road and walked toward the house.
See what I mean, Bert? Take that brick wall for instance.
Oh, what about it?
It's new.
What did he build that for? It's not tall enough to hide the road.
It's not even tall enough to keep a dog out. Why'd he build it?
Well, maybe he built it to keep it in practice. Come on, come on, let's go in.
It's awfully quiet.
Why not? They're probably in bed, where I'd be if I hadn't let you talk me into this.
Listen, Bert, you don't think...
I'm here, ain't I? Go on, ring the bell.
No answer.
Keep trying.
Shades are all down. I don't think they're in...
Come on, let's try the back door.
Shades are down on this side of the house too. Look, the garage is empty.
Yeah. Well, I guess our bird's a fluke of the coop, all right?
Bert, I don't like this.
Come on, we'll try this back door anyway.
Uh-oh, it's locked.
Here, here's an axe.
I'd like to try my keys first.
There, that's got it.
This the way to the front of the house?
I guess so. I've never been back here.
Yeah, this is it. Here's the front hall.
There.
There it is.
What?
That room.
The living room I was telling you about.
What about?
Snap on the lights.
All right, I still say, what about it?
I don't know, but I think it's a good idea to try it.
All right, I still say, what about it?
I don't know, but don't you get something funny about it?
Oh, what?
Well, the lights or something about that fresh paint, the rug.
There's something, though I know there's something.
Oh, come on, come on. We're wasting time.
There's something screwy about the whole joint.
We went over the place from top to bottom.
I wanted to get back to that room, and time was awful important.
But Bert Stillman wanted to look into everything,
which was only right and natural.
And then we ran into something that was just about the last thing I expected.
What's this door here?
I don't know.
I thought we'd covered everything on the ground floor before.
It's locked.
Yeah, it must be some sort of back bedroom.
Oh, dog gone at the keys won't fit this one.
Honey, only room in the house that was locked.
Well, maybe we've got what we're looking for.
Give me that axe.
Bert, don't you see? If she was here and they've gone, they must have taken her.
Well, who's she?
Mrs. Alden.
Your wife's mother?
Yeah.
Where's your daughter?
Oh, please, please.
Come on, come on. Where is she?
I don't know.
Was she here?
Yes, yes, but...
Where is she now?
I don't know.
Did she leave with your husband?
I don't know.
Why didn't you tell me she was here the other night?
Joe told me not to.
She was here, but the next morning Joe told me she'd left.
And this morning, she left.
Look, look, what did you lock yourself up in here for?
I knew when Joe left that something, something terrible...
And when you came, I was frightened.
I'm frightened.
Come on, Ed. Where to?
Don't you get it?
For some reason, the stepfather's put the snatch on her.
We've got to put a call through the headquarters, get the highway patrols to watch for her.
What about her?
Oh, she comes along.
Oh, please.
Come on, come on.
Bert, yeah, there's something wrong about this.
You bet your life there, oh, no, I mean, why would he, why would he do it?
What motive would he have?
You let me worry about the motive, you worry about your wife.
Got some connection with what's wrong about that room, whatever it is.
Will you forget about this room? We've got to get...
I want to look just once more. I know there's something.
Listen, listen, do you want your wife back or don't you?
There's no... Bert, Bert, I've got it.
It's got what?
It's lopsided.
Don't you see? It's, it's not on the square.
Are you crazy?
Oh, no, I'm an architect. Look.
The light's on in the middle of the ceiling.
The windows aren't in the middle of the wall.
So what?
The design on the rug is wrong.
It's, it's cut, cut off too close to that wall.
Bert.
What?
That wall.
That's why the room has just been repainted.
That's why he built that brick wall in front of the house.
I don't get it.
One wall of this room is a dummy.
Built out in front of the real one.
That's why the room looks lopsided.
That's why he built the brick fence to get bricks without arousing suspicion.
Which wall?
That one.
And Bert...
It must be hollow.
Give me that axe. You don't think that Janet...
Bert, Bert, give it to me. Let me.
Get back, you hear me?
Bert!
Mrs. Alden, is Janet...
That's a baby, Mrs. Alden.
Ed.
Yeah?
Ed.
Didn't you say your...
Your wife was young?
Twenty-three.
Twenty-three. Well, then you can look.
This is an older woman.
Oh.
Do you...
Do you know her?
No.
Well, there's your motive here.
But who could it be?
I don't know.
She must know.
Your mother, she can't even talk.
Ed.
You'd know if...
If she was the mother.
Of course I'd.
No.
I wouldn't.
I never saw Janet's mother until I came here to the house Monday night.
Mrs. Alden.
Mrs. Alden, answer me.
I'm...
Not Mrs. Alden.
That's Mrs. Alden.
That's Mrs. Alden.
It's just a question of time now whether we'd get back there in time to stop it.
It all fit together now and what Brett didn't know, he got out of the woman on the way back.
Did you know Joe Alden before?
No.
Not before I came to their house in Eastport to take care of her.
I'm a nerd.
And Joe and I...
Who got the idea to kill her, you or Joe?
He did.
When he saw me giving her a sedative once.
He was pretty sick.
Oh, premeditated, huh?
Why did he do it?
Money, of course.
She kept a lot of bonds around the house.
That's what Joe wanted.
Is that why you moved from Eastport to West Hampton?
Yes.
Nobody knew us in West Hampton.
We moved in at night.
They thought there was only two of us.
They thought I was the real Mrs. Alden.
When did he do it?
About a week after we got there.
One night.
By morning she was...
Where you found her.
We were doing better than 80 most of the way, but I still didn't think we'd make it naturally.
Bert was afraid to put the local cops around the house or fear Alden would spot them first and take Janet away and do it somewhere else.
If he hadn't done it already.
Because Bert Philman had to fix a coal now.
Janet had come to the West Hampton house and found her mother was missing before Alden had been able to make his getaway.
So Alden had been made to kill Janet too.
Bert knew where he was taking her because of the clothes and the furniture in my house.
That was a tip off that Alden was going to try to plant it on me.
It was the only break I had.
At least I knew where to look if I could get there in time.
The outskirts of town we picked up a police escort.
But Bert made them lay off when it got near the house.
We drove up the side street and parked a little ways off.
We walked up to the house.
There was a car in front of it.
Is that Alden's car?
Yes.
All right.
You're coming in with this lady but the first sound out of you and I'll shoot.
I mean that.
I know.
Got your keys in?
Yeah.
Quiet now.
Yeah.
Look.
There's a light.
That's the door to the cellar.
Come on.
Listen, listen.
He's digging.
The light's gone out.
He must have heard us.
Put on your flashlight.
Let's go.
There he is.
Ed.
Why you?
Hey, where'd you do that for?
Killed my wife, didn't he?
Switch on the light.
Maybe it isn't too late yet.
There she is.
She's dead.
Yes, yeah.
Chloroform.
You smell it?
Get that cloth off her face.
Too late, can't you see?
Yeah, yeah, I'm afraid.
What are you doing carrying a gun, Ed?
I got a permit.
Anyway, what's the use of asking questions like this now when...
Look.
Look, she's moving.
What?
Yes, she's alive.
Give me your hand.
Ed.
Ed, help me.
Ed.
Where you going, Ed?
Put up your hands, Ed.
Okay, okay, they're up.
Come on back down here.
All right.
Take it easy.
I'm coming.
Ed, you could at least have done it yourself.
Instead of hiring murderers.
What did you do it for, the money?
What do you think, for fun?
Go ahead, talk.
Anything to make you happy.
Would have been perfect if Alden had killed her when he first got her in the cellar like
I told him to.
Maybe he had a sneaking idea I was going to double cross him.
He was stalling until the last minute, I don't know.
Anyway, won't do him much good where he is.
What did you have on him, Ed?
The mother, his wife.
I'd been up there before alone.
I knew he'd killed his wife because I'd seen a picture Janet had of a real mother, and
I spotted the room right away.
I told Alden I'd split the money with him if he did it, and if he didn't...
Go on.
Well, I knew I could pick a fight with Janet.
I knew she'd run up to her mother's.
Then I went up there to make it look good.
After I left, Alden was to call the cops like he did.
You'd take me down here to headquarters, and while you were giving me the old third degree,
Alden was supposed to plant the body in the cellar.
That way, I was in the clear because you'd know I couldn't have done it while I was down
here talking to you.
And you'd know she hadn't been there before because you'd looked.
That's where I planted the clothes and the fannies, remember?
So you would look.
It's small.
I had an alibi, and nobody had a thing on Alden unless I squawked, and he had to take
that chance.
But pretty good there for a while, didn't it?
Yeah, yeah.
Well, your wife's outside.
You want to say anything to her?
Yeah.
Just tell her I said, you'll never see me again.
And so closes You'll Never See Me Again, starring Joseph Cotton.
Tonight's study in suspense.
Suspense is produced and directed by William Spear.
To every woman listening tonight, I want to say a special word about making every dinner
or supper you serve taste better.
I want to urge you to start serving Roma wine with your meals.
It's simple.
The cost is very, very little, and it works magic in making food more enjoyable.
You can serve Roma wine with any meal or any time in any kind of glass you wish.
Serve it chilled.
Try different kinds of Roma wine until you find those you enjoy most of all.
Try hearty red Roma California burgundy or the delicately delicious Roma California sautern.
The cost is only pennies a glass, but you'll find even a pickup supper tastes like a banquet.
Get Roma wines today if your dealer is temporarily out of them.
Please try again soon.
Just ask for our OMA Roma wines, America's largest selling wines made in California for
enjoyment throughout the world.
Joseph Cotton appeared through the courtesy of David O. Selznick and is currently being
seen in the Selznick production since you went away.
Next Thursday, same time, you will hear Miss Merle Oberon as star of The Scent, presented
by Roma wines, R-O-M-A, made in California for enjoyment throughout the world.
This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.