Yes, Roma wines taste better, because only Roma selects from the world's greatest wine
reserve for your pleasure.
And now, Roma wines, R-O-M-A. Roma wines present Suspense.
Tonight, Roma wines bring you Miss Virginia Bruce in Night Comes Riding, a suspense play
produced, edited, and directed for Roma wines by William Spears.
Suspense, radio's outstanding theater of thrills, is presented for your enjoyment by Roma wines.
That's R-O-M-A. Roma wines, those better tasting California wines enjoyed by more Americans
than any other wine.
For friendly entertaining, for delightful dining.
Yes, right now a glass full would be very pleasant, as Roma wines bring you Virginia
Bruce in a remarkable tale of Suspense.
It was a Monday, most ordinary Monday in the world, except that I'd stolen an extra five
minutes dough after the alarm went off and I was feeling just a teeny bit guilty about
it.
I had to leave for the office at nine sharp, so I can't afford to waste a second in the
morning.
By the time I had the furnace going, the table laid in the breakfast nook and the coffee
and toast started, it was 7.30.
That left me 10 minutes more before Ed would be ready for me to run his bath.
Ten precious minutes to myself.
I suppose every woman has some little pet's vanity of her own.
With me, it's my hair.
Ed's always trying to make me have it cut.
He says long hair is unhygienic and besides, a woman of my age shouldn't be concerned with
appearances.
I often wonder what he would say if he knew I spent ten whole minutes every morning just
brushing and combing my hair.
Just brushing and combing and admiring myself in the mirror like any schoolgirl.
Only this morning I didn't.
I was a little upset.
Millie?
Millie!
Yes, dear?
Where's my blue search suit?
I can't find it anywhere.
Oh, Ed, I gave it to the cleaner.
Oh, no.
Well, it didn't.
He's cleaning so badly.
You said to yourself...
I said nothing of a kind.
But you did, Ed.
You said...
All right, all right.
I'll wear the gray.
You'd better come out and start your breakfast.
It's late.
Yes, yes, yes.
I'll be right out.
Ed?
Yes?
You know, Roger didn't come home last night.
Oh, isn't he?
No, and I'm worried.
Well, I don't see why.
Half the time he doesn't get home until three or four o'clock in the morning.
Now, clean, please.
Yes, dear.
But he's never stayed out all night before.
Look, Millie.
For two years, I provided food and shelter for your nephew so he could go to college in
this town, and I've never complained.
And please don't say it's because of his old man's money either.
You had a quarrel with him, Admin.
I didn't...
Oh, it wasn't a quarrel.
I just told him a few things for his own good, that's all.
Well, it was more than that.
I heard you.
You fought with him.
I didn't fight with him.
There was a little scuffle, maybe.
There was blood on the lapel of your suit, too.
All right, there was.
Say, what are you driving at, anyway?
Nothing, Ed.
I'm just wondering why Roger didn't come home.
Well, don't worry, don't worry.
He'll show up.
Well, I've got to be going.
Well, it's only half past eight.
I've got a walk today.
I had trouble with the car last night.
Say, that reminds me, Millie.
What are all those glass jars doing up on the shelf in the garage?
Oh, my preserving jar.
Well, whatever they are, they certainly don't belong in the garage.
But, Ed, I never start with my preserves until the 15th.
Oh, look, Millie, look.
Raleigh's are sending a mechanic up the first thing this morning to look over the car.
I don't want the garage looking like a... like a cannery.
Besides, those things are dangerous up there.
Suppose they should fall.
All right.
Put them down in the cellar.
Why, up there where they are, those things could be the death of somebody.
By the time I'd washed up the breakfast thing, he said, Bobby.
Bobby's my pet canary.
It was ten o'clock.
Suddenly I remember those wretched preserving jars.
I was just starting on them.
When I got a glimpse of something out of the corner of my eye and the shadows behind me,
I spun around, my heart pounding away ten to the dozen, and then I saw it.
The hand hanging out of the open window of the car.
A very still white hand.
Roger's hand.
It was cold when I touched it.
Roger was dead.
I don't know quite what happened after that.
I know I was running away from that awful darkness and out into the sunlight of the yard,
and I was screaming, I guess.
Then I must have fainted, because the next thing I knew,
there was a little crowd of people standing around,
and someone was holding me in his arms, and that was Duncan.
It's all right now.
Oh, he's dead. He's dead.
It's all right, Mrs. Anderson. It's all right now.
Who are you? What?
You don't know me, Mrs. Anderson. My name is Duncan Shaw.
You fainted.
The next few weeks were like a nightmare.
The local police and then the state authorities too.
Questioning, looking, snooping.
They knew he'd died of carbon monoxide poisoning,
but there were some wounds too on his head, and they couldn't explain them.
All this and what happened to poor Roger and Ed being so nervous and irritable.
Finally, there was an inquest. I didn't even go to it,
but it was all in the papers the next day.
You're not eating your breakfast, Ed?
I, uh, I don't feel hungry.
Oh, all right.
Ed?
Yes?
What does an open verdict mean?
Open verdict?
Yes. That's what the coroner's jury said about Roger, wasn't it?
Yes, yes, that's right.
Well, what does it mean?
Well, it just means that they don't know, they don't know how it happened.
You mean whether it was an accident or something else?
Yes, yes, yes.
I don't think it was an accident. Do you?
I don't know. I don't know what it was.
Who do you think did it?
What do you mean by that?
Just what I said. Who do you think did it?
I don't know. What do you mean? It probably was an accident.
Maybe it was suicide. How do I know?
Somebody hit him, Ed.
All right, maybe somebody did. I don't know and I don't care.
You don't what?
I said I don't know and I don't know anything about it.
I didn't say anything more.
I just watched him as he stormed down the path to the garage.
I suppose it was the way I felt about Ed that was the reason for what happened next.
I mean, I'd always felt that way about Ed in some ways, I guess, but...
...Nard was different.
In what way?
That morning I was taking a basket of old junk out to the tool shed.
It was heavy and maybe I wasn't looking where I was going, but as I came around the corner of the house...
...I ran right into someone. Someone who grabbed me by the arm.
I'm sorry.
Let go of me.
I'm sorry.
What do you mean by frightening me this way?
I didn't mean to frighten you.
Well, what are you doing around here anyway?
You don't remember me, do you?
No, I certainly do not.
I picked you up that day you fainted. I just came around to offer my condolences.
Oh, well, thank you.
Here, let me help you with that.
Oh, no, no, please don't bother.
Oh, it's no bother. There's nothing better to do.
See, I'm a member of that growing army, not to be unemployed.
Oh, I see.
Where do you want the stuff put?
Please, I wish you wouldn't.
Oh, very well. I'll be going then. I hope you'll forgive the intrusion.
Oh, your foot.
What about it?
Well, when I dropped the basket I hadn't realized.
No, dear lady, I'm afraid this wound goes back a little farther than that.
Oh, I am sorry. Please forgive me.
It's all right.
But really I feel terrible. A veteran and no job. And here I've been...
There must be something I can do to make up for it.
Oh, don't feel that way.
But perhaps, believe me, this isn't charity. Perhaps you'll let me make you some breakfast.
Breakfast? Well, uh...
Well, then that settles. Come along.
Uh, you must be a stranger in these parts.
You might call me that.
What in the world ever brought you to a little out-of-the-way place like Richmond?
Oh, this and that. Anything more you'd like to know?
No, you mustn't think that I...
Well, here we are. Just sit down and make yourself comfortable.
Now have something ready and a gif.
I've been rude. I'm sorry. You're terribly nice, Miss Sons.
Oh, not at all. Tea or coffee, Mr.
You know, I've forgotten your name.
Shaw. Duncan Shaw. And, uh, tea.
You know, Mr. Shaw, I mean, I've been thinking and...
No, I won't be offended.
Well, it's just that my husband's always talking about the state the garden's in
and I never seem to have time to do anything about it myself.
And there's a lot of other things like the mailbox and the fence in the back that's falling apart and...
Well, uh...
You're sweet.
Of course, I couldn't pay very much, so if it's going to interfere with any other plans...
No. I don't think it would interfere with any other plans.
I don't think it would interfere at all.
That's how it began. Just as casual as that.
A few weeks ago, I could never have done such a thing.
I'd have worried about what Ed would say and how I was going to tell him
or felt guilty and ashamed that I was keeping a secret from him.
It didn't make any difference now. I didn't care.
Duncan came to work every day after Ed had gone to the office and left before he got home.
And it got so I looked forward to his coming with a strange secret after me.
I hope I'm not disturbing you, Mrs. Anderson.
Why, no, of course not.
I was just going home for the day and I thought I'd...
Of course, did you just... Wait a minute, I left my purse upstairs.
Oh, you've already paid me today, Mrs. Anderson.
Oh, yes, I did.
You said you were going to hang some curtains this afternoon.
Thought I might be able to help.
Well, that's very kind of you, I'm sure.
Will you join me in a cup of tea, please?
Oh, I wouldn't want to trouble you.
There's no trouble. I've got it all made.
Oh, so it is. You take milk or lemon?
Oh, please. I'll do it. May I?
Of course, it's just that...
You're not used to being waited on.
Well, now you've come to mention it. I suppose I'm not.
Or perhaps you've just forgotten what it feels like.
Perhaps I have.
Sugar?
Yes, please.
There are a lot of other things you've forgotten, aren't there?
Oh, I don't know.
Like poetry, for instance?
Poetry.
You recognize this?
Edna St. Vincent Millay?
Where in the world?
You asked me to clean out the attic.
Duncan, give it to me.
There's much left to give. Millay or Nick Kenny, it's all the same to the rats.
But there's a name on the flyleaf.
Mildred West and part of a sonnet written out in longhand.
You remember what it was, Mildred West?
Why, no, I don't think I do.
I think you do. I think you know it by heart.
Love cannot fill the thickened lung with breath, nor clean the blood, nor set the fractured bone.
Yet many a man is making friends with death, even as I speak, for lack of love alone.
Mildred.
Yes?
You're lovely.
Your hair.
It's like the Princess Griselda that I used to read about when I was a little boy.
I used to pretend I was her knight in shining armor, and one day I would come riding up and rescue her from the Dark Tower.
You see, she was a prisoner, too.
Oh, no, Duncan, no.
And all this time you've been like her, waiting to be rescued, waiting to escape.
Haven't you, Mildred?
Haven't you?
Oh, yes, Duncan, yes, yes, yes.
Oh, Duncan, I'm afraid.
Of what? Of being happy?
No, only of how it will end.
Why does it have to end?
It will, and then I'll want to die.
There's somebody at the door, aren't there?
It must be Ed.
I'll go.
Wait, you don't have to.
I've been going to tell him anyway, now's as good a time.
Tell him.
Milly, where is the...
Ed, this is Duncan Shaw.
Duncan Shaw?
Yes, he's been doing some work around the place.
Oh, he has, has he?
I'll be going, Mrs. Anderson.
I'll see you tomorrow, Duncan.
We'll talk about that later.
There's nothing to talk about, Ed.
Isn't there? Well, I don't want him around here.
Why not?
I don't like strangers hanging around here.
Haven't there been enough of them already?
How do you know that he is a...
You sound almost as though you had a guilty conscience, Ed.
Guilty conscience?
What do you mean? Guilty of what?
I haven't put a name to it, Ed, but I could.
What are you talking about?
Murder.
For suspense, Roma Wines are bringing you Virginia Bruce
in Night Comes Riding,
Roma Wines' presentation tonight in
Radio's outstanding theater of thrills,
Suspense.
Between the acts of suspense,
this is Truman Bradley for Roma Wines.
For entertaining friends,
for everyday pleasure,
more Americans select Roma
than any other wine.
That's because you enjoy
an important difference in Roma,
an extra dividend of pleasure
in fuller bouquet,
richer body, and better taste.
To bring you superior wines,
better tasting wines,
Roma selects from California's
choicest grapes.
Then, with ancient skill
and winemaking resources unmatched in America,
Roma master ventners
guide this great treasure
unhurriedly to tempting taste perfection.
These choice wines
are placed with mellow Roma wines
of years before,
and from these reserves,
the world's greatest reserves
of fine wines,
Roma later selects
for your pleasure.
So why not enjoy a Roma California wine tomorrow?
Whether your favorite is
Sherry or Port, Muscatel or Tokay,
you'll find any wine by Roma
is better tasting wine.
That's R-O-M-A,
Roma wine,
your best buy
in good taste.
And now Roma wines
bring back to our Hollywood soundstage
Virginia Bruce as Mildred Anderson,
Wally Mayer as her husband Ed,
and Howard Duff as Duncan Shaw.
In Night Comes Riding,
a tale well calculated to keep you in
suspense.
Music
We never spoke of it after that.
We never spoke of much of anything.
I knew he'd hated Roger, I knew he'd fought with him,
and I'd accused him to his face of killing him.
He didn't even bother to deny it.
What was there to talk about?
Besides, I was in love.
That was part of it too, I suppose.
Part of my trying to escape.
Falling in love with a boy years younger
than myself. A stranger that
I'd only known a few short weeks.
I knew I was living in a dream world and
that I'd have to wake up some day.
But I didn't care.
Will you pass the milk please, Milly?
It's by your place. Oh, yes.
Well, I see
there was another robbery in town last night.
Frank Davis's house.
He was wounded too.
They took a shot at him. That's too bad.
Well, you might show
a little interest. That might have been our
house, you know. That might have been me that stopped
that bullet. Yes, I suppose it might.
And you wouldn't care much either, would you? I didn't say that.
Now look, Milly,
there's no use holding this thing against me
forever. Holding what against you?
Listen, I know you didn't tell them how
I fought with Roger that night, and I'm grateful.
When the police are looking for a suspect, you
never can tell what they're liable to pounce on, but now
it's 8.30. Better get started.
All right, Milly,
if that's the way you want it.
Well, I see your
protege's out there bright and early
this morning. Is he? What's
the catch, Milly? You're not paying
him enough to amount to anything. Maybe he just
likes working for an important man like
you. Or maybe he's smitten with
the lady of the house.
Ha ha! That'd be a hot one,
wouldn't it? Milly's boyfriend.
Ha ha ha! Well, I gotta go.
Good morning, sir.
Bye. Good morning.
Hello, Griselda. Hello, Duncan.
You're beautiful.
How'd your breakfast? Your hair
is beautiful. I'll fix you
something. No, wait. Don't you want breakfast?
Mildred, I want to talk
to you. What? So serious?
Yes, serious.
What is it, Duncan? I've lied to you,
Mildred. Lied to me? Yes.
In the first place, I'm
not a veteran. Oh,
well, what difference does that make?
In this, uh, gimpy leg, this limp,
I didn't get it in the war. I had
it long before, and that's why I wasn't
in the war. Why, Duncan,
why should that make any difference? Listen,
uh, remember the time I told you
the fairy story that first time about
the Princess Griselda?
Of course. I should have told you another story
right then. Does it have a
happy ending? No.
Then I don't want to hear it. Well, you've got
to hear it sooner or later. Oh, Duncan, please, if it's
not... Now, listen.
Once upon a time there was a little boy.
He wasn't much different from any other
kid born on the wrong side of the tracks
then. He just happened to be
behind the door when the silver spoons were
passed out. But he didn't care,
and he did have one break.
He had an older brother, Mike.
Mike was my whole
world. Until he was
killed. Oh, Duncan.
We hadn't been doing anything wrong, just a gang
of kids playing cops and robbers with an
old warehouse for props, but
to him we were fair game.
Maybe we did run
away and it was wrong, but we were just kids,
scared kids, so we ran.
That's when he started shooting.
The first shot winged me in the leg.
The next one caught Mike in the shoulder
and knocked him down.
Who started shooting, Duncan?
Your husband.
Mike fell forward on his knees. I can
still see him. Just a kid on his knees in the dirt.
Then the next shot was a bullseye.
It hit him right in the middle of the back.
I wanted to kill him then,
but I knew I didn't have a chance. He was a big slob
with a gun in his hand protecting the community,
and I was just a kid, but I swore to them that someday,
that someday I'd... You'd kill him?
Yes. And that's
why you came back?
Yes. And that's why you came to me?
No, no, no, Mildred.
That was something I hadn't planned on. You see,
I... I fell in love with you.
That sort of makes
a difference. Killed Roger
too. I know it now. That's another reason.
I couldn't say anything before,
but... Murder?
What's the difference, what you call it?
No difference. And
after a while we could go away. No one
would ever know. We could really be together, really be
free. Free. But...
We'd have to plan it that way.
Something simple,
accidental. Duncan.
I know.
It's horrible to even talk about it.
No, Duncan, it can be simple.
You mean you... Listen, he told me himself
this morning. He was reading about the robbery
last night. He said it could have been our house.
He said it could have been him. Sure.
Shot while protecting his home. An accident,
one of those things.
Does he still have a gun? No.
We'd better do it soon. Yes.
Tonight. Tonight? Why not?
I'll leave the kitchen door unlocked.
Alright. What time?
He's always asleep by 12.
Duncan. Yes?
You're not afraid, are you?
Because I'm not. Not anymore.
Afraid?
No.
Just glad.
Because at last I'm gonna kill him.
I was quite calm after that.
I got supper as usual,
as I had for the past ten years.
Ed would be home for supper at 7.30.
Ed was always home for supper at 7.30
on Thursday.
Only on this Thursday for the first time in ten years
Ed was late.
Thirty agonizing minutes late.
Well, something sure smells good.
You're late. What happened?
I stopped in at Lerner's Hardware.
Brought you a little present.
Gun?
It's no water pistol.
What do you want a gun for?
What do you think?
What are you afraid of, Ed?
Who says I'm afraid?
But what these robberies and all these other things?
What other things? Oh, let's skip it, shall we, Millie?
All I say is a man's entitled to a little protection
for his home, for his wife. Isn't that right?
Well, when do we eat?
I'll dish it right up.
Ed. Yes?
About the gun...
What about it? Well, where do you want to keep it?
I mean, I'll put it away for you.
Somewhere where you'll always... Oh, no.
No, no. From now on, this gun's my right arm.
Anybody starts
prowling around this place, it's in for the shock
of his life. Why?
This thing will knock a man down at fifty yards
and any closer.
Well...
What's the matter with you?
You look as if you've seen a ghost.
Nothing, nothing. Well, come on, let's eat.
I'm starved.
He kept it right next to his safe all through dinner.
Finally, after about an hour
of listening to the radio, he got up
to go to bed, and he took that gun
with him. I followed,
as I always did,
to turn his bed down for him.
As I came into the room, I saw him
putting it under his pillow.
After that, it seemed hours and hours
lying in the dark,
watching the luminous hands of the little
bedside concrete morn to eleven.
Eleven?
Waiting until I was
sure he was asleep.
And then slowly,
ever so slowly,
I clipped my hand
under his pillow,
waiting for the gun.
What's the matter?
What's the matter?
I think I forgot to lock the kitchen door.
Oh, go to sleep, Millie. I locked it
myself.
I looked at the clock.
Nearly quarter of twelve.
There was no time for anything else now.
I slipped out of bed and down the back stairs to the kitchen
as quickly and as silently as I could.
I was just pushing open the screen door
when I felt a hand like a vice
close to my arm. Are you out of your mind?
Oh, Duncan, you've got to get away from here quickly.
Oh, have I? But he's got a gun.
He's got it this afternoon. He's got it with him now.
So that's it. I never thought you'd go
through with it. Duncan, listen to me, please.
He'll kill you. You listen to me.
I'm doing the killing tonight. I don't think you can
save him at the last minute. Nobody can.
You think I made love to you for all
these weeks? What? Do you think it was
fun playing Iceman to a frumpy
housewife? Oh, Duncan. You might as well
know it. You might as well know all of it.
It was me that killed your nephew, too. I thought it was your husband.
Now get out of my way
before I kill you, too. Duncan,
Duncan, listen to me. I don't care. I don't care what's
happened. But if you go up there, he'll kill you.
And I don't want you to die. Maybe I...
Maybe I still love you. Maybe I'm crazy, but I don't
want you to die. Please.
We're going. Duncan!
Blows down me like hell.
But only for a few seconds.
And then I was cramming to my feet again and running blindly
across the dark kitchen and up the back stairs.
There was still time. I could still stop it.
Please, please, let there still be time.
Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang.
Suddenly it was quiet.
Deathly quiet.
Then the lights blazed out of my eyes
and from what seemed a million miles
away... Millie! Millie!
I heard someone calling my name. Millie, Millie,
I got him. The burglar. I got him. I got him.
It's all right, Millie. He's dead.
Yeah, dead in the mackerel.
Look.
Well, what do you know? It's your
boyfriend, Millie. Your boyfriend.
Duncan Shaw!
There's always so much to do in the morning.
The furnace and Ed's breakfast and his bath.
I can't afford to waste a second.
Somehow I just don't have time anymore
to brush my hair.
It's too bad.
Because I've always had lovely hair.
Once someone said I had hair like a princess.
Like a princess in a fairy tale.
Suspense.
Presented by Roma Wines.
R-O-M-A.
Roma. America's favorite wines.
Our star of the evening, Virginia Bruce,
will be back with us in just a moment.
This is Truman Bradley inviting our new
Suspense listeners to discover what our
regular listeners already know.
That there is an important difference in
Roma wines. A difference you enjoy in
fuller bouquet, richer body, and better taste.
Yes, Roma wines taste better because Roma
selects better tasting wines from the
world's greatest wine reserves.
That's why more Americans enjoy Roma
than any other wine.
For a tempting taste treat tomorrow,
serve Roma California Sherry.
Perfect first call for dinner.
Delicious for entertaining anytime.
And now, Virginia Bruce.
Thank you Truman.
I just want to tell our listeners how much
I've enjoyed appearing on Suspense.
And how much I think they'll enjoy next
week's Suspense show starring Angela Lansbury.
Good night everyone.
Tonight's Suspense story was written by
Pamela Wilcox.
Next Thursday same time you will hear
Miss Angela Lansbury as star of Suspense.
Produced and directed by William Spear
for the Roma Wine Company of Fresno, California.
Stay tuned for the thrilling adventures
of the FBI in Peace and War.
Following immediately over most of these stations.
In the coming weeks, Suspense will present
such stars as Hume Cronin, June Havoc and others.
Make it a point to listen each Thursday to
Suspense, radio's outstanding theater of thrills.