Auto Light and its 96,000 dealers present Suspense.
Tonight, Auto Light brings you Fly By Night, a suspense play starring Mr. Joseph Cotton.
Well, Manning, how about signing this confession?
I want my lawyer.
You don't need a lawyer, not if you tell the truth.
Well, my wife's cousin, Charles Borden, he's a lawyer. I want him.
Look, Manning, we know you killed Garvin. All you have to do is admit it.
I didn't do it. It's a frame, I told you.
Just as soon as you confess, you can go to sleep. A bargain?
I didn't kill Garvin.
Don't be stubborn, Manning.
I didn't do it. Frame.
Then how come that boy Benuti saw you? He says he saw you leave Garvin's apartment at 11.30 just after the shoot.
I left at 10. Benuti's alive.
Why? Why should Benuti lie?
Let me talk to him, Mark. We'll find out.
What's to find out? You hated Garvin. You don't deny that, do you?
Garvin accuses you of stealing money from the business. Throws you out. So you kill him.
Cotton threw me out. Full pardon, is it? Me alone.
You killed him.
Sleep.
Not until you sign this confession.
Sign this confession and we won't bother you anymore.
You can lie down on my bed here in my apartment and sleep till you can't look sleep in the face anymore.
Come on, Manning, be smart.
Wait a minute. He's asleep.
Oh? Come on, Manning.
Confessor, I'll keep you awake forever.
All right. All right.
You'll sign the confession?
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll sign it.
Sleep.
Put the kill in a bed, Cougar.
In just a moment, Mr. Joseph Cotton in the first act of Fly By Night.
Gee, Harlow, I went to a carnival last night and that human skeleton...
Thin, huh?
Practically transparent. Lives on bread and drinks water only once a week.
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Auto-light staple batteries need water only three times a year in normal car use.
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And there was a flagpole sitter at the carnival, too. He's out to break the record.
Now, you'll never break the auto-light staple battery record, Hap, because you can't buy a better battery for your car.
Now, you're sharper than a sword-swallower's supper, Harlow.
Thank you, Hap. And friends, see your auto-light battery dealer and ask him for an auto-light staple battery.
The battery that needs water only three times a year in normal car use.
And remember, you're always right with auto-light.
And now with fly-by-night and the performance of Mr. Joseph Cotton, auto-light hopes once again to keep you in suspense.
Wake up. Wake up, Manning, wake up.
Come on, get up. You had your eight hours sleep. Let's go calling.
What? What?
Don't you remember? You signed a confession. Admitted you murdered Leo Garvin.
Oh. I didn't do it. I didn't kill Garvin.
Come on, into the bathroom and shave. Here, Lieutenant Driscoll left this shirt for you to change into.
Wants you to look nice for the photography.
I didn't do it. I left Garvin. It was ten o'clock and he was alive.
Yeah, yeah, save it for the courtroom. They'll be real impressed with a signed confession.
I'll swear you forced me.
Sure. So what? You can't swear Vanuti out of existence. He saw you leave at 1130. You'll testify so.
He's a liar. He's part of the frame. I want to see him.
Go on, shave. You'll see Vanuti in court.
Ah, shaving mugs, soap, brush.
All right, all right, all right.
Come on, come on. How much lather do you need?
Hey!
My eyes, my eyes!
It worked. The shaving brush in Cogan's eyes and hitting him with all the strength I had left in me, it worked.
And I got out of there, out and into the streets.
They didn't have to torture me. Lieutenant Driscoll and Sergeant Cogan didn't have to beat me with a rubber hose to make me confess to a crime I never committed.
All they had to do was keep me without sleep for 72 hours.
After that, a man will do anything just to be allowed to shut his eyes.
So I signed a confession because I just wanted to sleep.
But now, now I was awake and on the streets outside Lieutenant Driscoll's apartment.
It was 8.15 in the morning.
For the next four hours I walked, trying to recall everything I'd known about Vanuti, trying to figure just one reason why he wanted to frame me.
Why, why he said I left Garvin's at 11.30.
But it was no use. I, I couldn't think of anything.
And suddenly it occurred to me they were looking at me. The people on the street were staring.
Then I remembered it was October and I had no coat. I was in shirt sleeves. I'd left my coat in Lieutenant Driscoll's apartment.
Can I help you, mister?
Yeah, you got a phone in here.
Down that aisle to your left.
Three, two, four, two, one.
Hello?
Hello? Who is this?
I'm all right, Mary. Don't worry.
Where are you?
I don't know a drug store downtown. I escaped, Mary. I got away from them.
You're an idiot. You'll only make it worse for yourself.
Now listen, Mary. I didn't kill Garvin. I need your help. I need a coat.
I can't help you, Mickey.
What?
You're a murderer. Even if you are my husband, I'm not going to be involved.
I didn't kill him. It's all a frame, Mary. All I've got to do is find a guy named Vanuti and beat it out of him.
Mary. Mary.
I couldn't blame her much. The shock of finding that her husband was wanted to murder.
I had to get to Vanuti to prove it was a lie. But now was no time to think about it because it was a few minutes before one o'clock.
And that was good because I was near Charlie Borden's office. They went out to lunch at one o'clock.
Charlie was my lawyer, my wife's cousin. And now he was the man I had to see.
There was an alley next to his office building. I waited there.
Charlie. Charlie.
Over here.
Jimmy. What happened to you? Where have you been these past three days?
Listen, Charlie. Two cops had me in an apartment uptown.
Cops? What for?
Trying to get a confession out of me.
What kind of confession?
They say I killed Leo Garvin. They've got a witness named Vanuti. He said I left Garvin's place at 1130. But I left at 10.
Well, then you've got nothing to worry about, Mickey. Mary will testify you were home a little after 10.
I didn't get home till after 12.
Huh?
Well, after I left Garvin, I walked. We had an argument. I was upset. I spent a couple of hours walking.
Well, then you didn't do it.
No, no. Of course I didn't. They got a confession out of me anyway.
You mean to say you signed a confession when you didn't do it?
Well, they kept me without sleep for 72 hours.
They can't do that. That's illegal.
Listen, Charlie, I need your help.
Of course. Just go back to my office. I'll arrange to surrender you directly to the D.A. And I'm going to raise the roof about that confession.
I'm not going to surrender. I've been framed, Charlie. I've got to find this Vanuti.
Now listen, Mickey, you leave that to me. You can't wander around where any cop might take a shot at you.
Got to find me first. Listen, I need a jacket and a coat. Can you get them for me?
Sure. I'll phone Mary right away. Where'll you be?
Remember that movie we went to last week?
The Rivoli?
Yeah. I'll be there. Back row. Make sure they're not following you.
Okay. Give me a half hour. What will you do meantime?
I'll give you an hour because I'm going to Vanuti's. I'm going to make him tell me who paid him for that lie.
Mickey, don't do it. Better leave things to me.
Just get me the coat and the jacket. Vanuti is the one thing I can take care of better than you.
I caught a streetcar and 20 minutes later I was walking toward the sway back two story building where Vanuti had his insurance office.
Just across the street from Garvin's house. I opened the door and walked in.
You want something? A drink maybe?
Vanuti. Where is he?
Who shall I say is calling?
Where's Vanuti?
You look like you want him real bad.
Come on. Come on. Where is he?
Take it easy. Take it easy. Slow down. You want to see Vanuti? I'll take you to Vanuti. Come on.
There he is. There's Vanuti. Sure you don't want that drink?
He was sitting at his desk, natty as ever, disinterested as ever. I walked over to him, stopped.
There was a bullet hole in his forehead. He was dead. There was a gun lying on the floor. I picked it up, sammied it.
Two bullets had been fired. And it was my gun.
Autolite is bringing you Mr. Joseph Cotton in Fly By Night. Tonight's production in radio's outstanding theater of thrills, Suspense.
Hey, uh, Hap, was there a barker at the carnival?
Sure was, Harlow.
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Plays to a full house, huh, Harlow?
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How come, Harlow?
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And now Autolite brings back to our Hollywood soundstage Mr. Joseph Cotton in Elliot Lewis's production of Fly By Night.
A tale well calculated to keep you in suspense.
I told you I'd take you to Venuti. What do you think of him?
What happened?
I found him dead when I came in. A couple of minutes before you did. By the way, who are you?
Did you kill him?
I know who you are. Your name's Manning.
How do you know me?
Fell in the picture.
What picture?
Never mind.
Well, you still haven't told me what you're doing here.
Venuti's girl. My name's Irene Conway. We had a cocktail date. What kind of date did you keep with him?
He swore he saw me leave Garvin's apartment at 1130 the night Garvin was killed. He lied.
He lied about a lot of things.
I came here to get the truth out of him, but someone's been here first to shut him up.
He never got anything out of him. I'll prove it to you. Garvin was shot on Monday night, wasn't he?
That's right. Why?
Venuti couldn't have seen you leaving Garvin's place. We were together in my apartment on the other side of town, too close to two.
And what made him lie? Why did he do it? Why did he frame me?
I don't know.
What? Tell me. Someone paid him to say he saw me leave Garvin's house that night.
Maybe.
Who paid him?
Maybe the man.
What man?
On Monday, Venuti called me to meet him here at about five o'clock. There was a man with him.
And when I came in, the man put him away in a hurry. Went right out without even saying goodbye.
I know everybody Venuti knows. This man was a stranger.
His name. Didn't Venuti mention his name?
Oh, he wouldn't talk about him. I asked him what the pictures were. It got mad. But I saw one of them.
Who was it?
You. That's how I recognized you when you came in.
Can you describe this man?
He was a blond man. He wasn't pretty. You're pretty. Venuti was pretty. Venuti was prettier than anybody.
Listen, Irene, you've got to talk to Charles Borden, my cousin. He's a lawyer. You've got to tell him everything you told me. Will you do that for me?
Venuti isn't pretty anymore.
Listen, Irene, Venuti's dead.
Somebody's knocking on the door, Mr. Manning. Must be the police. I call the police.
Look, my cousin's name is Charles Borden. He's in the Taft building. You go right down to his office and tell him.
I know. That's the police. Don't you think you'd better run?
Don't you understand? You've got to do it now. Right now.
No, no, I couldn't right now. I've got to talk to the police. Just a minute.
Charles Borden in the Taft building. Will you do it?
You'd better run, Mr. Manning. Run fast.
I ran out the back way and into the streets. Now it was time to meet Charlie in the movie theater. Get the jacket and coat from him. Tell him about Irene and the man with my picture.
I got settled in one of the empty seats in the back row of the movie and waited. In a little while, Charlie came in and sat down next to me. He had the extra coat and jacket with him.
Did you find Venuti?
I found him. He was dead when I found him. Shot with my pistol.
Here, here, you take it. Someone's trying to get me, Charlie, and I think I have a lead on it.
What kind of lead?
A girl named Irene Conway, friend of Venuti's. She saw the man who paid Venuti to put the finger on me. If she doesn't come to you, you've got to find her, Charlie.
Okay.
Make her tell you what she knows, then follow it up. I have detectives if you have to. Eric can sign checks for me. I've got about 1,500 in my account.
Don't worry about the money. I'll take care of it.
I need some cash now. I used what I had on phones and street cars.
I put $25 in the jacket.
Thanks, Charlie.
I hope it fits you. It's my jacket. Mary wouldn't give me one of yours.
I'll keep in touch with you by phone.
Okay. I'm going. You stay for another ten minutes or so.
Right, right. Thanks again.
Good luck, Mickey.
Charlie walked out, leaving the coat and jacket on the seat. I waited ten minutes, then picked up the clothes and started to leave when a woman sitting three seats away carefully closed a bag of popcorn,
leaned over and grabbed me by the arm.
What do you think you're doing?
Pardon me, please.
Stop that man. He's stealing the gentleman's coat. He's a thief.
Wait a minute, you. What do you think you're going?
Now, now, let go of me. Let go. I want to...
Don't let him go, Asher. That's him. That coat and jacket he's carrying don't belong to him. He's trying to sneak out with me.
Oh, what are you talking about? These are my things.
Oh, no, they're not. I saw you come in. You didn't have them then. That other man sat beside you and when he went to the men's lounge, you grabbed his clothes. I saw you.
No, you're mistaken. These are my things.
Are you sure they don't belong to him, madam?
What have I got eyes in my head for? I was sitting only three seats away. Of course I'm sure.
Go to the men's lounge and find that other gentleman and you'll see whether I'm mistaken. I saw you follow, please.
Let's go to the office and get this straightened up.
I don't have time. These are my clothes and I'm going to...
I remember you came in your shirt sleeves. Come on.
All right, all right. Take me to the manager right now.
Yes, madam.
You want me to come too? I saw him.
Yes, madam. And please don't talk too loud. You're disturbing the patrons.
No.
Yes?
What is it?
Mr. Schreyer, this woman claims that this man is trying to walk out with a coat and jacket belonging to another patron. She says he's in the lounge.
Who is that soul? Go get the gentleman in the lounge.
Yes, sir.
This is all a mistake. Coat's mine, so's the jacket.
It is not. You came in without a coat or a jacket.
I don't deny that. The man who brought them was my cousin. I'd left them in his office. You won't find him in the lounge. He's gone back to his office.
You say this coat and jacket are yours?
Yes.
Can you identify them by the contents of the pocket?
There should be $25 in the jacket.
In which pocket?
I don't remember one of them.
Well, we'll soon see. Nothing in this pocket. Oh, here's something. Bills.
Man, I told you.
Five, ten, fifteen, twenty-five.
He could have put the money there. That's no proof the coat's fake.
I told you it was my jacket. Now may I have it, please?
Just a moment. There's a letter here in the inside pocket. I presume it's yours.
Sure, it's mine.
And the name on it? If it's your letter, it should have your name on it.
Oh, of course. The name is Charles Borden.
Yes, it's addressed in care of Charles Borden, but not to Charles Borden.
Oh, yeah. I'd forgotten.
It's addressed to Manning. Mrs. Michael Manning.
Yes, Mrs. Manning is my cousin.
And what is your address?
5437 Booth Street, Forest Hills.
That's the address all right, madam. I'm afraid you've made a mistake.
This man can identify the clothing.
This man's a thief.
I don't think he is, madam. My apologies, sir.
It's quite all right.
I walked out of the theater, lost myself in the crowd and didn't stop until I was 10 blocks away.
Then I slipped into a lunch room and had my first meal of the day.
While I was eating, I took the letter out of the pocket of Charles' jacket.
Why hadn't he turned this letter over to my wife?
What was in it he didn't want Mary to see.
I opened and read it.
Leeds, Fulbright and Benning, Attorneys at Law, 1312 Q Street, Sacramento, California, 12 August, 1950.
Dear Mrs. Manning, this is to inform you that you have been named sole beneficiary under the last will and testament of your late uncle, Benjamin Williams.
We request that you or your attorney appear in the probate proceedings by means of the enclosed waiver of citation, so that we may make distribution.
In our opinion, after taxes, your inheritance will be upwards of $200,000.
Silly yours, Judy Spenning.
$200,000? I was stunned at first.
Then it suddenly occurred to me, Charlie hadn't said a word about it.
Charlie hadn't even shown the letter to Mary.
Then I took another look at the date.
August 12th, over a month ago.
Then it came into focus.
Cousin Charlie was playing the hand alone. He didn't want Mary to have any of that money.
Charlie was the one who had framed me.
Get me out of the way, then Mary.
Then Charlie would be the sole survivor of our late uncle.
Charlie had stolen my gun.
Then I'd helped him. I'd put my fingerprints on the gun at Venuti's and then given it to Charlie.
Charlie was the man with the pictures who paid Venuti to put me on the spot.
I paid my check and grabbed the cab outside. At 8.30 I was running up the steps of Charlie's house.
Mickey.
I want to talk to you, Charlie.
Did anyone see you come here?
I didn't bother to look. I want to talk to you.
All right, Mickey.
You had me fooled, Charlie. Framed me and fooled me.
What are you talking about?
You knew Mary had inherited $200,000.
You knew it.
Never told Mary about it. Killed Garvin to get rid of me.
Killed Venuti because you were afraid I'd beat the truth out of him.
When were you planning to kill Mary?
Oh, you're going crazy, Mickey. Now look, listen to me.
Now I'm going to beat a confession out of you, Cousin.
I swear to you, I don't know what you're talking about.
Confess, Charlie. I confessed once. Confess. Confess.
You didn't confess, Charlie.
Well, I'll get someone who'll make you do it.
Someone who's an expert at it.
Driscoll. Driscoll. Driscoll. West-Aidian.
Oh, yes.
Hello?
Driscoll.
Yeah?
Mickey Manning.
Where are you killing?
Charlie Borden's apartment.
I've got your murderer for you.
Come in, Lieutenant. Come in.
Thanks, Manning. I brought somebody. Your wife.
Hello, Mickey. Mr. Driscoll called me and said you found Garvin's killer.
Have you really, Mickey?
Yes. The nudist, too. I told you it was a frame, Mary.
Who's the killer, Manning?
Cousin Charlie.
Now why should Charlie kill them, Mickey?
Because he wanted all that money for himself, don't you see?
Because he wanted that $200,000 for himself. Is that right?
Yes, that... Wait a minute. How did you know about that $200,000, Mary?
I knew it from the day I got the letter from the lawyers.
And I said to myself, now there's no sense in sharing all that money when there's a way to get it all to myself.
So... So you framed me, Mary.
So I framed you. Driscoll and I framed you. Driscoll killed Garvin, killed Vanuti. Now...
Driscoll, what's your salary for killing off duty?
Always off duty killing. Hogan and I don't have badges. People like Mary here pay us the play act at being caught.
That confession I made to you is worthless.
No, not at all, Mickey. I have it in my purse. It's a confession a husband made to his wife.
Well, tell me something, wife. How did you plant that letter from the lawyers so I'd find it in Charlie's jacket?
Well, Charlie called me and told me you needed a jacket. I came to Charlie and persuaded him to take one of his own.
Then I slipped the letter in the pocket so you'd find it.
Had two people killed for that money just to get rid of me. Why didn't you just kill me and leave the others alone?
I like it this way, Mickey. I like testifying at your trial. I like being all broken up because they'll hang you for murder. Driscoll?
Yeah. Let's go say hello to Cousin Charlie. Hello, Cousin Charlie. Cousin Charlie doesn't answer. My, my. You really beat him up, Manning.
Charlie did.
Cousin Charlie is still alive. He'll be able to talk soon. And if he talks, Mary will be in trouble.
Hold this gun on your husband, Mary.
All right.
Close your eyes if you can't stand this, Manning. I'm going to start on Cousin Charlie where you left off.
Leave Charlie alone. Leave him alone. I'll kill you, Driscoll. I'll kill you.
Mary. Mary. Get him off me.
Driscoll.
Drop it. Drop it or I'll break every bone. Drop it, Mary.
Mickey. Oh, Mickey. Now Mickey.
Mary, go over to that phone. Go over to the phone.
All right, Mickey.
Call the police. Tell them you're calling for me. Then tell them I know who killed my partner, Garvin.
All right, Mickey.
Police department. Lieutenant Randall speaking.
This is Mary Manning. I'm calling for my husband, Mickey Manning.
Tell them how you framed me, Mary.
My husband wants me to tell you how Leo Garvin and a man named Venuti were murdered.
It started with a letter I got in which I inherited $200,000.
Suspense presented by Auto Light. Tonight's star, Joseph Cotton.
We all enjoyed your performance very much, Mr. Cotton.
Thanks, Hap.
Thank you, Joe. We hope you'll return to suspense again soon.
I hope so too, Hollow. It's always a pleasure to be associated with Auto Light.
He sounds like you, Wilcox.
Of course. Like me and hundreds of thousands of satisfied Auto Light customers.
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Next week on Suspense, Miss Miriam Hopkins as star of Miss Bone.
The story of three women living in a small town boarding house and the unusual murder that took place there.
And in weeks to come, you will hear such famous stars as Milton Berle and Howard Duff appearing in tales well calculated to keep you in...
Suspense!
Tonight's Suspense play was produced and directed by Elliot Lewis with music composed by Lucian Morrowek and conducted by Lud Bluskin.
Parts of this program were transcribed.
Fly by Night by George and Gertrude Fass was adapted for Suspense by Morton Fine and David Friedkin.
Joseph Cotton may soon be seen in the 20th Century Fox production Two Flags West.
And remember next week on Suspense, Miss Miriam Hopkins as star of Miss Bone.
You can buy Auto Light Stayful Batteries, Auto Light Standard Type or Resistor Type smart plugs, Auto Light Electrical Pods at your neighborhood Auto Light service station.
And remember next week on Suspense, Miss Miriam Hopkins in Miss Bone.
You can buy Auto Light staple batteries, Auto Light standard type or resistor type spark
plugs, Auto Light electrical parts at your neighborhood Auto Light dealers.
Switch to Auto Light.
Good night.
This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.