Suspense.
And the producer of radio's outstanding theater of thrills,
the master of mystery and adventure, William N. Robson.
It is a cliché of murder that the killer always returns to the scene of his crime.
But we know of no recorded instance in which the victim has returned to the scene of his demise.
However, we come as close as we can in the upcoming story.
We have contrived to produce a reasonable facsimile of the corpse with some startlingly unpredictable results.
Listen, listen then as Miss Vanessa Brown stars in Vamp till Dead, which begins in exactly one minute.
Do you know the social security benefits to which you will be entitled when you separate from the service and take a civilian job?
Here's a tip from social security.
Disabled workers at any age up to 65 can now look forward to monthly social security benefits.
Unfortunately, not all severely disabled workers are aware of the possibility of cash disability benefits for younger workers and their dependents.
Illness or accident may strike at any age.
Disability while young often causes the greatest economic hardship with a growing family to be cared for.
For this reason, Congress has improved social security protection against loss of income and offers disability insurance benefits with no age limitations.
To find out more about the protection you have under social security, write to Social Security, Department 15, Hollywood 28, California.
And now, Vamp till Dead, starring Miss Vanessa Brown, a tale well calculated to keep you in suspense.
Your first name, what did you say it was?
Amy, Mr. Gentry. Amy Watkins.
Amy, Amy, Amy, yes, yes, yes. And are you a good secretary, Amy?
You have all of my recommendations, Mr. Gentry. I mailed them to you a week ago.
Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes, to be sure. I must have looked at them or I wouldn't have hired you and had you come all the way from New York, now would I?
Do you think you're like it here in this big house working for me?
I hope so, sir.
Tell me, what do you think of me?
I beg your pardon?
Me, how do I strike you? What am I? A gentle person? A wit? A profound talent? A buffoon? Tell me, Amy, I'd be interested in your opinion.
I've only known you for half an hour, Mr. Gentry.
Well, then I'll tell you. I'm a writer, Amy. Do you know what it means to have a million words inside of you and not to be able to let them out?
No, sir.
It's an utter horror. And that's the way it's been with me for more than a year.
But now I'm ready to go back to work again and release those million words. And it'll be your job to take them down.
I'll do my best.
Not going to be easy. Very demanding, Amy.
I understand, Mr. Gentry.
The cook's name is Jenny. She'll help you find your way around the house. And for heaven's sake, call me Paul, not Mr. Gentry.
Yes, Paul.
That's better. Amy, I feel it helps if people adjust to new situations as quickly as possible.
Have you heard about my wife?
No, sir, I haven't.
Well, you will. So I'll tell you. People around here say that I killed Mrs. Gentry. Good night, Amy.
I ran upstairs to my room. I could still hear him laughing even after I closed the door.
And then finally he stopped. And I was lying across my bed when I was aware that someone was standing beside me.
He's like that child. You mustn't mind him.
Who are you?
I'm Jenny, the cook.
Oh. Oh, yes. But somehow you don't look like a cook.
Oh, my dear. I find more inspiration in cooking meals for a great writer like Paul Gentry than I ever found in the 23 years I taught high school English.
Oh, I see.
Now don't let him upset you. He really doesn't mean it. He can be as gentle as he is harsh. No one really understands him.
Did Mrs. Gentry understand him?
No, she didn't. She never made an attempt. There's a question in your eyes, Amy.
Yes. Was she murdered?
Yes. In that little guest cottage down by the brook, you can see it from this window.
How? How did it happen?
It was almost a year ago. They argued over something trivial at dinner. The flowers on the table. Mrs. Gentry ran out of the house.
A few minutes later, I could hear her playing the piano in the cottage. Some little tune that always infuriated him.
The next morning, her body was found slumped over the piano. Her neck was broken.
And people think that he...
There was no evidence against Mr. Gentry. No proof. Only hearsay and talk.
I see. Now, now there's a question in your eyes.
Yes, Amy. This information doesn't seem to disturb you. And that puzzles me. Because along with that, there's something about you.
What?
It's about your appearance, my dear. Really, it's quite remarkable how much you resemble Isabelle Gentry.
For the next three weeks, I took dictation from morning until night. There was quantity, certainly, but the quality was poor. The book was going badly.
And then one afternoon, when I walked into his study, there was another man standing there beside Paul.
Amy, Amy, this is Al Pender. Al's a reporter on the local paper. He tried his best to have me indicted for murder.
Oh. How do you do, Mr. Pender?
I'm glad to meet you, Amy. I've just dropped in to interview Mr. Gentry about his new book.
You see, Amy, I'm a celebrity. They interview me about my new book. Why don't you tell him all about it?
I wouldn't want the responsibility, Paul.
You can tell him how bad it is as well as I can.
Oh, no, Paul. I couldn't possibly say that about it.
What could you say about it? Anything worthwhile? No. The drop die is the withdrawal. Isabelle used to react the same way when I became angry with her.
Do I remind you of her?
Yes. Yes, you remind me of Isabelle. Of all the things in her that stopped me from writing.
How do you like that, Pender? There's a story for you to print.
You want me to print it, Gentry?
I'd kill you if you did.
I'm sorry if I remind you of Isabelle Paul.
Are you, Amy? Are you really? No, I don't think you are. I don't think you are at all.
Huh. Has it been like this very long?
I'd rather not say, Mr. Pender.
Amy, did you know that no one in town would take this job?
Yes.
And still you came here?
Yes.
He killed his wife. Everyone knows it.
It was never proved.
No, no, because of a technicality.
You know, he's right. You do look a great deal like Isabelle. And that means you're in danger here. He's crazy. He might actually come to think of you as Isabelle.
I want him to think of me as Isabelle. In every way possible. Every day, every minute. There must be some way to prove he killed her.
See, why are you so interested? Who are you anyway?
I'm Isabelle Gentry's sister.
The second act of suspense continues in one minute.
This is Johnny Baker with Communism on the Spot.
Here's another case that illustrates the worthlessness of Soviet constitutional guarantees.
On one Thursday morning in 1940, Soviet workers were told about the change to the eight-hour day and the seven-day week.
Just the day before, workers had completed a seven-hour day, part of the five-day week established under the 1936 Constitution.
But now they were suddenly required to work 21 extra hours a week.
They knew it was impossible for the Constitution to have been amended, since amendments must be approved by the Supreme Soviet, which wasn't even in session.
They could therefore only conclude that this was another arbitrary violation by the government of a Constitution it held far from sacred.
And now, we continue with Act Two of Vamp Till Dead, starring Miss Vanessa Brown.
A tale well calculated to keep you in suspense.
Suspense.
Yes. I am the sister of the woman Paul Gentry was accused of murdering.
I was abroad during their courtship and marriage. We had never met.
So it was simple for me to begin my campaign.
I began to do everything the way I had remembered Isabelle.
I wore her favorite perfume. I held my head to one side and smiled the way she used to.
I started using her expressions in my speech.
I wasn't sure whether I was torturing him or he was torturing himself.
But I was certain he began to think of me as Isabelle.
And then I began visiting the guest cottage where she was murdered and playing the piano at which she died.
Amy.
Oh, I didn't notice you'd come in, Jenny.
What are you doing here in this cottage?
Practicing.
Must you practice that?
What do you mean?
That's the tune she used to play. I told you he hated it.
Oh, I forgot.
And your hair. You're wearing it the way she used to.
Am I?
Don't you see what you're doing to him?
What?
He hardly spends an hour a day writing now. It's just like it was when she was alive.
There was something about her that killed his inspiration.
Instead of creating, he only wanted to destroy.
Now you're doing the same thing to him.
Me? But I only want to help him.
There's only one way you can do that.
How?
Leave.
But he needs me.
You're not helping. You're hindering, always reminding him of her.
Jenny, why do you stay?
Oh, I'm like his desk or the chair he sits on, just a piece of furniture doing a job.
He doesn't think about me one way or the other.
Someday I'll see him get back to writing the way he used to.
You mean without her?
Yes.
Do you think he killed her, Jenny?
Oh, that's something I don't dare think about, Amy.
I thought about it.
In the days that followed, Paul's work went from bad to worse, and so did his temper.
He was unmanageable most of the time.
He would slump in his chair, drinking and staring at me, just staring, staring, staring, staring.
I knew he was almost ready to break the day he went into a rage and he started throwing things around his study.
I left the house, walked down to the guest cottage, sat down at the piano and started to play.
Was this it, I wondered?
Would the trap be sprung now?
I hadn't long to wait.
Behind me, I heard the door slowly open, and I continued playing.
First move would have to be his.
Hello, Amy.
Al?
Surprised you?
Yes.
I brought you something.
A gun? What for?
Well, if you won't be sensible and leave this place, then you need it for your own protection.
I can handle my situation without a gun.
Can you? That man is out of his mind. The first time he comes at you, let him have it.
Everybody in this town knows about him. Look, no jury would ever convict you.
I came here to get proof that Paul Gentry killed my sister.
I want him to pay for it legally, but it seems to me that you want me to be judge, jury and executioner.
Oh, now listen, Amy...
Look, Al, I am going to tell you something.
Isabelle used to write to me and she was pretty frank.
She told me about a newspaper man she was interested in. Could you be that man?
Yes.
Now, is it because you loved Isabelle that you wanted to see her murder a court?
Or would you just like to sacrifice Paul Gentry because he was married to the woman that you wanted?
Pender, are you aware that this property belongs to me? What are you doing on it?
Talking to her, what does it look like?
Paul, Paul, please.
How many times do I have to tell you to leave my wife alone?
Your wife? Just a minute, Gentry.
Get out of my property while you can still walk. And, Isabelle, you get back up to the house where you belong.
I ran back to the house up to my room. A moment later, I heard his heavy steps coming up the stairway.
Before I could do anything, he was standing in my doorway.
Isabelle, Isabelle, why did you make me do it?
Why? Why did you do it, Paul?
I couldn't help myself with those men all the time, especially Pender.
Amy, Isabelle's dead. You're Amy. Why do you keep making me think that you're Isabelle? Why?
You're imagining it, Paul.
Oh, Amy, why don't you leave here while it's safe?
I think it is safe, Paul.
You aren't afraid of me the way you were that first night? You aren't afraid of what I might do to you?
No, Paul, I'm not afraid. If you really want me to go, I will, but I'd rather stay.
I want to be close to you, closer to you than anybody in this world has ever been.
Oh, I don't want you to go, Amy. Ever. I love you.
I know.
I want you to marry me.
Of course. Of course, Paul.
Ever since Isabelle died, I've wanted to be your wife.
Act Three of Suspense follows in one minute.
This is Johnny Baker with Communism on the Spot.
The Communists insist that Soviet citizens enjoy basic freedoms under their Constitution.
In theory, the Soviet Constitution does promise freedom, civil liberties, and justice under law.
These are, however, merely paper guarantees which carry little weight.
For the same Constitution also declares that these freedoms are to be exercised in conformity with the interests of the working people
and in order to strengthen the socialist system.
The Communist Party, as the vanguard of the people, decides what these interests are.
It interprets the Constitution as it sees fit.
It thus turns out that the rules of the Party, not the Constitution, are the supreme law of the land.
And now, we continue with Act Three of Vamp till Dead, starring Miss Vanessa Brown,
a tale well calculated to keep you in suspense.
Next day, we were married quietly by the justice of the peace.
Surely this bait would spring the trap.
Surely my sister's murderer would attempt to kill the woman who so closely resembled her and now replaced her.
That night, I dressed for dinner in the perfect image of my sister.
And Paul greeted me as I expected him to.
Isabel, you never looked more beautiful.
Oh, thank you, Paul.
Your chair.
Thank you.
You may serve, Jenny.
Yes, sir.
Oh, Jenny, use the large soup bowls, please, for Isabel.
I understand, sir.
I know you prefer them, darling.
Um, yes.
Is something wrong, Isabel?
Paul, I just noticed.
You have carnations on the table.
Why, yes.
You know I don't like carnations, Paul.
I don't like them at all.
Isabel, they were all I could get.
I'm afraid you'll have to like them.
Look, I don't have to like anything.
Have Jenny take them off the table.
Now, see here.
You'll either get rid of them or I won't eat dinner with you.
You hear me?
Then don't eat dinner with me, my dear.
I'd like it better that way.
Then I won't have to look at your bored, critical face all the time.
It was rude and cruel, but I had to know.
I had to act the same way Isabel had acted,
for it was just a year ago tonight that she had been murdered.
And then I was in the cottage, where'd it happen?
Sitting at the piano, playing her tune.
I sat there waiting.
I knew I would hear steps first, and then a door.
But I heard nothing.
Nothing.
And then at last, I heard the steps.
No!
Oh, no!
Oh, my God!
Amy!
Let me go!
Let me go!
Amy, Amy, are you all right?
Are you all right, Amy?
Yes, Al.
Yes, yes.
Bender, stay where you are or I'll blow your head off.
I always knew it was you who killed Isabel,
because she refused to run away with you.
You're wrong, Gentry.
It wasn't me.
Look.
Paul, Paul, darling, she was the one.
Jenny, Jenny.
I had to knock her out.
She tried to kill Amy the same way she killed Isabel.
She was afraid Amy was going to take you away from her.
Oh, Amy, Amy, my darling.
Paul, do you know who I am?
Oh, I really am.
Yes.
I know you're not Isabel.
I've known all along.
I had to pretend because you pretended.
Forgive me.
Please forgive me.
It's all over, my darling.
Ended.
Yes, yes, Paul, it's over.
Isabel is truly dead.
Suspense.
In which Miss Vanessa Brown starred in Vamp Till Dead,
written by E. Jack Newman and John Michael Hayes.
Suspense is produced and directed by William N. Robeson.
In a moment, the names of tonight's players.
This is Johnny Baker with Communism on the Spot.
A few words now on the position of the family under communism.
In Soviet society, the family has been reduced to a kind of machine
for producing workers.
Soviet leaders have deprived families of the right to educate their children
and have minimized the influence of family life by drawing women into the labor force.
The institution of the family is looked on as part of the machinery
for producing what are designated as obedient, disciplined communists.
To accomplish this, the role of the parents has been taken over by the schools,
by youth organizations, and by the establishment of boarding schools.
The final aim of the party is evidently the education of all children away from the family.
Supporting Miss Vanessa Brown in Vamp Till Dead
were Jeanette Nolan, Ben Wright, and Norm Alden.
Listen.
Listen again next week when we bring you Jack Carson starring in Miss Fire,
another tale well calculated to keep you in...
suspense.
Suspense has been brought to you through the worldwide facilities
of the United States Armed Forces Radio and Television Service.
...