And now, a tale well calculated to keep you in...
Suspense.
In a moment, Act One of The Death of Alexander Jordan, featuring Connie Lemke, William Mason, Edgar Staley, and Paul McGrath,
and written especially for suspense by Hector Cheveny.
This portion of suspense is brought to you by the makers of Marlboro cigarettes.
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Ah, come on. You're expecting somebody? Who is it?
Well, it's Mr. Rutledge.
Rutledge?
Uncle Alex had me phone him last night and ask him to be here this morning.
What for?
You'll have to ask Uncle Alex.
Yeah, and he'll tell me, I suppose. Fine thing.
Here I am, his own nephew, and I'm the last to know he sent for his lawyer at a time like this.
It's a body's will. What else?
What's he gonna do about it?
Ramsey, I have to finish straightening up here before Mr. Rutledge gets here.
Now go take care of the chicken.
I want to know what he's gonna do.
Who says I know?
But he told you. Now come on, give.
Break my wrist again and this time I'll tell how it happened, Ramsey Jordan.
I said give.
We aren't to worry about not getting the farm.
Is that all he told you?
Isn't that the main thing?
All right. You just told me that from the start.
Oh, there he is. Now go take care of the chickens, will you?
Oh, yeah, yeah.
Good morning, Martha.
Good morning, Mr. Rutledge. Come in, come in.
Thank you.
I'm sorry about the looks of the house.
Well, it looks all right to me.
Anyway, I imagine you had your hands full.
How, how is he today?
Not about the same.
I do hope he pulls out of it.
Well, Martha, you know his age.
Just the same, I can hope.
He's been so wonderful to me.
Well, if I may say so, you might think of yourself too, Martha.
You look pretty done in.
No, I'll be all right.
Has Ramsey been of any help to you?
Oh, yeah. Excuse me.
Sure.
Mr. Rutledge is here, Uncle Alex.
All right.
Oh, step in.
Thanks.
Well, what are you doing in bed, Mr. Jordan?
There's work to be done on this farm.
Oh, don't talk hard here, Rutledge.
Sit down. Martha?
Yes, Uncle Alex.
I think I'll have something to eat after all.
Ah, wonderful.
What would you like?
Oh, I'll leave it to you.
I know you'll fix me something nice.
Rutledge and I won't be more than half an hour.
All right, Uncle Alex.
Dr. Rogers says it was my heart, Rutledge.
Yes, yes, I know.
Well, I hope he knows what he's talking about.
Anyway, I'm 82. I can't live forever.
I want to change my will, Rutledge.
I want everything left to Martha.
To Martha?
Put it all in her name.
The cash, the farm, everything.
I didn't fully appreciate Martha.
When she and Ramsey first came to work for me,
I'd have done it this way then.
Ramsey would just sell out and lose the money.
You won't care one bit that these
hundred beautiful acres have belonged to the Jordans
for a hundred years.
I want Martha to go on having a roof over her head.
She's promised me she won't sell, and I know she won't.
Well, what did Ramsey say to this?
I haven't told him, and I told Martha not to.
She shouldn't be put in that position.
You tell him when the time comes and you say it was my doing
and that she knew nothing about it.
Okay, Mr. Jordan.
Now, one more thing.
And don't argue with me, Rutledge.
I don't want to be told I'm silly.
I know I probably am.
As you know, the cemetery is just the other side
of my birchwood acreage, and our family crypt
is right there at the edge,
not a quarter mile from this house.
Yes.
Well, when they put me in the crypt,
I want you to see to it that between my fingers is a button,
an electric button hooked to wires leading to this house
and to a bell, a great big bell that nobody can miss hearing.
Why?
When I was a boy, Rutledge, I used to hear talk about people
being thought dead when they weren't, and well,
well, that's how it has always...
What about nowadays, Mr. Jordan?
I don't care about nowadays.
What I heard as a boy has always haunted me.
I used to have nightmares about waking up in a coffin
and yelling for help until the air gave out, and well,
for the past couple of days, the thought has been unbearable.
I'll die easier if you do like I say.
All right, Mr. Jordan, I'll do it.
Don't you worry about it.
Yeah, thanks.
And I want a full week to pass before it's decided
I'll never ring that bell.
Seven days.
The will's not to be probated until then.
You understand, she's promised for that week
she won't get out of here shot at the bell,
which is good enough for me.
When do you want Ramsey to know that he won't be the one to inherit?
Oh, I'm glad you brought that up.
When the seven days are up and not before,
you'll be crazy mad, and I don't want him giving Martha
more than she has to think about until,
you know, until it's absolutely certain I won't be back.
Hey, driver.
Driver, you're supposed to be taking us home now.
The funeral's over. Step it up.
No, Martha, cut it out.
Did you do enough of that in the church and afterwards?
There were some people sorry that your uncle had to go, Ramsey.
Not a grudgingly child.
You know, I'm not going to be a child.
I'm going to be a good boy.
I don't know what you're talking about.
I heard what you said and it's an insult.
I was as fond of my uncle as anybody.
Why do you suppose I've been working like a dog for him
the past five years?
You think it was just in hopes of inheriting everything?
You're mistaken.
After working like a dog the way I did to find out,
I have to wait a week for the final word.
Well, a great lawyer you are to allow my uncle
to make a will like that,
and that silly business of the bell.
Well, that bill isn't going into the house till I say so.
Now, you understand?
It's probably already in.
What?
I told the electricians to install it
and string the wires during the funeral.
Now, you look here...
Oh, stop it, Ramsey.
Mr. Rutledge has only done what Uncle Alex wanted,
and he's been very kind.
Thank you for everything, Mr. Rutledge.
Well, that's all right.
I've been happy to do what I could.
Well, I still say that bell business is silly,
and any lawyer that will...
Well, it's silly and expensive.
Stringing those wires and everything will...
Well, it'll cost at least 50 bucks.
50 bucks a my dough.
As if anybody could get that uncle of mine
to spend an extra dime when he was alive.
You know, I nearly laughed out loud
when the preacher told how generous he was.
How generous?
Well, he was just like all the Jordans.
I'm the only one who was any different.
Now, you take my Aunt Bessie.
Her coffin's on the right
when you walk into the family crypt.
That's something else.
The crypt.
Well, I mean it must cost something to keep it up.
You know how much Rutledge...
It was paid in advance years ago, Ramsey.
Oh, it was.
Well, in that case...
And all those coffins on the rack.
What a place.
It gives me the creeps.
You know, I just couldn't wait for that preacher to finish
so I could get out of there.
Oh, well, we're home.
Now, look, Ramsey, if I were you,
I'd see to it that Martha gets a chance to rest a while.
No, I don't.
Rutledge, will you quit telling me what to do?
Well, come on, Martha.
Don't just sit there, change your clothes.
In a minute, Ramsey.
I'm gonna want lunch pretty quick.
I'm gonna tell those electricians to make it snappy, too.
Tramping back and forth,
making a big thing out of putting up a few wires.
What?
Oh, for the love of Mike.
What's the matter?
Oh, now look up there.
Put that bell right here in our bedroom.
This is where I promised Uncle Alex we'd put it.
Oh, for...
It's supposed to be where we can hear it night and day, isn't it?
Well, we'll hear that one.
You know, I wonder if maybe there's a chance you come to,
push that button?
Martha, what do you think?
Oh, you know as well as I do what to think.
Well, he's just mean enough to.
Are you right?
I'm talking like a fool, ain't you?
Holy company!
Martha, you don't think that...
Oh, Ramsey, no, it's those electricians testing us on something.
Uncle Alexander's bell, yeah.
Of course, yeah, I must.
I'm just jumpy, I guess.
What I'd like to know is how I'm going to get in and sleep for the next seven nights
waiting for that bell to go off.
Here's your coffee.
All right, put it down.
You know, Ramsey, you might say thank you once in a while.
Listen, you don't know what kind of a night I put in.
You slept.
Why didn't you?
Oh, shut up and make me some toast.
You will ask for it politely, Ramsey.
Oh, what?
I said you...
Say what's gotten into you?
There'll be no more of this telling me to shut up, that's all.
Oh, for the love of Mike.
Can't you see that I'm in no shape for an argument?
Well, who was he?
Who is who?
The man you were showing around the place today.
He just wanted to see it.
Pretty obliging.
Took the whole afternoon and you did absolutely nothing about irrigating the vegetables.
They need it.
All right.
If you must know, he is willing to pay 40,000 bucks for this farm.
Oh, he is?
Yes, he is.
And he's got it too.
He represents one of the biggest firms of its kind in this part of the country.
He proved it.
What kind of firm?
Well, they're in the business of buying up farm properties.
Well, where'd you meet him?
Well, he just drove up.
They're on their toes, that firm.
They watch death notices all over the country.
Well, I'm not selling.
Why?
I'm not selling for 40,000 or 50,000 or any other stuff.
Oh, you're a fool and always were.
Say what you like.
This roof is staying over my head.
You never had 40,000, anything like it, because you never worked that hard,
and because you always thought yourself such an operator.
You thought you'd be so smart the time you had as much as $500, and look what happened.
Oh, so at last, you admit you have no faith in me.
No, I do not.
Yes.
Not one bit.
Yes, and you never had, and that's been the trouble.
Yeah, how can a guy amount to anything when his wife has no faith in him?
I had it once.
Oh, no, you didn't.
You never had.
I did too.
I had it until I learned better.
Oh, now wait a minute.
Now just hold everything.
You said a minute ago, what do you mean you aren't selling?
Well, well, I meant...
Yeah?
I meant I'm not going to let you if I can help it.
Yeah, well, that had better be all you meant.
Darling, listen, don't you see?
We've got a wonderful thing in the Jordan place, a wonderful thing.
You're a man himself that it's worth all of 40,000.
And when will I get time off?
When will I be able to dress up again for a change, get out of a pair of dirty overalls,
and feel like something besides a field hand?
Now I'm getting back to the city.
That's all there is to it.
Oh, the city, the city.
Where would we ever live except in a five-floor cold water walk-up
without even a park within walking distance, huh?
Well, with a new start I'll have with 40,000 dollars,
I'll be on easy street and living in there permanently too.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I want to know what's gotten into you, Martha.
Something has.
What did my Uncle Alex or that guy Rutledge tell you that I wasn't told?
Look, you might wait till the week is out to count your unhatched chickens.
Remember, Ramsey, there's still a bell.
The bell, yeah, hmm, yeah, the bell.
Then in your mind it's possible.
I mean that it might ring.
Ah, give me some more stew.
And who was it told me she didn't think it was ever going to ring?
No, no, I don't trust you.
Why don't you lose it all?
Martha, would you please turn over again?
For anything like it.
With you talking and you're asleep and the wind out there,
I can't get any shudder at all.
Martha!
Oh, what is it, Ramsey?
You talk all day, you might lay off at least her and the knife.
Well, he's hoping I can doze off again.
What?
Ramsey!
Yeah, yeah, I can't get up on any time.
I can't shut this thing off.
What?
Never mind.
What did you do?
Pulled out the wires, what else could I do?
Get right down to that crib.
What?
Never mind, I'll put something on and go.
Oh, for the love of Mike, it's the wind.
There was a short in the wires.
Just the same, I'm going to make sure.
Now look, who was it said he wouldn't come to?
We just want to make sure, Ramsey.
Listen, you leave well enough alone.
What?
You're staying in this house.
I'll do no such thing.
Ramsey, don't!
Told you to leave well enough alone.
Martha?
Well, her own fault made me hit her too hard.
Maybe it's as well.
While she's out, I'll get myself to that crib.
He has come alive.
I know what to do about that.
Why, somebody never put a modern lock on this door.
I better leave it open.
Oh, right, now it's a flashlight.
I'll flick it off myself.
Well, I'm glad it's not the battery.
Here goes.
Now, let's see.
Which is his coffin.
I don't know who that's Uncle Horace that says.
Yeah, there's Aunt Bessie.
I know, yeah, over there.
No sir, hasn't stirred.
No, he wouldn't.
Oh, the door.
The door.
The key.
The key on the outside.
Oh my God.
Wait a minute, wait a minute, take it easy.
Just don't get rattled.
Thank.
The button.
The button between Uncle Alex's fingers.
All I gotta do is open the coffin and the...
No!
No, I broke the wires.
I broke the wires and knocked Martha out.
Help, help, help!
Help!
I told you to shut up, you're waking all of us.
Uncle Alex.
Of course.
Uncle Alex, how come you're sitting up?
Well, I got tired of lying down.
I think it's right and mean of you to come here with the intention of finishing me off, Ramsey.
How do you know?
Well, we dead, Ramsey, we know many things.
Many things.
You long too now, won't you, Ramsey?
You locked yourself in.
Well, wish we had a coffin for you, but we don't, do we?
No, we don't.
You just have to lie on the floor, won't you?
The cold floor.
Unless, of course, somebody thinks they're looking here for you.
Do you really think that anybody will care that much for you, Ramsey?
Do you?
Martha, Martha, Martha, wake up.
Martha, it's me, it's me, Paul Rutledge.
Oh, Mr. Rutledge.
Yes, all right, Martha.
Where, where am I?
You're in the hospital.
Hospital?
Yeah.
Oh, yeah, I remember.
Ramsey, Ramsey knocked me down and, but that's all I remember.
Now you, you'll be all right, Martha.
Dr. Rogers told me I could say so when you woke up.
Oh, the bell, it, it rang.
No, now lie back, Martha, I know all about it.
You do?
The Thompsons heard it over at their place and Joe got up.
He found you.
Oh.
And he phoned me.
I told him to drive you into town to the hospital, and I drove out to the farm to see what could have happened.
It didn't take me long to figure it out.
What made it ring?
It was a big wind that night, Martha.
There's a place on the wires where the insulation had rubbed off.
Oh, that's what happened?
Uh-huh.
Ramsey, he, well, well, you say you figured out what happened.
Now, Martha, the only thing for you to think about now is that you're going to be all right
and that the Jordan place will be yours for as long as you want to live there.
Where, where is Ramsey?
Uh, why don't you try to get some sleep now, Martha?
Oh, Mr. Rutledge, they haven't got him in jail or anything.
No, no, they haven't got him in jail.
Are they after him?
No.
You're not fit into me, are you, Mr. Rutledge?
No, Martha.
Well, I wish you'd tell me what's happening.
I can't say I love Ramsey anymore, but I don't want him in trouble over this.
All right, Martha, I'll tell you.
He's dead.
Oh, he's dead.
Yes.
Dead?
Uh-huh.
How did I?
Well, according to the medical examiner, apparently a fright.
Fright?
Uh-huh.
In the crypt? Is that where?
Yes, in the crypt.
And that's all I'm going to say now.
When you're yourself, I'll tell you the rest, Martha.
His greed took him there, and he's dead.
You're free of him. You're young enough to make your life over.
Well, I'm sure you'll be a lot happier next time.
Yes, Mr. Rutledge.
Okay.
Thanks so much.
That's all right.
But just one more question.
Huh?
You looked at Uncle Alex?
He was there in his coffin.
He hadn't moved, not in the slightest.
Suspense.
Suspense is produced and directed by Fred Hendrickson.
Heard in tonight's story were Connie Lemke, William Mason, Edgar Staley, Paul McGrath.
Music supervision by Ethel Huber, sound patterns by Walter Otto, technical direction by Fred Turner.
This is Stuart Mett speaking.
Listen again next week when we return with A Strange Day in May, written by Michael Healy.
Another tale well calculated to keep you in.
Suspense.
Stars shed their inhibitions on Arthur Godfreytime weekdays on the CBS Radio Network.