Inner Sanctum Mystery, also known as Inner Sanctum, is a popular old-time radio program that aired from January 7, 1941, to October 5, 1952.
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00:00Inner Sanctum Mysteries Good evening, friends of the Inner Sanctum.
00:27It is your host welcoming you in through the squeaking door.
00:31Come in, see my latest collection of corpses.
00:34I've dug up some very interesting pieces, but of course I had to pay a stiff price.
00:41This petrified man, for instance, he's over a hundred years old.
00:46They found him in a forest.
00:48That's right, dazed in the woods.
00:52My goodness, do you expect folks to believe nonsense like that?
00:56But it's true, Mary.
00:57Look over here at this artist's model.
01:00The last time she posed for a sketch, she was drawn and quartered.
01:04The artist wanted to paint her with her head in her hands, but he didn't have the nerve to axe her.
01:09So he sawed her in half.
01:12What an imagination you have.
01:14You don't believe me?
01:15All right.
01:16I'm not going to show you my corpse collection anymore.
01:19This is the last time.
01:21Well, I don't believe that either.
01:22Tonight's story is called Dead Man's Debt.
01:25It's an original radio play by Robert Newman.
01:28And our star tonight is Joseph Julian, who plays the role of Danny.
01:38A corner cell in a courthouse jail.
01:41Stone walls, stone floor, and a hard cot.
01:44Lying on the cot, huddled under the blanket, is Danny Gorman.
01:48His eyes are closed and his breathing is regular.
01:51But even he is not sure whether he's asleep or awake.
01:55For he's listening to a voice.
01:57A voice he's heard quite often during the past few weeks.
02:00And a voice he shouldn't be able to hear.
02:03A voice of a dead man.
02:06Are you sleeping, Danny?
02:08Don't.
02:09It's a waste of time.
02:11A real waste.
02:13You'll be sleeping for a long, long time, very soon.
02:17But you're dead like I am.
02:20Yes, Danny.
02:22Did you think you were going to get away with it?
02:25You won't.
02:26You'll pay.
02:27And soon.
02:28No, I said no! Shut up! Shut up!
02:30What's the problem here? What are you making all that racket for?
02:33Better pull yourself together and get moving.
02:36Waiting for you downstairs, courts and session.
02:39Don't rush me.
02:41I'm coming.
02:42I'm not rushing you.
02:43Sure glad to be rid of you.
02:45Glad you won't be coming back here again.
02:47What?
02:48What do you mean?
02:49They wind up your case this morning.
02:51Hand down a verdict before lunch.
02:52Two to one, they do it without leaving the jury box.
02:54And ten to one, it's guilty.
03:04Gentlemen of the jury, have you reached a verdict?
03:08We have.
03:09Prisoner will rise and face the jury.
03:12Go on, Danny. Stand up.
03:16What is your verdict?
03:18Not guilty.
03:20What?
03:21What do you mean?
03:24What a riot!
03:26I should have taken him up on it.
03:28Ten to one, he wanted to give me the jury and send me up.
03:30But I knew it. I knew you wouldn't.
03:33Order. Order, Mr.
03:34Mr. Russell.
03:35Will you quiet your client?
03:37I apologize, Your Honor, but as you can imagine, he's been under considerable strain.
03:41Take it easy, Danny.
03:42Danny.
03:43Oh, Danny.
03:44Gail, how are you, baby?
03:45I knew it too, Danny.
03:46I knew they'd let you go. They had to.
03:50Oh, Danny!
03:57I hope you don't mind coming here to celebrate.
03:59It's not very fancy, but uh,
04:01well, this is where they pick me up, put the cross on me.
04:03I'm kind of sentimental about it.
04:05Perfectly all right.
04:06Here's to you, Russell.
04:08You did a swell job getting me off.
04:11I'd probably done better if I didn't have a conscience.
04:13How come?
04:14I was assigned to your case.
04:16I had to defend you.
04:17I did the best job I could, but it was a little hard to put my heart in it when I knew you were guilty.
04:23Not of the murder you were charged with, but another one.
04:27What?
04:28Is that supposed to be funny, Mr. Russell?
04:30It's not, Gail.
04:32Danny was charged with the murder of Carson, a well-known jeweler,
04:35whose body was found a few miles from his country house.
04:38Danny was seen in the vicinity in the company of Stack Allen, a man with a long criminal record.
04:43Now, if you remember, there were just three things that saved Danny.
04:47One, the fact that Carson was thought to have a valuable diamond on him.
04:51Danny didn't have the diamond, and it hasn't been found yet.
04:55Two, Carson was shot with a .45.
04:57Danny's gun was a .38.
04:59And three, Stack Allen has disappeared.
05:02Now, on the basis of these three facts, I was able to convince the jury that it was Stack who killed Carson and took the diamond.
05:08And, as a matter of fact, that's what I think did happen.
05:13Well?
05:14The DA made one mistake.
05:16He charged you with a wrong murder.
05:18I don't believe you killed Carson.
05:20But I do think you killed Stack Allen.
05:23That's ridiculous.
05:25Danny, tell him it's not true.
05:27Tell him!
05:29What are you going to do about it?
05:31Nothing.
05:32I'm not a policeman. I'm an attorney.
05:35You're lying.
05:36No.
05:36No.
05:38You see, basically, I have great respect for the law.
05:42I believe that even though it sometimes makes mistakes, it generally corrects them.
05:47I think it'll catch up with you.
05:49In the meantime, as a matter of my services, since I saved your life, I figure you owe me a good deal.
05:56Don't worry about that.
05:58I'll pay you.
05:59Yes?
06:00How?
06:00Never mind that.
06:01I said I'd pay you.
06:02You don't have the money now.
06:03I know that.
06:05If you wanted me to, I could probably help you.
06:07I don't want any help from you or anyone else.
06:09I said I'd pay you, and I will.
06:12Come on, Gail. Let's get out of here.
06:19Are you sleeping again, Danny?
06:21That's a mistake, a waste of time.
06:25You'll be sleeping for a long, long time when you're dead like I am.
06:30You're a stack of gold, and you're alone.
06:32I can't, Danny.
06:33Not until you pay for what you did to me.
06:36And you will pay for that.
06:38And soon.
06:40Who's that?
06:41Who?
06:42Who's that?
06:43Who's there?
06:44It's me, Danny.
06:45Gail.
06:46Oh.
06:47OK, just a second.
06:53Hello, Danny.
06:54Hi.
06:55Starting to get a little worried about you.
06:58Are you all right?
06:59Sure, I'm all right.
07:00What is there to worry about?
07:02Well, it's been a week since I saw you.
07:06I've been hearing things.
07:09That you were hanging around with the old gang again.
07:11With Frankie.
07:12So what?
07:13You mean it's true?
07:16Danny, you shouldn't.
07:18You know what almost happened would what would have happened if it hadn't been for Mr. Russell.
07:22Russell.
07:23You wouldn't be here now if it wasn't for him.
07:27Danny, you said you were going straight, and instead...
07:30he wanted to help you, remember?
07:32How are you, Danny?
07:33Russell.
07:34What are you doing here?
07:36Look, if you're worried about your dough, I told you I'd tell you.
07:38I never said anything about money, Danny.
07:41And I'm not worried about being paid.
07:43I'm a firm believer in balancing accounts.
07:47We pay for everything we do.
07:49What are you driving at?
07:51You killed Stack Allen for the diamond you took from Carson.
07:54But you never got the diamond.
07:57Suppose I help you find it.
07:59What?
08:01How do you know where it is?
08:02I don't know.
08:04I'm only guessing.
08:05If you show me where you buried Stack's body, I think maybe we can find it together.
08:10You're just trying to trap me.
08:13Tag me with Stack's murder.
08:14I told you I was an attorney, not a policeman.
08:19Okay.
08:20Okay, I'll take a chance on it.
08:23Get your car. I'll show you.
08:35Go easy now.
08:38Turn off there to the left.
08:39Into the woods?
08:40Yeah.
08:43Just a little further.
08:45All right, go slow.
08:47Okay, now stop.
08:49I think you'd better stay here, Gail.
08:51It's not going to be very pleasant.
08:52No, Joe.
08:53I'll come.
08:54Just as you like.
08:56Now, tell me again just how it happened, Danny.
09:00Well, we drove down here after we knocked Carson off to decide just what we're going to do.
09:06I had a feeling Stack was going to plug me so he wouldn't have to split with me,
09:10and I decided to beat him to it.
09:12He went over there.
09:14He sat down on that log,
09:16and he was playing with his ear the way he used to, pulling on it.
09:20I let him have it.
09:22I searched him, but I couldn't find a diamond.
09:24What did you do with the body?
09:26I dug a deep hole right there.
09:28I dumped a minute, and I piled wood on it, and then built a fire.
09:31And after it burned down, I covered it up.
09:34Okay.
09:35Let's get the shovels out of the car and start digging.
09:49Hey, my shovel hit something.
09:51I think it's him.
09:52Gail, will you go back to the car?
09:53No.
09:53No, I'm going to stay.
09:55I just won't look.
09:58There.
09:59There he is.
10:01At least his bones.
10:03Put your shovel under his skull and lift it carefully.
10:08Hey, the diamond.
10:09The diamond's lying right underneath him.
10:12How did you know?
10:13I didn't.
10:14I told you I was guessing.
10:16You saw him take it from Carson, knew he had it with him,
10:19but you couldn't find it when you searched him.
10:21You mentioned that when he was thinking, he had a way of playing with his ear.
10:26His ear, of course.
10:27That was it, he had it in his ear.
10:29Maybe he figured I was going to stick him up with something, maybe.
10:33Anyway, I got it now.
10:35We're rich, you hear, Gail?
10:37We're rich.
10:38Yes, I hear.
10:40What are you looking at me for that way?
10:43Danny, I loved you for a long time.
10:46Even when I knew there were things wrong with you.
10:49I stuck with you through the trial because I thought you were innocent.
10:52But you hadn't killed Carson.
10:55Now I hate you.
10:57I stood trial, I got off, didn't I?
10:59I paid for the diamond.
11:01And now it's mine.
11:02Yes, Danny, it's yours.
11:05But you haven't paid for it.
11:08You're only going to start paying for it.
11:16And now, friends, back to the story of Danny Gorman,
11:20who was tried for the wrong murder and who's found,
11:23so far at least,
11:24that crime does pay, and very nicely, too.
11:28It's about an hour later now, and a car with three very silent people in it
11:32has just reached the outskirts of the town.
11:39What's the matter with you two, anyway?
11:42What are you sitting there like a pair of mummies for?
11:43Why don't you say something?
11:45I said everything I had to there in the woods, Danny.
11:48I've got nothing to say.
11:50Heh, heh.
11:52No, nothing at all.
11:54I'm trying for a lily act now, Russell.
11:57Don't forget, you're in this as deep as...
11:59Hey, wait a minute.
12:01Stop right here.
12:03Yeah, that's right, in front of that hot shop.
12:05Where are you going?
12:07Inside to see a friend.
12:09Might just as well get the dough to pay you off right now.
12:12And I won't have to listen any more of your double talk.
12:18Hello, Penny.
12:19Well, well, Danny.
12:21Haven't seen you in a long time.
12:23I didn't think I'd ever be seeing you again.
12:25How come?
12:26Yeah, I thought that anybody who'd just beaten a murder rap
12:29would have sense enough to keep it clear.
12:32Not get mixed up with anything hot.
12:34Or is this a social visit?
12:36Not exactly.
12:38Uh, take a look at this.
12:40Hmm.
12:43It's a very nice diamond.
12:44Very nice indeed.
12:45What's it worth?
12:46Well, you really want to know what it's worth,
12:48or you want to know what I'll give you for it?
12:49What's the difference?
12:50No great deal.
12:52It's worth, uh...
12:53Let me take another look at it.
12:55Hmm.
12:56Yes, uh, it's worth ten, maybe twelve thousand dollars.
12:59I'll give you two thousand for it.
13:01What?
13:02Why, you old...
13:04What's the idea?
13:06It's very simple, Danny.
13:07You were tried for Carson's murder and you got off
13:09because you had a good lawyer
13:10and because there wasn't enough evidence.
13:13But if you were tried again, right now,
13:15you wouldn't do so well.
13:17Because this is the very best kind of evidence right here.
13:21You see, I happen to know that this is Carson's diamond.
13:25Yeah?
13:26Yes, Danny.
13:28That means that you wouldn't dare take it to anybody else.
13:30It wouldn't be wise for you even to take it out of this shop.
13:33And that's why it's very generous of me to offer you fifteen hundred for it.
13:36Fifteen hundred?
13:38But you just said...
13:41Okay, Finney.
13:43Take the diamond, give me the dough.
13:44That's very sensible of you, Danny.
13:46Go back tomorrow about the same time.
13:48I'm not going.
13:48I'm taking a powder out of town.
13:50I want the dough right now.
13:52All right, Danny.
13:53Wait out there and I'll get it for you.
14:01Seven.
14:04Twenty-one.
14:06Four.
14:07And...
14:09Here we are.
14:13There.
14:15Let's see.
14:17No!
14:20Sorry I had to be a knife, Finney.
14:21Danny!
14:23You...
14:25Stop!
14:26Couldn't take a chance with a gun, not with my friends outside.
14:32Shouldn't have drilled in such a hard bargain.
14:35Because now I'm not only going to take the diamond back,
14:37I'm going to take every cent you got in the safe.
14:40After all, it won't do you any good anymore.
14:47All right?
14:50Yeah, let's get going.
14:52You seem quite pleased with yourself.
14:55Why shouldn't I be?
14:56I got rid of the diamond and I finally got my hands on some real dough.
15:00I can pay you off now.
15:02What do I owe you?
15:03I told you, Danny.
15:04A great deal.
15:06Your life.
15:07Okay, don't build it up.
15:08What do you want in cash?
15:09I never said anything about money, Danny.
15:12There is something I want.
15:14When the right time comes, I...
15:17I think I'll get it.
15:27Yeah?
15:28Who is it?
15:29It's me, Danny.
15:30Frankie.
15:31Oh.
15:32Just a second.
15:37Hiya, Frankie.
15:38Fine.
15:40Still worried about how you are.
15:42Me?
15:43How come?
15:44I got a little job last night.
15:46Said you wanted to get in on it and you never showed up.
15:50Thought maybe you were sick or something.
15:52Oh, that.
15:53No, no, no.
15:54It's just that...
15:57Well, I changed my mind.
15:59Yeah?
16:00Yeah, I kind of thought it over.
16:01I decided I better stay in the clear.
16:05Let's go straight from now on.
16:06That's smart, Danny.
16:08Real smart.
16:09Yeah, I think so.
16:11How'd it go?
16:13Smooth as silk.
16:14We ended up with stuff worth...
16:16Well, three or four G's anyway.
16:18Yeah, that's swell.
16:20Yeah.
16:22It's only after it was all over that...
16:24We ran into something kind of funny.
16:27What was that?
16:29Well, the stuff was kind of hot and we thought we ought to unload right away,
16:31so we went down to Finney's.
16:33You know, the fence, huh?
16:35We got there, didn't seem like there was anyone around.
16:38I took a gander in the back room and...
16:41You won't believe this,
16:44but the safe was open.
16:46Cleaned out.
16:49There was Finney, dead.
16:52What?
16:55Well, you have any idea who did it?
16:58I don't know.
17:00It was knifed.
17:02Whoever got him left in such a hurry they forgot to take the knife with them.
17:06I got it right here.
17:07Let's, uh, let's see it.
17:09No, don't touch it, Danny. You might get your fingerprints on it and that'd be bad.
17:13I said don't touch it.
17:15I'll try any market tricks or I'll bash you for keeps.
17:20So you were going straight, huh?
17:22You mealy-mouthed devil-crosser.
17:26Where's the diamond?
17:28What are you talking about?
17:29Don't give me that.
17:32You think I know your knife when I see it?
17:34There's only one reason you'd go to see Finney.
17:37You cashed in on that diamond and you went and stacked it from Carson.
17:41Well, I wanted it.
17:44Okay.
17:47Okay, Frankie, you can have it.
17:49I've been having nothing but tough luck ever since I first laid eyes on it.
17:53It's over there in my bureau, hidden under my socks. I'll get it for you.
17:56You're starting to show some sense.
17:58Yeah, I think so.
18:03I'm sentenced to let you leave here knowing what you know.
18:09Now, get my friend the lawyer down here, everything will be hunky-dory.
18:26That sure got down here fast, Russell.
18:29Hey, what's the idea?
18:30Bringing Gayle with me?
18:32I thought she might be interested in anything you might have to say to me.
18:35You said something about another case?
18:38Yeah.
18:39Look over there, in the corner.
18:42Oh.
18:43Frankie?
18:45Frankie Ring?
18:47And he's dead.
18:48You killed him?
18:49Yeah.
18:50It was self-defense.
18:52See, he came down here to get me to go out on a job with him.
18:54I told him I wouldn't, that I was going straight, and he pulled a gun.
18:57There it is, in his hand.
18:59See?
19:00I got my own rod from the bureau, and, well, that was that.
19:05Sound OK?
19:06Fine.
19:07You know, it ain't going to be easy, I know.
19:09Me coming up for a second murder rap.
19:12But you can get me off.
19:13I got plenty of dough this time, I can really pay.
19:16The thing is, what do we do first?
19:17We don't do anything, Danny.
19:20There are a lot of things you can do.
19:22My suggestion is that you call the police, give yourself up.
19:26What?
19:27You mean you're not going to take this case?
19:29No, Danny.
19:30Why not?
19:31You found it for me the last time.
19:32Yes, Danny, and I told you why.
19:34I was assigned the case, couldn't turn it down.
19:37Besides, you were being tried for the wrong murder.
19:40But this time, it won't be the wrong murder, it'll be the right one.
19:44This is the one I said was finally going to catch up with you.
19:49I see.
19:51Is your car downstairs by any chance?
19:54Yes.
19:55Why?
19:56I'm starting to feel a little restless.
20:00Let's go places.
20:02Go ahead, march.
20:03Danny, what are you going to do?
20:05Are you kidding?
20:06You know about Stack and about Freddy.
20:09Somehow I don't think I'd sleep so good knowing that you knew.
20:12Besides that, there's one more you don't know about, Finney.
20:16I got in yesterday while you were waiting in the car.
20:18After your first three, they started to come easy, even James.
20:22We're going to take a little ride together.
20:25But I got a feeling we're not all of us coming back.
20:37Keep driving till I tell you to stop.
20:38Right.
20:41You're taking this awful quiet, the two of you.
20:44Maybe you don't think I'm going to go through with it.
20:46Oh, I think you intend to, all right.
20:48Whether you will or not is another story.
20:51So is the reason I'm taking it this way.
20:55Maybe this is as good a time as any to tell you a few things.
20:58Why I took your case in the first place.
21:01Well?
21:03It was because of Carson.
21:05He was my father's best friend.
21:08Kind of a second father.
21:11He who put me through law school.
21:14When he was murdered, I made up my mind to get to the bottom of it, find out who killed him.
21:18I didn't think it was you, and it wasn't.
21:20You were involved.
21:22And I knew that if I helped you get what the murder was committed for, the diamond,
21:26eventually you'd pay for the murder you committed.
21:29Well, now you've got not one, but three murders to pay for.
21:35What are you stopping for?
21:36Railroad crossing. There's a train coming. Can't you hear the bell?
21:39I told you to keep going till I said for you to stop.
21:41OK.
21:46Hey, what's the idea?
21:48Install the car.
21:49Yeah.
21:50To make sure it stays still, I'll just take these keys.
21:54Stanley, we're right on the track.
21:56Yeah, this is it.
21:59You fell in love, see? You ran away together, smacked into the train.
22:04What I'm trying to do is they're lost.
22:06I'll just wait over here and make sure everything goes the way it should.
22:11Well, dear.
22:13Somehow I'm not frightened.
22:16And I don't care.
22:16Hey, my foot! My foot!
22:19It's fine. It's raining.
22:21Hey, it's not coming down your track. It's coming down this one.
22:24Hey, what's up?
22:25Get out of here. Get out of here.
22:34It's Stanley.
22:36Yes.
22:38He's on the wrong track.
22:41Then he's been on the wrong track for a long time.
22:45John,
22:47what was it you said before about why you took the case?
22:52Was it true?
22:54Yes.
22:56But you always talked about payment, about something you wanted.
23:01I... I wanted justice.
23:05And I also wanted something else.
23:08Someone Danny had at first and then lost.
23:12Someone he didn't deserve.
23:14John...
23:15Yes, Jester.
23:17That's right.
23:19You.
23:28Say, what is this anyway?
23:30Inner sanctum or love's old sweet song?
23:34You'd better get yourself another tune, Professor.
23:36Or I'd better get myself another program to haunt.
23:40That's right. One more sappy ending like that and they can get themselves another host.
23:44Well, what was the matter with that ending?
23:46I thought it was the nicest one we've had this year.
23:49I thought it was sweet the way those two people discovered they loved each other.
23:53Listen, Mary, there's only one kind of sweet stuff that goes on this program.
23:57And that's sweet essence of cyanide.
24:11And now a word of advice, friend.
24:14Don't let tonight's story, all this business about dead men's deaths, prey on your mind too much.
24:20If you should wake up at about two in the morning and hear strange footsteps coming up the stairs toward your room, don't worry.
24:29It won't be a homicidal maniac.
24:31It will probably be the ghost of a bill collector coming to collect I owe you.
24:41By the way, this month's inner sanctum mystery novel is Lay That Pistol Down by Richard Powers.
24:47And now it's time to close the squeaking door.
24:50So, good night. Pleasant dreams.
25:05This is CBS, the Colombian broadcasting system.