43-12-16_Wet_Saturday.txt

Suspense presented by Roma Wines, made in California for enjoyment throughout the world. Salo, your health, senor. Roma toasts the world. The wine for your table is Roma, made in California for enjoyment throughout the world. This is the man in black, here for the Roma Wine Company of Fresno, California, to introduce this weekly half hour of suspense. Tonight in Hollywood, Roma brings you the MGM star, Mr. Charles Lawton. The suspense play which stars Charles Lawton, and which is produced and directed by William Spear, is called Wet Saturday. This remarkable and sardonic story is rather difficult to describe. It, well, it most certainly isn't a whodunit, is it, Mr. Lawton? No, no, it definitely isn't. The question involved is not at all a matter of whodunit, it's a matter of whether or not the who who done it is going to get it in the neck. And if not, then who is, regardless of who actually done it? It's very complicated. Very well put, sir. And before the curtain rises on suspense, will you eavesdrop with me a moment? Dinner is over, a delightful dinner in one of the great homes of a land far to the south. And one of the guests is complimenting his host. Har, Raoul, your reputation as a host grows with each of your magnificent dinners. That superb wine tonight, where did you find such perfection? I will tell you a great secret. When I visited our good neighbor and ally, the United States, I tasted the wines of their California and knew instantly it was a great wine country. And I learned that some of their very choicest vineyards produced the wine we enjoyed tonight. Roma wine. Our good neighbor to the south is right. Our own sunny California provides perfect conditions of climate and soil to produce some of the world's finest wines. And note this what your wine connoisseur of another land prized as an expensive import, with import duties and high shipping costs included in his purchase price, comes to you from the great Roma wineries in California as an inexpensive American product. Roma's wide varieties of types and Roma's modest costs. Means that you can enjoy these fine wines often when entertaining guests as a pre meal appetizer to serve with meals or for after dinner enjoyment. You will be amazed at how little your dealer will ask for an assortment of several types of these fine Roma wines. Visit your dealer tomorrow and ask him for Roma, R O M A, America's largest selling wine, made in California for enjoyment throughout the world. And now, with Wet Saturday and with the performance of Charles Lawton. We again hope to keep you in suspense. On this rainy afternoon, we should like you to meet the Princey family and their visitor. They are, of course, at home. Mrs. Princey, daughter Millicent, George, the son and heir, spalled on a couch, and finally, Mr. Princey, fighting on a dry pipe. Their living room is dull and overstuffed. Rain beats at the windows. They are any middle class family at home on a wet day, except for one small item. As you sit with them in the living room, you can see through the door to the sun porch a pair of men's feet encased in high black shoes. They look like the feet of a curate. There is a tenseness in the room. The air is charged with excitement. The feet are very still. But don't keep staring at them. Listen to me, all of you. Don't you see? They'd hang her. That's what they'd do. They'd hang her. Oh, Fred, it's too awful. Awful? It's catastrophic. A supposedly sweet, gentle, intelligent girl, respected and loved by the whole village, doing a thing like this. Think of the publicity and the disgrace. Do you think I'm going to resign from the bench, the vestry, and sell out and live in some foggy hotel abroad? Oh, no. No. No. I'll kill myself. I will, I will. Don't be a fool. Any more than you have been, the governor, me. Will you be quiet? It wouldn't be so bad if it were you, George. Everybody in the village knows you're not responsible. Get off that couch and sit up in your spine. You might be of a little use here if you could think. Oh, as I say, governor, this isn't my funeral. Shut up. As long as I can remember, George, you've been a trial and tribulation to me. Oh, I can't stand it. I can't stand it. You've got to stand it, my dear. And keep that hysterical note out of your voice. Do you hear? Yes. Yes. We are talking about the weather. Now, George. Yeah? George, if he fell down the old well, say, striking his head several times, what about that? I really don't know, Governor. What about it? Don't be an ass, George. I'm asking you to think. He'd have had to hit the side several times in 30 or 40 feet, and it was all the correct angles. No, no, I'm afraid not. I'm afraid that won't do it. Oh, we'll have to go over it all again, Millicent. Oh, no, Father. No, I couldn't. I couldn't. Millicent? We must go over it all again. Save, you're torturing her. Oh, face facts, Mater, with him lying there. No use pretending it's a picnic. We might hang you, Millicent. Oh, do stop that shaking. Stop it, Millicent. Stop it. You must stop it. You must keep your voice quiet, Millicent. We are talking about the weather. Now we will proceed. I can't. I can't not with those feet there. You should have thought of that, Millie. I'm not moving her. Shut up, George, and stop shuffling your feet. Now, Millicent, look at me and answer me truthfully. Do you hear? Answer me. You were in the croquet court? Yes. Who knew you were in love with this wretched curate? The whole village knows. They've been sniggering about it in the pub for three years past. Shut up, George. Millicent, we continue. You were on the croquet court? Yes. You were putting the croquet set into its box? Yes, it was starting to rain. I was carrying the balls and mallets into the sun porch. The box was there. You heard someone enter the garden gate and come across the yard? Yes. Could you see who it was? Not at first. I was going into the sand porch. I threw down all the mallets but the red one and turned around. And it was Withers? Yes. So you called him? Yes. Loudly? Did you call him loudly? Could anyone have heard? No, Father, I'm sure not. I didn't really call him. I just spoke his name. He saw me as I went to the door and he just waved his hand and came over. Now, can I find out from you whether there was anyone about, whether he could have been seen? I'm sure not, Father. I'm quite sure. So you both went into the sun porch? Yes, it was raining hard then. What did he say? He said, Hello, Millie, and excuses coming in the back way, but he set out to walk over to Liston. Yes. And he said, passing your park, you've seen the house, and suddenly thought of me, and he thought he'd just look in for a minute. He had something to tell me. Yes, go on. He said he was so happy he wanted me to share it. He'd heard from the bishop he was to have vicarage, and it wasn't only that. It meant he could marry. And he began to stutter and get all confused. And because I thought it meant me. Don't tell me what you thought. Tell me exactly what he said. Nothing else. Yes, answer, Governor. Well, well. Oh, dear. Stop crying. It's a luxury you can no longer afford. Tell me what happened. He said, no. He said it wasn't me. It's Ella Bragdon Davis. And he was sorry and all that. Then he went to go. And then? I got mad. He turned his back. I had the red mallet of the croak he set in my hand. I'd forgot to drop it in the box when I came, and I was just. Did you shout or scream? I mean, as you hit him? No, I'm sure I didn't. Did he? Come on, speak up. You've got a tongue in your ear. No, Father. And then? I threw it down. I came straight in here. I went to look for mother, that's all. My poor baby. And you're sure no one else was about? No, no one. No one. Leave the child alone, Fred. You're not such a child, Mater. Oh, Millie, I had no idea. George, will you keep quiet? I'm thinking. You see, George, he probably told people he was going to listen. Certainly no one knows he came here, for he didn't decide until he crossed the park. He might have been attacked in the woods. We must consider every detail. A curate with his head battered in. Oh, don't bother, don't. Oh, shut up. A curate with his head battered in. A curate with his head battered in. Well, who would want to kill with us? Who'd want to kill with us? Well, I would, with pleasure. How do you do, Mrs. Princey? Well, well, well, well. Sit down, sit down. Craig, you mustn't get up for me, Mrs. Princey. You are the millicent, my word, but I'm just being neighborly on a bad day. I wanted to ask you about those dahlia bulbs, Princey. I took a short cut on account of the rain and. Walk right in. I knew you wouldn't mind. He heard you, Father. Oh, dear. We can all have our little jokes, can't we? Don't you pretend to be shocked. This way, Smollett. This chair facing the fireplace, old man. Sit down, Mother. Just straighten the curtain to the sun porch, dear. It looks so gloomy out there. Might as well shut the rain out. Well, we were just talking about a little theoretical curate killing, Smollett. Young people these days like. Past Sunnyside? Justifiable personicide. You heard about Ella Bragdon Davis? I should be a proper laughingstock. Why should you be a proper laughingstock? Oh, I had a shot in that direction myself. Did you? She half said yes, too. Hadn't you heard? She told most people. Now I look as if I were jilted. Too bad. Oh, fortune of war. Yes, fortune of war. Yes, odd how that happens, isn't it? Sit down, Smallest Old Mailer. Mother, Millicent, would you console Captain Smollett with your best light conversation? George and I have something to look at outside. The rain, you know. It's very bad, very bad. Come along, George. Right there, Governor. Perhaps you will need raincoats, huh? Oh, I don't think so, George. Just make yourself at home, Smollett. Make yourself at home, I'm going. A cigarette, Captain Smollett. Thank you, thank you. Nasty day to be going out. Oh, it's something about the old well just off the sun porch door, you know. This terrible sodden weather seems to have loosened some of the stones. Too bad, too dashed bad. Spoils the tennis and the croquet. I mean, a day like this, doesn't it, Millie? Yes, it does. She was practicing out on the croquet court earlier. But do pull your chair nearer the fire, Captain. It was so damp, we thought it would be cozy to light it. Thank you. I'm quite comfortable. I hope you don't feel too bad about Ella Bragdon, David. Oh, can't always win, you know. Can't understand what you women see in these bloodless clerics. Oh, I always thought Mr. Withers was a very charming man. I quite agree, but why should anyone want to marry him? You wouldn't want to marry him, would you, Miller? Not now. That is, I. I used to. Oh, no, of course not. Smollett. Oh, yes, Princess. Good lord, man. You come on fairly suddenly. I suppose I did. You don't mind this old double-barreled shotgun, do you, Smollett? I've been working on it. Might I have your attention for a minute? There's something on the sun porch I'd like to show you. Oh, yes, yes, of course. Smollett, George and I went out to see if we could shoot some rats which had been driven out of the old well by the high water. We were afraid they might get into the house. But you must listen to me very carefully, very carefully, or you'll be shot by accident. Prince, what's the matter with you? You heard me ask as you came in who would kill Withers. You also heard Millicent make a comment, an unguarded comment. Well, what of it? Very little, unless you were to hear that Withers had met with a violent end this afternoon. And that, my dear Smollett, is. What you were going to hear. What? Mither's dead? Yes. Who killed him? Millicent. Good Lord. Oh, shut up, sniveling Millie. Yes, it's a mess. And of course, you would have remembered and guessed. Oh, maybe. Yes, I suppose I should. Therefore, you constitute a problem. Why did she kill him? It's one of those disgusting things. Pitiable, too, I think. She deluded herself that he was in love with her. Good heavens. Millie, yes, of course, I see. He told her about the Davis girl, Ella Bragdon Davis. I understand. I have no wish, as you will comprehend, that she should be proved either a lunatic or a murderess. I could hardly go on living here after that, could I? Besides, I'm rather fond of Millie. Quite. On the other hand, you know about it. Yes, I see. That makes me a problem. You were wondering if I could keep my mouth shut. If I promised. I'm wondering if I could believe you. But if I promised. If things went smoothly, yes. But not if there was any sort of suspicion or any questioning. You would be afraid of being an accessory. I don't know. I do. What are we going to do? I can't see anything else. I mean, you'll never be fool enough to do me in. You can't get rid of two corpses. Well, I regard it as a better risk than the other. It could be an accident, or you and Withers could both disappear. There are possibilities in that, of course. Listen, you can't. I can. But there may be a way out. There is Smollett. You gave it to him yourself. I did. What? Well, you said you would kill Withers. You have a motive. Oh, look here now. I was built. Smollett, I can't trust you. You must trust me, or else I will kill you now in the next minute. I mean that. You can choose between living and dying. Go on. There's the old well just outside the sun porch door. That's where I'm going to put Withers. No one outside knows he's come up here this afternoon. No one will ever look there for him unless you tell them. Now, you must give me evidence that you have murdered Withers. I murdered him? Why do you want that? So that I shall be dead sure that you'll never open your lips on the subject. I see. What evidence? George? Yes, Governor? Hit him in the face. Sure! You keep out of this. Captain, you should be more careful. Look what your teeth did to my knuckle. Do it again, George. Oh, yes. Oh, yes. Barnum, how can you? You keep quiet, Millie. Stop sniveling. I'm sorry, Smollett, but there must be traces of a struggle between you and with us. Then it will be not altogether safe for you to go to the police. Now, George, would you get the croquet mallet? All right, yes. And, George, take your handkerchief to it. You'll find it there on the sun porch floor. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I got it, Captain. That's right, boy. Huh? There, Captain, there's the weapon. Since I told you, Smiley, there it was. Now, if you please, just grasp the end that mashed Withers' head. I shall shoot you if you don't. Good Lord, you can't. There. All right. That's it, old boy. That's right. Now, deposit it by the side of the house. Out of the rain, of course. Now, wait, George. First, you'd better pull a few hairs out of his head and put them under the nail of Withers' right hand. Wait, I'm sorry to mush your hair up, Captain. Oh. Oh! Don't be a baby smack. That's all we need. And I'll for Withers, and we'll fix it right up. I'll be right with you, Governor. Smollett, you may turn round now. Withers is just there in the sun porch. Draw back the curtain, old man. Good Lord. Yes. Messy. Now, you, Smollett, now you've just got to drag him through the door and dump him in the old well. Just beyond the door, Captain. I. I won't touch my wound. All right, all right. Stand aside, George. Out of range, George. Just over there. There's only one place I want this charge of shot to go to. Now, Millie, you keep quiet and stop sniveling. My aim is. Wait a minute. That's better. That's better, Smollett. Much better. Now, go along now. In here. You've got to take him outside, old boy. Why, the shoulders ought to do it. You keep quiet, George. Now, go on, Smollett. Go on. Under the arms. You've seen dead men before. Now, don't go green. Drag him out. Drag him, old boy. Do a little pulling. I'll just hold the gun here to make sure. Everything goes all right. Steady now. Mind a step there. Mother. Come away from the window, dear. Don't look. But Captain Smollett. Your father is a very resourceful man, Millicent. I'm sure what he's doing is the. But Captain, I can't stand it. You mustn't question your dear father. Say, you're too still, Edith. There's enough trouble around here without blubbering. Don't you call me blubbering, George Presty. No, I won't. You see, Smollett, everything you've Perfectly safe. You remember, you see, that no one knows that Withers came here. Everyone thinks he walked off to Liston. He's had five miles of country to search. They'll never look in our well. Don't you see how safe it is? I guess so. Good heavens, old boy, you're dripping wet. Why don't you slip your raincoat on? Is the tea ready, dear? In just a minute, dear. I'll ring for Bridget. It's exactly what you need, Smollett. A nice, hot cup of tea. It's the best thing in the world to ward off a cold. Sit down, won't you, old man? Don't you mind getting the chair wet? That's all right. Would you have a cigarette? No, no. Oh, Priscilla, boy. See, I stick to my part. Funny how you get attached to part. My wife always says to me. Everything's up, ma'am. Oh, Bridget, yes. Put the tray in front of me here on the table. Say, Captain. Why, you've cut your lip. Oh, well, I just knocked it. Why, how dreadful. Here, Bridget, give the Captain this cup. No, no, no, no. Thank you. I rather think I'll be running along, if you don't mind. Why, Captain Smollett, without any tea. If you don't mind, Mrs. Princey, if I could. Just have my raincoat. Oh, I'll get it for you, Captain. This is very distressing, Smollett. Very odd. I'll be all right presently, I'm sure. Oh, here we are. Let me help you, sir. Thank you, young man. There. You'd better go out the front way, Smollett. The walk is drier. Oh, let me hold the door for you, Captain. And don't worry, old fellow. Don't worry at all. No, no, no. I won't fill it up to the room. It's nothing serious, I imagine, dear. A little rest, of course. He'll be as right as rain. Oh, by the way. Millicent, you're not looking any too well, dear. Not well at all. I'm sure it was that croquet court. Being outdoors in weather like this is simply foolhardy. Yes. Mate is right, Mary. You saw what happened to Captain Smollett. Come along, dear. I shall give you a hot foot bath and put you to bed. A couple of days in bed and you'll be fine again. You get plenty of rest, Millicent, and don't you worry about a thing. That's the best cure for you, dear. I guess I'll have a little nap, too, Governor. Fine afternoon for a nap. Yes, it is. Nice. Indeed, it is, Sam. Well, enjoy yourself, boy. I'll see you later. I'll see you all later. Your number, please. Oh, would you get me to the police station? Police station? By the way, sir. Police headquarters. Sergeant Yancey speaking. Oh, hello, Sergeant. This is Princey of Everett's Road. I believe you know me. Oh, indeed I do, Mr. Princey. Sergeant, a rather horrible thing has just occurred. Quite extraordinary. It's murder, in fact. Murder? I'm afraid it looks rather bad. Well, it's for a close friend of ours, unfortunately. We saw him do it. I think you'd better send someone over right away. Well, our man should be there right about now, Mr. Princey. I beg your pardon. I say, our man should be there now. Constable Martin has his post right below your house there, just running in. Seems Captain Smollett was with him. Captain Smollett? They reported some rather queer goings on at your place, but I certainly didn't understand it was murder. But just don't touch anything, Mr. Princey, and don't worry. Don't worry at all. No, no, no, no, Sergeant. I won't worry thinking. Governor, where are you? Governor, where are you? I'm right here and stop shouting. We have some visitors, Governor. I can see that on the phone. Well, Constable. Good afternoon. Hello, Smollett. Say, what a remarkable fellow you are coming back like this, here to reenact the crime. Only the one against me, Princey. The one against the curate I'll leave to you people. Extraordinary sense of humor you have. Mr. Princey, I just had a look at what's in your well. Not a pretty sight, that. Not pretty at all. Yes, Captain Smollett was thaler, if nothing else. You saw him when he did it, sir, out in the back. Oh, yes, yes, oh, quite. We were just returning from a walk, and Smollett had evidently been lying for the curate, hiding out in those bushes by the road, I imagine. He was never inside this house. Never. Ah, and you say, Captain? I say that while I was inside this house, a guest of the family, I was coerced into dragging the curate's body outside and dumping it in the well. Well, there we are. Well, not entirely, Constable. I'll just remove my raincoat here and demonstrate how damp I got my clothes when I went. Outside without it. Now, that's interesting, isn't it? Yes, yes. He undoubtedly removed his coat at some point between here and your post. I might as well tell you that his weapon, a red croquet mallet, is out by the side of this house. I shouldn't be at all surprised that you'd find his fingerprints all over it. All over the end of the mallet, Constable. The end that mashed with his head. Not the end I'd have to grasp in order to do the mashing. That's a decent try, Smollett, but it won't work. There must be other evidence, Constable. You undoubtedly find it when you examine the body. He means a hair under Withers' nails. Well, sir, I happened to notice something when your young George there opened the door for me. If you'll carefully look, I believe you'll find a few of my precious hairs under his nails, too. What are you trying to say? All right, George, will you? Constable, this is a complete waste of time. So far as a violent struggle between Smollett and Withers is concerned, Smollett's face speaks for itself quite eloquently. But no more eloquently than your son's knuckles. As you see, Constable, a fresh abrasion. He did that on my teeth. Oh, uh, hmm. Or, uh, did he? What? I said, uh, or did he? He might have done that on Wither's teeth. Oh, oh, I see. I see what you mean. Oh, but I didn't, Governor. He said that I didn't. Now, here, you keep still, you Litwit. Let me think. Let me think. As a matter of fact, George, the more I think of it, the more I'm convinced it was your voice I heard. Quite a vigorous quarrel. Something about the curate jilting your sister. Don't be ridiculous, Smollett. Pretty well, Princey. If he didn't do it, who did? Yes, that's what I'd like to know. How about it, Mr. Princey? Yes, that is a sticker, all right. George, my boy, it looks to me as if you're elected. Elected? What do you mean? I didn't do it. Keep your mouth shut, Walter. Well, I won't, sir. I'm not going to take the blame for her. Millie did it. She did it with the manners I saw. Me? Oh, yeah. Millie? You could prove that? Prove it? Well, yes. Yes. Her fingerprints on the mallet. Why? George. Don't you remember when you made me touch the mallet when you picked it up with your handkerchief? George, I'm sure you wiped that handle clean. Oh, well, I can hardly expect you to remember that if you can't even remember killing the curate. I told you to keep still, George. I am. Thinking. For God's sake, you're not going to let him say this. As long as I can remember, George, you have been a trial and tribulation to me. What? You shouldn't have done it, George. You shouldn't have done it. Now let's all have a nice hot cup of tea. Warms the cockles they are. Very good for you, Mother Wills. And so closes Wet Saturday, starring Mr. Charles Lawton, tonight's tale of suspense. In just a moment, we shall hear again from Mr. Lawton. But first, let me ask you a question. Isn't it true that things we most enjoy are so often the little extra things, and more often than not, something that pleases the taste? That suggests a bottle of really good wine, Roma wine. It's so easy for you to make certain of high quality in your wine because all you have to do is to go to your dealer and ask for Roma, America's largest selling wines. They are made in California, one of the world's greatest wine producing sections. You'll have your choice of Roma's great variety of types from a delicious tangy sherry, a brilliant claret, or a hearty burgundy to a sweeter, heavier port. And you will be so impressed by the modest cost of Roma wines, you will want to enjoy them regularly at home as well as when you entertain. For this traditional form of hospitality is smart yet inexpensive. A full measure of enjoyment, yet moderation in its best sense. For wines with greatness of character, always ask for Roma wines. R O M A. Made in California for enjoyment throughout the world. But remember, before you buy wine, By War Bonds and Stamps. Hello, this is Charles Lawton. I hope you enjoyed our play this evening. And next week, I'm told that Suspense will bring you another of John Collier's stories. It's one of my very particular favorites. It's called Back for Christmas, and your star will be Peter Laurie. Charles Lawton appeared by courtesy of Metro Goldwyn Mayer, producers of the Technicolor musical Thousands Cheer. Don't forget, then, next Thursday, same time, for Peter Laurie in Suspense. Presented by Roma Wine, ROMA, made in California for enjoyment throughout the world. This is the Columbia Broadcasting System. I'm sorry.