- 20 hours ago
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. It was created by producer Himan Brown and was based on the imprint given to the mystery novels of Simon & Schuster.
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00:10Inner Sanctum Mysteries
00:13Good evening friends of the creaking door
00:28This is your host to welcome you in the Inner Sanctum
00:32Come in
00:33Into a gay little world of homicidal maniacs
00:37Vampires, ghosts
00:40Werewolves and assorted forms of sudden death
00:45Friends, if you ever walk through a cemetery at midnight
00:48And see a girl whose hair is on fire
00:50And who's carrying her head under her arm
00:53You know what to tell her, don't you?
00:56We'll just say, uh, keep a cool head on your shoulders
00:59And run like crazy
01:13All right, fellow ghouls
01:15You know what's going to happen now, don't you?
01:21That's right, you're going to scream your little heads off
01:23And love it
01:26Ready?
01:27Good
01:29And let's hear our star, Agnes Moorhead
01:31In the role of Claudia
01:33Tell us the story in her own words
01:40At exactly midnight, I saw him for the first time
01:43My headlights picked him up
01:45And he hailed me along a lonely stretch of road near my home
01:48I wouldn't have stopped
01:49But the storm was so fierce
01:51I felt sorry for him
01:53I drew up to the side of the road
01:58Thank you
01:59Going far?
02:00No, not far
02:02Where to?
02:03I'll let you know
02:03Oh, what's that?
02:07Where?
02:07There, on the side
02:10Tombstone
02:11Oh, there's a cemetery where I picked you up
02:13Yes
02:14Birchland
02:22He said nothing for a few minutes
02:25In the reflection of the dashboard light
02:26I saw his face for the first time
02:28Sunken eyes, hollow cheeks
02:30Mouth set in a queer grin
02:32A skull barely covered with a thin layer of milk-white flesh
02:36With a start, I realized he was staring at me
02:40I've seen you before
02:42I don't think we've met
02:43I know you
02:45Are you sure?
02:46Yes
02:47I'd never forget someone so beautiful
02:49Really?
02:51You're Claudia Dale
02:52Why, yes
02:53You're married to Howard Dale
02:54Yes, that's right
02:56But I don't seem to flesh you
02:57No, you wouldn't
02:59I know quite a lot about you
03:01Do you really?
03:03Your first husband was Willard Banks
03:05How do you know that?
03:06He died eight years ago
03:08For suicide
03:10Who are you?
03:11You don't know me
03:12Be careful, you're speeding
03:14I'm sorry, I didn't realize
03:16You're trembling
03:16How do you know so much about me?
03:18I just know
03:20Really?
03:21I suppose you had second sight or some such rubbish
03:23It's not rubbish
03:25Well, then tell me where I'm coming from
03:28Pittsfield
03:28You guess
03:30You went there to visit a sick friend
03:32Martha Walston
03:34You couldn't guess that
03:35Would you care to know more of yourself?
03:37No, I...
03:38I don't find your little trick particularly amusing
03:42Besides, what else do you think you can tell me about myself?
03:46Your future?
03:47No
03:49Your present husband
03:50Is dead
03:52Hi
03:53Murdered
03:54Oh, you're lying
03:55You'll find his body on the floor near the piano of your living room when you get home
03:59There are two bullets in his head
04:01You get out of here
04:02You get out of this car, you hear me?
04:04Get out
04:05All right
04:07It happens that this is where I wanted to go
04:10Good night
04:12And thank you, Mrs. Dale
04:17He vanished in the shadows on the side of the road
04:20And then I noticed something white and shining queerly at the spot where he disappeared
04:24I looked closely
04:25It was another tombstone in another cemetery
04:37I raced madly for home, fighting the hysteria that seized me
04:40The nightlight was burning in the living room
04:42Nothing he had said could be true
04:44Howard would take me in his arms and kiss me when I stepped into the house
04:48Somehow I managed to get my key in the lock
04:51I ran into the living room
04:56Don't move
04:58Who is it?
04:59I'm right behind you
05:00I've got a gun
05:01A gun?
05:03Get away from the body
05:04Who are you?
05:06Turn around
05:07You
05:08You murdered him
05:09Keep quiet
05:10Sit down
05:11Don't touch me
05:12I said sit down
05:16I'm sorry I had to slap you, but you were losing control
05:19You don't have to scream for the police
05:21Here's my badge
05:22You?
05:24Detective Sergeant Quinn
05:25Homicide
05:27Oh, I thought you were...
05:29Yes, I know
05:30Here, drink this
05:33Who is he?
05:35My husband
05:36You sure?
05:37When was he killed?
05:40About twenty hours ago
05:42Four yesterday morning
05:44How do you know?
05:45One of the bullets went wild
05:46Hit that clock on the mantel
05:48Where were you yesterday morning?
05:50Pitfield
05:51I stayed with a sick friend
05:53Martha Wallstone
05:54Look at these things
05:55I took them out of his pocket
05:56Are they all his?
05:59Yes
06:00Where's the snake ring?
06:02There were no rings
06:03But he had one
06:04It was quite valuable
06:05He was never without it
06:06I gave it to him
06:06All right, now look
06:09Oh, did he wear it on the third finger of his left hand?
06:12Yes
06:13Yes, there's a mark
06:14But no ring
06:16When did you come here?
06:17I drove in behind you
06:18You left the front door open
06:21I...
06:22I think I know who killed him
06:24Who?
06:25A man I met on the road coming here
06:26He knew my husband had been murdered
06:29He did?
06:29He even said his body would be near the piano
06:32Why did you see this guy?
06:33Oh, twenty minutes ago
06:35I picked him up on the road
06:36Where?
06:37At Birchland Cemetery
06:39What's his name?
06:41Oh, I don't know
06:42But he...
06:42He looked like a human cadaver
06:45Like a man who's dead
06:46I...
06:48You don't believe me
06:50Why did you kill your husband?
06:52What?
06:52What do you say?
06:54You heard me
06:54Why, I told you I was in Pittsfield
06:57Why did you go there?
06:57Martha was ill
06:58Were you there at four yesterday morning?
07:00Of course I...
07:01Don't lie
07:02Will you stop shouting at me?
07:03I told you who killed him
07:04What are you trying to do to me?
07:06Isn't it enough to come home and find Howard like that without you...
07:09Oh, in heaven's name, leave me alone
07:12Leave me alone
07:23Another scotch lady?
07:25No
07:26No, thanks
07:28Here
07:29Keep the change
07:30I'm leaving
07:30Sit down, Mrs. Dale
07:32Don't go yet
07:34You?
07:34Yes
07:35Don't you please sit down
07:38Yes
07:38Are they making it difficult?
07:40Oh, it's a nightmare
07:42Who are you?
07:44I'll tell you later
07:47Why'd you come here?
07:48To talk to you
07:48I knew I'd find you here
07:51Oh, yes
07:53Yes, you knew
07:55You're not so skeptical now
07:59No
08:01What did you want to tell me?
08:03That you're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen
08:07That I love you
08:09I've loved you since I first saw you seven years ago when you came here to live with your husband
08:12Is that why...
08:13Why I killed him?
08:15Is that what you were going to say?
08:17Yes
08:19I'm not an ordinary man, Mrs. Dale, but I'm not a fool
08:22On this card you'll find my name, address, and telephone number
08:26Do you really believe I'd phone you?
08:28Oh, yes
08:30There'll come a time when you'll want love
08:35Good night, Mrs. Dale
08:38Good night
08:52Hello, operator
08:53Get me police headquarters
08:55Hurry, please
09:03Yes?
09:04That's him, Detective Quinn
09:05That's Garth Dragman
09:06Thank you, Mrs. Dale
09:07Would you mind coming down to headquarters, Mr. Dragman?
09:10Not at all
09:11Did she tell you I murdered her husband?
09:14Yes
09:14Yes, I thought she would
09:20I didn't sleep a wink that night
09:22Twice I got out of bed and drove to police headquarters
09:25The lights were blazing in Quinn's office, but I didn't go in
09:28The third time, I couldn't bear waiting
09:31I went in
09:34Oh, Mrs. Dale
09:35Well?
09:36I'm glad you stopped by
09:38We checked everything Dragman said
09:40Seems he was in the same bar and grill where you met him tonight when your husband was killed
09:45What about the things he said to me in the car?
09:48How could he know about the murder before you or I?
09:50I don't know
09:52Perhaps he does have second sight
09:54He's an odd-looking fellow, isn't he?
09:57But you can't arrest a man for murder because of that
09:59He's criminally insane, I know he is
10:02My dear Mrs. Dale
10:03He is!
10:03I know
10:05Oh, what's the use?
10:11I had loved Howard
10:13I was determined to find the man who murdered him
10:16I went to Garth Dragman's home
10:18I was about to ring the doorbell
10:20When...
10:20Don't ring, Mrs. Dale
10:21The door is open
10:26Come in
10:27You...
10:29You were expecting me?
10:30Yes
10:31I was expecting you
10:33Do you still think I killed your husband?
10:37I don't know what to think anymore
10:39Do you want me to find the person who murdered him?
10:41Yes
10:42More than anything in the world
10:44I have strange gifts, Mrs. Dale
10:48I'll find your murderer for you
10:50On one condition
10:53What's that?
10:55That you marry me
10:59I felt my body turn to ice
11:01I knew I was talking to a man
11:04I was sure I was talking to the man who had murdered my husband
11:15Or maybe you think that Claudia doesn't have the courage to trap this homicidal Romeo
11:22Well, we'll let our star Agnes Moorhead in the role of Claudia tell you
11:26Go ahead, Claudia
11:28Shock him into the shakes
11:31Two weeks later, I married Garth Dragman
11:34He was the strangest man I ever knew
11:37He would disappear for days at a time
11:38And then suddenly turn up without warning
11:40He had all the money he wanted, yet I never knew where he came from
11:44There was a closet in his room
11:46Which was always kept locked and bolted
11:48I knew from the way he acted about it
11:50That the closet contained the answer to all the things I wanted to know about him
11:55One night, while he was away, I obtained tools and tried to force the lock
12:00Good evening, Claudia
12:04You didn't expect me back, did you?
12:06No, I...
12:07I knew you'd try to open that closet someday
12:10Why do you keep it locked?
12:12So that no one but me could know what's in there
12:14Not even me?
12:15You in particular
12:16But, Doc...
12:18You...
12:19You won't attempt to open it again, will you, Claudia?
12:22No
12:23Forgive me for striking you
12:26But I'm not quite myself tonight
12:27I sometimes do things I regret when these moods come upon me
12:33Yes, of course
12:34It's something few people know
12:35But a person who has extraordinary powers
12:38Carries an extraordinary burden
12:40You mean your gift of prophecy
12:42Yes, yes
12:42I...
12:43I didn't care to mention it
12:44It seems to upset you so
12:46Well, if it doesn't frighten me any longer
12:49Did you read in the newspaper about a woman's body being found in a river?
12:53She'd been murdered
12:55Yes, it was in this evening's paper
12:58They don't know who she is
13:00I can tell you who she is
13:02Josephine Ford
13:03A stupid girl, Claudia
13:05I could have told you three days ago that she'd be murdered
13:08How do you know these things?
13:10Because I see them
13:11In a sort of vision
13:14But just now...
13:15Just now I'm seeing another vision
13:16It's a house 3, 4, 6 Harbor Street down near the waterfront
13:21A young woman lies in bed reading
13:23She's very attractive
13:25In an hour she'll be dead
13:27And when the police come they'll find her body decapitated
13:31Oh, God
13:33While you were gone, Martha Wallstone telephoned
13:36She's ill again
13:37She asked me to come up immediately
13:38Well, why didn't you go?
13:39Well, I was waiting for you to get home before I left
13:42You want to leave immediately?
13:44If you don't mind, it's really an emergency
13:51It took only a few minutes to get to the waterfront
13:54I found the house of 3, 4, 6 Harbor Street
13:57I went in
13:58The lamp in the bedroom was burning
14:00I looked at the bed
14:02I fainted
14:14All right, Mrs. Dale
14:33He only knows how many others
14:34Mrs. Dale, don't you realize that you haven't got a single piece of evidence to back up your contention?
14:39Well, I'll get the evidence tonight
14:40Will you let me have a gun?
14:42No
14:42Well, will you be near my house?
14:44I'll need protection
14:45Now, after all...
14:46What must I do to convince you what he is?
14:48I've risked my own life and I'm willing to risk it again
14:51He's a monster
14:52Are you going to wait until he murders me before you believe what I say?
14:56All right
14:57I'll give it a try
14:59I'll come back to your house with you
15:01If you want me for an emergency, smash the window pane
15:08We drove back together
15:10I dropped Detective Quinn on the corner
15:12The house seemed deserted when I came in
15:15I wasn't taking any chances
15:17I went to the kitchen
15:18Got a knife
15:20Hit it in the folds of the long-sleeved gown I was wearing
15:23I went into Garth's room
15:25He wasn't there
15:27But the closet door was open
15:30What I saw in there nearly made me ill
15:34Clothes
15:35Garth's clothes
15:36Some of them bloodstained
15:38I forced myself to examine them
15:40Then I found something that made my heart beat faster
15:43A little jewelry case
15:44I'll take that closet
15:46Give me that jewelry case, please
15:48No, no, don't take it
15:49Thank you
15:50Garth
15:50I get away from that window, Claudia
15:52Do as I tell you
15:53Oh, no, don't, don't shoot Garth
15:55You were so anxious to see what's in that closet
15:57Well, now you have
15:59Sit down
16:00What are you going to do?
16:01Tell me who killed your husband
16:03You
16:04Now
16:05You
16:07You're insane
16:08I've written out a confession for you to sign
16:10What will happen if I don't sign it?
16:11I credited you with more imagination
16:14Would you like to hear us?
16:16Yes
16:17Yes, read it, please
16:18Sit over here, away from that window
16:19Yes
16:22I, Claudia Dale, murdered my first husband, Willard Banks, for his insurance by administering poison
16:28My first husband
16:29Yes, Claudia
16:30I mean to make this document strong enough to send you to your death if I wish
16:34I've got all the details here
16:35Just how you murdered your first husband
16:38And how you killed your second
16:40Shall
16:41Shall I go on?
16:42No
16:42You know it's a lie
16:44Will you sign it?
16:45Of course not
16:46Just what is your game anyway?
16:48If you want to kill me, why don't you shoot?
16:49You've been very successful before
16:50There's no reason why you shouldn't succeed again
16:52Go on, go on, shoot
16:54You put me in a very difficult position, Claudia
16:58You see, you have found out certain things about me
17:01Things that would cost me my life
17:04I should prefer to see you live
17:08Because I love you
17:10But I shouldn't hesitate to murder you
17:14You love me?
17:15Yes
17:16Yet you haven't taken me in your arms once since I've known you
17:20The right time hasn't arrived
17:22And what do you consider the right time?
17:25When I feel that you understand me
17:27When I feel that you who murdered two men would understand my deep and strange desires
17:36You really believe I'm a murderer?
17:39Yes
17:40And that's why I love you
17:44Then the time is now
17:45The time
17:47To take me in your arms
17:50Claudia
17:53He still held a gun
17:55He wasn't more than two inches from me
17:59I turned my lips up to him
18:01I twisted my body to get out of the range of his revolver
18:05When I felt his lips touch mine
18:07I slowly let the knife slip into my hand
18:13Slowly, caressingly
18:14I drew my hand up toward his neck
18:17Then I plunged the blade in
18:19I'm calling you
18:23Hurry!
18:24Hurry!
18:24I'm coming!
18:26Hurry!
18:28Hurry!
18:30What happened?
18:31I killed him
18:32And here is the proof that he murdered my husband
18:35I found it in the jewelry case he had in his pocket
18:36It's the stake ring that was missing from my husband's body
18:39Now, do you believe me?
18:48That's it
18:50That's the whole story
18:52I realize that you as the district attorney must know all the facts
18:56And there they are
18:59Thank you
19:00There are a few points in the story that interest me particularly
19:04First, the confession that he asked you to sign
19:07What about it?
19:08The confession says that you were not in Pittsfield at 4 a.m. when your husband was killed
19:12That you gave your friend Martha Wallstone a sleeping pill
19:15Drove down here, shot your husband
19:17Drove back to Pittsfield
19:19Turned Miss Wallstone's bedside clock to 4.15 and wakened her
19:23Then you gave her some medicine to impress the time on her
19:26She thought it was 4.15 and went back to sleep
19:29Well, Garth was staring clever at things like this
19:32He had the extraordinary brilliance of the insane
19:34Just one question
19:37Was that the way that you murdered Howard Dale?
19:39Aye
19:41But Garth murdered him
19:42The ring folded
19:43He never had the ring
19:44You put it in the jewelry box
19:45I can't believe what you say
19:48Garth was a homicidal maniac
19:50He predicted the death of the people he murdered
19:52Mrs. Dragman
19:54Don't you know yet
19:56Know what?
19:57Garth Dragman was a detective working out of my office
20:00That's how he knew about those deaths
20:02He was put on the case because we suspected you of murdering your first husband as well as your second
20:07A detective?
20:08Yes
20:10And you are going to die for killing him
20:13It was extremely daring and clever of you to murder him
20:16But you never would have gotten away with it if he hadn't kissed you
20:20He kissed you because he fell in love with you
20:24The poor fool
20:35Well, friends
20:36That just goes to prove you should never pick up hitchhikers who come out of cemeteries at night
20:44I'll bet you've guessed the moral for our story
20:47Well, it's taken from a famous quotation that Harry the hangman uttered
20:52Jureka Nightmare
20:53Quote
20:55Never steal the rings of people you murder
20:58On account of
21:00That's robbery
21:09Well, friends, it's time once again to close that creaking door
21:13Until next week at this same time when we'll be back with a little hunk of horror
21:20You'll be sure to listen, aren't you?
21:22Until next week, then
21:24Good night
21:28Pleasant dreams
21:39I'll see you next week, then
21:39Thank you
22:02Inner Sanctum has come to you through the worldwide facilities
22:05of the United States Armed Forces Radio and Television Service.
22:09The United States Armed Forces Radio and Television Service
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