- 21 hours ago
- #oldtimeradio
There are lots of spies and intrigue on a Turkish train entering Syria. Good of this type. You are speeding through the Turkish night on the tourist express alone and unarmed and somewhere on the train is a calm killer from whom you must escape.
#oldtimeradio
#oldtimeradio
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00:12You are speeding through the Turkish night on the Taurus Express.
00:16You are alone and unarmed, and somewhere on the train is a calm killer from whom you must escape.
00:35Escape, produced and directed by William N. Robson, and carefully contrived to free you from the four walls of today
00:42for a half hour of high adventure.
00:50Tonight we escape to Turkey, and the Taurus Express, which carries a shipment of death, as Harold Lamb told it
00:58in his exciting story, Three Good Witnesses.
01:17I took the Taurus Express that night because I was going home, back to the United States, back to California,
01:25and my routine job at the oil company.
01:28Two days before, I'd given my final report to our State Department man in Istanbul, a negative report.
01:35In Mr. Ward, your considered opinion is that there is no oil in this area?
01:39Not enough to be worth drilling for. Not at this late date. War would be over before we could get
01:44out 10,000 barrels.
01:45You're being optimistic, Mr. Ward. War isn't over yet. Who can say when it will be?
01:51Well, that's true, but...
01:52What does Arvark say?
01:53He agrees with me completely. So does Wyndham, the British engineer. We're all agreed.
01:58Three good witnesses, hmm? Well, then that settles it.
02:01What do you mean, three good witnesses?
02:03Oh, that's an old saying out here in the Middle East. Come from the Arabs, I think.
02:08In their old law, the testimony of three independent and trustworthy witnesses was enough to establish the guilt or innocence
02:14of an accused person.
02:15Hmm. But why three?
02:17I suppose two witnesses to a crime might tell the same lie.
02:20But if three fellas tell the same story, well, it must be true.
02:24Hmm. Maybe.
02:26Now, I suppose the odds against three making up the same story would be high, but...
02:29I don't know whether I'd like to trust my neck with that kind of justice.
02:33Yeah. It is a little different from a justice back home in Chattahoochee County.
02:37Hmm.
02:39I imagine you'll be wanting to get back to the States as soon as possible.
02:41Indeed, I do.
02:42Well, I can put you on a Taurus Express Wednesday.
02:44You'll be in Cairo by Saturday.
02:46Get an ATC plane that'll have you in Washington three days later.
02:50Istanbul to Washington in less than a week.
02:52It's a small world, isn't it?
03:02So, I was booked on the Taurus Express, leading Istanbul on Wednesday night.
03:07I got to the station late, and as I walked down the long platform toward the first-class carriages,
03:12I sensed a tenseness in the crowd.
03:15First, I couldn't explain it.
03:17Then I noticed that the platform was alive with police.
03:20They stood at the door of every car, motionless, solemn-faced,
03:24carefully scrutinizing everyone who got aboard.
03:27And it seemed that everyone on that bustling platform was aware of them.
03:31I found the car near the front of the train.
03:33A policeman stood at the open door.
03:36I paused to verify the car number, and suddenly I heard a voice at my elbow.
03:40I thought I had missed you.
03:42A pair of arms twined around my neck.
03:44A pair of lips were kissing me.
03:45Pushed her away to try to see her face, but she clung to me.
03:49Tried to say something, but she kept talking so fast I couldn't get a word in.
03:52How could you do this to me?
03:53To run off without even saying goodbye?
03:55I must be with you right up to the last minute.
03:58But, my darling...
04:00At last I could see her.
04:01She was beautiful.
04:02Very young and very beautiful.
04:04Look how I was worried.
04:05Turkish and Greek, I couldn't tell which, but lovely.
04:07I kept wondering why.
04:08You must let me go on the train with you.
04:10See you safely to your compartment.
04:12I cannot bear it.
04:14Madame, I'm afraid you're making a mistake.
04:17Please, please, you must help me.
04:19I will explain.
04:20But I...
04:21Come, you will miss the train.
04:23I will see you safely on board.
04:25Come, hurry.
04:26Well, so we may say our last goodbye in privacy.
04:31This last was thrown over her shoulder to the policeman standing there.
04:34She pulled me up the steps into the car.
04:37He stared at us, but he said nothing.
04:40And the moment we were standing in the deserted corridor...
04:42Oh, thank you, sir.
04:45Now, look here, young lady.
04:46What is all this?
04:47It is the fault of those police standing up there.
04:50I could not get into the car alone.
04:52But why not?
04:53This is a first-class car.
04:56Only rich foreigners ride in first-class compartment.
04:59I could see by you close you were American.
05:02I knew you would help me.
05:03But why did you want to get into this car, especially?
05:06Because I...
05:07Suddenly she stopped.
05:08And her eyes were riveted on something behind my back.
05:11I turned to see a swarthy young man staring at us from the other end of the car.
05:16He was dressed in the uniform of a train conductor.
05:19Slid open a compartment door.
05:21There was an almost imperceptible jerk of his head.
05:25And then the girl slipped past me and into the open room.
05:29Conductor slid the door shut after her.
05:31Your number, sir?
05:32Huh?
05:32Oh.
05:33Oh, yes, yes, sir.
05:34Twelve.
05:34Yes, the next one.
05:36Here.
05:37If there is anything I can do for you, I shall be pleased.
05:41If you care to leave your ticket and passport with me,
05:44I shall be able to attend to Syrian customs without disturbing you later.
05:48As he talked, his eyes were not on me.
05:50He was watching the slow progress of a policeman through the car.
05:54The officer was walking by, glancing into each compartment.
05:58When he came opposite us, he spoke to the conductor.
06:01Ole, kala.
06:01Ole, kala.
06:03The conductor was standing squarely in front of the door of the girl's compartment,
06:07hiding her from view.
06:09Policeman walked on.
06:10In a moment, he had disappeared.
06:13Thank you, sir.
06:14I shall not disturb you.
06:16I went into my compartment.
06:18My bags were already there.
06:20The train was about to leave.
06:21Everything was in order.
06:22But I couldn't help wondering about the incident I'd just witnessed.
06:27About the girl I'd involuntarily hemped and the conductor.
06:32Wondered about all those police out there.
06:34Obviously, something was going on.
06:37Then I remembered.
06:38This was Istanbul.
06:40Gateway to the Middle East.
06:41It was supposed to be alive with acts of spies.
06:44Could that girl be...
06:46Then I laughed.
06:47Just my over-age, stay-at-home, mind-imagining things.
06:53Then suddenly I heard a voice in the corridor outside.
06:55What's the big idea?
06:56The voice was unmistakably American and music to my ears.
07:00I jumped to my feet and stepped into the corridor.
07:03There, outside the next compartment was a young man, in civilian clothes,
07:06carrying a small bag and a briefcase.
07:09The swarthy conductor was approaching him with a worried look.
07:11How about this, huh?
07:12There's a dame in my compartment.
07:14Beg pardon, sir.
07:15There must be a mistake.
07:16This is compartment number ten.
07:18Naturally.
07:19You think I can't read?
07:20Number ten.
07:20That's mine.
07:21But number ten is not sold.
07:24It is not marked on my list.
07:25The heck it isn't.
07:26I've got the ticket right here.
07:27What's with a dame?
07:28Please, not so loud.
07:29I don't get this.
07:30Uh, I beg your pardon.
07:31Can I be of any help?
07:32Hmm?
07:32Oh, you're an American, too.
07:34Yep.
07:35Humphrey Ward, Los Angeles.
07:36Tom Hatfield.
07:37Glad to know you.
07:38Look, what's with a dame?
07:39Do you know?
07:39No, I'm afraid I...
07:40Please, gentlemen, step into the compartment, please.
07:43But the girl...
07:44Please.
07:45In.
07:45Yes?
07:46Okay.
07:47Well, I...
07:47Please, sir.
07:48Oh, all right.
07:51Hey, wait a minute.
07:56Talk English.
07:57What's all this about, anyway?
07:58It is...
08:00I am embarrassed, sir.
08:01You're embarrassed.
08:02I buy a ticket and find a dame in my compartment.
08:05Of course, on closer inspection, maybe I'm not so mad after all.
08:09She looks like a good deal.
08:11Thank you, sir.
08:12Oh, you do speak English, huh?
08:14Sir, the policeman will come by, maybe look in.
08:17I must ask of you a favor.
08:19Yeah?
08:19If she could stay here just until the train has started, she will not bother you after
08:24that.
08:24Why can't she stay in her own compartment?
08:26Please, sir.
08:26I have no place else to put her.
08:28All the other places are taken.
08:30Oh.
08:30She's a deadhead, huh?
08:32Deadhead?
08:32No ticket.
08:33Stowaway.
08:34It is something like that.
08:35Well, what's the setup?
08:36Is she your girlfriend?
08:37No, no.
08:37It is not like that.
08:38It is...
08:39You see, we are both Macedonian.
08:42She is escaping from the Nazis.
08:44She wants to go to Cairo to join the nurse corps.
08:46Oh.
08:46She has been for two years in Greece, under the Nazis.
08:49Mm-hmm.
08:50She is a real patriot.
08:51If you will help her.
08:52Well, maybe if he introduced us and let her speak for herself.
08:56She is called Maradalas.
08:57Well, let's make it Mary for short.
08:59Mary the deadhead.
09:01Hi, Mary.
09:02Hi.
09:03You're okay.
09:04Get her.
09:05She talks American.
09:06I spent two years at the American school at Thessalonica.
09:10I worked with Red Cross in Greece during the fighting.
09:12That so?
09:13I like Americans.
09:14I want to go to the United States.
09:16Who doesn't?
09:17I want to learn to be a real nurse.
09:19You will help me.
09:21Americans are always kind.
09:24Mm-hmm.
09:24This gentleman here, he helped me get on the train.
09:27Naturally.
09:28Now you will help me.
09:32Okay?
09:33Mm-hmm.
09:34Okay.
09:34Thank you, sir.
09:35Now, I must go before the policeman gets suspicious.
09:38Okay.
09:39This may turn out to be a pleasure.
09:40Mm-hmm.
09:41Looks like you don't need me.
09:42Uh, I'm in the next compartment.
09:44Maybe we'll get together later.
09:45Sure, sure.
09:46I'd offer you a seat, but we're sort of crowded already, Mary and me.
09:51I went back to my seat laughing, laughing mostly at the silly idea I'd had that maybe Mary the Deadhead
09:57and her conductive friend were spies of some sort.
10:00Obviously, they were harmless, as harmless as I was, and that was completely harmless, confounded.
10:08I looked out the window as the train slid out of the station, leaving Turkey, leaving the war, going home.
10:15Back to complacent safety.
10:19Men were out here, fighting and dying.
10:22They'd get no help from me.
10:24Me.
10:25Overage and useless.
10:36It wasn't until the next day that I began to get acquainted with my fellow passengers.
10:40Mary the Deadhead was riding on the conductor's jump seat at the end of the car.
10:46The Ruvians, an Armenian couple, were in 14, the Kapapa next to mine.
10:51Young Tom Hatfield was on the other side of me.
10:54And two Greek refugees, a Mr. Chinyara and a Mr. Dricar, were next to him in eight.
11:00Hatfield kept pretty much out of sight all day, and it was Mr. Chinyara who shared a table with me
11:05at dinner that night.
11:06I didn't much care for him, but he was somebody to talk to.
11:10You Americans, you do not realize how lucky you are.
11:13No, I suppose not.
11:15You do not know what it is to be safe.
11:18Just look around you.
11:20Almost all the passengers on this express are refugees.
11:23All of them would pay much to be going to the United States, as you are.
11:27Yeah, I suppose so.
11:28But yes.
11:30Where else is there any security for us?
11:33But you, sir, and your young friend are already secure.
11:37Wherever you go, you are always safe.
11:40But it is not so for us.
11:42Yeah, I suppose we do take a lot for granted.
11:44And, oh, here's Mr. Hatfield now.
11:47Uh, Hatfield, won't you join us?
11:48Thanks.
11:49No, I'll just sit over there.
11:50Oh, no, I insist.
11:51I was just leaving.
11:52You must join your friend.
11:53Oh, really?
11:54There's no need.
11:54Oh, insist, please.
11:55Okay.
11:56Well, thank you, Mr. Chinyara.
11:57It's been a pleasure.
11:58And for me, sir.
11:59Good evening.
12:00Good evening.
12:01Take it easy.
12:02Well, I haven't seen much of you today.
12:04Been resting, eh?
12:05Something like that.
12:06You ordered?
12:06Yes, I'll call the waiter.
12:08Never mind.
12:08He'll be back.
12:09Who's your slick-haired friend?
12:11Oh, Mr. Chinyara?
12:12He's a Greek refugee just escaped from the Nazis.
12:15Everybody out here just escaped from the Nazis.
12:17He was saying how lucky we are to be Americans.
12:21Guess they don't see many of us in Turkey these days.
12:23I guess not.
12:24Haven't seen many of us myself.
12:26Funny, I didn't run into you in Istanbul.
12:29I wasn't there.
12:30Just passing through.
12:31Oh.
12:33Now, I thought I'd have met you at the American Mission or somewhere.
12:36No.
12:37I, uh...
12:38Well, I'm out here at the State Department.
12:40Oil.
12:41But I didn't have much luck.
12:43I'm going home now.
12:44Too bad.
12:45Hmm.
12:46Plenty of things for us Americans to do out here, though.
12:49Like, uh, oil and other things, you know?
12:53Of course, they give the unimportant stuff to has-beens like me.
12:58Need the good stuff for young fellas like you.
13:00Okay, Mr. Ward.
13:01Huh?
13:01What?
13:02Okay.
13:03Well, I'm Tom Hatfield.
13:04Frankfort, Kentucky.
13:05White, Protestant, 26, unmarried.
13:07No, I'm not a draft dodger, and no, I'm not AWOL.
13:09And yes, I'm here on business, which is none of yours.
13:12I'm a captain of the Air Force.
13:13Two years overseas.
13:15You might say officially I'm on a holiday.
13:17The fact is, I'm taking this train to Adana,
13:20where I get off at 5 tomorrow morning,
13:21cross the border, and catch a plane that's waiting to take me to Cairo.
13:24Well, anything else you want to know?
13:26Oh, I, I'm sorry, I...
13:27No, no, no, sit down, sit down.
13:29I'm sorry.
13:30I guess I'm getting on my own nerves.
13:33Forget it, will you?
13:33Oh, it's nothing.
13:34You needn't think that...
13:35Riding on trains is kind of bad for a flyer.
13:37Makes me jumpy.
13:38I understand.
13:39But, uh, you must have already been through a lot.
13:42I do understand.
13:43I was in France in 1918.
13:45I know what it's like.
13:46Maybe you know better than I do.
13:48Oh, I wouldn't say that, but I envy you.
13:51I'd give anything to be in it.
13:52You're lucky you're not.
13:53Oh, I know, I know.
13:55No fun being old and useless like me, either.
13:58I envy you.
13:59And I can tell you're doing something important.
14:01You can?
14:02How?
14:03Mm-hmm.
14:04By the way, you're so careful with that briefcase.
14:07Carry it around with you all the time.
14:09You got it on your lap now.
14:11Probably got something important in it.
14:12The statues or something.
14:13Sir, you noticed that, did you?
14:15Well, I hope nobody else on this train is so observant, Mr. Ward.
14:18Oh, you're pulling my leg.
14:20What difference does it make, anyway?
14:22You can never tell.
14:23On a train like this, out here, you never know.
14:26Oh, you mean spies?
14:28Well, I...
14:29But why?
14:30I haven't seen anyone who looks suspicious.
14:32Spies are never suspicious-looking, Mr. Ward.
14:34They're anybody.
14:35Anybody who wants to make a quick buck and doesn't care how he does it.
14:39This train is alive with people like that.
14:40Oh, yeah, but who?
14:41Who?
14:42Well, just take, for instance, Mary the Deadhead.
14:44She's young and pretty, yes.
14:46But she's broke.
14:48And her shifty-eyed boyfriend, the conductor.
14:50Oh, but they're Greeks.
14:51She's a refugee.
14:52So she says.
14:53But didn't it seem strange to you that he put her in my compartment by mistake?
14:57My name wasn't on the list, so he said.
14:59Were you satisfied with her story?
15:01Well, for a moment I was suspicious, but...
15:04You can't take too much for granted.
15:05Now, for instance, the story I just told you.
15:08I might be a spy, mightn't I?
15:10That whole thing might be hogwash.
15:12Well, no, no.
15:13You're American.
15:14I know that.
15:15Who else would say hogwash?
15:17No matter.
15:17I could be an American trader.
15:19There are such things.
15:20Oh, but that...
15:21Or you might be the spy.
15:22Yeah, they even look like you.
15:24Meek and mild.
15:25Casper Milk Toast.
15:27And their cover stories are pips.
15:29Like telling you they're out here looking for oil.
15:32They strike up a conversation, ask questions, and notice briefcases.
15:35Oh, but look.
15:36Now look here.
15:37Surely you don't...
15:37No, I don't think anything.
15:39I only say, you never can tell, Mr. Ward.
15:52Of course he was kidding me.
15:54Pulling my leg.
15:55But I didn't really mind.
15:57I liked him.
15:58And he had a right to be cocky and flip.
16:01He was doing something for the war effort.
16:03Even though I knew he was kidding me.
16:05I went to bed thinking about spies and fell asleep dreaming of them.
16:15Then very suddenly, I awoke with a terrible sense of urgency.
16:19It was something that I must do.
16:21I looked at my watch.
16:22It was ten minutes to five.
16:24The train was dark.
16:25Everything was quiet.
16:26And yet, I felt I had to get up.
16:29I started to put on my clothes.
16:32It didn't make sense, but then I remembered.
16:35It was Tom Hatfield, not me, who had to get up at five, leave the train at Adana to cross
16:41the border into Syria and take his plane.
16:43Those dispatches must be important.
16:45If he had to change to a fast plane as soon as he got out of neutral Turkey.
16:55When I stepped out into the dimly lit corridor, it was deserted.
16:59I knocked on Hatfield's door.
17:01No answer.
17:03I tried the handle.
17:05The door slid open into darkness.
17:07Something was wrong.
17:09I switched on the light and went in.
17:11Tom Hatfield lay there in the bunker asleep.
17:14Hey, Hatfield!
17:15Rise and shine!
17:17We're coming into Adana!
17:18We've got to get off!
17:19I shook him.
17:20He didn't move.
17:22Then I saw blood on his pillow.
17:24And on his head.
17:25I looked around quickly.
17:26The briefcase was gone.
17:28Kiborkian!
17:29Kiborkian!
17:30Is something wrong, sir?
17:31Did either of you see anybody go into number 10?
17:34No.
17:35Nobody.
17:35Who should go...
17:36Look, do you have keys to the doors?
17:38But no.
17:39There are no keys.
17:41They lock from the inside.
17:42A sliding bolt and chain.
17:44Nobody can get in once they are locked.
17:46That's what I thought.
17:48I knew Tom Hatfield would have locked that door.
17:51Somebody must have gotten in some other way
17:53and left that corridor open as a false clue.
17:57But how?
17:58Then I noticed the door which connected to number 8.
18:01I tried it.
18:02It was locked.
18:03This didn't make sense.
18:05But through my mind was racing one thought.
18:08American dispatches have been stolen.
18:10Tom Hatfield is out.
18:12It's up to me.
18:13I searched the room.
18:15I found an automatic under the mattress, but no briefcase.
18:18I heard the train start up again.
18:20We were leaving Adana.
18:22I looked again at the connecting door.
18:24Then I got it.
18:25The bolt was fastened on the other side of that door.
18:28But on this side it was not.
18:30That meant that someone could have come in through number 8.
18:33I knocked on the door.
18:35I heard a movement and then the bolt slid back and the door swung open.
18:39I was face to face with Mr. Cigniara.
18:42Then he was staring at the gun in my hand.
18:43What is it?
18:44What is that for?
18:45The briefcase.
18:46The bag of my friend.
18:48Is it here?
18:49Briefcase?
18:49Bag?
18:51We have here only our valises.
18:53This door has been opened.
18:54Something is missing.
18:55Oh, if you have lost something, I pray you to look.
18:58I know nothing of it.
19:00Come in, please, and look.
19:01All right, I will.
19:02I'm not accusing anyone.
19:04But I just want to be sure that...
19:13The next thing I felt was a stinging coldness on my face.
19:16Rushing of wind.
19:17I realized that I was hanging half out of the window of the car.
19:21It was shoving me out of the train.
19:23Savagely, I kicked.
19:25I felt something give.
19:26Then I pushed myself back and slid down onto the floor.
19:30I felt something hard under me.
19:32The gun.
19:33In the dim compartment, I saw them coming at me.
19:36Chiniara and Drico.
19:37I raised the gun.
19:43What is it?
19:44What has happened?
19:45Oh, look.
19:46On the floor.
19:47Shut the door, quickly.
19:49Are they...
19:50Wait.
19:50Let me look.
19:52Yes.
19:54Both of them.
19:56Finish.
19:56They...
19:56They took the briefcase.
19:57I'm sure they did.
19:58Hey, who's shooting up the place?
19:59Hatfield.
20:00Holy cow.
20:01Will you look at that?
20:02What's happened?
20:02Well, the briefcase.
20:03It's here someplace.
20:04I'm sure it is.
20:05Hey, wait a minute, fella.
20:06You're all banged up here.
20:07Looks like we both got bumped.
20:08Here, sit down.
20:09You'll need a drink.
20:10Mary, you'll find a pint in my bag.
20:12Bring it in here, will you?
20:12But...
20:12But they got the papers.
20:14We ought to look.
20:15They did?
20:16Yeah, the briefcase isn't here.
20:17I don't see it.
20:18Well, there wasn't anything in that briefcase except some old Istanbul newspapers.
20:21They probably threw it out the window.
20:23Back at High Dear Pasha, a British guy I know warned me to be careful on this trip.
20:27Well, I put my classified material someplace else.
20:30Oh, but then that means I killed two men without any cause, without a shred of evidence
20:34to back up my story.
20:35How we waste time.
20:36Quick.
20:37Quick.
20:37The Syrian poor police got on the train at the Donna.
20:40They might be here any minute.
20:42Now, who is dead here?
20:52Mary, the deadhead, took me into Hatfield's room and carefully administered first aid to
20:57my cuts and bruises.
20:59But Kevorkian and Hatfield were busy in number eight.
21:03What...
21:03What are they doing?
21:04Never mind.
21:05Pay no attention.
21:06But they're throwing the bodies out of the window.
21:08Think not of it, please.
21:10Hey, Kevorkian is a Macedonian.
21:12When he fought the Germans at Thessalonica, he threw bodies over the cliffs.
21:17He knows what he is doing.
21:18Oh, but...
21:18But you...
21:20You are a brave man, too.
21:21Even if you are not Macedonian, you would be judgment-tried for two, three years in spite
21:27of your age and your innocence.
21:29It is better to have no bodies.
21:32What's that?
21:33Be quiet now.
21:34Give her the police.
21:35Well, we got the room cleaned up just in time.
21:38Number eight.
21:38He has their passport.
21:42I forgot.
21:43No.
21:43They are not here.
21:45I...
21:45I can tell you about Kevorkian and Ricard.
21:48This man here, Mr. Ward, he is American general in disguise.
21:53Secret service.
21:55He put Kevorkian and Ricard off at Adana with pistol.
21:59They were spying.
22:00Good heavens.
22:01He'll never believe that.
22:02Never mind.
22:03This man is a Syrian.
22:04He does not care what happens in Turkey.
22:06But do you have any Syrian money?
22:07Oh, yes, yes.
22:09Here.
22:09In my wallet.
22:10Good.
22:11Give it to me.
22:13Now.
22:14Come with me, Sergeant.
22:15Do not worry now, Mr. Ward.
22:17In a moment, Kevorkian will have those passports.
22:20We will throw them out the window and there will be no trace.
22:23I had to think, Mary.
22:24I thought you might be drawing down an Axis paycheck.
22:27It is no matter.
22:29Now we are out of Turkey.
22:31And before long, I can go to United States.
22:34Maybe that might not be so easy.
22:36You've got no money, no passport, no transportation through the combat zones.
22:40Never mind.
22:41I shall do it.
22:43I walk to here from Macedonia, I can walk all the way.
22:47Like St. Paul in the Bible, walk to Rome.
22:49Well, I wish you luck, but you'll have a time getting by British control at Aleppo.
22:54You can't smuggle a pack of cigarettes past them.
22:56But what about me?
22:57What about a murderer?
22:58I don't know.
22:59We'll see.
23:09It was morning when the train pulled into Aleppo, the station where British control came on.
23:15Trip had been pretty awful.
23:16With Tom trying to act as if nothing had happened, and with me staring into that empty room.
23:22Imagining Chiniara and Drica sitting there staring back at me.
23:26Maybe they had been spies.
23:27Maybe not.
23:28Now they were dead.
23:30And I was in trouble.
23:31We knew that the minute the train stopped.
23:34A soldier stood outside our windows and said,
23:36Look here!
23:37Everyone reminds us of this place in this car.
23:40We waited silently for many minutes.
23:42Then a British major in cocky shorts stepped in.
23:45Behind him I saw Kiborkian and Mary the Deadhead standing in the doorway.
23:49Good morning.
23:50I'm Radcliffe.
23:51I'm looking for two missing persons as identified as Greeks.
23:54Chiniara and Bricar by name.
23:58Oh, come now.
23:58They seem to have been in the next compartment.
24:01In here.
24:03What became of them?
24:04Were there two?
24:05Hmm.
24:06Young lady.
24:07Yes, sir?
24:08You weren't in number eight, were you?
24:09You don't seem to have any other place.
24:11Nor a Syrian entrance visa.
24:13Please.
24:14I sat down in the corridor.
24:17That's quite...
24:18Conductor, don't you remember two passengers booked through Twiletro?
24:21One was a stout man.
24:23A bookseller who escaped from Greece ten days ago.
24:26The other...
24:26Ah, those.
24:27They descended from the car at Adana.
24:30One was fat with slick hair, and the other...
24:33Oh, yes.
24:34Really?
24:35I say, isn't that a bullet hole in the wall up there?
24:37And you, sir, Mr. Ward, isn't it?
24:39How did you hurt your forehead?
24:40I...
24:41An accident.
24:42I bumped into...
24:43Oh, yes, quite.
24:44I should tell you that the Armenian couple in number 14 heard shots just after passing Adana.
24:51They were so frightened they locked themselves in until now.
24:53It's no use.
24:54I...
24:54I shot them.
24:56Both of them.
24:56They hit me first.
24:58Please realize that I'm not joking.
25:00My orders are to find those two pseudo-Greeks wherever they may be.
25:03Wait a minute.
25:03You said pseudo-Greeks?
25:05You mean...
25:05Major, you want to find them?
25:08Mm-hmm.
25:08And how, as you Americans say?
25:11But why?
25:11Because we're advised by Istanbul that certain Axis agents have been working out of the Balkans with identification as refugees.
25:18These two, uh...
25:20Tiniara and Dikar were on this train.
25:24Our man on the train saw them throw something out at Adana.
25:27They hardly threw themselves out.
25:29No, we did that.
25:31Your man at Haida Pasha tipped me off to expect trouble.
25:34Oh, really?
25:34So they were agents.
25:35Certainly they were spies.
25:37I knew that.
25:38No Greek would be fat like Tiniara after only one week escape from the Germans.
25:43And no Greek would have hair oil from Paris.
25:46Well, that being the case, will somebody start telling the truth?
25:50I will.
25:52This mild little gentleman, knowing nothing of the war and fighting, he kills you two men in a gunfight.
26:00How you say, like nobody business.
26:04And now, please, he is still suffering from shock.
26:08So will you please give him a plane direct to Cairo where he can rest?
26:13And this American courier, he is late with dispatches.
26:17He must have a place in the plane too.
26:20And since I cannot enter Syria without a passport, will you please put me also on the plane?
26:28Because in Cairo, I can get a job as a nurse with the Ela Greeks from Macedonia who are there.
26:34And maybe God will then give me a way to go to America.
26:38Like he passed St. Paul through the Taurus Gate.
26:41Is it a deal, Major?
26:45Three places on the first plane and you have your men, like the Royal Canadian Hoosies, only dead.
26:53Hmm.
26:54The plane could be arranged, of course, if...
26:57All right, Mr. Ward, tell him.
26:59Tell him.
26:59With the eyes of that amazing girl on me, my courage came back.
27:04I told him my story, completely, in every detail.
27:07He listened carefully and took it all down on his pad.
27:10And afterwards he said...
27:12That story, Mr. Ward, is not one bit of evidence to support it.
27:15By your own statement, the evidence is buried in the snow on the slopes of the Taurus Mountain.
27:20That's...
27:20I tell you, I helped chuck it out.
27:21And I examined the two men.
27:24I am a trained nurse.
27:26And I said they were dead.
27:28And for identification, I, a soldier of Macedonia, can swear that their passports were the men you say.
27:34Hmm.
27:36Very well.
27:36Well, I'll ring the air drum.
27:39The evidence of three good witnesses is sufficient.
28:02Escape is produced and directed by William M. Robeson.
28:06And tonight brought you Three Good Witnesses by Harold Lamb.
28:10Adapted for radio by John Dunkel, with Morgan Farley as Humphrey Ward,
28:16Jack Webb as Tom Hatfield,
28:18Jeanette Nolan as Mary the Deadhead,
28:21and Harry Bartell as Kevokian.
28:23Music was conceived and conducted by Cy Fuhr.
28:27Beginning next Sunday night, Escape will be heard at a new hour,
28:3210 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.
28:47Next Sunday night, we escape with another exciting adventure story,
28:53created for you by one of the world's great authors.
29:06Good night, then, until 10 p.m. Eastern Standard Time next Sunday night,
29:11when again we offer you Escape.
29:13This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.
29:16.
29:17finish.
29:17.
29:24.
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