- 2 days ago
"Dead Man's Debt" is an episode of the classic horror and mystery radio series Inner Sanctum Mysteries. It originally broadcast on June 26, 1945, and was sponsored by Lipton Tea and Soup. The suspenseful story follows a clever lawyer who successfully frees a murderer in court, only to discover that his payment demands a chilling and steep price.
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00:07Inner Sanctum Mysteries
00:23Good evening, friends of the Inner Sanctum.
00:26This 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.
00:42This petrified man, for instance, he's over a hundred years old.
00:46They found him in a forest.
00:48That's right.
00:50Hazed in the woods.
00:52My goodness, do you expect folks to believe nonsense like that?
00:56Oh, but it's true, Mary.
00:57Look over here at this artist 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
01:09her.
01:09So he saw 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.
01:23Tonight's story is called Dead Man's Debt.
01:25It's an original radio play by Robert Newman.
01:29And our star tonight is Joseph Julian, who plays the role of Danny.
01:38The corner cell in the courthouse jail.
01:41Stone walls, stone floor, and a hard cot.
01:45Lying 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.
02:00In a voice he shouldn't be able to hear.
02:04A voice of a dead man.
02:07Are you sleeping, Danny?
02:09Don't.
02:10It's a waste of time.
02:12A real waste.
02:14You'll be sleeping for a long, long time very soon.
02:18But you're dead like I am.
02:20No, no.
02:21Yes, Danny.
02:22Did you think you were going to get away with it?
02:25You won't.
02:26You'll pay.
02:27Dead soon.
02:28No, I said no.
02:29Shut up.
02:30Shut up.
02:31What's the problem in here?
02:32What are you making all that racket for?
02:34Better pull yourself together and get moving.
02:36Waiting for you downstairs, quartz and fish.
02:39All right, don't rush me.
02:41I'm coming.
02:42I'm not rushing you.
02:43Sure glad I'd be rid of you.
02:45Glad you won't be coming back here again.
02:47What?
02:48What do you mean?
02:49Well, wind up your case this morning.
02:51Hand down a verdict before lunch.
02:53Two to one, they do it without leaving the jury box.
02:55And ten to one, it's guilty.
03:05Ten to one of the jury, have you reached a verdict?
03:08We have.
03:10Prisoner will rise and face the jury.
03:13Go on, Danny.
03:14Stand up.
03:17What is your verdict?
03:18Not guilty.
03:20Not guilty.
03:22You mean it?
03:24What a riot.
03:27And she was picking him up on it.
03:28Then the one he wanted to give me that you were going to send me up.
03:31But I knew it.
03:31I knew you were.
03:33Order.
03:34Order, Mr.
03:35Mr. Russell.
03:36You quiet your client?
03:37I apologize, Your Honor.
03:38But as you can imagine, he's been under considerable strain.
03:41Take it easy, Danny.
03:42Danny.
03:43Oh, Danny.
03:44Okay, hiya, baby.
03:45I knew it too, Danny.
03:47I knew they'd let you go.
03:48They had to.
03:57Hope you're done fine coming here to celebrate.
03:59It's not very fancy, but this is where they pick me up, put the cuffs on me.
04:04I'm kind of sentimental about it.
04:06Perfectly all right.
04:07Here's to you, Russell.
04:08You did a swell job getting me off.
04:10I had 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.
04:18And I did the best job I could.
04:20But 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,
04:41a man with a long criminal record.
04:44Now, if you remember, there were just three things that saved Danny.
04:48One, the fact that Carson was thought to have a valuable diamond on him.
04:52Danny didn't have the diamond, and it hasn't been found yet.
04:55Two, Carson was shot with a .45.
04:58Danny's gun was a .38.
04:59And three, Stack Allen has disappeared.
05:02Now, on the basis of these three facts,
05:04I was able to convince the jury that it was Stack who killed Carson and took the diamond.
05:09And, as a matter of fact, that's what I think did happen.
05:13Well?
05:14The D.A. 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.
05:34I'm an attorney.
05:35You're lying.
05:36No.
05:37No.
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, that's the matter of my services.
05:53Since 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.
06:04I know that.
06:05If you wanted me to, I could probably help you.
06:08I don't want any help from you or anyone else.
06:10I said I'd pay you and I will.
06:12Come on, Gail.
06:12Let's get out of here.
06:19Are you sleeping again, Danny?
06:22That's a mistake.
06:23A waste of time.
06:25You'll be sleeping for a long, long time when you're dead like I am.
06:30You're stacked and all in your love.
06:31I can't, Danny.
06:33Not until you pay for what you did to me.
06:36And you will pay for that.
06:38And soon.
06:41Who?
06:42Who's that?
06:43Who's there?
06:44It's me, Danny.
06:45Gail.
06:46Oh.
06:48Okay, 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?
07:03Well, 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?
07:14You mean it's true?
07:16Danny, you shouldn't.
07:18You know what almost happened with what would have happened if it hadn't been for Mr. Russell.
07:23Russell.
07:24You wouldn't be here now if it wasn't for him.
07:27Danny, you said you were going straight and instead he wanted to help you, remember?
07:33How are you, Danny?
07:34Russell.
07:34Russell.
07:35What are you doing here?
07:36Look, if you're worried about your dough, I told you I'd pay you.
07:39I 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.
08:05But if you show me where you buried Stack's body, I think maybe we can find it together.
08:11You're just trying to trap me.
08:13Tag me with Stack's murder.
08:15I told you I was an attorney, not a policeman.
08:19Okay.
08:21Okay, I'll take a chance on it.
08:24Get your car.
08:24I'll show you.
08:36Oh, 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.
08:53No, tell her.
08:53All right, I'll come.
08:55Just as you like.
08:57Now, tell me again just how it happened, Danny.
09:02Well, we drove down here after we knocked Carson off to decide just what we're going to do.
09:07I 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.
09:13He went over there.
09:14He sat down on that log.
09:17And 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 the diamond.
09:24What did you do with the body?
09:26I dug a deep hole right there.
09:29I dumped him in it, and I piled wood on it, and then built a fire.
09:32And after it burned down, I covered it up.
09:35Okay.
09:36Let'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.
09:54No, I'm going to stay.
09:55I just won't look.
09:58There.
10:00There he is.
10:02At least his bones.
10:03Put your shovel under his skull and lift it carefully.
10:08Hey, that diamond.
10:09The diamond lying right underneath him.
10:12How did you know?
10:13I didn't.
10:14I told you I was guessing.
10:17You saw him take it from Carson, knew he had it with him, but you couldn't find it when you
10:20searched him.
10:22You mentioned that when he was thinking, he had a way of playing with his ear.
10:26His ear, of course.
10:28That was that he had it in his ear.
10:30Maybe he figured I was going to stick him up or something, maybe.
10:33Anyway, I got it now.
10:35We're rich.
10:36You hear, Gail?
10:37We're rich.
10:39Yes, 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.
10:53But you hadn't killed Carson.
10:56Now I hate you.
10:58I stood trial.
10:58I got off, didn't I?
11:00I paid for the diamond.
11:01And now it's mine.
11:03Yes, Danny.
11:05It's yours.
11:06But you haven't paid for it.
11:08You're only going to start paying for it.
11:17And now, friends, back to the story of Danny Gorman, who was tried for the wrong murder and who's found,
11:23so far at least.
11:25That crime does pay, and very nicely, too.
11:27Oh, it's about an hour later now, and a car with three very silent people in it has just reached
11:33the outskirts of the town.
11:40What's the matter with you two, anyway?
11:42What, are you sitting there like a pair of mummies for?
11:44Why don't you say something?
11:46I said everything I had to there in the woods, Danny.
11:49I've got nothing to say.
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.
12:04Yeah, that's right.
12:05In front of that hock shop.
12:06Where are you going?
12:08Inside 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 anymore of your double talk.
12:18Hello, Finny.
12:19Well, well, Danny.
12:21Haven't seen you in a long time.
12:23And I didn't think I'd ever be seeing you again.
12:26How come?
12:27Yeah, I thought that anybody who'd just beaten a murder rap would have sense enough to keep it clear.
12:32Not get mixed up with anything hot.
12:35Or is this a social visit?
12:36Not exactly.
12:38Uh, take a look at this.
12:41Hmm.
12:43Very nice diamond.
12:45Very nice indeed.
12:46What's it worth?
12:47Well, you really want to know what it's worth?
12:48You want to know what I'll give you for it.
12:50What's the difference?
12:51A great deal.
12:52It's worth, uh...
12:54Let me take another bucket.
12:55Hmm.
12:57Yes, uh, it's worth ten, maybe twelve thousand dollars.
13:00I'll give you two thousand for it.
13:02What?
13:03Why, you, uh...
13:05What's the idea?
13:06It's very simple, Danny.
13:08You were tried for Carson's murder and you got off because you had a good lawyer.
13:11And because there wasn't enough evidence.
13:13But if you were tried again, right now, you wouldn't do so well.
13:18Because this is the very best kind of evidence right here.
13:22You see, I happen to know that this is Carson's diamond.
13:26Yeah?
13:27Yes, Danny.
13:28That means that you wouldn't dare take it to anybody else.
13:31It wouldn't be wise for you even to take it out of this shop.
13:34And that's why it's very generous of me to offer you fifteen hundred for it.
13:37Fifteen hundred?
13:38But you just said...
13:42Okay, Finney.
13:44Take the diamond and give me the dough.
13:45That's very sensible of you, Danny.
13:47Come back tomorrow about the same time.
13:48I'm doing.
13:49I'm taking a powder out of time.
13:51I want the dough right now.
13:52Hmm.
13:53All right, Danny.
13:54Wait out there.
13:55Then I'll get it for you.
14:03Seven, twenty-one, four, and...
14:10There we are.
14:13There.
14:15Let's see.
14:16Ah!
14:17Oh!
14:20Sorry, it had to be a knife, Finney.
14:22Danny, you...
14:26There.
14:27I couldn't take a chance with a gun, not with my friends outside.
14:33Shouldn't have driven such a hard bargain.
14:35Because now I'm not only going to take the diamond back,
14:38I'm going to take every cent you got in the slave.
14:41After all, it won't do you any good anymore.
14:49All right?
14:51Yeah, let's get going.
14:53You seem quite pleased with yourself.
14:56Why, shouldn't I be?
14:57Get rid of the diamond, and I finally got my hands in some real dough.
15:01I can pay you off now.
15:02What do I owe you?
15:03I told you, Danny.
15:05A great deal.
15:06Your life.
15:08Okay, don't build it up.
15:09What do you want in cash?
15:10I never said anything about money, Danny.
15:13There is something I want.
15:15When the right time comes, I...
15:17I think I'll get it.
15:27Yeah?
15:29Who is it?
15:30Me, Danny.
15:31Frankie.
15:32Oh.
15:33Just a second.
15:38Hiya, Frankie.
15:39Fine.
15:41I was a little worried about how you were.
15:43Me?
15:43How come?
15:45That little job last night.
15:47Said you wanted to get in on it, and you never showed up.
15:51So maybe you were sick or something.
15:53Oh, that, uh...
15:54No, no, no.
15:55It was just that, uh...
15:57Well, I changed my mind.
16:00Yeah?
16:00Yeah, I kind of thought it over.
16:02I decided, uh...
16:04I better stay in the clear.
16:05Let's go straight from now on.
16:07That's smart, Danny.
16:09Real smart.
16:10Yeah, I think so.
16:12How'd it go?
16:13Smooth as certain.
16:15We ended up with stuff worth...
16:17Well, three or four Gs anyway.
16:19Yeah, swell.
16:21Yeah.
16:23It's only after it was all over that...
16:24We ran into something kind of funny.
16:28Why was that?
16:30Well, the stuff was kind of hot, and we thought we ought to unload right away,
16:32so we went down to Finney's.
16:34You know, the fence, yeah.
16:36We got there, it didn't seem like there was anyone around.
16:38I took a gant of the back room, and...
16:42You won't believe this.
16:44But the safe was open.
16:47Cleaned out.
16:50There was Finney.
16:51Dead.
16:53What?
16:56Well, have any idea who did it?
16:59I don't know.
17:01It's been knifed.
17:02Whoever got them left in such a hurry, they forgot to take the knife with them.
17:07I got it right here.
17:08Let's, uh...
17:09Let's see it.
17:10No, don't touch it, Danny.
17:11You might get your fingerprints on it, and that'd be bad.
17:14I said don't touch it.
17:16I'll try any monkey tricks, or I'll bash you for keeps.
17:20So you were going straight, eh?
17:23You merely a mild double-crosser.
17:27Where's the diamond?
17:28What are you talking about?
17:30Don't give me that.
17:32Do you think I know your knife when I see it?
17:35There's only one reason you'd go to see Finney.
17:38To cash in on that diamond you and Stack took from Carson.
17:42Well, I want it.
17:45Okay.
17:48Okay, Frankie, you can have it.
17:50I've been having nothing but tough luck ever since I first laid eyes on it.
17:54It's over there in my bureau hidden under my socks, I'll get it for you.
17:57You're starting to show some sense.
17:59Yeah, I think so.
18:04More sense than to let you leave here knowing what you know.
18:11Now, get my friend the lawyer down here.
18:14Everything will be hunky-dory.
18:27All right, it sure got down here fast, Russell.
18:30Hey, what's the idea?
18:31Bringing Gail with me?
18:32I thought she might be interested in anything you might have to say to me.
18:36You said something about another case?
18:39Yeah.
18:40Look over there in the corner.
18:43Oh.
18:44Frankie?
18:46Frankie, you rang.
18:48And he's dead.
18:49You killed him?
18:50Yeah.
18:51It was self-defense.
18:53See, he came down here to get me to go out on a job with him.
18:55I told him I wouldn't and I was going straight.
18:57And he pulled a gun.
18:58There it is in his hand.
19:00See?
19:01I got my own rod from the bureau and...
19:03Well, that was that.
19:06Sound okay?
19:07Fine.
19:09You know, it ain't going to be easy, I know.
19:10Me coming up for a second murder rap.
19:13But you can get me off.
19:14I got plenty of dough this time.
19:15I can really pay.
19:17Thing is, what do we do first?
19:18We don't do anything, Danny.
19:21There are a lot of things you can do.
19:23My suggestion is that you call the police.
19:26Give yourself up.
19:27What?
19:28You mean you're not going to take this case?
19:30No, Danny.
19:31Why not?
19:32You fronted for me the last time.
19:33Yes, Danny, and I told you why.
19:35I was assigned the case, couldn't turn it down.
19:38Besides, you were being tried for the wrong murder.
19:41But this time, it won't be the wrong murder.
19:43It'll be the right one.
19:45And this is the one I said was finally going to catch up with you.
19:49I see.
19:52Is your car downstairs by any chance?
19:55Yes.
19:56Why?
19:58I'm starting to feel a little restless.
20:01Let's go places.
20:03Go ahead, Mark.
20:04Danny, what are you going to do?
20:06Are you kidding?
20:07You know about Stack and about Freddy.
20:10Somehow, I don't think I'd sleep so good knowing that you knew.
20:13But besides that, there's one more you don't know about, Finney.
20:17I got him yesterday while you were waiting in the car.
20:20After your first three, they start to come easy.
20:22Even dames.
20:23We're going to take a little ride together.
20:26But I got a feeling, we're not all of us coming back.
20:38Keep driving until I tell you to stop.
20:40Right.
20:42Taking this awful quiet, the two of you.
20:45Maybe you don't think I'm going to go through with it.
20:47Oh, I think you intend to, all right.
20:49Whether you will or not is another story.
20:52So is the reason I'm taking it this way.
20:56Maybe this is as good a time as any to tell you a few things.
20:59Why I took your case in the first place.
21:02Well?
21:04It was because of Carson.
21:06He's my father's best friend.
21:09Kind of a second father.
21:12It was he who put me through law school.
21:15When he was murdered, I made up my mind to get to the bottom of it.
21:17Find out who killed him.
21:19I didn't think it was you.
21:20And it wasn't.
21:21You were involved.
21:23And I knew that if I helped you get what the murder was committed for, the diamond,
21:27eventually you'd pay for the murder you committed.
21:30Well, now you've got not one, but three murders to pay for.
21:36What are you stopping for?
21:37Railroad crossing.
21:38There's a train coming.
21:39Can't you hear the bell?
21:40Told you to keep going until I said for you to stop.
21:43Okay.
21:47Hey.
21:48What's the idea?
21:49It's called the car.
21:50Yeah.
21:51To make sure it stays, Joel, I'll just take these keys.
21:55Stanley.
21:56We're right on the track.
21:57Yeah.
21:58This is it.
22:00You fell in love, see?
22:02You ran away together.
22:03Smacked into the train.
22:05Now, don't fry the doors.
22:06They're locked.
22:07I'll just wait over here and make sure everything goes the way it should.
22:12Well, dear.
22:14Somehow I'm not frightened.
22:17And I don't care.
22:18Hey, my foot.
22:19My foot.
22:20It's fine.
22:21The train.
22:22It's not coming down your track.
22:24It's coming down this way.
22:25Hey, what the...
22:26Help me.
22:27Help me.
22:27Help me.
22:35Hey, Nancy.
22:37Yes.
22:39He's on the wrong track.
22:42Then he'd been on the wrong track for a long time.
22:46John.
22:48What was it you said before?
22:50About why you took the case?
22:53Was it true?
22:55Yes.
22:57But you always talked about payment, about something you wanted.
23:02I...
23:03I wanted justice.
23:06And I also wanted something else.
23:09Someone Danny had at first and then lost.
23:13Someone he didn't deserve.
23:15John.
23:16Yes, just.
23:18That's right.
23:20You.
23:29Say, what is this, anyway?
23:31Inner Sanctum or Love's Old Sweet Song?
23:35You'd better get yourself another tune, Professor.
23:37Or I'd better get myself another program, The Horns.
23:41That's right.
23:42One more sappy ending like that and they can get themselves another host.
23:46Well, what was the matter with that ending?
23:48I thought it was the nicest one we've had this year.
23:50I thought it was sweet the way those two people discovered they loved each other.
23:54Listen, Mary.
23:55There's only one kind of sweet stuff that goes on this program.
23:59And that's sweet essence of cyanide.
24:12And now, a word of advice, friends.
24:15Don't let tonight's story, all this business about dead men's deaths, prey on your mind too much.
24:22If you should wake up at about two in the morning and hear strange footsteps coming up the stairs towards
24:27your room,
24:28Don't worry.
24:30It won't be a homicidal maniac.
24:32It will probably be the ghost of a bill collector coming to collect I.O.U.
24:42By the way, this month's inner sanctum mystery novel is Lay That Pistol Down by Richard Powell.
24:48And now it's time to close the squeaking door.
24:52So, good night.
24:54Pleasant dreams.
24:56Pleasant dreams.
24:59Pleasant dreams.
24:59Pleasant dreams.
25:04Pleasant dreams.
25:05Pleasant dreams.
25:05Pleasant dreams.
25:06Pleasant dreams.
25:06Pleasant dreams.
25:06Pleasant dreams.
25:06Pleasant dreams.
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