Episode 39: The Thing That Cries in the Night, Parts 1–3

[00:00:16] Speaker A: The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society Podcast welcome to the Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society, a podcast dedicated to society and horror stories from the golden age of radio. I'm Eric. [00:00:34] Speaker B: I'm Tim. [00:00:34] Speaker C: And I'm Joshua. [00:00:35] Speaker A: It's June now. The sun is shining. Birds are singing. [00:00:38] Speaker D: Grills are grilling. Shakespeare is Shakespeare in parking. [00:00:42] Speaker C: The air is filled with the smell of fresh cut grass because your neighbor just mowed his lawn for the fifth time this week while you happily sip an ice cold beer in the prairie grassland that once was your backyard. [00:00:54] Speaker A: It's not a season that immediately lends itself to dark tales of murder and madness. And that's why we're taking a short break from our usual standalone episodes to present something a little more festive, a summer cereal. [00:01:06] Speaker D: Over the next few weeks, we'll bring you a five part podcast featuring all 15 episodes of the Thing that Cries in the Night from I Love A. [00:01:13] Speaker C: Mystery I Love A Mystery was created and written by radio's master of serialized storytelling, Carlton E. Morse. Morse gained fame in 1932 with the debut of his first radio creation, One Man's Family. The show became the longest running serial in radio history heard from 1932 to 1959. [00:01:34] Speaker A: While one man's family was a sweet and sentimental soap opera, Morse's I Love A Mystery was an over the top, action packed testosterone fest jam packed with exotic locales, femme fatales and good old fashioned male bonding. [00:01:48] Speaker D: I Love A Mystery aired on NBC from 1939 to 1944 and was revived for 13 episodes on ABC in 1948 as I Love Adventure. Another version of I Love A mystery aired from 1949 to 1952 on the mutual Broadcasting System. This series reused Morse's scripts from the original NBC run. The existing recordings of the Thing that Cries in the Night that we are about to listen to are from this later series. In the original series started in 1939, the character of Reggie was played by Walter Patterson. Patterson committed suicide in 1942 and the character of Reggie was written out because Morse was so saddened by his death. When the show began running again in 1949 and redoing the old original scripts, the role of Reggie was handed to a man getting hired as an actor. For the first time, you'll be listening to a very young Tony Randall. [00:02:40] Speaker C: The stories revolved around three friends, the tough and charismatic leader Jack Packard, the dignified and intelligent Englishman Reggie York, and the comically excitable Texan Doc Long. Together they ran the A1 detective agency and traveled the world in search of. [00:02:56] Speaker A: Adventure The Thing that Cries in the Night is one of only two serials that survive intact. The other is Bury youy Dead, Arizona. As you'll hear, the end of one serial often blended into the beginning of the next, with Jack, Reggie and Doc basking in the glow of their previous victory before getting entangled in their new mystery. [00:03:14] Speaker D: And now, episodes one, two and three of the Thing that Cries in the Night, from I Love A Mystery, originally broadcast October into November of 1949. [00:03:25] Speaker C: Forget the petty distractions around you. Forget what you think you know. Forget everything but what you hear. Right now it's late at night and a chill has set in. You're alone, and the only light you see is coming from an antique radio. Listen to the sounds coming from the speaker. Listen to the music and listen to the voices. [00:03:50] Speaker B: The Mutual Broadcasting System presents I Love a Mystery Transpire. [00:04:48] Speaker E: Yes, sir, Jack. A bunch of doggone heroes, every doggone one of them. Look here, Doc. Yeah, I know how you feel, Reggie. I wouldn't believe it myself, only here it is spread over the front pages of every newspaper in the country. [00:05:01] Speaker B: You believe everything you read? [00:05:02] Speaker E: Of course I do. A newspaper wouldn't dare print anything that wasn't true. Doc, you haven't done a thing but read those papers since they were taken on at San Francisco. Very interesting reading, too. Looky at this picture of me, Doc Long, the modern Tarzan who slew a mountain lion with his bare hands. [00:05:20] Speaker B: All right, Tarzan, fold up the newspapers. [00:05:22] Speaker E: What you mean, fold up the newspapers? [00:05:24] Speaker B: Stop reading that stuff before you begin to believe it. Remember, Reggie and I have got to go on living with you. [00:05:28] Speaker E: Well, what's that got to do with it? [00:05:29] Speaker B: You keep patting yourself on the back and you're going to break your arm and we're going to have to feed you again. [00:05:33] Speaker E: Hey, you know something? That makes me kind of mad. I thought you weren't mad at anybody. Well, looky, we took on a new stewardess at San Francisco and she ain't even give us a tumble. [00:05:41] Speaker B: Why should she? [00:05:42] Speaker E: Why, a pretty girl like her, she'd ought to be interested in a bunch of heat fighters like us. [00:05:47] Speaker B: Now, look, Doc, you bored the other stewardess from Seattle to San Francisco with your story. Will you let this girl alone? [00:05:52] Speaker E: Oh, all right. Of course, if she asks me, I'm gonna have to tell her. [00:05:56] Speaker B: Well, she won't ask you if she knows what's good for her. [00:05:58] Speaker E: Doggone, I can't get over it. The insurance company are giving us 25,000 potatoes just for bringing Alexander Archer back alive. 25,000. Good round simoleons. [00:06:09] Speaker B: It was little enough Richard Cooper killed Archer. The insurance company would have been out a million. [00:06:13] Speaker E: Yeah. Now here we are on our way to Hollywood to live like three doggone kings. [00:06:18] Speaker B: I still don't know why you wanted to come to Hollywood. [00:06:20] Speaker E: Well, Hollywood is good as any place else to spend 25,000 smackers, ain't it? [00:06:24] Speaker B: Yes, I suppose so. [00:06:25] Speaker E: But, Doc, we really don't have to spend it, do we? Of course we do. What good's 25,000 if we don't spend it? You agree with him, Jack? [00:06:32] Speaker B: Well, it's certainly true that he won't be good for anything else until the money's gone. [00:06:35] Speaker E: Quite. And it is a bother. Oh, it ain't gonna be no bother to me. Not for long it ain't. What's best hotel in Los Angeles? [00:06:43] Speaker B: There's several. [00:06:44] Speaker E: Yeah, but the most expensive, I don't know. Well, anyway, that's where we're going. If the doc. We're not dressed for that sort of thing, then we'll get dressed for him. And we'll get the most expensive automobile we can find and eat in the most expensive eating places and go to the most expensive shows. [00:06:58] Speaker B: And the 25,000 will last us just about one month. [00:07:00] Speaker E: Well, that's just about right. I don't think I could stand being so darn expensive much longer than that. Do you like it, Reggie? Well, as a matter of fact, I don't. Now, there's gratitude for you. I work out a swell way to spend our 25,000. Well, just think, Reggie. Folks are waiting on us. Breakfast in bed. Waiting. Waiting around in pretty women up to our armpits. [00:07:20] Speaker B: I was wondering when that was coming out. [00:07:22] Speaker E: Pretty women. [00:07:23] Speaker B: Yes. [00:07:23] Speaker E: But, Jack, that's the best part of the whole idea. Why, there ain't nothing I like. [00:07:27] Speaker B: We know there isn't anything you like as much as a pretty woman. [00:07:30] Speaker E: Well, they ain't. There's one thing, though. I'm just wondering with so much whoopy if I'm going to be able to get home every morning in time to have breakfast in bed. Look at you fellas. Promise me something. [00:07:42] Speaker B: Well, let's hear it. [00:07:43] Speaker E: First, I want you two to promise me, no matter what happens, no matter what you get me, that we ain't going to take no adventure nor solving a mystery or nothing like that until. Until every last penny of the $25,000 is gone. [00:07:55] Speaker B: I see. You don't want business to interfere with pleasure. [00:07:57] Speaker E: You bet I don't. You promise? Well, now, that's a funny thing to Ask Doc. Adventure just doesn't come up and smack you in the face. You've got to go out looking for him. Yeah, but I know, Jack. He smelled something and away we go. But if we do run into something. No, sir. If we run right smack into something, we're going to turn our backs and start walking the other way. What do you say to that, Jack? [00:08:14] Speaker B: I say the worst is about to happen. [00:08:16] Speaker E: Huh? Well, what? [00:08:17] Speaker B: You mean that stewardess has spotted us? She's coming this way with a newspaper in her hand. [00:08:21] Speaker E: Hey, that's all right. [00:08:23] Speaker B: Well, get ready, Reggie, to hear the story of our great adventure all over again. [00:08:27] Speaker E: Quite. Hello, honey. [00:08:29] Speaker F: Are you Mr. Long? [00:08:30] Speaker E: Oh, that's all right. Just call me Doc. Oh, I say. [00:08:33] Speaker F: Then this is your picture in the paper. [00:08:35] Speaker E: Yep, that's right. [00:08:36] Speaker F: And these other two men. [00:08:38] Speaker E: Yep. Jack Packard and Reggie York. [00:08:40] Speaker F: Oh, but it's wonderful. You're the three who were almost murdered and fought those mountain lions. [00:08:45] Speaker E: Yeah. Would you like to hear about it? Oh, please. [00:08:48] Speaker F: And that poor girl, Linda Joyce, you were wonderful to save her from the. [00:08:51] Speaker G: Mountain lion the way you did. [00:08:52] Speaker E: Oh, shucks, it wasn't nothing. Sit down a minute and I'll tell you all about it. Oh, will you please do. [00:08:58] Speaker B: It's his pleasure. [00:08:59] Speaker G: What's that? [00:08:59] Speaker B: I say, you don't know what you're letting yourself in for. [00:09:01] Speaker E: Hey, Jack, she asked me. Not you. [00:09:03] Speaker F: That dreadful Richard Cooper and Dr. Thorne. Thank goodness they're safely in jail. [00:09:07] Speaker E: Yeah, they're locked up so tight they ain't never gonna get out. [00:09:10] Speaker F: But there were so many of them. I mean, beside the two leaders, how did you ever get off the island? [00:09:14] Speaker E: Well, while me and Linda was out fighting a lion, Jack and Reggie here captured Cooper and Thorn and locked the rest of the gang up in one of the rooms down in the cellar. [00:09:22] Speaker F: Oh, you two should be so proud of yourselves. [00:09:26] Speaker E: Hey, what about me out there fighting the lion? [00:09:29] Speaker F: Yeah, but after all, you did have a knife. [00:09:32] Speaker E: It wasn't a very big knife. [00:09:34] Speaker F: And anyway, I've heard that mountain lions are cowardly. [00:09:37] Speaker E: Hey, when I got through with that cougar, I was in the hospital for two weeks. [00:09:42] Speaker F: You don't look like you'd ever been sick a day in your life. [00:09:44] Speaker B: Oh, wonderful. [00:09:45] Speaker E: Well, I swear to Grandma, I ain't never seen a girl like you before. Ain't you impressed at all? [00:09:50] Speaker F: Of course I am. The way Mr. York and Mr. Packard locked up 13 men single handed. [00:09:56] Speaker E: I think it's wonderful. Yeah, but maybe you don't understand about mountain lions, Mr. Packard. [00:10:00] Speaker F: What happened after you locked those men up? [00:10:02] Speaker B: Well, we found Alexander Archer and loaded him into the launch with Cooper and Thorn and brought them into port for us and turned them over to the authorities. [00:10:09] Speaker F: But what about all the men that were locked down in that underground room? [00:10:12] Speaker B: Oh, the police went out the island and got them. [00:10:14] Speaker F: Well, I suppose you know, you're famous. [00:10:17] Speaker B: Newspapers have to print something. I suppose. [00:10:19] Speaker F: But I still don't see why they made so much of Mr. Long and the mountain lion. [00:10:22] Speaker E: Hey, look, are you just plain trying to make me mad? [00:10:26] Speaker F: Why, no, of course not. [00:10:28] Speaker E: Well, whether you believe it or not, fighting mountain lions ain't no child's play. Oh, pooh. [00:10:33] Speaker F: My folks live on a mountain ranch up in Washington. My mother scares mountain lions out of her chicken yard by shushing her apron at them. [00:10:40] Speaker E: Hey, that ain't so. [00:10:42] Speaker F: I beg your pardon. [00:10:43] Speaker E: Well, hey, I didn't mean to say that. I'm sorry. Don't apologize. [00:10:47] Speaker F: I shouldn't have come back here. Yeah, yeah, but my mother did too scare mountain lions with her chicken apron. [00:10:54] Speaker G: So there. [00:10:56] Speaker E: What are you two are sitting there grinning about? [00:10:58] Speaker B: Too bad Cooper didn't arm you with a kitchen apron instead of a knife. [00:11:02] Speaker E: Doc. All right, all right. So it's fun. [00:11:04] Speaker B: Now I come to think of it, Reggie, I wonder if maybe Linda didn't scare that lion to death by shaking her skirts. [00:11:09] Speaker E: Yes, quiet. But in that case, how did Doc get those scratches and bruises? [00:11:13] Speaker B: He might have fallen down a ravine. [00:11:15] Speaker E: Yes, that would account for it, all right. Well, you two guys shut up. [00:11:18] Speaker B: Well, naturally, he couldn't say that Linda killed the cougar. [00:11:20] Speaker E: Naturally not. Looky, you two smart guys. I beg your pardon. Yeah, I'm a passenger on the plane. Well, so what? You look like the fellow whose picture I got here in my paper. See? Okay, so I'm the fella. What about it? Is it true you killed the mountain lion with your bare hands? No, you think? But it's right here in the paper. I can't help that. Then that mountain cougar still alive? No, he ain't. He died of being struck. My goodness, you don't tell me. Sure, I'm telling you. My mama come along and waved her kitchen apron at him and he laid right down and kicked the bucket. Young man, you're a liar. Oh, you don't believe me. That's a fine way to talk to a gentleman. Well, if you don't believe me, just go back and ask the stewardess. She knows all the answers. Are you gentleman this fellow's companion? [00:12:05] Speaker B: Yes. [00:12:06] Speaker E: What's the matter with Him? [00:12:08] Speaker B: Well, he hasn't been quite right ever since we left the island. [00:12:11] Speaker E: Oh, so that's it. [00:12:12] Speaker B: Too bad. [00:12:13] Speaker D: Too bad. [00:12:14] Speaker E: Why, dat gum, you jack as fine a pair of sippy cats as I ever tied up with. [00:12:19] Speaker B: Don't worry, Doc. There'll be a new batch of newspapers with stories in them when you reach Hollywood. [00:12:23] Speaker E: Don't you say newspapers to me. Oh, look here now, Doc, I'm warning you. The first newsboy that sticks a newspaper under my nose is gonna get smacked right back three generations. Oh, I say. Look down. Lights. [00:12:36] Speaker B: You must be getting in. Passing your safety belts, please. [00:12:38] Speaker E: No smoking while we're landing. [00:12:40] Speaker H: Passenger safety bells, please. [00:12:41] Speaker E: So your mama shushed a cougar with her apron. [00:12:43] Speaker G: Yes, she did. F your B. [00:12:46] Speaker E: First thing she knows, she's going to have herself believe in that. [00:12:50] Speaker B: Now we're heading into the field. [00:13:01] Speaker E: There we are, back on solid ground again. Well, there she is, folks. Burbank, California. Come on, let's get out of here and start spending some of that money. [00:13:16] Speaker B: What'll we do? [00:13:17] Speaker E: Take a taxi. We doggone right to the most expensive hotel in Los Angeles. Some place that's close to Hollywood, though. [00:13:24] Speaker F: Watch your step, please. Watch your step, please. [00:13:27] Speaker E: Your mom is sure enough scared of cougar with her apron. [00:13:30] Speaker F: You're holding up the passengers. Please move along. [00:13:33] Speaker E: Oh, so you're backing down now? [00:13:35] Speaker F: I am not. [00:13:36] Speaker B: Doc, come on. [00:13:37] Speaker E: Well, all I gotta say is that your mama's one tough Homie. [00:13:40] Speaker G: Oh, you're impossible. [00:13:41] Speaker B: Take his arm, Reggie. [00:13:42] Speaker E: I'm a company. [00:13:43] Speaker F: Watch your steps. [00:13:43] Speaker E: To cute kid. Just as soon lies. Look at you, though. Quite a crowd outside the gate. [00:13:49] Speaker B: France got on that little plane getting ready to go out. [00:13:51] Speaker E: I beg your pardon. Are you Mr. Jack Packard in party? [00:13:54] Speaker B: Yes, that's right. [00:13:54] Speaker E: This way, if you please. [00:13:56] Speaker B: Hey, wait a minute. Who are you? [00:13:57] Speaker E: I'm the chauffeur. If you'll just get in that big black car over there, I'll pick up your baggage. Man, oh, man, looky at it a block long. [00:14:04] Speaker B: What's it all about? We didn't order anyone to meet us. You must be mistaken. [00:14:07] Speaker E: You said your name was Mr. Packard? [00:14:08] Speaker B: That's right. [00:14:09] Speaker E: Well, then, if you'll please get in the car, I'll. I'll be right back with the luggage. Jack, I don't get it. [00:14:13] Speaker B: Well, neither do I. [00:14:14] Speaker E: Well, what do we care? Look, it's what's in that? A big old automobile. What's that? I ask you, did you ever see a prettier armful of girl in that? [00:14:22] Speaker B: No. [00:14:23] Speaker E: Let's Climb in. What are we waiting. [00:14:37] Speaker B: It? The further transcribed adventures of Jack, Duck and Reggie will come to you tomorrow at this same hour. I Love A Mystery, written and directed by Carlton E. Morse, comes to you Monday through Friday. Featuring Russell Forson as Jack, Jim Bowles as Doc Long and Tony Randall as Reggie York. Frank McCarthy speaking. The mutual Broadcasting System presents I Love A Mystery transpired. [00:16:21] Speaker E: Doggone, don't we get ourselves in the most expensive places? Lookie, Jack. Looky, Reggie. Silk sheets even. [00:16:27] Speaker B: All right. Silk sheets. So what? [00:16:29] Speaker E: So I'm going to sleep between silk sheets for the first time in my life. Honest to my grandma, fellas, if my cousin Winnie May could see me now. [00:16:37] Speaker B: It makes you think we're going to be here long enough to sleep between any kind of sheets. [00:16:40] Speaker E: What you mean? We've been brought here, ain't we? [00:16:42] Speaker B: I still think there's been some mistake. [00:16:43] Speaker E: I say, Jack, what's that? [00:16:44] Speaker B: Oh, where have you been? [00:16:46] Speaker E: Prowling a bit. Did you two know there's a suite of three bedrooms with separate baths? Well, didn't I tell you this was expensive stuff? We got ourselves into a bedroom for each of us. Sure. So what you mean, Jack, by saying it's a mistake? [00:16:57] Speaker B: There's no sense to anything that's happened so far. We get on a plane to come to Hollywood for the express purpose of spending $25,000. [00:17:03] Speaker E: Well, we can spend it from here just as good as anyplace else. [00:17:05] Speaker B: That's not the point. [00:17:06] Speaker E: Ain't, huh? [00:17:07] Speaker B: No, it isn't. The point is, when we get off the plane, we're met by a liveried chauffeur and a fancy car. Just as though we were expected and being met by appointment. No explanation, nothing. We're just invited to get in the car. [00:17:17] Speaker E: That's right. And so we get in the car and why? [00:17:19] Speaker B: Well, because there's a good looking girl waiting inside for us. [00:17:22] Speaker E: Well, that's as good a reason as any for getting into a strange auto. Are you sorry you did it? Well, look what it's got us in so far. That isn't the idea, Doc. We've been driven out to this beautiful old Hollywood mansion and we don't know why. All we know is that this is the home of Randolph Martin. Yeah, whoever he is. And that these are to be our. [00:17:39] Speaker B: Quarters and the dinner will be served at 7. Hey. [00:17:41] Speaker E: Well, we know the name of the little old honey pot who met us at the airport. [00:17:44] Speaker B: Fay Martin. Does that mean anything to you? [00:17:46] Speaker E: No, of course not. Except I like knowing it. [00:17:49] Speaker B: Why? [00:17:49] Speaker E: Because I think I'M going to like Faye when we get to know each other better. [00:17:53] Speaker B: You're out of your class, Doc. [00:17:54] Speaker E: What you mean out of my class? [00:17:56] Speaker B: If this house is any indication, the Martins are not only wallowing in money, but they're overflowing with the refinements and niceties of an old family. [00:18:02] Speaker E: Aristocrats. [00:18:03] Speaker B: If you look about, you see signs of the family tree almost everywhere. [00:18:06] Speaker E: You mean we're going to be high headed? [00:18:08] Speaker B: What happened in the car on the way out here? [00:18:10] Speaker E: Huh? Well, what you mean, what happened? [00:18:11] Speaker B: Why, the minute we began asking Ms. Fay Martin questions, she froze. Solemn. [00:18:15] Speaker E: Yeah, Only I just thought she was kind of nervous on account of us being strangers. Besides, you don't think I ain't man enough to unfreeze. [00:18:22] Speaker B: You still don't get it, Doc. [00:18:23] Speaker E: She was the little princess keeping the village yokels in their place. Well, then, what'd we come for? Oh, see here now. No, sir. I'll be doggone if I'll stay around folks who don't think I'm as good as they are. [00:18:32] Speaker B: All right, Doc, relax, will ya? The whole point is that we allowed that girl to bring us from the airport to this house without getting one bit of information out of her. We allowed ourselves to be turned over to the butler in the downstairs hall and conducted to these rooms, still not knowing what it's all. And now we've been here for an hour and what do we know? [00:18:47] Speaker E: Well, I'll tell you what we know what we know that we're being neglected. That's what we know. [00:18:52] Speaker B: Yes, that's about all. [00:18:53] Speaker E: Well, why don't we do something about it? We don't have to stand around with our teeth in our mouth. We ain't locked in. Let's bust out and find this here Randolph Martin. [00:19:01] Speaker B: No, that's not the answer. [00:19:02] Speaker E: Well, why the heck ain't it? Don't you agree with me, Reggie? Get aggressive and show them that we ain't folks to be pushed around. No, no, I. I don't think so. Hey, what's the matter with you two anyway? [00:19:12] Speaker B: Oh, look here, Doc. [00:19:13] Speaker E: Gentlemen folk might not understand our strong arm methods. Gentle folks, people of breeding, refinement. Hey, look, you think I'm pretty enough to sit down at the table with these folks tonight? Look here, after all, we didn't come here of our own accord. [00:19:25] Speaker B: They brung us just the same. Doc, I think we can wait until dinner. [00:19:28] Speaker E: Oh, sure, we can wait until next week, but that ain't spending none of that $25,000 reward money we come To Hollywood to spend. [00:19:34] Speaker B: But we're bound to meet the whole family at dinner. And then the reason for our being here, if there is a reason, will come out. [00:19:39] Speaker E: I say, who. Who is this Randolph Martin anyway? I never heard of him. You, Jack? [00:19:43] Speaker B: No, no, he can't be anywhere. [00:19:45] Speaker E: Oh, someone showing some signs of interest. We'll have. Doggone gracious. I'm not to forget his completeness. [00:19:50] Speaker B: I get it. [00:19:53] Speaker F: Hello. [00:19:54] Speaker B: Oh, good evening. I'm Jack Packard. [00:19:58] Speaker F: Look, somebody slashed me. [00:20:01] Speaker B: Slashed you? [00:20:02] Speaker F: Yes, here on my arm. [00:20:04] Speaker B: Here, let me see that. Now maybe you better come in here. [00:20:07] Speaker F: Yes, I guess maybe I'd better. [00:20:09] Speaker B: You're bleeding all over the carpet. Come into the bathroom and hold your arm over the basin. All right, Reggie, close the door. [00:20:15] Speaker E: Quiet. I say, Doc, did you see that? Yeah. What's going on here? What she mean, somebody slashed me? Well, she was bally well bleeding. Well, who do you heck suppose she is? [00:20:24] Speaker B: Oh, Doc. [00:20:24] Speaker E: Yeah? [00:20:25] Speaker B: Bring me some iodine and cotton and some adhesive tape out of my bag. [00:20:27] Speaker E: Okay. Coming right up. [00:20:29] Speaker B: It isn't really very much of a cut. About an inch long, not too deep. Now, how did it happen? [00:20:35] Speaker F: They did it. [00:20:37] Speaker B: They? [00:20:37] Speaker F: Yes. I was walking down the hall. I felt a kind of sharp sting on my arm. I looked at it quick and it was all bloody. [00:20:47] Speaker B: This happened just now out in the hall? [00:20:49] Speaker F: Yes. [00:20:49] Speaker B: Who was out there with you? [00:20:50] Speaker F: I turned around real quick, but there wasn't anybody. [00:20:54] Speaker E: Here's the stuff you wanted. [00:20:55] Speaker B: No, thanks. [00:20:56] Speaker E: They don't amount to much with blood washed off. But how did happening? [00:21:00] Speaker F: They did it. [00:21:01] Speaker B: You keep saying they. Who are they? [00:21:03] Speaker F: I don't know. They just won't let me alone is all I know. [00:21:08] Speaker E: Yeah, well, what did bothering you for? [00:21:10] Speaker G: I don't know. [00:21:12] Speaker F: I think they're trying to kill me. [00:21:13] Speaker B: Kill you? [00:21:14] Speaker E: Hey, wait a minute. What did anybody want to kill a nice girl like you for? [00:21:18] Speaker F: I don't know. [00:21:19] Speaker B: Now then, this might sting a little. I'm pouring iodine in the cut. [00:21:23] Speaker F: I don't mind pain. [00:21:25] Speaker B: Good girl. There it is. A little cut and some adhesive tape and you're all well again. [00:21:31] Speaker E: Look here, Jack, didn't you hear her say someone's trying to kill her? [00:21:34] Speaker B: Yes, I heard her. Do you mind telling us your name? [00:21:38] Speaker F: I'm Jerry Martin. [00:21:39] Speaker E: Jerry, huh? [00:21:40] Speaker F: It's really Charity. Nobody calls me that. [00:21:44] Speaker B: Then you must be the sister of Faye Martin who met us at the airport. [00:21:46] Speaker F: Yes, she likes Faye best. But her name's really Faith. [00:21:49] Speaker B: There you are. Now come out in the other room. You're still pretty much Upset? [00:21:54] Speaker F: No, I'm not upset. [00:21:56] Speaker B: Then why that fearful whisper? [00:21:58] Speaker F: I'm afraid they'll hear me. [00:22:01] Speaker B: Please sit down. [00:22:02] Speaker F: No, no, I mustn't. I must go now. [00:22:05] Speaker B: But see here, I think you should sit down and tell us about this. If you're in danger, that must be the reason why we're here. [00:22:10] Speaker F: Yes, that's part of the reason. But I must go now. [00:22:13] Speaker E: But ain't you scared to go out in that hall? If somebody got through just slicing your arm, ain't he liable to do it again? [00:22:18] Speaker F: Yes. [00:22:19] Speaker E: Then why not stay here where we can look out for you? [00:22:21] Speaker F: No, I mustn't stay. [00:22:23] Speaker E: Well, why? [00:22:24] Speaker F: I just mustn't, that's all. [00:22:28] Speaker B: Would you like someone to walk to your room with you? [00:22:30] Speaker F: Oh, I'm all right. Oh, yes, I almost forgot. Hope is my other sister. [00:22:36] Speaker E: I say Faith, Hope and Charity. [00:22:38] Speaker F: Yes, she's the one who's in the worst danger. Hope and my brother Jones. [00:22:44] Speaker B: Your sister Hope and your brother Job are in the worst danger? [00:22:47] Speaker F: Yes. [00:22:47] Speaker B: From what? From whom? [00:22:49] Speaker F: I don't know, but they do. I'll see you at dinner. [00:22:56] Speaker E: Well, smack me for a baby. What goes on? [00:22:59] Speaker B: Well, now things are beginning to make sense. The reason for our being here begins to emerge. [00:23:04] Speaker E: Danger, murder, Fear. In this house. There's your blue blooded aristocracy you fellas was holding your breath over. It's more apparent than ever, don't you think, Jack? I mean to say, the exquisite refinement of that girl's face. [00:23:16] Speaker B: The roots of an old family tree. [00:23:17] Speaker E: Are firmly entrenched in this house. [00:23:19] Speaker B: Yes, Reggie, but it's also apparent that the family tree is beginning to show signs of decay. [00:23:23] Speaker E: Signs of decay? Looks to me like it was rotten. Clean down to the roots. Something's belly wrong all right. Screwy family in the beginning. Who ever heard of naming girls Faith, Hope and Charity? Sounds like a Texas camp meeting. [00:23:34] Speaker B: Well, at least we know this much now. There are three sisters who've gone to the names of Faye, Hope and Cherry. And there's a brother, Job. [00:23:40] Speaker E: Yeah, there's another name out of this world. [00:23:42] Speaker B: And it appears, according to Cherry's story, that someone is molesting her with the intent eventually to kill her. [00:23:46] Speaker E: Yeah, and right in this house too. Funny kind of a cut she had on her arm. What kind of a knife would make a thin, long cut like that? [00:23:53] Speaker B: Oh, doctor, Scalpel. Safety razor blade. [00:23:56] Speaker E: I say, that's exactly what it looked like. A safety razor blade cut. Yeah, but who's going around murdering folks with an old safety razor blade? [00:24:02] Speaker B: What do you do with your old safety razor blades. [00:24:05] Speaker E: But this must be pretty doggone serious, Jack. Jerry thinks they're out to kill her. Yet she says her sister Hope and her brother are in even worse danger. I'd like to get hold of that Randolph Martin and give him a piece of my mind. [00:24:16] Speaker B: His children are in danger, and he. [00:24:17] Speaker E: Keeps us up here waiting. He doesn't tell us what it's all about and why doesn't he let us get onto it? [00:24:22] Speaker B: Did you ever stop to think? [00:24:24] Speaker E: Listen, you say a blooming infant in the house? Yeah. Then one of the girls must be married. [00:24:30] Speaker B: Open the door, Doc. [00:24:31] Speaker E: What for? Ain't you never heard a baby holler before? [00:24:33] Speaker B: Never mind. Open the door. [00:24:34] Speaker E: Okay. All I hope is it don't yell at night. There's a fine pair of lungs stuffed a nipple in its mouth or something. Jack. I say, come on. [00:24:47] Speaker B: What are we waiting for? [00:24:49] Speaker E: Here. Here's the stairs. [00:24:51] Speaker B: And there she is lying down at the foot. Come on. [00:24:56] Speaker E: Oh. Dog gone. [00:24:58] Speaker B: Yeah. Wait a minute. [00:24:59] Speaker E: Straighten her out. Oh. Hey, it's Jerry. Is she dead? [00:25:05] Speaker B: No, no, she's not dead. [00:25:07] Speaker F: No, I'm not dead. [00:25:09] Speaker E: Hey, she's conscious. And after a tumble down all them stairs. [00:25:12] Speaker G: All right. What is it this time? [00:25:14] Speaker E: Oh. Hey. [00:25:16] Speaker G: Well, why are you all standing there gaping? What is it? [00:25:20] Speaker B: Your daughter just fell downstairs. [00:25:22] Speaker G: My granddaughter, you mean. Is she hurt? [00:25:25] Speaker F: No, no, I'm not hurt. [00:25:27] Speaker G: Falling downstairs. [00:25:28] Speaker F: I didn't fall. Somebody pushed me. [00:25:32] Speaker E: Hey, did they do it? [00:25:33] Speaker G: What's that bandage on your arm? [00:25:35] Speaker F: Somebody slashed me. [00:25:37] Speaker G: Can you stand? [00:25:39] Speaker F: Yes, I think so. [00:25:41] Speaker G: And get to your feet. [00:25:42] Speaker E: Here, let me help you. There you are. [00:25:47] Speaker F: Thank you. [00:25:49] Speaker B: Perhaps I should explain how we happen to be here. [00:25:51] Speaker G: I know more about that than you do, young man. [00:25:54] Speaker B: You do? [00:25:54] Speaker G: I should. I brought you. Then you're Randolph Martin, and I need help. I'm having granddaughter trouble. [00:26:43] Speaker B: The further transcribed adventures of Jack, Duck and Reggie will come to you tomorrow at this same hour. I Love A Mystery, written and directed by Carlton E. Morse comes to you Monday through Friday. Featuring Russell Forson as Jack, Jim Bowles is Doc Long and Tony Randall as Reggie York. Frank McCarthy speaking. The mutual Broadcasting System presents I Love A Mystery. Transpond. [00:27:28] Speaker A: It. [00:27:59] Speaker G: Now then, Mr. Packard, we'll go into the library. [00:28:02] Speaker B: Mrs. Martin, will you tell me why you sent Doc and Reggie back up to our quarters? [00:28:05] Speaker G: I'm taking you into the library to meet my granddaughters. [00:28:08] Speaker B: What's that got to do with Doc and Reggie? [00:28:09] Speaker G: My dear man, you don't know my granddaughters. [00:28:11] Speaker B: What's that? [00:28:12] Speaker G: No. When there are too Many eligible men about. It's difficult to get them to concentrate on anything else. [00:28:17] Speaker B: Man. Crazy, huh? [00:28:18] Speaker G: Keep a civil tug on your head. [00:28:20] Speaker B: You suggested it. [00:28:21] Speaker G: I can say what I please about my granddaughters. You can't. [00:28:24] Speaker B: I see. [00:28:25] Speaker G: Be sure you do. The Martin girls can do no wrong. [00:28:28] Speaker B: But you were telling me a few moments ago you were having granddaughter trouble. [00:28:31] Speaker G: I am. [00:28:32] Speaker B: Well, isn't it going to be a little difficult for us to discuss the trouble? If I've got to assume the attitude. [00:28:36] Speaker G: There above reproach, I'll do the criticizing. Your job is to correct the trouble in this house without comment. [00:28:42] Speaker B: Aren't you being a little high handed, Mrs. Martin? [00:28:44] Speaker G: You're questioning me? [00:28:45] Speaker B: I certainly am. First, you practically kidnapped me and my two partners. [00:28:49] Speaker G: You didn't have to come if you didn't choose. [00:28:51] Speaker B: How did you know we were arriving by plane at Burbank this evening? [00:28:53] Speaker G: Read it in the paper. [00:28:54] Speaker B: But did you stop to consider that we might have had plans of our own? [00:28:57] Speaker G: They weren't important. [00:28:59] Speaker B: You mean they weren't important to you. I'm afraid you're a woman who's used to having her own way. [00:29:03] Speaker G: I'm afraid I am. [00:29:05] Speaker B: Well, you go right ahead and have it. I think Doc and Reggie and I'll be on our way. [00:29:09] Speaker G: Fiddlesticks. [00:29:10] Speaker B: What's that? [00:29:11] Speaker G: You're staying right here against our will. Nonsense. You're staying here because you're needed. [00:29:16] Speaker B: You're asking us to stay. [00:29:18] Speaker G: I'm ordering you to stay now. [00:29:20] Speaker B: Then I'll say goodbye. [00:29:21] Speaker G: Don't be a fool, Jack Packard. [00:29:22] Speaker B: We don't take orders. [00:29:23] Speaker G: You walk out of the house because I order you to stay instead of ask you to stay. [00:29:28] Speaker B: That's right. [00:29:29] Speaker G: You'll be well paid for obeying my orders. [00:29:31] Speaker B: Keep your money. As a matter of fact, our one purpose in coming to Hollywood was to spend our reward money from the last job. It would melt faster down here than any place we could think of. [00:29:41] Speaker G: You don't recognize authority and you have no use for money. [00:29:44] Speaker B: That's right. [00:29:45] Speaker G: You're difficult young men to handle. [00:29:47] Speaker B: Not at all. We enjoy doing favors. [00:29:49] Speaker G: The House of Martin does not accept favors. [00:29:52] Speaker B: That's up to you. [00:29:52] Speaker G: For generations we've been able to pay for anything we want. [00:29:55] Speaker B: In my opinion, then, the Martins have wanted few of the good things in this world. There we are. We can't agree, so we'll go. [00:30:02] Speaker E: No. Yes. [00:30:03] Speaker G: No. Wait a minute. [00:30:05] Speaker B: Well? [00:30:06] Speaker G: I don't like it. I'm not used to asking people to do things, but I will. I'm asking you to Stay and help me, Mr. Packard, please. What's that? [00:30:17] Speaker B: You didn't say please. [00:30:18] Speaker G: How dare you. Don't if you don't want to, young whippersnapper. Mr. Packard, will you please stay and help me? [00:30:29] Speaker B: Gladly. In fact, we'd already made up our minds to stay. I think you've got an interesting problem here. [00:30:34] Speaker G: What do you know about the problem here? [00:30:35] Speaker B: Nothing. But it's apparent there's something. It's in the atmosphere. Something, Might I say something creeping through this house. [00:30:43] Speaker G: Creeping? Creeping. [00:30:45] Speaker B: A creeping unhealthy menace. [00:30:47] Speaker G: What are you talking about? [00:30:48] Speaker B: I don't know. You don't suppose it would be the stench of a decaying family tree that's permeating the environment? We. [00:30:55] Speaker G: Such utter nonsense. We spent enough time. Come along in the library and meet my granddaughters. [00:30:59] Speaker B: Very well. [00:31:00] Speaker G: Decayed family tree indeed. [00:31:02] Speaker B: Only a suggestion. [00:31:03] Speaker G: Uncalled for. Come on in. [00:31:07] Speaker B: Yes. [00:31:09] Speaker G: Now then, Fay, where is Hope? [00:31:11] Speaker H: Oh, Grandmother, whoever keeps track of our beautiful Hope? [00:31:13] Speaker G: Well, someone should. [00:31:15] Speaker H: I'd hate to be the one assigned to the job. [00:31:17] Speaker G: I told her to be in the library at 8. [00:31:18] Speaker F: Grandma. I know where she is. [00:31:20] Speaker H: Cherry. [00:31:21] Speaker G: Shut up, Fay, please. You're a Martin. And that Martin women are always ladies. [00:31:25] Speaker H: Oh, horse feathers. [00:31:26] Speaker G: The Martin women are always ladies. Now then, Cherry, where is Hope? [00:31:30] Speaker F: She sneaked out with the chauffeur again. [00:31:32] Speaker H: You little rat. [00:31:33] Speaker B: Hey. [00:31:33] Speaker H: Well, she is, but you're not. [00:31:35] Speaker F: Hope should leave the chauffeur alone, and you know it. [00:31:37] Speaker G: Well, that man will get his walking papers tonight. [00:31:40] Speaker H: Let's see. That'll make the fourth chauffeur to get his bounce in three months. [00:31:44] Speaker G: We'll not discuss the subject any further. Mr. Packard? [00:31:47] Speaker B: Yes? [00:31:47] Speaker G: This is my oldest granddaughter, Faith Martin. [00:31:50] Speaker H: Sure we met before. [00:31:52] Speaker B: Yes, I think I've had the pleasure. [00:31:53] Speaker F: What's that? [00:31:54] Speaker B: Ms. Martin was in the car that met us at the airport tonight. [00:31:56] Speaker G: You were? Why? [00:31:58] Speaker H: I just wanted to get first look at your private detectives. [00:32:01] Speaker B: I don't particularly like that term, private detectives. [00:32:05] Speaker H: Well, isn't that what you are? Three flatties in plain clothes to keep an eye on the Martin girl. [00:32:11] Speaker G: That will be enough of that, Faith Martin. [00:32:13] Speaker H: And look, Packard, Grandma's the only one who can get away with faith. Make it, Fay, or don't talk to me. [00:32:19] Speaker G: I remember all right. You've had the center of the floor long enough. You know Charity Martin already. [00:32:24] Speaker F: Not Charity, Grandma, please. Cherry. [00:32:27] Speaker B: Ms. Cherry Martin. Any bad results from your fall downstairs? [00:32:31] Speaker H: Don't tell me Cherry fell downstairs again. [00:32:33] Speaker F: I didn't fall. I didn't. I was pushed from behind and when. [00:32:36] Speaker H: You looked around, there wasn't anyone there. [00:32:39] Speaker F: How can you look around when you're falling? [00:32:40] Speaker G: Faye, let your sister alone. [00:32:41] Speaker H: If she keeps falling down the stairs much more. We can make a tumbler out of her and put her in the circus. [00:32:46] Speaker F: Fay. [00:32:47] Speaker H: Okay. Why not? [00:32:48] Speaker B: Ms. Martin? [00:32:49] Speaker H: You better call me Fay. There are too many Miss Martins around this joint. [00:32:53] Speaker B: Very well, Fay, then. You don't seem to take your sister's convictions. That someone is trying to kill her very seriously. [00:32:59] Speaker H: Oh, Cherry's just got a persecution complex. [00:33:01] Speaker F: I have not. [00:33:02] Speaker H: Sure you have. You're always talking about them being after you. They want to kill you. [00:33:08] Speaker F: They. [00:33:09] Speaker H: What's that but a persecution setup? [00:33:11] Speaker B: Perhaps. But how do you account for the marks of physical violence? That's not in the mind. [00:33:15] Speaker H: You've got me, pal. But if there's anybody in this house chasing Cherry with malice aforethought. Then I'm a flagpole sitter. [00:33:23] Speaker G: Fay, I find the vulgarity of your language exceedingly distasteful. [00:33:27] Speaker H: Poor Grandma. She's tried so hard to make ladies of us all. And what did she get? [00:33:33] Speaker B: What did she get? [00:33:34] Speaker H: You really like to know? [00:33:35] Speaker G: Faith, watch your tongue. [00:33:36] Speaker B: I assure you I would. I'd like to know very much. [00:33:38] Speaker H: Well, I'll start with me. I'm the oldest. [00:33:41] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:33:42] Speaker H: I'm the vulgarian of the family. [00:33:43] Speaker G: Faith Martin. You mind what you say. [00:33:45] Speaker H: Oh, go lay down, Grandma. [00:33:46] Speaker G: You begin to understand. Mr. Packard. You see why I need help so badly. [00:33:50] Speaker B: Go on, Fay. You're the Bulgarian, correct? [00:33:53] Speaker H: Hope is the family way. Witness her evening escapade with the chauffeur. [00:33:58] Speaker G: Say the family name. [00:33:59] Speaker H: What family name? And Cherry, the little whispering mouse here, she's just a plain dope afraid of her own shadow. [00:34:09] Speaker B: I see. That's the way you analyze the situation. [00:34:11] Speaker H: That's us. Here we are. Look us over. [00:34:15] Speaker B: What about Brother Job? [00:34:16] Speaker G: We'll not discuss Job. He's a fine young man. The only one in the family who appreciates the name of Martin. [00:34:23] Speaker H: That's Grandma's version. Want to hear mine? [00:34:27] Speaker B: Please. [00:34:28] Speaker H: Brother Job is a good natured drunk. [00:34:30] Speaker E: Hey. [00:34:30] Speaker H: Who's been taken by every gyp game Hollywood can think up. And is slowly breaking his grandmother's heart. [00:34:35] Speaker B: If I may offer an opinion. I don't think you girls are doing your grandmother's heart any good either. [00:34:40] Speaker H: Oh, well, she doesn't love us. As long as we don't get the name of Martin in the headlines. She doesn't mind us. But she loves Job something awful. [00:34:47] Speaker F: We all do. We all love Joe. And he's in such danger he can hope are in terrible danger. [00:34:54] Speaker B: Yes, you said that before tonight when I was bandaging up your arm. [00:34:57] Speaker H: Bandaging her arm? [00:35:00] Speaker F: Hello. [00:35:01] Speaker H: You have got a bandage on, haven't you? What happened? [00:35:05] Speaker F: Somebody slashed me as I was walking down the hall. [00:35:07] Speaker E: What? [00:35:08] Speaker F: It's true. It's true. [00:35:09] Speaker E: You. [00:35:10] Speaker H: You mean somebody slashed you? With a knife? Right here in this house, Miss. [00:35:14] Speaker F: Honest, they did. [00:35:15] Speaker H: And Mr. Packard, do you suppose there really is somebody after her? [00:35:20] Speaker B: There's evidence to indicate it. [00:35:22] Speaker H: Look, Miles, maybe I've been doing you an injustice. [00:35:24] Speaker F: It's true enough. [00:35:25] Speaker B: Now, wait a minute. Wait a minute. Let's take that up later. We've got away from our subject. [00:35:28] Speaker F: Oh, yes? [00:35:29] Speaker H: Which was? [00:35:29] Speaker E: Job. [00:35:30] Speaker H: The family drug. [00:35:31] Speaker B: You say he's in danger, Cherry. What sort of danger? [00:35:33] Speaker G: I don't believe there's any truth in it. Who'd want to harm Job? Besides, the child's been forewarning doom for members of the family for years. [00:35:41] Speaker F: But he is in danger, Ian. Hope. [00:35:44] Speaker B: What sort of danger? [00:35:45] Speaker F: Danger out there, outside the house. But it's getting closer. It's getting closer all the time. Creeping. [00:35:55] Speaker G: Creeping Cherry. Stop saying that. [00:35:57] Speaker B: I think that's the expression I used before we came in here. Wasn't it, Mrs. Martin? [00:36:00] Speaker G: Yes, and I forbid its use again. [00:36:02] Speaker B: Well, at least Cherry and I seem to have the same intuitive sense of impending danger. [00:36:06] Speaker H: How nice for Cherry. [00:36:08] Speaker B: What do you mean? [00:36:09] Speaker H: But you and she has something in common. I wonder if you couldn't find something in common with me, too. [00:36:14] Speaker B: Such as? [00:36:15] Speaker H: Well, I like my initials embroidered on my pajamas. [00:36:19] Speaker B: I don't wear pajamas. [00:36:21] Speaker H: Oh, how exciting. Then you'd have to have your initials tattooed on your chest, wouldn't you, Mr. Packard? [00:36:27] Speaker B: Yes. [00:36:27] Speaker G: I forbid you to indulge in conversation of this nature with my granddaughters. [00:36:30] Speaker B: It seems to be the only language Fay understands. [00:36:33] Speaker G: I forbid it. [00:36:34] Speaker B: You know, Mrs. Martin, you seem to dominate everyone and everything except your grandchildren. Why is that? [00:36:40] Speaker H: I can tell you why. She did dominate us. When we were little and couldn't help ourselves. She made such hateful little prigs out of us. It was shameful. [00:36:48] Speaker G: You were nice children. [00:36:50] Speaker H: You bet. Nasty nice. And then one day Job found out about firewater. And now he's devoting his life to it. And one day I found out that there was some wonderfully disgusting words in the English language for self expression. I'm devoting my life to them. And Hope discovered chauffeurs. And she's devoting her life in that direction. [00:37:11] Speaker B: And what about Cherry here? [00:37:12] Speaker H: Oh, poor little mouse. She hasn't discovered much of anything yet. So she's devoting her life to being afraid. [00:37:18] Speaker F: I am not. I'm not afraid. If they weren't always after me, I wouldn't ever be afraid. [00:37:25] Speaker H: They have been after her for a long time. Time. But now, if they've come to life and are starting to cut her up, it may be getting serious. [00:37:34] Speaker B: Yes. I'm beginning to wonder. By the way, are any of you girls married? [00:37:39] Speaker G: Married? I should say not. [00:37:41] Speaker B: Is Job certainly. [00:37:42] Speaker G: Job's not married. [00:37:43] Speaker B: Then who's the parents of the baby we heard crying earlier? [00:37:47] Speaker H: Baby cry? You heard a baby cry? [00:37:51] Speaker B: Certainly. Just before Cherry here fell downstairs. [00:37:53] Speaker F: What did I tell you? What did I tell you? [00:37:55] Speaker G: It's impossible. [00:37:55] Speaker B: What are you talking about? [00:37:57] Speaker H: There's not a baby in the house. There hasn't been for years. [00:37:59] Speaker F: But I've heard it. I've heard it. So she says, yes. And every time it cries, something horrible happens. [00:38:49] Speaker B: The further transcribed Adventures of Jack, Duck and Reggie will come to you tomorrow at this same hour. I Love a Mystery, written and directed by Carlton E. Morse, comes to you Monday through Friday. Featuring Russell Thorson as Jack, Jim Bowles as Doc Long, and Tony Randall as Reggie York. Frank McCarthy speaking. [00:39:11] Speaker A: That was episodes one, two and three of the Thing that Cries in the Night from I Love a Mystery here on the mysterious old Radio Listening Society podcast special, Summer Cereal. Once again. I'm Eric. [00:39:25] Speaker D: I'm Tim. [00:39:26] Speaker C: And I'm Joshua. [00:39:27] Speaker A: All right, so we're in. We have now kicked off. There's 12 episodes to go to figure out what's going on and where they are and what's happening. So I just want to get this out there at the top of this summer serial for our listeners. I know Joshua is a fan, but I'm more than a fan of I Love a Mystery. I Love a Mystery is the entire premise of my infatuation with old time radio drama and the art form. And so it means a lot to me and I know Joshua likes it. We're about to find out what Tim thinks after three episodes. He's never listened to it before, but I just want to get that out there as I push back my nerd glasses a lot during the next five podcasts, Carlton E. Morse, to me, how he writes is really, really fantastic, in my opinion. And in episode one, there's a lot of relationship building. Who they are, how they think about each other, how they react to each other, which I find really fascinating. That can be done very poorly in Morse's case. It's one of the reasons why he is brilliant and why this series. I Love a Mystery was brilliant, in my opinion. [00:40:38] Speaker C: Well, the first time I heard this was about 20 years ago. I was in college and I had mainly listened to things like the Shadow and Suspense, the kind of shows we usually listen to on this podcast, which are 30 minute horror stories or action adventure suspense that are driven by plot characters just fulfill their obligations to the plot and that's pretty much it. The first time I heard this serial, it jumped out at me. This episode one, which was 15 minutes of three guys just ribbing each other and laughing at each other and there's almost nothing else that happens but character establishment. And that's how I fell in love with this. I was hooked on the very first episode, saying that I could see how someone could tune in and listen to an entire episode and go, what? [00:41:21] Speaker A: What? [00:41:21] Speaker C: Nothing happened. But I love that about this, that there's the time to breathe. And now we know these characters. So when they react to things in later episodes it's more satisfying because we're like, yep, that's how Doc would react to that. Yep, that's how Jack would. [00:41:36] Speaker A: And not to give anything away as we move down the line, but it's also important for when they don't react the way we've come accustomed them to react and what that does to us. And we'll get way down the line on this. But I can't wait till episode 14 to come back to what we're saying now and how important episode one is in this character development. [00:41:58] Speaker D: So this was my first brush with I Love a Mystery. And I was so surprised at how it really poked a little nostalgic warm spot of my heart because it reminded me so much of the old black and white Flash Gordon serials that I used to hang out at movie parties and would watch one of these per party. And this short, bite sized style of storytelling. Did I get the T's in the right spot? Anyways, short bite sized style of storytelling is so fun. [00:42:29] Speaker A: And this is a very popular way to tell stories back in this time and in this era. I think the difference with I Love a mystery is, you know, Flash Gordon series are very cornball. You know, it's very. [00:42:41] Speaker D: Well, what are you saying? [00:42:42] Speaker A: Yes, it's the writing of Morse that brings this very real dialogue, brings a very real aspect the how good of friends they are, how they react to things. Yes, they're somewhat infallible heroes. They're not completely infallible, but they are very interesting people. And all of that makes it much more than let's go, for example, attack Ming the Merciless and ridiculous things happen. [00:43:07] Speaker D: The way I plugged into it that was similar is exactly what you're saying on the characters. This is not the sort of character you run into, like I'm watching a three hour film or something where you get to know them in a very deep psychological way because you spend so much time with them in their head. These are friendly people that you meet briefly, repeatedly. [00:43:26] Speaker B: Mm. [00:43:27] Speaker G: Yes. [00:43:28] Speaker A: Well, there's a great moment in this first episode when Doc says stuff that's kind of dumb. He's not annoyed. He doesn't roll his eyes and breathe. He laughs with joy. He loves him. They're really good friends. That's how he chose to write those reactions, meaning that now we know how they think of each other. [00:43:51] Speaker C: This is interesting too, because from a modern listener's point of view, we might hear Doc Long and Reggie the Englishman and the Texan, and it might seem a little broad. Some of their diction, some of their dialogue, I swear to grandma and things like that. But what you're pointing at and underneath that broadness is a relational realism. They are real friends and there's authenticity there. Even if today we don't necessarily deal in character as your country or state of origin, as your sole character, we. [00:44:22] Speaker A: Care a lot about them and they care a lot about each other. And that's going to, as you listen to this, lead to your enjoyment of this. It helps a lot, but it's also one of the reasons for the huge success of this show. [00:44:36] Speaker C: Well, the other really interesting thing in episode one that tells you these are not your usual heroes is the whole setup of that they're going to Hollywood to just blow all this money, right? They're not gonna give it to a charity because they don't want it. They're not gonna invest in. They're just gonna say, how fast can we blow through it before the next adventure? [00:44:57] Speaker A: Well, and that plays to a setup, if you happen to be new to this, of understanding what decisions they're about to make, which will come up in episode two and three that we're about to discuss. But that makes what they do plausible. I think I said to you guys once off the air, these three are like the Jackass of 1945. They would get in shopping carts and, you know, in a giant bear costume and go down a hill, right? They're very willing to just, yeah, let's do that. Yeah, let's do that. And they live in the moment. And I love that. That's what makes them interesting? They're going to blow 25 grand. How fast can we blow it? No one says, wait, wait, wait. They all go. Yeah. [00:45:36] Speaker D: They chose Los Angeles because that's where it'll go the fastest. [00:45:39] Speaker B: Right. [00:45:40] Speaker A: Because if they have it any longer, they're going to get bored. Right. And Joshua and Tim, you guys have talked a lot in our podcast about how goofy it sounds to someone from the outside to have these extreme character voices like the Swede. [00:45:56] Speaker D: But that Swede is central to this first episode. To me, it's vital to the themes. [00:46:02] Speaker A: But again, let's look at this establishment. We got Southern accent, English accent, American accent, the stewardess who is girl accent, girl accent. But they're very distinct. And it's not so much about being goofy as it is important for our brains to be able to keep these people separate. So it's actually great writing for radio. You have to do that. That's a heck of a sweet accent, though. [00:46:25] Speaker D: Oh, yes. Swedish Yentleman. A small detail popped up about the stewardess that alarmed me a little bit. They make a point of mentioning that this stewardess got on the flight in San Francisco, has not yet given them a tumble, indicating there's something wrong on a flight from San Francisco to Burbank. How fast a tumble were these guys expect? Or how slow was the flight to Burbank back then? [00:46:52] Speaker A: Planes were really slow back then, I guess so. That stewardess, by the way, is Mercedes McCambridge. And if you've listened to the podcast, you know that she is my absolute favorite radio actor of all time. She's brilliant. She does a lot of I Love a mysteries. And she shows up again in episode two as Cherry. [00:47:10] Speaker C: She really differentiates. I mean, you have to really listen. [00:47:13] Speaker A: To hear that she's brilliant. And as we go through these 15 episodes, I believe that she makes this whole series work. [00:47:21] Speaker C: I think she is the heart of it. [00:47:22] Speaker A: She is the heart performance. [00:47:23] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. [00:47:24] Speaker C: Everything revolves. [00:47:25] Speaker A: Not to give any. [00:47:25] Speaker C: Around that character. [00:47:26] Speaker A: Around that character. Yep. [00:47:28] Speaker C: I love, again, just the mundane dialogue. Oh, it's not mundane. It's kind of ridiculous. But the. The casual conversations they're having and the ribbing with each other and the whole mountain lion. And my mom shushed a cougar with her apron. It's like an old Pete Seeger song. Mama shook the cougar with her apron on singing it around. [00:47:48] Speaker A: So they get in the car, armful. [00:47:50] Speaker D: Of girl, let's climb in. [00:47:55] Speaker A: That's a fantastic line. [00:47:58] Speaker D: I also jot it down. Pretty women up to our armpits yeah. [00:48:02] Speaker A: Doc has got away with words. He's got lines in this cereal that I can't tell you how much I love. So they're in the car. So episode two starts with the idea that we've got to catch people up, remind them of what happened yesterday, or whenever they listen to the previous episode. You all just heard three in a row. So you might go, oh, I just heard that. But you have to catch people up. And there's terrible ways to write that. And there's great ways to write that. And the great way to write it is. Is a believable, actual dialogue. And I love that they're in this house. And the how the recap is written, we didn't get the car ride. Therefore he can just talk about this strange car ride. [00:48:40] Speaker C: He's catching up listeners who missed an episode, and then he's also catching up listeners who have been following along. So it serves dual purposes, which is quite clever. [00:48:49] Speaker A: So we're in the house. [00:48:50] Speaker C: It's interesting, the discussions of class right away. Yeah. They really feel like they're somewhere they don't belong. When Reggie says, gentlefolk may not understand our strong arm tactics. [00:49:03] Speaker A: Yep. And then we meet Cherry. [00:49:06] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:49:06] Speaker C: That is just a creepy moment because you are disoriented. You know, as little as these three guys do. A strange, timid, whispering woman knocks on the door and says, they got me. [00:49:19] Speaker A: Well, that's immediately out of her hot mouth. [00:49:22] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:49:22] Speaker A: And again, let's talk about reaction. Here she comes. Really creepy, that timid voice. As Joshua just said. And they cut me. And their reaction is, all right, all right. [00:49:32] Speaker C: They're immediately figuring it out. Right. They immediately recognize it's a safety razor blade cut. Because they know their razor blade cuts. [00:49:40] Speaker D: Where's the iodine, the safety razor point? Because there's part of the discussion of like, oh, looks like it happened to the safety razor. I think it was Doc who questioned this, like, why would somebody do that? Well, what do you do with your old safety razors? [00:49:51] Speaker C: What else are you gonna do with them? [00:49:53] Speaker D: Well, obviously, I slash a woman. [00:49:54] Speaker A: Oh, right. And the fact that they don't know why they're there is really great. We don't know and they don't know. And I love that. [00:50:03] Speaker D: It also struck me that right off the bat, they are failing to spend this money. They got cars for free. They staying in this place for free. [00:50:16] Speaker A: Right. And then in episode two, we also get our first appearance of the baby. As we now know, having listened to three, the first appearance is. Yeah. So there's Baby. All right. [00:50:30] Speaker C: Yeah. They're more like. That's annoying. We're going to try to sleep at night, and there's a baby in this house. [00:50:35] Speaker A: That's weird. And then we get to three, and there ain't no baby in this house. Ah, that's. [00:50:42] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:50:43] Speaker A: Unnerving. Unnerving. Grandma Martin appears in the end of episode two. She's, again, a very distinct character who, you know, your first opinion is what? [00:50:53] Speaker D: It's Irene Ryan. No, that was not my first opinion. Sort of tyrant of the house. [00:51:00] Speaker A: Yeah. Unlikable. [00:51:02] Speaker C: She's having granddaughter problems. I like that as a cliffhanger. And, I mean, she probably is because you've just met Cherry. Like, she's got wandering around with razor cuts, whispering at strange men and, like. Yeah, you do. [00:51:14] Speaker A: Yeah. Right. [00:51:15] Speaker D: Well, for the most part, I feel our heroes had a good and appropriate medical attention when presented with problems. But when they get to the bottom of the stairs and their idea for Cherry. Stretch her out. [00:51:27] Speaker B: Maybe. [00:51:27] Speaker D: No, I mean, I am no doctor, so maybe that is what you're supposed to do with staircase victims. [00:51:34] Speaker A: So now into three. We have that. Again, that Morse recap and how he does it. He gets everybody out of the room and he's alone with Grandma Martin so that later he can explain to Doc and Reggie what they talked about, thus catching the audience up. So, again, legitimate dialogue recap. The relationship between Grandma and Jack Packard is also something I want to touch on. [00:51:55] Speaker C: It's a great scene. When they square off there, they're the same person. [00:51:59] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:52:00] Speaker A: They're at odds because they're both control freaks. [00:52:02] Speaker C: Yeah. They will not recognize one another's authority whatsoever, and they both want to establish it. [00:52:07] Speaker A: Right. And Jack, he makes her say please for no reason. We already made up our mind. But he forces her to do that. It's such an interesting thing to put in there. If you're just trying to propel a plot forward, you don't think about nuances like that. [00:52:24] Speaker C: Yeah. There's a lot about Morrison that reminds me of Raymond Chandler. And I'm a huge Raymond Chandler fan. And Raymond Chandler once spoke about a good story is only as good as the scenes the story creates. And this is one of those scenes, to me, that makes me think of Raymond Chandler as in, this is just part of the story. It is not extra, but it is just by itself a really interesting, unique scene. [00:52:50] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:52:51] Speaker C: An elderly, rich grandma and this action man basically having, like, a peeing contrast. [00:52:58] Speaker A: Their dynamic adds another layer to this story. [00:53:02] Speaker C: Then we meet Faye, the vulgarian with her Horse feathers talk. [00:53:07] Speaker D: And they. I think Grandma calls her out on flagpole sitter. [00:53:11] Speaker C: Well, it's pretty vulgar. [00:53:12] Speaker A: I guess that's how you think about the whole flagpole sitting. [00:53:15] Speaker D: Now I'm rethinking that phrase. [00:53:17] Speaker A: Like what? Anyway, we meet Faye. She explains to us, so Charity. So now we have our distinct characters coming again. Not only do we have a Texan and an Englishman and a rough and tumble American, but we got Grandma, got a mouse, we got a Bulgarian. And now we also find out we have a drunk and a wench. I mean, we have covered the gamut. What other characters are there left other than the bumbling Nazi? [00:53:46] Speaker D: The nine personality orders. [00:53:48] Speaker A: Right. There's a moment in this episode three that I love writing. Wise Faith is a vulgarian. She is strong, aggressive. But Cherry starts saying something and it breaks immediately. And she says, stop saying that. And the fear in her voice. And then she goes back to being confident. You know what I mean? But there's a moment, a quick moment. It's a really great piece of writing. [00:54:12] Speaker C: That she's acting too. [00:54:13] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. I just love, love, love that quick moment in there. [00:54:19] Speaker C: I tried to figure out the significance of these names. Faith, Hope, Charity, Job. I was trying to make like somehow it fit their personalities, but I think the idea is that they just utterly failed to live up to these names. You know, like, there's nothing that connects with Faith, Hope, Charity Job is, you know, perseverance and suffering. No, he just drinks. [00:54:39] Speaker A: Well, the other brother, Jesus. And then we get to that great moment at the end. This is a great cliffhanger in the end of three. It's one of my favorites. There's not a baby in the house. [00:54:50] Speaker C: That's no baby. [00:54:52] Speaker A: Which is another layer. Right. So now we've added. Why is she being slashed? Why are they there? What do you mean there's a baby? Why is it crying? You know, there's so many questions, and we're three in out of 15. [00:55:04] Speaker C: And we've also added the idea of Hope, the winch, and the chauffeur. So the chauffeur is this question mark right now, too. There's a lot of threads to be pulled together here, Mr. Morse. So what's our. What's our verdict on these three episodes? You wanna. [00:55:20] Speaker A: Yeah, let's do that. So far, of course. This is gonna be ridiculous. For me, every that was brilliant stands the test of time. Greatest show ever. I don't know how anybody listening right now doesn't want to come back and listen to episode four if you didn't and said, well, I'm out. That's fine. I'd like to hear from you. How do you not want to know more at this point? Damn. [00:55:44] Speaker D: Well, you may be a little biased. I will also confess I'm a little biased because, like as I said earlier, I really enjoy this format. This is so much fun for me to like. A little bit of story advances and then cliffhanger. All right, I'll wait the 30 seconds. We have to wait here. Although now there'll be another week anyways. And also, as you guys have mentioned, this is so well crafted beat by beat. And it's this medium that I like a lot. I think it's fantastic. [00:56:11] Speaker C: Yeah, I love these first three episodes. They totally hooked me. I heard it before, you know, 20 years ago, so I don't remember everything that's going to happen yet. So I'm really like, what's happening next? Let's listen to the next one. In all fairness, the early parts of a mystery are always the easiest. The test is the middle parts that can always sag. And can you wrap them up? So we'll have to wait and see. But these first three, I am totally. [00:56:34] Speaker D: On board say that especially in the first of these three doc walks a little bit of a line for a modern ear of being funny, rapscallion and creepy. [00:56:44] Speaker A: Right? But not back then. [00:56:47] Speaker D: But to a modern ear, yeah, you're right. [00:56:48] Speaker A: There are moments. There's some more coming up, so everybody buckle in. [00:56:52] Speaker C: I think that'll be a larger discussion as we move on to other episodes, but for right now, it's just adorable. Right now we haven't seen a pattern of behavior we need to be worried about yet. [00:57:03] Speaker A: He does also have moments later on where he does redeem himself from that creepiness. All right, so thanks for listening. If you'd like to learn more, please. [00:57:11] Speaker D: Go to ghoulishdelights.com youm can learn more about the shows we do because we occasionally go out in the world and perform versions of old radio shows live on stage. And you'll also find other episodes of this podcast. [00:57:23] Speaker A: And we'll be at the Minnesota Fringe Festival this summer in July and August. If you're in Minnesota, come see that. What else can they do? [00:57:31] Speaker C: They could go to itunes and write a review. We love to hear your comments about the podcast and more reviews helps get more eyes on our podcast and ears. All the parts of the head that are needed for listening to a podcast. [00:57:46] Speaker A: All right, next week we continue with our summer serial of the thing that Cries in the Night by Carlton E. Morse from I Love a Mystery. Next week we'll have episodes 4, 5 and 6 of the 15 episode serial know. Until then, look out.