Episode 41: The Thing That Cries in the Night, Parts 7–9

[00:00:16] Speaker A: The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society Podcast welcome to the Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society, a podcast dedicated to suspense and horror stories from the. Welcome to the Golden Age of Radio. I'm Eric. [00:00:33] Speaker B: I'm Tim. [00:00:34] Speaker C: And I'm Joshua. This week we continue our summer serial with the Thing that Cries in the Night from I Love A Mystery. [00:00:40] Speaker A: I Love A Mystery was an adventure serial created by legendary radio writer Carlton E. Morse. It ran on NBC from 1939 to 1944 and was revived on the Mutual Broadcasting Network from 1949 to 1952. The thing that Cries in the Night is one of only two serials that exists in its entirety. [00:00:59] Speaker B: I Love a Mystery was so popular, it spawned three B movies from Columbia Picture I Love a Mystery, the Devil's Mask, and the Unknown. The first film was released in 1945 and was the only one based on one of Carlton E. Morse's I Love a Mystery radio scripts, the Decapitation of Jefferson Monk. And now, episode seven, eight, and nine of the Thing that Cries in the Night from I Love A Mystery, originally broadcast November of 1949. [00:01:27] Speaker A: 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. [00:01:53] Speaker D: The Mutual Broadcasting System presents I Love A Mystery Transpond. [00:02:07] Speaker E: SA Reggie, I swear to my grandma, I ain't never seen a screwier setup than this one. Crying. Juiceably interesting, though, isn't it? You mean all these female women are running around in flimsy wisps of lace wanting to be rescued? Oh, I don't mean female women running around in wisps of lace. The thing that bothers me is they ain't no sense to nothing. I imagine these will make plenty of sense once we get on the right track. For instance, what's Jack got us up here patrolling this hall for? But naturally, Doc, after the attempt to kill Hope and Cherry. Yeah, I know, but why is he making everybody stay in his own bedroom? Job over in that room. Pied Hope across the hall still sleeping off a chloroform. Faye and Cherry in the next room. How come he let Cherry go in a fay, anyway? Because her room's up on the third floor, for one thing. Well, so's Grandma Martin's. Yeah, Jack's wants. He wouldn't let her go up there alone. I don't know about that? Yeah. We're guarding everybody but Grandma. I wonder why that is. I suppose Jack thinks she's not in any danger. Just the three girls in job, huh? Another reason for putting Cherry with Fay. Yeah. She's just recovering from this new attack on her ballet. Brutal, if you ask me. And I don't think she's gonna be able to take much more of it. Are you talking about Cherry? Yes. That beastly, strained expression on her face. Desperation. She shouldn't be left alone for a moment until this business is settled, in my opinion. [00:03:52] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:03:53] Speaker E: Well, what do you suppose Jack's will do? I think he's going over the house room by room. But we already done that, Reggie. Not with any great care. Just made sure there was no one in the house besides those who belong here. What's he expect to. Well, if someone was in the house long enough to give hope, chloroform and tear Cherry's clothes and slash her, he must have left some clue of his presence. And anybody leave anything around, Jack's the hombre to find her. You know, that's the funny thing about Cherry. Of course, it was dark in her room, but even if it was, it's kind of queer that she didn't get some idea of the slasher while she was patting him off. Too terrifying, I suppose. Mine frozen, huh? Well, anyway, whether it was a man or a woman, I have an idea it was a woman myself. Yeah, I think Jack does, too. Did you see those scratches on her neck and arms? A man's fingernails aren't ordinarily long enough to do that. Hey, I didn't notice that. Hey, Faye's door's open. [00:04:41] Speaker F: Jerry, you little fool. [00:04:41] Speaker E: Come back here now, now, now, looky, Cherry. You can't come out here. [00:04:44] Speaker G: But I've got to. [00:04:45] Speaker E: But you look ill. You should be lying down. [00:04:47] Speaker G: I'm all right. [00:04:48] Speaker F: She insists that she's got to see Job. [00:04:50] Speaker G: I do. [00:04:50] Speaker E: I've got to. Now, lookie, Jack said that you all gotta stay where he put you until he said you could come out. Now, he sent us up here to see that you stayed put. [00:04:58] Speaker G: But it's important. [00:04:58] Speaker F: Besides, Brother Jobe's so spifflicated, nothing would make sense to him anyway. [00:05:02] Speaker G: I don't care. I love him and he's in danger. [00:05:04] Speaker E: But he can't be in any immediate. We've been right outside his door all the time. [00:05:08] Speaker G: I'm going. [00:05:09] Speaker E: What you think we ought to do? Rage? [00:05:11] Speaker D: Look here. [00:05:11] Speaker E: Suppose I go hunt up Jack and ask him? Yeah, you do that. [00:05:14] Speaker G: But I mustn't wait. [00:05:15] Speaker D: I'll only be a minute or two. [00:05:16] Speaker F: When the terrified mouse gets an idea into her head, there isn't much use arguing with her. [00:05:20] Speaker G: But it's important. [00:05:21] Speaker E: Well, it's gonna have to wait until Reggie gets back. Now, looky, Cherry. You should get out of them torn clothes. What you still wearing them for? [00:05:29] Speaker F: I offered to help her get out of them and put on one of my bathrobes, but try to talk her into anything that makes sense. [00:05:34] Speaker E: You ain't sewed in em for the winter, are you? [00:05:36] Speaker G: I'm afraid to go up to my room to get anything else. [00:05:39] Speaker F: I told you you could have something of mine. [00:05:41] Speaker G: No. [00:05:42] Speaker E: Well, what you scared of your room for? It ain't nobody up there now. [00:05:45] Speaker G: Maybe there is. [00:05:46] Speaker E: Hey, no, there ain't. We give your room a going over. [00:05:48] Speaker G: They. They like my room. They can come anytime they want to. [00:05:54] Speaker E: You mean there's a secret door or something? [00:05:55] Speaker G: No, there's no secret door. [00:05:58] Speaker E: Then how the heck then they come to your room anytime they want to? [00:06:00] Speaker G: I don't know. [00:06:01] Speaker E: And I'm getting pretty fed up with these they folks. Who are they, anyhow? [00:06:06] Speaker G: I don't know. [00:06:07] Speaker E: You know Faye, she just plain don't make sense. [00:06:10] Speaker F: Don't look at me. I'm a stranger here myself. [00:06:12] Speaker E: Yeah. Hey, looky, Jerry. Are they the ones who got the baby that bawls every time something's about to happen? [00:06:19] Speaker G: I don't know. I think so. [00:06:21] Speaker F: That baby gag gets me down a house full of widows, spinsters and neurotics. What's a baby doing here? [00:06:27] Speaker E: Well, maybe the stork brought it. [00:06:28] Speaker F: Oh, don't be silly. There hasn't been a stork dark scene in this neighborhood since the year of the big freeze. [00:06:32] Speaker E: You know, that's darn funny about this house. Here you are three of the prettiest girls I ever laid eyes on, and ain't even one of you got a boyfriend? [00:06:40] Speaker F: Hope had one, but he's in the corpse department just at present. [00:06:43] Speaker E: You mean that chauffeur? [00:06:44] Speaker F: Who else? [00:06:45] Speaker E: But. Well, that ain't no honest to goodness boyfriend like you girls should ought to have. Well, you got everything, Faye. What's the matter with you? [00:06:52] Speaker F: I'm immune. [00:06:53] Speaker E: That ain't normal. [00:06:54] Speaker F: So what? [00:06:55] Speaker E: So it ain't normal. [00:06:56] Speaker F: Maybe I was born in a refrigerator and never thawed out. [00:06:58] Speaker E: What about you, Cherry? [00:07:00] Speaker G: I've got to talk to Job. [00:07:01] Speaker E: Well, you'll just have to wait till Reggie gets back. Ain't you interested in men? Yes, you are. Well, why ain't you got a Feller. [00:07:08] Speaker G: Then they won't let me. [00:07:11] Speaker E: Hey, now look, that ain't no answer. I don't. I don't care who they are. Nobody can keep a girl from having a boyfriend if she wants one. [00:07:19] Speaker G: I tell you, they won't let me. [00:07:20] Speaker E: Well, why not? [00:07:21] Speaker G: They don't want any of us to know a man. They're afraid we'll marry and have children. [00:07:26] Speaker F: Terry, what are you talking about? [00:07:28] Speaker G: They want the Martin family to end right here. [00:07:30] Speaker E: Durned if I don't think you're talking till you have. Oh, here comes Reggie. [00:07:35] Speaker G: Can I get a job? [00:07:35] Speaker E: Now hold your horses. [00:07:37] Speaker H: What about it, Reggie? [00:07:38] Speaker D: It's all right for her to go. [00:07:39] Speaker E: In, but first Jack wants her clothes. [00:07:41] Speaker F: Hey, please, Mr. Yorke. [00:07:43] Speaker E: Oh, but I say. I mean, he positively wants them. Wants me to bring them down to him immediately. [00:07:48] Speaker F: Well, it's hardly ever done. I mean, just asking a girl for clothes. [00:07:51] Speaker E: Well, if Jack wants them, he's going to get them. Now go on back in Faye's room, Cherry, and take them off. [00:07:56] Speaker G: If I do, then can I see Joe? [00:07:58] Speaker E: Yep. So? So hurry up. Yes. [00:08:00] Speaker F: You'll have to put on something of mine. [00:08:01] Speaker G: No, I won't. [00:08:03] Speaker F: Then how about me going up and getting something for her out of her room? [00:08:06] Speaker E: No, you. You can't do that. But Reggie can. Oh, look here. [00:08:09] Speaker D: Now. [00:08:09] Speaker E: Now go on, Reggie. Put pajamas in a bathrobe, anything you can find. Now, I'm a bally lady's maid and I resent it. Okay, get inside. And she shoved things through a crack in the door fast as they come off. [00:08:20] Speaker F: All right. Here, I'll help you, Terry. What's the idea anyway? [00:08:24] Speaker E: Probably wants to examine them for clues. [00:08:25] Speaker F: Here you are. [00:08:26] Speaker E: Okay. A dress. [00:08:28] Speaker F: What's he expect to find? Slip. [00:08:31] Speaker E: I don't know. Uh huh. Slip. [00:08:33] Speaker F: Your shoes. [00:08:34] Speaker E: Shoes. [00:08:35] Speaker F: Stockings. [00:08:36] Speaker E: Yeah, stockings. [00:08:37] Speaker F: All right. Here you are. [00:08:39] Speaker E: Uh huh. A top doodad. A bottom doodad. That all? [00:08:45] Speaker F: Isn't that enough? What do you want? Her skin. [00:08:48] Speaker E: Oh, did. Did you get something, Reggie? There's a whole armful of stuff. She should find something in this. Yes, she ought to. All right. Here you are, Faye. [00:08:55] Speaker F: What all this? [00:08:57] Speaker E: Well, she don't have to put it all on. [00:08:59] Speaker F: That's good of you. All right. Get into some of this junk, Mouse. Then you can go and see the good natured drunk. [00:09:03] Speaker E: I better take these clothes down to Jack. Stick around until she goes across to Job's room. Oh, where is Jack? [00:09:09] Speaker D: Down the library. [00:09:09] Speaker E: He's got quite a collection of stuff down there. Searches. What? I didn't get much chance to examine it. Things he's picked up around the house. [00:09:15] Speaker F: Well, anyway, you don't look quite so bedraggled now. All right, boys, let's go. [00:09:19] Speaker G: Hurry. I've waited too long now. [00:09:21] Speaker E: Okay, come on. You better come along, too, Fay. [00:09:26] Speaker F: So you can keep an eye on me? [00:09:27] Speaker E: Yeah, something like that. Okay, now, Cherry, we'll give you five minutes with him. [00:09:32] Speaker G: That's all I want. [00:09:33] Speaker E: All right. Job, here's visitor. Hey, Doc. What is it? Well, where the heck is he? [00:09:40] Speaker G: He's gone. I knew he was. I knew it. [00:09:42] Speaker E: Well, why the heck didn't you say so? Then how'd he get out? [00:09:45] Speaker D: You know how he got out? [00:09:45] Speaker E: Opened the window and slid down the drain pipe. Well, that's great. Jack's gonna be mighty proud of us. But look here, why? [00:09:51] Speaker D: Why would he want to do a. [00:09:51] Speaker E: Thing like that for? [00:09:52] Speaker F: Silly question number one. [00:09:54] Speaker E: What? [00:09:54] Speaker F: You mean you didn't think Brother Job would stay put without plenty of liquid refreshment, did you? [00:09:59] Speaker E: You mean he sneaked out For a few snorts. [00:10:00] Speaker G: But he shouldn't have. He must come back right away. He must. [00:10:03] Speaker E: Why must he? [00:10:04] Speaker G: They'll get him. They'll get him this time. I know they will. [00:10:07] Speaker E: Is that what you wanted to tell him? [00:10:09] Speaker G: Yes, I wanted to tell him to stay here where you could watch him. They're just waiting. Waiting. [00:10:13] Speaker E: Reggie, get downstairs and tell Jack what's happened. Right. Don't leave the girls alone for a minute, Doc. Come on, you two. Get back into Faye's room. [00:10:18] Speaker F: Come on, Mouse. [00:10:19] Speaker G: Why did he go? [00:10:19] Speaker F: Because he likes the taste of the stuff. [00:10:21] Speaker G: He's breaking Grandma's heart. [00:10:22] Speaker F: Well, Grandma broke his spirit. Turnabout's fair play. [00:10:25] Speaker G: No, you mustn't say that, Faye. [00:10:26] Speaker E: Hey, wait a minute, huh? I won't look in, see if Hope's all right. You two wait right here by the door so's I can see you all the time. Don't neither of you move. Yes, she's all right. Poor little feller. Sleep right on. Asleep, honey? [00:10:43] Speaker F: She's all right. [00:10:44] Speaker E: Yeah, sleeping like a baby. All right. Come on back to your room. [00:10:47] Speaker F: Say, how much longer you three super sleuths think you're gonna keep us undercover? [00:10:51] Speaker E: Until Jack says to let you act? [00:10:52] Speaker F: Well, I'm getting pretty sick of being a prisoner in my own house. [00:10:54] Speaker E: We're just doing it for your own good. [00:10:56] Speaker G: It isn't any good locking yourself. [00:10:58] Speaker E: It ain't, huh? [00:10:58] Speaker G: No. When they want to strike, they'll strike whether you're here or not. [00:11:02] Speaker E: And what you think we'll be doing. [00:11:04] Speaker G: All that time won't make any difference what you're doing. If you understood, you'd know that. [00:11:09] Speaker E: Well, then why don't you come out and make us understand? [00:11:12] Speaker G: You can't. Nobody understands but me. [00:11:16] Speaker F: She's psychic. [00:11:17] Speaker G: I don't know. I just know, that's all. [00:11:20] Speaker E: Well, all I gotta say is if you hadn't told us so much it's come true already, I'd say you were the screwiest screwball dame I ever did see. You wasn't so little and Purdy along with you. [00:11:31] Speaker F: Hey, here comes Reggie back. He's gonna get mighty sick of those stairs if this keeps up. [00:11:34] Speaker E: How about it, Reggie? What's Jack say? He's going out to find Job while he's gone. He doesn't want us to leave the. [00:11:39] Speaker D: Girls for a second. [00:11:40] Speaker E: Oh, stick right with him, huh? [00:11:41] Speaker D: Right. [00:11:41] Speaker E: I'm to go and sit in by Hope's bed and stay right beside her. And I'm to chaperone Faye and Cherry. [00:11:46] Speaker D: Right. [00:11:46] Speaker E: Go in Faye's room with him. Don't let either one of them out of your sight. What about Grandma? Upstairs. [00:11:49] Speaker D: Leave her alone. [00:11:50] Speaker E: She won't be bothered. [00:11:50] Speaker D: It's the girls that are in danger. [00:11:51] Speaker G: Oh, no. [00:11:52] Speaker E: Hey. Hey. What's the matter? [00:11:54] Speaker G: He did it. They did it again. [00:11:55] Speaker E: Look, her shoulder. She's been slashed again. [00:11:57] Speaker H: Yes. [00:11:58] Speaker G: They did it. [00:11:59] Speaker B: They did it. [00:11:59] Speaker G: Cherry. [00:11:59] Speaker F: Cherry. How did it happen? Do you know? [00:12:01] Speaker G: I was just standing here. I felt a sting on my shoulder. [00:12:04] Speaker E: She's been slashed all right, just like the others. It isn't possible. We were all standing right here. There isn't anyone else. [00:12:09] Speaker G: Yes, there is. They were here. They were here. [00:12:12] Speaker F: Cherry, stop it. [00:12:13] Speaker G: They slashed me. They slashed me. [00:12:56] Speaker D: For 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 Lawn, and Tony Randall as Reggie York. Mike McCarthy speaking. The mutual Broadcasting System presents I Love A Mystery Transpired. Reggie, keep changing those cold compresses on Job's head. I want to bring him around as quickly as possible. [00:14:13] Speaker E: All right. Shall I let his head hang over the foot of the lounge? This way. [00:14:16] Speaker D: Yes. That'll bring the blood up where he needs it most. [00:14:17] Speaker E: Gone fella. You must have popped Brother Job a whopper. [00:14:21] Speaker D: I had to. [00:14:21] Speaker E: What happened? [00:14:22] Speaker D: The minute you told me he'd escaped from his bedroom and slid down the drain pipe, I dropped everything, went after him. [00:14:26] Speaker E: How'd you know where to look, Jack? [00:14:27] Speaker D: Where would you look for a thirsty man, the nearest bar. [00:14:30] Speaker E: And he was there? [00:14:31] Speaker D: Yeah, he's just getting ready to go on to bigger and better things. [00:14:34] Speaker E: And you said, come on back and he wouldn't come. So you floored him? [00:14:37] Speaker D: Something like that. You sure all the girls are locked up in their bedroom, so there's no chance of them getting out? [00:14:41] Speaker E: Yeah, and I don't mind saying they resent it. [00:14:43] Speaker D: They'll just have to resent. [00:14:45] Speaker E: Boy, the things Faye said would have skinned them. [00:14:47] Speaker D: You living up to her reputation as the family vulgarian, huh? [00:14:50] Speaker E: No fooling. Dog gone? No. I hated to take that little old Cherry girl back up to her room. She didn't want to go so bad. Why'd you insist on. [00:14:59] Speaker D: Because I want each girl locked up separately. Hope still unconscious? [00:15:02] Speaker E: It? Just sleeping now, I think. Seems like Grandma is keeping awful close to her room up on the third floor. [00:15:08] Speaker D: She's all right. [00:15:09] Speaker E: Jack, you say you want the three girls locked up separately? Why? [00:15:11] Speaker D: I want to see what will happen. [00:15:13] Speaker E: You mean if the baby will cry. Then one of them gets a business. Yes, but ain't that dangerous this time? One I might get killed. [00:15:19] Speaker D: How? They can't get out. How can anyone get into them? [00:15:21] Speaker E: You got me, feller. But Cherry insists they can. It's just like her getting sliced on the shoulder out yonder in the hall when we was all standing right there. [00:15:30] Speaker D: Did you have your eyes on Fay all the time? [00:15:32] Speaker E: I say. [00:15:33] Speaker D: Hey, you mean I just asked if you had your eyes on Fay all the time? [00:15:36] Speaker E: Well, no, of course not. But what would Faye want to go and slash her sister for? And more than that, Cherry said they did it. [00:15:43] Speaker D: All right, they did it. But couldn't Faye be one of them? [00:15:45] Speaker E: Jove, I'd never thought of that. [00:15:47] Speaker D: The woman in this someplace, whoever tore her clothes and slashed her up in her room earlier this afternoon was a woman. [00:15:52] Speaker E: You mean those fingernail scratches on her neck and shoulder? Yes. [00:15:54] Speaker D: They were narrow and pointed. [00:15:55] Speaker E: Faye's nails are like that? [00:15:57] Speaker D: Most women's are these days. [00:15:58] Speaker E: Dog gone, but I'm balled up. [00:16:00] Speaker D: About what? [00:16:01] Speaker E: About everything. You think maybe Faye shot the chauffeur last night, too? [00:16:05] Speaker D: She had the opportunity, but she screamed. [00:16:07] Speaker E: And brought us down when she found him. [00:16:08] Speaker D: Why not make it look like she was innocent? [00:16:10] Speaker E: Yeah, she could have all rised. But why would she want to? [00:16:13] Speaker D: Well, she may have done it to keep her sister Hope from becoming involved. Or she may have seen him leaving the front door with Hope's dress in her hands and believing the worst, killed him on the spot. [00:16:22] Speaker E: Yeah, but that didn't mean that she was prowling around the house with a gun in her hand. What she want to be doing that for? [00:16:27] Speaker D: Well, she knew Hope was out with him. She might have gone to Job's room, got his gun with a silencer and waited for them to come back. [00:16:32] Speaker E: Well, we know the gun that killed him had a silencer, all right. [00:16:34] Speaker D: And that gun was Job's. [00:16:36] Speaker E: You sure about that? [00:16:37] Speaker D: Certainly. How many guns and silencers have you seen in your life? [00:16:39] Speaker E: Oh, couple or three. [00:16:41] Speaker D: Which means that guns equipped for silence are about as scarce as hen steel. [00:16:44] Speaker E: All right, I get your point. If Fay is the one, you gonna turn the information over to police? [00:16:49] Speaker D: Not yet. I want to know for sure. I talked to the police, and they're sure the chauffeur was a gangster and that he was wiped out by rival gunman. Let them work on that theory. We'll go on working on this angle then. [00:16:59] Speaker E: Then you think for sure what's going on is an inside job. [00:17:02] Speaker D: Maybe not entirely, but there's someone working. [00:17:04] Speaker E: On the inside finger for the gang on the outside, huh? [00:17:07] Speaker D: Something like that. [00:17:08] Speaker E: And? And it's Faye. [00:17:10] Speaker D: Well, certainly her skirts aren't any too clean. [00:17:12] Speaker E: But why? What's it all about? [00:17:14] Speaker D: You know as much as I do, Doc. They may be trying to frighten Grandma Martin into paying blackmail. She knows something about this she's not telling, that's certain. [00:17:21] Speaker E: But that's silly. Why'd she bring us in here? To clear up this mess. And then hold out information on us. [00:17:26] Speaker D: Afraid to tell us? Trying to protect someone. How do I know? [00:17:30] Speaker E: Yeah, Jack. [00:17:31] Speaker D: Job's conscious. What's that? [00:17:33] Speaker E: Quite had his eyes open. Closed them again when he saw me looking at him. [00:17:36] Speaker D: All right, Job. [00:17:38] Speaker H: Oh, what a head. [00:17:41] Speaker D: Can you sit up? [00:17:42] Speaker H: I don't know. [00:17:43] Speaker D: Well, come on, try it. Oh. [00:17:47] Speaker H: Say, what'd you hit me for? [00:17:49] Speaker D: Because you wanted to argue about coming back. And I didn't have time to argue. [00:17:52] Speaker H: Wasn't very friendly. [00:17:53] Speaker D: I'm not here to be friendly. You're sober. [00:17:56] Speaker H: Yeah. I feel terrible. [00:17:57] Speaker D: I'm not surprised. [00:17:58] Speaker H: I always feel terrible when I'm sober. [00:18:00] Speaker E: Like a fish out of water, huh? [00:18:02] Speaker H: Look, be a good guy. There's a bottle of brandy in the buffet. [00:18:05] Speaker D: Go get it, Reggie. Right on, Job. Well, there isn't a doubt in the world your gun killed a chauffeur. Now, where is it? [00:18:14] Speaker E: It's gone. [00:18:14] Speaker D: I know it's gone. Where to? [00:18:16] Speaker H: I don't know. I looked in my bureau drawer for it. It wasn't there. [00:18:19] Speaker D: Why do you keep a gun with a silencer? [00:18:21] Speaker H: It was a birthday present from Faye. [00:18:22] Speaker E: Hey, a birthday present from Faye? [00:18:25] Speaker H: Yes. [00:18:25] Speaker E: But why would she give you a present like that? [00:18:27] Speaker H: I always thought it would be fun to have one. So she got it. [00:18:29] Speaker E: Here you are, Jack. [00:18:30] Speaker H: No, I'll just take the bottle. [00:18:31] Speaker D: On the other hand, you get one drink, that's all. [00:18:35] Speaker H: One drink. [00:18:36] Speaker D: Maybe after you've talked a while, you can have another. Here. That better? A little job. Did you approve of Hope running around with a family chauffeur? [00:18:48] Speaker H: Hope is old enough to vote, isn't it? [00:18:50] Speaker D: The fact that your grandmother fired the last four chauffeurs because they were too friendly with Hope? [00:18:54] Speaker H: Sure. [00:18:55] Speaker D: As the man of the family. What did you think of this? [00:18:57] Speaker H: Grandma wears the pants in this family. [00:18:59] Speaker D: You had no desire for revenge on them for dragging your sister down to their level? [00:19:03] Speaker H: Look, we got a motto in this house. You mind your business and I'll mind mine. [00:19:08] Speaker D: So you're willing to look the other way no matter what happened to your sister? [00:19:11] Speaker H: Oh, lemme alone, will ya? [00:19:12] Speaker D: Another thing. Cherry says you and Hope are in grave danger. [00:19:16] Speaker H: Oh, she's always talking. [00:19:18] Speaker D: But why did she link you and Hope together? Did it have anything to do with her escapade with the chauffeur? [00:19:22] Speaker H: I don't know. I tell you, I don't know what Cherry's talking about 9/10 of the time. [00:19:25] Speaker D: You don't think you're in danger? [00:19:27] Speaker H: Sure I'm in danger. Everybody's in danger. You might get hit by a car or anything might happen. [00:19:30] Speaker D: No, I mean specific danger. [00:19:32] Speaker H: Oh, nuts. [00:19:34] Speaker D: You say that, yet you know that someone tried to chloroform Hope this afternoon. [00:19:37] Speaker H: Maybe she tried to commit suicide. How do I know? [00:19:39] Speaker D: It's possible. Except that there have been attacks on Cherry, too. [00:19:42] Speaker H: Yeah, somebody scratched her with a pin. [00:19:45] Speaker E: Cut? [00:19:45] Speaker D: Not a scratch. And it was done with something very sharp. Do you use a safety razor? [00:19:51] Speaker H: Yeah, but if you think I'm going around cutting up Cherry with a safety razor blade, you're crazy. [00:19:55] Speaker D: I didn't say that. More than that, Cherry was thrown downstairs and at the same time Hope was chloroformed. She was unconscious and slashed up in her room. [00:20:02] Speaker H: Well, nobody's dead, is he? Except the chauffeur, and he doesn't count. [00:20:06] Speaker D: Why not? I ask why the chauffeur doesn't count? [00:20:10] Speaker H: He's not in the family. [00:20:11] Speaker D: He was attached to the family. [00:20:12] Speaker H: Okay, he was attached to the family. So what? [00:20:16] Speaker D: You know, job. I'm getting the impression that you're getting a Great deal of satisfaction out of that murder. [00:20:20] Speaker H: How about another nip? [00:20:21] Speaker D: No. You don't like Fay, do you? [00:20:25] Speaker H: As a brother likes any sister. [00:20:27] Speaker D: That's not answering my question. You don't like her, do you? [00:20:29] Speaker H: If she was dead, I'd send flowers to the funeral. [00:20:31] Speaker D: Oh, look here, that's an ugly thing to say. [00:20:34] Speaker H: Well, you asked me, didn't you? [00:20:35] Speaker D: This is the first time we've seen you sober since we arrived. I've got a hunch I'd like to see you and Cherry together when you're in this condition. [00:20:43] Speaker H: What's that for? [00:20:44] Speaker D: You object? [00:20:45] Speaker H: Look, don't I feel bad enough now without you bringing that terrified mouse down to whisper about the horrible death that's in store for me? [00:20:52] Speaker D: Uh huh. Yes, I think I'd like to see you and Cherry together, Doc. [00:20:57] Speaker E: You want me to go get it? [00:20:58] Speaker D: No. I want you and Reggie to stay here with Job and keep that bottle away from him till I get back. [00:21:02] Speaker E: You hear that, Job? Old kid? [00:21:03] Speaker D: I won't be gone but a minute. [00:21:06] Speaker E: Say, old Chuck, you know you'd be a handsome man if you didn't have such an unhealthy pallor. No. How long have you been hitting it up like this year? [00:21:14] Speaker H: Two years. [00:21:15] Speaker E: I forget you like the stuff in such large quantities, I mean. [00:21:18] Speaker H: Oh, now lay off, will ya? [00:21:20] Speaker E: Thanks. Sorry. You don't understand folks like him, Reggie. No. Mm, mm. Folks like him is tickled to death with themselves. That's why they pour it in. Cause they like themselves so much they can't stand it. [00:21:32] Speaker H: Pretty smart, aren't you? [00:21:33] Speaker E: They call him the good natured drunk, but where does his nice disposition go to when he's sober? [00:21:39] Speaker H: Look, you two just leave me alone, will you? [00:21:41] Speaker E: Oh, sure, sure. We don't really like to torture dumb animals. [00:21:46] Speaker H: Thanks for nothing. What's Packard want to bring Cherry down here for? [00:21:50] Speaker D: He has his own reasons. [00:21:51] Speaker E: Maybe he wants your little sister to see you when you ain't plastered. Because Cherry told her she loved you a lot. [00:21:58] Speaker H: Yeah, I'll bet she did. [00:21:59] Speaker D: Yes, she did. [00:22:00] Speaker E: We both heard her. [00:22:02] Speaker H: First time I knew Cherry had a sense of humor. [00:22:04] Speaker E: She didn't say it like she thought it was funny. [00:22:06] Speaker H: All right, stop it, will ya? He's gonna bring her down here. Why doesn't he do it? [00:22:15] Speaker G: Go away. Go away. [00:22:17] Speaker D: It's just me, Cherry. [00:22:18] Speaker G: Oh, hello. [00:22:21] Speaker D: Who did you think it was? [00:22:22] Speaker G: They. They were outside just a minute ago. [00:22:25] Speaker D: What's that? [00:22:26] Speaker G: Yes, they were. They tried the handle. I saw it moving. And then when they found out it was locked, I Heard them whispering. [00:22:33] Speaker D: Could you hear what they said? [00:22:34] Speaker G: No, just whisper. [00:22:35] Speaker D: Men's voices or women's voices? [00:22:36] Speaker G: No, just whispering. [00:22:38] Speaker D: You might have been mistaken. [00:22:39] Speaker G: No, it was them. They came to kept me. [00:22:42] Speaker D: Well, I'm here now, so don't worry. I want you to come downstairs to the library with me. [00:22:47] Speaker G: Come in my room first. [00:22:48] Speaker D: Yes, if you wish. Why did you close the door? [00:22:55] Speaker G: Look at me. [00:22:56] Speaker D: I am. [00:22:58] Speaker G: I'm pretty, aren't I? [00:23:00] Speaker D: Very pretty, Cherry. Your face would be beautiful if it wasn't so sad. [00:23:03] Speaker G: I'm young. I'm nice. I am, aren't I? [00:23:08] Speaker D: I'm sure you are. [00:23:09] Speaker G: Then why don't you take me in your arms? [00:23:12] Speaker D: Jerry, what is this? [00:23:13] Speaker G: Why don't you? Why doesn't anybody? I'm a woman. Yes, I am. If you don't think I am, just give me the chance. [00:23:23] Speaker D: Jerry, stop that. Here, here. You're just all upset. [00:23:31] Speaker G: Nobody wants me except them. [00:23:33] Speaker H: Nobody. [00:23:35] Speaker G: They want me. They want me so bad, they'll tear down this house to get me. And they will too, if somebody doesn't take me first. I can't do it alone. [00:23:47] Speaker D: No. No. Not while we're here. [00:23:49] Speaker G: Mr. Packard. Mr. Packard. I'm so afraid so. [00:24:36] Speaker D: For 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. [00:24:53] Speaker E: Mike McCarthy speaking. [00:25:03] Speaker D: The Mutual Broadcasting System presents I Love a Mr. A Transcon. Sit down here, Cherry. [00:25:52] Speaker G: Yes. [00:25:53] Speaker E: Hey, Jack. What'd you send Reggie out for? [00:25:55] Speaker D: Special job that needed to be done at once. Oh. [00:25:57] Speaker E: Well, hello, Cherry. Ain't you happy? [00:26:00] Speaker G: No. [00:26:00] Speaker E: Well, neither is your big brother Job here. So that makes two of you. [00:26:04] Speaker G: Yes, I know. [00:26:05] Speaker E: Well, ain't you gonna say hello to your little sister? Job? [00:26:07] Speaker H: We don't need small talk. My sisters and I understand each other. [00:26:11] Speaker G: That's just the trouble. We don't. [00:26:13] Speaker H: We don't what? [00:26:14] Speaker G: Understand each other. We all want to love you so much, Job, and you won't let us. [00:26:20] Speaker H: You crazy little fool. [00:26:21] Speaker G: Job, don't talk to me like that. [00:26:23] Speaker H: Don't you know these men brought you down here just to hear you talk? [00:26:25] Speaker G: But I haven't got anything to say they shouldn't hear. [00:26:28] Speaker H: Oh, you haven't? [00:26:29] Speaker F: No. [00:26:31] Speaker G: Did you think I did? [00:26:33] Speaker H: Look, I don't know anything about it. I wish somebody'd give me a drink. [00:26:36] Speaker D: Has he had anything while I was up getting Cherry? [00:26:38] Speaker E: Nope, not a drop. [00:26:39] Speaker D: All right, Pour Him. Another jigger. [00:26:40] Speaker E: Jigger? [00:26:41] Speaker H: It's not even a drop of water on a hot stove. [00:26:43] Speaker G: Job, I wish you wouldn't drink. [00:26:45] Speaker H: Yeah? [00:26:46] Speaker G: Yes. Why do you? [00:26:49] Speaker H: The same reason Faye indulges herself in vulgar language. The same reason Hope's devoting her life to chauffeur. [00:26:54] Speaker E: The same reason you what? [00:26:55] Speaker G: Job? What am I? [00:26:58] Speaker H: The same reason you're the way you are. [00:27:00] Speaker G: But what am I? What is it I am? I want to know. I've got to know. [00:27:06] Speaker H: Can't you see she's driving me nuts? Why don't you pull her off? [00:27:08] Speaker D: I wish you'd answer a question, Job. What did you mean, she's the way she is? [00:27:13] Speaker H: No, thank you. And have them on my neck. [00:27:17] Speaker D: Them? [00:27:17] Speaker H: That's right. Cherry's mysterious. They? The little people. [00:27:22] Speaker E: Hey. You believe they are around, too? [00:27:24] Speaker H: Very much around. They are going to destroy this house before they're through. [00:27:28] Speaker D: Not while we're here to prevent it. [00:27:29] Speaker H: Yes, they will. Because they will have completed the job here before you realize who they are. The Martins will come to ugly and early deaths, one by one. It'll seem so strange, so unnatural, Utterly unsolvable. And all the time, they will be right under your nose. They? These murdering little people who've been closing in on Cherry and the rest of this household. Now, will you please give me another shot of that brandy? Jack. [00:27:51] Speaker E: Jack. Look at Cherry. White as a sheet. [00:27:54] Speaker D: Cherry. [00:27:55] Speaker E: Cherry, do you hear me? [00:27:58] Speaker G: Oh, yes. I was thinking. [00:28:01] Speaker D: About what? [00:28:02] Speaker G: I didn't know anyone realized how dangerous they were except me. [00:28:07] Speaker D: There's not a bit of blood in your face. Are you all right? [00:28:08] Speaker G: Yes, I'm all right. But now I know why Job is drinking so much. [00:28:12] Speaker D: Why is Job drinking? Well, why? [00:28:15] Speaker G: Because he's as frightened as I am. [00:28:18] Speaker D: Is that true, Joe? [00:28:19] Speaker E: No. [00:28:19] Speaker G: Mr. Packet? [00:28:20] Speaker D: Yes? [00:28:20] Speaker G: Where are Fay and Hope and Grandma? [00:28:22] Speaker D: Faye and Hope are locked in their bedrooms. Your grandmother's in her suite on the third floor. [00:28:25] Speaker G: Could they come down here? [00:28:27] Speaker D: I suppose they could, if there's any good reason for it. [00:28:29] Speaker G: Yes, there is. [00:28:30] Speaker D: I'll have to know what it is first. [00:28:31] Speaker G: Job has something to tell all of us. [00:28:34] Speaker D: Job? [00:28:35] Speaker H: Hey, what are you talking about? [00:28:36] Speaker G: I promise you. I promise you he will tell something. But everybody's got to be here. [00:28:41] Speaker H: You might as well save yourself the trouble. I haven't got anything to say to anybody. [00:28:45] Speaker G: If he doesn't tell you, I will. I promise. [00:28:47] Speaker H: She's crazy. [00:28:48] Speaker D: I don't know, but I think we'll try it. Doc? [00:28:52] Speaker E: Yeah? [00:28:52] Speaker D: Go up and ask Grandma Martin to come down here. Then get Fay and have her help you bring Hope down. [00:28:56] Speaker E: Wake Hope up. If she's still asleep. [00:28:57] Speaker D: Yes. She may still be a little weak. [00:28:59] Speaker E: Okay. [00:28:59] Speaker D: Oh, just a minute. See that she's warmly dressed. Person coming out of a heavy dose of chloroform's in danger of pneumonia. [00:29:04] Speaker E: Yeah, I'll take care of her. [00:29:05] Speaker H: Look here, Packard, I don't like this. [00:29:07] Speaker D: You don't like what? [00:29:08] Speaker H: It just happens I don't want to see my grandmother right now. [00:29:10] Speaker D: Why not? [00:29:12] Speaker H: That's my affair. [00:29:13] Speaker D: Sorry, you'll have to stay. [00:29:14] Speaker H: I haven't got anything to say and neither is Cherry. [00:29:17] Speaker G: But I have Job. [00:29:18] Speaker H: I'm not going to stay, and that's all there is to it. [00:29:20] Speaker D: Job, sit down. [00:29:21] Speaker H: You heard what I said. [00:29:21] Speaker D: I said sit down. I punched you once tonight and I can do it again if I have to. What, are you gonna sit down? [00:29:29] Speaker H: You're being almighty high handed in this hustle. [00:29:32] Speaker D: Your grandmother gave me full authority. Now sit down and relax. [00:29:36] Speaker H: Strong arm, that. [00:29:37] Speaker D: Yeah, that's better. Sometimes a strong arm is the only thing people understand. [00:29:42] Speaker H: At least give me another drink. [00:29:43] Speaker D: No, you've had enough for now. [00:29:44] Speaker H: I've never had enough. I never will have enough. [00:29:46] Speaker F: Enough of what? Well, speak up. Enough of what? [00:29:50] Speaker D: Job thinks he needs a drink, Mrs. Martin. [00:29:52] Speaker F: Nonsense. Everyone tries to make Job appear worse than he is. Job, dear, would you like a cup of coffee? [00:29:58] Speaker H: No, I wouldn't like a cup of coffee. [00:30:00] Speaker F: Don't be naughty now, Job. [00:30:03] Speaker G: Hello, Grandma. [00:30:05] Speaker F: What's wrong with you now? [00:30:06] Speaker G: Nothing. Nothing, Grandma. [00:30:08] Speaker F: And I'd like to know who moved the chairs in this library. [00:30:12] Speaker D: Chairs? Certainly. [00:30:13] Speaker F: They're not where they belong at all. [00:30:14] Speaker D: Well, I'm afraid I'm responsible for that. [00:30:16] Speaker F: Indeed. Well, they go right back where they belong. Get up, Terry. [00:30:19] Speaker G: Yes, Grandma. [00:30:19] Speaker D: May I help you? [00:30:20] Speaker F: Do you know where they go? [00:30:21] Speaker D: I'm afraid not. [00:30:22] Speaker F: Well, then stand out of the way. [00:30:23] Speaker D: Just as you like. [00:30:25] Speaker F: Well, hello. Did someone touch one of Grandma's precious chairs? [00:30:30] Speaker G: Hello, Fi. [00:30:31] Speaker F: Hi, Mom. [00:30:32] Speaker E: Hello, Job. [00:30:33] Speaker F: How's drinking these days? [00:30:34] Speaker D: Ha, ha. [00:30:35] Speaker H: Great joke. [00:30:36] Speaker F: Come on, Grandma, relax. Mind your manners, Faith Martin. All those chairs of hers have been sitting in exactly the same spot in the library for 40 years. She knows where they belong to the fraction of an inch. I certainly do. [00:30:48] Speaker G: There. [00:30:50] Speaker F: Now the room looks like something. [00:30:52] Speaker D: Where's Doc and Hope? [00:30:53] Speaker F: They're coming. Hope's feeling pretty good, so I came on down. What's happening now? [00:30:57] Speaker D: Cherry and Job have an interesting surprise for us. [00:31:00] Speaker F: Oh, Job's not gonna confess he's responsible for the baby, is he? Don't Be vulgar, Fay. Take your own chair. Cherry. [00:31:07] Speaker G: Yes, Grandma. [00:31:08] Speaker F: Job, come here to your chair beside me. [00:31:10] Speaker H: Look, Grandma, will you lay off me tonight, Job? All right, Grandma. Anything you want. [00:31:16] Speaker D: Say, what is this? What do you mean, Job's own chair? [00:31:19] Speaker F: Some more of Grandma's discipline. When we were kids, we each had our own chair. And every evening we had to sit in that particular chair and listen to Grandma read to us. Kept you from running the streets, you mean. [00:31:28] Speaker D: All these years, you've always sat in the same chair in the same position? [00:31:31] Speaker F: It was the law. [00:31:33] Speaker D: You must have ruled with an iron hand, Mrs. Martin. [00:31:35] Speaker F: I did, and I'm proud of it. Yes, but you're not quite so proud of what you made out of this, are you? I'll thank you not to blame inherent wickedness onto me. Any bad in you children came from your mother's side of the family. [00:31:47] Speaker H: You leave our mother out of this. [00:31:49] Speaker F: Grandma, you can take it our mother wasn't Martin. [00:31:52] Speaker H: And that she probably died to get out from under the thumb of Grandma. [00:31:55] Speaker F: Job, you've never said an unkinder word in your life. [00:31:59] Speaker H: That pays you back for your jab at our mother. [00:32:02] Speaker F: You're an ungrateful boy, Job. [00:32:04] Speaker E: Okay. [00:32:05] Speaker H: I'm ungrateful. [00:32:06] Speaker E: Yeah, Everybody's in the library. [00:32:07] Speaker F: Here they come. [00:32:08] Speaker E: They're kind of weak. You. You better sit down. [00:32:10] Speaker H: Here, Hope. [00:32:11] Speaker F: Take your own chair. [00:32:12] Speaker E: Hey, what? You mean Hope's in no condition to. [00:32:15] Speaker F: She can walk over here to her own chair. [00:32:17] Speaker E: Well, I swear to Grandma. [00:32:18] Speaker F: It's all right. I'm wobbly, but I'm game. Come on. [00:32:20] Speaker E: Well, I don't mind telling you, Grandma, the more I see you, the more I don't like. [00:32:24] Speaker F: Keep a civil tug of your head. [00:32:26] Speaker E: There you are. Okay? [00:32:27] Speaker G: Yes, I'm perfectly all right. [00:32:29] Speaker F: Well, I think this is your first appearance among the living. If you call this living. Since your attack of chloroform. Yes, and it's nice being alive. [00:32:36] Speaker E: If you're interested, I want to ask. [00:32:37] Speaker D: You a question about that later. [00:32:38] Speaker F: About being alive? [00:32:40] Speaker D: No, about who did it. [00:32:41] Speaker F: Well, I can save the interview right. [00:32:42] Speaker H: Now by saying I was asleep when it happened. [00:32:44] Speaker D: You didn't wake up while it was being given? [00:32:46] Speaker F: If I did, I went right out again. [00:32:47] Speaker D: And you've no idea who did it? [00:32:49] Speaker G: No. [00:32:49] Speaker D: Not even whether it was a man or a woman? [00:32:51] Speaker F: No. Come now, what's all this about? I think you asked for our presents down here, didn't you, Mr. Packard? [00:32:57] Speaker D: That's right. This is to be Cherry's show. Cherry and Jobs. [00:33:01] Speaker F: What's the matter? Have they been after her again? [00:33:03] Speaker D: This has nothing to do with they. [00:33:05] Speaker G: Yes, it does. It has everything to do with them. [00:33:10] Speaker D: I understood either Job here was going to make a confession. Or that you were going to make the confession for him. [00:33:14] Speaker F: What sort of nonsense is this? [00:33:16] Speaker G: It's true, Grandma. It's true. [00:33:17] Speaker F: Job, what are you going to confess? [00:33:19] Speaker H: Nothing. Cherry's got bats in her belfry and they've got her going in circles. [00:33:23] Speaker F: Mr. Packard. You mean you brought us all down here simply on the word of this neurotic girl? [00:33:28] Speaker G: You're not neurotic. You don't say that about me. [00:33:31] Speaker D: Mrs. Martin, if you'll please just let me go ahead with this in my own way. [00:33:33] Speaker F: But the child's utterly irresponsible. [00:33:35] Speaker D: Please. Now then, Job. [00:33:38] Speaker H: Don't look at me. I haven't anything to say. [00:33:41] Speaker G: Cherry Jo, why don't you tell them? Why don't you make a clean breast of the whole thing? [00:33:48] Speaker H: What are you talking about? [00:33:50] Speaker G: The murder of the chauffeur, Jerry Martin. [00:33:53] Speaker F: Are you accusing your brother? [00:33:54] Speaker E: Job? [00:33:55] Speaker D: Be still, Mrs. Martin. [00:33:56] Speaker F: I never heard anything. Well, I never did. [00:33:58] Speaker D: Is that what you're doing, Sherry? Accusing Job of the chauffeur's murder? [00:34:01] Speaker G: Yes. [00:34:02] Speaker H: Why, you little double croc. [00:34:04] Speaker G: It doesn't matter, Job. It doesn't matter. You'll never be punished for it. [00:34:07] Speaker E: You're crazy. [00:34:08] Speaker H: I suppose I'm the one who tried to chloroform Hope here. Suppose I've been pushing you downstairs and slashing you. [00:34:13] Speaker D: Just a minute, Job. Jerry, what do you mean he'll never be punished for it? [00:34:17] Speaker G: Because they'll get him before the law dies. Jerry, what do you mean? It's true, Hope. It's true. Are you trying to give us all the creeps? Why are you all looking at me like. Like that? Stop looking at me like that, do you hear? [00:34:33] Speaker F: So the good natured drunk killed the chauffeur. And they are going to get him before the law does, eh? [00:34:38] Speaker G: Can I help it if that's the way it is? Can I? [00:34:42] Speaker E: Can I, Doc? Yeah. [00:34:43] Speaker D: Keep an eye on Chop. [00:34:44] Speaker E: You bet you, if you ask me. Jack. Hey, who turned out the light? [00:34:49] Speaker F: Somebody turning on again? [00:34:50] Speaker D: Quiet. Listen. [00:34:53] Speaker G: The baby. The baby. [00:34:55] Speaker D: Now get the light on. [00:34:55] Speaker E: I gotta feel my way around. Durned if it don't sound like it's right here in this room. [00:34:59] Speaker D: Hurry up. Turn on that light. Got it. All right, everyone stay right where he is. You all right? All of you. [00:35:06] Speaker F: I don't want to be vulgar, but I feel like something laid a hard boiled egg in the pit of my stomach. [00:35:11] Speaker G: The baby cried. It's a warning. It's a warning to Joe. [00:35:15] Speaker F: Nonsense. I won't have it. [00:35:16] Speaker D: What I want to know is how those lights were turned off. No one was within six feet of. [00:35:19] Speaker G: That switch but the baby. The warning, Doc. [00:35:21] Speaker D: You stand there right beside that switch from now on. [00:35:23] Speaker E: Okay, fellow, I'd like to see it. [00:35:27] Speaker F: Job. [00:35:30] Speaker D: He's been shot through the head. [00:35:31] Speaker E: The gun with the silencer. [00:35:33] Speaker G: Oh, Job, darling. [00:35:34] Speaker F: Oh, Job. [00:35:36] Speaker G: Didn't I tell you? Didn't I tell you? They want all of us dead. [00:36:20] Speaker D: The further transcribed adventures of Jackdoc 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. [00:36:37] Speaker E: Frank McCarthy speaking. [00:36:43] Speaker A: That was episodes seven, eight and nine of the Thing that Cries in the Night from the adventure serial I Love a Mystery written by Carlton E. Morse. Here on the mysterious old radio listening Society. We're getting into the middle of this now of this 15 part series and I'll ask Tim because Joshua's heard it before. So, Tim, at this point, do you find yourself apprehensively waiting for the baby to cry? [00:37:08] Speaker B: It does trigger the adrenaline, like something's gonna happen, but it's also like, ah, the plots are dancing. [00:37:16] Speaker A: Like I said, a couple weeks ago or last week, my wife had the reaction to listening to this of at this point not hearing much of what's going on because, like, oh, is the baby gonna cry? Is the baby gonna cry? Oh, God, please don't let the baby cry. Because that's ghost baby. Ghost baby. Doc is out asking questions of Reggie to get us recapped, which I love. Why are we doing this? Why are we not guarding Grandma? Why is Cherry with Faye again not only recapping us, but really establishing. God, There's a lot of questions, a lot of things. What is happening and what's going on? But at this point, I think what's interesting is Jack is putting things together. So everybody's just been given jobs to do until he can figure things out. That's what it seems like to me. [00:37:59] Speaker B: I don't know that that was the verb I would use of putting this together. I think he's just poking at things. [00:38:04] Speaker A: Yeah, there's a great way of wanting things to happen because if something. If the baby cries again, that's awesome. We might learn something. Yeah, someone gets killed again. Good. Lead us somewhere. [00:38:18] Speaker C: I think this one particularly seven And a little bit into eight has a little bit of a filler quality. And then it just kicks off in a whole new direction with nine. But seven is interesting, too, because we have that really strange scene where Jack has announced that he needs Cherry's clothes. And we have that weird scene where they're handing the clothes out to Doc through the door and he's top doodad, bottom doodad going through. There is a thread in here that has this weird psychosexual sort of stuff going on. And some of it, I think, is the pulp titillation, if I may say, of the time of this type of writing. They like to associate violence and sex, but it's also part of the actual intentional narrative with the grandma who's trying to keep these ladies and the morality in place. But these girls cannot keep their clothes on or they're in their pajamas. And it's just constantly brought up. And so that scene kind of stood out. [00:39:15] Speaker A: I can't tell you how much I love the line. This. This. This, top doodad, bottom doodad. O God, it's so, so funny. And it's a tension release that we need at this point. Faye actually has two great lines, and I think they're in seven. Doesn't matter. And they're in seven, eight, nine. That baby gag gets me down. [00:39:37] Speaker C: I think that's episode seven. Yeah. [00:39:41] Speaker A: And born in a refrigerator and never thawed out. That's how she described herself. That's. [00:39:47] Speaker C: And yeah. And here we get a lot more information, too, about this. This idea that. And I think thematically, the baby crying fits into it. That house full of widows, spinsters and neurotics. These are women who are never going to find love or never going to meet a man. I think Doc points that out at some point. [00:40:05] Speaker A: Yeah. You're all beautiful. [00:40:06] Speaker C: He's a foxy lady. He doesn't say foxy. [00:40:10] Speaker B: We know what he meant. [00:40:11] Speaker C: The Texan version of foxy. [00:40:15] Speaker A: Listen, he was Richard Pryor. [00:40:18] Speaker C: I got a little bored in episode seven. Start tweaking it a little bit. [00:40:23] Speaker A: Question for you. Last week, you thought that Morris may have jumped the shark, so to speak, with the slashing of Cherry, yet she gets slashed again. And in this, in seven. And it's really chilling because they're standing right next to her. [00:40:38] Speaker C: He should have skipped the last slash and did this. [00:40:41] Speaker A: So this isn't too much. [00:40:42] Speaker C: To me. This escalates it. That's what I meant by treading water. I don't really have a cliffhanger. Let's just have her get slashed Again. Here we go. Wow. What's happening? We were all right here, and she's. [00:40:52] Speaker A: Just bleeding, which is crazy terrifying. And that's the other thing about all this series is, you know, you start thinking about, okay, what's this? What's this? Oh, yeah, I forgot about the slashing. What's this? What's. Oh, I forgot about. That's why the baby keeps catching me off guard. Because I forget about it. Because we're trying to solve something else. [00:41:06] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:41:07] Speaker A: Like something else is going on. We gotta do this. [00:41:09] Speaker D: Wait, wait. [00:41:10] Speaker A: All right. The baby. [00:41:12] Speaker B: Actual parenthood, I think all these things going on. Oh, yeah, Baby. [00:41:20] Speaker A: Tim, you're the only one here without kids. Let me tell you. Nope, that's not how. [00:41:23] Speaker B: I mean, I think I don't have kids. Oh, yeah, the baby. [00:41:27] Speaker A: That's right. I love sobering up Job. [00:41:33] Speaker C: Well, just the idea that we find out that Jack, like, he jumps out the window to go get booze, Jack goes, finds him the car, knocks him out and drags him back. [00:41:41] Speaker A: Well, and how easy it was. Well, that's. I have this note on the beginning of eight. Job is missing. That's the cliffhanger of seven come back to eight. We got Job. [00:41:49] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:41:50] Speaker A: There's no finding Job. And the explanation is, well, where else would I go find him? [00:41:56] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:41:56] Speaker A: And how'd you get him here? I hit him, you know, and knocked him out. I love that so much. [00:42:00] Speaker C: It's back to what you were saying last episode about there being something a little scary about Jack. [00:42:04] Speaker A: Yeah, man. [00:42:05] Speaker C: You imagine that he just walked in, tapped him on the shoulder, and Joe was like, what do you want, smack? [00:42:12] Speaker A: I think being. Being on the wrong side of Jack Packard would be a terrifying existence. [00:42:18] Speaker D: Right. [00:42:20] Speaker A: This guy is not only fearless, I think there's no empathy. I think it's psychotic. He doesn't care about anything. [00:42:27] Speaker B: He cares about his buddies, kinda. [00:42:32] Speaker A: I think if they were to be shot in the head in front of him, he'd go, all right, let's figure out where that bullet came from. Cause that'll kill some time. [00:42:42] Speaker C: It was probably a woman. Now when Job sobers up, just hates life. And it's awful. It's a nice moment because you can't help but like him when he's the happy, go lucky drunk. And now he's such an awful person. And then we even have that nice moment from Doc when he's sort of diagnosing the problem with the friendly, happy drunk. Yeah. That it's a disguise that he's wearing and they're shaming him for his alcoholism. [00:43:11] Speaker A: There's a terrible moment intervention, where Doc says, here's what an alcoholic is. It's a really wrong analysis of what alcoholism is. It may be 1949, and maybe that's how they thought about it, but that's. That makes me sit straight up like, you love yourself so much. You're so full of yourself. That's why you drink. No, no, that can't be right. [00:43:40] Speaker C: Reggie even says what a handsome man Job would be if he still. [00:43:46] Speaker B: Complex. [00:43:47] Speaker A: Well, it is. It is enough. Grandma has a moment also, I think, in eight of kind of letting him know finally why they're there. And not really detailed, but she's afraid. That fear that's motivating her to bring someone in, that she's losing control of something, Right? [00:44:06] Speaker D: Oh, yeah. [00:44:07] Speaker C: Jack and Grandma are both the people who want control. And Grandma just can't keep it. And so she has to give in to Jack because she knows he can somehow bring control to this situation. [00:44:17] Speaker A: We talked a few episodes ago about how, as we go through this, that cherry, Mercedes McCambridge steals this entire serial. And we're really starting to see it now. This character of Cherry is terrifying in that the meekness and all that. Another really chilling, fantastic moment is when they're outside Cherry's room and she says they were turning the handle. They were whispering. And then the crazy talk. I'm pretty. Why don't you think I'm pretty? [00:44:44] Speaker C: And Jack again goes, I'm sure you are. [00:44:50] Speaker A: Isn't that a great chilling moment of her describing them being outside the lab. [00:44:54] Speaker B: Like you talked about, oh, so many weeks ago from this serial that it's so based in character. And we have come to really have expectations of what these characters are and how they behave. And this is one of the biggest left turns of. Like, that is not who this character is. This is very different. [00:45:12] Speaker A: Yeah, well, right. All of a sudden she starts hitting. [00:45:16] Speaker B: On Jack, starts moving wench territory. [00:45:18] Speaker A: Yeah, but she's a loon. And Mercedes does such a good job of. God, it's terrifying. I'm sorry I keep saying it, but I just love the idea of imagining her in that room and the door handle and the whispering outside and whoever they are. [00:45:34] Speaker C: Yeah. Nobody wants her except they. [00:45:36] Speaker A: Right. Job makes an interesting comment that's a little unnerving when he calls them little people. [00:45:42] Speaker C: Yeah. Everything opens up there where he talks about the little people. And he is as sold on this idea as Cherry is. He thinks that these people are going to kill the entire family. [00:45:54] Speaker A: And Cherry goes white and Gets scared when Job talks about them. Oh, you seeing him, too? And you're sober right now. [00:46:03] Speaker B: I suppose it's another indication of these characters starting to slide out of their boundaries into each other's territory. [00:46:12] Speaker A: So we get everybody in the same room. It's like the parlor mystery now. Right. [00:46:17] Speaker B: So pointedly. So you will sit here, and you will sit there, and these chairs can be moved. [00:46:22] Speaker A: Not a subtle clue. [00:46:23] Speaker C: What Moritz does there is. It is both a clue to a mystery narrative as well as character development that grows Grandma and forced them as children to sit in these places. Was that rigid. So it then begins to tell you a little bit more why these kids are the way they are. [00:46:40] Speaker A: And not only that sitting in the chairs, but the chairs have to be in that one specific spot. [00:46:46] Speaker C: That would feel like a real transparent clue if we hadn't already taken the time to do character work with the grandchildren and how controlling Grandma is. So you can get away with this. It makes sense. Sense now, Right. Isn't that convenient? You don't say that because it fits. [00:47:02] Speaker B: It's actually convenient. [00:47:05] Speaker C: Right. [00:47:07] Speaker A: It's nine. Where. Yeah. Job shot through the head, right? [00:47:10] Speaker C: Yep. Right at the end. And we kind of get this locked door mystery thing going suddenly. Yeah. This episode is crazy shocking. The first child actually dies. We've been talking about how, oh, you're all gonna die. We're all gonna die. But we said that for eight episodes, and you kind of think, oh, they're not gonna. It's all talkative. [00:47:26] Speaker B: Flesh wounds, falling downstairs. [00:47:28] Speaker A: I think you're completely set up in the writing of this to this point to believe that no one's actually going to die. [00:47:32] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:47:33] Speaker A: And to have someone die that quick. Now, there is a weird moment of, all right, Job's been shot through the head. They're pretty casual about it, but, yeah, I just didn't expect a character to be killed off at all, ever. And the chauffeur's been killed. [00:47:49] Speaker C: I get that in here. We find out Job did do it. The happy go lucky drunk actually killed him. And Cherry totally throws him in front of the bus for it. [00:47:58] Speaker B: This also just immediately evokes Agatha Christie from sort of supernatural mystery. Creepy dread of dead body. How did this actually mechanically happen? Unless there is some character not spoken for. [00:48:10] Speaker A: I'm in the position of, I know how this ends. Having listened to it before. [00:48:15] Speaker C: I'm just gonna spoil it for everybody. [00:48:16] Speaker A: Right, Here we go. [00:48:17] Speaker B: It's Agatha Christie, everybody. [00:48:18] Speaker A: Take the next. It's Agatha Christie. [00:48:20] Speaker C: It's the Swedish Chef from episode one. [00:48:24] Speaker B: Gentleman. [00:48:25] Speaker A: The Guy from the plane. [00:48:26] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:48:26] Speaker A: This question for Tim. Cuz you listen to this for the first time all the way through at this point, Tim, what. What are your thoughts of, like, who did it or what's going on? Reforming any opinions? [00:48:38] Speaker B: I was. My take on this at this point in the series was to be highly suspicious of Faye because this is a very effective mystery. Everyone is suspicious. But the things I was leaning on were things that Jack pointed out of. She is the smart one and this is a smart plan. Whatever is happening here, she both gave the gun to Job as a gift. [00:49:00] Speaker A: Yep. [00:49:01] Speaker B: And was the first person to go say, I'll go check on the gun before Jobe did. [00:49:06] Speaker A: Right. [00:49:07] Speaker B: And she found the chauffeur's body, which makes her suspicious. [00:49:11] Speaker A: I think it's easy to suspect Grandma because she's such a jerk face. [00:49:16] Speaker B: The problem with Grandma as a suspect is then why did she bring in three? Not detectives, Men of adventure? [00:49:25] Speaker C: The question. [00:49:28] Speaker B: And then the other question is if Jerry is faking it. [00:49:32] Speaker A: Well, then there's that. And then there's going back to Hope, faking the drunk. [00:49:35] Speaker C: But we also see in this episode too that Faye is still mildly disturbed when Cherry is too into this story. Because I think Faye actually says at one point when Cherry's going like, oh, don't worry, Job, you know, they'll kill you long before the, you know, the police get to you. And Faye says, you know, stop, you're creeping me out. And it seems legit, legitimate. [00:49:56] Speaker B: Like there's. As far as the slashing goes, is she just doing it to herself? Pretty straightforward solution. Did Jack want to see her clothes to see if there are safety razors sewn into her clothes? [00:50:08] Speaker A: Oh, interesting. [00:50:09] Speaker C: Or does he just smell them? Something weird? [00:50:14] Speaker A: Was he just wearing them in the basement by the furnace? Jack, what are you doing down here? Nothing. [00:50:22] Speaker C: Looking for clues in this teddy. [00:50:25] Speaker A: It's interesting. I think that. I think that Faye is a pretty logical choice at this point. Well, there you have it. That's 7, 8, 9. Any other thoughts on those, gentlemen? [00:50:36] Speaker C: I will say that nine really hooks me back into this big time. Yeah, I was thoroughly enjoying it. I think 7 and 8 are part of that. 6, 7, 8. Little bit of a dip that you don't believe in at all, Eric, but a little bit of a dip and then just. Just unexpected twist. Not just the shooting of Job, but just all the revelations about the childhood and the weird arrangements of the furniture. [00:51:02] Speaker B: And the revelation that he believes in they as well. [00:51:06] Speaker C: Yeah, there's just a lot going on in Episode nine. [00:51:10] Speaker A: There's a part of me listening to this at this point that really wants it to be little they people. [00:51:17] Speaker B: Agatha, Christywise. Also trying to keep in track of. [00:51:19] Speaker E: Of. [00:51:20] Speaker B: Did they really confirm the chauffeur was dead? Did they really confirm the joker? How thoroughly are they vetting these deaths? And it seemed pretty thoroughly. [00:51:30] Speaker A: Well, he didn't get a chance in the first one because he was checking. Doing something with the body. And cherry just came out of the wall. Hi. Stop doing that. [00:51:40] Speaker B: Just emerged from the body. [00:51:47] Speaker A: I think that Joshua already answered this. Your analysis of these episodes. [00:51:52] Speaker C: Yeah, Totally on board. Again, a little. Little bit of a drag. And now I'm like, bring on the next one. [00:51:57] Speaker A: Right. Heading toward the barn. Tim, analysis. [00:52:01] Speaker B: It's good. [00:52:03] Speaker A: Are you enjoying it? [00:52:04] Speaker B: Yes, I am. [00:52:05] Speaker A: Right on. Me too. We are now up to 7,452 questions that need to be answered and no connections between any of them and a lot of odd behavior from everybody. And so hopefully we'll. We'll figure some stuff out. Tim, what do we need to do? [00:52:22] Speaker B: We need to. Ghoulishlights.com I'm not going there. Have you been. [00:52:27] Speaker D: It's nice. [00:52:28] Speaker B: Ghoulishlights.com is the website that is the home of this podcast. You can find other episodes of this podcast. You can find information about stuff we do outside in the world. We perform live. We're going to perform live at the Minnesota Fringe Festival, fringefestival.org as long as you're on the Internet, that's this August. It'll be a lot of fun. [00:52:46] Speaker C: Joshua, you can also go to itunes and write a gosh darn great review for this. This podcast. Please. We like reviews. [00:52:53] Speaker A: It helps. [00:52:54] Speaker C: It does. [00:52:55] Speaker A: We need it. And then tell people to listen to the show. I don't think we've ever asked that before, but now you all have a duty. All right, Coming up next week, we are continuing our summer serial of the Thing that Cries in the Night from I Love a Mystery. And we will be heading into episodes 10, 11, and 12. Until then.