Come in. Welcome. I'm E .G. Marshall. Welcome
to the sounds of suspense. Justice. the noblest
creation and the highest ideal of man the foundation
of all religion and the cornerstone of every
law justice the birthright of every human being
on the face of the earth justice were brought
up to believe in it to expect it but what about
those people who suddenly discover that for them
There isn't any justice you just don't go around
killing people Eddie But there are people who
have to be killed the war is over. It's been
over for a long time No, it isn't not for me
Eddie. You're home now. Don't you understand?
We can only have justice through the law. Okay
Tell me Will the law give us justice? I just
told you we have no evidence. Okay? No justice
from the law So where and to whom do we go for
justice? Tell me Does that mean there isn't gonna
be any justice? Our mystery drama only the dead
remember was written especially for the mystery
theater by Sam Dam and stars Tony Roberts and
Mandel Kramer It is sponsored in part by The
Kellogg Company, makers of Kellogg's Special
K Cereal, and New Sugar Free Diet 7 Up. I'll
be back shortly with Act One. For a long time,
ever since he came home from one of our wars,
Eddie Benson has been looking for someone. Those
vital years of his life that might have been
invested in a career, devoted to a family, have
instead been devoured by an all -consuming search
as Eddie Benson roamed the length and breadth
of America, supporting himself by his nimble
and sensitive fingers, playing the piano, in
grimy saloons, in sophisticated night spots.
but always looking, always listening, ever alert
for a clue that could lead to his quarry. Well,
now tonight, suddenly the manhunt will come to
an end in a cocktail lounge in a northwestern
city just a few minutes before midnight. Odd,
how a search so intense. could be climaxed by
a discovery so casual. How so serious and deadly
a crusade can be capped with a laugh. That laugh.
Eddie Benson hasn't heard that laugh in years.
That laugh. He would recognize it anywhere. It
could only belong to one person. And now Eddie's
fingers slide softly and swiftly over the keyboard
and find a melody. A pretty little melody that
has a special meaning for certain people. Especially
for that comfortable looking man at the corner
table. The man with that latch. So I said to
her, my dear, if I were to get married again,
it would be the triumph of hope over experience.
Yes, sir, Mr. Jackson. That's a good one, all
right. Oh, what's the matter, Mr. Jackson? The
matter? Are you okay? You got a funny look on
your face all of a sudden. Really? You didn't
get sick or something. Who's that? Who's that
playing the piano tonight? Oh, some guy filling
in for Woody, you know? Uh, no. For a minute,
though, I, uh... Well, I thought he may have
looked familiar. That's just my imagination.
Uh, Millie? What is it, Mr. Jackson? Ask him,
uh... Ask him if you'll, uh... You got a request,
Mr. Jackson? Yeah, I have. Ask him to quit playing
that song. You don't like it? It's kind of a
catchy tune. Just give him this. Tell him to
play something else. Eddie. You've got a request.
Request in reverse. A customer says to take this
ten bucks and quit playing with you. What's this
character's name? Jackson. R .J. Jackson. I see.
R .J. Jackson. Does he live around here? No.
Up on the hill. All kinds of money. Figures.
Huh? It's funny, Millie. How it ends. Where it
ends. There were times I thought it would never
end. All these years kind of took over, you know.
It became a way of life. Look, I wish I knew
what you were talking about. No, you don't, Millie.
I think I'll split. You mean walk out? You can't
just walk out on... How'd you like to make ten
bucks? Ah, all depends. You keep the ten spot
and... As soon as I'm out of here, you go up
to a good old R .J. Jacksoncy and you say to
him... Mother Hennessy's chickens are coming
home to roost. You're kidding. Say it. You're
ten bucks ahead. Yeah, but you can't just quit
in the middle of playing. Remember the chickens,
Millie. See you around. Yeah. Yeah. Oh More I
get to know musicians. Oh, yeah, how'd that go
mother? See chickens To Jackson Mr. Jackson the
piano player. He wanted me to tell you something.
Yeah Venice, thanks. That's the easiest 10 bucks.
He ever made what he wanted to tell you was yeah
well Well, he said, uh... Mother Hennessy's chickens
are coming home to roost. What's that? I'm sure
it's what he said. Mother Hennessy's chickens
are coming home... No! No! Mr. Jackson! Hey!
Hey, somebody! Give me a hand, quick! He's fainted!
Wilson you know what time it is it happens I
got a message Ha ha ha, you mean you won't take
it, girl? Darling, I'll take whatever we can
get. I can't believe it, honey. After all this
time, everything but everything is going our
way. You know, Tom worked out the contract. Oh,
Bill. Oh, I'm so happy. We're going to be rich,
honey. We're going to own a business, and we're
going to be parents. What were you saying about
a phone call? Oh, well, a man just called. Very
mysterious. He said to tell you that, let me
see, Mother Hennessy's chickens are coming home
to roost. He said what? That's what he said.
He hung up. Can it mean anything? Oh, no. No,
no. Nothing at all. Just forget it. What about
dinner? Bill, dinner? Did the man say anything
else? Bill, you're so pale. Honey, believe me,
this is really nothing that should concern you.
The key is the name Hennessy. Uh... Where should
we go to dinner? Don, you're trying to distract
me. Hennessy. We don't own any Hennessy. Look,
honey, I've just been going at a very fast pace.
Hennessy's chickens. Hennessy's chickens. That
combination is familiar. Darling, I'm really
very hungry. I've got it. I've got it. Your old
army outfit is holding a reunion. What do you
know about my old army outfit? Oh, nothing. Nothing
at all except... You and Tom Wilson were there
together you you were in Korea you were prisoners
and You refused to talk about it Even to me.
Why do you say we're having a reunion? Hennessy
but Last year when we moved into this house,
I I was putting a lot of your old stuff away
There was an army picture of you and Tom Wilson.
We must have been all of 18 and two other young
soldiers in the middle An older man, a sergeant.
And underneath it you had written, Mother Hennessy's
chickens. It just clicked in my mind. That sergeant,
that older man. He was all of 26. So his name
was Hennessy, wasn't it? Yes. And he looked after
all of you like a mother hen. Yes. And now you're
having a reunion. Oh, Bill. What a wonderful
person that Sergeant Hennessy. I want to meet
him. No, you can't. Why? He's dead. Oh What was
he killed in the war in the prison camp? That
music piano Don't you hear it? It's coming from
the living room Someone's playing the piano.
I Didn't hear anyone ring the bell. Let's go
see no Someone's in the apartment. Let's stay
here. No, I want you to stay in the bedroom In
all the years we've been married, I never asked
you to do anything just because I said so. But
I'm asking you now, please. All right, Bill.
Just for a while. Hello, Eddie. Front door was
open. I just walked in. Well, you're welcome,
Eddie. It's been a long time. A lifetime. Nice
layout. Yeah. I've done well. I'm sure you deserve
it. I went to school on the GI Bill, became an
engineer. Yeah, we said you had the stuff, Billy.
I'm gonna own a good -sized electronics company.
That's nice. My old buddy Tom. Tom Wilson. Remember
him? Who could ever forget Tom? He's drawing
up a contract and became a lawyer. What about
yourself, Eddie? Me? Yeah. A fellow with your
talent, a way you could write songs. Like this
one, for Hennessy. We all figured we'd hear you
doing Broadway musicals, coming up with top hits.
Well, I've been too busy. Doing what? Looking
for somebody. Looking for an old friend of ours.
Bill? I had a phone call. The craziest phone
call. Hello, Tommy. Eddie? Hey, Eddie Benson.
It could only have been you. Where you been hiding?
Tom? Billy? I got the greatest news in the world.
I found him. I finally found him. You finally
found who? The needle in the haystack on the
beach. It was such a long time. It was such a
long search. Teddy, who did you find? Who do
you think? Myers. Myers? Jay Myers? He doesn't
call himself Myers anymore, but it's still R
.J., Robert Joseph, or as Tennessee said, our
own little Bobby Joe. Well, that's incredible.
Except he's not so little anymore. He's a very
portly gentleman these days. You say you found
him? I found him. What did you say to him, Eddie?
Well, how could you just say nothing? Tom, you,
Billy, and I, we've got nothing to say to Bobby
Joe. I just made sure where we could find him,
and I came here to pick up you two guys. Eddie,
I have a .45. What do you guys want to use? Eddie,
what are you saying? I'm saying if we leave now,
we can fly to where he is in less than three
hours and kill him before midnight. Into the
pleasant, well -ordered, comfortable world of
Bill Traynor and Tom Wilson, there suddenly intrudes
a strange, terrifying, and ugly word. It's not
a word of this world. It's a word that belongs
to another world, a world of pain and horror,
a world that they thought was dead and gone.
We'll continue in that world when I return shortly
with Act Two. When they were 19 years old, Eddie
Benson, Bill Traynor, and Tom Wilson suffered
and starved and froze in a prison camp in North
Korea. Now it's a lifetime later, and to Tom
and Bill, Korea is barely a dream. But Eddie
Benson is still stuck deep in the nightmare Still
determined to carry out a deadly promise. They
made to each other long ago. I thought you two
guys to be glad to see me now Now we can keep
our promise What promise? Tommy kidding, aren't
you? Bill you remember the promise the three
of us made? Yes. It was more than a promise.
Eddie. It was an oath. Look, Eddie. No, you look,
Tom. You look back at a mound of dirt in that
prison camp in Korea. You look back and see three
guys, we three guys, we're kneeling next to that
mound of dirt because it's Hennessy's grave.
Look back and hear us. Hear us swear never to
rest. Never to stop. Never to know a moment's
peace until we kill. Robert Joseph Myers. Eddie.
How could we just kill him? How? Simple. Blow
his brains out. You live in another world whether
you realize it or not. Now you just don't go
around killing people. But there are people who
have to be killed, Tom. You're not in combat.
The war is over. Not yet, Eddie. You're home.
There's the law. Now, what do you tell the police?
The truth. What's the truth? You know the truth
as well as I do, Tom. Myers turned rat in career.
He gave away our escape plan and he got Hennessey
killed for it. But can you be sure it was Myers?
We know it was Myers. We knew, didn't we? Bill?
I guess we did. All right, tell me this. If we
were so sure... Why didn't we denounce him six
months later after we were freed? Why? You know
why, Tom. You were the law student. You said
don't denounce him. I said? You said. We had
no hard evidence. A smart defense lawyer could
get him acquitted at a court martial. That's
what you said. All I said was I wished we had
more evidence. You... You said we would have
to get Myers by ourselves. That's what you said
We would find him kill him and announce it to
the whole world and that's what we swore we would
do Do you remember them? I? Remembered calm All
right, Eddie all right That was a long time ago.
That doesn't mean it didn't happen No, but it
means it happened in another time in another
place under different rules In other words, you're
not willing to do it. I can't do it I'm an attorney
a member of the bar. I simply cannot be an accessory
to a felony Okay Bill what's your excuse? I'm
not aware that I need an excuse I'm just I spent
my life looking for Bobby Joe so that justice
could be done Eddie. We can only have justice
through the law Okay Tell me then Will the law
give us justice? We have no evidence. Okay No
justice from the law then Tell me in that case
where and to whom? Can we go for justice? Well
Does your silence mean there isn't gonna be any
justice Eddie Eddie what? Hennessy saved the
lives of each of us more times than we can count
If it weren't for him, none of us would be around
today. He was betrayed. He was murdered because
of... Robert Joseph Myers. Now, is that going
to be the end of it? Eddie, there are certain
realities... I know what you think, Tom. Bill,
I want to hear you say something. I wish I knew
what to say. You've got nothing to lose, Eddie.
Yeah. Yeah, that's what it comes down to doesn't
it? I'm just crazy Eddie the piano player you
guys Pillars of the community rich respectable
gutless Well, I'll do it alone Eddie there must
be another way out of this don't tell me about
look I don't want him to go unpunished either,
but Eddie Eddie Eddie what's wrong Eddie? Hey,
Eddie, get me a drink of water. Tom, hold on,
or he's gonna pass out. Let him sleep. What's
the matter with him, doctor? Well, I'd say this
man's been living on his nerves for a long, long
time. Well, what can we do for him? Let him sleep.
For a week, if he can. And whatever you do, see
that nothing excites him. I'm afraid that's going
to be difficult. Why? Oh, it's a long story.
He needs rest, needs calm. Call me tomorrow.
Yes. Yes, doctor. Bill? Try to get some sleep,
Eddie. I feel so tired. I... I'll just rest a
while, okay? Sure. I never felt so tired, except...
when we were in... Remember? Yeah. Remember,
Hennessey would keep us awake while we were in
guard. Sure. You were his favorite. Oh, he didn't
play favorites. He liked you more than the rest
of us because you were the best soldier. Eddie
tried to get some sleep. I don't care about Tom,
but you. Especially you. You. Have to help me
kill Myers Eddie you need your sleep Yeah I'll
sleep a little and then When I feel stronger,
we'll go get him you Have to help me bill after
all the ones for you if it weren't for you If
it went for me what Eddie Eddie Sergeant Hennessy,
get me out of here. Hennessy, help me. Please
don't leave me alone. I'm sorry. I was having
a nightmare. Darling, you just can't keep torturing
yourself. Liz, what am I going to do? It'll be
all right. No, Liz, whatever I do, it won't be
all right. It won't. Oh, sure, you just can't.
Just can't what? I did not say anymore. Why did
Eddie have to show up now? Darling, what are
you going to do? I don't know. But I just can't
go and kill Myers. It would be throwing away
my whole life. Yours as well. Liz, please help
me. I can't help you. No one can help you. It's
all set. We have the closing tomorrow. You'll
own a factory, Bill, my friend. Yeah. Is Eddie
better? Yeah, yeah. He's sitting up now, getting
an appetite. In a couple of days, the doctor
says he can be out of bed. You know what we have
to do, don't you? We have to get word to Myers
somehow. I don't like this any more than you
do, but we have to warn him to keep out of sight
for a while. I suppose. Has he told you where
Myers is living? No, he won't even tell me what
name Myers is using. Why? I don't think he trusts
us, Tom. He thinks we betrayed him and Hennessy.
Bill... Look, Tom, what's the use? In a sense,
we have betrayed Hennessy. We've even betrayed
ourselves. It's all... It's all part of what
you have to do to live. Now, we must find out
where Myers is. Eddie won't tell me. He might
tell me... I'll get it out of him somehow. We'll
save him yet, in spite of himself. Oh, I'm freezing!
It's so cold! So cold! Bill! Darling, you're
having a bad dream! Wake up! Wake up! Can we
go to the fire? Why won't you let us go to the
fire? Bill! A fire! Bill, please! Wake up! Why
can't I let us have a fire? Bill! Eddie! Yes.
We gotta break out of here tomorrow night. Hennessy
said to tell you. We won't have a chance. We
better not. We'll die if we stay here, Tom. He's
right, Tom. You guys know where we have to meet.
Yeah, Tom and I. Did you call Myers? No. Why
not? Myers isn't going. Why not? Shut up, Bill.
You can't tell him he's allowed. Hennessy says
Myers can't cut it. But he is one of us. We can't
leave him here. Hennessy says we can't take a
chance on him. No. No what? and us around to
protect him, he'll die here. I'm gonna talk to
Hennessy. I'll convince him. I'll convince...
I'll convince Hennessy that we've got to take
Myers. I'll convince him. Bill. Bill, wake up.
Darling, you're dreaming again. What? Yeah. Bill,
are you alright? Yeah. I'm alright. Only sometimes
I... I don't know which is the dream. This or
Korea. Hi, darling. Oh, hello, Bill. Tom's here.
Oh? Yeah, he's inside talking to Eddie. I have
got something to say to Eddie, too. Look, I almost
forgot you saw the doctor today. Is there anything?
Oh, everything's just fine. Liz, this should
be the happiest part of my life. I know, Bill.
I'll be right out. Well, how is everybody? I
want to thank you for everything, Bill. Oh, it's
nothing. I'm leaving tonight. Leaving? Where
to? There's a promise I have to keep. See if
you can talk him out of it, Bill. He won't listen
to me. He won't tell me anything either. I won't
try to talk you out of anything, Eddie. I want
to go with you. Bill! What for? To help me or
to... stop me? I don't know. I just feel that
I have to face Myers with you. And then... Well,
right now I don't know. Fellas if this is the
way the conversation is going I have to leave
I can't be part of what happens Well Eddie Where
are we going? I'll tell you when we get there.
What's the matter? Don't you trust me? Are you
gonna try to save him? I don't know what I'm
going to do We're in this because you tried to
save him the last time you remember. Yes, I remember
When are we leaving? Tonight. All right, I'll
go pack You don't need much. Just a toothbrush,
a razor, and a revolver. The decisions have been
made. Or have they? Tom stays, Bill goes. But
what is it that Bill will do when he faces Myers?
Right now, his emotions are those of a 19 -year
-old. But how long can those emotions sustain
a man who is close to 40? We'll know when I return
shortly with Act 3. Many of us spend our lives
searching for the truth. But what is the truth?
When are we closest to the basic essence of our
existence? Is it when we have the experience
and wisdom of age or the fire and idealism of
youth? We keep asking What is the truth? The
answer is each man must find his own truth Eddie's
gone. Yes, I know. You know? Well, I went into
his room to see if he was up to having dinner
and he... He wasn't there. But I was supposed
to go with him. I know that, too. How did you
know? I didn't tell you. Darling, you didn't
have to tell me. Well, then how? I have faith
in you, Bill. I have faith that... that in the
end you... you will do what's right. Looks as
if I'm not going to do anything with Eddie gone.
Do you really want to find him? But how? How
could I even begin to look? I know where he went.
You know? How do you know? Well, while he was
sick, I sent his clothes to the cleaners, and
in his pocket there was an airline return ticket.
A ticket to where? I won't tell you unless you
take me with you. You can't go in your condition.
Bill, we have to do this together. But it might
be dangerous. You're wasting our time, Bill.
We should be getting the next plane for Central
City. Oh boy, I didn't realize how hungry I was.
Well, we missed dinner last night. Now tell me
something, how do we find Eddie in a city this
size? Where's the waitress? Oh, Miss! Could you
bring us the morning paper, please? How's the
paper going to help us? The paper would carry
ads for the night spots where he might have worked.
Hey, it's right. If he found Myers, it would
probably be in a bar or a club. Yes. Oh, thank
you, Miss. All right, darling. You go through
the ad, Sal. Just sit and finish this coffee,
and then I'll start looking for Eddie. Well,
I intend to go with you. Oh, no. No, you don't.
It's miserable out. It's snowy. Now, you stay
in the hotel. I can find him. Bill. Oh, Bill,
we won't. We won't find Eddie. What do you mean?
Look at what it says. Here in the paper Eddie's
instead Musician found shot to death Police puzzled
by mysterious murder body discovered in hotel
room. No apparent motive Eddie did how can he
be only yesterday? Well do the police have anything
to go up? No, it says here. No leads. No clues
Liz, it had to happen last night. Someone was
waiting for him. It has to be Myers. Well, look,
we'd better tell the police. But Eddie said that's
not the name Myers is using. We don't know who
he is. Liz! Bill! Tom! Tom, what are you doing
here? I just got in. I checked the hotels and
ran you down. Then you know. Yeah, I saw it in
the paper. That's why I flew out here. But Tom!
What? How could you? Liz, what is it? Oh, nothing.
Poor Eddie. You know what this means? We're both
in trouble now, you and I. Why? It's obvious
Myers knew Eddie was after him, so he killed
him. Tom, we have no choice. We have got to find
Myers. While we don't know who he is, he knows
who we are. In this big city, who is Myers? He
could kill us from ambush and get away with it.
Oh, Bill! Of course, there's one thing we could
do. Yes? Take the next plane out of here. That
would be our way of telling Myers it's all over.
Is that what you want to do? I'm not saying it's
what I want to do. I'm listing our options. I
think we have to find Myers, Tom. This time we
can turn him over to Justice. It's funny the
way it worked out. Eddie had to die so that Justice
could settle accounts with Myers. We have to
find him first. All right, we'll try all the
music places. Liz? You stay here and stick close
to the phones. If either of us gets the lead,
we'll be in touch. Tom phoned in. Let's hope
we get lucky. Something bothers me. It must be
my imagination again. Why? What is it? I don't
know, but it has something to do with Tom. What?
I can't put my finger on it. Just something that
doesn't sound right. What honey? What could be
wrong about Tom? By that tune, would you ask
the piano player where he learned it? He learned
it from me. I hum it all the time. He says to
me, hey, Millie, I like that. Now he plays it
all the time. I knew the man who wrote it. Eddie.
Oh, you knew Eddie? Sure, we were good friends.
It's a shame what happened to him. He was, I
don't know, somebody once told me a word. Mercurial.
Yeah, yeah, he was a mercurial character. That
he was. A guy like him. Oh, he got a lot of people
sawing him. Well, at least he left a pretty tune
to remember him by. I just can't get it out of
my head. Everybody loves it. Well, almost everybody.
I know one character who didn't. That's who?
Ah, yeah. You know, it was Eddie's last night
on the job. He was playing the tune. And then
this guy comes in here all the time. This guy
wanted to give him ten bucks just to quit playing
it. You're kidding. No, no, it's a fact. Do you
know the guy? Oh, sure. He's a regular. Oh, he
hasn't been in lately. Yeah, one thing I got
to say about old R .J. Jackson. He's got a tin
ear. R .J. Jackson? Tell me more about him. His
name is R .J. Jackson. He has a place out in
the country up in the mountains. I'm going there
now. As soon as Tom checks in with you, tell
him to take Route 603 to Mountain Lane. Turn
right and go up the hill as far as he can. That's
the place. But Bill, there's so much snow! The
road's clear up there. Bill, though I must tell
you, I know what bothers me about Tom. I want
to get started. Look, how did Tom know to come
to Central City? We didn't tell him where we
were going. He said he read about Eddie in the
morning paper. talking about Tom now I'm sure
he look honey I have got to be on my way Tom
glad you made it yeah I guess this is as far
as the car can take us It's that house on the
top of the hill. Yeah, I Think we should have
sent the police How once again we don't have
the evidence and what are we going up there for
to kill him ourselves? No, I think we can get
a confession out of it. Oh sure now look he's
human He's got a guilty conscience. He'll break
down. He has to now come on Looks like Korea
doesn't Miles and miles of nothing. You could
just sink into the snow. It could just be the
end of everything. That's far enough. Stay where
you are. Look in the doorway. It's Myers. He's
got a rifle. You're trespassing. Now get out
of here, or I'll shoot. You wouldn't shoot us,
Myers. My name isn't Myers. Now get out of here.
We have to talk with you, R .J. We're coming
up. I'm warning you. Come on, R .J. You can't
get away with it. Look out! I don't think he
wants to. I got him. I got him. Look. He's on
the ground. Hurry up. Come on. RJ, don't kill
me. Don't shoot again. Get me a doctor. You'll
get a doctor. But first we'll get a confession.
Are you sold us out on the prison camp? Confess.
No. No, I didn't tell let him alone. You'll confess
later. Let's bring him inside. Oh, we'll confess
now And when Eddie Benson found you you shot
him. No, I didn't and who did I'm hurt bad Get
me to a doctor Bill you were always a good guy
Help me RJ. It was a long time ago The world's
forgotten. I don't even think you could be brought
to trial for it It's just among the three of
us. Now, I want you to confess. I didn't do it.
Honest. I didn't do it. You did because you didn't
show up. You stayed behind. You told the guard.
No. What did they give you? Did you have to kill
Eddie too? I didn't kill anybody. As you did,
we can get the waitress to testify. She'll tell
how you saw Eddie in the lounge, how you passed
out. Well, sure. I was scared. Because you guys
always thought it was me. But it could have been
anybody. You, Tom. What? Or you, Bill. Or even
Eddie himself. Let's drag him down to my car
and bring him in. Tom. Now, please. Haven't I
suffered enough? No, it's not enough. Tom, how
did you know about the waitress? Huh? How did
you know about the waitress? You you told me
no I didn't tell you anything about the waitress.
I just left a message for you to meet me here
Well, I I Well, you must have said something
about it to Liz but I didn't but then how would
I know how? Because Eddie told you Eddie why
would any you said you could get it out of him
Did you tell him that I would never help him
but that you would? Is that how you got him to
trust you? Oh, come on. Why would I want to kill
Eddie? Because of that talk we had in my house.
Maybe unconsciously, both Eddie and I started
to think. Why were we always convinced that R
.J. was the informer? Because you were the first
one to accuse him. And who said not to denounce
him to the Army? You did, Tom. And who said let's
hunt him down ourselves? You did. Why? Because
you knew it would be impossible. You knew we
would settle down in a civilian life and forget
it. Well, you've got it wrong. But you didn't
figure on Eddie. You didn't figure one of us
would spend his whole life. Oh, you know me.
Everywhere you turn, it's you, Tom. You with
all the shrewd answers. Why did you have to kill
Eddie? because he was trying to talk just like
you are and then and then he figured it out and
he wanted to kill me so so i had to kill him
it was self -defense i had to kill him it was
like it used to be back in combat kill or be
killed you were the informer no no i informed
but i wasn't the informer i i just didn't do
what hennessey ordered I didn't cover my tracks.
That's why they found us. What did they tell
you? Nothing. I wanted us to get caught. You
wanted us? Why? Hennessey was wrong. The only
time in his life he was wrong. We could never
have made it, Bill. All of us would have died
in the snow. I was trying to save our lives.
I tried to explain it to Hennessey. I tried,
but he wouldn't listen. He would only say in
that way of his. Trust me kid. It'll be okay
and I I Keep trying to explain to him Believe
me. I try every night every night for the last
20 years. I try to make him see it, but I Can't
find him He's out there in the snow and I can't
find him Alright, Tom, we better go back to town.
No, no, wait here. I'll find him. He can't have
gone far. I'll find him. I'll explain why I did
this. He'll forgive me. He'll understand why
I did it. Stop him, Bill. Stop him. He'll get
lost out there. Do you freeze to death? I can't
leave you, aren't you? I have to get you to a
doctor. We'll come back for Tom. Tom Wilson later,
much later, about the time of the spring thaw.
The snow, the ice had preserved the final expression
on his face. It was one of peace and calm, as
if he had actually found Hennessey and Hennessey
had forgiven him. Well, Hennessey would. He was
that kind of man. I'll be back shortly. the man
does. It's what we call the generation gap. And
this is not the distance between parents and
children. It is the unbridgeable abyss between
what a man is today and what he wanted to be
yesterday. But that's because you can only be
young once. Something you can do more than once
is listen. You can listen again and again. to
our mystery theater tales. Our cast included
Tony Roberts, Mandel Kramer, George Petrie, Bryna
Rayburn, and Lon Clark. The entire production
was under the direction of Hyman Brown. This
is E .G. Marshall inviting you to return to our
mystery theater for another adventure in the
Macau. Until next time, pleasant dreams. It's
11 o 'clock at KOIN in Portland.