Tired of the everyday grind? Ever dream of a life of romantic adventure? Want to get away from it all? We offer you... Escape! Escape! Transcribe to free you from the four walls of today for a half hour of high adventure! You are traveling east on a cross-country bus. While among your fellow passengers, the seemingly innocent and friendly are a man and a woman who plan to destroy you and 150 million of your countrymen. Listen now as Escape brings you Anthony Ellis's exciting story, Classified Secret. Nice day. Yes. Kids sure know how to spring. Look at them. I've been watching them. Yeah. Kind of glad though I haven't got any... Oh? I've been watching them. I've been watching them. I've been watching them. I've been watching them. I've been watching them. I've been watching them. I'm glad though I haven't got any. Oh? Well, you know, world conditions, things the way they are. Who wants to bring a kid into it? I suppose so. Do you have a match? Sure. Here you are. Thanks. Have you got it? What's the matter? Well, you don't look the type. I almost hoped you weren't. Have you got it? With me? No, but I'll take you to where it is. All right. The money's in tens, twenties and fifties. In the sack with the groceries? I thought it'd be safer that way. I guess so. How much? Ten thousand. That's what you agreed to? Uh-uh. I said twenty. I was told ten. They made a mistake then, didn't they? Sorry. What are you trying to do? Nothing. Not a thing. I was told you were with us. I am, but I get paid for it too, don't you? I can't sit here any longer. We might be watched. Will you please give me... I'm not going to do anything. Unless you want to take me to the headman, maybe he can straighten it out. I haven't any instructions for that. Where can I reach you? As of about two hours, and now you can't. I'm leaving town. Will you give us twenty-four hours? It'll take that long to... I'm sorry. If you can't pay what I want, there's somebody else who will. I'm going. So long. I was sitting on a bench in a little park in North Hollywood, California. The early spring sun was warm, and there was a smell of fresh-cut grass. I watched the woman I'd never seen before walk off down the path. She was headed for the avenue, and some cars parked beyond the trees. I thought how nice it would have been if... if she were just a woman in the park, nothing else. I waited until she was out of sight, and I got up and walked away in the opposite direction. I got the bus at the Hollywood station. I had a train ticket in my pocket, but with the new development, it looked safer to ride the bus. Just before we pulled out, a girl climbed aboard and came down the aisle looking for a seat. Excuse me, is this number... Eighteen. Oh, thank you. Here, let me put your case up. Thank you. I was afraid I was going to miss it. Yeah, I know how it is. I settled back, watched the city drift away into desert country. As the buses go, it was pretty quiet. I had a four or five year old kid with his mother a couple of seats forward, but he dozed off almost as soon as he got running. I took a look at the girl sitting next to me. Not in the way you might think, but because in my business, you get to learn to look at people. You never know who it might be. She must have felt me watching. She lowered the magazine she was reading. Would you care to look at one of these? That's nice of you. I always forget to buy them. This one's a mystery. I don't usually read them, but on a long trip, they kind of pass the time away. Yeah, they do. How far are you going? New York. That's a long trip, all right. I'll say. I haven't been back for ten years. I bet it's changed. Yeah, I guess so. I read the mystery well into Arizona. When I finished, it was beginning to get dark. The kid up ahead was awake and hungry. There was a feeling of expectation on the bus as we drove into the first night of travel. Did you enjoy it? Oh, yes, it was fine. Thanks a lot. What was it about? Spies. Real exciting. I like spy movies sometimes. I think they do so many of them. You read about it in the papers all the time. I don't know. I think people would get sick of it. I guess you're right. They're exciting, like you say. I bet it isn't really like that. I doubt it. Say, my name's Charlie. I'm a passenger. Oh, how do you do? I'm Julie Spalding. That kid sounds as hungry as I am. Yeah, we ought to be stopping soon. I hope so. About 15 minutes later, we pulled up at a restaurant terminal and went in for food. I didn't see any passengers who might be getting on. I didn't see anybody, and as soon as I'd finished my sandwich and coffee, I sent a telegram to New York and then got back on the bus. The girl, Julie, and I seemed to be hitting it off, and it was pleasant enough to pass the time. After we got rolling, the kid up ahead decided to sing himself to sleep. It was like a crooning over and over again, the same song, the same few notes. I guess it put everybody else to sleep except him. Makes you sleepy, doesn't it? Yeah. Reminds me of when I was a kid. I used to do that. Kids are funny. How? Well, I don't know. I'm going back to New York for my sister's wedding. She's getting married next week. She says she wants lots of kids. I don't know. Yeah, I know what you mean. Mind if I ask you something? No, I don't mind. What? Are you married? No. I don't mean it the way it sounds. I'm always interested in trying to guess about people. I would have figured you were a married man with maybe two or three kids. No, I'm not married. I hope you don't think I'm nosy. No. Well, that kid singing fixed me. I'm going to take a nap. Good night, Charlie. Good night. I must have dropped off too. When I woke up, she had her head on my shoulder. A lock of her hair was falling over her closed eyes. And then I knew something was different on the bus. Somebody on the other side of the aisle, watching. Excuse me, mister. Have you got a match? I'm clean out. Sure. Just a minute. Here you are. Thanks. No, no, no. Keep them. Oh, fine. Thanks a lot. Say, have you got any idea where we are? I'm not sure. I got on at Flagstaff for an hour or so back. Oh, boy, I envy her. I wish I could sleep like that. Your wife? No. Oh. Oh, say, that's rude. Hmm? Taking your matches and not offering you a cigarette. Oh, that's okay. No, I don't want one now. Thanks. Say, uh... I want to tell you something. Hmm? There's a lady in the seat behind you. I think you've met her before in the park. Right? Mm-hmm. We brought her with us to identify you. But she gave us a pretty good description back in L.A. Good for her. This is going to be a nice trip. Nothing like traveling with people you know, is there? Nothing like it. I, uh... I don't suppose you've got any reading material you could let me look at. How about a mystery? It's a spy story. Pretty good. No, I was thinking of something else. I think you know. Something more scientific. I'm very interested in airplanes. Jet motors. Sorry. He looked across at me, smiling, pleasant. And anybody watching him was a little surprised. He was a little surprised. He wasn't. And anybody watching, it was nothing more than the casual conversation of two strangers brought together by the night and sympathy of loneliness. Then he leaned back and, reaching inside his jacket, brought out a small automatic which he kept very carefully hidden from any eyes but mine. Always carry this with me on a trip. You never know. I knew, all right. If they couldn't buy what they wanted, there were other ways. That's what he was telling me. And I saw in the man's smiling face that I'd never reach New York unless I killed them before they killed me. We will return to Escape in just a moment. But first, the program that we're about to start is a special repeat broadcast of CBS Radio's hard-hitting drama Bomb Target USA. With Arthur Godfrey as narrator and a core of crack CBS Radio newsmen reporting from spotter locations and from so-called enemy bombing squadrons approaching our shores, Bomb Target USA reports factually and without fanfare exactly what America can expect today if enemy atomic bombers raided our major cities. And we're going to be talking about the atomic bombers raided our major cities. Immediately following Escape tonight on most of these same CBS Radio stations, keep tuned for Bomb Target USA. And now, back to Escape. Julie and I had breakfast somewhere in New Mexico. The woman from the park and the man who carried the small automatic sat in a booth while we were eating. I'd thought about things most of the night and I decided to tell the girl not too much, but enough so that she might be able to help. And I knew I'd need some help. Coffee's pretty good here. Yeah. Cigarette? No, thanks. Julie? Yes? I want to tell you something. Oh? I don't want you to turn around and look. Just pretend we're talking about the weather, coffee or anything, but listen. Well, sure, Charlie. There's a couple sitting in the booth behind us. They're spies. Hmm? Oh, you! I'm not kidding. I can't tell you much, but as you love your life, you'll believe me. You're kidding. Spies? Don't turn around. Smile. Just listen. They're trying to get hold of the plans for a new jet motor. It's faster than anything anybody else has got. You are kidding. No, I'm not. How do you know? I'm working for the government. FBI? In a way. Now, I need you to help me. Me? They think I've got the blueprints, the plans, and they're going to try and get them from me. But can't we get the police? No. Why? Because we're trying to get the head man, and if those two are arrested, we'll have to start all over again. They think I'm working with them. But I got tough about the money they offered, so now they're going to try and get rid of me and the police. Yes, they got on during the night in Flagstaff. I don't see... Just stick with me. I'll explain at the next stop. We can't talk about it on the bus because she's sitting right behind and he's across the aisle. Listen, are you pulling my... No. No, you're not, are you? I'm not. We went on through New Mexico and the pink rock and the desert. We talked a lot of nonsense, and after a while I could see she was getting back to the idea that I'd been kidding, especially after the man with the gun introduced himself as Mr. Hutchinson and started to talk about fishing. It was about a half hour before our lunch stop. Now, you take some of that Northern California country, talk about trout, steelhead. I tell you, you have never seen... My dad used to take us out, my sister and me, take us up to a place in Maine. Dad always wanted a couple of boys, I guess, but when he saw what he got, he figured it wouldn't spoil his plans anyway. So he took us fishing every summer. He should have seen the fishing up there. Well, I'd like to someday. I'd like that. How about you, Mr. Rader? Do you like fishing? No, not much. Did you ever try it? A little, when I was a kid. You ought to take it up again, if you have time. Yes, I might do that. If a man had a little money put away, he could do a lot of fishing. That's the way to live. Have about $10,000, go all over the country fishing, no work, no worries. How does that sound, Miss Spaulding? Oh, what a life. It'd take more than $10,000. Oh, I don't know. Ten's better than nothing. $10,000? What? They went on talking, and I just been thinking. He was smarter than I'd thought. Looked like a nice, average guy, and behaved like one. The more ordinary you can be, the less you're going to be suspected, and these people had it down to a science. It wasn't going to be easy, because I was going to have to convince Julie all over again. I could see that. My chance didn't come until that evening, after our dinner stop. By that time, the woman in the park, went by the name of Lisa Nyland, Hutchinson, the girl, and myself, all four of us were buddies. We'd pulled up over the Colorado border. There was some kind of trouble up ahead, a slide or a wreck. The driver told us we'd have a half hour or so before we went on. You want to take a walk for a while? There's a cafe a couple of hundred yards back. I'll give you a call when we're ready to move on. Kind of nice to have an extra leg stretch. How about some coffee? That'd be nice. I'd like to have a look at the valley down there. We might walk up the dirt road away, get a pretty good view, sunset and all. Romantic, huh? Sure, why not? Oh, Charlie. Okay with you, Lisa? You feel romantic? Want to see a valley in the sunset? That'd be very nice. Okay, let's go. We walked away from the bus and up a narrow ranch road. About a hundred yards up there was a curve that led to the stand of trees. When we got there you couldn't hear the sounds from the highway any longer. It was peaceful and it was very pretty. I knew that Hutchinson was delighted about the suggestion. It was going to give him his chance, but he made the mistake of playing it a little too clever. And he kept his game of small talk going a minute too long. We got to the top of a cliff overlooking the valley when I stumbled on a rock and fell a few steps behind before they had a chance to stop. And when they did, I already had my gun out. Hey, what are you going to do? Target practice? No. Julie, get over here. You two stay where you are and keep your hands behind your head. Charlie, Charlie, are you sure? They, they seem to be... I know what they seem. Now look, I don't want to do this, but it's you or me. You should have made the right deal in the first place. I can't let you go, you know that. We might still make a deal. You had your chance. We've got the 10,000. How about, how about waiting till we get to the next town? We'll have the rest of it telegraphed. I make mistakes, but not that kind. If you told us what you wanted, we might have been able to get the 20,000 for you in Los Angeles. Turn around, both of you. Now wait a minute. We're all in this together. We all want the same thing. You figure you can get more money from the head man in the East. We've got a chance to get it for you. We're in contact. He gives us our orders. What difference does it make? Now look, look, you shoot us, what do you think they'll do? They won't let you get away with it. They'll kill you. Charlie, you can't just shoot them. Turn them over to the police. You can't just shoot them. He can't tell the police, Julie. He's with us. Only he wants money out of it. And I'm not going to say it again. Charlie, don't. I know you've got a duty, but you can arrest them. Please, you can still... I told you to be quiet. Arrest? Listen, Raider, you're not going to... You're not going to kill us over 10,000. Why, it's murder, even if you... Ow! Miss Nyland dropped without a sound. Hutchinson held his middle for a second and tried to keep his balance. Ow! I shot him in the back of the head. I knew he was dead before his body slipped to the ground. The girl just stood next to me, her hands tightly covering her mouth and she was shivering. I took a look across the wide valley. The sky was turning purple. I've never seen anybody killed before. I'm sorry. Couldn't you... Couldn't you have arrested them or something? Couldn't you... Did you have to? I had to. They wouldn't have stopped at killing both of us if they'd had the chance. What are you going to do? What are you going to do now? I've got to get the money for evidence. What are you going to tell the driver? He'll ask where they are. Charlie? The driver's going to wonder where they are. Charlie, what are you doing? I've got to put them over the cliff. Oh, no. I've got to. Oh, no. I can't. Charlie, no. All right. Come on. We got back to the bus and neither of us said anything about the two we'd walked off with. I guess nobody had seen us together after waiting around for another half hour the driver gave up. Well, I'll drop their baggage in La Junta. Better notify the police, too. Screw you, all right. Okay, folks. Sorry for the delay. You better go back to your seat, mister. Sure. I was starved when he pulled into the depot at La Junta. I'd already made up my mind to lay over and take a detour on another bus. The girl wasn't going to be able to keep quiet much longer and I had to get rid of her. We got out of the bus and the two men were standing alongside, waiting. We were waiting for the bus. We were waiting for the bus. We were waiting for the bus. We were waiting for the bus. We were waiting for the bus. We were waiting for the bus. We were waiting for the bus. Just a minute, please. We're special agents for the FBI. Search him, Larry. Yeah, just a gun and money. Where are the other two? The other two? They're dead. He killed them. Oh. We'll take those plans now, Mr. Rader. And don't do anything silly. There are four men covering you. Okay. It's in my shoe. You want me to take it off now? Please. Here. Thank you, Mr. Rader. This isn't worth anything really, you know. We planted it in the factory in L.A. for someone to steal. What we wanted was to be led to the top man in New York. And when you sent that wire to him back in Arizona, we got him. We were worried about you, Julie, when you didn't call us from Albuquerque. I didn't get a chance. He was with me all the time. Is she? Is she... Are you playing spy too, Julie? I'm working for the government, Mr. Rader. She's been following you since you stole the plans. Well, you fooled me. I bet you fooled Hutchinson and Nylund too. It won't matter to them, though, will it? Well, that's the way it goes. Take him away, will you? I had to watch him murder those two. I don't want to hear him laugh about it. Come on, Rader. We've got a car waiting. Sure. So long, Julie. Nice to have met you. Escape has brought you Classified Secret, written and directed by Anthony Ellis, starring Parley Bear. Featured in the cast were Charlotte Lawrence, Peter Leeds, Miriam Crouchon, Tim Graham, Leroy Leonard, and Georgia Ellis. The special music for Escape is composed and conducted by Leith Stevens. Next week... You are in a canteen in Mexico, listening to a man speak his hate for you in word and music, while somewhere in jeopardy without your knowledge and beyond your reach is the one you love, who may lose her life, for the man who sits across the table hating you is the only one who can save her. So listen next week, when Escape brings you E. Jack Newman's exciting story, El Guitarrero. Tomorrow night, the Luxe Radio Theater stars Jane Wyman and Dick Haynes. The play is just for you, with Jane recreating her original screen role. It's a musical comedy about a widowed Broadway play producer who loves his star and faces complications in the reactions of his son and daughter. Just for you, Luxe Radio Theater presents the stellar co-starring combination Jane Wyman and Dick Haynes tomorrow night on most of these same CBS radio stations. The same evening, CBS radio stars Fred McMurray in Suspense's saga of the Great Train Robbery. That's tomorrow night at the Starz Address. This is Roy Rowan speaking. And remember, you have a date with Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts Monday evenings on the CBS Radio Network. The Starz Address
