Now, Mr. and Mrs. North, brought to you Monday through Friday at this same time. Mr. and Mrs. North, transcribed, starring Barbara Britton and Richard Denning. Listen to Pam and Jerry in Chapter Three of the Mystery Night Walk. Wizard? It's Laura, Frank. Let me in, Frank. Laura, what is the name of heaven? Why are you running around dressed like that? Oh, Frank, something horrible has happened. Evelyn's dead. What? And I killed her. You? I must have. I don't remember it, but I must have been the one. I killed her while I was walking in my sleep. In Frank Bates' apartment, Laura Hatton sobs out her story. And in front of the Hatton apartment, meanwhile, Wade Hatton's modest green sedan is an object of attention. To the casual passerby, it's just another car, but not to Pam North. It's a green sedan. To Pam, Wade Hatton's car is more than just another car, much more. Jerry, that's the car that tried to run down Laura Hatton. Oh, for heaven's sakes, Pam, be reasonable about this thing. There are literally thousands of cars like this one in New York. You've already said that, darling. Oh, I said it again. And I'm going to keep on saying it until you... But Jerry, all I'm saying is that if this is the same car, then Wade Hatton tried to kill his wife. If, Pam, if... Well, let's at least go back to the Hatton apartment and tell Bill about it. We can talk to him in the morning, darling. I want to talk to him now. And it's after 2 a.m. and Bill's busy. He's questioning Hatton and that partner of his, Frank Bates, and I... Will you wait till he's through? No, Pam. Jerry. No. You're mean. I'm not mean. I'm tired, dead tired. I've been up since 6 yesterday morning. I had a miserable day at the office yesterday, and I'm going to have another miserable one today. I want to go home and get to bed because if I don't, Laura Hatton won't be the only one walking in her sleep tonight. It was incredible, Lieutenant, to think that Laura could have got up in her sleep, taken a night from the kitchen, gone in and killed Evelyn. I can't believe it. Then let's suppose for a minute, Mr. Bates, that it's too incredible, that it couldn't have happened. Now do you know of anyone else who might have had a reason to kill Evelyn Ford? No. Mr. Hatton said Miss Ford worked for the two of you. Yes, as Wade probably told you, we're in the construction business, Bates and Hatton. Evelyn's worked for us for over five years. Wade and Evelyn went together for a little while until he met Laura. Mr. Bates, can you think of anything that might have given Evelyn Ford a hold on Wade Hatton? A hold? Anything she could be used to make him do something against his will or a better judgment. No, I'll tell you. What makes you ask? I want to know why I haven't committed Evelyn Ford to live here with him and his wife after it had been told by a psychiatrist to get it away from her sister. Did you ask Wade? Yes, but I'm not satisfied with the answer I got. Do you have any idea of the subject? No. Frankly, I've wondered about it too and I thought it was a mistake, but I figured that was something between Wade, Laura and Evelyn. All right, Mr. Bates, I guess that'll do it. You can go now. How do you want to see me anymore tonight, Lieutenant? No, Mr. Hatton, no more than that. I thought I'd take Wade home with me, Lieutenant. That's a good idea. And I'll get in touch with you as soon as I have any news about your wife, Hatton. Thank you. Good night, Lieutenant. Good night. Come on, Wade. Frank, how's Laura? She's all right. F*** you fool, we can't talk here. Why don't we get out to the car? Frank, what am I going to do about Laura? What can you do? Evelyn's dead. Laura killed her. I think we don't know why you think so. Too bad, but that's the way it is. But it was my fault, Frank. Don't start that. But it was. It's been my fault all along. I'm the one who got us into that rapid river bridge deal that cost us our shirt. Well, what has that got to do with Laura? We got another shirt, didn't we? By cheating the government $80,000 in taxes. Well, it was the only way, wasn't it? I was a fool to listen to you. I wish we'd have let the company go under. Good Lord, will you stop beating yourself over the head? Those tax returns haven't anything to do with what happened. They have everything to do with it, and you know it. From the minute Evelyn found out about those tax returns, something like this was bound to have happened. She had me hooked, and she knew it. She had me hooked, too, don't forget. But all she wanted from you was money. How low, Wade? Come on. You think Evelyn was as much in love with you as you thought? I don't think she was in love with me at all. I think she hated me. I know she hated Laura. Evelyn was the one that was sick. She was the one who should have gone to that sanitarium, not Laura. I don't know why she did that when she made me let her move in with Laura and me. I'm sorry, Wade. Oh, sure. I mean it. I am. If I'd thought that tax business would have led to this, I never would have suggested it. But, well, it's too late now. Is it? What do you mean? How much money do we have in the company account, Frank? Why? How much? About $25,000, is it around there? I want it. What? You heard me. I want it. All of it. Every cent. What for? Never mind what for. Just get it for me. In cash. First thing in the morning. Well, you seem to forget that half of that money is mine. Not anymore, Frank. I'm taking your half. Just like that? Just like that. No explanations, no nothing. That's right. And what if I don't get you the money? I go to the government about our falsified tax returns. Evelyn was blackmailing us, Frank. Now I'm blackmailing you. If you go to the government, you go to prison right along with me. I know that. But after what happened to Laura tonight, there's one difference between you and me. I don't care. Now step out of there. I want to see Laura. Where is she? In the bedroom. I want to see her alone. Wait. Well, about the money. What are you going to do with it? I've got a right to know. You'll find out. Laura. Laura, honey. Wait. Yeah. Oh, Wade. Oh, easy, honey, easy. Oh, I've been waiting for you for so long. I came as soon as I could. Turn on the light. Okay. Wade, I had to see you once more alone before I went to the police. You're not going to the police. What? We're going away. Where? I'm not sure yet. Somewhere out west, maybe. Somewhere where we can start over. Oh, no, Wade. Yes. But it won't work. It will. Look, we'll even leave the country if we have to go to Mexico or to South America someplace. I'll have plenty of money, almost $25,000. Where are you going to give it? From the company. Frank and I have that much. But that isn't your money. It is now. Frank is giving it to you? Yeah. That's not true. Okay, it isn't true. Frank isn't giving me the money. I'm taking it. Look, honey, there's something you don't know, something I've never told you. What? Three years ago, while you were in the sanitarium, Frank and I got the bid to build a bridge upstate at Rapid River. Well, our bid was too low. It was my fault, I guess. I estimated the job, and by the time it was done, we'd lost almost $100,000. Go on. Well, we had to hang on to what cash we had or go broke. There was only one thing to do. Frank suggested it, and I went along. What did you do? We falsified our income tax returns. Not only for that year, but for the next two. We made up about $80,000 of what we'd lost. Oh, Wade. It was the only thing to do, Laura. You were sick in the sanitarium. I had to have money. Anyway, I told Frank I want that money. The company has it. I'll go to the government and tell them about the tax return. Well, I won't do it, Wade. I won't let you take that money. Laura, darling, it's our only chance. We've already had our chance. We had it in locket when you let Evelyn come between us. She didn't come between us. Wade. Wade, were you in love with her? Oh, no. She said you were. She was lying. She said you were in love with her and wanted to marry her. That's not true, Laura. I loved you. I've always loved you. But why did you let Evelyn stay with us? Because she wanted to, and I couldn't say no. Well, why not? She knew what Frank and I had done about our taxes. She found out somehow about a year ago, and she started blackmailing us. But money wasn't all she wanted. She wanted to smash us, even if she had to get you sent back to the sanitarium to do it. You knew that, and yet you let him move in. I couldn't help myself. She would have talked about those tax returns. I thought if I just had a little time, I could solve the problem somehow. But instead, I'm the one who solved it, like killing her. Oh, Laura, don't. Darling, everything's going to be all right. Evelyn's dead. I killed her, and you want to spend the rest of our lives running in a hiding. Is that your idea of everything being all right? Oh, Laura, look, you're tired. Get some sleep. We'll talk about it in the morning. There's nothing to talk about. I'm going to the police. No. No, wait until morning. Promise me that, please. Oh, no. All right. Oh, good. Good. Now, try to sleep. Get me a wig. Sure. Now, get some sleep. I'll turn off the light. Good night, darling. How is she? OK. Want a drink? No. I like it, usually. Laura and I will be pulling out tomorrow, as soon as we get the money. Pulling out? Where are you going? Even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you. Look, Wade, don't be a pap. The cops are combing this town for Laura. You won't be able to get her as far as the Holland Tunnel. And even if you do, even if you do get out of town, they'll grab her sooner or later. Maybe. Maybe not. Oh, there's no maybe about it. They will. So why put yourself on a spot like that? You won't be helping Laura or yourself. Let me worry about that. All you've got to worry about is getting me the money out of the bank in the morning. Let me tell you something, Frank. Don't get any ideas about calling the police and telling them where they can find Laura. Because if you do and she's caught, you're on your way to prison. More coffee, darling? Oh, a little. Is there any newspaper about Evelyn Forbes' murder? No. I guess it happened too late last night to make the morning edition. I like it. Oh, good morning, Sam. Bill, come in. Thanks. Who is it, Sam? Bill Wigand. Come into the dining room, Bill. Have a cup of coffee. I could stand a cup of it all night. Hiya, Bill. Hello, Jerry. Oh, could I get you some breakfast, Bill? No, no, thanks, Sam. Just coffee. I got the message that you wanted to talk to me, so I thought I'd stop in on my way to headquarters. What's on your mind? Well, Pam has a crazy idea that Wade Hatton tried to kill his wife last night. What? It isn't a crazy idea. Bill, you remember we told you that we pulled Laura Hatton out of the top of a car last night? Yes. Well, what I didn't tell you was that I thought the car was deliberately trying to hit her. Well, what makes you think that? Well, nothing makes her think it, Bill. It's entirely voluntary on her part. Oh, now you shush, Jerry. And that isn't all, Bill. The car that almost hit Laura Hatton was a green sedan, a car exactly like the one that Wade Hatton owns. How do you know what kind of a car a Hatton owns? There was a green sedan parked outside his apartment last night, and we found this on the front seat. Oh, a matchbook from the King William Hotel in Cleveland. The hotel where he had been stayed at in Cleveland. And here's the license number of the car. Well, I'll check it with motor vehicle registration and find out if it really is Hatton's car. Well, even if it is, Bill, it doesn't prove a thing. As a matter of fact, I just thought of something that proves the car that almost hit Laura Hatton couldn't have been Hatton's car. Or at least it couldn't have been Hatton driving it. Oh, what's that? Well, it was almost 1130 when we saw Mrs. Hatton outside Marriott's last night. So Hatton didn't get into Idlewild from Cleveland until 1045, and it would certainly take him 45 minutes to get from the airport down to the village. Dollies, I guess you're right, darling. Of course I'm right. Except for one thing, Jerry. What? Well, Bill Hatton didn't get in from Cleveland at 1045. I checked it. Hatton was lying. He was on an earlier plane, one that landed at LaGuardia at 830. Mr. and Mrs. North's Transcribe, starring Richard Jenning and Barbara Britton and featuring Francis DeSales, comes to you each weekday night, Monday through Friday at the same time. Mr. and Mrs. North is based on the characters originally created by Francis and Richard Lockridge and is written for radio by Ken Field. Music by Del Castillo. Mr. and Mrs. North is a John W. Lobson production. Be sure to join us again tomorrow evening for another exciting chapter in the mystery Night Walk. Art Bowers, you're speaking. Ever wondered what it's like being a policeman? Well, you can find out exactly what happens when you listen to Night Watch tomorrow night on CBS Radio. It's an intimate, exciting view of police at work through actual tape recordings of a real police department. You can go with the police to the scene of the crime and even follow them when the criminal is caught. Quite a bit of excitement on Night Watch. Don't miss it tomorrow night here at the Starz address over most of these stations. Stay tuned now for the Amos and Andy Show, which follows immediately over most of these stations. And here's Suspense Thursday nights on the CBS Radio Network.
