And now stay tuned for the program that has rated tops in popularity for a longer period of time than any other West Coast program in radio history. The Signal Oil Program, The Whistler. S-I-G-N-A-L, Signal, Signal Gasoline. Signal, the famous go-farther gasoline, invites you to sit back and enjoy another strange story by The Whistler. I am The Whistler, and I know many things, for I walk by night. I know many strange tales hidden in the hearts of men and women who have stepped into the shadows. Yes, I know the nameless terrors of which they dare not speak. And now for The Signal Oil Company, The Whistler's strange story. You can't trust a stranger. As you walk down the crowded corridor from the district attorney's office, you can feel the stares and hear the whispers. There's Frank Malloy. He's getting out, but not for long. It's costing you $10,000 to walk out that front door, but it's worth it, isn't it, Frank? Because you have a plan, at least part of one. Yes, you reach the front entrance, push open the heavy door, and go out into the street. There at the curb, you recognize the long yellow convertible and the attractive blonde sitting inside. He slides over as you slip in behind the wheel. In again, out again. Yeah. How was jail this time? Lay off, Vivian. What I read in the papers, they're going to put you away for a long, long time after the small formality of a trial. Well, don't believe everything you read. I'm not going on trial. You are? No. I'm not going to be around long enough to give them a chance. You're going to jump bail. That's exactly what I'm going to do. You'll lose your $10,000 bond. Doesn't matter. I've got plenty, and it's put away where I can get at it in a hurry. Where will you go? We. We're going together, baby. I'm ready, Frank. I don't know how or where we're going, but we're getting out of the States. We can beat it to Havana and then maybe South America. I'll get a divorce, and we're all set. We've got enough money to last us the rest of our lives. That sounds wonderful, but how do you expect to get away? The moment they miss you, they'll be watching for you everywhere. Yeah, I know. The A wants to see me in a couple of days. So whatever we're going to do, we're going to have to move fast. We can't just take a plane or a train. Before we start running, Frank, we have to think of something, some kind of plan. Yeah, I know. What about a private plane and pilot? Let's find out about it right away. No. There's something else I've got to find out first. What do you mean? I'm going out to the ranch. I'm going to see my wife. You're going out to see Martha? That's right. Why? Vivian, didn't you ever wonder how the district attorney got hold of all my records and books that I kept? You think I sent them to him? You think I wanted the smoothest gambling syndicate in the state to come crashing down around my neck? No, but somebody else did. It had to be somebody I trusted, somebody close to me. I want to be sure it wasn't Martha. But Frank, don't you... And they have enough on me to put me away for 20 years. I want to know where they got it. Oh, Frank, what difference does it make now? All that matters now is getting away. We'll get away, baby. Don't worry. But first I want to see Martha. I just want to know. As you drive through the city and across the Bay Bridge, your thoughts dwell upon your wife Martha, don't they, Frank? You begin to think back, wondering just how much Martha knew about you and your organization, wondering if she knew about Vivian or any of the others, wondering if it could have been Martha who brought everything crashing down, sending you to jail. And there are other things to be thought of. How will you manage to get out of the country before the district attorney knows you're gone? Chartered plane and a private pilot might work. And you do have friends in Florida who would help you and Vivian get out of the country. After an hour of driving and thinking, you're suddenly startled as Vivian pulls violently at your arm. Frank, look out! Did I hit him? I don't know. He's lying by the side of the highway. I didn't see him in time. What was he doing out the middle of the highway? Look, he's getting up. Come on, we'd better have a look at him. Come on. He is getting up. Yeah. Doesn't look like he's hurt too badly. Hey, hey, you all right? I don't know. I think so. What were you doing out the middle of the highway? I was trying to catch a ride. Does anything feel broken? No, no, I don't think so. I saw you coming right at me and I dove for the side of the road. You didn't hit me. Oh, that's a relief. Looks like my trousers are finished. You're sure you're all right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Forget it. It's my own fault for standing in the middle of the highway. What's your name? My name? Yeah. Chuck, why? Well, Chuck, I feel kind of bad about this. I think the least I can do is offer you a ride. Do something about those trousers too. Forget it, forget it. It's my fault. Well, we can't leave you standing here. We're going another 10 miles. Okay. Let me get my hat out of the ditch. Frank, do you have to give him a lift? He admits it was his fault. Let's get out of here. Didn't you notice something, Vivian? Something real interesting about that fella? What are you talking about? Look, he's just turned around. Look at him. Now look at me. Notice anything? Frank. See it? Looks a lot like me, huh? Yeah. Same size, build, even his features. Yeah, if I worked it out right, I could get away with it. Get away with what? Just think, Vivian. How much easier it would be for us to get away if everybody thought that I was dead. If you really want to protect the money invested in your car, then the motor oil for you is Signals Amazing New Heavy Duty Oil that reduces engine wear 50%. Signal Premium, Heavy Duty Signal Premium. Now there's the oil that really protects your car. This proved and improved Heavy Duty Signal Oil does more, much more than just lubricate. In addition, Signal Premium motor oil cools, cleans, cushions, seals, and protects. Result? Tests under all types of driving conditions prove. New Signal Premium motor oil reduces engine wear 50%. Your engine keeps its light new pep and power twice as long. So if you're still using lazy old fashioned oil that merely lubricates, it's high time to make a change for the better. Change oil next time at a signal service station. Change to new, harder working Signal Premium motor oil that reduces engine wear 50%. Signal, signal, signal gasoline. Your car will go far with copper and gasoline. Almost every piece of the plan seems to fit together, doesn't it, Frank? If the police thought you were dead, you and Vivian could take your time about getting out of the country. You could go knowing they weren't watching for you. You study the man whom you almost hit on the highway, and already you're planning the last few hours of his life. I'd be real nice to Vivian and get him to talk about himself. We have to find out as much about him as we can. You just leave it to me, Frank. All set, Chuck? Yeah. Let's go then, huh? Some buggy. Yeah. I always promised myself I'd have one of these some day. Look at me, I don't even have bus spare. My clothes are dirty and wrinkled and I need a shave. I look like a tramp. I don't blame people for passing me by. Where were you headed, Chuck? Los Angeles, I guess. They tell me the nights are bomby down there. It makes a difference when you sleep in parked cars. But don't you have any friends in Los Angeles? I don't have any friends anywhere. That's a pretty broad statement, Chuck. Must have friends somewhere. Maybe back home, huh? I wouldn't know. I haven't been home in a long time. Been everywhere else. Australia, Africa, Brazil, been working on freighters. Just got back to the States last week. Just last week, huh? Right. Been gone nearly five years. Where is your home? I come from a place called Hyannis. Ever hear of it? It's in Massachusetts, Cape Cod. No, never heard of it. It's a fishing village. Still, it doesn't seem possible that a man doesn't have any friends. You must have a girlfriend. No, no. Had a girl once in Hyannis. Her name was Mamie. Mamie? It was a long time ago when I was young and foolish. What ever happened to Mamie? I wouldn't know. I wrote her for a while, but when I didn't get any answer to my letters, I just forgot about Mamie. Say, Chuck, tell me, what kind of work do you do? I'm one of those guys who can do anything. Until you pin me down, and then it turns out I can't do much of anything. Well, I'm sure you'll fit in somewhere, someday. Just haven't run into it yet. Maybe. In the meantime, I like drifting around the world. I don't talk too much. I don't get the chance to talk to people very often, especially about myself. Everybody likes to talk about themselves. What are you going to do when you get back to L.A.? Look for work, I guess. I'm broke. Well, if you really want a job, Chuck, maybe I can do something for you. What... what do you mean? Well, do you have a ten bar? No. Well, I own a string of bars throughout the valley. If you're willing to learn, maybe I can put you to work as a bartender. Me, a bartender? A guy's on his feet a lot in that kind of work. You can make good money. Yeah, yeah, I can believe that. But tell me something. Why all the interest in me? Well, we might have run over you, maybe killed you. I think the least Frank can do is try and help you out a little. Do you think I could learn to ten bar? Oh, I'm sure you could, Chuck. It's an interesting proposition, Mr.... Malloy, just call me Frank. I'm Vivian, Chuck. Hi. How do you like that? Yesterday I was bumming around. Today I'm going to be a bartender. Who knows what will happen tomorrow? You know, don't you, Frank? You know exactly what's in store for Chuck tomorrow. As a matter of fact, you wonder if he'll even be alive tomorrow. Because now you're certain that he will do fine as a bartender. He will do fine as a part of your plan. No one knows about him. No one even knows where he is. No one would miss him if he disappeared. He assured you of that. As you turn off the main highway towards your small ranch, you already have the first stages of the plan ready. You stop the car at the gate. I have to take care of some business here, Chuck. You go with Vivian, she'll put you up for the afternoon. Whatever you say, boss. Take him to my apartment, huh? Here's this key. I'll call you. When? As soon as I've made the arrangements we were talking about. Will they take long? No. Everything will be taken care of by tonight. Tonight? Yeah. And take good care of Chuck, huh? Make him feel at home. Now, we'll be at your place. You call me. I'll call you. Well, I'll see you later tonight, Chuck. Sure thing, Mr. Malloy. Bye, baby. Bye. You watch them disappear down the road, Frank, and then you turn toward the house. Everything seems peaceful and undisturbed, and you realize how long it has been since you've come out to the ranch. As you reach the steps and put your hand to the door knocker, you wonder if Martha will be surprised to see you. Hello, Frank. Hello, Martha. I, uh, have come to see you. Come in. You don't seem surprised to see me. I'm not. You were expecting me? Yes. Then you knew I was out of jail. Sit down, Frank. Would you like a cup of coffee? No, nothing, except... Martha, I think you know who turned me into the district attorney. Who was it? Why, I did. I did what I thought was right. You must have known, Frank. I always trusted you. You were the one person I thought I didn't have to worry about. That's it exactly, Frank. You never worried about me. I don't think you even thought about me. There was a time when I was the most important thing in the world to you. So you'll fix it, they'll send me to prison. You belong in prison. You become nothing more than a gangster, a hoodlum. You're not the man I married 15 years ago. Little by little I watched you change. You began to make money, lots of money. And along with your money you gained power. The more you got, the more you wanted. And anything you couldn't have, you destroyed. What did you expect to do? Own everything and everyone someday? Martha, turn me in like that. I had to stop you for your own sake and I did it the only way I knew how. I cried for months because I knew the only way to stop you was to... was to call the district attorney. I did what I thought was right. Now you know, Frank, you know who betrayed you and why it was done. You begin to pace around the room, walking faster and faster, bumping into things and knocking them over. Suddenly you stop in front of the mantel. You see the clock and the feeling of rage subsides. You realize that by nine o'clock tonight things will be all right. And Martha, conscientious Martha, will have a strange punishment, won't she, Frank? She'll always believe she sent you to your death. After a long silence, Martha throws a shawl over her shoulders and walks outside. Hello? Frank, Vivian, everything all right? Yes, I've been listening to the story of Chuck's life. Seems his girlfriend Mamie was quite a gal. Now our bartender's in the other room practicing with your liquor. Good, now listen to Vivian. Get one of my suits out of the closet and give it to Chuck. Have him shower and shave and put the suit on. We're going to a party. I understand. Tell him you're meeting me. It's a good idea. I'll be there in a minute. I'll be there in a minute. I'll be there in a minute. Going to a party. I understand. Tell him you're meeting me at one of my places up at the lake. Leave my apartment by 8.30 and drive up on Skyline Drive to Mountain View Club. Now don't stop anywhere. When you get there, wait in the parking lot and back. Be there by nine o'clock, clear? Clear and simple. What exactly are you planning, Frank? Like I said, a party. I see. Good. Make sure you've got it all. See you at the party. At nine. What are you doing out here, Martha? Listening to the crickets. It's a nice night. Yeah. I used to go riding on nights like this. You remember that? Of course. I'm surprised, Frank. Are you? Well, here's another surprise for you, Martha. I'm not going to do anything about the fact that you turned against me. Oh? Matter of fact, when I leave here, I'm going for a little ride. One we often used to take together along Skyline Drive. Frank, what have you got on your mind? Just you, Martha. I'll be thinking of you. I'll get my coat, Frank. Oh, no. No, Martha. Wouldn't be right for you to go anywhere with a hoodlum, a criminal. Frank. Goodbye, Martha. Remember, I'll be thinking of you. The expression on her face in her eyes delights you, doesn't it, Frank? Martha is still in love with you after all this time. And later, when your plan goes through, she'll have something to think about, won't she? Something that will be her punishment. Yes, Martha, conscientious as she is, will feel deeply when Chuck's body is finally found in your car, wearing your clothes at the bottom of the lake. Martha will always believe you killed yourself because she turned you into the district attorney. And above all, she'll testify that you were heading for the Skyline Drive. That part will help eliminate the identification problem. High up on Skyline Drive, you pull into the parking lot of the Darkin Club, where you agreed to meet Vivian. A few minutes later, the headlights of her car come into view. Right on time. What? Oh, oh, hi, Mr. Malloy. Didn't know you were here yet. Say, thanks for the suit. How do I look? Just fine, Chuck. Are we on time for the party, Frank? Oh, right on time. Oh, say, Chuck, would you give me a hand with some stuff in my car? It's right over here. Sure. Vivian said we were going to a party. Is it in that place up there? No, not there. I didn't think so. Joint looks closed down. It's sure dark out here. What are we going to do? This Chuck, this! Yeah, the party's almost over for you, Chuck. What happened? I hit him. It'll be easier to handle this way. Pull that door open so I can put him in the car. Right. What are we going to do now? You stay here about five minutes and then drive up the highway about one mile. The road makes that sharp bend around the lake. Yeah, I know where it is. I'll be waiting. I'll be waiting there off the highway. Blink your lights as you approach and I'll come out and wave you down. I thought you were going to bring Martha with you. No, I've taken care of Martha another way. You drive out of the parking lot and in a few minutes you reach the sharp curve in the highway. Pull over and stop where the edge drops off into the deep end of the lake. And it only takes seconds to drag Chuck's body to the front seat behind the wheel. Carefully you go through his pockets and remove everything. Then plant your belongings in his pockets. You put your ring and watch on him. Then everything is ready. You push the clutch in, put the car in gear. As you jump back away from the car it jerks forward and over the ledge. To disappear in the deep black water of the lake. Is it all over? See for yourself. By the time they pull the car out of the water it'll look like Frank Malloy was drowned when his car skidded off the road and crashed into the lake. Let's hope so. It'll be weeks before they find the body. And the water will make positive identification pretty difficult. But they'll find enough there to think it's me. And Martha will help too. Yeah, all we have to do is hide out until he's found. And we'll be free Viv. Where do we go now? Well first we have to stop at a couple of places down the valley and pick up the money I put away. That's a must. Then we'll drive on to Los Angeles where we can hide out. Then we'll see. Whatever you say Frank. Now let's get out of here. You know it's funny how Martha tried to send me to jail. When she recognizes my clothes, her story more than anything will help to set me free. Throughout the western states from Canada to Mexico one gasoline is famous as the go farther gasoline. It's signal gasoline. Now naturally we're mighty proud of signals good mileage which has built that reputation. But equally important to you as a motorist is the way signal gives you such good mileage. You see today's signal helps your engine run so efficiently. You save gasoline three ways. One, you save gasoline with signals quick starting. Two, you save gasoline with signals smooth obedient pickup free from balking and hesitation. Three, you save gasoline with signals lively power that gets you into high gear fast, helps you stay there with a minimum of shifting on hills or in traffic. So you see considering the number of times a day you start your car, accelerate and shift gears, even a little gasoline saved each time soon adds up to a big saving. So there in a nutshell friends is why motorists call signal the go farther gasoline. Why not treat your car to a thankful tomorrow and go farther with signal. Signal, signal, signal gasoline your car will go, car will go farther gasoline. One morning two months later you open your eyes in a hotel just outside the city of Los Angeles don't you Frank? Yes you've been here two months waiting for someone to find the body of Chuck and identify him as you, the missing Frank Malloy. And last night's paper carried the story you've been waiting for, the story of your death. Now it will be safe to change your name and leave the country with Vivian. Everything has gone perfectly hasn't it Frank? You stretch out on the bed and your hand drops down to touch the small handbag you've kept beside you. The bag containing over a hundred thousand dollars. Suddenly you sit up realizing the bag is gone. You get up and search the room frantically but the money isn't there. Operator, operator. Yes sir? Would you connect me with room 303 Miss Vivian Nevis-Smith and hurry. Yes sir. I'm sorry sir but Miss Smith checked out of the hotel about an hour ago. What? Did she leave a message? Nothing sir. Anything else sir? No. Nothing. Who's there? Vivian. Vivian. Vivian the bag with the money. This is what you're looking for. Who are you? He's from the police department, Doc. The police? Yes, he picked me up at the airport. After reading the story in the paper last night I thought it was safe enough now to leave only it wasn't. She was taking your money and running out on you, Malloy. And why not? It would only be a matter of time before I meant no more to him than Martha. Shut up Vivian. It doesn't matter now Frank. Sure doesn't. You see the newspaper story was just to get you out in the open. Some fishermen did find a body in the lake but after all this time it was a little hard to identify. He was wearing your clothes Malloy and was in your car. Your wife thought it was you. But I don't see how that could... I'll tell you something though. At the morgue we found out different. You see Malloy it wasn't hard to figure out what you'd done when we found a tattoo on the drowned man's chest. A tattoo of a heart with the words Chuck and Mamie. Let that whistle be your signal for the signal oil program the Whistler. Each Sunday night at the same time. Signal Oil Company and the friendly independent dealers who help you go farther with signal gasoline. Hope you remember. Regardless of what gasoline you use you'll enjoy more miles of happy driving. If you drive at sensible speeds obey traffic regulations and avoid taking chances. When you take a chance to save a moment you take a chance on that moment being your last. Featured in tonight's story were Bill Foreman as the Whistler, Gerald Moore, Betty Lou Gerson, Shepherd Menken and Charlotte Lawrence. The Whistler was produced and directed by George W. Allen with story by Gus Baze, music by Wilbur Hatch and was transmitted overseas by the Armed Forces radio service. The Whistler was entirely fictional and all characters portrayed on the Whistler are also fictional. Any similarity of names or resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. Remember to tune in at this same time next Sunday when the Signal Oil Company will bring you another strange story by the Whistler. Marvin Miller speaking for the Signal Oil Company. Stay tuned now for Horatio Hornblower which follows immediately over most of these stations. This is the CBS Radio Network.
