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About this Episode
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Transcript
In a world of endless notifications, there could be an important one you're missing.
Your kidneys may be signaling in SOS.
With high blood pressure or type 2 diabetes, your kidneys could be warning you of early
signs of damage, which may put you at higher risk for events like heart attack or stroke.
But there's a simple test that can help spot a hidden signal.
Ask your doctor about a urine test called UACR to help detect kidney disease and heart
risk early.
Learn more as it detects the SOS.com today.
Blue Coal presents the Shadow.
With today's thrilling adventure, your Blue Coal dealers commence a new season and a
sensational new series of the Shadow, your favorite mystery drama.
These programs have been made possible by your friendly cooperation and support of our
product, Blue Coal, and on behalf of our sponsors and our cast, may I express appreciation
to you, our listeners, for bringing us all together again this year.
In just a moment, the Shadow's births exciting adventure begins.
Meanwhile, homeowners attend.
Don't be deceived by the bombing days of Indian summer.
All signs point to Chile for weather and a long cold winter.
So don't take chances.
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Phone him tomorrow.
The Shadow, Lamont Cranston, a man of well, a student of science, and a master of other
people's minds devote his life to writing wrongs, protecting the innocent, and punishing
the guilt.
Using advanced methods that may ultimately become available to all law enforcement agencies,
Cranston is known to the underworld as the Shadow, never seen, only heard, as haunting
to superstitious minds as a goat, as inevitable, as a guilty conscience.
Today's story, traffic, in death.
Where is my son?
He was completely recovered.
You are going to let him out of the sanatorium today.
Happened according to the reports he suffered a relapse in the night and died.
I'm sorry.
Yes?
Yes.
But how?
What?
What?
What?
Damn.
Damn, I'm sorry, mate.
Why is he so pale?
So quiet.
Your husband suffered a relapse after a severe hemorrhage, Mrs. Kate.
I'm sorry.
Yes, dear.
Yes, dear.
No, he can't be, Dad.
He was at home today.
How did it happen?
Why did you let it happen?
Why?
Hello, tonight.
I leave my wife Maria here in the sanatorium, since she's a getting better.
Now you try to tell me she's a dead.
I'm sorry, Cranston, but here's the report relapses after him or at you.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
Do you attend for me, Dr. Lee?
Yes.
I have a few laboratory scientists.
What do you know about these hemorrhage cases?
Six dead in six days.
No more than you, Dr. Lee.
They are unfortunate.
I believe there's far more to it than that.
I believe it's murder.
Murder?
Have you any proof?
No.
Not positive proof.
And I don't want to notify the police.
And involve the sanatorium in a scandal until I'm sure.
What are you going to do about it, Dr. Lee?
Do?
I've already telegraphed an old friend of mine, the Montcranston.
He's flying down from Maine, and he'll get to the bottom of this.
I'll stake my life on it.
Yes, Dr. Lee.
I believe you would stake even your life for the honor of this sanatorium that made so great.
Even your life.
That traffic's heavy tonight, Margo.
Say, why is it quiet?
Are you regretting the end of your summer vacation in Maine?
No, I'm remembering all the things I forgot to pack in our wild rusticads, the planes from Portland.
Sorry, Margo.
You could have stayed, but I had to come.
The Montcranston, who needs the protection of the shadow this time?
Who sent you that telegram?
That telegram was from a man who once saved, although he didn't know.
The life of the shadow.
Anyone I know?
You've met him.
Dr. Randolph Lee, chief of staff at the memorial sanatorium.
Dr. Lee?
I think he's one of the greatest surgeons in the country.
Yes.
He's the one who removed that bullet nestling close to my spine.
Oh, I'll never forget that.
I thought you were going to die.
But what's wrong with Dr. Lee?
No, it's his turn, Margo.
He thinks he's going to die.
For the mad, the famous man like Dr. Lee, who would want to kill him?
Why?
That's what I hope to find out.
Well, he's the sanatorium.
Come along.
I'll explain on the way up to his office.
He's waiting.
Yeah.
Let me help you out of the car.
Thank you, Margo.
He isn't afraid of being murdered.
Not in a big sanatorium like this with his staff all around him.
Caesar was murdered while surrounded by his staff, Margo.
Oh, then Dr. Lee's afraid of one of his associates.
So that's why he hasn't called in the police.
Exactly.
He hasn't enough proof to arrest the man.
He's not afraid of being murdered.
Not in a big sanatorium like this with his staff all around him.
He's not afraid of being murdered.
Not in a big sanatorium like this with his staff all around him.
He's not afraid of being murdered.
Not in a big sanatorium like this with his staff all around him.
And he doesn't want the sanatorium involved in a public scandal.
But there's more to it than that.
And this way, Margo.
What else is there?
Murder.
Hostail murder.
Wait a minute, Margo.
Oh, Nurse?
Yes, sir.
I'd like to see Dr. Lee.
He's expecting me.
Oh, you're Mr. Fensten.
Yes.
Dr. Lee, that's orders that you would go right out to his office
in a private elevator.
Thank you, Nurse.
Thank you, Margo.
My private elevator.
Just press the button marked after Lena's defense, and it will take you directly to his office.
Thank you, Miss. We'll manage.
Ma'am, you said Dr. Lena's suspect someone of wholesale murder, but there hasn't been a word in the papers.
Death's not an unusual occurrence in a big sanitary margo, and there are many more ways of killing than with a gun or a club.
Well, were these people killed in some unusual way?
They died of anemia, acute anemia, because every ounce of their blood was drained from their bodies.
Oh, I never heard of such a thing.
Does Dr. Lee suspect someone in the sanitary?
He didn't want to say over the phone. That's why he begged me to hurry here when I called him from the airport.
I'm afraid Lee is in danger, if the killer suspects he's under him.
Here we are, Ma'am.
All right, Ma'am.
Well, hello, Dr. Lee. I came as quickly as I could.
Ma'am!
Dr. Lee. What is it, Ma'am? Are you ill?
No, look. Look at his face.
Margo, get a glass of water that you can't do that. No, wait a minute.
Never mind. It's no use. He's...
Dude, are you sure?
Positive.
It doesn't sound a bad word.
Yes, there is, Margo.
Okay. He's been stabbed in the back with a surgical knife.
Oh, the mother of gasoline. A great man like Dr. Lee murdered.
I was afraid of something like this. Margo, we've got to be careful.
This killer is desperate. He'll stop at nothing to cover up his crimes.
He's murdered one of the greatest men of medicine. I've got...
The other night, Calabria is going down.
Let it go. Someone else has called it down and they may be coming up here.
Let's wait and see. The man who murdered him knows we're here.
And he may do something that will make our jobs easier.
The other day to stop. The mother police will have to be notified.
Yes, but I have a hunch that Commissioner Weston and his homicides squad
are going to need help to crack this case.
The other day, he's coming back up.
Get away from there, Ma'am. Stand behind the curtain there.
Keep out of sight.
What are you going to do, Ma'am?
That depends on who steps out of that elevator.
Fargo, get behind those curtains, please.
The elevator is almost here.
Be careful, Ma'am.
Keep out of sight, Ma'am.
It's just possible Lee's killer may be returning
that cover up his crime.
Dr. Lee.
Oh, I beg your pardon, Dr. Lee.
I thought you were alone.
Did Dr. Lee send for you?
Yes, sir. I'm hard with. I'm charging the laboratory.
Why?
What's wrong?
Dr. Lee.
Dr. Lee.
He's dead.
Who are you?
What are you doing here?
How did this happen?
How did what happen?
I think your pardon, sir.
I only meant that he was in perfect health,
less than an hour ago.
I couldn't have seen him.
A surgical knife can save a life or end it in an instant.
Look in his back.
Nice.
Who are you?
What are you doing here?
I am Lamont Crenston.
A friend of Dr. Lee's.
I talked to him on the phone an hour ago.
I arrived a few minutes ago and found him dead.
Why haven't you notified the police?
How do you know I haven't missed a hard week?
Just how long have you been here?
Not long enough to have killed Dr. Lee
as your cross-examination seems to incurred.
No.
We'll see what the police think.
Hello. Hello, operator.
Give me police headquarters.
Quick.
Crenston.
Dr. Lee has been dead less than five minutes.
And I find you here alone with him.
Not quite alone, Mr. Hardwick.
Who is this woman?
How was she hiding?
This young lady is Miss Lane, Mr. Hardwick.
Hello.
Hello. How do you have that call, operator?
Hi.
Police headquarters.
This is Mr. Hardwick of the Memorial Sanitarium.
Dr. Randolph Lee, chief of staff has been murdered in his private office.
I found the man named Crenston and a girl alone in the room with the buddy.
Yes.
Yes.
I'll see if they don't leave before your men arrive.
Very well done, Hardwick.
The police forget the truth out of you when they get here.
Yes, Hardwick.
The truth will out.
And when it does, someone will hang for this.
Right out.
Thanks, Hardwick.
Well, Crenston, the story of the nurse has sent you up here to Dr. Lee's private office.
I'm with the coroner's report and the time of the death completely clears you and Miss Lane of any suspicion.
Thank you, Commissioner Wesson.
Thanks, Commissioner.
Your car has arrived from headquarters, Commissioner Wesson.
You can go down the hall and take me an elevator to life.
Thank you, Hardwick.
I will.
I'm not much on these.
Elevators, you run by yourself.
Hey, Crenston.
Drop on the headquarters tomorrow.
Will you?
I'd like to get a transcript of what Dr. Lee told you when you call him on the airport.
It might give us a lead.
I'll be glad to, Commissioner.
Good.
Bye, Miss Lane.
I'm sorry.
I didn't mind.
Goodbye, Commissioner.
Well, Hardwick.
Are you convinced of our innocence?
I'm terribly sorry to have been so hasty in my accusations, Crenston.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I didn't mind.
Goodbye, Commissioner.
Well, Hardwick.
Are you convinced of our innocence?
I'm terribly sorry to have been so hasty in my accusations, Crenston.
And you, Miss Lane.
Think nothing of it.
Oh, by the way, Crenston, just for the Dr. Lee tell you over the phone.
If there any clues, I might be able to help.
That's just what I've been thinking, Hardwick.
You're in charge of the Senatorium lab, I understand.
Right, yes.
Yes, I am.
So you conduct any experiments in line of duty or on your own?
Oh, no, no, my duties are routine.
Then I don't suppose you know that at least six patients have died in the Senatorium within the past month.
Yes.
What is this to do with Dr. Lee's death?
That's what I'm hoping you'll tell me, Mr. Hardwick.
What do you mean?
Hardwick.
You know, and I know that six patients have died in the Senatorium because every ounce of blood had been drained from their bodies.
Yet in all cases, their deaths were ascribed to natural causes.
Oh.
So you know.
You've known all along?
Yes.
Dr. Lee told me over the phone.
Why didn't you tell Commissioner Western?
Because there are two pieces of the puzzle still missing.
The criminal?
And the motive?
I see.
Well, if you were right here, I may have something in my laboratory that will complete the picture for you.
I'll take these private elevators and be back in the moment.
We are right here.
Lamont, you're active.
If you suspect Mr. Hardwick.
I do, Marko.
Then why did you let him leave?
I think guilty you'll run away.
No, Marko.
If he's guilty, he'll come back and try to kill us for the same reason Dr. Lee was murdered.
We know too much.
What are you going to do?
Call Commissioner Western?
No, Marko.
Western is only concerned with Dr. Lee's death.
I want to know how those six healthless patients died and why?
I think the time has come for the shadow to take a hang.
Can I help Lamont?
Yes.
If you're going to stay here and wait till Hardwick comes back.
Of course I will.
Tell Hardwick I had to leave.
Tell him I'll be back in ten minutes.
What will I do to Hardwick?
Beat him on, Marko.
Making think we have proof of his guilt.
If he is guilty, he'll hang himself with a rope of words.
Who are you going, Lamont?
No, Marko.
No where.
Just into the shadows.
In the shadows.
The shadows' adventure continues in just a moment.
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Well, I have what bears clenched in the slate.
He had to leave the cemetery and there will be about 10 minutes in the corridor.
Why did he leave? What did she do?
I don't know.
Your lying, he's gone to notify the police.
Why should he notify the police?
Because when I see trying to trick me into talking to him,
I'm afraid I'll be late.
I'm afraid I'll be late.
I'm afraid I'll be late.
I'm afraid I'll be late.
I'm afraid I'll be late.
I can't see.
Trying to trick me into talking, eh,
but you don't have to do that, Miss Ley, and I'll tell you.
I'll tell you anything you want to know.
Then why was Dr. Lee murdering?
Because he found out about the classified death reports.
Why was every ounce of blood drained out of the body to those poor people?
Because blood is valuable.
His sanitary and by thousands of dollars worth of blood for transfusion.
We stuck it up all types.
We keep it in a special refrigerator.
We call it a Bloodbank.
You want to know anything else, Miss Ley?
In other words, Dr. Lee caught someone killing helpless men and women for their blood
to sell to the sanitary, and is that it?
Yes, that is the motive your friend Cranston was hunting, money, blood money.
You seem to know everything, Mr. Hardwood.
Perhaps you know who robbed those people of their blood, who murdered Dr. Lee?
Of course, Miss Lane.
I am in charge of the blood bank.
I needed money.
I falsified the debt certificate.
I murdered Lee.
How are you telling me all this?
Because as any psychologist will tell you,
a criminal cannot resist the boasting, and it isn't quite safe.
The boasts to someone who is not going to live long enough to pay.
What?
What good will it do you to kill me?
Someone will be back in a few minutes.
And when he does come back, I will boast to him.
Satisfy his meddling curiosity as I've satisfied yours,
and then kill him in the same way I killed the others.
And you?
You can't get away with it.
In our basement morgue, the unidentified debt come from the emergency ward.
Two more bodies.
Yours and Mr. Cranston's will go to the morgue, unnoticed.
There's no you're spacking away, Miss Lane.
And you call yourself a scientist.
You're no scientist, you're a butcher.
This is useless to scream.
This office is soundproof, isolated.
How convenient for you, Mr. Harvard.
You keep looking around as if expecting help or don't bother.
I'm going to take you out of here before your friend Cranston returns.
Then I will come back and deal with him.
You're not taking me anywhere.
I wonder what type of blood you have.
Don't worry, there'll be no pain.
The anesthetic will take care of that.
Now you might as well resign yourself to fate, Miss Lane.
Owen is going to come out of space and save you.
Such things have been known to happen, Mr. Hartwick.
What was that?
Resign yourself to fate, Hartwick.
You are convicted by yourself, by your boasting.
Your ego has condemned you to death, death,
for the murder of seven men and women.
Advice?
Where's it coming from?
Great Hartwick, listen to me.
I am more than a voice.
I am in this very room, close to you.
Watching you draw that revolver you left the room to get.
Haven't you had enough killing?
Behind those curtains, eh?
Well, come out.
Come out, we can't shoot her.
Evolver is a crude weapon.
They'll see.
Oh, shut up.
Now perhaps you would believe, Hartwick.
Who are you?
Where are you?
Wait, Hartwick.
Surely your scientific studies have made you aware of the powers that hit Noosis.
Whereby a man might render himself unseen.
I science practice by a man known to the criminal world as the shadow.
Shadow?
Yes, Hartwick.
I am the shadow.
You have defiled man's noblest profession.
You have brought death with the skill meant to save life.
You have struck like a human vampire in this great sanatorium,
this sanctuary of the sick.
And you are going to pay for it with death if I could only see you.
No man living has ever seen the shadow.
So you think you'll save this girl?
Let me turn me over to the police, eh?
Well, not this time.
Go up her.
Out come near me, Shadow.
I'll kill Miss Lane here now.
No, Miss Lane.
I can't.
He'll shoot you.
It's right, Mr. Shadow.
I'll shoot her.
Hand that elevator, Miss Lane.
Shadow.
Shadow, do you hear me?
No, sir, be out of his way, Shadow.
Sir, follow me.
What have you done to her?
Listen to me, Shadow.
You can't follow me.
There are a thousand rooms in this sanatorium.
You have one chance in the thousand of fighting this girl
before I'm finished with her.
If you notify the police, if I have a chance to get away,
no one will ever find her again.
You hear me?
You understand?
Yes, you feel I hear you, I understand.
But if you harm Miss Lane, I'll track you to the end of the earth.
Now, Miss Lane, I am ready.
Do not let the bubbling sound alert you,
just my special blood transfusion machine.
It will do you no good to stalk her
against the anesthetic that only brings unconscious and quicker.
Breathe deep, Miss Lane.
Deep.
You can dream that your friend, Le Manscranston,
has come to help you.
And the Shadow, you can dream of him too,
but neither of them will ever find this laboratory here
in the cellar so close to the morgue.
And I'll get them both before I'm through,
and then no one will know when I can go on and on.
Come on.
You are a benefactor to humanity, Miss Lane.
A blood donor.
Some poor fool.
A thousand rooms.
One catch in a fountain.
Hardwood means to kill Margot,
whether I search for her or not,
a thousand rooms.
He went down,
but the whole sanitarium is down.
Words, labs operating rooms,
corridors,
down.
I must find her.
I must.
How are you, Ray Mary?
I just find Jack.
The nurses are going to let me leave the sanitarium to...
Jack, look.
What is it, Mary?
I had to do it.
It just opened and closed,
but there was no one there.
Oh no, Mary, control yourself.
You've had a bad time.
You just imagined it here.
Oh no, no, I saw it open and closed.
I said, I saw the door handle,
but there was no one there.
I said, I saw the door handle.
It's no use.
One catch in the fountain.
I've got to try something else.
Something else.
How about another game before I go on duty, Bill?
No, I gotta be gone.
Operation in surgery.
Everybody's on edge since Lee was murdered.
Hey, I wonder why Hardwood spends so much time
in the old storeroom next to the morgue.
He has fixed it up as an experimental lab.
I wonder what made me think of Hardwood.
It was almost as if someone were asking me where to find it.
The labs near the morgue.
That's it.
Hey, Mary.
Hey, Mary.
The anesthetic is taking a pic, Miss Layton.
In a moment, everything will be ready.
You would do me a favor bringing cramps to here.
It would save me the trouble of going up after him.
I don't relish that, but it's his life for mine.
Lee told him too much.
And the shadow, what I would give to have him here
and the operating table.
I wonder if he could keep on the shadows
if I drank his life blood away.
You'll never know, Hardwood.
You, so you found me, I want you.
I want you, Dr. Follow me.
I'll kill Miss Layton.
That's what you're trying to do.
Come on.
You are here.
That's a plan.
Unfortunately for you, yes.
Come on.
Come on.
Yes, Mother.
Thanks, Heavens.
I thought you were in time.
I agree.
What is it?
I knocked him off.
I still, I'll get help her.
With the shadow,
there were two ensued together.
What can we get you out of the shadow?
Hardwood, we'll tell them about this.
We must risk it.
You've got to have medical attention.
No, I'll be alright.
It's just the end of the day.
Come on.
Come on. Look how hard we've got it up.
So you're the shadow, are you custom?
Well, here's my kill.
Two plans, but one shot.
Gone.
I miss you.
Gone back into the shadows again, have you?
Yes.
And this time you won't escape.
Yes, I will, Shadow.
They'll never take me.
No one can do anything.
You're insane, Hardwood.
Oh no, Shadow.
I know what's in store for me.
You won't get me.
They'll never hide me.
Never!
I've coward to the very end.
You have paid for your crimes against a profession
which can turn upon you, the mantle of an honor.
Against a great sanitarium and a great man of medicine
who trusted and befriended you.
Against helpless humanity, you are claimed to save.
Not kill.
You have paid for this final cowardice,
and you will go out and pay.
Shadow, you're dead.
Yes, dead, and may heaven have mercy on his soul.
Well, Tastin, I hope this will teach you in this lane,
not to keep things from the police.
If you told me about your phone conversation with Dr. Leigh,
it wouldn't have happened.
The commissioner worked in Hardwood's matter of the state
before you could find proof enough to arrest him.
Nonsense, Miss Leigh.
I suspected him all the time.
Welcome, Commissioner.
This is one case where you didn't need the help of the Shadow.
The Shadow?
He wouldn't have cracked this case in a month of Sundays.
He's just another amateur criminologist like you, Cranson.
I shouldn't be at all surprised.
Before the Shadow returns, John Bucklay,
Blue Coal's heating expert has a few words for all of you.
Mr. Bucklay.
Good evening, friends, and thank you, Ken Roberts.
If you're interested in having a healthier,
more comfortable home this winter,
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I'd like to read you briefly a part of a letter,
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I want to tell you how courteous your John Bucklay representative was.
And the wonderful result I've been getting
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Since using Blue Coal and doing justice,
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It would not use any other but your Blue Coal, unquote.
And don't forget, friends, no matter what kind of fuel you use
or what your heating problem,
your Blue Coal dealer will always be glad to help you.
So feel free to call on him.
You place an expert John Bucklay service man
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I thank you.
Friends, tonight's drama,
a radio version of one of the many copyrighted stories
which appear in the Shadow magazine,
now on sale of your local news stand,
was not intended as a reflection on any of the thousands
of splendid sanatoriums throughout the country.
These institutions are conducted according to the highest
of medical standards,
and their doctors and scientists
are among the most skilled and ethical men in the profession.
All the characters and all the places names in this evening's program
are petitioned.
And the similarity to persons living or dead
is purely coincidental.
The weed of crime bears bitter fruit.
Crime does not pay.
Next week, same time, same station,
Blue Coal, America's finest dance recite,
will again present another thrilling adventure of the Shadow.
Be sure to listen and be sure to burn Blue Coal,
the solid fuel for solid company.
