Get this and get it straight. Crime is a sucker's road and those who travel it wind up in the gut of the prison of the grave.
This started with a man on trial for his life and an A1 citizen eager to testify.
But there it was interrupted and it wasn't until I found a corpse in a bubbling bath, gunplay in the woods and lots of blackmail
that the real eager witness had a chance to talk.
From the pen of Raymond Chandler, outstanding author of mystery, comes his most famous character and crime's most deadly enemy.
As we present the adventures of Philip Marlowe.
Now with Gerald Moore starred as Philip Marlowe we bring you tonight's exciting story the eager witness.
The 48th of the Superior Court of the State of California in the Fourth County of Los Angeles now in session.
The Honorable Albert Winston, Judge, presiding. Everybody rise.
It was the case of the people versus the oft-arrested, never convicted, smooth Earl Jernigan, sometimes bookie.
Charged in the first degree with a month-old killing of a kindly gray-haired horse trainer named Kurt Hopper, who had once almost been my client.
It was the afternoon of the fourth day of the trial and the prosecutor for the state had already built an almost airtight case against the alleged gambler when my turn finally came.
To further substantiate the state's claim that Earl Jernigan did willfully and with malice or forethought take the life of the deceased Kurt Hopper.
Will Mr. Philip Marlowe take the stand?
Raise your right hand.
I do.
Philip Marlowe, private detective.
Take the stand.
Mr. Marlowe, on the morning of the 30th day of July last, the day on which the late Kurt Hopper was murdered,
were you hired as a private detective?
The day on which the late Kurt Hopper was murdered, were you hired as a private detective by the said Mr. Hopper?
I was.
And at that time, Mr. Marlowe, did Mr. Hopper state his reason for hiring you?
He did. He wanted me to act as his personal bodyguard on the following day when he planned to drive to San Francisco.
Did he say why he needed a personal bodyguard?
He did. He told me he was afraid for his life, that he refused the gambler's demand that he drug a certain racehorse a week earlier, that that gambler threatened to kill him.
I see.
Now, Mr. Marlowe, did Mr. Hopper name that gambler?
Yes, he did.
Who was it?
Earl Jernigan.
Thank you.
No further questions, Your Honor.
Counsel for the defense?
Counsel for the defense waives cross-examination, Your Honor.
The witness is excused.
Didn't make sense. No cross-examination.
Because from the opening adjective, the counsel for the defense, a dapper item named Calder, who always appeared in French cuffs, gray gabardine, and a cocky, uninviting smile,
had raved, ranted, and practically spit at each witness the state had presented.
So the courtroom was left with a tingling impression that Earl Jernigan's attorney had something of a surprise waiting up his legal sleeve.
Later, when Calder was on his feet and addressing the jury, that something started out fast.
Now that the state has taken the trouble to offer so much circumstantial evidence, so much hearsay, rumor, conjecture, now will I smash all of that with the testimony of one man.
One man known to all of you as an outstanding citizen of this city, a prominent real estate broker, an unimpeachable witness eager to testify, Mr. Leonard Gaines.
It worked. Landed in each and every lap like a live grenade and exploded all the way around at once.
And when the eminent Mr. Gaines, gray at the temples, maybe 45, a neat and expensive midnight blue flannel with giant stick pins to match took the stand.
And in his own meeting of the board, tone of voice told the court that Earl Jernigan had spent the entire day and night of July 30th, last, with him at his Malibu beach home.
The prosecuting attorney's jaw dropped to his chest and he stared dumb.
During the day or night did Mr. Jernigan ever leave my home? And as for the hour of the murder, 8 o'clock in the evening, we were having dinner.
After that, we played gin rummy until, oh, until midnight.
Are you sure of that, Mr. Gaines? The hour of your dinner, I mean.
I am positive, Mr. Calder.
No, you can't be. You're lying.
Quiet, quiet in the court.
Order, Miss Harper. Order in the court, please.
No, I won't be quiet. I won't anymore.
Miss Harper, quiet. Order, order.
This court is adjourned until tomorrow morning at 10 o'clock.
Another scotch and soda, mister?
Yeah, I guess so. Now, wait a minute, baby. I think I'm going to have company.
Miss, tomorrow, can I talk to you for a minute? I'm going to...
Gail Harper, yeah, I know. But I don't know why you're not doing 30 days on a rock pile
with that rumper she just kicked up in court. Would you like a soft drink?
No, thanks.
All right, just one, baby.
Sure. The judge said he understood and left me off with a short lecture,
which is what I accounted on.
Oh, you mean all that fireworks now was planned, not just spontaneous combustion?
That's right. I had to have time. Look, Mr. Marlow, will you work for me?
Oh, well, now, look, baby...
Will you help me prove that Mr. Leonard Gaines is alive
and that Earl Jernigan did kill my father?
Take it easy, Gail. It's a big mouthful, you know.
Mr. Marlow, listen, please. There isn't much time.
We've got to prove this tonight or never.
By noon tomorrow with the outside, the case will go to the jury.
Okay. What do you want me to do?
Take over where I left off. But first, let's get out of here.
All right. And never mind that drink, Miss. Where do we start, honey?
With Leonard Gaines' ex-wife, Debbie Jansen. Here's a snapshot of her.
They were divorced about six months ago, Mr. Marlow, and she wasn't very happy about it.
No, huh? Made you figure she was your in?
Yes, and I was right.
Mr. Marlow, it took eavesdropping, bribery, second story work,
but I found out plenty.
I'll bet you did. Like what? Oh, hold it, Gail. Lights red.
Like the fact that Debbie and a guy called Eugene Mowry
are putting a bite on Gaines for $20,000.
Blackmail, Mr. Marlow, with the payoff schedule to be made sometime tonight.
Right now, she's staying at the Sunland Sulphur Springs Lodge out in the valley.
Gaines used to go there once in a while for his arthritis.
And the worry of the whole business is a letter Gaines once wrote to his ex-wife.
No fooling. Uh-huh.
Well, tell me, what's that to do with Jernigan's trial and Gaines being a...
Oh, it's green now.
I think there's a connection, because yesterday I overheard Debbie tell this Mowry
something about Gaines' scheduled appearance at the trial today, and...
Oh, Mr. Marlow! Hey! Hey!
Those jerk California drivers.
The man behind the wheel. What about him?
That thin-faced, blond hair. I've seen him before.
I know he was trying to hit one of us. Oh, fine.
Well, that'll keep things from getting dull, won't it?
Then... then you're gonna help me.
Well, now look, I...
Ah, who could resist you, baby?
Okay, tonight I check in at the lodge at Sunland Sulphur Springs.
Come on, let's get out of here.
It was eight o'clock in almost dark when I reached the foothills of the mountain range
that separates the San Fernando Valley from L.A. proper,
and turned off onto a narrow, dirt road that ran through a twisting gorge
past a moon-faced watchman who asked no questions
as he slowly opened a sagging wooden gate, faintly labeled Sunland Sulphur Springs,
where Mother Nature's remedies bubbled from the earth private.
It was another five minutes along the same dirt road uphill and through thick foliage
before I was at a parking space out of my car and walking the last quarter of a mile
toward the lodge itself that was spotted with widely separated cottages, also sagging,
and each tagged casser and followed by something Spanish and hard to pronounce.
Inside the place was cheap porch furniture and occasional threadbare rugs over scarred pine and deserted,
except for a sleepy old guy with thick-lidded eyes and an accordion-wrinkled face
who was slouched in a heap behind a sign on the reservation desk
that read, Maynard Sharp, no less, night manager.
When I gave him my name and said that both my rheumatism and I needed a rest,
he came too, almost.
Oh, roomy, Mr. Marlow.
Well, let's see, I can let you have most any one of the cottages.
Half of them are empty. Things kind of slow this time of year.
How slow can you get?
You'll be surprised.
How's about Casa Francisco de Leon?
Casa Francisco, hmm? Yeah, that'll be fine, Mr. Sharp.
All righty, sir. Now, if you'll just sign the register here, I'll get your key.
As I signed my name, I checked the guest list quickly,
and the next second found what I wanted, Deborah Jansen.
And next to that, in a different hand, a cottage for the night.
Casa Rolando de Barrondido. That's close enough.
Well, anyway, it was all I needed. I took the key from Mr. Sharp,
a misnomer if ever you heard one, learned the location of my quarters,
paid him in advance, and left.
Outside, I turned to my right, passed a large open bath that smelled like rotten eggs
and talked to itself like a junior Vesuvius,
as more warm sulfur waters equally unpleasant to smell,
bubbled from a pipe in the center.
Beyond that was the first cottage, another casa I couldn't pronounce,
and it stayed like that all the way down the line,
until I reached the second one that showed light.
It was the casa known as Rolando de Barrondido.
And when I moved closer and around to a window that was clean only,
I knew that my client had done her eavesdropping well,
because in the center of the room and putting on her coat was the ex-wife named Debbie.
And standing nearby and holding on tight to the cigarette in his hand like it was support
is what had to be the boyfriend, Eugene Mowry.
You're sure that Gaines will go through with this all right?
For the hundredth time, Eugene, yes, I'm positive.
Can't you understand? He has to.
Besides, $20,000 won't break him. It won't more than bend him a bit.
Now stop worrying.
But I can't.
Debbie, why must you go alone? Why can't I go with you?
Eugene, please, we've been over that.
I told Leonard that I'd meet him in town at the Beverly Crest Hotel at 10 and alone.
He agreed to also be alone.
Except for the money.
You do handle things well.
Come here, darling. Let the kiss be a brilliant.
Oh, please, Eugene, there isn't time.
What's the matter? Am I kissing losing their flavor at this point?
Don't be a fool.
Look, it's late, Eugene. It's after nine already. I've got to hurry.
Now go on. Go on, be a good boy and leave now.
We shouldn't even be seen together tonight.
Why not, Debbie?
It's not smart.
Here.
Meet me at the tulip room, darling, at 11 as we plan.
And, Eugene, we'll have time and reason to relax.
Twenty thousand bucks worth of reason.
As Maury oozed toward the door, I slid away from the cottage and into the shadow of a clump of trees nearby.
I stayed there as he walked out of sight down the road that led back to the parking space.
Then a few minutes later when Debbie clicked off the light and left,
I moved out of hiding and started slowly after at a safe distance.
Until from someplace in the night an ugly snub-nosed automatic that belonged to someone blonde and thin-faced as a near automobile accident stopped me cold.
Where are you going, Jack?
For air. I love to walk in the country at night, okay?
I wouldn't know, Jack. I'm a city boy myself.
But as long as that's what you want, it's Jake with me.
As long as it's where it's good and dark.
Now, go on. That way. Move.
All right, Jack. It's far enough. Hold it.
Turn around and face me.
Why, so I can watch you pull the trigger?
Never mind why. Just turn.
Okay, turn it is.
That's better. Now, one step closer.
One step closer.
Hey, what's that?
Not pleasant, my friend.
Take him away.
Now, before I beat you into little pieces, let's have it.
Who are you? Who do you work for and what do you want with me?
Come on, gunman, talk.
Okay. Okay, no more. My name's Langley. Work for Earl Jennegan.
Oh?
Yeah, I've been watching you ever since the trial started.
Jennegan didn't want you moving in, hon.
Which is why you tried to pick me off with a car when I was with Gail Harper this afternoon, huh? Come on.
Yeah, yeah, that's right. Now, what are you gonna do with me?
For the time being, bust her leave you as is.
Flat on your back because I've still gotta catch up with the lady before she reads a letter.
City boy.
In just a moment, the second act of Philip Marlowe.
But first, because of the sharp rise in America's birth rate during the war,
we face a very serious educational crisis.
Many communities will find that their schools lack sufficient teachers, classrooms, and facilities.
Citizens must get together and work together to build a better future for their families.
And that's what we're doing.
We're building a better future for our families.
For our teachers, classrooms, and facilities.
Citizens must get together and work for better schools, more teachers.
If we want all of our children to have a chance for a good education, we must take action now.
Now with our star, Gerald Moore, we return to the second act of Philip Marlowe.
The eager witness.
It was strictly hit and run.
I piled Langley into the Manzanita and didn't even wait to see him bounce.
Instead I took off through a gully that was a shortcut to my car.
Because I knew the jernigan's watchdog had nothing to offer compared with our hotheaded Debbie Jansen.
Who at the moment, no doubt, was well on her way to the Beverly Crest Hotel.
In a blackmail rendezvous there was a cinch to wind up in the final destruction of the wedding.
That was my theory.
But I dropped it like a hot rock just as I crossed the path to the sulfur pool.
Mr. Marlowe! Mr. Marlowe! Somebody screamed!
He's there by the spring! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!
It was nothing but sulfur fumes and the thick gurgle of the springs until Sharp played his flashlight over the pool.
Then we saw it. Oh my gosh!
And the water that was turning red from blood oozing around the knife in her back.
Look! Look! It's Miss Jansen!
Come on, Pop. Give me a hand. Let's get her out of there.
Come on. Take it easy now. Take it easy.
That's it. Debbie.
I never should have tried. Tried what?
Who was it, Debbie? Who did this?
He... he... he got the letter.
Who? Who got the letter, Debbie?
Debbie.
Marlowe. Did she... did she pass out?
For good, man. She's dead.
Oh. Well, she... she seemed to be mumbling something about a letter. Did you get what it was?
Only part of it. A killer apparently took the letter away from her. Believe me, that's bad.
Letter? What's a letter?
Wait a minute. Wait a minute.
Oh. It's probably that pheasant again.
Letter? What are you talking about?
Oh, I guess I'm just getting jumpy.
Hey. Hey, there is somebody. Come on, Pop.
Sounds... sounds like he's over there, Marlowe.
Yeah, I can hear him.
Oh, no. That ain't gonna do you any good, son. Not in that brush it ain't.
And what's more, I wouldn't go any further if I was you.
But, Pop, all he needs is ten seconds and he can destroy that letter for good.
Well, just the same, there's a million and one places a killer can hide in there and lay for you, son.
Yeah. Yeah, Pop, well, it's the moment it's a stalemate.
I'd sure love to find out who that snake in the bush is.
You know, I've run a peaceful place up until it's getting to be like one of them there movies.
Only thing left out is a posse.
Yeah, you're so right. Murders in the night, lost letters. It's corny enough without a posse.
Yeah, and might dangerous, too.
Yeah, I see what you mean.
Are you ready to... to...
Yeah, I'm ready.
I'll lead you back to the office. My Jasper, I don't understand this one bit.
Miss Jansen is stabbed to death over that letter and in her diamond...
Hey!
What is it?
Up ahead there. Somebody duck behind that big tree. Keep the chatter going, man.
Walk on up the path. Don't let them know we spotted them. Go on, talk, talk.
Okay, sure, sure. I was saying, I don't understand...
Our place here is generally as quiet as a tomb.
As the old man grimly ad-libbed his way up the path, I followed a few feet behind.
When I got even with the tree, I turned suddenly, took three fast steps and...
Grab!
Come here, you!
Hang on to him!
Well, well. Mr. Leonard Gaines, the unimpeachable citizen himself, stands still, Gaines.
A... a gun. What's the idea, Marlow?
Try running and it'll come to you.
I suppose you've got a legitimate reason for being here all thought up.
I... I'm here because I... I've got a touch of arthritis.
I need a treatment and a night's rest.
Arthritis isn't all you're gonna have if I find what I think I'm gonna find in your pockets.
Empty them, buster. I said empty them!
All right, I'll... I'll empty them.
That's better.
The Sharp, you're a witness and I demand that you...
Now, just a minute, Mr. Gaines.
You're in a pretty bad spot to demand anything.
There. There's our baby.
There's the letter we've been looking for. Pick it up, Gaines.
Pick it up and read it. Now... now, see here, Marlow...
See there, Gaines. Read it while you're able to.
Yeah.
My dear Debbie, if I didn't know you so well, I'd resent your stupid accusations.
Now, look, Marlow...
Read it!
We've already made our property settlement, as you're well aware,
and you'll be a long time finding a court that says otherwise.
Now you know where you can go, so why not get started as ever, Leonard?
Oh, fine.
That's as about as incriminating as a lecture on the family meat bill.
Sharp, whose jurisdiction are we under here?
Juris... why, uh, County Sheriff's Office.
All right, call him.
Also, call your men out on the highway and have them lock that main gate.
Main gate? Yeah.
Say, now, that's a good idea. I'll do it right now.
Now, wait a minute. Have you got a gun?
Yep. Got a rifle. Been in the family for years.
Can you use it?
Well, yeah, I reckon I can.
Well, where are you going?
Out the roundup, Langley.
He'll be pushing hard to give his boss's star witness here a big helping hand.
I want to be in shape to push back. And remember, Pop...
Keep your eye on Gaines and on the phone when you make those calls.
I'll see you.
The second time that night, I started down the hill and toward the car lot,
keeping in the shadows and moving slowly this time.
Because it was odds on that Langley had taken everything in.
And I knew that he'd try to part my hair with a gun barrel
and pull Leonard Gaines out of the jam he was in the very first chance he had.
So I stayed off the paths long enough to have both socks full of burrs when it happened.
But not what I expected.
It was the Sharp family blunderbust that had exploded with a blast like a small howitzer.
So also for the second time, I turned and ran back up the hill this time to the office.
I got there just as Maynard climbing hand over hand up a smoking rifle barrel, made it to his feet.
Maynard! Maynard, what happened? Where's Gaines?
I don't know. He got away, I guess.
Well, the shot, what about that?
It went up there through the roof.
Oh, fine.
Gosh, I didn't suspect a thing. He just said he wanted to smoke.
But he didn't happen to have a match, I know.
So you hung your rifle over your arm, stuck both hands in your pockets to find one for him,
and that's when he took you.
That's exactly what happened. How'd you know?
Never mind, Pop.
I made a grab for him, though. Ripped his cord about halfway off.
Oh, that's great. That's great.
I'm sure, sorry, he got away more.
All right, don't worry about it, will you? Can't get far with the gate locked.
Well, I got bad news there, too. Oh, the gate's locked all right.
But there's a back road.
There's a back what?
Back road.
Right, yeah, well, I'm sorry.
It ain't much. It's rough and rocky, but it's passable.
And anybody who's been up here as often as Mr. Gaines has, should know about it.
Oh, great. Look, Pop, can't you understand that there was a murder committed here tonight,
and we had to murder him? No buts!
Felt for the oldest gag in the world.
I was a sucker to turn him over to here.
And will you stop waving that envelope?
I just think you ought to see this.
All right, what is it?
Oh, where'd you get all that loot?
Gaines dropped it when I ripped his coat.
Twenty grand, it says here on the wrapper.
Something else written here, too.
Casa Rolando de Bandido at ten.
Casa Rolando...
Pop, that's it, that's the answer.
Come on, we gotta get down that back road in a hurry.
We were sharp at the wheel of the pickup truck.
We bounced over the pair of sometimes parallel ruts studded with stones the size of bowling balls.
It was called a back road.
We were about a mile before he cut lights and motor and whispered that if Gaines was going to get stuck at all,
it was sure to happen in a dry wash just around the next bend.
I told him to wait and went ahead on foot.
He was right. Gaines was stuck in more ways than one.
His coat was a little too tight.
He was a little too tight.
His car was up to a tubcaps and sand and was wallowed up to a stamp compartment and blackmailed,
conducted by his ex-wife's murderer with the same leather she'd had.
A letter.
It was Eugene Maury and clenched in his hand was a tatted white envelope, nothing more.
I held my 38 in close to my side and edged up behind him.
20,000.
Now, Maury, I don't have that much.
You know why?
You're gonna pay her back.
I don't know.
I know because we worked the deal out together.
Only she got greedy, tried to double-cross me and pull it along.
So you killed her.
Yes, I didn't intend to, but when I found out that she tricked me, I was furious.
The first thing that I knew, I'd stabbed her.
That's enough of that. Just give me the money. You've nothing to worry about.
Now, listen, Maury, I tell you...
No, you listen, Gaines.
You're in no position to bargain.
It's better than having your $200,000 gambling debt exposed and your reputation ruined, isn't it?
Or facing the trigger man Langley if you refuse to alibi for Jenigan, isn't it?
Or bucking a perjury charge if you do alibi.
No, no, no, you've got yourself in a corner again. So pay off.
It's only 20 grand.
But I tell you, Maury, I don't have a...
You're lying again.
No, he isn't. Don't move. I don't want to be here.
Leave your hands where they are.
I got the 20 grand right here and it's pretty well earmarked as blackmail payment already.
But just to round things out, Maury, I'll take that envelope you've got there.
What do you want this for?
Funny man, because it's no doubt postmarked with an hour, a date and a location,
which together with Brother Gaines' own handwriting, places him out of town on July 30th.
A time he swears he was at his Malibu home all day with Jenigan.
Right, Gaines?
Smart boy, aren't you, Marlow?
You've still got a chance, Gaines. You better gamble with me.
You've got nothing to lose now.
I'm with you.
Stand still, Buster. Help me out.
Now, Gaines, go!
Oh, my leg!
Were you thinking of going someplace, Mr. Gaines?
No. No, I... I'm not going anyplace, Mr. Marlow.
Well, Gail, the big show's about to start.
Court will be in session in a few minutes.
I know, and different from yesterday.
Yeah.
Oh, you did a swell job, Mr. Marlow.
Gee, gee, I don't know how to thank you.
Save it, baby.
That scale Lady Justice holds in her hands isn't better balanced today.
It was your hunch and old Maynard's blunderbuss that did as much to put it there as my
running around through the brush itself of springs.
But all I knew was that Gaines was lying.
I didn't know it was as complicated as it was.
Well, that's because Debbie Janssen was twice as treacherous as we figured.
I still don't understand.
How did you know that Eugene Mowry had killed Debbie?
Well, you see, baby, I overheard her tell Mowry that she was going to meet Gaines in
the Beverly Crest Hotel at 10 for the payoff.
Uh-huh.
But I figured that was a lie strictly for Mowry's benefit when Pop gave me the packet
of money Gaines had dropped.
It had that complicated name of a cabin in the time of the appointment, which was also
10 written on it.
So I knew the real meeting was scheduled to take place out there.
See?
Oh, I see.
Then she was going to send Mowry off to the Beverly Crest while she collected the money
itself for Springs and then beat it alone.
That's it, honey.
You see, if her cabin had been named something simple like number four, then Gaines could
have remembered it instead of that Casa Robino del Bangadoro, whatever it was.
He had to write down, you see.
Well, then things might have been different.
Ah, you'd have found a way.
After all, you figured out it was the postmark that was important.
Only after I'd been slapped in the face by a perfectly harmless letter with no envelope
had to be the postmark.
What else?
Oh, they're starting.
Yeah.
Good luck, Mr. Morrow.
Give him the works.
Don't worry, baby.
I'm the eager witness today.
We're going to knock them dead, literally.
They got it coming.
I watched Jernigan's face as the preliminaries got underway.
The killer was beaten.
When the court finally settled down to work and the prosecutor took over, I listened to
his death buildup as he primed the jury and the dramatic ringmaster voice he used when
he called.
Will Philip Morrow take the stand, please?
Now, Mr. Morrow, you told us yesterday that you were a private investigator.
Now, will you tell the court in your own words what happened to you last night?
I sat there looking into the cold, baleful eyes of the prosecutor and thought of a paraphrase
on that wonderful quote from Oliver Wendell Holmes.
It's not enough to ask for justice.
One must also hope for mercy.
Mr. Morrow.
Oh, yes.
I'm sorry.
Well, it began here in this room yesterday afternoon at about 3.30 when the counsel for
defense called a witness and Mr. Leonard Gaines to the stand.
The Adventures of Philip Morrow bringing you Raymond Chandler's most famous character and
crime's most deadly enemy, star Gerald Moore and are produced and directed by Norman McDonnell.
Script is by Mel Dennelly, Robert Mitchell and Gene Levitt.
Featured in the cast were Joy Terry, John Danaer, Michael Ann Barrett, Junius Matthews, Ben
Wright, Lou Krugman, Larry Dobkin and Bud Widom.
The special music is by Richard O'Runt.
Be sure and be with us again next week when Philip Morrow says...
The trail started in Montana with a bum with two names rushing away from his lady love and
led fast into L.A. past a southerner from Canada, a worried wool dealer and a chorus
girl with a 45.
When it finally stopped at murder in the park, that tramp was still in a hurry.
And I have a friend coming to call next Monday night.
She's my friend, Irma.
If this beautiful, lovable, but dumb blonde isn't your friend now, she will be the moment
you hear over most of these same CBS network stations next Monday following the Luxe Radio
Theater.
My friend Irma will bring you plenty of laughs and great entertainment.
So be sure to make friends with my friend Irma these Monday nights on CBS where you'll
hear them all this fall.
This is Roy Rowan speaking.
Now stay tuned for Gang Busters, which follows immediately over most of these same CBS stations.
This is CBS where Arthur Godfrey's talent scouts are heard Mondays, the Columbia Broadcasting
System.