Get this and get it straight. Crime is a sucker's road and those who travel it wind up in the
gutter of the prison of the grave. This time an old Spanish woman who cared, a red-headed
mink who didn't and a green suede button beside a corpse. All led me to a wounded man with
a gun in his hand, cornered on a warehouse roof. It happened like this.
From the pen of Raymond Tramper, outstanding author of crime fiction, comes his most famous
character in The Adventures of Philip Marlowe. Now with Gerald Moore starred as Philip Marlowe,
we bring you tonight's transcribed story, The Man on the Roof.
Hey, Officer, there he is again. The top of the ladder. Look, he's bleeding. You got him the last time.
No, he's got a gun, Mooney, and he's hit. Put him in a car for tear gas launches. We'll use him for the roof across the street.
He isn't going anyplace. Go ahead, Mooney. About time I want to talk to him. Mooney, on the roof. He's on the edge there. Fire, Mooney.
Matthews, hold it. Mooney, don't shoot again. What are you talking about, Marlowe? He's a killer. He's armed and dangerous.
Listen to me. What do you want to seduce? Call him and send him on without a supper? Matthews, I'm going up after him.
No, you're not, Marlowe. Come here. Let's go with me, Matthews. Listen, Mooney, nobody goes up there. We're going to gas him out.
Come on, Mooney. Call for launchers. Matthews, please, listen to me. What is it? No, why not? Tell me the whole story. We've got nothing but time till I get here with those launchers.
Please, Matthews. Quick, kid. Nobody is kidding, Marlowe. That boy up there is a killer. Keep watching that roof, Becker. You may get curious.
Well, Marlowe, the story you've got. About ten minutes ago, Matthews. Back to the beginning, Marlowe. Go on, Phil. I'm trying to.
We'll start at the front. I'm a sucker for detail. You've got to half-off before the tear gas arrives.
Okay, Matthews. I'll start at the front and skip nothing. Right. I'll start where it started four hours ago at five o'clock this evening, some fifteen miles from here on the outskirts of a little town of San Fernando.
A telephone call from a woman whose voice had said that she was old and Spanish and very worried had brought me out of the place.
A woman named Senora Andrade who told me that her only boy was heading for a lot of trouble and that I had to stop.
The Andrade home stood out like a thoroughbred alongside the milkman's horse in comparison to the other houses squatting on the sun-baked soil.
Senora herself at maybe sixty and in a cheap black cotton dress, lace shawl and homemade slippers was the tidiest person I'd ever seen.
When she bowed from the waist in graceful greeting, I saw a single small ivory comb was the only thing holding a mass of long gray hair in one neat bundle.
Senor Marlowe, you will excuse me if I do not extend you the hospitality of my house, but Pedro...
...Pete likes to be named. He's already gone. There is no wasting time.
Of course. A piteous son, Senora, huh?
Si. And a good boy, Senor Marlowe. Here. Here is a photograph of him. It is taken only a week ago on his twenty-fifth birthday.
Really?
He was so proud of that green jacket I made for him. It was suede and flashing, he said. Flashing like something the rich Mr. Alex Brutcher would wear.
He has it on every day since then, even today.
Alex Brutcher? Who's that, Mrs. Andrade?
Senor who owns the warehouse for furs in Los Angeles.
Oh.
Number 12 Commercial Street. It's where my people worked until two days ago when the trouble started.
What happened, Senora?
It was during his lunchtime. He was eating from a meal I made for him like he always does and talking to a stranger some.
How you say, Senora, a man with no job all the time a year.
A bum, a hobo, a loafer?
A loafer, see. He was just telling me how he was telling him to find the railroad yards. That, Senora, is where the trouble began.
Oh, please, Senor Marlowe, you will have a chair there.
Oh, yes, thanks. Now, tell me, Senora, this trouble, surely giving instructions to a loafer, as you say, didn't start it.
Oh, but it did. After the lunch hour, the foreman, Senor Connor, questioned Pedro about this loafer.
And when my boy said that the man was only asking for the railroad yards, this Senor Connor said he was a liar,
that Pedro was giving out information about the shipments of furs, that he was fired, discharged.
Just like that?
Let's see, Senor, after two years of good, hard work.
You see, Senor Marlowe, Pedro tells me that Senor Alex Brutcher has been having his shipments of furs stolen on the road.
Hijacked?
Yes, hijacked. And it is this reason why Pedro is fired.
You want me to prove to Mr. Alex Brutcher that Pete had nothing to do with his hijacking, huh? Get his job back, is that it?
No, no, no, no, Senor. It is too late.
Why too late?
Pedro already went down there this morning to do that.
He went and told Senor Connor, the foreman, that he had nothing to do with the hijack and more.
He told him, Senor Marlowe, that he was fired because of Helen Castile.
Who's that?
The pretty girl who for a short time now works in Senor Brutcher's office.
Oh. Well, then I don't understand, Senora.
This Helen Castile and my boy are falling in love. But Senor Brutcher also likes this girl.
Oh. What happened when Pete told this to Mr. Brutcher?
He never did. Before he even got to speak to Senor Brutcher, that devil man, Senor Connor, and some other men beat him.
Cut his face, blood on his arms, his clothing torn. He came home just before I called to you. Almost dead, Senor.
Oh. I'm sorry. Well, how about now?
Now, Senor Marlowe, Pedro has gone back. Revenge in his heart. That is why you must stop him.
Senor, Senor, you must bring him home before he kills. Before it is too late.
Take it easy. No, no, no. Take it easy, Senora. Don't worry. I'm sure I can bring him back. Positive.
Oh, gracias, Senor.
It's all right. It's all right.
Here, Senor, in this can. I have money. Nineteen, maybe more dollars here. You take it.
No, no, no, no. Not yet, Mrs. Andrade. I don't think it'll cost that much. We'll see. Goodbye, Senora.
It was an hour's drive to the Brutcher Fug Company warehouse on Commercial Street in downtown L.A.
I started up a long cement ramp that led to a glass cage in a far corner of the warehouse marked office.
It was just about the end of a working day. When I was next to the door, I let it enter.
A bell someplace said that the end had arrived.
You could tell the way everyone's spirits went up. Everyone except the girl inside half leaning on a file cabinet.
I figured she was Helen Castile until I got closer. The on fire red hair and green eyes with hat and shoes to match could have gotten by.
But the coach you always mink. So was the attitude. That would never take shorthand for 40 bucks a week.
Things just couldn't get that tough. Hello. You look like you lost something. Oh, is Helen still here? Helen Castile?
Thorn to powder her nose. Maybe back before she leaves for the day. May not. I don't know. Oh. You a friend of hers? No, Pete Andrade.
Never heard of him. Good life. Oh. Please. Sure, sure. Now, tell me, Miss. Haynes, Corey Haynes. You?
Marlow. Philip Marlow. Miss Haynes, is Alex Brucho around? Home packing is going out of town. It does every other week. Important business?
No, I just wanted to chat with him a while. Oh, Connor. Is Alex's cargassin ready for me? Yeah, it's ready.
It's ready, Miss Haynes. Here are the keys. Thank you. And Connor, please, stop wishing I were dead, will you? I can feel it. It gives me the creeps.
I'm so sorry, Miss Haynes, but well, maybe we won't be seeing so much of one another so soon. If you mean Helen Castile, Connor, she's a great secretary, period.
Yeah, sure. Now you, Mr. Marlow. Mr. Marlow. I'm a friend of Pete Andrade's. I wanted- You just said enough, Mr. Almost too much.
Oh, wait a minute, Connor. What for? A lot of hot air? Listen, Marlow, we've been running all kinds of trouble around here.
Hijacking, short shipments, misdirected cargoes, it works. So? So it all adds up to somebody on the inside helping somebody on the outside, and that ain't good.
Take my advice, brother. Get your long nose out of this place and keep it out if you don't want it bent. It's the phone, Connor. If you lift it up, it'll stop that noise.
Very funny. Hello. Oh, hello, Mr. Brutcher. Yeah. Yeah, okay, I got it. Charming fella, isn't he?
You'll be down here in a couple hours, and I'm to wait. Check. Check, Mr. Brutcher. Goodbye. His master's voice.
Very funny again. You'd better let me have the keys back, Miss Haynes. The boss isn't going out of town after all. He'll probably want his car.
And I'll probably give it to him myself after I've run a few errands I have in mind. Goodbye, Mr. Marlow. I hope we meet again in more pleasant surroundings.
You two go to rival schools, Connor? Get out of here, Marlow. Get out before you get the same treatment your friend Pete Andrade got.
Oh, you've got to be kidding. You wouldn't do that to me, Connor. I'm not in love with Helen Castile. That goes for you too in spades.
Hey. Hey, you, Mr. Marlow. What? Over here behind the crates. I don't want Connor to see us. I'm Helen Castile. How do you know who I am?
There's an intercom phone in the office you just left. Yeah, I see what you mean. I knew Pete was in some trouble. I haven't heard from him in two days. Mr. Marlow, what they've done to him is terrible.
How do you know about it if Pete come to you? No, his mother hired me. I'm a private detective, which Helen brings up a sharp point. Are you sure you're not playing both sides, baby?
Will you drop? All right, save it. Save it. That's all I wanted to know. What do you want? You mean you just said that to see how I'd act?
Well, I had to be sure. After all, you're still working for Alex Brutcher. Not anymore. I only stayed on before this because I didn't want Pete to be fired.
Hold it. I think we've got company. Could be rats. There's some around. Yeah, with and without brass nocks. Now, listen, honey, for everybody's good, I don't want Pete mixing with Alex Brutcher.
Before you get out of here, tell me fast. Where does the boss live? 41 West Adams, Foothill Park. 41 West. Okay, now go. I'll cover you until you're clear of the place. Go on.
All right, my car's across the street. If you need any help later, Mr. Marlowe. Get going. That rat may have friends. Okay. Goodbye, Mr. Marlowe.
Helen got to the front gate out into her car and away without anybody bothering her. A couple of minutes later, I covered the same smooth course, and I was beginning to believe that the rats were just that, except that when I was in behind the wheel of my coupe and heading for Adams Boulevard,
I picked up a pair of headlights in my rearview mirror, which for the next 40 minutes of zigzag stuck like they were painted there. But finally, a traffic jam gave me all the break I needed. And a sharp right turn followed by a lot of speed left me free and once again on my way to West Adams Boulevard.
The place was turn of the century stone block mansion, but the rest of the neighborhood had gone slumming a long time ago. I was about to try the knocker when I noticed a thin slice of pale light that said the front door wasn't closed all the way.
I started in edging toward the sick light that came from a single lamp in what used to be called the library. And then suddenly I saw him. A man in a smoking jacket lavishly monogrammed A.B. his face beaten raw, his clothing almost shredded, blood clotted thick on the back of his head.
And then he was dead in the corner of the room. Next to the body was a heavy marble lamp base also bloody. Inches from that I found something that might as well have been Pete Andrade's calling card. A button made of green suede ahead of my pocket just before the company spoke up.
Don't go for your gun Marlow, that'll leave us even. So the kid finally made it, huh?
Maybe, maybe I did it Connor. Nuts, you just came in I know. I was waiting outside. The jerk I had on your trail lost you, I figured I better leave the office but quick, I figured right.
Tell me Marlow, just so I score a hundred percent, what's your angle? Andrade the kid's mother. I'm a private detective who was working for her, she was afraid of this. Oh no, stop, the sentiment's killing me. I wish something would.
Now let's call the police. That's a fast. What do you mean? I've already got the rest of my figuring done.
About now the kid should be at his girlfriend Helen's flat. I know where it is and that's where I'm going. You see Marlow, I want to be a hero. I want to bring the kid in, understand?
Oh sure, sure, real easy. You want to bring him in dead, that way nobody even mentions the beating you gave him on Brutus orders, because he wouldn't stay away from Helen. That way you're clean. Exactly, clean as a whistle, except for you and your big mouth.
Stand still, peeper. I want to whisper something in your ear.
In just a moment, the second act of Philip Marlow, but first, you're going to think the laughter of April Fool's Day came late when you listened to CBS this Wednesday night, for it's going to be one of the craziest, merriest, maddest nights of entertainment you've ever heard.
Bing Crosby will be playing host to Arthur Godfrey and Perry Como. And even though lots of singing is promised from all three, who knows what's going to happen when the gags start flying.
Groucho Marx and Burns and Allen will also be on hand with their famous fun shows this Wednesday. These great stars will be here on most of these same CBS stations. Burns and Allen, Groucho Marx, and Arthur Godfrey and Perry Como as Bing Crosby's guests.
Now with our star Gerald Moore, we return to the second act of Philip Marlow and tonight's story, The Man on the Roof.
When Conner started to tell me with a 38 wrapped in his thick fist, I figured I'd better do something about him and do it fast. I waited until he walked around Broucher's body on the floor and it was out of his line of vision, then I pointed at it.
Conner, look, look, he's moving. What's that? An old trick sucker. Now let's throw your gun out of the conversation. It'll start over. Come on, get up. Get your hands up. Get him off you crummy.
Look, heavy, I'm going to get an answer out of you one way or another. Make it easy on yourself. Now get up. I said get up.
All right, all right, you win this round. That's better. What do you want to know?
Helen Castile's address. She's got her room. Number four, 3200 Crenshaw. Thanks. So long, muscles.
I knew there wasn't much more I could do for a desperate hothead named Pete Andrade. He'd already done too much for himself in the wrong direction.
I drove down Adams until I'd cooled off and have to call the police. And I stopped at a phone booth and gave homicide a fast rundown on Alex Broucher's murder.
But I hung up before they could ask me Senora Andrade's address in San Fernando or Helen Castile's place on Crenshaw.
Because there were two women I wanted to talk to alone before the police moved in. After that I drove out to Crenshaw and found the number 3200.
Room four was at the far end of a half-lit hall and there were voices inside. One was Helen's, the other was Pete Andrade. I reached for my gun.
I went out of my head, Helen. I must have hit him nine or ten times hard. What are we going to do? I don't know. I've got to think.
It's a little late for thinking, Pete. Who are you? He's a private detective. Yeah, I'm working for your mother. I was up until I left Broucher's place. He's dead, Pete.
Oh, Pete. Oh, no. I didn't mean to kill him. But I'm not sorry. I want you to come along with me, Pete. Quietly. Turn yourself in.
No! Pete! Helen! Get away from me! Stop it! You little... He's gone!
I've got him! Don't move, Marlo. Don't move or I'll shoot. You crazy fools. I knew you wouldn't shoot me, Marlo. Next time you'll be surprised.
There won't be a next time. We're going to get away. It's our only chance now. You haven't got a chance of your run. You'll be dogged every minute of your short lives.
You'll wind up full of bullets in the dark. You'll be running down a blind alley and it starts right there with that door. Don't be suckers. Shut up!
We're going to try it, Marlo. And we'll make it. We've got to have money, Pete. Yeah, and I know where to get it, too.
Broucher always kept plenty of petty cash in the office at the warehouse. I'll take that. What about the watchmen, Pete? Are you going to keep on killing?
Pete, listen. You can get in quietly with Broucher's keys. Corey Haynes has them. The office keys are in the same ring as the car keys.
She always borrows them when she uses his car and she's got it tonight. Well, I'll get them from her. Where does she live?
Out on Orange Drive. 210, I think. Will you listen to me a minute? You're heading for the original dead end, both of you. Why don't you give yourselves a break?
What do you call a break, Marlo? Pete rotting in some prison until we're both too old to care? I'd rather have the bullet.
Let's get him out of here. That closet will do. Go on, Marlo. Inside. Move!
Sure, sure. What are you waiting for? Go on, close it.
I know what you've tried to do for my mother, Marlo, and for Helen and me. I'm sorry it couldn't work out. Thanks anyway.
Nuts.
I'm leaving, Kelly. I'm ready. You're not coming. You're staying here. What? Marlo was right. This is a blind alley, a dead end, and I won't take you in.
No, Pete, I'm going with you. No, you're not. Stay back. I mean it. Please. Stay back, I said.
Pete. Helen. Helen, unlock this door. We still may be able to stop him. I'm playing this my way now, Marlo. You can stay where you are.
Helen, don't you understand? I'm on your side. I love it. I'm going with him whether he wants me or not. So long, Marlo.
Up. Happy landings, baby.
The lock on the closet door gave up before I did, but only because it was older by several years.
I got out of the house and kept ahead of the speed limit all the way to Orange Drive and figured for what it was worth it I'd cut Pete's lead down to a scant ten minutes.
I parked in front of a spud nut coffee shop on the corner and walked down to 210. By the time I got within knocking distance of Corey Haines' front door,
I could see that the only light in the place was spilling out of the sunken double garage that housed the new gray Nash.
But when I moved closer, I knew that ten minutes was all that Pete Andrade needed.
Corey was sprawled out on the grease spattered concrete floor and very still. Very still.
Standing limply against the wall was Helen Castile staring down at the redhead with a pair of hopeless eyes that seemed already half dead.
As I walked down the ramp, she heard me and looked up.
I knew you'd get here. I don't care now.
We're both late, is that it?
Yeah. I didn't see him. He was already gone when I got here. Found her like that.
Then he must have gotten the keys.
Yes, from her purse. Let's sit over there.
Why didn't you follow him? You knew where he was heading.
I couldn't. When I saw her there, I just couldn't because I think she's dead too.
No, no. She isn't dead.
You mean she's just out?
Yeah. A long way out, but not dead. In the looks of things, she must have put up quite a scrap. Maybe she...
Wait a minute. There's something screwy here.
Oh, Miss Corey. Miss Corey, what's happened?
Who are you?
Miss Corey's maid. What's happened to her?
She's unconscious.
Oh, this is terrible. She knew there was going to be trouble. I swear she didn't. Miss Corey, honey, speak to me.
How do you know that?
Because she was worried. She told me four or five times she was going to stay in all evening like she was expecting somebody.
Sure, sure. Figures all the way. Look. Look here. Are you sure this is her purse?
It certainly is. Was she robbed?
Not exactly, but... Oh, yeah, yeah. This clenches it.
Now, look. Call an ambulance right away. Get Corey into a hospital and hurry.
Yes, sir.
Helen, you stay here with her. Don't leave, understand? I'll see you.
And that's it, Matthews. That's why I broke a few speed laws getting from Corey's garage down here to the warehouse.
Because I had to find Pete and tell him before it was too late.
I'm still not sure you made it, Marlow.
Look. Look, this was dropped near Brutcher's body. I just saw the mate to it in Corey Hain's garage.
Look, that's not conclusive.
No, but these are. The papers I pulled out of her purse. Take a look at them. Go ahead.
One glance will tell you where they came from and why. You get it, don't you, Lieutenant?
Yeah, I get it. Certainly I get it. What a rotten setup.
Well, then you gotta let me go up that fire escape and talk to him.
He'll listen to me, Matthews. I know he will.
I told you once before, Phil, he's been hit and he's cornered up there.
It's driven him haywire. It'll probably blow the top of your head off.
Go ahead. Go on up and try it. I'll pass the word.
As I walked across the street and started up the fire escape,
I knew Pete Andrade from someplace in the shadows on the roof was watching me.
Heavy-inched away.
But I climbed up to the fourth floor before I spotted him.
His head inched out over the ledge.
My own 38 in his hand.
I went on to the fifth floor and started up the ladder to the roof when it came.
Stop there. That's close enough.
It's Marlow, Pete.
I know.
That's the only reason you got this far.
You got lots of nerve, Marlow.
Pete, I didn't bring a gun.
Because I just came to ask you a question.
Nothing else.
A question?
Yeah. A big one.
Did you use anything on Brutcher except your fist, Pete?
No.
Why? What's the difference?
Plenty.
I don't think you killed Brutcher.
What?
Is this a trick?
No, no. Look, Pete. No trick.
Look at this. I found this green suede button near Brutcher's body.
I thought it came from your jacket, but it didn't.
It was torn from a pair of green suede shoes that Corrie Haynes had on tonight.
Corrie Haynes? I don't get you.
It means first she's a liar.
That she saw Brutcher tonight.
It means she got there after you did.
Probably found him unconscious while you had left him and finished the job with a heavy marble lamp base.
You're crazy. This is a trick.
Why would she kill him? They were going together.
They had been. Until Brutcher got interested in Helen.
Yeah?
After that, Corrie was on the way out and she knew it.
She decided to get all she could out of him while she had the chance.
Go on.
Every time she borrowed his car, she used the keys to get into the office.
Steal information out of the files and sell it.
She was the informer.
Bad theme.
I'm coming up, Pete.
How do you know all this?
I found some papers to prove it in a purse.
She was in a tough spot when Brutcher changed his mind about leaving town tonight.
Yeah?
She had to get the papers back in the files or Brutcher would discover they were missing.
But Connor staying in the office prevented it.
So she was trapped.
I see.
When she saw a chance to kill Brutcher and have you blamed for it, she grabbed at it.
Are you convinced, kid?
I...I almost shot you, Marla.
Why did you take such a risk and climb up here?
Because your mother had some ideas that I wouldn't like to see her lose, Pete.
Also, I wanted my gun back.
Well, do I get it?
Yeah.
You bet. Here.
And thanks, Marla.
I feel so good now.
I guess...I guess...
I know just how you feel, kid.
I don't climb fire escapes like this every night.
Believe me.
It was a long, long time before all the Skeptic reports were in.
Well, the doctor in the prison ward had said that Pete would be okay,
and before Corey Haynes had put a wobbly signature to a full confession of murder.
And still another hour went by as I drove out across the wide, flat valley to San Fernando,
where the profile of the hills in the east had already begun to show against the gray dawn rising behind them.
When I stopped in front of the little house and went up to the door,
Senora Andrade was there on the porch. She waited all night.
Her expression didn't change when I told her all that had happened.
Didn't change, actually, until I was finally ready to leave.
Then she put out her hand and took my arm.
The lines of worry in her face softened.
Senora Marla, last night I had but one son.
Now this morning I have two.
In my heart you will always have a home.
I am grateful. Gracias.
She was most welcome.
The Adventures of Philip Marlowe bringing you Raymond Chandler's most famous character star Gerald Moore,
are produced, directed and transcribed by Norman MacDonald,
and are written for radio by Robert Mitchell and Gene Leavitt.
Gerald Moore may currently be seen starring in Republic's The Blonde Bandit.
Featured in our cast tonight were Virginia Gregg, Jack Edwards, Lillian Bief, Doris Singleton and Jack Crouchon.
Detective Lieutenant Matthews is played by Larry Dubkin.
The special music is composed and conducted by Richard Aront.
Be sure and be with us again next week when Philip Marlowe says...
This time a platinum wrist watch, a body on a lonely strip of beach, and a case of heart failure in a Beverly Hills garage,
all added up to blackmail 25 years old and a killer who would never be caught.
CBS invites you to hear one of the great ad livers in show business, Groucho Marx,
every Wednesday night on most of these same CBS stations.
Groucho show, You Bet Your Life, finds the master throwing quips and questions at oddly assorted pairs of contestants.
And it's fast, merry and bright, so remember, be listening this Wednesday, won't you?
When disaster strikes, the Red Cross is on the spot to give relief in the emergency.
But its work does not end when the wind dies down, the fire is out or the flood recedes.
It goes on in many different ways, helping to restore people to their normal way of living.
The Red Cross is a great humanitarian service in which you have a very direct part,
because the funds which are used are the contributions which you make to the Red Cross,
and they are funds used in a common sense program that ensures the most good for the most people.
Red Cross disaster relief and rehabilitation is one of the great reasons why we must keep our Red Cross ready.
All may help. Give now to the 1950 Red Cross Fund.
Remember, whatever you gave before this year, add a quarter more.
This is Roy Rowan speaking.
Now stay tuned for Pursuit, which follows immediately over most of these same CBS stations.
This is CBS The Columbia Broadcasting System.