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In this thrilling episode of CBS Radio Mystery Theater, host E.G. Marshall takes us on a suspenseful journey aboard the 7:49 commuter train from Westville to New York City. The episode, "Come Fill My Cup," written by Sam Dann, unravels a mysterious murder that occurs during a seemingly routine card game in the club car. As the train sways and passengers engage in their daily rituals, a deadly plot unfolds, leaving one man dead and a host of suspects in its wake. The story delves into themes of deception, betrayal, and the blurred lines between truth and lies, as the characters grapple with their own motives and secrets.
Listeners are introduced to a cast of intriguing characters, including Frank Durham, the seasoned conductor, and Don Jorgensen, a man with a gambling problem and a tangled personal life. As the investigation unfolds, Detective Lieutenant Parsons seeks to uncover the truth behind the murder, navigating through a web of potential motives and alibis. With a backdrop of high-stakes poker games and personal vendettas, this episode keeps audiences on the edge of their seats, questioning who among the passengers had the most to gain from the victim's demise. Join us as we explore the complexities of human nature and the ultimate quest for justice in this captivating mystery.
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CBS radio mystery theater presents Come in. Welcome. I'm E. G. Marshall. And after all, what is a lie? 'Tis but the truth in masquerade according to Lord Byron. Does it work both ways? Is the truth a lie in masquerade? Those great points are not always easy to follow. Is it possible that there are neither absolute lies nor absolute truths, but varying degrees of each? As we shall discover perhaps during the next hour, I want you to tell me everything you know about the murder. What murder is that, Lieutenant? The murder that took place on your train this morning. Oh, now wait a minute. That wasn't a murder. Fella died of a heart attack. Yeah?
Who told you it was a heart attack? Well, I mean, the way he just keeled over, I kinda thought. No. He was murdered. Our mystery drama, Come Fill My Cup, was written especially for the mystery theater by Sam Dann and stars Larry Haines and William Griffiths. It is sponsored in part by Buick Motor Division. I'll be back shortly with act one. Out of the shadows of the night, the world rolls into light. It is daybreak everywhere, sings the poet. Yes. Daybreak and breakfast and off to the daily round of toil for one's bread. They gather at the railroad station in the town of Westville to catch the seven forty nine, which will bear them to the big city, more than 50 miles and sixty one minutes away.
And they purchase their big city newspapers. They stamp their feet against the cold. They exchange idle small talk till the big shiny electric cars skitter to a stop along the platform, and they scatter aboard and scramble for seats. Thus, another day has begun. What? What? My name is Frank Durham. I've been with the road forty five years. I can remember steam, diesels, now these. Forty five years. Rain, shine, snow, hail, one of them letter carriers saying. Well, we go through the same thing. It's funny. When people find out I'm conductor of the seven forty nine, they kinda look at me and say, hey.
Isn't that the one? Yeah. It's the one where the guy was murdered. Now as a rule, people don't get murdered on trains. Oh, I I know all about the Orient Express, but, a commuter train. So I guess you, wanna know all about it. Okay. Tickets. All tickets, please. Oh, say, what are you doing up here, mister Jorgensen? Good morning, Frank. Yeah. I thought you'd be back in the club car with Jerry and them. Yeah. I decided to change my ways. No more cards. Satisfaction. You better believe it. Well, I hope for your sake it's true. No, Frank. It's all over. I don't need a sermon. I always felt that poker game was too rich for your blood. You have no idea how anemic it made me. If you pardon my saying it, you were in way over your head.
Jerry Garland at least a billionaire. So is Pete McHugh. That is for Bill. I'm well out of it. You listen to a man who's old enough to be your father. You see, you stay out of it. That made me feel good. Don Jorgensen has been a patsy in his high stakes poker game for more than a year. In the sixty one minutes, Westville to New York, you could lose a hundred, hundred and $50 easy. And there were days Tom did just that. Well, I went back to punch tickets in the club car. That's the last car in the July private car. You pay extra for it, but you can sit at a table, have coffee or breakfast, play cards, and you're away from the, well, not the, riffraff, but, I'm the fellow put it, the maddening throng or something.
Tickets, gentlemen. Thank you. Frank, you seen Don? Mhmm. I saw him on a platform getting on a train. He's holding up the game. Look. You fellas sit here, play hand of gin or something. I'll ride him out. Jerry got up from the table and started walking forward. I wonder what luck he would have with Don. When I went up ahead again, I saw him sitting next to Don. I moved slowly and stood behind him. I was curious. Everybody's luck turns, kid. Except mine. Look. You enjoy the game. I can't afford it anymore. An argument I can't buy. I am reformed from now on. Okay, kid. I hope so. I got a book to read, a crossword puzzle. Look. I'm all for a guy kicking the habit. Any habit. It's just, it's just What? Well, it's just, I wish you didn't decide to kick it today.
Why not today? Well, I feel lucky. Then I'm definitely picking the right time. I feel today is my day to take Peter McHugh. Sir, go take him. Nobody wants to play three handed. Well, you can pick up somebody else. No. There's not many guys with the courage to play in that game. Not to mention the money. Listen, Don. Do me a favor. Quit tomorrow. Tomorrow? Yeah. Play today. No. Come on now. It's a favor to me. It sure wouldn't be a favor to me. Don, you can't move. Would you like to know how much I lost this past year? What I'm trying to say And to you, Jerry It won't cost you a cent to play today, Don. Oh, yeah? Let's hear this. If you win, you win. Keep it. But if you lose, I'll pay you back.
What? No matter how much. Just keep tabs, and I'll pay you back every cent later. Well, you must really wanna play bad. Come on. Come on, Dom. I can hit Pete for a bundle. How can you lose? Okay. Just this once. I didn't know what to make of that whole conversation. Anyhow, Jerry and Don got up, walked to the club car. I finished up front, went back there myself for the morning coffee. Down toward the end of the car, I could see the poker game in full swing. I stood at the bar while Lou handed me my usual coffee in. I ate, drank slowly.
I turned to watch the poker players. I could hear the conversation, clinking of coins, and I could see the green of the bills. Caradeuces is high. It's you, Jerry. Yeah. Yeah. So I see. About Caradeuces check. Deuces check. Dealer folds. So Ace High bets. That's you, Pete? This Ace High bets $10. Bill? I see you fold. Okay. That leaves it up to deuces, Jerry. Yeah. Yeah. So it does. The little Deuces will see that $10 bet and raise you 20. And that's about how it would go. Check and raise, which is about as cutthroat as poker can ever get. But at least they were honest about it. They didn't pretend it was a friendly game.
It went on like that for a bit. And then who wants a cup of coffee? You, Pete? I had enough. Uh-huh. Bill, you're still off coffee? Come on, fellas. I'm buying. How about you, Don? When do you ever know me to turn down a cup of coffee? Yeah. I'll go up and get it now while I'm out of this hand. I'll be right back. You see, you got your card game going, mister Garland? Yep. Yep. Yep. We have to find a new recruit. No cup of coffee for me, mister Jochenson. Come on. I'm losing money standing here. What's your thing, mister Garland? Just then, I thought I heard a kind of squealing sound. I left my coffee and walked back quickly to the rear cab.
I opened the door to see if maybe we didn't have a jam break, but it was nothing. Anyhow, I stood there for a couple of seconds. I could see Lou at the bar up ahead pouring the two cups of coffee. He put them on the tray, and Jerry spilled a packet of sugar into each. Now the reason I go into all these details is because this is that famous or what I should say, notorious day. I started back for the bar. Jerry picked up the tray and started toward the table. Halfway, we met in the aisle. I was about to step aside to let him pass when we hit that curve just before we cross a New York state line. A train sways pretty bad, and I could see Jerry was about to lose his balance. Well, I wanted to help him, but as he fell back, he automatically thrust the tray forward, and I caught it and took it from his hands. He grabbed the back of his seat, and so did I.
For a few seconds, we both nearly fell, but we both managed to keep our balance. Then Jerry took the tray back from me and went to his table, and I watched the game continue from the bar. Here's your coffee, Don. Oh, thanks. It's five card draw, Jerry. We dealt you in, adding up $5. A little jack's a better, The famous name of the gig. Well, let's take a sip of this coffee, and I'll examine my options. I I'll just get her to move on. We'll be in the terminal in less than fifteen minutes. Come on. Come on. There's enough time for entire fortunes to be made, Pete. Well, that's pretty good coffee this morning, Jerry. Yeah.
Lou gets lucky once in a while. Speaking of luck, gents, she's, open for another $5. Bill? I see you pulled. Gold. I'm in. And now cards. Hey. That is pretty good coffee. Hey. I want three. Three to Brother Pete? Give me two. Two to Jerry. And the dealer draws what? You know, more kids have lost out on a college education because their fathers drew to an inside street. Opener bets. That's you, Jerry. Jerry? Jerry, you gonna sit there and drink that coffee or what? Alright. Don't rush. Don't rush me. Don't rush. Our good friend. Let's see.
Don. Don, you drew, three. No. No. Pete drew three. You, you you bought. No. I I drew one. Yeah. One. Bill asked for Bill didn't ask for anything. Bill's out. Oh, oh, Bill Bill is out here. You know, it's hot in here. Somebody ought to ask Craig to turn down the heat. You know, you can have better not. How what do you think I played played this game for? I wish it wasn't so hot here. Jerry. Are you okay? Yeah. I bet. Hey, Pete. Bill, I I I think there's something wrong with Jerry. I I I bet, I bet, I bet, Frank, come over here quick. Oh, my chest. Yeah. I got oh, my chest. Oh, Frank. You you you got a phone on this train? Call ahead for an ambulance. I got this.
Jerry. Jerry. I telephoned to have an ambulance meet us at the next station. There was also a doctor among the passengers in the third car, and he came back quickly. But it didn't matter. Nothing would matter anymore to Jerry Garvin. He was dead. They took him off the train. When we got to the terminal, I had a lot of writing to do, a lot of forms to fill out and reports to make. I was busy in the locker room when I heard a man ask for me. You Frank Herb? That's right. I'm Lieutenant Parsons, New York City Police. Yeah? You're the conductor of train number 4231. It's the, 749 out of Westville, Connecticut. Sure.
I want you to tell me everything you know about the murder. What murder is that? The murder that took place on your train this morning. Well, wait a minute. That that wasn't a murder. A a fellow died. A man by the name of Gerald k Garland. Yes. He died of a heart attack. Oh, yeah? Who told you it was a heart attack? Well, I mean, the way he keeled over, I kinda thought that No. No. He was murdered. How could he been murdered? He was poisoned. Well, how could he been poisoned? That's just what I wanna ask you. Okay. Let's all ask ourselves.
How could he have been poisoned? And to get the red tape out of the way, the facts are clear. Lieutenant Parsons made that statement because a medical examination showed definite traces of starmine, a poison in the strychnine family. So we have our murder on the July. But how? Look. This is only the end of act one. You'll have to be patient until I return with act two. Trust everybody, but cut the cards, said the beloved mister Dewey. Ah, yes. How many decks of cards have been cut and shuffled on the July, the Commuter Express from Westville, especially in the club car where perhaps the most cutthroat game has been going on for several years.
Well, if the game keeps being cutthroat, someone may begin to take that word literally. Obviously, someone did, except he didn't use a knife. He employed poison. Poison? Are you saying Jerry Garland was poisoned, lieutenant? That's what the medical examiner says, and it's good enough for me. But poison? How could he have been poisoned? As they say, it was ingested in the coffee he drank. Oh, no. Yes. Happens to be the fact. Now it took place in the club car. And, what was Jerry Garland doing at the time of his death? He was playing cards. He was part of this regular game. He was playing and drinking his coffee, then he just keeled over. The coffee?
How did he get the coffee? He went up to the bar for two coffees. Two coffees? Yeah. One for himself, the other for Don Jorgensen. Well, he, picked up the coffee. Who served the coffee? Lou. Lou Vitry, our bar man. Lou poured out the coffee into the cups. Yeah. That's right. And Jerry put them on a tray and went back to the table. Now would you know if there was, cream and sugar in the coffees? Yeah. Yeah. No. You mentioned it. I saw Jerry put in the cream and sugar himself while he was still at the bar. Into both coffees? Yeah. Yeah. That's right. And, and then he went back to the table. Is that and then what did he do? He gave one cup to Don Jorgensen, one cup he kept for himself. Yeah.
It couldn't have been more than a couple, three minutes, and that was it. And he drank this coffee? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Now the other cup of coffee. The one he gave us, Don Jorgensen. Yeah. Don Jorgensen. He drank his coffee also? Yeah. Yeah. You saw him do it? Oh, yes. Right. I want you to stay with me while I question some of the people in that club car. When? Soon as I can round them up. I, I have to take eleven twenty seven out. No. No. I don't think so. That was detective Lieutenant Parsons. Grover Cleveland Parsons.
Well, the first person he got hold of was Lou Vitray, the barman. All of a sudden, I got the shock of my life. But I'll, I'll feed it to you gently, the way it was said to me. How long you been with the railroad? Five years, lieutenant. What'd you do before that? I look. Lieutenant, is it important? Just answered the question. I I work for mister Garland. Jerry Garland? Yeah. As what? Well, I I was a chauffeur. Why did you leave the job? Look. Do I have to say this? Answer the question. Well, can the, can the answer be confidential between me and the cops? Well, so far. Because if it's known, I can lose my job.
Does, Frank have to hear me answer? No. He won't say anything. I guarantee it. Well, why could you lose your job? Because, I, I got a record. For what? I ended three years for burglary, but I was innocent. Tell him, Lou. Well, one night there was a burglary. Jewels that belonged to Jerry's wife, Theodora, were stolen. Well, they they searched all the servants naturally. And in my room, I found a bracelet. Oh, what was it doing there? Well, it must have been planted there by the thieves to turn the heat on me. And and it did. I I I was put away. Well, how did you get the job on the railroad if you had this record? Jerry Garland got it for me. Why?
Well, when I got out, I went to him to his office. What are you doing here, Lou? You escaped from jail. Oh, I'm I'm out, mister Garland. Oh, what do you want? Well, I didn't steal those jewels. Look, Lou. It was all decided by a court of law. You ain't a crook, and you know it. Oh, maybe not, but you might have been tempted. Well, never. I I've been your show for thirteen years. You trusted your kids to me when I was little. I lived in your house. Now you know I ain't a crook. Mister Garland, you gotta help me. Ma'am, Lou, if you need some money to get on your feet. So I need more money. I need a job.
I can't get a job. I got a record. You understand? I know. I know it's tough, Lou. You don't know how tough it is. I'm I'm turned down everywhere I go. Help me get a job. Give me a job. Now, can't very well take you back as my chauffeur. Why not? Where? How would it look? Can't you do anything for me? I'll take any job at all. He got me a job. This job, my name isn't Lou Vitry either. I had to change it. Vitry is my, mother's maiden name. Well, how could the poison have gotten into mister Garland's cup? I don't know. Okay, boo. That's all for now. Just keep handy in case you need it. You can go. Oh, thanks. Thanks, lieutenant.
No. He doesn't have a Morty. He doesn't have a motive. But that's not true, lieutenant. He does have a motive. And now I know what that motive is. He was the chauffeur. I never knew that. So now it all makes sense, that conversation I overheard in the bar and the club car a couple weeks ago. The train was crowded. Jerry had gotten up from the card table and come over to pick up a couple of rounds of drinks. Standing at the bar was, mister Alexander Trowbridge. Yeah. The the very big guy on Wall Street. Very strict. Very dignified. Anyhow, Jerry spotted him and said Hello there, Alex.
Good evening, mister Garland. Well, it ain't every day I have the privilege of riding home on a train with, the wolf of Wall Street. And let me buy you a drink. Thank you. I have one. Well, have another one on me. That won't be necessary. Thank you. I never have more than one. Okay, Alex. Say, look. I may drop over to your office one day. I may have a little business to throw your way. Jerry Garland had a hide like a rhinoceros, which is why you couldn't kill him with a bullet or a knife. You had to use poison. Anyhow, it was obvious to me that mister Trowbridge was very put out, and the fellow standing next to him spotted it too. And I remember Trowbridge saying, I have every reason to suspect that man's a thief.
There's no real proof, of course, but Swanson's company handles the man's insurance. We had a burglary some years ago. Wife's jewels was supposed to be stolen. Swanson could swear Garland pulled a swindle on the insurance company. Is that so? The jewels never turned up at any of the known receivers of stolen goods. Actually, Swanson must know more than he's telling, but he's stuck for proof. Another round here, please, Lou. Yes, sir. I know. Swanson wouldn't make such a charge, even off the record, unless he knew it was true. Meanwhile, some poor servant went to jail at the home. Oh, I'm sorry, sir. That's alright, Lou. I, it, spilled all over you. Well, it's just water.
No harm done. Was that why Lou dropped the glass? Was that why he turned so pale? I didn't think anything about it at the time. But now now it makes sense. The lieutenant had just said that Lou Vickrey did not have a motive, but he did have. Frank. I know about it. About Lou having a motive? Yep. He told me himself. He figured if this kind of thing was being talked about, how Terry Garland himself could've staged the robbery, it was sure to get the cops. And then he'd really be in a jam. Well, he's in a jam anyhow, isn't he? No. Not exactly. You see, if he poisoned the coffee and then gave two cups to Jerry to take back to the table, how could he be sure which cup Jerry would drink? Yeah. Yeah. Frank, you see these fellas every day. Who had a motive for killing Jerry?
Well, nobody really liked him. Well, who were his friends? In the club car? Mhmm. Well, he had no friends I knew of. Nobody really liked him. Well, who might have liked him the least? You should get into a discussion of human nature, lieutenant. Bill Russell, one of the regulars in the game, never opened his mouth except a bet. Now how do I know what that man thought? Dimes Jorgens. Well, he, he didn't like Jerry. Over the year, he must have lost at least 15,000 in that game. Jerry was practically the only big winner. 15,000 could be a motive for revenge. Oh, but take Pete McHugh. He fancies himself the best poker player in the world.
Yet Jerry was always taking his money. A lot of money? No. The big loss was pride. Is that a motive? No. No. No. No. Not really. This, Don Jorgensen, tell me more about him. Funny thing. This morning, he decided to quit the game, but he went back for a kind of a farewell. Let's see what we can do with Don Jorgensen. You lost heavily. I wouldn't say so, lieutenant. Now it is common knowledge aboard the seven forty nine that you were an unusually big loser. Now is that true? Well, actually, in a friendly game, you don't notice. Now, look. We've got a murder case, and you'd better tell me the truth. Now we know you worked with Simmons and Boswell at Wall Street, and we know what your salary is.
We know just about how much you've been losing. Now hold on, lieutenant. I Shall we check your bank to see what loans you negotiated and your insurance company to see if any policies were cashed in? Of course, if you borrow it from the loan sharks, you will really need our help. Okay. It's true. You wanna know what I lost? $21,364.87. You see? I know it to the penny. How could it happen? Well, if you take the train an average of two hundred days a year, you lose an average of a hundred dollars a day. Not every day. Sometimes you win. I even won $300 1 morning, but that's just the cheese in the trap.
Don't ask me why I kept doing it. It's it's a bad dream. It cost me my wife. She's gonna divorce me. You suspect that Jerry was cheating? Yes. Did you kill him? No. I think you did. Lieutenant, I swear to you, I'm innocent. And I think I know how you worked it. The only way you could've worked it. That's pretty good. If Don Jorgensen wanted to have Jerry Garland drink a cup of poisoned coffee, how could Don have worked it? Since, as we saw, Jerry got the two cups of coffee, Jerry handed out the coffee, how could Don be sure he wasn't getting the wrong one? Well, Lieutenant Parsons has made his deduction on facts and inferences that were available to all of you. Why don't we compare notes in act three?
Mister Sam Johnson, who we quote quite often because he knew practically everything worth knowing, declared that a man could do anything if he did it in a genteel way, even cheat at cards. Well, Sam Johnson never rode in a commuter train. Jerry Garland cheated. And in the opinion of the police, that's why someone, namely Don Jorgensen, murdered him. But I didn't do it. You don't have to say anything. Am I am I being arrested, lieutenant? Mister Jorgensen, because of Jerry Garland, you lost your wife, all the money you had. No. I lost everything because of my own weakness. And so you decided to kill him. You're wrong. You worked out this scheme to poison him. What good would it do for me to kill him? Would it burn out the disease I have inside of me, this this mania to gamble?
I swore I would quit, but I can't. You figured you would poison his coffee. How? Frank, you saw. The whole club car saw. Jerry went to the bar. He got the coffee. If there was poison in one cup, I could have gotten it. No. You had a way to guard against that. How? How could I guard against that? With the help of Lou Vitry. Lou Vitry? Don Jorgensen. Lou Vitry. Two men with powerful motives to kill Jerry Garland. But I tell you I First, wait to hear what I tell you. You knew Jerry liked to treat everybody to coffee so he could brag about it. You knew he would go to the bar to get it. And you also knew the other two at the table, Pete and Bill, never drank coffee. So you knew it would only be two cups. I knew nothing of the sort. Jerry would go up to get the coffee. Lou would pour him the poison cup. Yeah. But how could Lou make sure I wouldn't drink it? Because Lou would know which cup was which. And if Jerry set the poison one down next to you, he would give you the high sign. And you would make an excuse or forget to drink it.
It it isn't true. Lieutenant, could I talk to you in private for a second? It, it couldn't all work that way. No? No. Makes sense. Oh, I got two guys with a motive. Even if you could prove that Don knew about Lou's motive, you don't have a case. Why not? Because I saw Lou pour that coffee. It was from the same glass pot that he poured about 10 other cups including mine. That was the only coffee. You, drank that same coffee? Threwed it down and eight other people in the car. Oh, then it was in the cream. Oh, we all use the same cream picture. Oh, the sugar. Now the sugar was in separate packets. Yes. It was. They were piled in a dish. I saw Jerry reach in, pick out two, pour one in each cup.
Everybody uses packets from that dish. There was no way either Lou or Don could control any single packet if it contained the poison. You're sure of that? Yeah. But I'm sure. How did that poison get into that coffee? Now I've got two great motives, Lou and Don. But there's no way I can find for any of them to get the poison in his cup. Time went on, Days passed, and I guess life went on also. I don't know what happens to a murder case when it doesn't get solved and the papers stop writing about it. I suppose it just sort of gets into a file cabinet somewhere. Well, seven forty nine left Westville as usual on or about on time.
The club car found other things to talk about. And the card game continued with Don back in, but the new member was mister Trowbridge. And because he was so fabulously rich, they played for pennies. But I kept thinking and thinking about the murder. Well, one night, I was taking my evening run home, and I stopped in the club car. Tickets, please. Tickets. Hello, Frank? Oh, evening, mister Jorgensen. Frank, I never did get a chance to thank you properly for what you did for me. What did I do for you? Well, the day Jerry was, you know, that cop, he was all set to lower the boom, and and you just took him aside.
What'd you tell him? Well, I just had a fine, clean-cut champ like you. How could you possibly be a killer? I bet you did. You'll be better off if you never met again in your life. See you. Tickets, please. Tickets. Thank you. Oh, good evening, mister Drumridge. Evening, Frank. No poker tonight? Well, if I may rephrase the title of a grand old song, those wedding bells are breaking up that old game of mine. Oh, who's getting married? At the bar there. Don. But didn't he just get divorced? No. Certainly. He had to shed the old one before he could acquire a new one. You're not allowed to have two at a time in our culture.
Well, one was all I could ever handle. Capacities differ, Frank. Oh, there she is now. She's just come up to the bar. Do you wonder that he finds her company more exciting than our poker game? No. But don't wonder at all. There is a beautiful young lady. You mean, you don't know who she is. Right? Oh, can't say that I do. She's Dora. Mhmm. Are you Dora Garland, Jerry's widow? She's Jerry's widow? You mean you never met her? No. Well, for that matter, mister Trowbridge, I never met your wife either. Yes. That's, that's true. She's Dora Garland.
How could you figure to be this young and this pretty? And how could you ever figure what she saw in Jerry? I moved back toward the bar. Suddenly, I realized that I had seen her before, somewhere before. But where? Where? And then I remembered where. At the bar in the terminal. My old Tom Franklin run, and I was waiting to take the 10 o eight out. And I was having a beer. There was a man, well, there was a woman sitting in the booth ahead of me. The man had his back to me. I couldn't see his face, but I knew it was Don Jorgensen. The woman was facing me. She was that woman.
Now I know who she was, Dora Garland. And she and Dawn Jorgensen were having, as they say, an an affair. And from what I knew of Jerry, he was the type who would kill both of them if he found out. So to the long list of motives for murder, add one more, but a good strong one. No. Frank, don't give me any more suspects. I don't want no more motives. I got all of those I can handle. I'll tell you what I need. I need what I can't get. Only any one of them or two of them could have put that poison in the coffee. Why don't you forget it? Well, it happened on my train. I I feel responsible. Yeah. Well, maybe you did it. Me? Yeah. Well, when I put together everybody's story, Frank, I think you left something out. What? You could have poisoned that coffee. Why?
How? Why, I can dig around for. How? Okay. Jerry was starting back to the table with the coffee tray. Okay. Now you're headed the other way up the aisle. The train gives a lurch, Jerry almost falls. You grab the tray from him. For just a second. Long enough maybe to put that poison in the cup. Yeah? Well, here's what's wrong with that theory. First, how could I have in those few seconds gotten the tops off the cups and put in the poison? Tops. Lew always puts those plastic tops on the cups so you won't spill any. Yeah. Second, even if I was a magician and could do it, how could I be sure which cup Jerry himself would drink? That was a good theory.
Maybe the coffee wasn't poisoned in the club car. It had to be. At Poison Works within minutes. No. No. I am afraid we're stuck. It sure looked that way. A couple days passed, I was on the seven forty nine again, and somehow it didn't seem the same without Jerry. A likable guy he wasn't, but he sure livened things up. And there was another side to him. I remembered it was a couple days before he died. Me was the first one on the tray. He was sitting at the table waiting for the others, and there was a look on his face that I had never seen before. I, I guess it was a lost look.
Morning, mister Garland. Oh, morning, Frank. Oh, something, wrong this morning, mister Garland? Wrong lady said that. I don't know. I guess you just look kind of, you know, blue. Do I? Yeah. I'd say so. I'd like to murder a couple of people, but that couldn't be the reason. Well, we'll get the old game started. That puts a bloom in the cheeks. Now I remembered. That was the morning after I had seen his wife, Dora, in the bar at the terminal. So he had found out, and he was actually thinking of murder. I just needed one more little fact.
Morning, mister Jorgensen. See you left in the club car in the street. Mister Trowbridge is on vacation, and Pete is sick today, so I thought I'd sit up here and catch up on some paperwork. Too noisy back there. Don, when did mister Garland find out you were having an affair with his wife? Say, what are you Just answer the question. Well, not just about a week before he died. How did you know that he knew? Did he tell you? No. Did he tell Dora? No. And how did you know? Frank, did you ever have an affair with another man's wife? Nope. You're not missing anything.
But when the husband finds out, you can tell. You can tell by certain little things in his manner. Is that why you and Dora decided to kill him? No. Oh, no. No. We were scared. Yes. But for our own lives. Now you knew Jerry. He was a was a violent man. So why did you fool around with his wife? You know why? To get back at him. He destroyed me. He stripped me of all my money. My wife walked out on me with the kids. I had to get back at him, and this was the only way I could. It was the one place I could prove I was a better man than he was. And then I saw it.
I saw the whole thing. Why did we all wonder who wanted to kill Jerry? Why didn't we ask who it was that Jerry himself wanted to kill? Why didn't we believe that the poison was intended for Jerry? Why couldn't it be meant for Don Jorgensen? Now what, Frank? Lieutenant, you said I could have been responsible for Jerry's death. You were right. I was. Are you crazy? Jerry decides to kill Don. Okay. He goes for the coffee. Blue fours. Jerry then opens the sugar package. Jerry is in a position to use a packet that he had with him that contains the poison. Uh-huh. I notice you're listening now. Hey. Go on. Now Jerry comes back to the table with a tray. He knows which cup he has poisoned, but the train gives a lurch. He almost falls. He's about to drop the tray. I'm there. I grab it from him. Him. He saves himself from falling, and his eye is off me for a second or two. I have to stop myself from falling.
I switch the tray from my right hand to my left. Unconsciously, I turn it around. He can't see that. It all happened so quickly. I give him the tray. As if nothing happened, he gets to drink the poisoned coffee. And how do we prove it? I guess we don't. But I believe it. Do you? The lieutenant didn't commit himself. Do you believe it? It makes sense. Satisfies all the conditions. But we are dealing with the most unpredictable materials in nature, namely human beings. Maybe Pete McHugh, the jealous card player, did it somehow. Maybe it was Lou and or Don and or Dora.
Could we swear on our souls it wasn't the conductor? I'll be back with more from the realm of infinite possibility. Our story was about cards. What did a great master of cards say on the subject? The bizarre world of cards, a world of power politics, where punishment and rewards were meted out immediately. A deck of cards is built like the purest of hierarchies, with every card a master to those below it, a lackey to those above it. And there were the masses, the long suits, which always asserted themselves in the end and triumphed over the aces and the kings. Thus spoke the great player, Eli Culberson, and he was in the know. Our cast included William Griffiths, Larry Haynes, Russell Horton, and Earl Hammond.
The entire production was under the direction of Hyman Brown. And now a preview of our next tale. How in the world did he accomplish it? The door, the window, and chimney were impassable. The flooring and walls were solid. The Julia Stoner was undoubtedly alone when she met her death. It would appear so, but then how do you account for these nocturnal whistles and a very peculiar word to the dying woman? Well, I I can't account for any of it, Holmes, unless they were hallucination. Not likely that the two women would be afflicted with the same hallucination about whistles in the night, and only one of them referred to the speckled band.
Well, you you evidently formed some conclusions. Otherwise, we wouldn't this very moment be on our way to Stoke Moran. No conclusions, my dear doctor. Only surmises, which have to be checked on the spot before I can even begin to make deductions. This is EG Marshall inviting you to return to our mystery theater for another adventure in the macabre. Until next time. Pleasant dreams.
[00:44:57] Unknown:
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[00:00:30] Unknown:
CBS radio mystery theater presents Come in. Welcome. I'm E. G. Marshall. And after all, what is a lie? 'Tis but the truth in masquerade according to Lord Byron. Does it work both ways? Is the truth a lie in masquerade? Those great points are not always easy to follow. Is it possible that there are neither absolute lies nor absolute truths, but varying degrees of each? As we shall discover perhaps during the next hour, I want you to tell me everything you know about the murder. What murder is that, Lieutenant? The murder that took place on your train this morning. Oh, now wait a minute. That wasn't a murder. Fella died of a heart attack. Yeah?
Who told you it was a heart attack? Well, I mean, the way he just keeled over, I kinda thought. No. He was murdered. Our mystery drama, Come Fill My Cup, was written especially for the mystery theater by Sam Dann and stars Larry Haines and William Griffiths. It is sponsored in part by Buick Motor Division. I'll be back shortly with act one. Out of the shadows of the night, the world rolls into light. It is daybreak everywhere, sings the poet. Yes. Daybreak and breakfast and off to the daily round of toil for one's bread. They gather at the railroad station in the town of Westville to catch the seven forty nine, which will bear them to the big city, more than 50 miles and sixty one minutes away.
And they purchase their big city newspapers. They stamp their feet against the cold. They exchange idle small talk till the big shiny electric cars skitter to a stop along the platform, and they scatter aboard and scramble for seats. Thus, another day has begun. What? What? My name is Frank Durham. I've been with the road forty five years. I can remember steam, diesels, now these. Forty five years. Rain, shine, snow, hail, one of them letter carriers saying. Well, we go through the same thing. It's funny. When people find out I'm conductor of the seven forty nine, they kinda look at me and say, hey.
Isn't that the one? Yeah. It's the one where the guy was murdered. Now as a rule, people don't get murdered on trains. Oh, I I know all about the Orient Express, but, a commuter train. So I guess you, wanna know all about it. Okay. Tickets. All tickets, please. Oh, say, what are you doing up here, mister Jorgensen? Good morning, Frank. Yeah. I thought you'd be back in the club car with Jerry and them. Yeah. I decided to change my ways. No more cards. Satisfaction. You better believe it. Well, I hope for your sake it's true. No, Frank. It's all over. I don't need a sermon. I always felt that poker game was too rich for your blood. You have no idea how anemic it made me. If you pardon my saying it, you were in way over your head.
Jerry Garland at least a billionaire. So is Pete McHugh. That is for Bill. I'm well out of it. You listen to a man who's old enough to be your father. You see, you stay out of it. That made me feel good. Don Jorgensen has been a patsy in his high stakes poker game for more than a year. In the sixty one minutes, Westville to New York, you could lose a hundred, hundred and $50 easy. And there were days Tom did just that. Well, I went back to punch tickets in the club car. That's the last car in the July private car. You pay extra for it, but you can sit at a table, have coffee or breakfast, play cards, and you're away from the, well, not the, riffraff, but, I'm the fellow put it, the maddening throng or something.
Tickets, gentlemen. Thank you. Frank, you seen Don? Mhmm. I saw him on a platform getting on a train. He's holding up the game. Look. You fellas sit here, play hand of gin or something. I'll ride him out. Jerry got up from the table and started walking forward. I wonder what luck he would have with Don. When I went up ahead again, I saw him sitting next to Don. I moved slowly and stood behind him. I was curious. Everybody's luck turns, kid. Except mine. Look. You enjoy the game. I can't afford it anymore. An argument I can't buy. I am reformed from now on. Okay, kid. I hope so. I got a book to read, a crossword puzzle. Look. I'm all for a guy kicking the habit. Any habit. It's just, it's just What? Well, it's just, I wish you didn't decide to kick it today.
Why not today? Well, I feel lucky. Then I'm definitely picking the right time. I feel today is my day to take Peter McHugh. Sir, go take him. Nobody wants to play three handed. Well, you can pick up somebody else. No. There's not many guys with the courage to play in that game. Not to mention the money. Listen, Don. Do me a favor. Quit tomorrow. Tomorrow? Yeah. Play today. No. Come on now. It's a favor to me. It sure wouldn't be a favor to me. Don, you can't move. Would you like to know how much I lost this past year? What I'm trying to say And to you, Jerry It won't cost you a cent to play today, Don. Oh, yeah? Let's hear this. If you win, you win. Keep it. But if you lose, I'll pay you back.
What? No matter how much. Just keep tabs, and I'll pay you back every cent later. Well, you must really wanna play bad. Come on. Come on, Dom. I can hit Pete for a bundle. How can you lose? Okay. Just this once. I didn't know what to make of that whole conversation. Anyhow, Jerry and Don got up, walked to the club car. I finished up front, went back there myself for the morning coffee. Down toward the end of the car, I could see the poker game in full swing. I stood at the bar while Lou handed me my usual coffee in. I ate, drank slowly.
I turned to watch the poker players. I could hear the conversation, clinking of coins, and I could see the green of the bills. Caradeuces is high. It's you, Jerry. Yeah. Yeah. So I see. About Caradeuces check. Deuces check. Dealer folds. So Ace High bets. That's you, Pete? This Ace High bets $10. Bill? I see you fold. Okay. That leaves it up to deuces, Jerry. Yeah. Yeah. So it does. The little Deuces will see that $10 bet and raise you 20. And that's about how it would go. Check and raise, which is about as cutthroat as poker can ever get. But at least they were honest about it. They didn't pretend it was a friendly game.
It went on like that for a bit. And then who wants a cup of coffee? You, Pete? I had enough. Uh-huh. Bill, you're still off coffee? Come on, fellas. I'm buying. How about you, Don? When do you ever know me to turn down a cup of coffee? Yeah. I'll go up and get it now while I'm out of this hand. I'll be right back. You see, you got your card game going, mister Garland? Yep. Yep. Yep. We have to find a new recruit. No cup of coffee for me, mister Jochenson. Come on. I'm losing money standing here. What's your thing, mister Garland? Just then, I thought I heard a kind of squealing sound. I left my coffee and walked back quickly to the rear cab.
I opened the door to see if maybe we didn't have a jam break, but it was nothing. Anyhow, I stood there for a couple of seconds. I could see Lou at the bar up ahead pouring the two cups of coffee. He put them on the tray, and Jerry spilled a packet of sugar into each. Now the reason I go into all these details is because this is that famous or what I should say, notorious day. I started back for the bar. Jerry picked up the tray and started toward the table. Halfway, we met in the aisle. I was about to step aside to let him pass when we hit that curve just before we cross a New York state line. A train sways pretty bad, and I could see Jerry was about to lose his balance. Well, I wanted to help him, but as he fell back, he automatically thrust the tray forward, and I caught it and took it from his hands. He grabbed the back of his seat, and so did I.
For a few seconds, we both nearly fell, but we both managed to keep our balance. Then Jerry took the tray back from me and went to his table, and I watched the game continue from the bar. Here's your coffee, Don. Oh, thanks. It's five card draw, Jerry. We dealt you in, adding up $5. A little jack's a better, The famous name of the gig. Well, let's take a sip of this coffee, and I'll examine my options. I I'll just get her to move on. We'll be in the terminal in less than fifteen minutes. Come on. Come on. There's enough time for entire fortunes to be made, Pete. Well, that's pretty good coffee this morning, Jerry. Yeah.
Lou gets lucky once in a while. Speaking of luck, gents, she's, open for another $5. Bill? I see you pulled. Gold. I'm in. And now cards. Hey. That is pretty good coffee. Hey. I want three. Three to Brother Pete? Give me two. Two to Jerry. And the dealer draws what? You know, more kids have lost out on a college education because their fathers drew to an inside street. Opener bets. That's you, Jerry. Jerry? Jerry, you gonna sit there and drink that coffee or what? Alright. Don't rush. Don't rush me. Don't rush. Our good friend. Let's see.
Don. Don, you drew, three. No. No. Pete drew three. You, you you bought. No. I I drew one. Yeah. One. Bill asked for Bill didn't ask for anything. Bill's out. Oh, oh, Bill Bill is out here. You know, it's hot in here. Somebody ought to ask Craig to turn down the heat. You know, you can have better not. How what do you think I played played this game for? I wish it wasn't so hot here. Jerry. Are you okay? Yeah. I bet. Hey, Pete. Bill, I I I think there's something wrong with Jerry. I I I bet, I bet, I bet, Frank, come over here quick. Oh, my chest. Yeah. I got oh, my chest. Oh, Frank. You you you got a phone on this train? Call ahead for an ambulance. I got this.
Jerry. Jerry. I telephoned to have an ambulance meet us at the next station. There was also a doctor among the passengers in the third car, and he came back quickly. But it didn't matter. Nothing would matter anymore to Jerry Garvin. He was dead. They took him off the train. When we got to the terminal, I had a lot of writing to do, a lot of forms to fill out and reports to make. I was busy in the locker room when I heard a man ask for me. You Frank Herb? That's right. I'm Lieutenant Parsons, New York City Police. Yeah? You're the conductor of train number 4231. It's the, 749 out of Westville, Connecticut. Sure.
I want you to tell me everything you know about the murder. What murder is that? The murder that took place on your train this morning. Well, wait a minute. That that wasn't a murder. A a fellow died. A man by the name of Gerald k Garland. Yes. He died of a heart attack. Oh, yeah? Who told you it was a heart attack? Well, I mean, the way he keeled over, I kinda thought that No. No. He was murdered. How could he been murdered? He was poisoned. Well, how could he been poisoned? That's just what I wanna ask you. Okay. Let's all ask ourselves.
How could he have been poisoned? And to get the red tape out of the way, the facts are clear. Lieutenant Parsons made that statement because a medical examination showed definite traces of starmine, a poison in the strychnine family. So we have our murder on the July. But how? Look. This is only the end of act one. You'll have to be patient until I return with act two. Trust everybody, but cut the cards, said the beloved mister Dewey. Ah, yes. How many decks of cards have been cut and shuffled on the July, the Commuter Express from Westville, especially in the club car where perhaps the most cutthroat game has been going on for several years.
Well, if the game keeps being cutthroat, someone may begin to take that word literally. Obviously, someone did, except he didn't use a knife. He employed poison. Poison? Are you saying Jerry Garland was poisoned, lieutenant? That's what the medical examiner says, and it's good enough for me. But poison? How could he have been poisoned? As they say, it was ingested in the coffee he drank. Oh, no. Yes. Happens to be the fact. Now it took place in the club car. And, what was Jerry Garland doing at the time of his death? He was playing cards. He was part of this regular game. He was playing and drinking his coffee, then he just keeled over. The coffee?
How did he get the coffee? He went up to the bar for two coffees. Two coffees? Yeah. One for himself, the other for Don Jorgensen. Well, he, picked up the coffee. Who served the coffee? Lou. Lou Vitry, our bar man. Lou poured out the coffee into the cups. Yeah. That's right. And Jerry put them on a tray and went back to the table. Now would you know if there was, cream and sugar in the coffees? Yeah. Yeah. No. You mentioned it. I saw Jerry put in the cream and sugar himself while he was still at the bar. Into both coffees? Yeah. Yeah. That's right. And, and then he went back to the table. Is that and then what did he do? He gave one cup to Don Jorgensen, one cup he kept for himself. Yeah.
It couldn't have been more than a couple, three minutes, and that was it. And he drank this coffee? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Now the other cup of coffee. The one he gave us, Don Jorgensen. Yeah. Don Jorgensen. He drank his coffee also? Yeah. Yeah. You saw him do it? Oh, yes. Right. I want you to stay with me while I question some of the people in that club car. When? Soon as I can round them up. I, I have to take eleven twenty seven out. No. No. I don't think so. That was detective Lieutenant Parsons. Grover Cleveland Parsons.
Well, the first person he got hold of was Lou Vitray, the barman. All of a sudden, I got the shock of my life. But I'll, I'll feed it to you gently, the way it was said to me. How long you been with the railroad? Five years, lieutenant. What'd you do before that? I look. Lieutenant, is it important? Just answered the question. I I work for mister Garland. Jerry Garland? Yeah. As what? Well, I I was a chauffeur. Why did you leave the job? Look. Do I have to say this? Answer the question. Well, can the, can the answer be confidential between me and the cops? Well, so far. Because if it's known, I can lose my job.
Does, Frank have to hear me answer? No. He won't say anything. I guarantee it. Well, why could you lose your job? Because, I, I got a record. For what? I ended three years for burglary, but I was innocent. Tell him, Lou. Well, one night there was a burglary. Jewels that belonged to Jerry's wife, Theodora, were stolen. Well, they they searched all the servants naturally. And in my room, I found a bracelet. Oh, what was it doing there? Well, it must have been planted there by the thieves to turn the heat on me. And and it did. I I I was put away. Well, how did you get the job on the railroad if you had this record? Jerry Garland got it for me. Why?
Well, when I got out, I went to him to his office. What are you doing here, Lou? You escaped from jail. Oh, I'm I'm out, mister Garland. Oh, what do you want? Well, I didn't steal those jewels. Look, Lou. It was all decided by a court of law. You ain't a crook, and you know it. Oh, maybe not, but you might have been tempted. Well, never. I I've been your show for thirteen years. You trusted your kids to me when I was little. I lived in your house. Now you know I ain't a crook. Mister Garland, you gotta help me. Ma'am, Lou, if you need some money to get on your feet. So I need more money. I need a job.
I can't get a job. I got a record. You understand? I know. I know it's tough, Lou. You don't know how tough it is. I'm I'm turned down everywhere I go. Help me get a job. Give me a job. Now, can't very well take you back as my chauffeur. Why not? Where? How would it look? Can't you do anything for me? I'll take any job at all. He got me a job. This job, my name isn't Lou Vitry either. I had to change it. Vitry is my, mother's maiden name. Well, how could the poison have gotten into mister Garland's cup? I don't know. Okay, boo. That's all for now. Just keep handy in case you need it. You can go. Oh, thanks. Thanks, lieutenant.
No. He doesn't have a Morty. He doesn't have a motive. But that's not true, lieutenant. He does have a motive. And now I know what that motive is. He was the chauffeur. I never knew that. So now it all makes sense, that conversation I overheard in the bar and the club car a couple weeks ago. The train was crowded. Jerry had gotten up from the card table and come over to pick up a couple of rounds of drinks. Standing at the bar was, mister Alexander Trowbridge. Yeah. The the very big guy on Wall Street. Very strict. Very dignified. Anyhow, Jerry spotted him and said Hello there, Alex.
Good evening, mister Garland. Well, it ain't every day I have the privilege of riding home on a train with, the wolf of Wall Street. And let me buy you a drink. Thank you. I have one. Well, have another one on me. That won't be necessary. Thank you. I never have more than one. Okay, Alex. Say, look. I may drop over to your office one day. I may have a little business to throw your way. Jerry Garland had a hide like a rhinoceros, which is why you couldn't kill him with a bullet or a knife. You had to use poison. Anyhow, it was obvious to me that mister Trowbridge was very put out, and the fellow standing next to him spotted it too. And I remember Trowbridge saying, I have every reason to suspect that man's a thief.
There's no real proof, of course, but Swanson's company handles the man's insurance. We had a burglary some years ago. Wife's jewels was supposed to be stolen. Swanson could swear Garland pulled a swindle on the insurance company. Is that so? The jewels never turned up at any of the known receivers of stolen goods. Actually, Swanson must know more than he's telling, but he's stuck for proof. Another round here, please, Lou. Yes, sir. I know. Swanson wouldn't make such a charge, even off the record, unless he knew it was true. Meanwhile, some poor servant went to jail at the home. Oh, I'm sorry, sir. That's alright, Lou. I, it, spilled all over you. Well, it's just water.
No harm done. Was that why Lou dropped the glass? Was that why he turned so pale? I didn't think anything about it at the time. But now now it makes sense. The lieutenant had just said that Lou Vickrey did not have a motive, but he did have. Frank. I know about it. About Lou having a motive? Yep. He told me himself. He figured if this kind of thing was being talked about, how Terry Garland himself could've staged the robbery, it was sure to get the cops. And then he'd really be in a jam. Well, he's in a jam anyhow, isn't he? No. Not exactly. You see, if he poisoned the coffee and then gave two cups to Jerry to take back to the table, how could he be sure which cup Jerry would drink? Yeah. Yeah. Frank, you see these fellas every day. Who had a motive for killing Jerry?
Well, nobody really liked him. Well, who were his friends? In the club car? Mhmm. Well, he had no friends I knew of. Nobody really liked him. Well, who might have liked him the least? You should get into a discussion of human nature, lieutenant. Bill Russell, one of the regulars in the game, never opened his mouth except a bet. Now how do I know what that man thought? Dimes Jorgens. Well, he, he didn't like Jerry. Over the year, he must have lost at least 15,000 in that game. Jerry was practically the only big winner. 15,000 could be a motive for revenge. Oh, but take Pete McHugh. He fancies himself the best poker player in the world.
Yet Jerry was always taking his money. A lot of money? No. The big loss was pride. Is that a motive? No. No. No. No. Not really. This, Don Jorgensen, tell me more about him. Funny thing. This morning, he decided to quit the game, but he went back for a kind of a farewell. Let's see what we can do with Don Jorgensen. You lost heavily. I wouldn't say so, lieutenant. Now it is common knowledge aboard the seven forty nine that you were an unusually big loser. Now is that true? Well, actually, in a friendly game, you don't notice. Now, look. We've got a murder case, and you'd better tell me the truth. Now we know you worked with Simmons and Boswell at Wall Street, and we know what your salary is.
We know just about how much you've been losing. Now hold on, lieutenant. I Shall we check your bank to see what loans you negotiated and your insurance company to see if any policies were cashed in? Of course, if you borrow it from the loan sharks, you will really need our help. Okay. It's true. You wanna know what I lost? $21,364.87. You see? I know it to the penny. How could it happen? Well, if you take the train an average of two hundred days a year, you lose an average of a hundred dollars a day. Not every day. Sometimes you win. I even won $300 1 morning, but that's just the cheese in the trap.
Don't ask me why I kept doing it. It's it's a bad dream. It cost me my wife. She's gonna divorce me. You suspect that Jerry was cheating? Yes. Did you kill him? No. I think you did. Lieutenant, I swear to you, I'm innocent. And I think I know how you worked it. The only way you could've worked it. That's pretty good. If Don Jorgensen wanted to have Jerry Garland drink a cup of poisoned coffee, how could Don have worked it? Since, as we saw, Jerry got the two cups of coffee, Jerry handed out the coffee, how could Don be sure he wasn't getting the wrong one? Well, Lieutenant Parsons has made his deduction on facts and inferences that were available to all of you. Why don't we compare notes in act three?
Mister Sam Johnson, who we quote quite often because he knew practically everything worth knowing, declared that a man could do anything if he did it in a genteel way, even cheat at cards. Well, Sam Johnson never rode in a commuter train. Jerry Garland cheated. And in the opinion of the police, that's why someone, namely Don Jorgensen, murdered him. But I didn't do it. You don't have to say anything. Am I am I being arrested, lieutenant? Mister Jorgensen, because of Jerry Garland, you lost your wife, all the money you had. No. I lost everything because of my own weakness. And so you decided to kill him. You're wrong. You worked out this scheme to poison him. What good would it do for me to kill him? Would it burn out the disease I have inside of me, this this mania to gamble?
I swore I would quit, but I can't. You figured you would poison his coffee. How? Frank, you saw. The whole club car saw. Jerry went to the bar. He got the coffee. If there was poison in one cup, I could have gotten it. No. You had a way to guard against that. How? How could I guard against that? With the help of Lou Vitry. Lou Vitry? Don Jorgensen. Lou Vitry. Two men with powerful motives to kill Jerry Garland. But I tell you I First, wait to hear what I tell you. You knew Jerry liked to treat everybody to coffee so he could brag about it. You knew he would go to the bar to get it. And you also knew the other two at the table, Pete and Bill, never drank coffee. So you knew it would only be two cups. I knew nothing of the sort. Jerry would go up to get the coffee. Lou would pour him the poison cup. Yeah. But how could Lou make sure I wouldn't drink it? Because Lou would know which cup was which. And if Jerry set the poison one down next to you, he would give you the high sign. And you would make an excuse or forget to drink it.
It it isn't true. Lieutenant, could I talk to you in private for a second? It, it couldn't all work that way. No? No. Makes sense. Oh, I got two guys with a motive. Even if you could prove that Don knew about Lou's motive, you don't have a case. Why not? Because I saw Lou pour that coffee. It was from the same glass pot that he poured about 10 other cups including mine. That was the only coffee. You, drank that same coffee? Threwed it down and eight other people in the car. Oh, then it was in the cream. Oh, we all use the same cream picture. Oh, the sugar. Now the sugar was in separate packets. Yes. It was. They were piled in a dish. I saw Jerry reach in, pick out two, pour one in each cup.
Everybody uses packets from that dish. There was no way either Lou or Don could control any single packet if it contained the poison. You're sure of that? Yeah. But I'm sure. How did that poison get into that coffee? Now I've got two great motives, Lou and Don. But there's no way I can find for any of them to get the poison in his cup. Time went on, Days passed, and I guess life went on also. I don't know what happens to a murder case when it doesn't get solved and the papers stop writing about it. I suppose it just sort of gets into a file cabinet somewhere. Well, seven forty nine left Westville as usual on or about on time.
The club car found other things to talk about. And the card game continued with Don back in, but the new member was mister Trowbridge. And because he was so fabulously rich, they played for pennies. But I kept thinking and thinking about the murder. Well, one night, I was taking my evening run home, and I stopped in the club car. Tickets, please. Tickets. Hello, Frank? Oh, evening, mister Jorgensen. Frank, I never did get a chance to thank you properly for what you did for me. What did I do for you? Well, the day Jerry was, you know, that cop, he was all set to lower the boom, and and you just took him aside.
What'd you tell him? Well, I just had a fine, clean-cut champ like you. How could you possibly be a killer? I bet you did. You'll be better off if you never met again in your life. See you. Tickets, please. Tickets. Thank you. Oh, good evening, mister Drumridge. Evening, Frank. No poker tonight? Well, if I may rephrase the title of a grand old song, those wedding bells are breaking up that old game of mine. Oh, who's getting married? At the bar there. Don. But didn't he just get divorced? No. Certainly. He had to shed the old one before he could acquire a new one. You're not allowed to have two at a time in our culture.
Well, one was all I could ever handle. Capacities differ, Frank. Oh, there she is now. She's just come up to the bar. Do you wonder that he finds her company more exciting than our poker game? No. But don't wonder at all. There is a beautiful young lady. You mean, you don't know who she is. Right? Oh, can't say that I do. She's Dora. Mhmm. Are you Dora Garland, Jerry's widow? She's Jerry's widow? You mean you never met her? No. Well, for that matter, mister Trowbridge, I never met your wife either. Yes. That's, that's true. She's Dora Garland.
How could you figure to be this young and this pretty? And how could you ever figure what she saw in Jerry? I moved back toward the bar. Suddenly, I realized that I had seen her before, somewhere before. But where? Where? And then I remembered where. At the bar in the terminal. My old Tom Franklin run, and I was waiting to take the 10 o eight out. And I was having a beer. There was a man, well, there was a woman sitting in the booth ahead of me. The man had his back to me. I couldn't see his face, but I knew it was Don Jorgensen. The woman was facing me. She was that woman.
Now I know who she was, Dora Garland. And she and Dawn Jorgensen were having, as they say, an an affair. And from what I knew of Jerry, he was the type who would kill both of them if he found out. So to the long list of motives for murder, add one more, but a good strong one. No. Frank, don't give me any more suspects. I don't want no more motives. I got all of those I can handle. I'll tell you what I need. I need what I can't get. Only any one of them or two of them could have put that poison in the coffee. Why don't you forget it? Well, it happened on my train. I I feel responsible. Yeah. Well, maybe you did it. Me? Yeah. Well, when I put together everybody's story, Frank, I think you left something out. What? You could have poisoned that coffee. Why?
How? Why, I can dig around for. How? Okay. Jerry was starting back to the table with the coffee tray. Okay. Now you're headed the other way up the aisle. The train gives a lurch, Jerry almost falls. You grab the tray from him. For just a second. Long enough maybe to put that poison in the cup. Yeah? Well, here's what's wrong with that theory. First, how could I have in those few seconds gotten the tops off the cups and put in the poison? Tops. Lew always puts those plastic tops on the cups so you won't spill any. Yeah. Second, even if I was a magician and could do it, how could I be sure which cup Jerry himself would drink? That was a good theory.
Maybe the coffee wasn't poisoned in the club car. It had to be. At Poison Works within minutes. No. No. I am afraid we're stuck. It sure looked that way. A couple days passed, I was on the seven forty nine again, and somehow it didn't seem the same without Jerry. A likable guy he wasn't, but he sure livened things up. And there was another side to him. I remembered it was a couple days before he died. Me was the first one on the tray. He was sitting at the table waiting for the others, and there was a look on his face that I had never seen before. I, I guess it was a lost look.
Morning, mister Garland. Oh, morning, Frank. Oh, something, wrong this morning, mister Garland? Wrong lady said that. I don't know. I guess you just look kind of, you know, blue. Do I? Yeah. I'd say so. I'd like to murder a couple of people, but that couldn't be the reason. Well, we'll get the old game started. That puts a bloom in the cheeks. Now I remembered. That was the morning after I had seen his wife, Dora, in the bar at the terminal. So he had found out, and he was actually thinking of murder. I just needed one more little fact.
Morning, mister Jorgensen. See you left in the club car in the street. Mister Trowbridge is on vacation, and Pete is sick today, so I thought I'd sit up here and catch up on some paperwork. Too noisy back there. Don, when did mister Garland find out you were having an affair with his wife? Say, what are you Just answer the question. Well, not just about a week before he died. How did you know that he knew? Did he tell you? No. Did he tell Dora? No. And how did you know? Frank, did you ever have an affair with another man's wife? Nope. You're not missing anything.
But when the husband finds out, you can tell. You can tell by certain little things in his manner. Is that why you and Dora decided to kill him? No. Oh, no. No. We were scared. Yes. But for our own lives. Now you knew Jerry. He was a was a violent man. So why did you fool around with his wife? You know why? To get back at him. He destroyed me. He stripped me of all my money. My wife walked out on me with the kids. I had to get back at him, and this was the only way I could. It was the one place I could prove I was a better man than he was. And then I saw it.
I saw the whole thing. Why did we all wonder who wanted to kill Jerry? Why didn't we ask who it was that Jerry himself wanted to kill? Why didn't we believe that the poison was intended for Jerry? Why couldn't it be meant for Don Jorgensen? Now what, Frank? Lieutenant, you said I could have been responsible for Jerry's death. You were right. I was. Are you crazy? Jerry decides to kill Don. Okay. He goes for the coffee. Blue fours. Jerry then opens the sugar package. Jerry is in a position to use a packet that he had with him that contains the poison. Uh-huh. I notice you're listening now. Hey. Go on. Now Jerry comes back to the table with a tray. He knows which cup he has poisoned, but the train gives a lurch. He almost falls. He's about to drop the tray. I'm there. I grab it from him. Him. He saves himself from falling, and his eye is off me for a second or two. I have to stop myself from falling.
I switch the tray from my right hand to my left. Unconsciously, I turn it around. He can't see that. It all happened so quickly. I give him the tray. As if nothing happened, he gets to drink the poisoned coffee. And how do we prove it? I guess we don't. But I believe it. Do you? The lieutenant didn't commit himself. Do you believe it? It makes sense. Satisfies all the conditions. But we are dealing with the most unpredictable materials in nature, namely human beings. Maybe Pete McHugh, the jealous card player, did it somehow. Maybe it was Lou and or Don and or Dora.
Could we swear on our souls it wasn't the conductor? I'll be back with more from the realm of infinite possibility. Our story was about cards. What did a great master of cards say on the subject? The bizarre world of cards, a world of power politics, where punishment and rewards were meted out immediately. A deck of cards is built like the purest of hierarchies, with every card a master to those below it, a lackey to those above it. And there were the masses, the long suits, which always asserted themselves in the end and triumphed over the aces and the kings. Thus spoke the great player, Eli Culberson, and he was in the know. Our cast included William Griffiths, Larry Haynes, Russell Horton, and Earl Hammond.
The entire production was under the direction of Hyman Brown. And now a preview of our next tale. How in the world did he accomplish it? The door, the window, and chimney were impassable. The flooring and walls were solid. The Julia Stoner was undoubtedly alone when she met her death. It would appear so, but then how do you account for these nocturnal whistles and a very peculiar word to the dying woman? Well, I I can't account for any of it, Holmes, unless they were hallucination. Not likely that the two women would be afflicted with the same hallucination about whistles in the night, and only one of them referred to the speckled band.
Well, you you evidently formed some conclusions. Otherwise, we wouldn't this very moment be on our way to Stoke Moran. No conclusions, my dear doctor. Only surmises, which have to be checked on the spot before I can even begin to make deductions. This is EG Marshall inviting you to return to our mystery theater for another adventure in the macabre. Until next time. Pleasant dreams.
[00:44:57] Unknown:
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