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In this gripping episode of the Mystery Theater, hosted by EG Marshall, we delve into the intricate web of fate, love, and tragedy in "Nobody Dies," written by Elspeth Eric. The story begins with Alice, a young woman seeking employment as a housekeeper in the affluent home of Mrs. Holt. As Alice and her son Jamie become part of the household, they form a close bond with Mrs. Holt and her newborn daughter, Verity. As the years pass, Jamie and Verity grow up together, and Jamie falls deeply in love with her. However, when Verity marries another man and moves to London, Jamie is heartbroken, leading to a tragic turn of events.

As the narrative unfolds, we witness the mysterious and seemingly supernatural connections between Jamie and Verity's son, John. Despite Jamie's death, his presence lingers, suggesting that perhaps nobody truly dies. The episode explores themes of love, destiny, and the unseen forces that shape our lives. With a haunting atmosphere and a poignant storyline, "Nobody Dies" leaves listeners pondering the mysteries of life and death, and the enduring bonds that transcend time and space.

(00:17) Introduction to the Mystery

(02:38) The Job Interview

(06:08) Life in the Holt Household

(13:13) Spirits and Fate

(17:34) A Rift in the Friendship

(20:59) Verity's Engagement

(27:00) Jamie's Tragic End

(32:19) Verity's Return

(38:16) John's Arrival

(42:21) A New Beginning

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[00:00:17] Unknown:

Come in.   Welcome.   I'm EG Marshall.   In our world, nothing is lost.   The droppings of birds fertilize the ground. The ground sends up grass. The grass nourishes the sheep.   Evil   lives on as well. A bit of gossip   becomes a rumor. The rumor grows into a falsehood.   The falsehood engenders fear,   and the fear leads to a killing.   A malicious word wounds a soul.   An act of indifference   congeals a heart.   For good or for evil,   nothing is lost.   Our mystery drama, Nobody   Dies,   was written especially for the mystery theater by Elspeth Eric and stars Terry Keen and Ann Shepherd.   It is sponsored in part by True Value Hardware stores   and Buick Motor Division.  

I'll be back shortly with act one. It is a magic moment.   You are at your Buick dealers about to drive home in your brand new Buick LeSabre.  

[00:01:24] Unknown:

It's lean and trimmed, classic line. It looks quite unlike any full size Buick you can remember.   You get in.   A heavy new car smell surrounds you. Your LeSabre feels the way it looks. Right.   You turn the wheel a little. No wasted motion in this car.   Big brushed metallic gauges look back at you. That v six engine is doing great.   You rub your hand on the seat. Six people could be really comfortable in here.   You swing in your driveway.   Your wife, the kids, the dog, everyone with the parakeet descends in the car and gets in. Off you go to nowhere in particular.   Life and your Numa Sabre are great.  

Maybe the dog shouldn't sit on the seats.  

[00:02:16] Unknown:

This is Dave Herman seats are available for this Sunday afternoon's jets bengals football game You can get them at the Jets ticket office, 598 Madison Avenue, at Shea Stadium ticket window, and of course at the gate on Sunday.  

[00:02:39] Unknown:

The story has its beginning   fifty years ago.   It's a beautiful spring day. A young woman stands at the door of a large colonial house, dignified and serene and surrounded by great stretches of cliff lawn   spotted here and there by beds of bright flowers.  

[00:02:56] Unknown:

There's something tentative in the manner of the young woman,  

[00:03:00] Unknown:

something timid as she raises her hand to touch the button by the door.  

[00:03:08] Unknown:

I'm thinking to myself,   what am I doing   here? The advertisement in the local paper had said housekeeper wanted live in private quarters,   applied between nine and 10AM.   It had given the address in the name Holt,   and that was all.   I knew this was a very fancy section of our town. And the minute I saw the big white house with the green shutters,   my knees started to shake.   Would anyone trust me with the care of such a house?   But I pushed the button   and said a little prayer   I was desperate I needed this job more than anything in the world   Yes?  

There she stood The woman who had to be missus Holt   Who held my future in her hands   She was about my own age She was tall, blonde, and serene,   and she was very, very pregnant.   You've come about the position?  

[00:04:06] Unknown:

The pa the job. Yes. Well, come on in. Oh, thank you very much.   Shall we go into the living room? Yes. Thank you.   Sit down any place.   You look rather young. How old are you? 20   29.   Uh-huh.   Well, tell me about yourself.   Or would you rather I told you about the position   first? That would that would be fine. Right.   This house has 10 rooms, five bedrooms. Mhmm. Two of them are in the back of the house, and they have their own bath.   Those will be reserved for whoever takes the position.   That sounds very nice. And there's a cook. Cleaning woman comes in three times a week.   It's a question of making beds and doing some dusting, answering the door,   doing the shopping, things like that, and supervising the cook and the cleaning lady. It doesn't sound very hard. Well, it's what I used to do myself   till I got pregnant.  

When are you going to have your baby?   Any minute now, can't you tell?   Now tell me about yourself.   Don't,   think I mind you being young. I'd like to have someone my own age around the house.   Well,  

[00:05:15] Unknown:

I used to have a house. I mean, not a house like this, just a little house. But I did all the work, and I think I kept it   nice.   Clean and nice, you know, and attractive.  

[00:05:26] Unknown:

I'm sure you did.   But,   you have a house now?  

[00:05:30] Unknown:

I couldn't afford it after my husband left me. Oh, I'm sorry.   Since he left me, I've been living in a furnished room, and I've been doing house cleaning by the day.   I'm very good at it.   But but it's not like living in a real house. I mean, having something to count on. Oh, of course, it isn't.   Especially when you have a little boy to think of. A little boy?  

[00:05:54] Unknown:

You have a little boy? Mhmm. Two years old. Well, how do you manage?  

[00:05:58] Unknown:

Working all day in other people's homes? Well, I take him with me. He has his toys and his coloring books, and he's never any trouble, really. He he never cries. And he's never been sick. Never. I mean, not even a cold. Alright.  

[00:06:11] Unknown:

I'm alright. I understand.  

[00:06:13] Unknown:

But if we could be in the same house all the time I understand.  

[00:06:17] Unknown:

I really do.   What would you, want in the way of salary?  

[00:06:22] Unknown:

Oh, anything. Whatever you wanna pay.  

[00:06:25] Unknown:

I'll be as generous as I possibly can.   What's your little boy's name?   Jamie.   His name is  

[00:06:36] Unknown:

Jamie. That was the beginning of the most beautiful part of my whole life.   Missus Holt's baby was born about three weeks later, a little girl,   and she was named Verity.   Isn't that a beautiful name, Verity?   It means truth   or reality.   I looked it up.   It took me a while to get up the nerve to ask her where mister Holt was, the baby's father.   And when she told me he died right soon after she got pregnant,   I cried.   Besides running the house, I helped take care of the baby, the little girl Verity.   And you don't have to believe this if you don't want to, but Jamie was never one bit jealous of Verity.  

[00:07:18] Unknown:

Children are, you know.  

[00:07:19] Unknown:

Very often, they're jealous of new babies, and you have to be careful.  

[00:07:23] Unknown:

But even missus Holt noticed how Jamie loves the baby.   Alice, you'll never believe this. What won't I believe? I was in the nursery this morning, and Jamie was standing by the baby's crib. And you know what I heard him say. I love you, Verity. A bristle and a pet and a hug around me.  

[00:07:41] Unknown:

Really, I heard him. That's what he said. Oh, that's what I used to say to him when he was a baby. I still say it.  

[00:07:47] Unknown:

Oh, you're a wonderful mother, Alice.  

[00:07:54] Unknown:

Life just went on that way, and I was as happy as it was possible to be.  

[00:08:00] Unknown:

Alice, look at this.   What?   Why, it's a drawing. In pastels.   Of a little bird   on a branch. Oh, it's very good. Don't you think? It's   it's very touching.   Very sweet. Jamie gave it to me.   Jamie? He made it in school.   But he's only eight years old. Oh, no.   I'm gonna frame it, and I'm gonna hang it on the wall.  

[00:08:30] Unknown:

That's the way it went. Every day better than the one before,   and nothing but nice things to look forward to.  

[00:08:38] Unknown:

Where did Jamie learn so much poetry, Alice? Well, I suppose he learned it in school. I heard him the other day. He and Verity were out here in the garden, and I could hear them through the window,   loud and   clear.   Stay, oh, sweet, and do not rise.   The light that shines comes from thine eyes.   The day breaks not.   It is my heart   because that you and I must part.   Stay or else my joys will die   and perish in their infancy.   Well, for heaven's sake, I happen to know that's John Donne   from the sixteenth century and why a boy of 14   would bother to learn it, I can't imagine.  



[00:09:23] Unknown:

Jamie went on learning poetry. I never asked him about it, why he bothered.   I thought it was nice that he   did. One day, I heard his voice in the conservatory. I stopped to listen, and then I realized he wasn't alone.  

[00:09:37] Unknown:

For thy sweet love remembered such wealth rings   that then I scorn to change my state with kings  

[00:09:44] Unknown:

Oh, Jamie   That's beautiful   At Shakespeare  

[00:09:51] Unknown:

Jamie was just 16   I didn't know a line of Shakespeare, and I'd never known that he did.  

[00:09:57] Unknown:

I couldn't help asking him about it. I know all of Shakespeare's sonnets by heart. My goodness. I am impressed.   I hope Verity was impressed.   I was trying to tell her how much I love   her. Love?   You told her you loved her?   I've always loved her. She knows that.   You're both very young.   Romeo and Juliet were even younger, mom.  

[00:10:26] Unknown:

Well, life went on. Jamie got into the local college right in the same town. Lucky for us because he could go on living at home.   He'd finished his second year, and Verity was enrolled to start that fall.  

[00:10:39] Unknown:

Mom, I'm going to ask Verity to marry me.   Jamie? No. I I I don't mean right away. I I mean, when she's finished college. But by then, I'll be making a living. You're sure about that?  

[00:10:50] Unknown:

Of course. I'm sure. Darling, there's no need to rush into anything. You know? I'm not rushing. I I'm just asking her. That you'll meet other girls? Mom,  

[00:10:59] Unknown:

I've loved Verity all my life.   Don't you know know that?  

[00:11:08] Unknown:

He asked her to marry him? Well, of course, he didn't mean right away after she finishes college, and he wouldn't expect her to marry him now. That's very considerate, isn't it? Missus Holt, I don't think we have to take it seriously.   They'll both meet other people.   Jamie says that won't make any difference, but you never can tell, can you? I think I'll send Verity away to college.  

[00:11:29] Unknown:

Some good eastern school.   Oh,  

[00:11:34] Unknown:

would you do that? They're both so happy here.   Alice, how much did you have to do with this?  

[00:11:41] Unknown:

With what, missus Hope? With this this   this attachment,   this liaison between your son and my daughter.  

[00:11:49] Unknown:

Well, I I didn't have anything to do with it. You plotted, didn't you?  

[00:11:53] Unknown:

From the beginning, you plotted and you schemed to make   everything turn out   this way. No. I had no idea anything like this. Your way into this house, bringing your son with you, then you made yourself indispensable.   You pretended to be my friend. Not pretend. I none of this is true. I am kind of a witch.   I think you are.   And you've been weaving spells up there alone in your room. Missus Holt. You know? You've always known that my daughter could never marry a son of yours. It's unthinkable.  

[00:12:25] Unknown:

But I had had nothing to do with it. Nothing at all.   Or had I had everything to do with it?   I don't know, and I have thought long and hard about it. I'm reduced to calling it   fate,   simply fate.   Or call it the machinations of some spirit, some spirit perhaps lodged in me, a spirit whose name I don't know.   If such a spirit chose to work through me, it was without my knowledge or my will. I swear that's true.   I swear.   I believe.   I think it's true.   Oh, I hope it's true.  

[00:13:13] Unknown:

Of course, there are spirits in all of us. Spirits full of energy and of huge power.   Some drive the people they inhabit to great accomplishment.   Then of course there are other spirits equally potent.   Spirits which move their possessors to cowardice,   to morbidity,   to self destruction,   even to the annihilation of those they love.   I'll be back shortly  

[00:13:38] Unknown:

with act two. Just in time for Christmas, True Badger hardware stores offer an expensive looking watch at an inexpensive price. Hi. Pat Summerall to tell you about the Time Band ladies watch from Fairchild. The first low priced digital watch that doesn't look inexpensive.   It's stylishly slim, elegantly contoured, and has a dependable five function performance of expensive electronic digitals.   It shows hours, minutes, month, day, and seconds on command, has a quartz crystal that makes it capable of accuracy to within one minute a year, a calendar that automatically adjusts to the proper number of days in each month, so you only have to adjust it on leap year. And the time band ladies watch from your True Value hardware store is entirely solid state, so there are no moving parts to wear out, oil, or maintain.   Get the expensive looking Fairchild time band ladies watch for as low as $29.95   at participating True Value hardware stores. Remember True Value, more than just a name, their way of doing business.  



[00:14:46] Unknown:

Hey. Dubonnet is a really special drink that started over in France, but you can enjoy it right here. Straight up on the rocks, they're mixed with your favorite beverage. Dubonnet before. Before lunch  

[00:15:35] Unknown:

Kitchen live means less cooking, more time for fun. So whether for family dinners, parties, or friends dropping in, Polish ham is your answer. Crackers or Atalanta brands.   These are fully cooked right in the can. Can. All gristle and bone have been removed, so you buy only lean tender meat. This is great for your budget too. All you need do is open the can and slice whatever quantity you need. Of course, you can also heat Polish ham if you prefer a warm meal.   Krakkus and atelata are the only imported hands to have continuously earned both the Parents Magazine seal of commendation   and the Good Housekeeping seal. All this and great flavor too in handy two, three, five, or seven pound tins or sliced in whatever quantity you need. Get crecass or ahtaletta hams at food stores in your neighborhood. You'll love its convenience. Your family will love its great taste. These have been imported for more than twenty five years by New York Commodities Corporation,   available at all Acme supermarkets.  



[00:16:42] Unknown:

When Alice became housekeeper to the affluent missus Holt, it was a relief from a life of drudgery and anxiety. And   affluent missus Holt, it was a relief from a life of drudgery and anxiety,   and a haven both for herself and for her son Jamie, two years old.   When her employer soon after gave birth to a daughter, it was only natural that Alice should retain her position in the household and that the two children   should grow up together.   However, at the close of act one, we heard Alice,  

[00:17:10] Unknown:

how much did you have to do with this? With what? With this with this this attachment,   this liaison between your son and my daughter. I didn't have anything to do with that. You plotted, didn't you? You plotted and schemed and made everything turn out this way.   Surely, you know. You've always known that my daughter could never marry a son of yours. It's  

[00:17:32] Unknown:

unthinkable.  

[00:17:35] Unknown:

My beautiful life and her beautiful house   had come to an end.   Our friendship had ended too.   If indeed it had ever been the friendship I thought it to be.   For the first time, she had reminded me that I was her servant,   and my son was the son of a servant,   and that the marriage of her daughter to the son of one such as myself was,   what was the word?   Unsinkable.   I started to pack our clothes, Jamie's and mine.  

[00:18:06] Unknown:

That you, Jamie?   It's missus Hall Dallas.   Oh,   just a minute.   I want to talk to you, Alice.  

[00:18:19] Unknown:

Well well well  

[00:18:21] Unknown:

alright. Come in.  

[00:18:23] Unknown:

Thank you.  

[00:18:26] Unknown:

You you've been packing?   You don't want us here anymore? Oh, Alice. I didn't mean anything like that. You are afraid Verity might want to marry Jamie, and he's not good enough for her. You But  

[00:18:38] Unknown:

as you said, Alice, they're both very young.   They'll meet other people.   Now that I've had a little time to think about it, I realize how right you are. I I I   it was just a a kind of shock when you first told me. There it is. Not enough to marry anyone. You said I planned it for them to fall in love and get married. That was a ridiculous thing for me to say.   Please forgive me.   We've been together so long.   Won't you forgive me?   Please.   I,  

[00:19:10] Unknown:

I suppose the idea was kind of a shock to you. It was.  

[00:19:15] Unknown:

Or   I couldn't have said those things.   Well, if you if you if you really didn't mean that I didn't. I didn't.  

[00:19:25] Unknown:

Then I guess it's alright.   Alice,  

[00:19:30] Unknown:

thank you.   You'll never regret it.  

[00:19:33] Unknown:

And you will stay on here, won't you? I've always loved it here, missus Holt, and so has Jamie.  

[00:19:39] Unknown:

Then it's settled.   You'll stay on,   and so will Jamie.  

[00:19:46] Unknown:

But she sent Verity away to a college in the East.   Missus Holt had said she would do it, and she did.   Verity and Jamie wrote to each other almost every day. I think he wrote every   day His ways grew quieter, more reserved but he'd always been like that more or less   And I didn't worry about him   Not until Verity came home for her vacation  

[00:20:11] Unknown:

Verity's engaged to some guy.   Some guy?  

[00:20:15] Unknown:

Oh, some guy she met in the East.  

[00:20:18] Unknown:

Oh, Jamie.   What's the matter?   Well, you you mean you you don't care?  

[00:20:24] Unknown:

Well, why should I care? She won't marry  

[00:20:27] Unknown:

him. Well, how can you be so sure?   Betty belongs to me. She always has ever since she was born.  

[00:20:36] Unknown:

Jamie's confidence   frightened me.   I thought back to when missus Holt had called me some kind of a witch.   I didn't wanna hear those words again from her lips.   Besides,   Jamie could be right. Maybe Verity wouldn't marry the man she met in the East.   Maybe in some way I didn't comprehend she belonged to my son.  

[00:20:59] Unknown:

But then a year later,   it happened.   We'll have the wedding right here in the house, I think.   Or would it be better in a church?  

[00:21:09] Unknown:

I think a church wedding would be the nicest.  

[00:21:13] Unknown:

You're probably right. His parents will be here. They'll expect it. His father's in the different family service. Did I tell you? No. You didn't tell me.   Yes. I think we'll have the wedding in the church.  

[00:21:25] Unknown:

I think that's best.  

[00:21:27] Unknown:

Alice,   of course, Verity will want Jamie to be there,   but   he he needn't attend if he doesn't want to. We all understand.  

[00:21:42] Unknown:

It wasn't their understanding I cared about. It was Jamie's.   He had to understand that he'd aspired to something too far above him,   that he would never have the girl he'd loved from the day she was born.   He had to understand and go on living as best he could   till some other girl could fill the void in his life.  

[00:22:02] Unknown:

I'll be there.   Why not? Jamie,   if it's too painful   It will be painful, but that's alright  

[00:22:11] Unknown:

I'm so glad you're taking it this way  

[00:22:14] Unknown:

What way am I taking it? Well,   realistically   Facing up to it.   Didn't you tell me that's what Verity means?   Reality,   the truth?  

[00:22:25] Unknown:

Yes. I did tell you that. Well,  

[00:22:29] Unknown:

besides, Verity still belongs to me.   No matter what she does with her life or I do with mine,   Verity still belongs to me and she always will.   That's reality   and that's truth.  

[00:22:47] Unknown:

His words echoed in my mind all during the ceremony.  

[00:22:52] Unknown:

Just as he'd said he'd be, Jamie was in the church,  

[00:22:55] Unknown:

standing up way in the back, his eyes never leaving the handsome young couple at the altar. The young married couple took off on their honeymoon. Jamie went on to finish   couple took off on their honeymoon.   Jamie went on to finish college, and missus Holt and I went on in the big house.   Not quite the friends we once had been, but on good terms.  

[00:23:14] Unknown:

Then one day, another letter from Verity.   It's from London. What does she have to say? Oh, lots of things.   Dear mommy, we're settled here in the dearest flat you've ever seen. It's in Chelsea,   a very old part of London, but fashionable in an arty sort of way.  

[00:23:32] Unknown:

We go to the theater all the time. The theater is so wonderful here and not too expensive. I mean, compared with other things. And we go to parties,   mostly with other couples living the same kind of life we do. Diplomatic service life, I mean. We've made these friends. Dear friends. Dear. And here,  

[00:23:50] Unknown:

she goes on about their friends.   Bibsy and Panko   and Tupper and Jinky.   I can't make out all the names. Now here's one here. It looks like   did somebody come in? I think it's Jamie.  

[00:24:04] Unknown:

Jamie? Is that you? I was just going upstairs. I've got a letter from Verity.  

[00:24:09] Unknown:

Oh? And I was just reading it to your mother. You wanna hear it? Well, I was just going upstairs. Well, I'm almost finished. Here, let's see. Where was I? All about,   ah, yes. I've I've, saved the best news for the last mommy. I'm going to have a baby.  

[00:24:27] Unknown:

A baby?  

[00:24:28] Unknown:

Verity's going to have a baby? Why didn't she send me a cable?   I'll call up. When is she going to have it? She says wait wait not for eight months, but she couldn't resist till oh, I wonder if I should go over   there. What if she'll   she'll wanna come here? Oh, dear me. There's so much to think about. My first grandchild.   Imagine,   Jay Jamie.   Where did Jamie go? Alice. I'm gonna go down to the cable office and tell her to phone me collect tonight. I'll be back right away.   Jamie? And, are you upstairs? I'm I'm giving you love,   Alice.  



[00:25:04] Unknown:

Jamie? Where are   Jamie?   Jamie?   Are you alright?   Jamie?  

[00:25:14] Unknown:

Oh, no, dear lord. Don't let it be. Don't let it  

[00:25:17] Unknown:

oh my my   Jamie   Jamie,   what have you done?   I I missed them.   Oh, you're bleeding.   I   I missed twice. Your head   is bleeding.  

[00:25:34] Unknown:

Not so easy to kill yourself. No.  

[00:25:37] Unknown:

I I'll get the doctor. No. Don't   don't leave me. Stay with me. Jamie, I have to call the doctor. Please let go of my arm. I want you to stay with me, mom. Please, Jamie, let me. I'll be alright. I  

[00:25:50] Unknown:

once you're with me, mom, it's always been you and me. You've always been with me.   You've never gone off and left me. Don't   go off and leave me now. Please you've got to let me call the doctor, please. I won't die.   Nobody dies, Mom Jenny,   please   And I want   I want you to tell that severity, Mom Would you, would you do that?   Tell   them Nobody really dies   Everybody   goes on and on. Please, please, don't.   Good old mom. You're   you're really the best.   Oh, always there when I needed you. Always   right nearby. Always   where you could see me and hear  

[00:26:35] Unknown:

me. Remember, mom, all   all my life from way back.   They hear me now, mom.   Listen to me now.   Yes. Yes, Lord. Did  

[00:26:49] Unknown:

did you understand what I told you  

[00:26:53] Unknown:

about what to tell Verity?   You mean  

[00:26:57] Unknown:

that   that nobody died?   That's right.   Fellow   that   should understand   Just say   nobody dies  

[00:27:15] Unknown:

The blood was still running from his poor head   and he was still staring at me  

[00:27:21] Unknown:

But the hands that had been gripping my arm  

[00:27:25] Unknown:

went limp   And I knew he was dead   The light had gone out of his eyes   The light had gone out of his life   My son was dead   My son   was dead   I tried to take that in   even as his last words echoed through my mind   Nobody dies  

[00:27:56] Unknown:

Nobody  

[00:28:06] Unknown:

dies.  

[00:28:08] Unknown:

The beginning of mourning is   acceptance of the fact of death.   We twist and turn to evade the reality. We make up fantasies to deny it.   We comfort ourselves with memories which hurt while they comfort.   There simply is no way to escape the awful pain.   Unless   unless, perhaps, we can bring ourselves   to believe   what appears to be a flagrant lie. Unless we can believe that nobody dies.   I'll return shortly with act three.  

[00:28:41] Unknown:

When a woman buys a shirt for her man, it's usually a pretty good sign that she loves him. And because she loves him, she wants that shirt to be something special.   Something you'll be happy with for a long time,   Even if he's hard to please.   Buying a shirt for the man she loves is one place a woman doesn't wanna miss.   That's why for a long time now, women have been buying more arrow shirts than any other kind because it's hard to miss with arrow.   Arrow makes shirts that look good, feel good, and fit good from the collar to the tail.   Shirts that look like today, but don't look like yesterday, a month after you bought them. Shirts that are worth exactly what they cost.  

Button per button and stitch per   stitch. For the man you love,   even if he's hard to please,   it's hard to miss with Arrow.  

[00:29:36] Unknown:

Arrow.  

[00:29:37] Unknown:

America's shirt maker.  

[00:29:53] Unknown:

Are you in for a sensational fashion buy? Missus genuine suede coats reduced from 99 to $69   right now at Alexander's.   You save $30.   And these genuine suede coats are warm as toast with lush dyed lamb fur colors and rich furry acrylic pile linings even in the sleeves.   And the suede is butter soft and supple, luxury to the touch. In wonderfully flattering belted wrap styles in black or brown, missus fur trimmed and pile lined genuine suede coats were $99.   Right now, just $69.   In Alexander's leather and suede shop, what a warm luxurious gift for that session woman on your list.   Now this message from your Ford dealers is so sweet.  



[00:30:42] Unknown:

Louise, I'm home. Hi, Arnold. For you? Oh, a bouquet of long stem roses. Mhmm.  

[00:30:47] Unknown:

What's the occasion? Something on your conscience? Tell me. The occasion is that I sold four Granada's today. Wow. Yeah. It's a new record for my Ford dealership. And your idea of putting a Mercedes two eighty on your showroom floor alongside a comparably equipped Granada really paid off. It sure did. Almost everyone who comes in can't figure out which is the Granada and which is the Mercedes. They look so much alike. That is until they see Until they see their base sticker prices don't look at all alike. Right. And did you take them for a test drive in both the Granada and the Mercedes? Yep. And all four Granada buyers who drove a Mercedes said the Granada had a remarkably smooth and quiet ride.  

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You forgot one thing. What's that? You're allergic to roses.  

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Your Ford dealer has the smooth riding car that looks like the Mercedes two eighty, but at less than half the list price. The new Ford Granada.   Toward the end of the act just completed,   Alice's son, Jamie, shot himself   after hearing the news that the girl he'd loved all his life, who had married another man, was now preparing to give birth to that man's child.   Holding fast to his mother's   hand, Jamie had spoken his last words.  

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Tell her that mom.   They already up on the stand.   Tell her   nobody dies.  

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Mrs. Holt, of course, was dreadfully shocked when she came home and I had to tell her what had happened   We never discussed it or referred to it in any way   But I'm certain she knew as well as I that the fact of Verity's being pregnant crushed Jamie's last hope that one day she might return to him   At any rate, Mrs. Hope persuaded her daughter to come back to her mother's house to have her child   Oh, Alice, it's so marvellous being here   You know, I really didn't know I deemed my mother so much   But the first time You know how it is It's all so new, so important   Your husband couldn't come with you? No, not right now They can't spare him in London   Maybe later   Verily   I have something I want to give to you if you don't mind How could I possibly mind? Well   I don't want to make you sad but,   these are some of Jamie's baby clothes   Oh, ah Now they may be old fashioned by now I don't know what babies wear these days Not very much But they are all made by hand And you don't see much of that anymore Oh, they're lovely   You   know, Jamie was   my dearest friend   For years and years More than a friend More like   a like a brother   He loved you   I know he did   The last words he spoke before he died   They were for you   For me? Really?  

He said   Nobody dies, mom Tell   Beverly that   She'll understand   Nobody dies   That was the last thing he ever said a couple of seconds later   He was dead   Alice   Verity   Do you know what he meant?   Well, no Not exactly He said that you would know   He was very definite about  

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that Well, perhaps he meant that  

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that as long as a person is remembered by the people who loved him that he isn't really dead   You think that's what he meant?   I can't think of anything else   Well, Verity had her baby   A darling little boy named John after his father   And a few months later, Verity went back to London But she phoned once a week at least And the letters flew thick and fast across the ocean   Sometimes, Verity would write to me about the baby Nice chatty notes full of all sorts of details   Then one day, I got a present in the mail   Well,   imagine all the way from London   Imagine Verity thinking of me That's really wonderful, Eva   What is it?  

Well, it's   a drawing   Well, so it is   A drawing of a bird   sitting on the branch of a tree  

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So it is  

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She said it's little John's first drawing   and she wants me to have it   Turn in pastels?   Yes  

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It,  

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It's very good, don't you   think? Alice  

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How old was Jamie   when he did the picture of the birds sitting on a branch?  

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I said I didn't remember   But I did   It was when Jamie was precisely the age that little John was When he painted his bird on a branch   One night the phone rang It was London calling Verity was on the other end And Mrs. Holt told me to listen in on the upstairs extension  

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Verity?   Mother? How are you, darling? I'm fine. How are you? Fine. Fine. Hi, Dallas. She's on the extension. Alice, say hello.  

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I'm fine, Verity.   How's the boy? He's marvelous. Simply marvelous. Almost as tall as I am. No. You mean it? And bright you'd hardly believe it. Of course, I'd believe it. Why wouldn't I? Well, I never was.   Listen. He knows poetry, really.   That's remarkable.   He recited a whole poem to me today. Not a long poem. Well I should hope Something by John Donne   John Donne?   Sixteenth century   Can you imagine something about,   stay oh sweet and do not rise   I forget   The light that shines   comes from your eyes Yes That's it Alice, is that you?   The day breaks not It is my heart because that you and I must part Do you know it? You really know it   Dare or else my joys will die and perish   In their infancy   That's   it? Can you imagine a young boy knowing something like that? Verity   Verity my dear   we've talked long enough Oh but I have all kinds of things to tell you yet Yes,  

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it'll have to it'll have to do for now   we're rather busy here   Oh   Oh okay well,  

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I'll call you next week then   Bye Bye, Alice.  

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Alice?   Alice, will you come downstairs,   please?  

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There was nothing I could say to missus Holt.   Of course, it was the same poem Jamie had learned and recited   at exactly   the same age   But Jamie had died a full year before this boy was born   This boy lived 3,000   miles away in a foreign country   Then came the fateful day   Verity arrived from London  

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Darling, how wonderful you've come home Mother How are you, Verity? Welcome  

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No,  

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my  

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No, my son came with me Well, for heaven's sakes, where is he? Oh, he'll be along presently   I wanted to see you alone first Well, I'll just go upstairs and see if that's Alice   Alice, please stay here I, I wanna talk to both of you   All right   Mother,   this is going to come as a shock for you   My husband has left me   Oh, darling Oh, Verity, I'm so sorry to hear that  

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Perhaps  

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it's, it's not final No, it's final Well, whatever happened I'm sure it wasn't your fault I don't know whose fault it was There are always two sides to it. Maybe it was your fault, Alice   Mine? Or maybe it was the fault of your son   What?   What could Jamie have to do with it? I believe that he was some kind of sorcerer or or a wizard of some kind and you are a witch and a hag. Shirley, don't, don't I believe the two of you conspired against me from the very start from the day you entered this house   What are you talking about?   You don't know   You really don't know I swear I don't know Stay where you are, both of you   I, I have something to show you   Johnny?  

Johnny, can you come in here, please?   Mrs. Hood, what's happening? Quiet, quiet Alice  

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Mother?   Alice?  

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This is my son, John   Grandma, it's been so long Now how many years?   Could many years Won't you beg out a chance for me?   Of course, sir   Who's  

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my boy?  

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And you're Alice   Hello, Alice  

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I could only stare dumbstruck   at the handsome young man who stood before me   holding out his hands   a warm friendly smile on his face   For that face,   that smile, that voice,   all were exact replicas of the face and the smile   and the voice   of my dead  

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son  

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Young John, in the innocence of his youth and the ignorance,   was the only one of the household who retained any self possession   Verity moved about the house with a tight mouth and baleful look.   Missus Holt kept to a room most of the time.   When I took her something to eat, she told me that Verity and John would stay on with her.   John was going to teach at the local high school and Verity  

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Well, where could Verity go? Verity's child was destined to be the precise image of Jamie   Why?   I don't know   But I don't blame  

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you Perhaps you should   I hoped for so many years that they would marry and have a child Perhaps   all my hoping my wishing my praying for something that never came to pass   But you mustn't think Jamie had anything to do with it   Didn't he wish,   hope and pray? Yes, but   he loved her so   He'd never have wanted anything like this to happen I don't know, I don't know I cannot tell  

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But this I do know for a certainty   There are forces in the world   over which we have no control   Alice   I think you best leave this house   tonight if possible  

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I did leave that night and moved into a furnished room   I got work almost immediately cleaning by day just as I'd done before Jamie and I became part of Mrs Holt's household   Every now and then   I would walk by the high school just to   catch a glimpse of young John who was teaching there   It was a thrill   Strange, macabre, but still   a thrill   To see that straight young figure That   fresh young face So   exactly like that of my dead son   One day, as school was letting out for the day I summoned my courage and spoke to him   Mr. Holt? John?  

Well,  

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well, it's it's Alice, isn't it? It? Yes, it's Alice Well, I've asked Mother about you Why aren't you living with us anymore? You moved out so suddenly Well, with you and your Mother there you needed the room No, there's plenty of room Now, come on, why don't you move back? Oh, no, no, really I couldn't  

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Tell me, what are you teaching?   What subject? English literature,  

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what I've always wanted to teach   Oh, that's nice With special emphasis on the greatest writer of them all  

[00:43:42] Unknown:

You mean? Shakespeare,  

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of course  

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You like Shakespeare?  

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I worship him, I always have   I knew all of Shakespeare's sonnets, all of them by the time I was 16  

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I stayed away from the school after that   I was afraid of what might happen   Not   a tangible fear, you understand? For I had no idea what there was to be afraid   of Only I think that I might   indeed   be a witch   A sorceress   But then came a day when it was imperative that I see not John   but his mother,   Verity What was it you wanted to tell me, Alice?   You said it was important   It is   Tomorrow is John's birthday I know that   Did you think I'd forget my own son's birthday? No, of course I didn't think that   But you might not remember   After tomorrow John will be of the same age as   Jamie was   when Jamie When he died   Is that what you mean?  

When he killed himself   Killed himself?   Alice, no one ever told me that   Mother said it was an accident But he, he shot himself twice   when he heard that you were going to have a child Oh, Alice, I should have been told What could you have done?   Nothing   Alice   Alice, I must tell you something   If there was any sorcery or any witchcraft it was wrought by me   Every day of the nine months I carried John within me,   I wished  

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I wished with all my heart and all my soul  

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that I could be carrying Jamie's child.   A whole year has passed   Nothing untoward has happened to John   I believe him to be safe   I still live in a furnished room and go out to work by the day   But on Thanksgiving   and Christmas and sometimes on other holidays   I go to the big white house   and spend a pleasant day   And when I hear John's voice   his laughter   when I look at his handsome face his friendly smile   so often   directed at me   Then I think to myself   It's true   Quite true What Jenny said to me at the last   Nobody dies   Not really  

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Nobody really dies  

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Our drama appears to end on a placid note.   Four people gathered round a festive table.   If you walked in on them today, you would never guess that behind their light talk, their pleasant smile, their solicitude for one another, their consideration, and their kindnesses,   lies a deep and mysterious   tragedy,   which no one of them comprehends.   I'll be back shortly.  

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There are two kinds of first class service.   First class first class and second class first class.   As the Red Baron approved on the German airlines,   I would like to explain the difference.   Mine is first class first class.   That is fresh orange juice,   freshly scrambled eggs, fresh flowers,   caviar,   and you'll find at least seven entrees on the menu.   Just a few reasons many professional travelers call mine the best first class service across the Atlantic.   But I won't go into greater detail about them. There's a better way for both of us.   Fly my first class first class on your next trip to Europe. You'll never fly second class first class again.  



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Testing, is this on? Santa's elves are about to hold a news conference regarding the production of this year's photomat Snapchat Christmas cards. And as the band strikes up hail to the elves, we take you out and put it on.  

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Listen, if you can all just keep your questions as short as we are, be out of here in a jiffy. How hard hard is it to buy these  

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things? Oh, hard as cottage cheese. Uh-huh. You can bring the negative of your favorite family snapshot, you select the card style, and the phone number does the cards in about a week. Note number two. Yes. I understand you got a little behind. Well, I wear a six waist, four inseam pants. No. I mean, are there enough cards for everyone now? What's the opposite of no? Yes. Yes. Yes. So is that what we can say? Elle's got it covered. The variety of these custom designs A wide variety. They must be expensive. No. No. Will she? Inexpensive as I can. I should interject here that 25 cards within broach are just $6.95.  

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This has been an unrehearsed commercial for photo match snapshot Christmas cards. Friday, December is the last day to order. How do you think it went? I thought we're all gonna wear red and green. Well, you said red and green. But I couldn't find red and green. I noticed. I don't think I noticed it. Sitting  

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down. If there is a moral to be gleaned from our story, and I do not think there is, and certainly there was never meant to be,   it is the old one.   Be careful what you wish for.   You might get it.   But if you take my advice, you will not look for a moral. You will simply accept the whole thing for what it is, and no more.   A story.   Our cast included Terry Keen, Ann Shepherd, Jack Grimes, and Morgan Fairchild.   The entire production was under the direction of Hyman Brown. Radio Mystery Theatre was sponsored in part by Buick Motor Division and True Value Hardware Stores.   This is EG Marshall inviting you to return to our Mystery Theatre   for another adventure in the macabre.  

Until next  

[00:50:04] Unknown:

time, pleasant  

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retreat theater was also brought to you in part by ShopRite Supermarkets, where you get a lot more for a little less. Furnished by CBS radio.   It's hard to believe, but Christmas is right around the corner. This is Ray Heather reminding you, your gift to the WOR Children's Christmas Fund will brighten it up for a lot of kids in this area. Give what you can. Send your check or money order to the WOR Children's Christmas Fund, Box 710,   Times Square Station, New York 10036.   W.  

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City has big welfare mess.   United Parcel Strike settled.   When is a surplus   not a surplus?   It's 26 degrees Fahrenheit minus three Celsius. Cloudy outside.   Weather watch outlook, cloudy tonight,   not so cold as last night.   Good evening. John Wingate with the 08:00 report from WOR News.   New York City has a big welfare scandal on its hands.   Two agencies, the investigations commission and the human resources administration,   have come up with evidence of a really big welfare fraud.   This said to have been on behalf of more than 600 public employees.   They're accused of collecting   almost 3,000,000 in payments they did not deserve.  

The alleged cheat came from many parts of government, but the big guys and gals are said to be on the city payroll. For example,   247   listed as working for the board of education,   37 with the police department.   Investigations commission special assistant Stuart Holzer tells W. O. R. Lester Smith,   these workers were employed regularly.  

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People were, employees who were earning a living working in these government agencies. They were not part timers.  

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Can you tell us, was the   matching of the computer   information of welfare recipients against those social security numbers, was that something that had been triggered, for some particular reason, or was that a routine operation? This was a plan which was put into effect by the Human Resources Administration  

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to attempt to find individuals on the welfare rolls who were not entitled to welfare.   After,   they called that information out, the matters involving criminal fraud were investigated further, and those are the ones that we're referring to here.   In fact, I think the Human Resources Administration today projected   that, they would save, some 14 and a half million dollars on an annualized basis   for all forms of,   public assistance cheating, which they had discovered by use of these computer matches.  

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Is there reason to believe, perhaps,   that this is even more widespread than you have found, or have the computers done a pretty good job of turning up, the culprits? Well, the computers have turned up a substantial  

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number here, and we   intend to continue   this, kind of thing in the future.  

[00:53:01] Unknown:

Investigations Commission spokesman Stuart Holzer with WOR's   Lester Smith.   Striking teams of union members have overwhelmingly okayed a new contract with United Parcel Service   that ends an eighty four day strike.   There's no immediate word, however, when UPS deliveries will resume in the 15 Eastern states from Maine to South Carolina   affected by the strike.   Company and union officials had previously indicated operations could resume tomorrow if a new contract was ratified by the 17,000 striking teamsters.   The teamster official in announcing the results of the balloting said the union members were available to go back to work, but he didn't indicate when they would return to their jobs.  

WOR seven ten news time.   Exactly. Three minutes past 08:00. Senator Frank Church has criticized the state department for refusing to give the senate committee information on negotiations between Saudi Arabia   and a key US oil firm.   Church said the talks on the future status of Aramco,   that's a consortium of four US oil companies,   in Saudi Arabian oil production will directly affect US security   and the price of oil. However,   the Idaho democrat says the state department contends the talks are confidential.   A Utah judge will consider tomorrow whether convicted killer Gary Gilmore   will stand trial on another murder charge.  

The 36 year old Gilmore had been sentenced to death for the killing of a Provo motel clerk last July.   The execution has been stayed three times over the strong objections of Gilmore,   who says he wants to die.   WOR 07:10 news time, now six minutes past 8PM.   Imported by the Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.   Harrison Golden, New York City controller, says no gimmick is involved.   That is, involved in the story, the city has a year end surplus of $300,000,000   However,   the money's there purely in an accounting sense, and it did not come from additional revenues.   Golden tells WOR  

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it indicates improved collections and a better cash flow. Well, surplus is, an accounting term that refers to what levels of cash you have at the end of the year. And at the end of the year,   we'll have more cash in hand as we now project than had been anticipated before some of these changes that the city has acted on and before some of our costs got reduced, borrowing costs because of lower interest rates and so forth.   So it is an accurate accounting term, but it doesn't really mean that we've got a windfall and then all of a sudden there's a lot more money hanging out there to do things with than we had anticipated. Does it mean $300,000,000   What it means is a substantially improved cash position at the end of the year, and, that cash position could be $300,000,000   or even better.  



[00:55:39] Unknown:

City controller, Harrison Golden, as he was interviewed by WOR's Lester Smith.   New Jersey state insurance commissioner, James Sheeran,   who recently announced a six month freeze on auto insurance premium rate increases,   says he might even cut the existing rates over there.   Some insurance companies have threatened to stop doing business in New Jersey unless Sheeran backs backs away from the freeze plan he announced on Monday. But Sheran now says he has no intention of dropping the plan and says it's well within the realm of the possible that the rates they're getting now are too high.   He says he'll order a full review of all car insurance rates now in effect in the Garden State.  

A man and his common law wife were found shot to death   at their Upper West Side apartment in what police described as a homicide suicide.   Department spokesman, the clients identified the victims, pending notification of relatives.   Spokesman said the woman usually babysat for a neighbor. When she didn't appear to sit with the child,   the neighbor went to her husband, to the woman's, sent her husband to the woman's apartment at 11 And A Half West 100 Second Street.   The husband looked through the apartment window from the fire escape and noticed a body on the floor.   He called the police, who found the woman shot in the neck and chest and the man once in the head. Both were pronounced   dead   at the scene.  

There's also this, teachers at Nassau County Community College voted to continue contract negotiations   and delay a possible strike until January 24.   Teachers at the college in Garden City, Long Island have been without a contract for three months. Members of the Federation of Teachers Local three one six o met early this evening and authorized the union's executives to call a strike,   but not to do so earlier than January 24.   Union local spokesman,   Doris Schafer, says she still hopes for a contract and she says wants to negotiate.   We'll have   moderating weather coming up. WOR 07:10 news   time, twelve and a half minutes past 8PM.