In this thrilling episode, we delve into the eerie and mysterious world of Bodmore Manor, where Jack and Sandy Burton find themselves stranded after their car breaks down on a desolate moor. As they seek shelter in the manor, they are drawn into a chilling tale of Elizabethan executions and ghostly apparitions. The manor's owner, Sir Leonard Hastings Brook, reveals the manor's dark history as a secret execution site for Queen Elizabeth I, and the Burtons soon find themselves entangled in a web of madness and danger.
As the night unfolds, Jack and Sandy witness a terrifying reenactment of an execution, leading them to question the line between reality and illusion. With the help of the mysterious Mrs. Drude, they must navigate the manor's secrets to escape with their lives. This episode explores themes of history, madness, and the supernatural, leaving listeners on the edge of their seats as they uncover the truth behind the manor's haunting past.
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And now, mystery theater.
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Come in.
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Welcome. I'm EG Marshall. Bleak, lonely, evil, such are the moors of England. Where even today, one can go for mile on mile without sight of another house or another human soul. Where death dealing quicksand bogs and mires wait to trap the unwary walker. Where many who enter are not seen again. And where some of those who are seeing it again are strangely changed. For example, Sandy and Jack Burton. We didn't see it,
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Jack. Wrong, Sandy. We did. We couldn't have. An Elizabethan headsman, an executioner in a black hood with an ax dripping blood? No, I don't believe it. Sandy, we saw what we saw. No, we we saw what what our nerves saw.
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We saw what that maw out there made us see. You talk about the maw as if it were a living thing. A living,
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breathing, malevolent thing that can kill us if we let it.
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Our mystery drama, The Executioner, was written especially for the mystery theater by George Lowther and stars Tony Roberts. Few will deny, I'm sure, that weather and climate play a great part in our lives. To a large degree, affect our mood, our nerves. People in warm and sunny climates tend to take life more casually than those where the weather is cold and bleak. What I'm getting at is that one of the characters in the tale I bring you now is not a person, but a moor. Moor. The very sound of the word strikes a note of dread to the soul. Dread, but fascination too.
For believe me, there is a certain allure in evil, a compelling magnetism which some cannot withstand. Two such people were Sandy and Jack Burton. Jack,
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how much further to Linton?
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Twenty, Thirty miles. Not sure.
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We'll never make it by nightfall.
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We may not make it at all. Road is running with water. I try to go faster in five miles or so. The engine gets wet and start to die.
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The wiring is soaking wet. That old farmer was right. We should never have taken the shortcut across the moor. He warned us. Honey, I wanted to see the moor. I've never been on a moor in all my life.
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There's a writer There's a writer who's supposed to be on vacation, resting and recuperating from a nervous breakdown. Oh,
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no. You promised me. On the plane over, you promised not a stroke of work till we got back from England. What's that?
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It's wet wires. I better slow down a bit
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more. All you've been doing since we landed is take notes of this and notes of that.
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You filled I don't know how many notebooks. Well, I am a writer and it's sort of second nature to take notes. Yes. I keep hoping I'll hit on an idea that'll pay off for an article. Even better, a series of articles when we get back home.
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All I wish.
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All I wish is you just plain stop worrying when you ought to be resting. And you
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Jack. It looks like we've, bought it as our English cousins say. You you mean we're stuck? Afraid I do. The water on the road's gotten deeper. It's practically a lake. What'll we do? Let's see if we can find shelter for the night at that castle on the hill.
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What castle on what hill?
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That hill over there. I see a hill. I don't see any That's shrouded in fog. But when the fog lifted for a second or two, five minutes ago there.
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See? You're right. There is a castle or it's a house or something. Do you think you can make it that far? Oh, I'll make it. Anything but spend the night out here in this awful, absolutely awful moor.
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Yes? Sorry to trouble you, ma'am. My name is Jack Burton. This is my wife, Sandy. Our car broke down on the road below, and I'm afraid we need shelter for the night. Not here.
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But, ma'am I said not here. Oh, now just a minute. Jack, don't argue.
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That man I see him. But big as he is, never mind. Ma'am, we're in a serious situation. Our car is stalled in what's practically become a lake. In common decency, you gotta let us come in. Honey? Jack, look out. Goodness. Now hold it, chum. All I'm asking hey. Wait a minute. Get your hands off me. Dunning, don't hurt him. Just put him out. Put who out? In weather like this?
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Never mind, Dunning. Too late. Missus Druid, what's going on here?
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And who are these nice young people, and why was Dunning putting them out? Sir, our car is stalled on the road below, and now with night coming on and all, we were hoping you could put us up until morning. Well, of course, we can. Come in. Come in. Dunning,
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close the door. Permit me to introduce myself, sir Leonard Hastings Brook, and this is my home, Padmore Manor. My housekeeper, missus Drude, with whom I shall have a few words later about her lack of hospitality. And this is Dunning, man of all work. He cannot speak. He's a mute, but he can hear well enough and carry out orders. And you, sir? Jack Burton. And this is my wife, Sandra. We're Americans here on vacation. We were taking a shortcut across the moor to Linda. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. You can hear me in all the particulars later. Right now, you both look like drowned rats. Very pretty rat in your case, missus Burton.
We must get you both into dry, warm clothes. You're awfully kind. I can't thank you. And
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what's that?
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I beg your pardon. I heard it. I thought I heard I heard it too. Someone screamed. Oh, just a trick of the wind. That's all The wind? Yes. Yes. Howling about these old manor houses, it can sometimes make the strangest and most nerve wracking noises. Well, I shall look forward to seeing you again at dinner.
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If you're yes. Oh, yes. Thank you, missus Drude. Jack, that wasn't the wind. That was a scream. It sure sounded like it. Oh, Jack.
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Jack, let's leave. And go where, Sandy? Where?
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And so you see you're not only dining in what was called the Great Hall in Elizabethan times, but at the very table graced by her majesty, the virgin queen herself.
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Then if I follow you, sir Leonard, Bodmore Manor was owned by Elizabeth the first?
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Her majesty, Elizabeth the first. Her sovereign
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majesty. Oh, well, yes. Of course. Did she, use it for any special purpose? She?
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Her majesty used it as temporary quarters while one castle or another was being renovated. How, did it come into your family, sir Leonard? Well, it was a gift from her majesty to the first sir Leonard Hastings Brook when he was knighted in 1584
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for performing some worthwhile service, I'm sure. Worthwhile?
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Special might be a better word or or or distinctive or or peculiar. Peculiar? My ancestor, the first sir Leonard, was special executioner to her majesty. Executioner? Head head chopper, you might say. Little family joke. Oh. And, many of his victims, I suppose, I should say her majesty's victims were dispatched right here at Bodmore.
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I thought that most,
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if not all, executions took place at the Tower Of London. Oh, most of them did. Most of them did especially when a public beheading was considered useful. But there were times too when Elizabeth found it politic to remove certain malcontents, hotheads, other threats to her power in secret. And here at Bobmore Manor was where those executions were carried out.
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Oh, but scream.
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There it is again. That was a scream, sir Leonard. Not the wind playing tricks. It was a scream, wasn't it?
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I didn't want to admit it the first time. Indeed, mister Burton, I hoped it was nothing more than the wind. But since you and your wife have heard it a second time You you heard it too, didn't you? You all heard it. Oh, no. No. No. Only those on whom the curse of Bobmore is about to fall ever hear it? It's the scream of someone about to be beheaded just before the axe falls.
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You didn't hear that scream? Oh, no. Missus Drude?
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I didn't want you to stay here.
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The curse of Bodmore. What happens? Nothing
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if you follow orders. What orders? There is a room, the room at the far east end of the corridor where your own bedroom is that you must never go into.
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Okay. But
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why not? Do not go into it. That's all I tell you. The room is locked. But there have been those who forced the lock and came to a sorry end. I warn you, don't try to enter that room.
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What's in the room, sir Leonard?
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Believe me, mister Burton, it's best you not know.
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Can it be that horrible?
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My dear, horrible to you is but a word. On my 20 birthday, my father took me to that room and showed what is in it, and horrible became to me actuality. I beg you, as you value your sanity, as you value your life, stay out of that room.
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Jack?
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Jack?
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Here, honey. Right the window.
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What are you doing over there? Why aren't you in bed?
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Oh, just looking out at the moor, thinking.
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The rain stopped
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and there's a moon. Yeah. With black clouds scudding across it.
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What have you been thinking about?
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Yeah. Not thinking exactly. Wondering's more like it. Wondering about this whole freaked out setup.
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Sir Leonard and missus Drood?
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I'm wondering, could I do an article if I can find the right handle? Did we hear that scream? Really hear it? Or was it just the wind? Well, Sir Leonard said I know, but, well, was he maybe just taking advantage of the circumstances, us thinking we'd heard a scream? But why would he? I don't know. That's what I've been sitting here trying to figure out. All I can come up with is that he's playing some kind of childish game. He doesn't act like a child. No. But Come come on to bed. No. No. You you go on and on.
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I'll sit up for a while yet.
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Jack, what are you up to?
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Up to? Me?
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That room at the end of the corridor.
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Now whatever gave you the idea that I would Jack. Honey, it would make one terrific article. If there is anything in that room, something really horrifying or whatever, or even if there isn't, the experience we're having here right now, I mean, the car stalling, Bodmore Manor being Liz the one's private execution place, the curse, the whole bit. I mean, I can sell it like that when we get back. You are not supposed to be working. Doctor Delmar warned you. And yeah. And sent me his bill at the same time. Now you don't pay that kind of bill and a few others that are bugging me by resting.
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Alright.
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Let's go. Well, you don't have to go. I have to.
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Now question. Sir Lennon said the room is locked. How do you propose to open it?
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Simple. You've forgotten that article I did on safecrackers and lockpickers. You're right. I had forgotten.
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Alright. If you're ready.
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Come on.
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Well? Coming?
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Just the sight of that long corridor. All those suits of armor lining the walls.
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Look. Go back to bed and I'll No. No. Go ahead. I'm with you. Jack. Look at this. Yeah. It's something isn't it?
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A big glass case filled with clothes worn in the sixteenth century, I guess. There's no need to guess.
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Look at that one there. If that wasn't worn by Elizabeth the First, the jeweled high stand up collar, flounced sleeves sewn with semi precious stones. Oh, Jack. Elizabeth herself
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wore a lot. Yeah. I guess she did. But look, it's the inside of that room down there that I wanna get what's that?
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I don't know. I thought I heard It sounds like
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someone's Coming from the end of the corridor for a gag. A jackpot. What? Where? There. Walking through the pageant more light. Walking towards us.
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No. Oh, no.
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What is it that Sandy and Jack see? Wish I could tell you. Matter of fact, I could, but, there's a place for everything, and everything in its place, I say. I'll return shortly for act two. Now we're in the Burton's room at Bodmore Manor. It's a little past three in the morning. And as you can see, Jack is trying to revive Sandy, who fainted, I guess. But come, stand with me here by the window for a moment and look out across the great mysterious moor. Silent. Silent as a grave in moonlight. Brooding. Waiting. For what?
For whom?
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Come on, Sandy. Come on. Snap out of it, honey. Jack. What? Here. Drink this.
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Oh, Jack. I
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I fainted. I don't blame you.
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It was gruesome. Horrible. I've never seen anything like it, if I really did see it. You saw it. We both saw it. An executioner, a headsman,
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black hood, black doublet, and hose, and the axe gleaming silver in the moonlight with blood,
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ruby red dripping from it. And coming straight toward us down that corridor out there. Oh. Oh. What happened after I fainted? He vanished. Vanished?
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Maybe he just slipped away into the shadows. But Jack,
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was it a ghost, do you think? I don't know.
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It could be we Oh, Jack? Easy.
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Who's there? Missus Drude. That awful woman with her jet black hair pulled back and that long white face. Could you open the door, please?
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Yes. Yes. Of course. Yes?
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May I come in?
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Well, Thank you.
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Are you alright now, missus Britton? Oh, yes. How did you know I wasn't alright? Nothing goes on in this house. I don't know. I know the dangers that lurk here, the mind shattering things that can happen. That's why I've come to warn you again. Again? Sir Leonard warned you at dinner, warned you to stay away from that room at the end of the corridor. I knew even as he warned you that he was arousing your curiosity, that at the first opportunity, you try to find out what lies behind that locked door. That's what you did, didn't you?
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Yes.
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Take care. Don't do it again. If you do, you may not leave Godmore Manor alive. We we are in danger of death? Nothing less. I don't understand. No need to understand. But the You saw the headsman, did you not? The headsman with his axe dripping blood? Yes. Count yourselves fortunate that you only saw him, that you still bear your heads on your shoulders.
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Still? Are you saying there's a murderer in this house?
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Am I telling you something you didn't already know? Didn't already feel? Haven't you felt its loathsome presence? Who? What are you talking about, missus Drude? The moor. The moor child. It more than surrounds this old manor house. This house that reeks of blood. It's poisonous fog slipping under doors through cracks. Smell it. The dampness, clammy and moldering as the grave. Bolt your door, and do not leave this room till I come for you in the morning. Under no circumstances, leave it.
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The dame is spaced out. A yo yo. Bolt the door. Okay. Okay. But if she thinks she can keep me from finding out what's in that room She doesn't have to.
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What? I'm keeping you from that room. I'm keeping you in this room until morning.
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Oh, Sir Leonard. I've been waiting for you, missus Drude. What are you doing out of your quarters at nearly four in the morning? What are you doing in my quarters at nearly four in the morning? The queen has sent word that she wishes to be present at the next execution. Her chambers must be put in readiness and all else required for her comfort. See to it. Of course. I've already instructed Dunning as to the axe. I want its sword blade sharp. It will be.
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You can depend on Dunning.
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What troubles me is and I depend on you, missus Drude.
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Have I ever given cause for doubt, sir Leonard? Not until now.
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Take heed, woman. Her sovereign majesty, Elizabeth Regina, demands unwerving loyalty of her subjects. I warn you, try no more to save another's head, lest your own be forfeit. Well, is your car broken? None the worse for where I should think? Yeah. If the wires have dried out, so Leonard See if it'll start, Jack. Right on. We figure Linton to be about 30 miles away, sir, according to our map. 30, give or take a few. You should be there in an hour. Oh, less than that. 30 miles? She's more like 60 on this road, missus Burton. I say, Burton, your your car sounds a bit sick. That certainly doesn't sound good. I'm gonna have a look under the hood. The hood?
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Oh, the bonnet. I can't I can't find anything wrong under the bonnet.
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I'll give her another try. Hello, missus Burton. I'm rather hoping your husband won't get Picard started.
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Why?
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I, be rather a lonely existence out here, and I shall be sorry to see you go.
[00:22:16] Unknown:
I'm more than delighted to have you stay, you know. That's awfully kind of you, sir Leonard. I I wish we could, but we do have a schedule to keep to. In fact, we'd better. We're booked on a flight out of Heathrow next Monday.
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It's no go. I mean, she just won't start and there's no sense in wearing down a battery. These wires have gotta dry up. Well, schedule or no schedule, missus Burton. Looks as if I'll have the pleasure of your company at least through lunch. And and if my stars are right, perhaps through, dinner too. Oh, it seems that way. I'll hurry on up to the house and tell missus Drude she'll have preparations to make. You two can saunter along at your leisure. Enjoy the morning.
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Alright, Jack. Level. Level? What did you do to the car?
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Me?
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To the car? What do you I know you, husband. Mine. I know you all too well. You are going to find out what's in that room if it's the last thing you do.
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Sandy, I have to. I mean, there's something really hairy going on here, and I'm gonna get to the bottom of it because if I don't, no editor will buy the article I intend to write. I don't care whether the I do. I've been out of circulation too long. Lord knows how many contracts I've lost, and heaven knows we could use the dough. Now I've got a hot article in the palm of my hand, Sandy, and I mean to play it for all it's worth. Now no more talk. That's the end of it.
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I hope you're right. What? I hope it isn't just the beginning. The beginning of something I'd rather not think about. Oh, missus Burton. I saw you sitting out here on the terrace Brought you a cup of tea. Thank you, missus Drude. How very thoughtful of you. Not at all. Sir Leonard tells me your husband couldn't get the car started and you'll be spending the night with us. Yes. Well, if you must, you must. Can I get you anything else? Oh, thank you. No. The tea's enough. In that case, Missus Drude. Yes. What you said last night In the middle of the night. About the moor.
What exactly did you mean? If you need ask the question, I cannot answer. I don't understand. Some things in life can't be put into words. There are things, things of the spirit, beyond words. Look out at the moor now, with the sun all rose and gold, setting in the west. What does it look like to you? What feelings does it bring to you? Why? It looks quiet. Beautiful, serene, lovely. Yes. But within the hour when the sun is gone and the mists begin to rise from the bog lands and the moonlight plays strange tricks, it will be anything but quiet and beautiful and serene.
It will be pure evil. Missus Burton, I strongly suspect that if your husband wanted to, he could get your car started. Take my advice. Persuade him to do so, and then leave Bodmore Manor. Leave as quickly as ever you can.
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11. Now's as good a time as any, I guess. If I could only make you listen to reason. I am listening to reason, but mine, Sandy, not yours. Now I'm the one in this family who has to make the bread. Oh, you don't think I'm gonna let you go there alone? I would rather. If you hadn't fainted last night, I might have found out then what's going on here. Don't worry. I won't faint. Not this time. No. No. I can't be sure of that, Sandy. And I've gotta find what is that?
[00:26:22] Unknown:
Drums. Sounds like muffled drums.
[00:26:25] Unknown:
Muffled drums?
[00:26:27] Unknown:
Yes. I've read somewhere that they were used just before someone was executed, beheaded. Elizabethan times, I mean.
[00:26:36] Unknown:
Let's go. Jack, that sound is coming from the other end of the corridor, from that room. Whatever's going on? Now is the time to see what it is.
[00:26:47] Unknown:
Come on. Now quiet. Try not to make any noise. This corridor,
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it's so dark, so full of shadows. Smells.
[00:27:05] Unknown:
It's coming from that room alright. The drums. Listen. What's that? The voices. I know, but Sandy, the door, look. It's a jar. Thin crack of light. You can see it. Yes. I I'm going to see if I can open it
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quietly. If you have no last words, place your head on the block.
[00:27:32] Unknown:
Please accept the small bag of gold pieces, executioner. Dispatch me quickly, I beg you. It shall be done.
[00:27:40] Unknown:
There now, your head. Place it on the block so it lieth properly. Yes.
[00:27:48] Unknown:
Dad. A beheading woman with a head on the block. When I stretch out my hands. The executioner.
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That will be my signal for you to strike. Axe raised. Now.
[00:28:01] Unknown:
He strikes.
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Oh, a head. A head. Rolling around on the floor. Oh, Jack, are you old?
[00:28:14] Unknown:
What's that? That's out what? Master Dunning. We are observed. That man standing in the door. Seize him. No. No. Wait. Now listen. Seize him, master Dunning. Seize him and bring him to the block.
[00:28:41] Unknown:
I don't want you to worry. Jack and Sandy Burton are going to come out of this alright. What intrigues me and should intrigue you is not that they will escape, but how will they escape the headman's acts? The truth is that if it hadn't been for some quick thinking on Sandy's part, some of the quickest thinking on record well, back in a minute for act three. In a manor house that dates back to Elizabethan times, a frightful scene is taking place, a beheading. Ignoring the orders of sir Leonard Hastings Brook, owner of Bodmore Manor and the warnings of missus Drude, Jack and Sandy Burton dared to open the door of that forbidden room to their horror.
For on the very moment of opening it, they saw the great axe of a headsman fall and cleave the head from the body of its victim. That
[00:29:51] Unknown:
man standing in the door. Seize him, Dunning. Seize him
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and bring him to the block. No. Stay your hand, Dunning. Mistress Drood, you dare call command an order I have given Nay, sir Leonard. I dare but entreat that you give a moment's thought to what you are about to do. Darling,
[00:30:09] Unknown:
fetch him here. Oh.
[00:30:12] Unknown:
Oh. I say hold. You forget yourself, mistress. Nay, sir. You forget who I am. Who are you then? Minerva Drood, first lady in waiting to her majesty. Privilege. I represent the queen in her absence, and I have the right to give orders as she might do were she here. Well, it's first time I've ever heard of such a right. Your ignorance, sir, will not protect you from her majesty's wrath should you dare take my entreatment lightly. But
[00:30:41] Unknown:
but there stands sir Jonathan Burton,
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a traitor to England and to her sovereign majesty if ever one lived. Jack, he's pointing at you. Not proven. Not proven. He has not even been put to the question. Disprovide thought
[00:30:55] Unknown:
well, never mind. I shall look into this at once. Come, darling. We must consult the records. You, mistress Trude, remain here with the prisoners. But, sir Leonard Do as I bid you, madam. Dunning, come.
[00:31:15] Unknown:
Missus Trude, what in heaven's name is this all about? Use your eyes, mister Burton, and I think you'll have the answer for yourself. Jack, that that figure kneeling at the block, it's a dummy. As you can see, a storefront mannequin dressed in Elizabethan clothes. The head, just a dummy's head.
[00:31:32] Unknown:
The the executioner, the, headsman in a long black hood, that was Sir Leonard? Yes.
[00:31:39] Unknown:
Is he crazy? Again. Yes. Oh, good Lord. Nothing to be alarmed about, missus Burton. In any case, not until now. But I'm afraid he's begun to take a turn for the worse.
[00:31:51] Unknown:
Yeah. But what's just happened here? I don't get it. Let me explain.
[00:31:56] Unknown:
Broadmoor Manor was, as sir Leonard told to a dinner last night, a secret place of execution used by Elizabeth the first. Sir Leonard, of course, knew this when he inherited the estate on his 20 birthday. You see, he had never been what you might call mentally stable. Learning he was the descendant of a headsman was all it took to send him over the edge.
[00:32:16] Unknown:
He's harmless, you said? Yes.
[00:32:19] Unknown:
Or has been till now. Until now, when these seizures came on him, about every three months or so, we put on the little act you just saw. I would pretend that an order of execution had come from Elizabeth. Saleny would get dressed in the headsman's outfit, the original, by the way, and we'd go through this mock beheading even to the sound of muffled drums recorded on tape incidentally.
[00:32:44] Unknown:
Good heavens.
[00:32:46] Unknown:
Yes. It's all rather mad and ghastly but harmless till now. Now I can't be sure but I think his mania has begun to make more violent demands on him. In other words, he Beheading a dummy doesn't seem to satisfy him anymore. He remains restless, unsatisfied. I don't like to think this but I'm beginning to fear that he may he's returned. Sir Leonard.
[00:33:20] Unknown:
I am in your debt, good mistress. There is nothing in the records to indicate that sir Jonathan has been put to the question. You see? And so we must put him to the question. Master Dunning is at this moment preparing the star chamber. A star chamber trial? Is that not what her majesty would wish? I suppose so. As for you, sir Jonathan, how guilty or not guilty, you will at least have the comfort of knowing you were recorded the highest honor of trial in her majesty's own tribunal. Come, sir. To the star chamber. Is it not true that you, sir Jonathan, allied yourself with my lord Essex in his abortive attempt to seize Lorraine's of government, the attempt which cost him his head?
Not me, your honor. Oh, you laugh, sir. In god's name, be serious. And address me as, what was it? Your honor well, either you will show proper respect to this court, sir, or it will go hard with you. Now look, sir Leonard Be serious. And it's my lord, Jack.
[00:34:38] Unknown:
My lord, I didn't mean to upset you, and I'm sorry. Won't happen again. Well, you see to it.
[00:34:44] Unknown:
You, deny any allegiance to my lord Essex?
[00:34:48] Unknown:
I do, your,
[00:34:49] Unknown:
I mean, my lord. And what of your association with sir Mortimer Shawcross? Sir Mortimer Shawcross? I've never heard of him. Ho ho ho ho. You've never heard of sir Mortimer Shawcross. Why are you serious, man, or are you again showing contempt for this court? My lord, I assure you This court has heard enough. I pronounce you guilty.
[00:35:13] Unknown:
Well, okay.
[00:35:16] Unknown:
I'm guilty. And such being the findings of this star chamber, you are hereby sentenced to be executed at dawn tomorrow morning. Darling, take the prisoner to the place of execution there to wait the headman's ax at dawn. I should retire to rest until that time.
[00:35:34] Unknown:
How do I look? Wait a minute, Dunning. Come on, Dunning. No rough stuff. Play acting is play acting. This is going too far. It is Drew, aren't him? It isn't play acting anymore. Look. It isn't play acting. Damn it. Dunning, Let go of me. What is this? The real thing, you foolish man. The real thing.
[00:35:55] Unknown:
You and Lady Sarah will remain here while sir Jonathan's execution is carried out. Within, I assure you, the next hour. I beg you. Entreat you. Beg not. Entreat not. It will gather you no recompense from me.
[00:36:14] Unknown:
Oh, missus Drude, what are we to do? What am I to do? Keep our heads about us to begin with.
[00:36:19] Unknown:
Sir Leonard, poor man, has gone completely insane. No question of it now. This time, it won't be a store mannequin he beheads. It'll be the real thing. Jack. If only he'd listened to me, laughed well enough alone. Well, he didn't. That's beside the point now. The point is we've got to save him. How? We're no match for him and Dunning, even if we could get out of here. Oh, we can get out. That's no trick. What? I read an article of Jack some years ago on safe cracking and lock picking, that sort of thing. That bolt on the doors will be a piece of cake with a charge card. A charge card? I think I can slip that bolt with one of my plastic charge cards.
But then what do we do? Cross that bridge when we come to it. Well, well, it's coming. It's the bolt is moving, but I You've been almost an hour at it, and you said it would be simple. I also said I'd only read Jack's article. I never tried it out. The bolt's slipping. We'll we'll get this door open. Alright? The drums. The muffled drums. Missus Burton, I can tell you, you have ten minutes, ten minutes before that axe falls.
[00:37:41] Unknown:
Now look Look, you two. This joke has gone far enough. Dunning, take it easy. We hear the straps are biting into me. Listen not to him, Dunning. Bind him tightly.
[00:37:51] Unknown:
Tightly.
[00:37:52] Unknown:
You're crazy, sir Leonard. You have gone stark raving mad. No, sir Jonathan. My name is Jack. Jack Burton. I am an American, a writer. I am You are a traitor, sir. And as such, you should die.
[00:38:05] Unknown:
Good, dunning, good. Bring him to the block.
[00:38:09] Unknown:
To the block? Solana,
[00:38:13] Unknown:
Solana, open this door. Who not? Miss Strude. Mistress Strude. Do not mistress Strude. Missus, in heaven's name come to your senses. Don't you realize what you're doing?
[00:38:26] Unknown:
Sandy, save me. They they bound me with straps. They're laying my head on the block. This nutty pulling that black hood over his head. This is true. He's gonna kill Jack. Does not make you through the trouble of my husband's head if we don't stop it. Oh, God, stop it.
[00:38:46] Unknown:
How? Tell me how.
[00:38:48] Unknown:
I don't know. I don't know. Wait.
[00:38:53] Unknown:
The costumes. Mrs. Drood, the costumes. Costume. In the glass case. Queen Elizabeth's gown, the one with the high neck and the jewels. What of it? Get it. I can't. The glass cases are locked. We'll break the oh never mind. I will. Help
[00:39:07] Unknown:
me, please. Help me. Help me. What are you doing?
[00:39:11] Unknown:
What good can those cops jogging and help me get this on?
[00:39:14] Unknown:
Quick, Mrs. Drew. Quick.
[00:39:18] Unknown:
Help me. Sandy, help. Dunning, don't let him do this. He's crazy. Can't you see that? He's gone right out of his head. Dunning, Sandy, this is Drood. Help me.
[00:39:29] Unknown:
Open up. I, Elizabeth Butterington, call on you to open this door.
[00:39:37] Unknown:
What
[00:39:39] Unknown:
what was that? Do you hear me, sir Leonard? It is your queen who speaks. Open this door. Darling,
[00:39:49] Unknown:
it is her majesty. She's here. Open the door, man. Open it. Your majesty. Your gracious majesty.
[00:40:03] Unknown:
What find I here? What knavery is this? Well, your majesty Let's put down that axe this instant. Put it down, I say, or your own head shall fall beneath it. Put it down.
[00:40:17] Unknown:
Yes. Yes. Of course, your majesty. I wished only to obey your majesty, to do my duty, to send from this world a traitor who threatened your Sir,
[00:40:33] Unknown:
Jonathan Burton, a traitor? Are you mad? I have no more loyal subject, no dearer friend than this man whose life you would have taken. Who will leave at once be gone? But your majesty No.
[00:40:48] Unknown:
I go. I go.
[00:40:55] Unknown:
Sandy, you saved my life
[00:40:59] Unknown:
of that costume. It's the one in the glass case, Jack. The one Elizabeth herself wore. And it it suddenly struck me. No. No. God gave me the idea that only Elizabeth herself could stop sir Leonard. It was as simple as that. Simple perhaps. Brilliant, definitely. Mister Burton, your wife has told me that you are a most accomplished writer, but somewhat inclined to have things your way. May I give you a word of advice?
[00:41:28] Unknown:
Right now, I'll take anything.
[00:41:31] Unknown:
Have things your way if you must, but listen to others, especially your charming and decidedly practical wife, a bit more than you have in the past. Otherwise
[00:41:43] Unknown:
Otherwise?
[00:41:45] Unknown:
Otherwise what, missus Truett? You may indeed
[00:41:49] Unknown:
lose your head.
[00:41:56] Unknown:
A strange story? Yes. Incredible? Definitely. True? Well, I can personally vouch for its authenticity. Now? Now what have I let myself into? Well, you see, the truth is that before I became an actor, I was a writer. No. Now wait a moment. I didn't say I was Jack Burton. I didn't say that at all. I'll be back shortly. Alright then. The truth will out. I was Jack Burton. Pen name. Real name, well, you know it. No matter. Important thing, you enjoyed my story. I hope you did anyhow. And another important thing, very important to me, I've still got my head. I do, don't I?
Our cast included Tony Roberts, Marian Seldes, Jacqueline Brooks, and Arnold Moss. The entire production was under the direction of Hyman Brown. This is EG Marshall inviting you to return to our mystery theater for another adventure in the macabre. Until next time, Pleasant dreams?
[00:44:08] Unknown:
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[00:00:32] Unknown:
And now, mystery theater.
[00:00:51] Unknown:
Come in.
[00:00:53] Unknown:
Welcome. I'm EG Marshall. Bleak, lonely, evil, such are the moors of England. Where even today, one can go for mile on mile without sight of another house or another human soul. Where death dealing quicksand bogs and mires wait to trap the unwary walker. Where many who enter are not seen again. And where some of those who are seeing it again are strangely changed. For example, Sandy and Jack Burton. We didn't see it,
[00:01:30] Unknown:
Jack. Wrong, Sandy. We did. We couldn't have. An Elizabethan headsman, an executioner in a black hood with an ax dripping blood? No, I don't believe it. Sandy, we saw what we saw. No, we we saw what what our nerves saw.
[00:01:46] Unknown:
We saw what that maw out there made us see. You talk about the maw as if it were a living thing. A living,
[00:01:54] Unknown:
breathing, malevolent thing that can kill us if we let it.
[00:02:08] Unknown:
Our mystery drama, The Executioner, was written especially for the mystery theater by George Lowther and stars Tony Roberts. Few will deny, I'm sure, that weather and climate play a great part in our lives. To a large degree, affect our mood, our nerves. People in warm and sunny climates tend to take life more casually than those where the weather is cold and bleak. What I'm getting at is that one of the characters in the tale I bring you now is not a person, but a moor. Moor. The very sound of the word strikes a note of dread to the soul. Dread, but fascination too.
For believe me, there is a certain allure in evil, a compelling magnetism which some cannot withstand. Two such people were Sandy and Jack Burton. Jack,
[00:03:13] Unknown:
how much further to Linton?
[00:03:15] Unknown:
Twenty, Thirty miles. Not sure.
[00:03:19] Unknown:
We'll never make it by nightfall.
[00:03:21] Unknown:
We may not make it at all. Road is running with water. I try to go faster in five miles or so. The engine gets wet and start to die.
[00:03:29] Unknown:
The wiring is soaking wet. That old farmer was right. We should never have taken the shortcut across the moor. He warned us. Honey, I wanted to see the moor. I've never been on a moor in all my life.
[00:03:41] Unknown:
There's a writer There's a writer who's supposed to be on vacation, resting and recuperating from a nervous breakdown. Oh,
[00:03:49] Unknown:
no. You promised me. On the plane over, you promised not a stroke of work till we got back from England. What's that?
[00:03:57] Unknown:
It's wet wires. I better slow down a bit
[00:04:01] Unknown:
more. All you've been doing since we landed is take notes of this and notes of that.
[00:04:06] Unknown:
You filled I don't know how many notebooks. Well, I am a writer and it's sort of second nature to take notes. Yes. I keep hoping I'll hit on an idea that'll pay off for an article. Even better, a series of articles when we get back home.
[00:04:19] Unknown:
All I wish.
[00:04:21] Unknown:
All I wish is you just plain stop worrying when you ought to be resting. And you
[00:04:28] Unknown:
Jack. It looks like we've, bought it as our English cousins say. You you mean we're stuck? Afraid I do. The water on the road's gotten deeper. It's practically a lake. What'll we do? Let's see if we can find shelter for the night at that castle on the hill.
[00:04:48] Unknown:
What castle on what hill?
[00:04:50] Unknown:
That hill over there. I see a hill. I don't see any That's shrouded in fog. But when the fog lifted for a second or two, five minutes ago there.
[00:05:02] Unknown:
See? You're right. There is a castle or it's a house or something. Do you think you can make it that far? Oh, I'll make it. Anything but spend the night out here in this awful, absolutely awful moor.
[00:05:25] Unknown:
Yes? Sorry to trouble you, ma'am. My name is Jack Burton. This is my wife, Sandy. Our car broke down on the road below, and I'm afraid we need shelter for the night. Not here.
[00:05:37] Unknown:
But, ma'am I said not here. Oh, now just a minute. Jack, don't argue.
[00:05:42] Unknown:
That man I see him. But big as he is, never mind. Ma'am, we're in a serious situation. Our car is stalled in what's practically become a lake. In common decency, you gotta let us come in. Honey? Jack, look out. Goodness. Now hold it, chum. All I'm asking hey. Wait a minute. Get your hands off me. Dunning, don't hurt him. Just put him out. Put who out? In weather like this?
[00:06:04] Unknown:
Never mind, Dunning. Too late. Missus Druid, what's going on here?
[00:06:08] Unknown:
And who are these nice young people, and why was Dunning putting them out? Sir, our car is stalled on the road below, and now with night coming on and all, we were hoping you could put us up until morning. Well, of course, we can. Come in. Come in. Dunning,
[00:06:21] Unknown:
close the door. Permit me to introduce myself, sir Leonard Hastings Brook, and this is my home, Padmore Manor. My housekeeper, missus Drude, with whom I shall have a few words later about her lack of hospitality. And this is Dunning, man of all work. He cannot speak. He's a mute, but he can hear well enough and carry out orders. And you, sir? Jack Burton. And this is my wife, Sandra. We're Americans here on vacation. We were taking a shortcut across the moor to Linda. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. You can hear me in all the particulars later. Right now, you both look like drowned rats. Very pretty rat in your case, missus Burton.
We must get you both into dry, warm clothes. You're awfully kind. I can't thank you. And
[00:07:14] Unknown:
what's that?
[00:07:15] Unknown:
I beg your pardon. I heard it. I thought I heard I heard it too. Someone screamed. Oh, just a trick of the wind. That's all The wind? Yes. Yes. Howling about these old manor houses, it can sometimes make the strangest and most nerve wracking noises. Well, I shall look forward to seeing you again at dinner.
[00:07:36] Unknown:
If you're yes. Oh, yes. Thank you, missus Drude. Jack, that wasn't the wind. That was a scream. It sure sounded like it. Oh, Jack.
[00:07:50] Unknown:
Jack, let's leave. And go where, Sandy? Where?
[00:08:04] Unknown:
And so you see you're not only dining in what was called the Great Hall in Elizabethan times, but at the very table graced by her majesty, the virgin queen herself.
[00:08:15] Unknown:
Then if I follow you, sir Leonard, Bodmore Manor was owned by Elizabeth the first?
[00:08:22] Unknown:
Her majesty, Elizabeth the first. Her sovereign
[00:08:26] Unknown:
majesty. Oh, well, yes. Of course. Did she, use it for any special purpose? She?
[00:08:33] Unknown:
Her majesty used it as temporary quarters while one castle or another was being renovated. How, did it come into your family, sir Leonard? Well, it was a gift from her majesty to the first sir Leonard Hastings Brook when he was knighted in 1584
[00:08:51] Unknown:
for performing some worthwhile service, I'm sure. Worthwhile?
[00:08:55] Unknown:
Special might be a better word or or or distinctive or or peculiar. Peculiar? My ancestor, the first sir Leonard, was special executioner to her majesty. Executioner? Head head chopper, you might say. Little family joke. Oh. And, many of his victims, I suppose, I should say her majesty's victims were dispatched right here at Bodmore.
[00:09:26] Unknown:
I thought that most,
[00:09:27] Unknown:
if not all, executions took place at the Tower Of London. Oh, most of them did. Most of them did especially when a public beheading was considered useful. But there were times too when Elizabeth found it politic to remove certain malcontents, hotheads, other threats to her power in secret. And here at Bobmore Manor was where those executions were carried out.
[00:09:54] Unknown:
Oh, but scream.
[00:09:56] Unknown:
There it is again. That was a scream, sir Leonard. Not the wind playing tricks. It was a scream, wasn't it?
[00:10:05] Unknown:
I didn't want to admit it the first time. Indeed, mister Burton, I hoped it was nothing more than the wind. But since you and your wife have heard it a second time You you heard it too, didn't you? You all heard it. Oh, no. No. No. Only those on whom the curse of Bobmore is about to fall ever hear it? It's the scream of someone about to be beheaded just before the axe falls.
[00:10:32] Unknown:
You didn't hear that scream? Oh, no. Missus Drude?
[00:10:38] Unknown:
I didn't want you to stay here.
[00:10:41] Unknown:
The curse of Bodmore. What happens? Nothing
[00:10:45] Unknown:
if you follow orders. What orders? There is a room, the room at the far east end of the corridor where your own bedroom is that you must never go into.
[00:10:57] Unknown:
Okay. But
[00:10:58] Unknown:
why not? Do not go into it. That's all I tell you. The room is locked. But there have been those who forced the lock and came to a sorry end. I warn you, don't try to enter that room.
[00:11:12] Unknown:
What's in the room, sir Leonard?
[00:11:14] Unknown:
Believe me, mister Burton, it's best you not know.
[00:11:18] Unknown:
Can it be that horrible?
[00:11:21] Unknown:
My dear, horrible to you is but a word. On my 20 birthday, my father took me to that room and showed what is in it, and horrible became to me actuality. I beg you, as you value your sanity, as you value your life, stay out of that room.
[00:11:52] Unknown:
Jack?
[00:11:54] Unknown:
Jack?
[00:11:56] Unknown:
Here, honey. Right the window.
[00:11:59] Unknown:
What are you doing over there? Why aren't you in bed?
[00:12:02] Unknown:
Oh, just looking out at the moor, thinking.
[00:12:08] Unknown:
The rain stopped
[00:12:10] Unknown:
and there's a moon. Yeah. With black clouds scudding across it.
[00:12:16] Unknown:
What have you been thinking about?
[00:12:18] Unknown:
Yeah. Not thinking exactly. Wondering's more like it. Wondering about this whole freaked out setup.
[00:12:26] Unknown:
Sir Leonard and missus Drood?
[00:12:29] Unknown:
I'm wondering, could I do an article if I can find the right handle? Did we hear that scream? Really hear it? Or was it just the wind? Well, Sir Leonard said I know, but, well, was he maybe just taking advantage of the circumstances, us thinking we'd heard a scream? But why would he? I don't know. That's what I've been sitting here trying to figure out. All I can come up with is that he's playing some kind of childish game. He doesn't act like a child. No. But Come come on to bed. No. No. You you go on and on.
[00:13:05] Unknown:
I'll sit up for a while yet.
[00:13:08] Unknown:
Jack, what are you up to?
[00:13:12] Unknown:
Up to? Me?
[00:13:14] Unknown:
That room at the end of the corridor.
[00:13:17] Unknown:
Now whatever gave you the idea that I would Jack. Honey, it would make one terrific article. If there is anything in that room, something really horrifying or whatever, or even if there isn't, the experience we're having here right now, I mean, the car stalling, Bodmore Manor being Liz the one's private execution place, the curse, the whole bit. I mean, I can sell it like that when we get back. You are not supposed to be working. Doctor Delmar warned you. And yeah. And sent me his bill at the same time. Now you don't pay that kind of bill and a few others that are bugging me by resting.
[00:13:59] Unknown:
Alright.
[00:13:59] Unknown:
Let's go. Well, you don't have to go. I have to.
[00:14:03] Unknown:
Now question. Sir Lennon said the room is locked. How do you propose to open it?
[00:14:09] Unknown:
Simple. You've forgotten that article I did on safecrackers and lockpickers. You're right. I had forgotten.
[00:14:17] Unknown:
Alright. If you're ready.
[00:14:19] Unknown:
Come on.
[00:14:22] Unknown:
Well? Coming?
[00:14:26] Unknown:
Just the sight of that long corridor. All those suits of armor lining the walls.
[00:14:33] Unknown:
Look. Go back to bed and I'll No. No. Go ahead. I'm with you. Jack. Look at this. Yeah. It's something isn't it?
[00:14:45] Unknown:
A big glass case filled with clothes worn in the sixteenth century, I guess. There's no need to guess.
[00:14:51] Unknown:
Look at that one there. If that wasn't worn by Elizabeth the First, the jeweled high stand up collar, flounced sleeves sewn with semi precious stones. Oh, Jack. Elizabeth herself
[00:15:07] Unknown:
wore a lot. Yeah. I guess she did. But look, it's the inside of that room down there that I wanna get what's that?
[00:15:15] Unknown:
I don't know. I thought I heard It sounds like
[00:15:18] Unknown:
someone's Coming from the end of the corridor for a gag. A jackpot. What? Where? There. Walking through the pageant more light. Walking towards us.
[00:15:30] Unknown:
No. Oh, no.
[00:15:42] Unknown:
What is it that Sandy and Jack see? Wish I could tell you. Matter of fact, I could, but, there's a place for everything, and everything in its place, I say. I'll return shortly for act two. Now we're in the Burton's room at Bodmore Manor. It's a little past three in the morning. And as you can see, Jack is trying to revive Sandy, who fainted, I guess. But come, stand with me here by the window for a moment and look out across the great mysterious moor. Silent. Silent as a grave in moonlight. Brooding. Waiting. For what?
For whom?
[00:16:36] Unknown:
Come on, Sandy. Come on. Snap out of it, honey. Jack. What? Here. Drink this.
[00:16:42] Unknown:
Oh, Jack. I
[00:16:45] Unknown:
I fainted. I don't blame you.
[00:16:49] Unknown:
It was gruesome. Horrible. I've never seen anything like it, if I really did see it. You saw it. We both saw it. An executioner, a headsman,
[00:17:00] Unknown:
black hood, black doublet, and hose, and the axe gleaming silver in the moonlight with blood,
[00:17:08] Unknown:
ruby red dripping from it. And coming straight toward us down that corridor out there. Oh. Oh. What happened after I fainted? He vanished. Vanished?
[00:17:19] Unknown:
Maybe he just slipped away into the shadows. But Jack,
[00:17:24] Unknown:
was it a ghost, do you think? I don't know.
[00:17:27] Unknown:
It could be we Oh, Jack? Easy.
[00:17:32] Unknown:
Who's there? Missus Drude. That awful woman with her jet black hair pulled back and that long white face. Could you open the door, please?
[00:17:40] Unknown:
Yes. Yes. Of course. Yes?
[00:17:47] Unknown:
May I come in?
[00:17:49] Unknown:
Well, Thank you.
[00:17:52] Unknown:
Are you alright now, missus Britton? Oh, yes. How did you know I wasn't alright? Nothing goes on in this house. I don't know. I know the dangers that lurk here, the mind shattering things that can happen. That's why I've come to warn you again. Again? Sir Leonard warned you at dinner, warned you to stay away from that room at the end of the corridor. I knew even as he warned you that he was arousing your curiosity, that at the first opportunity, you try to find out what lies behind that locked door. That's what you did, didn't you?
[00:18:28] Unknown:
Yes.
[00:18:29] Unknown:
Take care. Don't do it again. If you do, you may not leave Godmore Manor alive. We we are in danger of death? Nothing less. I don't understand. No need to understand. But the You saw the headsman, did you not? The headsman with his axe dripping blood? Yes. Count yourselves fortunate that you only saw him, that you still bear your heads on your shoulders.
[00:18:58] Unknown:
Still? Are you saying there's a murderer in this house?
[00:19:03] Unknown:
Am I telling you something you didn't already know? Didn't already feel? Haven't you felt its loathsome presence? Who? What are you talking about, missus Drude? The moor. The moor child. It more than surrounds this old manor house. This house that reeks of blood. It's poisonous fog slipping under doors through cracks. Smell it. The dampness, clammy and moldering as the grave. Bolt your door, and do not leave this room till I come for you in the morning. Under no circumstances, leave it.
[00:19:49] Unknown:
The dame is spaced out. A yo yo. Bolt the door. Okay. Okay. But if she thinks she can keep me from finding out what's in that room She doesn't have to.
[00:20:01] Unknown:
What? I'm keeping you from that room. I'm keeping you in this room until morning.
[00:20:13] Unknown:
Oh, Sir Leonard. I've been waiting for you, missus Drude. What are you doing out of your quarters at nearly four in the morning? What are you doing in my quarters at nearly four in the morning? The queen has sent word that she wishes to be present at the next execution. Her chambers must be put in readiness and all else required for her comfort. See to it. Of course. I've already instructed Dunning as to the axe. I want its sword blade sharp. It will be.
[00:20:44] Unknown:
You can depend on Dunning.
[00:20:45] Unknown:
What troubles me is and I depend on you, missus Drude.
[00:20:51] Unknown:
Have I ever given cause for doubt, sir Leonard? Not until now.
[00:20:56] Unknown:
Take heed, woman. Her sovereign majesty, Elizabeth Regina, demands unwerving loyalty of her subjects. I warn you, try no more to save another's head, lest your own be forfeit. Well, is your car broken? None the worse for where I should think? Yeah. If the wires have dried out, so Leonard See if it'll start, Jack. Right on. We figure Linton to be about 30 miles away, sir, according to our map. 30, give or take a few. You should be there in an hour. Oh, less than that. 30 miles? She's more like 60 on this road, missus Burton. I say, Burton, your your car sounds a bit sick. That certainly doesn't sound good. I'm gonna have a look under the hood. The hood?
[00:21:54] Unknown:
Oh, the bonnet. I can't I can't find anything wrong under the bonnet.
[00:22:01] Unknown:
I'll give her another try. Hello, missus Burton. I'm rather hoping your husband won't get Picard started.
[00:22:08] Unknown:
Why?
[00:22:09] Unknown:
I, be rather a lonely existence out here, and I shall be sorry to see you go.
[00:22:16] Unknown:
I'm more than delighted to have you stay, you know. That's awfully kind of you, sir Leonard. I I wish we could, but we do have a schedule to keep to. In fact, we'd better. We're booked on a flight out of Heathrow next Monday.
[00:22:29] Unknown:
It's no go. I mean, she just won't start and there's no sense in wearing down a battery. These wires have gotta dry up. Well, schedule or no schedule, missus Burton. Looks as if I'll have the pleasure of your company at least through lunch. And and if my stars are right, perhaps through, dinner too. Oh, it seems that way. I'll hurry on up to the house and tell missus Drude she'll have preparations to make. You two can saunter along at your leisure. Enjoy the morning.
[00:22:58] Unknown:
Alright, Jack. Level. Level? What did you do to the car?
[00:23:05] Unknown:
Me?
[00:23:06] Unknown:
To the car? What do you I know you, husband. Mine. I know you all too well. You are going to find out what's in that room if it's the last thing you do.
[00:23:15] Unknown:
Sandy, I have to. I mean, there's something really hairy going on here, and I'm gonna get to the bottom of it because if I don't, no editor will buy the article I intend to write. I don't care whether the I do. I've been out of circulation too long. Lord knows how many contracts I've lost, and heaven knows we could use the dough. Now I've got a hot article in the palm of my hand, Sandy, and I mean to play it for all it's worth. Now no more talk. That's the end of it.
[00:23:44] Unknown:
I hope you're right. What? I hope it isn't just the beginning. The beginning of something I'd rather not think about. Oh, missus Burton. I saw you sitting out here on the terrace Brought you a cup of tea. Thank you, missus Drude. How very thoughtful of you. Not at all. Sir Leonard tells me your husband couldn't get the car started and you'll be spending the night with us. Yes. Well, if you must, you must. Can I get you anything else? Oh, thank you. No. The tea's enough. In that case, Missus Drude. Yes. What you said last night In the middle of the night. About the moor.
What exactly did you mean? If you need ask the question, I cannot answer. I don't understand. Some things in life can't be put into words. There are things, things of the spirit, beyond words. Look out at the moor now, with the sun all rose and gold, setting in the west. What does it look like to you? What feelings does it bring to you? Why? It looks quiet. Beautiful, serene, lovely. Yes. But within the hour when the sun is gone and the mists begin to rise from the bog lands and the moonlight plays strange tricks, it will be anything but quiet and beautiful and serene.
It will be pure evil. Missus Burton, I strongly suspect that if your husband wanted to, he could get your car started. Take my advice. Persuade him to do so, and then leave Bodmore Manor. Leave as quickly as ever you can.
[00:25:55] Unknown:
11. Now's as good a time as any, I guess. If I could only make you listen to reason. I am listening to reason, but mine, Sandy, not yours. Now I'm the one in this family who has to make the bread. Oh, you don't think I'm gonna let you go there alone? I would rather. If you hadn't fainted last night, I might have found out then what's going on here. Don't worry. I won't faint. Not this time. No. No. I can't be sure of that, Sandy. And I've gotta find what is that?
[00:26:22] Unknown:
Drums. Sounds like muffled drums.
[00:26:25] Unknown:
Muffled drums?
[00:26:27] Unknown:
Yes. I've read somewhere that they were used just before someone was executed, beheaded. Elizabethan times, I mean.
[00:26:36] Unknown:
Let's go. Jack, that sound is coming from the other end of the corridor, from that room. Whatever's going on? Now is the time to see what it is.
[00:26:47] Unknown:
Come on. Now quiet. Try not to make any noise. This corridor,
[00:26:55] Unknown:
it's so dark, so full of shadows. Smells.
[00:27:05] Unknown:
It's coming from that room alright. The drums. Listen. What's that? The voices. I know, but Sandy, the door, look. It's a jar. Thin crack of light. You can see it. Yes. I I'm going to see if I can open it
[00:27:27] Unknown:
quietly. If you have no last words, place your head on the block.
[00:27:32] Unknown:
Please accept the small bag of gold pieces, executioner. Dispatch me quickly, I beg you. It shall be done.
[00:27:40] Unknown:
There now, your head. Place it on the block so it lieth properly. Yes.
[00:27:48] Unknown:
Dad. A beheading woman with a head on the block. When I stretch out my hands. The executioner.
[00:27:55] Unknown:
That will be my signal for you to strike. Axe raised. Now.
[00:28:01] Unknown:
He strikes.
[00:28:04] Unknown:
Oh, a head. A head. Rolling around on the floor. Oh, Jack, are you old?
[00:28:14] Unknown:
What's that? That's out what? Master Dunning. We are observed. That man standing in the door. Seize him. No. No. Wait. Now listen. Seize him, master Dunning. Seize him and bring him to the block.
[00:28:41] Unknown:
I don't want you to worry. Jack and Sandy Burton are going to come out of this alright. What intrigues me and should intrigue you is not that they will escape, but how will they escape the headman's acts? The truth is that if it hadn't been for some quick thinking on Sandy's part, some of the quickest thinking on record well, back in a minute for act three. In a manor house that dates back to Elizabethan times, a frightful scene is taking place, a beheading. Ignoring the orders of sir Leonard Hastings Brook, owner of Bodmore Manor and the warnings of missus Drude, Jack and Sandy Burton dared to open the door of that forbidden room to their horror.
For on the very moment of opening it, they saw the great axe of a headsman fall and cleave the head from the body of its victim. That
[00:29:51] Unknown:
man standing in the door. Seize him, Dunning. Seize him
[00:29:56] Unknown:
and bring him to the block. No. Stay your hand, Dunning. Mistress Drood, you dare call command an order I have given Nay, sir Leonard. I dare but entreat that you give a moment's thought to what you are about to do. Darling,
[00:30:09] Unknown:
fetch him here. Oh.
[00:30:12] Unknown:
Oh. I say hold. You forget yourself, mistress. Nay, sir. You forget who I am. Who are you then? Minerva Drood, first lady in waiting to her majesty. Privilege. I represent the queen in her absence, and I have the right to give orders as she might do were she here. Well, it's first time I've ever heard of such a right. Your ignorance, sir, will not protect you from her majesty's wrath should you dare take my entreatment lightly. But
[00:30:41] Unknown:
but there stands sir Jonathan Burton,
[00:30:44] Unknown:
a traitor to England and to her sovereign majesty if ever one lived. Jack, he's pointing at you. Not proven. Not proven. He has not even been put to the question. Disprovide thought
[00:30:55] Unknown:
well, never mind. I shall look into this at once. Come, darling. We must consult the records. You, mistress Trude, remain here with the prisoners. But, sir Leonard Do as I bid you, madam. Dunning, come.
[00:31:15] Unknown:
Missus Trude, what in heaven's name is this all about? Use your eyes, mister Burton, and I think you'll have the answer for yourself. Jack, that that figure kneeling at the block, it's a dummy. As you can see, a storefront mannequin dressed in Elizabethan clothes. The head, just a dummy's head.
[00:31:32] Unknown:
The the executioner, the, headsman in a long black hood, that was Sir Leonard? Yes.
[00:31:39] Unknown:
Is he crazy? Again. Yes. Oh, good Lord. Nothing to be alarmed about, missus Burton. In any case, not until now. But I'm afraid he's begun to take a turn for the worse.
[00:31:51] Unknown:
Yeah. But what's just happened here? I don't get it. Let me explain.
[00:31:56] Unknown:
Broadmoor Manor was, as sir Leonard told to a dinner last night, a secret place of execution used by Elizabeth the first. Sir Leonard, of course, knew this when he inherited the estate on his 20 birthday. You see, he had never been what you might call mentally stable. Learning he was the descendant of a headsman was all it took to send him over the edge.
[00:32:16] Unknown:
He's harmless, you said? Yes.
[00:32:19] Unknown:
Or has been till now. Until now, when these seizures came on him, about every three months or so, we put on the little act you just saw. I would pretend that an order of execution had come from Elizabeth. Saleny would get dressed in the headsman's outfit, the original, by the way, and we'd go through this mock beheading even to the sound of muffled drums recorded on tape incidentally.
[00:32:44] Unknown:
Good heavens.
[00:32:46] Unknown:
Yes. It's all rather mad and ghastly but harmless till now. Now I can't be sure but I think his mania has begun to make more violent demands on him. In other words, he Beheading a dummy doesn't seem to satisfy him anymore. He remains restless, unsatisfied. I don't like to think this but I'm beginning to fear that he may he's returned. Sir Leonard.
[00:33:20] Unknown:
I am in your debt, good mistress. There is nothing in the records to indicate that sir Jonathan has been put to the question. You see? And so we must put him to the question. Master Dunning is at this moment preparing the star chamber. A star chamber trial? Is that not what her majesty would wish? I suppose so. As for you, sir Jonathan, how guilty or not guilty, you will at least have the comfort of knowing you were recorded the highest honor of trial in her majesty's own tribunal. Come, sir. To the star chamber. Is it not true that you, sir Jonathan, allied yourself with my lord Essex in his abortive attempt to seize Lorraine's of government, the attempt which cost him his head?
Not me, your honor. Oh, you laugh, sir. In god's name, be serious. And address me as, what was it? Your honor well, either you will show proper respect to this court, sir, or it will go hard with you. Now look, sir Leonard Be serious. And it's my lord, Jack.
[00:34:38] Unknown:
My lord, I didn't mean to upset you, and I'm sorry. Won't happen again. Well, you see to it.
[00:34:44] Unknown:
You, deny any allegiance to my lord Essex?
[00:34:48] Unknown:
I do, your,
[00:34:49] Unknown:
I mean, my lord. And what of your association with sir Mortimer Shawcross? Sir Mortimer Shawcross? I've never heard of him. Ho ho ho ho. You've never heard of sir Mortimer Shawcross. Why are you serious, man, or are you again showing contempt for this court? My lord, I assure you This court has heard enough. I pronounce you guilty.
[00:35:13] Unknown:
Well, okay.
[00:35:16] Unknown:
I'm guilty. And such being the findings of this star chamber, you are hereby sentenced to be executed at dawn tomorrow morning. Darling, take the prisoner to the place of execution there to wait the headman's ax at dawn. I should retire to rest until that time.
[00:35:34] Unknown:
How do I look? Wait a minute, Dunning. Come on, Dunning. No rough stuff. Play acting is play acting. This is going too far. It is Drew, aren't him? It isn't play acting anymore. Look. It isn't play acting. Damn it. Dunning, Let go of me. What is this? The real thing, you foolish man. The real thing.
[00:35:55] Unknown:
You and Lady Sarah will remain here while sir Jonathan's execution is carried out. Within, I assure you, the next hour. I beg you. Entreat you. Beg not. Entreat not. It will gather you no recompense from me.
[00:36:14] Unknown:
Oh, missus Drude, what are we to do? What am I to do? Keep our heads about us to begin with.
[00:36:19] Unknown:
Sir Leonard, poor man, has gone completely insane. No question of it now. This time, it won't be a store mannequin he beheads. It'll be the real thing. Jack. If only he'd listened to me, laughed well enough alone. Well, he didn't. That's beside the point now. The point is we've got to save him. How? We're no match for him and Dunning, even if we could get out of here. Oh, we can get out. That's no trick. What? I read an article of Jack some years ago on safe cracking and lock picking, that sort of thing. That bolt on the doors will be a piece of cake with a charge card. A charge card? I think I can slip that bolt with one of my plastic charge cards.
But then what do we do? Cross that bridge when we come to it. Well, well, it's coming. It's the bolt is moving, but I You've been almost an hour at it, and you said it would be simple. I also said I'd only read Jack's article. I never tried it out. The bolt's slipping. We'll we'll get this door open. Alright? The drums. The muffled drums. Missus Burton, I can tell you, you have ten minutes, ten minutes before that axe falls.
[00:37:41] Unknown:
Now look Look, you two. This joke has gone far enough. Dunning, take it easy. We hear the straps are biting into me. Listen not to him, Dunning. Bind him tightly.
[00:37:51] Unknown:
Tightly.
[00:37:52] Unknown:
You're crazy, sir Leonard. You have gone stark raving mad. No, sir Jonathan. My name is Jack. Jack Burton. I am an American, a writer. I am You are a traitor, sir. And as such, you should die.
[00:38:05] Unknown:
Good, dunning, good. Bring him to the block.
[00:38:09] Unknown:
To the block? Solana,
[00:38:13] Unknown:
Solana, open this door. Who not? Miss Strude. Mistress Strude. Do not mistress Strude. Missus, in heaven's name come to your senses. Don't you realize what you're doing?
[00:38:26] Unknown:
Sandy, save me. They they bound me with straps. They're laying my head on the block. This nutty pulling that black hood over his head. This is true. He's gonna kill Jack. Does not make you through the trouble of my husband's head if we don't stop it. Oh, God, stop it.
[00:38:46] Unknown:
How? Tell me how.
[00:38:48] Unknown:
I don't know. I don't know. Wait.
[00:38:53] Unknown:
The costumes. Mrs. Drood, the costumes. Costume. In the glass case. Queen Elizabeth's gown, the one with the high neck and the jewels. What of it? Get it. I can't. The glass cases are locked. We'll break the oh never mind. I will. Help
[00:39:07] Unknown:
me, please. Help me. Help me. What are you doing?
[00:39:11] Unknown:
What good can those cops jogging and help me get this on?
[00:39:14] Unknown:
Quick, Mrs. Drew. Quick.
[00:39:18] Unknown:
Help me. Sandy, help. Dunning, don't let him do this. He's crazy. Can't you see that? He's gone right out of his head. Dunning, Sandy, this is Drood. Help me.
[00:39:29] Unknown:
Open up. I, Elizabeth Butterington, call on you to open this door.
[00:39:37] Unknown:
What
[00:39:39] Unknown:
what was that? Do you hear me, sir Leonard? It is your queen who speaks. Open this door. Darling,
[00:39:49] Unknown:
it is her majesty. She's here. Open the door, man. Open it. Your majesty. Your gracious majesty.
[00:40:03] Unknown:
What find I here? What knavery is this? Well, your majesty Let's put down that axe this instant. Put it down, I say, or your own head shall fall beneath it. Put it down.
[00:40:17] Unknown:
Yes. Yes. Of course, your majesty. I wished only to obey your majesty, to do my duty, to send from this world a traitor who threatened your Sir,
[00:40:33] Unknown:
Jonathan Burton, a traitor? Are you mad? I have no more loyal subject, no dearer friend than this man whose life you would have taken. Who will leave at once be gone? But your majesty No.
[00:40:48] Unknown:
I go. I go.
[00:40:55] Unknown:
Sandy, you saved my life
[00:40:59] Unknown:
of that costume. It's the one in the glass case, Jack. The one Elizabeth herself wore. And it it suddenly struck me. No. No. God gave me the idea that only Elizabeth herself could stop sir Leonard. It was as simple as that. Simple perhaps. Brilliant, definitely. Mister Burton, your wife has told me that you are a most accomplished writer, but somewhat inclined to have things your way. May I give you a word of advice?
[00:41:28] Unknown:
Right now, I'll take anything.
[00:41:31] Unknown:
Have things your way if you must, but listen to others, especially your charming and decidedly practical wife, a bit more than you have in the past. Otherwise
[00:41:43] Unknown:
Otherwise?
[00:41:45] Unknown:
Otherwise what, missus Truett? You may indeed
[00:41:49] Unknown:
lose your head.
[00:41:56] Unknown:
A strange story? Yes. Incredible? Definitely. True? Well, I can personally vouch for its authenticity. Now? Now what have I let myself into? Well, you see, the truth is that before I became an actor, I was a writer. No. Now wait a moment. I didn't say I was Jack Burton. I didn't say that at all. I'll be back shortly. Alright then. The truth will out. I was Jack Burton. Pen name. Real name, well, you know it. No matter. Important thing, you enjoyed my story. I hope you did anyhow. And another important thing, very important to me, I've still got my head. I do, don't I?
Our cast included Tony Roberts, Marian Seldes, Jacqueline Brooks, and Arnold Moss. The entire production was under the direction of Hyman Brown. This is EG Marshall inviting you to return to our mystery theater for another adventure in the macabre. Until next time, Pleasant dreams?
[00:44:08] Unknown:
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