The Haunting HourThe Hands of Mister Smith

Air Date May 19 1945

Transcript

SPEAKER_10 0:16

No, no, stay where you are. Do not break the stillness of this moment, for this is a time of mystery, a time when imagination is free and moves forward swiftly, silently. This is the haunting hour.

SPEAKER_11 0:50

The hands of Mr. Smith. Midnight. An alleyway, dark and ominously quiet, in the dimly lighted factory district on the outskirts of a big city. In the black shadows, two men wait, their hats pulled down over their eyes, their hands tense in their overcoat pockets. Suddenly, one of the men leans forward in the velvet darkness to peer down the deserted street. I don't see him, Russ.

SPEAKER_09 1:35

He'll be along. I can hardly wait to get my hands on that doe. Yeah. Hey, look, Russ. My hands. The way they're shaking. Take it easy, Tiny. It's funny. Every time I wait and stick up a guy, my mitts get shaken like this. You keep them paws under control. Oh, sure, sure. I'm not kidding. Oh, I won't do nothing. I won't touch the guy. Remember that.

SPEAKER_00 2:00

But why don't he come, Russ? Get back here. But where is he? I can see the factory door, but he ain't come out yet. Get back here, I said. Okay, okay, okay. Listen.

SPEAKER_09 2:11

A car's coming. Cops. Huh? Police car. A couple of lousy cops. Shut up.

SPEAKER_00 2:16

Well, maybe they'll squat our car. Maybe they'll stop and start looking around. I said, shut up. Look, they're going by. They ain't stopping.

SPEAKER_06 2:27

Stand still.

SPEAKER_09 2:30

They turned the corner. Oh. That's better. Gee. Now my hands are shaking worse than ever. I told you to keep them big paws quiet.

SPEAKER_00 2:38

Don't try and too russ. A guy can't do more now.

SPEAKER_09 2:41

I'll do it. When this cashier comes along, keep your hands in your pocket. Then you won't be tempted. I remember. I won't touch him, Russ. Here he comes. Are you sure? That's him. He's all alone. He just came out of the factory. He's carrying something. A paper bag. He's got the dough in a paper bag. This is one trip to the bank he ain't never gonna finish. Steady now. Yeah. Okay, mister, get him up. Well. Who are you? Get him up, the man said. Take the bag, Tiny. Don't shoot. I won't yell. He won't yell, he says. Take that bag, Tiny, you sap. I don't like this guy. Keep your hands down, Tiny. Give me that bag. I said I would. How much is in here? $3,000.

SPEAKER_12 3:22

$3,000? Listen, you punk. Go up and cut it out, Tiny. But only $3,000, he said. Jokey. I don't like him.

SPEAKER_01 3:33

Let's go with him, Tiny.

SPEAKER_12 3:35

But I don't like him. He looks like the guard of the big house. Give him the money.

SPEAKER_00 3:42

Yeah, and I'm giving you something. Stop, Tiny. Let go around like your cold. Yeah, this guy won't stand still. Stop him. Let go. Okay.

SPEAKER_10 3:52

Okay. I'll let him go.

SPEAKER_09 3:59

You killed him. Huh? You killed him, you sap. He's dead. But he looked just like that guard that slugged me. Get in the car. We're gonna leave him here? Get in the car, I said. Where's the door? I got it. Get in. Move. Address him laying there.

SPEAKER_12 4:16

Suppose them cops come back. Shut the door.

SPEAKER_09 4:18

We're getting out of here.

SPEAKER_13 4:39

Hey, Russ, where are we going? This ain't the way the apartment. We're not going to the apartment. Oh, why not? I told Claire I'd bring the money home tonight.

SPEAKER_09 4:46

Keep watching that rear view mirror. There ain't no cops on our trail. But where are we going? The bitch in this car, you dope. Oh, yeah. Sure, we don't need this hot jalopy no more tonight. I thought I told you to keep your hands off that cashier. Oh, now listen, Russ. He had this stick up in the bag, but you had to go and scrag the guy. I didn't mean to kill him, but there was something about him, and once I got my mitts on his throat. I know you can't make those big paws behave. I'm sorry, Russ. I had my rod on him. All you had to do was take the bag, get in the car while I knocked him cold, and we had smooth sailing. I said I was sorry, Russ. We're always sorry.

SPEAKER_13 5:25

But look. Look, we got the three grand, didn't we? We're in the clear, nobody saw us, nobody heard us. What do you mean, us?

SPEAKER_09 5:34

I didn't kill him. Hey. What's the matter? Back there.

SPEAKER_12 5:38

I think a prowl car just turned the corner. Well? Is it? Uh, no. That ain't no prowl car.

SPEAKER_09 5:46

Just a black sea dan like this one. Just pulled up the curb. We'll turn off at the next corner, Brain. Plenty deserted around here. Why don't we stop here? Go on a little farther along where it's darker.

SPEAKER_13 5:58

Claire's gonna wonder what's happened. I said I'd be at the apartment by half past twelve.

SPEAKER_09 6:01

Well, no, soon enough. Yeah. Wait till I show her the three grand we got. Uh uh. Wait till she hears about the murder. Oh, I won't tell her tonight. No, she can read it in the morning papers.

SPEAKER_13 6:14

Hey, you know, we're getting kind of far out of town. When are we gonna stop? Right here.

SPEAKER_09 6:19

I'll go off the road. Okay. Leave her here. Yeah, there's a good spot. Not even a house in sight. Uh, give me your gun, Tiny. My gun? Your gap. Give it to me. But what for? To keep you out of trouble. Ah, now listen, Russia. Now we're leaving this car. We're walking to the nearest bus line. If there's a cop on the bus and he looks at you twice, you're gonna start shooting someone. Hand over your rod. Okay, here it is. That's better. And now, Tiny, give me the money. Huh? The paper bag with the money. Hand it over. Hey, what is this? Give me the money, Tiny. Oh, sure. Here it is. Come on, now let's get out of this car. Sit still. You're staying here. What wait a minute. Keep those hands quiet. Hey, Russ, what's that gun? You're pointing it right at me. You said it. I'm washed up with you, and so's Claire. What I Claire? Yeah, Claire, your wife. She's fed up to the teeth. So am I. You and Claire. Oh.

SPEAKER_12 7:26

So that's why you didn't drive the apartment. That's why you came way out here. You and Claire crossing me up. You're figuring on bumping me off? That's right. Give me that gun. You bet I will.

SPEAKER_01 7:45

Oh, Russ, I'll get you for this. I'll get Claire and you if I have to dig my way out of my own grave.

SPEAKER_04 8:12

We gotta beat it, Russ. We've got to pack up and beat it out of here tonight. What?

SPEAKER_09 8:16

At two o'clock in the morning, man on your life. We're staying here until this whole thing blows over.

SPEAKER_04 8:21

But that cashier, maybe the cops have found him already. They're bound to find him soon. They're bound to find Tiny.

SPEAKER_09 8:28

Well, now, but Claire, they can't connect it up with you and me.

SPEAKER_04 8:31

I'm scared, Russ. Suppose Tiny wasn't dead. Suppose he drove the car back here to the apartment somehow.

SPEAKER_09 8:38

You must believe in ghosts.

SPEAKER_04 8:40

He said he'd get us, didn't he? He said he'd get us if he had to dig his way out of his own grave.

SPEAKER_09 8:46

Oh, I shouldn't have told you that.

SPEAKER_04 8:47

Come on. Let's get out of here.

SPEAKER_09 8:49

Nothing doing, Claire. We're staying right here. Come on, baby. Unlock the trunk.

SPEAKER_04 8:52

The trunk?

SPEAKER_09 8:53

Sure. We'll hide the dough in your trunk until this whole thing blows over. Come on, honey, unlock it.

SPEAKER_04 8:57

It is unlocked.

SPEAKER_09 8:59

This lid is kind of lefty, huh? There we are. I'll shove this three grand under all these clothes.

SPEAKER_04 9:05

Those are Tiny's clothes.

SPEAKER_09 9:06

Oh, come on, relax, Claire. Now let me lock it.

SPEAKER_08 9:10

Wait! What's the matter?

SPEAKER_04 9:12

You've locked the trunk. Oh, sure. But Tiny has the only key. He always carries it with him.

SPEAKER_09 9:18

What about it? We'll get another one. I'll have a new one made tomorrow.

SPEAKER_04 9:22

What was that?

SPEAKER_09 9:24

Sounded like glass breaking.

SPEAKER_04 9:26

It was he in the apartment somewhere.

SPEAKER_09 9:28

Maybe it wasn't.

SPEAKER_04 9:30

I'm sure it was. It sounded like it came from the bathroom.

SPEAKER_09 9:34

Well, let's find out. Wait a minute. What for?

SPEAKER_04 9:38

Have your gun ready.

SPEAKER_09 9:39

My gun?

SPEAKER_04 9:40

That window in the bathroom. Maybe Tiny climbed up the fire.

SPEAKER_09 9:43

Oh, you forget, Tiny. He's dead, I tell you. Come on. Let's find out what that noise was. There, you see? There's no one in the bathroom.

SPEAKER_04 9:53

The window's open. I closed it and locked it tonight before you and Tiny left.

SPEAKER_08 9:57

Oh, now listen, Claire.

SPEAKER_04 10:00

Look. Look, there on the windowsill.

SPEAKER_08 10:02

What's the matter now?

SPEAKER_04 10:03

Blood. Blood on the windowsill. Yeah. And here, on the floor, more of it. I tell you, Tiny did come back. He drove that car back here, climbed the fire escape, and he's hiding here in the apartment, waiting to tell us.

SPEAKER_09 10:17

Quiet, Claire, quiet.

SPEAKER_04 10:18

I'm getting out of here.

SPEAKER_09 10:19

Oh, no, you're not. You go flying down the street at this time of night. Some cop will pick you up as sure as my name's Rogers.

SPEAKER_04 10:24

But that blood on the sill, on the floor, the window open.

SPEAKER_09 10:27

Oh, wait a second. Oh, this stuff on the floor. This isn't blood. Of course it's blood. Oh, Claire, you're wrong. Look. Look, look, look. There, under the bathtub. What is it? A bottle. A little bottle of that stuff you paint your nails with.

SPEAKER_04 10:42

I kept that bottle on the windowsill.

SPEAKER_09 10:44

All right, okay. So the wind is. Something blew it off. That's what we heard. This bottle breaking. That's what made those spots in here.

SPEAKER_04 10:53

Listen.

SPEAKER_09 10:54

Police car.

SPEAKER_04 10:56

Sounded like it. It's up in front of the belly.

unknown 11:07

Come out of the living room.

SPEAKER_04 11:09

Suppose they followed Tiny here. Suppose he drove the car back here.

SPEAKER_09 11:13

Will you stop talking about Tiny? Put out the lights. What for? Put out the lights, Clear.

SPEAKER_04 11:18

All right.

SPEAKER_09 11:19

Now I'll peek under this window shade and see where that police car is.

SPEAKER_04 11:24

Are they out front?

SPEAKER_09 11:26

Yeah. Yeah, they are.

SPEAKER_08 11:29

Two cops in front of the building.

SPEAKER_04 11:31

What are they doing?

SPEAKER_08 11:33

They're they're looking at a car.

SPEAKER_04 11:36

What car?

SPEAKER_08 11:37

A black sedan parked in front of a building.

SPEAKER_04 11:41

You said the car you used tonight was a black sedan.

SPEAKER_09 11:44

All right. There's a million black sedan in this country, Mike.

SPEAKER_04 11:46

But why are the cops looking at the one out front? Why are they putting their flashlights on the running board? Why are they looking inside? How do I know? Because Tiny drove it here. He isn't dead. You didn't kill him. He drove that car back here, climbed the fire escape, and he's in the apartment somewhere waiting to get it. Somebody at the door.

unknown 12:07

Shh.

SPEAKER_03 12:09

What are you gonna do? Open up. Please.

SPEAKER_12 12:16

Open up, Smith. Bring one in.

SPEAKER_11 12:37

Now, back to our story. The hands of Mr. Smith. The midnight robbery of a cashier by two gunmen, Russ Rogers and Tiny Smith, developed swiftly into murder. Tiny, a powerful man with enormous hands, seized the cashier by the throat and killed him. Rogers, furious at his partner's stupidity, then shot Smith and left him in the black sedan in which they had made their getaway. With the stolen money, Rogers hurried to Smith's apartment. There, with Smith's wife, Claire, he hid the money in an old trunk. Suddenly, a police siren sounded outside the building. Then the buzzer to Smith's apartment hummed like an angry bee.

SPEAKER_03 13:35

Somebody's at the door. Open up, Smith. The police? What are we going to do?

SPEAKER_09 13:41

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_03 13:43

We're going to give yourself up?

SPEAKER_09 13:44

Let me handle this. Put on the light.

unknown 13:46

Okay.

SPEAKER_07 13:48

Open up for that, Mr. Smith. We want in.

SPEAKER_02 13:51

Well, just a minute. I'm coming.

SPEAKER_07 13:55

Ah, you folks are heavy sleepers.

SPEAKER_02 13:58

What's the matter, Obbison?

SPEAKER_07 13:59

There's a black sedan parked in front of the building with a lot of blood on the running board. Blood? Yeah. All over the running board and a lot more inside.

SPEAKER_09 14:07

Well, what's it gonna do with us? We don't own a car.

SPEAKER_07 14:09

You don't, huh?

SPEAKER_09 14:10

No.

SPEAKER_07 14:11

Maybe you know whose car it is then. Take a look out the window. I already did. I thought you just got out of bed.

SPEAKER_09 14:16

I did. I heard the siren out front, came in the living room. Living room. I looked out the window. I went back to put on some clothes to go downstairs and find out what it was all about. Who owns that car out front? I don't know. I never saw it in my life before. Where's the janitor this joint? Janitor? All right.

SPEAKER_07 14:33

Mr.

SPEAKER_04 14:33

Monks and his wife live in the basement.

SPEAKER_07 14:35

There's nobody home.

SPEAKER_04 14:36

Sometimes the monks stay overnight with Mrs. Monks' sister. She lives over in Glendale somewhere.

SPEAKER_07 14:41

So the monks own a car?

SPEAKER_04 14:42

Not that I know of.

SPEAKER_07 14:45

Who lives in the apartment above this one? Uh uh, let's see. Uh.

SPEAKER_04 14:49

An old bachelor. A man named Weaver.

SPEAKER_07 14:51

Maybe that black sedan belongs to him. We wouldn't know. Okay, folks. Sorry to get you out of bed at this time in the morning.

SPEAKER_09 14:58

Oh, that's all right, officer.

SPEAKER_07 14:59

I'll go up and talk to this Weaver guy.

SPEAKER_09 15:01

Uh, maybe that uh stop on the running board ain't blood, eh?

SPEAKER_07 15:04

Blood, all right. Good night. Good night, officer.

SPEAKER_09 15:10

You're lying to me, Russell.

SPEAKER_04 15:12

That black sedan out front is the one you killed Tiny with.

SPEAKER_09 15:14

Now listen, Claire.

SPEAKER_04 15:15

Oh, Tiny didn't die. He drove the car back to the up.

SPEAKER_09 15:18

I tell you, you're nuts. Tiny's dead. That car in front of the building only looks like the one I used tonight.

SPEAKER_04 15:24

Then how do you explain the blood on the running board? How do you explain the blood inside?

SPEAKER_09 15:28

I can't explain it.

SPEAKER_04 15:29

I can't. Because it's the car you shot Tiny in. He came back here. He's hiding in the apartment somewhere, waiting to kill us. He said he'd dig his way out of his own grave to get it.

SPEAKER_09 15:40

Oh, what a sap I was to tell you that.

SPEAKER_04 15:42

Let's get away, Russ. Let's beat it out of here.

SPEAKER_09 15:45

And leave that three grand locked in the trunk. Uh-uh.

SPEAKER_04 15:48

Why did you have to lock that trunk? I told you Tiny had the only key.

SPEAKER_09 15:52

I told you I'd have another key made in the morning. I heard it.

SPEAKER_04 15:58

Somebody's out in the kitchen.

SPEAKER_09 15:59

Oh, don't be a tap. There's no one in this apartment but you and me.

SPEAKER_04 16:02

Then what was that noise?

SPEAKER_09 16:04

I don't know. Probably the cat knocked over something on the kitchen table.

SPEAKER_04 16:08

There it is again. I tell you, Tiny's here. Tony's daddy's daddy.

SPEAKER_09 16:13

Hear me. In that car, two miles away.

SPEAKER_04 16:16

Wait. Where are you going?

SPEAKER_09 16:17

I'm going out in the kitchen.

SPEAKER_04 16:19

Don't leave me alone.

SPEAKER_09 16:20

I'm not leaving you alone. You're coming with me. Maybe you believe in ghosts. I don't. Come on.

SPEAKER_03 16:25

Look. Look, in the bedroom.

SPEAKER_09 16:28

Oh, it can't be. That's that's impossible.

SPEAKER_04 16:35

I knew it. I knew he'd come back.

SPEAKER_09 16:39

It can't be. It can't be Tiny where it's anything.

SPEAKER_03 16:43

Why doesn't he say something? Why doesn't he do something? Why does he just lie there on the bed?

SPEAKER_09 16:50

I'm going in the bedroom.

SPEAKER_03 16:51

No. Don't go near.

SPEAKER_09 16:53

I'm gonna get the key to that trunk.

SPEAKER_03 16:55

Don't touch him, Russia. Don't go near him.

SPEAKER_09 16:57

But Tiny has the key. You told me I gotta get it out of his pocket. We'll get the money and beat it.

SPEAKER_03 17:02

He's great.

unknown 17:06

I can't look at that.

SPEAKER_09 17:08

All right. Eddie now. I'll slip my hand in his pocket. The key.

SPEAKER_06 17:15

Hello, Russ.

SPEAKER_02 17:17

Let's go of my wrist.

SPEAKER_06 17:19

I said I'd come back, Russ.

SPEAKER_02 17:21

Let's go of my wrist.

SPEAKER_06 17:23

Drop the key. Claire. Claire, get the gun out of my back pocket. A gun won't help you, Russ. You ought to know that now.

SPEAKER_09 17:32

Bring in my wrist.

SPEAKER_06 17:33

Then drop the key. On the bed.

SPEAKER_09 17:36

Okay, okay. I drop it.

SPEAKER_06 17:39

That's my pal. Claire.

SPEAKER_00 17:42

Don't come near him, Claire.

SPEAKER_06 17:44

Take the key, Claire.

SPEAKER_00 17:45

Don't come near him. I tell you.

SPEAKER_06 17:47

Pick up the key. Come around on the other side of the bed and get it.

SPEAKER_04 17:52

Yes, Tiny.

SPEAKER_06 17:54

You've always been a good wife, Claire. Take the key. The money we got tonight all belongs to you.

SPEAKER_04 18:03

Tiny. With his money, we all can all get away.

SPEAKER_06 18:07

Sure we can. Pick up the key. Don't be afraid.

SPEAKER_03 18:13

All right.

SPEAKER_06 18:15

I will. Now. Now we're all together again.

SPEAKER_03 18:20

Your hand is breaking my wrist.

SPEAKER_06 18:23

We're all together again. You and me and Russ.

SPEAKER_03 18:29

Russ? Why don't you do something?

SPEAKER_06 18:32

Yeah, Russ. Why don't you do something? I can't even move. These big hands of mine. They're better than a gun. They can hold you two here maybe forever.

SPEAKER_05 19:10

Go on, monks. Where's the buzzer again?

SPEAKER_07 19:13

Ah, Dora, it's only eight o'clock in the morning. The Smiths don't get up this early.

SPEAKER_05 19:17

We'll get him up. I'm gonna find out about this.

SPEAKER_07 19:19

I'm going back downstairs and finish my breakfast.

SPEAKER_05 19:22

You are not. You're the janitor of this building, and you're supposed to know what's going on with the tenants.

SPEAKER_07 19:26

Well, that don't mean I gotta wake him up and ask some foolish questions.

SPEAKER_05 19:29

I wanna know if the man we've heard about on the radio is our Mr. Smith. It can't be. How do you know? Go on, go on. Push the button.

SPEAKER_07 19:36

We've had enough trouble last night over to your sister's house. Why go looking for more? This ain't looking for trouble.

SPEAKER_05 19:41

If it was him, we've got to know sooner or later, and I wanna know now. Sure gonna be mad. I wanna know, that's all. You never can tell with tenants. Who'd think that mild old Mr. Weaver was the kind to go out hunting wild animals? Ah, that's different. All right, all right. Stop the buzzer, monks. You'll buzz long enough to wake the dead.

SPEAKER_07 20:00

For crying out loud, Dora. This is a fine way to start the day. I haven't. Try the door. I haven't.

SPEAKER_05 20:06

The door, monks.

SPEAKER_07 20:07

Go on, try it.

SPEAKER_05 20:08

Maybe it's unlocked. All right.

SPEAKER_07 20:12

Hey. It is unlocked.

SPEAKER_05 20:15

Well, open it. Go on in.

SPEAKER_07 20:23

Hey. They got the lights in the living room all turned on.

SPEAKER_05 20:28

I knew it. I tell you there's something wrong with them, Smith.

SPEAKER_07 20:34

Crying out loud. You see what I see, Dora? Money. It's money laying all over the floor. They must have been storing that money in the trunk. Look. It's open. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 20:48

Some money inside of it, too.

SPEAKER_07 20:50

The Smiths never had so much money.

SPEAKER_05 20:53

As far as we knew. Ah, there was always something fishy about them Smiths. And their friend, too, Mr. Rogers.

SPEAKER_07 21:00

Yeah. Hey. What are we gonna do? Someone in the bedroom. It don't sound like Mr. Smith.

SPEAKER_05 21:12

No. No, that's not Mr. Smith. Come on, let's get out of here. Are you crazy? We're gonna find out what's the matter here. We're going into that bedroom. No, no, no, no.

SPEAKER_07 21:21

Be careful, Dora. There's no telling who it is. Oh! Wait, wait. Don't go no further. It's Mr. Rogers. Yes. What in the world happened to him? Listen. Listen to what he's saying.

SPEAKER_02 21:35

With blood all over it. That was Tiny's car. He came back.

SPEAKER_05 21:40

Oh, he must have seen Mr. Weaver's car outside with all the blood on it. You'd better tell that old gent that he's scared of the other tenants. It's none of our business if he wants to go off shooting wild animals. But to bring them home dripping blood, it's enough to scare the wits out of anyone.

SPEAKER_07 21:56

Blood, dripping. It was tiny blood. And now, Mr. Rogers, that was deer blood. Mr. Weavers upstairs went hunting yesterday.

SPEAKER_02 22:05

Oh no, make them let me go. Make them take the cuffs off. Cups? Tiny did it. He clamped me to the bed.

SPEAKER_07 22:14

You're not clamped to the bed, Mr. Rogers. Your sleeves caught in the rod at the edge of the bed.

SPEAKER_05 22:24

What happened, Mr. Rogers? What happened to you?

SPEAKER_02 22:26

Tiny did it. He put his hands around her throat. Tiny did it.

SPEAKER_03 22:30

Oh, he's out of his head.

SPEAKER_02 22:32

Dora.

SPEAKER_03 22:33

It's true.

SPEAKER_07 22:35

On the other side of the bed, Mrs. Smith. She's on the floor. Oh, maybe. Maybe she's fainted. No. No, no, there's marks on the neck. Say, Rogers, cut the act.

SPEAKER_02 22:46

Maybe you killed her. Tiny did it. With his hands on her throat. Make him get off the bed. Make him get off the bed and open these cups. Make him get off the bed.

SPEAKER_05 22:56

There's no one on the bed, Mr. Rogers.

SPEAKER_02 22:58

Don't lie to me. I can see him. He's right in front of me lying on the bed.

SPEAKER_05 23:02

But, Mr. Rogers, the bed's empty. The spread hasn't even a wrinkle.

SPEAKER_02 23:06

Oh, I see him. I see him. It's tiny, I tell you. It couldn't be Mr. Smith.

SPEAKER_05 23:12

Even if something was there. It couldn't be Mr. Smith.

SPEAKER_07 23:16

It couldn't? No, he was killed. Police found him with four bullets in him. He was in a black sedan, they said. We heard it on the radio this morning. They found him dead about two miles from here.

SPEAKER_05 23:27

Yes, they described him on the radio, too. And we knew it was Mr. Smith. He died about half past twelve last night.

SPEAKER_07 23:35

Yeah, they they said he had big hands. Like Mr. Smith.

SPEAKER_05 23:41

But the funny thing is, he had a key in his hand. A key? Yes, Mr. Rogers. A trunk key. A little trunk key in one of his great big hands.

SPEAKER_11 24:14

From shadows and stillness, mystery weaves a spell of strangest fascination, charging the mind with doubts and fear. For mystery is a strange companion, a living memory in the haunting hour.