August 14, 2025 • 29 mins
The Whistler was a suspenseful mystery anthology that ran from 1942-1955. A character known only as the Whistler was the host and narrator of the tales, which focused on crime and fate and had a suspenseful and eerie tone, always ending with a twist. The Whistler was later adapted to television.
Hope you enjoy this episode of The Whistler! Find all our OTR radio stations and podcasts at theaterofthemind-otr.com - All Podcasts @ Spreaker | Apple | YouTube | Spotify | iHeart | Amazon
Hope you enjoy this episode of The Whistler! Find all our OTR radio stations and podcasts at theaterofthemind-otr.com - All Podcasts @ Spreaker | Apple | YouTube | Spotify | iHeart | Amazon
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
And now stay tuned for the program that has rated
tops in popularity for a longer period of time than
any other West Coast program in radio history, The Signal
Oil Program, the Whistler Signal, the famous Go Farther Gasoline.
(00:29):
Invite you to sit back and enjoy another strange story
by the Whistler.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
I am the Whistler, and I know many things.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
For I walk by night.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
I know many strange tales hidden in the hut arts
of men and women who have stepped into the shadows. Yes,
I know the nameless terrors of which they dare not speak.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
And now for the Signal Oil Company, the Whistler's strange story.
Attorney for the defense.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
The trial had captured the headlines and commanded the bulk
of page one news since its very first day. Randolph
Abbot made news because he was dead, murdered, and his
only daughter, Lovely Ruth Abbot, was standing trial for his murder.
Defending her was her father's own attorney, Joseph Herman. Now
the court stood recessed, and Joseph Herman walked confidently from
(01:48):
the crowded courtroom.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
Think you've got the day on the run, mister Herman. Well,
the district attorney has his job to do, and I
have mine. But you may quote me as saying that
Ruth Abbot is innocent, entirely innocent of her father's murder,
and I propose to prove her innocence.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
A splendid statement, Joseph, clear cut to the point. Your
words will look good in print. But then your words
are most important in this murder trial, aren't they, Joseph,
more important than anyone else's, because you're the only one
who knows exactly what happened the night Randolph Abbot was murdered. Yes, Joseph,
(02:39):
you remember that night. Well, you called on Randolph Abbot
for a very special reason.
Speaker 4 (02:47):
Oh it's you, Joseph.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
Come in, Come in good evening, Randolph. I hardly expected
you to answer the doing.
Speaker 4 (02:53):
I'm money to the study. Mid for is out this evening,
all the servants are. Ruth's gone up to a room.
Probably didn't hear the bill. We'll sit down, Joseph, sit
down now.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
This won't take long, Randolph. This is a business call business.
Oh yes, the payment on your note. I imagine the
last payment on my note, Randolf, ten years. That's a
long time, Randoff. I'm glad it's over, Joseph. I should
think you would be glad. Eh. That's a small word
for ten years of effort, ten years of crawling to
(03:24):
you with the payment. Randolf.
Speaker 4 (03:25):
I don't understand you, Joseph. You act as if I've
done a villainous thing saving you from prison, disbarment. The
courts don't look kindly on embezzlement.
Speaker 5 (03:33):
Joseph.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
You should know that you're a lawyer, Randolph Abbot's attorney.
Speaker 4 (03:39):
If you please, all right, Joseph, I've never asked for
your gratitude.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
I don't expect it.
Speaker 4 (03:44):
Now I'll get the note and we can complete this unpleasant.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
Fine, Fine, get the note. Oh and shall I hide
my eyes Randolf while you work the combination to the wall.
Speaker 4 (03:53):
Say it won't be necessary, Joseph. The safe's nearly closed.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
It's not locked.
Speaker 4 (03:58):
I was putting some things in when you're raying. Here
we are now, if you'll give me the money, Joseph,
the note is yours. Okay, here's the money, thank you,
And here's your note.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
Okay. I guess I should thank you too. That won't
be necessary, Joseph. Or you don't want my thanks, you
just want my money? Is at it?
Speaker 4 (04:17):
No, Joseph, that's not it. But that's the way you feel.
Told me, I'm releasing you. You're at liberty to find
employment elsewhere.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
You don't owe me a thing, Joseph. Oh, so this
is the payoff. You kept me calling to you for
ten years for this.
Speaker 4 (04:31):
I've kept your career safe for you, Joseph, and by
keeping you employed, helped you pay back the money that
you stole.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
You see, to forget all that, I've given you another chance.
Speaker 4 (04:42):
And then there's young Douglas Drake Douglas ruth fiance. He's
showing promise as assistant district attorney in all probability after
their marriage. I'll turn my legal representations.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
Over to him. Oh, no, you won't, Randolf. I think
you'd better leave now. I'm not leaving Randolph, not yet.
He said, I didn't know you anything, but you're It'll
stop fretting me, Joseph Howells, you'll do nothing. You've done
the last thing that you'll live. No, Joseph, y is
what I owe you to wand off the final payment.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
Since this is vacation time, I'd like to say a
word tonight about an item that will have a lot
to do with your driving pleasure gasoline. As you travel
throughout the Pacific Coast states, you can continue to power
your car with a famous go farther gasoline signal that
is yes. From Canada to Mexico, you'll see the familiar
signal circle sign in yellow and black that identifies friendly
(05:49):
independent signal dealers. And when you gas up at a
signal station. Remember, mileage is only one of the benefits
you enjoy.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
After all.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
The reason today signal gasoline gives you such good mileage
is that it helps your motor run more efficiently. And
when your motor runs more efficiently naturally, you also notice
quicker starting, proud pick up, and smooth responsive power. That's
why we say mileage and performance are like birds of
a feather.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
They go together.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
So on your vacation trip or any time, remember, you
get all the things that make driving more fun when
you get signal the famous go farther gasoline.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Randolph Abbot lies dead at your feet, Joseph. Instinctively, you
wipe your fingerprints from the heavy book end, from everything
that you've touched. You move for the safe. You're certain
Randolph kept the record of your payments there. Yes, you
find them neatly kept in a small record book. But
there's something else in the safe, Joseph. You flip open
(07:12):
the large leather case, and the light catches the brilliance
of Randolph Abbot's collection of historical gems. You make a
split second decision. Robbery, Joseph. Yes, you'll make it look
like robbery. Half an hour later, you carry your heavy,
bulging briefcase into your own home. Your wife, Helen, sensing
(07:33):
your urgency, follows you to your room.
Speaker 6 (07:35):
What's the matter with you, Joe? You paid mister Abbott,
didn't you? You got the note?
Speaker 5 (07:39):
All right? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (07:41):
Yes, I got the note, Helen. He's dead. Abbot's dead.
I killed him.
Speaker 7 (07:48):
You killed him.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
I paid him. See, I got the note. And then
he fired me, Just like that, he fired me. I
had I couldn't help it. I I must have hit
him with a bookend. All of a sudden, there he was.
He's dead, Joe.
Speaker 6 (08:04):
But did anyone see you? Does anyone know you were there?
Speaker 5 (08:06):
No?
Speaker 3 (08:07):
No, no, the servants were gone. He said that Ruth
was upstairs. But there wasn't a sound in the place
after it happened.
Speaker 6 (08:16):
Your fingerprints are probably all over the place.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
Oh no, no, I wiped everything off. Oh, and just
to be sure, I took these and made it look
like robberies opened the window in the study where we were.
Speaker 6 (08:28):
What on earth are these jewels?
Speaker 3 (08:32):
What's been collecting? A few historical jewels? Ill? Nothing much,
but it was all I could think of to take.
Speaker 6 (08:37):
What do you mean nothing much? They look genuine to me.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
Oh maybe they are. He said that they were a
hobby with him. You don't think he'd tell me about
his duel collection?
Speaker 8 (08:45):
Do you wait a minute?
Speaker 6 (08:46):
What's in the separate case?
Speaker 3 (08:47):
How would I know? I never saw it before?
Speaker 6 (08:50):
Oh look at that, Joe. You think that necklace isn't
worth a fortune?
Speaker 3 (08:55):
Why? I don't know? That's stunning?
Speaker 6 (08:59):
Well, I'll say it's stunning. It's funny too.
Speaker 9 (09:03):
I don't know why I should, but it looks familiar
to me somehow. I see, what are you doing looking
through these magazines? One of them ransom color pictures of
old jewels? I know that's where I saw that neckli.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
Oh, look, Helen, this is crazy. This necklace isn't important.
Speaker 6 (09:18):
We've got wait wait minute, here it is.
Speaker 3 (09:19):
Huh.
Speaker 6 (09:20):
Oh, I know i'd seen it. Look, Joe, a life
size color print. Here. I bet this necklace of abbots
fits perfectly fair.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
Oh, I'll be hey. What does it say there below
the picture?
Speaker 10 (09:34):
What says the Anne Boleyn necklace, said to be the
final gift of Henry the Eighth to Anne Boleyn before
she was beheaded. It hasn't it all kinds of here, diamonds,
sapphires and emeralds.
Speaker 6 (09:47):
Oh, let's see, good heaven. What is it appraised by
present day gem experts at a value of one hundred
and fifty thousand dollars.
Speaker 10 (09:56):
I think of it, Joe, It's worth a hundred and
fifty thousand dollars, and we've got.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
It well, Joseph.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
The brilliance and value of the Anne Boleyn necklace blinds
both you and Helen for the moment, until you remember
that Randolph Abbot is dead, that you murdered him.
Speaker 5 (10:17):
Joseph.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Still you feel secure in the knowledge that no one
knows you were with him to night, and your wife
Helen assures you that there's no reason for any one
to suspect you. That thought comforts you as you lock
the Abbot jewels in your files and prepare to retire
for the night.
Speaker 3 (10:34):
When oh, hullo, this.
Speaker 5 (10:40):
Is Ruth Abbot, mister Herman. Oh yes, Ruth, my father,
My father's been murdered.
Speaker 3 (10:47):
Murdered.
Speaker 5 (10:48):
Oh no, Ruth, please, mister Herman, the police are here.
I'm very tired. Can you come right away? Why?
Speaker 3 (10:58):
Of course I can, Ruse.
Speaker 5 (10:59):
Of course, looks as if I'll need an attorney, mister Herman.
The police thinks that I I killed him.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
They think you.
Speaker 5 (11:09):
I'll be waiting for you, mister Herman. Please come quickly.
Ruth Abbott, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
The police are there. They think she killed her father.
She wants me to defend her.
Speaker 10 (11:22):
You've got to do it.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
Boy, Why Helen, Why not let Ruth take the wrap?
I don't just see Helen. They don't suspect me. They
suspect Ruth. I think it's wonderful.
Speaker 6 (11:31):
And now think a minute.
Speaker 10 (11:32):
Joe, you're a Randolph Abbott's attorney. You've got to defend
his daughter. You'll make a brilliant defense for Joe because
she's innocent. You know, no one knows that better than
you do.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
She sure she's innocent. But I've got to think of myself.
Speaker 6 (11:44):
This is thinking of yourself, Joe.
Speaker 10 (11:46):
After your devoted, brilliant defense of an innocent girl, no
one will ever be looking for you. Later, when it's
all forgotten, we can sell the Anne Boleyn necklace and
go anywhere and live comfortably.
Speaker 5 (11:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:58):
Maybe you're right, Helen, Yes, I think you are. Okay,
I'll do it. I'll be the attorney for the defense.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
As you reach the Abbot home, you manage an expression
of grave concern as Medford, the Abbot butler, ushers you
into the study where Ruth Abbot and police Lieutenant Simpson
are waiting for you. Ruth's stoically accepts your expressions of sympathy,
and the lieutenant begins to fill you in on the
details of Randolph Abbot's murder.
Speaker 11 (12:37):
There are too many facts, mister Hermann.
Speaker 8 (12:39):
I can give them to you quickly.
Speaker 11 (12:41):
Then you can talk with Miss Abbott here.
Speaker 3 (12:42):
Very well, Lutenant.
Speaker 11 (12:43):
Mister Abbot was killed earlier to night at approximately eight
thirty tween eight thirty nine o'clock.
Speaker 8 (12:49):
There was no one at home at the time except
Miss Abbott the servants.
Speaker 11 (12:53):
The servants had been dismissed for the evening immediately after dinner,
for they left the butler. Medford and a maid overheard
a violent quarrel which took place at dinner between Miss Abbott,
her father, and Miss Abbott's fiancee, Drake Douglas.
Speaker 7 (13:07):
It was not a violent quarrel. It was merely a misunderstanding.
Speaker 11 (13:11):
Miss Abbott and the servants don't seem to agree on
left mister Herman at any rate. At the height of
the quarrel or misunderstanding. Mister Douglas left in anger. I
understand he was.
Speaker 7 (13:22):
Upset, that's all. Father disagreed with us about the date
of our wedding, Drake's and mine. He wanted us to
wait and have a large wedding.
Speaker 6 (13:31):
We wanted to get married right away, a small family wedding.
Speaker 7 (13:34):
That's all we were discussing.
Speaker 11 (13:36):
Mister Douglas went directly home. There a witnesses to testify.
He was there the rest of the evening. When the
servants left to day o'clock, Miss Abbott was alone here.
She claimed she went to a room where she stayed
until eleven o'clock. When she came down here found her father.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
That's the truth. Please.
Speaker 11 (13:55):
Her finger prints are on the book end, mister Herman.
That's the murder weapon. We also found the safe open.
The prints are on that too.
Speaker 7 (14:03):
How many times do I have to tell you, Lieutenant
the book and was lying beside father. I don't know why,
but I picked it up. The safe was open.
Speaker 10 (14:12):
I just closed it.
Speaker 3 (14:13):
That's all the safe, Lieutenant, was anything taken from the safe.
Speaker 11 (14:18):
Miss Abbot says her father kept a jewel collection, their
historical jewels.
Speaker 8 (14:24):
They're messin, but that's all.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
Why then, don't you think the motive could have been
robbery and murder from the outside.
Speaker 11 (14:30):
The doors were all locked, mister Herman. One window in
this study here was open, but there were no footprints
outside the window. Now, mister Herman, this was an inside job,
and we're holding miss Abbot for the murder of her father.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
When the Lieutenant leaves you alone with Ruth, you assure
her you're convinced of her innocence that even the web,
even though the web of circumstantial evidence encircles her, you're
sure that you'll find the wink link in the chain.
The next morning, you go to your office to plan
your defense for her. Late that afternoon, you receive a
caller at your office.
Speaker 3 (15:15):
Well, mister Douglas, I am happy to see thanks adame.
Speaker 12 (15:19):
Ah, mister Herman, I'll come right to the point. I
don't have very much respect for you as an attorney.
So I happen to know that you handled only small,
routine things for mister.
Speaker 8 (15:30):
Abbott for the past few years. Just why he apparently
lost faith in you.
Speaker 3 (15:35):
I am not sure, mister Douglas. Do you think that
perhaps your own desire to handle legal matters for Randolph
Abbott has anything to do with your appraisal of me
is an attorney.
Speaker 8 (15:45):
I'm sure it hasn't, mister Herman.
Speaker 12 (15:47):
And if I'm wrong about you, as I hope i am,
I'll be the first to admit it. You see, if
I were anything but assistant district attorney, I defend Ruth myself. Obviously,
I'm not assisting the prosecution in any way.
Speaker 8 (16:01):
I've disqualified myself. Ruth wants you to defend her, she
insists on it.
Speaker 3 (16:07):
Oh, I'm glad to hear, mister Hermann.
Speaker 8 (16:10):
I'm very much in love with Ruth Abbot. She's innocent.
Speaker 12 (16:15):
That's a pretty good defense right there, and you had
better build a good defense for her, or you'll answer
to me. Drake Douglas's words echo through the next few
days as you prepare Ruth Abbot's defense.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
There can be no slip ups. Now, Joseph Douglas is
always around, isn't he? When you and the district attorney
select the jury, through all the preliminaries to the trial,
He's there watching you, weighing every word you say. Then
finally the trial begins and the district Attorney is completing
the opening statement of the prosecution.
Speaker 11 (16:54):
In summary, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the prosecution
will prove at the defendant Ruth Abbot, had both the
primary and secondary motive for murdering her father. The primary
consideration was money, the vast Abbot wealth she was impatient
to acquire. The defendant's secondary motive took hold after a
(17:18):
violent quarrel when her father voice disapproval of her approaching marriage.
I have no doubt, ladies and gentlemen of the jury,
that much will be made by the defense of the
fact that Randolph Abbot's collection of historical jewels were taken
the night.
Speaker 3 (17:35):
Of his murder.
Speaker 11 (17:37):
But I say to you that these jewels represent a
paltry sum in comparison with the wealth the defendant would
inherit at her father's death. That these jewels were in
fact expendable. In the defendant's plan to make the murder
of her father appear to be the work of a
common thief, a housebreaker.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
You watched the jury for reaction, Joseph, since the temper
of the crowded courtroom. Yes, the district attorney has made
his points well, and he continues to build his case
against Ruth with a testimony of the Abbot made and
Medford the butler.
Speaker 10 (18:21):
I distinctly heard them quarreling Miss Ruth, Drake Douglas and
mister Abbot during dinner.
Speaker 6 (18:27):
They were shouting at one another, and finally I heard
Miss Ruth say, I won't have it.
Speaker 5 (18:32):
I won't have it.
Speaker 6 (18:34):
You're not going to interfere with my wedding.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Yes, Sir, I would say it was an angry quarrel.
Mister Douglas left quite suddenly, and Miss Ruth saw him
to the door. They seemed quite upset, emotional. Will you
say they were angry with one another own, No, sir,
they were angry, extremely angry with mister Abbott. Sir, Well, Joseph,
(19:06):
you need only see the expression on Helen's face when
you go home that night to confirm what you already know.
Things are not going well for Ruth Abbott, and that
means they're not going well for you. But as you
remind Helen, the DA.
Speaker 3 (19:20):
Is having his day. That's all. I'll get my crack
at them tomorrow, now, don't you worry about it.
Speaker 10 (19:24):
I am worried, Joe Have you forgotten what at stake
in this thing? Your own guilt and those jewels you
got locked in the file, that necklace.
Speaker 3 (19:32):
Joey, of course I haven't forgotten. Now what.
Speaker 5 (19:37):
Hellodrag Douglas, mister Hermann.
Speaker 3 (19:39):
Oh, yes, Douglas, I'll be blunt about it.
Speaker 5 (19:43):
I want to know what your plans are for Ruth's defense.
Ruth is innocent.
Speaker 12 (19:48):
She's also the woman I love, and I warn you,
whatever you do tomorrow it had better be good.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
Yeah. Well, for your information, Douglas, it will be good.
I have an ace in the whole. It'll blast DA's
theories to pieces.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
The next morning in court. You set the stage for
playing your ace in the hole. You dwell on the
close happy association of Ruth Abbott and her father, on
Randolph Abbot's sincere affection for Drake Douglas his faith in him. Yes, Joseph,
your defense of Ruth Abbott is building nicely the angry.
Speaker 3 (20:27):
Quarrel of which the prosecution and its witnesses have made
so much, Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the defense
shall prove to be merely a family squabble concerning the
date and size of the defendant's wedding, spirited perhaps, but
nonetheless the kind of lively discussion in which all family
is indulged. I dare say, even my esteemed colleague, the
(20:51):
District Attorney, has raised his voice in such a minor
disagreement with his own family. But far more important, and
far more conclusively, shall the defense ripped through the single
flimsy thread on which the prosecution hangs its full and
highly vulnerable case against Rufe Abbot. They refer to the
(21:14):
Abbot dual collection as paltry in value and dismiss it
with that. Why because it is far from paultry in value,
and that is the one big flaw in their case,
and they know it. Therefore, I shall call but one witness,
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, one witness, the defendant,
(21:39):
Miss Ruth Abbot.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
It's a dramatic moment, Joseph, and you play its drama
to the hilt. Quietly, compassionately, You ask the first routine
questions of Ruth, each one a strategic step towards your
main line of questioning your ace in the whole, and
finally you begin to frame the all important questions.
Speaker 3 (22:04):
Miss Abbott, are are you familiar with your father's collection
of historical duels?
Speaker 7 (22:10):
Why yes, of course I am.
Speaker 3 (22:13):
Did you have free access to these jewels?
Speaker 5 (22:16):
Why yes.
Speaker 7 (22:18):
Father frequently discussed them with me, In fact, his insistence,
I wore them many times.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
I see, I'm miss Abbott. According to the transcript, the
prosecution refers to these jewels as paltry in value. Do
you know their actual worth?
Speaker 5 (22:35):
Well?
Speaker 7 (22:36):
I know that a diamond brooch, which once belonged to
the Royal House of the Netherlands was insured for twenty
thousand dollars. A ring of emeralds and diamonds from an
ancient Oriental dynasty was praised at ten thousand dollars, a
fifteenth century ruby pendant was valued at fifteen thousand dollars.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
And the Anboleyn necklace, Miss Abbott, what value did it?
Speaker 7 (23:02):
I don't know its value?
Speaker 3 (23:03):
Would you say the entire collection would be worth enough
that not only a common thief, but a big time,
highly expert jewel thief might consider it more than paltry?
I object objections are stained. All right, I reframed the question.
Would you say the entire collection was worth two hundred
(23:24):
thousand dollars?
Speaker 7 (23:25):
Well, yes, I would think that's the approximate value.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
You'll let the full impact of ruth words sink in.
Then you turn and face the prosecution. Quickly huddle together
the value of the jewel, the real possibility of theft
by a jewel expert has dealt their case at telling blow, Joseph,
you're certain of that. You're even more certain when the
district attorney arises and addresses the court.
Speaker 11 (23:49):
Your honor, the prosecution requests the recess of two hours
for purposes of reviewing the racing testimony.
Speaker 4 (23:55):
Unless the defense has objections, the court is recessed until jerklag.
Speaker 3 (23:59):
The defense has no objections, Your honors, no objections at all.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
Now I'm going to predict a site. You're going to
see Oftener and oftener as the days grow warmer, overheated
cars parked at the side of the road to let
their steaming radiators cool off. To make sure this annoying
occurrence doesn't mar your summer driving fun, signal service stations
have three little items to rejuvenate your cooling system. The
(24:34):
first is radiator cleaner to remove clogging scales, sludge, and rust.
The second is rust preventive to protect radiators of old
cars or new ones from further corrosion, and the third
is radiator sealer that stops small leaks in a jiffy. These, incidentally,
are just three items from your signal dealer's complete line
(24:55):
of recognized quality accessories that include Lee Tires, Champion In
spark plugs, Rainmaster windshield wiper blades, and Purolator oil filters.
So when you see the familiar signal circle sign in
yellow and black, remember there you will find not only
the famous Go Farther gasoline and Signal Premium compounded motor oil,
(25:16):
but also a complete line of fine accessories and services
to help your car run better, look better, and last longer.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
Yes, the trial had captured the headlines and commanded the
bulk of page one news since its very first day.
Randolph Abbott was dead murdered and his only daughter, Ruth
was standing trial for his murder. Defending her was her
father's own attorney, Joseph Herman. And now, after spending the
two hour assess lunching with his wife at a nearby restaurant.
(25:54):
Joseph Herman has returned, and the judges declared the court
to be in session again, and.
Speaker 3 (25:59):
The attorneys do you need to resume the case? We
are your honor, any only defense resumed, Christianie. Please, the
defense has no further questions, Your Honor, Your honor is
tis attorney, Your honor.
Speaker 11 (26:09):
In view of the evidence which has quite recently come
to the prosecution's attention, I move for a dismissal of
the case against.
Speaker 4 (26:15):
Ruth Abbott, Honor, Honor, in the court on what grounds
as the persecution move for dismissal, Your.
Speaker 11 (26:23):
Honna, facts have come to my knowledge from the very
record of the trial, based on testimony on record in
these proceedings, which are sufficient to dismiss the case against
the defendant. In light of this, I would like the
assistant District Attorney, mister Drake Douglas to tell the court
what he told me.
Speaker 3 (26:39):
It's in regard to.
Speaker 12 (26:40):
The Abbot jewel collection, Your Honor, only three people could
have known about one piece. In particular, the defendant Ruth Abbott,
will swear that on the night her father was murdered,
he showed her the historic jewel he had acquired only
that afternoon. At that time, he requested that she tell
(27:01):
no one about it. Ruth told no one until she
told me a few moments ago during recess. The only
other person who could possibly know about the jewel is
the person who killed mister Abbot and stole the jewels.
That person has revealed himself, Your Honor. Just before the
court recessed, the attorney for the defense, mister Joseph Herman,
(27:26):
specifically questioned Miss Abbott about the jewel the Ambouleyn necklace
during direct examination.
Speaker 3 (27:32):
No, no, he told me about that necklace, Your Honor.
Speaker 2 (27:35):
Her order in the court, Your Honnor.
Speaker 11 (27:38):
After mister Herman's question this morning, the prosecution obtained a
search warrant, and during the recess, while mister Herman was
lunching downtown, we went to his home and found the
Abbot jewel collection in his files.
Speaker 3 (27:52):
We submit them now in evidence, Your honor.
Speaker 11 (27:55):
The state requests that you order the arrest of the
attorney for the defense, mister Joseph Herman, the murder of
Randolph Abbott.
Speaker 1 (28:19):
Let that whistle be your signal for the signal oil program.
The whistler each Sunday night at this same time brought
to you by the Signal Oil Company, marketers of Signal
gasoline and motor oil, and fine quality automotive accessories. Many drivers,
when buying gasoline forget what a big part of the
price goes for tax. In fact, every time a driver
in the average western city buys a dollar's worth of gasoline,
(28:42):
tax adds thirty three cents to his bill. In other words,
the tax you pay on three would give you a
fourth gallon free. Featured in Tonight's story were Bill Foreman,
Ben Wright, Sarah Selby, Don Oric, and Gene Bates. The
Whistler was produced and directed by George w Allen, with
story by Stephen Abbey, music by Wilbur Hatch, and was
(29:05):
transmitted to our troops overseas by the Armed Forces Radio Service.
The Whistler is entirely fictional, and all characters portrayed on
the Whistler are also fictional. Any similarity of names or
resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. Remember,
at the same time, next Sunday, another strange tale by
the Whistler, Marvin Miller speaking for the Signal Oil Company.
(29:27):
It's the CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System
And now stay tuned for the program that has rated
tops in popularity for a longer period of time than
any other West Coast program in radio history, The Signal
Oil Program, the Whistler Signal, the famous Go Farther Gasoline.
(00:29):
Invite you to sit back and enjoy another strange story
by the Whistler.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
I am the Whistler, and I know many things.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
For I walk by night.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
I know many strange tales hidden in the hut arts
of men and women who have stepped into the shadows. Yes,
I know the nameless terrors of which they dare not speak.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
And now for the Signal Oil Company, the Whistler's strange story.
Attorney for the defense.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
The trial had captured the headlines and commanded the bulk
of page one news since its very first day. Randolph
Abbot made news because he was dead, murdered, and his
only daughter, Lovely Ruth Abbot, was standing trial for his murder.
Defending her was her father's own attorney, Joseph Herman. Now
the court stood recessed, and Joseph Herman walked confidently from
(01:48):
the crowded courtroom.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
Think you've got the day on the run, mister Herman. Well,
the district attorney has his job to do, and I
have mine. But you may quote me as saying that
Ruth Abbot is innocent, entirely innocent of her father's murder,
and I propose to prove her innocence.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
A splendid statement, Joseph, clear cut to the point. Your
words will look good in print. But then your words
are most important in this murder trial, aren't they, Joseph,
more important than anyone else's, because you're the only one
who knows exactly what happened the night Randolph Abbot was murdered. Yes, Joseph,
(02:39):
you remember that night. Well, you called on Randolph Abbot
for a very special reason.
Speaker 4 (02:47):
Oh it's you, Joseph.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
Come in, Come in good evening, Randolph. I hardly expected
you to answer the doing.
Speaker 4 (02:53):
I'm money to the study. Mid for is out this evening,
all the servants are. Ruth's gone up to a room.
Probably didn't hear the bill. We'll sit down, Joseph, sit
down now.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
This won't take long, Randolph. This is a business call business.
Oh yes, the payment on your note. I imagine the
last payment on my note, Randolf, ten years. That's a
long time, Randoff. I'm glad it's over, Joseph. I should
think you would be glad. Eh. That's a small word
for ten years of effort, ten years of crawling to
(03:24):
you with the payment. Randolf.
Speaker 4 (03:25):
I don't understand you, Joseph. You act as if I've
done a villainous thing saving you from prison, disbarment. The
courts don't look kindly on embezzlement.
Speaker 5 (03:33):
Joseph.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
You should know that you're a lawyer, Randolph Abbot's attorney.
Speaker 4 (03:39):
If you please, all right, Joseph, I've never asked for
your gratitude.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
I don't expect it.
Speaker 4 (03:44):
Now I'll get the note and we can complete this unpleasant.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
Fine, Fine, get the note. Oh and shall I hide
my eyes Randolf while you work the combination to the wall.
Speaker 4 (03:53):
Say it won't be necessary, Joseph. The safe's nearly closed.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
It's not locked.
Speaker 4 (03:58):
I was putting some things in when you're raying. Here
we are now, if you'll give me the money, Joseph,
the note is yours. Okay, here's the money, thank you,
And here's your note.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
Okay. I guess I should thank you too. That won't
be necessary, Joseph. Or you don't want my thanks, you
just want my money? Is at it?
Speaker 4 (04:17):
No, Joseph, that's not it. But that's the way you feel.
Told me, I'm releasing you. You're at liberty to find
employment elsewhere.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
You don't owe me a thing, Joseph. Oh, so this
is the payoff. You kept me calling to you for
ten years for this.
Speaker 4 (04:31):
I've kept your career safe for you, Joseph, and by
keeping you employed, helped you pay back the money that
you stole.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
You see, to forget all that, I've given you another chance.
Speaker 4 (04:42):
And then there's young Douglas Drake Douglas ruth fiance. He's
showing promise as assistant district attorney in all probability after
their marriage. I'll turn my legal representations.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
Over to him. Oh, no, you won't, Randolf. I think
you'd better leave now. I'm not leaving Randolph, not yet.
He said, I didn't know you anything, but you're It'll
stop fretting me, Joseph Howells, you'll do nothing. You've done
the last thing that you'll live. No, Joseph, y is
what I owe you to wand off the final payment.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
Since this is vacation time, I'd like to say a
word tonight about an item that will have a lot
to do with your driving pleasure gasoline. As you travel
throughout the Pacific Coast states, you can continue to power
your car with a famous go farther gasoline signal that
is yes. From Canada to Mexico, you'll see the familiar
signal circle sign in yellow and black that identifies friendly
(05:49):
independent signal dealers. And when you gas up at a
signal station. Remember, mileage is only one of the benefits
you enjoy.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
After all.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
The reason today signal gasoline gives you such good mileage
is that it helps your motor run more efficiently. And
when your motor runs more efficiently naturally, you also notice
quicker starting, proud pick up, and smooth responsive power. That's
why we say mileage and performance are like birds of
a feather.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
They go together.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
So on your vacation trip or any time, remember, you
get all the things that make driving more fun when
you get signal the famous go farther gasoline.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Randolph Abbot lies dead at your feet, Joseph. Instinctively, you
wipe your fingerprints from the heavy book end, from everything
that you've touched. You move for the safe. You're certain
Randolph kept the record of your payments there. Yes, you
find them neatly kept in a small record book. But
there's something else in the safe, Joseph. You flip open
(07:12):
the large leather case, and the light catches the brilliance
of Randolph Abbot's collection of historical gems. You make a
split second decision. Robbery, Joseph. Yes, you'll make it look
like robbery. Half an hour later, you carry your heavy,
bulging briefcase into your own home. Your wife, Helen, sensing
(07:33):
your urgency, follows you to your room.
Speaker 6 (07:35):
What's the matter with you, Joe? You paid mister Abbott,
didn't you? You got the note?
Speaker 5 (07:39):
All right? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (07:41):
Yes, I got the note, Helen. He's dead. Abbot's dead.
I killed him.
Speaker 7 (07:48):
You killed him.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
I paid him. See, I got the note. And then
he fired me, Just like that, he fired me. I
had I couldn't help it. I I must have hit
him with a bookend. All of a sudden, there he was.
He's dead, Joe.
Speaker 6 (08:04):
But did anyone see you? Does anyone know you were there?
Speaker 5 (08:06):
No?
Speaker 3 (08:07):
No, no, the servants were gone. He said that Ruth
was upstairs. But there wasn't a sound in the place
after it happened.
Speaker 6 (08:16):
Your fingerprints are probably all over the place.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
Oh no, no, I wiped everything off. Oh, and just
to be sure, I took these and made it look
like robberies opened the window in the study where we were.
Speaker 6 (08:28):
What on earth are these jewels?
Speaker 3 (08:32):
What's been collecting? A few historical jewels? Ill? Nothing much,
but it was all I could think of to take.
Speaker 6 (08:37):
What do you mean nothing much? They look genuine to me.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
Oh maybe they are. He said that they were a
hobby with him. You don't think he'd tell me about
his duel collection?
Speaker 8 (08:45):
Do you wait a minute?
Speaker 6 (08:46):
What's in the separate case?
Speaker 3 (08:47):
How would I know? I never saw it before?
Speaker 6 (08:50):
Oh look at that, Joe. You think that necklace isn't
worth a fortune?
Speaker 3 (08:55):
Why? I don't know? That's stunning?
Speaker 6 (08:59):
Well, I'll say it's stunning. It's funny too.
Speaker 9 (09:03):
I don't know why I should, but it looks familiar
to me somehow. I see, what are you doing looking
through these magazines? One of them ransom color pictures of
old jewels? I know that's where I saw that neckli.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
Oh, look, Helen, this is crazy. This necklace isn't important.
Speaker 6 (09:18):
We've got wait wait minute, here it is.
Speaker 3 (09:19):
Huh.
Speaker 6 (09:20):
Oh, I know i'd seen it. Look, Joe, a life
size color print. Here. I bet this necklace of abbots
fits perfectly fair.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
Oh, I'll be hey. What does it say there below
the picture?
Speaker 10 (09:34):
What says the Anne Boleyn necklace, said to be the
final gift of Henry the Eighth to Anne Boleyn before
she was beheaded. It hasn't it all kinds of here, diamonds,
sapphires and emeralds.
Speaker 6 (09:47):
Oh, let's see, good heaven. What is it appraised by
present day gem experts at a value of one hundred
and fifty thousand dollars.
Speaker 10 (09:56):
I think of it, Joe, It's worth a hundred and
fifty thousand dollars, and we've got.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
It well, Joseph.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
The brilliance and value of the Anne Boleyn necklace blinds
both you and Helen for the moment, until you remember
that Randolph Abbot is dead, that you murdered him.
Speaker 5 (10:17):
Joseph.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Still you feel secure in the knowledge that no one
knows you were with him to night, and your wife
Helen assures you that there's no reason for any one
to suspect you. That thought comforts you as you lock
the Abbot jewels in your files and prepare to retire
for the night.
Speaker 3 (10:34):
When oh, hullo, this.
Speaker 5 (10:40):
Is Ruth Abbot, mister Herman. Oh yes, Ruth, my father,
My father's been murdered.
Speaker 3 (10:47):
Murdered.
Speaker 5 (10:48):
Oh no, Ruth, please, mister Herman, the police are here.
I'm very tired. Can you come right away? Why?
Speaker 3 (10:58):
Of course I can, Ruse.
Speaker 5 (10:59):
Of course, looks as if I'll need an attorney, mister Herman.
The police thinks that I I killed him.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
They think you.
Speaker 5 (11:09):
I'll be waiting for you, mister Herman. Please come quickly.
Ruth Abbott, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
The police are there. They think she killed her father.
She wants me to defend her.
Speaker 10 (11:22):
You've got to do it.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
Boy, Why Helen, Why not let Ruth take the wrap?
I don't just see Helen. They don't suspect me. They
suspect Ruth. I think it's wonderful.
Speaker 6 (11:31):
And now think a minute.
Speaker 10 (11:32):
Joe, you're a Randolph Abbott's attorney. You've got to defend
his daughter. You'll make a brilliant defense for Joe because
she's innocent. You know, no one knows that better than
you do.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
She sure she's innocent. But I've got to think of myself.
Speaker 6 (11:44):
This is thinking of yourself, Joe.
Speaker 10 (11:46):
After your devoted, brilliant defense of an innocent girl, no
one will ever be looking for you. Later, when it's
all forgotten, we can sell the Anne Boleyn necklace and
go anywhere and live comfortably.
Speaker 5 (11:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:58):
Maybe you're right, Helen, Yes, I think you are. Okay,
I'll do it. I'll be the attorney for the defense.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
As you reach the Abbot home, you manage an expression
of grave concern as Medford, the Abbot butler, ushers you
into the study where Ruth Abbot and police Lieutenant Simpson
are waiting for you. Ruth's stoically accepts your expressions of sympathy,
and the lieutenant begins to fill you in on the
details of Randolph Abbot's murder.
Speaker 11 (12:37):
There are too many facts, mister Hermann.
Speaker 8 (12:39):
I can give them to you quickly.
Speaker 11 (12:41):
Then you can talk with Miss Abbott here.
Speaker 3 (12:42):
Very well, Lutenant.
Speaker 11 (12:43):
Mister Abbot was killed earlier to night at approximately eight
thirty tween eight thirty nine o'clock.
Speaker 8 (12:49):
There was no one at home at the time except
Miss Abbott the servants.
Speaker 11 (12:53):
The servants had been dismissed for the evening immediately after dinner,
for they left the butler. Medford and a maid overheard
a violent quarrel which took place at dinner between Miss Abbott,
her father, and Miss Abbott's fiancee, Drake Douglas.
Speaker 7 (13:07):
It was not a violent quarrel. It was merely a misunderstanding.
Speaker 11 (13:11):
Miss Abbott and the servants don't seem to agree on
left mister Herman at any rate. At the height of
the quarrel or misunderstanding. Mister Douglas left in anger. I
understand he was.
Speaker 7 (13:22):
Upset, that's all. Father disagreed with us about the date
of our wedding, Drake's and mine. He wanted us to
wait and have a large wedding.
Speaker 6 (13:31):
We wanted to get married right away, a small family wedding.
Speaker 7 (13:34):
That's all we were discussing.
Speaker 11 (13:36):
Mister Douglas went directly home. There a witnesses to testify.
He was there the rest of the evening. When the
servants left to day o'clock, Miss Abbott was alone here.
She claimed she went to a room where she stayed
until eleven o'clock. When she came down here found her father.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
That's the truth. Please.
Speaker 11 (13:55):
Her finger prints are on the book end, mister Herman.
That's the murder weapon. We also found the safe open.
The prints are on that too.
Speaker 7 (14:03):
How many times do I have to tell you, Lieutenant
the book and was lying beside father. I don't know why,
but I picked it up. The safe was open.
Speaker 10 (14:12):
I just closed it.
Speaker 3 (14:13):
That's all the safe, Lieutenant, was anything taken from the safe.
Speaker 11 (14:18):
Miss Abbot says her father kept a jewel collection, their
historical jewels.
Speaker 8 (14:24):
They're messin, but that's all.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
Why then, don't you think the motive could have been
robbery and murder from the outside.
Speaker 11 (14:30):
The doors were all locked, mister Herman. One window in
this study here was open, but there were no footprints
outside the window. Now, mister Herman, this was an inside job,
and we're holding miss Abbot for the murder of her father.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
When the Lieutenant leaves you alone with Ruth, you assure
her you're convinced of her innocence that even the web,
even though the web of circumstantial evidence encircles her, you're
sure that you'll find the wink link in the chain.
The next morning, you go to your office to plan
your defense for her. Late that afternoon, you receive a
caller at your office.
Speaker 3 (15:15):
Well, mister Douglas, I am happy to see thanks adame.
Speaker 12 (15:19):
Ah, mister Herman, I'll come right to the point. I
don't have very much respect for you as an attorney.
So I happen to know that you handled only small,
routine things for mister.
Speaker 8 (15:30):
Abbott for the past few years. Just why he apparently
lost faith in you.
Speaker 3 (15:35):
I am not sure, mister Douglas. Do you think that
perhaps your own desire to handle legal matters for Randolph
Abbott has anything to do with your appraisal of me
is an attorney.
Speaker 8 (15:45):
I'm sure it hasn't, mister Herman.
Speaker 12 (15:47):
And if I'm wrong about you, as I hope i am,
I'll be the first to admit it. You see, if
I were anything but assistant district attorney, I defend Ruth myself. Obviously,
I'm not assisting the prosecution in any way.
Speaker 8 (16:01):
I've disqualified myself. Ruth wants you to defend her, she
insists on it.
Speaker 3 (16:07):
Oh, I'm glad to hear, mister Hermann.
Speaker 8 (16:10):
I'm very much in love with Ruth Abbot. She's innocent.
Speaker 12 (16:15):
That's a pretty good defense right there, and you had
better build a good defense for her, or you'll answer
to me. Drake Douglas's words echo through the next few
days as you prepare Ruth Abbot's defense.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
There can be no slip ups. Now, Joseph Douglas is
always around, isn't he? When you and the district attorney
select the jury, through all the preliminaries to the trial,
He's there watching you, weighing every word you say. Then
finally the trial begins and the district Attorney is completing
the opening statement of the prosecution.
Speaker 11 (16:54):
In summary, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the prosecution
will prove at the defendant Ruth Abbot, had both the
primary and secondary motive for murdering her father. The primary
consideration was money, the vast Abbot wealth she was impatient
to acquire. The defendant's secondary motive took hold after a
(17:18):
violent quarrel when her father voice disapproval of her approaching marriage.
I have no doubt, ladies and gentlemen of the jury,
that much will be made by the defense of the
fact that Randolph Abbot's collection of historical jewels were taken
the night.
Speaker 3 (17:35):
Of his murder.
Speaker 11 (17:37):
But I say to you that these jewels represent a
paltry sum in comparison with the wealth the defendant would
inherit at her father's death. That these jewels were in
fact expendable. In the defendant's plan to make the murder
of her father appear to be the work of a
common thief, a housebreaker.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
You watched the jury for reaction, Joseph, since the temper
of the crowded courtroom. Yes, the district attorney has made
his points well, and he continues to build his case
against Ruth with a testimony of the Abbot made and
Medford the butler.
Speaker 10 (18:21):
I distinctly heard them quarreling Miss Ruth, Drake Douglas and
mister Abbot during dinner.
Speaker 6 (18:27):
They were shouting at one another, and finally I heard
Miss Ruth say, I won't have it.
Speaker 5 (18:32):
I won't have it.
Speaker 6 (18:34):
You're not going to interfere with my wedding.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Yes, Sir, I would say it was an angry quarrel.
Mister Douglas left quite suddenly, and Miss Ruth saw him
to the door. They seemed quite upset, emotional. Will you
say they were angry with one another own, No, sir,
they were angry, extremely angry with mister Abbott. Sir, Well, Joseph,
(19:06):
you need only see the expression on Helen's face when
you go home that night to confirm what you already know.
Things are not going well for Ruth Abbott, and that
means they're not going well for you. But as you
remind Helen, the DA.
Speaker 3 (19:20):
Is having his day. That's all. I'll get my crack
at them tomorrow, now, don't you worry about it.
Speaker 10 (19:24):
I am worried, Joe Have you forgotten what at stake
in this thing? Your own guilt and those jewels you
got locked in the file, that necklace.
Speaker 3 (19:32):
Joey, of course I haven't forgotten. Now what.
Speaker 5 (19:37):
Hellodrag Douglas, mister Hermann.
Speaker 3 (19:39):
Oh, yes, Douglas, I'll be blunt about it.
Speaker 5 (19:43):
I want to know what your plans are for Ruth's defense.
Ruth is innocent.
Speaker 12 (19:48):
She's also the woman I love, and I warn you,
whatever you do tomorrow it had better be good.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
Yeah. Well, for your information, Douglas, it will be good.
I have an ace in the whole. It'll blast DA's
theories to pieces.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
The next morning in court. You set the stage for
playing your ace in the hole. You dwell on the
close happy association of Ruth Abbott and her father, on
Randolph Abbot's sincere affection for Drake Douglas his faith in him. Yes, Joseph,
your defense of Ruth Abbott is building nicely the angry.
Speaker 3 (20:27):
Quarrel of which the prosecution and its witnesses have made
so much, Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the defense
shall prove to be merely a family squabble concerning the
date and size of the defendant's wedding, spirited perhaps, but
nonetheless the kind of lively discussion in which all family
is indulged. I dare say, even my esteemed colleague, the
(20:51):
District Attorney, has raised his voice in such a minor
disagreement with his own family. But far more important, and
far more conclusively, shall the defense ripped through the single
flimsy thread on which the prosecution hangs its full and
highly vulnerable case against Rufe Abbot. They refer to the
(21:14):
Abbot dual collection as paltry in value and dismiss it
with that. Why because it is far from paultry in value,
and that is the one big flaw in their case,
and they know it. Therefore, I shall call but one witness,
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, one witness, the defendant,
(21:39):
Miss Ruth Abbot.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
It's a dramatic moment, Joseph, and you play its drama
to the hilt. Quietly, compassionately, You ask the first routine
questions of Ruth, each one a strategic step towards your
main line of questioning your ace in the whole, and
finally you begin to frame the all important questions.
Speaker 3 (22:04):
Miss Abbott, are are you familiar with your father's collection
of historical duels?
Speaker 7 (22:10):
Why yes, of course I am.
Speaker 3 (22:13):
Did you have free access to these jewels?
Speaker 5 (22:16):
Why yes.
Speaker 7 (22:18):
Father frequently discussed them with me, In fact, his insistence,
I wore them many times.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
I see, I'm miss Abbott. According to the transcript, the
prosecution refers to these jewels as paltry in value. Do
you know their actual worth?
Speaker 5 (22:35):
Well?
Speaker 7 (22:36):
I know that a diamond brooch, which once belonged to
the Royal House of the Netherlands was insured for twenty
thousand dollars. A ring of emeralds and diamonds from an
ancient Oriental dynasty was praised at ten thousand dollars, a
fifteenth century ruby pendant was valued at fifteen thousand dollars.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
And the Anboleyn necklace, Miss Abbott, what value did it?
Speaker 7 (23:02):
I don't know its value?
Speaker 3 (23:03):
Would you say the entire collection would be worth enough
that not only a common thief, but a big time,
highly expert jewel thief might consider it more than paltry?
I object objections are stained. All right, I reframed the question.
Would you say the entire collection was worth two hundred
(23:24):
thousand dollars?
Speaker 7 (23:25):
Well, yes, I would think that's the approximate value.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
You'll let the full impact of ruth words sink in.
Then you turn and face the prosecution. Quickly huddle together
the value of the jewel, the real possibility of theft
by a jewel expert has dealt their case at telling blow, Joseph,
you're certain of that. You're even more certain when the
district attorney arises and addresses the court.
Speaker 11 (23:49):
Your honor, the prosecution requests the recess of two hours
for purposes of reviewing the racing testimony.
Speaker 4 (23:55):
Unless the defense has objections, the court is recessed until jerklag.
Speaker 3 (23:59):
The defense has no objections, Your honors, no objections at all.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
Now I'm going to predict a site. You're going to
see Oftener and oftener as the days grow warmer, overheated
cars parked at the side of the road to let
their steaming radiators cool off. To make sure this annoying
occurrence doesn't mar your summer driving fun, signal service stations
have three little items to rejuvenate your cooling system. The
(24:34):
first is radiator cleaner to remove clogging scales, sludge, and rust.
The second is rust preventive to protect radiators of old
cars or new ones from further corrosion, and the third
is radiator sealer that stops small leaks in a jiffy. These, incidentally,
are just three items from your signal dealer's complete line
(24:55):
of recognized quality accessories that include Lee Tires, Champion In
spark plugs, Rainmaster windshield wiper blades, and Purolator oil filters.
So when you see the familiar signal circle sign in
yellow and black, remember there you will find not only
the famous Go Farther gasoline and Signal Premium compounded motor oil,
(25:16):
but also a complete line of fine accessories and services
to help your car run better, look better, and last longer.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
Yes, the trial had captured the headlines and commanded the
bulk of page one news since its very first day.
Randolph Abbott was dead murdered and his only daughter, Ruth
was standing trial for his murder. Defending her was her
father's own attorney, Joseph Herman. And now, after spending the
two hour assess lunching with his wife at a nearby restaurant.
(25:54):
Joseph Herman has returned, and the judges declared the court
to be in session again, and.
Speaker 3 (25:59):
The attorneys do you need to resume the case? We
are your honor, any only defense resumed, Christianie. Please, the
defense has no further questions, Your Honor, Your honor is
tis attorney, Your honor.
Speaker 11 (26:09):
In view of the evidence which has quite recently come
to the prosecution's attention, I move for a dismissal of
the case against.
Speaker 4 (26:15):
Ruth Abbott, Honor, Honor, in the court on what grounds
as the persecution move for dismissal, Your.
Speaker 11 (26:23):
Honna, facts have come to my knowledge from the very
record of the trial, based on testimony on record in
these proceedings, which are sufficient to dismiss the case against
the defendant. In light of this, I would like the
assistant District Attorney, mister Drake Douglas to tell the court
what he told me.
Speaker 3 (26:39):
It's in regard to.
Speaker 12 (26:40):
The Abbot jewel collection, Your Honor, only three people could
have known about one piece. In particular, the defendant Ruth Abbott,
will swear that on the night her father was murdered,
he showed her the historic jewel he had acquired only
that afternoon. At that time, he requested that she tell
(27:01):
no one about it. Ruth told no one until she
told me a few moments ago during recess. The only
other person who could possibly know about the jewel is
the person who killed mister Abbot and stole the jewels.
That person has revealed himself, Your Honor. Just before the
court recessed, the attorney for the defense, mister Joseph Herman,
(27:26):
specifically questioned Miss Abbott about the jewel the Ambouleyn necklace
during direct examination.
Speaker 3 (27:32):
No, no, he told me about that necklace, Your Honor.
Speaker 2 (27:35):
Her order in the court, Your Honnor.
Speaker 11 (27:38):
After mister Herman's question this morning, the prosecution obtained a
search warrant, and during the recess, while mister Herman was
lunching downtown, we went to his home and found the
Abbot jewel collection in his files.
Speaker 3 (27:52):
We submit them now in evidence, Your honor.
Speaker 11 (27:55):
The state requests that you order the arrest of the
attorney for the defense, mister Joseph Herman, the murder of
Randolph Abbott.
Speaker 1 (28:19):
Let that whistle be your signal for the signal oil program.
The whistler each Sunday night at this same time brought
to you by the Signal Oil Company, marketers of Signal
gasoline and motor oil, and fine quality automotive accessories. Many drivers,
when buying gasoline forget what a big part of the
price goes for tax. In fact, every time a driver
in the average western city buys a dollar's worth of gasoline,
(28:42):
tax adds thirty three cents to his bill. In other words,
the tax you pay on three would give you a
fourth gallon free. Featured in Tonight's story were Bill Foreman,
Ben Wright, Sarah Selby, Don Oric, and Gene Bates. The
Whistler was produced and directed by George w Allen, with
story by Stephen Abbey, music by Wilbur Hatch, and was
(29:05):
transmitted to our troops overseas by the Armed Forces Radio Service.
The Whistler is entirely fictional, and all characters portrayed on
the Whistler are also fictional. Any similarity of names or
resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. Remember,
at the same time, next Sunday, another strange tale by
the Whistler, Marvin Miller speaking for the Signal Oil Company.
(29:27):
It's the CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System
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