September 25, 2025 • 28 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
Mark as Played
Transcript
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.
(00:27):
Invite you to sit back and enjoy another strange story
by the Whistler.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
I am the Whistler, and I know many things.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
For I walk by night.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
I know many strange tales hidden.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
In the hearts of men and women who have stepped
into the shadows.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Yes, I know the nameless terrors of which they dare
not speak.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
And now for the Signal Oil Company, The Whistler's Strange
Story two and one makes murder.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
To Mildred Wiley, the cool mountain breeze was delightful. She
was sitting on the porch of Taggart Lodge chatting with
the mother of her employer, Philip Taggart. Mildred smiled as
she recalled her last conversation with him, when Philip had
told her he was in love every so often. During
the fourteen years Mildred had been employed by Taggart and Company,
(01:42):
where she'd started as a nineteen year old stenographer and
worked up to her present position of personnel director and treasurer.
Philip Taggart had come to her and told her in
friendly confidence that he had finally found the right woman.
But each time he discovered after a few months that
he was wrong, and Mildred was certain that this time
would be no exception.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
Yes, Mildred would see to that.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
Appearing younger and still beautiful in her early thirties, she
long since decided that she herself would someday be Missus
Philip Taggart, an heir by marriage to the Taggart fortune.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
As Philip's mother spoke, Mildred looked up.
Speaker 4 (02:20):
Well, Mildred, you didn't have a long wait.
Speaker 5 (02:22):
Philip's car is coming up the road now, Well, Missus
taggerthet but that's not Philip.
Speaker 4 (02:29):
Is as cross it is, dear, But that girl with him,
But that's Philip's secretary.
Speaker 5 (02:35):
Anne Backers. I didn't recognizing what what she.
Speaker 4 (02:38):
Do in ending a vacation with us. I thought you
knew she and Philip are to be married very soon.
Now married, Anne, Yes, isn't it wonderful?
Speaker 5 (02:49):
Is I? I think it's marvelous. Tell Philip I'd like
to see him in the library, Will you, missus taggerth course, Philip,
it's none of my business, but I think you're being
very foolish. Anne's only twenty three. She could marry dozens
(03:12):
of young in her own age.
Speaker 6 (03:13):
Yeah, she chose me. Very flattering, isn't it.
Speaker 5 (03:16):
She chose you because you're a Philip Taggart. Yeah, to
the Taggart fortune.
Speaker 6 (03:20):
That isn't very kind, Mildred.
Speaker 5 (03:22):
It's kinder than you realize. I'm only thinking of you
a girl like Anne beck As she couldn't make you
happy for any lengths of time.
Speaker 6 (03:29):
Mildred.
Speaker 7 (03:30):
You've been with hers so long now you're almost like
one of the family, and I'm sure that you're sincerely
interested in my welfare. But this is something that concerns
only Anne and me. For being married in a month.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
A month, Mildred, that's time enough, isn't it. You don't
know just how you'll prevent Philip's marriage to Anne, but
you're sure you'll find a way. After your return to
the city, you decide one thing. You must give every
outward evidence that the coming marriage has your complete approval. Yes,
mildrede The more you think of it, you realize that
it's all important to you to make friends with Anne.
(04:11):
So you invite Anne to drop into your office.
Speaker 8 (04:15):
You you wanted to see me, Miss Wiley.
Speaker 5 (04:17):
Yes, Anne's down, won't you don't look so distressed? I
don't really eat people, you know.
Speaker 8 (04:22):
Oh, I know, it's just that well, I don't know
you very well, and somehow I felt that you didn't
quite approve of me and Philip.
Speaker 5 (04:30):
Oh but I do. Anne. I'm sorry if you thought otherwise.
You're quite right, though. We don't know each other very well,
and that's why I should to come to see me.
I think we ought to remedy that right away.
Speaker 8 (04:39):
Oh, I'd like that. I know how much Philip and
his mother think of you. I'm sure we can be
friends too.
Speaker 5 (04:44):
As far as I'm concerned, we are friends.
Speaker 9 (04:47):
Anne.
Speaker 5 (04:47):
If you ever need me for anything, please feel free
to call on me.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
You've made a fine start, haven't you, Mildred.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Yes, you've made Anne believe that all you want of
her is her friendship, and you do want it, don't you.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
Mildred.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
You're convinced that having Anne's trust and respect is an
important step toward preventing her marriage to Philip. For several days,
you consider various other moves, discard them.
Speaker 3 (05:20):
One after another.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
You want to be certain you make no mistakes. Then
one morning, at breakfast, you open the morning paper.
Speaker 5 (05:30):
Philip Taggott, well known industrialist, marriage secretary Anne Bacchus, In surprise, elpened.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
You stare at the picture of the happy pair, then
crumple the paper angrily.
Speaker 5 (05:41):
It won't last. I won't let it last. One way
or another, I'll break up that marriage forever.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
How fast will your car pick up?
Speaker 3 (06:07):
Pick up?
Speaker 1 (06:08):
Just try a tankful of signal ethyl and see how
easily will your car climb a hill? Climb a hill?
Just try a tankful of signal ethyl and see you'll
see the smartest, most thrilling performance your car is capable of.
After all, signal ethyl, the premium grade of signals famous
go farther gasoline, is a true super fuel. Engineer to
(06:32):
bring out the best in any car of any age.
Engineer to put the pulse quickening thrill of swift acceleration
at the command of your toe. Engineer to sweep you
over hills, even those steep ones, with smooth sure power,
to spare the kind of driving that's really fun. So
just for fun, why not treat your car to a
tankful of signal ethyl and c see for yourself.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Well, Mildred, After all the years you've schemed to marry
Philip Taggart, he suddenly elopes with his secretary, An Bacchus,
But you're still determined to land Philip Taggart for yourself
some day, And the day after they return from their honeymoon,
you begin. First of all, you decide to win Anne's
complete confidence, and for the next few weeks you see
her frequently at the Taggart home until your certain Anne
(07:37):
believes in your friendship trusts you implicitly, and as you
know her better, you begin to wonder whether she's as
sweet and innocent as she seems. Her studied avoidance of
any reference to the past or her family make.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
You more suspicious. You decide to take a gamble.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
You hire a private investigator to look into Anne's past,
her family are connections. After weeks of expend your worry
and secret hope, your investigator turns in his report.
Speaker 10 (08:04):
I ah, miss Wiley, I'd say your money had been
well invested, very well invested in. Your little girlfriend is
personally above reproach. But she made a bad mistake once
about three years ago.
Speaker 5 (08:13):
What what kind of mistake she got married. So Philip
Taggart's charming young bride is a divorce.
Speaker 10 (08:20):
No, she's still married to the guy she married.
Speaker 6 (08:22):
Three years ago.
Speaker 5 (08:24):
You mean she's a big amiss.
Speaker 10 (08:25):
Not by intent, by accident. This first fellow she married,
Fred Bachis, was a no good tin horn gambler. When
he and your little girlfriend split up, she wanted to
go to New York, so to save time, she signed
no contest papers and he agreed to file suit immediately.
Speaker 5 (08:38):
But he never got around time. Ah, you know where
this read backs is.
Speaker 10 (08:42):
Yeah, he's a sort of commuter between San Diego and Tijuana.
He's still a tin horn gambler, has a room in
San Diego. He's a car dealer at a little gambling
club that Diablo and Tijuana stud.
Speaker 5 (08:53):
Mostly Club Diablo. Do you want to satisfying more than satisfied?
You've earned yourself a bonus.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
Well, Mildred, you've made quite a discovery, haven't you. Missus
Philip Taggard isn't legally missus Philip Taggard. After all, a
man herself doesn't know it. The important thing now is
how to use this explosive information. That night you decide
on an important move. Two evenings later, you arrive in
San Diego, registered at an inconspicuous hotel as Mary Wife's
(09:34):
San Bernardino. You dress carefully and taxi to Tijuana, where
you easily locate the club Diablo and fred Bacchus. By
four in the morning, it begins to look as though
your visit to the Southland will be worthwhile.
Speaker 11 (09:48):
Look, lady, if the boss heard me say this, I
get fired. But this isn't your knight, and I'd hate
to see a classy dish like you go broke. Why
don't you lay off for the rest of night? Huh
tomorrow night?
Speaker 5 (10:01):
Maybe you've got something to do.
Speaker 11 (10:03):
The backus fedback as Look, we closed in half an hour.
How about me buying you some hammonage?
Speaker 5 (10:10):
Why not?
Speaker 11 (10:21):
I've known your six days now, honey, and I'm still
trying to figure here.
Speaker 5 (10:25):
You've got class, nothing to figure. I'm just a broad
stenographer on vacation.
Speaker 9 (10:29):
You don't like your work?
Speaker 5 (10:30):
I hate it?
Speaker 3 (10:31):
WHOA, Well, well, don't just stick around here for a while.
I like to eat well.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
I think you could win enough at the club for
coffee and cakes.
Speaker 3 (10:39):
Maybe uh coffee or even if you didn't.
Speaker 5 (10:42):
Overdo it and do you o percentage?
Speaker 11 (10:45):
Well, let's just say that I'm a good gambler. Think
about it anyway.
Speaker 5 (10:50):
Thinking's bad for you, especially on a vacation. Incidentally, Faid,
I don't think i'll come over to the club tonight.
I've got some letters to ride.
Speaker 9 (10:57):
You mean, I'm not going to see you.
Speaker 5 (10:59):
You might drop buy my place for a drink before
you leave, will do? Well? I come in, Fred, sit down?
Speaker 3 (11:18):
Thanks?
Speaker 9 (11:21):
Oh see, I'll pay for her.
Speaker 5 (11:22):
Yeah, a month old, though I found it on a
chair in the lobby. I never saw one before. Take
a look at it if you like while I ordered
something to drink. What would you like?
Speaker 2 (11:29):
Fred?
Speaker 3 (11:29):
Oh, scotch and water. Hey, hey, Mildred.
Speaker 9 (11:34):
This girl on the front page and backers.
Speaker 5 (11:36):
Oh what about her?
Speaker 3 (11:37):
She married a boss?
Speaker 5 (11:38):
Oh happens all the time.
Speaker 11 (11:40):
Oh not this sunny you see? This baby's my wife.
Oh she doesn't know it, though she thinks I got
a divorce from her.
Speaker 5 (11:48):
But how could she think?
Speaker 3 (11:49):
Well, when we split.
Speaker 11 (11:50):
Up, I promised her i'd get one, and when she
wrote later on, I told her it was in the
mill that she'd be free in thirty days.
Speaker 5 (11:56):
Spread. That's terrible, the poor girl.
Speaker 11 (11:58):
Yeah, all right, but I just never got around to it.
Speaker 5 (12:03):
It might not be so tough for you, friend, What
do you mean? I imagine the new missus Taggart would
pay plenty for a quick divorce.
Speaker 11 (12:11):
Plush your silence, Well, i'd I'd hate to do that
to end.
Speaker 6 (12:17):
She was a pretty good kid.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
And mm hmm.
Speaker 5 (12:20):
You thought what we could do with say, ten thousand dollars? Uh?
We If we had ten thousand dollars, I wouldn't have
to go back to my job, would I?
Speaker 9 (12:35):
No, No, you wouldn't, would you.
Speaker 5 (12:39):
Isn't it worth a try? Honey?
Speaker 6 (12:44):
H yeah, yeah, I guess it. Isn't that?
Speaker 5 (12:51):
Say?
Speaker 3 (12:51):
How about that drink? Baby?
Speaker 7 (12:53):
Huh?
Speaker 2 (12:59):
Wellildren, Fred's no longer a problem, is it. By the
next day, you've sold him on a blackmail approach to Anne,
seen him off on the train to Seattle with a
promise that you'll wait him patiently for his return. Then
you return to your hotel, check out and hurry to
the airport. By the time Fred reaches Seattle, you're already
there and have set the stage You're certain at Once
(13:20):
Fred contacts Anne, she'll come to the one person she
feels she can trust with such shocking information. You Mildred,
and a few days later, just as you planned it,
Anne pours out her heart to you over lunch.
Speaker 5 (13:32):
I don't know where to turn, Mildred, what to do
you You haven't mentioned this other marriage to Phibith.
Speaker 8 (13:38):
Oh no, not to anyone, but you are. I must
tell him, of course you mustn't.
Speaker 5 (13:42):
Anne. You can't tell Philip anything about this, not until
it's all over. But I'll have to Mildred. It's up
there to him.
Speaker 8 (13:50):
And there's the money to ten thousand dollars Fred's demand.
Speaker 5 (13:52):
Now, don't worry about the money. I'll lend that to you.
Oh no, I couldn't, Anne, and listen to me. Is
a small price to pay, comparatively. Oh but Mildred, that
much money, it must be most of my life's savings. Yeers,
I'm not worried about that. Once this night may is over,
you'll pay me back, believe me. And there's only one
course you can take.
Speaker 8 (14:13):
I want to do whatever's best for Philip. You know that.
Speaker 5 (14:17):
Well, let's consider Philip. You don't want to hurt him unnecessarily,
I know. But if it ever reached the papers that
Philip Taggart's wife was a big amiss, do you know
what that could do to a man in his physician
I know, I know. Well, you can spare him all
that scandal, all that notoriety, and you'll have to ask
Philip to divorce you temporarily divorce me. I said. It
(14:40):
wouldn't be easy at first, but you'll have to let
Philip divorce you, then go to Reno and divorce Redbackers.
Once that's finally, you can come back, tell Philip everything
and remarry him without any strings attached.
Speaker 8 (14:51):
But Mildred, what about Philip? Will he want me back
after all this?
Speaker 5 (14:57):
You know how much he loves you. Philip wants you're
divorced and in a position to tell him the whole story.
He'll love you all the more for sparing him this scandal.
If you like, I'll go to Philip with you.
Speaker 8 (15:08):
Oh, Mildred, would you? I know Philip would understand if
if we went to him together.
Speaker 5 (15:14):
I'll be glad to. But first things first, you tell
your mister Backers he'll have his money tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
Well, Mildred, your biggest hurdle is over, isn't it. The
weeks you've spent gaining Anne's confidence have paid you a
real dividend you're so sure your plans will succeed, you're
tempted to forget Fred backus, let him keep your ten
thousand dollars. But you quickly discard that plan as both
extravagant and dangerous. And the next morning you're again flying
(15:51):
to San Diego, where you wait Fred's return, as agreed.
A few evenings later, the two of you celebrate his success.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
Oh the champagne, real, stumpa.
Speaker 9 (16:04):
Maybe he can't get over our an forked over the
tin grand just like you said.
Speaker 5 (16:10):
I knew she would. You had the money with you.
Speaker 9 (16:14):
Sure, right here?
Speaker 5 (16:17):
How about ordering some more champagne.
Speaker 11 (16:18):
Oh, now you're talking, baby, Now you're waiter a couple
more bottles of shep.
Speaker 9 (16:24):
Oh gee, honey. All of a sudden, I don't I
don't feel so good.
Speaker 5 (16:30):
I think I better go, Paul, it's too bad, darling.
Skip the champagne. Call a taxi. I'll take you home.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
Once you get Fred to his room, he falls into
a dead sleep. You made sure of that, didn't you.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
Mild it.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
You go quickly through his pockets. There it is the
blackmail money you gave Anne in Seattle. You smile as
you slip it into your purse. Things are going just
the way you plan. By the time Fred awakens, your
brief masquerade as Mary Weiss will be finished. You're only
worry now is whether Anne went through with her request
that Philip divorce her. But that concern is quickly dispelled
(17:14):
when you return to Seattle in the office and learn
that it is common gossip that Anne has left Philip.
You pretend to be deeply shocked and go at once.
Speaker 6 (17:22):
To his office. Well, Mildred Dine, I guess you can
say I told you so.
Speaker 5 (17:29):
I didn't come to say that Anne will come back Philip.
Everything will clear up.
Speaker 6 (17:32):
I'm sure.
Speaker 7 (17:33):
No, no, no, she has left me. He's taken an
apartment at the Marlborough. She's asked me for a divorce.
I'm going to file immediately. For some reason, she wants
me to get the divorce. I don't understand it, but
that's the way she wants it.
Speaker 6 (17:45):
That's the way it'll be.
Speaker 5 (17:46):
Well, Anne was very young, too young to know what
you wanted. Really, I'm sure it wasn't your fault.
Speaker 7 (17:52):
Thanks, Milly, you you've always understood me pretty well. Right now,
that's it's rather important to me.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
Philip welcomed your visit, didn't he, Mildred, there's little doubt
in your mind now that you've won that sooner or
later you'll be missus Philip Taggart. But the following evening,
sitting in your apartment, an unexpected phone call hits you
like a bombshell.
Speaker 5 (18:24):
Hello, Hello, sweetheart, bread Backers.
Speaker 9 (18:28):
You didn't expect to hear from me so soon, did you?
Speaker 8 (18:30):
No?
Speaker 5 (18:30):
I didn't. How did you find me?
Speaker 9 (18:32):
Easy? From your driver's license?
Speaker 5 (18:35):
My driver's license, Yes.
Speaker 9 (18:36):
It was in your purse. I saw it three or
four times.
Speaker 5 (18:39):
I see. Well, well, what are you going to do?
Speaker 9 (18:44):
Nothing? If you play it smart, give me back my dough.
Speaker 5 (18:47):
And if I don't, then I.
Speaker 9 (18:49):
Think mister Phillip Taggart might like to know why his
wife left him. I could make it pretty hot for you, you.
Speaker 5 (18:55):
Know, yes, yes, I guess you could, right, Fred. I'll
have the money for you tomorrow night. I'll bring it
to you. Where are you staying.
Speaker 9 (19:05):
At the Winston room five twenty four.
Speaker 5 (19:08):
I'll be there at seven thirty three. I know when
I'm whipped.
Speaker 3 (19:20):
But you're not whipped, are you, Mildred? No?
Speaker 2 (19:23):
Because suddenly a solution emerges quite clearly. You can remove
Fred Bacchus as a threat and eliminate Anne as an
obstacle to your plan in one daring move. Then your
path will be clear to win Philip Taggart for yourself,
yuess Mildred. At last, you're sure of what you must do,
and you set your final plan into action the very
(19:43):
next afternoon, when you visit Anne at her apartment at
the Marlborough.
Speaker 8 (19:48):
Oh, Mildred, come in. Oh, I'm so glad to see you,
the first person i've seen something, Philip.
Speaker 5 (19:54):
Oh, yes, well, I can't stay very long right now,
But how the hat you might be a little bit lonesome,
wondered if you were planning to be home this evening.
I thought i'd stop by later.
Speaker 8 (20:03):
Oh, I'd love to see you. I'll be here alone
all evening. How about a drink?
Speaker 5 (20:07):
No, I don't think so. I just have a cigarette
with you and run.
Speaker 8 (20:09):
Or there's some of the box on the table.
Speaker 5 (20:11):
I have some, thanks, Dear John Haye, that's your last match?
Don't I have any off?
Speaker 8 (20:17):
I'll go in the kitchen and get some fine.
Speaker 5 (20:19):
Meanwhile, you mind if I powder my nose right over there?
Speaker 2 (20:30):
Well you've found out one thing, haven't you, Mildred? Anne
is going to be home all evening alone. Now you
must get what you came for, anything to tie Anne
in with your coming meeting with Fred Bachis You glance around,
see Anne's laundry bag in the corner, reach in and
come in with a soil handkerchief carrying the initials at
(20:50):
This is all you.
Speaker 3 (20:50):
Need, isn't it, Mildred?
Speaker 2 (20:55):
A few minutes later, you'll leave Anne at seven o'clock
that evening. You select a hat that comes well down
over your face, down a veil in a loose fitting
blue coat, and take a steel letter opener from your desk,
place it in your purse, leave your apartment and walk
the few blocks to the Winston Hotel and Fred bachus.
Speaker 9 (21:15):
You know you shouldn't have run out on me like
you did.
Speaker 5 (21:17):
Maybe, okay, Fred, I shouldn't have run out on you.
Speaker 9 (21:21):
Especially you shouldn't have taken all the doors you.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
Brought him with you.
Speaker 5 (21:25):
Yes, right here here it is. Oh sorry, Fred had
slipped out of my head.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
Oh don't let that wear you.
Speaker 5 (21:32):
I never mind, stoopider.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
Without a glance at the man you have just killed,
you carefully wipe your fingerprints from the steel letter opener
and wrap it in a newspaper. Next you pointedly drop
Anne's initial handkerchief near the door, quietly make your way
from the hotel to the corner, where you toss the letter,
open in and a sewer, and then stroll back to
your apartment. Next day the papers carrying account of the
(22:01):
murder of fred bachis but it's not until two days
later that the police trace the handkerchief to an tagget
and pick her up on suspicion of murder. It's almost over,
isn't it? Milder The following morning, as you reach the office,
you find a telegram on your desk.
Speaker 5 (22:20):
In view of recent unhappy developments, Mother and I are
staying indefinitely at tagg at large. We'd enjoy having you
spend week in with us, if you'd care to drive
up tomorrow. Affectionately, Hello, did.
Speaker 9 (22:34):
You get the telegram I left on your desk? Okay,
Miss Wiley?
Speaker 5 (22:37):
Oh yes, Donny, Yes.
Speaker 9 (22:38):
No bad news, I hope.
Speaker 5 (22:39):
On the contrary, it's good news. I've just found something
that means a great deal to me, something I once
thought i'd lost.
Speaker 1 (23:01):
How long will your car last? How long will your
car last? Well? One thing is for sure. If you
could reduce engine were fifty percent. Your car should last
a lot longer, shouldn't it, And now you can do
just that. Reduce engine were due to lubrication fifty percent
with amazing new Signal Premium motor oil. Think of the
(23:21):
extra driving pleasure, the extra savings this can mean for you.
Thanks to new Signal Premium, your car should now run
twice as many miles before needing an overhaul due to
engine were. If your car is not already an oil eater,
new signal premium should double the period during which you'll
continue to enjoy low oil consumption. And speaking of price,
(23:42):
although most things have gone up, up, up, this superior quality,
heavy duty type oil that gives you all these extra
benefits has not been increased in price at signal stations.
So if you want to keep expenses down and your
car's performance up for a long time to come, you
know the oil to change to new Signal Premium and
(24:03):
you know where to get it at signal service stations.
Speaker 2 (24:19):
Well, Mildred, you're almost satisfied, now, aren't you. With Anne
accused of Fred Bachis's murder, you're certain it's just a
matter of time until you become missus Philip Taggart. When
you arrive at Taggart Lodge for the weekend. The time
you spend with Philip is made even more enjoyable by
the secure knowledge that no one, least of all Anne,
has any idea you even knew Fred Bachis. You sleep
(24:42):
late Sunday morning, and when you go down for breakfast,
there's a note from Philip that he and his mother
have gone into town. When they return late in the afternoon,
you receive a startling surprise.
Speaker 5 (24:53):
What Anne, Dear ol, Mildred, but are you? Is everything
all right.
Speaker 8 (24:58):
As far as Philip and I aren, And everything's perfect
being remarried immediately remarried.
Speaker 6 (25:03):
Yes, Mildred.
Speaker 7 (25:04):
Now that Anne as a legal widow, I want to
make her my legal wife as quickly as possible. But
how did and had nothing to do with Fred Backass's definitely.
Speaker 9 (25:11):
But.
Speaker 5 (25:13):
That's wonderful.
Speaker 6 (25:14):
That's wonderful news, Mildred. This is police Lieutenant Jason.
Speaker 5 (25:17):
Please.
Speaker 6 (25:17):
Yes, he thinks you might know something about Fred Bachis. I.
Speaker 5 (25:21):
Oh, that's preposterous. Why should the lieutenant think anything like that?
Speaker 10 (25:24):
Because the switchboard at mister Backus's hotel Schelsea phone jour
and talked to you for five minutes the night before
he was killed.
Speaker 6 (25:30):
Miss Wiley, well we will.
Speaker 5 (25:32):
Yes, he did call me, but I didn't even know him.
A mutual friend asked him to call me.
Speaker 10 (25:37):
Could be But whoever killed Fred Bakis left and Taggart's
handkerchief at the scene of the crime, Miss Wiley, you
and she are the only ones who had access to
that handkerchief.
Speaker 5 (25:47):
How could I have obtained a handkerchief easily?
Speaker 10 (25:50):
You could have taken it the afternoon you called on
her a few hours before Backus was killed.
Speaker 5 (25:53):
That's have said. Anyone could have taken it.
Speaker 10 (25:55):
We've established beyond any doubt that you're the only visitor
Missus Taggert had since you left mister Taggert and moved
to the Marlborough. You and Ann Taggart are the only
two people in Seattle who know Fred Beckers.
Speaker 5 (26:04):
So that doesn't prove I did it. Anne had a motive.
Speaker 10 (26:06):
For real motive either U ur An left Ann's handkerchief
at the scene of the crime. One of your murdered,
Fred Becker, I couldn't have been in. The coroner has
fixed the time at the Backus murder between seven thirty
and eight thirty from seven o'clock. On that night, Anne
was at her apartment discussing the terms of her divorce
with mister Taggart's attorney.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
Let that whistle be your signal for the Signal Oil
program the Whistler each Sunday night at the same time meantime,
the Signal Oil Company and the friendly independent dealers who
help you go farther with Signal Gasoline hope you'll remember.
Regardless of what gasoline you use, you will enjoy more
miles of happy driving. If you drive at sensible speeds,
(27:06):
obey traffic regulations, and avoid taking chances. You may even
save a life, possibly your own. Featured in Tonight's story
were Bill Foreman, Betty lou Gerson, Wally Meyer, Gene Bates,
Ed Max and John Dayner. The Whistler was produced and
(27:29):
directed by George w Allen, with story by Ed Bludworth,
music by Wilbur Hatch, and was 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 to tune in
(27:49):
at the same time next Sunday, when the Signal Oil
Company will bring you another strange story by the Whistler.
This is Marvin Miller speaking for the Signal Oil Company.
Stay tuned now for our Miss Brooks starring Eve Arden,
which follows immediately over most of these stations. This is
(28:09):
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.
(00:27):
Invite you to sit back and enjoy another strange story
by the Whistler.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
I am the Whistler, and I know many things.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
For I walk by night.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
I know many strange tales hidden.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
In the hearts of men and women who have stepped
into the shadows.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Yes, I know the nameless terrors of which they dare
not speak.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
And now for the Signal Oil Company, The Whistler's Strange
Story two and one makes murder.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
To Mildred Wiley, the cool mountain breeze was delightful. She
was sitting on the porch of Taggart Lodge chatting with
the mother of her employer, Philip Taggart. Mildred smiled as
she recalled her last conversation with him, when Philip had
told her he was in love every so often. During
the fourteen years Mildred had been employed by Taggart and Company,
(01:42):
where she'd started as a nineteen year old stenographer and
worked up to her present position of personnel director and treasurer.
Philip Taggart had come to her and told her in
friendly confidence that he had finally found the right woman.
But each time he discovered after a few months that
he was wrong, and Mildred was certain that this time
would be no exception.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
Yes, Mildred would see to that.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
Appearing younger and still beautiful in her early thirties, she
long since decided that she herself would someday be Missus
Philip Taggart, an heir by marriage to the Taggart fortune.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
As Philip's mother spoke, Mildred looked up.
Speaker 4 (02:20):
Well, Mildred, you didn't have a long wait.
Speaker 5 (02:22):
Philip's car is coming up the road now, Well, Missus
taggerthet but that's not Philip.
Speaker 4 (02:29):
Is as cross it is, dear, But that girl with him,
But that's Philip's secretary.
Speaker 5 (02:35):
Anne Backers. I didn't recognizing what what she.
Speaker 4 (02:38):
Do in ending a vacation with us. I thought you
knew she and Philip are to be married very soon.
Now married, Anne, Yes, isn't it wonderful?
Speaker 5 (02:49):
Is I? I think it's marvelous. Tell Philip I'd like
to see him in the library, Will you, missus taggerth course, Philip,
it's none of my business, but I think you're being
very foolish. Anne's only twenty three. She could marry dozens
(03:12):
of young in her own age.
Speaker 6 (03:13):
Yeah, she chose me. Very flattering, isn't it.
Speaker 5 (03:16):
She chose you because you're a Philip Taggart. Yeah, to
the Taggart fortune.
Speaker 6 (03:20):
That isn't very kind, Mildred.
Speaker 5 (03:22):
It's kinder than you realize. I'm only thinking of you
a girl like Anne beck As she couldn't make you
happy for any lengths of time.
Speaker 6 (03:29):
Mildred.
Speaker 7 (03:30):
You've been with hers so long now you're almost like
one of the family, and I'm sure that you're sincerely
interested in my welfare. But this is something that concerns
only Anne and me. For being married in a month.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
A month, Mildred, that's time enough, isn't it. You don't
know just how you'll prevent Philip's marriage to Anne, but
you're sure you'll find a way. After your return to
the city, you decide one thing. You must give every
outward evidence that the coming marriage has your complete approval. Yes,
mildrede The more you think of it, you realize that
it's all important to you to make friends with Anne.
(04:11):
So you invite Anne to drop into your office.
Speaker 8 (04:15):
You you wanted to see me, Miss Wiley.
Speaker 5 (04:17):
Yes, Anne's down, won't you don't look so distressed? I
don't really eat people, you know.
Speaker 8 (04:22):
Oh, I know, it's just that well, I don't know
you very well, and somehow I felt that you didn't
quite approve of me and Philip.
Speaker 5 (04:30):
Oh but I do. Anne. I'm sorry if you thought otherwise.
You're quite right, though. We don't know each other very well,
and that's why I should to come to see me.
I think we ought to remedy that right away.
Speaker 8 (04:39):
Oh, I'd like that. I know how much Philip and
his mother think of you. I'm sure we can be
friends too.
Speaker 5 (04:44):
As far as I'm concerned, we are friends.
Speaker 9 (04:47):
Anne.
Speaker 5 (04:47):
If you ever need me for anything, please feel free
to call on me.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
You've made a fine start, haven't you, Mildred.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Yes, you've made Anne believe that all you want of
her is her friendship, and you do want it, don't you.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
Mildred.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
You're convinced that having Anne's trust and respect is an
important step toward preventing her marriage to Philip. For several days,
you consider various other moves, discard them.
Speaker 3 (05:20):
One after another.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
You want to be certain you make no mistakes. Then
one morning, at breakfast, you open the morning paper.
Speaker 5 (05:30):
Philip Taggott, well known industrialist, marriage secretary Anne Bacchus, In surprise, elpened.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
You stare at the picture of the happy pair, then
crumple the paper angrily.
Speaker 5 (05:41):
It won't last. I won't let it last. One way
or another, I'll break up that marriage forever.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
How fast will your car pick up?
Speaker 3 (06:07):
Pick up?
Speaker 1 (06:08):
Just try a tankful of signal ethyl and see how
easily will your car climb a hill? Climb a hill?
Just try a tankful of signal ethyl and see you'll
see the smartest, most thrilling performance your car is capable of.
After all, signal ethyl, the premium grade of signals famous
go farther gasoline, is a true super fuel. Engineer to
(06:32):
bring out the best in any car of any age.
Engineer to put the pulse quickening thrill of swift acceleration
at the command of your toe. Engineer to sweep you
over hills, even those steep ones, with smooth sure power,
to spare the kind of driving that's really fun. So
just for fun, why not treat your car to a
tankful of signal ethyl and c see for yourself.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Well, Mildred, After all the years you've schemed to marry
Philip Taggart, he suddenly elopes with his secretary, An Bacchus,
But you're still determined to land Philip Taggart for yourself
some day, And the day after they return from their honeymoon,
you begin. First of all, you decide to win Anne's
complete confidence, and for the next few weeks you see
her frequently at the Taggart home until your certain Anne
(07:37):
believes in your friendship trusts you implicitly, and as you
know her better, you begin to wonder whether she's as
sweet and innocent as she seems. Her studied avoidance of
any reference to the past or her family make.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
You more suspicious. You decide to take a gamble.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
You hire a private investigator to look into Anne's past,
her family are connections. After weeks of expend your worry
and secret hope, your investigator turns in his report.
Speaker 10 (08:04):
I ah, miss Wiley, I'd say your money had been
well invested, very well invested in. Your little girlfriend is
personally above reproach. But she made a bad mistake once
about three years ago.
Speaker 5 (08:13):
What what kind of mistake she got married. So Philip
Taggart's charming young bride is a divorce.
Speaker 10 (08:20):
No, she's still married to the guy she married.
Speaker 6 (08:22):
Three years ago.
Speaker 5 (08:24):
You mean she's a big amiss.
Speaker 10 (08:25):
Not by intent, by accident. This first fellow she married,
Fred Bachis, was a no good tin horn gambler. When
he and your little girlfriend split up, she wanted to
go to New York, so to save time, she signed
no contest papers and he agreed to file suit immediately.
Speaker 5 (08:38):
But he never got around time. Ah, you know where
this read backs is.
Speaker 10 (08:42):
Yeah, he's a sort of commuter between San Diego and Tijuana.
He's still a tin horn gambler, has a room in
San Diego. He's a car dealer at a little gambling
club that Diablo and Tijuana stud.
Speaker 5 (08:53):
Mostly Club Diablo. Do you want to satisfying more than satisfied?
You've earned yourself a bonus.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
Well, Mildred, you've made quite a discovery, haven't you. Missus
Philip Taggard isn't legally missus Philip Taggard. After all, a
man herself doesn't know it. The important thing now is
how to use this explosive information. That night you decide
on an important move. Two evenings later, you arrive in
San Diego, registered at an inconspicuous hotel as Mary Wife's
(09:34):
San Bernardino. You dress carefully and taxi to Tijuana, where
you easily locate the club Diablo and fred Bacchus. By
four in the morning, it begins to look as though
your visit to the Southland will be worthwhile.
Speaker 11 (09:48):
Look, lady, if the boss heard me say this, I
get fired. But this isn't your knight, and I'd hate
to see a classy dish like you go broke. Why
don't you lay off for the rest of night? Huh
tomorrow night?
Speaker 5 (10:01):
Maybe you've got something to do.
Speaker 11 (10:03):
The backus fedback as Look, we closed in half an hour.
How about me buying you some hammonage?
Speaker 5 (10:10):
Why not?
Speaker 11 (10:21):
I've known your six days now, honey, and I'm still
trying to figure here.
Speaker 5 (10:25):
You've got class, nothing to figure. I'm just a broad
stenographer on vacation.
Speaker 9 (10:29):
You don't like your work?
Speaker 5 (10:30):
I hate it?
Speaker 3 (10:31):
WHOA, Well, well, don't just stick around here for a while.
I like to eat well.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
I think you could win enough at the club for
coffee and cakes.
Speaker 3 (10:39):
Maybe uh coffee or even if you didn't.
Speaker 5 (10:42):
Overdo it and do you o percentage?
Speaker 11 (10:45):
Well, let's just say that I'm a good gambler. Think
about it anyway.
Speaker 5 (10:50):
Thinking's bad for you, especially on a vacation. Incidentally, Faid,
I don't think i'll come over to the club tonight.
I've got some letters to ride.
Speaker 9 (10:57):
You mean, I'm not going to see you.
Speaker 5 (10:59):
You might drop buy my place for a drink before
you leave, will do? Well? I come in, Fred, sit down?
Speaker 3 (11:18):
Thanks?
Speaker 9 (11:21):
Oh see, I'll pay for her.
Speaker 5 (11:22):
Yeah, a month old, though I found it on a
chair in the lobby. I never saw one before. Take
a look at it if you like while I ordered
something to drink. What would you like?
Speaker 2 (11:29):
Fred?
Speaker 3 (11:29):
Oh, scotch and water. Hey, hey, Mildred.
Speaker 9 (11:34):
This girl on the front page and backers.
Speaker 5 (11:36):
Oh what about her?
Speaker 3 (11:37):
She married a boss?
Speaker 5 (11:38):
Oh happens all the time.
Speaker 11 (11:40):
Oh not this sunny you see? This baby's my wife.
Oh she doesn't know it, though she thinks I got
a divorce from her.
Speaker 5 (11:48):
But how could she think?
Speaker 3 (11:49):
Well, when we split.
Speaker 11 (11:50):
Up, I promised her i'd get one, and when she
wrote later on, I told her it was in the
mill that she'd be free in thirty days.
Speaker 5 (11:56):
Spread. That's terrible, the poor girl.
Speaker 11 (11:58):
Yeah, all right, but I just never got around to it.
Speaker 5 (12:03):
It might not be so tough for you, friend, What
do you mean? I imagine the new missus Taggart would
pay plenty for a quick divorce.
Speaker 11 (12:11):
Plush your silence, Well, i'd I'd hate to do that
to end.
Speaker 6 (12:17):
She was a pretty good kid.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
And mm hmm.
Speaker 5 (12:20):
You thought what we could do with say, ten thousand dollars? Uh?
We If we had ten thousand dollars, I wouldn't have
to go back to my job, would I?
Speaker 9 (12:35):
No, No, you wouldn't, would you.
Speaker 5 (12:39):
Isn't it worth a try? Honey?
Speaker 6 (12:44):
H yeah, yeah, I guess it. Isn't that?
Speaker 5 (12:51):
Say?
Speaker 3 (12:51):
How about that drink? Baby?
Speaker 7 (12:53):
Huh?
Speaker 2 (12:59):
Wellildren, Fred's no longer a problem, is it. By the
next day, you've sold him on a blackmail approach to Anne,
seen him off on the train to Seattle with a
promise that you'll wait him patiently for his return. Then
you return to your hotel, check out and hurry to
the airport. By the time Fred reaches Seattle, you're already
there and have set the stage You're certain at Once
(13:20):
Fred contacts Anne, she'll come to the one person she
feels she can trust with such shocking information. You Mildred,
and a few days later, just as you planned it,
Anne pours out her heart to you over lunch.
Speaker 5 (13:32):
I don't know where to turn, Mildred, what to do
you You haven't mentioned this other marriage to Phibith.
Speaker 8 (13:38):
Oh no, not to anyone, but you are. I must
tell him, of course you mustn't.
Speaker 5 (13:42):
Anne. You can't tell Philip anything about this, not until
it's all over. But I'll have to Mildred. It's up
there to him.
Speaker 8 (13:50):
And there's the money to ten thousand dollars Fred's demand.
Speaker 5 (13:52):
Now, don't worry about the money. I'll lend that to you.
Oh no, I couldn't, Anne, and listen to me. Is
a small price to pay, comparatively. Oh but Mildred, that
much money, it must be most of my life's savings. Yeers,
I'm not worried about that. Once this night may is over,
you'll pay me back, believe me. And there's only one
course you can take.
Speaker 8 (14:13):
I want to do whatever's best for Philip. You know that.
Speaker 5 (14:17):
Well, let's consider Philip. You don't want to hurt him unnecessarily,
I know. But if it ever reached the papers that
Philip Taggart's wife was a big amiss, do you know
what that could do to a man in his physician
I know, I know. Well, you can spare him all
that scandal, all that notoriety, and you'll have to ask
Philip to divorce you temporarily divorce me. I said. It
(14:40):
wouldn't be easy at first, but you'll have to let
Philip divorce you, then go to Reno and divorce Redbackers.
Once that's finally, you can come back, tell Philip everything
and remarry him without any strings attached.
Speaker 8 (14:51):
But Mildred, what about Philip? Will he want me back
after all this?
Speaker 5 (14:57):
You know how much he loves you. Philip wants you're
divorced and in a position to tell him the whole story.
He'll love you all the more for sparing him this scandal.
If you like, I'll go to Philip with you.
Speaker 8 (15:08):
Oh, Mildred, would you? I know Philip would understand if
if we went to him together.
Speaker 5 (15:14):
I'll be glad to. But first things first, you tell
your mister Backers he'll have his money tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
Well, Mildred, your biggest hurdle is over, isn't it. The
weeks you've spent gaining Anne's confidence have paid you a
real dividend you're so sure your plans will succeed, you're
tempted to forget Fred backus, let him keep your ten
thousand dollars. But you quickly discard that plan as both
extravagant and dangerous. And the next morning you're again flying
(15:51):
to San Diego, where you wait Fred's return, as agreed.
A few evenings later, the two of you celebrate his success.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
Oh the champagne, real, stumpa.
Speaker 9 (16:04):
Maybe he can't get over our an forked over the
tin grand just like you said.
Speaker 5 (16:10):
I knew she would. You had the money with you.
Speaker 9 (16:14):
Sure, right here?
Speaker 5 (16:17):
How about ordering some more champagne.
Speaker 11 (16:18):
Oh, now you're talking, baby, Now you're waiter a couple
more bottles of shep.
Speaker 9 (16:24):
Oh gee, honey. All of a sudden, I don't I
don't feel so good.
Speaker 5 (16:30):
I think I better go, Paul, it's too bad, darling.
Skip the champagne. Call a taxi. I'll take you home.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
Once you get Fred to his room, he falls into
a dead sleep. You made sure of that, didn't you.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
Mild it.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
You go quickly through his pockets. There it is the
blackmail money you gave Anne in Seattle. You smile as
you slip it into your purse. Things are going just
the way you plan. By the time Fred awakens, your
brief masquerade as Mary Weiss will be finished. You're only
worry now is whether Anne went through with her request
that Philip divorce her. But that concern is quickly dispelled
(17:14):
when you return to Seattle in the office and learn
that it is common gossip that Anne has left Philip.
You pretend to be deeply shocked and go at once.
Speaker 6 (17:22):
To his office. Well, Mildred Dine, I guess you can
say I told you so.
Speaker 5 (17:29):
I didn't come to say that Anne will come back Philip.
Everything will clear up.
Speaker 6 (17:32):
I'm sure.
Speaker 7 (17:33):
No, no, no, she has left me. He's taken an
apartment at the Marlborough. She's asked me for a divorce.
I'm going to file immediately. For some reason, she wants
me to get the divorce. I don't understand it, but
that's the way she wants it.
Speaker 6 (17:45):
That's the way it'll be.
Speaker 5 (17:46):
Well, Anne was very young, too young to know what
you wanted. Really, I'm sure it wasn't your fault.
Speaker 7 (17:52):
Thanks, Milly, you you've always understood me pretty well. Right now,
that's it's rather important to me.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
Philip welcomed your visit, didn't he, Mildred, there's little doubt
in your mind now that you've won that sooner or
later you'll be missus Philip Taggart. But the following evening,
sitting in your apartment, an unexpected phone call hits you
like a bombshell.
Speaker 5 (18:24):
Hello, Hello, sweetheart, bread Backers.
Speaker 9 (18:28):
You didn't expect to hear from me so soon, did you?
Speaker 8 (18:30):
No?
Speaker 5 (18:30):
I didn't. How did you find me?
Speaker 9 (18:32):
Easy? From your driver's license?
Speaker 5 (18:35):
My driver's license, Yes.
Speaker 9 (18:36):
It was in your purse. I saw it three or
four times.
Speaker 5 (18:39):
I see. Well, well, what are you going to do?
Speaker 9 (18:44):
Nothing? If you play it smart, give me back my dough.
Speaker 5 (18:47):
And if I don't, then I.
Speaker 9 (18:49):
Think mister Phillip Taggart might like to know why his
wife left him. I could make it pretty hot for you, you.
Speaker 5 (18:55):
Know, yes, yes, I guess you could, right, Fred. I'll
have the money for you tomorrow night. I'll bring it
to you. Where are you staying.
Speaker 9 (19:05):
At the Winston room five twenty four.
Speaker 5 (19:08):
I'll be there at seven thirty three. I know when
I'm whipped.
Speaker 3 (19:20):
But you're not whipped, are you, Mildred? No?
Speaker 2 (19:23):
Because suddenly a solution emerges quite clearly. You can remove
Fred Bacchus as a threat and eliminate Anne as an
obstacle to your plan in one daring move. Then your
path will be clear to win Philip Taggart for yourself,
yuess Mildred. At last, you're sure of what you must do,
and you set your final plan into action the very
(19:43):
next afternoon, when you visit Anne at her apartment at
the Marlborough.
Speaker 8 (19:48):
Oh, Mildred, come in. Oh, I'm so glad to see you,
the first person i've seen something, Philip.
Speaker 5 (19:54):
Oh, yes, well, I can't stay very long right now,
But how the hat you might be a little bit lonesome,
wondered if you were planning to be home this evening.
I thought i'd stop by later.
Speaker 8 (20:03):
Oh, I'd love to see you. I'll be here alone
all evening. How about a drink?
Speaker 5 (20:07):
No, I don't think so. I just have a cigarette
with you and run.
Speaker 8 (20:09):
Or there's some of the box on the table.
Speaker 5 (20:11):
I have some, thanks, Dear John Haye, that's your last match?
Don't I have any off?
Speaker 8 (20:17):
I'll go in the kitchen and get some fine.
Speaker 5 (20:19):
Meanwhile, you mind if I powder my nose right over there?
Speaker 2 (20:30):
Well you've found out one thing, haven't you, Mildred? Anne
is going to be home all evening alone. Now you
must get what you came for, anything to tie Anne
in with your coming meeting with Fred Bachis You glance around,
see Anne's laundry bag in the corner, reach in and
come in with a soil handkerchief carrying the initials at
(20:50):
This is all you.
Speaker 3 (20:50):
Need, isn't it, Mildred?
Speaker 2 (20:55):
A few minutes later, you'll leave Anne at seven o'clock
that evening. You select a hat that comes well down
over your face, down a veil in a loose fitting
blue coat, and take a steel letter opener from your desk,
place it in your purse, leave your apartment and walk
the few blocks to the Winston Hotel and Fred bachus.
Speaker 9 (21:15):
You know you shouldn't have run out on me like
you did.
Speaker 5 (21:17):
Maybe, okay, Fred, I shouldn't have run out on you.
Speaker 9 (21:21):
Especially you shouldn't have taken all the doors you.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
Brought him with you.
Speaker 5 (21:25):
Yes, right here here it is. Oh sorry, Fred had
slipped out of my head.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
Oh don't let that wear you.
Speaker 5 (21:32):
I never mind, stoopider.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
Without a glance at the man you have just killed,
you carefully wipe your fingerprints from the steel letter opener
and wrap it in a newspaper. Next you pointedly drop
Anne's initial handkerchief near the door, quietly make your way
from the hotel to the corner, where you toss the letter,
open in and a sewer, and then stroll back to
your apartment. Next day the papers carrying account of the
(22:01):
murder of fred bachis but it's not until two days
later that the police trace the handkerchief to an tagget
and pick her up on suspicion of murder. It's almost over,
isn't it? Milder The following morning, as you reach the office,
you find a telegram on your desk.
Speaker 5 (22:20):
In view of recent unhappy developments, Mother and I are
staying indefinitely at tagg at large. We'd enjoy having you
spend week in with us, if you'd care to drive
up tomorrow. Affectionately, Hello, did.
Speaker 9 (22:34):
You get the telegram I left on your desk? Okay,
Miss Wiley?
Speaker 5 (22:37):
Oh yes, Donny, Yes.
Speaker 9 (22:38):
No bad news, I hope.
Speaker 5 (22:39):
On the contrary, it's good news. I've just found something
that means a great deal to me, something I once
thought i'd lost.
Speaker 1 (23:01):
How long will your car last? How long will your
car last? Well? One thing is for sure. If you
could reduce engine were fifty percent. Your car should last
a lot longer, shouldn't it, And now you can do
just that. Reduce engine were due to lubrication fifty percent
with amazing new Signal Premium motor oil. Think of the
(23:21):
extra driving pleasure, the extra savings this can mean for you.
Thanks to new Signal Premium, your car should now run
twice as many miles before needing an overhaul due to
engine were. If your car is not already an oil eater,
new signal premium should double the period during which you'll
continue to enjoy low oil consumption. And speaking of price,
(23:42):
although most things have gone up, up, up, this superior quality,
heavy duty type oil that gives you all these extra
benefits has not been increased in price at signal stations.
So if you want to keep expenses down and your
car's performance up for a long time to come, you
know the oil to change to new Signal Premium and
(24:03):
you know where to get it at signal service stations.
Speaker 2 (24:19):
Well, Mildred, you're almost satisfied, now, aren't you. With Anne
accused of Fred Bachis's murder, you're certain it's just a
matter of time until you become missus Philip Taggart. When
you arrive at Taggart Lodge for the weekend. The time
you spend with Philip is made even more enjoyable by
the secure knowledge that no one, least of all Anne,
has any idea you even knew Fred Bachis. You sleep
(24:42):
late Sunday morning, and when you go down for breakfast,
there's a note from Philip that he and his mother
have gone into town. When they return late in the afternoon,
you receive a startling surprise.
Speaker 5 (24:53):
What Anne, Dear ol, Mildred, but are you? Is everything
all right.
Speaker 8 (24:58):
As far as Philip and I aren, And everything's perfect
being remarried immediately remarried.
Speaker 6 (25:03):
Yes, Mildred.
Speaker 7 (25:04):
Now that Anne as a legal widow, I want to
make her my legal wife as quickly as possible. But
how did and had nothing to do with Fred Backass's definitely.
Speaker 9 (25:11):
But.
Speaker 5 (25:13):
That's wonderful.
Speaker 6 (25:14):
That's wonderful news, Mildred. This is police Lieutenant Jason.
Speaker 5 (25:17):
Please.
Speaker 6 (25:17):
Yes, he thinks you might know something about Fred Bachis. I.
Speaker 5 (25:21):
Oh, that's preposterous. Why should the lieutenant think anything like that?
Speaker 10 (25:24):
Because the switchboard at mister Backus's hotel Schelsea phone jour
and talked to you for five minutes the night before
he was killed.
Speaker 6 (25:30):
Miss Wiley, well we will.
Speaker 5 (25:32):
Yes, he did call me, but I didn't even know him.
A mutual friend asked him to call me.
Speaker 10 (25:37):
Could be But whoever killed Fred Bakis left and Taggart's
handkerchief at the scene of the crime, Miss Wiley, you
and she are the only ones who had access to
that handkerchief.
Speaker 5 (25:47):
How could I have obtained a handkerchief easily?
Speaker 10 (25:50):
You could have taken it the afternoon you called on
her a few hours before Backus was killed.
Speaker 5 (25:53):
That's have said. Anyone could have taken it.
Speaker 10 (25:55):
We've established beyond any doubt that you're the only visitor
Missus Taggert had since you left mister Taggert and moved
to the Marlborough. You and Ann Taggart are the only
two people in Seattle who know Fred Beckers.
Speaker 5 (26:04):
So that doesn't prove I did it. Anne had a motive.
Speaker 10 (26:06):
For real motive either U ur An left Ann's handkerchief
at the scene of the crime. One of your murdered,
Fred Becker, I couldn't have been in. The coroner has
fixed the time at the Backus murder between seven thirty
and eight thirty from seven o'clock. On that night, Anne
was at her apartment discussing the terms of her divorce
with mister Taggart's attorney.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
Let that whistle be your signal for the Signal Oil
program the Whistler each Sunday night at the same time meantime,
the Signal Oil Company and the friendly independent dealers who
help you go farther with Signal Gasoline hope you'll remember.
Regardless of what gasoline you use, you will enjoy more
miles of happy driving. If you drive at sensible speeds,
(27:06):
obey traffic regulations, and avoid taking chances. You may even
save a life, possibly your own. Featured in Tonight's story
were Bill Foreman, Betty lou Gerson, Wally Meyer, Gene Bates,
Ed Max and John Dayner. The Whistler was produced and
(27:29):
directed by George w Allen, with story by Ed Bludworth,
music by Wilbur Hatch, and was 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 to tune in
(27:49):
at the same time next Sunday, when the Signal Oil
Company will bring you another strange story by the Whistler.
This is Marvin Miller speaking for the Signal Oil Company.
Stay tuned now for our Miss Brooks starring Eve Arden,
which follows immediately over most of these stations. This is
(28:09):
the CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.