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Narrator/Announcer
Navigating post military challenges can be tough. Regardless of when you served, you are not alone. Connect with fellow Oregon veterans and find activities, navigate resources and join a community to help support your journey or challenges after military service. From mental health support to veteran community groups and activities, discover what's possible for you at BeyondTheMilitaryUniform.com that's BeyondTheMilitaryUniform.com welcome to
Simon Templar
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Mysterious Visitor/Writer
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Narrator/Announcer (Vincent Price and production credits)
The Adventures of the Saint. Starring Vincent Price. The Saint. Based on characters created by Leslie Charteris and known to millions from books, magazines and motion pictures, the Robin Hood of modern crime now comes transcribed to radio starring Hollywood's brilliant and talented actor, Vincent
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
Price as the star.
Simon Templar
Mr. Templar?
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
Mr. Templar?
Simon Templar
I'm asleep.
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
Mr. Templar?
Simon Templar
Noisy dream.
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
You're not dreaming.
Simon Templar
That's what you say. I'm alone in my bedroom. I'm in bed at.
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
No, but you're not alone. I'm here.
Simon Templar
Go away.
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
I'm sorry. I didn't climb into your bedroom in the middle of the night merely to go away again.
Simon Templar
What did you expect? A 21 gun salute?
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
I expect your attention. You can't see me, can you?
Simon Templar
No. I'd be even happier if I couldn't hear you.
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
But I can see you. However. You're silhouetted against the window behind you.
Simon Templar
That was cunning of me.
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
It helps me aim the gun I'm pointing at you.
Simon Templar
I'm so glad. I'd hate to have your aim suffer. What do I do now? Get up. Put the lights on.
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
You don't do anything of the cut?
Simon Templar
No. Why? Are you shy?
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
Yeah, let's say I'm shy.
Simon Templar
That's why you insist on holding this conversation with me in the dark. The conversation? Obviously. That wouldn't be about the weather. What would it be about?
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
Well, I'm a writer.
Simon Templar
A writer and shy. Nonsense.
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
I need some advice.
Simon Templar
The only advice I can give all writers is don't.
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
I'm writing a book about murder. I'm calling it the Story of a Perfect Crime.
Simon Templar
Sounds interesting.
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
Thank you. What I came here for was to have you tell me whether or not the murder my book deals with is really a perfect crime.
Simon Templar
Go on.
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
The man to be murdered in my book, that is, Suffers from heart disease. He's a completely unpleasant character. A financier and a crooked one. A man who deserves to die.
Simon Templar
Mm. And he suffers from heart Disease.
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
For this condition, he takes daily, at stated hours, capsules containing medicine. Capsules upon which his life depends. Now then, the murderer, in my book, that is, decides to poison the financier.
Simon Templar
Well, that's not cricket.
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
No, it's murder. Murder? That will be poisoning without poison.
Simon Templar
I'm waiting breathlessly for the next chapter.
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
The murderer steals one of the capsules, pours the medicine out and replaces the medicine with powdered sugar. He returns the capsule to the financier's pillbox. In due course, the financier reaches the capsule, takes it. His weak heart, lacking the medicine he needs, fails. And there you have poisoning without poison.
Simon Templar
Very ingenious.
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
I think so. The poisoner can't be traced through the poison he purchased because he didn't purchase any. The murdered man is assumed to have died a natural death. An autopsy will show no poison in his body since there wasn't any. Well, is it the perfect crime?
Simon Templar
I can't see any flaws in it. Good.
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
And if you can't, I don't imagine the critics will.
Simon Templar
Don't you mean the police?
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
Why should the police be interested in a book I'm writing?
Simon Templar
Why should the critics be interested in the murder you're committing?
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
You're not serious.
Simon Templar
You are.
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
I. I rather think I must leave now. Be getting light soon. No, no, don't move. I still have the gun pointing at you. If I had to shoot you, it wouldn't be a perfect crime, but you'd be dead nonetheless. But that wouldn't interest you, would it? Well, good night, Mr. Templar, and pleasant dreams.
Simon Templar
Thanks loads. Coffee?
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
Your toast, Mr. Templer, and the morning paper.
Simon Templar
Oh, thank you.
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
You're up early this morning, aren't you?
Simon Templar
I couldn't sleep. Hey, any resemblance between this toast and toast is purely coincidental. What does your chef do? Tan the stuff? Oh, no. Mr. Templar probably uses old shoe leather.
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
Hey, what's the matter? Don't you like the headlines?
Simon Templar
Can't say that I do. Frank A. Clark, noted financier, dies of heart attack as police arrest him for alleged embezzlement. Oh.
Mr. Hartzell
Was he a friend of yours, Mr. Templer?
Simon Templar
No, but he was a financier. He was crooked and he had a weak heart.
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
No wonder he died when he got arrested.
Simon Templar
Depends on whether he took medicine in capsules. What?
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
Depends on that, sir.
Simon Templar
Murder my friend Mur. Taxi. Hey, taxi. I. Oh, no. Louie.
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
Oh, yeah. Louie.
Simon Templar
Out of all the taxicabs in this city, why do I keep getting yours?
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
Out of all the fasts in this
Simon Templar
city, why do I keep getting you you have a point there.
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
I'll go right home and shop.
Simon Templar
You stay where you are.
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
You want to go home with me? No. What's the matter with my home?
Simon Templar
Nothing. I live there. Don't. My wife lived there. My kids live there. You have no children.
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
Don't get personal.
Simon Templar
I'm sorry.
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
Man spends every spare minute he's got hoping.
Mr. Hartzell
Louis, did Julius Caesar have children?
Narrator/Announcer (Vincent Price and production credits)
Did Alexander the Great have children?
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
Did Napoleon have children?
Mr. Hartzell
Yes.
Simon Templar
Me.
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
They didn't. Send an announcement to Louis.
Simon Templar
Will you please drive me to 1893 Waterview Drive? I'm in a hurry.
Narrator/Announcer (Vincent Price and production credits)
Okay, okay.
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
1893 Water View Drive. Who lives there?
Simon Templar
A gentleman named Frank A. Clark. Except that he doesn't live there. Louie dead there.
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
You're going to keep company with a corpse?
Simon Templar
Mr. Templer, I am going to visit his surviving relatives, if any.
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
Why?
Simon Templar
Does it occur to you that it might be none of your business? Sure, it's none of your business. Now that we got that clear, why
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
you going to visit his room?
Simon Templar
Stop the car, quick.
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
So I stop.
Mr. Hartzell
What happens happened.
Simon Templar
We've reached 1893 Water View Drive.
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
Oh, I'm careless about little details like that here, Louie.
Simon Templar
And don't forget to mention it to your income tax collector.
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
I'll write to him.
Simon Templar
Hey, don't you want me to wait? No, but you will, Louie. You will.
Inez Francis
Hello. Hello there.
Simon Templar
Hello. This is the Clark home, isn't it?
Inez Francis
Sure. And I'm a Clark niece, and you're
Simon Templar
Simon Templer, an old friend of your uncle's.
Inez Francis
You're not old. Well, and you're not a friend of my uncle's. Come in anyway.
Simon Templar
Oh, thank you.
Inez Francis
Maybe you can be a friend of mine in here.
Simon Templar
Tell me, do you need a friend?
Inez Francis
No, but I like him when they're as tall as you. And my name is Inez. Inez Francis.
Simon Templar
I'm very glad to know you, Ms. Francis.
Inez Francis
Probably won't be when you really get to know me.
Simon Templar
I realize perhaps I shouldn't have come today. You must be all broken up by your uncle's death.
Inez Francis
Who, me?
Simon Templar
Well, perhaps the family.
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
Oh, that's me.
Inez Francis
I'm the family.
Simon Templar
Your uncle must have been a lonely man.
Inez Francis
He didn't mind. He had me in the market and all those people he was swindling. Oh, and of course, he had Mr. Hartzell and Charlie Melvin.
Simon Templar
Who are Hartzell and Charlie Melvin?
Inez Francis
Charlie's sort of a weedy youth. Uncle secretary, very anemic. I ignore him. And Hartzell, uncle's lawyer. And I fondly suspect as big a crook as uncle was. But very spatted, you know.
Simon Templar
Spatted?
Inez Francis
Uh huh. On the shoes and gardeniad in the buttonhole. And I've a sneaking suspicion, whiskeyed in the liver.
Simon Templar
How untidy. Nobody else close to Uncle? No. Then it boils down to one of you three.
Inez Francis
What does?
Simon Templar
Who's happy now that uncle's dead?
Inez Francis
I am. Heartful as Charlie is.
Simon Templar
It covers the field. Why?
Inez Francis
Uncle had a lot of money. I get it now. Hartzell stole some money from uncle. He won't go to jail now. Charlie was implicated in uncle's crooked deal. Charlie won't go to jail now.
Simon Templar
And who has a deep, slightly hoarse voice?
Inez Francis
I don't.
Simon Templar
No. Which means that you're not the one who came to my room last night.
Inez Francis
No. But if you ask prettily, perhaps I'll come tonight.
Simon Templar
I know.
Mr. Hartzell
Look at your etchings.
Simon Templar
I don't have any etchings.
Inez Francis
I'll bring some with me.
Simon Templar
Are the others around?
Inez Francis
Sitting around, practicing grief stricken looks for the funeral. That happy event is this afternoon. I better get dressed for him.
Simon Templar
But you are dressed.
Inez Francis
But not for a funeral. Would you excuse me for just a minute?
Simon Templar
Oh, of course. Oh, here you are.
Inez Francis
Greetings, Mr. Templar. This is Charlie. Charlie, this is Mr. Templar.
Mr. Hartzell
Glad to meet you.
Simon Templar
How do you do?
Inez Francis
He doesn't entertain Mr. Templar for me. Charlie. I gotta find a dress. That's sad looking.
Simon Templar
I'd like to stay and entertain you,
Inez Francis
but I've gotta hurry. You see, I'm Mr. Clark's secretary.
Simon Templar
In his condition, he doesn't need a secretary.
Inez Francis
Well, I'm Mr. Clark's former secretary.
Mr. Hartzell
No, no, I'm the former Mr. Clark.
Simon Templar
No, I get it now. Relax.
Mr. Hartzell
Oh, I'm relaxed.
Simon Templar
Then why are you in such a hurry?
Mr. Hartzell
Well, I have to go out and
Inez Francis
hire some mourners, haven't I?
Simon Templar
Why? Well, it wouldn't look nice if There
Mr. Hartzell
were only three of us at the funeral. My nearest Mr. Hartzell and myself.
Simon Templar
No. Especially since you'll all be grinning from ear to ear. May I ask you a question?
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
Of course.
Simon Templar
Has your voice ever been deeper?
Mr. Hartzell
Deep?
Simon Templar
Heavens, no.
Inez Francis
Tata.
Simon Templar
Goodbye, Charlie. My boy. Or is he my boy?
Mr. Hartzell
Oh, this. Good morning.
Simon Templar
Good morning. My name is Templer. And I'm.
Mr. Hartzell
Hartshell is my name. I'm sorry, I can't talk to you now. I'm in a hurry.
Simon Templar
Why?
Mr. Hartzell
My tailor's expecting me.
Simon Templar
Your tailor?
Mr. Hartzell
You'd hardly expect me to attend Mr. Clark's funeral in this, would you?
Simon Templar
Impossible.
Mr. Hartzell
You see. So if you don't mind, I'll just Run along.
Simon Templar
Oh, yes.
Mr. Hartzell
What are you doing here?
Simon Templar
Looking for a man with a deep voice.
Mr. Hartzell
Sorry, mine isn't. But why are you looking for a man with a deep voice?
Simon Templar
He told me how Mr. Clark was murdered.
Mr. Hartzell
Well, that explains it. What?
Simon Templar
Yes, he was murdered.
Mr. Hartzell
But. But Mr. Clark died of heart failure.
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
Indeed.
Mr. Hartzell
You must be. I. I demand an explanation immediately.
Simon Templar
You've forgotten One thing, Mr. Harper. Now.
Mr. Hartzell
What's that?
Simon Templar
Your tailor is waiting.
Mr. Hartzell
But I.
Simon Templar
And Taylors is sometimes very temperamental. Besides, we can discuss this some other time.
Mr. Hartzell
This evening.
Simon Templar
This evening?
Mr. Hartzell
Here's my card. I. I'd appreciate your coming. If Mr. Clark was murdered, something must be done about it.
Simon Templar
Something will.
Mr. Hartzell
Who knocks at my gate enter?
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
Temper. As I live on sufferance and breathe with difficulty. Temper.
Simon Templar
Hello, Desmond.
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
What happy winds are after you. Hither, Simon.
Simon Templar
The subtle Desmond. I'm not an audience.
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
Oh, Templar. I'm an old ham. And contrary to what they say, hams do not improve by aging. Still the gay adventurer.
Simon Templar
Well, I'm not especially gay at the moment. Murder. Ah.
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
The last murder that was of any interest to me was that Elsinore thing. You know, when Claudius and Gertrude put their heads together and slipped Gertrude's royal husband a slug of poison in the ear.
Simon Templar
I remember it well.
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
And the fat prince, Hamlet, I think his name was. Mooned about like an innie, sending Ophelia to a watery grave and the rest of the cast to a most bloody one. You.
Simon Templar
You would have made a good Hamlet. Bless you.
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
Oh, I. I wanted to play Hamlet. Instead, they preferred me as a ventriloquist. Confound him.
Simon Templar
That's why I'm here. You've been a ventriloquist. I'm involved in a case which hangs on the identity of a voice. Desmond. Could anyone change his voice so that it would be completely different from his real voice?
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
Oh, yes, but you'd always know that the second voice wasn't natural.
Simon Templar
That does it, then.
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
Does what, Simon?
Simon Templar
Look, Desmond. Three people wanted a man named Clark dead. Clark is dead?
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
Presumably. Therefore, one of the three killed Clark.
Simon Templar
Yes. Now, I was told of the method whereby Clark was going to be killed by a very distinctive voice in the dark. Therefore, the problem was simple. Find which of my three suspects had a voice like that and go on from there. Well, not one of the three has that kind of voice. Which leaves me with an interesting problem, but leaves the murderer free to go on murdering.
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
How was the corpse, Mr. Templer?
Simon Templar
Dead. Louie, I want the nearest bookstore.
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
You can't have it. It belongs to a guy named Pestlethwaite.
Simon Templar
Would you please drive me there quickly?
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
Okay.
Narrator/Announcer (Vincent Price and production credits)
What's the matter? Suddenly decided you want to curl up in front of a fire with a good book?
Simon Templar
For that, I'd rather have Inez. No, Louis. I merely want to find out how a man can die of poisoning without being poisoned.
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
You didn't stay in that bookstore very long. What's the matter? You didn't like pestle plate?
Simon Templar
He didn't have the book I wanted.
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
I know a plan.
Simon Templar
Not that kind of book, Louis. What I wanted was a book on heart diseases.
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
Oh, light reading, huh?
Simon Templar
Interesting.
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
Heart diseases.
Simon Templar
These stores had one book on heart disease in stock until yesterday. So yesterday the book was sold to a man, Pestlethwaite told me, who behaved in a strenuously agitated fashion. A man named Kotzel.
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
Maybe the name was bothering him.
Simon Templar
Which reminds me. Where am I taking you? Naturally, Louis, to a man named Hartho. Hartle. In or on his way to Mexico or
Mr. Hartzell
in Mr. Templer.
Simon Templar
Yes, Mr. Hartle.
Mr. Hartzell
Come in. Come in at once.
Simon Templar
Thank you.
Mr. Hartzell
Oh, I'm jittery.
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
That.
Mr. Hartzell
That funeral this afternoon.
Simon Templar
I see. Well, have you tried reading? It's very soothing.
Mr. Hartzell
I have no patience with books. Now, please.
Simon Templar
Not even books on heart disease, hmm?
Mr. Hartzell
Why?
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
Excuse me.
Mr. Hartzell
Hello? Oh, yes. Hernes. What? Oh, how dreadful. Oh, yes, at once. Goodbye. You're pale and shocked. Charlie Melvin. You know him?
Simon Templar
Mr. Clark's secretary?
Mr. Hartzell
Yes. Well, it seems that something's happened to him. Why, he's dead. Tell him to hurry. Temper hurry.
Simon Templar
We're almost there. Mr. Hartzell, did Inez say who discovered the body?
Mr. Hartzell
Yes, she did. She'd been visiting some friends, returned home
Simon Templar
and couldn't have been an accidental death. Coincidence doesn't stretch that far, you know. If he was murdered, you still think
Mr. Hartzell
the police believe Clark was murdered, too?
Simon Templar
Not the police. Me.
Inez Francis
Oh, Mr. Hartlep. Oh, Simon.
Simon Templar
Hello, Annette.
Inez Francis
Come in. Beginning to be embarrassing, all the sudden death.
Simon Templar
It might be more than embarrassing. Might be fatal.
Inez Francis
It was the Charlie.
Mr. Hartzell
How did it happen?
Inez Francis
He shot himself.
Simon Templar
The police.
Inez Francis
I just phoned.
Simon Templar
Then we'd better hurry.
Inez Francis
This is his room in here.
Mr. Hartzell
I heard the shot.
Simon Templar
When?
Inez Francis
About an hour ago.
Simon Templar
But you phoned hartzell here only 15 minutes ago.
Inez Francis
I didn't know it was a shot at first. Charlie was supposed to come upstairs. When he didn't, I realized. Well, there he is.
Simon Templar
Yes, he is definitely dead. And note.
Mr. Hartzell
Imagine that boy committing suicide.
Simon Templar
Let's see what the note says. I killed Clark because if he'd been arrested, I would have gone to jail, too. But now the Police suspect he was murdered. And they suspect me. I might as well get it over with before they do. And it's signed Charlie Melvin.
Inez Francis
Well, it sort of clears up that, doesn't it?
Simon Templar
Yes, except for one thing.
Inez Francis
What's that?
Simon Templar
Charlie's voice wasn't deep enough. Alexander Graham Bell's little invention should sometimes be strangled. I'm asleep. And so should you be.
Mr. Hartzell
Templar.
Simon Templar
Yes, Hartzell.
Mr. Hartzell
Listen, I'm at the Ensign Club on Trocadero. Yes. I couldn't go home. Charlie's death so soon after Clark's. Anyway. Remember that voice you told me about?
Simon Templar
I remember it very well.
Mr. Hartzell
I just heard it. What? The man with a voice like the one you described was here.
Simon Templar
I'll be right over.
Mr. Hartzell
He's gone now, but I followed him outside and heard him give the cab driver his address.
Simon Templar
Good boy. I have my car. I'll pick you up immediately.
Mr. Hartzell
Fine. Fine. We can go right after him. It's some distance outside the city.
Simon Templar
I'd travel to the North Pole for him. You don't measure miles when chasing phantom.
Narrator/Announcer
Navigating post. Military challenges can be tough. Regardless of when you served, you are not alone. Connect with fellow Oregon veterans and find activities, navigate resources, and join a community to help support you, your journey or challenges after military service. From mental health support to veteran community groups and activities, Discover what's possible for you@BeyondTheMilitaryUniform.com. that's BeyondTheMilitaryUniform.com.
Mr. Hartzell
of course, I. I can't be absolutely sure it's the man you want.
Simon Templar
Me. I'm grabbing at straws.
Mr. Hartzell
But his voice did sound like your description. It was at a club to which Clark belonged.
Simon Templar
And make it worth a try. All I need is to hear him say something, Anything. A word, a phrase, and I'll know.
Mr. Hartzell
Oh, that shouldn't be difficult once we get to him.
Simon Templar
Once we get to him. Only thing worries me is.
Mr. Hartzell
Yes?
Simon Templar
That his voice can still be heard by the time we get to it. Halfway to the North Pole. You didn't take me literally, did you?
Mr. Hartzell
You shouldn't be much farther. Templar.
Simon Templar
Yes?
Mr. Hartzell
I don't understand about Charlie. I can't see him murdering Clark somehow.
Simon Templar
You don't believe he did he, do you? Not at Besley. Oh.
Mr. Hartzell
Why not?
Simon Templar
I don't know. Intuition, maybe. Our little stranger likes seclusion, doesn't he?
Mr. Hartzell
Evidently. You know, the police accepted that suicide note without question.
Simon Templar
Did they?
Mr. Hartzell
There's the house.
Simon Templar
There aren't any lights showing.
Mr. Hartzell
Well, he must have got here sometime before us went to bed.
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
I Guess.
Simon Templar
Yeah, probably.
Mr. Hartzell
I wonder, do you think he'll recognize you?
Simon Templar
Probably. I couldn't see him, but he saw me.
Mr. Hartzell
Well, that might be bad. Are you armed in case he tries anything?
Simon Templar
No, but we'll manage.
Mr. Hartzell
Well, suppose he refuses to. To say anything at all?
Simon Templar
That in itself would answer our question, wouldn't it? We ring certainly nothing if not courteous.
Mr. Hartzell
It's so. So dark out here, so far from anything.
Simon Templar
Yeah, dark and lonely. You put it beautifully.
Mysterious Visitor/Writer
He.
Mr. Hartzell
He doesn't answer.
Simon Templar
Try the door.
Mr. Hartzell
Very well. It's open.
Simon Templar
Good. Then we can walk right in.
Mr. Hartzell
I can't see a thing.
Simon Templar
Wait a minute. I light a match. There. The light switch to your left. Hartzell.
Mr. Hartzell
Oh, yes, yes, of course.
Simon Templar
That's much better. Now, then. It's a very charming house you have here, Mr. Hart.
Mr. Hartzell
What did you say?
Simon Templar
I said you have a very charming house here.
Mr. Hartzell
My house.
Simon Templar
Well, you didn't really think I was fooled, did you? That voice you heard in your club was a fiction. It had to be. Our trip here was planned by you so that we'd be alone here. Why?
Mr. Hartzell
Why would I want that?
Simon Templar
The better to kill me, my friend.
Mr. Hartzell
Kill you, you say?
Simon Templar
That's what I say.
Mr. Hartzell
Why would I want to kill you?
Simon Templar
Because, like yourself, I think that suicide note of Charlie's was a fake.
Mr. Hartzell
Oh, I never said I did.
Simon Templar
It is a fake. How did you know? The note ran to the effect that Charlie was committing suicide because the police suspected him of murdering Clark. But the police didn't suspect Clark of being murdered.
Mr. Hartzell
Perhaps not. But you did.
Simon Templar
Yes, but Charlie didn't know that, Mr. Hartzell. I didn't tell him. Very well.
Mr. Hartzell
Just stay right where you are.
Simon Templar
What a handsome revolver.
Mr. Hartzell
I did kill Charlie so that there wouldn't be any investigation into Clark's death. I couldn't afford that.
Simon Templar
If you kill me, there will be an investigation.
Mr. Hartzell
No, because no one knows you came here with me. You're not going to die. You're going to disappear. Oh, in my furniture?
Simon Templar
I wouldn't like that. Too warm.
Mr. Hartzell
I'm afraid your likes can no longer be considered.
Simon Templar
Well, in that case, I'll have a cigarette. Let me see.
Mr. Hartzell
In a witch pocket.
Simon Templar
Hold on, Mr. Hart. Who do you want? Oh, my. You dropped your revolver. Now I have two.
Mr. Hartzell
You. You said you weren't armed.
Simon Templar
I'm such a liar. But then, you see, I knew when you asked me why you asked me. So perhaps I'll be forgiven.
Mr. Hartzell
Templar. I killed Charlie, but I didn't kill Clark. I swear I didn't.
Simon Templar
Heavens, Mr. Harold. I never for a moment thought you did.
Inez Francis
Beautiful nighttime. Poor Mr. Hartsell, all shut up in a dungeon cell.
Simon Templar
Yes, I'm afraid the beauties of the night are lost to him. Those beauties are also lost to Charlie and Mr. Clark.
Inez Francis
Oh, don't be morbid. They're better off dead.
Simon Templar
Well, it would have been nicer to leave that decision to them.
Inez Francis
Mr. Hartselle, bless his fussy old soul, was really an impulsive man.
Simon Templar
And a foolish one.
Inez Francis
Let's not talk about him anymore. Let's talk of your uncle. Why?
Simon Templar
Because Hartzell didn't kill him.
Inez Francis
Oh?
Simon Templar
A man came to me in the middle of the night, in the darkness, so that I never saw him and told me of a plan to murder Mr. Clark. It was a good plan. Absolutely undetectable man left. All through this case, I've been looking for a man with a voice like the one that told me of murder. And there were three people involved. Yourself who'd get the money if Clark died. Charlie who'd be saved from jail. Hartzell would be free of embezzlement.
Inez Francis
Uncle certainly spread a lot of joy when he died.
Simon Templar
Charlie was murdered by Hartzell. But Charlie's was not the voice that spoke to me. Nor was Hartzell's.
Inez Francis
Then whose voice could it possibly have been?
Simon Templar
That's the central problem. All right. Why did the man come to me
Inez Francis
in the first place, according to you? To make sure his method of murder would never be detected.
Simon Templar
But in coming to me, my dear, didn't he make sure of the very opposite?
Inez Francis
Oh, well, then he must have wanted you to.
Simon Templar
That's right. He wanted me to detect murder. But why? Obviously not because he was going to murder anyone.
Inez Francis
I don't understand.
Simon Templar
The only voice in this case that I haven't heard is the voice of your uncle.
Inez Francis
My uncle?
Simon Templar
He was my visitor.
Inez Francis
But why?
Simon Templar
Why did he do it? Because nobody was going to murder him.
Mr. Hartzell
What could he hope to accomplish what he did accomplish?
Simon Templar
I know. Your uncle was an old man with heart disease on the verge of being arrested for theft, swindling. He knew he wouldn't survive even the shortest prison term. He probably suspected that the strain of the arrest itself might be fatal. And it was. But before he died, he wanted revenge on the lawyer who cheated him and on the secretary who defended him. So he came to me with his story, figuring that when he died, perfectly naturally, murder would be suspected where no murder had taken place.
Inez Francis
And it worked in it. Because Hartzell killed Charlie. Hartzell himself is going to die for her.
Simon Templar
Yes. Your uncle must have been quiet Simon. Yes?
Inez Francis
There's a moon. We've talked of unhappy things long enough.
Simon Templar
Mm.
Inez Francis
Got any etchings?
Simon Templar
Mm.
Inez Francis
Hey, wait a minute. I thought you didn't have any the last time I asked you.
Simon Templar
The last time you asked me, my dear, you were a suspect for murder.
Inez Francis
Now, now, now.
Simon Templar
You're beautiful, you're blonde, and, yes, it's just plain murder.
Narrator/Announcer (Vincent Price and production credits)
You've been listening to another transformation adventure of the Saint, the Robin Hood of modern crime. And now, here is our star, Vincent Price.
Simon Templar
Ladies and gentlemen, poison doesn't always come in bottles, and it isn't always marked with the skull and crossbones of danger. Poison can take the form of words and phrases and acts. The venom of racial and religious hatred. Here in the United States, perhaps more than ever before, we must learn to recognize the poison of prejudice and to discover the antidote to its dangerous effect. Evidences of racial and religious hatred in our country place a potent weapon in the hands of our enemies, providing them with the ammunition of criticism. Moreover, group hatred menaces the entire fabric of democratic life. As for the antidote, you can fight prejudice first by recognizing it for what it is, and second, by actively accepting or rejecting people on their individual worth and by speaking up against prejudice and for understanding. Remember, freedom and prejudice can't exist side by side. If you choose freedom, fight prejudice. This is Vincent Price inviting you to join us again next week at this same time for another exciting adventure of the Saint. Good night.
Narrator/Announcer (Vincent Price and production credits)
Tonight's script of the Saint was written by Louis Vitties. Our cast included Gene Bates, Lou Merrill, Fred Howard, Jack Edwards, Jr. And Larry Dobkin. The music was composed and conducted by Von Dexter. The Saint, based on characters created by Leslie Charteris, is a James L. Safier production and is directed by Helen Max. Vincent Price is soon to be seen co starring in RKO's production of his Kind of Woman. All you Saint fans will be glad to know that the Saint comic books are now on sale at all newsstands. Your announcer is Don Stanley.
Simon Templar
Programs.
Narrator/Announcer (Vincent Price and production credits)
Get your programs here tomorrow night. Here, Night Beat, the adventures of newspaper reporter Randy Stone is portrayed by Frank Lovejoy.
Simon Templar
Listen.
Narrator/Announcer (Vincent Price and production credits)
As Randy works the night beat of a newspaper in search of unusual, interesting stories at night.
Simon Templar
The Tomorrow Night.
Narrator/Announcer (Vincent Price and production credits)
Next, Sam Spade cuts a caper. Then Zeno Franciscotti plays on NBC.
Podcast: Choice Classic Radio Detectives | Old Time Radio
Episode: The Saint: The Case of the Previewed Crime
Star: Vincent Price as Simon Templar
Release Date: February 22, 2026 (on Podcast Feed)
This classic detective story follows Simon Templar, known as “The Saint,” through a twisting mystery rooted in murder, revenge, and a “perfect crime.” The episode begins when a shadowy visitor confronts Templar during the night, describing a murder planned to look like a natural death. As Templar investigates the death of a crooked financier, Frank A. Clark, he unravels a web of deceit among Clark’s circle—only to discover that not everything is as it seems, and that “poison” can take many forms.
“The only advice I can give all writers is don’t.” (Simon Templar, 02:36)
“Oh, yes, but you’d always know that the second voice wasn’t natural.” (Desmond, 13:53)
“If you kill me, there will be an investigation.” (Simon, 23:20)
“Before he died, he wanted revenge on the lawyer who cheated him and on the secretary who defended him… He figured that when he died, perfectly naturally, murder would be suspected where no murder had taken place.” (Simon, 26:04)
On writing murder stories:
"The only advice I can give all writers is don't." (Simon, 02:36)
Simon’s banter with Inez:
"You're not old. Well, and you're not a friend of my uncle's. Come in anyway." (Inez, 08:19)
"No. But if you ask prettily, perhaps I’ll come tonight." (Inez, 10:04)
Desmond’s Hamlet riff (on voice acting):
"The last murder that was of any interest to me was that Elsinore thing… and the fat prince, Hamlet…" (Desmond, 13:02)
The unraveling of the fake suicide note:
“The note ran to the effect that Charlie was committing suicide because the police suspected him of murdering Clark. But the police didn’t suspect Clark of being murdered.” (Simon, 23:00)
The twist ending (Clark's posthumous revenge):
"He knew he wouldn't survive even the shortest prison term... He wanted revenge on the lawyer who cheated him and on the secretary who defended him…" (Simon, 26:04)
The episode moves with agile wit, noir suspense, and lively banter—a hallmark of The Saint. Vincent Price’s urbane, sardonic delivery weaves through moments of playfulness and gravity, especially as the story's true darkness is revealed. The tone shifts from comic bravado to thoughtful admonition in the closing PSA, using the metaphor of “poison” to highlight social ills beyond murder.
In "The Case of the Previewed Crime," Simon Templar untangles a murder mystery where the killer’s identity is shrouded in a clever web of deceit. What begins as a “perfect crime” pitched by a shadowy figure leads Templar through a cast of suspects toward an unusual resolution: the “murder” was both foreshadowed and engineered by the victim himself, seeking poetic justice and revenge from beyond the grave. With stylish wit and sharp deduction, The Saint exposes how vengeance, panic, and suspicion can be as deadly as any poison.