The Saint: The Case of the Previewed Crime 07/30/1950

Summary

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Podcast Summary: The Saint – The Case of the Previewed Crime (Original Air Date: 07/30/1950)

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)

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Episode Overview

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.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Midnight Visitor and the "Perfect Crime"

• Mystery kicks off when Simon Templar is awoken at night by a hidden intruder claiming to be a writer researching the “perfect crime.”
  • The “writer” lays out the murder method: replace a heart medication capsule with sugar so a financier with severe heart disease dies seemingly of natural causes.
  • Simon’s Take:

    “The only advice I can give all writers is don’t.” (Simon Templar, 02:36)

• The visitor’s tone is ominous—he holds Templar at gunpoint, hinting the “book” might reflect a real murder.

2. Discovery of the Real Crime

• Morning after, Simon reads of Frank A. Clark’s death in the paper (05:36). Details of his heart failure and criminal activities match those of the “writer’s” story.
  • Templar suspects the tale was a confession or warning about a real crime.
• Humorous banter with his cabbie, Louie, offers comic relief amid tension.

3. Meeting the Suspects

• At Clark’s home, Templar meets:
  • Inez Francis: Flirtatious niece with no grief over her uncle’s death.
    • “Uncle had a lot of money. I get it now. Hartzell stole some money from uncle. He won’t go to jail now…” (Inez, 09:41)
  • Charlie Melvin: Sickly, nervous secretary implicated in Clark’s dealings.
  • Mr. Hartzell: Clark’s lawyer; described as fussy, possibly as crooked as Clark.
• All three stand to benefit from Clark’s death, making them prime suspects.

4. Chasing Voices and Motives

• Templar consults a theatrical friend, Desmond, about changing one’s voice (13:49).
  • Desmond confirms:

    “Oh, yes, but you’d always know that the second voice wasn’t natural.” (Desmond, 13:53)

• None of Clark’s associates have the “deep, hoarse” voice that visited Templar. The perfect crime seems to have no perpetrator.

5. A New Death and a Suicide Note

• Charlie Melvin is found dead, apparently by suicide with a note confessing to Clark’s murder (18:04).
• Templar is skeptical:
  • “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.” (Simon, 18:29)
• Templar notes logical gaps in the confession.

6. The Final Confrontation and Solution

• Hartzell calls Templar claiming to have found the mystery voice at his club; invites Templar to confront him (19:02).
• On arrival, it’s clear Hartzell lured Templar into a trap, intending to kill him to cover up Charlie’s murder (22:24).
  • Templar exposes Hartzell’s guilt in Charlie’s murder, but not Clark’s:

    “If you kill me, there will be an investigation.” (Simon, 23:20)

• Hartzell confesses to killing Charlie to prevent further investigation but insists he did not kill Clark.

7. The True “Perfect Crime” Revealed

• Simon discusses the case with Inez, pointing out that Clark’s visitor was Clark himself (25:55)—an old man, expecting death, crafting his own revenge.
  • Clark’s confession led to suspicion, causing Hartzell to panic and murder Charlie.
• Templar summarizes:

  “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)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• 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)

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Important Timestamps

• 01:33 – Simon Templar confronted by the mysterious visitor
• 03:23 – The “perfect crime” method is described
• 05:36 – News of Clark’s death; Templar suspects a connection
• 09:06 – Introduction of suspects: Inez, Hartzell, Charlie
• 13:49 – Desmond discusses disguising voices
• 18:04 – Discovery of Charlie’s death and suicide note
• 22:22 – Hartzell’s confrontation with Templar; the fatal mistake
• 26:04 – Simon explains the true “perfect crime” and Clark’s revenge
• 27:29 – Vincent Price/Simon Templar’s closing PSA against prejudice

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Tone & Style

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.

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Summary

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.

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Transcript

[Narrator/Announcer]

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[Simon Templar]

Choice Classic Radio, where we bring to you the greatest old time radio shows like us on Facebook, subscribe to us

[Mysterious Visitor/Writer]

on YouTube and thank you for [e-mail].

[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]

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[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.