(111) Escape - Pass to Berlin

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Harold's Old Time Radio – Escape: "Pass to Berlin" (Episode 111)

Episode Date: August 12, 2026
Main Theme:
Tonight’s featured radio play, "Pass to Berlin," transports listeners to post-war Berlin, where American GI Sergeant Ed Sawyer becomes ensnared in a web of guilt, suspicion, and blackmail following a tragic encounter. The episode is a taut psychological thriller exploring themes of fate, conscience, and corruption in the shadow of war.

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Key Discussion Points and Episode Breakdown

1. Setting the Scene: Berlin After the War

Timestamps: 01:46 – 02:20

• Intro: Ed Sawyer, a weary American sergeant, looks over the desolate ruins of Berlin with his companion, Greta, signaling the trauma and deprivation remaining after WWII.
• Emotional disconnect and longing for solace echo through Ed and Greta's strained interaction.

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2. Tragedy in the Shadows: Greta's Fate

Timestamps: 02:20 – 05:08

• Ed's Disillusionment: Greta tries to cheer Ed and seduce him, but their interaction spirals into argument and violence.
• Accidental Death: In a moment of confusion and anger, Greta is accidentally killed, her head struck against a wash basin.

"Her head lay against the lead piping... I watched a small pearl of blood squeeze through her lips. Then it died too. Then I remembered fingerprints." — Ed Sawyer (05:00)

• Ed panics, erasing evidence and escaping into the night as rain washes away traces of his presence.

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3. Seeking Refuge in The Theater and The Mind-Reading Act

Timestamps: 05:16 – 08:36

• Ed evades guilt by ducking into a GI-friendly variety theater, witnessing Stanley and Mona’s mind-reading act.
• Show Highlight: Mona, the blind assistant, dramatically announces a murderer is present in the audience, unsettling Ed.

“There is a murderer here. A murderer.” — Mona (08:11)

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4. Backstage Confrontations

Timestamps: 08:36 – 14:02

• Confrontation with Mona: Ed visits Mona backstage, accusing her of hypocrisy regarding their act.
• Mona rebuffs him: “You’re a man whose words are like acid in the hands of a child. If you do not scar yourself, you will scar others.” (09:52)
• Stanley, the Great Stanley, reveals Mona is blind, deepening the aura of their act and the depth of Ed’s own confusion.

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5. Signs of Doom: The Shroud

Timestamps: 14:58 – 18:12

• Eerie Omen: A shroud and a death note are pinned to Ed’s door: “In memory of Ed Sawyer. It said, ‘thou art cursed because thou hast killed.’” (15:30)
• Ed investigates at the florist, who admits a shroud was ordered for Ed’s hotel room with American money, by an anonymous sponsor.

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6. Enter Joe Scarn, the Ghastly Mortician

Timestamps: 18:28 – 20:53

• Joe Scarn, a surreal American mortician, turns up to arrange Ed’s “funeral”—based again on anonymous instructions.

“Why, the letter said the body of Ed Sawyer, Sergeant, army of the United States. Said Ed Sawyer was about to die. It said he was going to be executed for murder.” — Joe Scarn (20:30)

• Ed, disoriented, suspects an elaborate prank or frame-up.

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7. Desperate Search for the Truth

Timestamps: 20:58 – 22:41

• Ed returns to Greta’s boarding house to gauge if anyone suspects him of her death. He questions the landlady and is reassured by her and other tenants that they don’t remember him.

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8. The Web Tightens: Stanley’s Blackmail

Timestamps: 22:45 – 24:56

• Stanley calls Ed, revealing he knows of Greta's murder and his movements.
• Demands penicillin to be delivered at Seeker’s Alley at 11:30 pm—threatens exposure if Ed doesn't comply.

“A murderer does not question another's sanity. To him, all other beings are insane. Haven’t you found it so?” — Stanley (23:28)

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9. The Climactic Act: Confrontation and Revelation

Timestamps: 25:04 – 29:33

• Ed decides to confront Stanley in Mona’s dressing room, strangling him before Mona’s arrival.
• Scene erupts into chaos as Ed tries to escape, only to be corralled by MPs and local police during the stage show.
• Mona, on stage, “reads” the murderer’s identity by touch, exposing Ed to the authorities with a chilling calm.

“This is the man. This is the murderer.” — Mona (29:33)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Who made your loneliness, baby? You and Hitler.” — Ed Sawyer (03:16)
• “To a scientist, the word xylene means a super octane gasoline component, one of the highest octane gasoline components ever discovered...” — Richfield Oil Announcer (15:54)
• “Her eyes are the most beautiful I’ve ever seen… She’s blind, you know.” — Stanley (13:55)
• “He wore a derby hat and a tight overcoat with a moth eaten fur collar… a jolly fat punk with a mission.” — Ed Sawyer (18:34, describing Joe Scarn)
• “You told me, my dear boy, when you were so curious about a murder, after the performance, you told me.” — Stanley (23:51)

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Important Timestamps

• 01:46 – Introduction to the story and Berlin’s bleak postwar setting
• 05:08 – Greta’s death
• 08:11 – Mona identifies a murderer at the theater
• 13:55 – Revelation of Mona’s blindness
• 15:30 – Shroud delivered to Ed’s hotel room
• 20:30 – The mortician’s grim prophecy
• 23:28 – Stanley’s threats and blackmail unfold
• 29:33 – Mona exposes Ed as the murderer

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Tone & Style

The episode is atmospheric, cynical, and noir-tinged, replete with hard-boiled dialogue and a haunted inner monologue from Ed. The performances are sharp, bringing out the postwar disillusionment and the ever-present paranoia of the occupation era.

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Conclusion

“Pass to Berlin” masterfully weaves suspense, guilt, and fatalism into the haunted ruins of postwar Berlin. Ed Sawyer’s fate unravels with grim inevitability as the web of his crime tightens, pushed forward by cunning blackmailers and his own psychological unraveling. The episode stands as a powerful example of “Escape’s” brand of high-stakes radio drama from the golden age, leaving listeners gripped until the moment of Ed’s exposure.

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Transcript

[Narrator/Announcer]

This episode sponsored by She's Birdie. You lock the hotel room door, then check it again and maybe one more time. Because even the nicest room can feel unfamiliar at night. That's why She's Birdie created birdiebox. With She's Birdie. You can bring peace of mind with you. BirdieBox is a portable travel door alarm for hotels, dorms, Airbnbs and anywhere you stay away from home. Just attach it to the door frame, switch it on, and if someone opens the door, Birdie Box blasts a loud siren and flashing alarm to alert you and everyone nearby. Because the best part of travel isn't worrying, it's sleeping soundly. Birdie Box from She's locking in peace of mind wherever you stay. For safer, more confident travel visit she'sbirdie.com that's S-H-E-S-B I-R-I E.com

[Narrator/Host]

tired of the everyday routine? Ever dream of a life of romantic adventure? Want to get away from it all?

[Richfield Oil Announcer]

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[Narrator/Host]

Tonight we escape to Berlin and the story of an occupation GI trying desperately to break through a web of death that is being spun around him. As Morten Fine and David Friedkin tell it in their exciting story, Pass to Berlin.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

Oh, Greta was laughing. For me, there was no joy in it anymore. I looked through the window at Berlin, spread out like a half buried skeleton. Berlin after a war shock, carved in jagged concrete reflected in the window. Greta. Greta standing behind me with a drink in her hand.

[Greta]

Oh, shots. Oh, lie Pien. Oh, drink your drink. Drink with me, you soldier boy.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

No, no, forget it. Cradle with me.

[Greta]

Such a pretty name, Ed Sawyer. Such a handsome face, but such a frown. Now come, come make Greta laugh. It's all Greta wants to laugh a little, to forget her loneliness.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

Sure, sure. Laugh and forget. Just the two of us, me and Greta.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

And let the rest of the world go by.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

Who made your loneliness, baby? You and Hitler.

[Greta]

Oh, you.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

I'm funny, huh? A real funny man.

[Greta]

Oh, Grete. I should have met you a long time ago. Greta likes you, soldier boy.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

Well, nurse a broken heart, kid.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

Cause I'm leaving like that.

[Mona]

Leaving?

[Greta]

Greta remembers when you said love to her.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

Yeah, I remember too. Only now I remember why I'M in Berlin wearing a soldier suit.

[Mona]

American.

[Greta]

American is his schwein candy bar. American soldier the conqueror from the cigarette democracy.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

Just dream it, kid. Dream your dream about how an American soldier was once nice to you. Right now, that's all.

[Greta]

Wait. Oh, wait a minute.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

Come on, Greta. Get out of my way, will you?

[Greta]

Oh, Greta is sorry. See? Look, look, look. Greta is sorry. She's sorry. Please don't go.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

The mood moves you real fast, kid. All right, so now you're sorry.

[Greta]

Oh, kiss me, big soldier boy. Handsome soldier boy.

[German Landlady]

I said out.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

On my way.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

Dirty American.

[Greta]

You drex shrine, thou Carol Schreinehorn. You murderer of my country. You democracy weakly gay.

[Mona]

Hey.

[Greta]

Oh, I could kill you.

[Narrator/Announcer]

Kill you.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

Kill.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

Listen, I said get out of my way.

[Greta]

Take me. Take him.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

Get out of my.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

Take this out.

[Mona]

No. No. Get. No, don't.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

For a second I stared where she'd fallen motionless. Her head lay against the lead piping in the wash basin. I watched a small pearl of blood squeeze through her lips. Then it died too. Then I remembered fingerprints. I. I'd handled two things in that room.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

Greta. And the highball glass. I smashed it to the floor and

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

ground it with my heel. Outside it was raining. That was a break.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

Because the rain had washed away the human rubbish that litters the Berlin pavements at night.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

And no one saw me leave the house. I walked, turned some corners, some more. Then a splash of neon smeared across the wet pavement.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

I looked up.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

A theater. A theater for the amusement of gis and the rehabilitated natives. I bought a ticket and went inside and found a seat.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

Ladies and gentlemen, the headline attraction of the evening. The most astounding mind reading act of the century. Direct from London, the great Stanley and his lovely assistant, Mona. Mona, who sees all, knows all and tells all.

[Stanley]

Ladies and gentlemen, there are those among you who will disbelieve what you are about to witness. To these I say only wait can. You must. I will descend among you. Walk down the aisle. And here I ask one of the audience for some small object whose description is known only to himself. Do you have such an object, sir?

[Joe Scarn (Mortician)]

Yeah, yeah, I got some.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

You call that something?

[Joe Scarn (Mortician)]

Ah, blow that your barracks back, you guys.

[Stanley]

Hey, yeah.

[Richfield Oil Announcer]

Here, give me a reading.

[Stanley]

Thank you. Thank you, Mona.

[Mona]

I Listen, Stanley.

[Stanley]

What is it that I hold in my hand?

[Mona]

It is. It is something that has come from far away. An envelope postmarked Vincennes, Indiana.

[Stanley]

Correct. An envelope postmarked Vincennes, Indiana. Mona.

[Mona]

I. Listen, Stanley.

[Stanley]

What precious thing do I hold in my hand now?

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

Mona.

[Stanley]

Stanley, reach into the spaces beyond space and tell me, what do I hold in my hand?

[Mona]

A locket.

[Greta]

Ya.

[She's Birdie Announcer]

Ya.

[Greta]

Thus is right.

[Mona]

I lock it. A golden locket.

8.

And inside there is a strand of golden hair. A child.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

Oh, they were good. The great Stanley and Mona. Slick, poised and professional. Two glittering phonies who knew the star. And they kept it up.

[Stanley]

Mona, do not lose your concentration. Now. Identify this object.

[Mona]

Stanley.

[Stanley]

You must. Mona, you must.

[Mona]

There's darkness here. Only darkness.

[German Landlady]

Come on.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

Come on.

[German Landlady]

What's my.

[Mona]

Something stands in the way. There's a murderer here. A murderer.

[Narrator/Announcer]

A murderer.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

They rang down the curtain, and I sat there until the next act came on. Sat there and knew there was no way anyone could have guessed about Greta.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

No way. It was just a cheap, rotten, dramatic trick to suck the audience in. And it had worked.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

Some of the audience was laughing. Others were obviously affected by it. Moronic idiots with their mouths open and their eyes uneasy. And me, well, maybe I was being naive, ridiculous. But I had to find out. I waited until the audience began to give attention to a tired blonde singer. There was a door to the left of the orchestra pit that led backstage. I slipped from my seat and headed for it like it was my business. I walked down a corridor. There were cells on each side tagged with performers names. Mona's door had a star on it. The star was guilt, and the guilt was peeling.

[Mona]

One moment.

Yes.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

She was taller than I thought. Her face was delicate, with an almost wistful expression. But it was her eyes, gray and soft, as if the color had been strained through gauze.

[Mona]

Yes, what is it?

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

I came back to congratulate you on your performance. Mona. That's quite an act.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

That's real big time.

[Mona]

Thank you.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

Only. Only you're phony.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

You are.

[Mona]

Please go away.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

It's real phony, isn't it?

[Mona]

You're a man whose words are like acid in the hands of a child. If you do not scar yourself, you will scar others. I do not wish to speak with you.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

You're not even English. Oh, no. Don't close the door on me, please.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

Yeah, that's better. You're not English, huh? Are you American?

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

Come on.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

Where you from, honey? You know you got a fair act there. That guy who calls himself the Great Stanley.

[Mona]

It was not an act.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

Well, then why did you say there

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

was a murderer in the audience?

[Mona]

I don't know. Why?

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

Well, then you were kidding.

[Mona]

I felt his presence. There was a murderer.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

You still feel it?

[Mona]

Yes.

[Stanley]

Mona, there's a cab waiting to take us to the Hotel.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

Hi Stanley.

[Stanley]

Good evening, Sarge.

[Narrator/Announcer]

This episode sponsored by She's Birdie. You lock the hotel room door, then check it again and maybe one more time. Because even the nicest room can feel unfamiliar at night. That's why She's Birdie created Birdie Box With She's Birdie you can bring peace of mind with you. Birdie Box is a portable travel door alarm for hotels, dorms, Airbnbs and anywhere you stay away from home. Just attach it to the door frame, switch it on and if someone opens the door, Birdie Box blasts a loud siren and flashing alarm to alert you and everyone nearby. Because the best part of travel isn't worrying, it's it's sleeping soundly. Birdie Box from She's locking in peace of mind wherever you stay. For safer, more confident travel visit she'sbirdie.com that's S-H-E-S-B-I-R-I-E.com sending your girl off to college.

[She's Birdie Announcer]

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[Stanley]

Well, I'm glad he did. It's always a pleasure to meet a soldier. Medical corps man by your shoulder patch, I see. Welcome.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

Oh, thanks.

[Stanley]

Would you wait for me in the cab, Mona? I'll only be a moment.

[Mona]

Do not be long.

I need you with me.

[Stanley]

You saw the extraordinary performance Sergeant saw

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

you red saw you.

[Stanley]

I consider it an honor that you should take time to come backstage and express your appreciation that a hard bitten GI should become a convert to Mona's miraculous powers.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

Are you kidding me or am I kidding you?

[Stanley]

No, no, no, no, no, no. We don't have to kid each other, do we? We fellow. So however, the others out there, perhaps they were fooled. It's amusing to kid them. And also, one lives this way.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

Well, you and Mona should check on each other. She tried to make me believe your act was on the level.

[Stanley]

Ramona is my wife. And she's loyal to the illusions that I create about her.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

Ah. Well, then that murderer bit was phony.

[Stanley]

Oh, naturally. But effective, don't you think?

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

Yeah. How did you think of it?

[Stanley]

Oh, an inspiration. Sergeant Sawyer. Sawyer. An act such as ours needs one piece of sensationalism to shock a new audience. And we have it. Don't you think?

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

Yeah, you got it. Oh, just one thing, Stanley.

[Stanley]

Of course.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

Tell Mona something for me, will you?

[Greta]

Of course.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

Tell her her eyes are the most beautiful I've ever seen.

[Stanley]

Oh, she will be pleased. She's blind, you know.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

His smile held and the smile was phony. Like their act was phony. I knew now I had nothing to worry about, so I left. I went back to my room in the Garmisch Hotel. Stood on the balcony for a while, watching the fingers of light from Templehof play against the sky, lighting it up fitfully, disappearing. And far away, silhouetted the hulk of some broken buildings, caught now on the beacon and lost. I watched it, stared. And then I saw it. The outlines of some structures blasted by bombs. But it was like a scaffold. A gallows. Precisely that. And something else. A figure detached itself from the shadows. A figure of a man scavenging among the rubble of the torn buildings. And he stopped. And over his head, the gallows.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

The man and the gallows caught against the night.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

I went to bed, closed my mind to all of it. Toward morning, I had a dream. I dreamt I was standing in a stone yard. And I was watching some men, some blind men, and they were building a scaffold.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

Then I was awake and I jumped out of bed. I saw what the hammering had been. Nailed to my door was a shroud. A shroud for a dead man. And pinned to it, under a single white carnation, a small white envelope.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

Adlon Floris, it said. And on the other side, some writing in memory of Ed Sawyer. It said, thou art cursed because thou hast killed.

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[Florist]

Good, Morgan. I may do something for you, Sergeant.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

Yes, you can.

[Florist]

You're fortunate, Sergeant. Just this morning. Just arrived this morning. Fresh cut camellias flown in from Italy.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

Ah, no flowers. A shroud.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

Talk to me about a shroud.

[Florist]

A shroud. My heartfelt condolences, Sergeant. A shroud. Of course. If you'll come this way.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

A shroud that was delivered to the Garmish Hotel, room 312, this morning. From your shop.

[Florist]

Yeah, yeah, naturally I remember such an order. I pray it met the requirements.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

I'm crazy about it.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

Why was it nailed on my door?

[Florist]

Why? I. I do not understand.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

I didn't order it. Who did?

[Stanley]

Why?

[Florist]

Early this morning, Sergeant. Early this morning. By special post in order for a shroud and a wreath with instructions for their disposition.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

Who wrote the order? Who gave these instructions?

[Florist]

That I do not know, Sergeant. It was a typewritten, unsigned and more than a sufficient amount of American money to take care of everything. I thought somebody who wished to remain anonymous.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

Well, here's some more American money.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

Now tell your boy to tear that thing off my door. Yeah, but tell him, florist.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

I left him there. Nobody knew why I'd killed him. Nobody. I went back to the hotel to think about it some more. To try and think it away.

[Joe Scarn (Mortician)]

I made myself to home, kid. I knew you wanted to see me.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

He wore a derby hat and a tight overcoat with a moth eaten fur collar. Cheeks ruddy eyes red rimmed and a replica of his nose could have been bought in a carnival supply house. Oh, jolly. A jolly fat punk with a mission.

[Joe Scarn (Mortician)]

Sit down, kid. Take a load off of brain. The man is here who will take care of everything. Just like the corpse that died in the good old usa.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

Who are you and what do you want?

[Joe Scarn (Mortician)]

Yeah, take one that's Makara.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

I can see it from here. It's real pretty. Now, what does it say on it?

[Joe Scarn (Mortician)]

Joseph Scarn. It says that's my name. Mortician. It says. That's my business.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

What?

[Joe Scarn (Mortician)]

Oh, puzzles you, huh, kid? I just gotta tell you about Joe Scarn. That'll explain me to you.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

Yeah, do that, will you?

[Joe Scarn (Mortician)]

Yeah, well, see, back in the States, before the war, this was my career mortician, that's funeral director. Then they demobilized me right here in Berlin. Now, this is the break I've been waiting for all my life. Where better to pursue the career mortician than right here in good old Berlin?

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

Come on, come on, get up. Come on, now, get out of here, will you?

[Joe Scarn (Mortician)]

Come on, get up, kid. I'm gonna make the final arrangements for the funeral.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

Funeral? What funeral? Nobody's dead. Nobody's even feeling bad.

[Joe Scarn (Mortician)]

Well, this overjoys me tremendously, son. But look, about the cast.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

Look, look, this is a joke, isn't it? A gag. Isn't that what it is? Something the boys who came on past with me cooked up. That's it, isn't it? Come on. They send you here. That's it, isn't it? Come on, will you talk to me?

[Joe Scarn (Mortician)]

Take your hands off me, soldier boy. You got the hysteria.

[German Landlady]

Come on.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

Who sent you here? Come on.

[Florist]

Letter.

[Joe Scarn (Mortician)]

A letter this morning with money and instructions, typewritten.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

No signature.

[Joe Scarn (Mortician)]

Oh, you peak.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

Come on.

[Joe Scarn (Mortician)]

Yes, yes, that's right. It said to come to this hotel room and make arrangements to receive the body.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

Look,

[Mona]

who?

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

Whose body?

[Joe Scarn (Mortician)]

Why, the letter said the body of Ed Sawyer, Sergeant, army of the United States. Said Ed Sawyer was about to die. It said he was going to be executed for murder.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

All of a sudden, there were no more words. His jaws were moving, but there was no sound. Even when the folds of his fat face moved into a chuckle, I got nothing.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

He was out of focus, all blurry. I ran past him and out onto the street. Took me an hour to push my

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

way through Berlin's derelict, scarred alleys to Greta's rooming house. If someone in that house recognized me as a murderer, I would know it.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

No matter how he tried to hide

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

it, I would know it, face him.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

Face him and take it from there. That was what I had to do. Have you ever seen me before? Don't kid me. All you crouch know English when you need it. Now, have you ever seen me before? Come on, talk, will you, lady?

[Mona]

Come on.

[German Landlady]

Come in. What you want, sir?

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

Well, that's better.

[German Landlady]

Our papers are an order. Everything in Our houses, as you Americans have ordered.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

Don't fret yourself, dad. It's just that I have a feeling I've been to this house before and I've got to find out.

[German Landlady]

Is this some kind of a drunken joke you're playing with us?

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

Just tell me if you've ever seen me before.

[German Landlady]

Hark. You are sick. Please go away from us.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

Yes, that's right. I'm sick. It happens like this lots of times. Amnesia, you know, it's the war. But now, look at me. Look.

[German Landlady]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

You're sure you've never seen me before?

[German Landlady]

We are sure. Sergeants.

[Greta]

Yeah.

[German Landlady]

Come and sit down.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

Wait a minute. Will you come and sit.

[German Landlady]

Yeah.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

Your other guest. Could I see them?

[German Landlady]

What is the need, Sergeant? One has been drunk for three days. He will stay drunk for three days more.

[Mona]

Yeah.

[German Landlady]

Another, Elsie and I have not seen for a week.

[Greta]

9.

[German Landlady]

And the third is in the morgue this morning. She was taken there dead.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

Yeah, yeah.

[German Landlady]

Thought always she gave us trouble. Yeah. Elsie? Yeah. Police? Doctors. Questions?

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

Oh, all right, all right, I'm coming. Yeah.

[Stanley]

Sergeant Sawyer? Sergeant Edward Sawyer. Yeah, this is Stanley speaking. The great Stanley.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

Ah.

[Stanley]

Will you do me the honor to meet me at 11:30 tonight in the teargarden in the Seeker's Alley? The statue of Frederick the Great will be a charming spot.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

Well, charm me over the phone, Stanley. I don't like the cold night air.

[Stanley]

It can be helpful. Bring penicillin with you.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

Bring what?

[Stanley]

Penicillin. They're so desperate for it here in Berlin, they pay fabulous wads of money for it on the black market. Bring all you can. And later, as I ask you for it, you'll bring more. Now, look, for an American soldier in the medical corps. It's so easy.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

You going crazy, Stanley?

[Stanley]

Oh, my dear Sergeant, a murderer. A murderer does not question another's sanity. To him, all other beings are insane. Haven't you found it so?

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

How would I know about murderers?

[Stanley]

Ask Greater.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

Greater. How did you find out about her?

[Stanley]

You told me, my dear boy, when you were so curious about a murder, after the performance, you told me. When you permitted the grisly humors of the shroud and casket to force you to revisit the scene of death.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

You followed me.

[Stanley]

Yes, of course I followed you. Each of your flights of terror was more and more promising. And when you went to the rooming house, I made inquiries. They told me that the lonely girl who'd been murdered, they were very accommodating. You're still there, Sergeant?

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

Yes.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

Yes, I'm still here.

[Stanley]

Then I can expect you then at 11:30. It'll give me time to change after performance.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

Sure, sure, 11:30. I'll be glad to do you the honor.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

Stanley. Oh, he made it easy for nothing. He'd let me know who it was I had to be afraid of. Stanley. A great Stanley and Mona with the pale, lovely, blind eyes. Boy, what an act they had. I wondered how many times their sensational finish had paid off like this. How many murderers had handed themselves over to Stanley and Mona on a platter for nothing.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

But I could change all that. I could get off the hook real cheap. I could fix it so Mona and the great Stanley would let me rest in peace for nothing.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

No, not for nothing. Just the price of an admission ticket. There were about 30 people in the theater, most of them soldiers. The opening act was on when I got there and slid into a seat. A family of French jugglers whirling shiny hoops on every loose piece of anatomy on the stage. Stanley and Mona were next to closing, so I figured I had about an hour. I waited until the French were balancing everything but the proscenium. And then when they had everything in the air, I used the same orchestra entrance to backstage. The door to Mona's dressing room was open. The room was dark.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

I eased inside just as the next

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

act came hurrying down the corridor, still hooking up their costumes. I brushed against a moldy curtain that hung from wooden rings. I pulled it back, hid behind it and waited.

[Mona]

Still, I cannot understand why you must leave me tonight, Stanley. What is so important? At 11:30, through the dim light of

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

the corridor, I saw Mona walk into the room and sit down at her dressing table. Stanley was right behind. He was reaching for the light switch when my hands found his mouth and his throat and I began to strangle. My fingers dug into his flesh and I crushed his breath back into him. He made no sound.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

There was only the soft laughter that

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

seeped through the theater in his soft throat and my hands. And then Mona's soft voice.

[Mona]

Why do you not answer, Stanley? Is it a rendezvous? Stanley. Stanley, what is it? Why are you so silent? Stanley? Stanley.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

Suddenly her fingers were on my face, frightened and quick, like the wings of a wounded bird.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

Then slowly, they began to search the empty air for the dead. Stanley. She turned and her blind eyes stared right at me. And I. He brushed her aside and ran down the corridor. An old doorman sat reading a newspaper

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

at the stage door. I couldn't get out that way without his seeing me.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

Only one way back to the theater. I started up the aisle. And then I knew I was doing the wrong thing. There was an MP at the head of the aisle, a corporal from the MPs. The braid, the white spats and the club. In this tiny audience, if I left in the middle of the act, he'd remember me. So I sat down on the roll that was the most. When I look back at the end of the act, There were other MPs standing at each exit. Then the curtain rose. Mona stood there with a man you see on every street in Berlin. A German policeman in the natty German police uniform.

[Mona]

Ladies and gentlemen, tonight I shall descend among you accompanied by this esteemed gentleman and read your mind through my fingertips. You, sir. I can read your innermost secrets by touching your face. Sir.

Sir, you and this girl beside you. You told your wife you were working late at the office tonight.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

She worked her way up the aisle, coming closer and closer.

[Mona]

You, sir, my fingers reveal that you have bought an escape from KP Duty,

please.

And now there's a gentleman in this row. My fingers reveal he has a medical core shoulder patch.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

Come on, take your hands off of me, will you?

[Stanley]

What's the matter, soldier?

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

You apply mono, give away your secrets? Come on.

[German Landlady]

One side, will it?

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

Let me go. Come on, soldier, move it, will ya?

[Stanley]

Go on, Jim.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

Come on. Let me out of here, will you? Come on, guy, move. He's got secrets. He's got if you've got secrets.

[German Landlady]

Hey, Mona.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

Mona, what are you waiting for? Tell us the soldier secrets. Come on, everybody. And we got it right to the sky seat. Oh, shut up, will you?

[Mona]

Shut up.

[Narrator/Announcer]

Mona.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

Hurry up. Be careful. They held me there, laughing. The others all turned in their seats to stare. The German cop pinned me back in the seat. And then Mona's fingers reached out and trailed across my face.

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

Lingered. They were the fingers of death. They were cool and gentle, almost a caress.

[Mona]

This is the man. This is the murderer.

[Richfield Oil Announcer]

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[Narrator/Host]

Next week, you are lying on a small knoll in the prairie west of the Platte River. In a few moments, dawn will herald the attack of the encircling Apaches. An attack of such fury that for you, there can be no escape.

[Richfield Oil Announcer]

Next week at this time, the Richfield Oil Corporation of New York invites you to escape with an exciting tale of the old West. As James Warner Bella tells it in his thrilling story Command Be Listening. Goodbye, then, until the same time next week when once again, we offer you escape. Tom Hanlon speaking. This is cbs, the Columbia Broadcasting System.

[Narrator/Announcer]

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[Sergeant Ed Sawyer (alternate or inner voice)]

We don't want still showing up holding

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

hands when time you and me we're

[Mona]

enough

[Sergeant Ed Sawyer]

all of us can make an impact. Yeah, even you listen to the full Gotta be Us song and Be the

[Joe Scarn (Mortician)]

people share playlists to get inspired.