(21) Escape - Confession

Summary

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Harold's Old Time Radio – Escape: “Confession”

Episode 21 | August 7, 2026
Adapted from Algernon Blackwood’s ghostly short story

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Episode Overview

This episode of Escape immerses listeners into a chilling journey through a London fog, where reality blurs and terror stalks an afflicted Canadian soldier. Through haunting narrative and atmospheric sound, the episode explores themes of trauma, guilt, and the fine line between reality and imagination after war. The focal point is a "confession"—both literal and metaphorical—as the soldier spirals into a nightmarish encounter with death, mystery, and possible murder.

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Key Discussion Points & Story Breakdown

1. Atmospheric Introduction & Setting the Mood

• [01:12] O'Reilly's Dilemma:
  The protagonist, still reeling from shell shock after WWI, finds himself fleeing a murder scene in a fog-shrouded London.

  "You are lost in a London fog... And somewhere in the wet grayness lurks a murderer from whom you must escape." (O’Reilly, 01:12)

• The fog acts as a powerful metaphor for the uncertainty and trauma clouding his mind.

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2. Trauma & Encounter with the Doctor

• [05:18] A Helping Hand:
  The disoriented O’Reilly collapses in the street and is aided by a kindly doctor who invites him to recover inside.

  "You're very near collapse, you know. And I happen to be a doctor luckily. Come in for a moment, won't you?"
  (Doctor, 05:35)

• The discussion reveals O'Reilly’s ongoing struggle with panic attacks and flashbacks.

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3. The “Confession” – Urge to Unburden

• [07:12] Psychiatric Insight:
  The doctor gently encourages O'Reilly to share his story as a therapeutic measure.

  "Confession, you know. Confession is good for the soul."
  (Doctor, 08:03)

• This sets up a story-within-a-story format as O’Reilly begins his tale.

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4. Flashback: The Day’s Events

• [08:43] O'Reilly's 'Normal' Day:
  O’Reilly describes how, after months in a sanitarium for shell shock, he’s granted leave to see a Red Cross girl in London.
• Advisor Dr. Henry warns:

  "Severe shock could undo all our work. By all means, avoid shock."
  (Dr. Henry, 11:38)

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5. Lost in the Fog

• [14:26] Descent Into Confusion:
  Upon arriving in London, O'Reilly is engulfed by heavy fog, triggering his panic and confusion. Real and imagined figures seem to merge.

• He interacts with fleeting, ambiguous strangers—a motif amplifying O'Reilly’s disconnection from reality.

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6. The Mysterious Woman in the Fog

• [19:01] Uncanny Encounter:
  O'Reilly meets a frightened woman, equally lost in the fog, and they agree to help each other. She’s seeking her home, expecting someone.

  "I've lost myself. I can't find my way back." (Nurse/Woman in the Fog, 19:32)

• The exchange grows increasingly eerie as she leads him to a dark, empty house.

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7. The Horror Revealed

• [21:56] Discovery of the Body:
  Upstairs, O’Reilly finds the woman motionless—dead, with a sharp hatpin above her heart and the scent of chloroform in the air.
• He realizes he’s implicated; his hat, bearing his initials, is left at the scene.

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8. Panic & Escape

• [24:10] Narrow Getaway:
  Another figure enters the house. O’Reilly hides, then flees in terror, once again swallowed by the fog.

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9. Back to the Doctor: Seeking Clarity

• [24:56] Rationalization and Doubt:
  The doctor listens quietly, offering possible explanations, from hallucination due to O’Reilly’s trauma to the possibility of coincidence and city mysteries.

  "Things equally remarkable, equally incredible happen every day in a big city. I know from personal experience."
  (Doctor, 24:56)

• The doctor presses: Is there proof? O’Reilly admits his only evidence is the hat he left at the crime scene.

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10. Twist: A Mirror Story

• [26:29] The Doctor’s Tale:
  The doctor recounts a parallel murder story from the previous war: a surgeon who, betrayed by his wife, kills her in a foggy house, only for a stranger to wander in.

  "He decided to kill her and her lover. ... The plan failed... She [the wife] found death waiting. ... A stranger came." (Doctor, 27:36)

• The air grows tension-laden as O’Reilly presses for details; the doctor demurs that the murderer was never caught—unless he confessed.

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11. Eerie Resolution & Unsettling Ending

• [29:13] The Final Clue:
  The doctor gives O’Reilly a "spare" hat as he leaves—the very one he lost in the murder room.

  "Oh, by the way… You can't walk about in the fog without a hat. Here, it's an extra one of mine. You needn't trouble to return it." (Doctor, 29:34)

• O’Reilly steps into the night, realizing the doctor's connection to the crime.

  "It was my own. The hat I had left on the bed beside the dead." (O’Reilly, 29:48)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Trauma:

  "Your trouble is shell shock, isn't it?" (Doctor, 06:19)

• On Repression & Need for Confession:

  "Repression in cases like yours can be dangerous... Confession is good for the soul." (Doctor, 08:03)

• On Reality vs. Imagination:

  "You can distinguish between the real people and the unreal now... Many people don’t like to feel alone and cut off." (Doctor, 10:10)

• On the Fog’s Psychological Weight:

  "This is how a blind man feels." (O’Reilly, 14:28)
  "They appeared and disappeared so disconcertingly quickly. ... I knew I was lost." (O’Reilly, 17:23)

• On Fate & the Unknown:

  "Such things are hard to explain, perhaps cannot be explained." (Doctor, 25:14)

• The Doctor’s Story as a Confession:

  "That's the part of the story I don't know. He was clever enough so that I doubt it. Unless he told somebody, made a confession." (Doctor, 29:21)

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Key Timestamps

• 01:12 – O’Reilly’s panicked escape from the crime scene
• 05:18 – Doctor helps the disoriented soldier
• 07:12 – Encouraged to confess
• 08:43 – Flashback to events at the sanitarium
• 14:26 – Steps into London’s blinding fog
• 19:01 – First encounter with the mysterious woman
• 21:56 – Discovery of the murdered woman
• 24:10 – Escape from the house
• 24:56 – Debating the reality of what happened
• 26:29 – The doctor tells a chillingly parallel story
• 29:13 – The reveal: The doctor’s “extra” hat
• 29:48 – O’Reilly realizes the truth

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Overall Tone & Style

The episode maintains a tense, claustrophobic, and hallucinatory feel, thanks to tightly-scripted dialogue, sound effects, and introspective narration. The language is formal, post-war British, yet tinged with anxiety and confusion. The interplay between O’Reilly and the Doctor is psychologically rich, and the twist ending lingers with ambiguity—leaving listeners questioning the boundaries between guilt, confession, mental illness, and the supernatural.

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A haunting story of shell shock, guilt, and fog, where one "confession" leads to another, and the past may be closer than you think.

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Transcript

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[O'Reilly (Canadian soldier)]

You are lost in a London fog, uncertain whether the figures looming around you are real or creatures of your imagination. And somewhere in the wet grayness lurks a murderer who from whom you must escape. Escape Produced and directed by William N. Robeson and carefully contrived to free you from the four walls of today for a half hour of high adventure. Tonight we escape to a fog shrouded city and the terror of a shell shock as Algernon Blackwood describes them in his ghostly story, Confession. There was no doubt about it. The woman was dead. Her cheek was cold to my touch. The head of the long sharp hat pin protruded from her breast above the heart. She was dead. Murdered. And I stood there by the bed, my brain whirling crazily. I was alone in an empty house with a murdered woman. And then suddenly fear flashed across my brain and cleared it. I heard the door below open and close. Footsteps. Someone was coming across the downstairs hall onto the stairs, coming up, up here. In a moment I would be discovered. In a moment someone would walk into this room and see me standing over the body. In a moment my escape would be cut off. Quickly I slipped across the hall and into another of the empty bedrooms. I leaned against the closed door, breathing heavily, listening to those steps come closer. Would he look into any of the other bedrooms first? Would I be discovered here? He passed my door and went into the room, straight in, closed the door behind him. Then he knew where to come. I waited a moment, waited for some sound, some gasp of discovery. There was none Then he knew what to expect. I must escape quickly before he came out of that room. I started down the stairs carefully to avoid any sound. And suddenly the door of that room opened. The beam of a flashlight searched down the hall. I took the stairs three at a time, burst open the front door and fled into the street. Fled into the sanctuary of the fork. How long and how far I ran, I do not know. I could see nothing, feel nothing but the clammy dampness of the fog. I don't know whether he was still following me or not. I ran out of sheer terror, up one street, down another, with no idea of where I was or where I was going. Perhaps I was running in circles. Perhaps I would run right back to the house. Well, I stopped. I leaned heavily against the wall. My hands were shaking as I raised them to my perspiring face. I held them there to steady them, ran them through my wet hair. My hat. I didn't have it. I'd left my hat back there in that room, on the bed beside that dead woman. And it had my initials in it. Nearby, a street lamp formed a fuzzy ball of yellow in the enveloping murky. And now a figure loomed suddenly beneath it, just as she had materialized so short a time ago under another streetlight. Or was it the same one? Was it she again? Was it he, the one who was following me? Was it real at all? Perhaps it was only a creature of my madness.

[Doctor]

My dear sir, you're ill.

[O'Reilly (Canadian soldier)]

I. Oh, her old.

[Doctor]

Let me help you. Why, you're almost ready to fall.

[O'Reilly (Canadian soldier)]

Yes, thank you.

[Doctor]

Yeah, just lean on my arm. Yes.

[O'Reilly (Canadian soldier)]

You are real, aren't you?

[Doctor]

Well, I don't understand. I say, you're very near collapse, you know. And I happen to be a doctor luckily, too. You're just outside my very house. Come in for a moment, won't you?

[O'Reilly (Canadian soldier)]

Why, you're very kind. Yes, I will, if it's not too much trouble for you.

[Doctor]

None at all, my dear chap. Please do.

[O'Reilly (Canadian soldier)]

Within five minutes, I was seated in a comfortable chair before a toasting fire, sipping a hot cup of tea. I could feel my nerves relaxing, but the traces of my illness must have been clear on my face because my host observed.

[Doctor]

Your trouble is shell shock, isn't it?

[O'Reilly (Canadian soldier)]

Why, yes. How did you know?

[Doctor]

I'd been in the service. And I'm a doctor, of course.

[O'Reilly (Canadian soldier)]

I only meant I'm supposed to be recovered or almost. But I got lost in the fog. Felt ill, suddenly terrified. You know.

[Doctor]

I know. You should never have been out on a night like this. If you've got far to go, you better let me put you up.

[O'Reilly (Canadian soldier)]

You're very kind, very kind indeed. But I don't want to be any trouble.

[Doctor]

No trouble at all. I'd like to be of help. It's the least we veterans can do for each other. Oh, the blasted war. Thank goodness it's over. You're not English, are you?

[O'Reilly (Canadian soldier)]

No, Canadian. I haven't been demobilized yet. I'm still in the army hospital at Regent's park under the care of Dr. Henry.

[Doctor]

Ah, yes, yes. Very good man. I'd say he's done well by you. Up till tonight, I mean.

[O'Reilly (Canadian soldier)]

Yes, of course. We had no idea there would be a fog. I still get in a panic when I feel all alone.

[Doctor]

Well, that's usual. But then there was something more than that tonight, wasn't there?

[O'Reilly (Canadian soldier)]

What do you mean?

[Doctor]

Simply that you've had rather a severe shock quite recently, haven't you?

[O'Reilly (Canadian soldier)]

How did you know that?

[Doctor]

My dear chap, I'm a doctor. My business to know. You were in much too agitated a state when I found you for me to suppose. It could have been done simply by the fog. And if I may hazard another guess, I should say it would be a relief to you and wise as well. If you could unburden yourself to someone who would understand. Am I not right?

[O'Reilly (Canadian soldier)]

Someone who would understand? That's just it. I doubt if there is anyone like that. It's so incredible.

[Doctor]

The more incredible, the greater your need to tell it. Repression in cases like yours can be dangerous, as you must know. You think you've hidden it, but it bides its time and it comes up later causing a lot of trouble. Confession, you know. Confession is good for the soul.

[O'Reilly (Canadian soldier)]

Yes, I suppose you are right. But it is so wildly unbelievable.

[Doctor]

Since we're strangers, my belief or disbelief can make no difference. And I think I can promise you in advance that I shall believe all you have to say. Well,

[O'Reilly (Canadian soldier)]

but I've got to tell somebody about it soon anyway.

[Doctor]

Cigarette? To help with telling.

[O'Reilly (Canadian soldier)]

Thank you. Thank you. Well, I'd better start back at the very beginning of the adventure. Then it started today at the sanitarium. I've been there for some months, and today when Dr. Henry called to check on me, I knew. Well, young man, you're as fit as a prize heifer and twice as frisky. The diet here must agree with you. I have no complaints, Doctor. But if I'm well again, then I'd like to get back into circulation. Will you listen to him, nurse? Rushing things as usual. You'd think he didn't like us here,

[Nurse / Woman in the fog]

the way he bothers us to let

[O'Reilly (Canadian soldier)]

him go into town.

[Nurse / Woman in the fog]

I'm sure of it, Doctor. He's getting so healthy, he's bursting at the sea.

[Doctor]

There, you see?

[O'Reilly (Canadian soldier)]

How about it, Doctor? Can't I just have a day or an evening in town? What's the great attraction in that dirty place? Some girl, no doubt. Well, yes, that is, in a way. I met her in France. She's a Red Cross girl. She's invited me to stop in for tea if I'm up in London. And? Well, it's just that I. I'd feel human again, seeing a girl having tea, a cigarette, chatting. That's all. Young man, I not only approve of your day in town, I am prescribing. It will do you good. You've got to start getting used to society again, anyway. And you think I can manage it alone?

[Doctor]

Why not?

[O'Reilly (Canadian soldier)]

You get around the neighborhood by yourself well enough, don't you? There's nothing so very different about London. Certainly nothing to be afraid of. No, of course not. Call the young lady and find out the directions where to get off. The underground, what turns to take and so on. Go in the daytime, return before dark. No danger of getting lost. Should be simple. Nothing to it. Do you good, then. This means I'm getting better. I'll be able to go home soon. There you go, rushing things again. But yes, I think perhaps we're on the last leg. That'll be all, Nurse.

[Nurse / Woman in the fog]

Yes, Doctor. Henry.

[O'Reilly (Canadian soldier)]

Now, tell me, young man, what about your friends? No, Doctor, I think they've deserted me. I don't see them anymore. No more ghosts. No more dead comrades. Stopping in for a chat. Good. For how long now? Oh, several weeks at least. I can hardly remember when I last saw one. Thought you saw one. Yes. Thought, of course. In the dark room at night. Sometimes the shadows are not quite the same thing. Lots of, well, people fancy they see the shadows move at night. Especially after they've been reading some penny dreadful. Yes, I suppose so. At any rate, you can distinguish between the real people and the unreal now. And that's a big step, considering how you were a few months ago. Well, it's only when I feel completely alone, cut off, that the old panic begins a little. But not as much as before. Many people don't like to feel alone and cut off. But they can fight down that panicky feeling, nip it in the bud. So will you, in time. But I must warn you, severe shock could undo all our work. By all means, avoid shock. Avoid shock, he said. Very funny, isn't it? But who could have known then what would happen? How could I have suspected? As I went about planning my day in town, my holiday, I called the girl, arranged our tea party. I was to be at her little house in Morley Place at 4.

[Nurse / Woman in the fog]

So if you find the first time with your Canadian backwoods instincts, you'll probably manage it better than any Londoner.

[O'Reilly (Canadian soldier)]

Yes, I'm sure I will. It's near South Kensington station then.

[Nurse / Woman in the fog]

Exactly. You change at Piccadilly Circus without leaving the Underground station and come to South Kent. That's three streets left from there, then two right, one more left and right again into Morley Place. It's really not far.

[O'Reilly (Canadian soldier)]

Oh, I'll find it all right. Now don't go to any great bother.

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[Nurse / Woman in the fog]

this is a special occasion, you know. Till four then.

[O'Reilly (Canadian soldier)]

Until four.

[Doctor]

Yes.

[O'Reilly (Canadian soldier)]

Thanks. And so it all started out as a cheerful adventure. And everything went well. Into the city I made my change underground at Piccadilly, took the local to South Kensington station. And there I came up at surface again. And when I walked out, I stepped into a solid opaque blanket of white fog. I could hear the traffic, the rumble of the city around me. I could hear footsteps, an occasional muffled voice. But I could see almost nothing. This is how a blind man feels. Then the only objects of relief from that dreadful enveloping gray wall were an occasional blur of yellow from a street lamp or a motor car headlight, a glimmering patch from some big lighted shop window here and there. And the figures, the figures of other people passing by, dark and floating and indistinct. Or were they people? Might they not be those phantom figures again? Just like the ones that haunted me before I went into the sanitarium. Ghostly, blurred figures of dead comrades from Dunkirk and Abbeville and the mud of Belgium. Ah, here comes another one. I can hear his cane tapping. Look closely now. Make sure.

[Doctor]

There.

[O'Reilly (Canadian soldier)]

He looked real enough, didn't he? They are real. I'm positive of it. And I'm not alone. They're all around me. But even as I told myself this, the old panic was growing inside here. Now, old fellow, you've got to get hold of yourself. Next one comes along, speak up. Speak up to him. Ask him the way to Molly Place. Ask. Can you put me on the trail to Molly Place? Just like that. You'll see, you know. Here he comes. Pass away. Beg pardon? Can you put me on? Say, is this right for the tube stationed? You know. I'm utterly lost. I want South Kennington. Why, why yes, I have just come from there. Straight along, I think. Oh, thanks awfully. Oh, but I say, can you put me on the trail to Morley Place? He's gone. Well, no matter. He was real enough. He spoke up like a real person. All right, maybe the next. Oh, I say, I beg your pardon.

[Nurse / Woman in the fog]

Oh, I am frightfully sorry. I didn't see you and you standing still.

[O'Reilly (Canadian soldier)]

I'm afraid I must be lost. Can you direct me to Morley, please?

[Nurse / Woman in the fog]

Oh dear, I think you've missed your turning. You'll have to double back a street and maybe two and take the first turn to the right and go one street and then double back two and then left again. The new car.

[O'Reilly (Canadian soldier)]

I say.

[Doctor]

Thanks.

[O'Reilly (Canadian soldier)]

That was first right. And then she's gone. Disappeared like a ghost. The panic was rising in me. They were real people, yes, but they appeared and disappeared so disconcertingly quickly. And when I turned off down the main street, there were fewer of them. I turned again and again, but I couldn't remember the directions. Suddenly I. I knew I was lost. And now I was in some little backwater where passersby were rare, where no one came, where I was alone. Now the panic swept over me. I stumbled on a curb. My cane swept empty air. I fell to the icy pavement. I was shaking so that I couldn't rise to my feet. I crawled across the open space of the street on my hands and knees. Only when I crossed the curb and felt a warm wall could I stand up again. And then I stood there, shaken and frantic. Morley Place must be very close. The little Red Cross girl waiting with her warm fire and hot tea. But. Suddenly, in the yellow blur of the nearest street lamp, A faint darkening of the fog caught my eye. It was not a figure this time, only the shadow of the pole, grotesquely magnified.

[Doctor]

No. No.

[O'Reilly (Canadian soldier)]

It moved. It came toward me. It was a figure, a woman. It came right up to me. Fear gripped me. And then I remembered the doctor's advice. Don't ignore them. Treat them as real spirit. Speak to them and go with them. You will soon prove their unreality then, and they will leave you. And so I gripped the wall behind me and spoke to her. Lost your way like myself, haven't you, ma'?

[Nurse / Woman in the fog]

Am?

[O'Reilly (Canadian soldier)]

Do you know where we are? Tall Molly. Place I'm looking for.

[Nurse / Woman in the fog]

Where am I?

[O'Reilly (Canadian soldier)]

I say you're more frightened than I am. May I help you?

[Nurse / Woman in the fog]

I'm lost. I've lost myself. I can't find my way back.

[O'Reilly (Canadian soldier)]

Same here. I'm terrified of being alone, too. I've had shell shock, you know. Let's go together. We'll find our way together.

[Nurse / Woman in the fog]

Who are you?

[O'Reilly (Canadian soldier)]

Name's O'Reilly, Canadian. I'm going to have tea with a friend in Morley Place. What's your address? Do you know the name of the street here?

[Nurse / Woman in the fog]

I came out suddenly, unexpectedly. I can't find my way home again. Just when I was expecting him to stay steady, ma'. Am. He may be there now, waiting for me this very moment, and I can't get back.

[O'Reilly (Canadian soldier)]

Have you any idea of the direction, ma'? Am? Any at all? We'll go together.

[Nurse / Woman in the fog]

I hear him calling. I remember.

[Doctor]

Wait, ma'.

[Nurse / Woman in the fog]

Am.

[Doctor]

Wait.

[O'Reilly (Canadian soldier)]

Don't leave me here alone. I'm going with you.

[Doctor]

Wait.

[O'Reilly (Canadian soldier)]

She was running fast through the fog. It was all I could do to keep up with her. But I felt I must not lose her or my own nerves would go to pieces. How she found a way in the fog, running so quickly I didn't know. But I kept close on my heels, running hard. I could smell a faint perfume in the air trailing behind her. A faintly familiar odor, but not pleasant. And then suddenly she stopped and turned into the gate. So suddenly that I almost bumped into her. Oh, is this in? You found it, then? May I come in with you for a moment? Perhaps you'll let me Telephone My doctor.

[Nurse / Woman in the fog]

Doctor?

[O'Reilly (Canadian soldier)]

Yes. Dr. Henry at the army hospital. I'm in his care, you know.

[Nurse / Woman in the fog]

My home is somewhere here. I'm near it. I must get back in time for him. I must. He's coming to me.

[O'Reilly (Canadian soldier)]

I. I say, ma'.

[Doctor]

Am.

[O'Reilly (Canadian soldier)]

But she turned and walked toward the house. For a moment I hesitated. This woman was acting very strangely. But no matter it. She was at least real, and I needed help. Quickly. I followed her up the steps, across the porch. The door was ajar. She slipped through, and I followed into the dark house. It was so dark inside, I couldn't see anything. At first I. I stopped groping, but she went on quickly, easily, as if she knew the way. She was ignoring me completely. I heard her steps cross the hall, go up the stairs quickly. I waited and listened. She walked along the hall upstairs.

[Nurse / Woman in the fog]

Where, oh, where is it? I must find it.

[O'Reilly (Canadian soldier)]

And now the hair on my neck felt as if it were rising. Was she, after all, another of my the gills? Was she unreal, too?

[Nurse / Woman in the fog]

At last I found it. I'm home again.

[O'Reilly (Canadian soldier)]

I heard her open a door upstairs, go in and close it after her. Then there was silence, profound silence. And I was alone in a dark, unoccupied house. The white covered furniture in the hallway loomed like ghosts, and there was no sound. I felt my panic coming back. But she was upstairs, and at least she was companionship. I groped my way up the stairs, along the upstairs hall. There was no sign of life. Where are you? I want to help you. Which room are you in? There was no answer. But as I put my hand on a table to steady myself, I felt something. It was a candle stump. With a gasp of relief, I took it up and lighted it. Now I could see a little. One by one, I tried the bedrooms. They were dusty and unused. The furniture covered, the mattresses rolled up on the beds. They were all alike until I opened the last door. Instantly, I knew this was it. I smelled the perfume. Only now I recognized and understood why it was unpleasant to me. It was the Smell of a hospital. Of chloroform. And there was the woman. Her dark fur coat wrapped around her. Her jewels just showing at the neck. And she was stretched out on the bed, motionless. Instantly, I. I knew she was dead. In the next instant, I thought I would go mad. The blood on her face was congealing. Her skin was cold. I knew then that she'd been dead for an hour at least. And that what I saw in the street was not real. This was the shock that Dr. Henry had warned me to avoid.

[Doctor]

And what happened then?

[O'Reilly (Canadian soldier)]

Why, I heard the door open up downstairs. Someone came in. The one she'd been expecting, no doubt. And suddenly I realized the danger of my being found there beside a woman who had obviously been murdered. I slipped into another bedroom. And when he went into that room with her, I slipped out and crept downstairs. I stumbled and he heard me. And I came out. I ran down and out into the fog, into the street and away. How long I ran or where, I don't know. When I was exhausted, I stopped. And then you came and found me. Well, what do you think? Tall tale, isn't it?

[Doctor]

Yes. Strange, but not incredible. I see no reason to disbelieve anything you've told me. Things equally remarkable, equally incredible happen every day in a big city. I know from personal experience. I could give you many instances.

[O'Reilly (Canadian soldier)]

But the woman. I saw her. And yet she was already dead.

[Doctor]

Such things are hard to explain, perhaps cannot be explained. Except, of course, your mind in its present state may still play tricks on you. Perhaps you saw a woman in the fog and followed her. You may have missed her and only thought you saw her go into that house.

[O'Reilly (Canadian soldier)]

But what about the dead woman? She was real enough.

[Doctor]

Perhaps, perhaps not. She, too, may have been just fantasy. You may never have left the street.

[O'Reilly (Canadian soldier)]

No, no, I'm sure of that. At least, I must believe it. She was real. And the man who came up the stairs was real. If I didn't believe that, I think I should go mad.

[Doctor]

Yes, perhaps that is important. Then let me see. Have you any proof of what you saw? Something, perhaps, that you carried away with you?

[O'Reilly (Canadian soldier)]

None.

[Doctor]

But.

[O'Reilly (Canadian soldier)]

But wait. I left something there. My hat. I left it on the bed beside her body. My initials were in it. And Seweth. It was all real. I shall be getting a visit from the police one day soon, perhaps. And then I'll know. And I'll be charged with murder.

[Doctor]

I don't think so.

[O'Reilly (Canadian soldier)]

You think the police would believe this fantastic story?

[Doctor]

As I told you, many strange things happen in a city like this, for instance. I knew of a similar case many years ago. Strangely similar case. Almost a coincidence. Would you like to hear it?

[O'Reilly (Canadian soldier)]

I. Yes, I suppose so.

[Doctor]

It happened during the last war. A colleague of mine, a surgeon, now dead, married a charming girl, young and beautiful. He was wealthy and they lived comfortably for many years. They seemed happy together. Then came the war and he went overseas. His income was stopped, of course. The big house closed. His wife found life not so pleasant as before. And somehow she blamed her new hardships on him. You see, she was devoid of imagination, without any power for sacrifice. But she was still young and beautiful. The inevitable young man came along to console her. He was rich. They planned to go off somewhere. Only by chance, the husband came back from overseas suddenly, just in the nick of time.

[O'Reilly (Canadian soldier)]

Well, he should have let her go. He was well rid of her, I'd say.

[Doctor]

Well rid of her, yes. Only he decided to make the riddance final. He decided to kill her and her lover. You see, he loved her. He planned the time and place carefully. They met, he knew, in the big house, now closed. He waited for them there. The plan failed, however, in one important detail. She came at the appointed time, but without her lover. She found death waiting for her. Completely painless death. The lover did not come. The door been left open for him. The house was deserted and was a foggy night, like tonight. But he did not come. Instead, a stranger came. Hi.

[O'Reilly (Canadian soldier)]

And where was the surgeon all this time?

[Doctor]

Waiting outside, concealed in the fog. He saw the man go in and he followed him to kill him. But the man was a stranger. He came in by chance, like you,

[O'Reilly (Canadian soldier)]

to shelter from the fog. I think that I should.

[Doctor]

Why? What is the matter?

[O'Reilly (Canadian soldier)]

Sir, I really must be going.

[Doctor]

Course, if you wish.

[O'Reilly (Canadian soldier)]

Thank you for your kindness and hospitality.

[Doctor]

Oh, it's been a pleasure, young man. I enjoyed your story. Although I confess I expected one a little different. Your coat. Thank you. I'll walk with you to the door and give you the directions. Ah, you're in luck. I think the fog's lifting a bit.

[O'Reilly (Canadian soldier)]

Doctor, may I ask, your friend, the surgeon, was he ever caught?

[Doctor]

Ah, that's the part of the story I don't know. He was clever enough so that I doubt it. Unless he told somebody, made a confession.

[O'Reilly (Canadian soldier)]

I see.

[Doctor]

And even so, unless that other person had some proof. Oh, by the way, you. You can't walk about in the fog without a hat. Here, it's an extra one of mine. You needn't trouble to return it. Thank you.

[O'Reilly (Canadian soldier)]

Thank you very much. I went out of his consulting room with a hat on my head. In 10 minutes I was at the tube station. It was only there that I permitted myself to take off the hat and look at was my own. The hat I had left on the bed beside the dead. Escape is produced and directed by William N. Robeson and tonight brought you confession by Algernon Blackwood. Adapted for radio by John Dunkle. With Bill Conrad as O'Reilly, Ramsey Hill as the Doctor and Peggy Webber as the woman in the fog. Music was conceived and conducted by Cy Fuer. Next week you are trapped in the dark maze of the native quarter of Mozambi. A dead man at your feet, the police closing in around you. And beside you is a girl with whom you must escape. Next week we escape with Percival Gibbons. Fast moving adventure Second class passenger. Good night then. Until this same time next week when again we offer you escape. This is cbs, the Columbia Broadcasting System.

[Nurse / Woman in the fog]

Sam.