Mysterious Traveler 47-01-12 (086) No Grave Can Hold Me

Summary

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Podcast Summary:

Harold's Old Time Radio – Mysterious Traveler "No Grave Can Hold Me"
Date: October 28, 2025
Episode originally aired: January 12, 1947
Host: Harold's Old Time Radio
Featured Cast: Santos Ortega, Richard Coogan

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Overview

This episode revives The Mysterious Traveler radio anthology, presenting the chilling tale “No Grave Can Hold Me.” It’s a suspenseful supernatural mystery set in the Golden Age of Radio, exploring the thin boundary between death and revenge. The narrative follows the aftermath of psychic Maximilian Randolph’s conviction and execution for murder, and the sinister events that unfold as he seemingly exacts vengeance from beyond the grave.

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Key Discussion Points & Plot Breakdown

1. The Courtroom Verdict and Randolph’s Curse

• The story opens in a court of law as Maximilian Randolph is on trial for killing Clements, who called him a fraud.

• The atmosphere is tense; his daughter (Nora) and son-in-law (Harry Wilson) anxiously await the jury's decision.

• Key moment (03:07):
  Randolph curses those responsible after being found guilty:

  "The fools. They too think that I'm an imposter. Trickster. They shall learn different. If I die, so shall they." — Maximilian Randolph (03:07)

• As he’s sentenced to death, Randolph makes a chilling proclamation:

  "I'll stand up so that they will recognize my face again when they see it suddenly in the night and know that Death has come to claim them." — Maximilian Randolph (03:28)

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2. Randolph’s Bizarre Burial Requests

• Randolph, unfazed by his death sentence, asks Harry to fulfill odd instructions:
  • His vault must have a bronze door facing east, locked with a mechanism operable from within.
  • Place a notebook under his head listing the names of the jury, prosecutor, and judge.

  "So that I may know where to seek my vengeance upon them." — Maximilian Randolph (06:10)

  • He ominously notes the coming full moon:

  "And each time hereafter that it shines, one of my enemies will join me in death." — Maximilian Randolph (07:19)

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3. Mysterious Deaths Under the Full Moon

• On the next full moon, Harry grows agitated by Randolph’s threats and the odd burial.
• That same night, a juror (Adams) is killed after encountering a cloaked stranger:

  "Because my face has changed in the months since I was executed and buried. It's rather frightening." — Maximilian Randolph (09:39)

• Randolph’s disembodied voice telephones Nora, claiming responsibility and warning Harry not to interfere:

  “I just want to tell Harry that I have claimed the first victim of my vengeance exactly on the stroke of midnight. The same minute when I died.” — Maximilian Randolph (10:59)

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4. Skepticism & Escalating Danger

• Harry attempts to warn the prosecutor (Baldwin), the press, and Judge Dexter—with no success.

  “If I ran your story, I'd be fired tomorrow.” — Mr. Lord, newspaper editor (13:05)

• Baldwin dismisses Harry’s warnings, accusing him of seeking publicity.

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5. The Pattern Continues: More Victims

• On the second full moon, Baldwin is killed in the same manner as Adams. Harry begins to fear he may be the murderer under hypnosis.

  "I believe that in those few minutes I was with him. Somehow Randolph impressed on my mind. Orders to carry out his vengeance for him." — Harry Wilson (20:10)

• Harry asks Nora to lock him in, suspecting he’s Randolph’s tool.

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6. Showdown at the Crypt: The Truth Is Revealed

• Harry and Judge Dexter resolve to open Randolph’s tomb to solve the mystery.

• Inside, they discover:

  • Randolph’s body is still in the coffin.
  • Nora, unconscious.
  • Another figure in the vault—the true killer.

• In the confusion, a struggle ensues. The assailant is revealed to be Guard Miller, Randolph’s former prison guard.

  "It's Miller. The guard from the penitentiary. The one Randolph said he made a friend of." — Harry Wilson (27:52)

• Miller was hypnotized by Randolph before execution and acted out Randolph’s vengeance posthumously.

  "Before Father was executed, he must have hypnotized this man and ordered him to carry out his fantastic scheme of vengeance." — Nora Wilson (28:02)

• Judge Dexter concludes:

  "Otherwise, Randolph's hypnosis would never have worked. For no normal person can be influenced the way Miller was under any circumstances." — Judge Dexter (28:18)

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7. The Chilling Epilogue

• The Mysterious Traveler leaves listeners with an open-ended warning, questioning if the threat is truly finished:

  "So the great Randolph is dead for good, is he? I wonder... Oh, but he. He couldn't have hypnotized any of the others. I wouldn't give it another thought if I were you. Unless, of course, you were on the jury that convicted Randolph." — Mysterious Traveler (29:13)

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Notable Quotes

• Randolph’s Vengeance:
  “If I die, so shall they.” — Maximilian Randolph (03:07)

• Supernatural Threat:
  “Each time hereafter that it [the full moon] shines, one of my enemies will join me in death.” — Maximilian Randolph (07:19)

• Skeptical Justice:
  “I'm a busy man. I have enough on my mind without having to listen to wild eyed stories like the one you just told.” — Mr. Baldwin (12:22)

• Haunting Sign-Off:
  “Unless, of course, you were on the jury that convicted Randolph.” — Mysterious Traveler (29:29)

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Important Timestamps

• [03:03-03:42] — Randolph curses the jury and court.
• [05:00-07:19] — Randolph’s eerie burial instructions and predictions.
• [09:17-10:14] — The first juror killed under the full moon.
• [10:56-11:11] — Randolph’s phone call confirms a supernatural threat.
• [12:22] — Baldwin refuses to believe in the supernatural curse.
• [17:21-18:53] — Baldwin confronted and murdered.
• [22:49-25:13] — Harry, Judge Dexter, and Nora confront the truth in Randolph’s vault.
• [27:36-28:34] — The climactic reveal: Guard Miller is the hypnotized killer.
• [29:07-29:36] — The Mysterious Traveler’s ominous farewell.

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Tone & Language

The script embodies atmospheric suspense, gothic melodrama, and rising hysteria—reflective of 1940s radio thrillers. Characters speak with urgency, skepticism, and mounting terror, often delivering dramatic lines with theatrical flair. The episode’s narration, music, and tense dialogue evoke the classic tradition of radio mysteries.

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Conclusion

“No Grave Can Hold Me” makes masterful use of the supernatural avenger trope, enhanced with the psychological twist of post-hypnotic suggestion. Layered in mystery and macabre, it’s a gripping journey reminiscent of radio’s golden era, capped with the Mysterious Traveler’s wry, unsettling sign-off—reminding listeners that some threats may never fully rest.

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Transcript

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[Narrator]

The Mutual Broadcasting System presents the Mysterious Traveler, Written, produced and directed by Robert A. Arthur and David Coker, and featuring tonight, two of radio's most distinguished personalities, Santos Ortega and Richard Coogan, in no Grave Can Hold Me.

[Mysterious Traveler]

This is the Mysterious Traveler, inviting you to join me on another journey into the realm of the strange and the terrifying. I hope you will enjoy the trip and it will thrill you a little and chill you a little as we travel tonight into the world of shadows from which no man may return.

[Maximilian Randolph]

And we learn the story of one who does return.

[Mysterious Traveler]

It's a story I call no Grave can hold Me. My story starts in a court of law where a man is on trial for his life. The courtroom is tense, for the jury is out deciding a prisoner's fate. But the prisoner himself, a tall man with glossy black hair and piercing eyes, sits calmly with his lawyer, his daughter Nora, and his son in law, Harry Wilson, waiting for the fateful verdict.

[Nora Wilson]

Oh, dear, I wish we knew. Father, I think the jury is coming in now. They say it's a bad sign when the jury is out for such a short while.

[Mysterious Traveler]

You need not worry, either of you.

[Maximilian Randolph]

I shall be free.

[Harry Wilson]

I certainly hope so, Randolph, but. Well, you know. You did admit you killed Clements because he insulted me.

[Maximilian Randolph]

He called me a mountebank, a charlatan, a trickster.

[Judge Dexter]

He called the great Randolph a faker.

[Mysterious Traveler]

So he died.

[Harry Wilson]

There they come.

[Nora Wilson]

Oh, father, I'm frightened.

[Harry Wilson]

They're taking new places on jury box now. They look awfully grim.

[Maximilian Randolph]

I repeat, have no fear for me.

[Judge Dexter]

Foreman of the jury, has the jury reached a verdict?

[Harry Wilson]

It has, your honor.

[Judge Dexter]

What is the verdict?

[Harry Wilson]

We find the defendant guilty as charged of murder in the first degree.

[Nora Wilson]

Oh, no, no, France.

[Harry Wilson]

Who finds you guilty?

[Maximilian Randolph]

The fools. They too think that I'm an imposter. Trickster. They shall learn different. If I die, so shall they.

[Judge Dexter]

The prisoner will rise.

[Nora Wilson]

Father, you to stand up.

[Judge Dexter]

The prisoner will rise. Very well.

[Maximilian Randolph]

I'll stand up so that they will recognize my face again when they see it suddenly in the night and know that Death has come to claim them.

[Judge Dexter]

Maximilian Randolph, you have been found guilty of the crime of murder in the first degree. It is the sentence of this court that you shall suffer the punishment of death on the night of June 6th at midnight. And may God have mercy on your soul.

[Harry Wilson]

Visitor for you, Mr. Randolph.

[Maximilian Randolph]

Thank you, Guard Miller.

[Harry Wilson]

You can see him for only five minutes, Mr. Wilson. Yes, all right.

[Maximilian Randolph]

Guard.

[Harry Wilson]

Hello, Randolph.

[Maximilian Randolph]

Good evening, Harry. I see that my guard Miller managed to get you in to see me.

[Harry Wilson]

Yes, he did. Time is so short that.

[Maximilian Randolph]

Well, I know it is almost midnight and at midnight I die. But Guard Miller has become a good friend. I knew he'd arrange it.

[Harry Wilson]

Nora and I saw the governor this afternoon. He refused to do a thing.

[Maximilian Randolph]

It does not matter what is death but a new garment for the soul to wear?

[Harry Wilson]

Nora's waiting outside. You said you didn't want to see her tonight.

[Maximilian Randolph]

That is as I wished. You were my assistant. We were very close, you and I. And now there is a last promise you must make to me.

[Harry Wilson]

Anything, Randolph.

[Maximilian Randolph]

When you receive my body, the empty husk of the great Randolph, bury it in a vault with a bronze door which faces east.

[Harry Wilson]

A vault facing east?

[Maximilian Randolph]

Yes, of course, the door must be locked with a padlock of bronze. But it must be possible to open it from the inside, but without using a key.

[Harry Wilson]

Randolph, you.

[Maximilian Randolph]

The coffin must be locked shut as well. But I must be able to open it from the inside.

[Harry Wilson]

Randolph. Sure you're not serious?

[Maximilian Randolph]

I never joke. All this and one thing more.

[Harry Wilson]

Promise. All right, I. I promise.

[Maximilian Randolph]

When I am buried, beneath my head must rest a notebook bearing the names and addresses of the 12 jurymen who found me guilty of the prosecuting attorney and of the judge. But why, Randolph? So that I may know where to seek my vengeance upon them. The vengeance I have sworn, which must be executed before my soul can sleep.

[Harry Wilson]

Oh, Randolph, that's madness.

[Maximilian Randolph]

You disbelieve.

[Mysterious Traveler]

So do they.

[Maximilian Randolph]

But in my studies I have learned many things. And one of them is how to reach back from behind the dark curtain of death.

[Harry Wilson]

All right.

[Judge Dexter]

But your time is up, sir.

[Maximilian Randolph]

Thank you, Miller. Goodbye, Harry. Just tell me one more thing. Is the full moon shining tonight?

[Harry Wilson]

Yes, it's a full moon tonight. Good.

[Maximilian Randolph]

And each time hereafter that it shines, one of my enemies will join me in death.

[Mysterious Traveler]

And so the great Randolph went to his execution and was buried according to his instructions. After a few days, his case was forgotten. Forgotten by all but Harry Wilson, his son in law. Well, as the first month passed and the full moon again shone in the windows of his apartment, a strange restlessness possessed.

[Harry Wilson]

Harry.

[Nora Wilson]

Harry, what's wrong with you?

[Harry Wilson]

I'm sorry, Nora, but tonight, the night of the full moon. I'm nervous. I. I can't help it.

[Nora Wilson]

Oh, darling, you're not worrying about father, are you? About his threat?

[Harry Wilson]

Yes, I am.

[Nora Wilson]

Oh, but that's absurd. Poor father. Toward the end, I'm afraid he was suffering from delusions. And he was more than just an ordinary man. He wasn't entirely sane.

[Harry Wilson]

No, maybe not. But he was so sure of himself, so certain. And those instructions for the way he was to be buried. Oh, of course. I'm just being foolish.

[Nora Wilson]

Why don't you go out and walk for a while, Harry? It'll help calm you.

[Harry Wilson]

All right, all right, I will. You want to come along? It's a nice night.

[Nora Wilson]

No, I think I'll stay here and read.

[Harry Wilson]

All right. I'll be back in an hour or so, dear. And if nothing happens tonight, I'll. I'll know that Randolph is just putting on an act.

[Mysterious Traveler]

But a little later, another man was also walking in the moonlight of a beautiful July evening. This one was short and stout. He was strolling homeward from a small poker party with his friends, when in the dark shadows cast by the trees along the edge of the park, a tall figure stepped directly into his path.

[Maximilian Randolph]

Just a moment, Adam.

[Harry Wilson]

Who are you? What do you want?

[Maximilian Randolph]

Just to talk to you.

[Harry Wilson]

I don't want to talk to you. Get out of my way so fast, my friend. Look, a gun. Say, what is this, a hold up?

[Maximilian Randolph]

No, Adam, it is not to hold her.

[Harry Wilson]

Then why are you threatening me with that gun? Why have you got that scar covering your face?

[Maximilian Randolph]

Because my face has changed in the months since I was executed and buried. It's rather frightening.

[Harry Wilson]

Now, what are you saying? Who are you anyway?

[Maximilian Randolph]

You're beginning to recognize my voice, aren't you? You know who I am. You just don't want to admit it to yourself.

[Harry Wilson]

That great Randolph, whom you was foreman.

[Maximilian Randolph]

Of the jury, cause to be executed.

[Harry Wilson]

No. No, it's not possible. No one could come back from the dead.

[Maximilian Randolph]

No ordinary man. But the great Randolph has come back.

[Harry Wilson]

No, I don't believe it. That's a trick of some kind.

[Maximilian Randolph]

And is this a trick, Adam?

[Harry Wilson]

Is it? Is it Is.

[Judge Dexter]

Hello?

[Mysterious Traveler]

Hello, Nora.

[Maximilian Randolph]

Is Harry there?

[Nora Wilson]

No, he's out for a walk. Who is this?

[Maximilian Randolph]

Don't you recognize my voice, Nora? Surely you heard it often enough.

[Nora Wilson]

Father. Oh, no, it can't be.

[Maximilian Randolph]

Strange how scary. Skeptical everyone is of me. Even my own daughter.

[Nora Wilson]

Father, it Is you. What do you want?

[Maximilian Randolph]

I just want to tell Harry that I have claimed the first victim of my vengeance exactly on the stroke of midnight. The same minute when I died.

[Nora Wilson]

Oh, no, no.

[Maximilian Randolph]

And I wanted to warn him that he must do nothing to interfere with my plans. Or if he does, I shall have to add him to my list of victims.

[Harry Wilson]

No. Nora, you said he telephoned here. You wanted to speak to me.

[Nora Wilson]

Yes, Harry. Just a little after 12. He said that he.

[Harry Wilson]

Yes, I know. I heard the news. I was in a restaurant having coffee and it came over the radio. Adam's the foreman of the jury. But found strangle in front of his home.

[Nora Wilson]

Oh, but it's impossible. And yet it was his voice, Harry. Father's voice.

[Harry Wilson]

Oh, we've got to do something, Nora. I've got to warn the others on that list. The other jurors. Baldwin, the District attorney and Judge Dexter.

[Nora Wilson]

Yes, but he said if you tried to interview.

[Harry Wilson]

I know, but that doesn't matter. In the morning I'm going to District Attorney Baldwin. He'll believe me. He'll have to. Oh, but Mr. Baldwin, you've got to listen to me. You've got to warn the others. You've got to give them protection or they'll die just as Adams did.

[Mr. Baldwin]

Winston, I'm a busy man. I have enough on my mind without having to listen to wild eyed stories like the one you just told.

[Harry Wilson]

Oh, but. But it's true. Randolph's instructions about the way he wanted to be buried. The notebook that I put in the coffin with him.

[Mr. Baldwin]

Mere theatrical mummery. Adams was the victim of an ordinary street mugging. That's all there is to it. I have to ask you to leave. I have more important things to attend to.

[Harry Wilson]

Mr. Lord, you're a sensible man. You edit the biggest newspaper in this city. If you'll only print what I've told you, the authorities will have to take some action.

[Maximilian Randolph]

Wilson, my job is to print news for our readers, not ghost stories. If I ran your story, I'd be fired tomorrow.

[Harry Wilson]

Then you don't believe me. I tell you what I will do.

[Maximilian Randolph]

I'll make a story for the Sunday supplement Out.

[Judge Dexter]

Well, that won't do any good if.

[Harry Wilson]

It'S in the Sunday supplement. People will just smile at it when they see it there. They'll know it's just a story.

[Judge Dexter]

And I'm afraid there's no use in.

[Maximilian Randolph]

Talking any further, Wilson.

[Harry Wilson]

All right, I'll go to other papers. One of them will have to believe me.

[Maximilian Randolph]

Don't advise it. You run a Shop, don't you? Selling tricks and magic apparatus?

[Harry Wilson]

Yes. Yes, that's right. Why?

[Maximilian Randolph]

Just this. Newspapers don't believe in giving free publicity, and that's obviously what you're after.

[Harry Wilson]

Goodbye, Mr. Wilson.

[Nora Wilson]

I'm very sorry, Mr. Wilson, but Judge Dexter is unable to see you.

[Harry Wilson]

But Mr. Do explain to him what it's about, how important it is.

[Nora Wilson]

The judge said if you cared to write him a letter, he'd give the matter his consideration.

[Harry Wilson]

Oh, that's no good. I got to talk to him.

[Nora Wilson]

I'm sorry. He's leaving today for his vacation and he won't be back for a month. Perhaps he'll be able to see you then, but he simply can't see you now.

[Harry Wilson]

None of them would listen to me, Nora. They either thought I was crazy or that I wanted publicity. They all told me to forget it.

[Nora Wilson]

They're right, Harry. That's the only thing to do, to forget it. But Nora, maybe we're wrong. Maybe Adam's death last night was just a coincidence. I'm sure Father had nothing to do with it.

[Harry Wilson]

Oh, no, no, no. He telephoned you. You heard his voice.

[Nora Wilson]

Well, I'm not sure now that I did. Maybe it was a dream, Harry. Maybe I just imagined it. So forget the whole thing. Please, Harry, for my sake, forget it. Oh, Harry, darling, it's no good just pacing up and down. Please sit down and try to relax.

[Harry Wilson]

I can't, Nora. I can't. Tonight's the second full moon since Randolph was executed. He'll be leaving his grave tonight and someone else will die.

[Nora Wilson]

But Harry, there ought to be a.

[Harry Wilson]

Guard over the vault he's buried in. That wouldn't do any good if he came back to him. That daddy.

[Judge Dexter]

He wouldn't be bothered by a guard.

[Nora Wilson]

Please, Harry, you've done the best you can. And if it is true and you go on like this, will you be in danger too?

[Harry Wilson]

I don't care. That list, Nora. The names on it were alpha.

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[Harry Wilson]

And Adams, the foreman, was the first to die.

[Nora Wilson]

What are you driving with?

[Harry Wilson]

The second name on the list is Baldwin turn. A Baldwin wouldn't buy us time. But this night he's got to going to his home. Now while there's still time. Mr. Baldwin, you are in danger tonight. I'm sure of. A deadly danger. No, you.

[Mr. Baldwin]

You mean it? I'm sure Will, yes. I. I thought it was some kind of a gag before. Now I can see you fully believe everything you've said.

[Harry Wilson]

Well, then, you. You will take precautions, at least for tonight.

[Mr. Baldwin]

I've been an officer of the law for 30 years. I've been threatened by a lot of convicted murderers. But not one of them has come back to get me yet.

[Harry Wilson]

But you don't understand. The Great Randolph is different. He had powers that we know nothing about.

[Maximilian Randolph]

Perhaps. Perhaps, But I doubt it.

[Mr. Baldwin]

Now, Wilson, I appreciate your warning, but I can't take it seriously.

[Harry Wilson]

Then you. You won't guard yourself?

[Mr. Baldwin]

No more than usual. I lock the door presently. I'm sure that'll keep out any ghosts who may come this way.

[Harry Wilson]

Mr. Baldwin, please. It's almost midnight. At least let me stay with you for another hour.

[Mr. Baldwin]

I'm sorry, but I'm about ready to turn in.

[Judge Dexter]

I expect to sleep well too.

[Mr. Baldwin]

Now you go on home. Do the same. Because nobody's going to be harmed tonight by the Great Randolph spook.

[Maximilian Randolph]

I guarantee it.

[Harry Wilson]

Oh, no. I, I. Please, I wish you'd let me.

[Mr. Baldwin]

I couldn't think of it. Now you can find your way out yourself, can't you?

[Judge Dexter]

I'm sure.

[Harry Wilson]

Yes, of course. All right, Mr. Baldwin. I won't bother you any longer. Good night.

[Mr. Baldwin]

Good night, Wilson.

[Mysterious Traveler]

Well, he's gone.

[Mr. Baldwin]

Afraid the poor fellow needs to see a psychiatrist.

[Mysterious Traveler]

Randolph's ghost.

[Mr. Baldwin]

I only hope I never have anything worse to be afraid of than.

[Harry Wilson]

Who's there?

[Mr. Baldwin]

Who came in just now? Wilson, is that you again?

[Maximilian Randolph]

No, my friend, it is not Wilson. Who are you?

[Harry Wilson]

What the devil's the meaning of this?

[Maximilian Randolph]

You don't recognize me?

[Mr. Baldwin]

Then how can I? In that cloak with the collar pulled up over your face?

[Maximilian Randolph]

That is to spare the world a sight that should remain forever hidden within the darkness of a coffin. But my voice. Surely you recognize that. What are you talking about?

[Harry Wilson]

Get out at once.

[Mr. Baldwin]

I'll call for the police.

[Maximilian Randolph]

It would tax their powers to arrest me. They have no authority in the world to which I belong.

[Harry Wilson]

No.

[Mr. Baldwin]

No, it can't be.

[Maximilian Randolph]

I see you have recognized me. You should have taken Wilson's warning, Baldwin, because I'm here. The great Rand out at your service is impossible. That's been said of so many things, hasn't it? But I think I can convince you.

[Harry Wilson]

No. Stay away.

[Nora Wilson]

Help.

[Harry Wilson]

Help.

[Maximilian Randolph]

That won't do you any good. By the time anyone comes, you will have joined me in the world of gay.

[Harry Wilson]

Nora. Nora, where are you?

[Nora Wilson]

Nora. Harry, I could hear you calling all the way down the hall.

[Judge Dexter]

Nora, where have you been?

[Nora Wilson]

I just went out to get the morning papers. Why?

[Harry Wilson]

Why? It's happened again. District Attorney Baldwin has been killed. But how? Exactly the same way Mr. Adams was killed. Strangled, just at midnight.

[Nora Wilson]

Oh, no.

[Harry Wilson]

And, Nora, I think I know the truth now.

[Nora Wilson]

What do you mean?

[Harry Wilson]

I don't believe it was your father at all. I think it was I that killed them. I killed them both. Elnora, you got to do it. There's a full moon tonight. You've got to lock me in this apartment.

[Nora Wilson]

Oh, but, Harry, you couldn't possibly have killed those two men.

[Harry Wilson]

I could. I was near the scene at both times, and my. My mind, it wasn't clear. I don't remember doing it. But don't you see? If I'd been hypnotized, I wouldn't remember.

[Nora Wilson]

But, darling, Father couldn't have hypnotized you into committing murder. It's a law of hypnosis. The subject won't do anything he knows is wrong.

[Harry Wilson]

I know that, but I can't be sure. I believe that in those few minutes I was with him. Somehow Randolph impressed on my mind. Orders to carry out his vengeance for him.

[Nora Wilson]

Oh, darling, I'm sure he didn't. But if you insist, I'll lock you in.

[Harry Wilson]

All right. Well, I want you to go now. Might not be safe for you to stay with me.

[Nora Wilson]

All right, Harry. I'll go to a movie.

[Harry Wilson]

Got to stay locked in until after midnight. Then even if I am hypnotized, I won't be able to do any harm. You do understand, Nora, don't you?

[Nora Wilson]

Oh, of course, darling. I'm sure you're wrong. But I'll do anything you say.

[Harry Wilson]

All right, now lock me in. And don't you come back until after midnight. 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. Another hour and then I'll know. Or will I? Maybe I'll try to get out and I won't remember it. Or telephone. Yes? Hello?

[Mysterious Traveler]

Hello, Harry?

[Harry Wilson]

Randolph.

[Maximilian Randolph]

Yes, my boy. I'm glad. At least you don't say no. It's impossible.

[Harry Wilson]

No. Where are you, Randolph?

[Maximilian Randolph]

That doesn't matter. I just wanted to warn you. And don't try to interfere with my plans.

[Harry Wilson]

But, Randolph, I thought. Hello? Hello? He hung up. That proves that I'm not the one then. In that case, yes. That's the only possible answer. I know now that the truth is I've got to get out of here. The door. I couldn't break it down with an axe. There's no fire escape and it's eight floors down to the street. They have it. The superintendent. I can telephone the superintendent, tell him I'm locked in, and then he'll come and let me out. Judge Dexter. First Adams died, then Baldwin. Their names were the first two on the great Adam Randolph's list. Your name is third.

[Judge Dexter]

And so you think that tonight I'm scheduled to die, huh?

[Harry Wilson]

Yes. Yes, I'm sure of it.

[Judge Dexter]

And you say you warned Baldwin last month just before he was murdered?

[Harry Wilson]

I did, and he laughed at me. But he died just the same.

[Judge Dexter]

And you're seriously asking me me to believe that a dead man, legally executed by the state, is walking the streets tonight seeking life?

[Harry Wilson]

I tell you, he telephoned me only half an hour ago. I recognized his voice.

[Judge Dexter]

You know, of course, that your story sounds like the ravings of an insane mind.

[Harry Wilson]

I know it. That's why I've kept quiet this last month. I did try to convince the police, the district attorney, and all I got was laughed at. And then.

[Judge Dexter]

Yes, and yet obviously you're. You're in earnest. I don't think you're crazy.

[Harry Wilson]

I'm not. For a little while I thought that I was the killer. You? How? I thought that I was under post hypnotic control that Randolph had planted in my mind the impulse to kill his enemies. But that phone call proved that I was wrong.

[Judge Dexter]

And what do you propose that we do?

[Harry Wilson]

If we went to his tomb, perhaps then we'd learn the truth.

[Judge Dexter]

Wilson, what do you want to open Randolph's tomb for?

[Harry Wilson]

Don't you see? If we go there and we find Randolph is still in his coffin, then I'll know that the real murderer is my wife, Nora. I. I have the key right here. I have the padlock. In a minute.

[Judge Dexter]

Well, then hurry. The moon is bright. I'd hate to have anyone see us. Yes, I hear very strange story. A man in my position prowling around the cemetery at midnight.

[Harry Wilson]

Oh, but we had to come, Judge. We had to make sure. Well, here, one like that, we can open the vault door. Now.

[Judge Dexter]

I'm rather sorry I paid any attention to you, Wilson, but we're here now, so let's get this thing over with. Now, I'm going in first, but don't forget, I'm on.

[Harry Wilson]

Oh, don't worry about me. There. I've shut the door. Be Safe to turn on the flashlight now. There, see? There's the coffin.

[Judge Dexter]

That's odd.

[Harry Wilson]

Huh? What is it, Judge?

[Judge Dexter]

The air in here is fresh. This vault has been opened, and very recently.

[Harry Wilson]

Then it must have been opened by random.

[Judge Dexter]

Oh, nonsense. Open this coffin and I'll prove it.

[Harry Wilson]

Here. How does it work? This catch on the side can be operated either from the inside or out. There we. It's unlocked. Well, then lift the lid, man. Lift it.

[Judge Dexter]

All right, I'll do it.

[Harry Wilson]

No.

[Mr. Baldwin]

There.

[Judge Dexter]

There you are. Now, see? There's your precious Randolph. Safe and sound, just as I expected. Quite dead as he's supposed to be.

[Nora Wilson]

He's still in his coffin.

[Judge Dexter]

Yes, and that proves that. Wilson, shine your flashlight down on the floor. I just touched a body lying here near the wall.

[Maximilian Randolph]

Body?

[Harry Wilson]

It's Laura. She's dead.

[Judge Dexter]

I don't think so. Here, give me that light. What happened? Why did you turn out the flashlight?

[Harry Wilson]

Something knocked it out of my hands. I. I can't find it.

[Maximilian Randolph]

Because I have it, Harry. That's why you can't find it.

[Judge Dexter]

Randolph Wilson. What are you saying?

[Harry Wilson]

It's Randolph. He's not dead.

[Maximilian Randolph]

Oh, but I am, Harry. But don't let that disturb you. I want to thank you for bringing.

[Judge Dexter]

The judge here to. Wilson. Where are you? You're trying to play a trick on me.

[Harry Wilson]

No, no, I swear.

[Maximilian Randolph]

He's quite innocent. Judge Dexter Despenora. She merely came to make sure I was where I'm supposed to be. Just as you did when I spoke to her. She fainted.

[Judge Dexter]

Wilson, get the door open. We've got to have some light in here.

[Maximilian Randolph]

It's no use, Dexter. I can see in the dark like a cat, and you can't.

[Harry Wilson]

No.

[Maximilian Randolph]

I have you now.

[Judge Dexter]

No, Judge.

[Maximilian Randolph]

You're going to die, Dexter. Executed as you ordered me executed.

[Judge Dexter]

Randolph, let me go. I warn you, Randolph, I'm. I've got a gun.

[Nora Wilson]

I'm going to shoot.

[Maximilian Randolph]

You're too late.

[Judge Dexter]

Yeah, yeah.

[Harry Wilson]

Are you all right?

[Judge Dexter]

Yes. Yes, I am. Now, see if you can find the flashlight. I think I've taken care of Mr. Randolph. If it was Randolph, I think I have it.

[Harry Wilson]

Yes, here it is. Judge Randolph's body. It's still in the coffin.

[Judge Dexter]

I rather thought it would be.

[Harry Wilson]

Harry.

[Nora Wilson]

Harry, is that you?

[Harry Wilson]

Oh, Nora. You're not hurt?

[Nora Wilson]

No, just my head. I came here to see a father.

[Judge Dexter]

We understand, Mrs. Wilson. And then someone hit you?

[Nora Wilson]

Yes, we're behind. There was someone here in the vault. I just got a glimpse of him and then. And then he hit me. But who was He?

[Judge Dexter]

That's what we're just about to find out.

[Harry Wilson]

Now, let me have the flashlight. Wilson. Yes, I think he fell over here now.

[Judge Dexter]

Yes, here he is.

[Nora Wilson]

But who is he? He was impersonating Father. But but who is he?

[Harry Wilson]

I hear he's lying on his face. I better turn him over carefully now. He's still breathing. That's it. Oh. Hey, it's Miller. The guard from the penitentiary. The one Randolph said he made a friend of.

[Nora Wilson]

Yes, the one who was guarding him just before he was executed.

[Harry Wilson]

Oh, that's it. It was Miller. Miller, can you hear me? I'm afraid he's dying.

[Nora Wilson]

Before Father was executed, he must have hypnotized this man and ordered him to carry out his fantastic scheme of vengeance.

[Harry Wilson]

It was a trick, but a very cunning trick. By means of hypnosis, Randolph used this man as a tool. Even though Randolph himself was dead, he.

[Nora Wilson]

Must have recognized that Miller was unusually susceptible.

[Judge Dexter]

I think we'll find that Miller was a psychotic to begin with. Otherwise, Randolph's hypnosis would never have worked. For no normal person can be influenced the way Miller was under any circumstances.

[Harry Wilson]

Isn't there anything we can do for him? No.

[Judge Dexter]

No, he's gone. And with him, the great Randolph has died too.

[Harry Wilson]

For.

[Mysterious Traveler]

This is a mysterious traveler again. So the great Randolph is dead for good, is he?

[Maximilian Randolph]

I wonder.

[Mysterious Traveler]

After all, Miller wasn't the only God Randolph had a chance to talk to. Oh, but he. He couldn't have hypnotized any of the others. I wouldn't give it another thought if I were you. Unless, of course, you were on the jury that convicted Randolph.

[Maximilian Randolph]

In that case.

[Mysterious Traveler]

Oh, you have to get off here. I'm sorry. I'm sure we'll meet again. I take this same train every week at this train, same time.

[Narrator]

You have just heard the Mysterious Traveler. A series of dramas of the strange and terrifying. The role of the mysterious Travelers, played by Maurice Toplin in tonight's cast were Santos Ortega, Richard Coogan, Shirley Blank and Bill Smith. Original music composed and played by Al Finelli. All characters in this story were fictitious, and any resemblance to actual persons was purely coincidental. This is Bob Emmerich speaking. This program came from New York. This is the Mutual Broadcasting System.

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