Witch's Tale (AU) 41-xx-xx Rats in a Trap

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Witch's Tale (AU) 41-xx-xx Rats in a Trap"

Podcast Information:

• Title: Harold's Old Time Radio
• Host/Author: Harolds Old Time Radio
• Description: Reliving the Golden Age of Radio, featuring classic radio shows before the advent of television. Families gathered around to enjoy timeless tales such as The Shadow, Abbott & Costello, Amos & Andy, Dragnet, and many more.
• Episode: Witch's Tale (AU) 41-xx-xx Rats in a Trap
• Release Date: August 12, 2025

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Introduction

"Witch's Tale (AU) 41-xx-xx Rats in a Trap" transports listeners back to a bygone era, blending suspense, mystery, and supernatural elements reminiscent of old-time radio dramas. The episode intertwines the lives of several characters caught in a web of deceit, vengeance, and unresolved grief.

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Main Characters

• Mr. Cowper: A seasoned lawyer with political ambitions, mentoring young lawyers.
• Dan Miller: A young lawyer grappling with the tragic loss of his wife, Lucy.
• Lucy: Dan Miller's wife, whose mysterious death propels the narrative.
• Satan: Portrayed as a wise black cat, serving as an enigmatic presence guiding or observing events.
• Bet: Another character connected to the central plot, possibly a family member.
• Jesse: An associate involved in the legal and possibly underworld aspects of the story.
• Dave Morton: A lawyer with ambiguous motives and connections to the criminal underbelly.

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Plot Overview

The episode unfolds with Mr. Cowper and Satan introducing listeners to "Rat in a Trap," setting a dark and eerie tone. The narrative centers on Dan Miller, a young lawyer whose wife, Lucy, has been tragically separated from him under mysterious circumstances.

Dan's concerns about Lucy's safety lead him to interact with Mr. Cowper, who hints at political aspirations and eventually suggests Dan run for prosecutor. However, Dan is preoccupied with unraveling the truth behind Lucy's death, believing that existing laws are inadequate to address the complexities of modern crimes.

As the story progresses, Lucy's distress calls reveal a break-in at their isolated summer home, involving three men—Red, Limpy, and a blond man with a limp—who threaten her safety. The tension heightens as Lucy and Bet (possibly her sister or relative) plead for help, but external circumstances delay Dan's ability to intervene promptly.

Upon returning from the hospital, where Dan has been recovering, he confronts Mr. Cowper about the lack of progress in solving the case. Mr. Cowper admits the police are stymied, with little to no evidence beyond Lucy's frantic description of the assailants.

In a twist, Dan decides to take matters into his own hands, vowing to find the perpetrators who caused his wife's death. His investigation leads him to Jesse, who introduces him to Dave Morton—a lawyer with dubious practices who recently defended a man named Big Mike.

Dan's interactions with Morton reveal Morton's unethical methods, including perjured testimonies and bribed witnesses to secure acquittals. Dan defends Big Mike, a large man with a scar, whom he frees from jail despite overwhelming evidence of guilt.

Satan, the black cat, becomes a pivotal character as he engages in conversations that blur the lines between reality and hallucination, hinting at supernatural influences or Dan's deteriorating mental state. Tensions escalate when Satan, under the guise of the cat, reveals deeper connections between the characters and the unresolved crimes.

The climax crescendos in Dan's confrontation with Satan/Mike, culminating in a vivid and symbolic portrayal of justice and retribution. The episode concludes with an unsettling resolution, leaving listeners pondering the true nature of justice and the psychological toll of vengeance.

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Key Scenes and Discussions

1. Introduction by Mr. Cowper and Satan ([00:07] - [00:47]):

   • Sets the supernatural and mysterious ambiance.
   • Quote:
     • Satan: "The fascination of the eerie, weird, blood chilling tales told by old Nancy, the witch of Salem and Satan, her wise black cat. They are waiting, waiting for you now." ([00:23])

2. Dan Miller's Conversation with Mr. Cowper ([00:47] - [03:50]):

   • Highlights Dan's political aspirations and personal turmoil.
   • Quote:
     • Dan Miller: "I've said that our laws are unfitted to the crimes they were designed to control." ([03:16])

3. Lucy’s Distress Call ([04:03] - [07:08]):

   • Introduces the central conflict of the break-in and Lucy's peril.
   • Quote:
     • Lucy: "Remember, dear." ([05:05])

4. Confrontation with Mr. Cowper Post-Hospital ([07:08] - [09:49]):

   • Dan seeks the truth behind the police's lack of progress.
   • Quote:
     • Mr. Cowper: "If we had the guilty brutes before us in this room, we couldn't prove it without their own confessions." ([08:35])

5. Encounter with Jesse and Introduction of Dave Morton ([09:49] - [11:33]):

   • Unveils Morton's corrupt legal practices.
   • Quote:
     • Dan Miller: "I'm going to defend him from the rope because I like his looks." ([11:06])

6. Dan’s Interaction with Satan/Mike ([12:02] - [14:54]):

   • Blurs the lines between reality and hallucination, adding suspense.
   • Quote:
     • Satan: "I have to call you to hear your voice for the last time." ([05:31])

7. Climactic Cellar Scene ([16:37] - [19:58]):

   • Symbolizes Dan's psychological struggle and vengeance.
   • Quote:
     • Satan: "What you gonna do to me when you leave me?" ([19:14])

8. Final Confrontation and Revelation ([20:21] - [22:15]):

   • Dan confronts the ultimate truth about justice and punishment.
   • Quote:
     • Dan Miller: "Imagination that kills more horribly and surely than if the things it sees were real." ([21:50])

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Insights and Themes

• Justice vs. Vengeance: The episode delves into the thin line between seeking justice and succumbing to personal vengeance. Dan's quest to uncover the truth about his wife's death propels him into morally gray areas, questioning the efficacy and fairness of the legal system.

• Isolation and Paranoia: The isolated setting amplifies feelings of helplessness and paranoia, both in Lucy's immediate danger and Dan's subsequent mental state.

• Corruption in the Legal System: Through Dave Morton, the narrative critiques the corruption within the legal system, highlighting how power and unethical practices can subvert true justice.

• Supernatural and Psychological Elements: The character of Satan, the wise black cat, introduces supernatural undertones, possibly representing Dan's inner demons or the haunting presence of unresolved grief.

• Symbolism of the Rat Trap: The recurring motif of the rat trap symbolizes entrapment and helplessness, reflecting the characters' inability to escape their circumstances or the consequences of their actions.

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Conclusion

"Witch's Tale (AU) 41-xx-xx Rats in a Trap" masterfully combines classic radio storytelling with themes of justice, revenge, and the supernatural. Through its intricate plot and well-developed characters, the episode invites listeners to ponder the complexities of human emotions and the flaws within societal systems. The seamless integration of suspenseful dialogue, symbolic elements, and moral dilemmas makes this episode a standout in the Harold's Old Time Radio collection.

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Notable Quotes

• Satan ([00:23]): "The fascination of the eerie, weird, blood chilling tales told by old Nancy, the witch of Salem and Satan, her wise black cat. They are waiting, waiting for you now."

• Dan Miller ([03:16]): "I've said that our laws are unfitted to the crimes they were designed to control."

• Lucy ([05:05]): "Remember, dear."

• Mr. Cowper ([08:35]): "If we had the guilty brutes before us in this room, we couldn't prove it without their own confessions."

• Dan Miller ([11:06]): "I'm going to defend him from the rope because I like his looks."

• Satan ([19:14]): "What you gonna do to me when you leave me?"

• Dan Miller ([21:50]): "Imagination that kills more horribly and surely than if the things it sees were real."

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Listeners who embark on this episode will find themselves immersed in a tale that not only entertains but also provokes deeper contemplation about justice, morality, and the human psyche.

Transcript

[Mr. Cowper]

The Witch's tale.

[Satan]

The fascination of the eerie, weird, blood chilling tales told by old Nancy, the witch of Salem and Satan, her wise black cat. They are waiting, waiting for you now.

[Nancy]

Hundred and two year old I be today. Yes, sir, a hundred and two year old. Well, Satan, now it's time to spin these folks another of our cheerful little bedtime stories. Douse out them lights so we'll have it nice and dark. When you listens to our tales sitting in the gloom, it helps you to have purty dreams. Now draw up to the fire and gaze into the embers. Gaze into em deep and soon ye'll be away out west in Michigan and there in a fine big house where there's a party going on begins our yarn called Rat in a Trap. Rat in a Trap.

[Mr. Cowper]

Ah, didn't know you were out here in the friend of Denny.

[Dan Miller]

Enjoying the night here, Mr. Cowper?

[Mr. Cowper]

It's as hot as blazes inside. But young fellas like you should be in there dancing in spite of the heat.

[Dan Miller]

Afraid I'm not much of a dancer.

[Mr. Cowper]

You mean when the only girl you care to dance with there's nothing to be around, eh, son? You're certainly a model for husbands. Too bad Lucy didn't come in with her this morning. She'd have enjoyed this.

[Dan Miller]

I wish she had come along the way things turned out. But you know, I expected to return on the late afternoon train.

[Mr. Cowper]

I'm glad you missed that last train so we can have you here tonight.

[Dan Miller]

Yes, it's nice to be here, but this is the first night Lucy and I have been separated since our marriage.

[Mr. Cowper]

Nowadays, ladies have the vote. One of the first things a rising young lawyer with political ambitions must learn is not to appear too much married.

[Dan Miller]

I forgot that you are trying to make me president.

[Mr. Cowper]

Someday I may, but right now we'll compromise on United States Senator. Seriously, son, you have the stuff and people have begun to talk about you. You're pretty young for the job, but I've about decided to run you for prosecutor next election. Think you can make good?

[Dan Miller]

I. Oh, all I can say is that I'll do my best.

[Mr. Cowper]

That's pretty fair from what you've shown so far. But, Dan, you have a couple of faults that won't fit so well in the district Attorney's office.

[Dan Miller]

Oh, what do you mean?

[Mr. Cowper]

You know, you've shut off your mouth a lot about certain disagreements you have with our criminal code.

[Dan Miller]

I've said that our laws are unfitted to the crimes they were designed to control. I've said that because I Think it? Our penal code is wholly unsuited to cope with the thousand and one types of crime, the varied individuals who commit it. If I had the power, I'd amend that code so that it would cease to be a makeshift of political expediency and instead would truly serve the cause of justice.

[Mr. Cowper]

Doggone. That's as good a piece of campaign propaganda as I ever listened to.

[Dan Miller]

Oh, I meant what I said.

[Mr. Cowper]

Maybe you did, but you said it like a politician, and that's what interests me. I take back what I said about your faults.

[Lucy]

Develop em.

[Mr. Cowper]

But it's getting late. Come and dance with some of those pretty girls inside before the party breaks out.

[Dan Miller]

I'd better telephone Lucy first. I. I feel a little uneasy. That summer place of ours is so isolated back in the woods.

[Mr. Cowper]

And Lucy's not alone there. No.

[Dan Miller]

Pete Lorillard and his wife are with her. Or if she'd been alone, I'd have hired a cab and driven back tonight instead of waiting for the morning train.

[Mr. Cowper]

Over those roads, you'd arrive tomorrow afternoon. Come on, let's go inside.

[Dan Miller]

All right.

[Bet]

Oh, there you are, Bet.

[Nancy]

Oh, we've been looking for you everywhere, you and Abner. There's a lovely little blonde simply dying to meet you.

[Dan Miller]

Oh, well, I've come gladly to save her life, but I really think I should call up Lucy once more, if you don't mind.

[Bet]

I do mind, and so will Lucy.

[Nancy]

If you call her this hour, Daddy, she'll be sound asleep.

[Dan Miller]

I suppose you're right.

[Mr. Cowper]

But somehow, speaking of telephones.

[Dan Miller]

Hello?

[Mr. Cowper]

Who do you want? Daniel Miller.

[Dan Miller]

Oh, for me?

[Mr. Cowper]

It's Lucy.

[Dan Miller]

Lucy.

[Mr. Cowper]

Damn, she's crying. There's something the matter.

[Dan Miller]

Something the matter?

[Satan]

Yeah.

[Dan Miller]

Give me that phone. Lucy. Yes, dear? This is Dan. What's wrong, darling? You sound hysterical. You say the Lorillards were called away this afternoon.

[Mr. Cowper]

You're alone?

[Dan Miller]

Three men are breaking in the house.

[Lucy]

Lucy. Lucy.

[Bet]

Oh, my God. Three Campsies, hobos, drunken boots. They're breaking in.

[Lucy]

Oh, God.

[Bet]

They'll be inside the house in a moment.

[Lucy]

Lucien, I'm 50 miles away.

[Bet]

Yes. You can't help me and I can't help myself. We're both helpless. Helpless and wrapped in a trap. May God forgive me. For what? I'm making you suffer. But I have to call you to hear your voice for the last time.

[Lucy]

The last time?

[Bet]

Yes, the last. These men are beasts. They're drunken. They know I'm alone.

[Lucy]

You have a gun. The God I gave you.

[Bet]

I have it in my hand. I fired all the shots but one. I saved that for myself. No, no, it's the only way. Just, dear, listen, please. You can't help me now, but maybe you can punish after I'm dead. Listen, darling, I have so little time. The leader came here this afternoon begging food and I saw him plainly. He's a big, dark, unshaven man with a livid criss cross scar above his left eye that runs from brow to temple. Remember, dear, Remember. Oh, mercy, wait. Mr. Lorillard drove him away. Senator Lorillard were caught at home. The man had been watching. He came back with two others. One short with red hair, the other a blond man with a limp. Remember, dear.

[Lucy]

Remember.

[Bet]

They're in the house. The lock to this door won't hold a moment. They're beating at it now.

[Satan]

The door is giving.

[Bet]

I have the gun waiting. Bullet through my head. They can't hurt me.

[Lucy]

Nothing.

[Bet]

Remember them, Thea.

[Satan]

Remember.

[Bet]

They are, dear, please save. I love you, dear.

[Lucy]

Goodbye.

[Mr. Cowper]

And boy, you shouldn't have come to my office today. A man who has just spent six months in the hospital has no business to even poke his nose outside of doors.

[Dan Miller]

I'm quite strong now, Mr. Cowper. And I had to come and have a talk to you while I was in the hospital. Out of what you thought was kindness, you censored all police reports to me. Now, I want you to tell me whether they honestly expect to ever find the creatures that caused my wife to put a bullet to her head. Danny, I want the truth.

[Mr. Cowper]

I. All right, son. I won't lie to you. I've kept the cops working on this case as they've never worked before. They haven't fallen down because they've never had a single worthwhile clue to work on. When they arrived at your house in the woods that night, the men who broke in and disappeared, we assumed they were hobos of the most depraved type. But that's all we know about them. We found no fingerprints. We have no clue to their appearance, even except the meager description of poor frantic Lucy.

[Dan Miller]

Yes, the meager description of poor frantic Lucy. A big dark man with a livid crisscross scar above his left eye that runs from brow to temple. Remembered here. Remembered. One, a short man with red hair. The third, a blond man with a limp. Remembered. Remembered.

[Satan]

Son, the cops have picked up hundreds.

[Mr. Cowper]

Or maybe enforced to turn loose again. There's no evidence of any kind. If we had the guilty brutes before us in this room, we couldn't prove it without their own confessions. As a lawyer, you know what we're.

[Dan Miller]

Up against an impossible job for lawyers and police. And if our law could catch them in its net, the code provides no punishment to fit their crime. Goodbye, Mr. Cowper.

[Lucy]

Goodbye.

[Mr. Cowper]

Why, you say that as though we mightn't meet again.

[Dan Miller]

We may not. I'm leaving town tomorrow. I've got a job to do.

[Mr. Cowper]

Say, look here. You haven't the crazy idea that you can find those men yourself. Dan. To locate those three boots and secure evidence against them, a man might have to search the hobo jungles of this country an entire lifetime.

[Satan]

I know how bitter you feel, son.

[Mr. Cowper]

But the past is past. And grief and hatred won't unmake it. I've got big things in store for you, boy. Pick up the threads of your normal life again. Think of your future, your career.

[Dan Miller]

My future's to remember. My career's to repay. Goodbye, Mr. Cowper.

[Jesse]

Oh, there, Lawyer Thomas. That Yankee partner yon around.

[Dan Miller]

Hey, you might find him down by the railroad yards, Jesse. They more than sure people some funny friends.

[Jesse]

Well, I suppose he likes them tramps, lawyers.

[Dan Miller]

I haven't an idea. Sure.

[Jesse]

That man's been in this town off and on for nigh eight years now, yet no one knows him well.

[Satan]

I wouldn't say that, Jesse.

[Mr. Cowper]

I know him pretty well.

[Satan]

Yeah?

[Jesse]

No wide jumps like a shell shot.

[Dan Miller]

So?

[Jesse]

Told you every time a telephone rings?

[Lucy]

No.

[Jesse]

Nobody's hair snow white. We need a day more than 40.

[Dan Miller]

No.

[Jesse]

Know what his real name was, boy? Changed it to Dave Morton.

[Mr. Cowper]

No.

[Dan Miller]

And them things is none of my business or yours.

[Jesse]

Just the same, there's a mystery about that man that sort of worries me. Lawyer Thomas. Why you suppose your partner, Lawyer morton pays me $5 cash money for every tramp we get in the jailhouse who I persuade to take him for a tonic.

[Dan Miller]

My partner pays you money to secure him hobo clients. Are you here now to bring him such a case?

[Jesse]

Uh huh. But this time it's just for joke. The client I'm bringing him today is that tramp who murdered the old woman. Big Mike? Yeah. The dog Sheriff Greeley rescued from the lynching mob last night. Big Mike asked me to get him. Get a Mr. Morton for his lawyer? Yeah. Said a pal of his had told him about him.

[Dan Miller]

No partner of mine is touching his case.

[Lucy]

If Morton got the brute off, by.

[Dan Miller]

A miracle they'd both be lynched.

[Jesse]

He is more than that.

[Dan Miller]

Hello, Jesse. Hello, Tom.

[Mr. Cowper]

All day.

[Jesse]

Lawyer Morton. A man over at the jailhouse who ain't got no money wants to hire you to get him out.

[Dan Miller]

Thanks for bringing the Message, Jesse. But if you're speaking of Big Mike, I've already seen him. I'm going to defend him.

[Lucy]

You're going to defend Big Mike?

[Dan Miller]

Yes, Tom.

[Jesse]

Lawyer Morton.

[Lucy]

You're joking, Dave.

[Mr. Cowper]

You're mad.

[Lucy]

The man is guilty.

[Jesse]

Guilty as hell.

[Dan Miller]

I'm going to save him from the rope because I like his looks. He's a big dark man with a scar above his left eye. A livid crisscross scar that runs from browser temple.

[Lucy]

Extra fear. And murderer goes free. Big Mike not guilty. Extra payer. Morton wins acquittal Jury freeze. Big Mike extra fear.

[Satan]

God load of people buying them papers and then stand and run reading them. Talking about me. If you hadn't sneaked me here to your house, boss, they'd have had me swinging on the lamp post by now.

[Dan Miller]

Come away from the window. You're safe here, Mike.

[Satan]

Gee, I hope so. But you gotta get me out of town quick. They look for me here and string me up.

[Dan Miller]

They'll never lynch you, Mike. I'm taking care of you now. Better have another drink. And I draw those curtains tighter.

[Satan]

I do need another hooker bus and I'm drinking it to you. No other mouthpiece in the world could have swung that jury so they'd bring a voidic of not guilty.

[Dan Miller]

No. No other in the world. I used perjured testimony, lying witnesses, a framed alibi. I used every dirty trick in the book. But I got you off, Mike. Out of jail, away from the hangman. And I've got you now alone with me.

[Satan]

See, you're acting a little crazy, boss. Say, I'll have another. You know, I can't figure you out, boss. Why do you make me tell you how I croaked that old woman before he had to take my case?

[Dan Miller]

I was interested in you, Mike. And for 10 years it's been my rule to know the truth about my client's guilt or innocence before I took a case.

[Satan]

Yeah, I hear dat. And every hobo from Maine to Californy says that spilling you the truth never brung him home. That's why I told you the works right off the bat. You got a great name in the jungle, boss.

[Dan Miller]

Took me 10 years to build that reputation, Mike. Won't you have another drink?

[Satan]

Thanks, but gee, she'll have me stewed in a minute. Well, here's how again. Say, you're a funny guy. You not only spend your own dough to buy witnesses and all, but then you bring me to your house and treat me like a prince.

[Dan Miller]

It's very simple, Mike. I've done the things I have. Because you interest me. Yeah, Interest me tremendously. I'd like to know more about your life. About your travels, experiences, other little peccadilloes before you so neatly strangled that last old woman.

[Satan]

Say, why you always asking me questions about what I done before we met?

[Dan Miller]

Are you afraid to trust a man who saved your life?

[Satan]

But you ask such nutty questions. How long I'd had this crooked scar over me eye, for instance.

[Dan Miller]

I was merely curious as to whether you had it 10 years ago when.

[Satan]

You were in Michigan. And I told you I don't know nothing about Michigan.

[Dan Miller]

Oh, come on, Mike. You've lied about that long enough. I never mentioned it before, but friends of yours have told me you were there.

[Satan]

What friends?

[Dan Miller]

Let me see now. Oh yeah. Their names were Red and Limpy.

[Satan]

Red and Limpy? You know them quite well.

[Dan Miller]

I haven't seen them lately. Have you?

[Satan]

No. Neither has anyone else. What do you mean that they disappeared from the road? And they ain't in jail nowheres. They're just gone. What'd I tell you about me in Michigan?

[Dan Miller]

The most interesting story I've ever heard. About a house in the woods and a woman.

[Satan]

They call you that, eh?

[Dan Miller]

Yes. Have another drink. I'll open this fresh bottle and join you. Suppose you tell me about your Michigan adventure.

[Satan]

I. I didn't have no part in it. I didn't.

[Dan Miller]

Here's your drink, Mike.

[Satan]

I must be off my not to be afraid of you. I got reason to trust you. And I need help. About that Michigan job. Need it bad. Listen, the word's gone round that that dame's husband has been searching ever since it happened that he's been on the road with the bows and riding the rails, living in the jungles, asking questions, trying to learn who caused his wife to shoot herself. They say he did for Red and Limpy. And no one's even found their bodies. He used to be a lawyer just like you, boss. He was. God.

[Dan Miller]

Why are you stopping me?

[Satan]

The notion just crossed me mind that you might be him. I must be drunk to think a thing like that about the guy who saved me from the rope. If you was her husband, you'd have sent me there. Say, give me that drink, parson. I'll spill the works. This liquor tastes funny, but it's good. It's swell. Drink your' n too, boss. And I'll tell you all about a pretty little dame in the house in the woods. Helpless she was, as a rat in a trap. Helpless. Frightened like I like to see em. Too bad she shot herself before. Say, boss, what's eating you? You crushed that glass in your hand as if it was paper. Your eyes look crazy. See what you pulling them curtains on the wall for?

[Dan Miller]

So you can see what lies behind them.

[Satan]

Just a couple of plaster statues of two guys, heads and shoulders. But the faces is all gone, so the bones are shown through. What happened to those faces?

[Dan Miller]

You're going to find out, Mike. Just as Red and Limpy learnt.

[Satan]

Red and Limpy.

[Lucy]

These busts are their death masks. Taken in soft blaster after they'd lain here. Helpless, helpless. Helpless as rats in a trap. As you're going to lie here helpless while your punishment fits your crime gods. You're the guy. I'm the husband of the girl you brought to death. I'm gonna get out of here.

[Nancy]

You can.

[Lucy]

You can rise from that chair, you dope.

[Satan]

Me liquor.

[Lucy]

I can't move.

[Dan Miller]

I'll move you down to my cellar below. Down to my cellar for which I've saved you from the gallows. The news for you would be too easy, Mike. Your punishment will fit your crime.

[Lucy]

No. Let me go. Let me go. What you gonna do? Your punishment will fit your crime. Your punishment will fit your crime.

[Dan Miller]

You can't see a thing in this cellar, can you, Mike? And no one's so helpless as when.

[Satan]

They'Re in the dark. I want you to be very helpless, Mike.

[Dan Miller]

More helpless than a rat in a trap. Helpless as a woman alone in the house, in the woods. Helpless as a man who loved her and who heard you 50 miles away. Helpless as a man who heard the.

[Satan]

Shot that killed her. He couldn't raise his hand to save. What you going to do to me? You got me tied to stakes and it's sprinkled on the floor.

[Lucy]

But how you gonna kill me?

[Satan]

What are you gonna do?

[Dan Miller]

You're struggling, Mike, but your bums will hold. I tied them very tight.

[Satan]

What did you do to Red and Limpy that you're gonna do to me.

[Lucy]

In them plaster busts upstairs?

[Satan]

What happened to their faces? Guess, Mike.

[Lucy]

Guess. You don't tell me.

[Mr. Cowper]

I go nuts.

[Lucy]

Nuts, I tell you. Raven nuts.

[Dan Miller]

Oh, no, you won't. Not for many hours. I've investigated the length of time required to drive men mad. Your brain's undeveloped, so it'll take you longer than most.

[Lucy]

Help. Help. God, if I could only see you. You're putting something over me head.

[Dan Miller]

Yeah, Part of a little apparatus that made Red and Limpy featureless. Use your imagination, Mike.

[Satan]

You may guess how it's done.

[Lucy]

Oh, God. Oh, God, why? Why don't you curse at me, beat me, kick me? Do something I can understand. What are you gonna do to me when you leave me? How am I gonna die?

[Dan Miller]

When I reach the top of these stairs, you'll know. When I open the secret panel, it will soon be the door of your tomb. Then you'll have a moment's light.

[Lucy]

Just enough for a quick, short glimpse around you. Two skeletons beside me. The bounds of Red and Limpy. What else do you see? There's a cage coming over my head. A cage? Like a rat. Rat. Oh, it is a rat trap. A rat is in it. A rat is in the cage with me. And soon he'll be crawling over me head and biting. Ah, that's what happened to the other spaces. A rat. Now.

[Satan]

Don'T leave me in the dark.

[Lucy]

Waiting, helpless, guessing when that rat's going to start a bite. That's your punishment, Mike. Oh, goodbye.

[Dan Miller]

The third Lucy and the last I.

[Lucy]

Remembered and I retained. Martin. Dave. Marty.

[Bet]

Marty Morton.

[Lucy]

Yes, Tom, I hear you. For God's sake, let me in quick. As you value your life, I'll let you in. Tom.

[Dan Miller]

What's the matter, Tom?

[Satan]

What you knew would be the matter.

[Lucy]

When you got Big Mike acquitted. A lynching mob is formed and a tenant for this house.

[Dan Miller]

They won't find Big Mike here. He's gone.

[Lucy]

They ain't after him. They're coming here with the rope to hang you, Dave.

[Dan Miller]

They can hang me if they want to, Tom. They think I wish to live. I don't.

[Lucy]

Why, you're talking like a fool. Come on. There ain't time to talk.

[Dan Miller]

But I want to talk, Tom, about imagination. Imagination that can see a living rat in a crumpled old gray rag and mutilated human faces in two old broken plaster busts of poor blind justice. Imagination that kills more horribly and surely than if the things it sees were real. Dave Wharton, I think you're mad that.

[Lucy]

Mama's almost here, and if they find her, they'll hang her to a tree. Keep away from that front door. Here. What are you gonna do?

[Dan Miller]

I'm going to meet them. Those who usurp the place of justice must expect a punishment to fit their crime.

[Nancy]

Well, that's the end of that, Satan. Next time we'll have another pretty yarn to spin. These folks a very pretty yarn.

[Bet]

Ram.