Skeleton Bay by Inner Sanctum Mysteries

Summary

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Strange Tales – “Skeleton Bay” (Inner Sanctum Mysteries)

Podcast: Strange Tales (Old Time Radio)
Hosted by: RelicRadio.com
Original Air Date: February 5, 1946 (as aired by Inner Sanctum Mysteries)
Podcast Release Date: August 2, 2026
Summary compiled from episode transcript

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Episode Overview

This episode of Strange Tales features “Skeleton Bay,” an original radio play from the classic series Inner Sanctum Mysteries, written by Emil Tepperman. The story revolves around Carola Winter, a novelist, who encounters murder and deep secrets during her stay at an isolated, storm-lashed hotel. Themes of obsession, complicity, and the corrupting allure of crime and danger drive this suspenseful, twist-filled tale.

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Key Discussion Points and Major Plot Beats

Setting the Scene

• Host Introduction [01:47]
  The episode is framed with familiar Inner Sanctum Mysteries patter: ghoulish wit, warnings to the faint-hearted, and the ever-present Lipton Tea sponsor banter.
  • “Good evening students of the mystic marvels of manifold murder. This is your host extending a cordial invitation to step through the creaking door of the Inner Sanctum…” (Host, 01:47)

Carola Winter Arrives at Skeleton Bay

• Introduction to Carola [04:21]
  Carola, a writer of mystery novels, narrates her arrival at a remote hotel for rest—but admits a mysterious compulsion has drawn her to Skeleton Bay.

  • “I’d seen the name advertised months ago. Since then, it kept hammering, hammering, hammering at the inside of my brain…” (Carola, 04:21)

• Murder Witnessed on the Beach [06:30]
  Carola spots a suspicious signal on the beach. She sees Michael Barrett (unknown to her at the time) murder Mr. Field in a struggle.

  • “Then I saw the blade plunge home into the throat of the furtive Mr. Field. I felt a sudden surge of wild elation. This was murder. I had witnessed murder.” (Carola, 06:45)

Complicity and Cover-Up

• Carola’s Compelling Reaction [07:19]
  Instead of turning away, she offers to help Michael Barrett hide the body.

  • “I’m going to help you dispose of the body.” (Carola, 07:19)
  • They hide the body in her cabin closet, planning to dispose of it by boat the next night.

• Tension Increases: The Next Morning [08:10]
  Carola is acutely aware of the danger as the hotel staff and police realize Mr. Field is missing.

  • Guilt, paranoia, and suspense escalate with police snooping and the maid becoming curious about the closet.

Police Investigation and Blackmail Revelations

• Detective Sergeant Smith Questions Carola [11:33]
  The investigation reveals Mr. Field’s criminal connections and introduces a Canadian murder case tied to Barrett’s true identity (“Wycliffe”).

  • “We found this picture among the papers in Field’s room... It’s about a guy named Wycliffe that’s wanted for murder in Canada... can’t figure out why he was carrying it around.” (Detective Smith, 12:42)

• Carola’s Inner Turmoil and Guilt [15:11–16:12]
  Police comb the beach for clues while Carola feels mounting anxiety, watching for more slip-ups.

A Second Murder: The Maid

• The Maid’s Unlucky Discovery [17:23]
  The maid opens the closet, discovers Mr. Field’s body, and panics. Carola, terrified, shoots and kills the maid, then hides her body too.

  • “What are you doing there? The body. It’s Mr. Field. You killed him… I pushed her body into the closet next to the body of Mr. Field. Closed the door. Now. Now I was a murderer, too.” (Carola, 17:23)

Bond of Criminality and Escalating Suspicion

• Barrett Returns; The Lovers’ Pact [18:49]
  Michael Barrett returns, and Carola confesses to the second murder. There’s an uncanny bond—an attraction “born of the thrill of danger.”

  • “Yes, Michael, that would be smart. Go ahead. Kill me if you can… We were two of a kind.” (Carola, 19:21)

• Bodies Disposed at Sea [20:04]
  They dispose of both bodies, but Barrett refuses to let Carola accompany him to his secretive home on the cliff.

Aftermath: City, Blackmail, and Marriage

• Return to the City [21:08]
  Michael disappears; Carola, obsessed, tracks him down and blackmails him into marriage by threatening to expose his Canadian crime.
  • “Oh, Michael, darling. I’m blackmailing you. There’s only one thing I want from you. Your love. It shouldn’t be so hard for you to meet my terms.” (Carola, 22:39)

Final Unraveling: The Cliffside Secret

• Following Barrett to the Cliff House [23:15]
  Carola, plagued by suspicion, follows Barrett to his isolated cliff house, believing him unfaithful.

• Climactic Confrontation [24:52]
  She discovers Michael’s secret: his sister Lisbeth, whom he’s kept prisoner ever since he murdered her fiancé a decade ago.

  • “Michael killed the man I was going to marry 10 years ago in Canada... he’s kept me a prisoner because he knew if I got free, I’d tell the world he was a murderer.” (Lisbeth Wycliffe, 26:28)

• Shootout and Tragedy [25:14–26:27]
  Carola shoots Barrett in self-defense, then, in quick succession, kills Lisbeth out of desperation.

  • “Now I knew why I’d really come to Skeleton Bay that first day. It was for this. To kill Michael Barrett.” (Carola, 25:19)
  • “I shot her. Yes, I killed her, too. There, outside the house. And she fell beside Michael. And I rolled both bodies over the cliff, down into the sea. This is the end of my book. The best mystery novel I’ve ever written.” (Carola, 26:28)

Psychological Coda: Confession as Literature

• Confession and Reflection [27:00]
  Carola writes down everything as her final, greatest mystery novel—accepting the inevitability of punishment.

  • “I know that in writing it, I deliver myself into the hands of the law. But I can’t stop. I can’t help myself.” (Carola, 26:50)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Murder is the greatest sin. Yes… she’d better hope for a depression. Then all wages will go down, including the wages of sin.” (Host, 13:28)
• “Suppose I did. What are you doing with that gun? What do you think?” (Carola, after the maid's discovery, 17:30)
• “Yes, Michael, that would be smart. Go ahead. Kill me if you can... We were two of a kind. Both wild, both reckless. Both eager for the thrill of danger.” (Carola, 19:21)
• “Oh, Michael, darling. I’m blackmailing you. There’s only one thing I want from you. Your love.” (Carola, 22:39)
• “Now I knew why I’d really come to Skeleton Bay that first day. It was for this. To kill Michael Barrett.” (Carola, 25:19)
• “This is the end of my book. The best mystery novel I’ve ever written.” (Carola, 26:35)

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Timeline of Major Segments (Timestamps)

• Introduction & Sponsor Banter: [00:00–03:40]
• Carola Narrates Arrival/First Murder: [04:21–07:10]
• Hiding the Body: [07:19–08:10]
• Morning After & Police Involvement: [08:10–12:03]
• Police Confront Carola with Past Crime: [12:12–13:06]
• Carola’s Anxiety, Surveillance Intensifies: [15:11–17:00]
• Maid’s Death: [17:23–18:46]
• Barrett Returns & Pact: [18:49–20:04]
• Bodies Disposed at Sea: [20:04–20:27]
• City Blackmail/Marriage: [21:08–23:03]
• Carola Follows Barrett, Climactic Revelations: [23:15–26:28]
• Confession as Literature & Resolution: [26:35–27:52]
• Host's Morbid Wordplay & Closing: [27:52–29:12]

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Tone and Noteworthy Stylistic Elements

• The episode blends dark wit (host), melodramatic suspense, and a growing sense of psychological unease.
• Carola's narration is introspective, laced with fascination for violence and self-destruction.
• The dialogue is sharp, clipped, and laced with both horror and gallows humor.

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Conclusion

“Skeleton Bay” stands out for its portrait of a protagonist drawn inexorably into a spiral of complicity, guilt, and obsession. With each violent act, Carola sheds another layer of innocence, but also of humanity, until her only solace is to confess—both to the listener and to her publisher, in the form of a manuscript that promises both fame and fatal consequences.

As the Host deadpans at the end:
“She would have been better off if she’d remember that the pen is mightier than the sword, because the sword is leading her right back to the pen anyhow.” (Host, 29:12)

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For further haunting tales, tune in each Sunday at RelicRadio.com.

Transcript

[Host]

Brain.

[Narrator/Announcer]

Relicradio.com presents Tales of the strange and bizarre, the weird and the wicked. Stories not necessarily of the supernatural, but of the unnatural. Join us now for Strange Tales featuring radio drama at its most mysterious and unusual. Welcome back to Strange Tales, Weird Old Time Radio. Every Sunday@ Relicradio.com we'll hear from Inner Sanctum Mysteries this week. A series that debuted in January of 1941 and aired until October of 1952. Producing over 500, it was created and produced by Hyman Brown was also behind the CBS Radio Mystery Theater 22 years after this series ended. Our story today is from February 5, 1946. It's titled Skeleton Bay.

[Host]

Lipton tea and lipton soup. Present inner sanctum mysteries. Good evening students of the mystic marvels of manifold murder. This is your host extending a cordial invitation to step through the creaking door of the Inner sanctum where we probe deep into the dark and cavernous depths of men's souls to see what makes them kill. Our clinic here is a whole vast world of crime and you who listen in may hear us dissect our characters at a safe distance. And unless your nerves are strong, you'd better take my advice and keep your distance.

[Mary]

Why, Mr. Host, that's not the kind of advice to give folks. It sounds unfriendly.

[Host]

Well, what would you suggest, Mary?

[Mary]

Give them some sort of friendly advice like pointing out to them the extra delight they'll get from a cheering cup of Lipton tea. Then go on to tell them why Liptons is so downright delicious. Tell them that the reason is Lipton's brisk flavor. And don't forget to mention that brisk is the tea expert's own word for the spirited, full bodied flavor of Liptons. So refreshing and so zest. Explain that Lipton's brisk flavor is never flat, but always lively and satisfying. And in closing, remind them to try Lipton soon because in every cup of Lipton's there's extra enjoyment. Now that's the kind of advice you should give folks.

[Host]

Well, Mary, you seem to have given it to them already. So we can go ahead and get launched on Skeleton Bay. That's the title of tonight's story, an original radio play by Emil Tepperman. It's about a lady novelist, a writer of mystery stories. It opens at a swanky hotel with private cabins situated on a storm swept, rockbound coast. The story itself is all about,

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

you guessed it, murder.

[Host]

Here's Betty Lou Gerson as Carola Winter, the lady novelist who will give us a blow by blow. Description.

[Carola Winter]

I'll tell you first about the night I met Michael Barrett. It was in August, at Skeleton Bay. I'd come to the hotel supposedly for rest. That was what I kept telling myself. But in reality, I didn't know why I'd come here. Skeleton Bay. I'd seen the name advertised months ago. Since then, it kept hammering, hammering, hammering at the inside of my brain like the voice of impeccable Saint Commanding. Commanding. Command. Because I didn't like crowds, the hotel manager had given me a cabin near the beach all to myself. It was the middle of the night, but I couldn't sleep. The wind came in from the ocean, howling like a hungry beast across the shoals, and the pounding of the surf mingled with the angry, baffled growl of the sea. I sat at the window in the dark, staring out at the beach. I was restless, excited. It was then I saw the signal. It was just a winking little light. A few yards away on the beach, someone was blinking a flashlight on and off, on and off. I was able to make out the figure of a man in boots and a leather jacket. He was signaling toward the hotel. But to whom? I had the answer. In a moment, a man moved past my window, going down toward the light, yet his collar turned up against the wind, his hat brim pulled low. I knew who it was. Mr. Field, the small, furtive man who'd come upon the train with me. The two men met barely a stone's throw from my window. I could hardly see them, huddled closely together. This was excitement, mystery, intrigue. The stimulation I wanted, needed. I had to know what was going on. I threw on a raincoat, opened the cabin door. The wind swept my hair in a streamer and the spray stung my face as I hurried down the beach. My blood began to race, my heart to pound, for those two men were not engaged in any conference. They were right in struggle. It was a deadly, silent struggle with only a grunt. Now and then I saw the flashing gleam of a knife, but I couldn't tell who had the weapon. The tall man in the leather jacket or the furtive Mr. Field. And then. Then I saw the blade plunge home into the throat of the furtive Mr. Field. I felt a sudden surge of wild elation. This was murder. I had witnessed murder. The tall man let the body of Mr. Field slide down to the sand. Then he looked up and saw me. He stood there with a bloody knife in his hand, and we looked at each other.

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

Who are you?

[Carola Winter]

I'm Carola Winter. I have this cabin here, number five.

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

You Saw me kill him?

[Carola Winter]

Yes, I saw you.

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

What are you gonna do about it?

[Carola Winter]

I'm going to help you dispose of the body. He told me his name was Michael Barrett. He lived on the opposite side of the bay. In the high up on the cliff.

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

It won't be so easy to get rid of the body. If I had the boat, I could take him out and drop him over. But it's too rough tonight. If there was some place to hide him for a day, I could come across in the boat. Tomorrow night.

[Carola Winter]

You can hide him in the closet in my cabin. Nobody will look there.

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

Better lock the closet door.

[Carola Winter]

Yes, of course.

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

You sure nobody will come snooping here?

[Carola Winter]

Nobody comes here but the maid.

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

All right. I'll be back tomorrow night with a boat.

[Carola Winter]

Did you pick up the knife?

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

Yeah, got it in my pocket.

[Carola Winter]

Well, I guess that's all.

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

Good night, Carola.

[Carola Winter]

Good night, Michael. All night I sat up alone with the locked in closet door between me and the staring, sightless body of Mr. Field. At breakfast the next morning, they'd already discovered the disappearance. And the maid says his bed wasn't slept in at all. Think he could have committed suicide in the ocean? I hurried through my breakfast, listening to the gossip all around me. Now in broad daylight, I hardly believe the thing that really happened last night. You know, the hotel manager thinks it might be murder. Him phoning for the police. The police? I hadn't counted on that. Anything wrong, my dear? You look sick. I do feel a bit dizzy. I think I'll get some fresh air. Oh, poor dear. It must be quite a shock to her. She came up on the train with Mr. Field, you know, while in the open air, I let the wind cool my fevered face as I hurried down toward the beach. It was only 9:30 in the morning. A whole day, a whole evening before Michael could come for the body. And the police would be around all day, investigating, snooping. And all the time Mr. Field would be sitting in my closet, staring blankly out of his sightless eyes. When I reached my cabin, I put a hand on the doorknob. Suddenly I went cold all over. The door was unlocked. I stood still as a statue, listening. Yes, there was someone inside. Someone moving around. I only had my handbag. I had a pistol in it. I always carried it for protection. My handbag was inside on the dresser. Slowly, slowly. I pressed the door open half inch.

[Mary]

An inch.

[Carola Winter]

And then the door creaked.

[Mary]

Is that you, Ms. Winter?

[Carola Winter]

The maid. It was only the maid, of course. She'd be making up the bed. Why hadn't I thought of that.

[Mary]

Ms. Winter, is that you?

[Carola Winter]

Yes, it's I. What are you doing in that closet with those keys?

[Mary]

Why, they're just my pass keys, Ms. Winter. I was just going to tidy up the closet.

[Carola Winter]

I didn't ask you to do anything to the closet.

[Mary]

But that's part of the job, Ms. Winter. I'm supposed to do that in all the rooms.

[Carola Winter]

Well, you leave this one alone. Keep away from that closet, you hear? Yes, Ms. Winton, but I was only trying to help. I want your help. I'll ask for it. Now, please leave at once.

[Mary]

Just as you say, Ms. Winfrey. I'm sorry if I did anything wrong.

[Carola Winter]

Did she suspect anything? I hadn't liked her tone. Why? Why had I been so sharp with her now she'd surely think there was something in the closet, Something she shouldn't see. At lunchtime, I didn't want to leave the cabin. I sat at the window and I could almost feel the sightless eyes of Mr. Field staring at me through the closet door. Someone at the door?

[Mary]

Who? Who?

[Carola Winter]

Just a minute.

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

I, miss, went there. Ms. Caroly Winter?

[Carola Winter]

Yes, I'm Ms. Winter.

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

I'm sorry to trouble you, Ms. Winter. I'm Detective Sergeant Smith from headquarters. May I come in for a moment?

[Carola Winter]

Yes, please do. What can I do for you, Sergeant Smith?

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

We're out here investigating this Field business. He hasn't turned up yet.

[Carola Winter]

Well, I'm sure he will in time.

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

Well, I wish I could be so sure, Ms. Winter.

[Carola Winter]

What do you mean?

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

We've gone through his room. Found some mighty queer things.

[Carola Winter]

Queer things?

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

It seems this Mr. Field's in some sort of racket. There's a good chance he may have been murdered.

[Carola Winter]

You don't say.

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

I understand you came up on the train with him.

[Carola Winter]

Yes, yes, that's true.

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

Did you have any conversation with him on the train?

[Carola Winter]

No, not at all.

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

You're the Carol of Winter who writes the mystery novels, aren't you?

[Mary]

The same.

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

I've read every one of them. They're darn good, Ms. Winter.

[Carola Winter]

Why, thank you.

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

Do you think you'll get a plot out of this? I mean Mr. Field?

[Carola Winter]

Why, I can't tell yet. I wish you'd keep me posted on developments in case it does turn out to have a plot.

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

I sure will, Ms. Winter. By the way, we found this picture among the papers in Fields room. I'm showing it to everybody around in case they might recognize it. It's an old newspaper item, about 10 years old. Can't figure out why he was carrying it around. It's about a guy named Wycliffe that's wanted for murder in Canada. Here, take a look at it.

[Carola Winter]

I felt the blood racing in my veins, pounding at my wrists. The picture of the man named Wycliffe who was wanted for murder in Canada. Picture of Michael Barrett.

[Host]

Well, it looks as if Michael Barrett is a lucky guy with a beautiful woman ready to commit murder for him. But what'll he do when she runs out of victims and begins looking at him with a calculating eye? As for Carola, she sinned heavily because murder is the greatest sin. Yes. If you ask me, she'd better hope for a depression. Then all wages will go down, including the wages of sin.

[Mary]

Well, I never knew that murder and economics were related, Mr. Host.

[Host]

Oh, definitely, Mary. Take the high cost of living, for instance. Why, those prices are murder.

[Mary]

Oh, yes, Mr. Host. It is difficult when the cost of living starts to climb. But then, so often the things that really add up to good living are just simple, inexpensive pleasures. Like that piping hot cup of Lipton tea that many of us find waiting when we come down to breakfast each morning. As you read the morning paper and sip that cheery cup of Liptons, the whole world seems brighter. It's simply wonderful the way that lively, spirited Lipton tea gets you off to a fresh start. For Lipton's brisk flavor gives you all the natural zest of tea at its best, gives you extra delight, extra satisfaction. So remember this, folks. At breakfast time, dinner time, or any other time, when you want a grand, refreshing drink, pour yourself a cup of Lipton tea.

[Host]

And now let's get back to the rock bound coast of Skeleton Bay and see how Carola entertains the grisly guest in her closet.

[Carola Winter]

I don't remember now how I got rid of that Detective Smith. I told him I'd never seen the man in the picture and sent him away. The day was interminable. From my window, I could see the guests moving about the beach. But none of them went in swimming. The weather was too rough. I wondered if Michael would be able to bring the boat over tonight. If not, how much longer could I sit guard over Mr. Field in the closet? Now and then I'd see Detective Smith poking around on the beach. And then, without warning, he was standing over the very spot where Michael had stabbed Mr. Field. I watched him bend down and examine something. Was there a telltale drop of blood there? Did Smith know that was the murder spot? I saw him frown. Then he stood up, walk quickly away. I had to know what it was he'd Seen there? I slipped on a coat, went out, started toward the spot on the beach.

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

Are you somewhere, Ms. Winter?

[Carola Winter]

Oh, it's you, Detective.

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

Going anywhere in particular?

[Carola Winter]

No, no, I'm just going up to the hotel for dinner. It's almost dinner time, you know.

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

Oh, fine. I'll walk up with you, if you don't mind.

[Carola Winter]

Not at all.

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

Hey, can I help you? I'll take your arm.

[Carola Winter]

There. Thank you. Sandy.

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

So soft as it's still wet. We had high tide last night. Oh, Ms. Winter?

[Mary]

Yes?

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

You a sound sleeper?

[Carola Winter]

Why do you ask?

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

Well, I just thought maybe you might have heard something last night. Like a fight or something.

[Carola Winter]

Fight?

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

Yes. Yes. I was just looking at the sand back there down near your cabin. It's all messed up, stamped around.

[Carola Winter]

What's that got to do with me?

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

Oh, nothing at all. Except I think there was a fight there last night. Maybe that's where Mr. Field was killed.

[Carola Winter]

You. You think Mr. Field was murdered?

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

It's beginning to look more and more like it, Ms. Winter.

[Carola Winter]

Somehow I. I don't know how I managed to get through with dinner. I hurried back to the cabin, stopped at the door, shocked and unbelieving. There was a light inside. Someone was in there. This time I had my handbag with me. I took the pistol out Once more, I inched the door open. It happened the thing I feared. The closet door was open and there was the maid stooping over the body of Mr. Field. What are you doing there? The body. It's Mr. Field. You killed him. Suppose I did. What are you doing with that gun? What do you think? The wind was high and the weather was rough. Unfortunately, no one heard the shot. I pushed her body into the closet next to the body of Mr. Field. Closed the door. Now. Now I was a murderer, too.

[Mary]

Who? Who is it?

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

Eddie and Carol are quick.

[Carola Winter]

Yes. Yes. Michael. Michael, I thought you were coming. It's been a terrible day.

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

What happened?

[Carola Winter]

Come here, I'll show you.

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

Is he still in there?

[Carola Winter]

See for yourself. Great Scott.

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

A woman.

[Carola Winter]

Who is she? The maid. She opened the closet while I was out.

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

You killed her?

[Carola Winter]

Yes, Michael. I had to kill her. There are detectives at the hotel looking for Mr. Field.

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

I suppose if I was smart, I'd kill you too, and there'd be no one to talk.

[Carola Winter]

Yes, Michael, that would be smart. Go ahead. Kill me if you can. I knew he couldn't kill me because I'd seen it in his eyes. We were two of a kind. Both wild, both reckless. Both eager for the thrill of danger. He, too, wanted to be like the Wind. We'd both been brought together here by some force stronger than either of us. And we loved each other.

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

Carola, darling.

[Carola Winter]

Michael. No more now, Michael, we have work to do.

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

Yes. I'll take them down to the boat.

[Carola Winter]

Help you? We carried Mr. Field and the maid down to the boat.

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

Yeah. I'll take them out away and dump him.

[Carola Winter]

And after that, Michael?

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

After that. Then I'm going home.

[Carola Winter]

To your house on the cliff on the other side of the bay?

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

Yes. Caroline.

[Carola Winter]

Michael, take me with you.

[Host]

What?

[Carola Winter]

Take me with you to your house up there on the cliff.

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

I'm sorry, I can't.

[Carola Winter]

You can't? Why can't you?

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

Isn't anything I can tell you.

[Carola Winter]

What are you hiding up there in the house on the cliff?

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

You mustn't ask. Please, Carola. You mustn't ask.

[Carola Winter]

Why? You're married. You have a wife up there.

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

No.

[Carola Winter]

Then what?

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

I can't tell you.

[Carola Winter]

But you, you're going away, leaving me forever.

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

Not forever, Carola. Go back to the city. Come to you soon.

[Carola Winter]

I returned to the city and waited. I waited a week, a month. But Michael Barrett did not come. I wrote to him, but there was no answer. Then one evening I saw him. I was returning home in a taxi and I saw him standing across the street, looking up at my window. He saw me get out of the cab. He turned and started hurrying away. Michael.

[Mary]

Michael.

[Carola Winter]

Michael, don't go away. Michael. Michael, why did you try to run away? Don't you know you're afraid?

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

Yeah, let's call it that.

[Carola Winter]

You love me, Michael, don't you?

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

Caroline, it's no good. There's nothing but ruin for both of us.

[Carola Winter]

If I stay, we'll be together forever.

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

It's impossible.

[Carola Winter]

I won't let you go back to that house on the cliff. I don't care what it is you're hiding up there. I won't let you go back.

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

Goodbye, Carolyn.

[Mary]

Wait.

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

I'm going. Better forget about.

[Carola Winter]

Don't go yet, Mr. White.

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

You know about that, too.

[Carola Winter]

I saw the old newspaper clipping Mr. Field carried. Why are you looking at me like that?

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

You know why I killed Mr. Field? Because it tried to blackmail me about that old murder.

[Carola Winter]

Michael, dear, I'm a good deal smarter than Mr. Field. You see, I write mystery novels. I know how to handle such things.

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

What do you mean?

[Carola Winter]

Wouldn't do you any good to kill me. I've written out all about you. Your real name. And about that old murder in Canada. Would be found if I should ever be killed. Oh, Michael, darling. I'M blackmailing you. There's only one thing I want from you. Your love. It shouldn't be so hard for you to meet my terms.

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

All right, Carola, you win. We'll be married tonight.

[Carola Winter]

Soon after we were married, Michael began going odd evenings. Once, sometimes twice a week, staying out all night. Return late the next day. When I asked where he'd been, his temper would flare up into something terrible. I stopped asking, but I couldn't rest. I had to know where he went. One evening, I followed him. He boarded a train for Skeleton Bay. At Skeleton Bay, he set out to walk from the station and I followed. It was no longer summer. Trees were bare and the night was forbidding. I kept behind him when he skirted the bay to the narrow road that led up toward his house high on the cliff. It was a small stone house, and the wind whistled around it against it, above it. I stole to one of the windows. It was barred, like a prison. Carefully, I raised my head above the silly, peered into a lighted room. Michael was there with a woman. For the first time in my life, I knew the meaning of frustration, jealousy. Michael told me he wasn't married, but this woman I'd helped him to do murder. I'd killed for him. I'd lied to that detective for him. And all the while, this was the secret he'd been keeping from me. I opened my handbag. I took out the pistol. I looked into the room again. The woman was alone now. Michael was gone.

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

So you came up after all, Carola.

[Carola Winter]

Michael. You sneaked out. You knew I was here.

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

I'm sorry. You saw through that window, Carola.

[Carola Winter]

Is that your secret? That woman?

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

Part of it. It's the part you mustn't know.

[Carola Winter]

But I do know it now.

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

That's why I've got to kill you, Carola.

[Carola Winter]

That knife. You've still got that knife?

[Detective Sergeant Smith]

Yes, Carol.

[Carola Winter]

I've got this. Michael. He fell at my feet. I looked down and watched him die. Now I knew why I'd really come to Skeleton Bay that first day. It was for this. To kill Michael Barrett. So he's dead at last. You've killed him. You, the woman in the house.

[Mary]

You.

[Carola Winter]

You saw me kill him. Yes, I saw you. What are you going to do about it? Help you dispose of the body, of course. Help me dispose of the body. Those were the very words I'd said to Michael Barron down there on the beach. How this woman was saying them to me. Who. Who are you? I'm Lisbeth Wycliffe. I'm Michael's sister. Sister. And you want to help me dispose of his body? See the bars on those windows?

[Mary]

Yes.

[Carola Winter]

I've been a prisoner in this house for 10 years.

[Mary]

What?

[Carola Winter]

Michael killed the man I was going to marry 10 years ago in Canada. He murdered him. But this house that Michael brought me here, he's kept me a prisoner because he knew if I got free, I'd tell the world he was a murderer. That's the secret. The secret he wouldn't even tell me. I shot her. Yes, I killed her, too. There, outside the house. And she fell beside Michael. And I rolled both bodies over the cliff, down into the sea. This is the end of my book. The best mystery novel I've ever written. I know that in writing it, I deliver myself into the hands of the law. But I can't stop. I can't help myself. So now I'm finished. I will mail it to my publisher and wait for Detective Sergeant Smith to come and get me.

[Host]

Well, it looks as if Carola's mystery novel will earn a lot of money after she's executed. Yes, but I'd say it's tainted money. Why tainted? Because she'll be dead. And a ghost can't own money, so taint hers. The trouble with Carola was that her conscience was too little and too late. It told her not to commit murder after she'd done it.

[Mary]

Well, that's Certainly too late, Mr. Holt.

[Host]

Oh, yes, Mary. Especially for her victim. And now, what's on your mind?

[Mary]

Well, Mr. Host, right here, I'd like to say a word to our listeners on behalf of our veterans. You know, friends, ex servicemen are returning to civilian jobs with a lot to offer their employers. They've had valuable training and experience in highly specialized service jobs. Many of them were able to keep up with their civilian jobs and learn new trades through special correspondence courses. And they're coming home fully equipped to do the same fine job as civilians that they did in the services. So let's give them every employment opportunity to put their increased skill to work.

[Host]

And so, friends, we take our leave of lovely Carola Winter. She would have been better off if she'd remember that the pen is mightier than the sword, because the sword is leading her right back to the pen anyhow. Oh, yes, and remember, friends, when you go on a vacation, always insist on plenty of closet space, as you never know what unexpected guests might drop in or drop dead. By the way, this month's inner sanctum mystery novel is Death in The Limelight by A.E. martin. And next week, the makers of Lipton Tea and Lipton Soup will bring you another Inner Sanctum mystery. Directed by Hyman Brown, it's about a young chemist who discovers the secret of perpetual life. But he made the mistake of getting involved with death. Until next Tuesday, good night. Pleasant dream.

[Mary]

Here's a swell dish, folks, that's easy to make and mighty easy to take. Lipton's Noodle Soup. You can prepare it in a jiffy and the whole family will love its delicious, chickeny tasting broth. So full of tender, golden noodles, Lipton's Noodle Soup has all the fresh, cooked, homemade flavor of grandmother's noodle soup, yet it's economical. It costs less and makes lots more than canned sous. So get Lipton's Noodle Soup mix tomorrow. And don't forget to tune in next Tuesday night for another Inner Sanctum mystery.

[Host]

This is cbs, the Columbia Broadcasting System Foreign.

[Narrator/Announcer]

There's more Inner Sanctum, Strange Tales and Old Time Radio in general@ Relicradio.com Thousands of podcast episodes to listen to and our shoutcast stream with even more, all for free thanks to your Support. Donate,000RelicRadio.com if you'd like to help out. Thanks again to those who have thanks for joining me this Sunday. I'll be back next week with our next episode of Relic Radio's Strange Tales.