Account Payable

Originally Aired: October 13, 1949

Suspense #354, "Account Payable," stars Edward Arnold as Timothy Baker, a long-suffering head bookkeeper who has endured 22 years of humiliation from his tyrannical boss, John Waterberry. Baker's life outside the office revolves around his beloved 20-year-old daughter Jessie, whose happiness means everything to him. When Jessie falls in love with a young medical student named Bill, her joy suddenly turns to despair upon discovering that Bill's father is none other than Waterberry himself. The boss considers Baker's daughter beneath his son's social standing and demands that the relationship end immediately, declaring that a future doctor needs to marry into position and society, not the working class.

The confrontation between Baker and Waterberry escalates dangerously as the boss works himself into a rage over the romance. Waterberry suffers from severe asthma and requires emergency adrenaline injections during his attacks. As Baker waits anxiously in the present moment, watching Waterberry's office door, he reveals that inside lies a dead man's body waiting to be discovered, leaving listeners to wonder what transpired during that fateful confrontation and whether Baker finally stood up to his tormentor with deadly consequences.