The Sisters

Originally Aired: December 9, 1948

Suspense #318, "The Sisters," Lydia and Ellie Haskell live together in quiet isolation, two aging sisters bound by secrets and an uneasy dynamic. When Lydia returns from a mysterious shopping trip, she reveals she's purchased an expensive casket—a Duravo—for herself, to be held for three weeks. Ellie, the fragile younger sister who clings to memories of their girlhood and longs for letters from someone named David, grows increasingly anxious about Lydia's strange behavior and her own uncertain recovery from some past mental breakdown. Lydia maintains strict control over their household, forbidding Ellie from answering the door or descending the stairs alone, while Ellie worries that perhaps she isn't getting well after all.

When a police detective arrives to investigate Lydia's unusual purchase, she calmly explains that she knows she's going to die within three weeks—calling it a premonition. The detective suggests it might be suicide, but Lydia insists otherwise. As tensions mount between the two sisters, dark questions emerge about what really binds them together and what tragic fate awaits in their shadowy, secluded home.