Suspense - Radio’s Outstanding Theater of Thrills

The Search

Originally Aired: April 24, 1948
Suspense #293, "The Search," follows Sid Latch and a young woman named Iris as they flee across the country, pursued by authorities investigating the mysterious death of wealthy cowboy Roger Miles. The pair found themselves trapped with Miles during a severe blizzard, and when the man died under suspicious circumstances in Sid's wagon, they became the prime suspects in what authorities believe was murder for thrills or blackmail. Now on the run in Miles' stolen blue convertible, they're racing against time as police broadcasts describe their vehicle and warn local authorities to watch for Sid's distinctive Montana sheepdog, Bo.
As the fugitives try to stay ahead of the law, the evidence mounts against them. An autopsy reveals traces of arsenic in Miles' system, and witnesses place Sid and Iris at the scene. The loyal dog Bo becomes both their companion and their liability, as police know the animal will eventually lead them to his master. Tensions rise between Sid and Iris as they struggle with exhaustion, fear, and the terrible secret of what really happened that night in the wagon, while the net steadily closes around them.

Crossfire

Originally Aired: April 10, 1948
Suspense #292, "Crossfire," brings the acclaimed RKO radio picture to life as Captain Finley investigates the brutal beating death of Joseph Samuels in a Washington, D.C. apartment. The case centers on a group of soldiers who met Samuels in a bar earlier that evening. When Montgomery returns to the apartment looking for his buddy Mitchell, he walks into a murder scene. Mitchell's wallet is found behind the sofa cushions, making him the prime suspect, but Mitchell has vanished. As Finley digs deeper, he brings in Sergeant Keeley, Mitchell's roommate and closest friend, who insists Mitchell isn't capable of murder.
Keeley reveals that Mitchell has been struggling with loneliness and separation from his wife, prompting Keeley to call her and arrange for her to fly to Washington that very night. As the investigation unfolds with Mitchell still missing and his wife en route, Finley must determine whether the troubled soldier is a killer or simply another victim of circumstance. With Montgomery's testimony and Mitchell's wallet as evidence, the captain faces mounting pressure to solve the case before the trail goes cold.

Suspicion

Originally Aired: April 3, 1948
Suspense #291, "Suspicion," presents a chilling domestic mystery when a husband becomes convinced that his household may harbor a deadly secret. The narrator, recovering from mysterious bouts of nausea and illness, becomes increasingly paranoid as news spreads about a sweet, motherly-looking poisoner on the loose—a middle-aged cook who mixed arsenic into her delicious meals. When his wife Ethel falls ill with symptoms the doctors cannot diagnose, his suspicions turn toward their own cook, Mrs. Mummary, especially after he discovers arsenic in the house.
As the narrator's terror intensifies, he confides in Brooks and watches helplessly as Ethel grows paler and more wasted. The presence of young Wellbeck, who seems unusually attentive to Ethel, adds another layer of unease to the household. Trapped between his fear of seeming foolish and his dread that something sinister is unfolding under his own roof, the narrator must decide whether to act on his suspicions or dismiss them as paranoid delusions brought on by his own illness and the sensational murder case dominating the news.

Night Must Fall

Originally Aired: March 27, 1948
In Suspense #290, "Night Must Fall," charming but unsettling Dan arrives at the isolated Bramson cottage after Mrs. Chalfont, a guest at the nearby Tall Boys hotel, mysteriously disappears. Scotland Yard investigators search the surrounding forest, but it's Dan who captures everyone's attention—especially the wealthy, bedridden Mrs. Bramson. Dan works at the Tall Boys and has gotten the maid, Dora, into trouble, yet he seems strangely unbothered by the brewing scandal or the police presence. His eerily precise description of the missing woman and his calculated charm raise immediate suspicions with Mrs. Bramson's niece, Olivia Grain, who recognizes something dangerous beneath his surface pleasantries.
As Dan ingratiates himself with the demanding Mrs. Bramson while dismissing Olivia's warnings, the tension builds around this remote cottage surrounded by dark forest—"a proper place for a murder," as the narrator ominously notes. The police continue their search, but the real mystery centers on Dan himself: his unsettling composure, his manipulative charisma, and his connection to the vanished woman. Robert Montgomery stars as the dangerously charming Dan, with Dame May Whitty as Mrs. Bramson in the role she created on the London stage.

Wet Saturday and August Heat

Originally Aired: March 20, 1948
Suspense #289, "Wet Saturday and August Heat," presents two chilling tales of murder and madness. In the first story, the respectable Princey family gathers in their living room on a rainy afternoon, united by a shocking secret. Millicent Princey has just killed a curate named Withers in a moment of rage after learning he intends to marry another woman instead of her. As Mr. Princey desperately tries to interrogate his daughter and devise a plan to avoid scandal and the hangman's noose, tension mounts. The curate's boots remain visible through the doorway to the sun porch, a constant reminder of the crime. Mrs. Princey grows hysterical while son George lounges uselessly on the couch. Just as Mr. Princey attempts to piece together whether anyone witnessed the murder, an unexpected neighbor, Captain Smollett, arrives unannounced. The family must now maintain the appearance of normalcy while a body lies mere feet away, threatening to destroy their reputation and lives.

Nightmare

Originally Aired: March 13, 1948
In Suspense #288, "Nightmare," Vince awakens from a terrifying dream, but the nightmare refuses to release him to the morning. He vividly recalls a white-masked woman's face turning evil, a struggle with a shadowy figure, and killing a man whose body he locked in a closet with a clover-shaped key. As he dismisses it as nothing more than a bad dream - perhaps caused by that late-night salami - he discovers disturbing physical evidence that shatters his sense of reality. Fresh bruises circle his throat, a deep scratch mars his wrist, and most chilling of all, he finds a strange button in his pocket and an unfamiliar clover-shaped key that matches nothing he owns.
Desperate for answers and increasingly terrified, Vince reaches out to his sister Lil, hoping to speak with her husband Cliff, who works as a detective. As the boundary between dream and waking life dissolves, Vince must confront an impossible question: Did he actually commit murder while asleep, or is he losing his grip on sanity itself?

In a Lonely Place

Originally Aired: March 6, 1948
In Suspense #287, "In a Lonely Place," Dixon Steele is a former Air Force pilot turned aspiring novelist, trying to adjust to civilian life in post-war Los Angeles. When he reconnects with his old war buddy Brub Nicolai, Dix discovers that his friend has become a detective with the LA police force. The reunion seems pleasant enough, but there's an underlying tension as Dix leaves abruptly after giving Brub his phone number. That same foggy night, Dix encounters a young woman waiting alone at a bus stop on Camden Drive, and their chance meeting takes an ominous turn.
The next morning, Dix wakes to find a newspaper headline screaming "Strangler Strikes Again." As he prepares for dinner with Brub and his wife Sylvia at their beach club, the implications become clear. Dix is a man harboring dangerous secrets, and now his closest friend from the war is a homicide detective. The hunter and the hunted have become intertwined in what Dix himself describes as "amusing and more exciting than anything that had happened in a long time."

The House by the River

Originally Aired: February 28, 1948
Suspense #286, "The House by the River," presents a dark tale of murder and its aftermath. When something terrible happens to Emily, a young servant girl, the protagonist finds himself desperately trying to cover up the crime. John Burns takes a motorboat out on the river, searching the angry black water in ever-narrowing circles, looking for signs of what he has done. As night rushes in and the water turns black beneath him, the weight of his actions begins to close in around him.
The story unfolds as those around John begin to notice Emily's disappearance. Questions arise about the pretty young girl who has suddenly vanished, with some being told she has run off to Venice with a gentleman friend. But suspicions grow, and an investigation seems inevitable. The tension mounts as John struggles to maintain his composure while the truth threatens to surface from the dark waters of the river, where secrets refuse to stay buried.

Beyond Reason

Originally Aired: February 21, 1948
Suspense #285, "Beyond Reason," stars Robert Ryan and Ruth Warwick in a gripping tale of suspicion and sudden death. When businessman Pinkton Carr is killed in a hit-and-run accident on a San Francisco street corner, his eldest daughter Evangeline finds herself tormented by questions that go beyond grief. Why did her father die so suddenly, and who is the mysterious Harry Newton, a man who became her father's business partner the very day of the fatal accident? This stranger now holds legal claim to the family's 400 acres of prime real estate at Della Vista, and he's determined to move forward with plans to subdivide and sell the property.
As Harry Newton arrives at the Carr family home to survey the land, Evangeline's suspicions deepen, even as she finds herself unexpectedly drawn to this enigmatic promoter who contributed nothing but himself to the partnership. Her younger sister Susie boldly accuses Newton of murder, while Aunt Martha demands character references. The plain-spoken real estate man deflects their concerns with charm and legal contracts, but the question remains: was Pinkton Carr's death really just another accident, or the beginning of something far more sinister?

The Lodger

Originally Aired: February 14, 1948
In Suspense #284, "The Lodger," Robert Montgomery stars in this chilling adaptation of Marie Belloc Lowndes's novel set in 1888 London during the reign of terror known as Jack the Ripper. Ellen and Robert Bunting, a struggling middle-aged couple living in the Whitechapel district, desperately need a lodger to make ends meet. As they discuss the latest gruesome murder by the killer the newspapers call "The Avenger," a mysterious stranger arrives at their door seeking rooms. The man who calls himself Mr. Sleuth seems peculiar from the start, with his nervous manner, his protective attitude toward his mysterious bag, and his insistence on absolute quiet and privacy for his scientific studies.
Ellen Bunting finds herself both relieved to have a paying tenant and increasingly unsettled by the strange lodger's behavior. Mr. Sleuth's cryptic references to precious and dangerous contents in his bag, his obsessive quoting of Scripture, and his arrival on the very night of another murder create an atmosphere of mounting dread. As the lodger settles into the rooms upstairs, Ellen must wonder whether she has found the answer to her financial prayers or invited something far more sinister into her home.