Suspense - Radio’s Outstanding Theater of Thrills

Originally Aired: January 18, 1951
Suspense #412, "The Well-Dressed Corpse," Ruth Franklin, a successful advertising executive and one of the ten best-dressed women in America, is found disheveled and incoherent in a Hell's Kitchen alley, wearing only a policeman's overcoat. When Captain Rourke questions her at the station, she confesses to murder. Through her account, Ruth reveals how her polished world unraveled when she met Roy Mason, one of the ten best-dressed men, at a press luncheon celebrating their fashion accolades. What began as witty banter blossomed into a whirlwind romance, with Ruth confidently assuming they would marry.
Ruth's carefully constructed life shatters when Roy casually reveals he's already engaged to Elizabeth Granger, a Long Island socialite. Humiliated after the newspapers had documented their courtship, Ruth finds herself facing a devastating betrayal. As she sits before her fireplace burning Roy's books, nursing her wounds and confronting the ruins of her expectations, something dark takes hold. What transpires next transforms this sophisticated career woman into a disheveled murder suspect with no dress and no future.

Originally Aired: January 11, 1951
Suspense #411, "Vamp Till Dead," stars Ginger Rogers as Amy Watkins, a secretary who travels from New York to work for the brooding writer Paul Gentry at his isolated estate. From the moment she arrives, Amy finds herself drawn into an unsettling atmosphere. Gentry openly tells her that people believe he murdered his wife Isabel, whose body was found with a broken neck in the guest cottage nearly a year ago. The cook, Jenny, a former English teacher devoted to Gentry, fills Amy in on the details of that fateful night when Isabel fled the house after an argument and was found dead at the piano the next morning. Despite the warnings and dark rumors, Amy feels a strange attraction to her mercurial employer.
As Amy settles into her demanding job taking dictation, she discovers an eerie connection to the dead woman. Both Jenny and Gentry remark on Amy's striking resemblance to Isabel, and when a local newspaperman who tried to have Gentry indicted visits the house, tensions escalate. Amy finds herself slipping into Isabel's role in ways that seem to both fascinate and enrage the volatile writer, setting the stage for a dangerous confrontation.

Originally Aired: January 4, 1951
In Suspense #410, "Alibi Me," small-time hustler Georgie finds himself in desperate trouble after a confrontation with his childhood rival Julie goes horribly wrong. When Julie muscles in on Georgie's punch board territory in their old Brooklyn neighborhood, Georgie storms into Julie's office for a showdown. Their lifelong hatred is well known to the police, particularly Lieutenant Larkin, who once warned both men that if either turned up dead, the other would be the prime suspect. The confrontation turns violent, and Georgie suddenly realizes Julie is dead. With less than two hours before Julie's scheduled parole check-in with Larkin at six o'clock, Georgie frantically tries to construct an alibi.
Racing against the clock, Georgie desperately seeks someone who will vouch for his whereabouts. He turns to Leo, an old bartender friend who owes him favors, pleading with him to say Georgie has been sitting in his bar since 3:30. But when Leo learns Lieutenant Larkin is already prowling nearby, he refuses to get involved. As precious minutes tick away, Georgie must find someone—anyone—willing to provide the airtight alibi he needs before Larkin discovers Julie's body and comes looking for him.

Originally Aired: December 28, 1950
Suspense #409, "A Ring for Marya," John, a struggling immigrant store owner, presents his wife Maria with a beautiful diamond ring as part of his carefully orchestrated plan. Burdened by business failures and trapped in a loveless marriage to a woman he wed only for her father's money, John convinces Maria to commit insurance fraud by burning down their failing store. He manipulates her devotion masterfully, even pretending to lose his nerve at the last moment so that Maria volunteers to set the fire herself while he establishes an alibi with his friend Frank.
But when Maria calls from a phone booth after midnight, everything has gone terribly wrong. She's been burned in the fire, wandering the streets in pain and confusion, and can't remember if she locked the store door as planned. As John realizes his scheme is unraveling, he must decide how to handle his injured, desperate wife whose blind loyalty may have just destroyed them both. The ring that sealed Maria's devotion now binds John to the consequences of his cold-blooded manipulation.

Originally Aired: December 28, 1950
Suspense #409, "A Ring for Marya," John, a struggling immigrant store owner, presents his wife Maria with a beautiful diamond ring as part of his carefully orchestrated plan. Burdened by business failures and trapped in a loveless marriage to a woman he wed only for her father's money, John convinces Maria to commit insurance fraud by burning down their failing store. He manipulates her devotion masterfully, even pretending to lose his nerve at the last moment so that Maria volunteers to set the fire herself while he establishes an alibi with his friend Frank.
But when Maria calls from a phone booth after midnight, everything has gone terribly wrong. She's been burned in the fire, wandering the streets in pain and confusion, and can't remember if she locked the store door as planned. As John realizes his scheme is unraveling, he must decide how to handle his injured, desperate wife whose blind loyalty may have just destroyed them both. The ring that sealed Maria's devotion now binds John to the consequences of his cold-blooded manipulation.

Originally Aired: December 21, 1950
Suspense #408, "Christmas for Carole," Paul, a bank teller earning $48.50 a week, faces a desperate crisis when his pregnant wife Carol must stay bedridden for two months with round-the-clock nursing care costing more than his entire salary. As Christmas approaches, Paul watches money pass through his hands daily at the bank, feeling the mounting pressure of debts and his wife's deteriorating condition. When elderly Mr. Forbes withdraws his life savings of $8,000 in cash to secretly buy a farm as a Christmas surprise for his wife, Paul sees what he convinces himself is the answer. He contacts Rocky Perea, a criminal, and together they plan to steal the money. Now Paul stands in a dark alley with Rocky on Christmas Eve, the stolen cash in hand, but Rocky insists they wait to see if the elderly couple returns home and reveals where more money might be hidden. What began as Paul's desperate one-time solution to save his family has become something far more dangerous than he imagined.

Originally Aired: December 14, 1950
Suspense #407, "A Killing in Abilene," stars Alan Ladd as Jeff Mander, a man who has traveled 300 miles from Abilene to find Lee Burridge, the man who murdered his brother Seth two years ago. Jeff arrives in Pleasant Valley just as the townspeople unearth the body of Fred Coston, beaten to death in the same brutal manner as Jeff's brother. The angry citizens, led by Ben Chafey, want immediate frontier justice and plan to lynch Burridge themselves. Sheriff Jake Garvey struggles to maintain order, but the mob mentality is growing stronger.
Jeff faces a moral dilemma that puts him at odds with the entire town. He promised his brother's widow he would bring the killer back to Abilene for a proper trial, but the locals believe Burridge deserves to hang in Pleasant Valley for what he did to their friend. When Jeff finally tracks Burridge to his isolated canyon hut, he must decide whether to uphold his promise of lawful justice or let the vengeful townspeople have their way. The tension builds as two communities clash over one man's fate.

Originally Aired: December 7, 1950
Suspense #406, "After the Movies," stars Ray Milland as Al Benig, a juror sequestered during a sensational trial. When Al and his wife Ann go to the movies during a brief recess, they stop at a local drugstore for ice cream. There, Al discovers an envelope containing ten thousand dollars and a cryptic, threatening note. The message reads: "This is your first half as agreed in the EH business. If they are not hung up when the time comes, don't expect to get the rest or stay healthy very long."
Ann quickly pieces together the clues, realizing the money is a bribe intended for someone on Al's jury. The initials "EH" likely stand for Edward Harmon, the defendant in the very trial where Al is serving. The note's ominous warning about keeping a jury "hung up" suggests a dangerous conspiracy to corrupt the justice system. As the couple debates what to do with their discovery, they face a difficult choice: turn the money over to authorities immediately or wait until morning. The decision becomes more urgent when Ann insists they must call the police right away, fearing any delay might make Al himself appear complicit in the bribery scheme.

Originally Aired: November 30, 1950
Suspense #405, "The Lady in the Red Hat," features Van Heflin as Mitch Mitchell, a columnist whose provocative articles about a serial killer known as the Avenger have attracted unwanted attention. The Avenger has murdered five women in three months, each victim wearing something red. When Mitch receives an anonymous note inviting him to meet the Avenger at midnight in an abandoned chapel, he discovers his colleague Jeannie and police Lieutenant Dow have received identical messages. The three realize they're all deeply involved in the case—Mitch through his psychological analysis columns, Jeannie through her newspaper reporting, and Dow through his investigation.
As they wait together in a dimly lit bar, tension mounts while they debate whether the invitation is genuine or a crank's sick joke. Mitch theorizes about the killer's psychology, suggesting the Avenger sees red as sinful and seeks to purge the world. The chilling possibility emerges that the murderer could be someone they know, perhaps even one of them. Despite Lieutenant Dow's objections, all three are determined to keep the midnight appointment at the community chapel, knowing one of them might be the Avenger's next target.

Originally Aired: November 23, 1950
Suspense #404, "Going, Going, Gone," finds married couple Wally and Jan Pindell caught up in an increasingly dangerous situation after a routine auction visit turns extraordinary. When Jan insists on bidding for a mysteriously sealed old trunk, Wally reluctantly agrees, thinking it's just another impulse purchase. They secure it for three dollars, but immediately a frantic latecomer offers two hundred dollars for it. The auction house even tries to substitute a different trunk, fueling Jan's suspicion that their purchase contains something valuable.
Back home, the couple opens the trunk to find what appears to be costume jewelry buried beneath old rags and newspapers. When Wally performs the classic glass-scratch test to prove the gems are fake, he discovers the shocking truth: the jewels are real, worth millions. As they try to process their incredible fortune, reality intrudes. Someone knocks at their door. After hastily hiding the trunk in their bedroom, they open it to find a man named Anatole Minchie, who politely introduces himself and makes clear he knows exactly what they bought at the auction.