Mystery House.
Mystery House. That strange publishing firm owned by Dan and Barbara Glenn, where each new novel is acted out by the Mystery House staff before it is accepted for publication. Mystery House.
Well, Barbie, I understand we all get into a cowboy mood tonight, huh, partner?
That's right, partner. We're going to act out a story about the wild and woolly west where men are men and murders are plumb, the series.
Well, you know, I always had a hankering to be a cowboy.
Then rest easy in your saddle, mister, because you're going to satisfy that craving photo.
Oh, you mean we're all ready to start firing?
We sure are, partner. But just a minute. Here comes a mysterious stranger wandering in off the range.
Well, sure enough. What do you got to say for yourself, stranger?
Places, everybody. Set the scene for the night story, Tom.
Death in the saddle. Tonight's story opens in a dressing room at the rodeo.
Burr Kelvin, a cowboy rodeo performer, sits with a moody look on his face as the door bursts open and his wife comes in.
Well, nice roping, kid. You were swinging a wide loop. You ought to pull down top money in the fancy roping without a struggle.
We can use it, Burr. This rodeo racket's getting too tough. Me, I like to be heading back to Texas in the ranch.
I never thought you was jealous, Shirley.
Listen, Burr, I got more what it takes than you'll ever have. But more sense, too, cowboy.
I'm getting no younger fast, and this is a kid's racket.
Hey, you heard him announce the time that I made on the bulldog in his first round, didn't you?
Well, I like to see any kid beat that.
You'll see it when Tommy Tanner competes.
Tommy Tanner? That phony cowboy? That no-
Ain't jealous of him, are you, Burr?
Who, me? Jealous of that Johnny-come-lately?
Listen, Shirley, I ain't got any cause for being jealous, have I?
Well, what makes you ask a question like that?
Well, I don't mind my wife being voted the most popular cowgirl in the rodeo, but I don't want you getting too popular in the wrong places.
You got funny ideas about the wrong places, Burr. The kid's a top-notch working cowherd.
Got a profile and a voice. There's two movie scouts talking to him right now.
Listen, Shirley, you ain't getting ideas about giving me the breeze for that phony, are you?
Ha ha ha. You're a funny guy, Burr.
Yeah, well, I don't want my wife running around with other men.
I'm kind of glad you feel that way about it, cowboy.
But I can't see what you got against Tommy. He's a nice kid. You'd have him a lot.
I'm having enough trouble taking care of myself without looking for somebody to help.
Besides, he's going to help me a little.
For?
Yeah, he's going to pay me for a little experience.
What are you talking about?
Listen, if you're planning on getting that kid into one of your crooked poker games...
Ah, no, nothing that smooth, Chiquita.
A gag and nobody else on this barnstorm in Corell'd fall for it.
Just a smart guy, Tommy Tanner.
What are you talking about?
Well, he thinks he's quite a writer. He thinks he talks the Bronx language.
He's the smoothest writer that's hit the rodeo circuit in ten years, and I've seen him all.
Hmm, must have been talking to him.
Well, I made Mr. Tommy Tanner a little bet.
What? Listen, you go throwing our money around.
How much did you bet on it?
Don't worry, he's going to lose, so what difference does it make how much I bet him?
I said, how much did you bet it?
None of your business.
Listen, if you got the idea our bank accounts your personal property, guess again.
I've pulled down nearly as much of that prize money as you have.
I've trooped the country from one end to the other.
I've worked like a dog, and if you think you can throw my money away...
Why is throwing your money away? Just doubling it, that's all.
Well, you tell me right this minute.
How much did you bet with Tommy Tanner?
Five thousand bucks, honey.
What? Five thousand dollars?
You'll lose that money and it'll set us back nearly two years.
I said I wasn't going to lose it, didn't I?
Now quit yapping and listen to me, will you?
The bet's a cinch.
You think you can out-ride Tommy? Why, you said...
I didn't bet him I could out-ride him.
I bet him there'd be a horse here that he couldn't ride, that's all.
But you don't know there will be.
Oh, yes I do.
Listen, you know who's furnishing the Bronx for this rodeo, don't you?
Well, sure, Bert Graham.
Yeah, Bert Graham.
And you know one bronc he owns, too, don't you?
You mean Gray Bomber?
Gray Bomber, the wickedest hunk of hell on hooves
that ever twisted and turned and sun-dogged his way out of a chute.
But Gray Bomber won't be here.
There ain't a cowboy on this rodeo who would touch him.
Why, Gray Bomber's killed six men. He can't be rode.
It's a publicity gimmick.
Graham's bringing in Gray Bomber and putting stories in all the newspapers about the horse's wreckage.
And then he's offering a thousand bucks to any rider
who'll take a stab at sticking on the critter.
Oh, nobody's that crazy.
Bet they ain't.
But my bet with Tommy Tanner is that there'll be a bronc here that he can't ride.
That's all, see?
And if I say Gray Bomber's the horse, he's got to ride him or cough up the 5,000.
Yeah, come in.
Well, hello, Tommy.
Hi, Charlene.
Nice roping you done tonight.
Thanks, Tommy.
If you got time tomorrow morning, remind me to show you a little trick on the in-and-out roping.
Well, that'd be mighty nice of you, Tommy.
Listen, Tommy, she could teach you tricks about roping.
Hmm. And about riding, too, I suppose.
Well, you're gonna learn a trick or two about riding, cowboy.
That trick, it'll cost you 5,000 bucks.
I wish you boys would call off that bet.
I suppose Bird told you to say that, didn't he?
Well, no.
He thinks he's got a one for sure, but...
I don't know, I don't like the idea.
I got a sure thing, Tommy, and you fell for it like a chump.
Ever have a sure thing go back on you, Bird?
Look, this is one sure thing it couldn't go back on me.
I bet there'd be a horse here in this rodeo that you couldn't ride.
You know what Bronx gonna be here?
Oh, uh, you mean Gray Bomber.
Wh-what?
Well, sure, Gray Bomber's coming in tomorrow.
You knew it all the time?
Yep.
Oh, boy. I don't get it. You can't ride that horse.
Wanna put up another 5,000, Bird?
Nobody ever has rode him.
There has to be a first time for everything.
Yeah, you're a worse sap than I thought you was, mister.
Every tough Bronx that ever bucked its way out of a chute has a gimmick.
But nobody's ever figured what Gray Bomber's gimmick was.
I have.
I can calm that critter down and nothing's flat.
I got it all figured out.
You're bluffing.
You think I'd have bet $5,000 if it was a bluff?
You can get another five anytime you say so.
Well, you could be mistaken.
I'm willing to take my chances on that, Bird.
It's gonna be the easiest $5,000 I ever made.
Well, so long.
You and your broad ideas.
So this 5,000 is just like in the bank, is it?
Oh, now look, surely the guy's bluffing.
Bluffing?
Well, you clown, you might as well give him the money now.
And I'll tell you something else.
What?
I've worked like a dog saving for our ranch.
Our ranch.
Now we'll be lucky if we can buy a pinto pony.
You lose that money and I'm through with you.
Just a minute, Tommy.
Huh?
What's the matter, Lottie?
You been having a nice visit with Shirley?
No listen, Lottie.
Don't go getting in here.
I'll get anyway I please.
And I'll tell you something else.
Her husband's watching you like a hawk over a chicken farm.
I ain't afraid of him.
Well, you better be afraid of me.
Well, I'm afraid of him.
But then why are you afraid of him, Lottie?
Now you are afraid of him.
Well, then why are you afraid of him?
I ain't afraid of him.
Well, you better be afraid of me.
Who got you your breaks, huh?
Who started you out in this rodeo business?
Who grub-staked you while you was getting the feel of things?
You need money, Lottie?
Money.
Don't you insult me, Tommy.
We got an understanding that we're gonna get married,
and you just tried backing out of it.
Sure, sure we're gonna get married.
You're working under too light a rain, Tommy.
Let's get married tonight.
Well, I figured maybe after we worked Abilene rodeo,
you think I'm pretty dumb, don't you?
What?
You ain't working the Abilene rodeo.
You got a deal on to take some screen tests.
Why don't you tell me about that, huh?
Well?
Who told you I was taking any screen tests?
Your little friend, Shirley.
That's who.
I swear till I get my hands on her.
I'm being given a double cross.
Look who's talking about the double cross.
You ought to know she ain't interested in you.
She's looking out for herself and Bert,
no matter what she says or how she acts.
Why, that dirty little-
Well, you ain't so nice yourself, mister.
You practically admitted you'd been planning
to run out on me.
You cheap pizzer-
Oh, quit beefing.
You got the wrong idea, cowboy.
I ain't complaining.
I'm just telling you.
You try any fast ones on me and you're gonna get tied up
worse than a bulldog steer.
And now, the feature of end of the evening.
That popular cowboy, Tommy Tanner, trying to ride the roughest,
toughest bronc that ever came out of Texas.
Oh, he's getting into the shoot now.
I don't want to look.
I'm looking and I'm enjoying it.
Gray bomber, a bronco that's never been ridden,
full of a record full of deaths and destruction.
Hold your breath, ladies and gentlemen.
Are they opening the chute yet?
Watch it, honey, watch it.
It's gonna be good.
Here, find a gimmick for that horse, did he?
Well, we'll see how much of a gimmick he's got.
They're opening the chute now, Shirley.
Look.
No, why?
Hey, what's going on here anyway?
Why that dirty louse?
He's tricked me.
What's wrong?
Well, Gray bomber ain't even bucking.
He's walking out of the chute.
There's something funny going on.
You and your crooked ideas for making money.
Gonna practically steal $5,000 from him, was you?
He didn't have any gimmick, huh?
What?
What happened?
I don't know.
The bronc didn't even buck.
Tommy just kind of toppled off right into the dirt.
Well, he's hurt.
What's it to you if he is hurt?
The bronc didn't hurt him, that's a sense.
Wasn't a bronc.
If ever I saw a tame horse, Gray bomber's it.
What have you done to him?
Me, what have I done to him?
You saw it, didn't you?
He just fell off with the horse not even bucking.
Well, that wins me $5,000, sugar.
But I was plum lucky.
Lucky?
Listen, when you win any money,
there's no luck connected with it.
I'd keep my mouth shut if I thought anything like that, surely.
Wouldn't sound good to folks.
I don't care how it sounds.
Oh, look there.
That can of him obviously is unconscious.
Serves a smart aleck right.
But Graham's coming over this way.
Oh, hi, Graham.
Tommy had a tough break, huh?
That's one way of looking at it, I guess.
Well, I mean he's fallen off of a tame horse.
I guess most anybody'd have trouble
staying on a horse in Tommy's condition, well.
Huh?
Why, what's wrong with it?
He's dead.
No.
Wait.
He couldn't be dead.
Maybe not, ma'am.
But he is.
You mean he hurt himself when he fell off Gray bomber?
I mean nothing of the kind.
He was dead when Gray bomber came out of that chute.
But how?
Why?
What happened?
That's what I am to find out, ma'am.
I know about that bet you had with Tommy Burr.
What's that got to do with it?
Quite a lot, maybe.
You see, Tommy Tanner's been murdered.
So Tommy Tanner was murdered.
Well, who killed him and what was the motive?
For that matter, how was he killed?
We'll find out in the second act of Death in the Saddle.
Meanwhile, here's a brief message from our sponsor.
And now, act two of Death in the Saddle.
Burr, Shirley, Lottie Moran, and Graham are gathered in Graham's office.
We got to straighten this business out, folks.
I don't know what there is to straighten out.
A guy died.
He didn't die, Burr.
He was murdered.
The lawful kind of thinks there's a difference.
I didn't kill him.
No.
No, I...why should I kill him?
You was betting him $5,000 he couldn't ride Gray bomber.
And he told you he had a gimmick on the horse.
Well, I didn't believe it.
Well, he did.
You could see that plain enough, couldn't you?
I reckon maybe he did it there.
Lucky for you, he had that accident, huh, Burr?
Yeah, I reckon it was.
Pretty lucky.
Lucky?
You killed him and you know it.
He was crazy jealous of him anyway.
Jealous, Lottie?
I ain't heard any of this.
What was he...
Shirley was making a big play for Tommy.
She knew about him going into the movies.
Well, you dirty-minded little...
You be careful how you talk to me, Shirley.
I'll be careful, all right.
I'll throw a lasso around your neck and pull it till the hunter squeezes your gullet off.
Pipe down, Shirley.
No need to get so sore.
Sore? Well, she can't...
Pipe down, Shirley.
You ain't my boss.
Just my smart husband that practically throws $5,000 away.
I didn't lose, did I?
Maybe not.
But you got a murder charge hanging right over your head.
Look, I don't even know how the guy died.
That was pretty cute how he died, Burr.
What?
Tommy was using his jeweled saddle.
Yeah, I could see that all right.
The one he always used for exhibition writing.
But he never had it fixed up this way before.
What way?
The jewels on that saddle are set into little metal holders.
And in each of the holders, somebody's wedged a piece of sharp needle,
coated with poison.
Poison?
The minute Tommy Tanner dropped into the saddle before the bronc came out of the chute,
it was a dead pigeon.
Who'd been in the attack room?
We ain't gonna find the murderer by finding who had a chance to kill Tommy.
We're gonna find him by figuring out who had a reason to kill him.
That's easy.
Lottie.
Listen here, you.
You've got a lot of nerve talking about me having a reason to kill Tommy.
Well, we was engaged.
Was is right.
Tommy was trying to get rid of you.
Got too big time for you.
That's a lie.
I heard the fight you was having with him.
Oh, so you've been eavesdropping on me, huh?
Listen, I'd like to show you how I rap what...
Oh, so you admit you was having trouble with Tommy, huh, Lottie?
We wasn't having any trouble.
Nothing that couldn't have been straightened out by getting Shirley out of the way.
I don't know what Shirley would have to do with your trouble, Lottie.
She's a married woman.
You don't get around much, Graham.
Sure she's married, but she's kind of ambitious, too.
She was looking for a chance to improve her position.
Now look here, Lottie, you can't talk...
You fool, if you'd been awake, you'd have seen what was going on.
Shirley was making a play for Tommy Tanner, a big play.
She thought he was gonna go places, and she was looking for a ticket right on the same train.
When you make cracks like that, Lottie, it's a good idea to be able to prove them.
Ask anybody around the room...
Now wait a minute.
You girls are slowing things down.
What?
I'm trying to find out who killed Tommy, and you're drawing about who was Tommy's best girl.
That don't make no difference now, the way I look at it.
All right. Who killed him?
Somebody who'd be better off because he was dead.
Well, don't take any Einstein to figure that out.
Don't, Father. Who would profit from his being dead? Not Lottie?
She knitted out a spy because she was jealous and because she figured he was gonna ditch her.
She couldn't stand having folks know she'd lost out.
Well, maybe. But from a money standpoint, she couldn't do herself any good by killing him.
Tommy didn't have much. His riches was all what you might call potential.
He had a big future ahead of him. The killing stopped that future cold.
Sure. That's right. He could have been a great cowboy.
And the charges you've been shooting at Shirley, they kinda end up the same way, Lottie.
Shirley ain't any better off than she was if Tommy dead.
She's $5,000 better off.
Well, that's something to argue about.
She didn't win the $5,000, and it wasn't her who was gonna lose it.
The way I look at it, there was only one person gonna be any better off with Tommy dead.
And that was...
Yeah, yeah, me. I know what you're thinking.
Well, I didn't kill him, Graham. And I ain't gonna be made a goat.
Nobody's gonna ask you to be a goat.
But you're the one guy who had a chance to line his pockets from Tommy's death.
I ain't a killer, I tell you. I never...
What time was you in the tack room, Bert?
Well, just before the steer bulldogging event. I had to get my stuff.
And that was about an hour before Tommy got his saddle, wasn't it?
I can tell.
Was anybody in the tack room with you?
No. I ain't in the habit of taking along a valet or nothing when I get my stuff.
I think maybe we better turn you over to the police, Bert.
Think again, then, Graham.
Oh, Bert, you fool, put that gun back in your holster.
I ain't getting sent to no jail for something I didn't do.
Put that gun away.
Oh, so you want me to get arrested, huh?
You've been trying to get rid of me for quite a spell.
Sure, I ain't good enough for you anymore.
Say, you're all wet about Bert being the only person who could profit, Graham.
Why?
If Shirley could kill Tommy and fix it so Bert be the full guy,
she'd get Tommy's 5,000 and Bert's too.
Why, she could make more money out of this than anybody.
You're just kind of hoping, Lottie.
Nope. I'll stick to Bert for my man.
I'm gonna call the police, Bert.
Get away from that phone, Graham.
I ain't scared of you, Bert.
Yep.
Now, I'm warning you, Graham.
Next time I shoot, I don't aim at no telephone.
What are you gonna do?
I'm gonna have a little talk with Shirley.
There's some sense to the remarks that Lottie's made about her trying to frame me.
Oh, Bert, no.
No, get away from me.
Oh, you can't.
Help, oh, Graham.
You won't let him.
No, no, no.
I'll get you for this, Bert.
It takes me the rest of my life.
You ain't gonna get nobody now that you've confessed.
Confessed?
Why wouldn't I confess?
Well, you hit me in the face and knocked me down
and twisted my arm to the breaking point.
If I hadn't confessed, it would have been nuts.
You mean you're denying your confession?
Of course I'm denying it.
And I reckon I gotta start working you over again, Shirley.
Oh, for the love of Graham, why do you care that he killed me?
He's got a gun, he's a crazy man, Shirley.
I ain't hanging to dispute with him.
Your confession's true and you know it, Shirley.
You killed Tommy.
I don't go trying to get out of it.
Listen, if I'd have wanted to kill Tommy,
I'd have done it a lot easier than the scheme that was worked.
And if you think you're gonna make my confession stand up
in court, you're gonna look like just as big a sap as you really are.
Yeah? Why?
Because I'll show the police a ticket.
What ticket?
The ticket to Reno.
The ticket to re...what?
Tommy had you licked on that bet.
It was a big time and he's heading right for the top.
What's that got to do with a ticket to Reno?
Plenty.
Tommy was giving me the money to go out to Reno.
I was gonna skip after tonight's show.
I was gonna get a divorce from you and marry him.
That's a lie.
You know it, Aintan, you know it.
I got plenty of proof.
Ask the lawyer that was advising Tommy on his movie test business
and see what he says.
Tommy'd been getting more than movie advice from him.
You're a sweet little woman, you are.
What do you expect?
We're throwing away most of the money we've been able to save.
I wasn't doing no such thing.
You saw for yourself, even when he was dying,
Tommy was able to put a gimmick on Gray Bomber.
He had the Bronx stop Cove.
You saw it.
He even told Graham what the gimmick was
and Graham admitted it might work.
What?
So he told Graham, huh?
No, no, he never said nothing to me about it.
That's a lie.
He told me he'd talk to you and...
Oh, what difference does it make whether he'd talk to Graham or not?
He had a gimmick on the horse, all right.
That was easy enough to see.
The important thing is that Burr knew about the gimmick.
I wouldn't be too sure about that, Lottie.
But why not?
A good buck and bronc that can't be rowed.
A horse like that's worth as much as a winning race horse
in the rodeo business.
More, maybe.
I've turned down some big offers for Gray Bomber.
Oh, that's beside the point.
Sure it is.
You do a little less talking and more listening, Graham.
Tommy talked to you about the way he was going to calm Gray Bomber down.
No, I knew nothing about it.
Oh, yes you did. Tommy told me.
There wasn't any reason for him to lie to me about it.
Oh, getting smart, huh, Shirley?
Gray Bomber was worth a small fortune to Graham,
as long as he couldn't be rowed.
But once a cowboy put the gimmick on him,
once the secret was out of how to keep Gray Bomber from bucking,
that horse wasn't worth a dime.
Hey, I never thought of that.
So the fellow that stood to profit the most from having a horse
that stood to profit the most from having Tommy Tanner die
before Gray Bomber got broken was Mr. Graham.
You're crazy, I tell you.
Running a rodeo, he was in a spot where you could slip that saddle of Tommy's
out of the tack room and fix it up in private.
You think anybody would take a chance of having folks walk in on him
while he was docking the saddle out of the way?
Well, that's right.
I think it would be kind of smart to go to Graham's office
and kind of rummage through his stuff.
I'll do it. What will I look for?
Lots of things.
Needles, maybe. And poison.
No, you don't, Lottie.
Don't forget I got a gun, Graham.
Yeah, that's right. You have, ain't you?
Well, let's see if you want to shoot, Lottie.
You stand right in front of me while I back out of here, Lottie.
Once I get to my car, you won't...
You killed Tommy, didn't you?
Sure, sure. You think I'm a little smart aleckaroon,
the best horse I got, the one that's worth the most money?
Come on, Lottie. Don't try to get loose,
because I got a gun too.
Oh, shoot him, buddy. You got to.
Listen, I can't shoot Lottie. She ain't done nothing.
Oh, where's my rope? Yeah, yeah, right over here.
What are you going to do?
Come on. We got to run to catch him before they get to Graham's car. Now, hurry.
Keep him covered with your gun in case he tries to shoot me.
If he does, you got to take a chance on getting Lottie, maybe, but you got to get him.
Don't worry. I'll protect you.
Oh, I think we're getting close enough.
I got to drop the rope down pretty accurate.
And you're the one that can do it, kid.
Let us sail, Shirley, and good luck.
I'll get him right now.
Yeah, right over his head.
Look, look, he's pawing at it, trying to get it off.
I figured he would. Careful.
Now. Yeah, smart work. You got it right around his neck.
Now pull it tight for him. I'm strong enough.
Yeah.
Now, you idiot, he's trying to get into his car with the roper on his neck.
Oh, hold on.
He threw her down.
Put on the roper.
I'm trying to, but it's cutting my hands off.
Why are you pulling him right out of the running car by his neck?
The toughest critter I ever tried to haul in with a rope.
His neck's broke.
I heard it crack.
Did it? Did it did?
It sure is.
Good work, Burr.
Yeah. Yeah, I reckon so.
Well, I suppose I better call the police.
Oh, I'll go with you, Burr.
You will?
Well, I thought you was through with me.
Oh, not if you'll have me around, Burr.
I... I made a mistake.
I was slow-called, yes.
Well, if you've got over it,
there's no use yapping around about it anymore, I reckon.
And I'm kind of sorry about the beating up I gave you, Shirley.
Sorry?
He had an ought to be Burr.
Made me kind of, well, feel that he was quite a fella.
And even if it was for something I didn't do, I...
I guess I had it coming on General's principles.
Well, I guess I'd better go.
I got to go.
Bye.
Well, you are belly full of
junk that probably might turn black.
I say, Decus removed the sun.
That's just one giant cube.
Okay.
I'm sorry about the meal.
What's that to you?
Well, this is being killed by some residential extraction movement.
Thank you.