WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:06.500 Get this and get it straight. Crime is a sucker's road and those who travel it wind up in the gutter, the prison of the grave. 00:06.500 --> 00:10.000 There was a gorgeous tapestry found under a tomb and they were all after it. 00:10.000 --> 00:16.000 The worried importer, the man with half a face, the Englishman in an LA slum and the lady wearing a green veil. 00:16.000 --> 00:21.000 But before it was over none of them had it and two of the four were dead. 00:21.000 --> 00:30.000 From the pen of Raymond Chandler, outstanding author of crime fiction, comes his most famous character in The Adventures of Philip Marlowe. 00:30.000 --> 00:46.000 Now with Gerald Moore, starred as Philip Marlowe, we bring you tonight's transcribed story, The Baton Sinister. 00:46.000 --> 01:02.000 I watched the blood red sunset behind an ugly purple storm out on the ocean. 01:02.000 --> 01:06.000 And the weird afterglow that crept into the canyons of the Hollywood hills made me uneasy. 01:06.000 --> 01:11.000 Added emphasis to the disquieting phone call I received at my office from a man named Paul Schindler. 01:11.000 --> 01:16.000 Who I knew was a very capable worldwide broker of bizarre art objects. 01:16.000 --> 01:20.000 In words that fell over each other in urgency he asked me to meet him at my place at once. 01:20.000 --> 01:24.000 As I drove to my apartment I figured the trouble lay ahead. 01:24.000 --> 01:28.000 But I didn't realize how close it was until I parked and started out of my car. 01:28.000 --> 01:34.000 A bullet smashed the corner of my windshield and I ducked for cover then hugged the building and headed for the rear where I was sure I'd seen a gun flash. 01:34.000 --> 01:38.000 I was halfway there when the side door flew open and Paul Schindler himself stopped me. 01:38.000 --> 01:42.000 He was white faced and shaking his eyes ringed by dark blue circles of fatigue. 01:42.000 --> 01:44.000 Marlow, Marlow, that shot. 01:44.000 --> 01:47.000 Yeah, somebody threw a slug at me Schindler from back there. 01:47.000 --> 01:52.000 I was afraid of this. We can't talk here, not now. Come, let's get in your car and drive, hurry. 01:52.000 --> 01:55.000 Wait a minute, wait a minute, what's all this about? Who shot at me and why? 01:55.000 --> 01:58.000 It must have been that lizard, Myron Lough. 01:58.000 --> 02:04.000 He's followed me all the way from England Marlow because, but I, I tell you all about it when we're safe. 02:04.000 --> 02:06.000 Right now we must get away from here. 02:06.000 --> 02:08.000 Okay, but watch yourself, come on. 02:11.000 --> 02:17.000 Well, so far so good. You see that hole in the windshield? It's lucky it's not in my head. 02:17.000 --> 02:18.000 Are we being followed? 02:18.000 --> 02:20.000 Not yet anyway. 02:20.000 --> 02:25.000 Well, Pollard, last time it was a cloak of Kamehameha and a trip to Honolulu. What is it this time? 02:25.000 --> 02:32.000 It's worse. The tapestry, Marlow. 15th century and exquisite. Worth 20,000 as a museum piece alone. 02:32.000 --> 02:34.000 Hey, that's a lot of money for a chunk of cloth. 02:34.000 --> 02:40.000 Bah, it's nothing. I'm getting better than 80,000 for it from a man named Arthur Merritt in Seattle. 02:40.000 --> 02:41.000 80 grand. 02:41.000 --> 02:49.000 Yes, correct. You see, this Merritt claims to be a direct descendant from Edward, second Duke of York, who fell at Agincourt. 02:49.000 --> 02:50.000 Really? 02:50.000 --> 02:57.000 Yeah. He spent a fortune tracing his genealogy and collecting family treasures and regards this tapestry as his greatest prize. 02:57.000 --> 03:04.000 Oh, it's a gorgeous thing, Marlow. Depicts the Duke on a gold horse, riding to battle beside the king. 03:04.000 --> 03:09.000 With such colors, reds, blues, greens, breathtaking. 03:09.000 --> 03:10.000 How bad? 03:10.000 --> 03:15.000 Ah, but I'm so tired. I don't think I've slept in weeks. 03:15.000 --> 03:21.000 For 80,000 bucks you can afford to be tired, Schindler. But how does the guy with the itchy trigger finger fit into all this? 03:21.000 --> 03:31.000 Loft, that scum. He was after the tapestry too. He got wind of the fact that someone was willing to pay 80,000 for it. But he doesn't know who. 03:31.000 --> 03:32.000 I see. You found it first, huh? 03:32.000 --> 03:38.000 Yes. It's in a sealed tomb under the ruins of a castle in Wales, just minutes ahead of Loft. 03:38.000 --> 03:39.000 Where's the tapestry now? 03:39.000 --> 03:46.000 At this moment, it's in a cheap suitcase, checked in a public locker at the Cavinga Boulevard bus depot. 03:46.000 --> 03:52.000 Now, I want you to pick it up and get it safely to Arthur Merritt. Here, here's the locker key. 03:52.000 --> 03:58.000 Take it on a plane leaving in three hours and your money. Five, one hundred dollar bills. Enough? 03:58.000 --> 04:01.000 Enough. Where'll I find Arthur Merritt? 04:01.000 --> 04:11.000 76 West Street, Seattle. He'll be expecting you. And Marlow, I feel better if you get the tapestry soon and keep it with you until plane time. 04:11.000 --> 04:13.000 You're really afraid of this guy, Loft, aren't you? 04:13.000 --> 04:18.000 He'll stop at nothing. I warn you. Now, I'll get off here at the corner, Marlow. 04:18.000 --> 04:19.000 All right. 04:19.000 --> 04:26.000 Incidentally, when you get the tapestry, don't go back to your apartment. Loft may be waiting here. 04:26.000 --> 04:28.000 Now, I'm at the Hollywood Crest Hotel. 04:28.000 --> 04:29.000 Hollywood Crest, huh? 04:29.000 --> 04:35.000 Yeah. Call me when the job is done. Goodbye, Marlow, and good luck. You'll need it. 04:35.000 --> 04:44.000 The key Schindler left was numbered 410, so I drove to the bus station and went in. 04:44.000 --> 04:50.000 A casual walk through showed me that locker number 410 was the last on the left, and I ambled over to the lunch counter, 04:50.000 --> 04:53.000 ordered a sandwich and coffee, and sat down to case the rest of the customers. 04:53.000 --> 05:00.000 Finally, I spotted him. A dark man in ragged clothes with a profile out of Western Asia who was also watching number 410. 05:00.000 --> 05:05.000 The profile glanced around nervously and looked away fast when he caught me watching him. 05:05.000 --> 05:08.000 I eased the key to 410 out of my pocket and slipped it under my sandwich. 05:08.000 --> 05:11.000 Told the waitress I'd be right back and started towing him. 05:11.000 --> 05:13.000 He saw me coming in, made for the back exit, broke into a run. 05:13.000 --> 05:18.000 When he got to the door, we played follow the leader down the tunnel to the alley behind the bus barn and around the corner. 05:18.000 --> 05:22.000 There the game stopped because a claw that belonged on a lobster reached out, 05:22.000 --> 05:26.000 grabbed me by the shirt front, and pulled me up against 18 inches of curved Damascus steel, 05:26.000 --> 05:32.000 sharp enough to shave with. I knew then why he'd show me only his profile. 05:32.000 --> 05:39.000 Half his face was handsome, the other half, well, when he spoke, he hissed through the flexible half of his mouth. 05:39.000 --> 05:43.000 Stand still, my friend, or I slit your gizzard for you. Where is Myron Loft? 05:43.000 --> 05:45.000 I don't know. I never met the man. Up close, that is. 05:45.000 --> 05:47.000 Mya, you are working for him. 05:47.000 --> 05:49.000 Keep using that knife for punctuation, pal, and I'll admit anything. 05:49.000 --> 05:53.000 I followed the fat German. I watched him put the tapestry in one of those lockers inside. 05:53.000 --> 05:56.000 Therefore, I knew that Loft or his hireling wouldn't be far behind. 05:56.000 --> 05:59.000 You mean me or off base? What's Myron Loft to you? 05:59.000 --> 06:03.000 What indeed? Only I know the true value of that tapestry, 06:03.000 --> 06:07.000 for it was I who paid for it, with half my face and half my mind. 06:07.000 --> 06:10.000 But before I'm through, Loft will know too. Where is he? 06:10.000 --> 06:12.000 I don't know, but I wish I were with him. 06:12.000 --> 06:18.000 Shall I kill you for being stupid? Go to Loft and tell him that Akkar is not dead, 06:18.000 --> 06:21.000 but has come back to teach him the price of treachery. 06:21.000 --> 06:23.000 This will surprise him, no doubt, huh? 06:23.000 --> 06:26.000 He murdered me so I would not talk. He left me for dead. 06:26.000 --> 06:30.000 He sent me hurtling, unconscious, off a bridge in a truck of blazing oil. 06:30.000 --> 06:35.000 It made me like this, claw for a hand, a face to frighten demons. 06:35.000 --> 06:37.000 But he did not kill me. 06:37.000 --> 06:38.000 Nice guy, Loft. 06:38.000 --> 06:43.000 And the tapestry itself. Tell him it will bring him nothing but despair, 06:43.000 --> 06:46.000 for I have put a curse of worthlessness on it that... 06:46.000 --> 06:48.000 Akkar! 06:48.000 --> 06:51.000 There, from the alley, the shop. 06:51.000 --> 06:52.000 Did you see who it was, Akkar? 06:52.000 --> 06:55.000 No, but I didn't have to see it to know. 06:55.000 --> 06:59.000 He thinks he has finished it now, but he is wrong. 06:59.000 --> 07:03.000 Look, look for the baton sinister. 07:03.000 --> 07:04.000 What, what? Look for what, Akkar? 07:04.000 --> 07:09.000 In the duke's shield, the baton sinister. 07:09.000 --> 07:10.000 Akkar! 07:10.000 --> 07:13.000 The words baton sinister, whatever that meant on his twisted lips. 07:13.000 --> 07:16.000 The twisted little man died. 07:16.000 --> 07:18.000 I walked back carefully the way I had come, 07:18.000 --> 07:21.000 but life in the bus depot was going on as usual. 07:21.000 --> 07:24.000 The waitress gave me a hard eye when I sat down at the lunch counter again 07:24.000 --> 07:27.000 and the mirror over the back bar told me why. 07:27.000 --> 07:30.000 I was pasty green from eyes to mouth. 07:30.000 --> 07:33.000 The thought of death in an alley still did that to me was strangely familiar. 07:33.000 --> 07:36.000 I was a little boy, a little boy, a little boy. 07:36.000 --> 07:40.000 I was a little boy, a little boy, a little boy, a little boy. 07:40.000 --> 07:43.000 I got the key from under the sandwich, dropped the buck on the counter 07:43.000 --> 07:46.000 and then went to locker 410 and opened it. 07:46.000 --> 07:49.000 Schindler's tatted suitcase was there. 07:49.000 --> 07:51.000 I picked it up, took it over to a store phone and sat on it 07:51.000 --> 07:54.000 while I put in a call to Lieutenant Matthews at homicide. 07:54.000 --> 07:57.000 Oh, say that again, Marlow. I don't think I heard you right. 07:57.000 --> 07:58.000 Yes, you did, Matthews. 07:58.000 --> 08:00.000 I said a man with half a face named Akkar 08:00.000 --> 08:03.000 was shot in the alley back of Cohinga bus depot, 08:03.000 --> 08:06.000 probably because he knew too much about a tapestry. 08:06.000 --> 08:09.000 Yeah, yeah, that's what you said the first time. 08:09.000 --> 08:10.000 Who did it? You got any ideas? 08:10.000 --> 08:12.000 Well, it could be a guy named Myron Loft. 08:12.000 --> 08:14.000 That's all I know about him, just a name. 08:14.000 --> 08:17.000 Okay, I'll send somebody. Stick around, will you, Phil? 08:17.000 --> 08:18.000 Hey, hey, Lieutenant. 08:18.000 --> 08:19.000 Yeah? 08:19.000 --> 08:21.000 You happen to know what a baton sinister is? 08:21.000 --> 08:23.000 Uh, spell that for me, will you, Phil? 08:23.000 --> 08:33.000 Never mind, Matthews. I'll call you again before I leave. 08:33.000 --> 08:35.000 When I left the bus depot, I drove to my office, 08:35.000 --> 08:37.000 took the suitcase upstairs, and after I locked myself in, 08:37.000 --> 08:39.000 I opened it under the lamp on my desk. 08:39.000 --> 08:42.000 Folds of dazzling cloth spilled out. 08:42.000 --> 08:45.000 I remember Schindler saying the Duke was riding a gold horse, 08:45.000 --> 08:46.000 so I looked for that. 08:46.000 --> 08:48.000 Yeah, it was easy to spot. 08:48.000 --> 08:50.000 And from there I located the shield. 08:50.000 --> 08:53.000 It was deep blue with three white roses on one side 08:53.000 --> 08:54.000 and a red line on the other, 08:54.000 --> 08:57.000 and in the center, pointing diagonally from upper right to lower left, 08:57.000 --> 09:00.000 was a thin line of still deeper blue. 09:00.000 --> 09:03.000 That was all I had a chance to see, 09:03.000 --> 09:07.000 because a hand in a rubber glove clamped a wet cloth over my face, 09:07.000 --> 09:12.000 and the sickly sweet odor went through me, 09:12.000 --> 09:22.000 like warm oil through a paper bag. 09:22.000 --> 09:26.000 A hundred years later, I had a strange dream. 09:26.000 --> 09:29.000 I saw a pair of high-heeled green suede shoes, 09:29.000 --> 09:34.000 and then a woman in a green veil looking at an empty suitcase. 09:34.000 --> 09:37.000 Oh, it must have been a dream, 09:37.000 --> 09:40.000 because I couldn't move and my eyelids were leaden. 09:40.000 --> 09:43.000 When the green veil and green shoes left, 09:43.000 --> 09:52.000 everything went black again. 09:52.000 --> 09:54.000 Next time it was no dream. 09:54.000 --> 09:58.000 I was face down on my office carpet alone and very sick to my stomach. 09:58.000 --> 10:00.000 I'd been chloroform. 10:00.000 --> 10:03.000 I crawled over to the desk and pulled myself up. 10:03.000 --> 10:06.000 The suitcase was open and empty. 10:06.000 --> 10:08.000 Somehow I got the phone off the hook, dialed information, 10:08.000 --> 10:10.000 and a minute later I had my client on the wire. 10:10.000 --> 10:13.000 Maro, you sound sick. What is wrong? 10:13.000 --> 10:14.000 I am sick. 10:14.000 --> 10:17.000 You're going to be too shindly. Your tapestry is gone or was stolen. 10:17.000 --> 10:18.000 Gone? Stolen? 10:18.000 --> 10:19.000 Yeah. 10:19.000 --> 10:20.000 Oh, no, no, it can't be. 10:20.000 --> 10:22.000 You plundering stupid fool, Maro. 10:22.000 --> 10:23.000 Why did you... 10:23.000 --> 10:25.000 What did you say? 10:25.000 --> 10:27.000 I'm sorry, Phil. 10:27.000 --> 10:29.000 Screaming in hysteria won't get it back, will it? 10:29.000 --> 10:30.000 No. 10:30.000 --> 10:31.000 How did it happen? 10:31.000 --> 10:33.000 Well, I brought it up here to my office, 10:33.000 --> 10:35.000 but somebody was always in here laying for me. 10:35.000 --> 10:38.000 I was chloroformed and out for about half an hour. 10:38.000 --> 10:40.000 When I came to it was gone. 10:40.000 --> 10:42.000 Now listen, you know a man named Ackar, 10:42.000 --> 10:44.000 horribly scarred from burns. 10:44.000 --> 10:47.000 Ackar? No. Why? Did he get it? 10:47.000 --> 10:49.000 Yeah, not the way you think. 10:49.000 --> 10:51.000 He was killed at the bus station. 10:51.000 --> 10:52.000 What? Killed? 10:52.000 --> 10:54.000 Good heavens. Did Loft do it? 10:54.000 --> 10:56.000 I don't know. Ackar thought so, 10:56.000 --> 10:59.000 and I'm getting tired of hearing that name, Loft. 10:59.000 --> 11:01.000 Hey, incidentally, what's a Baton sinister? 11:01.000 --> 11:02.000 Baton sinister? 11:02.000 --> 11:03.000 Yeah. 11:03.000 --> 11:06.000 It's a mark in heraldry, but why that one? 11:06.000 --> 11:08.000 Well, it might be important. What is it actually, Pollard? 11:08.000 --> 11:12.000 Well, it's simply a short line on a shield or a scutcher. 11:12.000 --> 11:15.000 It runs diagonally from sinister chief to dexter base. 11:15.000 --> 11:17.000 What does that mean? From upper right to lower left, maybe? 11:17.000 --> 11:19.000 If you're facing the shield, yes. 11:19.000 --> 11:22.000 It's the mark of fraudulence. But why? 11:22.000 --> 11:25.000 Well, I was told to look for the Baton sinister by... 11:25.000 --> 11:27.000 Hey, wait a minute, Pollard. 11:27.000 --> 11:29.000 There's something on the floor here. 11:29.000 --> 11:31.000 Looks like an envelope. 11:31.000 --> 11:35.000 Yeah. There's nothing in it, but it's addressed to... 11:35.000 --> 11:37.000 Holy smoke, this is addressed to Myron Loft, 11:37.000 --> 11:39.000 946 South Grand Avenue, LA. 11:39.000 --> 11:43.000 I knew it. I knew Loft was behind the theft, Marlow. 11:43.000 --> 11:45.000 But now we've got a chance to get the tapestry back. 11:45.000 --> 11:47.000 Where is this Grand Avenue? 11:47.000 --> 11:49.000 It runs through a slum called Bunker Hill. 11:49.000 --> 11:52.000 Any cab driver knows it. I'm going down there now, Schindler. 11:52.000 --> 11:55.000 Good. I'll get there as soon as I can to cover you. 11:55.000 --> 11:58.000 And, Marlow, listen. The man is a devil. 11:58.000 --> 12:01.000 Be careful. 12:06.000 --> 12:08.000 Bunker Hill stuck up above downtown LA 12:08.000 --> 12:10.000 like a ward on a debutante's hand. 12:10.000 --> 12:12.000 The big street that had tunneled under it 12:12.000 --> 12:14.000 or bypassed it years ago left it nothing more 12:14.000 --> 12:16.000 than a dingy, isolated attic. 12:16.000 --> 12:19.000 Where the city's worn-out castoffs finally end up to die. 12:19.000 --> 12:21.000 The big hotels that open on the swank street below 12:21.000 --> 12:24.000 had all carefully turned their backs on the hill. 12:24.000 --> 12:26.000 I parked near Angel's Flight and walked 12:26.000 --> 12:28.000 on the odd-numbered side of the street 12:28.000 --> 12:32.000 until I spotted 946, a crumbling, yellow stucco rooming house 12:32.000 --> 12:35.000 that clung to the hill face from habit only. 12:35.000 --> 12:36.000 And I gave the windows a lot of attention 12:36.000 --> 12:38.000 to be sure no one was watching. 12:38.000 --> 12:41.000 And I went out of the corner, crossed and came back. 12:41.000 --> 12:44.000 An anemic nightlight was on at the end of the hall. 12:44.000 --> 12:45.000 So I pushed my way through the smells, 12:45.000 --> 12:48.000 tore the door with a grimy card that said, office. 12:48.000 --> 12:50.000 I was about to knock when a voice purred from the landing 12:50.000 --> 12:51.000 on the stairs behind me. 12:51.000 --> 12:54.000 When you turn round, do it slowly, understand? 12:54.000 --> 12:56.000 Uh, perfectly. 12:56.000 --> 12:59.000 I dare say you're Pollard Schindler's man. 12:59.000 --> 13:02.000 Could be. Which makes you myron loft, huh? 13:02.000 --> 13:03.000 Yes, I've been up on the roof watching you. 13:03.000 --> 13:05.000 I expected you to come before long. 13:05.000 --> 13:06.000 I suppose you want the tapestry. 13:06.000 --> 13:08.000 Now, how'd you guess that? 13:08.000 --> 13:10.000 Then what price has Schindler decided to offer me? 13:10.000 --> 13:11.000 Price, you're kidding. 13:11.000 --> 13:13.000 Hardly. I don't enjoy humor. 13:13.000 --> 13:15.000 Perhaps you don't know much about the tapestry, hmm? 13:15.000 --> 13:18.000 Not much. I know more than I used to. 13:18.000 --> 13:20.000 I had quite a chat with Akka. 13:20.000 --> 13:22.000 Akka? That's impossible. 13:22.000 --> 13:24.000 My ex-assistant is dead. 13:24.000 --> 13:26.000 I know. But he lived long enough to tell me about 13:26.000 --> 13:28.000 the baton sinister on the Duke's shield. 13:28.000 --> 13:29.000 That's a lie, my fine fellow. 13:29.000 --> 13:32.000 There's no baton sinister on that shield unless... 13:32.000 --> 13:34.000 Oh, of course. 13:34.000 --> 13:36.000 That sly idiot. 13:36.000 --> 13:38.000 Akka would try something like a baton sinister. 13:38.000 --> 13:40.000 But for what purpose, I can't imagine. 13:40.000 --> 13:42.000 Just to make sure that you'd pay for his murder. 13:42.000 --> 13:43.000 What's that? 13:43.000 --> 13:44.000 Must have been a shock to find out he'd survived 13:44.000 --> 13:46.000 that burning truck accident you tried. 13:46.000 --> 13:48.000 So you finished him tonight with a bullet. 13:48.000 --> 13:50.000 Oh, that's strange. 13:50.000 --> 13:52.000 How much more do you know along this line? 13:52.000 --> 13:54.000 Enough to make bargaining more than worth your while, 13:54.000 --> 13:56.000 and I haven't kept it all in my head. 13:56.000 --> 13:57.000 I see. 13:57.000 --> 13:59.000 For my door is a second on the left. 13:59.000 --> 14:00.000 Now move along now, quickly. 14:00.000 --> 14:02.000 I see no reason to hurry. 14:02.000 --> 14:03.000 I do. 14:03.000 --> 14:05.000 See what you mean. 14:07.000 --> 14:09.000 Although the accent was Oxford, 14:09.000 --> 14:11.000 the gestures were strictly skid row. 14:11.000 --> 14:13.000 So as I proceeded, Myron Lofton 14:13.000 --> 14:15.000 gunned into my lord's sagging chamber, 14:15.000 --> 14:17.000 I watched carefully for the chance I knew 14:17.000 --> 14:19.000 I'd have to take before long. 14:19.000 --> 14:21.000 But a small step toward a dark corner... 14:21.000 --> 14:23.000 No, no, don't try that. 14:23.000 --> 14:25.000 ...told me it wasn't going to be easy. 14:25.000 --> 14:27.000 The gentleman with the flexed voice was being very wary about me. 14:27.000 --> 14:29.000 Now turn about and face me, quickly. 14:29.000 --> 14:31.000 So wary about me, in fact, 14:31.000 --> 14:33.000 that the quiet footstep behind him went unnoticed. 14:33.000 --> 14:36.000 The footstep that had been made by a green suede pump 14:36.000 --> 14:39.000 that belonged to a lady with a veil also green. 14:39.000 --> 14:42.000 I now knew I'd actually seen earlier in my office. 14:42.000 --> 14:44.000 When she took her next step, 14:44.000 --> 14:46.000 the gun she clenched in her expensively gloved hand 14:46.000 --> 14:48.000 was raised high. 14:48.000 --> 14:50.000 Came down hard. 14:50.000 --> 14:52.000 The Earl of my dreams, I thank you. 14:52.000 --> 14:54.000 That was neat and, believe me, not a moment too soon. 14:54.000 --> 14:56.000 Never mind that. 14:56.000 --> 14:58.000 He's not dead, is he? 14:58.000 --> 15:00.000 No, he's just out cold, is in deep freeze. 15:00.000 --> 15:04.000 But, uh, aren't we being a little matter of fact about all this? 15:04.000 --> 15:06.000 We are. Did you expect tears? 15:06.000 --> 15:08.000 Well, from the veil, yeah. 15:08.000 --> 15:10.000 That's where I'm probably being misled. 15:10.000 --> 15:13.000 I should concentrate on your green suede shoes. 15:13.000 --> 15:15.000 They seem to be more in character. 15:15.000 --> 15:17.000 And you seem to be quite ungrateful. 15:17.000 --> 15:19.000 And Gabby. 15:19.000 --> 15:21.000 Let's move on some. 15:21.000 --> 15:23.000 Over there, that bundle. It could be the tapestry. 15:23.000 --> 15:25.000 The tap... 15:25.000 --> 15:27.000 Hey, lady, you're not after a tool, are you? 15:27.000 --> 15:29.000 No, I came here to save your life. 15:29.000 --> 15:31.000 I love you. That's charming. 15:31.000 --> 15:33.000 Come on, mister, are we warm? Hot. 15:33.000 --> 15:35.000 Yeah, this is it, all right. Good. 15:35.000 --> 15:37.000 Now get back. Away from it. 15:37.000 --> 15:39.000 Oh, no. Oh, yes. 15:39.000 --> 15:41.000 Way back. And for safekeeping, 15:41.000 --> 15:43.000 into that snug little closet there. 15:43.000 --> 15:45.000 Without so much as a peek? At the veil, I mean. 15:45.000 --> 15:47.000 Another word. Your mouth, I mean. 15:47.000 --> 15:49.000 Go on. Inside. 15:49.000 --> 15:51.000 It won't hold you for long, but I don't need long anymore. 15:57.000 --> 15:59.000 She was so right. 15:59.000 --> 16:01.000 Didn't hold me for long. 16:01.000 --> 16:03.000 Because even a misplaced hiccup could jar loose 16:03.000 --> 16:05.000 most any given segment of Bunker Hill construction. 16:05.000 --> 16:07.000 However, by the time I got to the street, 16:07.000 --> 16:09.000 it was Lady with Veil and Bundle tucked underneath her arm 16:09.000 --> 16:11.000 climbing into a cab. 16:11.000 --> 16:13.000 And only a taillight skidding out of sight around a corner. 16:13.000 --> 16:15.000 I played the only bed left. 16:15.000 --> 16:17.000 She departed in a cab. Maybe she'd arrived in one. 16:17.000 --> 16:19.000 And maybe that one was still in line at the hack stand 16:19.000 --> 16:21.000 across the street at the back of the hotel. 16:21.000 --> 16:23.000 At number four, I connected. 16:23.000 --> 16:25.000 Yeah, yeah, sure. The doll with the veil. 16:25.000 --> 16:27.000 I brought her here. 16:27.000 --> 16:29.000 Why? What's it mean to you? 16:29.000 --> 16:31.000 Everything. She's my long-lost sister. 16:31.000 --> 16:33.000 Where'd you pick her up? I can't remember. 16:33.000 --> 16:35.000 Okay, okay. Here. Here's five. Now try it. 16:35.000 --> 16:37.000 Sure. 16:37.000 --> 16:39.000 It was a Sunset Gardens hotel. 16:39.000 --> 16:41.000 Villa 12. Witches around on the side. 16:41.000 --> 16:43.000 But you know what else? 16:43.000 --> 16:45.000 Know what else? 16:45.000 --> 16:47.000 I'll bet this five she ain't really your sister at all. 16:47.000 --> 16:49.000 I'll bet she's really your wife. 16:49.000 --> 16:51.000 Oh, you're so wrong. She's really typhoid married, Jack. 16:51.000 --> 16:53.000 You better fumigate fast both inside and out. 16:53.000 --> 16:55.000 Goodbye. 17:01.000 --> 17:03.000 I was 30 anxious minutes weaving my way 17:03.000 --> 17:05.000 through the thick westbound traffic 17:05.000 --> 17:07.000 that any snail could have easily out sprinted 17:07.000 --> 17:09.000 before I was finally parked away from Villa 12. 17:09.000 --> 17:11.000 Then out of my car and running toward the 17:11.000 --> 17:13.000 squat chunk of termite-proof Old Spain. 17:13.000 --> 17:15.000 I hoped that again meet up with both the lady 17:15.000 --> 17:17.000 who wore a mosquito net for a hat and my client's 17:17.000 --> 17:19.000 hard-come-by drapery. 17:19.000 --> 17:21.000 But the bungalow in front of me said no such luck 17:21.000 --> 17:23.000 because it was dark, closed tight 17:23.000 --> 17:25.000 and as quiet as snow falling all the way around 17:25.000 --> 17:27.000 until I was in the bank 17:27.000 --> 17:29.000 where each villa had its own junior 17:29.000 --> 17:31.000 picnic grounds complete with barbecue pit. 17:31.000 --> 17:33.000 Then from somewhere behind me I heard it. 17:33.000 --> 17:35.000 First a rattle of paper. 17:35.000 --> 17:37.000 Then a few footsteps, high heels, 17:37.000 --> 17:39.000 I knew could be the green suede ones on flagstone. 17:39.000 --> 17:41.000 After that over near the pit 17:41.000 --> 17:43.000 liquid poured on wooden and sudden flame. 17:45.000 --> 17:47.000 It was the lady whose shoes I knew all right 17:47.000 --> 17:49.000 but this time no veil. 17:49.000 --> 17:51.000 Only a face that might have been pretty if it weren't for the prancing shadows 17:51.000 --> 17:53.000 the flames threw over an expression that was a little more 17:53.000 --> 17:55.000 than determination, a little less 17:55.000 --> 17:57.000 than psycho. I moved close to her 17:57.000 --> 17:59.000 quietly. Then when she had the tapestry 17:59.000 --> 18:01.000 unwrapped and was ready to make a little offering to the fire 18:01.000 --> 18:03.000 guards I took my cue. Marshmallows 18:03.000 --> 18:05.000 would taste better, baby, honest. 18:05.000 --> 18:07.000 Yeah, a little me in 38, not so little. 18:07.000 --> 18:09.000 So stand very still, honey, priceless heirloom included. 18:09.000 --> 18:11.000 Oh, no I won't. It's going to fire. 18:11.000 --> 18:13.000 Where are the lungs? That's a matter of opinion. 18:13.000 --> 18:15.000 Ow! Let go of my arm, you big hay. 18:15.000 --> 18:17.000 Drop it. Let it go, baby. Better we 18:17.000 --> 18:19.000 dirty it than singe it. Come on, let go. 18:19.000 --> 18:21.000 There, that's better. Now come on 18:21.000 --> 18:23.000 firebug, who are you? Who? 18:23.000 --> 18:25.000 Naomi Marshmallow. 18:25.000 --> 18:27.000 Okay. Now tell me 18:27.000 --> 18:29.000 where you fit in the tapestry or do we shake some more? 18:29.000 --> 18:31.000 No, no, thanks. 18:31.000 --> 18:33.000 I'll tell you what you want to know. 18:33.000 --> 18:35.000 Who are you? Name's Philip 18:35.000 --> 18:37.000 Marlow. Cop? No, a private detective 18:37.000 --> 18:39.000 hired to babysit with the tapestry. 18:39.000 --> 18:41.000 Let's not change the subject. Okay, okay. 18:41.000 --> 18:43.000 Getting there. I'm 18:43.000 --> 18:45.000 Arthur Merritt's niece 18:45.000 --> 18:47.000 and sole heir. Guy in 18:47.000 --> 18:49.000 Seattle who's waiting for me to deliver this item is your 18:49.000 --> 18:51.000 uncle? Uh-huh, my uncle, the jerk. 18:51.000 --> 18:53.000 Now wait a minute, wait a minute. Let me get this straight. 18:53.000 --> 18:55.000 You steal the tapestry, 18:55.000 --> 18:57.000 risk your life, play with guns and with people 18:57.000 --> 18:59.000 who only play for keeps. 18:59.000 --> 19:01.000 Also you can get a chance to burn 80,000 bucks 19:01.000 --> 19:03.000 with a fancy needlework. Listen, my 19:03.000 --> 19:05.000 uncle has been throwing away his money on antiques 19:05.000 --> 19:07.000 and all he's got left of a half a million 19:07.000 --> 19:09.000 is a hundred grand. I don't want 19:09.000 --> 19:11.000 four-fifths of that used for this 19:11.000 --> 19:13.000 stinking substitute for wallpaper. 19:13.000 --> 19:15.000 Anything else? Yeah. 19:15.000 --> 19:17.000 How long have you been working on this project 19:17.000 --> 19:19.000 that's Operation Arson? A week. 19:19.000 --> 19:21.000 Came down from Seattle when I learned 19:21.000 --> 19:23.000 that the man my uncle was dealing with was named Pollard 19:23.000 --> 19:25.000 Schindler. You can fill him in from there. 19:25.000 --> 19:27.000 How do you mind 19:27.000 --> 19:29.000 if I leave? I'm looking forward 19:29.000 --> 19:31.000 to bed and a good cry. 19:31.000 --> 19:33.000 Eighty thousand dollars worth. 19:33.000 --> 19:35.000 Do I go? Yeah. 19:35.000 --> 19:37.000 On one condition. Your gun, baby, 19:37.000 --> 19:39.000 it stays. 19:47.000 --> 19:49.000 I watched her until she was around at the 19:49.000 --> 19:51.000 front of the bungalow and out of sight. 19:51.000 --> 19:53.000 And I grabbed up the tapestry, started to fold it 19:53.000 --> 19:55.000 when a sudden flare from the 19:55.000 --> 19:57.000 fire threw a crazy spurt of light over 19:57.000 --> 19:59.000 the material on my arm. And I 19:59.000 --> 20:01.000 saw that on the shield that the Duke of Kent carried 20:01.000 --> 20:03.000 there was no baton 20:03.000 --> 20:05.000 sinister. This was not the same 20:05.000 --> 20:07.000 tapestry I'd examined in my office. 20:07.000 --> 20:09.000 Right then, just to make 20:09.000 --> 20:11.000 things all the merrier, I once again 20:11.000 --> 20:13.000 heard from Naomi Martin. 20:15.000 --> 20:17.000 On the even chance that this was a trap, Naomi playing 20:17.000 --> 20:19.000 possum with healthy lungs, I ditched the 20:19.000 --> 20:21.000 tapestry in a nearby clump of trees, then gun in 20:21.000 --> 20:23.000 hand ran for the front door of Villa 12. 20:23.000 --> 20:25.000 I got there just as the great convertible lights 20:25.000 --> 20:27.000 outrawed off and Naomi was climbing back onto her feet. 20:27.000 --> 20:29.000 What took you so long? 20:29.000 --> 20:31.000 Now listen, you, the real tapestry, where is it? 20:31.000 --> 20:33.000 The real...oh no, you're kidding. 20:33.000 --> 20:35.000 Baby, that number you just tried to burn is not 20:35.000 --> 20:37.000 the one I started out with tonight. It's minus baton 20:37.000 --> 20:39.000 sinister. Minus who? What are you 20:39.000 --> 20:41.000 talking about? Just this. Maybe you 20:41.000 --> 20:43.000 still have the tapestry and the routine where the flames was done 20:43.000 --> 20:45.000 with a phony and strictly for my benefit. And maybe 20:45.000 --> 20:47.000 you're nuts. Now you listen. 20:47.000 --> 20:49.000 What I told you before was the truth, nothing but. 20:49.000 --> 20:51.000 However, if it happens to work out that I 20:51.000 --> 20:53.000 walked off with a phony and you did likewise, 20:53.000 --> 20:55.000 I'm sorry. I'll bet. 20:55.000 --> 20:57.000 As of the time being, I'll buy it that way. 20:57.000 --> 20:59.000 Now tell me what went on here. 20:59.000 --> 21:01.000 I was about to unlock 21:01.000 --> 21:03.000 the door when it happened. A hand with a 21:03.000 --> 21:05.000 rubber glove grabbed me and. Wait a minute, wait a minute. 21:05.000 --> 21:07.000 Rubber glove? Rubber glove? Do we say everything 21:07.000 --> 21:09.000 twice? Whoever it was obviously 21:09.000 --> 21:11.000 didn't want to leave fingerprints. Oh, the smell of chloroform 21:11.000 --> 21:13.000 on his hand. I come to think of it, I 21:13.000 --> 21:15.000 did get a whiff of something funny. 21:15.000 --> 21:17.000 How do you know about that? In my office when the 21:17.000 --> 21:19.000 tapestry was...wait a minute, 21:19.000 --> 21:21.000 you were there. Didn't you get a look at him? No, 21:21.000 --> 21:23.000 there was only a single light on and you were 21:23.000 --> 21:25.000 already out cold when I got there. Yeah, but 21:25.000 --> 21:27.000 you must have seen something. Sure, stars. 21:27.000 --> 21:29.000 After he took the tapestry then laid an 21:29.000 --> 21:31.000 envelope of some kind next to you, I told him 21:31.000 --> 21:33.000 to reach way up. It got me piled 21:33.000 --> 21:35.000 into a heap on your office floor. The envelope? 21:35.000 --> 21:37.000 He ran. I followed but I lost him. Hey, 21:37.000 --> 21:39.000 hey hold it. Back up, Naomi. 21:39.000 --> 21:41.000 What? Did you say he placed that envelope 21:41.000 --> 21:43.000 there next to me? That's what I said. 21:43.000 --> 21:45.000 See what I mean? We were. Cut it out, baby. I've got an idea 21:45.000 --> 21:47.000 of thought. About a baton 21:47.000 --> 21:49.000 sinister and what's really going on. 21:49.000 --> 21:51.000 Also, it just occurred to me that Myron 21:51.000 --> 21:53.000 Loft might not remain unconscious forever 21:53.000 --> 21:55.000 and that my client was going to cover me at Loft's 21:55.000 --> 21:57.000 place on Bunker Hill. Wait, where are you going, Marlo? 21:57.000 --> 21:59.000 Once I pick up the tapestry I just hid, 21:59.000 --> 22:01.000 which may not be a phony, back to Bunker Hill. 22:01.000 --> 22:19.000 So long, kid. Oh, no. 22:19.000 --> 22:25.000 Somebody, somebody call the police. 22:25.000 --> 22:29.000 Marlo, call Marlo. Marlo, thank goodness you're here. 22:29.000 --> 22:31.000 I, I just shot 22:31.000 --> 22:33.000 Myron Loft. You did what, Schindler? 22:33.000 --> 22:35.000 Yes. Gotten him. 22:35.000 --> 22:37.000 Dead Marlo. 22:37.000 --> 22:39.000 Hey, for the love of 22:39.000 --> 22:41.000 key, what's going on in this joint? 22:41.000 --> 22:43.000 Nothing you can help, sweetheart. 22:43.000 --> 22:45.000 Okay, dry guys, but try to hold 22:45.000 --> 22:47.000 this down, will you? I am. 22:47.000 --> 22:49.000 It was terrible, Marlo. I came to 22:49.000 --> 22:51.000 this place after I didn't hear from you 22:51.000 --> 22:53.000 and found out which room Loft had. 22:53.000 --> 22:55.000 When I went in he was on the floor 22:55.000 --> 22:57.000 unconscious. I was 22:57.000 --> 22:59.000 on the floor unconscious. So I started 22:59.000 --> 23:01.000 to look around for the tapestry. 23:01.000 --> 23:03.000 In the meantime Loft came too, got hold of a gun 23:03.000 --> 23:05.000 and rushed you, is that it? Yes, we struggled 23:05.000 --> 23:07.000 and then the gun went off. 23:07.000 --> 23:09.000 Oh, Marlo, what should we do now? 23:09.000 --> 23:11.000 Call the police? 23:11.000 --> 23:13.000 Yeah, I'll take care of it. 23:13.000 --> 23:15.000 You go back into the room there and don't touch anything and see that nobody 23:15.000 --> 23:17.000 else does. All right, Marlo. 23:17.000 --> 23:19.000 But you have the tapestry. 23:19.000 --> 23:21.000 Yeah, I got it, Schindler. Safe and sound. 23:21.000 --> 23:27.000 Your worries are over. 23:33.000 --> 23:35.000 I'm inside, Detective Lieutenant Matthews speaking. 23:35.000 --> 23:37.000 Marlo Matthews. 23:37.000 --> 23:39.000 I'm at 946 South Grand Avenue 23:39.000 --> 23:41.000 and so is another body. 23:41.000 --> 23:43.000 At Myron Loft I mentioned. 23:43.000 --> 23:45.000 My client, Paula Schindler, just shot him 23:45.000 --> 23:47.000 in self-defense. 23:47.000 --> 23:49.000 Which also clears up the death of that car 23:49.000 --> 23:51.000 out behind the bus depot. I mean Loft 23:51.000 --> 23:53.000 caught him and then tried for your client but missed. 23:53.000 --> 23:55.000 Yeah. Yeah. 23:55.000 --> 23:57.000 If you believe my client. 23:57.000 --> 23:59.000 Yeah, well I believe... 23:59.000 --> 24:01.000 Oh, Marlo, what are you reaching for? 24:01.000 --> 24:03.000 A few very tasty but hard to swallow 24:03.000 --> 24:05.000 facts. One, my client's a liar. 24:05.000 --> 24:07.000 Two, my client killed both that car and Myron Loft. 24:07.000 --> 24:09.000 And three, I've been set up and used 24:09.000 --> 24:11.000 as the neatest chump, patsy, sucker, fall guy 24:11.000 --> 24:13.000 they all fit. He even shot 24:13.000 --> 24:15.000 through my windshield for realism. 24:15.000 --> 24:17.000 Paula Schindler never had the real tapestry. 24:17.000 --> 24:19.000 Matthews, he had only a phony. He gave it to me to deliver 24:19.000 --> 24:21.000 and then swiped it from me. After which he put me 24:21.000 --> 24:23.000 on the trail of the real one. 24:23.000 --> 24:25.000 So while swiping it back for him like the good 24:25.000 --> 24:27.000 private detective you are, you'd come up with the real one, huh? 24:27.000 --> 24:29.000 That's tidy. I'll be right down, Phil. 24:29.000 --> 24:31.000 Okay. 24:33.000 --> 24:35.000 You told the police what happened, Marlo? 24:35.000 --> 24:37.000 Yeah. I told them 24:37.000 --> 24:39.000 Mr. Schindler. 24:39.000 --> 24:41.000 I told them everything. 24:41.000 --> 24:47.000 Now there's nothing for us to do but wait. 24:55.000 --> 24:57.000 Well, that does it, lieutenant. 24:57.000 --> 24:59.000 Seven full pages of confession 24:59.000 --> 25:01.000 from Mr. Paula Schindler. A very 25:01.000 --> 25:03.000 crafty bird. Yeah, yeah, thanks, 25:03.000 --> 25:05.000 Mone. Oh, bring that girl 25:05.000 --> 25:07.000 in a couple of minutes, will you? All right. 25:07.000 --> 25:09.000 Well, Phil, 25:09.000 --> 25:11.000 here it is, the whole story. Yeah. 25:11.000 --> 25:13.000 Yeah, look, Paula Schindler went after the tapestry 25:13.000 --> 25:15.000 in England, but Myron Loft got there 25:15.000 --> 25:17.000 first. However, Schindler was the 25:17.000 --> 25:19.000 one who knew where he could sell it way above museum 25:19.000 --> 25:21.000 price, so Loft had a duplicate made up 25:21.000 --> 25:23.000 and saw to it that Schindler stole it 25:23.000 --> 25:25.000 from him. And it was Acker 25:25.000 --> 25:27.000 who added the baton sinister, the mark of 25:27.000 --> 25:29.000 fraudulence in heraldry, to the fake tapestry. 25:29.000 --> 25:31.000 Yeah, yeah. 25:31.000 --> 25:33.000 But I still don't clearly follow the rest of it, 25:33.000 --> 25:35.000 Phil. I mean, here in L.A., you know? 25:35.000 --> 25:37.000 Oh, well, it wasn't much of a change. Another verse, 25:37.000 --> 25:39.000 same song. Loft stayed close to 25:39.000 --> 25:41.000 Schindler all the way back to mainland. Yeah. And he 25:41.000 --> 25:43.000 watched and he waited until he figured that Schindler was 25:43.000 --> 25:45.000 ready to close his deal, you see. Yeah. And he 25:45.000 --> 25:47.000 stepped forward and announced that the tapestry Schindler 25:47.000 --> 25:49.000 had was a phony. Oh. And that he'd given 25:49.000 --> 25:51.000 the real one for a healthy cut of the sale price. 25:51.000 --> 25:53.000 Uh-huh. And Loft couldn't go to Merritt 25:53.000 --> 25:55.000 direct because he didn't know who Merritt was. Sure. 25:55.000 --> 25:57.000 Oh. And from there it was me, the Patsy, 25:57.000 --> 25:59.000 with the best of references. Oh. Can that do 25:59.000 --> 26:01.000 it for you? Yeah, just about. Schindler 26:01.000 --> 26:03.000 killed Acker, whom we didn't expect in the scene, and Loft 26:03.000 --> 26:05.000 who he did, so neither one could spill to you. 26:05.000 --> 26:07.000 That's right. Now, uh, 26:07.000 --> 26:09.000 yeah, come in, come in. Now, when did you 26:09.000 --> 26:11.000 Oh, just a minute, Miss Marchand, 26:11.000 --> 26:13.000 please. Uh, when did all this 26:13.000 --> 26:15.000 come across to you, Phil? When I got mixed up 26:15.000 --> 26:17.000 with the lovely lady here. 26:17.000 --> 26:19.000 She told me that the man who had quarreled for me in my 26:19.000 --> 26:21.000 office had carefully placed an envelope on the 26:21.000 --> 26:23.000 floor next to me. An envelope 26:23.000 --> 26:25.000 I later took as a clue. From 26:25.000 --> 26:27.000 that switch, I started to look around for others. Oh, 26:27.000 --> 26:29.000 great. Hooray for Camp Fire Girl Me. 26:29.000 --> 26:31.000 What kind of a medal do I get? Eh, 26:31.000 --> 26:33.000 you get a pretty nice one, Miss Marchand, 26:33.000 --> 26:35.000 thanks to Marlow. You get freedom. 26:35.000 --> 26:37.000 You know, we could prefer charges 26:37.000 --> 26:39.000 against you. Like what? Like what? 26:39.000 --> 26:41.000 Like assault and battery for 26:41.000 --> 26:43.000 slugging Loft, grand larceny for the theft of 26:43.000 --> 26:45.000 the tapestry from Loft's place, attempted 26:45.000 --> 26:47.000 destruction of private property. Okay, okay, okay. 26:47.000 --> 26:49.000 I forgot about 26:49.000 --> 26:51.000 those things. Yay. Thanks, Marlow. 26:51.000 --> 26:53.000 Thanks, Marlow. 26:53.000 --> 26:55.000 Is that your official statement no more, not even 26:55.000 --> 26:57.000 I'm sorry before you go? Well, 26:57.000 --> 26:59.000 yes. I'm sorry, 26:59.000 --> 27:01.000 all right. Real sorry 27:01.000 --> 27:03.000 that I missed. Goodbye. 27:03.000 --> 27:05.000 It was 27:05.000 --> 27:17.000 another hour and my signature was on another dozen official papers before I was free to leave Matthews, 27:17.000 --> 27:21.000 who kept the real tapestry but gave me the one we got back from Paula Schindler, 27:21.000 --> 27:24.000 the one with the baton sinister on it as a souvenir. 27:24.000 --> 27:29.000 So by the time I got back to my apartment, it was pushing four o'clock in the morning, 27:29.000 --> 27:31.000 and I was tired. 27:31.000 --> 27:35.000 Tired of a night that had been jammed full of crooked people who had taken crooked paths 27:35.000 --> 27:39.000 half across the world, chasing a buck. 27:39.000 --> 27:44.000 So tired, in fact, that I didn't notice Naomi Marchant leaning across the door opposite mine until she spoke. 27:44.000 --> 27:49.000 Marlow, Marlow, we could take that tapestry you have there even if it's a phony one in spite of 27:49.000 --> 27:52.000 Seattle and sell it to Uncle Arthur before he knows anything about what happened here. 27:52.000 --> 27:55.000 Marlow, we could, we could, Marlow? 27:55.000 --> 27:57.000 No. Marlow? 27:57.000 --> 27:59.000 Marlow? Marlow? 27:59.000 --> 28:00.000 What do we know? 28:00.000 --> 28:02.000 There was only one thing to do. 28:02.000 --> 28:07.000 Put both hands firm on her shoulders, spin the girl around and across my knees. 28:07.000 --> 28:09.000 Don't shoot, thank me! 28:09.000 --> 28:14.000 Oh well. I was too tired for even that. 28:14.000 --> 28:30.000 The Adventures of Philip Marlow, bringing you Raymond Chandler's most famous character and 28:30.000 --> 28:36.000 crime's most deadly enemy, star Gerald Moore and are produced and transcribed by Norman McDonnell. 28:36.000 --> 28:40.000 Script is by Mel Dinelli, Robert Mitchell and Gene Levitt. 28:40.000 --> 28:47.000 The special music is composed and conducted by Richard Orrante. 28:47.000 --> 28:52.000 Be sure and be with us next week when Philip Marlow says... 28:52.000 --> 28:58.000 Rain slashing a glass roof, an old man's curiosity and an imaginary imp out of place. 28:58.000 --> 29:03.000 They all became important when two people died violently so a third could make a killing. 29:03.000 --> 29:24.000 Paul Masterson speaking. 29:24.000 --> 29:39.000 This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.