- 5/20/2025
CBS Radio Mystery Theater (a.k.a. Radio Mystery Theater and Mystery Theater) is a radio drama series created by Himan Brown that was broadcast on CBS Radio Network affiliates from 1974 to 1982, and later in the early 2000s was repeated by the NPR satellite feed.
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00:00Come in, welcome, I'm E.G. Marshall, welcome to the sound of suspense, welcome to the fear
00:28you can hear, but mostly welcome to the world of terrifying imagination.
00:38The story you are about to hear is a love story, but a love story which begins at the
00:45point where many love stories end.
00:49It begins after the wedding march has been played, after the vows of love and fidelity
00:55exchanged.
00:57It begins on the honeymoon, in a strange and terrifying fashion.
01:03Don't, don't, don't come near me, stay, stay away from me dad.
01:09Susan are you out of your head?
01:11I saw a picture, do you hear me?
01:14I found her picture on our honeymoon.
01:27Our mystery drama, Deadly Honeymoon, was written especially for the Mystery Theater by Henry
01:37Slessor and stars Betsy von Furstenberg and Michael Wager.
01:42It is sponsored in part by Anheuser-Busch Incorporated, Brewers of Budweiser, and by
01:47the Kellogg Company, makers of Kellogg's Special K cereal.
01:51I'll return shortly with act one.
02:10Our story begins 36,000 feet in the air on a flight which departed from New York's Kennedy
02:18Airport and in another hour will be touching down at O'Hare Airport in Chicago.
02:25There are almost a hundred passengers on this flight, but an observant stewardess is giving
02:32special attention to that handsome couple in seats 18A and 18B.
02:39Perhaps it's because all honeymooners have a special radiance.
02:45Are you sure you wouldn't like some more coffee?
02:47Oh, no thanks, not for me.
02:48I wouldn't mind a cup.
02:50Here you are.
02:51Thanks.
02:52Just ring if you need anything else.
02:55You'd think we were the only people on this flight.
02:57As far as I'm concerned, we are.
02:59Oh, Dan, I feel absolutely drunk with happiness.
03:03Is that a funny word for the way I feel?
03:05No, it's a great word, Susan.
03:08I was flying hours before we got on the plane.
03:11Oh, what time did you say we land in Chicago?
03:14About 2.30.
03:15Is it far from the airport to the hotel?
03:17Oh, actually, it's only about a half an hour from O'Hare to downtown, about 16 miles.
03:21Still, I don't think we'll have time to make Evanston today, do you?
03:25Well, it might be better to go in the morning.
03:27You can call your aunt from the hotel.
03:29Dan, you sure you don't mind going to Evanston?
03:33I mean, I just couldn't possibly be a few miles away and not see Aunt Clara.
03:37Besides, I want to show off my new husband to somebody, and she's all the family I have.
03:43Was he your mother's sister?
03:44No, no, my father's.
03:45She came east when my parents were killed in that crash.
03:48Stayed with me for a month or so.
03:50That was about the most that either one of us could stand.
03:53She sounds like a holy terror.
03:54Oh, no, she's just crotchety, that's all.
03:56But she'll only be more crotchety if she learns that I passed through Chicago and didn't even stop by.
04:08Well, and what kind of work are you in, Mr. Carey?
04:12Well, right now, we like to say we're management consultants, Mrs. Rowland.
04:16But we also do quite a bit of executive recruitment.
04:18I don't understand a word of that.
04:20Dan helps corporations find the right people for important jobs, Aunt Clara.
04:24His firm is the biggest in the field, isn't it, Dan?
04:27Well, it's always hard to measure business like ours.
04:30But it has offices everywhere, doesn't it?
04:32In most of the major cities, yes.
04:34And now Dan is going to take over the branch in San Francisco.
04:37He's going to manage the entire thing.
04:38Is that some kind of a promotion?
04:40Of course it is.
04:41I ask the gentleman, Susan, speak when you're spoken to.
04:44Oh, sorry.
04:45Yes, Mrs. Rowland, it is a promotion.
04:47Truth is, it's a job that everyone in my office has been after.
04:50Oh, it's just worked out so beautifully for us.
04:52I mean, Dan having to move to San Francisco,
04:55we're sort of combining a business trip with a cross-country honeymoon.
04:58And where do you go from here?
04:59Well, we're planning to stay two days in Chicago,
05:02and then we're going to Dallas.
05:04We're going to cross the Rio Grande into Mexico.
05:06I know a great little hotel in Monterey.
05:07Then we're going to Las Vegas.
05:08To gamble, I suppose.
05:10It's no fun going to Las Vegas if you don't gamble a little.
05:12Your father never gambled for so much as a dime, Susan.
05:15That wasn't the way he made his fortune.
05:17Well, I promised not to bankrupt the family, Aunt Clara.
05:20Anyway, we're just staying in Las Vegas overnight,
05:22and then going to Los Angeles.
05:24Three days later, I report to work.
05:27Thoroughly exhausted, of course.
05:29Well, that's your idea of a honeymoon.
05:31I hope you enjoy it.
05:33Oh, Susan, I suppose lunch is almost ready.
05:35You want to help me bring it out?
05:37Oh, yes, of course.
05:38The kitchen's this way, in case you've forgotten.
05:40The truth is, I have.
05:45I'm glad to be able to talk to you alone for a minute, Susan.
05:49Did you like Dan, Aunt Clara?
05:51Isn't he good-looking?
05:52Older than you, isn't he?
05:54What difference does that make?
05:55How long did you know him?
05:57Oh, we met at a party at the Williamson's.
06:00Do you remember my friend, Tracy Williamson?
06:02I didn't ask you where you met.
06:05I'm asking you when.
06:07Well, it was about three weeks ago.
06:10Three weeks?
06:11Oh, for the love of heaven, Susan.
06:13Aunt Clara, the time you know somebody
06:15isn't always the most important thing.
06:17He's practically a stranger.
06:19How can you be sure of anything
06:20about a man you've known for three weeks?
06:22From the time we met, I saw Dan every single day.
06:26Susan, when a girl is all alone in the world,
06:28when she has independent means of her own...
06:30Please, Addie, don't start in about Dan being a fortune hunter.
06:33I don't have that much money, and it's all in trust anyway.
06:36And I assure you, Dan earns enough income
06:38to take care of us both very well.
06:40Well, I'm sorry, Susan.
06:41I know I don't have any control over what you do.
06:43You're too old for that.
06:45But I've seen something of the world, too, you know.
06:48And the most important lesson I've ever learned
06:50is never trust a stranger.
06:52Aunt Clara, that's ridiculous.
06:54Now, can we bring out the lunch?
07:07I don't know.
07:09I just have the feeling that Chicago
07:10wasn't all you expected it to be.
07:12Well, we weren't there very long, Dan.
07:14And don't forget, we spent half the time
07:17with your business associates.
07:18Oh, honey, I am sorry about that.
07:20I suppose I never should have called Bill Kincaid
07:22to say we're in town.
07:24Should have known he'd insist on getting together.
07:26Oh, it wasn't that bad.
07:28I just didn't know what he was talking about half the time.
07:31All those office politics.
07:33Yes.
07:34Well, Bill loves to gossip.
07:36But you can see what I mean about this San Francisco job.
07:39Everybody in the company wanted it.
07:42They'll never get over resenting me for being picked.
07:44But I am sorry if you were bored.
07:47It's all right, Dan, really.
07:49After all, I inflicted Aunt Clara on you.
07:52She was okay.
07:53Well, I know you didn't find her very friendly.
07:55Well, why should she be?
07:57I think she's a very protective type.
07:59Anybody you married would get her jaundiced.
08:01Yes, I suppose that's true enough.
08:04Dan, how long did you know Terry Williamson?
08:08Who?
08:09Terry, my ex-roommate.
08:12We met each other at her house.
08:14Or have you forgotten that already?
08:16To tell you the truth, darling,
08:18I didn't know whose house I was at that night.
08:20Oh, so Terry wasn't the one who invited you.
08:23No.
08:24There's a man named Bob Chambers, one of the executive types.
08:26I got placed at General Utilities.
08:28Don't ask me who invited him, because I don't know.
08:31I see.
08:32So it was all sort of roundabout.
08:36What's the difference?
08:38Still turned out to be the best party I ever attended.
08:41Yeah.
08:43Hey, is something the matter?
08:45Oh, no, of course not.
08:46Nothing at all.
08:49Uh, Dan, where did you say we were staying in Dallas?
08:51It's a little hotel called the Lazy C.
08:53It's kind of rustic, but I think you'll like it.
08:55Besides, it's a nice place.
08:57I think you'll like it.
08:58Besides, we'll only be there one night.
09:00We'll rent a car in the morning and drive down to Monterey.
09:03You really know all the offbeat places, don't you?
09:05Well, when you travel around enough, I guess you begin looking for them.
09:08You haven't done that much traveling on the job, have you?
09:11Huh?
09:12Well, no, not that much.
09:15Say, do you know the name of the airport in Dallas?
09:18Um, I forget.
09:20It's called Love Field.
09:23Isn't that a great name for honeymooners?
09:25Yes.
09:38Hi, Susan.
09:39Oh, there you are.
09:40I was starting to worry.
09:42No, I had a little trouble with the phone lines back to New York, but I got through okay.
09:45Everything all right?
09:46Yeah, sure, everything's fine.
09:48Hey, you look a little strange, though.
09:51Oh, no, I'm all right.
09:52I had a drink while I was waiting for you.
09:54Hey, you better watch that tequila.
09:56It sneaks up on you like a bandito.
09:58Actually, something sort of funny happened.
10:02What do you mean?
10:04Dan, when we were in Chicago in that restaurant, I forget the name of it.
10:09The place you went to with Bill?
10:10Yes, when you and your friend were talking about all the office politics back in New York,
10:14I saw this man looking at us.
10:17What man?
10:18Well, he was the bar.
10:19I'm not even sure why I noticed him.
10:21He was wearing this plaid raincoat.
10:23Wondering if it had started to rain.
10:25I guess you were just bored with all our talk.
10:27Anyway, I saw him turn to look at us.
10:30Probably to look at you.
10:32Can't blame him for that.
10:34The funny thing is, as soon as you turned around, he got up very quickly and left.
10:38Susan, I don't remember seeing anyone in a plaid raincoat.
10:42And I'm afraid I don't see anything unusual about it.
10:45Well, I guess I didn't either.
10:47I probably wouldn't have given it another thought, but I...
10:50I think I saw that same man here again today.
10:53In Monterey?
10:54Oh, you're kidding.
10:55I can't swear it with him.
10:57I didn't get a good look at his face the first time.
10:59All I really noticed was the coat.
11:01And you saw the coat again?
11:03Is that it?
11:04Yes.
11:05He was carrying it over his arm.
11:07Oh, darling.
11:08You know the story about the airport truck?
11:10Airport truck?
11:11No.
11:12Well, this guy on a plane looks out the window and sees one of those little red airport trucks.
11:16You know?
11:17Fueling a plane, bringing food aboard.
11:18Something like that.
11:19Anyway, the plane takes off from New York and lands in Chicago.
11:23Another little red truck comes out to meet it.
11:26The guy next to him says,
11:27Hey, we made good time, didn't we?
11:30He says,
11:31Yeah, but that little red truck really made time.
11:35Well, I can see that I didn't marry a great audience.
11:38Oh, I'm sorry, Dan.
11:40It's just, it bothered me a little.
11:42Oh, forget it.
11:44And speaking of airports, next stop,
11:47the City of Angels.
11:56See, I wonder if they have this week's digest.
11:59Oh, I see it.
12:01Excuse me.
12:02Yes?
12:04You're Mrs. Daniel Carey, aren't you?
12:07Why, yes, I am.
12:10Do I know you?
12:12No, Mrs. Carey, but I know you.
12:15I saw your husband leaving the hotel about half an hour ago.
12:18Are you planning on meeting him?
12:20Wait a minute.
12:22I've seen you before.
12:23Have you?
12:25You're the man with the coat, the plaid raincoat.
12:28Well, you happen to be right.
12:29I do own a plaid raincoat, but with this nice sunny weather.
12:33Excuse me.
12:34Look, Mrs. Carey, I know it seems as if I'm following you.
12:37Yes, it does.
12:38Well, okay, it's true, but I've had a reason.
12:41Such as?
12:43Could we talk about it someplace?
12:44There's a coffee shop in the hotel.
12:46I'm sorry, I don't even know who you are.
12:48Maybe it would help if I introduced myself.
12:50My name is Harrington, Lieutenant Gail Harrington,
12:53attached to New York City Police Department.
12:55Police?
12:56That's right, Mrs. Carey.
12:57So, you see, what I have to discuss with you is police business.
13:01But what have I done?
13:02Nothing you've done.
13:04It concerns your husband and what he might do.
13:14It looks like Dan and Susan Carey's honeymoon is in for a surprise,
13:20or perhaps more than one.
13:24Maybe Susan will soon wonder if her Aunt Clara wasn't right about a number of things,
13:30including her cynical advice about the police.
13:35Maybe Susan will soon wonder if her Aunt Clara wasn't right about a number of things,
13:41including her cynical advice about trusting no strangers.
13:47We'll find out about the new stranger in Susan's life
13:52when I return shortly with Act Two.
14:05In the pleasant, cheerful atmosphere of a coffee shop in a large Los Angeles hotel,
14:11In the pleasant, cheerful atmosphere of a coffee shop in a large Los Angeles hotel,
14:17newlywed Susan Carey finds herself facing a man she has never seen before.
14:24A man whose solemn eyes look at her over a steaming cup of coffee
14:29and seem to warn her of nightmares to come.
14:34But so far, Lieutenant Gail Harrington of the New York Police Department
14:39is merely asking questions.
14:43How long have you been married now?
14:45Only about ten days.
14:47Was it a long engagement?
14:49Did you know your husband for some time before?
14:51No. No, not very long.
14:54Well, could you be more specific?
14:56How long ago did you meet him?
14:58And where?
15:00Well, it's a month now, just about that.
15:04A month, hmm.
15:05Then you really don't know much about him, do you?
15:07Oh, you and Aunt Clara.
15:09Beg your pardon?
15:10Lieutenant, will you please tell me what this is about?
15:12Has my husband committed some crime? Is that what you're implying?
15:15No, I didn't say that, Mrs. Carey.
15:17But believe me, it would be helpful to both of us
15:21if you could just tell me a little bit about the circumstances.
15:25You know, I don't see why this has to be so one-sided.
15:28Now, please bear with me.
15:30All right.
15:32I met Dan at a party at a friend's house about a month ago.
15:36We talked a lot. We liked each other.
15:38We started dating. I saw him every single day.
15:40Now, what business did he tell you he was in?
15:42Why, you make it sound as if he lied to me.
15:44No, I didn't mean to do that.
15:45He's a management consultant. I know he is.
15:48He's just gotten a very important job in San Francisco,
15:51head of the entire office.
15:53We're going there tomorrow.
15:54So that was the purpose of the trip.
15:56Yes.
15:57But since you've been married ten days,
16:00I gather it's a honeymoon as well.
16:02Well, naturally it is.
16:03Yes, naturally.
16:05Mrs. Carey, do you know if your husband was ever married before?
16:08Married? No.
16:10Are you really certain?
16:12It's police business.
16:14Are you trying to tell me that Dan's a bigamist or something?
16:16No, Mrs. Carey, certainly not that.
16:17Then what is it?
16:19I've got to tell you, but you have to...
16:21have to understand one thing.
16:24Now, I am not assigned to this case anymore.
16:26My interest is strictly unofficial.
16:29I may be completely mistaken,
16:30but you're the only one who can prove it one way or another.
16:33Prove what?
16:35About whether your husband ever called himself Don Crawford.
16:40And once, four years ago, David Chase.
16:44See?
16:45All the same initials, like Dan Carey.
16:49You are saying he's a criminal?
16:51Not just a criminal, Mrs. Carey.
16:54A wife killer.
16:57You're crazy!
16:58I hope so. Believe me, I do.
17:00Let me start at the beginning.
17:02If you still think I'm crazy, by the time I'm finished,
17:05I'll be happy to buy you that coffee and go on my way.
17:08But if you think I'm not, if you have any doubts,
17:11then I want you to tell me so and let me help you.
17:14All right. Go on.
17:17I know you're wrong, but go on.
17:20I first heard of Don Crawford back in 1965
17:23when I was attached to homicide detail in a Los Angeles PD.
17:27Mrs. Crawford was a former Edith Burbank.
17:30She was the youngest daughter of a wealthy family in Baltimore.
17:34Only when I saw her, she was never going to enjoy her money anymore.
17:38She was dead.
17:40Her throat had been cut by one of those, quote,
17:43mysterious intruders, unquote, that the papers liked to write about.
17:48Her husband, Don, was broken-hearted, naturally.
17:51They'd been married four weeks.
17:53But her death also made him some money.
17:58Not a fortune, really.
18:01There was a mix-up about her will,
18:04and he ended up with nothing but a handsome payoff from the family.
18:07Mrs. Carey, are you okay?
18:10I...
18:12I can't believe I'm sitting here listening to this...
18:15I won't be long, I promise.
18:17Anyway, I was assigned to the Crawford case,
18:20but I didn't exactly cover myself with glory.
18:23You mean you never found the mysterious intruder?
18:25That's right.
18:26So naturally, you decided that maybe there wasn't any.
18:29Let me go on, Mrs. Carey, okay?
18:32Yes, yes, go on.
18:34Anyway, I ran into a similar case about four years ago.
18:38The murder of a young bride, fresh from her honeymoon.
18:41A broken-hearted groom named David Chase.
18:45I thought Chase and Crawford were one and the same man.
18:49But I couldn't convince the district attorney of the resemblance.
18:52But I am still convinced, Mrs. Carey.
18:56And you think Dan is the same person?
18:59Oh, he's changed again, of course.
19:01His hair is lighter than Chase's, he's thinner and paler.
19:05But there's something about the face I can't forget.
19:07And even if it's true, you still have no proof, is that it?
19:10You couldn't solve your case, so you're holding on to your first solution.
19:13Wait, Mrs. Carey.
19:15Let me tell you why I was so sure that Crawford and Chase were the same man.
19:20It was because of the honeymoon.
19:22What?
19:23It's my theory that their honeymoons were identical.
19:26A compulsive honeymoon, you might say.
19:29That is ridiculous.
19:31Criminals are like that. Creatures of habit, most of them.
19:34Afraid to change a pattern, maybe for fear that their luck will change with it.
19:39What do you mean by it?
19:41I stumbled on the coincidence accidentally.
19:43But as far as I could trace it,
19:45Don Crawford and David Chase took their brides to the same places.
19:50They did the same things.
19:52And I knew that if I ever saw that pattern duplicated,
19:56I would have my killer.
19:58I hope I'm wrong, Mrs. Carey.
20:00But you are the only one who can tell me.
20:04And my first question is this.
20:07Was your first stop Chicago...
20:11Yes.
20:12Yes, of course it was.
20:14And you knew that.
20:15That's where we first saw you, in Chicago, in that restaurant.
20:18Okay, okay. I just wanted to make sure.
20:21You can't possibly make something out of that.
20:23Dan wanted to see people in the Chicago office.
20:26And I thought it would be nice to visit my aunt in Evanston.
20:29She's my family.
20:31Was your next stop after Chicago in Texas?
20:35Yes.
20:36We went to Dallas. Dallas is a wonderful place to visit, Lieutenant.
20:40I don't see anything so peculiar about that.
20:42Both Chase and Crawford went to Dallas.
20:44They chose offbeat hotels.
20:47I guess they didn't care to be seen very much.
20:51Where did you stay in Dallas?
20:52It was a perfectly nice hotel.
20:54I don't think you could describe it as offbeat.
20:58All right.
21:01And then the next stop would be Monterey.
21:03You knew we were in Monterey because that's where I saw you the second time.
21:06By that time, Mrs. Carey, I'd made up my mind to follow you.
21:10Are you saying that these supposed white killers you're talking about also went to Monterey?
21:15Yes, they did. And from Monterey to Las Vegas.
21:18Well, then you're wrong, Lieutenant.
21:21You're completely wrong.
21:23You mean you didn't go to Vegas?
21:25No.
21:26So there goes your famous theory, doesn't it?
21:29Well, I admit I was biased.
21:33We changed our mind about Vegas.
21:34We decided that we might be too tempted to gamble away all the money we had for the trip.
21:37Ah, so you did have it on the schedule.
21:40Well, yes.
21:42Yes, we did, but we didn't go.
21:46I really think that changes the pattern.
21:49The fact that you didn't go.
21:51Oh, please.
21:52I can't stand anymore.
21:54I don't want to be here anymore.
21:56Mrs. Carey, Edith Burbank was killed in Los Angeles.
22:00In her hotel room.
22:01This hotel.
22:02I'm leaving.
22:03I'm leaving. I'm leaving right now.
22:04Mrs. Carey, wait.
22:05You're wrong. You're wrong.
22:06You've got that mixed up with someone else.
22:07Let me finish, please.
22:08Just one more moment.
22:09Oh, please. No, no, no.
22:10Please let me go.
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